The Evening Wrap: Govt used ‘Indian double mutant strain’ in SC affidavit

The Hindu Newsletter - The biggest news stories from today [logo] The Evening Wrap Sunday | 30 May, 2021 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Government used ‘Indian double mutant strain’ in Supreme Court affidavit The [government used the term “Indian double mutant strain” in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court]( just days before it officially objected to affixing nationality to the virus variant. A May 9 affidavit refers to “Indian double mutant strain” while detailing the steps taken by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology to develop Covaxin. The affidavit was filed in the court three days prior to a Ministry of Health statement on May 12, taking exception to media reports which referred to the B.1.617 variant as an “Indian variant”. The Ministry condemned these media reports as baseless and unfounded. It said the World Health Organisation (WHO) had not associated B.1.617 with the term “Indian variant”. Instead, it considered the virus a variant of ‘global concern’. The WHO had also clarified in a tweet that it “does not identify viruses or variants with names of countries they are first reported from. We refer to them by their scientific names and request all to do the same for consistency”. But the May 9 affidavit runs contrary to WHO even in this aspect. In fact, the affidavit calls variants “UK variant, Brazil variant, South African variant” and caps the list with the “Indian double mutant strain”. The Ministry of Health was one among the many Ministries consulted before the May 9 affidavit was filed in the apex court. The introductory paragraph in the affidavit filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs said the document was filed in compliance with the instructions received from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Railways. Congress leaders like Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh pointed out the anomaly between the May 9 affidavit and the official objection of the Health Ministry on May 12. “My colleague @Pawankhera found a Govt of India affidavit to Supreme Court using the term ‘Indian double mutant strain’. And they tell the world not to. Govt also uses UK variant, Brazil variant etc. in its official communication,” Mr. Ramesh tweeted. [underlineimg] COVID patient’s body thrown into river in Uttar Pradesh, family booked The family of a person who died of COVID were booked in Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur district after they were [caught in a video dumping his body into a river in broad daylight](. The video, shot by someone driving on the bridge from where the body was dumped, was widely shared on social media. This comes on the heels of the Uttar Pradesh government trying to fend off criticism over countless bodies of suspected COVID-19 victims found floating in the Ganga in several districts. [A screengrab of the video showing two men in PPE kits throw a body into the Rapti river from a bridge in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh. Photo: Special Arrangement] In the video from Balrampur, two men, including one wearing a PPE kit are seen mounting the body, which is wrapped in a bag, to be thrown over the bridge on the Rapti river. V.B. Singh CMO Balrampur, said an FIR had been lodged against the family of the person whose body was thrown into the river. Mr. Singh said the body was of one Premnath Mishra of Siddharthnagar, who was admitted to hospital on May 25 and died three later on May 28. “The body was handed over to his family as per COVID protocol,” the CMO said. Mr. Singh said that the prima facie it came to light that the family had thrown the body into the river and appropriate action would be taken in the matter. Ever since bodies were seen floating in the Ganga, the police have set up pickets and patrolling by boats to prevent such disposals and even offered people a support sum of ₹5,000 for cremation if they cannot afford i [underlineimg] Public sector banks to lend up to ₹5 lakh to individuals for COVID-19 treatment Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have announced that they will [provide unsecured loans of upto ₹5 lakh]( to individuals to meet their and family members’ COVID-19 treatment cost. This comes in the wake of the ongoing second wave of the pandemic that has swept across the country unleashing untold miseries on families across income groups. This forms part of three new loan products announced by them on Sunday to provide fresh lending support to vaccine manufacturers, hospitals/dispensaries, pathology labs, manufacturers and suppliers of oxygen, ventilators, importers of vaccines & COVID related drugs logistics firms and individuals suffering from COVID-19. As per these announcements made at a joint press conference by Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and State Bank of India (SBI), individuals including salaried, non-salaried and pensioners can avail unsecured personal loans from ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 5 lakh to meet COVID-19 treatment. The repayment tenure is 5 years and SBI would charge interest of 8.5% per annum. Other banks are free to decide their interest rate. The PSBs have also