MUMBAI: The death toll due to the mid-sea mishap at Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC) accommodation barge “Papaa-305” (P305) in Bombay High touched 37 on Thursday, while the search for around 38 missing people is still on. 188 survivors (including two of tugboat Varaprada) and the mortal remains of 49 crew members of P305 have been recovered so far. INS Beas at Mumbai was disembarking the mortal remains. Ships and aircraft continue to search for the remaining crew.

22 ADR has been filed in Yellow Gate police station as the police received 22 dead bodies by the naval team. 11 bodies have been identified whereas 11 are still unidentified. The post-mortem of these bodies are being done in J. J. Hospital, Mumbai. Deceased Vishal Katdhare’s (35) dead body has been handed over to his family. The body of Rakesh Kumar Thakur (28) from Darbhanga, Bihar is still missing. His sister and brother-in-law have reached Mumbai to find his body.

“Most of the bodies were identified by the rescued people… In addition to the 22 dead bodies we are expecting 24 more bodies by Thursday night. Statements of more than 120 people have been recorded. Afcons Infrastructure authorities were called by the police to provide more details as they are not cooperating with the police for providing details of their personnel,” said Suhas Hemade, senior police officer.

Afcons in their statement denied taking the responsibility of people. “Afcon had hired this vessel from M/S Durmast Enterprises Ltd. We had given some kind of subcontract as a contract, in such a situation, the responsibility of the barge security also lies on the owner of the barge that the safety and safety of those on the barge is to be taken care of. There was also a workman and supervisor of Afcons who was involved in construction work on the barge.”

Meanwhile, according to a source at ONGC, the cyclone had changed its path, in addition to unprecedented wind speed due to unexpected low pressure, despite ONGC taking all the safety measures.

On Thursday, The India Meteorological Department (IMD) rejected claims that the cyclone had changed its path.

According to rescue workers, hopes are running out with each passing hour as it will be difficult for someone to sustain without food or water mid-sea in such extreme weather conditions.

“My husband works as the Chief Officer on Glory Ship Management item Varapradha. I spoke to him two days ago and now his phone is off. The company is not giving any response nor telling the crew who were on top of the ship. I am not aware of my husband’s whereabouts. I ask for help from Coast Guard and Navy to find my husband soon,” said Rajni Singh, wife of Hitendra Vikram Singh, the missing Chief Officer of the Varapradha tugboat.

A total of 13 people were missing from Varapradha, of whom only two have been rescued.

In the early hours of May 17, Cyclone Tauktae hit the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, where ONGC’s major production installations and drilling rigs are located. Leading to one of the largest mid-sea rescue operations by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, ONGC’s barge P305 sank in the sea nearly 35 nautical miles off the Mumbai coast after water gushed into it.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with chief ministers as “casual and superflop” as, she said, none of the CMs, including herself, were given a chance to speak.

Banerjee, after attending the meeting with the PM on Covid-19, said all CMs were made to sit like “puppets”, and claimed a “dictatorship” is prevailing in the country.

“The Prime Minister called a meeting and invited the chief ministers. And all the chief ministers were sitting like puppets. Nobody was allowed to speak. Then how do we speak about the public demands? We are not bonded labourers. We feel insulted and humiliated. A dictatorship is going on. The Prime Minister is feeling so insecure that he did not even listen to the chief ministers. What is this fear about?” Banerjee asked. “If states were not allowed to speak why were they called? All the Chief Ministers must protest for not being allowed to speak,” Banerjee said.

NEW DELHI: After weather conditions in the city changed under the impact of Cyclone Tauktae, Delhi recorded the highest ever rainfall of 119.3 mm in the last 24 hours since 1951 for the month of May, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday.

“Delhi has received highest ever Rainfall of 119.3 mm since 1951 for the month of May,” the IMD said in a tweet. The meteorological department informed, “Delhi has received highest ever 24 hours rainfall of 119.3 mm at Safdarjung Airport on 19-20 May 2021 (8:30 hours of May 19 till 8:30 hours of May 20) in last 71 years, since 1951 for the month of May.”

