COVOD-19
Covid-19: India to pay $674 compensation for every death
India’s top court has approved the government’s decision to pay 50,000 rupees ($674; £498) as compensation for every death due to Covid-19.
The Supreme Court’s order followed a petition by lawyers seeking compensation under India’s disaster management laws.
India has officially recorded more than 447,000 Covid-19 deaths so far.
However, experts believe that up to 10 times more people could have died in the pandemic.
They have arrived at different estimates after examining excess deaths – a measure of how many more people are dying than would be expected compared to the previous few years.
On Monday Justice MR Shah said the “next of kith and kin of the deceased person” shall be paid this compensation. This would be “over and above the amounts paid by the centre and state under various benevolent schemes”, he said.
The court added that the compensation should be paid within 30 days after a family submits an application.
In June, petitioners sought the court’s intervention in paying compensation to the families of Covid-19 victims.
They said since Covid-19 was “specially” notified as a disaster under India’s National Disaster Management Act, compensation should be paid to the victims.
The 2005 law was enacted for efficient management of disasters, including preparation of mitigation strategies, capacity-building and compensation for lost lives, injuries and damaged properties.
The law says monetary assistance of 400,000 rupees should be paid to family of people who have lost their lives in a disaster.
India experienced a brutal second wave of infections earlier this year
“We know the government has spent a lot of money in managing the pandemic. But we still think the government should have paid 400,000 rupees compensation to every affected family according to the law. Or they could have given a higher amount to the poor families and less to the well-to do. They could have bettered it,” Gaurav Kumar Bansal, one of the petitioners, told the BBC.
According to the federal government, the compensation will be paid “to the next of kin of the deceased due to Covid-19, subject to cause of death being certified as Covid-19” as per the guidelines. The funds for this compensation will be provided by the states.
At least two states – Kerala and Rajasthan – have said the compensation payouts would put pressure on their exchequers, and that the funds should be provided by the federal government.
“You give funds for hailstorm, floods, etc, so you should now add Covid-19 too. It’s not that only one state has been affected by it, it’s a pandemic,” Govind Singh Dotasara, a minister in Rajasthan, told The Indian Express newspaper.
It is not clear yet how much the governments will have to spend on the payout.
In August, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) – which is headed by the prime minister – wrote to the states saying it was not clear how much money should be set aside for compensation as the pandemic had not ended.
It also said that “financial prudence demands that we plan in a manner that assistance can be provided to larger number of people should the number of deaths rise”.
Some states like Karnataka have already announced a higher compensation of 100,000 rupees to the families of underprivileged people who died of Covid-19. Sixteen families have already been paid so far, according to a report.
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COVOD-19
COVID-19 Impact: Enugu Govt., Traditional Rulers Partners With AUDA-NEPAD To Empower 2,000 Farmers
Rebuilding the nation from the debilitating effect of the Covid-19 pandemic is paramount as the Enugu State Government in partnership with the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for African Development, AUDA-NEPAD seeks to empower smallholder farmers in the state to boost food production to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The administration of #Governor Ifeanyi #Ugwuanyi of #Enugu State has taken measures in furtherance of its efforts to cushion the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the people and the economy of the state.
Consequently, the Enugu State office of the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for African Development (AUDA-NEPAD), yesterday, held an interactive meeting with stakeholders in the state (Traditional Rulers of autonomous communities and Presidents General of town unions) on the agency’s agricultural project aimed at empowering smallholder farmers and boosting food production to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Addressing the stakeholders, the Enugu State Commissioner for Special Duties and State Co-ordinator/Focal Person in charge of AUDA/NEPAD, Enugu Office, Hon. Mrs. Mabel Agbo disclosed that AUDA-NEPAD Continental Office in collaboration with some International Agencies took bold measures to cushion the impact of COVID-19 on the citizens by initiating the project, entitled “Innovative Strengthening of Smallholder Farmers Capabilities Towards Productive Land Restoration Amid COVID-19 in Nigeria”.
