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Change is inevitable and so is its rapidly increasing pace! So much so that it surpassed even the predictions of Moore’s Law. As a result, markets are placing greater emphasis on a company’s potential future value rather than its current earnings . This has led to underperformance by companies with questionable business models or those facing disruptive forces, while innovative companies are thriving. So, what really is in-vogue currently? In today’s world, companies that are nimble, adaptable to change, and able to counter ‘Digital Darwinism’ are highly valued in the markets . These companies are rewarded well by the markets and sometimes enjoy a stratospheric valuation as compared to the conventional players. The classic example would be some of the companies in electric vehicles and artificial intelligence space. Their valuations are reaching billions of dollars despite being in the early stages of product development . This shift in market focus is driven by an idea-hungry post pandemic world, where <keyword id="94495" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="innovation" source="Orion">innovation</keyword> is more important than ever. Companies have realised that even if they struggle with innovation in the short term, they must foster a culture of innovation to stay relevant in the long term. Disruption does not just mean a ‘slow-to-adapt’ incumbent being thrown out of business by a radical new-comer, it instead is about using the modern techniques to reinvent the wheel and remain competitive. For instance, a train engine-maker firm started with the steam locomotive business in pre-1960 changed to diesel locomotive with 100 kmph speed in 1960, it then turned to electric traction in 1970 with an output of 140 kmph, then came the transition to AC powered locomotive with a speed of 150 kmph in 1995 and finally the semi-high-speed train like Vande Bharat with a speed of 180 kmph. Disruption is all about the way a company makes their business model sustainable, both at the micro and macro level. It is about evolving and reprioritising the resources for future growth. There are typically three types of innovation, the first being the radical innovation, where one replaces an existing product with a brand new one, for example a reel-camera now being switched with a smartphone camera. The second is the disruption innovation, where the new affordable product and services cater to a large customer base, like washing machines or refrigerators; and lastly, the incremental innovation, where a customer upgrades by replacing the existing products, like switching from an old TV to an LCD TV and thereon to an LED TV. Innovation has been accelerating since the last century, and continues to pick up pace. For example, it took more than 60 years for stoves, steamships and telephones to reach 50% of the US population, but smartphones accomplished the same feat in just seven years. As a result, companies that prioritise innovations are outperforming their non-innovating peers. The median age of the top 10 companies in S&amp;P 500 dropped from 85 years in 2000 to 33 years in 2018 and is projected to fall to 12 years by 2027. It must be noted that innovation can be found across sectors. It could be technology led innovation or it could be process oriented. Recognising the potential of innovative companies to drive growth, ICICI Prudential has launched an offering based on the innovation theme. This fund is designed to take a bottom-up approach to invest in companies across sectors, market capitalisation, demonstrating innovation traits—a mix of both, quality and growth. The fund will also have overseas equities in the portfolio as a means to capture themes like cloud computing, entertainment and driverless cars. The present context of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of innovation in supply chain diversification, making it an encouraging time to support the innovation theme. . Even in a high inflation environment, the demand for domestically manufactured products would drive more innovation, leading to lower costs benefitting the scheme. At a time when the global central banks’ may resort to pausing the interest rates, an offering which has a growth bias, such as this innovation-themed fund, could perform well in a normalising interest rate environment. Disclaimer: The article is authored by Harshvardhan Roongta, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER CM (CFP CM) with Roongta Securities Private Limited. The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Business Insider India. Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risk. Read the scheme-related document carefully before investing. Do your own research (DYOR) before deciding to invest in any financial asset class.

Tapping into innovative theme with mutual funds

<ul><li>34.7 crore <keyword id="20290357" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ayushmann-bharat" source="keywords">Ayushmann Bharat</keyword> cards generated </li><li>Avg growth of the manufacturing sector at 5% over last decade</li><li>Reduction in dependence on non-institutional credit </li></ul> The <keyword id="6354872" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="economic-survey" source="Orion">Economic Survey</keyword> 2023-24 noted that the country's energy requirements are set to burgeon by 2-2.5x by 2027, underlining the need for energy efficiency and seamlessly transitioning to clean energy solutions. By means of sovereign green bonds, the government managed to raise Rs 16,000 crore between January-February 2023, alongside an additional Rs 20,000 crore between October and December 2023. As for social security, Ayushmann Bharat, of which over 34.7 crore cards have been generated, has saved over Rs 1.25 lakh crore of OPD expenses of the poor and under-privileged families. The country's labor market has also seen solid improvement, with unemployment rates declining to 3.2% in 2022-23. The net payroll additions under Employee Provident Fund Organization has also doubled over the past 5 years, signaling a healthy growth in formal employment. As per the survey, care economy and agro-processing are the two key areas where there is untapped potential for boosting quality employment, and increasing women participation in the labor force. The agriculture sector has registered an average annual growth of 4.18% over the last 5 years, with the sector growing about 1.4% during 2023-24, as per provisional estimates. To provide further fillip to the sector, the government has been focused on reducing the sector's dependence on non-institutional, informal credit. As a result, its share has come down from 90% in 1950, to just 23.4% in 2021-22. However, as the survey observed, the country's agricultural growth policies should be consistent with climate change and water security practises. <h2>Thrust on MSMEs, manufacturing and clean energy</h2>Over the last decade, the manufacturing sector managed to mark an average annual growth rate of 5.2%, majorly driven by chemicals, wood products and furniture, transport equipment, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and equipment. <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword> also emerged as a net exporter of finished steel over the last 10 years, and was a significant producer and consumer of the same during FY24. India's indigenous coal production also jumped up, with India actively working to reduce its import dependence. In FY 24, India producued 997.2 million tonnes of coal, imported 261 million tonnes, and consumed 1233.86 million tonnes. India's pharma market, valued at $50 billion, is the 3rd largest in the world, and India ranks prominently amongst clothing manufacturing nations as well. As of FY24, it is the second largest manufacturer, and one of the top 5 exporting nations of clothing, with the export of textiles and apparel, including handicrafts increasing by 1% to reach Rs 2.97 lakh crore. A similar growth was witnessed in India's electronics manufacturing segment, making up for 3.7% of global market share, with exports rising to Rs 1.9 lakh Crore in FY23. Per the survey, "the PLI schemes for key sectors have attracted significant investments, boosted production, sales and exports and generated jobs, particularly in the case of white goods. Keeping in view India’s vision of becoming ‘Aatmanirbhar’, over Rs 1.28 Lakh Crore of investment was reported until May 2024, which has led to production/sales of Rs 10.8 Lakh Crore and employment generation (direct &amp; indirect) of over Rs 8.5 Lakh under PLI scheme". Focus has also been on boosting research, development, innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. The number of granted patents increased seventeen-fold from 5,978 in 2014-15 to 1,03,057 in 2023-24. More than 45% of the recognised start-ups are emerging from Tier 2/3 cities. The country's services sector contributed to about 55% of the total size of the economy in FY24. The clean energy sector in the country also saw new investment of Rs 8.5 lakh crore between 2014 and 2023. India is prominently making a mark in space, with 55 active space assets, out of which 18 are communication satellites, nine navigation satellites, five scientific satellites, three Meteorological Satellites, and 20 are Earth Observation satellites.

