Month: February 2022

• hri Narayan Rane, Hon’ble Minister of MSMEs, Govt of India officially unveils India ODOP Bazaar – a dedicated storefront to showcase and celebrate regional products from across India
• The storefront brings enhanced visibility to hundreds of unique local ODOP products and hidden gems from thousands of sellers across all 28 states of India and showcases them to millions of Amazon customers across India
• Customers will be able to discover unique products such as Chikankari from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Dhokra metal craft from Bastar, Chattisgarh, Coffee from Chikamagaluru, Karnataka, Sambalpuri Ikat from Sambalpur, Odisha, Warli Paintings from Sahyadri, Maharashtra and Muga Silk from Kokrajhar, Assam amongst others.

Amazon India today announced a collaboration with Invest India and Indian Industries Association (IIA) to launch India ODOP (one district one product) Bazaar on Amazon.in. Shri Narayan Rane, Hon’ble Union Minister of MSMEs, Govt of India unveiled this dedicated storefront that showcases and celebrates unique local products from sellers across India at a virtual event in presence of Deepak Bagla, MD and CEO Invest India, Ashok Kumar Agarwal, President, IIA and Manish Tiwary, Country Manager, India Consumer Business, Amazon India. The India ODOP Bazaar will feature hundreds of ODOP and Geographical Indication (GI) products from local businesses across all Indian states. Through this collaboration with Invest India and IIA, Amazon continues to show its support towards onboarding and launching sellers selling regional products on its India marketplace, www.amazon.in. The storefront will drive a special focus on handlooms & handicrafts created by local Indian artisans as well as locally produced agricultural specialties from across India.

India ODOP Bazaar will provide customers an interactive and engaging experience, they will be able to visit the regional pages and read more about the ODOP products from various districts across India and make a more informed purchasing decision. They will get easy access to varied and unique products such as Chikankari from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Dhokra metal craft from Bastar, Chattisgarh, Coffee from Chikamagaluru, Karnataka, Sambalpuri Ikat from Sambalpur, Odisha, Warli Paintings from Sahyadri, Maharashtra and Muga Silk from Kokrajhar, Assam amongst others. Customers will have the opportunity to support local businesses and contribute to their growth by shopping online.

Shri Narayan Rane, Hon’ble Union Minister of MSMEs said, “MSMEs are the economic growth engine of New India. In line with the clarion call for Atmanirbhar Bharat by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, our government has initiated various schemes and undertaken several important reforms to strengthen the MSMEs and encourage entrepreneurial spirit among the youth of our country. To promote Made in India products and enhance the export potential of our MSMEs my ministry is focused on providing them with a support system to grow – by boosting availability of raw material, technology, financial aid, skills, packaging, marketing and training, amongst others. I am happy to see Amazon take steps in the same direction by digitally enabling lakhs of MSMEs across the country. I would like to congratulate Amazon, Invest India and IIA for working together to launch the India ODOP Bazaar to showcase some of the most unique products that our MSMEs, weavers and artisans have to offer.”

Manish Tiwary, Country Manager, India Consumer Business, Amazon India said, “Our focus has always been on enabling small businesses, entrepreneurs, weavers and artisans to grow their business through ecommerce. The launch of India ODOP Bazaar mirrors this focus as it brings enhanced visibility to some of the most unique products from sellers across India. We are excited to join hands with Invest India and IIA to support the ODOP initiative of Govt of India that promotes handlooms, handicrafts and agricultural products created by local artisans and farmers; and helps accelerate economic growth, generate employment and promote rural entrepreneurship. We remain committed to our pledge of digitizing 10 million MSMEs by 2025 and contribute to the vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

The ODOP Initiative is aimed at manifesting the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India to foster balanced regional development. This, in turn, gives a major push to the MSME sector by harnessing the potential of every district in the country. This platform will provide an opportunity to the small-scale artisans to access larger markets and cutting-edge technology.

Amazon India has introduced several initiatives to promote the growth of small businesses across the country and now has over 10 lakh sellers on its marketplace, out of which over 90% are MSMEs. Today, in partnership with over 60 NGOs, government bodies and SHGs, Amazon Saheli has been able to impact the livelihoods of over 1 million women entrepreneurs. Through the Karigar program, Amazon has impacted 13 lakh artisans and weavers including tribal communities in India, giving them an opportunity to sell their original handloom and hand-crafted products to a large customer base directly, in partnership with government emporiums across various states.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund), R-Pharm group and AstraZeneca announce interim results of phase II clinical trials to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the combined use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine and the first component of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine (Sputnik Lite).

According to the interim results of the trials, involving 100 volunteers in Russia and 100 volunteers in Azerbaijan, the vaccines combination demonstrated an acceptable safety profile, which is consistent with the results of previous AstraZeneca vaccine, Sputnik V and Sputnik Lite vaccines clinical trials.

Volunteers were being monitored for 57 days after the first dose. Monitoring results demonstrated a good safety profile of the combination. No serious adverse events related to vaccination were registered.

