TATA, CSIR in talks with Moderna to conduct trials, bring COVID-19 vaccine to India

TATA Group's newly launched medical venture Tata Medical & Diagnostics is reportedly in talks with Moderna to bring its COVID-19 vaccine to India after conducting clinical trials to ensure its safety and efficacy. The Economic Times reported that the dialogue is still in its early days and that sources have said that the company would partner up with the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) to carry out the necessary clinical trials of Moderna’s vaccine candidate in India.

The Director-General of CSIR Shekhar C Mande told The Print, "We are in talks with Moderna to understand the science behind their vaccine and how it works on the human body. Till now, the discussions are scientific in nature".

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad has the capacity to develop this vaccine very quickly – within weeks, Mande said.

When asked about Indian pharma companies interested in, Mande said “I don’t know if Wockhardt has shown interests or even if Tata Sons has pitched in. We have worked with Tata Sons in the past. We will be delighted if they are interested to take part in this. Also, IIL could work.”

So even though Moderna's vaccine has been approved by the US, UK and France and is being used in inoculation drives around the world, it is still important that the vaccine is tested in India. This is because not everyone will respond to a vaccine in the same way and that applies to people from the same race and even more so for people from different races. Health authorities need country-specific data to give their approvals and ensure the vaccine will not have any adverse effects on their people.

The bridge trial, as it is called, gives a country access to a vaccine that otherwise would've taken a long time to reach them. This is an important aspect especially in a crisis situation like COVID-19.

This is also the reason Russia's COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V needs to complete a Phase 3 trial and have partnered up with Hyderabad's pharma company Dr Reddy's and why AstraZeneca tied up with Serum Institute of India to conduct the Oxford vaccine trials and produce it in India. Johnson & Johnson have also tied up Biological E to conduct a trial in India.

The other reason, according to a Reuters report, is that India has made it mandatory for any vaccine maker to conduct a clinical trial in the country before it will get a chance to be approved.

According to the ET report, "exploratory talks have started between Tata Medical & Diagnostics and Moderna and concrete plans will be finalised once government approvals for private sector participation come in".

India has approved two COVID-19 vaccines – Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and Serum Institute of India's Covishield – for emergency use. According to NITI Aayog Member Dr VK Paul, India has six vaccine clinical trials that are currently going on in the country.

About Moderna vaccine

The Moderna vaccine is based on mRNA technology and evidence from its clinical trials for its COVID-19 vaccine shows that it was 94 percent effective at preventing lab-confirmed COVID-19 in people who were given two doses and had no history of the infection. Moderna's vaccine candidate 'mRNA-1273' is believed to offer protection against the virus for 'several months' according to World Health Organisation (WHO) but according to the company's CEO Stephane Bancel, immunity against the vaccine can last for a couple of years.

The vaccine is given in two doses 28 days apart and can be extended to 42 days. It has shown to be effective around 14 days after one receives the first dose. The vaccine needs to be kept frozen between -25°C and -15°C, which is similar to a normal freezer if it’s not being used immediately. Each vial contains enough doses to vaccinate 10 people. According to a Time report, the vaccines needs to be thawed before it is used and once thawed, the unopened vial needs to be used within 30 days. Once a vial is punctured, it needs to be used within six hours.

The vaccine was not tested in pregnant or breastfeeding women and more studies need to be conducted to know if it is safe for them. The US's Centre for Disease Control (CDC) said it is a woman's personal choice. The vaccine is also not supposed to be given to children under the age of 18 years as those studies are needed to be conducted as well.

According to the clinical trial data, WHO says the vaccine is safe and effective in people with known medical conditions hypertension, diabetes, asthma, pulmonary, liver or kidney disease, as well as chronic infections that are stable and controlled.

The most common side effects, according to the CDC, from getting the vaccine are pain in the arm you got the shot along with swelling and redness. Other effects throughout the body are chills, tiredness and headache.

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RBI announces holiday list for February; banks to remain closed on Basant Panchami, Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the list of holidays for the month of February. The banks will remain closed for at least 12 days. Of these, there will be four Sundays and two Saturdays. Furthermore, six holidays will be observed at different regions in February.

This month, there will be no national holiday on which banks across the country will remain closed.

