China on Saturday marked the first day of “chun yun”, the 40-day period of Lunar New Year travel known pre-pandemic as the world’s largest annual migration of people, bracing for a huge increase in travelers and the spread of Covid-19 infections.This Lunar New Year public holiday, which officially runs from Jan. 21, will be the first since 2020 without domestic travel restrictions. Over the last month China has seen the dramatic dismantling of its “zero-Covid” regime following historic protests against a policy that included frequent testing, restricted movement, mass lockdowns and heavy damage to the world’s No.2 economy. Investors are hoping that the reopening will eventually reinvigorate a $17-trillion economy suffering its lowest growth in nearly half a century.But the abrupt changes have exposed many of China’s 1.4 billion population to the virus for the first time, triggering a wave of infections that is overwhelming some hospitals, emptying pharmacy shelves of medicines and causing long lines to form at crematoriums. The Ministry of Transport said on Friday that it expects more than 2 billion passengers to take trips over the next 40 days, an increase of 99.5% year-on-year and reaching 70.3% of trip numbers in 2019.There was mixed reaction online to that news, with some comments hailing the freedom to return to hometowns and celebrate the Lunar New Year with family for the first time in years. Many others, however, said they would not travel this year, with worry of infecting elderly relatives a common theme.“I dare not go back to my hometown, for fear of bringing the poison back,” said one such comment on the Twitter-like Weibo.Also Read |BF.7 and BA.5.2: The Omicron sub-variants driving the China surgeThere are widespread concerns that the great migration of workers in cities to their hometowns will cause a surge in infections in smaller towns and rural areas that are less well-equipped with ICU beds and ventilators to deal with them. Authorities say they are boosting grassroots medical services, opening more rural fever clinics and instituting a “green channel” for high risk patients, especially elderly people with underlying health conditions, to be transferred from villages directly to higher level hospitals.“China’s rural areas are wide, the population is large, and the per capita medical resources are relatively insufficient,” National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng said on Saturday.“It’s necessary to provide convenient services, accelerate vaccination for the elderly in rural areas and the construction of grassroots lines of defense.”INFECTION PEAK REACHEDSome analysts are now saying the current wave of infections may have already peaked. Ernan Cui, an analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics in Beijing, cited several online surveys as indicating that rural areas were already more widely exposed to Covid infections than initially thought, with an infection peak already reached in most regions, noting there was “not much difference between urban and rural areas.”On Sunday China will reopen its border with Hong Kong and will also end a requirement for travelers coming from abroad to quarantine. That effectively opens the door for many Chinese to travel abroad for the first time since borders slammed shut nearly three years ago, without fear of having to quarantine on their return.More than a dozen countries are now demanding Covid tests from travellers from China. The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that China’s Covid data underrepresents the number of hospitalizations and deaths from the disease. Chinese officials and state media have defended the handling of the outbreak, playing down the severity of the surge and denouncing foreign travel requirements for its residents.On Saturday in Hong Kong, people who had made appointments had to queue for about 90 minutes at a Centre for PCR tests needed for travel to countries including mainland China.Also Read |What is BF.7, the Omicron sub-variant driving the new surge in China?TREATMENT TO THE FOREFor much of the pandemic, China poured resources into a vast PCR testing program to track and trace Covid-19 cases, but the focus is now shifting to vaccines and treatment. In Shanghai, for example, the city government on Friday announced an end to free PCR tests for residents from Jan. 8.A circular published by four government ministries Saturday signaled a reallocation of financial resources to treatment, outlining a plan for public finances to subsidies 60% of treatment costs until March 31. Meanwhile, sources told Reuters that China is in talks with Pfizer Inc to secure a license that will allow domestic drugmakers to manufacture and distribute a generic version of the U.S. firm’s Covid antiviral drug Paxlovid in China.Many Chinese have been attempting to buy the drug abroad and have it shipped to China. On the vaccine front, China’s CanSino Biologics Inc announced it has begun trial production for its Covid mRNA booster vaccine, known as CS-2034. China has relied on nine domestically-developed vaccines approved for use, including inactivated vaccines, but none have been adapted to target the highly-transmissible Omicron variant and its offshoots currently in circulation.The overall vaccination rate in the country is above 90%, but the rate for adults who have had booster shots drops to 57.9%, and to 42.3% for people aged 80 and older, according to government data released last month. China reported three new Covid deaths in the mainland for Friday, bringing its official virus death toll since the pandemic began to 5,267, one of the lowest in the world. International health experts believe Beijing’s narrow definition of Covid deaths does not reflect a true toll, and some predict more than a million deaths this year.
