From The Newsroom: PM Narendra Modi announces National Digital Health Mission on Independence Day

In your evening news brief, From The Newsroom, PM Modi announces National Digital Health Mission; Russia produces the first batch of its new vaccine for Covid-19 and Traffic seen at Bengaluru as people leave the city ahead of the weekend holiday combined with the auspicious last Saturday of Shravana.

Here are the top news of today, Saturday: August 15, 2020:

India is fighting both terrorism and expansionism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, tacitly referring to the twin challenges posed by Pakistan and China to the security and sovereignty of the nation.“Whoever challenged the sovereignty of India, be it on the LoC (Line of Control with Pakistan) or on the LAC (the Line of Actual Control with China), our valiant soldiers gave them a befitting reply in their own languages,” the Prime Minister said from the rampart of the Red Fort after hoisting the national flag on the occasion of the 74th Independence Day.

He was obviously referring to the responses by the Indian Army and the paramilitary forces, not only against violation of ceasefire by Pakistan Army personnel along the LoC but also against the attempts by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to unilaterally alter the status quo on the LAC.

The nation is celebrating its 74th Independence Day even as the more-than-100-day-long military stand-off between the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA in eastern Ladakh still continues. The Indian Army lost 20 of its soldiers in a violent face-off with the Chinese PLA in Galwan Valley on June 15. Though the PLA too suffered casualties, the Chinese Government did not make public the number of its soldiers, who were injured or killed in the clash.

The stand-off, which started with the Chinese PLA’s transgression into the territory of India, took the relations between New Delhi and Beijing to a new low, particularly after the clash in Galwan Valley.

“India’s sovereignty is supreme and the world has seen in Ladakh what our gallant soldiers can do to protect it, what the country can do,” the Prime Minister said. He was apparently referring to the Indian Army’s response to attack by the Chinese PLA in Galwan Valley.

The Pakistan Army too stepped up flouting the truce along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir to facilitate infiltration of the terrorists into India. The Indian Army stepped up preparedness to deal with any move that the Pakistan Army might make to take advantage of the military stand-off between India and China.

“Be it terrorism or expansionism, India is fighting both,” the Prime Minister said, even as he avoided directly referring to Pakistan and China.

He said that the faith of the global community in the nation had increased. India recently winning a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council with the support of 184 of the total 193 members of the international organization was a sign of this faith, said the Prime Minister.

I am confident that India will realise this dream. I am confident of the abilities and potential of my fellow Indians. Once we decide to do something, we do not rest till we achieve that goal,” he said, in his seventh consecutive address from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

The biggest announcement of the day was the announcement of the National Digital Health Mission that will allot each citizen with a unique health identification number.

"Every Indian will be given a health ID which will contain all your information. What disease you suffer from, which doctor has been consulted, what medicines you are on,” Modi said announcing the move which he said would revolutionise the healthcare system.
The prime minister said Indian scientists were working on three vaccine candidates against Covid-19 and the government had prepared a roadmap to akig it available to every Indian as soon as possible.

“As soon as our scientists give a green signal, a Made in India Covid-19 vaccine will be made available,” the prime minister said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart in Kathmandu, K P Sharma Oli, spoke to each other over the phone on Saturday – for the first time after Nepal ratcheted up its territorial dispute with India and the relations between the two neighbours soured.

Oli called Modi to greet him on behalf of the government and people of Nepal on the occasion of the 74th Independence Day of India. He also congratulated his counterpart in New Delhi for India’s recent election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for a two-year term, beginning January 2021.

Modi thanked Nepalese Prime Minister for his call. He also recalled the civilizational and cultural links between India and Nepal, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi.

The courtesy call from Kathmandu to New Delhi came almost three months after the Oli Government lodged protest over a new 80-kilometer-long road New Delhi built from Dharchula in Uttarakhand to the Lipulekh Pass – an India-Nepal-China tri-junction boundary point. It alleged that the road passed through Nepal – a claim dismissed by India. Kathmandu, however, went ahead, published a new map, which showed nearly 400 sq kms of India’s areas in Kalapani, Lipulekh Pass and Limpiyadhura as part of Nepal. It also got the Nepalese Parliament amend the country’s constitution to endorse the new map.