Mrs. Agbo said that “this project as the title connotes is aimed at empowering smallholder farmers in our different communities in all agriculture value chains and segments (crops and livestock) to boost their capacity for food production, especially in the aftermath of the devastating impact of COVID-19 on our economy”.
She stressed that “to reduce the negative impact of this pandemic, we must step up efforts to enhance the capacity of our farmers to provide food for the wellbeing of our citizens”.
Revealing that the African Union (AU) has set the ball rolling by providing the required money for the realization of the agricultural project, the AUDA-NEPAD State Coordinator pointed out that “our goal-oriented Governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, was equally not found wanting as he readily approved the provision of the counterpart fund required for this project”.
Mrs. Agbo, therefore, urged the Traditional Rulers of the autonomous communities in Enugu State and the Presidents General of Town Unions to ensure that lands are made available for use by the potential farmers, who she said are eager to embrace the challenges of cluster farming but do not have the requisite land space for the agricultural project in their various communities.
“As the custodians of your ancestral lands, we expect you to help by disentangling those cultivable lands under your jurisdiction that are not presently in use.
“We are also aware that in some communities, the Green Lands earlier earmarked/acquired by the government for agriculture have been encroached by land grabbers.
“We enjoin you to help us identify these lands and take necessary steps to free them for use in this project”.
Also speaking, the representative of the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Afam Ngene, described the project as laudable, commending the AUDA-NEPAD for the initiative.
The Commissioner equally lauded Gov. Ugwuanyi for ensuring that the programme reaches all the nooks and crannies of Enugu State, for full actualization of the objectives in the interest of the farmers in particular and the state in general.
He hinted that the project has a ten years duration that will outlive the present administration both at the state and federal levels.
In their separate contributions, the Deputy Chairman of Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers, HRH Igwe Barr. R.S.N. Eze; Igwe P.U. Agbo; Igwe Engr. Okey Ogbodo; Igwe Greg Ugwu; Igwe H.I. Eze; the Coordinating Chairman of Presidents General (PGs) in Enugu State, Barr. Paulinus Eze, and other PGs, thanked Gov. Ugwuanyi for attracting the international project to the state and promised to consult widely with their communities for the realization of the all-important programme.
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The National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) revealed in a Twitter update that passenger flights from Nigeria and 11 other African countries will resume from Saturday, January 29.
Other affected countries are Ethiopia, Tanzania, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, and the Republic of Congo.
It added that entry procedures have been updated for flights originating from Ghana, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Travel restrictions were put in place by the Arab country in December last year, over the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
“From January 29, entry into the UAE for arrivals from Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, the Republic of South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe is allowed again.”
“Passengers arriving from the three countries must have a negative COVID-19 test which was obtained within 48 hours of departure from approved labs in their respective countries,” the tweet read.
The UAE authority also said the passengers must undergo a Rapid PCR test at the airports of departure.
On arrival in the UAE, they will be subjected to another PCR test
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As of the 25th of this month, over 14 million eligible persons in Nigeria have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the country while over 5 million eligible Nigerians had been fully vaccinated.
The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, stated this in Abuja during a media briefing on the Progress of COVID-19 vaccination in the country.
He also identified the Federal Capital Territory, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Ogun, and Kwara states as the top 5 performing states on COVID-19 vaccine uptake.
Dr. Shuaib however advocated State Governors support especially those on low performance to be charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the populace within their constituencies was duly vaccinated.
He said Nigeria has not recorded any death arising from Covid Vaccine since the commencement of the exercise in March last year.
Dr. Shuaib also said childhood immunization and other Primary Health Care services will be integrated into the mass COVID-19 campaign.
He said alongside the COVID-19 vaccines, childhood vaccines would also be available at COVID-19 vaccination sites to prevent any neglect in other health care services or even have outbreaks of childhood vaccine-preventable diseases at hand.
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