分类： bharat

US pharma giants Pfizer and Moderna have released the results of clinical trials of their respective experimental coronavirus vaccines. Both vaccine candidates have reportedly shown an efficacy rate of over 90 per cent.

At the same time, the first batch of the Russian Sputnik-V coronavirus vaccine is set to arrive at the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Medical College in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Clinical trials for this Covid-19 vaccine candidate will be held as per the agreement between Dr Reddy’s and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s coronavirus dashboard, last updated at 8 am Tuesday, India has 4,53,401 active cases of coronavirus. As many as 82,90,370 patients have been discharged after recovering from the infection while Covid-19 has claimed 1,30,519 lives across the country to date.

Pakistan’s rejection of Jayant Khobragade as India’s new chargé d’affaires in Islamabad citing his seniority for the post as a reason for rejection is in keeping with the bitter antagonism between India and Pakistan that has intensified in the last few years. It has reached almost a dead-end since the scrapping of Kashmir’s special status last August.

Islamabad’s official explanation is that Khobragade having already served as ambassador earlier was not eligible for the post which is normally slated for diplomats at a lower rung. The Foreign office spokesman said it was India’s way of subverting the downgrading of diplomatic ties announced by Pakistan after article 370 was abolished by New Delhi. The spokesman said it must be made clear that ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbours were linked to the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

It is part of the diplomatic norm to send the name of senior diplomats for the host country’s approval. In normal times not much fuss is made over this. But when India-Pakistan ties are strained diplomats become easy targets. Khobragade rejection is mainly to needle India and convey to ordinary Pakistani citizens that Prime Minister Imran Khan is not lowering his guard against India at every little turn.

In 2003, when India-Pakistan was going through another bad patch, Pakistan’s acting high commissioner in Delhi, Jalil Abbas Jilani was forced to leave the country over allegations of funding Kashmiri separatists. Jilani said then that the charge was a crude attempt at harassing Pakistan, high commission officials. He was declared “persona non grata” but when relations improved he returned to India at the head of a Pakistan delegation for talks, as the Vajpayee government began re-engaging with Islamabad.

But unlike in the past, chances of an India-Pakistan rapprochement soon appear dim. Kashmir has always been a major stumbling block and now after India’s latest move on August 5, 2019, it has become a Gordian knot.

And Pakistan does not let an opportunity go by without dragging in Kashmir. Even in the case of rejecting Khobragade the foreign office spokesman statement contained these lines on Kashmir. “A just and lasting solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is critical for durable peace and stability in South Asia. Accordingly, India is once again reminded of its international obligations with regard to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. India must listen to the voices of the Kashmiri people and the world community.”

In a way, Kashmir has helped Prime Minister Imran Khan to galvanise the public behind him. At a time when his government was fumbling with little to show as achievement, New Delhi’s decision on Kashmir helped to bolster his image as a crusader for the rights of Kashmiris. He did not leave a stone unturned in projecting Indian atrocities in the valley. Unfortunately, Khan got little traction from the international community. A few countries supported him on the abolition of special status for Kashmir, which Delhi said was its internal issue. But there was criticism from several international quarters on the lockdown and the communication embargo imposed on Kashmiris.

After a few cases in Kerala of atrocities against elephants, a project aims to reduce atrocities against elephants in captivity by collecting blood and faecal samples of the estimated 2,700 captive elephants
The plan is being carried out under the aegis of Project Elephant
Presently, most of India’s captive elephants are in Assam (nearly 1,000), followed by Kerala (500) and Tamil Nadu (300)
After a few cases in Kerala of atrocities against elephants, a project aims to reduce atrocities against elephants in captivity by collecting blood and faecal samples of the estimated 2,700 captive elephants.

The plan is being carried out under the aegis of Project Elephant.

This exercise, Noyal Thomas, director of Project Elephant told TOI, will give a unique identity number to the elephants “just like an Aadhaar card which will be generated based on their DNA”.

A farmer’s attempted suicide in Punjab on Friday signaled more problems for the Narendra Modi government over three contentious bills which have led to cracks in the BJP-led ruling alliance at the Centre amid an intensifying peasant agitation across the country.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the Akali Dal, one of the BJP’s oldest allies, quit the Modi cabinet on Thursday in protest against the bills, which the government says would double farmers’ income through greater market access and unburden agricultural trade from all restrictions. The bills seek to open up the farm sector to more competition, modernise supply chains by allowing bigger agribusinesses to engage directly with farmers and create seamless access to markets.

Critics, including opposition parliamentarians, however, say that the bills will dilute the country’s public procurement system and lead to exploitation by private companies. The bills have already been passed by the Lok Sabha, where the ruling alliance has a brute majority.

Assembly elections are due in Bihar by October-November and a few other states by mid-2021 and Prime Minister Modi on Friday defended the bills, saying they will do away with middlemen who have been eating  into farmers’ profits over the years. In an address to people in Bihar where he inaugurated several rail-related projects, Modi also hit out at the opposition for spreading “misinformation” about the proposed laws.

Around 60 percent of India’s population depends on farming for livelihood and the government faces the tough task of pacifying this crucial segment of voters, already reeling under the impact of the coronavirus pandemic which had dealt a crippling blow to the economy.

Farmers’ organisations appeared to be in no mood to relent as they announced plans to intensify their agitation from September 20, when they are likely to go for
blockading highways and railway tracks.

