Top 10 headlines: BJP decries Uni Bill passage, Covovax gets DCGI nod & more

Covovax Gets DCGI Nod After Corbevax; India's Vaccine Kitty Expands To Seven

In yet another boost for India's vaccination, Novavax-SII's Covovax has been granted emergency authorisation by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) on Tuesday night. Welcoming the approval, Novavax CEO Stanley C Erck stated that approval will help India's efforts to control the pandemic. Covovax, jointly produced by Novavax and Serum Institute of India, is yet to get approval in the United States.

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WHO Warns Omicron May Lead To Overwhelming Hospitalisations, Disruption To Health Services

As the world is witnessing a huge spike in infections from the new COVID-19 strain Omicron particularly in Europe and the US, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday warned that the new variant could lead to overwhelming healthcare systems. Speaking to The Guardian, WHO Europe COVID incident manager, Catherine Smallwood informed that even though preliminary findings suggested that Omicron could render milder infections, it would still result in a large number of hospitalisations.

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'Omicron Could Lead To Another Pandemic; Vaccinated People May Be At Risk': Health Experts

The sudden spike in Omicron cases has raised an alarm for the Indian healthcare system, with the Centre issuing orders to vaccinate children against the virus and administer precaution doses to the vulnerable population. The government has also given its approval for the emergency use of five new vaccines in addition to the previous COVAXIN and Covishield jabs.

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BJP Trashes AAP's 'poaching Councillors' Charge; Avers 'Kejriwal Fears Internal Split'

BJP's Punjab election in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhawat categorically refuted Raghav Chadha's allegation that his party is trying to poach AAP councillors in Chandigarh. While AAP got a big boost on Monday by emerging as the single-largest party in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation by winning 14 out of 35 wards, BJP and Congress won 12 and 8 wards respectively.

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BJP Decries Passage Of Uni Bill Clipping Governor's Powers; To Start Agitation In January

On Tuesday, BJP vociferously opposed the passage of the Maharashtra Public Universities(Third Amendment) Bill, 2021 in both Houses of the Maharashtra legislature. While the saffron party moved a motion to send the bill to a Joint Select Committee of the legislature for further scrutiny, it was passed by voice vote as the MVA government has a majority. 

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Police's Briefing On Hyderpora Encounter Repetition Of Old Story', Says PAGD

The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) on Tuesday said the police's briefing on the Hyderpora encounter was only a repetition of the "old story" and demanded a judicial enquiry into the incident. It said there is a strong public perception that the civilians killed in the incident were made human shields by security forces.

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‘Mehbooba, Omar Part Of Toolkit If Pakistan Not Condemned’, Says BJP Over SIT Clean-chit

After the security forces were given a clean chit in the Hyderpora encounter, BJP leader Nirmal Singh expressed curiosity on the stance of Peoples Democratic Party's Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference's Omar Abdullah. Speaking exclusively to Republic Media Network, Singh reminded how both Mufti and Abdullah raised questions on the forces- 'those who keep their lives at stake to keep terrorism at bay and protect the resident' - and said, "What have you to say now?"

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US Derides 'Chinese Propaganda', Says Biden’s Olympics Diplomatic Boycott Still Stands

As China announced that it had received 18 visa applications from US officials planning to visit the Beijing 2022 Olympics in February despite the US President Joe Biden’s so-called ‘diplomatic boycott,’ the US State Department on Tuesday clarified that Washington was not sending a diplomatic representative to Beijing but “consular and diplomatic security services” for the assistance of the American athletes. 

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Women Give Befitting Reply To Digvijaya Singh’s Derogatory Remark; Trend #ImpressedByModi

After senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh evoked a controversy by making a contentious remark on women supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, female netizens launched a campaign on social media platforms to trend the hashtag-- '#ImpressedByModi'. In the campaign, women of all ages shared their pictures wearing jeans while expressing their support for the Indian Prime Minister. 

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PM Modi Trains Guns At SP, Asks 'will They Not Claim Credit For Crores Of Black Money?'

Flagging off the Kanpur Metro on Tuesday afternoon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an unsparing attack at the Samajwadi Party (SP) questioning why they were shying away from taking credit for the Rs 193 crores black money that was nabbed from their perfume manufacturer in the city. Taking a sarcastic jibe at the Samajwadi Party's perfume campaign, which was launched by party chief Akhilesh Yadav 'to end hatred' in 2022, PM Modi said that UP was riddled with a 'scent of corruption' before CM Yogi Adityanath's term. 

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