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Police force most corrupt, overall increase of 26% in corruption cases: Maharashtra ACB data reveals

OpIndia Staff
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Police force most corrupt, overall increase of 26% in corruption cases: Maharashtra ACB data reveals

The statistical report [pdf] released by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) reveals that there has been an increase in corruption cases by 26 percent in the state of Maharashtra since the beginning of 2021. 

The report which cites data from January 01, 2021, to April 24, 2021, suggests that maximum arrests in corruption cases were made from the police department followed by officials of the revenue department.

In a shocking revelation, the bribery amount involving the police department is recorded to be Rs 11,58,100 followed by Municipal Corporations with Rs 10,05,500 and Revenue Department with Rs 9,45,400.

The total bribe amount involved in the 254 cases filed, amounts to Rs 61.89 lakh.

Statistics of new cases and arrests

As per the statistics, 254 new cases were registered by the ACB from early January till April 24 this year and 342 arrests of people involved in these cases have been made as compared to 201 new cases registered and 282 arrests made during the same period last year.

Of the 254 cases registered, 53 cases have been filed against the Revenue Department which has resulted in the arrest of 73 officials.

The report also reveals that 77 arrests have been made from the police department in connection to 50 cases of corruption, while 22 cases have been registered against various Municipal Corporations leading to arrests of 33 officials.

Maximum cases have been recorded from cities like Aurangabad (79) followed by Nashik (58), Pune (57), Thane (40) and Mumbai (32). 

An ACB official revealed in a statement, “The police and Revenue departments have been among the top positions in corruption cases since past few years. Last year there were less cases registered because of the lockdown and once the lockdown was lifted, the cases again started rising. We appeal citizens not to fall into the demands made by corrupt government officials and come forward and lodge complaints with the ACB to ensure that corrupt officials are brought to book. We regularly take awareness campaigns for citizens to make them more aware about uprooting corruption.”

CBI files FIR against Anil Deshmukh

Meanwhile, an FIR has also been filed by the CBI against former Maharashtra Home Minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh on corruption charges. 

Allegations of extortion and corruption were levelled against Deshmukh by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.

The preliminary enquiry had been registered after the Bombay High Court ordered a CBI inquiry basis a PIL filed by Dr Jaishri Patil. Terming the case as ‘extraordinary and unprecedented, the Bombay High Court had also said that after the preliminary inquiry ordered by it, the CBI would be free to decide further course of action. Therefore, it allowed the CBI to file an FIR in the case if it did find evidence against Anil Deshmukh in the allegations leveled against him by Parambir Singh.

West Bengal: Poll-bound Murshidabad witnesses bombing incident, BJP party office too allegedly attacked by TMC goons ahead of polling

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: Poll-bound Murshidabad witnesses bombing incident, BJP party office too allegedly attacked by TMC goons ahead of polling

Ahead of the 7th phase of Vidhan Sabha elections in West Bengal, incident of bombing has surfaced from the Borderpara area in Tentulia in the Murshidabad constituency, reported Zee 24 ghanta. The attack took place late on Sunday (April 25) night.

As per reports, the unidentified goons targetted the BJP office in Tentulia and tore down party flags and banners. While speaking about the matter, a local (dressed in cyan T-shirt) said, ” The attack was carried out by the Trinamool Congress. There has been bombing in the area. The TMC goons have threatened us publicly.”

On being asked about the specific location where the bombing incident took place, another local responded, “The bombing took place right in our village, in front of my uncle’s house. The (goons) had initially captured my uncle. Around 25-30 miscreants had come to orchestrate the attack. This is what they have been doing for several nights now. They have taken away our sleep.”

Video Courtesy: Youtube/News 24 Ghanta)

“They are not allowing us to even cast our vote. The goons have been threatening the agents (of BJP),” he concluded. The first local said, “They tried to destroy the BJP party office but could not succeed due to our presence. But, they hurled bombs and left the place.” Owing to the fear that they might be obstructed or physically barred from exercising their right to vote, several women in Tentulia have decided to cast their vote early in the morning.

