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To enhance foreign and defence ties, Russia and India establish ‘2+2 ministerial dialogue’

By
The Commune
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India Russia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to establish a “2+2 ministerial dialogue” between foreign and defence ministers to add further momentum to the bilateral strategic partnership. Russia now has become part of a small group of countries with whom India has 2+2 dialogue of foreign and defence ministers. India has such mechanism with the US, Japan and Australia.

The two leaders spoke on Wednesday, when Modi thanked Putin for Russia’s help and support in India’s fight against COVID-19.

In a statement following a telephonic conversation between the two leaders, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said that the Russian president expressed solidarity with the people and Government of India and conveyed that Russia would extend all possible support in their fight against the pandemic.

“Prime Minister Modi thanked President Putin and noted that the prompt Russian support to India was a symbol of our enduring partnership,” it said.

They reviewed diverse bilateral cooperation, especially in the area of space exploration and renewable energy sector, including in hydrogen economy, Prime Minister Modi said in a series of tweets.

“Had an excellent conversation with my friend President Putin today. We discussed the evolving COVID-19 situation, and I thanked President Putin for Russia’s help and support in India’s fight against the pandemic,” Modi tweeted.

The cooperation on Sputnik-V vaccine will assist humanity in battling the pandemic, he added.

Sputnik-V, a coronavirus vaccine, has been approved by the government for emergency use in India, a decision which Putin appreciated. The two leaders noted that the Russian vaccine will be manufactured in India for use in India, Russia and third countries, the statement said.

Russia is also sending medical supplies to aid India in its fight against the pandemic. The first consignment of medical supplies to India will include 22 tonnes of equipment, including 20 oxygen production units, 75 ventilators, 150 medical monitors and 200,000 packs of medicine, according to a Russian statement.

“Vladimir Putin supported Narendra Modi during this difficult period of combatting the spread of the coronavirus and informed him of the decision to send emergency humanitarian aid to India,” it said.

It said the two leaders welcomed the registration of the Sputnik V vaccine in India and noted its high efficiency and safety.

“They also expressed their satisfaction with the fact that the Russian Direct Investment Fund had reached an agreement with Indian companies to produce 850 million doses of Sputnik V. The production is to begin in May,” it said.

Modi also conveyed appreciation for the support received from Russia for India’s Gaganyaan programme and the completion of the Russian phase of training of the four astronauts for India’s first manned space mission.

The two leaders also recalled important decisions taken during their last summit meeting in Vladivostok in September 2019, with Prime Minister Modi conveying that he looked forward to the Russian president’s visit to India later this year for the bilateral Summit which would provide an occasion to continue their “personal and trusted conversation”.

Putin assured Modi of Russia’s full support for the success of India’s presidency of BRICS during 2021, and the two leaders agreed to remain in close touch on bilateral and international issues, the statement said.

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Petition filed at Madras HC to repaint Thiruvattaru Adhikeshava Perumal Temple without affecting temple’s heritage

By
The Commune
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The Madras High Court has ordered the HR&CE department to take action in the case of repainting the Thiruvattaru Adikesava Perumal temple with plant-based paints that have herbal content in order to maintain the authenticity and integrity of the temple.

Sreedharan from Chennai, filed a petition in the High Court which read, “The gopuram, walls and pillars of the Thiruvattaru Adikesava Perumal temple are currently being painted. Devotees have complained that the paint is substandard. In ancient temples it was customary to paint with a mixture of medicinal herbs. This will affect the authenticity of the gopuram, pillars and walls. In addition to this, granite stone is laid on the floor of the sanctum sanctorum. The granite is an obstacle for the devotees to walk as the oil puja is held five times in the temple.”

The petition went on to say, “Therefore, it is necessary to that an order be issued for the Thiruvattar Adikesava Perumal temple to be painted in the traditional manner and to lay the appropriate kind of stones for the flooring in the sanctum sanctorum without altering the integrity of the temple.”

The petition came up for hearing in the session of Justices DS Sivagnanam and S Anandi. The judges then closed the petition by ordering the Commissioner of the HR&CE department to investigate and take appropriate action on the petitioner’s complaint.

