Climate change has hampered the ability of the forecasting agencies to accurately predict severe events and weather bureaus across the world are focusing on augmenting the observational network density and the weather prediction modelling to improve predictability, India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra has said.
As the Omicron variant of Sars-CoV-2 takes centrestage, vaccine makers in India are of the view that scaling up the existing vaccines to make them more effective is possible.
The central government's Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi said a "significant improvement in air quality is not likely" owing to slow wind speed, particularly during night time, and contribution from farm fires.
Experts said while meteorological conditions were "moderately" favourable for dispersion of pollutants, a "very high" number of farm fires in Punjab was the primary reason for "severe" air quality.
A model being considered is to have a combined cold chain approach - where the agricultural cold chain would be combined with vaccine cold chains.
This is the third time this season, after December 8 and January 1, that visibility has dropped to zero metres in the city.
The total active caseload increased to 1,97,237, which now comprises 1.74 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has dropped to 96.86 per cent.
The arrival of summer in India may have raised hopes that hot and humid weather could slow the COVID-19 progression but virologist Naga Suresh Veerapu believes that outbreak and pandemic occurrences often do not follow seasonality.
The US Food and Drug Administration had in February approved Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine that works with just one dose for emergency use.
Some of the stretches and areas where waterlogging was seen included Dhaula Kuan, Mathura Road, Moti Bagh, Vikas Marg, Ring Road, Rohtak Road, Sangam Vihar, Kirari and near Pragati Maidan among others.
Each state has its own weak areas that need attention. Some states have already identified the gaps and sought the Centre's help. Vinay Umarji, Ishita Ayan Dutt, Samreen Ahmad and Sohini Das report.
In light of the recent incidents involving scooters from prominent electric mobility brands bursting into flames, the subject of electric vehicle (EV) safety has come under the spotlight. As many as 20 electric scooters of Nashik-based Jitendra EV Tech caught fire after being loaded on a transport container. While no one has been reported injured, the company said it is conducting an investigation to find the 'root cause' of the fire.
India registered a record single-day spike of 1,31,968 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, pushing its infection tally to 1,30,60,542, while the death toll increased to 1,67,642 with 780 more fatalities in a day, highest since October 18, the Union health ministry data showed.
At $37 per dose, the Pfizer vaccine is much more expensive compared to $3 per dose for the Covishield.
The total coronavirus cases mounted to 96,08,211 and the death toll climbed to 1,39,700 with the coronavirus claiming 512 lives in a span of 24 hours in the country, the data updated at 8 am showed.
India is currently using two vaccines for COVID-19 -- one developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and the other developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology. Both the vaccines are being manufactured within the country by domestic firms.
The sweltering heat killed 57 people across Japan in the week from July 29 to Aug. 4, the Disaster Management Agency said on Tuesday.
China has reported a spike in COVID-19 infections in Zhejiang Province which registered 138 locally-transmitted confirmed cases stated to be that of new Delta strain "sub-lineage AY.4", prompting authorities to bar millions of people in the eastern province from travelling.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,75,04,126, while the case fatality rate has increased to 1.22 per cent, the data stated.
As India prepares to launch its vaccine drive on January 16, here is a look at the options:
Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) is sitting on 200 million doses of Covishield that were manufactured in December and are set to expire in September. The company is likely to destroy these vaccines if nothing works out, Sohini Das reports.
There are 9,75,861 active cases of the coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 17.54 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
According to forecasting agencies, the city is set to record its best air quality for the day after Diwali since 2015 on Tuesday.
'Most Indian logistics firms do not have the facility to store and transport COVID-19 vaccine right now.'
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 95,80,402 pushing the national recovery rate to 95.51 per cent.
The patent application for 'System and method for wearable electronic devices', filed in 2007, mentions various wearable models including a shoe that can communicate data to the user, electronic communication devices attached to clothes, wireless ear pieces and ankle bracelets that can transmit updated information from the body to the user. The drawings the company submitted to the patent office also show the design of a shoe that can be a wearable electronic device.
The active cases have surpassed the 12-lakh mark, while the death toll increased to 1,70,179 with 904 daily new fatalities, the highest since October 18, the data updated at 8 am showed.
'This modern-day recovery, matchups, data, sports science, I'm not sure. I would've said just let me be.'
The data gaps are inhibiting sound decisions. We need to know seroprevalence, infection, and vaccination rates. This is required in 200 cities of India, every week, suggests Ajay Shah.
The expert committee sought more information from Serum Institute regarding the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Pfizer and BioNTech said they have concluded phase 3 study of their mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate BNT162b2, meeting all primary efficacy endpoints.
'In the absence of a vaccine, as long as there are pockets of active cases in India, it would be good to have a limited lockdown.'
The device which can be worn as a pendant comes with a sensor which glows in case someone breaches the user's safe space of one metre and a 'hand wash reminder'.
'Urbanisation results in heavy rainfall events.'
'And they are going to be milder because we are dealing with the vaccinated and are much richer in terms of the immune response in the population.'
All but two women and four men among the Games' 128 archers agreed to participate, with data retained only in the form of archived TV footage.
Delhi's air quality was again in the severe category with the 24-hour average AQI recorded at 403 after remaining in the 'very poor' category till Tuesday morning, when the AQI was recorded at 396.
Its newly-built Jigani kitchen in Bengaluru is piloting the use of technologies such as data analytics, blockchain and Internet of Things to speed up the huge volume of its operations while ensuring strict quality control, reports Samreen Ahmad.
The smog reduced the visibility to merely 300 meters in the morning affecting traffic, an official of the India Meteorological Department said.
In Assam, nearly 27.80 lakh people across 26 districts have been affected by the deluge. The deaths were reported from the Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Morigaon districts. The death toll due to floods and landslides this year has risen to 122.