“I am going to vote early. Everyone is saying that a ruckus might break out later in the day,” a woman lamented. Following the bombing incident, an atmosphere of fear and anxiety has gripped the area. Voting for the 7th phase of polls is currently underway in 34 constituencies in West Bengal. These include 4, constituencies in Kolkata, 6 constituencies each in Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda, and 9 constituencies each in Murshidabad and Paschim Bardhaman.

Crude bombs hurled in Minakhan Vidhan Sabha assembly during 5th phase

Earlier during the 5th phase of polls, crude bombs were hurled at poll booth 114 in West Bengal’s Minakhan Assembly. The Trinamool Congress party had pinned the blame of the attack on the members of Peerzada Abbasuddin Siddique’s party Indian Secular Front. Besides, incidents of violence were also reported from outside polling booth 115 in Minakhan Assembly.

In a separate incident, BJP and TMC workers clashed after the BJP polling agent was allegedly assaulted in West Bengal’s North Bardhaman district. The Trinamool Congress alleged that at least 35 “outsiders” and “BJP goons” were ‘threatening’ TMC voters who were on their way to the polling booth in Nadia’s Kalyani.

Antilia bomb scare: Arrested Crime Branch cop Sunil Mane’s offices raided by NIA, involvement in Mansukh Hiren murder being probed

OpIndia Staff
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Antilia bomb scare: Arrested Crime Branch cop Sunil Mane’s offices raided by NIA, involvement in Mansukh Hiren murder being probed

With Sachin Vaze and Riyaz Kazi sent to extended judicial custody by a special NIA court till May 05, the National Investigation Agency has also secured suspended Crime Branch Inspector Sunil Mane’s custody till April 28. 

In a recent update, the NIA reportedly conducted raids at Locals Arms Office in Marol, Andheri where Mane was recently posted, and at his prior office Crime Branch Unit 11 in Kandivali, Mumbai suburbs. 

The NIA also conducted a raid at a location in Borivali from where a red car allegedly belonging to Mane was seized. The vehicle has been handed over to forensics to trace any relevant evidence in connection to Mumbai businessman Mansukh Hiren’s death case.

Allegations on Mane

Police inspector Sunil Mane, who was arrested on Friday by the NIA was said to be present in the area at Thane where Hiren was murdered in a car on March 4 and his body dumped in a creek nearby as per technical evidence found against him. 

The NIA is also in search of a SIM card used by Mane to make calls to Hiren on the 3rd and 4th of March. As per sources, Mane was present at a meeting between the suspended APIs and was reportedly involved in passing on SIM cards procured from Vaze to other officials who were involved in the case. 

On Saturday, Mane was taken to the three spots at Thane including the Reti Bunder creek where Hiren’s body was found.

Mane’s involvement 

NIA has also been scrutinizing Mane’s call details to establish who he was in touch with before and after the Antilia bomb-scare incident in February and Mansukh Hiren’s murder. 

The investigation has incidentally revealed that the person who made the last call to Hiren around 8.30 pm on March 4, before he went missing, identified himself to be a crime branch officer from ‘Kandivali’. The call was made to get the victim out to Ghodbunder Road in Thane on the pretext of a meeting.

The conspiracy

As per NIA sources, Mane was under suspicion from the beginning of the investigation for his involvement in the case. Sources claim that Mane was a crucial part of the conspiracy hatched to eliminate Hiren. 

It is said that he was present at the crime intelligence unit (CIU) office on March 3, when Vaze was trying to convince Hiren to take the blame for placing the explosives-laden Scorpio near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilia. Vaze had promised the businessman to get him out on bail in a few days. 

Upon Hiren’s refusal to take the blame, Sachin Vaze along with his associates hatched a plan to eliminate the 48-year-businessman from Thane.

An NIA officer added that Mane was also allegedly a part of the meeting which was held at Chakala in Andheri by Vaze and Vinayak Shinde – a former constable arrested in the Mansukh Hiren death case.

