May

26, 2021

MOST IMPORTANT ARTICLES OF THE

DAY – 26/05/2021

New IT rules come into force

today; will comply, says FB
Industry bodies have sought more time for compliance, While the new stricter rules for social media
intermediaries such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Google. Twitter and Telegram, come into effect on
Wednesday, a majority of platforms are yet to fully comply with ‘The Information Technology
(Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021’.

There is no clarity on the immediate consequences of non-compliance. However, experts say these
companies could lose the ‘safe harbour’ protection that currently gives them protection against liability
(civil as well as criminal) for content posted on their platform by third party users.

In reply to a query, social media giant Facebook on Tuesday said it “aims to comply” with the provisions
of the revised IT Rules and continues to discuss a few of the issues which need more engagement with
the government.

“Pursuant to the IT Rules, we are working to implement operational processes and improve efficiencies.
Facebook remains committed to people’s ability to freely and safely express themselves on our
platform,” a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, in an emailed response, instant messaging firm Telegram said it has complied with “almost
all the new IT laws” and has informed the concerned authorities regarding the compliance in writing.
Indian microblogging platform Koo, has said that it has met the compliance requirements of the new
rules. Twitter and WhatsApp did not comment on the issue.

While Google did not specify whether it was in full compliance with the new rules, a company
spokesperson said, “We respect India’s legislative process and have a long history of responding to
government requests to remove content where the content violates the local law or our product
policies.

We have consistently invested in significant product changes, resources, and personnel to ensure that
we’re combating illegal content in an effective and fair way, and in order to comply with local laws in the
jurisdictions that we operate in.”

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Prasanth Sugathan, Legal Director at Software Freedom Law Centre, India explained that the new rules
are a set of compliances which the intermediaries have to abide by in order to keep the safe harbour
protection intact.

“The primary consequence of non-compliance...would be that significant social media intermediaries

would end up losing the safe harbour protection granted to them under Section 79 of the IT Act. This
could open up an entire plethora of unpleasant possibilities. It could leave Intermediaries open to
incurring liability (civil as well as criminal) for the acts done by third party users,” he said.

Mr. Sugathan added that the exact scope of criminal liability that these platforms would have to face, is
something one will have to wait and see.

“Since state is the prosecuting agency for criminal cases, it will depend on how the Central government
and the State governments will initiate action against SSMIs before the courts. In the past we have seen
employees of social media companies being named in FIRs and criminal prosecution being initiated
against them,” he said.

He added that non-compliance with the rules could give more ammunition to prosecution agencies in all
such cases and could dent safe harbour protection even further.

Over 13 lakh evacuated as Yaas

races towards Odisha coastline
Wind speeds of 165 kmph expected during landfall today; Bengal may also be hit, Several thousands of
people in coastal districts of Odisha are bracing for the impact of the very severe cyclonic storm, Yaas,
which is set to hit the coast with wind speeds of 155-165 kmph early on Wednesday morning. The State
government has moved over two lakh people from vulnerable areas to safety.

In neighbouring West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said about 11 lakh people have been
evacuated and given shelter in 4,000 cyclone shelters of the State. Ms. Banerjee said that there were
reports of localised tornadoes at two places Halisahar in Nadia and Chinsurah in Hooghly district of the
State.

In view of the weather conditions, Kolkata Airport has decided to suspend flight operations from 8.30
a.m. to 7.45 p.m on Wednesday.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cyclone was intensifying and moving
north-northwest and is likely to make a landfall near north Odisha coast very close to Chandbali-Dhamra
port. According to the IMD wind speeds would further increase to 155-165 kmph over northwest Bay of
Bengal and along and off north Odisha and adjoining West Bengal coasts including Jagatsinghpur,
Kendrapara and Bhadrak, from early morning of May 26.

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The system will extend to Balasore district of Odisha from the forenoon of May 26. Tidal waves of height
2-4 metres are likely to inundate low lying areas of, Balasore, Bhadrak and about 2 metres above tide
are likely to hit coastal areas of, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur Districts around the time of landfall.

“We had started the process of evacuation from Monday. As of now, more than 2.5 lakh people have
been evacuated and the process is going on,” said Pradeep Kumar Jena, Odisha Special Relief
Commissioner, addressing a press conference here.

The government said it was prepared for landfall near Bhitarakanika, Dhamra and Chandbali. It has also
brought new areas such as parts of Dhenkanal, Angul and Sundargarh districts under disaster
management operations along with Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Mayurbhanj,
Keonjhar and Jajpur.

Revisit advisory on RT-PCR test,

ICMR told
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday suggested the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to relook at
its recent advisory which said RT-PCR must not be repeated on an individual who tested positive by
either Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) or RT-PCR.

The suggestion by the court came while hearing a plea by a lawyer who has challenged the advisory
claiming that due to it, neither he nor his family could get tested again after spending more than 17 days
in quarantine from April 28 when they first tested positive.

