A Tale of two Lockdowns: see how two US cities Philadelphia and St Louis dealt with 1918 flue pandemic. It may also explains why the death rate in India is much less than most of the developed nations.

There have been much hue and cry on what was the benefit of early Lockdown in India, was it unnecessary? Could it have been avoided? Here is a documentary analysis on the benefits of early lockdown that may also explain why India reported less death rate than the world average or than that of developed nations which have better health facilities.

It is interesting to see how two US cities Philadelphia and St Louis handled the world’s worst known recorded pandemic to the word, 1918 flu also known as Spanish flu. It infected about 50 crore people (one-third of the world’s population that time) and killed between 1.7 crore to 5 crore people worldwide.

 

Philadelphia:

It Reported first death of Spanish flue on September 14, 1918 it took no measures for the first 20 days--by but that time it had already 400 daily deaths per million. On October 3, the state announced Lockdown, social distancing, closed schools and churches. But it had lost the battle against Spanish flue which continue to spread exponentially. Within a fortnight death rate reached its peak and reported nearly 2600 deaths per million on October 17-18. After this, it generated herd immunity and reduced substantially and in another on month death rate dropped to almost zero. The flue remained active for two and a half months.

St Louis

It reported its first death on October 4, within 3-4 days, it announced lockdown, asked for social distancing, closed school and churches, and the results were very positive. The death rate in St. Louis never crossed 700 daily death per million—this death rate was almost four times less than Philadelphia. Though the flue remained active for almost three months in St. Louis and curve flattened. A delay in lockdown by nearly 20 days in Philadelphia increased death rate by four times.

Observations:

By delaying lockdown by mere 10-12 days increased the peak death rate by almost four times (2600 deaths per million in Philadelphia, and 700 deaths per million in St Louis). Though it is difficult to say that the lockdown was the only reason… there were many reasons, St Louis (spread in 158 square Km) was less populated density wise, and

Philadelphia had more populated and spread in 367 Square Kms, but still the fact remains that the peak death rate tended to be lower in places that acted early, whereas those that waited a week or more saw higher spikes.

Early lockdown avoid unnecessary stress on Health Infrastructure, less death spike means doctors would get time to handle the cases. Similarly, the earlier cities acted, the lower their total death counts in general. Keeping peaks low likely kept health care systems from getting totally overwhelmed, and therefore enabled them to provide better care to each patient.

But then this is not the end of the story:

St Louis lifted the restrictions early considering that the worst has gone, but they were wrong, the virus hit back with the second wave.

"St. Louis and Denver city in the USA lifted the restrictions early thinking the danger was over. But the flu often rushed back as soon as interventions were lifted. Both cities saw spikes in cases after they lifted their bans. None of the cities that kept their bans in place saw the second wave. In some cases Third-wave as well," observes Popular Science magazine (an American quarterly magazine science magazine for the common man),  in its article "What the 1918 flu pandemic can teach us about COVID-19".

.

In the Indian context:

India had announced its first Lockdown on March 23, when there were nearly daily reporting of 300. On March 223 the world was reporting about 41,000 cases a day and nearly 2200 deaths a day. The lockdown continued till the first week of June--perhaps the longest lockdown for a country with 138 crore population.

In the first week of June, Unlockdown process began. Then the daily deaths were less than 300 and 10,000 new cases every day. Whereas the world was reporting more than 1.14 lakh cases a day, and daily death of about 4300 people.

The daily death figure and reporting of new cases did not stop increasing despite the longest lockdown. Yet the situation is not as bad as we reported in Italy, Spain, UK or USA. It is managing with its dilapidated health infrastructure though not as efficiently as developed nations are doing, 

 Today the daily death toll has reached 600, and daily new cases to 40,000. The situation is still bad and the only silver lining is the better recovering rate and decreasing death toll.

Did Early Lockdown help India?:  

Yes, without any second doubt. 

Look at the death per million in developed cases USA 433/ Million; Spain and UK more than 600/ million; Italy 580/ million; Germany 109 per million. World over average death rate per million is 78.

