Month: February 2022

A CBI court on Monday sentenced former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to five years imprisonment in the fifth fodder scam case and imposed a fine of Rs 60 lakhs on him.

Yadav was declared guilty on February 15. Of the 99 accused in the case, 24 were acquitted, while three-year jail terms were pronounced for the 46 accused. The fate of the remaining accused will be decided on Monday.
Yadav has been found guilty of illegal withdrawals of Rs 139.35 crore from the Doranda treasury by a special CBI court in Jharkhand’s Ranchi.

The hearing for the pronouncement of quantum of punishment for Yadav has been scheduled for today.

Yadav has been sentenced in four fodder scam cases. This case (RC 47A/97) was the fifth and the biggest in which Rs 139.35 crore was illegally withdrawn.

The Rs 950-crore fodder scam relates to the fraudulent withdrawal of public funds from government treasuries in various districts of undivided Bihar.

Of the original 170 accused in the matter, 55 have died, seven have become government witnesses, two have accepted the charges against them and six are absconding. The court gave the verdict on February 15 against the remaining 99 accused, including Yadav.

The scam came into light after a raid conducted by Deputy Commissioner of Chaibasa Amit Khare at the Animal Husbandry Department in January 1996. The CBI was roped in by the Patna High Court in March 1996 after increasing pressure to investigate the case. The CBI registered an FIR in the case at a time when Bihar was still undivided.

In June 1997, Yadav was named an accused in the case for the first time in the chargesheet filed by the CBI.

Following the chargesheet and mounting pressure from the Opposition, Yadav resigned as the Chief Minister after which Rabri Devi succeeded him in July 1997 even while he continued to operate behind the curtains in Bihar.

Due to the bifurcation of Bihar and the formation of Jharkhand, the case was transferred to the Jharkhand High Court in October 2001. Special CBI court began trial in the fodder scam case in February 2002. Yadav’s first conviction came in September 2013 in the Chaibasa treasury case related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.70 crore.

He was handed over five years in prison leading to his disqualification from the Lok Sabha membership. He was later granted bail by the Supreme Court.

The RJD supremo’s trouble renewed again in 2017 when a special CBI court in December 2017 convicted him in the second scam case related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from Deoghar treasury.

He was sentenced to 3.5 years of jail term but was granted bail in July last year after completing half of the sentence.

The former Chief Minister’s third conviction came in January 2018 in the Chaibasa treasury case related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 33.13 crore. He was awarded five years of imprisonment in this case.

Two months later, the special CBI court in March 2018, had held him guilty of conspiracy and corruption charges in the scam case related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.76 crore from Dumka treasury from December 1995, to January 1996. It had handed him 14 years in prison and slapped a fine of Rs 60 lakh on him. (ANI)

Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi on Monday visited the Galwan valley along the Line of Actual Control with China around the area where troops of both countries clashed in June 2020.

The Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Dwivedi visited forward areas in Eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control to review the security situation. He interacted with troops and appreciated the operational response towards the evolving threat matrix, Northern Command officials said without naming the places visited by the officer.

The pictures issued by the Northern Command showed that the commander-in-chief was speaking to troops from Dogra regiment in forward areas with Indian flag flying in the backdrop.

Sources in Delhi confirmed that the officer had visited the Galwan valley which in June 2020 saw Indian troops causing heavy casualties to the Chinese side in the clash while 20 of its own troops laid down their lives there.

Lt Gen Dwivedi is on a maiden visit to the forward locations of the Ladakh sector after taking over on February 1. He is also reviewing secrets situation on the western boundary with Pakistan. (ANI)

Delhi on Monday reported 360 new COVID-19 cases and four fatalities with a positive rate of 0.94 per cent which is the lowest since December 29, 2021.

The Delhi government, in its health bulletin, says that of the 360 cases, 86 positive cases pertaining to earlier weeks have been added on the ICMR portal till yesterday. The number of tests conducted in the national capital stood at 38,136 and a total recovered/ discharged/ migrated/ duplicate cases touched 706 in the past 24 hours.

The national capital reported 18,56,517 positive cases and 2,281 active cases so far.

With four more deaths due to the deadly virus, the death toll touched 26,105.

As per the government data, the total number of patients admitted to hospitals (including suspected COVID patients) reached 251. Of these, 209 COVID positive patients were admitted to hospitals while 42 are the suspected COVID patient admitted in Hospitals.

The health bulletin of the state reads that the total number of containment zones as of date is 8,283. In COVID dedicated hospitals, the bed occupancy percentage is 1.64 per cent.

In the ongoing vaccination drive against the COVID-19, 9,509 beneficiaries were vaccinated in the last 24 hours. Of these, 1,487 beneficiaries were vaccinated for the 1st dose in the last 24 hours and 7,534 beneficiaries were vaccinated for the 2nd dose in the last 24 hours.

A total of 3,60,24,555 tests have been conducted so far. Of these, 34,533 RTPCR tests were conducted and 3,603 rapid antigen tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. (ANI)

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik visited and reviewed the project site of India’s first indoor athletic stadium in the Kalinga Stadium complex, Bhubaneswar. He expressed satisfaction over the project’s progress.

