Highly discriminatory: India opposes Covid ‘vaccine passports'
Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, while representing India at the G7 meeting of health ministers, opposed and raised concerns towards using ‘vaccine passports’, calling them “discriminatory” and “disadvantageous for people living in developing countries”.
Stating that in developing nations, “vaccine coverage is far less than that in the developed countries” in a series of tweets, he also added that the percentage of people vaccinated in developing countries is still low as compared to their developed counterparts. He asserted that it is essential to increase the production of coronavirus vaccines and ensure their equitable supply across all countries.
Source- India Today
Maharashtra's 5-level unlock plan: Restaurants, malls to reopen in select districts
The Maharashtra government on June 4 announced a 5-level unlock plan based on Covid-19 positivity rate and availability of oxygen beds. In the late-night order, the state government said that districts in Level 1 will have minimum restrictions, while lockdown-like curbs will be imposed in districts falling in the Level 5 category.
The new order will be implemented from June 7. In districts such as Thane, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, and Solapur with more than one municipal corporation, the district disaster management has to work with the corporations to decide the unlock level based on the positivity rate and oxygen bed occupancy of each.
Source- Indian Express
West Bengal issues vaccination certificate with CM Banerjee’s photo
The West Bengal government is now issuing Covid-19 vaccination certificates in the 18-44 age bracket with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s photograph. Clarifying in an official statement, the government stated that the government has been the one doing all the work of procurement of the vaccines for this age group and hence it has put up the CM’s photo in the certificates.
Moreover, the beneficiaries of the 45+ age group are still getting their certificates with PM Modi’s photo, in conjunction with the rest of the nation.
Source- News18
Centre issues ‘one last notice’ to Twitter over compliance of social media rules
The Centre, on Saturday, issued “one last notice” to Twitter over appointing India-based officers as per the country’s new rules for social media companies, failing which, the government said, it will face “consequences” as per the IT Act and other penal laws. This comes amid an escalating standoff between the central government and the microblogging site.
Source- India Express
India’s Koo eyes opportunity in Nigeria after country bans Twitter indefinitely
Twitter got suspended in Nigeria on Wednesday as it provoked the Nigerian authorities when it deleted a remark from President Buhari's account for violating Twitter regulations after he referred to the country's civil war in a warning about the recent unrest in the southeast. Eyeing this opportunity, Bengaluru-based Twitter lookalike start-up ‘Koo’ is looking into a focused approach in Nigeria.
The start-up plans to capture the nation’s market as Twitter’s friction with governments across the world spans up into more alleged violations in regulations and rifts.
Source- NDTV
BJP and RSS decided to persist with Yogi Adityanath for UP Polls
After a series of high-level meetings in Delhi and Lucknow, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to persist with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as its face for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections due early next year.
This decision wasn't without its share of internal wrangling with there being a fair degree of criticism for Adityanath's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the lack of coordination between his government and BJP’s MLAs and MPs.
But in the end, the party is said to be maintaining the status quo for now.
Source- The Quint
Court allows banks to sell Vijay Mallya's properties to recover debts
A Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court has given a green chit to banks to sell certain real estate assets and securities of the fugitive business tycoon Vijay Mallya to recover their debts. PNB’s Managing Director states that he plans to get his due share of recoveries by selling these properties regardless of Kingfisher’s exposure in PNB.
Mallya, who presently resides in the United Kingdom, was accused of a bank loan fraud of over ₹9,000 crores involving the now-defunct Kingfisher Airline and was declared as a fugitive economic offender in January 2019.
Source- Hindustan Times
Colombia might have had enough of Pablo Escobar’s ‘Cocaine Hippos’
A recent VICE news documentary has shed some light on the ongoing battle between Columbian scientists and Pablo Escobar’s ‘cocaine hippos’. The rather inconspicuous term, ‘cocaine hippos’, is given to these large animals as they were survivors of Escobar's Hacienda Nápoles estate whom he smuggled from a United States’ zoo in the 1980s.
Scientists debate that the hippos have been “getting busy” and have taken over Colombia’s rivers, poisoning the other wildlife with their toxic poop and urine. Regardless, these hippos are a famous tourist attraction with their own theme park and safari tours and are famous amongst the locals as well.
Source- Indy100 (The Independent)
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