The rise, suggested officials, could be due to Dussehra and Durga Puja festivities which saw large gatherings. 

NEW DELHI:  Even as India on Tuesday recorded a three-month low in daily fresh Covid-19 cases, the Centre expressed worry at the rising case graph in some states such as West Bengal and Delhi. The rise, suggested officials, could be due to Dussehra and Durga Puja festivities which saw large gatherings. 

The true impact of these celebrations, however, can be gauged only by coming two weeks, they added.

At a briefing on the Covid-19 situation, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said during the festive season, cases have increased in Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi.

Around 58 per cent of the fresh COVID-19 deaths in the country were reported from Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, he said, adding 49.4 per cent of the fresh coronavirus cases in the same period were reported from Kerala (4,287) West Bengal (4,121), Maharashtra (3,645), Karnataka (3,130) and Delhi (2,832), while 58% of the 488 deaths were reported from Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.

He also said the health ministry is in contact with all these states and central teams have been sent there.

“A few teams have returned after completing the task allotted. After analysing their report further actions will be taken in formulating new strategies to be adopted for these states,” Bhushan said.

Bhushan said the Centre will this week hold meetings with the five states witnessing rise in daily Covid graph.

The officials, however, added that there has been a continuous decline in average daily new Covid-19 deaths for the last five weeks. India’s case fatality rate has declined from 1.77% on September 1 to 1.50% on October 27, Bhushan said.

Top functionaries of the government also stressed that there was no room for complacency considering several other nations in Europe and the US are experiencing a worse second waves than the first one.

“We are fortunate that we are witnessing a decline except in few states. This is more worthy as other nations continue to see severe second peaks, but we have to work harder to protect the gains,” said Dr V K Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog.

This decline is particularly noteworthy because in other countries of the northern hemisphere there is a severe increase in the intensity of the pandemic, Paul added.

The pandemic has rebounded in several countries, largely in the northern hemisphere, and a third peak has hit the US, Paul said, adding, “Becoming a bit lax. slowing down surveillance and containment strategies also must be playing a role in this.”

Stressing that the coronavirus pandemic is on a “downward trend and under control” in India, he warned that “we cannot become lax and have to stay vigilant”.

Kerala, West Bengal and Delhi are proceeding towards a third peak.

This is a matter of concern and there can be no complacency in following COVID-19-appropriate behaviour as more challenges will emerge in the coming days, Paul said.

“More festivals are ahead and wherever we have faltered in the last few days, it will show in the coming 10 to 12 days.”

Paul stressed on continuing with the test, track, trace and treat strategy.

“Looking for a super-spreading event in the case of an individual positive case is an important area of our work and we are learning that super-spreading events happen when we are together not only in very large numbers but also in medium numbers. So, super-spreading events must be avoided,” he said.

Bhushan further said a continuous decline in average daily new coronavirus cases has been observed and the figure has come down from 83,232 between September 23 and 29 to 49,909 for October 21-27.

“When we observe the number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, it is only 36,470. However, the number of tests conducted during this period has not come down. If even after doing 11 lakh tests per day on an average, there is a decline in daily new cases. It surely is a very positive sign. Our number of tests per million population is more than 75,600,” he pointed out.

“India’s COVID-19 case fatality rate has declined from 1.77 per cent on September 1 to 1.50 per cent as on date. The recovery rate has increased from 76.94 per cent on September 1 to 90.62 per cent as on date,” the official said.

It should be specifically noted that many states and Union Territories have case fatality rate below the national average of 1.50 per cent.

There has also been a decline in average daily new deaths from 1,054 in September to 615 now, Bhushan said.

The health secretary said India has the highest COVID-19 recoveries in the world.

Also, the country’s number of cases as well as deaths per million population were among the lowest, he added.

“It took us 57 days to register a recovery of 10 lakhs from 1 lakhs, whereas, the latest 10 lakh recoveries have been achieved in just 13 days which is also a satisfactory sign,” Bhushan said.

