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Archives for February 2021

PM Narendra Modi should take COVID vaccine shot in public: DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran

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NEW DELHI: DMK member Dayanidhi Maran on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take a COVID vaccine shot in public as such a move will give confidence to people since many are not trusting the vaccine.

Participating in the discussion on Union Budget 2021-22 in Lok Sabha, he also said that apart from the prime minister, President, home minister and defence minister should take the vaccine shots in public.

“There is a discomfort, people are not truly trusting the vaccine…because of the efficacy,” he said and mentioned that US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had taken the vaccine shots in public.

He also mentioned that UK’s Prince Philip and the prime minister’s good friend and Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu have also taken the vaccine shots.

“I think our prime minister likes the American model…President of India, prime minister, home minister and defence minister should go (take vaccine shots) in public,” he noted.

This will give confidence to people, he said.

Health Ministry says 33 states, UTs have less than 5,000 active Covid-19 cases in India

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Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Union Health Ministry said that the share of active cases is only 3.12 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases in the country.

Chennai coronavirus cases

NEW DELHI: As many as 33 states and UTs in the country have less than 5,000 active COVID-19 cases, said Union Health Ministry on Tuesday adding that only two states– Maharashtra and Kerala– have more than 35,000 active cases.

During a weekly briefing on coronavirus situation in the country, Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Union Health Ministry said that the share of active cases is only 3.12 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases in the country.

“Only 2 States–Kerala and Maharashtra–have more than 35,000 active COVID-19 cases and together they contribute to 71 per cent of COVID-19 cases. Kerala has 65,670 active COVID-19 cases and Maharashtra has 35,991 active COVID-19 cases. Currently, 33 states and UTs in the country have less than 5,000 active COVID-19 cases,”

“Active cases are only 3.12 per cent of the total cases. Active cases are less than 1.50 lakh and declining. There are 15 states and Union Territories (UT) that have not reported deaths in the last 24 hours. There are seven states and UTs that have not reported deaths in the last three weeks. A total of 55 per cent decline in average daily COVID-19 deaths have been reported in the last five weeks,” he said.

Bhushan said that COVID-19 deaths are at 112 per million population. “The COVID-19 case per million population is 7,860 and the tests per million population in the country are 146,802,” he added.

Bhushan said that so far 63,10,194 beneficiaries including healthcare and frontline workers have been vaccinated with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of now.

North Korean hackers stole USD 300 million in cryptocurrency to fund nukes: UN experts

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SEOUL: North Korea has stolen more than $300 million worth of cryptocurrencies through cyberattacks in recent months to support its banned nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, a confidential UN report said.

Compiled by a panel of experts monitoring sanctions on Pyongyang, the report said the country’s “total theft of virtual assets from 2019 to November 2020 is valued at approximately $316.4 million”, citing a UN member state.

Financial institutions and exchanges were hacked to generate revenue for Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development, said the report, which was seen by AFP.

The vast majority of the proceeds came from two thefts late last year.

The North is known to operate an army of thousands of well-trained hackers who have attacked firms, institutions and researchers in South Korea and elsewhere.

It has also been accused of exploiting its cyber capabilities for financial gain.

The North is under multiple sets of international sanctions over its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which have made rapid progress under leader Kim Jong Un.

A summit between Kim and then-US president Donald Trump in Hanoi in February 2019 broke down over sanctions relief and what Pyongyang would be willing to give up in return.

Nuclear talks have been stalled ever since, while the North showed off several new missiles at military parades in October and last month, when Kim pledged to strengthen his nuclear arsenal.

The UN panel said it was investigating a September 2020 hack against a cryptocurrency exchange that resulted in $281 million worth of cryptocurrencies being stolen.

A second cyberattack siphoned off $23 million a month later.

“Preliminary analysis, based on the attack vectors and subsequent efforts to launder the illicit proceeds strongly suggests links to the DPRK,” the report said, using the initials for the North’s official name.

Pyongyang’s cyberwarfare abilities first came to global prominence in 2014 when it was accused of hacking into Sony Pictures Entertainment as revenge for “The Interview”, a satirical film that mocked leader Kim.

