Socialist Today

27/10/2021

16/05/2021

With an aim to provide better healthcare facilities to police personnel amid coronavirus pandemic, Uttar Pradesh has set up Covid-19 care centres with 2,993 beds at Reserve Police Lines across 66 districts of the state. Of these, 299 are oxygen beds.
Besides this, a provision of 628 beds has also been made for the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel. Out of these, 45 beds will have oxygen facility.

16/05/2021

The severe cyclonic storm 'Tauktae' over east central Arabian Sea moved nearly northwards with a speed of about 9kmph during the past six hours, and intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm. It lay centred over the eastcentral Arabian Sea, about 150km southwest of Panaji, Goa. The India Meteorological Department said that it is very likely to intensify further during the next 12 hours. The cyclonic storm is very likely to to move north-northwestwards and reach Gujarat coast in the evening hours of May 17 and cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva (Bhavnagar district) around May 18 early morning.

16/05/2021

Shutting down pavement fruits and vegetable shops and reducing grocery shopping time to a mere four hours led to crowding at supermarkets in many parts of the city on Saturday. The queues were especially longer in areas that had fewer supermarkets.

Residents said that in order to reduce this rush hour shopping, push-carts that sell vegetables on streets should not only be allowed but also actively endorsed by the government. They said it will reduce the crowds at supermarkets.

The supermarkets on Montieth Road and Ethiraj Salai in Egmore were crowded as the nearby street market for fruits and vegetables on Marshalls Road was shut on the day. A similar trend was observed in Chromepet too. People started queuing up outside supermarkets at 6 am sharp and rushed into the shops as they opened.

16/05/2021

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City flattened three buildings and killed at least 26 people Sunday, medics said, making it the deadliest single attack since heavy fighting broke out between Israel and the territory’s militant Hamas rulers nearly a week ago.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 10 women and eight children were among those killed, with another 50 people wounded in the attack. A rescuer could be seen shouting into a hole in the rubble. “Can you hear me?" he called out. “Are you OK?" Minutes later, first responders managed to pull a survivor out and carried him off on an orange stretcher.
Earlier, the Israeli military said it destroyed the home of Gazas top Hamas leader, Yahiyeh Sinwar, in a separate strike in the southern town of Khan Younis. It was the third such attack in the last two days on the homes of senior Hamas leaders, who have gone underground.

15/05/2021

A 12-storey Gaza tower block housing the offices of the US-based Associated Press and Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera collapsed on Saturday after being struck by Israeli missiles, a Reuters witness said.
The strike came nearly an hour after the military ordered people to evacuate the building, which also housed Al-Jazeera, other offices and residential apartments. The strike brought the entire 12-story building down, collapsing with a gigantic cloud of dust. There was no immediate explanation for why it was attacked.

15/05/2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday chaired a high-level meeting on the country's Covid-19 situation and the ongoing vaccination drive.
He was informed that the government is actively monitoring the supply of drugs being used in the management of Covid-19 as well as mucormycosis, a deadly black fungus infection which has affected some Covid-recovered patients.

15/05/2021

The entire gang of Khatron Ke Khiladi 11 got together to celebrate Eid. Sana shared this pic and wished all in a note that read, “Eid Mubarak to all of you from us wishing a very safe Eid this year. P.S - the masks were taken off only for the picture and were put back on immediately.”

15/05/2021

India's Covid caseload has reached 2.43 crore with 3.26 lakh new cases reported in the last 24 hours. The death count has touched 2.66 lakh with 3,980 people dying of the infection.
The country's cumulative COVID-19 recoveries have surpassed two crore mark with 3,44,776 patients recuperating in a day. This is the fourth time in the last five days that recoveries have outnumbered daily cases.

More than 18 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the country till Friday, according to the Health Ministry.

