Russell’s weakness against short delivery letting KKR down

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Russell’s weakness against short delivery letting KKR down

Andre Russell’s poor run with the bat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 season invited criticism from fellow West Indian and batting legend Brian Lara, who felt Russell’s inability to cope with short deliveries is being exploited by opposition teams.

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder was dismissed for just 12 during the match against Mumbai Indians (MI) on Friday night.

Russell, who has over 5,600 runs in his T20 career, has aggregated just 83 in eight matches and is averaging only 11.85 in the league this season.

On Friday night, Jasprit Bumrah also used a short delivery that he couldn’t duck under. Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock took an easy catch to send him back.

MI skipper Rohit later said that he had planned to target Russell with Bumrah, who had also got him in the first duel of the season between the two teams.

“I believe a lot in match-ups, we have got success as a team (doing it) – understanding the match-ups is important but we need to be instinctive at times. Krunal and Rahul also bowled to Russell, I took a chance with the ball gripping and turning, but I knew Bumrah was the go-to guy against him,” Rohit said after the match.

Lara, who is a TV expert, said that Russell has been found out. “I think he has been found out. Wherever he goes around the world, they tend to bounce him out,” said Lara during the mid-match show.

Against Chennai Super Kings, in an earlier game, Russell was dismissed by Shardul Thakur’s short delivery with MS Dhoni taking the catch. In the match against Delhi Capitals, Rabada got him with a short and fast delivery.

In other games too, bowlers have looked to attack him with short-pitched deliveries, the pressure forcing him to back away and give catches to fielders.

32 dengue cases in Gurugram, no fatalities reported

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32 dengue cases in Gurugram, no fatalities reported

This year, at least 32 dengue cases have been confirmed in Gurugram, Haryana, till October 16. The figure was 22 last year. However, no deaths have been recorded so far.

Data shared by the administration revealed that the district recorded 93 cases of dengue in 2018, 66 in 2017, 86 in 2016, and 451 in 2015.

The district has recorded four cases of malaria this year so far.

As many as 15 cases of malaria were reported in 2019, 30 in 2018, 48 in 2017, 38 in 2016, and 67 in 2015.

However, no Chikungunya cases have been recorded since 2018.

The district malaria office, which is the vector control department, has initiated various curative and preventive steps to control the spread of the disease.

The health officials informed that they had visited nearly 11 lakh houses in Gurugram district since June 2020 during the survey and issued notices to 3,708 persons whose houses were found to harbor mosquito larvae.

Nearly 250 places have been identified in the city which is congenial for the breeding of dengue larvae, said an official.

To control the spread of the disease, the health department is raising awareness through campaigns, SMS, fogging, setting up a separate dengue ward in the civil hospital among other steps, added health officials.

“We have constituted a team with the staff of the Municipal Corporation, they have surveyed 11 lakh houses since June this year while more than 6 lakh houses were surveyed last year. We are also serving notices to the house owners where mosquito larvae are found. A team of the health department inspects those houses again. If we find larvae again, the MCG fines the owner by issuing a notice,” said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Virendra Yadav.

Yadav informed that gambusia fish is very effective in preventing mosquitoes from breeding.

The health department has built two new hatcheries at the Primary Health Centre, Wazirabad and Pataudi hospital.

A fish hatchery is already functional in the district malaria office complex. Yadav said that 153 water bodies which are reservoirs located in the district are filled with 117 gambusia fish which eat the mosquito larvae.

The Municipal Corporation and Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) “have also been directed by the health department to introduce the fish in water-logged areas”.

Fifteen teams have been formed to carry out fogging across the district. Each team consists of three workers and a supervisor.

Blood group O associated with a decreased risk of Covid infection

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Blood group O associated with a decreased risk of Covid infection

Blood group O is associated with a decreased risk for contracting SARS-CoV-2 infection, research published in Blood Advances showed.

Identification of risk factors for contracting and developing serious illness following infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is of paramount interest.

The study performed a retrospective cohort analysis of all Danish individuals tested for SARS-CoV-2 between 27 February 2020 and 30 July 2020, with a known ABO and RhD blood group, to determine the influence of common blood groups on virus susceptibility.

The distribution of blood groups was compared with data from non-tested individuals. Participants (29% of whom were male) included 473654 individuals tested for SARS-CoV-2 using real-time polymerase chain reaction (7422 positive and 466232 negative) and 2204742 nontested individuals, accounting for 38% of the total Danish population.

