Month: December 2020

Terming their protest as “freedom struggle for modern medicine” from the forces of ‘mixopathy’, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Tuesday said it will go on public demonstration activities and withdrawal of non-essential and non-COVID services on December 11, 2020.

In a statement, the medical body said that the emergency services including casualty, labour rooms, emergency surgeries will function along with ICUs, CCUs, but no elective surgical case will be posted.

“Launching the freedom struggle of modern medicine from the forces of mixopathy, IMA has directed public demonstration activities and withdrawal of non-essential and non-COVID services on December 11, 2020, from 6.00 am to 6.00 pm. Emergency services including casualty, Labour rooms, emergency surgeries will function along with ICU’s, CCU’s but no elective surgical case will be posted,” the statement said.

Talking about the protest, Dr Rajan Sharma, national president of IMA said, “The notification of the amendment to the CCIM Act on Postgraduate Ayurveda surgery and the entitlement to study and practice independently have to be seen as another step in advancing and legitimising mixopathy.”

“In fact, the purity and identity of Ayurveda stands equally challenged. That the council prescribed modern medicine textbooks and Ayurveda institutions practiced surgery with the assistance of modern medical doctors cannot be reason enough to legitimise encroachment into the jurisdiction and competencies of modern medicine,” he added.

Adhering to COVID protocols, public demonstrations will be held in small groups of 20 participants between 12 noon to 2 pm on December 8, and all the participants will wear white aprons and sport a stethoscope, along with showcasing placards with slogans against mixopathy.

The medical body added that the objective of these demonstrations is the withdrawal of CCIM order on the surgical disciplines of Modern Medicine and withdrawal of the four committees of NITI AAYOG mixing all systems of medicine.

Dr RV Asokan, Honorary Secretary General of IMA appealed to the government on the medical body’s behalf to consider the sensitivity of the medical fraternity and take appropriate steps in the matter.

“IMA will be constrained to intensify the agitation until the steps towards implementing mixopathy are abandoned. IMA has appealed to all the sister professional speciality organisations, the organisations of medical college teachers, Government Doctors, Resident Doctors Associations apart from medical students and Hospitals Associations to support its cause to retain the separate identity and existence of modern medicine,” said Asokan.

“Today India remains the frontier of modern medicine in both evidence-based and clinical streams. Advanced and sophisticated surgeries and procedures are done at a fraction of the cost than in the West. Indian doctors are supporting Health Systems globally,” IMA added in a statement. (ANI)

It appears the Chinese soldiers are not being able to withstand the harsh winters of the eastern Ladakh sector as they are being rotated on a daily basis at the forward positions, whereas Indian troops are staying for longer periods at the same locations.

“Our troops deployed at the forward posts along the Line of Actual Control are staying for longer periods at their positions than the Chinese. The harsh winters and the lack of exposure to such temperatures are forcing the Chinese to rotate their troops on a daily basis,” a government source told ANI.

The Indian side has an edge over their Chinese counterparts in terms of battling the weather as a large number of them have already done duty in the Ladakh sector, including the Siachen glacier or other high altitude positions, sources said.

Sources said the winter effect could be seen mostly at the strategic heights where the Chinese have deployed their troops close to the Indian positions. While the Indian soldiers stay there, the Chinese can be seen rotating troops from there every day, they added.

China acted aggressively in April-May and pushed almost 60,000 troops towards the Indian border in the eastern Ladakh sector, along with tanks and other heavy weaponry to transgress into the Indian territory and occupy positions here.

The Indian side responded and deployed almost an equal number of troops to prevent the Chinese from any further misadventure.

Meanwhile, the Chinese and the Indian side have been interacting with each other and have held eight rounds of talks at the corps commander level.

The two sides had clashed heavily on June 15, resulting in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers, and Chinese troops as well. India wants the Chinese Army to withdraw from positions like the Finger area before the disengagement at the Southern bank of Pangong lake. (ANI)

Stressing that the Covishield vaccine is “safe and immunogenic”, the Serum Institute of India (SII) on Tuesday said the incident with the Chennai volunteer was in no way induced by the vaccine as “requisite regulatory and ethical processes and guideline” were followed strictly.

