Category: National

2 companies that got ₹22 cr. advance in May later dropped from Ministry list.

Two firms given purchase orders for indigenously manufactured ventilators for COVID-19 treatment funded by PM-CARES have failed a clinical evaluation by the Health Ministry’s technical committee, according to information accessed through the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The pandemic led to a global spike in demand for ventilators, with several producing countries imposing export restrictions, and the cost of imported ventilators shooting up to ₹10-20 lakh each. | Photo Credit: The Hindu

The firms — Jyoti CNC Automation and Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) — had already received ₹22.5 crore in advance payment in May, when the PM CARES allocation was made. However, by July, they were dropped from the list, according to the Ministry’s response to an RTI request filed by activist Anjali Bhardwaj.

Jyoti CNC is a Gujarat-based firm whose ventilators were slammed as inadequate for critical COVID-19 patients by the Ahmedabad civil hospital.

AMTZ is run by the Andhra Pradesh government. Although its ventilators were not included in the list of recommended suppliers post clinical evaluation, according to the Health Ministry’s July 20 response, the AMTZ orders were mentioned during an August 4 press briefing by Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.

Falling numbers

The reduction in the list of manufacturers post-clinical evaluation has cut down the PM CARES order for “Made in India” ventilators from the planned 58,850 units to 40,000, with price tags ranging widely from ₹1.6 lakh to ₹ 8.6 lakh per unit. Less than 18,000 units have so far been delivered for installation in hospitals.

As of August 3, only 0.27% active COVID-19 cases were on ventilator support across the country, said Mr. Bhushan, adding that at no time were there more than 1% of cases which needed ventilator support. This means that, cumulatively, there have been less than 30,000 COVID-19 patients who have required ventilator support since the beginning of the pandemic.

Recognising that the domestic demand for ventilators may not be as acute as earlier projected, the Centre lifted its export ban on August 1, allowing domestic manufacturers to start taking their products to the global market.

The situation was very different a year ago. In 2019, the annual supply of ventilators in India was only about 8,500 units, with 75% of the market share held by imported equipment, according to Mr. Bhushan.

The pandemic led to a global spike in demand for ventilators, with several producing countries imposing export restrictions, and the cost of imported ventilators shooting up to ₹10-20 lakh each. The Centre then calculated a projected domestic demand for 60,000 units and called for domestic manufacturers to step up production.

The PM CARES fund announced its first allocations on May 13, including a sum of ₹2,000 crore for the purchase 50,000 “Made in India” ventilators “for augmenting the infrastructure to tackle COVID-19 cases across the country”. These ventilators would be provided to government-run COVID hospitals in all States and Union Territories for better treatment of the critical cases, said an official statement.

On May 18, advisor to Prime Minister Bhaskar Khulbe wrote to then-Health Secretary Preeti Sudan asking for a detailed proposal for the purchase.

With GPS tracking

“I would request you to ensure that the manufacturers of these 50,000 ventilators are informed that the ventilators bear a distinct identity to show that the supply has been supported through PM CARES Fund. Further, all these ventilators must have an embedded GPS device so as to track their placement and operation,” said the letter, accessed through Ms. Bhardwaj’s RTI request.

On May 20, Ms. Sudan responded, promising to ensure the PM CARES logo and GSP chips on the devices, and noting that the Ministry had already placed orders for 58,850 ventilators at a total cost of ₹ 2,332 crore. This included 30,000 units from state-run defence manufacturer Bharat Electronics Limited at an order value of ₹1,513.9 crore, with ₹205.5 crore paid as an advance.

Ms Sudan’s letter also said that Health Ministry PSU Hindustan Lifecare Ltd (HLL) was tasked with procuring the remaining ventilators. On March 27, it had already placed a purchase order for 10,000 ventilators at an order value of ₹166 crore with an advance payment of more than ₹20 crore.