China on Saturday marked the first day of “chun yun”, the 40-day period of Lunar New Year travel known pre-pandemic as the world’s largest annual migration of people, bracing for a huge increase in travelers and the spread of Covid-19 infections.This Lunar New Year public holiday, which officially runs from Jan. 21, will be the first since 2020 without domestic travel restrictions. Over the last month China has seen the dramatic dismantling of its “zero-Covid” regime following historic protests against a policy that included frequent testing, restricted movement, mass lockdowns and heavy damage to the world’s No.2 economy. Investors are hoping that the reopening will eventually reinvigorate a $17-trillion economy suffering its lowest growth in nearly half a century.But the abrupt changes have exposed many of China’s 1.4 billion population to the virus for the first time, triggering a wave of infections that is overwhelming some hospitals, emptying pharmacy shelves of medicines and causing long lines to form at crematoriums. The Ministry of Transport said on Friday that it expects more than 2 billion passengers to take trips over the next 40 days, an increase of 99.5% year-on-year and reaching 70.3% of trip numbers in 2019.There was mixed reaction online to that news, with some comments hailing the freedom to return to hometowns and celebrate the Lunar New Year with family for the first time in years. Many others, however, said they would not travel this year, with worry of infecting elderly relatives a common theme.“I dare not go back to my hometown, for fear of bringing the poison back,” said one such comment on the Twitter-like Weibo.Also Read |BF.7 and BA.5.2: The Omicron sub-variants driving the China surgeThere are widespread concerns that the great migration of workers in cities to their hometowns will cause a surge in infections in smaller towns and rural areas that are less well-equipped with ICU beds and ventilators to deal with them. Authorities say they are boosting grassroots medical services, opening more rural fever clinics and instituting a “green channel” for high risk patients, especially elderly people with underlying health conditions, to be transferred from villages directly to higher level hospitals.“China’s rural areas are wide, the population is large, and the per capita medical resources are relatively insufficient,” National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng said on Saturday.“It’s necessary to provide convenient services, accelerate vaccination for the elderly in rural areas and the construction of grassroots lines of defense.”INFECTION PEAK REACHEDSome analysts are now saying the current wave of infections may have already peaked. Ernan Cui, an analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics in Beijing, cited several online surveys as indicating that rural areas were already more widely exposed to Covid infections than initially thought, with an infection peak already reached in most regions, noting there was “not much difference between urban and rural areas.”On Sunday China will reopen its border with Hong Kong and will also end a requirement for travelers coming from abroad to quarantine. That effectively opens the door for many Chinese to travel abroad for the first time since borders slammed shut nearly three years ago, without fear of having to quarantine on their return.More than a dozen countries are now demanding Covid tests from travellers from China. The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that China’s Covid data underrepresents the number of hospitalizations and deaths from the disease. Chinese officials and state media have defended the handling of the outbreak, playing down the severity of the surge and denouncing foreign travel requirements for its residents.On Saturday in Hong Kong, people who had made appointments had to queue for about 90 minutes at a Centre for PCR tests needed for travel to countries including mainland China.Also Read |What is BF.7, the Omicron sub-variant driving the new surge in China?TREATMENT TO THE FOREFor much of the pandemic, China poured resources into a vast PCR testing program to track and trace Covid-19 cases, but the focus is now shifting to vaccines and treatment. In Shanghai, for example, the city government on Friday announced an end to free PCR tests for residents from Jan. 8.A circular published by four government ministries Saturday signaled a reallocation of financial resources to treatment, outlining a plan for public finances to subsidies 