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Covid-19 update: With 46,000 fresh cases, India’s tally tops 85.5 lakh

By
Shivani Negi
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India logged in 45,903 fresh cases of covid-19 in last 24-hour which have paused country’s total tally to 85.5 lakh mark. With 490 deaths reported in last 24-hour related to the virus, The total death toll has soared high to 1,26,611.

In the last 24-hour, more than 48,00 people recuperate from the disease to take the recovery rate to 92.6 per cent. As of now, there are around 5 lakh active cases of covid-19 while more than 79 lakh people have recovered from the virus. India’s positivity rate currently stands at 5.5 per cent.

In a grim milestone, Delhi reported record 46,000 cases last as the third wave of covid-19 grapples the city.

Here’re more updates related to the covid-19 pandemic:

*The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday authorized emergency use of Eli Lilly and Co’s experimental Covid-19 antibody treatment

*The Brazilian federal government is in talks with Pfizer Inc in Brazil to buy its experimental COVID-19 vaccine for inclusion in its national vaccination program, a spokesman for the company said on Monday.

*India’s COVID-19 active cases have fallen below 6 per cent of the total cases, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday.

*Brazil on Monday registered 10,917 new cases of coronavirus, totaling 5,590,025, the Health Ministry said. Deaths rose by 231 to 161,106.

*Plan to distribute the experimental COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech is in progress after the companies announced its promising results, but it will not be coming to local pharmacies for the general public any time soon.

*Two more people close to US President Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, media reports said Monday.

*Mumbai reported 599 new COVID-19 cases, 507 recovered cases and 20 deaths on Monday. 

*Only 3,593 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Kerala on Monday, when 32,489 samples were tested

* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tested positive for COVID-19, the president’s office confirmed.

*Russia added 21,798 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, a new record of daily increase, the country’s COVID-19 response center said.

*Experts have said that the worst of covid-19 pandemic is yet to come for United States as it is ill-prepared for the incoming cold season and holidays.

Meanwhile, the overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 50.8 million, while the deaths have surged to 1,262,370, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

Image Courtesy: Google

China’s covid-19 vaccine’s trials halted in Brazil after adverse event

By
Shivani Negi
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The final stage trial of China’s most-anticipated vaccine candidate was halted in Brazil after adverse event was reported, a Bloomberg report said.

China’s covid-19 vaccine candidate, Coronavac, developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd. is Asia’s first vaccine to receive this kind of setback. As per the Brazil Helath Agency, the trails were resumed following an event occured on Octobeer 29. The agency did not speicfy the event which led to the suspension of trials. However, it mentioned that the study to analyze the vaccine should continue.

Brazilian firm Sao Paulo’s Instituto Butantan has partnered with China’s Sinovac to manufacture local vaccine doses. The company in a statement said that it is taken aback by the decision and is currently looking for more details of study.Director Dimas Covas said in a TV interview that one volunteer in the trial has died, however, the death was not linked to vaccine.

It is noteworthy that China has already started vaccinating people after it received emergency use approval.

Last month, China’s science ministry said its companies have vaccinated about 60,000 volunteers in final-stage trials, but no adverse events were reported among any of them.

Serious adverse events while vaccination trials can lead to death, immediate risk of death, long term or serious incapacitation, and hospitalization.

It is not the first time that the covid-19 vaccine trials have been halted. Earlier, AstraZeneca Plc and Johnson & Johnson had also paused their vaccine trials due to serious adverse events, only to re-start them in a short while after investigation.

Meanwhile, Sinovac’s company representative has not responded to the reports of adverse event yet.

Image Courtesy: Google

Donald Trump accuses Pfizer of withholding vaccine announcement to rob him of ‘vaccine win’

By
Shivani Negi
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US President Donald Trump has accused Food and Drug Administration and Pfizer of withholding their covid-19 vaccine candidate before November 3 elections to halt his winning chances.

The US Food and Drug Administration “and the Democrats didn’t want to have me get a Vaccine WIN, prior to the election, so instead it came out five days later – As I’ve said all along!” Trump said in a tweet.

