The Supreme Court has formed a 12-member National Task Force to streamline oxygen allocation and ensure availability of essential drugs and medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic. The task force, which takes over the work of the Union Health Ministry and other ministries, consists of 10 renowned doctors. It will allocate oxygen supplies to states, review availability of medicines and suggest measures to improve preparedness for future health emergencies.

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In a clear disapproval of the
way the Centre handled the
Covid-19 situation, specially
the oxygen shortage crisis in
the country’s hospitals, the
Supreme Court on Saturday
formed a 12-members National
Task Force (NTF) to streamline
oxygen allocation to different
States, review and suggest mea-
sures to ensure availability of
essential drugs and medicines,
and adopt remedial measures
to ensure preparedness for
future emergencies.
The NTF which literally
took over the existing work of
Union Health Ministry and
other Ministries like Home
Ministry is comprosed of 10
reputed doctors of the country.
The Union Health Secretary
will act as Secretary and the
Cabinet Secretary or an officer
in the rank of Additional
Secretary or above will act as
convener of the NTF.
As per the order passed by
Justices DY Chandrachud and
MR Shah, the 10 members in
the NTF are Dr Bhabatosh
Biswas, former Vice
Chancellor, West Bengal
University of Health Sciences,
Kolkata; Dr Devender Singh
Rana, chairperson, Board of
Management, Sir Ganga Ram
Hospital, Delhi; Dr Devi
Prasad Shetty, chairperson and
Executive Director, Narayana
Healthcare, Bengaluru; Dr
Gagandeep Kang, Professor,
Christian Medical College,
Vellore, Tamil Nadu; Dr JV
Peter, Director, Christian
Medical College, Vellore,
Tamil Nadu; Dr Naresh
Trehan, Chairperson and
Managing Director, Medanta
Hospital and Heart Institute,
Gurugram; Dr Rahul Pandit,
Director, Critical Care
Medicine and ICU, Fortis
Hospital, Mulund (Mumbai,
Kalyan); Dr Saumitra Rawat,
Chairman Head,
Department of Surgical
Gastroenterology and Liver
Transplant, Sir Ganga Ram
Hospital, Delhi; Dr Shiv
Kumar Sarin, Senior Professor
and Head of Department of
Hepatology, Director, ILBS,
Delhi; Dr Zarir F Udwadia,
Consultant Chest Physician,
Hinduja Hospital, Breach
Candy Hospital and Parsee
General Hospital, Mumbai.
?=BQ =4F34;78
In view of the huge delay in
delivery of RT-PCR test
reports, the Union Health
Ministry on Saturday did away
with the necessity of a positive
Covid-19 test report for admis-
sion to a health facility.
Also, no patient will be
refused services on any
account, including oxygen and
essential drugs, even if s/he
belongs to a different city, the
Ministry said in its revised
national policy for admission
of Covid patients to various
dedicated health facilities, both
public and private.
The move aims to ensure
the early treatment of the sus-
pected Covid patients, but it
could put further pressure on
the already strained health
facilities leaving the patients at
the receiving end.
For infections are surging
each passing day as India reels
under the deadly second Covid
wave, and there has been
reports from across the coun-
try about patients with dipping
oxygen levels running around
from one hospital to another,
their relatives pleading with
hospital authorities to admit
them, while hospitals have
been making SOS calls to the
Government for oxygen sup-
ply.
0A270=09HC8Q =4F34;78
Of the total 37,23,446
patients suffering from
Covid-19 across India, at least
9,02,291 patients are on oxy-
gen support while 1,70,841 are
on ventilators. The number of
patients in ICU beds is
4,88,861.
Percentage
wise this trans-
lates to 1.34 per
cent of the
active case-
load in the
CU, 0.39 per
cent of them
on ventilators
while 3.70 per cent of them are
on oxygen support.
However, these are just the
reported cases that have reached
the Government’s health set-up
and were shared by Union
Health Minister Dr Harsh
Vardhan at the 25th Group of
Ministers (GoM) meeting held
on Friday. In actuality the data
may be on the higher
side as several people
have died for want of
oxygen support
and ventilators as
health infrastruc-
ture is crumbling
across the coun-
try.
B74:70AB8=67Q =4F34;78
Navneet Kalra, the high-
profile restaurateur who is
known for living a life of glitz
and glamour and is linked with
cricket stars and Bollywood
celebrities and bookies may
have run out of luck this time
around after the Delhi Police
recovered over 500 oxygen
concentrators from his
famous Khan Chacha restau-
rant, Town Hall restaurant
and Khullar farms in
Chhattarpur.
Kalra’s social media
accounts are proof of his good
connections with cricket stars,
top bureaucrats, politicians,
and Bollywood celebrities.
A Page 3 personality,
Kalra has been in the news
several times for wrong rea-
sons, including his alleged
links with cricket bookies.
Earlier, Javed and Saleem —
sons of Khan Chacha’s former
owner Haji Banda Hasan —
had alleged that Kalra had
forged documents and trans-
ferred the ownership of the
restaurant in his name.
Khan Chacha, which has
now become a chain, was first
started by Haji Banda Hasan,
popularly known as Khan
Chacha in the bylanes of Khan
Market in 1972. As Haji Banda
Hasan’s sons Javed and Saleem
expanded the business.
?A44C0BA8E0BC0E0Q
;D2:=F
In July, last year the Congress
indicated that its high-profile
general secretary Priyanka
Gandhi will shift her base to
Lucknow after she was asked to
vacate a Government house in
Delhi. Uttar Pradesh Congress
even claimed that she will
shift to Sheila Kaul’s house in
Lucknow and the same was
renovated. But, she never
came.
In fact, senior Congress
leaders say Priyanka last came
to Lucknow in December 2019.
In between, she visited UP four
times, once in February last
year to meet activists injured in
the anti-Citizenship
Amendment Act protests in
Azamgarh and then in October
to meet the family of the Dalit
woman gangraped and mur-
dered in Hathras.
She attended Kisan
Panchayats in Western UP in
wake of recent farmers’ laws
and a training camp in Rae
Bareli in January 2020.
The rest of the time, she
remained in Delhi and con-
trolled UP through twitter.
Her insouciant approach and
a vertical division between the
“new and old” has pushed this
oldest political outfit into vir-
tual non-existence in UP in the
vote bank politics — this
despite Congress being the
front runner in staging protests
against the State Government.
The poor performance of
the Congress in recent pan-
chayat elections in Uttar
Pradesh is testimony to the
eroding popularity of Priyanka
in particular and Congress in
general. After the party per-
formed badly in both the by-
polls in October 2019 and in
November 2020, the writing
was clear on the walls that the
electorate had rejected
Priyanka’s tweeter politics from
New Delhi.
Ironically, since taking the
charge from her brother Rahul
Gandhi, who first led the party
to the new low of winning just
7 seats in 2017 Assembly elec-
tions and later losing his own
Amethi Parliament seat in
2019 polls, Priyanka attended
a three-day training camp of
newly-elected district and city
presidents held in Rae Bareli in
January 2020.
This kindled a ray of hope
that she is building the party.
But the hopes dashed as in one
year no attempt was made to
hold such a meeting.
?=BQ =4F34;78
In a major boost to fight the
corona pandemic, the
Defence Research and
Development Organisation
(DRDO) has developed an
anti-Covid oral drug for emer-
gency use. The Drugs
Controller General of India
(DCGI) has approved the med-
icine which has to be taken
after dissolving it in water.
Named 2-deoxy-D-glucose
(2-DG), the drug was devel-
oped by the Institute of Nuclear
Medicine and Allied Sciences
(INMAS), a laboratory of the
DRDO in collaboration with
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL),
Hyderabad, the Defence
Ministry said here on Saturday.
“The drug is expected to
save precious lives due to the
mechanism of operation of the
drug in infected cells. This
also reduces the hospital stay of
Covid-19 patients,” the
Ministry said.
Clinical trial results have
shown that this molecule
helps in faster recovery of hos-
pitalised patients and
reduces supplemental oxygen
dependence.
A higher proportion of
patients treated with 2-DG
showed RT-PCR negative con-
version in Covid patients. The
drug will be of immense ben-
efit to the people suffering
from Covid-19.
Detailed report on P4
344?0:D?A4C8Q =4F34;78
Presented with tough choice
of selecting a Chief Minister
for Assam, from two equally
dominant and influential State
leaders — incumbent Chief
Minister Sarbananda Sonowal
and State Finance Minister
Himanta Biswa Sarma — BJP
Central held discussion with
both leaders in Delhi. The
State BJP legislature party will
meet at Guwahati on Sunday.
The party is tacking a
“difficult task” despite a hand-
some win as either way “some
level of dissidence” cannot be
ruled out, sources in the party
said.
