DailyOh! Bharat Bandh or not tomorrow, to what emergency approval means for Covid vaccine
Farmers have called for Bharat Bandh, many have supported. But then many have said there is no need.
Foundations get a lot of credit for supporting structures. There are foundation-laying ceremonies to celebrate foundations. Structures get none for giving foundations their meaning. Even when structures are inaugurated, speeches claim how the structure has been built on strong foundations. The strength of the foundation means nothing, if no structure stands on it.
Knowing this, the Supreme Court today told the government that it can go ahead with the foundation-laying ceremony on December 10 for the Central Vista project but cannot go ahead constructing any structure atop the foundation till it rules on the issues related to the redevelopment plan.
So, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone on December 10 for the new Parliament building, estimated to cost Rs 971 crore and then wait for the SC to rule.
Serum Institute of India has told regulators it can wait no longer and wants an emergency approval for its vaccine Covishield, which is also the vaccine of Oxford University and AstraZeneca.
You see all vaccines, medicines, diagnostic tests and medical devices require the approval of a regulatory authority before people can use it. In India, the regulatory authority is the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation.
Emergency-use approval is given when the known and potential benefits outweigh the known and potential risks of the vaccine (or medicine). Emergency-use approval doesn’t mean a final approval is not needed. Final approval is granted only after completion of the trials and analysis of full data. We will come back to Covid data because there is this very sad news we have to share before all else. The Indian Navy has recovered the body of the missing MiG-29K pilot Commander Nishant Singh on the seabed 70 metres below water. The aircraft, you might remember, crashed on November 26. The Navy searched and searched till it found the body, 30 miles off the coast of Goa.
In some more sad news that is also part of Covid deaths data, TV actor Divya Bhatnagar, unfortunately, died this morning. She was just 34. So, just in case you have begun to think the situation is under control, don’t think - just know - that we are in an emergency situation.
Emergency, our Word Of The Day, comes from Latin word emergentia, which in turn comes from Latin word emergere ‘arise, bring to light’. That is the root word for emerge. Emergency is when an unforeseen situation emerges and requires immediate attention. An unforeseen situation that requires no immediate attention or action is not an emergency. The call for action or attention is important.
Many believe the virus is mild and so the emergency accompanying it is all hoopla. They have forgotten about what happened in Italy and Spain through much of March and April. There were so many deaths, armies were deployed for cremation and then many bodies just rotted at home.
Talking of bodies reminds us of the country that thrust the emergency situation upon us and its honeyed treatment of bodies. We once told you why Chinese took to eating wild animals. Today, we want to tell you how the Chinese - apparently, long ago - used to eat the dead.
Now, the Chinese were not alone in being cannibals. What differentiates Chinese from others who ate bodies is the Chinese topped the bodies with honey. In the 16th century, the elderly Chinese, nearing death, used to donate their bodies to science. The idea was based on the idea that these bodies could be turned into medicines for human ailments. And the transformation of humans to medicines began when the humans were still alive.
They made the death sweet though. So, the person who decided to donate the body would stop eating anything but honey and would also bathe in it. If one eats only honey, one is sure to die.
China had not one but many who chose to die like this. Their bodies were then placed in coffins filed with honey. A century later, the body was turned into a sugary glob. We know the question on your mind – would the body not rot? No, honey has anti-bacterial qualities. No one should try this at home or lab. And no one should ever try this with honey that is not honey but a sugary syrup sold in the name of honey as a Centre for Science and Environment study recently found.
Leave honey to a side and leave bodies to where they belong – crematorium, or graveyard, or morgues. Before all that, leave China to China.
Actor-turned-politician Vijayashanthi, however, left the Congress to Congress and joined the BJP, the party she began her political career with in 1997. And then Telangana Congress treasurer Narayan Reddy also left the Congress to join the BJP after serving the grand old party for about four decades. These developments have come after the Congress scored one out of 150 seats in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
Suvendu Adhikari has not left Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress yet but refused to share the dais with Banerjee who was in Midnapore today to address a ‘mega’ rally. Since Midnapore is the turf of the Adhikaris (Suvendu’s father Sisir and brother Dibyendu are TMC MPs), their absence from the rally ensured it was not ‘mega’, while Banerjee ensured it was a rally nevertheless.
In Siliguri, however, BJP workers clashed with West Bengal Police during a rally leading to the death of one BJP worker. The rally, called Uttar Kanya Cholo, was part of the BJP’s ongoing agitation programmes against the TMC government.
Clash between BJP workers and West Bengal Police in Siliguri, tear gas shells, water cannons used. @manogyaloiwal gets you the details. #ITVideo #Bengal #WestBengal #BengalPolitics #India pic.twitter.com/l8BjLznxPs
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) December 7, 2020
While BJP leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya, Tejasvi Surya and Nisith Pramanik, who were on the ground, claimed that a crude bomb thrown by the West Bengal police resulted in the death of thh BJP worker, the West Bengal police blamed the protesters for indulging in violence. The police, however, confirmed the death of a person in the violence.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, meanwhile, marked his presence at the Delhi-Haryana border where farmers are protesting against the farm laws. Kejriwal claimed credit for not letting Centre use Delhi’s stadiums to detain farmers and promised support for tomorrow’s Bharat Bandh even as many claimed on Twitter ‘Bharat Bandh Nahi Hoga’. Off Twitter, Confederation of All India Traders has said it has faith in the dialogue process and so has no faith in the bandh.
What happens tomorrow will be known tomorrow. What is known today is that the sixth round of talks between the farmers and the government will be held tomorrow. The government, in a bid to break the logjam in the discussions, agreed to ‘as many amendments’ as demanded by the farmers.
So, all serious men will sit down for some more serious discussions on issue. What came out of the discussions will be known when the discussion ends; meanwhile, you can watch Serious Men on Netflix because it is worth a watch and also because it can give you a break from al the serious stuff occupying you. Alternatively, you can use tomorrow to watch the last of the India Australia T20 matches in the three-match series, which India won yesterday and watch Serious Men over the weekend if you haven’t watched it already.
Talking of seriousness, a mysterious illness has been reported to have made people seriously ill in Andhra Pradesh’s Eluru. One person has died, while over 350 have been hospitalised, because of the illness whose source remains unconfirmed. Educational institutions were ordered shut on Monday even as authorities got down to solving the mystery – so far without success.
It remains unclear as to what caused the disease that saw people suddenly falling unconscious after suffering from symptoms of fits and nausea.
We will take your leave and try to solve the mystery.
See you tomorrow.
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