Loud applause and cheers rang out as the first jabs were administered to frontline workers at hospitals and healthcare centres across the country on Saturday at the start of the gargantuan COVID-19 vaccination exercise, hailed as a 'momentous' occasion in India's fight against the pandemic.
'Two years ago, had I been given even a tiny hint that my genes were tipping the scale for the development of a disease that would lock me into my body, unable to move or breath normally on my own, I would have been sad, and probably mad.' 'So now I'm running as fast as I can -- from my wheelchair.' P Rajendran on the amazing but brief life of Rahul Desikan, medical pioneer.
A total of 37 deaths were reported since Thursday evening of which 14 fatalities were reported from Maharashtra, nine from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh,Tamil Nadu and Telengana and one from Karnataka, ministry data stated.
With the lockdown in force, live online teaching has become the order of the day, report Peerzada Abrar and Sai Ishwar.
The entrepreneur in Abhinav Bindra reckons the economies of sport will have taken a beating by the time the novel coronavirus ceases to spread its ugly tentacles, leaving the athletes in an uncertain world full of challenges. The champion athlete in him sees sport playing a "large role" on the other side of the pandemic, healing the wounds of a world ravaged by its seismic effects.
Rio Olympian and Indian long distance runner Sudha Singh, who was undergoing treatment at a private hospital here for a suspected Zika virus infection, has tested positive for swine flu and will be out of action for at least two months, doctors said on Tuesday. "Sudha Singh who has been undergoing treatment for a suspected Zika virus is suffering from H1N1, known as swine flu virus," Dr Sarala of Sports Authority of India told PTI in Bengaluru.
Thirty districts in the country, including 13 in Kerala, eight in Mizoram, four in Meghalaya, three each in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, two in Sikkim and one in Meghalaya are reporting a weekly positivity rate of over 10 per cent.
The faculty and students of Jawaharlal Nehru University alleged that over 10 students, including the visually and physically challenged, were injured due to the "brutality" of police personnel who severely baton charged them during their protest against the hostel fee hike on Monday, even as the Delhi Police denied the accusations.
They stressed that classification of cases into mild, moderate and severe categories based just on respiratory symptoms should be relooked to include other organ involvement.
"I don't want you to cry but with anger, you have to shout and demand that we need 50 per cent reservation," the CJI said.
Asked if Ganguly would be cornered at the meeting, he laughed and cited an example.
The body of the former minister, wrapped in a tricolour, was brought to the crematorium in the afternoon from the BJP headquarters, where it was kept for few hours for people to pay their respects.
'Not one single, but multiple trials are there to quote. However, these will be published as scientific manuscripts.' 'This includes integrative as well as standalone approaches in Covid mitigation.'
The experts said there is a need to relook at the testing strategy in a way that it results in guiding the public health response and effectively limiting the spread of the disease.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked states to make full use of the expanded COVID-19 testing capacity and saving lives a top priority as India recorded the highest ever spike of 2,003 coronavirus deaths after Maharashtra and Delhi added earlier fatalities not attributed to the disease.
AQ Khan, a controversial scientist known as the father of Pakistan's clandestine nuclear programme, passed away here on Sunday after a brief illness. He was 85.
The searches are linked to suspected movement of hawala money during the ongoing polls season and tax evasion, they said.
The fact that so many victims turn hostile should be a matter of concern. If so many accused persons continue to roam freely in society, this becomes an additional liability to women's safety, points out Rashme Sehgal.
'Having dedicated my life towards improving breast healthcare in my motherland. I shall continue to work with rock-solid determination following this "chosen" path.'
'We should not forget the core purpose of the lockdown -- to buy time to implement a strategy to tackle the virus, to prepare for the final lifting of the lockdown and to prepare for a 'new tomorrow',' notes Dr Sanjeeth Peter.
'At 23, he has experienced what very few of his age have: Poverty at home, a stint in jail for his student activism.' 'His experience told him that if you want your rights, you have to fight for them.'
'The mental issues are too complex to be handled.' 'It is hitting us hard for one reason.' 'We have such a high level of fear about this disease.'
The districts are Gondia (Maharashtra), Raj Nand Gaon (Chhattisgarh), Davangiri (Karnataka), South Goa, Wayanad and Kottayam (Kerala), West Imphal (Manipur), Rajouri (J&K), Aizwal West (Mizoram), Mahe in Puducherry, SBS Nagar in Punjab, Patna, Nalanda and Munger in Bihar, Pratapgarh in Rajasthan, Panipat, Rohtak and Sirsa in Haryana, Pauri Garhwal in Uttrakhand and Bhadradari Kothagudem in Telangana.
A number of senior faces from the outgoing cabinet including Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal, Narendra Singh Tomar and Prakash Javadekar are expected to figure in the new cabinet.
Evidence from a large study of several thousand patients shows that men have higher concentrations of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in their blood than women. Since ACE2 enables coronavirus to infect healthy cells, this may help to explain why men are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than women.
'We know that there are new variants which are more transmissible. We know that human behaviour determines the spread of this virus. Therefore, it is not very relevant if we declare whether the second wave is over or not'
With these states imposing lockdowns anew, the health ministry emphasised that the restrictions should be utilised to focus on containment, surveillance and testing in the containment and buffer zones as the key strategy for early detection of cases and fatality management.
Alert to the looming threat from the 'Omicron' variant, states began to re-tighten curbs and urgently trace people who arrived from abroad in the last one month while a demand to not allow flights from the affected countries was made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
The 23-year-old photojournalist, who was gang-raped at a defunct mill complex in Mumbai nearly a week ago, has been discharged from hospital after doctors attending on her declared her "medically fit".
'If done well, the containment measures can help minimise the impact of the epidemic.'
Is the worst of the Covid crisis behind India? As cases dip three weeks after Diwali, the answer is a possible yes, say several experts, attributing the downslide to a large section of the population already exposed to the virus during the second wave and a stepped up vaccination campaign.
District judge Dharmesh Sharma also said the facts and circumstances brought on the record prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused hatched another crucial part of the conspiracy to foist a false case upon the victim by planting a country made gun and four cartridges.
'The second wave was more virulent, more aggressive, more transmissible.'
Two men, who were apparently part of a demonstration by Jamia Millia Islamia students on Sunday, have been admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital with "gunshot injury", sources said on Monday.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is yet to release the 'Playing Conditions' for the WTC final. Also, before boarding the flight to London, for the England tour, every male and female member needs to carry six RT-PCR negative results.
'Chances of getting the disease are not reduced, either after one dose or both doses of the vaccine.' 'And the probability of getting the infection -- you need to differentiate infection from disease -- by getting vaccinated is almost unaltered, be it single dose or two doses.' 'But your chances of developing moderate to severe disease, after getting infected, gets reduced with every dose you receive.'
This is one of the many such cases that helped to create an acute fear psychosis among public sector bankers, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay in his fascinating new book Pandemonium: The Great Indian Banking Tragedy.
The Delhi high court had earlier allowed Indian pharma major Wockhardt to sell its Ace Proxyvon tablets, which is a mixture of three salts -- aceclofenac, paracetamol and rabeprazol -- a combination that is banned.
Its economy dependent on tourist arrivals, the hill state is looking at a summer of discontent. Not that the rest of the year promises to be any different. Ashwani Sharma reports from Shimla.
Earlier, the advisory from the Tokyo Games organisers had said that athletes from Group 1 countries, including India, must be tested every day, for seven days, prior to departure to Japan.
