4 swine flu patients in city on life support; virus in the air, say doctors 2
At least four people infected with influenza H1N1 (swine flu) are on life support in the city.
Doctors caution that the viral infection is back in circulation in the city and people who test negative for Covid-19 must be tested for H1N1 by their physicians.
The civic body on Tuesday said 11 confirmed cases of influenza H1N1 have been reported in July, up from two in June.
These numbers are only the tip of the iceberg though, said doctors, adding most are encountering a minimum of two to three cases in their outpatient departments daily.
Like Covid-19, H1N1 is a respiratory disease, which started as a global pandemic in 2019 but became endemic soon after.
At Bandra’s Lilavati Hospital, two patients below the age of 50 years are on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy, considered the last resort and offered when even ventilatory support has failed.
The hospital has five other patients admitted in wards with H1N1.
Two men dupe senior citizen of Rs 22 lakh using online payment app 4
Two persons have been arrested for allegedly duping a senior citizen of Rs 22 lakh through a fraudulent transfer from his bank account using an online payment app, a Mumbai police official said on Thursday.
According to a Dindoshi police station official, two persons befriended the 68-year-old victim and transferred Rs 22 lakh from his account through an online payment app on the pretext of playing a game on his mobile phone.
“After a complaint was filed, we managed to arrest both accused. Further probe into the incident is underway,” he added.
Nagpur Central Jail sends names of 14 inmates to Maha Governor for remission 6
Nagpur Central Jail authorities have sent names of 14 inmates to the Maharashtra governor’s office for inclusion in the remission scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of 75th anniversary of Independence, officials said here on Thursday.
As part of the scheme, some prisoners above the age of 60 and who have completed over half of their prison sentence will be eligible for remission, they said.The move is to encourage good behavior and learning among prisoners, they added.
Presidenial Candidate Draupadi Murmu (left) and Congress President Sonia Gandhi (right)
India on Thursday chose Draupadi Murmu as the 15th President; she will succeed incumbent Ram Nath Kovind. Ruling NDA’s Draupadi Murmu and Opposition’s Yashwant Sinha were pitted against each other in the contest, with voters clearly stacked in favour of Murmu. She will be the first tribal woman to occupy the top constitutional post in the country. Kovind’s tenure is ending on July 24 and the new President will take oath on July 25. PM Narendra Modi is hosting a farewell dinner for outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind tomorrow from 5.30 pm onwards at Hotel Ashoka in Delhi.
“Nation has created history, the daughter of a tribal family coming from a very ordinary house in Odisha, is elected as the President,” said Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
“Not only tribals, but everyone in the country is going to have a sense of pride in having the 1st woman tribal President. I have learnt that all prominent tribal leaders will be coming to Delhi to greet the new likely to be President” said Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Draupadi Murmu
On the other hand, the Congress president has to spend all her day in the ED office. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recorded her statement for two hours in the National Herald money laundering case and ended the session for the day on her request as she is recovering from Covid, officials said. Upon reaching the ED’s headquarters at around 12.10 p.m., Sonia was interrogated by a team of additional directors Monika Sharma. During her interrogation, she was accompanied by her son Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. A few minutes later, Rahul left the ED’s headquarters while Priyanka stayed back in her mother’s medicine box. Sources say that she was asked the same set of questions which were asked to Rahul during his five-day questioning.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti took to Twitter to warn Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi to stop Congress supporters from protesting over her summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the National Herald case, or else she said people will not forget that Sonia is of Italian origin and that she does not respect the Indian Constitution and laws.
Senior Congress leaders including P Chidambaram, Ajay Maken, Manickam Tagore, KC Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chaudhry, Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot, and Harish Rawat. Ashok Gehlot, K Suresh and others were detained. As many as 75 Congress MPs including the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and several workers were detained by the Delhi Police for holding demonstrations against the questioning of the party president Sonia Gandhi by the ED in the National Herald case.
NDA was celebrating Murmu’s win, whereas congress was on the roads protesting against ED summons to Sonia Gandhi.
The Lalitpur Metropolitan City Police has become the first local body to use electric vehicles for patrolling in an effort to reduce the consumption of petroleum products.
During a ceremony held at the office of the Metropolis, Chiri Babu Maharjan, the re-elected mayor of Lalitpur City announced that his office would from now on only buy electric vehicles.
He also said that the newly set aim would help Nepal in achieving Sustainable Development Goals. “SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) 2030 has aimed to displace the petroleum vehicles by 2030, Nepal also is part of that treaty.
However, the target of Nepal has been set for 2040 making some amendments on it.
Today, as we are in 2022, the deadline isn’t far and we have a policy that we would not purchase any petroleum-consuming vehicle. All the required vehicles would only be electric,” Mayor Maharjan said.
A total of five electric vehicles were handed over to the Lalitpur Metropolitan City Police. These vehicles have the capacity to run up to 80 Kilometers once charged for three hours.
