Government used ‘Indian double mutant strain’ in affidavit filed in Supreme Court
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The authorities used the time period “Indian double mutant strain” in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court simply days earlier than it formally objected to affixing nationality to the virus variant.
A May 9 affidavit refers to “Indian double mutant strain” whereas detailing the steps taken by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology to develop Covaxin.
The affidavit was filed in the court docket three days previous to a Ministry of Health assertion on May 12, taking exception to media reviews which referred to the B.1.617 variant as an “Indian variant”.
The Ministry condemned these media reviews as baseless and unfounded. It mentioned the World Health Organisation (WHO) had not related B.1.617 with the time period “Indian variant”. Instead, it thought-about the virus a variant of “global concern”.
The WHO had additionally clarified in a tweet that it “does not identify viruses or variants with names of countries they are first reported from. We refer to them by their scientific names and request all to do the same for consistency”. But the May 9 affidavit runs opposite to WHO even in this facet. In truth, the affidavit calls variants “UK variant, Brazil variant, South African variant” and caps the checklist with the “Indian double mutant strain”.
The Ministry of Health was one among the many many Ministries consulted earlier than the May 9 affidavit was filed in the apex court docket.
The introductory paragraph in the affidavit filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs mentioned the doc was filed in compliance with the directions acquired from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Railways.
Congress leaders like Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh identified the anomaly between the May 9 affidavit and the official objection of the Health Ministry on May 12.
“My colleague @Pawankhera found a Govt of India affidavit to Supreme Court using the term ‘Indian double mutant strain’. And they tell the world not to. Govt also uses UK variant, Brazil variant etc. in its official communication,” Mr. Ramesh tweeted.
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