60% of treatment costs until March 31. Meanwhile, sources told Reuters that China is in talks with Pfizer Inc to secure a license that will allow domestic drugmakers to manufacture and distribute a generic version of the U.S. firm’s Covid antiviral drug Paxlovid in China.Many Chinese have been attempting to buy the drug abroad and have it shipped to China. On the vaccine front, China’s CanSino Biologics Inc announced it has begun trial production for its Covid mRNA booster vaccine, known as CS-2034. China has relied on nine domestically-developed vaccines approved for use, including inactivated vaccines, but none have been adapted to target the highly-transmissible Omicron variant and its offshoots currently in circulation.The overall vaccination rate in the country is above 90%, but the rate for adults who have had booster shots drops to 57.9%, and to 42.3% for people aged 80 and older, according to government data released last month. China reported three new Covid deaths in the mainland for Friday, bringing its official virus death toll since the pandemic began to 5,267, one of the lowest in the world. International health experts believe Beijing’s narrow definition of Covid deaths does not reflect a true toll, and some predict more than a million deaths this year.
Thirty-year-old Tanu Dogra dreads getting another round of COVID-19 as she has had it three times already, during every wave, and has been left with battling a leftover symptom and a much compromised body that has meant making adjustments in her work life. “I don’t have it in me to take it anymore,” says Dogra, who has had cumulative weight loss (she weighed 75 kg and can rarely go above 60 kg over the last two years) episodes of brain freeze and forgetfulness, has 70 per cent taste and smell functions and crumbles in a heap after a moderate day at work. Twenty eight-year-old Srishti Sharma, who has also battled three rounds of the virus, dreads every seasonal change as she invariably gets fever, which shoots up to 103 degrees, a persistent cough that never goes away before a month and has patchy sleep. What makes their story different is that they didn’t come back from the brink or had to be hospitalized that could easily explain their long Covid effects. Their infection seemed symptomatically milder but had done an equal damage and left them with no immunity shield.As Dr Nikhil Modi, Consultant, Pulmonology and Respiratory Medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, says, “There is no concrete finding yet as to why certain people get recurrent infections but the genetic make-up of each individual is different as is their immunity. Some develop long-standing antibodies that can counter the virus, some do not. And as the coronavirus mutates rapidly, the changed strain may not be covered by antibodies already formed in the body. That, however, doesn’t mean that such people cannot control the infection once they get it. Recurrent COVID 19 infection is a new clinical entity and is rarely diagnosed. Research has shown it can occur due to reactivation of primary infection or reinfection by SARS-CoV-2 in patients who fail to develop antibodies against primary infection.”Also, studies on long COVID are ongoing and there is still no concrete finding if recurrent infections are part of long COVID. “What we do know is that long COVID lasts up to a year. And we are seeing COVID survivors become susceptible to other viruses as well, causing them to fall sick frequently.”Dogra, a publicist in the publishing industry had three bouts of Covid, during Delta (March-end 2021), Omicron (January 2022) and then Omicron which turned to a case of pneumonia onset in August-September 2022, the last being the least expected. “For context, I’m a primary caregiver for my father, who’s fighting an advanced case of pancreatic cancer and we frequent the hospital every week/fortnight. Therefore, we are more exposed to infections and Covid in general despite all precautions in place. Still, he got the infection once while I had it thrice. I was treated at home all three times and didn’t need oxygen. Except in the third episode, I had to be on nebulisation for a month,” says she.Describing her symptoms, Dogra says, “My symptoms in episode 1 were classic delta — high fever, shortness of breath, loose motions, body pains, no olfactory sense for over 45 days but I had no cough. Symptoms in episode 2 were much better as Omicron wasn’t meant to be challenging and by now, we’d had two doses of the vaccine. I had fever and cold for a week