Category:

Non-Life

Virus that causes Covid-19 can find alternate route to infect cells: Study

Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a single mutation gives SARS-CoV-2 the ability to enter cells through another route – one that does not require ACE2. The ability to use an alternative entry pathway opens up the possibility of evading COVID-19 antibodies or vaccines, but the researchers did not find evidence of such evasion. However, the discovery does show that the virus can change in unexpected ways and find new ways to cause infection. The study is published in the journal Cell Reports.

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Global Covid-19 caseload tops 179.9 mn; deaths surge to more than 3.89 mn

In its latest update on Friday morning, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 179,928,730 and 3,898,531, respectively.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 33,590,360 and 603,149, respectively, according to the CSSE.

In terms of infections, India follows in the second place with 30,082,778 cases.

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Price Charles launches new partnership with global insurance industry to tackle climate change

To support the rapid growth of green projects and innovation, the SMI Insurance Task Force will  develop a framework to help unlock the more than $30 trillion in assets under management, increasingly directing capital towards investments that drive climate-positive outcomes in both developed and developing nations.

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Explainer: Climate change and financial disclosure – what’s at stake?

Global regulators are working towards creating a common set of guidelines for assessing climate-related financial risks.

The Financial Stability Board, an international body that monitors the global financial system, created the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which released in 2017 recommendations on climate risk disclosure.

A network of central banks also released climate-change scenarios and guides for measuring risks, while the U.N. Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) last year published methods insurers can use to disclose climate risks.

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India’s digital database for farmers stirs fears about privacy, exclusion

AgriStack will create “a unified platform for farmers to provide them end to end services across the agriculture food value chain,” authorities have said, amid a broader push to digitise data in India, from land titles to medical records. But the project is being rolled out without consultations with farmers, and with no legal framework to protect their personal data, according to more than 50 farmers’ groups and digital rights organisations that have criticised the proposal.

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India’s airline fleet to contract, fall below 700 on weak demand -CAPA

Indian airlines are expected to induct 69 planes during the year and retire 86 aircraft, some of which could be through repossessions by lessors, CAPA said during a web conference on its outlook for the country’s aviation sector.

Airlines will also be forced to ground 250-300 planes in the first half of the current fiscal year, CAPA estimates, as a surge in COVID-19 infections in the South Asian nation earlier this year roils air travel.

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