Model Code of Conduct comes into force for Assembly polls 2021; guidelines seek to ensure level playing field

Assembly elections in four states and one Union Territory will begin from 27 March, 2021 and the polling process will end on 2 May.

Nearly 18.68 crore electors are eligible to cast their votes at 2.7 lakh polling stations in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry during the period, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said in a press conference on Friday.

With the announcement of the polling dates, the Model of Conduct has come into force in the four states and one Union Territory. Here is an overview of what it entails.

What is the Model Code of Conduct

Model Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission to regulate political parties and candidates prior to elections, to ensure free and fair polls. This is in keeping with Article 324 of the Constitution, which gives Election Commission the power to supervise elections to the Parliament and state legislatures.

The MCC is operational from the date that the election schedule is announced till the date that results are announced.

The idea behind MCC is that political parties and their candidates should have a respectable competition with their opponents, have constructive criticism against the opponent's policies and not resort to mudslinging and personal attacks. The MCC is intended to help the poll campaign maintain high standards of public morality and provide a level playing field for all parties and candidates.

Evolution of MCC

Model Code of Conduct was first introduced in Kerala ahead of the state Assembly election in 1960. It was a set of instructions to political parties regarding election meetings, speeches, slogans, etc. In the 1962 general elections to the Lok Sabha, the MCC was circulated to recognised parties, and state governments sought feedback from the parties.

However, it was only in 1974, just before the mid-term general elections, that the EC released a formal Model Code of Conduct. This Code was also circulated during parliamentary elections of 1977.

Till 12 September, 1979, the MCC was meant to only guide the conduct of political parties and candidates. After September 1979, the EC was apprised of the misuse of official machinery by parties in power. The EC was told that ruling parties monopolised public spaces, making it difficult for others to hold meetings. There were also examples of the party in power publishing advertisements at the cost of the public exchequer to influence voters, The Indian Express report said.

At the request of several political parties, just before the 1979 Lok Sabha election, the EC released a revised Model Code of Conduct with seven parts, with one part devoted to the party in power and what it could and could not do once elections were announced.

There have been several revisions to the MCC, the latest one being in 2014 when the Commission introduced Part VIII on manifestos, pursuant to the directions of the Supreme Court.

What are the key provisions of Model Code of Conduct

The MCC contains eight provisions dealing with general conduct, meetings, processions, polling day, polling booths, observers, party in power, and election manifestos. According to the PRS Legislative Research, there are total eight provisions under the MCC:

1. General Conduct: Criticism of political parties must be limited to their policies and programmes, past record and work. Activities such as; using caste and communal feelings to secure votes; criticising candidates on the basis of unverified reports; bribing or intimidation of voters; and organising demonstrations or picketing outside houses of persons to protest against their opinions, are prohibited.
2. Meetings: Parties must inform the local police authorities of the venue and time of any meeting in time to enable the police to make adequate security arrangements.
3. Processions: If two or more candidates plan processions along the same route, organisers must establish contact in advance to ensure that the processions do not clash. Carrying and burning effigies representing members of other political parties is not allowed.
4. Polling day: All authorised party workers at polling booths should be given identity badges. These should not contain the party name, symbol or name of the candidate.
5. Polling booths: Only voters, and those with a valid pass from the Election Commission, will be allowed to enter polling booths.
6. Observers: The Election Commission will appoint observers to whom any candidates may report problems regarding the conduct of the election.
7. Party in power: The MCC incorporated certain restrictions in 1979, regulating the conduct of the party in power. Ministers must not combine official visits with election work or use official machinery for the same. The party must avoid advertising at the cost of the public exchequer or using official mass media for publicity on achievements to improve chances of victory in the elections. Ministers and other authorities must not announce any financial grants, or promise any construction of roads, provision of drinking water, etc. Other parties must be allowed to use public spaces and rest houses and these must not be monopolised by the party in power.
8. Election manifestos: Added in 2013, these guidelines prohibit parties from making promises that exert an undue influence on voters, and suggest that manifestos also indicate the means to achieve promises.

What is permitted under the MCC for the party in power?

It was only in 1979 that the Election Commission revised the MCC and added a section to regulate the 'party in power' and prevent it from gaining an unfair advantage at the time of elections.

The MCC forbids ministers (of state and central governments) from using official machinery for election work and from combining official visits with electioneering. Advertisements extolling the work of the incumbent government using public money are to be avoided. The government cannot announce any financial grants, promise construction of roads or other facilities, and make any ad hoc appointments in government or public undertaking during the time the Code is in force. Ministers cannot enter any polling station or counting centre except in their capacity as a voter or a candidate.

However, the Commission is conscious that the MCC must not lead to governance grinding to a complete halt. It has clarified that the MCC does not stand in the way of ongoing schemes of development work or welfare, relief and rehabilitation measures meant for people suffering from drought, floods, and other natural calamities. However, the EC bars the use of these works for election propaganda.

Does social media come under MCC?

The EC has included content posted by political parties and candidates on the Internet, including on social media sites, under the MCC for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. On 25 October, 2013, the EC laid down guidelines to regulate the use of social media by parties and candidates. Candidates have to provide their email address and details of accounts on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc., and add the expenditure on advertisements posted on social media to their overall expenditure for the election.

CEC Sunil Arora said that all major social media platforms — Facebook, Twitter, Google, WhatsApp and ShareChat — are committed to accepting only pre-certified political advertisements, sharing expenditure on it with the Election Commission (EC) and adhering to the "silence period" that comes into effect 48 hours before the polls.

"All the provisions of model code of conduct shall also apply to the content being posted on the social media by candidates and political parties," the EC. The poll panel has also decided to bring the bulk SMSes/Voice messages on phone and election campaigning through social media under the purview of precertification of election advertisements, just like electronic and radio advertisements.

Even payments made to internet companies and websites for carrying advertisements and campaign-related operational expenditure on making creative content, salaries and wages paid to the workers employed to maintain their social media account, will have to be accounted for with the EC, The Economic Times reported.

MCC is not legally binding, but carries weight

MCC has been around for at least four decades now, but the clauses are not legally binding, however the observance is left to political parties and their candidates. As argued in this Indian Express article, the MCC has no statutory backing. MCC evolved as part of the ECI's drive to ensure free and fair elections, and was the result of a consensus among major political parties. This means everything is voluntary. Anybody breaching the MCC can't be proceeded against under any clause of the Code.

If a candidate or a party violates MCC, the EC can issue a notice against them. Once a notice is issued, the person or party must reply in writing — either accepting fault and tendering an unconditional apology, or rebutting the allegation. In the latter case, if the person or party is found guilty subsequently, he/it can attract a written censure from the ECI — "something that many see as a mere slap on the wrist." However, certain provisions of the MCC may be enforced through invoking corresponding provisions in other statutes such as the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The Election Commission has argued against making the MCC legally binding stating that elections must be completed within a relatively short time (close to 45 days) and judicial proceedings typically take longer, making it not feasible to make it enforceable by law.

On the other hand, in 2013, the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, recommended making the MCC legally binding. In a report on electoral reforms, the Standing Committee observed that most provisions of the MCC are already enforceable through corresponding provisions in other statutes, mentioned above. It recommended that the MCC be made a part of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

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ISRO has 14 missions lined up for this year, including Gaganyaan announced K Sivan

ISRO has lined up 14 missions for launch in 2021, including the space agency's first unmanned mission later this year, its Chairman K Sivan said here on Sunday. He was addressing scientists at the Mission Control Centre here after the successful launch of Amazona-1 of Brazil and 18 other satellites. "Definitely our hands are full. We are going to have something like 14 missions this year. Seven launch vehicle missions and six satellite missions, as well as our first unmanned mission by the end of the year. That is our target and the scientists are working on that", he said.

ISRO plans to take up two unmanned space missions before the Gaganyaan-manned space mission.

The Gaganyaan mission envisages sending three Indians to space by 2022. The four test pilots selected for the mission are currently undergoing training in Russia.

Sivan expressed hope that his team would rise to the occasion as usual and meet all the targets set by the ISRO.

