The Centre on Sunday said culling of poultry birds is underway in Maharashtra and Haryana, while fresh cases of bird flu have been confirmed in poultry in Mumbai as well as in the Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh.

   

So far, bird flu has been confirmed in 11 states -- Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat.

 

However, the Centre has requested states to "rethink their decisions to impose ban on sale of poultry and poultry products and allow such selling sourced from the non-infected areas/states".

In India, bird flu or avian influenza is spread mainly by migratory birds coming into India during winter months between September and March. The disease is zoonotic.

 

In a statement, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said bird flu cases have been confirmed in poultry at the Central Poultry Development Organisation (CPDO), Mumbai, and Kheda Road in the Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh.

 

Not only poultry, the disease has also been confirmed in crows at Panna, Sanchi, Raisen and Balaghat; in crow and owl at Sheopur; while in swan and pigeon, in the Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh, it said.

 

The viral disease has also been confirmed in crow and pigeon in Bastar, while crow in the Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. Similarly, the disease has also been confirmed in crow samples from Haridwar and Lansdowne in Uttarakhand.

 

Additionally, in Delhi, Heron samples in Rohini have been tested positive for bird flu, it added.

 

On the culling operation, the ministry said it is underway in all the affected epicentres, including CPDO in Maharashtra. The culling operation of poultry is continuing in the epicenters of Haryana.

 

The Maharashtra Animal Husbandry Department have started a toll-free helpline for farmers to report any unusual mortality of birds.

 

The state government has put requisite information about the disease in line with the revised Avian Influenza Action Plan 2021, it added.

 

Further, the ministry said rapid response teams have been deployed in Madhya Pradesh.

 

"Today, samples tested from Rajasthan and Gujarat have been found negative for avian influenza," the ministry noted.

 

According to the statement, the central team formed for monitoring the situation in the affected areas of the country are visiting the affected sites and conducting epidemiological studies.

 

The ministry said consumers should not pay heed to baseless rumours that are unscientific and often lead to confusion. These adversely affect not only poultry and egg markets but also poultry and maize farmers, who are already affected by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. -- PTI 

The Shiv Sena has decided to contest the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal, party MP Sanjay Raut said on Sunday.

He said the decision to contest the polls has been taken after holding discussions with Maharashtra Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.

"So, here is the much-awaited update. After discussions with Party Chief Shri Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena has decided to contest the West Bengal Assembly Elections. We are reaching Kolkata soon...!! Jai Hind, Jai Bangla!" Raut tweeted.

He, however, didn't specify the number of seats the Sena will contest in West Bengal.

Elections to the 294-member WB assembly are due in April-May this year.

The Sena is in power in Maharashtra along with the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress under the aegis of Maha Vikas Aghadi. -- PTI

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Sunday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restore 4G mobile internet services in Jammu and Kashmir as he highlighted various problems due to lack of the facility and the harsh winter in the Union Territory.

   

He prayed for the success of the COVID-19 vaccine and urged people to maintain communal harmony and brotherhood at all costs for overall prosperity and development.

 

"The prime minister is saying 5G is coming in India while we are deprived of 4G (mobile internet service). May he come and live here after leaving the chair and see how we are living under 2G (service)," Abdullah, the former chief minister of the erstwhile state, said at a book release function in Jammu.

The 4G mobile internet service was snapped across Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 following revocation of special status and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two union territories. 

While the service was restored in two districts, Udhampur in Jammu and Ganderbal in Kashmir, after over a year, it is still suspended in rest of the 18 districts.

 

The well-attended function was organised by Gurjar Desh Charitable Trust to release the biography of its patron-in-chief Masud Ahmad Choudhary, a retired Additional Director General of Police and ex-vice chancellor of Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (Rajouri).

 

"Students are sitting in their homes and getting education through internet and the businessmen are also dependent on internet connectivity. My request to the prime minister is that if you are saying this place is on the path of development, give us 4G for the sake of god so that we too can benefit and our children move forward," Abdullah said.

He said attention is required to be given towards it.

"There is a talk of Rs 28,000 crore package. First, let us know what happened to the earlier Rs 80,000 crore package and where the money had gone. See our condition and had there been no army, the Srinagar-Jammu national highway would have remained closed for one year," the NC leader said referring to the restoration of the highway by Border Roads Organsiation, which constructed a bailey bridge near Kela Morh to restore traffic on the strategic highway after a portion of the road caved-in on January 10.

 

Earlier this month, the Jammu and Kashmir administration had announced a new industrial development scheme (IDS) with a total outlay of Rs 28,400 crore to encourage new investment and to take industrial development to the block level. 

Abdullah said people in Kashmir are faced with a lot of problems amid sub-zero temperature.

 

"What can I say about the problems we are facing in Kashmir where there is no electricity, petrol, diesel, kerosene oil and shortage of daily use food items. Jammu is the door to Kashmir and it is pathetic that former prime minister A B Vajpayee promised a rail link (between Kashmir and rest of the country) by 2007, which was revised to 2022 by this regime. Hope it would not extend to 2040 when I will be no more," he said.

Abdullah said he is advising his brother Mustafa Kamal not to travel by Jammu-Srinagar national highway in view of the lurking threat of shooting stones from the hillocks overlooking the highway from Udhampur onwards.  -- PTI

A total of 17,072 people were vaccinated across six states on Day 2 of the nationwide coronavirus drive, the health ministry said on Sunday.

