Budget 2018-19

  Temperature screening has been set up at entrances of shopping malls, supermarkets, hotels, cinemas as country enforces zero-tolerance policy for Covid. China’s new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases spiked to a near three-month high and tighter curbs to contain the spread are expected in the capital Beijing in the run-up to a key gathering of the highest-ranking members of the Communist Party next week. The National Health Commission confirmed on Wednesday 93 new local symptomatic cases for Nov. 2, up from 54 a day earlier and the highest daily count since Aug. 9 at the peak of China’s last major outbreak. Beijing reported eight new local infections, the most since Jan. 19. While the new cases accrued each day by the Chinese capital city since late October have remained very modest compared to outside of China, the country’s zero-tolerance policy has meant the imposition of strict measures to contain the spread of the virus at all costs. Temperature screening has been set up at ...

  The carrier’s sale could pique interest in a number of state-run firms in which the government intends to divest stake. India’s move to privatize flag carrier  Air India Ltd.  in its first big-ticket sale in almost two decades promises to further boost the appeal of the nation’s booming equity market just when China is intensifying its crackdown on private firms. The high-profile sale puts investor spotlight on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aggressive reform agenda, as it shows that his plans to tap the private sector for the country’s assets are gaining traction. It could also pique interest in a number of state-run firms in which the government intends to divest stake, providing another potential catalyst to a market that’s rallied to successive all-time highs. “Air India’s sale is a landmark that shows India is the place to be in emerging markets amid reforms and the painful overhaul in China,” said Sumeet Rohra, a fund manager at Smartsun Capital Pte. in Singapore....

President  Xi Jinping  on Thursday called for building a strong military to defend the country and warned that Chinese people will never allow any foreign force to “bully, oppress, or subjugate them” President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for building a strong military to defend the country and warned that the Chinese people will never allow any foreign force to “bully, oppress, or subjugate them”, as the country marked the 100th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Communist Party. Addressing the centenary celebrations of the  Communist Party of China  (CPC) at the historic Tiananmen Square here, Xi in over an hour-long address also said that integrating Taiwan with the Chinese mainland is a historic mission of the ruling party. No one should underestimate the great resolve, the strong will, and the extraordinary ability of the Chinese people to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity, he said. We must accelerate the modernisation of nation...

  The Biden administration has conveyed to New Delhi that it understands India’s pharmaceutical requirements and promised to give the matter a due consideration The Biden administration has conveyed to New Delhi that it understands India’s pharmaceutical requirements and promised to give the matter a due consideration, observing that the current difficulty in the export of critical raw materials needed to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines is mainly due to an Act that forces American companies to prioritise domestic consumption. President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump had invoked the war-time Defence Production Act (DPA) that leaves US companies with no option but to give priority to the production of COVID-19 vaccines and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for domestic production to combat the deadly pandemic in America, the worst-hit nation. Since the US has ramped up the production of  COVID-19 vaccines  mostly by Pfizer and Moderna so as to meet the goal of ...

  A British media house report alleged systematic rape in so-called re-education camps United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Thursday called for a visit of High Commissioner’s for Human Rights to the Muslim-majority Chinese region of Xinjiang, after a British media house report alleging systematic rape in so-called re-education camps. Sputnik cited interviews that the UK media outlet conducted with former detainees and a guard, that Muslim Uyghur women in such camps are systematically subjected to rape, torture and sexual abuse. “Taking into account the nature of the allegations in the report and the denial by the authorities of these allegations, I think it’s more important now than ever for the proposed mission of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to go forward,” Dujarric said in a press briefing. The US Department of State has expressed its disturbance over the reports about systematic rape and sexual abuse in camps for Uyghurs and other Muslims in China’s  ...

  The Therapeutic Goods Administration on Monday gave provisional approval for people aged 16 and over to use the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech Australia’s medical regulator has approved use of its first coronavirus vaccine, paving the way for inoculations to begin next month. The Therapeutic Goods Administration on Monday gave provisional approval for people aged 16 and over to use the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. The regulator said priority would be given to groups that include aged-care residents and workers, frontline healthcare workers, and quarantine workers. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison welcomed the development. He said Australia was among the first countries to complete a comprehensive and thorough process to formally approve a vaccine rather than just grant an emergency approval. Australia is aiming to complete inoculations by October. The nation of 26 million people has reported fewer than 30,000 virus cases and a little over 900 deaths...

  The city’s Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal and his deputy Suresh Kakani, who’s in charge of the vaccination drive, spoke in separate interviews this week India’s business and financial hub Mumbai, once the country’s coronavirus hotspot, is building facilities to store 10 million doses of the vaccine as it aims to open fully from a strict lockdown. The city’s Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal and his deputy Suresh Kakani, who’s in charge of the vaccination drive, spoke in separate interviews this week before the start of a nationwide rollout on Saturday. Their responses are edited for clarity. Q. What’s the plan? Chahal:  Mumbai’s population that comes under the Municipal Corporation is about 15 million. We plan to create vaccine storage capacity of a little more than 10 million, which will be adequate as the vaccination will be done in phases. We have formed 500 teams, each having two vaccinators, two support staff and one security guard. They will initiall...

  The media and opposition figures have justifiably asked why Bharat Biotech’s candidate was approved at the same time as AstraZeneca’s, when it hasn’t even finished or published results from Stage III The Indian state faces one of the world’s most formidable challenges: rolling out a Covid-19 vaccination program for 1.3 billion people. To succeed, many things have to go right in a country that usually gets a lot wrong. The government would be wise to enlist the country’s private sector in this gargantuan effort — and soon. The vaccine rollout is already off to a shaky start. The government last week announced emergency approval for two vaccines. The first, a joint effort from AstraZeneca PLC and Oxford University, is being produced by the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. The other has been developed by the Indian company Bharat Biotech International Ltd. The media and opposition figures have justifiably asked why Bharat Biotech’s candidate was ap...