World health experts issued a grim warning on Friday that the second year of Covid-19 was set to be "far more deadly", as Japan extended a state of emergency amid growing calls for the Olympics to be scrapped, AFP reported. "We're on track for the second year of this pandemic to be far more deadly than the first," said the World Health Organization's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

15/05/2021

The Tauktae cyclone, which the IMD had warned against on Friday, is turning into a very severe cyclone with the progression of time, and it is expected to hit the western coast in the next 24 hours with ferocious winds, the IMD has said.
The Weather department informed that the deep low-pressure area around Lakshadweep islands in the Arabian Sea is going to further intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours. The Weather forecaster also said that the storm will bring along very heavy rain in various places which fall on the Western Coast of the country, All India Radio reported.

14/05/2021

A cyclonic disturbance has formed over Lakshadweep and the Arabian Sea, which will gradually intensify into a cyclonic storm by Sunday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a 'Red' alert for Kerala today and for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on Saturday.
The IMD has also issued a heavy rain warning in parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat in view of the rapid intensification of Cyclone Tauktae.

14/05/2021

Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Friday (May 14, 2021) announced that Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V will cost ₹995.40 + 5% GST per dose in India and the price of vaccines produced in the country may be lower.

As per a press release by Dr Reddy's Laboratories the first consignment of imported doses of the Sputnik V vaccine that landed in India on May 1 received regulatory clearance from the Central Drugs Laboratory, Kasauli, on May 13.

As part of a limited pilot, the soft launch of the vaccine has commenced and the first dose of the vaccine was administered in Hyderabad on Friday.

14/05/2021

Dramatically ramping up Covid-19 vaccination drive is key to ending the crisis in India and extending the gap between two doses of Covishield is a "reasonable approach," White House chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci told ANI in an exclusive interview on Thursday.
"When you are in a very difficult situation, the way you are in India, you have to try and figure out ways to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as you can, so I believe that it is a reasonable approach to do," Fauci said.

13/05/2021

Speaking to Yahoo Life, she said, "Well, I won't lie that I don't get affected by it. My body has changed as I've gotten older, just as everyone's body does, and I've had to adapt mentally as well with like, OK, this is what it looks like now, this is what I look like now, it's alright, and catering to my now body and not my 10- or 20-years-ago body."
"I think that that's very crucial and I feel like that really takes finding a sense of confidence in what you bring to the table outside of what you look like. I always think about, how am I contributing? What is my purpose? Am I doing good with the tasks that I've been given for the day? I try to be myopic about feeling good about other things, even on days that I don't feel the best about my body, and I work toward whatever makes me happy at that time," she added. Priyanka said she also knows that her confidence and her ability to impress others 'has nothing to do with my body'.

13/05/2021

The gap between two Covishield doses has been increased to 12 to 16 weeks from the current six-eight weeks, the government said today, accepting the recommendation of experts. Increasing the gap is a good scientific decision, said Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of the Serum Institute of India (SSI) that makes Covishield.
"This is beneficial both from the efficacy and the immunogenicity standpoint. This is a very good move because this is based on data that the government received on the basis of which they made a good scientific decision to increase the gap," Adar Poonawalla told NDTV.

Several states are reporting a shortage of vaccines and the new rule is expected to not just ease the pressure off Covishield but also free up doses for a larger number of people to get their first dose of the vaccine.

13/05/2021

The Centre on Thursday reiterated that any vaccine which is approved by United States' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) can come to India. The announcement was made at a press conference by NITI Aayog member VK Paul, who also heads the national expert group on vaccines.

13/05/2021

A government panel has recommended increasing the gap between two doses of Covishield Covid-19 vaccine to 12-16 weeks and said that pregnant women may be offered the choice to take any vaccine, official sources said on Thursday.
No change has been suggested for the dosage interval of Covaxin by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) which held its meeting recently.

13/05/2021

Israel's president warned of a civil war between the country's Arabs and Jews on Wednesday as fury and fear over shelling exchanges with Palestinian militants in Gaza ignited violence in Israel's streets.
Appeals by religious and political leaders for calm, and police reinforcements and mass-arrests, appeared to do little to stem riots in several ethnically mixed towns. Israeli TV showed what it described as "near-lynchings" of Jewish and Arab motorists.