Hospitalization and death from Covid-19, age, cardiovascular co-morbidities, and job status were also collected for confirmed infected cases.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread rapidly since its emergence in December 2019, causing a pandemic with 18093891 people infected globally (as of 3 August 2020).

In severe cases, individuals develop a number of symptoms, including acute respiratory illness, collectively known as coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Development of Covid-19 is associated with age, sex, and co-morbidities, such as cardiovascular diseases, although the severe disease is not limited to these risk groups.

Recent reports have suggested that ABO blood groups might play a role in the infection, with a lower than expected prevalence of blood group O individuals among patients.

Blood group A and B glycosyltransferases also affect glycosylation in a large number of cell types, including epithelial cells in the respiratory tract and shed viral particles.

A, B, and AB individuals are also at increased risk for thrombosis and cardiovascular diseases, which are important comorbidities among hospitalized Covid-19 patients, possibly mediated by glycosylation of proteins involved in hemostasis.

To obtain valid estimates of relative risk (RR), the representativeness of the reference material is important. Although blood group frequencies and susceptibility for SARS-CoV-2 can vary substantially among ethnic groups, Denmark is a relatively ethnically homogenous society with free access to health care services.

There was a slight, but statistically significant, difference in blood group distribution between the SARS-CoV-2- individuals and the reference population.

Among the SARS-CoV-2 individuals, considerably fewer group O individuals were found, conversely, more A, B, and AB individuals were noted.

When blood group O was excluded, no significant difference was seen among A, B, and AB.

KXIP face Gayle and Tendulkar’s ire

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KXIP face Gayle and Tendulkar’s ire

Former India batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar questioned Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)’s decision to bench Chris Gayle in earlier games after the Jamaican led KXIP to a win over Royal Challengers Bangalore with a half-century in their Indian Premier League encounter on Thursday.

Playing his first match of this season after having missed the earlier seven games, Gayle hit five sixes in the 45-ball 53-run innings.

“Good to see @henrygayle back and scoring a wonderful 53. Wonder what @lionsdenkxip was thinking by leaving him out all this while,” tweeted Tendulkar.

As if to emphasize that, Gayle pointed to the sticker on the bat which had ‘The Boss’ written on it. The only problem with it was that it was upside down when Gayle pointed it to the camera.

When commentator and former India batsman Sunil Gavaskar mentioned this to him during the post-match chat, an embarrassed Gayle asked, “It was?!!!”

He then said, “You got the picture, right? All I was saying is just to put some respect on the name. That’s all.”

Gayle has hit the most number of sixes not just in IPL, but in all of T20 cricket. He has hit 983 sixes in his T20 career, 298 more than his nearest rival and fellow West Indian Kieron Pollard who has 685 sixes against his name.

In IPL too, he leads the charts of six-hitters with 331. AB de Villiers is next with 225.

Gayle is also No. 8 in IPL’s all-time run-getters’ list with 4537 runs. No one in KXIP camp has these many runs.

Willingness to improve makes Bumrah one of the best pacers in the world: Bond

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Willingness to improve makes Bumrah one of the best pacers in the world: Bond

Mumbai Indians’ bowling coach Shane Bond heaped praise on Jasprit Bumrah, saying the India fast bowler’s desire to improve makes him one of the best fast bowlers in the world.

The Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer is joint second in the list of wicket-takers in the Indian Premier League, alongside MI teammate Trent Boult, Rajasthan Royals’ Jofra Archer, and Kings XI Punjab’s Mohammed Shami. Delhi Capitals’ Kagiso Rabada leads the pack with 18 wickets.

Bumrah is one of the world’s premier fast bowlers currently, having led the India attack in their first-ever Test series win in Australia in 2018-19.

“It’s been fun, always loved working with Booms (Bumrah), six years now,” said Bond in a video on Mumbai’s pace attack posted by MI on Twitter.

“The thing I love about Jasprit is his willingness to want to improve. He’s turned up in this series, he has got another different ball in his armoury and when you’re seeing it from a player who’s self-motivated, doing things in the background to make himself better, then there’s no surprise to me that he’s one of the best fast bowlers in the world.”

Bumrah had been inconsistent in the early part of the tournament and was unhappy about it but then came back in form against Rajasthan Royals, picking up four wickets for 20. The right-arm pace bowler took the new ball for the first time in this edition in that match on October 6.

Bond also praised MI’s other pace bowlers, Trent Boult and James Pattinson, and attributed his team’s success to the presence of three high-quality fast bowlers.

“From my point of view, I am really happy with the way things are going and the reason for that is that the three guys, the seamers, at the moment are bowling beautifully.

