Soutik Biswas India correspondent “We are doing violence towards the earth, towards nature. We have become butchers of nature,” Sunderlal Bahuguna once told an interviewer. Bahuguna, who died of Covid-19 on Thursday aged 94, was known the world over as the man who taught Indians to hug trees to protect the environment. He was one […]
Coronavirus pandemic India’s states should declare an epidemic following a rise in deadly “black fungus” cases, the country’s health authorities has said. The normally rare infection, called mucormycosis, has a mortality rate of 50%, with some only saved by removing an eye or jaw bone. But in recent months, India saw thousands of cases affecting […]
Coronavirus pandemic Twenty-six bodies have been recovered off the coast of India’s Mumbai city where a barge with 261 people on board sank on Monday during a severe cyclone. The death toll is expected to rise as rescue operations continue. At least 53 people are still missing. A navy warship returned to the city’s harbour […]
Coronavirus pandemic An anti-fungal drug used in the treatment of a rare infection called mucormycosis, or “black fungus”, is in short supply across states in India. Amphotericin B, which is manufactured by many Indian firms, is also on sale on the black market. There are many emergency appeals on social media for the drug as […]
Coronavirus pandemic More than 90 people are missing after a barge off the coast of the Indian city of Mumbai sank amid a severe cyclone. The Indian navy said it had rescued 177 of the 270 people aboard and that efforts to find survivors were ongoing. Three other commercial barges carrying about 700 people are […]
By Tulip Mazumdar Global health correspondent G7 summits The international scheme to ensure equal access to Covid-19 vaccines is 140 million doses short because of India’s continuing Covid crisis. The Serum Institute of India (SII), the largest single supplier to the Covax scheme, has made none of its planned shipments since exports were suspended in […]
Coronavirus pandemic India’s western state of Gujarat is braced for the landfall of cyclone Tauktae, which is likely to be the strongest to hit the region since 1998. The storm has roared up India’s western coast over the past two days, with six people killed and thousands evacuated. Efforts are under way to rescue more […]
India Covid-19: The ‘tuk-tuk ambulance’ helping patients Raj Kumar, a tuk-tuk driver, in India’s capital, Delhi, wants to do his bit to help his fellow citizens weather the pandemic. So, he has turned his humble vehicle into an ambulance, ferrying people to and from hospitals for free. This is a huge help given the shortage […]
Coronavirus pandemic Australia has carried out its first repatriation flight from India after ending its controversial travel ban from the Covid-hit country. The government said 80 people arrived in Darwin on Saturday, and would be quarantined for a fortnight. Their Qantas flight was originally scheduled to carry 150 people onboard. But 70 passengers were later […]
Kolkata, one of the most densely-populated cities in India, hasn’t escaped the country’s second Covid-19 wave. Stories of the surge have dominated global news – people gasping to stay alive as they wait for critical care beds and treatment; desperate families scrambling for everything, from oxygen cylinders to a doctor’s appointment; mass funeral pyres and […]
