LIVE: Delhi pollution caused 24,000 deaths in 1st half of 2020, says report

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3:16 AM

Google can ward off EU antitrust probe into Fitbit deal with data pledge

Google may be able to stave off a full-scale EU antitrust investigation into its planned $2.1 billion bid for Fitbit by pledging not to use Fitbit's health data to help it target ads, people familiar with the matter said.

 

The deal announced in November last year allows Google, a unit of Alphabet, to take on Apple andSamsung in the fitness tracking and smart watch market, alongside others including Huawei and Xiaomi.

3:15 AM

24,000 pollution-related deaths in Delhi in first half of 2020: Report

Air pollution in Delhi is linked to the loss of around 24,000 lives and 5.8 percent of its GDP in the first half of 2020, despite a strict Covid-19 lockdown since March 25, a report said.

 

According to a new online tool by IQAir AirVisual and Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Delhi lost Rs 26,230 crore, equivalent to 5.8 percent of its annual GDP, over the last six months due to air pollution.

 

 

It is also the highest economic cost of air pollution in terms of GDP across 28 major cities in the world.

3:15 AM

DCGI asks manufacturers to prevent black-marketing of Covid-19 drugs

In order to prevent black-marketing and overpricing of Covid-19 drugs such as Remdesivir, India's drugs regulator DCGI has asked manufacturers to set up a helpline for patients and also put on their websites details of distributors and supply chain.

 

Rajesh Bhushan, the Officer on Special Duty, Union Health Ministry, told an online media briefing Thursday that it has been noticed that certain drugs are not available freely in the market.

3:15 AM

At 16.5 million, TikTok removed most number of videos from India: Report

India made the highest number of requests to TikTok for content removal and user information between July and December last year, according to the Chinese short-video apps’ latest transparency report.

 

TikTok owned by Beijing-based tech firm ByteDance is among the 59 Chinese apps along with Alibaba's UC Browser and Tencent's WeChat which were recently banned by the government citing security concerns. This move came after Indo-Sino tensions escalated.

12:31 AM

One Nation, One Ration Card to start working across India by January

Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan has reiterated that 'One Nation, One Ration Card' (ONORC) scheme would likely start working across India by January next year, ahead of its March 31 deadline.

 

Paswan on Thursday said the ministry is trying to include all remaining States/UTs onboard of ONORC by January 2021. He said that earlier many States/UTs highlighted the challenges related to slow network connectivity.

 

In this regard, he informed that he has taken up the issue with the department of telecommunications (DoT) and there is a proposal to provide a free net connection to every gram panchayat for one year duration.

 

While interacting with reporters through video conferencing, the Minister said the balanced quantity of foodgrains and whole chana under under the 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' scheme will now be distributed till August 31, 2020.

12:01 AM

Air pollution caused around 24,000 deaths in Delhi in first half of 2020: Greenpeace

Air pollution in Delhi is linked to the loss of around 24,000 lives and 5.8 percent of its GDP in the first half of 2020, despite a strict Covid-19 lockdown since March 25, a report said.

 

According to a new online tool by IQAir AirVisual and Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Delhi lost Rs 26,230 crore, equivalent to 5.8 percent of its annual GDP, over the last six months due to air pollution.

 

It is also the highest economic cost of air pollution in terms of GDP across 28 major cities in the world.

11:42 PM

India in talks with Sri Lanka over its request for debt relief

India on Thursday said it was holding talks with Sri Lanka over its request for postponement of repayment of debt.

 

"The matter has progressed and technical level discussions are presently underway," Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said.

 

He was responding to a question on the issue at an online media briefing.

 

Sri Lanka is reeling under a major economic crisis and has requested several countries and international donors, including India to provide debt relief.

11:42 PM

Google selects Mississippi site for 1st US operations centre

Google's first US operations centre is coming to northwest Mississippi.

 

The company announced Thursday it will lease a new 60,000-square-foot (5,574 square-meter) facility in Southaven, Mississippi, near Memphis, Tennessee.

 

Google expects the site, which will provide customer and operations support to customers worldwide, to be operational by summer 2021.

 

This Google Operations Center represents a critical investment for the company and we look forward to being an active member of the local community for years to come, said Troy Dickerson, vice president of Google Operations Center.

11:27 PM

Senior IAS officer G Narendra Kumar appointed Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi: Official order

11:25 PM

US in talks with India on market access, trade concessions

The United States is in talks with India on market access for its goods in exchange for reinstating New Delhi's trade concessions under the Generalised System Of Preferences (GSP), U.S. ambassador to India Kenneth Juster said on Thursday.

 

"The GSP by law requires that there be some market opening measures in recipience of that preferential system, and that's what we have been trying to reach an agreement on with the government of India," Juster said at India Global Week 2020, an online business summit.