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Indian-origin Neil Basu is Scotland Yard's new counter-terror chief

Agencies
March 6, 2018

London, Mar 6: Neil Basu, a senior Indian-origin Scotland Yard officer, was today appointed as the counter-terrorism chief, a job viewed by many as the toughest in British policing.

Basu, currently the Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner, will be promoted to the rank of Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations, according to an official announcement.

He will take charge as the force's National Lead for Counter Terrorism (CT) and the Head of the Met Police's Specialist Operations after the resignation of incumbent Mark Rowley on March 21.

Basu, whose father is of Indian origin, said It is a privilege to be asked to join the management board of the Met and to lead for CT policing at such a point in our history. It is both a challenge and a duty that I accept with humility and a sense of great purpose.

I will lead to the best of my ability, the most extraordinary people I have ever worked with as they work night and day to counter terrorism, he said in a statement.

Basu was promoted to Deputy Assistant Commissioner in 2015 and at that time was posted to lead on protection and security, including Royalty and Specialist Protection, Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection, Aviation Policing and Protective Security Operations.

He took up his current role as Senior National Coordinator for counter-terrorism in October 2016, responsible for delivering the police response to pursuing terrorists and the forces prevent strategy aimed at de-radicalisation to prevent terror attacks.

Prior to that, Basu worked as a detective in all ranks up to Detective Superintendent in a range of areas including anti-corruption and homicide within the Met Police's Serious and Organised Crime Command.

He has also held the posts of area commander for South East London and Head of Armed Policing within the force.

I am delighted that Neil is joining our senior team. He takes on a job of enormous importance and responsibility leading counter-terrorism policing nationally and in London and is a worthy successor to Mark Rowley, Scotland Yard chief Cressida Dick said.

The Met Police Commissioner praised Basu for his skills, experience and character and described him as a leader of courage, compassion and integrity.

He has already undertaken some of the toughest jobs in policing, not least in the last year as senior national coordinator countering terrorism and has proven how good his judgment and resilience is... I know he will do a great job, she added.

Basu had been the front-runner for Britain's top job in counter-terrorism, often referred to as the toughest policing role in the country.

He is well regarded by others in policing as well as by MI5, the UK's internal security service which works closely with the police on countering terror attacks.

Scotland Yard said that a recruitment campaign will be launched later this month to fill Basu's current role as Senior National Coordinator.

In the interim, Commander Dean Haydon, who is the head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) will undertake this role as temporary Deputy Assistant Commissioner and Senior National Coordinator.

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News Network
July 20,2020

Paris, Jul 20: Two coronavirus vaccine candidates have proven safe for humans and produced strong immune reactions among patients involved in separate clinical trials, doctors said on Monday.

The first trial among more than 1,000 adults in Britain found that the vaccine induced "strong antibody and T cell immune responses" against the novel coronavirus.

A separate trial in China involving more than 500 people showed most had developed widespread antibody immune response.

The studies, published in The Lancet medical journal, constitute a major step on the road towards a COVID-19 vaccine that is effective and safe for widespread use.

The authors of the studies said that they encountered few adverse side-effects from the vaccine candidates.

However, they cautioned that more research was needed, particularly among older adults, who are disproportionately at risk of dying of COVID-19.

Co-author Sarah Gilbert from the University of Oxford said the results "hold promise".

"If our vaccine is effective, it is a promising option as these types of vaccine can be manufactured at large scale."

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News Network
February 16,2020

Varanasi, Feb 16: Amidst continuing protests against the amended citizenship law, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said his government stood by the decision despite all pressure.

"Be it the decision on Article 370 or the Citizenship Amendment Act, it was necessary in the interest of the country. Despite pressure, we stand by our decision and will remain so," he said.

Modi was addressing a public meeting in his Lok Sabha constituency.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also asserted that the trust set up for construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya will work "rapidly".

"A trust has been formed for construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. This trust will work rapidly," he said at a public meeting during his day-long visit to his Lok Sabha constituency.

The government had recently set up the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra on the Supreme Court's directive to the Union government to form a trust that can look into the construction and management of the temple.

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Agencies
July 29,2020

If everything goes as Russia’s expectation, it will be world’s first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine for widespread in the second week of August despite safety and efficacy concerns, according to a report. The adenoviral vector-based vaccine developed by Russian military and government researchers is currently in phase 2 trials.

According to a report from CNN, Russian officials are hoping to get approval for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute on Agust 10 or even before that. The officials told the outlet that the vaccine will be approved for public use with frontline healthcare workers receiving it first.

“It’s a Sputnik moment,” said Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which is financing Russian vaccine research, referring to the successful 1957 launch of the world’s first satellite by the Soviet Union, according to CNN.

“Americans were surprised when they heard Sputnik’s beeping. It’s the same with this vaccine. Russia will have got there first,” he was quoted as saying.

However, Russia is yet to release the scientific data on its coronavirus vaccine trials, hence, questions remain about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, said the report. The vaccine is in the second phase of testing with developers planning to launch the phase 3 trials sometime after August 3.

Earlier, Interfax reported, citing Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, that the vaccine will be widely used in parallel with phase 3 trials. He said the country plans to vaccinate medics who are at high-risk for COVID-19 next month before clinical trials are completed.

Murashko added that individuals at higher risk of getting infected with the coronavirus such as older people or those with health conditions will also be prioritised for the vaccine, although he did not estimate or reveal when that would happen. The minister added 800 people will be recruited for the phase 3 trials.

Meanwhile, health officials were more cautious considering the fact that human testing of the vaccine is incomplete, and the state registration is expected to begin after August 3, reported The Moscow Times.

On Monday, Moderna and Pfizer announced the commencement of the final phase 3 trials of their candidate vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has so far claimed at least 654,477 lives and infected 16,514,500 people worldwide. 

Researchers will recruit up to 30,000 volunteers in separate trials both backed by the US government. India's first indigenous coronavirus vaccine, COVAXIN, is undergoing phase 1 human clinical trials across the country. More than 150 COVID-19 vaccines are being developed all over the world with at least six candidates already in late-stage clinical trials.

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