Omicron

Scientists have used engineered mice to compare SARS-COV-2 Omicron subvariants and found that the BA.5 strain was more virulent likely due to its ability to rapidly replicate early during infection.
The research, published in the journal Science Advances, addresses a challenge to studying and understanding rapidly evolving variants of concern due to a lack of animal models for running tests that could help explain why variants and subvariants each behave differently in people.
The genetically modified mice, called K18-hACE2, used in the research express a human receptor that allowed SARS-COV-2 to enter otherwise inaccessible mouse cells.
"One of the things we found is that the strain that causes more pathology, BA.5, replicates much faster early on during infection," said Avery August, a professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) at Cornell University in the US.
"By doing that, the virus generates a really strong immune response, which then leads to increased pathology a

Scrub Typhus

Scrub typhus is caused by a bacteria, Orientia Tsutsugamushi, and is an infectious illness. People with severe illness may develop organ failure and bleeding, according to doctors

Nipah virus

The Kerala Health Department issued a health alert after two 'unnatural' deaths because of fever were reported at a private hospital in the Kozhikode district amid rising cases of Nipah virus

virus, labs, coronavirus, bio weapons, research, biological warfare

As various infectious diseases are throwing up unprecedented challenges across the world, the Kerala government has emphasised upon cooperation between its health department and those of the neighbouring states to prevent spread of communicable ailments.
State Health Minister Veena George said it was necessary for the health departments of the bordering states to work in cooperation with each other to prevent spread of infectious diseases effectively.
The minister was speaking at an inter-state meeting of various states inaugurated by her on Monday, a government release said.
At the meeting, George said that health workers in border districts, when required, should coordinate with each other in the areas of data sharing, early warning, preparation of strategic action plans, development of local awareness materials, implementation of containment and quarantine guidelines.
She said that climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and pesticide resistance have all contributed to disease

Novel spray that could prevent COVID-19 infection developed: Researchers

Researchers have created new molecules that can be sprayed into the nose to block the SARS-CoV-2 virus from entering the lungs and causing infection.
The COVID-19 virus enters the body through the lungs when people breathe, resulting in illness.
Engineers at the Johns Hopkins University in the US have now created thin, thread-like strands of molecules called supramolecular filaments capable of blocking the virus in its tracks.
"The idea is that the filaments will work like a sponge to absorb the COVID-19 virus and other viruses before they have the chance to bind to cells in our airways," said Honggang Cui, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering.
"Even if the therapeutic can block the virus for an hour or two, that can be helpful when people must be in a public setting," said Cui, who led the research published in the journal Matter.
The key to this approach is the way that the filaments carry a receptor called angiotensin converting enzyme-2, or ACE

World Health Organisation, WHO

Countries with lower rates of testing, mostly low- and middle-income countries, are more likely to report significantly higher AMR rates

Monkeypox

Monkeypox cases are spreading unchecked in India, and the stigma attached to the disease is likely hindering the testing process in the country, health experts said on Monday.

China Health Workers, Covid-19 pandemic, Coronavirus

Higher transmission rates were associated with lower temperatures and humidity, the report said.

black fungus, infection, coronavirus, covid

What are these infections, why are their cases rising and how does one protect against them?

Black Fungus, Black Fungus patient

Seeking to quell the alarm over rising cases of mucormycosis in Covid patients, epidemiologists underlined the importance of analysing the kind of fungal infection, its causes and risk factors

coronavirus, hospitals, healthcare, doctors, patients, covid-19, health infra

Researchers demand universal recognition that infections can be prevented by improving such systems.

sanitiser, coronavirus

Health ministry has issued general guidelines such as covering your mouth when you sneeze or wearing masks at all times, but there isn't any clear advice on how to deal with basic, household items.

