Dear Express Explained reader, Author-activist Aakar Patel was this week stopped twice from leaving the country on the basis of a 'Look Out Circular' issued against him by the CBI. Patel said he got to know about the circular only at Bengaluru airport, and moved court on successive days against the CBI. He got relief from a city court in Delhi, but the order was stayed by a district court. What is a Look Out Circular, who can issue it against a citizen of the country, and under what circumstances? When is one considered a 'fight risk', as CBI alleges Patel currently is? Can you be arrested on the basis of such a circular? Deeptiman Tiwary answered some of these questions and explained the issues involved in the case. Everyone who is 18 years or older is from today eligible for the booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. The third shot will be due 9 months after the second dose has been administered, which means that if you were jabbed by around July 10 or earlier last year, you are ready to be boosted immediately. Kaunain Sheriff M put together a helpful guide to all that you should know about taking the third 'precautionary' dose of the vaccine. Kaunain also clarified in a separate article the specific situation with regard to the WHO suspending the supply of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin through UN procurement agencies. There are no doubts over the effectiveness or safety of the vaccine; however, a WHO inspection has found the manufacturing facilities to be non-compliant with certain technical specifications, which the company is working to address. Do read. There was a flutter this week about a new variant of the coronavirus, XE, which is said to have been detected in a couple of western Indian states. XE is a 'recombinant' subvariant of Omicron, and has been seen earlier in a few other countries. Amitabh Sinha wrote about XE, and explained why you need not lose sleep over it, at least not for now. The Directorate of Estates (DoE) under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has of late been active against some former Union ministers, taking steps to evict them from official bungalows in New Delhi that had been allotted to them during their tenures. Chirag Paswan, P C Sarangi, and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank have been targeted for staying on for longer than they were entitled. Anisha Dutta wrote about the rules under which public figures are allotted official accommodation, what they can or cannot do in those spaces, and when they must leave. Stay safe and stay aware. Try to take the booster shot as early as possible after you become eligible. The rapid spread of Omicron in the winter showed that while current vaccines provide excellent protection against hospitalisation and death, they are frequently unable to prevent infection. This virus will probably never disappear altogether, so the end of the pandemic will come when we are able to ensure that it is no longer able to disrupt our lives. Vaccines are, as we know, the key to making it increasingly irrelevant. Stay safe and stay aware. Keep reading The Indian Express Explained. Some of our content is now behind a paywall, so if you haven't subscribed to The Indian Express yet, this may be the perfect time to do so. Click here to subscribe. Sincerely, Monojit (monojit.majumdar@expressindia.com) If you received this newsletter as a forward, you can subscribe to it here | Do read our Explained articles here |
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