India strongly rejects charges of interference in Canadian elections
New Delhi, Feb 8: India on Thursday strongly rejected as "baseless" allegations of its interference in Canadian elections and asserted that the core issue has been Ottawa's meddling in New Delhi's internal affairs.
According to Canadian media reports, Canada's federal commission of inquiry into foreign interference is looking to examine allegations of meddling by India in the last two general elections.
"We have seen media reports about the Canadian commission enquiring into ...We strongly reject all such baseless allegations of Indian interference in Canadian elections," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
The Canadian federal commission's terms of reference is primarily to examine the possible interference by China, Russia and other foreign states or non-state actors in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, the CTV News reported.
"It is not the government of India's policy to interfere in democratic processes of other countries. In fact, quite on the reverse, it is Canada which has been interfering in our internal affairs," Jaiswal said.
"We have been raising this issue regularly with them. We continue to call on Canada to take effective measures to address our core concerns," he said.
The allegations against India came amid a severe downturn in ties between the two countries following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in September last year of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a gurdwara in Surrey city.
New Delhi rejected Trudeau's allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and accused Canada of giving space to Khalistani extremists targeting India.
India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.
India has been asserting that its "core issue" with Canada remained that of the space given to separatists, terrorists and anti-India elements in that country.
#WATCH | MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says, " We have seen media reports, Canadian Commission inquiring into foreign interferences...we strongly reject such baseless allegations of Indian interference in Canadian elections, it is not govt of India's policy to interfere in the… pic.twitter.com/tUCq20uvzz
— ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2024
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
