Union Labour Minister complains to U.P. CM on COVID-19 response
Minister of State with independent charge in the Ministry of Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar flagged concerns over the COVID-19 response in Uttar Pradesh in a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on May 8. Mr. Gangwar complained about officers not answering phone calls and patients being forced to visit multiple facilities before being admitted to a hospital.
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The Environment Appraisal Committee (EAC) - Infrastructure I of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has flagged serious concerns about NITI Aayog’s ambitious project for Great Nicobar Island (‘NITI Aayog vision for Great Nicobar ignores tribal, ecological concerns’, The Hindu , March 21, 2021). The committee has, however, removed the first hurdle faced by the project. It has “recommended” it “for grant of terms of reference (TOR)” for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies, which in the first instance will include baseline studies over three months.
Audit finds excessive use of oxygen in U.P. hospitals
Some hospitals in Uttar Pradesh are consuming oxygen several times higher than the average, the State government said on Sunday based on the preliminary report of an oxygen audit conducted by it.
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Nirmala Sitharaman lists tax waiver on COVID-19 relief goods
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 9 said GST exemption to domestic supplies and commercial import of COVID-19 drugs, vaccines and oxygen concentrators would make these items costlier for consumers as manufacturers would not be able to offset the taxes paid on inputs.
Coronavirus waves inevitable without appropriate protocol: experts
Recurring waves of coronavirus infections are inevitable if existing practices such as expanding India's vaccination drive and following COVID protocol are not adhered to, say experts. Earlier last week, Principal Scientific Advisor K. VijayRaghavan had said, “A phase three is inevitable, given the higher levels of circulating virus.”
Coronavirus | Mallikarjun Kharge writes to Naidu, Modi, offers 6 suggestions
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to immediately convene an all-party meeting to “collectively forge a holistic blueprint to tackle the COVID pandemic”.
China Red Cross sends oxygen concentrators, ventilators
A first batch of oxygen concentrators and ventilators donated by the Red Cross Society of China arrived on Sunday on a cargo flight from China. The consignment marks among the biggest donations of medical supplies so far from China, from where India has been purchasing a huge amount of supplies, including oxygen concentrators.
Trinamool, Bengal Governor spar over ‘prosecution of former Ministers’
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday said he has accorded sanction to a Central investigating agency for “prosecuting Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Madan Mitra & Sovan Chatterjee as they were Ministers and he was their appointing authority.
Low testing, high positivity ratio in West Bengal is a challenge
West Bengal on Sunday registered a record 19,436 new cases of COVID-19 infections, while the number of samples tested for COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours was 63,095. There has been a rise in the number of cases and deaths since the second wave of COVID-19 hit West Bengal, which has recently witnessed a high-pitched election.
Too early to say how we can find a slot to complete IPL: Ganguly
BCCI president says India has a hectic schedule and there are lots of organisational hazards like 14-day quarantine which is tough to handle.
Zverev beats Berrettini to win his 2nd Madrid Open title
Alexander Zverev continued his impressive form going into the French Open by winning his second Madrid Open title on Sunday. After beating top-seeded Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals and fourth-ranked Dominic Thiem in the semifinals, Zverev rallied to defeat Matteo Berrettini 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-3 for his second title this season.