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Indian authorities have launched an investigation into four Indian-made cough syrups that the World Health Organization (WHO) said were linked to the death of 66 children in The Gambia. Samples of all the drugs in question have been taken and sent for testing to the Regional Drugs Testing Lab in Chandigarh by India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), and the results are expected to guide the further course of action. "As per the tentative results received by WHO, out of the 23 samples of the products under reference which were tested, 4 samples have been found to contain Diethylene Glycol/Ethylene Glycol," said a statement issued by the Indian Health Ministry on Thursday. It has also been informed by WHO that the certificate of analysis will be made available to WHO in the near future, and WHO will share with the Indian regulator which is yet to be done. "The exact one to one causal relation of death has not yet been provided by WHO to CDSCO," the statement added. Diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are toxic to humans when consumed and can prove fatal. Its effects include abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, inability to pass urine, headache, altered mental state, and acute kidney injury which may lead to death. The Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited had manufactured and exported the four syrups, namely Promethazine Oral Solution BP, Kofexnalin Baby Cough Syrup, MaKoff Baby Cough Syrup and MaGrip n Cold Syrup, to The Gambia. The Times of India quoted a senior official of Maiden Pharmaceuticals as saying on Friday that the company did not know how it all happened. "We are still getting the information," the official said. None of these four drugs of Maiden Pharmaceuticals is sold domestically in India. Meanwhile, leading pediatricians in India are quite critical of the incident. A leading pediatrician at the government-run Ram Manohar Lohia hospital in Delhi said that the syrups are not actually required in treatment for children up to three years. "As per the set standards, these particular four syrups which were exported from India to Gambia are actually not required for treatment of respiratory related ailments among infants up to three years. They were perhaps administered to the kids in a fit of medical activism," said the pediatrician. Ritabrata Kundu, a child health specialist at Kolkata-based Institute of Child Health, said the involved syrups contained contaminated substances, adding, "The act on the part of the pharma company is highly condemnable. It is wrong usage of drugs, which are not used in syrups sold in India." Neelam Mohan, a leading pediatrician based in Gurugram, a city adjacent to New Delhi, is of the view that syrups meant for children must be used very cautiously. "I can't really comment on why these deaths have occurred till the investigations get completed. But there is definitely a concern on usage of substances like Diethylene Glycol and Ethylene Glycol in making those cough syrups, as mentioned by WHO," Mohan said. Mohan added that it was high time the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) created guidelines for public use of such products meant for children. (Xinhua)

Amid the ongoing food insecurity in Afghanistan, the World Food Programme (WFP) is set to provide more than 15m Afghans with food assistance every month till March 2023. "Our plan for winter is to provide food assistance to more than 15m every month," said Wahidullah Amani, local media reported citing WFP Afghanistan Spokesman.  Citing the sources, Khaama Press reported that WFP has decided to provide more than 15m people in Afghanistan with food assistance straight after the US, Europe and other global partners concluded that humanitarian aid is not sufficient to solve the ongoing crisis in the war-torn nation.  Earlier, the World Food Programme stated that it would buy 80,000 tons of wheat from Ukraine to distribute to Afghanistan's needy people. However, several locals have complained of not receiving any aid, lack of transparency in international aid amid the high prices of basic amenities in the country and unemployment.  "There are economic problems such as high prices and also unemployment. I haven't received any aid," said Samsor, an Afghan local vending on the street, Khaama Press reported. "We haven't received the aid. We need aid but if the leaders pay attention to us," said Bismillah, another Kabul resident. Amid the Ukraine war, the World Food Programme has called for $1.1bn to continue delivering monthly food and nutritional assistance for the next six months to 15m acutely food-insecure people in Afghanistan.  The World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Afghanistan condemned the ongoing economic crisis in Afghanistan as people in the country are on the brink of starvation and facing poverty.  In a tweet, OCHA in Afghanistan wrote, "19 M people are facing food insecurity, 25M people are living in poverty, 5.8M people are in protracted internal displacement, thousands of houses damaged by floods and earthquakes," expressing concerns about the plight of Afghans, TOLOnews reported. "To survive the winter, they require food, nutrition support, warm clothing & a roof over their heads," tweeted OCHA. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme has also raised concerns about the economic crisis in Afghanistan.  "The economic crisis wiped out jobs, salaries & livelihoods across Afghanistan, helping families & communities support themselves is more important than ever," wrote WFP on Twitter. The rising crisis in Afghanistan has hit small enterprises the hardest and private companies have laid off more than half of their employees due to a shortage in sales and a drastic decline in the consumer demand for products. (ANI)

Nepal’s economy has emerged strongly from the pandemic with GDP estimated to have grown by 5.8 percent in the fiscal year 2022, up from 4.2 percent in 2021, a new World Bank Report has said.

Growth was driven by industry and services benefiting from post-pandemic demand and generous financing conditions. Agricultural growth, by contrast, slowed due to unseasonal rains, according to South Asia Economic Focus 2022.

 According to the report, average consumer inflation rose from 3.6 percent in 2022 to 6.3 percent in 2022, including price increases in transportation, education, and housing. Inflation has been broad-based, and the rising cost of basic necessities negatively impacts the poor and vulnerable.

The rapid increase in domestic demand, coupled with rising prices for imported goods, fueled imports early in 2022. By contrast, remittances - Nepal’s largest source of foreign exchange earnings – did not begin growing again until late 2022 and have remained below 2021 levels as a percentage of GDP, the report reads.

Remittances are an important income for households and impact welfare across the distribution. As a result, the current account deficit (CAD) widened to 12.8 percent of GDP in FY22, which Nepal opted to finance through concessional borrowing, trade credits, and a drawdown in reserves which declined from USD 11.8 billion in mid-July 2021 to USD 9.5 billion in mid-July 2022, equivalent to 6.9 months of import cover.

Growth estimates for the South Asia region comprising India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives — were revised down to 5.8 per cent from 6.8 per cent forecast in June.

The Royal Swedish Academy on Friday jointly awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organization Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties.  "BREAKING NEWS: The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2022 #NobelPeacePrize to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organization Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties," the official Twitter handle of the Nobel Prize said. "The #NobelPeacePrize laureates represent civil society in their home countries. They have for many years promoted the right to criticize power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens," the tweet added.  The organizations have made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human right abuses and the abuse of power. Together they demonstrate the significance of civil society for peace and democracy. The Russian human rights organization Memorial was established in 1987 by human rights activists in the former Soviet Union who wanted to ensure that the victims of the communist regime's oppression would never be forgotten.  "Memorial is based on the notion that confronting past crimes is essential in preventing new ones. The organization has also been standing at the forefront of efforts to combat militarism and promote human rights and government based on rule of law," the Academy said in a tweet. The Center for Civil Liberties, another awardee of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, was founded for the purpose of advancing human rights and democracy in Ukraine. It has taken a stand to strengthen Ukrainian civil society and pressure the authorities to make Ukraine a full-fledged democracy. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the center has engaged in efforts to identify and document Russian war crimes against the Ukrainian population.  The center is playing a pioneering role in holding guilty parties accountable for their crimes. Last year, journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.  The 2021 peace prize laureates are representative of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions. Dmitry Muratov, a Russian journalist and the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, was awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize and has for decades defended freedom of speech in Russia under increasingly challenging conditions. In 1993, he was one of the founders of the independent newspaper Novaja Gazeta. Maria Ressa, co-founder and CEO of the Philippines-based news website Rappler. She uses freedom of expression to expose abuse of power, use of violence and growing authoritarianism in her native country, the Philippines. (ANI)