In what could turn out to be the first high-level visit from the US administration under President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin is likely to visit India later this month, sources said.

The dates being explored are between March 15 and 25. One source indicated Saturday that it is likely to be around March 20.

This will be the first Cabinet-rank official visit from the US, since the Biden administration assumed office on January 20.

Within days of being confirmed, Austin had called up Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on January 27 and had emphasised Pentagons commitment to the US-India Major Defence Partnership, observing that it is built upon shared values and a common interest in ensuring the Indo-Pacific region remains free and open.

After breaching the 10,000-mark earlier this week, Maharashtra on Sunday logged a new surge as 11,141 fresh Covid-19 infections were reported within 24 hours.

The state, which is one of the top five contributors of Covid-19 in the country, continued to report over 9,000 cases all week promoting authorities to implement additional lockdown curbs in various districts, including Aurangabad.

According to the health bulletin, 6,013 patients were discharged today; 20,68,044 Covid-19 patients discharged after full recovery until today.

The recovery rate in the state is 93.17 per cent, it stated.

Currently, 4,39,055 people are in home quarantine and 4,650 people are in institutional quarantine.

Authorities have announced partial lockdown in Aurangabad from March 11 and full lockdown on weekends. Malls and weekly markets will be shut, weddings and public functions disallowed and restaurants will have to be shut at 9 pm, according to official reports.

Spain's Carolina Marin has defeated PV Sindhu 21-12, 21-5 in the final to clinch the Swiss Open women's singles title. 

She utterly dominated the game and didn't gift the Indian shuttler any easy points.

Marin steamrolled Sindhu in just 35 minutes in Basel. 

The Spaniard was simply relentless and Sindhu had no answers at all.

The Delhi Budget 2021-22, to be presented in the Assembly session starting Monday, is expected to have a special allocation for free COVID-19 vaccination at Delhi government hospitals, sources said. The budget is also likely to have proposals to open Sainik Schools in Delhi and promote yoga at a widescale in the city, they said.

Vaccination is currently underway in Delhi at 192 hospitals, including 56 run by the Delhi government, for people aged 60 years and above and those in the age group of 45-59 years having comorbidities. 

The government is expected to allocate funds for free vaccines to all people in the third phase of vaccination at its hospitals in Delhi, said a government source.

Currently, vaccination at government hospitals is free for elderly and those with comorbidities, while Rs 250 is being charged at private hospitals. The government is also expected to share its plan to increase Delhis per capita income to the level of Singapore by 2047, in the budget, the sources said.

India's ace shuttler PV Sindhu takes on Rio Olympics gold medallist Carolin Marin of Spain in the women's singles final of Swiss Open Super 300 tournament in Basel, Switzerland. 

Marin has taken the first game -- 21-12. 

More updates here as the match progresses

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday said he would hold a meeting with farmers on March 13 in Kolkata.

"We are going to Kolkata on March 13. We will speak with farmers there about their concerns and ask if their produce are being bought at MSP or not," Tikait said interacting with reporters while visiting Bala Sahib Dialysis Hospital in Delhi. 

"The government has gone to Kolkata. They will return in one and a half month. We are also going there. We will meet the government there only," he added.

When asked about the stalemate between farmers and the Centre even after more than 100 days, Tkait said that the government, sooner or later, will have to pay heed to farmers' issues.

Speaking about the hospital he said it is a free-of-cost hospital for kidney dialysis for the poor and is fully funded by the Sikh community.

Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws - Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

"We are in the end game of the COVID-19 pandemic in India" and to succeed at this stage, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said, politics should be kept out the COVID-19 vaccination drive.

 

He said people should trust the science behind vaccines and ensure that their near and dear ones get vaccinated on time.

Speaking at the Delhi Medical Association's 62nd Annual Delhi State Medical Conference in collaboration with Dharamshila Narayana Hospital on Sunday, Vardhan said over 2 crore COVID-19 vaccine shots have been administered so far and the vaccination rate has been increased to 15 lakhs per day.

"Unlike most other countries, we have a steady supply of COVID-19 vaccines that are safe with proven immunogenicity and efficacy. Based on the initial results, these Made in India vaccines have shown some of the lowest adverse events following immunisation anywhere in the world," he said.

Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli took the India-made Covishield coronavirus vaccine on Sunday, as the Himalayan nation gears up to start the second phase of its immunisation drive.

