CURRENT AFFAIRS
22 April 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) 24 Covid-19 patients die in Nashik hospital after oxygen tank leak.
At least 24 Covid-19 patients who were on life support have lost their lives in Nashik’s Dr. Zakir Hussain Hospital owing to acute shortage of oxygen following massive leakage of the gas from the main storage tank. The death toll in the incident reached 24 after two more patients died in the evening, a top district official said. Two more patients, who were on ventilator, succumbed in the evening. They could not get sufficient oxygen earlier in the day when its supply stopped due to the leakage in the tank, collector Suraj Mandhare told PTI. Earlier in the day, attributing the cause to a valve malfunction in the tank, State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that a probe to ascertain negligence had been ordered into the incident. Sources said that the mishap occurred sometime around noon. Massive leakage from an oxygen tank caused disruption in vital oxygen supply for at least half-an-hour, resulting in the deaths of several patients who were on ventilator support. A fire brigade team was rushed to the spot of the mishap to contain the leak. Tope said 157 patients were undergoing treatment at the hospital, of whom 61 were in a critical condition and required oxygen. The tragedy comes at a time when Maharashtra, the worst-hit State in India in terms of Covid-19 cases and fatalities, is reeling under an acute shortage of oxygen. Along with Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur, Nashik has witnessed massive case spikes and Covid-19-related deaths in both waves of the pandemic.
B) Serum Institute fixes Covishield price at ₹400 per dose for States.
From May 1, Serum Institute of India (SII) will be selling Covishield to State governments at ₹400 dose and to private hospitals at ₹600 dose, Adar Poonawala, CEO, SII said in a statement on Wednesday. The vaccine would continue to be procured by the Centre at ₹150-200 per dose, resulting in a three-tier price structure. The vaccines, however, would not retail until 4-5 months and corporates and private individuals could in the meantime only get these vaccines from State-facilitated machinery, his statement added. On Monday, when announcing vaccination for all above 18, the Centre said vaccine companies could sell half their approved lot of vaccines in the open market, opening up avenues for States to directly procure them without intervention from the Centre. States have, however, expressed reservations. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that such a policy would place additional burden on States’ finances.
C) Congress, Left slam Centre over differential pricing of Covishield vaccine.
Congress on Wednesday criticised the Centre over differential pricing of the Covishield vaccine, with former Union minister Jairam Ramesh calling it atrocious that the Centre could procure it for ₹150 per dose but States would have to pay ₹400 per dose. While former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram posed a series of questions on Twitter, party general secretary Ajay Maken, at an online press conference, charged the Narendra Modi government with reducing India from being a vaccine leader to a vaccine beggar. The party lashed out at the Modi government for not preparing for the second wave. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in an interview to news agency ANI, said, This government can speak to ISI. They are speaking to ISI in Dubai. Can’t they talk to Opposition leaders? I don’t think there is any Opposition leader who is not giving them constructive and positive suggestions. The government needs to be sensitive at this time, the Prime Minister needs to show up, he needs to get off the stage of the rally where he is laughing and cracking jokes. He needs to come here, sit in front of people, talk to them and tell them how is he going to save lives. Vadra flagged the issue of shortage of vaccines, which she attributed to the Modi government’s PR exercise, lack of planning to ensure smooth supply of oxygen despite India being its largest producer, and allowing export of critical drugs like Remdesivir as well as oxygen. The party also sharply reacted to the announcement by the Serum Institute of India (SII) on vaccine pricing. Ramesh tweeted, the Central government will continue to pay ₹150 per dose for Covishield. State governments will now be charged ₹400 a dose. This is not cooperative federalism. This will bleed dry the already reeling State finances. Atrocious. We demand One Nation, One Price for Centre and State governments. Who will pay the ₹400 for one dose in government hospitals? The State government or the beneficiary? How many persons between 18 and 44 years can afford to pay ₹400 per dose? Will the beneficiary be burdened with the cost? How many States would be willing to pay the price of the vaccine and subsidise the people? asked Chidambaram. Pointing out that for 70 years India always had a free universal vaccination programme, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury tweeted, This is unacceptable. Centre must buy vaccines and distribute in a transparent equitable manner free to States. PM must spend the lakhs of crores hoarded in PMCares for this.
D) New coronavirus lineage found in West Bengal.
With elections ongoing in West Bengal, scientists report the emergence of a new lineage of coronavirus that may comprise as much as 15% of the genomes in the State from January to March. The new variant, B.1.618, has a major mutation called E484K found in several of the internationally identified variants of concern that helps it evade the immune system and possibly compromise vaccine efficacy. On April 8, INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics), a group of 10 Indian labs working across the country on sequencing genomes from coronavirus patients, named a double mutant variant as B.1.617, which contained two mutations, E484Q and L245R. Though more studies are underway, there’s suspicion that this variant, whose mutations have also been found in variants in other countries, may be playing a significant role in the nearly month-long exponential rise in cases that is now seeing over 270,000 new infections a day, the most in the world, and straining India’s health infrastructure to breaking point. The B.1.618 was first isolated on October 25, 2020 and most recently on March 17. The variants that carry some of the mutations associated with B.1.618 have also been found in the U.S., Switzerland, Singapore and Finland. While mutations occur in all parts of the coronavirus genome, key changes to the spike protein that help the virus bind better to the body’s cells are most closely tracked. In the case of B.1.618, there are four characteristic mutations to the spike protein associated with increased infectivity and immune escape. Scaria said there wasn’t ‘conclusive’ evidence that the lineage was driving the epidemic in West Bengal, other than the fact that the numbers and proportions were rising. Like other States, West Bengal too has seen a sharp spike in cases. On April 1, it was reporting 829 cases a day and that has since spiked to 7,000 cases everyday, with 53,000 active cases reported as of Tuesday. This has prompted some Opposition parties to announce withdrawing from campaigns and calls to club the remaining phases of the polling.