The lawyer said without a COVID negative report, the civil defence guards outside his residence were
not permitting him to go out for even basic essential items and when he tried to get tested at a lab, they
declined to test him due to the May 4 advisory of ICMR.

The Delhi government lawyer said that the petitioner’s area at Sultanpuri here was a containment zone
and that was also a reason why people were not being allowed to move out.

The petition has contended that the May 4 advisory was “arbitrary, discriminatory and creates a
paradoxical situation since a negative RT-PCR report is compulsorily required by several other
notifications issued by the respondents”.

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HC stays Lakshadweep official’s

order
Asking APP to do other legal works of administration is abuse of power: plea, A Division Bench of the
Kerala High Court on Tuesday stayed an order of the Additional District Magistrate (ADM),
Lakshadweep, directing the Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) at the Amini Island to attend the legal cell
at the Secretariat for completing urgent pending works until further orders.

The Bench comprising Justices K. Vinod Chandran and M.R. Anitha directed the Administrator, Union
Territory of Lakshadweep, to ensure that the prosecutor was posted in the island where the courts were
functioning. The court issued the order on a petition filed by Muhammed Saleem K.P., Andrott Island,
Lakshadweep. The petitioner contended that the present order was rampant abuse of power. The duty
of the Assistant Public Prosecutor was to conduct prosecution cases before the magistrate court.

Judicial system hit

The engagement of such officers for other legal works of the government in a different place in addition
to their responsibilities would adversely affect the functioning of the judicial system.

The sub-judge in the island had also informed the Bench that prosecutors were deputed to the island in
Kavaratti for vetting of charges. Therefore, no cases had been posted for trial after the reopening of the
courts.

In its order, the court observed: “We are of the prima facie opinion that the prosecutors appointed for
the functioning of the courts are to be posted in the islands where courts are functioning and if any
vetting charges have to be made by them, it is for the administration to see that the documents are
transmitted to them at the island where they are supposed to function as prosecutors.”

When the case came up for hearing, the court told the counsel for the Lakshadweep administration,
“You know what is happening in Lakshadweep, not about the newspaper reports and all; on the judicial
side I have warned you once as I am the judge in charge of the administration there.”

The petitioner pointed out that the Assistant Public Prosecutors working at Andrott and Amini were also
asked to do the legal works of several departments, including the preparation of chargesheets.

The administration should treat Assistant Public Prosecutors as independent officials and appoint them
primarily to assist the courts, the petitioner contended.

The petitioner also alleged that the administration preferred contract-based appointments though it had
a recruitment rule for the appointment of Assistant Public Prosecutors.

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Bay of Bengal, fomenting Yaas,

hotter than normal for season
Northern part of the sea experiencing temperatures up to 32°C, says scientist, Climate scientists say the
Bay of Bengal, where Cyclone ‘Yaas’ has formed, is at least two degrees warmer than what is normal for
this time of the year. “The north Bay of Bengal is exceptionally warm with temperatures up to 32
degrees Celsius. Distance to landfall is short, preventing it from drawing that energy and intensifying
into an extremely severe cyclone,” Roxy Koll, climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical
Meteorology, Pune, said on Twitter.

Generally, cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are ferocious and cause significant devastation. Amphan was a
super cyclone that ravaged West Bengal in March last year. It was the strongest storm that hit India’s
eastern coast since the super cyclone of 1999, that struck Paradip, Odisha. Before Amphan, Fani in 2019
also hit Odisha, causing immense damage that lasted weeks.

Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are not unexpected in May and result from increased ocean surface
temperatures. The formation of storms in this period are favourable for drawing in the monsoon into
the Andamans and subsequently to the Kerala coast.

Researchers have pointed to trends that suggest a relative decrease in the number of cyclones in the
Bay of Bengal and a rise in the Arabian Sea. About 60% of the cyclones that form in these seas make
landfall in India causing damage and devastation, according to data from the Earth Sciences Ministry.

First warning

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) first warned on May 19 the likelihood of the formation of
Yaas, even as Tauktae was still to completely abate after landfall over Gujarat.

The maximum windspeeds from Yaas, a name furnished by Oman’s meteorological agency, are expected
to touch 125 kmph, lower than recorded from Tauktae, which landed at the Gujarat coast earlier this
month, and was categorised as an ‘extremely severe’ cyclone, which is only one category lower than the
highest ‘super cyclone’ grading on the weather agency’s cyclone grading scale.

Yaas is expected to heighten into a ‘very severe’ cyclone by Tuesday noon and make landfall between
the Odisha and West Bengal coasts by Wednesday morning.

“It is very likely to cross north Odisha-West Bengal coasts between Paradip and Sagar Island around
Balasore (Odisha) during noon of May 26 as a very severe cyclonic storm,” said an IMD statement on
Monday.