A total of 2,24,301 beneficiaries have been administered COVID-19 vaccine since nationwide drive was rolled out on Saturday, the ministry said.

There has been no case of adverse reaction or side-effects of COVID-19 vaccine in Maharashtra so far, state health minister Rajesh Tope said on Sunday, a day after the inoculation drive was undertaken across the country.

Talking to PTI, Tope also expressed confidence that "everything will be safe".

As many as 18,425 beneficiaries, or 65 per cent of the target for the first day, were given vaccine shot across the state on Saturday, a health department official earlier said.

"There has absolutely been no report of any adverse reaction or side-effects of the vaccine following the drive on Saturday. Everything was safe, it will be safe," Tope said.

 The Maharashtra government on Saturday evening announced suspension of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in the state till Monday owing to problems in the Co-WIN app.

The app has been created by the Centre for managing registration for the inoculation.

Tope said it is expected that a "small technical glitch" in the app of the Centre will be addressed by Sunday or Monday.

"There will be improvement by today or tomorrow. And from Tuesday, we will conduct the drive again," he said.

"Anyways, we have to conduct the drive for four days in a week. So, we can undertake it from Tuesday to Friday," he added. 

Farmer unions protesting against the Centre's agri laws said on Sunday that they will go ahead with their proposed tractor parade in Delhi on Republic Day.

   

Addressing a press conference at the Singhu border protest site, union leader Yogendra Yadav said, "We will carry out a tractor parade on the Outer Ring Road in Delhi on Republic Day. The parade will be very peaceful. There will be no disruption of the Republic Day parade. The farmers will put up the national flag on their tractors."

 

The authorities had moved the Supreme Court seeking an injunction against the proposed tractor march or any other kind of protest by farmers which seeks to disrupt the gathering and celebrations of Republic Day on January 26. The matter is pending in court.

 

Another farmer union leader, Darshan Pal Singh, alleged that the National Investigation Agency is filing cases against those who are part of the protest or supporting it.

 

"All farmer unions condemn this," Pal said, referring to the NIA summons reportedly issued to a farmer union leader in a case related to the banned Sikhs For Justice outfit.

 

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at various border points of Delhi for over a month now demanding repeal of the three laws -- the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act.

 

Enacted in September 2020, the central government has presented these laws as major farm reforms aimed at increasing farmers' income, but the protesting farmers have raised concerns that these legislations would weaken the minimum support price and "mandi" (wholesale market) systems and leave them at the mercy of big corporations.

 

The government has maintained that these apprehensions are misplaced and has ruled out a repeal of the laws. -- PTI 

Ahead of the tenth round of talks scheduled on January 19, Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday again urged the protesting farm leaders to give up their "stubborn" stand on the new farm laws and come for a clause by clause discussion.

   

"Now that the Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of these laws, then there is no question of being stubborn," Tomar told reporters before leaving for his home constituency of Morena in Madhya Pradesh.

 

The government wants farmer leaders to come for clause by clause discussion at the next meeting on January 19. Except for the demand of repealing the laws, the government is ready to consider "seriously and with an open heart" other alternatives, he said.

 

Tomar, who left for his constituency by Hazur Sahib Nanded-Amritsar Superfast Express, was seen sharing langar from co-passengers of Sikh community -- a  gesture which comes amid the ongoing protests by farmers from Punjab against the agri laws.

 

The Supreme Court on January 11 had stayed the implementation of the three laws till further orders and appointed a four-member panel to resolve the impasse.

 

Tomar said the government offered certain concessions, but the farmer leaders have not shown flexibility and were constantly demanding a repeal of the laws.

 

He reiterated that the government makes laws for the entire country. Many farmers, experts and other stakeholders have supported the laws.

 

So far, the nine rounds of formal talks between the Centre and 41 farmer unions have failed to yield any concrete results to end the long-running protest at Delhi's borders as the latter have stuck to their main demand of a complete repeal of the three Acts. -- PTI

The Supreme Court-appointed committee on the three new farm laws is scheduled to hold its first meeting on January 19 at Pusa campus in New Delhi, its member Anil Ghanwat said on Sunday.

 

The Supreme Court had on January 11 stayed the implementation of the three laws, against which farmers are protesting at Delhi borders for over 50 days now, till further orders and appointed a four-member panel to resolve the impasse.

Bhartiya Kisan Union president Bhupinder Singh Mann, however, recused himself from the committee last week.

 

Apart from Ghanwat, agri-economists Ashok Gulati and Pramod Kumar Joshi are the other panel members.

 

"We are meeting on January 19 at the Pusa campus. Only members will meet to decide the future course of action," Ghanwat, President of Shetkari Sanghatana (Maharashtra), told PTI.

 

"One of the four members has backed out of the committee. If the apex court does not appoint a new member, the existing members will continue," he said.

 

The Supreme Court may take into account the matter of recusal of the member from the panel on Monday when it is scheduled to hear the pleas relating to the controversial farm laws and the farmers protests.

 

Ghanwat said the committee has received the terms of reference and will begin its work from January 21.