with some body pain. Symptoms in episode 3 started off mild but by the second week, I really struggled to breathe. When I complained of wheezing even while breathing normally, I was asked to get an HRCT again, which showed pleural thickening on both lungs with upper lobe that had a focal dense area. This resulted in nebulisation with steaming (as I suffer from sinusitis too) and steroids. Long Covid is not a myth and the third tryst made me realise how unfit my body was. I couldn’t sustain another hit if it were a possibility in the future. I had cumulative weight loss, forgetfulness, episodes of brain freeze. I struggled with work and memory in general and as a primary care giver to my father, it took a toll on me. It took me 65 days to recover from my third bout. I’m much better now but my appetite remains to be grey, and other health concerns continue, especially the lack of/failure to build immunity.”Doctors have never been able to give a satisfactory explanation for Dogra’s condition except that her immunity has been badly compromised. “I can no longer have three of my favourite foods, rice, coffee and potato, something I could gorge on every day. Now my belly churns thinking of them. My taste and smell come and go and are on good days about 70 per cent. My weight doesn’t go up at all beyond 62 and I definitely have lost the energy I had two years ago. My sinuses get activated at the smallest provocation,” says Dogra who has now opted for a hybrid routine for work . When she was laid up in bed during Delta, she had even coordinated COVID relief as an online volunteer.Sharma got infected with COVID-19 for the first time in March 2021. “I kept on testing negative but my symptoms wouldn’t disappear. I tested positive only after 21 days. Post- recovery in the first phase, frequent headaches and acute weakness stayed with me for over a month. The cough was not gone either. When I got infected the second time in December 2021, my fever was mild but I experienced heavy coughing. Not only that, I suffered major hair loss and peeling of dry skin. Got infected the third time in August, 2022 with mild manifestations and tested negative in five days. But my coughing wouldn’t stop and lasted a month,” says Sharma, who works with a hospital. Well-informed, she has done a chest CT to rule out lung disorders whenever she has had non-stop coughing bouts. “But they didn’t show up anything alarming. So I now manage my cough with gargles and steaming, live with it,” says she.Sharma, who has been fully vaccinated now, feels her immunity system has taken a permanent hit. “A very mild change in weather means I suffer from high fever, no less than 103 degrees with persistent coughing. I end up using my sick leaves this way. I certainly do not have the energy that I once had,” she adds. And after two years, life is still a limping struggle to get back to normal for these two young women.
Thirty-year-old Tanu Dogra dreads getting another round of COVID-19 as she has had it three times already, during every wave, and has been left with battling a leftover symptom and a much compromised body that has meant making adjustments in her work life. “I don’t have it in me to take it anymore,” says Dogra, who has had cumulative weight loss (she weighed 75 kg and can rarely go above 60 kg over the last two years) episodes of brain freeze and forgetfulness, has 70 per cent taste and smell functions and crumbles in a heap after a moderate day at work. Twenty eight-year-old Srishti Sharma, who has also battled three rounds of the virus, dreads every seasonal change as she invariably gets fever, which shoots up to 103 degrees, a persistent cough that never goes away before a month and has patchy sleep. What makes their story different is that they didn’t come back from the brink or had to be hospitalized that could easily explain their long Covid effects. Their infection seemed symptomatically milder but had done an equal damage and left them with no immunity shield.As Dr Nikhil Modi, Consultant, Pulmonology and Respiratory Medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, says, “There is no concrete finding yet as to why certain people get recurrent infections but the genetic make-up of each individual is different as is their immunity. Some develop long-standing antibodies that can counter the virus, some do not. And as the coronavirus mutates rapidly, the changed strain may not be covered by antibodies already formed in the body. That, however, doesn’t mean that such people cannot control the