Addressing concerns related to the serious adverse event reported by a volunteer in Chennai, the statement by SII read, “The COVISHIELD vaccine is safe and immunogenic. The incident with the Chennai volunteer though highly unfortunate was in no way induced by the vaccine and Serum Institute of India is sympathetic with the volunteer’s medical condition. However, we would like to clarify that all the requisite regulatory and ethical processes and guidelines were followed diligently and strictly.”

“The concerned authorities were informed and the Principal Investigator, DSMB and the Ethics Committee independently cleared and reckoned it as a non-related issue to the vaccine trial. Post which we submitted all the reports and data related to the incident to the Drugs Controller General of India. It is only after we cleared all the required processes that we continued with the trials,” the statement read.

The Chennai-based man has demanded a compensation of Rs 5 crore from the SII after his health worsened allegedly after volunteering for the clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine.

The SII assured everyone that the vaccine will not be released for mass use unless it is proven “immunogenic, and safe”.

“Taking into consideration the complexities and existing misnomers about vaccination and immunisation; the legal notice was sent therefore to safeguard the reputation of the company which is being unfairly maligned,” it added.

Responding to the man’s claim that he suffered neurological and psychological side effects after taking a shot of COVID-19 vaccine candidate Covishield during the human trial, being conducted by SII, the Pune-based company had on Sunday said there was no correlation between the two, adding that it will seek damages in excess of Rs 100 crores for the same.

On a legal notice sent by the volunteer on November 21, the SII had said the allegations are malicious and misconceived. “While the Serum Institute of India is sympathetic to the volunteer’s medical condition, there is absolutely no correlation with the vaccine trial and the medical condition of the volunteer. The volunteer is falsely laying the blame for his medical problems on the COVID vaccine trial.”

The SII had stated that the volunteer was specifically informed by the medical team that the complications he suffered were independent of the vaccine trial he underwent.

“It is evident that the intention behind the spreading such malicious information is an oblique pecuniary motive. The Serum Institute of India will seek damages in excess of Rs 100 crore for the same and will defend such malicious claims,” the vaccine manufacturer had said.

Despite specifically being made aware of the same, the volunteer still chose to go public and malign the reputation of the company, the SII had added.

The participant, according to the legal notice, has been diagnosed with “acute neuro encephalopathy”, which has allegedly been linked with the Covishield shots he took on October 1.

The vaccine candidate, Covishield, is being developed by the UK’s Oxford University and US pharma giant AstraZeneca. The SII is a manufacturing partner for the vaccine.

In the legal notice, the participant asked the ICMR, DCGI, AstraZeneca and Oxford University, along with SII to stop testing, manufacturing and distributing the vaccine. (ANI)

Denying the allegation of threatening her father with death, student leader Shehla Rashid on Tuesday said that it was baseless.

“Whatever allegations have been made against me by my father are baseless,” Rashid said.

She added, “First of all, I don’t regard it as an allegation because it is like a fictional story. It would have been an allegation if there was any proof or document. It is nonsense and false.”

She said, on the contrary, she had given a statement on how her father has been involved in violence against her, her mother and sister.

Abdul Rashid Shora, the father of former JNU students’ union leader Shehla, has alleged that he is facing a threat to life from his daughter.

In a letter to the Jammu and Kashmir DGP, Shora said, “I am under a constant threat to life from my daughter Shehla Rashid Shora who is supported by my elder daughter Asma and wife Zubaida as well as her security guard Sakib Ahmad. This started in 2017 when Shehla all of a sudden joined Kashmir politics.”

“I was called by one Zahoor Vatali, who was arrested in a terror funding case under UAPA in August 2017, just two months before he was nabbed and former MLA Rasheed Engineer at his residence in Srinagar in June 2017. They offered me Rs 3 crore for Shehla to join them,” he claimed.

