PM REVIEWS PROGRESS IN COVID FIGHT

One-third of the population over the age of 45 has received at least the first dose of the Covid vaccine, top health ministry officials informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting on Thursday held to review the vaccine progress, medicine and infrastructure preparedness in the country.

The PM reiterated the need for high burden states to impose local level lockdowns as earlier advised by the health and home ministries.

As many as 12 states (See below) have more than one lakh active cases each with potential for stress on hospitals.

Also, 24 states have higher than 15 per cent positivity rate.

Modi was given a detailed picture of the Covid outbreak in various states and districts.

“The need to ensure quick and holistic containment measures were also discussed. PM noted that an advisory was sent to the states to identify districts of concern where Case positivity is 10 pc or more and Bed occupancy is more than 60 pc on either oxygen supported or ICU beds. PM also reviewed the availability of medicines. He was briefed about the rapid augmenting of production of medicines including Remdesivir,” a government statement said.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 36,44,436

New Cases in last 24 hours: 4,13,975

Recovered in last 24 hours: 3,28,334

Increase in Active cases in last 24 hours: 81,721

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 3,920 (2,34,071)

Daily Tests: 19,23,131

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 21.4%

Most Affected States:

(S. No. / State / No. of Active Cases / New Cases in last 24 Hrs / Deaths in Last 24 Hrs)

1          Maharashtra     6,39,075                       62,194              853

2          Karnataka                     5,17,075                       49,058              328

3          Kerala              3,90,906                       42,464              63

4          Uttar Pradesh   2,59,844                       26,622              350

5          Rajasthan                     1,98,010                       17,532              161

6          Andhra Pradesh            1,82,329                       21,954              72

7          Gujarat             1,47,525                       12,545              123

8          Tamil Nadu       1,31,468                       24,898              195

9          Chhattisgarh     1,31,245                       13,846              212

10        West Bengal     1,22,774                       18,431              117

11        Haryana                       1,15,842                       14,840              177

12        Bihar                1,15,151                       15,126              90

13        Delhi                90,629              19,133              335

14        Madhya Pradesh           88,614              12,421              86

15        Telangana                    77,127              6,026                52

16        Odisha             74,731              10,521              17

17        Punjab              66,568              8,841                154

18        Uttarakhand      62,911              8,517                151

19        Jharkhand        60,633              6,974                133

20        JnK                  41,666              4,926                52

21        Assam              31,829              4,936                46

22        Goa                  29,752              3,869                58

23        Himachal Pradesh         27,753              3,942                45

24        Puducherry       12,430              1,510                18

25        Chandigarh       8,420                759                   9

26        Manipur                        2,991                380                   13

27        Meghalaya        2,351                347                   2

SECOND WAVE EXPECTED TO PEAK IN MAXIMUM 15 DAYS

India’s top mathematical expert in charge of Covid trend predictions says the current second wave could peak maximum within 15 days and even by the end of the current week.

Prof M Vidyasagar of IIT-Hyderabad, who leads Covid-19 India National Supermodel Committee, yesterday said the cumulative cases could peak by May 7 and at most within 15 days.

“We expect a decline in cases by May 7. Different states will peak at different times because some states are witnessing larger surges. But if you take the cumulative cases, these appear close to the peak now and a decline should start soon,” Prof Vidyasagar explained. The chief of the national modelling panel acknowledged that they completely missed the peak of the second wave.

The committee had projected the second Covid spell to peak at 1.2 lakh cases whereas daily cases today soared to 4.13 lakh. This implies that the experts underestimated the second wave peak by 3.43 times, as acknowledged by PM’s Principal Scientific Adviser K Vijay Raghavan on Wednesday. The national super modelling committee had on October 18 last year (when daily cases began declining after mid-September peak of 97,000 cases) said India could curb the pandemic by early 2021, if everyone followed the safety protocol.

The committee, however, correctly predicted the cumulative case burden in the first wave at 106 lakh cases. The actual national caseload was 1,10,96,731 on February 28, 2021, after which second wave commenced from Maharashtra and daily cases began to rise. Leading vaccinologist Gagandeep Kang says that India may see one or two more peaks but these will not be as bad as the current one. “That is because very little fuel (human hosts) would be left by then for the virus to go through. If we ramp up vaccinations fast, we will be in a very good place,” Kang said.

