Row over Amit Shah's landing at yet-to-be-opened Kannur airport

Agencies
October 29, 2018

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 29: A controversy has erupted over BJP president Amit Shahlanding at the yet to be opened Kannur airport, with a Kerala minister slamming him Sunday for threatening to oust the LDF government despite it allowing him to arrive there as part of state's 'tradition of hospitality.'

State finance minister TM Thomas Isaac tweeted that though the state had shown the 'tradition of hospitality' by permitting Shah to land at the airport, which had not been formally inaugurated, the BJP leader had threatened to oust the left ruled Kerala government.

The official inauguration of the Kannur airport, the fourth in the state, is scheduled to be held on December 9.

But, by arriving in a special flight there yesterday to inaugurate the BJP's new district committee office, Shah has unofficially become the first passenger to land at the airport at Mattanur in Kannur.

Isaac said Shah's "empty threats" were out of frustration as the saffron party is yet to get more members in the state assembly.

Former Union minister, O Rajagopal, is the lone MLA of the BJP in the house.

"Amit Shah permitted to land in Kannur airport which is yet to be opened. That is our tradition of hospitality. But he is threatening to oust Kerala government. Such empty threats do not frighten us. Try to win few seats in Assembly. Your frustration is understandable," Isaac tweeted.

Hundreds of party workers had gathered Saturday at the airport to welcome Shah who was in Kerala on a day's visit.

After inaugurating the party office located at Thalikkavu, he had made a scathing attack on the CPM-led LDF government in the state over the issue of entry of women in Sabarimala temple and pledged BJP's support for it.

Main opposition Congress took on the LDF government for allowing the BJP chief to use the airport.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, Mullappally Ramachandran alleged that Shah landed at the airport following an 'understanding' between him and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

"At a time when the Kannur airport is scheduled to be inaugurated on December 9, it was specially opened for Amit Shah. Usually, it is done so during emergency situations," he said in a statement.

Amit Shah had arrived in Kannur Saturday on a day's visit to Kerala to attend a party function in that city and the 90th Mahasamadhi observance of saint social reformer Sree Narayana Guru at Varkala near Thiruvananthapuram.

Later, in a hard-hitting speech, Shah had warned chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan that he would have to pay a "heavy price" if the (attack on Ayyappa devotees) continues, as BJP workers "would not hesitate to pull down the government."

Comments

Malik
 - 
Tuesday, 30 Oct 2018

This hate monger and trouble maker should not be allowed in peace loving kerala state.  He is arriving only to create trouble and give hate speech.   He is famous to igniting communal voilence in many places.  Many criminal cases are on him, but shame that he is free.   Suspected innocents are in jails for no reasons and real trouble makers are in the Govt and enjoying tax payers money.   In case this trouble maker visits Kerala, his visits should be monitored and recorded.

fairman
 - 
Monday, 29 Oct 2018

AYYAPPA POLITICS.

 

These shameless goons will not hesistate to do any dirty politics even at the cost of worshippers.

Oh Malayalese, Kerala is the safest state in India.

Do not allow these BJP (Bharath Jeopardizing party) to mess around in Kerala the land of the God.

 

Quick out these criminals from Kerala, who think they  will be success in kerala as they did in Gurjarat and other parts of the country.

Never allow them nor give any hospitality. The State can prevent him from entering as the law allowes to take any such action in the interest of the state.

 

 

 

 

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News Network
April 16,2020

United Nations, Apr 16: WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has welcomed the world health body's cooperation with India to leverage strategies that helped the country win its war against polio into the response to COVID-19 outbreak, saying such joint efforts will help defeat the pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it will work with India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to leverage the strategies that helped the country eradicate polio to fight the pandemic.

Migrants who returned to UP and Bihar were hurriedly housed in schools and panchayat buildings, which were turned into quarantine centres. However, unhygienic conditions and people running away have proved to be a problem

The WHO's national polio surveillance network will be engaged to strengthen COVID-19 surveillance and its field staff will continue to support immunization and elimination of tuberculosis and other diseases.

“Great news: @MoHFW_INDIA & @WHOSEARO initiated a systematic engagement of @WHO's national polio surveillance network, and other field staff, for India's #COVID19 response, tapping into the best practices & resources that helped win its war against polio,” the WHO director-general tweeted, referring to India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and World Health Organization Regional Office for South-East Asia.

According to the Johns Hopkins University data, over 2 million people are infected by the virus and more than 136,000 people have died of the disease globally.

Ghebreyesus expressed gratitude to Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan “for his leadership and collaboration” with WHO. “Through these joint efforts we can defeat the #coronavirus and save lives. Together!”

India eliminated polio in 2014.
According to a WHO press release, Vardhan said in New Delhi that “time and again the Government of India and WHO together have shown our ability, competence and prowess to the whole world. With our combined meticulous work, done with full sincerity and dedication, we were able to get rid of polio.”

“All of you in the field – IDSP (Integrated Disease Surveillance Project), state rapid response teams and WHO - are our ‘surveillance corona warriors'. With your joint efforts we can defeat the coronavirus and save lives,” Vardhan added.

WHO South-East Asia Regional Director Poonam Khetrapal Singh said the National Polio Surveillance Project (WHO-NPSP) played a critical role in strengthening surveillance for polio that generated useful, timely and accurate data to guide policies, strategies and interventions until transmission of the poliovirus was interrupted in the country,” adding that the other WHO field staff involved with elimination of tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases and hypertension control initiative were also significant resources.

Singh added that “it is now time to use all your experience, knowledge and skills, with the same rigor and discipline that you showed while monitoring polio activities, to support districts with surveillance, contact tracing and containment activities.”

The WHO release said strengths of the NPSP team – surveillance, data management, monitoring and supervision, and responding to local situations and challenges – will be utilized to supplement efforts of National Centre for Disease Control, IDSP and Indian Council of Medical Research to strengthen COVID-19 surveillance.

The NPSP team will also support in sharing information and best practices and help states and districts calibrate their response based on transmission scenarios and local capacities.

The WHO field staff will continue to support immunization and surveillance and elimination of Tuberculosis and Neglected Tropical Diseases, Singh said, adding, “disease outbreaks can negatively impact progress in a range of areas, from maternal and child mortality to vaccine-preventable diseases and other treatable conditions. India had been making stupendous progress in these areas and we cannot afford for India's remarkable progress to be set back or reversed.”

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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
February 6,2020

Mumbai, Feb 6: The Reserve Bank of India, for the second straight time, on Thursday kept its key policy rate unchanged at 5.15 per cent, maintaining its accommodative policy stance as long as it was necessary to revive growth.

The central bank retained GDP growth at 5 per cent for 2019-20 and pegged it at 6 per cent for the next fiscal.

"Economic activity remains subdued and the few indicators that have moved up recently are yet to gain traction in a more broad-based manner. Given the evolving growth-inflation dynamics, the MPC felt it appropriate to maintain status quo,” the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said.

The six-member committee voted unanimously to hold rates, but also said that there is “policy space available for further action”.

Between February and October 2019, the RBI had reduced repo rate by 135 basis points.

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