Midnapore: Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh accused Trinamool Congress of pitting Goddess Durga against Lord Ram in an attempt to divide believers.
“They (Trinamool) are trying to drive a wedge between people by mixing politics with religion. Lord Ram was a worshipper of Ma Durga. The don’t know that Lord Ram had invoked Goddess Durga to take on Ravana. Let goddesses Durga and Kali stay in temples. If you want to create a political narrative, fight over political ideologies,” Ghosh said on Saturday on Chandrakona Road, turning the tables on Trinamool.
This is the first time religious slogans such ‘Jai Shri Ram’ or Trinamool’s new ‘Jai Siya Ram’ have gained traction in Bengal politics ahead of assembly polls.
The state BJP president was addressing a rally as the BJP rath yatra, flagged off by party president J P Nadda in Jhargram, was passing through Midnapore.
Ghosh slammed the Trinamool government, holding it responsible for Bengal’s downslide. “People in Jangalmahal do not have access to drinking water. There are hospitals here but no doctors. Here, democracy is at stake. People are witnessing political violence,” he said.
Addressing supporters at Bhadutala, the BJP leader cited how the Trinamool government threw a spanner in the welfare measures PM Narendra Modi took for Bengal. “People here are not getting the annual Rs 5 lakh benefit under Ayushman Bharat health scheme. Poor farmers have been denied Rs 6,000 under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi for the last two years. Young people are moving out of the state,” Ghosh said.
He added that only a “double engine” government — Modi government at the Centre and a BJP regime in the state — can pull Bengal out of its morass and put it on growth path.
PM Narendra Modi is likely to visit Bengal on February 22 for the second time this month. Sources close to the development said Modi might inaugurate the Metro service from Noapara to Dakshineswar if things go according to plan. Bengal BJP leaders indicated that the PM would address a public rally on Dunlop Maidan in Hooghly.
The state BJP is also planning a rally on Brigade Parade Grounds in March after the party’s yatras are over. “PM Modi will address the rally to bring an end to the misrule in Bengal,” Ghosh said.
Dilip: TMC mixing politics, religion to divide people
France: EIB provides €50 million to support Forsee Power’s growth
- The EIB is providing €50 million to Forsee Power to help create a European battery champion.
- This second loan – following an initial €20 million granted in late 2017 under the Juncker Plan – will finance the expansion of the company’s range of products for 100% battery-powered, hydrogen hybrid and thermal hybrid vehicles.
- It will facilitate product development for new markets and strengthen Forsee Power’s manufacturing capacity.
Forsee Power – the smart battery systems for the electromobility markets expert – has announced the conclusion of €105 million in financing to support its expansion into new electromobility markets and regions. This includes a €50 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Confidence in electromobility to mitigate climate change
The signature of this loan confirms the European Union’s determination to act via the EIB to help create a European battery champion and develop the market helping to cut CO2 emissions to benefit the climate. It comes in addition to significant financing secured by Forsee Power shareholders and banks in 2020. This substantial total contribution of €105 million has already made it possible to launch the development of new ultra-thin batteries and to increase the industrial performance of its plant near Poitiers in France. It will also enable the long-term development of commercial activities in new market segments and the continuation of the Group’s research and development efforts.
Forsee Power CEO Christophe Gurtner was proud to highlight that the company “has the transport market’s most complete range of batteries and has already signed major battery supply contracts with leading bus manufacturers including CNHI (Iveco, Heuliez), Alstom (Aptis), CaetanoBus in Portugal and Wrightbus in the United Kingdom.” The Group is also establishing a presence in the rail (Alstom/TER Regiolis and SOCOFER) and industrial vehicle (Kubota) markets.
“This financing is a great opportunity for the Group to consolidate its expertise and expand its smart and sustainable battery system ranges. Electric transport shouldn’t just be the future when it can be a reality today. It is the only way to achieve the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement.”
“Climate and innovation investments were at the heart of our strategy in 2020 and we are pleased to once again support Forsee Power’s development after initial financing in late 2017 under the Juncker plan,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle. “We are convinced that the electromobility sector can constantly reinvent itself and become ever more efficient, and we want to support this extremely buoyant European market.”
Supporting Forsee Power’s growth
The Group supplies sustainable, high-performance batteries for original equipment manufacturers around the world, to equip light electric vehicles (LEVs), commercial vehicles, buses, non-road vehicles, rail vehicles and marine vessels (excluding cars – automobile manufacturers generally make their own battery systems). With its longstanding Industrial Tech operations, Forsee Power also designs battery systems for portable industrial technologies including medical and well-being technologies, robotics, household appliances and safety devices.
