Mehul Choksi's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal said that his client will be produced before magistrate today at 4 pm (Dominica time; about 1 am IST).

"If Dominica police arrests someone, he has to be presented before court in 72 hours, which wasn't done," he said.

"That's why court has ordered to produce him before the magistrate at 4 pm," Aggarwal said.

Earlier, he had informed that hearing in Choksi's matter in Dominica court was over and the judge was writing order in her chamber.  -- ANI

The COVID-19 vaccination drive will remain suspended in Mumbai on Thursday at the centres run by the city civic body and the Maharashtra government due to the unavailability of a sufficient number of doses, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Wednesday.

Of the total 342 active COVID-19 vaccination centres in Mumbai, 243 are managed by the BMC and 20 by the state government.

The decision to suspend the vaccination drive on Thursday was taken due to the unavailability of a sufficient number of vaccines, the civic body said in a release.

A total of 33,24,428 citizens were administered COVID-19 vaccine doses in Mumbai till June 1.

The BMC said it was expecting to receive vaccines anytime throughout the day on June 3.

Thereafter, the inoculation drive will resume the next day (June 4).

As of Wednesday, Mumbai's COVID-19 case count stands at 7,08,007 while the overall death toll is 14,938.

The financial capital is now left with 16,580 active cases, as per the BMC.  -- PTI

Former West Bengal chief minister  Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was on Wednesday discharged fromhospital after he recovered from COVID-19, officials said.

Bhattacharjee was taken to a 'safe home' for Covid patients where he would be under observation for a week, his family members said.

'He is on intermittent BiPAP and his oxygen saturationis at 96 per cent. He is presently conscious, alert andtalking sensibly. His blood pressure is stable...,' a statement issued by the hospital said.

'Mr Bhattacharjee has improved clinically and is discharged today with advice of domiciliary care and 7 days of home isolation,' it added.

The 77-year-old former CM had tested positive for COVID-19 on May 18 and admitted to hospital on May 25.   -- PTI

Street walls of the Amritsar East assembly constituency on Wednesday appeared plastered overnight with a large number of posters, proclaiming that area MLA Navjot Sidhu has gone missing.

The posters also announced a reward of Rs 50,000 to anyone who traces the legislator and brings him back to the constituency.

The posters were pasted by an NGO, 'Dhan Dhan Baba Deep Singh Ji' stating, Congress MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu is missing.

NGO representative Anil Kumar Vishist Bunty alleged that Sidhu had been inaccessible to the residents of the Amritsar East assembly constituency.

He also alleged a lack of development of the area and claimed that heaps of garbage and stranded water on the roads could be seen anywhere in this assembly segment.

Even his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu was also not accessible, he further alleged.

Bunty accused the Sidhu couple of doing nothing for the development of the constituency.

It was not the first time that the Sidhu missing posters have surfaced in Amritsar.

Sidhu missing posters had earlier surfaced ten years back when he was a Bharatiya Janata Party MP.

At that time, posters were pasted by the Congress municipal councillor Raman Bakshi who is presently senior Deputy Mayor of Amritsar Municipal Corporation.   -- PTI

Mumbai on Wednesday reported less than 1,000 fresh coronavirus positive cases on the third consecutive day with the addition of 925 infections while 1,632 patients were discharged.

With the death of 31 more patients, the overall COVID-19 toll in the financial capital reached 14,938 while the cumulative case count now stands at 7,08,007, as per the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) data. On Monday and Tuesday, Mumbai had logged 676 and 831 cases, respectively.

On Wednesday, the city reported 94 more cases compared with Tuesday while it added eight more fatalities than the previous day's 23.

"The city reported 925 new cases after 24,732 COVID-19 tests conducted in the last 24 hours," the BMC said, adding the overall count of the samples tested so far in Mumbai has gone up to 63,19,978.

The total number of recoveries now stands at 6,74,296 leaving Mumbai with 16,580 active cases.

Mumbai's overall growth rate of cases for the period between May 26 to June 1 was 0.14 per cent, while the current doubling rate is 477 days, the BMC said.

Mumbai now has 30 active containment zones in slums and chawls, and 133 active sealed buildings.

At 11,163, Mumbai had reported the peak of COVID-19 cases on April 4.

The city had seen the highest number of COVID-19 fatalities in a day on May 1.   -- PTI

The Maharashtra government on Wednesdayannounced that fixed deposits of Rs five lakh will be made in the name of orphaned children who have lost at least one parent to COVID-19. They will also get a monthly allowance of Rs 1,125.

At present there are 162 children in the state who have lost both parents, at least one of them to the pandemic.

Nine such kids are in government institutions as they have no relatives to take care of them, officials said.

The decision was taken at the cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

The beneficiaries will get the FD amount with interest after attaining the age of 21 years, a statement from the Chief Minister's Office said.

This will be in addition to the benefits announced by the Union government.

Such orphaned children can stay at government-run child shelter homes orwiththeir relatives if the latter take their responsibility.

The bank FD will be in the joint name of the beneficiary child and the local Women and Child Development (WCD) Department officer.

Any child (upto the age of 18) whose both parents have died of COVID-19 after March 1, 2020, or one parent has died of COVID-19 and other because of any other reason (prior to or after the COVID-19 outbreak) will be eligible for this aid.

