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AstraZeneca vaccine faces resistance in Europe after health workers suffer side-effects

“AstraZeneca caused more side-effects than the Pfizer vaccine,” said Melanie Cotigny, communications manager at Saint-Lo hospital in Normandy.

“Between 10% and 15% of those vaccinated may have side-effects from this vaccination, but it is only a feverish state, fevers, nausea and within 12 hours it goes away.”

EU sues more countries over air pollution, nature and water

If found guilty, Slovakia would join a list of nine EU states that the bloc’s top court has found guilty of illegal air pollution, including Romania, Italy and Sweden. Failure to heed the rules could see those countries face further legal action from the EU to impose financial penalties.

Particulate matter is produced by industry, vehicle emissions and home heating, as well as some agriculture, and is associated with cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer.

Subscriber base of NPS, APY up 22 pc to 4.05 cr at Jan-end 2021: PFRDA

Giving a break-up of the types of subscribers under the National Pension System(NPS), PFRDA said central government employees subscriber base rose 3.74 per cent to 21.61 lakh, while state government employees base increased 7.44 per cent to 50.43 lakh at end-January 2021.

For the ‘all citizen sector’ category, the subscriber base under NPS jumped 31.72 per cent to 14.95 lakh, while for the corporate sector it rose 17.71 per cent to 10.90 lakh.

Covid-19 variant N440K spreading more in southern states”Study

“We now have emerging evidence that N440K is spreading a lot more in southern states. Closer surveillance is needed to understand its spread properly. Accurate and timely detection of new variants that may show greater infectivity or worse clinical symptoms, including immune escape, will be extremely important to preempt disastrous consequences,” said Dr Rakesh Mishra, Director, Cellular and Molecular Biology and corresponding author on the study

India to test travellers from Brazil, South Africa, UK after detecting new virus strains

“All the travellers arriving from/transiting through flights originating in United Kingdom, Europe or the Middle East shall be mandatorily subjected to self-paid confirmatory molecular tests on arrival,” India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement.

All flyers will also have to carry a recent COVID-negative report before boarding any flight to India, except in extraordinary circumstances like death in a family.

How symptoms of new Covid strains different from original one

The UK-based New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) recently reported that the Kent variant may be up to 70 per cent more deadly than previous strains.

Health experts have cited that those who test positive for the variant are more likely to report persistent cough, tiredness, muscle aches, sore throat and fever compared to those who have the original strain.

U.K. points to Political Risk in new Hong Kong business guidance

The UK government updated its guidance Tuesday for the business risk level in Hong Kong to include a warning that a China-drafted national security law imposed last year was “already reducing the extent to which the people of Hong Kong are able to exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms.”

The guidance also lays out recent political changes in Hong Kong, citing “increasing concerns” about freedom of speech and the risk of police action against perceived national security threats.

Uber defends contractors ahead of EU law on gig workers’ rights

The company has been criticized for classifying its drivers as independent contractors rather than employees entitled to rights, such as a minimum wage, paid holidays and rest breaks.Uber has a mixed record in defending its business model. It scored a victory in California in November last year when voters passed a proposition allowing it to treat its drivers as contractors. One of its biggest tests so far will be on Feb. 19 when the UK Supreme Court will rule on workers’ rights.

France to boost cyberdefence after hospital malware attacks

The hospital in Villefranche-sur-Saone, located north of the city of Lyon, said its phone system went down during a cyberattack on Monday that forced a preemptive shutoff of the internet service and other networks to keep the ransomware from spreading.

The hospital also had to postpone surgeries planned for the following day. but said patient safety was preserved. The Dax hospital in southwestern France reported a similar attack last week. Without phones and computers working, health care workers had to use pen and paper for record keeping. The French cybersecurity agency is helping to investigate the attacks.

PM2.5 air pollution claimed 54,000 lives in Delhi last year: study

The study noted that the damage is equally worrying in other Indian cities.

”An estimated 25,000 avoidable deaths in Mumbai in 2020 have been attributed to air pollution. Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Lucknow estimated an approximate 12000, 11000, 11000, and 6700 avoidable deaths respectively due to polluted air,” said Noting that the air pollutant levels in Delhi remained almost six times above the prescribed WHO limits of 10 μg/m3 annual mean, the study said the estimated air pollution-related economic losses were USD 8.1 billion (Rs 58,895 crore), which amounts to 13 percent of Delhi’s annual GDP.

UN: 130 countries haven’t received single Covid-19 vaccine dose

He urged the leading economic members of G20 to establish an emergency task force to bring together “the pharmaceutical companies and key industry and logistics actors”.

“To better understand this pandemic and prepare for the next one, all countries must make available all data from the earliest days of any outbreak. And going forward, all countries should participate in a transparent and robust process for preventing and responding to health emergencies, so the world learns as much as possible as soon as possible.”

Increase in public grievances from 2 lakh to 21 lakh shows people’s trust in govt: Jitendra Singh

It is further sought to develop and enhance the scale and agility of responsiveness of governance mechanisms by using new and emerging digital technologies, create less paper secretariats and provide a meaningful and transparent government to all people, he said.

On these lines, the Centralised Public Grievances Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) 7.0 version has been launched and implemented in 9 ministries and departments by mapping the last mile grievance officers, and reduction in time and improving quality of disposal, the statement said.