“Don’t ask questions. In
short, a meeting of the BJP leg-
islature party is likely to be
held in Guwahati tomor-
row...you will get your answers
then,” Himanta retorted when
questioned on the CM selec-
tion as he left BJP president JP
Nadda’s residence here after
meeting him, Union Home
Minister Amit Shah, and BJP
general secretary (organisa-
tion) BL Santosh.
Sonowal and Himanta first
met central leaders separately
before joining them together
for a “long face-to-face dis-
cussion”.
Sarma was first to meet
Nadda and other leaders
before Sonowal followed the
suit. Both had left Gauwhati by
7 am as they were called by the
Central leaders in Delhi by
10.30 to work out the issue as
loyal MLAs of each camp
sought to rally around their
respective leaders since May 2
when the BJP won 60 seats
while its alliance partners AGP
got nine seats and UPPL six in
126 Assam Assembly. Himanta,
52, a Brahmin, is known to be
aspiring for the Chief Minister’s
post which was denied to him
in the Congress by Tarun
Gogoi.
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The Bengal BJP seems to be a divided house
on the question of choosing Leader of
Opposition. While a section of the party wants
veteran leader and former Railway Minister
Mukul Roy — often considered a “Chanakya”
in State politics — to lead the party in the
House others want to nominate Nandigram
MLA Suvendu Adhikari a “bold and dynam-
ic organiser” on the post.
While the entire team of the BJP Legislators
is new and inexperienced both Roy and
Adhikari are veterans in parliamentary poli-
tics, a State BJP leader who unsuccessfully con-
tested the elections from northern fringes of
Kolkata said wondering whether Roy with his
health problems would want to accept the
responsibility.
:D0A274;;0??0=Q 274==08
Amajor rift has emerged in the AIADMK over
the choice of the Leader of the Opposition.
The newly elected members of the Legislative
Assembly had to go back from the party head-
quarters without electing the LoP due to differ-
ences between Edappadi Palaniswamy and O
Panneerselvam, the two senior-most leader of the
party.
While the supporters of Palaniswamy want-
ed him to be the LoP, the camp followers of
Panneerselvam argued that the latter was the ideal
choice for the post. Sources said both leaders also
had a heated argument before the meeting was
called off.
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New Delhi: Taking note of the
“unprecedented surge” in
Covid-19 cases, the Supreme
Court on Saturday moved to
decongest prisons and ordered
the immediate release of pris-
oners who were granted bail or
parole last year.
The court observed that
the decongestion of prisons
housing around 4 lakh
inmates across the country is
a matter concerning “health
and right to life of” prisoners
and police.
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?=BQ =4F34;78
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Saturday took part
in a virtual meeting with the
heads of State or Government
of all the 27 European Union
member states and discussed
with them expanding overall
cooperation in areas of trade,
investment, connectivity, and
Covid-19. The EU countries
pledged their support to India
in its fight against the second
wave of the coronavirus pan-
demic.
Thanking EU and its mem-
ber states for their “continued
commitment to strengthening
relationship with India”, Modi
said, “I also thank my friend
Prime Minister @antonio-
costapm for this initiative and
according to high priority to
India during Portuguese
Presidency of the EU Council.”
The PM tagged Portugal Prime
Minister Antonio Costa, who
hosted the meeting.
The leaders also exchanged
views on the Covid-19 pan-
demic and healthcare cooper-
ation.
“We are opening a new
chapter in #EUIndia strategic
partnership at the meeting of
EU Leaders with PM @naren-
dramodi,” tweeted Charles
Michel, President of the
European Council.
He said the two sides are
launching negotiations on three
agreements — trade, invest-
ment and geographical indica-
tions.
Modi was scheduled to
visit Portugal for the leaders’’
meeting but it was called off in
view of the coronavirus crisis
and both sides decided to hold
the deliberations virtually.
A strategically important
grouping, the EU as a whole
was India’’s largest trading part-
ner in 2018. India’’s bilateral
trade with the EU in 2018-19
stood at USD 115.6 billion
with exports valued at USD
57.17 billion and imports worth
USD 58.42 billion.
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2. Q What made you work so actively to help
people by going out of the way?
The realisation that how serious COVID is.
Like many, I too wasn’t taking COVID seriously
until my whole family in Delhi contracted the
virus.Thatwasaneyeopener.Thingsturnedbad
when my father, who is 80, wasn’t getting a bed.
I took to my social media and posted for help.
Immediately, my inbox was flooded with leads,
people stood up to help. I would also want to
thank Manoj Tiwari and his wife Surbhi for
helping me. Thankfully, with all the help, I was
able to arrange a bed for my father. He is
recovering,buthassufferedmemoryloss.Allthis
coupled with an urge to give back to everyone
who needs it made me take this route. I now try
and help people from all over the country with
oxygen supply, beds and ventilators.
Q Your efforts paid off and you were able to
save many lives. How did that feel?
The feeling is amazing. It is not as if I am
doing it for appreciation, but when people
actually call me to inform that they have got all
the essentials and thank me, it feels good. Every
lifeispreciousandeveryhumanbeingispriority.
Being able to save someone’s life is a different
feeling.BothmyhusbandAvinash(Dwivedi)and
I want to do our bit and do what best is possible.
I do all this for my happiness.
Q Do you also receive backlash from people?
There are times when families abuse me
when I am unable to help them. It does
demotivate me, but I understand their situation
and what they are going through. Recently, I
reached out to a family who was in need of
oxygen cylinders. I called them up to inform
where they can get it from, but the man on the
phone told me: We don’t know who you are, but
how do you expect me to leave my father alone
and go. I told him that he needs oxygen and I
am trying to help him, but he was so upset and
for all the right reasons, that he didn’t listen. It
felt bad, of course. But then I heard his father
gasping for air, I took his address and got the
cylinder delivered to his place.
Q You recently posted a video about a black
marketerofoxygen.Howsaddeningisittosee
such cases?
It’s bad. More so, when a person who calls
someone his sister does it for the sake of money.
If you see the video, you will get to know about
the whole case. To cut it short, a 29-year-old girl
was in dire need of oxygen in Delhi. Her 50-
year-old mother reached out to me for help.
ShestaysinMumbai.Iarrangedeverythingfor
free, but the person who went to pick up the
oxygen cylinder took money from both sides,
from the one who needed it and the one who
wasgiving.Andthentotakeeverythinganotch
higher he told the girl’s mother that he didn’t
getit.Icalledhimandgavehimarealitycheck.
It’s saddening to see such people who are
making money even at such a scenario. The
good thing is, on the other hand, we do have
people like Sonu Sood. He is like a God for
many today.
Q A lesson that you learnt during the
pandemic.
Help people as much as you can and don’t
expect anything in return, not even a thank
you. Keep doing good and karma will come
back to you.
Q Peoplelovedyouinyourlastshow.Canwe
expect you back on TV anytime soon?
I did get an offer for a Colors’ show
sometime back, but they were shooting in
GujaratandIcan’ttravel.Ihavethreedogs,one
of which is 17 and he can’t see or hear. It is
impossible to leave my babies back home and
travel. But, having said that, I would love to be
back on TV with a dance reality show. If got
a chance, I will definitely grab the opportunity.
Q Your YouTube channel is about to hit 2
million subscribers. What has been your
success mantra?
I never ran behind numbers. For me, what
mattersistheloveofpeoplewhichIamgetting
in abundance. As for my vlogs, I just take up
my camera and start shooting. Both Avinash
and I are humorous people and that is what
is evident in our vlogs too. The audience loves
it. I don’t prepare a master plan for content, it
is all natural. I have always wanted to make
people happy and show my unedited self and
that is what I am doing on my channel. This
can be our success mantra.
Q What is keeping you busy during the
lockdown?
This time, the situation is so bad that we
are just trying to stay positive. As compared
to last year, I am not making any dishes, just
don’t feel like also because we are on a strict
diet. So the recipes have to wait, but our vlogs
and laugh will continue.
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QWhat is your role in
Mere Sai?
I play Rama, a brave
and independent girl.
She is looking out for
her biological parents,
who abandoned her
outside a temple long
back and got adopted by
a lady who she calls
Ajji.
QHow easy or hard was
it to step into the shoe
of the character?
It was challenging
because I had to speak
in Marathi a bit. I found
it difficul to grasp, but
my director helped me
a lot in learning those
words.
QYou have returned on
TV after a while, how
was the experience?
I am thrilled to be
back on screen and
excited to see how the
audience finds it once
my story is on air.
QWere you nervous to
be back on the sets
after a hiatus?
Initially, I was, but
once I started shooting,
the fear vanished and
now I am feeling happy
and confident to be on
sets.
QBeing the youngest,
do you get that extra
pampering on the sets?
No, not really. All
the actors are treated
equally but yes, it’s fun
shooting with Tushar
(Dalvi) sir.
QAs a child actor, how
has your journey been
so far?
My journey so far is
so amazing and I look
forward to roles that
are unique and
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different. The biggest
achievement for me is that
people recognise me by name
and wait to watch me on TV.