According to the IMD’s data, the earlier highest was 60 mm that was observed on May 24, 1976. “Delhi rainfall in past 24 hours till 8:30 hours of today: Safdarjung Airport -119.3 mm, Palam – 63.8 mm, Lodhi Raod – 124.4 mm, Ayanagar – 97.9 mm, Najafgarh – 92.5 mm,” the IMD said.ANI

NEW DELHI : A Delhi court on Thursday refused to extend police remand of businessman Navneet Kalra, accused in a case relating to the alleged hoarding of oxygen concentrators in South Delhi. The court sent him to judicial custody.

Earlier on Thursday, police had sought a five-day remand of Kalra to confront him with the transactions done through mobile phones, in which 23 banks are involved. These things have to be confronted with the accused, they said.

Additional Public Prosecutor representing Delhi Police submitted that the investigating agency should be given enough time to complete the investigation. The Delhi Police on Thursday virtually produced Kalra after the end of 3-day custody. Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa appearing for accused Kalra strongly opposed the remand application and submitted that Kalra is fully cooperating in the investigation and was no longer required for police custody.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday informed the Bombay High Court that it will implement “door-to-door vaccination” for the elderly and disabled citizens once the guidelines for the same are issued by the Central government.

“If the Central government introduces door-to-door vaccination policy, we will implement it,” the BMC submitted to the HC in response to a query raised by the Bombay High Court whether it would be willing to conduct the door-to-door vaccination for Covid-19 for the elderly and disabled citizens. The bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G.S. Kulkarni indicated this during the hearing of a petition filed by advocate Dhruti Kapadia. In her petition, Kapadia pointed out that there are many senior citizens who are bedridden and cannot go out to a vaccination centre to get the much-needed jab.

The court rapped the BMC officials for not taking into consideration the elderly and disabled in their vaccination programme. “We are very disappointed with this stand. We are aghast to know that the BMC has succumbed to pressure,” Chief Justice Datta said. “What was the praise in the newspaper and media for… publicity? You cannot think for the elderly and bedridden. If you do not have stock, you stop vaccines for all. Why is this selective vaccination going on? Can you discriminate like that? What is the fault of those who are above 70 who are bed- ridden?” asked the court.

The ICMR recently discontinued plasma therapy for treating patients of Covid-19. Meanwhile, Dr D.S. Rana, chairman of a reputed private hospital in Delhi, told The Sunday Guardian that remdesivir injections were not successful for treating Covid patients and should be discontinued too.

Now, in an exclusive interview with The Sunday Guardian, Dr Naveet Wig, chairperson of the AIIMS Covid Task Force and HoD of Medicine, has said that both plasma therapy and remdesivir are effective when used on Covid patients.

“Plasma therapy has been found to be useful in specific conditions. In the first seven days since any patient is infected with Covid, if the patient is diabetic, if they are old and the body is less able to fight against this virus, and if they test negative for antibodies, then, if given good plasma, it will be effective. That plasma is an anti-viral medicine,” said Wig.

“Some science studies and the US FDA have said that within seven days, if we use plasma therapy for patients of Covid-19, it can be effective in the first three days. The strain neutralises with this therapy,” he further said. 

However, plasma therapy cannot be given to patients who have been infected for more than seven days because they already have antibodies, he added. Patients who are on ventilator support will also not be affected by plasma therapy, he said.

Regarding remdesivir, Wig said, “We do not administer remdesivir injections for every patient. Remdesivir is also an anti-viral drug, given to patients who are hospitalized, on low-flow oxygen and within the first ten days.”

He added that whether it is for patients with mild symptoms or for patients using a ventilator, it is for the doctor to decide. “The guidelines are only for guidance. The doctor who is treating the Covid patient knows better about what treatment is best for that patient.”

“We should treat illness like a disease. Science should be treated in the manner of science. Medicine is an art, and that art is available only with a doctor. Not available with a scientist,” said Wig.