Streets around diamond markets in Mahidharpura and Katargam area in Surat are barricaded with metal roofing sheets amid a surge in Covid positive cases. TOI FILE: Gaurang Joshi
SURAT: Even as several migrant workers have left Gujarat s Surat city due to the Covid-19 surge and anticipation of a lockdown, people associated with the diamond industry claimed the current scenario has had no impact on the trade so far.
According to the Surat Diamond Association, at least 5 lakh workers are employed by 3,000 small and large diamond cutting and polishing units in Surat city.
Majority of workers have migrated here from Saurashtra and north Gujarat, while only 10 per cent are from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, said Nanu Vekaria, president, Surat Diamond Association.
Surat: With restrictions on travel due to the pandemic, the demand for certification of diamonds has shot up. The diamond companies are forced to wait for at least two months, as compared to the standard one-month period, to get the certificate.
The delay in getting the certificate sets off a domino effect. It increases the number of days of payment cycle which results in small manufacturers bearing the burden of interest as they have to pay to raw diamond suppliers on time and then wait for almost two months before putting the finished product for sale.
“Since the buyers cannot travel and see the diamonds personally, all are insisting on having certificates. Certain diamonds which are of more than 2 cents or fancy coloured ones are sent to USA and it takes up to three months to get their certification,” said Dinesh Navadiya, regional president of Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). He added that now not only the manufacturer of natural ones, but manufacturers
Surat: Amid unceasing sirens of ambulances bringing in Covid-19 patients, chants of hymns recited on a loudspeaker rented in the air at state-run New .
Long queue for remdesivir at New Civil Hospital in Surat on Tuesday
SURAT: “Both my parents are in the ICU and I urgently need remdesivir injections. My brother is waiting outside Kiran Hospital while I am waiting here since early in the morning, But there is no clarity about the procedure,” said Nilesh Solanki, a harassed resident of Navagam Dindoli area who has been queuing up in the scorching heat for hours at New Civil Hospital (NCH) to get the life saving drugs.
Solanki is not alone as many others too aren’t aware of the new system devised by the district administration of supplying remdesivir injections to private hospitals.
Surat: An executive engineer of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), Hitendra Suthar (58), died following Covid-19 infection at a private hospital in Su.