This is the only thing I could
have asked for.

3. dccPaPZWP]S
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Taking cognizance of the
complaints that the pri-
vate hospitals are refusing treat-
ment of Covid patients under
the Atal Ayushman
Uttarakhand Yojana (AAUY),
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya
Yojana and State Government
Health Scheme (SGHS), the
state administration has direct-
ed all the hospitals in the pan-
els of these schemes to treat
Covid patients free of cost as
per the package.
The administration has
also warned that punitive
action would be initiated
against the hospitals refusing
treatment of Covid patients
under the health schemes.
The chief executive officer
(CEO) of the state health
authority (SHA) Arunendra
Singh Chauhan said that it
has come to the notice that
some panelled hospitals are not
giving cashless treatment to
Covid patients which is against
the norms.
He claimed that the bills of
the hospitals are being cleared
within a week of their upload-
ing on the system. Chauhan
said that in view of the pan-
demic the hospitals are spe-
cially directed to ensure that the
beneficiaries of the schemes
don’t face any problem. He
informed that the hospitals
with NABL accreditation are
given Rs 8000 for isolation
bed, Rs 12000 for ventilator
care without ICU and Rs 14400
for ICU with ventilator care per
day. Similarly the non NABL
hospitals are given Rs 6400, Rs
10,400 and Rs 12000 per day
for isolation, ventilator without
ICU and ventilator with ICU
respectively. He added that the
expenses on testing, treatment,
food and PPE kits are includ-
ed in the package while medi-
cines such as Remdesivir,
Favipiravir and Tacilizumab
would be made available at
actual rates to the beneficiary
in the panelled hospitals.
Chauhan said that all the ben-
eficiaries should be provided
cashless treatment in the pan-
elled hospitals failing which the
hospitals would be removed
from the panel.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The vaccination of the 18 to
44 year age group popula-
tion in Uttarakhand would
commence from May 10. The
state received the first con-
signment of one lakh doses of
the vaccine for vaccinating 18-
44 year age people on Saturday.
The secretary, state health
services, Amit Singh Negi said
that a consignment of one lakh
doses of Covishield vaccine
arrived at Dehradun airport
Jollygrant on Saturday. These
doses were then shifted to the
walk in cooler at the state
medicines store in Chander
Nagar. From here the vaccines
would be sent to all the dis-
tricts.
Negi said that about 50
lakh people of 18- 44 years of
age would be vaccinated free of
cost in Uttarakhand. He said
that the vaccination would be
done at designated centres and
information about them would
be made available at CoWin
portal.
The registration for vacci-
nation of the above mentioned
population has started in the
CoWin portal and Arogya Setu
App from April 28 and vacci-
nation would be done only
through appointment through
the portal and App. For regis-
tration one should log on to sel-
fregistration.cowin.gov.in.
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?=BQ 347A03D=
The state health authority
(SHA) has threatened to
take punitive against the
Arihant Advanced Surgery and
Fertility centre Shastrinagar,
Dehradun for not providing
cashless treatment to the
patients of Covid under the Atal
Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana
(AAUY) and State Government
Health Scheme (SGHS). In a
notice to Dr Abhishek Jain of
the hospital, director, Hospital
Management SHA, Dr A K
Goyal said that the authority
has received many complaints
against the hospital that it is not
providing cashless treatments
under the schemes. It also said
that the hospital authorities
never pick up phone calls made
by the authority. The notice
warned that the empanelment
of the hospital would be sus-
pended and action under clin-
ical establishment act would be
taken against it if the hospital
fails to mend its ways.
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?=BQ 347A03D=
After being on a record
breaking spree for three
consecutive days, the contagion
of Covid-19 provided a bit of
relief on Saturday as 8,390 new
cases of the disease surfaced on
the day. On Friday a record
9,642 patients of the disease
were reported. The state health
department also reported the
death of 118 patients of the dis-
ease on Saturday.
The state now has 2,38,383
cumulative cases of the disease
and a total of 3,548 deaths have
so far been reported in the state.
The death rate in the state is
1.49 percent which is much
higher than the national aver-
age.
The authorities discharged
4,771 patients after recovery
from the hospitals on Saturday.
The cumulative count of recov-
ered patients in the state has
now increased to 1,58,903 The
recovery rate in the state has
plummeted to 66.66 percent
while the sample positivity rate
is 5.91 percent. Out of the 118
deaths reported on Saturday, 24
were from Government Mela
hospital Haridwar and 23 from
Sushila Tiwari Government
Hospital Haldwani. Ten patients
were reported dead at HNB
base hospital Srinagar, nine
from Himalayan hospital
Dehradun, eight each at All
India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh
and District Hospital
Uttarkashi, six from Mahant
Indiresh hospital Dehradun,
four from Max hospital
Dehradun, three each from
Sanjivini Hospital Kashipur
and Medicity hospital Rudrapur
and two each at Arogyadham
hospital Dehradun, Arihant
hospital Dehradun, Kailash
hospital Dehradun, Subharti
Hospital Dehradun and Velmed
hospital Dehradun. Dehradun
district which is among the
worst affected districts of the
country reported 3430 new
cases of the disease. Udham
Singh Nagar reported 1159,
Haridwar 812, Nainital report-
ed 636, Tehri 424, Champawat
322, Rudraprayag 271,
Uttarkashi 266, Almora 247,
Bageshwar 237, Pithoragarh
208, Pauri 203 and Chamoli 175
new cases of the disease on
Saturday. The state now has
71174 active patients of the dis-
ease. Dehradun continues to be
at the top of the table of active
cases of the disease with 26,710
patients, Haridwar has 11,277,
Nainital 7203, Udham Singh
Nagar 5,915, Pauri 4,213, Tehri
3,317, Chamoli and
Champawat 2,222 each, Almora
1,833, Uttarkashi 1,6695,
Bageshwar 1,555, Pithoragarh
1,520 and Rudraprayag 1,492
active cases of the disease. To
contain the contagion of Covid-
19, the state administration
has set up 375 containment
zones in different parts of the
state. In the ongoing vaccina-
tion drive 48553 people were
vaccinated in 595 sessions in
different parts of the state. A
total of 5,78,296 people have so
far been fully vaccinated in the
state while 17,44,386 have been
partially vaccinated.
DeReVcVa`ced)$*!_VhTRdVdR_U)UVReYd
?=BQ347A03D=
People in Uttarakhand would
now have to pay more for
the RT- PCR tests for Covid-19.
The state administration
revised the rates for the impor-
tant test on Saturday. For test-
ing in private hospitals or pri-
vate labs one should have to
pay a sum of Rs 700 per sam-
ple. The private labs can charge
Rs 900 from the patients for the
samples collected from their
homes. Earlier these rates were
Rs 500 and Rs 400 for samples
collected at Private labs and
homes respectively. For the
samples sent from state gov-
ernment collection centres and
hospitals to the private labs.
5737WHVWUDWHV
UHYLVHGLQ8WWDUDNKDQG
?=BQ 347A03D=
Chief minister Tirath Singh
Rawat directed officials to
ensure necessary arrangements
to expedite Covid vaccination
in the state. He also directed
that the help of retired army
personnel should also be taken
in the fight against Covid.
Chairing a video conference to
review the Covid situation in
the state on Saturday, Rawat
stressed that the main focus
should be on preventing Covid
deaths. He directed officials to
work towards a decentralised
system for providing medical
kits so that the Covid infected
can start taking medicines
without delay.
Rawat directed all district
magistrates to ensure strict
action if more than the per-
missible number of people is
found in any function. Special
focus should be laid on con-
tainment zones to prevent the
infection from spreading.
Rawat said that Covid protocol
should be maintained at vacci-
nation centres and as far as pos-
sible vaccination should be
facilitated in open and large
spaces. He reiterated that strict
action should be taken against
those indulging in black mar-
keting and over-rating. The
oxygen use in hospitals should
be consistently audited while
work on oxygen plants being
constructed should be expe-
dited.
Chief secretary Om
Prakash said that evaluating the
oxygen requirement for the
coming days, the required
number of tankers should be
ensured. Preparations for the
future should also be made
considering the mutating strain
of Covid.
Health secretary Amit
Singh Negi said that
Remdesivir is available in ade-
quate quantity. Focus is being
laid on breaking the chain of
Covid transmission. All those
coming for Covid test are also
being provided medical kits, he
averred. Director general of
police, Ashok Kumar said that
the police have started mission
Hausla at the police station
level. Under this mission, the
police are providing assistance
to the needy by home delivery
of medicines, facilitating oxy-
gen cylinders, providing food
in the homes of Covid patients
and facilitating ambulances.
PX]U^Rdb^]_aTeT]cX]V2^eXSSTPcWbcPZTWT[_^UTgbTaeXRTT])2
?=BQ 347A03D=
Chief minister Tirath Singh
Rawat has requested those
who have recovered from
Covid-19 to donate their plas-
ma in order to help other
patients.