The vehicles were made operational after they were launched with the formation of QRT (Quick Response Team). With electric vehicles entering the operation, the LMC- Police are hopeful that it would cut the daily expenses of petroleum products.
“We have to be on the field round the clock. In due course of time, it consumes about 7 litres of petrol for each scooter costing about one thousand Nepali rupees for each scooter on daily basis.
Five scooters would cost around five thousand on a daily basis which would keep on increasing with the adjustments.
NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu is leading against Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha after the end of the first round of counting of votes which started at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
Murmu secured 540 votes with a value of 3,78,000 as against Sinha who secured 208 votes with a value of 1,45,600.
“Droupadi Murmu has secured 540 votes with a value of 3,78,000 & Yashwant Sinha has secured 208 votes with a value of 1,45,600. A total of 15 votes were invalid. These are figures for Parliament (votes), please wait for the next announcement,” said PC Mody, Secretary General, Rajya Sabha.
Notably, the celebrations began at SLS (Shyam, Laxman & Sipun) Memorial Residential School, Pahadpur, Odisham founded by Murmu in memory of her husband and 2 sons after their demise.
The results will declare who will succeed incumbent Ram Nath Kovind to become the country’s 15th President. The counting is underway in Room No 63 in Parliament House and the result will be declared immediately after the counting.
The immediate precincts of Room Number 63 have been declared as sanitised and “silent zone”.
Only counting officers, officials deployed to assist the Rajya Sabha Secretary General, candidates and one authorised representative of each candidate, observers appointed by the Election Commission and media persons with valid passes are allowed to enter the counting hall.
Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Mody is the returning officer for the Presidential election.
Out of 736 electors comprising 727 MPs and nine MLAs permitted by the Election Commission to vote at the Parliament house, 728 (719 MPs and nine MLAs) cast their votes.
The total turnout at Parliament House was 98.91 per cent. The voting took place on July 18 and was completed in a peaceful manner. Droupadi Murmu is seen to have a clear edge in the contest with several political parties extending support to the NDA candidate.
Taliban-appointed Defence Minister during his visit to the Durand Line in Paktia province said that the country will not allow any other country to act aggressively against Afghan soil.
The refusal to accept the status of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan (Durand Line) by the Taliban regime has clearly shown the cracks in the relationship between the two countries.
Minister Mawalwi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid visited Zazai Aryoub district in Paktia on Thursday, the Armed forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan-Mansoori Corps said in a statement.
According to Afghanistan’s Acting media outlet citing the Mansoori Corps statement, Minister Mawalwi Yaqoob Mujahid said that Afghanistan never acts aggressively toward other countries and will never let any country do so against Afghan soil.
Mujahid told the forces that the Islamic Emirate wants good relations with neighbouring countries and expects the same from them, reported Tolo News.
Pakistan has committed a strategic blunder in thinking that the Taliban, which the country helped in fighting a US-backed Afghanistan for over two decades, will fulfil Islamabad’s wishes.
Apparently, after Pakistan backed the Taliban for over two decades to gain Afghanistan’s control back, it seemed like a legitimate expectation of Islamabad that the Taliban will show some gratitude and accede to Pakistan’s wish list on a range of issues.
However, the Taliban have now shown no signs of acceding to the wishes, rather, on several occasions, rejected Pakistan’s demands including the one to recognize the Durand Line.
Durand Line is not the only bone of contention between the countries as both the nations do not see eye to eye on a range of issues like expelling Baloch insurgents, dismantling, degrading and destroying Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and allowing education for girls and giving women rights, reported Global Watch Analysis.
Issues between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been controversial over Durand Line that divides not just the two countries but also the Pashtun
Shortage of medicines, suicide prevention drugs in Pakistan 12
Pakistan’s markets are witnessing a shortage of several essential medicines along with several suicide prevention drugs as a result of the recent hike in their production costs.
The shortage has created fear of an increased suicide rate in the country, Geo News reported citing The News. “None of the brands selling lithium carbonate are available in the market for the last couple of months,” a renowned psychiatrist and former president of the Pakistan Psychiatric Society (PPS) said.
Lithium carbonate is the most effective formula for the treatment of several psychiatric illnesses, including bipolar disorder.
Several physicians and pharmacists have said that other essential medicines such as methylphenidate, which is used for the for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, and clonazepam drops and tablets, which are used for seizure disorder in children and adults, are also not available in the market.
Various psychiatrists have said that the patients were looking for lithium carbonate, however, none of the brands selling it were available in the market, local media reported.
“There are some alternatives to this medicine but they are not effective as lithium carbonate,” professor Dr Iqbal Afridi said.
Senior pharmacist Salwa Ahsan said, “Nine pharmaceutical companies used to produce these drugs but now none of the companies are manufacturing them.
