News updates: In race for monkeypox vaccines, experts see repeat of Covid
Live news updates: Critics fear a repeat of the catastrophic inequity problems seen during the coronavirus pandemic
 "Monkeypox")
While rich countries have ordered millions of vaccines to stop monkeypox within their borders, none have announced plans to share doses with Africa. | (Illustration: Reuters)
BJP showing arrogance of power, common man has capacity to teach it a lesson, says Pawar
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party was displaying the arrogance of power just because of its majority in Parliament and its days could be numbered if the common man united against it.
Addressing party workers in Dhule, some 325 kilometres from here, Pawar said there was a legend about the sun never setting on the British Empire, but it collapsed when the common man united.
Congress demands CBI probe into Co-op bank fraud
Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan on Saturday wrote to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan demanding a CBI probe into the Karuvannur Cooperative bank fraud in Kerala's Thrissur.
This cooperative bank is controlled by the CPI-M and reports now allege that those who had good connections in the party were able to get back their deposits, while a majority of the hapless depositors are running from pillar to post to get back their money.
Chinese military should be headed by 'reliable people' loyal to Communist Party: Xi
China is facing mounting instability and uncertainty in the national security situation, President Xi Jinping has warned, asserting that the Chinese military should be led by "reliable people" loyal to the ruling Communist Party to ensure its "absolute leadership" over the world's largest armed forces.
Speaking at a study session on Thursday on further implementing the strategy of strengthening the military by training competent personnel in the new era, Xi greeted the service personnel before the 95th anniversary of the founding of the PLA, which falls on August 1.
The two-million-strong People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the largest military in the world.
Don't agree with Governor's remarks on Mumbai as Marathi people contributed to its growth: Maha CM
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said he does not agree with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's remarks on Mumbai, and asserted that the contribution made by Marathi people to the growth of the city can never be disregarded.
He also said that the governor occupies a constitutional post and he should be careful about not offending anyone through his statements.
Koshyari, while speaking during an event here on Friday evening, had said there will be no money left in Mumbai and it will cease to be the financial capital of the country if Gujarati and Rajasthani people are not there in the city. As his remarks kicked up a row, the governor on Saturday said his comments were misconstrued and added that he had "no intention of belittling the hard work of Marathi-speaking people".
Talking to reporters in Malegaon in Nashik district, Shinde said, "We don't agree with Koshyari's view (on Mumbai). It's his personal view. He has now issued a clarification. He occupies a constitutional post and should take care that his actions are not insulting to others."
PM Modi urges states to clear dues of power sector companies; launches 2 green hydrogen plants
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asked the state governments to clear power sector companies' dues which are estimated at around Rs 2.5 lakh crore.
The Prime Minister regretted that the state governments are yet to clear subsidy commitments amounting to Rs 75,000 crore to power companies.
About Rs 2.5 lakh crore of companies engaged in electricity generation and distribution are stuck, he said while speaking at the closing function of the 'Ujjwal Bharat Ujjwal Bhavishya Power @2047' event.
Recalling the days of power shortages, the Prime Minister said that during the last eight years, about 1,70,000 MW of electricity generation capacity has been added. Power is necessary for the development of the nation, he said, adding the country needs "Rashtraneeti' and not 'Rajneeti".
Musk slams Wikipedia, says it's 'losing objectivity'
After the online encyclopedia platform Wikipedia suspended the editing of the "recession" page, tech billionaire Elon Musk slammed co-founder Jimmy Wales and said the platform is "losing its objectivity".
While replying to a user on Twitter, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO showed his displeasure after the online encyclopedia blocked users from editing its "recession" page.
"Wikipedia is losing its objectivity @jimmy_wales," Musk wrote on the microblogging site late Friday.
According to The New York Post, Wikipedia blocked users from revising its "recession" page after visitors to the site engaged in a frantic editing war over the definition of the term, which is being disputed by the Biden administration following the latest economic data showing a drop in GDP.
Spain confirms first monkeypox death
The Spanish Health Ministry has confirmed the first death from monkeypox in the country.
