Archives for December 2021

Surat: Activists of right-wing Bajrang Dal on Monday took down and set on fire a huge flex banner announcing “Pakistani food festival” to be organised at a restaurant here in Gujarat, a senior office-bearer said and claimed that the concerned restaurant has accepted its “mistake”.

This banner put up atop a building housing the restaurant in the Ring Road area was taken down and set blaze amid chants of “Jai Shri Ram.”

The said food festival was supposed to be organised at the ‘Taste of India’ restaurant between December 12-22.

South Gujarat Bajrang Dal president Deviprasad Dubey said the member activists took down the flex banner from the building and set it on fire because they are against such an event.

“We ensured that such a festival is not organised at that restaurant. No such festival will be tolerated. The restaurant has accepted its mistake,” he said.

Sandeep Dawar of ‘Sugar N Spice Restaurants’, which operates ‘Taste of India,’ said they will continue to serve the Mughlai cuisine and will strike out the word “Pakistani” from the food festival as it hurts the sentiments of some people.

“We will not use the word ‘Pakistani’ anymore in the food festival as it hurts the sentiments of some people. When we were using that word we felt that some people might not like it, but we did not know it would turn out like this…We are just serving cuisine which has nothing to do with Pakistan as such. The second name of Mughlai cuisine is Pakistani food,” Dawar said.

Karnataka State Contractors’ Association President D Kempanna

Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Contractors’ Association on Monday demanded a high-level inquiry int all irregularities including in government projects after having sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to this effect.

Also, the association sought an overhaul of the tender allotment process and stressed the need for a transparent system in place for tenders and bill payments.

In their letter to the Prime Minister in July, the association claimed harassment by Ministers, elected representatives and others accusing them of demanding up to 30 per cent of the tender amount for approving a contract and 5-6 per cent towards release of ‘Letter of Credit’ against pending bills.

Welcoming the inquiry ordered by the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai into the tender process and bill payment, the association in a press release questioned the government on its silence over corruption charges and sought the high-level probe into them.

Depending on the government’s response, the association said it would also try to meet President Ramnath Kovind and the Prime Minister in person to bring to their notice the issues faced by contractors.

In the release, the association made it clear that it is not accusing only the present government of corruption, but also the increasing irregularities year on year from government to government.

Letters have also been written to the Chief Minister, the Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, former JD(S) chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and all the MLAs seeking cooperation in removing corruption, the association said adding that it has even planned for a protest in Bengaluru in January in this regard.

New Delhi: Two TMC MPs on Monday submitted a notice to move privilege motion against former Chief Justice of India and Rajya Sabha member Ranjan Gogoi over his remarks about attending Parliament, sources said.

The notice from Trinamool Congress (TMC) members Jawhar Sircar and Mausam Noor is yet to be admitted by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.

Besides them, several other MPs from various opposition parties are also expected to file notices of privilege motion against Gogoi, the sources said.

Sircar and Noor have filed the notice for privilege motion over Gogoi’s remarks about attending Parliament, they said.

In an interview to a news channel, Gogoi reportedly said in the wake of Covid curbs and lack of social distancing, he likes to attend Rajya Sabha when he feels like and when he thinks there are matters of importance on which he should speak, the sources said.

Gogoi also purportedly said he is a nominated member, and not governed by any party whip, the sources said citing his remarks.

MPs from the TMC are also expected to file a complaint against Gogoi with the Ethics Committee, they said.

London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday confirmed the UK’s first death from the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the first known fatality from the highly transmissible variant of COVID-19 in the world.

Johnson used the case to highlight the importance of not being complacent that the new variant is milder compared to the currently dominant Delta variant and urged people to get their top-up booster vaccine doses, now being offered to all adults aged 18 and over.

During a visit to a vaccine clinic in west London as part of the Omicron Emergency Boost campaign, Johnson also refused to rule out bringing in further restrictions in the coming days and weeks to control the rapid spread of the variant which has now crossed over 3,000 cases in the country.

