Irene Frachon, a lung specialist whose study was instrumental in highlighting the risks of the Servier pill Mediator | AP vijayawada l tuesday l march 30, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION French pharma major guilty of involuntary manslaughter Court convicts Servier for deaths caused by Mediator, a drug used for diabetes, weightloss treatment between 1976-2009 damaged heart valves, killed at least 500 banned by u.s, Spain & italy before 2009 In 1999, a study linked the pill with damage of heart valves but Servier continued to push the product till 2009 before pulling it out. A French court said the firm misled consumers on the pill for decades, despite being aware of its side-effects. Experts testified that about 500 people have died due to the drug and the number may exceed 2,100 deaths eventually ■ ■ ■ France’s medicines agency ANSM was fined 303,000 euros for delay in action, despite repeated warnings over its side effects Servier’s former deputy boss sentenced to a suspended jail sentence of four years and fined several million euros in damages Mediator was used by 50 lakh people across the world till 2009 $350 mn settled out of court between patients, insurance firms and the pharma CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Pawar to go under the knife soon WHO’s report in sync with China E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Mumbai NCP founder Sharad Pawar will soon undergo surgery at a Mumbai hospital here after it was diagnosed that he has some gall bladder issue, a minister of his party in the state government said here on Monday He is 80. . “Our party president Sharad Pawar saheb was feeling a little uneasy due to a pain in his abdomen last evening and was therefore taken to Breach Candy Hospital for a checkup. Upon diagnosis it came to light that he has a problem in his Gall Bladder,” Nawab Malik tweeted. “He is on Blood Thinning Medication which is now being stopped due to this issue. He will be admitted to the hospital on the 31st of March 2021 and an Endoscopy and Surgery will be conducted. Hence all his programmes stand cancelled until further notice,” the minister added. NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said Pawar had a medical check-up at a private hospital after complaining of abdominal pain on Sunday while he was in Ahmedabad. There was intense speculation on Sunday that he had a hush-hush meeting the previous day with Union home minister Amit Shah at a top industrialist’s house in Ahmedabad. While the NCP flatly denied the interaction and blamed it on BJP’s spin doctoring, Shah deflected it, saying not everything is for public consumption. Says Covid’s lab leak extremely unlikely, does not want further probe into the hypothesis A joint World Health Organization-China study on the origins of Covid-19 went with Beijing’s position on the chances of its leak from a Wuhan lab being extremely unlikely and concluded that the most plausible scenario was its transmission from bats to humans through another animal. The report put together by an international team of experts and seen by the Associated Press proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis. But WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said all hypotheses on the origins remained open and needed further study . The report is expected to be made public on Tuesday “We’ve . got real concerns about the methodology and the process that went into that report, including the fact that the government in Beijing apparently helped to write it,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a recent CNN interview. China hit back accusing the US of trying to pressure the WHO experts’ group. The report listed scenarios in the order of likelihood, starting with transmission from bats to another animal, which it said was likely to very likely . On direct spread from bats to humans, experts saw it as likely; while spreading to humans from the packaging of coldchain food products was seen as possible but not likely . Wall Street was in turmoil on Monday after two top global banks — Nomura of Japan and Switzerland’s Credit Suisse — warned they could face significant losses following their exposure to an unnamed US hedge fund. The fund had defaulted last week on certain margin positions held by them and other banks, they said. “Following the failure of the fund to meet these margin commitments, Credit Suisse and other banks are in the process of exiting these positions,” Credit Suisse said. While the banks did not name the fund, media houses identified it as Archegos Capital Management, which had liquidated billions in stocks just last week.Archegos dumped its holdings in top Chinese companies like Baidu Inc, Tencent Music Entertainment Group and Vipshop Holding plus US giants such as ViacomCBS and Discovery after their share value fell last week. This hurt Archegos’ bottom line, forcing it to seek fresh funding. Nomura shares plunged by 16% in Tokyo after it warned of a potential $2 billion loss while Credit Suisse shed 14%. Investor concerns drove down prices of other European banks, too. Nomura, however, said ‘there will be no issues related to the operations or financial soundness’. @ Vijayawada “In the next three years, we will reform the party in such a way that it will last for another 30 years,” TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu assured his cadre Monday the party’s 40th , formation day. Asserting that none could wipe out the party , the for mer chief minister promised to “promote youth” and exhorted the activists to rededicate themselves to the cause. Confident though he sounded, the TDP finds itself at a crossroads four decades after its mercurial rise in State politics. It has seen electoral defeats and victories during this time but the string of defeats since the 2019 Assembly elections, including the unprecedent loss in the recent local elections, is slowly but surely pushing it inexorably towards an existential crisis. There are TDP founder NT Rama Rao on his way to MLA Quarters to announce the launch of his party in Hyderabad on March 29, 1982. Behind him is Jasti Chelameswar, a young lawyer at that time, who became an SC Judge later. Nadendla Bhaskara Rao is seen right to NTR and Daggubati Venkateswara Rao in front of him I File photo murmurs within the party, growing louder by the day, against the leadership’s tactics, and in fact, rasing a question mark over Naidu’s leadership itself for the first time after he assumed the mantle in the mid1990s dethroning NTR. Though there is no imminent threat to Naidu’s leadership, the signs are unmistakable. With age not on his side (he’s 71 now) and his son Nara Lokesh’s leadership skills failing to impress, a section of the party is seeking a change. TDP senior leader and Rajahmundry Rural MLA Gorantla Butchaiah Suez canal unblocked Tugboat crews sounded foghorns in celebration on Monday after dislodging a colossal container ship stuck in Suez Canal for a week, halting global trade The head of the Suez Canal Authority announced the resumption of shipping traffic in the canal, bringing relief to a tailback of over 425 vessels, which will take 4-5 days to clear No sooner had the news of Ever Given refloating trickled out than the oil prices started easing. The 190-odd-km Suez Canal channels 10% of world trade new infections in the State, followed by Guntur with 152. With spike in daily count, the The surge in Covid-19 cases cumulative total of Chittoor continued in the State, more has crossed the 89,500-mark. particularly in Chittoor, GunThe number of Covid cases tur, Visakhapatnam and Krish- in Krishna crossed the 50,000na districts. The four districts mark, while Nellore went past accounted for more than half the 63,000-mark. Vizianagaram of 997 new infections recorded the lowest reported in the 24 daily count of four, CM to take hours ending Monday followed by West Go9 am. With the spike jab on April 1 davari with 13. in daily count, the CM Jagan Mohan In all, 282 patients number of active casrecovered from the viReddy will take es surged past the Covid-19 vaccine rus. Barring Viziana6,000-mark. However, on April 1. He will garam, all other disthe positivity rate has tricts have more than take the jab declined to less than 6 100 active cases each. after launching per cent after several Chittoor has the highthe vaccination months. The State est active caseload of drive at a ward achieved a landmark 1,183. Five more fatalsecretariat in by conducting more ities were reported in Guntur than 1.5 crore Covid the State, taking the tests. Andhra Pradesh Covid toll to 7,210. is the fourth big State Meanwhile, the Poin the country which achieved lice Department continued its , the feat. Karnataka, Maharas- awareness campaign on wearthra and Tamil Nadu are the ing face mask to curb the other States, which conducted spread of Covid in the State. more number of Covid tests. Violators of the face mask rule Chittoor once again record- were fined as part of the awareed the highest number of 181 ness campaign. @ Vijayawada Youth celebrating Holi, completely ignoring Covid protocols, in UP’s Prayagraj on Monday. It is this age-group that is most vulnurable to the second Covid wave | PTI The vertical climb 68,020 New cases across India on Monday 40,414 Of case load from maharashtra alone Swiss bank silent on quantum Already hit by the collapse of British shortterm corporate loan specialist Greensill earlier this year, Credit Suisse warned its losses could be “highly significant,” without giving a figure.The bank referred to links to a US fund which had defaulted on margin calls last week conducted 1.5 cr total testspradesh in andhra recoveries 8.8L Total covidpradesh in andhra TTD new norms for pilgrims E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Tirumala With the spike in Covid-19 cases, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has issued new guidelines for pilgrims visiting the shrine. In an official release on Monday the TTD stated that pilgrims hav, ing the time slot for darshan, will be allowed through Alipiri only after 1 pm on the previous day of allotted slot. Similarly , pilgrims having time slots for darshan, will be allowed through Alipiri or Srivari Mettu footpaths