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Tamil Nadu Govt permits 100% occupancy in Theatres

By
Harshit
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The Tamil Nadu government has permitted 100 percent seating capacity in theatres, after the decline in the COVID cases in state.

The Tamil Nadu government’s move to allow hundred percent seating came just a day after actor Vijay urged Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami to grant permission ahead of his movie Master a day prior to Pongal.

“Tamil Theatres and Multiplex Owners Association had placed a request with the State Government to allow them to increase the capacity from 50% to a full house. The theatres will be permitted to screen movies with full capacity by following all the Standard Operating Procedure,” government order.

Meanwhile, the Congress leader Karti P Chidambaram has lashed out at the centre’s decision and said the move is without taking health concerns.

The decision on reopening of theatres is also politicising as Tamil Nadu is poll-bound and pongal is on the way with mega master movie.

Alibaba company owner Jack Ma ‘missing’ since two months, questions raised on Chinese government

By
Neha Kumari
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Billionaire criticizing China’s communist government and founder of Alibaba Group, Jack Ma has been missing for the last two months. Jack Ma’s disappearance after the controversy with President Xi Jinping raises many serious questions. In October last year, the Chinese billionaire criticized the policies of the government, since then he had come under target of the government. Their companies were also being monitored.

According to the Daily Mail report, Jack Ma criticized the government at an event held in Shanghai last year. He targeted China’s ‘interest-bearing’ financial regulators and public sector banks. Jack Ma had demanded from the government that changes should be made in such a system which tries to suppress the effort to start new things in business. He also called the global banking rules ‘old people’s club’.

On Christmas Eve, Jack Ma was asked by the government not to move out of China until the ongoing investigation against his Alibaba Group was completed. Jack Ma then mysteriously went missing just before the final of his TV show ‘Africa Business Heroes’ in November.

Jack Ma disappeared mysteriously from his TV show ‘Africa Business Heroes’ just before the finals in November. Not only this, his picture was also removed from the show. The spokesperson of the Alibaba Group said that Jack Ma is no longer part of the panel of judges due to the controversy. However, several weeks before the finale of the show, Jack Ma had tweeted that he cannot wait to meet all the contestants. Since then, no posts have been made from his three Twitter accounts. Earlier, he used to tweet continuously.

Earlier, property businessman Ren Zhiqiang, who criticized Xi Jinping, went missing. He described Xi Jinping as a ‘prankster’ to deal with Corona properly. He was later jailed for 18 years. Another Chinese billionaire, Xian Jianhua, has been under house arrest since 2017.

In Patna from today schools opens for senior classes

By
Neha Kumari
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Most of the schools in Patna will start from January 4 for class 9 to 12. Following the Corona Guideline, currently only 20 children will be able to sit in a class. A blank will be placed between the three benches. Physical distance will also be maintained inside the school premises. Without mask no one will be allowed to enter.

Children coming to school will need to obtain consent from parents. Children will have to come to school only after taking consent.

The government has said in its order that after reviewing the situation after 15 days, junior sections will also be opened. In the meeting of the disaster management group of Bihar government, it has been decided to open all schools, colleges and coaching institutes in a phased manner from January 4. In the meeting of the Disaster Management Group chaired by Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar, it was decided that in the first phase, schools will be opened for the students of senior class that is 9th to 12th, from January 4.

Regarding opening the colleges, Deepak Kumar told that in the first phase, the college will be opened for the final year students. Along with this, coaching institutes will also be opened from January 4.

Currently half the children will be called in a class. That is, arrangements have been made to call only twenty children in a class a day. Dr. Sinha says that children are currently being called on the basis of aud and even numbers. This will give the children of every section a chance to come to school every day.

At the same time, total cases of corona in India have increased to 1 crore three lakh 40 thousand. Out of these, one lakh 49 thousand 649 people have lost their lives so far. Total active cases have come down to 2 lakh 43 thousand. So far, a total of 99 lakh 46 thousand people have been cured by beating Corona.

DMK backtracks after inviting Owaisi for party event

By
Harshit
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DMK has withdrawn their invitation to AIMIM President Assaduddin Owaisi for a party event this week after the protest from their allies, and a rift on social media.

DMK minority wing chief D Mastan went to Hyderabad last Friday along with the Tamil Nadu AIMIM President to meet Owaisi. They invited the AIMIM chief for a joint press conference on January 6.

