The first day of 2021 dawned in Bhubaneswar like a dream. The sky was a cloudless cerulean. The sun was coming up bright, golden, and warm enough to chase away the slight nip in the cool winter morning air. There was no sign of fog whatsoever, not even a mist, typical around here this time of the year.
Morning shows the day, as they say, and the day ahead looked promising – never mind the Section 144, the curfew, and the statewide ban on ‘zero night’ celebrations the previous evening due to the persisting pandemic.
Similarly, with all the positive developments that have happened over the past couple of days, the new year promises to be a good one for the nation at large.
The Drugs Control Authority of India finally gave the go-ahead to the Astrazeneca-Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, paving the way for an historic mass immunisation campaign in the world’s second most populated country that is also the second worst affected by the deadly virus.
The DGCI’s approval for the vaccine – named Covishield and manufactured by Serum Institute of India (the world’s largest vaccine producer) – came on the same day that many states were conducting a dry run to identify any potential loopholes and plug any remaining gaps between planning and implementation of the mass vaccination programme.
This was the second in the country after the one done in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab during December 28-29 last year.
Besides, Union minister Prakash Javadekar confirmed that there are at least three more vaccines in line – Bharat Biotch’s Covaxin, Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D and Russia’s Sputnik-V – awaiting approval for emergency use, making India probably the only nation in the world to be armed with four different vaccines to fight Covid-19.
Meanwhile, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the permanent campus of IIM Sambalpur in Odisha through a virtual ceremony, he stated that the time was ripe now for India to spread its influence around the globe. He then called on the nation’s premier management institutes – there are 20 IIMS now, from just six 13 years ago – to help realise the vision of a self-reliant India by turning local start-ups into homegrown multinationals.
On the occasion, it was also heartening to see Odisha’s five-time Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, express appreciation for the Modi government’s support and cooperation in helping the state become a leading education and research hub of India.
This happened even as a reputable US-based research firm, which tracks approval ratings of major world leaders, reported from its latest survey that Prime Minister Modi had topped the list with a net approval rating of 55% for his efficient management of the Covid-19 pandemic, among various other important issues.
Of course, speaking of important issues, it is not all sunshine and roses. The farmer’s protest against the new farm laws continues – despite some progress made in their latest round of talks with the government – and threatens to escalate into something worse. Curfews were imposed in various parts of the country on the New Year’s Eve to check the ever-looming danger of another Covid-19 wave. International travel remains suspended for the same reasons.
However, patience is of the essence. As the Prime Minister duly penned in his New Year poem: “Abhi toh Suraj Uga Hai.”
Indeed, the sun has just risen.
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