Year: 2020

The US President confirmed about shipping the first tranche of 100 ventilators to India the next week, during a conference call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, confirmed by The White House.   Donald Trump spoke with PM Modi on Tuesday and “the two leaders discussed the G-7 (summit), the Covid-19 response, and regional security issues”, it said.   “The president was happy to announce that the United States would be ready to ship the first tranche of 100 donated ventilators to India next week,” the White House said in readout of the call.   Earlier in the day, PM Modi in a series of tweets said that he had a warm and productive…

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today announced a national townhall on June 25th as part of an ongoing initiative to address inequality of opportunity through education, employment, entrepreneurship, and criminal justice reform.   “The senseless death of George Floyd has called renewed attention to the inequality and injustice in America. We stand in solidarity against racism and advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in our society and economy,” said Suzanne Clark, President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “As a nation, we must address this issue with a robust plan…

China again recorded fatality case in weeks, after Wuhan doctor who worked with whistleblower Li Wenliang died of the virus, on Tuesday, reported state media. Hu Weifeng, a urologist at Wuhan Central Hospital, passed away after being treated for COVID-19 and allied issues for more than four months, state broadcaster said.   He is the sixth doctor from Wuhan Central Hospital to have died from the virus, which emerged in the central Chinese city late last year. Cases have dwindled dramatically from the peak in mid-February as the country appears…

France has affirmed its commitment to deliver the fighter aircraft Rafale to India on time, despite global pandemic. The delivery though had to be postponed by two months because of COVID-19, confirms Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday.   He spoke to his French counterpart Florence Parly, discussing her ‘matters of mutual concern’. In a tweet today, he said, “Had a telephonic conversation with French Minister of Armed Forces, Florence Parly today.”   We discussed matters of mutual concern including COVID-19 situation, regional security and agreed to strengthen the…

As protesters gathered outside the White House on Friday night in Washington DC, US President Donald Trump was briefly taken to the White House underground bunker, as per the report.   Trump was there for less than an hour before being brought upstairs. After hundreds of people surged towards the White House on Friday, Secret Service and the United States Park Police officers sought to block them. It is, however, unclear if Melania Trump and Barron Trump were also taken down with him.     On Sunday, as many as 40…

Funeral of COVID-19 patient turned even more disheartening when at least 18 attendees were tested positive  with the infection after attending the funeral of COVID-19 patients. The incident took place inThane’s Ulhasnagar, said Thane district, a civic official said. Defying prohibitory orders, at least 70 persons had attended the funeral of a 40-year-old woman, who had tested positive for the virus post her death, a spokesperson of the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation said. The woman’s body was handed over to her family with specific instructions to not open the bag, but…

In a joint operation by the Mumbai Police crime branch and Jammu and Kashmir police, a massive spy network from Pakistan was busted in Mumbai, sources from the Mumbai Police said. This was an attempt to gather information about the Indian defence in Ladakh, using illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), reported news agency.   One person has been arrested in Mumbai so far. The probe source is underway to ascertain the identity of the individuals involved in the network and locations of similar exchanges. More arrested are expected in…

Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra MP, Sanjay Raut, in his weekly column in the party mouthpiece Saamna, has blamed the ‘Namaste Trump’ event for the spread of coronavirus in India.   Attacking the Centre for its inefficiency in handling the coronavirus crisis, Raut said that the central government has failed in its battle against corona and now wants to blame the state governments for its failure.   The Sena MP said that the ‘Namaste Trump’ event was the biggest reason for the spread of coronavirus in the state of Gujarat…

After months of coronavirus lockdowns USA is witnessing police cars setting ablaze and mounting reports of injuries on all sides as the country lurched toward another night of unrest. This is the result of tense protests over the death of George Floyd and other police killings of black men grew from New York to Tulsa to Los Angeles. The protests began in Minneapolis following Floyd’s death on last Monday after a police officer pressed a knee on his neck for more than eight minutes, have left parts of the city…

Three Indian companies; Alpha Design Technologies, Bharat Forge and Medha Servo Drives, have got licences from NASA to manufacture its indigenously developed ventilators for critical COVID-19 patients, the space organisation said in a statement.   Apart from these Indian firms, 18 other companies, including eight American and three Brazilian, have been selected to manufacture the critical breathing devices.   Called VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally), the high-pressure ventilator was designed to use one-seventh the parts of a traditional ventilator, relying on parts already available in the supply chains.  …