Russia only country in the world which is ready to transfer anti-COVID vaccine technology: Putin
St. Petersburg (Russia), Jun 5: As Indian companies get ready to manufacture Russian-made Sputnik V anti-COVID vaccine to meet the staggering demand in the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said Russia is the only country in the world which is ready to transfer technology and to expand production abroad, and noted that the vaccine was being sold in 66 countries.
The remarks by the Russian president came a day after the officials in New Delhi said that Serum Institute of India has received a preliminary approval from the country's drug regulator for manufacturing of Sputnik V. Already Indian pharma company, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, in April, 2021 received the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Russian vaccine. Also Panacea Biotec in collaboration with Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF has begun the production of Sputnik V vaccine in India.
Rejecting allegations over Sputnik V vaccine's efficacy, the Russian president during a virtual interaction with senior editors of major international news agencies, including the Press Trust of India, the Associated Press and Reuters, said that the delay in getting the vaccine registered in Europe was due to a "competitive struggle'' and "commercial interests" there.
With China being blamed by some countries, especially the US, for the COVID pandemic, Putin said too much has been said about the subject, and emphasised that the crisis should not be "politicised".
He was replying to a question on the cause of the COVID pandemic.
Last week, US President Joe Biden announced that he had ordered further intelligence investigation into the origins of COVID-19 amidst allegations that coronavirus originated from a laboratory in China's Wuhan city with former US president Donal Trump calling for imposing a fine on the Asian country for the "death and destruction" it has caused.
"Too many things have already been said on this subject, so it seems to me that making more comments about this would be pointless. I don't think that I can say something new or intriguing," Putin said through a translator.
Noting that there was a competitive struggle against Sputnik V, Putin said, "in 66 countries, we are selling our vaccine, it is a huge market for us. I am pretty sure the allegations are due to commercial reasons but we are following humanitarian reasons."
He further asserted that "it is recognised by international experts, the vaccine is efficient, its efficacy is 97.6 per cent. We are the only country in the world who is ready to transfer technology and is ready to expand our production abroad."
Putin also expressed hope that challenges created by the novel coronavirus pandemic would spur countries to remove politically motivated restrictions against each other.
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Money laundering case: SC rejects bail plea of suspended Jharkhand cadre IAS officer
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea of suspended Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Puja Singhal seeking bail in a money laundering matter, observing it is an "extraordinary case".
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta refused to interfere with the Jharkhand High Court order denying her bail.
The top court noted that out of 17 prosecution witnesses, 12 have been examined by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and hoped that the trial in the case is concluded expeditiously.
"You wait for some more time for bail. This is not a normal matter but an extraordinary case. There is something seriously wrong in this case. We are not inclined to entertain the instant petition. We hope the trial will be concluded expeditiously," it observed.
The bench, however, gave liberty to Singhal to revive her bail plea, if the trial is prolonged or is there any other change in circumstance.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the ED, opposed the bail plea and said that out of the total custody period, she has spent most of the time in a hospital at Ranchi.
On February 10, 2023, the top court had granted Singhal interim bail for two months to enable her to take care of her ailing daughter.
Singhal has been in custody since May 11, 2022 after raids were conducted at properties linked to her in connection with the money laundering case.
The case relates to alleged corruption in the implementation of MGNREGA, the Centre's flagship scheme for rural employment.
The ED has accused Singhal, a former state mines department secretary, of money laundering and said its team seized more than Rs 36 crore cash linked to alleged illegal mining as part of two separate money laundering investigations.
Apart from the 2000 batch IAS officer, her businessman husband, a chartered accountant associated with the couple, and others were also raided by the ED as part of the money laundering probe.
Singhal was suspended following her arrest.
