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Here is a masonry blog layout with no sidebarOur mantra for 2021 is ‘dawai bhi aur kadaai bhi’: PM Modi
“We started working holistically in the health sector. While we stressed on preventive care, on one hand, we also gave priority to modern treatment facilities,” he added. In the last six years, 31,000 new seats have been added in MBBS and 24,000 new seats have been added in post-graduate courses. India is moving towards wholesome changes in the health sector, the Prime Minister stated.
Experts question U.S. Government’s mechanism to handle COVID-19 vaccine injury claims
Unlike the more established federal vaccine court, which decides cases of injury from most childhood vaccines and other common inoculations, the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program was created by a 2005 law specifically to deal with vaccines developed under emergency authorization. The idea was to allow pharmaceutical companies and government entities the freedom to develop and distribute vaccines to meet urgent public health needs without the threat of being overrun with expensive liability lawsuits. Under the program, drug makers can only be sued for “willful misconduct.”
UK insurer sells price comparison unit to Zoopla in $685 million deal
Under the deal, a unit of ZPG Ltd. will acquire Admiral’s Penguin Portals Group, which operates online platforms that help consumers compare the cost of services such as insurance products, mortgages, energy supplies and Internet connections. ZPG, which was bought by U.S. private-equity firm Silver Lake in 2018, will add brands including Confused.com and Rastreator.com to its existing platforms including Zoopla and Uswitch.
ICICI Lombard launches online business platform for SMEs
Sanjeev Mantri, executive director at ICICI Lombard General said, “The SME segment is relatively more vulnerable to multiple risks and has been significantly impacted by the pandemic. With this one of its kind online platform for business insurance, we are empowering SMEs to avail our business insurance solutions conveniently at any time and from anywhere in a contactless manner.”
UK rolls out Astra/Oxford COVID vaccine after world-first approval
Crucially for countries with relatively basic health infrastructure, the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine can be stored and transported under normal refrigeration, rather than supercooled to -70 degrees Celsius (-94 Fahrenheit).
India is keen to start administering the new shot next month; Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s biggest producer of vaccines, has already made about 50 million doses. Chile is also interested.
India drug regulator meets to discuss AstraZeneca vaccine: sources
Suspension of scheduled international passenger flights extended till Jan 31
Scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. But special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral “air bubble” arrangements with selected countries since July.
India has formed air bubble pacts with 24 countries including the US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan and France. Under an air bubble pact between two countries, special international flights can be operated by their airlines between their territories.
California nurse tests Covid positive week after receiving Pfizer vaccine
Christian Ramers, an infectious disease specialist with Family Health Centers of San Diego, told the ABC News affiliate that this scenario was not unexpected.
“We know from the vaccine clinical trials that it’s going to take about 10 to 14 days for you to start to develop protection from the vaccine,” Ramers said.
“That first dose we think gives you somewhere around 50%, and you need that second dose to get up to 95%,” Ramers added.
Assessing 2020:Air, water pollution disputes kept NGT busy amid coronavirus
New Delhi, Dec 30: Apex environment adjudication body NGT handled disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues relating to air and water pollution through a smooth digital workflow despite the novel coronavirus pandemic this year resulting in a nationwide...
Labour codes to herald new wave of reforms in 2021; job creation likely to be major challenge
during the pandemic, the central government was successful in getting Parliament’s approval for three labour codes on Industrial Relations, Social Security and Occupational Health Safety & Working Conditions (OSH) this year
The Code on Wages was approved by Parliament last year and its rules have been firmed up. But the implementation of the rules for Code on Wages was held back because the government wanted to implement all four labour codes in one go
Assessing 2020:Fight against COVID-19 kept health ministry on its toes
At present, six COVID-19 vaccines are undergoing clinical trials in India.
They are: Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR; Oxford vaccine manufactured by SII under licence from AstraZeneca; ZyCOV-D being developed by Cadila Healthcare Ltd in Ahmedabad in collaboration with the Centre”s Department of Biotechnology; Sputnik V vaccine manufactured by Dr Reddy”s Lab, Hyderabad, in collaboration with Russia”s Gamaleya National Centre; one manufactured by Biological E Ltd, Hyderabad, in collaboration with MIT, US and the sixth developed by Pune-based Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd in collaboration with HDT, US.
Besides, there is NVX-CoV2373, which is being developed by SII in collaboration with Novavax and its phase-3 clinical trial is under consideration with the drug regulator.
Andhra CM credits YSR Rythu Bharosa, Nivar cyclone compensation into farmers’ bank accounts
Under ‘Rytu Bharosa – PM Kisan’ scheme, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has released Rs 1,120 crores as third instalment to 51.59 lakh farmers. The first instalment was released on May 15, 2020 ahead of Khariff season under which Rs 3,713 crores were credited to 49.45 lakh farmer families, while the second instalment of Rs 2,095 crores was released on October 27, 2020 for 50.47 lakh farmer families.
Govt extends 2019-20 ITR filing deadline till Jan 10
The due date for filing income tax return (ITR) by individuals and companies was December 31, 2020, and January 31, 2021, respectively.
Over 4.54 crore ITRs for 2019-20 fiscal (assessment year 2020-21) were filed till December 28. In the comparable period last year, 4.77 crore income tax returns were filed.
Diplomatic headache as China struggles to get nations to trust its vaccines
China has made a global effort to reassure governments and populations about the efficacy and safety of its vaccines. In October, a group of ambassadors and diplomats representing 50 African countries toured a Sinopharm Group Co. facility amid a publicity blitz touting China’s promise to deliver vaccines to Africa. “When the coronavirus vaccine completes research and is put into use, we are willing to prioritize benefiting African countries,” said Liu Jingzhen, chairman of Sinopharm.
Will COVID-19 vaccines work on the new coronavirus variant?
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said data coming from Britain indicates the vaccines still will block the virus. But the U.S. also will do tests to be sure.
Viruses often undergo small changes as they reproduce and move through a population. In fact, the slight modifications are how scientists track the spread of a virus from one place to another.
Delhi airport ‘completely ready’ to handle vaccine distribution challenge
India is relying largely on two domestically made vaccines from Bharat Biotech International Ltd. and the Serum Institute of India Ltd., which has partnered with AstraZeneca Plc to produce at least one billion doses. Ultra-cold storage requirements for Pfizer Inc.’s shot make it an unlikely choice for widespread use given India’s patchy health networks and infrastructure, especially in rural areas where the bulk of the country’s nearly 1.4 billion people live.
Coronavirus brought tourism to its knees in 2020
The tourism sector is one of the largest industries and accounts for 6.23 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and provides employment to 8.78 per cent of the population.
It managed to generate around 275.5 billion dollars in revenue in fiscal 2018 with an annual growth rate at 9.4 per cent.
2021 will witness lot of regulatory efforts channelled towards virtual assets: SBI official
” The use of crowdfunding websites, although not entirely new, create an additional risk as these are specially designed to solicit funding and can be misused for terror financing,” he said.
Varma also noted that crypto currencies and its potential means to finance terrorism is a significant threat especially when is anonymous in nature.