News Night: Tense situation continues in Afghanistan and other top news

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7O00smDhX8"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][Music] namaskar and welcome well the situation in afghanistan continues to be a developing story of considerable global importance questions of whether the taliban has changed whether there can be a good taliban whether such an organization that has grabbed power by force can be given legitimacy in doing so does the international community break international laws have been compromised to suit vested interests it seems afghanistan's fate lies in the taliban's promises and the world should be judging taliban's actions and not its words what next in afghanistan continues to be the center of our attention and news night let's begin with the headlines the situation in afghanistan remains tense thousands of afghans and foreign nationals struggle to get out of the country a relative of a dw journalist is killed by the taliban and door-to-door search u.n secretary general says that the world must speak in one voice on the situation in afghanistan international airport remains the focal point of evacuation efforts in afghanistan thousands of afghan citizens are waiting at the gates people ready to risk everything to get inside the walls the us increases consular officers to kabul to aid the process the u.s fighter aircraft are doing sorties to ensure evacuation process goes on unhindered nato foreign ministers discuss afghanistan in a special meeting nato stresses that any future afghan government must adhere to afghanistan's international obligations safeguard the human rights of all afghan particularly women children as well as minorities and says that pakistan has the responsibility to ensure that afghanistan never again serves as a safe haven for terrorists prime minister narendra modi inaugurates and lays the foundation stone and many projects in somnath says somnath is a spiritual pillar of modern india says somnath is a symbol of the belief that truth can't be defeated by falsehood india's ancient glory is being revived by building modern infrastructure prime minister says empires built on the basis of destructive forces and terror can't exist permanently such forces cannot suppress humanity for long term such ideologies as a grave threat [Music] an important milestone in india's indigenous vaccine development mission the nation gets another weapon in the war against corona the world's first dna covert 19 vaccine is zaikov d uh by indian farmer giant zeider scandala gets emergency use approval more than 57 crore 22 lac vaccine doses have administered being administered in india so far overall and throat of active cases have fallen to 3 lakh 63 605. the nationwide jana shirvadiyatra of union ministers continues to take government's plans to the people the yatra gets wide support in different parts of the country union ministers saying ashwini vaishnav and others interact with the public israeli prime minister naftali bennett receives a third booster shot pfizer's covert 19 vaccine on friday even as who maintains the most vulnerable people worldwide should be fully vaccinated first before high-income countries deploy a top-up all of new zealand to be in lockdown until august 24 australia extends a covert 19 lockdown in sydney until september end our top story talks to find a way forward in afghanistan continue and the taliban insists that it is a force for the good of the country having liberated it from occupation so this sentiment of freedom is not something shared by the people of afghanistan the world continues to weigh the options of engagement with an organization that is nothing short of a terror group likely to give sanction and sanctuary to other such groups there are many pieces to the afghanistan puzzle one among them is talks with the taliban from groups within afghanistan former president karzai and peace official abdullah abdullah met a delegation from the haqqani network on thursday the haqqani network is a taliban ally and is based on the border with pakistan it's been responsible for some of the most deadly terrorist attacks in afghanistan whether these talks will keep afghanistan free from bloodshed as a matter that will need the scrutiny of the world because as the u.n secretary general antonio guterres puts it the taliban's desire for international recognition is their only leverage it's very important for the international community to be united for all members of the greek council but in general for international to be united to use the only leverage that exists which is the interest of the taliban for legitimacy for recognition and for that to be possible i think it's important that the international community speaking one single voice the taliban believes they have liberated afghanistan from occupation and given freedom to their people this is their dark interpretation of the word independence occupation is occupation it is lack of freedom it is that many things are imposed on the people you ha you do not have independent economic policy uh political policy and uh social policy is so and so so but in independence you are the owner you take up decision and implement them and you take decision bearing in mind the interest of your country and of your people so there is a lot of difference between being under occupation and being of free people in a pre country what the taliban believes is freedom is what the people of the country dread their reality and that of women in particular is best summed up by this former afghan karate champion who is a karate coach in indonesia actually everything is finished for athletes women like me in afghanistan and we heard a report from taliban that taliban implemented some strict rules against women in some cities they prevented women and girls from school and other activities so once again