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With the advent of the storm, rains and gale force winds are expected in northern Andhra Pradesh,
Odisha, West Bengal, Sikkim. Tidal waves up to 4 metres in height are expected over the West Bengal
and Odisha coasts as the storm approaches.

CJI made ‘statement of law’ at

CBI panel
‘It was not a comment on professional prowess of those who are left out of contention’, Chief Justice of
India N.V. Ramana’s opinion in the high-level committee to avoid officers with less than six months left
to retire for appointment as CBI Director is a simple “statement of law”. It was not a comment on the
professional prowess of those who now find themselves outside the zone of consideration.

Two senior IPS officers, Y.C. Modi and Rakesh Asthana, went out of contention for the post. Mr. Modi
retires in May. Mr. Asthana in July.

The CJI was clear during the meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by Adhir Ranjan
Chowdhury, leader of largest Opposition party, on Monday that the committee’s selection of officers
should be able to withstand the “scrutiny of law in the future”.

For this, officers with a “few days left” in service should not be considered. In this context, 10 of the
senior most officers of the 1984 batch, scheduled to retire soon, were not considered. The six-month
minimum residual tenure rule was introduced by the Supreme Court in a March 13, 2019 order. Though
the order in the Prakash Singh case pertained to the appointment of DGPs, it was extended to CBI
Director too.

The order, pronounced by a three-judge Bench led by then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, had clarified that
the “recommendation for appointment to the post of Director General of Police by the Union Public
Service Commission and preparation of panel should be purely on the basis of merit from officers who
have a minimum residual tenure of six months, that is, officers who have at least six months of service
prior to retirement”.

The apex court had indicated the possibility that officers with only a few days of service may be in an
insecure state of mind. In the Prakash Singh case, the Supreme Court had stressed the point that
appointment of DGPs “should be purely on the basis of merit and to insulate the office from all kinds of
influences and pressures”.

As on date, the CBI has jurisdiction to investigate offences pertaining to 69 Central laws, 18 State Acts
and 231 offences in the IPC. The Director is to hold the post for not less than two years as held by the
Vineet Narain judgment of 1998. He/she may not be transferred except with the previous consent of the
high-level committee. The CJI had also studied a Supreme Court judgment, Union of India versus C.
Dinakar, reported in 2004, in the context of the appointment process. In this, the apex court had held

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that “ordinarily IPS officers of the senior most four batches in service on the date of retirement of CBI
Director, irrespective of their empanelment, shall be eligible for consideration for appointment to the
post of CBI Director”.

Panel to define offences of

speech, expression
The committee constituted by Home Ministry on reforms to the IPC may propose a separate Section, A
panel constituted by the Union Home Ministry to suggest reforms to the British-era Indian Penal Code
(IPC) is likely to propose a separate Section on “offences relating to speech and expression.”

As there is no clear definition of what constitutes a “hate speech” in the IPC, the Committee for Reforms
in Criminal Laws is attempting for the first time to define such speech.

“Who will decide what constitutes a hate speech? Legally speaking, for criminal Sections to be invoked,
any such speech has to lead to violence or disturbance of law and order. We will refrain from using the
word ‘hate speech’ as it is a loaded term, merely criticising someone is not hate speech,” G.S. Bajpai,
Chairperson of the Criminology Centre at National Law University (NLU), Delhi, one of the members of
the committee, told The Hindu. The committee is expected to submit its report soon.

Bureau’s definition

The Bureau of Police Research and Development recently published a manual for investigating agencies
on cyber harassment cases that defined hate speech as a “language that denigrates, insults, threatens or
targets an individual based on their identity and other traits (such as sexual orientation or disability or
religion etc.).”

Earlier in 2018, the Home Ministry had written to the Law Commission to prepare a distinct law for
online “hate speech” acting on a report by a committee headed by former Lok Sabha Secretary General
T.K. Viswanathan who recommended stricter laws. The committee was formed in the wake of Section
66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, that provided punishment for sending offensive messages
through communication services being scrapped by the Supreme Court in 2015.

In 2019, however, the Ministry decided to overhaul the IPC, framed in 1860 and the Code of Criminal
Procedure (CrPC) after seeking suggestions from States, the Supreme Court, High Courts, the Bar Council
of India, Bar Councils of States, universities and law institutes on comprehensive amendments to
criminal laws.

The suggestions received by the Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws will be examined by the
Ministry before the changes are adopted.

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“The committee is examining a gamut of subjects pertaining to reforms in the IPC. Instead of ad hoc
changes, it was decided that all the pending issues such as those on hate speech as recommended by
the Viswanathan committee can be examined and comprehensive changes are brought in,” said a Home
Ministry official.

Jaiswal is new CBI Director

The Modi government late on Tuesday night appointed Maharashtra cadre IPS officer of 1985 batch,
Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, currently Director General of the Central Industrial Security Force, as CBI Director
for two years. Mr. Jaiswal is widely experienced, having served as Maharashtra Director-General of
Police before he was made the chief of the CISF and also served in the CBI earlier. The government has
picked him from a panel of three officers who were shortlisted by the Prime Minister-led panel
consisting of CJI as well as leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha.

