340c. 240c. Sunrise: 06:27 am Sunset: 06:54 pm ‘‘IT SEEMS AS IF THE LEADERSHIP IS HAPPILY SLEEPING AT THE WHEELS.” ONUS ON CENTRE TO STEP UP VACCINATION SUPPLIES ‘I AM NOT GOING TO DO WORK FOR THE SAKE OF BECOMING FAMOUS’ Pg 22 When a person goes through a lot of suffering he develops Compassion. Master Choa Kok Sui Vol. 64 No. 290 | THURSDAY | APRIL 8, 2021 | 14 Pages | ` 4 | EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Indore, Bhopal, E-Paper EDIT HEAL THYSELF, STATE TOLD Centre lashes out at State for poor vaccination efforts, says testing is not up to the mark and contact tracing leaves a lot to be desired. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday said that the lackadaisical attitude of the Maharashtra government has singularly bogged down the entire nation’s efforts to fight the virus. In the same breath, he asked the Maharashtra government to pull up its socks in controlling the COVID 19 pandemic, instead of playing politics, spreading lies and creating panic. Accusing the Maharashtra government of its poor vaccination efforts and casual attitude in bat- BETWEEN THE LINES UK ASTRA BAN FOR UNDER-30 B ritons under 30 should not be given Astra Zeneca’s vaccine due to mounting evidence linking it to rare blood clots, UK health chiefs ruled on Wednesday. In a major blow to UK's vaccination rollout, the Government's vaccine advisory group has recommended that healthy people aged 19 to 29 be offered either the Pfizer or Moderna jabs. A review by the drugs watchdog, the MHRA, found that by the end of March 79 out of 20million Britons vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine had suffered deadly blood clots in the brain or arteries, a rate of about one in 250,000. Nineteen of the cases died and three were under the age of 30. The MHRA insisted there was still no concrete proof that the British-made vaccine is causing the clots, but admitted the link was getting firmer. Meanwhile, the European Medicines Agency's safety committee played down fears about the vaccine's link to clotting, describing it as a 'very rare side effect' of the jab. It is not recommending that EU countries restrict its use in any age groups yet until the link has been properly established. 1 IN 3 SURVIVORS HAS NEURO ISSUE O ne in three people who survived Covid-19 have been diagnosed with anxiety and mood disorders, within six months of infection, according to a large study published in the science journal The Lancet Psychiatry. For the study, researchers from the University of Oxford in the UK looked at 14 neurological and mental health disorders in 2,36,379 Covid-19 patients mostly from the US. The findings showed 34 per cent were diagnosed with a neurological or psychiatric condition within six months of infection. The most common condition was anxiety (17 per cent) and mood disorders (14 per cent). Neurological diagnoses such as stroke and dementia were rarer, but among those admitted to intensive care, 7 per cent had a stroke and almost 2 per cent were diagnosed with dementia. Although the individual risks for most disorders are small, the effect across the whole population may be substantial for health and social care systems due to the scale of the pandemic and that many of these conditions are chronic. ASTRA NOTICE TO SERUM ON DELAY A TRIPTI NATH New Delhi dar Poonawalla's Serum Institute of India (SII), the maker of coronavirus vaccine Covishield in India, has reportedly been served a legal notice by AstraZeneca over vaccine supply delays. Pg 17 tling the virus, the Health Minister said, “Today Maharashtra not , only has the highest cases and deaths in the country but also has one of the highest test positivity rates in the world! Their testing is not up to the mark and their contact tracing leaves a lot to be desired. The performance of Maharashtra government in terms of vaccinating healthcare workers and frontline workers is also not great. It is shocking to see how the state Government is putting Maharashtrians in danger by letting people escape institutional quarantine mandate for the sake of their personal ‘vasuli’. CONTD. ON P13 Now, Vaze drops ‘hand grenade’ STAFF REPORTER Mumbai A handwritten letter suspended Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze attempted to submit before the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Wednesday contained grave , allegations of corruption against former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Transport Minister Anil Parab and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Vaze, who is being probed by the NIA in the Antilia bomb scare and in the Mansukh Hiran murder cases, was produced by the agency for further custody when he attempted to submit this letter. The court, however, told him to follow due process and did not accept it. Vindicating the allegations of former Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh that Vaze was asked by Deshmukh to collect money from bars in the city Vaze also , brought up this aspect in his letter. He said he was called in January 2021 to the minister’s residence Dnyaneshwari. “The minister sir told me that there are approximately 1650 bars and restaurants in Mumbai and told me to collect Rs 3 to 3.5 lakh each from these for him,” his letter said, noting that the minister’s PA Kundan was pres- Grave allegations against Deshmukh, Parab, Ajit Pawar ent. Further, his letter says he had told the minister he would not be able to collect the money and that it would be beyond his capabilities. Immediately after coming out of the cabin, he says, PA Kundan advised him that he would have to comply with the minister’s instructions if he wished to keep his job and post intact. Vaze says he had informed the CP about this, and expressed his apprehension that in the future, he was likely to be embroiled in a false controversy “The hon. ourable CP encouraged me and categorically instructed me to not to involve in any such illegal collection of money from anyone and for anyone,” his letter said. The letter details another instance of Deshmukh engaging