The Evening Wrap: Youngsters eagerly line up for COVID vaccine jab on first day

As lakhs of teenagers got their first COVID-19 vaccine jabs across the country at the start of the inoculation drive for the 15-18 age group on Monday, many of the beneficiaries and their parents said they were eagerly waiting for it and feel a sense of relief, especially in the backdrop of the fresh rise in cases. From setting up attractive selfie points to putting up imaginative posters and colourful balloons, the designated vaccination centres, mostly schools and educational institutes, were decked up to welcome the youngsters. The students, some of whom were dressed in school uniforms and others in casuals, were greeted with flowers and gifted pens at some places after receiving the vaccine. Over 39.88 lakh youngsters had registered on CoWIN portal till Monday afternoon after the process began on Saturday for this category and over 12 lakh children had received the jab by 3 PM. An estimated 7.4 crore children are there in this age group. On December 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the inclusion of the 15 to 18 age group in the nationwide COVID immunisation programme from January 3. The vaccine option for this age group would only be Covaxin, according to guidelines issued by the Union health ministry on December 27. BJP refuses to respond to Satyapal Malik’s remarks The BJP on Monday maintained a studied silence on the latest remarks by Meghalaya Governor Satyapal Malik wherein he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi behaved arrogantly whenever he (Malik) had raised the issue of the three controversial farm laws and repealing them. At a function in Haryana on Sunday, Malik had said that Prime Minister Modi reacted arrogantly to the former’s suggestions that the farm laws be taken back and sensitivity shown with regard to farmers who had lost their lives during the protest movement. This is not the first time Malik has made statements that have hurt the image of the party, but likely the first time he has named Modi directly. However, BJP leaders have refused to respond to the comments and the message down the line seemed to be to not react in any way to the Meghalaya Governor’s remarks. Party leaders, not wishing to be quoted, did, however, say that Malik, who hails from western Uttar Pradesh, was probably looking at a political role in the upcoming Assembly polls in the State, not necessarily on behalf of the BJP. “He is, however, a constitutional office holder and cannot intervene directly in the politics of the region. Therefore, as such we are not saying anything. The high command also wants to wait this out,” said a senior office bearer of the party. The idea behind the wait-and-watch attitude seems to be to sit out the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and not take any action, verbal or official, on Malik. During the last Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, Malik was one of the party leaders on whom the BJP had relied to communicate with the Jat community in western region of the State when there appeared to be resentment brewing on the question of reservations for the community. Malik was Governor of Jammu and Kashmir during the immediate aftermath of the reading down of Article 370 in August 2019. He was later transferred to Goa and then appointed Governor of Meghalaya. The studied silence of the BJP and the government seems to be based on a calculation related to the Uttar Pradesh polls and unless the BJP reacts to the direct jibe on Prime Minister Modi made by Malik before the polls conclude, any action seems to be postponed for when the polls are over. Pakistan ready to host SAARC Summit, India should not stop others from attending, says Foreign Minister Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Monday that his country was ready to host the 19th SAARC Summit and India can join it virtually if the leadership in New Delhi is not willing to visit Islamabad. Addressing a press conference to highlight the achievements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2021, Qureshi accused India of making SAARC dysfunctional through its stubbornness by refusing to come to Islamabad for the Summit meeting. "I reiterate the invitation for the 19th SAARC summit. If India is not ready to come to Islamabad, it can join virtually… but it should not stop others from attending,” he said. SAARC, a regional grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, has not been very effective since 2016 and its biennial summits have not taken place since the last one in Kathmandu in 2014. The 2016 SAARC Summit was originally planned to be held in Islamabad on November 15-19, 2016. But after a terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to “prevailing circumstances”. The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet. Noting that there was no change in relations with India in 2021, Qureshi cited the alleged dominance of “Hindutva thinking” in India for sabotaging the prospects of good ties between the two countries. “Unfortunately, ties with India in 2021 were frozen. In our view, the potential of regional cooperation has been hit by aggressive Hindutva behaviour in recent years," he said. He said Pakistan wanted peaceful ties with all its neighbours, including India, but the responsibility for improving the relations was on India. Delhi HC extends time for Facebook, WhatsApp to respond to CCI notices in privacy policy matter The Delhi High Court January 3 extended the time for filing replies by Facebook and WhatsApp to two notices issued to them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which has ordered a probe into the instant messaging app’s new privacy policy. WhatsApp and Facebook have challenged the CCI’s June 4 and 8, 2021, notices respectively, asking them to furnish certain information for the purpose of inquiry conducted by it. A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh noted that the Data Protection bill is yet to be finalised and, therefore adjourned the proceedings to March 30. The court was hearing the appeals of Facebook and WhatsApp challenging its single-judge order dismissing their pleas against the probe ordered by the CCI into WhatsApp’s new privacy policy. “Till then the time to file replies to the June 4 and June 8, last year, notices issued by CCI to the appellants [Facebook and WhatsApp] is extended,” the Bench said. Nadda says Telangana BJP chief arrest is murder of democracy BJP president J.P. Nadda on Monday