1.Oral Cholera Vaccine (Hillchol)
The Hindu
- Background: Bharat Biotech, in collaboration with Hilleman Labs, has launched Hillchol (BBV131), an oral vaccine for cholera.
- Global Demand: The vaccine aims to address the global shortage of Oral Cholera Vaccines (OCVs), with a demand exceeding 100 million doses per year.
- Dosage: Hillchol is administered in two oral doses.
- Clinical Trials:
- Phase I and II trials were conducted in Bangladesh.
- Phase III trials took place in India.
- Cholera Overview:
- Cholera is a severe diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.
- Symptoms include intense diarrhea and dehydration, which can lead to life-threatening fluid loss if not treated promptly.
2. Codon Deoptimization Technology
The Hindu
- Development: Indian Immunologicals Ltd (IIL) and Griffith University, Australia, have developed a needle-free intranasal COVID-19 booster vaccine.
- Technology Used: Codon deoptimization technology is used to attenuate the virus by modifying genetic codons.
- Safety and Production: The vaccine is designed to be safe and allows for rapid production.
- Codon-Pair Deoptimization:
- Involves increasing the frequency of less common codon pairs without changing the amino acid sequence.
- This method is effective for attenuating viruses by using suboptimal codon pairs.
3.Unified Lending Interface (ULI)
- Announcement: The RBI Governor announced the pilot stage of the Unified Lending Interface (ULI).
- Purpose: ULI is designed to provide seamless and quick credit access, especially for MSMEs and farmers.
- Integration: The platform integrates multiple data sources to reduce loan processing time and streamline the lending process.
- Potential Impact: ULI is expected to transform the lending sector similarly to how UPI revolutionized payments.
- Technology: ULI utilizes advanced technologies such as APIs, data integration tools, and secure digital platforms.
4.Perpetual Bonds (AT1 Bonds)
The Hindu
- Context: Canara Bank issued India’s first perpetual bond after recent regulatory changes, with strong investor interest and a lower-than-expected interest rate of 8.27%.
- Key Features:
- AT1 bonds, or perpetual bonds, do not have a fixed maturity date but include a call option for the issuer.
- These bonds offer slightly higher interest rates than traditional bonds.
- Banks use these bonds to strengthen their core capital base, in compliance with Basel-III standards.
- They are tradable on stock exchanges, allowing holders to sell them in the secondary market.
- AT1 bonds do not offer a put option, meaning holders cannot return them to the issuing bank for cash.
- Regulatory Aspects:
- AT1 bonds are regulated by the RBI, which can instruct a bank to write off these bonds without investor consultation in a rescue situation.
- Basel III Norms require banks to maintain a certain capital level and not lend out all deposited funds.
- The capital is divided into Tier 1 and Tier 2, with Tier 1 further subdivided into Common Equity Tier-1 (CET-1) and Additional Tier-1 (AT-1) capital.
- Perpetual Bonds Overview:
- These are debt securities with no fixed maturity date, paying interest indefinitely.
- Bond prices are inversely related to interest rates; they fall when rates rise and vice versa.