“The bowlers have got a number of different skills. And I encourage them to use those skills. We’ve obviously used the bouncer and the short ball a lot. We’ve got three bowlers who bowl 140 kilometres per hour.”

Punjab CM, Rahul vow to force Centre to revoke farm laws

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Punjab CM, Rahul vow to force Centre to revoke farm laws

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in pledging to force the Union government to revoke the ‘draconian’ farm laws.

Both said these laws would be debated in a special Vidhan Sabha session on Monday with the aim to aggressively and effectively combat the damaging impact of these legislations on farmers.

Asserting that his government will take all steps to counter the ‘black’ laws and protect the farmers of Punjab, Amarinder Singh said he would spend every single day of the rest of his life for the revival of Punjab.

“Whatever time I have left with me, I will fight for the farmers and every other section of the state’s population,” he said.

Condemning what he called the Centre’s anti-farmer legislation that attacked the soul of every farmer and was an assault on Punjab’s future, Amarinder Singh also announced his government’s decision to give proprietary rights to those settled in ‘Lal Dora’ land in villages for long.

Welcoming the Chief Minister’s decision to convene the special session, Rahul Gandhi said the voice of the farmers was gagged in Parliament, but it would now resonate in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and echo in every part of the country till the central government was compelled to withdraw the farm laws.

“If these laws were in the interest of the farmers, why did the BJP-led government at the Centre not allow a debate on them in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha,” he asked.

Virtually launching the second phase of the Smart Village Campaign (SVC-II), along with Amarinder Singh, the Congress MP assured all panchayats of his party’s full support to them, as well as the farmers and farm labor, in their fight against the new laws.

Representatives of all the Punjab village panchayats participated in the virtual launch program.

Condemning the farm laws as a blatant attack by the BJP on the soul of each and every farmer of the nation, Rahul said the Centre had launched an assault on Punjab and its farmers with these ill-conceived and unconstitutional legislation.

“Every farmer and laborer is feeling the pain of this attack,” he added.

The AICC leader lashed out at the BJP for allegedly imposing laws on the nation from the top, without taking people at the grassroots into confidence.

“That is the difference between the BJP and the Congress — the former talking about buildings and not foundations,” he said, noting that the farmland was the foundation of every village.

Rahul declared that Congress will not allow India’s foundations to be weakened in this manner and will go all out to strengthen these foundations.

Pointing out that the past decisions of the BJP government at the Centre had led to the total collapse of the economy and promoted large-scale unemployment, the Congress leader congratulated Amarinder Singh for generating jobs for the youth.

Punjab Congress President Sunil Jakhar also took on the BJP on the farm laws which, he said, were designed to kill the farmers and the farming sector.

The state government, he said, should do everything in its power to prevent that from happening.

Sony PlayStation5 to cost Rs 50K in India, no launch date yet

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Sony PlayStation5 to cost Rs 50K in India, no launch date yet

Sony PlatStation5, likely to arrive next month globally amid the initial pre-order mess, will cost Rs 49,990 in India and the PS5 Digital Edition will be available for Rs 39,990.

The company said that while the gamers in India are excited to get their hands on PS5, availability is subject to local import regulations.

“Our local teams are working through the logistics. We will share an update on the launch date for India as more information becomes available,” the company said in a statement.

The PlayStation 5 is set to hit the shelves on November 12 in the US and the rest of the world on November 19.

The DualSense Wireless Controller will come for Rs 5,990 while the HD camera will cost Rs 5,190.

The PULSE 3D Wireless Headset will be available for Rs 8,590 and the Media Remote will cost Rs 2,590.

The DualSense Charging Station will come for Rs 2,590.

Sony last month apologised for PS5 pre-orders being a bit of a mess which caused many gamers to miss out on securing a console.

“Let’s be honest: PS5 preorders could have been a lot smoother. We truly apologise for that. Over the next few days, we will release more PS5 consoles for preorder – retailers will share more details. And more PS5s will be available through the end of the year,” the company said in a tweet.

When it comes to games, Demon’s Souls will cost Rs 4,999 while Destruction Allstars will come for Rs 4,999.

Marvel Spiderman Miles Morales: Ultimate Edition will cost the gamers Rs 4,999 and Sackboy A Big Adventure will come for Rs 3,999, the company said.

India is gradually moving towards an Economy based on Clean Energy

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India is gradually moving towards an Economy based on Clean Energy

As part of reforms oriented towards providing cleaner auto fuels in the country, the government will soon launch a pilot on hydrogen CNG or HCNG soon, a senior government official said on Saturday.

