Year: 2020

With the ongoing difficulties due to COVID-19, the automobile sector also not spared , Renault and Nissan has been going through a rough patch for the last three years ,now it has pushed the French and Japanese giant beyond the threshold.   France Minister stated in an interview that the situation of Renault is so bad, that it could disappear, if no help arrives. Renault is yet to comment on this statement made by the French minister. Renault-Nissan are scheduled to announce new brand strategy next week in a press…

As if COVID-19 was not enough, on May 20, Bengal was worst hit by cyclone Amphan that tore through West Bengal leaving a devastating wreck in its wake, structures as the Kolkata airport, too, sustained damages. Photos of a flooded runway, a collapsed hangar, and an airplane damaged under a collapsed roof have emerged on social media, showing the extent of damage the city went through.   All operations at the airport were shut till 5 am on Thursday, 21 May. Only cargo and evacuation flights are operating for now,…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the number of people who have benefited from the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme has crossed the one crore-mark, noting that the initiative has had a positive impact on several lives.   The  governmental beneficiary scheme, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana-Ayushman Bharat launched in September 2018, has become one of the biggest government-sponsored healthcare schemes.   “It would make every Indian proud that the number of Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries has crossed 1 crore. In less than two years, this initiative has had a positive impact on so many lives,” the Prime Minister wrote on Twitter.   He congratulated…

Punithan Genasan, 37 received the sentence on Friday for his role in a drug deal that took place in 2011. It marks the city’s first case where such a ruling has been done remotely.   Human rights groups argued that pursuing the death penalty at a time when the world is being gripped by a pandemic was “abhorrent”. The vast majority of court hearings in Singapore have been adjourned until at least 1 June, when the city’s current lockdown period is due to end.   Cases which have been deemed to be essential are being held remotely. Singapore has…

European countries may be relaxing coronavirus restrictions and reopening their economies, but the pandemic is far from over, a World Health Organization official warned.   Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO’s Regional Director for Europe, urged leaders to prepare for a second, more deadly wave of the infection. The disease has already sickened more than 4.7 million people worldwide and killed at least 315,822, based on data from Johns Hopkins University.   In an exclusive interview with the a news paper, Kluge stressed that even though the number of cases across a…

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan is set to chair as the Chairman of the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board on May 22, officials said.   Vardhan would succeed Dr Hiroki Nakatani of Japan, currently the Chairman of the 34-member WHO Executive Board. The proposal to appoint India’s nominee to the executive board was signed by the 194-nation World Health Assembly on Tuesday, officials said.   Vardhan taking over the post seems to be a formality after the decision that he will be India’s nominee as the WHO’s South-East Asia…

Sniffer dogs in the UK are these days on a  trial to check if they are specially trained airport sniffer dogs that could detect Covid-19 in travellers, even before symptoms appear. Sniffer dogs are already a common sight in airports; but usually, they’re looking out for drugs, weapons or other contraband. Now the specially trained dogs have also been trained to detect infections and diseases, including cancer, malaria and Parkinson’s disease. Professor Steve Lindsay, a public health entomologist at the UK’s Durham University says the first step is collecting human odour samples — both for people who’ve tested positive for Covid-19, and people…

US President Donald Trump threatened to permanently freeze US funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) unless “substantive improvements” were made within the next 30 days.   Washington suspended payments to the WHO in mid-April, accusing it of being too close to Beijing and covering up and mismanaging the coronavirus pandemic.   On Monday, Trump tweeted images of a letter he sent to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, saying the letter was “self-explanatory.”   In the letter, Trump lists what he says are examples of the WHO’s shortcomings in managing…