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‘Vaccine hesitancy still a problem in remote in India”s Rural areas people fear of vaccines

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NEW DELHI:  Waiting for others to get the Covid-19 vaccine first and fear of any adverse effects may still be putting a significant chunk of the population in India away from the vaccines, the first ever analysis on vaccine hesitancy in the country has shown. Though no concrete data on the percentage of people choosing to forgo vaccines is available, it has been estimated that in remote and rural areas, up to 10% people may be sceptical.

The analysis by the doctors attached with the Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai said that distrust in the safety of recently approved vaccines, fear of adverse effects, and rumours concerning infertility and death as a result of the Covid-19 vaccine, among other causes, are fuelling hesitancy.

The authors noted that according to the Covid symptoms  survey conducted in India, the top five reasons provided for not getting vaccinated included: waiting for others to get it first (42%), other individuals need it more than me (35%), fear of any adverse effect 34%, vaccines will not work (21%) and disbelief in the vaccine.

The researchers said that vaccine hesitancy is becoming a problem with very few possible solutions. Noting that the initiation of the CoWIN registration portal has significantly enhanced the vaccination campaign, they said that  based on the reported statistics, vaccine hesitancy is rampant in remote areas and regions.

Pointing out that the lowering the cost of the vaccine for college students can be a beneficial way to reduce vaccine hesitancy, the researchers said that the government’s COVID-19 vaccination communication strategy has significant operational and structural flaws in its current form. “The second wave of infections disrupted capacity-building for communication management at the national, state, district, and sub-district levels,” said the paper.

Citing an international survey, the analysis said that vaccine acceptance rates were the highest in low and middle-income countries such as Ecuador (97.0%), Malaysia (94.3%), Indonesia (93.3%) and China (91.3%). On the other hand, high-income countries such as Kuwait (23.6%), Jordan (28.4%), Italy (53.7%), Russia (54.9%), Poland (56.3%), USA (56.9%), and France (58.9%) had the lowest acceptance rates. Government authorities say the vaccine hesitancy in India may be coming down with most of the available vaccines “proving their safety profile”.

Panel for removing export curbs  
Barely weeks after the Centre curbed the export of Covid-19 rapid antigen testing kits, the Union health ministry, based on the recommendations of an empowered group, has suggested removing these restrictions. In a recent letter to the directorate general of foreign trade, the ministry said while RTPCR testing kits were added to the restricted category for export from June 2020, RAT kits too were restricted for export from August this year. An empowered group responsible for policy suggestions related to Covid-19 logistics , however, has decided to revoke the restrictions imposed on the kits and allow free export of these products, said  the letter.

Delhi-Centre row: AAP govt mentions again for hearing in SC plea against amended GNCTD Act, Rules

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NEW DELHI: The AAP government on Wednesday sought again an urgent hearing in the Supreme Court of the plea challenging the amended GNCTD Act and some provisions of the Transaction of Business Rules which allegedly give more power to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.

On September 13, the Delhi Government had mentioned the same plea for urgent hearing and the apex court had then agreed to list it.

“A day before, a lawyer mentioned the Delhi-Centre case. Everyday, we have to hear the Delhi government matter only? We will list it, Mr Singhvi, leave it there. We will put it before the appropriate bench,” the bench said.

Singhvi sought to distinguish between the case, which was being mentioned by him for urgent hearing, from the other one which was mentioned on Tuesday by senior advocate Rahul Mehra.

Singhvi said he was seeking listing of a writ petition which pertains to Article 239AA (status of Delhi under the Constitution) and challenged the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act and 13 Rules of the Transaction of Business of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Rules, 1993.

The Delhi government, in its plea through Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, has sought quashing of the four amended sections of the GNCTD Act and 13 Rules on various grounds such as the violation of the doctrine of basic structure, separation of power, as the LG has been bestowed with more authority.

The GNCTD Amendment Act, 2021 has come into force after being passed by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on March 22 and March 24, respectively.

According to the amended Act, the expression ‘Delhi Government’ referred to in any law to be made by the UT’s Legislative Assembly shall mean the Lieutenant Governor.

The plea has alleged that the amended law gives more power to the LG over the elected government and they have “disenfranchised” Delhiites, and violated the principle of federalism by diminishing the constitutionally guaranteed powers and functions of the elected legislative assembly and the council of ministers.

