Delhi reports below 10K cases 1st time since April 10

TB Team
-
0
Delhi reports below 10K cases 1st time since April 10

Delhi reported 8,500 new Covid infections in the last 24 hours, the first time in over a month when daily cases came below 10,000 as the positivity rate came down to 12 percent, on Friday.

On April 10, the city had reported 7,897 cases in a day.

While the positivity rate – the proportion of samples tested that return positive for Covid -19 continued its sharp decline to 12 percent, on Friday, the lowest in the single day since April 13.

Through daily positive cases in Delhi have decreased in the last few days, there are still many critical patients in hospitals.

“Delhi has around 3,000 beds vacant for Covid patients, however, ICU beds are still packed in most hospitals. A total of 1,200 new ICU beds will be ready by one or two days,” said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday.

While addressing a digital press conference, Kejriwal said Delhi has seen some respite from Covid spread in the last few weeks due to the determination of the citizens of the national capital.

“You (people) have followed Covid lockdown rules strictly and have shown that Delhi can still fight against the spread of Covid-19. It is the need of the hour to fight against this pandemic. We still need to be more prepared to face more challenges to come,” he said.

The Chief Minister said in the last few days many families have lost even more than one or two members, many children have lost their parents and many senior citizens too have lost their earning family members (son/daughter) due to this Covid pandemic.

He said, “Delhi government will take care of children who lost their parents and will provide financial support to all senior citizens who lost their loan (son/daughter) earner for livelihood in the national capital.

“The Government will help such families financially and I will request relatives of such families to boost their confidence,” Kejriwal added.

Anushka and Virat’s Covid fundraiser effort surpasses target, raises over 11 crore

TB Team
-
0
Anushka and Virat’s Covid fundraiser effort surpasses target, raises over 11 crore

Actress Anushka Sharma on Friday shared that the Covid fundraiser she started with her husband, cricketer Virat Kohli, has surpassed its target, raising Rs 11,39,11,820.

Virat and Anushka started the fundraiser campaign on May 7. The couple collaborated with crowd-funding platform Ketto for the campaign #InThisTogether and donated Rs 2 crore towards the initiative. They had aimed to raise Rs 7 crore for Covid relief in India

On Friday, Anushka shared a note on Instagram that reads: “Thanks to all we have surpassed our target! Funds raised for Covid Relief. Rs 11,39,11,820. #inthistogether.”

“Truly amazed and humbled by the spirit of solidarity that you all have shown. We are proud to announce that we have raised more than our initial target and it will go a long way to save lives,” she added.

“Thank you for your overwhelming support in helping the people of India. This wouldn’t be possible without you. Jai Hind. #InThisTogether #ActNow #OxygenForEveryone #TogetherWeCan #SocialForGood,” Anushka further stated.

Something the boys have earned: Shastri on No.1 Test ranking

TB Team
-
0
Something the boys have earned: Shastri on No.1 Test ranking

India head coach Ravi Shastri hailed the team for retaining their position at the top of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Test rankings for the fifth consecutive year.

“This team has shown steely resolve & unwavering focus to be crowned No. 1. It is something the boys have earned fair & square. Rules changed midway but #TeamIndia overcame every hurdle along the way. My boys played tough cricket in tough times. Super proud of this bindass bunch,” tweeted Shastri.

India has been No.1 in the annual Test rankings since 2017. The Virat Kohli-led side is on 121 rating points while the second-placed New Zealand is on 120. The two teams face each other in the final of the World Test Championship from June 18 to 22 at the Ageas Bowl.

England overtook Australia to take third place with 109 rating points. Australia currently has 108. The West Indies, who beat Bangladesh 2-0 and drew 0-0 with Sri Lanka in series played this year, have moved from eighth to sixth with 84 points, their best position since 2013.

Modi releases 8th instalment of Rs 19,000 cr for PM-KISAN scheme

TB Team
-
0
Modi releases 8th instalment of Rs 19,000 cr for PM-KISAN scheme

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday released the eighth instalment of financial benefits worth Rs 19,000 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme to benefit more than 9.5 crore farmers that include first-time beneficiaries in West Bengal.