Considering the fact that India only reports 20 death per million, one can say India’s position is much better than the world. Reasons could be Early lockdown, immunity, awareness, and late entering of Covid-19 the virus in India.

Did India perform better than other countries? 

Certainly not.

Well, we must question the way our government imposed the Lockdown in a hurry without any roadmap and proper discussion with states and health experts.

It could have been more effective and less painful to casual migratory labourers. The worst part of the Lockdown was suffering of poor migratory people who had no place to live, nowhere to go, and hardly anything to eat. It was a blunder of the Modi Government and it would pay its price in the coming elections.

The SOPs (standard operating procedures) was not clearly defined, officers working on the ground zero were mostly confused due to vague instructions from centre and State.

We should also question why effective measures were not taken at International Airports and on strict early checking (After Mid January, February and March) of people visiting India. Probably our policymakers fail to judge the veracity of the pandemic?

Lastly and most importantly, Centre and state governments did not take advantage of Lockdown to prepare itself for the possible increase in COVID-19 cases. Our health system and its COVID-19 preparations are still worse than some developing countries forget the developed nations.

Write is Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, who has covered health, Energy, Agriculture, and Internal security during the past 30 years.

Change food Habits to fight COVID-19, Suggestions from two Indian scientists of DST Ministry

In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, foods you eat plays a great role in improving immunity. Choosing the right food is a must especially when you are fighting a disease that hardly has any prescribed treatment, vaccine and therapeutic recommendations.

See what two senior scientists from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, has to say on eating habits during COVID-19. Their recommendations and guidelines are based on the ancient healing system of India—Ayurveda.

(A) Maximum use of raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, pulses, wholegrain foods, unsaturated oils;; and stop eating junk and sugary food. Apart from food, guidelines also recommend physical exercises, meditation and adequate sleep, and good exposure to sunlight.

(B) Limits the intake of soda, salt, sugar and trans fats (take rock salts, jaggery or honey and unsaturated fats instead), & Stop Eating junk and sugary food.

(C) Apart from food, guidelines also recommend physical exercises, meditation and adequate sleep, and good exposure to sunlight.

In fact even governments of most countries and several authorised international health agencies like the World Health Organisation, the British Dietetic Association and the UD Food and Administration has stressed on these guidelines though without referring Indian healing system—Ayurveda (आयुर्वेदा ).

According to the two Indian scientists, Jyoti Sharma  S.K. Varshney, senior scientists from the Department of Science and Technology of India, who have done an in-depth study of Ayurveda for curing people,  Indian ancient healing system stands on four pillars

 1) Aahar (diet)

2) Vihar (lifestyle)

3) Achar (conduct of individual with the external world)

4) Vichar (mental health).

In ancient healing system of India, food is like a medicine that can recuperate an individual by establishing the connection between elements of life, food, and body. Individuals’ temperament, physical and emotional states can be determined and regulated by their food choices, quantities, and lifestyle.

It is well known that there is a close relationship among genes, environment, food, and emotional factors that lead to a bidirectional vicious cycle of mood, food, and lifestyle diseases.

Ayurveda recommends the intervention of healthy lifestyles, meditation, pranayama, adequate sleep, and Satvik food to live a healthy, peaceful life and fight against various diseases including COVID-19.

The scientists claimed that proper food selection and dietary schedule help to maintain holistic health with a calm mind. Bhagwad Gita and Yoga Shastras divided food into three types based on their qualities (termed as gunas).

