Brazil suspends Covaxin deal, orders probe

The Brazilian government on Wednesday announced temporary suspension of its 20 million dose Covid19 vaccine contract with Bharat Biotech following allegations of irregularities in the dealThe firm said it has not received any advance payments and that the company has followed a ldquosimilar approachrdquo in Brazil towards contracts regulatory approvals and supplies in several countries worldwide where Covaxin is being supplied successfullyAccording to the Comptroller General of the Unionrsquos CGU preliminary analysis there are no irregularities in the contract but due to compliance the Ministry of Health opted to suspend the contract for further analysisrdquo Brazilrsquos Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga tweetedBharat Biotech in a statement stated ldquoAs of 29th June 2021 Bharat Biotech has not received any advance payments nor supplied any vaccines to MOH Brazil Bharat Biotech has followed a similar approach towards contracts regulatory approvals and supplies in several countries worldwide where Covaxin is being supplied successfullyrdquoThe Covaxin contract landed in controversy after the Brazilrsquos Attorney General reportedly launched a probe into the dealThe minister of the CGU Wagner Rosrio said ldquoWe opened a preliminary investigation last week that is a specific audit in relation to the contract The suspension time will only last for the period of calculation We put the reinforced team to be very quick in the processrdquolsquoMake new rules on exgratia to kin of victimsrsquoA man mourns as he prepares to perform the last rites of his child who died of Covid19 at a crematorium in New Delhi on May 12 PicAFPThe Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the National Disaster Management Authority and the Centre to issue fresh guidelines within six week for providing minimum standards of financial help to families of those who lost their lives to Covid19 The bench said the court canrsquot direct the Centre to fix a particular amount of financial help but the government can fix the minimum standard of amount to be paid as exgratia to kin of Covid19 victims It said the Centre can fix a reasonable amount while keeping in the mind the funds and resources available with the country India has so far lost 398454 people to Covid19 including 817 fresh fatalities government recorded on Wednesday morning The deadly respiratory disease has infected 45951 more people nationwide AI pilotsrsquo widows seek better aid jobThe wives of Air India AI pilots who lost their lives due to Covid19 in the line of duty have formed a joint forum mdash Widows Forum for Justice mdash to seek adequate compensation It has written to the Air India management expressing anguish that they are eligible for R10 lakh as adhoc Covid19 death compensation an amount which in normal circumstances would have been less than two months of their average net earnings They also demanded an offer of suitable alternative employment to the immediate kin of the deceasedCabinet approves Rs 6lakh cr Covid19 relief packageThe Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Rs 629lakh crore relief package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to support the Covid19 hit economy This includes Rs 15 lakh crore of additional credit for MSMEs more funds for health sector loans to tourism agencies and guides and waiver of visa fee for foreign tourists announced on Monday Together with previously announced Rs 93869crore spending on providing free foodgrains to the poor till November and additional Rs 14775 crore fertiliser subsidy the package totalled up to Rs 629 lakh croreOver 2000 kids in Delhi lost parentsOver 2000 kids in Delhi have lost either one or both their parents due to Covid19 While 67 children lost both their parents 651 lost their mothers and 1311 their fathers according to a survey by the Delhi Commission For Protection of Child Rights30362848Total no of Coronavirus cases in India so far398454Total no of deaths due to the virus in India so far537064Total no of active cases in IndiaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever