Page 6 - Corona

Can Tiruppur recover from disruption wreaked by pandemic and war?

Indian exporters anyway have limited pricing power, as they face competition from Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar

Skid marks may appear in Street as oil prices wear out tyre stocks

Margins have likely peaked in Q1 as commodity headwinds start to bite

Try extending benefits of Covid schemes to all orphans: SC to govt

An orphan is an orphan, irrespective of how the death of his or her parents happened, the Supreme Court has said, asking the Centre if there are ways the benefits of schemes, including PM Cares fund, which were meant for children orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic, can be extended to all orphans. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra on Friday asked Additional Solicitor General Vikramjeet Banerjee, appearing for Centre, to seek instructions in the matter. "You have rightly brought out a policy for orphans, whose parents died due to the COVID pandemic. An orphan is an orphan, irrespective of whether the parents died in an accident or illness. By bringing these schemes, you are attending to the condition and not the parentage. "You seek an instruction on whether benefits of schemes including PM Cares fund meant for children orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic can be extended to other orphaned children," the bench told Banerjee. The ASG

Post-Covid global reconstruction unique opportunity: S African President

As the African Union became a permanent member of the G20 on Saturday, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa called for accelerating the transition to low carbon, climate resilient, sustainable societies. In a post on X, he also said that South Africa calls for an enhanced and expanded "Global Partnership for Sustainable Development" backed by the suggestions outlined in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) on Financing for Development. Ramaphosa expressed delight over the African Union becoming a member of the G20. Responding to Ramaphosa's post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "With the African Union strengthening the G20 family, we will cement partnerships that prioritise all-round development, leading to a better planet". In a significant milestone under India's G20 presidency, the 55-member African Union on Saturday became a new permanent member of the grouping of the largest economies of the world. It is the first expansion of the influential bloc since its inceptio

50 new Covid cases in a day, active cases reach 1,520: Health Ministry

India logged 50 new coronavirus infections in a day while active cases were recorded at 1,520, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll was recorded at 5,31,930, the data updated at 8 am stated. The country's Covid case tally is 4.49 crore. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,44,63,717, and the national recovery rate stands at 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry's website. The case fatality rate is at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far.

Two years after catching Covid, patients still risk getting sick: Research

People who were never sick enough to be hospitalized for acute Covid still had a higher risk than uninfected people of developing long Covid-related disorders

Those vaccinated before getting Covid at lower risk of post-discharge death

A one-year follow-up of COVID-19 patients discharged from hospitals found that participants who received at least one dose of anti-Covid vaccination before contracting the coronavirus infection had a lower risk of post-discharge mortality, according to a study by ICMR. Of the 14,419 participants who were followed up at least once between four weeks and one-year post-discharge, 942 (6.5 per cent) had died and the remaining (93.5 per cent) were reported alive at any contact during one year of follow-up. They were from 31 hospitals across the country. "Participants who had received at least one dose of the anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine before their COVID-19 infection had a lower risk of post-discharge mortality," the study said. Vaccination prior to the COVID-19 infection (at least a single dose) provided 60 per cent protection against post-discharge mortality. People older than 40 years, men with co-morbidities and those who had moderate to severe COVID-19 to begin with had a higher chanc

72 new Covid cases in India, total active cases at 1,452: Health Ministry

India logged 72 new coronavirus infections in a day while the number of active cases was recorded at 1,452, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Saturday. The death toll stood at 5,31,925, according to the data updated at 8 am. The country's Covid case tally is 4.49 crore (4,49,96,548), it said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease increased to 4,44,63,171 and the national recovery rate stands at 98.81 per cent, the health ministry said. The case fatality rate stands at 1.18 per cent, it said. According to the ministry's website, 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in the country so far.

Choice of arm for 2nd Covid jab could influence immune response: Research

Getting the second Covid jab on the same arm as the first one or on the opposite arm could influence the body's immune response generated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, new research from Germany says. Those who got jabbed on the same side, or ipsilaterally, generated more antibodies against the Covid-causing pathogen than those who got jabbed on the opposite side, or contralaterally, the study from Saarland University and other German institutes found. Further, median levels of infection-fighting CD8 T-cells generated in response to the spike-protein of the pathogen were found to be significantly lower in those contralaterally vaccinated. CD8 T-cells destroy virus-infected cells and render protection against severe disease. Consequently, after contralateral vaccination, fewer individuals (43 per cent) were found to have detectable levels of CD8 T-cells than after ipsilateral vaccination (67 per cent), the study published in the journal eBioMedicine said. Individual doses of two-dose

FIR against ex-Mumbai mayor, 2 others in Covid-19 body bags purchase scam

The Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police has filed a case against former city mayor and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Kishori Pednekar and two civic officials over alleged corruption in the purchase of body bags meant for COVID-19 victims, an official said. The case was registered at the Agripada police station on Friday, he said. The complaint in this regard was filed by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya in July, the police official added. Pednekar belongs to the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena. She held the position of mayor from November 2019 to March 2022. The case against Pednekar and the two senior officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was registered under various Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, including 420 (cheating) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), he said. The police official did not share any further information regarding the case. When contacted, BJP leader Somaiya said, "We had filed the complaint in connection with the body bag scam in

