Category: National

Head of the Epidemiological Department of Indian Council of Medical Research, Samiran Panda, said that Covid will become endemic in India by March 11.

“If we don’t let our guards down and no new variant emerges, Covid will be endemic by March 11,” head of Indian Council of Medical Research’s Epidemiological Department Samiran Panda said.

Head of Indian Council of Medical Research’s Epidemiological Department Samiran Panda has said that Covid will become endemic by March 11.

“If we don’t let our guards down and no new variant emerges, Covid will be endemic by March 11,” he said. “If Omicron replaces Delta it will become endemic. If there is no new variant catching up, there is a possibility that Covid may become endemic,” he added.

Our mathematical projection shows the Omicron wave will last three months starting December 11.

“From March 11, we will see some respite. We need to wait two more weeks to say if Delhi and Mumbai have reached their peaks of Covid cases and if the worst is over. We can’t establish a trend like that in a few days,” he said.

“We can’t say that right now even with the decline in cases and positivity [in Delhi and Mumbai],” he said.

“We never asked states not to reduce testing. We asked for more directed and purposive testing. The pandemic has also changed its character and, hence, the testing and management strategies will change. Making guidelines available in local languages on home testing etc will send out the right message,” Samiran Panda said.

Speaking about the genomic sequencing, he said: “Genomic sequencing is a dynamic phenomenon. But genomic sequencing on a dead body to understand if he had Omicron is a simplistic argument. Many patients die of underlying conditions. Yes, we are studying infections in hospitals to understand the severity.”

Dismissing, speculation of a disconnect between ICMR and DCGI over Molnupiravir’s exclusion from the government’s Covid guidelines, he said: “Molnupiravir can be given to unvaccinated patients, but there is no guideline to administer it to pregnant women, lactating women, and kids. That’s why it is not in the protocol.”

Amid `Bulli Bai’ row, Gauahar Khan took on a troll who raised the `four wives and girls education’ issue to pin down the actress.

“Outside world doesn’t know that India still has separate family laws for Hindus&Muslims. Hindus have to abide by the secular code. Muslims can have 4 wives &ban education for their wives &girls in name of Sharia. #UniformCivilCode has to apply to ALL Indians,” the troll said.

Gauahar hit back with equal ferocity to silence the troll. “Hey loser! I’m a Muslim, and nobody can ban us from having our rights, India is secular, it’s a democracy, not a dictatorship like u would desire! So stay put in the comfort of your American status, n stop inciting hate in my country!” she said.

On Saturday, she supported the eviction of Umar Riaz. “Sorry to say, but he was evicted because he was extremely aggressive. Not once but on many occasions. I’m surprised he wasn’t evicted before. Karan has been extremely aggressive too. What’s actually unfair is that multiple chances are given to many offenders. It’s a mental game,” wrote Gauhar.

Last year, she set the internet on fire after she shared pictures of herself dressed in Kashmir suits layered with Papier Mache embroidered shawls.

In one of the pictures, the Bigg Boss 7 winner wore a mustard yellow kurta and a pair of pants with simple Kashmiri embroidery along the neckline and hemline.

A maroon base woven shawl covered in ethnic paisleys and floral patterns embroidery complimented the dress.  Adding to ethnic looks was a pair of long silver earrings.

In the second picture, she wore a warm grey Kashmiri kurta suit and layered it with a dark green shawl with Papier Mache embroidery. Her silver earning gelled perfectly with the ethnic wear.

Celebrity hairstylist Jawed Habib is under fire for using his spit to hairdo a woman during a workshop in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzzaffarnagar.

Police have registered a case against Jawed Habib under section 355 (assault) and 504 (causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Epidemic Act.

This followed National Commission for Women (NCW’s) letter to UP DGP to take appropriate action.

“@NCWIndia has taken cognizance of the incident. Chairperson @sharmarekha has written to @dgpup to immediately investigate the veracity of this viral video and take appropriate action. The action taken must be apprised to the Commission at the earliest,” NCW tweeted.

This video is too disgusting to post. But I think this should reach everyone! Shame on you #JavedHabib pic.twitter.com/aP9HJjYiJ9

Under fire, Jawed Habib went into damage control mode and apologized for the act.

In the video which has now gone viral, Jawed Habib can be seen spitting on a woman’s hair to demonstrate how to style when water is not available.

“Why is hair dirty? Because there was no shampoo….There is a shortage of water…this spit has life,” Jawed can be heard saying as the audience clapped loudly.

View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Jawed Habib (@jh_hairexpert)
Later Pooja Gupta, an owner of a beauty parlor, who was used as a prop during the workshop broke her silence in the video. ” I attended the workshop of Jawed Habib sir. He invited me on the stage to give me a haircut. He said if there is no water in your parlor, you can use spit. I did not get my haircut. It’s better I will go to my streetside barber and get a hair cut, but won’t go to Habib’s,” Pooja Gupta said.

