Month: January 2022

Detained Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to another four years in prison on Monday, the second round of verdicts against the ousted civilian leader.

The Nobel prize winner was found guilty of multiple charges that include possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, a source with knowledge of the court proceedings told CNN.

Suu Kyi, 76, was Myanmar’s state counsellor and de facto leader of the country before she was ousted and detained by the military in a coup 11 months ago and hit with almost a dozen charges that add up to combined maximum sentences of more than 100 years.

They include several charges of corruption — which each carry a maximum prison sentence of 15 years — violating COVID-19 pandemic restrictions during the 2020 election campaign, incitement, illegally importing and possessing walkie talkies, and breaking the colonial-era Official Secrets Act — which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, reported CNN.

She has rejected all allegations and her supporters say the charges against her are political.

Monday’s sentence includes two years’ imprisonment for violating Myanmar’s export-import law by possessing the walkie-talkies and one year for violating the communications law. The two sentences will run concurrently, the source told CNN.

Suu Kyi was also sentenced to two years for violating the natural disaster management law, which regards breaking coronavirus rules.

On December 7, a Zabuthiri Court in the capital Naypyitaw initially sentenced Suu Kyi to four years in prison after being found guilty of incitement and two years after being found guilty of violating section 25 of Disaster Management Law, sources close to the trial said.

Later that day the military reduced the four-year sentence to two years. The military also halved the four-year prison sentence of Myanmar’s deposed President Win Myint, reported CNN.

Myanmar’s military junta has sought to restrict information about the trials, which have been closed to the public. In October, a gag order was imposed on her legal team that prevented them from speaking with the media. (ANI)

India reported 1,79,723 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the daily positivity rate in the country to 13.29 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday.

A total of 4,033 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus have been reported so far. Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases (1,216), followed by Rajasthan (529) and Delhi (513). About 1,552 patients infected with the new variant have recovered.

The Ministry further informed that the active caseload in the country currently stands at 7,23,619 which accounts for 2.03 per cent of the country’s total number of cases.

The weekly positivity rate currently is at 7.29 per cent, while the daily positivity rate stands at 13.29 per cent.

Total cases of COVID-19 in the country have risen to 35,528,004.

As many as 46,569 patients recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours. The cumulative tally of COVID recovered patients now stands at 3,45,00,172. The recovery rate is at 96.62 per cent.

The country also reported 146 new deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 4,83,936.

India conducted 13,52,717 COVID-19 tests in the last 24 hours. The country has conducted 69,15,75,352 tests so far, as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data.

India has administered a total of 151.94 crore vaccine doses so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive.

1,51,94,05,951 people have been vaccinated in the country so far.

With the administration of 29,60,975 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, 1,51,94,05,951 people have been vaccinated in the country so far. (ANI)

The third dose of Covaxin holds promise, the Indian Council of Medical Research said on Sunday just a day before the government plans to administer ‘precaution’ doses of COVID-19 vaccines to frontline workers, healthcare workers and senior citizens with co-morbidities.

“Third dose of COVAXIN holds promise,” tweeted ICMR today. The medical research body in its tweet further highlighted the benefits of getting Covaxin’s precautionary dose. It said, “Reassuring information on safety and immunogenicity of a booster dose of Covaxin administered six months after completion of a two dose primary vaccination series with Covaxin.”

“Good neutralising antibody titre detected against homologous and heterologous SARS-CoV 2 variants following booster. Reactogenicity in both vaccine and placebo arm of the trial was minimal and comparable. No serious adverse events were reported,” the tweet said.

On December 25, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that from January 3, 2022 vaccination will start for the children in the age group of 15-18 years and further announced administration of precaution dose for healthcare and frontline workers from January 10, 2022.

“This has been done in the light of the amount of time that the frontline workers and health care workers spend in the service of COVID-19 infected patients. In India, this has been called ‘precaution dose’, not booster dose. The decision on precaution dose will strengthen the confidence of healthcare and frontline workers,” the Prime Minister’s office said.

The Prime Minister also announced that option of precaution dose will be available to senior citizens above 60 years of age with co-morbidities on the advice of their doctors from January 10, 2022.

