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DCGI gives approval for phase 2 and 3 trials of COVID-19 Vaccine in India

By
Balaji Subramanian
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The phase 2 clinical trial of the Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) is set to start from Tuesday (25 August).

This is an important step towards finding a cure for the Wuhan virus and approval for the phase 2 and 3 trials has been received from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) earlier this month, reported Times of India.

Serum Institute is a manufacturer of immunobiological drugs including vaccines in India and they have partnered with British-Swedish pharma company AstraZeneca to manufacture the potential Covid-19 vaccine, which has been developed by the Oxford University.

According to the report, the observer-blind, randomised controlled study of the Serum’s ‘Covishield’ on the health of Indian adults will begin at Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College and Hospital in Pune.

Across 17 sites in India, phase 2 and 3 trials of the Covishield will be conducted on 1,600 healthy adults.

The testing sites include 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.

“We have got all approvals from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). We are going to start the human clinical trial process at the Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University) Medical College and Hospital from 25 August,” Prakash Kumar Singh, additional director, government and regulatory affairs, SII was quoted as saying.

Rohingyas mark third anniversary of exodus to Bangladesh with silent protest

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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The Rohingya Muslim refugees marked the third anniversary of their exodus to Bangladesh with a silent protest. This exodus, as a result of clashes between Myanmar army and Rohingya insurgents, set off a huge movement of Rohingya Muslims as refugees into Bangladesh.

Ideally, they would have gathered in a mass gathering to commemorate this day. Owing to the novel coronavirus pandemic, they said that they had decided against it and marked what they call the Remembrance Day with a silent protest. Since 2018, they have been observing August 25 as “Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day” as on the same day in 2017, Myanmar army began a brutal crackdown against Rohingya insurgents, forcing more than 750,000 people to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh.

More than 1.2 million Rohingya have been living in makeshift settlements in Bangladesh’s southeastern district of Cox’s Bazar for years. Authorities say 88 cases of the virus have been found in the camps and six people have died. The Myanmar military crackdown that followed forced 730,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh, joining more than 200,000 already there.

Meanwhile, the United Nations said the crackdown by the Myanmar military was carried out with genocidal intent. Myanmar denies genocide, saying its forces were engaged in a legitimate campaign against the Rohingya insurgents, and it was the insurgents who were responsible for most of the violence, including the torching of villages.

Building collapse in Raigad kills nine

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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A multi-storey building collapsed in Raigad in Maharashtra on Tuesday, killing nine and injuring several people who were there. Around 18 people are still considered missing and search operations are underway to find them. The NDRF, police, locals and dog squads are in the site of the disaster and have been working tirelessly to rescue those under the debris. The Tarek Garden building in Raigad came tumbling down on Monday evening and entirely collapsed on Tuesday. There were around 40 flats in the building and those rescued were shifted to a hospital in Mahad, which is 170km from Mumbai.

Meanwhile, a five-year-old kid became a miracle survivor in this collapse and was pulled out by rescuers after 18 hours of rescue operations. The boy was taken to a waiting ambulance and was sent to a hospital for a medical check-up.

Prime Minister Modi expressed his condolences to the victims and informed that he had spoken to the local authorities and the chief minister to provide all possible assistance.

In a tweet, PM Modi said on Tuesday morning, “Saddened by the building collapse in Mahad, Raigad in Maharashtra. My thoughts are with the families of those who lost their dear ones. I pray the injured recover soon. Local authorities and NDRF teams are at the site of the tragedy, providing all possible assistance.”

ED asks for Life Mission project documents, Kerala government hesitates

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
-

The Enforcement Directorate has asked the Kerala State Government to furnish the documents of the Life Mission Project. The State Government has been observed to show hesitation in producing these documents, saying that the Chief Secretary had already forwarded them to the Directorate.

Notably, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has refuted this claim saying that it has not received anything related to to this project. It went on to say that the files related to the diplomatic package was also not handed over by the protocol department. The Chief of the ED had been sent a notice that sought information regarding the MoU signed between the government and the UAE Red Crescent in connection with the Life Mission project.

The probe team however reported that it had not received any information regarding the same, despite there having been weeks since the notice was sent.

