News Analysis India

Tag: Pandemic

  • Pandemic led to ‘increased’ human trafficking: UN report

    Express News Service
    BENGALURU: The Covid-19 pandemic has not only proved to be a health and economic disaster globally, it has also resulted in increased trafficking in persons and exacerbated existing “disadvantages, poverty and vulnerabilities,” stated a just-released study by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).The report – ‘The Effects of the Pandemic on Trafficking in Persons and Responses to the Challenges – A Global Study of Emerging Evidence’ — while illustrating the devastating impact of the pandemic on vulnerable populations, including migrant workers, women and children, stated that traffickers, taking advantage of the global crisis, capitalised on peoples’ loss of income and increased amount of time both adults and children were spending online.

    According to UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly, the pandemic has “increased vulnerabilities to trafficking in persons, while making trafficking even harder to detect and leaving victims struggling to obtain help and access to justice.” Traffickers “preyed on vulnerabilities and often lured their victims with fake promises of employment,” explained Ilias Chatzis, chief of UNODC’s Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, which developed the study.

    “37% of stakeholder survey respondents reported that the recruitment of victims has moved online during the pandemic,” it stated.

    Women and girls have been “recruited, often locally or online, for sexual exploitation, especially in private apartments. Children have been particularly affected – out of school and needing to support parents who have lost their livelihoods. Children have been increasingly targeted by traffickers at the local level and online.

    They have been trafficked for sexual purposes, forced marriage, forced begging and for forced criminality. There is clear evidence of increased demand for child sexual exploitation materials (CSEM), which has exacerbated the exploitation of children around the world,” are some of the disturbing findings of the report.

    Vulnerable persons who, due to their worsened economic situation, were “recruited for labour or sexual exploitation in their local area. Women, children and migrants have been identified by survey and interviewed participants as particularly vulnerable to recruitment and exploitation during the Covid-19 pandemic,” the study stated. UNODC stated that the report is an “important new resource for policy-makers and criminal justice practitioners… to investigate and prosecute human trafficking in times of crisis”. 

  • Handicraft exports may record 10-15 per cent growth in 2021-22: EPCH

    EPCH Chairman Raj Kumar Malhotra, however, said that the growth may get impacted in the case of the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Current average monthly production capacity of Covishield 11 crore doses, Covaxin 2.5 crore doses: Government

    The procurement of COVID-19 vaccines by the Government of India, state governments and private hospitals is 36.01 crore doses of Covishield and 5.45 crore doses of Covaxin.

  • Vaccine production rising; India may become first country to have a DNA-based jab: Mandaviya

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said several Indian companies are increasing their production of COVID-19 vaccines and that the country may become the first in the world to develop a DNA-based vaccine.

    Replying to a short duration discussion on COVID-19 management in Rajya Sabha, the minister said technology transfer to several companies has started and they will begin production in the coming days to reduce vaccine shortage in the country.

    “Cadila has completed third phase trial of its DNA vaccine and has applied for emergency use authorisation before DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India). Our expert team is looking into it. When this will come in the market, India will be the only country where scientists have developed a DNA vaccine,” Mandaviya said in Rajya Sabha.

    He said that the country has started getting 11-12 crore doses of Serum Institute’s Covishield vaccine per month and Bharat Biotech will supply 3.5 crore doses of its Covid vaccine in August. He said that the states are given vaccine availability projections 15 days in advance and that it’s their responsibility to plan the inoculation drive accordingly.

    The minister said that Biological E is conducting third phase of trial of its vaccine and it is expected to come in the market by September-October with 7.5 crore doses.

    “Zydus Cadila and Bharat Biotech have started trials on children. I expect their trials to be successful. We need to trust our scientists. I trust my scientists and indigenous companies,” Mandaviya said.

    On the allegation of suppressing Covid deaths, the minister said that the registration of Covid deaths is done by states and that the central government has never asked any state to record less deaths or cases.

    It is not appropriate to say that the Covid third wave will hit children more, the minister stressed citing experience of the previous waves.

    Mandaviya told the House that 316 oxygen plants out of the total 1,573 planned have been commissioned and the rest will start operations by August-end.

    Earlier, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge said that the government’s COVID-19 death toll figure of 4-5 lakh is “false” and conservative and claimed the average number of deaths cannot be less than 52.4 lakh so far in the country.

  • Once India starts reopening schools, it will be wise to begin with primary section: ICMR chief

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Once India starts reopening schools, it will be wise to being with the primary section as children have a lower number of ace receptors to which virus attaches, making them much better at handling viral infections than adults, said ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava on Tuesday.