According to doctors,
donation of blood plasma is a
very easy process. Anyone in
the 18-60 years age group can
donate plasma without any ill-
effect on health. A donor
should ascertain that he or she
has not experienced any Covid
symptoms in the last 14 days
before donating plasma. The
donors should also consult a
doctor and observe all neces-
sary precautions.
The CM said that eligible
donors should not hesitate to
come forward and donate plas-
ma which can save the life of
another patient.
0H[KRUWV
UHFRYHUHGSDWLHQWV
WRGRQDWHSODVPD
?=BQ 347A03D=
Cabinet minister and former
State president of Bharatiya
Janata Party, Banshidhar
Bhagat said that while the State
government is working on war
footing to tackle the Covid-19
surge, the Congress leaders
are either staging dharna or
spreading lies for propaganda.
Responding to Pradesh
Congress Committee presi-
dent criticising his statement on
providing facilities in crema-
tion grounds, Bhagat said that
Singh and other Congress lead-
ers are unable to see the work
being done in the fight against
Covid. The state government is
working with full strength on
all aspects.
He said that the govern-
ment is attending to all aspects.
“One such sensitive aspect
which the government is aware
of is related to those who have
lost someone dear to Covid and
have to visit the cremation
ground. The government is
working to save every life while
also being concerned about the
safety of family members going
to the cremation ground. This
is why the government is also
alert to ensure that PPE kits or
such items are not dumped at
cremation grounds which may
increase the risk of infection.
This is why I had directed the
local bodies to ensure sanita-
tion in cremation grounds for
the safety of those visiting the
site and those living in nearby
areas. This is an issue linked to
human sentiments but unfor-
tunately such feelings seem
missing in the PCC chief and
his party leaders,” said Bhagat.
Instead of contributing in
the fight against Covid, the
Congress is playing petty pol-
itics while various sections of
society are working with the
government to tackle the situ-
ation. In the fight against
Covid, the Congress should
play the role of a responsible
opposition, leave aside allega-
tions and counter-allegations
and work with the government
to defeat the contagion, said
Bhagat.
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4. 347A03D=kBD=30H k0H (!! ]PcX^]#
?=BQ 347A03D=
Anima Patil Sabale, Orion
Spacecraft Simulations Lab
Manager at NASA's Johnson
Space Center stressed on the
need for a backup plan while
pursuing one’s dreams. She
was addressing students at
UPES’s web talk series ‘Shakti
Talks’.
Her dream to become an
astronaut began as a child
when she developed a fascina-
tion for the stars and the galaxy.
She said,“Dreaming of some-
thing like NASA or aerospace
engineering was not considered
normal for girls in the 80’s.
Even when I applied for the air
force, in those days the very
first criteria was to be a male.
It’s not the same today and
things have changed a little for
girls now. But still there has to
be a lot of passion instilled to
break the glass ceilings that still
exist to achieve your dreams.”
Sharing her experiences
with the girl students who
aspire to make their career in
the field of space and aero-
nautics, Sabale said every aspi-
rant should “look for opportu-
nities for yourself but don’t fol-
low others”. She stressed on the
need for also having a backup
plan and on the importance of
working hard. She said that
aspirants should let their
achievements speak for them-
selves. Shakti is an initiative by
UPES to empower women by
implementing multiple initia-
tives in areas of training and
development. Through Shakti,
UPES endeavours to encourage
more female students for ‘class-
rooms to boardrooms’ journey
and prepare women leaders
across various sectors.
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dYRcVdTRcVVc]Vdd`_dhZeYdefUV_ed
?=BQ 347A03D=
In view of the grim situation
of the pandemic of Covid 19,
the Uttarakhand government
has declared summer vaca-
tions in all the schools of the
state till June 30. The order
would be applicable in all
government, aided and private
( day boarding schools) of the
state.
On Saturday the education
minister Arvind Pandey
directed the secretary R
Meenakshi Sundaram to
declare summer vacations in
all the schools so that the stu-
dents are protected in the pre-
vailing second wave of the
pandemic. Acting on the
directive Sundaram ordered
summer vacations in all the
schools. In the order the
schools have been allowed to
undertake online classes as per
their convenience.
It is worth mentioning
here that all the schools in the
state are already closed to
prevent the spread of Covid
19. At present the schools are
undertaking online classes to
teach the students.
On Friday the state gov-
ernment had declared summer
vacations in all the universities
and colleges.
BdTaePRPcX^]
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?=BQ B78;0
Due to the sharp surge in the
number of Covid-19 cases
and Covid related deaths in the
State, Himachal Government
has decided to impose few
more strict restrictions under
corona curfew in the State from
May 10 from 6 am. The deci-
sion in this regard was taken in
a high level meeting presided
over by the Chief Minister Jai
Ram Thakur here on Saturday.
It was decided in the meet-
ing that all the shops in the
State, except those dealing with
daily needs and essential com-
modities would remain closed.
The daily needs and essential
commodities shops would how-
ever, remain open only for
three hours in a day and tim-
ing of the same would be fixed
by the Deputy Commissioners
concerned.
It was also decided that all
the public transport would
remain suspended till further
orders and private vehicles
would only be allowed in case
of emergency services.
Chief Minister urged the
people of the State to give their
wholehearted support in effec-
tive implementation of corona
curfew to check the spread of
Covid-19 pandemic, urging
them to remain indoors and go
out only in unavoidable cir-
cumstances. He said that these
decisions have been taken by
the State Government to break
the chain of virus and in the
larger interest of the life and
safety of the people of the
State. Speaker Vipin Parmar,
Urban Development Minister
Suresh Bhardwaj, Information
Technology Minister Ram Lal
Markanda, Health Minister Dr.
Rajiv Saizal, Additional Chief
Secretary J.C. Sharma, Director
General of Police Sanjay Kundu,
Principal Secretary Subhashish
Panda, Secretary Health
Amitabh Awasthi attended the
meeting with the Chief Minister
whereas Chief Secretary Anil
Khachi, Deputy
Commissioners of Kangra,
Mandi and Solan participated
in the meeting virtually.
?A848=8BC4AC0:4B
5443102:52E83
B8CD0C8=5A2
Chief Minister Jai Ram
Thakur on Saturday said that
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
today took a detailed feedback
from him telephonically regard-
ing the Covid-19 situation in
the State.
In a statement, Thakur said
that the Prime Minister
inquired from him regarding
the number of Covid-19 cases
in the State, availability of oxy-
gen, beds, oxygen cylinders,
vaccine, essential medicines
and logistics.
The Chief Minister said
that the Prime Minister also
assured him all possible assis-
tance from the Centre and all
the logistic support to the State
Government to effectively fight
the pandemic. Thakur said that
he apprised the Prime Minister
about all the steps and initia-
tives taken by the State
Government to check the
spread of this pandemic,
besides providing best possible
treatment to the Covid-19
patients. He urged the Prime
Minister to enhance the
Oxygen quota for the State
from the existing 15 MT to 30
MT so as to meet the increas-
ing requirement of the State. He
said that he also urged the
Prime Minister to provide addi-
tional oxygen cylinders to the
State and also apprised that the
State Government has already
requested the Union
Government to provide 5000
D-Type and 3000 B-Type cylin-
ders to the State. The CM said
that he also apprised the Prime
Minister regarding the vacci-
nation campaign going on in
the State andalso urged him to
provide adequate vaccine to the
State so that the campaign of
vaccinating the people in the
age group of 18 to 44 years
could be started. In the state-
ment, Thakur said that the
Prime Minister also suggested
the State Government to focus
on those districts where the
positivity rate was higher and
death rate was also increasing
sharply.
?=BQ B78;0
Himachal Pradesh on
Saturday recorded its
sharpest single-day spike of
5,424 COVID-19 cases that
took the infection tally to
1,28,330 while 37 more fatali-
ties pushed the death toll to
1,817, according to data updat-
ed till 7 pm.
The state had 18,725 sam-
ples tested for COVID-19 and
the state has a positivity rate of
28.97 per cent. Himachal
Pradesh has 31,893 active
COVID-19 cases. As many as
3,007 more coronavirus
patients recovered from the
infection, taking the total
number of recoveries to 94,586,
officials said.
7XPRWP[bTTbaTR^aSSPX[haXbT^U
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Facing a shortage of beds
amid a sharp rise in the
number of Covid patients, UT
Adviser Manoj Parida said that
Sector 45 Civil Hospital has
been made operational for
covid patients from Saturday
evening. Chandigarh’s Covid
tally shot up to 49,312 on as it
recorded 870 new cases on
Saturday. The city now has
8505 active cases.
According to officials, this
decision was taken after no
ICU bed was vacant at
Government Multi-Specialty
Hospital, Sector 16; Dedicated
Covid Hospital in Sector 48,
and three of the seven private
hospitals offering Covid care.
