INDIA’S COVID TOLL TOPS 3L, 50,000 DEATHS IN 12 DAYS

More than 3 lakh people have succumbed to Covid-19 in India’s official records. It took just 12 days to go from 2.5-lakh to 3-lakh mark.

Deaths during the second wave in the country now account for nearly half of all fatalities at 1.48 lakh in three months since February 15. In May, over 92,000 deaths have been recorded in 23 days. That’s almost twice the toll in April (48,768), which was a record for any month till then.

While the number of fresh cases has declined steadily after infections in the country peaked around May 8, the daily toll has not decreased by much. The seven-day rolling average of daily cases was down 32% since the peak on May 8, when the average stood at over 3.91 lakh. On May 22, the index was at 2.64 lakh.

By contrast, the seven-day average of daily deaths has dipped by just 5% since hitting a peak of 4,040 on May 16. It stood at 3,838 on May 22.

Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of Covid-related deaths in the country, with 88,620 fatalities so far.

Karnataka has the second highest Covid toll in the country at 25,284, of which 13,017 have taken place after February 15. Similarly, of the 23,202 deaths reported in Delhi since the start of the pandemic, 12,309 have taken place in the second wave.

Almost all states and UTs are currently under varying degrees of lockdowns. These are in force till end of this month at least.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 27,16,356

New Cases in last 24 hours: 2,22,804

Recovered in last 24 hours: 3,02,396

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: -84,047

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 4,455 (3,03,751)

Daily Tests: 21,23,782

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 11.4%

Most Affected States:

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

1          Karnataka                     4,72,986           /           ↑25,979 /           ↑624

2          Maharashtra     3,48,395           /           ↑26,672 /           ↑1,320

3          Tamil Nadu       2,94,143           /           ↑35,483 /           ↑422

4          Kerala              2,77,595           /           ↑25,820 /           ↑188

5          Andhra Pradesh            2,09,237           /           ↑18,767 /           ↑104

6          West Bengal     1,30,525           /           ↑18,422 /           ↑156

7          Rajasthan                     1,12,218           /           ↑6,521  /           ↑113

8          Odisha             1,00,235           /           ↑12,852 /           ↑28

9          Uttar Pradesh   84,880  /           ↑4,715  /           ↑231

10        Gujarat             75,134  /           ↑3,794  /           ↑53

11        Chhattisgarh     65,774  /           ↑3,306  /           ↑92

12        Madhya Pradesh           57,766  /           ↑3,375  /           ↑75

13        Punjab              57,505  /           ↑5,021  /           ↑192

14        Uttarakhand      54,735  /           ↑3,050  /           ↑71

15        Assam              51,764  /           ↑3,563  /           ↑72

16        JnK                  47,437  /           ↑3,308  /           ↑51

17        Haryana                       42,816  /           ↑4,400  /           ↑97

18        Bihar                40,691  /           ↑4,002  /           ↑107

19        Telangana                    40,489  /           ↑2,242  /           ↑19

20        Delhi                27,610  /           ↑1,649  /           ↑189

21        Himachal Pradesh         25,979  /           ↑1,309  /           ↑59

22        Jharkhand        19,499  /           ↑1,345  /           ↑37

23        Goa                  17,277  /           ↑1,621  /           ↑42

24        Puducherry       16,851  /           ↑1,448  /           ↑34

25        Tripura             8,048    /           ↑876     /           ↑6

26        Meghalaya        7,682    /           ↑803     /           ↑22

27        Manipur                        6,534    /           ↑767     /           ↑14

28        Chandigarh       4,874    /           ↑360     /           ↑10

29        Nagaland                      4,678    /           ↑223     /           ↑14

30        Sikkim              3,323    /           ↑324     /           ↑3

31        Arunachal Pradesh        2,899    /           ↑226     /           ↑3

32        Mizoram                       2,396    /           ↑214     /           ↑2

33        Lakshadweep    2,050    /           ↑193     /           Nil

ENSURE EVACUATION FROM HIGH-RISK AREAS, PM DIRECTS OFFICIALS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday asked officials concerned to ensure early evacuation of those involved in offshore activities in view of the impending Cyclone “Yaas” and directed that the restoration time of outages of power supply and communication network should be as less as possible.