The strife was touched off by sometimes violent pro-Palestinian protests by members of the Arab minority incensed at an Israeli air barrage launched on Gaza on Monday after Islamist Hamas-led militants fired salvoes of rockets across the border.

12/05/2021

The Centre on Wednesday clarified that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has not associated the term “Indian variant” with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus.
The ministry of health and family welfare in a statement said that the word “Indian” has not been used in the WHO report.
"Several media reports have covered the news of World Health Organisation (WHO) classifying B.1.617 as variant of global concern. Some of these reports have termed the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus as an Indian variant" the statement added.
The ministry of health and family welfare said that use of the term 'Indian variant' is without basis and unfounded.

12/05/2021

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday joined a chorus of voices commenting on a video from Gujarat's Ahmedabad - a video that shows men gleefully covering themselves in cow dung and urine in the belief it will protect them against COVID-19.
A bemused Mr Yadav tweeted: "Should we cry or laugh over this...".

Attached to his tweet was a video from a report by news agency Reuters that identified a school called the Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul Vishwavidya Pratishthanam, where some people go once a week to slather cow dung and urine over their bodies, hug cows and practice yoga.

12/05/2021

The government's mega-push for "positivity" to fend off criticism, both in the country and abroad, has set up a new political flashpoint, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi calling it "burying one's head in the sand" and a betrayal of citizens.
"The false assurance of 'positive thinking' is a joke on those families and health workers who have lost their loved ones and are suffering a crisis of oxygen, hospitals and medicines. Burying one's head in the sand is not positive - it is a betrayal of our citizens," the Congress MP tweeted.

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor called it "disgusting" to push "propaganda" in the name of spreading positivity.

12/05/2021

Palestinian militants fired a barrage of rockets at Israel’s economic hub Tel Aviv on Tuesday in retaliation for an Israeli strike that destroyed a tower block in Gaza, as the foes traded their heaviest fire for several years.
The sharp escalation, triggered by violence in Jerusalem, has killed at least 32 Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip and three Israelis, and wounded hundreds more.
“This is just the beginning" of Israel’s strikes, Minister Benny Gantz warned.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh vowed that “if Israel wants to escalate, we are ready for it."

11/05/2021

Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane today said 26 COVID-19 patients died at the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in the early hours and sought an investigation by the High Court to find out the exact cause.
He said these fatalities occurred between 2 am and 6 am "which is a fact", but remained evasive about the cause.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who visited the Goa Medical College and Hospital, said the gap between the "availability of medical oxygen and its supply to COVID-19 wards in the GMCH might have caused some issues for the patients" even as he stressed that there is no scarcity of oxygen supply in the state.

11/05/2021

As coronavirus cases continue to rise unabated in various parts of the country, the healthcare system is buckling under the increasing caseload. Resources such as oxygen cylinders and concentrators, hospital beds as well as medicines continue to be scarce in many parts of India. In this scenario, Ola has announced that it will help people gain access to oxygen concentrators. The ride-hailing company has partnered with donation platform GiveIndia to provide home delivery of 10,000 oxygen concentrators across the country, free of cost.
Announcing the same in a tweet, Ola Chief Executive Officer Bhavish Agarwal said, "We must come together and help our communities during these unprecedented times. Today we're announcing the O2forIndia initiative in partnership with to provide free and easy access to oxygen concentrators to those in need. "

11/05/2021

Farhan Akhtar put to rest speculation that he got access to a drive-in vaccination facility in Mumbai because of his privilege. A Twitter user asked the 47-year-old filmmaker to share a screenshot of his online booking, amid comments that he wrongfully accessed a facility for senior citizens.