WCD minister Yashomati Thakur told reporters after the cabinet meeting that besides the FD, relative of an orphaned child will get Rs 1,125 per month to look after her or him.

"We are trying to raise the amount upto Rs 2,500," she added.

Children who have lost only one parent to COVID-19 and whose other parent is alive will also get this monthly assistance, but they won't be eligible for the FD scheme.

As many as 5,172 children in the state have lost one parent to COVID-19, their other parent being alive, as per official data.

"We have made a provision of Rs 10 crore for about 200 orphaned children. The budget will be increased if there are more such children," minister Thakur added.   -- PTI

Army Chief General M M Naravane arrived on a two-day visit to Kashmir on Wednesday to review the prevailing security situation in the union territory as the ceasefire understanding between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) completed 100 days.

On his arrival at Srinagar, the Army Chief, accompanied by Northern Army Commander, Lt Gen Y K Joshi and Chinar Corps Commander, Lt Gen D P Pandey, visited units and formations in the hinterland where he was briefed by the local commanders on the existing security situation, an Army official said.

He said Gen Naravane was also briefed about the measures being taken to identify and target the overground workers (OGWs) network involved in radicalisation and recruitment of youth into terrorist ranks.

Efforts to prevent local recruitment and facilitate the surrender of local terrorists were also discussed, the official said.

The arrival of the Army Chief in Kashmir assumes significance as it comes on a day when the fresh ceasefire between India and Pakistan along the LoC completed 100 days.

India and Pakistan had on February 25 this year released a joint statement announcing a ceasefire along the Line of Control, following talks between their Directors General of Military Operations.

Gen Naravane, while interacting with troops, expressed his appreciation to the jawans and commanders who are relentlessly battling the dual challenges of Pakistan-abetted terror and the Covid pandemic.

He reinforced the need to be prepared to meet emerging security challenges effectively.

Later, the COAS was briefed by the Chinar Corps Commander on the overall situation pertaining to the LoC and the hinterland, the official said.

The Army Chief complimented the excellent synergy exhibited by all sections of the civil administration, Jammu and Kashmir Police, Central Armed Police Forces and other security agencies in projecting a 'whole of government' approach that has resulted in improvement in the security situation conducive for fostering a new era of development in the UT, he said.

In the evening, Gen Naravane called on Lt Governor Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhavan in Srinagar and discussed the emerging challenges and roadmap for long-term peace in J-K.

The LG appreciated the role played by the Army in restoring and preserving peace in the UT and providing aid to the civil authorities against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Joshi had on Tuesday said ceasefire understanding between India and Pakistan is being followed in letter and spirit by both sides, but asserted that the Indian Army is not letting its guard down even for one bit along the border in Jammu and Kashmir.   -- PTI

Two persons have been apprehended in this connection from Solapur district in Maharashtra, and the duo appears to be part of a "bigger racket", they said. 

"A fraudulent recruitment module involving the issuance of recruitment documents and circulation of results of prospective candidates through fake websites, for their selection into various government services like railways, banking, and Territorial Army, etc, being run from Pune, has been busted jointly by Army and police authorities," a defence release said. 

It was busted following a tip-off provided by the intelligence agencies of the Army's Southern Command, it said. 

The module recently hosted a fake website of the Territorial Army with uploaded names of selected candidates on it and a probe revealed that they were charging a hefty amount for the fraudulent recruitment from innocent aspirants wanting to join these services, it added. 

"The aspirants were not only charged for their selection, but also were made to bear the expenses of travel, boarding and lodging during their trips to different dubious locations for fraudulent written exams, medical tests, and training to post the fraudulent recruitment," the release stated. 

On the intervening night of May 31 and June 1, two kingpins -- Bharat Krishna Kate and Pandit Pawar -- were apprehended from Solapur, along with ample evidence, by a team from the Crime Branch, it said. 

These touts were charging Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh from the aspiring candidates, giving them false promises for their selection in government services. 

"The innocent aspirants were made to believe about their selection through fake call letters, admit cards, joining letters, medicals and training at dubious locations. The duo is part of a bigger racket, which is being probed by Crime Branch and Army," the defence release said. 

The joint proactive action of the Southern Command and the Maharashtra police is reflective of the Army's zero-tolerance towards corruption, the defence authorities said. 

They also urged candidates not to fall prey to these inimical elements and report any such luring incidents to army authorities immediately.

Justices Anita Sumanth and Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy upheld the May 2021 notifications of the Union ministry of home affairs and the Puducherry chief secretary nominating K Venkatesan, V P Ramalingam and R B Ashok as members of the territorial assembly. 

"On all fronts, we find no merit in this writ petition," the bench said and dismissed it. 

The public interest writ petition was filed by G A Jegannathan, former president of Karikalampakkam village, seeking quashing of the notification dated May 10. 

"At the risk of repetition, we may state that the only grievance of the petitioner appears to be that the nominees are members of the BJP. This can hardly be a relevant consideration," the judges said. 

The AINRC-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), of which the BJP is a part, had won the April 6 assembly polls in  the Union territory, securing a majority in the 30-member House. 