Cyclone “Yaas” will cross the north Odisha-West Bengal coast between Paradip and Sagar islands by May 26 evening as a “very severe cyclonic storm”, the IMD said yesterday.

Chairing a high-level review meeting on the preparedness of states and Central government agencies to deal with the situation arising out of “Yaas”, Modi asked officials to work in close coordination with states to ensure safe evacuation of people from high-risk areas, the PMO said in an official statement.

He also stressed the need to have proper coordination and planning with local governments to ensure that no disruption is caused to Covid-19 treatment and vaccination drive in the affected states.

12 OPPN PARTIES BACK FARMERS' NATIONWIDE PROTEST CALL ON MAY 26

Twelve major opposition parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Left parties, Samajwadi Party, NCP and DMK on Sunday extended their support to a countrywide protest call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha on May 26, marking six months of the farmers protest against the Centre's farm laws.

Farmers from various parts of the country are protesting at Delhi borders against the three farm

In a joint statement issued here by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister H D Devegowda, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and chief ministers Mamata Banerjee, Uddhav Thackeray, M K Stalin and Hemant Soren said the Centre must stop being obdurate and immediately resume talks with farmer leaders and repeal the three farm laws.

Other signatories to the joint statement include former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah (National Conference), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Tejaswi Yadav (Rashtriya Janata Dal), D Raja (Communist Party of India) and Sitaram Yechury (Communist Party of India-Marxist).

"We extend our support to the call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha to observe a countrywide protest day on May 26 marking the completion of six months of the heroic peaceful Kisan struggle," the statement said. "The Central Government must stop being obdurate and immediately resume talks with SKM on these lines," it said.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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WUHAN LAB STAFF SOUGHT HOSPITAL CARE BEFORE COVID-19 OUTBREAK DISCLOSED

Three researchers from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) sought hospital care in November 2019, months before China disclosed the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing a previously undisclosed US intelligence report.

The newspaper said the report - which provides fresh details on the number of researchers affected, the timing of their illnesses, and their hospital visits - may add weight to calls for a broader probe of whether the COVID-19 virus could have escaped from the laboratory.

The report came on the eve of a meeting of the World Health Organisation’s decision-making body, which is expected to discuss the next phase of an investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

BELARUS SCRAMBLES JET TO FORCE PLANE TO LAND AND ARRESTS OPPONENT,

Authorities in Belarus scrambled a fighter jet and flagged what turned out to be a false bomb alert to force a Ryanair plane to land on Sunday and then detained an opposition-minded journalist, drawing criticism from across Europe.

The dramatic incident saw a Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jet escort a Ryanair-operated passenger plane flying from Athens to Lithuania. The plane was instead suddenly diverted to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where authorities detained journalist RomanProtasevich who had been on board.

EU member state Lithuania, where Protasevich is based, urged the European Union and NATO to respond. Germany called for an immediate explanation and Poland’s prime minister called it a”reprehensible act of state terrorism”.

The incident is certain to worsen already dire relations between the West and Belarus, which has been tightly controlled since 1994 by President Alexander Lukashenko.

THE REST

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POST VARDHAN LETTER, RAMDEV RETRACTS ANTI-ALLOPATHY REMARKS

Yoga guru Ramdev on Sunday withdrew his controversial remarks against allopathic drugs after Health Minister Harsh Vardhan wrote to him on the issue. “I respect all forms of medical science; allopathy has saved lives,” he said. Earlier, in a letter, Vardhan told Ramdev that his remarks about allopathic drugs and doctors could potentially weaken India’s fight against Covid.

Describing Ramdev’s earlier clarification as inadequate, the minister said, “All you have said in your clarification is that you have nothing against modern medicine and doctors. This is not adequate. I hope you will seriously introspect and retract your unfortunate statements.”

Vardhan reacted a day after Indian Medical Association demanded that Ramdev be booked under the Epidemic Act, 1897, for terming anti-Covid 19 drugs as “useless” and claiming that lakhs died due to these drugs.

“Citizens are hurt by your statements on allopathic drugs and doctors. I have in the past also conveyed these feelings to you. For people fighting Covid, doctors are like gods. You have through your statements not just undermined frontline warriors, but also hurt the sentiments of people. Your clarification has not helped,” Vardhan said in his letter.

