5THE HIMALAYAN MAIL JAMMU SUNDAY JULY 05, 2020

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

MUMBAI, JULY 4:Rains continued to lashMumbai and its adjoining ar-eas for the second consecu-tive day on Saturday.

However, the intensity ofrainfall witnessed so far onSaturday was moderate ascompared to Friday, officialssaid.

According to the India Me-teorological Department(IMD), the Colaba weatherbureau reported 39.4 mmrainfall between 8.30 am and2.30 pm on Saturday, whilethe Santacruz weather sta-tion recorded 52 mm rainfallduring the same span.

“The rainfall till now hasbeen moderate as comparedto what was witnessed onFriday. Water-logging wasreported in low-lying areaslike Sion and Milan Subway.

But there has been no com-plaint of major water-loggingso far,” an official of the disas-ter management cell of theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) said.

There have been 19 com-plaints of tree/branchesfalling, but nobody was in-jured in the incidents, hesaid.

As per the IMD’s data,Mumbai’s Colaba weather

bureau recorded 169 mmrainfall during 24 hours from8.30 am on Friday, while theSantacruz weather stationreported 157 mm rainfall inthe same period.

Late on Friday, the IMDhad issued a red alert forMumbai, Raigad and Ratna-giri for Saturday as it pre-dicted heavy to very heavyrainfall at many places inPalghar, Mumbai, Thane

and Raigad districts.Widespread heavy rainfall

was witnessed across Mum-bai in the last 24 hours, IMDMumbai’s deputy directorgeneral K S Hosalikartweeted on Saturday morn-ing.

“Another heavy RF day forMumbai & west coast today,”he said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the Ratnagiribureau recorded 69.3 mmrainfall and the Harnaiweather station in that dis-trict registered 165.2 mmrains since Friday.

In the arid regions ofMarathwada, Nanded dis-trict received 22 mm rainsduring the span, the IMDsaid.

The Alibaug bureau inRaigad district recorded 18mm rains during this period.

Rains continue in Mumbai, adjoining parts for second day

NEW DELHI, JULY 4: India'sCOVID-19 vaccine programme hasgained sudden traction but it is impera-tive to strike a balance between givingit high priority and rushing into aprocess that takes months, even years,several scientists said a day after theICMR announced it envisaged a pre-ventive vaccine by next month.

There was hope but caution too as theIndian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) on Friday said it aimed tolaunch the world's first COVID-19 vac-cine by August 15.

The same day, Ahmedabad-based Zy-dus Cadila announced it has got theDrugs Controller General of India's(DCGI) nod for human clinical trials fora potential vaccine.

“Fast tracking a vaccine trial in fourweeks for safety, immunogenicity andefficacy is just not possible if things are tobe done correctly,” Shahid Jameel, vi-rologist and CEO of the WellcomeTrust/DBT India Alliance, a publiccharity that invests in building biomed-ical sciences and health research frame-work said.

Immunogenicity is the ability of a for-eign substance, such as an antigen, toprovoke an immune response in thebody of a human or other animal, he ex-plained.

Virologist Upasana Ray added that anaccelerated launch or promise for

launch of a vaccine against the novelcoronavirus deserves applause but itwas important to ask whether “we arerushing too much”.

“We must rush albeit carefully. Giv-ing this project high priority is ab-solutely important. However, excesspressure might not necessarily lead to apositive product for public use,” said thesenior scientist at CSIR-IICB, Kolkata.

India's premier medical body ICMRhas said 12 clinical trial sites for the in-digenous Covaxin, being developed incollaboration with the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech and the NationalInstitute of Virology (NIV), had beenidentified.

It asked medical institutions andprincipal investigators to ensure thatthe subject enrolment was initiated nolater than July 7.

"It is envisaged to launch the vaccinefor public health use latest by August 15after completion of all clinical trials,”ICMR Director General Balram Bhar-gava said in his letter to the principal in-

vestigators of the 12 sites.The tone of the letter and the haste it

indicated had some scientists worried.They questioned the timeline of the an-nouncement mentioned in the letter,and advised against subverting the duevaccine development process.

“The ICMR letter is, to say the least, adeeply inappropriate letter, in tone andcontent, both in terms of the integrity ofdue processes of product development,and in terms of technically realistic esti-mates,” said immunologist SatyajitRath.