infection once they get it. Recurrent COVID 19 infection is a new clinical entity and is rarely diagnosed. Research has shown it can occur due to reactivation of primary infection or reinfection by SARS-CoV-2 in patients who fail to develop antibodies against primary infection.”Also, studies on long COVID are ongoing and there is still no concrete finding if recurrent infections are part of long COVID. “What we do know is that long COVID lasts up to a year. And we are seeing COVID survivors become susceptible to other viruses as well, causing them to fall sick frequently.”Dogra, a publicist in the publishing industry had three bouts of Covid, during Delta (March-end 2021), Omicron (January 2022) and then Omicron which turned to a case of pneumonia onset in August-September 2022, the last being the least expected. “For context, I’m a primary caregiver for my father, who’s fighting an advanced case of pancreatic cancer and we frequent the hospital every week/fortnight. Therefore, we are more exposed to infections and Covid in general despite all precautions in place. Still, he got the infection once while I had it thrice. I was treated at home all three times and didn’t need oxygen. Except in the third episode, I had to be on nebulisation for a month,” says she.Describing her symptoms, Dogra says, “My symptoms in episode 1 were classic delta — high fever, shortness of breath, loose motions, body pains, no olfactory sense for over 45 days but I had no cough. Symptoms in episode 2 were much better as Omicron wasn’t meant to be challenging and by now, we’d had two doses of the vaccine. I had fever and cold for a week with some body pain. Symptoms in episode 3 started off mild but by the second week, I really struggled to breathe. When I complained of wheezing even while breathing normally, I was asked to get an HRCT again, which showed pleural thickening on both lungs with upper lobe that had a focal dense area. This resulted in nebulisation with steaming (as I suffer from sinusitis too) and steroids. Long Covid is not a myth and the third tryst made me realise how unfit my body was. I couldn’t sustain another hit if it were a possibility in the future. I had cumulative weight loss, forgetfulness, episodes of brain freeze. I struggled with work and memory in general and as a primary care giver to my father, it took a toll on me. It took me 65 days to recover from my third bout. I’m much better now but my appetite remains to be grey, and other health concerns continue, especially the lack of/failure to build immunity.”Doctors have never been able to give a satisfactory explanation for Dogra’s condition except that her immunity has been badly compromised. “I can no longer have three of my favourite foods, rice, coffee and potato, something I could gorge on every day. Now my belly churns thinking of them. My taste and smell come and go and are on good days about 70 per cent. My weight doesn’t go up at all beyond 62 and I definitely have lost the energy I had two years ago. My sinuses get activated at the smallest provocation,” says Dogra who has now opted for a hybrid routine for work . When she was laid up in bed during Delta, she had even coordinated COVID relief as an online volunteer.Sharma got infected with COVID-19 for the first time in March 2021. “I kept on testing negative but my symptoms wouldn’t disappear. I tested positive only after 21 days. Post- recovery in the first phase, frequent headaches and acute weakness stayed with me for over a month. The cough was not gone either. When I got infected the second time in December 2021, my fever was mild but I experienced heavy coughing. Not only that, I suffered major hair loss and peeling of dry skin. Got infected the third time in August, 2022 with mild manifestations and tested negative in five days. But my coughing wouldn’t stop and lasted a month,” says Sharma, who works with a hospital. Well-informed, she has done a chest CT to rule out lung disorders whenever she has had non-stop coughing bouts. “But they didn’t show up anything alarming. So I now manage my cough with gargles and steaming, live with it,” says she.Sharma, who has been fully vaccinated now, feels her immunity system has taken a permanent hit. “A very mild change in weather means I suffer from high fever, no less than 103 degrees with persistent coughing. I end up using my sick leaves this way. I certainly do not have the energy that I once had,” she adds. And after two years, life is still a limping struggle to get back to normal for these two young women.
