YK MYK ECONOMY NEEDS A STRONG MANUFACTURING PUSH OPINION Rs. 5 RANCHI TUESDAY, 18 JAN, 2022 PG-12, YEAR—11, ISSUE— 251 (RNI NO: JHAENG / 2012 / 44137) AT A GLANCE ‘STATE OF THE WORLD’ ADDRESS: MODI TO SPEAK ON INDIA-CENTRIC ISSUES IF GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY, IT WILL BE AN HONOUR: BUMRAH ON CAPTAINCY SPORTS Morning India 33 Jharkhand labourers stranded in Mali cry for help, seek govt help DEVASHEESH BADAL NEW DELHI: It seems that the World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos virtual summit has already set an agenda for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is scheduled to deliver his special address on Monday evening at 8.30 p.m. From Covid-19 putting pressure on the Indian healthcare system to India's struggle with climate change, specially mentioning the Mumbai floods, Covid's impact of Indian school children from the rural areas to new emerging mental health problems among the public, the WEF has already mentioned all in its India-centric reports. "India recently announced the establishment of a National Hydrogen Mission. India's ambitious fivepart Panchamrit pledge to reach net zero by 2070 was one of the most important announcements at Glasgow," read one recent WEF report on India, just three days before PM Modi's 'State of the World' special address in Davos. Nearly 40 per cent of the students in underprivileged households in India have not been studying during school closures, according to a new report. Only 1-in-4 children in India have access to a digital device, and nearly half of the children in rural India have no means to study online. As a result, India is experiencing a significant drop in literacy levels. It's feared that this could cause more children to drop out, says 'This is how Covid-19 lockdowns affected India's school children' WEF referring to a report. which explained the impact of lockdown on the underprivileged school children. BAGODAR: There seems to be no end of problems for 33 Jharkhand labourers who had gone to Mali for better job opportunities and payments a year ago. Their dreams lay shattered as they are forced to work without salary for the past three months. All stranded labourers want to return home from the African nation and have sought the government's help. Family sources have told Morning India that they (labourers) left for Mali one year ago and the entire arrangements were made by a broker from Andhra Pradesh. The stranded labourers have used social media to tell their sad stories and reached out to the both central and state governments for immediate help. This is not the first Family members of one of the labourers in Shriram Dih village Suriya block (Giridih district), on Monday. instance where labourers from Jharkhand have been trapped in foreign country. In this case a broker from Andhra Pradesh lured these laborers to Mali in South Africa in pretext of high salary. The labourers later realized that they are being offered very low wages. Social worker Sikander Ali, who works in the interest of Number of Indian billionaires grew to 142 in 2021 NEW DELHI: The number of Indian billionaires grew from 102 to 142, while 84 per cent of households in the country suffered a decline in their income in 2021, which was also a year marked by tremendous loss of life and livelihoods, according to non profit Oxfam India's latest report published on Monday. The report 'Inequality Kills' comes ahead of the World Economic Forum's Davos Agenda. It indicates that the collective wealth of India's 100 richest people hit a record high of Rs 57.3 lakh crore in 2021. In India, during the pandemic (since March 2020, through to November 30th, 2021) the wealth of billionaires increased from Rs 23.14 lakh crore to Rs 53.16 lakh crore. More than 4.6 crore Indians, meanwhile, are estimated to have fallen into extreme poverty in 2020 (nearly half of the global new poor according to the United Nations). The stark wealth inequality in India is a result of an economic system rigged in favour of the super-rich over the poor and marginalised, the report said It advocates a one per cent surcharge on the richest 10 per cent of the Indian population to fund inequality combating measures such as higher investments in school education, universal healthcare, and social security benefits like maternity leaves, paid leaves and pension for all Indians. "The 'Inequality Kills' briefing shows how deeply unequal our economic system is and how it fuels not only inequality but poverty as well. We urge the Government of India to commit to an economic system which creates a more equal and sustainable nation," Amitabh Behar, CEO, Oxfam India said in a statement. Further, Behar said that Oxfam's global briefing points to the stark reality of inequality contributing to the death of at least 21,000 people each day, or one person every four seconds. Moreover, the pandemic set gender parity back from 99 years to now 135 years. Women collectively lost Rs 59.11 lakh crore in earnings in 2020, with 1.3 crore fewer women in work now than in 2019, the report showed. "It has never been so important to start righting the wrongs of this obscene inequality by targeting extreme wealth through taxation and getting that money back into the real economy to save lives," Behar said. "India can show the world that democratic systems are capable of wealth redistribution and inclusive growth where no one is left behind. India's fight against inequality and poverty must be supported by the billionaires who made record profits in the country during the pandemic," he suggested. No person can be forced to get vaccinated against their wishes: Centre to SC NEW DELHI: COVID-19 inoculation guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry do not envisage forcible vaccination without obtaining the consent of an individual, the Centre has told the Supreme Court. The Health Ministry in an affidavit filed before the top court submitted that India's vaccination programme is the largest in the world and as on January 11, 2022, a total of 1,52,95,43,602 doses have been administered. It said that 90.84 per cent of the eligible adult population has received their first dose of the vaccine and 61 per cent has received their second dose as well. "Furthermore, a total of 23,768 doses have been administered to disabled persons who have voluntarily chosen to be identified as such by using their Unique