Govt tracking global Covid situation, will take appropriate action: Mandaviya

Nagpur: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday that the government was monitoring the global Covid situation in light of the recent surge of cases in China and other parts of the world. In his Lok Sabha speech, he called for increased vigilance and urged people to take precautionary measures such as wearing masks and maintaining social distance. He also stated that measures such as random testing of international travellers in airports have begun. Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the speakers of both houses, and several other MPs were seen wearing face masks in parliament.

On Thursday morning, scenes of chaos played out in the Rajya Sabha, with opposition leaders staging a walkout as they continued to demand a discussion on China. A visibly irritated RS Chairman, Jagdeep Dhanka, warned opposition leaders that their actions would “haunt” them for generations. He requested that the opposition leader, Mallikarjun Kharge, meet him in his chambers at 1 p.m. The Lok Sabha was adjourned within minutes, while the Rajya Sabha continued amid opposition MP chants. On Wednesday morning, the leaders of like-minded opposition parties met in the chambers of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to discuss their strategy in Parliament. According to ANI, a unanimous decision has been made to raise the border issue with China once more.

A day after his remarks about Bohar sparked outrage, Union Minister Piyush Goyal clarified that he had “no intention of implementing” Bihar. He went on to say that he was willing to withdraw his statement if it offended anyone. On Tuesday, during RJD MP Manoj Jha’s intervention in a debate on the Appropriation Bill, Goyal interjected to say, “inka bas chale, to desh ko Bihar he bana de”. Since then, party leaders have demanded an apology from the Union Minister.