It is set to enter phase 3 trial next week involving 40,000 volunteers, it was also announced on Thursday. 

NEW DELHI:  The Russian government, days after announcing that it was going to start mass vaccination of the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine, is in talks with four Indian vaccine makers for its mass production, which may start as early as october.

Though the Indian government has, so far, been silent on any collaboration with Russia on the vaccine, top authorities in Russia at a press briefing on Thursday announced the proposed tie-ups, which was confirmed by Indian officials.

On August 11, the vaccine named ‘Sputnik V’, endorsed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been approved by Russia even as scientists worldwide have expressed scepticism on its safety and efficacy as it has not completed human trials yet, and no data from its early stage trials have been released, so far.

The vaccine has been developed by Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian defence ministry and has been created using inanimate particles developed based on adenovirus, a class of virus that causes the common cold in primates including humans.

It is set to enter phase 3 trial next week involving 40,000 volunteers, it was also announced on Thursday. 
Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a government body, which is financing the production of Sputnik V, said at the press briefing that “currently, we are working with 4 partners in India, we believe that they are capable of production of the Gamaleya Institute vaccine.”

Russia said while it could produce 500 million doses of the vaccine, it’s looking to churn out 1 billion doses manufactured as many other countries have also shown interest in getting it.

RFID, on its website, has also said it sees “strong global interest in the vaccine and plans to conduct Phase 3 clinical trials in different countries, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Brazil, India and Philippines, and start mass production in other countries in partnership with local sovereign wealth funds, including India, South Korea and Brazil, as well as, in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Cuba.”

Government officials in India confirmed that Russia has been in talks with the Ministry of External Affairs and some vaccine manufacturers, including Bharat Biotech, for mass production of the vaccine in the country. 

The announcement comes at a time when the online pharma sector in the country is seeing a rush of investments from homegrown, overseas funds and is also witnessing mergers and acquisitions. 

BENGALURU: Mukesh Ambani’s  Reliance Industries Limited will now take on Amazon in the online pharmacy space by acquiring Chennai-based startup NetMeds. 

The 100% acquisition of NetMeds is being done by the retail arm Reliance Retail Venture Limited (RRVL), which will also pick up a 60 percent majority equity stake in the parent company Vitalic Health Limited for Rs 620 crore, RIL said in a statement. This translates into a valuation of over Rs 1,000 crore for the company. 

The announcement comes at a time when the online pharma sector in the country is seeing a rush of investments from homegrown, overseas funds and is also witnessing mergers and acquisitions. 

The country’s largest e-tailer Amazon last week announced that it has launched its e-pharmacy vertical and will be selling prescription medicines in Bengaluru along with the non-prescriptional and conventional Ayurvedic/unani drugs. 

Rival Flipkart is also reportedly in talks with various stakeholders in the health tech space to venture into the segment. 

For Reliance, the acquisition of NetMeds will strengthen its e-commerce capabilities especially after the launch of JioMart, which is now delivering across 200 cities in the country and will soon expand to the other pincodes. 

“This investment is aligned with our commitment to provide digital access for everyone in India. The addition of Netmeds enhances Reliance Retail’s ability to provide good quality and affordable healthcare products and services, and also broadens its digital commerce proposition to include most daily essential needs of consumers. We are impressed by Netmeds’ journey to build a nationwide digital franchise in such a short time and are confident of accelerating it with our investment and partnership,” Isha Ambani, Director, RRVL said in a statement.

NetMeds’ parent entity Vitalic was founded in 2015 with its various subsidiaries Tresara Health Private Limited, Netmeds Market Place Limited and Dadha Pharma Distribution Pvt Limited. The major promoters of Vitalic Pradeep Dadha and family ventured into the online pharma business after being involved in the wholesale, retail and manufacturing pharma sector in South India for over a century. 

“It is indeed a proud moment for Netmeds to join the Reliance family and to work together with them to make quality healthcare affordable and accessible to every Indian. With the combined strength of the group’s digital, retail and tech platforms, we will strive to create more value for everyone in the ecosystem, while providing a superior Omni Channel experience to consumers,” Dadha said in a statement.

With a fleet of over 18,000 buses and nearly one lakh workforce, MSRTC is one of the biggest state road transport corporations in the county.

MUMBAI: Inter-district bus services of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) resumed on Thursday morning after a gap of almost five months, officials said.

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday permitted the state-owned undertaking to re-start inter-district bus operations, which were stopped in March after the enforcement of lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19.

On Thursday, the first bus from Mumbai Central depot, where the MSRTC headquarters is located, left around 8.30 am for Chiplun in Ratnagiri district with six passengers boarding at the starting point, a transport corporation official said.

More passengers were expected at Dadar and other stops, he said.

