1,655 rapes due to breach of promise to marry

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Hyderabad:

01.01.2022

Out of the 2,382 rape cases in Telangana, the state police on Friday said that as per the analysis 1,655 cases were due to the failure to keep the promise to marry the victim.

Except in 26 cases, where the offender was unknown to the victims, in remaining cases the victims are known to the accused.

After releasing the annual crime report-2021, DGP said,“When schools and colleges are thrown open, police are planning to set up girls’ safety clubs as part of women safety. ”

During the analysis of murder cases reported in the state, in 401murder cases family dispute was the motive.

Out of the 8,839 cyber crime cases, it was found that 5,933 cases were in connection with fake customer care, advertisement portal fraud, job and loan frauds. They were followed by 1,191 cases, which are about online impersonation frauds and 1,024 cases for cyber stalking.

TNN

Changed phone numbers add to vax drive

Changed phone numbers add to vax drive

 chaosSribala.Vadlapatla@timesgroup.com

Hyderabad:  01.01.2022

Telangana’s second dose Covid-19 vaccine drive has been slow — the state ranks 23rd among states and Union territories — but not without a reason.

One of the reasons for the delay in administering the second dose is that many people have changed their mobile phone numbers, which are linked to their Aadhaar number. “There would be at least 10% of such people and some of them were vaccinated for the second time, but their numbers are scattered. We are attempting to enter the details of such people using digital codes, but even that is becoming difficult,” a senior health official told TOI. He further said: “We are requesting the people not to switch the phone numbers associated with their Aadhaar numbers. This is causing a lot of confusion. ” Officials have also noticed a similar pattern among those who are overdue for their second dose of vaccine. There are still 20 lakh people who are overdue for their second dose in the state.

Amid this confusion, there are some positive trends as well. Concerns about the rapid spreadof Omicron, aswell as the announcement of the precaution dose, have elicited an overwhelming response from all eligible age groups. Despite the fact that the targeted age group is only those over 60, authorities are receiving requests from people of all ages. “A lot of us are asking us to give them precaution doses even though they do not qualify under the current guidelines, which is a good sign,” a senior official said.

Meanwhile, officials said that four Omicron-tested patients in Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS)have serious comorbidities with liver and kidney,buttheyare all recovering well. There has also been no serious need for any other medicine, they said. “They are also not given any Covid-19-approved drugs. In the hospital, their condition is stable. The others have no symptoms,” an official said.

 

No bail for accused in widow pension scam

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New Delhi: 01.01.2022

A Delhi court has dismissed the bail plea of a man, who had duped several people through a widow pension scam. The accused had allegedly forged more than100 death certificates for getting pensions sanctioned in their favour. While dismissing the bail plea of Jai Prakash, additional sessions judge Sandeep Garg said the allegations levelled against him were grave.

“There is prima facie overwhelming incriminating evidence on record against the appli- cant/accused i. e. there are monetary transactions to the tune of more than 15 lakh rupees between him and co-accused Sahil. One pendrive containing a number of sample death certificates and more than 100 death certificates has been recovered. Investigation is still pending,” the court said in an order on December 28. It further said the possibility of the accused tampering with the evidence or intimidating the complainant and other prosecution witnesses could not be ruled out.

TNN

Seniors more ‘mask-friendly’ than youngsters

 Seniors more ‘mask-friendly’ than youngsters

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Ashutosh.Shukla@timesgroup.com

Bhopal:

Who are  the people wearing masks and who aren’t? An answer to this question will have to be divided into several categories age, gender, area, income and professional groups.

Anyone observing the pattern over a period of time can tell you that elderly or middle aged persons are more particular about wearing masks than the youngsters, women are seen wearing masks than men, residents of new Bhopal are seen in masks more than the residents of old city, residents of posh colonies and housing societies wear masks more than the residents of slum areas and colonies inhabited by lower middle class or poor people and more doctors or teachers are seen in masks than the policemen.

“You can blame it on their age. Youngsters obviously don’t fear disease or death so much , may be it is the reason that they are not seen wearing masks so much as middle-aged or elderly persons. I think their parents should insist with them that they wear masks to protect themselves from Covid-19, which makes no distinction of age or any other factor”, said Akash Agrawal, while talking about age group of youngsters sipping tea at a tea stall outside his office, none of them wearing masks or observing social distancing.

Gender-divide in observing the mandatory mask norm can also be clearly seen. Girl students in a college or school are seen in masks even after they have come out of their college or school while boys can be spotted going into the college or school without wearing a mask.

“I think girls have always been more disciplined and it reflects here, too, You don’t have to ask them to wear masks but boys, they often take out masks from their pocket when asked to put on a mask”, said Prerna Shama, a teacher in a private school.

In markets and other public places, too, women are seen in masks more than the men in all age groups. The area you are in also makes a big difference in terms of compliance to the mandatory mask norm. In a market at Hanumanganj or Ibrahimpura, you rarely come across shoppers or even traders wearing masks while in upmarket areas like 10 no. stop market, traders and shoppers wearing masks is much much more.

“We have seen it right from the beginning of Corona times. Residents of the old city could never come to terms with wearing masks even when many localities were Corona hotspots in the area. More people in the new Bhopal area are seen in masks than the old city”, said Tausif, a resident of Shahjahanabad.

