Page 123 - Coronavirus

Power consumption grows 13.31% to 127.39 billion units in September

India's power consumption grew 13.31 per cent on an annual basis to 127.39 billion units (BU) in September 2022 and 11.65 per cent during the first six months of this fiscal, as per government data. The double-digit growth highlights recovery in economic activities following the pandemic-induced lockdown, experts said. They are also of the view that demand as well as consumption of electricity will increase due to the festive season and improvement in economic activity. Power consumption in September last year was recorded at 112.43 BU, higher than 112.24 BU in the same month of 2020, power ministry data showed. Electricity consumption during April-September 2022 grew by 11.65 per cent to 786.5 BU compared to 740.40 BU in the same period in 2021. It was 625.33 BU in April-September 2020. The peak power demand met, which is the highest supply in a day, in September 2022 rose to 199.47 gigawatts (GW). The peak power supply stood at 180.73 GW in September 2021 and 176.41 GW in Septe

Data story: India adds 3,375 new Covid cases; death toll reaches 528,673

India has added 26,373 cases in the past 7 days

Delhi records 92 fresh Covid-19 infections, positivity rate at 1.2%

Delhi on Saturday recorded 92 fresh COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 1.20 per cent, according to data issued by the city health department here. No Covid-related fatality was reported, the department said in its latest bulletin. With these new cases, Delhi's COVID-19 tally has climbed to 20,03,461 while the death toll stands at 26,502, it said The new cases were detected from 7,643 tests conducted the previous day, it said. Delhi on Friday recorded 87 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 1.19 per cent, and one fatality due to it. The capital on Thursday recorded 75 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 0.87 per cent, while it recorded 88 new infections with a positivity rate of 1.01 per cent. On Tuesday, Delhi recorded 73 cases with a positivity rate of 0.90 per cent and one death. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Delhi stands at 379. A total of 254 patients are under home isolation, the bulletin said. Of the 8,857 beds reserved for COVID-19 patients in var

Mumbai sees 130 Covid-19 cases, 1 death, 121 recoveries in single day

Mumbai on Saturday reported 130 COVID-19 cases and one death, which took the tally in the metropolis to 11,50,378 and the toll to 19,732, a civic official said. The addition to the tally was above the 100-mark for the fourth day in a row and slightly more than the 115 cases recorded on Friday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official added. Of the new cases, only 16 are symptomatic, the official said. The recovery count increased by 121 to touch 11,29,941, leaving the city with an active caseload of 705, he said. As per BMC data, a total of 1,83,15,553 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the city so far, including 6,127 in the last 24 hours, down from the 7,038 samples examined in the preceding 24-hour period. The recovery rate is 98.2 per cent and the overall growth rate of cases between September 24 and 30 is 0.009 per cent. The caseload doubling time stands at 8,209 days, as per civic data.

India reports 3,805 fresh Covid-19 cases, 26 deaths: Health Ministry

In the last 24 hours, India reported 3,805 fresh Covid-19 cases ad 26 deaths, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.

Tamil Nadu registers 522 new Covid-19 infections, no death in last 24 hours

Tamil Nadu on Friday reported 522 new COVID-19 infections pushing the caseload to 35,83,104, the health department said. The death toll remained unchanged at 38,046 as there were no fresh fatalities. Chennai witnessed a marginal rise with 104 cases as compared to 98 on Thursday, Chengalpet added 50, Coimbatore 38 while the remaining was spread across other districts. As many as 533 people recuperated from the virus in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 35,39,562 that left 5,496 active infections, a medical bulletin said. Eighteen districts reported new cases below 10 while Ariyalur and Tiruvarur reported zero new cases, each. The state capital leads among districts with 2,375 active infections and overall 7,90,497 coronavirus cases. A total of 15,386 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of tests so far to 6,94,25,293, the bulletin said.

How should India respond to future shocks in an off-balance changed world?

The global engines of growth have become the sources of instability and uncertainty. T N Ninan explores what India should do

Delhi records 87 new Covid-19 infections, active cases stand at 389

Delhi recorded 87 fresh Covid cases with a positivity rate of 1.19 per cent on Friday, while one more person succumbed to the viral disease, according to data issued by the health department. With the new cases, Delhi's COVID-19 tally has climbed to 20,03,369. The death toll rose to 26,502, the department said in its latest bulletin. The new cases were detected from 7,319 tests conducted on Thursday. Delhi recorded 75 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 0.87 per cent on Thursday, according to data issued by the health department. The city had reported 88 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 1.01 per cent on Wednesday. It logged 73 coronavirus cases with a positivity rate of 0.90 per cent on Tuesday, while 33 infections were recorded with a positivity rate of 1.23 per cent on Monday. The national capital had on Sunday recorded 75 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 1.1 per cent. The city reported 71 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 0.81 per cent on Saturday. The