Just after the news made the headlines, there was an outrage on social media over the DMK decision on Owaisi. As a result of this, the southern havoc DMK backtracked from their statement and said the news is false and only alliance partners are invited to the conference.

UK announces no VAT on women’s sanitary products

By
Jyoti B
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As a part of wider government actions to end period poverty, the UK government has announced that from January 1, 2021, value-added tax (VAT) no longer applies to women’s sanitary products.

It now joins the list of countries which have already eliminated this tax, which includes India, Australia and Canada.

The move “honours a government commitment to scrap the tax and is part of a wider strategy to make sanitary products affordable and available for all women”, including the rollout of free sanitary products in schools, colleges and hospitals, Xinhua news agency quoted the Treasury as saying in a statement on Saturday.

The tax, a 5 percent value-added rate on sanitary products such as tampons and pads, is the minimum required for members of the European Union, which classifies those goods as nonessential.

As the Brexit transition period ended on December 31, 2020, the UK is no longer “bound by the EU VAT Directive which mandates a minimum 5 per cent tax on all sanitary products”, said the Treasury.

“I’m proud that we are today delivering on our promise to scrap the tampon tax,” Chancellor Rishi Sunak of the Exchequer said in a statement. “Sanitary products are essential so it’s right that we do not charge VAT.”

According to reports, the new rules will save the common woman around £40 (Rs 3990) over her lifetime.

The removal of the tax has thus been praised by women’s right activists and Brexit proponents at the same time.

According to the BBC, the EU itself has been in the process of removing the tax on period products. In 2018, the bloc published proposals to change the tax rules, but these are yet to be accepted by all members.


Bharat Biotech gets permission to manufacture Covaxin

By
Jyoti B
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The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given licensing permission to Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech to manufacture ‘Covaxin’ for sale and distribution.

The DCGI approval document said the firm can vaccinate children above the age of 12 years during the clinical trial mode.

The Hyderabad-based company has been asked to submit safety, efficacy and immunogenicity data from the ongoing phase I, II and III clinical trials till the completion. 

“The firm should provide the protocol for rolling out for the restricted use of the vaccine in emergency situation. The firm should provide the updates prescribing information/package insert and summary of product characteristics for whole virion inactivated coronavirus vaccine (BBV152b) and also disseminate the necessary information, instructions and educational materials through their website,” the DCGI said today. 

This paves the way for the roll out of at least two vaccines in India in the coming days. ”Serum and Bharat Biotech vaccines have to be administered in two doses.

All the three vaccines have to be stored at 2-8° C,” he said. The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, has tied up with AstraZeneca to manufacture Covishield, while Covaxin has been indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the approval a decisive turning point in India’s fight against coronavirus.

NCB arrests Tollywood actress in a drug case

By
Shivani Negi
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The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Saturday night arrested a Tollywood actor from a hotel in Mumabai in connection with a drugs case. The hotel owners were also questioned in connection with the same case, reported news agency ANI. In a press release, NCB said that they are still unable to trace drug supplier Saeed who  has also been involved with the Tollywood actress in the drug trade. 

The actor arrested not been identified but according to other media reports, he was caught red-handed by the agency. Meanwhile, Saeed Mohammed came into NCB’s radar after information received from Chand Mohammed who was earlier caught in the same case with drugs worth Rs 8 to 10 lakh. 

After interrogating Chand, the police raided a hotel room at The Crown Business Hotel at Bhayender, but failed to catch Sayeed. However, NCB instead came across an actor who is one of the suspects in the same case. As per the latest information received, the police is currently interrogating her. 

NCB had been active in tracing drug nexus prevalent in film industries. While some renowned name of Telugu industry has been identifies as suspects, Sandalwood recently saw many arrests in similar cases. Meanwhile, the NCB had quizzed many Bollywood celebrities in the drug case.

Coronavirus Updates: India records 16,504 new cases

By
Shivani Negi
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India has recorded 16,504 new cases of covid-19, taking the nation’s overall tally to 10,340,469. With 214 more people succmubing to the virus in last 24-hour, the overall death toll has reached 1,49,649.

The number of active cases of Covid-19 remained below the 250,000 mark for the second consecutive day at 243,953.

With 19,557 patients recovering in the last 24-hour, the total number of recovered people has reached 9,946,867. The new daily recoveries has been exceeding daily number of cases for quite some time now.

Total number of samples tested up to 3rd January is 17,56,35,761 including 7,35,978 samples tested yesterday: Indian Council of Medical Research.

