Philippines News
India slams rich nations for vaccine patent hurdle
India has hit out at developed countries that are seeking to block its joint initiative with South Africa for patent waiver on Covid-19 vaccines. It has urged World Trade Organisation (WTO) members to decide on the issue quickly given the massive impact of the pandemic.
Indira-imposed Emergency was wrong: Rahul Gandhi
In an interaction with former chief economic advisor to GOI and Cornell university professor Kaushik Basu and students, Rahul Gandhi said Emergency was a “mistake” and “wrong”. “That was a mistake. My grandmother (Indira Gandhi) said as much,” he said.
Supreme Court slams governments for laxity on CCTV-in-thana plan
The SC on December 2 had ordered all states and UTs to compulsorily install CCTV cameras with night-vision facility in all police stations with provision for storing recorded data for at least 12 months, and ideally for 18 months, to enable probes into allegations of custodial torture by police. The order was also applicable to the CBI, NIA, ED, NCB, DRI and SFIO.
90% health workers get 1st dose in 9 states/UTs
States such as Jharkhand, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat and the UT of Ladakh have achieved 100% coverage of healthcare workers for the first dose, the government said, underlining that even states like Tamil Nadu, where vaccine hesitancy was initially an issue, are now among better performers.
Covid-19 cases rise for 16th day in a row
Total of 98 fatalities reported in India on Tuesday. Maharashtra again accounted for more than half of India’s death toll with 54 fatalities, followed by Kerala (16), Punjab (10) and Karnataka (7). Punjab logged 730 fresh cases on Tuesday.
Centre allows more private hospitals to administer vaccine
The Centre's decision will effectively allow inclusion of some of the bigger private hospital chains and standalone medical facilities. This means hospitals like Fortis and Max, not part of the vaccination drive in Gurgaon (though they are in Delhi), can be part of the effort as long as they are willing and meet certain criteria.