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World looks at Visp town in Switzerland as Lonza expects Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine to be ready by the year-end

Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in the rapid development of vaccine and antiviral drug production around the world. Lonza, a Swiss multinational biotech company is helping Moderna firm in its vaccine production against Covid-19.

As per a statement issued by Lonza on Tuesday, September 29, 2020, the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine shall be ready for commercialization by the end of this year.

According to their action plan, a new vaccine ingredients would be created by the Lonza team in November at its new production lines in New Hampshire and Portsmouth. Simultaneously, 300 million vaccine doses shall be supplied annually by other lines of the company, mainly in the Visp facility located deep in a valley in the Swiss Alps.

The head of the Lonza’s Visp facility, Torsten Schmidt said in an interview recently, that the equipment used for the vaccine production had been transported and secured by the company to avoid ‘any last-minute setbacks.’ At the same Visp facility, Moderna has completed 50% of the production work carried out by its $210 million production line.

Lonza has partnered with other customers too apart from Moderna, which includes Sanofi, California’s Humanigen, and Roche. The company’s drug unit revenue experienced a huge percentage gain earlier this year. Currently hiring workers, Lonza is expecting to have approximately 4,000 workers by the month of January in its Visp facility.

Moderna and Lonza are in a 10-year contract for the supply of ingredients and 1 billion doses annually for Covid-19 vaccine production. These ingredients comprise of nano-lipid packed genetic material, which is a synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA) frozen at a temperature of -70o Celsius. This genetic material is responsible for inducing a strong immunogenic response in the host body against the virus which causes Covid-19. The frozen material is then shipped to laboratories in Spain for their final stage of the vaccine manufacturing process.

The Visp town mayor, Niklaus Furger, said that he is a bit proud of his town and its talented workers in the case of the possibility of them managing to launch the first-ever vaccine against Covid-19. He said that the idea that a vaccine might just be produced in Visp with which we could fight against the pandemic, would be excellent. For certain, the attention of the world would be trained on Visp along with Lonza, something that admittedly would make the town and its people a little bit proud.

 The author is a student member of Amity Centre of Happiness.

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US Polls: Donald Trump says ‘Joe Biden is on drugs’; Biden hits back

President Donald Trump has claimed that his Democratic opponent Joe Biden has taken drugs to improve his performance in debates.

Early on, when there were multiple Democratic candidates lined up on stage, Biden was “a disaster” and “grossly incompetent,” Trump said. But at a later debate where Biden was one-on-one with leftist rival Bernie Sanders, “he was OK.”

Trump repeated his demand that Biden should undergo a drug test before their first of three presidential debates scheduled for September 29. “I would take one too,” he said.

Trump has for months tried to persuade voters that Biden is suffering from mental decline.

Reacting to the claims, Biden called Trump ‘fool’, in an interview. “He’s a fool. The comments were just foolish,” Biden said in an interview with NBC affiliate WFLA of Tampa.

Trump made similar unfounded claims about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election, when he unsuccessfully challenged her to take a drug test, too, because “I don’t know what’s going on with her.”

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US-India trade policy ready to be finalized soon, says Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister of commerce and industry, made a statement on Tuesday- September 1, 2020, suggesting that the trade package is all set to be finalized once the presidential elections take place in November. The deal can be established either before or soon after the elections take place.

Goyal also stated that he is in touch with Robert Lighthizer – the US trade representative and that they both are in a mutual agreement of the trade being finalized, once the situation is favorable in the US, in terms of its local political arrangement. Both believe that with this trade both the countries can look forward to a much larger engagement that might give rise to a free trade agreement between the US and India.

During the third Annual Leadership Summit of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, the Union Minister remarked that – “The whole package is nearly ready and can be finalized at any time when the local political situation in the US permits them to. India believes that it has to be a win-win situation for both India and the US.” He also added “I spoke with Ambassador Lighthizer. We agree that we can look at doing it before elections also or soon after. I am open to signing up tomorrow.”

During the same summit of the US-India trade Strategic Partnership Forum, on Monday, S. Jaishankar – the external affairs minister had interacted with the former US envoy to India- Timothy Roemer. Jaishankar suggested that this policy is a ‘win-win’ situation for both nations.

The trade is said to be in favour of both the countries and might serve as a deepening strategic partnership. Goyal also said “It is in the interest of India and US to deepen our strategic partnership with this trade deal. It will open the doors to starting a dialogue on a larger bilateral engagement.”

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US refuses to join WHO’s global effort to find coronavirus vaccine

On Tuesday, the Trump administration denied working with an international cooperative effort to develop and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine because it does not want to be constrained by multilateral groups like the World Health Organization.

The Washington Post first reported the decision to go it alone which follows the White House’s decision in early July to pull the United States out of the WHO. Trump claims the WHO needs reform and is heavily influenced by China.