The research conducted by RDIF, the Gamaleya Center, AstraZeneca, and R-Pharm is the first study in the world to evaluate the combined use of components of different adenovirus vaccines to prevent coronavirus infection. In December 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended a similar approach, also known as heterologous prime booster vaccination.[i]The WHO estimates that interchangeability of different drugs will allow greater flexibility in vaccination programs, increase vaccine efficacy and affordability.

A joint phase II clinical trial to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a combination of AstraZeneca’s vaccine and the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine is being conducted under the memorandum signed in December 2020 by the Russian Direct Investment Fund, the Gamaleya Center, AstraZeneca and R-Pharm. The study takes place in Azerbaijan, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. Volunteers receive intramuscular injections of the AstraZeneca vaccine and the Ad26-S component of the Sputnik V vaccine in different sequences at 28-day intervals.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF): Preliminary data from the trial to test Sputnik Light and AstraZeneca vaccines combination support the “mix and match” approach to revaccination. With new dangerous variants of concern emerging, this approach could provide safe, effective and long-term protection.

Vasily Ignatiev, CEO of the R-Pharm Group JSC: Current safety data adds to the data on the high immunogenicity profile of the vaccine combination that has been announced earlier. We are one step closer to completing the studies. The results are being processed.

Irina Panarina, GM, Russia & Eurasia: The results, obtained in the clinical trials, indicate the safety of vaccine combination. The use of «vaccine cocktails» may be an option in face of growing healthcare system needs to vaccinate population across the world».

About the Sputnik Light vaccine:

Sputnik Light is based on recombinant human adenovirus serotype number 26 (the first component of Sputnik V). A one-shot vaccination regimen of Sputnik Light provides for ease of administration and helps to increase efficacy and duration of other vaccines when used as a booster shot.

Sputnik Light as a booster significantly increases virus-neutralizing activity against Omicron, which is comparable to titers observed after Sputnik V against wild-type virus, associated with high levels of protection. Sputnik Light has been registered in more than 30 countries with total population of over 2.5 billion people. A number of countries, including Argentina, Bahrain, UAE, San Marino and Philippines, have already authorized Sputnik Light as a universal booster.

About COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca

The vaccine was co-invented by the University of Oxford and its spin-out company, Vaccitech. It uses a replication-deficient viral vector based on a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees and contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein. After vaccination, the surface spike protein is produced, priming the immune system to attack the SARS-CoV-2 virus if it later infects the body.

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(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with NewsVoir India and this publication takes no editorial responsibility for the same)

(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire India and this publication takes no editorial responsibility for the same.)

Sputnik V is playing the key role in the vaccination campaign in Mexico’s capital with over 3 million citizens of Mexico City already administered the Russian vaccine. The first component of Sputnik V (Sputnik Light) is also increasingly used in the city’s revaccination campaign as a booster.

Sputnik V accounts for 40 percent of all COVID vaccines given to people in Mexico City, according to Eduardo Clark, General Director of the Digital Agency For Public Innovations (ADIP) of the City of Mexico (CDMX). (LINK: https://www.milenio.com/politica/comunidad/sputnik-v-vacuna-rusa-utilizada-cdmx-autoridades )

City of Mexico will also extend the use of the first component of Sputnik V (Sputnik Light) as a booster for 30-39 aged group from February 14. (LINK: https://noticieros.televisa.com/ultimas-noticias/cdmx-aplicara-vacuna-covid-refuerzo-astrazeneca-sputnik-personas-30-39-anos/). It had earlier started administering the one-shot Russian Sputnik Light as a booster to the 40-49 aged group.

Sputnik V creates stronger and longer lasting immune response against COVID (including the Omicron variant) than many other vaccines, which is further strengthened by Sputnik Light booster. Sputnik Light is based on human adenovirus serotype 26 and is the first component of Sputnik V vaccine. Sputnik Light has been approved in more than 30 countries with a total population of over 2.5 billion and Sputnik V – in 71 countries with a total population of over 4 billion people.

A unique comparative study[1] conducted at Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases in Italy by a team of 12 Italian and 9 Russian scientists led by Francesco Vaia, Director of the Spallanzani Institute and Alexander Gintsburg, Director of the Gamaleya Center has shown that Sputnik V vaccine demonstrates more than 2 times higher titers of virus neutralizing antibodies to Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant than 2 doses of Pfizer vaccine (2.1 times higher in total and 2.6 times higher 3 months after vaccination).

The study was conducted in the equal laboratory conditions on comparable sera samples from individuals vaccinated with Sputnik V and Pfizer with a similar level of IgG antibodies and virus neutralizing activity (VNA) against Wuhan variant. Sputnik V showed significantly smaller (2.6 times) reduction of virus neutralizing activity against Omicron as compared to reference Wuhan variant than Pfizer vaccine (8.1-fold reduction for Sputnik V in contrast to 21.4-fold reduction for Pfizer vaccine).

The lower efficacy of mRNA vaccines against Omicron as well as the quickly waning efficacy of mRNA vaccines against COVID can be addressed by using Sputnik Light as a universal booster. Based on the data collected by the Spallanzani Institute and results of previous studies, heterologous (“mix & match”) boosting with Sputnik Light is the best solution to increase other vaccines’ efficacy and extend the booster protection period as optimal adenoviral platform configuration provides better protection against Omicron and other mutations.

Sputnik Light has already shown strong results used as a booster in “mix & match” trials. For example, in Argentina a combination study of Sputnik Light with vaccines produced by AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Moderna and Cansino has demonstrated that Sputnik Light induces stronger antibody and T-cell response as compared to homologous regimen (two shots of the same vaccine). The study conducted in five provinces showed each “vaccine cocktail” combination with Sputnik Light had provided a higher antibody titer on the 14th day after administering a second dose when compared to original homologous (same vaccine as first and second dose) regimens of each of the vaccines.

Sputnik Light and Sputnik V and have been developed using a safe technology that has been widely studied for over 30 years and have not been associated with rare serious side effects such as myocarditis or pericarditis.

The highest safety and efficacy of Sputnik V and Sputnik Light was demonstrated in more than 30 studies and real-world data publications from more than 10 countries.

Sputnik V and Sputnik Light can be stored in a conventional refrigerator at +2 +8ºC for 6 months, making them available globally, including in remote territories, without any need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure.

[1] https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.15.22269335v1

Listed among the top 15 agrochemical companies in India Best Agrolife Limited (BAL) on Wednesday has been granted registration for indigenous manufacturing of Spiromesifen Technical u/s 9 (3) by Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee in the 436th RC meeting. With this BAL becomes the first Indian agrochemical company to manufacture Spiromesifen Technical in India.

Spiromesifen acts as a very effective insecticide and miticide that controls red spider mite in brinjal, whitefly & mite in cotton, European red mite & red spider mite in apple, chili & Okra, yellow mite in chili etc.

While the market for Spiromesifen in North America, Latin America, Europe, Brazil, Spain, and Germany is growing at a moderate rate, there is a huge demand for this in the Asia Pacific and it is growing significantly. As of now, it’s available in one solo formulation – Spiromesifen 22.9% SC in India where the market size is around 400 KL.

Mr. Vimal Alawadhi, Managing Director – Best Agrolife Limited said, “Spiromesifen will give leverage to BAL to introduce its patented & innovative formulations as our R&D Team was already working on it to bring its improved formulations in the form of novel combinations where not only efficacy of the product will be more but also its scope & market size will further increase by strategic alliances with leading companies in the domestic and international market. Our novel products will emerge as a very effective solution in the management & control of Mites in various crops like Tea, Vegetables & Fruit crops, etc. ultimately improving the quality & yield of the produce. Rising population and compelling food security, is driving up demand for such advanced molecules like Spiromesifen in the country.”

BAL, the fastest growing agrochemical company in India, has more than 70 products, 80+ technical manufacturing licenses, above 360+ formulation licenses, 30,000+ MPTA manufacturing formulation capacity, and 7000+ MTPA integrated state-of-the-art technical plants. A leading manufacturer of agro-inputs, BAL has recently started the production in its subsidiary unit Seedlings India Pvt. Ltd.

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(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with NewsVoir India and this publication takes no editorial responsibility for the same

(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire India and this publication takes no editorial responsibility for the same.)

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance adds premium benefits to its existing life insurance cum savings plan “Guaranteed Income Advantage Plan”. The plan offers assured returns on customer’s investment. The upgraded plan will offer end-to-end guaranteed returns declared upfront at the time of inception. Guaranteed returns assured at the time of policy buying will not be affected by the market movements of rising inflation rates.

Keeping in mind the customer interest and heightened expectations from an insurance product, Company has re-launched the product with better customer offering & assured higher guaranteed returns. The plan will enable customers to handle their finances in a more distinctive manner and will ultimately provide financial independence to face the uncertainties of life in a more prepared way. HNI customers will be best benefitted from Guaranteed Income Advantage Plan since their requirement of higher premium boosters against added benefits is best met by the product.

Commenting on the launch of Guaranteed Income Advantage Plan, Mr. Anuj Mathur, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company stated, “Keeping in mind that uncertainty will be a regular affair throughout our lives, we wanted to ensure the welfare of our customers and offer them even better returns on their investments made. Upgraded ‘Guaranteed Income Advantage Plan’, is a customer centric product which is inflation proof and offers better returns to the customers with improved IRRs. While the plan continues to be a customer’s goals-oriented product, it is designed to help our customers to fulfill their long-term goals with a guaranteed maturity benefit and short-term goals with fixed regular income; it will now provide higher returns while retaining the limited pay options and flexible payments options.”

Other key premium benefits of the plan are:

• Life Cover both during premium paying and income period – Provides life cover for the entire term while you pay premium only for a limited period
• Guaranteed Annual Income – Payable on survival at the end of every policy year after the premium payment term till maturity provided all due premiums have been paid
• Guaranteed Maturity Benefit – A guaranteed benefit payable on maturity provided all due premiums have been paid
• Better Value for Higher Premium – High Premium Booster to ensure that you get extra benefit for making a higher premium commitment