Month: November 2020

Covaxin trial in Kolkata from Dec 2, TMC minister may get first shot

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The phase III trial of Covaxin — the vaccine for COVID-19 — at the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Disease (NICED) in Kolkata will start from Wednesday, a senior official said.

State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim (62) is likely to be the volunteer to take the first shot of Covaxin if everything goes according to plan and he is found to be fit in the medical tests, the official of the institute said on Monday.

“The phase III trials of Covaxin will be starting on December 2. We have requested some of the applicants, including Hakim, to appear for the trials on that day. They will be administered the vaccine only after they test fit for the trials. They cannot have any comorbidities. Following satisfactory results, the shots will be administered to them,” the official said.

Hakim, also the chief of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, had earlier expressed wish to be a volunteer for the trials.

“It is a great feat that he has expressed his willingness to be a part of the prorgamme and we will be happy to enrol him. He requires to take a few screening tests, following which the next step will be decided,” the official added.

Asked whether the senior Trinamool Congress leader will be getting the vaccine or the placebo, he said that since the phase III trial of Covaxin is a double-blinded placebo-controlled study, neither the volunteer nor the investigator will be able to know who is receiving what.

Half of the volunteers will be receiving the first- candidate vaccines, indigenously developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech and the ICMR, while the rest will be given placebos, he said.

Another shot will be administered to each of the volunteers after four weeks of the first one.

At least 1,000 volunteers will be administered the Covaxin in the phase III trials in Kolkata.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Joe Biden to nominate Janet Yellen, highlights diversity on economic team

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced his senior economic team, including his plans to nominate the first woman to head the Treasury Department as well as several liberal economists and policy specialists who established their credentials during the previous two Democratic administrations.

In a statement, Biden said he would nominate Janet Yellen, the former Federal Reserve chair, to lead the Treasury Department, and former Clinton and Obama adviser Neera Tanden to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget. He also named Wally Adeyemo, a former Obama administration official and the first CEO of the former president’s nonprofit foundation, as his nominee for Deputy Treasury Secretary. Biden also unveiled his White House economic team, consisting of economists Cecilia Rouse, Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey.

Biden, who has placed a premium on diversity in his selection of Cabinet nominees and key advisers, is looking to notch at least a few firsts with his economic team selections. In addition to Yellen as the first woman to lead Treasury, Adeyemo would be the first Black deputy secretary. Tanden would be the first woman of color to lead OMB and Rouse the first woman of color to chair the Council of Economic Advisers.

“As we get to work to control the virus, this is the team that will deliver immediate economic relief for the American people during this economic crisis and help us build our economy back better than ever,” Biden said in a statement.

President-elect Joe Biden is expected in the coming days to name several of his most senior economic advisers, a group that includes several liberal economists and policy specialists who established their credentials during the previous two Democratic administrations.

Biden, who has placed a premium on diversity in his selection of Cabinet nominees and key advisers, is looking to notch at least a few firsts with his economic team selections.

The Biden campaign has not yet announced the picks, but these are some of the individuals he’s expected to select to high-profile positions on his economic team, according to people familiar with the transition process who were granted anonymity to speak freely about the president-elect’s deliberations:

JANET YELLEN, Treasury secretary

Yellen became Federal Reserve chair in 2014 when the economy was still recovering from the devastating Great Recession. In the late 1990s, she was President Bill Clinton’s top economic adviser during the Asian financial crisis. Under Biden she would lead the Treasury Department with the economy in the grip of a surging pandemic.

If confirmed, Yellen would become the first woman to lead the Treasury Department in its nearly 232-year history. She would inherit an economy with still-high unemployment, escalating threats to small businesses and signs that consumers are retrenching as the pandemic restricts or discourages spending.

NEERA TANDEN, Office of Management and Budget director

Tanden is the president and CEO of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress. She was the director of domestic policy for the Obama-Biden presidential campaign, but she first made her mark in the Clinton orbit.

Tanden served as policy director for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. Before that, she served as legislative director in Clinton’s Senate office and deputy campaign manager and issues director for Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign. She also served as a senior policy adviser in the Bill Clinton administration.

If confirmed, she would be the first woman of color and the first South Asian woman to lead the OMB, the agency that oversees the federal budget.

But Senate Republicans are signaling they’ll oppose confirmation. Late Sunday a spokesman for GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas tweeted that Tanden “stands zero chance of being confirmed.” And Josh Holmes, a political adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, tweeted that confirmation was likely doomed. Republicans hold the edge in the current Senate, although next year’s majority won’t be decided until Jan. 5 runoffs in two races involving GOP incumbents in Georgia.

