Delta variant infected even vaccinated people during 2nd wave: ICMR

by Argus News

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However, the study suggests that vaccination does provide a reduction in hospital admission and mortality, the ICMR said.

New Delhi, July 16: The highly contagious Delta Covid variant infected more than 80 per cent people in India during the devastating second wave of the pandemic, affecting even those who took at least one vaccine dose, revealed a study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

However, the study suggests that vaccination does provide a reduction in hospital admission and mortality, the ICMR said.

The study conducted a clinical characterisation and genomic analysis of 677 Covid-19 positive cases. Of these 71 had taken the Covaxin vaccine, 604 got the Covishield vaccine, while two took the Sinopharm vaccine. The samples were collected from 17 states and Union Territories.

A majority (86.09 per cent) of the infections were caused by the Delta variant (B16172). While 9.8 per cent of the positive Covid-19 cases required hospitalisation, only 0.4 per cent of the infected persons died.

At the same time 482 cases (71 per cent) were symptomatic with one or more symptoms while 29 per cent were asymptomatic. Of the samples, fever (69 per cent) was found to be the most consistent symptom followed by body ache, headache and nausea (56 per cent), cough (45 per cent), sore throat (37 per cent), loss of smell and taste (22 per cent), diarrhoea (6 per cent), breathlessness (6 per cent) and 1 per cent had ocular irritation and redness, ICMR said.

The Delta variant has spread to more than 111 countries, according to the World Health Organization. The health body expects it to soon be the dominant Covid-19 strain circulating worldwide and cause a third wave of the coronavirus.

According to the Health Ministry, both Covaxin and Covishield are effective against the Delta Covid variant.

Covaxin is developed and manufactured by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, while Covishield is developed by Astra-Zeneca and the University of Oxford, and manufactured by Serum Institute of India, Pune.
(IANS)

TN Man Beheads Wife’S Paramour, Places Head In Front Of Her House

by Pabitra Mohan Senapaty

Chennai, Sept 22: In a shocking incident, a man in Tamil Nadu' Tenkasi district beheaded a person suspected to be having an affair with his wife, and then travelled to his wife’s residence in Tuticorin district with the severed head which he placed in front of her house.

The gory incident took place on Thursday evening.

The accused, S. Velusamy, has been arrested by the police. The deceased has been identified as Murugan, who was a farmer and lived near the residence of the accused at Kannadikulam in Tenkasi district.

The police said that Velusamy is married to Esakkiammal from Rajaputhukudi in Tuticorin district. Esakkiammal had an affair with Murugan, who stayed close by.

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Later, Esakiammal separated from Velusamy and went to live with her parents in Rajaputhukudi. Velusamy, according to the police, was irked by this and in a fit of rage he hacked Murugan to death. He then travelled to Esakkiammal’s house with Murugan's severed head which he placed before her house.

Centre Notifies Appointment Of 7 Permanent Judges In Allahabad HC

by Pabitra Mohan Senapaty

New Delhi, Sep 22: The Centre on Friday issued notification regarding appointment of seven permanent judges in the Allahabad High Court, acting on the recommendations made by the CJI D.Y. Chandrachud-led Supreme Court collegium on September 14.

The President appointed Justices Umesh Chandra Sharma, Renu Agarwal, Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra, Mayank Kumar Jain, Shiv Shanker Prasad, Gajendra Kumar, and Nalin Kumar Srivastava as permanent judges of the High Court from the date they assume charge of their respective offices.

"In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint S/Shri Justices (i) Umesh Chandra Sharma, (ii) Smt. Renu Agarwal, (iii) Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra, (iv) Mayank Kumar Jain, (v) Shiv Shanker Prasad, (vi) Gajendra Kumar, and (vii) Nalin Kumar Srivastava, Additional Judges of Allahabad High Court, to be Judges of that High Court with effect from the date they assume charge of their respective offices,” said a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.

The Supreme Court Collegium recommended their appointment after the Collegium of the Allahabad High Court had unanimously forwarded its recommendation for these names on May 1.

The SC Collegium said that it consulted other Judges of the Supreme Court who were conversant with the affairs of the Allahabad High Court in terms of the Memorandum of Procedure.

"The Committee of two judges of the Supreme Court constituted by the Chief Justice of India in terms of the Resolution dated 26 October 2017 of the Supreme Court Collegium has assessed the judgments of the Additional Judges," it had noted.

It said that it had scrutinised the material placed on record including the opinion of the consultee-judges and the report of the Judgment Evaluation Committee to assess the merit and suitability of these Additional Judges for appointment as permanent judges of the Allahabad High Court.

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The SC Collegium had said that these seven Additional Judges were fit and suitable for being appointed as permanent judges against the existing vacancies. "The Chief Minister and Governor of the State of Uttar Pradesh have concurred with the recommendation," said the statement uploaded on the website of the apex court.

(IANS)

Soldier'S Wife In Bengal Goes Absconding After Cheating Wives Of Other Army Men

by Pabitra Mohan Senapaty

Kolkata, Sep 22: The wife of an Indian Army soldier at Bagdogra in West Bengal's Darjeeling district has gone absconding after duping the wives of 17 other Indian army personnel of around Rs 1.5 crore.

The duped wives of the Indian army have filed a complaint against the accused Hema Nagarba Tamang and police have started an investigation in the matter.

The accused woman is originally a resident of Gairi Gaon though she recently started staying at a rented accommodation at Bagdogra near Siliguri in north Bengal.

Her husband is currently posted at Jammu & Kashmir. According to police sources, after she came to Bagdogra, she started running a textiles shop in the area. Thereafter, she started targeting the members of the unit off Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) for duping money. She started befriending the AWWA members and started borrowing money from them in amounts ranging between Rs 2 lakhs to Rs 10 lakhs claiming that she wants to expand the facilities of her textiles shop.

"She promised them to return money along with interest soon. However, suddenly some members of AWWA noticed that she had gone missing from her residence and the textile shop owned by her was closed for quite some time. They smelt some foul game and contacted the local police station," an investigating official said.

Delta variant infected even vaccinated people during 2nd wave: ICMR

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