The Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra has directed health authorities to be alert and appealed to people to consult doctors immediately if children show any symptoms. Addressing over 6,300 pediatricians virtually, CM Thackeray on Sunday said the immediate diagnosis was the need of the hour. A statement from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) later said that pediatricians were advised on how to identify mild, medium, and severe symptoms of coronavirus infection among children.

Speaking about the preparedness for the third wave, Maharashtra CM said, “Corona is not over yet, we must be prepared ourselves regarding the third wave. In the second wave, we faced a shortage of oxygen; it should not be repeated in the future. In the coming days, I want to make sure that there is no shortage of oxygen. We will be self-reliant, but it will take time. Even though we haven’t been successful in defeating the virus, we have kept the number of cases in control. It is the success of our state as a united force comprising all stakeholders. We have to be alert to protect children from the possible third wave.”

Discussions are making rounds that the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic would mainly affect the children. In a hearing, a bench of the Supreme Court has asked about the government’s plan to protect children from the third wave. Maharashtra has set up a separate state task force for Covid-19 in children. The Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has recommended the setting up of pediatric task forces on Covid-19 in every district. Some health experts have suggested that special pediatric Covid-19 intensive care units, catering to up to 5 per cent of the child population, should be set up. These developments have been interpreted by many as confirmation that the third wave would primarily affect children.

Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Delhi are among the first to report the surge in the Covid-19 infections among children. The symptoms include complaints of fever, cough, fatigue, sore throat, loss of taste and smell, diarrhea, body rashes, among other flu symptoms, while a few other children also have experienced breathlessness and shortness of breath. Some of the children have even been admitted to hospitals for treatment, in serious cases.

According to the health reports, 81,188 cases were reported in the 0-10 years group until March 24 which had grown to 1,49,224 until May 6; similarly, 1.66 lakh cases were reported in the 11-20 years age group, which more than doubled to 3.38 lakh, followed by 4.15 lakh cases in the 21-30 years group, which also more than doubled to 8.67 lakh in the same period.

As of now, there is no reason to conclude that children would be at a higher risk of contracting Covid-19 in the third wave, as and when that happens. However, preparation without causing unnecessary alarm and panic has to be the approach to be followed.

India may have distanced itself from what is happening in Nepal describing it as its “internal matters to be tackled within the neighbouring country’s democratic processes, but it is keeping a close watch over the Himalayan nation, given the possibility of China’s move to meddle in political affairs of Kathmandu. India’s concern is also that political instability in Nepal will give more space to China.  

India’s diplomatic team is keenly watching how China reacts to the political turmoil in Nepal. Sources said that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who is currently in Washington, spoke to Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla about the development in Nepal, following which MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi is said to have made a statement. Sources said that Jaishankar was keen that diplomats should keep a watch over China’s move as well.

The reason why India has grown more apprehensive about the possibility of China’s move to ramp up its activities in Nepal is a recent development aimed at Beijing strengthening its ties with Kathmandu further. The development is that Nepal has opened its Consulate General in China’s southwestern city of Chengdu, its fifth diplomatic mission in the country. Officials believe that this will bring Kathmandu and Beijing much closer. Sources said that Nepal would be among the handful of countries to have a diplomatic mission in the city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province.

India and China had reached an agreement in 2015 to establish an Indian consulate in Chengdu and one for China in Chennai. But nothing happened. Six years later, neither the Indian nor the Chinese consulate has been established.

India sees this development as China’s efforts to further tighten up its grip over Nepal which it has been using to create trouble for Delhi. Hence, the Dragon’s eyes will be on the current crisis in Nepal to be used by it to its advantage.

According to sources, China’s ambassador in Kathmandu Hou Yanqi has talked to a couple of influential communist leaders of Nepal. Indian officials cannot underestimate Hou’s talks with the leaders in view of the fact that she was quite active when a similar crisis had cropped up in Nepal in December last year. Hou Yanqi had then actively tried to mediate between rival factions of NCP to ensure that the government survives. “How the development plays out in Kathmandu needs to be watched closely,” an officer said.   

In December 2020, Beijing had also dispatched Guo Yezhou, a vice minister of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, to Kathmandu to try and hammer out a solution to the political crisis then. He got into action then holding talks with Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister Kharga Prasad Oli, and NCP leaders Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal. He had even met Nepali Congress’s (NC) Sher Bahadur Deuba too.

