The Government has asserted that the supply of vaccines abroad under the Vaccine Maitri initiative is based on the assessment of adequate availability in the country. The assessment of adequate domestic availability of COVID-19 vaccine is continuously monitored by an empowered committee which is also overseeing the requirements of the vaccination programme. External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar yesterday made a statement on Vaccine Maitri in both the Houses of the Parliament.
 
Terming the initiative as a people centric diplomacy, Dr. Jaishankar said that Vaccine Maitri has made the world see not just the selfless outlook of India but also the quality of its products and capabilities. He added that though COVID-19 has been a test of fire for the entire world, the unique initiative of deep friendship under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised India’s standing and generated international goodwill. The External Affairs Minister informed that Vaccine Maitri began in the immediate neighbourhood and the supply has been extended to other countries.
 
Dr. Jaishankar informed that the domestic producers of the vaccines have also entered into contracts with other nations either bilaterally or through the COVAX route. He added that till date Made in India vaccines have been supplied to 72 nations across the world. Referring to India’s humanitarian assistance and disaster responses in Yemen, Nepal, Mozambique and Fiji, Dr. Jaishankar said that in the last few years the country has developed a reputation of being the first and reliable responder in the region. The Minister also highlighted India’s bridging role in the Paris Agreement and the Prime Minister’s initiatives of International Solar Alliance and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.
 
Dr. Jaishankar asserted that embodying the values of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, India also came to the fore as Pharmacy of the World even when the pandemic was in full fury. He informed that the country supplied 150 nations with medicines, 82 of them as grants. The Minister also mentioned that the country’s generous approach has also been extended through the Vande Bharat Mission. India brought back over 45 lakh people including nationals of other countries in addition to Indians stranded in other countries. 

Campaigning has intensified in poll bound States of Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry for the upcoming assembly elections. West Bengal will go to the polls in eight phases while Assam will be witnessing three-phase elections this time.

47 Assembly Constituencies in Assam and 30 Assembly Constituencies of West Bengal will go to polls on 27th of this month during the first phase. Senior BJP Leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Assam and West Bengal today and will address rallies there. In Assam, Mr Modi will address a rally in Karimganj.
 
In a tweet, Mr Modi said, Assam has witnessed positive changes across various sectors over the last five years and NDA seeks people’s blessings to continue the development agenda. In West Bengal, Mr Modi will address a rally in Purulia. He said, across West Bengal, there is a desire for change and BJP’s agenda of good governance is striking a chord among the people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed the need to take quick and decisive steps to stop the emerging ‘second peak’ of Corona immediately. He warned that a countrywide outbreak can occur if this growing pandemic is not stopped now. Interacting with the Chief Ministers of various states yesterday regarding the COVID-19 situation via video conference, Prime Minister stressed the importance of solving the problems of local governance. He expressed concern about the high-test positivity rate in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and rising cases in Punjab.

Addressing the Chief Ministers, the Prime Minister said that more than 96 percent of the cases in India have recovered and India is having one of the lowest fatality rates in the world. He noted the need for provision of micro containment zones. He stressed the need to be serious about ‘Test, Track and Treat’ as has been done for the last one year. He said it is very important to track every infected person’s contacts in the shortest time and keep the RT-PCR test rate above 70 percent. He insisted on more RT-PCR tests in states which give more emphasis to Rapid antigen tests like Kerala, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh.

The challenge of maintaining Covid appropriate behaviour in the general public was also discussed, in light of the recent rise in the number of cases in some states. Prime Minister remarked that there is a need to identify mutants of coronavirus and assess their effects. He also warned to take the problem of vaccine doses wastage very seriously. He noted the vaccine waste in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to the tune of 10 percent. He urged to immediately correct the drawbacks of planning and governance at the local level to reduce vaccine waste.

External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar will make statements in both the houses of Parliament today regarding India’s Vaccine Maitri Initiative. In Rajyasabha the discussions will be held on the working of Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Food Processing Industries and Ministry of Tourism.

In Lok Sabha, the discussion and voting will be held on the demands for Grants of Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for 2021-22.

Meanwhile, it is reported that the Bharatiya Janata Party has issued a whip to all its members in the Lok Sabha to be present in the House throughout the day today.

Union Education Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has described the New Education Policy as the foundation stone for Atma Nirbhar Bharat. Replying to the discussion on the demands for grants of the Ministry of Education for 2021-22, in Lok Sabha yesterday, he said, developed countries have flourished with education in Mother Tongue.  Keeping this in mind, emphasis has been given in the NEP to promote education in 22 Indian languages. He also said, for the first time, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been incorporated in the school curriculum.

The Minister said, 50 thousand crore rupees have been allocated for the National Research Foundation over five years to boost the research ecosystem in the country. The Minister refuted the allegations by the opposition, that the budget for the education sector was reduced.  

He said, in the IITs, the seats for girls is increase by twenty percent. Listing out several measures during the Covid pandemic, the Minister said, the government has successfully conducted online classes, board examinations, and prestigious JEE and NEET entrance exams during the peak of the pandemic.

