India launches biggest vaccination drive amid surging COVID-19 cases

South Asia Newsline - Apr 01, 2021 News Bulletin :
-India launches biggest Covid-19 vaccination drive yet amid surging cases
-Row over Opposition leader deepens between Pakistan's PML-N and PPP
- Nepal's PM Oli must seek trust vote by April 5, says CPN-Maoist Centre
India began vaccinating hundreds of people above the age of 45 on Thursday in its biggest push yet against a surging coronavirus that has hit the highest daily count since early October. The world's second most populous country aims to immunize 400 million people after expanding the programme, which had been restricted to the over-60s and people with serious health conditions. Voting for the second phase of the Assembly elections in India's Assam and West Bengal was held on Thursday. The two states have emerged as key battleground for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP, which seeks to put an end to the 10-year rule of the Trinamool Congress in Bengal and retain power in northeastern Assam state. The ongoing tussle between Pakistan's two major opposition parties has intensified as Pakistan Peoples Party has declared that it would not accept PML-N leader Shehbaz Sharif as the opposition leader in the National Assembly, if its senior leader Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani did not get support in the Senate.