Tag: Key

Key NCP committee to meet today to take a call on Sharad Pawar’s successor

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Mumbai: A committee of the Nationalist Congress Party will meet at 11 am today to decide on who will head the NCP next, days after party chief Sharad Pawar announced that he would be stepping down from the top position.
The committee was set up by 82-year-old Pawar to pick his successor and it includes Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule, former Union leader Parful Patel and Bhujbal.
Pawar on Thursday said his decision to step down from the post was taken for the future of the party and to create a new leadership amid continued demand from party workers that he reconsiders his decision.

NCP leaders, on condition of anonymity, said Baramati Lok Sabha MP and Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule is likely to be the party’s national chief while Ajit Pawar will take charge of the Maharashtra unit.
As per party leaders, the mantle of NCP chief is likely to remain within the Pawar family as giving the reins to someone from outside may lead to rifts and power tussles in the outfit formed in 1999.
These leaders asserted Sule, a three-term LS MP, had established herself as an effective parliamentarian and has contacts with leaders of parties across the political spectrum, whereas Ajit Pawar has a good hold over the state unit and is widely acknowledged as an able administrator.
Moreover, these leaders added that Ajit Pawar had recently spoken about his chief ministerial dreams, while Sule has always said national politics interests her.
Incidentally, senior NCP leader and former state minister Chhagan Bhujbal had said Sule should take up the party’s national mantle and Ajit Pawar must head the state unit, though the MLA from Yeola in Nashik was quick to add that this was his personal opinion.

Speaking outside the Y B Chavan Centre in the city, where his supporters have been camping to demand his continuation as the party chief, Pawar said on Thursday he would take a final decision in the next couple of days and the sentiments of party workers will not be ignored.
“I respect your sentiments. I should have discussed my plans with all of you and taken you into confidence. But I know you wouldn’t have allowed me to take the decision (of stepping down as party chief),” the former Union minister told his supporters.
He said some party colleagues from outside Maharashtra will meet him on Friday to discuss the issue. “I will take a final decision in one or two days,” Pawar said.
As emotions ran high among his supporters, Pawar tried to pacify them outside the YB Chavan Centre.
The party cadres gathered at the place urged Pawar to appoint a working president of the party, while he himself should continue in the post.
Some of them said Pawar should helm the party at least till 2024 as the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are due, while others said if he did not reconsider his decision, they would resort to a hunger strike.
Pawar on Tuesday sprang a surprise by announcing his decision to quit as president of the party he founded and headed since 1999 when he left the Congress to chart his own political course.
The announcement, made at an event, stumped leaders and workers of the 24-year-old party.
Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP and one of the stalwarts of the Opposition, had said he was stepping down as NCP chief but was not retiring from public life.
The announcement came amid speculation that Ajit Pawar and some MLAs may join hands with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, though the former deputy chief minister has refuted such talk by claiming he will be with the NCP till he is alive.
According to party sources, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin of the DMK spoke to Sule over phone to enquire about developments in the NCP following Tuesday’s announcement.
While Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Congress have maintained the developments in the NCP will not affect the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which comprises the three parties, political observers said a lot would depend on what Ajit Pawar does after the Supreme Court verdict, likely in a couple of days, on petitions related to the toppling of the Thackeray government in June last year.
These observers also added Ajit Pawar was unlikely to switch sides as developments since Tuesday have shown the NCP was firmly with Sharad Pawar and the former was unlikely to get the numbers to effectively split the party.
Speaking on the future of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, Maharashtra Congress vice president Ratnakar Mahajan said the current situation was “complex and unpredictable”.
“But, all the three constituents of the MVA would stay together in the light of results of recent polls,” Mahajan said.
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#Key #NCP #committee #meet #today #call #Sharad #Pawars #successor
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 5, 2023
JKPSC Provisional Answer Key for Various Posts

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JKPSC Provisional Answer Key for Various Posts
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[ad_2] #JKPSC #Provisional #Answer #Key #Posts( With inputs from : The News Caravan.com )

May 4, 2023
Tata Electronics to become a key Apple player after Wistron’s iPhone plant acquisition

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New Delhi: As Apple doubles down on local manufacturing in India, Taiwan-based iPhone manufacturer Wistron is reportedly winding up its operations in the country and Tata Electronics is set to take over Wistron’s Karnataka factory and manufacture new Apple products.
The move will only give a fillip to the government’s local manufacturing dream, at a time when iPhone exports from the country surged to cross $5 billion (over Rs 40,000 crore) in FY23.
Wistron’s factory in Karnataka, that employs about 12,000 people, constitutes a major chunk of its business in the country.