BRIAN DEESE, director of the White House National Economic Council

Deese, a former senior economic adviser in the Obama administration and now the managing director and global head of sustainable investing at BlackRock, would be the top economic adviser in the Biden White House. He worked on the auto bailout and environmental issues in the Obama White House, where he held the title of deputy director of both the NEC and the OMB.

CECILIA ROUSE, chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers

Rouse is a labor economist and head of Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. She served on the CEA from 2009 to 2011, and served on the NEC from 1998 to 1999 in the Clinton administration.

Notably, she organized a letter earlier this year signed by more than 100 economists calling for more government action to mitigate the fallout for Americans caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Rouse, who is Black, would be the first woman of color to chair the CEA.

Biden is also expected to name Heather Boushey, the president and CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, and Jared Bernstein, who served as an economic adviser to Biden during the Obama administration, to serve on the council. Both Boushey and Bernstein advised Biden during the presidential campaign.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Joe Biden unveils January 20 inaugural committee

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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President-elect Joe Biden is taking the first formal preparations for his January 20 inauguration, unveiling the inaugural committee that will lead arrangements for the day he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris assume their posts.

Biden is naming Delaware State University president Tony Allen to serve as CEO of his presidential inaugural committee and campaign chief operating officer Maju Varghese as the group’s executive director.

The inaugural committee works in coordination with Congress’ planning group around arrangements for the Capitol ceremony, and organizes inaugural balls and other events surrounding the swearing-in.

The format of those events is up in the air amid the global coronavirus pandemic, which has surged across the country.

In a statement Monday, the inaugural committee said it will work on prioritising keeping people safe and preventing the spread of COVID-19 while engaging all Americans in the festivities.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

CSB Bank cuts MCLRs by 10 bps for tenures up to 6 months

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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CSB Bank on Monday announced a cut in short-term rates based on marginal cost of fund-based lending rates (MCLRs) by 0.10 percentage point for various tenures up to 6 months.

The benchmark one-year MCLR, upon which most of the consumer loans are set, however, has been kept unchanged at 9.50 percent.

The bank in a regulatory filing said it has revised the MCLR by 0.10 percentage point each for tenures ranging from overnight to six-months with effect from December 1.

The revised rates will be in the range of 7.70-8.50 percent, it said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Global stocks set for best month ever, dollar and gold pay the price

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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World shares paused on Monday to assess a record-breaking month as the prospect of a vaccine-driven economic recovery next year and yet more free money from central banks eclipsed immediate concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

Neither Europe or US futures made further gains, but November’s record-breaking 13 percent leap has added $6.7 trillion – or $155 million a minute – to the value of world equities.

The rush to risk has also benefited oil, industrial commodities and given emerging-market currencies their best time in almost two years, while undermining the safe-haven dollar and gold.

Helping sentiment further on Monday was a survey showing that factory activity in China beat forecasts in November, and the country’s central bank surprised with an extra helping of cheap loans.

Moderna provided the regular Monday dose of vaccine news, saying it was applying for emergency-use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and conditional approval from the European Union.

“It has been a very, very strong month for markets, especially on the equity side but also on the fixed income side too,” said Rabobank’s head of macro strategy, Elwin de Groot.

The positive developments on vaccines and swiftness with which they are likely to be rolled out have been key drivers.

“And this market still remains very much supported by liquidity from the central banks,” De Groot said. With the European Central Bank set to provide more stimulus next month, “the market view seems to be, what can possibly go wrong?”

Many European markets are boasting their best month ever, with France up 21 percent and Italy almost 26 percent. The MSCI measure of world stocks is up nearly 13 percent, while the S&P 500 has climbed 11 percent to record highs.

Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ended 1.5 percent lower on Monday but still finished the month almost 10 percent higher. The Nikkei’s 15 percent leap in Japan was its best month since 1994.

“Markets are overbought and at risk of a short-term pause,” said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital.

“However, we are now in a seasonally strong time of year and investors are yet to fully discount the potential for a very strong recovery next year in growth and profits as stimulus combines with vaccines.”

Cyclical recovery shares including resources, industrials and financials were likely to be relative outperformers, he said.

The surge in stocks has put competitive pressure on safe-haven bonds, but much of that has been cushioned by expectations of more asset buying by central banks.

Sweden’s Riksbank unexpectedly expanded its bond purchase program last week, and the European Central Bank is likely to follow in December.

German 10-year Bund yield was down 1.1 basis points at -0.6 percent on Monday, its lowest in three weeks. J.P. Morgan estimates that once inflation is taken into account, 83 percent of all advanced economy sovereign debt now has a negative yield.

DOLLAR IN DECLINE

U.S. stock futures were fractionally lower before Wall Street’s open and crucial economic indicators later this week.

