Telangana CM visits Gandhi Hospital, interacts with Covid patients

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Telangana CM visits Gandhi Hospital, interacts with Covid patients

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday visited government-run Gandhi Hospital here and interacted with Covid-19 patients undergoing treatment there.

During his first visit to any Covid facility since the pandemic broke out last year, he tried to instill confidence among the patients. He also interacted with doctors and other medical staff to enquire about the treatment given for Covid.

KCR, who recently recovered from Covid, spent an hour at Gandhi Hospital, the nodal centre for Covid treatment in Telangana. He went around the wards where the patients were admitted and enquired about the treatment given to them. He gave them confidence that he is there for them.

The chief minister went around the ICU, Emergency, Out Patient Wards and general wards where the Covid patient’s area treated. He went to the beds and spoke to the patients. He enquired about their personal details as well as their wellbeing. The CM also went to the general wards and interacted with the patients there. He gave them words of solace and courage. He asked them whether they were getting the proper treatment.

KCR, who had come under criticism from opposition for not stepping out of his official residence during the pandemic, also enquired from patients about the quality of food that is supplied to them. The CM quickly responded to some of the problems raised by the patients and gave instructions to the medical officers there.

In the backdrop of the state government’s decision to set up oxygen plants in all the government Hospitals, the CM examined the oxygen plant set up at the Gandhi Hospital. Recently this plant was set up on the instructions of the CM to supply 2,000 litres of oxygen per minute.

He enquired with Gandhi Hospital Superintendent Dr Raja Rao about how the plant works and the purity of the oxygen it generates.

KCR also interacted with the senior doctors, contract nurses and junior doctors. He congratulated them and complimented them for offering services to the Corona patients putting their own lives at risk. The CM said the government would solve any problem they are facing and as young doctors they should stand by the people in these troubled and turbulent times. The CM instructed the Medical and Health Officials to send proposals to solve the problems of the junior doctors and nurses and for their immediate redressal.

“In these difficult times you are doing a great job by standing with the people. Continue these services. In case you have any problem or difficulty, please contact me directly. I will extend all the cooperation to you,” the CM gave them assurance.

Finance minister T Harish Rao, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Principal Secretary (Medical and Health) Sri S.A.M. Rizvi, CM Secretary and Special Officer (Covid) Rajasekhar Reddy, CM OSD Gangadhar, Gandhi Hospital Superintendent Dr Raja Rao, DME Ramesh Reddy, Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar and others were present.

Telangana collects Rs 31 cr penalty from mask rule violators

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Telangana collects Rs 31 cr penalty from mask rule violators

Telangana Police has collected Rs 31 crore as a penalty from people found not wearing a face mask in violation of Covid-19 guidelines issued by the state government.

The police informed the high court on Monday that it filed 3,39,412 cases against persons not wearing face masks and collected Rs 31 crore as penalties from May 1 to May 14.

Director-General of Police M. Mahender Reddy submitted a report to the court on the action taken against violators and the implementation of the 10-day lockdown.

He said a total of 4,31,823 cases were booked across the state against those who violated Covid-19 guidelines, including the compulsory wearing of masks. As many as 22,560 cases were filed for not maintaining social distancing.

The state government had on April 11 issued an order that not wearing a face mask in public places will attract a penalty of Rs 1,000.

The police chief also informed that 98 cases were booked against people involved in black marketing of drugs and other materials.

He said the police force was strictly enforcing the lockdown and night curfew. The police have also opened 57 help desks near government hospitals.

The high court expressed its satisfaction over the enforcement of lockdown and appreciated the police for its efforts.

Telangana to set up 48 oxygen generation plants to meet requirement

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Telangana to set up 48 oxygen generation plants to meet requirement

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday directed the Medical and Health Department to set up 48 oxygen generation plants in government hospitals to produce 324 tonnes of oxygen required for Covid patients in the state.

Asking the officials to ensure that there would not be any shortage of oxygen in future, he also instructed the officials to set up an additional plant to produce 100 tonnes of the liquid oxygen in Hyderabad.

At a review meeting on Covid situation, KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly known, directed that six units of 16 tonne plants, 15 units of eight tonne plants and 27 units of four tonne plants should be set at Hyderabad, district and area hospitals.

KCR, who also hold the Health portfolio, asked the oxygen producers to hand over 11 tankers with each having the capacity of 20 tonnes within 10 days.

He said that in the coming days, Telangana should not face a situation where it is depended on other states for supply of oxygen.