 

Asked about the government holding parallel talks with protesting farmer unions after the setting up of the SC panel, he said, "We have no issue if a solution is found and the protests end from either (efforts of) our panel or from the government's separate talks with the protesting farmer unions."

 

"Let (Government) them continue the discussion, we have been given a duty and we will focus on that," he added.

 

So far, the government has held nine rounds of formal talks with 41 farmer unions but has failed to break the logjam as the latter have stuck to their main demand of a complete repeal of the three Acts.

 

In the last meeting, the Centre had suggested that the unions constitute their own informal group to prepare a concrete proposal on the three farm laws for further discussion at their next meeting on January 19 to end the long-running protest at various Delhi borders. -- PTI

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday said farmers are prepared to protest against the Centre's new farm laws "till May 2024", and termed the ongoing agitation by peasants at Delhi borders as an "ideological revolution".

Addressing a press conference in Nagpur, Tikait said they want a legal guarantee on minimum support price

Farmers have been protesting near Delhi since November 26, 2020, demanding scrapping of the three new farm laws, which have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.

However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of the MSP and do away with the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

The Supreme Court last Tuesday stayed the implementation of the three new farm laws till further orders and decided to set up a four-member committee to resolve the impasse over them between the Centre and farmers' unions protesting at Delhi borders.

Asked how long will farmers will sit in protest, Tikait said, "We are prepared to sit in protest till May 2024...our demand is that the three laws be taken back and the government provide a legal guarantee on the MSP."

The next Lok Sabha elections in the country will be due around April-May 2024.

Dismissed allegations that the protest was being fuelled by "rich farmers", Tikait said people from villages and various outfits have joined the protest

"This is an ideological revolution of farmers started from Delhi and will not fail. Farmers from villages do not want us come back until the three farm bills are taken back," he said.

"The government is adamant on its stance of not withdrawing the bills and this agitation will continue for long," Tikait added. -- PTI

The share of India's active COVID-19 cases, which stand at 2,08,826, has fallen below 2 per cent of the total caseload for the first time, the Union health ministry said on Sunday.

 

The ministry attributed the fall to the steady decline in the daily cases.

"For the first time, India's share of active cases within the total positive cases has shrunk below 2 per cent (1.98 per cent)," the ministry said in a statement.

The country has reported less than 20,000 daily cases over the past 10 days, it said.

The total recovered cases -- 10,196,885 -- exceed active cases by 99,88,059.

According to the ministry, India has recorded less than 300 daily deaths for the last 23 days.

The ministry said six states and union territories accounted for 66.30 per cent of the 181 case fatalities reported the previous day.

India's COVID-19 caseload climbed to 1,05,57,985 on Sunday with 15,144 fresh infections while recoveries surged to 1,01,96,885, pushing the national recovery rate to 96.58 per cent, according to data released by the ministry.

The death toll increased to 1,52,274 with 181 more fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. -- PTI

Legendary Indian classical musician and Padma Vibhushan awardee Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan passed away on Sunday afternoon at his residence in Mumbai. 

He was 89.

 

Khan's daughter-in-law Namrata Gupta Khan told PTI that the veteran breathed his last at 12.37 pm at his Bandra home.   

"Today morning he was fine. We had a 24 hour nurse at home. During his massage he vomited and I ran immediately his eyes were shut and he was breathing slowly. I tried connecting to doctors and when they came he had already died," Namrata told PTI.

She said the family is in shock due to Khan's sudden demise as he was keeping well. The musician was going to turn 90 on March 3. 

Khan had suffered a brain stroke in 2019 and left side of his body was paralysed.

Namrata also shared the news of Khan's demise on her Facebook page. 

"With a very heavy heart, I inform you all that my father,-in law the pillar of our family and a legend of our nation, Padma Vibhushan Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan sahab has left for his heavenly abode few mins ago," she posted on the social media platform. 

Khan's last rites will be performed at Santacruze Kabrastan later this evening. 

Born on March 3, 1931 in Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, Khan was the eldest son in a family of four brothers and three sisters. 

His father, Ustad Waris Hussain Khan was the son of celebrated musician Ustad Murred Baksh, while his mother, Sabri Begum, was the daughter of Ustad Inayat Husain Khan, credited as the founder of the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana of music. 

Khan got his basic classical music training from his father and later studied music under his cousin, Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan.

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1991, followed by Padma Bhusan in 2006 and Padma Vibhushan in 2018. 

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invited his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for the G7 summit as he confirmed details on Sunday for the high-level meeting to be presided over by Britain in the coastal region of Cornwall between June 11 and 13.

Johnson had extended an invitation to Modi during a phone call last year when India was chosen alongside South Korea and Australia as guest countries of the multilateral summit. 

The invitation was made formal on Sunday.

 

Johnson also reiterated his plan to visit India ahead of the G7 summit, after a scheduled visit for Republic Day this month was called off due to the coronavirus crisis.

 

The Group of Seven or G7 -- which is made up of the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- is dubbed as an open forum where the world's most influential and open societies are brought together for close-knit discussions, with the pandemic likely to dominate this year's talks.

 

"As the most prominent grouping of democratic countries, the G7 has long been the catalyst for decisive international action to tackle the greatest challenges we face. From cancelling developing world debt to our universal condemnation of Russia's annexation of Crimea, the world has looked to the G7 to apply our shared values and diplomatic might to create a more open and prosperous planet," Johnson said.