The news came less than a week after the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a global health emergency, reporters Xinhua news agency.
Until now, 4,298 cases of the virus have been confirmed in Spain, and 120 people were admitted to hospital for treatment, according to data collected by the National Epidemiological Surveillance Network (RENAVE).
Of the total, only 64 were women.
India's first monkeypox patient recovers
A Kerala man, who was India's first monkeypox patient and was being treated at the Government Medical College here, has recovered from the disease, state Health Minister Veena George said on Saturday.
The 35-year old, hailing from Kollam, would be discharged later in the day, she said.
As it was the first case of monkeypox in the country, tests were conducted twice at an interval of 72 hours as per the instructions of the National Institute of Virology (NIV), she said.
"All samples were negative twice. The patient is physically and mentally healthy. The skin bumps are completely cured. He will be discharged today," George said.
The minister also said the test results of his family members, who were in the primary contact list with him, are also negative.
Chinese authorities forcibly moving Tibetans to Indian border to bolster control
The Chinese government has announced plans to relocate over 100,000 Tibetans from their homes by 2030, aiming to end their traditional way of life and bolster its control over border areas including with India.
This is part of China's strategy of aggressively constructing new villages in disputed border areas to extend or consolidate its control over these areas that India, Bhutan and Nepal maintain to be within their national territories, the Tibet Press reported.
As per a recent report in Hong Kong-based publication quoting Chinese government document, China intends to build 624 border villages in disputed Himalayan areas.
In race for monkeypox vaccines, experts see repeat of COVID
Moves by rich countries to buy large quantities of monkeypox vaccine, while declining to share doses with Africa, could leave millions of people unprotected against a more dangerous version of the disease and risk continued spillovers of the virus into humans, public health officials are warning.
Critics fear a repeat of the catastrophic inequity problems seen during the coronavirus pandemic.
The mistakes we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic are already being repeated, said Dr. Boghuma Kabisen Titanji, an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University.
While rich countries have ordered millions of vaccines to stop monkeypox within their borders, none have announced plans to share doses with Africa, where a more lethal form of monkeypox is spreading than in the West.
To date, there have been more than 21,000 monkeypox cases reported in nearly 80 countries since May, with about 75 suspected deaths in Africa, mostly in Nigeria and Congo. On Friday, Brazil and Spain reported deaths linked to monkeypox, the first reported outside Africa.
BA.5 sub-variant makes up over 80% new Covid cases in US
The BA.5 Omicron sub-variant, now the dominant coronavirus strain in the US, accounts for over 80 per cent of the new cases in the country, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The sub-variant accounted for 81.9 per cent of the new infections in the week ending July 23, Xinhua news agency quoted the CDC as saying.
Another new sub-variant, BA.4, accounted for 12.9 per cent of new infections, CDC data showed.
50 per cent work on second tunnel of Mumbai Coastal Road completed, says BMC
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has completed 50 per cent work on the second tunnel of the Coastal Road project between Girgaum Chowpatty and Priyadarshini Park, an official said on Saturday.
In a release issued on Friday, the civic body said work on the 1,000 metre stretch of the second tunnel of the Coastal Road has been completed.
The excavation work for the 2 km-long second tunnel with a diameter of 12.49 metre began on January 11 this year.
Sri Lanka's inflation surges over 60 per cent in July
Sri Lanka's inflation surged to 60.8 per cent in July, up from 54.6 per cent in June, the crisis-hit country's statistics department said on Saturday, as food and fuel remained scarce amid depleted foreign exchange reserves.
The year-on-year inflation based on the Colombo Consumer Price Index was 60.8 per cent in July, the Department of Census and Statistics said in a statement.
In June it was 54.6 per cent.
The year-on-year food inflation in July is 90.9 up from 80.1 per cent in June.
Yasin Malik back in Tihar, still on hunger strike
Chess Olympiad: Media covering event faces FIDE restrictions
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First Published: Jul 30 2022 | 7:04 AM IST