Talking to TV channels, the woman said she went to the workshop to learn new things. “He called me to the stage to teach hair cutting. He pushed my head, I objected and said I have cervical issues. Then he spat twice on my hair and said that if you don’t have water in your parlor then you can spit. My husband was making the video. Later Habib’s assistant said he was just joking,” she said.

New Delhi, Dec 31 : There is no science behind night curfews when it comes to tackling the spread of Covid variants, WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan has stressed.
In a TV media interview, she said that countries like India must formulate science-based policies for curbing the spread of the virus.
“Things like night curfew, there is no science behind it. One has to take evidence-based measures. There is a whole list of public health measures,” she told CNBC-TV18.
“Entertainment venues are places where these viruses spread the most. It’s natural to bring in some restrictions there,” Swaminathan added.
She said that Indians need to be prepared, but not panic.
“What we can expect to see in India is a surge of Omicron cases, I think it is just beginning now in some of the cities and is going to infect a lot of people,” the WHO scientist said.
With 309 new cases of highly transmissible Covid variant Omicron detected in the last 24 hours, India’s Omicron tally on Friday rose to 1,270 cases. Of total, 374 have been discharged.
Among the 23 states and Union Territories that have reported the Omicron infection so far, Maharashtra tops the list with 450 cases of this variant. Of them, 125 patients have been discharged as per the Health Ministry data.
Delhi has the second highest cases of Omicron infection at 320. However, 57 of them have been discharged from the hospital.

PTI

India on Thursday had strongly rejected China renaming 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh

India, China must adhere to past agreements to keep the peace along the border

Beijing: China on Friday defended the renaming of 15 more places in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, claiming that the southern part of Tibet is an “inherent part” of its territory.

India on Thursday strongly rejected China renaming 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh and asserted that the state has “always been” and will “always be” an integral part of India and that assigning “invented” names does not alter this fact.

India’s reaction came in response to China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs announcing Chinese names for 15 more places in Arunachal Pradesh which Beijing claims as South Tibet.

“We have seen such. This is not the first time China has attempted such a renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in New Delhi.

“Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be an integral part of India. Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact,” Bagchi said.

The Chinese government’s announcement on December 30 that it had come up with its own names for 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh could not have come at a more precarious moment for an already strained relationship. The move is ostensibly aimed at “standardising” how places in the Indian State are depicted in official Chinese maps, which show all of Arunachal as “south Tibet”.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement in response to the move that “assigning invented names” will not “alter” any facts on the ground and Arunachal’s status as an integral part of India. As the MEA noted, this is not the first time that Beijing has done so. In 2017, Chinese authorities issued “official” names for six places in Arunachal. The first instance followed a visit by the Dalai Lama to the State, which Beijing had protested.

The list on this occasion is longer, and not only includes eight towns but also four mountains, two rivers and a mountain pass. The list covers 11 out of Arunachal’s 25 districts, extending from Tawang in the west to Dibang Valley in the north and Anjaw in the east. The spread of the locations suggests the places were chosen to reiterate Chinese claims to the whole State.

With inputs from The Hindu

New Delhi, Dec 31 : Omicron has started replacing Delta variant in the country in terms of the number of COVID-19 cases and 80 per cent of international travellers who tested positive have this new variant, official sources said on Friday.
However, a third of all the detected cases were mildly symptomatic, and the rest were asymptomatic, they said.
A total of 1,270 Omicron cases have been detected across 23 states and UTs so far, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Friday.
Noting a considerable decline in Covid testing, the Centre had on Thursday urged 19 states/UTs to ramp up testing “in a big way” to identify the positive cases promptly and restrict the spread of transmission in view of the increased transmissibility of Omicron variant, and the larger preponderance of asymptomatic cases.
Since, the first two cases of Omicron variant were announced in the country on December 2, the health ministry has been working in a mission mode and constantly guiding states on the measures to be undertaken to contain the spread of the infection.

Bengaluru: The murder case of a woman by her own daughter and second husband in Karnataka took a shocking turn after police investigations revealed that the accused had fallen in love with each other and wanted to marry, police said on Friday.

Hence, they hatched a conspiracy and got the rich lady killed to lead a lavish life.

Thirty-eight-year-old Archana Reddy was murdered on the night of December 27. She was dragged out of her car by a few men and attacked with lethal weapons.

The police cracked the murder case on December 30 and arrested seven persons, including the victim’s second husband Naveen Kumar (33) and daughter Yuvika Reddy, in connection with the murder in Electronics City in Bengaluru.

DCP South East Srinath M Joshi had earlier said that the accused had conspired to kill Archana Reddy to get her property and lead a luxurious life. However, the investigations revealed that Naveen Kumar and Yuvika Reddy fell in love with each other and wanted to lead a lavish life after getting married, according to police sources.

Naveen Kumar, a gym trainer, had promised to make Yuvika Reddy, who was pursuing her B.Com, a model and trained her in the gym.

After the gyms closed down during the pandemic, he continued to train her in the house, police said.