Abdul Rashid said that he had asked his daughter not to take this money because it was coming from illegal channels and would be used for unlawful activities.

But his daughter later told him that she took the money and threatened him not to disclose anything about this transaction to anybody as it can put his life in danger, Abdul Rashid said.

He alleged that anti-national activities were going on at his house and his daughter even tried to throw him out, requesting the DGP to provide him with security. (ANI)

Filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala’s upcoming action-comedy ‘Bachchan Pandey’ has now roped in actor Jacqueline Fernandez to its cast.

The action-comedy has Akshay Kumar, Arshad Warsi, and Kriti Sanon are on-board already.

“I am elated to be back working with Nadiad and Bachchan Pandey will mark our 8th film together after Judwaa and Housefull series. I cannot wait to reunite with Akshay once again. It is a crazy mad ride always with him and I am sure we will have a blast together,” the ‘Kick’ actor said.

“I am looking forward to begin the shoot in January with them. I cannot spill the beans on my character yet but I can tell you it is a totally different avatar,” she added.

The 35-year-old actor will begin shooting with Akshay, Kriti, and Arshad from the first week of January in Jaisalmer.

Directed by Farhad Samji, the film will be reportedly shot in places like Gadisar Lake and Jaisalkot.

Akshay Kumar’s eponymous character in the film ‘Bachchan Pandey’ is a gangster who aspires to be an actor, while, Kriti Sanon will essay the role of a journalist, who harbours dreams of becoming a film director.

Recently, Arshad Warsi has been roped in to play the role of Bachchan Pandey’s friend.

The action-comedy also marks Nadiadwala’s 10th collaboration with Akshay Kumar. (ANI)

Amid worsening trade relations of China with several countries, the Chinese government tightened its export rules for controlled items like sensitive technology through the implementation of the Export Control Law from Tuesday.

According to South China Morning Post, the law, which came into effect on Tuesday, expands Beijing’s arsenal of countermeasures to trade restrictions imposed by other countries.

The law was first drafted in 2017 and was approved in late October this year. It bears resemblance to the US Export Administration Regulations, including a list of controlled items like sensitive technology, military goods, dual-use items that have both civil and military usage, and a licence requirement for anyone who intends to export or re-export these goods.

The regulation is being considered as a response to the United States’ restrictions on Chinese technology firms like Huawei Technologies Co., which has seen access to American technology severed amid a growing tech war between the world’s two largest powers, the Morning Post reported.

“I see the Export Control Law as a milestone for China because this new law provides the first comprehensive regulatory framework for restricting exports of military and dual-use products and technology for national security and public policy reasons,” said Julien Chaisse, a law professor at City University of Hong Kong

“Virtually all major economies already had similar laws and framework to regulate foreign export control practice in place, so China is filling a major gap and catching up with what has been done in many other places,” Julien added.

The new law explicitly allows China to retaliate against a country that violates export controls and endangers national security, although the definition of abuse is not clearly defined.

The new law also allows Beijing to impose temporary export controls on goods, services and technologies that are not on the official export control list for up to two years, providing the government with ample flexibility to impose restrictions.

It is unclear whether Beijing will use the US-style “long-arm jurisdiction” to penalise foreign companies that violate Chinese export controls by selling products that consist of restricted technology.

A draft version of Beijing’s Export Control Law published in 2017 contained something similar to long-arm jurisdiction but was removed in the final version because of concerns over its negative impact on China’s role in the global supply chain.

The Chinese trade relations with several countries including Australia, the US, and the UK have deteriorated in recent time.

Canberra has been locked in an ongoing trade war with Beijing for seven months, which has seen China slap sanctions on various Australian products.

China has unofficially banned Australian imports of coal, sugar, barley, lobsters, wine, copper and log timber since the start of November. It has also imposed anti-dumping duties on barley earlier this year. (ANI)