“With the government withdrawing from its responsibility of assuring fair returns and leaving farmers at the mercy of the private sector, we have no recourse except to step up our agitation,” said Shamsher Singh, spokesperson of the Bhoomi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, an influential farmers’ body which is among those spearheading the agitation. 

Prabhakar Kelkar, vice president of the BJP-allied Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, said anticipated intensification of agitation by famers’ outfits across the country. The farmers’ discontent, according to Kelkar, is over uncertainty of payments, which as per the new ordinance, have to be made within three days. But in reality, many of the small farmers in Madhya Pradesh, for instance, are facing problems of not finding buyers or alternatively being pressurised to bring in larger quantities.

At present, farm produce are sold mainly in notified wholesale markets run by the agricultural produce marketing committees (APMCs) under state laws. The APMCs require farmers to only sell to licensed middlemen in these markets rather than in open markets, which economists say hurt the possibility of more profits. One of the bills enables farmers and buyers to trade outside these tax-free markets.

However, critics say that the small time-frame are forcing farmers to approach undocumented traders. Unlike in APMC-managed mandis, where records of transactions are maintained, there is little means to track these unregistered traders. This has led to many farmers being cheated of their dues, the critics allege.

In many instances, traders and mandi workers are behind rising agitation as opening of more sales avenues has led to mandi-based traders fearing a sharp drop in their business and market influence. In direct correlation to the drop in mandi business is the fear of workers in the yards, their numbers can be anywhere between a few thousands to around 50,000, that their avenue for wages will be hit.

After initially stating that the central government does not have any data on migrant deaths during the lockdown, the government has now said 97 migrants were reported to have died till September 9 onboard Shramik Special Trains.

The information came to light in a government response to a question in Rajya Sabha days after a row broke out over the Centre having no data on migrant deaths in the country.

In response to a question raised by Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien in Rajya Sabha on Friday on details of total deaths that occurred onboard the Shramik Special trains, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said, “Out of these 97 cases of deaths, state police sent dead bodies for post mortem in 87 cases. 51 post mortem reports have been obtained from respective state police so far, in which the reasons for deaths have been shown as cardiac arrest/heart disease/brain hemorrhage/pre-existing chronic disease/chronic lung disease/chronic liver disease etc.”

The railway minister’s response comes amid a political storm caused earlier this week by the labour ministry’s response in Lok Sabha in which he stated that no data is available on the number of migrant workers who died during the lockdown enforced in March.

In the month of May, it was reported that almost 80 migrants died onboard Shramik Special trains, between May 9 and May 27, citing data from the Railway Protection Force.

Shramik Special trains began operation on May 1 to ferry migrant labourers back to their home states during the lockdown period.

A woman in Kerala who was a COVID positive patient, has allegedly been raped inside the ambulance by the driver while going to the hospital, said police as per a report in Indian Express.

The accused, Noufal, has been taken into custody, said Pathanamthitta district police superintendent KG Simon. Noufal belongs to Alappuzha and worked in the state health department’s “108 ambulance service”.

The SP went on to say that the accused took the ambulance to a deserted ground and raped the woman. She informed the hospital staff later on who then called the police.

The woman’s statement and the accused’s arrest have both been recorded.

For some, mathematics is surely something that can put their minds to a spin. But some truly enjoy the challenge and end up being good at it. However, there are some for whom all this is rather effortless.

We came across one such individual, who has defied odds at a very young age. Meet Tathagat Avatar Tulsi, India’s child prodigy.

Defying odds in academics
Tulsi was born on September 9th, 1987, in Patna, Bihar. Son of Supreme Court advocate Tulsi Narayan Prasad, his parents noticed his pace of learning at a very early age. He was in fact one of the youngest to ever complete his high-school, graduation, masters and PhD.

He reportedly completed his high school when he was just 9 years old — an age when kids are barely done with multiplication. In just a year, he completed his BSc followed by Masters in Science from Patna Science College at the age of 12. Speaking about his skills, he told TOI, “I believe I have a gift. When I was young and while my friends were struggling to solve mathematical problems, I would solve those easily.”

Completing his PhD from IISc Bengaluru
In August 2009, he got his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore at the age of 22. Here, his Ph.D. thesis was on “Generalizations of the Quantum Search Algorithm”. He co-authored an unpublished research manuscript (“A New Algorithm for Fixed-point Quantum Search”) with Lov Grover, the inventor of a quantum search algorithm that goes by his name.

The research paper was just 35 pages long, yet he felt it had immense potential. He said in an interview with TOI, “Despite the short length, the thesis is innovative enough to qualify as a PhD work. I was always interested in quantum computers and would like to develop software for it. Quantum computers will take us one step ahead in changing the world for the better.”

Winning awards and accolades from an early age
Tulsi has been in the limelight since a very young age. In 2001, he was shortlisted by the Indian Government’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) to participate in a Nobel laureates conference in Germany.

He has been even regarded as one of the seven most gifted Asian youngsters by TIME magazine in 2003, mentioned as “Superteen” by Science Magazine, while also being invited by Italian billionaire Luciano Benetton for a dinner in honor of Al Gore on 14 June 2007 in Milano, Italy.

Assistant Professor on contract at IIT Bombay
In 2010, after completing his PhD, he was offered a role to teach students at the prestigious IIT Bombay, when he was barely 23 years old.

A Delhi-based woman was allegedly raped while returning home on a private bus on the Yamuna Expressway on Saturday, police said.

The woman faced the ordeal after a crew member inside the bus assaulted her, the police said, while adding that the vehicle was coming from Lucknow.

