WORLD

As international help continues to pour in for India's fight against the Covid-19 crisis, the European Union on Tuesday said it will deliver oxygen, medicine and essential equipment over the coming days via its member states under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

"A shipment of urgently needed oxygen, medicine and equipment will be delivered over the coming days by EU Member States to India," an official EU statement read.

The offer of support from the EU Member States would include 700 oxygen concentrators, 1 oxygen generator, 365 ventilators from Ireland; 9,000 doses of antiviral medicines Remdesivir from Belgium; 80 oxygen concentrators and 75 oxygen cylinders from Romania; 58 ventilators from Luxembourg; 5,503 vials of Remdesivir, 20,000 litres of oxygen per week from Portugal, and 120 ventilators from Sweden.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that the country would be happy to hold talks on all the differences with India and seek their resolution through dialogue if the latter shows its willingness to revisit its unilateral decisions taken on August 5, 2019, which resulted in the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A of the Indian Constitution that granted special status to the erstwhile state of J&K.

Qureshi said this during an interview with the Turkish news agency Andolu during his two-day visit to the country.

"If India is willing to revisit some of the decisions that it took on August 5, 2019, Pakistan will be more than happy to engage, sit and talk and resolve all the outstanding issues," the Pakistan Foreign Minister said.

The UK is to send ventilators and oxygen to India to help it fight its devastating coronavirus crisis, with the US also offering assistance after Washington was accused of hoarding vaccines and of blocking the export of crucial supplies needed to produce doses.

The UK package includes 495 oxygen concentrators, which can extract oxygen from the air when hospital systems have run out, 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators. It is expected to arrive in Delhi on Tuesday with further shipments later in the week.

India reported 349,691 new cases on Sunday, a record increase for the fourth consecutive day, and 2,767 people dead. Hospitals are running short of life-saving oxygen and patients are dying while they wait to see doctors.

The chief medical officer of BioNTech, Dr Ozlem Tureci who developed the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has claimed that she too believes that a third dose of vaccination will be necessary as the immunity delivered by the vaccine will phase out over time.

Tureci revealed this in a conversation with an electronic channel, while agreeing to the comments made by Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla where he first revealed the need for a third jab last week on April 15. 

According to Tureci, people will have to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus annually just like they usually do for flu, as scientists expect the immunity that the vaccine provides would gradually phase out. 

The Indian Navy on Thursday dispatched its Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV) from Visakhapatnam to support the Indonesian Navy in search and rescue efforts for its submarine KRI Nanggala that went missing on Wednesday with 53 onboard.

“On April 21, an alert was received by Indian Navy through International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office (ISMERLO), regarding the missing Indonesian submarine. The submarine was reportedly exercising in a location 25 miles North of Bali with a crew of 53 personnel,” the navy said in a statement.

The DSRV departed by sea and has to cover a distance of approximately 2,500 nautical miles, a Navy official said. Consultations are on between senior Defence Ministry officials of India and Indonesia, it has been learnt.