SC task force to audit O2 usage nationwide PM PRAISED MAHA MODEL TO TACKLE THIRD WAVE, SAYS UDDHAV’S OFFICE
12-member panel of medical luminaries to revamp formula for allocating oxygen to states; simultaneous audit ordered in Delhi
CULTURE
MIND
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has set up a 12-member national task force to revamp the Centre’s formula for allocating medical oxygen to states while also ordering an immediate oxygen utilisation audit in Delhi, which has to get 700 metric tonne (MT) of the life-saving gas every day under the apex court’s orders despite the Union government’s reluctance to give it that much.
As India battles its worst wave of Covid-19 infections that have overwhelmed health care facilities across the country, demand for medical oxygen has soared, and several states have sought more oxygen from the Centre, which is in charge of allocating what has become the most precious medical commodity right now.
A bench of justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and MR Shah emphasised that the existing deficiencies in the oxygen allocation formula required to be rectified by devising a new method on “scientific, rational and equitable basis”.
The task force must take up the “pressing issue of determin
MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray over phone to take stock of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state and reportedly lauded the MVA government’s efforts in combating the second wave of the pandemic.
Maharashtra, which has recorded the most cases and deaths in India, appears to have gotten the second wave under some control, especially in terms of medical care for those infected. According to a statement by the chief minister’s office, Modi praised Maharashtra for its handling of the second wave. “He took information from the CM about the steps being taken by the state government...” it read.