Big number of participants at Olympics will be vaccinated: Bach

by Argus News

Lausanne, April 22: International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach is confident that a "big number" of participants at the Tokyo Olympics this year will be vaccinated against Covid-19.

"I think we can already say now that a big number of participants living in the Olympic village will be vaccinated for own safety and solidarity to the Japanese population," Bach told a news conference following an IOC executive board meeting on Wednesday.

Bach, however, reinforced the IOC position that it cannot make vaccination compulsory two months before the Games, reports dpa news agency.

"But we've been encouraging and assisting all the national Olympic committees and Olympic teams to get vaccinated and, in fact, we can see very good process," he pointed out.

The IOC chief said they are working with experts around the world on a new version of the Olympic playbook, that will be "scientific based and very factual", and is set to be published at the end of April.

Asked about a visit to Japan ahead of the Games, Bach said it's "still in the planning phase, so I cannot confirm it. Once the arrangements are made they will of course be made public".

The IOC also approved its Athletes' commission recommendation to maintain the ban on podium protests and at the arenas at the Olympics.

Athletes were consulted in a survey and 70 per cent of the participants were against allowing any political, ethnic or religious demonstration, following Rule 50 of the Olympic charter, which prohibits athletes from demonstrating or protesting in certain places at the Games.

"A very clear majority of athletes think this is inappropriate," head of the commission Kirsty Coventry said.

As further recommendations, the Athletes' commission named increased information about the consequences of violations of Rule 50.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were postponed to this summer and are due to start on July 23.

Japan has been struggling with another wave of coronavirus infections and Bach said the IOC was informed about a possible new state of emergency in Tokyo.

Doubts persist as to whether the Games will happen, but the IOC and organizers have ruled out a cancellation or another postponement as "Tokyo continues to be the best prepared Olympic city ever", Bach said.

A few qualification tournaments for the Games have been cancelled and some athletes have already lost and others may still lose the opportunity to compete in Tokyo.

Bach said "it's a very difficult situation", but that the athletes and teams safety must come first.

On Wednesday, Tokyo Olympic organisers hdelayed the decision on how many spectators will be allowed to enter venues.

When asked, Bach didn't answer if the IOC was planning to host the games without spectator at all.

A survey conducted by the Kyodo news agency showed last week 72 per cent of those polled in Japan want the Olympics cancelled or rescheduled due to the pandemic.

Only 24 per cent supported the Olympics and Paralympics going ahead this year.

(IANS)

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Nayagarh: Man Beheads Wife, Walks With Severed Head To Police Station

by Hemanta Pande

Nayagarh Man Beheads Wife Walks With Head To Police Station

Nayagarh, Dec 9: A man allegedly beheaded his wife and walked to the police station with her severed head in Odisha’s Nayagarh district on Saturday.

The accused has been identified as Arjun Bagh, a resident of Bidapaju village under Banigochha police station limits in the district.

According to sources, accused Arjun used to suspect his wife for her alleged illicit relation with another man and often picked up fights with her. In a fit of rage, he allegedly beheaded her with a sharp weapon, following heated arguments this afternoon.

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Later, the accused reached Banigochha police station with his wife's severed head and surrendered before the police.

Police started an investigation into the matter.

Amit Shah To Visit Bihar For Regional Council Meeting On Dec 10

by Hemanta Pande

Patna, Dec 9: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Bihar for the Eastern Regional Council meeting on December 10.

The meeting will be held at the CM secretariat where Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and representatives of West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand will also be present.

This will be the first time that Shah and Nitish Kumar will be meeting in Bihar following the change in the government in the state.

Shah will arrive at Patna airport at 1.40 pm and will straight away drive to the CM secretariat to attend the meeting which will start from 2 pm.

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The meeting will take place for three hours followed by high-tea from 5 pm to 6 pm.

Shah will return to the government guest house for a meeting with the BJP leaders for an hour and return to Delhi at 7.20 pm. (IANS)

NIA Arrests 15 Operatives After Raids At 44 Locations In Maha, K’Taka In IS Conspiracy Case

by Pabitra Mohan Senapaty

NIA Arrests 15 Operatives After Raids At 44 Locations In Maha, Karnataka In IS Conspiracy Case

New Delhi, Dec 9: In a massive crackdown on IS, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday arrested 15 operatives of the banned terror outfit during multiple and widespread raids across Maharashtra and Karnataka at over 44 locations, officials said.

An NIA spokesperson here said that the multiple agency teams on Saturday swooped down on as many as 44 locations in Padgha-Borivali, Thane, Mira Road and Pune in Maharashtra, and Bengaluru in Karnataka early this morning, and apprehended the 15 accused for promoting terror and terror related acts and activities of the proscribed organisation.

The official said that huge amounts of unaccounted cash, firearms, sharp edged weapons, incriminating documents, smart phones and other digital devices were seized during the raids, conducted as part of NIA’s ongoing efforts to disrupt and demolish the attempts of Islamic State (IS) to carry out violent acts of terror and take innocent lives.

The official said that the accused, operating on the directions of their foreign handlers, had been actively involved in various terrorist activities, including fabrication of IEDs, for furthering the violent and destructive agenda of the IS, as per NIA investigations.

The NIA investigations have further revealed that the accused, all members of IS Maharashtra module, were operating from Padgha-Borivali, where they had hatched the conspiracy to spread terror and carry out acts of violence across the country.

The official said that pursuing the path of violent Jihad, Khilafat, IS etc., the accused had aimed to disturb the peace and communal harmony of the country and to wage a war against the India, the official said.

The official also said that its initial investigations have revealed that the arrested accused had self-declared the village of Padgha in rural Thane as a ‘liberated zone’ and as ‘Al Sham’.

"They were motivating impressionable Muslim youth to relocate in Padgha from their place of residence for strengthening the Padgha base," the official said.

The official also said that Saqib Nachan, the main accused and the leader and head of the IS module, was also administering the ‘bayath’ (oath of allegiance to the Khalifa of IS) to the persons joining the proscribed organisation.

The official also said that IS is a global terror organisation (GTG), also known as Islamic State (IS) or Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) or Daish or Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) or ISIS Wilayat Khorasan/Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham Khorasan (ISIS-K)).

The outfit has been spreading its terror network in India by putting in place localised IS modules and cells in various states of the country, the official said.

The NIA has, in recent months, conducted large-scale raids and busted different IS modules by arresting several terror operatives in the IS terror conspiracy case in a bid to scuttle the organisation’s heinous and violent anti-India agenda.

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The agency as part of its efforts towards that end, the agency had registered a case against the IS Maharashtra module earlier this year and has, since then, undertaken strong and concerted actions to destroy the various IS modules and networks operating across the country.

(IANS)

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Big number of participants at Olympics will be vaccinated: Bach

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