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Archives for January 2021

Indonesian President receives second dose of Chinese coronavirus vaccine

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Indonesia has given priority to health workers and public officers after authorising the emergency use of the Sinovac vaccine.

JAKARTA (Indonesia): Indonesian President Joko Widodo received the second dose of the Chinese coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday, two weeks after the first injection.

Indonesia has given priority to health workers and public officers after authorising the emergency use of the Sinovac vaccine.

Several top military, police and health officials also received their second shots at the Presidential Palace, as well as a celebrity who is a social media influencer.

The Health Ministry data showed about 245,685 people have been vaccinated so far, most of them health workers.

On Tuesday, Indonesia’s confirmed cases surpassed 1 million with 28,468 deaths.

No room for people charged with criminal cases in Bihar Congress, says State in-charge Bhakat Charan Das

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Das, soon after being entrusted with the task of Bihar unit of INC after Shakti Singh Gohil, has started reviving the party political stature with a slew of initiates.

PATNA: Now, in a bold move, Bihar Congress in-charge Bhakat Charan Das on Thursday said that no person with criminal or communal cases on their name will be allowed to take membership in the party.

Making it mandatory, Das has asked the party leaders holing posts right from state headquarters to district and block levels not to allow the entry of the people with criminal backgrounds or charged with crimes related to communalism and atrocities against people of weaker sections and women.

Issuing this advisory through a short clip of video, Das said: “Make a proper inquiry about anyone wishing to join the party before granting the primary membership.”

Das, soon after being entrusted with the task of Bihar unit of INC after Shakti Singh Gohil, has started reviving the party political stature with a slew of initiates. He has travelled across many districts including Vaishali and Muzaffarpur to have direct interaction with party leaders and sharing the ways to strengthen the party in the state.  

In the 2020 assembly elections, 19 MLAs of the party have been elected in alliance with the RJD and the left parties.

Covid-19 Update India 11,666 new Covid-19 cases, 123 deaths

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The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,03,73,606 pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 96.94 per cent.

A health worker collects swab sample in a tube for the COVID-19 test at Rajiv Gandhi hospital in New Delhi Tuesday

NEW DELHI: India’s COVID-19 tally of cases crossed 1.07 crore with 11,666 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, while the national recovery rate climbed to 96.94 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The total infections have mounted to 1,07,01,193.

The death toll increased to 1,53,847 with 123 daily new fatalities,  the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,03,73,606 pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 96.94 per cent.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.44 per cent.

The COVID-19 active cases remained below 2 lakh for the ninth consecutive day.

There are 1,73,740 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 1.62 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past  60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on  October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

According to the ICMR, 19,43,38,773 samples have been tested up to January 27 with 7,25,653 samples being tested on Wednesday.

The 123 new fatalities include 32 from Maharashtra, 20 from Kerala, 10 from Punjab and 9 from Delhi.

A total of 1,53,847 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 50,894 from Maharashtra followed by 12,333 from Tamil Nadu, 12,207 from Karnataka, 10,829 from Delhi, 10,139 from West Bengal, 8,636 from Uttar Pradesh and, 7,152 from Andhra Pradesh.

Centre to pitch in Rs 40 crore for Plastic Park in Mangaluru

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Gowda said he has written to the State Government to get final clearances within six months for the project so the scheme can be implemented without delay. 

Union minister and BJP leader DV Sadananda Gowda

BENGALURU: Two days after he announced that the Union Government had cleared the setting up of a plastic park in Mangaluru, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers, DV Sadananda Gowda, urged the state to submit a detailed project report at the earliest. 

Pointing out that the Centre will fund 50 per cent of the project cost, with Rs 40 crore to be released in four instalments, Gowda said he has written to the State Government to get final clearances within six months for the project so the scheme can be implemented without delay. 

“The plastic park will be an ecosystem enabling common facilities – like characterisation, prototyping and virtualization, non-destructive material testing, incubation, training, warehousing, plastic recycling, tooling design, research & development, etc – to assist the plastics sector move up the value chain and contribute to the economy more effectively,” Sadananda Gowda said. 

