25 new manufacturing sites approved for Remdesivir production

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan has said that the steel fraternity stands with the nation in it's collective fight against covid. The Minister revealed that the steel plants from across the country have already supplied 1.43 lakh metric tons of medical oxygen to different states with the central public sector enterprises in the steel sector contributing about 39 thousand metric tons of medical oxygen till now.

-Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that another dedicated 1200 bed Covid hospital will be set up at Gandhinagar in Gujarat. He made a visit to the 900 bed dedicated Covid hospital set up by DRDO and Gujarat Government at Gujarat University Convention and Exhibition Centre in Ahmedabad. Shah has said that the 1200 bed dedicated Covid hospital will be set up at Helipad ground in Gandhinagar. This hospital will have 600 ICU beds. It will be set up by DRDO in collaboration with Tata Trust. Mr. Shah said that Ahmedabad will also have Isolation centers for which Karnavati club, Rajpath Club, Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank, Gujarat State Cooperative Bank and Umiya Pariwar have given their consent. Expenses like primary treatment, medicines and meals will be borne by Gujarat government, while beds and other expenses will be borne by concerned organizations. 

-Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited, IFFCO has given order for its 2nd Oxygen plant in Aonla, Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh to fulfil the demand of medical grade oxygen in the country. In a statement, the company said, it will give free Oxygen to hospitals in nation’s service. The Medical Oxygen plant with capacity of 130 Cubic meters per hour will commence by May 30.The Oxygen plant will generate medical grade oxygen and fill 450 big D type cylinders daily and 150 medium B size cylinders on demand supplied to all hospitals free from 30th May. The company said, it will fill up free of cost, the oxygen cylinders for hospitals in Uttar Pradesh and adjoining areas. The States need to bring their own cylinders for refill. It said, the work for other two plants at Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh and Paradeep in Odisha is also on high speed.

-Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said that 25 new manufacturing sites for Remdesivir's production have been approved since  April 12. In a tweet, Mandaviya said, production capacity is now ramped up from 40 lakhs vials per month to around 90 lakhs vials per month. He said, very soon, three lakh vials per day will be produced. The Minister said, monitoring is being done on daily basis and government will do all possible to supply Remdesivir.

-The country has witnessed 84 per cent reduction in malaria cases in 2020 as compared to 2015, thanks to the efforts of Government to eliminate Malaria from India. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan declared this while chairing the Reaching Zero forum on malaria elimination to celebrate World Malaria Day through video conference. He said, over 83 per cent reduction in deaths has also been reported in 2020. Every year, 25th April is observed as World Malaria Day. This year’s theme for the day is Reaching the Zero Malaria target. The Minister said, India is working to eliminate malaria nationally and to contribute to improved health, quality of life and alleviation of poverty. He said, the World Malaria Day celebrations also provide inspiration to the global community and all affected countries that are working to root out this disease.