From The Newsroom: Bihar CM addresses four election rallies; NIA grills two Bengaluru Congress MLAs

In your evening news brief, From the Newsroom, A vaccine against Covid-19 will be first made accessible to those who need it most regardless of the fact that if they can afford it or not, the committee created to decide who gets the vaccine first said. CM Nitish Kumar after two days of virtual rallies, held four short rallies on the ground in Bihar today. Deaths directly or indirectly attributable to the first wave of Covid-19 infections across 21 wealthy nations earlier this year exceeded government tallies by 20 per cent on average, according to a study.

Here are the top stories of the day, October 14, 2020:

A vaccine against Covid-19 will be first made accessible to those who need it most regardless of the fact that if they can afford it or not, the committee created to decide who gets the vaccine first said. The Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare is hoping to distribute about 400 to 500 million in the country by the middle of next year. On Tuesday, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan met a group of ministers to talk about strategies that need to be adopted to distribute Covid-19 vaccines when it gets released.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials, who have taken up two cases of DJ Halli and KG Halli riots in East Bengaluru, have questioned two congress MLAs, BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan of Chamarajpet constituency and Rizwan Ahmed of Shivaji Nagar constituency. According to NIA officials, the two MLAs have been asked to appear for questioning if summoned again. Zameer was questioned on Monday while Rizwan was questioned on Tuesday. Zameer and Rizwan were summoned by the NIA to explain their presence at the riot spot on August 11 and why were seen in many videos talking to locals and police officers.

Now, on to news from the Bihar’s Assembly Elections. Congress is now likely to field Luv Sinha, son of former Lok Sabha member from Patna Sahib, Shatrughan Sinha, as the party nominee from one of the Assembly seats in the Bihar’s State capital, Patna. “Luv Sinha is likely to be the Congress candidate from Bankipore Assembly seat in Patna. A formal announcement will be made shortly,” a source close to actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha told DH.

CM Nitish Kumar after two days of virtual rallies, held four short rallies on the ground in Bihar today. He said in the rally that the government has worked towards empowerment of the poor and women and said that women who complete class 12, will receive Rs 25,000 and an undergraduate degree, Rs 50,000. He urged voters to look at JD(U)’s record so far and vote accordingly. He added that Bihar is his family and that service is his dharma.

Cricket fans have slammed icon Mahendra Singh Dhoni for apparently bullying umpire Paul Reiffel into changing a wide call during an Indian Premier League game. The incident occurred Tuesday when Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings paceman Shardul Thakur bowled outside the off stump of Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman Rashid Khan. Umpire Reiffel, who played 35 Tests for Australia before retiring, appeared to start the signal for a wide -- both arms outstretched at shoulder height -- when Dhoni began protesting. Reiffel then seemed to change his mind midway through the signal and the ball went down as legitimate in the crucial penultimate over of Hyderabad's unsuccessful chase of 168.

Deaths directly or indirectly attributable to the first wave of Covid-19 infections across 21 wealthy nations earlier this year exceeded government tallies by 20 per cent on average, according to a study. Looking at the period from mid-February through May 2020, researchers reported 206,000 more deaths than would have been expected without the pandemic. But only 167,148 were officially attributed to the coronavirus that has swept the globe since the start of the year, infecting tens of millions.

That is it today, From the Newsroom. Tune in tomorrow morning for our feature show, The Lead.

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