Tag: India

Double mutation Covid variant in India might unfold to different nations, physician says

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Post date March 30, 2021

Double mutation Covid variant in India may spread to other countries, doctor says

The double mutation of a Covid-19 variant discovered in India is extremely worrying – and, according to Dr. Kavita Patel, a non-resident Brookings Institution scholar, spread to other countries.

“It’s something that should be watched very closely and that won’t be limited to India. It’s something that we will likely see around the world, as we have with other variants,” she told CNBCs on Monday “Street Signs Asia”.

The Indian Ministry of Health said last week that a variant with two mutations – known as E484Q and L452R – was found in the country. The mutations aren’t new, but the variant in India carries both – something that has not been seen in other variants.

The mutations could make the virus more contagious and better bypass the body’s defenses.

A health worker delivers a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic in Bhopal, India on March 25, 2021.

STR | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

“This double mutation, number one, is incredibly serious. Number two, it’s probably just the tip of the iceberg in what we’d be concerned about in Asia,” said Patel, who is also a former Obama administration official.

She said the mutations could lead to re-infections because the body’s immune system doesn’t recognize them and therefore can’t fight them effectively.

Patel also said she would be concerned about the effects of the mutation if she were an Asian health agency and think about ways to get vaccines as many people as possible.

Indian authorities said that Covid variants, including the double mutation strain, have not been detected in large enough numbers to explain the increase in new infections.

Tags Countries, Covid, Doctor, Double, India, Mutation, Spread, Variant

Business

Lending Apps in India Disgrace Debtors Who Cannot Pay Cash Again

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Post date March 27, 2021

Lending Apps in India Shame Borrowers Who Can't Pay Money Back

HYDERABAD, India – The harassing calls started shortly after sunrise. Kiran Kumar stayed in bed thinking for hours about how he would end his hostage of a lifetime.

The cement seller initially borrowed about $ 40 from a lender through an online app to top up his $ 200 monthly salary. But he couldn’t pay the assembly fees and interest, so he borrowed from others. By that morning, Mr. Kumar owed about $ 4,000.

Worse, the lenders had the phone numbers of those closest to him and threatened to make his problems public.

“If I am classified as a fraud in front of everyone, my self-esteem is gone, my honor is gone,” said 28-year-old Kumar in an interview. “What’s left?”

The Indian authorities are increasingly concerned that there might be many more victims like Mr Kumar out there. They believe a new generation of lenders, whose tech has been honed in China, hunted down workers and rural populations devastated by the impact of the coronavirus on the Indian economy.

These lenders do not require credit scores or visits to a bank. However, they raise high costs within a short time. They also require access to a borrower’s phone to suck up contacts, photos, text messages, and even battery percentage.

Then they bombard borrowers and their social circles with requests, threats and sometimes forged legal documents that threaten dire consequences for non-payment. In conservative, close-knit communities, such a loss of honor can be devastating.

A police investigation in the city of Hyderabad alone planned around 14 million transactions valued at 3 billion US dollars nationwide over a period of six months. The Indian Central Bank and the national authorities are currently investigating.

“It will be difficult for us to count the zeros,” said Avinash Mohanty, the joint police commissioner in Hyderabad. Police attribute five suicides in the city to the lenders.

According to the Indian government, around 100 credit apps have been removed from the Google platform. A Google spokesperson said it checked hundreds of loan apps and removed those that violated its rules.

The investigation raises alarms in India over the vulnerability of a population of 1.3 billion people who are still getting used to digital payments. According to PwC, the consulting firm, online transactions in India will reach more than $ 3 trillion by 2025. Further fraud findings could lead the government, which has already restricted the personal data online businesses can use, to take a firmer grip on the industry.

The apps also speak for the global nature of online fraud. Many of the companies use techniques that flourished in China two years ago before the authorities there shut them down, and which have since resurfaced elsewhere.

The loan apps came about at a desperate time. The government issued a tough two-month lockdown a year ago to contain the virus, plunging India into deep recession. Millions have been made unemployed. Traditional forms of lending such as banks and micro-lenders have been temporarily closed.

Updated

March 27, 2021, 10:13 p.m. ET

With names like Money Now, First Cash, Super Cash and Cool Cash – according to police documents – the apps came and went in the Google App Store in India, some reappearing with a slight change in identity. Most were created using off-the-shelf software that made it as easy to create as starting a blog, said Srikanth Lakshmanan, one of the coordinators of Cashless Consumers, a collective of technology volunteers who have studied the apps.

With a few taps on the phone and a fresh selfie, a borrower could get the money they needed for a doctor’s appointment, refilling the kitchen, or paying a child’s school fees.

The repayment can be made after a week. Lenders often added interest and fees of up to a third of the loan even before sending the money, leaving borrowers to owe more than they received. And in order to get money, the borrowers had to share their personal information.