On Tuesday, the city government sought urgent hearing on another plea, arising out of a 2019 split verdict on the contentious issue of who should control administrative services in Delhi.

The apex court said that it would set up a bench for hearing it after Diwali vacation.

On February 14, 2019, a two judge-bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, both retired since, recommended to the chief justice of India that a three judge bench be set up to finally decide the issue of control of services in the national capital in view of its split verdict.

Justice Bhushan had ruled the Delhi government has no power at all over administrative services.

Justice Sikri, however, made a distinction.

He said the transfer or posting of officers in top echelons of the bureaucracy (joint director and above) can only be done by the Central government and the view of the lieutenant governor would prevail in case of a difference of opinion for matters relating to other bureaucrats.

On July 4, 2018, the five-judge Constitution bench had unanimously held that the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi is bound by the “aid and advice” of the elected government and both needed to work harmoniously with each other.

It had also laid down broad parameters for governance of the national capital, which has witnessed a power struggle between the Centre and the Delhi government since the AAP came to power in 2014.

The Delhi government has been at loggerheads with the present L-G and his predecessor.

Only 15 MP MLAs, including CM Shivraj furnish assets details

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BHOPAL:  Twenty months after the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha unanimously resolved that each member of the House will furnish details of their and dependents’ assets/properties and liabilities annually, only 15 of the 227 MLAs have so far done that.

While Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is among the nine BJP MLAs who have furnished their assets details to the principal secretary of the Assembly, as required, his predecessor Kamal Nath does not figure among the six Congress legislators who have done that.

The Congress MLAs who have furnished the details include former parliamentary affairs minister Govind Singh and first-time MLAs Arif Masood and Sanjay Yadav.

Congress MLA PC Sharma blamed Covid-19 and lockdowns for non-submission of property details.

“Now that everything is opening up, the details will be submitted before the Vidhan Sabha in next two months,” Sharma said.

According to informed sources, the BJP members (the party was then in opposition) had suggested then that instead of passing a resolution, a legislation should be passed by the House for the purpose.

Some lawmakers, in fact, wanted a provision of jail term for those who failed to declare assets.

However, Vishvas Sarang, who is now the medical education minister, said on Wednesday, “There is no issue in it…The details are also given by all at the time of contesting polls.”

The 230-member MP Vidhan Sabha currently has 227 members fiollowing the death of three legislators.

Resolution required lawmakers to file details by June 

The Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha had passed a unanimous resolution on December 18, 2019, which stipulated that every member of the House would furnish to the Assembly details of their and their dependents’ movable and immovable assets by June 30 annually.

US Open champion Emma Raducanu ready for next challenge at Indian Wells

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CALIFORNIA: US Open champion Emma Raducanu is ready to resume her tennis journey with her debut appearance at Indian Wells this week.

The 18-year-old British teenager claimed an unlikely win at Flushing Meadows last month and became the first ever qualifier to win a Grand Slam trophy in the history of tennis.

She has a first round bye but would need to beat the winner of the match between Maria Camila Osorio Serrano and Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round to set up a mouth-watering clash with former world no 1 Simona Halep.

Following her win at the US Open, Raducanu axed her coach Andrew Richardson and is now looking to settle on an experienced coach for her future campaigns.

Judge orders Texas to suspend new law banning most abortions

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AUSTIN: A federal judge on Wednesday, October 6, 2021, ordered Texas to suspend the most restrictive abortion law in the U.S., calling it an “offensive deprivation” of a constitutional right by banning most abortions in the nation’s second-most populous state since September.

The order by U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman is the first legal blow to the Texas law known as Senate Bill 8, which until now had withstood a wave of early challenges. In the weeks since the restrictions took effect, Texas abortion providers say the impact has been “exactly what we feared.” 

In a 113-page opinion, Pitman took Texas to task over the law, saying Republicans lawmakers had “contrived an unprecedented and transparent statutory scheme” to deny patients their constitutional right to an abortion. 

“From the moment S.B. 8 went into effect, women have been unlawfully prevented from exercising control over their lives in ways that are protected by the Constitution,” wrote Pitman, who was appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama.

“That other courts may find a way to avoid this conclusion is theirs to decide; this Court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right.”