    He, however, stressed that for such a step to be considered, it must be ensured that school teachers and other support staff members are vaccinated.

    Addressing a press conference, he said the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR’s) latest national serosurvey has found that the seroprevalence among those aged six to nine was 57.2 per cent which is very similar to adults.

    Asked about opening schools since COVID-19 cases have declined in many districts, Bhargava said children can handle viral infection much better than adults and it has also been established that they have a lower number of ace receptors to which virus attaches.

    “In some countries, particularly the Scandinavian ones, they (authorities) did not shut down their primary schools during the first, second or third wave whatever (Covid) waves they had, their primary schools were always open.

    “So, once India starts considering opening schools, it will be wise to begin with the primary schools. Also, we have to ensure that all support staff members, be it school bus drivers or teachers, are vaccinated,” Bhargava said.

  • Kharge says govt’s COVID death toll figures ‘false’ and conservative as RS discusses pandemic response

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge said on Tuesday that the government’s COVID-19 death toll figure of 4-5 lakh is “false” and conservative and claimed the average number of deaths cannot be less than 52.4 lakh so far in the country.

    Participating in a short duration discussion on COVID-19 management in the Upper House, the Congress leader alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “failed” in tackling the pandemic and made former health minister Harsh Vardhan a scapegoat for the “mismanagement” of the health crisis.

    The Congress is ready to cooperate with the government in a crisis of this nature and save the people from suffering, even as the PM has not yet responded to three letters written by the party with various suggestions to address the pandemic, he added.

    The short duration discussion was on the management of COVID-19, implementation of vaccination policy and challenges of the likely third wave. The time allocated for the debate was four hours.

    “The government is releasing fake figures (of COVID-19 death toll) and it is far away from the truth,” Kharge alleged in the Upper House. There are about 6,38,565 lakh villages in the country.

    Even if there were five COVID-19 deaths in a village, the total death toll would have been 31,91,825, he said.

    There are 7,935 urban cities, even if you take 10 deaths in each city, the toll would have been more than 7,93,500. Similarly, there would have been an estimated 3,60,000 deaths in 19 metros, he said.

    “On an average, it comes to 52.43 lakh deaths. It cannot be less than this. Still, they (government) say it is only 4-5 lakh. They keep saying this,” Kharge added.

    As Kharge’s remarks drew angry protests from the treasury benches, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma asked them to listen patiently and allow the debate to take place in the right manner.

    “A serious topic is being discussed. The ruling party should listen patiently. When you speak, we will also listen patiently. This is not the right way of debating,” Sharma said.

    Leader of the House and Union Minister Piyush Goyal urged members not to engage in criticising each other, and instead raise the level of the debate to find solutions for addressing the likely third COVID-19 wave.

    Continuing the debate, Kharge said while the death toll was definitely higher than the government’s estimate, the scenes of bodies thrown in river Ganga depict the kind of suffering people went through during the pandemic.

    “The government failed to tackle the pandemic,” the LoP said, pointing out that it imposed a sudden lockdown in 2020 that affected migrants, impacted the economy and “created unemployment and the problem of inflation.

    There was a shortage of beds, ventilators and oxygen but still the government is saying it has successfully managed the situation, he said on the second wave.

    While other countries were preparing for tackling the second wave, the Modi government was holding elections violating its own COVID-19 protocols, he said.

    Kharge said the PM rather than taking the responsibility for mismanagement made the former Health Minister “a scapegoat for the mismanagement” of the COVID-19.

    “On every issue, the PM does not take responsibility. He makes others a scapegoat,” he alleged, adding that the prime minister asked the people to follow campaigns like lighting ‘diyas’, but in return, he “cheated” them.

    The Congress wrote three letters to the prime minister with various suggestions to tackle the pandemic but no reply came from him, he added.

    Kharge, however, said in times of crisis of this nature, the Congress will cooperate with the government and save the lives of the people.

    Earlier before his speech, Kharge said he felt “hurt and insulted” because his right to debate was snatched away when few members took the entire House for ransom, a reference to a protest by YSR Congress members.

    “You should have created a ground for that. But few people took the entire house for ransom with the same issues which were there three years back. But the government could have solved that. Anyway, I feel hurt and it should not happen in the future to other members,” he said.

    YSR Congress members were protesting demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh and had forced a 15-minute adjournment when the short duration discussion was to be taken up at 1300 hours. Since the House was not in order, Kharge could not initiate the debate.

    But the Chair called other members to speak and Swapandas Gupta (nominated) shared his views on the pandemic.