“Sadly yes, Omicron is producing hospitalisations and sadly at least one patient has been confirmed to have died with Omicron, Johnson told reporters.

“So I think the idea that this is somehow a milder version of the virus, I think that’s something we need to set on one side and just recognise the sheer pace at which it accelerates through the population,” he said.

Early data has suggested the new variant, first detected in South Africa, produces only mild symptoms of runny nose, fatigue, headache and sore throat but UK experts have said it could still result in a big rise in hospital admissions due to its sheer rate of transmissibility.

Johnson noted that the new variant now accounts for roughly 40 per cent of coronavirus cases in London alone.

“The risk is plainly there, we can see Omicron spiking now in London and some other parts of the country. Here in the capital it probably represents about 40 per cent of the cases. By tomorrow, it’ll be the majority of the cases and it’s increasing the whole time,” he said.

Asked repeatedly by reporters if he would rule out more lockdown and social distancing measures before Christmas, he said: “Throughout the pandemic I’ve been at great pains to stress to the public that we have to watch where the pandemic is going and we take whatever steps are necessary to protect public health.

“We think the steps that we are taking so Plan B, combined with a hugely ambitious acceleration of the booster campaign, bringing it forward by a month so we offer a booster to every adult by the end of the year we think that’s the right approach.”

Johnson was also asked about a reported shortage of the free lateral flow tests (LFTs) distributed by the National Health Service (NHS) as part of the strategy for all close contacts of a COVID positive individual to test daily and get a confirmatory PCR test if also positive.

“We do have a ready supply of lateral flow tests. If you can’t get one online for any reason, then there are ample supplies in the shops, urged Johnson, adding that the higher demand shows that most people are doing the “sensible thing and testing themselves regularly.

It comes as long queues were seen outside walk-in vaccination centres across the UK on Monday with people queuing for their booster vaccine doses, which now have an accelerated timelines to cover all adults by the end of this year.

The enhanced booster rollout is in response to Omicron, after early analysis suggested two doses of a COVID vaccine were not enough to stop people catching the variant. However, a third booster dose gives around 70-75 per cent protection against symptomatic infection with Omicron, analysis by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) found last week.

According to the UK government, currently 10 people are in hospital in England with the Omicron variant, which recorded another jump of 1,239 new cases over the weekend.

Kochi: Examining the maintainability of a plea seeking removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photograph from the COVID-19 vaccination certificate, the Kerala High Court on Monday asked the petitioner whether he was ashamed of the PM.

Justice P V Kunhikrishnan said the Prime Minister was elected to power by the people of the country and therefore, what was wrong with having his photograph on the vaccination certificate.

When the petitioner’s counsel told the court that in other countries there was no such practice, the judge orally remarked, “They may not be proud of their PMs, we are proud of our PM.”

“Why are you (petitioner) ashamed of the Prime Minister? He came to power through the mandate of the people…. We may have different political views, but he is still our PM,” the court further said.

The counsel for the petitioner — Peter Myaliparampil — said that the certificate was a “private space” with personal details on record and therefore, it was inappropriate to intrude into the privacy of an individual.

He contended that adding the PM’s photo to the certificate was an intrusion into an individual’s private space.

To this the court, said that the more than 100 crore people of the country do not appear to have a problem with having the PM’s photo on the vaccine certificate, “why do you?”

The court said it will examine whether the plea has any merits and if not, it will dispose of the matter.

During the more than an hour long hearing, advocate Ajit Joy, appearing for the petitioner, said that whether to be proud of one’s PM was a personal choice.

Joy also told the court that it was not a matter of political differences, as the Supreme Court has laid down guidelines for advertisements and campaigns using public money.

He said having the photo on the certificates would also influence minds of voters and this issue was raised during the recent state assembly elections.

The central government opposed the plea saying it was a publicity interest litigation.

The petitioner, a senior citizen, has contended in his plea that the PM’s photo on his vaccination certificate was a violation of fundamental rights.