With the nominated members, the strength goes up to 33.

"The woman was known to my husband and to his other acquaintances. She walked with my husband periodically when she was visiting Antigua. From what I have understood from people who have met her, the woman shown on media channels is not the same woman that they knew as Barbara," said Priti Choksi.

This remarks came after Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne last week had said Mehul Choksi may have taken his girlfriend on a romantic trip to Dominica, where he was busted.

On the reports that fugitive diamantaire was tortured in Dominica, Priti said, "What has brought most anguish to the family is the physical torture and total disregard for the human rights of my husband. If someone really wanted him back alive, why did they need to torture and abuse him physically and mentally? My husband has many health issues."

On the question of Mehul Choki's deportation, his wife said, "He is 63 years old and he is an Antiguan citizen. He enjoys all the rights and protection that the Antigua and Barbuda constitution gives him. I have full faith in the rule of law and the justice system of the Caribbean nations. We await his safe and rightful return to Antigua at the earliest."

Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case.

Choksi fled the country was granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018.   -- ANI

A plea was Wednesday filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi high court's May 31 verdict which dismissed a petition seeking to suspend all construction activity of the Central Vista Avenue redevelopment during the COVID-19 pandemic while describing it as a 'vital' and 'essential' project of national importance.

The project entails construction activities on Rajpath and the surrounding lawns from the India Gate to the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New  Delhi.

The main Cental Vista project envisages building a new Parliament House, a new residential complex to house offices and the prime minister and the vice president.

It will also have new office buildings and a Central Secretariat to accommodate various ministries' offices.

The high court had dismissed the plea saying it was 'motivated' and filed with 'ill-intent' and 'lack of bona fides'.

The high court had also imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioners who wanted the work to be halted in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, observing that it was 'not a genuine public interest litigation'.

Advocate Pradeep Kumar Yadav on Wednesday filed the petition in the apex court challenging the high court verdict.

Yadav, who was not a party to the proceedings before the high court in the matter, has claimed that high court was not justified in holding that the plea was motivated and not a genuine public cause by drawing presumption and assumption in the absence of proved material facts and evidence.

It alleged that the high court failed to appreciate that allowing a big construction work with large number of labourers and workers to continue during the pandemic period is a serious public health issue concern.

It said the high court was not justified in holding that the construction activities for the project is essential activities, especially when the entire activities of service sector, industrial sector and the activities of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) are fully suspended during the peak pandemic lockdown period.

In its verdict, the high court had said, "The present petition has been filed to stop with immediate effect the work of the redevelopment of Central Vista Avenue. This work is part and parcel of Central Vista project and of vital public importance. The construction of Central Vista Avenue redevelopment project cannot be seen in isolation."

"In fact, the whole Central Vista project is an essential project of national importance, where the sovereign functions of Parliament are also to be conducted. Public is vitally interested in this project," it had said.

The high court had said that legality of the project was already upheld by the Supreme Court and even the Delhi Disaster Management Authority allowed it to continue.

It had also said that from the affidavits filed by the Centre and the contractor -- Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Pvt Ltd (SPCPL) -- it was 'clearly evident' that several facilities, like accommodation, medical facilities and COVID care centre, have been provided to the workers at the site.   -- PTI

Some of the hit songs of actress Juhi Chawla's movies made their way in the proceedings before the Delhi high court on Wednesday when a man started singing them during the virtual hearing relating to the Bollywood star's plea against the 5G wireless network.

The action of the man resulted in the periodic interruption of hearing and on the judge's directions, the person was repeatedly removed from the hearing, but he kept on joining and started singing till the time the proceedings were locked.

Chawla also joined the virtual proceedings from South Africa.

The man, who was logging in the virtual hearing with different names first started singing Ghoonghat ki aad mein dilbar ka didaar adhura from her block buster movie Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke and he was then removed.

He again joined the proceedings and started singing from her another hit film Naajayaz,  Lal lal hoton pe gori kiska naam hai Juhi Chawla' and was again removed from the hearing.

The third time, he joined and sang Meri banno ki aayegi baraat ke dhol bajao ji' from the movie Aaina.

At the outset, the man was heard saying where is Juhi Ma'am I can't see her and when the judge asked the court master to mute the concerned person, he said you want to mute me.

Oh really! Initially, he joined the hearing with the name of Azaan, thereafter, changed name to Manisha Koirala and then to Janvi.

The film star herself on her twitter account last evening had shared the link for joining the proceedings.

She had tweeted 'if you do think this concerns you in anyway, feel free to join our first virtual hearing conducted at Delhi high court to be held on 2nd June, 10.45 AM onwards'.

Justice J R Midha asked the court master to lock the proceedings and to contact Delhi Police and ask them to identify the person so that a contempt notice could be issued against him for his conduct.

On a lighter note, Chawla's lawyer said maybe the person is already affected by the radiations.   -- PTI

 "That claim is just a hoax. The Centre says things like these. Before the Bihar elections, they had promised to inoculate its population after the elections, but nothing happened," she told reporters at the state secretariat.

 Banerjee said considering the gap between doses, the process to vaccinate the entire eligible age group should take six months to a year to complete. She said her government has spent Rs 150 crore to procure vaccines, but only 1.4 crore of the state's over 10- crore population could be inoculated so far. 