According to a report in Hindu Business Line, Wistron will be winding down its operations and is “likely to approach the National Company Law Tribunal and the Registrar of Companies to dissolve its India operations within the next year.”
The 150-year-old Tata Group has taken several measures to step up its business with Apple in the recent past.
Prabhu Ram, Head, Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, told IANS that the ‘Make in India’ initiative is set to gain even more momentum with the emergence of homegrown majors, such as Tata Electronics, “and the possibility of concurrent production of the Apple iPhone 15 and beyond.”
“As we progress, these initial steps will undoubtedly bolster India’s semiconductor ecosystem and strengthen its position in the global electronics value chains,” Ram added.
According to the report, Wistron is also waiting for some subsidy payments under the smartphone production-linked (PLI) scheme, before it winds down its India operations.

In FY23, Apple shipped more than 7 million iPhones and half a million iPads in the country, registering a 28 percent growth for iPhone shipments, according to initial estimates provided by market intelligence firm CMR.
As Apple doubles down on domestic manufacturing in India, the tech giant is likely to garner 6 percent market share in FY23-34, with selling more than 8 million iPhones in the country in the period.
In such a scenario, Tata Group is hopeful of India becoming an electronics manufacturing hub after the conglomerate succeeded in its efforts to take over Wistron’s iPhone assembly plant, according to earlier reports.
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#Tata #Electronics #key #Apple #player #Wistrons #iPhone #plant #acquisition
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 4, 2023
Tata Electronics to become a key Apple player after Wistron’s iPhone plant acquisition

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New Delhi: As Apple doubles down on local manufacturing in India, Taiwan-based iPhone manufacturer Wistron is reportedly winding up its operations in the country and Tata Electronics is set to take over Wistron’s Karnataka factory and manufacture new Apple products.
The move will only give a fillip to the government’s local manufacturing dream, at a time when iPhone exports from the country surged to cross $5 billion (over Rs 40,000 crore) in FY23.
Wistron’s factory in Karnataka, that employs about 12,000 people, constitutes a major chunk of its business in the country.

According to a report in Hindu Business Line, Wistron will be winding down its operations and is “likely to approach the National Company Law Tribunal and the Registrar of Companies to dissolve its India operations within the next year.”
The 150-year-old Tata Group has taken several measures to step up its business with Apple in the recent past.
Prabhu Ram, Head, Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, told IANS that the ‘Make in India’ initiative is set to gain even more momentum with the emergence of homegrown majors, such as Tata Electronics, “and the possibility of concurrent production of the Apple iPhone 15 and beyond.”
“As we progress, these initial steps will undoubtedly bolster India’s semiconductor ecosystem and strengthen its position in the global electronics value chains,” Ram added.
According to the report, Wistron is also waiting for some subsidy payments under the smartphone production-linked (PLI) scheme, before it winds down its India operations.

In FY23, Apple shipped more than 7 million iPhones and half a million iPads in the country, registering a 28 percent growth for iPhone shipments, according to initial estimates provided by market intelligence firm CMR.
As Apple doubles down on domestic manufacturing in India, the tech giant is likely to garner 6 percent market share in FY23-34, with selling more than 8 million iPhones in the country in the period.
In such a scenario, Tata Group is hopeful of India becoming an electronics manufacturing hub after the conglomerate succeeded in its efforts to take over Wistron’s iPhone assembly plant, according to earlier reports.
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#Tata #Electronics #key #Apple #player #Wistrons #iPhone #plant #acquisition
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 4, 2023
World Asthma Day: Early Detection And Awareness Key, Say Doctors

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SRINAGAR: Every year world Asthma Day is observed in the month of May and Asthma ‘Care For All’ is the theme that has been chosen byGINA (Global Initiative For Asthama) on the World Asthma Day- 2023.
Stating that around five to ten percent of population in Kashmir division is suffering from, doctors on Tuesday said Asthm is the third leading cause of deaths worldwide.
Principal GMC Srinagar Dr Masood Tanvir Bhat said that Asthma and COPD that are chronic lung diseases are the third leading cause of deaths worldwide followed by cardiovascular diseases and Cancer.
Around 4.5 lakhs of people die worldwide every year due to chronic lung diseases and Asthma is a common disease and is found in around 5-10 percent population including children, he said.
Asthma cases are more in women than men while around 8 percent people in the adult population have this deadly disease, he said.
“Asthma is a common long term disease and early stage diagnosis and treatment is very important as it is potentially a life threatening disease and if prevention is taken, it can be kept in control,” he said.
Head of Department at Chest Disease Hospital Srinagar Dr Naveed Nazir said that myths and social stigmas are associated with this disease and our efforts on this day remain to educate people and spread a message that this disease can be controlled.
“If it is diagnosed on time, followed by proper patient care the disease can be controlled and threats can be minimized, he said, adding, “It is among the leading cause of deaths worldwide but if such patients take proper precautions, they can lead life like common people.”