Holidays like Basant Panchami, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti etc will be celebrated in February, when banks will remain closed. As per the report, banks will remain closed under three brackets -- Holiday under Negotiable Instruments Act; Holiday under Negotiable Instruments Act and Real Time Gross Settlement Holiday as well as Banks' Closing of Accounts.

Here is the list of Bank Holidays in February 2021:

12 February: Losar/ Sonal Lochhar in Gangktok

15 February: Lui-Ngai-Ni in Imphal

16 February: Saraswati Puja/ Basant Panchami in Agartala, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata

19 February: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti in Belapur, Mumbai, Nagpur

20 February: State Day of Mizoram

26 February: Birthday of Md Hazarat Ali, banks will remain closed in Lucknow and Kanpur.

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CBSE conducts CTET 2021 under strict COVID-19 precautions in 135 cities

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducted the 14th edition of Central Teachers Eligibility Test (CTET) on 31 January. The board said after the conduct of the recruitment exam that the entire test was organised following the COVID-19 protocols.

CBSE had taken some extra steps to ensure social distancing was observed duly. Originally, there were 112 exam cities designated to hold the CTET 2021. This was taken to 135 cities in order to safely conduct the test.

CBSE had given a chance to candidates to change their choice of exam city. During the pandemic, many had to move places or return back to their home city. The education board said that they tried to accommodate every candidate in their choice of exam centre or city. To prevent applicants from unnecessary physical appearance, CBSE will be preparing and publishing the mark sheet digitally through DigiLocker.

DigiLocker accounts of all CTET candidates are going to be created and soon they will be sent their account credentials via their registered phone numbers. Applicants will be also getting their digital eligibility certificate via the app. It works with the help of QR codes that need to be scanned by the candidates.

The teacher eligibility test saw as many as 22,97,062 candidates appearing in the nationwide exam. Citing an official release by CBSE, the report said that while 12,19,220 candidates had appeared in paper 1, the number was 10,77,842 for paper 2.

Paper 1 was conducted in the morning shift (from 9.30 am to 12 pm), whereas the second paper was held from 2 pm to 4.30 pm in the afternoon shift on the same day.

In order to qualify, candidates will have to score 60 percent marks. While the part 1 of the exam is for candidates trying to teach classes 1 to 5, the second part is for teachers of classes 6 to 8.

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ICAI likely to release CA November Result 2020 today; check at icai.org, via SMS

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is likely to release the CA November Result 2020 for the final course today (1 February). Candidates who gave the exam can check their result through the official site of ICAI - icai.org.

The CA November exam was conducted from 21 November to 14 December. The foundation course exam was conducted from 8 to 14 December, while the final course exam was conducted from 21 November to 6 December. The intermediate exam was conducted from 22 November to 7 December.

Ahead of the CA November exam, the ICAI had released an announcement for candidates who tested positive for COVID-19 and intended to appear for the examination. The ICAI has said it will take serious action against such candidates who not only endanger the health and safety of the candidates and exam personnel.

Here's how to check the CA November Result 2020:

Step 1: Candidates need to visit the official website icaiexam.icai.org.
Step 2: Once there, they need to click on CA November Result 2020 for final course link that is available on the homepage.
Step 3: Candidates will be redirected to a new page where they will have to enter login details.
Step 4: The result will be displayed on the screen and candidates must check the results and download the page.
Step 5: Candidates need to keep a hard copy of the results for future use.

According to an earlier notification by ICAI, for getting results through SMS< final examination candidates of the old course should type CAFNLOLD (space) XXXXXX (six-digit final examination roll number). For final exam candidates of new course, they should type CAFNLNEW (space) XXXXXX. Both should text it to 57575. The result websites, according to the notification are, https://ift.tt/NsQz9b, https://ift.tt/2OdW5xY, http://icai.nic.in.

Results of the CA Final Examination(Old course & New Course) held in Nov 2020 are likely to be declared on Monday, 1st Feb 2021(evening)/Tuesday, 2nd Feb 2021
Detailshttps://t.co/aqTY3RXQTn
Result Websiteshttps://t.co/344CfPdhymhttps://t.co/sxQNhLv0uqhttps://t.co/HS8oDSRLZn pic.twitter.com/kaiJ0RVraB

— Institute of Chartered Accountants of India - ICAI (@theicai) January 30, 2021

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CEA asks govt to end forbearance window for borrowers, pitches for setup of 'bad bank' to deal with NPAs

Chief Economic Adviser KV Subramanian has made a strong case for setting up of a bad bank led by private sector to effectively deal with non-performing assets of the financial sector which may see a surge once regulatory forbearance to deal with the impact of COVID-19 is withdrawn.

