India gifts over 2 million COVID vaccine doses to Bangladesh
Dhaka: India on Thursday officially handed over 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine as a gift to Bangladesh. The vaccines were provided to Bangladesh at a crucial time when the number of coronavirus cases in this country was rising.
"India had stood by Bangladesh during the (1971) Liberation War, and today, when the pandemic is rattling the world, India again came with gifts of vaccines," Bangladesh foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said.
A chartered Air India plane, carrying the Covishield vaccine landed at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday. Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami handed over the vaccines formally to Momen at a formal function.
Momen said the vaccine supply is a gift of goodwill that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina have achieved through building strong partnership between the two neighbouring nations.
Health minister Zahid Maleque joined the function during which Momen termed the New Delhi initiative as a proof of true friendship between Bangladesh and India.
Doraiswami said that India, in line with the discussions held during the virtual summit between the two prime ministers on December 17, delivered the vaccines within a week of their rollout in the country.
Anti-coronavirus vaccination began in India on January 16.
He said as part of India's "Neighbourhood First" policy, his country accorded high priority to the India-Bangladesh relationship and the gift of 20 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine was in fact the biggest such dispatch by India to any of the neighbouring countries.
Bangladesh has so far recorded 7,966 COVID-19 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic in March last year while the total number of infections have surged to 530,271, according to authorities.
India's Minister for External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar had earlier tweeted on "VaccineMaitri", saying India "reaffirms the highest priority" to relations with Bangladesh.
Apart from the current delivery of vaccines, Bangladesh is also set to purchase 3 crore doses of India-made vaccine under a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on November 5 and a subsequent agreement on December 13 among Bangladesh government, Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BPL) and the Serum Institute of India (SII).
India has also handed over 1 million similar vaccines to Nepal.
On Wednesday, India sent 150,000 doses of Covishield vaccines to Bhutan and 100,000 doses to the Maldives.
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Thunderstorm hits Lucknow, IMD issues red alert across multiple UP districts
Lucknow: Shortly after the India Meteorological Department issued a red alert warning of severe weather conditions in the region, a sudden thunderstorm hit Lucknow and adjoining districts on Monday morning.
The Indian Express reported that the skies turned dark around 8:45 am as strong winds lashed parts of the city. Incidents of tree falls were reported from several locations, disrupting traffic and normal movement.
The weather department said thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, hail and gusty winds of 40 to 60 kmph are likely to continue over the next three hours across several districts.
A red alert has been issued for districts including Unnao, Barabanki, Hardoi, Sitapur, Bahraich, Gonda, Shravasti and Lakhimpur Kheri, where moderate thunderstorms with hail and strong winds may damage trees, power lines and temporary structures.
An orange alert is in place for Rae Bareli, Amethi, Kanpur Nagar, Ayodhya, Kanpur Dehat, Auraiya, Kannauj, Farrukhabad, Shahjahanpur and Balrampur, where thunderstorms with lightning and winds up to 60 kmph could lead to localised disruptions.
Major parts of the state remains under yellow alert, including districts such as Prayagraj, Agra, Bareilly, Aligarh and Moradabad, where light rain, lightning and winds of 30 to 40 kmph are expected.
Authorities have advised residents to remain indoors, avoid open areas and trees during lightning, and secure loose objects.
