Non-availability of army personnel due to Indo-Pak tensions has forced authorities to indefinitely postpone Pakistan's census, the first in 17 years, according to a media report on Sunday.
'Where are the 1.3 billion people?' 'I am overwhelmed when I saw my country, my country had come to a standstill.'
"The concrete actions are a stern indication that Government of India is making all out efforts to increase vaccine production in the country as well as attracting foreign vaccine manufacturers to supply the required vaccine doses for national Covid vaccination programme," the ministry in a statement.
There are worrying signs that the resolve to continue adhering to the dos and don'ts of the times -- physical distancing, wearing masks and maintaining hygiene protocol - is flagging. This recklessness, more evident ahead of Diwali, may lead to a resurgence in novel coronavirus infections and stall the progress in curbing the disease, the experts said.
'The government had a vaccine from January.' 'The government should have given the vaccine to all population above the age of 45, right from the start.' 'Each state has its own problems, but as far as vaccine coverage in India is concerned, there have been mistakes.'
The advisory stressed on capacity building, saying identified human resource needs to be trained online using online training programs developed by the ministry.
'There's no wonder that many Pakistani parents send their kids to madrasa and one knows what happens to a small percentage of the kids who go there.
For the first seven days, India's trajectory was close to that of the US and the UK, but the implementation of the lockdown from Day 8 seems to have helped us control the spread significantly despite our larger population.
Shahid Jameel, recipient of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, also said that the country had already reached community transmission a long time ago.
The Pune-based vaccine major has entered into a collaboration with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine.
India is Asia's other bad debt headache.
The first part of the study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) revealed that 0.73 per cent of the population surveyed showed evidence of past exposure to SARS-CoV-2, and that urban slum population was the most vulnerable to the infection, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said at a press conference.
'In our country, there is a lot of checks and balances, the figures cannot go wrong.' 'Because they are being checked by not only the governments, but by doctors themselves.'
In a letter to the states/UTs on Saturday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan requested them to disseminate the guideline document 'National Action Plan on Heat Related Illnesses' to all districts for effective management of cases of heatwave.
'India and China are at new inflection points, domestically and internationally. India needs to throw up a new leader whose vision is clear, experience laden with wisdom and articulation brimming with restraint and tolerance,' says Ambassador K C Singh.
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.
According to officials, an additional dose of vaccine is different from a booster dose.
'In 2022, active management, long-short strategies, multi-asset strategies, and asset allocation strategies need to be considered to meet long-term investment goals.'
'COPD causes an economic loss of Rs 35,000 crores.' 'We cannot afford to lose such a huge amount due to one disease.' 'COPD is a non-communicable disease and that's why it remained low in priority.' 'The time is right to shift the focus to COPD as HIV/AIDS and TB are under control. 'This badly neglected disease has become the second largest cause for deaths in India.' 'It is time for us to wake up and give due importance to this disease.'
'The Shiv Sena and the Ambedkarites are two powerful social forces in Maharashtra with a presence in the toiling classes. However, they were made to fight each other by the powers that be. Now, they are joining hands while overcoming this contentious past.'
'We have to accept that the infection is now in the community and we can't isolate everyone who gets it.' 'Instead, what we need to do is to find out those who are most at risk of death, isolate them and save them from the rest.'
Politics, bureaucracy, ineptitude, double-standards and an attempt to politicise the fight in pseudo-nationalistic terms have all hampered the fight against this deadly virus, says Vir Sanghvi.
'In the coming two-three months, we need to be cautious that there is no upsurge'
The pandemic will be over but Covid will be here to stay, the scientists said as Covid numbers begin to ebb in several parts of the world, including India.
Dr Praveen Kulkarni, senior cardiologist at Global Hospital, Mumbai explains why youngsters need to be careful about their lifestyle to prevent hypertension.
The two cities finally got their act together by ramping up the testing capacity and implementing stricter quarantine norms.
Our government has failed the country on several counts. All this must change for India to redeem itself in six months, says Naushad Forbes.
'There is a sense of realism in the Pakistan army that if they needled India during the Ladakh standoff, they would have seen a strong retaliation.' 'Pakistan was hoping that India would come out looking weaker in the region and get embarrassed, but that obviously has not happened.'
An immune-escape Covid-19 strain coupled with the natural spike in influenza and pneumonia cases during winters may lead to a rise in hospitalisation.
'It is not that I don't want to say "Jai Shri Ram".' I only said I will not say this slogan under any pressure.'
'The Indian response in confining our action to our side of the LoC set a dangerous precedent,' argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The cost of not vaccinating the entire population quickly will be far higher than bearing the entire cost of vaccination, points out Prosenjit Datta.
'...Where there is clearly no evidence of community transmission, letting life return to normal in those districts while continuing to rigorously control the spread of the infection.'
'It is time we Indians learnt to believe in ourselves, and stopped questioning our own capabilities every time a space launch is not a glorious success,' says M D Riti.
On International Tiger Day, India is still a long way from making sure that the future of our national animal is safe.
'Your constant reiteration on the lack of religious freedom in India has sown doubts about the kind of information that you are being fed and based on which you seem to be making adverse references to India and its tradition of religious tolerance.'
'Someone may have diabetes, but at what level the disease qualifies as a comorbid condition is something a doctor will decide upon and certify accordingly.'
'Once you resume economic activities, life will be normal.' 'The younger people will tolerate the virus very well. So, life will become normal very soon.'
'We are only amplifying the voice of scientists and experts. We are gathering information by talking to experts and are sharing it. If the government chooses to ignore that, what can we do?'
'Smokers are a highly susceptible population during this pandemic.' 'Health benefits from quitting smoking can start as early as within an hour.'