the dark kissed um tears came for a woman in afghanistan even the appearance of taking on a moderate stance may just be for the camera surely those working with cameras most of their lives know the difference they came in for an interview and i think my guy said well this woman's going to interview into which he said yes you know and and actually since then we've also been to ministries to interview other officials and and uh you know it's interesting that some of them are interviewed they refuse to look at the woman they look at the camera person protests continue especially among women but their voices may need more amplification to break the wait and watch mentality being attributed to key stakeholders the head of an afghan delegation of the northern alliance called for an inclusive government in afghanistan they had joined the u.s backed forces to end the taliban's rule in 2001. the taliban say they want peace and claim they will not take revenge against old enemies and also respect the rights of women within the framework of islamic law the northern alliance leader muhammad yunus kanuni is apprehensive and says that the taliban should be judged by actions not words one of the chief concerns on the minds of countries seeking to either isolate or engage with the taliban is the concern for displacement and consequent influx of refugees into their respective countries turkish president taya perdwan on thursday urged europe to take responsibility for migrants from afghanistan he said turkey could engage with the taliban to discuss common agendas turkey does not have a duty responsibility or obligation to be europe's migrant storage unit our aim is primarily to maintain the stability and security in this country therefore if necessary we will engage in talks with the government formed by taliban and speak about our common agendas china another country that appears keen on engaging with the taliban hopes that afghanistan could have an open inclusive and broadly representative government meeting the international community's expectations ironically the international community cannot take the taliban at face value and engaging with them is akin to legalizing terrorism kabul residents flocked a market on friday with vendors selling food and drinks one of the sellers said so far there was peace in the market and the taliban were not bothering anyone he hoped god would keep their behavior the same in future a hope not shared by several thousands who wish to flee the country at the first opportunity bureau report dd india well people are continuing to look for an exit route to anywhere they just don't want to stay in a country that is being pulled back to the middle ages needless to say that countries are minimizing or even eliminating diplomatic engagement with the taliban controlled afghanistan here's more [Music] [Music] scenes straight out of the kabul international airport and its surroundings will be edged in the world memory for a long long time desperate afghans willing to go to any extreme to get out of their own homeland any risk for them is valid as long as the ends are met from the surging crowd of people outside the kabul airport a small baby was perilously passed over reservoir into the hands of a united states soldier this has become a regular visual for the news agencies working in kabul soldiers pulling up baby over reservair represents a desperate attempt by parents who are ready to take all risks to get the baby to the safety of inside the kabul airport this was not the only case earlier too soldiers pulled a baby and a woman over the wall of the airport the footage captures the sense of desperation among many afghans who are fearful of what the taliban's sudden return to power will mean these are chilling reminders of what the taliban rule means for thousands in kabul thousands continue to wait outside the airport to flee the nation the kabul airport in a sense signifies what afghanistan of today has become for many of its citizens as they cling onto the walls in a hope that they will be allowed inside by the nato forces satellite imagery collected showed heavy traffic near kabul's airport and long traffic jams around the afghan capital meaning that more and more are struggling to reach the airport these visuals perhaps have also prompted the united nations refugee agency unhcr to quote that most afghans are unable to leave their homeland and that those who may be in danger have no clear way out unhcr remains concerned about the risk of human rights violations against civilians in this evolving context including for women and girls as of today those who may be in danger have no way out unhcr is calling on countries neighboring afghanistan to keep their borders open in light of the evolving crisis in afghanistan meanwhile the u.s state department has said that it was sending more consular officers to kabul and other locations to help with the evacuation effort 12 c-17s departed within the last 24 hours with more than 2 000 passengers who arrived at safe havens since august 14th we've airlifted 7 000 total evacuees i can also confirm there are 6 000 people at the airport right now who've been fully processed by our consular team and will soon board flames overnight we significantly expanded how many american citizens locally employed staff siv applicants and other vulnerable afghans who were eligible for departure and we offered them to consider transit to the airport so what i can say and i'm seeing the same reports on twitter uh that you are and every report of someone unable for whatever reason uh to reach the airport uh is something the pentagon has said that its aim is to evacuate between five thousand and nine thousand people a day thousands of people have desperately tried to get past taliban roadblocks and u.s troops to reach the airport also armed u.s fighter jets have been flying over kabul to ensure security