DCGI gives nod to clinical trials of Russia's COVID vaccine

Drugs Controller General of India, DCGI has allowed Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to conduct phase 2 and 3 clinical human trials of Sputnik 5 COVID vaccine in the country. Sputnik 5 Vaccine has been developed in Russia where it has also undergone phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. The clinical trial in India will be a multi-center and randomised controlled study which will primarily focus on safety and immunogenicity study. Earlier last month, Dr. Reddy's and RDIF entered into partnership to conduct clinical trials of Sputnik 5 vaccine and its distribution in the country.The vaccine is currently undergoing phase 3 clinical trials in Russia along with simultaneous trails in UAE.

-Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has suggested formation of State Water Grid in Maharashtra to overcome flood crisis in the State. This will help the State government to ensure the availability of the water in drought-prone areas and save the resources to manage the flood crisis. He has also written a letter to Chief Minister Udhav Thackeray and NCP Chief Sharad Pawar and sought early decision by the State government on this issue. Mr Gadkari has drawn the attention of the Chief Minister towards the serious issue of heavy loss of lives and property that occur in Maharashtra every year due to floods. He said, the floods create and trigger serious problems in different parts of the State and there is an urgent need to chalk out a plan to manage this natural disaster.The Minister has suggested to the Government of Maharashtra to take up the project of formation of the State Water Grid on the lines of the National Power Grid and Highway Grid. The idea is to divert the flood water from one river basin to the other river basin in the drought-prone area. He said, the Grid can give relief to areas with shortage of the water, scanty rainfall. Mr Gadkari also mentioned that this will also help increase agriculture production and strengthen the rural and national economy.

-Nine States and Union Territories have been selected for upgradation to Khelo India State Centre of Excellence, KISCE. The States and UTs include Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir. The Sports Ministry said, the centres have been selected based on their past performances, quality of infrastructure, management and sports culture in the State.Earlier this year, the Ministry had identified a total of 14 centres to be upgraded to Khelo India State Centre of Excellence. The overall number now stands at 24 KISCEs from 23 States and UTs. The assistance to these centres will be provided in the form of bridging the gaps in sports equipment, high performance managers, coaches, sports scientists and technical support.

-In a major decision, the Union Government has amended Jammu & Kashmir’s Panchayati Raj Law 1989, providing for setting up of District Development Councils, delimitation of their constituencies and their elections.Every district will be divided into 14 territorial constituencies to elect members of the Council. The Council will consist of directly elected members from territorial constituencies in the district, MLAs representing a part or whole of the district whose constituencies lie within the district and the Chairperson of all Block Development Councils of the district. All the members of the Council, whether or not elected by direct election from territorial constituencies in the district will have the right to vote in the meeting of the Council. Moreover, there will also be reservation for ST, SC and women in the seats to be filled by direct election to the District Development Councils.

-The paddy procurement for the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season is in full swing. Over 76 lakh tonnes of paddy have been procured from 6,69,000 farmers. The Agriculture Ministry said, government continues to procure Kharif crops at its Minimum Support Price, MSP from farmers as per its existing MSP Scheme. The total MSP value till date has been to the tune of over Rs 14,495 crore.The Ministry said, the approval was accorded to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh under Price Support Scheme for procurement of over 41 lakh tonnes of pulse and oilseeds. The Government through its nodal agencies has procured over 723 tonnes of Moong and Urad having MSP value of Rs 5.21 Crore benefitting 681 farmers in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Haryana.