Archana Reddy had a daughter and a son from the first marriage. Her late father was a realtor and she owned properties worth Rs 40 crore in the Jigani area of Bengaluru.

The woman got a hint about her daughter and second husband’s relationship had objected to it. She had filed a dowry case against Naveen Kumar in November.

She confronted the two threatened to disinherit her daughter from her ancestral property if she continued her relationship with her stepfather. However, the duo moved out after the fight.

Archna Reddy had also sent goons to Naveen Kumar’s house to warn him to stay away from her daughter and send her back. But, he had clarified that he would divorce her and marry Yuvika.

However, they could not lead a luxurious life as Naveen Kumar earned Rs 25,000 as a gym trainer and after lockdown, the gyms were closed down leading to a financial crunch and plotted the murder.

The investigations were based on eyewitness accounts, CCTV footage, and complaint. The police have secured the custody of the accused persons and investigated the case.

After the murder of his wife, Navin Kumar had allegedly made calls to Yuvika to inform her about the murder.

The Mangaluru Police have arrested a 62-year-old man for dropping used condoms at various temple premises and in donation boxes in the region. The police were on the lookout for the accused from the past one year, News9 reported.

At least five temples in Mangaluru had complained to police after used condoms were found in the temple premises this year. The police had failed to nab the accused. On December 27, a similar incident had taken place at a temple in Korajjana Katte village. After the temple management complained to the police, CCTVs in the temple and surrounding areas were checked, in which a suspicious-looking man was seen dropping something in the donation box and leaving the place.

Based on the CCTV footage, police nabbed a person on suspicion and during investigation, the accused confessed that he had desecrated many religious places in a similar manner.

Mangaluru Police Commissioner N Shashikumar said five such cases were registered this year.

“Five cases were registered at various police stations where used condoms were thrown in different temple premises in Mangaluru. With the help of the CCTV footage, our team managed to nab the accused.”

According to police, the accused has been identified as Devdas Desai, a native of Unkal in Hubbali, who has been living in Mangaluru for the past 20 years.

“Since his father’s days, the family has been practising Christianity. He left his wife and child many years ago and is not in touch with them. He is an ardent Christian,” Shashikumar added.

Desai used to work as an auto driver. Due to old age, he left the job and started collecting plastic and sell it to scrap shops to earn a livelihood.

During the interrogation, Desai confessed that he targeted not just Hindu temples, but also other religious places.

“The accused had dropped used condoms in Gurudwaras as well as Mosques in the region. He has also revealed all the areas where has done such acts. When asked about how he can recall all the places clearly, he said he had worked as an auto driver for over 15 years and is well versed with all the places. He used to collect used condoms from waste dumps. We have also found some writings against other religions from his house,” Shashikumar said.

A total of 18 religious places were desecrated by the accused in the past year in the sensitive Mangaluru region.

While speaking to the media, Desai defended his acts and said he had no remorse.

“I am spreading the message of Jesus from the past 15 years. The Bible says that except Jesus there is no other god. I used to drop these condoms as impure gifts must be given to impure places. I don’t have any remorse, the god has given us a life of 70 years and I am already 62 years old.”

The Mangaluru Police Commissioner added: “During our questioning, we did not find him to be mentally ill. He can read and write, and answers all our questions. During his medical check-up, we will ask doctors to issue us a certificate on his mental health.”

Police said they would produce Desai before the court and seek his remand for further interrogation.

Poet Akbar Allahabadi becomes Akbar Prayagraj on UP education body website, hacking claimed

An Uttar Pradesh government body on Wednesday claimed that its website had been hacked after social media users flagged that it referred to famous poet Akbar Allahabadi as “Akbar Prayagraj”, PTI reported. The name was restored on Wednesday morning.

Syed Akbar Hussain, a 19-century poet used the pen name Akbar Allahabadi, as he was born in a town close to the Uttar Pradesh city. The Uttar Pradesh government had changed the name of the city of Allahabad to Prayagraj in October 2018.

On Tuesday, several social media users shared screenshots of a page on the Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Service Commission’s website that showed the pen names of him and two other poets – Tegh Allahabadi and Rashid Allahabadi – as “Pragyagraj”.

The names appeared under the “About Prayagraj” section on the website of Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Service Commission, an autonomous body under the state government.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi said that the flub may have been a human error, “because one cannot change a person’s pen name like that”, The Print reported. Joshi is a professor of history at Allahabad University.

From Akbar Allahabadi to Akbar Prayagraji, thanks to the name changing in #UttarPradesh.

This on a government website. https://t.co/gyQ9iUDObW pic.twitter.com/3fnPkZkrne

— Gulam Jeelani (@jeelanikash) December 28, 2021

On Wednesday, the commission’s chairperson Ishwar Charan Vishvakarma told PTI that a complaint has been filed on the matter with the cyber cell of Prayagraj Police.

“It was evidently a handiwork of some miscreants expressing their apparent resentment over the change of name of Allahabad,” Vishvakarma said.

Several people on social media criticised the name change.

With inputs from Scroll.in

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)