RIVANCH

New Delhi: No decision on granting indemnity to any foreign or Indian  COVID-19 vaccine-manufactures has been taken yet, the government said Friday, underlining these decisions are to be taken "in the interest of nation and people". NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr VK Paul's statement came over the issue of offering indemnity to Indian COVID-19 vaccine-manufacturers. He said the issue has come up in the context of foreign companies, specifically Pfizer, and that the government is engaging with the US pharma major and others making such a demand. "In principle, they (foreign manufacturers) expect indemnity to be given. This is what they have said has been the case all over the world. We have also checked with other countries and the World Health Organization. "Yes, indeed they have supplied vaccines only after such indemnities have been given. This appears to be the fact. Particular companies have requested and we are in negotiation with them but there is no d...

Every year, 5 June is celebrated as World Environment Day across the world to remind people of their duties and responsibilities towards the environment. The World Environment Day had its genesis in 1972 when the first conference on the environment was held in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) served as a platform for multiple nations to discuss environmental issues and develop environmental awareness on a global scale. But it was in 1974 when the United States recognised 5 June as World Environment Day, for the first time with the theme “Only One Earth”. And since then, 5 June is appreciated worldwide as an important day for the sake of the environment. An American biologist and author Rachel Louise Carson encouraged the sense of environmentalism through her book, Silent Spring that reported the toxic effects of pesticides on the environment and ecological communities. This led to an environmental agitation in the...

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address an event on World Environment Day on Saturday via video conferencing. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said he will also release the "Report of the Expert Committee on Road Map for ethanol blending in India 2020-2025". "To commemorate the World Environment Day, the government is releasing E-20 notification directing oil companies to sell ethanol-blended petrol with the percentage of ethanol up to 20 from 1 April, 2023; and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specifications for higher ethanol blends E12 and E15. These efforts will facilitate the setting up of additional ethanol distillation capacities and provide timelines for making blended fuel available across the country, the PMO said. It will help increase the consumption of ethanol in the ethanol-producing states and the adjoining regions, before 2025, it said. PM Modi will also launch a pilot project of E 100 dispensing stations at three locations in Pune...

Mumbai: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday made it clear that the central bank's view on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin remains unchanged and it continues to have "major concerns" on the volatile instruments. "There is no change in RBI's position (on cryptocurrencies). Our circular clarifies the position very well," Das told reporters in the customary post-policy press conference when asked if there has been a change in its view. The RBI had first come out with a circular on the issue in 2018, cautioning people about investing in cryptocurrencies, which do not have any sovereign character. It had barred entities regulated by it from dealing in such instruments. However, the Supreme Court in early 2020 struck down the circular. Das said a revised notification to financial institutions on Monday was necessitated because some banks were still referring to the old circular set aside by the apex court and this was an attempt to set the record straight. T...

New Delhi: The DCGI has granted permission to the Serum Institute of India (SII) to manufacture the Sputnik COVID-19 vaccine in India for examination, test and analysis with certain conditions, official sources said on Friday. The Pune-based firm has collaborated with Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Moscow in Russia for developing Sputnik V at its licensed Hadapsar facility. 'The DCGI has granted permission to the Serum Institute to manufacture the Sputnik COVID-19 vaccine in India for examination, test and analysis at its licensed Hadapsar facility with certain conditions,' an official source said. The company had submitted an application to the DCGI in this regard on Thursday. According to the four conditions set by the DCGI, the Serum Institute will have to submit a copy of the agreement between it and the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology for transfer of cell bank and virus stock and a copy of agreement for technol...

New Delhi: The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 22.75 crore, with 33,57,713 doses being administered Friday, the Union health ministry said. It said 16,23,602 beneficiaries in the age group 18-44 years received their first dose and 31,217 in the same category their second dose on Friday. Cumulatively, 2,58,45,901 people in the age group across 36 states and union territories have received their first dose and 1,18,299 their second dose since the vaccination drive began for them from 1 May. Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have administered more than 10 lakh beneficiaries of the age group 18-44 years for the first dose, the ministry said. The total of 22,75,67,873 include 99,44,507 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose and 68,40,415 HCWs who have taken the second dose. It also includes 1,60,45,747 frontline workers (FLWs) ...

The Pakistani regime, making use of lobbyists, Congressmen, terror supporters, and well-organised grassroots networks of American Pakistani Muslims, is working hard to advance a radical, Islamist-inspired agenda at the highest levels in the United States, using Kashmir as its cause. One Texas-based group, Friends of Kashmir, stands at the forefront of one of these efforts. On 5 August, 2020, Friends of Kashmir and its head — a prominent pro-Pakistani activist, writer and self-described poet named Ghazala Habib — organised an online event, in collaboration with the Pakistani embassy and its consulate in Houston, to discuss the “Crisis in Kashmir.” In a sign of the Pakistani regime’s growing influence, speakers included the two co-chairs of the United States Congress’s Pakistan Caucus, the president of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and the Pakistani ambassador to the United States and the Houston consul-general. Other advertised speakers included Congresswoman Eddie Bernice ...