Economic Survey shows India's energy needs to grow 2.5x, healthy growth in formal employment

The supply price of <keyword id="9485939" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="covaxin">Covaxin</keyword> to the government of <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> at ₹150 a dose is a non-competitive price and clearly not sustainable in the long run. Hence a higher price in private markets is required to offset part of the costs, <keyword id="149108" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharat-Biotech">Bharat Biotech</keyword> said on Tuesday. It said there are live examples of such pricing policies where Human Papilloma virus vaccine is priced for GAVI supplies at $4.5/dose (₹320), but is also available in the private market at ₹3,500. Rotavirus vaccines are supplied to the Govt of India at ₹60/dose, but is also available in the private market at ₹1,700/dose. The prices for COVID-19 vaccines internationally have varied between $10 to $37/dose, (₹730 - ₹2,700/dose). On why Coaxin is more expensive for the private sector, Bharat Biotech said another key point of discussion has been about pricing our vaccines for private sector players which is significantly higher than that given to governments and large procurement agencies. This is purely due to fundamental business reasons, ranging from low procurement volumes, high distribution costs and retail margins among few others. As directed by the Govt of India, less than 10% of our total production of Covaxin to date has been supplied to private hospitals, while most of the remaining quantity was supplied to State and Central Governments. In such a scenario the weighted average price of Covaxin for all supplies realized by Bharat Biotech is less than ₹250/dose. Going forward, 75% of the capacity will be supplied to State and Central Governments with only 25% going to private hospitals. Unlike most medicines and therapeutics, vaccines are provided free of cost by the Govt of India to all eligible Indian citizens. "Thus, the procurement of vaccines by private hospitals is optional and not mandatory, albeit it gives a choice to citizens who are willing to pay for better convenience. In our view, the question of product pricing is only of extraneous interest to all concerned, especially when the same vaccine is made available free of cost", Bharat Biotech said that for the private sector it is optional. Bharat Biotech has so far invested over ₹500 crores at risk from its own resources for product development, clinical trials and setting up of manufacturing facilities for Covaxin. The support from The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was with respect to provision of the SARS CoV2 virus, animal studies, virus characterization, test kits and partial funding for clinical trial sites. In return for this valuable support, Bharat Biotech will pay royalties to ICMR and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), based on product sales. Royalties are also payable to Virovax towards the licensure of IMDG agonist molecules, it said. Bharat Biotech is investing in new facilities and repurposing existing ones across several states in India for enhancing the production of Covaxin. It is pertinent to mention here that the urgent need to set up a significant number of manufacturing facilities and to divert existing ones for Covaxin has resulted in reduced production of other vaccines at our facilities, leading to loss in revenues. It added that low product price realization dispirits domestic R&amp;D. Companies such as Bharat Biotech, which are innovators with specialized expertise in product development, and large scale manufacturing, should be allowed to maintain a differential pricing strategy for Governments and private hospitals. It is distressing to see that a large country like India has a very basic level of innovation in vaccines and pharmaceutical products, it added. It may well be argued that the low-price realization for home-grown innovators constraints innovation and product development in India. In the absence of a dual pricing system, Indian vaccine and pharmaceutical companies risk being reduced to mere contract manufacturers with intellectual property licensed from other nations, the company said. SEE ALSO <a target="_blank" class="c-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/adani-group-under-sebi-scanner-on-market-manipulation/articleshow/83501698.cms">Gautam Adani loses over $7 billion in net worth after questions over the meteoric rise in group stocks</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/adani-group-pnb-coal-india-tcs-and-other-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-june-14/slidelist/83499937.cms">Adani group, PNB, Coal India, TCS and other stocks to watch out for on June 14</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/weekly-crypto-roundup-wazirx-under-scrutiny-el-salvador-makes-bitcoin-legal-tender-and-more/slidelist/83478577.cms">Weekly crypto roundup: WazirX under scrutiny, El Salvador makes Bitcoin legal tender and more</a>

Covaxin supply to government at ₹150 per dose is not sustainable, says Bharat Biotech