He further said that it is an astonishing fact that in India ten times more deaths are reported due to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease as compared to Western countries. “Around 5-10 percent people in Kashmir are suffering from Asthma,” the doctor said.
Another expert, Dr Bikram Singh said that deaths due to Asthma are on rise worldwide because people don’t take medicines and they don’t understand how medicines help in its treatment.
He said that people must take precautions and they shouldn’t hesitate in using inhalers as it is absolutely safe with long term benefits and its side effects are very little.
“In Kashmir, Asthma cases are more and people need to take medicines regularly,” he said.
Doctors said that the World Asthma Day that is celebrated every year on the first Tuesday of May month is to increase understanding of the disease’s pathophysiology, promote asthma education, and improve the quality of life for people living with asthma.

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#World #Asthma #Day #Early #Detection #Awareness #Key #Doctors
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

May 2, 2023
Scientific temper, secularism key parameters of Kerala’s new higher education ranking system

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Thiruvananthapuram: Taking a cue from the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), the CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala is adopting a state-level methodology to assess and rank higher education institutions, for which a key parameter used would be ‘Scientific Temper and Secular Outlook (STSO)’.
Higher Education Minister R Bindu will inaugurate the Kerala Institutional Ranking Framework (KIRF) to assess the level of higher education institutions in the state, on Wednesday.
An official said the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) would be the implementing agency and the ranking exercise would be carried out annually.

One of the reasons for setting up such a mechanism was to improve the quality of higher education in the state and check the flow of students going outside the state to pursue their studies, he said.
The KSHEC would invite institutions interested in participating in the ranking exercise to register on the KIRF portal on the KSHEC website, the official said.
Institutions under various categories such as universities and colleges as well as engineering, management, teacher education, pharmacological, medical, dental, law, architecture and nursing institutes can participate in the ranking process.
“If they desire to be included in the discipline-specific ranking list, they can register separately and provide data in a specific format,” KSHEC member secretary Dr Rajan Varughese said.
The data will be uploaded to an online facility created for this purpose. KSHEC with the help of suitably identified partner agencies will undertake the authentication of data, wherever necessary and where feasible.

KSHEC will extract the relevant information from this data and, through software, compute the various metrics. Based on this data, the institutions would be ranked.
The quality benchmark of higher education institutions being set by the public agency would help students and parents to select the right institution in the state for higher studies, Varughese told PTI.
Besides “Scientific Temper and Secular Outlook (STSO)”, the performance parameters are organised into four other broad heads including Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR), Knowledge Dissemination and Research Excellence (KDRE), Graduation Outcome (GO), and Outreach and Inclusivity (OI), officials said.
Under the ‘Scientific Temper and Secular Outlook (STSO)’ head, KIRF will assess the qualitative aspects of the higher education institutions applying for the ranking. Such institutions will have to submit a description in 500 words on the extension activities carried out to impart scientific temper and a secular outlook, and to sensitise students to social issues for their holistic development.
Under the STSO head, the institutions must also submit a description of strategies adopted by it to conserve water and energy, reduce waste and practise effective waste disposal, among other eco-friendly measures.
STSO was included as a criteria for ranking to highlight the importance of scientific temper and secularism in imparting education, a source said. Such a step was taken at a time when discussions are happening at the national level to wind up organisations such as Vigyan Prasar (an autonomous organisation set up by the union government in 1989 for popularising science and promoting scientific temper), the source added.
Officials said the Kerala Institutional Ranking Framework was modelled along the lines of the National Institutional Ranking Framework, a methodology adopted by the union government’s Ministry of Education to rank institutions of higher education in the country.
They said that on the basis of many of the overall quantitative indicators, the higher education scene in Kerala was found to be favourably comparable with the national scene, and in some respects the situation in the state was better than some of the rapidly expanding higher education systems in southern states.
Hailing the Kerala government’s initiative, a higher education expert said the launch of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for higher educational institutions in the country by the Ministry of Education (then MHRD) in 2015 had been a watershed moment in the Indian higher education system.
“Although college and university rankings have been popular in many countries, the introduction of India-specific criteria for a sector that had been witnessing massive growth of institutions and student enrolments during the past decade raised many eyebrows. The NIRF is based on five overall parameters: Teaching, Learning and Resources; Research and Professional Practice; Graduation Outcomes; Outreach and Inclusivity; and Peer Perception.
“Interestingly, by taking a cue from the NIRF, Kerala is going to launch the Kerala Institutional Ranking Framework on May 3. This is the first State-specific ranking initiative for higher education institutions,” the expert told PTI.
Varughese said the state-level institutional ranking framework was formed without altering the core qualities and components of the NIRF. But it also incorporates the socio-cultural heritage and values that the state has sculpted over the period of its democratic era, he said.
He said that the KIRF had been evolved after intense deliberations and collective discussions among scholars of expertise and stakeholders of higher education inside and outside the state of Kerala.
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#Scientific #temper #secularism #key #parameters #Keralas #higher #education #ranking #system
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 2, 2023
India emerging as key aviation market: IATA report