Before concluding his speech, the Chairman also referred to the new normal that has been in place at ISRO centres in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I would request all of you, still we have not come out of the COVID-19 pandemic...the new normal introduced at ISRO centres definitely is working following all the quality norms without violating the safety and security of my employees", he said.

Strict COVID-19 guidelines were in place at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, including a ban on entry of media personnel and closure of the rocket launch viewing gallery.

The launch was telecast live on Doordarshan and was available in the ISRO website, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

Also read: 

PSLV-C51 launch on 28 Feb: ISRO to launch Amazonia-1, 20 commercial satellites via NSIL

Watch: PSLV-C51 launches Brazil's Amazonia-1, 18 other satellites; Narendra Modi congratulates ISRO

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Indian beasts that existed 50,000 years ago could hold the key to evolution and extinction

by Sahana Ghosh

Turn the clock back in time 50,000 years and you would have seen two species of giant prehistoric elephants (Palaeoloxodon namadicus and Stegodon namadicus), a hippopotamus, Hexaprotodon sp., and a zebra-like horse, Equus namadicus, alongside other great beasts that roamed the Indian subcontinent. Modern humans had arrived by then on the Indian subcontinent from Africa but these four large mammals stuck around in the region for at least 20,000 years after their arrival. A low-magnitude extinction began about 30,000 years ago when some megafaunal species, such as the giant elephants, hippopotamus and zebra-like horse, started disappearing.

This is in contrast to the Americas, Europe and Australia where the arrival of humans (Homo sapiens) have been implicated in more rapid, large scale megafauna extinctions such as those of woolly mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers. These extinctions took place during a geologic period called Late Quaternary (from ~50,000 years onwards) when around one hundred genera of large-bodied terrestrial vertebrates disappeared across every continent except Antarctica.

In the Indian subcontinent, however, H. sapiens seem to have had a very limited impact: megafauna proved “more resilient” and, as in Africa, have coexisted with humans for much longer periods than in other regions. The persistence of megafauna is linked to the long coexistence with Homo sapiens and other human ancestors said scientists in a recent study.

Shedding light on the enigma of megafaunal extinctions in the Indian subcontinent, a region understudied in most megafaunal extinction studies, scientists documented the pattern of extinction in the region based on a novel dataset drawn from 51 fossil sites in present-day India where 114 species of mammals, survive under intense anthropogenic pressures. The study documents four mammalian extinctions — P. namadicus, S. namadicus, Hexaprotodon sp., and Equus namadicus; the extirpation of ostriches (Struthio camelus); and a pseudo-extinction of Indian aurochs (Bos namadicus).

The analysis provides the first direct and independent test of the “co-evolution hypothesis” that co-evolution with hominins (humans and their relatives) may have increased the resilience of faunas to large scale extinction, and that at least in the Indian Subcontinent, geographic isolation along with abiotic factors may have increased the extinction risk of the victims.

“Co-evolution basically means the evolution of one species in response to another. The idea was proposed by Paul Martin in the 1960s to explain the survival of large mammals in Africa. He argued that because humans evolved in Africa along with the lineages that eventually produced living African mammals, these lineages had evolved strategies to avoid human activities, which would have promoted survival. The evidence for coevolution was always inferential: survival of megafauna in places where Homo sapiens weren’t the only hominin, and we only had a sample size of one, i.e., Africa,” explained Advait Jukar at the Department of Anthropology, Yale University, and the study’s lead author.

The other places where multiple species of humans have existed are parts of Eurasia. For example, South and Southeast Asia have records of multiple species of humans going back almost two million years, but the fossil record of other animals either wasn’t resolved well, or this record wasn’t studied in the context of the megafaunal extinction to really test whether co-existence with multiple species of humans promotes survival, according to Jukar.

“Our study in India provides direct evidence of this pattern outside Africa because multiple species of humans lived in India from at least 1.7 million years ago, and we have lots of surviving large mammals,” Jukar told Mongabay-India.

The 114 mammals that are found in India today had ancestors either in India or elsewhere, likely hundreds of thousands to millions of years ago, but in all likelihood, these animals were in their “modern” avatar between 100,000 years ago and today, he observed. However, not all large mammals on the Indian subcontinent survived.

“Four mammal species (P. namadicus, S. namadicus, Hexaprotodon sp., and Equus namadicus) go extinct in India, and as a consequence, globally since they were only found in India. Bos namadicus represents a pseudo-extinction because this species was domesticated in India as Bos indicus, the living zebu cattle. Theropithecus cf. T. gelada represents an older extirpation since this species is still found in East Africa. Similarly, ostriches were also extirpated, which means that they went extinct locally in India, but survive elsewhere on the planet,” he added.

Pinpointing a singular cause to any extinct is challenging, if not impossible. “What we can say is that had humans not showed up, these four species which we lost in India, would have likely still been around today. The extirpation of the ostriches is likely also human-driven. People used ostrich eggshells for various purposes, and if you remove the eggs, you remove a future generation, eventually leading to a population collapse,” Jukar added.

According to the review Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions in India: How much do we know? published in January, of which Jukar is a co-author, the magnitude, timing and drivers of megafaunal extinctions remain “poorly understood” for India, a region with a strong history of palaeontological research.

Vertebrate palaeontologist Vijay Sathe of Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute (Deemed University) who was not associated with the study but is a co-author of the review paper advises caution about concluding fossil populations as none of these is easily decipherable. “The major extinction events like 1st to 5th are scientifically proven and well documented. It is only concerning the Late Quaternary when the story is blurred by limited data and the fossil record that confirms their extinction from the subcontinent,” Sathe told Mongabay-India.

“While some of the large mammals have disappeared towards the end of the Pleistocene (earlier and major of the two epochs that constitute the Quaternary Period), some appear to have continued but in the domestic form (such as cattle, buffaloes), implying that humans domesticated their ancestors,” he observed.

Referring to the specific knowledge gaps in understanding of megafauna extinction in the Indian subcontinent, Sathe explained that more absolute dates are needed on the last recorded occurrence of the taxa.

“The Last Datum of appearance (LAD) for three genera of proboscideans, hippos, ostriches coincides with the end of the Pleistocene. However, more absolute dates for their exit are awaited and so are the data for climatic proxies on the regional versus pan Indian scale. The perspectives on diet, its supposed change through time or health status through biochemical
signatures are fast emerging but its relation to the actual event(s) of extinction is far from satisfactory.”

“Hunting by humans or humans as a major factor driving them to extinction awaits a better set of evidence to validate it. However, the early man was by all means driving source of energy from animal meat by hunting them is a matter of common sense but its actual evidence in the fossil record is mostly absent,” he said.

Low magnitude extinction in the past but warnings for current conservation threats

The extinction of four mammalian species in the Indian subcontinent reported in the study represents a loss of around four percent of terrestrial mammals and 20 percent of mammals weighing greater than 50 kg. “While 1 in 5 species weighing over 50 kg went extinct, this is still lower than what we see in parts of the world like the Americas or Australia,” noted Jukar.

The researchers note that many of the species that survived had distributions that extended either from West Asia through South Asia, or from South Asia through S. E. Asia. “Studies have shown that extinction risk (chances of going extinct) increase when a species occupies a small region, for example, species that only live on a particular mountain. If a species is more widely distributed, then a disturbance in one part of its range won’t threaten the entire species, even if local populations go extinct. So, if a population would disappear in India, it could be replaced by populations from elsewhere. The extinct species were only found in India, so when they disappeared, members of the same species weren’t around to replace them from elsewhere,” elaborated Jukar.

Referring to abiotic factors (such as harsh environmental conditions like droughts), Jukar said these conditions stress populations and fragment ranges, resulting in inbreeding within smaller and smaller populations. “This further makes species more vulnerable to extinction. While these factors increased extinction risk, I don’t think they would have gone extinct without the increasing pressure from humans, since they had experienced similar periods of environmental stress at other times in the past,” he said.

Learning from the past could be advantageous in present-day conservation challenges states Vijay Sathe. “Especially, when the megafauna confronts a direct threat from humans for its survival, understanding the means of its conservation and protection becomes a top priority for the survival of our ecosystem. Even though man is a central causative factor for the survival of wildlife today, climate and global warming have their own share in destabilising the survival potential. And climate change or environmental change is a dynamic process that has far-reaching ramifications since times immemorial,” Sathe told Mongabay-India.