offered to provide upto ₹2 crore as healthcare business loan to existing hospitals, nursing homes for setting up oxygen plants along with power back up system under the ECGLS. Capped at an interest rate of 7.5% these loans are backed by 100% guarantee cover of National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd (NCGTC) under ECLGS 4.0 which was announced by the Department of Financial Services and Government of India. The loan tenure is 5 years. The banks have also come out with business loans for healthcare facilities. Upto ₹.100 crore each would be advanced to firms in Metro cites to setup/expand healthcare infrastructure and to manufacturers of healthcare products such as vaccine and ventilators. While firms in Tier 1 and urban centres can avail loans of upto ₹ 20 crore, the ones in Tier II to Tier IV can avail upto ₹ 10 crore. The loan tenure is 10 years. All these schemes being offered by PSBs will form part of the COVID loan book and are under priority sector lending. [underlineimg] Congress releases seven point chargesheet against Modi’s seven years in charge The Congress on Sunday [released a seven-point ‘chargesheet’ against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government]( which has now completed seven years in power. The party accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of reversing all economic gains made by the Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, insensitive treatment of the farmers, inept handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and failing to protect the country against threats from China. Randeep Surjewala, Congress general secretary and in-charge of communication department, in a virtual press conference said the Modi government was the weakest government India had had in 73 years. When the UPA government demitted office in 2014, the GDP was 8.1%, Mr. Surjewala said. Even before the pandemic hit in 2019-20 the GDP had fallen to 4.2%. “In the first quarter of the 2020-21, the GDP was down to minus 24.1% and in the second quarter it is now minus 7.5%. It is estimated that in 2020-21 the GDP will be close to minus 8%,” he said. The government came to power on the promise of providing two crore employment. “In seven years they should have provided 14 crore jobs. Forget about 14 crore jobs, the unemployment rate is on a 45-year high,” he added. The Congress leader also slammed the government for its insensitive attitude towards the farmers. He said that the BJP government wanted big corporations to replace the small farmers. He also accused the government of going back on their promise of implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report. “This government is not against poverty, they are against the poor,” he said pointing at the World Bank report that claimed that during the UPA years 27 crore persons overcame extreme poverty while the PEW Research Centre in 2020 said middle class had shrunk in India with nearly 3.20 crore people being pushed off the grid. [underlineimg] China’s space station pans gather pace with cargo docking China took another step towards completing the construction of its first space station by the end of next year following [the launch and docking of a cargo spacecraft]( early on Sunday. The Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft, described by China’s state media as “the delivery guy for China’s space station”, was launched late on Saturday on a Long March-7 rocket from the island of Hainan, and docked eight hours later with the space station’s first core module called Tianhe, or “heavenly harmony”. The launch was a third landmark for China’s space programme in recent weeks. China landed a spacecraft in Mars on May 15 carrying its first Mars rover, Zhurong. The Tianhe module, which the cargo spacecraft docked with on Sunday, was launched on April 29. [In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a Long March 7 rocket carrying the Tianzhou-2 spacecraft lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Wenchang in southern China's Hainan Province, Saturday, May 29, 2021. ] The Tianzhou-2 spacecraft carried a range of supplies, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said, and will be followed by the launch of another cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-3, and two manned missions, Shenzhou-12 and Shenzhou-13, later this year, each carrying three astronauts who will spend several months in orbit. The Shenzhou-12 launch is slated for mid-June. The six missions to follow this year, including for the space station’s second and third modules, Wentian and Mengtian, will close to complete the construction of China’s first space station, expected to be finished in 2022. The CMSA said Tianzhou-2, with a maximum takeoff weight of 13.5 tons and 6.9 ton-payload capacity, is the largest cargo spacecraft in service. The spacecraft is carrying cargo and propellant that will replenish the supplies of the Tianhe module, the agency said. Official broadcaster China Global Television Network said its supplies include food for the crew that will follow in the Shenzhou-12 and Shenzhou-13 missions, including “famous stir-fried Chinese dishes like shredded pork with garlic sauce and Kung Pao chicken.” [underlineimg] Serum Institute promises 9-10 crore Covishield doses