Need more data, says ICMR on proposal to undertake study of Ganga water for treating COVID-19
New Delhi: The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has decided not to go ahead with Jal Shakti Ministry's proposal to undertake clinical studies for treatment of COVID-19 patients with Ganga water, saying it needs more scientific data.
Dr Y K Gupta, who is chairing the committee for Evaluation of Research Proposals at ICMR, said the evidence and data available at the moment is not strong enough to start the clinical studies by different routes/forms of Ganga water for treatment of coronavirus.
The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), an arm of the Jal Shakti Ministry that deal with the rejuvenation programme for the river, had received a number of proposals, including from people and NGOs working on Ganga, to undertake clinical studies for treatment of coronavirus patients with the water, officials said.
The proposals were accordingly sent to the ICMR.
Gupta, who is also a former dean of the AIIMS, said, "At present the proposals needs much scientific data, proof of concept and a strong background hypothesis. This has been conveyed to them (NMCG)."
NMCG officials said the proposals were discussed with the scientists of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), which had earlier conducted a study 'Assessment of Water Quality and Sediment to understand the special properties of River Ganga'.
According to the NEERI study, Ganga water has higher number of bacteriophages as against pathogenic bacteria. During consultations that were held between the NMCG and NEERI, the scientists had also said there is still no proof that Ganga water or sediment has anti-viral properties.
"We forwarded the proposals to the ICMR as received," said a senior official of the NMCG.
One of the proposals received by NMCG claimed that the waters of Ganga have "ninja virus" which scientists call bacteriophages. Another proposal claimed that pure Ganga water boosts immunity which helps fight the virus.
The third proposal, a much detailed one, sought more research on Ganga water's anti-viral properties and its ability to boost immunity in fighting diseases.
NMCG officials said they have not received any official communication on the status of their proposals from the ICMR.
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Hamas accepts cease-fire proposal for Gaza, but Israel's stance still uncertain
Jerusalem, May 6: Hamas announced Monday it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but there was no immediate word from Israel, leaving it uncertain whether a deal had been sealed to bring a halt to the seven-month-long war in Gaza.
It was the first glimmer of hope that a deal might avert further bloodshed. Hours earlier, Israel ordered some 100,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating the southern Gaza town of Rafah, signalling that an attack was imminent. The United States and other key allies of Israel oppose an offensive on Rafah, where around 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half of Gaza's population, are sheltering.
An official familiar with Israeli thinking said Israeli officials were examining the proposal, but the plan approved by Hamas was not the framework Israel proposed.
An American official also said the US was still waiting to learn more about the Hamas position and whether it reflected an agreement to what had already been signed off on by Israel and international negotiators or something else. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as a stance was still being formulated.
Details of the proposal have not been released. Touring the region last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had pressed Hamas to take the deal, and Egyptian officials said it called for a cease-fire of multiple stages starting with a limited hostage release and some Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza. The two sides would also negotiate a “permanent calm” that would lead to a full hostage release and greater Israeli withdrawal, they said.
