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Tulsi Gabbard extends warm welcome to PM Modi ahead of US visit, says 'sorry for not joining you at Howdy, Modi'

Agencies
September 20, 2019

Sept 20: Tulsi Gabbard, the first Indian-origin woman candidate for US presidential elections, has extended a warm welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his visit to US while also apologised for not being able to join the "Howdy Modi" event scheduled to be held in Houston on September 22.

Gabbard, a member of the Democratic Party of the United States clarified that she won't be able to present at the event due to prior commitments related to her scheduled presidential campaigns.

"Namaste! I would like to extend a warm welcome to Prime Minister Modi on his latest visit to the US and I am sorry that I will not be able to join there in person due to previously scheduled presidential campaign events. I am really glad to see so many Indian Americans from all across our country as well as colleagues from Congress coming together there," she said in a video message.

Terming India as US' one of the most important partners in the Asia-Pacific region, she said, "India is the world's largest democracy and one of the most important partners of US in the Asia-Pacific region. Our two nations must continue to work closely together if we are to address the pressing issues that impact us and the world, issues like combating climate change. preventing nuclear war and nuclear proliferation and improving the economic well being of our people."

Invoking the age-old principle of "Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam", Gabbard said, "So as we build a strong and lasting partnership between our two nations focusing on areas of growth, wealth and opportunity and equality, science, health, environment, security and counter-terrorism...we can bring about the idea of "Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam" recognising that everyone on our planet..we are all one family. There is no place for hate, bigotry, ignorance and prejudice."

Earlier in a tweet, Gabbard had informed that though she will not be able to attend the event but hopes to meet Prime Minister Modi during his US visit.

Referring to an article, she tweeted, "This article is misinformed. I'm not attending the Houston event due to previously scheduled presidential campaign events. However, I'm hoping to meet PM Modi on his visit to discuss the importance of maintaining the strong partnership of the world's oldest & largest democracies."

The White House had confirmed that the US President Donald Trump will be making a joint appearance with Prime Minister Modi at the "Howdy Modi" event in Houston.

The mega event is believed to be one of the largest events to welcome a foreign head of government ever in the history of the United States.

It will mark the first time that the two leaders would meet outside of either capital Washington DC or New York, where the United Nations is headquartered.

Over 50,000 people have already been registered for the event, which will be hosted by the Texas India Forum.

Moreover, the fact that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, the second-highest-ranking Democrat, will also address the gathering, further reflects the strong bipartisan support for the relationship between the two countries.

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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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News Network
July 1,2020

Tehran, Jul 1 As many as 19 people have been killed in an explosion and fire at a medical facility in Tehran.

A total of 19 people, including 15 men and 4 women, were killed in the explosion, the emergency services confirmed, RT reported citing KhabarOnline website.

According to a regional official, a gas leak caused the incident. Sputnik quoted a deputy head of Tehran police as saying to YJC news outlet that oxygen tanks exploded in the semi-basement of the clinic.

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News Network
June 2,2020

Oakland, Jun 2: Facebook employees are using Twitter to register their frustration over CEO Mark Zuckerberg's decision to leave up posts by President Donald Trump that suggested protesters in Minneapolis could be shot.

While Twitter demoted and placed a warning on a tweet about the protests that read, in part, that “when the looting starts the shooting starts,” Facebook has let it stand, with Zuckerberg laying out his reasoning in a Facebook post Friday.

“I know many people are upset that we've left the President's posts up, but our position is that we should enable as much expression as possible unless it will cause imminent risk of specific harms or dangers spelled out in clear policies,” Zuckerberg wrote.

Trump's comment evoked the civil-rights era by borrowing a phrase used in 1967 by Miami's police chief to warn of an aggressive police response to unrest in black neighborhoods.

On Monday, Facebook employees staged a virtual “walkout” to protest the company's decision not to touch the Trump posts according to a report in the New York Times, which cited anonymous senior employees at Facebook.

The Times report says “dozens” of Facebook workers “took the day off by logging into Facebook's systems and requesting time off to support protesters across the country." “I work at Facebook and I am not proud of how we're showing up.

The majority of coworkers I've spoken to feel the same way. We are making our voice heard,” tweeted Jason Toff, a director of product management at Facebook who's been at the company for a year.

Toff, who has a verified Twitter account, had 131,400 “likes” and thousands of retweets of his comment. He did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Monday.

“I don't know what to do, but I know doing nothing is not acceptable. I'm a FB employee that completely disagrees with Mark's decision to do nothing about Trump's recent posts, which clearly incite violence. I'm not alone inside of FB.

There isn't a neutral position on racism,” tweeted another employee, design manager Jason Stirman.

Stirman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. Sara Zhang, a product designer at the company, tweeted that Facebook's “decision to not act on posts that incite violence ignores other options to keep our community safe.

The policy pigeon holes us into addressing harmful user-facing content in two ways: keep content up or take it down.” “I believe that this is a self-imposed constraint and implore leadership to revisit the solution,” she continued. Zhang declined to comment to The Associated Press.

Representatives for Facebook did not immediately respond to messages for comment.

Twitter has historically taken stronger stances than its larger rival, including a complete ban on political advertisements that the company announced last November.

That's partly because Facebook, a much larger company with a broader audience,targeted by regulators over its size and power, has more to lose. And partly because the companies' CEOs don't always see eye to eye on their role in society.

Over the weekend, Twitter changed the background and logo if its main Twitter account to black from its usual blue in support of the Black Lives Matter protesters and added a #blacklivesmatter hashtag. Facebook did the same with its own logo on its site, though without the hashtag.

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