Asia
India introduces draft resolution in UN over observer status for international solar alliance
Underlining that the International Solar Alliance will usher in a new era of "green energy diplomacy", India introduced a draft resolution in the UN General Assembly for granting Observer Status for the global initiative that would help provide for regular cooperation between ISA and the United Nations, benefiting global energy growth and development, reports NDTV.
The International Solar Alliance or ISA was jointly launched by India and France in 2015 at the 21st Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) held in Paris.
"It is my honour to introduce the draft resolution...for granting Observer Status for the International Solar Alliance on behalf of India and France" and about 80 co-sponsors, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti said on Friday.
"The International Solar Alliance through its efforts to bring about just and equitable energy solutions through the deployment of solar energy is expected to usher in a new era of green energy diplomacy," Ambassador Tirumurti said in the General Assembly as he introduced the draft resolution in the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly that deals with legal questions.
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The granting of Observer Status to International Solar Alliance in the General Assembly would help provide for a regular and well-defined cooperation between the Alliance and the United Nations that would benefit global energy growth and development, he said.
The co-sponsors include Algeria, Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Denmark, Egypt, Fiji, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom.
"Another milestone for (the) International Solar Alliance. India introduces draft resolution in #UNGA for granting Observer Status to @isolaralliance (ISA). I said that ISA, through its efforts towards just & equitable energy solutions, will usher in (a) new era of "Green Energy Diplomacy"," Ambassador Tirumurti tweeted.
He underlined that granting ISA observer status in UNGA would enable the organisation to provide targeted inputs to current and future United Nations processes, based on grass-root level experiences from its country programmes, its research and public-private cooperation activities and its global knowledge-sharing activities.
ISA is also taking a big step towards addressing some of the questions like "technological transfer", "storage of solar energy" and even financial assistance to member countries, along with project layout and project planning, Mr Tirumurti said.
The United Nations General Assembly may grant Permanent Observer Status to non-member states, international organisations and other entities.
Read: Made in India virus kits boost testing, and local industry
As per information on the UN website, the General Assembly decided that "observer status would be confined to states and intergovernmental organisations whose activities cover matters of interest to the Assembly".
The Sixth Committee of the General Assembly considers all applications for observer status before they are considered in the plenary session. Permanent Observers may participate in the sessions and workings of the General Assembly and maintain missions at the UN headquarters, the website said.
Intergovernmental Organisations having received a standing invitation to participate as Observers in the sessions and the work of the UNGA include European Union, INTERPOL, International Renewable Energy Agency, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Asian Development Bank, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Commonwealth of Independent States, European Organisation for Nuclear Research, Indian Ocean Rim Association, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, International Committee of the Red Cross and International Olympic Committee.
Mr Tirumurti stressed that the Framework Agreement of ISA explicitly designates the UN, including its organs, as strategic partners of the Alliance.
"Observer status will greatly enhance the Alliance's ability to achieve its goals," he said, adding that ISA will be able to follow closely the deliberations in the General Assembly, cooperate with the UN organs, agencies and programmes in implementation of its programmes and activities and benefit from the UN network of field offices, its experience in programme cooperation with governments and its wide resources in the development process.
The International Solar Alliance was opened for signature as an international treaty-based organisation in November 2016 and the agreement entered into force on December 6, 2017.
Read:India lifts travel curbs on those arriving from UK
Mr Tirumurti said the Alliance of solar-resource rich countries with its membership was open to those 121 UN member states that lie fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. This was further amended at the First Assembly of the ISA, to expand the scope of ISA membership to all UN member states.
He said the Paris Declaration on the launch of International Solar Alliance expounded the shared vision of bringing clean, affordable, and renewable energy within reach of all.
Noting that International Solar Alliance is dedicated to contributing to the successful outcome of the UN process on sustainable development and the attainment of internationally agreed development goals, Mr Tirumurti said, "We seek your support for the draft resolution."