<keyword id="149108" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharat-Biotech">Bharat Biotech</keyword>'s <keyword id="9485939" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="covaxin">Covaxin</keyword> has demonstrated 77.8 per cent effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 and65.2 per cent protection against the new Delta variant. The company on Saturday said it concluded the final analysis of Covaxin efficacyfrom Phase3 trials. The efficacy analysis demonstrates Covaxin to be 93.4 per cent effective against severe symptomatic COVID-19 cases while safety analysis shows adverse events reported were similar to placebo, with 12 per cent of subjects experiencing commonly known side effects and less than 0.5 per cent feeling serious adverse events. The efficacy data demonstrates 63.6 per cent protection against asymptomatic COVID-19, a release from the city-based vaccine maker said. Phase 3 <keyword id="83911" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Clinical-trials">clinical trials</keyword> of the vaccine was an event driven analysis of 130 symptomatic COVID-19 cases, reported at least two weeks after the second dose, conducted at 25 sites across <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>. The whole virion inactivated vaccine against SARS-CoV2, was developed inpartnership with Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute ofVirology in Pune. Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech, said, "The successful safety and efficacy readouts of Covaxin as a result of conducting the largest ever COVID Vaccines trials in India establishes the ability of India and developing world countries to focus towards innovation and novel product development. We are proud to state that Innovation from India will now be available to protect global populations." Director General of ICMR, Balram Bhargava said, "I am delighted to note that Covaxin developed by ICMR and BBIL under an effective public private partnership, has demonstrated an overall efficacy of 77.8 per cent in Indias largest COVID phase 3 clinical trial thus far. Our scientists at ICMR and BBIL have worked tirelessly to deliver a truly effective vaccine of highest international standards." He further said Covaxin will not only benefit the Indian citizens but would also immensely contribute to protect the global community against the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus. "I am also pleased to see that Covaxin works well against all variant strains of SARS-CoV-2. The successful development of Covaxin has consolidated the position of Indian academia and Industry in the global arena," Bhargava said. The Phase 3 trials were conducted between November 16, 2020 and January 7, 2021 with 25,798 participants who were randomised to BBV152 or placebo groups. The preprint data of COVAXIN efficacy has not been certified by peer-review, according to Medrxiv in which thedata was published. SEE ALSO - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/bharatpes-banking-licence-digits-funding-mswipes-new-ceo-and-more-mega-deals-and-launches-in-indias-fintech-space-/slidelist/84085401.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">BharatPe’s banking licence, Digit’s funding, Mswipe’s new CEO and more -- mega deals and launches in India’s fintech space</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/google-crypto-tokens-binances-regulatory-troubles-free-nfts-and-more/slidelist/84086617.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Google’s crypto tokens, Binance’s regulatory troubles, free NFTs and more — Here’s what happened in the world of crypto this past week</a>

Covaxin shows 77.8% effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 cases in phase-3 trials

<ul><li>StepSetGo was born when one of the founders joked about losing the enthusiasm to workout in the gym every day and pay a hefty amount of money for it. </li><li>They thought to themselves that roles should be reversed and consumers should be paid for working out and achieving their targets. </li><li>Two years later, StepSetGo has added 7 million users on its app and is known for its rewards. </li><li>We catch up with Shivjeet Ghatge, CEO and Co-founder, StepSetGo to further understand the idea behind the app, discuss the challenges of COVID-19, future of the fitness industry and his goals for 2021. </li></ul>StepSetGo, as the name suggests, started out to encourage people to step out and take a walk. However, the COVID-19-induced nation-wide lockdown threw a real curveball on their way and it was time for them to get creative and relook at their approach. Shortly, with some creative ideas and quick execution, the lockdown proved to be a blessing in disguise for the brand. The user engagement (social triggers and gamification triggers) of the application peaked and its user base jumped from 5 million to 7 million after the lockdown. However, the starting of the lockdown, like many other businesses, was the lowest point for StepSetGo. Shivjeet Ghatge, CEO and Co-founder, StepSetGo, shared, “Since our core concept revolved around movement which was not restricted, at the start of the lockdown we didn’t see too much of a spike. In fact, what we did see was a slight decline in the number of total steps taken by our users, which was bound to happen. However, when we rejigged our systems, to adapt to the new circumstances we were all facing, things changed. Once we made that very subtle tweak, we did see quite an uptick in our traction and the number of time users were spending on the application almost doubled. On their strategy behind transitioning from an outdoor app to indoor fitness app, Ghatge added, “It was a two-fold strategy. First, we switched the coin multiplier to reward users more for walking indoors rather than outdoors. Next, we created an ecosystem of games as well as heightened incentivisation. Example; turbo time, which happens a few times a day gives users a chance to earn more coins for every 1000 steps. We also introduced hyper-casual games that unlock more chances by walking.” It all started with a joke StepSetGo was born when the founders thought to themselves, “Why am I paying the