First Oxygen Express reaches Karnataka
Bengaluru: The first Oxygen Express to Karnataka, carrying 120 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen reached the city on Tuesday.
According to South Western Railway, the oxygen express carrying six cryogenic containers with medical oxygen weighing 120 tonnes departed from Jharkhand on Monday and arrived at the Inland Container Depot in Whitefield here this morning.
"A signal free 'Green Corridor' was created by the Railways to enable swift transport of the Oxygen Express...," Chief Public Relations Officer of South Western Railway, Aneesh Hegde told PTI.
"The Railways has taken a lot of care in smooth transportation of the oxygen throughout the country by ensuring a green corridor, efficient maintenance of assets and several concessions such as exemption of development surcharge, busy season surcharge, Terminal Access Charge etc for Oxygen container transport," he said.
More than 4,700 MT oxygen has been delivered through Oxygen Express for COVID patients across the country so far, the official noted.
In view of the alarming rise in coronavirus cases in Karnataka, which had been reporting 50,000 infections daily, the oxygen demand grew manifold.
Meanwhile, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal in a tweet said, "In order to provide relief to COVID-19 patients, #OxygenExpress from Tatanagar has reached Bengaluru via Green corridor, with 6 containers of medical oxygen."
The Oxygen Express with 6 containers carrying 120 MT oxygen has reached Bengaluru. I thank PM @narendramodi Ji for the continued support and Union Ministers @PiyushGoyal @DVSadanandGowda & @JoshiPralhad for their efforts to strengthen our fight against the pandemic.@JPNadda pic.twitter.com/rGwsGJuhuD
— B.S. Yediyurappa (@BSYBJP) May 11, 2021
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Russian First Deputy PM Manturov meets PM Modi; discusses trade, energy ties
New Delhi (PTI): Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Thursday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties in areas of investment, energy and industrial cooperation.
Manturov, on a two-day visit to India, also held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
The Russian embassy said Modi and Manturov discussed "specific steps to implement agreements reached" during the India-Russia summit held in December last.
"Particular attention was paid to further strengthening Russia-India trade, economic, investment, energy and industrial cooperation," it said on social media.
In their meeting, Doval and Manturov were learnt to have discussed bilateral defence cooperation besides the evolving regional security situation.
The Russian first deputy PM's visit to New Delhi comes days after India cleared procurement of a fresh batch of five S-400 missile systems from Russia.
The decision to procure the additional batch of five S-400 air defence missile systems was taken against the backdrop of the missile system proving its capability during Operation Sindoor.
The missile system played a crucial role in India's dominance over Pakistan during the May 7-10 hostilities last year.
In October 2018, India had signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
In the talks, the two sides are also expected to exchange views on the West Asia conflict and its impact on global economy, especially on the energy sector.
It is learnt that both sides also reviewed the implementation of decisions taken at the summit talks between Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in last December.
Following talks between the two leaders, India and Russia unveiled a raft of measures including a five-year roadmap to build a robust economic partnership and to increase the annual trade to USD 100 billion by 2030.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week lauded India's "independent foreign policy" and said that Russia looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Modi for a visit this year.
In an address at a conference titled 'India and Russia: Towards a new bilateral agenda', he said the "time-tested" friendship between the two countries is a model on interstate relations based on mutual trust and respect.
