The world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines, the Serum Institute of India (SSI) is going to apply for the emergency use authorisation for the Covishield COVID-19 vaccine developed by University of Oxford and AstraZeneca in two weeks, reports Economic Times.
Adar Poonawalla whos the chief executive officer (CEO) SII met with Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, who had visited the facilities of the pharma companies which are working on the development of vaccines against the disease in Pune.
SII is in the process of applying to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) and will submit data to the authority for analysis.
According to Poonawalla, the Government would purchase as many as 30-40 crore doses of the Covishield vaccine from SII by June 2021.
It is clear that the vaccine will first be distributed in India, and thereafter in COVAX countries, which are mainly in Africa. He stated, “The UK and European markets are being taken care of by AstraZeneca and Oxford. Out priority is India and COVAX countries.”
Pooonawalla also said he was very impressed by the amazing knowledge of vaccines PM Modi has.
Leaving away the hustles and bustles of the life of a stock broker, Jonas’ calling came from the land of the Vedas making him embark on the spiritual path and is now disseminating Vedic wisdom in Brazil.
Jonas Masetti who studied to be a mechanical engineer, teaches Vedanta and Bhagvad Geetha to people in Brazil. He runs an institution named Vishvavidya, located in the hills of Petropolis, which is situated at an hour’s distance from Rio De Janeiro.
But before all this began, he was an entrepreneur running a consulting firm and rubbing shoulders with top management companies. Despite having family, girlfriend, money, professional success, Jonas was not at peace with himself. From there, Jonas’ trajectory follows the template of the typical accomplished but dissatisfied individual looking for peace and satisfaction in life. He met one of Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s disciples in Brazil and had dedicated himself to learning Vedanta. However, his endless seeking put him on a journey to India where he became a disciple of Swami Dayanand Saraswati and stayed there for four years.
Jonas studied Vedanta Philosophy, Yoga ,Sanskrit and Indian Culture, staying at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam in Coimbatore for three years. Jonas became Vishvanatha and returned to Brazil to spread Vedas and the Vedanta philosophy.
Today, Jonas offer both online and courses in Vedanta, Sanskrit and Yoga in Portuguese. He also offers spiritual retreats to give Brazilians an ashram like experience. During the last seven years, through his free open courses on Vedanta, Jonas has taught over a lakh & a half students.
Jonas has a vibrant social media presence. He has around 34,000 followers on Instagram and his YouTube channel has close to 1.2 lakh subscribers. His rendition of Sanskrit verses is sharp and his Vedanta discourse in Brazil shows how much effort he has put in studying and grasping the nuances of divine knowledge.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chanced upon Jonas Masetti’s work. Speaking about Jonas Masetti, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Mann Ki Baat today said “Many people came to India to discover and study them and stayed back for ever, whereas some of them returned to their respective countries as carriers of this culture.”
“Jonas is not only doing great work – he is doing it through a language understood by a large number of people.”, said PM Modi congratulating him on his efforts and wishing him well for his future endeavours.
Two separate incidents on the anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks has raised concerns over the growing threat of Islamists in Karnataka. A graffitti which read “Do not force us to invite Lashkar-e-Taiba and Taliban to deal with Sanghis and Manvedis. #LashkarZindabad”, painted on the walls of an apartment complex in Mangalore triggered stirred shock waves across India.
On the same day, ISIS-style graffitis in Arabic were found on the walls of Hampi, a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the important places of pilgrimage for Hindus.
Kalinga Rights Forum, a New-Delhi based non-governmental organization which brought this to light has registered a complaint with the Director General of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Ministry of Home Affairs, Minister of Culture, Bangalore City Police and the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
It has asked for the slapping of National Security Act (NSA) on the perpetrators. The Home Ministry has forwarded the complaint to Joint Secretary Padam Lochan Sahu, for immediate action. The Culture Ministry and the Chief Minister’s Office too has taken cognizance of the complaint. However, no replies have been received received from ASI.