With the administration of more than 89 lakh doses (89,28,316) vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 151.57 crore (1,51,57,60,645) as per provisional reports till 7 am today, the health ministry said. (ANI)

In a major setback to the Indian National Congress ahead of upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, senior party leader Imran Masood on Sunday said that he will hold a meeting with his supporters about joining Samajwadi Party (SP) and seek an appointment to meet Akhilesh Yadav.

Speaking to ANI, Imran Masood said, “The Election Commission of India has announced the schedule of assembly polls. If we observe the current political circumstances of Uttar Pradesh, there is a direct fight between BJP and SP. So, I will discuss with the party that what should we do.”

Replying to the speculations of joining SP, he said, “I can’t tell when I will join SP but I want to defeat BJP. I will work with Akhilesh Yadav because he is working as a leader in the state.”

Masood further said that he will make the decision tomorrow after consulting party workers.

“After discussions with party workers, I will make the decision about joining SP. I will make them aware of all the circumstances and seek time to meet Akhilesh Yadav tomorrow,” he added.

The speculations of Masood joining SP surfaced months ago.

Earlier in October 2021, he said the party is not capable of fighting alone against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and it should form an alliance with Samajwadi Party (SP) for the upcoming elections.

“First, we have to think are we capable of fighting alone against BJP in Uttar Pradesh and the answer is ‘no’. Then, definitely, we should ally with the Samajwadi Party to defeat BJP. Honestly, if we have to fight in Uttar Pradesh then we have to fight together,” he added.

Elections for the 403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10, the Election Commission said. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 in seven phases.

The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)

Air India is offering ‘One Free Change’ of date or flight number or sector for domestic tickets with confirmed travel till March 31, in view of the current prevailing situation of COVID-19.

In a tweet today, Air India said, “#FlyAI: In view of recent uncertainties due to surge in COVID cases, Air India is offering ONE FREE CHANGE of date or flight number or sector for all domestic tickets (098) with confirmed travel on/before 31.03.22.”

As COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the country, the aviation sector in the country seems to be reeling under pressure.

IndiGo airlines also on Sunday anticipated that around 20 per cent of its current scheduled operations to be withdrawn from service.

IndiGo, further said that it has waived change fees as scores of people are altering their travel plans.

In its official statement, IndiGo said, “Owing to the increasing number of Omicron infections, large numbers of IndiGo customers are changing their travel plans. In response to customer needs, IndiGo is waiving change fees and is offering free changes for all new and existing bookings made up to January 31, for flights up to March 31, 2022. With the reduced demand, we will also be selectively withdrawing some of our flights from service.”

“Where possible, cancellations of flights will be done at least 72 hours in advance and customers will be moved to the next available flight and will also be able to change their travel through the use of Plan B on our website,” the statement said.

The official statement added, “Since our call centre is currently handling a large volume of calls, we are encouraging our customers to use our digital channels where possible. We anticipate that around 20 per cent of our current scheduled operations will be withdrawn from service.”

Amid a surge in the COVID-19 cases, the Central government on Friday announced a seven-day mandatory home quarantine for all international arrivals in the country. All the international arrivals in the country will have to observe a seven-day mandatory home quarantine with effect from January 11 till further orders.

As per the order issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday, travellers from specified countries at risk will at first, submit a sample for the post-arrival COVID-19 test at the point of arrival (self-paid). Such travellers will be required to wait for their test results at the arrival airport before leaving or taking a connecting flight.

“If tested negative they will follow, home quarantine for seven days and shall undertake RT-PCR test on the eighth day of arrival in India. Travellers shall also be required to upload results of repeat RT-PCR test for COVID-19 done on the eighth day on Air Suvidha portal. If negative, they will further self-monitor their health for the next seven days. However, if such travellers are tested positive, their samples should be further sent for genomic testing at INSACOG laboratory network,” read the order copy.

India reported 1,59,632 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the daily positivity rate in the country to 10.21 per cent, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday. With this, the COVID-19 tally has risen to 35,528,004 in the country.

According to the Health Ministry, a total of 3,623 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus have been reported in India so far. The number of recovered patients from the variant rises to 1,409.

Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of Omicron cases (1009), followed by Delhi (513) and Karnataka (441).The Ministry further informed that the active caseload in the country currently stands at 5,90,611 which accounts for 1.66 per cent of the country’s total number of cases.

On December 2, India detected its first case of Omicron Variant of COVID-19 in Karnataka. (ANI)

Sri Lanka is facing a deepening financial and humanitarian crisis that could lead it to bankruptcy in 2022 as inflation rises to record levels, said a media report.

Earlier, on August 30 last year, the Sri Lanka government announced a national financial emergency after a steep fall in the value of the country’s currency which caused a spike in food prices.

Writing in Colombo Gazette, Suhail Guptil said, Sri Lanka is continuously facing twin deficits, that is, fiscal deficit and trade deficit during a major part of the last decade. Since 2014, the foreign debt level of Sri Lanka has been on the rise and reached 42.6 per cent of GDP in 2019.

Guptil explained that the cumulative foreign debt of the country was estimated at USD 33 billion in 2019, which puts a huge burden on the country for debt servicing.

After this, several credit rating agencies including Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch downgraded Sri Lanka’s credit rating to B from C, which makes it difficult to obtain funds through International Sovereign Bonds (ISBs), Guptil said.

The financial crisis in Sri Lanka is primarily caused by a low growth rate, currently at four per cent and huge debt service repayment obligations and the situation is worsening.

As of November 2021, available foreign currency reserves were just USD 1.6 billion while in the next 12 months, the government and private sector of Sri Lanka will have to repay an estimated USD 7.3 billion in domestic and foreign loans, including a USD 500 million international sovereign bond repayment in January 2022, the report said.

It further added that one of the most pressing problems for Sri Lanka is its huge foreign debt and debt service burden, in particular to China. It owes China more than USD 5 billion in debt and last year took an additional USD 1 billion loan from Beijing to wean off its acute financial crisis, which is being paid in installments.

It is estimated that the foreign currency reserves of the country would completely deplete by January 2022 and it would need to borrow at least -USD 437 million for necessary payments. The major problem facing the country now is how to manage foreign debt service of USD 4.8 billion being due during February-October 2022, the report said.

Inflation hit a record high of 11.1 per cent in November and escalating prices have left those who were previously well off struggling to feed their families, while basic goods are now unaffordable for many.

After Rajapaksa declared Sri Lanka to be in an economic emergency, the military was given the power to ensure essential items, including rice and sugar, that was sold at set government prices – but it has done little to ease people’s woes.

The former central bank deputy governor, WA Wijewardena warned that the struggles of ordinary people would exacerbate the financial crisis, which would in turn make life harder for them. The World Bank estimates 500,000 people have fallen below the poverty line since the beginning of the pandemic, Guptil said.

Guptil further stated that in an “attempt temporarily to ease the problems and stave off difficult and most likely unpopular policies”, the government has resorted to temporary relief measures, such as credit lines to import foods, medicines and fuel from its neighbouring ally India, as well as currency swaps from India, China and Bangladesh and loans to purchase petroleum from Oman.”

The Sri Lankan government also plans to settle its past oil debts with Iran by paying them with tea, sending them USD 5 million worth of tea every month in order to save “much-needed currency”.

Moreover, Colombo has decided to close three overseas diplomatic missions from December 2021 to cut down expenditure in the face of the ongoing financial crisis and dollar crunch. However, these measures will provide only short-term relief and the loans will have to be paid back at high-interest rates, adding to Sri Lanka’s debt load, Guptil added. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in the country through a video conference.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla,

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba and other officials were present at the meeting.
This meeting comes as the country reported more than 1.5 lakh new COVID-19 cases on Sunday and the case tally of the Omicron variant of the virus reached 3,623 in the country.

India reported 1,59,632 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the daily positivity rate in the country to 10.21 per cent, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

Of 3,623 Omicron cases, Maharashtra tops the chart with 1,009 cases, followed by Delhi (513) and Karnataka (441). (ANI)

After Delhi Police identified 46-Pakistan-based Twitter handles which were engaged in spreading a fake video of Cabinet meeting discussing a matter against the Sikh community, DCP of IFSO special cell KPS Malhotra on Sunday advised the citizens not to trust such information as it instigates communal violence in India.