 

"Coronavirus is doubtless the most destructive force we have seen for generations and the greatest test of the modern world order we have experienced. It is only right that we approach the challenge of building back better by uniting with a spirit of openness to create a better future," he said.

 

The UK Foreign Office notes that as "pharmacy of the world", India already supplies more than 50 per cent of the world's vaccines, and the UK and India have worked closely together throughout the pandemic.

 

"The UK was the first P5 member to support a permanent UNSC (United Nations Security Council) seat for India and the first G7 member to invite India to a G7 Summit in 2005. As current BRICS President and G20 President in 2023, India will play a key role driving in multilateral cooperation helping to build back better around the world," reads the official UK government communique.

 

According to the Foreign Office, the invitation to India, Australia and South Korea is a testament to the UK's commitment to ensuring multilateral institutions better reflect today's world.

 

Johnson's ambition has been laid out as wanting to use the G7 to intensify cooperation between the world's democratic and technologically advanced nations. Between them the 10 leaders represent over 60 per cent of the people living in democracies around the world.

 

Dubbed as the first in-person G7 summit in almost two years, the agenda set out by the UK is to seize the opportunity to build back better from coronavirus, uniting to make the future fairer, greener and more prosperous. -- PTI

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has expressed concerns over the divide being created in the country between Hindus and Muslims in the name of love jihad.

 

The 70-year-old actor made the comments in a video interview with Karwan-e-Mohabbat India, shared on its YouTube channel on Sunday.

"I am really furious with the way divisions are being created, like the love jihad tamasha in UP. Firstly, the people who coined this phrase don't know the meaning of the word jihad.

"I don't think that anyone would be so stupid to actually believe that Muslims will overtake the Hindu population, it is unimaginable. For that, Muslims will have to have so many babies. So, this whole notion is unreal, Shah said in the interview.

Last year in November, Uttar Pradesh became the first state in India to pass an ordinance against forcible or "dishonest" religious conversions.

In the last few months, states like Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have also revealed plans to enact laws to counter alleged attempts to convert Hindu women to Islam in the guise of marriage, which political leaders often refer to as "love jihad".

The Bandish Bandits actor believes the term "love jihad" stems from the idea of stigmatising inter-faith marriages and stop social interactions between Hindus and Muslims.

"They not only want to discourage inter-faith marriages but also curtail social interactions between Hindus and Muslims," he added.

Shah, who is married to theatre-film actor Ratna Pathak Shah, said he always believed that his marriage to a Hindu woman would set a "healthy precedent".

"We have taught our children about every religion. But we have never told them that they belong to any particular religion. I always believed that these differences would slowly fade away. I believed that my marriage to a Hindu woman would set a healthy precedent. I don't think this is wrong," he said.

The actor said when he was about to tie the knot with the Ratna Pathak Shah, his mother had asked if he would want his would-be wife to convert to his religion and his answer was no.

Shah said even though his mother was uneducated and was brought up in an orthodox household, she was completely against the idea of changing one's religion.

"My mother who was uneducated, brought up in an orthodox household, prayed five times a day, observed Roza all her life, went for the Haj pilgrimage, she said, 'The things that have been taught to you in your childhood how can that change? It is not right to change one's religion'," he said.

The critically-acclaimed performer said he feels saddened to see the harassment young couples are facing these days in the name of "love jihad".

"This is not the world I had dreamt of, he added.

In a 2018 interview with Karwan-e-Mohabbat, Shah had said that at many places the death of a cow is being given more importance than the killing of a policeman.

The veteran actor had also expressed anxiety over the well-being of his children, who he said have not been brought up as followers of any particular religion. -- PTI

United States President-elect Joe Biden has nominated at least 20 Indian-Americans, including 13 women, to key positions in his incoming administration, a record for the small ethnic community that constitutes one per cent of America's population.

As many as 17 of them, including Neera Tanden who has been nominated as the Director of Management and Budget, would be part of the Biden administration in the powerful White House complex.

The January 20th inauguration, the 59th in all, where Biden, 78, would be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States is already historic in the making as for the first time ever a woman, Kamala Harris, would be sworn as the Vice-President of the country.

Harris, 56, is also the first ever Indian-origin and African-American to be sworn in as the Vice President of the United States.

It is also for the first time ever that so many Indian-Americans have been roped into a presidential administration ever before the inauguration. Biden, a Democrat, is still quite far away from filling all the positions in his administration.

      

Topping the list is Tanden, who has been nominated as Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and Dr Vivek Murthy, who has been nominated as the US Surgeon General.

Vanita Gupta has been nominated as Associate Attorney General Department of Justice, and on Saturday, Biden nominated former foreign service official Uzra Zeya as the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights.

"The dedication that the Indian-American community has shown to public service over the years has been recognised in a big way at the very start of this administration! I am particularly pleased that the overwhelming majority are women. Our community has truly arrived in serving the nation," Indiaspora founder M R Rangaswami told PTI.

Mala Adiga has been appointed as Policy Director to the future First Lady Dr Jill Biden and Garima Verma would be the Digital Director of the Office of the First Lady, while Sabrina Singh has been named as the White House Deputy Press Secretary.

