18 April 2021
The human tragedy of covid: as Modi and Mamata continue campaigning with large crowds, 3 West Bengal candidates die due to covid in last 72 hours; Massive underreporting of covid deaths in Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Bihar and other states; sixty-nine passengers on a Delhi to Hong Kong flight found to be positive in quarantine
India is running out of oxygen: It took the government eight months to invite bids for over 150 oxygen generation plants costing just Rs 200 crore. Six months later, most still aren’t up and running; meanwhile, in Indore, politicians hold up emergency oxygen supplies for photo op
Emergency response: school and hotels turn into makeshift covid centres in Delhi; Railways to run “oxygen express” supplies
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pulled out a net Rs 4,615 crore from Indian markets in April so far amid sharp escalation in Covid-19 cases; Brokerages downgrade India's GDP forecasts for FY22 amid Covid surge
Denied food grains: 28% of those surveyed were denied rations due to non-possession of Aadhar or because their biometric details did not match, or due to technical server issues