Coronavirus LIVE: Delhi reports lowest daily cases in nearly a month

Coronavirus update: Maharashtra has 1,339,232 coronavirus cases, Andhra Pradesh 675,674, Tamil Nadu 580,000, Karnataka 576,000, and UP 387,000. Stay tuned for coronavirus India LIVE update

12:39 PM

'Teicoplanin' found more effective in treating Covid: IIT Delhi research

Clinically approved drug "Teicoplanin" is a potential therapeutic option against Covid-19 and can be ten times more effective than several drugs being currently used, a research by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi has found.

 

The research by the institute's Kusuma School of Biological Science screened an assemblage of 23 approved drugs, which have shown leads towards being therapeutic options for coronavirus. Read on...

12:38 PM

Coronavirus woes: Australia's Qantas 8 weeks away from running out of money

A Sydney court heard on Monday that Australia's flag carrier Qantas was just eight weeks away from running out of money due to massive losses incurred in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

The airline was taken to the Federal Court by the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, which has challenged the legality of terminating about 450 Qantas and Jetstar maintenance engineers, ABC said in a news report. Read on...

12:37 PM

Senior Congress MLA H K Patil tests positive for coronavirus

Senior Congress MLA in Karnataka H K Patil on Monday said he had tested positive for coronavirus.

 

"I have been tested positive for #Covid19. I am asymptomatic but quarantined myself for 10 days," Patil, a former minister and Congress in-charge of Maharashtra, tweeted this morning.

 

Expressing hope that he would be perfectly alright soon, Patil requested all those who had come in his contact in the last few days to get themselves tested as a precaution.

 

He is the third MLA to have attended the recently concluded Karnataka Assembly session and tested positive for COVID-19.

 

Prior to him, Deputy Chief Minister Govind Karjol and Gandhinagar MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao tested positive for coronavirus among those who had attended the assembly session recently.

12:02 PM

Coronavirus India active case update: The count of active cases across India has increased by 6,238, against a net reduction of 4567 on Saturday

11:54 AM

UN failures on coronavirus underscore the need for reforms

The coronavirus that has claimed nearly 1 million lives has underscored the failure of the United Nations to bring countries together to defeat it, prompting renewed calls to reform the world body so that it can meet challenges far different and more daunting than those it faced at its birth.

 

As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week, The pandemic is a clear test of international cooperation a test we have essentially failed.

 

There is a disconnect between leadership and power, he said, warning that in the 21st century's interconnected world, solidarity is self-interest, and if we fail to grasp that fact, everyone loses.

11:54 AM

Goa DGP tests coronavirus positive

Goa's Director General of Police Mukesh Kumar Meena on Monday tested positive for coronavirus infection, a senior health department official said.

 

Meena is admitted in a private hospital and his condition is stable, he said.

 

"His test report came out positive on Monday morning. He has mild symptoms," the official said.

11:53 AM

FDA approved drug 'Teicoplanin' found more effective in treating coronavirus: IIT Delhi research

Clinically approved drug "Teicoplanin" is a potential therapeutic option against COVID-19 and can be ten times more effective than several drugs being currently used, a research by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi has found.

 

The research by the institute's Kusuma School of Biological Science screened an assemblage of 23 approved drugs, which have shown leads towards being therapeutic options for coronavirus.

 

"While the effect of Teicoplanin was compared with other important drugs in use, Teicoplanin was found to be 10-20 fold more effective than the chief drugs being used against SARS-CoV-2, such as Lopinavir and Hydroxychloroquine in our laboratory conditions," said Ashok Patel, Professor at IIT Delhi.

11:52 AM

UN failures on coronavirus underscore the need for reforms

The coronavirus that has claimed nearly 1 million lives has underscored the failure of the United Nations to bring countries together to defeat it, prompting renewed calls to reform the world body so that it can meet challenges far different and more daunting than those it faced at its birth.

 

As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week, The pandemic is a clear test of international cooperation a test we have essentially failed.

 

There is a disconnect between leadership and power, he said, warning that in the 21st century's interconnected world, solidarity is self-interest, and if we fail to grasp that fact, everyone loses.

11:51 AM

Arunachal Pradesh's coronavirus tally crosses 9,000-mark with 135 new cases

Arunachal Pradesh's coronavirus tally crossed the 9,000-mark on Monday as 135 more people, including 26 security personnel, tested positive for the disease, a health department official said.

 

The fresh infections have taken the northeastern state's caseload to 9,004, he said.

 

Of the new cases, 62 were reported from the Capital Complex region, 18 from Kra Daadi, 13 from West Siang, eight from East Siang, seven from Lower Siang and six from Papumpare, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

 

Four fresh cases were also detected in Kurung Kumey, three in Upper Subansiri, two each in Longding, Tawang, Namsai, Tirap and Anjaw and one each in West Kameng, Changlang, Lower Subansiri and Lohit districts, he said.

11:46 AM

Coronavirus India update: Backwards from here, the last 1 million cases for India have come in just 12 days

11:06 AM

Meerut coronavirus update: Police penalises people who were found to be not wearing masks,

11:02 AM

Loan moratorium: SC adjourns hearing to Oct 5 as govt seeks more time

The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned for October 5 the hearing on the two petitions seeking an extension of the moratorium period on repayment of loans and to waive off the interest on the interest on loan amount in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Solicitor General representing the government told the court that the issues are under active consideration of the Government and a decision is likely to be taken within 2-3 days.

 

The apex court had earlier adjourned the hearing on September 10 directing that all decisions taken by the RBI, the Government of India, or the banks be placed before it for consideration. The court had given time to RBI to file the affidavit. Read on...

11:00 AM

Bangladesh update: 68% lost jobs in Dhaka, Chittagong due to coronavirus

Around 68 per cent of the people who were working in Bangladesh's urban areas of Dhaka and Chittagong have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic, a new World Bank report has revealed.

 

The rate of the job losses was 76 per cent in the capital, while it was 59 per cent in the port city, The Daily Star reported on Monday citing the survey, titled "Losing Livelihoods: The labour market impacts of Covid-19 in Bangladesh", as saying. Read on...

10:58 AM

IISc incubated startup develops indigenous RT-PCR testing kit

Equine Biotech, a startup incubated at the Bengaluru based Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has developed an indigenous RT-PCR diagnostic kit called "GlobalTM diagnostic kit," for accurate and affordable diagnosis of COVID-19.

 

The test kit, based on Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), the gold standard for COVID-19 diagnosis, has been approved for use in authorised COVID-19 diagnostic labs by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The test takes about 1.5 hours to confirm the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in patient samples, according to Utpal Tatu, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, IISc, and founder of Equine Biotech.

 

“Our startup has been working on testing for coronavirus infections for many years, even before the COVID-19 pandemic started. This experience has helped us engineer the kit for COVID-19,” says Tatu.

10:57 AM

Rupee opens 3 paise lower at 73.64 against US dollar