These 25 people include the 20 who were found positive with the mutated strain on Tuesday and Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: A total of 25 people in the country have tested positive for the new UK variant genome of SARS-CoV-2 so far, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.

These 25 people include the 20 who were found positive with the mutated strain on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“All 25 persons are in physical isolation in health facilities,” the health ministry said.

Among the new five cases, the mutated UK strain was detected in four at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune and one new case was sequenced at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi, it said.

Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others.

“The situation is under careful watch and regular advice is being provided to the states for enhanced surveillance, containment, testing and dispatch of samples to INSACOG labs,” the ministry said on Tuesday, The presence of the new UK variant has already been reported by Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore, so far.

The ministry said that from November 25 to December 23 midnight, about 33,000 passengers disembarked at various Indian airports from the UK.

All these passengers are being tracked and subjected by  states and UTs to RT-PCR tests. The Government of India took cognizance of the reports of virus reported from the UK and put in place a proactive and preventive strategy to detect and contain the mutant variant, it said.

This strategy includes temporary suspension of all flights coming from the UK with effect from the midnight of December 23 till January 7 and mandatory testing of all UK-returned air passengers through RT-PCR test.

The samples of all UK returnees found positive in RT-PCR test will be genome sequenced by a consortium of 10 government labs i.e.INSACOG.

Also, a meeting of the National Task Force (NTF) on COVID-19 was held on December 26 to consider and recommend testing, treatment, surveillance and containment strategy.

Besides, standard operating protocol for states and UTs to tackle the mutant variant of SARS-CoV-2 was issued on December 22.

Former president Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee is also in the panel. 

NEW DELHI:  To project the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation war as an achievement of the Congress government under former prime minister Indira Gandhi, the party on Tuesday set up a committee under former defence minister AK Antony to plan and coordinate the activities for commemorating the 50th anniversary of the historic event. 

“The Congress President has approved the formation of the committee to plan and coordinate the activities of the Indian National Congress to commemorate the historic 50th anniversary of the Bangladesh Liberation War won in 1971, which holds testimony to the special relationship between our two countries,” the party said.

The panel includes Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and former Union minister Jitendra Singh. Former president Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee is also in the panel. 

The 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War is being projected as the achievement of its government at a time when the party has been targeting the Modi government over issues related to national security including the LAC face-off with China.

The Jathedar of the Akal Takht, supreme temporal seat of Sikhs, described Sidhu’s act as ‘highly unfortunate and against the traditions of Sikh tenets’.

AMRITSAR: Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh on Tuesday asked Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu to tender an apology for allegedly hurting the sentiments of Sikh community by wearing a shawl bearing some religious symbols.

The Jathedar of the Akal Takht, supreme temporal seat of Sikhs, described Sidhu’s act as “highly unfortunate and against the traditions of Sikh tenets”.

He said the sentiments of Sikh community were hurt by this act of Sidhu.

“He should immediately apologise,” Singh said.

The Akal Takht Jathedar said he had received complaints from some members of the community, drawing his attention in this regard.

The Congress MLA from Amritsar East allegedly wore the shawl having embroidery of Sikh religious symbols “ik omkar and khanda”.

He had uploaded a video on his YouTube channel ‘Jittega Punjab’ a few days ago in which he could be seen wearing the shawl during a meeting with some farmers in a village in Jalandhar.

The motive for the attack is not clear yet, police said. The student suffered severe injuries and has been hospitalised.

CHENNAI: A 20-year-old college student was allegedly attacked by a five-member gang with machetes in full public view at Avadi on Sunday evening. The motive for the attack is not clear yet, police said. The student suffered severe injuries and has been hospitalised.

According to the police, Dayalan, 20, a resident of Avadi Housing Board Quarters is a third year BA History student of the Presidency College.

“On Sunday evening at around 7 pm, Dayalan was walking towards a park in the locality to meet his friends. When he was crossing the public library in the area, a four-member gang arrived in two motorbikes and picked up an argument with him,” said a police officer.

Later, the gang attacked Dayalan with machetes and knives. Police said that the gang chased Dayalan who ran from the spot and attacked him on his neck, shoulders and stomach.

As passersby gathered at the spot, the gang fled, leaving the college student in a pool of blood. He was taken to the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital where he is undergoing treatment.

The Avadi police have registered a case and launched a hunt for the suspects.

A total of 1,561 mobile towers have been impacted in the state, according to an official statement. The state has a total of 21,306 mobile towers spread across its 22 districts.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday said that 1,561 mobile towers have been “impacted” in the state during the farmers’ stir against the agri laws and directed the police to take strict action against vandalisation and disruption of telecom services.

Asserting that he will not let Punjab plunge into anarchy at any cost and nobody can be allowed to take the law into their hands, the chief minister said he has been forced to toughen his stance as his repeated appeals to perpetrators of such acts had been ignored.

The chief minister said that the general public including students, professionals working from home and banking services would suffer the most if the mobile services were disrupted and warned that the use of violence could alienate the protestors from the masses which would be detrimental to the interests of the farming community.

A total of 1,561 mobile towers have been impacted in the state, according to an official statement.

The state has a total of 21,306 mobile towers spread across its 22 districts.

Pointing out that his government had not objected to, or stopped, peaceful protests in the state against the Centre’s “black farm laws” for the past several months, Singh said in a statement here that damage to property and inconvenience to the citizens could not, however, be endured.

Out of the total towers impacted, 25 had been damaged, allegedly by some farmers and their supporters in violation of the directions given by farmers’ unions to keep their protests against the farm laws peaceful.

Since Monday morning there was a disruption of power supply to 32 towers, which led to the disconnection of services of 114 more.

So far, 433 towers have been repaired, according to the official statement.

