News Analysis India

Tag: COVID19

  • Ship in 2021 with 130 crore on board sinking: P Chidambaram lashes at Centre’s COVID handling

    By IANS
    NEW DELHI: Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram on Saturday attacked the union government over mismanagement of COVID-19 situation and said the boat with 130 crore people is sinking.

    Re-tweeting Health Minister (his original tweet was invisible)“May Day! May Day!The Ship IN 2021 with 130 cr on board is sinking.Save Us! At least Save Me!”
    — P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) May 1, 2021

    Chidambaram tweeted, “Re-tweeting Health Minister (original tweet was invisible) “May Day! May Day! The Ship IN 2021 with 130 cr on board is sinking. Save Us! At least Save Me!” Coronavirus cases in India hit a record daily high with over 4 lakh new infections being reported in the last 24 hours, while the active cases crossed the 32-lakh mark, according to Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

    ALSO READ| Grateful to SC for raising issues of vaccine prices, compulsory licensing to vaccine makers: Chidambaram

    The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,56,84,406, while the case fatality rate stands 1.11 per cent.

    (With inputs from PTI)

  • COVID crisis: PM Narendra Modi chairs meetings of Union Council of Ministers

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Amid the COVID-19 crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Union ministers on Friday to stay in touch with the people of their respective regions, help them and keep getting their feedback on the situation.

    Chairing a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers, Modi also stressed upon the “need to ensure that issues at the local level are promptly identified and addressed”, according to an official statement.

    The meeting was held virtually to discuss the situation arising out of the second wave of COVID-19 in the country.

    It noted that the pandemic has led to a “once-in-a-century” crisis and thrown a big challenge to the world, the statement said.

    The council was briefed about the steps being taken to ramp up the number of hospital beds, oxygen facilities and resolve issues related to the availability of oxygen and essential medicines, it added.

    The support measures for the vulnerable population in the form of free foodgrains and financial support to Jan Dhan account holders were also discussed at the meeting, the statement said.

    The meeting was informed that 15 crore anti-COVID vaccine doses have so far been administered to people, while it was also pointed out that the country could successfully produce two vaccines and there are many vaccine candidates at various stages of approval and induction.

    The council of ministers also highlighted the importance of COVID-appropriate behaviour — wearing masks, maintaining a physical distance of six feet with others and washing hands frequently.

    Emphasising that the participation of the society is a key aspect to accomplish the gigantic task ahead, the ministers expressed confidence that the country will rise to the occasion and defeat the virus.

    This was the first meeting of the council of ministers in the aftermath of the second wave of the pandemic in the country.

    NITI Aayog member VK Paul gave a presentation on COVID-19 management.

    After him, Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Mansukh Mandaviya briefed their cabinet colleagues on the availability of oxygen and medicines respectively.

    The prime minister has held several rounds of meetings with chief ministers and top government officials to deliberate on the COVID-19 situation.

    He has also been holding meetings with pharmaceutical industry leaders, oxygen suppliers, the heads of the three-armed forces and other dignitaries to discuss how to tackle the pandemic.

  • Over 2.45 crore register for Phase 3 of COVID-19 vaccination on Co-WIN platform

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: More than 2.45 crore beneficiaries have registered themselves on the Co-WIN digital platform ahead of the Phase-3 of the COVID-19 vaccination for those above 18 years that is set to start from May 1, according to the Union Health Ministry.

    While more than 1.37 crore people registered themselves on April 28, more than 1.04 crore registered by the end of  April 29. The ministry also said that the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 15.22 crore.

    Cumulatively, 15,22,45,179 vaccine doses have been administered through 22,43,097 sessions, according to the provisional report till 7 am.

    These include 93,86,904 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose and 61,91,118 HCWs who have taken the second dose, 1,24,19,965 FLWs who have received the first dose and 67,07,862 FLWs who have taken the second dose.

    Besides, 5,19,01,218 and 1,04,41,359 beneficiaries more than 60 years have taken the first and second dose respectively, while 5,17,78,842 and 34,17,911 beneficiaries aged 45 to 60 have been administered the first and second dose .

    Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh  account for 67.08% of the cumulative doses given so far in the country, the ministry said.

    More than 21 lakh vaccination doses were administered in a span of 24 hours. As on day-104 of the vaccination drive (April 29), 22,24,548 vaccine doses were given. A total of 12,74,803 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 21,810 sessions for the first dose and 9,49,745 beneficiaries received the second dose of vaccine.

