LIVE! Another Kerala candidate says BJP offered money

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Sat, 05 June 2021

Another Kerala candidate says BJP offered money

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21:41 Another Kerala candidate says BJP offered money

The Bharatiya Janata Party's Kerala unit, under attack over allegations of using large amounts of black money in the April 6 assembly polls, found itself in a fresh row on Saturday, with a candidate claiming he was offered Rs 15 lakh for withdrawing his nomination against BJP state chief K Surendran.

The BJP dismissed the allegations as baseless and said it was a conspiracy against the party.

K Sundara, a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate of Manjeswaram constituency in Kasaragod district and a namesake of Surendran, had on March 22 withdrawn his nomination papers.

Surendran however lost the election.

The similarity between the duo's names is said to have helped Sundara garner 467 votes in the constituency as an independent during the 2016 assembly polls in which Surendran had lost to Indian Union Muslim League nominee P B Abdul Razzaq by 89 votes.

"The BJP leaders asked me to withdraw my candidature. I had asked for Rs 15 lakh but they gave me Rs 2.5 lakh only and a mobile phone worth Rs 15,000. I had also asked for a wine shop in Karnataka if they were able to win the seat. But once the election was over no one bothered to call me," Sundara told the media.

Besides withdrawing the candidature, Sundara had also joined the BJP.

Manjeswaram was one among the constituencies for BJP in Kerala where the party pinned hopes on winning.

The BJP, however, dismissed the allegations.

"We did not offer him anything to withdraw his nomination. He had publicly explained why he withdrew his candidature. Now he has changed his stance. It seems like someone is coercing him. We doubt that he is raising such allegations due to the pressure from CPI(M) and the IUML,"BJP district president K Sreekanth said.

Meanwhile, Communist Party of India-Marxist candidate V V Rameshan, who came third in the 2021 election, today approached the Kasaragod district police chief seeking registration of a case into the matter following the development.

The CPI-M has accused the BJP of using large amounts of black money in the assembly polls.

IUML's A K M Ashraf had won the seat with 65,758votes, while Surendran managed to bag 65,013 votes. Rameshan got 40,639 votes.

Earlier, a Janadhipathya Rashtriya Party (JRP) leader had alleged that the BJP had offered Rs 10 lakh bribe to the chairperson of JRP, C K Janu, to contest as NDA candidate from Sulthan Bathery.

The BJP had dismissed this allegation too.

Meanwhile, in the 'Kodakarahavala heist case', the special investigation team on Saturday questioned the driver and personal aide of the BJP state chief.

The investigation team, probing the highway robbery of hawala money at Kodakara on April 3, three days ahead of the state Assembly polls, had questioned Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader and BJP state organisation secretary M Ganeshan and party office secretary Gireesh.

The Congress demanded a judicial probe into the allegations against the BJP leadership.

Senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan asked the state government to probe the allegations against BJP state chief and the saffron party.

"Has the BJP chief included the rent of the helicopter in his election expenditure. Also, it was the BJP central leadership which gave the money to the BJP candidates. Where did it all come from? All the black money allegations arebeing raised by the BJP candidates only," Muraleedharan claimed.

The investigators had also questioned BJP Thrissur district general secretary K R Hari and Ayyanthole Area secretary G Kashinadhan in connection with the highway robbery.

According to a complaint filed by Shamjeer Samsudheen on April 7, a gang had stopped his car on the Kodakara flyover here and robbed Rs 25 lakh kept in the vehicle when he was on his way to Kochi from Kozhikode.

Though the complaint had said that only Rs 25 lakh was stolen, the investigators later found that the actual amount could be about Rs 3.5 crore and it was a hawala transaction, police sources said. -- PTI

Photograph: Courtesy @pearlvpuri/Twitter

20:36 TV actor arrested for allegedly raping minor girl

TV actor Pearl Puri has been arrested for allegedly raping a minor girl in 2019, the police said on Saturday.

The police from neighbouring Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) commissionerate took him in custody in Mumbai on Friday night with the help of suburban Amboli police, an official said.

Puri is known for his roles in Naagin 3, Bepanah Pyaar and Brahmarakshas 2 serials.