Bus services from various depots in Mumbai and other parts of state are planned later in the day on some selected medium and long-distance routes, sources in the MSRTC said.

While allowing the inter-district MSRTC bus services to resume, the state government did away with the condition of e-pass, which was earlier compulsory for passengers in view of the lockdown.

The MSRTC said it will be mandatory for passengers to maintain COVID-19 prevention protocols, like wearing masks and adhering to the social distancing guidelines.

Earlier, the transport corporation resumed inter-district services from May 22 and also ran special buses to ferry migrants to the state borders.

It was also operating special services for passengers in the Konkan belt ahead of the Ganesh festival, which will begin on Saturday.

With a fleet of over 18,000 buses and nearly one lakh workforce, MSRTC is one of the biggest state road transport corporations in the county.

The crucial indicator from these states also signals that the epidemic is far from being over in spite of the very high incidence of the infectious disease already.

NEW DELHI:  Considerably high Covid-19 testing positivity rates (TPR) in Maharashtra, Telangana and Delhi have raised concerns that the disease is silently spreading through the population at a much more alarming rate than acknowledged by the governments, and these states are yet to reach optimal testing rates to contain the contagion. 

The crucial indicator from these states also signals that the epidemic is far from being over in spite of the very high incidence of the infectious disease already. According to the government figures, the seven-day average TPR for Telangana — at 19 per cent — is the highest in the country. It means that 19 of every 100 people being tested for the infection have been found positive over the past week.

This rate is 18.2 for Maharashtra and 16.1 for Delhi — the two other states that have seen a very high disease burden. This indicator for all other states, on the other hand, is well below 10 per cent, while the country’s overall TPR is less than 9.

Epidemiologist Dr Jammi N Rao, who has worked with the ICMR-Hyderabad in the past, said: “The reasons could be either there are a greater number of cases in the community so that, all other things being equal, more tests are correctly identifying the greater number of cases or more of the tests are now being done on people with obvious symptoms of Covid-19.” 

Sources said that the proposal for travel bubble for business, official and medical travel was discussed along with the Rohingya issues.

NEW DELHI:  Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday reached Dhaka for a two-day visit to Bangladesh which is aimed at enhancing ties with the neighbouring country. The foreign secretary is likely to meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to deliver a ‘special message’ from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is Shringla’s second visit to Bangladesh within five months. He had last visited Bangladesh in March.

According to local media reports, Hasina is likely to meet Shringla at her official residence after which the foreign secretary will hold talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Masud Bin Momen and Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.

The visit is being seen as New Delhi’s attempt to check  Dhaka’s growing proximity to Beijing in the aftermath of the June 15 violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh. India, as a retaliatory measure, had banned 59 Chinese apps citing security concerns. Later, China had responded by exempting import duty on around 100 Bangladeshi products.

The trip is also being perceived as a reconciliatory measure after reports of a tiff between the Bangladesh government and the Indian High Commissioner and the alleged questions over the ‘quality’ of the 10 Indian locomotives given to Bangladesh. Recently, India had described its relationship with Bangladesh as “exceptionally close”. 

The COVID-19 tally in the country rises to 27,67,274 including 6,76,514 active cases, 20,37,871 discharged/migrated & 52,889 deaths.

With 64,531 people testing positive in a day, India’s COVID-19 tally increased to 27,67,273 on Wednesday, while the recoveries crossed the 20-lakh mark pushing the recovery rate to 73.64 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The death toll climbed to 52,889 with 1,092 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The Centre on Tuesday cautioned against pinning too much hope on the Covid-19 vaccines, saying everyone wants them to succeed but there is no guarantee, they will. At a press briefing on the outbreak management, Dr V K Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog, who also heads the National Expert Group on Covid- 19 Vaccine Administration, said “it won’t be appropriate to assume any vaccine under trial will emerge as successful”.

Now, as per a report published in a financial daily, the Tata Group has already started due diligence and could submit it close to the official deadline at the end of this month. 

NEW DELHI:  In what may come as a relief to the Government of India, the Tata Group is likely to make a formal bid for debt-laden national carrier Air India by the end of the month, according to reports. The government has been trying to divest its stake in the loss-making carrier since last year, with a new divestment process for the firm initiated on January 27. 

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has extended the deadline for the submission of initial bids a couple of times. In June, the Centre extended the deadline to submit an EoI (expression of interest) till August 31 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now, as per a report published in a financial daily, the Tata Group has already started due diligence and could submit it close to the official deadline at the end of this month. At present, the Tata Group runs two airlines in India—the premium Vistara and budget carrier AirAsia India—in partnership with foreign carriers.