The 69-year-old Nepalese leader received the Covishield jab at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital here on Sunday morning. His wife Radhika Shakya was also vaccinated.

The Covishield vaccine was developed in a collaboration between Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. It is manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India.

Oli's personal physician, Dr Dibya Singh Shah, said the new vaccine guidelines allow the COVID-19 shot to be administered three months after kidney transplantation.

"(After) evaluating the risks and benefits, it was decided that the prime minister should take the vaccine," Shah told The Kathmandu Post. In March last year, Oli had undergone a second kidney transplant surgery.

After getting the vaccine, Oli asked all senior citizens in the country to get the vaccine jabs, saying they are safe with no side-effects.

 

After Mithun Chakraborty joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, TMC's Sougata Roy said: "Mithun Chakraborty is not a star of today. He is a star of yesteryears. He has changed parties four times. He was originally a Naxalite, then went to CPI-M, then he joined TMC & was made a Rajya Sabha MP".

"BJP threatened him [Mithun Chakraborty] with cases by ED & he left Rajya Sabha & now he has joined BJP. He has no credibility, no respect, and no influence among the people".

Bhaskar Menon, the founding chairman and CEO at EMI Music Worldwide who is widely credited for breaking Pink Floyd in the US and presiding over one of Capitol Records' most successful eras, died on Thursday at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 86.

"Determined to achieve excellence, Bhaskar Menon built EMI into a music powerhouse and one of our most iconic, global institutions," said Universal Music Group chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge in a statement. "Music and the world have lost a special one. Our hearts go out to his loved ones."

During the course of a 34-year tenure at EMI, Menon would work with a slew of boldfaced artists -- the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Queen, David Bowie and Tina Turner among them -- but it would be his time as president and CEO of Capitol Records that would bring him his greatest renown. 

Asked in 1971 to lead the Los Angeles-based label, in which EMI held a majority interest, Menon would go on to orchestrate a massive, company-wide campaign around the release of Pink Floyds 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon despite the bands failure to break through to US audiences over the preceding years. The gambit paid off: The Dark Side of the Moon soon rocketed to No 1 on the Billboard 200, minted the band as major stars in America and has since been certified 15-times multi-platinum by the RIAA. 

In the process, he reversed the fortunes of the label --which had experienced a major hit to its bottom line after the breakup of its top act the Beatles in 1970 virtually overnight.

Menon is survived by Sumitra, his wife of 49 years, sons Siddhartha and Vishnu and sister Vasantha Menon.

The UK entered the next phase of its vaccination drive against COVID-19 on Sunday as the eligible cohorts for jabs were expanded from over-60s to all those aged 56 and over.

Letters from the National Health Service to around 850,000 people in that age group were issued this weekend with a further 850,000 due to arrive by Monday. The expansion comes as NHS staff said more than one-third of the adult population have now received a life-saving jab.

"The NHS vaccination programme is in full swing and more than 21 million of the most at-risk people have already received their first dose," said UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

"This includes more than 90 per cent of those aged 65 and over and almost 9 in 10 people who are clinically extremely vulnerable. It's an extraordinary feat and we remain on track to offer a first vaccine to all adults by July 31," he said.

People receiving the letters are invited to go online to the national booking service to arrange a jab at a time and location that is convenient for them.

"The NHS vaccine programme is committed to protecting the country against coronavirus and it is testament to our incredible staff that we can now move on to the next age group," said Dr Nikki Kanani, a general practitioner and NHS national medical director for primary care.

Targetting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his public rally in poll-bound West Bengal, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said the PM has time to go to Kolkata but has no time to visit farmers in Delhi who have been protesting against farm laws since November last year.

Pawar alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party is spreading "communal poison" in the country. "The Centre's responsibility is to establish brotherhood, but BJP spreading communal poison in the country. Farmers have been protesting for 100 days, PM has time to go to Kolkata, rally against the West Bengal government, but no time to visit farmers in Delhi," Pawar said while addressing a state-level party workers' meet at the Harmu ground, Ranchi along with the national office bearers of the party.

Pawar's comment comes in the light of PM Modi's rally at Brigade Parade ground in Kolkata, today.

The NCP chief alleged that the Central government is using central agencies to suppress the voices of Opposition in the states, where BJP is not in power.

