A WORST CRISIS, SAYS GOGOI

July 27, 2012

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Guwahati/Kokrajhar, July 27: As the situation in the riot-torn districts in lower Assam showed signs of improvement, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday said the situation would not have deteriorated had the Army been deployed from day one.

“We wanted the Army from day one of the crisis and now when it is there, the situation is gradually limping back to normal,” Mr Gogoi told reporters here.

Addressing a press conference here, he said 45 persons lost their lives in the worst crisis his government faced.

He said the government had taken all steps to maintain law and order and four ministers were camping in worst hit Kokrajjhar town.

A body was found floating on Friday in river Gouranga in Dhubri district while 11 people were reported missing, official sources said.

In Baksa district, where clashes between migrants and Bodos were reported only yesterday, three houses were set on fire at Simla in Daodhar village, they said. There was, however, no casualty or injury.

In the other three riot-torn BTAD districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri, stray attacks and counter-attacks by the two communities continued.

Curfew was relaxed on Friday in Kokrajhar district from 6 a.m to 6 p.m, while it was relaxed from 8 a.m to 10 p.m in the minority-dominated Dhubri district as the Army continued to stage flag marches in Kokrajhar district.

Night curfew will continue in Chirang, the sources said.

Kokrajhar

Muslim refugees at the Bagaon High School relief camp in Kokrajhar. Out of 4,000 refugees who had initially taken shelter here, only about 1,500 remain, the rest having fled to camps in Dhubri, outside the Bodoland Territorial Council-administered districts.


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The Bagaon High School camp was set up on July 19 but the government started providing food only on July 26. Medical facilities and basic necessities like baby food are yet to reach the shelter.

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Mason Noimuddin of Hekaipara village has sent his mother, wife and three children to Bilashipara in Dhubri district. As security forces are yet to reach Badgaon, the inmates find their access to the main town cut off as they have to cross Bodo strongholds

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Ahmed Fauziaur Rehman (centre), a farmer from the Parura Muslim Basti fled his village hearing gunshots on July 19, 2012.


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Mohammad Chinu Hussain of Boro Bhardanjugam shows the gunshot wound he recieved while fleeing his village.


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Samiran Bibi is worried as her son Sofizuddin, her family's sole bread-winner has been hit by a bullet and is still under treatment at the Government Medical College, Dhubri.

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Mohammad Abu Bakr Siddiq of Gossaigaon Bhudaigur is a worried man as his one-year-old daughter Azima and mother-in-law Hasina Begum have been missing since their village was attacked on July 21, 2012. Mr. Siddiq's wife Khadiya Begum was injured by firing during the attack.



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News Network
April 3,2020

New Delhi, Apr 3: The total number of coronavirus cases in Delhi has risen to 384, including 259 who were evacuated from Nizamuddin Markaz, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday.

In last 24 hours, 91 new cases were reported in the national capital and one more person evacuated from the Markaz died due to coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths in the city to five, he said.

Of the 384 cases, 58 had recent foreign travel history and 38 contracted the virus after coming in contact with them, he added.

Kejriwal said community spread of the virus is not taking place in Delhi yet and there is no need to panic as the situation is under control.

The government has made preparations if the virus starts spreading among people, he said.

The chief minister also launched a WhatsApp helpline - 8800007722 for people to enquire about COVID-19, food banks, shelters among others.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and experts will interact with students and answer their queries related to the virus at 3 pm on Saturday.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given nod to the Serum Institute of India (SII) for conducting phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials of the Oxford University developed Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the country.

Government officials said that the approval for conducting phase 2 and 3 clinical trials by the SII was granted by DCGI Dr V G Somani late Sunday night after a thorough evaluation based on the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on Covid-19.

"The firm has to submit safety data, evaluated by the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), to the CDSCO before proceeding to phase 3 clinical trials," a senior official said.

"As per the study design, each subject will be administered two doses four weeks apart (first dose on day one and second dose on day 29) following which the safety and immunogenicity will be assessed at predefined intervals," the official said.