“The Union Government will fund 50 per cent of the project cost, up to Rs 40 crore. The rest can be funded by the State Government via its existing entities like Karnataka State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) or through a new special purpose vehicle,” he added. 

According to the Union government’s scheme guidelines, the equity contribution of the State Government shall be at least 26 per cent of the cash equity of the SPV (excluding value of any land given as equity). 

Siddaramaiah demands judicial probe into illegal mining in Shivamogga

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Siddaramaiah said Sudhakar was running the crusher on a leased patta land at Kallaganguru and was given the C Form, or the licence, to run the crusher unit on April 12, 2019. 

SHIVAMOGGA: Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, who visited the Hunasodu blast site near Shivamogga on Wednesday, demanded an inquiry into illegal stone mining in Shivamogga district by a sitting judge of the High Court and said he will raise the issue during the Assembly session.Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and district in-charge minister K S Eshwarappa should take the responsibility for illegal stone mining in the district and the death of six people in the recent blast, he said. He demanded a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and more to the families of the deceased, besides registering a murder case against crusher owner Sudhakar. 

Siddaramaiah said Sudhakar was running the crusher on a leased patta land at Kallaganguru and was given the C Form, or the licence, to run the crusher unit on April 12, 2019. Quoting the police, he said the supplier from Andhra Pradesh himself delivered the explosives to Sudhakar.

“Sudhakar had neither informed nor obtained licence from the police, revenue or mines and geology departments to bring the explosives. None of the official know how the explosives detonated. The police suspect that it may have occurred when the explosives were being transported to another location,” he said. 

The truth will come out only if an inquiry is conducted by a sitting High Court judge. “The inquiry should reveal how many benami quarries are running in the district. If they were allowed during the Congress government, they too should be probed,” he said. 

There are 97 crushers and 76 quarries as per official records. “Only 23 quarries have permission to carry out blasts, while others are doing it illegally. Is it possible for such activities to run without the notice of the CM and district in-charge minister? All those running illegal quarries belong to the ruling party,” he said. 

Uddhav Thackeray releases book on border dispute, gets slammed by Karnataka leaders

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BELAGAVI:  Hitting out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for raking up the boundary issue again, Belagavi district in-charge minister Ramesh Jarkiholi on Wednesday said, “It is Shiv Sena’s agenda to provoke and mislead people. After failing on all fronts, Thackeray and Sena are raising the issue to gain people’s sympathy.’’Thackeray, launching a controversial book on the boundary dispute in Mumbai on Wednesday, said, “We will not rest until we win the boundary dispute case. If the long-pending issue is not resolved during this (Maha Vikas Aghadi) government’s tenure, it will never be.”

He alleged that Marathi-speaking people in border areas are being subjected to atrocities and said Marathi-majority areas in Karnataka should be merged with Maharashtra.Jarkiholi said that leaders from across parties in the state are united on the boundary issue and there is no need to panic.Textiles Minister Shrimant Patil, who hails from Sangli in Maharashtra, said that the boundary dispute is a closed chapter, but some leaders are keeping it alive for political gains. “The popularity of Maharashtra Ekikarana Samiti has waned. The Samiti and its agenda have no significance in border areas,” he added.

Thackeray, on Karnataka leaders terming the book and his recent tweets on the boundary issue as contempt of court, said, “When the case is being heard in the Supreme Court, the Karnataka government renames Belgaum, declares it as its second capital, constructs a Legislature building and holds a legislature session there. Isn’t this contempt of court?”

The new 530-page book, ‘Maharashtra-Karnataka Seemavad: Sangharsh Aani Sankalp’ (Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute: struggle and pledge), gives an account of the boundary dispute between the two states. 

Former CM and JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy told The New Indian Express, “It was 14 years ago, during my tenure as chief minister that we held the first legislature session in Belagavi. We had already declared it as the second capital. I remember that we worked overtime, made the preparations in 10 days flat and managed to hold the session.” In a series of tweets on the sensitive issue, he said, “(Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav) Thackeray has so many priority issues as CM to attend to. Why is he talking about this.’’ He said the Congress, which is supporting Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, should take up this issue. 

