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dsPIC33CK64MC105 General Purpose Plug-In Module (PIM) Information Sheet

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TOKYO: Japan on Thursday approved Gilead Sciences Inc’s remdesivir as a treatment for Covid-19, making it the country’s first officially authorised drug to tackle the coronavirus disease.

Japan reached the decision just three days after the US drugmaker filed for fast-track approval for the treatment.

“There has so far been no coronavirus medicine available here so it is a significant step for us to approve this drug,” a Japanese health ministry official said at a press briefing. Remdesivir will be given to patients with severe Covid-19 symptoms, he added.

With no other approved treatments for Covid-19, interest in the drug is growing around the world. Administered by intravenous infusion, it was granted authorisation last week by the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Gilead says the drug has improved outcomes for people suffering from the respiratory disease and has provided data suggesting it works better when given in the early stages of infection.

Japan, with just over 16,000 infections and under 800 deaths, has recorded fewer cases than other major industrialised nations.

However, a steady rise in cases has put pressure on medical facilities in some parts of the country, and a drug that helps patients recover more quickly could help in freeing up hospital beds.

A trial performed by the US Institutes of Health (NIH) showed the drug cut hospital stays by 31 per cent compared with a placebo treatment, although it did not significantly improve survival.

On Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe extended a month-long state of emergency until the end of May in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Japan as yet does not know when it will get its first doses of remdesivir or how much, the health ministry official said.

Gilead on Tuesday said it was in discussion with several companies, including generic drugmakers in India and Pakistan to produce remdesivir in large quantities.

Remdesivir, which previously failed as a treatment for Ebola, is designed to disable the ability by which some viruses make copies of themselves inside infected cells.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2020

KARACHI: Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s five properties, estimated to be worth over Rs32 million and purchased by him in Karachi by using fake identities, have been taken over by the anti-terrorism court for auction, sources told Dawn on Thursday.

The FIA had booked Mullah Mansour, aliases Mohammad Wali and Gul Mohammad, Akhtar Mohammad and Amaar in a case lodged under Section 11H (pertaining to fundraising and money laundering) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, read with sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Mullah Mansour, who was killed in a drone strike along the Pakistan-Iran border on May 21, 2016, had purchased five properties, including plots and houses, in Karachi.

This revelation came in a report submitted by the Federal Investigation Agency to the ATC-II in July last year regarding an investigation into a case related to alleged fundraising by the slain Afghan Taliban leader and his accomplices through the purchase of properties on the back of forged identities.

Mullah Akhtar Mansour bought Rs32m properties in Karachi using fake identities

Since January, the court had been directing the investigation officer (IO) to complete the process of attachment of Mullah Mansour’s properties and proclamation of his two alleged absconding accomplices — Akhtar Mohammad and Amaar — under sections 87 and 88 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

On April 24, the court had ordered the Nazir (a court official) to take over the properties of Mullah Mansour after the IO submitted a compliance report regarding completion of the attachment process of the properties by the Federal Investigation Agency.

The court had ordered the Nazir to auction those properties and get advertisements published in newspapers.

When the matter came up before the ATC-II judge recently, the court’s Nazir filed a report regarding seizure of property owned by Mullah Akhtar Mansour on behalf of the court.

The judge asked the Nazir to file a report about publication of the auction advertisement in newspapers on the next date of hearing.

The judge granted a request by Rehmatullah Domki, the investigation officer, to hear the case next month. She scheduled a hearing from June 11.

During a previous hearing, the IO had informed the court that the FIA had unearthed five properties purchased by the Taliban leader before his death. An estimated value of the properties is Rs32 million.

The court had already called for reports from the commissioners of Peshawar and Quetta regarding the process of proclamation of Mullah Mansour’s alleged absconding accomplices and attachment of their properties.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2020

NEW DELHI: India’s top medical research body has turned down a proposal by the Modi government to test water from the Ganges river as a cure for coronavirus, ThePrint news portal said on Thursday.

It said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) turned down the government’s “request” to conduct research on a theory that Gangajal, or water from Ganges river, could possibly cure Covid-19.

Speaking to ThePrint, a source in the ICMR said the agency has refused to get involved as it is focussing on the Covid-19 battle and doesn’t want to waste time on other research amid the pandemic.

The move came after the country’s apex medical research body received a “request” from the Ministry of Jal Shakti to conduct “further research” on a proposal by an NGO, Atulya Ganga, said an ICMR official, who didn’t wish to be named.

