London, Oct 11: The widely used BCG tuberculosis vaccine will be tested on frontline care workers in Britain for its effectiveness against Covid-19, researchers running the UK arm of a global trial said.
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, used to protect against tuberculosis, induces a broad innate immune-system response and has been shown to protect against infection or severe illness with other respiratory pathogens.
“BCG has been shown to boost immunity in a generalised way, which may offer some protection against Covid-19,” Professor John Campbell, of the University of Exeter Medical School, said.
“We are seeking to establish whether the BCG vaccine could help protect people who are at risk of Covid-19. If it does, we could save lives by administering or topping up this readily available and cost-effective vaccination.”
The UK study is part of an existing Australian-led trial, which launched in April and also has arms in the Netherlands, Spain and Brazil. The BCG vaccine is also being tested as a protection against Covid-19 in South Africa.
The British trial is recruiting volunteers ahead of winter months that officials have warned may be tough as the country grapples with a second wave of infections.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has indicated that restrictions to curb the pandemic could be in place until spring.
The trial’s UK arm, which is being run from Exeter, southwest England, is seeking to recruit 1,000 people who work in care homes and community healthcare nearby.
Globally, more than 10,000 healthcare staff will be recruited.

New Delhi, Oct 11: Preparations already on for the festive season, Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan today gave the people a reality check. “There is no need to congregate in large numbers to prove your faith or your religion… You can pray at your homes. I would suggest that all of you celebrate festivals with your families,” he said, pointing to coronavirus which is still on rampage.

But with Durga Puja, Dussehra, Diwali and Chhath Puja around the corner, there is concern about Covid numbers spiking as people drop the use of all safety norms. On October 6, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had told the media that there has been a “huge spike in cases in Kerala for several days and a lot of it has to do with the Onam festivities”.

Large gatherings are already happening. A shopping rush has already started in Bengal, and images from the city’s key market areas show huge crowds where many people have even ditched the mask.  Ahead of Diwali, a similar situation is likely to play out in Delhi and the rest of north India.

“If we are careless in following coronavirus safety norms while celebrating festivals, the COVID-19 situation in the country will again worsen, and can create massive problems for us,” Harsh Vardhan said in a video address.

“No religious leaders of any religion say that festivals should be celebrated by putting lives in danger… no Gods say you need to go to big pandals to pray. If you know there is fire outside and you still go out in the fire in the name of religion — what’s the point of such festivals,” the minister said in a strong message.

Srinagar, Oct 11: The Union Territory of Ladakh reported 72 new Corona cases and one more death, taking the total Corona cases to 5059 and fatalities to 64, an official said on Sunday.
With 87 more patients cured of the disease, the number of active cases in the region dropped to 1022 785 in Leh district and 237 in Kargil district, the bulletin released this morning by the directorate of health services said.
The latest Corona related death took place in Kargil, taking the total number of fatalities in Ladakh to 64 38 in Kargil and 26 in Leh, it said.
Out of 72 new cases, the bulletin said 67 were detected in Leh and five in Kargil during the past 24 hours.
It said 54 patients were discharged in Leh and another 33 in Kargil on Saturday after they recovered from the infection, taking the total number of recovered patients in the UT to 3973.

New Delhi, Oct 11: India and the US will have a round of talks here on advancing the strategy on how the two strategic partners can advance security, peace and property in the Indo-Pacific region.
US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun begins a three-day visit on Monday to have follow-up talks with senior officials on the conversation EAM S Jaishankar had with Mike Pompeo during the Quad meeting in Tokyo.

Biegun would focus on US-India Global Strategic Partnership ahead of the 2+2 talks later this year between foreign affairs and defence ministers of the two countries.
The US needs India “standing side by side” for its Indo-Pacific strategy, and wants to make New Delhi a world power, Biegun said earlier this week.
The talks are taking place as India and China ready to start other round talks to resolve the border impasse.
“Chinese Communist party’ territorial aggression is apparent on its Indian border where China has attempted to seize control the line of actual control by force,” US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien said ahead of the India-China military commanders talks in Ladakh. From here, Biegun goes to Dhaka to carry forward the talks on the Indo-Pacific with Bangladesh.

