Newsletter 15 July

News in Box

Headlines of the Week

PM Narendra Modi at the 15^th India-EU (virtual) summit
Record 15-hour marathon talks between India-China for second phase of disengagement along LAC conclude
China fury: World on alert after China vows devastating revenge on US sanctions
Prime Minister Modi’s address on World Youth Skills Day
Jio Ready With ‘world-class 5G Solution’, Expected To Roll Out In 2021

PM Narendra Modi at the 15th India-EU (virtual) summit

India and EU are natural partners. Our partnership is significant for peace and stability of the world. This reality has become even clearer in the global situation today.

The 15^th meeting of the India-European Union Summit held at in virtual mode. The Summit is be co-chaired by PM Narendra Modi, President of European Council Charles Michel and President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

PM Modi co-chairs 15^th India-EU-Summit virtually with Charles Michel, President of the European Council, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Embassy of India for Belgium. India-EU strategic partnership has gained strength from regular interactions between the leaders at the highest levels. -MEA

“We had to cancel India-EU summit in March due to COVID19. It is good that we are able to come together today through virtual medium”. Apart from current challenges, long-term challenges like climate change also a priority for India and the EU. In our efforts to increase the use of renewable energy in India, we invite investment and technology from Europe: Modi said in inaugural address.

As the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant consequences heighten tensions between the US and China, the effort to reform and rebuild a multilateral world order has only just begun. India and the EU—being home to the largest democracy and some of the oldest democracies, respectively—are in a unique position to lead this effort. Now is the time for the EU and India to enhance cooperation, strengthen and deepen their dialogue, and work towards defending a rules-based global order that facilitates sustainable growth, security and stability. As India prepares to host the G20 in 2022, the virtual India-EU Summit on 15 July is a step towards India aligning itself for a bigger and more diversified role in the emerging world order.

What experts say?

Technology and Climate Partnership is the Way Forward- Alena Kudzko
In Times of Strategic Confusion, Deeper Dialogue is a Must- Carl Bildt
Bolstering India-EU Partnership Beyond the Trade Pact-Indrani Bagchi
India-EU Partnership Must Rise to its Potential-Gurjit Singh
The Advantage of Diversity for a Multilateral World Order-Volker Perthes
Indo-European Partnership Key for Sustainable World Order-Alexander Kulitz
India- EU Cooperation in Times of Global (Dis)Order-Ummu Salma Bava
Technology Innovation is Key for Stable Global Order-Stefania Benaglia
Furthering the Multilateral, Rules-Based World Order-Paolo Magri
In 2017, Modi’s message in Germany was simple but potent: “India wants the world not just to be interconnected but also that it should be sensibly run”. This explains why ‘more multilateralism not less’ remains the leitmotif that anchors the India-EU relationship.- Shruti Pandalai
A Virtual Search for a New Paradigm-Bhaswati Mukherjee
India and EU Must Build the Institutional Architecture for New Global Governance-Gulshan Sachdeva

Record 15-hour marathon talks between India-China for second phase of disengagement along LAC conclude

The key agenda of the meet was about Chinese PLA removing tanks, artillery and additional forces at Pangong Lake and Depsang areas in eastern Ladakh. The outcome of the meeting is now being assessed and discussed at higher levels in New Delhi and Beijing. Till 1700 hrs IST no any official information has come from New Delhi

The fourth round of Corps Commanders level talks between India and China held on Tuesday at Chushul in Eastern Ladakh went on for 15 hours as both sides worked to finalize details of the next phase of disengagement.

Removal of Chinese PLA tanks, artillery and additional forces at Pangong Lake and Depsang areas in eastern Ladakh main agenda of talks
The talks began at Chushul post on the Indian side at 11: 30 am yesterday and ended at around 2 am on July 15.
As part of the first phase of disengagement, Chinese troops have moved back from Finger 4 to Finger 5 in the Finger area and have already moved back by around two km in the other friction points including Galway valley, Hot Springs and Patrolling Point-15.
While the Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary (East Asia) from the Ministry of External Affairs, the Director-General of the Boundary and Oceanic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the Chinese delegation.