Vaccine development is a multi-phase process. Phase 1 trials are small-scale, usually involving few participants,to assess whether the vaccine is safe forhumans.

Phase 2 trials often involve severalhundred subjects, and mainly evaluatethe efficacy.

The final phase involves thousands ofpeople to further assess the efficacy ofthe vaccine over a defined period oftime, and can last several months.

Ray added that a vaccine normallytakes at least 12-18 months to pass allnecessary clinical trial phases.

“From now till August 15, the com-pany has just over a months' time towrap up everything that normally a vac-cine development process requires forreleasing a vaccine for clinical use,” shesaid.

Scientists strike note of caution as ‘Made inIndia’ vaccine programme gains momentum

NEW DELHI, JULY 4: A day afterPrime Minister Narendra Modi visitedLeh and addressed frontline soldiers, theCongress on Saturday said the time hascome for him to follow his “raj dharma”and tell the people of the country aboutthe reality of Chinese “incursions”.

Addressing a virtual press meet, Con-gress leader Kapil Sibal used satellite im-ages of Ladakh’s Pangong Tso from Mayand June to show Chinese structures inthe area and asked the prime minister toat least speak the truth about it. He alsoasked Modi to stop doing the politics of“illusion and delusion” and showing “redeyes” to China, and protect Indian terri-tory.

“The times warrant India to look eye-to-eye at China and unequivocally tell themto retreat from their illegal and brazenoccupation of Indian territory. Mr PrimeMinister, this is the only ‘raj dharma’ thatyou must follow,” Sibal said.

Posing a set of five questions to theprime minister, he asked Modi to saywhether the actual picture of “Chineseoccupation of our territory” up to the“Finger 4 Ridge” in the Pangong Tso areadepicts the truth on the ground.

“They say ‘pictures do not lie’. Will theprime minister now tell the nation—isthis Indian territory on which radars, he-lipad and other structures have been builtby the Chinese in a brazen act of trans-gression?

“Have the Chinese occupied our terri-tory in Galwan Valley, including ‘PatrolPoint 14’, where our 20 jawans of the 16Bihar Regiment made the supreme sacri-

fice? Has China also occupied Indian ter-ritory in Hot Springs?” the Congressleader asked.

“Has China occupied our territory upto ‘Y-Junction’ (18 kms inside the LAC)in the Depsang plains, threatening In-dia’s strategic DBO airstrip, which is thelifeline for our military supplies to theSiachen glacier and Karakoram pass?”he asked. On Modi saying this is not theIndia of 1962 and the era of expansion-ism is over, the former Union ministersaid Jawaharlal Nehru, the first primeminister of the country, had told Chinathen that India will never accept the Chi-nese claim-line.

According to Sibal, Nehru wrote toChina, saying India will never submit tothe demand for it to accept the Chinese1959 line, whatever the consequencesand however long and hard the strugglemay be. The Congress leader said para-doxically, the Chinese 1959 line clearlydepicted the entire Galwan Valley in Indiaand it was only on June 16, 2020, a dayafter the fatal clashes, that China formallylaid claim, for the first time ever, to theentire Galwan Valley.

Sibal said former prime ministers In-

dira Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri hadvisited forward locations to boost themorale of Indian soldiers and Nehru hadalso visited soldiers in the forward loca-tions in NEFA in 1962 to boost theirmorale.

“But it appears that our prime minis-ter stayed 230 km away in Nimu, Leh,”the he said, taking a swipe at Modi’s visit.

“Isn’t it correct that the local council-lors of Ladakh, including BJP council-lors, submitted a memorandum to PrimeMinister Modi in February about the cap-ture of our land by China? What actiondid the prime minister take? Had heacted, wouldn’t we have been able to pre-empt the brazen Chinese transgres-sions?” Sibal asked.

In a clear message to China, Modi onFriday said the era of expansionism isover and that India’s enemies have seenthe “fire and fury” of its armed forces, as hemade an unannounced visit to Ladakh,signalling India’s firmness in dealingwith the border row with the neighbour-ing country.

In an address to troops in Nimu, theprime minister paid glowing tributes tothe 20 Indian soldiers killed in the Gal-wan Valley clashes and said tales of thebravery and valour of the armed forcesare echoing in every part of the country.