At this point, according to police and analysts, the call centers went into action. First, they would get the borrowers to repay the principal, interest, and fees. Then they called friends and family, sometimes falsely saying that the borrower was wanted by the police. Some created WhatsApp groups, added members from the borrower’s contact list, and then bombarded the group with allegations. Some would direct desperate borrowers to other money-lending services and further entangle them.

The police in Hyderabad took note of this last winter after the suicides and after the people filed harassment complaints. They were blocked until an informant came forward and, in return for a reward of around $ 150, provided the address and details of a call center where a close friend worked as a debt collection agency.

In an interview with the New York Times, the debt collection agency – a quick-talking 24-year-old who was making about $ 130 a month – said he received electronic files on about 50 borrowers every day. The files contained her personal information, copies of her government IDs, and her contact lists.

Workers could earn a weekly bonus of around $ 7 if they pressured three-quarters of borrowers to repay loans, said the debt collection agency, which asked for anonymity fearing reprisals from its former employer. The bonus doubled with a success rate of four fifths or more. Customers often begged for time, the agent said, and some even said the constant harassment would lead to their deaths. The debt collection agency that had the bonus in mind would continue anyway.

So far, the Hyderabad investigation has led to raids on call centers in at least four Indian cities, with each center employing between 100 and 600 people.

Some of the companies have ties to China. At least four Chinese nationals have been arrested so far, the police said. In reverse engineering the most exploitative apps, activists like Mr. Lakshmanan found that large numbers were hosted on Chinese cloud services and used Chinese software development kits and facial recognition tools.

The police have so far frozen bank accounts of around $ 40 million. However, the path often leads to shell companies, money laundering networks or cryptocurrencies that are difficult for governments to trace.

Nonetheless, the advertising in Hyderabad has sparked a public backlash.

Mr. Kumar, the cement salesman, is now part of an online advocacy group. About 60 victims have joined the WhatsApp channel developing responses to harassing calls that will continue or provide support.

What Mr. Kumar saved on the morning of last summer, when he was in bed thinking about ending his life, was one last phone call to a friend. Realizing the urgency, the friend rushed into the room, and within hours helped collect the $ 400 Mr. Kumar had to pay that day to ease the nuisance.

“If it wasn’t for my boyfriend, I would be 90 percent sure that I would commit suicide that day,” said Mr. Kumar. “I still get calls. But now I’m telling them, “Do whatever you can.” I am not worried now. I feel protected. “

But for some families, neither the pain nor the harassment has gone away.

G. Chandra-Mohan, a 38-year-old father of three who worked in a clothing warehouse, took out approximately $ 1,000 in loans. After interest, fees and penalties, as well as borrowing from other service providers to stay afloat, his balance was five times as high. With a salary of $ 200 a month and the $ 80 a month his wife Sarita earned from a part-time job in a lab, he couldn’t pay it back.

Mr Chandra-Mohan has taken full advantage of his credit cards and pulled them off dozens of credit apps, his family said. When he complained to the police about the harassment, they told him to turn off his phone for a few days and come back if it continues, said his father-in-law, M. Sailu. Police said he may have called a cybercrime hotline but they did not record that he visited a police station.

One morning after Mr. Chandra-Mohan drove his wife to their office on the back of his motorcycle, he gave his three young daughters some change and sent them to their grandparents’ house around the corner. Then he hanged himself from a fan.

“Even after his suicide,” said his wife, “the phone keeps ringing.”

If you are thinking of suicide, call the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). In India, contact 91-9820466726 or visit the Aasra.info website for more resources.

Cao Li contributed to the coverage from Hong Kong.

Tags apps, Borrowers, India, lending, Money, Pay, Shame

Business

England collapse to T20 collection defeat to India

Post author By
Post date March 20, 2021

England collapse to T20 series defeat to India

AHMEDABAD, INDIA – MARCH 20: Shardul Thakur of India celebrates the wicket of Jonny Bairstow of England captured by Suryakumar Yadav during the 5th T20 International between India and England at Narendra Modi Stadium on March 20, 2021 in Ahmedabad, India.

Surjeet Yadav | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images

England collapsed to a 36-run loss to India in the crucial fifth T20 international match in Ahmedabad when the home side took a 3-2 win in the series.

India scored a massive 224-2 from their 20 overs after being reinstated by Eoin Morgan, and although Dawid Malan (68 of 46 balls) and Jos Buttler (52 of 34) both fired in a century, they stand for the second wicket. England eventually collapsed in response to 188-8.

On what is undoubtedly the best club in the series, India has been aggressive from the start. The new opening pair Rohit Sharma (64 of 34 balls) and Virat Kohli (80 of 52 balls) played 94 and achieved a rate of more than 10 over.

