1. Vaccination milestone
Context:
India has administered over 100 crore covid-19 vaccinations.
Details:
This is the fastest rate of vaccination, not just in India, but possibly anywhere in the world.
China has administered almost twice the number of doses to its citizens but it had also started out much earlier than anyone else. China had begun vaccinating its people in June last year, even before conducting phase III trials of its vaccines.
India, on the other hand, began only in mid-January, with a limited supply of vaccines that was put under further strain by the decision of the United States to clamp down on the export of raw materials.
The shortage of vaccines was felt most acutely during the devastating second wave, the worst phase of the pandemic anywhere in the world.
Fortunately, now covid vaccines are available mostly on demand with 50-60 lakh doses being administered on many days.
However, if the task is to vaccinate the entire adult population of about 94 crore, India has just about crossed the halfway mark in terms of total doses.
Vaccines for people under the age of 18 years are just being approved.
India also has to remain open to the possibility of providing booster doses from sometime next year.
By the end of this year, the group that received their vaccine in January and February might find its immunity waning. The discussion on booster doses in India is still to begin, but it is likely that the cycle of vaccinating everyone would repeat next year.
Need for caution:
Vaccinations have enabled a situation where people can return to their normal lives, and usual economic activity can resume.
But lack of Covid-appropriate behaviour such as social distancing and masking can very quickly nullify these gains.
Several countries, with high vaccination coverage, have already experienced the slide back into a situation of lockdowns and travel restrictions, with China being the latest example.
Know more about vaccines and covid vaccines in particular in the video below:
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2. Police Commemoration Day
Context:
PM pays homage to police personnel martyred in the line of duty on Police Commemoration Day.
About Police Commemoration Day:
Police Commemoration Day is observed on October 21 every year to remember and honour the brave policemen who have laid down their lives in the line of duty.
The day traces its history back to 21 October 1959, when twenty Indian soldiers were attacked by Chinese troops in Ladakh.
Due to the altercation between the troops, ten Indian policemen lost their lives and seven were imprisoned.
More than a month later, in November 1959, Chinese troops handed over the dead bodies of the martyred policemen.
Since that day, 21 October has been observed as Police Commemoration Day in honour of the martyrs.
In 2018, PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the first-ever National Police Memorial in New Delhi on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day.
The National Police Memorial commemorates the thousands of police personnel from all of the central and state police forces who have sacrificed their lives since 1947.
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