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  The government on Thursday allowed import of 17 medical devices for three months with mandatory declarations immediately after custom clearance and before sale of such products in the domestic market. To meet rising demand in the ongoing pandemic, the government has allowed import of medical devices like nebulizer, oxygen concentrators, oxygen cannister, oxygen cylinders, oxygen generators and ventilators. An order in this regard has been issued by the Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry. "Government under the leadership of PM@ Narendra Modiji permits importers of medical devices for making mandatory declarations required under Legal Metrology Rules, 2011 after custom clearance and before sale," Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted. This will help fulfil the country's demand of medical devices required for COVID-19 , he added. Due to the prevalent pandemic situation of COVID-19, the ministry in its April 28 order said, there is a steep demand for medic...

  Even as the health-care facilties are under severe strain in Delhi and its adjoining areas owing to the burgeoning number of Covid-19 cases, people with symptoms of the virus are struggling to get RT-PCR test done. Laboratories designated for the tests are unable to collect samples from homes due to the shortage of staff. Many laboratories in Delhi and NCR are struggling to cope with the skelton staff. An estimated 50 per cent of the staff working with different labs in the national Capital have themselves tested positive, forcing the management to deploy backend staff to meet the demand at collection centre. But, many of these labs are unable to keep pace with the testing demands. Managers at various labs said they have been receiving desperate calls from people to collect samples, but unfortunately it has become impossible to even respond to all the calls and and collect samples from home in due to staff crunch. Moreover, test results are getting delayed, much beyond 2 days. H...

  Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh appeared before the CBI on Wednesday for questioning in connection with the allegations of corruption levelled against him by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, an official said. Deshmukh reached the DRDO guest house, where a team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is camping to, in suburban Santacruz around 10 am, he said. The CBI on Monday issued a notice calling Deshmukh to join the agency's probe into the allegations levelled against him by Param Bir Singh and suspended police officer Sachin Waze, the official said. Waze, an assistant police inspector, is under investigation in the case of an explosive-laden SUV found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence in south Mumbai. The CBI is conducting a preliminary enquiry into the allegations against Deshmukh levelled by Singh after he was removed from the post of Mumbai police commissioner. The allegations were reportedly corroborated by Waze in th...

  Spain joined other European nations in limiting the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the elderly due to concerns over links to extremely rare blood clotting. Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias announced  on Wednesday after meeting with regional health chiefs that authorities would limit shots to those over 60-years-old. Until now, Spain has used AstraZeneca on its younger population, limiting it those under 65 years old. Darias said that authorities would now consider lifting that upper limit on the shot that forms a key pillar of the nation's vaccination scheme. "Our strategy with AstraZeneca is pivoting" Darias said. The decision comes hours after the European Medicines Agency said it had found a "possible link" between the shot and the rare clots. Last week, Germany and France limited the vaccine to elderly groups, and earlier on Wednesday British authorities recommended that the vaccine not be given to adults under 30. The EMA advised no such age re...

  The Supreme Court Monday asked the Centre to consider convening before May 2 the meeting of a high-powered committee consisting of the Prime Minister and others for appointment of CBI director observing that “in-charge arrangements” for the post cannot go on. A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Vineet Saran was informed by the Centre that meeting of the committee -- consisting of the Prime Minister, leader of the single largest opposition party and the Chief Justice of India or any judge of the apex court nominated by the CJI -- will be convened after May 2. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner NGO ‘Common Cause' which has sought direction for appointment of a regular CBI director, claimed before the bench that the Centre is delaying the meeting of the committee as it “wants to bypass” the present CJI S A Bobde who is retiring on April 23. During the hearing, the bench orally observed that “in-charge arrangements” for CBI director cannot go on. "There is ...

Half a century of shared history between India and Bangladesh should not be lost Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first international trip to Bangladesh post COVID-19-imposed international travel restrictions. In more ways than one it was a well thought out trip, aiming to address many issues at domestic as well as international level. The trip culminated into a lengthy joint statement issued by both the Governments addressing (in some points without specific targets) key topics of the bilateral cooperation. First, let us look at the trade-related announcements and their significance in the deep economic ties between the neighbours. It would be worth mentioning that the first trade agreement with Bangladesh was signed in 1972 just a year after its creation. Since then the relationship has grown to a healthy $9.5 billion of bilateral trade in 2019-20 nurtured on shared culture, history and principles. Against this backdrop, one of the thorny issues like non-tariff trade...