 "The Centre is not sending vaccines to states. Whatever little stock that is supplied, gets depleted within days... It must give free vaccines to state governments," she said. The central government had on Monday said it expects to inoculate the country's adult population by the end of the year. PTI

The Railway Board shared the data on such deaths for the period between January and December 2020 in its reply to a question by Madhya Pradesh-based activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur under the Right to Information Act. "Based on the information received from the State Police, 805 people suffered injuries and 8,733 people died on the railway track between January 2020 and December 2020," the Railway Board has said. 

 Officials separately said that many of those dead were migrant workers who chose to walk home along the tracks because train routes are considered shorter than roads or highways. They said these workers also chose the tracks as this way they could evade police for violating lockdown norms, and also had the belief they would not get lost midway.

 "They also assumed that no trains would be running because of the lockdown," one of the officials said. 

 While the fatalities during 2020 were fewer compared to four years immediately before that, the numbers are still significant given the fact that the passenger services were restricted after the coronavirus lockdown was announced on March 25. Only freight trains were in operation during the lockdown and before the railways started Shramik Special trains from May 1 to ferry migrant workers home. 

 The passenger services have been reopening in phases, and by December, around 1,100 special trains were in operation along with 110 regular passenger trains. The services have now been restored to 70 per cent of the pre-Covid period. 

 While many fatalities on tracks last year could not be registered for some reason or the other, the deaths of 16 migrant workers after being run over by a freight train in Maharashtra's Aurangabad last May rattled many as they were killed while resting on the tracks thinking no train would be coming due to the Covid suspension.

Image: Policemen at the railway track where 16 migrant workers died and several were injured in a train accident in Aurangabad last year.

 Nooyi is expected to write about her childhood in India, her experiences as an immigrant at Yale University's business school and how she became the rare woman and person of color to reach the highest levels of corporate power. She worked at PepsiCo for 24 years, 12 of them as CEO, before stepping down in 2018.

While speaking at the inauguration of a COVID-19 vaccination drive, the Minister added that the COVID-19 vaccination should not be politicised.

"The government has made action plans to vaccinate everyone by the end of December (2021) and for the production of 250 crore vaccine doses after speaking to several pharma companies. Sputnik arrived in Hyderabad yesterday and discussions are on to get the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson shots too," Reddy said.

"Vaccination should not be seen from a political point of view," he added.

The Pfizer spokesperson said today that Pfizer continues to remain engaged with the Government of India towards making its COVID-19 vaccine available for use in the immunization program in the country. "As these discussions are ongoing, we are unable to share any additional details at this time." 

Currently, three COVID-19 vaccines are available in the country - Serum Institute of India's Covishied, Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN, and the Sputnik V.

As per the union health ministry, as many as 21,85,46,667 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered so far in the country. -- ANI

Ahead of the MPC policy, domestic market continued its volatility with a mixed bias. Selling was witnessed in financials, IT and FMCG stocks but it reduced towards the close of trading," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. Weakness across US and Asian markets also added to the negative trend, he noted. 

 "PSU banks attracted buyers in hopes that the government will soon finalise the list for privatisation. In the policy, RBI is expected to focus on economic growth by maintaining the status quo on policy rates and ensuring liquidity while keeping an eye on the inflationary pressure due to rising commodity prices," Nair said. PTI

The revival in demand amid tight supplies after bird flu outbreak and a sharp rise in poultry feed cost have led to an increase in retail prices to Rs 6-7 per egg depending on the areas. 

But farm gate rates have not gone up commensurate to rise in input cost, affecting farmers, they said. Egg is among the protein-rich foods prescribed for COVID-19 patients and is the cheapest source of protein available to people, experts said.

However, they have also been told that any disagreement can't be at the cost of the party's image amongst the people.

The move to strongly back the Yogi government comes as the party feels that retaining Uttar Pradesh in 2022 would be a crucial landmark for the unit.

The move comes even as National General Secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh has been camping in Lucknow deliberating on various issues with party leaders.

Many of these leaders had flagged issues like COVID-19 handling, disenchantment among people and lack of coordination between government and party leaders, among others.

While collating feedback from ministers and party leaders, Santhosh gave leaders a platform to vent their anger. He also sent a message to party leaders that the achievements of the Yogi government should be the focus right now.

Santhosh, throwing his weight behind the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government, reflected in one of his tweets where he praised the state government for reducing the daily COVID-19 count.

The Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are scheduled to take place in 2022. BJP had stormed back to power in the state in the 2017 Assembly polls. In the 403 member Uttar Pradesh Assembly, among the major parties, BJP has 309 legislators, SP 49, BSP 18, and Congress 7

 The court was hearing a PIL filed by lawyers Dhruti Kapadia and Kunal Tiwari, seeking a direction to the Union and state governments to start door-to-door vaccination for senior citizens above the age of 75, specially-abled, bed-ridden and wheelchair-bound people. The petition said such people would not be in a position to step out of their homes and travel to vaccination centres. 

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni on Wednesday noted that several housing societies are now tying-up with private hospitals and holding vaccination drives in the society premises itself. 