flayed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government after it arrested State BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar. In a press statement, he termed the arrest a “murder of democracy and constitutional rights in Telangana”. “Karyakartas, teachers and employees of the Telangana government had come to the office of Shri Bandi Sanjay Kumar ji at his Karimnagar Lok Sabha office to register a complaint against the KCR [Chief Minister K Chandrashekhara Rao] government passing the regressive Order No. 317 against teachers and employees. Following all the COVID-19 appropriate protocols, Shri Bandi Sanjay Kumar ji, along with BJP leaders and workers, sat on a night-long vigil and fast to show his solidarity with the agitating teachers and employees at his office,” Nadda stated. “But the KCR government was so scared of this peaceful protest by the BJP State president, party workers and aggrieved teachers and employees that it ordered the police to launch an attack on the peaceful protest. This massive use of force and planned attack and violence against the BJP leaders, workers, teachers, and employees is nothing but an act of political vendetta and political anarchy prevailing in Telangana. The police first cut the iron gates of the office and then forcibly entered where the peaceful protest was going on. The police then launched a brutal attack on the BJP State president and other party workers, including women leaders and workers, and then arrested them,” he observed. This kind of crackdown on local BJP unit leaders was due to the party’s “growing popularity” in the State and it would continue with its protests, he added. Kumar has been remanded in 14-day judicial custody by the Karimnagar district court. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,49,18,161 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,81,863. The Centre on Monday suspended marking of biometric attendance for all its employees till January 31, as a precautionary measure to check the spread of coronavirus. Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said the decision has been taken in the interest of safety and health of the government employees. “Keeping in view the rise in #COVID cases in the last few days, the BIOMETRIC ATTENDANCE for govt officials and employees is being suspended with immediate effect, till further orders. Under leadership of PM Sh @NarendraModi, this decision has been taken in the interest of safety and health of the govt employees," he tweeted. However, all the employees are required to mark their attendance in attendance registers to be maintained manually, an order issued by the Personnel Ministry said. “As a precautionary measure, it has been decided to suspend the marking of biometric attendance in the Aadhaar-based biometric attendance system in all ministries/departments of the Government of India, including its attached/subordinate offices, with immediate effect till January 31, 2022,” it said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 03 JANUARY 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Youngsters eagerly line up for COVID vaccine jab on first day As [lakhs of teenagers got their first COVID-19 vaccine jabs across the country at the start]( of the inoculation drive for the 15-18 age group on Monday, many of the beneficiaries and their parents said they were eagerly waiting for it and feel a sense of relief, especially in the backdrop of the fresh rise in cases. From setting up attractive selfie points to putting up imaginative posters and colourful balloons, the designated vaccination centres, mostly schools and educational institutes, were decked up to welcome the youngsters. [A health worker administers a COVID-19 vaccine dose to a 15-year-old girl beneficiary during the vaccination drive, against coronavirus, in New Delhi on January 3, 2022.]  The students, some of whom were dressed in school uniforms and others in casuals, were greeted with flowers and gifted pens at some places after receiving the vaccine. Over 39.88 lakh youngsters had registered on CoWIN portal till Monday afternoon after the process began on Saturday for this category and over 12 lakh children had received the jab by 3 PM. An estimated 7.4 crore children are there in this age group. On December 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the inclusion of the 15 to 18 age group in the nationwide COVID immunisation programme from January 3. The vaccine option for this age group would only be Covaxin, according to guidelines issued by the Union health ministry on December 27. [underlineimg] BJP refuses to respond to Satyapal Malik’s remarks The [BJP on Monday maintained a studied silence on the latest remarks by Meghalaya Governor Satyapal Malik]( wherein he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi behaved arrogantly whenever he (Malik) had raised the issue of the three controversial farm laws and repealing them. At a function in Haryana on Sunday, Malik had said that Prime Minister Modi reacted arrogantly to the former’s suggestions that the farm laws be taken back and sensitivity shown with regard to farmers who had lost their lives during the protest movement. This is not the first time Malik has made statements that have hurt the image of the party, but likely the first time he has named Modi directly . However, BJP leaders have refused to respond to the comments and the message down the line seemed to be to not react in any way to the Meghalaya Governor’s remarks. Party leaders, not wishing to be quoted, did, however, say that Malik, who hails from western Uttar Pradesh, was probably looking at a political role in the upcoming Assembly polls in the State, not necessarily on behalf of the BJP. “He is, however, a constitutional office holder and cannot intervene directly in the politics of the region. Therefore, as such we are not saying anything. The high command also wants to wait this out,” said a senior office bearer of the party. The idea behind the wait-and-watch attitude seems to be to sit out the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and not take any action, verbal or official, on Malik. During the last Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, Malik was one of the party leaders on whom the BJP had relied to communicate with the Jat community in western region of the State when there appeared to be resentment brewing on the question of reservations for the community. Malik was Governor of Jammu and Kashmir during the immediate aftermath