Budget 2018-19

  A third Chinese vaccine, produced by CanSino Biologics , has submitted clinical trial data, but no WHO review has been scheduled. The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday it has approved a COVID-19 vaccine made by drugmaker Sinovac Biotech for emergency use listing, paving the way for a second Chinese shot to be used in poor countries. A WHO emergency listing is a signal to national regulators on a product’s safety and efficacy. It will also allow the shot to be included in COVAX, the global programme to provide vaccines mainly for poor countries, which faces major supply problems due to an Indian export suspension. The independent panel of experts said in a statement it recommended Sinovac’s vaccine for adults over 18, with a second dose 2-4 weeks later. There was no upper age limit as data suggested it is likely to have a protective effect in older people. The WHO’s technical advisory group, which began meeting on May 5, took the decision after reviewing the latest c...

  Photos of the Tianhe module launch and its fuel burn-off were compared with what appeared to be a mass outdoor cremation in India, and captioned “China lighting a fire versus India lighting a fire” A social media post by China’s top law enforcement body juxtaposing the country’s successful launch of a module into space with grim cremation pyres in India was deleted after it sparked online criticism in China. Photos of the Tianhe module launch and its fuel burn-off were compared with what appeared to be a mass outdoor cremation in India, and captioned “China lighting a fire versus India lighting a fire.” The post on Saturday by the Communist Party’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission on its official Sina Weibo account was accompanied by a hashtag noting that new Covid-19 cases in India had surpassed 400,000 a day. Later that day, it could no longer be found. Many Chinese social media users expressed shock and anger at the insensitivity of the post. “We hope everyone gi...

  Banerjee lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi Lashing out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that the second COVID-19 wave in the country and its management is a “Modi-made disaster”. Addressing an election rally at Balurghat in Dakshin Dinajpur district, the TMC chief asserted that West Bengal will be run only by a “Bengal engine government” and not by “Modi’s double-engine”. “The second COVID wave is more intense. I would say this is a Modi-made disaster. There are no injections or oxygen. Vaccines and medicines are being shipped abroad even as there is a scarcity of these items in the country,” she told the rally. She claimed that this election is a fight to save  West Bengal  and “protect the honour of the Bengali mother”. “Our state will be run by a Bengal engine government and not by Modi’s double-engine government. We will not allow Gujarat to capture our state or run it from Delhi. Bengal will r...

  Covid-19 is spreading at a fast pace with an increase in the intensity of the pandemic and the next four weeks are going to be very critical, the Centre said on Tuesday COVID-19 is spreading at a fast pace with an increase in the intensity of the pandemic and the next four weeks are going to be very critical, the Centre said on Tuesday as it stressed on people’s participation to control the second wave of the contagion. At a press conference, NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr V K Paul said the pandemic situation in the country worsened with a sharp rise in cases and a large part of the population is still susceptible to the virus. The tools to fight the pandemic remain the same. COVID-appropriate behaviour, containment measures, testing have to be implemented more efficiently, medical infrastructure has to be ramped up and vaccination drive intensified, he said.  COVID  appropriate behaviour like wearing masks, staying away from crowds have to be followed in a campaign mode...

  Despite the surge in Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, a massive crowd was seen at the Dadar vegetable market in Mumbai on Friday morning Despite the surge in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, a massive crowd was seen at the Dadar vegetable market in Mumbai on Friday morning.The people in the market were seen flouting social distancing norms.In order to control the new infections, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has declared a night curfew across the state, from Sunday under its ‘Mission Begin Again’ programMeanwhile, Maharashtra had reported 43,183 new COVID-19 cases, 32,641 recoveries, 249 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the State Health Department on Thursday. The total cases in the state rose to 28,56,163 including 3,66,533 active cases and 24,33,368 total recoveries. The death toll mounted to 54,898 including the new deaths Mumbai reported 8,646 new  COVID-19  cases, 5,031 recoveries and 18 deaths yesterday. The cumulative infections in the c...