For the first time, the Indian-Americans nominated for Biden administration include two who trace their roots to Kashmir: Aisha Shah, who has been named as Partnership Manager at the White House Office of Digital Strategy and Sameera Fazili, who would occupy the key position of Deputy Director at the US National Economic Council in the White House.

White House National Economic Council also has another Indian-American, Bharat Ramamurti, as Deputy Director.

Gautam Raghavan, who served at the White House in the previous Obama administration returns to the White House as Deputy Director in Office of Presidential Personnel.

Among Biden's inner circle is his top confidant for years Vinay Reddy, who has been named as Director Speechwriting.

Young Vedant Patel is all set to occupy a seat in the White House lower press, behind the briefing room, as Assistant Press Secretary to the President. He is only the third-ever Indian American to be part of the White House press shop.

Three Indian-Americans have made their way to the crucial National Security Council of the White House, thus leaving a permanent imprint on the country's foreign policy and national security.

They are Tarun Chhabra: Senior Director for Technology and National Security, Sumona Guha, Senior Director for South Asia, Shanthi Kalathil: Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights.

Sonia Aggarwal has been named Senior Advisor for Climate Policy and Innovation in the Office of the Domestic Climate Policy at the White House and Vidur Sharma has been appointed as Policy Advisor for Testing for the White House COVID-19 Response Team.

Two Indian-American women have been appointed to the Office of the White House Counsel: Neha Gupta as Associate Counsel and Reema Shah as Deputy Associate Counsel.

Also, for the first time in any administration, the White House would have three other South Asians in key positions -- Pakistani-American Ali Zaidi as Deputy National Climate Advisor White House; Sri Lankan American Rohini Kosoglu as Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President and Bangladeshi-American Zayn Siddique: Senior Advisor to the White House Deputy Chief of Staff. -- PTI

Pakistan has approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and the government hopes to make the drug available by the first quarter of the year, as the country's coronavirus tally surged to 519,291.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Health Dr Faisal Sultan confirmed on Saturday that the Drug Regulatory Authority Pakistan (DRAP) has granted approval for emergency use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine across the country, according to a report in the Geo TV.

Minister for Planning Asad Umar, who is also the chief of National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), the country's coronavirus control body, said that the vaccine will be rolled out by March, the report said.

In the first phase, the vaccine will be given to health workers and those aged 65 years and above, Umar said.

The vaccine is designed by scientists at the University of Oxford and produced by AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company.

Pakistan reported 43 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of fatalities due to the disease to 10,951, according to the ministry of National Health Services.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the country reached 519,291 after 2,521 new infections were detected in the past 24 hours.

Dr Sultan said on Friday that Pakistan was in touch with China and other companies to purchase the COVID-19 vaccine.

He said trials of the vaccine produced by the Chinese firm, Cansino, were near completion and if its tests were found to be successful, the government would register the medicine with the DRAP for procurement.

He said international coalition Covax had announced that it would provide Pakistan 50 million free doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

"As 100% population cannot be vaccinated in any country, we need to target 70% of the vaccineable population, which is 70 million," he said. -- PTI 

K2 Winter - History made for mankind, History made for Nepal! 

At 17:00 hrs local time Nimsdai and team summited K2, teaming up with Mingma G and team and a member from SST, Sona Sherpa.

A very special moment. The whole team waited 10m below the summit to form a group then stepped onto the summit together whilst singing our Nepalese National Anthem. We are proud to have been a part of history for humankind and to show that collaboration, teamwork and a positive mental attitude can push limits to what we feel might be possible.

Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra has received a donation around Rs 100 crores, said general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Champat Rai on Sunday.

While speaking to ANI, Rai said, "The data has not reached to the headquarters till now but we have got a report from our karyakartas, that they have received a donation for around Rs 100 crores for this noble cause."

The Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust is conducting a mass contact and contribution campaign for the construction of the grand temple in Ayodhya which began on January 15 and will go on till February 27.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust was set up in accordance with the Supreme Court verdict on November 9, 2021, for the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya.

In response to the questions raised regarding the donation made by the President of India Ram Nath Kovind for the construction of Ram Temple, Rai said that there is nothing wrong with it.

"He is an Indian and soul of India is Ram. So anybody who is capable can make offers in this noble cause," he said. 

President Ramnath Kovind on Friday donated Rs 5,00,100 as a contribution towards the construction of Ram Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya. -- ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday flagged off eight trains connecting different parts of the country to Kevadia in Gujarat, via video conferencing.

These trains will connect Kevadia to Varanasi, Dadar, Ahmedabad, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Rewa, Chennai and Pratapnagar.

Modi said these trains will help boost tourism in the tribal region and increase connectivity to the world's tallest statue, the Statue of Unity, which he inaugurated in October 2018 on the occasion of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's 143rd birth anniversary.

The Ahmedabad-Kevadia Jan Shatabdi Express, one of the eight trains, has been equipped with the 'Vista-dome tourist coach' which offers large viewing areas with rooftop glasses and seats for passengers.

Modi also inaugurated the DabhoiChandod converted broad gauge railway line, ChandodKevadia new broad gauge rail line, newly electrified PratapnagarKevadia section and the new station buildings of Dabhoi, Chandod and Kevadia.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath joined the event via video link. -- PTI 

The Bhopal district administration on Sunday imposed curfew in three police station limits and prohibitory orders in some other areas as a precautionary measure over a construction work by a community in the old city area.