To a question over the BJP’s election manifesto promising free coronavirus vaccine for everyone in Bihar, Paul said state governments have been urged to take a national approach towards engaging with companies and deciding the criteria for COVID-19 vaccination.

“In order to deliver the vaccine to priority groups, to the extent that we can foresee, there is absolutely no problem in terms of resources,” he said.

The recoveries in India have now crossed 72 lakh even as cases are above 79 lakh with the last 10 lakh recoveries registered in 13 days as against the first 10 lakh recoveries, which took 57 days.

Amid the growing concerns around air pollution in Delhi-NCR, ICMR chief Dr Balram Bhargava said that studies have proven that long-term exposure to air pollution is linked to an increased risk of dying from Covid-19.

“There have been studies from Europe and US, where they have looked at polluted areas and have compared mortality during lockdown and correlation with pollution. It is found that pollution is contributing to mortality in Covid, that’s well established by studies,” he said in reply to a query during the daily briefing. 

Prime Minister will hold rallies in Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur and Patna on Wednesday ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls.

PATNA: RJD leader and Mahagatbandhan’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav has posed 11 questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his visit to Bihar on October 28.

Prime Minister will hold rallies in Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur and Patna on Wednesday ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls.

In a press statement, Tejashwi Yadav stated, “Tomorrow Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming to Bihar. I want to ask these questions from the double engine government of Delhi and Patna.”

He posed 11 questions to the Prime Minister and asked, “Darbhanga AIIMS was announced in 2015 but why announcement for the start of its work was done before the polls?”

“PM is coming to Muzaffarpur. Will his combined government in Delhi and Patna speak on the Muzaffarpur shelter home case in which the Chief Minister is providing protection to the accused in the rape of 34 orphan girls?” he asked.

“The BJP-JDU government has promised a super speciality hospital in Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur but the promise was not fulfilled nor the appointment of doctors done. The government has promised to build Skill University what happened to that promise?” Yadav posed.

“Will PM also discuss flooding in Patna and regarding the work of Patna Nagar Nigam regarding the crisis,” Yadav asked.

He asked the Prime Minister to reveal to the people of Bihar that out of the 10 dirty cities of the country, six are from Bihar. “Why there is such a state of affairs in Bihar?” he asked.

“Why is Nitish Kumar such a weak Chief Minister that despite having 39 out of 40 NDA MPs, Patna University is still not given the status of a Central University?” he sought to know.

“Will PM tell, why is the state with a huge population of youth there is unemployment. How many jobs are created by the Central government in six years and by the Bihar government in the last 15 years?” Yadav asked.

he asked why migration has taken place out of Bihar and why it is increasing?

He also sought to know why students stranded in Kota and other migrant workers were stopped from coming to Bihar?

He asked the Prime Minister why the accused in the Srijan scam have not been touched by CBI yet. Why they are roaming with the NDA leaders?

Bihar Assembly elections will be held in three phases — October 28, November 3, and 7, and the counting of votes will take place on November 10.

While the BJP is fighting the elections alongside Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) and two other parties, LJP this time parted ways from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the state level opting to field candidates on over 100 seats in the state.

The searches were carried out on Monday at 42 premises in Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa, it said.

NEW DELHI: The Income Tax Department has recovered cash and jewellery worth about Rs 5.26 crore after it carried out multi-city raids against hawala operators and individuals who prepare fake bills, the CBDT said on Tuesday.

The searches were carried out on Monday at 42 premises in Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa, it said.

The action was carried out against “a large network of individuals running the racket of entry operation (hawala like operation) and generation of huge cash through fake billing”, officials said.

During the raids, Rs 2.37 crore cash and jewellery worth Rs 2.89 crore has been found along with 17 bank lockers which are yet to be searched, the CBDT said in a statement.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the administrative authority for the I-T department.

“The search has led to seizure of evidences exposing the entire network of the entry operators, intermediaries, cash handlers, the beneficiaries and the firms and companies involved.”