They are 

(A) Sathva (satoguna), Good to take. A Satvik diet is meant to include foods and eating habits that are natural, vital and energy-containing and provides calmness, purity and promote longevity, intelligence, strength, health and delight. Examples of Satvik food items are fruits, vegetables, sprouted grains, cereals, nuts and seeds, low-fat milk and milk products, pure fruit juices, and cooked food that is consumed within 3-4 hours of cooking,

 (B) Rajasa (rajoguna): Avoidable. A Rajasic diet, the mode of passion, is one that is overly spicy, hot, or fried with pungent, sour, and salty taste. Rajasic food possesses attributes of negativity, passion, and restlessness. Examples of Rajasic food is caffeinated drinks (like coffee, fizzy soft drinks, tea), sugary foods (chocolate, cake, biscuits, chips, etc), or spicy food.  As these foods are rich in glucose, they may provide immediate energy but eventually destroys the mind-body equilibrium, feeding the body at the expense of the mind.

(C) Thamasa (tamoguna) (Should not take): A Tamsik diet, the mode of ignorance, is one that consists of overcooked, stale, fast, reheated, microwaved, or frozen food; dead food such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs; alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs of addiction. Tamsik foods are hard to digest and gift inertia, dullness, and induce sleep. All these are an important cause of obesity, diabetes, heart, and liver disease.

Rajasic and Tamsik foods, available as processed and junk foods, are full of carbohydrates, sugar, and trans-fat in high proportions. The combination of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and table sugar has become a primary choice of food industries as a sweetener due to its better shelf-life, more palatability and competitive price. This resulted in an additional 30% increase in overall sweetener intake and inability to regulate the hormones insulin and leptin and to inhibit the production of ghrelin, all factors that are known to affect the satiety centre in our brain, regulate blood glucose levels and appetite. Fast foods and fried foods like French fries, doughnuts, cakes, pie crusts, biscuits, frozen pizza, cookies, crackers, and stick margarines are made up by using hydrogenated or artificial trans-fats (or trans-fatty acids) which meets their food processing needs, easy to use, inexpensive and can be used many times in the commercial fryers. High sugar, high-fat and animal protein diets lead to disruption in the regulation of blood glucose levels, fat build-up in the liver, high uric acid concentrations reduced kidney function and increase in arteriolar thickening, and fat deposition.

Food rich in Prana (Life-Force):

It is a combination of carbohydrates, fats, rich in dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants with a limited amount of sugar, salt and oil, and no animal fat. It can be digested easily and utilize the six tastes in Ayurveda (sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, astringent). Satvik food with recommended physical exercise, adequate rest, and a positive mindset is a source of energy and can reduce the risk of high body mass index, coronary artery disease, obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis. Satvik food is pure, natural, strong, wise, and full of energy to provide calmness and peace to the mind, thereby resulting in longevity of life in an individual.

Rajasic and Tamsik food:

Some food articles like onion, garlic, asafoetida, caffeinated tea, and coffee; fried, spicy, high in sugar, and junk foods induce restlessness, lethargy, and sleep. Food like garlic and onion may be good as medicine but not for daily consumption. The daily consumption of food, which stimulates the nervous system, may lower the possibilities of experiencing life.

Self Care Guidelines for COVID-19: Self-care guidelines for preventive health measures and boosting immunity include herbal tea and decoction (Kadha) made from Tulsi, Dalchini, Kalimirch, Shunthi (Dry Ginger) and Munakka (Raisin) with jaggery and/or fresh lemon juice to enhance the taste as immunity promoting measures against COVID-19.

The Guidelines of AYUSH Ministry also asked to cold, frozen, and heavy foods, which is a clear indication to avoid Rajasic and Tamsik food. It asked people to take appropriate rest, timely sleep, exposure to sunlight, and practice of Yogasana and Pranayama so as to balance our body, mind, and lifestyle.

At a time when COVID 19 is spreading exponentially, the AYUSH Ministry has recommended that in this time of uncertainties and non-availability of treatment, it is important to remain healthy and peaceful. Good food with other recommendations, as explained in the above table, would help in building up our immunity as well as burst the stress while combating against COVID-19.

