India's merchandise exports in June rose by 16.78 per cent year-on-year to $37.94 billion while the trade deficit ballooned to a record $25.63 billion on account of a steep increase in gold and crude oil imports, according to the government's preliminary data released on Monday. The export growth in June moderated from 20.55 per cent in May and 48.34 per cent in June 2021. During the month under review, exports of engineering, pharmaceutical and plastic products recorded negative growth.
The US spent $1.5 million a day since 2001 fighting the opium war in Afghanistan. After hundreds of airstrikes failed to curtail the Taliban's $200-million-a-year opium trade, the US military quietly ended the campaign when the Trump administration officials engaged in direct peace talks with the Taliban, notes Atanu Biswas.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi attacked the Congress and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday for "failing" to ensure development of Northeast though he represented Assam for the last 23 years in the Rajya Sabha.
Recalling how the industry used to face "hardships" in securing permissions and "harassment from bureaucrats" 50 years ago, chairman of the Pune-based vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII), Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, on Friday hailed the Modi government saying that red-tapism and licence raj have come down under its rule.
Tamil Nadu's latest budget offers path-breaking initiatives and major boost for social infrastructure, which other state governments are sure to follow in the coming years, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The World Health Organisation's technical advisory group will meet on October 26 to consider the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of Covaxin, a vaccine developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech protecting against COVID-19, the global health agency's chief scientist said.
The CoWIN portal will be made available in Hindi and 14 regional languages by next week, while 17 more laboratories will be added to the INSACOG network to monitor the variants of COVID-19, the health ministry said on Monday.
'All this while he has been maintaining that he is innocent and, if that is the case, why will he run away?'
Serum Institute has the capacity to make 250 million doses of Covishield monthly.
Prima facie, there was evidence to indicate that there was a 'conspiracy' between Hasina Parkar (Ibrahim's sister), Salim Patel (alleged associate of Ibrahim) and Malik to grab the land owned by Munira Plumber and her mother Mariyum Goawala, said R N Rokade, special judge for cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
'Pfizer India has submitted an application on December 4 to the DCGI seeking emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in India'
It is certain that the Chinese government was 'under-prepared' as it decided to end its zero-COVID policy abruptly after people held protests across the country, The Hong Kong Post reported.
Over the last four days, the Indian arm of US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Pune-based Serum Institute of India and Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech have applied to the Drugs Controller General of India seeking emergency use authorisation for their COVID-19 vaccines.
The government on Wednesday approved a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the pharmaceutical sector, entailing an outlay of Rs 15,000 crore. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the scheme which will benefit domestic manufacturers, help create employment and is expected to contribute to the availability of a wider range of affordable medicines for consumers. The duration of the scheme would be from 2020-21 to 2028-29 and is expected to promote the production of high value products in the country and increase the value addition in exports, an official release said.
On legal front, Wankhede, who the NCB asserted has an impeccable service record, failed to get any relief related to an affidavit on the sensational extortion claims made by the independent witness, Prabhakar Sail, with a special court saying it cannot pass a blanket order barring courts from taking cognisance of the document.
The company has developed detailed logistical plans and tools to support effective vaccine transport, storage, and temperature monitoring. Sohini Das and Ruchika Chitravanshi report.
Paul noted that "three to four months from now, there will be other vaccines and the stockpile will be even bigger. "And more acceleration can be brought about in the vaccination programme," Paul added.
I got to know that every referred case for angiography and angioplasty got a kickback of Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively. Seeing this trend, doctors started paying referring doctors Rs 1 lakh in advance and adjusting it as and when patients came in. This menace slowly spread its tentacles all over the medical field, including radiological diagnostics and biochemistry laboratories. For every test ordered, 20 per cent of the bill was given back to the referring doctor. This led to doctors recommending unnecessary tests. The pharmaceutical companies also saw burgeoning business. Acclaimed doctors were given televisions sets, refrigerators, air conditioners and cars depending upon the prescriptions. General practitioners would prescribe unnecessary drugs, and were given returns in cash. A fascinating excerpt from Dr Upendra Kaul's When The Heart Speaks.
Custody cannot be granted on vague grounds, noted a magistrate court on Thursday while rejecting the NCB's plea seeking further remand of Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, and seven others arrested in a case pertaining to alleged seizure of banned drugs aboard a cruise ship here.
The dinner Jill Biden and her husband US President Joe Biden hosted for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, June 22, at the White House brought together, Indians and Americans from so many firmaments.
China remains a "formidable challenge" that has increased its presence not only along India's land borders but also in the maritime domain, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Tuesday and asserted that the naval force keeps a regular watch in the Indian Ocean Region.
Security breach came days after the firm got approval to conduct trials for Covid-19 vaccine candidate Sputnik V.
Hemant Shivsaran lists the number of projects the Modi government has announced since August to woo Gujarat voters.
He said that those who have surrendered and returned to the mainstream are being rehabilitated by both the central and Assam governments and they will participate in the development journey of the state.
Once available, Sputnik V will be the third vaccine to be used in India against coronavirus.
The Pune-based vaccine major has entered into a collaboration with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine.
Poor governance and mediocre short-sighted politics are destroying the paradise that Goa was as its environment, water table, culture and way of life is drastically threatened by tourism and migration, points out Ramesh Menon.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday told Bharatiya Janata Party MPs that Covid vaccination for children is likely to start soon, sources said.
The vaccine option for this age group would only be Covaxin, according to guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry on December 27.
The Lakshadweep administration, which is under attack from the Opposition for its changes, on Thursday said it was laying the foundation for the future of islands in a planned way and to develop it on the lines of Maldives in two decades.
Kuttey's muddled momentum cannot cover up the trail of loopholes it leaves behind, observes Sukanya Verma.
Three new categories -- all asymptomatic healthcare workers working in non-COVID hospitals/areas of COVID hospitals/blocks, asymptomatic frontline workers such as surveillance workers deployed in containment zones and paramilitary/police personnel involved in COVID-19 related activities -- have now been included.
Import alert on Ranbaxy's Mohali unit; Strides' injectible arm gets warning letter
Indians will forever remember Akram as the scary phenomenon with the soft smile, the man who rattled through the Indian batting order, but was rarely as hated as Waqar or Shoaib Akhtar, observes Vaibhav Raghunandan.
The first 100 beneficiaries of such foreign vaccines shall be assessed for seven days for safety outcomes before it is rolled out for further immunisation programme within the country, the Union health ministry said.
The Food and Drug Administration said its decision is based on new information, including clinical trial data results, that have led it to conclude that the drugs may not be effective to treat COVID-19 and that its potential benefits for such use do not outweigh its known and potential risks.
The phase-three human clinical trial of indigenously developed anti-coronavirus vaccine candidate Covaxin began at the AIIMS in New Delhi on Thursday, with Dr M V Padma Srivastava, the chief of Neurosciences Centre at the premier institute, and three other volunteers receiving the first dose.
'WHO & an independent group of experts are scheduled to meet next week to carry out the risk/benefit assessment and come to a final decision whether to grant Emergency Use Listing to Covaxin,' the global health body tweeted.
'Someone may have diabetes, but at what level the disease qualifies as a comorbid condition is something a doctor will decide upon and certify accordingly.'
The 30-share BSE Sensex surged by 477.24 points or 0.83 per cent to close at more than one-week high of 57,897.48. As many as 28 of its constituents closed with gains while two declined. The broad-based Nifty of the National Stock Exchange rose by 147.20 points or 0.86 per cent to settle 17,233.45, tracking gains in Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, and Reliance Industries.
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