"If this is being done, then you (government and other authorities) can take a step further and go to the homes of such people (who are not able to go to vaccination centres)," Chief Justice Datta said. Kapadia on Wednesday told the court though the Centre's policy says door-to-door vaccination was not possible, the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (in neighbouring Palghar district) has started it in its area. 

 The court had last month directed chairman of the 'National Expert Group for Vaccine Administration of COVID-19' (NEGVAC) set up by the Centre to consider the issue of introducing the door-to-door vaccination drive. On Wednesday, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the Centre, sought further time following which the court posted the matter for next hearing on June 8. Singh told the HC that by July-end, the availability of vaccines, both Covishield and Covaxin, will increase. 

 "Currently, there are 90 lakh Covaxin doses available. By the end of July, the number will increase to 5.5 crore. Similarly, the supply of Covishield vaccine will also increase to approximately two crore each month by July," he said. 

The court then asked Singh by when does the Union government expect the entire population of the country to be administered the first dose of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine. Singh said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said it would be done by December 2021. PTI

Justice Rekha Palli issued notice to the Delhi government and sought its stand on whether it can provide the second dose of Covaxin to those who got the first jab, before expiry of the incubation period of six weeks between the two doses. The court also issued notice to the Centre on two pleas to make the second dose of both vaccines - Cpvaxin and Covishield -- available in the national capital. -- PTI

"This is a routine visit of Sarsanghchalakji to Delhi. He will hold several meetings. All sah sarkaryawahs and sarkaryawah Dattatreya Hosableji will also be present," informed Sunil Ambekar, Akhil Bharatiya prachar pramukh. 

Sources told ANI that Hosable, who has closely followed the churnings in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, is likely to discuss issues relating to the state with the RSS chief.

Besides Sangh general secretary Dattatreya Hosable, Bhagwat is likely to hold meetings with sah sarkaryawahs like Krishan Gopal, Manmohan Vaidya, HR Mukunda, Ram Dutt and Arun Kumar in Delhi.The top leadership of RSS is present in Delhi.

 Many believe that a detailed analysis of Uttar Pradesh is likely to take place. Bhagwat is expected to stay in the national capital for a few days.

The RSS Chief is also likely to be briefed on the handling of COVID by many state governments, especially in poll-bound states, along with relief work done by the Sangh and its affiliates, sources said.

Uttar Pradesh is due to go to polls in early 2022 and Bhagwat's Delhi visit carries much significance in this light. -- ANI

Nearly half of India is reporting a less than 5% test positivity rate, the Centre said, suggesting the peak of the second Covid-19 wave has been crossed, and the disease transmission has largely stabilised.

Today, at least 350 districts, which is nearly half of India, has less than 5% case positivity rate; and 145 districts are currently hovering on between 5 and 10% positivity rate. However, there are still 239 districts with more than 10% positivity, said Dr Balram Bhargava, director-general, Indian Council of Medical Research.

Test positivity is the percentage of total positive tests from all Covid-19 tests that have been conducted. 

It helps determine the levels of disease transmission within the community. As per the World Health Organisation recommendations, transmission during an infectious disease outbreak can be said to be stabilising if the test positivity rate remains under 5% for at least two weeks consecutively.

The Centre has said the data in the first week of April showed India had less than 200 districts with more than 10% positivity. By the end of April, the number had jumped to nearly 600 districts.

Tejinder Singh, a veteran White House correspondent and founder and editor of the India America Today newswire, has passed away in the US, the publication has announced.

 

Singh founded India America Today, an independent media organisation and news provider based in Washington, DC.

"India America Today is deeply grieved to announce the passing of our Founder and Editor @tejindersingh. He launched IAT in 2012, and we will continue to carry on the work that he started. RIP Editor," the publication said on Twitter on May 29.

Pentagon Press Secretary John F Kirby condoled his death at a press briefing on Tuesday.

"We here at the Pentagon would like to take a moment to -- express our condolences and sympathies for the passing of Mr Tejinder Singh, who many of you know was the founder and editor of India America Today," he said.

"He was a Pentagon Correspondent since 2011, and I dealt with him from this podium, I've dealt with him when I was at the State Department podium, and the one word, I mean, the word one that comes to mind when you think of Tejinder is gentleman.

 

"He was a real gentleman, good reporter, damn good reporter. Asked tough questions and produced good stuff, but he was a heck of a man, a gentleman as I said. And we're going to miss him, we're all going to miss him, and I know you guys feel the same way," Kirby said.

He was the Vice-President (Print) for the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA-DC) 2011-12.

 Minister for Health, Women and Child Welfare, Veena George, moved the resolution in the House as the state reels under acute vaccine shortage. The resolution also requested the central government for timely distribution of the vaccines. 

 "In order to fight COVID-19, we need to provide free universal vaccination which will ensure that all sections of the society are protected from the virus," George said. She noted that the first wave of COVID-19 had weakened the economy and now the country was facing the second wave. 

 "If we could take necessary steps for speeding up the vaccination, it would help the economy also," she said and urged everyone to join hands to combat the pandemic and ensure universal vaccination. Setting aside their political differences, the members of the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-headed United Democratic Front unanimously backed the resolution after suggesting minor changes. PTI

 "Twenty-four culprits involved in this barbaric attack have been arrested and the chargesheet will be filed at the earliest. I am personally monitoring this investigation and I promise that justice will be served," Sarma said on Twitter.

 Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said they are taking the incident very seriously as doctors are fighting the pandemic at the forefront and the attack on Senapati is "like assaulting all the frontline workers". "And @assampolice would not let that happen... We WILL bring the perpetrators to justice... Let this be known, assaulting frontline worker will not be tolerated... A strong case is being made against them," he said in a series of tweets. Special DGP (Law and Order) Gyanendra Pratap Singh said the main accused persons and conspirators, including a woman seen in a video of the incident, have been arrested. 

 "We would submit a strong chargesheet in the shortest possible time and ensure the criminals are brought to justice," he Tweeted. 

Hojai Superintendent of Police Barun Purkayastha had said a critically ill coronavirus-positive patient succumbed to the disease at Udali Covid Care Centre on Tuesday afternoon.

 "Immediately after that, the relatives and a group of people known to the victim arrived there and started beating up the doctor. After getting the information, our team reached there and arrested three persons. Further investigation is on," he told PTI on Tuesday. A video of the attack which went viral on social media showed that a person, apparently looked like the doctor, was being assaulted by a group of people, including women.

 Chief Minister Vijay Rupani took the decision about the relief package after reviewing the situation during a meeting on Tuesday evening, an official release said. 

 Cyclone Tauktae hit the Gujarat coast on May 17 night with a very high wind speed of about 220 kmph. 

 It caused major damage to anchored boats, fishing nets, trawlers and marine infrastructure at Jafrabad, Rajula, Saiyad Rajpara, Shiyal Bet and Nava Bandar ports of the state, the release said, adding that houses of fishermen were also damaged in the cyclone. As part of the package, the state government would pay a collective amount of Rs 25 crore to the affected fishermen to compensate the damage caused to over 1,000 small and large sized boats. 

 For a fully damaged small sized boat, the government would pay 50 per cent of the boat value or Rs 75,000, whichever is less, the release said. In case of a partially damaged small sized boat, the compensation would be 50 per cent of the boat value or Rs 35,000, whichever is less, it said. For a fully damaged trawler, the compensation would be Rs 5 lakh or 50 per cent of the trawler's value, it added.

 The state government will give Rs 2,000 through direct benefit transfer to all those fishermen whose boats were fully or partially damaged in the cyclone. On a loan of Rs 10 lakh to repair a fully damaged boat, the state government would bear 10 per cent of the interest for a period of two years, said the release.

"First flight will come from Dubai at 6.10 pm on Wednesday. 65 passengers have booked seats. The load may increase due to last-minute bookings," said Vijaywada International Airport Director Madhusudan Rao. Airport Director said as many as 490 international flights had landed at Vijayawada Airport in phase one of the Vande Bharat mission and around 55,600 passengers from different countries had landed here.

"People stranded at various countries were brought, they had landed at Vijayawada Airport and reached their places in the state. Same services will be continued in this phase also," he said.

Rao further said all arrangements have been made in this regard and they have also expanded the arrival area.

"All facilities are made for passengers' comfort. There will be 10 international services per week, however, there will be no services on Sundays," he added.

Earlier in March, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that around 50 lakh people have returned to India under Vande Bharat Mission as on March 10, 2021.

Many countries had imposed the ban on passenger flights from India in view of rising COVID-19 cases.

The Vande Bharat Mission started in early May 2020 to evacuate Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus-induced travel restrictions.

Two retired security experts were planning to write against the government's policy on Pakistan. 

A former Cabinet Secreatry has also written a critical article in a leading English daily. 

In a notification issued on May 31, the government said, "No Government servant, who has worked in any Intelligence or Security-related organisation shall make any publication after retirement without prior clearance from the head of organisation".

 The Border Security Force (BSF), which is guarding the IB, neither confirmed nor denied the incident. Sources said Pakistani Rangers fired a few rounds upon noticing the bullet-proof JCB machine clearing the bushes in Arnia sector's Vikram post area in the outskirts of Jammu around 8.15 am. There was no report of any casualty. The BSF also fired a few rounds in retaliation, they said, adding the situation has returned to normal and there is calm along the IB. 

 On May 2, Pakistani Rangers violated the ceasefire by opening fire along the IB in Ramgarh sector of Samba district which was the first ceasefire violation by Pakistan after the two countries signed a fresh agreement to maintain calm along the border on February 25 this year. Last month, BSF shot dead two Pakistani intruders who tried to sneak into this side in Samba sector after ignoring repeated warnings. PTI

The latest ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan had started in the last week of February after talks between the director generals of military operations of both armies and it has been observed by both sides since then.

"The Army chief would be in Srinagar today to review the situation on ground along with the top military commanders there from the 15 Corps which looks after both counter-terrorism and counter-infiltration operations in the valley," Army sources told ANI.

The chief would also be visiting the forward positions in the valley to review the operational preparedness of troops to tackle any possible attempts by the terrorists to carry out infiltration, they said.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval played a key role in the ongoing ceasefire agreement which has resulted in peace on both sides of the LoC for such a long period in the last many years.

