Wearing a seat belt could have saved Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde, who died in a road accident, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday and announced a major campaign to spread awareness on observing safety measures while driving.
COVID-19 has propelled him into a place in the sun that he could only have hoped for.
In 2014, Vardhan had defeated Kapil Sibal, then with the Congress, to win the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat while in the 2019 polls, he trounced Congress' Jai Prakash Agarwal.
He also said that in the first phase of distribution of coronavirus vaccine, which would be free for all, shall be provided to most prioritised beneficiaries.
Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party President Vijay Goel, who had projected himself as a chief ministerial contender, on Tuesday said he was "happy" with party's decision to nominate Harsh Vardhan for the post and will continue to work hard to ensure BJP's victory in the assembly polls.
Known for his clean image, Harsh Vardhan will face a stiff challenge of uniting the faction-ridden Bharatiya Janata Party as his nomination to the chief ministerial post comes after a bitter internal squabble that had threatened to derail the party's campaign to wrest power after 15 years in the capital.
Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan sparred on Twitter on Saturday with the Opposition leader raising questions over the emergency use approval given to the indigenously developed vaccine Covaxin and the Bharatiya Janata Party leader hitting back alleging that Tewari was only passionate about spreading rumours.
Union Health Minister and Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party president Harsh Vardhan on Monday said that the government will not hesitate to replace the four-year under-graduate proramme with three year under-graduate course.
After inaugurating a 10-bed make-shift hospital of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in Ghaziabad near Delhi, he said India began formulating its strategy against coronavirus from January 8 as soon as the world came to know about the outbreak of the disease.
The entire wing where the OSD office is located is being sanitised and several staffers, including the OSD, is learnt to have been advised self-quarantine.
India has flattened its Covid-19 graph and 146 districts have reported no new case of the viral disease in the last seven days, 18 in 14 days, six in 21 days and 21 districts in the last 28 days, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Thursday.
He said the government had done everything that was important to handle the COVID-19 situation in the last one year.
'Evidently, something has gone terribly wrong in the state of the Indian Union.' 'The rulers seem nervous that the pandemic is spinning out of control,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Thanking all, including doctors, nurses, healthcare staff, security personnel and journalists, who have been at the frontline in the fight against the pandemic, the minister said they ensured India reaches the stage when vaccine gets delivered to the people.
Tope also admitted that the "chalta hai" (laidback) attitude had creeped in after the government flattened the infection curve.
Among the other names tipped to make it to the Cabinet are Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sarbananda Sonowal, Baijayant Panda.
'We are not dependent only on the two vaccines as the country is working on seven more indigenous vaccines'
As per Dr Vardhan, there are 4,362 COVID-19 care centres across the country where 3,46,856 patients with mild or very mild symptoms can be kept.
A total of 311 people from various districts are under observation, Health Minister K K Shailaja said.
On the COVID-19 tests, the Home Ministry also said from Thursday tests will be done with the new Rapid Antigen method approved by the Indian Council for Medical Research and Delhi will be given priority for these tests. It said 169 testing centres have also been set up across the national capital.
The Indian Medical Association on Monday expressed shock over the 'blatant lie of World Health Organisation certification' for Patanjali's Coronil tablet, which the company claims is an evidence-based medicine to fight COVID-19, and demanded an explanation from Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in whose presence the medicine was launched.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will make a statement at 12 noon in the Rajya Sabha on the border row with China in eastern Ladakh.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday clarified that he does not propose a ban on sex education as suggested by a prominent newspaper through banner headlines.
Here are some other things besides, of course, sex education that we believe should be taught in India's schools.
The minister, who visited the Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre at Chhattarpur to review its COVID-19 management status, also said that "our success" can be seen in the recovery rate which is almost 63 per cent at present.
Catch all the action from the Upper and Lower House of Parliament.
Mehta said if the government so directs, the IOA, in coordination with the concerned National Sports Federations (NSFs), can facilitate the vaccination
Vardhan's elevation to the chairmanship of the 34-member World Health Organisation (WHO) Executive Board comes amid growing calls, including by United States President Donald Trump, to investigate how coronavirus originated in China's Wuhan city and subsequent action by Beijing.
The minister said whatever is being done now are "the perfect scientific advice".
A home ministry spokesperson also denied the reports about Swaraj being appointed as the Governor.
Deshmukh said on Twitter that it was "highly deplorable" that two senior Union ministers endorsed the drug.
While the coronavirus mutated and evolved, citizens let their guard down and all this led to a spike in cases, snowballing into the second wave, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, while addressing American Association of Physicians Of Indian Origin members, promised Narendra Modi-led NDA government's approval within 15 days if Indian-American doctors apply online for the area of choice where they want to serve. Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa reports from San Antonio.
He expressed hope that India will soon have indigenous production of vaccine against coronavirus.
Stepping up its attack on the Union Health Minister over the removal of All India Institute of Medical Sciences Chief Vigilance Officer Sanjeev Chaturvedi, the Aam Aadmi Party on Friday called for the immediate sacking or resignation of Harsh Vardhan.
The senior officials of the health ministry apprised the minister on various improvements that have been made to make the pan India dry run glitch free, such as number of telephone operators has been increased to answer every possible query from the teams on the ground conducting the dry run.
Treasury and opposition members nearly came to blows in Lok Sabha on Friday when Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan condemned in "no uncertain words" the "outlandish" remarks made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Vardhan noted that COVID-19 infection among those vaccinated would be very mild and not progress to an advanced stage.
Bansuri Swaraj, the daughter of former Union minister Sushma Swaraj, will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from the New Delhi seat and incumbent MP Manoj Tiwari from Northeast Delhi as the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced the names of five candidates from the national capital, dropping four MPs -- Meenakshi Lekhi, Harsh Vardhan, Parvesh Verma and Ramesh Bidhuri.
Vardhan said the fatality rate is 3.2 per cent while the recovery rate is progressively increasing and stands at 31.74 per cent.
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