Other companies which received purchase orders by May 20 included Allied Medical (350 units at ₹30 crore, no advance), AMTZ for both basic and high end ventilators (13,500 units at ₹ 500 crore, ₹ 14.5 cr advance) and Jyoti CNC Automation (5,000 units at ₹121 crore, ₹8 crore advance).

The Ministry’s July 20 RTI response included the same list of purchase orders. Then it added, “However, the technical committee constituted under DGHS [Directorate General of Health Services], after successful clinical evaluation, so far recommended the following ventilators for installation in various States.” The subsequent list does not include AMTZ or Jyoti CNC.

On May 15, Ahmedabad civil hospital superintendent J.V. Modi had written to the State government’s medical services provider, saying that the Dhaman-1 ventilators manufactured by Jyoti CNC were “not able to bring desired results” according to the head of the anesthesia department. He asked the State provider to immediately acquire high end ICU ventilators instead. The opposition Congress party in the State has called for an inquiry.

With regard to AgVa Healthcare, the online publication HuffPost has reported that the government’s clinical evaluation committee report dated June 1 said AgVa machines “should not be considered as a replacement for high-end ventilators in tertiary care ICUs”, adding that “There should be a provision for backup ventilator in the facility where these ventilators are used.” However, they stayed on the list of vendors, according to the RTI response.

An investigation by The Hindu group’s Frontline magazine found that Allied Medical is the only manufacturer on the list with the required certification, accreditation and prior experience in making and supplying high-end ventilators. As of the first week of July, only Allied Medical had completed delivery of its order. Frontline cited clinical equipment industry experts who said that AgVa and AMTZ had no prior experience in manufacturing high-end ventilators, which is time consuming.

(with inputs from The Hindu | Mahesh Langa in Gujarat)

Court allows three Jain temples in Mumbai to open for two days with COVID-19 safeguards.

It was “strange” the State governments were opening up activities involving economic interests but cite the COVID-19 pandemic when it came to religious activities, the Supreme Court said on Friday.

Babu Amichand Panalal Jain Temple in Walkeshwar. File | Photo Credit: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde said this while allowing a plea by Shri Parshwatilak Shwetamber Murtipujak Tapagacch Jain Trust to keep temples at Dadar, Byculla and Chembur in Mumbai open for prayers on August 22 and 23 for the Paryushan festival. The temples have to follow COVID-19 preventive norms in place.

“We find it strange that they are willing to allow activities involving economic interests, but if it involves religion, they cite COVID to say they cannot open”, Chief Justice Bobde remarked orally.

The observation was triggered by a submission made by senior advocate Dushyant Dave questioning the policy of the States to open malls, saloons and liquor shops. He said there were long queues in front of liquor shops. He asked if the Centre was allowing religious congregations to be organised, how could the worshippers at these Jain temples be denied their right to offer worship. The Trust was seeking permission for a congregation of five at a time up to 250 people a day.

“If it is only five people, we do not mind going beyond Jain community and allowing same for Hindu, Muslim and other communities too”, the Chief Justice said at one point.

Rise in pandemic cases

Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, for Maharashtra, said the number of pandemic cases in the State had seen an alarming rise. He said if Jains were allowed by the court, how could the State prevent other religions from congregating. The Ganesh Chaturthi festival was also about to start. “If this is allowed, the floodgates will open”, Mr. Singhvi struck a cautionary note.

But the court said a blanket ban on religious congregations could not be instituted. Chief Justice Bobde referred to how the court allowed the Jagannath Rath Yatra to be held in Odisha in June amidst strict restrictions.

The court made it clear that its order to allow worshippers access to the specific Jain temples in Mumbai did not, by default, extend to other temples, trusts or other faiths.

The court said its permission would not act as a precedent for allowing congregations during Ganesh Chaturthi. Those would be considered on an individual basis by the Maharashtra State Disaster Management Authority, it clarified.

With inputs from The Hindu

Aslam Khan, younger brother of veteran actor Dilip Kumar, passed away early morning on Thursday. He had diabetes, hypertension and ischaemic heart disease and had tested positive for COVID-19. He was 88.