"Since its establishment, International Solar Alliance has strived to achieve its objectives by initiating thematic programmes dedicated to the deployment of cross-cutting solar energy applications across multiple sectors including, but not limited to, agriculture, health, and electricity. ISA has played an important role internationally in supporting the implementation of United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change and the global climate agenda in general," he said.
Mr Tirumurti added that participation in major international meetings involving these issues is often critical for International Solar Alliance to carry out its work and mandate. In addition, ISA has wide resources and the expertise to make a significant contribution to all such meetings, dialogues and decisions, by helping to shape the global policy dialogue.
Japan's Kishida sends offering to controversial Tokyo shrine
Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida donated ritual offerings Sunday to a Tokyo shrine viewed by Chinese and Koreans as a symbol of Japanese wartime aggression, though he did not make a visit in person.
Kishida donated “masakaki” religious ornaments to mark Yasukuni Shrine's autumn festival. It was the first such observance by Kishida since he took office on Oct. 4.
Read: Japan PM dissolves lower house for Oct. 31 national election
Victims of Japanese aggression during the first half of the 20th century, especially Chinese and Koreans, see the shrine as a symbol of Japan’s militarism because it honors convicted World War II criminals among about 2.5 million war dead.
Such observances are seen by critics as a sign of a lack of remorse over the country's wartime atrocities.
Kishida was visiting the 2011 tsunami-hit areas in northern Japan over the weekend and stayed away from the shrine.
His predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, also only made offerings during his one-year leadership. He stepped down in September and visited the shrine on Sunday, dressed in a formal morning coat.
Read: Kishida vows to lead with 'trust and empathy' to fix Japan
Suga told reporters that he visited as a former prime minister to “offer my respect to the sacred spirits of those who sacrificed their precious lives for the country and to pray that their souls may rest in peace.”
After China and the Koreas reacted with outrage to a visit to Yasukuni by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2013, Japanese leaders have avoided visiting the shrine while in office.
Many South Koreans deeply resent Japan for its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. Relations between Seoul and Tokyo have soured in recent years amid disputes over compensation for Korean wartime laborers and over the systematic abuses of “comfort women” used for sex by the Japanese military before its World War II defeat in 1945.
House fire in eastern Pakistan kills 7 family members
Police were investigating after a fire overnight in eastern Pakistan killed seven family members, a rescue official said Sunday.
The fire ignited at a house in the Ali Pur area of Muzaffar Garh district in Punjab province, said rescue service chief Dr. Hussain Mian.
Read: 4 terrorists killed in clash with security forces in SW Pakistan
He said firefighters retrieved the charred bodies of a 65-year-old man, two women ages 35 and 19, three boys ages 3, 10 and 12 and a 2-month-old infant.
Mian said the bodies have been sent for autopsy and forensic examination.
Police said the cause of the fire was being investigated and investigators want to know why none of the family members woke up when the fire erupted.
ASEAN downgrades Myanmar presence in summit in major rebuke
Southeast Asian foreign ministers have agreed to downgrade Myanmar's participation in an upcoming summit in their sharpest rebuke yet of its leaders following a Feb. 1 military takeover.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations will invite a non-political representative instead of Myanmar's military leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the grouping's chair Brunei said Saturday.
The decision was made at an emergency meeting late Friday after Myanmar refused to cooperate with the bloc's crisis envoy, Erywan Yusof, who is Brunei's Second Foreign Minister.
In a swift response, Myanmar's foreign ministry said it was "extremely disappointed and strongly objected" to the group's decision, which was made without a consensus.
"Linking the matter of Myanmar's representation at the ASEAN summit with the visit of the special envoy would be counterproductive as it is merely putting pressure on Myanmar," the statement said.
It also claimed that the military junta's current government was in line with Myanmar's constitution.
The 10-member bloc has been under intense international pressure to do more to force member state Myanmar to free scores of political figures, including ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as halt the violence that has left more than 1,100 civilians dead.
ASEAN's envoy abruptly canceled a trip to Myanmar this week after he was told he would not be able to meet with Suu Kyi, and others as he wanted.
Myanmar contended Erywan could not meet with people facing legal proceedings such as Suu Kyi and deposed President Win Myint, Brunei said in a statement.
