Archives for 2021

In an apparent reference to the observation by the court, Priyanka Gandhi said the high court has shown the mirror to the government.

NEW DELHI: A day after the Allahabad High Court observed that the death of COVID-19 patients due to non supply of oxygen to hospitals is a criminal act, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said the Uttar Pradesh government has continuously denied the lack of oxygen when the truth is that there have been many deaths due to it for which accountability should be fixed.

In stern remarks, the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday observed that the death of COVID-19 patients just for non-supply of oxygen to hospitals is a criminal act, “not less than a genocide” by authorities entrusted the task to ensure the oxygen supply chain is maintained.

In an apparent reference to the observation by the court, Priyanka Gandhi said the high court has shown the mirror to the government.

“The UP government has continuously denied the lack of oxygen. It has been threatening those flagging the lack of oxygen,” the Congress general secretary said in a Facebook post in Hindi.

“While the truth is that continuously there have been deaths due to lack of oxygen and its accountability should be fixed,” she said.

The observation by the court came over some news items doing the rounds on social media regarding the death of COVID-19 patients due to lack of oxygen in Lucknow and Meerut districts.

The court also ordered a probe into the incidents.

KOLKATA: BJP president J P Nadda on Wednesday took a symbolic oath here to protect democracy and “save the people of West Bengal from the cycle of political violence”.

“I will be visiting districts such as North 24 Parganas to be on the side of our members who were at the receiving end of this brutality. We want to tell the entire country about this,” Nadda said at a programme organised by the saffron camp at its Hastings office here.

The BJP has claimed that at least six of its workers and supporters, including a woman, were killed in attacks allegedly perpetrated by the TMC following its victory in the assembly elections.

“We will continue to serve the help the people of Bengal and help them realise their dreams. We will strive to break this chain of political violence,” he said at the programme, which was attended by state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh among others.

Mukund Mohan Pandey (60) died on Monday but his family members were hesitating on his cremation as his elder brother, Lalit Pandey, too succumbed to the virus on April 30, local people said.BALRAMPUR: A group of Muslim youth helped cremate a 60-year-old Hindu man, who died of COVID-19 here, as his family members were hesitant to go ahead with the ritual for fear of contracting the disease.

Nagar Palika chairman Shaban Ali said when he came to know about this, he had some of his friends, Tariq, Anas, Guddu and Shafiq, make all the arrangements and take the body to the cremation ground.

After the arrangements were made, Pandey’s son consigned him to flames, Ali added.

India’s services sector activities eased to a three-month low in April, as the rise in business activity was constrained by the pandemic and sentiment towards growth prospects faded, a monthly survey said on Wednesday.

“The PMI results for April showed a more resilient economic performance for the service sector than expected given the escalation of the COVID-19 crisis in India,” said Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at IHS Markit.

Lima further noted that firms foresee higher output volumes over the course of the coming year, but business sentiment was dampened by worries surrounding the pandemic.

As per the survey, Indian services firms were optimistic regarding the 12-month outlook for business activity, but the overall level of positive sentiment fell to the lowest since last October.

The escalation of the pandemic was the main drag on confidence. On the prices front, service providers noted the steepest rise in overall expenses since December 2011.

Some firms lifted their selling prices in April amid the pass through of rising cost burdens to clients, but 98 per cent of companies left fees unchanged due to efforts to secure new work and remain competitive.

“One area of concern was inflation. Services firms noted the steepest rise in overall expenses in over nine years as global shortages of inputs and higher transportation costs continued to exert upward pressure on outlays,” Lima said.

On the jobs front, payroll numbers fell for the fifth month in a row in April, albeit at a slight pace that was the weakest since January.

The vast majority of panelists kept headcounts unchanged amid reports of sufficient capacity to cope with current workloads, the survey said.

Moreover, travel restrictions and the COVID-19 crisis continued to curb international demand for Indian services.

New export orders declined for the 14th month running and at a quicker pace than registered in March, the survey said. Meanwhile, growth of Indian private sector activity eased to the weakest in 2021 so far.

The Composite PMI Output Index, which measures combined services and manufacturing output, fell from 56.0 in March to 55.4 due to slower increases at goods producers and service providers.

“The upturn was generally curtailed by the escalation of the COVID-19 crisis,” the survey said. Meanwhile, Governor Shaktikanta Das said that RBI will continue to monitor the situation from the resurgence of COVID-19 cases and will deploy all resources.

“We have to marshal our resources for fighting the virus with vigour,” he said. The governor also announced Rs 50,000 crore priority lending by banks for hospitals and oxygen suppliers, among others by March 31, 2022.