U.S. calls for ‘transparent’ new

probe into COVID-19 origins
Intelligence agencies are examining reports, The United States called on Tuesday for international
experts to be allowed to evaluate the source of the SARS-Cov-2 and the “early days of the outbreak” in a
second phase of an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.

U.S. intelligence agencies are examining reports that researchers at Wuhan Institute of Virology were
seriously ill in 2019 a month before the first cases of COVID-19 were reported, according to U.S.
government sources who cautioned on Monday that there is still no proof the disease originated at the
lab.

“Phase 2 of the COVID origins study must be launched with terms of reference that are transparent,
science-based, and give international experts the independence to fully assess the source of the virus
and the early days of the outbreak,” U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a video message to the
annual ministerial meeting of the World Health Organization.

Mr. Becerra did not mention China directly, where the first known human cases of COVID-19 emerged in
the central city of Wuhan in December 2019. The origin of the virus is hotly contested. In a report issued
in March, written jointly with Chinese scientists, a WHO-led team that spent four weeks in and around
Wuhan in January and February said the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans
through another animal, and that “introduction through a laboratory incident was considered to be an
extremely unlikely pathway”.

A WHO spokesman, Tarik Jasarevic, asking about a follow-up mission, told Reuters on Monday that the
agency was reviewing the recommendations from the report at the technical level. China on Monday

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dismissed as “totally untrue” reports that three researchers in Wuhan went to hospital with an illness
before the coronavirus emerged in the city.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that, according to a statement from the laboratory, it “had
not been exposed to COVID-19 before December 30, 2019, and a “zero-infection” record is kept among
its staff and graduate students so far”.

EU-based carriers to shun

Belarus airspace
A video ‘confession’ of the detained scribe released; EU orders to ban Belarusian planes from its skies,
Airlines shunned Belarus’s airspace on Tuesday and Belarusian planes could soon be banned from
Europe, potentially isolating the land-locked country apart from its border with Russia after it forced
down a jetliner and arrested a dissident journalist.

A video released overnight showed 26-year-old Roman Protasevich confessing to having organised anti-
government demonstrations. On Sunday, he was pulled off the passenger plane that was forced to land
in the Belarusian capital Minsk.

Protasevich ‘tortured’

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the video made for distressing viewing and exiled opposition
leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said that the video left no doubt that Mr. Protasevich had been
tortured.

“He said that he was treated lawfully, but he’s clearly beaten and under pressure. There is no doubt that
he was tortured. He was taken hostage,” she told a news conference in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
Belarus has not commented on the torture allegation but has consistently denied abusing detainees. Mr.
Protasevich and a 23-year-old student travelling with him were arrested after their Ryanair flight was
escorted by a Belarusian warplane while flying from Greece to Lithuania.

Western powers have widely condemned the incident, which NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg
described on Tuesday as a “state hijacking”. Belarusian state media have reported that President
Alexander Lukashenko personally ordered the flight to be intercepted. Belarus says it was responding to
a bomb scare that later proved to be a false alarm. The UN agency ICAO has said the incident may have
violated the foundational treaty governing international civil aviation, the 1944 Chicago Convention.

At least three other people disembarked the flight in Minsk, assumed by Western countries to have
been spies who had helped coordinate an operation to capture Protasevich.

European Union leaders at a summit on Monday called for airlines based in the 27-member bloc to halt
flights over Belarusian airspace, which is along a major corridor connecting Europe and Asia and earns

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hard currency from overflight rights. Lufthansa, KLM, SAS, Air France, LOT and Singapore Airlines were
among carriers that announced they would stop flying over Belarus.

The EU leaders also directed officials to draw up unspecified new sanctions against Belarus, and to work
out a way to ban Belarusian airlines from the bloc’s skies. If all such measures are fully implemented,
flights may soon be able to reach Belarus only by passing over its eastern border with its close ally
Russia. “If we let this go, tomorrow Alexander Lukashenko will go further and do something even more
arrogant, more cruel,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a statement.

Pendency of Cases
The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted virtually every aspect of socio-economic-political setup in India
and quite obviously Judiciary hasn’t been immune to it. By and large, the courts have not worked with a
full caseload since March 2020. As a result, when the lockdown of March 2020 was declared, there were
3.68 crore cases across all levels; which have already shot up to 4.42 crore. These delays and
inefficiencies arising from the heavy dockets in Indian courts have long been a matter of concern and
complements the saying that justice delayed is justice denied. Thus Judicial reforms, if taken seriously,
expeditious and effective justice can see the light of day.

