News Analysis India

Tag: Uttar Pradesh

  • COVID inoculation: Uttar Pradesh begins vaccinating 18-44 age group in seven districts

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday started the first phase of vaccination for the 18-44 age group in seven districts that have more than 9,000 active COVID-19 cases with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launching the programme from Avantibai Hospital here.

    An Uttar Pradesh government spokesperson said Adityanath had sent his state aircraft to Hyderabad to get the batch of vaccines for the inoculation programme for people in the 18-plus category.

    The districts where the vaccination started on Saturday are Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Meerut and Bareilly.

    “From May 1, vaccination for people between 18-44 years will also start. In the first phase, which will be extended to other cities also, the government will start the vaccination in seven districts that have more than 9,000 active cases,” Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad had said on Friday.

    ALSO WATCH:

    The software made for this exercise will be tested in these districts before being used elsewhere, Prasad said.

    He, however, did not elaborate on the availability of vaccines in the state and the number of registered beneficiaries.

    ALSO READ | Gujarat: COVID vaccination for 18-45 age group begins in Ahmedabad, nine other districts

    The state government, which decided to vaccinate all those above 18 years, had on Thursday said it will float global tenders to purchase four to five crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

    “The state government has decided to float global tenders for carrying the vaccination drive effectively. Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech have been given orders of 50 lakh vaccine doses each. A global tender should also be floated to purchase four to five crore vaccine doses. This should be taken forward,” Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said.

    So far, over 1.23 crore vaccine doses have been administered to people in the state.

    It includes 1.01 crore people who have taken the first dose and over 22.33 lakh who have taken the second dose as well, Prasad had said.

  • Former Uttar Pradesh Minister Haji Riyaz Ahmad, IAS officer Deepak Trivedi die due to COVID-19

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Former Uttar Pradesh Minister Haji Riyaz Ahmad and senior IAS officer Deepak Trivedi died due to COVID-19 on Thursday, official sources said.

    Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ahmad (69) died at a hospital in Bareilly during treatment on Thursday morning, his son-in-law Arif said.

    He will be buried in his ancestral village Gauhar, he said.

    Ahmad, a five-time MLA from Pilibhit, was a minister in Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav governments.

    Senior bureaucrat and Revenue Board Chairman Deepak Trivedi (59) also succumbed to the virus during treatment at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) on Thursday morning.

    Trivedi, who was also the chairperson of Uttar Pradesh IAS Association, was admitted to the hospital about a fortnight ago.

    Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has condoled both the deaths.

    SP chief Akhilesh Yadav also condoled the demise of Haji Riyaz Ahmad, terming it a loss for the party.

  • Uttar Pradesh govt to float global tenders to buy 4-5 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday decided to float global tenders to purchase four to five crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

    The state has already announced free vaccination for people above 18 years of age.

    “The state government has decided to float global tenders for carrying the vaccination drive effectively. Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech have been given orders of 50 lakh vaccine doses each. A global tender should also be floated to purchase four to five crore vaccine doses. This should be taken forward,” Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was quoted as saying in a statement here.

    “Such an arrangement should be made that the vaccines are not wasted. Only those who are to be vaccinated should be allowed entry in vaccination centres. The vaccination of those above 45 years will continue,” he said.

  • MP HC takes cognizance of oxygen tanker stuck in UP, directs to ensure such incidents aren’t repeated

    By Express News Service
    BHOPAL: In the wake of an Oxygen tanker bound to Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh reportedly getting stuck in adjoining UP throughout the entire day, the Madhya Pradesh High Court directed the central and MP governments on Monday to ensure unhindered supply of the life-saving gas is ensured at all cost.

    A double-judge bench of MP High Court in Jabalpur, comprising Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq and Justice Atul Sreedharan reprimanded the central and MP government in the matter and directed that such incidents should be allowed to happen again in the future. The HC directed that an unhindered supply of oxygen should be maintained religiously.

    The matter was brought to the court’s notice by the state’s ex-advocate general Anand Mohan Mathur, while the double judge bench was hearing a bunch of petitions pertaining to the COVID-19 situation in the state. The HC subsequently posted the hearing on the bunch of petitions to April 28.

    Importantly, an oxygen tanker containing the liquid form of the life-saving gas was bound from Jharkhand’s Bokaro to MP’s Sagar district for supplying the oxygen to COVID-19 patients admitted at Sagar’s Bundelkhand Medical College and adjoining districts.

    However, the tanker got stuck once it entered Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. When in Fatehpur district of UP, it was allegedly diverted to Jhansi by local cops. Coming to know about it, senior officials of the MP government made a series of phone calls to their counterparts in UP, but it was after many hours that the additional chief secretary (ACS-Home) of UP finally cleared the tanker to travel to UP.