The article, suggests a strategic line of maritime hubs “which can be called a chain of maritime hubs to tackle China“. Looking at several incidents of Chinese aggression over sea and land, “One way to tackle China would be to full equip ports and islands in a way to make them strategic outposts which would help monitor the naval activities combining it with an integrated surveillance network which would give all the countries tactical leverage in the various regional seas.” -Gitanjali Sinha Roy. ‘Andaman & Nicobar Islands can be center point of connecting strategic line of maritime hubs to tackle China’

“It would be rather sensible for all the other countries like the U.S, France, Japan, India and Viet Nam to cooperate and coordinate and try to develop and work towards this concept of a strategic Maritime chain hub to tackle China and this could also be discussed as part of the Quad meetings and also invite more countries to join in,” it said. (ANI)

[for details see 2]

Leader of Indian National Congress Rahul Gandhi says global strategy of India is in tatters. He criticized Modi govt that India is losing power and respect. He further said that Indian govt has no idea what to do #Chabahar #ModiSurrendersToChina #modifailsindia #modishameonyou-Pak Radio Twitted in afternoon.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh heads to Ladakh on June 17-18, will visit forward areas on second day.

Since China’s 1986-88 Sumdorong Chu encroachment, successive Indian governments have downplayed Chinese incursions and obscured the truth. In 2013, then Foreign Minister Salman Kurshid likened China’s deep Depsang incursion to “acne” that could be cured by “applying an ointment.” This explains why the chickens have come home to roost. Today marks one month since the bloody Galwan Valley clashes. Deception and surprise are integral to China’s strategy. Despite the ongoing efforts to disengage rival forces, China could spring another June 15-type surprise.- Brahma Chellaney

Chinese and Indian border troops held the 4^th commander-level talks on Tue, which achieved progress in pushing forward disengagement of frontline border troops from both countries and easing border situation: Chinese FM

China fury: World on alert after China vows devastating revenge on US sanctions

China’s aggressive actions against India give insight into how CPC thinking these days, says U.S. NSA

India is a democracy and is a great friend of the United States, said Robert O’Brien, said on Tue

China’s “very aggressive” actions against India, including the brutal attack on Indian soldiers in eastern Ladakh, and its moves in the South China Sea and Hong Kong give a “good insight” into how the ruling Communist Party of China is thinking these days, U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien has said.
Taking a lot about recent Sino-Indian clash occurred on June 15^th “They beat them so badly with clubs with nails in them and wrapped with concertina — barbed wire,” Mr. O’Brien told Fox News Radio in an interview.

‘India, U.S. have a lot in common’

Responding to a question on U.S.-India bilateral relations, he said, India is a democracy and is a great friend of the United States.
PM Narendra Modi and President (Donald) Trump have a super relationship, Mr. O’Brien said.
“In fact, it was the last foreign trip that I took with the President before the COVID crisis hit, was to India, and we had a great reception of the Indian people there. We have a lot in common with them, we speak English, and we’re democracies. We’ve got a growing, very strong relationship with India,” O’Brien said.
But China’s action towards India, just like its actions in the South China Sea, just like what it’s doing in Hong Kong, just like the bullying intimidation of Taiwan, really gives you a good insight into how the Communist Party of China is thinking these days, he said.
China claims almost all of the 1.3 million square mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory. China has been building military bases on artificial islands in the region also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. It’s something to be very concerned about, Mr. O’Brien said.
On Mon, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected “most” of China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea, the latest in the escalation between Washington and Beijing.
Last week, the Trump administration took action against Chinese officials for their involvement in human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region, where Uighur Muslims and other minority groups have been detained and tortured.
And two weeks ago, the administration announced visa restrictions on current and former Chinese officials who it says “were responsible for eviscerating Hong Kong’s freedoms.”
The Trump administration has been openly critical of Beijing’s sweeping national security law aimed at limiting Hong Kong’s autonomy and banning literature critical of the Chinese Communist Party.

Earlier in the day, Senator Bob Menendez, (top Democratic Senator from New Jersey) a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, alleged that China is seeking to redraw the map of Asia without regard to its neighbors.

