Final pdf 24 January 2020

The International News Weekly January 24, 2020 | Toronto 10
Four personalities from region
likely to get Padma Awards
Chandigarh: Punjab governor
V P Singh Badnore’s address
on the first day of Punjab
assembly’s special session on
Thursday was marred by walkouts
by the opposition — Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) and Shiromani
Akali Dal (SAD) — over
'unfulfilled promises' of the
Congress government.
At least names of four persons
from the region, including
three doctors, are up for consideration
by the selection committee
for the Padma Awards
2020. Padma awards are the
highest civilian awards of the
country after Bharat Ratna.
Dr Raminder Dhillon, Dr
Raj Bahadur and Dr D Behera
in the field of medicine and Jagdish
Lal Ahuja in the field of social
work could find their name
in the final list to be announced
on January 25, on the eve of Republic
Day.
Dr Dhillon is a Chandigarh
resident who had served
as Indian volunteer doctor
on UN Mission in Sudan and
other war-torn countries. Dr
Bahadur is an orthopaedic
surgeon and vice-chancellor of
the Baba Farid University of
Health Sciences at Faridkot.
Dr Behera is head of the pulmonary
medicine department
in the Post Graduate Institute
of Medical Education and Research
(PGIMER) at Chandigarh.
Ahuja (85) is popularly
known as ‘PGI’s Langar Baba’,
who had been distributing free
food outside PGIMER, Chandigarh,
since 2001. In addition,
the Union sports ministry has
recommended names of nine
sportswomen for the Padma
Awards. These recommended
names also include wrestler
Vinesh Phogat from Haryana,
Indian women T20 cricket captain
Harmanpreet Kaur from
Punjab, and Indian women
hockey captain Rani Rampal
from Haryana.
The recommendations of
the Padma Awards selection
committee are sent to the Prime
Minister and the President for
final approval. In 2019, a total
of 112 personalities were recipients
of Padma Awards. However,
the central government
has received over 25,000 nominations
for the Padma Awards
2020.
Instituted in 1954, Padma
Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan
and Padma Shri – are conferred
in recognition of distinguished
and exceptional achievements
in various fields. Union cabinet
secretary heads the selection
committee.
The committee includes
Union home secretary, secretary
to the President and four
to six eminent personalities
as members. The awards are
conferred by the President at
ceremonial functions held at
Rashtrapati Bhawan in March
or April every year.
No SC stay on CAA, process of NPR;
govt has 4 wks to respond
25 Indians trapped in Wuhan; virus reaches S’pore, Vietnam
Continued from page 01
It was also learnt that she was shifted to
the general ward from isolation at around 3
pm. Ashraf also gave her a mobile phone at her
request. Later, a tweet said that Dr Tarik Al
Azraqi, chairman, scientific regional infection
control committee, Aseer region, confirmed
that the nurse was suffering from MERS-CoV
and not coronavirus. In Mumbai, officials said
the five passengers were put under surveillance
soon after they returned from China in
the last 48 hours. While three of them are residents
of Jogeshwari, Kalyan and Nala Sopara,
two are from Pune. “Since the passengers from
Kalyan and Nalasopara have shown signs of a
mild cold and cough, we have asked them to
come and get admitted to Kasturba Hospital
Continued from page 01
The SC said these petitions would be
heard after two weeks. The bench’s pronouncement,
“we are not going to grant
any ex parte stay”, saw Sibal arguing that
the process for implementation of NPR
would start in April and it would be in the
interest of justice if the court asked the government
to defer it for two months. However,
attorney general K K Venugopal and
solicitor general Tushar Mehta said, “That
kind of interim order will be as good as a
stay order.” Sibal attempted several indirect
pleas to get at least the NPR process
deferred, but the CJI-led bench said, “If the
law is prevented from being implemented
or ordered to be deferred, it is as good as
granting a stay. We are not going to do any
such thing without hearing arguments on
the requirement of stay.
Arguments for interim order will also
be heard by the Constitution bench.” When
Sibal persisted, the CJI said, “The (CAA)
law will always remain subject to the outcome
of the petitions.”
Explaining why it was not considering
so that we can run some checks and rule out
any infection,” said the BMC executive health
officer, Dr Padmaja Keskar. Epidemiologist Dr
Pradeep Awate said none of them had exhibited
any coronavirus symptoms. Two of the five
passengers had been to Wuhan, the epicentre
of the novel coronavirus outbreak. “Those
two passengers are also currently asymptomatic,
like the other three who had been to
other parts of China,” said Dr Awate. The local
health officer said that the Nala Sopara traveller,
a woman who had stayed in China’s Foshan
city — almost 1,000 km south of Wuhan
— for six days, had complained of a bodyache
and cold when health department officials contacted
her but didn’t have fever, a sore throat,
abdominal pain or any other symptom.
arguments on interim stay at this stage, the
CJI said: “The problem is petitions are continuously
being filed. If the court passes an
interim order on one batch, a fresh batch
will file petitions seeking review of it on
the ground that they were not heard. And it
will go on and on in a vicious cycle.” Sibal
said the importance of the issue raised by
the petitions and its consequences for the
nation warranted hearing by a five judge
Constitution bench. The bench agreed and
said: “Why not? Maybe all the petitions
should be referred to a five-judge bench.”
18M On Virus
Lockdown In
China
Continued from page 01
Police checked all incoming vehicles but
did not close off the roads. Authorities announced
similar measures would take effect
on Friday in the nearby cities of Huanggang
and Ezhou. In Huanggang, theatres, internet
cafes and other entertainment centres were
also ordered closed.
In the capital, Beijing, officials cancelled
“major events” indefinitely, including traditional
temple fairs that are a staple of holiday
celebrations, in order to “execute epidemic
prevention and control”.
Seventeen people have died in the outbreak,
all of them in and around Wuhan.
More than 630 have been infected, the vast
majority of them in Wuhan, and many countries
have begun screening travellers from
China for symptoms of the virus, which can
cause fever, coughing, trouble breathing and
pneumonia.
The open-ended lockdowns are unprecedented
in size, embracing more people than
New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago
combined. Chinese officials have not said
how long the shutdowns will last.
In China, the illnesses from the newly
identified coronavirus first appeared last
month in Wuhan, an industrial and transportation
hub in central China’s Hubei province.
Other cases have been reported in the
US, Japan, South Korea and Thailand. Most
of the illnesses outside China involve people
who were from Wuhan or had recently travelled
there.
Images from Wuhan showed long lines
and empty shelves at supermarkets, as residents
stocked up for what could be weeks
of isolation. Local authorities in Wuhan demanded
all residents wear masks in public
places. Police, SWAT teams and paramilitary
troops guarded Wuhan’s train station.