New Delhi, Jun 12: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Saturday reduced the GST rate on an array of medicine and equipment used in the treatment of COVID-19.
Along with this, the GST on medicines useful in treatment of black fungus was cut to zero.
The items on which rates were brought down include medicines such as Remdesivir and Tocilizumab, medical oxygen, oxygen generation equipment, and diagnostic and testing machine kits, masks, COVID testing kits, oximeters, hand sanitisers, cremation furnaces, ambulances, temperature checking devices.
The cuts are applicable till September 30.
The Council took the decisions at its 44th meeting chaired by Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
In the last meeting of the Council, a group of finance ministers of States was formed in this regard and Saturday’s decisions were taken according to the recommendations of the group.
After the meeting, Sitharaman told reporters that most of the recommendations of the Group of Ministers had been approved.
‘Today’s meeting was a single-agenda meeting on the Group of Ministers which was constituted in last GST Council meeting to come up with recommendations on tax relief for COVID-19 essentials,’ she said.
The GST on Tocilizumab and Amphotericin B used for treatment of black fungus has been reduced from less than five per cent to zero, she said.
She said that the GST on Anti-Coagulants like Heparin and Remdesivir has been reduced from 12 per cent to five per cent.
The GST rate on medicines approved by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Department of Pharma for COVID treatment would now be five per cent.
The finance minister said that the GST on Medical Grade Oxygen, Oxygen Concentrator/ Generator, including personal imports thereof, Ventilators, Ventilator masks / canula / helmet, BiPAP Machine, High flow nasal canula (HFNC) device, Covid Testing Kits, Specified Inflammatory Diagnostic Kits, namely D-Dimer, IL-6, Ferritin and LDH,
Pulse Oximeters, including personal imports thereof has been reduced from 12 per cent to five per cent.
She said the GST on Hand Sanitizer, Temperature checking equipment, Gas/Electric/other furnaces for crematorium, including their installation, etc has been reduced from 18 per cent to five per cent.
Along with this, the GST on ambulances has been reduced from 28 per cent to 12 per cent.
Sitharaman however, said that 5 per cent GST on vaccines will stay.
The Centre will buy the 75 per cent vaccine as announced and will pay its GST too. But 70 per cent of income from GST will be shared with states.
Hyderabad, Jun 11: A study said that the genetic variants responsible for COVID-19 severity among Europeans may not play a role in COVID-19 susceptibility among South Asians.
A CCMB release here on Friday said, in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is still unclear why some people experience more severe symptoms and adverse outcomes than others.
An earlier research done on European population suggested variations in a specific DNA segment strongly associated with severe COVID-19 infection and hospitalization. This DNA segment is present in 50 per cent of South Asians as compared to 16 per cent of Europeans.
An international team of scientists have analyzed the role of this DNA segment in determining COVID-19 outcomes among the South Asian population. The study was directed by Dr Kumarasamy Thangaraj, Director, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics & Chief Scientist, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad and Prof Gyaneshwer Chaubey, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
They concluded that the genetic variants responsible for COVID-19 severity among Europeans may not play a role in COVID-19 susceptibility among South Asians. This finding has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
“In this study, we have compared infection and case fatality rates with South Asian genomic data over three different timelines during the pandemic. We have especially looked into a large number of populations from India and Bangladesh”, said Dr Thangaraj.
Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 10: Prathidhwani, IT employees welfare organisation at Technopark, has launched the ‘First Bell digital education challenge’, to support students who are struggling with their studies as the new academic year also goes online.
Under this initiative, Prathidhwani plans to buy and distribute tablets to needy students from economically weaker families with the financial help of IT employees working in various companies in Technopark.
“The initiative was launched after several government schools approached us to support students from poor backgrounds to ensure that the online learning, especially of the students of the higher classes is not disrupted,” said Raneesh A.R, president of Prathidhwani.
Last year, the organisation had distributed learning devices to students from 57 families. The project is being implemented by raising Rs 7500 each from IT employees and well-wishers.
Bengaluru, Jun 10: In all 30 children, aged 12-18, were administered Covaxin at Mysuru Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI) as part of Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical major Bharat Biotech’s clinical trials.
MMCRI is the only site selected in Karnataka for the company’s paediatric trials, currently being conducted pan-India across multiple locations.
On a positive note, when the vaccinated kids were followed up telephonically, mild pain at the injection site was observed in 10 subjects. No other complications were reported, according to sources.
In all, MMCRI had screened 53 children, of which 23 had to be rejected as they were ineligible for the trial, on account of either having antibodies or active infection.