“She called the 112 helpline on Saturday morning when the bus reached Mant toll plaza in Mathura and informed us about the rape by the bus cleaner,” police further said.

The woman and the accused cleaner Ravi were instructed to get down after which the bus was checked, police stated, after which it left for Delhi. Later, the woman underwent a medical examination.

Afterwards, she was escorted back to her home in Rohini, Delhi under police supervision, while the accused Ravi, a resident of Bahraich district, has been sent to judicial custody, the police added.

SRINAGAR, India: Indian forces opened fire with shotgun pellets and tear gas on Saturday on a procession by hundreds of Muslims in troubled Kashmir, injuring dozens of people who had ignored a ban on religious gatherings, witnesses said.

Indian authorities had reimposed the ban on Thursday after clashes with Shia Muslims wanting to stage traditional processions for the Muharram holy month.

Jafar Ali, a witness, told AFP that the procession started in the Bemina area on the outskirts of the main city of Srinagar and that government forces were present in heavy numbers.

Ali and other people who saw the clashes said security forces fired pellets and tear gas to break up the gathering.

“The forces fired pellets at the procession that was mainly peaceful and included women,” said another witness Iqbal Ahmad.

At least 40 people were injured, according to witnesses.

About 25 people were taken to a nearby clinic with pellet wounds, some with their faces and bodies covered in pellet marks, a doctor there told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“We moved about a dozen people to other facilities for more advanced treatment,” the doctor said.

A police official confirmed the incident, saying: “Some people had gathered and were trying to start a procession, they were dispersed.” He did not give details of casualties.

Muharram processions, to mourn Imam Hussain, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, in a battle about 1400 years ago, are held around the world but have been regularly banned in Indian Kashmir since an uprising erupted in 1989.

The Muslim-majority Himalayan region is largely divided between India and Pakistan, who both claim it in its entirety and have fought two wars over it.

Last year, India took away the semi-autonomous status granted to its side of the territory. Tensions have risen since.

Muslims in the procession chanted pro-separatist and an anti-Indian slogans, other witnesses said.

Several arrests have been made this week of people shouting against Indian rule when processions have been attempted, a police official said. Some have been charged under anti-terrorism laws.

Dozens of Shia Muslim mourners were detained in Srinagar on Friday after they tried to start Muharram processions. 

60-year-old Mehrunnisa Abdul Hamid Kazi was rescued on Tuesday evening after being trapped for 26 hours under the rubble of the five-storey building which collapsed on Monday evening in Maharashtra’s Raigad area.

A60-year-old woman was rescued on Tuesday evening by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from the debris of Tariq Garden building in Maharashtra’s Raigad, 26 hours after the building collapsed.

Mehrunnisa Abdul Hamid Kazi was trapped under the rubble of the five-storey building which collapsed on Monday evening. Officials said Kazi lived on the fifth floor of the building.

After noticing some movement under a portion of the debris, personnel of the NDRF Force succeeded in pulling her out by 9.35 pm on Tuesday and rushed her to a hospital.

Earlier, the NDRF had rescued four-year-old Mohammad Nadim Bangi safely from the rubble 19 hours after the incident.

Twelve persons have been killed in the building collapse and nine injured. At least three more persons were suspected to be stuck under the debris.

周二(8/25)，印度西部一座5层楼的公寓倒塌。该事故已造成至少5人死亡，17人下落不明。20小时的搜救后，一名4岁男孩从瓦砾中被救出。目前事故原因尚不明确，但在印度的雨季，建筑物倒塌的状况频繁发生。

A 17-year-old girl, whose mutilated body was found near a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district earlier today, was also raped, the police confirmed Tuesday night.

The police had initially said the girl appeared to have been killed with a sharp weapon and that she had sustained injuries to her neck. The body was found near a dried-up pond, around 200 metres from her village, the cops added.

“Yes, the post-mortem report has confirmed rape. We are making all possible efforts to identify and arrest the accused. We hope to have a breakthrough soon,” Satendar Kumar, Kheri’s police chief, said.

According to the relatives of the girl, she left home on Monday to visit a neighbouring town to fill up a scholarship form. However, when she did not return the family informed the police.

“I really don’t know what to say or whom to suspect. She left around 8.30 AM on Monday. We do not suspect anyone,” her uncle told the media.

This is the second rape and murder of a teenage girl from this district in the past 10 days.

Her father alleged his daughter had been strangled, and had her eyes gouged out and her tongue cut off.

The police said the post-mortem report, which was released a day later, did not show her eyes had been gouged or that her tongue was cut out. The police said the autopsy did mention rape and strangulation.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Saturday expressed hope that if all goes well, India will get a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of this year. Speaking to an India Today TV reporter, Dr Harsh Vardhan said, “The world is working towards discovering a vaccine. There are 26 vaccine candidates around the world that are in the clinical trials phase. Apart from this, there are 139 candidates that are being developed on different levels and in pre-clinical trials.”

“The vaccine candidates in India have made a little more progress than them. There are around half a dozen in total. Three of them have reached the first, second and third phases respectively,” the Health Minister said.

Dr Harsh Vardhan added, “As we are analysing their progress, we are fully confident that their trials will be completed within this year itself and their results will come out in front of the whole nation and the world. And I have complete faith that we will be successful too.”

“As soon as an effective vaccine is available for the country, we will start its manufacturing in India and make it available to the public,” he further said.

