President-elect Joe Biden receives COVID-19 vaccine
Washington, Dec 22: US President-elect Joe Biden on Monday publicly received the COVID-19 vaccine and said he was doing this to demonstrate that people should be ready to take the vaccine when it is available.
Biden received the first course of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at Christiana Care Hospital.
"I am doing this to demonstrate that people should be prepared when it's available to take the vaccine. There's nothing to worry about," he said.
Tabe Masa, Nurse Practitioner and Head of Employee Health Services at ChristianaCare Hospital, administered the vaccine. Dr Jill Biden, having already received the first course of the vaccine earlier in the day, was also present on the occasion.
"Today, I received the COVID-19 vaccine. To the scientists and researchers who worked tirelessly to make this possible thank you. We owe you an awful lot," Biden said in a tweet.
"And to the American people know there is nothing to worry about. When the vaccine is available, I urge you to take it," he said.
"This is what leadership looks like," Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said in a tweet. She will publicly receive the vaccine next week.
Today, I received the COVID-19 vaccine.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 22, 2020
To the scientists and researchers who worked tirelessly to make this possible — thank you. We owe you an awful lot.
And to the American people — know there is nothing to worry about. When the vaccine is available, I urge you to take it. pic.twitter.com/QBtB620i2V
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Manipur violence accounted for 97% of displacements in South Asia in 2023: Report
New Delhi (PTI): Conflict and violence triggered 69,000 displacements in South Asia in 2023, with Manipur violence alone accounting for 67,000, according to a new report.
The report by the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) termed it the highest number of displacements triggered by conflict and violence in India since 2018.
On May 3, 2023, a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in Manipur's hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The march led to ethnic clashes between the Meitei and the Kuki communities, ultimately claiming more than 200 lives.
The Manipur High Court had in March last year called for recommendations to be sent to the central government to recognise the Meitei community as a "scheduled tribe," an official status designed to protect minorities from marginalisation.
The call was met with resistance from other local scheduled tribes, including the Kukis.
Land disputes were also an underlying driver of the tensions.
"Protests turned violent in Churachandpur district on May 3, and the violence spread to other districts, including Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Tengnupal, and Kangpokipi, triggering around 67,000 displacements," the report said.
More than three-quarters of the movements took place within Manipur, but almost a fifth were to the neighbouring state of Mizoram and smaller numbers to Nagaland and Assam.
As the violence escalated, the central government imposed curfews, shut down the internet, and dispatched security forces.
It also set up relief camps and established a peace committee for Manipur, chaired by the state governor, but the initiative was hampered by disagreements about its composition.
All of those displaced by the violence were still living in internal displacement at the end of the year, the IDMC noted.
The IDMC said around 5.3 million people were living in internal displacement as a result of conflict and violence across South Asia at the end of 2023, 80 per cent of whom were in Afghanistan.