"The Central government in a way that they use CBI, ED and other agencies to suppress Opposition voices in the states where they are not in the power. All the ministers of the central government are busy campaigning in poll-bound states and the government is misusing the agencies in those states too," he said.

Preparations are in full swing for the tulip festival which is to be conducted in the last week of March by Jammu and Kashmir's floriculture department.

Considered Asia's largest tulip garden, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden in Kashmir is located in the foothills of the Zabarwan hills range and attract thousands of tourists from different parts of the world every year. 

Last year in the month of March when the department of floriculture fully prepared the garden to welcome visitors, the government announced a lockdown in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kashmir tourism was affected due to the pandemic induced lockdown. The government officials are fully hopeful now that at the end of March when the garden will be opened for visitors, the Tulip festival will give a new look to the garden, a visual treat to the visitors.

The gardeners and labourers are very busy at work with some installing a green net, some repairing lights at the festival, some spraying fertilisers while others are cleaning water channels.

The floriculture department officials said that they have increased the quantities and varieties of tulip bulbs in this year's festival.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose ties with ally BJP have lately been strained, responded to a comment by Union Minister Giriraj Singh on "beating up officials" with thinly-veiled sarcasm.

At a public event on Saturday, Giriraj Singh, who is a BJP MP from Begusarai in Bihar, was on camera advising people of his constituency to "beat up with bamboo sticks" officials who appeared insensitive to their concerns.

Nitish Kumar, asked what he thought about such comments, said: "You should ask him."

Then he elaborated: "Using words like 'pitai (beating)'. Is that appropriate? Ask him only."

The CM said nothing more, disassociating himself from the comments.

Launching a scathing attack on Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that West Bengal relied on her for ushering in a change, however, she broke the trust and insulted people of the state.

Addressing his first rally at Brigade Parade Ground after the announcement of the West Bengal Assembly poll schedule, the Prime Minister said there are TMC, Left and Congress on one side and people of West Bengal on the other side. 

"Bengal relied on Mamata didi for change. But didi and her cadre broke this trust. These people broke the trust of Bengal. These people insulted Bengal and tortured the sisters and daughters here. But these people could not break the hope and courage of the people in the state," he said.

"The dream of 'Sonar Bangla' will be fulfilled. I have come here today to assure you of Bengal's development, to increase investment here, to protect Bengal's culture and to bring change," he added.

"In this Assembly elections, there are TMC, Left and Congress, and their anti-Bengal attitude on one side. On the other side, there are people of Bengal," PM Modi said further.

As poll-bound West Bengal is reeling under scorching heat, PM Modi is all set to further raise the political temperature through his speech from the Brigade Parade ground today where he is likely to take on his fiercest critic Mamata Banerjee. 

"The dream of 'sonar bangla' will be fulfilled. Today, I have come here today to assure you of Bengal's development, to increase investment here, to protect Bengal's culture and to bring change," says Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kolkata.

He adds, "The next 25 years are very important for the development of Bengal. The development here in the next 5 years will lay the foundation for State's development in the next 25 years."

Slamming the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday said the former is not a daughter of Bengal but the aunt of infiltrators and Rohingyas.

Ahead of the speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Brigade Parade ground, Adhikari said, "The Trinamool Congress and Left-Congress alliance both want to divide Bengal with appeasement politics. If TMC comes to power again, Bengal will become Kashmir. What happened to the pundits of Kashmir the same will happen to you." Mentioning TMC's slogan 'Bangla nijer meyekei chaye' (Bengal wants its own daughter), Adhikari said, "Nobody accepts you (Mamata Banerjee) as their own daughter. You are the 'khala' (aunt) of infiltrators and Rohingyas."

Hitting out at TMC, he said the party has turned into a private limited company, adding, "The chairman of the TMC private limited company is Mamata Banerjee and the 'tolabaaj bhaipo' (corrupt nephew) is its managing director. Mananiya (Banerjee) has bought a thinker with Rs 500 crore. The money was siphoned from MGNREGA, PM Awas Yojana and the smuggling of coal, sand and cow."

Suvendu Adhikari is contesting against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Nandigram seat in the upcoming polls.

Veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty on Sunday joined the BJP at the iconic Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata, and coined a new slogan "I'm a cobra, one bite is enough", sending the crowd into raptures.

Addressing the gathering ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chakraborty said, "Have faith me and trust me. No one can snatch your rights."

