Foreign-approved vaccines no longer need bridging trials in India: DCGI
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), Dr VG Soman announced that COVID-19 vaccines that have been approved by WHO and other countries are no longer required to have post-approval bridging trials and batch testing in India. This decision has been taken to curb the huge vaccination demand in the country during the recent surge.
The term ‘bridging trials’ is termed so because it bridges the gap between various studies in different regions and generates data specific to the Indian context. This data is crucial since certain drugs might react differently to a specific population’s genetic makeup.
Source- Hindustan Times
Retired intel officers cannot publish tell-all books without govt approval
Retired civil servants who have headed or worked in any intelligence or security-related organisation cannot publish any details involving the affairs of the organisation without clearance from the head of the organisation, the central government has declared.
Retired officers have been barred from publishing “sensitive information, the disclosure of which could prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, or relation with a foreign State or which would lead to incitement of an offence.”
Source- The Print
India working on first major free trade pact in a decade
India and the UK seem to be intensifying talks to eradicate non-tariff barriers and promote wider access to the market as they cooperate in bringing up the South Asian nation's first major free trade pact in a decade.
Targeting a list of set goals, the two countries plan to assist each other in helping the UK showcase the benefits of leaving the European Union while also allowing India to forge new bilateral ties. An interim agreement is to be finalized by the end of this year, which would, on one hand, allow India access to British medical devices and agricultural products and on the other hand, widen the scope of employment in the UK for Indian seafarers and nurses.
Source- NDTV
Exports jump to $32.21 billion in May; trade deficit at $6.32 billion
India’s exports increased by a rate of 67.39% to $32.21 billion in May due to healthy growth in sectors such as engineering, petroleum products, and gems and jewelry. However, the trade deficit widened to $6.32 billion, making India a net importer according to government data released on Wednesday.
Exports in May last year stood at $19.24 billion and in May 2019 it was at $29.85 billion, the commerce ministry’s preliminary data showed. Imports in May rose by 68.54% to $38.53 billion, from $22.86 billion in May 2020. In May 2019, imports stood at $46.68 billion.
Source- Financial Express
Google says India's new IT rules not applicable to its search engine
Contending against India’s new IT rules for digital media, Google has urged the Delhi High Court to set aside its single judge order while tying them to the company which is dealing with an issue related to the removal of offending content from the internet.
The court’s order deals with a woman’s plea to take down some unsolicited photographs that were uploaded on a pornographic website by some miscreants. But despite the court’s notice, the content could not be removed entirely from the internet. The judges sent this notice out to the Centre, Delhi government, Internet Service Providers Association of India, Facebook, the pornographic site, and the woman, on whose plea this ruling had come, and sought their responses to Google's plea by July 25.
Source- India Today
Amul Vice-Chairman Valamji Humbal urges PM Modi to ban PETA
Three days after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) suggested Amul to capitalise on what it called “India’s and indeed the whole world’s readiness for vegan milk and food”, Amul vice-chairman Valamji Humbal, on Tuesday, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban the NGO saying it was attempting to ruin the livelihood of 10 crore people by tarnishing the image of the Indian dairy sector.
Reacting to Humbal, PETA India’s CEO Dr Manilal Valliyate in a statement issued late Tuesday said, “Amul has shown itself to be a bully, unable to appreciate the public’s concern for animals, and a business that apparently cannot change despite changing consumer trends”.
Source- Republic
China jails popular blogger over India border clash death toll query
A popular blogger on a Chinese social media platform was sentenced to eight months in prison over posts that the authorities deemed as defaming Chinese soldiers killed in a border clash with India last year.
He was sentenced to eight months in prison for “infringing on the reputation of heroes and martyrs”, and ordered to make a public apology, according to a report on Tuesday in People’s Daily, a Chinese state-controlled tabloid.
Qiu’s Weibo account was shut down on the day he posted the remarks. He was detained the next day for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, an offence that has been criticised as targeting critics, and then formally charged with the crime of “infringing on the reputation and honour of heroes and martyrs”.
Source- WION
Pakistan Launches New Covid-19 Vaccine ‘PakVac’ Developed With Chinese Assistance, and WHO grants emergency authorisation to China's Sinovac Covid vaccine
Pakistan has launched a Covid-19 vaccine named PakVac, which has been developed through Chinese assistance and is a localized version of the latter’s Cansino vaccine.
On the other hand, the World Health Organization has issued an emergency use listing for the Covid-19 vaccine made by Sinovac for adults aged 18 and above, the second such authorisation it has granted to a Chinese company. Last month, WHO gave the green light to the Covid-19 vaccine made by Sinopharm. It has also licensed vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna Inc and AstraZeneca.
Source- India Today
Tesla eyes the restaurant business after filing new trademarks
Electric vehicle and clean energy company Tesla might be planning to enter the restaurant business. The California-based company filed for three new trademarks covering categories of 'restaurant services, pop-up, self-service and take-out restaurant services', according to filings of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In 2018, Musk also tweeted about turning a charging station in Los Angeles into a restaurant.
Source- Business Today
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