"The alleged sexual assault and molestation with a five-year-old girl had taken place in 2019," said Deputy Commissioner Sanjay Patil of MBVV police.

On the complaint of the girl's father, FIR was registered under Indian Penal Code section 376 AB (rape of woman below 12 years of age) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act at Waliv police station in Vasai, he said.

The actor was arrested and produced before a court which sent him in judicial custody for 14 days, he added. -- PTI

20:19 Tikait, Chaduni reach Tohana to court arrest

Farmers leaders Rakesh Tikait and Gurnam Singh Chaduni along with scores of their associates on Saturday gathered at Sadar police station in Fatehabad here, demanding the release of fellow farmers.

They also sought the registration of a case against local Jannayak Janata Party MLA Devender Babli for allegedly hurling abuses at them.

Tikait and Chaduni along with the protesting farmers first assembled at the grain market in Tohana and then marched towards the police station to court arrest.

A heavy police force was deployed at the police station.

Agitating farmers are demanding the release of two farmers who were arrested in the case of gherao of the residence of JJP legislator Devendra Babli.

Farmer leader Chaduni said false cases registered against farmers should also be withdrawn and a case should be lodged against Babli for hurling abuses and misbehaving with them.

On June 1, the Jannayak Janta Party legislator had faced a protest by a group of farmers who showed black flags to him and raised slogans.

Babli had alleged that some of the protesters resorted to unruly behaviour and smashed the windscreen of his SUV.

Farmers, however, accused Babli of publicly using abusive language and threatened farmers.

Protesting farmers had on Wednesday said they would gherao all police across the state on June 7 if MLA Babli did not tender an apology by June 6 for allegedly hurling abuses at them during a protest in Tohana in Fatehabad district.

Several farmer groups in the state have been opposing the public functions of the Bharatiya Janata Party-JJP leaders.

A protesting farmer at the Tohana Sadar police station on Saturday said that they had told the police either they release their men or put them also in jail.

Earlier addressing the gathering at the grain market, farmer leader Tikait said their agitation against the farm laws would continue till the government repeal these laws and enact a law on MSP.

He asserted that the government would have to withdraw the three farm laws.

The government of India will have to withdraw these black laws. Be it in 2022 or 2023. The laws will be withdrawn in 2024. It is a guarantee, he said, asserting that the agitation would continue till 2024.

Talking about the alleged adverse impact on the implementation of these laws, he said one day the grains would be locked in the lockers of big people and traders.

Samukta Kisan Morcha leader Yogendra Yadav slammed the central government for bringing the farm legislation through the backdoor.

In this one year, farmers have made them realise that they understand everything and they (Centre) cannot befool farmers.

The government may take as much time as it can but these laws will be scrapped, said Yadav. -- PTI

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday elevated MP Abhishek Banerjee as the party's all India general secretary, a senior leader in Kolkata said.

Addressing a press meet, TMC leader Partha Chatterjee also said that the working committee has decided that one person will be allowed to hold just one post in the party, and the core committee has duly given its approval.

"Our party chief Mamata Banerjee has nominated MP Abhishek Banerjee as the all India general secretary of the TMC," Chatterjee said, following two crucial meetings earlier in the day.

Abhishek, nephew of the party supremo, will be replacing Subrata Bakshi as the national general secretary, while actor-turned-TMC leader Sayoni Ghosh has been made the youth wing president -- a post earlier held by the MP.

Chatterjee further stated that no discussion was held on turncoats, who had quit the TMC to join the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the assembly polls, and were now willing to return to the party fold. -- PTI

The Centre has stopped the Arvind Kejriwal government's ambitious doorstep delivery of ration scheme that was set to be launched soon, official sources in Delhi government said on Saturday.

According to them, all preparations for doorstep delivery of ration scheme were in place and it was scheduled to be launched from next week.

"The scheme was stopped by the Centre on the basis that its approval was not sought before implementation," they said. -- PTI

The southwest monsoon arrived in Maharashtra on Saturday, bringing showers in some coastal parts of the state, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.

The progress of the monsoon is as per our expectations, said Shubhangi Bhute, director of the IMD's regional centre.

