Judo Federation suspends Putin honorary status
Budapest: Russia's President Vladimir Putin has temporarily lost his most senior official position in world sports. The International Judo Federation on Sunday cited the ongoing war conflict in Ukraine for suspending Putin's honorary president status.
The Russian president is a keen judoka and attended the sport at the 2012 London Olympics.
The judo federation is rare among Olympic sports bodies for using the word war to describe Russia's invasion of Ukraine ordered by Putin since Thursday. Others have used phrases such as escalation of conflict.
A Kremlin-supporting oligarch and longtime friend of Putin, Arkady Rotenberg, remains on the IJF executive committee as development manager.
Kyiv: Ukraine's president says that Russia should be thrown out of the United Nations Security Council following its invasion of his country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message on Sunday that the Russian invasion of Ukraine amounts to an act of genocide, saying that Russia has taken the path of evil and the world should come to depriving it of its UN Security Council seat.
Russia is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, giving it veto power over resolutions.
Zelenskyy said that Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities should be investigated by an international war crimes tribunal and denounced the Russian invasion as state terrorism.
He dismissed as lies Russia's claims that it wasn't targeting civilian areas.
Tel Aviv: Israel's prime minister says the country is sending 100 tons of humanitarian aid to assist civilians caught up in the fighting in Ukraine.
Naftali Bennett told a meeting of his Cabinet Sunday that the aid includes medical equipment and medicine, tents, sleeping bags and blankets.
Bennett did not comment on a report by Israeli public broadcaster Kan which said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the Israeli leader to mediate talks on ending the crisis with Russia. Bennett's office confirmed there had been a call but declined to comment on the report. The Ukrainian embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.
Bennett has treaded carefully in his public comments on Russia's invasion. He has voiced support for Ukrainian civilians but has stopped short of condemning Russia. Israeli relies on Russia for security coordination in Syria, where Russia has a military presence and where Israel frequently strikes hostile targets.
London: Britain's defense ministry says overnight fighting in Kyiv was less intense than the night before, but battles are raging in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv.
The UK's Ministry of Defense has been posting intelligence updates on social media since Russia invaded.
It said Sunday that Ukrainian forces have engaged the remnants of Russian irregular forces within the city of Kyiv for the second night in a row, fighting has been at a lower intensity than the previous evening.
After encountering strong resistance in Chernihiv, Russian forces are bypassing the area in order to prioritise the encirclement and isolation of Kyiv," it said.
Intensive exchanges of rocket artillery overnight have been followed by heavy fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in Kharkiv.
The ministry said Russian forces are continuing to advance into Ukraine from multiple axis but they are encountering stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces.
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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.
