The bipartisan bill that lifts the government's $31.4 trillion debt limit has to be signed into law before a June 5 deadline to avoid a default. The US Senate voted in favor of a bipartisan deal to suspend the government's $31.4 trillion (€29.4 trillion) debt ceiling on Thursday. The Senate approved the bill with a vote of 63-36 after months of partisan disagreements between Democrats and Republicans.  It comes just days  before a deadline to avert a potential default that could have a devastating effect on the US economy. The bill now goes to US President Joe Biden to be signed into law. Biden praised the Congress saying, "This bipartisan agreement is a big win for our economy and the American people."  The president said in a statement that he will sign it into law as soon as possible. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the bill's passage means "America can breathe a sigh of relief." "We are avoiding default," he said.  Earlier, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell also expressed his desire to swiftly pass the bill after it received overwhelming approval in the House. What is in the bill? Prior to the vote, senators vigorously debated and considered nearly a dozen amendments, ultimately rejecting all of them. The 99-page bill restricts spending for the next two years, suspends the debt ceiling into January 2025 and changes policies, including new work requirements for older Americans receiving food aid and greenlighting an Appalachian natural gas line that many Democrats oppose. The bill provides increased funding for defense and veterans while reducing the allocation of new funds for Internal Revenue Service agents.  Additionally, it rejects President Biden's proposal to reverse tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy that were implemented during the Trump era, which were intended to address the nation's deficits. In the House, the bill passed 314-117 on Wednesday, surviving a rebellion from 71 conservative Republicans who voted no and argued the cuts did not go far enough. They, ominously, hinted at the possibility of attempting to remove McCarthy from his position over the issue. On the other side, Democrats had their own grievances. They criticized the new work requirements imposed on Americans aged 50-54 in the food aid program, the alterations made to the influential National Environmental Policy Act, and the approval of the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline natural gas project, which they argued would hinder efforts to combat climate change. The bill eventually relied on centrists in both parties to pull through. Avoiding economic upheaval  While the hard-fought compromise did not satisfy everyone, lawmakers believed it was a preferable alternative to potential economic turmoil both domestically and internationally if Congress failed to take action. The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan entity, projected that the spending restrictions outlined in the package would lead to a $1.5 trillion reduction in deficits over the course of a decade — a key objective for Republicans aiming to address the national debt.

Joe Biden said the bipartisan deal, which he announced "tentatively" a day before, is "good news" for Americans. The agreement will need to be passed by the US House and Senate ahead of June 5. US Democratic President Joe Biden said Sunday that a budget deal reached with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to suspend the debt ceiling was finalized and ready for a congressional vote.   The deal would allow the country to avoid defaulting on its debts ahead of an estimated June 5 deadline. A default would have drastic impacts on both the US and global economy. Biden: Deal is 'good news' for Americans Speaking to reporters at the White House after putting the final touches to the deal, which was "tentatively" announced a day before, Biden described the bipartisan deal as "good news" for Americans.  "It takes the threat of catastrophic default off the table, protects our hard-earned and historic economic recovery," he said. The deal must now go through the US Republican-controlled House and Democratic-majority Senate for a vote. Biden "strongly urged" both chambers to pass it.  McCarthy said on Sunday that he believes he has enough support from members of his party in the House to pass the agreement.  Why is the deal significant? This comes after a long standoff as both Democrats and Republicans played hardball in the final race for a deal ahead of a critical June 5 deadline. Reaching a deal was imperative for the US to avoid a downgraded credit rating, likely recession and potentially millions of job losses. US Republicans have been vying for a two-year budget deal that would hold spending flat for 2024 and impose limits for 2025 in exchange for raising the debt limit for two years, pushing the volatile political issue past the next presidential election. Democrats, on the other hand, were adamant that the ceiling should be raised without any strings attached. What's in the agreement? The deal would suspend the $31.4 trillion (€29.3 trillion) debt ceiling through January 1, 2025, in exchange for a cap on spending in the 2024 and 2025 budgets, among other spending cuts. It would also authorize over $886 billion for security spending for 2024, in addition to over $703 billion in non-security spending. Although the deal will likely receive broad bipartisan support from lawmakers, there has also been opposition to the agreement.   Both conservative Republicans and progressive Democrats have rejected the deal. The former argued more spending cuts should have been included, whereas the latter wanted no cuts at all.