JAVADEKAR COUNTERS RAHUL'S REMARK ON FOREIGN AID

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar yesterday countered Lok Sabha member from Wayanad Rahul Gandhi’s “no transparency” jibe, saying the Congress leader was “deliberately misleading the people as he cannot rise above his petulance even at such times”.

“Questions about Covid foreign aid: What all supplies has India received? Where are they? Who is benefitting from them? How are they allocated to states? Why no transparency? Any answers, GOI?” he had asked in a tweet yesterday.

Countering the questions and the allegations, Javadekar tweeted, “Yet another attempt by Rahul Gandhi to deliberately mislead the people. Knowing fully well that the aid received has not only moved fast and delivered at many places, Mr. Gandhi cannot rise above his petulance even at such times.”

In another tweet, the minister “condemned his efforts to mislead and confuse people”.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

MANY COUNTRIES FOR PATENT RULES WAIVER ON COVID VACCINES

In a significant move that may help middle and low-income countries struggling with Covid-19, the US government on Wednesday said it would support waiving off intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines in an effort to speed the end of the pandemic. Once the patents are lifted, any company which possesses the required technology and infrastructure would be able to produce vaccines against Covid-19.

For India, the US government’s move marks a significant success of its international diplomacy as it was India, along with South Africa and several other countries, who had in October 2020 laid a proposal before the WTO to temporarily waive anti-Covid vaccine patents to boost its supply.

W.H.O. chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this was a “monumental moment in the fight against Covid-19”. He further said the commitment of the Biden administration to support the waiver of IP protections on vaccines is a powerful example of American leadership to address global health challenges.

France also joined the US in supporting an easing of patent on Covid vaccines. “I am very much in favour of opening up intellectual property. We must obviously make this vaccine a global public good,” French President Emmanuel Macron said.

Germany, another member of the EU bloc, seemed more favourable to the US proposal. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said, “We expressly share the US president’s goal. Providing the whole world with vaccines is the only sustainable way out of this pandemic. We will not be safe until everyone in the world is safe.”

Australia and New Zealand also called the US proposal an important step in the fight against the global pandemic.

FEWER BIRTHS IN US, AND IT RINGS ALARM BELLS

In 2020, the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, fewer children were born in the United States in more than four decades, its federal government said Wednesday. Last year, the US birth rate fell by 4% to about 36 lakh babies from 37.5 lakh in 2019– a continuous annual decline in the past six years and the lowest since 1979, according to data released by the Centres for Disease Control (CDC).

Before 2008, when the global financial crisis hit, the country had an estimated fertility rate of 2.1, which is considered sufficient for replacing the existing population. That rate has now dropped to 1.6 in 2020, the lowest on record.

For several years, the US was among the few developed countries whose fertility rate had been high enough so that every generation had enough children to replace it. The marked drop is now being actively studied by policymakers, as its effects are bound to influence politically fraught debates around issues such as immigration, social security and labour regulations.

THE REST

========

HC REJECTS DELHI GOVT STATEMENT ON OXYGEN SUPPLY BEING ONLY ISSUE

The Delhi High Court on Thursday said medical infrastructure in Delhi has been “completely exposed” when put to the test during the pandemic, and rejected Delhi government’s submission that oxygen supply was the only issue currently ailing its health sector.

“Now you are also behaving like an ostrich with the head in the sand,” the division bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli told the Delhi government, adding it had earlier given a similar response to the statement made by the Centre before it.

Prior to the court’s observations, senior advocate Rahul Mehra, who represents the Delhi government, submitted that infrastructure is struggling for various reasons and requested the court to not say existing medical infrastructure is in “shambles” as “it gives a different connotation”. “The infrastructure is there to support everything. But the lack of oxygen… what can infrastructure do,” he said.

However, the court said, “No No. Don’t say only oxygen. As if you have everything else. Is that what you are saying?”