As a rapid regulatory response, the expert panel at the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Friday, after a detailed deliberation and considering the data generated on the vaccine candidate in phase 1 and 2 of the Oxford University trial, had recommended granting permission for phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the potential vaccine, 'Covishield', on healthy adults in India,  the officials said.

Currently, phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the Oxford vaccine candidate is going on in the United Kingdom, phase 3 clinical trial in Brazil and phase 1 and 2 clinical trials in South Africa.

The officials said that the SII had submitted a revised proposal on Wednesday after the SEC on July 28, following deliberation over its application, had asked it to revise its protocol for the phase 2 and 3 clinical trials besides seeking some additional information.

The panel had also recommended that the clinical trial sites which have been proposed for the study be distributed across India.

According to the revised proposal by the SII, 1,600 people aged above 18 years will participate in the trials across 17 selected sites, including AIIMS-Delhi, B J Medical College in Pune, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS) in Patna, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, AIIMS-Jodhpur, Nehru Hospital in Gorakhpur, Andhra Medical College in Visakhapatnam and JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research in Mysore.

"According to the application, it would conduct an observer-blind, randomised controlled study to determine the safety and immunogenicity of 'Covishield' on healthy Indian adults," the official said.

The SII, which has partnered with AstraZeneca, for manufacturing the Oxford vaccine candidate for Covid-19 had submitted its first application to the DCGI on July 25 seeking permission for conducting the phase 2 and 3 trials of the potential vaccine. 

Initial results of the first two-phases of trials of the vaccine conducted in five trial sites in the UK showed that it has an acceptable safety profile and homologous boosting increased antibody response, sources had said.

To introduce the vaccine, SII, the world's largest vaccine maker by number of doses produced and sold, has signed an agreement to manufacture the potential vaccine developed by the Jenner Institute (Oxford University) in collaboration with British-Swedish pharma company AstraZeneca. 

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Agencies
June 21,2020

New Delhi, June 21: Diesel prices rise to record high after 60 paise hike in rates, petrol up 35 paise; rates up by Rs 8.88 and Rs 7.97 in 15 days.

Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 79.23 per litre from Rs 78.88, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 78.27 a litre from Rs 77.67, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies. 

In Bengaluru, petrol will be costlier by 37 paise at Rs 81.81 per litre, while diesel will cost 57 paise more per litre at Rs 74.43.

Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.

The 15th daily increase in rates since oil companies on June 7 restarted revising prices in line with costs after ending an 82-day hiatus in rate revision, has taken diesel prices to a new high. The petrol price too is at a two-year high.

Over 63 per cent of the retail selling price of diesel is taxes. Out of the total tax incidence of Rs 49.43 per litre, Rs 31.83 is by way of central excise and Rs 17.60 is VAT. 

Petrol in Mumbai costs Rs 86.04 per litre and diesel is priced at Rs 76.69.

Prior to the current rally, the peak diesel rates had touched was on October 16, 2018 when prices had climbed to Rs 75.69 per litre in Delhi. The highest-ever petrol price was on October 4, 2018 when rates soared to Rs 84 a litre in Delhi.

When rates had peaked in October 2018, the government had cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 1.50 per litre each. State-owned oil companies were asked to absorb another Re 1 a litre to help cut retail rates by Rs 2.50 a litre.

Oil companies had quickly recouped the Re 1 and the government in July 2019 raised excise duty by Rs 2 a litre.

The government on March 14 hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre each and then again on May 5 by a record Rs 10 per litre in case of petrol and Rs 13 on diesel. The two hikes gave the government Rs 2 lakh crore in additional tax revenues.

Oil PSUs Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), instead of passing on the excise duty hikes to customers, adjusted them against the fall in the retail rates that was warranted because of a decline in international oil prices to two-decade lows.

International oil prices have since rebounded and oil firms are now adjusting retail rates in line with them.

In 15 days of hike, petrol price has gone up by Rs 7.97 per litre and diesel by Rs 8.88 a litre.

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