Experts in India urge caution as new coronavirus variant emerges in South Africa

With a new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa, scientists and health experts in India have said that new waves of infection are anticipated and unless we act quickly and efficiently, the country will possibly see repeat waves.

India has better tools in hand now compared to two years ago, said Vinod Scaria, scientist at CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB). He added the country, however, had to improve its vaccination drive, public health measures, health infrastructure and genomic surveillance to be better prepared..

Time was valuable and we cannot afford to lose it, he explained, adding that India had the best tools at hand, vaccines and public health measures including masks, distancing and ventilation. Unfortunately, there was a global inequity of vaccines.

“We have to use our precious time to vaccinate all eligible people with two doses at least. Closing the gap in the unvaccinated and second dose in the 45+ age group could provide a unique opportunity to minimise COVID-19 deaths,” he said.

Dr. Scaria added that boosters would not help when a larger proportion of the world has not got even one dose..

India has been successful in administering more than 100 crore vaccinated doses, which is a great achievement in terms of the huge population but mostly these are single dose and not the complete two doses of vaccination, which can be effective in fighting the new strain, if it gets in India, said Ankita Baidya of infectious diseases department, HCMCT Manipal Hospitals.

Dr. Baidya added that viruses tend to mutate and the only way out was to strengthen and be prepared with the healthcare infrastructure to tackle and treat.

The Durga Pooja images of 2021 ..

The reality of life

Allowing yearly extensions to heads of CBI, ED will compromise their autonomy. Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe

The new law authorising an extension of the services of the heads of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate until they complete a total tenure of five years will seriously compromise the autonomy of those agencies. It goes against the spirit of the Supreme Court judgment in Vineet Narain vs Union of India (1997) which laid down a dictum that the Directors of the CBI and the ED should have a minimum tenure of two years. This was to prevent their sudden transfer out of office if their functioning goes against the interests of the regime of the day. While it did not specifically bar longer terms or extensions, the prospect of getting an annual extension can be an incentive for displaying regime loyalty in the discharge of their duties. Significantly, in the case of the present Director of Enforcement, S.K. Mishra, who was appointed for two years in November 2018, his services were extended by an order on November 13, 2020, which amended the original term of appointment from two years to three years. That the changes were brought in through the ordinance route in November raises a doubt whether the Government is keen on retaining him at the helm. Given that the central agencies have drawn much criticism for their focus on personages linked to Opposition parties, such a measure will be seen as a reward for guided functioning instead of a necessity to keep ongoing investigations on track

India intervenes to water down language on cutting emissions from coal. Hare Krishna hare Krishna hare Krishna hare Krishna hare Krishna

States should base reservation policies on data, not political expediency Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe.

An exclusive internal quota for a single caste group was always fraught with the danger of judicial invalidation. It is no surprise, therefore, that the Madras High Court has struck down the Tamil Nadu law that earmarked 10.5% of seats in educational institutions and jobs for the Vanniyakula Kshatriya community and its sub-castes. The court’s foremost reason is that the State Assembly lacked the legislative competence to enact the law in February 2021, at a time when the Constitution 102nd Amendment, conferring exclusive power to identify backward classes on the President, was in force. That the Constitution 105th Amendment subsequently restored the States’ powers to identify backward classes was not deemed relevant as, on the date of the enactment, the Assembly had been denuded of such power. The Bench of Justices M. Duraiswamy and K. Murali Shankar, also ruled that identifying one caste as a separate group for creating an exclusive quota, without any quantifiable data on its backwardness relative to others, amounted to giving reservation solely on the basis of caste and, therefore, impermissible under the Constitution. Further, it noted that the remaining 115 castes under the ‘MBC and Denotified Communities’ category were forced to share the remaining 9.5% (in two groups with 2.5% and 7%, respectively) of what used to be a 20% MBC/DNC quota. This amounted to discrimination.

Climate pledge: On CoP26 summit in Glasgow Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe

Nations must realise they are not in a competitive race but trying to outrun the clock.

They must be removed all.

It is a great surprise move at COP26 in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India will commit to ambitious, enhanced climate targets and cuts in carbon emissions in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). There were promises to increase non-fossil fuel energy capacity to 500 GW, meet 50% energy from renewable energy, reduce emissions by one billion tonnes, and bring down the economy’s carbon intensity below 45%, all by 2030. Finally, the PM made the much-awaited declaration: to reach Net Zero emissions by 2070. The announcement came as a surprise given that India had given no assurances to visiting western climate negotiators before the conference, and had not filed updated NDCs by the deadline last month. Earlier, the G20 summit in Rome ended without any new commitments on climate change, and India’s G20 Sherpa and Minister Piyush Goyal had said that India could not “identify a year” for ending net carbon emissions (ensuring carbon dioxide emissions are absorbed by the use of technology and lowering output), unless the developed world committed to funding India’s energy transition and enabled clean technology transfers on a much higher scale. Mr. Goyal even suggested that India could not switch to non-fossil fuel and end coal-based thermal plants unless it was made a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, where it is being blocked by China and a number of other countries..

Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe.

mr. modi’s pledges in 2021 will require an almost immediate shift in the government’s priorities if it wishes to meet its first few goals in just eight years. according to one estimate (the centre for science and environment), the promise to reduce emissions by one billion tonnes would need a reduction in india’s carbon output by a massive 22% by 2030. on net zero, the target of 2070 is two decades after the global goal at mid-century, and would require the world’s other growing economies including china to peak emissions, preferably by 2030 itself. india meets about 12% of its electricity needs through renewable energy, and ramping that up to 50% by 2030 will be a tall ask too. if the government realises mr. modi’s promises in glasgow, india will be a global beacon in fighting climate change and ensuring sustainable development. at the least, it is hoped the commitments will inspire other countries to keep their word, particularly the developed world that has lagged behind in fulfilling combined promises of billions of dollars to fund emerging economies, ldcs and the most climate vulnerable countries in the global south. when it comes to climate change, countries must remember they are not in competition with one another, but trying together to outrun the clock.

Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe Shri Radhe.