The attack resulted in the posting of several unreleased movies as well as a vast trove of confidential documents online. 

The North is also blamed for a huge, $81 million cyber-heist from the Bangladesh Central Bank, as well as the theft of $60 million from Taiwan’s Far Eastern International Bank.

The North’s hackers have allegedly stepped up campaigns to raise funds by attacking cryptocurrency exchanges as the value of bitcoin and other cybercurrencies soared.

They were blamed for the 2017 WannaCry global ransomware cyberattack, which infected some 300,000 computers in 150 nations encrypting user files and demanding hundreds of dollars from their owners for the keys to get them back.

Pyongyang has denied the accusations, saying it has “nothing to do with cyber-attacks”.

No link in Covid vaccination shots and deaths so far: Centre

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NEW DELHI: The National Adverse Event Following Immunisation Committee for Covid-19 met for the first time last week and discussed eight adverse events, including two deaths, the Centre said on Tuesday.
Causality assessment of five cases, comprising three hospitalisations, was carried out, and the hospitalisations were found to be related to vaccination, said Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan at a press briefing.

However, the fatalities  — one of which was due to an acute coronary event and other due to a complication of chronic kidney disease — were concluded to be just coincidental.  In the other three death cases, the panel has sought a histopathology and chemical analysis report, said the official. There have been deaths of 23 individuals of about 63 lakh people who have taken Covid-19 shots in India, and in each of the death cases, local AEFI panels have dubbed them as not related to coincidental. 

Mamata did nothing for tribals, farmers of Bengal: BJP president JP Nadda

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Nadda said that those who won the elections in the name of ‘Ma, Mati, Manush’, are now engaged in “dictatorship, appeasement and strongarm tactics”.

BJP national president JP Nadda

KALAIKUNDA: Alleging that the Mamata Banerjee dispensation has not done anything for the welfare of the farmers and tribals in West Bengal, BJP president JP Nadda said on Wednesday that his party will ensure all-round advancement of the people of the state if voted to power.

He said that those who won the elections in the name of ‘Ma, Mati, Manush’, are now engaged in “dictatorship, appeasement and strongarm tactics”.

“The Mamata Banerjee government has done nothing for the welfare of farmers and the tribals,” Nadda said while attending a ‘cha chakra’ (tea session) at a village here in the West Midnapore district.

Claiming that wrongs done to the poor people of the state will not continue for long, he said “in the coming elections Mamata Banerjee has to go and the lotus will bloom”.

Maintaining that the people of the state have been deprived of the Ayushman Bharat healthcare scheme and the farmers are not getting benefits of PM-Kisan, he said that these will be made available once the BJP forms government in the state.

“On one side there is Narendra Modi who wants the advancement of Bengal and on the other is Mamata Banerjee who is trying to stop all development projects,” the BJP president alleged, addressing a large number of people who joined the tea session.

Nadda was accompanied by BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, who is also the local MP, and another party MP Sukanta Majumdar.

He claimed that the lotus (BJP symbol) will ensure the blooming of the state through development, asserting that the BJP will win the upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal.

Nadda said that the prime minister, during his visit to the state on Sunday, dedicated to the nation oil, gas and road projects worth more than Rs 4,700 crore.

He said that Rs 25,000 crore has been allotted to the state in the Union Budget for road construction and upgradation by the Modi government.

“We will ensure all-round development of West Bengal,” Nadda said.

COVID-19 Update India New cases fall below 10,000 for second time in February

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NEW DELHI: The daily new COVID-19 cases fell below 10,000 for the second time this month taking India’s tally of cases to 1,08,47,304, while fresh fatalities remained below 100 for the fourth consecutive day, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

A total of 9,110 new infections were reported in  a span of 24 hours, while the death toll increased to  1,55,158 with 78 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,05,48,521 pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 97.25 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.43 per cent.

The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 2 lakh.

There are 1,43,625 active cases of coronavirus infections in the country which comprise 1.32 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, 20,25,87,752  samples have been tested up to February 8 with 6,87,138 samples being tested on Monday..