Those available at other hos-
pitals are mostly reserved for
paediatric, surgical and other
critical patients. With more
Covid patients getting critical,
the UT Administration had
recently sought the immediate
intervention of the Union
Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare for proper utilisation of
the infrastructure of the PGI.
In a recent letter to the
ministry, the UT stated that it
was trying to tackle the crisis
by enhancing the capacity of
Government Multi-Specialty
Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16,
and the Government Medical
College and Hospital (GMCH),
Sector 32, and setting up mini-
Covid care centres with the
help of social organisations, yet
the help of the PGI was urgent-
ly required. The
Administration had requested
the Union Ministry to direct
the PGI to enhance the num-
ber of Covid beds to at least
700, as they have nearly 2,000
beds.
Medical experts said the
GMCH and the GMSH had
increased their bed capacity to
564 by overstretching their
resources. Since the PGI had
stopped OPD services and
elective surgeries, the institute
should have enhanced its
capacity to at least 1,000 Covid
beds with 30 per cent ventila-
tors and oxygen attached with
the remaining beds, they said.
BTRc^a#$2XeX[7^b_XcP[PST^_TaPcX^]P[U^a2^eXS_PcXT]cbX]2WP]SXVPaW
New Delhi: The national cap-
ital reported 17,364 new Covid-
19 cases on Saturday, the fifth
day in a row when it reported
a single-day spike of below
20,000 cases, pushing the over-
all case tally to 13,10,231.
In some relief, the test pos-
itivity rate remained below the
25 per cent-mark for the third
consecutive day at 23.32 per
cent, according to the Delhi
government's health bulletin.
The highest positivity rate
was reported at 36.2 per cent on
April 22. Meanwhile, 332 peo-
ple succumbed to the virus in
the last 24 hours, taking the
national capital's overall death
toll to 19,071 on Saturday.
Delhi had recorded its higest
single-day death toll of 448 on
May 4. Besides this, 20,160 peo-
ple recovered from the disease
in Delhi on Saturday, taking the
total number of recoveries to
12,03,253.
The national capital
presently has 87,907 active
cases, of which 49,865 are in
home isolation.
As per the Delhi govern-
ment' data, out of the 22,289
hospital beds for coronavirus
patients in the city, only 2,451
are vacant.
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?=BQ 270=3860A7
With coronavirus cases
spreading fast in the rural
parts of the State, Haryana
Chief Minister Manohar Lal
Khattar on Saturday asked the
officers to launch a special
door to door screening drive in
villages by constituting 8000
multidisciplinary teams.
Presiding over a review
meeting with top officials of
Health and Panchayat
Department in Chandigarh,
Khattar directed that proactive
strategies like conducting door-
to-door health screening camps
covering each house, consti-
tuting special dedicated multi-
disciplinary teams for screen-
ing and converting
Dharamshalas, Government
Schools, AYUSH Centres into
Isolation Centres should be
adopted to contain the virus
spread.
The Chief Minister said
that since in rural areas the
virus is spreading fast, special
screening camps focusing on
‘Test, Track and Treat’ strategy
should be adopted in each vil-
lage so that anyone having
Covid-19 symptoms can be
caught early and further, the
possibility of infection spread
can be prevented. Besides
this, the Health Department
has also been directed to
impart necessary training to
people in these villages so that
they can spread the required
awareness for the disease, he
added.
“We have to protect rural
areas from this deadly infection
at any cost, therefore every offi-
cer concerned should ensure
that special vigilance is kept on
every village and for this a mas-
sive Covid-19 screening cam-
paign should be conducted in
all villages of the state,” direct-
ed Khattar.
He said that a special
awareness campaign cum
counselling of rural inhabi-
tants should be done and for
these officers of health depart-
ment along with ASHA work-
ers, former and present public
representatives in each village
have to play key roles in
encouraging people to get
themselves tested in the screen-
ing camps. Apart from this,
dedicated efforts should be
made to raise awareness about
safety practices and the pre-
cautionary measures to control
the spread of Covid-19 infec-
tion in rural areas.
“Further strengthening of
medical infrastructure along
with ramping up Covid-19
management preparations cou-
pled with aggressive surveil-
lance, stringent containment,
focused clinical management
should also be done in every
village on priority basis, direct-
ed the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister direct-
ed that about 8000 multidisci-
plinary teams led by trainee
doctors including health
department officials, ASHA
and Anganwadi workers
should be constituted across
the State so that door to door
health screening of households
can be done in every village.
Proper screening of every fam-
ily should be done along with
the recording of their oxygen
and temperature levels.
“If during the screening
camps any person is found hav-
ing Covid-like symptoms of
fever, cold and cough, then the
person should be advised to
stay in home isolation imme-
diately so as to prevent the pos-
sibility of infection spread.
Approximately one team per
500 households should be
deployed for conducting the
health screening.”, said Khattar.
He further said that
patients having mild and mod-
erate symptoms are immedi-
ately prescribed preventive
medicines for Covid-19 infec-
tion. Besides this, it should also
be ensured that those having
severe symptoms are right away
hospitalized to get the required
treatment. The Chief Minister
further directed that the pos-
sibility of converting
Dharamshalas and government
schools into isolation Centres
should be explored at the ear-
liest. If the patient rush in the
Covid care centres and hospi-
tal increases then these
Dharamshalas, government
schools having required med-
ical facilities to treat the
COVID-19 patients can be uti-
lized so that every patient gets
the needed medical care, he
added.
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3A8E45A9DA=0;8BCB
Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar on
Saturday announced the launch
of a massive vaccination drive
for all the media persons in
Haryana. The Chief He said
that during this massive vacci-
nation drive the COVID 19
vaccines would be adminis-
tered to every media person.
“Every journalist will be given
priority during the vaccination
drive and preparations for vac-
cination administration would
be made at media centres in all
districts,” he said.
=Rf_TYdTcVV_Z_XUcZgVZ_gZ]]RXVde`T`^SRe4`gZUdacVRU+YReeRc
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Punjab Chief Minister Capt
Amarinder Singh on
Saturday sought the support of
Radha Soami Satsang Beas sect
in the state's fight against
Covid. He also directed all the
deputy commissioners to close-
ly coordinate with authorised
representatives in various
branches of the sect in this
regard. In a letter to sect chief
Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the
chief minister urged him to
make all branches available
with the Radha Soami Satsang
Beas for the treatment of Covid
patients, along with attendants
deputed for the purpose.
He also requested Dhillon
to extend help in the form of
medicines and other relief
material for Covid-affected
persons across the state. While
the state government was mak-
ing concerted efforts to ensure
best possible medical care for
Covid patients, the constantly
spiralling cases warranted
unstinted support from reli-
gious institutions, NGOs and
other such organisations, Capt
Amarinder said. Referring to
Radha Soami Satsang Beas'
service in the state's battle
against coronavirus last year,
which had helped in stabilising
the situation considerably, the
chief minister said the
pandemic this year was even
more virulent and life threat-
ening.
DSWVHHNVVXSSRUWRI5DGKD6RDPL
6DWVDQJ%HDVVHFWDJDLQVWRYLG
?=BQ 270=3860A7
The Punjab Food Drug
Administration has estab-
lished the ‘Remdesivir Injection
Monitoring Centre’ at the Head
Office to stop black marketing,
a statement said on Saturday.
Health Minister Balbir
Sidhu urged the people not to
panic to buy Remdesivir
Injection at high prices as the
Healthdepartmenthassufficient
stock in its warehouses.
Expressing grave concern
over the black marketing and
hoarding of COVID related
drugs, the Health Minister said
that he directed the Food
Drug Administration (FDA),
Punjab to take stringent action
against the Wholesalers,
Distributors and Retailers if
anyone found doing such activ-
ities. The Minister said that
Punjab Government has made
it mandatory to mention the
name of patient and IPD num-
ber on the vial so that the FDA’s
teamscaneasilyverifytheempty
vial to which patient it has been
administered before destroying
it by the Covid Care Centre.
Sidhu said 60 Drug Control
Officers have been deputed to
keep vigilant eye on the supply
of medicines. He said that he
instructed the FDA to monitor
the prices and stocks of the
Covid related/management
drugs across the State and act
promptly against the seller who
violates the guidelines. He said
that instructions regarding sup-
ply and sale of Remdesivir have
been issued to all authorities as
the COVID-19 pandemic is
again at its peak and the num-
berofactivecasesareincreasing.
