The Congress' attack came after former prime minister Manmohan Singh's daughter, Daman Singh, accused the minister of getting a photographer against the wishes of the family.
Announcements will be made on airplanes, ships, metros and at railway stations when India achieves its target of 100 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses while private carrier Spicejet will wrap its planes with posters of this milestone carrying images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and health workers, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday.
Railway officials also indicated that possible 'sabotage' and tampering with the electronic interlocking system, which detects the presence of trains, led to the Friday accident.
According to officials, an additional dose of vaccine is different from a booster dose.
After two years of muted festivities due to COVID-19, crowds thronged churches across the country this Christmas on Sunday for special prayers as people celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ.
Of the 46,164 fresh coronavirus cases recorded in the country in a 24-hour span, 31,445 were in Kerala. Maharashtra has reported 5,031 new cases and 216 fresh fatalities on Wednesday.
More than 43.29 lakh (43,29,673) doses were administered on Friday, according to a provisional report complied at 7 pm.
Covaxin was found to have 78 per cent efficacy against COVID-19 of any severity, 14 or more days after the second dose, and is extremely suitable for low- and middle-income countries due to easy storage requirements, said the global health body.
Asked if the government has decided to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to the entire population free of cost on priority basis and if so, the target fixed to administer the doses, the health minister said according to Revised Guidelines for Implementation of National COVID Vaccination Program, which came into effect from June 21, all citizens aged 18 years and above, irrespective of their income status, are entitled to free vaccination at all government vaccination centres.
The prime minister also visited the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi after the milestone was achieved and interacted with hospital officials.
A meeting between a delegation of the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) and Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya took place, but the doctors' body said, the 'response was not satisfactory'.
These modules will help in building the capacity of the doctors, nurses, paramedics and community health workers across India to deal with long-term effects of Covid.
The suspension will come into effect from 1200 GMT on March 13 at the port of departure. The decision was taken at the meeting of group of ministers held under the chairmanship of Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.
According to health ministry officials, over 92 per cent of the adult population have received at least one dose while over 68 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
India's fertiliser subsidy bill is likely to shoot up by 55 per cent to record Rs 2.5 lakh crore this fiscal as the government will provide additional funds to make up for the spike in cost from higher import price, top sources said on Thursday. The government will ensure that there is no shortage of fertilisers in the country during the kharif (summer-sown) and rabi (winter-sown) season and it is already in talks with major global producers to import key soil nutrients, they added. According to the sources, Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is likely to visit many countries, including Saudi Arabia, Oman and Morocco, soon to secure imports on both short and long term basis.
With development of the Vadhavan port, India will break into the countries with top 10 container ports in the world.
An expert panel of India's Central Drug Authority on Tuesday recommended granting permission to Serum Institute of India (SII) for conducting phase 2/3 trials of Covid vaccine Covovax on children aged 2 to 17 years with certain conditions, official sources said.
There was an environment of "indifference" towards the use of technology in governance before 2014 due to which the poor and the middle class suffered the most, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday. He asserted the current government has ensured last-mile delivery of services with the help of technology, including drones. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating India's biggest drone festival in Delhi, he said, "At a time when we are celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, it is my dream that everyone in India should have a smartphone in his or her hand, every farm should have a drone and every house should have prosperity." The enthusiasm being seen in India about drone technology is amazing and indicates possibilities of an emerging sector of employment generation, the prime minister said.
The languages which are now being offered are Hindi, Punjabi, Assamese, Bengali, Odia, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Urdu and English.
Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Tuesday after repeated stoppages as opposition members continued to protest demanding the revocation of suspension of 12 members.
Punjab has sent an email saying that four deaths suspected to be due to lack of oxygen have been reported in a private hospital in Amritsar district, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in a written reply.
Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have topped an index that ranks states on food safety parameters for the 2020-21 year, according to an FSSAI report unveiled by Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday. The index ranks states on five parameters of food safety: human resources and institutional data, compliance, food testing facility, training and capacity building besides consumer empowerment. Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have topped in the list of large states on the index.
A second wave of Covid driven by the Delta variant engulfed the country in May-June bringing the health system to its knees and leaving people gasping for help.
On production capacity of Covishield, the vaccine being manufactured and supplied by Serum in India under a licensing agreement with Oxford and AstraZeneca, he said the present capacity is 130 million doses per month and always try to increase it further.
The reason is that because of the hybrid immunity after three waves of natural infection and a large proportion of adults receiving both doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the susceptible pool has come down drastically, Lahariya said.
Wishing him, President Droupadi Murmu said the work for nation-building under his incomparable hardwork, dedication and creativity continue to advance.
The stir, led by the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association, has been going on for several days, and FORDA also said that several of its members were 'detained' when they tried to hold a protest march from Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) to Supreme Court.
Gujarat reported 2,165 cases, Maharashtra 1,188, Uttar Pradesh 663, Madhya Pradesh 590, Haryana 339 and Andhra Pradesh 248 cases.
While Covishield supplies would meet the target of 500 mn doses between August and December, it looks like Covaxin would miss the target of 400 mn unless the partner sites of Bharat Biotech ramp up very rapidly, reports Sohini Das.
Bad management, an exhausted government vigilance mechanism, delay in roping in private players, relaxing norms, and over-dependence on antigen tests may be the reason behind the surge, reports Shine Jacob.
The government on Thursday announced a 27 per cent quota for OBCs and 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections in the all-India quota scheme for undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses from the current academic year, 2021-22.
Mandaviya said this is the second phase of the Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package as the Central government had given Rs 15,000 crore earlier for setting up Covid-dedicated hospitals and health centres across the country.
This is the first reshuffle in the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.
India achieved a major milestone in its vaccination programme against COVID-19 as the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 200-crore mark on Sunday.
On when vaccination for children could start as Zydus Cadila's Covid vaccine has been granted emergency use authorisation for those 12-year-old and above, he said children were not being inoculated against COVID-19 on a large scale anywhere in the world though it has been initiated in some countries in a limited manner.
Stating that the fight against COVID-19 is at the final stage, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday cautioned against letting the guard down before it is completely over and requested states to enhance the vaccination coverage and motivate the over 12 crore beneficiaries who are due for their second dose to take it.
Legislative assembly elections in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state are due next year.
In a discussion in Lok Sabha on the COVID pandemic, members called for ban on international flights in view of the outbreak of the Omicron strain and demanded that the government 'accept responsibility' for deaths of lakhs of people during the outbreak.
16 national and regional industry bodies and sectoral business lobbies video-conferenced with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday and raised key concerns facing Indian industry in the wake of the 21-day lockdown over coronavirus.
Given the robust and statute-based death registration system in India, while some cases could go undetected as per the principles of infectious disease and its management, missing out on the deaths is unlikely, the Union health ministry said.
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