In its letter last month, Mr Atulya had cited the presence of a “ninja virus”, called bacteriophage, in Ganges water that could cure Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Bacteriophage is a special type of virus that eats harmful bacteria, the letter said.

According ThePrint, the NGO asked the government on April 3 to conduct a study on the possibility of this virus acting as a cure. It sent a copy each to the ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The ministry’s National Mission for Clean Ganga, the department administering the Modi government’s ambitious Namami Gange programme, then wrote to ICMR on April 30 requesting a clinical trial.

The ICMR then held a meeting to discuss the idea, but refused to proceed, offering only its “help” to the NGO, ThePrint said. “We had indeed received a letter from the Ministry of Jal Shakti for such research. The experts at ICMR also held a meeting on this matter. Then we asked those proposing this research that you should tell us about hospitals and doctors that are ready and willing to conduct some research on it. We will certainly help them in this regard,” said the ICMR official.

“As of now we are still treating plasma therapy as a trial for treatment for corona (Covid-19), then how can we so quickly accept a virus called bacteriophage, found in the water of Ganges, as a cure? Right now, there is no logic in the argument that the virus found in Ganga’s water can indeed fight the coronavirus disease,” added the official.

However, he added that if the ministry takes an initiative into the matter then ICMR will extend its assistance to it.

Speaking to ThePrint, Dr Rajnikant Srivastava, ICMR’s head of the Department of Research Management, Policy Planning and Communication, in Delhi and Director of Regional Medical Research Centre, Gorakhpur, said: “A presentation was made after the Jal Shakti ministry’s proposal. The matter is at a very preliminary stage. Nothing has been decided on the future course of action. We will support the Jal Shakti ministry in all the work it does on this front.”

A senior official of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, meanwhile, said there are several special properties in the river and many people were demanding research on them.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Athar Minallah on Friday converted the matter relating to delay in administration of justice into public interest litigation and sought reports from the interior secretary, the chief commissioner of Islamabad and judges of trial courts working within the IHC’s jurisdiction.

Chief Justice Minallah asked the police, district administration and federal government to explain why police reforms could not be enforced in the federal capital even though the law had been promulgated some 18 years ago.

The court framed six questions to be answered by these authorities, including why Police Order 2002 could not be implemented in Islamabad; why proper investigation training was not imparted to investigation officers; whether the code of criminal procedure 1898 and Qanoon-i-Shahadat [Evidence Act] of 1984 were still applicable; whether the state was responsible for delay in administration of justice and whether victims of delayed justice could seek remedy from any forum.

The court appointed criminologist Dr Shoaib Suddle, Kamaluddin Tippu, director general of the National Police Bureau, superintendent of Adiala Jail and vice chairmen of the Pakistan Bar Council and Islamabad Bar Council as amici curiae in the matter.

Further hearing was adjourned to May 14.

During the hearing, the inspector general of Islamabad police submitted a report on the problems arising during investigation of crimes which hindered administration of justice.

In the report, the IG said that the investigation officer (IO) of a case had to pay Rs5,000 parcel fee from his own pocket to send evidence to a forensic laboratory for analysis.

“There should not be any laboratory fee or it should be responsibility of the district administration [to pay the fee],” he said.

The IG noted that it took around two months to send evidence to laboratory for analysis. “An IO should be given the authority to send evidence to a laboratory without waiting for the approval of high officials,” he suggested.

Similarly, he said, an IO paid Rs15,000 for preparation of a sketch of a suspect believed to have committed a crime. “Such a sketch should be prepared within two days.”

The report said that plaintiffs did not cooperate with police after registration of first information reports.

The absence of a forensic laboratory in Islamabad, lawyers’ strikes and deployment of police personnel for special duties also delayed investigation process and subsequently trials, the report said.

Earlier, acquitting a murder suspect Chief Justice Minallah had observed that the existing criminal justice system had failed to deliver and it was on the verge of collapse.

The court had observed that the existing criminal justice system failed to prevent and prosecute crime and it was perpetuating miscarriages of justice.

It had noted that low-paid investigating officers did not have sufficient resources to visit the crime scene when a crime was reported, let alone sending the sealed samples and arranging the payment of the fee to a laboratory for conducting forensic examinations.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

ISLAMABAD: As many as 1.6 billion of the world’s 2bn informal economy workers are affected by Covid-19 lockdown and containment measures, a new briefing paper issued by the International Labour Organi­sation (ILO) said.