While there have been multiple reports that Tata may merge its stake in AirAsia and Air India into a single entity, the Group hasn’t confirm on the speculations yet. Tata is already said to have engaged top legal firms and consultants to seek their opinion before making a formal bid for Air India, but many experts believe the privatisation process could be time consuming. 

At the main entrance, the limited number of guests invited for the event underwent thermal scanning by security personnel donning PPE kit, while sanitiser dispenser have been kept near security gates.

NEW DELHI: A kit containing a mask, a small bottle of hand sanitiser and a pair of gloves kept on all chairs which were neatly separated to maintain the prescribed distance — Independence Day celebrations this year typified the ‘new normal’ in times of COVID-19.

Known otherwise to witness bustling crowd across many age groups, the annual grand event at the historic Red Fort was scaled down this year in keeping with prescribed safety protocols to contain spread of the novel coronavirus that has wrecked havoc across the world

At the main entrance, the limited number of guests invited for the event underwent thermal scanning by security personnel donning personal protective equipment (PPE) kit, while hands-free sanitiser dispenser have been kept near security gates.

Inside, chairs were placed in a careful matrix across all enclosures.

Each seat had a sanitiser kit, a hand towel kept on the back rest along with the programme pamphlet.

Social distancing norms were also in place on the rampart where the VVIPs were seated.

Every year, a sea of school children add youthful energy to the grand event, but amid the coronavirus scare, they were not present on the occasion this year.

“Today, our children are not here with us. The coronavirus pandemic has halted all of us,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

Colourful carpets in enclosure and aisles contrast seating and walking areas, and posters bearing social distancing norms messages like ‘keep six ft distance’, ‘wear a mask’, dot the venue.

Guests, security staff, VIPs, all were sporting masks as prescribed under the safety norms.

Some guests were even seen sporting designer masks to add to the uniqueness of the event that embraces the ‘new normal’ brought in by the coronavirus pandemic.

Delhi has been one of the worst-affected cities in the country as far as the spread of the virus is concerned.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the national capital has crossed 1.5 lakh, while 4,178 people have died due to the viral infection.

In his seventh straight Independence Day speech from the ramparts of Red Fort, the prime minister said the country is fighting terrorism as well as expansionism with determination.

NEW DELHI: Indian soldiers have given befitting reply to those who challenged the country’s sovereignty “from LoC to LAC”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, in a subtle message to Pakistan and China.

In his seventh straight Independence Day speech from the ramparts of Red Fort, the prime minister said the country is fighting terrorism as well as expansionism with determination.

Asserting that the respect for India’s sovereignty is supreme and that the world has seen in Ladakh what India’s brave jawans can do to maintain this resolve, Modi said,”I salute all those brave soldiers from the Red Fort.”

“From LoC to LAC, anyone who casts an eye on the sovereignty of the country, the armed forces of the country have responded in the language they understand,” Modi said, adding the whole country is united in protecting the sovereignty of the country.

The prime minister’s comments came in the midst of India’s festering border row with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and rising incidents of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.

Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash with Chinese armies in Galwan Valley.

The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details.

The expansion of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) has been ensured in 173 border and coastal districts and nearly one lakh new cadets will get special traning under the mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

One-third of the one lakh new cadets will be girls, the prime minister said in his Independence Day speech.

“Now, expansion of the NCC has been ensured in 173 border and coastal districts. Under this mission, one lakh NCC cadets will receive special training. Of this, one-third will be girls,” Modi told the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

Modi said whenever there is talk of COVID-19, the question that comes to everyone’s mind is that when will a vaccine be ready.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said mass production of vaccine for COVID-19 will begin in India once scientists give their nod, and a roadmap was ready to ensure it reaches everyone in the country in the shortest possible time.

Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on India’s 74th Independence Day, Modi said three vaccine candidates are in different stages of trials in the country, adding the talent of our scientists is like that of ‘rishi munis’.

He said whenever there is talk of COVID-19, the question that comes to everyone’s mind is that when will a vaccine be ready.

“I want to tell people, the talent of our scientists is like that of ‘rishi munis’ and they are working very hard in laboratories. Three vaccines are in various stages of testing. When scientists will give us the green signal, there will be production on a mass scale and all preparations have been made for it,” Modi said.

A roadmap has been prepared to ensure that the vaccine reaches everyone in the country in the shortest possible time with mass production, he said.

Three vaccine candidates are in different stages of human clinical trials in India.

The phase-1 and 2 human clinical trials of two of them, developed indigenously by Bharat Biotech, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR), and Zydus Cadila Ltd, are currently underway.

The Serum Institute of India has been permitted for conducting Phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials of the third vaccine candidate developed by the Oxford University.

The Pune-based institute has partnered with AstraZeneca for manufacturing the vaccine.