  • RIP Soli Sorabjee: President Ramnath Kovind, PM Narendra Modi pay tributes to noted jurist

    By Online Desk
    NEW DELHI: Paying tributes to noted jurist Soli Sorabjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ramnath Kovind on Friday condoled the death of the former Attorney-General. Sorabjee died at a private hospital here after getting infected with COVID-19. The 91-year-old had served as the Attorney General for India from 1989-90 and then from 1998-2004.

    Shri Soli Sorabjee was an outstanding lawyer and intellectual. Through law, he was at the forefront of helping the poor and downtrodden. He will be remembered for his noteworthy tenures India’s Attorney General. Saddened by his demise. Condolences to his family and admirers.
    — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 30, 2021

    PM Modi said that he was an outstanding lawyer and was at the forefront of helping the poor and downtrodden through law. Modi tweeted, “Shri Soli Sorabjee was an outstanding lawyer and intellectual. Through law, he was at the forefront of helping the poor and downtrodden. He will be remembered for his noteworthy tenures India’s Attorney General. Saddened by his demise. Condolences to his family and admirers.”

    In the passing of Soli Sorabji, we lost an icon of India’s legal system. He was among the select few who deeply influenced evolution of constitutional law & justice system. Awarded with Padma Vibhushan, he was among most eminent jurists. My condolences to his family & associates.
    — President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) April 30, 2021

    “In the passing of Soli Sorabjee, we lost an icon of India’s legal system. He was among the select few who deeply influenced evolution of constitutional law & justice system. Awarded with Padma Vibhushan, he was among most eminent jurists. My condolences to his family & associates,” Kovind said in a tweet.

    (With inputs from PTI)

  • Rahul Gandhi expresses condolences to kin of COVID patients who died due to lack of treatment

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday offered his condolences to all those who have lost their dear ones due to lack of treatment and said prayers and sympathies from every state of the country are with them.

    India saw 3,86,452 new coronavirus infections in a span of 24 hours, the highest single-day rise so far, pushing the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,87,62,976, while active cases crossed the 31 lakh-mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

    इलाज की कमी के चलते अपने प्रियजन खो रहे देशवासियों को मेरी संवेदनाएँ।इस त्रासदी में आप अकेले नहीं हैं- देश के हर राज्य से प्रार्थना व सहानुभूति आपके साथ है।साथ हैं तो आस है।
    — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 30, 2021

    The death toll increased to 2,08,330 with 3,498 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. “My condolences to fellow citizens losing their loved ones due to lack of treatment. You are not alone in this tragedy — prayers and sympathies are with you from every state of the country. There is hope if we are together,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

  • India records new daily high of 3,86,452 fresh COVID-19 cases

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India saw 3,86,452 new coronavirus infections in a span of 24 hours, the highest single-day rise so far, pushing the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,87,62,976, while active cases crossed the 31-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

    The death toll increased to 2,08,330 with 3,498 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. Registering a steady increase, the active cases have increased to 31,70,228 comprising 16.90 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further dropped to 81.99 per cent.

    The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1, 53,84,418. The case fatality rate stands 1.11 per cent, the data stated. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

    It went past  60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on  November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of 1.50 crore on April 19.

    According to the ICMR, 28,63,92,086 samples have been tested up to April 29 with 19,20,107 samples being tested on  Thursday.

  • Mumbai stable but Maharashtra’s COVID-19 situation looks grim

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI: Mumbai seems to have turned the corner, with steady oxygen supply and better recovery rate giving a breathing space to its hard pressed healthcare system. As on Thursday, the city had 8,322 beds available at various hospitals.

    However, the state is still not out of the woods with its two other major cities – Nagpur and Pune – reeling under case burden.

    As per the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation data, the recovery rate in Mumbai is now 87 per cent while the doubling rate has jumped to 74 days as against 48 days a few days ago. All these are markers of a healthy trend.

    ALSO READ| Maharashtra may see third COVID wave in July-August, Uddhav tells officials to prepare

    According to the BMC data dated April 25, out of a total of 29,903 beds in hospitals, 21,581 beds are occupied. However, the picture across the state is still grim. The worst affected are Nagpur and Pune, with positivity rates of 11.19 and 15.19 per cent respectively. 

    It is this high positivity rate that has prompted the government to extend the lockdown till May 15, with the existing restrictions continuing. The decision follows a persistent spike in active cases in the range of 60,000-65,000 per day, with the mortality rate rising to 21.42 per cent in April.

    Pradeep Awate, joint director of health, said that Maharashtra is in the early stages of flattening the COVID-19 curve. “The lockdown should be continued for a few more days. We have to ease the burden off the hospitals. From the first or second week of May, we may see a significant drop in positive cases,” he said.

