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GST Council leaves tax rate on COVID vaccines unchanged; exempts duty on black fungus medicine

The GST Council, which is headed by the Union Finance Minister and comprises representatives of all states and union territories, exempted levy of I-GST on import of Amphotericin-B, which is used for the treatment of black fungus. Currently, vaccines attract 5 per cent GST.

Sitharaman said the Council decided to continue a waiver of I-GST on free COVID-19 related supplies imported from abroad.

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Airlines can operate only 50% of Pre-COVID domestic flights from June 1: Centre

The government also has extended the ban on international commercial flights till 30 June, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a circular on Friday. The ban on scheduled overseas flights was to end on 31 May after a 14-month gap.The decision has been taken “in view of the sudden surge in the number of active COVID-19 cases across the country, decrease in passenger traffic and passenger load factor (occupancy rate)”, the ministry said in an order.

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Maharashtra COVID-19 restrictions extended by 15 days, new guidelines on June 1: Health minister Tope

No relaxation will be given in the areas where the number of patients and positivity rate are still high and hospital bed availability is an issue, he said.

“But in the areas where the situation has improved, certain guidelines (easing the curbs) can be issued,” he added.

Asked if shops selling non-essential commodities will be allowed to open, he said all such decisions will be taken o

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Harrowing tale of lapses in India sea disaster in ONGC’s barge collapse

State-run ONGC, the country’s biggest explorer, and its billionaire-owned offshore engineering contractor are under growing pressure to explain their roles in one of the world’s worst offshore oilfield disasters in recent memory.

Interviews with survivors, rescue officials and executives from ONGC suggest that a serious misreading of the weather, as well as human error and safety lapses led to the tragedy.

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Daily COVID-19 count in India lowest in 44 days, daily death toll at 3,660 

The daily positivity rate has declined to 9 per cent. It has been less than 10 per cent for four consecutive days, the ministry said, adding the weekly positivity rate has further declined to 10.42 per cent. Recoveries continue to outnumber daily new cases for the 15th consecutive day, it said. The active cases have further reduced to 23,43,152 comprising 8.50 per cent of the total infections with a net decline of 76,755 cases in the active caseload in 24 hours, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 90.34 per cent.

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Burnout and depression spiral among India’s traumatised doctors

The number of doctors for every 10,000 people in India has fallen to around nine in 2019 from 12 in 1991, according to data on World Health Organization’s website, while the country’s health expenditure was just 3.54% of GDP, lower than countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, China and Kenya.

India must now strengthen its health system by investing in hard infrastructure and human resources and making its data transparent, said Yamini Aiyar, the president of the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research.

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