“So far, documents evidencing accommodation entries (hawala) of more than Rs 500 crore have already been found and seized,” it said.

Several shell entities and firms were used by the searched entry operators for layering of unaccounted money and cash withdrawals against fake bills issued and unsecured loans given, the Board said.

Describing the modus operandi of the tax evasion racket, it said personal staff, employees, associates had been made dummy directors and partners of these shell entities and all bank accounts were managed and controlled by these entry operators.

“Statements of such entry operators, their dummy partners/employees, the cash handlers as well as the covered beneficiaries have also been recorded, clearly validating the entire money trail,” the statement said.

“The searched persons were also found to be controller and beneficial owners of several bank accounts and lockers, opened in names of their family members and trusted employees and shell entities, which they were managing in collusion with the bank officials, through the digital media,” it said.

This is being further investigated, it added.

The CBDT further said the beneficiaries have been found to have made huge investments in real estate properties in prime cities and in fixed deposits to the tune of several hundred crores of rupees.

Although the first phase human trial of the vaccine was successfully conducted here, the institute had to do away with the plan for the second phase

BHUBANESWAR: The third phase human trial of indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine “Covaxin” will soon commerce at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital in Odisha.

The institute is one of the 21 medical facilities selected across the country by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for the third phase trial.

Although the first phase human trial of the vaccine was successfully conducted here, the institute had to do away with the plan for the second phase after the ICMR decided to reduce the number of facilities where the vaccine shots will be administered.

The principal investigator and Professor of Department of Community Medicine at IMS and SUM Hospital Dr E Venkata Rao said the vaccine developed by ICMR and Bharat Biotech has received the approval of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for continuing trials. 

After completion of the first and second phase trials with demonstrable safety profile and immunogenicity, the large scale efficacy trial involving thousands of volunteers is being planned, he said.

“The age limit and eligibility criteria would be relaxed during this phase. Several healthy volunteers would be recruited for the trial. Like the previous phases, half of the volunteers would receive placebo and the remaining half would be administered “Covaxin” in this phase. Health care workers would also be recruited for the trial. The volunteers would be followed up over a considerable period of time to look at the efficacy of the vaccine in preventing COVID-19,” Prof Rao said.

The institute has a list of individuals, who have already volunteered for the trial. Interested volunteers can also enrol themselves for the trial by registering online at www.ptctu.soa.ac.in under the section register for clinical trials.

IMS and SUM Hospital was one among 12 sites across the country where first phase trial was conducted. Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech was first to secure the approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to conduct clinical trials of Covaxin, making it the country’s first domestic vaccine to enter trials.

“Amid the rising cases and deaths due to Covid-19 across the country, the search for a suitable vaccine candidate has almost come to the final stage. In the first phase trial, the vaccine performed as expected. We hope after the successful third phase trial, the vaccine will get the nod for mass immunisation.

The Congress chief stated that farmers, youth, labourers, brothers and sisters of Bihar are not just in Bihar but all over India and all over the world. Slamming the Bihar Government, Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said, high on power and its ego, the current state government has deviated from its path. She asserted that the public is with Congress Mahagatbandhan (grand alliance).

“High on power and its ego, current Bihar Government has deviated from its path. Neither their saying nor doing is good. Labourers are helpless, farmers are anxious and youth are disappointed. The public is with Congress Mahagatbandhan and it is the call of Bihar,” said Sonia Gandhi.

“The fragile state of the economy is overshadowing the lives of the people. The sons of the soil are in serious trouble today,” she further stated.

“Dalits and Mahadalits have been left in a bad condition. Backward sections of society are also victims of this plight. The voice of the people of Bihar is with the Congress Grand Alliance. This is the call of Bihar today,” she added.

The Congress chief added that the governments of Delhi and Bihar are ‘captive governments’ – demonetisation, lockout, trade-off, economic bandit, farm-barn captive, bread-employment detention. Therefore, against the captive government, the people of Bihar are ready for the creation of a new Bihar, she added.