for the evacuation operation as we look at the last 24 hours f-18s from the ronald reagan carrier strike group flew armed overwatch flights over kabul to ensure enhanced security we maintain a watchful eye and are continuously conducting in-depth assessments to protect the safety of americans we will use all of the tools in our arsenal to achieve this goal what it really means to get out of kabul can be judged by the reaction given by this british businessman who recounted the horror of actually leaving kabul so one of the soldiers just called me as i said it was a chaos if you know they had guns they were shooting they had no choice but to you know move the crowd from there so i understand that tear gas was firing all around so one of them just got me inside and i was in tears honestly clearly the afghan crisis is not going to be over soon with thousands still desperate to get out of the nation before the nato forces leave the situation remains fluid taliban's action may prompt many more to head towards the airport which in coming weeks will continue to be their gateway to safety and security bearer report dd india in a shocking development the taliban militants in afghanistan have shot and killed a relative of a deutsche body journalist while hunting for him according to the german public broadcaster the terrorists were conducting a house to house search for the journalist who now works in germany and a second relative was seriously wounded but others were able to escape without giving further details of the incident is what dew said well nato foreign ministers discussed afghanistan and the they continue to coordinate on evacuation as well the nato secretary general jen stoltenberg held a press conference following that meeting and the ministers agreed that whatever happened in afghanistan it should not undermine nato's ability to protect the allied countries the nato allied territories as well the nato statement says that any future of ghan government it must adhere to afghanistan's international obligations safeguard human rights of all of khans particularly women children and minorities uphold the rule of law allow unhindered humanitarian access as well as ensure that afghanistan never again serves as a safe haven for terrorists the taliban a day day day in kabul in afghanistan they need to live up to their international commitments to not harbor support international terrorist organizations like al-qaeda isis to respect human rights including the rights of women and also to give free passage to people so they can leave the country but the most stinging reply came to the question on the role of pakistan stoltenberg said that pakistan has to make sure that afghanistan lives up to its commitments and does not become a safe haven for terrorists again he added that a stable afghanistan is in the interests of all countries when it comes to pakistan i think that pakistan has a special responsibility partly because pakistan is a neighbor of afghanistan and partly because of pakistan's close relationship to taliban so i think pakistan has a special responsibility to make sure that afghanistan live up to its international uh that afghanistan live up to its international commitments and uh and also uh that uh afghanistan uh not once again becomes a safe haven for international terrorists a stable afghanistan is in the interest of all countries and not least neighbors as as pakistan and stoltenberg also said that the recent events in afghanistan will auger uh in a clean and honest assessment by nato we should now have a very honest and clear-eyed assessment of what went wrong but also what we achieved and i will initiate that as soon as possible exactly how that will be done i have to come back to that but it was broad support uh support from allies to the idea of an assessment of the engagement to have to learn lessons and to mitigate and learn uh so we uh um draw the right lessons from the engagement in afghanistan and and i have a humble approach because when we see the challenges the crisis we are faced with in afghanistan of course there are some serious lessons to be learned after two decades in in afghanistan for nato so that brings us to in focus tonight and in focus is afghanistan what next afghanistan what next to discuss this we have with us ashok sajan hart former senior diplomat and rajesh very krishnamurti is a visiting fellow at the institute of peace and conflict studies thank you very much for being with us both of you uh ambassador sarjanhar so what next is a very uh interesting question because there's so much that can be discussed under it but the point is that uh let's start with the analysis of taliban itself uh there's no question of uh this good and bad taliban uh even though people are discussing that because the taliban thinks they are good but everyone else thinks they are bad so the question is uh if the house want to get them to uh keep their international commitments that's true i think that's what the international community wants that they should keep their international commitments rule of law follow observe human rights respect human rights particularly as far as rights of women are concerned of minorities of girls so that definitely is uh you know something that any uh it would be expected of any responsible state but i think also the most important thing is that it should not become an epicenter of uh terrorism yes that you know the taliban has been helped by so many terrorist groups including lashkar-e-taiba muhammad yes they have got so many arms the most sophisticated the most modern weaponry and equipment has come to them because of what the americans left and what the afghan national security forces have left so that will be made available to them and it is uh feared i think around the world and definitely in india central asia and many other countries that these terrorist groups are going