For the last few days, the Congress MLA and former Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu is showing some softness towards the state government. Sidhu, who was continuously tweeting against Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and the government till a few days ago, has now turned his attacks towards the Delhi government (Aam Aadmi Party) as well as Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). In the last two series of Sidhu’s tweets, the attack was mainly on the Badal family and the Delhi government and in his tweets on Sunday also, he targeted the SAD.

Political experts are linking it to the ongoing turmoil in the Punjab Congress. At present the talks about reshuffle in the Punjab Cabinet and organizational structure of the state Congress are in full swing. While there are speculations of two ministers being replaced with the entry of three new faces in the state government, there is also speculation about what will be the form of change in the structure of the state Congress? In such a situation, what role will the party assign to Navjot Sidhu’ is the most important question of the moment. Along with this, there is also curiosity about which ministers will be relieved from the Punjab government and which new faces will be part of the cabinet.

However, till the formation of a three member committee at the national level by the Congress High Command to resolve the party’s Punjab dispute, the tussle between the senior leaders of the state was at its peak. Then the 3-member committee listened one by one to about 200 senior Congress leaders of the state including Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu. Navjot Singh Sidhu also had a meeting with senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi a few days ago. After that Rahul and Priyanka held consultations with Congress National President Sonia Gandhi regarding the meeting, but in the meantime Sidhu’s attacks on the state government continued.

Then Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had a meeting with Sonia Gandhi and after that, while addressing the media, he said that whatever the order of the Congress President will be accepted by him. This made one thing clear that the party has prepared a formula to resolve the dispute of Punjab Congress. After that, suddenly the attitude of Sidhu’s tweets also changed and instead of Punjab government, Shiromani Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party came under his target. Due to this, the talks have gained momentum that somewhere there is going to be an adjustment on the important position of Navjot Sidhu and he has also got a hint about this.

Meanwhile, the interest of the people in the speculation of reshuffle in the state cabinet has also increased considerably.

National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court has framed charges in a ten year old case related to terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir. Hizbul Mujahideen supreme commander and many Pakistan based operatives of the terror outfit have been named in the case.

Special Judge (NIA), Patiala House Courts, New Delhi pronounced order on charge in NIA Case RC 11/2011/NIA/DLI against accused persons namely Mohammad Shafi Shah alias Doctor of Watmohalla, Papchan, Bandipora, Talib Lali of Bazipora, Muzaffar Ahmad Dar alias Gaznavi of Chichiloora, Mushtaq Ahmad Lone alias Mushtaq Aalam of Bijbehara, Anantnag and framed charges against them under various sections of IPC and UA(P) Act in RC-11/2011/NIA/DLI.

NIA had registered the case as RC No. 11/2011/NIA-DLI dated 25.10.2011 under Section 120B read with 121A of Indian Penal Code and Section 17, 18, 39 & 40 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 against accused persons based in Pakistan. The prime accused in the case include Mohammad Yusuf Shah alias Syed Salahuddin, self-styled Commander in Chief of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) and Chairman United Jihad Council (UJC), Gulam Nabi Khan alias Ameer Khan, self-styled Deputy Commander in Chief of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Mehboob-ul-Haq, Chairman Jammu Kashmir Affectees Relief Trust (JKART), Masroor Dar, General Secretary, JKART), (5) Masood Sarfaraz & 6) Ameer belonging to Hizb-e-Islami, a Pakistan based organization supporting terrorist activities in J&K by providing funds from Pakistan to HM. NIA had earlier submitted charge sheet against 12 accused persons including Syed Salahuddin and Ghulam Nabi Khan.

According to NIA, investigation had revealed that during the year 2004 to 2011, illegal funding was made to the tune of over 80 crore from Pakistan to HM for carrying out the terrorist activities in India. “Accused Mohammad Shafi Shah was an active terrorist of HM and he had collected huge amount from Pakistan and distributed the funds to the active cadres of HM in J&K to carry out the terrorist acts,” it said adding accused Talib Lali was a co-conspirator and he used to collect funds from Mohammad Shafi Shah and further distributed the funds to the active terrorists of HM in Kashmir valley.