Giving details of stock of
medicines, Sidhu said the Govt.
of India allocated 50,000 injec-
tions for distribution in Punjab
fromApril21toMay9whilethe
State Government has received
41,056 injections. He said that
20,450 injections have been dis-
tributed to the Govt. COVID
care centers and Govt. Medical
Colleges and 20,606 injections
distributed to the private Covid
CareCentres.Hesaidthatasper
intimation letter of GoI, Punjab
will receive 35,000 Remdesivir
injections from May 9 to 16. He
said that at present, the health
department has 4913
Remdesivir inj., 60,000
Dexamethasone 4 MG inj., and
25 lacs Tablet Paracetamol etc.
in stock after distribution to
Govt. and Private Hospitals.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Punjab chief minister Capt
Amarinder Singh on
Saturday asserted that there
was no question of sabotaging
the farmers agitation against
the Farm Laws, which his
own government was vehe-
mently opposed to, but reit-
erated that no violation of the
weekend lockdown and other
restrictions in the state could
be allowed at any cost, given
the current grim situation.
“There are lives at stake,
saving them is our priority,
and it is the responsibility of
every Punjabi to save them,”
said the Chief Minister, urg-
ing BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) and
BKU (Ekta Dakaounda) lead-
ers not to give a twist to his
comments on the issue. Amid
the call of the Sanyukt Kisan
Morcha to oppose the week-
end lockdown, the Chief
Minister had on Friday asked
the DGP to strictly enforce all
the weekend restrictions and
not allow any violation at any
cost. Nobody can be allowed
to play with the lives of the
people, he reiterated on
Saturday.
Leaders of two organisa-
tions had misinterpreted his
statement to raise doubts
about his intentions towards
the ongoing farmers’ stir
against the black Farm Laws,
said the Chief Minister. “How
can my government go against
the interests of the farmers
when it was the first in the
country to move the amend-
ment laws in the Vidhan
Sabha to annul the draconian
Farm Laws of the Central
Government?” asked the
Chief Minister, asserting that
as far as the central laws were
concerned, his government’s
stand against them had been
clear and consistent.
Noting that the situation
in the state was extremely
grim, Capt Amarinder said
that as on May 6, the state had
24-hour case load of 8874 , 154
deaths, 265 patients admitted
in isolation facility, 30 patients
on High Dependency Unit
and 16 on Ventilator Support.
“This is not the time to play
politics but to put all our
energies into protecting the life
of every human being,” he said.
Appealing to the farmers
to extend all support and
cooperation to the State
Government in its endeavour
to combat the Covid crisis, the
Chief Minister said the lives
and safety of the people of
Punjab were of paramount
interest to his government. He
reiterated that he would not
allow anyone to further endan-
ger the lives of Punjabis amid
the escalating Covid crisis.
The state government, said
Capt Amarinder, had stood
with the farmers in their fight
against the draconian black
farm laws by the Centre since
the outset and continues to do
so, as it strongly believes them
to be a direct threat to the very
existence and livelihood of
the farmers. But at the
moment, his government was
completely focused on saving
the lives of the people, while
ensuring that they do not suf-
fer due to the harsh measures,
he said, pointing out that to
alleviate the sufferings of the
people, he had even asked the
DCs to allow opening of even
non-essential shops and pri-
vate offices on rotation basis.
50A4ABC0:4DC?AC4BC
0A274B8=?D=9010608=BC
F44:4=3;2:3F=
Farmers took out protest
marches at several places in
Punjab on Saturday against
the weekend lockdown
imposed by the state govern-
ment amid rising cases of
COVID-19 infection and
fatalities. Punjab's 32 farmer
unions, protesting the Central
farm laws, had announced to
hold street protests against the
lockdown in the state and
urged shopkeepers to defy
the restrictions.
The protests were taken
out in Moga, Patiala, Amritsar,
Ajnala, among other places in
the state. We are appealing
to shopkeepers to open their
shops. We are with them,” said
Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta
Ugrahan) general secretary
Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan in
Moga, adding, lockdown is
not a solution to deal with the
COVID-19 crisis.
Khokrikalan also accused the
government of doing nothing
to improve the health infra-
structure.
Farmers, including
women, took out marches in
the markets and appealed to
shopkeepers and traders
through loudspeakers to open
their shops.
However, the shopkeepers
kept their shops shut. Police
personnel in adequate num-
bers were deployed across the
state in the wake of farmers'
protest.
Punjab Chief Minister
Amarinder Singh on Friday
had directed the police chief to
strictly enforce the weekend
lockdown in the state and deal
stringently with any violations
in view of the farmer unions
deciding to protest the lock-
down. The state government
has imposed extensive
COIVD-19 curbs in addition
to measures like a weekend
lockdown and night curfew till
May 15. Early this week,
traders and shopkeepers in
Punjab had held protests
against the state government's
order of closure of shops deal-
ing in non-essential items.
The chief minister on Friday
had authorized the deputy
commissioners to take any
decision on opening of non-
essential shops or private offi-
cers on rotation, after taking
the local MLAs and other
stakeholders into confidence.
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To ensure smooth supply
of oxygen to all the Health
Care Institutions in
Chandigarh, the UT
Administration has decided
to deploy police escort to
Oxygen Tankers from INOX
Plant, Himachal Pradesh. The
move is also expected to reduce
the travel time and avoid any
untoward incident, officials
said. In a statement, a UT offi-
cial said that following the
increase in number of beds in
the Covid wards and ICU and
influx of more patients, the con-
sumption of oxygen has sud-
denly increased.
To ensure smooth supply of
oxygen to all the Health Care
Institutions in Chandigarh, the
Administration has stationed
officers at the INOX Plant at
Barotiwala, Baddi in Himachal
Pradesh. Police Escort has been
provided to the Oxygen Tankers
from INOX Plant to
Chandigarh to reduce the trav-
el time and avoid any untoward
incident.
Three Private Refilling
Vendors have been authorised
for re-filling medical oxygen
from the quota of UT
Chandigarh. The rate for refill-
ing of Oxygen Cylinders has
been fixed at par with the
approved rate of GMCH-32.
The officers have been sta-
tioned at the premises of the
Private Refilling Vendors to
ensure that oxygen cylinders are
being issued in regulated man-
ner and there is no diversion
from the UT Quota. Round the
clock police security has been
provided at one of the Oxygen
generation plant in the
Industrial Area, Chandigarh. A
senior PCS officer has been
deputed to see supply of oxygen
to private hospitals and daily
Quota has been fixed for each
of the Private Hospitals in
Chandigarh, statement stated.
It also stated that the efforts
are being made to have some
back-up arrangements from
Punjab/Haryana to get oxygen
on loan basis, in case of any cri-
sis. The voluntary organizations
who have come forward to set-
up Mini-Covid Centers have
been requested to have their
own arrangements of oxygen
through concentrators.
Hospitals.
However, the Central
Government has been request-
ed to increase the quota of
Oxygen from 20 MT to 35 MT
to take care of the increasing
bed capacity, newly set-up Mini
COVID Care Centers and to
take care of unforeseen even-
tualities. Parida said that strict
action will be taken in case of
any wastage, diversion or
hoarding of the oxygen by any
person in UT Chandigarh.
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Chandigarh’s Covid tally
shot up to 49,312 on Saturday
as it recorded 870 new cases on
the day. The city now has 8505
active cases. Nine more deaths
took the toll to 558. While 503
men tested positive, the number
of women infected is 367.
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In a major step towards pro-
viding employment oppor-
tunities to women, the first
batch of 83 women jawans or
soldiers were inducted into
the Army on Saturday. These
women will serve in the Corps
of Military Police. The Corps
plans to induct nearly 1,000
women soldiers in the next
two to three years.
Giving details here, Army
officials said the Corps of
Military Police Centre
School (CMP C S),
Bengaluru held the attestation
parade of the first batch of 83
women soldiers at the
Dronacharya Parade Ground
on Saturday. The parade was
conducted as a low-key event
while observing all Covid
protocols.
The Commandant of the
CMP Centre School while
reviewing the parade compli-
mented the newly attested
women soldiers for their
impeccable drill and congrat-
ulated them on their success-
ful completion of the intense
61 weeks of training on
aspects related to Basic
Military training, Provost
training to include all forms of
policing duties and manage-
ment of prisoners of war, cer-
emonial duties and skill devel-
opment to include driving
and maintenance of all vehi-
cles and signal communica-
tions.
While extolling the virtues
of dedication to duty, right-
eousness and selfless service to
the nation, he expressed his
confidence that the training
imparted to them and the
standards achieved would
hold them in good stead and
help them prove to be a force
multiplier at their new units,
located across varied terrain
and operational conditions in
the country.
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In order to provide uninter-
rupted passage for tankers
and containers carrying Liquid
Medical Oxygen (LMO) across
National Highways, the user fee
for such vehicles at Toll Plazas
has been exempted.
Keeping in view the cur-
rent unprecedented demand
for Medical Oxygen across the
country due to Covid-19 pan-
demic, containers carrying
Liquid Medical Oxygen will be
treated at par with other emer-
gency vehicles such as ambu-
lances for a period of two
months or till further orders.
Besides the Road Transport
and Highways (MoRTH)
Ministry has also made it
mandatory for oxygen con-
tainers, tankers and vehicles to
be fitted with Vehicle Location
Tracking (VLT) devices.