As India and China work to disengage along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), I remain deeply concerned by China’s aggressive behavior in territorial disputes, he said.
From the 2017 Doklam stand-off to the recent violence along the borders in Sikkim and Ladakh, to China’s new claims to Bhutanese territory, Beijing has all too often sought to redraw the map of Asia without regard for its neighbors, he said.
The international community must be clear that such behavior is unacceptable, he added.
I am committed to working with the Indian government and the Indian-American community in New Jersey and throughout the United States to advance U.S.-India cooperation, Mr. Menendez said.

Trump sends B-52 NUCLEAR BOMBER to South China Sea arena

Beijing is working to undermine sovereign rights of other coastal states & deny them access to offshore resources that belong to those states, not to China. It wants to replace international law with rule by threats & coercion: Asst Secy,US’ Bureau of East Asian & Pacific Affairs.
- In recent months, while the world has focused on the fight against #COVID19, People’s Republic of China (PRC) has doubled-down on its campaign to impose an order of might makes right in the South China Sea: David R Stilwell, Asst Secy, US’ Bureau of East Asian & Pacific Affairs.
Trump’s odds of winning SKYROCKET after Kanye West bid
The US Commerce Department in May slapped sanctions on seven Chinese companies and two institutions.
Both of which for being “complicit in human rights violations and abuses committed in China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor and high-technology surveillance against Uyghurs”.
In Oct, Pompeo announced visa restrictions on a group of unspecified Chinese officials deemed responsible for Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang.

China’s position on the South China Sea issue has been consistent and clear-cut. While firmly safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, China has been committed to resolving disputes through negotiation and consultation with countries directly involved, managing differences through rules and mechanisms, and achieving win-win results through mutually beneficial cooperation. Chines Envoy in USA

HMS Queen Elizabeth ship to join US navy drills in MAJOR China crackdown maiden voyage will be to join the US and Japan’s joint military exercises in the Far East, as tensions with China continue to rise.

The UK’s new £3 billion aircraft carrier has been put forward for drills in the Far East, according to The Times. It comes as UK and China have been at odds over Huawei’s involvement in Britain’s 5G network, and over the new Hong Kong security law. The US has also pilled on pressure on the UK to take a firmer stance against Beijing.

Where do the disputes arise from?

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which came into effect in 1994, developed a legal framework that was intended to find an equilibrium between the security and economic interests of coastal nations, as well as other nations traversing the high seas.
Under UNCLOS, a country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) – the region that a country may lay claim to, towards the exploitation of marine resources – extends 200 nautical miles from its shore.
Although UNCLOS has been ratified by over 160 nations, it has been interpreted very differently by those nations involved in the South China Sea disputes.
China and Philippines, for instance, have feuded over the Spratly and Paracel Islands as well as the Scarborough Shoal, while other nations like Vietnam, Malaysia, and Taiwan have also laid claim to more than 60 geographic locations in the South China Sea. China, however, with the use of its ‘nine dash-line,’ makes, by far, the largest claim to the seas.
Owing to the size and clout that China commands, smaller nations have been averse to engaging in bilateral discussions with the 1.4 billion-strong nation, instead, according to some analysts, relying on the US’ military presence in the region as a security blanket.
As for why the South China Sea is so vital, this has to do with its importance as critical trade route, coupled with the rich natural resources believed to to dwell on its seabed. Moreover, it also accounts for approximately ten per cent of all the fisheries in the world, thereby providing a means of livelihood for millions.
By some estimates, approximately US$ 3.37 trillion worth of international trade passes through the region.
Moreover, around 80% of all of China’s oil imports also travel through the Strait of Malacca in Indonesia, before moving through the South China Sea, en route to China.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, the South China Sea is estimated to contain nearly 11 billion barrels of oil, along with 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. By other estimates, these figures could be as high 22 billion barrels of oil, and 290 trillion cubic feet of gas.

[for details see 3]

Washington must know that it is an outsider, rather than an insider here. The South China Sea issue should be discussed by relevant countries in the region, and the US should not try to spoil the situation– Global Times (Chinese’s Mouthpiece)

“Untrustworthy Chinese Tech, Convinced Nations Not To Use Huawei”: Trump

We confronted untrustworthy Chinese technology and telecom providers. We convinced many countries not to use Huawei because it’s a big security risk. Just today, the UK announced that they are not going to be using it: US President Donald Trump

He said that countries need to be able to trust that 5G equipment and software will not threaten national security, economic security, privacy, intellectual property, or human rights.