Earlier on Saturday, the Health Minister also said that India has the “best” Covid-19 recovery rate of about 75 per cent, which is improving every day, and the “lowest” mortality rate of 1.87 per cent in the world.

He said India began formulating its strategy against coronavirus from January 8 as soon as the world came to know about the outbreak of the disease.

Dr Harsh Vardhan said “many intelligent people, scientists and naysayers” had estimated that India, with a population of about 135 crore, will see 300 million Covid-19 cases and about 5-6 million people will die by July-August, and the country’s healthcare system was “incapable” to combat the disease.

“However, I am happy to say that in the eighth month of the battle, India has the best recovery rate of 75 per cent and against an estimate of 300 million affected we have not even reached 3 million cases.”

“In fact, 2.2 million patients have recovered and gone home and another seven lakh are going to be cured very soon,” he said.

Pakistan on Saturday admitted that Dawood Ibrahim, one of India’s most-wanted men, lives within its territory – in Karachi, in a building called the ‘White House’.

Dawood Ibrahim, who heads a vast and multifaceted illegal business, had emerged as India’s most-wanted terrorist after the 1993 Mumbai blasts. For years, Pakistan has been denying that it was sheltering him. This was despite repeated statements and evidence that India provided from time-to-time about his presence in Pakistan.

The revelation about Dawood Ibrahim’s presence was made on Saturday when Pakistan placed his name on the list of designated terrorists operating within its territory. The list was submitted before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog.

Pakistan has claimed that it has directed placing travel restrictions on Dawood Ibrahim, besides putting an arms embargo and freezing his funds.

In 2003, the US declared Dawood Ibrahim as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

India has repeatedly asked the Government of Pakistan to hand over Ibrahim to India so that he can be prosecuted for the crimes committed by him. It is reported that Ibrahim is based in the southern port city of Karachi.

India’s silver imports are likely to fall by more than 40 per cent from a year ago to the lowest level in eight years, with investors booking profit by selling stocks after local prices rallied to a record high this month, leading importers said.

Lower imports by the world’s biggest silver consumer could weigh on global prices that have risen more than 50 per cent so far in 2020.

“Investors, who bought silver at higher levels, got an opportunity to exit after a long time. For some, even after a decade,” said Chirag Thakkar, CEO of Amrapali Group Gujarat, a leading silver importer.

Their selling will reduce import requirement for 2020 to 3,000 tonnes, the lowest since 2012, he said.

India imported 5,598 tonnes of silver in 2019, according to data compiled by Refinitiv GFMS. The country fulfills most of its silver requirement through imports.

Investors are sceptical whether silver will hold recent gains, said Prithviraj Kothari, managing director of RiddiSiddhi Bullions.

“There is rush from sellers but very few buyers are there. Sellers are forced to accept hefty discount,” he said.

Local silver futures were trading around 66,800 rupees per kg on Thursday afternoon after hitting a record high of 77,949 rupees earlier this month.

But in the spot market silver was offered at discount of more than Rs 5,000 per kg due to weak demand, Thakkar said.

India’s silver imports in the first seven months of the year nearly halved from a year ago to 1,900 tonnes and it is unlikely to rise again unless prices correct sharply, said a Mumbai based dealer with a bullion importing bank.

Transformation is key to burning away the Covid-19 fears. Not surprisingly today all of us are compelled to go beyond our form, battling over either surviving in our jobs or nursing our Covid-struck businesses.

Covid-19 has hugely impacted every section of society, paralyzed movement of people and vehicles and severely endangered our economy. However, there are sectors that have sensed the opportunity and are set to strategize with innovations.

These sectors could also be on the lookout for professionals who can add value, creating a scope for an employment opportunity.

Five sectors which will be in high demand in the post-Covid era are:

1. Ed-tech

2. Healthcare

3. Fintech/Financial services

4. OTT and Online Gaming

5. E-Retail and E-Commerce

Covid-19 is determined to bring destruction, but we are hoping that there will be phoenixes rising out of the ashes of the crisis. The pandemic has opened our eyes to gaps and challenges and awakened many industries to transform.

We are already witnessing a new wave of technologies emerging, thus signaling the dawn of another renaissance. India has a chance to grab the opportunity of attracting companies from western countries that are looking at moving out of China and Japan.

This could magnify the Government’s vision to make India a manufacturing hub, time to turn India’s vision to reality!

Assam Education Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said in a press conference held in Guwahati that the state government will provide scooties to 22,000 girl students of the state who passed the higher secondary final examinations with first division marks.

“The state government will deliver the scooties to girl students by October 15 this year. Each scooty will cost Rs 50,000-55,000,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

“The government will be launching a website sebaonline.org and the students who want electric scooty, may choose to their choice of the variant to visit the website. The students will have to bear the cost of registration and they will not be able to sell the scooties for at least three years,” he added.

The Assam minister also said that aiming the implement the National Education Policy in Assam, the state government has constituted a 40-member high-level committee.

“The committee will be divided into various subgroups and it will give recommendations on how to implement the National Education Policy in Assam. By this year, we will make a framework for implementation of the National Education Policy in Assam,” Himanta said.

On the other hand, the state government has urged all colleges of the state to increase their undergraduate seats by 25 percent this year.

“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, CBSE could not be completed Class 12 examinations and the central board had given marks to the students just as projected marks. So, many students of the state under the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) could not able to get seats in the colleges,” Sharma said.

A 13-year-old girl has been raped and murdered in India.

