01-01-2021 The Asian Independent

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
CDS Gen Rawat visits forward
air bases in Arunachal
New Delhi : Amid the border standoff with China, Chief of
Defence Staff General Bipin
Rawat visited forward air
bases in Arunachal Pradesh
on Saturday and interacted
with soldiers of the Army,
Indo-Tibetan Border Police
and Special Frontier Force
deployed there.
He also visited forwardmost
air maintained posts in
Dibang Valley and Lohit
sector of Arunachal Pradesh.
General Rawat has completed one year as Chief of Defence Staff.
Complimenting the soldiers for the innovative measures adopted
to maintain effective surveillance and enhanced operational
readiness, he said that only Indian soldiers could remain vigilant
under such challenging situations and they are ever willing to go
well beyond the call of duty to safeguard the borders. "Nothing
can deter the Indian armed forces on remaining steadfast in their
call for duty," he said.
On the current standoff with China, last year General Rawat
had reiterated that India has military options to deal with the
Chinese on the issue of transgressions if talks between both countries
at the military and diplomatic level do not yield results.
India and China are engaged in a standoff since April-May over
the transgressions by the Chinese PLA in multiple areas in eastern
Ladakh. It was on January 1, 2020 when General Rawat was
appointed the country's first Chief of Defence Staff. In 2019 end,
the government had approved the creation of the post of CDS who
also functions as the Principal Military Adviser to the Union
Defence Minister and also as the Permanent Chairman, Chiefs of
Staff Committee (COSC). It was back then decided that the CDS
will head the new Department of Military Affairs in the Defence
Ministry and function as a Secretary to the government.
Poster politics in Bihar heats
up post Arunachal Pradesh
Patna : Following the souring of ties between Janata Dal
United (JDU) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), political temperatures
in Bihar continue to soar defying the winter.
An evidence of can be found in posters of BJP leaders cutting
CM Nitish Kumar's chair pasted at prominent locations of state
capital Patna. However, it is not clear who is behind the action.
The poster has several provocative messages including
"Arunachal to bas jhanki hai, ye kursi abhi baki hai" (Arunachal
was just a trailer, the BJP will now cut this chair as well.)
After the Arunachal Pradesh episode in which several JD (U)
leaders crossed over to the BJP, CM Nitish Kumar and his party
members are reportedly miffed with its ally in Bihar.
The opposition is cashing in on it by claiming that Nitish
Kumar will soon join the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance).
Former CM Rabri Devi said as much on Friday. The JDU on the
other hand has made it clear that the RJD and the Congress are
desperate to grab power. Hence they are spreading these falsehoods.
Chitranjan Gagan, the state spokesperson of RJD, said: "Nitish
Kumar has had a healthy relationship with Lalu Prasad in the past.
Moreover, Nitish is facing humiliation in the NDA. In this case,
the claim of former CM Rabri Devi may turn out to be true in the
next few months."
In a tweet on Friday, Rabri Devi said that discussions are underway
to include CM Nitish Kumar in Mahagathbandhan.
BJP MP Ajay Nishadh said: "There is no chance of Nitish
Kumar leaving the NDA. After returning to the NDA for the second
time, he won't go anywhere. A few differences between the
JDU and the BJP and will soon be resolved. Both parties want the
government to complete its five-year tenure."
NEWS
01-01-2021 to 15-01-2021 25
Bharat Biotech recruits 23,000 volunteers
for Phase III trials of Covaxin
Hyderabad : Bharat Biotech on
Saturday announced successful recruitment
of 23,000 volunteers, and continued
progress towards achieving the goal of
26,000 participants for phase-III clinical
trial of its coronavirus vaccine 'Covaxin'
across multiple sites in India.
The phase-III human clinical trials of
Covaxin began mid-November, targeting
26,000 volunteers across India. This is
India's first and only phase III efficacy
study for a Covid-19 vaccine, and the
largest phase III efficacy trial ever conducted
for any vaccine in India, the
Hyderabad-based company said.