Both went through well into the 1950s, while Suryakumar Yadav (32 of 17) and Hardik Pandya (39 of 17) stepped in late with rapid-fire cameos – the former’s innings only ended with a jaw-dropping season frontier catch from Chris Jordan.

Jason Roy (0) went to the second ball of the English chase, which was bowled cleanly by Bhuvneswhar Kumar (2-15). He later returned to win Buttler’s key wicket in a 13th that cost only three runs and turned the game in India’s favor.

Buttler’s dismissal was the first of seven wickets to fall for 44 runs as England stumbled on their way to a series defeat.

Morgan had previously been successful in the throw, and although the English skipper lost the fourth T20 on Thursday when he chased and faced a belting track, he had no hesitation in asking India again to strike first.

But a change at the top of the order for India had the desired effect. After the out of shape KL Rahul fell, Kohli set out to open up to Rohit, who had returned to his best performance in the power play.

Rohit warned both his intent and good form as he crossed two boundaries through the ceiling of Jofra Archers second and then started Adil Rashid (1-31) over the deep midwicket fence in third.

That was one of five highs in Rohit’s breathtaking stroke when India smashed 60 out of six-over power play and he ran 30 balls for up to half a century.

Ben Stokes (1-26) made for the decisive breakthrough for England and fooled Rohit for the pace with a cutter that rattled into his stumps. But any hopes that the wicket would stall the Indian innings were soon dashed when Suryakumar – fresh from firing fifty in his first T20I innings – blew Rashid and Jordan three consecutive boundaries on the next run occupied the 12th.

Jordan would take revenge with a ridiculous frontier catch only to see Suryakumar’s back not long after. He sprinted around the deep midwicket fence for an effortless one-handed catch before passing it on to the observing (and laughing in amazement) Jason Roy as Jordan’s swing led him over the rope.

India Covid-19 vaccination drive, Serum Institute director weighs in

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Post date March 19, 2021

India will likely take at least three to four months to complete Covid-19 vaccination efforts for frontline workers and people over 60 or with underlying health conditions, the executive director of the Serum Institute of India said Thursday.

In January, the South Asian country launched the world’s largest vaccination campaign for around 300 million people out of its massive population of 1.3 billion. According to the Indian Ministry of Health, more than 36 million people had been vaccinated by Wednesday evening.

“The number of doses required in India is enormous,” Suresh Jadhav told CNBC’s Capital Connection, adding that the vaccination program is a gigantic task that cannot be completed in a short period of time.

“This program will continue at a rate of about 50 (million) to 60 million doses per month and cover that population of 300 million in an additional three to four months,” he said.

Jadhav attended the Asian Development Bank’s Southeast Asia Development Symposium 2021 this week.

Based in Pune, India, the Serum Institute has become a key player in the Covid vaccination effort in both India and around the world. It is the largest vaccine maker in the world by volume, making the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University, known locally as Covishield.

It has delivered millions of doses to the Government of India as well as Covax, a global vaccination initiative led by the World Health Organization and others, to ensure an equitable distribution of the shots in less affluent countries.

An exterior view of the Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd., which is manufacturing a Covid-19 vaccine on November 23, 2020 in Hadapsar, Pune, India.

Pratham Gokhale | Hindustan Times | Getty Images

In response to growing demand for its Covid vaccine, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute, asked foreign governments to be patient last month and said, without further explanation, the company had been asked to meet domestic demand first.

Jadhav stated that the Serum Institute is able to fulfill current orders from the Indian government and said it has already delivered around 59 million doses to Covax. He added that the Serum Institute plans to expand capacity by late April or early May to add another 40 to 50 million doses to production.

Currently, the Serum Institute can reportedly produce more than 70 million doses per month.

Last week, the U.S., Japan, and Australia pledged to help Indian companies expand their Covid vaccine manufacturing capacity and add more doses to the global supply pool.

India also uses a locally developed vaccine from Bharat Biotech, which was developed in collaboration with the Indian State Council for Medical Research.

Tags Covid19, Director, Drive, India, Institute, Serum, Vaccination, Weighs

Politics

China Seems to Warn India: Push Too Laborious and the Lights May Go Out

Post author By
Post date March 1, 2021

China Appears to Warn India: Push Too Hard and the Lights Could Go Out

So far, evidence suggests that the SolarWinds hack, named for the company that made network management software that was hijacked to paste the code, was primarily about information theft. But it also created the opportunity for far more destructive attacks – and among the companies that downloaded the Russian code were several American utility companies. They claim the incursions were managed and that their operations were not at risk.

Until recently, China’s focus has been on information theft. However, Beijing is increasingly active in injecting code into infrastructure systems, knowing that fear of an attack, if discovered, can be as powerful a tool as an attack itself.

