Pioneer dehradun-english-edition-2021-06-05

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Don’t think twice before
going for Covid-19 vac-
cines. The Delhi-based All
India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) has found
that none of the fully vacci-
nated people died after getting
re-infected with coronavirus
during April-May 2021.
In other words, while the
vaccine does not guarantee
protection from re-infection, it
offers hope that the human
body can develop antibodies
that can fight the virus for long.
This was revealed in the
first genomic sequence study of
breakthrough infections in the
country during the deadlier
and more infectious second
wave of the coronavirus pan-
demic.
If one contracts Covid-19
after being fully vaccinated, it
is known as a breakthrough
infection. “There will be a
small percentage of fully vac-
cinated people who still get
sick, are hospitalised, or die
from Covid-19,” according to
the US health agency, Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
AIIMS Delhi’s first study
on breakthrough infections
during the April-May period
confirmed that despite a very
high viral load, none of the vac-
cinated people died due to the
disease.
However, some would
argue that there have been
several well-known cases like
that of Dr KK Agarwal who
died despite taking both the
vaccines dozes. The limited
sample size may have allowed
that aberration to creep in.
Viral load, the measure of
the total number of viral par-
ticles in a particu-
lar volume of fluid,
was high at the
time of diagnosis
even in vaccinated
patients and they
also reported high
temperature per-
sisting for 5-7 days,
similar to symp-
toms of unvacci-
nated patients.
Out of the 63
b r e a k t h r o u g h
infections, 36
patients received
two doses, while
27 received at least
one dose of the
Covid-19 vaccine.
Ten patients
r e c e i v e d
Covishield, while
53 received
Covaxin.
SARS-CoV-2
lineages could be
assigned to a total
of 36 (57.1 per
cent) samples, 19
(52.8 per cent) in
patients who com-
pleted both doses
and 17 (47.2 per cent) in
patients who completed only a
single dose, the AIIMS study
said.
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The deadly coronavirus
infects immature red blood
cells(RBCs),reducingoxygenin
the blood and impairing the
immune response, say
researchers.
It adversely impacts the
processofreplacementofoxygen
carrying mature red blood cells
inmanyCovid-19patients. The
study, published in the journal
StemCellReports,shedslighton
why many Covid-19 patients,
even those not in hospital, are
suffering from hypoxia
=8:00;8:Q 270=3860A7
Firmly in saddle, political war
horse Punjab Chief Minister
Capt Amarinder Singh will
lead the Congress in the elec-
toral battle earlier next year
with firebrand Navjot Singh
Sidhu, probably, as his second
in command.
Information trickling out
of the Chief Minister’s three-
hour-long meeting with the All
India Congress Committee
(AICC) panel indicates that
Capt Amarinder would remain
the party and the Government’s
face in Punjab.
?=BQ =4F34;78
The newly christened Delta
variant or the B.1.617.2
strain,whichoriginatedinIndia,
is behind the second surge of
Covid in the country, a study by
the Indian SARS-CoV-2
Consortium on Genomics
(INSACOG) has found.
“B.1.617variantitslineage
B.1.617.2wereprimarilyrespon-
sible for surge in cases with high
transmissibility of 50 per cent
more than Alpha variant
(B.1.1.7),” said the study, indi-
cating why India’s Covid ordeal
in May was the worst witnessed
in any country for any month
since the beginning of the pan-
demic, both in terms of the
absolute number of cases and
fatalities. India recorded nearly
90.3 lakh Covid cases in May
month itself. The
death toll from the
pandemic in May
was grimmer at
nearly 1.2 lakh
fatalities during the
month (over
1,19,000), which
was 2.5 times the
toll reported in the
country in April
(48,768).
INSACOG is a
grouping of ten
N a t i o n a l
Laboratories estab-
lishedby theUnion
Health Ministry.
The study was
launched to inves-
tigate what caused
the second surge.
The grouping
isentrustedtocarry
out genomic
sequencing and
analysis of circu-
lating Covid-19
viruses, and corre-
lating epidemio-
logical trends with
genomic variants.
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In 1972, the UN General
Assembly designated June 5
as World Environment Day
(WED). The first celebration,
under the slogan “Only One
Earth” took place in 1974. In
the following years, WED has
developed as a platform to
raise awareness on the issues
facing our environment like
pollution, illegal wildlife trade,
sustainable utilisation of
resources, rise in sea level and
food security among others.
The theme for the World
Environment Day 2021 is
“Ecosystem Restoration” and
will see the launch of the UN
Decade on Ecosystem
Restoration (2021-2030).
Ecosystem restoration means
assisting in the recovery of
ecosystems that have been
degraded or destroyed, as well
as conserving the ecosystems
that are still intact, and this
could be achieved by growing
trees, greening cities, creating
biodiversity parks, cleaning up
rivers and coasts and by saving
the green cover on the earth.
From 2010 to 2030, the restora-
tion of 350 million hectares of
degraded terrestrial and aquat-
ic ecosystems could generate
US$ nine trillion in ecosystem
services.
The restoration process
could also remove 13 to 26
gigatonnes of greenhouse gases
from the atmosphere. We must
consider the first slogan- “Only
One Earth” used for WED in
1974 to understand the current
pressure on the planet. How so
many people can sustainably
live and use the resources with
sustainable technologies with-
out harming the existence of
the earth itself?
The earth is overcrowded
and under pressure for extrac-
tion of its valuable resources.
There are air and water pollu-
tion, soil deterioration and
floods threatening our safety. It
is hard to visualise the limits to
the planet’s natural resources
when standing at the edge of an
ocean or the top of a mountain,
looking across the vast expanse
of earth’s water, forests, grass-
lands, lakes or deserts. We are
now 7.9 billion people with
annual growth of around 83
million or 1.1%. So many peo-
ple now inhabit the earth with
so much impact that scientists
have coined a new word to
describe our time, the
Anthropocene Epoch, which
explains the escalating human
influence on the environment
of the earth.
The release of CO2 into the
atmosphere is beginning to
alter the global climate. Species
are going extinct at a rate 100
to 1,000 times above the natural
rate. The scale of human appro-
priation of the products of
photosynthesis—the most fun-
damental process of the bios-
phere—has reached around
one-quarter to one-third of all
global Net Primary Production
(the rate of production of
organic compounds by the
green plants).
fter roughly 1,00,000 to
2,00,000 years of modern
humans remaining at very low
numbers (and with a very min-
imal impact on the planet), our
numbers began to grow around
4,000 years ago. That growth
began to accelerate over the
centuries until we were adding
more people each year than
had ever lived on earth at one
time prior to 500 BCE. While
global population has doubled
since the 1960s, per capita
GDP has grown to more than
10 times what it was then. Per
capita income for millions in
the developing world including
India and China is growing
rapidly, creating enormous
demand for material goods
and services. Life expectancy
has also increased globally —
by almost 20 years. That puts
twice as many people on the
planet, living about 40 per
cent longer and each person
consuming many times what
the average person in the 1960s
did. Most developing
economies are striving to close
the gap between their living
standards and those of devel-
oped economies. It has been
estimated that if everyone lived
the lifestyle of the average
American we would need five
planet earths to provide the
needed land, ecosystem goods
and services.
Living standards and con-
sumption need not be directly
equivalent to environmental
impact. Since population is a
multiplier of per capita impact,
the technological advances in
efficiency can be a divisor of
per capita impact.
A number of estimates
have been made as to how
many people the planet earth
could support, which is termed
as its carrying capacity. These
estimates of limits of human
population on earth vary dra-
matically.
A number of studies are
based on the available food.
One method assumed a set of
multiple possible constraints
(say food, water and fuel), and
whichever of these was in
shortest supply would set the
limit of population.
The degree to which
humankind can change its
interaction with the environ-
ment through technology can-
not be foreseen. For example,
availability of fossil fuels affects
food production
through fertiliser
production, pump-
ing of irrigation
water, use of farm
machinery and so
on for which we
depend on natural
gas. We do not
know how much
CO2 can be
released into the
atmosphere before
it may cause an
abrupt change in
the environment,
and how much rise
in surface temperature there
could be before the Antarctic
ice sheets would be at risk of
collapse.
It is also difficult to mea-
sure how much food, medicine,
heat, clothing, shelter and water
we require for each future
inhabitant. In the early 1970s a
group of computer scientists at
the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology developed a model
to define safe limits to our
impact on the earth system and
found that earth’s economic
system tends to stop growing
and collapse from reduced
availability of resources, over-
population, and pollution at
some point in the future.
Most mainstream econo-
mists acknowledge that
resources are limited but
assume that technology will
continue to increase our effi-
ciency in utilising those
resources. Footprint occurs
when humanity turns resources
into waste faster than waste can
be turned back into resources.
Fossil fuels which took hun-
dreds of millions of years to
form are being utilised at rates
far beyond the earth system’s
capacity to replace them.