"We thank every volunteer who has
taken the time to participate in this trial.
Their volunteering spirit is a great morale
boost for India and the world. We thank all
the principle investigators, doctors, medical
staff and the hospitals for their cooperation
and support in taking the phase III trials
forward in 26,000 volunteers in India.
We continue our progress towards achieving
the goal of 26,000 participants for
Phase-3 clinical trials of Covaxin," said
Suchitra Ella, Joint Managing Director,
Bharat Biotech.
Covaxin has been evaluated in approximately
1,000 subjects in Phase I and Phase
II clinical trials, with promising safety and
immunogenicity results, with acceptance in
international peer reviewed scientific journals.
The product development and clinical
Lalu indulging in political manipulations from jail: Sushil Modi
Patna : BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Sushil
Kumar Modi on Saturday accused jailed
RJD supremo Lalu Prasad of indulging in
political manipulations in Bihar by directing
party leaders on mobile phone in violation
of rules.
"Convicted Lalu Prasad is involved in
manipulations by directing RJD leaders on
mobile phones from the paying ward of
Ranchi's RIMS in violation of jail rules,"
the former Deputy CM alleged in a tweet.
"The bad phase for the nearly twodecade-old
friendship between the BJP and
Janata Dal-United in Bihar has passed.
trial data thus far has generated five publications,
of which four have been accepted
by international peer reviewed journals and
will be published soon.
"The publication of phase II trial data is
undergoing the peer review process. As a
part of our regulatory guidelines, all data
has been submitted to the Drugs Controller
General of India (DCGI) and Central
Drugs Standard Control
Organisation(CDSCO)."
Covaxin is a highly purified and inactivated
2-dose SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, manufactured
in a Vero cell manufacturing platform
with an excellent safety track record
of more than 300 million doses.
India's first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine
by Bharat Biotech is developed in collaboration
with the Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR) - National
Institute of Virology (NIV). This indigenous,
inactivated vaccine is developed and
manufactured in Bharat Biotech's BSL-3
(Bio-Safety Level 3) bio-containment
facility, a one-of-its-kind facility in the
world.
Railways registers record freight
load, earnings in Dec '20
New Delhi : Earnings and
freight load continued to maintain
a high momentum for the
Railways in December 2020,
registering an increase of 8.54
per cent and 6.87 per cent
respectively compared with last
year's figures for the period.
In December last year,
freight load totalled 118.13 million
tonnes compared to 108.84
million tonnes in 2019, the
Railways said in a statement.
In this period, the Railways
earned Rs 11,788.11 crore from
freight load, an increase of Rs
757.74 crore or 6.87 per cent
compared with earnings of Rs
11,030.37 crore during the corresponding
period in 2019.
In December last year, the
total loading was 118.13 million
tonnes, including 50.67
million tonnes of coal, 15.31
million tonnes of iron ore, 6.13
million tonnes of food grains,
5.23 million tonnes of fertilisers,
4.3 million tonnes of mineral
oil and 7.46 million tonnes
of cement (excluding clinker).
The government gives concessions
and discounts to make
freight movement through the
railways a very attractive
proposition for businesses.
Improvements in freight
movements will be institutionalised
and incorporated in the
upcoming zero-based time
table. The Railways has used
the pandemic period as an
opportunity to improve allround
efficiencies and performances,
it said.
When people gave the alliance a chance to
serve them again, the opposition is getting
heartburns," he posted on his Twitter handle.
Sushil Kumar Modi also took a dig at
the Rashtriya Janata Dal, saying that those
who had made transfers and postings a
source of income when in power in Bihar
want to give political colours to routine
administrative work due to dried-up
avenues of earning money on the sly.
On Friday, former Chief Minister and
RJD leader Rabri Devi had claimed that
IAS and IPS officers had been transferred
and posted under pressure from the BJP.