LEAD

Long, detailed phone calls, at times lasting up to half-an-hour or even more. On the line would be Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking directly to a Chief Minister, asking what more the state would need in its fight against Covid-19, and cutting the bureaucracy in between in the process.

The PM has called up nearly 20 Chief Ministers in the last 12 days for such one-on-one conversations, in a departure from the practice of organising a video-conference meeting with multiple CMs, as he last did almost a month ago on April 23 amidst the second wave of Covid-19. Since May 6, the PM began calling up CMs individually to discuss strategies against Covid, seek their suggestions, and intervene directly to try and fulfil demands most of them had for more oxygen or vaccines — depending on the availability. The feedback from CMs is also said to have prompted PM Modi to ask the Health Ministry to inform states 15 days in advance about vaccine supplies they should be expecting, and to coordinate between vaccine manufacturers and states on supplies for the 18-44 age group.

Six people died and 17 were injured in Maharashtra as Cyclone Tauktae, intensifying into an “extremely severe cyclonic storm”, swept the coastal regions of the state through the day today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to take stock of the situation.

The storm was expected to cross the Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva, east of Diu tonight between 10 pm and 11 pm tonight, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.

Earlier in the day, windspeeds hit 114 kilometres per hour, the "highest ever for Mumbai in any recent records", according to state minister Aditya Thackeray.

Thousands of people - including Covid patients - in Gujarat and Maharashtra have been evacuated to safe locations because of Cyclone Tauktae, which will reach the Gujarat coast on Monday evening, unleashing winds with speed up to 175 km/hour.

Severe cyclonic storm Tauktae intensified overnight into a "very severe cyclonic storm" over the east-central Arabian Sea, the weather office said this morning. It is very likely to intensify further and reach the Gujarat coast in the evening of May 17. It is expected to make landfall the next morning between Porbandar and Mahuva in Bhavnagar district, it added.

New Delhi: As new cases of black fungus, mucormycosis, has kept the health experts on tenterhooks, AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria clarified that the fungal infection is not new, but has the cases have increased with Covid-19. Guleria said the ‘misuse’ of steroids is one of the major causes behind black fungus cases. Diabetic patients, covid patients and people who are on steroids are at a higher risk of contracting this fungal infection.

The black fungus infection, also known as mucormycosis, is caused by a fungus called mucor. “This disease (Mucormycosis) can affect the face, infecting nose, orbit of eye, or brain, which can cause even vision loss. It can also spread to the lung," Guleria said, adding that people should follow protocols of infection control practices at hospitals. “It is been seen that secondary infections, fungal & bacterial, are causing more mortality," Guleria added.

Pan-India Lockdown, local government restrictions and the new normal of Work from home(WFH) have not deterred India’s best brains working at the Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO). The first and second wave of the pandemic, have affected the schedule of the core space-related activities at ISRO. However, even while working from home, ISRO’s scientists have been immensely contributing to the country’s Covid-19 fight by developing crucial medical equipment such as ventilators, oxygen concentrators etc. In an exclusive conversation with a news channel.

Dr S Somanath, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Center(VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, elucidated on the in-house medical technologies that are ready for industry adoption, free of cost.