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Frontline corona warriors not paid for months in Maharashtra; when questioned, cabinet ministers make beeline for exit

By
The Commune
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Maharashtra corona

The state of affairs in Maharashtra is deteriorating day by day, with increasing Covid-19 cases and non-payment of salaries to frontline Corona warriors. Some of the Cabinet ministers in the Maharashtra government, who had come together to give a press conference, were questioned on this by frontline healthcare workers.

In the press conference, two women who have reportedly not been paid any salary for months, started questioning the politicians.

Immediately the cabinet ministers in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government got up and left the venue, without addressing the issue of their long-pending salaries or expressing any sympathy.

The video of the incident has been widely shared on social media.

The two women in the video seemed very distressed over the non-payment of salaries. They were later escorted away by the police.

Already the coalition government of Shiv Sena, NCP, and the Congress has been accused of manhandling the entire second wave corona outbreak. But what is even sadder is that people who risk their lives every day are not getting any salary from the state.

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Ponlait outlets to sell food packets at ₹5, scheme inaugurated by Puducherry Governor Tamizhisai Soundarajan

By
The Commune
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Puducherry governor Tamizhisai Soundarajan has launched a scheme to provide food at less than ₹5 at several Ponlait outlets. Similarly, while wearing a mask is mandatory in Puducherry, those who do not wear a mask are fined. In view of this, to reduce the economic burden on the poor people, the government has provided masks at ₹1 and sanitisers at ₹10 at all Ponlait outlets.

Similarly, the Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Research Institute has started offering lunch for less than ₹5. These were started by Governor Tamizhisai Soundarajan. After this, she held a consultation meeting with the officials on arranging to provide food for ₹5 at Ponlait outlets.

The Governor regularly visits the Central Kitchen at Shanmugapuram to check if quality food is being cooked in a hygienic manner. During one of the visits, she bought herself a food packet to examine the quality of the food. In light of the same, the inaugural program of the scheme of providing hygienic food at a discounted price of less than ₹5 was launched by Tamizhisai Soundarajan.

The event was attended by Chandramauli, AP Maheshwari , who are Advisors to the Governor, and Managing Director Sudhakar of Ponlait. The scheme has been rolled out at Indira Gandhi Government Medical College in Pondicherry, Rajiv Gandhi Women and Children’s Hospital, New Bus Stand and at JIPMER. The project will be further expanded to include the existing Ponlait branches depending on the reception of the people.

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RSS units set up at over 43 cities all over the country to help aid COVID relief

By
The Commune
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The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is on a mission to stop the spread of the corona virus. Under this initiative, service centers have been set up in 43 major cities and 219 city hospitals are being assisted by the government, said Sunil Ambekar, the organization’s All India Spokesperson.

Sunil Ambekar spoke to reporters on Thursday and said that many parts of the country had been severely affected by the corona. Thus, on behalf of the RSS, he informed that service centers for Corona relief are being set up in 43 major cities and its volunteers in 219 hospitals are assisting the government.

Ambekar further said, ‘The service to the public is provided at all times on behalf of organizations including the RSS and Seva Bharati. We are providing medicines and relief items to the people of the affected areas. Our volunteers are risking their lives to help with relief day and night. We provide 12 types of services including a place for isolating patients, a treatment center for treating those with the COVID infection, distribution of Ayurvedic herbs, as well as blood and plasma donations.”

He went on to say, “Our volunteers are of great help to the district administrations during this troubled time. The RSS also extends a helping hand to other companies ‘services.'”

Sunil cited the example of Radha Saomi Satsang Beas in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. He said the RSS, along with other organizations, would help with the relief measures going on at the state’s 2000-bed makeshift hospital. The RSS is also playing a key role in the colelcting donations for buying vaccines for corona. The RSS has also set up corona vaccine awareness camps in more than ten thousand locations in the country. So far 2,442 vaccination centers have been set up on its behalf.

Sunil also answered a question about plasma donation. He said that 600 plasma samples were donated by their volunteer awareness camps in Pune, saving about 1,500 lives. A special ‘helpline’ number has been provided on behalf of the RSS for the elderly living alone in their homes. Sunil also informed that assistance is available for senior citizens.

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Yet another group held for selling Remdesivir on the black market in Tambaram

By
The Commune
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Remdesivir Karnataka

Remdesivir has been prescribed by physicians as a life-saving drug for patients with coronavirus infection. In light of this situation, there has been a shortage of Remdesivir for the last few days across severla hospitals in Tamil Nadu. The public is waiting in long queues at hospitals to buy Remdesivir doses.

In this situation, there were complaints that some people were selling Remdesivir on the black market. During a police raid in Tambaram on Thursday, three people, including a doctor, were arrested while buying Remdesivir on the black market. A police constable working at the Thiruvannamalai Government Hospital was also arrested in connection with the incident.

Following this, the ICF station police have arrested Karthik, an employee of a private hospital in the Mint area in Chennai, for selling Remdesivir on the black market. It is noteworthy that 4 more people, including a private doctor, have already been arrested for selling Remdesivir on the black market and one more has been arrested.

It is to be noted that not just Remdesivir, but also other medical supplies like vaccine shipments and oxygen cylinders have been found to be sold illegally on the black market off late.

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India to import 4,50,000 vials of Remdesivir; first consignment of 75,000 vials to reach today

By
The Commune
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Remdesivir

The Government of India has started importing the vital drug Remdesivir from other countries to ease out the shortage of Remdesivir in the country. The first consignment of 75,000 vials will reach India today.

HLL Lifecare Ltd, a Government of India owned company has ordered 4,50,000 vials of Remdesivir  from Gilead Sciences Inc. USA, and Egyptian pharma company, EVA Pharma. It is expected that Gilead Sciences Inc. USA will dispatch 75,000 to 1,00,000 vials in the next one or two days. Further one hundred thousand quantities will also be supplied before or by May 15. EVA Pharma will supply approximately 10,000 vials initially, followed by 50,000 vials every 15 days or till July.

The government has also ramped up the production capacity of Remdesivir in the country. As on 27 April, the production capacity of the seven licensed domestic manufacturers increased from 38 lakh vials per month to 1.03 crore vials per month. A total of 13.73 lakh vials have been supplied across the country by the drug companies in the last seven days (21-28 April, 2021). The daily supply has gone up from 67,900 vials on 11 April to 2.09 lakh vials on 28 April, 2021. An advisory was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to states and UTs to facilitate the smooth movement of Remdesivir supplies.

Furthermore, the government has also prohibited the export of Remdesivir to enhance its availability in India. To ensure affordability of the injection among the masses, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) on April 17, 2021 released the revised maximum retail price of the drug, bringing down the cost of all the major brands to below ₹3500 per vial.

In order to facilitate higher production and availability of Remdesivir, the Department of Revenue also exempted the Customs duty on Remdesivir injection, its API and Betacyclodextrin, which is used in manufacture of Remdesivir, till 31 October of this year.

(Published from PIB)

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Madurai HC orders the shutting down of church built illegally in Sivagangai

By
The Commune
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The Madurai branch of the High Court ordered the shutting down of a Christian church near the Muthumariamman temple in Manamadurai, Sivagangai district. This was found to have been built without proper permission from the district administration and opened for worship.

Hindu organizations, including the Indhu Munnani, opposed the construction of a church on the Sivapuram Road in Manamadurai while it was being constructed. However, as the construction work continued. Following this, Marimuthu, a member of the Indhu Munnani District Executive Committee from Manamadurai, filed a case in the Madurai branch of the Madurai High Court. In it, he had demanded an order to stop the construction of a Christian church near the Muthumariamman temple in the Dayapuram area in Manamadurai, which was being built without the proper permission of the district administration.

The prosecutor who appeared in the case argued that construction of the church had already been completed and the church was open for worship. Following this, the judges had asked the Manamadurai Union Kalkurichi Panchayat President to appear in the case and give an explanation. Following this, Yasmin, the Chairman of the Kalkurichi Panchayat Council, appeared at the hearing of the case and explained it through a video conference. She said that permission had already been granted on behalf of the panchayat administration to extend the deadline for construction work following the permission given by the Panchayat Union office when the local body was not in power and admitted to their mistake.

