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Eye on Dalits, PM Modi launches Bhim pay app

December 31, 2016

New Delhi, Dec 31: With his gaze fixed on UP and the larger Dalit constituency, PM Narendra Modi launched on Friday an app whose acronym Bhim (Bharat Interface for Money) beamed a political message to the socially disadvantaged.

pmThe app, which seeks to ensure easy, fast and secure digital transactions, saw Modi invoking Dalit icon B R Ambedkar several times at an event here as he argued digitalisation would empower the poor -rather than disadvantage them, as maintained by some demonetisation critics.

The acronym is reminiscent of pro-Dalit outfit BSP's "Jai Bhim" slogan and carries an association with Dalit movements. Apart from challenging BSP in the UP polls, the move seeks to counter the flak BJP received over violence against Dalits in some of the states it rules and also the Rohith Vemula suicide. The mantra of Dr Ambedkar was to work for uplift of the poor. And the biggest power of technology is that it can empower the poor," Modi said as he extolled the app's feature that allows a thumb print to activate it. Earlier, use of a thumb impression for legal purposes was a sign of illiteracy (angutha chhaap) but technology and the new app could turn this into an instrument of personal empowerment, the PM said. "Your thumb is your bank now. It has become your identity now."

The political application of Bhim was all too evident as the launch of the app comes just before the crucial assembly elections in UP where BJP is struggling to detach the Dalits from BSP chief Mayawati. The social enlargement Modi had in mind seemed to be an attempt to expand the constituency beyond the party's more traditional catchment of upper castes to the less well-off OBCs and SCs.

Addressing the gathering of party workers and officials, Modi recalled Ambedkar as an economist and even went on to utter "Bahujan Hitay Bahujan Sukhay".

"The RBI was born on principles he (Ambedkar) wrote in his thesis. How the federal structure should run economically. The Finance Commission that was formed for this purpose was a result of his principles. If there is one person whose contribution stands out in India's economic framework, it is Babasaheb Ambedkar's," Modi said.

"No matter how far a country has gone, even for them, they have to go to Google, ask Google Guru what is Bhim. At first, they will see Bhim from Mahabharat. If they dig deeper, they will find Bharat Ratna Bhimrao Ambedkar. This was the goal of his life, to empower the poor. And this is what the app will do. This is the poor's treasure. This will empower the poor, farmers, tribal people," the PM said.

Arguing that Bhim app will bring Ambedkar centrestage, Modi said, "Be it a smartphone or feature phone of Rs 1,000-1,200, Bhim app can be used. There is no need to have internet connectivity .One only needs a thumb" Modi's dedication of the app to Ambedkar is a part of his strategy over the past year to seek to position BJP as being truly mindful of his legacy . He has repeatedly attacked Congress for ignoring and even downplaying Ambedkar in comparison with Nehru-Gandhi leaders.

BJP and Sangh Parivar have tried to appropriate a piece of the Dalit icon's legacy as the Modi government accelerated construction of an Ambedkar memorial in Delhi.

BJP government in Maharashtra decided to buy the London flat where Ambedkar stayed and the Sangh Parivar celebrated the birth centenary of the framer of the Constitution on a big scale through the year.

But BJP suffered setbacks because of Hyderabad Central University student Rohith Vemula's suicide and the atrocity committed by gau rakshaks on Dalits at Una in Gujarat. But the incidents have not fazed BJP and Sangh Parivar as only on Thursday, the government relaxed guidelines to facilitate the constriction of Ambedkar memorial in Mumbai. The government also plans to announce the mega draw of Rs 1 crore under "Lucky Grahak Yojana" and "DigiDhan Vyapar Yojana" on April 14, the birth anniversary of Ambedkar.

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Skazi
 - 
Sunday, 1 Jan 2017

In India Feku is acting like BHIM and Arjuna ....But, but Google and You tube have placed Modi in the list of top 10 CRIMINALS of the world ....

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News Network
January 27,2020

Jan 27: Bollywood Film Director Anurag Kashyap, who has been vocal about his political views on social media, slammed Union Minister Amit Shah and accused him of being 'cheap'.