As per the ministry, the indoor athletic stadium is being built in Kalinga Stadium at a cost of Rs 120 crores and will be ready during the year 2022. This is the first indoor athletic in India and will help the athletes practice throughout the year.
Odisha CM said, “This indoor athletic facility will be a major boost for the development of athletics in India and will become the hub to create champions in coming years”. He further added that the facility has the capacity to host both national and international indoor athletic events and a residential facility for over 100 athletes for full-time coaching.

Later, a former Lok Sabha member visited the tennis centre project. The Centre Court of the Tennis Centre is being constructed for hosting national and international events.

As per the ministry, the Indoor athletic stadium and the tennis centre are both parts of the State Sports Infrastructure development Project which aims at transformative changes in the sports sector in Odisha, under the 5T (Teamwork, Technology, Transparency, Transformation and Time limit) initiative of the State Government.

The ministry also informed that over Rs 300 crores worth of projects are under execution in the Kalinga Stadium including the indoor athletics stadium, indoor aquatics stadium, tennis centre, staff accommodation and hockey High-Performance Center (HPC) building.

Thereafter, Chief Minister watched the football match of the ongoing Odisha Women’s Football League at the main football pitch of Kalinga Stadium. He also interacted with the women footballers and assured them all support for their football careers.

Chief Minister met the Indian Hockey teams (Men and Women) at the Hockey Stadium and enquired about their stay and practice facilities. The players expressed their gratitude for the support Chief Minister has extended for hockey development.

The Odisha CM wished them good luck for the upcoming Pro League matches and assured them all support and hoped that they will aim to get the medals for the country in the Asian and Commonwealth Games this year. (ANI)

The UK Government on Monday kicked off the ‘India-UK Week of Sport’ to celebrate the “incredible living bridge between both nations” in India’s 75th year of Independence.

A series of on and off-the-field interactions will highlight “the shared love of sport” and the opportunities it can create for people across both nations from February 21 to 27.

The Week of Sport will showcase the best of sport with events involving Indian and British personalities reflecting on their own journeys. It will include Olympic and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, cricketer Dinesh Karthik, para-badminton World Champion Manasi Joshi, tennis legend Vijay Amritraj and India rugby captain Vahbiz Bharucha among others.

Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, said UK and India share a love for sports.

“Cricket, football, tennis, badminton, and hockey bring us together. The Week of Sport is a celebration of this bond and our living bridge. I look forward to more activities this year as India celebrates 75 years of Independence and the UK hosts the Commonwealth Games and the final match of the Test series,” he said.

An official release said this week’s activity leads up to the ‘India-UK Together 2022’ initiative.

The joint initiative, led by the British Council and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, will launch later this year. “It will celebrate the unique connections that can help shape the future of both nations through a diverse programme of activities – highlighting the strong cultural links between Britons and Indians across sport, education, the arts, and much more. As two great democracies, both India and the UK share a vision to empower the next generation of leaders,” the release said. (ANI)

Actor Kajal Aggarwal, who is currently expecting her first child with husband Gautam Kitchlu, recently had a traditional baby shower ceremony (God Bharai).

For the occasion, the couple opted for ethnic wear. Kajal looked graceful in a traditional Banarasi pink saree that she teamed up with ethnic jewellery. Gautam twinned with her in a white kurta-pyjama and a red jacket.

Sharing an adorable picture with Gautam, Kajal captioned it as, “God Bharai.”

The couple announced the news of Kajal’s pregnancy on New Year 2022. Gautam wrote, “Here’s looking at you 2022” followed by a pregnant woman emoji.

Kajal and Gautam tied the knot in October 2020. (ANI)

Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Biological E on Monday received emergency use authorisation from Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for its COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax for the 12 to 18 age group.

It is India’s first indigenously developed Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) protein sub-unit vaccine against COVID-19.

The country’s central drug authority had approved the COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax for restricted use in emergency situations among adults on December 28, 2019. Biological E received the approval for restricted use in an emergency situation in adolescents aged 12 to less than 18 years based on interim results (of the ongoing phase II/III clinical study).

Mahima Datla, Managing Director, Biological E Limited said they are pleased with this “significant development”, which helps extend the reach of the vaccine to the age group of 12 to 18 years in the country.

“We truly believe that with this approval, we are even more closer to finishing our global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Once fully vaccinated, children can resume their activities and educational pursuits in schools and colleges without any apprehension,” she said.

“We thank all the participants in the clinical trials, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and Department of Biotechnology, Govt of India, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (TSTHI) and the principal investigators and clinical site staff who have extended their support during the last several months,” she added.

An official statement from the pharmaceutical firm stated that in September 2021, it received approval to conduct a Phase II/III clinical trial on Corbevax in children and adolescents aged 5 to 18 years.

“Based on the no-objection certificate, Biological E initiated the clinical study in October 2021 and evaluated the available safety and immunogenicity results of the ongoing phase II/III study, which indicated that the vaccine is safe and immunogenic,” the statement read.

