ED raids offices, houses of journalists, shareholders associated with media portal NewsClick.in
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday raided houses of several shareholders and journalists of Newsclick.in, an independent media portal based in Delhi, TheWire reported.
Sources within the media group confirmed to The Wire that those raided included owner Prabir Purkayastha and editor Pranjal. According to The Hindu, the organisation’s office in Delhi’s Saidulajab was also raided, the report added.
According to The Quint, the ED said the raids on NewsClick were linked to an alleged money laundering case and the agency was probing funding the organisation had received from “dubious companies” abroad.
“There’s a search going on since morning, also at some of our houses. We are cooperating and will continue to cooperate. They are searching through the documents and have given us a notice,” Pranjal was quoted as saying.
Anchor Abhisar Sharma, who hosts two YouTube programmes for NewsClick, also confirmed the raid on Twitter.
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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.