to get camps regroup themselves get bases in the ungoverned spaces in afghanistan and will be a source of uh terrorism in the region but also in the world and they've already started that uh the i mean they already had resorted to uh targeted killings uh uh miss krishna murthy and uh they've even killed a relative of a deutsche billy journalist today i mean this was searching for the journalists so obviously you know they're not changing their ways even though they pretend that they are or seem to give the impression just for legitimacy that they are so there it it begs a much deeper question i mean should one engage with them at all um sorry i'm audible yeah yeah i can hear you okay perfect thank you for having me here and good to see you here as well um no personally i believe um i mean engaging or not engaging a separate question because at the end of the day what we are also thinking about is it's not just about whether or not to engage we also need to consider how we engage do we have enough leverage to engage when we engage and you know these are all questions we will have to consider uh you know before engaging and of course it's not like we've not begun uh you know like there is not um some efforts already in that regard it's already begun in that sense but um if i were to sort of think about what the benefits of it might be a channel of communication never harms but at the moment we can see the taliban have not really actually changed you know one might see for example the first few days when the taliban entered kabul 14th i mean 14th when there was at the gates of kabul 15 they entered uh the the taliban fighters and leadership that obviously entered on that day they seemed to be able to exercise a little bit more restraint but over the past three days you might have seen that there is a growing number of you know newer sort of fighters sort of entering the capital from the south and so on and so forth yes um you know who are far more hardened far more hard line and they're not particularly uh inclined to be to exercise restraint include they've beaten up a lot of their reserves they're bringing out their reserves is what you're saying in a sense i don't care particularly reserves i feel like the first ones who entered were the more would you call it the more palatable faces that ended fighters voice but the ones who are entering now they're not it's not just the deutsche welle journalist's relative who was killed many others the other journalists i think it was one photographer was all sort of beaten up um and things like lots of things went down they're not um and rta the state television they basically said no women anyway like private channels allowing women to be on tv not state channel it's me so yes indeed we know that they are not uh they are not thus uh they haven't changed uh so the question is they also feel that they won a military uh victory so there's no military solution they claim that they've already uh got the military solution so ambassador sarjanhara so the question is now there is to be some other solution which is what the whole purpose of talks is and uh the other side is going with the uh with the according to the un secretary general they want legitimacy so that's the only leverage uh so to make them conform but uh the fact is that we see that they are not conforming and even if they have there's a fig leaf of uh you know some sort of conformant or conform that they are trying to conform that isn't really working so is it you know like the whole world has to get together once again and nato has just get put boots on the ground or something there has to be a military solution once again you know first to respond to your last uh comment i don't think nato is coming in anytime soon i think nato has left and nato has left for good and i don't think they'll be coming in soon second point is uh you know they are still in the process of uh you know putting together their government and that might take some time they are trying to you know get this message across to the world that taliban 2.0 is very different from taliban 1.0 what taliban was in 1996 and you would have you know i think the whole world has heard the press conference that took place on the 17th of august where they said all all the good things all the right things and many people in the bbc even in you know around the world they said they looked pleasant they looked uh you know reasonable and they sounded all right and so and so forth but this is in my view just a facade just a veneer okay and we should really be going by what they do rather than by what they say absolutely their actions speak louder than words and their actions are no different from what they did uh you know 20 years ago the point here is that you know once they establish the government and i think that comes to the question that you raised right at the beginning what next i think they are heavily into the process of forming the government it's already six days we have no idea of what the government is going to look like but my own view is that they will try to give present to the world that it is an inclusive government so it will not be only of course the taliban main functionaries they will occupy the chief positions of power but you will involve karzai also in some role dr abdullah abdullah also in some role okay you will get representatives from the tajiks from the uzbeks from the shia hazara minority community maybe you'll get a couple of women also basically trying to project to the world that this is an inclusive government and that is how our administration and our rule is going to be but if you look at the factions who have helped them you know they can't go back on those actions as i mentioned the lashkar the jaish the al-qaeda i think they definitely and they have their own agenda well legitimacy might be the agenda as far as the taliban administration is