Sathe goes on to note that if the present is a key to the past, the past does have potential in explaining the possible impact of the change on animals. “Biochemical proxies such as isotopes, mega and microanatomical features in skeletal tissues as evinced in the fossil record due to climatic and environmental change and genetic signatures can provide a blueprint for the modern species. This may explain how learning from the past, the modern fauna could be saved from the brink of extinction,” said Sathe.

In a 2020 study, scientists said that more than 500 vertebrate species are on the brink of extinction, with populations of fewer than a thousand individuals. According to the authors, the Earth is experiencing its sixth mass extinction, extinction rates accelerating, and human activity is to blame. The authors call the ongoing extinction perhaps “the most serious environmental threat to the persistence of civilisation because it is irreversible.” In 2017, 15,364 scientist signatories from 184 countries warned in a paper that humans had unleashed the sixth mass extinction event “wherein many current life forms could be annihilated or at least committed to extinction by the end of this century.”

Jukar believes that the sixth extinction started with the extinction of these large animals, sometime around 50,000 years ago. “We know that several factors made them more vulnerable to extinction such as slow reproductive rates and climate change-induced environmental change which subsequently led to range fragmentation in unfavourable times, and as a consequence, limited gene flow and inbreeding. These two factors were necessary, but don’t appear to be sufficient to cause an extinction independent of humans. When you add people to the mix, a lot of species get pushed over the edge. This can be caused by hunting, habitat change, habitat encroachment, etc.,” he stressed.

“All of these factors are accelerating today at unprecedented rates. Animals already live in fragments in a sea of humanity. Limited gene flow makes species more vulnerable, especially species who have limited distribution or are slow breeders. This fragmentation also makes species more vulnerable to climate change because they can’t go anywhere. This added with poaching and increased human population pressure is what is causing the extinction crisis of today. What our species may have unknowingly participated in 50,000 years ago, we are active and knowing participants today,” Jukar added.

This article was originally published on Mongabay.com.

Mongabay-India is an environmental science and conservation news service. This article has been republished under the Creative Commons licence.

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Petrol, diesel prices: Check rates in your city here; Mumbai currently has costliest fuel

The prices of petrol and diesel remained unchanged for the second straight day on 1 March after touching record highs on Saturday, 27 February.

According to the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), a litre of petrol in the National Capital currently costs Rs 91.17, while the price of a litre of diesel is Rs 81.47.

Among the four major cities of India, fuel prices are currently the highest in the commercial capital, Mumbai, with petrol being retailed at Rs 97.57 per litre. A litre of diesel currently costs Rs 88.60 in Mumbai, reported MoneyControl.

In several other parts of India, including some cities in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the prices of petrol have crossed Rs 100 per litre. The increasing prices have led to vociferous criticism of the Centre by Opposition parties.

In Chennai, the prices for diesel and petrol were Rs 93.11 and Rs 86.45 per litre respectively.

In Kolkata, the prices remained the same as Saturday, with petrol at Rs 91.35 per litre and diesel Rs 84.35 per litre.

The prices of petrol and diesel were hiked as many as 16 times in February, according to a report in Hindustan Times.

On 20 February, the West Bengal government had reduced the VAT on fuel by Re 1.

While the prices for petrol and diesel remained steady, LPG cylinders will cost Rs 25 more from Monday. The 25-rupee hike came just three days after another increase in prices of a 14.2 kg cylinder. On 25 February, the prices were increased by Rs 25, the third hike in February alone.

Following the hike, a household cylinder would now cost a staggering Rs 819 in the National Capital. The first hike of Rs 25 came on 5 February. Ten days later, the prices of an LPG cylinder were raised again, this time by Rs 50.

Union Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had last week said the petrol and diesel prices will fall as the winter heads towards its end.

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Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Narendra Modi administered first COVAXIN dose at AIIMS

10:01 (IST)

WATCH: Narendra Modi administered COVID-19 vaccine

Sister P Niveda administered the first shot of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at AIIMS Delhi.

Active COVID-19 cases in India stand at 1,68,627, while 1,07,86,457 people have recovered from disease so far.

09:57 (IST)

Puducherry nurse administered vaccine to Modi

Sister P Niveda, who hails from Puducherry, administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at AIIMS Delhi.

She said that the PM will be given the second dose in 28 days. "He asked us where do we belong to and after vaccination said, 'Laga bhi di, pata hi nahi chala'," she added.

09:46 (IST)

Narendra Modi administered COVAXIN

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the first dose of the COVAXIN at AIIMS, Delhi. In a tweet, he lauded doctors and scientists for working "in quick time to strengthen the global fight against COVID-19".

Took my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at AIIMS.

Remarkable how our doctors and scientists have worked in quick time to strengthen the global fight against COVID-19.

I appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine. Together, let us make India COVID-19 free! pic.twitter.com/5z5cvAoMrv

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 1, 2021

Coronavirus News LATEST News and Updates: The next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive for people above 60 years and those aged 45 and above with comorbidities will begin from 1 March (tomorrow) and registration on the Co-WIN 2.0 portal will open at 9 am on Monday.

Citizens will be able to register and book an appointment for vaccination, anytime and anywhere, using the Co-WIN 2.0 portal or through other IT applications such as Arogya Setu.

Registration will open at 9 am on 1 March at www.cowin.gov.in, the ministry said.

All citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 60 or more as of 1 January, 2022 are eligible to register, in addition to all such citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 45 to 59 years as of 1 January, 2022, and have any of the specified 20 comorbidities.

This information was shared during the orientation workshop organised by the Union Health Ministry and the National Health Authority (NHA) for the 10,000 private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat PMJAY, more than 600 hospitals empanelled under CGHS and other private hospitals empanelled under State Government's Health Insurance Schemes, on Co-WIN 2.0.

The health ministry also released a user manual for citizen registration and appointment for vaccination.

User manual for registration & appointment for vaccination by Manasi Chandu on Scribd

The modalities of the new features integrated into the Co-WIN 2.0 digital platform were explained to them.

The private empanelled COVID-19 Vaccination Centres (CVCs) were also trained on various aspects of the process of vaccination and management of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) through video conference with the support of the National Health Authority (NHA).

"There will be only one live appointment for a beneficiary at any point of time for each dose.

"Appointments for any date for a COVID Vaccination Center will be closed at 3 pm on that day for which the slots were opened," the ministry said.

For example, for 1 March the slots will be open from 9 am till 3 pm and the appointments can be booked anytime before that, subject to availability.

However, on 1 March, an appointment can also be booked for any future date for which vaccination slots are available. A slot for the second dose will also be booked at the same COVID Vaccination Centre on the 29th day of the date of appointment of the 1st dose.

If a beneficiary cancels a first dose appointment, then the appointment of both doses will be cancelled, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, there will be a facility of on-site registration so that eligible beneficiaries can walk into identified vaccination centres, get themselves registered and inoculated.

The eligible persons will be able to register at the Co-WIN 2.0 portal through their mobile number, through a step by step process.

With one mobile number, a person can register as many as four beneficiaries. However, all those registered on one mobile number will have nothing in common except the mobile number, the ministry said.

The photo ID card number for each such beneficiary must be different. Either of the following photo identity documents can be used by citizens for availing of online registration -- Aadhaar Card/Letter, Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), passport, driving license, PAN Card, NPR Smart Card or Pension Document with the photograph.

A user guide for the citizen registration and appointment for vaccination has also been uploaded on the websites of the Union Ministry of Health and National Health Authority (NHA).

It was also explained that the central government shall procure all the vaccines and supply them free of cost to the states and UTs who in turn will disburse them further to the government and private COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs), the ministry said.

It was re-iterated that all vaccines provided to beneficiaries at the government health facilities will be entirely free of cost, while private facilities cannot charge the beneficiary a sum above Rs 250 per person per dose (Rs 150 for vaccines and Rs 100 as operational charges).