Durga puja artisans in Assam see bleak prospects amid budget cuts

The deft hands of 67-year-old artisan, Tapas Pal, move with ease as he moulds the clay to give shape to divine forms at his workshop in Pandu area here but budget cuts, after two years of COVID-19 crisis, are leaving the idol-maker and his ilk dispirited. Pal is worried that this year, too, business may see no revival amid rising prices of raw materials and shortage of labourers, with several organisers having curtailed their spending. "We faced immense difficulties in the last two years due to the pandemic-induced lockdown. Last year, the administration's directive to mark the occasion with small-sized Durga idols had adversely affected our earnings," Pal told PTI. "Prices of raw materials -- clay, hay, wood and even costumes and jewellery -- have skyrocketed post pandemic but organising committees are not prepared to pay more," he lamented. Artisans in the potters' colony in the western part of the city are still burning the midnight oil to ensure that idols of Goddess Durga and

New drug from US may turn coronavirus against itself, fight variants

Scientists in the US have developed a new drug that can turn SARS-CoV-2 against itself, and prevent the deadly virus from infecting humans. The researchers from The Scripps Research Institute believe that the drug, called NMT5, is likely to be effective against the emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2. The drug, described in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, coats SARS-CoV-2 with chemicals that can temporarily alter the human ACE2 receptor -- the molecule the virus normally latches onto to infect cells. When the virus is near, its path into human cells via the ACE2 receptor is blocked. In the absence of the virus, however, ACE2 can function as usual, the researchers said. "What's so neat about this drug is that we're actually turning the virus against itself," said study senior author Stuart Lipton, a profeesor at The Scripps Research Institute. The team tested a library of compounds and pinpointed NMT5 as having two key properties: It could recognise and attach to a pore on the sur

India reports 3,947 fresh Covid-19 cases, 18 deaths in last 24 hours

India reported 3,947 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours, against 4,272 reported on the previous day, said the Union Health Ministry on Friday

Maharashtra: Thane records 43 new Covid-19 cases; active tally at 390

With the addition of 43 coronavirus positive cases, the overall infection tally in Maharashtra's Thane district has grown to 7,45,004, a health official said on Friday. These cases were reported on Thursday and there are now 390 active cases in the district, he said. The death toll remained unchanged at 11,962 as nobody succumbed to the infection on Thursday, while the count of recoveries has reached 7,33,377, the official added.

Tourist arrivals may just be a third of pre-pandemic levels this year

Rajiv Mehra, head of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), stated that he does not anticipate inbound foreign visitors to surpass 35 per cent of pre-Covid levels until March 31

China's economy continues to struggle on Covid curbs, property woes

China's fragile economic recovery has been challenged this year by the country's adherence to Covid Zero, a policy intended to stamp out infections that has caused intermittent turmoil to supply chain

Mumbai logs 100 new Covid-19 cases, no death; active tally at 688

Mumbai on Thursday reported 100 new coronavirus cases, taking the overall tally to 11,50,133, while no fresh death linked to the infection was registered in the city, the local civic body said. The death toll remained unchanged at 19,731. The metropolis has recorded COVID-19 cases in three digits for the second day in a row. A day ago, the city had logged 116 COVID-19 cases and one fatality caused by the viral infection. The new COVID-19 cases were detected after 7,350 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, pushing up their cumulative count to 1,83,02,368, said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in a bulletin. On Wednesday, 8,896 coronavirus tests were conducted in the financial capital. Mumbai's tally of recuperated cases rose to 11,29,714 after 98 more patients recovered from the respiratory illness, said the bulletin. The city has a coronavirus recovery rate of 98.2 per cent and is left with 688 active cases. Of the 100 new COVID-19 cases, only three patients ..

LIVE: PM Modi to inaugurate 36th National Games in Ahmedabad

PM will declare open the 36th National Games at a gala ceremony in the Narendra Modi stadium in Motera area

Qatar confirms Covid-19 test requirements for World Cup fans: Official

Fans going to the World Cup in Qatar must show a negative COVID-19 test when they arrive as part of the host nation's rules to combat COVID-19, organisers said Thursday. All visitors aged 18 and over must also download a government-run phone application tracking people's movements and health status, called Ehteraz. A green Ehteraz (showing the user does not have a confirmed case of COVID-19) is required to enter any public closed indoor spaces, World Cup organizers said. Visitors must be able to show a negative result from a PCR test taken in the 48 hours before arriving or from an official rapid test taken within 24 hours. The COVID-19 testing policy for visitors aged six and over is regardless of the individual's vaccination status, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy said in a statement. Vaccination is not mandatory for the 1.2 million expected visitors for the Nov. 20-Dec. 18 tournament. Rapid antigen tests taken in the previous 24 hours before landing in Qatar will ..

Thane records 55 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours; active tally at 364

As many as 55 new cases of coronavirus have been detected in Maharashtra's Thane district, taking its tally of infections to 7,44,961, a health official said on Thursday. With the addition of the latest numbers on Wednesday, the district currently has 364 active COVID-19 cases, he said. The death toll in Thane remained unchanged at 11,962. The recovery count has reached 7,33,347, the official said.

Data story: India logs 4,272 new Covid cases; active tally at 40,750

India has added 30,318 cases in the past 7 days

LIVE: R Venkataramani appointed as new Attorney General of India

He will serve the post for three years from the date of his assuming office. Venkataramani has appeared frequently in indirect tax cases.