A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking direction to convert the religious and charitable places that enjoy tax benefits, into Covid Care Centers as well as cease any further transactions with immediate effect and utilise their funds for Covid patients.

The plea also requested for a district-wise data collection of Covid-19 patients across the country containing the details of demand for oxygen, medicine, hospitalisation etc. It should be developed through a dashboard /web portal enabling the Covid-19 patients to register and search for their respective medical requirements, said the plea, adding that district-wise nodal officers should be appointed for this work.

The petition filed by Manu Gaur, President of Taxpayers Association of India, also urges to open the use of necessary drugs and medicines and to waive the GST on the same during the Covid period and/or to invite the other companies to come manufacture and distribute for saving lives of citizens of India.

Demanding to convert religious places into Covid centres, the plea said their funds should be used in Covid-19 relief “as this money has been given by the public for social and religious work and in today›s time there is no greater social work and religion than saving the lives of people from Coronavirus.”

Along with this, it was also requested in the petition that all the Ayurvedic, Homoeopathic, Unani and Naturopathy hospitals of the country should also be converted to Covid-19 Care Centers.

The petition also emphasised that 100 percent vaccination of home delivery staff, public transport etc. should be done.

“Also, the business institutions/industries, etc. who get all their workers fully vaccinated, should be given the freedom to run their Organisation. The vaccination certificate of those who have been fully vaccinated should be recognised as a pass in the Lockdown period. Similarly, there should be an incentive for vaccination and will also slow down the infection spread. A Covid-19 control room should be made in every district like a usual police control room, which can make necessary arrangements for the citizens,” the plea said.

The petition also called for making MPs and MLAs accountable with the local administration for the Covid-19 arrangements in their constituencies as salaries, allowances and pensions to them are paid from taxpayers› money so somehow they should be responsible. ANI

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice to the Union of India and Government of NCT of Delhi on a PIL seeking direction to provide and administer COVID-19 Vaccination free of cost to the students of class ‘XII’ in Delhi, who will be appearing for their board exams in an off-line mode.

The Bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh on Friday sought responses from the Union Ministry of Health Family and Welfare, Union Ministry of Education and the Government of NCT of Delhi and slated the matter for 4th June. The Petitioner, Jyoti Aggarwal practising lawyer in Delhi HC submit that, all the students of Class XII’ appearing for the off-line written and practical board exams for the session 2020-2021 from the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD), be given the Covid-19 vaccination on urgent basis.

According to the petition, 2.5 Lakh students for class ‘XII’, have enrolled for appearing in the Board exams for the Session 2020-2021 in Delhi. It is also highlighted that students will be appearing for their off-line written and practical exams.

The plea states that there are reports that the new strain of Covid is affecting the youngsters the most. The studies also suggest that the new strain of novel coronavirus has led to an increase in concerns due to its ability to high transmission.

The Class XII Board exams were expected to be held in May. However, due to a surge in Covid-19 cases, the Central government decided to postpone these exams until further orders. 

—Correspondent WITH ANI INPUTS

DEHRADUN: In view of the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic, Uttarakhand’s Department of Education, on Friday, announced summer vacation in all higher education institutes from 7 May to 12 June.

Earlier, the state education department announced that all colleges and universities will remain closed from 3 May until further orders. In wake of the surge in Covid-19 cases, the Uttarakhand government extended the ‘Corona curfew’ in Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar, and Nainital districts till 10 May.

“Corona curfew’ has been extended till 10 May in the districts of Dehradun, Haridwar, and Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand,” said state government spokesperson Subodh Uniyal.

Uttarakhand reported 9,642 fresh cases, 4,643 discharges and 137 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the State health department today.On 5 May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat to enquire about the pandemic situation and assured further help from the Centre. In a tweet, Rawat had informed that PM Modi enquired about the steps taken by the state government to control the spread of the virus. 

