Latest news: Sonia Gandhi meets 7 CMs, COVISHIELD trials begin in Pune & more

1. NEET-JEE Row: Sonia Gandhi Chairs Meeting With 7 CMs

With the Centre insisting on holding the NEET/JEE (Main) exams in September, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday, held a video-conference with seven state Chief ministers on the issue. Talking to Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Puducherry CM V Narayanaswamy and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Gandhi criticised the Modi govt for dealing with problems of students uncaringly. Banerjee urged all state CMs to approach the Supreme Court if Centre does not listen to her plea to postpone the exams.  

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2. Serum Institute's 'COVISHIELD' Vaccine Trials Begin In Pune

 Kicking off second phase of Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine trials in India, Pune's Bharti Vidyapeeth's medical hospital on Wednesday, has administered two volunteers with Serum Institute of India's 'COVISHIELD' vaccine. While 5 volunteers were zeroed in, Medical Director Sanjay Lalwani, said that three of them showed anti-bodies, hence only two were administered the vaccine. 'COVISHIELD' is the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which will be manufactured by Serum Institute of India's (SII) - world's largest vaccine producer.

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3. NCB Registers A Case In Sushant Singh Rajput's Death

Soon after joining the Sushant Singh Rajput death probe, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has registered a case under sections 20, 27 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS). These sections pertain to criminal conspiracy in procuring and consuming illegal drugs.

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4. Fire At Secretariat: Kerala Govt Constitutes Probe Panel

On Wednesday, the Kerala government constituted a multi-departmental committee to inquire into the technical causes of the fire which broke out at the state secretariat. Claiming that the fire was no coincidence, the opposition alleged that files pertaining to the Kerala gold smuggling case were destroyed in the fire. To be headed by Disaster Management Commissioner Dr. A Kowsigan, the probe committee's other members are KSDMA Secretary Sekhar Kuriakose, Fire and Services Director (Technical) Noushad, PWD Chief Electrical Engineer Koshy John and Power Department Chief Electrical Engineer Anil Kumar.

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5. Suresh Raina Offers To Promote Cricket In J&K 

Former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina has offered his services to promote cricket in Jammu & Kashmir by creating an opportunity for the underprivileged children in the Union Territory to shape their career. Raina wrote a letter to J&K Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh, saying he would like to make use of the knowledge and skills he learned over the years by training talented youngsters from the region.

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