Aslam Khan, younger brother of veteran actor Dilip Kumar passed away early morning today. He had diabetes, hypertension and ischaemic heart disease and had tested positive for #COVID19: Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai #Maharashtra

— ANI (@ANI) August 21, 2020

Meanwhile, Ehsan Khan, the other brother remains in critical condition at the hospital. He too had tested positive for coronavirus. Both Aslam and Ehsan were shifted to Lilavati hospital on Saturday night after they complained of breathlessness. Both brothers were kept under artificial breathing support and now Aslam has passed.

With inputs from News18

PTI

Muzaffarnagar: Tension prevailed in a village here after two groups engaged in a heated exchange over installing statues allegedly on a land meant for public use, police said Friday.

They said additional police personnel have been deployed in Kasoli village as a precautionary measure and the situation is now under control.

Tension started when a group opposed the installation of statues of sages on the land by the other group, police said.

Sub-divisional Magistrate Deepak Kumar said authorities were trying to resolve the dispute by offering to shift the statues to another location.

PTI

New Delhi: India’s COVID-19 tally zoomed past 29 lakh, a day after it crossed 28 lakh, with a single-day spike of 68,898 infections, while the recoveries have increased to 21,58,946 on Friday pushing the recovery rate to over 74 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The total cases of coronavirus infections mounted to 29,05,823, while the death toll climbed to 54,849 with 983 new fatalities being reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Case fatality rate has declined to 1.89 per cent while the recovery rate has risen to 74.30 per cent.

There are 6,92,028 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which is 23.82 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 3,34,67,237 samples have been tested up to August 20 with 8,05,985 samples being tested on Thursday.

Of the 983 fresh deaths, 326 are from Maharashtra, 116 from Tamil Nadu, 102 from Karnataka, 95 each from Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, 53 from West Bengal, 36 from Punjab, 22 from Delhi, 16 from Gujarat, 12 from Madhya Pradesh, 11 each from Haryana and Rajasthan.

Nine fatalities each have been reported from Jharkhand, Kerala and Uttarakhand, eight each from Assam, Odisha, Telangana and Puducherry, seven from Chhattisgarh, six from Jammu and Kashmir, five from Bihar, four each from Himachal Pradesh and Tripura, two from Goa while Andaman and Nicobar Islands have registered one fatality each.

Of the total 54,849 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 21,359, followed by 6,239 in Tamil Nadu, 4,429 in Karnataka, 4,257 in Delhi, 3,001 in Andhra Pradesh, 2,853 in Gujarat, 2,733 in Uttar Pradesh, 2,634 in West Bengal and 1,171 in Madhya Pradesh.

So far, 957 people have died of COVID-19 in Punjab, 921 in Rajasthan, 737 in Telangana, 578 each in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana, 492 in Bihar, 380 in Odisha, 286 in Jharkhand, 221 in Assam, 191 in Kerala and 187 in Uttarakhand.

Chhattisgarh has registered 168 deaths, Puducherry 137, Goa 126, Tripura 69, Chandigarh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands 31, Himachal Pradesh 23, Manipur and Ladakh 18 each, Nagaland eight, Meghalaya six, Arunachal Pradesh five, Sikkim three and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu two.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

Earlier this week, sources in the MEA said the Indian Embassy was in touch with Russian company RDIF for “safety and efficacy data” on the vaccine.

India has sought efficacy and safety data on the Russian vaccine. | Photo Credit: AP

India maintained a cautious approach to the announcement of Russian vaccine Sputnik V, saying the “National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19” would evaluate all candidates first and then explore partnerships for Indian companies.

“The purpose of the [expert] group is to keep India in the forefront of any ongoing effort worldwide to innovate, prepare, produce and launch candidate vaccines to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, for India and for the world”, said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava in response to a question from The Hindu. He added that the MEA would support the group in order to connect the vaccine manufacturers to Indian companies interested.