Home Minister Amit Shah to visit 2 hospitals to enquire about health of cops injured in Republic Day violence

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Nearly 400 policemen were injured during the tractor parade of the farmers who have been protesting against three central farm laws at Delhi’s borders since November.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday will visit two hospitals to enquire about the health of policemen injured in the violence that broke out during the farmers’ tractor parade in the national capital on Republic Day, officials said.

Nearly 400 policemen were injured during the tractor parade of the farmers who have been protesting against three central farm laws at Delhi’s borders since November.

The home minister will visit two hospitals — Shushrut Trauma Centre and Teerath Ram Hospital — to enquire about the health of the injured police personnel, an official from the Home Ministry said.

Both the hospitals are located in Civil Lines.

The Delhi Police on Wednesday had alleged that farmer leaders made inflammatory speeches and were involved in the violence during the tractor parade by agitating farmers that left 394 of its personnel injured, as it warned that no culprit will be spared.

Addressing a press conference here, Delhi Police Commissioner S N Srivastava said farmer unions did not follow conditions set for the parade that was supposed to be held from 12 pm to 5 pm with 5,000 tractors and accused them of betrayal.

Tens of thousands of farmers broke barriers to storm the national capital on Tuesday, their tractor parade to highlight their demands dissolving into unprecedented scenes of anarchy as they fought with police, overturned vehicles and delivered a national insult hoisting a religious flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort, a privilege reserved for India’s tricolour.

From Rajpath to Red Fort, the day unfolded in scenes of contrasts.

One that Indians have seen for seven decades and the other that seared itself into collective memory with its imagery of protesters demanding a repeal of the three farm laws storming the Mughal era monument, the centrepiece of India’s Independence Day celebrations.

A protester died after his tractor overturned near ITO, one of the major flashpoints of trouble.

Joe Biden in White House raises Indian outsourcing firms’ hopes

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Hiring has already picked up for skilled manpower in the West; Biden administration has also been espousing for racial equality; visa process may be simplifie

US President Joe Biden

CHENNAI: With Joe Biden steering a blue wave of change in the USA, the domino effect has been clearly visible on the Indian I-T space, as hiring has picked up for skilled manpower in the West. I-T consultants in the city are on a hiring spree following the brakes applied on the recent modifications introduced by the Trump administration to H1-B visa rules.

There are huge requirements that have come for the past one month, says PR Vignesh Raja, an I-T consultant at the Chennai-based Fusion Global Solutions Pvt Ltd. He adds that he is getting ‘positive vibes’ about simplifying the visa process. “Many of those whose H1-B visas expired and could not be renewed will now opt for it. You will see a spike in visa applications now,” claims Raja.

The Biden administration has also been espousing for racial equality. The latest development brings to an end to years of effort by the Trump administration to rescind an Obama-era regulation that allowed a certain subset of spouses of H1-B visa holders to work in the US. Data from the US government shows that Indians had filed 74 per cent of all H1-B petitions in fiscal year 2019. Raja is positive that the cap on these visas will now be increased.

Manoj, who works for Baltimore’s health and strategic welfare firm, says that the move would prove beneficial for many like him. He had returned home to Madurai for his wedding and is now trying to go back to the State with his wife. “I am now on an F-1 visa and would be applying for H1-B in March. It all depends on the lottery system and the visa cap,” he says.

Many Indians residing in the US on H1-B visas have been having second thoughts before booking tickets to India. The issue being their visas won’t be stamped once they return back. “If the policy changes, those with H1-B visas will be assured that their visas will be stamped again once they try to return back to the States,” says a techie.

Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO of CIEL HR Services, a staffing firm, told Express that Biden’s move in overturning many policies of the Trump administration will result in a free movement of professionals between the two countries. He says that it will also be a boon for the outsourcing industry which is good for both the countries, adding that the on-site activity, which was frozen, will resume again.

Mishra also opines that the US was impacted by the ‘reverse brain-drain’ as more Chinese and Indian nationals have been returning home due to the clamps introduced by the Trump administration. As the restrictions ease, he says there could be a return of the skilled labour force, which could fuel the US economy. While it seems that the clamp on visas may have been relaxed, the other issue the techies face is not the work permit, but the tickets to fly to the United States. “Only few seats are available for those who want to get back to the US,” says an I-T professional. She says her friend who has been trying for a ticket, is now struggling to fly back as there are only a few airlines which fly to the US.

