The Evening Wrap: Neeraj Chopra throws javelin for a gold

Neeraj Chopra ended India's drought of gold medals by snagging the first Gold in Javelin throw in Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. With the medal, the 23 year old from Panipat, Haryana, not only became the first Indian to win a gold, but also improved India's tally from the London 2012 games. Wrestler Bajrang Punia got a Bronze on Saturday. This is India's best-ever show on the world stage, surpassing the six medals (2 silvers and 4 bronzes) the country had won in London 2012. P.V. Sindhu (badminton), Lovlina Borgohain (boxing), the men's hockey team and Bajrang Punia (wrestling) won bronze medals, Mirabai Chanu (weightlifting) and Ravi Kumar Dahiya (wrestling) won silver medals. Last Wednesday, Chopra had become the first Indian javelin thrower in history to qualify for the final at the Olympics with a throw of 87.58m in his very first attempt, to top the qualification round. He got into the company of big leaguers and favourites, World Number 1, Johannes Vetter, who had thrown over 90 metres 17 times! On August 7, javelin's uncertainty threw up a new Olympic champion, Chopra. It also led to the biggest shock of the tournament when pre-tournament favourite Vetter failed to make the top eight from a field of 12 finalists. The German had a poor start, only managing 82.52m with his best effort from the first three attempts, which was just below the cut-off. Ironically, in an interview Vetter had remarked how easy it was for him to throw over 90 metres. Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch won silver with 86.67, while his countryman Vitezslav Vesely won bronze with 85.44. Chopra is only the second Indian ever to win an individual gold -- shooter Abhinav Bindra finished on top of the podium in 2008. Just like he had in the qualifying round, a confident Chopra strode into the arena and led from the time he completed his first throw till the finish. Chopra was the second to throw in the 12-man final and he got off to a fine start with a throw of 87.03m. He then bettered it with 87.58 on his second and 76.79m on his third. Chopra's rise began with a throw of 82.23m in the 2016 South Asian Games (where he won gold), aged just 19. His gold-haul would continue – through the Asian Championships, the Commonwealth Games (first Indian to medal in the event, and just the fourth Indian individual athletics gold medalist), and the Asian Games (smashing his own national record in the process, and throwing it a whole six metres further than the silver medalist). An injury to his right elbow in 2019, caused him to miss the entire year, but he returned in time to make the 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualification mark. With his medals and his flowing locks, which he chopped off for the Olympics, and with videos of his fitness regimen doing the rounds online, the stocky Chopra will be now looking at joining the 90 metres plus club! Nod to Johnson and Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine With Johnson and Johnson's (J&J) single-dose COVID-19 vaccine given approval for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA), Indians will now have a choice of five vaccines to choose from to stave off COVID in the coming months. The single shot at protection against COVID, kicks in after 28 days of being vaccinated, according to the vaccine makers. In a tweet earlier in the day, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had tweeted that EUA had been granted to the vaccine and that India now had five EUA vaccines. While the exact time when the vaccine would be made available is not known, responding to a specific query by The Hindu on the vaccine availability timeline Johnson & Johnson India spokesperson said: "While we look forward to meeting our delivery commitments it is premature for us to speculate on the timing of our vaccine deliveries." It may be recalled that the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had allowed the emergency use of Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V and Moderna vaccines. The Health Ministry has maintained that it is continuously working towards ensuring increased supply of COVID-19 vaccines and in a response given in the Lok Sabha during this session maintained that "COVID-19 vaccination protects from severe manifestation of disease and improving herd immunity and is accordingly likely to mitigate the impact COVID-19 may have with any future resurgence. Vaccines currently being utilized for immunization offer substantial protection again COVID-19 besides reducing severity of disease, hospitalization and deaths.'' The Ministry stated the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) had also granted permission to conduct the phase I clinical trial of intranasal adenoviral vector COVID-19 vaccine (BBV154) (in the age group of 18 and above) to Bharat Biotech International Limited, Hyderabad. So far children have been kept out of the vaccination drive by the government. The CDSCO has granted permission to conduct clinical trials of vaccines in children to -- Phase II/ III clinical trial to Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad (in the age group of 2 to 18) for Whole-Virion Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine