The Drugs controller general of India (DCGI) allowed the export of approximately 2 lakh vaccine doses of Malaria which is produced in India, said sources on Thursday. This vaccine is developed by scientists at the University of Oxford and manufactured by Serum Institute in the UK.
According to the sources, the Serum Institute of India ( SII) has developed the vaccine against malaria under the leadership of CEO Adar Poonawalla, this vaccine is made in India and it is for India as well as world at large.
This malaria vaccine was designed at the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, which collaborated with the SII in 2020 for manufacturing at a large scale. The vaccine against malaria which is available globally is manufactured by GSK.
In the Gyanvapi Mosque case, the Hindu side on Thursday demanded a scientific investigation of the ‘Shivling’ by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the carbon dating of ‘Argha’ and the area around it.
Advocate Vishnu Jain representing the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi Masjid matter said, “The Hindu side demanded that the ASI conduct a scientific investigation of the ‘Shivling’. We have also demanded a carbon dating of Argha and the area around it”.
Meanwhile, the Muslim side was against carbon dating and added that it is a fountain and not a Shivling. “Muslim side too presented its side before the Court, they said that carbon dating shouldn’t be done. They said that it’s a fountain & not a Shivling and it can’t be ascertained”, added Vishnu Jain. The court will pronounce judgment on the matter on October 7.
The advocate further added that there is no break up on the Hindu side, rather all the Hindus demand just one thing that the Shivalinga found should be scientifically investigated without causing any damage to it.
Earlier, an appeal had been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the order of the Allahabad High Court which had dismissed a PIL that sought the appointment of a committee/commission under a judge to study the nature of the structure found in the Gyanvapi Mosque, Varanasi.
The appeal filed by seven devotees sought direction from the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to ascertain the nature of the structure found on the Gyanvapi campus. The Allahabad High Court had on July 19 dismissed their plea seeking the appointment of a committee/commission headed by a judge of the High Court or supreme court (sitting/retired) to study the nature of the structure found in the Gyanvapi Mosque.
The PIL moved before the High Court seeks direction from a committee to ascertain whether a Shivalinga, as claimed by the Hindus, had been found inside the mosque or if it is a fountain as claimed by Muslims. The appeal in the top court stated that the Allahabad High Court had erred in dismissing the plea.
After the emergence of the disputed structure inside the mosque, it was the duty of ASI to go on the spot to ascertain the nature of the structure, however, since the same was not done, the petitioners had moved to the High Court, said the appeal.
It added that the High Court, without seeking a response from the respondents and relying upon some loose documents submitted by the State government, dismissed the petition on merits.
The apex court is also seized of an appeal filed by the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Varanasi that manages the Gyanvapi mosque, challenging an order of Allahabad High Court permitting a court-appointed commissioner to inspect, conduct survey and videography of the Gyanvapi mosque to which Hindus and Muslims have laid claim for the right to worship.
On May 20, the Supreme Court ordered the transfer of the case related to worship at Gyanvapi mosque from the civil judge to the District Judge, Varanasi.
It had ordered that its interim order passed on May 17 — to protect the area where the Shivling was found and access to Muslims for namaz — shall continue in operation till maintainability of the suit is decided and thereafter for eight weeks to enable parties to pursue legal remedies.
It had said that District Judge should decide the maintainability of the civil suit in the Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath on priority as sought by Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Varanasi.
NIA opposes Asiya appeal against seizure of house 4
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed the appeal moved by Kashmiri Separatist Asiya Andrabi and others against the seizure and attachment of their property. The agency said that it is established that premises have been used for holding meetings to commit unlawful activities and terrorist activities followed by Dukhtaran-EMillat (DEM).
“As per section 2(g) and 2 (h) of the UA (P) Act, the said house clearly comes under “proceeds of terrorism” as the house was being used for spreading terrorism and for the purpose of a terrorist organization,” said NIA.
NIA in its affidavit filed in Delhi High Court also stated that the appellant Asiya Andrabi along with her associates regularly celebrated ‘Pakistan Day’ at her residence situated at Nowshera, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir wherein anti-India speeches and slogans were made, and insurrectionary material were distributed and pro-Pakistani slogans also were chanted along with unfurling of Pakistani flag to profess that Kashmir is a part of Pakistan and that India is an aggressor.