of the reading down of Article 370 in August 2019. He was later transferred to Goa and then appointed Governor of Meghalaya. The studied silence of the BJP and the government seems to be based on a calculation related to the Uttar Pradesh polls and unless the BJP reacts to the direct jibe on Prime Minister Modi made by Malik before the polls conclude, any action seems to be postponed for when the polls are over. [underlineimg] Pakistan ready to host SAARC Summit, India should not stop others from attending, says Foreign Minister [Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Monday]( that his country was ready to host the 19th SAARC Summit and India can join it virtually if the leadership in New Delhi is not willing to visit Islamabad. Addressing a press conference to highlight the achievements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2021, Qureshi accused India of making SAARC dysfunctional through its stubbornness by refusing to come to Islamabad for the Summit meeting. "I reiterate the invitation for the 19th SAARC summit. If India is not ready to come to Islamabad, it can join virtually… but it should not stop others from attending,” he said. SAARC, a regional grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, has not been very effective since 2016 and its biennial summits have not taken place since the last one in Kathmandu in 2014. The 2016 SAARC Summit was originally planned to be held in Islamabad on November 15-19, 2016. But after a terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to “prevailing circumstances”. The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet. Noting that there was no change in relations with India in 2021, Qureshi cited the alleged dominance of “Hindutva thinking” in India for sabotaging the prospects of good ties between the two countries. “Unfortunately, ties with India in 2021 were frozen. In our view, the potential of regional cooperation has been hit by aggressive Hindutva behaviour in recent years," he said. He said Pakistan wanted peaceful ties with all its neighbours, including India, but the responsibility for improving the relations was on India. [underlineimg] Delhi HC extends time for Facebook, WhatsApp to respond to CCI notices in privacy policy matter The [Delhi High Court January 3 extended the time for filing replies by Facebook and WhatsApp]( to two notices issued to them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which has ordered a probe into the instant messaging app’s new privacy policy. WhatsApp and Facebook have challenged the CCI’s June 4 and 8, 2021, notices respectively, asking them to furnish certain information for the purpose of inquiry conducted by it. [WhatsApp and Facebook had challenged the CCI's March 24, 2021, order directing a probe into the new privacy policy. File]  A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh noted that the Data Protection bill is yet to be finalised and, therefore adjourned the proceedings to March 30. The court was hearing the appeals of Facebook and WhatsApp challenging its single-judge order dismissing their pleas against the probe ordered by the CCI into WhatsApp’s new privacy policy. “Till then the time to file replies to the June 4 and June 8, last year, notices issued by CCI to the appellants [Facebook and WhatsApp] is extended,” the Bench said. [underlineimg] Nadda says Telangana BJP chief arrest is murder of democracy [BJP president J.P. Nadda on Monday flayed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)]( government after it arrested State BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar. In a press statement, he termed the arrest a “murder of democracy and constitutional rights in Telangana”. “Karyakartas, teachers and employees of the Telangana government had come to the office of Shri Bandi Sanjay Kumar ji at his Karimnagar Lok Sabha office to register a complaint against the KCR [Chief Minister K Chandrashekhara Rao] government passing the regressive Order No. 317 against teachers and employees. Following all the COVID-19 appropriate protocols, Shri Bandi Sanjay Kumar ji, along with BJP leaders and workers, sat on a night-long vigil and fast to show his solidarity with the agitating teachers and employees at his office,” Nadda stated. “But the KCR government was so scared of this peaceful protest by the BJP State president, party workers and aggrieved teachers and employees that it ordered the police to launch an attack on the peaceful protest. This massive use of force and planned attack and violence against the BJP leaders, workers, teachers, and employees is nothing but an act of political vendetta and political anarchy prevailing in Telangana. The police first cut the iron gates of the office and then forcibly entered where the peaceful protest was going on. The police then launched a brutal attack on the BJP State president and other party workers, including women leaders and workers, and then arrested them,” he observed. This kind of crackdown on local BJP unit leaders was due to the party’s “growing popularity” in the State and it would continue with its protests, he added. Kumar has been remanded in 14-day judicial custody by the Karimnagar district court. [underlineimg] Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India]( stood at 3,49,18,161 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,81,863. The [Centre on Monday suspended marking of biometric attendance for all its employees till January 31]( as a precautionary measure to check the spread of coronavirus. Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said the decision has been taken in the interest of safety and health of the government employees. “Keeping in view the rise in #COVID cases in the last few days, the BIOMETRIC ATTENDANCE for govt officials and employees is being suspended with immediate effect, till further orders. Under leadership of PM Sh @NarendraModi, this decision has been taken in the interest of safety and health of the govt employees," he tweeted. However, all the employees are required to mark their attendance in attendance registers to be maintained manually, an order issued by the Personnel Ministry said. “As a precautionary measure, it has been decided to suspend the marking of biometric attendance in the Aadhaar-based biometric attendance system in all ministries/departments of the Government of India, including its attached/subordinate offices, with immediate effect till January 31, 2022,” it said. 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