Mane, Maharashtra Police service officer from the 1995 batch, was in charge of Mumbai’s Crime Branch’s Unit 11 until he was recently transferred to the local arms division as a part of the clean-up drive undertaken by police commissioner Hemant Nagrale after Sachin Vaze’s arrest by the NIA.

When NIA began the probe, Mane was posted in Mumbai’s Crime Branch’s Unit 11, Kandivali.

WB polls: From flouting EC guidelines to manhandling BJP leaders, allegations pile up on TMC leaders during 7th phase of polling

OpIndia Staff
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WB polls: From flouting EC guidelines to manhandling BJP leaders, allegations pile up on TMC leaders during 7th phase of polling

Amidst the 7th phase of Vidhan Sabha polls in West Bengal, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) polling agent was caught sporting a cap bearing the face of CM Mamata Banerjee. The incident took place on Monday (April 26) at the polling booth in Baktarnagar High school in Paschim Bardhaman. It must be mentioned that sporting election symbols on polling day on vehicles, pamphlets, and other paraphernalia is a breach of the guidelines laid down by the Election Commission.

As per reports, the accused TMC polling agent has been identified as one Nayan Chand. He was caught red-handed by Agnimitra Paul, the BJP candidate from the Asansol Dakshin Assembly constituency. “Topi pade bosha royecha…Apni Presiding officer apni bolen ni je aita allowed na…Mamata Banerjee r topi padhe basha royeche (He is sitting with this cap… You are the Presiding officer. Did you not tell him that such a thing is not allowed? He is wearing the cap bearing Mamata Banerjee’s face),” she said.

Agnimitra Paul showcased the cap before the media. As seen in visuals, the cap bears the face of Mamata Banerjee. “Polling agents must know that you are not allowed to wear caps, head coverings that contain party symbols, logos, or the face of prominent leaders. TMC agent Nayan Chand was wearing this cap. Don’t they know the rules? TMC is after all a national party. Why didn’t Mamata Banerjee brief him about this? They are trying to influence people by pulling off these small tricks,” the BJP leader emphasised.

(Video Courtesy: Youtube/News24 Ghanta)

BJP agent manhandled, forcibly pushed out of polling booth by TMC goons

In another incident, a BJP polling agent named Sankar Sarkar was harassed and manhandled by Trinamool Congress (TMC) goons in Bakhra village of Ratua in Malda. He was pushed out of Booth No. 91 after they claimed that he was not a voter. While recounting his ordeal, he said, “I am an agent at booth number 91. Members of TMC, who are residents of the village, told me that they won’t let me there as I’m not a voter there. They forcefully pushed me out. I was threatened by them.”

A Trinamool Congress worker has however claimed that the BJP polling agent was not harassed. “He is not a voter here so we asked him to leave respectfully. Nobody threatened him,” the man claimed. Voting for the 7th phase of polls is currently underway in 34 constituencies in West Bengal. These include 4, constituencies in Kolkata, 6 constituencies each in Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda, and 9 constituencies each in Murshidabad and Paschim Bardhaman.

Delhi CM Relief Fund collected Rs 35 crore since beginning of pandemic but ‘NIL’ was utilised for COVID, RTI reveals

Anurag
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Delhi CM Relief Fund collected Rs 35 crore since beginning of pandemic but ‘NIL’ was utilised for COVID, RTI reveals

An RTI (Right To Information) application has revealed that Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi Government received almost Rs 35 crores under LG/CM Relief Fund from March 2020 to January 2021. The Kejriwal government spent over Rs 17 crores from the amount. However, it failed to provide information on funds it spent to control the Covid-19 pandemic from March 2020 to January 2021. It has to be noted that the Delhi Government has been accusing the central government of the surge and mismanagement of pandemic in the national capital.

Details of the RTI

RTI applications were filed by RTI activist Vivek Pandey. Speaking to OpIndia, Vivek informed that he filed two RTI applications with Delhi Government to get information on funds collected under CM/LG relief fund since March 2020 and how it was utilised.

He also asked the AAP-led Delhi Government if they had spent any money on controlling the Covid-19 pandemic during the period. The first RTI was filed in November 2020 and second was filed in February 2021.