Suu Kyi and other top civilian leaders were detained in the army takeover. She faces various charges that her supporters and independent analysts say are an attempt to legitimize the military action.
The statement from Brunei said the ASEAN ministers were concerned about the impact of the Myanmar crisis on regional security and about the "unity, credibility and centrality of ASEAN as a rules-based organization." The bloc's envoy must have access to all concerned parties, it said.
Members of the political opposition's National Unity Government, which views itself as a shadow government, have asked to attend the Oct. 26-28 summit, it said.
There was no consensus among the ASEAN foreign ministers about having a political representative from Myanmar at the summit, so the ministers decided to instead invite a non-political representative to give Myanmar "space to restore its internal affairs and return to normalcy," it added.
Officials did not say who would be invited instead.
In handling Myanmar, ASEAN has been hamstrung by its bedrock policy of noninterference in the domestic affairs of member nations and its consensus decision-making. Some member countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines feel action is justified because major unrest in Myanmar could trigger regional instability.
Myanmar is widely seen as doing very little to honor its commitments, though it claims to have helped facilitate humanitarian assistance.
Letting Min Aung Hlaing attend the summit, which will take place by video, might be seen as recognition of the military takeover, which halted one of Asia's most phenomenal democratic transitions after decades of military rule.
Among world leaders due to participate is President Joe Biden, who has condemned the takeover and authorized sanctions against Myanmar's generals, their family members and associates.
The U.S., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, the European Union and United Kingdom on Friday issued a joint statement of support for the ASEAN envoy. They urged Myanmar to work constructively with Erywan and let him meet with parties concerned.
"The military has so far been unwilling to productively engage with ASEAN to respond to the crisis in Burma," U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington.
Suicide attack on Shiite mosque in Afghanistan kills 47
Suicide bombers attacked a Shiite mosque packed with worshippers attending Friday prayers in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 47 people and wounding 70, a Taliban official said. It was the deadliest day since the U.S. military withdrawal.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the carnage at the Fatimiya mosque in Kandahar province. The attack came a week after a bombing claimed by the local Islamic State affiliate killed 46 people at a Shiite mosque in northern Afghanistan.
The sectarian bloodletting has raised fears that IS — an enemy of both the Taliban and the West — is expanding its foothold in Afghanistan.
Hafiz Sayeed, the Taliban's chief for Kandahar's department of culture and information, said 47 people had been killed and at least 70 wounded in the attack.
Murtaza, who like many Afghans goes by one name, said he was inside the mosque during the attack and reported four explosions: two outside and two inside. He said Friday prayers at the mosque typically draw hundreds of people.
Read:US, Taliban to hold first talks since Afghanistan withdrawal
Another witness, also named Murtaza, was in charge of security at the mosque and said he saw two bombers. He said one detonated explosives outside the gate, and the other was already among the worshippers inside the mosque.
He said the mosque's security personnel shot another suspected attacker outside.
Video footage showed bodies scattered across bloodstained carpets, with survivors walking around in a daze or crying out in anguish.
The Islamic State group, which like Afghanistan's ruling Taliban is made up of Sunni Muslims, views Shiite Muslims as apostates deserving of death.
IS has claimed a number of deadly bombings across the country since the Taliban seized power in August amid the withdrawal of U.S. forces. The group has also targeted Taliban fighters in smaller attacks.
If the attack was carried out by IS, it would be the first major assault by the extremist group in southern Afghanistan since the U.S. departure enabled the Taliban to consolidate control of the country. Recent attacks in the north, the east and the Afghan capital have cast doubt on the Taliban's ability to counter the threat posed by IS.
Read: Life in a madrasa as Afghanistan enters new era
Neighboring Pakistan, which has urged world leaders to work with the ruling Taliban, condemned the "despicable attacks on places of worship" in a statement from its foreign ministry.
The Taliban have pledged to restore peace and security after decades of war and have also given the U.S. assurances that they will not allow the country to be used as a base for launching extremist attacks on other countries.
