Jharkhand has asked the Centre to provide them with at least 50,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine as cases of the deadly coronavirus surge in the state.

Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta in a statement said he raised the issue at a review meeting chaired by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday.

Gupta said that Jharkhand has run out of Covid-19 vaccine doses and had sent a request to the centre to provide them with at least 50,000 doses to continue the ongoing vaccination drive in the state, however, it’s been two weeks and the vaccine hasn’t arrived in the state yet.

As per the data provided by Jharkhand Health Ministry on Thursday, 11 fresh cases of the coronavirus infection were reported in the state, taking the active caseload to 60, adding that two people successfully recovered from the viral diseased during the past 24 hours.

Gupta said that the majority of Covid-19 patients in the state experienced mild symptoms and were undergoing treatment while in isolation at their homes.

Owing to the rising cases in the country, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday chaired a high-level meeting with state health ministers and principal and additional chief secretaries, wherein he stressed on identifying emergency hotspots by monitoring trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases.

He also highlighted ramping up testing and vaccination besides ensuring the readiness of hospital infrastructure.

The Jharkhand health minister said that Mandaviya told the states to conduct mock drills of infrastructure in hospitals and medical colleges on April 10 and 11 and review the health preparedness with district administrations on April 9.

Gupta also soughtMandaviya’s intervention for approval of four RT-PCR laboratories at Khunti, Lohardaga, Koderma and Pakur from Indian Council of Medical Research.

On Saturday, the active coronavirus cases in the country mounted to 31,194 as 6,155 new cases of the contagious virus were reported during the past 24 hours, as per the updated data provided by the Union Health Ministry’s website.

An unusual incident has come to light from Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district where a group of thieves returned the stolen money to the owner in a fear of being caught. The incident occurred in the Bilha area of the district.

The burglars stole Rs 95,000 from Shobharam Koshale’s house a few days back but returned the money the next day of the theft because they were scared of being arrested.

According to the reports, Koshale sold his village land to Rohit Yadav a few days ago and the land registry was done on March 27. After selling his village land, Kosharam received some of the proceeds in a cheque while the rest was paid in cash.

Of the total cash received, Koshale kept Rs 95,000 in the basement of his house. The next day, when he went to check his basement, the entire stack of money was missing following which he filed an FIR at the Bilha Police Station on April 1.

Soon after, the police began looking for the culprits. However, a bizarre incident happened during the investigations.

As the police started looking for the thieves, Koshale discovered the money kept in his home’s courtyard. Both Koshale and the police were taken aback by this as the full amount of Rs 95,000 was returned by the thieves to the owner.

After the incident, people kept wondering the reason behind them keeping the money back. Many assumed that the thieves left the money back in the house on purpose while others felt that they got scared of the consequences so they decided to leave the stack of money back at the house.

Meanwhile, the police are currently investigating the matter and are looking to nab the thieves as soon as possible.

A court in Andhra Pradesh’s Vishakhapatnam has acquitted twenty-one policemen in a 2007 gang-rape case of 11 tribal women in August 2007. However, the court held that the acquittal was primarily due to the failure of investigating officers to conduct an impartial investigation.

As many as 11 women of the Kondh tribe were allegedly gangraped by police personnel belonging to the Greyhounds special team, 16 years ago at a village in Alluri Sitarama Raju district of Andhra Pradesh.

On Thursday, the XI Additional District and Sessions Judge- cum-Special Court under the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, acquitted the accused cops citing malafide investigation. The trial in the case had commenced in Vishakhapatnam in 2018.

The Special Court, however, noted that the primary reason behind the acquittal was because of the failure of the two investigating officers to conduct a fair and impartial investigation. It also ordered compensation for the rape survivors to be paid through the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA).

A human rights body said that that none of the accused cops were ever arrested and some even retired successfully while some died.

Human Rights Forum (HRF) Andhra Pradesh State Committee, Vice president, M Sarat alleged that the Greyhounds forces raped 11 tribal women in August 2007 but none of them was ever arrested even after a police complaint being filed against them.

The HRF claimed that on August 20, 2007, a 21-member special police party had gone to Vakapally village for combing operations where they sexually assaulted 11 tribal women belonging to the particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG).

The rights body said the fact that the court ordered compensation for the Vakapally rape survivors indicates the Court reposed faith in their depositions.

The HRF claimed that the investigation against the accused cops was compromised from the very beginning and carried out with the motive to protect them, disregarding procedures mandated by the criminal code while the forensic medical examinations were diminished.