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Denmark to cull up to 17 million minks to curb coronavirus transmission

New Delhi (NVI): As many as 17 million minks are to be culled in Denmark after a mutated version of the coronavirus that can spread to humans was detected on mink farms.

Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the mutated virus posed a risk to the effectiveness of a future Covid-19 vaccine.

Health authorities found virus strains in humans and in mink which showed decreased sensitivity against antibodies, potentially lowering the efficacy of future vaccines, PM Frederiksen further said.

“We have a great responsibility towards our own population, but with the mutation that has now been found, we have an even greater responsibility for the rest of the world as well,” Frederiksen told a news conference.

The findings, which have been shared with the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, were based on laboratory tests by the State Serum Institute, the Danish authority dealing with infectious diseases.

In this regard, the head of the WHO’s emergencies programme, Mike Ryan, called for a full-scale scientific investigations of the complex issue of humans – outside China – infecting mink which in turn transmitted the virus back to humans.

Denmark is one of the world’s main mink fur exporters, producing an estimated 17 million furs a year. Kopenhagen Fur, a cooperative of 1,500 Danish breeders, accounts for 40 percent of the global mink production. Most of its exports go to China and Hong Kong.

Coronavirus cases have been detected in mink farms in Denmark’s northern Jutland region, and in other parts of Europe, for several months.

But cases are spreading fast in Denmark, and five cases of the new virus strain were found on mink farms. Twelve people had become infected so far.

Spain culled 100,000 minks in July after cases were detected at a farm in Aragón province, and tens of thousands of the animals were slaughtered in the Netherlands following outbreaks on farms there.

Moreover, studies are under way to find out how and why minks have been able to catch and spread the infection.

-CHK

Peace can only be ensured through ability to deter war: Rajnath on Ladakh stand-off

Balakot Air Strikes
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

New Delhi (NVI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today said that India is determined to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of unilateralism and aggression, no matter what the sacrifice, and that peace can only be ensured through the ability to deter war.

Singh’s remarks came ahead of the eighth round of military-level talks between Indian and China to ease tensions in the Eastern Ladakh.

“We have attempted to build this deterrence through a judicious combination of capability development and an emphasis on long term policy of indigenisation,” Rajnath said while addressing a Webinar of National Defence College’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations.

Singh was delivering a keynote address at a two-day Webinar with the theme- ‘India’s National Security- a Decade Ahead’.

“Perhaps the most fundamental lesson that the roller coaster of the rise and fall of nations taught us was that peace cannot necessarily be achieved by a desire for peace but by the ability to deter war. Unfortunately, the mere desire to seek peace, if not reciprocated by others, does not necessarily succeed in building a harmonious environment in a world beset by conflicting ideas of security, sovereignty and national interests,” Rajnath said.

“Recently, India has been facing other challenges on its borders. India is a peace-loving country. We believe that differences should not become disputes. We attach importance to the peaceful resolution of differences through dialogue,” the Raksha Mantri said.

The Defence Minister also outlined four broad principles that are likely to guide India’s quest for national security in the future.

“The first is the ability to secure India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty from external threats and internal challenges. Second, the ability to create secure and stable conditions that can facilitate India’s economic growth, thereby, creating the resources for nation building and to meet individual aspirations.

“Third, we remain steadfast in the desire to protect our interests beyond the borders in areas where our people reside and our security interests converge. And finally, we also believe that in a globalised and interconnected world, a country’s security interests are interlinked by shared and secure commons,” Singh said.

He further emphasised that India has proved that countries that employ terrorism as an instrument of national policy can also be deterred through options that were considered “un-implementable” in the past.

He said “Pakistan continues to remain adamant in the use of terrorism as state policy. However, we have achieved substantial success in working with progressive and like-minded countries to not only expose Pakistan’s regressive policies but also make it increasingly difficult to continue with its previous business as usual approach,” he said.

The next round of Corps-Commander-level talks will be held along the LAC in the Chushul sector tomorrow. Earlier, Indian and Chinese military commanders met for the seventh time on October 12 in a bid to defuse border tensions.