He also appealed to people seeking Covid treatment to get admitted to government hospitals and take advantage of availability of beds, oxygen and free treatment, food, medicines and other facilities, instead of spending huge money in private hospitals.

Since the treatment is one and the same in private and government hospitals, people should prefer the government hospitals, he said, adding that as on Monday, there were 6,926 beds vacant in the government hospitals. Of these, 2,253 were oxygen beds, 533 ICU beds and 4,140 general beds.

KCR also instructed the officials concerned to make arrangments for the equipment and the required medicines in ENT Hospital in Koti, Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad, and medical college hospitals in the districts to treat the black fungus disease that is spreading among treated patients. He said, if need be, 25 Microdebrider machines, and HD Endoscopic cameras be purchased immediately.

He asked the officials to immediately invite global tenders for the supply of the vaccines. He also wanted them to have continuous rapport with the Centre on the vaccination quota.

The officials informed the CM said that so far the state had received 57,30,220 doses of vaccine only and as on date there is a stock of 1,86,780 vaccine doses. Of this, 58,230 are of Covaxin and 1,28,550 doses are of Covishield.

The CM declared that the government is ready to spend any amount funds for improving medical and health infrastructure facilities. A decision has been taken to set up new medical colleges in Sangareddy, Jagtial, Kothagudem, Wanaparthy, Mancherial, and Mahabubabad. He also instructed that along with these medical colleges, colleges of nursing should also be formed.

The CM said in those medical colleges where there are no nursing colleges, they should be sanctioned. He said the proposals already submitted for the nursing colleges sanction should be examined immediately.

He said to give medical treatment facilities and medicines to the poor in the government hospitals, 12 regional sub centres should be formed at Siddipet, Wanaparthy, Mehboobabad, Kothagudem, Nagar Kurnool, Suryapet, Bhongir, Jagtial, Mancherial, Bhoopalpally, Vikarabad, and Gadwal.

To supply medicines on war footing to the several government hospitals from these Centres, vehicles should be arranged either own or on lease. Similarly, to store the medicines, cold storage facilities should be set up at the sub centres.

The CM instructed that the 200-bedded hospitals in Anantagiri in Vikarabad, Singareni, RTC, CISF, Railways, Army and ESI hospitals should be brought in for Covid treatment.

PM speaks Maha, Guj, Goa CMs over Tauktae preparation, impact

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PM speaks Maha, Guj, Goa CMs over Tauktae preparation, impact

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa and the Lt Governor of Daman and Diu over their preparedness to deal with severe cyclonic storm Tauktae.

In a telephonic conversation with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, and Daman and Diu Lt Governor Praful Patel, he took stock of the situation and preparedness to deal with the cyclonic storm if it impacts these states and the UT, more than what was expected.

The Prime Minister also assured all possible Central assistance to these states and the UT, informing that the National Disaster Response Forces (NDRF) teams are also active in relief and rescue operations.

Thackeray told Modi that the administration in the state is fully alert.

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra CM’s Office tweeted, “CM Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray is closely monitoring the Cyclone Tauktae situation in the state.”

So far, 12,420 residents of the coastal areas were relocated to safer places, and Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar districts were on orange alert while Raigad district was on red alert.

Sawant said that the Prime Minister called to enquire about the impact of cyclone Tauktae on the state, and assured all possible assistance from the Central government.

The Gujarat Chief Minister’s Office said that the Prime Minister, in a telephonic conversation with Rupani, discussed the preparations of the state to face cyclone Tauktae. “PM also expressed his readiness for all help from the Central government to the state,” it said.

Cyclonic storm Tauktae is very likely to reach Gujarat coast on Monday evening and make landfall between Porbandar and Mahuva (Bhavnagar district) during early hours on Tuesday as a very severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained surface wind speed of 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph.

Govt has failed but gratitude to heroes serving others: Rahul

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Govt has failed but gratitude to heroes serving others: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has hailed the heroes who are continuously serving the people even though the government has failed.

Rahul Gandhi on Monday tweeted, “While GOI has failed not just in managing Covid crisis but also in standing with the people, there are numerous individual stories of strength and altruism every day. Immense gratitude to these heroes dedicated to serving others and showing the world what India truly stands for.”

Rahul Gandhi earlier slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying ventilators provided by PM CARES don’t work and there is a lot in common between the PM and these ventilators.

“There’s a lot common between PM Cares ventilators and the PM himself: too much false PR, don’t do their respective jobs and nowhere in sight when needed,” he said in a tweet.

His remarks came two days after Modi ordered an “immediate” audit of installation and operation of ventilators provided by the central government.

