Archives for December 2021

Pramesh S Jain

A project to build Tunga Arathi mantaps in the south on the lines of Ganga Arathi in Kashi at a cost of Rs.30 Cr would be launched on January 14,15 as part of Hara Jathre,Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai said

Speaking after releasing the Logo,audio record and T-shirt of Hara Jathre being organised by Panchamasali Gurupeetha based in Harihar, Bommai said, Hara in spiritual domain means power, in regular life it means the almighty God who resolves all the problems in the world.Those who have faith in Hara will get all their problems resolved.

Panchamasali community has a long history. It is predominantly agrarian community.But according to the needs of 21st century they need to get highly educated,excel in all the fields.The pontif of the community has shown the path in this regard,Bommai said.

He appreciated the initiative taken by the seer to enlighten the youth about the New Education Policy during the Jathre.

Referring to delivering social justice for the community,Bommai said,government would take an appropriate decision on the demand for providing category 2A backward class reservation for the community.

Pramesh S Jain

Let us work together for development of the state along with development of education: CM

It would be ideal to join hands with educational institutions like Rashtriya Vidyalaya University for the welfare of the society and development of the state, Chief Minister,Basavaraj Bommai said.

Basavaraj Bommai, in his address after inaugurating the university said,expressed his government’s readiness to work hand in hand with institutions like RV for development of the state.

Quoting a Shloka from Bhagvadgeeta he said, Ashwatha tree is the best among all the trees, Narada is the best among all the Munis, Chitraratha is the best among all the gandharvas, Kapila Muni is the best among all the Siddhas. Similarly RV is the best among educational institutions,he said.

He stressed the need for including philosophy and logic along with imparting knowledge in education.We should encourage students to ask questions.

There is so much hypocrisy in the society and ethics is eroding.There are preachers but no practice,we have history but no charectar,he said.

Bommai wanted the best technical education to be made available for even the poor students. Our government has upgraded 150 ITIs at a cost of Rs33cr each.RV University should make its own contribution in this regard,he said

Our government is bringing out a new R& D policy. A task force has been constituted for the purpose.

Pramesh S Jain

Separate guidelines would be issued for student hostels and Covid Clusters as part of Covid management in the state,Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.

Speaking to media persons after the cabinet meeting,he said,details have been obtained from the expert committee on prevailing situation on Covid and the new variant Omicron.

Considering the present positivity rate there is no need to panic. But still caution would continue as the committee has advised.

Separate Guidelines would be issued for hostels which would include sanitisation,serving of food in staggered batches,maintaining distance, compulsory double dose vaccination for cooking personnel,setting up isolation rooms.

Special standard operating procedures would also be released for managing Covid clusters in Bengaluru and other places,Bommai said.

Bommai also said that,vaccination drive would be intensified again as the ministers suggested at the meeting.

The precautions and guidelines at border areas of the state would continue.Action has been taken to ensure double dose vaccination and RTPCR test for students from Kerala.

As for permission for Imposing night curfew, restrictions on Christmas and New Year celebrations,Bommai said that
appropriate decision would be taken next week after taking stock of the situation and consultations he added.

PANAJI: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday promised 30 per quota in jobs for women if her party came to power in Goa in the next year’s assembly polls. On a day-long visit to the coastal state, she claimed that the ruling BJP’s ideology was “anti-women”, and asked people to check the track-record of the new parties coming from “outside”.

“The BJP’s ideology is basically anti-women. Their ideology will never like that a woman would be empowered. BJP thinks that after giving a gas cylinder free or some cash, they have done their job as a government. But what they are doing is making women dependent and not independent,” she said while addressing a women’s convention at Margao.

Gandhi said that women in the country have now realized that it was time they spoke up. “That is why we have coined the slogan ‘Main Nari Hun, Main Lad Sakti Hun‘ (I am a woman, I can fight),” she added.

When there is crime against women in Goa, the chief minister asks ‘what were you doing on the beach till so late’, Gandhi said, apparently referring to a rape case that had rocked the state earlier this year. “Their (BJP) leaders are asking why are you wearing such kind of dress,” Priyanka Gandhi said, adding that it was the responsibility of the government to stop atrocities against women.

Gandhi added that wherever there is a BJP government, “the criminal is given protection while the victim is questioned”. A Congress government would provide a grant of up to Rs 1 lakh each to Women Self Help Groups besides an initial funding so that their business could flourish, and help market their products, she said.