The court made the observations while passing an order in the petition of a 52-year-old patient who is suffering from Covid-19 and urgently requires an ICU bed. The court was told by his counsel that his SP02 level has fallen below 42 but the hospital where he is admitted does not have any ICU bed and authorities, including the Centre and Delhi government, be directed to provide him the same in any other hospital in the national capital.

It directed authorities in the Centre and Delhi government to provide the facility for medical treatment “as may be required” to all residents of Delhi, and said merely because it has passed order in the petitioner’s case would not mean that he has any right to claim any preferential treatment since the order would ensure to the benefit all those similar situated.

16 KILLED IN POST-POLL VIOLENCE, MAMATA ANNOUNCES RS 2 LAKH FOR KIN

Stating that at least 16 people of different political parties have lost their lives in the post-poll violence in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying unable to digest defeat in the state elections they were sending central ministers to incite unrest in Kolkata.

She announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the families of those who lost their lives in the post-poll violence.

Banerjee, during a press meet at the state secretariat, also said that her government will provide job of a home guard to one family member each of the five persons who were killed in Central Industrial Security Force firing in Cooch Behar's Sitalkuchi area during fourth phase of voting on April 10.

"There will be no discrimination in providing compensation. This is just a relief. Victims of all political parties will get it," she said.

Banerjee said that most of the 16 deaths were reported till May 3 when the law and order was under the Election Commission of India.

‘THERE IS ARSON, LOOT, RAPE OF WOMEN….': WEST BENGAL GOVERNOR'S TAKE

Jagdeep Dhankhar took over in July 2019 as the 28th governor of West Bengal. Here are some excerpts from an interview of his yesterday:

“The state is passing through its toughest challenge since Partition. Reports are pouring in from all over where retributive post-poll violence is rampant. There is arson, loot, rape of women, traumatising children, destruction of property, homes, shops and offices by workers and elements of the ruling dispensation. All these are only to target those who have lent support in the recent election to the Opposition party.”

There are horrifying scenes of candidates' houses being destroyed and extremely shameful treatment being meted out even to women who happened to have been managing the booth.

I have shared with the chief minister certain videos on which I would not like to reflect publicly, but these videos to the extent dignity of women is concerned outrage a sense of Bengal culture and our age-old civilisational ethos.

I have been shocked and pained that she took the cover that it was the Election Commission of India's responsibility. Her stance has no Constitutional, legal or factual premise. I say so because the Model Code of Conduct was lifted on May 3rd noon.

Bengal has a history of post-poll violence. Sadly, there is some degree of acceptance. Even before the verdict, the administration is well aware that violence would erupt. This time the electoral process was comparatively far less violent except for the post-poll violence.

There are reports that it is orchestrated with sinister motivation, to send a message that anyone opposing the ruling party, or supporting the Opposition by becoming a candidate, a booth manager or a voter will have to face the consequences by way of destruction of his property, outrage of womenfolk and life.

Going by the scenario that no steps were taken. Did you see anyone being arrested? Did you see any teargas shells? Did you see Section 144? There is total anarchy and lawlessness.”

SUPREME COURT JUNKS ELECTION COMMISSION PLEA, WON’T EXPUNGE MADRAS HC REMARKS

Upholding the media’s right to report court proceedings, the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the Election Commission’s petition seeking to restrain journalists from reporting oral remarks of judges, saying such a demand went against principles of open court and the fundamental right to freedom of speech.

“Citizens have a right to know about what transpires in the course of judicial proceedings... Oral arguments are postulated on an open exchange of ideas. It is through such an exchange that legal arguments are tested and analysed,” a Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud said.

The Bench said, “It would be retrograde to promote the rule of law and access to justice on the one hand and shield the daily operations of HCs and this court from the media in all its forms by gagging the reporting of proceedings, on the other. “An open court proceeding ensures that the judicial process is subject to public scrutiny. Public scrutiny is crucial to maintaining transparency and accountability.”

FORMER UNION MINISTER AND RLD CHIEF AJIT SINGH DIES OF COVID

Former Union minister and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Ajit Singh passed away at a Gurgaon hospital on Thursday morning battling COVID-19, his family said.  He was 82.