Both RTIs had almost similar replies

Vivek shared the questions he had sent in both RTIs and screenshots of the replies he had received from the Delhi Government. In the first RTI application submitted on November 16, 2020, he asked the govt to provide details of the amount deposited in LG/CM relief funds from March 2020 till date. In the reply, it was mentioned that a total of Rs 34.69 crores were collected during that period.

RTI application by Vivek Pandey and reply by Delhi government in November 2020

On the question of how much the government had spent from the fund, it was mentioned that Rs 17.02 crores were spent to date. However, the government of Delhi was unable to provide the details of where they spent the money, stating the data was not finalized and reconciled yet. To the query on how much money was spent on Covid pandemic control, the reply came as NIL.

RTI application by Vivek Pandey and reply by Delhi government in February 2021

After waiting for three months, Vivek submitted another application hoping to get a better answer from Kejriwal’s Government. The only difference in the replies that Delhi Government provided was the difference in the amount they received (Rs 34.77 crores) and the amount they spent (Rs 17.27 crores). To the query, how much money they spend on Covid pandemic control was NIL.

Delhi Government should have used funds for preparations, said Vivek

Speaking to OpIndia, Vivek said that the Delhi Government had been consistently blaming the central government for the mismanagement of health infrastructure in the national capital amid a rising number of Covid cases. However, despite of having funds in hand, Kejriwal allegedly did nothing to control the pandemic. “He could have established oxygen plants or make some arrangements beforehand with the funds from CM Relief Fund,” said Vivek. Notably, Kejriwal Government tried to take credit for the relief work Central Government did after Delhi Government failed to manage the pandemic last year. Even during the second, they tried the same tactics but failed.

Out of proportion ad expenses of Delhi government

As per reports, Delhi Government has spent hundreds of crores on ads in print, television and online media in the last few months. With over Rs 150 crores spent just on ads in 2021, Delhi Government appears to have a different set of priorities. In March alone, the govt spent whooping Rs.92.48 crores on ads. A Twitter user said that he counted ads playing for 15 times within six hours on TV.

The covid situation in Delhi

On April 25, Delhi reported 22,933 new cases. So far, the state has recorded 10,27,715 Covid-19 cases, out of which 9,18,143 have recovered. There are 94,592 active cases in the state, and 14,248 people have lost their lives to Covid-19 related complications. 350 people died on April 25. The state has been reporting over a 30% positive rate from the last one week. There is also a consistent drop in the number of vaccinations administered in the state from the last two weeks. Since April 10, when the state had issued 1,05,918 vaccine shots, Delhi could not cross the 1 lakh/day mark. On some days, the state was struggling to administer even 50,000 shots. 

Hemkunt Foundation accuse Rajasthan Police of detaining oxygen cylinders meant for critical COVID patients

OpIndia Staff
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Hemkunt Foundation accuse Rajasthan Police of detaining oxygen cylinders meant for critical COVID patients

Amidst the rising cases of Coronavirus in the country, several NGOs have come forward to help needy citizens with the supply of free medical oxygen cylinders. One such non-governmental organization has been the Hemkunt Foundation, which has supplied more than 1000 cylinders so far at a nominal, refundable security deposit of ₹10,000.

Despite its best efforts to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of liquid oxygen, the foundation has alleged that they are being harassed by the Rajasthan Police. “Our driver and truck of cylinders have been detained at Bhiwadi Police Station meanwhile critical patients are waiting at our Drive-Thru in Gurgaon,” it said in a tweet yesterday.

In another tweet, the NGO informed that while critical Coronavirus patients had been desperately waiting for oxygen cylinders and had run out of resources. “Police have stopped all trucks. We can’t do anything about it,” lamented a man in the background.

Rajasthan police responds to the controversy

Following outrage on social media, the Rajasthan police intervened and directed the Bhiwadi police branch to look into the matter urgently. “Still waiting,” responded Hemkunt Foundation.