concerned but all the others have their own agenda and they are not going to give up their agenda so i think the world really has to be very that afghanistan could turn into a center of you know terrorism where attacks might be launched to uh any part of the world you know america went out saying that you know al-qaeda is heavily degraded but i don't think it is heavily degraded i think it will achieve its earlier strength and even more with all the sophisticated weaponry that america has left behind and that all these terrorist fighters have an access to now yes there probably needs to be an inventory of all that uh the americans have left behind and they are all in the hands of the taliban but uh the question of inclusive government which you did raise uh ambassador miss krishna krishnamurti how would you look at this inclusive government because i mean once again it's a representation to the world because that's all the world is asking they only want an inclusive government they want to show and then that that inclusive government has to conform to international obligations that's the beginning at least for international recognition do you think that uh you know that's an easy task for the taliban to personally i mean i agree with them when he says i mean they'll have to bring in the different sort of you know factor not just sort of leadership that they have but you know represent data from different groups and so on and so forth for the taliban to bring in different representatives of different um sort of ethnic groups is not particularly different in the difficult you know per se for the reason that one is that by and large they understand they will need to sort of have some representation it is the extent of the powers that they might give to them that is where uh you know the contestation may occur within the group itself but also if you look at it from the rank and file uh of the taliban the reason why they've really been able to make many gains in terms of territorial capturing in the north and so on and so forth has been because they've tried to decentralize a little bit the north has also over the past i think uh seven to ten years uh seen more uh uh commanders and so on and so forth so from uh you know more regional ethnicities rather than the south themselves so there has been some sort of you know a rethink in that sense you see that but that doesn't necessarily mean the agendas have changed you know the older agendas have changed and so on and so forth but um ultimately i feel uh there will be something to sort of show for the world but not necessarily to the extent that they may actually be able to uphold all the uh international obligations that afghanistan has made in the past 20 years that they've made a lot okay uh the role of pakistan ambassador sajan har we see that nato has uh put them squarely in the position where they they are the ones who have to see that afghanistan uh you know meets its international obligations and also to see that afghanistan does not become a safe haven for terrorists so i mean uh one would think that you know the isr had this plan so that they can actually use afghanistan for precisely these purposes so i mean how do you see uh uh pakistan reacting i don't think pakistan is going to take all that seriously you know because it is uh focused at the moment i think there is uh rejoicing and there is exaltation as far as pakistan is concerned because they think that the foreign policy objectives have been achieved they have been able to install uh taliban government in kabul so they they would like to do all that they had planned to do and which is you know getting a strategic depth in afghanistan and using the these spaces for you know launching attacks against india even elements you know like sirajudin haqqani who's the uh you know senior functionary as far as the haqqani network is concerned and he's also a senior functionary of the al-qaeda group and he is uh uh in power he will get a very senior position as far as the government in kabul is concerned so i think if there are people like this that jaish muhammad has claimed that since they have worked with the taliban they also want some important position in the dispensation that a governance dispensation that comes into kabul so i think if there are going to be such elements then the demand of the international community that pakistan should ensure that afghanistan is meeting all its international obligations that is not going to go anywhere this is only i think for basically for apologists of the taliban who are already making the positive noises you know like iran is making such noises even at the u.n security council the china made such noises so i think this is basically for the apologists to for them to say to tell the world that you know taliban is trying they want to integrate with the world they so we need to give them a chance and we just cannot shun them and make them a pariah state like this right so this is so that they are able to provide it legitimacy recognition sure i'm running short of time so let me just get you should be very very of what taliban is saying and judge it by what it is doing i i'm sure it is even now right at the initial stages it is not walking the talk no and i agree with you uh ambassador i mean i've run short of time so let me just get in the final word from uh miss krishnamurti about women you know because women can be the voices of women can actually cause some problems to the taliban over time and we are already seeing that uh build up because i mean they can't constantly use force to suppress women like they did in taliban 1.0 with the international community now watching them all the time so how do you see this playing out right so in this regard i would like to draw a distinction between what's happening in kabul city and what's happening outside kabul city you know like so in that sense