Most are working in the hardest-hit sectors or in small units more vulnerable to shocks including workers in accommodation and food services, manufacturing, wholesale and retail, and the more than 500 million farmers producing for the urban market, the report says. Women are particularly affected in high-risk sectors, it adds.

The Covid-19 lockdown and containment measures threaten to increase relative poverty levels among the world’s informal economy workers by as much as 56 percentage points in low-income countries.

In high-income countries, relative poverty levels among informal workers is estimated to increase by 52 percentage points, while in upper middle-income countries the increase is estimated to be 21 percentage points.

In addition, with these workers needing to work to feed their families, Covid-19 containment measures in many countries cannot be implemented successfully. This is endangering governments’ efforts to protect the population and fight the pandemic. It may become a source of social tension in countries with large informal economies, the report says.

More than 75 per cent of total informal employment takes place in businesses of fewer than ten workers, including 45pc of independent workers without employees.

With most informal workers having no other means of support, they face an almost unsolvable dilemma: to die from hunger or from the virus, the briefing says. This has been exacerbated by disruptions in food supplies, which has particularly affected those in the informal economy.

For the world’s 67 million domestic workers, 75pc of whom are informal workers, unemployment has become as threatening as the virus itself. Many have not been able to work, whether at the request of their employers or in compliance with lockdowns. Those who do continue to go to work face a high risk of contagion, caring for families in private households. For the 11 million migrant domestic workers the situation is even worse.

The countries with the largest informal economies, where full lockdowns have been adopted, are suffering the most from the consequences of the pandemic. Informal economy workers significantly impacted by lockdown vary from 89pc in Latin America and the Arab states to 83pc in Africa, 73pc in Asia and the Pacific, and 64pc in Europe and Central Asia.

Countries need to follow a multi-track strategy that combines several lines of actions relating to both the health and economic impacts of the pandemic, the ILO said.

Among its recommendations, the report highlights the need for policies that reduce the exposure of informal workers to the virus; ensure that those infected have access to health care; provide income and food support to individuals and their families; and prevent damage to the economic fabric of countries.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations called on governments, companies and billionaires on Thursday to contribute to a $6.7 billion fund for immediate needs in fighting the coronavirus pandemic in vulnerable countries, warning that a failure to help could lead to a hunger pandemic, famine, riots and more conflict.

UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said that Covid-19 has now affected every country and almost every person on the planet. He said the UN’s initial $2 billion appeal unveiled March 25 was being increased because there is already evidence of incomes plummeting and jobs disappearing, food supplies falling and prices soaring, and children missing vaccinations and meals. He added that the peak of the pandemic isn’t expected to hit the worlds poorest countries for three to six months.

Lowcock said in a video briefing launching the new appeal that the poorest countries face a double whammy the health impact of Covid-19 and the impact of the global recession and the domestic measures taken to contain the virus.

We must be prepared for a rise in conflict, hunger, poverty and disease as economies contract, export earnings, remittances and tourism disappear, and health systems are put under strain, he warned. Lockdowns and economic recession may mean a hunger pandemic ahead for millions.

The executive director of the World Food Programme, David Beasley, said there are two keys to averting the possibility of 265 million people being on the brink of famine by the end of the year: providing money and keeping supply chains running smoothly.

The UN appeals to wealthy nations for funding all the time, he said, but the pandemic is a one-time phenomena, a catastrophe were hitting, so its not unreasonable to ask the wealthiest people and the wealthiest companies to give.

I don’t mean just a few million. I’m talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, billions, Beasley said.

He also urged action to address the breakdown of supply chains globally. Nations must ensure that we don’t have export-import bans, restrictions at borders, shutdown of ports, shutdown of distribution points, he said, saying that some countries have already imposed export bans that are having ripple effects on food supplies.

As an example, Beasley said that if young people in urban areas in Africa lose their jobs as a result of the economic impact of the pandemic, they don’t have bank accounts to fall back on. And if they don’t have food, you’re going to have protests, riots, unrest and destabilisation. Its going to cost the world a hundredfold more to react after the fact, he warned.

He said that if the world doesn’t respond with sufficient funding, it will be catastrophic.

Were facing famine of biblical proportions,” he said. We can avert famine if we act and we act now.

The UN’s initial $2 billion appeal has so far raised $1 billion, including a lot from Europe Germany, Britain, the European Commission with contributions also from Japan, Persian Gulf countries, Canada and others, Lowcock said.