ED has asked the Kerala government if they had asked the central government’s permission before entering into an agreement with a third party and has requested it to produce the minutes of all the discussions that they had with UAE Crescent. They have also all the relevant files to be produced in the same regard.

India and Russia agree to sell BrahMos to friendly third countries

By
Balaji Subramanian
-

Greenlight has been given for the export of the BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missiles developed by the BrahMos Aerospace, a joint Russian-Indian initiative. Governments of Russia and India have agreed to export the missile to third countries according to Sputnik news.

JV Indian Co-Director Kumar Mishra told TASS at the MAKS-2019 international aerospace exhibition on Wednesday that several countries have applied to them with a request for the delivery of BrahMos missiles and the same have been informed to the Defense Ministries of Russia and India.”We are now waiting for their permission to sign contracts. We hope and expect that we will have these contracts at the end of this year or at the beginning of next year,” he said.

Mishra also made it very clear that the BrahMos missiles will only be given to “states friendly to Russia and India.”

BrahMos Aerospace was established in 1998 as a joint venture of Russian rocket and missile developer NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Bahrain resident performs visarjan for Vinayaka idols broken by burqa clad woman

By
The Commune
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Last week a video of a woman wearing a burqa taking Vinayaka idols and breaking them in a shop at a supermarket in Bahrain went viral on a social networking site.

Now a resident of Bahrain, Divya Pandey, has performed formal ‘visarajan (rituals)’ on broken idols.

She had asked the shop staff to give the broken idols for proper stapana and visarajan but they had refused to give it because of the lawsuit that has been filed. But her persistence had made them yield to her request.

She took the broken idols and performed a small pooja at her home. Later it was taken in a boat and a visarjan was performed. The video of this has gone viral on social media.

The Bahrain government has said that it was taking legal action against the woman for breaking the Lord Vinayakar idols.

https://www.facebook.com/AjiHaanLive/videos/311773143395932/

‘Singham’ Annamalai joins BJP

By
The Commune
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Former IPS officer known as real life ‘Singham’, K. Annamalai, joined the BJP in the presence of the party’s National General Secretary P Muralidhar Rao, National Spokesperson Sambit Patra and Tamil Nadu BJP President Dr. L. Murugan at a small joining ceremony in Delhi.

P Muralidhar Rao welcomed Mr. Annamalai and said that his joining the party would further strengthen the party foothold in Tamil Nadu and strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hands.

BJP Tamil Nadu President Dr. L. Murugan said that of late there has been a lot of people from different parties and other eminent people like doctors, advocates, educationalists, joining the BJP in Tamil Nadu. “All of them are of the firm belief that it is only Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has been changing people’s lives for the better. In this light, ex IPS and young, bold and upright officer who remains an inspiration for youngsters has joined the party. I welcome him heartily on behalf of the party.”

Delivering a short speech, Mr. Annamalai began quoted a Thirukkural – Kural (couplet) 382 of the Iraimaatchi (The Greatness of a King) chapter.

அஞ்சாமை ஈகை அறிவூக்கம் இந்நான்கும் எஞ்சாமை வேந்தர்க் கியல்பு.

Meaning “Courage, a liberal hand, wisdom, and energy: these four
are the qualities that a king should have” and expressed his admiration for Prime Minister Modi.

He said that he will bring in the nationalist spirit in Tamil Nadu.

As soon as he ended, a press member from audience had asked if he has got any assurance of a ticket to contest in the upcoming Assembly elections to which Mr. Annamalai replied that he is loyal foot soldier of the party and has joined without any conditions. I am here to carry out the duties assigned to me by our party leaders.

India’s ASTROSAT detects extreme UV light from a galaxy 9.3 billion light-years away

By
Balaji Subramanian
-

In a major milestone moment for India, India’s first multi-wavelength satellite observatory ASTROSAT has detected an extreme ultraviolet (UV) light from a galaxy named “AUDFs01” which is 9.3 billion light-years away from Earth, The Hindu reported.

This breakthrough was made by the Pune-based Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA). This information was made public by IUCAA on Monday (24 August) whose scientists led the global team which made the major breakthrough.

The team was led by Dr Kanak Saha, associate professor of astronomy at the IUCAA. Dr Saha led a team of scientists from India, France, Switzerland, the United States (US), Japan and Netherlands and observed the far-away galaxy which is located in the Hubble Extreme Deep Field.