“During the investigation, it was clearly established from the evidence including CFSL report and statements of witnesses that house in question was being used for the furtherance of terror activities of Dukhtaran-E-Millat,” said NIA.
India’s star pacer Jasprit Bumrah is likely to be ruled out of the upcoming T20 World Cup, starting October 16. Bumrah is believed to be ruled out of the competition with a back injury. As per BCCI sources to Agencies, the right-arm quick is out of action because of the complained of back pain.
“Jasprit Bumrah complained of back pain during India’s practice session on Tuesday. The BCCI Medical Team assessed him. He is ruled out of the first #INDvSA T20I,” BCCI tweeted earlier on Wednesday. Bumrah had not travelled with the team for the opening T20I against South Africa, played at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. Bumrah, who had also ruled out of the Asia Cup 2022 due to his back problem, and was training at the National Cricket Academy, played the last two T20Is against Australia.
At least 6 missing after boat capsizes in Dhubri in Assam 7
At least six people were reported missing after a boat capsized in the Brahmaputra river, said the officials on Thursday. The boat was carrying around 30 people and was toppled in the Dhubri region of Assam.
“Search and rescue operation underway Circle Officer of Dhubri is also missing in the incident,” said Dhubri Deputy Commissioner, Anbamuthan MP. Further details are awaited. Earlier on August 8, two women went missing after a boat capsized in the Ghiladhari river in Assam’s Biswanath district.
The incident took place in the Biswanath Mukhgarh area. According to police, six women of the Mukhgarh area went to the other side for cultivation works and when they were returning back to their home on a country-made boat, the boat capsized in the Ghiladhari river.
Following the incident, the boatman with the help of locals rescued four of six women, but two women were still missing. Navin Singh, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Biswanath district said search and rescue operations have already started to locate the missing ladies.
“We have also informed the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). We are arranging lights for the search and rescue operation at night. The search and rescue operation will also be started tomorrow morning. We have alerted the police personnel, Village Defence Party (VDP), local people in the downstream line,” Navin Singh said.
The government on Thursday raised rates on some small savings schemes by up to 30 basis points (bps) in line with the hardening interest rate in the economy.
With the revision, a three-year time deposit with post offices would earn 5.8 per cent from the existing 5.5 per cent, an increase of 30 basis points for the third quarter of the current financial year. Senior Citizen Savings scheme will earn 20 basis points more to 7.6 per cent from the existing rate of 7.4 per cent during the October-December period, a finance ministry notification said.
With regard to Kisan Credit Card, the government has revised both tenure and interest rates.
The Reserve Bank since May has raised the benchmark lending rate by 140 basis points, prompting banks to raise interest rates on deposits as well.
The Supreme Court on Thursday posted for hearing a batch of petitions challenging Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra government’s laws allowing bull-taming sport “Jallikattu” and bullock cart races on November 22.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justices KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar, said it would take up the matter on November 22.
In February 2018, the Supreme Court had referred to the Constitution bench on whether the people of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra can conserve Jallikattu and bullock-cart races as their cultural right and demand their protection under Article 29 (1) of the Constitution.
The top court had earlier said that the petitions challenging the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2017, needed to be decided by a larger bench since they involved substantial questions relating to the interpretation of the Constitution.
It had said that a larger bench would decide whether states have the “legislative competence” to make such laws on grounds, including that Jallikattu and bullock cart racing fell under the cultural rights enshrined under Article 29(1) and can be protected constitutionally.
Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra had amended the central law, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and allowed Jallikattu and bullock cart racing, respectively. The petitions were filed in the top court challenging the state laws.
A batch of petitions, led by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), sought direction to quash the jallikattu law passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, which brought bulls back into the fold of “performing animals”.
PETA had challenged the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Bill 2017 passed by the state assembly on several grounds, including that it circumvented the apex court verdict holding the bull-taming sport as “illegal” in the state.
The top court had earlier dismissed the Tamil Nadu government’s plea seeking a review of the 2014 judgement banning the use of bulls for Jallikattu events in the state and bullock cart races across the country.
The government policy on increasing customs duty on imported toys and making BIS certification mandatory for toys has boosted domestic toy manufacturing, an official of the Toy Association of India said on Thursday.