GPS tracking will ensure
proper monitoring and pro-
tection of these tankers, besides
ensuring that there is no diver-
sion or delay.
Although the toll plazas
have nearly zero waiting time
after implementation of
FASTag, National Highways
Authority of India is already
providing priority passage to
such vehicles for quick and
seamless transportation of
medical oxygen, said a MoRTH
statement.
Instructions have also been
issued by NHAI to all its offi-
cials and other stakeholders to
assist the Government and pri-
vate efforts to fight the pan-
demic in helping them in pro-
active manner.
The outbreak of Covid-19
has created huge demand of
Liquid Medical Oxygen across
the country.
During the ongoing crisis,
the timely delivery of Liquid
Medical Oxygen to hospitals
and medical centers is of para-
mount importance to save lives
of patients critically affected by
Covid-19. Exemption of pay-
ment of user fee at the Toll
Plazas will ensure faster move-
ment of Medical Oxygen on the
National Highways, said the
order.
In order to meet the time
of the life-saving oxygen, the
MoRTH has made it manda-
tory for Oxygen
containers/tankers/vehicles to
be fitted with Vehicle Location
Tracking (VLT) devices. “GPS
tracking will ensure monitor-
ing and protection of these
tankers, besides ensuring there
is no diversion or delay,” the
Ministry officials said.
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The World Health
Organisation (WHO) on
Friday finally granted condi-
tional approval for China’s
Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine
for emergency use — the first
Chinese jab to receive the
WHO’s green light. China was
eagerly awaiting the global
health body’s nod for it to
aggressively push the vaccine
among different countries.
The WHO on Friday said
it had validated the “safety,
efficacy and quality” of the
Sinopharm jab developed by
the Beijing Institute of
Biological Products. China’s
Sinopharm vaccine was autho-
rised by 45 countries and
jurisdictions for use in adults,
with 65 million doses admin-
istered. But many countries
hesitated using the vaccine as
it has not secured recognition
from the WTO.
The WHO said the addi-
tion of the vaccine had “the
potential to rapidly accelerate
Covid-19 vaccine access for
countries seeking to protect
health workers and popula-
tions at risk”. The two-jab
vaccine is an inactivated vac-
cine called SARS-CoV-2
Vaccine (Vero Cell). Its easy
storage requirements make it
highly suitable for low-
resource settings, the WHO
press release said.
The decision on Friday to
approve the vaccine for emer-
gency use was made by the
WHO’s technical advisory
group, which reviewed the
latest clinical data and manu-
facturing practices. It said the
vaccine’s efficacy for sympto-
matic and hospitalised cases of
Covid-19 was estimated to be
79%.
The WHO noted that few
adults over the age of 60 were
included in clinical trials, so
efficacy could not be estimat-
ed for this age group. But it
said there was no reason to
think that the vaccine would
act differently in older recip-
ients.
However, the WHO has
okayed Sinopharm usage from
18 years and above, clarifying
lingering doubts about its
usage for people above 59
years.
With little data released
internationally early on, the
effectiveness of the various
Chinese vaccines has long
been uncertain. Besides China,
it is being used in Algeria,
Cameroon, Egypt, Hungary,
Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Peru, the
United Arab Emirates, Serbia
and Seychelles, among others.
An emergency use listing by
the WHO paves the way for
countries worldwide to quick-
ly approve and import a vac-
cine for distribution, espe-
cially those states without an
international-standard regu-
lator of their own.
A decision is expected in
the coming
days on another Chinese vac-
cine developed by Sinovac,
while Russia’s Sputnik vac-
cine is under assessment.
WHO also listed the
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for
emergency use on 31 December
2020; two AstraZeneca/Oxford
COVID-19 vaccines on 15
February 2021, produced by
AstraZeneca-SKBio(Republicof
Korea) and the Serum Institute
ofIndia;andCOVID-19vaccine
Ad26.COV2.S developed by
Janssen(JohnsonJohnson)on
12 March 2021.
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The Indian Medical
Association (IMA), a body
of professional doctors in the
country on Saturday, went
down heavily on the Union
Health Ministry, questioning its
role in handling coronavirus
second wave across the States
even as it batted for complete
lockdown.
Terming the response of
the Ministry extremely lethar-
gic, the IMA alleged that advi-
sories and suggestions made by
health professionals were not
paid heed and the govern-
ment is taking decisions with-
out realising the ground real-
ities.
Citing instances of many
experts requesting the gov-
ernment to impose nation-
wide lockdown, the IMA said
that refusal of the central gov-
ernment to impose lockdown
has led to 4 lakh daily Covid-
19 cases in the country.
The IMA also said that
individual lockdown by dif-
ferent states and night curfews
were ineffective in breaking the
chain of Coronavirus.
On the vaccination front,
the IMA said that despite
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s announcement of phase
3 vaccination rollout from
May 1, the Health Ministry
failed to chart out a proper
road map and arrange vaccine
stock which has led to the sus-
pension of vaccination drive at
several vaccine centres in the
country.
The health professionals’
body also criticised the differ-
ential pricing system for vac-
cine purchase by states and pri-
vate medical institutions.
Citing the instance of smallpox
and polio vaccination drives in
the past, the IMA said that the
country had been able to suc-
ceed on account of free vaccine
provision for all age groups
across the country.
On the oxygen shortage,
IMA said that despite enough
production of Oxygen in the
country large numbers of pri-
vate hospitals are bearing the
shortage brunt due to faulty
distribution management of
the life-saving gas.
Questioning the govern-
ment data on the number of
new cases and covid-19 mor-
talities, the IMA wondered
why the government was hid-
ing actual Covid-19 statistics.
Citing an example of false RT-
PCR negative tests, the IMA
said that health authorities are
not adding Covid-19 cases
that are getting traced through
CT-scan reports.
The statement signed by
National President, IMA Dr. J
A Jayalal concluded that there
should be a complete revamp
of the entire Covid-19 man-
agement by the central gov-
ernment ranging from con-
tainment measures, vaccine
shortage, drugs shortage, and
manpower shortage among
others.
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In its first ever meeting with
India in the EU+27 format,
European Council on Saturday
agreed to strengthen the
“India-EU Strategic
Partnership” based on a shared
commitment to democracy,
fundamental freedoms, rule of
law and multilateralism.
India and the EU also
agreed to enhance bilateral
cooperation on digital and
emerging technologies such as
“5G, AI, Quantum and High-
Performance Computing
including through the early
operationalization of the Joint
Task Force on AI and the
Digital Investment Forum”.
At the invitation of
President of the European
Council Charles Michel, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi par-
ticipated in the India-EU
Leaders’ Meeting that was vir-
tually held in a hybrid format
with the participation of lead-
ers of all the 27 EU Member
States as well as the President
of the European Council and
the European Commission.
A statement issued from
Prime Minister’s Office men-
tioned that it was the first
time that the EU hosted a
meeting with India in the
EU+27 format. The meeting
was the initiative of the
Portuguese Presidency of the
Council of the European
Union.
The leaders noted with sat-
isfaction the growing conver-
gences on regional and global
issues, including counterter-
rorism, cybersecurity and mar-
itime cooperation. The leaders
acknowledged the importance
of a free, open, inclusive and
rules-based Indo-Pacific and
agreed to closely engage in the
region, including in the context
of India’s Indo-Pacific Ocean’s
Initiative and the EU’s new
strategy on the Indo-Pacific.
During the meeting, the
leaders exchanged views on
three key thematic areas-- for-
eign policy and security; Covid-
19, climate and environment;
and trade, connectivity and
technology.
They discussed forging
closer cooperation on combat-
ing the Covid-19 pandemic
and economic recovery, tackling
climate change, and reforming
multilateral institutions.
India appreciated the
prompt assistance provided by
the EU and its member states to
combat its second Covid wave.
The leaders welcomed the
decision to resume negotia-
tions for balanced and compre-
hensive free trade and invest-
ment agreements. Negotiations
on both the Trade and
Investment Agreements will be
pursued on parallel tracks with
an intention to achieve early
conclusion of both agreements
together.
This is a major outcome
which will enable the two sides
to realise the full potential of the
economic partnership.
India and the EU also
announced dedicated dialogues
on WTO issues, regulatory
cooperation, market access
issues and supply chain
resilience, demonstrating the
desire to deepen and further
diversify economic engagement.
India and the EU launched
an ambitious and comprehen-
sive ‘Connectivity Partnership’
which is focused on enhancing
digital, energy, transport and
people-to-people connectivity.
The Partnership is based on
the shared principles of social,
economic, fiscal, climate and
environmental sustainability,
and respect for international law
and commitments. It will catal-
yse private and public financing
for connectivity projects. It will
also foster new synergies for
supporting connectivity initia-
tives in third countries, includ-
ing in the Indo-Pacific.