Hampi is an important Hindu shrine with ancient temples built during the heyday of the Vijayanagara Empire. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hampi is comes under the jurisdiction of the Archaeological Survey of India.
The ruined idols and sculptures in Hampi bear witness of the atrocities committed by the Islamic forces belonging to the Sultanate after the Battle of Tallikota.
This incident is being seen as an attempt to rub salt on the wounds of Hindus by radical Islamists by attacking a place of historical and cultural significance.
Earlier, in February 2019, miscreants had damaged the pillars of the temple ruins in Hampi. The accused were arrested on 8 February and were booked under Ancient Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. The were made to restore them to their original state and also pay a fine of ₹70,000.
Last week, a Hoysala-era idol of Mahakali at the Doddagaddavalli Temple located in Hassan district was found damaged. This temple built in the 12th Century by Hoysala dynasty too comes under the control of an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on a 3-city tour to Serum Institute of India in Pune, Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad and Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad today, to personally review the development and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccine. The PM’s visit was aimed at getting a first-hand perspective of the preparations, challenges and roadmap in India’s endeavour to vaccinate its citizens.
On his visit to Serum Institute of India, Pune, the Prime Minister was briefed about the institute’s plan to ramp up manufacturing of biotechnology company Novavax’ Covishield vaccine and the progress on the same. The PM interacted with the team comprising doctors and scientists and also visited the vaccine manufacturing facility.
Earlier in the day, the PM visited the Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad to know more about the indigenous DNA based vaccine being developed by Zydus Cadila. He complimented the team for their work and assured them that the Government of India is actively working with them to support them in this journey.
During his visit to Bharat Biotech facility in Hyderabad, the Prime Minister was briefed about their indigenous COVID-19 vaccine. The PM congratulated the scientists for their progress in the trials so far.
The scientists expressed joy that the Prime Minister met them face to face in order to boost their morale and help accelerate their efforts at this critical juncture in the vaccine development journey. Prime Minister expressed pride in the fact that India’s indigenous vaccine development has progressed at such a rapid pace so far. He spoke on how India is following sound principles of science in the entire journey of vaccine development, while also asking for suggestions to make the vaccine distribution process better.
Prime Minister stressed that India considers vaccines as not only vital to good health but also as a global good, and it is India’s duty to assist other countries, including the nations in the neighbourhood, in the collective fight against the virus.
He asked the scientists to express their free and frank opinion on how the country could further improve its regulatory process. The scientists also presented an overview of how they are also developing various new and repurposed drugs to better fight COVID-19.
Recently on the night of November 24, heads of more than 10 idols kept at the Shiva Shakti Temple in Begumpur area of Delhi were found beheaded by unidentified persons.
Now, videos have emerged showing the heads of several mutilated cows lying on the streets of Ghazipur in Delhi. The video, showing the severed heads of cows scattered in a pool of blood on the streets of Ghazipur, have now become viral on social media.
As such incidents continue to unfold in the area, angry locals have lodged a complaint with the police. It has been revealed that they had lodged complaints against two or three similar incidents earlier with the police which did not see any action being taken.
Locals have alleged the police of trying to cover up the incident. It was reported that the police were removing severed heads fearing the media would arrive soon. However, they demanded the police to let the severed heads be there until media reaches the spot so that the incident can be brought to light.
But the police had immediately removed the severed heads. No one has been arrested so far.
People in the area have said that such incidents have been going on in the area for the past one year and that protests were held every time such an incident takes place.
However, people in the area note that the police disperse the protests and resorts to covering up the problem.
The Indu Makkal Katchi (IMK) on Friday (November 27) announced that it will be contesting in all the 234 constituencies for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections scheduled to happen in May 2021.
The IMK’s move comes in the wake of the alliance between the BJP and the AIADMK getting sealed.
Speaking to The Commune, IMK founder leader Arjun Sampath said that IMK wishes to be a credible alternative to the Dravidian parties which have been alternatively ruling the state for the past 5 decades adding that time has now come for nationalistic and ‘divine’ politics in the state. “The values of nationalism and divinity has been on the wane after 1967, when the DMK came to power. The politics of IMK will revive both these values among the Tamil masses”, Mr. Arjun Sampath said.