gym so much? Getting fit is so hard, the gym should reward me for going!” This joke was the inception of StepSetGo. They thought getting fit was hard enough and finding the motivation to walk into a gym every day is an uphill task. It also requires a lot of patience to see the end result one is aiming for. So, the founders asked themselves what is it that every Indian loves. They came up with a simple solution, “Why not reward users, provide additional motivation and make it fun? We knew there was potential here and went for it, all guns blazing!" Every 1000 steps a user takes is rewarded with 1 SSG Coin. These SSG Coins can be collected over time to claim products and discounts in the in-app Bazaar. Three months into the launch of the app, it had seen 650,000 downloads with no marketing. That’s when the founders knew they had a winner and kept walking. “What has worked for us from the get-go has been ‘word of mouth’ publicity. The freshness and uniqueness of the idea along with the fact that the app works as a highly effective motivation game are what has really helped drive our organic growth, especially through our users. Therefore, so far we haven’t found the need to make heavy investments in marketing,” said Ghatge. In September 2020, StepSetGo entered the top 50 free apps under the Indian 'all' category and reached the second spot in India under the 'health and fitness' category. It also won the Atma Nirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge under the health and fitness category which accelerated the 2-year-old app’s growth and brought it to the forefront. However, for Ghatge, consumer feedback was the biggest win. “For us, the true achievement was the number of users who wrote to us on the goals and targets achieved as well as weight-loss success stories, which we’ve even put up (a few) on the StepSetGo website,” said he. Customer feedback and word-of-mouth helped StepSetGo reach its goal and going forward, it will continue spending on digital mediums to expand its user base. Telling us about the app's first campaign and how PM Modi’s mention helped the app gain organic users, Ghatge said, “Our first-ever marketing campaign was released just recently in November 2020 in time for Diwali. #SSGKeSaathChal was a playful campaign boosted solely through social media channels to just remind people to stay healthy, active and make every step count during the festive season. Finally, not to forget when the Honorable Prime Minister mentions you on Maan ki Baat, no form of marketing could work better than that. From a future perspective as well, we won’t be doing traditional forms of advertising, we believe we can do much better-targeted advertising through online means when we start allocating a dedicated ad budget.” Trends in 2021 Customer sentiment is still fairly divided in the market. There is one set of people that have adapted to the concept of online fitness and then there are the traditional fitness followers who have been waiting to get back to the gym and resume their sessions. As a result, many fitness brands have dabbled with hybrid models that cater to both kinds of cohorts. Ghatge said that it is too early to comment on StepSetGo’s hybrid model’s execution but did agree that hybrid is the future of the fitness industry. He said, “Hybrid is very much the future. The lockdown saw a large chunk of new audiences who had every excuse in the book to not commit to a fitness regimen, suddenly taking the leap due to heightened accessibility (made possible through the virtual fitness boom) and time availability.” However, to sustain this surge in interest, Ghatge said that the fitness apps will have to evolve through collaborations that give more choice to the user. “For most people, convenience is key when it comes to fitness. So, the solution will need to be user-centric, giving them the option of maximum flexibility when it comes to making a fitness choice. For something like this, what could be a possibility is two-three (offline and online) different players coming together to provide this holistic solution. One thing is for sure, each player must have a focused offering. So when multiple players do come together, each one can set a defining functionality that compliments the other, which will inevitably help with growth, acquisition and carving a niche for themselves,” said Ghatge. Vision StepSetGo’s vision is to create an all-encompassing tracking ecosystem that goes well beyond just walking. Elaborating on his goals, Ghatge said, “It's our ambition to be able to map and monitor all physical activity our current and potential users could possibly explore. So whether it's a home workout, kickboxing class at your local fitness centre or Yoga in the park, StepSetGo will be able to track, monitor and reward you for progress made.” StepSetGo would also focus on improving its technology, which Ghatge says, is the app’s core strength. “We are working on using the front camera to authenticate different movements. Internationally we have seen some innovative fitness products like the game on the Nintendo Switch called the Ring Fit Adventure or The Mirror to name a few. We will be moving towards trying to integrate more and more fun and engaging options to motivate people to stick to their fitness goals. And more importantly, you can be sure that all these activities will be gamified and socially integrated inside the StepSetGo ecosystem to keep users motivated,” shared Ghatge. StepSetGo is also looking to close its first investment round and push out all the features that are currently in development. Ghatge said, “These developments will let users record and compete on a lot of other metrics apart from walking. Apart from that, our vision to create an all-encompassing fitness monitoring, tracking and rewarding ecosystem so that no matter what the fitness requirement of a user, StepSetGo will provide a solution and reward that activity. With COVID, as the whole country became more health-conscious and ‘immunity’ became the talk of town, StepSetGo is aiming to grow its revenue by 10x in 2021. “Looking at the market and the enthusiasm towards fitness, we aim to grow by 10x,” Ghatge signed off.