Private hospitals will have to remit the cost of vaccine doses allotted to them in a designated account of the National Health Authority (NHA). The payment gateway for the same is being enabled by the NHA on their website, the ministry said.

The government of India has supplied two COVID-19 vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, free of cost to the states and UTs to vaccinate healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) and they will also be able to cover the next priority group i.e. 60 years plus age group and the age group of 45 to 59 years suffering from pre-specified co-morbidities.

The states have been requested to operationalise the linkages between the CVCs (both government and private empanelled facilities) with the nearest cold chain points for ensuring smooth vaccine delivery to (CVCs).

The ministry specified 20 co-morbidities within the 45-59 years age group including heart failure with hospital admission in past one year, moderate or severe valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, CT/ MRI documented stroke, diabetes ( >10 years or with complications) and hypertension on treatment, end-stage kidney disease on haemodialysis, diagnosis of any solid cancer on or after 2000 or currently on any cancer therapy for which one will have to submit a medical certificate.

The ministry has shared the format of the simplified one-page certificate to be signed by any registered medical practitioner.

The certificate can either be uploaded on Co-WIN 2.0 by the beneficiary while self-registering or a hard copy can be carried by the beneficiary to the CVC, the ministry said.

With inputs from PTI

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Watch: PSLV-C51 launches Brazil's Amazonia-1, 18 other satellites; Narendra Modi congratulates ISRO

In the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) first mission of the year, the country's polar rocket on Sunday successfully launched Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 and 18 other satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C51 lifted off at around 10.24 am from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre and injected into orbit primary payload Amazonia-1 about 17 minutes later.

Primary satellite #Amazonia1 successfully separated from #PSLVC51. Join us again at 1210 hrs IST for witnessing the separation of co-passenger satellites

ISRO Website : https://t.co/bwLKodEjCL
Youtube: https://t.co/XlVvZaENl5
Facebook: https://t.co/MYy1DZUA7e

— ISRO (@isro) February 28, 2021

After a gap of over one-and-half hours, the co-passenger satellites, including one from Chennai- based Space Kidz India (SKI), which is engraved with a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were launched one after another in the space of ten minutes in a textbook launch.

SKI's Satish Dhawan Satellite (SD-SAT) also carried the Bhagavad Gita in a Secured Digital card format. According to SKI, the picture of Modi has been engraved on the top panel of the spacecraft to show solidarity and gratitude for his Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative and space sector privatisation.

A beaming ISRO Chairman K Sivan announced that the mission was successful and all 19 satellites were launched in precise orbits.

"Today is a very great day for the entire ISRO team and the PSLV-C51 is a special mission for India. Let me congratulate and compliment the team ISRO for achieving the precise injection of AMAZONIA-1 and 18 other satellites," PTI quotes him as saying.

PSLV-C51 is the first dedicated commercial mission of New Space India Limited (NSIL), ISRO's commercial arm, and the launch was watched among others by Brazilian government officials at the mission control centre in Sriharikota, over 100 kms from Chennai.

The 18 co-passenger satellites placed in the orbit include four from ISRO's Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (three UNITY Sats from consortium of three Indian academic institutes and the SD-SAT from SKI) and 14 from NSIL.

The 637-kg Amazonia-1, which became the first Brazilian satellite to be launched from India, is an optical earth observation satellite of National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and is intended for providing remote sensing data to users for monitoring deforestation in the Amazon region and analysis of diversified agriculture across the Brazilian territory.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the space agency on the success of the first dedicated commercial launch of PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 Mission, saying it ushers in a new era of space reforms in the country. He added that 18 co-passengers included four small satellites that showcase dynamism and innovation of our youth.

Congratulations to NSIL and @isro on the success of the 1st dedicated commercial launch of PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 Mission. This ushers in a new era of Space reforms in the country. 18 co-passengers included four small satellites that showcase dynamism and innovation of our youth. pic.twitter.com/BbWYGLsyvo

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 28, 2021

The prime minister also congratulated Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro on the successful launch of Brazil's Amazonia-1 satellite by PSLV-C51, and said this is a historic moment in space cooperation between the two countries.

Congratulations President @jairbolsonaro on the successful launch of Brazil's Amazonia-1 satellite by PSLV-C51. This is a historic moment in our space cooperation and my felicitations to the scientists of Brazil. @isro

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 28, 2021

According to a press release, Marcos Cesar Pontes, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Brazil also congratulated the ISRO team, saying “Amazonia-1 is an important mission for Brazil which also marks beginning of a new era for satellite development in the country."

Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Prakash Javadekar, among others, congratulated the space agency.

New era of space reforms takes off in India.

Congratulations to NSIL & @isro on the successful launch of the1st dedicated commercial PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 Mission with 18 payloads including four small satellites. pic.twitter.com/0D77W0rB6p

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) February 28, 2021

 

Many congratulations to NSIL and @isro on the success of the 1st dedicated commercial launch of PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 Mission.

A moment of pride indeed as the country ushers in a new era of space reforms under the able leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/zOHH0x9c1k

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) February 28, 2021

Earlier, at the end of the 25.5 hour countdown, the four-stage 44.4 metre tall PSLV, a workhorse launch vehicle of ISRO in its 53rd mission, soared into clear sky and every stage performed as programmed, ISRO said.

According to an ISRO press release, this was the 78th launch vehicle mission from SDSC SHAR in Sriharikota. With today's launch, a total of 342 customer satellites from 34 countries have been placed in orbit by PSLV.

With inputs from PTI​

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Second phase of COVID-19 vaccination to begin today; how to register on CoWin 2.0, cost of vaccine at private facilities

The next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive for people above 60 years and those aged 45 and above with comorbidities will begin from 1 March (tomorrow) and registration on the Co-WIN 2.0 portal will open at 9 am on Monday.

Citizens will be able to register and book an appointment for vaccination, anytime and anywhere, using the Co-WIN 2.0 portal or through other IT applications such as Arogya Setu.

Registration will open at 9 am on 1 March at www.cowin.gov.in, the ministry said.

All citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 60 or more as of 1 January, 2022 are eligible to register, in addition to all such citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 45 to 59 years as of 1 January, 2022, and have any of the specified 20 comorbidities.

This information was shared during the orientation workshop organised by the Union Health Ministry and the National Health Authority (NHA) for the 10,000 private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat PMJAY, more than 600 hospitals empanelled under CGHS and other private hospitals empanelled under State Government's Health Insurance Schemes, on Co-WIN 2.0.

The health ministry also released a user manual for citizen registration and appointment for vaccination.

User manual for registration & appointment for vaccination by Manasi Chandu on Scribd

The modalities of the new features integrated into the Co-WIN 2.0 digital platform were explained to them.

The private empanelled COVID-19 Vaccination Centres (CVCs) were also trained on various aspects of the process of vaccination and management of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) through video conference with the support of the National Health Authority (NHA).

"There will be only one live appointment for a beneficiary at any point of time for each dose.

"Appointments for any date for a COVID Vaccination Center will be closed at 3 pm on that day for which the slots were opened," the ministry said.

For example, for 1 March the slots will be open from 9 am till 3 pm and the appointments can be booked anytime before that, subject to availability.

However, on 1 March, an appointment can also be booked for any future date for which vaccination slots are available. A slot for the second dose will also be booked at the same COVID Vaccination Centre on the 29th day of the date of appointment of the 1st dose.

If a beneficiary cancels a first dose appointment, then the appointment of both doses will be cancelled, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, there will be a facility of on-site registration so that eligible beneficiaries can walk into identified vaccination centres, get themselves registered and inoculated.

The eligible persons will be able to register at the Co-WIN 2.0 portal through their mobile number, through a step by step process.

With one mobile number, a person can register as many as four beneficiaries. However, all those registered on one mobile number will have nothing in common except the mobile number, the ministry said.

The photo ID card number for each such beneficiary must be different. Either of the following photo identity documents can be used by citizens for availing of online registration -- Aadhaar Card/Letter, Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), passport, driving license, PAN Card, NPR Smart Card or Pension Document with the photograph.

A user guide for the citizen registration and appointment for vaccination has also been uploaded on the websites of the Union Ministry of Health and National Health Authority (NHA).