India cannot lose sight of the fact that China would never like to loosen its grip over Nepal, no matter who forms the government in Kathmandu.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that that Sputnik V makers have agreed to supply vaccines in the national capital. The exact quantity of vaccines, however, is yet to be decided.

Addressing the reporters, the Delhi CM said, “Talks are on with them (Sputnik V makers). Their people had a meeting with our officers yesterday. Talks are underway as to what quantity of vaccines will they provide us.”

Kejriwal said this while visited a drive-through vaccination centre at Akash hospital, Sector-12, Dwarka. He also said a government-run drive-through vaccination centre will be launched at Chhatrasal on Friday.

The CM said that several vaccination centres in the national capital are shut due to a shortage of doses and urged the Centre to procure foreign vaccines. He said that India made the world’s first vaccine, and yet is six months behind the whole world.

“There is an acute shortage of vaccines, especially for those between 18-44 years. The government has provided Covishield for those above 45, which will last for a few days. I hope the Central government is making efforts to give Delhi maximum

The Indian forces are set to get a major boost to their surveillance capabilities as they are shortly going to receive their advanced Heron drones from Israel for keeping an eye on the Chinese activities in the Ladakh sector and other areas along the Line of Actual Control with China. Despite the delays caused due to the ongoing global pandemic, the Indian forces are going to get four Israeli drones soon for deployment in the Eastern Ladakh and other sectors along the LAC government sources told ANI.The drones arriving shortly are more advanced than the Herons in the existing inventory and their anti-jamming capability is much better than their previous versions, the sources said.The acquisition of these drones had been done under the emergency financial powers granted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to the defence forces under which they can buy equipment and systems worth Rs 500 crores to upgrade their warfighting capabilities, amid ongoing border conflict with China, they added.According to sources, the other small or mini drones are being acquired from the US that will be provided at the Battalion level to the troops on the ground and the hand-operated drones would be used to attain awareness about a specific location or area in their respective areas of responsibility.The Indian defence forces have been taking these initiatives to acquire weapon systems that can help them in the ongoing conflict with China. The last time such a facility was given to the defence forces was in 2019 right after the Balakot airstrikes against terrorist camps in Pakistan.Using the same facility, the Indian Navy has leased two Predator drones which have been taken from American firm General Atomics.The Indian Air Force had exercised the same powers to acquire a large number of anti-tank guided missiles, long-range precision-guided artillery shells along with the Hammer air to ground standoff missiles with a strike range of around 70 kilometres.

ANI

A day after WhatsApp filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court against new IT rules, the government on Wednesday said that “no Fundamental Right, including the Right to Privacy, is absolute”.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “The Government of India is committed to ensure the Right of Privacy to all its citizens, but at the same time, it is also the responsibility of the government to maintain law and order and ensure national security.”

The minister also stated that “none of the measures proposed by India will impact the normal functioning of WhatsApp in any manner whatsoever and for the common users, there will be no impact”

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Wednesday also called that WhatsApp’s “last minute challenge” to the new social media and intermediary guidelines, all clauses

of which came into effect on 26 May, a “clear act of defiance” and an “unfortunate attempt to keep the guidelines from coming into effect”.

“WhatsApp’s challenge, at the very last moment, and despite having sufficient time and opportunity available during the consultation process and after the rules were enacted, to the Intermediary Guidelines is an unfortunate attempt to prevent the same from coming into effect,” the ministry said in a statement. “Any operations being run in India are subject to the law of the land. WhatsApp’s refusal to comply with the guidelines is a clear act of defiance of a measure whose intent can certainly not be doubted,” it added.

As per all established judicial dictum, no Fundamental Right, including the Right to Privacy, is absolute and it is subject to reasonable restrictions. The requirements in the Intermediary Guidelines pertaining to the first originator of information are an example of such a reasonable restriction, a statement issued by the government said.

When Rule 4(2) of the Intermediary Guidelines is examined through the test of proportionality, then that test is also met. The cornerstone of this test is whether a lesser effective alternative remedy exists. As per the Intermediary Guidelines, the originator of information can only be traced in a scenario where other remedies have proven to be ineffective, making the same a last resort measure. Moreover, such information can only be sought as per a process sanctioned by the law, thereby incorporating sufficient legal safeguards, it added.

