Exclusive: Vaccine donations delayed due to pending legal formalities in India, says US embassy

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

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A spokesperson at the US Embassy has confirmed that India is currently in the process of reviewing legal provisions related to accepting vaccine donations. “In the case of India, the delay is not from the US side. India has determined that it needs further time to review legal provisions related to accepting vaccine donations. Once India works through its legal process, our donation of vaccines to India will proceed expeditiously,” a US embassy spokesperson told CNBC-TV18. The official also confirmed that COVAX would facilitate delivery of these vaccines.

The US had dispatched donations of the Moderna vaccine to Honduras, Pakistan and Bangladesh through COVAX last week. Sources told CNBC-TV18 on Monday that the US was looking at sending more than 4 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine to India, but the consignment was held up due to pending legal formalities in India.

The spokesperson added that the US will be sharing 80 million doses from its own supplies with countries around the world, but before that the recipient nation must complete its own regulatory and legal processes. The spokesperson did not confirm the number of doses likely to be shared with India or the timeline for delivery.

The delay has been due to discussions on indemnity between the Indian government, COVAX and foreign vaccine makers like Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson. “We are yet to take a call on indemnity. We are discussing terms of indemnity with foreign vaccine makers and COVAX is also part of those discussions,” said an Indian government official requesting anonymity. The official explained that India too was trying to get these doses as soon as possible.

CNBC-TV18 also reached out to GAVI which is a part of the COVAX alliance for an update on the quantum of vaccine doses allotted to India and timeline for delivery.

“We welcome donations of vaccine doses by the US, which will play an important role in helping COVAX address immediate term supply gaps – before larger volumes become available through the facility later in the year. GAVI, on behalf of COVAX, is working closely with the US government and other partners to operationalise these donations and get doses delivered as quickly as possible, so that countries can continue to protect their most at-risk groups. More information on volumes and timelines will follow in due course,” said a spokesperson on behalf of GAVI.

When contacted, a Moderna spokesperson said that the US government would be able to share the status of vaccine donations. However, on the June 2, Moderna had signed a long term agreement with UNICEF to provide COVAX with 34 million doses by the fourth quarter of 2021 and 466 million doses in 2022.

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Stan Swamy’s death puts spotlight on UAPA, experts decode

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

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The death of Stan Swamy, the 84-year-old priest and tribal rights activist, has brought the unlawful activities prevention act or UAPA in the spotlight yet again.

Swamy, who was arrested in October 2020 as an accused in the Elgar Parishad Case, died at the Holy Family Hospital in Mumbai on Monday; the day his bail Elgar Parishad Casehearing was scheduled in the Bombay High Court. This was the latest in a series of bail pleas, all of which were previously rejected.

The allegations against Swamy were that he was linked with the banned CPI (Maoist) and receiving funds from cadres.

While rejecting one of his bail pleas last year, the Special Trial Court had said it had no hesitation in concluding that the collective interests of the community would outweigh the applicant’s right to personal liberty. Notwithstanding his old-age or alleged sickness, the UAPA was invoked.

It extends the pre-chargesheet custody period from 90 days to 180 days and restricts the right to bail. The law allows the court to depend on police documents to presume guilt of the accused.

For context, the conviction rate under the UAPA has been dismal. According to the data shared by the Home Ministry in March this year, only 2.2 percent of cases registered under the UAPA between 2016 and 2019 have resulted in convictions by the courts.

To take this discussion forward, CNBC-TV18 spoke to Harsh Mander, social activist & columnist; Kamini Jaiswal, senior advocate at SC; Anand Grover, senior advocate at SC, and Yashovardhan Azad, former IPS officer.

Harsh Mander said, “I think that when Father Stan Swamy breathed his last yesterday, the whole Indian republic was diminished. Here is the man who dedicated his life living with extreme austerity to the rights of Adivasi people. No one who has worked with him can believe that he had anything to do with Maoist or terror violence of any kind. The problem is we have still in our statute books laws like UAPA, which lend themselves to misuse.”

He added, “The very figure that you gave of 2.2 percent conviction means that actually laws are not successful in convicting people who are actually involved in terror crimes. It allows the state to pick-up people whom it wishes to punish without evidence and therefore they are in prison for very long period. I think the existence of extraordinary laws of the kind that UAPA represents is firstly the problem.”

Advocate Anand Grover said, “I think compassion is one of the issues. I want you to look at the things in a more holistic manner because we have to understand there are these laws which are in place and UAPA is only one of them. These laws have been enacted over a period of time and they really start with Narcotics Act, which is even more draconian than the UAPA.”

“Over a period of time, the normal law and the India penal code have been jettison and special laws have been brought in place on the statute books and there the procedure has changed over a period of time so the basic tenets of innocence, granting of bail etc. has been completed changed which actually allows the courts to do what they want in case of like this.”