the international attention is really there but primarily they're only inside kabul city outside of kabul city things are really different so as such what the taliban's doing and whatever their you know pr machinery may have sort of learned to do so far you know it all depends whether the world does anything or not really depends on how well the taliban is able to sort of cover up with human rights abuses you know outside of kabul city that's i feel where the distinction will really come in uh because already they whatever happens in kabul city the international media is there but there's barely any reporting from the provinces so if they're able to sort of cover up those then i think the international there's already a free to comply sort of a you know tone in the discourse on afghanistan right now indeed we leave it there so i mean it is just uh an evolving situation and uh it is getting more interesting by the day thank you very much uh ambassador sarjanhar and rajeshwari krishnamurti for joining us moving on then to our next story prime minister narendra modi inaugurated the somnath promenade the samnath exhibition center and reconstructed temple precinct of old samnath the prime minister also laid the foundation stone of sri parvati temple during the event the prime minister hailed the somnath temple as a symbol of the belief that truth can't be defeated by falsehood the prime minister also highlighted the national and international potential of spiritual and cultural tourism in our country [Music] prime minister narendra modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of multiple projects in somnath gujarat via video conferencing reflecting on the history of river temple prime minister recalled the repeated destruction of the temple and how it rose after every attack he said that it is a symbol of belief that trust can't be defeated by falsehood and faith can't be crushed by terrorism [Music] [Music] exhibition center and reconstructed temple precinct of old arjuna somnath prime minister also laid the foundation stone of sri parvati temple during the event prime minister described these new projects as inspirations for the youth and as source of better understanding of history further said the reconstruction of somnat temple to grand renovation is due to centuries of strong will and ideological continuity he turned the sunnah temple as a divine pillar of modern india adding that our thinking should be to learn from history to improve our present and create a new future prime minister added that a bright pillar of the glory of modern india [Music] is our fourth harms the concept of our shaktipedes the establishment of different pilgrimage in different corners of our country this outline of our faith is actually an expression of the spirit of eight bharath stressed continuing with the role of spirituality and strengthening the unity of the nation prime minister dwelt upon the national and international potential that tourism and spiritual tourism offer to the nation prime minister also said that country is not only connecting common citizens through tourism but is moving forward too speaking on the occasion home minister mitch said that somnath is among one of the few temples in the country where devotees from all over the world come to have a glimpse of ancient heritage with modernity is has been developed in the prashad scheme at a total cost of over 47 crore rupees the sonata exhibition center developed in the premises of tourist facilitation center displays the exhibit from dismantle parts of old somnath temple and its sculptures having naga style temple architecture of old somnath the reconstructed temple precinct of old arjuna somnath has been completed by sri sromnat trust with a total outlay of 3.5 crore rupees the temple is also referred to as a hillabai temple sri parvati temple is proposed to be constructed with a total outlay of 30 crore rupees it has been the focus of prime minister-led india government to look for new possibilities in religious tourism and strengthen the links between pilgrimage and local economy hero report dd india several union ministers are on a jaan aashir vadhyatra meeting people within their home states and thanking them for the opportunity to serve them and also explaining to them the greater purpose and the grand design of the modi government's policies here's an account of the jan aashir badhyatra from across the country union ministers are reaching out to people to raise awareness about the government's welfare schemes and to seek their blessings from people during jan ashirwadiyatra people showered their love and support to ministers who visited various places across the country [Music] union minister of education dharmendra pradhan participated in the jan ashirwa program at various places in odisha the minister inaugurated pushpagiri lecture complex and the rushi kulea hall of residence at iit bogneshwa in the foothills of the historic barunai i'm here today to dedicate to important part of this infrastructure project 800 capacity boys residency's name mean name as russia the important river of buddhism continuing his jana shirvath yatra in maharashtra for the second day union minister of micro small and medium enterprises narayan rani held a press conference at juhu in mumbai the minister said that schemes launched by the government prove that the government is committed to the welfare of the poor narayan rani got a rousing welcome at andheri the union minister also participated in the jannah shirvath yatra at god kopper karla the minister also interacted with local folk dancers minister for power and new and renewable energy rk singh said that there has been all-round development in every state under the leadership of prime minister narendra modi as part of the jana shirvadyatra the union minister addressed a seminar of intellectuals and said that the bjp works in the