FREE PRESS Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023 INDORE BHOPAL UJJAIN MUMBAI RNI No. 38281/83 PUNE - VOL. XXXVII NO. 302 | INDORE | MONDAY | APRIL 12, 2021 | PAGES 12 Entire state won't be placed under lockdown, says CM WWW.FREEPRESSJOURNAL.IN EDIT DESPITE BAN, BID TO STOKE VARANASI ROW Pg- 6 FOR 24X7 UPDATES CORONA CURFEW extended to Mandla, Dewas & Panna News Brief Naravane calls for rise in budget for UN peacekeepers DHAKA: Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane on Sunday urged the United Nations to enhance the budget for its peacekeeping missions and emphasised the need to provide appropriate logistics and improved technological support for the blue helmet missions in view of the emerging challenges. Pawar to undergo gall bladder surgery on Apr 12 MUMBAI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar was on Sunday admitted to a hospital here for the gall bladder surgery scheduled on Monday, party leader Nawab Malik said. "Sharad Pawar was advised to rest for seven days after he underwent a medical procedure (last month). It was then decided that the surgery for the removal of his gall bladder will be performed after 15 days. Accordingly, Pawar was admitted to Breach Candy hospital on Sunday," he said. BJP withdraws candidature of Sengar's wife LUCKNOW: The BJP on Sunday withdrew the candidature of former MLA and Unnao rape convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar's wife from the Uttar Pradesh panchayat polls. The BJP had made Sangeeta Sengar a candidate for the district panchayat member from Ward No. 22 of Fatehpur Chaurasi, according to a list released by it earlier. NIA arrests Vaze aide Riyaz Kazi MUMBAI: The NIA on Sunday arrested police officer Riyaz Kazi, an associate of suspended cop Sachin Waze, in connection with the case of an explosives-laden SUV found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence, a police official said. After his arrest, Kazi was produced before a holiday court here which remanded him in the NIA custody till April 16 for further probe into the case. 3 drown in pond RAISEN : Three boys drowned in a pond in Raisen district while they were fishing, police said on Sunday. The incident occurred on Saturday in a pond close to a stone quarry near Vijanhai village. "When the children did not return home till late inthe evening, their kin started a search and found their bodies floating in the pond in the night. A case has been registered and further probe was underway," he said There are several closed stone quarries on SilwaniUdaipura road. 372 cases at Kumbh HARIDWAR: Haridwar in Uttarakhand reported 372 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, less than 24 hours before the second 'Shahi Snan' in the holy city. The 'Shahi Snan' is a ritual of the ongoing Maha Kumbh, which is held once every 12 years at each of India's four riverbank pilgrimage sites. 923 new cases, 6 deaths in city A security person stops commuters during the lockdown in Bhopal on Sunday Hamidia Hospital, Bhopal and a contract was being signed with RKDF Hospital. As many as 4,000 units of Remdesivir injection would soon arrive and talks were on with the companies for supplying jabs to private hospitals. 25% govt staff to attend offices The increasing number of corona cases has hit the system hard again. The govt issued an order on Sunday that 25% of class III andIV staff would go to Mantralay and other offices during the lockdown. Their duty will rotate on the basis of 25% of staff. Nevertheless, all class one and class two officers have to go to office. The collectors have been authorised to take a decision on the presence of officers and staff. OUR STAFF REPORTER Indore As many as 923 patients tested positive out of 6476 . samples on Sunday Rate of positive patients was recorded at 14.25%. Total number of positive patients reached 79,434. Six deaths were reported taking the toll to 1005. According to the bulletin, reports of total samples received till Sunday was 9,93,307. As many as 5257 samples were tested nega. tive on Sunday Department took 5858 more samples for testing-- 3298 RTPCR and 2560 Rapid Antigen Tests. As many as 7917 patients are . getting treatment in city Total 70512 patients have been discharged so far. Police thrash corona patient, family members Two cops line-attached BHOPAL: Family members of a corona affected patient were badly thrashed by Chai-gaon-makhan police. The SHO and one more staff were line attached with immediate effect. The incident occurred in village Sirsod Banjari where a team of doctors reached to take the corona-affected person to the hospital. Some four days back sample of the person was taken and on Sunday the report confirmed that he was corona positive. The family members asked the team that they wanted to keep him home isolation. Mother of the patient is an Asha worker. But the doctors team did not pay any attention to the family's appeal and tried to take the patient forcibly to the hospital. A squabble occurred between them in which some of the team members got injured. The team reported the matter to the police, who reached the village and started thrashing the patient and also other family members. A video went viral of social media in which the local MLA also reached there in support of the victims. The villagers lay siege of the police station and raised slogans against the police. SP Vivek Singh informed Free Press that SHO Ganpat Kanel and one more cop had been line attached. Merc soars over Cooch Behar killings as Bengal simmers EC cites Didi's gherao CRPF remark as objectionable A With 54 seats spread across seven districts, north Bengal has the potential to be a game changer TMC in 2016 Assembly polls had bagged 25 seats in north Bengal. But in 2019, the wind was in favour of the saffron camp, which won seven of the eight Lok Sabha seats and stayed ahead in at least 35 assembly