Recommended Food	Avoid (but could be taken rarely to satisfy taste buds)	Not Recommended
Fibrous food in the form of raw or freshly cooked colourful vegetables and fruits (good sources of vitamins A, C and E, as well as antioxidants, folate, and fibre (opt steaming, grilling or sautéing cooking methods)	Less spicy and oily food Garlic, onion, unseasonal veggies in a limited amount	Fried, over spicy and overcooked, or stale food
Pulses and wholegrain foods (oats, brown pasta, millet, and rice, quinoa and whole-wheat fresh chapatis and wraps)	Brown bread	Refined, processed grain foods (white pasta and rice, and white bread), deep-frozen foods
Low-fat or reduced-fat versions of milk and dairy products like curd, yoghurt (rich in probiotics that strengthen the digestive tract).	White meats like poultry and fish that are generally lower in fats than red meat; processed meat (though it is not a part of Satvik food)	Red meat
Unsalted nuts and seeds (like pumpkin, sunflower, and flax). They are great sources of vitamin E, niacin, riboflavin, protein, healthy fat, antioxidants, and fibre.	Homemade low fat/sugar snacks like idli, dosa, dhokla, upma, daliya, brown bread with pea-nut butter	Snacks that are high in salt and sugar (cookies, samosa, cakes, and chocolate); pickles, jams
Egg yolks, and fortified breakfast cereals	Canned food, used after washing it to remove extra salt or sugar
Unsaturated fats (e.g., found in fish, avocado, nuts, olive oil, soy, canola, sunflower and corn oils). The fat intake is recommended less than 30% of total energy intake, of which no more than 10% should come from saturated fat.	Saturated fats (e.g., found in fatty meat, butter, coconut oil, cream, cheese, and lard)	Trans-fats (processed food, fast and fried food, snacks, frozen pizza, pies, cookies, margarines, and spreads)
Fresh fruit juices, low-fat lassi, chaaz, lemon water, coconut water/ hot water, herbal tea (packs a big punch of polyphenols, flavonoids, and antioxidants that destroy free radicals)	Soft drinks or sodas and other drinks that are high in sugar (e.g., packed fruit juices; fruit juice concentrates and syrups; flavoured milks and water; energy and sports drinks; and yogurt drinks, caffeinated tea, coffee, ready-to-drink tea, and coffee	Alcohol, tobacco, drugs
Honey and jaggery	Brown sugar	White sugar
Indian herbs: Coriander (Dhaniya), turmeric (contain Curcumin), fenugreek (methi), tulsi (Basil), cumin (jeera), fennel (sonph), cloves, black pepper (Kalimirch, contain Piperine), cinnamon (dalchini), ginger and curry leaves.   These spices have antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, act as an immune booster and may help to flush out any sinuses from the body. Rock salt (limit salt intake to 5 grams (equivalent to a teaspoon) a day.	Iodised salt	Non-iodised salt

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com

Indian Scientists invented two unique products to fight COVID 19, an easy to breath active mask, and a long lasting nano senitizers, commercial production to start soon

Both these products are unique and have been transferred to a private firm for commercial production to meet the demand arising out of COVID 19 pandemic.

While the active respirator, with attached exhalation value, would give relief  to people wearing the mask from breathing and talking, the eco-friendly nano sanitizer would have much long last effect on surfaces that the existing sanitizer.

The two innovations were made by the National Research Development Corporation, an Autonomous Institute under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology. It developed —an  Active Respirator mask active, and a Long-Lasting Nano-sanitiser—both would help doctors and patients to prevent from further spread of COVID-19.

The Corporation has passed this technology to a private player for commercial production to bring it in the market as early as possible, said the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, which the Kolkota based institute falls.

Considering the importance of these two products, Government in a hurry sign an agreement with a private company, M/s Paulmech Infrastructure Pvt Ltd Kolkata, to transfer two COVID-19 control technologies for commercial production.

FIRST: An Active Respirator with Attached Exhalation Valve and Suspended Particulate Matter Filter for Comfortable and Hygienic Breathing.

It is an innovative solution to the rebreathing of carbon dioxide, exhaled moisture, and sweaty and hot environment inside the mask. It also improved the clarity of speech of a person with a face mask and assures comfortable, hygienic breathing to protect the wearer from exposure to airborne contaminants.