Says its intervention can help in restoring Article 370

Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar Oct 11: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Sunday held the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 responsible for the Chinese aggression at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.

Talking to India Today TV, Farooq Abdullah said that China “never accepted” the abrogation of Article 370, and hoped that it will be restored with China’s support.

“Whatever they are doing at LAC in Ladakh is all because of the abrogation of Article 370, which they never accepted. I am hopeful that with their support, Article 370 will be restored in J&K,” Farooq Abdullah said.

“I never invited the Chinese President, it was [PM] Modi who not only invited him, but did jhoola sawari with him. He [PM Modi] even took him to Chennai and had food with him,” Farooq Abdullah said.

Further speaking on the Centre’s decision on Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah said that “what the government had done on August 5 [in 2019] was unacceptable”.

Farooq Abdullah further said that he was not even allowed to speak on the problems of Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament.

Article 370, combined with Article 35A, accorded Jammu and Kashmir special status under the Constitution of India, allowing it to have a separate constitution and a separate penal code among other legal distinctions.

The Parliament had passed two resolutions on August 5 last year. The first rendered Article 370 inoperative in Jammu and Kashmir by applying the power granted under the same Article of the Constitution. The second resolution was for bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and its reorganisation came into effect on October 31.

After the abrogation, top Jammu and Kashmir political leaders including Farooq Abdullah, his son and former CM Omar Abdullah and PDP chief and former CM Mehbooba Mufti were put under house arrest. The Abdullahs have been released since.

Currently, India and China are locked in a tense border standoff in Ladakh. Both sides have held a series of high-level diplomatic and military talks to resolve the border row.

>LG takes a comprehensive review of various NHPC projects in J&K

>Modalities for expediting the upcoming Pakal Dul, Kiru, Kwar projects finalized

 Issues directions for ensuring completion of ongoing projects within set timelines

Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, Oct 11: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha took a comprehensive review of the status of various projects of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in a meeting at the Raj Bhavan here on Sunday.
With the intervention of Lt Governor, modalities have been finalized for the upcoming 850 MW, new joint venture Ratle project which will augment the existing generation capacity in the region. The meeting also decided that the supplementary MOU will be finalized through joint discussions between MOP(GOI), GoJK (JKSPDC) and NHPC.
Threadbare discussions were also held to fast-track the execution of the upcoming Pakal Dul, Kiru, and Kwar projects. Cumulatively, the upcoming power projects will generate 6298MW at the cost of Rs 54593 crores substantially enhancing the generation capacity in the region.
Chairman & Managing Director (CMD), NHPC Limited, AK Singh briefed the Lt Governor regarding the details of commissioned and generation capacity of NHPC’s Power Stations across J&K, besides the present status of the NHPC projects under execution in the UT.
The Lieutenant Governor was briefed about the completed Projects of NHPC in J&K and their generation capacity included – Power Stations- Salal (Stage I & II), MW 690 ; URI-I , MW 480; Dulhasti- MW 390; Sewa II, MW 120; Uri II, MW, 240 and Kishanganga, MW 330; collectively generating 2250 MW.

The Lt Governor issued on-spot directions for completion of ongoing projects and called for better synergy between agencies for making J&K a power surplus region in the country. Remove bottlenecks, if any, hampering the completion of the projects, he added.
Stressing on speedy completion of the projects, the Lt Governor directed the concerned officers for completion of all projects within the set timelines. He also asked the NHPC functionaries to take innovative measures and explore various conventional and non-conventional sources for the development of hydropower sector in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Lt Governor enquired about the CSR works being carried out by the NHPC in the field of Healthcare, Education, Swachh Bharat and Vocational Training. He also sought details of the Direct & Indirect Employment generated through NHPC projects to residents of J&K.
It was also informed that NHPC has played a significant role in Rural Electrification in 5 Districts – Kathua, Udhampur, Jammu, Srinagar, and Budgam.
BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary, Power Development Department; AK Singh, CMD, NHPC; V K Maini, Executive Director, NHPC; Deepak Saigal, GM, Nodal Officer, Ratle; A.K. Choudhary, Managing Director, Chenab Valley Power Projects (CVPPL) and other senior functionaries of NHPC, PDD and CVPPL attended the meeting.