NATIONAL NEWS
Expert panel recommends Covaxin for 2-18-year-olds
Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin (BBV152) has been recommended for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) for 2-18- year-olds by the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO). Covaxin is the country’s first indigenous, whole-virion, inactivated vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Medical Research Council (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV). If given the green signal, it will emerge as the first COVID-19 vaccine globally to be used for vaccinating children as young as 2 years. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the company said it had submitted data from clinical trials in the 2-18 age group to the CDSCO. The positive recommendations, after due review by the SEC, were submitted to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). A senior Central Government official stated that the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech had completed Phase-2 and Phase-3 trials of Covaxin on children below 18 in September and submitted the trial data. The trials were done on the age groups of 2-6, 6-12 and 12 -18. Children peep inside a tent where people receive a dose of Covaxin, during a vaccination drive organised by an NGO at an under-construction flyover in New Delhi on August 31, 2021. An expert panel on October 12, 2021 recommended emergency use authorisation for Covaxin in the 2 to 18 age group. Experts maintained that two doses of Covaxin could be administered to children within a gap of 28 days. For adults, the government has set 4-6 weeks between the two shots. This represents one of the first approvals worldwide for COVID-19 vaccines for the 2-18 age group, the Bharat Biotech statement claimed. The company was awaiting further regulatory approvals from the CDSCO prior to product launch and market availability of the vaccine for children. Dr. Shuchin Bajaj, founder and director, Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals, highlighted, India has always been known as a vaccine and a medicine drug producer but never a medicine or a drug developer. This is the first time that a vaccine has been entirely developed and produced in India and its efficacy and safety have been proven to be high so much so that it is now being trialled in children. The vaccine would lead to protection of children. Currently, adults have been vaccinated, but children have been left exposed to the virus. This vaccine will bring about a positive change, he stressed. The World Health Organisation is expected to take a call on Bharat Biotech’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL) application for Covaxin soon.
Five militants killed in Shopian, two anti-militancy operations continue in J&K
Five militants, including three affiliates of The Resistance Front (TRF) that was behind the recent civilian killings in the Valley, were killed and two multi-storey houses were damaged in multiple anti-militancy operations in south Kashmir’s Shopian on Tuesday, taking the death toll in militancy-related incidents to 12, including five soldiers, in the past 24 hours. Three militants were killed in Shopian’s Tulran area where an anti-militancy operation was launched on Monday evening. The militants were trapped inside a residential house and refused to surrender despite repeated offers by the security forces. Out of three killed terrorists, one terrorist has been identified as Mukhtar Shah of Ganderbal, who shifted to Shopian after killing one street hawker, Virendra Paswan of Bihar [last week], Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said. Two multi-storey residential houses were damaged after security forces used explosives to flush out the militants. Three cowsheds and apple boxes were also destroyed in the fire. Hours later, two more militants were killed in an encounter at Shopian’s Feripora area. The identity of the slain militants was being ascertained. The operation is on in the area, a police spokesman said. In the Jammu province’s Pir Panjal valley, an anti-militancy operation entered the second day on Tuesday to nab the armed militants who killed five soldiers, including a Junior Commissioned Officer, in the Poonch-Rajouri belt. A total of 12 persons, including seven militants and five soldiers, were killed in five separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir since Monday. Jammu and Kashmir saw a spurt in anti-militancy operations days after militants killed seven civilians in multiple targeted attacks in the Valley.
Lakhimpur Kheri violence case: Police arrests one more person
Police in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 12 arrested one more person in connection with the Lakhimpuri Kheri violence case and produced him in a court, which sent him to 14-day judicial custody. Senior Prosecution Officer S.P. Yadav said they have sought 14-day police custody of Shekhar Bharti and the hearing in this regard will take place on October 13. He was sent to 14-day judicial custody, the officer said. With Bharti’s arrest, police so far have arrested four people. Earlier, they had arrested Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra, Luvkush and Ashish Pandey in connection with the violence, in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed. S.P. Yadav said two people — Ankit Das and Latif — moved applications for surrender at the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court. Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined a large gathering of farmers from various States in Tikonia village in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 12 as part of last prayers in honour of the four farmers and a journalist, who were killed in the recent violence. Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and BKU leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, Darshan Singh Pal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, and Dharmendra Malik, besides local farm union leaders, also arrived in the village to pay tributes during the ‘antim ardas’ to the deceased, who were mowed down by speeding vehicles on October 3 during a protest.