"The southwest monsoon has arrived in Maharashtra. It has officially reached up to Harnai port in coastal Ratnagiri district and its actual line is spread till Solapur and some parts of Marathwada, followed by some parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh," she said.

It is expected to bring showers to these regions, she added.

"Conditions are favourable for further advancement of the monsoon," she said.

A few days back, the IMD had predicted that monsoon is likely to be normal in north and south India, above-normal in central India and below-normal in east and northeast India.

Quantitatively, the monsoon seasonal (June to September) rainfall over the country as a whole is likely to be 101 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA) with a model error of plus or minus four per cent, it had said.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue mop-up remained above the Rs 1 lakh crore mark for the eight straight month in May at over Rs 1.02 lakh crore.

The May 2021 collection is 65 per cent higher than Rs 62,009 crore the GST revenue of May 2020. Collections last year were impacted as economic activity took a hit due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to check the spread of COVID-19.

However, the revenue for May 2021 is lower than the record over Rs 1.41 lakh crore GST collected in April 2021.

'The gross GST revenue collected in the month of May 2021 is Rs 1,02,709 crore of which CGST is Rs 17,592 crore, SGST is Rs 22,653, IGST is Rs 53,199 crore (including Rs 26,002 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is Rs 9,265 crore (including Rs 868 crore collected on import of goods),' the finance ministry said in a statement.

The above figure includes GST collection from domestic transactions till June 4 since taxpayers were given various relief measures in the form of waiver/reduction in interest on delayed return filing for 15 days for filing of returns in May on account of the second wave of the Covid pandemic, it added.

The collection figure crossed Rs 1 lakh crore despite the fact that most states have been under strict lockdown due to the pandemic, the ministry said.

In addition, while the taxpayers with turnover above Rs 5 crore had to file their returns by June 4, which they would have otherwise filed by May 20, smaller taxpayers with turnover less than Rs 5 crore still have time till first week of July to file the returns without any late fee, and interest and the revenue from these taxpayers is deferred till then.

"The actual revenues for the month of May 2021 thus would be higher and would be known when all the extended dates expire," the ministry added. -- PTI

The West Bengal government is issuing certificates of COVID-19 vaccination to the people in the age group of 18-44 sponsored by the state with the photogrtaph of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

An official said Saturday this is being done since the state government has been procuring vaccines directly from the manufacturers from its own resources.

While beneficiaries of 45 plus are getting certificates of vaccination with the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as in other parts of the country, but those falling in the 18-44 age bracket have photographs of Mamata Banerjee.

"The government has started procuring vaccines directly from the manufacturers and arranging for inoculating the pouplation. That is the reason it has been decided to use photograph of the CM on the certificates," a senior state official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

When contacted, state minister for Housing and outgoing Mayor of Kolkata Firhad Hakim, who is also the chairman of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation board of administrator, justified the practice, saying since the Centre was not vaccinating 18-44 years of the population and the state is spending money for it,then there will be photograph of the CM.

"All information regarding inoculation is there on the certificate. Starting from the batch number of the vaccine, there is also CoWIN Registration number. Besides, a special message of the CM," Hakim said.

Hakim said there is nothing unusual about this as the state governments of Punjab, Chhattisgarh and neighbouring Jharkhand have already started issuing similar vaccination certificates to people in the 18-44 years with photographs of their respecive chief ministers.

But, the move has created confusion among some recepients of the jabs as whether they will be getting another certificate issued by the central government through CoWin having photographs of PM Narendra Modi, officials admitted.

Till Friday, the state government has spent nearly Rs 150 crore to procure vaccines to inoculate population in the 18-44 age group, an official said, adding that so far around 29 lakh people of this category have been vaccinated.

Earlier controversy had erupted in Bengal after the centre had started issuing certificates to people administered shots through CoWIN with Modi's photograph since the inoculation drive began on January 16.

Amidst state polls, the Trinamool Congress had moved Election Connection of India (ECI) on the issue, stating that the PM's photograph on such certificates were violating the model code of conduct.

Following this the PM's photograph was removed from the certificates and soon after the results of the elections were out, the images startes resurfacing on the certificates of people getting inoculated.

