Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Sunday raised concerns over India's drugs regulator granting permission for restricted use of Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine and asked the government to explain why mandatory protocols and verification of data has been dispensed with.
The approval by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) was given on the basis of recommendations submitted by a COVID-19 subject expert committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
Several factors have held India back. One is DoT policy somersaults and lack of clarity on whether to or not to ban Chinese gear makers.
An order issued by the ministry of home affairs on Wednesday said Deputy Inspector General Meena has been "recalled" by the Central Reserve Police Force. Another CRPF DIG, Rajeev Ranjan Kumar, will be the new CEO of the canteens board with immediate effect for a period of three months, it added.
Rediff.com reader Milon Kumar Sanyal from Kolkata tells us how he kept himself busy during the lockdown.
Earlier in the day, the Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar circulated an order stating that 1,026 products manufactured by firms such as Bajaj, Dabur, VIP industries, Eureka Forbes, Jaquar, HUL (foods) and Nestle India will not be sold at CAPF canteens anymore as they are not 'swadeshi' or are prepared from 'purely imported products'.
'The government has realised that the finances of the government are in a precarious state.' 'We are borrowing to fund the ever-burgeoning revenue deficit.' 'Then you are paying interest on the fresh borrowing.' 'For the first time, the government has realised that this cannot go on.'
COVID-19 has emerged as an important form of diplomatic currency around the world as nations try to showcase their soft power gains. In this race, India has an edge as India is already a pharmaceutical giant having produced some 60 per cent of global vaccines and now justly seeking to strengthen ties and expand its influence in its neighbourhood and beyond, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to flag off the train soon, which will ply between Delhi and his Lok Sabha constituency.
"We now realise that the so-called farmer agitation hardly remains a farmers' agitation. It has almost got infiltrated by Leftist and Maoist elements, a flavour of which we saw over the last two days when there were extraneous demands to release people who have been put behind bars for anti-national (and) who have been put behind bars for illegal activities," Goyal, the Minister for Railways, Commerce and Industry and Food and Consumers Affairs, said at FICCI's annual meeting.
The government hopes that the PLI schemes would provide 200,000-300,000 direct employment over five years, according to sources in the know.
In the past two years, Xiaomi has expanded its chain of offline stores across formats - 6,000 Mi Preferred Partner stores and 75 Mi Homes on a franchise-based model, besides exclusive small-format Mi Stores added last year to penetrate Tier-II, -III and -IV cities and towns.
'The prime minister bought spectacles from Germany to see the eclipse, but he cannot see that an eclipse has fallen on the country.'
After healthcare and frontline workers, priority will be given to those above 50 years of age and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities numbering around 27 crore, it added.
On the decision of revoking provisions of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, Modi said this was the wish of 130 crore Indians.
50 per cent of the flashlights market in the country is dominated by Chinese imports, which have been increasing.
The Big Two telecom companies have accelerated their moves towards this next-gen technology, though they have chosen very different routes to getting there.
The firm, headed by Sunil Kumar Gupta, was appointed auditors of the PM's National Relief Fund in 2019, reports Archis Mohan
'We must not compromise with the standard, the quality. We don't need to be the first to launch a drug but what we need is a Made in India vaccine that the entire world can rely on'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday got emotional after interacting with one of the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana who got paralysis attack a couple of years ago and is now recovering from the generic medicine provided under the scheme.
'If you want Aatma Nirbhar, your policies should favour self-reliance, but your policies do not help the idea.' 'How are we going to be self-reliant if you make things difficult for us?'
President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday strongly defended the three new agri laws saying their benefits have begun reaching 10 crore small farmers instantly, and condemned as 'very unfortunate' the Republic Day violence and 'dishonour' to the tricolour during the tractor parade by the protesting farm unions in New Delhi.
Can you help this Indian achieve aviation history?
The pandemic has forced us to reflect and re-evaluate our old habits and perceptions, says Anamika Sengupta.
The terrorists now knew that I was the only one in the room, that I was injured and that I could not continue this battle for long.
Indian companies feel it will be difficult to take on the competition from Bangladesh, Cambodia and others, with their made-in-India products. Ethiopia offers ready-to-use sheds, income tax breaks, training subsidies, and a tax-free gateway into the US, Europe and China. Moreover, labour is available for $60 per month compared to $130-$150 in India.
While OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro were launched in April, the devices were not brought into the Indian market given the lockdown.
Loud applause and cheers rang out as the first jabs were administered to frontline workers at hospitals and healthcare centres across the country on Saturday at the start of the gargantuan COVID-19 vaccination exercise, hailed as a 'momentous' occasion in India's fight against the pandemic.
The cartoon appeared to support the new policy of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' enunciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as a call for a boycott of Chinese products.
Karan Johar, who presents the film in Hindi, can't contain his excitement.
Indian wines are getting better all the time, says Alok Chandra.
He is 54, but looks far better than he did when he was a supermodel in his 20s and 30s. Cooler still is his vibe. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel catches up with Milind Soman, fitness icon and businessman.
The rights issue price has been set at Rs 1,257 a share, a discount of nearly 14 per cent to the last closing price of Rs 1,459. The company had set May 14 as the record date for the rights issue, which meant shareholders as on that day would be eligible to apply. Shareholders will be able to apply for one share for every 15 shares held.
Indian auto industry's dependence on China is high and it will continue to be so in the BS-VI era and as the country moves towards electric mobility. Domestic players lack both technological competence and the sheer pricing advantage that support Chinese imports.
The first COVID-19 vaccine shots in India were given on Saturday to nearly two lakh frontline healthcare and sanitary workers as Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out the world's largest inoculation drive against the pandemic that has caused 1,52,093 deaths and upended millions of lives in the country.
Mamta and Mauji seem to have won over many Indian hearts.
Dhoni presently endorses a healthy 25 brands, and found himself in fifth place on the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list last year, with earnings worth almost Rs 136 crore. How much of that is set to change, given that Dhoni has chosen to call time on his international career?
Beside RIL's Jio Switch and Jio Browser, smaller Indian app companies who have been overwhelmed by TikTok are again seeing a big rush - even though till the second week of June they might not have been even listed in the top 100 apps in the country.
Caught in the crossfire of Sino-India border skirmishes and strained by the severe impact of the pandemic on its business, Brand Hector is foregoing the bustle and frenzy for a quiet digital campaign that talks about its British roots, the smart tech powering its drive and its made-for-India models. The tone is subdued and the brand seems to be deliberately playing down its ownership by Chinese company, SAIC.