PM Modi warns against ‘selective’ interpretation of human rights’ issues
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday noted that the biggest infringement of human rights occurred when seen through a political prism, and warned against a selective interpretation of rights’ issues. Addressing the 28th foundation day of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) virtually, he cautioned against the selective interpretation of human rights and using human rights to diminish the image of the country, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. Modi stated that some people were interpreting human rights from their own perspective as per their selfish interests. Human rights were being damaged due to the tendency of some to see violation of rights in some situations and not in other, similar, situations. This selective behaviour is equally damaging for democracy too. Duties were as important as rights and that these two should not be discussed separately. The government had worked to ensure the dignity of the poor as that was linked closely to the concept of human rights, he pointed out.
Modi too scared to call China out: Congress
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scared to call out China as an aggressor, the Congress alleged on Tuesday as the 13th round of senior military commander talks between India and China ended in a stalemate on Sunday last. It also questioned Modi’s ‘continued’ silence in spite of fresh incursions by Chinese forces in Barahoti, Uttarakhand and upper reaches of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. At a press conference at the party headquarters, its spokesperson Pawan Khera stated that the Ministry of External Affairs’ statement released on Monday raised some elementary questions. The Ministry had maintained that the situation along the Line of Actual Control ( LAC) had been caused by unilateral attempts of the Chinese side to alter the status quo and in violation of bilateral agreements. Khera asked, Why did PM Modi lie to the country when he said that no one transgressed in the Indian territory. Pointing to the August 30 incident, when reportedly 100 Chinese army personnel entered five km into Indian sovereign territory near Barahoti crossing in the Tun Jun La pass in Uttarakhand and stayed on for nearly three hours, he observed that it was a clear failure by the government and its agencies in guarding India’s security and sovereignty. Chinese incursions over the past couple of years had happened in almost all sectors – from Ladakh to Uttarakhand to Sikkim to Arunachal Pradesh and the Chinese have been consolidating their infrastructure along the LAC. The implications of the Chinese incursions are extremely critical, especially when the PLA isn’t even open to discussing de-escalation in two extremely strategic and critical sectors for India, Depsang and Daulat Beg Oldi sectors. After the 12th round of Military talks in August, it was mutually agreed that there would be a mutual troop pullback from the Gogra area. But instead what happened? There has been a massive troop consolidation by China along the Daulat Beg Oldi Sector. The PLA has also upgraded its weapons system in the region. It has been reported that at least in one location along the Demchok sector, they have the advanced S-400 air defence missile system that poses a threat to aircraft within a 400 km vicinity, he remarked. These sectors, he noted, had seen similar tension during the UPA years too, but then Prime Minister Mr Manmohan Singh was able to diffuse the situation within 21 days. Today, almost a year and a half later too, the issue is far from resolved. India lost out military advantage to China because of the Prime Minister’s lie to the nation. For him national security doesn’t seem to be as important as maintaining his image, which was created on the premise of a lie. Because of this strategy of denying that PLA had taken control of parts of Indian territory, we today face unfavourable settlements across Galwan, Gogra and Hot Spring; we cheaply had to give away our gains at Pangong Tso south. The government hadn’t even succeeded in putting PLA encroachments at Depsang during the talks, he added.
Modi government responsible for current shortage of coal in country: NCP
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday alleged that the Modi government was responsible for the current shortage of coal in the country, which has caused a shortfall of the fuel supply to several power plants. Talking to reporters, the NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said many power plants are not operational due to the shortage of coal. Despite importing the fuel, the shortfall remains. This is also leading to spending the foreign exchange, he said. During the tenure of the erstwhile UPA government, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had come up with a coal policy keeping in mind the electricity requirements of the country in the future, he said. But the BJP, then in the Opposition, alleged a coal scam and the policy had to be rolled back, said Malik, a senior Minister in the Maharashtra government. Eventually, coal mines were given to some entities, but mining has not yet started there, he said, adding that despite the availability of coal, it is not being mined, the NCP leader said. The Modi government is responsible for the shortage of coal, he said. As per the government data, the number of non-pit head plants with less than four days of dry fuel stock (supercritical stock) increased to 70 this Sunday compared to 64 a week ago on October 3. According to the latest coal-stock data of the 135 plants with over 165 GW of installed generation capacity monitored by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), as many as 70 plants are categorised as super-critical stock or having less than four days of fuel on October 10, 2021, compared to 64 a week ago on October 3, 2021. The Central government has asked State-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) to augment the coal supply to power producers to 1.55-1.6 million tonnes (MT) per day around the Durga Puja period and to further scale it to 1.7 MT per day after October 20. The Coal Ministry on Sunday assured that sufficient dry fuel is available in the country to meet the demand of electricity generating plants and stressed that any fear of disruption in the power supply is entirely misplaced. Officials had attributed the shortage of coal to the disruption of transport due to heavy rains in mining areas.
