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The Indian Express December 22, 2020 The recently released fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) provides reliable and independent evidence to assess micro-development performance under this government. The survey covers many dimensions of health, nutrition, and the overall quality of lives. Here we focus on one that government policy has consciously targeted — New Welfarism — and another that was not but has been of long-standing interest — the stunting of children. The contrast offers potentially important lessons for the political economy of policy-making and for the state of the economy itself. The New Welfarism of the Narendra Modi government represents a very distinctive approach to redistribution and inclusion. It does not prioritise the supply of public goods such as basic health and primary education as governments have done around the world historically; it is also somewhat ambivalent about strengthening the safety net which past Indian governments have pu...

 Apoorva Mittal,  ET Bureau The low-touch nature of Indian wellness practices like yoga and meditation, along with a rising focus to boost immunity in the wake of the pandemic, saw the demand for Ayurvedic products and Indian wellness practices increase domestically and internationally, say executives at four leading companies that specialize in Indian wellness treatments and Ayurvedic products. “There was a signicant shift to alternative medicine systems such as Ayurveda, and Unani and consumers included herbal supplements in their lifestyle,” said Suman Varma, Chief Marketing Oicer, Hamdard Laboratories. “According to researchers, the segment is expected to grow even after the pandemic subsides, as the holistic wellness trend is here to stay,” she added. The global ayurvedic market was valued at $4.5 billion in 2017, and with this shift, it is projected to reach $14.9 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 16.14%, according to Varma. However, Hamdard Laboratories, which exports a few ...

 Money Control Sep 22, 2020 The US  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on September 22 its planned advisory committee meeting on the allocation of the initial limited doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine would not include voting on who will get the first shots. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a group of external medical experts that advises the CDC, was expected to vote on Tuesday on a plan to prioritize initial doses of any vaccine that proves safe and effective in clinical trials. However, a spokeswoman for the agency told Reuters that no voting is planned for the session. The committee may wait until government officials authorize a specific vaccine or vaccines for use before voting on how to give priority to initial doses, the Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The vaccine distribution is recommended to occur in a phased manner, with healthcare personnel, essential workers, people with hi...

The Indian Express September 16, 2020 Explained Desk | New Delhi Quixplained: Stages of Covid-19 vaccine development, and the story so far. AstraZeneca, which is creating a vaccine for the novel coronavirus in partnership with Oxford University, paused its global vaccine trial on September 6 after a participant in the UK showed signs of severe illness. Several news reports described it as a neurological disorder affecting the spinal cord. Days later, the company resumed human testing of the vaccine candidate in the UK. It said it would work with health authorities “across the world” and “be guided” as to when other clinical trials can resume. There remains uncertainty in India, where the vaccine candidate is undergoing phase-2 and phase-3 trials simultaneously. Serum Institute of India (SII), which is conducting the trials, had to pause testing after a notice by India’s top drug regulator about the global issue. So far, around 100 participants have been administered the vaccine in Indi...

 Firstpost September 16,2020 Press Trust Of India. Serum Institute of India gets DCGI's nod to resume clinical trial of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine. Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Dr VG Somani on Tuesday gave permission to Serum Institute of India to resume clinical trial of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the country while revoking its earlier order of suspending any new recruitment for phase two and three trial. The DCGI, however, put certain conditions like taking extra care during screening, providing additional information in informed consent and close monitoring for adverse events during follow-up of the study which have to be "scrupulously" followed by Serum Institute of India (SII). SII has also been asked to submit to the DCGI's office details of medication used in accordance with the protocol for management of adverse events. The DCGI had on 11 September directed Serum Institute of India to suspend any new recruitment in the phase two and thre...

