The Centre is developing a Covid vaccine tracker with synergised data giving a week by week update of doses. The tracker will be up on the Health Ministry’s website in a few days’ time, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said on Thursday.
During a press briefing, Bhargava further said that low key celebrations of festivals should be encouraged to avoid the spread of Covid. “Responsible travel rather than revenge travel should be practiced,” he added.
According to reports, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi would begin Phase 2/3 trials of Hyderabad-based Covid-19 vaccine producer Bharat Biotech’s nasal vaccine soon.
Bharat Biotech’s intranasal vaccine got regulatory permission for second Phase trials in August, amid continuing research in several nations to produce a nasal spray to help prevent Covid-19.
According to ANI, the country’s leading hospital and research facility will begin trials in a few weeks, and an application has been filed to obtain the AIIMS Ethics Committee’s necessary approval.
Bharat Biotech’s nasal vaccine clinical trial’s principal investigator will be Dr Sanjay Rai.
After getting the ethics committee’s nod, the second phase of the trails will be conducted on volunteers who will be administered the two doses of the vaccine with a gap of four weeks in between.
The adenoviral intranasal vaccine BBV154 is the first of its kind Covid-19 vaccine to undergo human trials in India.
According to the ministry of science and technology, the Phase 1 trial in healthy volunteers of age groups ranging from 18-60 years was well tolerated. Trials for the phase 3 trials will commence after the completion of Phase-2 clinical trials.
AIIMS Delhi has also done clinical trials of Covaxin in the age group of 2 to 18 years.
India registered 43,263 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s caseload to 3,31,39,981. As many as 338 deaths due to the infection were also reported in the last 24 hours, according to the data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.
Meanwhile, 338 more people succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours, pushing the country’s toll to 4,41,749. The maximum casualties were reported in Kerala (181), followed by Maharashtra with 65 daily deaths.
Besides, a total of 40,567 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, bringing the total recoveries to 3,23,04,618 across the country. With this, India’s recovery rate now stands at 97.48 per cent.
Moreover, the active Covid-19 caseload in the country increased by 2,358, pushing the tally to 3,93,614.
India has administered a total of 86,51,701 doses in the last 24 hours, which brings the total tally of doses administered to 71,65,97,428.
The Supreme Court today has dismissed the plea seeking directions to allow the students to change NEET PG exam centres. NEET PG 2021 is scheduled to be conducted on September 11 as an online test for applicants seeking admission to MD, MS or Postgraduate Diploma programmes in all medical colleges, universities in India except AIIMS, PGIMER, NIMHANS, SCTIMST and JIPMER.
The petitioner in the plea said that the NEET PG aspirants are “young students”, are exposed to Covid duties and should not be compelled to travel.
The Supreme Court, however, rejecting the plea said that the severity of Covid has been reduced now and people are travelling, as flights are operational.
“Flights are operational. Travel restrictions have reduced”, the Supreme Court said adding that the severity of the pandemic is still not the same as April and May.
“There are numbers in Kerala but life is going on. People are traveling from Delhi to Madras, Delhi to Kochi,” it added.
The NEET PG administering body, National Board of Examinations, has already released the admit cards for the September 11 exam. Students will be provided with sanitisers, face masks on the day of exam so that the aspirants and the invigilators are safe and do not contract Covid.
To access and download the NEET PG 2021 admit card, students will be required to login with their user IDs and password generated during the registration process. The link to download the NEET PG admit card will be activated at the official site of NBE — nbe.edu.in. Once downloaded, candidates must take a printout of the admit card and carry it on the day of the examination along with a valid ID proof.
On Monday, September 6, the National Testing Agency (NTA) released the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2021 admission cards on its official website, ntaneet.nic.in. Many applicants who obtained the NEET UG 2021 admit card stated that they were assigned to centres that were far away. The test will take place on September 12th.
According to the candidates, the NEET 2021 exam date clashes with a number of other state-level entrance examinations, and they have now been assigned centres that are far away, placing them in a tough situation.
A student’s father from Pune, Manish Deshmukh told Hindustan Times that the centre allotted to his son is was 105 km away from home. He informed the portal that their first and second preferences were Pune City and Navi Mumbai, respectively, however, they’ve been allotted a centre in Baramati which is quite far from their place. “It is a nuisance. We have decided to reach Baramati a day ahead of the exams to avoid any rush, especially since it is festival season. I’ll have to spend on our stay for the night as well,” he said.