-ARK

SCHOTT KAISHA expands its vial production capacity by 300 million pieces

Representational image

New Delhi (NVI): SCHOTT KAISHA, a market leader in pharma-packaging, has announced an investment of Rs 105 crore ( approximately EUR 12 million) into its existing facilities to increase its vial production by 300 million pieces.

The Indo-German venture with the international technology group, SCHOTT AG, plans to complete this production ramp-up within a record time of 12 months. A long-term investment plan and consistent infrastructure growth over the years has helped the company expand its production capabilities quickly.

The announcement comes at a time when drug manufacturers around the world are undergoing COVID-19 vaccine trials. Such complex medications are stored in Type 1 glass vials, which are produced at SCHOTT KAISHA facilities in Gujarat and Daman.

SCHOTT KAISHA has been a pioneer in the Indian market to provide customisable solutions to leading pharmaceutical players all over the world. It has always given preference to a ‘quality by design’ approach, benchmark manufacturing and quality control processes using breakthrough inspection technology, combined with best-in-class components.

Over the last 3 years, the company had invested approximately Rs 434 crore and set up two new plants in Umarsadi, Gujarat and Baddi, Himachal Pradesh.

With the recently opened facility in Umarsadi, SCHOTT KAISHA was already manufacturing over 3 billion pieces of ampoules, vials, syringes, and cartridges annually. The company is providing vaccine vials to all the key vaccine developers in the country as well as manufacturers abroad.

Rishad Dadachanji, Director, SCHOTT KAISHA said, “Pharma companies all around the world are working relentlessly to find an effective vaccine for COVID-19. As a front-runner in the pharma packaging segment, we are committed to support the vaccine developers with the best packaging solutions.”

“We are closely working with all our clients to supply them with vials and syringes for their vaccine trials and are continuously assessing their requirements to stay ahead of the curve,” he further said.

With the looming demand surge for vaccine vials, the pharma industry relies on quality products for storing their complex drug formulations with minimal threat of contamination.

-CHK

Boat carrying 50 capsizes in Bihar

New Delhi (NVI): A boat carrying about 50 people capsized in river Ganga in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district.

The incident took place in Naugachhia area in Gopalpur earlier today.

According to the reports, one person died and seven people are missing. All those who suffered injuries during the incident were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Following the incident, police and district administration officials rushed the spot and began rescue operations soon after the boat capsized.

Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Teajshwi Yadav expressed concern over the incident.

“Tragic news of the drowning of many people in the tragic accident of overturning a boat in the Three Tanga Diara under Gopalpur police station in Bhagalpur. My deepest condolences to the dead. The administration is urged to expedite rescue operations without the help of SDRF,” Yadav tweeted in Hindi.

However, the rescue operations are still being carried out by the teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and police.

-RJV

ResMed launches #WakeUpToGoodSleep campaign on importance of sleep quality

Representational image

New Delhi (NVII): ResMed, a global medical equipment company today announced the launch of a new sleep education campaign, #WakeUpToGoodSleep to underscore the importance of sleep quality for overall well-being.

The campaign aims to highlight the growing and largely unidentified sleep disorders in India and the treatment options available, ResMed said in a release.

According to a 2019 Lancet Respiratory Medicine study, “Today, millions of Indians suffer from sleeping disorders, with the majority of them being undetected and over one million Indians suffer from sleep apnea alone,” the company said.

“Left untreated, sleeping disorders have detrimental consequences on our mental and physical well-being including heart attacks, diabetes, depression, amongst others, making it imperative to raise awareness on sleeping disorders,” it added.

Under the #WakeUpToGoodSleep campaign, the company will also raise awareness amongst consumers and doctors about the health benefits and importance of good sleep.

ResMed also launched a short educational film that showcases sleep apnea, a relatively unknown sleep disorder, and its effects such as fatigue, mental stress, irritability, and even traffic accidents, to reiterate the importance of a good night’s sleep.

Meanwhile, to ensure that patients can enjoy a good night sleep, ResMed has also introduced a sleep coach assistant service, consisting of a team of coaches who remotely guide patients through every step of their journey to better sleep.

These services include sleep apnea detection through a home sleep test, helping patients diagnosed with sleep apnea understand the treatment options available such as a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure).

It will even guide patients through hassle-free installation of devices and providing the best possible offers on devices, including EMI schemes for devices.