Screengrab of the tweet by Rajasthan police

The Rajasthan police Help Desk directed the Inspector General of police post an update about the matter. In response, the Twitter handle of IGP Jaipur informed, “According to the information received from Bhiwadi police, a pickup vehicle was found parked in Ghatal village. A total of 5 empty oxygen cylinders were found in the car. On not receiving a satisfactory answer from the driver of the vehicle, he was brought to the police station and released after interrogation at 2:56 am in the night.”

Screengrab of the tweet

Citing cases of black marketing of oxygen cylinders, Bhiwadi police justified their action against Hemkunt Foundation. While conveniently ignoring the fact that the police high-handedness led to delay in supply of medical oxygen to critical Coronavirus patients, it said, “Keeping in mind the cases of black marketing of oxygen cylinders, the driver was called to the police station on not receiving a satisfactory answer. He was allowed to go at 2:56 am and the vehicle was permitted to go.”

The development was also confirmed by IPS Arun Bothra. He tweeted, “Vehicles have been released. You may verify and confirm.”

Noida: Hospitals ordered to clear 200 beds, were occupied by patients with little need of hospitalization

OpIndia Staff
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Noida: Hospitals ordered to clear 200 beds, were occupied by patients with little need of hospitalization

Multiple private hospitals in Noida were pulled up for admitting patients with little need or no need for hospitalization and for sensationalizing the shortage of oxygen and other medical essentials when there was none. 

As per reports, Various city hospitals were inspected by the District Magistrate(DM) and Chief Medical Officer(CMO) of Noida who got the hospitals to free up nearly 200 Covid beds that were occupied by patients who actually didn’t require hospitalization. The beds were made free for critical patients in need of hospitalization.

As per a report in India Today, the hospitals where beds were freed are: GIMS, Yatharth, Kailash, Sharda, JayPee, Fortis, Prakash, Sector 39 Covid hospital, Indogulf, JR hospital, SRS hospital, Surya, and Metro Hospital.

The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration said on Friday that several people had occupied beds in private hospitals of Noida and Greater Noida without being in need of them.

Following an inspection by the health department, an official indicated that strict action will be taken against those private hospitals which took to social media raising an alarm of shortage of medical oxygen which turned out to be baseless and “fact less”.

Action to be taken against private hospitals that kept beds occupied with patients who didn’t need them

As per reports, District Magistrate Suhas LY conducted a virtual meeting with senior administration and health officials of Gautam Buddh Nagar, including Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Deepak Ohri, to discuss the grave mismanagement at private hospitals and other issues related to the Covid-19 situation. He has ordered the committee to submit a report on the same. 

District Information Officer Rakesh Chauhan said, “The DM made it clear to all officials that every Coivid-19 patient in the district should be provided all facilities as per the instructions of the state government.”

“On the DM’s directions, the CMO and his team reviewed the ground situation in several hospitals on Friday and found that several patients in some private hospitals were occupying beds although they do not need to be hospitalized. On the other hand, some private hospitals have put out “factless” information related to the availability of medical oxygen in the district through social media which has been taken very seriously by the district administration,” he added.

“DM Suhas has asked CMO Ohri to present a report based on the review of hospitals on Friday where people were found occupying beds without any requirement so that strict action could be taken against such facilities,” Chauhan concluded in the statement.

Hospitals asked to not turn away critical patients

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Sunday that all Covid-19 hospitals in Uttar Pradesh will be required to publicly announce the number of vacant beds twice a day.

The Chief Minister also directed the officials on Sunday to ensure that no hospital in Uttar Pradesh will turn away patients that require hospitalization to treat Covid-19 and if state-run hospitals are short of beds, the patients can be sent to private hospitals for which the expenses will be taken care by the government.

Delhi Police refutes allegations that it is clamping down on ‘volunteers who are amplifying resource information’ on COVID crisis

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Police refutes allegations that it is clamping down on ‘volunteers who are amplifying resource information’ on COVID crisis

As Delhi struggles under the fourth wave of Chinese coronavirus, a new wave of fake news and falsehoods is being created on social media by Modi-hating ‘influencers’.

