Home Blog Page 4272

UP govt announces free Remdesivir injections to critically ill, 44 arrested in black-marketing of life-saving drugs, oxygen cylinders

OpIndia Staff
-
0
UP govt announces free Remdesivir injections to critically ill, 44 arrested in black-marketing of life-saving drugs, oxygen cylinders

The Yogi Adityanath government on Tuesday ordered the state-run and private hospitals in Uttar Pradesh to provide Remdesivir injections to the critically ill COVID-19 patients free of cost.

Though private hospitals in the state are asked to procure the drug directly from the market and the manufacturers, they can still procure it from the District Magistrate and the Chief Medical Officer if they don’t get supplies of Remdesivir and it is very necessary for the survival of the patients. For this, orders have been issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare.

No shortage of Remdesivir in Uttar Pradesh, every district to be provided with life-saving drugs: Yogi Adityanath

While chairing a high-level meeting on Monday, UP CM Yogi said that there is no shortage of Remdesivir, a crucial antiviral drug, and other life-saving medicines in the state. Parallelly, the supply of the medicines is increasing on a daily basis, he added.

Instructing UP administration employees to follow the mantra of ‘Dawai Bhi Kadai Bhi’, UP CM asked them to ensure there is no wastage of vaccines.

He also suggested health authorities to conduct testing before administering Remdesivir or other life-saving drugs to the patients, so that no untoward reaction takes place in patients. It is worth mentioning that Remdesivir will be only given to patients who are admitted at the hospital and on the basis of the Doctor’s prescription.

Every day one Remdesivir vial will be given to patients of non-invasive ventilation beds of private and government hospitals and medical colleges. At present, around 5500 patients are being given this injection daily. The distribution of this injection is being made through Director General, Medical Education and Training, and Uttar Pradesh Medical Supplies Corporation Limited.

Yogi Adityanath also asked the authorities to ensure that remdesivir vials are available at L-2 COVID-19 hospitals across the state.

Furthermore, to avert an emergency crisis, Yogi Adityanath said that every district of Uttar Pradesh will be provided with 1,800 spare Remdesivir vials, in case those in dire need can procure from the administration without having to wait. These vials will be sold to patients at a fixed cost.

Yogi Adityanath’s crackdown against black-marketers indulging in the illegal sale of life-saving drugs, oxygen cylinders

Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in the state, the UP government has taken measures to stop black-marketing of essential drugs, including Remdesivir. To curb the illegal sale of essential drugs, the CM has ordered to slap NSA (National Security Act) against people who are involved in black-marketing of Covid-19 medicines.

About 44 people have been already arrested by the government for black-marketing essential medicines. As many as 877 Remdesivir injections, 340 oxygen cylinders, mobile phones and cash of Rs 9,42,660 have been recovered from them.

Special Task Force have been instituted to stop the black marketing of life-saving drugs, including Remdesivir. At the district level, the police have also issued helpline numbers to take action against those who committed black marketing.

Instead of registering a case property on injections and cylinders recovered from black-marketers, they are being used to treat people in urgent need of medicines and oxygen.

The Yogi Adityanath government has also come down hard against those who indulge in spreading rumours. In fact, a hospital operator has also been sued for spreading rumours of lack of oxygen in Barabanki district. The accused had an adequate amount of oxygen cylinders, but he refused to admit the patient on the pretext of not having oxygen and gave misleading bytes of not having oxygen on the channels, but when the administration conducted an investigation in the matter, they recovered a sizeable number of oxygen cylinders.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has recently said that black marketing of life-saving drugs like Remedisvir is a big crime. He asked police to take stringent action against those involved in it under the Gangster Act. He also appealed to the people to cooperate and honour the warriors involved in the battle of Corona. He asked people to not unnecessarily hoard life-saving medicines and oxygen etc. and deprive others who may urgently need it.

Arfa Khanum Sherwani’s Amethi SOS, her tweets after patient’s death, Police says death due to heart attack, not Covid: What we know so far

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Arfa Khanum Sherwani’s Amethi SOS, her tweets after patient’s death, Police says death due to heart attack, not Covid: What we know so far

The Wire journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani on Monday shared an SOS from a person called Shashank and said that he urgently required an oxygen cylinder for his friend’s Nanaji in Amethi. She provided contact details of Shashank to aid in the efforts.