E) Updated data from Covaxin phase 3 trial shows 78% efficacy.
The efficacy of Covaxin has dropped a tad lower to 78% compared to the 81% reported in March. On Wednesday, Bharat Biotech, via a press release, announced results from an interim analysis of its phase 3 trial. The efficacy against severe Covid-19 disease was 100%, the company claimed, but that against protecting from asymptomatic Covid-19 infection was 70%. The analysis was on a data set of 127 Covid-positive volunteers. The safety and efficacy results from the final analysis would be available in June, and the final report will be submitted to a peer-reviewed publication. Based on the achievement of the success criteria, placebo recipients have now become eligible to receive two doses of COVAXIN, Bharat Biotech said in a statement. Prof. Balram Bhargava, Secretary Dept. of Health Research & Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research, said that he is also happy to note that COVAXIN works well against most variants of SARS-CoV-2. These findings together consolidate the position of our indigenous vaccine in the global vaccine landscape. So far around 11 million doses of Covaxin have been administered in India’s vaccination drive, far below the nearly 117 million doses of Covishield.
F) India again placed at 142nd rank on press freedom.
The 2021 World Press Freedom Index produced by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a French NGO, has again placed India at 142nd rank out of 180 countries. This is despite the fact that for a year, under directions from the Cabinet Secretary, an Index Monitoring Cell worked to improve the world rankings. It even organised a meeting between the Ambassador to France and RSF officials in a bid to lobby for a change in the ranking. In 2016, India’s rank was 133. It has since steadily climbed down to 142 in 2020. The RSF report says India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists trying to do their job properly. They are exposed to every kind of attack, including police violence against reporters, ambushes by political activists, and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials. Fearing such an adverse assessment, in February last year, on the directions of Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, the Index Monitoring Cell was set up in 18 Ministries to find ways to improve the position on 32 international indices. Information and Broadcasting Ministry was delegated to look at the freedom of press index. As per the report of this Index Monitoring Cell, accessed by The Hindu, on April 26 last year, the PIB Additional Director General first wrote to Chairman of the RSF Pierre Haski asking for criteria for the survey on the basis of which they compile the index, for better understanding of the ranking. This was followed by a meeting of Ambassador to France, Javed Ashraf, with RSF’s Secretary General Christophe Deloire and Head of Asia Pacific desk Daniel Bastard. The minutes of this September meeting are part of the report of the Cell. Ashraf said the openness of the government to be criticised and questioned with respect to subjects like economy, international affairs and defence deals like Rafale are indicators of press freedom. The RSF representatives, however questioned the extended Internet ban in Jammu and Kashmir from August 5, 2019, which went on for nearly a year.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) EU reaches major climate deal ahead of Biden climate summit.
The European Union (EU) has reached a tentative climate deal that should make the 27-nation bloc climate-neutral by 2050, with member states and parliament agreeing on the targets on the eve of a virtual summit that U.S. President Joe Biden will host. Our political commitment to becoming the first climate neutral continent by 2050 is now also a legal commitment. The Climate Law sets the EU on a green path for a generation, said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen early Wednesday. Under the provisional deal reached after officials negotiated through the night, the EU also commits itself on an intermediate target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. It was high time for the agreement, as Europe has to show where it stands in view of the positive developments in the USA and China, said MEP Peter Liese, the negotiator for the EPP Christian Democrat group. The United States, the world’s second-biggest polluter after China, is preparing to announce its new target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The deal still needs to be officially approved by the member states and the legislature, but Wednesday’s agreement should make that little more than a rubber stamp.
B) Putin warns rivals against ‘crossing red line’ with Russia.
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday warned Russia’s foreign rivals against crossing the red line with Moscow, as he gave a state Of the nation speech amid deep tensions with the West. Russia’s ties with the West have deteriorated to near Cold War lows, with Moscow and Western capitals at loggerheads overjailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, a RusSian troop build-up on Ukraine’s borders and a series of espionage scandals. In some countries, they have started an obscene custom of blaming Russia for anything, Mr. Putin told gathered lawmakers and regional governors in a speech broadcast on national television. Mr. Putin added that Moscow wants “good relations” with all members of the international community — even with those that it does not see eye to eye. “But ifsomeone perceives our good intentions as weakness… let them know that Russia’s response will be asymmetric and harsh,” he said. He hope that no one will think of crossing the red line in relation to Russia. And where it will be — we will determine that ourselves, he added. Moscow has seen its diplomats in recent months expelled from a host of Western countries, which have imposed sanctions on Russia over allegations of cyber attacks, hacking and the poisoning of Mr. Navalny. The Kremlin last week said it was “good” that U.S. President Joe Biden was seeking dialogue with Mr. Putin by offering a summit between the two leaders, even as Washington slapped Moscow with new sanctions. It has said, however, it is still considering the offer. Meanwhile, thousands of supporters of Mr. Navalny took to the streets in Moscow and elsewhere on Wednesday to protest his detention. police detained over 450 protesters, according to monitoring group COVID-Info.