They (WHO) were really a puppet of China. And make no mistake, we hold China fully responsible for concealing the virus and unleashing it upon the world.

No, I haven’t spoken to him (Chinese President) in a while and I have no plan to speak to him: he said on being asked about the last time he spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping and his plan to speak to him in near future.

Trump ends Hong Kong trade preferences, backs banking sanctions

He signed into law an act that authorizes sanctions on banks over China’s clampdown in the city.

“Hong Kong will now be treated the same as mainland China, no special privileges, no special economic treatment and no export of sensitive technologies,” Trump said in the White House Rose Garden.

“And with it goes Hong Kong, in my opinion, because it will no longer be able to compete with free markets. A lot of people will be leaving Hong Kong.”

Prime Minister Modi's address on World Youth Skills Day

This crisis of Corona is the same with World-Culture. The nature of Job has also been changed and the ever-changing technology has also influenced it.

I extend my best wishes to youngsters on World Youth Skill Day today. During this time of Corona Pandemic, along with work culture, the nature of job has also changed and the ever-changing new technology has also been affected, but youth is gaining new skills in the changing times

Mantra to be relevant is to “skill, reskill & upskill” Skill is timeless. Skill is unique which makes you different from others.

Jio Ready With 'world-class 5G Solution', Expected To Roll Out In 2021

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries claimed that Jio has developed a complete 5G solution from scratch, this will enable us to launch a world-class 5G service in India.
This will be ready for trial as a soon as 5G spectrum is available & can be ready for field deployment next year.
Once Jio’s 5G solution is proven at India scale, Jio platforms would be well-positioned to be an exporter of 5G solutions to other telecom operators globally as a complete managed service.
The latest announcement comes after US State Secretary Mike Pompeo listed Reliance Jio as among the “Clean Telcos” of the world for refusing to do business with Chinese companies like Huawei. The RIL chairman said that Jio’s network has held firm despite a huge surge in data traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ambani said that Reliance Jio is now truly a zero net debt company, well ahead of his goal of March 2021.
He said that the world will change more in the next eight decades than it did in the last 20 centuries and India can lead this change if its enterprises are empowered with necessary tech infrastructure and capabilities.
He also announced that Google will 33,737 crores for a 7.7% stake in Jio Platforms while welcoming it as strategic partner Google.
Jio had recently roped in Qualcomm Ventures to invest Rs 730 crore for 0.15% stake of the company.
Everyone should have access to the internet. Proud to partner with Reliance Jio to increase access for the hundreds of millions in India who don’t own a smartphone with our 1st investment of $4.5B from the Google For India Digitization Fund: Sundar Pichai, Google CEO

MHA asks paramilitary forces to ban Facebook for their personnel and ex-servicemen

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sent a letter yesterday, to all paramilitary forces including CRPF, ITBP, BSF, CISF, ITBP and NSG, asking them to ban Facebook in forces as well as for ex-servicemen as they remain in touch with armed forces.
Meeting of Joint Committee of MPs on Personal Data Protection Bill 2019, scheduled for 17 July has been postponed: Sources
The Ministry sent a communication after getting an e-mail from MoS for Home G Kishan Reddy asking to extend the ban of foreign apps in paramilitary forces as well. “
Few days such order has been issued for tri-services to uninstall Facebook and Instagram from their phones. However a Col moved to Delhi HC against this order.

DRDO has developed P7 Heavy Drop System which is capable of para dropping military stores up to 7-ton weight class from IL 76 aircraft. This system is fully indigenous & being manufactured by L&T who makes the platform system, parachutes manufactured by Ordnance Factory: DRDO

DCGI gives market approval for Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine

“On Wed, Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd, Pune has been granted permission to manufacture domestically developed first Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine.
This is the first indigenously developed vaccine in the field of pneumonia.
Earlier the demand of such vaccine was substantially met by licensed importers in the country since the manufacturers were all vaccine companies based outside India,” read a release from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
“This vaccine is used for active immunization against invasive disease and pneumonia caused by “Streptococcus pneumonia” in infants.
The vaccine is administered in an intramuscular manner,” the release further added. (ANI)