Within 15 minutes, Amethi MP Smriti Irani took up the matter on priority and attempted to contact Shashank on the number provided. However, Smriti Irani said that Shashank was not receiving her call.

Source: Twitter

Smriti Irani said that she had called Shashank thrice but had received no response from the other hand. Nonetheless, she alerted Amethi Police and the District Magistrate of Amethi over the matter and asked them to provide help to the family.

Source: Twitter

Arfa Khanum Sherwani, after seeing Smriti Irani’s tweets, alerted one Ankit that the BJP MP was trying to reach them.

Source: Twitter

At 1 a.m., 29 minutes after he initial tweet, Arfa Khanum Sherwani informed that Shashank’s nanaji is no more. In her initial tweet, she had said that it was his friend’s nanaji.

DM Amethi investigated the matter and said that the person was treated by a private doctor and no test was performed to check if the patient was infected with Covid-19. He also said that the patient was not admitted to any medical facility.

What OpIndia learnt from Shashank

OpIndia reached out to Shashank over the matter. Shashank denied knowing Arfa Khanum Sherwani and said that he had never said the things The Wire journalist claimed he did. We asked specifically whether he had told Sherwani, “Arfa ma’am could you pls share this. Can save my friend’s Nanaji’s life.”

Shashank said that he had not. “I do not know her,” is what we were told. “I don’t know who she is, she retweeted it but I don’t know how. Door door tak koi connection nahi hai mera.”

Shashank said that he had made the tweet at around 7.30 p.m.. According to his Twitter account, the tweet was made at 7.39 p.m. Shashank did say that efforts were made to contact him but that was after the nanaji had already passed away. Shashank said that the heart attack was sudden.

Shashank said that his tweets contained 14-15 words but they contained only 6 and was addressed to Sonu Sood.

What Amethi Police says about the Arfa Khanum Sherwani SOS

Amethi Police has now responded to the tweet by Shashank. They said, “When contacted immediately, it was learned that his cousin’s maternal grandfather was 88 years old, neither he had COVID nor was there any medical recommendation of oxygen. He died of a heart attack at 8 pm.”

“It is not only condemnable, but also a legal offense to post such fear-generating posts on social media at this time,” Amethi Police added.

When OpIndia tried to reach out to Shashank again over the statement from Amethi Police, his number was unreachable. Previously, OpIndia had called his number a short time after the first call for his comment on another person called Ankit who had made an SOS tweet at 8.49, 49 minutes after the death of the patient as per Amethi Police. Shashank had cut the call and did not receive it.

Arfa Khanum Sherwani’s SOS tweets were made well past midnight, more than four hours after the patient’s death.

Rajasthan: Thousands gather to mourn death of minister Saleh Mohammad’s father as Covid guidelines go for a toss. Watch video

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Rajasthan: Thousands gather to mourn death of minister Saleh Mohammad’s father as Covid guidelines go for a toss. Watch video

The state of Rajasthan on April 19 had imposed lockdown-like strict restrictions for 15 days which included disallowing more than 20 people for a funeral. 

However, in a shocking video shared on Twitter, thousands of supporters maintaining no social distancing and violating other Covid-19 norms were seen gathered to mourn the death of INC leader and Rajasthan’s Minority Affairs Minister Saleh Mohammad’s father Ghazi Fakir. Some were seen in masks, but social distancing went for a complete toss.

As per a report, Ghazi Fakir was battling a prolonged illness and breathed his last late night on April 26 at a private hospital in Jodhpur. His death sent a shockwave in the entire Muslim community of the Jaisalmer district which led them to gather outside the hospital where he expired. His last rites were performed at Bhagu ki Dhani near Pokhran today.

Condoling the death of the leader, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot Tweeted, “I am deeply saddened on receiving the news of Minority and Waqf Minister Saleh Mohammad’s father Ghazi Fakir’s death. Hope he gets a place in heaven. May the closed ones get the strength to bear the loss.”

Maulana Ghazi Fakir was a prominent spiritual leader and revered by around five lakh Sindhi Muslims living in Jaisalmer and Barmer districts for the last 50 years.

Fakir was also said to be connected with the shrine of Syed Mardan Shah popularly known as Peer Pagaro in Sindh in Pakistan.

Australian academic cites anonymous report to rubbish Chinese oppression of Uyghur Muslims, calls forced sterilisations ‘family planning’, slammed

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Australian academic cites anonymous report to rubbish Chinese oppression of Uyghur Muslims, calls forced sterilisations ‘family planning’, slammed

An Australian academic has been hauled over the coals for citing an anonymous report replete with factual inconsistencies, which she said “debunked” assertions that China is committing genocide against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.