in corruption, when Vaze was reinstated in service last year. Sharad Pawar had ordered that he be suspended and Deshmukh had informed Vaze of this on phone from Nagpur and then asked him to pay Rs. 2 crore, assuring him he would convince Pawar, the letter says. Vaze had expressed his inability to pay such a huge amount and Deshmukh had told him he could pay later, he says in the letter. As for allegations of corruption by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, the let- ter says in November last year, Vaze was approached by one Darshan Ghodawat who was very close to Pawar. The letter reads, “He explained about illegal gutka and tobacco trade in Maharashtra and gave me phone numbers. The said Mr Ghodawat insisted that I should collect a monthly amount of Rs 100 cr from these illegal gutka sellers. I denied to do such an illegal act and the person warned me that I may lose my post again.” The letter went on to state that since the first day of 2021, he had started all-out efforts against illegal gutka sellers and crores-worth illegal gutka was seized and action was initiated against the owners of factories too. “That on such action, Mr Ghodawat came to my office and conveyed displeasure expressed by Hon Dy CM Sir to him regarding initiation of action against these manufacturers and insisted on me to ask these manufacturers to meet either him or directly the honourable deputy CM sir.” Vaze said he refused to comply with the directions. The letter further contained allegations against minister Anil Parab. It said he was called by Parab to his official bungalow in July or August 2020. CONTD. ON P13 PETROL ` 96.98 Only 3 days’ vaccine stock Per litre The government will allow COVID-19 vaccination at public and private workplaces having about 100 eligible beneficiaries. The drive will be launched on April 11 across states and Union Territories; it will be available to people aged 45 years and above. It is, however, not free as each employee has to pay Rs 250 per dose. Health Secre45 & tary Rajesh Bhushan in a letter to the chief secretaries said a substantial proportion of population aged 45 years and above is in the organised sector of the economy and operates from offices in the private and public sector. The idea is to speed up the vaccination drive by bringing them under its ambit. States can initiate due consultations with private/public sector employers and management to prepare for launch of work place vacci- nation. No family member or outsider would be allowed to get the shot at the workplace, barring the eligible employee. Every such centre in government offices will be tagged to the nearest vaccination facility at a government hospital. Similarly, every centre in private offices will be tagged to the nearest vaccination facility at a private hospital. These designated government and private hospital ABOVE centres will be responsible for the deployment of vaccination teams and plan vaccination sessions at workplace centres under them. A district task force chaired by the district magistrate and an urban task force chaired by the municipal commissioner will select the workplace. The workplace management will handpick a senior staffer as the nodal officer to coordinate with the authorities. Reg. No. Mcs/048/2018-20; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai-400001 IT IS LIKE A TSUNAMI, SAYS CM SANJAY JOG / Mumbai SANJAY JOG Mumbai The Maharashtra government on Wednesday sent out an SOS to the Centre, seeking immediate supply of Covid vaccines, as its current stock would only suffice for three days. Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope, told Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan over a video conference that the ongoing vaccination drive would come to a halt after three days, unless the Centre supplied more vaccines. He further stated that already some vaccination centres in the state had to down shutters as they had run out of stock. “We have only three days’ worth of vaccine in stock. We have requested the Centre for additional stock. This is urgent and necessary giv, en the high number of cases being reported every day . Mumbai too has stocks only for the next three days,” Tope said. “Today (Wednesday), 14 lakh doses are available, which means there is only three days' stock. Every week, we need 40 lakh doses, that is if we vaccinate five lakh people every day ." “Many districts will run out today or tomorrow. The Centre is aware of the situation and (we) have also communicated in writing,” Maharashtra's Principal Secretary (Health) Pradeep Vyas said. However, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan lashed out at what he considered the state government’s attempts to distract attention from its own failures and to spread panic among the people. “Maharashtra Government’s repeated failures to control the spread of pandemic and the inability of the state government to act responsibly is beyond comprehension. To spread panic among the people is to compound the folly further. Allegations of vaccine shortage are utterly baseless,” he claimed. Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar too jumped in, slamming the state government, saying that it should not play politics over vaccination. CONTD. ON P13 ‘Vaze has not followed the rules and he directly and independently reported to the then CP, Mumbai, and he investigated under his guidance bypassing the report system’ “In this regard, the then CP vide their letter dated May 25, 2020, had issued office order to joint CP (Crime) that it is hereby ordered that the posting/transfer of senior police inspector/in charge of all units of Crime Branch, Mumbai will be done with prior approval of CP . As reported by the FPJ, the decision to reinstate Vaze in 2020 was taken at a toplevel review meeting, with Singh. However, the former joint commissioner had strongly opposed Vaze’s posting in ‘Was using high-end luxury cars like Mercedes Benz, Audi and other private vehicles to reach office instead of government vehicles’ CIU. Vaze was directly reporting to