The Evening Wrap: ECI ‘singularly responsible’ for Covid-19 surge, says Madras HC
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ECI 'singularly responsible' for Covid-19 surge, says Madras HC |
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The Madras High Court on Monday squarely blamed the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the raging second wave of Covid-19 in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and asked if the officials were in some other planet when political parties took out Assembly election rallies without adhering to Covid-19 safety protocols despite several judicial orders. Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy said public health was of paramount importance and that it was distressing to note that Constitutional authorities had to be reminded of it. Only when a citizen survives, would he/she be able to enjoy the rights that a democratic republic guarantees to him/her, they said. They warned the ECI that a postponement of vote counting (scheduled for May 2) may be ordered if a blueprint on the maintenance of Covid-19 protocol at the counting centres was not produced before the court by April 30. The orders were passed on a writ petition filed by Transport Minister M.R. Vijayabhaskar, a contestant from Karur Assembly constituency, seeking a direction to the ECI to put in place stringent measures aimed at ensuring fairness in counting of votes. During the hearing, the Chief Justice expressed displeasure over the ECI having turned a blind eye to safeguarding public health. Wondering how it could have allowed political parties to hold massive rallies with people not wearing masks and not following physical distancing norms, he said: "You have been the most irresponsible institution in the last few months. You are the only institution singularly responsible for the situation we are facing today," and added, "Your officers should be booked on murder charges probably." In response, later in the day, the ECI said it will issue consolidated instructions for keeping counting day, May 2, COVID-safe. MHA asks states to impose containment measuresThe Ministry of Home Affairs has asked States to impose localised restrictions and implement strict containment measures for at least 14-days to flatten the Covid-19 curve. In a letter to States on Monday, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla said that considering the "unprecedented surge," there is an urgent need for States and Union Territories to consider strict COVID management and control measures to bring the situation under control. "….States and UTs, based on their assessment of the situation, may impose local restrictions at district/sub district and city/ward level, with a view to contain the spread of COVID 19," the letter stated. The Health ministry had suggested night curfew, closure of malls and shopping complexes, and restricting office strength to 50% as some of the measures to contain the spread in areas that required intensive action. "The spread of the infection has to be controlled through restricting the intermingling amongst people, the only known host for the COVID 19 virus. Social/ political / sports / entertainment / academic / cultural / religious / festival related and other gathering and congregations shall be prohibited. Marriages (attended by up to 50 persons) and funerals/ last rites (attended by up to 20 persons) may be allowed," Health Ministry said, adding that such localised restrictions should continue for 14 days. The Home Ministry also issued a clarification to the Sunday's (April 25) order issued under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 on liquid oxygen. The order specifically excluded industries manufacturing ampules and vials, the pharmaceutical sector, and the defence forces from its ambit. The order had said that all liquid oxygen, including the existing stock with private plants shall be made available to the government and will be used for medical purposes only. Earlier on April 18, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had written to States prohibiting supply of oxygen for industrial purposes, except for the exempted nine industries that included the pharmaceutical, petroleum, nuclear energy and the steel sectors. Govt. ordered Twitter to remove 50 posts critical of its handling of Covid-19 pandemicTwitter has removed over 50 posts from its platform following orders from the government. The majority of these tweets were critical of the Centre's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as India grappled with a record number of cases amid shortage of beds and medical oxygen. Many of the removed tweets had content related to shortage of medicine, beds, mass cremations, and the gathering of crowds at Kumbh Mela amid the pandemic. While blocked for viewing in India, these tweets will continue to remain visible outside the country. Some of the verified accounts which saw their tweets removed include Congress Spokesperson Pawan Khera, Member of Parliament Revanth Reddy, a minister from West Bengal Moloy Ghatak, ABP News editor Pankaj Jha, Actor Vineet Kumar Singh, filmmaker Avinash Das and filmmaker and former journalist Vinod Kapri. Khera has responded with a suit challenging the order to remove his tweet. Sharing a screenshot of his legal notice to Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, and Twitter, he tweeted, "My legal notice to @OfficeofRSP & @Twitter for pulling down of my tweet exposing double standards on #KumbhMela & tablighijamaat." Khera's removed tweet had pointed to the difference in the government's responses to the two different religious gatherings. The details of the order received by Twitter have been put up on the Lumen database, a project of the BerkmanKlein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University that collects and analyzes requests to remove material from the web. This story was first reported by technology news website Medianama. Earlier in February, the Centre had asked