Indian company Bharat Biotech received approval for their Covaxin in January for emergency use in the country before the completion of clinical trials. This month, it reportedly gave conditional approval for four million doses to be imported. The agency will analyse data from the use of the vaccine before deciding on the quantity of further imports. Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rejected Bharat Biotech's application for emergency use authorisation of Covaxin in the country and sought more data on the clinical trials. In April, Brazilian health regulator Anvisa decided against the import of Covaxin - made by Bharat Biotech - after denying its plant a certificate for good manufacturing practices. Meanwhile, India started free vaccination of all adults and hit a record 5 million doses in a day. The aim is to vaccinate all adults by the end of the year. Given that Covaxin is not yet on the World Health Organisation (WHO) Emergency Use Listing, Indian students who have received the vaccine and are travelling to the United States, Canada and other countries face the prospect of having to get Covishield jabs, the only WHO-approved vaccine available in India right now. Bharat Biotech is working to get its vaccine on the WHO Emergency Use Listing. The firm submitted its letter of interest on April 19 to the WHO, which noted "more information required" at the time. A meeting between the WHO committee and Bharat Biotech has been planned for tomorrow, after the firm reportedly submitted the additional information. The company has said in media statements that the vaccine is 78 per cent effective against the coronavirus in clinical trials and that complete data for phase one and two and partial data for phase three trials have been thoroughly scrutinised by India's regulators. Source: The Straits Times B.M./ Rtv

The Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) has given approval to corona preventive vaccine produced by Pfizer for emergency use in Bangladesh. With this total four vaccines have got the approval for emergency use in the country to prevent transmission of coronavirus. The matter was disclosed through a notice signed by DGDA Director General Major General Md. Mahbubur Rahman on Thursday. The notice reads, the vaccine was placed for medical device evaluation on May 25. Based on the opinion of evaluation committee DGDA approved the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use in the country today. Health service division of the ministry of health and family welfare is the local legal organization of this vaccine. Earlier this vaccine was approved by USFDA on December 11 last year, by UKMHRA on December 2 last year and by EMA on December 21 last year. Besides the vaccine was included in the emergency use list of WHO on December 31 last year. The notice also said that the Pfizer vaccine is suitable for people aged over 12 years. The vaccine consists of two doses. The second dose can be taken 3 to 4 weeks after taking the first shot. It should be kept in minus 90 to minus 60 degree Celsius temperature. But it remains stable from 2 degree to 8 degree Celsius for five days and in 30 degree Celsius temperature for two hours. AH  

Sputnik-V, the Russia invented Covid-19 vaccine has been  approved for emergency use in the current situation. The decision of approval was taken at a meeting of Drug Administration Directorate on Tuesday. It was known that the medicine, experimental medicine, vaccine and medical equipments related committee formed by the health ministry for emergency public health gave the approval. If Bangladesh wants to buy vaccine then Russia can supply from the month of May. Earlier the committee approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency use. AH  