Russia has produced the first batch of its new vaccine for Covid-19, the Interfax news agency quoted the health ministry as saying on Saturday, hours after the ministry reported the start of manufacturing.

Some scientists said they fear that with this fast regulatory approval Moscow may be putting national prestige before safety amid the global race to develop a vaccine against the disease.

Russia has said the vaccine, the first for the coronavirus to go into production, will be rolled out by the end of this month.

Its approval comes before trials that would normally involve thousands of participants, commonly known as Phase III. Such trials are usually considered essential precursors for a vaccine to secure regulatory approval.

The vaccine has been named "Sputnik V" in homage to the world's first satellite launched by the Soviet Union. President Vladimir Putin has assured the public that it is safe, adding that one of his daughters had taken it as a volunteer and felt good afterwards.

Moscow's Gamaleya Institute, which developed the vaccine, said previously that Russia would be producing about 5 million doses a month by December-January, Interfax said.

Using state-of-the-art computer simulations, scientists have identified a preexisting drug, used to treat multiple diseases, including bipolar disorders and hearing loss, that could prevent the novel coronavirus from replicating in host cells, an advance that may lead to a therapeutic solution against Covid-19.

The study, published in the journal Science Advances, assessed the molecule main protease, Mpro, of the novel coronavirus which is a key enzyme that plays a central role in its life cycle.

According to the researchers, including those from the University of Chicago in the US, Mpro facilitates the virus' ability to make proteins from its genetic material -- RNA -- and enables the pathogen to replicate within the host cell.

Using their expertise in modelling biological molecules, the scientists rapidly screened thousands of existing compounds for potential use against the virus.

An electric short circuit caused the centralised oxygen line to stop at CV Raman General Hospital in Indiranagar, a dedicated Covid-19 hospital. As many as 20 Covid-19 patients in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) were evacuated in an emergency and shifted to three other hospitals in the city in the wee hours of Saturday.

The hospital currently has 175 Covid-19 beds and has 80-90 patients. The oxygen supply was cut to 20 Covid-19 patients whose oxygen saturation was low. Immediately beds were identified in other hospitals, and patients had to traverse significant distances across the city to get to other health facilities when time was of essence.

16 Covid-19 patients were sent to Victoria Hospital near K R Market, which is 10 km away from CV Raman General hospital. One Covid-19 patient was shifted to the ICU at Vydehi Hospital in Whitefield, 13 km away, and one patient was put on a ventilator in an ICU in Fortis Hospital, Cunningham Road, eight km away.

Two patients were shifted to Mahaveer Jain Hospital, Millers Road, seven km away from CV Raman General Hospital. Dr Bhaskar Vijaykumar, a radiologist, deputed as nodal officer in BBMP East Zone who is the overall in-charge of the zonal control room told DH, "The supply was cut around 10.30 pm on Friday. We got the information at around 10:45 pm-11 pm. Ambulances reached the hospital at 11:15 pm. We completed shifting the patients by 12.15 am."

Bumper to bumper traffic was seen at Nelamangala Toll as weekend holiday combined with the auspicious last Saturday of Shravana led to a sudden increase in the number of vehicles exiting Bengaluru, with even ambulances stuck in the jam.

Notorious for its jams during the weekends, holidays and festival eve, Nelamangala toll had been relatively free since the beginning of Covid-19 crisis in March. The only exception was on the eve of lockdowns, especially when people left Bengaluru to escape the one-week lockdown from July 14.

Sources in the toll plaza said a steady stream of vehicles started leaving Bengaluru early on Saturday morning. By 8 am, there were long queues at the toll booth. Within the next two hours, the entire plaza was choked with the seven exit points struggling.

All exit points at the plaza are equipped with the FASTag. However, toll officials were not available for comment on the reason for the delay.

A source said many people go to temples for poojas during the last Saturday of the auspicious month of Shravana. "Add to that the closure of government and private offices on account of Independence Day and the number of people leaving the city goes up further," he said, adding that even ambulances were stuck for a brief period in the long snarl that stretched to Gorguntepalya flyover.

The traffic, however, was streamlined at the next toll plaza near Nelamangala. NHAI has plans to increase the exit gates at the Doddakarenahalli plaza near Nelamangala to ensure free flow of traffic.

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