NIA said that he also motivated and recruited youngsters to join HM. According to the charges, accused Muzaffar Ahmad Dar (Chief Operation Commander of HM) had hatched a criminal conspiracy for furtherance of terrorist activities of HM in India by raising funds.

NIA further said that accused Mushtaq Ahmad Lone was in contact with accused Zaffar Hussain Bhatt alias Khursheed, top leader of HM, managing finance of HM in Pakistan. Agency sources said that Mushtaq Ahmad Lone used to receive funds from Pakistan through Hawala, Human couriers etc. and further distributed the funds to the HM cadres and family members of the killed cadres of HM.

On Sunday, three suspected terrorists of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were arrested from south Kolkata’s Haridevpur area, police said. The arrests were made by the Kolkata Police’s Special Task Force (STF), they said. According to sources, vital documents and diaries have been recovered from the detainees.

As per STF officials, three youths who have been arrested were renting a house in Behala, South Kolkata, and have been living there for a year. They also changed their identities and claimed to be Indian citizens, officials said. Several other documents including Bangladeshi passports were found with the accused. Although the police are investigating whether they are real or fake.

The detainees have been identified as Naziur Rahman Pavel, 30; Mekail Khan, 30; and Rabiul Islam, 22. After interrogation, officials recovered a diary that contains the names and phone numbers of the JMB leaders. Investigations have revealed that the detainees have been in touch with ISIS through their Facebook accounts.

Many JMB militants have been arrested so far, mainly from Birbhum, Malda, or Murshidabad and the arrest of JMB militants in this manner in Kolkata has created a stir.

JMB insurgency has been evident in Bengal, especially since the Khagragarh incident. In December last year, police arrested a man namely Nazimuddin from Birbhum. He was a member of JMB’s Birbhum module. Hence, the subsequent arrest of three people at a time is being hailed as a major success for the STF branch of the Kolkata Police.

Earlier, the police received the inputs about the activation of the JMB Slipper Cell in Kolkata. Later, the police started a man-hunt.

Police also tapped and decrypted the telephonic conversations of the suspects and took vital leads from there. Following the leads, the STF finally succeeded in nabbing the three people from Kolkata.

According to sources, vital information has been procured from the confiscated mobile phones of the suspects. Detectives have obtained the phone numbers of several top JMB leaders.

Police have learned that there were many cases related to the name of Joseph alias Naziur Rahman before. Joseph had also spent three years in prison. Moreover, he had contacts with JMB top leader Al Amin. The militant leader used to keep in touch with Joseph from Bangladeshi jails.

But why are the members of JMB Slipper Cell active again? Meanwhile, the police are trying to find out if the trio had plans to carry out a terror attack in Kolkata.

Zika Virus is a new concern in Kerala, as nearly 15 cases have been reported from the region— one case was reported from the region adjacent to Tamil Nadu–Kerala border and other cases have been reported in the Tiruvandhapuram district of Kerala

The state government has also formulated an action plan to check the spread of the virus. As a measure, the Centre has also sent an expert team to monitor the Zika virus disease in southern states.

The neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu has also intensified the vigil near the TN – Kerala borders to keep the contagion under check. Tight vigilance has been set up at 15 points of borders and check posts in both the states. E-pass is also a mandatory requirement for travelling from Kerala to Tamil Nadu.

Kerala’s health minister Veena George will hold a meeting with health officials, experts, government officials and other senior experts to chart out the plan to tackle the Zika virus. In the meeting, they will also be discuss the spread of the Covid-19 Delta variant in the state, sources said.

The Zika Virus Disease (ZVD) arrives along with the symptoms like fever, rashes, conjunctivitis and joint pain. However, few people die from ZVD and only one in five develops symptoms. The doctors who treated the first Zika virus patient in Kerala have said that the Zika virus is not a very big concern.

As the cases have been reported in Kerala only, the neighbouring states Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are also on high alert. Both the governments are taking multiple steps to ensure that the cases don’t affect the neighbouring states.

“We are stepping up special vigil to monitor the mosquito-borne disease. Coronavirus is the most common infection in the current stage. If the person continues to have fever and headache symptoms, they will be tested for dengue first. If they test negative in the dengue test, then we will forward the samples to the National Institute of Virology for testing for the Zika Virus. But if the Zika Virus is reported in Tamil Nadu, the state government will take steps for the prevention of it. I have already been in touch with all district collectors across Tamil Nadu and we have informed them to monitor the mosquitoes spreading in all districts,” said Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Dr. Radhakrishnan.