But even with the law on hold, abortion services in Texas may not instantly resume because doctors still fear that they could be sued without a more permanent legal decision. Planned Parenthood said it was hopeful the order would allow clinics to resume abortion services as soon as possible.

Texas officials are likely to seek a swift reversal from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which previously allowed the restrictions to take effect. State officials did not immediately react to the ruling.

The lawsuit was brought by the Biden administration, which has said the restrictions were enacted in defiance of the U.S. Constitution.

“For more than a month now, Texans have been deprived of abortion access because of an unconstitutional law that never should have gone into effect. The relief granted by the court today is overdue, and we are grateful that the Department of Justice moved quickly to seek it,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. 

The law, signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in May, prohibits abortions once cardiac activity is detected, which is usually around six weeks, before some women even know they are pregnant. To enforce the law, Texas deputized private citizens to file lawsuits against violators, and has entitled them to at least $10,000 in damages if successful.

The Biden administration argued that Texas has waged an attack on a woman’s constitutional right to abortion under the GOP-engineered restrictions, which took effect Sept. 1.

Abortion providers say their fears have become reality in the short time the law has been in effect. Planned Parenthood says the number of patients from Texas at its clinics in the state decreased by nearly 80% in the two weeks after the law took effect.

Some providers have said that Texas clinics are now in danger of closing while neighboring states struggle to keep up with a surge of patients who must drive hundreds of miles. Other women, they say, are being forced to carry pregnancies to term.

Other states, mostly in the South, have passed similar laws that ban abortion within the early weeks of pregnancy, all of which judges have blocked. But Texas’ version has so far outmaneuvered the courts because it leaves enforcement to private citizens to file suits, not prosecutors, which critics say amounts to a bounty.

“This is not some kind of vigilante scheme,” said Will Thompson, counsel for the Texas Attorney General’s Office, while defending the law to Pitman last week. “This is a scheme that uses the normal, lawful process of justice in Texas.”

The Texas law is just one that has set up the biggest test of abortion rights in the U.S. in decades, and it is part of a broader push by Republicans nationwide to impose new restrictions on abortion.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court began a new term, which in December will include arguments in Mississippi’s bid to overturn 1973’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a woman’s right to an abortion.

Last month, the court did not rule on the constitutionality of the Texas law in allowing it to remain in place. But abortion providers took that 5-4 vote as an ominous sign about where the court might be heading on abortion after its conservative majority was fortified with three appointees of former President Donald Trump.

Ahead of the new Supreme Court term, Planned Parenthood on Friday released a report saying that if Roe v. Wade were overturned, 26 states are primed to ban abortion. This year alone, nearly 600 abortion restrictions have been introduced in statehouses nationwide, with more than 90 becoming law, according to Planned Parenthood.

Texas officials argued in court filings that even if the law were put on hold temporarily, providers could still face the threat of litigation over violations that might occur in the time between a permanent ruling.
At least one Texas abortion provider has admitted to violating the law and been sued — but not by abortion opponents. Former attorneys in Illinois and Arkansas say they sued a San Antonio doctor in hopes of getting a judge who would invalidate the law.

Mumbai drugs haul: NCP claims plot to malign Bollywood, Uddhav government; challenges NCB to come clean

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MUMBAI:  The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday alleged that the drug bust on cruise ship off Mumbai coast was nothing but an attempt to target Bollywood. 

NCP’s chief spokesperson Nawab Malik alleged that two ‘private persons’ were present during the NCB raid on October 2.

“The drama (raid) was fake. They did not find drugs on the ship,” Malik, who is Maharashtra Minorities Affairs Minister, said.

He claimed that S K Salvi, a private detective as per his social media profile, was seen with Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan at the NCB office while Manish Bhanushali, a BJP member, was seen escorting another accused, Arbaaz Merchant. 

Asking the NCB to come clean on the matter, Malik said, “The entire NCB is being used by the BJP to malign the Maharashtra government and Bollywood.”

While Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant demanded an inquiry into Malik’s allegations, the NCB rubbished them.

“The allegations are baseless. There is no substance in them. The private citizens helped in the raid which was conducted as per procedure,” an official of the agency said. Bhanushali claimed he was not an office bearer of any political party, and just helped the NCB. He threatened to sue Malik for defamation.

The BJP said in its reaction that had there been no evidence, the court would have granted bail to Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan in the case.

The Narcotics Control Bureau also termed the allegations as baseless.