Gandhi said that past Congress governments in Goa always respected people’s sentiments and de-notified ten Special Economic Zones as people were against them. Elsewhere, the Congress general secretary said some political parties spoke of things that were of no concern to elections and politics of the day.

Congress was the only party which spoke about development during election campaigns, Priyanka Gandhi claimed. She was speaking after activist and former defense officer Capt Viriato Fernandes joined Congress in Dabolim.

She also referred to Fernandes’ comments about the environmental degradation allegedly caused by the BJP government’s decisions in Goa. “We are talking about cutting thousands of trees. Double tracking of railway tracks that go through your forests and sanctuaries. We are talking about nationalising rivers that belong to states,” Gandhi said.

The BJP government is conveying every day that it has no respect for the people of India, people of Goa and the beautiful land, ocean and forests, said the Congress general secretary. “This government has completely forgotten its responsibility towards the people of Goa. It feels stronger responsibility towards its industrialist friends,” she alleged.

As to Capt Fernandes joining the party, Gandhi said when somebody who represents the voice of the people decides to join Congress, it is “a proud movement for us”. Earlier, Priyanka Gandhi visited Morpirla village in the Quepem assembly segment where she interacted with tribal women and also joined in their traditional dance.

“Many parties will come from outside. These days new parties are coming,” she said, in apparent reference to the Trinamool Congress and AAP. People should check their track record in the states where they are in power, she said.

“Have they done development? I am from Delhi, the AAP is from Delhi. There is so much pollution in Delhi that you can’t even breathe,” she said. She said that the Congress, when voted to power in the state, will reserve 30 per cent of the jobs “only for women”.

INDORE: Amid rising concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus, a 14-year-old girl and her eight-year-old brother have tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from Nigeria five days back, a health official said on Saturday.

Their samples are being sent for genome sequencing, he said.

The siblings, who were found infected, had gone to Nigeria with their mother to meet their father and returned to Indore on December 6 via Delhi, said Dr Amit Malakar, nodal officer for COVID-19 in the district.

Their father works in Nigeria, while they live with their mother in Indore, he said.

“Although the mother of the two children was not found infected with coronavirus, we have taken her sample for re-examination as a precaution,” he said.

Malakar said that after the test reports, the infected siblings have been admitted to a hospital and their samples are being sent to Delhi’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for genome sequencing to know whether they are carrying the Omicron strain.

While South Africa remains the epicentre of the Omicron variant outbreak, these cases have been confirmed in at least eight other African countries – Botswana, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The central government, while expressing concern over the decline in usage of face masks in the country, had on Friday said that the all India tally of Omicron variant cases has gone up to 32.

NEW DELHI: A 35-year-old man, with travel history to Zimbabwe and South Africa, has tested positive for Omicron, becoming the second patient in Delhi of the new COVID-19 variant, sources said on Saturday.

He returned to India from Zimbabwe and had even travelled to South Africa, the sources said, adding that he is fully vaccinated.

The LNJP Hospital has been designated for treatment of patients infected with the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

On Sunday, a 37-year-old fully vaccinated man who arrived in Delhi from Tanzania, became the first patient of Omicron in the national capital.

The patient, a resident of Ranchi, had travelled from Tanzania to Doha and from there to Delhi on a Qatar Airways flight on December 2.

He stayed in Johannesburg, South Africa, for a week.

The person has mild symptoms.

The active cases have increased to 94,742 comprising 0.27 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.36 per cent.

NEW DELHI: With 9,419 more people testing positive for Covid in a day, India’s infection tally rose to 3,46,66,241, while the active cases increased to 94,742, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data updated on Thursday.

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been recorded below 10,000 for 13 straight days and less than 50,000 for 165 consecutive days now.

The active cases have increased to 94,742 comprising 0.27 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.36 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the Health Ministry said.

An increase of 1,009 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.73 per cent.

It has been less than two per cent for the last 66 days.

The weekly positivity rate was also recorded at 0.74 per cent.

It has been below one per cent for the last 25 days, according to the minister

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,40,97,388, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.37 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 130.39 crore.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh-mark on August 7, 2020, 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.

India had crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

The 125 new fatalities include 112 from Kerala, 11 from Tamil Nadu and 10 from Maharashtra.

Of the 112 deaths, 35 were logged over the last few days and 77 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court, a statement from the Kerala government said on Wednesday.

A total of 4,74,111 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,41,204 from Maharashtra, 42,014 from Kerala, 38,249 from Karnataka, 36,560 from Tamil Nadu, 25,100 from Delhi, 22,911 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,568 from West Bengal.

The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.