 

Omicron infections may not warrant shutdowns: Officials

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01.01.2022

However, many cases being detected in India were due to contact tracing or testing due to travel plans, underlining that the infections are often asymptomatic. While Omicron is certainly more potent than flus, it is being assessed if it will be the first steptowards a milder form of the virus. Official sources said infections may not warrant shutdowns that derail a nascent economic recovery. It is being evaluated if the pandemic is moving towards endemicity — becoming a common, but milder ailment. In South Africa, Omicron cases began to rise around mid-November and c

ame down in a month.

Studies of the Omicron variant’s action on human cells show it faces effective “blocks” due to immune response, warding off serious disease. Though Omicron has a high number of spikeprotein mutations, they are clustered in three key functional areas of the virus. What Omicron gains in higher “escape” ability, it loses in terms of binding action on protein receptors as compared to Delta. And so while antibody strength is reduced, the Omicron spike is less potent, studies say.

“We see that the expected binding to the FCD (Furin cleavage domain) is at best the samea s the a lpha variant, and significantlyless than the Delta variant,” says a recent paper on simulation studies on Omicron in biology pre-print publicationBioRxiv.

A health ministry study of  countries with a high  number of cases shows daily deaths are higher in countries with lower vaccine coverage or where the vaccination drive has stalled. The US is recording an average of 1,777 daily deaths and a CFR of 1. 54 and its vaccine coverage is 61% of the population. The figures for France with 80% vaccine coverage are better, with 184 daily deaths and 1. 29 CFR, even as it records 2 lakh cases a day. Though India’s two-dose coverage, interms of p opulation, is 42%, its double-dose coverage of eligible adults is 65%, and single shot is 9 0%.

Nos. rise but govt cautiously optimistic on Omicron effect  Rapidly But Seen As Weaker

New Delhi: The swift rise and subsidence of the Omicron wave in South Africa and lower mortality due to the variant in countries with higher vaccine coverage, along with trends in India, have led to cautious optimism that it could herald progressively weaker strains of the Covid, preventing serious disruption of the economy.

Official sources said that while preparations to tend to patients needing hospital care — due to a cumulatively higher number of cases — were on, evidence from domestic and global studies pointed to India’s expanding vaccination coverage and hybrid immunity delivering a high level of pro- tection against serious illness.

The presence of Omicron in genome-sequenced samples in India has crossed 50%, indicating that the variant is rapidly replacing Delta as the domi- nant strain. Around 80% of Covid cases among international arrivals are of Omicron, pointing to its wide footprint.

Only Covaxin jabs for children

 Only Covaxin jabs for children

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru: 01.01.2022

Ahead of administering Covid-19 vaccine to children (15-18 age group) and ‘precautionary’ doses to healthcare/frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities in January 2022, the health and family welfare department said only 0. 5ml of Covaxin will be given to the teenagers.

In a circular issued on Thursday, the department said children born in 2007 and before will be vaccinated from January 3 and the second dose will be provided 28 days after the first.

District health authorities have been instructed to ensure vaccination centres have separate schedules for kids and the rest of the population. Parental consent must be taken prior to administering vaccine to children with comorbidities. In case the child is given any other vaccine recently, the Covid-19 vaccination must be done only af- ter 15 days, read the circular issued by Arundhathi Chandrasekhar, mission director, National Health Mission, Karnataka.

The health department has asked districts to identify schools with three rooms spacious enough for establishing vaccination centres. Drinking water and hand-wash facilities must be set up. The list of schools where Covid-19 vaccination for children is administered must be made public, the circular stated.

Schools conducting online classes must schedule dates of vaccination and provide children with jabs. Any adverse event following vaccination must be efficiently managed, the note said.

Precautionary doses will be made available for healthcare and frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities from January10. “They must have completed 39 weeks or nine months from the time of second dose,” the circular stated.

Healthcare/frontline workers aged above 60 who had taken their previous doses under the general citizen category can provide their employment proof and get registered for the precautionary dose. Key decisions to be taken soon, says Bommai Amid a spike in Covid-19 and Omicron variant cases in the state, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said the government will take some “important decisions” in the days to come. He said health infrastructure such as beds, oxygen and medicines should be put in place to deal with the situation. “Cases are increasing across the country; the Centre has identified Karnataka as one among the eight states,” Bommai said.

 

Resident doctors’ strike called off: FORDA

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New Delhi:

01.01.2022

Resident doctors in Delhi, who have been protesting over the delay in NEET-PG counselling for two weeks, on Friday called off their strike after receiving assurances from the government that their demands would be looked into, their federation said. The stir by the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) was called off at 12 noon, FORDA said in a statement.

Patient care had been affected at several major hospitals in Delhi in this period as resident doctors have been boycotting services to lodge their protest. The federation on Thursday had sought withdrawal of police cases lodged against some of their colleagues in the fraternity after a face off between medics and police personnel in the streets on Monday.

On Thursday, a “series of meetings of FORDA representatives was held with multiple Delhi Police officials. It was highlighted by Delhi Police that they have highest regard for doctors,” the federation said in its statement.

They also assured that police complaints lodged against resident doctors “will be taken care of as per the legal procedures,” FORDA claimed.

“A virtual meeting of FORDA members with all RDAs’ representatives was convened late in the evening whereby all the proceedings were conveyed, all points of concern were discussed in details. It was unanimously decided to call off the agitation on 31st December, 2021, 12:00 pm, considering various factors, including patient care,” it said.

PTI