Reacting to issuance of certificates with Banerjee's photo, Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Bankura Dr Subhas Sarkar, when contacted said 'it is petty politics of the TMC'.

"There are only five countries in the world who are manufacturing vaccines and India is one of them. We are proud of this. PM is our custodian and under his guidance people are getting vaccines and citizens of the country know that.

"What is the problem? It's not necessry that the person who is purchasing the vaccines should have photographs on the certificates for those getting the jabs," Dr Sarkar told PTI.

15:37 US, India, China distributed 60% jabs globally

Of the two billion COVID-19 vaccine doses distributed globally till now, about 60 per cent have gone to just three countries -- the United States, India and China, a senior adviser at the World Health Organisation said.

Senior Advisor to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Bruce Aylward made the comments at a press briefing on Friday.

This week, we will see over two billion doses we will probably pass the two billion doses landmark in terms of the number of doses of the vaccines and new COVID vaccines that have actually been developed.

These have been distributed now in over 212 countries, Aylward said.

If we look at that two billion doses, over 75 per cent of it has gone to just 10 countries.

And in fact three countries -- China, the US and India -- account for about 60 per cent of those doses, he said.

He said while COVAX has played an important role in distributing the COVID-19 doses to 127 countries and getting several countries to start their vaccination drives, the challenge is in the access to the vaccines.

He said the 60 per cent of the two billion doses that have gone to China, India and the US are all domestically procured and used.

Aylward noted that at the other end of the spectrum, only about 0.5 per cent of doses globally have gone to the lowest income countries that account for about 10 per cent of the world's population.

And even if we look at the lower middle income countries, it's only fractionally higher than that in terms of the coverage that we're getting.

So we're increasingly seeing a two-track recovery and rollout of the vaccines, he said.

While there is high vaccine coverage deep into the high risk populations and younger populations in high income countries, we are still struggling to get sufficient product just to be able to vaccinate the health care workers, older populations in low income countries who are really the key to getting out of the health, societal and economic crisis that we are in the midst of.

Aylward said about 80 million doses have been distributed through COVAX so far and the global alliance for equitable vaccine distribution is about 200 million doses behind where it should be due to the disruption in COVAX supplies as a result of the devastating second wave in India.

The problem now is the supplies are being interrupted. We're having disruptions because of the problems in India and others and having trouble filling that gap. And as a result, the countries are having trouble getting momentum and getting started well.

"We saw how long it took to get the scale up of vaccines in high income countries. It takes a consistent supply of vaccines. So this is the crucial piece that we've got to fix in the next two months if we are going to be on track to get out of the pandemic," Aylward said.

He added that through COVAX, we've distributed just about 80 million doses at this point.

We're about 200 million doses behind where we want to be because of the interruption of supply out of India because of the need to redirect them there.

And also because of the challenge that we're having getting other manufacturers to scale up and come online early enough, such as the Johnson and Johnson product.

He said while there are commitments in principle of about 150 million doses to be donated through COVAX, there are two big problems with that.

Number one, very little of it is committed for the June-July period, which means we're going to still have this gap. The other problem is just the volume.

If we are going to get on track to get at least 30-40 per cent of the world vaccinated this year, we got to get another 250 million people vaccinated between now and the end of September.

We expect India SII (Serum Institute of India) volumes to open up again in the fourth quarter at least, he said, adding that countries are going to fail unless they get vaccines early to start rolling out, building community confidence, building their systems. But we're setting up for failure if we don't get early doses.

The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, is the key supplier of AstraZeneca doses to COVAX.

However, supply of vaccines from SII to COVAX has been impacted as the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic ravages India.

Last month, Ghebreyesus had said that once the devastating outbreak in India recedes, we also need the Serum Institute of India to get back on track and catch up on its delivery commitments to COVAX.

In response to a question on the situation in India and Nepal, which are seeing devastating surges in COVID cases, he said, are we concerned about India and Nepal.

Absolutely. We've got escalating epidemics in different parts of India still. (It's) going down overall but some areas are still hard hit.