Risk appetite was underscored, ratings and data agency S&P Global said it was buying IHS Markit for $44 billion in what will be the biggest M&A deal of 2020 so far.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies to Congress on Tuesday amid speculation of further policy action at its next meeting in mid-December.

As a result, U.S. 10-year yields are ending the month almost exactly where they started at 0.84 percent,  a solid performance given the exuberance in equities.

The U.S. dollar has not been as lucky.

“The idea that a potential Treasury Secretary (Janet) Yellen and Fed Chair Powell could work more closely to shape and coordinate super-easy monetary policy and massive fiscal stimulus that could drive a rapid post-pandemic recovery saw the dollar under pressure,” said Robert Rennie, head of financial market strategy at Westpac.

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar index was pinned at 91.704 after shedding shed 2.4 percent for the month to lows last seen in mid-2018.

The euro has benefited from the relative outperformance of European stocks and climbed 2.7 percent for the month to reach $1.1973. A break of the September peak at $1.2011 would open the way to a 2018 top at $1.2555.

The dollar has had its worst month against emerging-market currencies in almost two years and even declined against the Japanese yen, a safe haven of its own. It has lost 0.7 percent in November to reach 103.89 yen, though it remains well above key support at 103.16.

Sterling stood at $1.3326, having climbed steadily this month to its highest since September, as investors wagered a Brexit deal would be brokered even as the deadline for talks came ever closer.

One major casualty of the rush to risk has been gold, which was near a five-month trough at $1,769 an ounce, having shed 5.6 percent in November.

Oil, in contrast, has benefited nearly 30 percent from the prospect of a revival in demand should vaccines allow travel and transport to resume next year.

Some profit-taking set in early on Monday ahead of an OPEC+ meeting to decide whether the producers’ group will extend large output cuts. Brent crude futures fell 58 cents to $47.60, while U.S. crude eased 40 cents to $45.15 a barrel.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Moderna vaccine shows 94% efficacy against severe COVID-19, says US pharma company

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Moderna vaccine shows 94 percent efficacy against severe COVID-19. The pharma giant plans to ask FDA for emergency clearance later in the day.

Moderna said on November 30 that it will request for emergency clearance of its COVID-19 vaccine from the US Food and Drug Administration as latest data suggests that the vaccine is over 94 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.

BREAKING: Moderna said it will request emergency clearance from the FDA for its coronavirus vaccine after data shows the vaccine is 94.1% effective in preventing Covid-19. https://t.co/kOrZOPTUGa

— Berkeley Lovelace (@BerkeleyJr) November 30, 2020

Pfizer had earlier requested FDA for emergency use of its vaccine. People in the US could get the first doses of Moderna’s two-dose vaccine within a few weeks, CNBC reported.

Associated Press reported, that the US pharma giant would ask European regulators as well to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine as the results of the study confirm that the shots offer strong protection and has ramped up the race to begin limited vaccinations as the coronavirus pandemic worsens.

Multiple vaccine candidates must succeed for the world to stamp out the pandemic, which has been on the upswing in the U.S. and Europe. U.S. hospitals have been stretched to the limit as the nation has seen more than 160,000 new cases per day and more than 1,400 daily deaths. Since first emerging nearly a year ago in China, the virus has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide.

Moderna is just behind Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech in seeking to begin vaccinations in the U.S. in December. Across the Atlantic, British regulators also are assessing the Pfizer shot and another from AstraZeneca.

Moderna created its shots with the U.S. National Institutes of Health and already had a hint they were working, but said it got the final needed results over the weekend that suggest the vaccine is more than 94% effective.

Of 196 COVID-19 cases so far in its huge U.S. study, 185 were trial participants who received the placebo and 11 who got the real vaccine. The only people who got severely ill 30 participants, including one who died had received dummy shots, said Dr. Tal Zaks, the Cambridge, Massachusetts, company’s chief medical officer.

When he learned the results, I allowed myself to cry for the first time, Zaks told The Associated Press. We have already, just in the trial, have already saved lives. Just imagine the impact then multiplied to the people who can get this vaccine.

Moderna said the shots effectiveness and a good safety record so far with only temporary, flu-like side effects mean they meet requirements set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use before the final-stage testing is complete. The European Medicines Agency, Europes version of FDA, has signaled it also is open to faster, emergency clearance.

What comes next

The FDA has pledged that before it decides to roll out any COVID-19 vaccines, its scientific advisers will publicly debate whether theres enough evidence behind each candidate.

First up on Dec. 10, Pfizer and BioNTech will present data suggesting their vaccine candidate is 95% effective. Moderna said its turn at this science court is expected exactly a week later, on Dec. 17.

Rationing initial doses

If the FDA allows emergency use, Moderna expects to have 20 million doses ready for the U.S. by years end. Recipients will need two doses, so thats enough for 10 million people.

