The decline in the effectiveness of Covaxin, India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, from 77.8 per cent to 50 per cent during a Delta-driven case surge in April and May this year is neither bad nor surprising, say scientists.
Vellore is one of the two seats that the DMK alliance won by the narrowest of margins in 2019. For the DMK's vote-score to be so low in a constituency with a substantial Muslim population has not missed the BJP strategists' eyes, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
At a rally held in Bilaspur Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur presented the PM with a 'Ransingha', a trumpet-like traditional instrument.
'Scientific data has proven that masks can reduce COVID-91 transmission by 53 per cent...A booster dose of vaccine, even if it works, is just a temporary fix'
Glimpses from all the action from the campaign trail.
Rediff readers tell us how they are celebrating Ganeshotsav this year.
India has purchased 500 million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate, one billion from the United States company Novavax and 100 million doses of the Sputnik V candidate from Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute, according to the US-based Duke University Global Health Innovation Center.
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The expert noted that in India the pandemic is unlikely to be over in the months to come, and the number of people getting infected will continue to rise.
As the Omicron strain spreads across the globe and questions on vaccine inequity dominate discussions, scientists are still scrambling to learn more about emerging variants of the deadly virus that has claimed millions of lives and crippled economies.
At least two persons, including a woman, died during Lord Jagannath's car festival, official sources said.
A total of nine people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in violence and stone-pelting during the procession.
In a statement, he said it is his belief that the Shri Ram Mandir will represent India as a strong, prosperous, peaceful and harmonious nation with justice for all and exclusion of none to truly usher in 'Ram Rajya, the epitome of good governance'.
The Railways cancelled 234 trains while 340 trains have been affected so far due to protests against the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the defence services, the Railways said on Friday.
While there is a glimmer of hope and India's COVID-19 numbers are on a definite decline for a combination of reasons, a vaccination programme continues to be important, particularly given the presence of a mutant, more transmissible strain, several experts said while cautioning against infection upticks ahead.
'There may be some planted stories here or there, people trying to create manufactured controversies but the party is fully united. We will make sure the yatra is even more successful than it has been in other states'
The Omicron variant carries 'concerning' mutations that may make it more transmissible and allow it to evade immunity, scientists said on Monday, stressing that the one certainty in the uncertainty of the many things unknown is this -- COVID is not a short-term crisis and vaccines are still a critical tool.
Sniping at the BJP senior leadership has reached a new high in Karnataka. For the moment, there is a truce, but the party knows the damage it could do ahead of the polls.
As worries over India's COVID-19 spike mount -- the country added 75,809 cases on Tuesday to take its tally to 42,80,422 -- scientists are grappling with the pivotal issue of antibodies and trying to understand how they impact on the progression of the disease.
Several lakhs of devotees across the country and abroad will throng the holy town to participate in the annual Rath Yatra.
Tailor Kanhaiya Lal was killed on Tuesday afternoon by two cleaver-wielding men, Riaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad, who posted a grisly video of the crime online claiming responsibility for the 'beheading'.
As the global debate on booster shots gathers momentum, several scientists in New Delhi said the priority must be to ensure that more people are inoculated with at least their first jab.
Tharoor said the message is also that the Congress is the party that can unite India and if the public is sufficiently inspired by this message, it will indeed inaugurate the revival of the party.
The BJP has identified West Bengal as a priority state for the upcoming national elections and Shah has set a target of 22 of the state's 42 Lok Sabha seats.
Even when the Congress is facing the toughest challenge in its long history, it shows no sign of turning a new leaf and injecting internal democracy to revive its fortunes, argues Virendra Kapoor.
Round-up of Ranji matches played on Tuesday.
The widespread support of people from all walks of life was evident on the second day of Bharatiya Janta Party leader L K Advani's Jan Chetna Yatra. After Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flagged off the yatra at Chhapra on Tuesday, Advani has covered a distance of about 80 km of his 7600-km long yatra. On Wednesday, the 84-year-old leader addressed the crowd at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, with the acumen characteristic of a veteran of six national yatras.
The BJP plans to ride the upcoming Bihar assembly polls battle on four chariots that will helm the much hyped parivartan yatra.
A photograph of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat sitting with Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has set tongues wagging in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, with the Congress taunting that the S in SP means the Sangh.
When Mizoram batted, Shreevats Goswami (31) was the only significant scorer but the seasoned Mumbai attack led by Dhawal Kulkarni kept the minnows under check.
Stressing that tourist bonanza, pilgrimage travel, religious fervour are needed, but can wait for a few more months, the IMA, in a statement, said global evidence and the history of any pandemic suggest that 'the third wave is inevitable and imminent'.
"Let them show whatever they have got. We are winning with a majority," Akhilesh Yadav said, dismissing predictions to the contrary on some TV channels.
'Who are these people on the streets?' 'They are youth and students who were hoodwinked, bluffed by Modi for the last seven years, with a promise of 2 crore jobs every year.' 'And Mamata sings the same tune.' 'But the youth can see that as long as there is Mamata or Modi, there is no hope.'
BJP chief Amit Shah had set a target of winning 22 Lok Sabha seats out of 42 seats in West Bengal.
A woman was killed and three others were on Tuesday injured in a stampede during pulling of Ratha Yatra chariots from the Sri Jagannath temple in Puri, Orissa, in which hundreds of thousand people took part.
Thousands of devotees joined the rathyatra of Lord Jagannath, which began in Ahmedabad on Tuesday morning from the Jagganath temple in Jamalpur amid tight security.
1997 Booker winner Arundhati Roy's The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness didn't make it to the Booker short list. Perhaps if the Booker jury had sampled Re:Reader -- a powerful companion to Roy's second novel -- they would have discovered it full of surprises.
The events that unfolded after Advani's arrest not only benefited the BJP, whose political clout grew exponentially, but also catapulted Lalu to the forefront of the anti-saffron camp.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav will face Union Minister SP Singh Baghel on Karhal seat of Mainpuri where both of them filed nominations on Monday.
Doses of the vaccine were given to 1,077 healthy adults aged between 18 and 55 in five United Kingdom hospitals in April and May as part of the phase one clinical trial.
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