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The Kerala government on Friday capped the rates of medical items used in treating COVID-19 — including PPE kits, N95 masks, face shields and hand sanitisers, among others. The state government has designated these as essential articles and fixed maximum retail prices for them. The Food and Civil Supplies Department on Friday invoked the Kerala Essential Articles Control Act, 1986 and also cited the Central government's advisory to ensure availability of healthcare items at affordable prices. As per the order, a PPE kit cannot be priced higher than Rs 273 and an N95 mask cannot cost more than Rs 22. A pulse oximeter now will not cost more than Rs 1,500. Kerala Essential Articles Control Act, 1986 is being invoked to control prices of articles required for treating #COVID19 . PPE Kits ₹273 N95 Mask ₹22 Triple Layer Mask ₹3.90 Face Shield ₹21 Disposable Apron ₹12 Surgical Gown ₹65 Inspection Gloves ₹5.75 — CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) May 14, 2021 "In view of the in...

Bake sales on Instagram. Online fundraisers involving Hollywood celebrities. Pledges of aid from companies like Mastercard and Google. A middle-of-the-night flight by a FedEx cargo plane transporting thousands of oxygen concentrators and masks. India’s devastating surge in COVID-19 cases has galvanized corporations, nonprofit organisations and individuals in the United States into raising millions of dollars and sending medical supplies to the nation of 1.4 billion. But a sweeping change to India’s decades-old law governing foreign donations is choking off foreign aid just when the country needs it desperately. The amendment, passed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September with little warning, limits international charities that donate to local nonprofits. The effect is far-reaching. Almost overnight, the amendment gutted a reliable source of funding for tens of thousands of nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs, that were already stretched thin by the pandemic. It prompted...

Former journalist and director of the Institute of Perception Studies, Dr Kota Neelima on Friday wrote an open letter to chief ministers of all the states urging them to provide free treatment for COVID-19 positive journalists and their families. In April, the institute's Rate The Debate initiative found that as many as 52 journalists had succumbed to the virus in 28 days alone. In the letter, Neelima also recommended the provisions of walk-in vaccination and support for the families of the journalists who have succumbed to COVID-19. Letter to Chief Ministers with measures that can #SaveJournalists : ▪️Free COVID-19 Treatment in Govt/Pvt Hospitals for Journalists & families ▪️Walk-in Registration/Vaccination ▪️Ex-gratia/Education fees/Jobs for families (as applicable) #RateTheDebate https://t.co/DEzT95eTUJ pic.twitter.com/7eRSQRz1H3 — Kota Neelima కోట నీలిమ (@KotaNeelima) May 14, 2021 "A journalist will not hold back from reporting about the plight of a COVI...

The depression formed over Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea would turn into a cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours and reach near the Gujarat coast on the morning of May 18, officials said on Friday. This cyclonic activity would bring rain or thunderstorm in the coastal belt between May 16 and 18, with some of the places in the region receiving heavy to extremely heavy rainfall on Monday and Tuesday, they said. In view of this prediction, all ports in Gujarat have been asked to hoist a signal to warn fishermen against venturing into the sea. "As of now, there is no prediction whether it will make a landfall on the Gujarat coast, and a clear picture would emerge only by tomorrow," said Manorama Mohanty, assistant director of the  meteorological Centre in Ahmedabad. Taking no chances, the Gujarat government has already alerted the collectors of all the coastal districts to take necessary steps for the safety of...

The Kerala government on Friday announced that the total lockdown being enforced in the state from 8 to 16 May will be extended till 23 May to contain the massive spread of COVID-19. The decision to extend the lockdown was taken in view of high test positivity rates in districts, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. The state is currently under a 9-day complete shutdown as part of its efforts to bring down the daily caseload of infected persons. Addressing a press conference here, Vijayan also announced 'triple lockdown' in four districts -- Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Malappuram--from 16 May to bring down the rising number of cases. Such strong measures will help contain the massive spread of virus in these districts, he said. Vijayan said it will take some more days to know about the positive impact of the lockdown measures in checking the spread of coronavirus. "Experts have said the month of M...

Editor's note:  As the second wave of coronavirus infections ravages parts of India, millions of front-line workers and citizens are caught up in the middle, providing their services to distressed families on one hand while trying to cope themselves on the other. This is part seven of a series profiling the stories of these people. Aligarh:  As a second wave overwhelms India's creaking healthcare system, the brunt of the tragedy and trauma around is mostly being borne by the frontline workers, whether or not the governments recognise them as such. The struggles of doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, cremation and cemetery employees, and other healthcare support providers, are quite visible in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh, a city that caters to the health needs of several nearby districts of Western Uttar Pradesh. With a steady rise in the COVID cases, the city is reporting an average of more than three hundred new cases daily. According to the official data, the total numb...

The University of Lucknow has declared the results for the third-semester exams of Bachelors of Computer Applications (BCA) course. Candidates who have appeared for the examinations can check their result by visiting the official website —  lkouniv.ac.in . The announcement was made via the official Twitter handle of the Controller of Examinations, Lucknow University. The university has been announcing the results of its various courses since 26 April. BCA Semester III result is now available on the University website. Students may access their result by visiting  https://t.co/fU9GGgrZF1 All The Best ! — CoE_LU (@CoELU4)  May 13, 2021 Students can follow these simple steps to check their scorecards: 1. Visit the website, lkouniv.ac.in 2. Check the ‘Examination’ tab in the main menu 3. Click on the ‘Results’ page 4. Now, go to the semester results page 5. On the new page, click on BCA third semester link 6. The scorecards will be displayed on the screen. Check ...