The modalities of COVID-19 vaccine delivery, distribution and administration were discussed during the meeting.
Evidence of widespread state-sponsored doping by Russian athletes at the Sochi Olympics was confirmed on Monday in a report by an independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Expressing solidarity with the people of Lakshadweep, the Kerala Legislative Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a resolution demanding the recall of island administrator Praful Khoda Patel and requesting the immediate intervention of the Centre to protect the lives and livelihood of the islanders.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,01,62,738 pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 96.53 per cent.
A British man and five Germans have been charged with producing significant amounts of doping substances for athletes in an underground laboratory and distributing the drugs across Germany, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
The medical devices, which have been in high demand during the Covid-19 pandemic, will now see a drop in prices, as the earlier margins were up to 709 per cent for some of these products.
They seek to profit from big-selling drugs going off-patent this year in the lucrative market.
To address the shortage of COVID-19 jabs in the country, the government is exploring the possibility of boosting production of vaccines, including identifying manufacturing sites for indigenously developed Covaxin outside India, sources said.
Hindi news channel News Nation TV showed laboratories in the national capital offering commissions as high as 50 per cent to doctors who referred patients to their diagnostic centres.
"Thanks for flying @SpaceX." Current Location: Planet Earth. A 2:48pm ET, @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug splashed down, marking the first splashdown of an American crew spacecraft in 45 years. #LaunchAmerica," NASA said in a tweet earlier.
Once a difficult market to crack, in recent years, China has relatively opened up its drug market, enacting reforms and speeding up approval time.
Joint secretary in the ministry Lav Agarwal said 149 new COVID-19 cases, including two deaths, have been reported since Friday. Combined efforts are on to ensure 100 per cent lockdown and that social distancing gets implemented, he said at a press briefing on the current COVID-19 situation in India.
The Union health minister said of the total active COVID-19 cases in the country, 1.5 per cent are on oxygen support and 2.34 per cent are in ICUs.
Cases with the Omicron variant have already been detected in Karnataka and Gujarat.
The debris from China's disintegrating Long March rocket entered the Earth's atmosphere on Sunday and reportedly fell into the Indian Ocean area close to the Maldives, the country's space agency said, ending an anxious week as people and the governments wondered where and when the space junk would fall.
Based on this price, state governments, private hospitals, industrial establishments, etc would be able to procure vaccine doses from the manufacturers.
Taking lessons from that, I would think seamless digital payments is something you have to clearly have a roadmap for, the FM said.
The doubling time of coronavirus cases in India has improved to 15.4 days from 13.3 days, the Union health ministry said on Saturday, as the country's COVID-19 death toll climbed to 4,971 and the total cases rose to 1,73,763. The doubling time has improved during the past three days, it said. As many as 11,264 COVID-19 patients have been cured in the last 24 hours till Saturday 8 am, the highest number of recoveries recorded in one day, pushing India's recovery rate to 47.40 per cent, it said.
By 2030 India will be among top three countries in science and technology: PM
The phase 3 trial findings indicate that Covaxin induces a robust antibody response with no severe vaccine-related adverse events or deaths reported among the trial participants, the authors of the study said.
The NTAGI has also stated that those having laboratory test proven SARS-CoV-2 illness should defer COVID-19 vaccination for six months after recovery, the sources said.
Culling of chickens and ducks began on Tuesday in parts of Kerala to contain the H5N8 strain of bird flu, while Jammu and Kashmir sounded an alert and started collecting samples from migratory species after Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh reported cases of the avian influenza.
It will be unfair to put a date for any COVID wave as the behaviour of coronavirus is unpredictable and a disciplined and effective pandemic response can help the country get away from any significant outbreak, COVID Task Force chief V K Paul said.
With several states taking steps towards unlocking and easing of restrictions amid a decline in COVID-19 cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday cautioned people against any laxity and asserted that COVID-appropriate protocol is the 'most effective weapon' against an unseen adversary like coronavirus that keeps changing its form.
While virologists say theoretically the vaccine that works on Delta should work on the Delta Plus variant as well, more research is needed.
Behind this never-say-die attitude of the BJP is probably the calculation of the Roman emperors that if bread is scarce, give the people circus, observes Amulya Ganguli.
LNJP is an exclusive hospital with 2,000 beds dedicated to combating coronavirus.
On Dr Homi J Bhabha's 110th birth anniversary, Dr K S Parthasarathy shares some personal memories of the legendary nuclear scientist.
Trump indicated that his administration is looking at a bigger compensation from Beijing than the $140 billion being sought by Germany over the coronavirus pandemic.
After devoting years to the difficult pursuit of perfection, some fall wayward.
The labs have been asked to submit their report within six weeks.
The World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia from the world's top sporting events for four years, a period that includes the next summer and winter Olympics and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, for tampering with doping-related laboratory data. The sanctions against Russia, the host of last year's soccer World Cup, also bar it from hosting major sporting events for a four-year period or applying to host new events in that period.
The National Anti Doping Agency reckons that Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty's reach is far more than Indian sportspersons.
NITI Aayog member (Health) V K Paul said, "COVID-19 situation is turning from bad to worse. In last few weeks, especially in some states, it is a huge cause for worry. No state, no part of the country or district should be complacent."
A rise in the number of daily COVID-19 cases and mortality has been observed in Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand, indicating the pandemic is moving eastwards, the Union health ministry said.
The women who made India proud in Tokyo are set to be the Independence Day mascots. Invite from the PM has already gone out to these achievers to be guests of honour on August 15.
Dr. K. Anji Reddy, Founder and Chairman of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, died at a hospital in Hyderabad on Friday. He was 72.
These 51 cases were detected from over 45,000 samples sequenced so far in the country.
"Keeping a close pace with the potential availability of vaccine, a plan of action on which sections are to be given priority has been discussed. Importantly, it would be monitored through a scientific approach," Dr Harsh Vardhan told ANI about the strategy being discussed on vaccine distribution.
On an average, more than 10 lakh daily tests have ensured that the cumulative positivity rate is sustained at low levels, the ministry underlined, adding that it is presently following a downward trajectory.
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