According to Wackernagel and
co-workers, humanity uses the
equivalent of 1.5 planets to pro-
vide the resources we use and
absorb our waste which means
it now takes the earth one year
and six months to regenerate
what we use in a year.
(A fellow of Linnean Society
of London, the author is a former
principal professor of Botany
who has also researched the ecol-
ogy of the Himalaya other
mountain ranges).
*8(672/801
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Uttarakhand ranked third in
the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG)
index report 2020 released by
the NITI Aayog. The State
made considerable improve-
ment jumping to the third
position from the ninth posi-
tion achieved last year.
According to the SDG index
report 2020, Kerala has secured
first rank.
Uttarakhand has secured
third rank making considerable
progress compared to other
states in the fields of poverty
alleviation, food security,
decreasing malnutrition, water
and sanitation, energy, social
security, forest management
and law and order.
In what comes as a major
achievement for the state,
Uttarakhand is ranked first in
law and order, justice and
strong institutions.
Uttarakhand received 89 points
in eight aspects of this head to
top the category. Gujarat and
Mizoram secured second and
third ranks respectively.
Thanking the NITI Aayog for
this recognition, the state’s
director general of police,
Ashok Kumar credited the
consistent support being
received from the state admin-
istration and hard work of all
Uttarakhand police officers
and personnel for this achieve-
ment.
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Material should be airlifted
to expedite installation
of the Doppler radar at
Surkanda in Tehri district.
Disaster management secre-
tary SA Murugesan said this
while chairing a meeting to
review progress of Doppler
radar installation in Surkanda
and Lansdowne.
It was stated that one
Doppler radar was installed in
the past at Mukteshwar in
Nainital district. The data being
received from this rader is
being put to use in disaster mit-
igation and management by the
authorities. Murugesan asked
the state meteorological centre
director in-charge Rohit
Thapliyal that radar equip-
ment should be airlifted to the
site in Surkanda to expedite
installation of the radar there.
He also directed officials of the
Uttarakhand state disaster
management authority and
meteorological centre to visit
the site of the Doppler radar at
Lansdowne in Pauri district so
that work on installation of the
radar can be started soon.
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Gamble of Love is stated to
be India's first young adult
poker fiction according to the
publishers. Authored by Shukla
Ji, it explores the journey of
two orphaned prodigies - Alia,
a 17 year old prodigy in poker
and Suhana, an 18 year old
prodigy in explosives.
The author takes the read-
er through a thrilling journey
of these central characters as
they find solace in flawed yet
passionate relationships from
the past, unfulfilling a desire to
belong.
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73 people succumbed to
COVID-19 in Haryana as
895 fresh infections surfaced
in the last 24 hours. The
death toll on Friday stands at
8605 while the total case tally
reached 760914 in the state.
2456 people recovered
from the virus in the last 24
hours and the total recoveries
now stands at 741255, accord-
ing to the health bulletin. In
the last 24 hours, a maximum
of eight deaths each were
reported in Hisar and Sirsa.
Highest 70 fresh cases were
reported in Fatehabad dis-
trict. The state's active cases
were recorded at 11054, the
bulletin stated. The fatality
rate in Haryana stands at 1.13
percent while the recovery
rate was recorded at 97.42 per-
cent.
27 DEATHS, 787 CASES
IN HIMACHAL
Himachal on Friday
reported 27 COVID related
fatalities and 787 fresh cases.
According to the health bul-
letin, the death toll has
reached 3244 while the
COVID-19 caseload stands
at 193924.
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The cumulative count of
novel Coronavirus (Covid-
19) in Uttarakhand increased to
3,32,959 on Friday with the
state health department report-
ing 892 new cases of the dis-
ease.
The authorities also report-
ed death of 43 patients and 4006
recoveries from the disease on
the day. The death toll from the
disease is now at 6,631 in the
state. The samples of 24,172
suspected patients were sent for
testing on Friday and the sam-
ple positivity rate is at 6.78 per-
cent. Out of the 43 deaths
reported on Friday, 13 occurred
at All India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh.
The authorities also added 15
deaths in the toll which had
occurred in the past but were
not reported earlier. Out of
them 11 such deaths were
reported from CMI hospital
Dehradun.
The provisional state capi-
tal Dehradun reported 203,
Nainital 127, Haridwar 112,
Almora 96, Udham Singh
Nagar 76, Chamoli 54,
Pithoragarh 51, Tehri 46, Pauri
44, Rudraprayag 33,
Champawat 23, Bageshwar 15
and Uttarkashi 12 new cases of
the disease on Friday.
The state now has 19,283
active patients of the disease.
Haridwar is the top position in
the list of active cases with 3,344
cases. Chamoli has 2252,
Dehradun 1825, Pithoragarh
1,725, Pauri 1708, Tehri 1,537,
Nainital 1,452, Udham Singh
Nagar 1136, Bageshwar 1,069,
Almora 1,062, Champawat 775,
Rudraprayag 755, and
Uttarkashi 643 active cases of
the disease.
The state now has 260
patients of Black fungus and out
of them 36 have died while 16
have recovered from the dis-
ease.
In the ongoing vaccina-
tion drive 24,941 people were
vaccinated in 354 sessions in
different parts of the state on
Friday. A total of 6,86,315 peo-
ple have been fully vaccinated
while 22,96,460 have received
the first dose of the vaccine in
the state.
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Citing the efforts of the
state government for
successfully containing
the first wave of the pan-
demic of Covid -19 in
Uttarakhand during his
term in office, former
chief minister Trivendra
Singh Rawat said that
mass vaccination and
making arrangements for
protecting children
would hold key for suc-
cess in tackling the
expected third wave.
He was addressing
an online seminar on
combating Covid-19
organised by the Doon
University here on Friday.
Rawat said that when the
pandemic hit the state in
March last year the health
facilities were inadequate.
The construction of
Covid-19 hospitals, ICU,
oxygen cylinders, PPE
kits, manufacture of sani-
tisers, ambulances, isola-
tion wards and other
things were taken on war
footing. He said that the
Asha workers visited
every household, the
movement of people was
restricted and the provi-
sions of the disaster act
were enforced which
proved effective.
The former CM
opined that laxity result-
ed in an increase in cases
and the second wave
swept through the state
and the country. He said
that the universities and
colleges should under-
take awareness cam-
paigns for vaccination
and Covid appropriate
behaviour. Rawat sug-
gested that compulsory
vaccination and prepar-
ing separate wards for
children in hospitals with
arrangements for stay of
their parents and
appointment of paedia-
tricians are essential for
combating contagion
during the third wave of
pandemic.
The senior scientist
of wildlife institute of
India, S Satya Kumar
advocated setting up bio
bubbles in universities,
increasing online pro-
grammes, tackling false
information on social
media platforms in his
address. Former ambas-
sador to Sweden, Ashok
Sajjan said that the vac-
cine diplomacy under
which India provided
vaccines to other coun-
tries elevated the position
of the country in the
world. He exuded confi-
dence that soon vaccines
would be available in suf-
ficient numbers. The vice
chancellor (VC) of Doon
University, Surekha
Dangwal said that the
university is dedicatedly
working in the direction
of achieving academic
excellence. The VC of
Uttarakhand Open
University, OPS Negi,
advisor, higher educa-
tion K D Purohit, S P Sati,
Kusum Arunachalam,
registrar M S Mandrawal
and others were present
on the occasion.
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Criticising the Union
and state govern-
ments for shortage of
vaccines, the Pradesh
Congress Committee
(PCC) president Pritam
Singh has said people
should be vaccinated
free of cost and the vac-
cination drive should be
accelerated.
Addressing the
media persons at the
headquarters of
Uttarakhand Congress
here on Friday the PCC
president said that the
Union government is
responsible for severe
shortage of vaccines in
the country. He said
that in order to become
‘ Vishwa Guru’, the
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi export-
ed 6.63 crore doses of
vaccines to other coun-
tries which has resulted
in shortage of vaccines
in the country. Singh
also questioned differ-
ent rates at which the
manufacturers are pro-
viding vaccines. “The
Serum Institute of India
is providing its
Covishield at Rs 150 to
the union government,
Rs 300 to state govern-
ments and Rs 600 to the
private hospitals while
Bharat Biotech’s
Covaxin is available
at Rs 150, 600 and
1200 to Union gov-
ernment, state gov-
ernments and pri-
vate hospitals
respectively. This
clearly shows that
the government is
standing with the prof-
it seekers. Even the
Supreme Court has rep-
rimanded the govern-
ment on it,’’ he said.
The PCC President
said that the party has
sent a memorandum to
the President of India in
which a demand for
free vaccines to all citi-
zens was made. He said
that the government
should vaccinate at least
one crore people in a
day in order to protect
the population from the
pandemic.
The PCC president
that the Uttarakhand
government with much
fanfare had promised
free vaccination for 18-
44 year age population
but this claim has fallen
flat as vaccines are not
available.