The Taliban have pledged, too, to protect Afghanistan's Shiite minority, which was persecuted during the last period of Taliban rule, in the 1990s.
Both the Taliban and IS adhere to a rigid interpretation of Islamic law, but IS is far more radical. It has better-known branches in Iraq and Syria.
Made in India virus kits boost testing, and local industry
As the first wave of the pandemic began to take hold in India, Sanchi Jawa and her 59-year-old father, Harish Jawa, realized that they had the symptoms of a COVID-19 infection. They decided to isolate and get tested — but this was no easy task during the spring of 2020.
The father and daughter had to make multiple calls to several private labs in the capital of New Delhi before they could arrange for the gold standard in COVID-19 testing — a real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction test, or RT-PCR.
It cost nearly $70 per test. A price Sanchi, 29, a digital marketer, and her father, a successful business owner, could afford but was out of reach for the majority of Indians, who have a per capita income of less than $160 per month, according to the World Bank.
“It (RT-PCR tests) should be accessible to the common man, and everybody should be able to get it done,” Sanchi said.
Also read: India's Everest Organics starts making ingredient for Merck's COVID-19 pill
Over a year later, most Indians can access PCR tests at a fraction of the cost — due to a large-scale public-private partnership, known as InDx, that set up the local know-how and infrastructure to manufacture these tests within India.
Soon after the pandemic broke out, India's government, with funding from The Rockefeller Foundation, tasked the country’s most advanced bioscience innovation hub — the publicly funded Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms, or C-CAMP — with quickly finding a way to locally produce virus test kits.
But that was not a simple task as most components of the RT-PCR test — including the mixers required to analyze samples — were not manufactured in India and had to be imported from China and South Korea, driving the price up.
With global trade almost at a standstill, and huge demand for test kits from the U.S. and U.K., delivery was also extensively delayed.
Reagents, primers, and other chemical components — like amidites and deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates, which are essential for the chemical analysis used to detect the virus' presence — had never been widely manufactured in the country and had to be imported. Even accessory parts, like plastic vials used in the testing process, were mostly imported.
Also read: Covid vaccine: India's Covaxin gets emergency use approval for kids aged 2-18
Working with Indian manufacturers of medical technologies, along with support from Tata Consultancy Services, the C-CAMP-led program pushed through a rapid change.
India expanded from 14 laboratories capable of conducting COVID-19 tests in February 2020 to more than 1,500 over the next six months. The country now has nearly 3,000 such labs.
The price of RT-PCR tests has fallen to as little as $7 in some parts of the country, a near tenfold decrease from when they were first made available.
The availability of locally made testing components has allowed the government to procure test kits for as cheap as 50 cents per unit when buying in bulk from manufacturers. Indian authorities can now dole out free RT-PCR tests for those who can't afford the fees, and set low price ceilings for paid RT-PCR tests at private labs.
Lalith Kishore, chief operating officer of COVID-19 Scale Up Program at C-CAMP, says the public-private partnership has helped more than 160 Indian companies to innovate, create mechanisms and collectively manufacture more than a million RT-PCR test kits per day.
“A lot of these companies have enabled the complete reversal in terms of our dependance on imports with regards to diagnostics,” Kishore said.
India’s ramping up of COVID-19 testing capacity has enabled the country to conduct more than 580 million tests to date.
More than a million tests are still being administered in the country daily, and 80% of the test kits used are now completely manufactured in India.
Manisha Bhinge, managing director of Programs and Health Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation, which pumped $3.5 million into the initiative, said she believes the increase in availability of COVID-19 tests allowed the country to implement a robust testing program that helped public health experts devise more effective policies to handle the virus outbreak.
This was especially important during the deadly second wave of infections in the country that peaked in May 2021 with more than 400,000 cases being detected each day.
“The scope of the crisis would’ve been significantly more, if we did not have the testing capacity in place to guide public health officials to understand how the outbreak was rolling out,” Bhinge said.