Good morning,The BJP-Shinde Sena coalition won the trust vote with 164 votes, the same number it previously garnered in the Speaker’s election. The last day of the special assembly session was marked by an emotional speech from Shinde, who referred to the death of two of his children in a boat accident in June 2000. He also tried to reassure his political rivals saying: “We don’t subscribe to the politics of vendetta…”🔴 Having comfortably won the floor test, the coalition may not press for disqualification of the 15 MLAs left with Uddhav Thackeray. Highly placed sources in the BJP said the party wanted “truce”, even though Speaker Rahul Narwekar said he would seek their disqualification as they had ignored a whip issued by the Shinde side for the Speaker election.🔴 Meanwhile, the failure of 11 Congress MLAs, including former CM Ashok Chavan, to cast their vote in the floor test led to raised eyebrows within the party with senior leaders raising concern and questioning their “recklessness” and “casual behaviour”. Chavan said: “We were late by two or three minutes. They closed the gates. There is no foul play. We were stuck in traffic.”At least 26 recommendations for appointment of judges to the Bombay High Court, which is currently functioning at almost half its sanctioned strength, are pending with the government at different stages of consideration, The Indian Express has learnt. The Bombay High Court currently has 57 judges against a sanctioned strength of 96 judges. At least five more judges are expected to retire this year.Scientists in India probing the possible causes for the recent rise in Coronavirus cases said BA.2.75, one of the several sub-variants of the parent Omicron variant, was now one of the most commonly detected sub-variant in the country in recent results of genome sequencing. It has been found to have an 18 per cent growth advantage over the other currently circulating Omicron sub-variants. However, there is no evidence as of now to suggest that the BA.2.75 also causes a more severe form of infection.The government has barred hotels and restaurants from adding service charge “automatically or by default” in the food bill. It said that in case of violation, a consumer can ask the hotel/ restaurant to remove the service charge, or seek redressal by filing a complaint.As drama swirled around the Maharashtra government’s survival, one of the characters at the heart of it was a politician from Haryana, Sonia Doohan. The 30-year-old national president of the NCP students’ wing was held along with an aide for allegedly using fake identification documents to check into a hotel in Goa, where Sena rebels were staying. Doohan, who played an “important role in the fall of the three-day BJP government in 2019” according to NCP’s Dheeraj Sharma, has denied the allegations.A day after their capture of two heavily armed LeT militants, the residents of Tukson village in J&K remain firm: they will not give way to terrorists, at any cost. One of the residents involved in the capture, a BA student, told The Indian Express about how he had alerted his brother of two “unknown people posing as traders” at a dhok. This led to a gathering of seven residents, who formed a cordon, and eventually went on to overpower the duo.A year since the Covid-induced oxygen crisis, hospitals in Delhi are struggling to keep the pressure-swing adsorption (PSA) plants going. Most of them switch on the plant once a week or for a couple of hours every day to ensure that the machine remains functional. The reason for this are multiple: High operation and maintenance cost, lower quality of oxygen generated, and fear of antagonising the regular liquid medical oxygen suppliers.Mumbai’s chawl and low-income housing localities have always boasted of a community dance culture. B-Girl Bar-B, born Siddhi Tambe, took her first steps in Breaking at a similar community centre. The 18-year-old has now earned a ticket to New York after emerging India champ at the Red Bull BC One Cypher earlier this month. We take a look at her journey.Delhi Confidential: Union Minister Amit Shah annually visits his village on the occasion of Bhaidooj and the second day of Navratri and participates in the meeting of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies. Shah revealed this while responding to Cabinet colleague Parshottam Rupala, who took a jibe at cooperative leaders and asked them how they contribute to the sector, during an event to mark the 100th International Day of Cooperatives.In today’s episode of the ‘3 things’ podcast, we talk about Maharashtra’s new government clearing the floor test in the Assembly and the protests against its decision to build a metro shed in Aarey forest. We also discuss a fratricide case in BSF and the rising concern of mental health issues among police forces.Until tomorrow,Leela Prasad and Sonal Gupta