"How timid our Home Minister is. Its own police, its own goons, its own army and security increases and invades unarmed protestors. Amit Shah has crossed the extent of cheapness and inferiority. History will spit on this animal," Kashyap tweeted.

The film director has taken an active part in the anti-Citizenship Act protest rallies and was against the Jawaharlal Nehru violence. He also came in support of his contemporary Deepika Padukone when the latter faced backlash for showing up at JNU in support of the students.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given nod to the Serum Institute of India (SII) for conducting phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials of the Oxford University developed Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the country.

Government officials said that the approval for conducting phase 2 and 3 clinical trials by the SII was granted by DCGI Dr V G Somani late Sunday night after a thorough evaluation based on the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on Covid-19.

"The firm has to submit safety data, evaluated by the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), to the CDSCO before proceeding to phase 3 clinical trials," a senior official said.

"As per the study design, each subject will be administered two doses four weeks apart (first dose on day one and second dose on day 29) following which the safety and immunogenicity will be assessed at predefined intervals," the official said.

As a rapid regulatory response, the expert panel at the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Friday, after a detailed deliberation and considering the data generated on the vaccine candidate in phase 1 and 2 of the Oxford University trial, had recommended granting permission for phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the potential vaccine, 'Covishield', on healthy adults in India,  the officials said.

Currently, phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the Oxford vaccine candidate is going on in the United Kingdom, phase 3 clinical trial in Brazil and phase 1 and 2 clinical trials in South Africa.

The officials said that the SII had submitted a revised proposal on Wednesday after the SEC on July 28, following deliberation over its application, had asked it to revise its protocol for the phase 2 and 3 clinical trials besides seeking some additional information.

The panel had also recommended that the clinical trial sites which have been proposed for the study be distributed across India.

According to the revised proposal by the SII, 1,600 people aged above 18 years will participate in the trials across 17 selected sites, including AIIMS-Delhi, B J Medical College in Pune, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS) in Patna, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, AIIMS-Jodhpur, Nehru Hospital in Gorakhpur, Andhra Medical College in Visakhapatnam and JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research in Mysore.

"According to the application, it would conduct an observer-blind, randomised controlled study to determine the safety and immunogenicity of 'Covishield' on healthy Indian adults," the official said.

The SII, which has partnered with AstraZeneca, for manufacturing the Oxford vaccine candidate for Covid-19 had submitted its first application to the DCGI on July 25 seeking permission for conducting the phase 2 and 3 trials of the potential vaccine. 

Initial results of the first two-phases of trials of the vaccine conducted in five trial sites in the UK showed that it has an acceptable safety profile and homologous boosting increased antibody response, sources had said.

To introduce the vaccine, SII, the world's largest vaccine maker by number of doses produced and sold, has signed an agreement to manufacture the potential vaccine developed by the Jenner Institute (Oxford University) in collaboration with British-Swedish pharma company AstraZeneca. 

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Agencies
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: The Central government said on Wednesday that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country is now doubling in every 10 days, adding that had the lockdown not been imposed on time, the number of cases would have sky-rocketed to over one lakh by now.

"Had we not taken the decision to impose nationwide lockdown, we would have had around one lakh COVID-19 cases by now. This is a reasonable estimate," said Niti Aayog member V.K. Paul.

Paul, who is also the Chairman of the government's Empowered Committee- 1, said the "cases are now doubling in every 10 days."

"As on March 21, our doubling time of cases was three days. Results started showing on March 23, due to travel restrictions imposed earlier. On April 6, further slowing of doubling rate became visible, thanks to the nationwide lockdown," he added.

He further added that the decision to impose the lockdown was timely and asserted that the curve has begun to flatten.

"Nationwide lockdown helped take us away from the exponential growth curve and thereby contain the growth of COVID-19 cases," he said.

Paul further added that surveillance has been a great strength in containing the spread of the virus.

"Besides containing the spread, augmenting testing and improving preparedness, the nation has brought about a massive behavioural change through a ‘Jan Andolan' (mass movement)," he said.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases in the country has crossed the 23,000-mark, with 718 deaths. Globally, the number of cases has crossed 2.7 million while the death toll has mounted to 1.9 lakh.

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