Letter to L-G 'abuse of privileges': Tihar jail authorities in letter to Delhi CM Kejriwal
New Delhi (PTI): The Tihar authorities have informed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that his letter to Lt Governor VK Saxena saying Atishi would hoist the Tricolour on Independence Day was "an abuse of privileges" granted to him under the Delhi Prison Rules.
The superintendent of Tihar's jail number 2 cited various provisions of the Delhi Prisons Rules, 2018, and advised Kejriwal in a letter "to desist from any such impermissible activity" or his privileges would be curtailed.
In a letter to the lieutenant governor last week, Kejriwal said Cabinet minister Atishi would hoist the national flag during the Delhi government's Independence Day programme in his stead.
The lieutenant governor's office, however, had denied receiving any communication from the chief minister.
Kejriwal is lodged in Tihar jail in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case in connection with the alleged excise policy scam. He has been granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in the excise policy-linked money-laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
In the letter to Kejriwal, the Tihar authorities said, "From a bare reading of the above rules, it is clear that your communication does not qualify in the permissible communication which can be sent outside the prison. Only private correspondence with a designated set of people, as defined above, is permissible. Therefore, your letter dated 06.08.2024 has not been sent to the addressee but has been filed."
Undertrials are governed by legal provisions of the Delhi Prison Rules, which circumscribe their rights and privileges, the letter stated.
"It is surprising to note that the contents of the letter, which was handed over by you on August 6, were leaked to the media without any authority. This amounts to an abuse of privileges granted to you under the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018," it added.
The jail superintendent advised Kejriwal "to desist from any such impermissible activity".
"... failing which I shall be constrained to invoke the provisions of Delhi Prison Rules, 2018, to curtail your privileges," the letter stated.
The letter cited Rule 588, which states that the contents of all letters written by prisoners shall be limited to private matters.
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China’s drug regulator clears mpox vaccine; to undergo clinical trial
Beijing, Sep 10: China’s top drug regulator has cleared a mpox vaccine developed by local drug firm Sinopharm for clinical trials which could be the country’s first experimental dose to battle the deadly disease.
The domestic vaccine candidate, created by the Shanghai Institute of Biological Products and administered by Sinopharm, is expected to play an important role in preventing and controlling mpox infections, the company said in a statement released on Monday afternoon.
There is currently no approved mpox vaccine in China. Globally, a few vaccines have been approved in the United States, Canada, the European Union, Japan and Russia.
In China, a vaccine candidate typically goes through three phases of clinical trials before gaining market approval.
The process can take years, even decades. However, the National Medical Products Administration, China's top drug regulator, has launched a number of accelerated or streamlined channels to facilitate applications of novel drugs and vaccines or those in urgent need, state-run China Daily reported on Tuesday.
According to the company, the new vaccine is a replication-deficient vaccine based on a strain called MVA.
The description is the same as Jynneos, the world's first mpox vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States in 2019.
The World Health Organisation said on August 14 that the mpox outbreak in Africa constitutes a public health emergency of international concern — its highest form of alert.
Previously, in July 2022, the WHO declared a global emergency but then lifted it in May last year because of a sustained decline in international cases.
So far, more than 120 countries and regions across the world have reported more than 100,000 confirmed infections and 226 related deaths.
China reported its first imported case in September 2022 and the first domestic case in June last year.
By the end of July, the nation had reported 2,567 confirmed cases, according to the China Daily report.