The NCB has so far arrested 17 people, including Aryan Khan, after allegedly seizing drugs from the Goa-bound ship on Saturday.

“If these two men are not officials of the NCB, then why were they escorting two high-profile people (Khan and Merchant),” he asked.

The man seen with Merchant was in Gujarat on September 21-22 and could be connected to the seizure of about 3,000 kilograms of heroin at Mundra Port, Malik claimed, asking the BJP to come clear on this person’s credentials.

Notably, Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan had been arrested by the NCB on January 13, 2021, in an alleged drug case.

He got bail in September.

In a statement, Deputy Inspector General of NCB Gyaneshwar Singh said “some allegations” leveled against agency were baseless, and might have been made “in retaliation against earlier legal actions” carried out by it.

Its procedure “has been and will continue to be professionally and legally transparent and unbiased,” the statement said.

“Individuals named as Prabhakar Sail, Kiran Gosavi, Manish Bhanushali, Aubrey Gomez, Adil Usmani, V Waigankar, Aparna Rane, Prakash Bahadur, Shoib Faiz and Muzammil Ibrahim were associated with NCB as independent witnesses (panchas), ” the agency said.

Reacting to Malik’s allegations, local BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar said during lockdown, the Uddhav Thackeray-led state government was the first to open liquor shops, it also decided to lift prohibition in Chandrapur, and now Nawab Malik has accused the NCB of being a drug lord.

Aryan Khan was represented by a senior criminal lawyer when he was produced in a court, Bhatkhalkar said.

“The reason why the court granted custody of Aryan Khan to NCB even after he (this lawyer) argued for defence is because of the solid evidence against him (Khan). Had there been no evidence, he would have been granted immediate bail,” said the BJP leader.

Malik’s allegations question the credibility of the court, he added.

The BJP leader also asked whether Malik was targeting the NCB at the behest of his son-in-law.

22,431 new COVID cases in India, active infections in country lowest in 204 days

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NEW DELHI: With 22,431 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,38,94,312, while the active cases declined to 2,44,198, the lowest in 204 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The death toll climbed to 4,49,856 with 318 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The active cases comprise 0.72 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.95 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.

A decrease of 2,489 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

As many as 14,09,825 tests were conducted on Wednesday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 57,68,03,867.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.57 per cent.

It has been less than three per cent for last 38 days.

The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.68 per cent.

It has been below three per cent for the last 104 days, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,32,00,258, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 92.63 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 crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

The 318 new fatalities include 134 from Kerala and 90 from Maharashtra.

A total of 4,49,856 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,39,362 from Maharashtra, 37,854 from Karnataka, 35,707 from Tamil Nadu, 25,811 from Kerala, 25,088 from Delhi, 22,896 from Uttar Pradesh and 18,863 from West Bengal.

The 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.

BJP announces candidates for bypoll to Sindgi and Hangal constituencies in Karnataka

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BENGALURU: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced its candidates for Singdi and Hangal bypolls. The party will field Ramesh Bhusanur and Shivaraj Sajjanar from both seats respectively 

Bhusanur had represented Sindgi constituency in 2013 defeating JD(S) candidate MC Managuli. However, he lost the polls in 2018 to Managuli. 

Shivaraj Sajjanar who was the former Haveri MLA is a loyalist of former CM BS Yediyurappa. Sajjanar contested in 2013 from Yediyurappa’s Karnataka Janata Party. His selection as the front-runner has left BJP’s Shivakumar Udasi disappointed since the latter was lobbying for his wife Revati Udasi. Hangal was represented by his late father CM Udasi. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has been close to Udasi while he represented Shiggavi constituency. Both Shiggavi and Hangal are in Haveri district. 

Earlier this week, Congress announced the candidature of Ashok Managolu for Sindgi and Srinivas V Mane for Hangal assembly bypolls.

JD(S) has fielded Naziya Shakeel Ahmed in Singdi and Niyaz Shaikh in Hangal. Naziya is filing her nomination on Thursday in the presence of former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy in Sindgi.

The bypoll in Singdi was necessitated due to the death of JD(S) MC Managoli who died earlier this year. The Hangal seat, meanwhile, fell vacant after the death of BJP’s CM Udasi who won against Mane in 2018. 

The bypolls are scheduled to take place on October 30.

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