“Bharat Mata’s enemies have seenyour fire and fury,” Modi said, in an appar-ent reference to the military clashes be-tween the Indian and Chinese troops,and asserted that bravery is a prerequi-site for peace and that the weak can neveraccomplish it.

Follow ‘raj dharma’, tell people about real-ity of Chinese incursions: Congress to PM

SHIMLA, JULY 4: Hi-machal Pradesh allowed en-try of tourists with condi-tions such as a test reportshowing negative forCOVID-19 and a prior hotelbooking of at least five days,about three-and-a-half-months after a ban was im-posed to check the spread ofthe novel coronavirus.

In an order issued by thechief secretary-cum-chair-person of state executivecommittee (SEC), Anil Ku-mar Khachi, on Thursday,the state government relaxedthe ban as part of the phasedreopening from the coron-avirus-induced lockdown --'Unlock-II'.

"Tourists with valid book-ing, preferably for durationsnot less than five days andhaving been tested forCOVID-19 by an ICMR-ac-credited laboratory not ear-lier than 72 hours at the timeof entry may also be ex-empted from the require-ment of quarantine," the or-

der stated. All inter-statemovement will be monitoredthrough registration in theCOVID e-pass software("http://covid19epass.hp.gov.in"covid19epass.hp.gov.in).

"The people coming to Hi-machal Pradesh from otherstates shall strictly adhere tothe prevailingguidelines/standard operat-ing procedure (SOP) issued

by the health and revenuedepartments of the state,"the order stated.

The order, however, doesnot mention the exact datefrom which tourists may visitthe state.

The hilly state barred entryof tourists in March to checkthe spread of the novel coron-avirus.

Further, inter-state bus

service will remain sus-pended till further orders.

The medical colleges areallowed to open in the statefor final-year students tostrengthen the health systemin coming days along withthe health training institu-tions from July 15 subject toSOPs issued by the depart-ment of health and familywelfare, the order stated.

Tourists allowed to visit Himachal withprior hotel booking for at least 5 days

NEW DELHI, JULY 4: After rais-ing billions of dollars from the likes ofFacebook and Intel for its digital busi-ness, billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Re-liance Industries has launched JioMeetvideo-conferencing app with unlimitedfree calling that is being seen as rate waron rival Zoom.

The JioMeet video-conferencing appis available across Android, iOS, Win-dows, macOS and web since Thursdayevening after beta-testing.

According to the company website,JioMeet supports HD audio and videocall quality with up to 100 participantsand offers features like screen sharing,meeting schedule feature and more.

But unlike Zoom, it does not impose a40-minute time limit. Calls can go on aslong as 24 hours, and all meetings areencrypted and password-protected, thecompany said.

Based on USD 15 per month chargefor meetings of more than 40 minuteson Zoom (USD 180 on annual basis),JioMeet is providing the same function-ality and more free of cost, translatinginto Rs 13,500 savings for a host peryear, company sources said.

According to app features listed onGoogle Play Store, JioMeet offers easysign up with either mobile number or e-mail ID and allows creation of instant

meeting.The meeting in HD audio and video

quality can be scheduled in advance anddetails shared with invitees, it said,adding JioMeet allows unlimited meet-ings per day with each meeting goinguninterrupted for up to 24 hours.

Each meeting is password protectedand the host can enable 'Waiting Room'to ensure no participant joins withoutpermission. It also allows creation ofgroups and starting calling/chatting ona single click.

Other features include 'Safe DrivingMode' while driving, multi-device loginsupport for up to five devices and seam-less switching from one device to otherwhile on call.

The app, which has already seen morethan 5 lakh downloads on the GooglePlay Store and iOS, comes amid the gov-ernment imposing a ban on 59 popular

Chinese apps, including TikTok, ongrounds that they threatened nationalsecurity and data privacy.

The app was launched a day beforeReliance announced fund raising fromstake sale in Jio Platforms which hasnow totalled Rs 1.17 lakh crore from 11 in-vestors, ranging from Facebook to IntelCapital.

Company sources said no restrictionon time limit on JioMeet means teacherswill not be required to cut short theirclasses as they are forced to do on Zoom.Also, the app allows national and inter-national seminars as well as hosting ofcultural and social events.

Unlike Zoom where users cannot ex-pand a participant's video, JioMeetmeetings users can expand any partici-pant's video or shared screen's video bya double tap.