Professor Jane Golley, who heads the Australian National University’s Centre for China, stirred a furore when she cited an anonymous report in a speech at the National Press Club last week to claim that the reports of 1 million Uyghur Muslims been corralled and interned at “re-education camps” in Xinjiang province were most likely overstated.

“Just last week I received a scholarly article that debunks much of what you have read in the Western media on this topic, including the figure of one million Uighurs in detention camps, the pervasive use of forced labour, and of calling it genocide,” she had said in her speech.

Following her comments which amounted to absolving China of committing atrocities against minorities, a raft of people on social media website slammed the academician for casting doubts over the grave human rights committed by China and insulting the victims who endured Beijing’s unbridled repression.

Ms Golley’s reference to an anonymous report to speak in favour of China raised several eyebrows, including that of Liberal Senator James Paterson, who chairs the Joint Intelligence and Security Committee. Paterson said he was very surprised that Professor Golley had to cite an anonymous article, which he said was “clearly not up to academic standards” during her press club address.

Ms Golley’s attempt to acquit China of any wrongdoing in Xinjiang against the Uyghur population comes at a time when Australia and China are at loggerheads over the origins of the coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. Relations between the two countries have gone south after Australia sought an impartial and fair probe into the virus’s origins. Since then, China has ratcheted up its aggression against Australia and banned imports from the country to teach it a lesson.

Anonymous report claims forced sterilisation in China a part of “Family Planning”, says 1 million of Uyghurs detained is highly exaggerated

The academic paper that was cited by Ms Golley during her speech at the National Press Club understated the forced female sterilisation in Xinjiang, and raised questions on whether it could be called “family planning”. The paper also refuted allegations of Uyghur genocide and claims regarding the detention of over 1 million Uyghur Muslims in detention camps.

The paper said that the forced sterilisation camps were not necessarily designed for Uyghurs in particular or “intended to stop them from having children”.

It also tried to downplay the serious allegations of concentration camps being run in Xinjiang by the Chinese Communist Party. The paper termed them as “political re-education” and “deradicalisation” camps, adding that “vocational training has probably been offered to a greater number of people than political re-education”. It appealed to the west to temperate its trenchant criticism of the camps and have a more “normal critical discussion” to the issue.

“With China now such an emotive topic for many in the West, the chances of a more rational and objective discussion of Xinjiang look slim…But the authors hope that this paper may at least encourage the resumption of normal critical discussion about this most important of topics,” it said.

Ms Golley defends herself, says she has no doubts of Chinese persecution of Uyghur Muslims

On Monday this week, an emotional Golley told The Australian she feels “persecuted and misinterpreted” and stated that she feels extremely concerned that her statements had offended Uyghur Muslims who were undoubtedly suffering at the hands of “increasing repressive Chinese government”.

However, she added that she found some of the arguments in the anonymous report, including its disagreement with the number of Uyghur Muslims detained in labour camps “convincing”—or “worthy enough to necessitate further consideration”.

In her interview with The Australian, Golley conceded that she is not an expert on Xinjiang, and therefore cannot vouch for the authenticity of the claims made in the anonymous report. Ms Golley added she didn’t mean to say what she had said and should have used a word such as “challenged” rather than “debunked”.

“I don’t claim any certainty about the facts that might obtain in Xinjiang. But I think we need to be able to discuss them openly, without being subject to personal abuse. That’s what free speech and academic freedom are all about,” Ms Golley said in her defence to The Australian.

Yogi Adityanath decides to rope in retired doctors and para-medical staff to deal with the COVID-19 crisis in the state

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Yogi Adityanath decides to rope in retired doctors and para-medical staff to deal with the COVID-19 crisis in the state

To deal with the Chinese coronavirus crisis in the state, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has decided to rope in retired doctors, retired personnel of the armed forces and para-medical staff. The decision was taken to increase the manpower in the hospitals currently grappling with the coronavirus scourage.

“Many of those who had emerged victorious in the battle against COVID-19 are willing to serve the patients. In this context, in order to increase the manpower at hospitals, experiences of retired doctors, lab technicians and para-medical staff along with retired personnel of the armed forces can be availed,” Yogi said at a virtual high-level review meeting.