India’s inoculation drive, after administering nearly 86 lakh doses on 21 June, has slowed down. While the number plummeted to just 17 lakh on 27 June, as per the latest data shared by the Health Ministry, 37,23,367 vaccine doses were administered on Sunday, taking India’s cumulative vaccination coverage to 37.60 crore. Meanwhile, Maharashtra, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are constantly bickering about vaccine shortage, saying they are left with no option but to shut down vaccination centres.

As vaccine numbers have come down, politics has returned in full fervour. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has alleged that that the vaccination figures of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are fake. “We have administered over 87 lakh Covid-19 vaccines (first dose). Vaccination in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat is fake. BJP members can’t question their leaders as they will be called traitors,” Baghel said. The Chhattisgarh CM was in Delhi on Sunday to meet his party leadership. 

The Central government, on the other hand, has brushed aside such allegations, saying more than 1.44 crore (1,44,03,485) balance and unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states/UTs and private hospitals to be administered.

The Union government, however, drew flak from former Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya, who said that India’s current vaccination rate was “simply not good enough”. He said that the country needs to achieve daily rate of at least 5 to 6 million jabs if the government wanted to inoculate eligible population by end of this year.  

“India’s current vaccination rate of 3 to 4 million per day is simply not good enough. We need to up our game to achieve daily rate of at least 5 to 6 million jabs. Not clear whether the cause is hesitation or insufficient production,” Panagariya said.

The slowdown in vaccination drive has raised the concerns as healthcare experts have already warned about a potential third wave hitting country in September-October. Almost all of them hold that the ferocity of upcoming Covid-19 wave in India would solely depend on vaccination coverage and Covid-appropriate behaviour.

Meanwhile, India reported 41,506 new cases in the last 24 hours. Less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 14 days in a row, taking the country’s active caseload at 454,118. Positivity rate has remained less than 3% for 20 consecutive days, and has remained below 5% for 34 consecutive days now, the Health Ministry data stated.

Under Unlock 7.0 in Delhi, the Arvind Kejriwal government has allowed academic gatherings and meetings in schools and colleges from Monday. However, the students will not be able to attend the institutions physically.

Delhi on Sunday reported as many as 53 new Covid-19 cases and 3 deaths, the city health bulletin said. This is the lowest single-day rise this year. With these numbers, the cumulative total reached 14,35,083, and the toll touched 25,015. Currently, the number of active cases in the national capital is 743. Meanwhile, the positivity rate stands at 0.07%.

“Only teachers and professors will be allowed inside educational institutions for online lectures and other administrative work,” said the notification issued by the government.

The exemption has also been given for Delhi Police and Army personnel to attend skill training classes. They will no longer be required to take permission from the Department of Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) to attend these programmes.

Not more than 50 per cent gathering will be allowed at the auditorium and assembly hall of the school or educational institution, it said.

Spas, social, political, cultural, religious, and other such gatherings continue to remain prohibited.

Last week, the DDMA allowed stadiums and sports complexes to reopen for those training for national and international competitions or to hold such events. However, spectators will continue to be prohibited from entering the stadiums.

Delhi Metro trains and public transport buses have already been allowed to operate with 50 per cent seating capacity under the phased easing of coronavirus restrictions.

Since it was placed under complete lockdown between April 19 and May 30, Delhi has been opening up in a phased manner as the infection rate continues to decline.

Meanwhile, as per an ANI report, more than 90 per cent of the Delhi Police staff fully vaccinated against Covid-19, while nearly all received the first jab. Seventy per cent of police family members have also received both the doses of vaccine and the police force is hopeful to achieve full vaccination shortly.

Police Commissioner Balaji Srivastava also interacted with police personnel through a webinar and exhorted all to encourage their kin to get vaccinated at the earliest.

Although 12 policemen have succumbed to the virus despite having received both doses, the recovery rate remains more than 99 per cent among those who have been vaccinated.

WITH AGENCY INPUTS