StepSetGo aims to grow its revenue by 10X in 2021

<ul><li>President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about the importance of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. </li><li><keyword id="2238662" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="PM-Modi">PM Modi</keyword> said, “National Education Policy 2020 will equip youth with both knowledge &amp; skills, to prepare them for needs of the future.” </li><li>Both PM Modi and President Kovind urged all the governors to conduct more webinars to raise awareness about the New Education Policy. </li></ul>President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about the importance of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 during the inaugural session of the Governors' Conference. Both PM Modi and President Kovind urged all the governors to conduct more webinars to inform people about the New Education Policy. Here are the highlights from PM Modi's speech: <ul><li>National education policy is not just for changing the way of education. This is going to give a new direction to the social and economic aspect of 21st century India. It is shaping the resolve and strength of self-reliant India.</li><li>Education policy and education system is a main medium for fulfilling the nation's aspirations</li><li>Central and state governments, local bodies, all are attached to the responsibility of the education system. But it is also true that the government's interference in education policy should be minimal.</li><li>Millions of people of the country, living in the city and the village, people related to the education sector, gave their feedback for National Education Policy .</li><li>Today the world is discussing the transforming nature of the job. National Education Policy 2020 will equip youth with both knowledge &amp; skills, to prepare them for needs of the future.</li><li>We have discussed thoroughly bridging the gap that the education section has witnessed over the years.</li><li>Vocational exposure at a young age will help people prepare for better. It will also increase youth’s employability.</li><li>Students today can study according to their aptitude. Earlier, students used to choose to stream out of their aptitude under pressure.</li><li>We have to showcase maximum flexibility while implementing the policy.</li><li>This is not the government's education policy, this is India’s policy. It is not bound with any government rather it is attached with the aspirations of the country.</li><li>Our responsibility is to promote technological solutions at every university and college.</li><li>We will encourage healthy competition among universities using this policy and will also reward institutions.</li><li>I urge you to conduct as many virtual conferences about NEP before to aware people.</li></ul>Here are the highlights from President Kovind's speech: <ul><li>The National Education Policy has been formulated after an unprecedented and lengthy process of consultations. </li><li>I am told that in the formulation of this policy, more than 2,02,500 lakh gram panchayats, more than 2,500 local bodies and more than two lakh suggestions received from about 675 districts have been taken into consideration.</li><li>The National Education Policy will be able to take the people, especially the youth, in accordance with the needs and aspirations of the twenty-first century.</li><li>It is not only a policy document, but a reflection of the aspirations of the learners and citizens of India.</li><li>From the 1968 education policy to this education policy, it has been made clear in one voice that the central and state governments should jointly aim for 6% investment of GDP in the field of public education. This education policy of 2020 recommends reaching this goal quickly.</li><li>It has been emphasized in the new education policy that we all have to develop a modern education system based on Indian life-values. At the same time, we have to try that everyone should get education with high quality and a vibrant and equal knowledge society should be created.</li><li>Through education, we have to create such students who are filled with national pride as well as a sense of world welfare and can become a global citizen in the true sense.</li><li>Teachers will have a central role in the fundamental changes being made in the education system. It has been made clear in this education policy that the most promising people in the teaching profession should be selected and their livelihood, dignity and autonomy should be ensured.</li><li>In this context, there is a provision for starting educationally sound, multi-disciplinary and integrated teachers education programs. By the year 2030, only high-level institutions will remain active in this area.</li><li>The goal is to create a new and comprehensive curriculum of teachers education, based on this education policy, by 2021, to give a strong foundation to school education. Teacher's education is a part of higher education. Therefore, at the state level, all of you have to achieve the most important goals related to teachers' education.</li><li>In view of the need to accelerate the spread of vocational education in India, it has been decided that at least 50% of the students will be provided vocational education by the year 2025 in the school and higher education system.</li><li>According to the 12th Five-Year Plan assessment, less than 5% of the workforce in India received formal vocational education. This number was 52% in the United States, 75% in Germany and 96% in South Korea.</li><li>It has been made clear in this policy that vocational education will be considered as a part of mainstream education and such education will be given equal respect. This will lead to skill enhancement in children and youth as well as a sense of respect for the dignity of labor.</li><li>Promotion of Indian languages, arts and culture has been given special importance in the National Education Policy because they are important for India's identity as well as our economy.</li><li>Quality higher educational institutions are to be set up in Aspirational Districts and Special Educational Zones. This will be an important step in the interest of socially and economically disadvantaged groups.</li><li>The goal is to provide at least one large multi-disciplinary higher education institution in or near each district by 2030 for higher education in deprived areas. For this, many steps will have to be taken at the state level. </li><li>To give impetus to a large and vibrant economy like India, it is necessary to encourage 'knowledge-creation' and research. The central and state governments will have to increase the percentage of investment in research and innovation.</li><li>It has been observed that the level of investment in research and innovation is 2.8% of GDP in the US, 4.2% in South Korea and 4.3% in Israel while in India it is only 0.7%.</li><li>A National Research Foundation will be established to inspire quality academic research in all fields. To strengthen the culture of research, all universities and higher education institutions will have to work with the National Research Foundation. </li><li>The use and integration of technology will accelerate learning process improvement and yield better results. For this, the National Educational Technology Forum - NETF. Will be established. Ntef The state government agencies will also provide consultation.</li><li>The success of the National Education Policy will depend on the effective contribution of both the Center and the State. Education is the subject of the concurrent list under the Indian Constitution. Therefore, it requires joint and coordinated action by the Center and the States.</li><li>I would request all the governors of the states to create a theme-based virtual association to implement the policy.</li></ul>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/us-magazine-fortune-released-its-annual-40-under-40-list-of-most-influential-people-under-the-age-of-40/slidelist/77906566.cms">Isha and Akash Ambani, Adar Poonawalla, Byju Raveendran — meet the Indians who made it to Fortune's ‘40 under 40’ list this year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/interview-madhuri-dixit-and-dr-shriram-nene-are-looking-to-raise-funds-for-their-online-dance-school-and-a-new-healthtech-venture/articleshow/77930270.cms">This Indian scientist-turned drugmaker doubled his wealth to $6 billion during coronavirus pandemic</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/interview-madhuri-dixit-and-dr-shriram-nene-are-looking-to-raise-funds-for-their-online-dance-school-and-a-new-healthtech-venture/articleshow/77930270.cms">Madhuri Dixit and Dr Shriram Nene are looking to raise funds for their online dance school and a new healthtech venture</a>