Scroll.in Date: Aug 07, 2020 letters@scroll.in,  Pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila on Wednesday said its coronavirus vaccine candidate was found to be safe, immunogenic, and well-tolerated in an early-stage human trial. In a regulatory filing, the firm said it will start Phase II trials in over 1,000 healthy adult volunteers from Thursday to test its effectiveness against the infection. “The Phase I dosing to establish the safety of ZyCoV-D is an important milestone,” Zydus Cadila chairperson Pankaj R Patel said. “All the subjects in Phase I clinical trial were closely monitored in a clinical pharmacological unit for 24 hours post dosing for safety and for 7 days thereafter and vaccine was found to be very safe. We now begin the Phase II clinical trials and look forward to evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine in a larger population.” The seven-day safety of the vaccine candidate in volunteers enrolled in the Phase I trial, who were administered doses since July...

Financial Express  Date: Aug 07, 2020 PTI,  A new infectious disease caused by a tick-borne virus has killed seven people and infected 60 others in China, official media here reported on Wednesday, warning about the possibility of its human-to-human transmission. More than 37 people in East China’s Jiangsu Province contracted with the SFTS Virus in the first half of the year. Later, 23 people were found to have been infected in East China’s Anhui province, state-run Global Times quoted media reports. A woman from Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu, who suffered from the virus showed onset of symptoms such as fever, coughing. Doctors found a decline of leukocyte, blood platelet inside of her body. After a month of treatment, she was discharged from the hospital. At least seven people have died in Anhui and East China’s Zhejiang province due to the virus, the report said. SFTS Virus is not a new virus. China has isolated pathogen of the virus in 2011, and it belongs to t...

Sustainable Developments Goals  Date: Aug 06, 2020 PTI,  The world is witnessing a major epidemic caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) as termed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, initially came to attention in a series of patients with pneumonia of unknown etiology in the Hubei province of China and subsequently spread to many other regions in the world. While there are several hypotheses about the origin of 2019-nCoV, its origin, the source of its release, and whether the release was intentional or accidental, is captivating the attention of scientists and security establishments across the world. Is the Coronavirus Disease a bio-weapon, released by the Americans in China and Iran, and in retaliation by the Chinese in Europe and the US? This question is passed off as a conspiracy theory of the most imaginative kind. It may be prudent to examine the various arguments in support of the claim that the v...

The Wire  Date: Aug 06, 2020 PTI,  The economic outlook for an evolving COVID-19 world is that a global recession is now inevitable. And the availability of credit will decide how much of the world economy will survive. In India, access to funds via foreign direct investment (FDI) has been tightened. In a cautious attempt to avert the rising possibility of “opportunistic takeovers” by nations from which large amounts of FDI flows into the country, the Indian government has mandated that all the investments from neighbouring countries, including China, would now require government approval. This has sealed the “automatic route” for nations through which an increasing number of foreign firms and individuals had lately begun to invest. While not overtly stated, the policy change is likely in view of risks to the national interests in a scenario where viable Indian businesses would be sold to foreign Chinese interests. In a direct defence against possible hostile takeovers in an e...

Money Control  Date: Aug 06, 2020 PTI, Novavax Inc said on Wednesday it has entered a supply and license agreement with the Serum Institute of India for the development and commercialization of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The Indian drugmaker will have exclusive rights for the vaccine in India during the term of the deal and non-exclusive rights during the "Pandemic Period" in all countries other than those designated by the World Bank as upper-middle or high-income countries. The deal was signed on July 30, according to an SEC filing by Novavax. On Tuesday, Novavax reported that its experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced high levels of antibodies against the novel coronavirus in a small, early-stage clinical trial, and that it could start a large pivotal Phase III trial as soon as late September. https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/novavax-signs-covid-19-vaccine-supply-deal-with-indias-serum-institute-5652291.html

Financial Express  Date: Aug 02, 2020 FE Bureau,  Credit and Finance for MSMEs: As of July 29, loans of as much as Rs 1,36,155 crore were sanctioned to 40 lakh units, of which Rs 87,227 crore was already disbursed—a sign of the appeal of the scheme that was rolled out only on June 1. Credit and Finance for MSMEs:  The government has decided to relax the eligibility criteria for tapping the Rs 3-lakh-crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to cover professionals and enable a much wider pool of businesses to benefit from it, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. Although there is no review of the scheme’s overall credit limit (Rs 3 lakh crore) yet, the additional beneficiaries are estimated to be sanctioned guaranteed loans of about Rs 1 lakh crore. he annual turnover limit of companies to be eligible to tap the scheme will be raised to Rs 250 crore from Rs 100 crore now, in sync with the revised definition of the MSMEs. Financial services secre...