Second: Long-Lasting Nano-sanitiser with a Dispensing Antimicrobial Layer.

This innovation is a solution to the problems caused by the use of general sanitizer like dehydration of skin due to frequent use, and nature of instantaneous antimicrobial action of common sanitisers without protective role. This innovative sanitiser technology assures comfortable and hygienic hand sanitisation for a longer duration.

The use of these innovative products will help the users in overcoming the existing problems with masks and sanitisers available in the market.

The Agreement was signed by Dr. H Purushotham, CMD, NRDC and Shri Shanti Ranjan Paul, Director, M/s Paulmech Infrastructure Pvt Ltd online in the digital presence of Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST, Government Of India and Dr. Samit Kumar Ray, Director, S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Scientist Professor Samir Kumar Pal, Registrar Ms Shohini Majumder, Nodal officer of Technical Research Centre (TRC) Dr. Soumen Mondal of S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Priyankan S. Sharma, Somavo Gupta of Paulmech Company and senior officials of NRDC.

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com

Ends.

Vikas Dubey killed only 8 UP Policemen, but the person who posted this picture killed the image of entire Indian Police. Yet No action against those who posted it.

One picture is worth thousand words is what we are taught in our Journalism school.

But I never thought what blunders a wrong narrative can commit to a picture.. turn a saviour into a criminal.

The 'fundamentalist vultures' (could be Hindu or Muslim) in our society look for such pictures to tarnish police image and sow seeds of hatred in people's mind.

Unfortunately, no action is taken against these criminals who divide our community and create hatred against our system.

The picture in question belongs to a Muslim boy who was rescued by a police team in Greater Noida from a Madarsa (religious school), but it was projected as if police chained the boy because he was a Muslim.

The Policemen, who otherwise should have been praised for rescuing the boy from a criminal gang, were rather condemned. It was projected that a child with a Muslim cap was treated worse than a  dreaded criminal.

Unfortunately, those who tarnished police image on social media, have not yet been taken to task. They have committed a serious crime to divide our society, it is rather worse than murder...Police must take it up seriously otherwise such people would continue to divide us.

The posted image (two and a half-year-old, Jan 2018) is of a Muslim kid with two policemen standing near a police vehicle. The posting on social media reads “Crime of wearing a skull cap and being born in a Muslim family”.

When I saw this picture for the first time, I felt ashamed of our police system.  In fact, I tweeted, that the act is very shameful. Further suggested that those involved should be given exemplary punishment. At the same time, I urged people not to publicize it further as it might spoil our communal harmony.

The Fundamentalist vultures, This time it was a person who claimed to be an Asaduddin Owaisi supporter. He posted in social media that this boy was chained just because he was bearing a Muslim cap. 

He not only spread hatred against Police and a particular community but also tarnished the image of Uttar Pradesh Police.

When I checked the facts and authenticity of the picture, I found the image was right but its interpretation was wrong. The picture was two and half-year-old taken by Greater Noida police, which rescued the chained boy from a Madrasa (a religious Islamic school) near Mangrauli Pulia Jewar and later handed over to his father in Faridabad. One of the Police officers who rescued the boy was Rajpal Talhan from Greater Noida Police. 

On reverse image searching the photo using keywords, a tweet posted by ‘Call 112’, emergency service portal of Uttar Pradesh was found detailing about the incident shown in the photo. In that tweet, they informed that the police of Gautham Buddha Nagar- PRV 1873 rescued a child who was chained and locked in a Madrasa (a religious Islamic school) near Mangrauli Pulia Jewar.

