Health

New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has condoled the demise of former Union minister and BJP veteran Chaman Lal Gupta.

Gupta (87) died at his Gandhi Nagar residence in Jammu on Tuesday after a prolonged illness, days after undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at a hospital, his family said.

He is survived by his two sons and a daughter.

Chandigarh, May 17 (PTI) The World Health Organization on Monday donated 100 oxygen concentrators to Haryana.

The vital medical equipment was handed over to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in a simple function at Gurgaon.

WHO representative, national professional officer and regional team leader (North India), Dr Vishesh handed over the concentrators to Khattar on behalf of WHO, a state government statement said here.

The chief minister thanked WHO for the gesture.

New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) India's COVID-19 death toll climbed to 278,719 with a record 4,329 fresh fatalities, while the single day rise in coronavirus cases stood at 2.63 lakh, the lowest in 28 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The country reported a total of 263,533 new cases in a span of 24 hours, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,52,28,996, the data updated at 8 am showed.

A total of 2,59,170 cases were reported in a span of 24 hours on April 20.

New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) Padma Shri awardee and eminent cardiologist Dr K K Aggarwal, who gained more prominence in recent months by posting informative videos about COVID-19 on social media, has died of the same disease, a statement posted on his Twitter handle said.

Aggarwal, 62, who was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here and was on ventilator support since last week, died at 11.30 pm on Monday after a lengthy battle with COVID-19, according to the statement.

New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) The BJP hit out at the Congress on Tuesday over an alleged toolkit of the opposition party, saying it wants to tarnish the image of the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling the new strain of the coronavirus the "India strain" or the "Modi strain".

Kolkata, May 16 (PTI) Eminent journalist and popular TV anchor Anjan Bandyopadhyay, who tested positive for Covid-19 around a month ago, died at a private hospital in Kolkata on Sunday night, a health department official said.

He was 56.

Bandyopadhyay, the editor of Bengali news channel Zee 24 Ghanta, breathed his last at around 9.25 pm, the official said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condoled the death of the journalist, who is the brother of the state Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay.

Srinagar, May 17 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir on Monday received seven new imported oxygen plants from Germany with a cumulative generation capacity of 7,100 litres per minute (LPM).

The oxygen plants were carried by an Indian Air Force aircraft from Munich in Germany and reached Srinagar Airport in the afternoon.

New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) India's COVID-19 tally mounted to 24,965,463 on Monday with 281,386 fresh cases, the lowest in 27 days, while the death toll climbed to 274,390 as 4,106 more people succumbed to the disease, according to Union health ministry data

However, 2,11,74,076 patients have recuperated from the disease, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.10 per cent, it stated

Kanpur: The State Industrial Development Authority has speeded up its task to establish oxygen plants at Chakeri, Panki, Zainpur and Trans-Ganga areas to meet the requirement amid Corona's second wave.

It is being hoped that as many as 44 tonnes of oxygen will start producing soon. So far the acquirement of land for establishing the unit is the main concern.

Many industrialists have shown interest in starting the plant. Whatever process is required must be completed in less time. The officers concerned have been directed to extend help in this regard.

BEIJING, May 16 (APP): Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight 6852 Sunday transported a batch of one million doses of Sinovac vaccine from the Beijing Capital International Airport to Islamabad.

“More flights of the national carrier are expected to airlift more consignments of Covid-19 vaccines procured from China by the end of May, 2021, Qadir Bux Sangi, PIA country manager for China told APP.