The proposal to set up a bad bank has been under consideration of the government for long and some steps may be announced in the Budget 2021-22 to be unveiled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday in the Lok Sabha.

Bad bank refers to a financial institution which takes over bad assets of lenders and undertakes resolution. Lenders have been making a case for setting up a bad bank to ease out pressure of bad loans on them in these difficult times.

"The bad bank will certainly help in consolidating some of the non performing assets. It's important to also think about implementing the bad bank in the private sector that enables (faster) decision making," he told PTI in an interview.

Resolution of bad assets with alacrity in decision making often in the public sector is impacted because of the fear of 3Cs, he said.

3Cs refer to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and Comptroller and Audit General (CAG).

"So, the bad bank idea itself is actually something which is required at this point in time, but also designing it in the private sector actually has a lot more possibility for it to be effective," he said.

The Economic Survey 2017 had proposed this idea, suggesting the creation of a bad bank called Public Sector Asset Rehabilitation Agency (PARA) to help tide over the problem of stressed assets.

Earlier this month, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das indicated that the central bank can consider the idea of a bad bank to tackle non-performing assets (NPAs).

"If there's a proposal to set up a bad bank, the RBI will look at it. We have regulatory guidelines for asset reconstruction companies," Das had said.

Subramanian, the lead author of the Economic Survey 2020-21, has made a case for carrying out a fresh asset quality review (AQR) once the ongoing forbearances related to COVID-19 come to an end.

Any AQR exercise, the Survey said, must be accompanied by a round of bank recapitalisation.

Elaborating on the AQR exercise, he said that it amounts to recognising something bad that is cosmetically covered up.

"But the important message that is being made is that AQR has to be done. When AQR is done, the estimation or unearthing of bad assets actually has to be done well," he said.

The government must get rid of the forbearance window, provided by banks to borrowers due to COVID-19 induced economic challenges, as soon as the economy starts to revive as it is only an "emergency medicine" and not a "staple diet", the Survey suggested.

Financial regulators across the globe adopted the regulatory forbearance measures to tide over the economic challenges posed by COVID-19 and India was no expectation.

Once the forbearance policy was discontinued in 2015, the RBI conducted an AQR to know the exact amount of bad loans present in the banking system.

As a result, banks' disclosed NPAs increased significantly from 2014-15 to 2015-16. In the absence of forbearance, banks preferred disclosing NPAs to the restructuring of loans.

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Sanitation worker dies hours after getting COVID-19 vaccine in Gujarat’s Vadodara

Ahmedabad: A 30-year-old sanitation worker died around two hours after being administered a coronavirus vaccine in Gujarat's Vadodara on Sunday, following which authorities ordered a postmortem to ascertain the exact cause of his death, officials said.

While the family members of the deceased said they suspect that the COVID-19 vaccine was the reason behind his sudden death, officials said he might have died due to a heart attack as he had a history of heart disease since 2016 and was not taking medicines.

Jignesh Solanki was a sanitation worker at the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC). He was vaccinated on Sunday morning. However, hours later, he fainted at home and was rushed to the SSG Hospital in the city, where he was declared brought dead by doctors, the officials said.

Solanki's wife Divya said, "I had no idea that he was going to be vaccinated. We had not discussed about it. After getting vaccinated, he returned home, but fainted while playing with our daughter. We suspect that his sudden death was caused due to the vaccination.” Medical Superintendent of SSG Hospital Dr Ranjan Aiyer said Solanki was administered the COVID-19 vaccine at a booth set up by the civic body, following which he was monitored for half an hour.

During that period, there were no signs of any adverse side effects. He was declared brought dead at the SSG Hospital, Aiyer said. "We have learnt that Jignesh had suffered from chest pain and was admitted to a private hospital nearly one-and-a-half years back. It is possible that he died due to heart attack as he had a history of heart disease. We will conduct his panel postmortem to ascertain the exact cause of death," he said.

Aiyer said if a patient does not declare his medical history, and is on medicines, then he should not be vaccinated as per the general guidelines. "As far as Jignesh is concerned, he had stopped taking medicines despite having a history of heart disease. On the basis of his medical history, we shall be able to get a better picture," he said.