She added that while the scale up in production of test kits and other components of diagnostics have aided India in battling the pandemic and enabled self-sufficiency in molecular diagnostics, it has also created a new market for countries looking to procure diagnostic technologies and test kits.
Middle and low income countries now have “more stability and security and access to affordable medical technologies,” she said.
Cheap, and sometimes free RT-PCR tests have allowed millions of Indians like Mohit Dabla, 23, a driver who earns $300 a month, a chance to access world class virus testing.
When he first got symptoms in September 2021, his employer asked him to get a RT-PCR test. He was in luck as a government dispensary around the corner from his home in New Delhi offered the test free of charge.
“There is no way I could have paid $70 for a test,” Dabla said.
India lifts travel curbs on those arriving from UK
DAYS AFTER the UK government lifted restrictions on Indian travellers who are fully vaccinated with Covishield or another UK-approved vaccine, India has withdrawn a travel advisory that added Covid-19 related additional checks and restrictions on those arriving from Britain, including a mandatory 10-day quarantine, reports the Indian Express.
“Based on the evolving scenario, it has been decided that the revised guidelines… stand withdrawn and the earlier guidelines on international arrival dated February 17, 2021, shall be applicable to all travellers arriving in India from the United Kingdom,” Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said in a communication sent to all the states.
Read: India's Modi unveils $1.3tn infrastructure plan 'for next 25 years'
The memorandum has been sent to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of External Affairs too.
According to the February 17 guidelines, all passengers arriving from the UK must have a negative RT-PCR report — the test must be done not earlier than 72 hours of the scheduled travel.
On October 1, India had imposed a new rule that British nationals arriving in India, irrespective of their vaccination status, will have to undergo 10 days of mandatory quarantine from October 4 as part of the reciprocal action initiated by the government following the vaccine certification row between the two countries.
India decided to impose reciprocal curbs as the contentious issue relating to the UK not recognising Indian vaccine certificates could not be resolved despite holding a series of technical-level talks.
Read: India's Everest Organics starts making ingredient for Merck's COVID-19 pill
The UK recognised Covishield vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India but retained the 10-day quarantine period for fully vaccinated travellers from India. Later, British officials said the UK has issues with India’s vaccine certification process and not with the Covishield vaccine. India made changes in the Covid-19 vaccination certificates by including the date of birth, but Britain took time to go through its internal processes before lifting the restrictions.
Last week, the UK finally decided to scrap the quarantine travel rules for 47 destinations, including India.
India's Modi unveils $1.3tn infrastructure plan 'for next 25 years'
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched an ambitious 100 trillion rupee ($1.3 trillion) plan for integrated infrastructure development aimed at creating employment for hundreds of thousands of people and strengthening the economy, reports Nikkei Asia.
"With the resolve of a self-reliant India, the foundation of India for the next 25 years is being laid," Modi said, adding that the plan will promote next-generation infrastructure and improve transport connections.
Read: Covid vaccine: India's Covaxin gets emergency use approval for kids aged 2-18
The plan, called PM Gati Shakti, "will give impetus to the 21st-century India," he said. "PM" stands for "prime minister," while "Gati Shakti" is a Hindi expression meaning "the power of speed."
An official statement issued ahead of the launch said the project will provide integrated connectivity for the movement of people, goods and services from one mode of transport to another. It also aims to create "last-mile" infrastructure and reduce travel time for people.
The prime minister did not specify how the government plans to raise the 100 trillion rupees needed for the project.
Each government department will be able to monitor others' activities under the plan, providing critical data, while planning and executing projects in a comprehensive manner, the government said. The scheme "will help in synchronizing the activities of each department, as well as of different layers of governance, in a holistic manner by ensuring coordination of work between them," the statement said.
Read:India's Everest Organics starts making ingredient for Merck's COVID-19 pill
Modi had earlier spoken about the plan in his Independence Day address on Aug. 15.
"This scheme of more than 100 trillion rupees will result in new employment opportunities for hundreds of thousands of youths," Modi said at the time. "Gati Shakti will also go a long way in making our local manufacturers globally competitive, and this will also develop new possibilities for the creation of future economic zones," he said.
