New Delhi, Dec 19: The first blood-stage malaria vaccine RH5.1/Matrix-M has the potential to be a component within a developing malaria vaccine strategy, said a report on Thursday.

The report by GlobalData, a data and analytics company, showed that there are 11 other malaria vaccines currently in Phase II development.

As per a recent study by researchers in Burkina Faso and the UK, RH5.1/Matrix-M is safe, effective, and highly immunogenic.

The double-blind, randomised, controlled, phase 2b trial, analysed 361 children between the ages of 5 and 17 months showed that RH5.1/Matrix-M is 55 per cent effective against clinical malaria when administered in a delayed third-dose regimen at 0, 1, and 5 months.

Further, the vaccine demonstrated over 80 per cent efficacy against high levels of malaria parasites, which indicates the vaccine would be effective at preventing severe disease. RH5.1/Matrix-M was found to be generally safe and well-tolerated, with no serious adverse events being reported, revealed the findings published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

“RH5.1/Matrix-M has the potential to be the first blood-stage malaria vaccine brought to market. This could be a much-needed addition to the currently available malaria vaccines and provide an important second line of defense for those most at risk of contracting malaria,” said Stephanie Kurdach, Infectious Disease Analyst at GlobalData.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease, caused by parasitic Plasmodium protozoans, spread primarily through the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. Typically, the symptoms can range from fever, chills, and headache to confusion, seizures, and difficulty breathing.

Kurdach noted that although there is progress and some nations have been certified as malaria-free, the burden of malaria remains high, particularly within the World Health Organization’s (WHO) African Region.

There are currently only two malaria vaccines, that are WHO prequalified and recommended for use in children: GSK’s Mosquirix and Serum Institute of India’s R21/Matrix-M.

These vaccines work to intercept malaria infection by targeting the early sporozoite stage of the parasite.

However, as immunity wanes with time, sporozoites can infect the liver and lead to blood-stage clinical malaria infection.

The development of a blood-stage malaria vaccine would replace these vaccines as well provide a second line of defense.

“There are 11 other malaria vaccines currently in Phase II development, including pre-erythrocytic vaccines and blood-stage vaccines from manufacturers such as BioNTech, GSK, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Vac4All SAS,” Kurdach said.

“No new malaria vaccines are in Phase III development or pre-registration at this time,” she added.

New Delhi, Dec 19: Global automaker Range Rover on Thursday announced the start of sales for the 2025 ‘Made in India’ Range Rover Sport in the country.

The ‘2025 Range Rover Sport’ – the first made-in-India vehicle exclusively for the country– is now available in smooth and powerful 3.0l Petrol Dynamic HSE and 3.0l Diesel Dynamic HSE variants, the Tata Motors Group company said in a statement.

The pricing of the New Range Rover Sport now starts at Rs 1.45 crore, ex-showroom, and is available in five colour options – Fuji White, Santorini Black, Giola Green, Varesine Blue and Charente Grey.

Available in 3.0l Petrol Dynamic HSE and 3.0l Diesel Dynamic HSE variants, the Range Rover Sport is built on the state-of-the-art MLA-Flex platform, offering next-level capability, performance and handling, as well as greater efficiency.

“With the introduction of new features such as perforated semi-aniline leather seats, massage front seats and head-up display, our discerning clients will get an elevated experience of comfort and technology in Range Rover Sport,” said Rajan Amba, Managing Director, JLR India.

The 13.1‑inch curved touchscreen for Pivi Pro infotainment is complemented by intuitive 13.7‑inch Interactive Driver Display, with ‘Software Over The Air’ as well as ‘Head-Up Display.’

The 2025 Range Rover Sport offers semi-aniline leather seats, renowned for their exceptional quality and tactility.

In September, Tata Motors held the groundbreaking ceremony of its new Rs 9,000 crore facility in Tamil Nadu that will manufacture and export next-gen vehicles for Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

Situated at Panapakkam in Ranipet district, the plant will cater to both domestic and international markets, while creating over 5,000 jobs. Tata Motors Group intends to invest Rs 9,000 crore in this greenfield manufacturing facility, which has been designed for an annual production capacity of over 250,000 vehicles.

Production will begin in a phased manner and progressively increase to reach this capacity over the next 5-7 years.

In May this year, Tata Motors-owned JLR said it plans to start assembling the flagship Range Rover model, along with Range Rover Sport, in India for the first time, significantly bringing down the prices.

The company’s Pune plant currently assembles the Range Rover Velar, Range Rover Evoque, Jaguar F-PACE, and Discovery Sport models.

Technology Desk, New Delhi: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is continuously working to curb spam and fake calls. A few days ago, new telecom rules were implemented, which were brought by the government body with the aim of curbing fake and spam calls. New rules are being implemented again from November 1. After which there will be more strictness on such calls.

TRAI has asked all telecom companies to implement message traceability. However, telecom companies have objected to this and said that doing so will affect their work.

New rules will be implemented

New telecom rules are being implemented from November 1. According to which it will be mandatory for all telecom companies to implement message traceability. By doing this, it will be easy to trace fake and spam callers. TRAI clearly said that the traceability of transactional and service messages sent by banks, e-commerce platforms and other financial institutions should be implemented compulsorily. So that the spam calls coming to the customers can be curbed.

What is message traceability?

Message traceability is a method with the help of which it is easy to trace fake and fake callers and they are blocked even before the call comes. After this, the call will become more secure than before and they can be monitored better. There are many other things that will be corrected after the message traceability rules are implemented.

Jio-Airtel and Vi’s tension increased
TRAI has made it clear that new telecom rules are coming into effect from November 1, but all the major telecom companies have expressed concern over this. They said that the implementation of message traceability will make their work difficult and many things will be affected by it.

According to a report, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has sought some time from TRAI to implement the new rules. Telecom companies said, “Instead of implementing these rules in a hurry, we want them to be implemented step by step.” Behind doing this, telecom companies say that many telemarketers and many major institutions are not ready to follow the new rule.