Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called for focus on 'repair and prepare' as the nation emerges out of a devastating pandemic. "Over the past year, we have witnessed a lot of disruption in different sectors. Much of it is still there. Yet, disruption does not have to mean despair," he said at VivaTech Summit. "Instead, we must keep the focus on the twin foundations of repair and prepare," he said referring to the need to augment healthcare infrastructure in the country as well as prop up the economy.
A model being considered is to have a combined cold chain approach - where the agricultural cold chain would be combined with vaccine cold chains.
'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'
For the purpose of NPR, a usual resident is defined as a person who has resided in a local area for past six months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months or more.
The development of private data sources is a hugely positive development. It should serve as a challenge to the government to improve its own record on producing timely and reliable statistics, points out T N Ninan.
After an all-party meeting in New Delhi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also said that some of these 32 bills have already been discussed by standing committees of Parliament.
The school was run on strict Gandhian lines, with stress on students doing things themselves. Physical comforts were minimal, in keeping with the relatively backward geographical area. But it had a staff of teachers dedicated to educating their students, not just imparting them book-learning, remembers Shreekant Sambrani.
As India launches the world's most ambitious and biggest vaccination drive against COVID-19, the country will encounter the formidable challenge of rapidly scaling up distribution of the vaccines to secure immunity for its entire population, two prominent Indian scientists at World Health Organisation have said.
President of Public Health Foundation of India, Professor K Srinath Reddy said it should be recognised that community transmission has occurred in virtually every country which experienced this pandemic in a major form and India should also be prepared for it and act as though it is happening and take all precautionary containment measures.
'People are getting admitted to hospital two to three days before their death in a very serious respiratory compromise state and they are passing away within 48 hours.' 'Those who are coming early in the disease, the minute they are suspicious that they have COVID-19, the recovery rate has been much, much, higher.' 'The moral of the story is: We must destigmatise COVID-19.' 'People should be told: 'Look, if you have anything like this, please come immediately'.'
The Centre told the apex court that it has not issued any SOP that makes it mandatory to carry the vaccination certificate for any purpose.
The Budget oration of the finance minister and the confidence with which she delivered it, along with the measures and the recent upsurge in the economy would all contribute to unleashing the storied 'animal spirits' and help the economy run on the growth path quite smoothly. Or so the government hopes, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
We should be relieved that we got the doses but we must also know where they came from and who was and who was not responsible for this achievement, notes Aakar Patel.
We have to be much more rigorous and analytical in assessing the importance of the BRICS, says Parag Khanna.
'People who were vaccinated early on, for example, from January to April this year, namely health workers, the elderly, and the immunocompromised, should be identified for a booster dose.' 'We should start getting ready for administering booster doses to them on priority.'
'I hope that the incoming Biden-Harris Administration works with India to address some of the most profound geopolitical transboundary challenges.'
The Supreme Court said on Tuesday it has to be alive to the fact that the concept of marriage has evolved and must accept the basic proposition that marriage itself is entitled to constitutional protection as it is not just a matter of statutory recognition.
Coal accounts for more than 60 per cent of India's electricity capacity, and the government plans to nearly double annual coal output by 2020, opening a new mine nearly every month
Attlee said Great Britain had concluded that the Indian element of the army was no longer reliable and that Netaji's Indian National Army had demonstrated that. That had shaken the foundation on which Britain's Indian empire rested, argues Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd).
There are 37 Indian cities among the world's 300 fastest growing urban centres, according to a survey conducted by the City Mayors Foundation, an global think tank on urban affairs.
Here's the full text of address to the nation by President Droupadi Murmu on the eve of the Republic Day 2023.
Coming to the rescue of the critically endangered great Indian bustard (GIB), the Supreme Court on Wednesday mooted the idea of launching 'Project GIB' on the lines of 'Project Tiger', which was started in 1973 to save the big cats, and sought the government's view on the proposal.
Modi's critics will say that he has put up cement and steel structures, but weakened the institutions of governance whereas Nehru strengthened them, observes T N Ninan.
Shortage of ICU beds, oxygen, ventilators, vaccines, doctors, nurses and crematorium space in India has dominated headlines around the world in the past few weeks with Covid-19 cases surging beyond control and the government failing to deliver. Yes, election rallies, Kumbh Mela, blatant flouting of social distancing and mask protocols coupled with a messy vaccination process are said to be responsible for the health crisis of colossal proportions that India is facing today. But an analysis of Budget speeches made by finance ministers over 75 years also offers a glimpse of how low on the priority list healthcare has featured for the political class and policy-makers, which is a significant reason for the current situation.
"The design of the mosque has been prepared using modern technology, and it will be egg-shaped without any dome. The two-storeyed mosque will not have any minaret. Solar power will be installed in the mosque, and around 2,000 people will be able to offer 'namaaz' at the same time," he said.
Of the nearly 4.6 crore people living as slaves globally, two-thirds, or 3.04 crore, are in the Asia-Pacific region, with the highest number in India.
'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
The dichotomy between richer and poorer states is largely in consonance with the diversity in state level disease burden in the country.
Harvard Global Health Institute Director Dr Ashish Jha noted that the number of cases in India may be higher than what the data suggests because while testing has been improving, it has not been rolled out in a way that will capture all low-symptomatic patients.
Shah also said the Census 2021 data will be collected through mobile app.
'With the largest number of malnourished people on the planet, India is poised to be a nation that significantly under-performs as an economy.'
'Upper castes who complain against reservations are fighting only for their own castes.'
Nearly 14.3 million people, including children, are 'trapped' in modern-day slavery in India, which tops a global index of people under bondage across the world with an estimated 35.8 million people enslaved, a new research said on Monday.
The central government Thursday urged the Delhi high court to defer the hearing on pleas to criminalise marital rape while maintaining that it was committed to protecting "the liberty, dignity, and rights of every woman who is the fundamental foundation and pillar of a civilised society."
Gandhi called for the need to reconsider the country's economic policy as the one that encouraged industrialisation and urbanisation, causing "huge population unsettlement" and forcing farmers to migrate to the cities in large numbers, only spurred the COVID-19 pandemic.
'It's a very tough situation. We're talking to India. We're talking to China. They've got a big problem there'
And the way to a cure begins with conversation.
The pandemic is set to become even more challenging, with migrant workers returning home, relaxations in lockdown rules, and the approaching monsoon. However, states are looking at community participation to ramp up testing and home treatment of patients
'Unless we see four weeks of low and stable numbers with only minor fluctuations, we cannot call the valley as endemic just as yet'
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