Pfizer expects to have 50 million doses globally in December. Half of them or enough for 12.5 million people are earmarked for the U.S.

This week, a different panel of U.S. experts, established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will meet to decide how initial supplies will be given out. They’re expected to reserve scarce first doses for health care workers and, if the shots work well enough in the frail elderly, for residents of long-term care facilities. As more vaccine gradually becomes available in coming months, other essential workers and people at highest risk from the coronavirus would get in line. But enough for the general population isn’t expected until at least spring.

Outside the U.S., Zaks said significant supplies from Moderna would be available later, in the first quarter of next year.

Obviously we are doing everything in our power to increase the capacity and accelerate the timelines, he said.

Both Moderna’s and Pfizer’s vaccines are made with the same technology, using a piece of genetic code for the spike protein that studs the virus. That messenger RNA, or mRNA, instructs the body to make some harmless spike protein, training immune cells to recognize it if the real virus eventually comes along.

ActraZeneca confusion

AstraZeneca last week announced confusing early results of its vaccine candidate from research in Britain and Brazil

That vaccine appears 62% effective when tested as originally intended, with recipients given two full doses. But because of a manufacturing error, a small number of volunteers got a lower first dose and AstraZeneca said in that group, the vaccine appeared to be 90% effective.

Experts say its unclear why the lower-dose approach would work better and that it may just be a statistical quirk.

A larger U.S. study of the AstraZeneca candidate still is underway that should eventually give the FDA a better picture of how well it works. The FDA has said any COVID-19 vaccine would have to be at least 50% effective.

Meanwhile Britains government will have to decide whether its U.K. data is sufficient for an early rollout there.

Still in the pipeline

Johnson & Johnson also is in final-stage testing in the U.S. and several other countries to see if its vaccine candidate could work with just one dose.

Both the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines work by using harmless cold viruses to carry the spike protein gene into the body and prime the immune system.

The different technologies have ramifications for how easily different vaccines could be distributed globally. The AstraZeneca shots won’t require freezer storage like the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Candidates made with still other technologies are in late-stage testing, too. Another U.S. company, Novavax Inc., announced Monday that it has finished enrolling 15,000 people in a late-stage study in Britain and plans to begin recruiting even more volunteers for final testing in the U.S. and Mexico in the coming weeks.

Vaccines made by three Chinese companies and a Russian candidate also are being tested in thousands of people in countries around the world.

With inputs from AP.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

How to recover financially after any festive season

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Authored by Gaurav Jalan

It’s easy to overspend during the festive season. While staying within budget is ideal, it is easier said than done. Fortunately, if you have overspent on holiday gifts or festive expenses, there are still opportunities for damage control.

Every festive season, we make the mistake of not planning our finances and going overboard once the festive spirit takes hold. The best way to avoid making the same mistake every year is to reflect on the situation. This involves acknowledgment, assessment and finding practical solutions.

One of the best ways to cut one’s losses is by curbing unnecessary expenses. It will free up some funds to ensure a faster recovery. The idea is to eliminate frivolous spending – no fast food or fine dining, avoiding superfluous purchases like home décor items, clothes, etc.

Once you realize the benefits of cutting discretionary spending, there will be more savings. Freeing up money will enable you to pay off debts faster and/or replenish any savings eroded during the festivities.

For instance, consider paying off debts with the highest interest rates first. If that seems too daunting, you should try paring down the debt with the smallest balance first. In this way, you will see some progress in eliminating the debts right away. Let’s not forget that ‘Every drop in the ocean counts.’

If you are seeking to extricate yourself from the financial hole you have fallen into, the first thing you’ll need to do is put together a budget that outlines your monthly expenses. This will help in not only managing funds better but assist in pinpointing how much of your debt you can afford to repay each month.

It is essential to review the budget regularly. By doing this you can make adjustments for any rise in expenses, new credit card debts or fresh loans.

A simple way to generate some extra cash is by getting rid of extra or unwanted items. Simply list these surplus or redundant items on websites such as OLX or Cashify. A few thousand rupees recouped via this route can help in partially clearing off your festive debt. Remember the adage about ‘every drop counting’?

If your current salary falls short of covering the contingencies, consider some freelance assignments or a part-time job to help minimize the festive debt.

Having reflected and analysed festive spending, you can plan better for the next holiday season. With Christmas and New Year around the corner, this makes sense. With finances, it is always prudent to plan in advance.

So start inculcating healthy financial habits from today. This will ensure that you do not face the same crisis during next year’s festivities.

Finally, you should consider your investments and savings goals for the upcoming year. As the saying goes, ‘A stitch in time saves nine.’

Gaurav Jalan is CEO and Founder at mPokket. Views are personal

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow