Thursday, July 19, 2012

US approves drug ‘slashes’ virus transmission by 75%

The Food and Drug Administration approved a drug yesterday that could dramatically reduce the risk of contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, among high-risk groups.

Truvada, a little blue pill taken once a day, was shown in clinical studies to slash transmission of the virus by up to 75 per cent. “This is a big step,” said Marjorie Hill, chief executive of the AIDS group GayMen’s HealthCrisis. “If people are looking for the magic bullet, the cure-all, we don’t have it yet. What we do have is an increasingly growing tool kit.”

Many HIV and AIDS researchers and activists say the pill is a promising way to reduce new infections, which have remained stubbornly high for years.

“It’s going to save lives,” Hill said.

But others worry it will have the opposite effect by encouraging unprotected sex. “Today marks a catastrophe in the fight against HIV in America,” Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Los Angeles, told reporters in a conference call. “If you look back five years from today, you will see this decision by the FDA will cause there to be more infections, not less.”

Truvada, made by the Foster City, California, pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences, was first approved in 2004 to help treat people infected with HIV. In those who are not infected, it can prevent the virus from getting a foothold in the body.

In a clinical study of heterosexual couples in Africa in which one partner was infected with HIV, taking the pill reduced transmission rates by 75 per cent. In a separate study of gay men, the drug reduced transmission by 42 per cent. The pill is most effective when taken every day — something even study participants struggled with — and when combined with condom use.

The FDA will require that patients have an HIV test before getting a prescription to ensure they are not already infected. If they are, the virus could develop resistance to Truvada, which is combined with another drug to treat those already infected.

The annual rate of new HIV infections in the US has remained about 50,000 since at least 2004, and rates have risen among young, gay black men. The Obama administration pledged to cut the number of new infections 25 per cent by 2015, but existing methods of prevention — essentially condoms and abstinence — have not budged the number.

The FDA has been searching for alternatives. Debra Birnkrant, director of the agency’s Division of Anti-viral Products, said yesterday’s approval would spur progress toward the administration’s goal. “The hope is over time it will reduce the rate of new infections or incidence in the US,” she said.

Treating HIV has been shown to reduce a patient’s likelihood of transmitting the disease. But offering new ways for HIV-negative people to protect themselves is important because a disproportionate number of infections are caused by people who have not been tested and are unaware they are infected.

“If you’re an HIV-negative person, you sure can’t rely on the fact that your partner is being treated,” said Dr Joel Gallant, vice-chairman of the HIV Medicine Association and an HIV/AIDS doctor in Baltimore. The pill’s cost could be a problem: A year’s supply costs $13,900, according to the manufacturer.



Courtesy- IAN DUNCAN, Los Angeles Times.

LPG sop cut plan gains pace



The government plans to quickly put in place a mechanism to cap the number of subsidized LPG cylinders for a household to 6-8 per year.

R.P. Singh, minister of state for petroleum and natural gas, today said in Bangalore that the government was close to taking a decision on limiting the availability to the “economically not weaker” sections to bring down the subsidies by up to Rs 10,000 crore annually.

The oil ministry had sent the proposal to the empowered group of ministers, and then headed by Pranab Mukherjee. After Mukherjee’s resignation as the finance minister, the government has not set up any panel to review fuel subsidies.

Oil ministry officials said, “One would have to wait to see whether another panel or a committee is set up on the issue.”

Singh said a lot of people who were “not economically weaker” get the benefit of the subsidy on cooking gas that costs the exchequer a sum of more than Rs 30,000 crore.

The subsidy per cylinder is around Rs 319, and the oil marketing companies supply around 32 lakh cylinders a day. The government expects to run a subsidy bill of Rs 36,000 crore this fiscal on cooking gas, up from Rs 30,000 crore in 2011-12.

A 14.2kg domestic cylinder is priced between Rs 393 and 405, while the 19.2 kg commercial cylinder costs Rs 1,300-1,500. The huge price difference often leads to the diversion of domestic cylinders for commercial purposes.

Singh also said the government was looking at a partial decontrol of diesel prices in a manner that it did not result in a cascading effect on the economy.

“If you try to raise the price of diesel, it has a cascading effect on the economy. We are trying to work out a solution where it impacts the economy in the least manner but also brings down the fiscal deficit,” he said.

HSBC Under strict vigilance


India will probe the transfer of funds by HSBC to an al Qaeda-linked bank in Saudi Arabia as well as its dealings with Bangladesh’s Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd and Social Islami Bank Ltd, which have long been suspected of funding terrorist groups with India links.

Top officials said besides the RBI overseeing HSBC’s Indian operations, intelligence agencies would also launch investigations based on the US Senate sub-committee’s report on how the bank had become a conduit for money laundering and possible terror financiers.

The 340-page report has sections on how HSBC established links with Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi Bank.

 In 2009, HSBC had authorised its Hong Kong branch to buy rupee for the Saudi bank. The report pointed out that the Saudi banks handled International Islamic Relief Organisation’s “charitable contributions intended to benefit suicide bombers by directing al Igatha Journal advertisements… in Somalia, Sri Lanka, India, and the Philippines”.

Al Rajhi has a 37 per cent stake in Islami Bank. Besides this bank, HSBC transferred funds to another Bangladeshi lender with terror links —Social Islami Bank Ltd.

Bangladesh’s home ministry, which under the Awami League government has been cracking down on terror groups, had announced in March 2011 that 8 per cent of Islami Bank’s profits were diverted as zakat, or obligatory donation, to support militant jihad.

Sources said around 12 years back, Indian intelligence agencies had intercepted a letter from Jamaat leaders, which acknowledged money transfers through Jamaat-Bangladesh to the Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam (Multa) from Jamaat-Pakistan.

India staff role

HSBC’s staffs in India have come under the scanner for deficiencies in their role as “offshore reviewers” of the global banking giant’s compliance to safety mechanism against money laundering and terrorist financing.

A probe by the US Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that HSBC’s Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Department, which included employees in India, was highly inadequately staffed, according to PTI.

Courtesy- http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120719/jsp/business/story_15745817.jsp#.UAeGPbUe6ac

Anand' mara nehi .....................'Anand' marte nehi!

Very much shattered hearing news of the sad demise of Kaka. Wherever you stay now on ..........................just stay in peace "Babu Moshai”. You will remain evergreen to my heart.




“Zindagi aur maut upar wale ke hath hain jahapana, jise na aap badal sakte hai na mein.”

“Hum sab to rangmanch ki katputlia hain, jiski door upar wale ke haath bandhi hain.... KAB KAUN KAISE UTHEGA YE KOI NAHI JANTA........... Ha ha ha ha”

"Zindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahin"

"Ek mara nahin, aur doosra marne ke liye paida ho gaya "

"Maanta hoon ki zindagi ki taakat maut se zyaada badi hai. Lekin yeh zindagi kya maut se badtar nahin?

College se degree lete hue zindagi ko bachane ki kasam khayi thi. Aur aisa lag raha hai jaise kadam-kadam par maut ko zinda rakhne ki koshish kar raha hoon"

"Aap achanak naaraaz kyo ho gaye? Oh! Samjha. Aap mujh pe nahin, apne aap pe naaraaz hain. Kyonki mera ilaaj nahin ho sakta na - isliye."

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"Bhagwan se tumhara sukh nahin, shanthi chaahti hoon"

"Hairaan hoon ki - wo maut pe has raha tha, ya zindagi pe?