Johns Hopkins award to Cyrus Poonawalla
Cyrus S Poonawalla, chairman of Serum Institute of India (SII), which manufactures Covishield, one of the primary Covid-19 vaccines in India, has been awarded the Dean’s Medal by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health award for his work in developing and delivering affordable vaccines and contributing to the Indian biosciences industry for decades. The honour was presented to Poonawalla during a convocation ceremony on May 21. Past award winners include social justice advocate Cheryl Dorsey, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Laurie Garrett and former Baltimore Health Commissioner Leana Wen. SII, the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, was founded by Poonawalla in Pune in 1966. The vaccine maker tied up with Astrazeneca to produce Covishield. Apart from that, SII is the top supplier of vaccines to COVAX, the vaccine alliance of the WHO.
The Enforcement Directorate has filed a money laundering case against Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram, his close aide S Bhaskararaman, and others in the matter related to facilitation of project visas for Chinese nationals for a power project of the Vedanta group in Punjab in return for bribes, at a time when his father P Chidambaram was the Union home minister. People familiar with the development said ED has taken cognisance of CBI’S FIR filed last week, in which it claimed that ₹50 lakh was paid to Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd, controlled by Karti, for facilitating “project visas” for 263 Chinese nationals who were to work at a Vedanta group thermal power project in Punjab. Karti, who was on a trip to the UK and Europe with SC’S permission, returned to India on Wednesday.
As the Narendra Modi government completes eight years in office, one of its major diplomatic accomplishments has been the firm establishment of Quad. That Quad succeeded in 2017, as contrasted to its abortive start in 2007, says as much about leadership as the state of the world, writes external affairs minister S Jaishankar. Quad is not only about developing bilateral ties or groupings in the national interest. There is also a larger vision of shaping the region and the world, which impels its evolution, he writes. The objective of Quad, in the words of Prime Minister Modi, is to do global good. The need for that to be a collaborative effort is self-evident. That India should be part of this makes sense given its growth, confidence, and worldview. Quad expresses the approach of the Modi government to put India’s interests at the centre of its thinking, even while embracing the world as a family, Jaishankar writes.
The death toll in the latest suspected hooch tragedy in “dry” Bihar has climbed to 16 as three more people died in Aurangabad on Wednesday, police officials aware of the development said, requesting anonymity. The administration, however, confirmed only nine suspected hooch deaths — six in Aurangabad and three in Gaya. Aurangabad DM Saurabh Jorwal confirmed the six suspected deaths in the last three days. He said the spirit brought from Jharkhand and supplied to local sellers in bordering villages of Gaya and Aurangabad was behind the tragedy. Gaya SSP Harpreet Kaur said the kingpin, Santosh Chaudhary, and four of his associates have been arrested. Meanwhile, 15 people who had fallen ill, including a Home Guard constable and a hooch seller, were still undergoing treatment.