Covid LIVE: Domestic carriers allowed to operate at 65% passenger capacity

Today's coronavirus numbers: Bengaluru (352 cases), Mumbai 553 cases), Chennai (222 cases), Kolkata (137 cases), Delhi (94 cases). Stay tuned for corona-related news

7:13 PM

India will continue to share resources, expertise with other countries to fight COVID: Foreign Secretary

India will continue to share its resources, experience and expertise with other countries to fight Covid-19 as even in the "darkest days" of the pandemic it did not lose sight of the fact that it lives in a global community, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Monday.

 

He was speaking at the 'CoWIN Global Conclave', where Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered CoWin, India's technological platform for its Covid-19 vaccination drive, to other countries.

 

CoWIN can be adapted for health interventions across the world and India stands ready to make it available to its partners, the foreign secretary said.

 

"India has not, even in the darkest days of the pandemic, lost sight of the fact that we live in a global community. Our highest leadership has never lost sight of the fact that responsible global citizens help each other in difficult times," he said. (PTI)

6:53 PM

Print media revenue to grow 35% in FY22, still lower than pre-Covid levels

Notwithstanding a 35 per cent growth in toplines in FY22 on a lower base, revenues for the print media industry will touch only 75 per cent of the pre-pandemic levels, a report said on Monday.

 

The sector's revenue of Rs 31,000 crore in FY20, split 70:30 between advertisement and subscriptions, had declined 40 per cent last fiscal amid the first wave. The same is expected to reach Rs 24,000-25,000 crore in FY22.

 

Sharp cost rationalisation measures and digitalisation of content will lead to a revival in profitability to 9-10 per cent, ratings agency Crisil said, admitting that the bottomline will grow despite the 20-30 per cent rise in newsprint prices over the last six months. Read here

6:45 PM

CoWIN goes global: India makes tech open source, 142 nations show interest

India is making its digital platform for Covid-19 vaccination drive CoWIN, or the Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network, an open source technology for all countries to access, adapt and use. This is perhaps the first time any nation is making a software platform developed by its public sector initiative open for the world.

 

Speaking at the CoWin Global Conclave Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that software is one area in which there are ‘no resource constraints’. Emphasising the importance of technology in the fight against the pandemic, Modi said that India made its Covid tracking and tracing app Aarogya Setu open source as soon as it was ‘technically feasible’. He pointed out that with nearly 200 million users, the 'Aarogya Setu' app is a readily available package for developers, and has been tested in the real world for speed scale. India has administered over 350 million doses through this platform. Read here

6:37 PM

Moderna's mRNA Covid-19 vaccine expected to reach India this week: Sources

US giant drug maker Moderna's Covid-19 messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine is expected to reach India this week after the completion of some official formalities, informed sources.

 

After getting the vaccines it's going to be distributed among government hospitals of the country.

 

"On behalf of COVAX, Gavi is working closely with the US government and other partners to operationalise dose donations and get doses delivered as quickly as possible so that countries can continue to protect their most at-risk groups. More information on volumes and timelines will follow in due course," said a spokesperson of GAVI Alliance to ANI on delivery of Moderna to India. (ANI)

6:10 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Delhi reports 54 fresh cases; positivity rate dips to 0.09%

6:05 PM

Delta variant shows 8-fold sensitivity to vaccine-driven antibodies: Study

The Delta variant of Covid-19 virus shows eight-fold approximately reduced sensitivity to vaccine elicited antibodies compared to the Wuhan strain, revealed a recent study on the B.1.617.2 Delta variant on over 100 healthcare workers (HCWs) across three centres in Delhi, including Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

 

As per the study, the variant is less sensitive to neutralising antibodies from recovered individuals, with higher replication efficiency as compared to the Alpha variant. The study is available online as a non-peer reviewed preprint version in Research Square, an expanded set of services and tools for expert research assistance. Read here

6:02 PM

ICMR-NICED submits proposal to research oral coronavirus vaccine

Kolkata-based ICMR-NICED has submitted a proposal to the Department of Biotechnology under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology for research on an oral Covid vaccine, a senior official of the institute said on Monday.