Petroleum secretary Tarun Kapoor said that a pilot project on HCNG is being undertaken in Delhi soon that will improve efficiency and reduce emissions drastically.

Speaking the Inaugural Session of ‘Alternative Fuel Technology for Vehicles: A Cure-all for Sustainable Mobility’ organized by Ph.D. Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with CSIDC, Government of Chhattisgarh, Kapoor said.

India is becoming a leader in CNG, there has been a significant transition with the need to move towards cleaner fuels like CNG, ethanol, biodiesel, and electric vehicles.

He said that we need to ensure that CNG is available and affordable ensuring that vehicles are modeled to incorporate CNG smoothly.

Discussing city gas distribution, he shared that there is significant work happening especially in the infrastructure so that CNG is seamlessly available. “We will be doing a pilot project in Delhi on HCNG that will improve efficiency and reduce emissions drastically,” the secretary said.

Talking about ethanol, he mentioned that by the next year, there would be a jump in the ethanol production and India is planning to introduce E12 and E15 shortly.

Gradually, we will have blended petrol all over the country and moving to a higher percentage. We have to make pure ethanol available that is happening in several countries and, some countries also have multi-fuel vehicles like Brazil. There is a pilot project which will be implemented for pure ethanol that will take place in Pune shortly, he said.

Kapoor deliberated about the need to make biodiesel affordable and freely available. On the sector of compressed biogas, he discussed that it’s an area of focus as it’s important for the agriculture sector and, there is a huge source available in the country. He also discussed the projects undertaken by the government for setting up biogas plants that will help in producing a large quantity of biogas that will also flow in the city gas distribution network making it available along with CNG.

On Electric Vehicles, the oil marketing companies are available to facilitate and, we are looking forward to better swapping coming to the petrol station, retail outlets, putting up electric charging. We look forward to work closely with the industry so that we can go forward, said Kapoor.

Rahul Dev reveals what disappoints him

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Rahul Dev reveals what disappoints him

Actor Rahul Dev has been in the industry for over 20 years. From movies to web shows, he has explored almost all mediums. However, he is still not satisfied with his journey.

Speaking to IANS, Rahul revealed, being from Delhi, what disappoints him is the fact that he has never been offered roles in the films that are based in North India.

“I would be lying if I say that I am satisfied with my journey. There’s still a long way to go. I really want to do good roles, especially the roles based in North India. I am from Delhi and I speak fantastic Hindi. It feels disappointing sometimes when makers do not cast me for such roles. I have done so many films down South. Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam — I have done so many films in these languages. If directors down South can find Tamil/Telugu nativity in me, how difficult is it to imagine me in UP or Bihar?” Rahul wondered.

He is optimistic, though. “A lot of films are being made on subjects prevailing in North India. I hope I get to work in these films. I just want to keep working hard and try new roles,” added Rahul, who is currently seen essaying the role of a cop in the Zee5 web show “Poison 2”.

I put pandemic time to good use: NEET 2020 topper

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I put pandemic time to good use: NEET 2020 topper

Odisha’s Soyeb Aftab, who has created history by scoring 100 percent in National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2020, said on Saturday that the Covid-19 pandemic came as a blessing in disguise for him and he put it to good use to concentrate more on his studies.

“People suffered huge losses due to the pandemic. But I used the time to my advantage and concentrated more on the study and appeared in online tests. I used the time (of indoor confinement) perfectly,” Soyeb told IANS.

Soyeb, the 18-year-old from Rourkela, scored a perfect 720 out of 720 to become the first student in the history of NEET to achieve the feat.

He also became the first-ever student from Odisha to secure the top rank in NEET.

Son to a businessman and a homemaker, Soyeb is the first in his family to pursue his dream career in medical sciences.

“I did my schooling till Class 10 in Rourkela. I had decided to become a doctor in Class9-10. So, I asked my father to facilitate my coaching in Kota and my parents supported me to take admission in Allen’s in Kota,” the youngster said.

His mother moved from Odisha to Kota in Rajasthan to support his dream.

As a student, Soyeb said, he was good in studies but not exceptionally good.

“I used smartphones normally as there was no study pressure. But I concentrated more on studies that helped me score big,” Soyeb said as he advised aspiring candidates to use smartphones only to enhance their knowledge of their subjects.

He said that apart from coaching and school, he used to devote around 3 hours to self-study. On holidays, he devoted 13-14 hours at a stretch to studies.

The Odisha lad now aspires to get admission to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. “I want to take admission in AIIMS for research programs. After MBBS, I want to do specialization in cardiology,” said Soyeb.