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Singapore: India is fast emerging as a key global aviation market, according to the latest market analysis report of the International Air Transport Association ( ATA).
India’s domestic air travel has continued to grow robustly and as of February, it was a mere 2.2 per cent shy of reaching pre-pandemic levels measured by passenger revenue kilometres (PRK).
The India domestic passenger market also led the rest of the domestic markets in the passenger load factor (PLF) metric in the report which includes the US, China and Japanese domestic markets. It has been the top domestic market measured by PLF for the last four months achieving PLFs of 81.6 per cent in February, 85.2 per cent in January, 88.9 per cent in December 2022, and 87.9 per cent in November 2022.

Globally, traffic is now at 84.9 per cent of February 2019 levels. Total traffic in February 2023, based on RPKs, rose 55.5 per cent compared to February 2022.
The report added, “Asia-Pacific airlines had a 378.7 per cent increase in February 2023 traffic compared to February 2022, maintaining the very positive momentum of the past few months since the lifting of travel restrictions in the region. Capacity rose 176.4 per cent and the load factor increased 34.9 percentage points to 82.5 per cent, the second highest among the regions.”
Domestic air passenger traffic for all markets measured for February rose 25.2 per cent compared to one year ago. Total February 2023 domestic traffic was at 97.2 per cent of the February 2019 level.
At the moment, it is estimated that only about 35 to 40 million Indians travel by air every year. Although World Bank data shows that pre-COVID India had about 168 million air transport passengers, many are repeat flyers. This is much lower than China, which has a similar population and has 660 million air transport passengers during the same period in 2019. Chinese airlines also have about five times as many planes.
With a rapidly growing middle class and rising incomes, together with the right encouragement including lower airfares, many, including airline companies, are expecting India to become the fastest-growing aviation market for years to come.

Swiss airline intelligence provider, ch-aviation reported in March this year that French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that IndiGo Airlines could announce an order for “several hundred” Airbus aircraft at the Paris Air Show to be held at Paris Le Bourget Airport in June.
IndiGo, the largest airline in India has over 300 aircraft and currently provides over 35 per cent of all the available seat kilometres on flights in and out of India’s airports. Measured by flight frequencies, IndiGo provides almost 48 per cent of all flights across India’s international and domestic markets.
Just in February, competitor Air India announced a world record order of 470 aircraft – 250 planes from European manufacturer Airbus and 220 from its US rival Boeing. The deal beats a 2017 order by IndiGo for 420 planes, and an order by American Airlines for 460 planes in 2011.
Besides aircraft manufacturers, foreign Airlines are also eyeing the Indian aviation market.
Singapore Airlines is one of them. Following the takeover of Air India by Tata Sons, it announced a USD267 million investment into the revamped airline giving it a 25.1 per cent stake in the new Air India group. This adds to the money it has already put into Vistara Airlines which is to be merged with Air India.
SIA released a statement during the announcement which said, “The merged entity will be four to five times larger in scale compared to Vistara, with a strong presence in all key airline segments in India. The proposed merger will bolster SIA’s presence in India, strengthen its multi-hub strategy, and allow it to continue participating directly in this large and fast-growing aviation market.”
Etihad Airways under new CEO Antonoaldo Neves is another airline that is planning to expand its presence in the India aviation market.
In an interview with Reuters published on April 27, the former CEO of TAP Air Portugal said that: “Etihad has India as a priority.” He added that the country is among its top three markets but declined to name the other two.
Etihad, which flies to places like Delhi and Mumbai, has identified six other Indian cities it does not serve but wants to launch flights to, he said.
He also announced plans for Etihad to double its fleet to 150 planes and triple its passenger number to 30 million annually by the end of the decade.
The expansion plans of the Middle Eastern airline will focus on medium and long-haul destinations, and the airline will avoid operating ultra-long-haul flights, where it can be tough to make money. Neves explained that the goal will be connecting places like China, Southeast Asia, India, and Gulf countries, with Europe and the East Coast of the United States.
Neves said that he expects Etihad’s growth to be organic relying on more code sharing and interline agreements. It will not look at mergers or equity partnerships as it had done in the past. It once had a stake in the now-defunct Jet Airways.
Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ took full control of Etihad last October and appointed Neves who had previously led a turnaround at Portugal’s TAP.
Whereas in the past, Etihad was seemingly willing to grow at any cost, this is set to change. Neves emphasises that growth will only be possible with profitability, especially as the airline is now owned by ADQ. As he explained, “Our mandate is very clear, we don’t fly to places where we don’t make money.”
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#India #emerging #key #aviation #market #IATA #report
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 1, 2023
Telangana HC cancels bail of key accused in Viveka murder case