Following this, the order issued by the bench comprising Justices DS Sivagyanam and Anandi stated as follows: “Worship can be held where there is no objection. The Panchayat administration does not have the authority to give permission for the construction of a new Christian church to be built and opened in the Dayapuram area of ​​Manamadurai. Only the district administration is authorised to issue permits. The court orders the church administration to shut down the church immediately. Otherwise, the Manamadurai Regional Development Officer will have to shut it down.”

The administration then applied to the district collector for a permit to allow the construction of the church within a week and the collector is to consider the application within 10 days and issue an appropriate order.

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Seven Muslims, including three teenagers, held in connection with murder attempt

By
The Commune
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Muslim youth
Featured Image Credits: daijiworld.com

Mangaluru police have arrested seven Muslim youth in connection with the attempt to murder cases in Bajpe and Mangaluru East police station limits which took place in November of last year.

The arrested have been identified as Ibrahim Shakeer (19) from Bolar, Mohammed Nihal (18) from Attavar, Abbas Safwan (23) from Jeppu, Mohammed Aatif Hisham (19) from Pandeshwar, Bilal Muaddin (49) from Falnir, Nazeer Ahamed (46) from Farangipete and Abdul Jabbar (46) from Maripalla

It is indeed a cause for concern that Muslim youth of the age of 18 and 19 years are involved in such heinous crimes.

On November 15, 2020, under Bajpe Police limits, a gang had attempted to murder a man identified as Abdul Azeez, near Kandavar mosque. Later, when Abdul Azeez was admitted in a private hospital due to his injuries, the same gang that had attacked him earlier now attacked his relative Naushad at the hospital’s entrance, mistaking him for Azeez. Another relative of Azeez, Makdoom, was at the hospital as well.

According to the police, disputes over financial issues are at the root of the murder attempt.

The arrested gang members had executed the plan with the help of Nizamuddin, Safwan Hussain and Basith. The three are currently abroad.

Police said tha there were unsettled financial disputes between Makdoom and Nizamuddin. Nizammudin had contacted Jabbar. Jabbar had then hatched the plan, with the help of Nizamuddin, Safwan Hussain and Basith, and  had executed the plan with the other accused.

The gang also collected details about the day-to-day movements of the victim Abdul Azeez and his relative Makdoom and informed the gang who are abroad.

After the gang attacked Abdul Azeez near the mosque, Makdoom showed negligence in settling the financial issue. Hence, the second murder attempt took place near the hospital.

Many more arrests are yet to be made in the case, informed the police.

Abdul Jabbar has seven cases against him, including a double murder in 2017. Ibrahim Shakeer has a case of assault on a  police constable. Safwan Hussain, who has twenty-six cases against him, has escaped abroad. Basith has five cases and Nizamuddin has a case registered against him at Panambur police station.

The police operation was carried out under the direction of DCP law and order Hariram Shankar, DCP Vinay Goankar, CCB inspector Mahesh Prasad, PSI Rajendra B, Pradeep T R and others.

Police commissioner N Shashi Kumar rewarded ₹10,000 to the team which cracked the long pending case.

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Lahore High Court calls Pakistan Army “biggest land grabber” who rules the country

By
The Commune
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pakistan army lahore high court

In an unprecedented event, the Lahore High Court came down heavily on the Pakistan army by calling it the “biggest land grabber”. It said that the job of the Pakistan army is to serve the nation and not to “rule as a king”, reports The Times of India.

This observation was made by Lahore High Court’s Chief Justice Mohammad Qasim Khan. However, Khan also said that he does not want to say anything wrong about the Pakistan Army but its method of forcefully occupying properties of the people is nothing but land grabbing.

The Lahore High Court made strong observations after hearing petitions of three Pakistani nationals seeking an order against the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) to not disturb their lawful possession of the land.

The DHA functions under the army along with several other business ventures under the Fauji Foundation, which is a business conglomerate.

What is even more shocking is that the Pakistan Army had the gall to grab a piece of land owned by the Lahore High Court and Justice Khan instructed the court’s registrar to write a letter to the Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa in this regard.

Such judgements from any Pakistani courts against the army is practically unheard of because the de facto ruler of Pakistan is the army and the civilian government of Prime Minister Imran Khan are just for show.

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