Earlier, participating in the discussion, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor welcomed the Government’s decision to bring in National Education Policy. However, he alleged that education is not a priority of the government at the Centre as budgetary allocations for several educational schemes have been reduced, which will hamper the quality and affordability of education.

Raising the issue of digital divide during the Covid-19 pandemic, Tharoor said, online education in its current form is exclusionary and discriminatory. He stressed on the need to bridge the digital divide gap by allocating more funds on key educational schemes.

BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal said that budgetary allocations have been increased manifold during the NDA regime in the education sector. Terming the NEP as a revolution in the education system in Independent India, BJP MP, Tejaswi Surya said, during the pandemic when the countries across the world came to standstill, education did not stop in India.

He highlighted the success of PM e-Vidya, with over One Lakh Crore page hits, that made study materials available for the students, in various languages.

Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant while congratulating the Government for New Educational Policy said that more focus should be given to infrastructure at primary level. Ritesh Pandey of BSP said, only 21 percent of women are going for higher education due to various social and financial constraints.

Faizal Mohammad of NCP suggested that interactive educational equipment in every classroom would help students learn in a better way. Hasnain Masoodi of the National Conference appealed to the government to ensure that schools are not disturbed due to political or calamity reasons.

Parliament has passed the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 with the Rajya Sabha approving it yesterday. The Lok Sabha had passed the bill in March last year. The Bill provides for an outer limit of 24 weeks for medical termination of pregnancy.

The limit is in sync with the advancements in medical technology that allows for the removal of foetus at a relatively advanced stage of pregnancy.

The Finance Minister said that all banks will not be privatised and assured that wherever it happens, every interest of the employees and staff will be protected.

Ms. Sitharaman emphasised that even those banks which are likely to be privatised, the institutions too will continue to function after privatisation and every interest of the workers will be taken care of, be it salary or pension.

The Union Cabinet has approved a bill to set up Development Finance Institution (DFI)  with an initial capital infusion of 20 thousand crore rupees. The bill will be tabled in Parliament during the current Budget Session.

DFI is expected to raise long-term funds for infrastructure development projects in the country. Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the initial grant to the DFI will be  5 thousand crore rupees and additional increments of grants will be made within the limit of 5 thousand crore rupees.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India has taken care of domestic as well as global requirement of medicines and other essentials during  Covid-19 pandemic.  

Speaking at the India-Finland Virtual Summit, Mr Modi said India sent medicines and other essentials to more than 150 countries last year. He highlighted that in recent weeks, more than 58 million doses of Made in India vaccines reached about 70 countries.

The Prime Minister emphasised that both Finland and India believe in a rule-based, transparent, humanitarian and democratic global order. Both countries have strong cooperation in areas like technology, innovation, clean energy, environment, and education.

Mr. Modi said India has targeted 450 GigaWatt installed capacity by 2030 in renewable energy. Prime Minister said initiatives like International Solar Alliance and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure have been taken to increase international cooperation.

Mr. Modi urged Finland to join both ISA and CDRI saying these international institutions will benefit from Finland’s ability and expertise.

Mr Modi was happy to note that both nations have announced a new partnership in the field of ICT, mobile technology and digital education.

In Cricket, India will look forward to continue its winning spree as they face England in the third T20 match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad tomorrow. Powered by a fearless half-century on debut by Ishan Kishan  India made a roaring comeback in the second T20 yesterday and defeated England by seven wickets to level the series. However, India need to iron out some issues at the top of the order as KL Rahul failed to fire in both games so far. Rahul who scored one run in two matches, may get replaced by vice-captain Rohit Sharma at the top of the batting order.  
       
England, meanwhile, batted well chasing a small total in the first game, but could not set a large target for India in the second game. Mark Wood is likely to make a return in the  team and will most probably replace the misfiring Tom Curran. Their batting line-up is a stable one, but England will be hoping that someone apart from Jason Roy, who has gotten out just short of half-centuries in both matches, will put their hand up and play a big knock.

As China is slowly opening its borders for international travel conditionally, it asked WHO approved vaccines to make application to competent Chinese authorities if they want to be considered for inclusion in China’s plans for visa facilitation. China has relaxed visa norms for some countries on the condition of inoculations by Chinese made vaccines at present. China does not consider inoculations by even WHO approved vaccines. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson told media in Beijing that China will work with other countries to promote mutual recognition of vaccination, but did not mention the details of it, neither the countries with which it is negotiating. 

Experts say mutual recognition of vaccines will be important for the ‘vaccine passport’ system, but data transparency related to vaccines could stand in the way of achieving mutual recognition of vaccines before allowing international travel. Experts added, even though China wants to understand about the foreign vaccines and want them to apply for approval, its own vaccines have been repeatedly urged to share more data related to phase three clinical trials and they are still in the process of approval by WHO. Other countries would also like to understand the data about Chinese vaccines. For a mutual recognition of vaccines, two countries would have to “share information on the vaccine and its effects”. It is not yet clear whether Chinese vaccine companies will also apply in other countries to be considered for a vaccine passport.