Here’re some more updates related to covid-19 vaccine.

*Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit state in the country till date. The maximum mnumber of cases are from Kerala, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh among others.

*Multiple auto part packaging samples have tested positive for the novel coronavirus across China following a comapany related in auto part sales reported the first confirmed case of coronavirus.

*In a major development, on Sunday, the regulatory permission was granted to Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech to manufacture ‘Covaxin’ for sale and distribution.

*A total of 73,537 people have received a vaccine against the novel coronavirus in Beijing. The development comes after the Chinese capital started administering the bvaccine among people with higher risk of infection.

*Colleges in Kerala re-open today after over nine months following the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

*The Indian and Australian cricket team players and support staff have tested negative for Covid-19 and are fit to fly to Sydney for the third Test that is scheduled to commence from January 7.

*Meanwhile, the overall number of global coronavirus cases has surpassed the 85 million mark, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.84 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

Amid coronavirus pandemic, Republic Day parade to be kept shorter this year

By
Shivani Negi
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The Republic Day parade will be kept shorter this year in the view of covid-19 pandemic, with smaller marching ontingents and fewer cultural performances, reported Times of India.Adhering to social distancing norms, a lesser number of spectators will be observed on Rajpath on January 26, it added.

However, the format which showcases India’s military might and cultural diversity will still be maintained despite the limited number of people and time to keep the tradition alive. Additionally, a contingent of the Bangladesh armed forces will also join the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1971 war of liberation.

“The parade will begin from Vijay Chwok, as usual, but will culminate at the National Stadium instead of ending at the Red Fort. So, it will cover a distance of 3.3 km as compared to normal 8.2 km, ” TOI quoted an official as saying.

Meanwhile, around 25,000 spectators will be allowed to see the parade in person while in usual circumstances, the events see the presence of over 1 lakh people. To avoid any hazardous outcomes, children below the age of 15 and people with co-morbidities will not be allowed to visit the Red Fort on Republic Day, the official added.

The Republic Day will also see the presence of the United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson who has been invited as the chief guest on the occasion this year.

Bharat Biotech Corona vaccine will be used only as a back-up for now says AIIMS director

By
Neha Kumari
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All India Institute of Medical Sciences director Dr Randeep Guleria said that the Corona vaccine made by Bharat Biotech will be used only as a back-up for now.

The statement just came after India approved two Covid-19 vaccines – Serum Institute of India’s locally produced Oxford Covid-19 vaccine Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s indigenously manufactured Covaxin – for emergency use in the country.

He said that Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s vaccine can be used when “we’re not sure how efficacious the Serum Institute vaccine is going to be.”

“In an emergency situation when there is a sudden increase in cases and we need to vaccinate, Bharat Biotech vaccine will be used. It can also be used as a backup when we’re not sure how efficacious the Serum Institute vaccine is going to be,” Guleria told.

“Approval clearly says ’emergency situation’ keeping in mind the circulating variant strains and at the same time, they have to continue the trial and get the data in. Once that data comes in, we’ll be more confident as far as safety and efficacy is concerned,” Guleria said.

“Initially, Serum Institute’s vaccine will be given. They already have 50 million doses available and they’ll be able to give that in initial phase where we’ll vaccinate around 3 crore people. Gradually, we’ll build on it and by that time Bharat Biotech data will also be available,” he informed.

Bharat Biotech announced successful recruitment of 23,000 volunteers and continued progress towards achieving the goal of 26,000 participants for the phase 3 trial of its coronavirus vaccine candidate Covaxin in India.

“Phase-3 human clinical trials of Covaxin began mid-Nov, targetted to be done in 26,000 volunteers across India, this is India’s first and only phase-3 efficacy study for Covid-19 vaccine, and largest phase-3 efficacy trial ever conducted for any vaccine in India,” the company said.

“Initially, Serum Institute vaccine will be given. They already have 50 million doses available and they will be able to give that in initial phase where we will vaccinate around 3 crore people. Gradually, we will build on it and by the time,” Dr Guleria added.

As per reports the Drugs Controller General of India granted the approval on the basis of recommendations by a Covid-19 Subject Expert Committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation.

“After adequate examination, CDSCO has decided to accept the recommendations of the Expert Committee and, accordingly, vaccines of M/s Serum and M/s Bharat Biotech are being approved for restricted use in emergency situations,” DCGI Dr V G Somani said.

