The Indian economy has recovered 'handsomely' from the pandemic-induced disruptions, former Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya said on Tuesday, while expressing hope that the recovery will be sustained and the growth rate of 7 to 8 per cent will be restored. Panagariya suggested that the government must now signal its intention to wind down fiscal deficit by cutting it by half-to-one percentage point in 2022-23. "The Indian economy has recovered handsomely, returning to its pre-COVID GDP... "Only private consumption is still below its pre-COVID-19 level," the eminent economist told PTI in an interview.
The 'terrible' surge of the coronavirus cases in India has severely impacted COVAX's vaccine supply in the second quarter of this year to the extent that there will be a shortfall of 190 million doses by the end of June, according to a joint statement by the WHO, UNICEF, GAVI and CEPI.
Top Japanese officials said on Tuesday they did not expect a US advisory against travel to Japan amid worries about the coronavirus to affect the Tokyo Olympics - less than two months away - and that US support for the Games is unchanged.
He voiced concern that confusion, complacency and inconsistency in public health measures and their application are driving transmission and costing lives. Cautioning that the disease is not flu, he said young, healthy people have died from the coronavirus.
Images for Sunday's closing ceremony at the Tokyo Olympics.
'The second Covid wave spread due to the irresponsibility of the Election Commission of India and now they are committing the same mistake.'
The city's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has put in place all necessary measures to implement the health ministry's latest COVID-19 guidelines on international passengers arriving in India, the private airport operator said on Wednesday.
'Your body will be able to deal with Omicron at any time, but it depends (on when) if you are vaccinated.'
Strict norms for arriving international passengers, especially from 'at-risk' countries, will come into effect from Tuesday midnight and authorities are stepping their vigil for effective surveillance amid mounting concerns over the emergence of the coronavirus variant Omicron.
The SARS-CoV-2 sero-positivity rate among children is high and comparable to the adult population and hence, it is unlikely that any future third wave of the prevailing COVID-19 variant would disproportionately affect children aged two years and above, according to the interim findings of an ongoing study conducted in the country.
Initial share sales are set to dazzle the Dalal Street in 2022 too as companies are expected to garner up to Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the New Year, continuing with the bullish momentum after 2021 turned out to be the best IPO year in two decades for the Indian market. Excessive liquidity and increased retail investor participation ensured a persistent euphoria in the Initial Public Offer (IPO) space wherein companies mopped up more than Rs 1.2 lakh crore this year even as pandemic gloom shadowed the broader economy. In 2022, the higher amount of funds through the primary market will be largely driven by the mega IPO of state-owned Life Insurance Corp (LIC).
Adar Poonawalla said he was hopeful that Covovax, the Novavax vaccine made by SII, will be launched around October this year for adults and for children by the first quarter of next year, depending on DCGI approvals.
Waves of foreign portfolio investments worth over Rs 51,000 crore splashed into the Indian market in 2021 as overseas investors turned net buyers of domestic securities for the third straight year while excess global liquidity and other factors steered the ebb and flow of their investing ways. With the global financial system still flush with liquidity, emerging market assets, especially equities, might well remain the preferred investment avenue for many more months to come, experts opined. As the equities sizzled during most of 2021, that also saw economy slowly coming back into the recovery path, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) turned net buyers but their investment is much less compared to net inflows of Rs 1.03 lakh crore in 2020.
'If we vaccinate quickly, it could be pushed to January, February, and the longer it can be pushed, the smaller the wave is likely to be, because by that time vaccination will scale up.'
Long have I waited for a car to replace the Tata Safari feel in driving, and this updated version of the Tata Harrier is just IT, exclaims Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com.
The sport's governing body (WA) said that with immediate effect and for elite competition only, road shoes must have soles no thicker than 40mm and not contain more than one rigid, embedded plate.
'Mucor is an environmental fungus, and it's much more prevalent in hot and humid areas.' 'The amount of fungus in the air is much higher in India than some other parts of the world.'
The latest Hyundai i20 is an exciting car, given the overall drive experience, transmission, ride quality and tech. And while it may not be as low cost as a Maruti or come with the "heavy German steel-feel" of the Volkswagen, it does carve out a niche for itself at pole position with a combination of technology, styling, drive and ride comfort, and low cost of ownership, says Pavan Lall.
S&P Global Ratings on Wednesday said the second wave of COVID infections poses downside risks to India's GDP and heightens the possibility of business disruptions. The second wave brings in uncertainty and a drawn-out COVID outbreak will impede India's recovery, it said.
Among the key concerns of the Street is market share losses in growth segments, led by higher competitive pressures.
The Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which works with one dose instead of two, got approval on Saturday, the third vaccine cleared in the country after emergency use authorisation (EUA) was given to two-dose shots from Pfizer and Moderna in December last year.
COVAX, 'the global COVID vaccine equity scheme', has so far delivered 65 million doses to 124 countries and economies but it is dependent on countries and manufacturers honouring their commitments.
The banned apps include Baidu, Baidu Express Edition, Tencent Watchlist, FaceU, WeChat Reading and Tencent Weiyun, besides PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite, according to an official statement.
It takes a while to get used to the constant and instant supply of power that is the case with EVs, and handling the S1 Pro when it takes a corner or makes a turn can be tricky, says Pavan Lall.
The decision to impose night curfew for nine days from 11 pm to 5 am starting from Thursday was taken on Wednesday in line with the Centre's advice, amid concerns over a new COVID-19 variant spreading in the United Kingdom.
More vaccination would have been done in India if the State had not had complete control of all vaccination, notes Ajay Shah.
Sanjiv Mehta, chairman of the country's largest consumer goods company, HUL, believes that the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic between April and June this year has been a mere pause in India's consumption story, and that it will not change the country's overall growth trajectory. India is poised for growth, especially in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, Mehta told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting on Tuesday. The signs of recovery are becoming evident with many states lifting lockdown restrictions in recent weeks.
If we consider the design, the Nokia X5 topples all its competitors at this price range but the hardware specs are a concern.
Local trains will be allowed to operate with 50 per cent capacity till 7 pm, while all shopping malls and markets will be allowed to remain open till 10 pm but with half their capacities, he said.
'People are just putting the mask below their nose.' 'They are only protecting the mouth, but not the nose.' 'People need to understand that it is the nose which has to be protected.'
Over 51% per cent of users feel they will probably continue virtual dating even after they will be able to meet up safely.
A number of countries like Canada, Turkey, Belgium, Italy and Israel have banned flights from the UK as the British government warned that the potent new strain of the virus was "out of control" and imposed a stringent new stay-at-home lockdown from Sunday.
Singh stressed that if Punjab was able to meet its target of administering two lakh shots a day, then its current supplies will last only three days.
A special bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari, which posed tough questions to the Andhra Pradesh government on its decision to hold Class 12 board examinations, asked the standing counsel for the state Mahfooz A Nazki to place before the court the "snapshot of the file" giving reasons to hold the test.
In the days leading up to final between Chelsea and Manchester City, big crowds of English fans, who were largely maskless and did not socially distance, took over Porto's streets
Organisers warn participants against eating out over COVID-19 risks.
Gujarat reported 2,165 cases, Maharashtra 1,188, Uttar Pradesh 663, Madhya Pradesh 590, Haryana 339 and Andhra Pradesh 248 cases.
'At the current time, we should be vaccinating all those who are potentially going to get more severe illness, before we start vaccinating very young individuals.'
After a gap of 10 years, the DMK snatched the reins of power from arch rival AIADMK, with its president M K Stalin leading the party to a stellar performance and in the process, helming the state as chief minister for the first time.
'There is no data to show this virus is more deadlier.'
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