interest of the nation and it does not believe in appeasement politics [Music] during the second day of the jana shirvathyatra union minister for health and family welfare mansoof manvia offered prayers at the ambaji temple the minister said that janna shirvadhyapa is not only helping him to get people's blessings but it is also helping him to know how welfare schemes are changing people's lives union minister for environment forest and climate change got a huge public support during the janashir radhyatra in jaipur in ajmayn while union minister for information and broadcasting anurak singh takur received a rousing welcome from the people during the jana yatra in shimla and vilaspur it's a five-day uh that is going to take place almost 600 kilometer will be traversed all throughout the himachal pradesh it will end at hamir his own constituency and you can look at the manner in which the excitement is there people are chanting his name people are showering their love and affection i think that time has come to promote and showcase the art and culture of himachal pradesh we have rich traditions rich culture from different regions took part in the 250th death anniversary function of freedom fighter only viran in tamil nadu's palayam kothai ondaviran was commander and chief and local chieftain puli thiwas army and fought against the british east india company in tamil nadu in 1755 bureau report dd india well then yet another shot in the arm in the fight against covert 19 pandemic the indian pharmaceutical company zida scandaler has received approval for emergency use authorization from the drug controller general of india for zaikov d now psycho d is the world's first and it's india's indigenously developed dna based vaccine for covert 19 and it's going to be administered in humans including children and adults 12 years and above it's developed in partnership with the department of biotechnology under the mission covered suraksha and it's implemented by biotechnology industry research assistance council by iraq psycho d has been supported under covert 19 research consortia through national biopharma mission and pre-clinical studies phase 1 phase 2 clinical trials and under the mission cove with sraksha for phase three clinical trials this three dose vaccine which uh when inject injected produces the spike protein of sars cove ii virus and elicits an immune response which plays a vital role in protection from disease as well as viral clearances the plug and play technology on which the plasmid dna platform is based can be easily adapted to deal with mutations in the virus such as those already occurring interim results from phase 3 clinical trials in over 28 000 volunteers showed primary efficacy of 66.6 percent for symptomatic rtpcr positive cases this has been the largest vaccine trial so far in india for covert 19. and now talking about india's continuous fight against covert 19. with the timely tracing testing and tracking uh uh strategy tracing tracking treating trash strategy in the country uh the spread of the virus is coming down so in the last 24 hours the country reported 36 571 new cases of coven 19 there are currently 3 lakh 63 605 active cases of covert 19 in the country the active cases have been the lowest since march 2020. they now constitute 1.12 of the total cases and uh the recovery rate is the highest since march of 2020 it improved to 97.54 percent so in the last 24 hours 36 555 patients recovered from covert 19 a so far in fact the total of three crore 15 lakh 61 635 patients have recovered from covid the weekly positivity rate is less than three percent in the last 56 days it's currently at 1.93 percent of the daily positivity rate is below 3 for the last 25 days currently at 1.94 percent the sample testing for covert 19 has been further ramped up and uh so far there's a total of 50 crore 26 lakh tests that have been conducted so far so india's government 19 vaccination coverage as we said has crossed 57 lakh 57 crore apart 57 crore 22 lakhs that's the size of our vaccination drive and cumulatively 57 crore 22 like 81 488 beneficiaries have been vaccinated so far uh more than 54 lakhs 71 282 vaccine doses have been administered on thursday prime minister narendra modi hailed the innovative zeal of india's scientists after the approval of the world's first dna-based zaikov d vaccine the prime minister in a tweet said india's fighting covert 19 with full vigor the approval of the world's first dna based psycho of d vaccine of zydus universe is a testimony to the innovative zeal of india scientists a momentous feat indeed well uh the story that has dominated headlines for the last 20 months is scovid and it's a war with an invisible enemy like no other in modern history and it's causing massive disruptions well the economic recovery is gaining momentum but uh this is even as the world is battling a new where it's not the new variant but it's the delta variant but let's take a look at the global update every country wants to avoid an economically painful national lockdown by ramping up their vaccination drives israeli prime minister naftali bennett received a third shot of pfizer kovid 19 vaccine on friday after israel extended its booster campaign for people over 40 to try to curb the delta corona virus variant booster shots would now be administered to people over 40 whose second shot was at least five months ago israeli health ministry recommended teachers health workers carers of the elderly and pregnant women of all ages to half the shot but this trend of successive booster shots lays bare the question of vaccine equity the most vulnerable people worldwide should be fully vaccinated first before high-income countries deploy a top-up yes there is enough vaccine around the world however it's not going to the right places in the right order to save as many lives the world health organization has maintained that