In Nepal too, areas are hard hit. Still real gaps in terms of what they need to be able to save lives in real time, as well as protect people with vaccines so as we look for doses and bringing the doses forward, the goal is to be able to get more doses surged into these places that are being hit, so that we can reduce the risk of death in the face of these escalating outbreaks as well. -- PTI

14:28 Govt issues 'one last notice' to Twitter

The government on Saturday issued a notice to Twitter giving it one last chance to 'immediately' comply with the new IT rules and warned that failure to adhere to the norms will lead to the platform losing exemption from liability under the IT Act.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said that Twitter's refusal to comply with the rules demonstrated the microblogging site's 'lack of commitment and efforts towards providing a safe experience for the people of India on its platform'.

"Despite being operational in India for more than a decade, it is beyond belief that Twitter Inc has doggedly refused to create mechanism that will enable the people of India to resolve their issues on the platform in a timely and transparent manner and through fair processes, by India based, clearly identified resources," the IT ministry said.

The ministry said that though with effect from May 26, 2021, 'consequences follow' given Twitter's non-compliance with rules 'however, as a gesture of goodwill, Twitter Inc is hereby given one last notice to immediately comply with the rules, failing which the exemption from liability available...shall stand withdrawn and Twitter shall be liable for consequences as per the IT Act and other penal laws of India'.

The notice, however, did not given a specific deadline to comply with the rules. -- PTI

13:51 Now, blue tick from Bhagwat's handle removed

Twitter on Saturday removed the blue verification badge from the personal accounts of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat as well as a number of other leaders from the organisation.

Earlier in the day, the microblogging site removed the blue badge from the account of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu only to restore it later.

The blue tick on Twitter handles is to let people know that the social media account is authentic.

It said to receive the blue badge, the person's account must be authentic, notable, and active.

According to Sangh sources, Twitter has over the past several days removed the blue badge from the accounts of many RSS leaders whose accounts were verified by the social media platform back in 2019.

The list includes prominent Sangh leaders including Gopal Krishna, Arun Kumar, and former leaders Suresh Soni and Suresh B Joshi.

RSS leader Rajiv Tuli confirmed the development.

"Twitter has withdrawn verification marks from the accounts of many RSS functionaries. We tried to contact Twitter in this regard but no one responded," he said.

Twitter removed the blue badge from the personal Twitter handle of Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu, @MVenkaiahNaidu, which has 13 lakh followers. -- ANI

A team of police personnel in Bulandshahr has announced that traders above 45 years of age will not be allowed to open their shops if they have not been vaccinated against coronavirus.

SHO Dixit Kumar Tyagi and Circle Officer Suresh Kumar were part of the police team that made the announcement in Khurja city on Friday night.

The police team appealed to the people to get vaccinated and strictly follow Covid-appropriate behaviour.

It said everyone must continue to follow COVID-19 norms when the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the virus is lifted.

In a video recorded by locals, the police personnel can be seen saying traders and shopkeepers above 45 years of age will not be allowed to open their establishments if they have not been vaccinated.

Restrictions are imposed in the district due to the COVID-19 pandemic in which only people engaged in essential work are allowed outdoor movement and only essential services are allowed to open, like pharmacies, hospitals, milk and grocery outlets, etc.

The Uttar Pradesh government had last week ordered that restrictions would be lifted in districts having less than 600 active cases of coronavirus. -- PTI

Delhi Metro to resume services with 50 per cent capacity, announced Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Lockdown will continue with more relaxation in other activities. Markets, malls to be opened on odd-even basis, Kejriwal said.

The private offices will be allowed to function with 50 per cent staff. Group A staff of government offices will be allowed to function with 100 per cent, group B with 50 per cent staff, he said.

"We are ready to combat the third wave of COVID19. We have set up a pediatric task force," Kejriwal said.

"With an expected third wave of COVID-19, 420 tonnes of oxygen storage capacity is being prepared.

"We have also spoken to Indraprastha Gas limited to produce 150 tones of oxygen," the Delhi CM said. -- ANI

A seven-member central team will arrive in West Bengal on a three-day visit to make an on-spot assessment of the damage caused by cyclone Yaas, a senior official said on Saturday.

