DailyOh! The Tauktae damage trail, to Covid vaccines worth Rs 25 lakh destroyed

Pandemonium reigned along India’s western coast over the weekend. Not just with Covid — though we will come to the killer virus in a bit — but Cyclone Tauktae that has ravaged the western coastal states.  

It was a picture of devastation as the gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept Kerala, Karnataka and Goa on Sunday, damaging hundreds of houses, uprooting electricity poles and trees, and forcing evacuation in low-lying areas.

At least six people have died in Karnataka and Goa. The cataclysmic cyclone has now become "extremely severe". Tonight will be a difficult night for India’s financial capital as IMD has issued an orange alert for Mumbai, warning of very heavy rains. The Bandra-Worli sea link has been closed for traffic and the lifeline of Mumbai — the local train services — have been disrupted. Tauktae has also caused disruption in flight schedules.

Gateway of India Today pic.twitter.com/YAWFtdXD0w

— Dr. Shashank Joshi (@AskDrShashank) May 17, 2021

Why is the cyclone called ‘Tauktae’? Our Word Of The Day is a name given by Myanmar. As we told you earlier, names for the cyclones in the Indian Ocean are decided by eight countries; Myanmar among them. Tauktae (pronounced Tau’te) means 'gecko' in Burmese. What is gecko? It is a highly vocal lizard, found in warm climates across the world.

#CycloneTauktae will hit Indian coasts soon. Do you know what it’s name means. ‘Tauktae' (pronounced as Tau’Te), a name given by #Myanmar, means highly vocal lizard #GECKO.The cyclone names are given by countries on rotation basis in region.@mcbbsr pic.twitter.com/AakbZva8gr

— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) May 15, 2021

As the cyclone hurtles northwards, Gujarat is bracing for the impact. Tauktae is the first cyclone this year and is all set to become the first “Severe Cyclone” to hit Gujarat in the month of May since 1976.

Meanwhile, the Coronavirus has offered a tiny ray of hope as the Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours ending this morning stood at 2,81,386 — the first time in 26 days to go below the three lakh count.

But, there is always a but, the death toll continues to stand at above the 4,000 mark; this time at 4,106. The states with the maximum new Covid cases were Maharashtra (34,389), Tamil Nadu (33,181), Karnataka (31,531), Kerala (29,704) and Andhra Pradesh (24,171).

As Covid aid pours from countries across the globe, the biggest-ever single consignment of over 3,600 oxygen concentrators landed in India on Sunday from the temperamental neighbour, China.

The Red Dragon was earlier accused of making profits at the cost of people’s lives, as China increased prices and sent sub-standard oxygen concentrators. India also lodged a protest over the price hike of related critical health equipment amidst the pandemic, by Chinese suppliers.

But on its part, India has been fair and ethical in its help and aid for any disaster — be it to China or any other country. In fact, the Chinese remember the late former Defence Minister George Fernandes with gratitude. Why gratitude? Because when Fernandes visited Shanghai in 2003 as the Defence Minister, it was the peak of the SARS epidemic that killed over 800 people in China alone. Back then too, the Dragon was facing negative press for spreading the virus across the world. Defending the country, Fernandes criticised foreign media for exaggerating the epidemic and creating panic. He promised, and subsequently delivered, anti-SARS medicines — effective medicines prepared by the Indian Armed Forces Medical Services — for the Chinese people. And he did not dawdle over sending the aid — the medicines were handed over to China within a week of his return from Shanghai.

Back to the present, even as the country is reeling under vaccine shortage amidst growing Covid cases, vaccines worth Rs 25 lakh were destroyed in a fire on Sunday. The warehouse of the Bharat Serums and Vaccines Limited in Indore, Madhya Pradesh had also housed injections for Black Fungus along with the Covid vaccines. The reason for the fire is yet to be ascertained.

Amidst the rising Covid cases in the state, Kerala has imposed a stricter lockdown in four of its districts reporting the highest number of cases. The lockdown came into effect on Sunday midnight and will remain in force till May 23. The boundaries of Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Malappuram districts will be sealed and shops dealing with essential items like food and groceries will be open on alternate days. All shops are ordered to shut, including for home delivery purposes, by 2 pm.

If the terror of Corona and natural calamities was not enough, there is the human terror to add to the conundrum. A resident of Pulwama, Kashmir, has been arrested from a hotel in Delhi for allegedly planning to kill controversial priest Swami Yati Narsinghanand. The accused, identified as Jan Mohammed Dar, was reportedly acting on behalf of Jaish-e-Mohammed, the Pakistan-based terror outfit. Dar was apparently planning to dress up like a Hindu priest to assassinate the priest of Dasna Devi temple, who had recently made controversial comments against Prophet Mohammed.

From Delhi to Bengal, where the court has granted bail to all the four accused TMC leaders in the Narada scam case, barely seven hours after arresting them. Cabinet ministers Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, TMC MLA Madan Mitra and former Kolkata Mayor, Sovan Chatterjee were arrested by the CBI around noon today. Following this, TMC supremo and CM Mamata Banerjee reached the CBI office and spent nearly six hours there. What were the TMC workers doing? Pelting stones at the CBI office and protesting outside the West Bengal Governor's residence over the arrest of the ministers. A few days ago, Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had given permission to the CBI for the prosecution of the accused TMC leaders.

#WATCH | TMC supporters hold protest outside the CBI office over the arrest of its leaders. pic.twitter.com/0lBPK92zfA

— ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2021

But we do not want to leave you on that note. On a more cheery note, the winner of Miss Universe 2020 has been announced and it is Mexico's Andrea Meza. India's Adline Castelino was the third runner-up.

More than her beauty, it is her winning answer to the winning question that won our hearts. She was asked, "If you were the leader of your country, how would you have handled Covid with the Covid-19 pandemic?" The 26-year-old beauty replied, "I believe there's not a perfect way to handle this harsh situation, such as Covid-19. However, I believe that what I would have done was create the lockdown, even before everything was that big, because we lost so many lives. And we cannot afford it. We have to take care of our people. That's why I would have taken care of them from the beginning."

Final questions are here! The first to go is Mexico. #MISSUNIVERSELIVE on @FYI from @hardrockholly in #HollywoodFL pic.twitter.com/sJGneKgLYX

— Miss Universe (@MissUniverse) May 17, 2021

We wish governments across the world are listening. Even if they are not, we hope you are listening and staying at home. As you stay indoors, read Ashwin Sanghi’s Chanakya’s Chant, a winning read on the Indian historical subject seen from a contemporary standpoint.

On that note, we say bye. Stay safe and stay happy. We will meet you tomorrow.

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Also Read: Chanakya's Chant from a contemporary perspective