Meanwhile, spokesperson at the US Consulate General, Chennai, Cori Bickel told Express that the process of issuing work permits, also known as employment authorization, is managed in the United States by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). US consulates have no role in this process. That being said, the US Consulate General, Chennai, does issue H-4 visas, which permit family members of H-1B visa holders to enter the United States. Once in the United States, certain H-4 visa holders may file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, to request employment authorization and an Employment Authorization Document (EAD).

When asked if the Consulate had resumed stamping H1-B visa applications, Bickel said that at the time, embassies and consulates were able to resume visa services based on local conditions and the health and safety of staff and customers. “The US Consulate General, Chennai, is offering limited visa services, including to students and work-based visas  including H1-Bs. We will continue to expand visa services as appropriate, given the health and safety conditions,” Bickel said.

She added that the Consulate General in Chennai currently has visa appointment availability throughout the months of February and March, in both student and petition-based categories, and their family members, including H-1B, H-4, and F-2. “We are unable to comment on specific visa applications,” she said, responding to a query on how many such visas are pending.

SC stays Bombay HC order acquitting man accused of child abuse without ‘skin-to-skin’ contact

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A bench headed by CJI SA Bobde stayed the acquittal of the accused after Attorney General KK Venugopal submitted that the judgment would set a dangerous precedent.

Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed a Bombay High Court order acquitting a man accused of child abuse on the ground that groping a child’s breasts without ‘skin-to-skin contact’ didn’t amount to ‘sexual assault’ under the POCSO Act.

A bench headed by CJI SA Bobde stayed the acquittal of the accused after Attorney General KK Venugopal submitted that the judgment would set a dangerous precedent.

Venugopal urged the top court to take cognisance of the High Court’s verdict that said groping a child’s breasts without ‘skin-to-skin contact’ would not amount to ‘sexual assault’ under the POCSO Act.

“It is a very disturbing conclusion. Your Lordships should take note of this. I will have a petition filed tomorrow or Your Lordships may take suo motu notice,” Venugopal said.

The top court allowed the Attorney General to file a Special Leave Petition against the January 19 verdict of the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court that acquitted an accused in the case and also issued a notice to the Maharashtra government and the accused.

The verdict was passed on January 19 by Justice Pushpa Ganediwala of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court where it was said that there must be skin-to-skin contact with sexual intent for an act to be considered sexual assault.

The order said the act of groping falls under the definition of offence but not a sexual assault as there was no specific data as to whether the top was removed or whether he inserted his hand inside the top and pressed her breast etc.

“The words ‘any other act’ encompasses within itself, the nature of the acts which are similar to the acts which have been specifically mentioned in the definition on the premise of the principle of ‘ejusdem generis.’ The act should be of the same nature or closure to that,” the court opined while acquitting the accused under POCSO.

Farmers’ union calls meeting to discuss violence during tractor parade in Delhi

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The Samkyukta Kisan Morcha will meet around 3 pm on Wednesday and discuss all aspects pertaining to violence that happened during the tractor parade in Delhi, a farmer leader said.

Samkyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of protesting unions, has called a meeting later on Wednesday to discuss the violence that broke out during the farmers’ tractor parade in the national capital.

Before the Morcha meeting, representatives of 32 Punjab unions will also meet at the Singhu border, a major protest site against the three new farm laws.

A senior farmer leader said, “The Samkyukta Kisan Morcha will meet around 3 pm on Wednesday and discuss all aspects pertaining to violence that happened during the tractor parade in Delhi”.

The Samkyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 41 farmer unions, is leading the protest against the three central farm laws at several border points of Delhi.

After violence broke out during the tractor parade on Tuesday, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha had called off the parade and appealed to participants to immediately return to their respective protest sites.

The tractor parade on Tuesday that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort The Delhi Police has registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the violence in several area that has left over 300 policemen injured.

The Kisan Morcha had disassociated itself from those who indulged in violence during the tractor parade, and alleged that some “antisocial elements” infiltrated their otherwise peaceful movement.

Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops.

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