The €50 million EIB loan will finance the strategic development of the Forsee Power Group through the expansion of its range of products for 100% battery-powered, hydrogen hybrid and thermal hybrid vehicles. The Group will therefore be able to strengthen its range of battery systems in the market segments already covered and develop products for new markets, such as non-road vehicles (construction and agricultural vehicles) and light urban utility vehicles.
It will also make it possible to increase manufacturing capacity and provide working capital to meet existing orders, and will provide greater market scope via increased marketing and sales spending. With an installed production capacity of 1 GWh expandable to 4 GWh, Forsee Power is well-positioned to support the electrification of all modes of transport.
About Forsee Power
Forsee Power is a French industrial group specialising in smart battery systems for sustainable electric transport (LEVs, trucks, buses, trains and marine vessels).
A major player in Europe, Asia, and North America, the Group designs, assembles and supplies energy management systems based on the most robust cells available on the market, as well as providing installation, commissioning and on-site or remote maintenance.
Forsee Power also offers financing solutions (battery rental) and second life solutions for transport batteries.
UK Foreign Secretary Raab Takes Long-Term Brexit View as EU Erects Obstacles to Trade
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has encouraged businesses hit by post-Brexit red tape to take an optimistic “10-year view” of Brexit.
Interviewed by the BBC’s Andrew Marr, Raab insisted the government was “doing a huge amount” to support businesses hampered by European Union (EU) customs bureaucracy, including “advice and guidance, particularly intermediaries dealing with things like custom declarations”.
Some small British firms have already announced that they will have to close due to duties and reams of export paperwork — which Prime Minister Boris Johnson assured would not be imposed under the post-Brexit trade deal he agreed with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the last minute between Christmas and the New Year.
“We have always been clear that there are changes that come with exiting the transition period, and what we’re trying to do is support businesses as best we can to manage those,” Raab said.
“You can always take individual cases, and I know they matter, but overall we’re in an excellent position to grasp the opportunities of a global Britain,” stressed Raab, who also serves as Johnson’s deputy PM.
“I think if you take a 10-year view, as well as looking at the short-term risk, which is right to do, actually the growth opportunities in the future are going to come from emerging and developing economies around the world.”
The UK’s trade with non-EU countries has been growing ten times faster than commerce with the bloc for more than a decade, and already accounts for more than half of exports.
Earlier this month the EU banned imports of unprocessed British shellfish, in apparent breach of the free trade agreement with the UK. That prompted one un-named government minister to accuse Brussels of “trying to punish us for daring to become a nation state” and vaccinating the UK population seven times faster than the EU can manage.
EU to fast-track jabs against virus variants
BERLIN: The European Union has agreed to fast-track approvals of vaccines updated to target coronavirus variants, the bloc’s health commissioner said Sunday, following criticism of the EU’s sluggish vaccine drive.
“We looked at the process together with the European Medicines Agency (EMA),“ Stella Kyriakides told German daily Augsburger Allgemeine in an interview.
“And we have now decided that a vaccine, which has been improved by a manufacturer based on its previous vaccine to combat new mutations, no longer has to go through the entire approvals process.
“So it will be faster to have suitable vaccines available without cutting corners on safety,“ she said.
The EU’s vaccine rollout has been snagged by delays and controversies, leaving it lagging behind countries like the United States, Britain and Israel where a larger share of the population has been injected so far.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen last week admitted that mistakes had been made in procuring vaccines on behalf of all 27 member states.
She told the European Parliament that the bloc had been late to authorise jabs, and had underestimated the difficulties of vaccine mass production.
She also warned that scientists do not yet know if the vaccines approved so far — those by BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca/Oxford — will remain effective against new mutations.
“But we do know these variants will continue to emerge. And we do know that we need to anticipate and prepare immediately,“ she said. — AFP
Three die as new Ebola outbreak declared in southern Guinea
This is the first time the disease has been reported in the country since the deadly 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa which claimed over 11,000 lives.
“It’s a huge concern to see the resurgence of Ebola in Guinea, a country which has already suffered so much from the disease”, Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said.
“However, banking on the expertise and experience built during the previous outbreak, health teams in Guinea are on the move to quickly trace the path of the virus and curb further infections”, she added.