Power regulator wants govt not to infringe regulatory jurisdiction

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Power regulator wants govt not to infringe regulatory jurisdiction

Power regulator Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has advised the Union Ministry of Power against jurisdictional overreach in framing regulations for the power sector that infringes the substantive functions of the Central Commission.

The regulator has issued an advisory over the draft rules proposed by the ministry, asking the government to work in harmony by honoring the respective jurisdiction carved out in the Electricity Act 2003.

The CERC also said that several of the issues contained in the draft regulations fall under the purview of the states and the power ministry should first consult with the state governments before framing rules.

The power ministry is currently undertaking stakeholders’ consultation on various rules it has framed to make the power sector more efficient. It has proposed new rules on various provisions like change in law, must-run-status, transmission system planning, recovery of interstate transmission charges, and late payment surcharge. Several of the proposed regulations assign a penalty for non-compliance by utilities, a domain largely belonging to regulatory commissions.

The CERC letter also highlights that the electricity and tariff policies in the country are to be framed in consultation with the state governments and the regulatory commissions so that the directions given in the policy is universally followed by all segments universally.

So under the existing framework, the regulator has indicated to the power ministry not to go ahead with the framing of rules without taking all segments of the sector together.

T’gana records 1,451 new corona cases, 1,983 recoveries

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T’gana records 1,451 new corona cases, 1,983 recoveries

Telangana registered 1,451 new coronavirus cases, taking the state’s tally to 2.2 lakh, even as 1,983 more patients recovered from the infection, officials said on Saturday.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area accounted for the highest 235 new cases in the past 24 hours, followed by Rangareddy district at 104, Medchal Malkajgiri at 101, Bhadradri Kothagudem at 92, Nalgonda at 84, and Khammam at 71.

Other districts where new cases were reported to include Karimnagar (65), Siddipet (64), Warangal Urban (55), Suryapet (37), Nizamabad (32), Rajanna Sircilla (30), Jagityal (29), Peddapalli (28), Medak (25), Nirmal and Wanaparty (24 each), Vikarabad and Nagarkurnool (22 each).

However, nine more patients died, raising the statewide COVID death toll to 1,265.

In all, 55 percent of patients died due to comorbidities, and 45 percent due to Covid alone.

The southern state tested 42,497 samples in the past 24 hours, increasing the number of Covid-19 tests to 37.8 lakh.

The total recoveries in Telangana are 1.9 lakh. Of the 2.2 lakh cases in Telangana, 22,774 are active. Nearly 70 percent of the cases are asymptomatic and 30 percent symptomatic.

Teenaged pro-boxer eyes reverse route, keen to compete at Olympics

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Teenaged pro-boxer eyes reverse route, keen to compete at Olympics

Indians often turn to professional boxing only after winning some of the biggest titles in the amateur circuit. However, teenaged Faizan Anwar has taken the reverse route of going professional early on in his career — he has won pro bouts — and is also keen to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Coming from Kolkata, 19-year-old pro boxer Anwar feels the demands of professional boxing would give him an advantage when he gets into fight three-round bouts in amateur boxing at the Olympics.

“In professional boxing, beginners start in bouts that have four rounds of three minutes each and the training is very difficult. We wear smaller gloves in training and the punches are very strong. You need a lot of stamina and power to survive in pro boxing,” Anwar told IANS.

“I am right now participating in six-round fights and by the time it is 2024, I will be fighting the full 12 rounds. If I come back to amateur after that for the three-round fights it will feel much easier than what I would do otherwise in professional boxing,” he offers as the reasons for taking the reverse route.

The Boxing Federation of India’s (BFI) says professionals keen to participate in the Olympics should be part of its talent pool, which means that Anwar will have to switch to amateur boxing to play the sport in India.

Anwar’s coach and uncle Mujtaba Kamal, a former national boxer, said that while they were yet to put a timeline to it, switching to amateur boxing in time for him to be in the reckoning for the Indian team for the 2024 Olympics is in their plans.

For now, however, Anwar is concentrating on his progress in the pro circuit, where he currently holds a 5-0-0 record in the welterweight division.

Anwar’s latest win came against Philippines’ JR Mendoza at the Rotunda Rumble IV that ended in a unanimous decision in his favor. He is hoping to challenge for the WBC World Youth title next year, currently held by British boxer Sahir Iqbal.

“Nothing is confirmed yet but my next fight should be in December. I am yet to get an opponent. We will be focusing on my technique and will be doing a lot of sparring. Since I don’t know who my opponent will be I will be preparing to face both a right-handed or left-handed boxer and will be sparring accordingly. We will do a lot of sparring and partner work instead of heavy bags and pads,” Anwar said.