Officials in the local pharmaceutical industry claimed over 60 medicines, including those used for the treatment of tuberculosis, psychiatric illnesses, neurological disorders including epilepsy, anti-depressant medicines, anticoagulants (blood thinners), pain-killers, anti-hypertensive and several other essential medicines are not available in community pharmacies.”
“Some important medicines for the treatment and management of psychiatric disorders, especially the one for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, are also not available in the market”, a senior community pharmacist Arif Aslam said.
Several medicines that are necessary for the treatment of TB, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, depression, cardiovascular disease and others were not available in the markets as pharmaceutical companies were not manufacturing them, it reported citing The News
“PKR devaluation is the biggest factor behind increasing cost of production of many essential medicines. The cost of raw material is increasing while utilities, transportation and other costs have made it impossible for pharmaceutical companies to manufacture many essential medicines,” Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association (PPMA) chairperson Qazi Mansoor Dilawar said.
As many as 75 Congress MPs including Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and several workers were detained by the Delhi Police on Thursday for holding demonstrations against the questioning of the party’s interim president Sonia Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the National Herald case.
Senior Congress leaders including P Chidambaram, Ajay Maken, Manickam Tagore, KC Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chaudhry, Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot, and Harish Rawat.
Ashok Gehlot, K Suresh and others are detained. When Congress MPs left from Parliament to Congress headquarters, around 75 MPs were taken by Delhi Police in buses.
Congress workers in Nagpur were also detained in the wake of the protest. Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi is being quizzed by the ED officials in the national capital.
Congress interim president accompanied by her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reached the ED office in the national capital.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also arrived at the ED office. “All Congress MPs and CWC Members have courted mass arrest outside our Party HQs in a show of collective solidarity with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, a target of Vishguru’s political vendetta. We are being taken away to a police station in Old Delhi evidently,” said party leader Jairam Ramesh.
Protesting Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that the ruling party (BJP) is showing its highhandedness by misusing the probe agencies by asking them to target opposition leaders.
“They (ruling party) want to show how powerful they are. We’ve raised the issue of inflation in Parliament but they’re not ready for discussion. We are now raising the issue of misuse of central probe agencies,” Kharge.
Congress MP Deepender S Hooda said that they are protesting peacefully. “We are protesting peacefully.
They cannot suppress our voice,” said Hooda. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who is also in Delhi slammed the probe and said that since Sonia Gandhi is over 70 years old, ED should have gone to her house for investigation.
“The kind of personality and aura she (Sonia Gandhi) has and since she is more than 70 years old, ED should have gone to her house for investigation. I want to meet the chief of ED and CBI and tell them what people are thinking about central agencies,” said Gehlot.
After Gehlot was detained he said, “It is happening for the first time in the country that they are stopping the dharna demonstration.”
“There is a misuse of agencies in the country… it’s our right to protest in a democracy, but it is also being crushed upon…,” said Sachin Pilot.
The ED had on June 1 summoned Sonia Gandhi to appear before its investigators on June 8 in the case for the first time in connection with a money laundering case involving the National Herald.
The ED wants to record both Sonia Gandhi’s statements under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Last month the ED questioned Rahul Gandhi on several occasions in the case.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday said the Maharashtra government has to change in its mindset with the times and make efforts to create public awareness about the writings of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and other social reformers.
A division bench of Justices Prasanna Varale and Kishore Sant noted that the Maharashtra government has published “wonderful” volumes of the handwritten literature of several social reformers, but unfortunately not many are aware of it.
The government should create awareness about this, the court said.
“Volumes (of writings) of so many social reformers are published by the Maharashtra government but how many people are aware of this? These volumes have been published decades ago and some of them are the most wonderful ones. Care is not taken. Readers have to be brought to the bookshop,” it said.
“You (state government) have to change your mindset according to the changing times. Earlier, people used to go to bookshops but now it is all available at a doorstep. Publishers have to bring people to the shops,” Justice Varale said.
“You are not taking any steps for awareness. You will have to make concrete and positive efforts,” the court said, adding that many people do not even know where government bookshops are located.
The bench was hearing a petition taken up suo motu (on its own) in December 2021 after the media reported that the Maharashtra government had halted its project of publishing Ambedkar’s literature.
The HC also expressed dissatisfaction over the affidavit submitted by the state government and said it did not have all the necessary details sought by the court.
The affidavit does not have details about the formation of the committee set up to address this issue, the names of members of the committee if any meeting has been held by it and details of their remuneration, the court pointed out.
The bench directed government pleader Purnima Kantharia to file an additional affidavit within two weeks.
“We are not satisfied with this approach (of the government). This is not the way we expect the state government to handle such matters,” Justice Varale said.
Kantharia told the court that volumes of Ambedkar’s writings were being distributed to colleges and other institutions.
But, the HC said it wants the committee to say this and not the government.
“Let the committee make a statement that these books are reaching the readers. We want to see if the government is taking appropriate steps to ensure that these volumes are published in reasonable time,” it added.