Alongside, he also ordered that immediate efforts should be made to double the number of COVID beds in all the districts of the state.

Yogi Adityanath also said that tele-consultancy should be comprehensively used so that people in home quarantine can consult them.

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister reiterated that an adequate supply of oxygen is being ensured and that directions have been issued to undertake an oxygen audit at hospitals.

No shortage of Oxygen in the state, assures CM Yogi Adityanath

It may be recalled that on April 24, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath assured that there is no shortage of oxygen in any private or public Covid hospital in the state. He added the state government is going to conduct an audit of the life-saving gas with the support of various institutes.

He said government and private hospitals and hospitals that were taken over for COVID-19 will have to share their oxygen data with the government.

Do not let the guard down, CM urged the public

CM Yogi said that there were some initial problems in increasing the number of hospital beds in the state. However, they were quickly overcome. He urged people not to take the infection lightly as a normal viral fever. He said, “It would be a huge mistake to take corona as normal viral fever. I am also in its grip. I have been following all COVID protocols since April 13 while in isolation.”

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

The Uttar Pradesh government is doing all it can to handle the COVID-19 crisis. Yestarday, the CM’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 the state government will bear the cost.

News18 retracts graphic misquoting UP CM Yogi Adityanath on coronavirus pandemic and oxygen crisis, issues apology

OpIndia Staff
-
0
News18 retracts graphic misquoting UP CM Yogi Adityanath on coronavirus pandemic and oxygen crisis, issues apology

News18 Uttar Pradesh has issued an apology after playing a wrong graphic misquoting UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s statement during his address to the state yesterday.

The channel took to Twitter to apologize for the mistake. A Tweet done by News18 Uttar Pradesh in this reference reads, “We regret playing the wrong graphic. Yesterday, CM Yogi Adityanath was heard saying that the shortage of oxygen supply is negligible. However, as a result of hasty typing, the graphic read that cases of corona in UP are negligible. We regret this mistake.”

The mainstream Hindi channel plugged a wrong graphic misquoting the CM when he was sharing an update on the medical oxygen supply in the state. Chief Minister Adityanath was heard saying that oxygen scaricity in the state was negligible, however, the channel’s graphic read the cases of corona in UP were negligible. 

News18 graphic misquoting CM’s statement

The address by the CM was to update the state on the current situation and dealing of the Covid-19 pandemic by the state administration. Informing that there has been a dip in new cases, he assured the state that there will be no shortage of beds, medical oxygen and medical supplies. He also urged people to not fall prey to fear-mongering leading to panic and distress. 

In a virtual interaction with editors of various newspapers last week, the CM highlighted the problem of black marketing and fear-mongering and 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.”

Bhutan to send liquid oxygen to India from a new plant. Read details

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Bhutan to send liquid oxygen to India from a new plant. Read details

Amidst the 2nd wave of Coronavirus pandemic in India, the neighbouring nation of Bhutan has come forward to help the country at the time of crisis.

In a press release on Monday (April 26), the Indian Embassy in Thimphu informed that an oxygen plant in Eastern Bhutan will supply liquid oxygen to India. The press release was shared on Twitter by journalist Tenzing Lamsang. “In the context of the present COVID situation, Bhutan will supply liquid oxygen to India from a new plant being set up at the Motanga Industrial Estate, Samdrup Jongkhar district by M/s S.D. Cryogenics Gases Pvt. Ltd., a Bhutanese company,” the statement read.

The Indian Embassy stated that 40MT of liquid oxygen will be produced every day at the Oxygen Plant, which will then be transported to Assam via cryogenic tankers. It further added, “The oxygen plant has domestic investment of 51% by M/s SD Cryogenics and FDI component of 49% by Meghalaya Oxygen Pvt. Ltd., an Assam-based Indian company.”

“The provision of oxygen by Bhutan will augment India’s efforts to win the fight against COVID-19 and save precious lives. This is a practical manifestation of the uniquely close and friendly ties between India and Bhutan,” the Indian Embassy in Thimphu concluded.

EU, Singapore, Germany help India amidst rising Coronavirus cases

On Saturday (April 24), the Singapore embassy in India informed that 4 cryogenic oxygen containers were transported to India from Changi airport in Singapore via an Indian Air Force (IAF) carrier. Min-Liang Tan, Singaporean entrepreneur and the co-founder of Razor Inc. had also offered surgical masks to India. The Singaporean embassy in India has responded by saying that it will reach out to his office.

