South Korea will hold presidential election on June 3 to replace ousted president Yoon Suk Yeol
Seoul (AP): South Korea will hold a snap presidential election June 3 to replace recently ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, the country's acting leader Han Duck-soo announced Tuesday.
The announcement came days after the Constitutional Court removed President Yoon Suk Yeol from office over his ill-fated imposition of martial law in December.
Deep political polarisation will likely shape the June 3 election, expected to be a two-way showdown between the two major political parties: Yoon's conservative People Power Party and its chief liberal rival, the Democratic Party.
The focus of attention is on whether conservatives can regroup and field a strong candidate to compete against the likely Democratic candidate, Lee Jae-myung.
It will be an uphill battle for the governing People's Power Party to hold on to power it struggles to restore public confidence and heal a severe internal division triggered by Yoon's martial law stunt.
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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.
