The Times Of India
Covid-19: Unable to get ICU beds in two govt hospitals, Kumbh seer dies in Haridwar
A 70-year-old seer attending the Maha Kumbh died of Covid-19 at a Covid care centre in Haridwar after he was allegedly turned away by both AIIMS Rishikesh and Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) for lack of ICU beds.
Covid-19: Govt aims to encourage demand-supply dynamic to allow wider vaccination
An urgent meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday morning considered a set of options proposed by the government's expert group on vaccinations that was a sharp departure from the Covid vaccine strategy in place since vaccinations began on January 16.
Rs 30,000 crore of disaster funds given to states in one year
Probably in one of the highest yearly spend towards disaster mitigation, the Centre has released more than Rs 30,000 crore of disaster funds to states and Union Territories since the beginning of the pandemic last year. Up to 50% of this fund has been allowed to be used for Covid-19 containment measures that may include setting up of quarantine centres, buying of medical equipment, providing for ambulances and expenditure towards testing and tracing of cases.
Congress says govt’s new policy will lead to multiple prices of vaccines, shortchange poorer states
Slamming the new vaccine policy as “the Modi government abdicating its responsibility in the garb of giving more powers to states”, Congress Tuesday said it will lead to multiple prices of vaccines and shift a large financial burden of vaccinating the poor to the “already overstretched states” while seriously handicapping the poorer states in procurement of vaccines from the open market.
Supreme Court gives life to Art 224A to bring back retired judges
Activating Article 224A of the Constitution that had been dormant for 58 years, the Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed high court chief justices to start appointing retired HC judges as ad hoc judges for two to five years if the HC faced pendency of a large number of cases.
UP cops get ‘clean chit’ in Vikas Dubey killing
The Justice B S Chauhan inquiry commission has found no evidence of wrongdoing by Uttar Pradesh police in the encounter killings of gangster Vikas Dubey and his five associates, which were allegedly staged to exact revenge for the murder of eight policemen by the outlaw and his men at Bikru village on July 3 last year.
Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj forced to dial Uddhav, Yogi, Gehlot to ‘free’ oxygen tankers
At a time when Madhya Pradesh is crying out for oxygen, there have been instances of tankers carrying oxygen to the state being stopped by officials in other states, like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Maharashtra. In some cases, it took calls from the CMO to get them released, say sources.
Covid-19: 1.2 billion doses needed from May, capacity for 115 million/month
There would be a need for an additional 1.2 billion doses (assuming two jabs per person) from May, with the government opening up vaccination for everyone above 18 years. This is because an estimated 44% or around 600 million of the country’s population falls in the 18-45 years age group.
2011-2020 warmest decade on record, says global body
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has said 2020 was one of the three warmest years on record, despite a cooling La Niña event, and the global average temperature that year was about 1.2°Celsius above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) level.
Covid vaccines will not be available for sale at chemists, pharmacies
While the government has allowed sale of Covid vaccines in the open market from May 1, the shots will not be available for sale at chemists or pharmacies. Only hospitals and approved vaccination centres can administer the vaccines. Adverse events following immunisation (AEFIs) will be recorded on Co-Win and meticulously monitored, senior officials said.
Covid-19: Centre to rework oxygen allocation amid rise in cases
With states holding up supply of liquid medical oxygen, the union home ministry on Tuesday stepped in to ensure that supply remained unhindered, even as the Centre prepared to rework some of the allocation over the next few days to meet the rising demand from Covid-19 patients.