Reasons for Delay

§ Persisting Vacancies: Across India, there are vacancies against even the sanctioned strengths of
courts and in the worst performing states those vacancies exceed 30 per cent.
o Due to this, the average waiting period for trial in lower courts is around 10 years and 2-
5 years in HCs.
§ Poor State of Subordinate Judiciary: District courts across the country also suffer from
inadequate infrastructure and poor working conditions, which need drastic improvement,
particularly if they are to meet the digital expectations raised by the higher judiciary.
o Also, there is a yawning digital divide between courts, practitioners and clients in
metropolitan cities and those outside. Overcoming the hurdles of decrepit infrastructure
and digital illiteracy will take years.
§ Government, the Biggest Litigant: Poorly drafted orders have resulted in contested tax revenues
equal to 4.7 per cent of the GDP and it is rising.
o Crowding out investment: Roughly Rs 50,000 crore are locked up in stalled projects and
investments are reducing. Both these complications have arisen because of injunctions
and stay orders granted by the courts primarily due to poorly drafted and poorly reasoned
orders.
§ Less budgetary allocation: The budget allocated to the judiciary is between 0.08 and 0.09 per
cent of the GDP. Only four countries — Japan, Norway, Australia and Iceland — have a lesser
budget allocation and they do not have problems of pendency like India.

Way Forward

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§ Increasing Strength of Judicial Service: One of the solutions is to substantially increase the
strength of the judicial services by appointing more judges at the subordinate level —
improvements must start from the bottom of the pyramid.
o Strengthening the subordinate judiciary also means providing it with administrative and
technical support and prospects for promotion, development and training.
o Institutionalising All-India Judicial Service can be a step in the right direction.
§ Adequate Budgeting: The appointments and improvements will require significant but absolutely
necessary expenditure.
o The recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission and the India Justice Report
2020 have raised the issue and suggested ways to earmark and deploy funds.
§ Hibernating Unnecessary PILs: The Supreme Court should mandate summary disposal of all
‘hibernating’ PILs – those pending for more than 10 years before HCs – if they do not concern a
question of significant public policy or law.
§ Correcting Historical Inequalities: Reforms in Judiciary should also encompass addressing social
inequalities within the judiciary.
o Women judges, and judges from historically-marginalised castes and classes must finally
be given a fair share of seats at the table.
§ Promoting Alternative Dispute Resolution: It should be mandated that all commercial litigation
will be entertained only if there is an affidavit from the petitioner that mediation and conciliation
have been attempted and have failed.
o Mechanisms such as ADR (Alternate Dispute Resolution), Lok Adalats, Gram Nyayalayas
should be effectively utilised.

Conclusion

Courts are sitting on a pendency bomb and it has never been more urgent to strengthen the judiciary.
Thus, there is a need to take a holistic and realistic view of the present situation of the Indian Judiciary.

Explained: Shortage of black

fungus drug
As mucormycosis spikes, there is an acute shortage of Amphotericin B, the main drug used in its
treatment. How much does India need, and how much does it produce? What are the bottlenecks in
supply?

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As cases of mucormycosis fungal infection are rising around the country — over 9,000 have been
reported so far — there is a shortage of liposomal Amphotericin B, the primary drug used to treat the
condition. Several instances of hoarding and black-marketing have been reported, and the Delhi High
Court has asked the central government to explain the reasons for the shortage.

Burden of disease

Mucormycosis is considered a rare fungal infection. However, a 2019 paper in the Journal of Fungi
estimated its incidence in India at 140 per million, by far the highest, along with Pakistan, among the
countries for which estimates were made.

On May 15, Dr Randeep Guleria, director of AIIMS and member of India’s Covid-19 Task Force, said
several parts of the country were reporting a surge in a supplementary fungal infection known as Covid-
Associated Mucormycosis (CAM), which he linked to the “irrational use of steroids” in Covid treatment.
Five days later, the Health Ministry made the infection — popularly known as ‘black fungus’ —
notifiable, making it mandatory for states to report suspected and confirmed cases.

On May 22, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Sadananda Gowda said India had 8,848 cases of
mucormycosis. Almost half the cases were in Gujarat (2,281) and Maharashtra (2,000), which by
Tuesday had added another 245 cases. (See chart)

Treatment for fungus

Doctors say treatment has to be quick and aggressive, and early detection helps. Treatment is with anti-
fungals and, in some cases, surgery to scrape off the fungus.

The most commonly used anti-fungal is liposomal Amphotericin B injection. If that is not available, the
next choice is Amphotericin B deoxycholate (plain) injection, and a third option is isavuconazole,
manufactured by Pfizer in tablet and injectable form. A fourth option is available in posaconazole, a
generic medication that comes as tablet and injection.

“We start with liposomal Amphotericin injection, and switch to other drugs if that is not available.
Amphotericin B deoxycholate is also effective, but it can cause kidney damage. We only use it in young
patients with no kidney problems,” Dr Tanu Singhal, infectious diseases expert at Mumbai’s Kokilaben
Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, said.