The updated appeal adds nine vulnerable countries to the 54 nations covered in the initial appeal Benin, Djibouti, Liberia, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Togo and Zimbabwe.

Lowcock said more countries are being monitored for possible addition to the list.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020

A llama called Winter could prove useful in the hunt for a treatment for Covid-19, according to US and Belgian scientists who have identified a tiny particle that appears to block the new coronavirus.

The scientists, from Belgium’s VIB-UGent center for medical biotechnology and the University of Texas at Austin, published research on Tuesday in the journal Cell, with the llama in Belgium central to their studies.

The group began four years ago looking into antibodies that might counter the Sars virus, which spread in 2003, and the Mers virus that flared up in 2012.

“The work was a side project in 2016. We thought maybe this was interesting,” said Xavier Saelens, joint leader of the Belgian part of the collaboration. “Then the new virus came and it became potentially more crucial, more important.”

Winter, the llama, was given safe versions of the Sars and Mers viruses and samples of its blood were later taken.

Llamas and other members of camel family are distinct in creating standard antibodies and smaller antibodies, with which scientists can more easily work.

The Belgian part of the research team, also led by Bert Schepens, identified fragments of the smaller antibodies, known as nanobodies, to see which bound most strongly to the virus.

Saelens describes the new coronavirus as the cousin of the Sars virus. Both have a corona, or crown, shape with protein spikes, onto which an antibody can latch.

The team intend to begin tests on animals, with a view to allowing trials with humans to begin by the end of the year. Saelens said negotiations were under way with pharmaceutical companies.

The research is not the first into nanobodies derived from camels or llamas. French group Sanofi paid 3.9 billion euros ($4.23 billion) in 2018 to buy Ghent-based nanobody specialist company Ablynx.

CHANDIGARH/GURGAON: There is a ray of hope for real estate projects awaiting change of land use (CLU) licences from the state government. The department of town and country planning on Tuesday submitted a revised sub-regional plan to the NCR Planning Board (NCRPB). The builders, however, will have to wait till the board approves the revised plan. Last month, the Punjab and Haryana high court had barred the state government from issuing CLU licences to developers or government agencies in NCR because of the same reason. Earlier, the NCRPB had highlighted loopholes in Haryana’s draft of the sub-regional plan, but the government failed to incorporate the changes. After a rap from […]

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government is set to substantially ease norms for foreign investment in the construction sector, hoping to drum up interest in the prime minister’s plans for 100 smart cities as well his affordable housing initiative. The government is seriously considering the removal of all restrictions on size and minimum capitalisation for the smart cities as well as affordable housing projects. “The discussions are on for exempting smart cities from all FDI conditionalities. We need to give them a push by making it attractive for investors,” said a government official. The new policy is also expected to provide easier exit windows.The proposal could be moved for the […]

NEW DELHI: The Delhi state consumer panel has asked real estate firm Omaxe Buildhome Pvt Ltd to pay over Rs 11 lakh to a retired Indian Airlines official after holding the realty firm of “deficiency of service” in the allotment of a flat at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh. The Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC), presided by judicial member S A Siddiqui, asked the firm to pay Rs 11.14 lakh to Secunderabad resident Pradeep Chaudhary. Chaudhary had approached the Commission alleging “unfair trade practice” and “deficiency of service” on the firm’s part and said that despite his strong opposition, the company, on its own, changed the location of […]

"Nigeria is a secular state and freedom of speech is one of the fundamental characteristics of a modern democratic state. Criticizing a religion is not a criminal offence."

'Australia is “gum stuck to the bottom of China’s shoe”, huh? Ok, well, it’s time for Australia to rethink trade and other agreements with China if they don’t like criticism'

Making himself Exhibit A for reopening the country, President Donald Trump visited an Arizona face mask factory Tuesday, using the trip to demonstrate his determination to see an easing of stay-at-home orders even as the coronavirus remains a dire threat. Trump did not wear a mask despite guidelines saying they should be worn inside the factory at all times.

One day after saying that the White House COVID-19 task force would be winding down, President Donald Trump said Wednesday it would continue indefinitely but focus more on rebooting the economy.

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Bangladesh Finance Minister and ADB Governor A H M Mustafa Kamal today discussed ADB’s support to Bangladesh in its fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB today approved $1.5 billion in financing to support the Government of Indonesia’s efforts to alleviate the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on public health, livelihoods, and the economy.

