CURRENT AFFAIRS
19 April 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Railways to run ‘Oxygen Express’ trains over next few days.
As the country battles an acute shortage of medical oxygen, the Indian Railways will run ‘Oxygen Express’ trains over the next few days to transport liquid medical oxygen and oxygen cylinders across the country. Empty tankers will begin their journey from Kalamboli and Boisar railway stations in and near Mumbai on Monday to load liquid medical oxygen Vishakhapatnam, Jamshedpur, Rourkela and Bokaro, officials said. Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra State governments had earlier approached the Railways Ministry to explore whether liquid medical oxygen tankers could be moved by the rail network, they said. ‘Oxygen Express Train’ being used through green corridors to trasnport Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) and 0xygen cylinder, required for treatment of COVID-19 patients. On the receipt of the request from the two States, the Railways immediately explored the technical feasibility of transportation of liquid medical oxygen. It has to be transported through roll-on-roll-off service with road tankers placed on flat wagons. Since the first empty tankers will move on April 19, we hope to begin operations of Oxygen Express over the next few days. We would be able to send oxygen wherever there is such demand. Green Corridor is being created for fast movement of Oxygen Express trains, an official said. A meeting was held between Railway Board officials and State transport commissioners and representatives of the industry on April 17 on issues related to transportation of liquid medical oxygen, according to the Press Trust of India.
B) Bihar and Tamil Nadu re-introduce COVID-19 restrictions.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced night curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. across the State and closure of schools, colleges, cinema halls, parks, religious places and swimming pools till May 15. After a long meeting today with officials, the crisis management group decided to impose night curfew in view of the surge in Covid-19 cases, Mr. Kumar told media persons, adding, they will keep monitoring the situation to take our next course of action. Shops, organisations, vendors will be opened till 6 p.m. and all government and non-government offices will be shut by 5 p.m., added Mr. Kumar. They have also discussed at length about availability of oxygen cylinders, beds, ambulances and other things at the meeting, he said. Tamil Nadu too has announced restrictions beginning from April 20 including a night ‘curfew’ between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. and a complete lockdown on Sundays. After a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, the government on April 18 announced that access to beaches, zoos, parks, museums and all tourist spots will be banned on all days. The government also postponed class 12 State Board examinations, without specifying a date, while allowing practical examinations to proceed as scheduled. During the night ‘curfew’, private and public transport, auto rickshaws, taxis and private vehicles will not be allowed to operate. However, vehicles for medical emergencies, auto rickshaws, taxis and private vehicles for transport to hospitals, airports and railway stations will be allowed. On all days, hotels and restaurants (except on Sundays), tea shops, vegetable shops, grocery stores and all other shops, shopping malls, jewellery stores, big format stores can function with a maximum capacity of 50% at any given point of time, till 9 p.m.
C) Manmohan Singh writes to Modi suggesting ways to tackle second wave.
Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi offering suggestions on fighting the second wave of COVID-19 by ramping up vaccination efforts, giving more flexibility to State governments to decide on the categories that need to be vaccinated and invoking compulsory licensing provisions to expand the number of vaccine producers. Noting that India has vaccinated a very small fraction of its population, Dr. Singh said the government must scale up vaccination efforts and asserted that with the right policy design, the country can do much better and very quickly. States should be given some flexibility to define categories of frontline workers who can be vaccinated even if they are below 45 years of age. For example, States may want to designate schoolteachers, bus, three-wheeler and taxi drivers, municipal and panchayat staff, and possibly lawyers who have to attend Courts as frontline workers. They can then be vaccinated even if they are below 45, Dr. Singh said. Currently, only those who are 45 years and above are eligible for vaccination. The former Prime Minister’s letter to Mr. Modi is a follow up of Saturday’s deliberations at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) that had decided to offer key suggestions to the government to fight the pandemic.
D) Let political parties switch to virtual rallies, Gopal Gandhi writes to poll panel.
Former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Sunday wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to immediately ban all political rallies and door-to-door campaigning in the State and switch to virtual rallies to avoid the spread of COVID-19. Mr. Gandhi asked the Election Commissioner (CEC) to immediately ban all political rallies and door-to-door campaigning in the State and switch to virtual rallies to avoid the spread of Covid-19. In his letter, Mr. Gandhi said the electoral democracy and public health should not be out of harmony. Please consider placing an immediate ban on all public rallies and door-to-door campaigning in the State till the last vote has been cast on April 29. And direct them to move to virtual campaigning. It should not be said that India’s electoral democracy and India’s public health are out of harmony, he wrote in his letter to the CEC. The former Governor said the surge in virus in West Bengal that has coincided with the on-going Assembly elections has jeopardised the health of the electors, the election staff and security personnel on duty simultaneously and staggeringly. It places the election process at dire risk, apart from endangering public health, he said.