Speaking to ANI, KPS Malhotra said, “46 Twitter account handles came into cognizance when a superimposed video with voiceovers was shared on changes made in Indian Army from an anti-community angle. After investigation, we discovered that those accounts were operated from Pakistan.”
“They were running a campaign to spread communal negativities in India. I would advise the citizens not to trust such Twitter handles which discuss government policies,” he said.

The IFSO DCP further informed that the blocking of these Twitter handles have been started and there are more such links coming out of the investigation in the case.

“This is a fact that many such campaigns are being run in India for spreading misinformation. This is only started to create discontentment between two communities, so I would request people not to trust such information,” he added.

According to Delhi Police, a fake or morphed video has been shared on Twitter by some handles. In reality, the said video was of the meeting of the cabinet committee which took place on December 9, 2021, after the demise of CDS General Bipin Rawat.

“With the ill intent to promote enmity and to instigate communal disharmony, the video was morphed and a new voice-over was superimposed, in which the alleged persons tried to show that this meeting was against the Sikh community,” reads the official statement.

“All the accounts were created between October 2021 to December 2021. The technical analysis has been revealed that these accounts were being operated from a single browser used from Pakistan,” it added.

The case has been registered by the Delhi Police Special Cell Police Station under Section 153 A of the Indian Penal Code for promoting disharmony/enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony and can disturb public tranquillity.

Cyber Crime Unit and Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations Unit, Delhi Police Special Cell is currently investigating the matter. (ANI)

Uttar Pradesh has clamped night curfew and has decided to close physical classes in all educational institutions after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath chaired the COVID-19 review meeting in Lucknow on Sunday.

“In view of developing situation due to COVID-19, night curfew has been imposed in every district of Uttar Pradesh between 10 pm to 6 am. Physical classes have also been suspended in all educational institutions till January 16.

lasses in online mode can continue. However, scheduled examinations can be conducted,” reads the official release.
The Chief Minister also passed instructions for the district administration to monitor the situation and ensure necessary resources for the curtailment of the virus.

“Monitoring committees and Integrated Covid Command Centres should be fully operational. Separate numbers should be issued for home isolation, monitoring committees, ambulance and teleconsultation,” reads the release.

“Teleconsultation facility should also be made available to the people by deploying a panel of doctors in every district. Medicine kits should be made available to the people as per their needs. Adequate availability of life-saving drugs needed during the treatment of Covid-19 should be ensured,” it added.

In the meeting with the officials, Yogi Adityanath also directed that special attention should be given to patients with co-morbidities, the elderly and the children suffering from infection. If they are infected, there should be continuous monitoring of their treatment process. Medicine kits should be made available to them immediately.

Monitoring committees should be functional in villages under the leadership of Pradhan and in urban wards under the leadership of councillors. Monitoring committees should run a door-to-door program to prepare the list of unvaccinated people so that they can be motivated and encouraged for vaccination.

Uttar Pradesh reported 6,411 new cases of COVID-19 during the last 24 hours, said the State Health Department on Saturday.

As per the health department, a total of 2,20,496 samples were tested during the last 24 hours. Of these, 1,22,733 are samples tested via RT-PCR kits. A total of 9,44,29,513 samples have been tested so far, added the health department.

Of the 6,411 new cases, 867 cases were reported from Lucknow, 1,141 from Gautam Buddh Nagar, 636 from Meerut and 683 from Ghaziabad.

During the last 24 hours, 171 people recovered from the infection, taking the total recoveries in the state to 16,88,395.

There are currently 18,551 active COVID-19 cases in the state, out of which 18,184 are in home isolation.

As per the state health department, a total of 18,83,107 COVID-19 vaccination doses were administered on Friday, including 4,85,490 vaccination doses to children aged 15-18 years of age.

A total of 13,11,71,604 beneficiaries above the age of 18 have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccination, which is 88.98 per cent of the eligible adult population. On the other hand, 7,77,02,415 people above the age of 18 have received their second dose of vaccine, which is 52.71 per cent of the eligible adult population. (ANI)