Referring to Ramdev’s remarks that lakhs of Covid patients had died after consuming allopathic medicines as unfortunate, Vardhan said, “Doctors, nurses and sanitation workers are putting their lives on the line to save others. Your remark that the allopathic system is a sham is unfortunate. Today if the case fatality rate in India is 1.13 per cent and recovery rate is 88 per cent, it is because of allopathic doctors,” he said.

MODERNA REFUSED TO SEND VACCINES TO STATE: PUNJAB

United States-based COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer Moderna has refused to send vaccines directly to the Punjab government stating that it only deals with the Centre, a senior state official said on Sunday.

Punjab's nodal officer for vaccination Vikas Garg said according to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's directions, all vaccine manufacturers were approached for direct purchase of Covid vaccines including Sputnik V, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.

A reply was received only from Moderna wherein the company refused to deal with the state government, he said. According to Moderna's policy, it deals with the government of India and not with any state government or private parties, the Punjab government said in a statement.

KAMAL NATH’S ‘INDIAN VARIANT’ REMARK SPREAD FEAR, DEFAMED NATION: FIR

Police in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday registered an FIR against former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Kamal Nath for allegedly spreading panic by referring to Covid-19 as the “Indian variant of Corona”.

The Crime Branch has booked Nath under IPC section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) on the ground that his statements — made at a press conference — spread misinformation and fear among the masses, and was thereby in violation of orders promulgated by the collector under section 144 CrPC. Nath has also been booked under section 54 (Punishment for false warning) of the Disaster Management Act.

The former Chief Minister described the FIR as “an act of desperation”. The government does not have answers, Nath said, and therefore, “Any person who is asking questions is termed as deshdrohi”.

The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by BJP Bhopal district president Sumit Pachori, who said that Nath, while addressing a virtual press meet, had referred to Covid as the Indian variant Corona, which had sullied the image of India and spread fear among the masses. According to the complaint, Nath had also said that the disease that has now spread across the word has come to be known as “Indian Corona”, and that several Prime Ministers and Presidents around the world were referring to it as the “Indian variant”.

TURNCOATS QUEUING UP TO RETURN TO TMC

On Saturday, a former Trinamool MLA, Sonali Guha expressed her wish to return to the party, seeking forgiveness of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and labelling her move to the BJP as a wrong decision. Yesterday, another former rebel from the ruling party, Sarala Murmu, voiced a similar desire.

Unlike Guha, who switched sides after being denied a ticket to contest the Assembly polls, Murmu defected to the saffron camp despite being fielded as a nominee by the Trinamool.

Speaking to reporters Sunday, Murmu claimed it was a mistake on her part to join the BJP. “I made a mistake. I apologise to Mamata Banerjee. I hope she pardons me. If she accepts me back, I will stay with her and work for her party with full honesty,” she said.

A former deputy Speaker of the state Assembly, Guha wrote to the Trinamool supremo Saturday, apologising for leaving the party.

Last week, former footballer and Trinamool MLA Dipendu Biswas quit the BJP in protest against the arrest of three ruling party leaders and a former minister in connection with the Narada sting tapes case, saying he hoped to be back in his previous party. Biswas, too, had quit the TMC after being overlooked for a ticket to contest the state polls.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “hese leaders left our party when it was going through a crisis and now want back. The leadership will take a decision in this regard.”

SERUM INSTITUTE DISASSOCIATES ITSELF FROM ITS EXECUTIVE'S REMARKS ON COVID VACCINATION DRIVE

The Serum Institute has disassociated itself from its executive director's statement that the government began the Covid vaccination of multiple age groups without taking into consideration the available stock, stating that this is "not the view of the company".

In a letter to the Union Health Ministry on May 22, Prakash Kumar Singh, Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), clarified that the statement by its executive director Suresh Jadav at a recent event is not the view of the company, sources said.

"On behalf of our CEO Adar C Poonawalla, I want to inform you that this statement is not issued on behalf of SIIPL (Serum Institute of India Private Limited) and the Company completely dissociates itself from this statement. It is reiterated that, this is not the view of the company at all. SIIPL is committed to maximise its Covishield production and it stands shoulder to shoulder to strengthen the government's fight against Covid," he said in a communique.