Shortage of Amphotericin

Treatment with Amphotericin can last 4-6 weeks, require 90-120 injections of the drug, and cost Rs 5
lakh-8 lakh, or even more.

But it is the shortage of the drug that has emerged as the main impediment. Assuming an average
requirement of 100 vials per patient, a simple ballpark calculation would suggest India requires 9-10 lakh
injections of Amphotericin for the 9,000-odd people currently infected. And numbers are expected to
rise significantly.

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Amphotericin is manufactured by Bharat Serums & Vaccines, BDR Pharmaceuticals, Sun Pharma, Cipla,
and Life Care Innovations. Mylan imports the drug and supplies in India.

Production volumes have always been limited because the number of cases has been small. Following
“handholding” by the government, all manufacturers were together estimated to produce 1.63 lakh vials
of Amphotericin B in May, the Centre said in a release on May 21. Another 3.63 lakh vials were in the
process of being imported, it said.

Data released by the Centre show that only 67,930 injections of Amphotericin B have been allotted to
the states for the period May 10-31, much less than their requirement. “We need 3 lakh injections per
month, but we have got only 21,590 injections from the Centre,” a senior Maharashtra Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) official said.

The Centre has said domestic production will be scaled up to 2.55 lakh vials in June, and another 3.15
lakh vials will be imported, taking total supplies to 5.70 lakh vials.

Five new manufacturers were licensed to produce the drug last week — Natco Pharmaceuticals
(Hyderabad), Emcure Pharmaceuticals (Pune), and Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Gufic Biosciences, and Lyka
Pharmaceuticals (Gujarat). But they can start production only by July, and together provide only 1.11
lakh vials, so the country is likely to remain dependent upon imports.

Supply bottlenecks

A shortage of two raw materials has hit the production cycle.

The first is the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) Amphoterecin B, the major supplier of which is
Sarabhai Group-owned Synbiotics Limited. “Sarabhai can supply 25 kg per month, with that we can
manufacture 1.5 lakh-2 lakh injections,” said Dharmesh Shah, chairman and MD of BDR
Pharmaceuticals.

Dr D J Zavar, MD of Kamla Lifesciences, which produces Amphoterecin B on contract for other

manufacturers, said the API is the basic ingredient. “It is required for both the liposomal form and plain
form,” he said.

Shah said domestic manufacturers are buying this API from North China Pharmaceutical Group (NCPC) .
“They assured us 40-50 kg by June-end,” he said. Manufacturers have written to the Drug Controller
General of India to provide emergency provisional approval to Zhejiang Pharma to supply Amphoterecin
API.

The second raw material in short supply is purified synthetic lipids to produce liposomal Amphoterecin
B. Lipids are in high demand globally for the manufacture of mRNA vaccines. Orders placed with
Switzerland-based Lipoid in December are being shipped now, manufacturers said. “We have reached
out to them. The situation should ease in the next 4-6 weeks for all manufacturers,” Shah said.

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In India, the only lipid supplier is Mumbai-based VAV Life Sciences. Its monthly capacity is 21 kg, which
the company plans to increase to 65 kg by August, MD Arun Kedia said.

Even when raw materials are available, production of the drug takes around 21 days, besides the time
taken for the sterility test.

High Court scanner

A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court headed by Justice Vipin Sanghi, which has been monitoring the
Covid-19 situation in Delhi, took note of the shortage of the anti-fungal drug on May 19, after the issue
was mentioned verbally by a lawyer.

On May 20, the court stressed the need for immediate imports, since domestic production was “far less”
than the requirement across India. On Monday, the court said the Centre’s projected production and
imports may well fall short of the needs of patients, and “drastic measures” were required to bridge the
gap.

The court will take up the issue again on Thursday. It has asked the Centre to report the latest status on
the availability and production of the drug. It has also sought a projection of black fungus cases over the
next two weeks.

“Looking to the substantial shortfall in the requirement, we are afraid that these steps may not suffice
to meet the current requirements. It is not clear as to by when the augmented production plans would
come into actual production,” the court said last week.

Explained: Mumbai’s tree-fall

incidents and why the BMC
appealed to plant only native
species
Here's the difference in indigenous and non-indigenous species, and a look at whether planting of more
local varieties of trees would reside tree-fall incidents in Mumbai.

Over the past few days, Mumbai has witnessed a high number of tree-fall incidents, leading to
suggestions from activists as well as Mumbai’s mayor that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
should plant only indigenous species in the city. The Indian Express explains the difference in indigenous
and non-indigenous species, and whether planting of more local varieties of trees would reduce tree-fall
incidents in Mumbai.

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How many tree-fall incidents did Mumbai witness last week?

