Author: Dr Anand Mali
Cyclone Tauktae is likely to intensify into a “severe cyclonic storm” within six hours, and may hit the Gujarat coast by Tuesday, the weather office has warned. Over the next 12 hours, Cyclone Tauktae is likely to intensify further into a “very severe cyclonic storm” and is expected to cross the Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Naliya on Tuesday afternoon. This is the first cyclonic storm this year as India fights a deadly second wave of COVID-19, which has led to a surge in the country’s caseload and death count. But have you ever wondered how these cyclones are named?…
Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has compared the COVID-19 vaccination situation in the country to an arranged marriage. Mazumdar-Shaw, the executive chairperson of biotechnology major Biocon, in a lighter vein, compared the two while bringing out the confusion that currently prevails regarding the entire vaccination process. Mazumdar-Shaw, the executive chairperson of biotechnology major Biocon, in a lighter vein compared the two while bringing out the confusion that currently prevails regarding the entire vaccination process. “The vaccine situation in India is like arranged marriage. First u r not ready, then u don’t like any, then u don’t get any!! Those who are…
SoftBank Group Corp CEO Masayoshi Son said on Thursday he is “afraid” of having the Olympics during the COVID-19 pandemic and expressed concern for both Japan and countries sending athletes to the Games in Tokyo. The intervention from one of Japan’s most prominent executives comes as the government has vowed to press ahead with Tokyo 2020 amid rising domestic virus cases and concern over the speed of the vaccination rollout. “I am very much afraid of having the Olympics, not just for Japan but for many countries. They are having a tough situation. I don’t know how they can support…
The Union government has accepted the recommendation for extension of the gap between the first and second doses of Covishield vaccine to 12-16 weeks. The present one is 6-8 weeks. However, no change has been suggested for the dosage interval of Covaxin. Earlier, the Covishied doses were given with a gap of 4-6 weeks and that was based on the data available then with the regulators. With more data becoming available, it was observed in the secondary analysis that if the duration was extended, it is more efficacious. The UK and the WHO also said there should be a lag…
Mark Cuban took to Twitter to share his take on Bitcoin after Elon Musk sent shares of the cryptocurrency plummeting upon his announcement that Tesla would no longer be accepting the coin as a payment option. Cuban, who owns the Dallas Mavericks, said that despite Musk’s opinion, the Mavs would still accept Bitcoin (as well as other crypto coins Ether and Dogecoin) as payment. Mark Cuban said that his Dallas Mavericks will keep accepting crypto as they are better for the environment than gold.Tesla previously announced it would stop bitcoin payments over environmental concerns. The environmental impact of cryptocurrencies is…
Russia’s plan to film a movie in space this year is moving full speed ahead as actress Yulia Peresild and filmmaker Klim Shipenko have been selected to star in and helm the project, respectively. Russia’s Roscosmos space agency has announced the two artists will travel to space October 5. The movie, which has the working title “Challenge,” tells “the story of a female surgeon’s mission to perform an operation on a cosmonaut too ill to return to Earth immediately.” The Russian space agency announced the film project after NASA confirmed last year it was teaming up with US action star Tom Cruise to make…
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring the Goods and Services Tax for COVID-19 vaccines and drugs to zero level. Pending GST compensation and subsidy on rice should be released immediately and adhoc grants-in-aid must be provided as the Centre has not shared with states the revenue from additional levies on fuel, he said in a letter to Modi. Also, Stalin wanted the borrowing limit increased by one more per cent from the current three per cent of Gross State Domestic Product. In the wake of lower economic growth due to…
Elon Musk can shake things up, with just a tweet. You must have seen the recent doge-mania his tweets have created in the crypto space. On May 12, he had a change of heart when he tweeted about Tesla suspending vehicle purchases using the Bitcoin. Musk, one of bitcoin’s most ardent backers, tweeted a graph of bitcoin’s power consumption and said: “Energy usage trend over past few months is insane.” That followed his tweet from Wednesday saying Tesla would no longer accept the cryptocurrency as payment for its electric cars because it came at a great cost to the environment,…
Bollywood Actor Sonu Sood, who has been helping people from various sections of society during the COVID-19 pandemic, said on Monday that he is importing oxygen plants from France and other countries.He is planning to install at least four of the oxygen plants in the worst-hit COVID-19 states of India, including Delhi and Maharashtra. Sonu Sood said in his statement, “We are bringing in oxygen plants for the people in need. We have seen a lot of people suffering because of the unavailability of oxygen cylinders. We have got it now, and are already giving it to people. However, these…
Hyderabad-based pharmaceuticals company, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, entered into a royalty-free, non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with Eli Lilly and Company for the manufacture and commercialisation of the drug, baricitinib, in India. The drug baricitinib has received restricted emergency use approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), Ministry of Health, India, for use in combination with remdesivir for the treatment of suspected or laboratory confirmed Covid-19 in hospitalised adults requiring supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. “This partnership comes at a critical juncture in the fight against the pandemic in India, and adds to the company’s existing…