Japan PM dissolves lower house for Oct. 31 national election
Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida dissolved the lower house of parliament Thursday, paving the way for elections Oct. 31 that will be Japan's first of the pandemic.
At stake will be how Japan faces a potential coronavirus resurgence and revives its battered economy, and if or how Kishida’s government can leave the shadow of the nearly nine years of Abe-Suga rule some describe as dominating to the point of muzzling diverse views.
Read: Kishida vows to lead with 'trust and empathy' to fix Japan
Kishida said he is seeking a mandate for his policies after being elected prime minister by parliament only 10 days ago.
He replaced Yoshihide Suga, who lasted just a year as prime minister and whose support was battered by his perceived high-handed approach in dealing with the coronavirus and insistence on holding the Tokyo Olympics despite rising virus cases.
Kishida, tasked with rallying support for the ruling party, has promised to pursue politics of “trust and empathy.”
Four main opposition parties have agreed to cooperate on some policies, such as addressing gaps between the rich and the poor that they say widened during Shinzo Abe’s government and were worsened by the pandemic.
After Tadamori Oshima, the speaker of the house, announced the dissolution, the 465 lawmakers in the more powerful lower chamber stood up, shouted “banzai” three times and left. Official campaigning for all 465 newly vacant seats begins Tuesday.
Read: Japan's Parliament elects former diplomat Kishida as new PM
The last lower house election was held in 2017 under Abe, a staunch conservative who pulled the long-ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party further to the right while serving as Japan's longest-serving prime minister.
In that vote, the LDP and its coalition partner New Komeito together won 310 seats, or two-thirds of the chamber.
Opposition parties have struggled to win enough votes to form a new government after the brief rule of the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan in 2009-2012. But with weaker LDP support under Suga, the party lost three parliamentary by-elections and a local vote this year to opposition contenders.
Yukio Edano, head of the largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, told NHK public television that he hopes to make the election “a first step toward changing the politics."
Read:Japan's Parliament set to formally choose Kishida as new PM
In his first policy speech last week, Kishida promised to strengthen the country’s pandemic response, revive the economy and bolster defenses against threats from China and North Korea. He also sought to gradually expand social and economic activities by using vaccination certificates and more testing.
Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the Democratic Party for the People, said Kishida was selfish for dissolving the lower house so early in his tenure. “It is unclear on what policies he is seeking a mandate from the voters," Tamaki said.
He said his party will propose economic policy that seeks higher pay for workers.
“We want to create a political situation where ruling and opposition blocs are in close competition," Tamaki said.
India's Everest Organics starts making ingredient for Merck's COVID-19 pill
India's Everest Organics Ltd (EVER.BO) said on Tuesday it had started making the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for a generic version of Merck & Co's (MRK.N) experimental antiviral drug molnupiravir to treat mild to moderate COVID-19.
According to Reuters, shares of Everest Organics jumped as much as 11.6% after the news came in, and were last up 9.9% at 330 rupees in a weak Mumbai market.
Read: Moderna has no plans to share its COVID-19 vaccine recipe
The Indian bulk drugs manufacturer joins Divi's Laboratories Ltd (DIVI.NS) as an API maker for Merck's experimental oral drug.
Merck has separately entered into voluntary licensing agreements with at least eight Indian generic drugmakers for molnupiravir, with an aim to turn the country into a manufacturing hub for the drug.
"After the successful development and commercialisation of various COVID-19 drugs such as Oseltamivir, Remdesivir... Everest Organics is on its path of expansion of this portfolio," Chief Executive Officer Srikakarlapudi Sirisha said in a statement.
Merck said on Monday it had sought U.S. emergency use authorisation for the drug, putting molnupiravir on course to become the first oral antiviral medication for COVID-19.
Read:Covid vaccine: India's Covaxin gets emergency use approval for kids aged 2-18
The U.S. authorisation application was based on data released earlier this month by Merck and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.
The data showed molnupiravir nearly halved the risk of hospitalisation or death in at-risk non-hospitalised patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19.