Ian Chappel: Rahane is a brave captain

By
Harshit
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Ajinkya Rahane, India vs Australia,

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has praised India’s standing captain Ajinkya Rahane and said that he is a brave, smart and calm captain. India won the second Test match under the captaincy of Rahane and equalized 1-1 in the four-match Test series.

The victory of the Boxing Day Test match was also important, because India had lost in the first Test match and in the second Test match, she landed without her regular captain Virat Kohli. Rahane captained the team twice before that Test match and won both times.

Chappell wrote in his column at ESPNcricinfo, ‘It is no surprise that Rahane captained the team to the MCG. He also captained Dharamshala in 2017. Can say that this player was born only to captain the cricket team.

Rahane scored a brilliant century in the first innings at the MCG and scored 27 not out in the second innings. Chappell wrote, ‘This is part of Rahane’s success as a captain. He is brave and clever. Apart from two important qualities, there is a lot in his leadership ability. He keeps calm when things start coming out of his hands.

Punjab has capacity to vaccinate 4 lakh people in a day: Balbir Singh Sidhu

By
Shivani Negi
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The stringent measures were taken from time to time in Punjab with view to control the pandemic, said state Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, while adding that, Central Government cannot backtrack from its duty to supply the Corona vaccine. He said that about 5364 COVID related unfortunate deaths till date has happened in the State which is about 178 deaths per million, In comparison to Delhi where total 10,577 COVID-19 related deaths took place and their deaths per million rate is quite high at 528, We are in a way better position than other State’s. Punjab has a recovery rate of 95 % and active cases are declining day-by-day.

Giving details on vaccination preparedness in the State, he said that Punjab is fully prepared for the vaccination drive and State has a capacity of vaccinating 4 lakh persons a day. Elaborating more on this he said that State has established robust storage capacity of 1 crore vaccines in State’s own Cold Chain Centres. He stated that Punjab has also achieved more than 95 % of routine vaccination of Children which is highest in the Country.

Highlighting the major recruitment made in the Health Department the minister said that in past 3 years, total of 10,049 recruitments have been made under the Ghar-Ghar Rozgar Yojana of Chief Minister, Punjab. He said 649 Specialist, 875 Medical Officer, 960 Staff Nurses and 2250 other para medical staff has been recruited on regular basis. Under the National Health Mission on 833 specialist & Medical Officer and 4212 para medical, 205 ministerial staff and 14 class four have been recruited. In addition, 51 staff members have been recruited under the State Health Agency.

Balbir Singh Sidhu said that the ambit of the original scheme Ayushman Bharat of Government of India was limited to only 14 lakh families shortlisted as per SECC Data-2011, while the Punjab Govt. led by Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, decided to increase the number of families to about 40 lakhs. Till date treatment services of worth Rs. 574.86 cr provided to 4,99,593 beneficiaries as premium of Rs. 418 Cr. paid to the Insurance company. 6246 Heart Surgeries, 95,122 Dialysis, 9164 Cancer treatments 7497 Neo natal and 3532 Joints replacements have been conducted free of cost.

To ensure treatment services to the Drug-abuse victims during the pandemic Health Minister stated that, more than 2 lakh new patients (drug-abuse victims) got enrolled during pandemic with various De-addiction centers of the State.

Speaking on the occasion, Principal Secretary Health Hussan Lal said that vaccine will be given to about 70 lakh people in the State in phased manner, which includes 1.6 lakh Health workers, other frontline workers, people aged above 50 and people with co-morbidities aged below 50. The criteria of the age will be counted as on 1 January, 2021 In the first phase all the 1.6 lakh health care workers will be vaccinated on top priority.

Rhea Chakraborty, brother Showik is in search of new house in Mumbai

By
Neha Kumari
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Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty was spotted on Sunday, months after coming out of jail. Rhea along with her brother Shouvik are looking for a new home in Mumbai. Many pictures of Rhea are getting viral on social media in which she is seen with brother Shouvik.

It is known that after the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, actress Rhea Chakraborty had come in for a lot of discussion. Rhea was arrested by the NCB (Narcotics Control Bureau) after the drugs angle in the Sushant case. She remained in jail for several days and in October she came out on the vine. At the same time, Rhea’s brother Shouvik Chakraborty was also arrested in the same drugs case. She received Bell on 2 December.

