Lockdown Crimes | PPE scam in Punjab and Himachal

While the common Indian citizens were staying indoors and trying their best to follow the lockdown norms, some greedy politicians, bureaucrats, and mafias were busy profiting from the PPE kit sales.
Himachal Pradesh was hit by two lockdown purchase scams. In the first case, the state secretariat bosses allegedly purchased coronavirus protection equipment and consumables like sanitizers and hand wash bottles at higher prices.
An audio clip in which Health Department director Dr. A.K. Gupta allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from Renuka, a Sirmaur-based supplier to clear an equipment purchase went viral. He was arrested soon after. The state BJP Chief Dr. Rajeev Bindal was also connected to the controversy following which he resigned on Wednesday.
The second case was registered against the rogue firm titled M/S Lalit Kumar after the Chief Minister ordered a probe. Accusations have been made that the price tags of sanitizer bottles were tampered with and the sales were made at higher rates. The supplier did not even hold a license under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

"While the whole world is struggling with the coronavirus pandemic and people are depositing their hard earned money to the Chief Minister's relief fund. Coronavirus protection equipment purchase scams have surfaced. Names of senior BJP leaders and the top health officer have cropped up. This is a sin and no less than a sedition. We demand a high-level impartial probe into the allegations by a sitting high court judge or the CBI," said Leader of Opposition, Himachal, Mukesh Agnihotri.

Amidst these scams, the Punjab Government is sitting on a PPE, N95 mask scam. Apart from the multi-crore liquor smuggling scam, there are also proclamations that the PPE kits and N-95 masks which were given to the doctors in Ludhiana and Amritsar hospitals were sub-standard.
"Captain Amarinder Singh will hold a high-level probe into the alleged scams involving the purchase of PPE kits and N-95 masks. The State government is under lockdown and there is no communication between the Chief Minister, Cabinet ministers, and the officers," SAD leader Dr Daljit Cheema said.

Uttar Pradesh Update | 269 new coronavirus cases, state total nearing 7,000

Uttar Pradesh reported 269 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, increasing the total number of cases in the state to 6,991.

The number of deaths due to the novel coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh soared to 182. As of now, there are 2,818 active coronavirus cases in the state.

167 patients recovered and were simultaneously discharged on Wednesday taking the no. of total discharged cases to 3,991. Meanwhile on the same day 29 new cases were reported in UP's Hapur increasing the district’s toll to 138.

Agra remains the worst-hit district in the state with 873 coronavirus cases, followed by Meerut (402), Noida (365), Lucknow (343), Kanpur (337) and Ghaziabad (252).
On the other hand with 6,566 new cases the number of positive coronavirus cases in India has jumped to 1,58,333, just behind Turkey, where Maharashtra has the highest no. of cases i.e. 56,948.