Lockdown4.0, coronavirus testing, Covid-19 testing, medics

The scientists said these drugs should not be used to treat Covid-19 patients outside of clinical trials until results from randomised clinical trials are available to confirm their safety

coronavirus

How well-prepared is the world to contain and hopefully, cure, a new disease? NCoV will be a test case

Scientists, laboratory, labs, science

Scientists say human infection studies could also make the drug or vaccine discovery process efficient by predicting failure faster

Meanwhile, companies like HP and Acer, which do not sell mobile phones in India, are likely to miss out

Apple iPhone

The stock price of GVK Power & Infrastructure was locked in the 5% upper circuit for the eight day, trading at its highest level since September 2018 on the BSE

Sensex, Nifty, stock brokers

The restructuring exercise will be undertaken by Arjun Mohan, who was recently elevated as chief executive officer (CEO) of its India business, replacing Mrinal Mohit, according to the sources

Byju's

His three children - twins Akash and Isha (both 31) and Anant (28 years) - will get only a sitting fee and a commission on the profit earned by the firm

Reliance Industries chairman Mukseh Ambani and Nita Ambani's children, left to right, Akash, Isha and Anant Ambani. PTI: Photo

Isha, Akash and Anant Ambani

To borrow Rs 6.55 trillion in second half

money, cash, rupees

Kamboj recalled that India during the Covid-19 pandemic extended a helping hand by providing made-in-India vaccines to nearly 100 countries and supplying medicines to 150 nations

India's Permanent UN Representative Ruchira Kamboj

As many as 412 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of more than Rs 4.77 lakh crore in August this year, an official report said.
According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above, out of 1,762 projects, 412 reported cost overruns and as many as 830 projects were delayed.
"The total original cost of implementation of the 1,762 projects was Rs 25,01,400.62 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 29,78,681.31 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,77,280.69 crore (19.08 per cent of original cost)," the ministry's latest report for August 2023 said.
According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till August 2023, is Rs 15,57,188.10 crore, which is 52.28 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.
However, it stated that the number of delayed projects decreased to 6

Work on the Purvanchal Expressway in progress. Infra projects, which the previous regime proposed and started, are incomplete for lack of funds,  sloppy pace of work, or allegations of corruption.	Photo: UPEIDA

Esports makes its debut at the Asian Games as a medal sport after being played as a demonstration sport in the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang

Esports at Asian Games 2023: Who are India’s medal hopes at Hangzhou?

The commerce ministry's investigation arm DGTR has "suo-motu" initiated probes against alleged dumping of three products, including unframed glass mirrors and fasteners, by Chinese companies as the authority seeks to guard MSME units against cheap imports from the neighbouring country.
Usually, anti-dumping investigations are initiated based on an application filed by domestic producers, but since the fragmented industries did not have the know-how of the procedures involved in the trade remedy probe, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has undertaken the exercise to investigate the matter on its own initiative.
According to three separate notifications, the DGTR said that it is probing alleged dumping of telescopic channel drawer, unframed glass mirror and fasteners.
The move is aimed at granting much-needed protection to the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) producers against dumped goods from China.
"This is a giant leap forward from DGTR's first suo-motu .

Chinese goods

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have pulled out over Rs 10,000 crore from Indian equities in the first three weeks of September, primarily due to rising US interest rates, recessionary fears, and overvalued domestic stocks.
Before the outflow, FPIs were incessantly buying Indian equities in the last six months from March to August and brought in Rs 1.74 lakh crore during the period.
Mayank Mehra, smallcase, manager and principal partner at Craving Alpha,believes that strong economic growth prospects, attractive valuations, and government reforms could support foreign investment flows in the next month.
"Since valuations remain high even after the recent pullback and US bond yields are attractive (the US 10-year bond yield is around 4.49 per cent) FPIs are likely to press sales so long as this trend persists," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.
According to the data with depositories, in the 15 trading days, so far in September, FPIs

FPIs

International credit agency Moody's Investors Service has made sweeping assertions against Aadhaar without citing any evidence, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said on Monday.
The UIDAI issued a strong rebuttal to Moody's Investors Service which claimed that the Aadhaar system often results in service denials and the reliability of biometric technologies, especially for manual labourers, in hot and humid climates is questionable.
"A certain investor service has, without citing any evidence or basis, made sweeping assertions against Aadhaar, the most trusted digital ID in the world. Over the last decade, over a billion Indians have expressed their trust in Aadhaar by using it to authenticate themselves over 100 billion times," the UIDAI said in a statement.
The unique id Aadhaar's custodian said that the report in question does not cite either primary or secondary data or research in support of the opinions presented in it.
"The investor service did not make any

Adhaar, UIDAI

The Nijjar murder is fast unfolding into treacherous scenarios that could have tragic consequences for both nations. No one stands to gain from the ongoing face-off

India Canada

The leaders of both countries should encourage bilateral trade and people-to-people exchanges that can help build bridges

India's rage is misplaced and hardly serves to endear the country to those appalled by the idea that it may have had a Canadian citizen killed