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com

After Facebook, it is now Google: Reliance Jio to sell 7.7 % share to Google for Rs 33,737 crores, Deck clear for its 5G launch in India

Google और Jio साथ मिलकर एक ऑपरेटिंग सिस्टम बनाएंगे, जो एंट्री लेवल के 4G/5G स्मार्टफोन के लिए होगा. जियो और गूगल मिलकर भारत को 2G-मुक्त बनाएंगे. अंबानी ने यह भी बताया कि सर्च इंजन कंपनी गूगल ने जियो के प्लेटफॉर्म में 33,737 करोड़ रुपये का निवेश किया है. मुकेश अंबानी ने कहा कि भारत 5जी युग के दरवाजे पर खड़ा है. उन्होंने कहा कि उनका प्रयास वर्तमान में 2जी फोन इस्तेमाल कर रहे 35 करोड़ भारतीयों को सस्ते स्मार्टफोन मुहैया कराना है. एजीएम में फेसबुक के प्रमुख मार्क जुकरबर्ग और गूगल के सीईओ सुंदर पिचाई के वीडियो संदेश भी चलाए गए.

Reliance Jio प्लेटफॉर्म्स में 7.7% हिस्सेदारी खरीदेगा गूगल, 33737 करोड़ रुपये में हुई डील

 •       भारत में 5G लॉन्‍च करने को तैयार है Reliance जिओ, Jio TV+, Jio Glass का हुआ ऐलान

•       35 करोड़ भारतीयों को सस्ते स्मार्टफोन मुहैया कराना लक्ष्य

•       जियोमार्ट जो अनूठा समाधान पेश कर रहा,  जिससे उनके ग्राहकों का अनुभव पूरी तरह बदल जाएगा

•       जियो का एजुकेशन प्लेटफॉर्म Embibe भारत में क्वालिटी टीचर्स की कमी को पूरा करने का काम करेगा।

रिलायंस के चेयरमैन मुकेश अंबानी ने बुधवार को कंपनी की 43वीं वार्षिक आम बैठक (AGM) को संबोधित किया। अंबानी ने Jio Meet के जरिए आयोजित कंपनी के पहले वर्चुअल एजीएम को संबोधित करते हुए कई अहम एलान किए।

मुकेश अंबानी ने बताया कि 

उन्होंने 12 लाख करोड़ रुपये की बाजार पूंजीकरण वाली कंपनी के भविष्य की रणनीति से शेयरधारकों को अवगत कराया। इस एजीएम में रिलायंस ने Jio TV+ और Jio Glass जैसे नए प्रोडक्ट्स लाने की घोषणा की। अंबानी ने साथ ही कहा कि जियो भारत में 5जी सेवाओं को लांच करने के लिए तैयार है।

मुकेश अंबानी की पत्नी नीता अंबानी ने पहली बार रिलायंस एजीएम को संबोधित किया. उन्होंने रिलायंस फाउंडेशन द्वारा कोरोना संकट में किए जा रहे सामाजिक कार्यों की जानकारी दी. रिलायंस फाउंडेशन की चेयरपर्सन नीता अंबानी ने बताया कि मिशन अन्न सेवा के जरिए देश भर में 5 करोड़ से ज्यादा गरीबों, मजदूरों और फ्रंटलाइन वर्करों के लिए भोजन उपलब्ध कराया गया.

मुकेश अंबानी ने कहा कि हमारे पास रिलायंस को दुनिया की अग्रणी न्यू एनर्जी और न्यू मैटेरियल कंपनी में से एक के रूप में बनाने के लिए 15 साल का विजन है. न्यू एनर्जी व्यवसाय भारत और दुनिया के लिए एक मल्टी ट्रिलियन डॉलर का अवसर है.

मुकेश अंबानी ने बताया कि बीपी ने उनके फ्यूल रिटेलिंग बिजनेस में निवेश किया है. यह निवेश जियो-बीपी नाम के नए ब्रैंड में हुआ है. मुकेश अंबानी ने क्लीन एनर्जी के क्षेत्र में किए जा रहे कामों के बारे में बताया. उन्होंने बताया कि रिलायंस कार्बन डाई ऑक्साईड को उपयोगी प्रोडक्ट और केमिकल्स में तब्दील करने से जुड़ी नई तकनीकों को अपनाने के लिए प्रतिबद्ध है.