 

The proposed research project will be done in collaboration with a German firm and it has been shortlisted for presentation, she said.

 

"We have submitted a proposal for research on an oral vaccine. It will be carried out in collaboration with a German firm. Work can be started once it gets selected and funded," ICMR-NICED Director Shanta Dutta said. Read here

5:45 PM

Recovery tracker: Power generation up, more people get back to office

Weekly indicators of economic activity show increased traction amid declining cases. Power generation is inching closer to double-digit gains over 2019, even as mobility shows signs of rising once again. Other indicators like traffic and emissions also show some signs of recovery, though more in some parts of the country than others. Read here

5:41 PM

Sikkim reports 95 new cases, one more fatality

Sikkim reported 95 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, pushing the caseload to 21,226, a health department bulletin said on Monday.

 

South Sikkim registered 47 new cases, followed by East Sikkim (30) and West Sikkim (18).

 

The Himalayan state reported one more Covid-19 death in the past 24 hours, taking the toll to 309. (PTI)

5:15 PM

Bihar government eases coronavirus curbs; colleges, gyms to reopen

The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar on Monday allowed reopening of colleges, universities and senior sections in schools, besides easing several other curbs that are in place as part of the Covid-induced lockdown clamped on the state two months ago.

 

The announcement to the effect was made by the chief minister on his Twitter handle after he chaired a meeting of the high-powered crisis management group which reviewed the Covid-19 situation in the state. Read here

5:11 PM

Tata Steel initiatives reach 1 mn beneficiaries: Chairman

To combat Covid-19 pandemic, initiatives by Tata Steel including supplying 61,000 tonnes of liquid oxygen from its installations to states for setting up 1,600 hospital beds for treatment of infected has benefitted about one million people, Chairman N Chandrasekaran has said.

 

Those gaining from the efforts were not only the employees and their families but also the community members in and around our operating locations, he said.

 

"The past 18 months have been challenging for all of us in many ways. We have seen unprecedented times due to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic across the world and it has not yet abetted with multiple variants of the virus still a threat to human lives. (PTI)

4:53 PM

Sri Lanka receives first batch of US-made Pfizer vaccine

Sri Lanka on Monday received the first batch of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, becoming the first country in South Asia to get the US made Covid-19 jab.

 

Officials say 26,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine directly purchased by the Sri Lankan government was flown into the country on Monday.

 

Health authorities say that Sri Lanka had signed agreements to purchase five million doses of Pfizer vaccine this year. The country is expected to receive about 200,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine this month. (PTI)

4:41 PM

Singapore border reopening vital to economy but govt mindful of another wave: Minister

Reopening Singapore's borders is vital to the country's economic recovery, but doing so prematurely could result in another wave of Covid-19 infections, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said in Parliament on Monday.

 

The priority, therefore, is to speed up vaccinations, he said.

 

"There has been feedbacks from the business and investment community that Singapore might lose out to other hubs that are moving more aggressively to reopen their borders," the Channel News Asia quoted Wong as saying. (PTI)

4:29 PM

Israel sees steep drop in Pfizer vaccine efficacy rate: Report

Israel has recorded a steep drop in the efficacy rate of the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE in preventing coronavirus infections, due to the spread of the delta variant and the easing of government restrictions, Ynet news website reported, citing Health Ministry data. Read here

4:02 PM

Over 20 mn Covid vaccine doses still available with states, pvt hospitals

More than 2.01 crore balance and unutilised Covid-19 vaccine doses are still available with states, UTs and private hospitals to be administered, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

 

Over 36.97 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states and UTs so far through all sources. Of this, the total consumption including wastage is 34,95,74,408 doses, the ministry said.

 

The Centre is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of Covid-19 vaccination throughout the country. The new phase of universalisation of Covid-19 vaccination commenced from June 21. Read here