In the Indian case, Recorded Future forwarded its results to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), a kind of investigative and early warning agency that most nations maintain to keep an eye on threats to critical infrastructure. The center has twice confirmed receipt of the information, but said nothing about whether it too had found the code in the power grid.

Repeated efforts by the New York Times over the past two weeks to obtain comments from the center and several of its officials have yielded no response.

The Chinese government, which did not respond to questions about the code on the Indian grid, could argue that India started the cyberaggression. In India last February, a patchwork of government-backed hackers was caught with phishing emails about coronavirus in order to target Chinese organizations in Wuhan. A Chinese security company, 360 Security Technology, accused state-sponsored Indian hackers of phishing emails against hospitals and medical research organizations in an espionage campaign.

Four months later, as tensions between the two countries on the border increased, Chinese hackers unleashed a swarm of 40,300 hacking attempts on India’s technology and banking infrastructure in just five days. Some of the attacks were so-called denial-of-service attacks that switched these systems offline. others were phishing attacks, according to police in the Indian state of Maharashtra, home of Mumbai.

By December, security experts from Cyber Peace Foundation, an Indian nonprofit tracking hacking efforts, reported a new wave of Chinese attacks in which hackers sent phishing emails to Indians in connection with the Indian holidays in October and November . The researchers linked the attacks to domains registered in China’s Guangdong and Henan provinces with an organization called Fang Xiao Qing. The goal, according to the foundation, was to preserve a bridgehead in the Indian equipment, possibly for future attacks.

Tags Appears, China, Hard, India, Lights, push, Warn

Health

Serum Institute to prioritize India

Post author By
Post date February 22, 2021

An AstraZeneca vaccine production line.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The world’s largest vaccine maker by volume, Serum Institute of India, has been told to first meet domestic demand for Covid-19 shots before selling them overseas.

The move implies that overseas governments could face order delays from the company as it puts India’s needs before others.

“Dear countries and governments, while you wait for #COVISHIELD to be delivered, I humbly ask you to be patient,” tweeted CEO Adar Poonawalla.

He said the Serum Institute of India (SII) has been “directed to prioritize India’s tremendous needs while balancing the needs of the rest of the world. We are trying our best.”

Poonawalla did not elaborate on who gave the directive.

SII declined to comment on Poonawalla’s tweet when contacted by CNBC.

Covishield

The Serum Institute makes the vaccine, which was developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University, known locally as Covishield.

It is one of two vaccines that have received an emergency approval for India’s mass vaccination campaign, which is expected to vaccinate around 300 million people in the first phase, most of them frontline workers and those over 50 or in risk groups.

The other vaccine, which received emergency approval, was developed locally by Bharat Biotech in India. It was created in collaboration with the Indian State Council for Medical Research and has received emergency approval if clinical trials continue.

Since the vaccination campaign started in January, India has vaccinated more than 10.8 million people on February 20, according to the government. It is expected that the number of daily vaccinations will increase in the coming months.

An Army health worker prepares a dose of Covishield, AstraZeneca / Oxford’s Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine from the Indian Serum Institute, at an Army hospital in Colombo on Jan. 29, 2021.

Sign S. Kodikara | AFP | Getty Images

Covishield was provided an emergency directory listing this month by the World Health Organization (WHO) that can be used to ship it to low and middle income countries around the world.

AstraZeneca hopes more than 300 million doses will be made available to 145 countries in the first half of 2021 through Covax, a global vaccination initiative run by the WHO and others.

Covishield is cheaper compared to some of the other vaccines used – such as those from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. It also does not need to be stored at extremely low temperatures, which makes it suitable for use in many developing countries that lack the necessary storage infrastructure.

Growing demand

Tags India, Institute, Prioritize, Serum

Health

India might play an essential position in producing vaccines

Post author By
Post date February 15, 2021

India could play an important role in producing vaccines

A medical professional holds Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin vial during the nationwide vaccination campaign in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, Saturday, February 6, 2021.

Vishal Bhatnagar | NurPhoto | Getty Images

India could become the second largest Covid vaccine maker in the world, and analysts say the country has the capacity to manufacture for both its own people and other developing countries.

Most of the world’s vaccines historically came from India. Even before Covid-19, the South Asian country was producing up to 60% of the world’s vaccines – and at relatively low costs.

“India was a vaccine manufacturing center before the pandemic and should be a strategic partner in vaccinating against COVID-19 worldwide,” JPMorgan analysts wrote in a report last month.

Consultancy firm Deloitte predicts India will rank second after the US in terms of coronavirus vaccine production this year. PS Easwaran, partner at Deloitte India, said more than 3.5 billion Covid vaccines could be produced in the country in 2021, compared to around 4 billion in the US

In addition, companies in India are currently increasing production to meet demand.