JioMart की जानकारी देते हुए मुकेश अंबानी ने कहा कि इसके पायलट मॉडल की सफलतापूर्वक शुरुआत हो चुकी है. इस ग्रॉसरी प्लेटफॉर्म के बीटा वर्जन की शुरुआत 200 शहरों में हो चुकी है. डेली ऑर्डर का आंकड़ा ढाई लाख को पार कर चुका है. यह आंकड़े दिन प्रतिदिन बढ़ रहे हैं. उन्होंने बताया कि उनकी ग्रॉसरी बिजनेस को बढ़ाने की मुख्य रणनीति किसानों को जोड़ना और फ्रेश प्रॉडक्ट्स को घरों तक पहुंचाने की है. इससे न केवल किसानों की आय बेहतर होगी जबकि उत्पादकता में भी इजाफा होगा. जियो मार्ट को वॉट्सऐप की तकनीक के साथ पेश किया जाएगा.इस गठजोड़ से भारत के लाखों छोटे दुकानदारों के बिजनेस को जोड़ा जाएगा. ग्राहकों को भी किराना स्टोर से सामान खरीदने में मदद मिलेगी.

JioMart पेश करते हुए ईशा अंबानी ने बताया कि इस तकनीक से वर्तमान किराना दुकानों को 48 घंटों के अंदर सेल्फ स्टोर में तब्दील हो जाएगा. इसे कस्टमर एक्सपीरियंस भी पूरी तरह बदल जाएगा. उन्होंने बताया कि जियो मार्ट से किराना स्टोर्स को न केवल बिजनेस बढ़ाने में मदद मिलेगी, बल्कि कमाई भी बढ़ेगी. JioMeet के बारे में ईशा अंबानी ने बताया कि यह एक सस्ता और बेहद सुरक्षित वीडियो कॉन्फ्रेंसिंग ऐप है. यह असल जिंदगी की जरूरतों को ध्यान में रखकर बनाया गया है. ईशा अंबानी और आकाश अंबानी ने नए जियो टीवी प्लस का डिमॉन्स्ट्रेशन दिया. जियो टीवी प्लस नेटफ्लिक्स, अमेजन प्राइम, हॉटस्टार और अन्य ओटीटी प्लैटफॉर्म को एक ऐप पर ले आएगा. इसके अलावा, यह वॉयस सर्च से भी लैस होगा.

जियो ने जियो ग्लास भी पेश किया. महज 75 ग्राम वजन वाले इस डिवाइस में मिक्स रियल्टी से जुड़ी सर्विसेज होंगी. यह सिंगल केबल से कनेक्ट होगा. इसमें 25 ऐप्स होंगे, जो एआर तकनीक वाली वीडियो मीटिंग में मदद करेगी.

रिलायंस प्रमुख मुकेश अंबानी ने कहा कि जियो आने वाले तीन सालों में आधा अरब मोबाइल कस्टमर जोड़ेगा. जियो ने संपूर्ण 5जी तकनीक विकसित कर ली है. उन्होंने बताया कि जैसे ही 5जी स्पेक्ट्रम उपलब्ध होंगे, इसके ट्रायल शुरू हो जाएंगे. फील्ड में इस्तेमाल के लिए अगले साल तक यह तकनीक तैयार की जा सकती है. अंबानी ने कहा कि रिलायंस अब सच्चे मायनों में कर्जमुक्त कंपनी बन गई है. अंबानी के मुताबिक, इस लक्ष्य को मार्च 2021 की डेडलाइन से पहले ही हासिल कर लिया गया. रिलायंस प्रमुख ने कहा कि कंपनी की मजबूत बैलेंस शीट जियो, रिटेल और ओटूसी के लिए ग्रोथ प्लान में मदद करेंगे.  अंबानी ने विश्वास जताया कि कोरोना संकट के बीच भारत और दुनिया तेजी से तरक्की करेंगगे. उन्होंने कहा कि हर मुश्किल अपने साथ कई संभावनाएं भी लाता है.