current data did not indicate a need for boosters amid all the debate on vaccine equity there is one country whose residents have been living virus free and without kerbs since february new zealand's prime minister jacinda arden has won global praise for containing local transmission of kovid19 via an elimination strategy imposing tough lockdowns and shutting new zealand's international border in march 2020 and now after discovering the country's first case since february this year arden ordered a snap three-day nationwide lockdown and a seven-day shutdown in auckland on tuesday on friday arden extended the lockdown until midnight on august 24th saying the outbreak had widened to other cities you just don't quite know the full scale of this delta outbreak all in all that tells us we need to continue to be cautious and that we need more time before we have the complete picture we need to change our settings in australia daily cases in sydney have topped 400 for the past seven days australian authorities on friday extended a covet 19 block down in sydney until the end of september and introduced a night curfew in the city's worst affected suburbs the delta variant has been equally lethal in the north american continent mexico is battling a new wave of coronavirus infections as daily cases hit record highs and the official death toll passed to lack 50 000 one of the highest worldwide still the higher infection numbers probably in part reflect more widespread testing in mexico which for a long time carried out very few compared to many western countries earlier this month the united kingdom placed mexico on its red list of countries subject to the strictest travel curbs be it oceania americas or africa one thing is certain it is not over for anyone until it is over for everyone bureau report dd india the head of the united states says humanitarian agency says that aid workers will run out of food this week for millions in need in ethiopia's conflict-ravaged tigre region for the first time in nine months of war aid workers will this week run out of food for millions of people going hungry in ethiopia's tigray region that's according to samantha power head of the united states humanitarian agency usaid in a statement played on thursday par said usaid its partners and other humanitarian organizations had depleted their stores of food were housed in tigray she added that people in tigre are starving with 9 lakh in famine conditions and more than 5 million in desperate need of humanitarian assistance earlier on thursday united nations secretary general antonio guterres pushed for an immediate ceasefire in tigrape where the federal military is fighting forces aligned with the tigray people's liberation front and we have heard first-hand accounts of women who have been subjected to unspeakable violence and the spread of the conflict has ensnared even more people in its order it is time for all parties to recognize that there is no military solution and it's vital to preserve the unity and stability of ethiopia which is critical to the region and beyond the conflict has killed thousands and sparked a humanitarian crisis in one of the world's poorest regions in recent weeks it has spread to the neighboring afar and amhara provinces displacing around 2 lakh 50 000 people and raising concerns of a wider destabilization of africa's second most populous country bureau report dd india indian athlete shailee singh has qualified for the finals of the women's long jump event at the ongoing world athletics under 20 championships which are taking place in nairobi she jumped 6.40 meters in a third attempt registering her best show in the event to qualify for the finals in group b shyly had earlier jumps of 6.34 and 5.98 meters respectively and the automatic qualification mark was 6.35 so she made it in the women's hundred meters hurdles nandani agassara finished with a time of 14.16 in her semi-final race and stood sixth it was a slight improvement from her timing in the heat in which she finished fourth and qualified automatically she did not progress to the final india's ajay raj finished fifth in the final of the men's javelin throw ajay rana was uh in fact briefly in the middle contention uh when he went when he sent the javelin to a distance of 73.68 with his fourth attempt now his personal best is 74.75 meters and would have put him in the top three uh but it could not improve his best throw with his fifth and sixth attempts in the same event jay kumar finished sixth in the final jay kumar also made the cut to the top eight and improved his position to sixth with a throw of 70.74 with his final attempt now the tokyo 2020 organizers held a flame gathering ceremony days before the opening ceremony of the paralympics three separate flames gathered from 62 municipalities across the whole city were combined into one during the ceremony earlier on the day earlier in the day the paralympic symbol it was installed in tokyo bay ahead of the paralympic games scheduled for august 24 to september 5. according to the tokyo government the paralympic symbol will be on display near the city's iconic rainbow bridge till the end of the paralympic games also known as the three agitos the monument is 23.4 meters wide 17.5 meters long and will be lit up at night and that concludes news night for tonight thank you very much for being with us namaskar [Music] [Music] you<br><!-- wp:image {"id":1776,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} -->rn<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img class="wp-image-1776" src="https://en.videoencontexto.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/News_Night_Tense_situation_continues_in_Afghanistan_and__other_top_news_k7O00smDhX8.jpg" alt="News Night: Tense situation continues in Afghanistan and other top news" /></figure>rn<!-- /wp:image -->[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]