“We are expanding our annual capacity to deliver 700 million doses of our intramuscular COVAXIN,” said Indian company Bharat Biotech, which worked with the Indian State Council for Medical Research to develop a Covid vaccine.

Covaxin was approved for emergency use in India, but was controversial due to criticism that the approval was not transparent enough and because not enough efficacy data was published.

India vaccines suitable for developing countries

Another vaccine – known in India as Covishield and jointly developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford – has also been approved as an emergency in India. It is made locally by the Serum Institute of India (SII).

SII manufactures around 50 million cans of Covishield every month, according to Reuters, and plans to grow production to 100 million cans per month by March.

Other Indian companies have agreed to make vaccines for developers such as the Russian Direct Investment Fund and the US company Johnson & Johnson. To be clear, these vaccine candidates have not yet been approved for use.

“Even without successful vaccine development from our own pipelines, the available capacity offers the opportunity to work as a contract manufacturer with approved vaccine developers in order to meet the supply needs, particularly for India and other countries [emerging markets]”said the JPMorgan report.

With a proven track record on the scale that vaccines are made, India should be able to ramp up production to meet international demand as well.

Nissy Solomon

Center for Policy Research

India’s vaccines are likely to be more suitable for developing countries, said K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India.

Some of today’s leading vaccines, such as those from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, use messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, which uses genetic material to trigger the body’s infection control process.

These vaccines require “stringent cold chain requirements” that will be difficult or even “out of the realm of possibility,” for most health systems, Reddy said.

Vaccines made in India are easier to transport and cheaper, putting the country in a better position than the US and Europe when it comes to meeting demand in developing countries, he added.

India’s “proven record”

India’s enormous manufacturing capacity also gives analysts confidence that the country can provide vaccines to other nations.

New Delhi has pledged to send vaccines to its neighboring countries and has already delivered 15.6 million doses to 17 countries, according to Reuters.

“India’s manufacturing capacity is sufficient to meet domestic demand,” said Nissy Solomon, senior research associate at the Center for Public Policy Research (CPPR).

“With a proven track record of the same scale as vaccines, India should be able to ramp up production to meet international demand as well,” she told CNBC.

Solomon added that the country is monitoring domestic needs before making decisions about exports.

For its part, Bharat Biotech said it was “fully prepared to meet the needs of India and global public health”.

Vaccine storage and distribution challenge

However, there will be challenges as the country attempts to meet vaccine demand in India and beyond.

Jefferies stock analyst Abhishek Sharma wrote in a note that vaccine adoption in India has been slow. Even assuming the speed of vaccination will increase, Sharma estimates that only 22% of India’s 1.38 billion people can be vaccinated in one year.

That is roughly the number of people India would like to vaccinate by July or August.

“The supply of vaccines is less of an issue than the storage, distribution and intake of vaccines,” said Solomon of CPPR.

“India is unable to store and distribute such large quantities to the masses,” she said, adding that the country should “strategically” choose vaccines that do not need to be stored in extreme temperatures.

I would say that [these challenges are] more like speed limiters slowing the program down than actual roadblocks where the program must be stopped.

K Srinath Reddy

Public Health Foundation of India

The vaccines India is currently manufacturing require normal refrigeration. However, the vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech must be stored at extremely cold temperatures of minus 70 degrees Celsius, while those made by Moderna must be stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit).

The “real challenge” lies in the sheer number of people who need to be vaccinated, said Reddy of the Public Health Foundation of India.

“This is the first time an adult vaccination program has been carried out on such an unprecedented scale,” he told CNBC.

He said vaccination programs usually focus on vaccinating children and mothers, and the logistics network may not be prepared to handle vaccines for entire populations.

Reddy suggested using the existing food cold chain for vaccines, hoping this could be resolved.

“I would say that [these challenges are] more like speed limiters slowing down the program than actual roadblocks where the program has to be stopped, “he said.

Tags important, India, Play, producing, Role, vaccines

Business

Covid Vaccines: New Diplomacy Software for India and China

Post author By
Post date February 12, 2021

Covid Vaccines: New Diplomacy Tool for India and China

NEW DELHI – India, the unmatched vaccine producer, is dispensing millions of doses to friendly and estranged neighbors. It seeks to counter China, which has made the gun distribution a central point of its external relations. And the United Arab Emirates, which are drawing on their oil wealth, are buying pounds on behalf of their allies.

The coronavirus vaccine – one of the most sought-after products in the world – has become a new currency for international diplomacy.

Countries with the means or the know-how use the shots to find favor or to thaw frosty relationships. India sent them to Nepal, a country that has increasingly come under Chinese influence. Sri Lanka, in the midst of a diplomatic tug-of-war between New Delhi and Beijing, gets doses of both.