    India recorded 30,093 new coronavirus infections in a day, the lowest in 125 days, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,11,74,322, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

    The death toll climbed to 4,14,482 with 374 more fatalities in a day, the lowest in 111 days, while the active cases have declined to 4,06,130, the lowest in 117 days.

  • ADB cuts India’s FY22 economic growth forecast to 10 per cent; inflation seen rising marginally to 5.5 per cent

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has downgraded India’s economic growth forecast for the current financial year to 10 per cent on Tuesday, from 11 per cent projected earlier this year, mainly on account of the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

    India’s GDP growth recovered to 1.6 per cent in the last quarter of fiscal year ended March 2021, narrowing contraction in the whole fiscal year from 8 per cent estimated in April to a revised 7.3 per cent, the multilateral funding agency said in the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) Supplement.

    “Then a second wave of the pandemic induced many state governments to impose strict containment measures. New COVID-19 cases daily peaked at more than 4,00,000 in early May, then fell to a little over 40,000 in early July.

    “Early indicators show economic activity resuming quickly after containment measures eased. The growth projection for FY2021 (ending March 2022), downgraded from 11 per cent in ADO 2021 to 10 per cent, reflects large base effects,” it said.

    The ADO was released in April. Meanwhile, the inflation forecast for Asia and the Pacific this year has been raised to 2.4 per cent, from 2.3 per cent in April, reflecting rising oil and commodity prices.

    The projection for 2022 remains at 2.7 per cent, it added. For South Asia, the inflation forecast has been raised for 2021 to 5.8 per cent from 5.5 per cent, mainly reflecting a higher forecast for India.

    However, it has been kept unchanged at 5.1 per cent for 2022. Indian consumer price inflation rose to 6.3 per cent year-on-year in May as both food and fuel inflation outpaced expectations.

    “This Supplement raises the inflation forecast for India in FY2021 (fiscal ending March 2022) by 0.3 percentage points to 5.5 per cent while keeping the forecast for FY2022 at 4.8 per cent,” ADB said.

    Meanwhile, growth projection for FY2022 (ending in March 2023), by which time much of India’s population is expected to be vaccinated, is upgraded from 7 per cent to 7.5 per cent as economic activity normalises, said the Manila-headquartered funding agency.

    With regard to China, the ADB supplement said the expansion in the People’s Republic of China is still projected at 8.1 per cent in 2021, and 5.5 per cent in 2022, as favorable domestic and external trends align with April forecasts.

    On South Asia, ADB said the economic outlook for the subregion is dampened by new waves of COVID-19 hitting the subregion from March to June 2021.

    The adverse economic impact of these new waves is expected to be limited, with businesses and consumers better able to adapt to the pandemic and containment measures now than they were a year ago, it said.

    “The GDP growth forecast for the subregion in 2021 is downgraded from 9.5 per cent in ADO 2021, to 8.9 per cent but upgraded for 2022, from 6.6 per cent to 7 per cent,” ADB said in the supplement. The COVID-19 pandemic remains the biggest risk to the outlook, as outbreaks continue in many economies.

    Daily confirmed cases in the region peaked at about 4,34,000 in mid-May. They narrowed to about 1,09,000 at the end of June, concentrated mainly in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific, ADB said.

    Meanwhile, the vaccine rollout in the region is gaining pace, with 41.6 doses administered per 100 people by the end of June — above the global average of 39.2, but below rates of 97.6 in the United States and 81.8 in the European Union.

    Lowering the growth projections for South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific for 2021, ADB said : “renewed outbreaks are met with containment measures and restrictions, hampering economic activity”.

    “Asia and the Pacific’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, although the path remains precarious amid renewed outbreaks, new virus variants, and an uneven vaccine rollout,” said ADB Chief Economist Yasuyuki Sawada.

    “On top of containment and vaccination measures, phased and strategic rejuvenation of economic activities — for instance, trade, manufacturing, and tourism — will be key to ensure that the recovery is green, inclusive, and resilient,” Sawada said.

    ADB said even as the pandemic persists, developing Asia is forecast to sustain its strong rebound broadly in line with the April forecasts of the ADO.

    Recovery is under way in developing Asia, but with the growth projection for this year revised down slightly from 7.3 per cent in the Asian Development Outlook 2021 in April, to 7.2 per cent following renewed virus outbreaks in some economies.

    The projection (developing Asia) for 2022 is upgraded from 5.3 per cent to 5.4 per cent, it added. ”Developing Asia” refers to a group of over 40 countries that are members of the ADB.