The four-day old Shiv Sena-BJP government will face the floor test on July 4 during the special two-day session of the Legislative Assembly beginning here Sunday.The election to the post of the Speaker of the House will be held Sunday after the House proceedings begin at 11 am, an official said.Sena MLA and Uddhav Thackeray loyalist Rajan Salvi is the candidate of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine for the Speaker’s election. He is pitted against first-time BJP legislator Rahul Narvekar.Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs who support Shinde returned to Mumbai from Goa on Saturday evening on the eve of the Assembly session, and were lodged in a luxury hotel in south Mumbai, where Vidhan Bhavan, venue of the floor test, is located.NCP chief Sharad Pawar claimed that Narhari Zirwal, the deputy Speaker, can perform officiating Speaker’s duties even though a no-confidence motion is pending against him. The post of Speaker is vacant since February last year after Nana Patole of Congress quit.As many as 50 MLAs who support Shinde, including 39 rebel legislators of the Shiv Sena, on Saturday evening flew to Mumbai from Goa by a chartered flight. Shinde, who had flown to Goa in the morning, accompanied them back.Shinde has the support of 10 legislators of smaller parties and independents and 106 MLAs of the BJP in the 288-member House.Following is the party position in the Assembly: Shiv Sena 55, NCP 53, Congress 44, BJP 106, Bahujan Vikas Aghadi 3, Samajwadi Party 2, AIMIM 2, Prahar Janshakti Party 2, MNS 1, CPI (M) 1, PWP 1, Swambhimani Paksha 1, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha 1, Jansurajya Shakti Party 1, Krantikari Shetkari Party 1, and Independents 13.There is a vacancy due to the death of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke last month.Two NCP members – Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal – have tested COVID-19 positive, while two other party legislators – Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik – are currently in jail.
WITH THE Speaker’s election slated for Sunday after Shiv Sena announced the candidature of its MLA Rajan Salvi for the post against BJP’s Rahul Narwekar, the stage is set for the first test for the newly sworn-in Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his group of Sena rebels, and for BJP and the Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.Shinde and Fadnavis were sworn in on Thursday and the Governor has called for a special session of the assembly on Sunday and Monday for the Speaker’s election followed by a floor test. The election will mark the first battle in the House between Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena which has 16 MLAs, and Shnde-led rebel group with 39 MLAs.On Saturday, Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu issued a whip, asking all the MLAs to be present in the assembly and cast their votes in favour of Salvi.Replying to the whip issued by Prabhu, Chief Minister Shinde asserted that it does not apply to his group as they have more than two-thirds of the total 55 Sena MLAs. He said, “We will face the floor test and we will win”.Sources said a separate whip is likely to be issued by the Shinde faction for the election and the floor test.Ajay Chaudhari, Shiv Sena legislative party leader said, “We have a strategy in place but I can’t disclose it now.’’ Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant said, “We will fight the Speaker’s election and we believe in the Constitution. I have heard that the Shinde faction spokesperson Deepak Kesarkar said that Uddhav Thackeray is their leader. These MLAs now must obey the whip and vote for Rajan Salvi.”Shiv Sena parliamentary party leader Vinayak Raut said, “We have issued a whip that the rebel MLAs should vote for Rajan Salvi. If they don’t, it will be an added material in our case in Supreme Court for disqualifying them.”A three-time MLA, Salvi was accompanied by Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant, Sena legislature party leader Ajay Chaudhari, state NCP chief Jayant Patil, and Congress legislative party leader Balasaheb Thorat while filing his nomination for the election.Meanwhile, late Friday night, Thackeray sacked Shinde from the post of Shiv Sena leader in party organisation for indulging in “anti party activities’ ‘.