    The tanker which in normal course should have reached Sagar by Sunday evening, however, travelled from Jhansi (UP) to Sagar (MP) on Monday morning, causing major problems to COVID-19 patients in Sagar. 

    The HC, while hearing the bunch of petitions on COVID-19 situation in MP, also directed the state government to take stringent action against those indulging in hoarding and black-marketing of the anti-viral Remdesivir injections and other necessary medicines and equipment.

    The HC also directed the state government to submit on next hearing (April 28) a progress report on implementation of a set of instructions issued by the court during the previous hearing of the bunch of petitions.

    Meanwhile, the state reported 12,686 cases of COVID-19 infections and 88 deaths during the last 24 hours, taking the total active cases in the state to 92,534. The new cases which were reported at 23% positivity rate were less than previous day’s 13,601 cases. As many as 11,612 patients also recovered from the viral infection over the last 24 hours, which was more than 11,324 recoveries reported on the previous day.

  • Voting for third phase of Uttar Pradesh Panchayat election begins

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Voting for the third phase of the panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh began on Monday with more than 2.72 lakh candidates in the fray in over 2.14 lakh seats across 20 districts of the state.

    Polling is underway in Shamli, Meerut, Moradabad, Pilibhit, Kasganj, Firozabad, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Fatehpur, Unnao, Amethi, Barabanki, Balrampur, Siddharthanagar, Deoria, Chandauli, Mirzapur and Ballia.

    “Voting started at 7 am on a peaceful note. It will continue till 6 pm,” a State Election Commission (SEC) official said here.

    For 746 posts of zila panchayat members 10,416 candidates are in the fray while 88,584 people are contesting for 18,530 posts of Kshetra Panchayat members.

    As many as 1,16,162 candidates are contesting for 14,379 village panchayats and 57,649 candidates for 1,80,473 village panchayat wards.

    In both the first and second phase of the elections, 71 per cent votes were polled.

    The voting of the fourth phase will be held on April 29 and counting will be held on May 2.

    The Allahabad High Court had asked the Uttar Pradesh government to conclude the panchayat election process by May 25.

  • Third phase of Uttar Pradesh panchayat polls on Monday

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Voting for the third phase of the panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held on Monday with more than 3.52 lakh candidates in the fray in over 2.14 lakh seats across 20 districts of the state.

    According to the State Election Commission (SEC), voting will be held from 7 am to 6 pm in Shamli, Meerut, Moradabad, Pilibhit, Kasganj, Firozabad, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Fatehpur, Unnao, Amethi, Barabanki, Balrampur, Siddharthanagar, Deoria, Chandauli, Mirzapur and Ballia.

    For the posts of 746 members of zila panchayats, there are 10,627 candidates in the fray.

    For the 18,530 posts of members of kshetra panchayats, there are 89,188 candidates.

    As many as 1,177,89 candidates are in the poll arena for 14,397 village panchayats.

    For 1,80,473 village panchayat wards, there are 1,34,510 candidates contesting the polls.

    The candidates will contest on “free symbols” given by the State Election Commission (SEC).

    In the first phase of the polls, which was held on April 15, an average polling percentage of 71 was recorded.

    The second phase of polls held on April 19 also saw over 71 per cent of polling.

    The 2015 panchayat polls had registered a polling percentage of 72.11, according to the SEC.

    In view of the coronavirus situation, the SEC had said last month said that not more than five people would be allowed to accompany a candidate during the door-to-door campaigning for the panchayat elections.

    Additional Election Commissioner Ved Prakash Verma said three-member teams were formed under the additional district magistrates to ensure that directives issued by the SEC were being followed.

    At the district level, the chief medical officers have been made nodal officers and stress has been laid on COVID-19 prevention.

    Voters will mandatorily have to wear masks and maintain social distancing at polling booths.

    Instructions have also been issued to make circles maintaining a distance of six feet between voters standing in the queue.

    Verma said COVID-19 norms would also be followed during the counting of votes and personal protective equipment (PPE) kits would be arranged according to requirements.

    The Allahabad High Court had asked the Uttar Pradesh government to conclude the panchayat election process by May 25.

  • Oxygen Express train carrying three tankers of liquid medical oxygen reaches Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: An Oxygen Express train carrying three tankers of liquid medical oxygen arrived in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday morning as the state battles a surge in coronavirus cases.

    In view of the high demand for oxygen in the country following a record spike in coronavirus cases, the railways has decided to run ‘Oxygen Express’ trains to transport liquid medical oxygen and oxygen cylinders across the country.

    Roll-on-roll-off trucks are being transported on flat wagons by the trains for quick supply of medical oxygen.

    “Two trucks of medical oxygen arrived in Lucknow around 6.30 am while one truck was offloaded in Varanasi. Each truck has a capacity of containing 15,000 litres of medical oxygen,” Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi told PTI.

    He said both the trucks may be used for Lucknow and a decision will be taken soon.