It was also explained that the central government shall procure all the vaccines and supply them free of cost to the states and UTs who in turn will disburse them further to the government and private COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs), the ministry said.

It was re-iterated that all vaccines provided to beneficiaries at the government health facilities will be entirely free of cost, while private facilities cannot charge the beneficiary a sum above Rs 250 per person per dose (Rs 150 for vaccines and Rs 100 as operational charges).

Private hospitals will have to remit the cost of vaccine doses allotted to them in a designated account of the National Health Authority (NHA). The payment gateway for the same is being enabled by the NHA on their website, the ministry said.

The government of India has supplied two COVID-19 vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, free of cost to the states and UTs to vaccinate healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) and they will also be able to cover the next priority group i.e. 60 years plus age group and the age group of 45 to 59 years suffering from pre-specified co-morbidities.

The states have been requested to operationalise the linkages between the CVCs (both government and private empanelled facilities) with the nearest cold chain points for ensuring smooth vaccine delivery to (CVCs).

The ministry specified 20 co-morbidities within the 45-59 years age group including heart failure with hospital admission in past one year, moderate or severe valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, CT/ MRI documented stroke, diabetes ( >10 years or with complications) and hypertension on treatment, end-stage kidney disease on haemodialysis, diagnosis of any solid cancer on or after 2000 or currently on any cancer therapy for which one will have to submit a medical certificate.

The ministry has shared the format of the simplified one-page certificate to be signed by any registered medical practitioner.

The certificate can either be uploaded on Co-WIN 2.0 by the beneficiary while self-registering or a hard copy can be carried by the beneficiary to the CVC, the ministry said.

With inputs from PTI

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Narendra Modi takes first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, lauds contribution of doctors and scientists

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said he has taken the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the AIIMS in New Delhi and appealed to all those who are eligible to get inoculated.

"Took my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at AIIMS. Remarkable how our doctors and scientists have worked in quick time to strengthen the global fight against COVID-19," he tweeted.

Took my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at AIIMS.

Remarkable how our doctors and scientists have worked in quick time to strengthen the global fight against COVID-19.

I appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine. Together, let us make India COVID-19 free! pic.twitter.com/5z5cvAoMrv

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 1, 2021

"I appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine. Together, let us make India COVID-19 free!" Modi said.

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Push too hard and lights go out: New study points to Chinese role in Mumbai's October blackout

Washington: Early last summer, Chinese and Indian troops clashed in a surprise border battle in the remote Galwan Valley, bashing each other to death with rocks and clubs.

Four months later and more than 1,500 miles away in Mumbai, trains shut down and the stock market closed as the power went out in a city of 20 million people. Hospitals had to switch to emergency generators to keep ventilators running amid a coronavirus outbreak that was among India’s worst.

Now, a new study lends weight to the idea that those two events may have been connected — as part of a broad Chinese cyber campaign against India’s power grid, timed to send a message that if India pressed its claims too hard, the lights could go out across the country.

The study shows that as the battles raged in the Himalayas, taking at least two dozen lives, Chinese malware was flowing into the control systems that manage electric supply across India, along with a high-voltage transmission substation and a coal-fired power plant.

The flow of malware was pieced together by Recorded Future, a Somerville, Massachusetts, company that studies the use of the internet by state actors. It found that most of the malware was never activated. And because Recorded Future could not get inside India’s power systems, it could not examine the details of the code itself, which was placed in strategic power-distribution systems across the country. While it has notified Indian authorities, so far they are not reporting what they have found.

Stuart Solomon, Recorded Future’s chief operating officer, said that the Chinese state-sponsored group, which the firm named Red Echo, “has been seen to systematically utilise advanced cyber intrusion techniques to quietly gain a foothold in nearly a dozen critical nodes across the Indian power generation and transmission infrastructure.”

The discovery raises the question about whether an outage that struck on 13 October in Mumbai was meant as a message from Beijing about what might happen if India pushed its border claims too vigorously.

News reports at the time quoted Indian officials as saying that the cause was a Chinese-origin cyber attack on a nearby electricity load-management centre. Authorities began a formal investigation, which is due to report in the coming weeks. Since then, Indian officials have gone silent about the Chinese code, whether it set off the Mumbai blackout and the evidence provided to them by Recorded Future that many elements of the nation’s electric grid were the target of a sophisticated Chinese hacking effort.

It is possible the Indians are still searching for the code. But acknowledging its insertion, one former Indian diplomat noted, could complicate the diplomacy in recent days between Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in an effort to ease the border tensions.

The investigators who wrote the Recorded Future study, which is set to be published on Monday, said that “the alleged link between the outage and the discovery of the unspecified malware” in the system “remains unsubstantiated.” But they noted that “additional evidence suggested the coordinated targeting of the Indian load dispatch centres,” which balance the electrical demands across regions of the country.

The discovery is the latest example of how the conspicuous placement of malware in an adversary’s electric grid or other critical infrastructure has become the newest form of both aggression and deterrence — a warning that if things are pushed too far, millions could suffer.

“I think the signalling is being done” by China to indicate “that we can and we have the capability to do this in times of a crisis,” said retired Lieutenant-General. DS Hooda, a cyber expert who oversaw India’s borders with Pakistan and China. “It’s like sending a warning to India that this capability exists with us.”

Both India and China maintain medium-size nuclear arsenals, which have traditionally been seen as the ultimate deterrent. But neither side believes that the other would risk a nuclear exchange in response to bloody disputes over the Line of Actual Control, an ill-defined border demarcation where long-running disputes have escalated into deadly conflicts by increasingly nationalistic governments.

Cyber attacks give them another option — less devastating than a nuclear attack, but capable of giving a country a strategic and psychological edge. Russia was a pioneer in using this technique when it turned the power off twice in Ukraine several years ago.

And the United States has engaged in similar signaling. After the Department of Homeland Security announced publicly that the American power grid was littered with code inserted by Russian hackers, the United States put code into Russia’s grid in a warning to President Vladimir Putin.

Now the Biden administration is promising that within weeks it will respond to another intrusion — it will not yet call it an attack — from Russia, one that penetrated at least nine government agencies and more than 100 corporations.

So far, the evidence suggests that the SolarWinds hack, named for the company that made network-management software that was hijacked to insert the code, was chiefly about stealing information. But it also created the capability for far more destructive attacks — and among the companies that downloaded the Russian code were several American utilities. They maintain that the incursions were managed, and that there was no risk to their operations.

Until recent years, China’s focus had been on information theft. But Beijing has been increasingly active in placing code into infrastructure systems, knowing that when it is discovered, the fear of an attack can be as powerful a tool as an attack itself.

In the Indian case, Recorded Future sent its findings to India’s Computer Emergency Response Team, or CERT-In, a kind of investigative and early-warning agency most nations maintain to keep track of threats to critical infrastructure. Twice the centre has acknowledged receipt of the information, but said nothing about whether it, too, found the code in the electric grid.

Repeated efforts by The New York Times to seek comment from the centre and several of its officials over the past two weeks yielded no response.

The Chinese government, which did not respond to questions about the code in the Indian grid, could argue that India started the cyber aggression. In India, a patchwork of state-backed hackers were caught using coronavirus-themed phishing emails to target Chinese organisations in Wuhan last February. A Chinese security company, 360 Security Technology, accused State-backed Indian hackers of targeting hospitals and medical research organisations with phishing emails, in an espionage campaign.

Four months later, as tensions rose between the two countries on the border, Chinese hackers unleashed a swarm of 40,300 hacking attempts on India’s technology and banking infrastructure in just five days. Some of the incursions were so-called denial-of-service attacks that knocked these systems offline; others were phishing attacks, according to the Maharashtra Police.

By December, security experts at the Cyber Peace Foundation, an Indian non-profit organisation that follows hacking efforts, reported a new wave of Chinese attacks, in which hackers sent phishing emails to Indians related to the Indian holidays in October and November. Researchers tied the attacks to domains registered in China’s Guangdong and Henan provinces, to an organisation called Fang Xiao Qing. The aim, the foundation said, was to obtain a beachhead in Indians’ devices, possibly for future attacks.