Earlier this week, sources in the MEA said the Indian Embassy was in touch with Russian company RDIF for “safety and efficacy data” on the vaccine. Without referring directly to the vaccine, the MEA said that it would also facilitate the process of making “relevant testing data” available to the Indian regulatory agencies that would decide on further trials needed before the vaccine was used in India.

During a virtual press conference, also held on Thursday, top Russian scientists involved in vaccine production announced plans for Phase-3 of Sputnik V to begin next week, with more than 40,000 volunteers at 45 medical centres taking part in the study.

With inputs from The Hindu

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

PTI

New Delhi: India’s COVID-19 caseload went past 28 lakh with a record single-day spike of 69,652 infections, while the recoveries increased to 20,96,664 on Thursday pushing the recovery rate to 73.91 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The total cases of coronavirus infections mounted to 28,36,925, while the death toll climbed to 53,866 with 977 new fatalities being reported in a day, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Case fatality rate has declined to 1.90 per cent.

There are 6,86,395 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which is 24.20 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 3,26,61,252 samples have been tested up to August 19 with 9,18,470 samples being tested on Wednesday.

Parts of New Delhi and its suburbs submerged in water as South Asia monsoon leaves nearly 1,300 people dead.

Heavy monsoon rains have flooded parts of India’s capital New Delhi and its suburbs, throwing life out of gear for millions of people, as the death toll from the annual deluge across South Asia rose to nearly 1,300.

In New Delhi’s suburb of Gurgaon, dubbed the Millenium City, roads, underpasses and residential areas were flooded on Wednesday forcing power cuts in several areas. Rafts were put into action to evacuate people in some areas.

The monsoon is vital to the densely populated region, revitalising land and waterways amid scorching summers. But it also causes widespread death and destruction.

Welcome to #Gurugram Water Park..
Enjoy swimming at #Gurgaon !!!#DelhiRains shifted to gurugram!!! pic.twitter.com/YP4TAYhWh0

— Abu Aslad (@abuaslad) August 19, 2020

In New Delhi, commuters battled through knee-deep waters and cars and buses were submerged as torrential rains added to traffic woes in the city of 20 million.

Museum flooded 

At a museum in Jaipur in the mostly desert state of Rajasthan, staff told AFP how they were forced to smash open a glass display case containing a 2,300-year-old Egyptian mummy in order to save it from rainwater flooding the ground floor.

“The workers broke the glass of the box and took the mummy out” last Friday after water levels started to rise, Albert Hall Museum superintendent Rakesh Cholak said.

In terms of duration, it was the second-worst flood in the country’s history

ARIFUZZAMAN BHUYAN, THE HEAD OF BANGLADESH’S FLOOD FORECASTING AND WARNING CENTRE

“The case of the coffin got a little wet but we’ve put it out to dry too.”

The torrid conditions in recent days also hit India’s northern and eastern states.

Across India, 847 people have died this season, the home ministry said.

Rafts out on Sohna Road!

This is Sector 48, Gurugram#MillenniumCity #Gurugram #gurgaonrains pic.twitter.com/dF9cAHvBzd

— Sonal MehrotraKapoor (@Sonal_MK) August 19, 2020

In the southwestern state of Kerala, the death toll from a single landslide rose to 61 on Wednesday, with nine people still missing, an official said.

In India’s poorest state, Bihar, eight million people have been hit by the floods, with thousands of displaced people sleeping on embankments and highways amid a shortage of relief camps.

Flood disaster

This year’s rains have also come in the wake of the economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, with the loss of crops across flood-affected areas a further blow to farmers and rural communities.

In Bangladesh, 226 people have died so far with 40 percent of the country underwater after torrential rain caused rivers to burst their banks and inundate villages.

“In terms of duration it was the second-worst floods in the country’s history,” said Arifuzzaman Bhuyan, the head of Bangladesh’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre.

More than six million people have had their homes damaged by the floods, and tens of thousands of villagers remain in shelters, an official from Bangladesh’s disaster management ministry told AFP.

Others are sleeping in huts built on roads on higher ground, unable to return to their submerged homes.