Singh, a prominent farmer leader and the son of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, was diagnosed positive for COVID-19 on April 20, the family said in a statement. “Chaudhary Ajit Singh ji was diagnosed as COVID+ on the 20th April. He battled his condition till the very end and breathed his last today morning, the 6th of May, 2021,” his son Jayant Chaudhary tweeted.         

RAMACHANDRA GUHA, OTHER BENGALURU CITIZENS SPEAK OUT AGAINST TEJASVI SURYA’S ‘COMMUNAL’ REMARKS

Voicing strong objection to BJP leaders in Bengaluru trying to “communalise” anomalies found in the city’s municipal body bed allotment system, prominent citizens of the Karnataka capital Thursday demanded Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s intervention to ensure “petty politicking and communalising does not worsen the situation.”

The action came after a video showing BJP leaders, including Bangalore South Lok Sabha MP Tejasvi Surya, Basavanagudi MLA Ravi Subramanya, Bommanahalli MLA Satish Reddy, and Chickpet MLA Uday Garudachar, reading out names and questioning the presence of 17 Muslim workers among 205 at a Covid-19 war room of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) went viral on Wednesday.

Among the noteworthy voices who raised alarm on the issue was author and historian Ramachandra Guha. “Are these four gentlemen freelancers or are they acting at the higher orders of their party,” he wondered.

Further, Guha added that communal polarisation would have “grave consequences”. He then suggested that CM Yediyurappa and senior leaders like former Prime Minister H D Devegowda and former CM Siddaramaiah should look into the matter seriously. “It is up to the CM, and senior Opposition leaders to stand up and stop this poison and venom immediately,” he said.

SINGLE-DOSE VACCINE SPUTNIK LIGHT AUTHORISED IN RUSSIA

Russia has approved a single-dose version of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, its developers said Thursday. The Sputnik Light vaccine demonstrated 79.4 per cent efficacy compared to 91.6 per cent for the two-shot Sputnik V.

The data was taken 28 days after it was administered as part of Russia’s mass vaccination program between December 5 and April 15, said the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which helped finance it.

RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev told a virtual media conference that its efficacy is higher than that of many two-dose vaccines.

Russia’s state-run Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology said Sputnik Light has proven effective against all new strains of the coronavirus. It said no serious adverse events were registered after vaccination with it.

A single dose of the vaccine costs under $10. The one-shot regimen allows for the immunization of a larger number of people in a shorter time frame, it said.

GOOGLE ANNOUNCES ITS OWN ‘NUTRITION LABELS’ FOR APPS

Google has announced that it will soon ask developers to disclose what data is collected and stored and where it is used as part of Google Play’s upcoming ‘safety section’. The feature, similar to Apple’s nutrition labels for apps, is expected to go live in Q1, 2022.

“Developers agree that people should have transparency and control over their data. And they want simple ways to communicate app safety that are easy to understand and help users to make informed choices about how their data is handled. Developers also want to give additional context to explain data use and how safety practices could affect the app experience,” Suzanne Frey, VP, Product, Android Security and Privacy said in a blog post on Thursday.

Apple’s nutrition label has come in for pushback from some apps, especially Facebook. It now remains to be seen how Facebook reacts to Google’s new announcement.

INDICATORS

Sensex 48,950 (+273), Nifty 14,725 (+107), Trading Value NSE (Rs.crores) 72841

Nasdaq 13,633 (+50) Dow 34,549 (+318), S&P 4,202 (+34)

US$-Rs. 73.73 GBP-Rs. 102.48, Euro-Rs. 88.76, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.07, Can$-Rs. 60.32, Aus$- Rs. 57.19

GBP 0.71 /US$, Euro 0.83 /US$, Jap.Yen 109.19 /US$, Aus$ 1.28 /US$, Sing 1.33 /US$, Bang Taka 83.29 /US$, Can$ 1.22 /US$, Mal Ring 4.11 /US$,

Pak Re 152.64 /US$, Phil Peso 47.91 /US$, Russian Rouble 74.49 /US$, NZ$ 1.38 /US$, Thai Baht 31.18 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.51 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 55,696

Dollar Index 90.88 Brent Crude 68.07  BDI 3,266

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,816 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,529 / 4,429, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 74,200

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed. - Albert Einstein