Another applicant, who is from Nashik, has been allotted a centre in Shirdi, which is about 95 km far. Many other students have also reported that their centres were farther than what they had preferred. While Covid-19 has already affected the students’ preparation and put them in uncountable uncertainties, they should have a calm mind before the exam, says the parents.
Sun Pharma Consumer Healthcare announced the introduction of Revital NXT in India, marking the company’s first entrance into the nutrition bar market. The product is a brand extension of Revital H, the company’s most popular product.
Revital Energy NXT and Revital Protein NXT are the two versions of the product that have been released. The rapidly rising focus on fitness among the younger part of the population may have impacted the company’s choice to expand into the nutrition bar market.
Informing about the launch into a new segement, Vidhi Shanghvi, Head, Sun Pharma Consumer Healthcare said, “With increasing health-consciousness and active lifestyles, there has been rising demand for on-the-go nutrition. Our new product – Revital NXT bar, powered with natural ginseng – the same core ingredient that fuels Revital H, helps you stay active and ace life’s demands on the go.”
Revital H hopes to give consumers with a convenient, on-the-go alternative to satiate their hunger while also meeting their nutritional needs with this line of protein and energy bars, according to the business.
The DCGI has given Truenat the first Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for performing Nipah virus testing in India. It’s a point-of-care Real-Time PCR tool created by Molbio Diagnostics in Goa to identify the presence of the virus.
Nipah virus (NiV), zoonotic disease that remerged in Kozhikode district in Kerala is causing distress to people and the healthcare system as the state is already under the grip of COVID cases. Signs and symptoms of the fatal disease range from asymptomatic to acute respiratory infection and fatal encephalitis. Prior to the current reported case from Kozhikode, India has reported three NiV outbreaks in the past (Siliguri in 2001 and Nadia in 2007 (West Bengal) and Kozhikode and Malappuram in Kerala in 2018).
The Truenat platform that gained traction in the last one year, has been designed and manufactured indigenously, is portable, battery-operated and IoT-enabled point of care. The platform can display results in less than an hour and has been used to detect nearly 30 diseases including TB, COVID-19, dengue, chikungunya, hepatitis, HPV in the past.
Elaborating on the development process of Truenat for Nipah testing, Dr. Chandrasekhar Nair, Director and CTO of Molbio Diagnostics said “The R&D work on the Truenat test for Nipah virus was first started in 2018 in collaboration with the National Institute of Virology, Pune (ICMR) to enable the detection of the infectious virus during outbreak situations. The ability to quickly deploy the platform to the point of need and the rapid testing capability makes it a powerful tool in the diagnosis and containment of the Nipah Virus.”
DCGI approval for the truenat machine will help in early diagnosis of the disease for effective management and containment of the virus in the state.
The National Board of Examinations (NBE) has announced the NEET PG cut-off, which applicants must meet in order to be considered for the admission test. The NEET PG Cutoff is the minimal percentile required to pass the exam, and it varies per category. The qualifying percentile for NEET PG in the general category is 50th percentile, whereas it is 40th percentile for SC/ST/OBC.
The qualifying NEET PG 2021 cut-off marks will be declared along with the result. NEET PG cut-off scores for the general category in 2020 was 366 and for SC/ST/OBC it was 319. Candidates who score equal to and above this qualifying cut-off will be eligible to apply for admissions.
— Total number of candidates appearing for the exam
— Difficulty level of the exam
— Number of seats available
— Previous years’ cutoff trends
Types of cut-off
Candidates need to consider two types of cut-offs: qualifying cutoff and admission cutoff. While the qualifying cutoff needs to be secured to qualify for the exam, the admission cut-off is the last rank and the corresponding score at which admission is granted into any college and course. This varies from institute to institute and the specialization opted for.
Admissions to the most popular and preferred medical institutes come at high cut-offs. The same applies to the most popular specialisations.
NEET PG 2021 is scheduled to be conducted on September 11, 2021. The exam will be held at 255 exam centres in India.
The single-shot vaccination developed by Johnson & Johnson and produced by Biological E in Hyderabad is expected to be available by October.
On August 7, the vaccine was approved for use in India by the apex drug regulator, Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), making it the fifth vaccine to get Emergency Use Approval (EUA).
While Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V and Moderna were approved earlier, Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoVD was approved after J&J.
The vaccine batches are expected to go for the final testing at the apex laboratories — Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL), Kasauli and National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune — by next week.
“The inspection of batches and documents is on. Soon, they will be released for undergoing safety and quality testing,” said a government official privy to the development.