Trump’s tweet came after Pfizer announced that it vaccine has been found 90 per cent effective after it was tested among tens of thousand volunteers, without any adverse effects.

The first set of results from our Phase 3 Covid-19 vaccine trials provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent Covid-19,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla had said in a statement.

Trump alleged, “If Joe Biden were President, you wouldn’t have the Vaccine for another four years, nor would the @US_FDA have ever approved it so quickly. The bureaucracy would have destroyed millions of lives!”

The US president further said that FDA withheld the announcement for politicial reasons, adding that they lacked courage.

“As I have long said, @Pfizer and the others would only announce a Vaccine after the Election, because they didn’t have the courage to do it before. Likewise, the @US_FDA should have announced it earlier, not for political purposes, but for saving lives!” Donald Trump tweeted.

Earlier in September, Trump had assured that a covid-19 vaccine would be availble in October.

“We’re very close to that vaccine as you know and I think much closer than I think most people want to say,” Trump had said while speaking to reporters, according to a report by Reuters. He had also said, “We think we can start sometime in October. So as soon as it’s announced we’ll be able to start. That will be from mid-October on. It may be a little bit later than that,” he had said.

Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden said that while the vaccine gives us hope, it is to understand that the battle against covid-19 is far from over.

“I congratulate the brilliant women and men who helped produce this breakthrough and to give us such cause for hope,” he said. “At the same time, it is also important to understand that the end of the battle against COVID-19 is still months away,” Biden said.

Image Credit: Google

India Italy Virtual summit

By
Neha Kumari
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PM Narendra Modi said during the India-Italy Virtual Summit that research is going on in different countries regarding the corona epidemic. But clearly no one is able to say anything about the nature of this virus. He hopes that the world will come out of this epidemic cycle in the coming times. But first, in Italy, people who lost their lives due to Corona, express their condolences. They understand how much trouble the Italians have faced because of this virus.
PM Modi said that it was good to know that Italy, which had been wrecked by Corona wreaking havoc, handled itself fast. Not only this, the way in which the Italian Prime Minister Gusep Conte kept the entire country tied, is itself excellent. PM Modi said that he hopes that as soon as the situation improves due to Corona, he will be able to welcome Italian MPs to the Parliament of India.

The PM said that it is heartening that after our talks in 2018 there has been a lot of momentum in mutual exchanges. It is clear that the Kovid-19 epidemic will remain a shed like the Second World War. The PM further said that I am confident that our interaction today will strengthen our relations and enhance mutual understanding and help in the identification of new areas of cooperation.

No Corona vaccine for common people?

By
Neha Kumari
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After the ongoing war against Coronavirus for the last 9 months, people are now eagerly waiting for the Corona Vaccine. But for this, common people may have to wait till 2022. According to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director Dr. Randeep Guleria, common people will have to wait for a year for the vaccine.

Because of this, it will take time to reach the general public
Let us tell you that Dr. Randeep Guleria is also a member of the ‘National Task Force’ created for the management of corona virus in India. In an interview given to CNN, he said, ‘Our country has a very high population. But vaccine time is needed. In such a situation, making the limited vaccine available in the market on time would indeed be an ideal situation.

He said, ‘The biggest challenge is to maintain the cold chain, having enough syringes, enough needles and making it easy to reach to the remotest parts of the country.’ At the same time, the second big challenge is to find out the status of the vaccine, which will come out later and may be more effective than the first vaccine. AIIMS director said, ‘So if later on we get a second vaccine and it is more effective than the first one, how do we use it? How do we do course correction? Then how to decide who needs vaccine A and who needs vaccine B? In this way, many important decisions need to be taken.

Bihar assembly elections – counting on 10 November

By
Neha Kumari
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The process of simultaneous counting of all the 243 seats of the assembly is going to take place in entire Bihar on November 10. Apart from the security of counting centers, in order to maintain law and order in all the districts, about 100 battalions of BMP and district forces have been deployed in addition to 74 battalions of central security forces. In addition to all counting centers, the responsibility of protecting strong rooms and sensitive places has also been given to the central security forces.

