Greek PM Set For State Visit To India, First In 15 years

by Swati Sucharita

New Delhi, Feb17 (ANI): At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece will pay a State visit to India from February 21-22, the Ministry of External Affairs announced.

This would be the first bilateral Head of State/Government level visit from Greece to India after 15 years; the last Prime Ministerial visit from Greece to India took place in 2008. The then Greek Prime Minister, Kostas Karamanlis, was accompanied by Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, in his January 2008 visit.

Meanwhile, Greek PM Mitsotakis will be accompanied by senior officials and a high-powered business delegation. He will be the Chief Guest and Keynote Speaker at the 9th Raisina Dialogue, 2024 in New Delhi.

He will also visit Mumbai before returning to Athens.

PM Mitsotakis will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan. Prime Minister Modi and PM Mitsotakis will hold bilateral discussions and PM Modi will also host a lunch banquet in honour of the visiting dignitary.

India-Greece relations have been elevated to 'Strategic Partnership' during PM Modi's visit to Greece in August 2023. Post-visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his Greece tour will add momentum to India-Greece friendship, particularly people-to-people linkages. He also welcomed Greece into the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and looked forward to Greece's membership of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), according to MEA.

The India-Greece ties are based on shared cultural values, a commitment to foster economic growth, collaboration in the fields of security and defence, shipping, and maritime, and are marked by convergence on regional and global issues. The two countries have also been cooperating closely in various multilateral forums.

India and Greece have witnessed frequent engagements with EAM Jaishankar meeting Greek Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias today itself.

Sharing details regarding the meeting on social media platform X, Jaishankar said, "Glad to meet Minister of National Defence of Greece @NikosDendias on #MSC2024 sidelines. Shared perspectives on the major security challenges facing the world today."

On February 8, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval held a meeting with his Greek counterpart, Athanasios Ntokos, and discussed the shared vision of the Prime Ministers of India and Greece.

The meeting between the two NSAs delved into various facets of collaboration, spanning security, technology, and infrastructure.
Jaishankar met Greek NSA Ntokos on February 7, and the two exchanged views on key regional issues.

PM Modi visited Athens on August 25, 2023. Prime Minister Mitsotakis's visit is expected to further strengthen and deepen the strategic partnership between India and Greece, the MEA release added.

(ANI)

BJP Approaches EC Over Sujata Karthikeyan's "Gross Misconduct for BJD's Electoral Gains" In Odisha

by Hemanta Pande

New Delhi/ Bhubaneswar, May 2: The central leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday approached the Election Commission here accusing Odisha’s Mission Shakti Department Secretary, Sujata Karthikeyan of “misusing” her position to mobilise women attached with self-help groups “for electoral gains" of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

A delegation led by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi and senior party leader Om Pathak met the Election Commission and submitted a memorandum in this regard.

"Sujata Pandian, IAS, Commissioner cum Secretary, Mission Shakti, who is the wife of VK Pandian, also known as V Karthikeyan Pandian, is not only affiliated politically to the BJD, but also indulging in grave misconduct through misuse of authority, government machinery, and man power for influencing voters through 'SVEEP' for electoral gains of the BJD," the BJP leaders wrote in memorandum.

The BJP leaders alleged that VK Pandian, who also served as the Private Secretary to CM Patnaik for over a decade, wields considerable influence within the state’s administration.

“In November 2023, after taking voluntary retirement from IAS, Pandian joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party. He was subsequently appointed as the chairman of the state’s flagship programme- 5T transformational initiatives with the rank of a Cabinet Minister...His proximity to the Chief Minister as well as the BJD cannot be overemphasized,” the memorandum reads.

"With a view to preserve the unbiased and unblemished reputation of ECI, it would be the fitness of things to relieve Sujata R. Karthikeyan, IAS, from the post of Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Department of Mission Shakti, Government of Odisha and not assigned any public dealing duty till the conclusion of the impending Parliamentary and Assembly Elections in the State of Odisha" it says.

SVEEP is the flagship programme of the Election Commission of India for voter education, spreading voter awareness and promoting voter literacy in the country.

Assembly and Lok Sabha elections will be held simultaneously in Odisha in four phases, starting from Phase one on May 13, Phase two on May 20, Phase three on May 25 and the final Phase on June 1.

The results will be announced on June 4.

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Covaxin Has Excellent Safety Record, Says Bharat Biotech

by Hemanta Pande

Hyderabad, May 2: Bharat Biotech on Thursday said that its Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin has an excellent safety record without any vaccine-associated incidents of blood clots, thrombocytopenia, TTS, VITT, pericarditis, myocarditis, etc, as it was developed with a single-minded focus on safety first, followed by efficacy.

The Hyderabad-based company issued a statement amid questions being raised in some quarters over the safety of Covid vaccines after global pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca admitted that its Covid vaccine Covishield, developed by researchers from Oxford University, can cause a rare side effect of blood clotting and low platelet count after immunisation.

As many as 175 crore doses of Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca and manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute, were reportedly administered in India.

Bharat Biotech mentioned that Covaxin was the only Covid-19 vaccine in the Indian government’s Covid-19 immunisation programme to have conducted efficacy trials in India.

"Covaxin was evaluated in more than 27,000 subjects as part of its licensure process. It was licensed under restricted use in clinical trial mode, where detailed safety reporting was carried out for several hundred thousand subjects," the vaccine manufacturer said.

The safety of Covaxin was also evaluated by the Ministry of Health.

"Ongoing safety monitoring (pharmacovigilance) was continued throughout the product life cycle of Covaxin. All the above studies and safety follow-up activities have demonstrated an excellent safety record for Covaxin without any vaccine-associated incidents of blood clots, Thrombocytopenia, TTS, VITT, pericarditis, myocarditis, etc.," it said.

"As seasoned innovators and product developers, the Bharat Biotech team was well aware that, while the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines may be short-lived, the impact on patient safety could last a lifetime. Hence safety is the primary focus for all our vaccines," it added. (IANS)

Greek PM Set For State Visit To India, First In 15 years

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