8 TMC water released from Tungabhadra Dam; BJP leaders to inspect dam
Vijayanagar: Following the damage to the 19th crust gate of the Tungabhadra dam, efforts are underway to repair the structure, which has led to the release of 8 TMC feet of water from the dam.
Given the extensive time required to install a permanent new gate, a decision has been made to temporarily use a 'stop log gate.' Nearly half of the dam's water needs to be drained for this installation, and the priority has been to manage the dam's water levels.
Currently, about 1 lakh cusecs of water is being released into the river daily, with an inflow rate of 25 thousand cusecs. This has caused a reduction in the dam's storage from 105.78 TMC feet on Saturday night to 97.75 TMC by Monday.
The board had earlier warned that 1.50 lakh cusecs of water would be released starting Monday.
In response to this situation, a delegation of BJP leaders, including state president B.Y. Vijayendra, opposition leader R. Ashok, and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, is scheduled to visit the Tungabhadra Dam today at 12:30 pm for an inspection.
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China’s drug regulator clears mpox vaccine; to undergo clinical trial
Beijing, Sep 10: China’s top drug regulator has cleared a mpox vaccine developed by local drug firm Sinopharm for clinical trials which could be the country’s first experimental dose to battle the deadly disease.
The domestic vaccine candidate, created by the Shanghai Institute of Biological Products and administered by Sinopharm, is expected to play an important role in preventing and controlling mpox infections, the company said in a statement released on Monday afternoon.
There is currently no approved mpox vaccine in China. Globally, a few vaccines have been approved in the United States, Canada, the European Union, Japan and Russia.
In China, a vaccine candidate typically goes through three phases of clinical trials before gaining market approval.
The process can take years, even decades. However, the National Medical Products Administration, China's top drug regulator, has launched a number of accelerated or streamlined channels to facilitate applications of novel drugs and vaccines or those in urgent need, state-run China Daily reported on Tuesday.
According to the company, the new vaccine is a replication-deficient vaccine based on a strain called MVA.
The description is the same as Jynneos, the world's first mpox vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States in 2019.
The World Health Organisation said on August 14 that the mpox outbreak in Africa constitutes a public health emergency of international concern — its highest form of alert.
Previously, in July 2022, the WHO declared a global emergency but then lifted it in May last year because of a sustained decline in international cases.
So far, more than 120 countries and regions across the world have reported more than 100,000 confirmed infections and 226 related deaths.
China reported its first imported case in September 2022 and the first domestic case in June last year.
By the end of July, the nation had reported 2,567 confirmed cases, according to the China Daily report.