Also, JioMeet has two advancedmeeting settings over and above Zoomoptions. First, it allows participants onlyfrom the host's organisation. If enabled,only users from the host's organsationcan join that meeting, eliminating po-tential snoops from other IDs.

Second, it does not allow guest users -- if enabled, every user will be required tosign up before joining the meetinghence restricting anonymous usersfrom joining the call.

Reliance launches unlimited free conferencingapp JioMeet as competition to Zoom

NEW DELHI, JULY 4:The Union health ministryon Friday revised the dosageof anti-viral drug remdesivirto be administered to coro-navirus patients in the mod-erate stage of illness fromthe earlier six days to fivedays as it issued an updated'Clinical Management Pro-tocols for COVID-19'.

The drug, administered inthe form of injection, shouldbe given at a dose of 200 mgon day one followed by 100mg daily for four days (totalfive days), the new treat-ment protocols stated.

The Health Ministry onJune 13 had allowed the useof remdesivir for restrictedemergency use in moderatecases under "investigationaltherapies".

"Under emergency use au-thorisation, remdesivir maybe considered for patients in

moderate stage requiringoxygen support," the docu-ment stated.

It is not recommended forthose with severe renal im-pairment and high level ofliver enzymes, pregnant andlactating women, and thosebelow 12 years, it said.

The ministry also okayedoff-label application oftocilizumab, a drug thatmodifies the immune sys-

tem or its functioning, andconvalescent plasma fortreating COVID-19 patientsin the moderate stage of ill-ness as "investigational ther-apies".

It also recommended hy-droxychloroquine for pa-tients during the earlycourse of the disease and notfor critically-ill patients.

On June 27, the ministryhad included an inexpen-

sive, widely used steroiddexamethasone in treat-ment protocols for COVID-19 patients in the moderateto severe stages of their ill-ness among other therapeu-tic measures.

The ministry advised useof dexamethasone, which isalready used in a wide rangeof conditions for its anti-in-flammatory and immuno-suppressant effects, as an al-ternative choice tomethylprednisolone formanaging moderate to se-vere cases of coronavirus in-fection. India's COVID-19cases soared by over 20,000in a day for the first time tak-ing the country's total tally to6,25,544 on Friday while thedeath toll climbed to 18,213with 379 new fatalities, ac-cording to the Union HealthMinistry data updated at 8am.

Govt revises dosage of anti-viral drug remdesivirto be administered to coronavirus patients

MUMBAI, JULY 4:People of Palghar wereshocked as the sensationalcase of a shopkeeper—whoallegedly killed a 32-year oldwoman customer and laterhad sex with her corpse—un-ravelled at the height of theongoing lockdown, police of-ficials said here on Saturday.

The accused Shiva Choud-hary, 30, owner of a noveltyshop in Nalasopara town wasarrested on Friday and re-manded to police custody tillJuly 12, said crime branch of-ficial Santosh Gurjar.

The probe started when aresident of Priyanka Com-plex on Achole Talav Road

registered a complaint withTulinj Police Station a day af-ter his wife went missing onJune 26.

Guarjar said that accord-ing to investigations, the vic-tim had gone to make somehousehold purchases atChoudhary's shop on June26 and had an altercationwith him on the price ofsome goods.

After the brawl, Choud-hary slapped the victim,dragged her by the hair to theback of his shop, tried tostrangulate her and then slither throat with a knife.

Around 3 a.m. of June 27,Choudhary wrapped her

body and carried it to a jeepvan parked around half a kmfrom his shop and dumped itthere.

A day later on June 28, lo-cals complained of a foulstench emanating from thevan and alerted the police. Ateam was rushed to find thebody which was later identi-fied by her husband.

The autopsy report alsomade the shocking revela-tion—that she had been sexu-ally assaulted after her mur-der.

Hot footing into the probe,police teams fanned out inthe area and after scanningthe CCTV footage of the

neighbourhood, zeroed in onthe possible suspect Choud-hary.

"He was picked up andduring sustained interroga-tion, confessed to murderingthe woman and then havingsex with her corpse. There-after, he was placed underarrest and further investiga-tions are on," Gurjar toldIANS.

A police official said thatChoudhary was living alonein the shop as his wife andchildren are in Pali village ofRajasthan since nearly ayear, and could not controlhis urge after killing thewoman.

Palghar stunned by necrophilia, a man raped woman's corpse