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Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday cancelled the bail of Yerra Gangi Reddy, the prime accused in the murder case of former Andhra Pradesh minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy.
It directed him to surrender before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court by May 5.
The court also clarified that if the accused failed to surrender, the CBI may arrest him.

It ruled that as the CBI is scheduled to complete the hearing on June 30, Gangi Reddy may be granted bail on July 1 on a personal bond of Rs 1.50 lakhs.
The Supreme Court had recently extended the deadline for completing the investigation into the sensational case till June 30.
The CBI sought the cancellation of the bail on the ground that Gangi Reddy is the main accused and has been influencing key witnesses in the case.
The probe agency’s counsel had argued that Gangi Reddy is having political backing and is trying to put pressure on the witnesses through his connections.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Andhra Pradesh Police, which was then investigating the murder case, arrested Gangi Reddy on March 28, 2019.

Gangi Reddy was granted default bail by a local court at Pulivendula on June 27, 2019, as the SIT had failed to file charge sheet in the specified period.
After the CBI took over the investigation and filed its charge sheet, it had approached the court to cancel his bail. The court had dismissed the CBI petition. Later, the Andhra Pradesh High Court also upheld the decision of the lower court.
Subsequently, the CBI had approached the Supreme Court, challenging the order of the High Court.
The Supreme Court in November last year transferred the trial in the murder case from Andhra Pradesh to CBI court in Hyderabad.
Consequent to this, the apex court asked the CBI to approach the Telangana High Court for cancellation of bail of Gangi Reddy.
Vivekananda Reddy, brother of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, was murdered at his residence in Pulivendula of Kadapa district on March 15, 2019, weeks before elections.
The 68-year-old was alone at his house when unidentified persons barged in and killed him.
The CBI took over the investigation into the case in 2020 on the direction of Andhra Pradesh High Court while hearing a petition of Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Suneetha Reddy, who raised suspicion about some relatives.
The Supreme Court transferred the case to Hyderabad while observing that doubts raised by Suneetha Reddy about getting a fair trial and investigation in Andhra Pradesh were reasonable.
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#Telangana #cancels #bail #key #accused #Viveka #murder #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 27, 2023
Defence ministers of all SCO countries except Pakistan to attend key conclave in India

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New Delhi: Defence ministers of China, Russia and other member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) except Pakistan will travel to India to attend a key meeting of the grouping this week.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif will attend the SCO defence ministers’ meeting in New Delhi on Friday through virtual mode, according to an official readout.
Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu are among those who are visiting India to attend the meeting.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will chair the meeting that is expected to deliberate on regional security situation including developments in Afghanistan.
“Defence Ministers of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan will participate. India has invited Belarus and Iran,currently observers in SCO, to participate in the SCO defence ministers’ meeting,” the defence ministry said.
“Defence Minister of Pakistan would be participating virtually. The ministers will discuss matters related to regional peace and security, counter terrorism efforts within SCO and an effective multilateralism,” it said in a statement.
The ministry said Singh will be holding bilateral meetings with the participating defence ministers on April 27 and 28 where bilateral defence related issues and other matters of mutual interest will be discussed.
It said India has ancient civilizational, cultural and spiritual ties with the SCO member countries.