The strategy carries risks. India and China, both of which make vaccines for the rest of the world, have large populations of their own to vaccinate. While there is little evidence of grumbling in either country, this could change if the public watch boxes are sold or donated overseas.

“Indians are dying. Indians are still getting the disease, ”said Manoj Joshi, a distinguished contributor to the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi think tank. “I could understand if our needs were being met and you were giving the stuff away. But I think there is a false moral superiority that you are trying to convey where you say we give our things away even before we use them ourselves. “

Donor countries are making their offerings at a time when the United States and other wealthy nations are taking up the world’s supplies. The poorer countries are desperately trying to get their own. An inequality recently warned by the World Health Organization has brought the world “to the brink of catastrophic moral failure.”

With their health systems tested like never before, many countries are eager to take up the offer – and donors could reap good political will as a reward.

“Instead of securing a country by sending troops, you can secure the country by saving lives, saving the economy and helping with vaccination,” said Dania Thafer, executive director of the Gulf International Forum, a Washington-based think tank.

China was one of the first countries to undertake a diplomatic vaccine boost, pledging to help developing countries last year even before the nation mass-produced a vaccine that was proven effective. Just this week it was announced that it would donate 300,000 doses of vaccine to Egypt.

However, some of China’s efforts in vaccine diplomacy have stemmed from late shipments, lack of disclosure of the effectiveness of its vaccines, and other issues. Chinese government officials have cited unexpectedly strong needs at home in isolated outbreaks, a move that could mitigate any domestic backlash.

Even as Chinese-made vaccines spread, India saw an opportunity to bolster its own image.

The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine factory, produces the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine at a daily rate of approximately 2.5 million doses. This pace has allowed India to distribute free cans to its neighbors. Too much fanfare, plane loads have arrived in Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, the Seychelles and Afghanistan.

“Act eastward. Quick action ”, said the Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar on Twitter the arrival of 1.5 million cans in Myanmar.

Updated

Apr. 11, 2021 at 7:21 ET

The Indian government has tried to collect promotional points for cans that have been shipped to places like Brazil and Morocco despite those countries buying theirs. The Serum Institute has also pledged 200 million doses for a global WHO pool called Covax, which would go to poorer nations, while China recently pledged 10 million.

Currently, the Indian government has room to donate overseas, even after months when cases have skyrocketed and the economy has faltered, and despite vaccinating only a tiny percent of its 1.3 billion people. One reason for the lack of setbacks: The Serum Institute is producing faster than the Indias vaccination program can currently handle, leaving extras for donations and exports.

And some Indians are in no rush to get vaccinated because they are skeptical of a native vaccine called Covaxin. The Indian government approved its use in an emergency without disclosing much data on it, causing some people to doubt its effectiveness. While the AstraZeneca-Oxford shock was less skeptical, those who are vaccinated have no choice as to which vaccine to receive.

For India, it has received a rejoinder to China for its soft-power vaccine initiative after years of making political gains for the Chinese in their own backyard – in Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Nepal and elsewhere. Beijing offered deep pockets and quick answers when it came to large investments that India, with a complex bureaucracy and a slowing economy, was struggling to achieve.

“India’s neighborhood has become more crowded and competitive,” said Constantino Xavier, who studies India’s relations with its neighbors at the Center for Social and Economic Progress, a think tank in New Delhi. “The vaccine boost strengthens India’s credibility as a reliable crisis helper and solution provider for these neighboring countries.”

One of India’s largest donations went to Nepal, where India’s relationship was at an all-time low. The tiny land between India and China is of strategic importance to both.

For the past five years, the government of CP Sharma Oli, the prime minister, has started to snuggle up to China after border disputes and what some in Nepal criticize as a master-servant relationship with India. Mr. Oli gave Xi Jinping Thought workshops based on the strategies of the Chinese leader and signed contracts for several projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing’s Infrastructure and Development Boost.

But the prime minister lost power last year. When both Chinese and Indian delegations arrived in Kathmandu to direct Nepal’s domestic jockeying, the Nepalese leader appears to have cut the temperature with India.

After Mr Oli sent his foreign minister to New Delhi for talks, India donated a million cans. China’s Sinopharm has also applied for approval of its vaccine from Nepal, but drug authorities there have not given it approval.

“The vaccine came as an opportunity to normalize relations between Nepal and India,” said Tanka Karki, a former Nepalese envoy to China.

Still, the strategy of winning hearts and minds with vaccines is not always successful.

The United Arab Emirates, which is importing vaccines faster than any other country besides Israel, has started donating Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccines to countries where it has strategic or commercial interests, including 50,000 doses each to Seychelles, the island nation in the US, Indian Ocean and Egypt, one of its Arab allies.

