LEAD

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the NDA would keep working to fulfil people’s aspirations and urged members of all constituents to work in tandem as he addressed a meeting of the alliance on Sunday, a day ahead of the beginning of the monsoon session of the Parliament.

Covid-19 vaccine supplies, OBC reservation in NEET and Naga peace accord were among the issues discussed when floor leaders of NDA met to discuss floor strategy for the session.

“Joined the NDA meeting. Our alliance will keep working for public good and fulfilling people’s aspirations,” PM Modi tweeted after the meeting.

New Delhi: World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this week that the world was in early stages of a third Covid-19 wave. Several studies, including one by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), found the third wave could hit India by August end. But a deeper look at Covid data tells us that the third wave has already hit India.

On July 7, India saw active cases rising in the country after 55 days. The day saw an addition of 784 active cases with the total active caseload burden going slightly up to 460,704, data released from the Union Health Ministry showed. And the second rise came just within a week, on July 14, when, this time, active cases went up by 2,095. Data released by the Health Ministry recently showed 73 districts still have a positivity rate of over 10%. This means 10 people turning out positive from 100 tested and 47 of such districts are in northeast India.

Amid widespread public negligence regarding pandemic-appropriate behaviour due to declining cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in India, the central government warned that the possibility of a third wave is very real as India's population is yet to get herd immunity. The next 100-125 days in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic will be critical, NITI Aayog member (health) Dr VK Paul said on Friday, adding that people need to remain 'cautious'.

"The question of the third wave keeps coming back," Paul said during a press conference on Friday. "This is because our population is still very vulnerable. We still have not reached the stage of herd immunity nor do we want to acquire herd immunity through infections."

Pointing out the sudden rise in Covid-19 cases around the world, Dr VK Paul said it should serve as a warning sign for India. "Leaving the North and South American regions, all other WHO regions are moving from bad to worse," he said.

Covid-19 third wave may hit India at the end of August and will not be as deadly as the second one, a top doctor has told a television news channel. "There would be a nationwide third wave but that does not mean that it would be as high or as intense as the second wave," Dr Samiran Panda, the head of epidemiology and infectious diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research, told media.

Samiran Panda also listed four things that could lead to the third wave of Covid-19, including a drop in the immunity among people against the coronavirus disease acquired in the first and second waves of the pandemic. "If that goes down, it could lead to a third wave," Panda told media.

The government has listed 17 new bills for introduction in the Monsoon session of Parliament beginning July 19. Three of the bills seek to replace ordinances issued recently. Once a session starts an ordinance has to be passed as a bill within 42 days or six weeks, else it lapses.

One of the ordinances was issued on June 30 prohibiting any agitation and strike by anyone engaged in the essential defence services. The Essential Defence Services Ordinance 2021 came in the backdrop of the announcement by major federations of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) to go on indefinite strike from the later part of July to protest the government's decision to corporatise the OFB.

The Essential Defence Service Bill, 2021 has been listed to replace the ordinance, according to a Lok Sabha bulletin issued on July 12. The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill, 2021 is another bill that seeks to replace an ordinance.