  Doctor says people should remain vigilant, as the infection can “spread to the elderly” and trigger “serious symptoms” v A fresh wave of coronavirus   cases in Delhi   has “mainly affected” the young with most of the patients reporting “relatively milder symptoms”, AIIMS   director Dr Randeep Guleria told  Indian Express .People should remain vigilant, as the infection can “spread to the elderly” and trigger “serious symptoms”. If so happens then the healthcare resources would come under strain yet again, he said.. Guleria told  Indian Express  that having more containment zones within a city would be a better strategy in containing the spread as some states mulled over imposing another lockdow Delhi   has been witnessing over 1,500 daily cases over the past five days, with 995 cases reported on Wednesday. This has resulted in Delhi   getting back in the top 10 of most cases. “As of now, most of the patients who are comi...

Spain’s top health official has warned the country is at risk of another spike in coronavirus infections that has already struck many parts of Europe Spain’s top health official has warned the country is at risk of another spike in coronavirus infections that has already struck many parts of Europe. We are facing a decisive moment, Health Minister Carolina Darias said after meeting with Spain’s regional health chiefs on Wednesday. We must invert this tendency. We have to intensify our efforts. Darias says the spread of the more contagious variants is pushing up infections across  Spain . A nightly curfew and other restrictions on movement had put a cap on infections until two weeks ago, when the figures started to increase. Darias made her appeal alongside Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who said police will be extra vigilant to enforce bans on travel between regions and unauthorized social gatherings for next week’s Easter holidays. Our goal is to save lives, says Gran...

  New strains that are sparking concerns in Maharashtra, a bumpy ride ahead for ride-hailing firms, Paperwork needed to register for phase-2 of roll-out-news relevant to India’s fight against Covid-19 IN NUMBERS: Over 16,500 fresh cases reported India reported 16,738 fresh coronavirus infections on Thursday, taking the cumulative caseload to 11,046,914, according to a report in the Scroll. The daily cases are the highest since January 29. The country saw 138 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 156,705, according to central health ministry data. The total recoveries have surged to 10,738,501, while the active caseload is at 151,708. As many as 12,671,163 healthcare and frontline workers have been inoculated since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Read more here Coronil is only a supplement, no Covid cure: U’khand Ayush official According to a top AYUSH ministry official in Uttarakhand, Patanjali Ayurved’s Coronil drug can only be used as...

  India Coronavirus Dispatch: Yoga helped manage stress better in lockdown IN NUMBERS: Over 14,000 fresh cases reported India reported 14,199 fresh coronavirus infections on Monday, taking the cumulative caseload to 11,005,850, according to a report in the Scroll. The country saw 83 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 156,385, according to central health ministry data. The total recoveries have surged to 10,699,410, while the national recovery rate is at 97.22 per cent. The active caseload is at 150,055, which makes up 1.36 per cent of the total caseload. About 11.1 million healthcare and frontline workers have been inoculated since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Read more here 50% of Indians inherited Neanderthal DNA sequence that reduces risk of severe Covid: Study About half of India’s population has inherited a 75,000-character-long DNA sequence from Neanderthals, an extinct species of archaic humans, which is believed to lower t...

b Dr Reddy’s Laboratories said on Friday it has initiated the process with the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use authorisation of human adenoviral vector-based platform vaccine candidate Sputnik V. As part of the review process, Dr Reddy’s will present the safety profile of phase two study and interim data of phase three study which is expected to complete by February 21. “The efficacy of Sputnik V was reported to be 91.6 per cent by the Lancet, which is an impressive development in the fight against Covid-19,” said Co-chairman and Managing Director G V Prasad. “The initiation of the emergency use authorisation process will be a critical step forward for us in ensuring speedy access to the  Sputnik V vaccine  in India,” he said in a statement. In September 2020, Dr Reddy’s partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to conduct clinical trials of Sputnik V and for its distribution rights in India. Sputnik V has demonstrated an efficacy rate...