The trend of counting of Bihar assembly elections will be available every second. According to every Vidhan Sabha, the Election Commission of India has made complete preparations for dissemination of information about counting trends.

The commission has said that the counting of votes will begin at eight o’clock on Tuesday morning. The trend of counting of votes will be given from every counting center. The Commission has also clarified that after every minute, after every round, the trend of votes will be given through the Commission’s website as well as the Voter Helpline app. The commission will issue the trends of votes of every assembly.

Bihar election 2020 – NDA strategies before counting

By
Neha Kumari
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The ruling NDA has started planning its strategy according to the likely circumstances before the results of the Bihar assembly elections are out. Exit poll projections have since indirectly started contacting non-NDA candidates at various levels. These include the leader who has more chances of winning the election.

The leaders of the NDA claim their majority, but if the NDA remains a few seats away from the majority in the results, then there will be an attempt to form a government by manipulating it. There is concern after exit poll estimates, but its leaders believe that the results will not be unilateral. According to media reports, all the possibilities will be searched according to the election results. For this, the party is working at its level.

There is an indication that if the NDA remains a few seats away from the majority, then it can also seek the support of parties outside the Grand Alliance. There is also a possibility that there may be a split in the parties that went with the Grand Alliance. BJP leaders believe that there are many leaders contesting elections from the Grand Alliance, who would not like the government under the leadership of RJD. In such a situation, all possibilities are open and the NDA will also consider everything with an open mind.

NGT bans firecrackers in Delhi-NCR

By
Harshit
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In view of rising pollution levels in the national capital, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has banned the sale and use of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR and in regions with ‘poor’ air quality across the country, till November 30.

The order has allowed the use of green crackers for a limited time period in areas where air quality is moderate or below.

The NGT had earlier sent out notices to 23 states and Union territories, where the quality of air has deteriorated beyond standards.

Bombay High Court Rejects interim bail plea of Arnab Goswami

By
Harshit
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The Bombay High Court has refused to grant interim bail to Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, who was arrested and remanded to 14 days judicial custody on November 4 along with two other accused in the 2018 abetment to suicide case.

Although, the High Court has given Goswami the liberty to approach the Sessions Court for regular bail.

Goswami had filed for a regular bail plea before Alibag Session Court earlier today. The High Court has also rejected the interim bail plea of other two accused.

BCCI grants paternity leave to Virat Kohli

By
Harshit
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The BCCI has granted paternity leave to Indian captain Virat Kohli. Kohli will return home after the first Test match against Australia in Adelaide.

The BCCI included Rohit Sharma in the Test squad, who was earlier not selected for the tour down under. The selection committee also included Sanju Samson in the ODI squad as an additional wicket-keeper.

However, owing to a shoulder injury, Varun Chakraborty has been ruled out of the T20 series.

Big Basket data breach, Details of more than 2 crore users at stake

By
Harshit
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The grocery e-commerce platform Big Basket has faced a potential data breach which could have leaked the details of more than two crore users.

According to the Cyber intelligence firm – Cyble – the hacker has put data allegedly belonging to Big Basket on sale for around Rs 30 lakhs.

Bigbasket, which verified the claims made by cyber experts, has filed a police complaint in this regard with the Cyber Crime Cell in Bengaluru.

Pfizer shot prevents 90% of infections in large study

By
Jyoti B
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The Covid-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE prevented more than 90% of symptomatic infections in a study of tens of thousands of volunteers, the most encouraging scientific advance so far in the battle against the coronavirus.

Their analysis shows a much better performance than most experts had hoped for and brings into view a potential end to a pandemic that has killed more than a million people, battered economies and upended daily life worldwide.

The company says there have been no serious side-effects while the high percentage of those protected makes the findings especially compelling. Regulators have said they would approve a vaccine that has a far lower 50% effectiveness rate – protecting half of those who get it.

The two companies became the first drugmakers to release successful trial data.