According to the UN health agency, the cases, which were confirmed by the national laboratory, occurred in Gouéké in N’Zerekore prefecture, in southern Guinea. Initial investigations found that a nurse from a local health facility died on the 28 January. Following her burial, six people who attended the funeral reported Ebola-like symptoms and two of them later died. The other four are in hospital.
Samples of the confirmed cases have been sent to the InstitutPasteur centre in Senegal for full genome sequencing to identify the strain of the Ebola virus.
Guinea was one of the three most-affected countries in the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak which was the largest since the virus was first discovered in 1976. The outbreak, which saw some 28,000 cases, including 11,000 deaths, started in Guinea and then moved across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia.
WHO supporting response
Staff from WHO are already on the ground, assisting surveillance, and infection prevention and control efforts.
“WHO is supporting the authorities to set up testing, contact-tracing and treatment structures and to bring the overall response to full speed”, Dr. Moeti said.
WHO personnel are also reaching out to communities to ensure they take a key role in the response. In addition, the agency is also helping Guinea procure the Ebola vaccine which has proven instrumental in controlling outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
As the epicentre of the current outbreak in a border area, WHO is also working with health authorities in Liberia and Sierra Leone to step up community surveillance of cases in their border districts as well as strengthening their capacity to test for cases and conduct surveillance in health facilities.
WHO is also reaching out to Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal and other countries at risk in the region, the agency said.
Ebola virus disease
Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a rare but severe, often fatal illness in humans. The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50 per cent, with rates having varied from 25 per cent to 90 per cent in past outbreaks.
The Ebola virus spreads through contact with the body fluids – such as vomit, faeces or blood – of an infected person, or through surfaces and materials (such as bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.
The incubation period, that is, the time interval from infection with the virus to onset of symptoms, is from two to 21 days. The symptoms of EVD can be sudden and include fever, fatigue, muscle, pain, headache, and sore throat.
This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, symptoms of impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases internal and external bleeding.
According to WHO, though there are no known treatments for Ebola, an Ebola vaccine rVSV-ZEBOV can offer protection against the deadly virus. In addition, simple interventions early on can significantly improve chances of survival, including rehydration with fluids and body salts (given orally or intravenously), and treatment of specific symptoms. Hand hygiene is also a very effective way to prevent the spread of the virus.
France: OSE Immunotherapeutics enters a loan agreement of up to €25 million with the EIB
- This loan will further support the progress and expansion of OSE Immunotherapeutics’ lead clinical development programs in diseases with high unmet medical needs,
- Divided into three tranches including two tranches of €10 million each and a third tranche of €5 million,
- Agreement part of the European Investment Bank’s strategy to support biotech companies developing a high-level of expertise in various areas such as OSE’s immunotherapy programs, including its vaccine program against SARS-CoV-2.
OSE Immunotherapeutics (ISIN: FR0012127173; Mnemo: OSE) today announced that the company has signed a loan agreement of up to €25 million with the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The loan facility of up to €25 million is divided into three tranches including two tranches of €10 million each and a third tranche of €5 million.
The first €10 million tranche, unconditional and which OSE will request payment before the end of May 2021, will help expand the clinical development of Tedopi® in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor in additional cancer indications. This first tranche will also support the entry into Phase 1/2 of OSE-279, OSE’s proprietary anti-PD-1 antibody, in a niche oncology indication. This development of OSE-279 will allow OSE Immunotherapeutics to have its own proprietary anti-PD-1 antibody and leverage it across OSE’s product portfolio in combination with other drug candidates. Moreover, OSE-279 is the key anti-PD-1 backbone component of the bifunctional checkpoint inhibitor BiCKI® platform, targeting PD-1 and other innovative targets, paired with novel immunotherapy targets.
The remaining two tranches of €10 and €5 million, available upon achievement of specific clinical milestones, are planned to be used to accelerate the clinical development of the Company’s other programs, in particular CD28 antagonist FR104 and new anti-ChemR23 agonist OSE-230.
Alexis Peyroles, Chief Executive Officer of OSE Immunotherapeutics, comments: “We are very grateful for EIB’s support, a major financial European institution, as the Company is at an inflection point of its growth. The first €10 million tranche allows OSE to extend its financial visibility to Q2 2022. This new flexible funding tool will help expand and accelerate the development of our clinical stage portfolio and explore new therapeutic indications with strong medical need, reinforcing OSE’s status as a key global player in immunotherapy.”
Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President of the EIB, explains: “The EIB is pleased to announce its support of OSE, a biotech combining a high level of research and innovation, highly qualified collaborators and cutting-edge expertise in the field of monoclonal and bispecific antibodies. The portfolio of products under development in various therapeutic areas such as immuno-oncology, autoimmune diseases and a vaccine project against SARS-CoV-2, means that OSE Immunotherapeutics is a potential major player in the health sector. This project is fully in line with the mandate set for the EIB by its shareholders – the EU Member States – to support innovation across Europe“.
This loan will carry a fixed interest of 5% per year paid annually, with a maturity of five years (each drawdown is treated separately in terms of maturity). The repayment of each tranche will therefore be made at the end of a period of five years after the date of disbursement of the said tranche.
The loan agreement is supplemented by an agreement to issue warrants to the EIB for the first two tranches of the financing, in particular 850,000 warrants for the first tranche to be issued when drawn. 550,000 additional warrants could be issued if the second tranche of €10 million is drawn by OSE Immunotherapeutics.
Each warrant will give the right to subscribe to one ordinary share of OSE Immunotherapeutics at the subscription price of €0.01 and at the exercise price calculated on the basis of the volume-weighted average of the 3 trading days preceding the pricing (which will take place at the end of May 2021), with a discount of 2.5%.
The warrants will be exercisable for a period of 12 years.
Subject to certain customary exceptions, the warrants will only be exercisable after a five-year period starting from the drawdown of the relevant tranche, thus limiting the impact in terms of dilution and volatility in the coming years.
The warrant agreement includes an exercise parity adjustment clause which could apply, under certain conditions, in case of capital increase. The EIB will be granted with the possibility, under certain conditions, to request OSE Immunotherapeutics to buy back its warrants for a maximum amount of €15 million and, beyond that amount, to find a buyer and pay interests on the price of the remaining warrants.
About OSE Immunotherapeutics
OSE Immunotherapeutics is an integrated biotechnology company focused on developing and partnering therapies to control the immune system for immuno-oncology and autoimmune diseases. The company’s immunology research and development platform is focused on three areas: T-cell-based vaccination, Immuno-Oncology (focus on myeloid targets), Auto-immunity & Inflammation. Its balanced first-in-class clinical and preclinical portfolio has a diversified risk profile:
Vaccine platform
- Tedopi® (innovative combination of neoepitopes): the company’s most advanced product; positive results for Step-1 of the Phase 3 trial (Atalante 1) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer post checkpoint inhibitor failure. In Phase 2 in pancreatic cancer (TEDOPaM, sponsor GERCOR) in combination. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, accrual of new patients in TEDOPaM should restart in 2021.
- CoVepiT: a prophylactic second generation vaccine against COVID-19, developed using SARS-CoV-2 optimized epitopes against multi variants. Positive preclinical and human ex vivo results in August 2020, clinical trial expected to start in Q1 2021.
Immuno-oncology platform
- BI 765063 (OSE-172, anti-SIRPα mAb on SIRPα/CD47 pathway): developed in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim; myeloid checkpoint inhibitor in Phase 1 in advanced solid tumors.
- CLEC-1 (novel myeloid checkpoint target): identification of mAb antagonists of CLEC-1 blocking the “Don’t Eat Me” signal that increase both tumor cell phagocytosis by macrophages and antigen capture by dendritic cells.
- BiCKI®: bispecific fusion protein platform built on the key backbone component anti-PD-1 (OSE-279) combined with new immunotherapy targets; 2nd generation of PD-(L)1 inhibitors to increase antitumor efficacity.
Auto-immunity and inflammation platform
- FR104 (anti-CD28 monoclonal antibody): positive Phase 1 results; ongoing Phase 1/2 in renal transplant, Phase 2-ready asset in a niche indication in autoimmune diseases.
- OSE-127/S95011 (humanized monoclonal antibody targeting IL-7 receptor): developed in partnership with Servier; positive Phase 1 results; in Phase 2 in ulcerative colitis (OSE sponsor) and an independent Phase 2 planned in Sjögren’s syndrome (Servier sponsor).
- OSE-230 (ChemR23 agonist mAb): first-in-class therapeutic agent with the potential to resolve chronic inflammation by driving affected tissues to tissue integrity.
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Qatar, UN & EU Team Up to Build Gas Line to Gaza from Israel
Although Qatar has not yet signed on to the Abraham Accords with Israel, the Gulf nation nevertheless has been taking a lead role in making sure that Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorists maintain a modicum of peaceful behavior in the enclave south of Israel.