He said that due to
non availability of vac-
cines people are forced
to pay for vaccines in
private hospitals. Singh
also targeted the state
government for provid-
ing home isolation kits
to the Covid-19 patients
sans the oximeters and
thermometers. He said
that the government has
declared Black Fungus
an epidemic but has
made no arrangements
to tackle the disease.
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Chief Minister Tirath Singh
Rawat visited Rudrapur in
Udham Singh Nagar and
Haridwar on Friday. He inau-
gurated and unveiled various
development works and
checked the arrangements for
Covid-19 treatment in both the
districts. While stressing on
increased testing and vaccina-
tion, Rawat said that the state
government is fully prepared
for the probable third wave. He
also interacted with Covid
patients in both the districts.
Reaching the under con-
struction government medical
college in Rudrapur, the CM
inaugurated and unveiled the
foundation stones for various
developmental works amount-
ing to Rs 3069 lakh. Rawat also
inspected the under construc-
tion government medical col-
lege. Donning PPE kit along
with MP Ajay Bhatt and local
MLAs, the CM also interacted
with Covid patients in the
Covid ward and ICU. He said
that all doctors, medical staff
along with the district admin-
istration, voluntary organisa-
tions, public representatives
and industrial bodies had con-
tributed substantially in the
fight against Covid-19. He then
visited the vaccination centre at
Radha Soami Satsang Beas
where he also interacted with
those who had come for vac-
cination.
Later in Haridwar, the CM
inspected the government Mela
hospital and Dudhadhari Baba
Barfani Covid hospital. He
inaugurated various works
amounting to about Rs 970
lakh on the occasion.
While inspecting the Covid
hospitals, the CM donned PPE
kit and interacted with the
Covid patients. He also praised
the work of the doctors and
medical staff. He said that the
state government is fully com-
mitted to controlling Covid-19
and protecting the people in
the fight against the pandem-
ic. Appealing to the public to
cooperate, he said that all will
have to follow the Covid guide-
lines properly while also focus-
ing on the vaccination. Later,
after inaugurating various
development works worth Rs
970 lakh, the chief minister
chaired a review meeting in the
Mela control room. The district
magistrate C Ravishankar
informed Rawat about the
measures being taken in
Haridwar district regarding
Covid-19. The local public
representatives also informed
the chief minister about the
issues being faced in their
respective areas. Rawat
expressed satisfaction at the
Covid related works being
undertaken in Haridwar dis-
trict.
He stressed on the need for
increased testing and raising
awareness on vaccination while
stating that the state govern-
ment is fully prepared for the
probable third wave. He also
directed that all departments
should complete their prepa-
rations for tackling disaster
scenarios during the coming
monsoon season. Cabinet min-
ister Satpal Maharaaz, local
MLAs and officials concerned
were also among those present
on the occasion.
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Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Friday appreciat-
ed the Indian scientists for
making India self-reliant on
Covid-19 vaccines, testing kits,
necessary equipment and new
medicines while he described
pandemic as the biggest chal-
lenge of this century.
Addressing a meeting of
the Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR)
Society through video confer-
ence, the Prime Minister com-
plimented the scientists for
the scale and speed at which
the vaccines , testing kits, new
effective medicines and other
equipment were made within a
year, to save humanity from the
pandemic.
He praised scientists for
developing made-in-India vac-
cine against Covid and boost-
ing other measures to fight the
pandemic within a year of its
outbreak.
Modi remarked that the
Corona pandemic has emerged
as the biggest challenge of this
century. But , he said, whenever
there was a big humanitarian
crisis in the past, science has
prepared the way for a better
future.
He said the scientists in
India are working with speed
and at par with other countries.
Prime Minister said that bring-
ing science and technology at
par with developed countries is
better for the industry and the
market.
Modi said CSIR works as
an institutional arrangement to
keep the Science, Society and
Industry on the same page.
This institution of ours has
given so many talents and sci-
entists to the country like
Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar who
gave leadership to this institu-
tion, he said.
CSIR's role, Prime Minister
said is important as today’s
goals of the country and
dreams of Today's India wants
to be self-reliant and empow-
ered in every sector, from
biotechnology to battery tech-
nologies, from Agriculture to
Astronomy, from Disaster
Management to Defense
Technology, from Vaccines to
Virtual Reality.
He praised the CSIR for
starting to take suggestions
from people following his
advice. Modi appreciated the
CSIR for its role in the Aroma
mission launched in 2016 and
said today thousands of farm-
ers of the country are changing
their fortunes through flori-
culture. He also lauded CSIR
for helping in cultivation of
asafoetida within the country
for which India was dependent
on imports.
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Casuals are passé in the CBI.
The agency has issued
guidelines directing all its
offices across the country to
ensure that all the personnel,
including women staffers, wear
formal attire in office.
The agency’s directive dis-
allows women from wearing
casual attire like jeans, T-shirts,
sports shoes and chappals.
Likewise, the men will not be
allowed with informal dress or
without a shave so as to avoid
an unkempt appearance.
Women employees will
only be allowed to wear suits,
sarees, formal shirts and
trousers in office premises.
The latest move comes just
over a week after 1985-batch
Maharashtra cadre IPS officer
Subodh Kumar Jaiswal took
charge as the CBI Director on
May 26.
Through an order titled
“proper office attire” issued by
the administration wing, the
CBI has noted, “Of late, it has
been observed that several offi-
cials/staff are not attired prop-
erly in office. All employees are
henceforth required to adhere
to the guidelines regarding
office attire.”
For male employees, the
agency has prescribed collared
shirts, trousers/formal pants
and formal shoes. Male
employees are also required to
come to the office with “prop-
er shaving.”
For women employees, it
said, “No jeans, T-shirts, sports
shoes, chappals and casual
attire are allowed in the office.”
“All the HsoB (Heads of
Branches) may please ensure
that guidelines are strictly
adhered,” reads the order issued
on Thursday.
The copy has been marked
to the Director of CBI,
Additional Directors, Director
of Prosecution, all Heads of
Branch and all Heads of Zones.
Unlike police forces in the
State, the CBI is not a uni-
formed organization despite
being categorized as a Central
Police Organisation. The
agency is a premier anti-cor-
ruption investigation agency at
the federal level which also
undertakes investigation of
special crimes following direc-
tive from the Supreme Court
and High Court besides refer-
ence from the State govern-
ments.
Officials said the decision
has been taken as a formal
dress imparts a sense of disci-
pline and alertness as against
informal attire which only
leaves the impression of a casu-
al approach to work in an
office setting.
This is probably the first
such instance in which the
agency has issued an express
directive for wearing formal
attire by the personnel, both
men and women.
Associate Professor of
Psychology at Gargi College,
Delhi University, Dr Poonam
Phogat said, “Formal attire at
formal places is the universal
norm, especially when the
employees are physically
reporting to office. Though,
nowadays, jeans are considered
formal at most places, they
should not be torn or haggard.”
Women employees will
have “opinion” on the dress
code, but it’s a universal norm
to wear formal clothes and
there is no problem with any
kind of formal attire. “Here CBI
is not talking about women
being decently covered but it is
about not being casual in
appearance. Also, the same
goes with men who are
required to be clean shaven and
turn up well kept for office
work,” Dr Phogat added.
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The Supreme Court on
Friday dismissed a plea
challenging the Delhi High
Court order granting anticipa-
tory bail to a Mumbai-based
journalist in a rape case lodged
against him by a 22-year-old
woman.
“We find no reason to
interfere. The special leave
petition is dismissed,” said a
vacation Bench of Justices
Navin Sinha and Ajay Rastogi
while rejecting the plea filed by
the complainant.
The High Court had on
May 13 granted anticipatory
bail to journalist Varun
Hiremath in the case.
The complainant has
alleged that she was raped by
the accused at a five-star hotel
in Chanakyapuri on February
20.
Hiremath had approached
the high court after his antici-
patory bail plea was dismissed
by a trial court here on March
12.
Senior advocate Nitya
Ramakrishnan, appearing for
the petitioner, argued in the
apex court that the accused had
earlier absconded for 50 days
and he also evaded the non-
bailable warrant.
“The question is of normal
human conduct and behaviour.
If a man and woman are in a
room, the man makes a request
and the woman complies with
it, do we need to say anything
more?,” the bench observed
during the hearing, and added,
“Whatever we are saying is lim-
ited to the purpose of cancel-
lation of anticipatory bail only
and we are not going into the
larger question of consent at
this stage”.
?=BQ =4F34;78
With Assembly sessions
getting impacted by the
Covid-19 pandemic, States
used the Ordinance route more
for making laws in 2020. And
most of the laws that were
enacted were “without detailed
scrutiny”.
Data from 19 States show
that on an average they pro-
mulgated 14 Ordinances over
the last year with Kerala alone
coming out with 81
Ordinances. As for Bills, the
states passed an average of 22
Bills (excluding Appropriation
Bills) with Karnataka topping
the list with 61 Bills, the high-
est in the country, followed by
Andhra Pradesh with 41 legis-
lations. The lowest was by
Delhi, which passed one Bill.