A 49-year-old farmer from Haryana's Hisar district on Sunday allegedly hanged himself from a tree, about seven kilometers from the Tikri border protest site, police said.

  

The farmer, who supported the agitation against Centre's new farm laws, has purportedly left a suicide note, they said.

"The victim, Rajbir, hailed from a village in Hisar district. He was found hanging from a tree," Bahadurgarh City police station SHO, Vijay Kumar said over phone.

His body was found hanging by some farmers who informed the police.

In the suicide note purportedly left behind by Rajbir, it is mentioned that the three farm laws were responsible for him to take the extreme step. He also said that the Centre should fulfil his last wish by repealing the legislations, police said.

Last month, a farmer from Jind in Haryana who was also supporting the agitation against the Centre's farm laws had allegedly hanged himself from a tree, merely two kilometres from the Tikri border protest site.

Earlier, another farmer from Haryana had allegedly consumed a poisonous substance at the Tikri border. He had died during treatment at a Delhi hospital later.

In December last, a lawyer from Punjab had allegedly killed himself by consuming poison a few kilometres away from the protest site at the Tikri border.

Earlier, Sikh preacher Sant Ram Singh had also allegedly ended his life near the Singhu border protest site, claiming that he was "unable to bear the pain of the farmers".

Thousands of farmers have been protesting since November last year at Delhi borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations.

However, the Centre has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture.

IPL 2021 will start in Chennai on April 9 with the match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challenges Banglore, the BCCI has told the IPL franchises. 

The final match will take place on May 30 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.

The month-long second part of the Budget session of Parliament begins on Monday in the middle of a high octane campaign for assembly elections in four states and one UT.

  

The main focus of the government in the second part of the session is to get the various demands for grants for the year 2021-22 passed along with the Finance Bill which carries various tax proposals.

Besides these mandatory agendas, the government has listed various bills for passage in the session which concludes on April 8.

Some of the bills listed by the government include the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Bill, Electricity (Amendment) Bill, Crypto currency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill.

The part two of the session is taking place at a time when political parties have their focus on elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry.

The elections would take place in March-April.

Senior leaders of various parties, especially the regional ones, are likely to skip most of the House sittings to focus on campaigning.

The participation of film star Mithun Chakraborty in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's brigade parade ground rally on Sunday has generated considerable interest among BJP supporters turning out for the mega event.

Chakraborty met BJP national general secretary in-charge of West Bengal Kailash Vijayvargiya after arriving on Saturday evening.

Many of the BJP supporters headed for the meeting ground from across the state said they were happy to know that the film star will participate in the rally.

Modi will be addressing the mega poll rally as West Bengal heads for an eight-phase assembly election starting March 27.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh has claimed that the election rally will be attended by nearly 10 lakh people.

Home Minister Amit Shah will be on a day-long political tour of the poll-bound states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala today. He is set to launch door-to-door campaign in Tamil Nadu during his visit.

"I am confident that the AIADMK-BJP-PMK government will be formed in Tamil Nadu. Today, we have started our door to door campaign by visiting 11 homes here. Appeal to all to ensure the win of NDA candidate Pon Radhakrishnan from Kankyakumari Lok Sabha seat in by-polls," Amit Shah said in Kanyakumari.

Tamil Nadu Congress chief K S Alagiri on Sunday announced that the party has reached a seat-sharing pact with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and will contest 25 assembly seats in the upcoming Tamil Nadu elections.

"We have signed a seat-sharing agreement with DMK. Congress will contest in 25 assembly seats in the upcoming Tamil Nadu election and in the by-election to the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat," said Alagiri. The meeting was held at DMK headquarters on Sunday morning.

Udayanidhi Stalin, son of DMK president M K Stalin and DMK Youth Wing Secretary, is seeking a ticket to contest from the Chennai-Chepauk assembly constituency.

Udayanidhi Stalin was also interviewed by the DMK election committee at party headquarters yesterday.

The 234-members Tamil Nadu assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 6 and the counting of votes will be done on May 2.

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will address a 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' in Western Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district today.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ajay Kumar Lallu on Saturday said that the party will continue to protest against the farm laws and "Priyanka Gandhi will address a 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' in Meerut on Sunday and highlight the issues being faced by farmers." 

This will be the fifth Kisan Mahapanchayat in the region which will be addressed by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait has said their agitation will continue till the three contentious agriculture laws are withdrawn.