As many as 2,364 branches and trees were damaged in the metropolis in the three days – from May 16
to 18 – when the Extremely Severe Cyclone Tauktae brushed past the Mumbai Coast, with wind speed
reaching up to 114 km/hour. Of the total, 812 trees were uprooted, while 1,552 trees lost their
branches. The total number of trees that fell during the three days was substantially higher than the
total tree-fall complaints that the BMC deals with during the four-month monsoon season. On average,
BMC receives 600 tree-fall complaints a month between June-September.

How many of the trees that fell were non-indigenous?

The BMC in its post-cyclone inspection revealed that 70 per cent of 812 trees were non-native species,
including Gulmohar, rain tree and royal palm among others. In the aftermath, BMC appealed to the
citizens and private organisations to plant only native tree species during plantation drives.

What are the native or indigenous tree species in Mumbai?

The BMC warned that native species should not be confused with old trees or trees that are widely
present. Over at least three decades, the government has imported exotic species, and new tree species
were planted across the city for beautification. For example, Gulmohar or Rain trees are widely found in
Mumbai, however, they are not native species.

By definition, a “native” plant is living, growing, and reproducing naturally in a particular region. After
studying the local agro-climatic conditions, including soil quality, humid weather, the BMC prepared a
list of 41 native trees that can be planted in Mumbai and are part of the trees in the Konkan belt. These
are Wad, Pimpal, Umber, Kanchan, Kadamba, Gunj, Palas, Nim, Mahogany, Moh, Bahawa, Sag, Arjun,
Ain, Kinjal, Sita Ashok, Undal, Nagkeshar, Champa, Shivan, Shirish, Karanj, Bakul, Bell, Taman, Hirda,
Behda, Coconut, Amla, Khair, Tetu, Mango, Putranjiva, Wild Almond, Bibba, Parijatak, Rita, Sandalwood,
Phanas and Chafa.

Why Botanists and BMC feel that non-indigenous species of trees are more prone to falling?

Native species of Mumbai can cope up with excess water/humid conditions of the city and can
withstand heavy rainfall and wind. Experts said that it is not that non-indigenous species won’t survive,
however it will require more maintenance, attention and care and even after that the trees may not
acclimatise. The roots of the non-indigenous trees are unable to hold on to the ground, are fragile and
give away in heavy rain or strong winds. Botanists warned that new species may also compete with
native species for land, water, and food. Foreign species may also carry diseases that can harm the
native species.

Is planting foreign varieties of trees the only reason why Mumbai is seeing an increase in tree-fall
incidents?

Environmentalists and urban conservationists said that old trees and non-native species cannot be solely
blamed for the damage to the green cover in the city. It is not the dead trees, but also the healthy ones

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that get uprooted. Environmentalists blamed the rapid concretisation for the increase in the number of
trees getting uprooted.

A 2014 survey of 1965 “Rain Trees” by Vanashakti, had found up to 4-5ft of concrete, tar and other
construction material surrounding over half of the trees’ base without much soil. Network of
underground cables, lack of water percolation into the soil because of concretisation around the tree
bases is weakening the trees leading to tree fall during heavy rains, especially on footpaths. Around 308
trees out of the 812 that got uprooted were roadside i.e., on sidewalks and footpaths.

According to Maharashtra (Urban Areas), Preservation and Prevention of Tree Act, 1975, 1-metre space
should be left around tree trunks. The National Green Tribunal has also directed that there should be a
1-metre space around tree trunks for better growth to preserve and protect trees.

The BMC doesn’t plant trees on the roadside or footpaths. However, during building and footpath
construction, road-relaying, underground pipeline, the 1-meter space around the trees needs to be left
around the tree bases/trunks.

What is the reason for the high number of branches falling off in Mumbai?

Activists say this is happening due to Unscientific Tree Pruning being conducted by the BMC. As per the
2019 audit, there are over 1.75 lakh roadside trees. The BMC claims that ahead of monsoon, 60k-70k
trees are pruned. However, the pruning exercise undertaken by the BMC is criticised to be
“unscientific”. In 2019, a citizens-led audit of trees in Colaba revealed that 17 of the 100 trees surveyed
on JD Somani Marg and Captain Prakash Pethe Marg face the risk of falling.

Experts said that the idea behind a pruning exercise is to maintain balance the weight of the tree, it
should not be dangerously tilting to one side. Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said that she will write to
the Chief Minister to amend the Tree Authority Act to allow the BMC to trim more and bigger branches.
However, experts warned against arbitrary tree trimming.

There is no set rule about the number of branches to be cut or spread of the canopy. Experts said it
differs with each tree. If the winds lash a tree, it should pass through it. Otherwise, air- turbulence is
created within a tree (big or small bushy ones) that can pull it down. As per the arboriculture technical
norms, not more than 20-30 per cent of trees’ canopy should be pruned in a year. However, haphazard
tree trimming continues in the city.

As per the tender condition of the contractors appointed for tree pruning exercise has included a special
condition to have a horticulturist or arborist on board, however, the condition is not mandatory.