This comes against the backdrop of reports about ventilators supplied under the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund lying unutilized in some states, even as Covid-19 patients are gasping for breath due to medical oxygen shortage.

According to the government, PM CARES Fund has allocated Rs 2,000 crore for supplying 50,000 ventilators in government-run Covid hospitals in the states and Union territories.

“The Prime Minister took serious note of some reports about ventilators lying unutilized in storage in some states and directed that an immediate audit of installation and operation of ventilators provided by the central government should be carried out. The Prime Minister added that refresher training for properly operating ventilators should be provided to healthcare workers if necessary,” the statement issued on Saturday said.

Chhattisgarh CM proposes to allow 20% oxygen for industrial use

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Chhattisgarh CM proposes to allow 20% oxygen for industrial use

A day after Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow oxygen for industrial use in the state, the CM on Monday wrote to Union Minister for Industries and Commerce Piyush Goyal demanding that steel industries be allowed to use 20 per cent of the oxygen produced in Chhattisgarh.

In the letter, the Chief Minister said that the total daily oxygen production capacity of various units of Chhattisgarh is 462 MT. Under normal circumstances, oxygen is supplied to the steel makers of the state by the oxygen manufacturers. But due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases, the Central government had banned the industrial use of oxygen to ensure medical oxygen supply in the country.

It was ensured by the state government that in this time of national crisis, all the oxygen producers of the state supplied oxygen to other states according to their requirement and demand.

During the discussion with the Chief Minister over the telephone on May 16 and a video conference with chief ministers to discuss the corona situation, the Prime Minister had assured Baghel that he will consider his request to allow the use of oxygen in Chhattisgarh in an 80:20 ratio.

The chief minister also held discussions over the telephone with Union Minister for Industries and Commerce Piyush Goyal on the issue and was asked by the minister to send a proposal in this regard.

“As on 15 May 2021, 114.93 MT of oxygen was supplied to the corona patients of the state and 175.27 MT of oxygen to other states. Whereas on April 28, 2021, the total requirement of oxygen of the state was 149.83 MT and the total requirement of other states was supplied by the state’s oxygen manufacturers at 340.18 MT,” Baghel said.

The Chief Minister mentioned that oxygen-producing units are suffering due to lack of demand and all the steel-making units of the state are closed due to lack of oxygen, due to which millions of laborers have become unemployed.

Keeping these circumstances in view, it is requested that the steel makers of the state should be allowed the use of 20 percent quantity (92 MT) of oxygen produced in the state, he said.

He added that the corona situation is constantly improving and the availability of oxygen is sufficient and accordingly 20 percent oxygen can be provided to the industries.

If the demand for additional medical oxygen arises, the supply of oxygen to the steel-making units can be stopped immediately, he said.

Law and order deteriorates in Kolkata after CBI arrests

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Law and order deteriorates in Kolkata after CBI arrests

Amidst a sit-in-demonstration by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the at Nizam Palace in South Kolkata- areas particularly in and around the CBI regional office turned with a battleground as the Trinamool supporters started throwing bricks and burning tyres in protest against the arrest of Trinamool ministers and MLA in Narada case on Monday.

Meanwhile the women wing of the party approached the Kolkata police commissioner Somen Mitra and demanded the arrest of CBI officers because of illegal means applied by the officers to arrest high-profile Trinamool leaders.

After the chief minister arrived at the CBI office at 10.47 am Trinamool supporters started gathering infront of the CBI office. Sensing this might lead to law-and-order problems, the premiere agency deputed a huge number of central forces to cordon off the entire office, restricting entry of the people inside the premises.

The supporters started dharna in front of the office gate demanding release of the Trinamool leaders. At 1 pm suddenly the mob turned furious and started throwing stones at the central forces. The forces barricaded the whole stretch but the supporters broke the barricade and tried to enter into the office. Meanwhile another group of supporters burned tyres and protested against the arrest.

“Why were they arrested without any notice? The Narada case came to the fore in 2016 and after five years they had the time to arrest them. It is Covid time and lockdown conditions are going on. Is this the time to arrest our leaders? They have not even taken permission from the Speaker. They have violated all norms,” a Trinamool supporter said.A

The women wing of the party, led by minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, met Kolkata’s police commissioner Somen Mitra and demanded the arrest of the CBI officers who were responsible for the arrest of the Trinamool leaders.