 

The order, issued by Bhopal District Magistrate Avinash Lavania, said a community is carrying out construction in the old city and there is a possibility of opposition by locals.

The Madhya Pradesh capital is "sensitive from communal point of view", hence the decision to impose curfew has been taken, the order said.

The curfew has been clamped in Hanumanganj, Tila Jamalpura and Gautam Nagar police station areas of the old city till further orders, Additional Collector Dilip Yadav said.

Besides, prohibitory orders under Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) Section 144 have been imposed in 11 other police station areas-Shahjahanabad, Chhola Mandir, Nishatpura, Talaiya, Mangalwara, Ashoka Garden, Aishbagh, Jahangirabad, Station Bajaria, Berasia and Najirabad.

Deputy Inspector General, Bhopal, Irshad Wali told reporters that police have barricaded these areas and security personnel have been deployed there. -- PTI 

Senior leaders of the Congress and the Communist Party of India Marxist-led Left Front met in Kolkata on Sunday and held discussions on seat sharing and other poll-related preparations, sources in two camps said.

During the 2016 state elections, too, the two parties had stitched an alliance and bagged 76 of the 294 assembly seats.

State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury, following the meeting, said talks on seat-sharing between the two sides are likely to conclude by the end of the month.

"We have agreed to contest the polls together. We had a positive discussion... and there is no disagreement..." Chowdhury, who is also the Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, said.

Echoing him, Left Front chairman Biman Bose said the two parties will hold more such discussions before they arrive at a decision on seat-sharing.

Among others, Left Front veteran Suryakant Mishra and Congress leader Abdul Mannan were present at the meeting.

According to the sources, the parties are likely to hold a mega joint rally in the city sometime soon.

Elections to the 294-member Bengal assembly are likely to be held in April-May.  -- PTI

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said that Aurangabad is Sambhajinagar and will remain so for them, amid a row over renaming the district. 

"I don't know. The Maharashtra chief minister has clearly said that for us, it is Sambhajinagar and will remain so," Raut told reporters.

When asked why the Congress is opposing the renaming of Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar, the Shiv Sena leader said: "It is a matter of people's feelings, so we can discuss it, but the decision has been taken."

Earlier in the day, the Shiv Sena on Sunday took a jibe at its ally Congress and attacked it for being "secular" and opposing the name change.

An editorial in Shiv Sena's mouthpiece Saamana said that the renaming of Aurangabad might affect the vote bank of "secular parties" as the renaming will upset the Muslim society.

"India's constitution is secular... Aurangzeb had a strong hatred for other religions. He tortured Sikhs and Hindus. Why should we pay attention to their relics? Who was Aurangzeb? At least, Maharashtra does not need to explain this.....Therefore, there is no reason for a true Marathi and hardcore Hindu to have an attachment for Aurangzeb," it read.

As India kickstarted world's largest vaccination drive against coronavirus over the weekend, megastar Amitabh Bachchan says he is hopeful that the country will become COVID-19 free.

 

The Drugs Controller General of India had earlier this month approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive.

The 78-year-old actor on Sunday said people of India will eliminate coronavirus from the country like polio.    

"It was a  proud moment when we made India polio free;  it shall be just as proud a moment when we make India COVID-19  free  #LargestVaccineDrive @MoHFW_India @UNICEFIndia #largestVaccinationdrive JAI HIND," Bachchan, who was the UNICEF goodwill ambassador for the polio eradication campaign in India, posted on Twitter. 

The Gulabo Sitabo star fronted UNICEF's campaign till the country became polio free in 2014.

Bachchan was also roped in by the central government to make people aware of preventive measures to fight COVID-19 via a caller tune.

The actor, who tested positive for the virus in July last year and recovered in over two weeks, has been actively spreading the word on coronavirus on social media since the pandemic hit the country. 

Bachchan has also been supporting and promoting campaigns related to tuberculosis-free India, childhood immunisation and Clean India. -- PTI

The Supreme Court on Monday is scheduled to hear that the central government's application seeking an injunction against the proposed tractor rally or any other kind of protest which sought to disrupt the gathering and celebrations of the Republic Day on January 26.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde will hear the application on January 18 along with pleas raising the issue of farmers protesting at Delhi borders.

The Centre, in an application filed through Delhi Police, has said that any proposed rally or protest which seeks to disrupt and disturb the Republic Day celebrations will cause an "embarrassment to the nation".

On January 12, the top court agreed to hear the application of Centre and posted it for hearing on January 18. The Bench had issued a notice on the application and said that it be served upon the farmers' unions, which are protesting against the new farm laws.

The Centre has said the right to protest can never include "maligning the nation globally". 

It urged the apex court to restrain anyone from conducting any protest march either in the form of tractor march, trolley march, vehicle march or any other mode by entering into the National Capital Region Territory of Delhi.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Harish Salve has said courts must be open to public scrutiny and criticism as "institutions of governance".

Addressing a lecture organised in Ahmedabad through video-conference on Saturday, Salve said criticism of judges, judicial overreach and the manner of functioning is not scandalising courts, and the language in which such criticism is addressed should be treated with a grin.

"We today have accepted that judges, or rather courts, and especially constitutional courts, have become institutions of governance. As an institution of governance it must be open to public scrutiny and public criticism," he said.

