GAME CHANGER
😷 WHAT: Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has launched a nasal spray, called FabiSpray, in India for the treatment of COVID-19 in adult patients.
👃 FACTSHEET:
👉🏽 Glenmark has partnered with the Canadian pharmaceutical company SaNOtize Research & Development Corp. for the launch of FabiSpray in 13 countries, including India.
👉🏽 The Drugs Controller General of India has granted manufacturing and marketing clearance to Glenmark.
👉🏽 FabiSpray is a Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray, designed to "kill the coronavirus in the upper airways." It acts as a physical and chemical barrier against the virus, preventing it from incubating and spreading to the lungs.
👉🏽 Useful for: treating Covid-19 patients who have a high risk of disease progression.
👉🏽 Data (yet to be peer-reviewed) from the phase-three trial conducted in India demonstrated a reduction of viral load by 94% in 24 hours and 99% in 48 hours safely.
👉🏽 The European Union has already granted the product market authorisation. Bahrain and Israel have also cleared its sale.
🎉 Nasal sprays are easy to transport, store and administer—this is a game changer.
The Karnataka HC, which is hearing a petition filed by a group of Muslim girls in Udupi, has referred the matter to a larger bench, passing no interim order in the meanwhile.
The Karnataka Police has banned protests and gatherings near educational institutes for two weeks. All schools and colleges will remain closed from February 9-11.
Refusing to let girls go to school in hijabs is horrifying. Objectification of women persists — for wearing less or more: Nobel laureate and women's rights activist Malala Yousafzai
Bikini, 'ghoonghat', jeans or 'hijab', it is a woman's right to decide what she wants to wear: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
ICYMI: Watch our latest deep-dive to understand how the politics of the hijab and saffron shawls is polarising coastal Karnataka—and who benefits from it.
SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET
❗️WHAT: A former ScoopWhoop employee Samdish Bhatia, also the host of the popular show ‘Unscripted’, has alleged sexual harassment and assault by CEO and cofounder Sattvik Mishra in October 2021.
👉🏽 FYI: Mishra has now resigned.
💰 CONTEXT: The incident allegedly took place weeks before ScoopWhoop was acquired by ecommerce unicorn Good Glamm Group under the condition that ‘Unscripted’ would come under a new company that was not part of the Good Glamm deal.
🗓 THE ALLEGATION: Bhatia says the alleged assault took place immediately after a meeting at a bar where Mishra and Bhatia were discussing the latter’s equity stake in the new company. They continued talking at Mishra’s home, which is where the alleged the sexual assault took place.
🥃 Both Bhatia and Mishra accept they were in an inebriated state. But Bhatia alleges Mishra made unsolicited sexual advances in exchange for higher equity. Mishra was also allegedly in a state of undress while trying to force himself on to Bhatia.
❗️Bhatia also alleges his coworkers and seniors tried to suppress his complaint to safeguard the payday Good Glamm had promised.
👉🏽 THE COUNTER-ALLEGATION: Mishra has denied the charges and accused Bhatia of fabricating the story to extort Rs 7 crore from him. He alleges Bhatia got aggressive and violent the night of the incident.
📱 POINT TO NOTE: Mishra apologised for his alleged actions immediately after they are said to have occurred via a WhatsApp message.
👉 WHAT NOW: Bhatia has moved court against Mishra and his wife and ScoopWhoop co-founder Sriparna Tikekar, claiming she was a witness to the event but did nothing to stop it. The next hearing is on Feb 10.
❗️NOT A FIRST: In 2017, another former female employee had accused Scoopwhoop cofounder Suparn Pandey of sexual harassment and assault. She had also accused Mishra and Tikekar of ‘abetting the harassment and even attempting to sweep it under the carpet.’
#OSCARWORTHY
🏆 Writing With Fire, helmed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, has scored a nomination at the 94th Academy Awards in the Best Documentary Feature category.
🎞 It is a documentary about Khabar Lahariya, a news organisation founded and run by Dalit women in India. The story follows the journalists as they transition to the digital age while dealing with the realities of caste and gender in rural India.
✨ AWARDS: Writing With Fire has won 22 international awards, including two at The Sundance Film Festival in 2021—where it premiered.
🎖 REVIEWS: The documentary has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and rave reviews in nearly every reputed international and Indian publication. For instance, Washington Post called it "the most inspiring journalism movie – maybe ever."
THIS IS NEWSWORTHY
🧳 WHAT: 9,140 people died by suicide due to unemployment between 2018 and 2020, with the numbers increasing by the year—Centre in Rajya Sabha
🥀 More than 16,000 people died by suicide due to bankruptcy or indebtedness during the time period.
🧠 CENTRE SAYS it’s working on implementing the National Mental Health Programme in 692 districts to to “address the burden of mental disorders”.
🇮🇳 DATA POINT: There were 53 million unemployed persons in India in December 2021. (CMIE)
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
TAKE A MEME BREAK
🇫🇷 🇷🇺 French President Emmanuel Macron met Vladimir Putin for talks to de-escalate the crisis over Ukraine. While the talks failed to achieve anything, memers had a field day after an image of a uncomfortably long table between the leaders surfaced. Our favorite, below. See more here.
WATCH: WOMEN OF THE REPUBLIC
📣 The 15th video in our new series on the 15 women of the Constituent Assembly is now out. It's the story of Purnima Banerjee, whose sharp foresight paved the way forward for independent India.
🇮🇳 The 'Women of the Republic' series has now come to an end. The Newsworthy team had a lot of fun telling the stories of the 15 gritty and inspiring women without whom India would be a different country today. You can watch, save and share the entire series through this link. (Please do!)
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