West Bengal and Kerala each
passed two and three Bills,
respectively.
Nearly half of the 81
Ordinances promulgated by
Kerala were the ones that were
re-promulgated, i.e., the same
Ordinance was issued again
after an intervening session,
according to the report of PRS
Legislative, an NGO. Karnataka
(24), Uttar Pradesh (23),
Maharashtra (21) and Andhra
Pradesh (16) followed Kerala
vis a vis Ordinances.
In 2020, the State
Assemblies also sat for fewer
days compared to their average
sittings in 2016-19, as per data
of 19 state legislatures analysed
by PRS Legislative.
The report shows that
states had passed 29 laws relat-
ed to agriculture and these laws
encompass a range of subject
matters, including agriculture
marketing and agricultural
land laws.
State legislatures passed
most Bills without detailed
scrutiny as 59 percent of the
Bills were passed on the same
day that they were introduced
in the legislature. “A further
14% were passed within a day
of being introduced. Only 9%
of the Bills were passed more
than five days after introduc-
tion (some of these were
referred to a committee for fur-
ther examination),” it said.
“States that passed all Bills
on the same day as their intro-
duction include Bihar (13),
Jharkhand (8), Madhya
Pradesh (5), and Punjab (26).
Some states like Haryana (34
out of 35 Bills) and Uttar
Pradesh (32 out of 37 Bills)
passed most of their Bills on the
same day as their introduction.
States like Karnataka and
Rajasthan passed a majority of
their Bills two or more days
after their introduction in the
legislature. In both states, 37%
of Bills had a gap of at least five
days between their introduc-
tion and passing,” the report
said.
The 19 states met for an
average of 18 days in the year
as the meetings were affected
due to COVID-19. In contrast,
between 2016 and 2019, these
19 states met for an average of
29 days a year. In 2020,
Karnataka (31 days) met for
the highest number of days,
followed by Rajasthan (29
days), and Himachal Pradesh
(25 days). Kerala dropped
from an average of 53 days in
the previous four years to
meeting for just 20 days in
2020. Note that Parliament
met for 33 days in 2020,” the
report said.
The report said that Kerala
has constituted 14 subject com-
mittees for examining Bills
while in some states like Goa,
Karnataka, and Maharashtra,
select committees (adhoc com-
mittees) were constituted for
scrutinising important Bills.
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The CRPF has recalled all its
doctors and paramedical
staff on sanctioned long leave
to augment requirements of
their services at various hospi-
tals of the paramilitary for
treatment of Covid-hit patients.
“There is a remarkable
upsurge of Covid-19 positive
cases in the second wave of the
pandemic in the country and
the Covid Care Centres and
Composite Hospitals of CRPF
are facing great difficulties to
provide treatment to Covid
patients due to scarcity of ade-
quate strength of Medical
Officers and paramedical staff,”
reads a recent order.
It further said there is a
“huge” vacancy of paramedical
staff (almost 42 per cent.
Besides this, medical officers
and paramedical staff have
also been detailed outside the
Force for deployment at Covid
Care Centres at DRDO Covid
hospitals in Ahmedabad and
Delhi Cantonment as also
Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre
at Chattarpur in the national
capital.
“Some of the Medical
Officers and paramedical staff
in the force are on long leave as
a routine manner. Therefore,
the scarcity of Medical Officers
and paramedical staff in the
Force may somehow be
resolved if they are recalled
from long leave,” said the order
issued by the Medical
Directorate of the CRPF.
Now onwards, medical
officers and paramedical staff
may not be sent on leave except
in extreme emergencies during
the Covid crisis situation.
“As approved by the com-
petent authority, medical offi-
cers and paramedical staff who
have proceeded on long leave
in routine manner may be
recalled from leave, except
those who are in leave due to
extreme emergency for a short
period so that their services can
be utilized in various Covid
Care Centres, Composite
Hospitals and Unit Hospitals in
handling the Covid-19 pan-
demic,” it added.
The paramilitary has a
large number of hospitals with
an authorized pool of about
740 doctors, including spe-
cialists and over 3,000 para-
medical and nursing staff.
Till last week, a total of
23,588 CRPF personnel con-
tracted the viral disease of
which 21,649 patients recov-
ered from the pandemic and
121 personnel succumbed to
coronavirus infection. As many
as 1,818 patients continued to
suffer from the coronavirus
infection during the period. All
these figures are highest among
the paramilitary forces.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Senior BJP leader and
Union Minister Prakash
Javadekar on Friday sought to
advise Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi that he should first
look after States ruled by his
party like Punjab before ser-
monising others on
the Covid-19
management.
Rahul Gandhi should
first look after his (Congress-
ruled) States rather than giv-
ing lectures to others. Punjab
Government has been pro-
vided more than 1.40 lakh
doses of Covaxin at C 400 and
they have given it to 20 pri-
vate hospitals at C1,000, said
Javadekar.
He said the Government
of India has given 22 crore
Covid vaccine doses to all
states for free and it is the
state governments that had
demanded decentralisation
of Covid vaccines.
Now when it has been
done, the States are demand-
ing centralising the vaccine
supply, said the senior BJP
leader.
The Union Minister
accused the Punjab
Government of ignoring the
people for petty
politics.
Punjab is affected by
corona. The vaccination drive
is not being managed prop-
erly. Their internal fight has
been going on for the last six
months. The entire Punjab
government and Congress
Party has been in Delhi for
the last 3-4 days. Who will
look after Punjab? Even for
COVID vaccination, the state
government wants to earn a
profit. What kind of public
administration is this?,
wondered Javadekar.
The BJP leader's remarks
come amidst internal politi-
cal rift in the Punjab
Congress and an ongoing tug
of war for the state leadership
between Chief Minister
Captain Amarinder Singh and
the dissident Congress leader
Navjot Singh Sidhu
A day before, former
Congrees President had
alleged that the Modi-gov-
ernment is hiding
actual COVID-19
deaths.
Government of India is
hiding actual Covid deaths,
he tweeted and demanded
free COVID-19 vaccination
in the country.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Even as the Government on Friday
said that it has been working with
Bharat Biotech and World Health
Organisations to share data to get
approval for its vaccine Covaxin, the
Hyderabad-based pharma major and
Ocugen expanded their partnership to
co-develop, supply and commercialise
the Covid-19 vaccine in Canada.
In the meantime, the DCGI has
granted permission to the Serum
Institute of India (SII), which is cur-
rently manufacturing Covishield to
manufacture the Sputnik Covid-19
vaccine in India for examination, test
and analysis with certain conditions.
Bharat Biotech said more than 30
million doses have been supplied in
India and other countries. “EUAs
(emergency use authorisation) are
approved in 13 countries and in the
process in more than 60 countries,” it
said in a statement here. Occugen
already had the rights to commer-
cialise Covaxin in the US. It will retain
45 per cent of the profits from sales of
Covaxin in the US and Canada.
Shankar Musunuri, chairman, chief
executive and co-founder of Ocugen,
said: “As we work towards the sub-
mission of the emergency use appli-
cation in the US, we will simultane-
ously seek authorisation under inter-
im order for emergency use in
Canada.”
The company is also working
with the WHO to get Covaxin listed
in the WHO-Emergency Use List
(EUL). The company has said it
expects the EUL between July and
September. It had submitted a dossier
with the WHO. Some more details
have been sought, which is likely to be
submitted soon.
The country is looking forward to
World Health Organization (WHO)'s
approval for Bharat Biotech's Covaxin,
the Government noted on Friday. It
further said that 'the milestone will be
achieved soon' and 'the process of data
sharing is going on.'
Dr. VK Paul, Member (Health)
Niti Aayog, during a press briefing
regarding the coronavirus situation in
India, said, We have been working
with Bharat Biotech and WHO, data
sharing is on, we are keen that this
milestone is achieved soon. We are
pursuing it.
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India has overtaken the US in terms of
the number of people who have
received at least a single dose of the vac-
cine, the Union Health Ministry said on
Friday even as it noted that almost 68
per cent decline has been noted in
Covid-19 cases since the highest report-
ed peak of cases on May 7.
There has been a decrease in active
cases by more than 21 lakh since the
peak of active cases on May 10, it said,
adding that 377 districts are reporting
less than 5 per cent case positivity rate.
We have to buy time to ensure high
coverage of vaccination against Covid-
19 is achieved, it said.
About 43 percent of the 60 years
plus population has been vaccinated,
while 37 per cent people above 45 years
have been inoculated so far, the
Government said.
The cumulative number of Covid-
19 vaccine doses administered in the
country exceeded 22.75 Crore
(22,75,67,873) as per the 7 pm provi-
sional report on Friday.
According to the data, around
16,23,602 beneficiaries of the age group
18-44 years received their first dose and
31,217 beneficiaries of the same age
group received their second dose of
Covid vaccine. Cumulatively, 2,58,45,901
persons across 37 States/UTs have
received their first dose and a total
1,18,299 have received their second dose
since the start of Phase-3 of the vacci-
nation drive.
Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana,
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu,
Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have
administered more than 10 lakh bene-
ficiaries of the age group 18-44 years for
the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, said
the Ministry.
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KN Balagopal, the new
Finance Minister of Kerala
presented his first budget on
Friday in which he has left the
people unscathed without bur-
dening them with new taxes of
any kind. While blaming the
Central Government led by
Narendra Modi for all the ills
faced by the State during the
last five years, Balagopal waxed
eloquent on Chief Minister
Pinarayi Vijayan for the sterling
leadership provided by the lat-
ter which the Finance Minister
claims saved the State and its
people.
The uniqueness of the bud-
get 2021-2022 that envisages a
revenue deficit of C16,910.12
crore is a Covid package of
C20,000 crore with which the
Finance Minister hopes to offer
free vaccine to all those above
18 years of age. T
hough there are no major
investment plans to set up
industrial complexes which
alone would address the unem-
ployment problem faced by
the State, Balagopal declared a
fund of C2,000 crore to make
additional working capital avail-
able for the MSME units in the
State and C1,000 crore for
Kudumbasree Units in the State.
The Finance Minister said
he would come back to the
House with scemes to mobilise
additional resources after the
pandemic subsides. “I will sure-
ly announce ways and means to
mop up additional revenue
with new taxes and how to cut
administrative costs,” said the
minister.
Kerala Government would
set up a major liquid oxygen
plant with 150 tonne capacity to
ramp up oxygen production in
the State. He said that there has
been a dip of 3.8 per cent in the
Gross Domestic Production of
the State during 2019-2020 and
the State has been left with no
income.
Hari Kartha, economist-
turned-political commentator
who has been studying the
annual budgets of the State for
more than three decades
described the budget presented
by Balagopal as illusory and
unrealistic. “This revised bud-
get is nithing other than a rit-
ual. Balagopal has announced
a Covid package of C20,000
crore in addition to what pre-
decessor Issac has done. But
where does the money come
from? He was lavish in
announcing schemes despite
several fiscal crisis. They lack
credibility for want of additional
resource mobilization mea-
sures. The debt trap is getting
tightened over Kerala. The
Finance Minister’s hopes are on
KIIFB (Kerala Infrastructure
Investment Fund Board ) which
itself is a controversial institu-
tion. The CAG has pulled up
KIIFB for its unconstitutional
style of fiscal management,”
pointed out Kartha.
More scathing was the
assessment by Prof B
Vijayakumar, economist and
author. “The finance minister
is silent about how he is going
to generate 40 lakh jobs as
promised in the election man-
ifesto of the CPI(M)-led LDF.
There is no hint of any indus-
trialization drive in the budget
speech. Cochin, once the
industrial hub of Kerala has
become an industrial grave-
yard. The budget speech is full
of criticism of the Central
Government even while the
State re-packages re-names and
market the programmes
announced by the Centre. The
LDF Government is good in
coming out with attractive
labels for its projects. In 2019-
2020 people were charmed
with New Kerala
Reconstruction Programme
and the scheme has not taken
off till date. This budget is silent
about the entire project. The
State Government has forgot-
ten its own announcement,”
said Prof Vijayakumar.
Leader of the Opposition V
D Satheeshan, Prof
Vikayakumar and Kartha were
unanimous in congratulating
the Finance Minister for
restricting the budget speech
for just one hour.
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With a number of
Trinamool Congress
turncoats making a beeline for
a Ghar Wapsi— post the TMC’s
fantastic victory in the
Assembly elections — a fresh
tug of war seems to have start-
ed over senior BJP leaders like
Mukul Roy who was among the
earliest migrants to the saffron
outfit.
According to sources
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
on Thursday called up the for-
mer Railway Minister to
enquire after the health of his
wife who is recuperating in a
Kolkata hospital. This, hours
after Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee’s nephew and
Diamond Harbour MP
Abhishek Banerjee met the
BJP vice president personally to
express his concern.
“She is like my mother
and has seen me from my
childhood … so where is the
harm if I come to enquire
after her health … politics is
one thing and decorum is
another,” Banerjee said after
meeting Roy in the hospital.
The timing of junior
Banerjee’s visit and the Prime
Minister’s call are crucial at a
time when at least half-a-dozen
migrants who left Trinamool to
join the BJP ahead of the polls
have conceded their “blunder”
sought a public apology from
the Chief Minister and asked
for a reinstatement.
Among these leaders are
former Assembly Deputy
Speaker Sonali Guha, foot-
baller-turned-TMC MLA
Dipendu Biswas, Sarala
Murmu and Amal Acharya.
The buzz is that even heavy
duties like Rajib Banerjee, a for-
mer Minister who left the party
weeks before the polls, was also
considering a return.
In fact the TMC is likely to
hold a high-level meeting on
Saturday to decide on the Ghar
Wapsi plea of the defecting
leaders, sources said adding
however that senior leaders
like Sougato Roy have advised
the leadership to put an embar-
go on such homecoming for
the defectors for at least six
months.
Coming back to Roy,
though the BJP vice president
said a fortnight ago that he
would continue to remain an
ardent soldier of the BJP an FB
post by his son and former
TMC MLA Subhrangshu Roy
— who too later joined the saf-
fron outfit — has raised eye-
brows in the opposition outfit.
While BJP leaders attacked the
Trinamool Government for
post poll-violence he wrote
“Self-criticism is more neces-
sary than criticising a
Government elected by people.”
While the other leaders
seeking Ghar Wapsi may have
their individual political com-
pulsions for Roy it is slightly
different some of his followers
in the BJP say. According to
sources the Roy camp is unhap-
py with the BJP leadership
that preferred Suvendu
Adhikari — who switched sides
just before the elections— over
the former Railway Minister for
the State Opposition Leader’s
post.
“Our dada is being con-
stantly sidelined by a section of
the party which is not pleasant
for a person of his seniority,” a
follower of the leader said
refusing to dwell however on
whether he would take a deci-
sion in near future.
Meanwhile in an apparent
bid to placate Roy the State BJP
leadership is considering his
name as the Chairman of the
Assembly’s Public Accounts
Committee. “We have quite a
few names but two names are
doing the rounds: these are of
Mukul Roy and Ashok Lahiri,”
a source said.
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The Centre has said that it
would soon consider the
reply letter of former Bengal
Chief Secretary Alapan
Bandyopadhyay on whom New
Delhi had slapped a show-
cause notice for dereliction of
duty under Disaster
Management Act for allegedly
skipping a meeting called by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
to deliberate on the post-
cyclone situation at Kalaikunda
late last month.
According to sources a
two-pronged reply had reached
the Centre — first one from
Bandyopadhyay himself and
the second one from present
Bengal Chief Secretary HK
Dwivedi.
Bandyopadhyay the for-
mer Chief Secretary who
retired on May 31 before being
made the Chief Advisor to
Chief Minister had sent a
–four-page reply to the Centre
explaining his conduct.
Sources in the Centre ear-
lier said that “West Bengal for-
mer Chief Secretary Alapan
Bandyopadhyay had to brief
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and follow up. But when the
Prime Minister arrived at the
briefing he was not present.
And after being contacted by
the Prime Minister`s entourage
he came for the meeting room
and left without attending the
review meeting.”
Subsequently a show-cause
notice was served to
Bandyopadhyay last Monday
for failing to report to the
Department of Personnel and
Training (DoPT) as directed by
the Central Government.
The development took
place after Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee skipped the
review meeting chaired by the
Prime Minister May 28.
Bandyopadhyay who had
accompanied the Chief
Secretary too left the meeting
along with the Chief Minister
who later said that the reason
behind her skipping the meet-
ing was the presence at the
venue of the State Opposition
Leader Suvendu Adhikari.
“This was against the brief
as no MLA can be present in
the meeting between Prime
Minister and Chief Minister,”
she said.
:D0A274;;0??0=Q :278
AP Abdullakutty, the
Muslim face of Kerala BJP
who is also the national Vice-
President of the party denied
media reports that his house in
Kannur was raided by the
Vigilance and Anti-Corruption
officials on Friday.
“It is true that officers of
the department of Vigilance
and Anti-Corruption had
called me on Friday. But it was
at my instance that they came
to my house for recording a
statement in connection with
the Light and Sound Show
held at Kannur in 2014 during
my tenure as a member of the
Legislative Assembly. Though
I had expressed my willingness
to record the statement in their
office itself, they too told me
that they would drop into my
house,”Abdullakutty said in his
social media page.
He said the sound and
light show organized by the
District Tourism Promotion
Council was enmeshed in cor-
ruption and called for a thor-
ough probe into the whole
affair. “My involvement in the
Show was limited to that of a
law maker and I do not have
any role in it,” said the BJP
leader.