VMC's medical officer of health Dr Devesh Patel said the postmortem report is awaited, which will ascertain the exact cause of Solanki's death. "The patient had a history of heart disease since 2016. His heart was weak, but he was not taking medicines, as his relatives told us," he said.

So far, more than 12,000 beneficiaries have been administered COVID-19 vaccine in Vadodara, but nobody has complained of any side effects, Patel added.

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Budget 2021 LIVE Updates: Nirmala Sitharaman may shift gear to achieve 11% growth in next fiscal, say experts

08:51 (IST)

Budget 2021 LATEST Updates

After pandemic disruption, time to focus on demand side of economy

Whichever way one may look at, the priority of FY 2022 Union Budget has to be and would be on getting the economy back on track. However, it is easier said than done, given the challenges and disruptions caused by the COVID-19
pandemic.

The FY 2021 Budget was presented well before the COVID-19 related disruption occurred. However, even at that time government finances were constrained and the government used the escape clause available under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act to let the fiscal deficit of FY 2020 slip by 50 bp to 3.8 percent of GDP and budgeted the fiscal deficit for FY 2021 at 3.5 percent of GDP.

The budgeted deficit of 3.5 percent for FY 2021 was based on nominal GDP growth of 10.0 percent.

Read more here...

08:49 (IST)

Budget 2021 LATEST Updates

FM aims to revive pandemic-hit economy, raise spending on key sectors

Experts say Nirmala Sitharaman could unveil plans to shift the economy from survival mode to revival to meet projections of 11 percent growth rate in the next financial year that starts April, following a forecasted 7.7 percent contraction in the current fiscal.

08:29 (IST)

Budget 2021 LATEST Updates

Ninth Budget under NDA govt to focus on healthcare and infrastructure

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had earlier said her government's focus will be on economic growth by raising spending on sectors like healthcare and infrastructure amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The budget, the ninth under the NDA government, is also widely expected to focus on increasing spending on creation of jobs and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, handing more money to the common man and easing rules to attract foreign investments.

08:05 (IST)

Budget 2021 LATEST Updates

Reintroduce single tax slab structure, raise minimum taxable income to Rs 7.5 lakh

The pandemic and the subsequent Work From Home policy has led to some employers offering allowances and reimbursement to employees. All eyes are on the upcoming budget for the next financial year as India looks to recover from the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020-21. It is widely expected that the government will prioritise spending in the next fiscal and ensure a smooth transition into growth territory in 2021-22.

Tax experts shared with Firstpost what they felt the government could announce by way of relief to employees.

Divakar Vijayasarathy, Founder and Managing Partner, DVS Advisors LLP

The salaried class could be disappointed if it’s expecting a reduction in tax rates. In fact, it should brace itself for a COVID cess. However, relief in terms of spending- based deductions, more in line with the alternate mechanisms provided for LTA during the Atmanirbhar Bharat package to improve domestic demand, can be expected. The deductions, unlike the investments based in the past, could be more available on spending. An increase in health insurance deduction and COVID-related hospitalisation can be anticipated. Considering the moratorium provided for 6 months during the pandemic, there could be a retrospective amendment on deductions available on housing loan interest and principal repayment.

Read more here..

08:02 (IST)

Budget 2021 LATEST Updates

When and where to watch the Budget speech

Union Budget 2021 is scheduled to be presented in the Parliament on Monday with the Budget speech most possibly starting at 11 am. The live telecast of the Union Budget 2021 can be viewed on several platforms including Lok Sabha TV, Doordarshan, Rajya Sabha TV and PIB and the YouTube channels of these outlets.

The government has also launched the Budget App for Android and IOS mobile phones which will have all the information about the Budget. Firstpost will also cover live updates on it's special Budget coverage page, along with in-depth sector-wise analysis.

Click here to read more from Firstpost's Budget coverage

07:57 (IST)

Budget 2021 LATEST Updates

Nirmala Sitharaman to present Budget at 11 am

All eyes are on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who will be presenting the Budget in Parliament at 11 am today (Monday). This will be the ninth consecutive annual budget presented before the country by the Narendra Modi government.