Ram Janmabhoomi a Buddhist site: Monks

Buddhist monks sat on a fast unto death in Ayodhya on Tue claiming that the Ram Janmabhoomi area was a Buddhist site and should be handed over to UNESCO for excavation.
They said the ancient artefacts recovered during the levelling of land at Ram Janmabhoomi proved that it was a Buddhist site and demanded that the recovered relics be made public.
The monks demanded the construction work of Ram temple be stopped immediately and UNESCO should take over excavation work at site.
Buddhists consider Ayodhya as Saket which was a center of Buddhism in ancient times.
Staging dharna at the office of Ayodhya district magistrate, members of Saket Mukti Aandolan (Saket Liberation Movement) and Akhil Bharatiya Azad Baudh Dhamma Sena said they were striving to save the signs of Buddhism.

Meanwhile in JnK

Terrorists have abducted Kashmiri civilian Meraj ud Din Malla who is VP Municipal Committee in Watergam, Baramulla of North Kashmir and affiliated to the BJP. Abduction a day after Lashkar e Tayyiba Sopore Commander Sajad (Haidar) threatened J&K Police families and BJP. Lasker Comdr claimed the abduction.

Lakes and Waterways Development Authority starts construction of a food court & a footpath on the banks of Brari Nambal Lake as part of a beautification drive of the lake in Srinagar.

Kashmiris’ desire for freedom can’t be extinguished by India: Munir Akram Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations

Akram says the Kashmiri people’s struggle for self-determination is “more alive and resilient” now and their desire for freedom cannot be extinguished by India’s continued repression.
He added the changing global and regional strategic scenario is accelerating the arrival of this long-awaited dawn for the Kashmiris.
The Pakistani envoy said the inalienable right to self-determination of the people of JnK is embedded in the principles of the UN Charter, the UN’s human rights covenants and the fundamental tenets of international law.
He said this right was specifically promised to the people of JnK by several resolutions of the UN Security Council and was accepted by Pakistan and India.
Akram said any other solution that does not respect the will of Kashmiri people will not be acceptable to the Kashmiris and to the people of Pakistan.
Pakistan lauds Turkish Parliament, government as well as entire Turkish nation for their principled and unwavering support for just resolution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute-Pak PMO

UN Experts Sore Over Police Cases Against Journalists in Kashmir-Clarion India

The letter released on Sunday was by the United Nation Human Rights Commission’s experts–David Kaye (Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression), Leigh Toomey (Vice-Chair of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention), and Mary Lawlor (Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders).

Mentioning cases of four journalists, Naseer Ganai, Masrat Zahra, Gowhar Geelani and Peerzada Ashiq, the letter deplored “the criminal proceedings and investigations initiated for what appears to be the four individuals’ journalistic activities on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.”

The letter was sent to the Indian government on May 12 seeking to know the “measures taken to ensure the right to effective remedies, including the investigation of the alleged violations to the rights of the journalists”.

TCS Recruitment: TCS To Hire 40,000 Fresher’s In India Amid Coronavirus Crisis

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is planning to hire as many as 40,000 freshers in its TCS recruitment amid the Coronavirus crisis. According to several news reports, this move comes despite a sharp drop in the recent quarter’s revenue.

TCS is India’s biggest IT exporter and according to the report, TCS is also considering to double its US campus hiring to nearly 2,000 this fiscal.
This move is aimed at reducing the dependence on H-1B and L-1 work visas.
TCS EVP and global HRD head Milind Lakkad, in a media interaction, said that their key strategy for building the bottom will never change.
The 40,000 freshers in TCS hiring 2020 might become 35000 or even 45000 and that is tactical call TCS will make, he added.
The move shows that TCS is confident of bouncing back in business in the second half of this year.
Apart from Engineers, TCS is also recruiting graduates from the top 10 business schools in the US.
Both freshers and experienced candidates are being hired in TCS recruitment of US for key business roles.
Lakkad in his media interaction said that local delivery was not new to TCS instead they just had to increase the scale.
TCS has hired more than 20,000 Americans since 2014, the report added.

International

China will sanction Lockheed Martin over arms sales to Taiwan

Hong Kong (CNN Business) China said on Tue it would place sanctions on Lockheed Martin (LMT) for its involvement in arms sales to Taiwan, a move that could further escalate tensions between Beijing and Washington.