only after 9 am on the previous day of allotted slot. The TTD has also taken several other precautionary measures to ensure safety of pilgrims. It urged pilgrims to strictly adhere to Covid guidelines during their pilgrimage. TTD officials said 100 beds in Sri Padmavathi Medical College, a designated Covid hospital, have been earmarked for the pilgrims who show Covid symptoms or test positive during screening at Alipiri. At 40, TDP finds itself at crossroads E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e 997 new infections take caseload in State to 6K E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e International banks lose billions after fire sale of stocks by US fund E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e covid spike Chowdary claimed Monday that many changes may take place in the party “Several peo. ple will come. We will look at ground realities. Be it Junior NTR, Balakrishna, Lokesh or people from several communities and regions... leadership will come up from the ground. We urge one and all to come voluntarily and strengthen the party he said. ,” Though Chowdary did not stress on just actor and late NTR’s grandson Jr NTR’s name alone, his statement created a flutter. Several party leaders voiced the same opinion off the record, pointing out that Junior’s entry could give the party much-needed “josh” and gravitate late NTR’s fanbase and youth towards the party once again. In fact, during the visit of Naidu to Kuppam last month, some party activists raised slogans demanding that Jr NTR be brought into the parP4 ty fold.  Health workers sanitise the campus of Andhra University Engineering College in Visakhapatnam on Monday I G Satyanarayana Somu wants to make Pawan CM, Vijayasai ridicules him E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Ahead of Tirupati byelection, BJP State president Somu Veerraju has said the party plans to make its alliance partner and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Veerraju’s remarks come in the wake of reports that the JSP rank and file is not extending its full support to the BJP in the run-up to the bypoll. “Narendra Modi has great respect for Pawan Kalyan. During 2014 elections, Modi, who was tipped to be the next PM then, addressed seven public meetings in the State along with Pawan Kalyan,’’ he said, adding that Modi told them that Pawan should be given great respect and taken care of like a flower. “Our party always gives re- spect to Pawan Kalyan and we want to make him Adhipathi (CM),’’ he said. Veerraju made these remarks at a BJP-JSP coordination meet in Tirupati late Saturday which were ridi, culed by YSRC MP Vijayasai. In fact, the JSP wanted to contest the byelection to the SC reserved Tirupati Lok Sabha seat following the death of sitting YSRC MP Balli Durgaprasad Rao. The BJP, which wanted to prove itself as an alternative to both YSRC and TDP in the State, too pitched for contesting the seat. Finally, after a series of deliberations, it was decided that BJP would contest the bypoll. This is said to have created dissent in the JSP rank and file, which could make its presence felt in the recent ULB elections, whereas the BJP could not put up a decent fight.  P4 express read New SEC likely to hold MPTC elections in April Vijayawada: Newly appointed SEC Nilam Sawhney is expected to announce the dates for MPTC and ZPTC elections within a day or two after assumption of office. The tenure of incumbent SEC N Ramesh Kumar ends on March 31. Three killed as 2 RTC buses, truck collide Visakhapatnam: Three persons were killed and 20 injured when two RTC buses and a truck laden with LPG cylinders collided at Sunkarimetta near Vizianagaram on Monday. Ten of the injured were shifted to KGH, police said. extreme step IIIT student hangs herself in Nuzvid campus E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada A 21-year-old engineering student of Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (IIIT Srikakulam) allegedly died by suicide in her hostel room in the IIIT Nuzvid campus on Monday . According to Nuzvid police, M Madhuri who hailed from Kakinada, hanged herself in the hostel room in the afternoon. Some girls in the hostel found Madhuri hanging from the ceiling and informed the matter to the RGUKT authorities, who in turn called the police. The girl was pursuing third year Civil Engineering course in IIIT Srikakulam, and staying in Nuzvid IIIT campus due to lack of proper laboratory facilities there. “The girl was last seen in the hostel mess around 11 am and her roommates observed her depressed. When they invited her to come for lunch, she refused and stayed back in the hostel room. Later, she took the extreme step,” the police said. The reason for her extreme step is not known. A case under Section 174 (suspicious death) of the Criminal Procedure Code has been registered. The police are probing the case from all angles to ascertain the exact reason for her suicide. Having learnt about the incident, Education Minister Audimulapu Suresh ordered an inquiry into the suicide. Suicide Helpline OneLife: 78930 78930 Roshni, Hyderabad-based NGO: 040-66202000