The inter-ministerial team headed by SK Shahi, joint secretary in the ministry of home affairs, will take stock of the situation in South 24 Parganas district upon its arrival on Sunday, and Purba Medinipur the day after, he said.

It is scheduled to complete its assessment in three days and leave for Delhi on June 9, the official said.

"After reaching Bengal on Sunday morning, the team will head to the affected areas of South 24 Parganas district. There, it will hold a meeting with officials.

"On Monday, the central team will be visiting Digha and Mandarmani in Purba Medinipur, where officials will give a presentation on the damage caused by Yaas," he said.

According to government sources, the inter-ministerial team is also likely to hold a meeting with finance department officials during its three-day visit.

Cyclone Yaas struck the coastal belts of Odisha and Bengal on May 26, dumping rain, flooding homes, and leaving behind a trail of destruction. -- PTI

11:37 Now, Gambhir to start free vaccination camps

Days after Drug Controller of Delhi informed the Delhi high court that his foundation has committed an offence under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act for hoarding unauthorised stock of COVID-19 drugs, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Gautam Gambhir announced that he will start free COVID vaccination camps in Delhi from Monday.

According to the Gautam Gambhir Foundation, the camps will be organised in collaboration with private hospitals and all the expenses will be borne by it.

Speaking to ANI, Gambhir said, "We will start free COVID vaccination camps from Monday. We will run these camps till the people of Delhi are completely vaccinated.

"Our foundation has been helping the people in the past and will continue till the last breath to save the lives of the people of Delhi."

The cricketer-turned-politician said the vaccination camps will also be started in slum clusters.

"We will extend the vaccination camps and take them to the clusters. In the clusters, we will vaccinate the people through mobile vaccination vans.

"There we will do vaccination for one day a week (every Sunday) and will increase it further if needed. Right now the camp is being organised for people above 45 years of age, but in the future, we will also get people in the age group of 18-44 years vaccinated." added Gambhir.

Gambhir is likely to start the first COVID vaccination camp in his parliamentary constituency East Delhi.

The 200,000 COVID-19 vaccines gifted by India for all United Nations peacekeepers are already being put to use and a number of these Blue Helmets have already been vaccinated, spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres has said.

The Indian government had offered us 200,000 doses.

And a number of peacekeepers are already, as far as I know, being vaccinated, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general, told reporters at the daily press briefing on Friday in response to a question on vaccination of UN peacekeepers.

"So, on the Indian vaccines, those, which I think were AstraZeneca, those were 200,000. They're already being put to use," he said.

India, one of the largest troop-contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions, gifted 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines for UN peacekeepers across all UN missions.

As of March 31 this year, there are 87,889 personnel serving in 12 peacekeeping operations around the world.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had announced in February that India will gift vaccine doses for UN peacekeepers.

"Keeping in mind the UN Peacekeepers who operate in such difficult circumstances, we would like to announce today a gift of 200,000 doses for them," Jaishankar had said while addressing the UN Security Council open debate on the implementation of resolution 2532 (2020) on the cessation of hostilities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quoting the Bhagavad Gita, Jaishankar had said Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind.

The 200,000 doses essentially meant that it would be possible to administer the required double doses of COVID vaccines to all UN peacekeepers across missions.

The AstraZeneca vaccines had left Mumbai via Qatar Airways on March 27.

The shipment went to Copenhagen, where it was safely stored in a facility, re-packaged and quickly distributed to all peacekeeping missions for the peacekeepers.

On a question on the offer of vaccines to the UN from China, Dujarric said we continue to be in touch with the Chinese authorities, as we are with the Russian authorities.

Some of that had to do with which vaccines were already approved by the WHO (World Health Organisation) because we do not use vaccines that are not approved by the WHO.

He said the Secretary-General has directly expressed his gratitude towards Russia when he was in Moscow recently and has also thanked the Chinese for their offer.

I mean, we're very fortunate that we have member states who are willing and able to give vaccines to UN staff working in the front lines to ensure that we continue to do our work, Dujarric said.

He added that it was also important to note that even before the vaccines were available to some of our colleagues in the field, they had been continuing to do their work.