segments. Anand Burman was shot dead at the very same polling booth, however, Mamata Didi condoled only the deaths of the other four people. CONTD. ON P8 Three killed as unknown vehicle knocks their motorcycle AGENCIES Narsinghpur Three persons were killed after an unidentified vehicle knocked down their motorcycle in Madhya Pradesh's Narshinghpur district, po. lice said on Sunday The accident took place on Saturday night on National Highway No. 44, Kareli police station's inspector Anil Singhai said. An unidentified vehicle hit the two-wheeler near a hotel, located about 18 km from the district headquarters, the official said. The victims, identified as Rakesh Patel (35), his son Rohit (18) and another person Ayush Patel (18), died on the spot, he said. The bodies were handed over to their relatives after post-mortem, he said. Efforts were on to identify the offending vehicle and its driver, the official said. 37.20c. 20.60c Sunrise : 06.15 Sunset : 06.43 THOUGHT FOR THE DAY If you make someone feel guilty about their mistakes, then you have not forgiven them. That Govt bans Remdesivir exports till Covid situation improves AGENCIES New Delhi In view of increased demand for Remdesivir due to a surge in Covid cases, the Centre on Sunday said the export of the antiviral injection and its Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) has been banned till the situation improves. In addition, to ensure easy access of the drug, which is used in treatment of coronavirus, to hospitals and patients, all domestic manufacturers of Remdesivir have been advised to display on their website details of their stockists and distributors, the Union Health Ministry said. Drugs inspectors and other officers have been directed to verify stocks, check malpractices and also take other effective actions to curb hoarding and black marketing. State health secretaries will review this along with drug inspectors of the respective states and UTs, it said. "India is witnessing a recent surge in Covid cases. As on April 11, there are 11.08 lakh active cases and they are steadily increasing. This has led to a sudden spike in demand for Remdesivir injection used in treatment of Covid patients," the ministry said.There is a potential for further increase in this demand in the coming days, it stated. Seven In- guilt itself is a punishment. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji 25,000 REMDESIVIR VIALS FOR MP MGM Medical College on Sunday received 25, 000 doses of Remdesivir for patients across the state. "We have received this consignment and it will be distributed across the state," said MGM dean Dr Sanjay Dixit. As per the distribution, hospitals associated with MGM Medical College will get over 7500 doses while the health department will Full report on P3 get over 1500 doses. 5 MORE VAX BY OCTOBER As more and more states flag shortage of Covid vaccine doses, the Central government has pressed the accelerator to scale up vaccine production. Top government sources told ANI that by end of the third quarter of this year, India will be getting vaccines from five additional manufacturers. India currently manufactures Covishield and Covaxin. These additional vaccines are Sputnik V (in collaboration with Dr. Reddy's), Johnson & Johnson (in collaboration with Biological E), Novavax (in collaboration with Serum India), Zydus Cadila's vaccine, and Bharat Biotech's Intranasal Vaccine. Out of almost 20 candidates in various clinical and pre-clinical stages, Sputnik V vaccine will get the nod first – latest by June, if all goes well. Johnson and Johnson ( Bio E) will be available by August, Cadilla Zydus also by August, Novavex (Serum) by Sept and Nasal Vaccine (Bharat) by October. dian companies are producing the injection under voluntary licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences, USA. They have an installed capacity of about 38.80 lakh units per month, the ministry said. "In light of the above, Government of India has prohibited the exports of Remdesivir injection and Remdesivir Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients till the situation improves," it said. The Department of Pharmaceuticals has been in contact with the domestic manufacturers to ramp up the drug's production, it added. Government of India has also advised states that the extant 'National Clinical Management Protocol for Covid', which is based on evidence, has been developed after many interactions by committee of experts and it is the for document guiding Remdesivir is listed as an in, vestigational therapy i.e. where informed and shared decision making is essential, besides taking note of contra indications mentioned in the detailed guidelines, it said. CBI questions personal staffers of Deshmukh MUMBAI ROBIN ROY fter the gunshots by CISF personnel at Cooch Behar during the fourth phase of Bengal elections, there's an eerie silence which is deafening. The goonj of the bullet shots is gradually getting shriller. Arguing that Saturday's firing would prove to be a "turning point" in the pot-boiler Bengal polls, Bimal Gurung, chief of one of the two GJM factions, said that the BJP would face voters' wrath in the remaining phases in north Bengal. "During the 2017 Gorkhaland agitation, many people were killed... The TMC subsequently faced the music in the 2019 general election when it lost all eight Lok Sabha seats in north Bengal. This time, the BJP is set to meet the same fate," he claimed. Meanwhile, Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused Mamata Banerjee of "politicising" the poll violence in Cooch Behar. Five people, including an 18-year-old firsttime voter, were killed in two separate incidents of poll-related violence in Cooch Behar. He said in the morning, a first-time voter WEATHER WHAT FASCINATES AYUSHMANN KHURRANA? Pg-12 OVER 1000 DEATHS OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL Amidst rising number of corona cases, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said that the entire state would not be placed under lockdown. Chouhan has further said the crisis management committee will take a decision after holding discussions with people in the districts. Nevertheless, the lockdown has been extended in Mandla and Dewas to April 19. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Chouhan on . Sunday The lockdown was extended in Panna till April 15 because of spurt in number of corona cases. Chouhan said lockdown was not the solution to the situation arising out of the pandemic because financial activities must go on. People should themselves declare corona curfew, he said, adding that the government launched an awareness campaign asking people not to come out of their res. idences unnecessarily He said that there was enough beds and oxygen for patients in every district. The CM said that 250 beds were being increased in `3 Quality at Value The CBI on Sunday questioned two personal staffers of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in connection with the allegations of corruption levelled against him by former Mumbai police comBir Param missioner Singh, officials said. Deshmukh's personal assistant Kundan Shinde and personal secretary Sanjeev Palande were asked to appear before the CBI team in connection with its ongoing preliminary enquiry (PE) into the case following directives of the Bombay High Court, they said. Both of them were being questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at the DRDO guest house in suburban Santacruz, the officials said. Singh had in a letter alleged that Palande was present when Deshmukh allegedly asked suspended cop Sachin Waze to allegedly extort over Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants of Mumbai, they said. Waze, who was arrested last month by the NIA in connection with the case of an explosives-laden SUV found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's house, in his statement had reportedly claimed Shinde waspresent during one such conversation.The agency started its preliminary enquiry into the bribery of allegations against Deshmukh on Tuesday on the orders of the high court. Migrants from Maharashtra arrived at Patna railway station to go to their native place,amid rise in Covid-19 cases across the country, in Patna on Sunday Model Code only for political parties? FP NEWS SERVICE T he Election ComModel mission Code - which expressly forbids reference to the armed forces in election campaigns – seems to hold good only for political parties. The commission, it itself gives seems, greater latitude in the matter. In the tweet in question put out by the EC, the text reads: . "They sacrifice for their country Can't you even for the country?" Below this text is the silhouette of the Amar Jawan Jyoti - a war memorial at India Gate that honours the 1971 war martyrs. The tweet also depicts iconic cartoonist RK Laxman's 'common man' paying homage to the memorial, and asserts: "Vote is not only your right, but . also your duty Cast your vote fearlessly". The tweet was posted Saturday, as Bengal voted in the latest phase of polling. The matter has cropped up in the past too, necessitating EC advisories prohibiting reference to the armed forces. Similar ob- jections were raised when political placards showed PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah with cut outs of Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was hailed as a national hero after he shot down a Pakistani F-16 fighter jet in February 27. The EC had then responded with alacrity by asserting that the armed forces are "apolitical and neutral stakeholders in a modern democracy" and asked political parties across the country to desist from using photographs of defence personnel on hoardings or posters in the run-up to polling. "It is therefore necessary that political parties and leaders exercise great caution while making any reference to the Armed Forces in their political campaigns," the Election Commission had said. , According to a report in NDTV the EC has defended the allusion to the armed forces in the tweet. CONTD. ON P8 'Natanz atomic site blackout act of N-terrorism' DUBAI KKR kicked off their IPL 2021 in style as they managed to defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 10 runs in Chennai on Sunday. The victory was set up by batting heroics of Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi as KKR put up a strong 186/6 on board in 1st innings. Iran on Sunday described a blackout at its underground Natanz atomic facility an act of “nuclear terrorism,” raising regional tensions. Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Iran, of Organization stopped short of directly blaming anyone for the incident. Details remained few about what happened early Sunday morning at the facility, which initially was described as a blackout caused by the electrical grid feeding the site. Many Israeli media outlets offered the same assessment that a cyberattack darkened Natanz and damaged a facility that is home to sensitive centrifuges. While the reports offered no sourcing for the evaluation, Israeli media main- tains a close relationship with the country's military and intelligence agencies. If Israel caused the blackout, it further heightens tensions between the two nations, already engaged in a shadow conflict across the wider Middle East. “To thwart the goals of this terrorist movement, the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue to seriously improve nuclear technology on the one hand and to lift oppressive sanctions on the other hand,” Salehi said, accord. ing state TV He added: “While condemning this desperate move, the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasises the need for a confrontation by the international bodies and the (International Atomic Energy Agency) against this nuclear terrorism.”