“As India becomes increasingly health-conscious, immense importance is given to dietary changes, daily exercises, and mental health. However, sleep as a critical contributor to their overall well-being is not given the attention it deserves,” said Seema Arora, National Marketing Head, Asia and Latin America, ResMed.

She added that, “Through this awareness campaign, ResMed a pioneer in sleep apnea therapy, aims to spread awareness amongst Indians, including the medical community with a simple thought – ‘Kyuki neend achi toh din acha’, underlining how disordered sleeping impacts our overall well-being.”

Furthermore, to drive sleep awareness and education amongst the medical fraternity, ResMed has been conducting web-education series in association with some of the most prominent experts in the country including Manvir Bhatia – ASSM Ace School of Sleep Science and Sujit Rajan, amongst others, the company said.

Since May this year, ResMed has certified over 700 doctors across India as part of the education awareness drive.

Manvir Bhatia, a leading sleep specialist in India said, “Five to ten percent of Indians suffer from a sleep disorder but are unaware of it and its impact on their health. The awareness can be achieved with training sessions for doctors, public awareness campaigns, and sleep coach assistance. These measures will create an impact on the importance of good quality sleep.”

As social distancing continues to be essential, ResMed’s innovative and connected sleep solutions are enabling doctors and patients better patient care outside the hospital, the company said in a release.

More than 12 million cloud-connectable devices in its network are allowing doctors to remotely monitor their patients, who in turn can share their health-related data and undergo diagnosis to treat their sleeping disorders, it added.

-RJV

India walking the talk on climate change, 2 degree compliant: Javadekar

New Delhi (NVI): India is walking the talk on climate change and is 2 degree compliant in action and contribution as per the 2015 Paris Agreement, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar today said while addressing at India CEO Forum on Climate Change.

Chairing the virtual program, Javadekar said that Climate Change is a very important issue and the world action is needed.

“It is not one country can make a difference. All countries will have to work in that direction,” Javadekar said.

“In Paris we decided that we will restrict the temperature rise to two degrees by 2100. For that every country did declare the nationally determined contributions. We have declared that we will reduce our our emission intensity by 35 per cent, solar power we will have 100 GW by 2022, 175 GW of renewable power by 2022 and now the Prime Minister has taken it to a new height of 450 GW by 2030. So it’s a huge target of renewable which will be little more than 40 per cent our installed energy capacity,” he said while addressing the virtual event.

In December 2019, Climate Action Tracker had rated India’s efforts as ‘2 degree compatible’, which means that if all countries made efforts like India’s, the average global temperature rise could be limited to 2°C by 2100. India is the world’s only major economy to be rated so.

-ARK

J&K govt to set up 6 transit accommodation for Kashmiri migrant employees

Lubna Fayaz

Srinagar (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir government has identified six locations in Kashmir for the construction of transit accommodation for Kashmiri migrant employees at an estimated cost of Rs 201.60 crore.

The administrative approval for the same was given today and the accommodation is being given to the employees recruited under Prime Minister’s Development Package, 2015.

The order issued by the Department of Disaster Management, Relief Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, Civil Secretariat, Jammu, states that the transit accommodation will consist of 1,680 units and will have an estimated cost of Rs 201.6 crore. The accommodations will be set up at Anantnag, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Shopian, Bandipora and Kupwara.

Furthermore, the order mentions that in Anantnag district, 192 units will be constructed at a cost of Rs 23.04 crore on 13 kanals and 16 marlas at Marhama, Bijbehara;

In Ganderbal district, 192 units will be constructed at a cost of Rs 23.4 crore at Wandhama, Lar on 30 kanals, meanwhile, in Baramulla district, 336 units will be constructed at a cost Rs 40.32 crore at Fatehpora on 40 kanals of land.

In addition to this, in Shopian district, 192 units will be constructed at Allowpora, Keegam on 40 kanals of land at a cost of Rs 23.04 crore and in Bandipora, 480 units will be constructed at Odina, Sumbal area on 75 kanals of land at a cost of Rs 57.60 crore.

In Kupwara, 288 units will be constructed at a cost of Rs 34.56 crore on 36 kanals and 14 marlas land at Khullangam Bagh area.