Delhi-lawyer and columnist Dushyant on Sunday tweeted that multiple people have reached out to him claiming that Delhi Police is ‘hounding’ them and asking them to shut down their WhatsApp groups and other crowdsourcing efforts amid the pandemic.

Dushant’s tweet

Dushyant is a very vocal Rahul Gandhi and Congress supporter.

He was joined by NDTV’s Gargi Rawat Ansari who questioned whether Delhi Police is acting against these ‘volunteers’ because they are providing scarce resources, thereby casting aspersions that Delhi Police is trying to hamper relief efforts of ‘volunteers’.

Gargi Rawat Ansari’s tweet

Gargi Rawat Ansari is married to Yusuf Ahmad Ansari, the great-grandson of former Congress President Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari. Notorious gangster Mukhtar Ansari who was recently brought to UP from Punjab is also one of her close relatives through marriage.

Similar messages were shared with unverifiable claims where their ‘friends’ claimed their WhatsApp relief group was ‘dismantled’.

Tweet alleging a ‘WhatsApp group dismantled’ on Delhi Police order

More people had replied to the tweet accusing Delhi Police of cracking down on volunteers last year as well during the migrant crisis after Kejriwal govt ran buses to UP border while the inter-state movement was prohibited.

Tweet alleging Delhi Police of arresting people distributing meals to migrants in 2020

It is imperative to note here that none of these claims were supported by evidence.

Soon, copy-paste toolkit gang got activated and similar messages started floating on social media.

Tweet copied from Dushyant

One Twitter user ‘Piku’ tweeted the same thing as Dushyant.

Piku

@risingsurbhi is an AAP social media worker and is followed by various AAP leaders.

More such messages

Many social media users spread such messages on various platforms claiming that Delhi Police is forcing ‘volunteers’ to shut down the coordinating activities.

Here are some more tweets by influencers making similar claims about Delhi Police.

Kisse Kahaniyaan tweet

Kisse Kahaniyaan has over 4,400 followers on Twitter and is followed by many influential Twitter users, politicians, political activists and journalists.

Kisse Kahaniyaan followers

As one can see, many Congress leaders and supporters are following this influential account.

Kakul’s tweet

Similarly, Kakul Prasher is also followed by many politicians, journalists and activists.

People who follow Kakul

The Delhi Police, however, has refuted these allegations.

Delhi Police said that it takes strong objection to such motivated, unverified and unsubstantiated allegations that Delhi Police has asked volunteers to stop amplifying resource information. Delhi Police also added how they have also been on their toes helping with oxygen supply and other essentials amid the coronavirus crisis and such misinformation campaign will not deter them from continuing to do the good work.

Fake news and hoax: Influencers spread conspiracy theory

On Saturday, the government of India had to step in and ask Twitter to remove false, malicious and misleading tweets regarding the coronavirus pandemic. Filmmakers like Vinod Kapri and Swara Bhaskar starrer Anarkali of Arrah director Avinash Das had resorted to share old, unrelated pictures or pictures of different locations which could have led to a panic-like situation. Similarly, political activist like Hansraj Meena had used his influence to amplify that coronavirus is a hoax and conspiracy and that the illness does not exist.

After massive criticism and NSA-level talks, USA lifts export ban over vaccine raw material needed by SII

OpIndia Staff
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After massive criticism and NSA-level talks, USA lifts export ban over vaccine raw material needed by SII

The United States has finally decided to send raw material for Covid-19 vaccines to India. It will also send medical equipment and protective gear to support India amidst a massive surge in Covid-19 infections. On April 26, President Joe Biden said, “Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, we are determined to help India in its time of need.” The US was under immense pressure to provide support to India after countries including Russia, Britain, Germany, and France extended a helping hand.

Emily Horne, spokesperson for, National Security Council, said that the US officials are working around the clock to deploy ‘available resources and supplies’ to India for Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing. She added that the US is also exploring options to provide oxygen generation and related supplies to India. Horne said the US will send a team of experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Agency for International Development to work with India.

It has to be noted that the United States had banned the export of essential raw materials like bags, valves etc., after which Serum Institute had expressed helplessness in pacing up the vaccine production. The US is reportedly sending therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits and ventilators as well.