Amid reports that the power supply to mobile towers was being disconnected allegedly by protesting farmers in different parts of the state during the past few days, Amarinder Singh had earlier on Friday appealed to them to not inconvenience the general public with such actions.

Such incidents were reported from Mansa, Barnala, Ferozepur and Moga with mobile towers of a particular telecom operator being targeted during the past few days, disrupting their services.

“The farmers’ agitation had so far been successful and had garnered the support of people from all sections of the society and across the country due to its peaceful nature,” said the chief minister.

Calling upon farmers and their supporters to put an immediate stop to such destructive activities, which were being disowned by farmer leaders themselves, the chief minister said disruption of telecom services could lead to a communications blackout in the state, causing its people, especially students and working professionals, to suffer serious consequences.

“With examinations, especially Board exams, nearing and students dependent on online education amid the Covid pandemic, such communication breakdown could seriously affect their future,” he said.

“The state government has already distributed 1.75 lakh smartphones to class XII students to equip them for the Board exams, but the vandalization of telecom property was hampering the students,” he said.

The chief minister further said that professionals working from home, with many of them having come to Punjab during the pandemic, could lose their jobs due to such acts of violence and damage to property.

Even banking services, which were also largely dependent on online transactions in these times of crisis, were taking a major hit due to these unlawful acts, he added.

While his government’s sympathies were with the agitating farmers, which was why it had also brought in state amendment bills in the assembly to negate the central legislations, nobody could be allowed to take law and order in their hands, warned the chief minister.

Panvel police told reporters that the accused was arrested from Barwai village within 12 hours of committing the crime on Sunday

THANE: A 26-year-old autorickshaw driver has been arrested from a village near Panvel in Raigad district of Maharashtra for allegedly raping an 18-year-old woman tourist from Chhattisgarh on December 27, police said on Tuesday.

The victim hailed from Jashpur.

She was visiting Mumbai and neighbouring areas to celebrate Christmas and New Year, an officer said.

Panvel police station senior inspector Ajaykumar Landge told reporters that the accused was arrested from Barwai village within 12 hours of committing the crime on Sunday.

He said the woman had travelled to Jharkhand and then to Delhi, before reaching Bandra railway station in Mumbai on December 22.

However, a ticket checker at Bandra railway station handed her over to Child Helpline after finding her alone.

The woman was then shifted to a shelter before she was allowed to go, he said.

On December 26, the woman travelled to Panvel railway station.

She was befriended by a man and stayed with him for a day, the police officer said.

“During investigation, it came to light that the woman is a resident of Chhattisgarh who travelled to Mumbai to celebrate Christmas and New Year,” Landge said.

On December 27, the woman hired an autorickshaw at Panvel to go to Gandhi Garden locality.

However, the autorickshaw driver drove her to an isolated place near the Wadghar river bank and dragged her to bushes.

He raped her after threatening to smash her head with a stone, he said quoting the FIR.

Since the woman was new to the area of the crime, police relied on informants and took help of other autorickshaw drivers to zero in on the accused.

A case has been registered under sections 376 (Punishment for rape) and 506- 2 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), he added.

Hitting out at Visva-Bharati VC, the feisty TMC boss said “attempts to destroy Tagore’s cultural abode have to be resisted with all might”

BOLPUR: Iterating that the BJP is a “party of outsiders”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asserted that the land of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore will never allow hate politics to triumph over secularism.

Banerjee, during a rally in Bolpur, branded Visva- Bharati Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty as a “BJP man”, and said he plans on destroying the rich heritage of the hallowed institution by “importing divisive and communal politics inside its campus”.

“Those who don’t respect Mahatma Gandhi and other icons of the country are taking of building ‘Sonar Bangla’ (Golden Bengal). Rabindranath Tagore has already created ‘Sonar Bangla’ several decades ago, all we need to do is to protect the place from the communal onslaught of the BJP,” Banerjee said during her address, following a four-kilometre roadshow here.

Hitting out at Visva-Bharati VC, the feisty TMC boss said “attempts to destroy Tagore’s cultural abode have to be resisted with all might”.

“I feel bad when I see efforts are on to pursue communal politics at Visva-Bharati. The VC there is a BJP man, he is trying to tarnish the heritage of this institution by practising communal politics,” the chief minister claimed.

Talking about the recent defections from the TMC, Banerjee said saffron camp may have bought a few MLAs, but it can never buy her party.

Police sources said the restriction was put in place to avoid a stampede-like situation. The demonstrators alleged that it was an attempt to suppress their voice

PATNA: Several people were injured here on Tuesday in a lathi charge at a busy crossing in the heart of the city when police personnel tried to stop a procession, taken out in protest against the farm laws from heading towards the Raj Bhavan.

Traffic was thrown out of gear as thousands of protestors, comprising members of various farmers organizations and pro-Left outfits, marched through Frazer Road before they were thwarted at the Dak Bungalow crossing.

According to police, the crack down at Dak Bungalow crossing was preceded by skirmishes between the demonstrators and police and administrative officials at the Gandhi Maidan, the starting point of the rally, where agitators took exception to their entry being allowed inside the sprawling public ground only through one of the many gates.

Police sources said the restriction was put in place to avoid a stampede-like situation. The demonstrators alleged that it was an attempt to suppress their voice.

Later, when they reached the Dak Bungalow crossing, about a kilometre and a half away, officials deployed there told the demonstrators that their march could not be allowed beyond that point.

As the demonstrators insisted on walking right up to the Raj Bhavan, some three km away, the police used force to prevent their march towards the restricted VIP area.

An unspecified number of injured protestors were taken to hospitals for treatment while a few were rounded up, the police said.

There was heavy deployment of force at Dak Bungalow crossing, where some of the demonstrators sought to stand their ground raising slogans, the police added.