The reality is, the worldwide toll could have been checked within time if China had been more transparent and had warned countries regarding the new strain of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-like infection, which originated at a 'wet market' in its province of Hubei late last year.
The WHO's move came nearly three weeks after India objected to the B.1.617 mutant of the novel coronavirus being termed an 'Indian Variant' in media reports with the Union Health Ministry pointing out that the UN's top health organ has not used the word 'Indian' for this strain in its document.
Travellers from these 99 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and Russia, which have been listed under 'Category A', have to submit a self-declaration form on the Air Suvidha portal (newdelhiairport.in) before the scheduled travel, apart from uploading a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR report, according to the revised Guidelines for International Arrivals released by the Union health ministry on November 11.
India leads with 1,05,000 traffic deaths in a year, compared with over 96,000 in China. Also, in India an estimated two million people have disabilities resulting from a road traffic crash.
WHO says the regulatory procedures in place for the licencing of pandemic vaccines, including procedures for expediting regulatory approval, are rigorous and do not compromise safety or quality.
China said the study was "ridiculous" and based on "superficial" information.
The US is the worst-affected country in terms of cases with 17,16,078 infections.
Companies like Shanta Biotech, Panacea Biotec and Serum Institute of India are among the leading vaccine makers which have not been able to file any fresh application to the WHO due to this temporary de-recognition of the country's drug regulatory system. The WHO pre-qualification is essential for companies to supply vaccines to national immunisation programmes funded by the WHO or UNICEF outside the country.
Games should go ahead to demonstrate to the world what can be achieved with the right plan and measures.
South Africa's Akani Simbine cruised through the finish of the 100 metres at the Atlanta City Games a tenth of a second ahead of Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala, with American Kendal Williams finishing third in 10.05s.
With Delhi recording air pollution levels seven to eight times above safe standards on Monday, the city government announced the return of its flagship odd-even scheme after four years anticipating further deterioration of air quality post-Diwali.
Murthy's induction took place after the board hosted a reception to welcome Narayana Murthy chief mentor of Infosys to the board in his home country.
And the way to a cure begins with conversation.
The World Health Organization has given five more months to the Drugs Controller General of India to upgrade its performance to international standards. The extension of the current deadline of October-end came after a visiting WHO team found the modernisation programmes of the Indian drug regulator on track.
'There is no vaccine and no specific antiviral medicines against #COVID19' the World Health Organization tweeted.
Ranbaxy Laboratories has withdrawn all of its generic versions of antiretroviral drugs from World Health Organization's list of approved HIV medicines, saying it's uncertain they are biologically the same as the patented drugs.
The wet market was where a variety of live animals were traded until it was shut down following fears that the coronavirus had jumped to humans either from bats or pangolins.
Portugal detected 13 cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant on Monday, all involving players and staff of top division soccer club Belenenses SAD, one of whose players recently returned from South Africa, health authority DGS said.
Athletes and climate experts have expressed concerns that extreme heat could lead to severe health issues, including the risk of sportspeople collapsing or, in the worst-case scenarios, dying during the events.
'In India, managers and the leadership almost glorify overworking.'
"As of now, there is no data from any country to suggest these new subvariants are more clinically severe," Chief scientist at WHO clarified.
Tata Motors is seeking an image makeover with the curvaceous hatchback, Zica.
Chanting 'Justice for RG Kar' and 'Justice for our sister', hundreds of IT professionals took to the streets of Sector V in Salt Lake, the city's IT Hub, protesting against the rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital.
Up to 10,000 domestic spectators will be allowed in Tokyo 2020 venues, Olympics organisers said on Monday, a decision that cuts against the recommendation of medical experts who said holding the event without fans was the least risky option.
A joint team of the state and the Centre inspected the unit and found 12 violations or deficiencies.
The US government is threatening to obstruct low-income countries from accessing generic HIV/AIDS drugs approved by the World Health Organization, a human rights group charged on Friday.
The WHO chief warned governments against opening up too quickly, as that could enable the coronavirus to come back in full strength.
Research and development (R&D) spending by BSE 100 companies has grown steadily, rising from 0.89 per cent of revenue in FY20 to 1.32 per cent in FY24, averaging around 1 per cent over the period in-between, according to data compiled from Bloomberg and company annual reports. Also, these companies more than doubled their R&D spending in absolute terms over these five years: From Rs 25,041 crore to Rs 63,072 crore. While this reflects a prioritisation of innovation, corporate R&D investment remains relatively conservative.
The number of people, who were diagnosed with COVID-19, has reached 95,333, including 80,565 people in China
The yet-to-be peer-reviewed study, posted recently on the preprint repository BioRxiv, found that the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants exhibited more than two-fold longer survival on plastic and skin surfaces, than the Wuhan strain.
The government is taking the cutoff of about 100 days if reinfection occurs.
'There is not any negative connotation associated with it.'
In a significant development, India is believed to have placed a funding request of around $55 million in its first call with the Pandemic Fund of the World Bank, sources said. The fund has been set up to finance critical investments in a bid to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacities at national, regional, and global levels, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. It was created in the aftermath of the Covid-19 global pandemic.
Gehlot made the announcement in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi at a rally here on the sidelines of the "Bharat Jodo Yatra".
Narendra Modi also conveyed to Xi his appreciation for facilitating evacuation of around 650 Indian citizens from the Hubei province last week.
Voicing his deep concern, the UN chief said that the "hospitals in the south of Gaza are already at capacity and will not be able to accept thousands of new patients from the north."
The Asian Development Bank has approved a US$ 1.5 billion (around Rs 11,185 crore) loan to India for COVID-19 vaccine procurement.
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