In recovering Covid-19 patients, antibodies fade quickly: Study

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In recovering Covid-19 patients, antibodies fade quickly: Study

Researchers have now claimed that antibody levels in the blood of Covid-19 patients drop rapidly during the weeks after their bodies have cleared the virus and symptoms have subsided.

If convalescent plasma is ultimately shown to have a clear benefit, then it needs to be collected during a specific window of time after recovery, the study, published in the journal ‘mBio’, reported.

“We don’t want to transfuse the virus, just transfuse the antibodies,” said study author Andres Finzi from the University of Montreal in Canada.

“But at the same time, our work shows that the capacity of the plasma to neutralize viral particles is going down during those first weeks,” Finzi added.

The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 plays a crucial role in helping the virus grab and invade host cells.

Antibodies produced by the body’s immune system bind to a part of this protein and block the capacity of this “key” to engage with the host’s cellular “lock”, said Finzi, preventing the viral particle from infecting a cell host.

Previous studies suggest that antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein peak two or three weeks after the onset of symptoms.

Findings from an earlier cross-sectional study by Finzi’s group, involving more than 100 patients, suggested that the ability of plasma to neutralize the virus decreased significantly between three and six weeks after symptom onset.

In the new longitudinal study, the research team analyzed blood samples collected at one-month intervals from 31 individuals recovering from Covid-19.

They measured levels of immunoglobulins that act against the coronavirus S protein and tested the ability of the antibodies to neutralize the virus.

The researchers observed variation on the level of individual patients but identified a consistent overall signal: The levels of Immunoglobulins G, A, and M that target the binding site decreased between six and 10 weeks after symptoms began.

During the same time period, the ability of the antibodies to neutralize the virus similarly fell, the study noted.

Italy reports over 10,000 new coronavirus cases

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Italy reports over 10,000 new coronavirus cases

Italy reported a total of 10,010 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, which increased the country’s overall caseload to 107,312, according to the Ministry of Health.

The data also revealed that 6,178 infected people were hospitalized on Friday with Covid-19 symptoms, and 638 were shifted to the ICU, Xinhua news agency reported.

In its latest weekly monitoring report, the Ministry and the National Institute of Health (ISS) said: “We are seeing an acceleration in the evolution of the epidemic, which has entered an acute phase with a progressive increase in the number of cases.”

The report added that some of Italy’s 20 regions are at risk of “reaching critical levels” due to an “increase in the rate of ICU bed occupancy”.

The Ministry said on Friday that 100,496 people tested positive for the virus were isolated at home because they had no or mild symptoms.

A total of 247,872 people have recovered and 36,427 people have died from the virus since the pandemic first broke out in Italy in late February.

Local media reported on Friday that the government may impose further restrictive measures to curb the pandemic.

But Health Minister Roberto Speranza said in a televised address that “no decision has been made at this moment”.

NASA awards US firm $47mn to land water-measuring payload on Moon

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NASA awards US firm $47mn to land water-measuring payload on Moon

NASA has awarded Houston-based Intuitive Machines approximately $47 million to deliver a drill combined with a mass spectrometer to the Moon by December 2022.

The payload will land on the Moon and drill up to approximately one meter below the surface.

It will measure with a mass spectrometer how much ice in the sample is lost to sublimation as the ice turns from a solid to a vapor in the vacuum of the lunar environment.

The delivery of the payload, called the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment is known as PRIME-1, will help NASA search for ice at the Moon’s the South Pole and, for the first time, harvest ice from below the surface, the US space agency said on Friday.

The award was made under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

“We continue to rapidly select vendors from our pool of CLPS vendors to land payloads on the lunar surface, which exemplifies our work to integrate the ingenuity of commercial industry into our efforts at the Moon,” NASA’s Associate Administrator for Science Thomas Zurbuchen said in a statement.

“The information we’ll gain from PRIME-1 and other science instruments and technology demonstrations we’re sending to the lunar surface will inform our Artemis missions with astronauts and help us better understand how we can build a sustainable lunar presence.”

Versions of PRIME-1’s drill and the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations, or MSolo, will also fly on VIPER, a mobile robot that also will search for ice at the lunar South Pole in 2023.

NASA will land the first woman and next man on the Moon’s South Pole the following year.

