Policy balance
The recent appointment of Sanjay Malhotra as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), replacing Shaktikanta Das, signals a pivotal shift in India’s monetary policy dynamics.
The Indian Medical Research Council (ICMR) has for now decided not to go ahead with Jal Shakti Ministry’s proposal to undertake clinical studies for treatment of Coronavirus patients with Ganga water, saying it needs more scientific data.
The ICMR has reportedly said that the evidence and data available at the moment is not strong enough to start the clinical studies by different routes or forms of Ganga water for treatment of Coronavirus.
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The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), under the Jal Shakti Ministry, had sent a proposal to ICMR to perform a clinical trial on Ganga water to examine if it can be used to treat patients infected with the Coronavirus.
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The proposition was forwarded to the apex research body after Atulya Ganga, an organisation comprising Army Veterans, knocked on the doors of the Ministry requesting it to conduct clinical trials on the holy water to find the cure for the deadly viral disease.
In a detailed letter to the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the team of Atulya Ganga claimed that there are several species of bacteriophages in the upper stretches of the Ganga.
“In Ganges, scientists have discovered bacteriophages and named it Ninja Virus, popularly known as Gangtva. Phages, as they are also called, are viruses that specifically target bacteria and are also extremely strain-specific,” the organisation, devoted to reviving Ganga’s pristine nature, stated.
Atulya Ganga founder, Major Manoj Keshwar (retd) said that there are scientific references to suggest that these phages have anti-microbial properties and could potentially destroy bacteria.
“India is blessed to have a holy river like Ganga and that people should look up to it to find the cure for coronavirus,” he added.
Keshwar said that receiving a response from the NMCG has brought a ton of hope.
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