India’s industrial production rose 11.9% in August
India’s industrial production rose 11.9% in August, according to official data released on Tuesday. As per the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the manufacturing sector’s output surged 9.7% in August 2021. In August, the mining output climbed 23.6%, and power generation increased 16%. The IIP had contracted 7.1% in August 2020. During April-August this year, the IIP grew 28.6% against a 25% contraction in the same period last year. Industrial production has been hit due to the coronavirus pandemic since March last year when it had contracted 18.7%. Former bureaucrat Amit Khare, who last month retired as higher education secretary, has been appointed as advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for two years on contract basis, a personnel ministry order issued on Tuesday said. Khare, a 1985 batch (retired) IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre, had superannuated on September 30. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Khare as advisor to the prime minister in Prime Minister’s Office, in the rank and scale of secretary to government of India, on contract basis, initially for a period of two years, it said.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Exercise Malabar could expand, up to Quad partners to decide: US Admiral
The scope of the multi-nation Malabar exercise, in terms of more like-minded navies taking part in the drills, could expand in future, Chief of US Naval Operations Admiral Michael Gilday said on Tuesday, adding that it was for the Quad partners to discuss the possibility of an expansion. His comments came on a day India, the US, Japan and l Australia kicked off the second phase of this year’s Malabar naval drills in the Bay of Bengal, with the exercise seeking to build on the synergy and interoperability developed during the first phase held in August. In future, that exercise could expand. It is for the partners inside the Quad to discuss that. But remember, there are many exercises that go on in the Indo-Pacific and globally which bring like-minded navies and partners together, Gilday said, in response to a question on the possibility of more navies coming together under the Malabar banner. He is in India on a five-day official visit. The second phase of the Malabar exercise is being conducted from October 12 to 15. Gilday said the cyber domain is one area that the Quad navies would continue to refine in terms of working together as well as high-end operations in the air, on and under the sea. The Quad navies conducted the first phase of the exercise off the Pacific Ocean island of Guam from August 26-29. It involved destroyers, frigates, corvettes, submarines, helicopters, long-range maritime patrol aircraft and elite special forces elements, including the US Navy SEALs and the Indian Navy’s marine commandos (MARCOS). The Indian Navy is taking part in the exercise’s second phase with INS Ranvijay, INS Satpura, P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft and a submarine. The US Navy is represented by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson along with USS Lake Champlain and USS Stockdale while Japan is taking part with JS Kaga and JS Murasame. The Royal Australian Navy has sent HMAS Ballarat and HMAS Sirius for the drills. Malabar began as an annual bilateral naval exercise between India and the US in 1992. It has increased in scope and complexity over the years. It was in the 2005 edition of the drills that the aircraft carriers from the Indian and the US Navy operated together for the first time. In 2014, the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) became a permanent participant in the drills followed by Australia in 2020. The Quad navies earlier carried out complex naval drills under the Malabar banner in November 2020 in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Wary of the Quad, China has been monitoring its activities closely. The Quad was revived in late 2017 by India, the US, Australia and Japan, increasing Beijing’s suspicions as the four countries upgraded the forum to the ministerial level in 2019. From carrying out naval drills with like-minded countries to reaching out to states in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the Indian Navy is focusing on checking China’s rising ambitions in the region and sending out a strong message that Beijing’s power play in the South China Sea cannot be replicated in the Indian Ocean.
France’s Macron Unveils $35 Billion Plan For Industrial Revival
French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled a 30-billion-euro ($35 billion) plan to create the high-tech champions of the future and reverse years of industrial decline in the euro area’s second-largest economy. The plan, dubbed France 2030, foresees investing the funds over five years in sectors including nuclear and renewable energy sources, electric cars, semiconductors and robotics. I want us to look ahead and see our weaknesses and strengths, Macron said in a speech at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday. We need the country to produce more. France 2030 is the latest in the country’s long history of pumping public money into a hoped-for industrial renaissance. After the global financial crisis, then President Nicolas Sarkozy launched a 35-billion future investment program, which has been replenished three times. Macron said this plan was different because it would take greater risks and not rely on well-established industrial firms. Despite the various efforts by successive governments, the share of industry in the French economy has declined almost without interruption and France hasn’t recorded a goods trade surplus since 2002. Six months before the presidential election, Macron is under pressure to show he can reverse those fortunes, particularly in former industrial heartlands, where he struggled to win votes in 2017.