Qatari Ambassador Mohamed Al-Emadi, head of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, has also headed the distribution of monthly cash payments to the population in the enclave.
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This weekend, Al-Emadi told a Qatari news outlet there will be two contracts for a new gas pipeline project to supply natural gas to Gaza from Israel. One contract – between the Palestinian Authority and Delek — will cover the purchase of the gas. The second contract will cover the cost of extending the gas pipeline between Israel and Gaza.
The European Union is believed to have pledged some $5 million for the installation of the gas pipeline on the Gaza side of the border, leading to the power plant. Qatar is believed to be handling the installation of the gas pipeline on the Israeli side of the border.
Once the pipeline is installed on both sides of the border, it is expected the project will result in a greatly expanded supply of electricity – about double the current output, in fact – estimated to reach about 400 megawatts, while reducing the cost of the electricity as well.
The flow of energy to the enclave’s sole power plant in the enclave, and the enclave’s access to electricity, has been iffy at best up to this point due to power struggles between Hamas and Fatah. The two factions have in the past tended to use the Gaza population and their payments of electricity bills as a political football, rather than simply transfer the payments directly to the Israel Electric Company to cover the cost of the electricity they received.
Spotty payments together with rocket attacks aimed at Israeli civilians that occasionally took out important wires and electrical installations have made delivery of the needed energy supplies difficult to maintain.
It is hoped the new multinational project will finally bring an end to the suffering of the people of Gaza, once control over energy in the enclave is addressed by people than the local terrorist leadership.
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Aspen’s offer to cut prices of cancer drugs allows it to avoid EU fine
Brussels — Aspen Pharmacare warded off a possible hefty EU antitrust fine after regulators accepted the pharmaceutical company’s offer to cut cancer drug prices in Europe by about two-thirds, in a landmark case aimed at deterring excessive prices.
In the past decade, the European Commission has cracked down on the pharmaceutical industry for pay-for-delay deals between brand name companies and their generic rivals, while shying away from excessive pricing cases.
The Commission decision confirmed a Reuters report on February 3.
In 2020, Aspen offered to cut prices by an average of 73% for six off-patent cancer drugs after the EU executive voiced concerns it may have charged excessive prices for drugs mainly used in the treatment of leukaemia and other haematological cancers.
The competition enforcer said there were no legitimate reasons for Aspen’s very high profit levels especially when the drugs used to treat certain serious forms of blood cancer, including myeloma and leukaemia, had been off-patent for 50 years.
“Today’s decision gives a strong signal to other dominant pharmaceutical companies not to engage in abusive pricing practices to exploit our health systems,” European Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
The reduced prices will also act as a cap for 10 years, retroactive to October 2019. Aspen will guarantee supplies for five years and will also continue to supply or make its marketing authorisation to other suppliers for an additional five years.
The pledge is valid for 10 years. Aspen could have faced a fine of up to 10% of its global turnover on top of a finding of wrongdoing if found guilty of breaching EU rules.
Aspen’s offer does not apply to Italy, which earlier had its own case against the company.
Reuters
Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá : First steps taken to raise walls of central plaza
BAHÁ’Í WORLD CENTRE — As construction of the floor for the central plaza of the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá nears completion, preparations are underway to build the more complex geometric elements of surrounding walls.
This and other recent developments on the site are featured in the images that follow.
Panels for the custom-made formwork that will shape the walls have now been delivered to the site.
The formwork that will act as a mold for the plaza walls is assembled for the first time.
The gap between the steel panels will be filled with concrete to form a single wall segment.
This mold will be used to build ten identical segments of the walls that will surround the central plaza, whose geometric pattern is visible in the design rendering to the left.
Top: View from the central plaza area toward the south plaza. Bottom: The curved portal wall that will enclose the south plaza takes shape.
Another view of the southeast curved portal wall that will enclose the south plaza.
Formwork is also being assembled for the curved portal wall along the north end of the east garden berm.
Two utility rooms that will be concealed under the garden berms are being built adjacent to the central plaza.
In one of the final stages of preparation for the floor of the central plaza, formwork is put in place for paths among the planters that will hold soil and irrigation for the gardens.
With the paths laid out, the geometric pattern of these gardens becomes visible.
An encircling path is being built on which visitors will be able to circumambulate the Shrine.
A view of the site from the west (left). The wall visible in the foreground marks the line where the slope of the garden berms will meet the encircling path, as seen in the design rendering (right).