“One of the intentions seems to be power projection,” said Vineet Kumar, president of the Cyber Peace Foundation.

The foundation has also documented a surge of malware directed at India’s power sector, from petroleum refineries to a nuclear power plant, since last year. Because it is impossible for the foundation or Recorded Future to examine the code, it is unclear whether they are looking at the same attacks, but the timing is the same.

Yet except for the Mumbai blackout, the attacks have not disrupted the provision of energy, officials said.

And even there, officials have gone quiet after initially determining that the code was most likely Chinese. Yashasvi Yadav, a police official in charge of Maharashtra’s cyber-intelligence unit, said authorities found “suspicious activity” that suggested the intervention of a state actor.

But Yadav declined to elaborate, saying the investigation’s full report would be released in early March. Maharashtra minister Nitin Raut was quoted in local reports in November blaming sabotage for the Mumbai outage, but did not respond to questions about the blackout.

Military experts in India have renewed calls for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to replace the Chinese-made hardware for India’s power sector and its critical rail system.

“The issue is we still haven’t been able to get rid of our dependence on foreign hardware and foreign software,” Hooda said.

Indian government authorities have said a review is underway of India’s information technology contracts, including with Chinese companies. But the reality is that ripping out existing infrastructure is expensive and difficult.

David E Sanger and Emily Schmall c.2021 The New York Times Company

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Registrations for COVID-19 vaccinations on CoWin 2.0 portal begin at 9 am; all you need to know

The next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive for people above 60 years and those aged 45 and above with comorbidities will begin from 1 March (tomorrow) and registration on the Co-WIN 2.0 portal will open at 9 am on Monday.

Citizens will be able to register and book an appointment for vaccination, anytime and anywhere, using the Co-WIN 2.0 portal or through other IT applications such as Arogya Setu.

Registration will open at 9 am on 1 March at www.cowin.gov.in, the ministry said.

All citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 60 or more as of 1 January, 2022 are eligible to register, in addition to all such citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 45 to 59 years as of 1 January, 2022, and have any of the specified 20 comorbidities.

This information was shared during the orientation workshop organised by the Union Health Ministry and the National Health Authority (NHA) for the 10,000 private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat PMJAY, more than 600 hospitals empanelled under CGHS and other private hospitals empanelled under State Government's Health Insurance Schemes, on Co-WIN 2.0.

The health ministry also released a user manual for citizen registration and appointment for vaccination.

User manual for registration & appointment for vaccination by Manasi Chandu on Scribd

The modalities of the new features integrated into the Co-WIN 2.0 digital platform were explained to them.

The private empanelled COVID-19 Vaccination Centres (CVCs) were also trained on various aspects of the process of vaccination and management of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) through video conference with the support of the National Health Authority (NHA).

"There will be only one live appointment for a beneficiary at any point of time for each dose.

"Appointments for any date for a COVID Vaccination Center will be closed at 3 pm on that day for which the slots were opened," the ministry said.

For example, for 1 March the slots will be open from 9 am till 3 pm and the appointments can be booked anytime before that, subject to availability.

However, on 1 March, an appointment can also be booked for any future date for which vaccination slots are available. A slot for the second dose will also be booked at the same COVID Vaccination Centre on the 29th day of the date of appointment of the 1st dose.

If a beneficiary cancels a first dose appointment, then the appointment of both doses will be cancelled, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, there will be a facility of on-site registration so that eligible beneficiaries can walk into identified vaccination centres, get themselves registered and inoculated.

The eligible persons will be able to register at the Co-WIN 2.0 portal through their mobile number, through a step by step process.

With one mobile number, a person can register as many as four beneficiaries. However, all those registered on one mobile number will have nothing in common except the mobile number, the ministry said.

The photo ID card number for each such beneficiary must be different. Either of the following photo identity documents can be used by citizens for availing of online registration -- Aadhaar Card/Letter, Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), passport, driving license, PAN Card, NPR Smart Card or Pension Document with the photograph.

A user guide for the citizen registration and appointment for vaccination has also been uploaded on the websites of the Union Ministry of Health and National Health Authority (NHA).

It was also explained that the central government shall procure all the vaccines and supply them free of cost to the states and UTs who in turn will disburse them further to the government and private COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs), the ministry said.

It was re-iterated that all vaccines provided to beneficiaries at the government health facilities will be entirely free of cost, while private facilities cannot charge the beneficiary a sum above Rs 250 per person per dose (Rs 150 for vaccines and Rs 100 as operational charges).

Private hospitals will have to remit the cost of vaccine doses allotted to them in a designated account of the National Health Authority (NHA). The payment gateway for the same is being enabled by the NHA on their website, the ministry said.

The government of India has supplied two COVID-19 vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, free of cost to the states and UTs to vaccinate healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) and they will also be able to cover the next priority group i.e. 60 years plus age group and the age group of 45 to 59 years suffering from pre-specified co-morbidities.

The states have been requested to operationalise the linkages between the CVCs (both government and private empanelled facilities) with the nearest cold chain points for ensuring smooth vaccine delivery to (CVCs).

The ministry specified 20 co-morbidities within the 45-59 years age group including heart failure with hospital admission in past one year, moderate or severe valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, CT/ MRI documented stroke, diabetes ( >10 years or with complications) and hypertension on treatment, end-stage kidney disease on haemodialysis, diagnosis of any solid cancer on or after 2000 or currently on any cancer therapy for which one will have to submit a medical certificate.

The ministry has shared the format of the simplified one-page certificate to be signed by any registered medical practitioner.

The certificate can either be uploaded on Co-WIN 2.0 by the beneficiary while self-registering or a hard copy can be carried by the beneficiary to the CVC, the ministry said.

With inputs from PTI

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Registrations for COVID-19 vaccinations on CoWin 2.0 portal begin 9 am tomorrow; all you need to know

The next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive for people above 60 years and those aged 45 and above with comorbidities will begin from 1 March (tomorrow) and registration on the Co-WIN 2.0 portal will open at 9 am on Monday.

Citizens will be able to register and book an appointment for vaccination, anytime and anywhere, using the Co-WIN 2.0 portal or through other IT applications such as Arogya Setu.

Registration will open at 9 am on 1 March at www.cowin.gov.in, the ministry said.

All citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 60 or more as of 1 January, 2022 are eligible to register, in addition to all such citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 45 to 59 years as of 1 January, 2022, and have any of the specified 20 comorbidities.

This information was shared during the orientation workshop organised by the Union Health Ministry and the National Health Authority (NHA) for the 10,000 private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat PMJAY, more than 600 hospitals empanelled under CGHS and other private hospitals empanelled under State Government's Health Insurance Schemes, on Co-WIN 2.0.

The health ministry also released a user manual for citizen registration and appointment for vaccination.

User manual for registration & appointment for vaccination by Manasi Chandu on Scribd

The modalities of the new features integrated into the Co-WIN 2.0 digital platform were explained to them.

The private empanelled COVID-19 Vaccination Centres (CVCs) were also trained on various aspects of the process of vaccination and management of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) through video conference with the support of the National Health Authority (NHA).

"There will be only one live appointment for a beneficiary at any point of time for each dose.

"Appointments for any date for a COVID Vaccination Center will be closed at 3 pm on that day for which the slots were opened," the ministry said.

For example, for 1 March the slots will be open from 9 am till 3 pm and the appointments can be booked anytime before that, subject to availability.

However, on 1 March, an appointment can also be booked for any future date for which vaccination slots are available. A slot for the second dose will also be booked at the same COVID Vaccination Centre on the 29th day of the date of appointment of the 1st dose.

If a beneficiary cancels a first dose appointment, then the appointment of both doses will be cancelled, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, there will be a facility of on-site registration so that eligible beneficiaries can walk into identified vaccination centres, get themselves registered and inoculated.

The eligible persons will be able to register at the Co-WIN 2.0 portal through their mobile number, through a step by step process.

With one mobile number, a person can register as many as four beneficiaries. However, all those registered on one mobile number will have nothing in common except the mobile number, the ministry said.

