Ahmedabad-based Zydus Lifesciences said on Tuesday that a new drug application for its oral drug Desidustat used in treating anaemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients had been accepted by the National Medical Products Administration of China (NMPA). In 2020, CMS International Development and Management Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Medical System Holdings Ltd obtained an exclusive license for the product from Zydus. CKD involves a gradual loss of functioning of kidneys and eventually leads to kidney failure.
Indian customers will have wider travel options as airlines introduce new flights from the end of March. While Malaysian Airlines and Turkish Airlines are resuming passenger flights to India after a gap of two years, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa Group will scale up their existing service in a graded manner in the summer schedule. Emirates, the largest foreign airline operating in India, too, is looking to restore its pre-Covid-19 schedule of 172 flights per week.
So far about 124 positive cases have been reported in a host of countries, including India where the first case was confirmed in Kerala.
The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and NATO have expressed concern on the new law and warned of retaliatory measures.
Officials said 387 passengers were aboard two flights from Toronto and Singapore on the day the country ended its strict COVID-19 restrictions for travellers.
Britain and China have clashed over the offer of British National Overseas passports to Hong Kong residents, observes Rup Narayan Das.
'Although Hong Kong weathered many a storm and displayed a remarkable resilience to bounce back, the developments in the territory have raised question marks with regard to its future stability and prosperity.' A revealing excerpt from Rup Narayan Das's Hong Kong Conundrum: Pangs of Transition.
The overall confirmed cases on the mainland reached 80,735 by the end of Sunday which included 3,119 people who have died so far.
The coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, capital of China's Hubei province, in December and has now spread across the globe. The Chinese authorities are trying to contain the epidemic while other countries, including India, are working on plans to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.
Over 2.52 lakh who were in close contacts with patients had been traced with over 1.85 lakh others still under medical observation.
China on Tuesday joined a war of words with the United States over letting whistleblower and former Central Intelligence Agency contractor Edward Snowden to leave Hong Kong saying that it is "unreasonable" for Washington to criticise the decision and make "groundless" accusations.
China on Sunday ruled out allowing open nominations in elections for the Hong Kong's next leader, in a move that could ignite tension in the Asian financial hub where the democracy advocates have threatened to shut down the main business district in protest.
'The notion of a single unarmed town challenging the might of the People's Republic is a little absurd,' says Mihir Sharma.
'India need to look beyond the economic prism.' 'China had no qualms in taking the Kashmir issue to the UN Security Council last year -- not once, but thrice -- thus violating Indian sensitivities,' observes China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
China on Monday evaded queries on its role in the departure of ex-Central Investigation Agency operative Edward Snowden from Hong Kong even as it asked United States to explain the whistleblower's revelations of American cyber attacks on Chinese institutions.
For months, Hong Kong's streets have seethed with discontent. Scenes show protesters, sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands, many wearing surgical masks and carrying umbrellas that have come to signify resistance. The images are astonishing, and the issues that set the protests in motion are complex. Amid these 11 weeks of protests, here's how daily life unfolds.
'If you behave like a nail, the adversary will behave like a hammer.'
India needs to take note of China's assertiveness in implementing its national security law as also its recently exhibited sensitivity to criticism of Xi Jinping by the Indian media, says former senior R&AW officer and China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
"Any attempt to endanger national sovereignty and security, challenge the power of the central government and the authority of the Basic Law of the HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administration Region) or use Hong Kong to carry out infiltration and sabotage activities against the mainland is an act that crosses the red line, and is absolutely impermissible," Xi said.
Edward Snowden, a former private contractor with the Central Intelligence Agencywho leaked the controversial United States secret surveillance programme, on Sunday made fresh claims about America's cyber espionage against China, including intensive hacking attacks on a top university in Beijing.
With a population of more than 60 million, the delta region accounts for nearly 30 per cent of China's exports.