Delhi doctors implant permanent pacemaker in newborn baby’s heart

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Delhi doctors implant permanent pacemaker in newborn baby’s heart

Doctors at a Delhi hospital displayed their commitment to patient-centric care and skills in clinical excellence during the current pandemic by immediately responding to an emergency case of a pre-term baby born with a complete congenital heart block.

At the time of birth, baby Bhavishya’s heart was beating 40 times a minute as compared to 140-160 times a minute of a healthy newborn. The birth of the baby took place in another hospital in New Delhi and as the health of the baby started deteriorating, the father was advised to take the baby to a pediatric cardiac center.

The father contacted Dr. Gaurav Kumar, Director of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute. Under the guidance of him and Dr. Sushil Azad, Principal Consultant Pediatric Cardiology, arrangements were made for this critically ill baby to be shifted to FEHI.

After thorough evaluation and stabilization of the baby by a team of doctors at FEHI, he was taken up for permanent pacemaker implant at midnight. Complete congenital heart block is a rare condition occurring in 1 in 20,000 births.

Such cases are challenging because these babies are commonly born preterm with low birth weight, their heart invariably functions poorly, and they have a poor chance of survival if emergency intervention is not done. In such babies, all procedures including anesthesia and surgery pose a very high risk.

Dr. Gaurav Kumar said, “It was late evening when we received a call from another hospital regarding baby Bhavishya. We knew that the baby was in real danger and made immediate arrangements for the safe transfer of the baby to Fortis Escorts Heart Institute.”

He added, “On arrival, the baby was found to have a very poor heart and lung function. The case was technically challenging as the baby was pre-term and low birth weight and operating upon a newborn always involves a lot of associated risks. We decided to go ahead with the surgery at night itself because it was unlikely the baby would have survived till morning.”

Father of Bhavishya, Pravin Kumar, Assistant Sub Inspector in CRPF said, “I am very grateful to the staff of Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, especially Dr. Gaurav Kumar and Dr. Sushil Azad, who looked after my baby with great care, while his mother was admitted in another hospital.”

“The world came crashing down on us when we first heard about our baby’s health. Without any delay, they suggested we move the baby to FEHI and it was the right decision that we made. I would really like to appreciate the efforts put in by the whole team at FEHI and ensured a safe and healthy environment amidst the pandemic.”

Dr. Sushil Azad said that operating upon a pre-term baby suffering from a complete congenital heart-block involves a lot of risks related to maintaining complete care of other vital organs and protecting these babies from infection especially during this covid pandemic.

“This surgery was only possible due to the multidisciplinary approach adopted by our team and we are happy to see how the baby has responded post the surgery”.

No change in petrol, diesel prices for 15 consecutive days

TB Team
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No change in petrol, diesel prices for 15 consecutive days

Petrol, diesel prices have remained steady for about half of the current month as stable global oil prices have ensured that oil marketing companies did not revise retail fuel prices.

Diesel price has stayed at the same level since last October 3, completing 15 days when the fuel did not see any revision. Petrol price has been stable for a longer period, completing 25 days on Saturday.

With no revision in fuel prices on Saturday, in the national capital, diesel continues to be priced at Rs 70.46 per liter. Similarly, prices of the fuel In Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata are also stable at Rs 76.86, Rs 75.95, and Rs 73.99 respectively.

The price of petrol in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata remains at Rs 81.06, Rs 87.74, Rs 84.14, and Rs 82.59 per liter respectively.

Petrol and diesel prices saw a lot of volatility in the months of July, August, and September when prices moved up and down at frequent intervals with diesel prices witnessing a steep fall lately.

The development in the fuel market is in line with the movement of global oil prices. Crude prices remained soft for most of the previous weeks and fell almost 10 percent to close to $ 40 a barrel a week back. In the last few days, it has risen and is now around $ 42 a barrel.

The continuing coronavirus pandemic has impacted oil demand and pushed down prices in the absence of any other trigger to lift the markets.

Google Pixel 4a: Sublime camera, seamless app experience

TB Team
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Google Pixel 4a: Sublime camera, seamless app experience

Indian smartphone users have not seen much of Google Pixel (there was no Pixel 4 or 4 XL arrival in the country last year owing to certain constraints) and what they have missed out on is a no-frills, no-nonsense, and a seamless Android with a super-smooth camera experience.

Google was not able to sell the Pixel 4 and 4 XL devices in India due to its �Soli Radar chip’ on the front, which utilized the 60GHz frequency band banned for commercial use in India. That hurdle has now been removed and Google’s all-new Pixel 4a is now available for a special launch price of Rs 29,999 (original cost Rs 31,999) in the country.

