Sunrisers Hyderabad posted a six-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the eliminator of the Indian Premier League 2020 in Abu Dhabi on November 6. Kane Williamson (50* off 44 balls) and Jason Holder (24 off 20) steered Hyderabad to victory with two balls to spare. Holder also made three-wicket haul that helped restrict Bangalore to 131/7.

While RCB has been knocked out of the league, Hyderabad will now face Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 on November 8. The winners will clash with Mumbai Indians in the final on November 10.

Earlier, SRH won the toss and put RCB to bat. RCB had a bad start against the SRH bowling attack. Jason Holder (3/25) and T Natarajan (2/33) bagged the wickets. Devdutt Padikkal (1) and RCB skipper Virat Kohli (6) fell to Holder’s attack. Aaron Finch’s 32 off 30 balls and AB de Villiers’ 56 off 43 balls gave RCB a respectable score.

Hyderabad had a shaky start and were 67/4 at one point. New Zealand skipper Williamson and West Indies’ captain Holder played a 65-run partnership for the fifth wicket to save SRH from the brink of defeat. Kane Williamson was declared man of the match.

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While the Government and Industry were trying their best to make available a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19 at the earliest, it was difficult to comment on the exact timelines in view of various complex pathways involved in vaccine development, according to Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare) Ashwini Kumar Choubey.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on September 15, Mr. Choubey said, that the Government has constituted a high-level National Expert Group on vaccine administration for COVID-19 which is chaired by Member, Niti Aayog and co-chaired by Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. Other representatives are: Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Secretary, Department of Health Research, Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Head ECD, Indian Council of Medical Research, Director Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Member NTAGI) and Representatives from States & D/o Expenditure. The committee is addressing issues related to vaccine delivery, selection of suitable vaccines, procurement, prioritization of groups, logistics: Cold chain requirements, finance and National/International equity.

Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has granted test license permission for manufacture of COVID-19 Vaccine for pre-clinical test, examination and analysis to the following manufacturers in India.

M/s Serum Institute of India Pvt., Ltd., Pune, M/s Cadila Healthcare Ltd., Ahmadabad, M/s Bharat Biotech International Ltd., Hyderabad, Biological E Ltd., Hyderabad, M/s Reliance Life Sciences Pvt Ltd., Mumbai, M/s Aurbindo Pharma Limited, Hyderabad and M/s Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Limited, Pune are the companies involved.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), an autonomous organisation under the Department of Health Research, has informed that the following companies are conducting clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines in India:

(i) An inactivated whole virion candidate vaccine (BBV152) for SARS-CoV-2 has been developed by Bharat Biotech International Ltd (BBIL) using the virus isolate (NIV-2020-770) provided by ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. Characterization of the vaccine candidate has been undertaken at ICMR-NIV followed by safety and tolerability studies in small animals like rats, mice and rabbits. Status of clinical trials is as follows:

Phase I clinical trials along with parallel studies in large animals have been completed. The trial has revealed excellent safety of the candidate vaccine. Immunogenicity testing is in progress.

Phase II clinical trials were ongoing.

(ii) A DNA vaccine (ZyCov-D) has been developed by Cadila Healthcare Ltd. Pre- clincial toxicity studies were conducted in small animals: mice, rats, rabbits and guinea pigs. The vaccine has been found to be safe and immunogenic. Cadila has partnered with ICMR for conduct of parallel pre-clinical studies in large animals. Status of clinical trials is as follows:

Phase I clinical trials have been completed. The trial has revealed excellent safety of the candidate vaccine. Immunogenicity testing is in progress.

Phase II clinical trials were ongoing.

(iii) Serum Institute of India (SII) and ICMR have partnered for clinical development of two global vaccine candidates:

ChAdOx1-S, which is a non- replicating viral vector vaccine developed by University of Oxford/AstraZeneca. This vaccine is undergoing phase III clinical trials in Brazil. Phase II/III bridging studies have been initiated by ICMR at 14 clinical trial sites. ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), Chennai is the lead institution.

ICMR and SII have also partnered for clinical development of a glycoprotein subunit nanoparticle adjuvanted vaccine developed by Novavax from USA. The trial will be initiated in second half of October after the vaccine is manufactured by SII. The trial is led by ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), Pune.

As per details provided by Department of Biotechnology (DBT)/Department of Science and Technology(DST), more than 30 vaccine candidates have been supported which are in different stages of development.

The ICMR has allocated Rs.25.00 crore for various studies and other research activities pertaining to vaccine development.

The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body under the Department of Science and Technology, has supported three projects under COVID-19 on vaccine research under Intensified Research in High Priority Areas (IRHPA) The sanctioned expenditure is Rs.22,27,579/- and the committed expenditure is Rs.3,20,78,161/-.

The Department of Biotechnology is also supporting eight proposals by Industry and academia for candidate vaccine development and associated research resources at a total cost of Rs. 75 crore, the statement said.

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Prabhas along with Telangana Forest Minister Allola Indra Karan Reddy and Rajya Sabha MP Joginapally Santosh Kumar laid the foundation stone for an urban forest park. They observed the reserve forest from a temporary watch tower and later planted few saplings in the reserve forest region.

The ‘Rebel’ star, as Prabhas is popularly called, took up the initiative under the Green India challenge promoted by Santosh Kumar.

The Forest Department will convert a small portion of the reserve forest into an urban forest park while the rest of the forest will be a conservation zone.

Khazipally reserve forest is known for its medicinal plants and it is extended in three compartments.

The Forest Department is going to fence the entire 1,650 acres and immediately start developing an eco park.

A park gate, see-through wall, walking track, view point, gazebo and medicinal plant centre would be constructed in the first phase.

Prabhas stated that he was inspired by his friend Santosh Kumar to adopt Khazipally forest area and would donate more, depending on the progress of the work.

He requested the Forest Department to develop the reserve forest so that it would create an additional lung space in Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) limits.

Santosh Kumar had last year adopted Keesara reserved forest region and laid foundation stone for rejuvenation of reserved forest and eco park. He had stated that he would motivate and request his friends to take part in adoption of reserved forests.

The MP said very soon many industrialists would come forward to adopt reserve forest blocks

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