Heena Sharma Blog

  Amid the sudden spike in novel coronavirus infections in Delhi, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Monday that the Kejriwal government was doing "aggressive testing" and the aim was to ensure no case was left untraced. Jain said the government had sufficient stock of COVID-19 testing kits for 10-15 days, but it was procuring more from the market to meet the target of 40,000 tests per day. The government has already increased the duration of testing hours at hospitals and dispensaries to five hours (9 am-2 am) from the earlier three-hour duration, he told reporters. Jain flagged that many people were going out without wearing masks and asserted that teams had been deployed penalise such violators of public safety norms, adding that the police had also been authoritised to impose fines. Read More                              ...

  In Punjab, the age group 0-50 accounts for 73.7 per cent of the total state case load. The mortality rate among those infected in this age group, however, is 26.8 per cent. The age group 51-90 accounts for 26.3 per cent of infections but has a mortality rate of 72.4 per cent. Comorbidities, experts say, are the major reason driving the high fatality rate among the elderly. Till August 28, about 17 per cent of infections were noted in the age group 41-50, some 15 per cent for those aged 51-60, around eight per cent for the 61-70 group and only three per cent for 71-80. An official further noted that diabetes is emerging as major problem in Punjab because of the state’s ‘rich diet and sedentary lifestyle’. This, he says, needs to be curbed along with following precautions like wearing face masks and maintaining social distance. Karnataka has seen over 40 legislators, across party lines, test positive for Covid-19 so far. Epidemiologists have now warned that those in public life ...

  The launch of next batch of satellites of SpaceX's Starlink project was postponed on Saturday due to inclement weather during pre-flight operations. According to SpaceX , the next launch could take place on Tuesday, September 1 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. "Standing down from today's launch of Starlink due to inclement weather during pre-flight operations. Next launch opportunity is Tuesday, September 1 at 9:29 a.m. EDT, pending Range acceptance," SpaceX tweeted. Starlink is the next-generation satellite network capable of providing Earth's inhabitants with broadband internet access, Sputnik reported. The project's implementation began in February 2018. In total, it plans to launch about 12,000 satellites. Read More  

  Around 43 per cent of the total coronavirus cases in India have been recorded from just three states, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the Union health ministry said on Monday. It asserted that the Centre is regularly engaging with the states and Union Territories that are reporting a spurt in cases and those with a higher fatality rate. Such states and Union Territories have been advised to undertake aggressive measures to ensure higher testing, effective clinical management to lower fatality and save lives along with efficient monitoring at various levels, the health ministry said. "India has registered 78,512 cases in the last 24 hours (August 30). Hence the report by certain media entities of about 80,000 cases in the last 24 hours is without any basis," it said. Read More  

  Schools, colleges and coaching classes will remain closed for students and regular teaching activities till September 30, according to ' Unlock-4 ' guidelines issued by the Rajasthan government for activities outside COVID-19 containment zones. Fifty per cent of teaching and non-teaching staff can be called to school for online teaching and related works from September 21 and for this, guidelines will be issued by the Union health ministry, the guidelines said. Students from Class 9 to 12 have been permitted to visit schools in areas outside containment zones for taking guidance from teachers after September 21, the state government guidelines stated. However, no relaxation will be given in containment zones, they said. Under 'Unlock-4', cinema halls, entertainment parks and swimming pools will remain closed. Open air theatres will be allowed to open from September 21, the guidelines said. Read More

  In a stringent punishment, the Maharashtra government has dismissed one suspended cop and slapped compulsory retirement on two others in a fallout of the April 16 Palghar lynching case which claimed the lives of two sadhus and their driver, an official said here on Monday. "Following a departmental enquiry, Assistant Sub-Inspector Anandrao Kale has been served with dismissal orders while his colleagues, API Ravi Salunkhe and Constable Naresh Dhodi, have been compulsorily retired, all with immediate effect," Palghar Police Spokesperson Sachin Navadkar told IANS. The dismissal and retirement orders were issued late on Saturday by Konkan Range Inspector-General of Police Niket Kaushik in the matter. In a major reshuffle after the incident, in April-May, two policemen Sudhir Katare and Santosh Mukne were suspended by the then Palghar Superintendent of Police Gaurav Singh while another 35 police personnel of Kasa Police Station were transferred to other parts of the distr...

  The civic limits of Kalyan and Navi Mumbai have over 3,000 active cases of coronavirus , while Thane city is nearing 2,000 active cases, district authorities said on Friday. According to an official report, with an addition of 1,172 new cases on Thursday, the COVID-19 tally in Thane district has now reached 1,18,911. Moreover, 37 latest casualties in the district, including 10 from Kalyan alone, have raised the toll to 3,423, the report stated. Most COVID-19 cases have been reported from Kalyan, Thane and Navi Mumbai areas that have so far recorded 27,684, 25,076 and 24,585 cases respectively, an official said. The recovery rate in the district stood at 86.75 per cent, while the mortality was at 2.88 per cent, he said. Read More

  A record single-day spike of77,266 COVID-19 cases pushed India's virus tally to 33,87,500, while the recoveries surged to 25,83,948 on Friday,according to the Union Health Ministry data. Thedeath toll climbed to61,529 with 1,057 people succumbing to the diseases in a span of24 hours,the data updated at 8 am showed. The recovery rate was recorded at 76.28 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate has further declined to 1.82 per cent. There are 7,42,023 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 21.90per cent of the total caseload, the data stated. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 and went past 30 lakh on August 23. According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 3,94,77,848 samples have been tested up to August 27 with 9,01,338 samples being tested on Thursday. Read More                 