“India’s membership of SCO in 2017, was therefore, a reaffirmation of New Delhi’s keenness to deepen these historic ties.India considers SCO as an important regional group to promote multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region,” it said.
The ministry said India continues to bring more ideas and initiatives to strengthen cooperation among SCO countries.
“Under its Chairmanship, this year, India organised two defence related activities to enhance interoperability amongst SCO member states,” it said.
“The first being a workshop on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and the second was a seminar of SCO countries defence think-tanks on the issue of armed forces contributing to military medicine, healthcare and pandemics,” the ministry said.
“India stands committed to take forward the Agenda of SCO under its chairmanship,” it added.
The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Over the years, it has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations. India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.
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#Defence #ministers #SCO #countries #Pakistan #attend #key #conclave #India
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 26, 2023
Florida surgeon general altered key findings in study on Covid-19 vaccine safety

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Researchers with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and University of Florida, who viewed Ladapo’s edits on the study and have followed the issue closely, criticized the surgeon general for making the changes. One said it appears Ladapo altered the study out of political — not scientific — concerns.
“I think it’s a lie,” Matt Hitchings, an assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida, said of Ladapo’s assertion that the Covid-19 vaccine causes cardiac death in young men. “To say this — based on what we’ve seen, and how this analysis was made — it’s a lie.”

Ladapo used the final document in October to bolster disputed claims that Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were dangerous to young men.
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Jenny Kane/AP Photo
The newly released draft of the eight-page study, provided by the Florida Department of Health, indicates that it initially stated that there was no significant risk associated with the Covid-19 vaccines for young men. But “Dr. L’s Edits,” as the document is titled, reveal that Ladapo replaced that language to say that men between 18 and 39 years old are at high risk of heart illness from two Covid vaccines that use mRNA technology.
“Results from the stratified analysis for cardiac related death following vaccination suggests mRNA vaccination may be driving the increased risk in males, especially among males aged 18-39,” Ladapo wrote in the draft. “The risk associated with mRNA vaccination should be weighed against the risk associated with COVID-19 infection.”
In a statement to POLITICO, Ladapo said revisions and refinements are a normal part of assessing surveillance data and that he has the appropriate expertise and training to make those decisions.
“To say that I ‘removed an analysis’ for a particular outcome is an implicit denial of the fact that the public has been the recipient of biased data and interpretations since the beginning of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine campaign,” he said. “I have never been afraid of disagreement with peers or media.”
He also said that he determined the study was worthwhile since “the federal government and Big Pharma continue to misrepresent risks associated with these vaccines.”
The DeSantis administration referred questions to Florida’s Department of Health.

Ladapo, a Harvard-trained doctor who held professorships at UCLA and NYU, specializes in cardiovascular diseases and gained attention nationally during the pandemic after he authored op-eds in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today questioning the safety of Covid-19 vaccines and the effectiveness of mask-wearing and lockdowns.
He was also a supporter of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that former President Donald Trump often praised as a treatment for Covid. The FDA later withdrew emergency authorization for its use.
Ladapo was picked by DeSantis in September 2021 to become the state’s surgeon general as DeSantis waged war against President Joe Biden’s Covid-related restrictions and ordered the state to ban mask-wearing requirements in schools and employer-issued vaccine mandates.
Ladapo drew criticism in part because he was affiliated with the conservative America’s Frontline Doctors, a group founded to fight Covid restrictions by anti-vaccine advocate Simone Gold. Ladapo devoted an entire chapter to his friendship with Gold in a memoir he published last year titled “Transcend Fear.”
Yet the researchers who viewed a copy of the edits said Ladapo removed an important analysis that would have contradicted his recommendation. Daniel Salmon, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, called Ladapo’s changes “really troubling.”
“He took out stuff that didn’t support his position,” Salmon said. “That’s really a problem.”
Hitchings chastised the integrity of Ladapo’s study after it was released last fall but is now much more critical.
“What’s clear from the previous analysis, and even more clear from Dr. L’s edits, is that absolutely there was a political motivation behind the final analysis that was produced,” Hitchings said. “Key information was withheld from the public that would have allowed them or other experts to interpret this in context.”
Ladapo’s edits also shed new light on an anonymous internal complaint he faced last year. The complaint, which the Florida Department of Health’s inspector general investigated, accused Ladapo of “scientific fraud” for allegedly manipulating the final draft of the study.
The inspector general stopped probing the complaint after the anonymous person failed to respond to emails. In a previous interview with POLITICO, Ladapo said the accusations were “factually false.”
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#Florida #surgeon #general #altered #key #findings #study #Covid19 #vaccine #safety
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 24, 2023