 रिलायंस इंडस्ट्री की 43वीं एजीएम (RIL 43rd AGM 2020) में चेयरमैन मुकेश अंबानी ने बड़ी घोषणा करते हुए कहा कि गूगल जियो प्लेटफॉर्म्स में 7.7 फीसदी हिस्सा 33737  करोड़ रुपये में खरीदेगी. इसके साथ ही तीन महीने में रिलायंस जियो (Reliance Jio) में विदेशी कंपनियों द्वारा ये 14 वां निवेश है. इसके पहले फेसबुक, सिल्वर लेक पार्टनर्स,  जनरल अटलांटिक, KKR, मुबाडाला, सिल्वर लेक, TPG,  ने जियो में निवेश किया है.

रिलायंस के चेयरमैन मुकेश अंबानी ने बुधवार को कंपनी की 43वीं वार्षिक आम बैठक (AGM) को संबोधित किया। अंबानी ने Jio Meet के जरिए आयोजित कंपनी के पहले वर्चुअल एजीएम को संबोधित करते हुए कई अहम एलान किए।

अंबानी ने साथ ही कहा कि जियो भारत में 5जी सेवाओं को लांच करने के लिए तैयार है। उन्होंने 12 लाख करोड़ रुपये की बाजार पूंजीकरण वाली कंपनी के भविष्य की रणनीति से शेयरधारकों को अवगत कराया। इस एजीएम में रिलायंस ने Jio TV+ और Jio Glass जैसे नए प्रोडक्ट्स लाने की घोषणा की।

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com

In an attempt to cut annual import of Chinese API to the tune of USD 2.5 Billion, India has come out with a plan to scale up indigenous API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients)

The API import in India is around USD 3.5 billion annually, out of which 70 % is imported from China alone. The government now intends to cut its import Bill on API mainly from China which alone stands at USD 2.5 Billion annually 

The pharmaceutical industry in India is the third-largest in the world, in terms of volume, behind China and Italy, and fourteenth largest in terms of value.

It has a strong network of 3,000 drug companies and about 10,500 manufacturing units with a domestic turnover of Rs 1.4 lakh crore (USD 20.03 billion) in 2019, with exports to more than 200 countries in the world.

Despite a very strong manufacturing base, the domestic pharmaceutical industry prefers to import API instead of indigenous production because of  low-profit margins and non-lucrative industry. 

Import of API was a cheaper option with increased profit margins on drugs. With the availability of cheaper APIs from China, the pharmaceutical industry relies heavily on imports. The its imports from China have been increasing steadily and now stand around 70 %.

To address this, TIFAC has recommended policies to address the requirement of APIs in short & medium term to make our country self-reliant. In a report published by the Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), an autonomous organization under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, it has recommended the government to scale up indigenous production of API to a level where the production is economically viable.

The report titled ‘Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients- Status, Issues, Technology Readiness, and Challenges’, the TIFAC has given major recommendations including a focus on engineering and scale aspect of technology development, need for Mission mode Chemical Engineering with defined targets for uninterrupted synthesis of molecules.

The Report suggested to create mega drug manufacturing clusters with common infrastructure in India and the technology platform to be developed for biocatalysis towards reducing process steps for cost optimization and for fluorination, Investment on priority in fermentation sector of large capacity and scale supporting techno-economic feasibility, attention to technologies like hazardous reactions, flow chemistry, cryogenic reactions, and membrane technology.

 

The report has further suggested chiral building blocks through biocatalysis for production of niche intermediates involving enzymatic reactions or fermentation as an area of potential exploitation for Indian API industry and focus on antiviral drugs, which require nucleic acid building blocks - Thymidine/ Cytosine Adenine/ Guanine none of which are manufactured in India because of lack of cyanation plants.

 

TIFAC has also asked the government to encourage Indian companies working in chemical segments mainly steroids, amino acids, carbohydrates, nucleosides so as it could collaborate for technology development or quick technology transfer for closer academia-industry interaction for technology development and commercialization.

BY Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, vijaythakurx@gmail.com