This time, the pricing is aggressive for a 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage device which puts it in the league of OnePlus Nord and a couple of Vivo/OPPO/Samsung devices in the mid-price segment which is brimming with action.

For someone who has not experienced a Pixel device in India, Pixel 4a is like fresh air amid polluted skies for two simple reasons: camera and Android.

The device takes you to an era when we used to witness a smartphone sans gimmicks and incremental specifications around the camera and rest of the hardware.

With 12.2MP dual-pixel rear camera, Pixel 4a in �Just Black’ color brings the same incredible camera experiences from Pixel 4, with a new re-designed hole-punch design, with features like HDR+ with dual exposure controls, Portrait Mode, Top Shot, Night Sight with astrophotography capabilities and fused video stabilization.

The Pixel 4a camera proves that all those high mega-pixel with super zoom AI capabilities are actually plain marketing strategies and you can achieve more with the simple yet powerful camera configuration on the Google device.

You have finally got a camera to capture your best self, selfies, and memories. The HDR+ feature made photos look even better by automatically adjusting the color and lighting.

The Night Sight feature will help you to take clear pictures in low-light conditions.

You can focus on subjects by adding an artistic blur to the background in Portrait Mode.

What’s more, you can also add a blur effect to portraits not shot on a Pixel later with Portrait Blur in Google Photos.

At the front is an 8MP (1.12 �m pixel size with �/2.0 aperture) sensor with a fixed focus feature.

Pixel phones have always been known for their photos and 4a is no exception, clicking images with the least effort.

The overall app experience is another beauty on the device. The user interface and navigation are just so simple and free-flowing, and the credit goes to the latest Android 11 and new Google Assistant with Lens. The company also offers a minimum of three years of OS and security updates.

In addition to features like Recorder, which now connects with Google Docs to seamlessly save and share transcriptions and recordings (English only), Pixel 4a has the Personal Safety app for real-time emergency notifications.

Pixel 4a also has Live Caption, which provides real-time captioning (English only) for the video and audio content.

Introduced last year in Pixel 4, the new Google Assistant is also available in Pixel 4a to help with getting things done fast, like controlling apps, using it contextually within apps, and quickly searching within Google Photos using only voice.

While these new Assistant capabilities are currently only available for English, all of the other Assistant features continue to be available in nine Indian languages.

Basically, use the new Google Assistant to control your phone and apps, send texts and multitask on the go.

On the internals, the Pixel 4a houses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G mobile platform and has the Titan M security module for on-device security and a bigger 3140mAh battery with fast charging technology.

The �adaptive’ battery learns which apps are your favorite and reduces power to the ones that you rarely use.

The device comes in Just Black with a 5.8-inch OLED display and has a matte finish that feels secure and comfortable, and features the signature color pop power button in mint.

Conclusion: Touted long back as �the best Android that you can buy,’ Google Pixel 4a brings to you an unparalleled experience on camera and app navigation. As it disappeared off the shelves on the first day of the festive sale proves that Pixel lovers in the country know what it has in it.

For those who are on Android and are not in love with large-screen smartphones, Pixel 4a is something that makes Android a true OS encounter. For photo enthusiasts, the camera is an out-of-this-world experience, not available even with the heavyweights.

Samsung launches Galaxy Fit2 fitness tracker in India

TB Team
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Samsung launches Galaxy Fit2 fitness tracker in India

Samsung on Saturday launches a new fitness tracker called Galaxy Fit2 with a slim, lightweight design, long-lasting battery, and advanced tracking features in India.

Priced at Rs 3,999, Galaxy Fit2 is available in two colors — black and scarlet, starting October 16, the company said.

The wearable has a bright 1.1-inch 450 nits AMOLED display, 3D curved glass, and over 70 downloadable watch face to personalize the function and look.

The front touch key for wake-up, home, and cancel enable easy navigation through a rich UI that allows preset replies to notifications and setting up of 12 dedicated widgets at a time.

Galaxy Fit2 has an indented strap that keeps the sweat from collecting.

Weighing just 21 grams, it is compact with a minimalist design that is good to wear throughout the day and past the night.

Galaxy Fit2 houses a 159mAh battery that claims up to 15-day life on a single charge.

With typical usage, users can get up to 21 days on a single charge, the company claimed.

The wearable comes with 50-meter water resistance and its essential ‘Water Lock’ mode makes it the perfect companion for swimming or any water-based activity.

It also prevents accidental activation while swimming by locking the front key.

The device helps track five automatic workouts and up to 90 workouts with presetting from the Samsung Health library.

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