Centre slams Kerala for not updating Covid data
The Centre slammed Kerala for not regularly updating Covid data for five days which, in turn, has impacted and skewed India’s key Covid monitoring indicators like cases, deaths and positivity. Underlining the importance of daily and diligent reporting of data for management of pandemic, the health ministry said the data is critical for not only tracking and monitoring but is also helpful in defining strategies and plans at the Centre, state and district levels. “It has been observed that Kerala has reported its state-level Covid-19 data after a gap of five days (since April 13). This has impacted and skewed the status of India’s key monitoring indicators like cases, deaths and positivity,” health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said in a letter to Kerala’s principal health secretary.
Tamil Nadu govt snubs Governor
In a major embarrassment to Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, the MK Stalin government officially boycotted his "At Home Reception" over what they called his delay in forwarding the NEET Exemption bill to the Union Government even after the Tamil Nadu assembly passed it unanimously twice. The government's stand was officially communicated to the Governor by Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu and Health Minister Ma Subramanian. Tamil Nadu opposes the medical entrance exam NEET, arguing it favours the rich who can afford private coaching and denies opportunity to the rural and economically compromised students who can't afford it.
ED grills Channi in connection with sand mining
Former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi was questioned by the ED in a money laundering investigation linked to sand mining in the state, officials said. The federal agency recorded the statement of the 59-year-old Congress leader under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Channi tweeted to say he was “summoned by the ED regarding the mining case. I attended and replied to the queries put by them to the best of my knowledge. A challan in this case has already been presented by ED in the Hon’ble court. The authorities have not asked me to come again,” he posted on the social media platform. Channi’s nephew Bhupinder Singh alias Honey was arrested in this case by the agency days before the February 20 Punjab Assembly polls.
A charge sheet was filed against him and others before a special PMLA court in Jalandhar on March 31. Honey, currently lodged in judicial custody, has recently applied for bail. According to sources, the agency questioned Channi, who had earlier skipped a few summons, about his links with Honey and others and about certain visits his nephew made to the chief minister’s office. He was also questioned about the allegations of certain transfer and posting of officials in the state as part of the illegal sand mining operations, the sources said. Without naming anyone, former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu tweeted, “My fight was for Punjab and not for sand. Those who ran the land, sand and liquor mafia let down Punjab for selfish vested interests by looting the exchequer. It is either Punjab or the mafia in the present financial scenario! The fight continues. ”