Dujarric welcomed the announcement made by the Biden administration that it will be sharing millions of vaccine doses with both the COVAX facility, as well as bilaterally with countries in particular need. COVAX is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines directed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the World Health Organisation.

"But I also want to add that the Secretary-General is extremely grateful to the United States Government for the inclusion of United Nations personnel and Member States delegates serving in the United States in its national vaccination programme, and for the generous offer to provide vaccines for United Nations front-line personnel serving in the most challenging and dangerous locations around the world.

"This donation will allow the UN staff to stay and deliver critical services to vulnerable people around the world in a safe and effective manner," he said.

He added that Secretary-General renews his call to the international community to come together to address the unprecedented challenge of this pandemic, and for countries to share vaccines, particularly with those that are struggling to cope with new surges and variants.

"There is an urgent need for increased global solidarity to ensure that vaccines are available to everyone, everywhere. Equitable access to vaccines is a prerequisite for [ending] the pandemic and kick-starting a strong recovery."

On a question on the Biden administration's announcement to give vaccines to front-line UN staff, he said the UN is in touch with the US Mission to work out those details, including the numbers.

My understanding is that this will be a Johnson & Johnson one-and-done, as they say. But we're trying to get a bit more details, but we're very thankful for this offer. -- PTI

10:58 Twitter restores blue tick on Naidu's account

Twitter has restored the blue tick or "verified" badge on the personal handle of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu hours after it was dropped, prompting India to flag the verification removal to the social media giant.

As India flagged the blue tick removal from the personal account of M Venkaiah Naidu, Twitter said it was done due to a long gap in login.

Officials of the Vice President Secretariat said the personal Twitter handle of Naidu @MVenkaiahNaidu was inactive for a long time and the Twitter algorithm removed the blue badge. The last tweet posted from the personal handle was on July 23 last year.

While the blue tick from Venkaiah Naidu's personal Twitter handle was dropped, the official handle of the Vice President of India, @VPSecretariat, which has 9.3 lakh followers, continued to have the blue badge. Venkaiah Naidu's personal Twitter handle has over 13 lakh followers.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to announce further lockdown relaxations from the next week amid a dip in the city's daily COVID-19 case count, officials said on Saturday.

Kejriwal, who is scheduled to address a press conference later in the day, is also expected to announce the steps to deal with the possible third wave of the coronavirus.

An official said the government may allow markets and other activities from June 7 as the COVID-19 situation has gradually been improving. Last week, the government had allowed manufacturing and construction activities in Delhi beginning phased unlock process. The lockdown was imposed in Delhi on April 19.

The city recorded 523 fresh COVID-19 cases and 50 fatalities on Friday, while the positivity rate stood at 0.68 per cent, according to Delhi government data.

-- PTI

Member Health NITI Aayog Dr VK Paul said India has overtaken the United States in terms of the number of people who have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

"As per the data, the number of people who have received at least one dose of vaccine in India is 17.2 crore. We have overtaken the US in terms of the number of people in our country who have received the first dose of vaccine," Paul said.

Asserting that country needs more time to achieve high coverage of vaccination, he said: "When the peak is declining and we suddenly get into same behaviour as a society like in January and February, it (the virus) will come back again in a certain way. We have to buy time to ensure that we achieve high coverage of our vaccination."

09:40 India sees 1.2L new cases, lowest in 58 days

In the last 24 hours, India recorded 1.2 lakh new cases of Covid-19 which is the lowest single-day increase in cases in the last 58 days.

Active Covid-19 cases in the country stand at 15,55,248.

More than 2.67 crore people have recovered from the Covid infection across the country so far with 1,97,894 people recovering in the last 24 hours.

Daily positivity rate further dipped to 5.78 per cent while the recovery rate continued an upward trend at 93.38 per cent.

Twitter withdrew the blue verified badge from the personal Twitter handle of Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu, @MVenkaiahNaidu, on Saturday.

However, the official handle of the Vice President of India @VPSecretariat continues to have the blue badge.

According to Twitter, the blue verified badge on Twitter lets people know that an account of public interest is authentic. To receive the blue badge, your account must be authentic, notable, and active.

It aims to encourage and maintain trust between users on the platform by confirming the identity of an account with Twitter in order to be verified.

"The personal account of Venkaiah Naidu was inactive for six months and the blue badge has gone," said an official from Vice President.

Meanwhile, BJP Mumbai spokesperson Suresh Nakhua questioned Twitter on removing the blue badge from the Vice President's Twitter handle and termed it an 'assault on the Constitution of India'.

"Why did @Twitter @TwitterIndia remove Blue tick from the handle of Vice President of India Shri @MVenkaiahNaidu ji ? This is assault of Constitution of India," tweeted Nakhua today.

-- ANI

Biomedical waste is a threat to global public environmental health and with plastic footprint becoming larger by the day due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, concerns on plastic waste choking the planet are mounting.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board, India has been generating nearly 146 tonnes of bio-medical waste everyday due to diagnostic activities and treatment of Covid-19 patients. Between June 2020 and May 10, 2021, India produced 45,308 tonnes of Covid-19 biomedical waste. This is in addition to the 615 tonnes of biomedical waste a day being produced before Covid-19, the pollution control board's data showed.

This is an increase of almost 17% in biomedical waste generation solely because of the pandemic.

"There has been a general increase and since it is a crisis situation, we are not thinking of plastic but general prevention. The focus is no longer plastic, so that is a problem," news agency PTI quoted Ravi Agarwal, founder-director of the environmental non-profit Toxics Link, saying.

08:07 Trump's Facebook account suspended for 2 years

Social media behemoth Facebook said the account of former US President Donald Trump will remain suspended for two years, and post that period it will re-assess the ban.

Facebook, along with other major media platforms Twitter and YouTube, had suspended Trump's accounts after the Capitol Hill riots, alleging that the Republican leader's rhetoric had instigated the attack.

On January 6, thousands of supporters of outgoing President Trump had stormed the Capitol building and clashed with police, resulting in four deaths, and interrupted a constitutional process by the Congress to affirm the victory of Joe Biden in the November 3 election.

"Given the gravity of the circumstances that led to Mr Trump's suspension, we believe his actions constituted a severe violation of our rules which merit the highest penalty available under the new enforcement protocols. We are suspending his accounts for two years, effective from the date of the initial suspension on January 7 this year," Nick Clegg, vice president of global affairs, Facebook said in a blog post.

Last month, the Oversight Board -- a quasi-judicial body that makes consequential content moderation decisions on the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram -- upheld the Silicon Valley-based company's suspension of Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts, following his praise for the people engaged in the violence at the Capitol.

But in doing so, the board criticised the open-ended nature of the suspension, stating that "it was not appropriate for Facebook to impose the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension."

-- PTI

The Calcutta high court on Friday directed the authorities to take steps for sending the people, who were allegedly forced to flee due to post-poll violence in West Bengal, back to their homes immediately on receiving complaints.

A five-judge bench hearing PILs with regard to displacement of people in the state owing to post-poll violence directed that the affected people can lodge complaints to the state government on designated email IDs provided by the state home secretary.

"On receipt of the aforesaid complaints filed by the persons concerned in different districts in the state of West Bengal, the competent authority shall take appropriate steps for their rehabilitation immediately thereafter and report to this court on the next date of hearing," the bench directed.

The matter would be heard again on June 11.

The five-judge bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal Court and justices I P Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Subrata Talukdar said that if the authority fails to comply with the order, the court will have to take steps for ensuring that they are able to return home.

The court directed that the affected persons can additionally send copies of the complaints on the designated e-mail ID of the West Bengal State Legal Services Authority.

One of the petitions being heard by the bench was regarding 200 such people of Entally assembly constituency in Kolkata.

The bench had on May 31 ordered the constitution of a three-member panel comprising an officer each from the NHRC, WBHRC and West Bengal State Legal Services Authority to monitor the return of people, who had fled and were allegedly not allowed to go back to their houses in Entally after Assembly polls were concluded.

The five-judge bench had said that it is the duty of the state to ensure that the law and order situation is maintained.

Clashes were reported from several places in West Bengal following the declaration of assembly election results on May 2.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said in early last month that at least 16 people have lost their lives in post- poll violence in the state. -- PTI

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