NEWS

The Odisha government on Thursday announced that Covid-19 vaccine would be provided free of cost to the healthcare workers and other frontline workers in the state.

"In the first phase, doctors, health workers who are our Corona warriors and elderly persons will be administered Covid-19 vaccine free of cost. In the second phase, we have requested the Centre to vaccinate municipality, electricity, drinking water and other public health workers in the state," Health Minister Nabakishore Das said.

Das said that the vaccination drive is likely to commence in January next year.

"The Central government is planning to vaccinate nearly 30 crore people during the first phase of vaccination. We are working as per the Central government guidelines," the Minister said.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, on Thursday, gave instructions for the scrapping of the Pimpri Chinchwad New Town Development Authority (PCNDTA), established in 1972.

Now, the PCNDTA will be part of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation and its land bank will be handed over to the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA).

Following the chief minister’s decision, the government will now officially start the process of ending the PCNDTA.

Thackeray is the president of PMRDA. A board of directors meeting was conducted on Thursday via video conferencing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver the keynote address at the Assocham Foundation Week on Saturday via video conferencing. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement on Thursday that Modi will also present the "ASSOCHAM Enterprise of the Century Award" to Ratan Tata, who will receive the award on behalf of the Tata Group.

Assocham was established in 1920 by promoter chambers representing all regions of India, the PMO noted, adding that it has in its fold over 400 chambers and trade associations, serving over 4.5 lakh members across India.

A 38-year-old farmer from Punjab was found dead at a protest site near the Tikri border on Thursday morning, police said. Jai Singh, a resident of Tungwali village in Bathinda district, and his brother had been part of the farmers' protest at the Haryana-Delhi border against the Centre's three farm laws for the last several days, according to Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) leader Shingara Singh.

Jai Singh was found dead in the morning. The exact cause of the death could be ascertained after a post mortem, an official of the Bahadurgarh police in Haryana said. Singh's brother suspected that he might have died of heart attack. The body was sent to the Bahadurgarh civil hospital in Jhajjar district, the official said.

Shingara Singh demanded a compensation of Rs 10 lakh and a government job for the kin of the deceased. Around 20 farmers, many of them are from Punjab, have so far died either of natural causes or in road accidents, the BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) leader said.