Lennox Linton, Leader of the Opposition in Dominica on Wednesday exclusively confirmed to ANI that a team of eight officials from India had landed in Dominica on Monday, May 31. 

"Some officials from India arrived in Dominica via business jet on Friday of last week and yesterday some more officials arrived. They'll be helping with the case in the court tomorrow," said Linton.

Sources in the investigating agencies indicated that a team of senior officials of the agencies, and senior officials from the Government of India are in Dominica for the hearing at the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

"India has to present a tough case against Mehul Choksi in the Dominica Court. To produce relevant papers and evidence in court as per the practices of the Indian agencies," sources said.

Choksi's Dominica-based lawyer Wayne Marsh earlier told ANI that his client has been abducted from Antigua and taken to Dominica against his will.

"He (Choksi) reported to me that he was abducted at Jolly Harbour in Antigua and brought to Dominica by persons whom he believed to be Indian and Antiguan police on a vessel he described to be about 60-70 feet in length," Marsh told ANI.

Pfizer and Moderna were among the companies that had requested the government for waivers like indemnity and for post-approval local trials. The government has yet to take a decision on indemnity or liability from compensation for any severe side effects.

A DCGI letter says it has waived the requirement for foreign companies to carry out "post-launch bridging trials" and to test the quality and stability of their vaccines in India if they have approvals from specific countries or health bodies.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 309.54 points or 0.60 per cent lower at 51,625.34 in initial deals, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 70.45 points or 0.45 per cent to 15,504.40. 

 Tech Mahindra was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 3 per cent, followed by ITC, HDFC, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank, Infosys and ICICI Bank. 

 On the other hand, NTPC, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, Maruti and Reliance Industries were among the gainers. In the previous session, Sensex ended 2.56 points lower at 51,934.88, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 7.95 points or 0.05 per cent to 15,574.85. 

 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth 449.86 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional exchange data. The steady decline in fresh COVID cases and rising recovery rates indicate that India is succeeding in bending the pandemic's curve, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. 

"With no short-term risks to the market, consolidation is likely in the near term with a stock-specific action in response to the news. Since markets are over-bought and over-valued investors should exercise caution even when the markets are exhibiting surprising resilience," he added. 

Total cases: 2,83,07,832 

Total discharges: 2,61,79,085 

Death toll: 3,35,102 

Active cases: 17,93,645 

Total vaccination: 21,85,46,667

The Central government defended its move to summon former West Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay and called its transfer order 'Constitutional', according to sources.

"The order is perfectly Constitutional since Chief Secretary is an All India Services officer. He chose to ignore his Constitutional duties, as a result of which no presentation was given to Prime Minister and no officer of West Bengal Government attended the Prime Minister's review meeting," Central government sources said. 

The former Chief Secretary was summoned for Central deputation after he reportedly failed to give a presentation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Cyclone Yaas review meeting last week. According to sources, he left the meet along with the chief minister without giving a proper reason.

A day after Chief Secretary Alapan Bandophadyay was asked to report to the Department of Personnel and Training, New Delhi, Bandophadyay opted for retirement from his position as Chief Secretary and joined the Mamata Banerjee-led government as her chief advisor.

The Centre then accused Mamata of protecting Bandophadhay from disciplinary action.

Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited, a Maharashtra government undertaking, is preparing for mass production of Covaxin and will have capacity to produce over 22 crore doses of the COVID-19 vaccine every year once the requisite facilities are in place.

The Department of Biotechnology has given permission to HBPCL for producing Covaxin under Mission Covid Suraksha. Covaxin has been developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR. Sandeep Rathod, Managing Director of HBPCL, told ANI that formalities of technology transfer from Bharat Biotech are being completed.

"We are completing formalities of technology transfer and they will be completed soon. We have signed the confidentiality clause with Bharat Biotech and the finalisation of MoU is under process," he said.

Rathod said bio-safety lab for production of COVID vaccines is being established and work for establishing the facilities will take about eight months.

"We are hopeful that everything will be favourable and we will start production within our estimated time. Once the production starts, we will have a capacity for production of 2 crore doses every month. With that speed, we can work 11 months in a year and can produce 22.8 crore doses every year," he said.

"As per the required standards, a BSL-III category production unit will be needed for Covaxin production and we are in the process to establish such a lab in our premises," he added.

The HBPCL official further said that they were getting required funds for the project. The central government, he said, has given permission for production of vaccine and approved Rs 65 crore for the project and the state government is providing over Rs 93 crore for the facility.

Vietnam's 'very dangerous' new COVID-19 hybrid variant may be fuelling its worst outbreak so far as it is replicating quickly.

On Saturday, the Vietnamese authorities revealed they had discovered a "very dangerous" new coronavirus variant that combined mutations first found in India and the UK, and which spreads quickly by air, reported The Telegraph. 

Vietnam's plight follows a now familiar pattern of COVID-19 surges across Asia - most alarmingly in countries like Singapore, Laos, Thailand and Taiwan that were praised for beating the virus in 2020, only to be caught out by a global vaccine shortage as new variants ricocheted back from coronavirus hotspots.

Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said Vietnam would soon publish genome data of the newly identified variant, which he said was more transmissible than the previously known types, reported UK-based news agency.

He said laboratory cultures of the new variant showed the virus replicated itself very quickly, possibly explaining why so many new cases had appeared in different parts of the country in a short period of time.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation is investigating reports of a mutation that spreads extremely quickly - but the country still isn't on the UK's red list, reported The Telegraph.

The Goa bench of the Bombay high court will today hear a petition filed by the Goa government against former Tehelka magazine editor Tarun Tejpal's acquittal in a rape case. Tejpal was deemed 'not-guilty' by a fast-track court on May 21 in a judgement that has been called perverse and influenced by extraneous inadmissible materials and testimonies by the Goa government.

The 58-year-old former journalist was accused of raping a colleague in an elevator of a five-star hotel in Goa during a Tehelka magazine event in 2013.

According to the complainant, Tejpal raped the woman inside the lift of the hotel on November 7, 2013 and attempted to assault her again the next day. Tejpal, who refuted the charges in court and was subsequently acquitted, had been out on bail since 2014.

The Goa government seeks a re-trial based on the trial court's "lack of understanding of a victim's post-trauma behaviour". In its verdict, the court suggested that the woman did not behave in a manner consistent with a victim of sexual assault.

The printouts of photographs clearly proves that the prosecutrix was absolutely in a good mood, happy, normal and smiling at the time she did not look distressed or traumatized in any manner whatsoever though this was immediately a few minutes after she claims to have been sexually assaulted by the accused putting her in a state of panic and trauma, the verdict said.

The appeal was filed before the high court last week and amended this week to bring on record the judgment.

The WHO said that only one strain of the Covid-19 Delta variant first detected in India was now considered "of concern", while two other strains had been downgraded.

The B.1.617 variant of the virus, which has in part been blamed for explosive outbreak in the country, has been dubbed a triple mutant variant since it is split into three lineages.

The UN health agency last month declared the entire strain a "variant of concern", or VOC, but on Tuesday, it said only one of the sub-lineages deserved that label.

"It has become evident that greater public health risks are currently associated with B.1.617.2, while lower rates of transmission of other lineages have been observed," the World Health Organization said in its weekly epidemiological update on the pandemic.

The B.1.617.2 variant remains a VOC, along with three other variants of the virus that are seen as more dangerous than the original version because they are more transmissible, deadly or have the potential to get past some vaccine protections.

In line with a decision announced Monday to refer to the variants using Greek letters, in a bid to avoid the possible stigmatisation associated with referring to them with the name of the countries where they were first detected, that variant has now been dubbed Delta.

"We continue to observe significantly increased transmissibility and a growing number of countries reporting outbreaks associated with this variant," the UN agency said.

"Further studies into the impact of this variant remain a high priority for WHO."

In fact, a new hybrid variant announced by Vietnam's health authorities on Saturday appears to be a variation of Delta.

"What we understand is that it is this B.1.617.2 variant with one additional deletion in the location of the spike protein," WHO's technical lead on Covid-19 Maria Van Kerkhove told reporters Tuesday.

"We know that the B.1.617.2, the Delta variant, does have increased transmissibility, which means it can spread easier between people," she added.

The B.1.617.1 sub-lineage has meanwhile been downgraded to a "variant of interest," and dubbed Kappa.

Special Assistant Health Dr Faisal Sultan said that Pakistan is trying to overcome the difficult challenges and turn them into opportunities with the help of friends. 

"We found our friend China closest to us in overcoming the Covid-19 challenge,' he said at the launch ceremony, adding that China provided the raw material for the vaccine but still it was not easy to develop it. 

Dr Sultan said the local mass production of the vaccine will begin in the coming days. 

Asad Umar, chief of National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), said it was an important day for Pakistan. 

The development came as the positivity rate fell below 4 per cent for the first time in three months when 1,771 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the tally of confirmed cases to 922,824, according to the ministry of national health services. 

The vaccination has also picked up and so far more than 7.3 million doses have been administered to over 5.3 million people vaccinated, including about 2 million fully vaccinated.

In a letter to the home minister, IMA referred to an incident in Assam on Monday in which a mob thrashed a doctor after a Covid-19 patient died and said there was a "barbaric attack" on Dr Seuj Kumar. 

"It was an extremely inhuman attack," the IMA said. The doctor was working in the Covid care centre in Hojal district of the state. 

The IMA urged the minister to consider its appeal on emergency basis and enact the strong and effective Act to safeguard the healthcare professionals of the country. 

It said that healthcare violence is violent incidents directed against doctors, healthcare staff and healthcare establishments with or without reason. 

It said that the incidents of healthcare violence have increased over the years and have become widespread and pose threat to the medical practice. 

"There are many incidents of healthcare violence taking place across the country. Doctors and healthcare staff is finding it difficult to work under stress of violence.  Healthcare violence has become an alarming phenomenon across the country. The real size of problem is largely unknown and recent information shows that the current knowledge is tip of iceberg," the letter said.

"India needs a comprehensive, uniform and effective law against the healthcare violence. We request you to kindly approve an effective and strong act against the healthcare violence," it added. 

IMA also sought "immediate strict action" against the culprits in the Assam incident.