and Phase III clinical trial to Cadila Healthcare Ltd., Ahmedabad (in the age group of 12 yrs and above) for DNA-based vaccine. "The outcomes of the clinical trials depend on data emerging from the trial for the purpose of its approval for launch in the country. Further, the CDSCO has not granted permission to conduct clinical trials of any imported COVID-19 vaccine on children in the country,'' the Ministry had noted. Centre denies existence of its own panel to deny information under RTI The Centre has denied the existence of a committee it had set up to oversee medical oxygen supply during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020! The denial comes in the wake of deaths on account of short supply of Oxygen in the months of April and May this year, and is consistent with the Centre's position that there were no deaths on account of the dearth of Oxygen. What is also surprising is that the statement comes just two weeks after the Centre argued strenuously before the Central Information Commission (CIC) against disclosing information about this committee on the grounds of strategic interests, commercial confidences, intellectual property and Cabinet papers. Last week, the Central Information Commission, (CIC) had called the blanket denial of information as "far-fetched" and "unjustified", and directed a response within 10 days. In response, the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said the committee does not even exist. However, an order dated, April 4, 2020 by the DPIIT, seen by this newspaper, had not only announced the setting of the committee under the then Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra, but had also spelt out the objective for setting up the committee. It was to "to review the existing production and supply of medical oxygen and cylinders in the country" and to ensure adequacy of production capacity, availability of oxygen gas cylinders and measures to augment their supply, a disruption-free supply chain and smooth storage, transportation and supply to end-users, and an effective communication mechanism with States through nodal teams constituted for the purpose. A DPIIT official, who was a member of the committee, also told The Hindu the panel had been constituted and held meetings. Apart from DPIIT officials, the committee included a Health Ministry representative, two AIIMS doctors, and representatives of the All India Industrial Gases Manufacturers Association and the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization. "The records of this committee must be made public as it handled the crucial issue of medical oxygen. Given its stated objectives, the committee clearly recognised the issues at stake back in April 2020, so what did they do about it? This gains significance in the light of the chaos and disaster caused by oxygen shortages during the second wave of the pandemic," said activist and freelance journalist Saurav Das, who filed the initial RTI request, noting that the Supreme Court was ultimately forced to create its own taskforce to carry out the duties entrusted to this committee. Das had filed a request under RTI, seeking information on the nine-member committee set up in April 2020 under the chairmanship of Mohapatra to ensure adequate availability of medical oxygen in the wake of the pandemic. He requested information on the members, dates, agenda, minutes and presentations of the committee's meetings till date, as well as what steps it took to ensure adequate availability of oxygen. On June 11, CPIO of the department refused to divulge information seeking protection under 8 (1) (a) of the RTI Act, that exempts information related to the "security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State" and Section 8 (1) (d) that exempts "information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property" unless warranted by the larger public interest. After Das appealed his case, the CIC in its order dated, July 29, dismissed the Centre's argument as "far-fetched" and "unjustified" and directed the DPIIT to respond to the RTI request. A week later, the CPIO issued a dramatic U-turn. "No such committee was set up in the month of April 2020 under the chairmanship of Secretary, DPIIT, Shri Guruprasad Mohapatra, to ensure adequate availability of medical oxygen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic," said, Thapar in his response. Das said he would file a non-compliance petition with the CIC regarding the denial. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,18,99,979 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,27,485. In Brief: Police in Pakistan's Punjab province on Saturday said that they have arrested 20 people and booked over 150 others for their alleged involvement in an attack on a Hindu temple in a remote town of the country, according to press reports. The arrests come a day after Pakistan's Supreme Court admonished the authorities for failing to stop the attack and ordered the arrest of the culprits. On August 4, a mob had attacked a Ganesha temple located in the Bhong city of Rahim Yar Khan district in the province, protesting the release of an eight-year-old Hindu boy, who had been arrested for allegedly urinating in a local seminary. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.

