Archives for January 2021

Banerjee on Saturday refused to speak at an official event attended by PM Modi to mark the beginning of the celebrations of Netaji’s 124th birth anniversary after ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans were raised.

LUCKNOW: No one is being forced to raise ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans and there is nothing to feel bad about such chants, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday after his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee refused to speak at an event over raising of such slogans.

Banerjee on Saturday refused to speak at an official event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to mark the beginning of the celebrations of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 124th birth anniversary after ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans were raised just before she was to start her address.

Speaking to a select group of journalists, Adityanath said, “If someone says Jai Shri Ram there is nothing to feel bad about it as it is a greeting”‘.

“If someone says ‘namaskar’ or ‘Jai Shri Ram’ it shows his etiquette,” he said

Responding to questions on Banerjee refusing to speak after such chants, Adityanath said, “We are not forcing anyone to speak it. But if someone says Jai Shri Ram there is nothing to feel bad about it.”

The West Bengal chief minister had expressed displeasure at BJP supporters at the event shouting slogans.

She said such an “insult” was unacceptable.

With elections due in the state in March-April, the tussle between the BJP and Banerjee’s TMC has intensified.

Talking about law and order in the state, Adityanath, said the state witnessed several riots during earlier regimes while under this government the state has not witnessed any such incident.

He claimed the law and order situation in the state is one of the best in the country.

The PM-Kisan scheme provides income support of Rs 6,000 per annum to all eligible farmer families across the country.

NEW DELHI:  The Centre’s much-touted PM-Kisan fund saw 11.29 lakh cases of failure of fund transfer to farmers between March 23 and July 31 last year, reply to a query filed under Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed.

The RTI reply to transparency activist Venkatesh Nayak shows the highest cases of failure of fund transfer were reported from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Responding to the RTI plea,  Union Ministry of Agriculture also informed that nearly half (6.33 lakh) instances of failed transactions were successfully re-processed, as of July 31.

Madhya Pradesh accounted for 7.29 lakh failed transactions, followed by Maharashtra with more than 85,210 transfer failures and Karnataka, which recorded over 55,791 instances of failure of transfer of PM-Kisan funds to bank accounts during the lockdown period last year.

Bihar, with 51,004 cases of transfer failures and Uttar Pradesh with 47,918 instances were among the other states that saw very high number of failures.

These five states together accounted for almost nearly 90 per cent of the total transfer failures between March and July 31, 2020.

The ministry in its reply did not divulge the reasons why the fund transfers failed. It also did not indicate the amount of funds that could not be transferred.

It’s also not known how many beneficiaries were affected. The PM-Kisan scheme provides income support of `6,000 per annum to all eligible farmer families across the country.

The information further shows that Sikkim accounted for the lowest number of transfer failures. Other Northeastern states — Arunachal Pradesh with 141, Mizoram with 218 and Meghalaya with 233 — also reported less cases. On successful re-processing, Madhya Pradesh had the highest with 6.12 lakh cases followed by Maharashtra reporting 12,810 cases and UP reporting 1,986 cases.

The SC-appointed panel on the new agri laws on Thursday started its consultation process and interacted with 10 farmer organisations from eight states. The panel, in a statement, said the interaction was held through video conference.

Ten farmer organisations from Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharasthra, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh interacted with the committee members.

BENGALURU: The process of administering Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, already mired in controversy and doubt, has not been without problems in Karnataka. Although the Centre has approved Covaxin for emergency use, phase 3 trials which measure efficacy are still under way. One centre each in six districts — Ballari, Shivamogga, Hassan, Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru and Davanagere — have been given doses of Covaxin. The rest of the state has received doses of Oxford University’s Covishield. 

Beneficiaries who receive a shot of Covaxin are to sign a consent form, and in case of an illiterate person, it has to be signed in the presence of an impartial witness. However, several people at centres where Covaxin is being used, have said that they either received no consent form, or were unaware that such a form existed. When they did receive the form, it was in English. Some health workers did not even know whether they were given Covishield or Covaxin.