A memorandum submitted to the Commissioner alleges that the CBI officer didn’t take the legal route to arrest the leaders. They didn’t seek the permission of the Speaker rather they approached the Governor who is working at the behest of BJP. “The leaders and the ministers have not been even given the notice under CrPC 41 which is mandatory before making any kind of arrest,” the memorandum said.

Meanwhile Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who entered into the CBI office at 10.47 am in the morning, is still inside the office demanding the release of her leaders. Sources in the party said that she has started a sit-in in CBI’s Kolkata office to protest the arrest of four of Trinamool leaders, provoking a Centre-state confrontation.

Her spokesperson, lawyer Anindyo Raut, told waiting mediapersons: “Didi (Banerjee) will not leave this CBI office until her party colleagues are released or until she is also arrested.”

He said Mamata Banerjee told the CBI officers they have arrested the four leaders, among them two sitting and two former ministers, without the mandatory notice. “These arrests are politically motivated and illegal. Suvendu Adhikari and Mukul Roy have been let off though they faced the same charges,” Raut quoted the CM as saying.

After HC order, Andhra ambulances passing freely to Telangana

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After HC order, Andhra ambulances passing freely to Telangana

Ambulance vehicles making their way to Hyderabad with Covid patients from Andhra Pradesh are being allowed to cross the border into Telangana since Friday night. The development comes in the wake of the Telangana High Court’s interim order barring the state government from stopping such vehicles at the border.

On Saturday, Telangana police personnel at the Andhra Pradesh borders, allowed patients not having the required permissions, to cross over after registering their details.

On Friday, two patients from Andhra Pradesh died in the ambulance vehicles they were traveling in, at the inter-state border near Kurnool. Telangana Police did not permit vehicles without valid online permits to cross the border.

At least 40 ambulances from Andhra Pradesh were forced to return back from the Pullur toll plaza since Thursday when they tried to cross the state border on the way to Hyderabad. A similar situation played out at the Ramapuram cross border post near Suryapet.

Telangana officials were claiming that large number of patients arriving from neighbouring states, particularly Andhra Pradesh, is putting pressure on bed availability and medical care in the state capital.

However, the Telangana High Court, on Friday, issued orders staying the state government’s guidelines on entry of Covid ambulances from other states.

The Court took up the matter for hearing after a retired IRS officer Venkata Krishna Rao filed a petition on Friday, that ambulances are being stopped or turned back, at the border, by Telangana Police.

Rahul takes potshot at Modi over dead bodies in Ganga

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Rahul takes potshot at Modi over dead bodies in Ganga

After several decomposed bodies were found floating in the river Ganga in several cities of Uttar Pradesh, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday indirectly took a potshot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the one who said that Mother Ganga has called him, has made it cry.

In a tweet in Hindi, Rahul Gandhi said, “The one who said Ganga has called him, has made the Mother Ganga cry.”

He also attached a news report which claimed that on the 1,140 km long banks of river Ganga about 2,000 dead bodies have been found.

In the last few days, several dead bodies have been found floating in the river or buried near its banks in several districts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

PM Modi holds key meeting on Covid crisis

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PM Modi holds key meeting on Covid crisis

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a crucial meeting on Saturday to review the Covid-19 situation and vaccination progress across the country.

It started at 11 a.m. The Prime Minister is likely to take stock of oxygen supply in the country as the shortage of life-saving gas has been linked to deaths of patients in several parts of the country and has emerged as one of the biggest challenges, apart from discussing preparedness and plans to control Covid-19 and other issues related to management to curb the deadly disease.

Speaking on the Covid-19 situation in the country, the Prime Minister on Friday said: “The pandemic, the worst in 100 years, is testing the world at every step. There is an invisible enemy before us.”

“The pain that citizens have suffered, that many experienced, I am feeling it equally,” Modi said while addressing an online event.

The meeting is arranged at a time when India has been logging over 3 lakh Covid cases every day for over three weeks. India on Saturday reported 3,26,098 new Covid cases and 3,890 fatalities, said Union Health Ministry’s recent data.

In the past 23 days, India’s daily Covid tally has plateaued over the three-lakh mark and over 3,000 casualties for 17 days. India’s total tally of Covid-19 cases now stands at 2,43,72,907 with 36,73,802 active cases and 2,66,207 deaths so far.

Modi to release 8th instalment of Rs 19,000 cr for PM-KISAN scheme on Friday

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Modi to release 8th instalment of Rs 19,000 cr for PM-KISAN scheme on Friday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the 8th instalment of financial benefits worth Rs 19,000 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme on Friday to benefit more than 9.5 crore farmers.

The Prime Minister will release the instalment through video conferencing at 11 a.m.

