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Northern India hit by one of the worst power breakdowns

July 30, 2012

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New Delhi, July 30: In what was one of the worst power breakdowns in the country, the Northern Grid crashed early Monday morning plunging eight states into complete darkness, disrupting inter-state train services, adversely hitting health services and impacting millions of lives.

The tripping of the 400 KV Bina-Gwalior line, which flows into Agra-Bareilly at 2.35 a.m. wreaked havoc on the power generation and transmission systems leading to shut down of all major power plants including hydro power stations in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, which are all a part of the Northern Grid.

The immediate impact of the grid collapse was the shortage of around 32,000 MW of power. The last such collapse of the Northern Grid, which caters to around 28 per cent of the country’s population, took place in 2001. India currently faces around 8 to 12 per cent peak power deficit, according to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

The massive shutdown had a crippling effect on inter-state passenger and goods trains that came to a screeching halt. Early morning office goers and school children had a harrowing time as traffic signals went on the blink leading to traffic chaos in the affected States including the Capital Delhi.

Hospitals too had to scurry around for alternatives and back up supply. A majority of the hospitals claimed to have alternate supply arrangements, yet reports of services being disrupted trickled in from several places.

Operations at the major oil refineries in Panipat, Mathura and Bhatinda remained unaffected as these facilities have their own captive power plants and do not rely on the grid for supply.

While Power Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde said he could not pin point the exact reason for the collapse, PGCIL and Northern Region Load Despatch Centre officials said that it was rampant overdrawal by Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana that led to the collapse that in turn paralysed services.

The last time the grid collapse occurred was in 2001, it has happened now after 10 years. At that time, the power breakdown took place at midnight and normalcy was restored by 4.30 pm.

PGCIL chairman and managing director, R.N. Nayak said the situation had been restored to normal by 4 pm. The Northern grid was generating around 29000 MW of power by late evening, which was about 2000 MW of the peak demand.

Hit by the sudden collapse of the grid system, the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) officials swung into action with Mr. Nayak and his team of officials reaching their monitoring centre at 3 a.m. to assess the situation and work on a rescue package. By 8 a.m., PGCIL officials claimed to have restored around 40 per cent of power.

To run essential services, supply was diverted from the Western and Eastern Grids to the Northern region. Hydro power was also imported from the mountain kingdom of Bhutan to meet the deficit.

While he could not offer an explanation on what caused the collapse, Mr. Nayak said the agencies involved were at least “quick at restoring normalcy in a record time”.

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News Network
May 28,2020

New Delhi, May 28: BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra has been admitted to a private hospital in Gurgaon after he showed symptoms of COVID-19, sources said.

He is admitted to the Medanta hospital in Gurgaon, hospital sources said on Thursday.

The BJP leader has shown symptoms of COVID-19, a source said.

Patra is one of the most visible BJP faces on news channels.

He is also very active on social media and posted several tweets on Thursday as well.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given nod to the Serum Institute of India (SII) for conducting phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials of the Oxford University developed Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the country.

Government officials said that the approval for conducting phase 2 and 3 clinical trials by the SII was granted by DCGI Dr V G Somani late Sunday night after a thorough evaluation based on the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on Covid-19.

"The firm has to submit safety data, evaluated by the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), to the CDSCO before proceeding to phase 3 clinical trials," a senior official said.

"As per the study design, each subject will be administered two doses four weeks apart (first dose on day one and second dose on day 29) following which the safety and immunogenicity will be assessed at predefined intervals," the official said.

As a rapid regulatory response, the expert panel at the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Friday, after a detailed deliberation and considering the data generated on the vaccine candidate in phase 1 and 2 of the Oxford University trial, had recommended granting permission for phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the potential vaccine, 'Covishield', on healthy adults in India,  the officials said.

Currently, phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the Oxford vaccine candidate is going on in the United Kingdom, phase 3 clinical trial in Brazil and phase 1 and 2 clinical trials in South Africa.

The officials said that the SII had submitted a revised proposal on Wednesday after the SEC on July 28, following deliberation over its application, had asked it to revise its protocol for the phase 2 and 3 clinical trials besides seeking some additional information.

The panel had also recommended that the clinical trial sites which have been proposed for the study be distributed across India.

According to the revised proposal by the SII, 1,600 people aged above 18 years will participate in the trials across 17 selected sites, including AIIMS-Delhi, B J Medical College in Pune, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS) in Patna, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, AIIMS-Jodhpur, Nehru Hospital in Gorakhpur, Andhra Medical College in Visakhapatnam and JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research in Mysore.

"According to the application, it would conduct an observer-blind, randomised controlled study to determine the safety and immunogenicity of 'Covishield' on healthy Indian adults," the official said.

The SII, which has partnered with AstraZeneca, for manufacturing the Oxford vaccine candidate for Covid-19 had submitted its first application to the DCGI on July 25 seeking permission for conducting the phase 2 and 3 trials of the potential vaccine. 

Initial results of the first two-phases of trials of the vaccine conducted in five trial sites in the UK showed that it has an acceptable safety profile and homologous boosting increased antibody response, sources had said.

To introduce the vaccine, SII, the world's largest vaccine maker by number of doses produced and sold, has signed an agreement to manufacture the potential vaccine developed by the Jenner Institute (Oxford University) in collaboration with British-Swedish pharma company AstraZeneca. 

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News Network
June 29,2020

New Delhi, Jun 29: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday paid tribute to the senior doctor of city government-run LNJP Hospital who died battling COVID-19, saying the society has "lost a very valuable fighter".

The 52-year-old doctor served in the front line of the war against the pandemic at the government facility, and died of novel coronavirus infection in an ICU of a private hospital on Sunday.

"Dr Aseem Gupta, a senior doctor of LNJP Hospital succumbed to Covid yday. He was known for going out of his way to serve his patients. We have lost a very valuable fighter. Delhi salutes his spirit and sacrifice...," Kejriwal tweeted.

The chief minister also said in his tweet that he has spoken to Dr Gupta''s wife and "offered my condolences and support".

LNJP Hospital is a dedicated COVID-19 facility under the Delhi government. It recently completed 100 days of being declared a coronavirus facility.

"LNJP Hospital has displayed great fortitude in the face of acute challenges. It''s recovery rate is going up, death rate is reducing, ICU capacity is being ramped up - the hospital is saving so many lives," the chief minister said.

A condolence meeting to pay respect to Dr Gupta has been scheduled at 1 pm in the office of the Medical Director of the hospital, a senior official said.

The doctor, a consultant anaesthesiologist died at the Max hospital, Saket in south Delhi, a private dedicated COVID-19 facility.

"He was a front line anaesthesia specialist who contracted COVID-19 infection while on duty. He tested positive on June 6, when he had mild symptoms and was shifted to a quarantine facility. His symptoms aggravated on June 7 and he was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit of the LNJP Hospital," the LNJP Hospital said in a statement on Sunday.

He was shifted to Max Hospital, Saket on June 8 on his request, it said.

The doctor was battling the disease for the last two weeks at Max Hospital, where he succumbed to the illness on Sunday, the statement said.

He was Specialist, Grade I, in the Department of Anaesthesia at the LNJP Hospital, the statement said.

Several hundreds of healthcare workers have been infected with COVID-19 till date in Delhi.

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