National Education Policy will help shape Atmanirbhar Bharat: PM Modi

Hyderabad, Amid the gloom caused by COVID-19, one sector which provided a ray of hope was life sciences and turning the challenge into an opportunity, Hyderabad fortified its position as a global force in the world of pharmaceuticals. This southern city, already recognised as a global information technology destination, proved its prowess in the field of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology and emerged as the vaccine capital of the world. Already known as the bulk drug capital of India, Hyderabad witnessed manufacturing of lifesaving COVID-19 drugs like Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine and Favipiravir by some of the top pharma companies based here. This was followed by hectic efforts in the city to develop COVID-19 vaccine. In fact, Hyderabad has emerged as the nerve centre of all research and development activities in the country for COVID-19 vaccines and has even attracted international attention. Today, almost all the vaccines being developed in the country for the pandemic have a Hyderabad connect. Four of the six companies developing COVID vaccines in India are based in Hyderabad. <keyword id="149108" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharat-Biotech">Bharat Biotech</keyword> is currently conducting Phase III clinical trials of India's first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin. Covaxin is being developed in collaboration with <keyword id="1256547" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Indian-Council-of-Medical-Research">the Indian Council of Medical Research</keyword> (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV). This indigenous, inactivated vaccine is being developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech's BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) bio-containment facility at Genome Valley here. According to Bharat Biotech, Covaxin has been evaluated in approximately 1,000 subjects in Phase I and Phase II clinical trials, with promising safety and immunogenicity results. The Phase III human clinical trials of the vaccine began in November, involving 26,000 volunteers across India. This is India's first and only Phase III efficacy study for a COVID-19 vaccine, and the largest phase III efficacy trial ever conducted for any vaccine in India. "Covaxin has garnered interest from several countries worldwide for supplies and introduction," said Suchitra Ella, Joint Managing Director of Bharat Biotech. In April, Bharat Biotech announced development of CoroFlu, an intranasal vaccine for <keyword id="8698690" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus-">Coronavirus.</keyword> University of Wisconsin–Madison and vaccine company FluGen along with Bharat Biotech began the development and testing of CoroFlu. The Hyderabad based company will produce almost 300 million doses of vaccine for global distribution. In May, Bharat Biotech and Thomas Jefferson University of Philadelphia signed an exclusive deal to develop a new vaccine candidate for COVID-19 invented at Jefferson. The novel vaccine was developed using an existing deactivated rabies vaccine as a vehicle for coronavirus proteins. Bharat Biotech claimed to have excellent track record of innovation with more than 140 global patents, a wide product portfolio of more than 16 vaccines, 4 bio-therapeutics, registrations in more than 116 countries and WHO Pre-qualifications. The company has so far developed vaccines for H1N1, Rotavirus, Japanese Encephalitis, Rabies, Chikungunya, Zika and the world's first conjugated vaccine for Typhoid. It has delivered more than four billion doses of vaccines worldwide. It is also the largest Rabies vaccine manufacturer in the world. Another city-based firm Biological E last month initiated clinical trial of its COVID-19 subunit vaccine candidate in India following approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). BE is making the vaccine in collaboration with <keyword id="5289395" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="dynavax-technologies-corporation">Dynavax Technologies Corporation</keyword> (Dynavax), a US-based vaccine focused biopharmaceutical company, and <keyword id="503459" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Baylor-College-of-Medicine">Baylor College of Medicine</keyword>, a health sciences university in Houston. Biological E has also signed an agreement with Johnson &amp; Johnson to produce the latter's vaccine at its vaccine production facilities and sell them both in India and export across various global markets. Indian Immunologicals, a human and animal vaccines maker, too is developing a vaccine for COVID. Hyderabad-based pahrma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories is conducting clinical trials of Russian COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V. Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia's sovereign wealth fund, has collaborated with Dr Reddy's to conduct clinical trials and distribute the vaccine in India. Hyderabad was under spotlight with the recent visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ambassadors of more than 60 countries to the facilities of Bharat Biotech and Biological E in Genome Valley Telangana's industry minister K. T. Rama Rao believes that Hyderabad has cemented its position as the vaccine capital of the world. He pointed out that Hyderabad is already manufacturing more than two billion doses of vaccines every year, which is one-third of the global vaccine output. The city, with its strong ecosystem, has played a critical role in making India not only self-sufficient in the medicine manufacture but also turned it into the pharmacy capital of the world. It accounts for 40 per cent of the total Indian bulk drugs and 50 per cent of the bulk drug exports. Industry leaders believe that Hyderabad will be an integral part of the global efforts to vaccinate the world against COVID. Even if no vaccine is developed in the city, the city will still have a big role to play in global vaccination efforts with the sheer vaccine manufacturing capacity it houses. Hyderabad has the largest US FDA approved vaccine facilities. They have the capacity to manufacture millions of doses with world-class standards. "India's vaccine sector will play a critical role in developing and producing vaccine at scale for distribution across the world. Hyderabad's importance in the global vaccine landscape is only growing," K.T. Rama Rao said. Telangana government has assured the companies that it will play the enabling role in global vaccination efforts against COVID-19. The Hyderabad airport announced few days ago that has developed necessary infrastructure to handle the exports. As per the industry insights, most of India's vaccine export will be to Africa, Latin America and Asian destinations. Hyderabad is already home to more than 800 life sciences companies and the sector employs over 1,20,000 pharmaceutical professionals. It is said to be the only city in the country to house more than 20 incubation centres focused only on life sciences and health-tech. More than 200 start-ups are also working on innovative solutions in healthcare. Genome Valley is India's first organised cluster for life sciences R&amp;D activities spread across 600 square kilometers. Set up in 1999, it has world-class infrastructure facilities in the form of <keyword id="10464926" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="industrial-/-knowledge">Industrial / Knowledge</keyword> parks, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Multi-tenanted dry and wet laboratories and incubation facilities. It is home to more than 200 companies including presence of the marquee global names like Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Ferring Pharma, Chemo, DuPont, Ashland, United States Pharmacopeia and Lonza. With <keyword id="4920024" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hyderabad-Pharma-City">Hyderabad Pharma City</keyword> also likely to be operational soon, the city is looking to ramp-up production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and thus develop a cluster to help the country compete with China. The new project is expected to create 1,70,000 direct jobs and 5,60,000 indirect jobs. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/wistron-apple-iphone-manufacturer-could-face-these-penalties-if-found-guilty/articleshow/79790319.cms">If investigators find Wistron management guilty, here's what is at stake for the company</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/heres-what-analysts-say-if-you-should-subscribe-or-not-to-the-300-crore-ipo-of-antony-waste-handling-cell/articleshow/79790998.cms">Antony Waste Handling Cell ₹300-crore IPO will open on Monday— these are the risks and opportunities</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/ikea-india-cfo-says-she-still-has-3500-crore-to-be-spent-in-india-the-pandemic-has-changed-targets-but-not-the-investment-plan/articleshow/79790938.cms">INTERVIEW: Ikea CFO says she still has ₹3,500 crore to be spent in India⁠— the pandemic has changed targets but not the investment plan</a>