According to Dr C P Nanjaraj, Dean, MMCRI, screening 50 children in each age group: 12 to 18 years, 6 to 12 years, and 2 to 6 years. During screening, we shall draw blood samples for Covid IgG antibodies and nasopharyngeal swabs for RT-PCR tests.
If IgG antibodies and RT-PCR are negative, they (children) will be eligible to get into the study. The study subjects (children) will be given two doses of vaccine 28 days apart, and will be followed up for six months for safety analysis.”
New Delhi, Jun 10: Delhi government on Thursday announced that annual examinations for classes 9 and 11 have been cancelled in the city and on the basis of the marks obtained in mid-term examinations, these students will be promoted to the next classes.
It was also announced that the registration for the admission process of classes 6 to 9 in Delhi government schools will start from June 11.
Addressing a press conference, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia conveyed these key
decisions pertaining to promotion policy in grades IX and XI, as well as admission policy in grades VI and IX.
It was hence declared that in the face of IX and XI examinations being cancelled in Delhi. Students will therefore be promoted based on the marks obtained in mid-term examinations.
Additionally, the admission process in Delhi Government Schools for grade VI to IX will begin from June 11 onwards.
Mr Sisodia, along with officials of Directorate of Education, took major decisions with respect to the promotion and admission policy in Delhi.
Mr Sisodia, who is also the Education Minister of Delhi, stated that while students in grade VIII were promoted without any hassle due to the no-detention policy but roadblocks in the promotion of students in IX and XI needed to be curbed.
Annual Examinations in IX and XI which were supposed to be administered from April 12 onwards were cancelled by the Delhi Government, keeping in mind the safety and security of students.
Mr Sisodia announced that Private Schools which have already conducted their annual assessments can follow guidelines postulated by the Directorate of Education with regards to promotion policy and declare their result.
For schools that did not conduct any mid-term examination or students who were not able to take all mid-term papers will be assessed based on the average of the marks obtained in the best two performing subjects out of five main subjects. This policy will be implemented in all Government and Private Schools.
The Annual Result of classes IX and XI in all Government Schools will be declared on June 22.
No student will be called to school instead, students will receive their result online or via a phone call or WhatsApp.
All such students who gave their mid-term in only one subject or were unable to give their
mid-term exam in any subject and students who did not receive minimum qualifying marks will be eligible for re-assessment. These students will be assessed through Assignments/Projects/School Based Tests etc for the promotion to the next higher class.
No additional physical or online assessment will be conducted for these students.
Further, Mr Sisodia provided information regarding admission policy of VI to IX grades, said that similar to the admission process conducted last year, admissions to Delhi Government schools will be held online. Parents or candidates can register their children or themselves online from June 11 onwards until June 30.
Admissions will begin from July 5 onwards, based on the registration of students. Students who are unable to register on the given date will be eligible to register in the second admission cycle which will begin from July 23 until August 6.
”Discussed the assessment & promotion policy for class 9th & 11th students with the @Dir_Education and team. Annual examinations for class 9th & 11th will be cancelled. Students will be promoted on the basis of mid-term examinations,” Mr Sisodia said in a tweet.
Earlier, the government had postponed classes 9 and 11 examinations in April this year owing to the second COVID wave.
New Delhi, Jun 10: The Ministry of Education on Thursday released the report of All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20, according to which the total enrollment in Higher Education in 2019-20 was 3.85 crore as against 3.74 crores in 2018-19.
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ on Thursday approved the release of the report of All India Survey on Higher Education 2019-20. This Report provides key performance indicators on the current status of Higher education in the country, the Ministry of Education said in a statement.
Mr Pokhriyal noted that in the last five years from 2015-16 to 2019-20, there has been a growth of 11.4 per cent in student enrolment. The rise in female enrolment in higher education during the period is 18.2 per cent.
He emphasised that the continuous focus is given by the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on education of girls, women empowerment and empowerment of socially backward classes are well reflected by the increased participation of women, SCs and STs population in Higher Education as shown by the Report.
‘I feel delighted to announce the release of the All India Survey on Higher Education 2019-20 report. As you can see, we have improved in GER, Gender parity Index. The number of Institutions of National importance increased 80% (from 75 in 2015 to 135 in 2020),’ the Union Education Minister said in a tweet.
‘It is heartening to note that the number of PhDs has also increased by 60% in the last five years,’ he said.