Biological E said that Corbevax is administered through intramuscular route with two doses scheduled 28 days apart and is stored at 2 to 8 degrees’ Celsius temperature and presented as 0.5 ml (single dose) and 5 ml (10 doses) vial and 10 ml (20 doses) vial pack.

“Biological E conducted phase I/II, II/III clinical trials of its Corbevax vaccine for adults in the country. In addition, it conducted a Phase III active comparison clinical trial to evaluate superiority over Covishield vaccine,” it said.

The Corbevax will be the second vaccine after Covaxin which has received approval for those below 18 years of age. (ANI)

Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Monday launched the new Armour dive boat at Tarkarli MTDC (Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation), Sindhurdurg, making it state’s first scuba dive boat.

Aditya Thackeray during the launch said, “I was truly amazed to see how the Scuba Diving Center in Tarkarli, Sindhudurg, is geared to provide an adrenaline rush for the tourists and job opportunities for the locals.”

He also took out the newly launched Armour Dive Boat for a short spin.

Tarkarli MTDC is situated at a distance of about 550 km from the state capital Maharashtra.(ANI)

As India reports a high number of Omicron BA.2 cases, a top Health Expert has said it is not a cause of concern because it will not lead to another COVID-19 surge in the country.

Speaking to ANI, Co-Chairman National IMA COVID Task Force Dr Rajeev Jayadevan said that BA.2 is a sub-lineage of Omicron variant, which fuelled the third wave in the country.
According to him, BA.2 cannot infect those who have previously had BA.1 sub-variant of COVID-19.

“It will not cause another surge. BA.2 is not capable of infecting people who had BA.1. It’s not a new virus or strain. BA.2 is a sub-lineage of Omicron,” Dr Jayadevan said.

The Expert further said that BA.2 will be more transmissible than BA.1 and it has mutated to increase its transmissibility.

“BA.2 is a little bit more transmissible than BA.1. For the last two years, it has constantly evolved to increase its fitness, which is its ability to infect more people and to leap past natural immunity and vaccinated immunity,” he said.

Dr Jayadevan also said that the Omicron variant showed that vaccine immunity can be “easily surpassed by variants” and this trend will continue to be seen in future, if new variants emerge after mutation of the virus.

“Omicron showed that even vaccine immunity can be easily surpassed by variants and this trend will be expected in the future as new variants arrive. But BA.1 and BA.2 both have immune escape ability which means that if you’ve been naturally infected, or if you’ve been vaccinated or both, this virus can still infect us,” he noted.

Explaining the nature of BA.2, Dr Jayadevan said, “It is the sub-lineage of Omicron and is essentially as same as Omicron that was identified in November in South Africa. It now has BA.1, BA.2 and BA.3.”

He also said that virus will be around for a very long time time.

“Virus is going to be around. It will come in ups and downs for a very long time. When the next variant comes, there will be a surge. We do not know when that will be, but history says that it can happen once inevitably six to eight months and that is typically how it acts.”

“But until then, we are now in the low phase Omicron. However, what we should remember is this virus is around which means that we must do everything we can to stop it from infecting us,” he added.

Citing a study conducted on hamsters in Japan, Dr Jayadevan said that BA.2 may cause severe lung disease.

“As of today, symptoms of Omicron are no different between BA.1 and BA.2. So there is no difference in severity. However, there is a study from Japan done on hamsters. In this study, hamsters showed that BA.2 involved the lungs more than BA.1.”

On the trend of the Omicron BA.2 cases globally, he said, “It is believed that BA.2 is increasing in India. But in several other Asian countries in the region and across Europe, the prevalence is slowly increasing, particularly in Denmark. There’s a slight increase in the United States and also in Britain.” (ANI)

As Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan’s son Jeh turned one today, his sibling, Sara Ali Khan shared a series of photos from the little one’s birthday celebration.

The ‘Simmba’ actor took to her Instagram handle and posted pictures that featured the sibling clan and their father. In one photo, Sara, Ibrahim, Taimur and Jeh could be seen posing with Saif, while in another, the little baby was playing with his brother Ibrahim.
The photos provided a sneak peek of the amicable bond that Saif’s children share with each other. Wishing her brother, in the posts’ caption Sara wrote, “Happiest First Birthday Baby J.”

Kareena also shared the photo that featured Saif with his children on her Instagram stories and wrote, “One for the album.”

Earlier today also she had shared an adorable photo of baby Jeh and Taimur to wish the little one on his birthday.

Alongside the pic, she wrote, “Bhaiii, wait for me I am One today …let’s explore the world together of course with Amma following us everywhere happy birthday My Jeh baba My life #Mera Beta #My Tiger #To Eternity and beyond.”

Sara and Ibrahim are Saif’s children with ex-wife Amrita Singh; he shares Taimur and Jeh with Kareena. The duo tied the knot in 2012. Four years later, in 2016, the two were blessed with their first son Taimur, and last year, they embraced parenthood once again with the birth of Jeh. (ANI)