On Friday, EAM (Minister for External Affairs) S Jaishankar held a meeting with Vice-President Margrethe Vestager to discuss preparation for the India-EU summit. He thanked the EU for offering support on the existing Coronavirus crisis in the country. “Confident that EU will help strengthen our capabilities at this critical juncture,” S Jaishankar said.

In a tweet, the German embassy in India informed, “In this spirit, the private German company Linde together with Tata have managed to secure 24 oxygen transport tanks that will be airlifted to India in order to increase transport capacity from production sites to Covid19 hotspots.” This is despite the fact that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had recently lamented that the European Union had ‘allowed’ India to become the pharmacy of the world. 

Did Shahid Siddiqui inadvertently reveal that Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were hoarding Remdesivir? Here is what happened

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Did Shahid Siddiqui inadvertently reveal that Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were hoarding Remdesivir? Here is what happened

Shahid Siddiqui, Chief Editor of Nai Duniya, thanked senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi for securing Covid-19 drug Remdesivir for him after reading his plea for help on Twitter. Inadvertently, however, he appears to have revealed that Priyanka Gandhi had bought the anti-viral drug for her brother Rahul Gandhi even though he did not require it.

Shahid Siddiqui also revealed that Priyanka Gandhi did not want him to thank her publicly for it but he did anyway because he wanted to express his gratitude towards her. The revelation came at a time when people are being advised not to hoard Remdesivir. Rahul Gandhi had earlier tested positive for the Coronavirus.

The outburst in Covid-19 cases has led to a situation where Remdesivir is being hoarded by people who do not require it and black marketing also. As a consequence, the cost of the drug has shot up exponentially.

People have been arrested as well for black marketing of the drug. Two nurses in Uttar Pradesh, Abid Khan and Ankit Sharma, were arrested for stealing the Remdesivir of a dying man and auctioning it. Cipla had to issue a statement warning people against scammers.

People are wondering on social media if Rahul Gandhi was even prescribed the drug and how did Priyanka Gandhi come in possession of it.

Doctors have regularly opined against the use of Remdesivir without expert recommendation. Doctors say that it is not a magic bullet and everyone does not need it. According to protocol, it is not administered to everyone who needs it.

Under such circumstances, Priyanka Gandhi needs to come clear on whether Rahul Gandhi was prescribed the drug by a doctor.

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama pledges contribution to PM CARES Fund amid Chinese coronavirus pandemic

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama pledges contribution to PM CARES Fund amid Chinese coronavirus pandemic

In this critical time, Tibetan spiritual leader in exile, Dalai Lama, has pledged to donate to the PM Cares Fund from the Dalai Lama Trust. 

The official announcement was made on Twitter with the message, “At this critical time, during this alarming Covid-19 surge, I have asked the Dalai Lama Trust to make a donation to the PM-CARES Fund as a token of our solidarity with our Indian brothers and sisters.”

The official release quoting the spiritual leader additionally reads, “I have been following the continuing challenge that the Covid-19 pandemic has been posing across the world, including in India, with concern.”

“May I take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation for all the efforts that are being made to tackle this devastating pandemic, especially by those courageously working on the frontline. I pray that the pandemic threat will end soon,” he added.

The announcement is a welcome move to strengthen India’s fight against the pandemic.

The Dalai Lama, escaped to India in 1959 during the Tibetan uprising against the Chinese occupation. He has since been living in India.

PM CARES Fund

The PM CARES Fund was set up in March 2020 as the Chinese coronavirus pandemic raged across the world. The PM CARES Fund is an emergency fund that was set up to provide relief to those affected by the Wuhan Coronavirus. The PM CARES, or the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund has been set up as a public charitable trust. The Prime Minister is the chairman of this trust and its members include Defence Minister, Home Minister And Finance Minister. 

During the first wave of the pandemic, funds were utilised from it for manufacturing ventilators and distributing them across the country to help patients. The Centre recently allotted PM Cares Fund to install 551 Oxygen Generation Plants across the nation. These Oxygen Generation Plants will be set up in Government hospitals in district headquarters across the country. Timely action is being taken to make these plants functional as soon as possible to ensure an uninterrupted supply of oxygen in hospitals.

The Central government on Sunday announced setting up of eight pressure swing absorption oxygen generation plants using the PM Cares Fund in Delhi that will enhance the capacity of medical oxygen by 14.4 metric tonnes. 