Scroll.in Date:Aug 05, 2020 Prathamesh Muley States in India – which already have higher debts than states in other BRICS and emerging countries –will be forced to borrow even more this year. The Covid-19-related lockdowns have hit the revenues of Indian states at a time when it will be very hard for the Narendra Modi government to cough out it’s share of income to them. Given the situation, the gross market borrowings of Indian states is estimated to shoot up to Rs 8.25 lakh crore –or $110 billion – in the current financial year as compared to an earlier estimate of Rs 6.09 lakh crore, said research agency India Ratings. “The states have to maintain certain expenditures, such as salaries, important schemes, and increase spending on healthcare to tackle Covid-19. So, a rise in borrowing is inevitable,” said Pulapre Balakrishnan, professor of economics at Ashoka University. In India, the central government accounts for around 43% of the states’ revenues and the remaining 57% is a combin...

Firstpost Date: Aug 03, 2020 Press trust of India,  New Delhi:  Drug firm Wockhardt on Monday said it has entered into an agreement with the UK government to supply millions of doses of multiple vaccines that are being developed to fight COVID-19. "The company has entered into an agreement with the UK government to fill-finish the COVID-19 vaccines. The manufacturing will be undertaken at Wockhardt's CP Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of the company based in Wrexham in North Wales," Wockhardt Founder Chairman Habil Khorakiwala said in an online press conference. As per the terms of the agreement, the company has reserved the manufacturing capacity to allow for the supply of multiple vaccines to the UK government in its fight against COVID-19, including AZD1222, the vaccine co-invented by the University of Oxford and its spin-out company, Vaccitech and licensed by AstraZeneca, he added. "We are proud to be collaborating with the UK government to make vaccines available ...

Financial Express July 08, 2020 Samrat Sharma The World Bank said that there is a need to take advantage of India’s private sector to improve health facilities in India as more than 60 per cent of health demand in the country is met by private bodies. Leveraging private clinics along with Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) may be used as tools to increase engagement with the private sector, said Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, World bank. In a meeting held between the 15th finance commission, representatives of the World Bank, Niti Aayog, and High-Level Group (HLG), for a better understanding of the shape of India’s health sector, Junaid Ahmad added that the health spending is not just a social expenditure but also important for economic growth and development of the country. The World Bank highlighted that there is scope for service delivery reforms by using innovation, leveraging technology, institutional strengthening, coordination, and empowering states. It further said that t...

Hindustan Times July 07, 2020 Arpan Rai The World Health Organization on Tuesday acknowledged “emerging evidence” of the airborne spread of the novel coronavirus, after a group of scientists urged the global body to update its guidance on how the respiratory disease is spread. Speaking at a briefing in Geneva, WHO expert Benedetta Allegranzi said the organization believed it had “been open to the evidence on modes of transmission” of the new virus. https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/who-acknowledges-emerging-evidence-of-airborne-spread-of-novel-coronavirus/story-b57BjhCZVS0UTcRxTR3EtO.html

The Hindu Dated: April 13, 2020 By Vijaita Singh The  Indian Council of Medical Research  (ICMR) expanded the number of laboratories that could conduct  COVID-19  tests on an intervention by the Union Home Minister. After the first COVID-19 positive case was detected on January 30, all samples were sent only to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. As cases surged and need was felt to ramp up testing, the ICMR was asked to enable more laboratories to conduct the tests. Owing to multiple factors, including paucity of kits, the ICMR follows strict guidelines before samples are collected from a person showing symptoms. In a meeting in March, Home Minister Amit Shah asked ICMR Director General Dr. Balram Bhargava to include more facilities that could carry out the tests, else the responsibility would be given to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). On March 17, the ICMR activated 72 more laboratories to test for COVID-19 and re...