India and the EU leaders
reiterated their commitment
to achieving the goals of the
Paris Agreement and agreed to
strengthen joint efforts for
mitigation, adaptation and
resilience to the impacts of cli-
mate change, as well as pro-
viding means of implementa-
tion including finance in the
context of COP26. India wel-
comed the EU’s decision to
join CDRI.
Coinciding with the
Leaders’ Meeting, an India-EU
Business Roundtable was
organised to highlight the
avenues for cooperation in
climate, digital and healthcare.
A finance contract of Euro
150 million for the Pune
Metro Rail Project was signed
by the Ministry of
Finance, Government of India,
and European Investment
Bank.
India-EU Leaders meeting
has set a significant milestone
by providing a new direction
to the Strategic Partnership
and giving a fresh impetus for
implementing the ambitious
India-EU Roadmap 2025
adopted at the 15th India-EU
Summit held in July 2020.
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With the rout in the recent
Assembly elections in
Assam, West Bengal, Kerala
and Puducherry, the Congress
Working Committee (CWC),
the highest decision making
body of the grand old party,
will meet on Monday to discuss
the issue.
In a letter to all CWC
members, Congress General
Secretary (Organisations) K.C.
Venugopal said, “A meeting of
CWC will be held on May 10
at 11 a.m. via video confer-
encing.”
The notice of the CWC
meeting comes a day after the
Congress Parliamentary Party
(CPP) meeting was chaired by
party chief Sonia Gandhi on
Friday with all the Rajya Sabha
and Lok Sabha MPs partici-
pating.
During the CPP meeting
on Friday, Congress president
Sonia Gandhi termed her
party’s performance in the
state assembly elections
“unfortunate, disappointing
and unexpected”.
In the recently concluded
assembly elections, results of
which were declared on May
2, the Congress could not reg-
ister win in any state, and its
only consolation was in Tamil
Nadu where the party con-
tested along with DMK as its
partner, and managed to win
18 seats.
Addressing the party MPs
on Friday during a virtual
meeting, she said, “Most
unfortunately, our own per-
formance in all the states was
very disappointing and if I
may say, unexpectedly so.
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The production of Liquid
Medical Oxygen (LMO)
has been maximised to meet
the present demand of Covid-
19 patients and the domestic
production currently exceeded
9,400 Metric Tonne per day, the
Government said on Saturday.
Giridhar Aramane,
Secretary, Ministry of Road,
Transport and Highways
informed while presenting the
current scenario of LMO pro-
duction, allocation and supply
during the 25th meeting of the
high-level Group of Ministers
(GoM) on Covid-19 through
video-conference.
Union Health Minister
Harsh Vardhan chaired the
meeting that was also virtual-
ly attended by External Affairs
Minister S. Jaishankar, Civil
Aviation Minister Hardeep S.
Puri, Minister of State for
Ports, Shipping and Waterways
and Fertilizers Mansukh
Mandaviya, Minister of State
for Home Nityanand Rai, and
Minister of State for Health
Ashwini Kumar Choubey.
Vinod K. Paul, Member
(Health), NITI Aayog was pre-
sent virtually.
At the outset, the Health
Minister apprised other mem-
bers of GOM about the steadi-
ly growing trajectory of daily
recoveries and also observed
that “180 districts have showed
no fresh cases in the last seven
days, 18 districts in 14 days, 54
districts in 21 days and 32 dis-
tricts were bereft of any fresh
cases in the last 28 days.”
The number of critical
cases thus far includes 4,88,861
patients who required ICU
beds, 1,70,841 patients who
required ventilator support and
9,02,291 patients who were
given oxygen support, the
Minister added.
As on date, Vardhan said,
1.34 per cent of the active
caseload is in ICU, 0.39 per cent
of them are on ventilators and
3.70 per cent of them are on
oxygen support.
Vardhan informed the
GOM that, “the cumulative
number of Covid-19 vaccine
doses administered in the
country has crossed 16.73 crore
on Saturday which includes
nearly 23 lakh doses given on
Friday”.
“A total of 17,49,57,770
doses have been delivered to
the states, out of which
16,65,49,583 doses have been
consumed and 84,08,187 doses
are still available with the
states,” said the Minister,
adding a total of 53,25,000
doses are on the pipeline and
will be supplied to the states
soon.
He requested the states to
set aside 70 per cent of the vac-
cines received through GoI
channel for administration of
the second dose.
On the tests being con-
ducted in India, the Health
Minister noted that the coun-
try has reached a testing capac-
ity of 25,00,000 tests per day.
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Despite increasing its tally
from three seats to 77 in
the 294 member Assembly,
many West Bengal BJP leaders
feel that the Central leadership’s
failure to gauge the mood on
the ground and ignoring the
local leadership were the main
reasons for losing the high
stakes battle to the Mamata
Banerjee-led Trinamool
Congress (TMC).
Listing the reasons for the
party’s failure to form the gov-
ernment in West Bengal, which
was considered the last frontier
by the saffron party along with
Kerala, West Bengal leaders
told IANS that there was little
involvement of the state lead-
ership in the
decision making, there was
too much deployment of cen-
tral leaders from other other
parts of the country, especial-
ly from North India, and a fail-
ure to present a credible and
effective Bengali leadership.
A section in the West
Bengal BJP unit feels that if the
Central leadership had heard
the local cadre the result could
have been better. “Local lead-
ers are well connected with the
people and aware of issues
concerning them and by ignor-
ing them the Central leadership
completely disconnected itself
from the ground,” claimed a
BJP leader.
Former West Bengal BJP
Chief and former Governor of
Tripura and Meghalaya,
Tathagatha Roy openly criti-
cized the ticket distribution
and the role of central
appointees for affairs of the state
unit. Blaming state in-charge
Kailash Vijayvargiya, co-
incharge Arvind Menon, Shiv
Prakash and state unit Chief
Dilip Ghosh, Roy had tweeted,
“These people have heaped the
worst possible insults on ideo-
logically driven BJP workers
and devout Swayamsevaks who
had been relentlessly working
for the party since 1980s.”
Other West Bengal BJP
leaders including a few who lost
in the Assembly polls said, “All
the Central leaders assigned to
manage the
party’s poll affairs had
failed to do their homework
and worked as dictators, ignor-
ing the feedback from the local
cadre.”
A West Bengal BJP leader
claimed that the party strate-
gists failed to present a credible
local face and made it Bengali
(Mamata Banerjee) versus non
Bengali (Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Amit
Shah). “TMC used it and con-
tinuously attacked us and called
the Prime Minister and Home
Minister tourists.
Most of the star campaign-
ers including Modi, Shah and
others had addressed voters in
Hindi. This helped Banerjee’s
narrative that the BJP is an out-
sider party with no respect for
Bengali identity and culture.” he
said.
The local BJP unit also
believes that by not presenting
a local credible face the party
failed to attract the state’s intel-
ligentsia and the Bengali
Bhadralok in the urban areas.
The saffron camp in West
Bengal feels that sidelining of
the local leaders had worked
against the party. “Most of the
local leaders, instead of work-
ing on the ground engaged in
overseeing and arranging logis-
tics of leaders sent by Delhi and
they behaved like a king giving
orders to the local cadre,”
another leader said.
The West Bengal BJP
workers pointed out that the
leadership also failed to gauge
the mood of women voters.
“Welfare schemes of the Modi
government did not work in
our favour but women welfare
work of Mamata in the rural
areas worked magic for the
ruling party.
From the very start the
central leadership insisted that
like Bihar, women voters in
West Bengal would vote for
the BJP but it did not happen,”
he said.
Sexist comments like the
‘Didi O Didi’ remark of the
Prime Minister and Ghosh’s
comment that Mamata should
wear shorts also worked
against the BJP, claimed a
party leader.
Another leader suggested
that the party should now
start identifying candidates
for the next general elections
in 2024 instead of parachuting
in outsiders.
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Former Congress president
Rahul Gandhi on Saturday
slammed the Government over
the goods and services tax
(GST) on vaccines, saying lives
can be lost but the Prime
Minister’s tax collection should
not be lost.
In a tweet in Hindi, Rahul
Gandhi said, “Lives of people
can be lost, but the tax collec-
tion of the Prime Minister
(Narendra Modi) should not be
lost.”
He also used the hash tag of
GST. His remarks came after
several Congress-ruled states
questioned the five per cent
GST on the Covid vaccines.
With the five per cent GST
on Covid vaccines the state gov-
ernments have to pay Rs 15-20
extra per dose to the central
government. The Rajasthan
and Chhattisgarh governments
have opposed the move of col-
lection of GST on Covid vac-
cines manufactured in India.
Even Odisha Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik has
written to Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman for waiv-
er of GST on Covid vaccines.
Rahul Gandhi on Friday
wrote to the Prime Minister
saying his government’s lack of
a clear and coherent Covid
and vaccination strategy, as
well as its hubris in declaring
premature victory as the virus
was exponentially spreading,
has placed India in a highly
dangerous position.
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