The Evening Wrap 07 AUGUST 2021

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Neeraj Chopra throws javelin for a gold Neeraj Chopra ended India's drought of gold medals by snagging the first Gold in Javelin throw in Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. With the medal, the 23 year old from Panipat, Haryana, not only became the first Indian to win a gold, but also improved India's tally from the London 2012 games.  Wrestler Bajrang Punia got a Bronze on Saturday. This is India's best-ever show on the world stage, surpassing the six medals (2 silvers and 4 bronzes) the country had won in London 2012. P.V. Sindhu (badminton), Lovlina Borgohain (boxing), the men's hockey team and Bajrang Punia (wrestling) won bronze medals, Mirabai Chanu (weightlifting) and Ravi Kumar Dahiya (wrestling) won silver medals.   Last Wednesday, Chopra had become the first Indian javelin thrower in history to qualify for the final at the Olympics with a throw of 87.58m in his very first attempt, to top the qualification round. He got into the company of big leaguers and favourites, World Number 1, Johannes Vetter, who had thrown over 90 metres 17 times! On August 7, javelin's uncertainty threw up a new Olympic champion, Chopra. It also led to the biggest shock of the tournament when pre-tournament favourite Vetter failed to make the top eight from a field of 12 finalists. The German had a poor start, only managing 82.52m with his best effort from the first three attempts, which was just below the cut-off. Ironically, in an interview Vetter had remarked how easy it was for him to throw over 90 metres.  Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch won silver with 86.67, while his countryman Vitezslav Vesely won bronze with 85.44. Chopra is only the second Indian ever to win an individual gold -- shooter Abhinav Bindra finished on top of the podium in 2008. Just like he had in the qualifying round, a confident Chopra strode into the arena and  led from the time he completed his first throw till the finish. Chopra was the second to throw in the 12-man final and he got off to a fine start with a throw of 87.03m. He then bettered it with 87.58 on his second and 76.79m on his third.  Chopra's rise began with a throw of 82.23m in the 2016 South Asian Games (where he won gold), aged just 19.  His gold-haul would continue – through the Asian Championships, the Commonwealth Games (first Indian to medal in the event, and just the fourth Indian individual athletics gold medalist), and the Asian Games (smashing his own national record in the process, and throwing it a whole six metres further than the silver medalist). An injury to his right elbow in 2019, caused him to miss the entire year, but he returned in time to make the 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualification mark. With his medals and his flowing locks, which he chopped off for the Olympics, and with videos of his fitness regimen doing the rounds online, the stocky Chopra will be now looking at joining the 90 metres plus club! Nod to Johnson and Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine With Johnson and Johnson's (J&J) single-dose COVID-19 vaccine given approval for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA), Indians will now have a choice of five vaccines to choose from to stave off COVID in the coming months. The single shot at protection against COVID, kicks in after 28 days of being vaccinated, according to the vaccine makers. In a tweet earlier in the day, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had tweeted that EUA had been granted to the vaccine and that India now had five EUA vaccines. While the exact time when the vaccine would be made available is not known, responding to a specific query by The Hindu on the vaccine availability timeline Johnson & Johnson India spokesperson said: "While we look forward to meeting our delivery commitments it is premature for us to speculate on the timing of our vaccine deliveries." It may be recalled that the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had allowed the emergency use of Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V and Moderna vaccines. The Health Ministry has maintained that it is continuously working towards ensuring increased supply of COVID-19 vaccines and in a response given in the Lok Sabha during this session maintained that "COVID-19 vaccination protects from severe manifestation of disease and improving herd immunity and is accordingly likely to mitigate the impact COVID-19 may have with any future resurgence. Vaccines currently being utilized for immunization offer substantial protection again COVID-19 besides reducing severity of disease, hospitalization and deaths.'' The Ministry stated the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) had also granted permission to conduct the phase I clinical trial of intranasal adenoviral vector COVID-19 vaccine (BBV154) (in the age group of 18 and above) to Bharat Biotech International Limited, Hyderabad. So far children have been kept out of the vaccination drive by the government. The CDSCO has granted permission to conduct clinical trials of vaccines in children to -- Phase II/ III clinical trial to Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad (in the age group of 2 to 18) for Whole-Virion Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine and Phase III clinical