The Prime Minister released the instalment through video conferencing, saying “farmers in West Bengal for the first time benefitted with the Central scheme and that more farmers will get the support as soon as the Centre receives it”.

The instalment will enable the transfer of more than Rs 19,000 crore to over 9.5 crore beneficiary farmer families.

Modi also interacted with farmer-beneficiaries during the event and said that around Rs 1.35 lakh crore has been transferred to the bank accounts of farmers under the PM-KISAN and Rs 60,000 crore during the Covid-19 pandemic.

So far this year, the Prime Minister said that “about 10 per cent more wheat has been purchased at Minimum Support Price (MSP) as compared to last year”.

“So far, about 58,000 crores of wheat procurement has reached the farmers’ account directly”.

Under the PM-KISAN scheme, a financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year is provided to the eligible beneficiary farmer families, payable in three equal 4-monthly instalments of Rs 2,000 each.

The fund is transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.

In this scheme, Samman Rashi of over Rs 1.15 lakh crore has been transferred to farmers’ families so far.

Oxygen Express delivers 80 MT of O2 in TN

TB Team
-
0
Oxygen Express delivers 80 MT of O2 in TN

Tamil Nadu received 80 MT of oxygen on Friday by the Oxygen Express train which arrived from Durgapur in West Bengal.

State Health Minister Ma Subramanian, Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan received the shipment at the Tondiarpet railway yard at around 2 a.m.

“We will be scouting more oxygen from wherever possible, we will distribute the oxygen arrived today to various districts,” Subramanian told IANS.

The Minister also said that the hospitals have been instructed to have optimal use of oxygen and that the government will get more in the days to come.

Subramanian said: ” The lockdown will be more intensified from Friday onwards. People are not taking this seriously and are roaming around without taking any precautions. The government has been forced to intensify the lockdown.”

The Oxygen Express train which reached the Tondiarpet yard comprises flat-type wagons which are loaded with cryogenic tankers.

Each cryogenic tank has the capacity to carry 13 MT of Liquid Medical Oxygen.

Cryogenic tankers mounted trucks are filled with oxygen and transported through RORO (Roll on Roll Off) service.

This will facilitate door-to-door delivery of oxygen at the hospitals as required by the state without having to unload it from the railway wagon and refill them again into the road vehicle and this helps to cut down the transit time.

Jio comes up with special initiatives for JioPhone users amid pandemic

TB Team
-
0
Jio comes up with special initiatives for JioPhone users amid pandemic

Jio has come up with special initiatives for the pandemic period including free 300 minutes of outgoing calls per month for the entire period of the pandemic, to JioPhone users who have not been able to recharge due to the ongoing pandemic.

“We at Jio want to ensure that staying connected remains accessible and affordable for all customers, especially the less-privileged sections of our society,” said a company statement.

“Jio working with Reliance Foundation will provide 300 free minutes of outgoing calls per month (10 minutes per day) for the entire period of the pandemic, to JioPhone users who have not been able to recharge due to the ongoing pandemic,” it said.

Further, to further enhance affordability, for every JioPhone plan recharged by JioPhone users, they will get an additional recharge plan of the same value for free.

Elaborating the offering, the statement said that a JioPhone user recharging with a Rs 75 plan, will get an additional Rs 75 plan absolutely free.

“Reliance is committed to standing with every Indian during these challenging times, and will continue to make every effort to enable our fellow citizens to overcome the difficulties created by the pandemic,” it added.

The statement, however, clarified that the offer is not applicable on annual or JioPhone device bundled plans.

3rd locally-transmitted Covid case reported in China

TB Team
-
0
3rd locally-transmitted Covid case reported in China

China’s Anhui province on Friday reported its third locally transmitted Covid-19 cases, according to health authorities.

The case was detected in Feixi County under the provincial capital of Hefei, Xinhua news agency quoted the city-based emergency epidemic prevention and control headquarters as saying.

This is the second case in Feixi and the third in Anhui since the first confirmed case of a 29-year-old female in Lu’an City was reported on Thursday.

The new case, a 31-year-old woman, is a colleague of the patient in Feixi.

The two had stayed in the same hotel room since Tuesday.

She received a nucleic acid test on Thursday afternoon as a close contact.

The patient has been transferred to a designated hospital and is in stable condition.

