Moscow, Jul 6,2021: Moscow supports ASEAN’s approach to the settlement in Myanmar, the parties are unanimous in their rejection of external interference and sanctions, which only deepen the crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
He said some media outlets distortedly interpret the approaches of Russia and its friends in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to the situation in Myanmar.
“ASEAN’s leadership on the Myanmar track enjoys unconditional support from Russia. The provisions of the Five-Point Consensus, adopted thanks to the collective efforts of ASEAN partners, are consonant with the Russian position. We fully share the theses on the need to end violence and display restraint by all conflicting parties, to establish a dialogue in order to stabilize the situation and achieve civil peace,” Lavrov said in an interview with Indonesian newspaper Rakyat Merdeka.
He said the positions of Russia and ASEAN also coincide in rejection of unilateral sanctions, rhetoric of threats, attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of Myanmar.
“We adhere to the general opinion about the destructive nature of such a policy, which leads to further polarization of society and intensification of internal contradictions,” Lavrov said.
“We have a negative attitude to the persistent attempts by individual states to use multilateral platforms, including the UN, to increase confrontation during the discussion of the Myanmar issue,” he said.
Abuja [Nigeria], July 2,2021: Nigerian troops have killed 73 Boko Haram militants in operations conducted in past two weeks in the restive northeast region, a military spokesperson said on Thursday.
Bernard Onyeuko, a spokesperson for the Defense Headquarters, told reporters in a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday that troops of Operation Hadin Kai have killed 73 Boko Haram militants in various operations between June 18 and June 30 in Borno state, without giving further details.
Onyeuko said the troops have destroyed some terrorists’ strongholds at the Lake Chad axis of Borno through multiple airstrikes during the operations.
“During the air operations, the spiritual base and training camps of the terrorists in the northeast part of Borno state and the fringes of Lake Chad were destroyed by air bombardments,” Onyeuko said.
The troops also received on Sunday 55 escapees from terrorists’ camps in Borno, said Onyeuko.
According to Onyeuko, troops uncovered a large cache of weaponry and equipment from the militants after the operations.
Boko Haram has been trying to establish an Islamist state in northeastern Nigeria since 2009. The terror group has also extended its attacks to other countries in the Lake Chad Basin.
July 1,2021:Authorities say nearly 500 people have died in Canada’s westernmost province across five days, as record-breaking temperatures raise serious concerns for vulnerable groups, including the elderly.
British Columbia’s chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said on Wednesday afternoon that the BC Coroners Service received at least 486 reports of deaths between Friday and Wednesday afternoon – a total she said was preliminary and expected to increase.
The fatalities represent a 195 percent increase from the approximately 165 deaths that would normally occur in the province across a five-day period, Lapointe said.
“The last five days in British Columbia have seen an unprecedented number of deaths reported to the BC Coroners Service,” she said in a statement.
“While it is too early to say with certainty how many of these deaths are heat related, it is believed likely that the significant increase in deaths reported is attributable to the extreme weather B.C. has experienced and continues to impact many parts of our province.”
Temperatures have soared in BC and other Canadian provinces and territories as a so-called “heat dome” – a weather system that traps in hot air – descended on the country’s west coast, as well as in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
NEW DELHI,July 1,2021:: An expert panel of the country’s central drug authority on Wednesday recommended against granting permission to the Serum Institute of India (SII) to conduct the phase 2/3 trial of COVID-19 vaccine Covovax on children aged two to 17 years, sources said.
The SII applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Monday seeking permission for conducting a trial of Covovax on 920 children, 460 each in the 12-17 and 2-11 age groups, at 10 sites.
“The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on COVID-19 of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), which deliberated on the application, noted that the vaccine has not been approved in any country,” a source said.
“It also recommended that the Pune-based company should submit the safety and immunogenicity data (of Covovax) from the ongoing clinical trial in adults for considering the conduct of a clinical trial in children,” the source said.
The recommendations are learnt to have been approved by the DCGI.
In August 2020, US-based vaccine maker Novavax Inc. had announced a licence agreement with the SII for the development and commercialisation of NVX-CoV2373, its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, in low and middle-income countries and India.
The clinical trials of Covovax began in India in March and the SII hopes to launch it by September for adults.
In January, the SII had rolled out the Covishield vaccine in the country.
It had entered into a collaboration with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine.
New Delhi , June 30,2021: Amidst the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Medical Association on Tuesday said that 798 doctors died during the second wave of COVID-19 across the country of which maximum 128 doctors lost their lives in Delhi, followed by Bihar at 115.
As per the official note by the IMA, the number of doctors who lost their lives in the pandemic in Delhi stands at 128, followed by Bihar at 115 and Uttar Pradesh at 79.
States like Maharashtra and Kerala where the prevalence of the Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 is on a rise also reported deaths of doctors in double digits. Maharashtra reported 23 doctor deaths and Kerala reported 24 deaths.
Pondicherry reported the lowest deaths of doctors by logging one death only.
Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday praised doctors for going out of their way to extend help to people during the coronavirus pandemic, IMA President Dr JA Jayalal said that the PM has assured that doctors will be respected, protected and safeguarded.
Like every year, the country celebrated National Doctors’ Day on July 1 to honour the contributions of the doctors. The first National Doctor’s day was celebrated in the country in July 1991.
“PM Modi ensured that doctors should be respected, protected and safeguarded. He also emphasised the need for vaccination. We’re celebrating this year’s National Doctors’ Day (July 1) in remembrance of the veteran Dr BC Roy. We’re so much pleased that PM Modi greeted the medical fraternity for the Doctors’ Day,” the IMA President had said.
On June 25, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) informed that 776 doctors lost their lives in the second wave of COVID. According to the IMA COVID registry on June 25—in the state-wise doctors martyrs list, Bihar saw the maximum number of 115 deaths, followed by Delhi at 109, Uttar Pradesh 79, West Bengal 62, Rajasthan 44, Jharkhand 39, and Andhra Pradesh 40.
Meanwhile, India on Tuesday reported 37,566 fresh COVID-19 cases, the first time in 102 days that daily cases dropped below the 40,000 mark, the Union Health Ministry informed. With this, the country’s total COVID-19 tally stands at 3,03,16,897, including 2,93,66,601 recoveries and 5,52,659 active cases.