News in Short

• P.R. Krishnakumar, Chancellor of the Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women and the managing director of Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (Coimbatore) passed away. He was 69.
• A recipient of Padma Shri, who played a major role in the preparation of the Ayush protocol, Mr. Krishnakumar was undergoing treatment for COVID-19.
• Krishnakumar initiated the first ever clinical research in traditional medicines under WHO and ICMR partnership in 1977 to study the efficacy of Ayurvedic treatment on Rheumatoid arthritis.

• The Russia Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is piloting Russia’s Sputnik V candidate vaccine, has partnered with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories to test and supply 100 million doses of the vaccine.
• The Sputnik V vaccine, which is based on well-studied human adenoviral vector platform with proven safety, is undergoing clinical trials for the coronavirus pandemic.
• Deliveries could potentially begin in late 2020 subject to completion of successful trials and registration of the vaccine by regulatory authorities in India. The agreement does not include manufacturing the vaccine in India.

• Scholar, author, and connoisseur of the arts Kapila Vatsyayan passed away in Delhi. She was 92.
• Vatsyayan, who was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2011, was the founding director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. A former nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, she was also chairperson of the Asia Project at the IIC.
• She was a renowned scholar of art history, architecture, and Indian classical dance.
• Vatsyayan authored nearly 20 books on different forms of art and their histories in her long career.

• The Japanese parliament has confirmed Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga as the country’s new prime minister, replacing the outgoing premier Shinzo Abe.
• The longest-serving prime minister since the end of World War II, Abe’s decision to resign was widely considered the end of an era in Japan.
• Suga’s premiership is expected to be characterized by a substantial degree of policy continuity.
• Suga’s main priority will be dealing with Japan’s slumping economy, which has taken a hit since the beginning of the pandemic despite the country’s success in avoiding the high numbers of cases and deaths seen elsewhere.

• Tirupati MP and YSRCP leader Balli Durga Prasad Rao passed in Chennai. He had been undergoing treatment after testing positive for novel coronavirus. He was 65.
• Rao had been a three-term MLA in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and a minister in the Chandrababu Naidu Cabinet in undivided Andhra Pradesh.
• A lawyer, Mr Rao started his political career as a member of TDP and became an MLA for the first time in 1985. He joined the YSRC ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.