  • Covid: Rajasthan health minister says 1st two waves ‘controlled’, urges caution to prevent a 3rd

    By PTI
    JAIPUR: Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma Tuesday said the state has managed to “control” the first and the second waves of coronavirus, but urged people to strictly follow health guidelines to prevent a third wave of the pandemic.

    He was speaking after the foundation-laying ceremony for the Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) near Bairwa Basti of Kishanpole Assembly constituency under the National Urban Health Mission.

    “We have controlled the first and the second waves of coronavirus in the state but still the threat of coronavirus is not over. There is fear of a third wave, so I call upon the people to strictly follow the coronavirus protocol, including wearing of masks while leaving the house, washing hands frequently and avoiding crowded places,” Sharma said in a statement.

    He said the UPHC will be built at a cost of Rs 75 lakh within six months. The health minister said that with the construction of the UPHC, medical facilities including diagnosis, treatment, medicines, vaccination etc will be accessible to the nearby population, especially the people residing in the slums, free of cost.

  • Centre approves Rs 40,000 crore to deal with COVID-19 pandemic, ramp up health infrastructure

    By PTI
    NEW DELIH: The Centre has approved nearly Rs 40,000 crore for the prevention of COVID-19 and ramping up health infrastructure, in addition to funds allocated under the National Health Mission.

    This was informed by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai in Lok Sabha while replying to a written question of BJP members Dilip Saikia and Ramesh Chander Kaushik.

    Rai said as informed by the health ministry, the central government has been providing required technical and financial assistance to all states and Union Territories (UTs) for strengthening their healthcare system, including management of the COVID-19 public health challenge, from time to time, and the financial assistance to states and UTs is provided under the National Health Mission (NHM).

    During 2019-20, funds to the tune of Rs 1113.21 crore were released to states and UTs towards management of COVID -19, over and above their normal resource envelope under the NHM, he said.

    Further, the central government has approved the ‘India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package’ and Rs 15,000 crore was provided under it in April 2020 with an objective to prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19.

    The minister said under this package, during 2020-21, funds to the tune of Rs 8,257.88 crore were also released to states and UTs to aid management and control of COVID-19.

    In addition, the ‘India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package: Phase-II’ has also been approved by the government for an amount of Rs 23,123 crore — with Rs 15,000 crore as central share and Rs 8,123 crore as state share — for the period July 2021 to March 2022.

    It includes support to states and UTs for ramping up health infrastructure, including in rural, tribal and peri-urban areas closer to the community, providing support for procurement of drugs and diagnostics to enhance service delivery at district and sub-district levels for management of COVID-19 cases, including paediatric care.

    It also gives support for maintaining a buffer of drugs, IT Interventions such as implementation of hospital management information system and expanding access tele-consultations in all districts, and capacity building and training for all aspects of management of COVID-19.

  • Centre approves Rs 40,000 crore to deal with COVID-19 pandemic, to ramp up of health infrastructure

    By PTI
    NEW DELIH: The Centre has approved nearly Rs 40,000 crore for the prevention of COVID-19 and ramping up health infrastructure, in addition to funds allocated under the National Health Mission.

    This was informed by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai in Lok Sabha while replying to a written question of BJP members Dilip Saikia and Ramesh Chander Kaushik.

    Rai said as informed by the health ministry, the central government has been providing required technical and financial assistance to all states and Union Territories (UTs) for strengthening their healthcare system, including management of the COVID-19 public health challenge, from time to time, and the financial assistance to states and UTs is provided under the National Health Mission (NHM).

    During 2019-20, funds to the tune of Rs 1113.21 crore were released to states and UTs towards management of COVID -19, over and above their normal resource envelope under the NHM, he said.

    Further, the central government has approved the ‘India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package’ and Rs 15,000 crore was provided under it in April 2020 with an objective to prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19.

    The minister said under this package, during 2020-21, funds to the tune of Rs 8,257.88 crore were also released to states and UTs to aid management and control of COVID-19.

    In addition, the ‘India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package: Phase-II’ has also been approved by the government for an amount of Rs 23,123 crore — with Rs 15,000 crore as central share and Rs 8,123 crore as state share — for the period July 2021 to March 2022.

    It includes support to states and UTs for ramping up health infrastructure, including in rural, tribal and peri-urban areas closer to the community, providing support for procurement of drugs and diagnostics to enhance service delivery at district and sub-district levels for management of COVID-19 cases, including paediatric care.

    It also gives support for maintaining a buffer of drugs, IT Interventions such as implementation of hospital management information system and expanding access tele-consultations in all districts, and capacity building and training for all aspects of management of COVID-19.