“The mRNA-based vaccine candidate demonstrated evidence of efficacy against COVID-19 in participants without prior evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, based on the first interim efficacy analysis conducted on November 8, 2020 by an external, independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) from the Phase 3 clinical study,” the company said in a statement.

The preliminary results pave the way for the companies to seek an emergency-use authorization from regulators if further research shows the shot is also safe.

However, the efficacy of the final vaccine may vary as more results continue to pour in. “The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” said Pfizer chairman and CEO Albert Bourla in a statement.

The current findings are based on an interim analysis conducted after 94 participants contracted the virus and will continue until 164 cases have occurred. If the data holds up, it could mean a milestone for the world, which has been scrambling to find a cure for COVID-19 for nearly a year now.

PM Modi to unveil Swami Vivekananda’s statue on JNU campus

By
Jyoti B
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PM Narendra Modi will unveil a statue of Swami Vivekananda at the Jawaharlal Nehru University through video-conferencing on November 12, as per the statement by JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil (through video-conference) the life-size statue of Swami Vivekananda installed in the university campus on November 12, at 6:30 pm, VC said in an official statement on Sunday.

“Swami Vivekananda is one of the most beloved intellectuals and spiritual leaders India has been fortunate to produce. He enthused the youth with his message of freedom, development, harmony and peace in India.

The statue of Swami Vivekananda has been installed in the university campus with the support of JNU alumni,” he added.

Last year, objectionable messages, mostly directed towards right-wing outfits, were found written on the pedestal of the statue on the JNU campus as protests against hostel feel hike were underway.

The statue is located at the varsity’s administrative block, where students were protesting the increase in hostel fee.

The unveiling of the statue will be preceded by a programme on Swami Vivekananda.

Congress to contest DDC with Gupkar

By
Jyoti B
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People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) president Farooq Abdullah has said that the Congress will contest the upcoming District Development Council (DDC) elections with the Gupkar alliance.

The PAGD — an alliance of seven mainstream parties of Jammu and Kashmir seeking the restoration of the erstwhile state’s special status — announced on Saturday that it would contest the DDC polls unitedly.

“Congress party is still a part of the People’s Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration and we will fight DDC elections together,” Abdullah said.

Political Analyst Majid Hydari and BJP leader Kavindra Gupta debate over Farooq Abdulla’s remark on Congress and Gupkar Alliance.

Abdullah, who was speaking to reporters at Raghunath Bazar in the heart of the city, was asked whether the Congress which was a signatory of the Gupkar declaration has separated from the alliance since it has not attended any of its meetings so far.

“Where have they separated? There should be no misconception. The Congress is part of the alliance and we are fighting the (DDC) elections together,” the National Conference leader replied.

Akshay Kumar stars in CarDekho Gaadi’s new campaign

By
Shivani Negi
-

CarDekho, the auto-tech giant, has come up with a new TVC which features Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar. The TVC focuses on the easy access and use of CarDekho and how it provides customer the best selling option of used cars.


In the advertisement, Akshya plays the role of an entrepreneur who takes help from CarDekho Gaadi App to run his business effectively as well as ensures safety of his staff,

In the ad, it can be seen that Akshay runs an Irani Cafe who has hardly seen any visitors, thanks to the pandemic. His life changes when he decides to sell his car on CarDekho Gaadi app and uses the money to buy delivery scooters instead.

Watch the video here:


Gaurav Mehta, chief marketing officer, CarDekho, said, “The objective of our campaign is to showcase the convenience brought by CarDekho Gaadi in helping people sell their cars from the comfort of their home or any other place. Akshay Kumar is one of the best-known faces of the country’s cinema industry. His hardworking personality fits well with CarDekho’s brand integrity and sincerity.”

“I am delighted to be associated with CarDekho, a brand working aggressively in redefining the entire auto ecosystem and personal mobility space of the country. CarDekho Gaadi is an excellent business aimed to ease the complex used car selling process for the customers,” said Kumar.

The company has also launched a new festive campaign under the title ‘Karo India Forward, Karo Gaadi Forward’ which stars veteran India cricketer Rahul Dravid and Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu.

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