Her body was found in a sugarcane field in northern Uttar Pradesh state, police said on Saturday. Two neighbours in the village have been arrested.

Police have denied the father’s account that his daughter had had her eyes gouged out and her tongue cut.

Rape and sexual violence have been under the spotlight in India since the 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in the capital, Delhi.

That attack led to huge protests and changes to the country’s rape laws, but there has been no sign of crimes against women and girls abating.

According to recent crime figures, every fourth rape victim in India is a child. In an overwhelming number of rape cases, the victims know the perpetrators.

The latest incident occurred late on Friday in Pakaria village in the Lakhimpur Kheri district, police said.

The family went searching for their daughter after she failed to return from a toilet break out in the fields.

They say they found her body mutilated.

But police said the post-mortem examination had concluded that she had died from strangulation after being raped – but not that her eyes had been gouged out or that her tongue had been cut.

“There were scratches near the eyes, likely due to the sharp sugarcane leaves where the body was found,” police spokesman Satendra Kumar said.

A senior member of the Opposition Congress Party, Jitin Prasada, condemned the attack as “saddening”.

“The inhuman act with a girl has put humanity to shame,” he said, according to the Times of India newspaper.

The incident comes months after the case of a six-year-old girl who was abducted outside her home in Madhya Pradesh state and raped.

The attacker inflicted severe injuries to the child’s eyes, in an apparent attempt to stop her identifying him.

In February, a 25-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping a five-year-old girl on the premises of the US embassy in Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that three vaccines, that are being developed and tested in India to fight the novel coronavirus, are at different stages of testing. PM Narendra Modi also said his government will ensure every Indian gets vaccinated against coronavirus.

Addressing the nation from the iconic Red Fort in Delhi on India completing 73 years of Independence, PM Modi said the roadmap for the production of coronavirus vaccine and its distribution to every Indian in the least amount of time, is ready. He said the mass production of coronavirus vaccine will begin once scientists give their nod.

PM Modi said, “Three coronavirus vaccines are at different testing stages in India. The roadmap for its production and distribution among the Indians is also ready. The government will ensure every Indian gets the vaccine against coronavirus.”

“As soon as the scientists give a green signal, the country will begin their large-scale production,” PM Narendra Modi said, adding the talent of “our scientists is like that of rishi munis”.

“We will announce the roadmap for its distribution as soon as it gets final clearances,” PM Modi said.

He said whenever there is talk of coronavirus, the question that comes to everyone’s mind is that when will a vaccine be ready. “I want to tell people, the talent of our scientists is like that of ‘rishi munis’ and they are working very hard in laboratories. Three vaccines are in various stages of testing,” he said.

PM Modi said the government would soon announce the National Digital Health Mission under which, every citizen would get a health ID. “National Digital Health Mission will bring a new revolution in India’s health sector,” PM Modi said, adding, “Health updates will be logged in the health ID on every visit to a pharmacy or a doctor.”

India mourned the deaths of 18 passengers of the ill-fated Air India Express (AIE) flight that skidded off the tabletop runway and broke into two on landing at Kerala’s Kozhikode Airport, also known as the Karipur International Airport, on Friday evening.

Pilot of the flight, Capt Deepak Sathe and his co-pilot Akhilesh Kumar Sharma are also among the 18 who died in the tragic flight mishap.

The AIE flight (IX-1344) from Dubai with 190 people on board including a 6-member crew overshot the table-top runway while landing at the Karipur Airport and fell into a valley 35 feet below and broke into two portions.

Rest of the passengers were rescued from the crash site and rushed to hospitals for treatment. Of them, 23 are said to be in critical condition while another 23 have been discharged after initial medical assistance.

The crucial black box Air India Express flight, that could throw light on how it overshot the runway and crashed, has been recovered.

Kerala government on Saturday announced Rs 10 lakh compensation to the families of those who died in the incident. Air India Express also announced compensation for those killed in the plane crash. Air India Express said it will give Rs 10 lakh to the next kin of the deceased passenger 12 years and above, Rs 5 lakh to the passengers below the age of 12 years, Rs 2 lakh to critically injured passengers and Rs 50,000 to the passengers who are injured in the incident.

Black box of Air India flight retrieved

Officials on Saturday said that the crucial black box of the ill-fated Air India Express flight that could throw light on how it overshot the runway and crashed has been recovered.

Investigations into the cause of the crash are underway with top officials of the airlines and aviation regulator DGCA rushing to Kozhikode while Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also arrived in this city in north Kerala and took stock of the situation and implementation of the relief measures.

“Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of the ill-fated aircraft have been retrieved. AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau) is conducting investigations,” Puri tweeted.

The minister said he would hold consultations “with senior civil aviation officials & professionals”, adding reasons for the mishap, in which the two pilots were among those dead, were being investigated.

The digital flight recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the Air India flight that crashed in Kerala’s Kozhikode were recovered on Saturday morning. The devices may be crucial in the investigation to know what caused the crash.

The recovered components will be crucial in learning about the last moments before the flight skidded on runway on Friday and killed 18 people including two pilots.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) had said the Air India Express plane, carrying 190 people from Dubai, on Friday touched down near a taxiway that is around 1,000 metres from the beginning of the runway at the Kozhikode airport before breaking up into two pieces.

The pilot of the ill-fated flight — IX-1344 — could not sight the runway in the first landing attempt due to heavy rains.

The Kozhikode airport in Kerala has a table-top runway and is operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Generally, table-top runways are constructed on a hilly or an elevated terrain.