   

He was speaking in Ramrajn town in Muzaffarnagar to mark the completion of 100 days of farmers' protests at the Delhi borders against the central farm legislations.

 

The farmers are demanding a complete withdrawal of the three farm laws and the agitation will continue till the government meets our demands, Tikiat said on Saturday.

 

On the occasion, he flagged off a tractors' rally, which, he said, will travel across across districts of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and will reach farmers' protest site in Ghazipur on March 27.

 

Meanwhile, Union minister and Member of Parliament from Muzaffarnagar Sanjeev Balyan said the three agri laws will be beneficial for the farmers.

 

If a single farmer's land is taken away due to the farm laws, I will resign as an MP. The laws were enacted in accordance with the wishes of the farmers, he said.

 

Thousands of farmers have been protesting since late November at the Delhi borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

 

The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations.

 

However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture. -- PTI

New cases of coronavirus infection in India were recorded above 18,000 for the second consecutive day taking the country's tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,12,10,799, the Union health ministry said on Sunday.

 

The active cases registered an increase for the fifth consecutive day. The COVID-19 active caseload increased to  1,84,523 which now comprises 1.65 per cent of the total infections.

 

The recovery rate has dropped further to 96.95 per cent, the ministry data stated.

A total of 18,711 new infections were registered in a day, while the death toll increased to 1,57,756 with 100  daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. 

On January 29, 18,855 new infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,08,68,520 which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of  96.95 per cent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.41 per cent.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.It went past  60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. -- PTI

The surge in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra could be due to lack of fear of the disease among people and pandemic fatigue, the Centre said on Saturday while asking the state to not let its guard down.

   

The observations were shared by the central government after a team of experts comprising Joint Secretary of Health Ministry Nipun Vinayak, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Deputy Director Sanket Kulkarni and National Institute of TB and Respiratory Diseases Professor Ashish Ranjan visited the state on March 1 and 2.

 

According to Health Ministry data, there are over 90,000 active coronavirus cases in Maharashtra.

 

"While the exact causes of surge are not known -- since laxity in COVID-19 behaviour is not specific to the state -- the possible factors are COVID-inappropriate behaviour due to lack of fear of disease, pandemic fatigue; miss outs and super spreaders; and enhanced aggregations due to recent gram panchayat elections, marriage season and opening of schools, crowded public transport, etc.," according to a report shared by the government.

 

It advised the state to continue contact tracing, surveillance and testing and ensure strict compliance of protocols.

 

"Don't let the guard down. Stay to basics of surveillance, contact tracing and testing. Micro plan and ensure strict compliance of protocols. Strengthen teams to ensure meticulous home quarantine, do focused testing of 100 per cent population in hotspot areas repeated at five days, and isolate positives to check spread," it said.

 

The government also observed that the virus is spreading to hitherto unaffected areas and most cases are asymptomatic. 

 

"People are not forthcoming for strictly following quarantine or getting testing done. Sense is that the current wave is less virulent. The health machinery also may have become lax after cases came down after September. 

 

"Some amongst the doctor fraternity - especially private - may not be counselling patients for testing or following protocols, dismissing it as flu. District/ State - wise participative plan, engaging the community may yield better results rather than knee-jerk reactions. Revenue machinery needs to take full charge," the government experts team noted. -- PTI

Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya met actor Mithun Chakraborty in Kolkata on Saturday amid speculations that he may be joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Brigade rally in Kolkata.

The Central Observer of BJP for West Bengal, Vijayvargiya met Mr Chakraborty at the latter's residence in Belgachia.

Mithun Chakraborty, 70, was a Rajya Sabha MP for the Trinamool Congress for two years, before resigning.

Union minister Giriraj Singh on Saturday advised the people of his Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar to "beat up with bamboo sticks" those officials who appeared insensitive to their concerns.

The firebrand BJP leader, who has a reputation of shooting from the hip, made the remark while addressing a function organised by an agriculture institute in Khodawandpur near Begusarai. 

The minister, who holds fisheries, animal husbandry and dairy farming portfolios, rued that he frequently receives complaints from common citizens that officials concerned often paid little heed to their complaints.

"I say to them, why do you come to me for such small things. MPs, MLAs, village mukhiyas, DMs, SDMs, BDOs... these are all under obligation to serve the people. If they do not listen to you, pick up a bamboo stick with both hands and give a crushing blow on their head," said Singh.