India records 77 new COVID-19 cases; infection tally stands at 4.49 crore

India has logged 77 fresh COVID-19 cases while the active cases were recorded at 1,553, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Saturday. The country's death toll has been recorded at 5,31,918, the data updated at 8 am stated. The infection tally has been recorded at 4.49 crore (4,49,95,933) and the national recovery rate has reached 98.81 per cent, according to the ministry website. The total number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,62,462 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

India reports 60 new Covid cases, active cases in country climb to 1,479

India has logged 60 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have increased to 1,479 from 1,460 a day ago, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Saturday. The death toll stood at 5,31,915, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally been recorded at 4.49 crore (4,49,95,224). The national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,61,830 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

India records 54 new Covid infections, active case count now at 1,408

India has recorded a single-day rise of 54 new COVID-19 infections and the count of active cases now stands at 1,408, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday. The death toll due to the disease has increased to 5,31,914 and the tally of the infections is at 4.49 crore (4,49,94,819), the data updated at 8 am showed. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 4,44,61,497, while the case fatality rate is at 1.18 per cent, according to the data. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

What causes long Covid-19? Researchers may have found the guilty gene

Researchers compiled data from 24 studies involving a total of nearly 6,500 people diagnosed with long Covid-19

Delhi HC dismisses plea against reduction in allowances of Air India pilots

The Delhi High Court has refused to interfere with the Centre's decision reducing allowances of Air India pilots on account of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, saying the pilots, who were taking home lakhs of rupees in spite of the cut when many others in the country had lost their livelihood, cannot claim victimisation. A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad took judicial notice of the complete lockdown in 2020, when all aviation operations were suspended, as well as the fact that pilots across various airlines lost their jobs but Air India ensured there were no lay-offs. Dismissing an appeal by Executive Pilots Association against a single bench order rejecting its plea assailing the reduction, the bench remarked, "The fact that a pilot even without the allowance takes home a pay package of Rs 6 to 7 lakh as compared to many other people in the country who lost their entire livelihood during the pandemic cannot raise a grouse that they

Covid-related worrying impacts daydreams' more than night-dreams: Research

On days when people when worried more about COVID-19, they experienced more negative emotions while daydreaming. However, people who generally tended to worry more about Covid, also tended to have more negative dreams, a new research examining how Covid-related concerns and worries affected the emotional quality of daydreaming and nighttime dreaming in these times found. More than a hundred participants were asked how worried, anxious, and concerned they were during the COVID-19 pandemic, in this study from the University of Turku, Finland, UK and Australia. They reported their daydreams every evening and their nighttime dreams every morning upon waking up. The researchers analysed more than 3000 reports of daydreams and night-dreams to come out with their findings, published in the journal Emotion, about how the pandemic has shaped people's inner experiences, having profoundly impacted the mental health of people worldwide. They said that the emotional quality of night-dreams or .

Covid-19 centres scam: IAS officer Sanjeev Jaiswal appears before ED

IAS officer Sanjeev Jaiswal on Friday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities over jumbo COVID centres set up by Mumbai civic body BMC during the pandemic, an official said. The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer was seen entering the ED office at Ballard Estate in South Mumbai around 11.30 am. The agency, which investigates offences of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws, had on June 21 raided 15 places linked to some people, including the IAS officer. Jaiswal had served as an additional commissioner in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). ED had recovered jewellery worth nearly Rs 2.4 crore, Rs 68 lakh cash and property-related documents during those raids, said the official. Jaiswal had been asked to appear before the ED to record his statement on Friday in connection with the case, he said. Jaiswal was summoned by the agency earlier too, but he had not appea

Over $200 bn may have been stolen from Covid-19 aid: Federal watchdog

More than USD 200 billion may have been stolen from two large COVID-19 relief initiatives, according to new estimates from a federal watchdog investigating federally funded programmes that helped small businesses survive the worst public health crisis in more than a hundred years. The numbers issued on Tuesday by the US Small Business Administration inspector general are much greater than the office's previous projections and underscore how vulnerable the Paycheck Protection and COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan programmes were to fraudsters, particularly during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. The inspector general's report said at least 17 percent of all COVID-EIDL and PPP funds were disbursed to potentially fraudulent actors. The fraud estimate for the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan programme is more than USD 136 billion, which represents 33 per cent of the total money spent on that programme, according to the report. The Paycheck Protection fraud estimat

India logs 55 new Covid-19 cases, active infections decrease to 1,653

India's COVID-19 infection tally rose by 55 in a day while active cases declined to 1,653 from 1,712 a day earlier, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday. The death toll was recorded at 5,31,903 with one fatality reported in Maharashtra, the data updated at 8 am stated. The tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4.49 crore. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,60,316, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

India reports 120 new Covid-19 cases, active infections dip to 2,148

India has recorded 120 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have decreased to 2,148 from 2,248, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The death toll stood at 5,31,892, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.49 crore (4,49,93,080). The national recovery rate has been recorded at 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,44,59,040 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.