The entire media including
the 24X7 news channels had
aired reports that the BJP
leader’s house was raided by the
Vigilance officials in connec-
tion with corruption charges
only to retrack the same by
evening.
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Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot said on
Friday that the State
Government is working
towards strengthening the
health services infrastructure at
the Panchayat level in the face
of the dreadful second wave of
corona infection and the fear of
the a third wave.
The cooperation of
Bhamashahs and industrial-
ists is important in giving
shape to the resolve to provide
better health services to the
people of the State. 2WX[SaT]QPcWTX]PfPcTacP]ZSdaX]VPW^cSPhX]9Pd^]5aXSPh ?C8
B0D60AB4=6D?C0Q :;:0C0
Bengal may too walk in the
footsteps of the Centre and
some other States that have
cancelled the Classes X and XII
Board exams. According to
sources a six-member expert
committee which was appoint-
ed by Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee to decide on the fate of
the Board exams have opined
that it is not advisable to hold
the exams and putting at risk the
well-being of 21 lakh students
and their guardians.
Incidentally the experts
committee had been set up
soon after the Chief Minister
announced that exams would
indeed be held in the months of
July and August.
According to sources the
Committee is in favour of either
giving some home assignments
to the Class XII students or ask-
ing them to appear for home
online test. They have also
advised the Government to
assess the students by their
performance in the practical
exams for the Science stream
and Project assignments for
the Humanities and Commerce
streams.
However some other peo-
ple have wondered whether
online test would be a feasible
idea as not all the students have
smart phones or laptops par-
ticularly in the wake of the dis-
aster that cyclone Yaas left in
North and South 24 Parganaas
and East Midnapore districts.
As for the Class X Board
exams the Committee has said
that as they had not appeared
for any pre-board exams marks
could be allotted to them on the
basis of their Class IX exams as
also the internal assessment
marks.
Kolkata: Soon after roaring
back to power for the third time
in a row the Trinamool
Congress has set out to deal
rather strongly with the defec-
tors, sources have said.
In a two-pronged strategy
while ‘files’ are being prepared
for some corrupt “weather birds
who made money and then left
at their convenience,” the
“opportunist MPs” who left the
party legal steps are being taken,
sources said. According to
insiders TMC Lok Sabha Leader
Sudip Bandopadhyay has spo-
ken to Speaker Om Birla seek-
ing disqualification of MPs Sisir
Adhikari and Sunil Mondal
who deserted the party days
before the Assembly elections.
He has sought their disqualifi-
cation under anti-defection
laws. Adhikari a former Union
Minister and a powerful East
Mindapore satrap is the father
of Bengal Opposition Leader
Suvendu Adhikari who too
defected to the BJP months
before the State polls.
E4e`UVTZUV`_8YRcHRadZ`Wefc_T`Red
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C=A067D=0C70Q D108
In a major relief to
Mucormycosis (Black
Fungus) and suspected
Mucormycosis patients under-
going treatment at private hos-
pitals in the State, the
Maharashtra Government on
Friday imposed a limit on
treatment and surgery costs to
be recovered from all those
patients not patients not cov-
ered by any health insurance or
bilateral agreements between
the hospital and corporate
groups and all those who have
exhausted their health insur-
ance covers.
Cracking the whip hospi-
tals charging exorbitant rates
for Mucormycosis and sus-
pected Mucormycosis
patients, the Maharashtra
Government made it manda-
tory for hospitals, nursing
homes and clinics to increase
their bed capacity as per the
norms prescribed under the
Maharashtra Nursing Home
Amendment Act 2006 to
accommodate maximum num-
ber of patients and not to
charge rates more than what
has been prescribed by it
through its notification dated
June 3, 2021.
The State Government also
made it clear to the private
healthcare providers that “there
shall be no difference in the
quality of treatment being
meted out to patients treated
against the same rates pre-
scribed under its notification
and also the insured patients.
“Items/services which are not
part of GIPSA-PPN or TPA
package rates, shol not be
charged more than 10 per cent
mark on net procurement
cost incurred,” the notification
said.
Chief Minister Uddhav
Thackeray on Friday approved
a proposal by the Health
Ministry fixing the charges to
be levied by all private hospi-
tals, till July 31.
Under the notification, the
State Government has fixed
graded per day rates of C4,000,
C3,000 and C2,400 for A, B and
C-class cities respectively for
isolation, C7500, C5,500 and
C4,500 respectively as per day
ICU Isolation charges without
ventilator for A, B and C-class
citiesy and C9,000, C6,700 and
C5,400 per day respectively as
ICU Isolation with ventilator
charges for A, B and C-class
cities respectively.
The State Government also
made it mandatory for private
healthcare providers to dis-
play prominently the rateds
applicable for Mucormycosis
and suspected Mucormycosis
patients.
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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
announcedtosetupwomenspecialcampsinevery
district to ensure maximum participation of women
in the Covid-19 vaccination. In order to motivate
women to get their vaccine doses, Yogi instructed the
officials to start women special vaccination camps in
all the 75 districts of the State, an official said here on
Friday.
Like the guardian special booths, at least two spe-
cial booths — one for the 18+ category and anoth-
er for the 45+ group — will be set up in each dis-
trict.mThese camps will operate in District Women
Hospitals or District Joint Hospitals. Such camps will
also be set up in the Tehsil Headquarters or Block
Headquarters level.
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C=A067D=0C70Q D108
The Covid-19 infections
dropped to 14,152 in
Maharashtra on Friday, even as
the daily deaths soared to an all
time high of 1,377— a tally that
included the 1,088 previous
unaccounted deaths.
A day after Maharashtra
logged 15,229 infections and
643 deaths, the daily infections
came down to 14,152.
However, the daily deaths
more than doubled to touch
1,377. The daily deaths com-
prised 289 current ones and
1088 previous unaccounted
fatalities which were added to
the state’s progressive tally.
Earlier on May 23, the
deaths in the State had peaked
to 1,320 — which comprised
398 deaths that occurred in the
previous 48 hours, 196 that
took place during the previous
week and 726 old unaccount-
ed deaths. Otherwise, the daily
deaths in the state have been
ranging between 500 to 1000
during the recent weeks.
With 1,377 deaths report-
ed in Maharashtra on Friday,
the total number of deaths in
the state climbed from 97,394
to 98,771. Similarly, with 14,152
new infections, the total num-
ber of cases climbed from
57,91,413 to 58,05,565.
As 20,852 patients were
discharged from the hospitals
across the state after full recov-
ery, the total number of people
discharged from the hospitals
since the second week of March
last year increased from
54,86,206 to 55,07,058. The
recovery rate in the state rose
from 94.73 per cent to 94.86
per cent. The total “active
cases” in the state dropped
2,04,974 to 1,96,894. The fatal-
ity rate in the state rose from
1.68 per cent to 1.70 per cent.
Mumbai logged 968 infec-
tions, while it logged 15 deaths.
As a consequence, the Covid-
19 toll in the metropolis
increased from 14,907 to
14,922, while the infected cases
went up by 968 to trigger a
jump in the infections from
7,08,026 to 7,08,994.
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6. Sabha seats, leaders within
hisownpartymighttrytocoa-
lesce with the Opposition
members. A coalition would-
n’t want Modi. Two such lead-
ers were hopefully hovering.
When the results gave
Modi more than 300 seats, all
patrons of the Nehruvian par-
adise were broken-hearted.
Not finding anything to criti-
cise, they grabbed any mud to
fling at him. Demonetisation
was “a blunder” because it
destroyed the “informal” sec-
tor, by which they meant the
black money sector. Even
scholarsonTVdebatesrepeat-
edly said the informal sector
was “very valuable” to the
Indian economy. Their stand
came from estimates that 40
per cent of the economy was
black. Next, the historic intro-
duction of the Goods and
Services Tax — one country
one sales tax — was abused. It
would earlier take a truck
seven days to deliver, but now
takes only three. The GST has
made it dangerous to evade
evenincometax.Modi’sadver-
saries called the tax “badly
administered”, conveniently
forgetting that it was original-
lytheiridea,possiblyproposed
in the hope that all States
wouldn’t accept it. But (late)
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
succeeded in what has been a
long-term boon for the econ-
omy, already very useful. The
GST has killed a big perquisite
for the denizens of Nehru’s
paradise.
Article 370 was deeply
divisive to Indians, more
potentially than seemed until
now. It carried within the
potential of secession, not
only of Kashmir but also
elsewhere. It was perpetuat-
ed to keep aflame the Hindu
Muslim divide. The country
was surprised to find no
great reaction to this bold
step. Pakistan made some
noise but then kept quiet;
lately its Foreign Minister
too stated on the floor of the
National Assembly that
Article 370 is India’s domes-
tic matter.
Corruption has been sig-
nificantly reduced at higher
levels. Among the Ministers,
therehavebeennocomplaints.
Modi has himself set a sterling
example. And there has been
little coercion.
Black money has not dis-
appeared,butismuchreduced.