“The instalment will enable the transfer of more than Rs 19,000 crore to more than 9.5 crore beneficiary farmer families,” said a statement issued from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Prime Minister will also interact with farmer beneficiaries during the event. The Union Agriculture Minister will also be present on the occasion.

Under the PM-KISAN scheme, a financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year is provided to the eligible beneficiary farmer families, payable in three equal 4-monthly instalments of Rs 2,000 each.

The fund is transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. In this scheme, Samman Rashi of over Rs 1.15 lakh crore has been transferred to farmers’ families so far.

Granules to provide 16 cr paracetamol tablets to Telangana

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Granules to provide 16 cr paracetamol tablets to Telangana

Granules, a vertically-integrated pharmaceutical company headquartered in Hyderabad, on Wednesday announced it has pledged to provide the Telangana government paracetamol-500 mg tablets free of cost to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company will provide one crore tablets every week, starting from May 12, aggregating to 16 crore tablets worth Rs 8 crore over next four months.

Granules India Executive Director Uma Devi Chigurupati said that they believe that this contribution will complement Telangana’s efforts in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.

She met state Industry and Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao on Wednesday to hand over a letter in this regard.

“As a company, Granules is always in the forefront of taking up corporate social responsibilities and contributing to society. Paracetamol is one of the most important drugs in the Covid treatment regimen. Being one of the largest producers of paracetamol, it’s is our responsibility to make it available to the patients,” she added.

Andhra CM turns to Navy for help with oxygen supply chain

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Andhra CM turns to Navy for help with oxygen supply chain

At a virtual meeting with the district collectors on Tuesday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said that although the state government may not be directly responsible for the Ruia Hospital tragedy in Tirupati, the unfortunate incident cannot be denied.

Tragedy struck the well-known Ruia Hospital in Tirupati on Monday night when 11 Covid patients lost their lives due to an interruption in oxygen supply.
The Chief Minister said that measures are being taken to prevent a repeat of such mishaps.

“We have already sought the help of the Eastern Naval Command to oversee the oxygen supply chain and to ensure its adequate supply to the hospitals. To overcome the technical problems relating to oxygen supply, four Navy teams have already been deployed at various hospitals to inspect and give relevant suggestions and recommendations,” Reddy said.

The Ruia Hospital tragedy happened due to a few minutes of disruption in oxygen supply, as the tankers transporting oxygen from neighbouring Tamil Nadu were slightly delayed.

Expressing anguish over the death of 11 persons at the hospital in Tirupati, Reddy announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of each of the victims.

He also said a thorough probe has been ordered into the incident.

Judicial probe of ED by CPI-M not in federal spirit, says BJP

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Judicial probe of ED by CPI-M not in federal spirit, says BJP

Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan expressed concern within the manner during which Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan went ahead and appointed a Judicial Commission to probe the action taken by the Enforcement Directorate officials to pressurize two prime accused within the gold smuggling case to confess against Vijayan.

The government orders for the new judicial probe came out the opposite day and this probe was announced before the Assembly polls.

It will be headed by Justice (rtd) V.K. Mohan and therefore the terms of reference even have been given.

Muraleedharan wrote during a Facebook post that if this is often the way things are getting to be taken forward by Vijayan, which is an attack on the federal structure, then it isn’t getting to be wealthy.

“If Vijayan is resorting to such things within the wake of the electoral victory, then things won’t be wealthy. It’s using public money that Vijayan has appointed this Commission which too to probe the events that happened under his government. He should think that aside from wasting public money there’ll be no good as there are numerous Commission reports which have not seen the sunshine of the day and hence wasting public money during these bad times doesn’t augur good,” said Muraleedharan.

Incidentally, this new move comes at a time when in April, Vijayan suffered a setback after the Kerala supreme court quashed the 2 FIRs registered against the Enforcement Directorate officials by the Crime Branch unit of Kerala police within the exact same case.

The premise of this judicial probe is predicated on a complaint by two women police officials that they were allegedly being pressurized to testify that the gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh was coerced into giving statements implicating Vijayan within the case.

According to the 2 women police officials, who were providing security to Swapna Suresh, when under judicial custody, that that they had heard of the ED pressurizing her to call Vijayan.

Incidentally, when Vijayan went about this by registering a case by the Crime Branch and therefore the then announced judicial probe Union Ministers including Home Minister Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman among others had slammed such move by the Kerala government.