‘It is a national need’, SC rejects TN govt’s plea that Vedanta should supply oxygen only to the state: What SC said

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘It is a national need’, SC rejects TN govt’s plea that Vedanta should supply oxygen only to the state: What SC said

A day after the Tamil Nadu state government allowed the Vedanta Sterlite copper plant to restart its oxygen generation operations for a period of four months, Supreme Court has also given its go-ahead for the same on Tuesday.

Hearing a plea seeking reopening of Vedanta’s Sterlite plant in Tamil Nadu for production of oxygen to be used for the treatment of COVID patients, the apex court bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud Tuesday allowed the limited operationalization of the oxygen unit of Vedanta’s Sterlite copper plant for the production of medical-grade oxygen only.

Sterlite Copper had appealed to the government to allow it to produce oxygen to help the nation in need.

SC turns down State proposal to allow oxygen produced by Vedanta only to be used for TN

However, while agreeing on the reopening of the plant, the Supreme Court turned down the Tamil Nadu government’s suggestion that before meeting the supply of other States, priority has to given for the manufacturing of Oxygen for Tamil Nadu considering the demand for oxygen in the State.

“The oxygen demand of a state cannot be seen in a silo. It is a national need”, said Justice DY Chandrachud rejecting Tamil Nadu’s government’s proposal.

Committee constituted by the State will only be an oversight committee: SC

The Apex Court also observed that the Committee constituted by the State will be an oversight committee and the responsibility of the management of the plant will be with Vedanta.

Earlier, the TN state government had told the Supreme Court that the running and operation of the plant will be strictly monitored by a committee constituted by the State in view of the fact that there is a great trust deficit created by Vedanta due to its past conduct as an environment polluter. The state had said that the committee would be formed under the leadership of the district collector.

The TN Govt had further suggested that the District SP, officials from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, district environmental officer, local representatives, environmental activists, three people from the anti-Sterlite organization would be part of the committee.

The TN government had told the SC that the Committee would supervise the entire functioning of the Oxygen plant and also decide on the operation of the oxygen plant. The Committee will also be empowered to take decisions concerning the operation of these Plants.

“Vedanta shall provide operational manpower and other expertise, as well as bear all expenses related thereto,” it was further submitted.

However, the Apex Court turned down the TN Government’s this proposal also observing that the responsibility of the management of the plant will be with Vedanta and that the committee formed by the state would function merely as an oversight committee.

Further disagreeing with the decision of the inclusion of local people, environmentalists in the oversight committee, the Supreme Court bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud observed that “the committee can interact with local people and take their views. But we don’t want any ugly situation. Let this be a committee with government accountability”.

Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Vedanta assured the court that they would only operate the oxygen plant that too with the electricity provided by the Tamil Nadu govt. Salve assured that Vedanta would not operate the copper plant neither will anybody go to the power plant.

TN govt allows the Vedanta Sterlite Copper to open Thoothukudi plant temporarily

An All-party meeting by Tamil Nadu CM K Palaniswami, convened earlier on April 26, allowed Vedanta’s Sterlite Industries in Tuticorin to produce oxygen for four months. The TN Govt’s order, however, added that Vedanta cannot involve the plant in copper production or any other activities.

Supreme Court agrees to hear Vedanta’s plea to reopen the unit for producing oxygen

The decision came after the Supreme Court on April 22, termed the Covid-19 situation in India as a ‘national emergency’ while agreeing to hear Vedanta’s plea to reopen the unit for producing oxygen. The apex court remarked that people are dying due to lack of oxygen and asked the state government why it cannot take over the Sterlite Copper unit for producing oxygen. “We are not interested that Vedanta or A, B or C runs it. We are interested that oxygen should be produced,” a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde had said.

Hinting at the law-and-order issue, the state resisted reopening of the Sterlite Copper plant on April 23. Dismissing the concern, the top court stated that some states are in dire need of oxygen and the resources should be distributed equally.

Vedanta owned Sterlite Copper seeks approvals of TN and central govt to operate its oxygen plants

In order to bridge this demand and supply gap, Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper had offered to restart production at its two oxygen plants in the now shut copper smelter at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. Vedanta had said that the plant contains two oxygen plants with a combined production capacity of 1,050 tonnes of oxygen daily.

The company has sent two separate letters to the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in this regard.

1...4,2714,2724,273...7,578Page 4,272 of 7,578