In Egypt, some doctors have resisted using them because they did not trust the data that the UAE and the Chinese manufacturer of the vaccine had published on studies. The government of Malaysia, one of the Emirates’ largest trading partners, declined an offer of 500,000 doses, saying regulators would need to independently approve the Sinopharm vaccine. After regulatory approval, Malaysia instead bought vaccines from Pfizer in the US, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, and a vaccine from another Chinese company, Sinovac.

Even accepted goodwill can be short-lived. Experience Sri Lanka, where India and China battle for influence.

Since Gotabaya Rajapaksa took office as president in 2019, New Delhi has struggled to get its government to commit to a contract that its predecessor signed to complete a terminal project in the port of Colombo, part of which will be developed by India should. While large Chinese projects continued, Mr Rajapaksa opened the Indian deal for review.

Indian Foreign Minister visited Jaishankar last month hoping to highlight the importance of the project. In the same month, 500,000 doses of vaccine arrived from India. Mr. Rajapaksa was at the airport to meet them. Sri Lanka has also placed an order for 18 million doses from the Serum Institute, the Ministry of Health in Colombo confirmed.

The Indian media saw both as a diplomatic victory, and it seems clear that Sri Lanka will largely depend on India for vaccines. On January 27th, Mr. Rajapaksa received another gift from China: a promise to donate 300,000 cans.

The duel donations are only part of a much larger diplomatic dance. Just a week later, Mr Rajapaksa’s cabinet decided that Sri Lanka would develop the Colombo terminal itself and force India out of the project.

Mujib Mashal reported from New Delhi and Vivian Yee from Cairo. Bhadra Sharma, Elsie Chen, Aanya Piyari, Salman Masood and Zia ur-Rehman contributed to the coverage.

Tags China, Covid, Diplomacy, India, Tool, vaccines

World News

Glacier Bursts in India, Leaving Extra Than 100 Lacking in Floods

Post author By
Post date February 7, 2021

Glacier Bursts in India, Leaving More Than 100 Missing in Floods

NEW DELHI – A Himalayan glacier broke, causing sudden, massive flooding in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand on Sunday, destroying two dam projects and forcing authorities to try to evacuate villages and save more than 100 lives.

Trivendra Singh Rawat, the prime minister of Uttarakhand, said seven bodies had been recovered and that about 125 people, including many workers on the two largely swept away hydropower projects, were not reported.

“An avalanche came and completely broke the Rishiganga power plant project and almost all of the workers there are missing,” said Ashok Kumar, the Uttarakhand police chief. “When the water came downriver, we alerted the people.”

The scenes were reminiscent of floods in Uttarakhand in 2013, when heavy rain for several days led to landslides in which thousands of people were killed and entire villages were washed away.

But the latest disaster has also aroused fears about what is to come. Scientists who said a glacier breaking in the middle of winter was a result of climate change have warned that rising temperatures are melting Himalayan glaciers at an alarming rate. The glaciers that provide water to tens of millions of people may have largely disappeared by the end of the century, according to a recent study.

The Chamoli district in Uttarakhand appeared to be hardest hit by the flowing Dhauliganga River. Amit Shah, India’s interior minister, said the country’s disaster relief teams had been flown in. Hundreds of soldiers and members of the Indian-Tibetan border police were also there, other officials said.

Videos on social media showed violent water fluctuations down the mountain canyons, washing away bridges, and what hydroelectric power stations looked like one of the dams.

Officials said 35 people were working on the Rishiganga power plant project, which was closer to the swept glacier, and 176 others were working on a second project about three miles downstream.

Ratan Singh Rana, 55, from Raini village near the Rishiganga Project, said the water flowed down the mountain around 10:30 a.m.

“I was sitting on the floor of my house,” he said. “I saw black liquid flowing from the Nanda Devi mountainside – with a lot of noise downwards – as if a volcano had erupted.”

“It was only 20-25 meters from us,” he added. “We ran uphill about 250 meters and kept crying and shouting, ‘Bhago, bhago! Bachao, bachao! “He said, using the Hindi words for” run “and” save us! ” “

Mr. Rana said the muddy water swept large boulders and ice downstream. His daughter and granddaughter were trapped in the house, and mud debris locked the main entrance. You managed to save her from the back of the house.

“We thought the whole world would drown in it,” he said. “I thought that today is the end, that we would leave this world today.”

Late on Sunday afternoon, the worst damage from the flooding appeared to be over.

Prime Minister Mr Rawat visited Chamoli and posted a video on Twitter indicating that water flow had slowed. He expressed hope that some of the missing could be saved. Local media reports say 16 people trapped in a tunnel have so far been rescued.

“Our particular focus is on rescuing the workers trapped in the tunnels,” he said.

The disaster led critics to point fingers at the government for building a dam near the glaciers at a time when the area is so vulnerable to climate change.