The move by the government has also helped the industry to explore global markets enhancing exports, president of the association Ajay Agarwal said here. The Indian toy market is growing at over 12 per cent.
Three years ago, nearly 80 per cent of the toys were imported, but, today, the scenario changed as imports dropped dramatically, he was quoted as saying in a press release. Citing data provided by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, he said imports of toys which stood at USD 304 million in 2018-19 fell to USD 36 million in 2021-22.
According to him, over four to five lakh artisans were involved in making of toys and nearly 75 per cent of the toy-manufacturing facilities comprise micro, small and medium enterprises. Maharashtra was the major toy market followed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, New Delhi, he said.
With an aim to disrupt, degrade and dismantle drug networks with international linkages through the rapid exchange of criminal intelligence on drug trafficking and coordinated law enforcement actions across international jurisdictions through INTERPOL, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) launched a multi-phase ‘Operation GARUDA’, said the officials on Thursday.
This global operation was initiated in close coordination with INTERPOL and Narcotics Control Bureau, for combating the smuggling of illicit drugs and psychotropic substances, with a special focus on Indian Ocean Region.
Drug trafficking networks with international linkages require law enforcement cooperation across international jurisdictions.
Operation GARUDA, CBI led the global operation, seeks to target drug networks with international footprints for action against handlers, operatives, production zones and support elements.
CBI and NCB have been closely coordinating with all States/UTs Police agencies for information exchange, analysis and development of operational information.
“During Operation GARUDA, searches, seizures and arrests were carried out across multiple States/UT in India. Apart from CBI and NCB, 08 States/UT Police including Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Manipur have also participated in this Operation,” read a statement by CBI.
During this Special Operation from several State Police forces including Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Maharashtra and NCB, around 6600 Suspects/Persons checked; 127 new cases were registered and around 175 persons including 06 Absconders/proclaimed offenders were arrested.
‘Illicit Drugs and Psychotropic Substances including 5.125 Kg(approx.) Heroin; 33.936 Kg(approx.) Ganja; 3.29 Kg(approx.) Charas; 1365 gm(approx.) Mephedrone; 33.80gm(approx.) Smack; around 87 Tablets, 122 Injections and 87 syringes of Buprenorphine; 946 Tablets((approx.) Alpazolam; 105.997 Kg(approx.) Tramadol; 10 gm((approx.) Hash oil; 0.9 gm(approx.) Ecstacy pills; 1.150 Kg(approx.) Opium; 30 Kg(approx.) Poppy Husk; 1.437 Kg(approx.) Intoxicant powder and 11039(approx.) Pills/Capsules, were recovered,” the statement added.
Nine Indian fishermen were recused from Sri lankan waters by the India Coast Guard on Thursday after their vessel had an engine breakdown and drifted toward the waters of the island nation.
The operation was conducted in cooperation with the Sri Lankan Navy. The fishermen were later safely brought back to Karaikal.
“Nine Indian fishermen rescued by @IndiaCoastGuard in coordination with Sri lankan Navy. Vessel reportedly had engine breakdown and drifted to Sri lankan waters. It was safely brought back to Karaikal by ICGS Annie Besant from INDIA-Sri lankan IMBL,” Defense PRO Chennai tweeted.
Earlier this month, eight Indian fishermen were apprehended by Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly engaging in “illegal fishing” in Sri Lankan waters. In a statement, the police said the fishermen were apprehended about 22 nautical miles from Jagadapattinam.
Earlier in March, India and Sri Lanka held the Joint Working Group on Fisheries, through virtual mode. Both sides also discussed cooperation between the Navy and Coast Guard of both countries in patrolling.
The two sides also discussed the existing hotlines between the Coast Guards and related operational matters including cooperation in tracking poaching, and prevention of environmental damage due to bottom trawling.
The Indian side highlighted the initiatives taken by the Central and State Governments to diversify livelihood options and reduce fishing pressure in the Palk Bay. It also informed that infrastructure has been created to facilitate deep-sea fishing and promotion of alternative livelihood through seaweed cultivation, mariculture and several aquaculture activities.
The Sri Lankan side proposed a faster transition to sustainable fishing in the Palk Bay fisheries and also suggested that India can help them develop the aquaculture sector and the associated infrastructure in Northern Sri Lanka.
