Nitish Kumar face of NDA in Bihar, says JD(U) leader after core committee meeting

Agencies

June 4, 2018

Patna, June 4: The JD(U) core committee met here on Sunday ahead of a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance scheduled later this week, after which a senior party leader said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is the face of the NDA in Bihar.

Kumar, also the JD(U) national president, held the core committee meeting at his residence.

JD(U) national general secretaries KC Tyagi and Pavan Varma, who arrived from New Delhi, poll strategist Prashant Kishor and a few other state leaders took part in the meeting.

The meeting assumes significance as the BJP-led NDA, which the JD(U) joined in August 2017, is scheduled to hold a meeting in Bihar on June 7. During the NDA meeting, to be attended by Kumar, the coalition partners are likely to discuss their strategy in the state for the next Lok Sabha polls.

Emerging out of the chief minister's residence after the meeting, Varma told reporters that Kumar "is the face of the NDA in Bihar, that is why he is the chief minister. JD(U) is the largest constituent of the coalition".

Varma's remark assumes significance amidst speculation in political circles here that the JD(U), which has only two Lok Sabha members, might press for a seat-sharing arrangement commensurate with its strength in the Bihar assembly where it has about 70 MLAs against nearly 50 of the BJP.

Besides the JD(U) and the BJP, the NDA in Bihar comprises Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party and Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Samata Party.

The BJP had bagged 22 out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2014, when the JD(U) had fought separately.

However, in the wake of the poor show by the BJP in a number of bypolls recently, its allies have started voicing the need for better coordination within the NDA instead of a "big brotherly attitude" displayed by the senior coalition partner.

Asked about Kumar's renewed demand for special status to Bihar, Varma said "the party had never given up the demand. To fight for this legitimate right of the state is the JD(U)'s commitment".

He, however, declined to divulge the details of the consultations held with Kumar.

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2838 Pakistanis, 914 Afghans, 172 Bangladeshis given Indian citizenship in last 6 years: Fin Min

News Network

January 19,2020

Chennai, Jan 19: Amid ongoing nationwide protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that as many as 2838 people from Pakistan were given citizenship during the last six years.

"In the last six years, as many as 2838 Pakistani refugees, 914 Afghan refugees, 172 Bangladeshi refugees including Muslims have been given Indian citizenship. From 1964 to 2008, more than 4,00,000 Tamils (from Sri Lanka) have been given Indian citizenship," Sitharaman said at 'Programme on Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019' event here.

She added, "Till 2014, over 566 Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan were given Indian citizenship. During 2016-18 under Modi government, around 1595 Pakistani migrants and 391 Afghanistani Muslims were given Indian citizenship."

The minister, further, said, "It was also during the same period in 2016, that Adnan Sami was given Indian citizenship, this is an example."

Sitharaman added that people who came from East Pakistan have been settled at various camps in the country.

"They are still there and it's been 50-60 years now. If you visit these camps, your heart will cry. The situation is the same with Sri Lankan refugees who continue to live in camps. They're barred from getting basic facilities," she said.

Asserting that the government is not snatching away anyone's citizenship, the BJP leader said: "This Citizenship (Amendment) Act is an attempt to provide people with a better life. We are not snatching away anyone's citizenship, we are only providing them that."

"The National Population Register (NPR) will be updated every 10 years and is not involved with the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Some are involved in raising false allegations and triggering people unnecessarily without any base," she added.

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Hello Madam,

What Are you ?? Are you a Finance Minister or External Affairs Minister ??

when someone asked about the economy which well related to your ministry you won't even open your mouth,

but now you are talking about a matter which is not at all your business...

What a pefect figure given by our short time finance minister. Hope she wil feed them from her person income wthout ONION.

Stupid, dont know even what they talk.

It is not snatching anybody's nationality. You dont have right to do it.

The subject is not snatching, the subject is disccimination while giving nationality.

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Will Russia approve world’s first covid-19 vaccine for public use by August 10?

Agencies

July 29,2020

If everything goes as Russia’s expectation, it will be world’s first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine for widespread in the second week of August despite safety and efficacy concerns, according to a report. The adenoviral vector-based vaccine developed by Russian military and government researchers is currently in phase 2 trials.

According to a report from CNN, Russian officials are hoping to get approval for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute on Agust 10 or even before that. The officials told the outlet that the vaccine will be approved for public use with frontline healthcare workers receiving it first.

“It’s a Sputnik moment,” said Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which is financing Russian vaccine research, referring to the successful 1957 launch of the world’s first satellite by the Soviet Union, according to CNN.

“Americans were surprised when they heard Sputnik’s beeping. It’s the same with this vaccine. Russia will have got there first,” he was quoted as saying.

However, Russia is yet to release the scientific data on its coronavirus vaccine trials, hence, questions remain about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, said the report. The vaccine is in the second phase of testing with developers planning to launch the phase 3 trials sometime after August 3.

Earlier, Interfax reported, citing Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, that the vaccine will be widely used in parallel with phase 3 trials. He said the country plans to vaccinate medics who are at high-risk for COVID-19 next month before clinical trials are completed.

Murashko added that individuals at higher risk of getting infected with the coronavirus such as older people or those with health conditions will also be prioritised for the vaccine, although he did not estimate or reveal when that would happen. The minister added 800 people will be recruited for the phase 3 trials.

Meanwhile, health officials were more cautious considering the fact that human testing of the vaccine is incomplete, and the state registration is expected to begin after August 3, reported The Moscow Times.

On Monday, Moderna and Pfizer announced the commencement of the final phase 3 trials of their candidate vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has so far claimed at least 654,477 lives and infected 16,514,500 people worldwide.

Researchers will recruit up to 30,000 volunteers in separate trials both backed by the US government. India's first indigenous coronavirus vaccine, COVAXIN, is undergoing phase 1 human clinical trials across the country. More than 150 COVID-19 vaccines are being developed all over the world with at least six candidates already in late-stage clinical trials.

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India Records Highest Single-Day Spike with 22,771 New COVID-19 Cases

News Network

July 4,2020

New Delhi, July 4: India on Friday reported its highest single-day spike of COVID-19 cases with 22,771 cases reported in the last 24 hours, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With these new cases, India's coronavirus cases tally has gone up to 6,48,315, out of which there are 2,35,433 active cases in the country and 3,94,227 cases have been cured/discharged or migrated.

As many as 442 deaths due to COVID-19 have been reported in the last 24 hours taking the number of patients succumbing to the deadly virus across the country to 18,655.

As per the Union Health Ministry, Maharashtra -- the worst affected state due to COVID-19 -- has a total of 1,92,990 cases which is inclusive of 8,376 deaths. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu, the second worst-affected state, has a total of 1,02,721 cases and 1,385 fatalities. Delhi's tally of coronavirus cases stands at 94,695 which is inclusive of 2923 deaths due to the virus.

The Centre said that the recovery rate has further improved to 60.80 per cent. The recoveries/deaths ratio is 95.48 per cent : 4.52 per cent.

The Indian Council of Medical Research, earlier on Saturday, said that the total number of samples tested up to July 3 is 95,40,132, out of which 2,42,383 samples were tested yesterday.

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