Singh, bypassing other senior officers and he was using high-end luxury cars like Mercedes Benz, Audi and other private vehicles to reach office, instead of government vehicles. Vaze worked as the CIU in-charge from June 10, 2020, to March 13, 2021, and in between, 17 criminal cases were under the investigation of the CIU. “Vaze has not followed the rules and he CONTD. ON P13 SOPs leave housing societies in a spot LAST WORD RAVIKIRAN DESHMUKH Mumbai The state government guidelines issued recently under ‘Break the Chain’ and the subsequent circular by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) asking housing societies to strictly implement SOPs or face penal action has sparked a new row. Such is the resentment brewing among the members of cooperative housing societies that their apex body The Mumbai District , Cooperative Housing Societies Federation, has decided to approach the state government to air their problems while implementing the SOPs and to seek clarifications. Not only does the BMC circular issued on April 5 warn housing societies to adhere to protocols but threatens to slap a fine of Rs 10,000 for the first offence and Rs 20,000 for the second one. Further, the local police sta- Undeterred by the protests of traders and other organisations, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday justified the imposition of the ‘BreaktheChain’ restrictions, describing the second wave of Covid-19 as a ‘tsunami’ and saying that breaking the virus chain was the only effective option. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at a , video conference with trade Promises to act on traders’ suggestions in next few days bodies, CAs and company secretaries, made it clear at the outset that the state government was not against them but the curbs had been imposed to combat the virus spread. Thackeray in his ap, peal, sought their cooperation in the fight against virus and assured that the government would amend the guidelines after seriously taking into account their suggestions. Thackeray held a meeting on Tuesday afternoon following outrage from traders across the state and also after the BJP stepped in to flag their issues. “The situation is alarming. The present crisis is quite serious. The government had no desire to impose a lockdown or reCONTD. ON P13 strictions Maharashtra on Wednesday once again reported the highest single-day jump in Covid-19 cases with 59,907 infections surfacing in the last 24 hours. With this, the total number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra stands at 31,73,261. The state also reported 322 new deaths, taking the Covid-19 death toll in Maharashtra to 56,652. SANJAY JOG Mumbai In a scathing report submitted to the home department, Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale has exposed the nexus between his predecessor Param Bir Singh and suspended assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze. Nagrale’s report indicates how Singh pampered Vaze and gave him charge of key crime cases, bypassing senior officers. The report has surfaced a day after the Maharashtra government and former home minister Anil Deshmukh have separately filed petitions in the Supreme Court, challenging the Bombay High Court order for a preliminary probe by the CBI into the corruption allegations levelled by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh. The report, a copy of which is in the possession of The Free Press Journal, further said that Vaze’s posting as in charge of Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) was issued on the basis of oral orders by Singh but the then joint commissioner of police had unwillingly done so. This is despite the fact that the CIU in-charge post is that of an officer of police inspector rank. Per litre www.freepressjournal.in twitter.com/fpjindia Paid jabs at office Report exposes Singh-Vaze nexus OUR BUREAU New Delhi DIESEL ` 87.96 tion has been asked to depute a policeman at a society which has been declared as the micro containment zone - where more than five active Covid cases. If the policeman feels that the society is not following the measures suggested, he has been asked to report it to the assistant municipal commissioner (AMC) of the concerned BMC ward, says the circular signed by BMC Commissioner I S Chahal. This has led to huge confu- sion, said Advocate D S Vader, secretary of the Mumbai District Co-op Housing Federation Ltd. “We are receiving a number of complaints, as well as queries on how to implement these SOPs. We have not been taken into confidence either by the government or the BMC,” he said. Some societies feel the expectations of the BMC have put the elected bodies in a spot. CONTD. ON P13 Cops deny any money talk with Anil Deshmukh SANJAY JOG / Mumbai In written statements by DCP Raju Bhujbal (Enforcement) and Assistant Commissioner Sanjay Patil to Joint Commissioner of Police Milind Bharambe, the duo has submitted that Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had never demanded the collection of Rs 3 lakh each per month from 1,750 bars and restaurants. Instead, Deshmukh had himself asked Sachin Vaze about whether there was extortion of money from these bars going on. Their statements were recorded in connection with former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh’s charges of corruption and misconduct against Deshmukh. Singh, after being shunted out as Mumbai police commissioner on March 17, wrote a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on March 20, in which he had alleged that Deshmukh had asked police officer Sachin Vaze to collect Rs100 crore per month from bars and restaurants. Deshmukh, who had strongly denied these charges, resigned as home minister on Monday citing , ‘moral grounds’ soon after the Bombay high court ordered a CBI probe into the allegations levelled by Singh. The statements by Bhujbal and Patil are important, as Singh, in his ‘letter bomb’, had said that he had been informed by ACP Sanjay Patil about the home minister’s demand for money collection while CONTD. ON P13