The photo ID card number for each such beneficiary must be different. Either of the following photo identity documents can be used by citizens for availing of online registration -- Aadhaar Card/Letter, Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), passport, driving license, PAN Card, NPR Smart Card or Pension Document with the photograph.

A user guide for the citizen registration and appointment for vaccination has also been uploaded on the websites of the Union Ministry of Health and National Health Authority (NHA).

It was also explained that the central government shall procure all the vaccines and supply them free of cost to the states and UTs who in turn will disburse them further to the government and private COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs), the ministry said.

It was re-iterated that all vaccines provided to beneficiaries at the government health facilities will be entirely free of cost, while private facilities cannot charge the beneficiary a sum above Rs 250 per person per dose (Rs 150 for vaccines and Rs 100 as operational charges).

Private hospitals will have to remit the cost of vaccine doses allotted to them in a designated account of the National Health Authority (NHA). The payment gateway for the same is being enabled by the NHA on their website, the ministry said.

The government of India has supplied two COVID-19 vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, free of cost to the states and UTs to vaccinate healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) and they will also be able to cover the next priority group i.e. 60 years plus age group and the age group of 45 to 59 years suffering from pre-specified co-morbidities.

The states have been requested to operationalise the linkages between the CVCs (both government and private empanelled facilities) with the nearest cold chain points for ensuring smooth vaccine delivery to (CVCs).

The ministry specified 20 co-morbidities within the 45-59 years age group including heart failure with hospital admission in past one year, moderate or severe valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, CT/ MRI documented stroke, diabetes ( >10 years or with complications) and hypertension on treatment, end-stage kidney disease on haemodialysis, diagnosis of any solid cancer on or after 2000 or currently on any cancer therapy for which one will have to submit a medical certificate.

The ministry has shared the format of the simplified one-page certificate to be signed by any registered medical practitioner.

The certificate can either be uploaded on Co-WIN 2.0 by the beneficiary while self-registering or a hard copy can be carried by the beneficiary to the CVC, the ministry said.

With inputs from PTI

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COVID-19 vaccine price cap too low, companies 'feel betrayed', says Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

New Delhi: Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw on Sunday hit out at the government capping COVID-19 vaccine price at Rs 250 at private hospitals, saying vaccine companies "feel betrayed" as it is too low to sustain.

Reacting to a report that the health ministry has fixed Rs 250 per shot at private hospitals and health centres, she tweeted"

Covid Vaccine Jab Capped At Rs 250 At Private Hospitals: Government - understand vaccine cos feel betrayed as price is too low to sustain. If WHO has agreed to $3 per dose why beat them down to $2? We r crushing instead of incentivising vaccine industry https://t.co/Ts54RbyFJb

— Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (@kiranshaw) February 28, 2021

The government's capping of the vaccine price at private hospitals comes at a time when India is preparing to vaccinate people aged above 60 years and those over 45 with co-morbidities from 1 March.

The COVID-19 vaccine will be given free of cost at government hospitals, while people will need to pay for it at private facilities.

It is understood that the Rs 250 ceiling per dose includes Rs 150 per dose of vaccine plus Rs 100 service charge.

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Registration for COVID-19 vaccine on CoWin 2.0 portal to begin at 9 am tomorrow; all you need to know

New Delhi: The next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive for people above 60 years and those aged 45 and above with comorbidities will begin from 1 March and registration on the Co-WIN 2.0 portal will open at 9 am on Monday.

Citizens will be able to register and book an appointment for vaccination, anytime and anywhere, using the Co-WIN 2.0 portal or through other IT applications such as Arogya Setu.

Registration will open at 9 am on 1 March at www.cowin.gov.in, the ministry said.

All citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 60 or more as of 1 January, 2022 are eligible to register, in addition to all such citizens that are aged, or will attain the age of 45 to 59 years as of 1 January, 2022, and have any of the specified 20 comorbidities.

This information was shared during the orientation workshop organised by the Union Health Ministry and the National Health Authority (NHA) for the 10,000 private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat PMJAY, more than 600 hospitals empanelled under CGHS and other private hospitals empanelled under State Government's Health Insurance Schemes, on Co-WIN2.0.

The health ministry also released a user manual for citizen registration and appointment for vaccination.

User manual for registration & appointment for vaccination by Manasi Chandu on Scribd

The modalities of the new features integrated into the Co-WIN 2.0 digital platform were explained to them.

The private empanelled COVID-19 Vaccination Centres (CVCs) were also trained on various aspects of the process of vaccination and management of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) through video conference with the support of the National Health Authority (NHA).

"There will be only one live appointment for a beneficiary at any point of time for each dose.

"Appointments for any date for a COVID Vaccination Center will be closed at 3 pm on that day for which the slots were opened," the ministry said.

For example, for 1 March the slots will be open from 9 am till 3 pm and the appointments can be booked anytime before that, subject to availability.

However, on 1 March, an appointment can also be booked for any future date for which vaccination slots are available. A slot for the second dose will also be booked at the same COVID Vaccination Centre on the 29th day of the date of appointment of the 1st dose.

If a beneficiary cancels a first dose appointment, then the appointment of both doses will be cancelled, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, there will be a facility of on-site registration so that eligible beneficiaries can walk into identified vaccination centres, get themselves registered and inoculated.

The eligible persons will be able to register at the Co-WIN 2.0 portal through their mobile number, through a step by step process.

With one mobile number, a person can register as many as four beneficiaries. However, all those registered on one mobile number will have nothing in common except the mobile number, the ministry said.

The photo ID card number for each such beneficiary must be different. Either of the following photo identity documents can be used by citizens for availing of online registration -- Aadhaar Card/Letter, Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), passport, driving license, PAN Card, NPR Smart Card or Pension Document with the photograph.

A user guide for the citizen registration and appointment for vaccination has also been uploaded on the websites of the Union Ministry of Health and National Health Authority (NHA).

It was also explained that the central government shall procure all the vaccines and supply them free of cost to the states and UTs who in turn will disburse them further to the government and private COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs), the ministry said.

It was re-iterated that all vaccines provided to beneficiaries at the government health facilities will be entirely free of cost, while private facilities cannot charge the beneficiary a sum above Rs 250 per person per dose (Rs 150 for vaccines and Rs 100 as operational charges).

Private hospitals will have to remit the cost of vaccine doses allotted to them in a designated account of the National Health Authority (NHA). The payment gateway for the same is being enabled by the NHA on their website, the ministry said.

The government of India has supplied two COVID-19 vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, free of cost to the states and UTs to vaccinate healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) and they will also be able to cover the next priority group i.e. 60 years plus age group and the age group of 45 to 59 years suffering from pre-specified co-morbidities.

The states have been requested to operationalise the linkages between the CVCs (both government and private empanelled facilities) with the nearest cold chain points for ensuring smooth vaccine delivery to (CVCs).

The ministry specified 20 co-morbidities within the 45-59 years age group including heart failure with hospital admission in past one year, moderate or severe valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, CT/ MRI documented stroke, diabetes ( >10 years or with complications) and hypertension on treatment, end-stage kidney disease on haemodialysis, diagnosis of any solid cancer on or after 2000 or currently on any cancer therapy for which one will have to submit a medical certificate.

The ministry has shared the format of the simplified one-page certificate to be signed by any registered medical practitioner.

The certificate can either be uploaded on Co-WIN 2.0 by the beneficiary while self-registering or a hard copy can be carried by the beneficiary to the CVC, the ministry said.

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COVID-19: Maharashtra's Hingoli imposes curfew from 1 to 7 March after district reports spurt in daily cases

Aurangabad: In the wake of a rise in daily COVID-19 cases in Hingoli, the local administration has decided to impose curfew in the district from 1 to 7 March.

A total of 46 new COVID-19 cases were found on Saturday in Hingoli, located in the state's Marathwada region, raising its tally to 4,083, as per official figures.

Hingoli Collector Ruchesh Jayvanshi in an order issued on Saturday evening said the curfew will come into force from 7 am on Monday and continue till March 7 midnight.

Schools, colleges, religious places and function halls shall remain closed during the period, while banks will operate only for administrative work, said the order.

Bank officials are instructed to carry their identity cards while travelling to their workplace, it said.