US science officials such as Anthony Fauci have suggested it will take 70 per cent to 85 per cent coverage of the population for things to return to normal When will the pandemic end? It’s the question hanging over just about everything since Covid-19 took over the world last year. The answer can be measured in vaccinations. Bloomberg has built the biggest database of Covid-19 shots given around the world, with more than 119 million doses administered worldwide. US science officials such as Anthony Fauci have suggested it will take 70 per cent to 85 per cent coverage of the population for things to return to normal. Bloomberg’s Vaccine Tracker shows that some countries are making far more rapid progress than others, using 75 per cent coverage with a two-dose vaccine as a target. Israel, the country with the highest vaccination rate in the world, is headed for 75 per cent coverage in just two months. The US will get there just in time to ring in the 2022 New Year (though North Dakota co...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday will interact with chief ministers of all states via video conferencing to discuss the Covid-19 situation and coronavirus vaccination rollout Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday will interact with chief ministers of all states via video conferencing to discuss the COVID-19 situation and coronavirus vaccination rollout. “At 4 PM on Monday 11th January, PM Narendra Modi will interact with Chief Ministers of all states via video conferencing. They will discuss the COVID-19 situation and the vaccination rollout,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had tweeted. Days after COVID-19 vaccines of Serum Institute of India and  Bharat Biotech  were been granted permission for restricted use in an emergency situation by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has announced that the coronavirus vaccination drive in the country will start from January 16. The Prime Minister had earlier chaired several m...

  Brazil made a diplomatic push to guarantee an Indian-made shipment of British drugmaker AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, hoping to avoid export restrictions that could delay immunisations BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil made a diplomatic push on Monday to guarantee an Indian-made shipment of British drugmaker AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, hoping to avoid export restrictions that could delay immunizations during the world’s second-deadliest outbreak. In parallel, Brazil’s private clinics struck a preliminary deal for an alternative injection made by India’s Bharat Biotech despite a lack of public results from late-stage trials. The scramble by Brazil’s government and private sector underscored how Latin America’s largest nation, once an example of mass immunization success in the developing world, has fallen behind peers in the race to inoculate against the coronavirus. Plans by Brazil’s Fiocruz Institute to import  AstraZeneca’s vaccine  in bulk, filling and...

Italy said it has detected a new coronavirus strain with mutations in a person who recently returned from the United Kingdom Italy on Sunday said it has detected a new coronavirus strain with mutations in a person who recently returned from the United Kingdom. On Saturday, the United Kingdom government locked down parts of the country including London after admitting that more than half of all new Covid-19 cases had been caused by a mutated, more infectious coronavirus strain. “The patient and their partner returned from the United Kingdom several days ago, landing in Rome’s Fiumicino airport. They are now isolated and have observed, together with family and close contacts, all procedures proscribed by the health authorities,” Sputnik quoted the ministry’s statement. According to the communication, the genome of the UK coronavirus strain has been established by experts of the Celio military hospital in Rome. The new strain of Covid-19 is “out of control”, said UK Health Secretary Matt ...

  The US is confident that at least 100 million people would have got coronavirus shots by the end of February 2021 and this operation would have covered the entire “at risk” population The chief advisor of the US Covid-19 vaccine development programme is confident that at least 100 million people would have got coronavirus shots by the end of February 2021 and this operation would have covered the entire “at risk” population comprising the elderly, frontline workers and those with comorbidities. Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Moncef Slaoui said he hopes to have emergency use authorization for at least one vaccine by December 10 or 11.Slaoui pointed to “exceptionally good data” from both the vaccines which have applied for emergency use authorization – Pfizer and Moderna. He is hoping for a “breakthrough” from a Johnson and Johnson vaccine that has now recruited more than 28,000 subjects. “Now the breakthrough that we hope with this vaccine is that it’s a one shot vaccine, with...