“Now the change is in the air because change is passion, energy, new thinking and power. Now the time has come to write something new. Bihar has qualities in its hands, skill, strength, power of construction, but unemployment, migration, inflation, starvation have given them tears and blisters in their feet,” she said.

“Words that cannot be said have to be said with tears. Policy and governments cannot be created on the basis of fear and crime. Bihar is a mirror of India, a hope. India believes, passion is passion. Bihar is the pride and pride of India,” she added.

The Congress chief stated that farmers, youth, labourers, brothers and sisters of Bihar are not just in Bihar but all over India and all over the world. Today, the same Bihar is ready for new changes in its villages, towns, cities, farms and barns for its glory and future.

“That is why I said that the wind of change is in the air. The inked finger of the vote now stands with the question. The question is unemployment, to save farming, about bread and employment. The question is about education and health. The question is of industry. The question is to stop the unbridled crime. The question is on dictatorial governance,” she said.

“That’s why today is the time – to move from darkness to light, from lie to truth, from present to future. My appeal to the people of Bihar, called the land of knowledge, is to vote for the candidates of the grand alliance and build a new Bihar,” she added.

Bihar Assembly elections will be held in three phases — October 28, November 3, and 7, and the counting of votes will take place on November 10.

Vijayawada police busted online cricket betting racket and arrested nine persons for organising betting at an apartment in Murali Nagar under Penamaluru police station limits on Saturday. 

VIJAYAWADA: Vijayawada police busted online cricket betting racket and arrested nine persons for organising betting at an apartment in Murali Nagar under Penamaluru police station limits on Saturday.
 
The accused were identified as V Kalyan Chakravarthi (39), K Ravi Kiran (42), M Kesava Reddy (33), K Chandrasekhar (26), R Srinivas Rao (31), T Sudhakar (40), P Kutumba Rao (43), Md Kalillulah (45) and T Siva Shankar (28), all residents of Vijayawada. They formed a team and organising betting on IPL matches for the past one month.

Addressing the media, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP – L&O) V Harshavardhan Raju said that the Commissioner’s Task Force (CTF)  received information that the accused were organising cricket betting from a rented apartment in Murali Nagar and caught them red-handed while taking bets from punters. He said five persons are bookies and the rest are sub-bookies, operators and cash collecting agents. 

“The accused were using a betting app called ‘Cricket Mazza’ available on Google Play Store and accepting bets using referrals through their friends and relatives. The accused were caught as they were placing bets on cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Night Riders,” said DCP Harshavardhan Raju. The police also seized Rs 7.5 lakh cash, a TV, one laptop, a communicator device and 13 mobile phones from their possession. “A case has been registered against the accused under AP Gaming Act and they will be produced in the court on Monday,” the DCP added.

He also said the party workers and citizens need not worry about his health and that he will be back among all after a brief period of rest.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday said he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is admitted in a hospital here on the advice of doctors.

In a message, Pawar said his health condition is fine.

“I have tested positive for COVID-19. My health condition is fine. As a precautionary measure I have admitted self to Breach Candy Hospital on the advice of doctors,” the NCP leader said.

He also said the party workers and citizens need not worry about his health and that he will be back among all after a brief period of rest.

On Thursday, Pawar tested negative for coronavirus but was in home quarantine as a precautionary measure.

In the last few months, over a dozen Maharashtra ministers have tested positive for the viral infection.

They include Jitendra Awhad (housing), Ashok Chavan (public works department), Dhananjay Munde (social justice), Varsha Gaikwad (school education), Eknath Shinde (urban development) and Nitin Raut (energy).

Ministers Hasan Mushrif (rural development), Sunil Kedar (animal husbandry), Balasaheb Patil (cooperation), Aslam Shaikh (ports, textile), Bacchu Kadu (MoS for school education), Abdul Sattar (MoS-rural development), Sanjay Bansode (MoS-environment) and Vishwajeet Kadam (MoS for cooperation) had also contracted COVID-19.