In flood-hit Rupangar village outside the capital Dhaka, Shahanara Begum said she has been living on the road with her family for more than a month.

“It seems like bad luck doesn’t leave us. Wherever we go, floodwater follows us,” the 50-year-old told AFP on Wednesday.

“It is very insecure to live on the road but we don’t have a choice… most of our food stocks and clothes are already ruined,” added 70-year-old Maya Saha.

In Nepal, 218 people have died and 69 are missing from landslides and floods since mid-June when the monsoon began.

In the latest incident early on Wednesday, six bodies were recovered and 11 people went missing after a flood swept away a remote settlement in a western district, an official said.

Nepal’s monsoon toll tops 200 for most years, but experts say this year’s landslides have been particularly deadly due to the continuing after-effects of the massive 2015 earthquakes and more road construction in the country’s Himalayan foothills.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Many users in India and worldwide are reporting that Gmail is down and that they cannot log into their accounts or send emails. Google, through its service status page, has acknowledged the issue.

India Today

HIGHLIGHTS

• Many Gmail users in India are reporting log in issues as well are as facing trouble in sending emails.
• Along with Gmail, Google Drive is also facing issues.
• Gmail users are talking about the outage on Twitter, Google has acknowledged the issues.

Many users in India and worldwide are reporting that Gmail is down and that they cannot log into their accounts or send emails. Google, through its service status page, has acknowledged the issue.

Update: After facing a global outage, Gmail is now functional. Confirming the same, Google shared an update on its service status page, that read, “Gmail service has already been restored for some users, and we expect a resolution for all users in the near future. Please note this time frame is an estimate and may change.”

Google notes on its service status page: “Our team is continuing to investigate this issue. We will provide an update (later) with more information about this problem. Thank you for your patience.”

Earlier many users in India noted that they could not log in to their Gmail accounts or send attachments in the mail. So if the question is: is the Gmail down in India? The answer is yes as the service is facing major outage in not only India but also in several other countries. Along with Gmail, Google Drive is also facing issues. The Gmail users are talking about the outage they are facing with the mail service and Google Drive on Twitter.

As per the DownDetector, a website that monitors popular web services, Gmail, Google Drive, and other services by Google are not only facing outage in India but also in Australia, Japan, and several other countries. The DownDetector reports that the outage began in India around 11am. The website notes that over 62 per cent of users were unable to send attachments, 27 per cent were not being able to log in while 10 per cent of users complained of not being able to receive messages in the mail.

When we tried uploading a picture as an attachment, the small image — less than 1MB — took over fifteen minutes to uplaod. However, when we tried to click on the send button, Gmail showed a pop-up message that read, “Oops, something went wrong.” Check out the screenshot below.

Google has confirmed that Gmail and Google Drive are facing issues. The company on its G Suite Dashboard has written, “We are continuing to investigate this issue. We will provide an update by 8/20/20, 1:30 PM detailing when we expect to resolve the problem.”

Gmail users on Thursday morning reported not being able to send emails, log in to their accounts, and even upload attachments. “Is #gmail down for anyone? Unable to send an email. Keep getting a network error. (But the network is fine!),” a Twitter user wrote. While another user wrote, “Users across the globe unable to access #Gmail since morning and Downdetector confirms the situation. Hopefully, it’ll be back soon #gmaildown.”

The map shared by down detector shows that users in some parts of Europe and America have also been affected. However, this isn’t the first time it is happening in India. Back in July, the Gmail services went down for several hours. Users were not able to access their Gmail accounts and other Google services during this outage.

(This is a developing story)

PTI

Ranaghat (West Bengal): A youth has been arrested for allegedly tearing the national flag in an inebriated state in West Bengal’s Nadia district, police said on Thursday.

The incident occurred in School Para locality in Dhantala police station area on Wednesday, they said.

The youth, Chanchal Biswas, was arrested after locals made a video of the act and forwarded it to the police, an officer said.

The accused has claimed that he had acted under the influence of alcohol, he added.