At least 18 people, including two pilots, have died in the crash.
An AAI spokesperson said that runway 28 was in use and in the first landing attempt, the pilot could not sight the runway and requested for runway 10.

Citing information from the Air Traffic Controller (ATC), the spokesperson said the aircraft touched down near taxiway ‘C’, which is approximately 1,000 metres from the beginning of runway 10. The total length of the runway is 2,700 metres.

Rescue operations were completed around midnight and airport operations resumed at 3 am on Saturday morning.

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft while landing overshot the runway and went down 35 feet into a slope before breaking up into two pieces.

The Coronavirus cases in India on Thursday crossed 2 million-mark, with the countrywide figure surging to 20,19,930. 

This is the ninth consecutive day that COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 50,000.

On Thursday morning, the health ministry said India had recorded a single day increase of 56,282 COVID-19 cases taking the country’s virus tally to 19,64,536, while the recoveries surged to 13,28,336.

The death toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 41,573 with 891 new fatalities being reported in 24-hours, according to a  PTI tally.

The fatality rate has further dropped to 2.07 per cent, the data stated.

India is behind Brazil, which has more than 2.8 million cases and the US, which is leading the list of nations hit worst by the pandemic, with close to 5 million cases.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 2,21,49,351 samples have been tested up to August 5 with 6,64,949 samples being tested on Wednesday. 

On Thursday morning, the health ministry update said that of the 904 fresh deaths reported in the 24 hours since Wednesday monring, 334 are from Maharashtra, 112 from Tamil Nadu, 100 from Karnataka, 77 from Andhra Pradesh, 61 from West Bengal, 40 from Uttar Pradesh, 29 from Punjab, 23 from Gujarat,  17 from Madhya Pradesh, 13 each  from Rajasthan and Telangana, 11 from Delhi and Nine each from Jammu and Kashmir and Odisha.

Eight fatalities each have been reported from Bihar and Jharkhand, seven each from Haryana, Kerala and Puducherry, six from Assam, four from Goa, three from Uttarakhand, two each from Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Chhattisgarh, while Nagaland and Tripura have registered one fatality each. 

Of the total 40,699 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 16,476 followed by 4,461 in Tamil Nadu, 4,044 in Delhi, 2,804 in Karnataka, 2,556 in Gujarat, 1,857 in Uttar Pradesh, 1,846 in West Bengal, 1,681 in Andhra Pradesh and  929 in Madhya Pradesh.

So far, 745 people have died of COVID-19 in Rajasthan, 589 in Telangana, 491 in Punjab, 455 in Haryana, 426 in Jammu and Kashmir, 355 in Bihar, 225 in Odisha, 136 in Jharkhand, 121 in Assam, 98 in Uttarakhand, 94 in Kerala.

Chhattisgarh has registered 71 deaths, Puducherry 65, Goa 64, Tripura 31, Chandigarh 20, Himachal Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands 14 each, Ladakh and Manipur seven each, Nagaland six, Meghalaya five, Arunachal Pradesh three, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu two and Sikkim one.

Novel coronavirus cases in India breached the 20-lakh mark on Thursday with various states such as Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu recording massive spikes in new confirmed cases of Covid-19.

As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s Covid-19 bulletin, last updated at 8 am on August 6, India’s tally of confirmed cases stood at 19,64,536. This was inclusive of 5,95,501 active cases, 13,28,336 patients discharged after recovery and 40,699 deaths.

The official number of total Covid-19 cases, however, remains at 19.64 lakhs as the Ministry of Health’s Covid dashboard is updated at 8 AM each morning.

Maharashtra, the state with the most number of Covid-19 cases in all of India, recorded 11,514 fresh cases on Thursday. This takes Maharashtra’s tally of confirmed cases to 4,79,779. A total of 3,16,375 patients have recovered from the infection in the state, 10,854 in the last 24 hours. There are 1,46,305 active cases in the state as on August 6, as per Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope.

Andhra Pradesh followed Maharashtra to report the second-most fresh cases on Thursday. With 10,328 new cases, Andhra’s tally of confirmed Covid-19 cases now stands at 1,96,789. This includes 82,166 active cases, 1,12,870 patients discharged after recovery and 1753 who succumbed to the infection to date.

Similarly, the state of Karnataka reported 6805 fresh cases, Tamil Nadu 5684 new cases and Uttar Pradesh 4589 fresh cases followed by West Bengal with 2954 new cases. As many as 1699 more cases were recorded in Odisha, 1299 in Delhi, 1298 in Kerala and 1034 in Gujarat along with 830 fresh cases in Madhya Pradesh.

On Thursday, the global tally of Covid-19 cases exceeded 1,88,51,834 with US and Brazil with the most cases followed by India, Russia and South Africa. The infection has claimed 7,08,540 lives across the globe with the US leading in casualties followed by Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

As the death toll in the Punjab spurious liquor tragedy continues to rise, the case has picked up the pace with action now being taken against some senior officials in the state. Majority of the deaths have taken place in Tarn Taran, Batala and Amritsar districts of the state since Wednesday.

While the toll in the hooch tragedy mounted to 86 on Saturday — 63 deaths in Tarn Taran, 12 in Amritsar Rural at 12 and 11 in Gurdaspur (Batala) — seven excise officials, six policemen were suspended in connection with the incident. The total number of arrests in the case has also gone up to 25. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia compensation to each of the families of the deceased.