In connection with the construction of ‘transit accommodation for Kashmiri Migrant employees under PM’s package’, the department has also constituted a committee to resolve all matters pertaining to the identification and transfer of land to the department of Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction by November 15, 2020.

The members of this committee constitute Principal Secretary, Revenue Department as chairman, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Secretary DMRR&R as members and Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (M), J&K as co-opted members.

-CHK

Kejriwal urges people not to burst firecrackers this Diwali amid rising air pollution

Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi (NVI): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today made an appeal to the people to avoid bursting firecrackers this Diwali in view of rising air pollution in the national capital.

Speaking at a virtual media briefing the Chief Minister said, “On November 14, from 7.39 pm onwards, all 2 crore Delhi citizens will perform Lakshmi Puja together.”

He added that, he along with his cabinet minister, will start the Lakshmi Puja, which will be aired on certain television channels.

Kejriwal further said that this will create a positive atmosphere in Delhi amid a surge in COVID-19 cases and deteriorating air quality in the national capital.

“The COVID-19 situation is deteriorating in Delhi because of the rising air pollution,” he stated.

Yesterday, Kejriwal said, “For some time now, Delhi has seen an increase in the number of coronavirus cases. We may refer to it as the third wave.”

“We have been monitoring the situation continuously and there is no need to panic. We will take whatever steps are needed,” the chief minister added.

-RJV

India condemns Pak’s decision of transferring mgmt of Kartarpur Sahib gurudwara

Kartarpur

New Delhi (NVI): India condemned Pakistan’s decision of transferring the management and maintenance of the Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara to the administrative control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, a non-Sikh body.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) today called upon Pakistan “to reverse its arbitrary decision depriving the Sikh minority community its right to manage the affairs of the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib.”

“This unilateral decision by Pakistan is highly condemnable and runs against the spirit of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor as also the religious sentiments of the Sikh community at large,” MEA said in a statement.

The Pakistan government has transferred the management and maintenance of the Holy Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib away from the Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee (PSGPC), a body run by the minority Sikh Community, to the administrative control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board.

The Sikh community has responded sharply and has expressed grave concern at this decision of Pakistan, MEA said.

The MEA statement further added, “Such actions only expose the reality of the Pakistani government and its leadership’s tall claims of preserving and protecting the rights and welfare of the religious minority communities.”

Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara is located in Pakistan’s Narowal district across the river Ravi, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak shrine.

India and Pakistan in 2019 signed an agreement to operationalise the Kartarpur corridor to allow Indian pilgrims a visa-free visit to the holy gurudwara.

-CHK

Army Chief meets Nepali counterpart, presents medical equipment

(Pic: Twitter @IndiaInNepal)

New Delhi (NVI): Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane, who arrived in Kathmandu yesterday on a three-day visit to Nepal, today met his Nepali counterpart General Purna Chandra Thapa and presented medical equipment for two field hospitals of the Nepali Army.

Gen Naravane arrived in Kathmandu yesterday for a three-day official visit to Nepal, on the invitation of General Purna Chandra Thapa, Chief of Army Staff, Nepali Army, the Indian Embassy in Nepal said in a statement.

The Army Chief’s visit comes amid growing concerns over the strained relations between the two countries over border issues recently.

The COAS visit is also expected to break the ice as the Army Chief will meet Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and may hold talks over the controversy over road construction via Lipulekh for pilgrimage to Mansarovar in Tibet.

Gen Naravane was received at the airport by Lieutenant General Prabhu Ram Sharma, CGS Nepali Army and officials of the Indian Embassy, read the statement.

Apart from that, the army chief laid wreath and paid homage at Bir Smarak (Martyr’s Memorial) at Army Pavilion in Tundikhel, Kathmandu. He also visited the Nepali Army Headquarters where he was accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour. This was followed by a meeting with his Nepali counterpart.


In addition to this, the Army chief presented medical equipment for two field hospitals of the Nepali Army. The equipment includes X-Ray machines, computed radiography systems, ICU ventilators, video endoscopy units, anesthesia machines, laboratory equipment and ambulances.


Additional ventilators were also gifted to assist Nepali Army in its fight against COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said in a release. This follows an earlier army-to-army provision of ventilators in July this year, it added.

-ARK

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