Recently, Rhea’s lawyer Satish Manashinde issued an official statement saying, “I welcome the statement of Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. The CBI should make its investigation public. Rhea has been arrested in the Bogus case. NCB has no evidence.” Rhea was harassed by many agencies and had to go to jail, till the Bombay High Court granted her bail.

According to media reports, Rhea is going to make a comeback in films this year. Rumi Jaffrey, who is a director and close to Rhea and Sushant, said this in an interview.

Congress leaders question covaxin’s approval, say stage-3 trials given A Miss

By
Shivani Negi
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As the new Covid-19 vaccine “Covishield” and “Covaxin” are approved in India by the Indian drug regulation body. The opposition parties are raising their concerns over the process of the testing and approval. The Congress party asked today that the government must explain why mandatory protocols and verification of data from stage-3 trails were not provided as per the norms.
The Congress raised the issue on a day India’s drug regulator approved two vaccines for coronavirus, Covishield and Covaxin, for restricted use. “We’ll never approve anything if there is slightest of safety concern. The vaccines are 100 per cent safe,” Drug Controller General of India VG Somani said while announcing the approval.


Covishield has been developed by Oxford University and pharma major AstraZeneca and is being manufactured in India by The Serum Institute of India. Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research, is the producer of the other drug, Covaxin, which was Okayed today.


“Covaxin has not yet had Phase 3 trials. Approval was premature and could be dangerous. @drharshvardhan should please clarify. Its use should be avoided till full trials are over. India can start with the AstraZeneca vaccine in the meantime,” Shashi Tharoor of the Congress tweeted today.


A little earlier, his party colleague Jairam Ramesh, too, had raised similar issues.
Party leader Salman Nizami went to the extent of tweeting: “Vaccine is a fraud.”
Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma, meanwhile, said that according to submissions made before the expert panel, phase-3 trials of Covaxin have not been completed and, therefore, data on safety and efficacy had not been reviewed, PTI reported.


“The Health ministry needs to give cogent reasons for dispensing with the mandatory protocols and requirements in this case, since it involves the health and safety of those frontline workers who will be vaccinated under the restricted category,” Mr Sharma, who heads the Parliamentary panel on Home Affairs, according to PTI.

Earlier in the day, the Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare released a detailed statement about the approvals. The release said that the panel that approved the vaccines had recommended having more options for vaccinations “in public interest as an abundant precaution”.
Referring to Covaxin, it said, “The Phase III efficacy trial was initiated in India…and the vaccine has been found to be safe as per the data available till date…The clinical trial ongoing within the country by the firm will continue.”

Kangana Ranaut attacks Urmila Matondkar over reports that the Shiv Sena leader bought a office space worth 3 cr

By
Shivani Negi
-

Actors Kangana Ranaut and Urmila Matondkar has once again locked horns on social media with the former targeting later on Twitter. Kangana reacted to a report that informed that Urmila has bought a space worth Rs 3 crore in Mumbai, a few weeks after joining Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena.

“Dear @UrmilaMatondkar ji maine jo khud ki mehnat se ghar banaye woh bhi Congress tod rahi hai, sach mein BJP ko khush karke mere haath sirf 25-30 cases he lage hain, kash main bhi aapki tarah samajhdar hoti toh Congress ko khush karti, kitni bevakoof hoon main, nahin? (The homes that I made with my hard work are being destroyed by Congress. All I got from making BJP happy were just 25-30 court cases. I wish I was as smart as you and made Congress happy instead. I am so stupid, right)?” Kangana tweeted.

Kangana also took to Twitter and shared a fan made clipping which showed the Queen actor dissing latter’s statements against her.

Reacting to Kangana’s allegations, Urmila Matondkar shared a video while emphasising that she could show her legitimate documents of her purchase.


“Namashkar Kangana Ji. The high regards that you have for me, I have heard them. The whole country has heard them. Today, in front of the entire country, I want to tell you, that you should choose the place and time, I will bring all my documents there. In 2011, after working hard in the industry for a short span of 25-30 years, I purchased a house in Andheri. I will bring the documents of that flat. I sold that house in the first week of March and I will bring those papers too. And there will also be documents of the house that I have now purchased from the money that I got. I bought this flat much before I entered politics. I wanted to show you that,” she said.

For the uninformed, Kangana and Urmila were earlier indulged in an ugly war of words after the former when latter called the former a ‘rudali’ and Kangana retaliated by calling her a ‘soft porn actor’.

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