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut takes dig at PM Narendra Modi, says ‘we all are andolan jeevi’

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MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Monday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the latters use of the term “andolan jeevi”, or those who survive on protests, during his address in the Rajya Sabha and sought to associate himself with the expression.

The Rajya Sabha MP shared a photograph of him and farmers leader Rakesh Tikait on Twitter and said in Hindi on the micro-blogging site, Say with pride…we are all andolan jeevi…jai jawan, jai kisaan.

The photograph was taken when Raut met Tikait at the Ghazipur protest site outside Delhi on February 2 to express solidarity with farmers agitating against the Centre’s new agri-marketing laws.

Earlier in the day, Modi hit out at those behind the protests, saying a new crop of agitators has emerged in India who cannot live without agitation and the country should be beware of them.

“There is a new crop of ‘andolan jeevi’. They live for protests. They look for ways to start a new movement.

“The country needs to be aware of these andolan jeevi,” the PM said in the Upper House of Parliament while replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.

Mizoram Assembly Budget Session from February 23

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AIZAWL: The Budget session of Mizoram Assembly will be held from February 23 to March 17, an official said.

The meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) chaired by Assembly Speaker Lalrinliana Sailo on Monday chalked out the detailed programme for the upcoming budget session as per which the session will last till March 17, Assembly Secretary H Lalrinawma said.

There will be 15 sittings between February 23 and March 17, he said.

State Governor P S Sreedharan will deliver his address on the first day of the session, while Chief Minister Zoramthanga, who holds the Finance portfolio will present the annual budget for fiscal 2021-2022 on March 1, he added.

SC grants protection to AAP leader Sanjay Singh in alleged hate speech cases in UP

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The court said that UP Police is not precluded from seeking sanction to prosecute him from Rajya Sabha Chairperson in the cases.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted protection from coercive action to Aam Aadmi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in alleged hate speech cases lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh.

However, the court said that UP Police is not precluded from seeking sanction to prosecute him from Rajya Sabha Chairperson in the cases.

The top court also issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and sought its response on two pleas of Singh seeking clubbing and quashing of FIRs lodged against him after his press conference on August 12 last year at which he alleged that the state government was favouring a certain class of society.

During the hearing, a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R S Reddy told the counsels for Singh that he cannot divide the society on lines of castes and religion.

Senior advocate Vivek Tankha and advocate Sumeer Sodhi, appearing for Singh, said that no procedures were followed by the police in lodging the case and sanction to prosecute the Rajya Sabha MP was not taken.

The bench said that it will not get into the sanction aspect at this moment but it does not mean that no offence has been made out against Singh.

It told Tankha that the court understands that sanction to prosecute under section 197 CrPC ought to have been taken from chairperson of Rajya Sabha.

On February 2, the top court had refused to grant protection to Singh against whom a non-bailable warrant (NBW) has been issued on an FIR lodged in Lucknow.

The AAP leader has moved the apex court seeking quashing of multiple FIRs lodged against him in various districts of Uttar Pradesh after the press conference, saying they have been “maliciously instituted to unleash political vendetta”.

In a separate petition, Singh has also challenged the January 21 order of the Allahabad High Court which refused to quash the FIR in Lucknow.

Two men sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping mentally challenged teen in UP

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FATEHPUR/MAHOBA: A POCSO court in Fatehpur has sentenced two men to 20-year imprisonment for raping a 16-year-old mentally challenged girl in 2016.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (POCSO) also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on each on the convicts Dinesh and Santram, Assistant Government counsel Devesh Srivastava said.

The incident had taken place in a village in Hathgam area on December 22, 2016, he said.

In another case, Additional district Judge (POCSO-4) Parul Srivastava awarded 10 years imprisonment to Antabh Lodhi for raping a 16-year old girl on January 24, 2014 in city area.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict.

In Mahoba, Additional District and Sessions Judge Santosh Kumar Yadav awarded 10 years imprisonment to Rohit Baghel for raping a 16-year old girl on February 7, 2018 in the city.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 13,000 on the convict.

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