In the face of a slew of challenges ranging from a once-in-a-century pandemic, ensuing job losses, resentment among farmers and friction with neighbours, many expect Sitharaman to announce generous public spending but also make tough choices given a mountain of debt.

Union Budget 2021 LATEST Updates: The Budget is widely expected to focus on increasing spending on creation of jobs and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, handing more money to the common man and easing rules to attract foreign investments.

All eyes are on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who will be presenting the Budget in Parliament at 11 am today (Monday). This will be the ninth consecutive annual budget presented before the country by the Narendra Modi government.

In the face of a slew of challenges ranging from a once-in-a-century pandemic, ensuing job losses, resentment among farmers and friction with neighbours, many expect Sitharaman to announce generous public spending but also make tough choices given a mountain of debt.

Earlier in January, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the budget for the FY2021 beginning April will be "like never before". In a significant break from tradition owing to the novel coronavirus, this year's financial statement will be completely paperless.

Sitharaman has also launched the "Union Budget Mobile App" for hassle-free access of Budget-related documents by Members of Parliament (MPs) and the public.

Meanwhile, India's gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 23.9 percent in the first quarter of the financial year and as per the World Bank, the economy is estimated to contract by 9.6 percent in FY21, reflecting a sharp drop in household spending and private investment.

Since the last Budget, the size of the Indian economy has reduced from Rs 2.24 lakh crore nominal GDP considered in the FY2021 Budget to Rs 1.94 lakh crore.

However, the World Bank projected economic growth to recover to 5.4 percent this year.

It is important to note that the country's economy found itself caught up in a recessionary phase owing to the pandemic and the subsequent nationwide lockdown.

With inputs from agencies

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UP Police issues notices to 220 tractor owners; Opposition says move aimed at threatening farmers

Ballia (Uttar Pradesh): Around 200 tractor owners have been issued notices by the Uttar Pradesh police, prompting senior SP leader Ram Govind Chaudhary to allege that the move was meant to threaten the farmers.

The police, however, stated that the notices have nothing to do with the farmers' protest against the Centre’s new agriculture laws.

"Notices have been served to 220 owners of tractors in the Sikandarpur police station area. In the notice, it has been mentioned that the tractors were used on public roads for commercial work, and minors were driving them. As a result of this, there were road accidents. The tractors were also used in illegal mining,” Bal Mukund Mishra, SHO, Sikandarpur police station told PTI.

Asked if the police can issue such a notice, Regional Transport Officer Rajeshwar Yadav said he was not aware of any such thing.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Ram Govind Chaudhary said police are trying to threaten the farmers.

"The farmers have tractors, and they are going to the protest site by tractors. Police have issued the notices to hinder the farmers movement,” he alleged.

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Economic Survey 2021: Nirmala Sitharaman to table document in Parliament; when and where to watch

The Economic Survey 2021 will tabled today, 29 January, during the Budget Session of the Parliament. The Union Budget 2021 will be tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February.

The Economic Survey is prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) under the guidance of the CEA and is approved by the finance minister once it is prepared.

While the Economic Survey is usually presented a day prior to the Union Budget, it is being tabled earlier before the House this year as the day before Budget is a Sunday. The Survey will give an estimation of the progress the Indian economy made during the preceding 12-month period and will feature the details and outcomes of the schemes and policies implemented by the government during the year under review. It will also provide hints as to what is in store for the economy in the coming period.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting the Economic Survey 2020-21 in the Parliament and post presentation, the chief economic adviser (CEA) KV Subramanian will address a press conference at 2.30 pm in Delhi.

First presented in 1950-51 in the Lok Sabha, it used to be presented along with the Union Budget. However, since 1964, the ministry started releasing the survey a day prior to the budget day.

Rating agencies expect the government to factor in a wider deficit for the coming year in order to give the economy a fiscal stimulus to emerge faster from a world riddled by the COVID-19 pandemic. The government's stance on the recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission may also play a key factor in the fiscal calculations for 2021-22.

The Commission's report on the transfer of finances between the Centre and States for the next five years is expected to be tabled.

The presentation of the Economic survey can be viewed on Lok Sabha TV or on YouTube and Twitter for the Economic Survey. The CEA Subramanian press conference at 2.30 pm can be viewed through PIB YouTube, Doordarshan or Twitter. The latest live updates on the Economy Survey can also be accessed on Firstpost.