Whatsapp LLC had filed a petition on Tuesday evening before the Delhi High Court against the new guidelines of the government under which digital media companies will have to disclose the identity of the “first originator of information” when asked for it.

WhatsApp in its petition said that imposing a requirement to enable the identification of the first originator of information in India would undermine all of these benefits. For example, (i) journalists could be at risk of retaliation for investigating issues that may be unpopular; (ii) civil or political activists could be at risk of retaliation for discussing certain rights and criticizing or advocating for politicians or policies; and (iii) clients and attorneys could become reluctant to share confidential information for fear that the privacy and security of their communications is no longer ensured.

The petition highlighted that no other country compels intermediaries to change their systems to enable the identification of the first originator of information on end-to-end encrypted messaging services. WhatsApp has further contended that the mandate of Rule 4(2) violates “data minimization” principles that dictate that, generally, an online service should only collect and store user data that is essential to provide its service in order to minimize the risks of unauthorised entities accessing that data.

At least four people were killed as several coastal towns of north Odisha and neighbouring West Bengal were ravaged by Cyclone Yaas after it made landfall in Odisha on Wednesday morning. While three died in Odisha, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that a person, who was initially rescued, died “accidentally” later in the state.

Cyclone Yaas, which started at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, crossed the 69-hour life cycle and ended at 5:30 a.m. Thursday. The cyclone has been losing strength since making landfall on Wednesday morning.

The low pressure that had developed near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal gradually increased in strength and turned into Cyclone Yaas on Monday morning. Since then, it has gradually increased in strength, first becoming a “strong cyclone” and then a “very strong cyclone”. The cyclone hit the land south of Baleshwar in Orissa around 9:15 am on Wednesday

The process of hitting the ground is over; Cyclone Yaas is slowly losing strength. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said that at least one crore people in the state were affected by rough weather conditions and high tide arising out of the storm. Three lakh houses have suffered damage. Cyclone Yaas damaged large parts of Bengal’s coastal districts of Purba Medinipur and South 24 Parganas, as sea waves were seen touching coconut tree-tops and cars floating in water. Civil and military authorities had made widespread arrangements to tackle the impact of Cyclone Yaas, which made landfall in Odisha Wednesday morning and brought heavy rainfall to West Bengal. 

In West Bengal, authorities said that around 1,100 villages had been flooded by the storm, leaving at least 50,000 homeless. “But the figure may rise as reports are yet to reach us from interior areas,” state minister Bankim Hazra told Reuters.

Cylone Yaas left of a trail of destruction in Odisha’s Balasore and Bhadrak districts where the severe cyclonic storm made landfall on Wednesday morning. Trees, branches and roofs were seen flying as the wind swept at 150 kmph. In Odisha, around 120 villages had been swamped by heavy rain and sea water whipped up by the cyclone, but people in most areas had already been moved to storm shelters, the state›s top bureaucrat, Suresh Mahapatra, told Reuters.

Meanwhile, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee led from the front to fight the impact of Cyclone Yaas. After spending about 30 hours at the state chief secretariat, Banerjee left “Nabanna” at 5.20 pm on Wednesday. Just as Banerjee had kept an eye from the control room on the overall situation during Cyclone Amphan, she monitored Cyclone Yaas’ movements from the control room. She left for Kalighat this afternoon after continuous monitoring of the situation.

The weather office has forecast light to heavy rains in several parts of South Bengal tomorrow as well. On Tuesday, Banerjee had come to “Nabanna” around 11 pm. The leader spent the whole night like a vigilant watchman, keeping an eye on Yaas’ movements all the time. Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay was also present with the Chief Minister for a long time. He spent most of the last 30 hours, meeting with several district magistrates and police superintendents. Meanwhile, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar came to “Nabanna” on Tuesday evening. He sat in the control room and checked the state›s Yass preparations. Before returning home from “Nabanna” on Wednesday, Banerjee said that she would survey the affected areas by air, adding that though West Bengal witnessed partial impact of the cyclone, it affected about 10 million people. About 3 lakh houses have been damaged, she said said. She will visit South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore to check the situation and hold meetings from time to time.

WITH AGENCY INPUTS