Mamata’s 43 ministers take oath sans festivities

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Mamata’s 43 ministers take oath sans festivities

Amid a raging Covid-19 pandemic, 43 Trinamool Congress ministers comprising 24 cabinet ministers, 10 Ministers of State with Independent Charge, and nine MoS took oath at an austere ceremony held in the Raj Bhawan on Monday.

While three ministers Amit Mitra, Bratya Basu, and Rathin Ghosh took their oath virtually. The rest — 40 ministers were divided into three groups — Cabinet, MOS (Independent Charge), and MoS and they took their oath together to cut short the program.

Mitra has not been well for a long time and the other two ministers have Covid.

Later Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee allocated the departments to the ministers.

Banerjee kept with herself important departments like Home and Hill Affairs, Health and Family Welfare, Information and Cultural Affairs, Land and Land Reforms, and Refugee Rehabilitation.

The chief minister will also take care of North Bengal.

As expected, Amit Mitra was given the responsibility of Finance but his other department Commerce and Industries was given to former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee. Chatterjee will also hold the portfolio of IT and Parliamentary Affairs.

On the other hand, Bratya Basu who was handling IT is now given the responsibility of the School and Higher Education Department. Mitra is physically not well and didn’t contest the election but he was brought back by the chief minister so that he could continue to handle finance.

Though most of the former ministers retain their department former Urban Development minister and former Mayor Firhad Hakim will be holding the portfolio of Transport and Housing. Earlier the state Transport Department was with Suvendu Adhikari who left TMC and joined BJP before the election.

Adhikari who won from Nandigram defeating the chief minister in a closely fought battle will be the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.

Interestingly enough three most powerful ministers in the last cabinet Arrop Biswas, Jyotipriya Mullivk, and Sovondeb Chattopadhyay have been given relatively insignificant portfolios.

Mullick, who was in charge of the Food Department last time, has been given the responsibility of Forest and non-conventional energy.

The Food and Supply department has been given to Pulok Roy, who is new in the ministry.

Similarly, Mamata’s close aide and loyal for long time Sovondeb Chattopadhyay has been transferred from Power to Agriculture and Aroop Biswas, who is one of the most trusted of the chief minister has been given the portfolio of Power. Biswas was the PWD minister that has not been allotted yet.

Apart from Roy, the new faces in the cabinet include Manas Ranjan Bhuniya and Bamkim Chandra Hazra. When Bhuniya has been given the responsibility of Water Resource Investigation and Development, Hazra has been given the responsibility of Sunderban Affairs.

Chandrima Bhattacharya — one of the most trusted the chief minister has been made MoS with independent charge but she has been given the responsibility of several departments like Urban Development and Municipal Affairs and will be working as MoS in several departments that are held by Mamata Banerjee like Health and Family Welfare, Land and Land Reforms and Refugee Rehabilitation. It is likely that she will become one of the key ministers in this ministry.

There are some new faces who will be working as ministers of state with independent charge and that includes a former IPS officer who has been asked to handle the Technical Education Department.

Ratna De Nag will be handling Environment, Science, and Technology, Sandhyarani Tudu has been allotted the Western Region Development department and Akhil Giri has been given the department of fisheries.

Amara Raja Batteries resumes Andhra operations post HC order

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Amara Raja Batteries resumes Andhra operations post HC order

Amara Raja Batteries Ltd has resumed operations at its plants at Nunegundlapalli and Karkambadi at Chittoor district with effect from May 8, after the Andhra Pradesh High Court granted an interim suspension of the orders passed by the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB).

The High Court on May 6 ordered a stay of the pollution board’s April 30 directive to the company, telling it to close its plants with immediate effect.

In a statement on Sunday, the company said: “Continuing with its focus on the best-in-class systems and processes for environmental, safety and health practices, the company will continue to engage closely with the APPCB to resolve any potential issues.”

Amara Raja added that it is confident of meeting all its supply commitments and assured all its stakeholders that the temporary disruption caused during the last few days will not have any material impact on its operations or order book.

“We have taken proactive measures to ensure that all our obligations to supply products and services to our customers are met in a timely manner without causing any inconvenience, whatsoever. We are assessing the impact of the short-term disruption and gearing up to sufficiently cater to the demands of all our customers and business partners,” said a company spokesperson.

“We also take this opportunity to thank all our employees, customers, partners, vendors and all other stakeholders who reposed faith in us and we will continue to strive to meet all their expectations.”

Telangana CM discusses Covid measures with Harsh Vardhan

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Telangana CM discusses Covid measures with Harsh Vardhan

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday spoke to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and briefed him about the measures being taken by the state government to curb the pandemic.