1. As the death toll in the Punjab hooch tragedy rose to 86, the Punjab police on Saturday arrested 17 more persons in a massive crackdown. More than 100 raids were conducted in the three affected districts — Amritsar Rural, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran — along with several other places in and around the Rajpura and Shambhu border. The total number of arrests in the case has gone up to 25.

2. Govinderbir Singh alias Gobinda, the mafia mastermind accused of bringing spurious liquor from Tarn Taran to the Amritsar Rural area; kingpin Darshan Rani alias Faujan; transport owner Prem Singh; Bhinda, who is a wanted criminal by Tarn Taran police; and owners/managers of various dhabas from where the illicit liquor was being supplied are among the arrested accused, DGP Dinkar Gupta said. The dhabas, identified as Zilmil Dhaba, Green Dhaba, Chhinda Dhaba on Shambhu, and Banur and Rajpura in Patiala, have been sealed.

3. As much as 750 litres of Lahan had been seized from village Baghaura from where two persons, Satnam and Rashem, were arrested while another, identified as Lakhwinder, was also identified as a culprit.

4. According to the DGP: In the raid at Jhilmil dhaba, whose manager Narinder Singh was arrested, 200 litres of Lahan ( a type of illicit liquor) was seized. The dhaba owner Harjit Singh has also been named in the FIR. At Green Dhaba near Rajpura Chandigarh Road, approximately 200 litres of Diesel like liquid was recovered, which truck drivers were selling to the dhaba owner. The dhaba has also been sealed and its owner Gurjant Singh has been arrested. One Narinder Singh, the owner of Multani Dhaba, has also been arrested in the case, said the DGP. Another 150 litres of Lahan was recovered from one Parminder Singh and 200 litres from Baljit Singh. Both these men have also been arrested. Raids were also conducted at the house of Rupinder Singh alias Bittu, who is a friend of Hardeep Singh alias Goldy who was arrested earlier by the CIA Jalandhar Rural.

5. Describing the modus operandi of the accused, the DGP said the trucks carrying spirit would be stopped at 6-7 identified Dhaba and the Dhaba owners collected the hooch from truck drivers and sold it to one Bhinda and Bittu of a village near Banur. Bhinda was also an accused in the Rajpura factory case. The spirit was being supplied to Amritsar and surrounding areas by these people.

6. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had already ordered a magisterial probe into the tragedy, unfolding since Wednesday night. He even announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia compensation to each of the families of the deceased on Saturday.

7. On Saturday, seven excise officials, six policemen were also suspended over Punjab hooch tragedy. During the 13th edition of his Facebook Live #AskCaptain, Amarinder Singh announced the suspension of ETOs Lovejinder Brar from Gurdaspur, BS Chahal from Amritsar and Madhur Bhatia from Tarn Taran. Excise and Taxation Inspectors (ETIs) who have been suspended with immediate effect are Ravi Kumar (Gurdaspur), Gurdeep Singh (Amritsar), Pukhraj (Fatehabad) and Hitesh Prabhakar (Tarn Taran). He also suspended Jandiala (Amritsar) and Tarn Taran DSPs. The SHOs of Amritsar’s Tarsikka, Batala City, Tarn Taran Sadar and Tarn Taran City were also suspended.

Earlier, Bikramjit Singh, the station house officer at the Amritsar’s Tarsikka police station, was also suspended.

The Supreme Court today dismissed a PIL filed requesting for a CBI probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. The court asked Alka Priya, the lawyer who filed the plea to let the police do their job instead. The lawyer further added that Sushant Singh Rajput had done a lot of work for children by facilitating their training at NASA, and therefore, his death needs to be looked at. To which, Chief Justice S Bodbe said that that has nothing to do with if he was good or bad person. Sushant Singh Rajput died by suicide on June 14.

There’s been a growing demand for a CBI probe into Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case with several political figures and film personalities weighing in. Amid all this, yesterday, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh also said that there is no need for the case to be transferred to CBI, and that the Mumbai Police is capable of handling the investigation. The Mumbai Police has been investigating the case since June 14. They have recorded statements of over 40 people in connection with Sushant’s death, including that of Rhea Chakraborty, Sushant’s family, filmmakers Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Shekhar Kapur, and Yash Raj Films head, Aditya Chopra, among others.

Rhea Chakraborty, Sushant Singh Rajput’s girlfriend, also recently wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah requesting him to sanction a CBI enquiry into the actor’s death. In a long Instagram post, she had written, “Respected @amitshahofficial sir , I’m sushant Singh Rajputs girlfriend Rhea chakraborty, it is now over a month since his sudden demise . I have complete faith in the government , however in the interest of justice , I request you with folded hands to initiate a CBI enquiry into this matter . I only want to understand what pressures prompted Sushant to take this step. Yours sincerely, Rhea Chakraborty (sic).”

Most discussions on India’s Covid-19 outbreak centre on the high number of cases, now third in the world after the United States and Brazil. The messaging from the government has been that things are getting better. However, a broader look at the month’s data shows that cases are growing fastest in India among the worst affected countries, and improvements in India have plateaued.

Not only that, but India is gradually inching towards registering the highest number of daily new cases. Since last week, it has consistently added over 40,000 new cases every day, and on Monday, July 27, it was just 5,000 cases away from reporting the highest daily rise in cases in the world. India reported nearly 50,000 new cases, just behind the US, which added a little less than 55,000 cases on the day. Incidentally, Brazil at the third spot added less than half the number of cases as India.