Dr Anthony Fauci has warned that the emergency use of authorisation for a potential Covid-19 vaccine could hurt the development of other vaccines. Speaking to Reuters news agency, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases advised against rushing out a Covid-19 vaccine before it has been proven to be safe and effective, reports BBC. "The one thing that you would not want to see with a vaccine is getting an EUA before you have a signal of efficacy," he said, noting that one of the potential dangers of prematurely letting a vaccine out is that it would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the other vaccines to enroll people in their trial. "To me, it's absolutely paramount that you definitively show that a vaccine is safe and effective," he added. Oxford vaccine triggers immune response The Oxford vaccine is one of dozens currently under development. Major pharmaceutical companies have launched huge trials to test the effectiveness of their drugs in recent weeks. Previously the FDA issued an EUA for the drug hydroxychloroquine to treat the virus. But in July officials withdrew the EUA, saying clinical studies suggested the anti-malaria drug was ineffective in treating the virus and failed to prevent infection among those exposed to it. President Donald Trump is reportedly considering plans to put out a vaccine before it has been fully tested. Such a move could boost his chances of re-election in November's presidential election. Trump has touted the benefits of the medicine, directly contradicting the advice of his medical experts. The Financial Times reported the Trump administration was exploring granting emergency use authorisation (EUA) to a vaccine currently under development by the University of Oxford and drug manufacturer AstraZeneca. Some 10,000 people have volunteered for trials of the drug, but US agencies require trials involving 30,000 people for a vaccine to be authorised. The US has suffered more confirmed cases and deaths from the coronavirus than any other country. According to Johns Hopkins University, it has recorded more than 5.7 million infections and over 177,000 deaths so far. Source: UNB AH

Gonoshasthaya Kendra is expected to go for a full-scale production of coronavirus-detection kits within two weeks as it got the government’s clearance Thursday to produce the tools. “At about 1 pm today, the government gave approval to the coronavirus-detection kits, developed by Gonoshasthaya Kendra. And we have already started the process to import raw materials of the kits,” Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury told BSS over phone. He said the raw materials and chemicals for the kits will reach Bangladesh from abroad within eight to 10 days. “We expect that we will be able to start a full-scale production of the coronavirus-detection kits within two weeks,” Dr Zafrullah said. A team of Gonoshasthaya-RNA Biotech Limited, a sister concern of Gonoshasthaya Kendra, has developed the kit that can detect the novel coronavirus infection within 15 minutes. Source: BSS AH

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval of aircraft such as Boeing’s (BA.N) MAX and new routes like Southwest Airline Co’s (LUV.N) Hawaii launch are on hold due to the US government shutdown, delaying commercial operations. On Monday, Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) said its plans to launch service to Hawaii early this year are on hold because the FAA groups that oversee the route authorization process are on furlough. In a statement, Southwest said it will not announce any timelines for selling or operating flights to Hawaii until it receives the necessary authorization. A partial US government shutdown over President Donald Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion to build a wall along the US-Mexico border entered its 24th day on Monday. Talks between Trump and congressional Democrats remained stalled even as some of his fellow Republicans called on the president to cut a deal, as tension mounted nationwide. The partial government shutdown is also affecting the certification program for US business jet maker Gulfstream Aerospace’s new G600 corporate plane, along with other “facets of our business,” a company spokeswoman said on Monday by email, without providing further details. Savannah-based Gulfstream, a division of General Dynamics Corp. (GD.N) had previously expected to obtain FAA certification or approval for the G600 by late 2018. The long-range business jet, which can fly nonstop from London to Los Angeles, is expected to enter service this year. Meanwhile, no 1 US carrier American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O) said it has taken delivery of two new MAX 8, but the planes are sitting idle in Tulsa, Oklahoma awaiting FAA approvals required for commercial operation. American, with a fleet of around 950 aircraft, said it did not see any impact from the delay on its flight schedule or customers. A spokesman for United Airlines (UAL.O) said the No. 3 US carrier is waiting for FAA service to be restored so it can enter one 737 MAX 9 and one used Airbus A319 (AIR.PA) into service. Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), which is also awaiting FAA certification of new aircraft, did not immediately reply to a request for details. Analysts said they did not expect a major impact on large airlines’ capacity as a result of FAA certification delays, but will be awaiting management comments about the effect of a prolonged shutdown on travel and operations during fourth-quarter conference calls. MHK