With taxes low enough, pay-
ment in white is gradually
becoming the habit. India is
becomingdigital,asistheneed
in the modern world. Decades
ago, Swedish scholar Gunnar
Myrdal had categorised States
into soft and strong; India was
a soft State; Modi’s gover-
nance has set it on the path of
becoming a strong one.
Pakistan has learnt several
lessons; Kashmir is quiet.
China’sbehaviourhaschanged
afterGalwan.ImagineaPrime
Minister turning up within
fourdaysatLadakhtovisitour
injured soldiers in hospital
and addressed our troops.
What a difference that gesture
made. No other leader in
India has done anything of the
like before.
Another way of explain-
ing this is that India was a half
sovereign State, whereby it
was not effective and its writ
did not run up to all its fron-
tiers. This was so even
domestically in some ways.
Whenever a central Minister
was alleged to be corrupt, the
Prime Minister would wrig-
gle out of his responsibility
terming the accused to be a
coalition partner, not the
PM’s party. Narendra Modi
has taken India on the road
to strength and full sovereign-
ty. Those who thrived in the
erstwhile paradise do not
know what has hit them.
(Thewriterisawell-known
columnist and an author. The
views expressed are personal.)
7
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T
he Nehruvian ethos,
which had a vice-like
grip over India’s polity
and the minds of most
Indians, was a combination of
socialism and secularism. The
Nehruvian socialism was sym-
bolic of anti-colonialism as well
as political justification for gov-
ernance to be sympathetic to
communists. This helped Indira
Gandhi to survive as the PM
between her splitting the
Congressin1969andherre-elec-
tion in 1972. Secularism meant
being nice to minorities and
making sure that Muslims voted
for the Congress.
India’s military suffered
deliberate neglect. In 1947 itself,
Nehru curtly told General
Lockhart (the interim Army
commander)thatthepolicewere
adequate to protect the country.
The mindset carried on till the
Sonia/Manmohandecade(2004-
14); not a single weapon system
was acquired, although India
hadinheritedadepletedmilitary.
Corruptionwasaprerequisitefor
those sympathising with the
party. Indira had stamped her
approval on corruption, stating:
“Which country in the world is
free from corruption?”
The prime ministership was
themonopolyoftheCongress,or
ex- Congressmen or pro-
Congressmen like Vajpayee, a
mindset sustained from 1947 to
2014, 77 long years. The
Nehruvian ethos had sufficient
time to take deep roots. The best
political talent went into that
party. Those not in the Congress
too learnt their politics — even
some BJP leaders — from the
Congress. This was the paradise
of Nehruvianism in which many
politicians, journalists and hang-
ers-on flourished.
Imagine the consternation of
the Nehruvian world when a
man like Narendra Modi led the
Opposition.Outofcontemptand
hatred, one Congressman called
him a chaiwala and then neech
(lowly). A few recognised him to
be a tornado that could blow
away their paradise. They were
proved right, as Modi’s first term
itself showed. But when 2019
approached, his enemies saw a
glimmer of hope. If Modi were
to obtain only about 200 Lok
SOUNDBITE
?GE@B5C@?C9299DI
Sir —The West Bengal defeat in the
Assemblyelectionsnotwithstanding,Home
Minister Amit Shah has chosen to hide in
Lutyens’world,thoughitmightalsobeseen
as a face-saving exercise at the peak of the
pandemic. And when the second wave’s
curve is going down, Shah has surfaced
again to take credit, saying that India
under the leadership of Prime Minister
NarendraModisuccessfullyfoughtthebat-
tleagainstCOVID-19andmanagedtobring
the number of cases down.
The Home Minister conveniently for-
got that people died for the lack of medical
oxygen, hospital beds, and even the dead
weren’t given proper dignity in death; they
couldn’t be cremated properly. The
Government conveniently chose to handle
the first lockdown in 2020, not it passed the
responsibility on to the respective States.
Now,thenumberofcaseshasfallenbecause
thepatientsareturningwellbecauseofdili-
gence from the hospital staff and their will
to survive, certainly not because of the
Centre that kept quiet when the darkest of
hours was upon us.
If the Home Minister is now claiming
creditforthedeclineinthenumberofcases,
he should also spell out who was responsi-
ble for the rising number of COVID
patients?
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee | Faridabad
5DµC4?9DD?75D85B
Sir — This refers to the editorial “Stay
Together” (June 4). This pandemic is one
of the most dangerous challenges that
India has faced. It is above all a human cri-
sis with severe health and socio-economic
consequences.
India, with thousands of its medical
staff, is on the frontlines, supporting mem-
ber States and their societies, especially the
most vulnerable among them, with guid-
ance,training,equipmentandconcretelife-
saving services as they combat the virus.
They must be supported, as it is absolutely
critical to the India's efforts to win the war
against COVID-19.
Once we have finally turned the page
on this epidemic, there must be a time to
look back fully to understand how such a
disease emerged and spread its devastation
so quickly across the country, and how all
those involved reacted to the crisis. The
lessonslearnedwillbeessentialtoeffective-
ly address similar challenges, as they may
arise in the future. But now is not that time.
Now is the time for unity, for the national
community to work together in solidarity
to stop this virus and its shattering conse-
quences.
Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai
D8535DB561B=5BCC8?E4D1;
Sir —The nation has been witnessing
farmers’ protests against the three con-
tentious farm laws passed by the Centre in
Septemberlastyear.ThoughtheCentrehas
initiated negotiations with the agitating
farmers’ unions in order to try and pacify
them and accommodate their demands,
unfortunately, compromise has proved elu-
sive till now as the farmers would accept
nothing less than total repeal of the laws.
For the ruling BJP, succumbing to the
pressure of the protesters and rolling back
the laws would mean that any significant
step towards positive agricultural reforms
inthecountrymightbecomepoliticallydif-
ficult. But, at the same time, if the reforms
are not possible now, they would never be
possibleinfuture.But,withnooptionavail-
able, the Centre must shed its ego.
Ranganathan Sivakumar | Chennai
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W
e need to start buildingour COVID
capable world. The pervasive fear of a
third wave exists as the second wave
wanes. We have been here before; a
merenine months have passed since the last
'unlock'thatusheredinthecalamitoussecondwave.
Isthereawaytoresumenormalcy withoutunleash-
ing the horror of a third wave?
It is now apparent that the coronavirus is here
to stay. There is no miracle drug in thepipeline.
Vaccination programs will take some time toface
uptothetwinchallengesofarapidlymutatingvirus
and a large, susceptiblepopulation. Humanity,
meanwhile, will have to get by.
Humankind has shown a remarkable tenden-
cy to survive despite adversity. Having neverbeen
the strongest, the fastest, or the most immune,
mankind has managed to win bysimply being the
most adaptable. There is no innate resistance to the
hardships of nature,just rapid adjustments through
social, behavioural, and scientific engineering.
This is readily seen in our response to past epi-
demics. The bubonic plague, which causedthree
deadlypandemics,wascontrolledthroughimprove-
ments in housing, sanitation, andhygiene. The dis-
ease was eliminated by rat-proofing homes, filling
up holes in housesand adopting better food stor-
age techniques. Drainage andsanitation were
improved. City-wide quarantines were strictly
enforced. Recordsof vinegar used as sanitizer
range back to the 17th century.
A similar adaptation was seen in our response
to HIV. Practices that are now seen asroutine were
broughtaboutthroughdrasticbehaviourchange to
curb the spread of theinfection. Universal testing
ofbloodproductsinbloodbankswasstarted.Single-
useneedles and syringes were brought into use.
Universal precautions were introduced inhospitals
toprotecthealthcareworkers.Safesexpracticeswere
encouraged. Despite thepervading stigma, testing
in all expectant mothers was introduced to prevent
mother-tochildtransmission.Awarenesscampaigns
that explained how to break the chain oftransmis-
sion were instrumental in slowing the spread of
HIV/AIDS. Four decades after
thediscoveryofthisvirus,weareintheprocess
of developing effective drugs to controland maybe
one day 'cure' HIV. Meanwhile, society has learned
how to exist with thedisease.
Combating the COVID-19 pandemic will
require equal grit and commitment to behaviour-
change. This is already apparent in healthcare set-
tings, where all patients are being testedfor Covid-
19 at admission. Healthcare workers are wearing
masksandlevel2PPEinnon-COVIDwardsaswell.
UV air purifiers and HEPA filters are being
installed,andventilationinwardsisbeingimproved.
Even in non-Covid wards, attempts are beingmade
to keep beds at safe distances from each other, with
the assumption that any ofthese 'test-negative'
patients may turn out to be Covid positive any day.
Droplet and
aerosol precautions are being reinforced time
and again, and online awareness coursesare being
administered.
Similar changes are required in the communi-
ty because, after all, Covid patients do notjust exist
in hospitals. They come from the community. A
strong response on all fronts -domestic, social, and
occupational - is required to make
our society capable offunctioning
withthethreatoftheCovidinfection.