The building in Feixi county that houses the hotel has been classified as a medium-risk area, according to the headquarters.

Some 62,000 people from designated areas in Hefei city have been sampled, with over 41,000 results have come back, all negative.

A total of 167 close contacts of the two cases have been placed under quarantine in Hefei, and epidemiological investigation is underway.

Large gatherings have been suspended in some designated areas in Hefei and some events scheduled for Friday have been canceled, said the headquarters.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic originated in China’s Wuhan city in December 2019, the country has so far reported a total of 90,808 confirmed cases and 4,636 deaths.

Asim Riaz drops debut rap song ‘Back to start’ on Eid

TB Team
-
0
Asim Riaz drops debut rap song ‘Back to start’ on Eid

“Bigg Boss 13” star and model Asim Riaz dropped his debut track as a rapper on the occasion of Eid on Friday. Titled “Back to start”, Asim has written his debut song besides singing it.

Asim says he had the number with him since 2015 and wanted to polish it before putting it out there for listeners.

“We take a look around us and we see that everything is changing and so much of the good change is being embraced. I had ‘Back to start’ with me since 2015 and I wanted to polish it till I was ready to put it out there for the listeners,” he said.

“I’m very pumped that its release. My wish for everybody this Eid is to have the strength to embrace changes and hustle their way forward,” Asim added.

The rap number depicts his days of struggle, right from the start of his career, and is released under Sony Music India.

Pinterest to test livestreaming with 21 creators this month

TB Team
-
0
Pinterest to test livestreaming with 21 creators this month

Social media firm Pinterest is entering the live-streaming business with a virtual event with 21 creators this month.

According to TechCrunch, the virtual event from May 24-25 will be Pinterest’s first streaming creator content event to its more than 475 million global users.

The live streams allow up to five “guests” and an unlimited number of viewers.

“Moderators will help to control the experience. They will also have the ability to remove people from the chat if they do not uphold Pinterest’s Community Standards,” the report mentioned.

Users will be directed to the live event via a new “Live” tab inside the Pinterest app for iOS and Android.

“As a visual platform, people discover billions of ideas on Pinterest every day, and we’re always looking for new ways to help them bring those ideas to life,” David Temple, Pinterest’s head of Creators, was quoted as saying.

Pinterest, whose market value increased more than 600 percent during the pandemic, plans to remain an independent company.

There were reports in February that Microsoft planned to acquire the $51-billion social media firm Pinterest but the talks did not materialize.

Pinterest’s international user base expanded 46 percent to 361 million.

Mixing Covid vax doses safe, can raise side effects: Lancet

TB Team
-
0
Mixing Covid vax doses safe, can raise side effects: Lancet

Mixing Covid-19 vaccine doses — second dose from a different brand than the first — is safe, but may present more frequent mild side-effects such as a headache, chills, or a fever, showed results of a preliminary study published in the Lancet.

The study led by University of Oxford researchers, earlier this year, began to investigate the effect of alternate doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine.

The team examined more than 800 adults aged 50 and over who had received mixed vaccine doses at a four-week interval.

When given at a four-week interval, both of the ‘mixed’ schedules (Pfizer-BioNTech followed by Oxford-AstraZeneca, and Oxford-AstraZeneca followed by Pfizer-BioNTech) induced more frequent reactions following the 2nd, ‘boost’ dose than the standard,’non-mixed schedules.

However, the adverse reactions were short-lived and there were no other safety concerns, the researchers said.

“The results from this study suggest that mixed dose schedules could result in an increase in work absences the day after immunization, and this is important to consider when planning immunization of healthcare workers,” Matthew Snape, Associate Professor in Paediatrics and Vaccinology at the varsity.

“Importantly, there are no safety concerns or signals, and this does not tell us if the immune response will be affected. We hope to report these data in the coming months,” added Snape, who is also the Chief Investigator on the trial.

The data on the vaccines’ efficacy, when administered in this way, is expected to be published in June.

The ongoing study will also assess whether early and regular use of paracetamol reduces the frequency of these reactions.

They also noted that as the study data was recorded in participants aged 50 and above, there is a possibility such reactions may be more prevalent in younger age groups.

1...2,2582,2592,260...4,378Page 2,259 of 4,378