Disability ID Card/Disability Certificate for registration at the time of their vaccination," it said. On the issue of exempting persons with disabilities from producing vaccination certificates, the Centre told the apex court that it has not issued any SOP that makes it mandatory to carry the vaccination certificate for any purpose. The Centre said this in its affidavit filed in response to a plea by NGO Evara Foundation seeking door-todoor, priority COVID-19 vaccination for persons with disabilities. "It is submitted that the direction and guidelines released by the Government of India and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare do not envisage any forcible vaccination without obtaining consent of the concerned individual. "It is submitted that vaccination for COVID-19 is of larger public interest in view of the ongoing pandemic situation," the affidavit filed by the Health Ministry said. The ministry said that "it is duly advised, advertised and communicated through various print and social media platforms that all citizens should get vaccinated and systems and processes have been designed to facilitate the same." "However, no person can be forced to be vaccinated against their wishes," it said. On the issue of door-todoor vaccination, the affidavit submitted that guidance has been provided to states and union territories to undertake meticulous, need-based planning so that Near to Home Vaccine Centres (NHCVCs) strategy is undertaken at block or urban area level and identification of NHCVC sites done according to guidelines. The location of NHCVCs is to be done by district/urban task forces so as to ensure maximum reach of services to the eligible population, it said. The Health Ministry stressed on the need for continuing the use of face masks or face covers, and said the "Har Ghar Dastak Abhiyan" was being followed for doorto-door vaccination of eligible beneficiaries, including persons with disabilities. It also apprised the apex court that such persons not having ID cards are also eligible for vaccination since the CoWIN website provides the facility for creation of special vaccination sessions for this purpose. "It is submitted that the CoWIN public interface is available in 11 regional languages in addition to English. It is also submitted that open files of awareness materials have been shared with the states for translation, publication and dissemination in any language/accessible format," the affidavit said. labourers, said that this is not the first time that poor people get trapped abroad due to brokers and in the past too many such cases have come to the fore in which the labor- ers are being paid more by the brokers. They send abroad with the lure of earning money and they get stuck by going abroad. In such a situation, the government needs to take concrete steps on this. Chano Mahato's wife Bina Devi and Santosh Mahato's wife Kanti Devi told Morning India that they have not been sending money for 3 months, due to which the financial condition of the family has become very bad. After contacting the phone, the husband said that they are not being paid salary. They have very limited food left. "What should we do now, there is no solution," one of the labourers told his family. Minister Champai Soren, Satyanand Bhokta, Education Minister Jagarnath Mahato have tweeted to CM Hemant Soren for the safe return of laborers trapped in Africa. EC allows persons deployed in essential services, media to cast votes via postal ballot NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India on Monday issued a notification allowing the persons deployed in essential services and media to cast their votes through postal ballots in the forthcoming Assembly elections in five states. According to the notification, the personnel employed in Information and Public Relation Department, Health and Family Welfare Department including emergency and ambulance services, Postal and Traffic departments, Railway, Electricity, Civil Aviation Departments, Metro Rail Corporation of Uttar Pradesh, Doordarshan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. Human trials of India’s first mRNA Covid vax soon NEW DELHI: India is soon set to begin human trials on its first home-grown Covid vaccine based on Messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Pune-based Gennova Biopharmaceuticals is making India's first mRNA vaccine known as HGC019, in collaboration with US-based HDT Bio Corp. In August, the Drug Controller General of India had approved the Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials. "The Vaccine Subject Expert Committee (SEC) reviewed the data, and found HGCO19 to be safe, tolerable, and immunogenic in the participants of the study," the company had said in a statement. The company will start testing the vaccine on humans for efficacy and immunogenicity from next month. The mRNA vaccine is also reportedly effective against the newA Omicron variant. The mRNA vaccines carry the molecular information to make the protein in the host using the synthetic RNA of the virus. The host body produces the viral protein that is recognised by the immune system, thereby enabling the body to fight against the disease. mRNA vaccines are considered safe as mRNA is noninfectious, non-integrating in nature, and degraded by standard cellular mechanisms. They are highly efficacious because of their inherent capability of being translated into proteins in the cell. These vaccines also represent a promising alternative to conventional vaccine approaches because of their high potency, capacity for rapid development, and potential for low-cost manufacture and safe administration. Researchers have been studying and working with mRNA vaccines for decades. It can be developed in a laboratory using readily available materials, meaning the manufacturing can be faster. mRNA vaccines have elicited potent immunity against infectious disease targets in animal models of influenza virus, Zika virus, rabies virus and others, especially in recent years. It has also been employed in numerous cancer clinical trials, with some promising results showing antigen-specific T cell responses and prolonged disease-free survival in some cases. Future mRNA vaccine technology may allow for one vaccine to provide protection against multiple diseases, thus decreasing the number of shots needed for protection against common vaccine-preventable diseases.