China is signaling that it will open its borders for international travel ahead of its hosting of the Winter Olympic Games in February 2022. After closing its borders to almost all foreign visitors for over a year, Chinese embassies in few countries including Japan, Israel, Thailand, Pakistan, and Federated States of Micronesia announced visa application procedure for foreigners who have been inoculated with China-produced vaccines starting from Monday. Requirements for Quarantine on arrival, negative NAT results, serum antibody tests are still there. The spokesperson said, China will have different measures in different countries.

As per reports, Israel has already agreed with Greece, Cyprus, and the Seychelles to allow vaccinated citizens to visit, partly because they had all used the same vaccine, developed by Pfizer-BioNTech. Data about other vaccines rolled out elsewhere in the world – by Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Sputnik – have been published in journals, but only the Pfizer-BioNTech product is going through the approval process in China.

Lok Sabha has taken up discussion on demands for grants of the Ministry of Railways for 2021-2022. Initiating the discussion, BJP MP Ram Kripal Yadav lauded the efforts of Railways during the lockdown period to provide relief to migrant workers. He said, spending on capacity building of rail infrastructure has increased manifold during the NDA regime and the government is continuously working for the modernization of railways’ network and infrastructure. He said, Railways have worked to improve safety and security of the passengers and numbers of accidents have significantly reduced in recent years. He alleged that discrimination have been made by the previous UPA regime with regard to Railways projects. Another party MP Janardhan Singh Sigriwal demanded for the construction of Chapra-Champaran rail corridor. He said that Chapra is the birthplace of Jaiprakash Narayan whereas, Champaran is the ‘karmabhoomi’ of Mahatma Gandhi. Arun Sao of BJP said that Indian Railways has been playing a major role in realizing the dream of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
 
Jasbir Singh Gill of Congress said that present government is doing discrimination in creation of Railways’ infrastructure in Punjab and other regions. Another party MP, Gurjeet Singh Aujla urged the Railways Minister to address the issue of shortage of staff at Amritsar station. Hasnain Masoodi of the National Conference alleged that the government has not made special provision for Jammu and Kashmir in the Rail Budget. AIMIM MP Imitiaz Jaleel said that only less than two per cent was allocated to Nanded division from the total 6 thousand 7 hundred and 98 crore rupees to South-Central Zone Budget. IUML MP from Kerala, E.T. Mohammad Basheer cautioned the Government against the privatization of Railways. Besides, Ranjanaben Dhananjay Bhatt of BJP, Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal, Nama Nageswar Rao of TRS, Shyam Singh Yadav of BSP, Sushil Singh of BJP, Dileshwar Kamat of JDU and others also expressed their views on the demands for grants for Railways 2021-22. Discussion is still underway.

The government today said that there is no proposal right now to bring crude petroleum, petrol, diesel, aviation turbine fuel, natural gas under the Goods and Service Tax. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the GST council has not made any recommendation for inclusion of these goods under GST. She said, the council may consider the issue of inclusion of these petroleum products at an appropriate time keeping in view the relevant factors including revenue implication.

Replying to a supplementaries, Mr. Thakur said, the Centre and States should work together to check the price rise of diesel and petrol. He urged the State Governments to reduce the tax on the petroleum products adding that the Centre will also take decisions following the State governments reduction of price. 

A Delhi court has awarded a death penalty to convict Ariz Khan, who was allegedly associated with Indian Mujahideen, for the murder of inspector Mohan Chand Sharma in the 2008 Batla House encounter case. Calling the matter as “rarest of rare case”, the  Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav said there was “no manner of doubt” that Khan was responsible for the murder of inspector Mohan Chand Sharma.
Apart from awarding him the death penalty, the Delhi court also imposed a fine of 11 lakh rupees also.
  
Ariz Khan, who had fled from the spot during the 2008 Batla House encounter in Jamia Nagar in south Delhi, was arrested by the Delhi Police in 2018. The police had sought a death penalty for Khan, saying it was not just any killing but a murder of a law enforcement officer who was a defender of justice.

Campaigning is gaining momentum in Assam and West Bengal for the first phase of assembly polls.

Speaking at a town hall event – Agragami Assam in Guwahati this evening, senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, only BJP can protect culture and language of the state.  He assured that the party will continue to work with the motto of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas. Mr. Shah said that if voted to power,the BJP would make the state free from floods. Party’s national President J P Nadda, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also held several rallies in Upper Assam today. Meanwhile, senior Congress leaders Jitendra Singh, Gaurav Gogoi, Pradyut Bordoloi also addressed election rallies in the State today.  

In West Bengal, 47 Assembly Constituencies in Assam and 30 Assembly seats of West Bengal will go to polls on 27th of this month during the first phase.
Scrutiny of nomination papers is taking place in Assam and West Bengal for the second phase of assembly polls.

In Assam, a total of 408 candidates have filed their nominations for second phase.

In West Bengal, 177 nominations have been filed for 30 seats in this phase.

The last date for withdrawal of candidature in both the states is 17th of this month.

39 seats in Assam and 30 constituencies in West Bengal will go to polls on 1st of April in the Second Phase of assembly elections.

The process of filing of nominations is underway for the Third Phase of assembly elections in both the States.  

Three phase polling will be held in Assam and eight-phase polling in West Bengal.