ADB today announced the release of a $3 million grant and a $3 million concessional loan from its Pacific Disaster Resilience Program (Phase 2) to help finance the Government of Solomon Islands’ response to the COVID-19...

ADB and AIM today launched the #DigitalAgainstCOVID-19 virtual challenge to crowdsource digital solutions and ideas to help countries in Asia and the Pacific deal with the medium- and long-term...

ADB has approved a $177 million loan to India to upgrade 450 kilometers (km) of state highways and major district roads in Maharashtra State.

ADB needs to address issues causing weak sustainability of its projects to improve performance, says the 2020 Annual Evaluation Review (AER) conducted by ADB’s Independent Evaluation Department.

ADB has approved a $346 million loan to India to help provide efficient and reliable power connection to rural agriculture customers in the state of Maharashtra.

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Nepal Finance Minister and ADB Governor Yuba Raj Khatiwada today discussed ADB’s support to Nepal in its fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ADB today approved a $200,000 (460,000 pa’anga) grant to the Government of Tonga to help restore life-sustaining services following the damage from Tropical Cyclone Harold.

ADB today approved an additional $500 million loan to bolster the efforts of the Government of Bangladesh to manage the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the country’s economy and the public health.

CHENNAI: City builder Ceebros has started pulling down the unfinished JW Marriott Hotel in the city, which it had bought from Hyderabad-based Viceroy Hotels for 480 crore last year. Viceroy group sold the property in MRC Nagar after completing the shell of the hotel because the hospitality sector in Chennai is going through a serious crisis with low occupancy in most five-star hotels. With more than half a dozen new star hotels being opened in the city in recent years, there is very high room inventory and hotels are struggling for business, say industry sources. Ceebros is pulling down the unfinished J W Marriott structure to redevelop it into a […]

Tunisia said it inspected a Turkish plane headed for Libya with medical aid that landed at an airport near the border.

Transport systems provide arteries for efficient movement of people and goods in a well-functioning economy. The Asia and Pacific region has witnessed brisk economic growth and social development leading to increased mobility and urbanization. Rapid growth and urbanization creates pressure on transport system and services, which need to keep up not only to sustain the economic growth, but also to ensure much needed equitable access and quality services for all sections of the society.

ADB needs to address issues causing weak sustainability of its projects to improve performance, says the 2020 Annual Evaluation Review (AER) conducted by ADB’s Independent Evaluation Department.

The world is experiencing what some may think is a “typical” black swan event: rare, extremely impactful, and only retrospectively predictable. 

This brief presents methodologies, high-level technologies, and policies that can help the People’s Republic of China, particularly Beijing, accelerate and enhance water conservation planning.

This report examines ADB’s Unlocking Innovation for Development technical assistance project and highlights lessons learned from activities and pilot projects it has funded.

This publication provides essential information on the planning, implementation, and management of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in schools, particularly for small and isolated rural settlements in Mongolia.

Providing safely managed sanitation services for all requires extending the partnership between the public and private sectors.

This video outlines some of the benefits of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and the typical roles and activities assigned to various sector participants.

This video defines State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and guides borrowers on how to assess their viability to participate as bidders under ADB funded projects.

The unique challenges of financing and building a climate-resilient port in a tiny Pacific country required ADB to develop and deploy innovative approaches to ensure the project’s design, governance, and monitoring were efficient and effective.

ADB is formulating an aggressive set of actions to protect the poor, the vulnerable, and wider populations across Asia and the Pacific. And to ensure economies will rebound as swiftly as possible.

Khadka and her family, like millions of others, were affected by the devastating earthquake that hit Nepal in 2015. ADB's Earthquake Emergency Assistance Project in Nepal financed the rebuilding of quality schools to withstand future disasters.

ADB's food distribution program for Metro Manila and nearby areas reaches more than 100,000 needy households. affected by community quarantine due to COVID-19.

Dentons has advised real estate developer Danescroft Land Limited, as part of a joint venture with Bridges Fund Management, on the acquisition of Ashdown House in Hastings, St Leonards-on-Sea for future redevelopment.

SSD1963 LCD Controller Graphics Card Information Sheet

Functional Safety Manual and FMEDA Access for dsPIC33C Family

SST Announces Qualification of Smartbit™ OTP NVM Technology for ON Semiconductor’s 110 nm CMOS Process

Mie Fujitsu and SST Announce Automotive Platform Development on 40 nm Technology

Registration Now Open for Microchip’s 22nd Annual Worldwide MASTERs Conference