From the Newsroom: Centre issues guidelines for Covid-19 vaccination drive

In your evening news brief, From the Newsroom, Centre issues guidelines for Covid-19 inoculation drive; Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik moves breach of privilege motion against Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut; Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar says government engaging with farmer leaders to decide on the next date of talks, and Russia conducts a second launch of its new heavy-class Angara rocket.

Here is the top news of December 14, 2020:

Vaccinating 100-200 people in each session per day, monitoring them for 30 minutes after administering the shots for any adverse event and allowing only one beneficiary at a time are among the guidelines issued by the Centre for the Covid-19 inoculation drive.

According to the guidelines issued to states recently, the Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) system--a digitalised platform--will be used to track enlisted beneficiaries for the vaccination and coronavirus vaccines on a real-time basis.

At the vaccination site, only pre-registered beneficiaries will be vaccinated in accordance with the prioritisation, and there will be no provision for on the-spot registrations.

The states have been asked, as far as possible, to allocate the vaccine from one manufacturer to a district to avoid mixing of different Covid-19 vaccines in the field.

Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik has moved a breach of privilege motion against Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut for a tweet against him vis-à-vis possession of a Pakistani credit card.

Sarnaik, a three-time MLA from Thane district, is one of the close aides of Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray. He moved the breach of privilege motion against Ranaut on Monday, when the two-day winter session of Maharashtra legislature commenced in Mumbai.

The government is engaging with farmer leaders to decide on the next date of talks, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said, as unions intensified their agitation against the Centre's three farm laws and observed a day-long fast on Monday.

"The meeting will definitely happen. We are engaging with farmers," Tomar told PTI.

The government is ready for discussion anytime. The farmer leaders have to "decide and convey" when they are ready for the next meeting, he added.

Russia on Monday conducted a second launch of its new heavy-class Angara rocket -- the first developed after the fall of the Soviet Union -- nearly six years after its maiden voyage.

Space agency Roscosmos announced that the next-generation Angara-A5 rocket had been successfully launched with a mock payload from Plesetsk in northern Russia at 0550 GMT.

President Vladimir Putin hopes the new launchers will revive Russia's space industry and reduce reliance on other former Soviet countries.

Source: DHNS/ PTI/ AFP