  Shots are rolling out from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc., focused at first on hundreds of thousands of health-care workers around the country The U.S. now leads the world in Covid-19 vaccine shots administered, with more than 1.12 million doses given in the first 10 days of its campaign, according to state-by-state data compiled by Bloomberg. Three states have now vaccinated more than 1% of their populations: North Dakota, West Virginia, and Alaska. California leads in total vaccinations at 128,000 shots. The numbers fall short of a U.S. goal to administer 20 million shots in 2020, U.S. officials acknowledged Wednesday. That amount will be disbursed to states by the end of the month, but not in time to be administered. Shots are rolling out from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc., focused at first on hundreds of thousands of health-care workers around the country who have been battling the virus on the front lines in hospitals. The vaccines require two shots weeks apart to deliver the h...

  Chinese vaccine developers have been slow compared with their western peers in releasing efficacy data on their shots A Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech Ltd. was found to be more than 50% effective in a Brazilian clinical trial, though researchers delayed releasing more information at the request of the company. A 50% efficacy rate is a minimum standard set by U.S. regulators for emergency authorization of Covid vaccines. Messenger RNA vaccines from Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. have produced far better results, reducing symptomatic Covid cases by well over 90% in giant trials. Chinese vaccine developers have been slow compared with their western peers in releasing efficacy data on their shots. As millions of healthy people count on transparency in trials before taking a shot, the lack of more specific results from Sinovac’s trial risks eroding confidence in vaccines from China. Hong Kong on Wednesday said residents will be allowed to choos...

  Kim Jong Un is one of the few world leaders who has yet to congratulate — or even acknowledge — the president-elect North Korea has greeted the last two U.S. presidents with tests of missiles or nuclear bombs within weeks of taking office. And experts see the same happening with Joe Biden, whom the regime has called “a rabid dog.” Kim Jong Un is one of the few world leaders who has yet to congratulate — or even acknowledge — the president-elect, particularly after Chinese President Xi Jinping did so on Wednesday. While it’s not unusual for North Korea to stay silent on the results of U.S. elections, Kim held unprecedented meetings with President Donald Trump that broke the mold of relations between the long-time adversaries. Ties now are poised to revert to the frostier days of the Obama administration, when the U.S. deployed “strategic patience” to avoid rewarding  North Korea  for provocations — a policy that stayed in place after Kim took power in 2011. For North Kor...

  The health regulator in a statement referred to the “incident”, that occurred on October 29, without revealing further information Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa said on Monday it has suspended clinical trials of China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, following a “severe incident”.The health regulator in a statement referred to the “incident”, that occurred on October 29, without revealing further information. “National Health Surveillance Agency ANVISA has temporarily suspended human testing of the Chinese vaccine Coronavac due to ‘a serious adverse effect,'” Sputnik reported, citing Anvisa’s statement. President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday had said that their government would buy whatever coronavirus vaccine is certified by Anvisa. Brazil’s move to suspend the clinical trials of the Chinese vaccine comes amid a rising number of coronavirus cases. On Monday, the country registered 10,917 new cases, taking the country’s tally to 5,590,025, while deaths rose to 161,106. The setback for ...

  Decision shows party takes precedence on business decisions China’s move to abruptly halt the world’s biggest stock-market debut sends global investors a clear message: Any financial opening will only be done on terms that benefit President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party. Policy makers in Beijing shocked the investment world on Tuesday by suspending an initial public offering by Ant Group Co, owned by billionaire Jack Ma — China’s second-richest man. The timing of the decision showed once again that for Xi and the party, financial and political stability take precedence over ceding control of the economy — especially to a private company. In Beijing’s view, allowing the IPO to go forward could effectively give  Ant Group  too much sway over the financial system, posing broader risks that could ultimately undermine the party’s grip on power. For foreign investors, the Ant saga has raised questions about the viability of Hong Kong and Shanghai as premium financial cen...

  Moderna COVID-19 vaccine appears safe, shows signs of working in older adults – study CHICAGO (Reuters) – Results from an early safety study of Moderna Inc’s coronavirus vaccine candidate in older adults showed that it produced virus-neutralizing antibodies at levels similar to those seen in younger adults, with side effects roughly on par with high-dose flu shots, researchers said on Tuesday. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, offers a more complete picture of the vaccine’s safety in older adults, a group at increased risk of severe complications from COVID-19. The findings are reassuring because immunity tends to weaken with age, Dr. Evan Anderson, one of the study’s lead researchers from Emory University in Atlanta, said in a phone interview. The study was an extension of Moderna’s Phase I safety trial, first conducted in individuals aged 18-55. It tested two doses of  Moderna’s vaccine  – 25 micrograms and 100 micrograms – in 40 adults aged...

  The Tianfu project was approved a year after Fan arrived, bringing an influx of government support that helped boost property prices Just outside the southwestern city of Chengdu, China is building an urban paradise bigger than Houston. Visitors are greeted by a sea of manicured grass encircling a man-made lake, dotted with water lilies, that is almost the size of New York’s Central Park. This is Tianfu Park City, one of hundreds of “eco city” developments taking over farms and rural land in China as the government tries to accommodate the 100 million people it had planned to move from villages into urban areas by 2020. After decades of unbridled urbanization that allowed concrete high-rise suburbs to sprawl around its big cities, eating up farmland and creating pollution, China is trying to find a more sustainable way to grow and provide citizens with a better lifestyle. “The air here is really good and wherever you go it’s green,” said a 56-year-old resident surnamed Fan, who m...