When asked about how different is IMK’s politics from the ‘spiritual politics’ espoused by Rajinikanth and the politics of BJP, Mr. Arjun Sampath distinguishing between ‘spiritual’ and ‘divine’ politics said that IMK is a party that stands for the latter.
He said “We are not doing spiritual politics. We are a Hindu party trying to save the Hindu divinity that is under attack from all sides. We are here to protect the interest of Hindus by representing them in the political arena. ”
“We welcomed Rajinikanth when he announced that he wished to change the system through spiritual politics. But he is yet to launch the party. He has said that he will be taking a decision by January. We will have to wait for that”, he added.
With respect to the BJP in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Arjun Sampath said it was a nationalist party but not a Hindu party as it has a separate ‘minority wing’.
“In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections we extended our support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi belonging to the BJP. This is the Assembly elections. All the parties are accommodating and giving representation to Muslims and Christians. I am not talking about giving seats to Muslims or Christians present in their party. The Dravidian parties accommodate even Muslim fundamentalist organizations like Tamil Maanila Muslim League, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi. But they don’t accommodate Hindu organizations.”, he said.
Mr. Sampath added that both Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the AIADMK leadership have fixed DMK as their mutual enemy and have entered into alliance to keep them at bay. “We are here to represent the interest of Hindus. If Rajinikanth flouts the party, we will extend our support to him and work towards making him win in the elections. In case if he doesn’t come, we will go alone in all 234 constituencies as the face of ‘divine’ politics”.
When asked if not his move to field candidates in all 234 constituencies split the Hindu votes thereby giving advantage to the DMK, he opined that it was not to split but to consolidate Hindu votes that they wish to go alone in the polls. “There needs to be a party that is vocal about Hindu rights and issues. Who else other than IMK is there in Tamil Nadu to do that?”, he said.
However, he added that they would work with the BJP or AIADMK if they recognize IMK and accommodate the party into the NDA alliance. “As far as we are concerned, we need Hindu interests to be represented. If no party is ready to that, we will go alone come what may!”, Mr. Arjun Sampath concluded.
A married woman from Coimbatore took to Twitter to seek help as she was facing harassment from her husband’s family to pay dowry.
According to her tweets, Bhavya Darshini fell in love with Joseph and married him 5 years ago. They have a 4 year old boy and the woman is currently 2 months into her second pregnancy. She mentioned that her widowed mother sent money regularly to support her.
Since the time they got married her husband’s family kept forcing her to get dowry from her parents. She said that her husband’s family is now asking for cash and 100 sovereigns of gold which they are not in a position to afford.
Her tweets further said that her in-laws are not permitting her son to stay with her. The woman said that she is in a situation where she has to either commit suicide or sign the divorce. She also added that her in-laws are resorting to character shaming her.
Not able to bear the abuse, Bhavya had gone to file a complaint at the Puliakulam All Women Police Station. However, she claimed that there was no proper response and that she did not receive the CSR from the Police.
Responding to the woman’s SOS, BJP National Women’s Wing President Vanathi Srinivasan, replied to her tweet asking her not to worry and to contact the local BJP office bearer.
Don't worry ma .. Please call our office bearer 9344401578.
The police looked into the matter and the Puliakulam Police Station Inspector Amutha reached out to her and have assured to take proper action.
As I have tweeted my issue day before yesterday I got nice response. I thank each ad everyone fm bottom of my heart. I got a good response from all womens police station Puliakulam inspector Mrs. Amutha. Thanks all of u for the support… pic.twitter.com/Hq9DShrmdq
Bhavya later took to Twitter again to thank everyone including Vanathi Srinivasan and the local BJP leader Satheesh for helping her.
@VanathiBJP Mam, i want to convey my regards to you and your team who rendered a huge support for my issue. Also to Shri. Satheesh ji who followed your words in a true.