“The vaccine is likely to be available for immunisation drive by next month, if everything goes smoothly,” he said.
Another source in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare confirmed that the roll out of the vaccine is “very near”. “We are awaiting the nod on some usual procedures from the DCGI. Once he gives the go ahead, it will take less than a month for the vaccine to hit the market,” the second official from the ministry said.
A Johnson & Johnson India spokesperson said: “Our teams are working around the clock to develop and broadly activate our manufacturing capabilities to supply our Covid-19 vaccine. We believe Biological E. will be an important part of our global COVID-19 vaccine supply network. While we look forward to meeting our delivery commitments, it is premature for us to speculate on the timing of our vaccine deliveries.”
By Dr.Aaloc Srivastav
Our life cycle is an Yatra,full of challenges.Also,while attempting to face them,one learns Good lessons. It is the Experience that matters in the ultimate analysis. There,is,therefore,No harm in Trying.
Immediately after magnificent performance by Indian sportspersons at the Tokyo Main Olympics recently, the Divyang Sportspersons of Bharat Mata displayed their prowess & confidence in the Paralympics that was held from 24 August to 5 September.
2 ) Quantity and to a certain extent quality wise also, latter with their new found determination could outsmart able bodied brethren by a rich haul of nineteen medals(5 Gold,8 Silver & 6 Bronze)in
comparision to seven medals won by the former.
3)We had sent largest ever contingent of Fifty Four Para Athletes across nine disciplines.India not only took active part but did remarkably well, crossing all expectations in Badminton by grabbing bulk of medals.Like Taekwondo this sport too had made its debut in the Games.
Pramod Bhagat and Krishna Nagar won Badminton Golds while Suhas L.Y.,38 year old IAS, committed and effective officer of 2007 batch and current DM of Noida won a silver medal also in Badminton.For the first time an AIS officer (who used to practice for two hours daily at night), got a medal at the topmost Games.It was a tough and focussed eighteen months,that mattered.
PEEP INTO HISTORY
4) India since making its debut at the Paralympics in 1968 had won 12 medals in TOTAL till the Rio Games in 2016. During Rio , the country could manage only four medals.
5) INDIA began at Tokyo with Bhavina Patel’s unbelievable Table Tennis Silver medal in the women’s category. Another woman Avni Lekhara went on to win a Gold and a Bronze in Shooting Range.
Like last main Games,highly spirited & empowered women of India gave the lead.
23 year old Sunil Antil shook the whole Sports Arena by reaching Javelin upto 68.55m.Thus he broke his own World record THRICE in six attempts.
6) Maximum eight medals were won in Track & Field events,five in Shooting,four in Badminton and one each in T.T. and Archery.For this game, after expressing her immense expectation,country had sent largest ever contingent of 54(40 men,14 women) as opposed to 19 members at Rio.
Each para athlete had a different background & tale to convey.All have been reported to have overcome several impediments. For their courage and determination,their State sports associations,Union Ministry of Sports, employers,family members and above all, the fully determined Sports minded P.M.Sri Narendra Modi were responsible.
A Fine Gesture, Yet Again
7) It goes without saying that by deciding to meet and felicitate all 54 participants on 9th September, the popular P.M. has once again displayed his wide vision,caring attitude for the disadvantaged sections and a large heart.
High Degree of Courage & Determination
8) Indian Paralympians have rewritten history, rather,with due regard to main event competitors, they dared to compete and won on a different level playing field, always under the painful and irritating shadow of Covid.
Improved Boost & Facilities
9) Boost or encouragement given to Divyangs in the last four to five years has proved very beneficial for the parents,relatives as also the spotspersons concerned.A noticeable improvement has been witnessed both in outlook and treatment.If these are on positive side,things are certainly going to improve in the spheres of education, sports, dance, music & many other fields.
Focus Of Different Kind
10) In several parts of country, separate sports complexes, toilets,changing rooms,ramp etc have been provided in all public places,grounds and stadiums.
Number and quality of tournaments is also being fully taken care of.
With the passage of time,with changing perceptions and facilities, performance on the part of sportsperson too went on improving.
Not only additional funds were earmarked and released but wherever a need was felt for training in foreign countries,same was arranged.
11) The Paralymics are held mostly within a fortnight of conclusion of the main games at the same venue.Purpose is to utilise the venues with reduced expenditure and give a bolstered encouragement and an enhanced inspiration to the Divyang Sportspersons.
Long Live the Enhanced Spirit of Indian Sports !