According to a statement issued by the state government, Rao also offered suggestions to the Union Minister on certain measures to be taken to contain the Covid spread.

The CM also said that the fast spreaders of the virus should be identified and be administered the vaccine dose on priority.

He also told Vardhan that vaccine guidelines should be relaxed so that the cab drivers, autorickshaw drivers, conductors, boys supplying the LPG gas cylinders, and those workers who go to several places to do their daily jobs should be brought under a special category and be vaccinated.

The Centre should extend this facility to the states to help curtail the major spread of the virus.

The statement said that the Union Minister has responded positively to the CM’s suggestions and assured to discuss the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to the state government’s statement, after the review meeting, Modi spoke to the Chief Minister over phone.

The Prime Minister said that Vardhan had briefed him about the suggestions made by the Telangana Chief Minister.

“Your suggestions are good and we will implement them. I thank you for the good suggestions,” the statement issued by the state government quoted the Prime Minister as telling Rao.

The CM has also urged the Prime Minister to supply more oxygen and Remdesivir injections to the state.

Modi positively responded to the CM’s request and also assured that immediate action would be taken on the requests, the statement said.

Karnataka to go under 14-day lockdown from May 10

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Karnataka to go under 14-day lockdown from May 10

With the state in the grip of the raging second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Karnataka government on Friday decided to impose a 14-day statewide lockdown from May 10-24.

The main objective of the 14-day shutdown is to restrict public movement as much as possible in order to prevent the virus from spreading.

While there will be strict restrictions on public movement, shops dealing with food, groceries, fruits and vegetables, meat, fish and animal fodder will be operational from 6 am to 10 am.

“Takeaway will be allowed from standalone liquor shops and outlets from 6 am to 10 am. Sale of vegetables and fruits through push carts, milk booths and Hopcoms outlets will be allowed to open from 6 am to 6 pm,” the government notification said, adding that home delivery of essential items will be encouraged 24×7 so that people don’t venture out of their homes.

In order to enforce the Covid appropriate behaviours, the government has authorised the civic agencies like the Bengaluru civic body, and district and local authorities to impose a fine of Rs 250 in municipal corporation areas and Rs 100 in other areas for violation of Covid protocols, the notification stated.

For the enforcement of social distancing measures, the police are authorised to book the violators under various sections of law, the notification said.

Prior to issuance of this notification, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa had said that this 14-day shutdown period is crucial to contain the spread of the virus.

“I will not tolerate anyone trying to break the rules this time. I know that the ongoing partial lockdown that has been in force since April 27 has not yielded the desired results. This time we have come out with harsher measures to bring public movement to a complete halt,” he said.

According to the notification, only the scheduled flights and trains will be allowed to operate during this period.

“Flight and train tickets shall serve as passes for movement of persons by personal vehicles, taxis, cab aggregators, and autorickshaws. Other than medical emergencies or travel through air or train, anyone found using any mode of transport will be punished,” the notification added.

The state has also decided to close schools, colleges and coaching institutions while allowing only online or distance learning activities.

Besides schools, all cinema halls, shopping malls, gymnasiums, sports complexes, stadia, playgrounds, swimming pools, parks, entertainment parks, clubs, theatres, bars, pubs and auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places will remain shut for 14 days starting May 10.

“All social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious and other gatherings will not be allowed during this period,” the notification said.

Stalin announces two-week lockdown starting May 10

TB Team
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Stalin announces two-week lockdown starting May 10

A day after he and his council of Ministers were sworn in, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday announced total lockdown in Tamil Nadu between May 10-24 to prevent spread of coronavirus, while exempting essential services.

He also said with the impending two week lockdown from Monday onwards all shops and establishments are allowed to function from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

In a statement issued here Stalin said the two week lockdown is announced to intensify actions to prevent the spread of coronavirus and due to unavoidable reasons.

Stalin said the lockdown will kick in from 4 a.m. on May 8 to 4 a.m. on May 24.

According to Stalin liquor shops will also be closed.

The banned and permissible activities during the lockdown are:

-International flights are banned other than which are permitted by the Union Home Ministry.

-E-registion on https://eregister.tnega.org must for people coming to Tamil Nadu from other Indian states and overseas.

-Train and flight passengers will be allowed to move on production of tickets.

-Only standalone shops selling groceries, vegetables, meat and fish will be allowed to function till 12 noon without air conditioning.

-Other than above shops, all other shops are to be closed.

-Dunzo like delivery organisations can deliver vegetabls/provisions/grocery/meat/fish only till 12 noon.