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Explained: Total lunar eclipse

and supermoon – the two
celestial events coinciding on
May 26
Total Lunar Eclipse, Supermoon May 2021 Date, Timings: The celestial event coincides with this year’s
only total lunar eclipse, the first since January 2019.

The Moon will have the nearest approach to Earth on May 26, and therefore will appear to be the
closest and largest Full Moon or “supermoon” of 2021.

Today’s celestial event coincides with this year’s only total lunar eclipse, the first since January 2019.
Significantly, a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse have not occurred together in nearly six years.

What is a supermoon?

NASA notes that a supermoon occurs when the Moon’s orbit is closest to the Earth at the same time
that the Moon is full.

As the Moon orbits the Earth, there is a point of time when the distance between the two is the least
(called the perigee when the average distance is about 360,000 km from the Earth) and a point of time
when the distance is the most (called the apogee when the distance is about 405,000 km from the
Earth).

Now, when a full Moon appears at the point when the distance between the Earth and the Moon is the
least, not only does it appear to be brighter but it is also larger than a regular full moon. According to
NASA, the term supermoon was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979. In a typical year, there may
be two to four full supermoons and two to four new supermoons in a row.

About a month ago on April 26, there was another full moon, but the supermoon that will be witnessed
on May 26 will be closer to the Earth by a margin of 0.04 percent.

So, what is happening on May 26?

On May 26, two celestial events will take place at the same time. One is the supermoon and the other is
a total lunar eclipse, which is when the Moon and Sun are on opposite sides of the Earth. Because of the
total lunar eclipse, the moon will also appear to be red. This is because the Earth will block some of the
light from the Sun from reaching the moon and as the Earth’s atmosphere filters the light, it will soften
“the edge of our planet’s shadow” “giving the Moon a deep, rosy glow.”

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On Wednesday morning, the Moon will be located on the Earth’s opposite side and will be fully
illuminated at 6:13 am Central Daylight Time (CDT), which will be around 4 pm Indian Standard Time
(IST). While observers all over the world will be able to view the supermoon throughout the night if the
sky is clear. It will be the highest overheard late in the night or in the early morning hours.

The lunar eclipse, NASA says, will be more difficult to observe. The partial eclipse, which is when the
moon moves into and out of Earth’s shadow will be visible from India, Nepal, western China, Mongolia,
and eastern Russia just after the Moon rises in the evening.

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NEWS IN SHORT
1. World Health Organization along with three other international bodies have set up a team of
experts who will help in developing a global plan on preventing the spread of diseases from
animals to humans. This initiative was launched by France and Germany in 2020, but held its first
meeting in May 2021. The panel will advise WHO, World Organization for Animal Health, Food &
Agriculture Organization, and United Nations Environment Programme on developing “risk
assessment & surveillance frameworks” and help in establishing a “good practices to prevent and
prepare for zoonotic outbreaks like Covid-19”.
2. NASA has set up a new Earth System Observatory which will help in mitigating climate change,
forest fires and hurricanes. It will also support real-time agriculture. Each satellite in the
observatory will be designed uniquely and will complement the others. Each will work in tandem
to produce holistic 3-dimensional view of Earth, from bedrock to atmosphere. Observatory will
study clouds & weather, aerosols, water supply, and surface & ecosystems of Earth.
3. A new species of plant, called African violet, was discovered by Indian Institute of Science
education and research (IISER), Bhopal. African violet is found in parts of Mizoram and adjoining
areas in Myanmar. This discovery has given a platform for northeast in biodiversity which is still
understudied and undiscovered. Discovery was done under Tropical Ecology and Evolution Lab, a
unit of IISER. IISER Bhopal described new species as “Didymocarpus Vickifunkiae”. This species is
found in only three locations currently in Mizoram. They are considered as an endangered species.
4. United Kingdom launched the process to start free trade talks with India followed by launch of a
14-week consultation process with business representatives to get their views on prospective
Free trade deal. Free Trade talks is expected to formally start in September-October, 2021. This
“Enhanced Trade Partnership (EYP)” will bring up new opportunities for iconic industries such as
whisky. It will also boost trade in science & services besides creating jobs across the country. Trade
deal is expected to conclude by 2022.
5. A committee was set up by National Green Tribunal (NGT) to submit report on alleged violation
of norms in construction of a reservoir across Cauvery river at Mekedatu in Karnataka. NGT bench
consisting of Justice K Ramakrishnan took suo motu cognizance of newspaper report regarding
the dam. Report states Karnataka proposes to construct a dam across Cauvery river even though
proposal was deferred by Cauvery Water Management Authority twice in past because of
opposition from Tamil Nadu government. The project was approved by Karnataka in 2017. Rs
9,000 crore worth project started was with the aim of storing and supplying drinking water for
Bengaluru city. It will also generate 400 megawatts of power. It is undertaken at deep gorge
situated at the confluence of river Cauvery and its tributary Arkavathi.

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