"We have always accepted that the decisions of courts can be criticised, including in language which may be impolite. So the decisions can be criticised. Can we criticise the decision-making process? Why not?" Salve said.

He was addressing the 16th Justice P D Desai Memorial Lecture on criticism of judiciary, contempt jurisdiction and its use in the age of social media.

"Governance has to be under the sharp blaze of sunlight...in fact, I think a time may come when the Supreme Court may seriously consider a very large number of provisions of the Official Secrets Act, how far do they square with democracy," he said.

Most of them have fallen into disuse, said Salve, who was last year appointed the Queens Counsel for the courts of England and Wales.

To say an institution has lost its independence, to say that an institution is acting at the behest of someone, to allege corruption--that, if it is established to be untrue, is clearly undermining public faith, Salve added.

"This residue of power to deal with those who are capable of influencing public opinion...you may be in public life, influencer.

"Those are cases where courts must retain with itself this slender jurisdiction of addressing any rupture in public faith which may be caused," he said.

 Salve further said "if we do need the principles of contempt, where do we draw the lines?"

The lines must be drawn in a way that the overall system of governance--the institutions and the criticism of the institutions--helps everybody march forward in this march of democracy.

"There is one area where I think judges need to be protected. And that area is casting aspersions on an institution in consistent with its character as an independent institution," the former solicitor general of India said.

He said courts need not pay heed to tweets by those who have nothing better to do but to sit with a mobile phone in their hands and pass judgments, specially on things which they do not understand.

At the same time, criticism by a politician or those who can influence public opinion raises a different issue, he said.

These are the cases "where the courts must retain with itself this slender jurisdiction of addressing any rupture in public faith which may be caused," he said.

He also said the Bar must act against judges and courts being criticised, and must deal with ill-informed criticism as a part of the system. 

Freida Pinta will be seen playing the lead role in the upcoming limited series based on Shrabani Basus Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan. The actress is also the executive producer of the series by writer Olivia Hetreed (Girl With a Pearl Earring) and Red Room Films.

According to Deadline, Olivia Hetreed will pen the adaptation based on the book, and Shrabari Basu will serve as a consultant on the series.

Announcing her association with the series, Freida Pinto took to Instagram and penned a long note. She wrote, "I am so excited to share this piece of news with all of you. At a time in this world where we are all looking at leadership and courage to guide and lead us all back to some semblance of sanity and order, I take great comfort in the quiet strength, grace, intelligence and grit that Noor Inayat Khan possessed in the face of chaos during WW2 (sic)."

She further wrote about the British spy, "A real underdog who was written off as 'not overburdened with brains' who ended up being the SOE's first female wireless operator sent into occupied France who helped set up the Secret Armies that would rise up on D-Day, astonishing all those doubted what she was capable of (sic)."

Freida went on to write about her team. She wrote, "My true partners in this Claire Ingham (producer), Andy Paterson (producer), Olivia Hetreed (writer), Anand Tucker (director) and my awesome manager Larry Taube... we have something so beautiful here. Thank you for being on this journey with me. I can't wait to bring this to life! (sic)."

Thanking the writers, Freida wrote, "Lastly, thank you Nellie Andreeva and Denise Petski for putting together a wonderful write up that honours the work of Noor Inayat Khan (sic)."

Noor was the first female wireless operator sent into occupied France in 1943, a role with a life expectancy of just six weeks. Interestingly, Radhika Apte played the role of Noor Inayat Khan on Amazon Prime Video's A Call to Spy.

A non-cognisable offence has been registered at Yavat Police Station in Pune against actor Mahesh Manjrekar for allegedly slapping and abusing a person over an incident of road rage on January 15.

According to a complaint registered with Yavat Police station on January 15 complainant, Kailash Satpute dashed Manjarekar's car from the back "mistakenly" on way to Solapur in which his car was damaged. Manjarekar slapped the complainant and abused, it said.

The offence is registered under sections 323, 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code.

The UK has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the G7 Summit, which British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use to ask world leaders to seize the opportunity to build back better from Covid-19 in order to make the future fairer, greener and more prosperous.

The summit will be held in Cornwall during June 11-13, and the UK will use its G7 presidency to unite leading democracies to help the world build back better from coronavirus and create a greener, more prosperous future, said a statement from the British high commission.

Besides India, Australia and South Korea have also been invited as guest countries to the first in-person G7 Summit in almost two years.

The coronavirus was found on ice cream produced in eastern China, prompting a recall of cartons from the same batch, according to the government.

  

The Daqiaodao Food Co, Ltd in Tianjin, adjacent to Beijing, was sealed and its employees were being tested for the coronavirus, a city government statement said. There was no indication anyone had contracted the virus from the ice cream.

Most of the 29,000 cartons in the batch had yet to be sold, the government said. It said 390 sold in Tianjin were being tracked down and authorities elsewhere were notified of sales to their areas.

The ingredients included New Zealand milk powder and whey powder from Ukraine, the government said.

The Chinese government has suggested the disease, first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, came from abroad and has highlighted what it says are discoveries of the coronavirus on imported fish and other food, though foreign scientists are skeptical.