‘We have noted a tremendous growth of educational institutes in the country. The number of universities has increased by 30.5% from 799 in 2015-16 to 1043 in 2019-20. The number of colleges has increased by about 8.4% from 39,071 in 2015-16 to 42,343 in 2019-20,’ he said.
‘The Gross Enrolment Ratio or the percentage of students belonging to the eligible age group enrolled in higher education is 27.1% in 2019-20, which has seen a rise from 26.3% in 2018-19 and 24.3% in 2014-2015,’ the Union Education Minister said in a tweet.
Minister of State for Education Sanjay Dhotre said, ‘The results published in this report are indicators of the success of the policies adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the higher education sector of the country. I hope this report will help our policymakers to further improve the higher education scenario of the country.’
Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare said this report is the 10th in the series of All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) annually released by the Department of Higher Education. The continuous rise in the enrolment, number of institutions, gender parity is a part of our country’s major move towards improving access, equity and quality in light of National Education Policy 2020, he added.
As per key features of All India Survey on Higher Education Report 2019-20, total enrolment in Higher Education stands at 3.85 crore in 2019-20 as compared to 3.74 crore in 2018-19, registering a growth of 11.36 lakh (3.04 per cent). Total enrolment was 3.42 crore in 2014-15, the report said.
Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), the percentage of students belonging to the eligible age group enrolled in Higher Education, in 2019-20 is 27.1 per cent against 26.3 per cent in 2018-19 and 24.3 per cent in 2014-2015.
‘Gender Parity Index (GPI) in Higher Education in 2019-20 is 1.01 against 1.00 in 2018-19 indicating an improvement in the relative access to higher education for females of eligible age group compared to males,’ the report said.
Pupil Teacher Ratio in Higher Education in 2019-20 is 26, the report said.
In 2019-20: Universities: 1,043 (2 per cent); Colleges: 42,343 (77 per cent) and stand-alone institutions: 11,779 (21 per cent).
3.38 crore students enrolled in programmes at under-graduate and post-graduate levels. Out of these, nearly 85 per cent of the students (2.85 crore) were enrolled in the six major disciplines such as Humanities, Science, Commerce, Engineering and Technology, Medical Science and IT & Computer.
The number of students pursuing PhD in 2019-20 is 2.03 lakh against 1.17 lakh in 2014-15, the report said.
The total number of teachers stands at 15,03,156 comprising 57.5 per cent male and 42.5 per cent female.
Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 8: A four-time MLA and now representing Kannur Lok Sabha Constituency, K Sudhakaran MP, has been appointed as the new President of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) replacing Mullappally Ramachandran following the failure of Congress party in the previous Assembly election in the State.
The 73-year-old Congress MP was informed about his new responsibility over phone by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, sources said on Tuesday.
“I will try my level best to revive Congress party with the support of party cadres and regain their confidence,” K Sudhakaran, the second time MP from Kannur, said.
He was also a Minister of Forest and Wildlife in Kerala during 2001-04.
He was elected from Kannur to the 17th Lok Sabha by defeating PK Sreemathy of CPI(M) by a margin of 94,559 votes, and to the 15th Lok Sabha by defeating KK Rajesh of CPI(M) by a margin of 30,000 votes.
Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 8: Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) on Tuesday staged a walkout from Kerala Assembly in protest denial of an adjournment motion seeking discussion over illegal felling and smuggling of centuries-old rosewood trees from a tribal village in Wayanad.
Seeking the leave of the House to move the adjournment motion, PT Thomas of Congress asked whether Forest Minister AK Saseendran, allegedly accused in several cases earlier, had any contact with the culprits behind the crime.
Though more than 40 cases have been registered in connection with the crime at Muttil village, no one had been arrested yet, he pointed out.
Demanding a High Court-monitored probe into the case, he said the smugglers ferried the timber worth crores from northern Wayanad to a sawmill in central Kerala in Ernakulam during COVID lockdown.
This could happen only with the support of those who are in power, leaving suspicion on a recent GO allowing farmers to fell trees except sandalwood from their land having title deeds. The GO was issued by the Revenue Principal secretary last year.
But, Minister AK Saseendran denied the Opposition charges assuring that a charge sheet on the issue will be submitted to the court soon after the inquiry.
As many as 101 rosewood trees, valued at Rs 10 crore, were found missing from the village, he added.
The Minister assured that stern action will be taken against the culprits and officials responsible for the illegal act.
Following the Minister’s reply, Speaker MB Rajesh denied permission to move the adjournment motion leading to the walkout by the Opposition members in protest against the denial of discussion on the matter.