Responding to a post claiming that Farhan used the facility, ‘reserved only for people above 60 years of age’, a Twitter user wrote, “If this is true then should clarify, show a booking screen shot. Else its the prominence over general availability and a case of prominant people having better access.”

11/05/2021

India recorded 3,29,942 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours ending 8 am Tuesday. The country’s total infections stand at over 2.29 crore. Out of these, over 37.15 lakh cases are active while 1.90 crore people have recovered after testing positive. Active cases have declined for the first time in 2 months. With 3,876 new deaths, the toll is now at over 2.49 lakh.

10/05/2021

Authorities in India’s financial hub Mumbai are seeking to import millions of vaccine doses to help avert a third potential coronavirus wave.

The municipal corporation is in talks with the state government to allow it to invite bids from global manufacturers, Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said in an interview Monday.

“The state government tender might be very huge, like 40 million, and no foreign supplier can match that kind of number, but if I just float 5 million vaccines, bids may come up from two-three companies,” he said. “I am working on that and it’s a matter of days that we will finalize something.”

10/05/2021

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that his government is preparing for the third wave of the deadly coronavirus and said that he has requested more vaccines from the Centre.

“We're increasing oxygen beds... We must prepare for the third wave. In this wave, Delhi recorded maximum 28,000 cases in a day. The scale at which we're creating infrastructure, we'll be able to deal even if 30,000 daily cases are reported in the next wave,” Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said while talking to reporters.

Raising the issue of vaccine shortage, the AAP chief said, “We're left with vaccine stock for 3-4 days. We have placed orders with companies but I think the Central govt is allocating the vaccines because we get a letter from the Central govt about the stock that we would get in a month. We request the Centre to give us more vaccines.”

10/05/2021

In a late-night a ..

Read more at:
http://m.timesofindia.com/articleshow/82513372.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

10/05/2021

As many as 43 ministers will be sworn-in on May 10 as part of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s third Cabinet. The ceremony will take place at the Raj Bhavan at 10.45 am.

According to a report by NDTV, the West Bengal’s new council of ministers will have 18 new faces besides 25 incumbents. Of the total 43, nine will be ministers of state.

Amit Mitra and Bratya Bose will be sworn-in virtually. While Mitra is unwell, Bose is recovering from COVID-19.

The Cabinet will include veteran Trinamool Congress leaders such as Subrata Mukherjee, Partha Chatterjee, Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Sujit Bose, Chandrima Bhattacharya and Shashi Panja.

Rajya Sabha member Manas Bhuian, who contested the recent Legislative Assembly elections will also be inducted into the Cabinet.

09/05/2021

After being banned by Twitter, Kangana Ranaut feels that she will not last on Instagram for ‘more than a week’. She claimed that her post announcing her Covid-19 diagnosis was taken down by the photo-sharing platform and suggested that it must have been reported by the ‘Covid fan club’.

Taking to Instagram Stories, Kangana wrote, “Instagram has deleted my post where I threatened to demolish Covid because some were hurt. Matlab terrorists and communists sympathisers suna tha twitter pe lekin (I had heard of terrorist and communist sympathisers on Twitter but) Covid fan club awesome... It’s been two days here on insta but don’t think will last here more than a week.” She also added several laughing emojis.

09/05/2021

Around 80 medical personnel and a surgeon at Delhi's Saroj Super Speciality Hospital have tested positive for the coronavirus over the last month. Dr AK Rawat, the surgeon who was vaccinated, died of COVID-19 on Saturday. He was 58.
"Around 80 medical staff have tested positive between April and May. Dr AK Rawat was my junior, a surgeon... he succumbed to Covid yesterday," the hospital's Chief Medical Officer Dr PK Bhardwaj told .

09/05/2021

The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday decided to further extend the duration of the curfew in the state till May 17 amid a surge in coronavirus cases. The previous curfew was to end on Monday morning.
On April 29, the state government had announced that weekend lockdowns will also cover Mondays and on May 3 it was extended till May 6.

Most states have taken to lockdowns or night curfews to break the chain of transmission.

