CURRENT AFFAIRS
07 December 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Pfizer seeks emergency approval for its Covid-19 vaccine in India.
Pfizer India has become the first pharmaceutical firm to seek from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) an emergency use authorisation for its Covid-19 vaccine in the country, after its parent company secured such clearance in the UK and Bahrain. The firm, in its application submitted to the drug regulator, has sought permission to import the vaccine for sale and distribution in the country, besides waiver of clinical trials on Indian population in accordance with the special provisions under the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019, official sources said. Pfizer India has submitted an application on December 4 to the DCGI seeking emergency use authorization (EUA) for its COVID-19 vaccine in India. The UK on Wednesday became the first country to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19, with the UK regulator Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) granting a temporary authorisation for its emergency use. Bahrain on Friday also announced that it has granted an EUA for the two dose vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. The pharma company has already applied to the US FDA seeking EUA for the vaccine.
B) Opposition leaders extend support for Bharat Bandh called by farmers’ groups.
Top Opposition leaders, in a joint statement on Sunday, extended support for the December 8 Bharat Bandh call by the agitating farmers and said the new farm laws would destroy agriculture by mortgaging it to corporates. The joint statement was signed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, DMK president M.K. Stalin, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D. Raja, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and CPI(ML)’s Dipankar Bhattacharya among others. These new laws, passed in Parliament in a brazen anti-democratic manner preventing a structured discussion and voting, threaten India’s food security, destroy agriculture and our farmers, lay the basis for the abolishment of the minimum support price and mortgage agriculture and our markets to the caprices of multi-national agri-business corporates and domestic corporates, read the joint statement released by the CPI(M) office. Asking the Centre to listen to the legitimate demands of our Kisans-Annadatas, the Opposition leaders said that they are the undersigned leaders of political parties extend their solidarity with the massive struggle by the farmers organised by various kisan organisations from across the country and extend their support to their call for Bharat bandh on December 8 demanding the withdrawal of these retrograde agri-laws and the Electricity Amendment Bill.
C) Over 170 hospitalised with mysterious illness in Andhra’s Eluru.
Over 170 people, including several women and children, were admitted with some unknown disease in the Government General Hospital (GGH) in Eluru in West Godavari district during the last couple of days. The number of in-patients which was 55 on Saturday midnight went up to 170 by Sunday morning, the officials said, with patients suffering from symptoms like dizziness, headache and epilepsy-type symptoms, said a doctor treating them. A.P. Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas enquires about the health condition of the patients who were admitted in Eluru Government General Hospital with giddiness and epilepsy symptoms. Medical teams from different hospitals in West Godavari and Krishna districts were rushed to the colonies, where the patients are being treated in special camps. Water, food and blood samples have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and the reports are awaited. CT scan and X-ray reports are normal, the doctors said. Officials indicate so far that about 30 patients have been discharged from the GGH. This is a story they will keep a track on and bring them more details shortly.
D) Honey brands war with each other over NMR claims.
Two leading homegrown rival FMCG brands Dabur and Marico are in an open spat with each other over claims regarding their honey brands and have taken the matter to advertising regulator ASCI. Dabur on Sunday said it is filing a complaint against rival Marico before the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) for claiming its Saffola Honey sample being passed through the NMR test. The Noida-based company claimed Marico’s Saffola honey has failed the NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) test and is misleading the consumers. To know more about the NMR test and the current questions being raised about the purity of Indian honey brands read our previous reporting on the subject here. Dabur is filing a complaint in ASCI against Marico as their Saffola Honey sample from the market has failed the NMR test. Test reports clearly indicate the presence of sugar syrup in Saffola honey. Their claim on NMR test is misleading the consumers, Dabur claimed in a statement. Earlier, Marico had filed a complaint before the ASCI on October 1, over Dabur’s claims of its honey passing the NMR test. The complaint has been admitted by ASCI and taken on record for further hearing, said Marico.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) U.K. and E.U. making last push for post-Brexit trade agreement before December 31.
The U.K. and European Union (EU) are holding crunch talks on December 6 to give one last push to try and thrash out a post-Brexit trade agreement before the end of the transition period on December 31. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke on the telephone on December 5 to try and find a way out of a stalemate that has lasted months, ending in the chief negotiators on both sides concluding the latest round of talks without achieving a breakthrough. There are lingering divergences on key areas of EU fishing rights in U.K. waters and governance matters after Britain ceases to be a member of the economic bloc from January 1, 2021. In a phone call on the ongoing negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom, we welcomed the fact that progress has been achieved in many areas. Nevertheless, significant differences remain on three critical issues: level playing field, governance and fisheries. Both sides underlined that no agreement is feasible if these issues are not resolved, read a joint statement issued by Mr. Johnson and Ms. von Der Leyen.
B) Saudi prince hits out at Israel at security summit.
A prominent Saudi prince harshly criticized Israel on Sunday at a Bahrain security summit that was remotely attended by Israel’s Foreign Minister, showing the challenges any further deals between Arab States and Israel face in the absence of an in. dependent Palestinian state. The fiery remarks by Prince Turki al-Faisal at the Manama Dialogue appeared to catch Israel’s Foreign Minister offguard, particularly as Israelis receive warm welcomes in Bahrain and the UAE following agreements to normalize ties. Left unresolved by those deals, however, is the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinians view those pacts as a stab in the back from their fellow Arabs and a betrayal of their cause. Prince Turki opened his remarks by contrasting what he described as Israel ‘s perception of being peace-loving upholders of high moral principles versus what he described as a far-darker Palestinian reality of living under a Western colonizing power. Israel has incarcerated (Palestinians) in concentration camps under the flimsiest of security accusations young and old, women and men, who are rotting there without recourse to justice, Prince Turki said. They are demolishing homes as they wish and they assassinate whomever they want. The prince also criticized Israel’s undeclared arsenal of nuclear weapons and Israeli governments unleashing their political minions and their media outlets from other countries to denigrate and demonise Saudi Arabia. Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, who spoke after Prince Turki, said that he would like to express his regret on the comments of the Saudi representative.
