Kharge hits out at Modi govt for misleading SC over Rafale deal

New Delhi, Jun 25: After the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) given its approval to manufacture and market the generic version of COVID-19 drug Remdesivir, COVIFOR, Hyderabad-based drugmaker Hetero Limited has delivered the first set of 20,000 vials in two equal lots of 10,000 each across 5 states.

The first batch, which is being marketed under the brand name of COVIFOR, was delivered to Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad. Hetero has set a target to produce one lakh vials of the drug in two-three weeks.

The other lot would be supplied to Kolkata, Indore, Bhopal, Lucknow, Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Ranchi, Vijayawada, Cochin, Trivandrum and Goa within a week to meet the emergency requirements.

Managing director of Hetero Healthcare M Srinivasa Reddy said “the launch of Covifor in the country is a milestone in addressing public health emergencies. Through Covifor, we hope to reduce the treatment time of a patient in a hospital thereby reducing the increasing pressure on the medical infrastructure overburdened ue to accelerating COVID-19 infection rates," he said as reported by news agency.

"We are closely working with the government and the medical community to make Covifor quickly accessible to both public and private healthcare settings across the country”, Reddy said.

Covifor is a generic brand of Remdesivir which is used for the treatment of COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalised with strong symptoms of the disease. The Health Ministry had, on June 13, recommended the use of anti-viral drug Remdesivir in moderate stage of COVID-19.

Dr Reddys Laboratories and Hetero are among others which have separately entered into non-exclusive licensing agreements with the original drug-maker Gilead Sciences Inc to register, make and sell the investigational drug Remdesivir in India and other countries.

Remdesivir would be made in the company's formulation facility in Hyderabad, which has been approved by global regulatory authorities such as US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and EU, among others, Hetero had earlier said.

The treatment first showed improvement in trials on coronavirus patients and was approved for emergency use in severely ill patients in the United States and South Korea.

Tehran, May 17: As many as 310 Indian pilgrims departed from Tehran, Iran for New Delhi by Mahan Air on Saturday. The group hails from Ladakh and will later go home to Leh by special flights.

"A group of 310 Indian pilgrims, hailing from Ladakh, departed Tehran for New Delhi by Mahan Air tonight (16th May). 
Thereafter, they'll go home to Leh by special flights," Embassy of India in Iran wrote on Twitter.

On Saturday, Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri said that over 13,000 people have returned under the Vande Bharat repatriation mission till date.

"More than 13,000 people have already returned on various flights under Mission Vande Bharat so far. Today, 812 citizens have returned on Air India and AirIndia Express flights from Newark, London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. More flights continue," Puri wrote on Twitter.

Vande Bharat Mission, which started on May 7 to bring back stranded Indian nationals back home from other countries, initiated its second phase of the operation from Saturday (May 16) by sending three Air India flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Under the second phase of Vande Bharat Mission a total of 149 flights, including feeder flights, will be operated to bring back Indians from 40 countries. 

New Delhi, Jun 30: In a huge blow to popular apps such as TikTok, the Indian government has banned as many as 59 apps that are owned by Chinese companies. The latest announcement comes close on the heels of a rumour of the same, which was termed a hoax by the government. A press release by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has listed 59 apps that will be blocked on internet and non-internet served devices in India, citing reasons that these apps "are engaged in activities prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of state and public order."

Government of India's orders follow the tensions rampant at the Indo-China border after some Indian soldiers were martyred at the Galwan river valley. Ever since the incident, there has been an uproar on social media urging boycott of anything that is related to China, including smartphone brands and apps. While there has been no announcement for the Chinese smartphone brands, the government has immediately blocked as many as 59 apps in India. This means they will not function in India, in addition to their discontinuation on both Google Play Store and App Store at large.

Here are the 59 Chinese apps that have been blocked by the Indian government:

1.            TikTok

2.            Shareit

3.            Kwai

4.            UC Browser

5.            Baidu map

6.            Shein

7.            Clash of Kings

8.            DU battery saver

9.            Helo

10.          Likee

11.          YouCam makeup

12.          Mi Community

13.          CM Brower

14.          Virus Cleaner

15.          APUS Browser

16.          ROMWE

17.          Club Factory

18.          Newsdog

19.          Beauty Plus

20.          WeChat

21.          UC News

22.          QQ Mail

23.          Weibo

24.          Xender

25.          QQ Music

26.          QQ Newsfeed

27.          Bigo Live

28.          SelfieCity

29.          Mail Master

30.          Parallel Space

31.          Mi Video Call - Xiaomi

32.          WeSync

33.          ES File Explorer

34.          Viva Video - QU Video Inc

35.          Meitu

36.          Vigo Video

37.          New Video Status

38.          DU Recorder

39.          Vault- Hide

40.          Cache Cleaner DU App studio

41.          DU Cleaner

42.          DU Browser

43.          Hago Play With New Friends

44.          Cam Scanner

45.          Clean Master - Cheetah Mobile

46.          Wonder Camera

47.          Photo Wonder

48.          QQ Player

49.          We Meet

50.          Sweet Selfie

51.          Baidu Translate

52.          Vmate

53.          QQ International

54.          QQ Security Center

55.          QQ Launcher

56.          U Video

57.          V fly Status Video

58.          Mobile Legends

59.          DU Privacy