The residents of Dekanakonda Village of Kurichedu Mandal in Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh have filed a complaint to the district administration against the unauthorized and illegal erection of a giant cross adjacent to an ancient Hindu Temple.
The Sri Valli Subrahmanyeswara Swamy Temple at Dekanakonda is said to have been built in the 12th century and is believed to be atleast 700 years old.
In March of this year, renovation work commenced for the temple which for long remained in a dilapidated condition with an 18 feet high sthupam (shikara) being installed in July.
700 year old temple of Sri Valli Subramanyeswara Swamy, Dekanakonda, Kurichedu, Andhra Pr. being renovated. Amount spent so far Rs.1.50L.Funds required Rs. 3.00L Kindly contribute.RT/share🕉️🙏 Acct. No: 91122058999 Andhra Pragathi Grameena Bank. IFSC APGB0005099 KURICHEDU pic.twitter.com/rZinMrylF9
18 ft high sthupam of Subramanya Swamy added as part of renovation. Bank details : SRI VALLI SUBRAMANYESWARA SWAMY CHARITABLE TRUST. ACCOUNT NUMBER 91122058999. IFSC CODE : APGB0005099. ANDHRA PRAGATHI GRAMEENA BANK, KURICHEDU. Dist : Prakasam, AP. Share/ RT. pic.twitter.com/FJOVoaZ9sR
During this time, a giant cross was found near a boulder that is adjacent to the temple. It was found that a few Christian evangelicals had encroached the land and erected a cross without getting any permission.
As per a 2012 Government Order (G.O.) issued by the Panchayat Raj & Rural Development Department of the Andhra Pradesh Government, prior permission must be obtained from the District Collector to construct any religious structure/worshipping centre.
In light of this, the villagers of Dekanakonda wrote to the District Collector demanding the removal of the cross erected illegally.
In the letter to the District Collector, a copy of which was accessed by The Commune, the villagers mentioned that their village had no Christian population and that some unidentified outsiders had erected the cross surreptitiously with malicious intentions. The villagers stated in the letter that these unidentified people were trying to build a Church just adjacent to the ancient Hindu in an attempt to incite religious tensions.
Illegal construction of Church by encroaching land adjacent to Sri Valli Subrahmanyeswara temple (of 12thCentury) at Dhenakonda Village, Kurachipadu Mandal, Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh.
Villagers filed formal complaint with District Collector & Superintendent of Police. pic.twitter.com/I6bQ9FTR0T
The letter also noted that despite their earlier complaints to the Tahsildar and Station House Officer of Kurichedu Mandal, the cross remains as is and that the unauthorized Church construction was still going on.
The Legal Right Protection Forum, a legal activism organization working for securing the rights of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe comuunities, helped in drafting the letter to the Collector.
Speaking to The Commune, A.S. Santhosh, the Working President of Legal Rights Protection Forum said that church planting is rampant in the state of Andhra Pradesh where Christian missionaries randomly erect crosses on hillocks and encroach the land. He said that once the missionaries plant these churches they go about proselytizing in the nearby villages to convert gullible people to Christianity.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal who holds several key portfolios of Commerce and Industry, Railways, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, said that Aatmanirbhar Bharat is about opening India’s doors wider so that India engages with the world from a position of strength and on equal, fair & reciprocal terms.
The Minister while delivering the keynote address at SwarajyaMag’s programme titled, ‘The Vision & Philosophy of AatmaNirbhar Bharat’, said “when we talk of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the effort is India should focus its energies to create what we can within the country, learn from experiences across the world, bring best of technologies to India, attract capital, skills & high-quality education & healthcare.” He added that technology will play an important role in achieving Aatmanirbhar Bharat and that the government will support start-ups & industry in expanding technology ecosystem.