-Correspondent ANI 

The Ministry of Defence has deployed 41 naval personnel from Western Naval Command to PM Cares Covid Hospital, Dhanvantari in Ahmedabad to enhance the health care system amid the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

In an official press release, the ministry informed that the team has been deployed for two months and will assist the hospital administration in handling COVID-19 patients. These Naval personnel comprises medical officers, nursing officers, paramedics, and support staff.

According to the ministry, a 57 member naval medical team was already positioned at the hospital on April 29. This team consisted of four doctors, seven nurses, 26 paramedics, and 20 supporting staff. It was said earlier that the deployment of this team was for two months and would be extended based on the requirement. ‘PM Cares COVID Hospital’ at Dhanvantari is a special hospital set up to manage the COVID crisis in Gujarat. The state currently has 1,47,525 active Covid-19 cases, as per the Union Health Ministry. 

WITH ANI INPUTS 

The Delhi Police arrested an owner of an ambulance service company for allegedly charging Rs 1.20 lakh to shift a patient to a hospital, the police said on Friday.

The patient travelled from DLF Gurugram to Ludhiana on Wednesday. According to a statement from the Delhi Police, acting on the specific information, the Inder Puri police station team nabbed the accused Mimoh Kumar Bundwal, who was running an ambulance service company in the name of Cardiacare ambulance Pvt Ltd and was looting needy people by charging 2/3 times above the actual rent for transportation of Covid-19 patients in its ambulances.

During the investigation, it was revealed that he was in this profiteering business for the last one month and has cheated numerous people.

“The accused himself is an MBBS doctor who is involved in the ambulance business for the last two years,” the police said.

During the investigation, the bank account of the ambulance service company was also obtained and is being analysed. The accused has returned the cheated money to the victim after being nabbed by the police.

The police have also seized one ambulance given by him to numerous patients over the last month in the case. “My mother is Covid-19 positive and was in very critical condition. We were not getting a bed in Delhi-NCR, Gurugram and Faridabad. So we came to know about one hospital in Ludhiana where there was one empty bed. We contacted them and gave all the details about my mother’s condition and they agreed to take her. So we looked for the ambulance but no one has the oxygen and I needed an ambulance with an oxygen supply,” said Amandeep Kaur, the patient’s daughter.

“In the end, I contacted the Cardiacare ambulance service and they agreed to go but they asked Rs 1.40 lakh. Later when I told them that I have my own oxygen cylinder then they said that they will take Rs 1.20 lakh,” Kaur said.

She said that the ambulance driver took 20,000 initial amount in cash from her and later her husband transferred 95 thousand to their bank account. “Later, when I reached here one of my friends circulated the bill on social media and at the end reached to Human Rights department in Ludhiana and investigation started. I have also lodged a complaint in Delhi’s Inder Puri police station,” she added. A case has been registered under section 420 Indian Penal Code (IPC) in Inder Puri police station. Further investigation is in progress.

WITH ANI INPUTS

China has decided to suspend all its activities under the Strategic Economic Dialogue with Australia, a move that is likely to exacerbate the tense diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“China indefinitely suspends all activities under the framework of the #China-#Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue held by the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission and relevant Australian ministries,” China Global Television Network (CGTN) said in a tweet. This decision comes a few weeks after Australia scraped the controversial Belt and Road (BRI) agreement with China citing the deal as against its national interest.

Last month, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said that the BRI deal has been canceled under the Commonwealth’s new foreign veto laws. The cancellation could also mean an end to further Sino-Australian cooperation in the fields of industrial production, biotechnology and agriculture, reported DW.

Meanwhile, China had said that Australia’s decision to cancel agreements between Beijing’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative and the state of Victoria was among several “negative moves” that had hurt bilateral relations.

According to South China Morning Post, China’s top diplomat who is in Canberra currently, blamed Australia for deteriorating ties between the nations, accusing it of economic coercion and “provocations” in a wide-ranging speech that painted Beijing as a victim.

Sino-Australian relations have been in a downward spiral since April last year when Canberra infuriated Beijing by proposing an independent international inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canberra has been locked in an ongoing trade war with Beijing for several months as China has slapped sanctions on various Australian products.