“I was given Covaxin, but I was not asked to read or fill any consent form before taking it. The vaccinators only checked my blood pressure and asked for some personal and health information. If there is such a permission form, they should have taken my signature,” an Asha worker in Ballari district told TNIE, on condition of anonymity.A data entry operator in Sakleshpur, Hassan, who took Covaxin said, “I was not given any permission form. They only took my Aadhaar information before giving the vaccine.”

Three-page consent form is crucial for many reasons. One, it states that “in case of any adverse events or serious adverse events, you will be provided medically recognised standard of care in government designated and authorised centres/hospitals. The compensation for serious adverse events will be paid by sponsor (BBIL) if the SAE is proven to be causally related to the vaccine”.

The details sought include recipient’s name, date of birth, age, gender, marital status, address, phone number, name and address of vaccination site, name and number of vaccinator or supervising officer. Questions on medical history include information about medication for a chronic illness, name of illness, whether they under radiotherapy, etc. 

An excerpt of the consent form reads, “I have been provided and have read, or had been explained to me, the fact sheet about the Covid-19 vaccination. I understand that this vaccine requires two doses for it to be effective and two doses need to be administered. I have been allowed to ask questions which were answered to my satisfaction. I understand the benefits and risks of the vaccination as described. I request that the Covid-19 vaccination be given to me.”

A third Covaxin beneficiary who is a staff nurse and works with ASHA workers in Yelandur taluk, Chamarajanagar district, said, “I took Covaxin but was not given any consent form. They only checked my blood pressure and pulse rate and wrote down my details manually.”The consent form requires the vaccinator to confirm and sign that they have reviewed the details of side-effects with the vaccine recipient. 

The form is not just about getting the signature as a purely mechanical process, but ensuring that the beneficiary is explained each section of the consent form and answering any questions they have, so that they understand it, said Dr Anant Bhan, researcher, Global Health, Bioethics and Health Policy.

“Consent has four factors — information, understanding, ensuring it is voluntary and not coerced, as well as documentation for proof. Not giving the consent form to the Covaxin beneficiary is a clear violation of protocol, as the vaccine has been approved for restricted emergency use under the condition that the beneficiary receives this form. The vaccine is in clinical trial mode and is collecting data for study. People need to be told that the vaccine has been approved under special circumstances and that they will be tracked for any adverse effects following immunisation, if any, and whom to report if such things happen,” Dr Bhan said.

The land in Islampur village, acquired by HSVP in 1993, was sold for Rs 2 crore using forged documents and fake witnesses, informed DGP Manoj Yadava.

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Police has arrested three persons, including two advocates, on charges of selling two acres of land ‘acquired’ through fraudulent means in Gurugram district to a private company.

The land in Islampur village, acquired by Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) in 1993, was sold for Rs 2 crore using forged documents and fake witnesses, informed DGP Manoj Yadava.

Accused Rohit Thakaran of Jharsa village and Ajay Chaudhary of Islampur village hatched a plan and got the land transferred in the name of Chaudhary by producing fake witnesses, who impersonated Murti Devi, Lakshmi Devi and Bala Devi, the original owners of two acres of the ancestral property. Lawyers Chaman Lal Arora and Subhash Chand Arora acted as witnesses and ‘identified the owners’. 

“The fraud came to light when one of the victims, Murti Devi filed a complaint in this regard. The State Crime Branch (Gurugram unit) arrested Thakran on January 18 and both advocates Chaman Lal Arora and Subhash Chand Arora on January 20,” said Yadava.

The probe also revealeds that mastermind Rohit Thakaran had learnt privately the work of ‘Patwari’ and was fully aware of the acquired land. Ajay Chaudhary has been found to have transferred Rs 29 lakh out of Rs 2 crores to the account of Thakaran.