    The train arrived from Bokaro in Jharkhand.

    “The arrival of two trucks of medical oxygen will meet around half the demand of Lucknow for Saturday. The state capital will now be in a better position,” Awasthi said.

    Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh told PTI, “The arrival of Oxygen Express will significantly ease the current situation in the state.”

    The railways on Wednesday had said it will run its second Oxygen Express to Uttar Pradesh after a request was received from the state government.

  • UP readies quarantine centres as migrant workers pour in

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: In the wake of the influx of migrant workers to Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath government has directed all district magistrates to open quarantine centres and kitchens.

    A large number of migrant labourers belonging to eastern UP have already arrived in their home towns without being quarantined and testing for Covid-19.All trains coming from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and other states are overloaded with workers.

    The CM has issued directives to DMs of all 75 districts to open quarantine centres to house migrant labourers. Like May 2020, kitchens will be set up at these quarantine centres to provide food free of cost to migrant labourers and their families.

    Directives have also been issued to conduct RT-PCR tests on them and allow only those to travel for their final destinations after their report is negative. Those who test positive will be quarantined for 14 days and those without any symptom will be quarantined for a week at the quarantine centres.

    The CM has also directed officials concerned to open counters for their registration and skill mapping so that they are provided job opportunities in their hometowns and villages. Orders have also been passed to make available ration kits for them.

    ALSO READ | Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, his cabinet colleagues and SP chief Akhilesh test positive for COVID

    It may be recalled that a recent study by Harvard University lauded the efforts of the Yogi Adityanath government in dealing with the migrant labourers’ crisis in May 2020.

    As per the government sources, Havard university had lauded the efforts of the UP government in making available timely and free transportation facilities, ration kits and setting up medical centres for the migrants.

    UP had received over 35 lakh migrants from across the country as they covered thousands of miles to reach home after losing jobs due to the announcement of lockdown in March 2020.

    The migrants kept coming along with their luggage and baggage much after the lockdown and even during the unlocking period.

    The model of the Yogi government was appreciated in developing a mechanism for the sustenance of affected families, employment generation by skill mapping, and prevention from the pandemic.

  • Uttar Pradesh government hiding coronavirus numbers, alleges Priyanka

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of hiding coronavirus numbers and said had they been cautious from day one, people would not have witnessed such times.

    Priyanka said this speaking to state party leaders during a virtual meeting. “The situation in Uttar Pradesh is on the verge of being the most explosive while the state government is constantly hiding the data. Had the government been cautious since the first day of the coronavirus pandemic, people would not have seen such days. The government has consistently hidden the number of infections and deaths,” she alleged.

    “There is no system and plan of the government to deal with coronavirus and control it,” she said, accusing the state government of having a “failed, insensitive and irresponsible system” amid the infection spread.

    She said from a letter of state minister Brijesh Pathak, it is clear that testing is not being done in hospitals.

    Between April 5 and 11, while coronavirus cases increased by 70 per cent in the country, in Uttar Pradesh, infections have risen by 281 per cent, she said.

    “Of 24 crore population of the state, not even 1 crore people have been vaccinated,” she added. The Congress leader claimed that the situation is such that queues of bodies can be seen in Lucknow and there is a shortage of wood at crematoriums for the last rites.

    “The common man of the state is helpless to perform the last rites of his family in a dignified manner. People are cremating their loved ones in crematoriums and cemeteries from morning till late night,” she said.

    Priyanka said her party stands with people of the state and committed to support them in every way.

    The Congress leader demanded proper oxygen arrangements in state hospitals and said test reports should be provided within 24 hours.

    Besides, she also demanded increasing RT-PCR testing, providing beds for treatment, a package of financial assistance from the government for poor victims, complete arrangements for the last rites of dead and to speed up the vaccination campaign.

  • UP CM orders procurement of 25,000 Remdesivir injections from Ahmedabad

    By ANI
    LUCKNOW: In view of the shortage of Remdesivir in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday directed the state health department to acquire 25,000 injections of Remdesivir from Gujarat’s Ahmedabad on an urgent basis.

    According to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), the officers of the Health Department left for Ahmedabad to get 25000 Remedisver injections at 10.40 am today.

    Remdesivir is considered a key anti-viral drug in the fight against COVID-19.

    Earlier, the Centre on Sunday prohibited exports of injection Remdesivir and Remdesivir Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) till the COVID-19 situation in the country improves.

    Meanwhile, the UP CM on Tuesday went into self-isolation after coming into contact with some officials who tested positive for COVID-19.

    “A few officials in my office have contracted COVID-19. I had come into their contact. That is why, as a precautionary measure, I am self-isolating myself and will work virtually,” the UP CM tweeted in Hindi.

    Uttar Pradesh reported 18,021 new COVID-19 cases and 85 deaths on Tuesday.