Karnataka decides to get 2 crore COVID vaccine doses through global tender
Bengaluru, May 11: Two crore COVID vaccine doses will be procured through global tender in order to meet the increased demand and to facilitate vaccination of the age group of 18-44 years, Deputy Chief Minister and state COVID task force head C N Ashwath Narayan said on Tuesday.
In addition to this, an order has already been placed for three crore vaccine doses -- one crore Covaxin and two crore Covishield, he said.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting he chaired here, his office said in a statement.
"Till now, we had depended only on vaccines supplied by the central government and it was not procured from the open market by floating tender. Now, it has been instructed to float the tender and to complete the process within seven days," Narayan said.
Authorities have also been instructed to procure one lakh pulse oximeters and these will be distributed to all the districts and taluks.
It will be the responsibility of the Distruct Health Officers and Taluk Health Officers to collect the pulse oximeters back after the infected user gets cured.
Later they will be used for creating a pulse oximeter bank, he said.
Narayan said 10 lakhs of Ivermectin, the tablet which is required to treat the infected, has been procured and its supply will begin on May 14.
It has been further decided to procure 25 lakh tablets and make them available in all hospitals across the state.
Thirty-five lakh zinc tablets and one crore calcigen tablets will be procured and made available in all district hospitals, taluk hospitals, PHCs, and community health centres, Narayan said.
Currently, 10.50 lakh RAT (Rapid Antigen Tests) kits are in stock and this will be enough for seven days.
A total of 50,000 RAT kits are being supplied every day. In addition to this, it has been decided to procure 37 lakh RT-PCR kits.
The minister said triaging would be made mandatory to avoid unnecessary occupancy of beds and requested urban residents not to go to villages to get vaccinated.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