Serum Institute of India’s CEO Adar Poonawalla had appealed to the US government multiple times to lift the embargo over vaccine raw materials. Citing export laws, the US government had halted the export of some critical raw material needed for the production of the Covishield vaccines.

Decision after NSA-level talks

The US government’s decision to lift the embargo and export critical material to India came after a discussion between India’s NSA Ajit Doval and his US counterpart Jake Sullivan.

Sullivan’s statement said, “the US has identified sources of specific raw material urgently required for Indian manufacture of the Covishield vaccine that will be made available for India.” The statement also included that USA will send supplies of therapeutics, rapid diagnostics test kits, PPEs, and ventilators too.

US lawmakers urging Biden admin to export unused AstraZeneca vaccines too

Ro Khanna, the Democratic vice-chair of the Congressional India Caucus, welcomed the US’s decision and urged the Biden administration to send unused Covid-19 vaccine doses of AstraZeneca as well to India. He said, “Let’s use the US military and get as much oxygen and AstraZeneca doses to India as fast as we can.” Notably, the AstraZeneca vaccine has not been approved in the United States, resulting in stockpiling of millions of doses. The AstraZeneca vaccine is not approved by US FDA, so the doses are lying unused in the country.

According to the top health officials, the US already has enough doses of approved versions by three other companies to vaccinate all Americans in the coming weeks. Top business lobbying group also pushed the Biden administration to send the vaccines to countries that are experiencing a rise in the cases. However, the US government did not comment on any such possibility.

The US Development Finance Corporation also announced financial support to Indian vaccine maker Biological E Ltd, or BioE, to enable them to produce at least 1 billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine by the end of 2022.

It is notable here that after repeated requests by Serum CEO Adar Poonawalla, the US government was facing a widespread criticism from all levels for its continued embargo over critical raw material that was hindering the production of Covishield by SII, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer.

Britain sends medical equipment to India

Boris Johnson, Prime Minister, United Kingdom, said on April 25 that over 600 medical devices, including oxygen concentrators and ventilators, have been deployed to India to provide support during the surge in Covid-19 cases.

Johnson said,” We stand side by side with India in the shared fight against COVID-19. Vital medical equipment is on its way from the UK to India to help stop the tragic loss of life from the virus, and we’ll continue to work closely with the Indian government during this difficult time.”

Alex Ellis, the British High Commissioner to India shares a message in Hindi, stating that UK stands with India in the time time of difficulty.

The Foreign Minister of Britain said that the equipment came from the surplus stock, and the first shipment will reach India early on Tuesday.

Yogi govt to bear cost of COVID treatment in private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat

OpIndia Staff
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Yogi govt to bear cost of COVID treatment in private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday informed that those COVID-19 positive patients who could not avail a bed in government hospitals, can be admitted to private hospitals.

Yogi Adityanath’s office informed that the hospitals, government and private, are instructed to not say no to admit COVID-19 positive patient. If a bed is unavailable in government hospital, the patient could be referred to private hospital.

Yogi Adityanath’s office further informed that if the patient is not able to afford the treatment in private hospital, the same shall be borne by the state government under Ayushman Bharat Yojana. “No patient should be deprived of the treatment,” Yogi Adityanath said.

The government also informed that in an unfortunate situation where the patient loses his/her life, their last rites will be carried out as per their religion and state government will bear the cost.

Earlier the state government had informed that there is no shortage of oxygen in the state. While speaking during virtual interaction with editors of various newspapers, CM said, “There is no shortage of oxygen in any COVID hospital, be it private or government. The problem is black marketing and hoarding, which will be tackled with a heavy hand. We will conduct an oxygen audit in collaboration with IIT Kanpur, IIM Lucknow and IIT BHU for proper monitoring of oxygen. The system of live tracking of oxygen demand, supply and distribution will be implemented.”

Coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh

As of now, about 10.86 lakh people have tested positive for coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh, of which 2.97 lakh are active cases. 11,165 people have lost their lives in the pandemic as per the official figures.

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