in June Serum Institute of India (SII) has informed the government that it will be able to [manufacture and supply nine to 10 crore doses of Covishield in June](, official sources said on Sunday amid complaint by States about the shortage of anti-coronavirus vaccine jabs. In a recent letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, SII said its employees have been working round the clock in spite of various challenges because of the pandemic. "We are pleased to inform that in the month of June we will be able to manufacture and supply nine to 10 crore doses of our Covishield vaccine to the country as compared to our production capacity of 6.5 crore doses in May," Prakash Kumar Singh, the Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at SII, said in the letter. Mr. Singh also thanked Mr. Shah for his "valuable guidance and continuous support" at various stages of their endeavour to make India 'aatmanirbhar' (self-sufficient) in COVID-19 vaccines and making it available for the people of the country. "Serum Institute of India has always been sincerely concerned about the protection of the citizens of our country and world at large from COVID-19. Under the leadership of our CEO, Adar C Poonawalla, our team has been working relentlessly shoulder to shoulder with our government to fight the COVID-19 pandemic," he said in the letter. "We assure you that with the support of the Government of India and under your kind guidance, we are trying our best by utilising all of our resources to increase our production capacity of Covishield in the coming month also." In early May, SII had communicated to the Centre that production of Covishield would be ramped up to 6.5 crore in June, seven crore in July and 10 crore each in August and September. [underlineimg] India has sent jet to Dominica for Mehul Choksi’s extradition, says Antigua PM The government has maintained its silence on the Mehul Choksi deportation case in the Caribbean islands, even as the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda [claimed that he had information that India has sent a jet to Dominica]( to provide documentation and take custody of the fugitive businessman. Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne said India is going “all out” to ensure that Mr. Choksi, who is wanted for the ₹13,578 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, is deported to India, and indicated that Indian officials were in Dominica’s capital Roseau to escort him back on a Qatar Airways private jet parked now at the Douglas-Charles airport nearby, that landed there on May 28. “Yes, I can confirm there is a jet there. My understanding is that the Indian government has sent certain documentation from the courts in India to confirm that Mr. Choksi is indeed a fugitive and my understanding is that the documentation will be used in the court case that will be heard at the court next Wednesday,” Mr. Browne told Pointe FM radio channel, where he broadcasts his own show, on Sunday. According to publicly available information on Flight tracker sites, the jet, a Qatar Executive flight-A7CEE arrived travelled to Dominica from Doha to Delhi to Madrid, indicating it began its journey on May 27, the day before Mr. Choksi was produced in Dominica’s Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. The Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs declined to comment on the issue. Mr. Choksi, who has been on the run from India since 2018, disappeared from Antigua last Wednesday, and was arrested by Dominican authorities on Friday bearing grievous injuries from what his lawyers claimed was a “kidnap attempt”. [underlineimg] Covid watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India]( stands at 2,80,16,974 at the time of publishing this newsletter with the death toll at 3,28,453. [underlineimg] In brief The Finance Ministry has enlarged the scope of the ₹3 lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) [to cover loans up to ₹ 2 crore for setting up on-site oxygen generation plants]( at healthcare facilities and brought in the ailing civil aviation sector under its ambit. With the capital intensive-aviation sector under the scheme, the government has also dropped the ₹ 500 crore loan outstanding limit for availing emergency credit. The maximum additional assistance to each borrower has, however, been limited to 40% of the outstanding amount, or ₹ 200 crore, whichever is lower. The Bihar government on Sunday said [it would provide ₹1,500 each month to those children who have lost their parents to COVID-19]( in the State. The children will get the financial assistance till the age of 18 and will be housed in State child care centres. “Those children who have lost their both parents or, at least one parent has died due to corona, the State government will provide them ₹1,500 each month till the age of 18 under Bal Sahayta Yojna [child help programme]. Those children who have lost their parents will be taken care of in child care centres and the orphaned girls will get admission in Kasturba Gandhi Balika residential schools on priority basis,” tweeted Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday. [underlineimg] Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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