09/05/2021

India recorded 4,03,738 fresh Covid cases and 4,092 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the overall caseload to 2.22 crore. This is the fifth time in a week that the country has reported over 4 lakh daily infections.
The number of deaths climbed to 2,42,362 with 4,092 daily deaths, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Registering a steady increase, the active cases have increased to 37,36,648, comprising 16.76 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 82.15 per cent.

The government on Saturday said it has revised the national policy for admission of Covid patients as it told the hospitals that "no patient will be refused on any count". A coronavirus test report is no longer needed for hospitalisation. Hospitals can't also refuse patients from another city.

08/05/2021

The Supreme Court on Saturday set up a national task force(NTF) to streamline oxygen allocation across the country. "The rationale for constituting a Task Force at a national level is to facilitate a public health response to the pandemic based on scientific and specialised domain knowledge," said the apex court.
The task force has been mandated to work on assessing and making recommendations for the entire country based on the need for, availability and distribution of medical oxygen and formulating and devising the methodology for the allocation of medical oxygen to the States and UTs on a scientific, rational and equitable basis.
The task force will also make recommendations on augmenting the available supplies of oxygen, facilitate audits to determine whether the supplies allocated by the Union Government reach the State/UT concerned.

08/05/2021

A day after taking oath as Tamil Nadu's new chief minister, MK Stalin today said he has given a clear instruction to his officers: "Don't fudge the Covid data".
"There is no point in fudging numbers. Truth comes out eventually. I have told officers not to fudge Covid data. Let's face the facts directly," he is heard saying in a clip shared from his Twitter handle.

The DMK returned to power in Tamil Nadu after nearly a decade as MK Stalin took oath on Friday morning. At 69, he is the oldest first-time chief minister of the state.

08/05/2021

On Friday, she commented on a tweet and a news report alleging that Oxygen hoarding and mismanagement has been happening in Delhi. "India does not need more oxygen. It needs dharma fear of God. Shame on these vultures!!!" she wrote. In another post, she added, "Itne chor hain iss desh mein. Oxygen ki nahi thode imaan ki zaroorat hai insaniyat ko (This country has so many thieves. We don't need oxygen, humanity needs honesty)."
Kangana was permanently suspended from Twitter earlier this week, for violating the platform's policies, particularly with regard to 'Hateful Conduct policy and Abusive Behaviour'.
In a statement, a Twitter spokesperson had said that Kangana had been found to be guilty of repeated violations. Earlier this year, certain restrictions had been imposed on her account after she had tweeted about the makers of the streaming series Tandav.

08/05/2021

The Tamil Nadu government has announced a two week "total lockdown" from May 10 amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. The order was issued a day after the state recorded its biggest day spike of over 26,000 new Covid infections.
Chief Minister MK Stalin, in a statement, said that the lockdown was being enforced due to "unavoidable reasons". The decision, Mr Stalin added, was taken based on inputs received at a review meeting he had with district collectors on Friday, besides consultations with medical experts.

"The total lockdown will be enforced from 4 am on May 10 to 4 am on May 24," he said.

07/05/2021

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday with four urgent issues to address: scientifically tracking the virus and its mutations using genome sequencing; assessing all vaccines against new mutations; rapidly vaccinating the population; and transparently keeping the world informed of the findings. He said the government’s failures in containing the pandemic have made “another devastating national lockdown almost inevitable”.
Gandhi’s letter is the second to the Prime Minister amid the second wave of Covid-19 in India.

07/05/2021

DMK chief MK Stalin has been sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, along with 33 members of his cabinet, at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai by Governor Banwarilal Purohit this morning.
Mr Stalin has also been sworn in as Home Minister and will hold a number of other portfolios, including those relating to administrative and police services, special programmes and the welfare of differently abled persons,

This will be his first term and he takes charge as the state battles a severe second Covid wave; this morning nearly 25,000 new cases were reported.