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By the time Bengal polls begin, only Mamata Banerjee will be left in TMC, says Amit Shah at Howrah

Slamming West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday claimed that members of the ruling Trinamool Congress were joining the BJP "in droves" because Mamata has "failed the people".

Shah, who has been actively campaigning for the BJP in the poll-bound state for the last few weeks, made the remarks while addressing the BJP's Howrah rally via video-conferencing.

Reiterating his statement that Mamata "will be left alone" by the time the Assembly election is held, Shah contended,  "Mamata should think why so many TMC leaders are joining the BJP. It is because she has failed the people of the state."

Shah cancelled his visit to West Bengal on Friday citing "unavoidable circumstances" and the "situation in Delhi", The Indian Express reported.

Shah also accused Mamata of working towards "bhatija kalyan" (serving her nephew). He claimed that the TMC, which boasts of the slogan 'Maa Mati Mansuh (mother, land and people)', actually indulges in extortion, corruption and appeasement.

Shah also stated that the BJP will form the next government in the state and bring about development.

"I want to make it clear that the BJP would come to power in the state after the elections. While the Modi government is working towards 'jan kalyan' (serving people), the Mamata Banerjee government is working towards 'bhatija kalyan' (serving her nephew) in Bengal," Shah said.

Former TMC leaders Rajib Banerjee, Baishali Dalmiya, Prabir Ghoshal, Rathin Chakraborti, and Rudranil Ghosh attended the rally, The Times of India reported.

Senior BJP leaders such as Union minister Smriti Irani, party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, and West Bengal BJP vice-president Mukul Roy were also present.

The report quoted Rajib as saying, "We want a double-engine government in West Bengal. We want Bharatiya Janata party government both at the Centre and the state for a sonar Bangla. (golden Bengal)." 

Banerjee joined the BJP in Delhi on Saturday along with a few other leaders of the state's ruling party, after meeting Shah.

Banerjee and MLAs Prabir Ghosal and Baishali Dalmiya, who was recently expelled from the TMC, and former Howrah Mayor Rathin Chakraborty, flew to Delhi on a special plane, and met central BJP leaders.

"They have joined the BJP," party general secretary Vijayvargiya told PTI on Saturday.

Former TMC MLA Parthasarathi Chattopadhyay and actor Rudranil Ghosh had also accompanied them on their visit to meet BJP leaders in the National Capital.

BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy and Vijayvargiya arrived in Delhi with them.

The TMC, which has been facing dissent from a number of leaders ahead of the assembly election due in April-May, said that those who are leaving do not have long political history.

Earlier in the day, Banerjee said he had a word with Union Home Minister Amit Shah who called him to the National Capital.

"After I resigned from the TMC, I received a call from the BJP leadership... Amit Shah ji told me to come over to Delhi. He also requested me to pass on the information to five other important public figures who wanted to serve people in a better way to accompany me.

"If I get an assurance on the state's development, if I get an assurance that I can work for the betterment of people, I will join the BJP," he told reporters at the Kolkata airport.

When asked what role does he expect to play in the BJP, Banerjee said it is for the party to decide.

"I want to work for the people. So whatever role is assigned to me, I will accept," he said. Instead of mudslinging at each other, the Centre and the West Bengal government should work together for the people of the state.

With inputs from PTI

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Expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala discharged from Bengaluru hospital after recovering from COVID-19

Bengaluru: Expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala was discharged from a hospital in Bengaluru on Sunday after recovering from COVID-19, days after she was set free by the prison officials on completion her jail term in a corruption case, authorities said.

The family has decided to take Sasikala, close aide of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, to Chennai, sources close to her said, adding the hospital has advised her to be under self-quarantine for sometime.

Sasikala was admitted to the Victoria Hospital after she tested positive for COVID-19 recently while under judicial custody.

Prison authorities in Bengaluru had formally released her on 27 January after she completed the four-year jail term in a Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case.

On the advice of doctors, she remained in the hospital and was discharged on Sunday after her latest test reports came negative for COVID-19, hospital officials said.

A huge crowd of her supporters greeted Sasikala as she came out of the hospital. More than 300 police personnel were deployed in the area
to ensure law and order, police said.

Sambasivan, one of her supporters from Hosur in the border district of Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, told PTI that this was like a festival for him. Her release comes ahead of the Assembly elections likely in April-May this year in Tamil Nadu.

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