Twitter to remove nearly 1,200 accounts that had posted content related to 'farmer genocide' amid the ongoing protests by farmers against the new farm laws. Karnataka announces 14-day lockdownThe Karnataka Cabinet on Monday announced a partial lockdown across the State for 14 days starting from 9 pm on Tuesday (April 27). Only shops providing essential services would be open from 6 am to 10 am for the next two weeks, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announced soon after a Cabinet meeting. There would be no public transport in the State and metro trains would not operate in Bengaluru City. All industries, except manufacturing, would remain closed. The garment industries, which hire lakhs of employees in the State, would remain closed. The Chief Minister said all agriculture-related activities would be allowed in rural areas. Agricultural markets in cities would remain closed. The government has also decided to provide free vaccination for Covid-19 for all those aged between 18 and 44 years in government hospitals and centres from May 1. Tamil Nadu all-party meet resolves to allow oxygen production in Sterlite plant for four monthsAn all-party meeting convened by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Monday unanimously resolved to temporarily allow Vedanta's sealed Sterlite copper smelter plant in Thoothukudi to produce oxygen alone for four months, albeit with conditions. Considering the need for oxygen and the prevailing Covid-19 situation, it was resolved that the temporary permit may be extended later on, an official release said. The meeting decided that production of copper or the operation of any other units would not be allowed in the plant under any circumstances. "Tamil Nadu should be given priority in the [usage of] oxygen produced at the plant. After fulfilling the oxygen needs of Tamil Nadu, the supply could be provided to other States," said another resolution adopted at the meeting. "After a specific period, the power supply from Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (Tangedco) would be disconnected," said the resolution. The parties favoured allowing technicians only in the area where oxygen would be produced. "The State government would ensure necessary safety measures. Under any circumstances, any unit other than those producing oxygen would not be allowed." The meeting also resolved to constitute a monitoring committee to be headed by the District Collector to supervise oxygen production in the plant. Superintendent of Police, Sub Collector, Thoothukudi, engineers from Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, two experts to be nominated by the State government, members of the general public from the area/environment experts from NGOs and three anti-Sterlite activists would be part of the panel that "would decide on operating the plant producing oxygen." 'Nomadland' wins Oscar for Best Picture, 'My Octopus Teacher' wins 'Best Documentary Feature''Nomadland', a recession-era tale about a community of van dwellers in the American West, won the Oscar for best picture on Sunday. The film stars Frances McDormand as a widow in a depressed Nevada mining town who turns her van into a mobile home and sets out on the road, taking seasonal jobs and making friends along the way. McDormand won her third Oscar for 'Nomadland', cementing her reputation as one of the best actresses of her generation. McDormand's win makes her a member of an elite club that includes Meryl Streep, Daniel Day Lewis and Jack Nicholson as the winners of three acting Oscars. The late Katharine Hepburn won a record four. My Octopus Teacher", which has Indian filmmaker Swati Thiyagarajan as associate producer and production manager, won the best documentary feature at the Oscars, which also honoured actor Irrfan Khan and costume designer Bhanu in its 'In Memoriam' segment. Covid Watch: Numbers and DevelopmentsThe number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,73,95,241 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,95,578. Dr V.K. Paul, Member (health) at the NITI Aayog, involved closely in India's COVID management strategy, has recommended that everyone should wear masks even at home. "The time has come to recommend wearing a mask even if you are at home," said Dr. Paul at the weekly press briefing by the Health Ministry. "We used to speak of masking up when leaving home but now, just in case someone at home catches the virus, it would be advisable to wear one. When someone at home is positive, then definitely." Other officials present at the briefing, including Joint Secretary, Lav Agrawal, Dr Randeep Guleria, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi also emphasised the importance of masks and social distancing but underlined multiple times that people "shouldn't be panicking." Dr .Guleria said that 85% of those afflicted by the virus would recover without need of any medication and not everyone needed to rush to a hospital. "There is unnecessary panic all around and this is causing more harm than good. This is causing hoarding of drugs and misuse of valuable medical resources. An oxygen level of 94-95 doesn't need an oxygen concentrator and you shouldn't try to raise it at those levels. Above 94 means your organs are getting adequate oxygen," said Dr. Guleria. "Before the pandemic, we've managed patients with these machines at 88-90. If it's below 94, consult with your doc. For hospitals, it's important to prevent leakage. The benefits of (antiviral) Remdesivir aren't well established," he added. In Brief:A total of 75.06% voter turnout was registered on Monday in phase 7 of the West Bengal Assembly polls, the Election Commission said. The poll panel noted that the turnout figures were provisional and were recorded at 5 pm when the voting was still on. Polling was held "peacefully" in 11,376 polling stations spread across 34 constituencies in West Bengal. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. |
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