    ALSO READ| Maharashtra extends lockdown till May 15 as state reports 66,159 fresh COVID cases

    Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Congress on Thursday said it will donate Rs 2 crore to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to contribute towards the free COVID-19 vaccination drive for people in the age group of 18 to 44.

    Speaking to reporters here, state Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat said he will donate a year’s salary, while other Congress MLAs will contribute a month’s salary.

  • COVID-19: Factory turns oxygen plant in Kota entrepreneur’s bid to help

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR: Bold individual efforts have stood in good stead for oxygenstarved Rajasthan. An entrepreneur in the academic coaching city of Kota has found a unique way to tackle the crisis. He has got his factory converted into an oxygen plant in a matter of days with the help of experts from Delhi.

    The plant now produces 150 cylinders of medical oxygen every day. Rajesh Aggarwal’s Akash plant in Bhimpura near Rampur Industrial Area in Kota earlier produced all kinds of gas materials and supplied them in the local market.

    But in this hour of crisis, he has suspended the production and is focusing only on producing oxygen for desperate COVID patients. The young entrepreneur says he was deeply moved by the growing desperation for medical oxygen. “I have let go of my business interest for some time for public service,” he says.

    Aggarwal has handed over the oxygen cylinders to the Kota district administration, with whom he wants to cooperate in order to reduce the oxygen crisis in the coaching city.

    The Kota administration lifts all the 150 cylinders produced at Aggarwal’s plant and distributes them to local hospitals which need them. “In this difficult time, we have stopped production of all other gas materials at our unit and turned it purely into an oxygen producing plant. We hope to soon start producing 200 cylinders a day. We hope our efforts will help a lot of people,” says Aggarwal.

    Kapil Sharma is a member of the expert team from Delhi. “It takes at least three months to set up such a plant. We worked round the clock to get it ready in two weeks. We are now working to raise the production capacity. We are also getting orders from other regions of the country,” said Sharma.

    Call to come forward

    Rajesh Aggarwal has urged members of the business community to come forward and help. “We need to pitch in as our duty to humanity,” he says.

  • Madhya Pradesh loses 42 cops to COVID-19 in April 2021

    By Express News Service
    BHOPAL: Of the 44 Madhya Pradesh police personnel who lost their lives to COVID-19 this year, 42 died in April alone. The month has seen a dramatic rise in the number of COVID cases in the state. About 30 of the 42 who died this month had received at least one dose of a vaccine.  

    Most of the deaths have occurred in the 50-60 age-group. Some of those who died are between 40 and 49 years of age. An assistant sub-inspector aged 38 was the youngest among the 42 cops who died this month.  Compared to the last year, the current year has seen a steep rise in COVID-19 deaths among police personnel. If 35 cops died of the infection between March and December 2020, 44 have died so far this year. In fact, more cops have died of COVID this month than all of last year. This is despite the fact that about 90 per cent of the state’s police force has been vaccinated against the deadly infection. 

    According to Madhya Pradesh DGP Vivek Johri, who spoke to The New Indian Express, most of the cops who have died had either obtained the first dose or both the doses of the COVID vaccines. “Most of those who died had co-morbidities like blood pressure, heart ailments and diabetes,” the DGP said.

  • COVID-19: Sharp rise in deaths among Bihar’s journalists, teachers and bureaucrats

    Express News Service
    PATNA: April has seen a dramatic rise in the number of COVID deaths among Bihar’s police personnel, doctors, teachers, professors, bureaucrats, journalists, and public employees. 

    According to official sources, as many as 13 police personnel, 75 school teachers and professors, 14 doctors, 3 journalists, and half a dozen officers of both the Indian Administrative Services and the Bihar Administrative Services (BAS) have lost their lives to the deadly virus.

    More than 202 police personnel have tested positive this month. What’s concerning is that about 90% of them were administered both doses of the COVID vaccine. Around 600 healthcare professionals, including doctors and paramedic staff, have tested positive. Fourteen of them have died, and almost all of them had taken the second dose of the vaccine.

    Many senior IAS officers Vijay Ranjan (Director of Panchayat Raj), Ravi Shanker Chaudhary  (Additional secretary in health department ) and Pankaj Kumar Singh-(Director of Industries Department) were among those who died. More civil servants have tested positive and are under quarantine

    As per the data, 60 teachers and 15 professors have died. In the Nalanda district, the District Education Officer (DEO) and 15 teachers died in the last two weeks. Alarmed over the deaths, the Nalanda teachers union has written a letter to the Human Rights Commission seeking its intervention to get the schools closed.