Despite having the world’s third-highest caseload, India’s cases are growing faster among the 10 worst-affected countries. In fact, India has one of the world’s highest growth rates in cases; just 18 countries out of nearly 200 are growing faster, but all of them (except Argentina with 1.5 lakh cases) have only a few hundred or few thousand cases. In the worst-affected US, cases are doubling in 40 days, while in Brazil, they are taking 36 days. In India, cases are doubling in 19 days.

The seven-day rolling average of India’s daily additions is also sloping upwards and competes with that of Brazil and the US. According to ‘Our World in Data’, as of July 26, India’s average daily additions were around 44,000; the same was 45,600 for Brazil. The US tops the chart with daily additions averaging 66,600.

Epidemiologist Giridhar R Babu believes this increase in cases should not worry us as increased detection helps in early isolation. “Starting with just a few labs, India has come a really long way in detecting these many cases by expanding testing throughout the country. However, there is still scope for more testing, especially in areas with low case detection. We should not worry about the absolute number of cases, as increased detection helps in saving more lives by early isolation and timely management,” said the professor and head of lifecourse epidemiology at Public Health Foundation of India.

Whether the pandemic ends within a month or two or stretches into the long-term, business owners need to be ready to buckle down and make changes to their business strategy in order to weather the storm and beyond.

The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown had brought hundreds of companies across the world to their knees. But with a few essential tips, you can help your business ride out this tough time.

We have for you here a few business-survival tips from several CEOs to help protect your company during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tips from Himanshu Bindal for business growth

Himanshu Bindal, Founder of Biosup (a pioneering company in the area of pharmaceutical and surgical products) shared tips to plan for future growth:

1. Cost monitoring: Always monitor your cost and get as lean as possible even when you are not having liquidity challenges. Also, keep an eye on your balance sheet. The better you manage your cash the better your business plans will work out.

2. Contingency planning: Planning always saves you from the worst-case scenarios. Always have a Plan B and if possible, a Plan C as well so that if something goes sideways, your company will not be hit hard as it will be saved by your contingency plans.

3. Quick decision-making: Never delay in making decisive decisions in times of trouble. And never be shy about seeking help from outside.

4. Communicate with customers: Try to communicate with customers and let them know that they and their reviews on your products matter. Improve and do the changes accordingly, if needed.

5. Internet: Go online as much as possible because it always helps to reach customers who we cannot tap through offline or other forms of marketing.

6. Keep striving: Keep striving to come on top of the industry of which your company is a part of.

5 pillars of business strategy from Vikas Chaturvedi

Vikas Chaturvedi CEO of Xanadu Realty a real estate b2b consultancy firm shared 5 pillars of his strategy which includes:

1. Drive Innovation in every aspect of the business

2. Absorb and accept technology in your organization to take your product to the customers

3. Take initiative and bring smarter consumer propositions to take care of worries of a consumer while buying property

4. Reskill your teams for the new scenarios

5. Mitigate risk and judicious cash management. Most importantly stay positive during this time.

印度总理莫迪自新型冠状病毒疫情扩大以后，开始强调在本国内打造自主独立的经济圈的构想。背景是新冠疫情的影响加剧，供应链陷入崩溃，同时以边境冲突为契机，印度出现了排除中国企业的动向。对印度来说，中国是最大进口对象国，如何降低对中国的依存度成为焦点。

“新冠病毒令世界崩溃，也在迫使印度自立。必须将危机变为商机”，5月12日，莫迪在电视演讲中提出了20万亿卢比（约合人民币1.9万亿元）的经济刺激举措。他提出振兴当地的制造业和农业，同时构建印度国内供应链的方针。“自立经济圈”构想首次浮出水面。

作为新冠疫情防控对策，拥有排在世界第2位的13亿人口的印度3月25日起实施全境封锁。不过，由于国民缺乏思想准备，印度经济陷入混乱。

“无法把牛奶送到消费者手中”，当地电视台自4月起连续播出农户将新鲜牛奶倒入河中、蔬菜在仓库里腐烂的画面。由于突如其来的全境封锁，供应链陷入功能紊乱。

在印度，连接农村和城市的物流原本就很脆弱，能以低温运输的卡车也很少。零部件甚至无法运到工厂。在城市打工的外出务工劳动者也大量被解雇。印度的经济活动崩溃，同时疫情扩大也没有停止。莫迪或许深感必须在国内各个地区建立稳固的经济基础。

“力争使（印度）国内的生产和消费活动与世界的供应链融合起来”，莫迪在7月9日的演讲中对自立经济圈这样解释。作为例子之一，他提及药品产业今后向世界供给开发的疫苗的方案。虽然定义仍模糊不清，但似乎打算在提振国内产业的同时大力发展出口等。

在此期间，6月中旬中印在边境发生冲突，印度军队时隔45年出现伤亡。印度政府为此禁止了中国企业提供的视频APP等的使用。有观点认为，将中国最大通信设备企业华为技术等从印度市场排除出去的措施是“推进自立经济圈的一环”。印度此前过度依赖中国，但以此次的新冠病毒危机为契机，寻求加以改变。

印度2019年度的贸易逆差为1528亿美元，其中对中国逆差占约3成。从2018年印度对各国的进口额来看，中国排在首位，占整体的14％。印度的通信和半导体依赖中国造，无法自主推进产品制造的领域也很多。如果持续抵制中国，印度经济将发生怎样的变化？众多相关人士正密切关注这一前景。