Minister Goyal said that the dream of Aatmanirbhar Bharat can become a reality only if we follow Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call of Vocal for Local. Stating that Aatmanirbhar Bharat is possible only with jan-bhaagidaari (people’s participation), he said that Aatmanirbhar Bharat will be a reality but needs the active participation of each citizen. Inviting all to be a part of this journey of a self-reliant India, an economic powerhouse, the Minister said “If we move with determination, enthusiasm & speed, I have no doubt we will be certainly successful in our goal of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. When you talk of dharma, any of our old legacies & cultural heritage, it always reflects a little bit of focus on: – Aatmanirbhar Individual – Aatmanirbhar Society – Aatmanirbhar Nation. The onus of AatmanirbharBharat is on all of us collectively.”
The Union Minister also said that India must look to leverage Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with countries with whom it has a transparent trading mechanism and work with transparent business systems, whom India can engage with from a position of strength for certain products. He said that India should focus its energy on doing FTAs with developed countries who are looking for market access in the large Indian markets, but who can also provide us with high technology products while opening the doors in their countries for products where India has strength.
The Minister said that one of the primary reasons that India could not join RCEP was that some of the countries in RCEP were not democratic and lacked transparent trading systems. “One does have to be cautious when dealing with a partner who does not give a level playing field or reciprocal access”, he said.
Mr. Goyal said that the Prime Minister intends to prepare India to become a global player in resilient supply chains. He said that India should emerge as a trusted partner, when like-minded countries are looking to expand trade or looking for alternate sources for the manufacture of their goods & provision of services.
“In manufacturing & production, we are looking at high quality & high productivity levels” the Minister said adding that that ‘Quality’ & ‘Productivity’ will be hallmarks of India’s future manufacturing industry.
He also called upon preparing India and inculcating in every Indian the nationalist spirit of supporting India & Indian production, as well as making India a well-respected manufacturer of goods & provider of services. He said that the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) programme, which has been expanded to 10 more sectors, will help over 3 crore people in getting well-paying jobs, both formal & informal. It will help entrepreneurs get incentives in the support ecosystem, he added. “We are identifying more & more sectors which may need de-regulation, hand-holding & some other form of support & incentive. We are working in close partnership with Industry to define & determine areas where India has competitive advantage & has the capability to make for the world. We are working to make India a proud & self-reliant nation serving people of India & the world. We have received strong directions from PM to work on making it easier to do business in India. Preparing a framework for the enforcement of contracts is a very critical aspect of our work. We are focused on efforts to make it easier to do business. We are working on Genuine Single Window System.”, the Minister said.
Talking about the farmers, he said “We are now preparing the country and our farmers to become stronger and get the ability to market their product anywhere in the country. Our farmers have made us self-sufficient in food grains. We are now looking at strengthening the hands of farmers”.
About Indian Railways, the Minister said that the sector is now looking at the next level of development. “We are looking for more & more Indian suppliers for everything that Railway needs. Today, Railway only procures under 2% of the current procurement from outside the country & we plan to replace that 2% also with Indian products. We will be completely electrified by December 2023. We plan to invest in 20 GW of renewable energy to become net-zero carbon emitter by 2030.”
A Muslim man entered into the Parvatheeswarar Temple at Ambagarathur, Karaikal and abused Hindu Gods while sharing it live on his Facebook.
The man identified as Mansoor Ali (30) is a resident of Idgana street in Ambagarathur, Karaikal. On November Thursday (November 26), he had entered the Parvatheeswarar Temple located in Perumal Kovil street and videographed the idols spewing abuses on every idol of the temple which he shared it live on his Facebook profile.
When the devotees and the gurukals at the temple questioned him and tried to stop him, he abused them as well and posted the video of it on Facebook.
Later, based on the complaint filed by the temple authorities at the Ambagarathur police station Inspector Balamurugan and Sub-Inspector Mohan arrested Mansoor Ali, seized his mobile phone and produced him at the Magistrate court in Karaikal.
Mansoor Ali of Ambakarathur, held for entering into a Shiva Temple & going live on Facebook, abusing Hindu Gods and the sculptures in the Temple. pic.twitter.com/mZjUsOa3d9