E) Modi should resign over COVID-19 crisis, says Mamata
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resignation for mishandling of the Covid-19 second wave and alleged that the Prime Minister failed in planning to contain the rise in the number of infections. Asserting that PM Modi did little to address the possible crisis in the supply of medical oxygen and vaccines in the five-six months when the virus had lost its sting before its resurgence this year, Ms. Banerjee accused Mr. Modi of exporting vaccines to other countries to boost his image in the international arena while there was a scarcity in his own nation. For the rise in COVID-19 cases PM Modi has to resign. He is the man responsible for the present situation. He did not make any administrative planning for 2021. And look at the situation in Gujarat. The BJP cannot tackle the COVID-19 spike even in Gujarat, and has brought the entire country, including West Bengal, to such a pass, the TMC supremo said. Highlighting that the West Bengal government had asked for 5.4 crore doses of vaccine from the Prime Minister for vaccinating every citizen of the State free of cost, the Chief Minister said, we are yet to get any response from him. West Bengal would have borne the entire cost of the COVID-19 vaccines, the Chief Minister had said.
F) DRDO sets up 500-bed COVID-19 facility, Centre issues directives to hospitals affiliated to PSUs and Central Ministries.
A 500-bed COVID-19 facility being set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) near the airport in New Delhi will start accepting patients by Monday. The 1000 bed facility which was set up near airport (last year) was wound up in February 1st week. Now again 500 bed facility is being set up at same place. By Monday it should start taking patients. 250 beds will be ready by Monday. Remaining in another few days, said Dr. Narendra Kumar Arya, spokesperson of DRDO. A medical team from the Directorate General Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) has arrived in Delhi and will look after the facility. Major General S.S. Bhatia will be commanding the facility and the team will also be two doctors from Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). For admission into the facility, a Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT PCR) COVID positive report and Aadhar card would be necessary. Meanwhile, the Centre has asked hospitals affiliated to public sector units and Central Ministries to set up dedicated blocks or even exclusive hospitals to administer to COVID-19 patients. The need of the hour is to prioritise and systematise all our combined efforts towards effective management and ensure availability of sufficient healthcare infrastructure in the States to meet increased demand for providing treatment, said Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in a letter to several Ministries including Defence, Railways, Atomic Energy, Shipping and Education.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Call for protests amid Navalny’s ‘failing health’
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Sunday called for massive protests in the heart of Moscow and St. Petersburg on Wednesday, saying Mr. Navalny’s health is deteriorating severely during a hunger strike. On Saturday, a doctor said on Saturday that test results he received from Mr. Navalny’s family showed sharply elevated levels of potassium, which could lead to cardiac arrest, and kidney failure. Our patient could die at any moment, the doctor, Yaroslav Ashikhmin, said. Leonid Volkov, a top strategist for Mr. Navalny, said the demonstrations were called on short notice for Wednesday because his life hangs in the balance. The 44-year-old Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s persistent critic, started hunger strike more than three weeks ago to protest prison authorities’ refusal to allow him to be seen by a private doctor for diagnosis of severe back pain and loss of feeling in his legs.
B) Myanmar shadow govt. wants invite for ASEAN crisis talks.
Myanmar’s shadow government on Sunday urged Southeast Asian leaders to give it a seat at the table during crisis talks next week, and not to recognise the military regime that seized power in a February coup. Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing is expected to join a special ASEAN summit on Myanmar on Saturday in Jakarta his first official overseas trip since the putsch that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu. The Army has moved to quell mass protests against its rule, killing at least 730 people according to a local monitoring group. The military chief’s invitation to the meeting of the IO country Association of Southeast Asian Nations has drawn scorn from activists and former lawmakers who have urged foreign leaders not to formally recognise the junta. Moe Zaw Oo, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for the parallel national unity government formed on Friday by ousted lawmakers mostly from Ms. Suu Kyi’s party, as well as ethnic-minority politicians said ASEAN had not reached out to them. If ASEAN wants to help solve the Myanmar situation, they are not going to achieve anything without consulting and negotiating with the NUG, which is supported by the people and has full legitimacy, he told Voice of America’s Burmese service. It’s important that this military council is not recognised. This needs to be handled carefully. Unrest continued across the country on Sunday, with protesters rallying in Mandalay, Meiktila, Magway and Myingyan, showing support for the national unity government.
