News:The Government of India has announced the setting up of a new task force to work on the development of vaccines and potential drugs.
Facts:
- Chairman: It is co-chaired by Vinod Paul, member NITI Aayog and Professor K Vijay Raghavan, principal scientific advisor to the government.
- Other members: It will include representatives of the Ministry of Ayush, Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR), Department of biotechnology and Drug controller general of India(DGCI) among others.
- Objective:To work as a bridge between academia, research institutions, and international collaborations in the field of drug testing and vaccine development.
- Coordinating agency: Department of biotechnology would act as a nodal agency to identify the pathway for vaccine development, monitor progress of efforts and provide government facilitation.