Canada has updated travel advisory for its citizens in India asking them to "stay vigilant and exercise caution" in the context of recent developments as there are calls for protests and some "negative sentiment" towards Canada on social media.
Tensions flared between India and Canada following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's explosive allegations of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, on his country's soil on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020.
India angrily rejected the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated" and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case.
"In the context of recent developments in Canada and in India, there are calls for protests and some negative sentiment towards Canada on social media. Please remain vigilant and exercise caution," the Canadian government said in an

Aditya Birla Fashion Retail Ltd (ABFRL) has completed the acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in TCNS Clothing to become a promoter of the women's apparel brand.
"The company has acquired 51 per cent of the expanded share capital of TCNS, thereby acquiring control over TCNS," ABFRL said in a late night regulatory filing on Tuesday.
TCNS has become a subsidiary of the company, and will also be a material subsidiary of the company in accordance with SEBI Listing Regulations, it added.
On May 5, Aditya Birla Group firm had announced that it will acquire a majority stake in TCNS Clothing, in a deal worth Rs 1,650 crore.
As per the deal, it acquired TCNS Clothing's founding promoter's stake through an SPA (Share Purchase Agreement), followed by an open offer.
As per SPA, ABFRL acquired a total of 1.41 crore equity shares constituting 22 per cent of the expanded share capital of the company.
"Consequently, post conditional open offer and SPA closing, the company acquired 3.29 crore equi

Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail (ABFRL)

Nataraj clocked 1:49.05 in the men's 200m freestyle heats and finished in 10th place overall, for which he failed to make his place in the final event and stayed as a reserve

Srihari Nataraj among Indian swimmers that make it to the final of the Asian Games 2023. Photo: X

Srihari Nataraj, Asian Games

Google, a Search engine giant on September 27 celebrated its 25th birthday with a doodle 'a walk down memory lane' of various logos from more than two decades

Google Doodle

A woman sustained minor injuries when a local train climbed onto a platform at the Mathura Junction Railway Station, an official said on Wednesday.
The Railways has ordered a high-level inquiry into the matter, he said.
According to the official from Agra division, the electric multiple unit (EMU) train arrived on platform 2A from Shakurbasti at 10.50 pm on Tuesday.
After all the passengers, including the crew, had deboarded, the train rolled down the track and climbed onto a platform before coming to a stop, the official added.
"A woman received an electric shock, and no one else was injured in the incident," Prashashti Srivastava, divisional commercial manager and public relations officer for the Agra division of the North Central Railways said.
Usha Devi (39), hailing from Jhansi, was taken to a hospital and administered first aid. Later, she was sent to Jhansi, she said.
A high-level inquiry would be conducted into the unusual incident, Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, Chief Public

Mathura train, train accident, train

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Wednesday attend an event in Ahmedabad marking the completion of 20 years of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit.
PM Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Gujarat from Tuesday, will also launch projects worth Rs 4,500 crore related to the education sector and address a public gathering in Bodeli town of the tribal-dominated Chhotaudepur district, officials said.
Modi initiated the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit during his tenure as the chief minister of the state in 2003 with the aim of making Gujarat a leader on the global map of industry and trade, a release said.
The Gujarat government is now gearing up for the 10th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, which will be held in Gandhinagar between January 10 and 12 next year on the theme of 'Gateway to the Future', the release said.
In Bodeli, the PM, before addressing a public gathering, will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various projects under the state government's 'Mission ...

human infection studies

Omicron subvariant BA.5 more virulent, study in mice finds

Scrub Typhus: Causes, remedies and how to be safe from this fatal illness

Nipah virus update: Schools, colleges shut in Kozhikode till Sept 17

Cooperation between neighbours vital to prevent spread of disease: Kerala

Novel spray that could prevent COVID-19 infection developed: Researchers

WHO concerned over increasing antibiotic resistance in human infections

Monkeypox spread unchecked in India, stigma hindering testing: Experts

Study finds 'robust' evidence that COVID-19 is seasonal infection

Decoded: Why are black, white and yellow fungal infections on the rise now?

Fungus colour should not lead to panic, look for causes and risks: Experts

Scientists agree Covid is airborne, want overhaul of ventilation systems

An avoiders' expert guide on how to 'live with the novel coronavirus'

Lancet study finds no benefit for hydroxychloroquine in Covid-19 patients

The good side of bad

Scientists to begin evaluating human infection studies in India