Hyderabad : Vaccine capital of the world

<ul><li>With over 170 million registered users, <keyword id="6357886" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="phonepe">PhonePe</keyword>’s strategy for further growing its hold in the segment is to get into smaller cities and encourage adoption of its platform.</li><li>PhonePe launched ‘<keyword id="8389903" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="PhonePe-Switch">PhonePe Switch</keyword>’ in September that lets customers access multiple apps while being on PhonePe. </li><li><keyword id="2315463" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rahul-Chari">Rahul Chari</keyword>, Co-Founder and CTO, PhonePe says that the challenge ahead of them is to build offerings for a billion Indians who have the means to transact but either don’t know or don’t understand digital payments.</li></ul> In November 2016, the government’s decision of <keyword id="6362150" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="demonetization">demonetization</keyword> led to an unprecedented growth of the <keyword id="1399736" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Digital-Payment">digital payment</keyword>s ecosystem in India. That, coupled with availability of cheaper data across the country has also led to a widespread adoption of digital payment apps. However, most in the industry believe that the next phase of growth for the segment will come from tapping into ‘Bharat’, and that is exactly what Flipkart-owned PhonePe is trying to do. With over 170 million registered users and close to 7.8 million merchants from 215 cities across the country on its platform, PhonePe’s strategy for further growing its hold in the segment is to get into smaller cities and encourage adoption of its platform. In a recent conversation with Ad &amp; Media Insider, Rahul Chari, Co-Founder and CTO, PhonePe spoke about the platform’s constant efforts at keeping the consumer’s need at the core of all their innovations, and its strategy to take the platform to the next level. PhonePe’s story so far When they launched the platform three years ago, the idea was to build an ecosystem centered around payments providing users with speed and security at every transaction touchpoint, while also enabling businesses to reach a new and large consumer base. Three years since, Chari says that PhonePe has been able to pioneer the growth of UPI based payments as they foresaw its power over wallets in changing the payments landscape of the country. “Our journey has been incredible to say the least, not just in terms of the growth in the number of users and transactions, but also in realizing the social impact payments and financial services can create. With our money transfer and bill payment offerings, wide merchant acceptance, both online and offline, the ‘Switch’ platform that aggregates various merchants on the PhonePe app itself and our foray into financial services with Gold and Mutual funds, it is safe to say that we are truly on the way to realize our vision from three years ago.” In September, PhonePe launched ‘PhonePe Switch’ that lets customers access multiple apps while being on PhonePe. The aim was to build a partner app ecosystem that offers its users a convenient way to access and engage with multiple apps. Speaking about its reception so far, Chari says, “PhonePe Switch enables our merchant partners to integrate their existing progressive web apps or mobile-sites to the platform, and instantly reach out to around 65 million monthly active PhonePe app users. The future lies in creating solutions keeping customer service at the helm, this is where the idea of ‘Switch’ emerged and we decided to build a ‘super app’ providing a one click entry point to a world of apps on the PhonePe platform." PhonePe Switch currently has around 65 apps in categories such as food, travel, local commuting, grocery and others and the number is expected to touch 500 by the year end. Where’s the growth coming from? As per recent regulatory documents, PhonePe’s losses mounted to Rs 1,904.72 crore in 2018-19 from the previous fiscal. However, documents sourced by business intelligence platform Tofler showed that its revenue from operations saw a manifold increase, to Rs 184.22 crore in FY19 as against Rs 42.79 crore earlier. It has also seen an increase in its monthly transaction and its merchants count. Sharing some recent growth figure, Chari said, “We have seen a 2.6X growth in our monthly transactions y-o-y, from 120 million in October ’18 to 440 million in October ‘19. Our merchant acceptance number has grown 18X, from 0.4 million in October ’18 to 7.8 million in October’19.” He says that the growth has been a direct result of a few strategic bets they took early on. “The conscious choice of UPI, introduced in 2016, had a defining impact on the digital payments industry. Phone was the first payments app anchored on UPI. While the first two years were purely about ramping up user-side of the network, with UPI stabilization, we started ramping up our merchant acceptance network and today we are accepted by millions of merchants across 215 cities in India.” He believes that another factor that boosted PhonePe’s growth was the open ecosystem approach they took right since inception. “This was completely contrary to the approach the incumbent players in the market had taken. The open ecosystem approach allowed creating as many hooks and connects between the various ecosystem players allowing consumers, merchants, and financial service providers to engage and transact at scale with each other. PhonePe was also the first to introduce the interoperable QR code making it easy and affordable for MSMEs across India to accept digital payments at zero MDR rates,” he says. Making the platform secure Despite the government’s efforts at digitizing India, the emergence of digital payment frauds have restricted a lot of people from adopting these platforms. In such a scenario, winning a consumer’s trust becomes critical in ensuring an increase in adopting. On what PhonePe is doing to make its platform more secure, Chari says that the platform is making significant investments towards building deep tech in the area of fraud detection. He elaborates, “We score every transaction in real-time for authenticity before allowing the user to authorize the same. We also invest in real-time analysis of mobile numbers, devices, cards or bank accounts for patterns of abnormal behavior. Our data models flag entities as high risk resulting in their immediate blocking until they can be reviewed systemically. Our constant endeavor is to fine tune these models and reduce the blocked transactions to provide maximum accuracy.” Cracking the ‘Bharat’ code Cheaper data and smartphones have helped take the digital world to the interiors of the country. And PhonePe sees a huge opportunity in making itself desirable to consumers from smaller cities. Speaking about the increased uptake it has seen in non-metro cities in the past few years, Chari says, “Smartphone penetration, cheaper data, simplified on-boarding process and more mobile specific/local language context are among the top forces propelling the move towards adoption of digital payments. PhonePe has seen tremendous growth in Tier II and Tier III locations and today almost 55% of our transactions originate from non-Tier I cities. PhonePe already has 7.8 Million merchants across 215 cities in India and we plan to tap into smaller cities in the near future.” Chari said that the platform would continue to grow all parts of its business which includes adding more and more use cases to the PhonePe app, increasing their acceptance at offline and online merchants and adding more apps to the PhonePe Switch platform while also enhancing its financial service offerings. “Going forward digital payments will have to be a lot more inclusive and 'Bharat' will genuinely play an important part in this growth. Our challenge is to build offerings for a billion Indians who have the means to transact but either don’t know or don’t understand digital payments,” he adds.

PhonePe is looking at ‘Bharat’ for its next phase of growth

Nearly ten months after the Prime Minister Narendra <keyword id="6354642" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Modi">Modi</keyword> assumed office, his ambitious projects meant for the betterment of the society seems to be ‘full of sound and fury, signifying nothing’. As per a news report by The Economic Times, Modi’s much hyped <keyword id="6361202" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Swachh-Bharat">Swachh Bharat</keyword> scheme has suffered a <keyword id="841422" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="budget-cut">budget cut</keyword> of Rs 635 crore across the country for the fiscal year 2015-16. 
 
However, this move might mean a better execution of the projects. With less funds involved and better grounding of the projects, this might mean less misuse of the funds at various levels. 
 
Erstwhile Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh’s Integrated Child Development Scheme for undernourished children in anganwadis has also been cut by a whopping cut of Rs 9,858 crore, which is less than half of last year's budget of Rs 17,858 crore. 
 
According to the financial daily, the Modi government has also cut funds to the Rashtirya Grameen Drinking Water Scheme that sees a slash of Rs 8,390 crore. 
 
Even the allocation for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA) has come down drastically from Rs 9,193.75 crore last year to just Rs 2,000 crore. SSA has garnered a mounting success over the years in most parts of the country where school drop outs were on rise. 
While the Congress in opposition has managed to activate the blame mode towards the ruling BJP, political experts opine that this would enhance the investment in infrastructures, agriculture and agribusiness, research and innovation, upgradation of industries, foreign investment, secondary education and vocational training . 
 
Political analyst Harish Ramaswamy has told the financial daily that the allocations were "more practical and pragmatic" this time, as states often did not utilise the funds that were allotted to them. 
 
(Image: India Times)

Modi’s pet scheme, ‘Swachha Bharat’ now lacks funds!