Universal face masking, social
distancing, and regular hand wash-
ing have alreadybecome the norm.
However, to err is human, and so,
these precautions are forgotten
whenmeeting our loved ones. To
ensureCovid-safety,meetinghabits
need to change. Largeparties held in
closed rooms should give way to
smaller gatherings under the
starlight.Gatherings at the garden
gazebo are back, family picnics are
in, and we bid a sad farewellto kit-
ties at the club.
In large societies and apartment
buildings, elevators, staircases, and
parking lots areinfection hubs. This
needs to be reinforced with large
signs reminding people to wear-
masks in these potentially infectious
sites. With time, these areas can be
madebetterventilatedtoreduceviral
load. Similar caution needs to be
exercised in commercialcomplexes
and malls. Regulated entry of cus-
tomersand'sanitationgaps'everyfew
hours may reduce overcrowding.
Our shopping habits will have
tochange. The local 'kirane wale
bhaiya' is set to have a meteoric rise
in importance ascommuting
becomes limited due to infection
risks.Tele-marketing has shown the
wayfortele-banking,tele-consulting,
and tele-OPDs.
Metroandpublictransporthave
to be restarted, albeit in a limited
capacity. Mandatorymasking, use of
face shields, and hand sanitization
may protect commuters. Railways
and airlines will have todevelop
sophisticatedtechniquesforairman-
agement, which will result in an
increasedcostof travel.International
travel will be limited till vaccination
rates increase.
Office work will change forever,
as work from home becomes more
and more acceptable. Intelligent
automation and bots that targetre-
duction in mechanical effort will be
put to use in reducing non-vital
human contact.Work from home,
however, will bring to the fore new
societal challenges. Employers will-
havetobecomemoresensitivetothe
pressures people face at home. This
will necessitate more flexibility in
terms of timings and productivity
measures.
Stereotypedgenderroleswillalso
be challenged as both husband and
wife pitch in fordomestic chores,
childcare, and the family's financial
stability.
Education pedagogy is set to
undergo a paradigm shift. Online
teaching and digitallibraries will
invite more flexibility in higher edu-
cation - students can pick their
owncourses, teachers, and timings.
Field experience and laboratory-
basedlearningwilloccuroncampus,
while assignments can be evaluated
online. Learning management sys-
temsand webcams will pave the way
for online examinations. Blended
online and offlinelearning will pro-
vide an avenue for the much-need-
ed revamp of our education system.
Traditionalamusementslikerac-
ing, skipping, Kho- Kho, and 'pithu
garam' will be revived with strict
attentiontorespiratory hygiene(reg-
ular hand washing, sneezing in the
elbow and covering your facewhile
coughing).
Religious festivals and fairs have
been a subject of much controversy
lately. They can bediscouraged but
not abolished. Limited entry and
social distancing will beinstrumen-
talinimprovingsafetyontheseocca-
sions. Wisdom to avoid such events
inplaces with active spread, and to
postponeinthesettingofsubsequent
waves,willhavetobeexercisedbyour
religious gurus and enforced by our
regulatory authorities.Promoting
Covid-appropriate behaviour by
spiritual guides and local political
leaders maygo a long way in making
religious centers Covid-safe.
Rural-urban migration is a real-
ity and an economic necessity. The
pandemic hasdeepened social
inequalities and worsened living
conditions for the economically
weakersections. State-led interven-
tions providing safe and decongest-
ed housing facilities forrural labor in
citiesandslumswillbevitalinreviv-
ing developmental activities.
Electionsarethebackboneofour
democracy.Theycannotandshould
not be dispensedwith. However,
theycanbere-inventedusingthelat-
est technology. Allotting time slots-
for EVM voting and increasing the
number of polling centers can be
doneimmediately.Inthefuture,peo-
ple can vote through their Aadhaar
linked devices after identityverifica-
tion at polling booths. Counting of
votes can be done electronically
with remotesupervision through
CCTV cameras. At the same time,
politicalpartiesneedtocommittothe
safety of their voters and use differ-
ent means of conversing with voters.
Social mediacampaigning is already
in vogue. Political rallies need to be
re-envisioned with deeperengage-
ment in smaller groups while dis-
couraging super-spreader events.
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13. W
ith the emergence of
new technologies
every year, our per-
ception of the world around us
haschanged.Digitaltechnolog-
ical interventions have trans-
formed traditional face-to-face
classroom teaching and learn-
ing ambience. The growth of
ICT infrastructure, tools and
devices like reliable internet
connectivity, mobile phones,
laptops have made possible
online delivery of high-quality
learning material anywhere,
anytime, at any location, in any
language. Online education
offers the potential of unre-
strictedaccesstoqualityeduca-
tion.
Theconceptnoterolledout
by the University Grants
Commission on May 20, 2021
to introduce blended mode of
teachingandlearninginuniver-
sities and colleges, where up to
40percentofanycoursecanbe
taught in online mode and rest
60 per cent Offline, is a wel-
come step as this will be more
effective in increasing learning
skills of students and providing
them greater access to quality
education.
Learning is a dynamic
process that changes with time,
keeping pace with technologi-
cal developments. India has
been the center of learning for
manythousandsofyearsandin
ancient India in 'gurukul' for-
mat, oral teaching and memo-
rizing texts followed by medi-
tation were foundations of
teaching-and-learning process.
With the passage of time
schools, colleges and present-
day universities were estab-
lished where education is pro-
vided conventionally in chalk-
talk face-to-face interaction
mode.
The Covid-19 pandemic
has given us the opportunity to
become digital literate, to orga-
nize webinars, to get accus-
tomed with digital learning
platforms and to realize the
power of digital devices for
imparting online education.
Onlinelearningensuresgreater
participation of teachers and
students in the overall process
of learning.
Blendedlearninginvolvesa
combination of classroom
teachingandonlinelearning.It
isnowpossibletocraftstudent-
centric quality teaching mate-
rials involving modern multi-
media tools. Electronic lec-
tures,unlikeface-to-faceteach-
ing,canbeperpetuallyaccessed
by learners and that helps in
betterunderstandingandmem-
orization of concepts. With
skilful use of ICT, content-
rich, interactive lessons can be
developed that excite learners
and transform the learning
environment, making it stu-
dent-centered and where the
teacher becomes the facilitator
ratherthanknowledgeprovider.
With blended learning a
teachercanaccuratelyassessthe
knowledgeastudenthasgained
and can provide him e-materi-
als to explain concepts more
efficiently. Attractive e-lessons
can create greater interest in
learners. Blended learning
mode opens the possibility of a
greaterteacher-studentinterac-
tion, better empowering the
student with knowledge and
skillscomparedtoeithermodes
of face-to-face or online learn-
ing. Teachers and students
remain more engaged with
each other; students get more
opportunitytointeractwiththe
teachers to get deeper knowl-
edge.
In blended mode teachers
get more time for personal
interaction with students as
online delivery of learning
materials saves face-to-face
classroom teaching hours,
which can be utilized for learn-
er-centricactivities,betterinter-
actionandmentoring.Themix
of teaching approaches helps
morestudentstograspsubjects
easily.Thiswillreducestresson
slow learners who may find
face-to-faceclassroomteaching
more challenging.Fastlearners
willgetmoresatisfactiondueto
content-rich e-materials.
When students get used to
working on online tools, they
can collaborate and communi-
cate amongst themselves in a
much better way. Students
become more responsible and
attentive in online learning, as
theyhavetomeetthedeadlines
for timely completion of vari-
ous assignments online. This
generates confidence and
autonomy in the students.
The policy document on
education, NEP-2020, has also
stressed the need for the exten-
sive useof technologyinteach-
ing to enhance learning in stu-
dents, to achieve the target of
100 per cent literacy and
addresssocietalchallenges.The
policy envisages developing
digital infrastructure and to
empower teachers to create
quality e-learning materials.
Importantly, blended learning
will help to pursue the objec-
tives of NEP-2020 in interna-
tionalising indigenous knowl-
edge through digitized course
contents.
In a nutshell, blended
learning will help learners to
learn at their own pace and
also inculcate the spirit of col-
laboration enabling partici-
pants to work together and
engage in discussion. The urge
for learning will drive the par-
ticipant towards scientific
accomplishment of their syl-
labus and enable them to cre-
ate new knowledge. As such
blended learning is a journey
towards 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'
through a collaborative
approach between learners
and teachers. Such learning
also enables students to pro-
mote ownership of learning. A
cost-effective learning process
in a time bound manner is the
need of the hour and blended
learning stands out as the flag
bearer of Digital India initia-
tive in higher education.
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POINTCOUNTERPOINT
Monika is a 1989 batch
IAS officer in UP.
Prerna is a Resident,
(Medicine), involved
in COVID manage-
ment at AIIMS, Delhi.
The views expressed
are personal.
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B1=1C81;5B3D14H
The author is the Vice
Chancellor of Central
University of Gujarat,
Gandhinagar. The views
expressed are personal.
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