Watch accompanying video for more.

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2021 Range Rover Evoque launched; prices start at Rs 64.12 lakh

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

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Jaguar Land Rover India announced the launch of the updated Range Rover Evoque. The price of the upcoming Evoque is expected to start from Rs 64.12 lakh (ex-showroom), up from Rs 57.99 lakh (ex-showroom) that the current generation of Range Rover Evoque is sold at. The prices of the variants have not yet been declared.

Rohit Suri, president and managing director, Jaguar Land Rover India, said, “Range Rover Evoque has always turned heads with its unique, modernistic and smart design. With the introduction of new interior colourways and latest Land Rover technologies, the new Evoque’s style quotient is even more enhanced and the new Ingenium powertrains make it more powerful and efficient.”

The car will come in diesel and petrol variants, with the former coming in S-trim and the R-Dynamic SE trim available for the latter. The car will be powered by the 2.0L Ingenium engine and paired with a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission. The petrol engine is capable of producing 247 HP and 365 Nm of peak torque, while the diesel variant will be capable of 201 HP and 430 Nm of peak torque. The car will be running on a four-wheel drive and come with Terrain Response two off-road modes.

The car will also come with features like 3D Surround Camera, cabin air ionisation with PM2.5 filter, wireless charging with a phone signal booster, Pivi Pro infotainment system, 11-speaker Meridian audio system, a digital instrument cluster, 10-way powered front seats, two-zone climate control and seven airbags.

The SUV is following the launch of the Range Rover Velar, which also got an update for the year.

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Less than 50% Indians troubled by climate change: Survey 

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

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Only 48 percent of Indians are concerned about climate change across the globe, according to a recent survey. The Mintel Sustainability Barometer 2021 survey saw only 48 percent of the respondents from India rank climate change as an environmental problem to be concerned about. The survey by Mintel was conducted across 16 countries — Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain, South Korea, Thailand, the UK, and the US. It measures consumer behaviour and attitude towards climate change.

The survey also revealed that only 45 percent of the respondents from India believe that the country is suffering as a result of climate change. Apart from Indians, most respondents from France, the US, Poland and Australia too were unruffled about climate change.

At the other end of the spectrum, nearly 70 percent of the respondents from South Korea saw climate change as an important issue. This, even as just 38 percent of the country’s respondents felt that the country was actually suffering due to global warming. Respondents from Italy and Japan were also concerned about climate change. Chinese and German respondents felt that their country is feeling the impact of climate change, but they still only represented a small majority.

At the same time, a higher percentage of respondents cited “deforestation, loss of biodiversity or chemicals entering the environment” as one of their top three environmental concerns. Seventy eight percent of Indian respondents listed felling trees, rapid loss of biodiversity and chemical spillages into the environment as areas of concern.

The results of the survey highlight that tangibility plays a major role in deciding how concerned individuals are about the environment. Consumers are more likely to go for sustainable products that may help to mitigate environmental challenges in their own ‘locality.’

“(The survey) signifies the importance of tangibility and localism when it comes to delivering solutions or sustainable products,” stated the report from Mintel.

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Sustainability key to consumer choices in FMCG sector, but so is brand: Survey

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

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Consumers consider the sustainability factor while purchasing items  in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) sector. A recent survey by Mintel showed that consumers do appreciate the sustainability factor, but often not at the expense of quality or brand. The survey by Mintel was conducted across 16 countries — Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain, South Korea, Thailand, the UK, and the US — and measures consumer behaviour and attitude towards climate change. 

The survey measured how much importance consumers placed on sustainability when choosing three FMCG products —  coffee, soaps and socks.

A significant portion of consumers said they would choose a product over another just for the packaging. Only 31 percent of consumers said they would choose one brand of coffee over another if “it comes in minimal or recyclable packaging.” For soaps, the number of respondents who saw the importance on minimal packaging was 35 percent; while for socks, the figure was 31 percent.

Apart from packaging, consumers also paid attention to the product’s effect on the environment. Thirty percent of respondents claimed that coffee being produced in an environmentally friendly way was the most important factor when it came to choosing a brand. Forty three percent of respondents said they would go for soaps that did not contain chemicals that would harm the environment while 33 percent of respondents said they would buy socks that did not contain harmful material like synthetic microfibres or dyes.

Apart from one or two sustainability factors, the survey also found that most consumers were worried about climate change, air quality and plastic pollution. Despite the increased focus on sustainability, a substantial proportion of consumers stated that the brand or quality of their coffee is of overriding importance. While 36 percent of the people surveyed said the quality of the coffee mattered the most, 35 percent of the respondents said that they would choose a brand that they had bought earlier.

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