<ul><li>At 7:50 am the SGX Nifty was trading 0.82% lower pointing towards a weak start for Nifty50. </li><li>Here’s a list of stocks to watch for in trade today. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/">Check out the latest news and updates on Business Insider</a>. </li></ul>Indian stock market is likely to tread lower amidst negative cues from global peers. At 7:50 am the SGX Nifty was trading 0.82% lower pointing towards a cautious start for Nifty50. On Tuesday, the US stocks also plunged as investors continued to rotate out of the tech sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2.25% lower. And, the S&amp;P 500 sank 2.7% towards the end of trading. Here’s a list of stocks to watch for in trade on September 9: Wipro The IT major Wipro yesterday announced its plans to set up a digital innovation hub at Dusseldorf in Germany. The company said that it would serve as its major’s flagship centre in Europe. The proposed Digital Innovation Hub will offer digital transformation expertise to companies in Germany, enabling organisations to cross skill and upskill besides supporting talent development in local communities, the company said in a statement. The shares of Wipro ended 1.2% higher yesterday. Astrazeneca The last-stage studies of Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine are on a temporary hold as the company is investigating if the patient who suffered serious side effects had anything to do with their vaccine trial shots. The shares of Astrazeneca ended 1% higher yesterday. Oil, paint and aviation stocks will be in focus Brent crude slips below $40 for the first time since June 30. This may come as good news for paint manufacturers and airlines industry. Taking this into account the shares of listed aviation giants like IndiGo, SpiceJet and paint manufacturers like Asian Paints, Berger Paints may react during the trade today. IDBI Bank IDBI Bank sold the remaining 1 million shares amounting to 0.21% stake in the National Stock Exchange of India. When LIC acquired 51% stake in IDBI Bank, the shareholding threshold in NSE was breached as both LIC and IDBI held stake in NSE before that. The shares of IDBI Bank ended 1.3% lower yesterday. TeamLease Services The Bengaluru based recruitment service provider TeamLease Services increased its stake from 40% to 76.37% in the edu-tech company Schoolguru. The shares of TeamLease Services ended 3% lower yesterday. Future Consumer Kishore Biyani owned Future Consumer reported ₹68.4 crore loss for the first quarter ended June 30. The overall revenue was down 63.7% to ₹380.5 crore. Enam Finance also sold 1 crore shares of the company at a floor price of ₹10.13 per share. This may also move other Future Group subsidiaries such as Future Lifestyle Fashions, Future Enterprises, Future Retail, among others. The shares of Future Consumer ended 3% lower yesterday. Reliance Industries RIL-owned Jio is looking to manufacture over 100 million low-cost smartphones on the Google platform. According to <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/top-headlines-jio-plans-to-roll-out-100-mn-phones-pubg-sheds-china-link-120090900150_1.html">reports</a>, the phones will be bundles with data packs and may launch in December next year. The shares of RIL ended 1% higher yesterday. Bharat Dynamics The ₹900 crore offer for sale of the government shares in Bharat Dynamics received an overwhelming response on day one and was subscribed 1.40 times by non- retail investors. The Union government is selling over 2.74 crore shares of the company at a floor price of ₹330 apiece. The shares of Bharat Dynamics ended 14% lower yesterday. Happiest Minds Tech IPO ends today Today is the last date to subscribe to Happiest Minds Tech ₹702 crore IPO. The IPO was 8.3 times subscribed at the end of Day 2. Route Mobile IPO opens today Route Mobile, a cloud communications service provider IPO, will be open for subscription today. The company is looking to raise ₹ crore through this IPO and has fixed the price band at ₹345-350 per share. Ahead of the IPO, the company has garnered ₹180 crore from 15 anchor investors. The list includes Goldman Sachs, Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund, Kuwait Investment Authority, Vantage Equity Fund, SBI Life Insurance, Axis Mutual Fund among others.

Top stocks to watch— RIL, Astrazeneca, Future Retail, Future Consumer, TeamLease, Spicejet, Asian Paints, Bharat Dynamics and more

Hyderabad, Jun 3 () The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) will provide a fund of USD 14.1 million to a consortium, comprising Bharat Biotech and International Vaccine Institute (IVI), for vaccine manufacturing and clinical development of a two-dose live-inactivated vaccine (BBV87) against Chikungunya. CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil organisations, launched at Davos in 2017, to develop vaccines to stop future epidemics. This grant is supported by the European Unions (EU) Horizon 2020 programmethrough an existing framework partnership agreement with CEPI, a press release from the city-based vaccine manufacturer said on Wednesday. The consortium will be further supported with a grant of up to USD 2 million from the centre's Ind-CEPI initiative which will fund the set-up of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) manufacturing facilities for the vaccine in India, and the subsequent manufacture of clinical trial materials, it said. In addition to manufacturing, the partnering agreement will finance a multi-centre Phase 2/3 adaptive clinical trial to be conducted by IVI in Colombia, Panama and Thailand which will provide crucial data about the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate. "The partnership will build on Bharat Biotech's experience of developing and supplying affordable vaccines, and WHO prequalification procedures, to ensure affordable access to the vaccine in countries where Chikungunya is endemic, in line with CEPI's core commitment to equitable access," it said. The investment is part of CEPI's third call for proposals which was launched in January 2019. Since the launch of this call, over USD 80 million of CEPI core funding has been committed to three Chikungunya vaccine candidates and two Rift Valley Fever vaccine candidates. GDK BN WELCOME BN WELCOME

CEPI grants USD 14.1 mn to Bharat Biotech consortium for Chikungunya vaccine

New Delhi, Dec 23 () Experts from health, education and rural development sectors on Monday suggested a dedicated fund for the protection of children, a policy to encourage healthy food habits, and more financial allocations for secondary-level schools.
The main areas of discussion were related to improving efficiency in the delivery of health services; devising innovative ways to reach primary healthcare facilities for marginalised sections; and improving learning outcomes at primary level while also making secondary and higher level education accessible and affordable; among others, said an official release.
The 10th and final Pre-Budget Consultation meeting was chaired by Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur attended by senior government officials.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Union Budget in February.
The experts discussed benefits of child budgeting; collecting gender disaggregated data by a national mission; broadening, expanding and strengthening PDS; land titles to women; changes in general procurement guidelines to include disabled-friendly technology; and waiver of tax on assisted technology for disabled persons.
As per the release, they also suggested setting up of a dedicated national fund for protection of children; eradication of child labour; policy to encourage healthy food habits via measures like higher taxes on sin products; better compliance of Right to Education and employment generation with skill matching for youth in urban areas.
Representatives from Rashrtiya Sewa Bharati, Right to Education Forum, SEWA Bharat, Save the Children, Right to Food Campaign, Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, WHO India, Help Age India, CRY-Child Rights and You, UNICEF, The Hans Foundation, and Action Aid Association among others, participated in the meeting. NKD MR
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