There are Some nations who have put their effort to secure supplies of vaccine, but others are merging efforts to ensure success against a disease that has no geographical boundaries.

That cooperative effort of more than 150 countries who are setting up the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, or COVAX, has been linked with the WHO. It would allow the nation to take advantage of a portfolio of potential vaccines to ensure their citizens are promptly covered by whichever ones are considered effective.

The WHO Utters, governments dealings with individual vaccine makers would be beneficial from joining COVAX, because, in case the bilateral ones being made through bilateral deals with manufacturers aren’t successful the government will have a backup vaccine.

”The United States will continue to engage our international partners to ensure we defeat this virus, but we will not be constrained by multilateral organizations influenced by the corrupt World Health Organization and China,” said White House spokesman Judd Deere.

Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif., said the administration’s decision was short sighted and will hamper the battle to end the pandemic.

”Joining COVAX is a simple measure to guarantee U.S. access to a vaccine no matter who develops it first,” tweeted Bera, a medical doctor.

America’s risk of not getting a vaccine increases because of this go-it-alone approach.

The decision by the administration has linked with the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO, implies the U.S. is relinquishing America’s global supremacy in fighting pandemics, according to Tom Hart, North America director at The ONE Campaign, an advocacy organization co-founded by Bono of the rock band U2.

“Not only does this move put the lives of millions around the world at risk, it could completely isolate Americans from an effective vaccine against COVID-19, Hart said.

A handful of the dozens of experimental COVID-19 vaccines in the human trial have reached the last and biggest obstacle looking for the demanded evidence that they work.

On Monday, AstraZeneca announced that its vaccine candidate entered the final testing stage in the U.S. The Cambridge, England-based company said, ”The study will involve up to 30,000 adults from various racial, ethnic and geographic groups.’’

This summer, Two other vaccine candidates commenced ultimate trial in tens of thousands of people in the U.S. One was created by the National Institutes of Health and manufactured by Moderna Inc., and the other developed by Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech.

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Donald Trump woos Indian-American voters, with clips from Howdy Modi

In order to woo more than 2 million influential Indian-American voters in America, US President Donald Trump’s campaign managers have released their first ad in the form of a video. It includes speeches by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and brief clips of Trump’s historical address in Ahmedabad.

During the US President’s visit to India in February this year, Modi and Trump addressed a huge crowd in Ahmedabad. Trump was accompanied by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner and top officials of his administration.

In a tweet, Kimberly Guilfoyle, the National President of the Trump Victory Finance Committee, released the video ad saying, “America has a great relationship with India and our campaign has great support from Indian-Americans!” The president’s son Donald Trump, who is leading the campaign, is very well connected with the Indian-American community, who also retweeted it. This advertisement soon went viral on social media.

Let us tell you that this 107-second video titled ‘Four More Years’ begins with footage of Modi and Trump, both of whom walked hand-in-hand at Houston’s NRG Stadium during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the US last year. Were. Then the leaders of the two largest democratic countries of the world addressed the Indian-Americans who came in more than 50,000.

Among thousands of his supporters in the US, PM Modi had praised Trump a lot in that speech. Al Mason, co-chairman of the Trump Victory Indian-American Finance Committee, has outlined the video. Modi is very popular among Indian-Americans. This same star appeal has attracted a record crowd every time. His address was historic at Madison Square Garden in 2015 and again in Silicon Valley two years later, with a large number of people attending. A record 50,000 people attended his ‘Howdy Modi’ address in Houston in September last year.

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After Michelle, Barack Obama attacks Donald Trump; US Prez hits back

A day after Michelle Obama termed Donald Trump as the ‘wrong President for the US’, her husband and former US President Barack Obama too launched a scathing attack on the leader.

Delivering his remarks live from at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, Obama blasted his successor as unserious and self-centered and cautioning that core democratic institutions have been imperiled by the Trump presidency.

“Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t,” Obama said in his speech. “And the consequences of that failure are severe. 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before.”

“I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies. I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously. But he never did. Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t,” he added.

Trump, he said, views the presidency as no more than a “reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.”

As Obama raised eyebrows with his harsh remarks, Trump was quick to revert. He tweeted, “HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT!”

A day prior, Michelle Obama targeted Trump as she addressed the opening night of the US Democratic convention. The former first lady said, “Whenever we look to this White House for some leadership, or consolation, or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division and a total and utter lack of empathy. Let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can: Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country.”

Trump on Tuesday hit back at Michelle Obama, describing the former first lady’s speech as “extremely divisive” and claimed that her husband’s Oval Office performance is what put him into the “beautiful White House”.

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Joe Biden campaigns for closer ties with India

The controversial Democratic nominee for the presidency, Joe Biden, forged close ties with India on and pledged for better deal for the Indian people in a brief, policy-laden Independence Day message.

He said, “India is facing new threats in its private sector and will stand with India in coping with its limits”.

Joe Biden delivered a pre-recorded message to the Indian American group on a digital outreach to rejoice Indian Independence Day.

Biden’s marketing campaign earlier in the day released a detailed agenda on relations with India and the welfare of the Indian people if it wins in November.

Recalling his main efforts to ratify the civilian nuclear deal as a senator in 2008, he said he held that the world could be a safer place if India and the US “turned close friends and allies” Is “If elected president, I will go ahead. To think over it, “he says and said that he said” I have to stand with India to move forward as well as face new threats -With asked to cope with his private sector and its frontier. The previous Vice President made a complete change of points for cooperation in the following jiffy sooner or later, similar to commerce or local weather change and public goodness.

The expanding agenda dealt with by Biden and Harris, and senior members of the marketing campaign included former Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, former Vice President Biden Jake Sullivan, former Nationwide Security Advisor, speechwriter Vinay Reddy, and Seema Sadanandan. Marketing campaign efforts may try to woo 1.2 million Indian American voters who can help spontaneously contested states.

Former US Ambassador to India Wealthy Verma and former Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal additionally participated in the discussion.

On Saturday, Harris could check some packing containers for his critics as he spoke of additional stories from his grandfather advising him about the heroes who were responsible for India’s independence.

Blinken said the Biden administration would help India in a bigger position in the world – with a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

The US first helped President Barack Obama in India for the first time in 2010 to announce India.

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Indian-Americans celebrate Kamala Harris’s selection as Biden’s Vice-Presidential candidate

Leading Indian-American groups and individuals, including former PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi, have hailed the nomination of Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris as Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate, saying it was a “great choice” and a “moment of pride” for the entire community in the US.

However, some community members questioned Ms Harris’s contribution towards the Indo-US ties and said they would not be influenced by identity politics.

On Tuesday, conjectural Democratic party Presidential nominee Joe Biden named 55-year-old Kamala Harris as his Vice-Presidential running mate, making history by selecting the first black woman to compete on a major party’s Presidential ticket.

Kamala’s father is an African from Jamaica and mother an Indian, is currently the US Senator from California.

Ms Nooyi, who is seen as a role model by millions of women across the world, tweeted, “This is a great choice for our country.”

Kamala Harris herself was a presidential aspirant until last year before she dropped out of the race because of lack of popular support.

“What an electric moment for the Indian-American community! Indian-Americans are now truly a mainstream community in the national fabric,” MR Rangaswami, an eminent Indian-American and the founder of Indiaspora, told news agency PTI.

‘’Kamala shares a story of a changing, inclusive America… Her candidacy is historic and inspiring, not only for Black Americans, but for millions of Asian American voters, the fastest growing voting bloc in the country,” IMPACT’s executive director Neil Makhija said.

Welcoming the decision, IMPACT, a leading Indian-American advocacy group and a Political Action Committee, said it will raise USD 10 million for the campaign.

“America meinKhila Kamal (Lotus blooms in the US),” a nationwide campaign has been announced  on Tuesday by Kamala Harris’s supporters.

Mr Bhutoria is also the creator of a multi-language campaign, including in Hindi, which says, “America Ka Neta Kaisa Ho, Jo Biden Jaisa Ho!! (How America’s leader should be, like Biden)”, as part of the efforts to reach to the Indian-American community.

According to Neha Dewan, National Director of South Asians for Biden, Kamala has been fighting for justice throughout her time in public service, which makes her an “uniquely inspired choice” to take on Trump and the Republicans.

Ms Harris will build stronger US-India relations, said Rajendra Dichpally from US India Security Council.

However, With Kamala Harris’s nomination not all Indian-Americans were happy.

“Yes, there will be initial excitement and confusion for a few weeks amongst the Indian Americans – debating whether to vote for Biden due to Kamala Harris being of Indian Heritage or voting for Trump, who has been great for India-US relations. There is and there will be a lot of hustling by the Biden-Harris combo for the Indian-American votes in the battleground states,” Al Mason, co-chair of the Trump Victory Indian American Finance Committee, told news agency PTI.

A recent survey done by Trump supporters AI Mason claims that 50 per cent of the Indian-Americans in key battleground states like Texas, Michigan, Florida, Virginia and Pennsylvania who traditionally vote for Democrats, are now switching over to the Trump camp.

According to Sridhar Chillara, founder and chairman of the Asian American Republican Alliance, Indian-Americans will vote “with eyes wide open” in the presidential election and “reject the game of hypocrisy and identity politics played by the Democrats”.

Acknowledging that Ms Harris’s nomination will excite many community members, as this is the closest the community has come to the Oval Office, Indian-Americans for Trump in a statement said, however, there is a lot of opposition to her.

Indian-American physician Dr Raj Bhayani said historically, selection of vice president candidates has had no effect on the outcome of the presidential race.