"If even that does not work, then Giriraj shall throw his weight behind you," he said, evoking applause from the crowds even as dignitaries sharing the dais squirmed in their seats.

A BJP leader in the Bihar capital, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "Giriaj Singh is a mass leader who has to be responsive towards public anger. We should take his statement figuratively, not literally." -- PTI 

The Centre has outlined SOPs for vaccination of healthcare workers and frontline staff who could not get registered for it through the CoWIN app for some reasons, Delhi health department officials said on Saturday.

 

In a March 5 order issued by the Delhi health department, it said the "state has been receiving requests for HCWs and FLWs who could not be registered due to some reasons".

The government of India has issued detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for vaccination of healthcare workers (HCWs), frontline workers (FLWs) not registered on CoWIN, it said.

The HCWs of a health facility where the Covid vaccination centre (CVC) is located can be vaccinated at the center itself after certification of them being HCWs by the medical superintendent or facility in-charge. They shall be entertained after completion of vaccination of beneficiaries with scheduled appointments, the order said.

HCWs of public or private health facilities where the CVC is not located, can be vaccinated at the designated CVCs, upon furnishing proof of their being a healthcare worker in a prescribed format duly signed and stamped by the health facility in-charge.

Standalone medical practitioners and paramedics can show their MCI/DMCI relevant council registrations and get vaccinated, it added.

For the support staff of the private establishments, hospitals, clinic in-charge will have to certify them being HCWs in the prescribed format, the order said.

Vaccination of unregistered FLWs can be done at the designated CVCs upon furnishing proof of their being an FLW in the prescribed format duly signed and stamped by the senior officer deputed by the FLW authority for issuing the certificate. Further, the FLW group shall designate an officer to be present at these dedicated sites for verification of the FLW status. These beneficiaries shall be registered on-site, it said.

Over 33,000 beneficiaries received shots of COVID-19 vaccine in the national capital on Saturday, the highest number of people vaccinated in a single day since the starting of the inoculation exercise on January 16, officials said.

On Saturday, second doses were given to 7,132 people, the officials said, adding that 3,769 frontline workers and 2,274 healthcare workers were also vaccinated. -- PTI 

Poet and activist Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, was discharged from Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai on late Saturday night, sources said.

The Bombay high court on February 22 granted Rao, 82, interim bail on medical grounds for six months.

He later requested the court that he be allowed to furnish cash sureties until solvent sureties could be found. 

The court had granted the request on Monday.

It had earlier directed that he be released immediately on bail after being discharged from hospital.

Rao had been admitted to the private hospital due to ill-health. -- PTI 

Stinging West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for "running away" from her Bhowanipore seat in Kolkata, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday asserted he is "200 per cent" sure of handsomely defeating the TMC supremo, who is an "outsider" in Nandigram seat.

The BJP named Adhikari, a former minister in Banerjee's cabinet, as its candidate in the Nandigram seat in Purba Medinipur district, from where the chief minister will also contest the assembly elections.

"Why have you deserted your Bhowanipore constituency? Why have you run away? Is it because the BJP had won in the booth at Mitra Institution in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections? You cannot even win in your own locality," Adhikary said at a rally in Behala area of Kolkata.

Exuding confidence of trouncing Banerjee in Nandigram, Adhikary said, "I had defeated Lakshman Seth in Nandigram, I will defeat the honourable (Banerjee) this time. She is an outsider in Nandigram whereas I am a 'bhumiputra' (son of the soil) of the area."

Attacking the Banerjee family, Adhikari alleged that due to barricades and security arrangements in front of the chief minister's nephew Abhishek Banerjee's house on Harish Mukherjee Road, people are being inconvenienced as they are unable to take out any kind of procession, including the religious ones.

He alleged that many small businesses in the area had to be shut down and the plots were given to big businessmen "to suit the interest of one family".

Adhikari said that the CBI did the right thing by questioning the Banerjee family as they are not above the law.

Alleging large-scale irregularities in SSC, he said, "If voted to power, the BJP will fix the issue and ensure transparency in all recruitment exams, bringing smiles on the faces of three crore unemployed youths."

"The poor people who lost their money in ponzi scams like Saradha are yet to get back their money. These scams flourished under the patronage of the TMC ministers. Once elected to power, the BJP will ensure that the money is returned to these depositors," he said. -- PTI