After two years of careful data analysis, it was confirmed that the emission was indeed from the said galaxy. It must be noted that NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (HST) could not detect the UV light from AUDFs01.

Germany says no to Pakistan, will not sell air-independent propulsion system

By
Balaji Subramanian
-

In a decision of great impact, a top German security panel headed by Chancellor Angela Merkel has turned down Pakistan’s request for supply of air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems for its submarines, the Hindustan Times reported.

The AIP allows submarines to stay underwater for weeks, and without that Pakistan’s diesel submarines will have surface almost every second day to capture atmospheric air.

This important decision taken by the German Federal Security Council headed by Chancellor Merkel is set to be advantage India. The news of the refusal to sell AIP was conveyed to the Pakistan embassy on August 6, the report said quoting people aware of the development on conditions of anonymity.

The air-independent propulsion system gives diesel eclectic submarine the ability to recharge submarine batteries without having to surface for longer periods. Submarines attack by stealth and if the Pakistan Navy had acquired this technology it would have been a force multiplier for them and a strategic and tactical threat for the Indian Navy.

Unlike nuclear submarines which only has to resurface for supplies, AIP gives conventional submarines to remain underwater for a very long time without being detected. The submarine is also seen as an important platform to collect intelligence.

An Indian official said Germany’s refusal to help Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government with this technology would “adversely impact its lethality and vulnerability”.

India has been trying to develop its AIP and this effort is being spearheaded by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. In 2019, India successfully tested a land-based prototype that New Delhi had then declared would have a “force multiplier effect on the lethality of a diesel-electric submarine”.

Another reason for the refusal to sell the AIP to Pakistan by Germany is its support and promotion of Islamic terror and the failure to cooperate in identifying the terrorists who detonated a truck bomb on the Germany Embassy in Kabul in May 2017.

Nearly 150 people were killed in the bombing and this attack is counted among the deadliest terror strikes in recent years. The attack was linked to the dreaded Haqqani Network supported by Pakistan deep state.

NCPCR takes cognizance of Sivanadiyar Saravanan’s suicide

By
The Commune
-

Days after Sivanadiyar Saravanan’s suicide, the National Commission for Protection Of Child Rights has taken cognizance of the matter and has issued instructions to Salem’s District Superintendent Police to investigate and report within 7 days.

The complaint filed by Legal Rights Observatory sought an FIR against the police officer under the Juvenile Justice Act. The son and daughter of the Sadhu had told local media that their father was beaten mercilessly in front of them.

Sivanadiyar Saravanan hailing from Kundangal Kaadu near Sangagiri in Salem district was harassed by Sub Inspector Anthony Michael of Thevoor police station on August 14.

An ardent devotee of Lord Shiva he made his living by offering occult services like tying amulets, etc and also by performing rituals and poojas.

Inspector Anthony Michael had come from Thevoor Police Station to Sivanadiyar Saravanan’s home reportedly after receiving a complaint that alleged the latter of creating nuisance.

Saravanan was thrashed and beaten up in front his children by SI Anthony Michael. Feeling traumatized and humiliated, Saravanan had not spoken a word for the rest of the day.

On Saturday morning, he had left his house to never return. His body was recovered from a forest area on August 20. A cell phone recovered from the spot had a video recording of Saravanan’s suicide note.

In the video, Sivanadiyar Saravanan accuses SI Anthony Michael for his death. “I was subject to humiliation by SI Anthony Michael. For this extreme step of mine, nobody else is responsible other than Anthony Michael. Don’t think you can do all you want with the power you have. Somehow, this video will reach to the people. My soul will not leave you. You and your family cannot escape from my curse. I say this invoking the Sivan I worship. Father (Lord Shiva).. I am coming to you now. Siva Siva! Nama Sivaya!”

Sivanadiyar Saravanan’s son Shankar was reported saying that his father was beaten and humiliated in front of everyone for no wrong. He said that SI Anthony Michael had warned his father to not do what he was doing as there had been more than 10 complaints on him. Sankar was not able to stop the SI from beating as he was scared that the police might take action on him too.

Ever since the incident came to light #JusticeForSaravanan has been trending on social media. Relatives of Sivanadiyar Saravanan have called for strict action against SI Anthony Michael.

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TheCommune
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