“Dear Shri Shinde, You have been indulging in anti-party activities and have also voluntarily given up your membership of Shiv Sena. Therefore, in exercise of the powers vested in me as the Shiv Sena Paksha Pramukha, I remove you from the post of Shiv Sena leader in the party organisation,” the letter issued by Thackeray read.The move came after Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis took oath as CM and deputy CM respectively on Thursday. Sources in Shinde camp said that they will challenge the letter legally.Ahead of the Speaker’s election, the rebel Sena MLAs and Independent MLAs returned to Mumbai on Saturday evening after spending almost 11 days out of the state — first in Gujarat, then in Assam, and then in Goa. They arrived in Mumbai on a special flight and will be camped at a south Mumbai five-star hotel along with BJP MLAs.Addressing them, CM Shinde asserted that the whip of state legislative leader Bharat Gogawale, who is a part of his group, will be applicable to them, and not that of Shiv Sena’s which has been reduced to a minority.Security was beefed up in Mumbai and police security was deployed along the route from Mumbai airport to South Mumbai hotel to avoid any untoward incident.As the floor test is also scheduled on Monday, Shiv Sena president and former CM Uddhav Thackeray held meetings with party leaders to carve out a strategy. Congress MLC Bhai Jagtap and Congress working president Charan Singh Sapra also met Thackeray at Matorshree Saturday afternoon and all MVA leaders held a meeting in the evening.The NCP legislature party will hold a meeting on Sunday morning to decide their strategy. State NCP president Jayant Patil said, “I feel elections should not be held. All three parties gave a letter… We have a deputy Speaker, Narhari Zirwal, and he has the right to run the House… When the government has changed, Koshyari has allowed elections for a Speaker and people are watching these developments.”Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said, “Earlier, MVA demanded election of Speaker and it was denied by the Governor quoting law related to elections. Now, we can’t understand the reason to have elections. The Governor should not forget that he is a constitutional authority, and not a BJP worker.”
PANAJI: Health minister Vishwajit Rane said people must follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and that the government cannot bring in curbs. "Economic activity and health must coexist," he said. He, however, appealed to people to wear masks in crowded places. "Citizens feel that the government has to do everything," he said. "With active cases crossing 200, there is a rising trend and we all have to stay safe," Rane said in a video message to citizens. He appealed to people with flu symptoms and bodyache to get tested. State epidemiologist Dr Utkarsh Betodkar said the state's positivity rate has been above five per cent over the past four days. "During week 15 of this year, weekly cases dropped to as low as 13. But now we are seeing 176 cases a week. This is definitely a rise, a small rise. Whether it will turn into a major wave will have to be seen," he said. "If the Omicron variant continues to be dominant, the admission rate will be low and death rate under control," Betodkar said. He added that after 68 samples were recently tested at the new genomic sequencing lab at Asilo hospital, the only variant in circulation appeared to be Omicron, which was the same one present during the mild third wave. When asked whether masks should be made compulsory for schools and government establishments, director of health services Dr Geeta Kakodkar said, "Nothing should be made compulsory. It should be a social responsibility to wear masks." Regarding advice to government officials and ministers holding large functions, and whether these should be allowed at all, she said, "All are adults and can choose whether to go or not."
Panaji: Health minister Vishwajit Rane, while appealing to citizens to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, said the government cannot be expected to bring in restrictions as Goa is a tourist-oriented destination. “Economic activity and health must coexist,” he said. He, however, appealed to people to wear masks in crowded places. “Citizens feel that the government has to do everything,” he said. “With active cases crossing 200, there is a rising trend and we all have to stay safe,” Rane said in a video message to citizens. He appealed to people with flu symptoms and bodyache to get tested. State epidemiologist Dr Utkarsh Betodkar said the state’s positivity rate has been above five per cent over the past four days. “During week 15 of this year, weekly cases dropped to as low as 13. But now we are seeing 176 cases a week. This is definitely a rise, a small rise. Whether it will turn into a major wave will have to be seen,” he said. “If the Omicron variant continues to be dominant, the admission rate will be low and death rate under control,” Betodkar said. He added that after 68 samples were recently tested at the new genomic sequencing lab at Asilo hospital, the only variant in circulation appeared to be Omicron, which was the same one present during the mild third wave. When asked whether masks should be made compulsory for schools and government establishments, director of health services Dr Geeta Kakodkar said, “Nothing should be made compulsory. It should be a social responsibility to wear masks.” Regarding advice to government officials and ministers holding large functions, and whether these should be allowed at all, she said, “All are adults and can choose whether to go or not.”