India reports 15,144 new COVID-19 cases, 17,170 discharges and 181 deaths in last 24 hours, as per Union health ministry

Total cases: 1,05,57,985

Active cases: 2,08,826

Total discharges: 1,01,96,885 

Death toll: 1,52,274

There were no serious side effects on the first day of the vaccination drive against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the Union health ministry said, as India launched the worlds largest immunisation exercise that aims to vaccinate 30 million health care and frontline workers in the first phase.

However, as opposed to the target of vaccinating about 300,000 people on the first day, according to the health ministrys data, 191,181 health care workers were vaccinated at 3,351 centres. There were 16,755 personnel involved in the vaccination programme. Additionally, 3,429 people were vaccinated in defence institutions.

Some glitches were observed in the functioning of the Co-WIN app, the digital platform deployed for the drive, which the ministry said were resolved later. Since this was the first day of the vaccination drive and it was our first real-time experience, there were observed some minor glitches that were resolved immediately, said Manohar Agnani, additional secretary, health ministry, who is also the nodal officer at the ministry for vaccine delivery.

Citing NITI Aayog's rejection of activist Anjali Bhardwaj's Right to Information Act request regarding the information on farm laws, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday slammed the government body for the delayed actions.

In a series of tweets, Chidambaram quoted Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and called government actions "curiouser and curiouser" (stranger). "NITI Aayog's Committee of Chief Minister's on Agriculture concluded its deliberations in September 2019 and gave its report After 16 months, the report has not yet been "presented" to NITI Aayog's governing council! Why, nobody knows and nobody will answer!" he tweeted.

"Citing this as the reason, the RTI request of Ms Anjali Bhardwaj for a copy of the report has been rejected! Alice would have said "curiouser and curiouser" I salute Ms Anjali Bhardwaj for her tenacity and single-minded pursuit of information," the Congress leader said in another tweet.

Chidambaram had criticised the central government for its stand on protestors agitating against new farm laws.

Due to concerns about their ability to protect the security of the process through which the best international feature Oscar shortlist is determined, given the pandemic forcing deliberations to take place online, the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to change that process for just this year.

In years past, the international feature preliminary committee -- a group of volunteers from across the Academy's branches who screen the films submitted from around the world at the Academy's headquarters in Beverly Hills or its Linwood Dunn Theatre in Hollywood -- pick seven of the 10 films that ultimately appear on the shortlist. 

Those selections are then confidentially shared by the accounting firm PwC with the international feature executive committee, which, in turn, adds three other titles to the seven, producing a shortlist of 10. 

The public is never told which seven are committee choices and which three are "saves," so as not to influence the subsequent selection of the five nominees and eventual winner.

This year, however, the process will be different. The Academy decided several months ago to invite all of its Academy members -- not just those based in the Los Angeles area near the Academy's screening sites -- to weigh in during the first phase of the selection process if they wish, since the pandemic had forced all screenings to take place via the Academy's online streaming service.

Amidst a bird flu scare in some parts of the country, Maharashtra reported deaths of 983 birds, taking the cumulative toll to 5,151 in the state.

According to the state department, the highest number of poultry birds were found dead in Latur (253), followed by Yavatmal (205), Ahmadnagar (151), Wardha (109), Nagpur (45), Gondia (23), among others. "A total of 983 birds have died on January 16. The samples have been sent to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal and DIS, Pune. A total of 5,151 deaths of various birds have been reported till the date since January 8," the department said.

The samples from Mumbai, Ghodbander (Thane district) and Dapoli for crows and herons and samples of poultry farm from Muramba have been found positive for (H5N1 strain) and samples of crows from Beed district have been found positive for H5N8 strain. 

Accordingly, the area is declared as an "infected zone" and action is taken to enforce the prescribed preventive measures, at Murumba, District Parbhani.

The Centre issued several advisories on the spread of bird flu across the country, state governments are now undertaking awareness campaigns through newspaper advertisements, social media platforms, in a bid to inform the general public, said the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

Properly cooked meat or poultry and boiled eggs are safe for human consumption. "It is appealed to the citizens that they should not consume raw, half-cooked poultry meat or eggs. It is also urged not to spread misconceptions and rumours based on unscientific information about bird flu," the department added.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan asked his counterparts in states and union territories to keep a check on rumours and disinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccines as he held a review meeting on day one of the inoculation drive on Saturday.

According to a statement, Vardhan congratulated authorities in states and UTs on the successful launch of the world's largest vaccination drive against the novel coronavirus, and asked state health ministers to make efforts to disseminate the right information regarding vaccines.

He said today is a very important day for the country.

The vaccination drive, for which preparations were being done from the last five months under the unwavering and dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has finally started, he said.

"We have got encouraging and satisfactory feedback results on the first day. This indicates that we are moving towards victory in the fight against coronavirus," he said.

Restating his appreciation and support to the tireless work of the healthcare and frontline workers, Vardhan said India has achieved significant progress on the COVID containment front.

"The cooperation of scientists, researchers, doctors and all the citizens who have volunteered for the clinical trial have ensured that we have two vaccines ready for administration in a span of 10 months," he said.

The state health ministers and secretaries apprised Vardhan on the progress and the target achieved on the first day of the vaccination drive.

They also shared that workers faced minor technical glitches in uploading details of beneficiaries on a digital platform on the first day of the drive.  -- PTI