trial to Cadila Healthcare Ltd., Ahmedabad (in the age group of 12 yrs and above) for DNA-based vaccine. "The outcomes of the clinical trials depend on data emerging from the trial for the purpose of its approval for launch in the country. Further, the CDSCO has not granted permission to conduct clinical trials of any imported COVID-19 vaccine on children in the country,'' the Ministry had noted. Centre denies existence of its own panel to deny information under RTI The Centre has denied the existence of a committee it had set up to oversee medical oxygen supply during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020! The denial comes in the wake of deaths on account of short supply of Oxygen in the months of April and May this year, and is consistent with the Centre's position that there were no deaths on account of the dearth of Oxygen. What is also surprising is that the statement comes just two weeks after the Centre argued strenuously before the Central Information Commission (CIC) against disclosing information about this committee on the grounds of strategic interests, commercial confidences, intellectual property and Cabinet papers. Last week, the Central Information Commission, (CIC) had called the blanket denial of information as "far-fetched" and "unjustified", and directed a response within 10 days.   In response, the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said the committee does not even exist. However, an order dated, April 4, 2020 by the DPIIT, seen by this newspaper, had  not only announced the setting of the committee under the then Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra, but had also spelt out the objective for setting up the committee. It was to "to review the existing production and supply of medical oxygen and cylinders in the country" and to ensure adequacy of production capacity, availability of oxygen gas cylinders and measures to augment their supply, a disruption-free supply chain and smooth storage, transportation and supply to end-users, and an effective communication mechanism with States through nodal teams constituted for the purpose. A DPIIT official, who was a member of the committee, also told The Hindu the panel had been constituted and held meetings. Apart from DPIIT officials, the committee included a Health Ministry representative, two AIIMS doctors, and representatives of the All India Industrial Gases Manufacturers Association and the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization. "The records of this committee must be made public as it handled the crucial issue of medical oxygen. Given its stated objectives, the committee clearly recognised the issues at stake back in April 2020, so what did they do about it? This gains significance in the light of the chaos and disaster caused by oxygen shortages during the second wave of the pandemic," said activist and freelance journalist Saurav Das, who filed the initial RTI request, noting that the Supreme Court was ultimately forced to create its own taskforce to carry out the duties entrusted to this committee. Das had filed a request under RTI, seeking information on the nine-member committee set up in April 2020 under the chairmanship of  Mohapatra to ensure adequate availability of medical oxygen in the wake of the pandemic. He requested information on the members, dates, agenda, minutes and presentations of the committee's meetings till date, as well as what steps it took to ensure adequate availability of oxygen. On June 11, CPIO of the department refused to divulge information seeking protection under 8 (1) (a) of the RTI Act, that exempts information related to the "security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State" and Section 8 (1) (d) that exempts "information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property" unless warranted by the larger public interest. After  Das appealed his case, the CIC in its order dated, July 29, dismissed the Centre's argument as "far-fetched" and "unjustified" and directed the DPIIT to respond to the RTI request. A week later, the CPIO issued a dramatic U-turn. "No such committee was set up in the month of April 2020 under the chairmanship of Secretary, DPIIT, Shri Guruprasad Mohapatra, to ensure adequate availability of medical oxygen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic," said, Thapar in his response. Das said he would file a non-compliance petition with the CIC regarding the denial.  Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments  The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,18,99,979 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,27,485.   In Brief:  Police in Pakistan's Punjab province on Saturday said that they have arrested 20 people and booked over 150 others for their alleged involvement in an attack on a Hindu temple in a remote town of the country, according to press reports. The arrests come a day after Pakistan's Supreme Court admonished the authorities for failing to stop the attack and ordered the arrest of the culprits. On August 4, a mob had attacked a Ganesha temple located in the Bhong city of Rahim Yar Khan district in the province, protesting the release of an eight-year-old Hindu boy, who had been arrested for allegedly urinating in a local seminary. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.

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