-Big format stores (over 3,000 sq.ft) and shopping malls are to be closed.

-State owned liquor shops to be closed.

-Only takeaways permitted at hotels and restaurants and not dine-in. Hotels and lodges to serve food to their guests staying for commercial and medical purposes in their rooms. Otherwise hotels and lodges to remain closed.

-Tea shops to be closed at 12 noon.

-Ban on cultural/political/educational functions in indoor auditoriums and outdoors.

-Only 20 persons allowed at funerals.

-Not more than 50 persons allowed in weddings.

-Closure of barber shops, beauty parlours, spas, saloon.

-Closure of recreation clubs, movie theatres, liquor bars, auditoriums, meeting halls, amusement parks and other places where there will be large gatherings of people.

-Ban on retail sales of fruits and vegetables at Koyambedu Market in Chennai. Similarly ban on retail sales of fruits and vegetables in wholesale markets in other places in the state.

-State government departments other than Secretariat, Fire Service, Police, Revenue, Disaster Management, Medical, Prisons, Electricity, Water Supply, Treasury, Local Bodies, Social Welfare, Womens Welfare- will remain closed.

-These above restrictions are applicable for central government departments as well.

-Other than exempted industries all others, information technology (IT) and information technology enabled services (ITES) units will remain closed. Work-from-home is permitted.

-Closure of places of worship for the public, but daily poojas permitted by the temple staff.

-Ban on all tourists to Nilgris, Kodaikanal, Yercaud and other places.

-People are not allowed to go to the beach across the state.

-Parks, museums, archaeological sites closed to the public.

-Schools, Universities, Colleges and summer camps are banned.

-Sports training academies are to be closed.

-Intra-district and inter-district government/private bus, taxi, autorickshaw service banned except for those travelling to attend weddings, job interviews and to hospitals with proper proof.

-No permission to operate for food and grocery/provisions/vegetable delivery companies like Zomato, Swiggy.

-Essential services like the delivery of milk, newspaper, courier service, hospitals, medical diagnostic labs, ambulance and hearse services are allowed.

-Vehicles carrying goods, oil, agricultural produce, oxygen trucks are allowed.

-Shops selling cattle feed, pesticides and fertilisers are allowed to function between 6 a.m and 12 noon.

-On the days during total lockdown (Sundays) hotels, restaurants can be open between 6-10 a.m., 12 noon to 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Food delivery companies like Swiggy and Zomato can function only during this period.

-Amma canteens will function as usual.

-Pavement shops selling vegetables and flowers can function till 12 noon.

-Ration shops to function between 8 a.m. and 12 noon.

-On going construction activities will be permitted.

-Organisations serving old/handicapped people can move around with identity proof.

-Media activities are permitted.

-Continuous process industries and industries manufacturing essential items are allowed to function.

-Banking, postal services, data centres maintenance are allowed.

-Warehouse operations to load and unload goods allowed.

-Petrol, diesel vending outlets can function.

-Banks, insurance companies, ATM transport services are allowed with 50 per cent employees.

Telangana to ensure speedy transportation of oxygen

TB Team
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Telangana to ensure speedy transportation of oxygen

The Telangana government is taking special measures to ensure uninterrupted and speedy transportation of medical oxygen tankers.

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar on Friday directed all the officials concerned to work with coordination. He asked Transport Department officials to form teams with experts in logistics to transport oxygen tankers in two routes onward and return from Angur, Odisha and Bellari, Karnataka in the shortest possible time.

He directed officials to discuss with railway officials to provide a Green Channel facility for the non-stop movement of the Oxygen Express to minimise travelling time to three days from six days.

He also asked officials to provide police escort along with mechanics and other experts team to handle any untoward incidents enroute. He suggested officials to modify the tankers where they can be easily lifted by cargo aircraft.

He wanted officials to form teams with drivers and mechanics to ply the tankers round the clock to designated points and pool up additional tankers from private contractors to add to the present 30 fleet of tankers which are transporting oxygen.

Earlier, the Chief Secretary visited the government-run Gandhi Hospital, the biggest Covid treatment facility.

He inspected the new ward which been made ready for Covid patients in the library building with 160 additional beds. It will be started shortly.

Somesh Kumar also visited the triage facility and interacted with the doctors and staff.

He also inspected the new oxygen generation plant which has been started Friday with 4 tonne per day capacity. This will be able to cater to around 400 patients.

The top bureaucrat inspected the works relating sanitation, street lighting, and oxygen pipeline taken up to provide better facilities to the patients.

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