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Monkeypox may not be limited to gay, bisexual men, can spread to others: WHO

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 Monkeypox infections may not be limited among men who have sex with men, as seen currently, but may spread beyond the community, a World Health Organization (WHO) official has warned.

Men who have sex with men are currently deemed at highest risk of infection. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine last week, which looked at infections across 16 countries between April and June, found that 98 per cent of cases were in gay or bisexual men.

According to Dr. Catherine Smallwood, senior emergency officer at the WHO, there is little evidence to suggest that the disease will remain confined to gay and bisexual communities, NBC reported.

More severe cases could become apparent if the virus spreads to more immunologically vulnerable groups like young children, pregnant women and the immunocompromised, Smallwood was quoted as saying.

She cautioned against complacency in the rapidly escalating monkeypox outbreak, which has so far caused more than 16,000 cases in about 75 countries and five deaths in Africa.

“At the moment, cases continue to be reported among men who have sex with men for the most part, but we should not expect that to remain as such,” Smallwood said.

“If it does spread to other groups, particularly to people who are vulnerable to severe monkeypox disease, which we know there are certain groups that are more prone to severe illness, then we might see increased public health impact,” she added.

It is not uncommon for a virus outbreak to start in one particular group or setting before spreading more widely in the general population, Smallwood said, noting that health authorities could take cues from the early findings.

“This really might be the canary in the mine that’s alerting us to a new disease threat that could spread to other groups,” she continued.

While several countries have already stepped up vaccination programmes for people most at risk, the vaccines are designed primarily for treating smallpox, said Smallwood adding more information is needed to determine their efficacy as the monkeypox virus continues to spread.

“We don’t have full information on how effective and how efficacious these vaccines are against monkeypox,” she said.

The WHO has activated its highest alert level for the escalating outbreak, declaring the virus a public health emergency of international concern.

This would now draw more attention to the outbreak and, as a consequence, research on vaccines and other modes of treatment, Smallwood said.

Maharashtra

Mumbai: Ajit Pawar plane crash, Marine Drive police station refuses to register case against MLAs

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Mumbai: Police has refused to register a case in the Ajit Pawar plane crash case. NCP leader MLA Rohit Pawar along with other MLAs had today gone to Marine Drive police station and demanded that a case be registered in the Ajit Pawar plane crash or conspiracy case. The process of recording his confession statement was also going on, but in the meantime, the DCP and Additional Police Commissioner refused to register a case and said that a case cannot be registered in this matter. Expressing his displeasure, Rohit Pawar said that the purpose of registering an FIR today is that the DGCA has issued a circular on the basis of which action has been taken regarding the VSR company, on this basis the VSR company is responsible for this plane crash, yet the police have refused to register a case. He said that any citizen can register a complaint at the police station, this act says, but contrary to this, the police have refused to register a case. He said that efforts are underway to save the VSR company. He said that the police register cases for other crimes including assault, but why is the police not registering a case on the incident that happened with a Maratha leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar? This is completely wrong. Our struggle will continue until justice is achieved. He said that tomorrow morning we will try to register a complaint at the Baramati police station. Rohit Pawar expressed his disappointment and said that if a Deputy Chief Minister does not get justice, then what will happen to the common man? Regarding the registration of a case in the case of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, the ruling party BJP has also taken its stand that a case should not be registered in this matter, while it has also recommended a CBI inquiry into this matter, but despite this inquiry, we have the right to register an FIR, yet we are being deprived of it and have refused to take an FIR.

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Maharashtra

Maharashtra madrasas are a hotbed of terrorism, Nitesh Rane’s venom after a video of students being beaten up in madrasas went viral

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Mumbai: Addressing journalists at Vidhan Bhavan after a video of children being beaten up in a madrasa in Maharashtra went viral, Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane has poured venom against madrasas, calling them a base for terrorism and demanding their closure and has said that instead of madrasas, Marathi and other language schools should be allowed. He said that what is the need for madrasas in a Hindu nation? Are we allowed to teach Bhagavad Gita in Muslim countries? He said that the way children have been beaten up in a madrasa is completely wrong. If this incident of beating had happened in my constituency, what would have happened to it? Then no one would dare to torture a child. Nitesh Rane said that the way only Urdu is taught in madrasas and only Quran and Sharia are taught, that is why the students of madrasas are ignorant of other languages. Nitesh Rane said that in the same way that the Chief Minister in Assam has imposed audit and other conditions on madrassas, in Maharashtra too, audit of all madrassas should be made mandatory and monitoring should be kept on them. This demand will be made to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis soon. This country is a Hindu Rashtra, the rights of Hindus will be discussed here. Commenting on Kerala Story 2, Nitesh Rane targeted Muslims and said that those who do love jihad will not like this film because it has exposed love jihad and presented the facts. He said that this film is based on how Hindu girls are oppressed after love jihad. If there is an objection to the film, then stop love jihad.

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Maharashtra

Abu Asim demands control over cybercrime and immediate return of funds in the House, there is no provision in the law for digital arrest; Devendra Fadnavis

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Mumbai: The increase in cybercrime incidents in Mumbai is alarming. Citizens are being cheated on the pretext of fraud and digital arrest by claiming to be CBI, police and government officials. How will the government curb this? This is a daily occurrence and millions of rupees have been cheated in Mumbai including Ahilya Nagar. For this, the government will form a special task force. There has been a huge increase in cases of cheating people by threatening them in the name of digital arrest. Therefore, action must be taken against this. This demand was made by MLA Abu Asim Atami in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly today. He said that in most of these cases, after demanding money, this money is transferred to another account and its recovery will be ensured within an hour. He drew the attention of the House to this and said that today online fraud is being done on mobile phones in the name of “digital arrest”. Although there is no system of “digital arrest” in the law, cybercrimes are targeting the middle class and senior citizens, creating an atmosphere of fear. Sometimes, false allegations of receiving illegal goods in parcels or couriers are made and sometimes the victim is intimidated by showing a booking in his name. While collecting information from social media, these accused pose as CBI or Narcotics officers, threaten people and transfer money online to their accounts on the pretext of saving them from false cases. Victims who are cheated lose their life’s earnings and are forced to commit suicide in despair. demanded in the House that the government should set up a special task force to curb the rise in cybercrimes, create public awareness through all means of communication, make helplines accessible and effective, and ensure that the money transferred to the victims is immediately returned and strict action is taken against the accused. On my issue, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam provided important information to the House and presented a detailed statement of the action being taken by the government on this issue. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis clarified in the House that digital arrest has no legal status. If someone calls in the name of digital arrest, it is important to understand that he is a fraudster and should not be trusted because there is no provision for digital arrest in the legal procedure. An awareness campaign is being conducted regarding cyber crimes. Along with this, cyber fraudsters target the elderly. An IAS officer was also targeted in this. If anyone is subjected to cyber fraud, he should contact 1930 immediately for action and they will be assisted.

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