BJP leaders Devendra Fadnavis and Pravin Darekar for objecting to Mumbai police s grilling of a pharma firm s top executive over alleged stocking of Remdesivir vials, and wondered if there was a conspiracy to disturb the law and health order. An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana accused the BJP of having a clear agenda that the Maharashtra government should fail in handling the COVID-19 situation, and charged it with making persistent efforts in that direction with the help of the Centre. It said the Maharashtra government and the opposition should be unanimous at least on the issue of saving lives of people and no one should seek political mileage out of pyres of people dying for want of the drug, which is in high demand for treating COVID-19 patients.
RJD president Lalu Prasad, who is likely to walk out of jail on Monday having secured his bail in the multi-crore-rupees fodder scam cases, will, however, take time to return home as treatment for his various ailments is still underway at AIIMS Delhi. Supporters of the RJD, after getting to know about his bail, had been busy making preparations to greet him on his arrival, but Prasad s family clarified that he would return only after full recovery. The Jharkhand High Court granted bail to Prasad in the Dumka treasury case on Saturday, noting that he has already served half the tenure of his sentence, and paved the way for his release from jail after 39 months and 25 days.
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Sunday said that no COVID-19 patient died in the state-run hospitals due to the shortage of medical oxygen. He also said most of the COVID-19 fatalities have occurred due to the delay on part of patients in seeking proper medical treatment. Tope termed false the media reports that the shortage of medical oxygen resulted in the death of COVID-19 patients in some parts of the state. I have received reports from (government) hospitals in the state. No COVID-19 patient died due to the shortage of oxygen in these hospitals, he told reporters. Earlier this week, kin of 10 COVID-19 patients who died at two hospitals in Palghar district neighbouring Mumbai had alleged that a shortage of oxygen led to the deaths.
Read more about Maharashtra shuts most manufacturing, restricts e-comm to fight Covid-19 on Business Standard. The curbs - which start Wednesday - could hit auto companies like Tata Motors Ltd, Bajaj Auto Ltd, and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd which operate factories in the state
Taxi owners and drivers in Aurangabad have demanded that the EMIs on their vehicle loans be deferred in the wake of strict restrictions enforced in Maharashtra to check the spread of COVID-19. The Jay Sangharsh Vahan Chalak Sanghatna, an umbrella body of taxi owners and drivers here, in a memorandum to Aurangabad collector on Tuesday said tourist and religious places in the state have been shut in the wake of the pandemic and this has adversely affected their earnings. We are already facing problems because of the negative impact on our income. We have taken loans to buy our vehicles and banks are demanding its repayment, due to which we are under stress, the association said in its plea.