“China firmly opposes US arms sales to Taiwan,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a press conference. Taiwan is a self-ruled island, but China has long vowed to unify it with the mainland.

The US is one of Taiwan’s main arms suppliers.
The US State Department last week approved a request by Taiwan to upgrade its Patriot Surface-to-Air missiles at an estimated cost of $620 million, according to Taiwan’s state-run Central News Agency.
In response, China is imposing “sanctions on the main contractor of this arms sale, Lockheed Martin,” Zhao said, without going into detail.
The United States should “stop selling arms to Taiwan and cut its military ties to Taiwan, so it won’t do further harm to bilateral relations between China and the United States,” he added.
After tightening sanctions on Huawei, Washington has threatened in recent weeks to ban more of China’s biggest tech companies.
Beijing has sanctioned US officials and lawmakers and told the US to quit interfering in China’s international affairs.
Selling arms to Taiwan “shows the US is advancing its plans to contain the Chinese mainland regardless of the issues it has with handling the coronavirus at home, and it will lead to more chaos and complexity to the region instead of peace and stability,” China’s state run tabloid the Global Times reported last week.
The arms sale is “symbolic, and only gives Taiwan secessionists false courage, rather than boosts its military capabilities,” Yang Chengjun, a Chinese expert on missile technology and nuclear strategy, told the newspaper.
Lockheed Martin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It is unclear how Chinese sanctions would affect the company’s business.
Lockheed Martin said in a recent filing that missiles and firearms will account for less than 20% of the company’s estimated sales for 2020.
It makes more than twice as much revenue from aeronautics, which includes sales of the company’s F-35 fighter jets.
Beijing could restrict Chinese companies from supplying key technology to Lockheed Martin, which would be similar to restrictions Washington has placed on Huawei.
Last year, Sky News reported that a Chinese-owned company manufactures circuit boards for F-35 jets.
Lockheed Martin told the British broadcaster at the time that it was not aware of any other Chinese-owned F-35 suppliers.

Three soldiers embrace martyrdom in Panjgoor district of Baluchistan-Pak Radio

Three soldiers embraced martyrdom while eight others including an officer sustained injuries when their patrolling party came under attack of terrorists in Panjgoor district of Balochistan.
Terrorists opened fire on security forces routine patrolling party near Gichak valley at Kahan.
Five injured soldiers are in critical condition.
The injured soldiers have been evacuated to CMH Quetta.

Nation Amid COVID-19

US COVID-19 Vaccine Enters Final Stage Trial This Month

The Phase 3 trial will recruit 30,000 participants in the US, with half to receive the vaccine at 100 microgram dose levels, and the other half to receive a placebo.
The US biotech firm Moderna said Tue it would enter the final stage of human trials for its COVID-19 vaccine on July 27, after promising early results were published in an influential journal.
The Phase 3 trial will recruit 30,000 participants in the US, with half to receive the vaccine at 100 microgram dose levels, and the other half to receive a placebo.
It is designed to show whether the vaccine is safe and can prevent infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, or — if people still get infected — whether it can prevent the infection progressing toward symptoms.
If they do get symptoms, the vaccine can still be considered a success if it stops severe cases of COVID-19.
The study should run until October 27, 2022, according to its page on clinicaltrials.gov.
The announcement came after the New England Journal of Medicine on Tuesday published results from the first stage of Moderna’s vaccine trial, which showed the first 45 participants all developed antibodies to the virus.
Moderna, currently in the middle stage, is considered to be in a leading position in the global race to find a vaccine against the coronavirus, which has infected more than 13.2 million people and killed 570,000.
China’s SinoVac is also at Phase 2.
Russian news agency TASS on Sun announced Russian researchers have completed clinical trials on a vaccine, though they have not shared their data.
Scientists caution that the first vaccines to come to market may not be the most effective or safest.

SC says can’t regulate Covid-19 treatment cost, asks Health ministry to consider issuing guidelines

Observing that the cost of Covid-19 treatment varies from state to state, the Supreme Court on Tue said that it cannot regulate the cost and asked the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to convene a meeting with the petitioner and consider if some guidelines can be issued to states over the same.

A bench of the apex court, headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde, said that the Supreme Court cannot regulate the cost of Covid-19 treatment.

For details of covid updates, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_India