Milk shops will be allowed to operate from 9 am to 5 pm. Medical stores are also permitted to remain open during the curfew period, said the order.

Government offices will continue to work, it said.

The administration has also allowed the continuation of highway maintenance operations and works related to the departments of health, electricity, telephone, water drainage and sanitation.

Petrol pumps are instructed to sell fuel only to vehicles of the government, and those engaged in essential and agriculture services, the order said.

Hotels and other food suppliers for students, who hail from other districts and are currently residing in Hingoli, are instructed to operate parcel service between 9 am and 7 pm during the curfew period, it said.

On Saturday, Maharashtra reported more than 8,000 new COVID-19 cases for the fourth straight day, raising the caseload in the state to 21,46,777.

The death toll in the state due to the pandemic has reached 52,092, as per official data.

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Pooja Chavan suicide case: Cabinet minister Sanjay Rathod tenders resignation to Uddhav Thackeray

Mumbai: Maharashtra minister Sanjay Rathod, facing flak from the opposition BJP after being linked to a woman's death, resigned from the state cabinet on Sunday.

Rathod made the announcement after submitting his resignation to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who is also the president of his Shiv Sena party.

"There has been a lot of dirty politics over the issue of the woman's death," Rathod told reporters, adding he has quit the ministry so that the truth can come out.

Rathod, who holds the forest portfolio, was facing allegations of complicity in the death of Puja Chavan (23), a resident of Beed district, who was found dead in Pune on 8 February, apparently after falling off from the building in which she lived.

Talking to reporters after meeting the chief minister at his official residence Varsha, Rathod said he had resigned to facilitate a free and fair probe.

"Attempts were made to tarnish my image and destroy the reputation I had built after 30 years of social work. I was saying that let the probe happen before taking any decision. But the opposition threatened to disrupt the budget session," Rathod said.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis said the resignation of the minister wasn't enough and demanded that an FIR should be filed against him.

The BJP has accused Rathod of having links with the woman after his purported photographs, audio and video clips with her went viral on social media.

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Rare Diseases Day 2021: 'Orphans' of the health system, DMD patients are denied access to diagnosis, timely treatment

Any disease that affects a small percentage of the population is a rare disease. In many parts of the world, they also go by the term 'orphan disease’, for the lack of a market large enough to capture the support and resources needed to develop treatments for them. Most rare diseases are genetic, and present throughout a person's lifetime, even if symptoms do not immediately appear. Many rare diseases appear early on in life, and about 30 percent of children with rare diseases will die before reaching their fifth birthday.

The number of people in the world living with a rare disease is estimated to be between 300 and 350 million. This figure has often been used by the rare disease community to highlight that while individual diseases – though rare – add up to a huge population of people with rare diseases. With its sizeable population, India has an increased frequency of rare diseases when compared to the rest of the world. Due to the low prevalence of individual diseases, medical expertise is rare, knowledge is scarce, care offerings inadequate, and research limited. Despite the large overall estimate, patients with rare disease are the orphans of health systems, often denied diagnosis, treatment, and the benefits of research.

Relatively common symptoms can hide underlying rare diseases leading to misdiagnosis and delaying treatment. Typically a disabling or debilitating illness, the quality of life of a person living with a rare disease is affected by the absence of autonomy from any progressive, degenerative and occasionally life-threatening aspects of the disease.

It is estimated that every day in India, over 50 male babies are born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). We do not have any empirical epidemiological data of the DMD prevalence in India  from 2020, but it is estimated that there are between 4 and 5 lakh children suffering from DMD at any given time – roughly a fifth (20 percent) of the global DMD population. The burden in India is made greater than in Western countries by inadequate diagnostic facilities, management and rehabilitation facilities that cater to rare diseases.

Genetic disorders get relatively little attention because of the mistaken perception (of health planners, clinicians and the general public) that inherited diseases are very rare – affecting only a small proportion of people and, even if diagnosed, is untreatable. But for the families concerned, they represent a substantial, continuing burden, unlike infectious diseases, which generally manifest only for a limited period.

The plight of those suffering from DMD is on multiple levels in India. The access to diagnostics and procedures is not available across all levels of society and in non-metro areas which make up the maximum amount of the country, there is almost no genetic diagnosis available at all.

Even in metro cities blood tests done in different diagnostic centres even prove to be inconclusive. Post-diagnosis, clinicians who knew about the disease and gave guidance on steps to take are extremely hard to come by. The number of paediatricians who are unable to diagnose DMD till a late stage of disease is alarmingly high. This can be put down to lack of awareness.

India has the second largest population in the world; yet, no comprehensive database for neuromuscular disorders is available. There are still families out there with no idea about the disease, much less how to manage it. In the rare event of the family having access to diagnostics and are able to get an understanding doctor the costs of treatment are sky-high. With the expense in foreign countries reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars per year it is close to impossible for a family to support the treatment here in India.

The Government of India's identification of non-communicable diseases as a target for intervention is a welcome one, but extends to cancer, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease and stroke, but not genetic disorders. If real progress is to be made, genetic disorders needs to be brought in to the fold.

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In August 2000, my wife and were euphoric as our son Karanveer came into this world, bawling his lungs out. Everything was new again, and every day a new adventure. As Karan became older, we grew content and happy in our small world. He would babble, crawl, want to play, sleep and eat much like any other child his age. Like his peers, he would fall down and play. We lovingly thought he was a bit clumsy when he fell often. There were subtle changes as he grew, like trouble climbing stairs, getting up from the floor or running. He would walk on his toes or the balls of his feet with a slightly waddling gait. We presumed he had a small problem in his feet, and doctor visits with the promise of butter chicken on the way back, didn’t bring us the speedy conclusion we had hoped for.

We traversed the length and breadth of the country looking for a cure or at the very least find out the cause of the problem. Faith healing, Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Allopathy, Unani – we tried them all, to no avail. He was prescribed vitamins, exercise, changes in diet and a lot more. General practitioners, orthopedicians, paediatricians each giving their own opinions, asking for blood test after another, electromyography (EMG) and more, without a satisfactory answer. Tests in textbooks, treatments unheard of and renown – we tried them all, and with each new treatment that fairled, despaired of ever finding a cure.

We eventually met a renowned paediatric neurologist in Chennai. He put Karan at ease, was interactive, did a lot of poking and prodding and gradually grew contemplative towards the end. He recommended a blood test to aid in diagnosis and delivered a nasty shock. We were taken aback when we were told that Karan had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a rare disease where a protein called dystrophin – essential for proper muscle function – was lower than normal. In other words, he was wheelchair-bound for most of his life, after which he would become bedridden.

What would you do if your child was diagnosed with a condition that that most people haven’t heard of? One that progressively worsens and doesn’t yet, have a cure? For decades the health ministry has been focussed on more prominent diseases like heart diseases, diabetes, cancer, and tuberculosis. They seem to have left behind the 70 million who suffer from 7,000-odd rare diseases, that also need medical treatments and disease management.

Stumbling, falling and breaking in search of hope, we ultimately decided to do it ourselves. The Dystrophy Annihilation Research Trust (DART) was founded after scouring the country in search of help for Karan. We have recruited people qualified to run a research lab, places it could be set up, necessary equipment and chemicals, collaborations with researchers abroad, and more. Non-profits have limitations, with whopping costs for drug-development supported by donations. DART is the first lab in India focusing on muscular dystrophy (MD).

We are a group of skilled professionals working towards achieving a realistic treatment option to alleviate and reverse the dystrophy condition at the genetic level thereby enhancing the quality of life of existing patients. DART hopes to change the course of DMD and, ultimately, to find a cure. The hope and motivation fuelling the initiative is that someday, children with DMD will be free of wheelchairs and restrictions and can play, run and walk like children everywhere do. The long-term goal is to develop a cost-effective treatment, as quickly as possible, to relieve the suffering of DMD children and families alike.

DART also performs a common platform for counselling and support for patients with Muscular Dystrophy and their families, as well as to create awareness of the available treatments, and drug trials. Last but not least, DART also facilitate research into alleviating the scourge of muscular dystrophy. 

The author is President of the Dystrophy Annihilation Research Trust (DART).

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