SII also clarified that Poonawalla is the only official spokesperson of the company. Amid an acute shortage of Covid vaccines in the country, SII executive director Suresh Jadhav on Friday alleged that the government began inoculating people from multiple age groups without taking into account the available stock of vaccines and the WHO guidelines.

ANTIBIOTICS, ZINC, STEAM: KERALA DOCTOR WANTS BLACK FUNGUS CAUSE HUNT TO GO BEYOND STEROIDS

Niti Aayog member (health) V.K. Paul said at a briefing Saturday that a link between steroid use for Covid treatment and mucormycosis or black fungus, a disease being widely reported among patients who have recovered from coronavirus, could not be denied.

However, a former president of the Indian Medical Association’s Cochin chapter has said that the government must widen its search for the cause of the sudden black fungus outbreak, which has been declared an epidemic by several states. In a Twitter thread, Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, a gastroenterologist, named three potential causes to be investigated: Antibiotics, zinc, and steaming.

Citing a study by Italian researchers, Dr Jayadevan said the use of antibiotics for a viral infection like coronavirus ought to be investigated for causing “superinfections in Covid-19”. “Azithromycin, Doxycycline, even carbapenems are seen on prescriptions. Antibiotics are known to increase risk of fungal infections,” Dr Jayadevan wrote.

Flagging the possibility of zinc being a factor, he said “fungi thrive in zinc-rich environment, and mammalian cells try to keep zinc away from fungus to avoid infection”.

As for steam, he said an excess of it “can damage the delicate mucus layer and even cause burns along the mucosa, making it easy for fungus to breach our natural defence”. “Burns caused 10-20% of past mucormycosis in India,” he added.

Steaming has emerged as a popular home remedy for its supposed benefits for Covid prevention and treatment. While steaming is useful to relieve congestion or a cold in the upper respiratory tract, it does not help with pneumonia or any condition of the lung, or help treat an infection in any way, experts say.

CBSE CLASS 12 EXAM: MOST STATES FOR SHORTER VERSION

Most of the states are said to have supported the CBSE’s proposal to conduct the Class 12 Board examination for only 19 major subjects in a shortened format in July-August.

However, several states such as Kerala, Assam, Delhi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Meghalaya have urged the Central Government to vaccinate teachers and students on priority to ensure their safety during their time at the test centre.

Except for a few states, including Delhi and Maharashtra, the others favoured going ahead with the examinations, said an officer who attended Sunday’s meeting of state Education Ministers and Education Secretaries that was chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

“The priority of the Government is to conduct all the examinations in a safe and secure environment,” Singh said after the meeting. All states have been asked to submit their feedback in writing by May 25.

This virtually rules out an announcement, at the moment, on scrapping this year’s CBSE Class 12 examination. The Class 10 Board examination has already been cancelled due to the second wave of the pandemic.

INDIA CHALLENGES $1.2-BILLION CAIRN ARBITRATION AWARD

India has challenged an international arbitration tribunal award asking it to return $1.2 billion to UK’s Cairn Energy Plc on the ground that it had never agreed to arbitrate over a “national tax dispute”, the Finance Ministry said here today.

In a statement, the ministry also refuted reports that the government had purportedly asked state-owned banks to withdraw funds from foreign currency accounts abroad in anticipation of the potential seizure of such accounts.

While the government appointed a judge on the three-member arbitration panel and fully participated in the proceedings against India seeking Rs 10,247 crore in back taxes from Cairn, the ministry said the tribunal “improperly exercised jurisdiction over a national tax dispute that the Republic of India never offered and/or agreed to arbitrate”.

India had seized and sold shares of Cairn in its erstwhile India unit, confiscated dividend due and withheld tax refunds to recover the tax demand it had levied two years after passing a law in 2012 that gave it powers to levy tax retrospectively.

Cairn invoked arbitration under the India-UK bilateral investment treaty.

In December last year, Cairn won an award that held the levy of taxes using the 2012 law unfair on the company and the tribunal asked the Indian Government to return $1.2 billion plus cost and interest.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

I’m careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence I can reach for; perfection is God’s business. – Michael Fox

OFF TRACK

To impress his date, the young man took her to a very chick Italian restaurant. After sipping some fine wine, he picked up the menu and ordered. "We'll have the Giuseppe Spomdalucci," he said.

"Sorry, sir," said the waiter. "That’s the owner’s name."