Uma Bharti, a former minister of water resources and river development in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, said she had warned against placing a hydropower project on the river near the Himalayas.

“This incident, which occurred near Rishiganga in the Himalayas, is both worrying and cautionary,” Ms. Bharti said on Twitter. She said she warned that the Himalayas “is a very sensitive area and therefore these projects on the Ganges and its tributaries should not be built.”

Anil Joshi, an environmentalist who studies the Himalayan region, said the swept-away dam was built on India’s second highest mountain just a few kilometers from the Nanda Devi Glacier.

“At this point, a glacier avalanche is indicative of climate change,” Joshi said, referring to how the episode happened during the winter cold. “Changes in temperature caused glaciers to detach and damaged the dam in Rishiganga.”

Mr Joshi said he had difficulty understanding why the government built the dam so close to the glacier. “Now this water is flowing at cyclone speed.” he said.

Tags Bursts, Floods, Glacier, India, Leaving, Missing

Business

India kicks off large Covid-19 vaccination drive on Saturday, Jan. 16

Post author By
Post date January 14, 2021

India kicks off massive Covid-19 vaccination drive on Saturday, Jan. 16

Bangalore Airport employees transfer cardboard boxes of vials of Covishield vaccine developed by the Serum Institute of India on January 12, 2021 in Bangalore, India.

Stringer | Xinhua | Getty Images

SINGAPORE – India is preparing for one of the largest mass vaccination exercises in the world starting Saturday.

The South Asian country plans to vaccinate around 300 million people, or more than 20% of its 1.3 billion population, against Covid-19 in the first phase of the exercise.

Indian airlines have started delivering the first doses of vaccine to Delhi and other major cities, including Kolkata, Ahmedabad and the Bengaluru Technology Center. The Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri, announced earlier this week.

Priority for the recordings is given to healthcare and other frontline workers – an estimated 30 million people. That would be followed by people over the age of 50 and other younger people at high risk.

The rollout will involve close cooperation between the central government and the states.

India has also developed a digital portal called Co-WIN Vaccine Delivery Management System. According to the Ministry of Health, real-time information on “vaccine stocks, their storage temperature and individual tracking of the beneficiaries” is provided.

India has a long history of vaccination campaigns … and will rely on this expertise in spreading coronavirus vaccines.

“India’s vaccine manufacturing expertise and experience with mass vaccination campaigns have prepared it well for the Phase 1 vaccinations scheduled to begin this weekend,” Akhil Bery, South Asia analyst with Eurasia Group, wrote in this week a report.

“India has a long history of vaccination campaigns, including its universal immunization program that vaccinates 55 million a year, and will rely on that expertise in distributing coronavirus vaccines,” he added.

Emergency approval

The Indian Medicines Agency has approved the restricted use of two coronavirus vaccines in emergency situations, both of which will be delivered to the various vaccination centers before Saturday.

One of them is a vaccine developed by the Anglo-Swedish company AstraZeneca and Oxford University, made domestically by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and known locally as Covishield.

Another vaccine was called Covaxin Developed domestically by India’s Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian State Medical Research Council. Emergency clearance has been granted as clinical trials continue.

Covaxin’s approval has reportedly been criticized by some after the regulator gave the green light shortly after asking Bharat Biotech for further analysis.

India’s Minister of Health said Tuesday the Indian government had signed procurement agreements for 11 million doses of Covishield at Indian rupees 200 ($ 2.74) per dose and 5.5 million doses of Covaxin at an average cost of Rs 206 per shot, which is likely cheaper than what it will cost in the private market.

Several other candidates, including a second domestically developed vaccine from Zydus Cadila, are currently in clinical testing.

Possible risks

India currently has more than 10.5 million reported coronavirus cases, second only to the US. According to the Johns Hopkins University, more than 151,000 people have died of Covid-19 in India. However, figures reported daily show that the number of cases of active infections is decreasing.

South Asia’s largest country is also the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines and is believed to produce about 60% of all vaccines sold worldwide.

As a result, India’s production of Covid vaccines is expected to play an important role in global immunization against the disease.

Eurasia Group’s Bery said that despite the government’s optimism, two major risks could potentially slow the launch of the vaccination campaign.

“First, vaccine production capacity will be limited even in best-case scenarios,” he said, adding that if local vaccine manufacturers cannot produce the 600 million doses needed to vaccinate the first 300 million people, “India’s vaccination schedule – and the export of vaccines to other countries could be significantly delayed. “

The second risk is that India’s vaccination campaign is highly dependent on state governments, “whose capacities and expertise vary widely,” Bery said. “Effective coordination between the central government and the state government is required, which has not been (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi’s strength.”

Tags Covid19, Drive, India, Jan, kicks, massive, Saturday, Vaccination

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