  German luxury carmaker Audi on Thursday launched its latest SUV, Audi RS Q8 , in India with price starting at Rs 2.07 crore. The Audi RS Q8 is powered by a turbo 4-litre petrol engine delivering power of 600hp that can accelerate from 0 to 100 kph under four seconds. It combines the elegance of a premium coupe and the ability of an SUV, Audi India said in a statement. Commenting on the launch, Audi India head Balbir Singh Dhillon said, "it's an all-in-one model that is at home in the rough as it is on the racetrack... We are confident that the Audi RS Q8 will have a magnetic pull for luxury sports cars aficionados." The model has a mild-hybrid system (MHEV) with a 48-volt main on-board electrical system. It also features cylinder on demand (COD) technology that turns off cylinders when power needed is lesser to save fuel. The car has a standard eight-speed gearbox. Read More  

  Sushant Singh Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty on Friday appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for questioning after being summoned in the Bollywood actor's death case. Rhea arrived at the DRDO guesthouse here, where the CBI's Special Investigation Team started her grilling. This is for the first time that Rhea was being questioned by the federal agency, after it took over the case on August 6. Besides Rhea, her brother Showik, Sushant's flatmate Siddharth Pithani, house manager Samuel Miranda, personal staff Neeraj Singh have also been questioned. The CBI will be asking her about her relationship with Sushant; how he was behaving during the Europe trip last year; the alleged drug angle and the financial transactions from his account. Read More       

  The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday launched the second round of serological survey to ascertain the immune strength of people against COVID-19 as the Odisha capital is witnessing a rise in coronavirus cases this month. Five teams will collect 1,500 samples from various locations in the city, an official said. "The current exercise will provide an indication of the community exposure level which was found to be very low during the first round of the serological survey," he said. The Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) is providing technical support to the BMC to carry out the two- day survey in the city. "In the first round of the survey, 900 samples were collected. Though the immunity level is relatively low across the communities of the temple city, the large scale transmission has probably not occurred in the state capital," Dr Jayasingh Kshatri, a scientist working at the RMRC, said. Read More

  Petrol price has maintained its rise with the fuel price increasing again on Friday, while diesel is holding on to its price line that it has maintained since July 30. In the international market, crude price has also remained firm with benchmark Brent crude hovering close to $ 46 a barrel. State-owned oil marketing companies on Friday increased the price of petrol by 11 paisa per litre in Delhi while 10 paisa per litre in Mumbai and Kolkata and by nine paisa per litre in Chennai. According to IndianOil website, petrol prices in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai increased to Rs 81.94, Rs 83.43, Rs 88.58, Rs 84.91 per litre respectively. However, diesel prices are holding steady in these metros at Rs 73.56, Rs 77.06, Rs 80.11 and Rs 78.86 per litre. Petrol prices have now risen in 11 of the last 13 days and in the national capital it is now expensive by Rs 1.51 per litre during the period. Read More             ...

The number of COVID-19 cases in Thane rose to 1,17,739 on Thursday after 1,326 more people tested positive for the disease in the Maharashtra district, officials said. The district also reported 38 deaths on Wednesday, taking the total number of fatalities to 3,386, they said. Thane city is close to the 25,000-mark as it has so far reported 24,906 COVID-19 cases , an official here said. Kalyan town in the district has so far reported the highest number of 27,412 cases, accounting for 23 per cent of the total cases in the district, he said. The Thane city and Navi Mumbai township each account for 21 per cent of the total cases in the district. As of now, there are 12,249 active cases in the district while 1,02,104 patients have recovered from the viral infection, the official said. Read More        

  Three more volunteers were administered the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate at a medical college in Pune on Thursday as part of the phase II clinical trial of the medicine, a senior doctor from the medical facility said. Earlier, two volunteers, aged 32 and 48, were given a shot of the 'Covishied vaccine, being manufactured by the city-based Serum Institute of India (SII), on Wednesday when the phase II clinical trial of the medicine began at Bharti Vidyapeeth's Medical College and Hospital here. "On Thursday afternoon, three more volunteers - two females and a male - were administered the vaccine candidate after their reports of RT-PCR test for COVID-19 and antibody test came negative," said Dr Sunita Palkar, in-charge of the research cell at the medical college. Read More                 

  Lifestyle accessories maker Fossil on Thursday announced to roll out a software update for its Fossil Gen5 smartwatch. The update is touted to improve user experience by bringing new utility tools, updated health tracker and battery optimisation features. The software update is now available for the company's Gen5 (review) smartwatch in India. Here are the new features that comes with the update: Optimised activity tracker The update brings new ‘Welness App’, which monitors health and fitness related metrics in real time and optimises battery life by shifting power consumption off the main processor. It tracks the essential health readouts like heart rate, pace, distance, steps, calories and more. Sleep tracking The is a new addition. The sleep tracking feature track sleep history, monitor restfulness and lets you set sleep goals. As for the battery optimisations, the Gen 5 supports quickly charge and features multiple battery profiles for varied usage conditions. Read ...

  Sony has opened invite-only online registration for customers to be one of the first to pre-order the upcoming PlayStation 5 console directly from the company. According to the company, there will be a "limited quantity of PS5 consoles available for pre-order" this holiday season.   The invitation programme is a chance for existing PlayStation customers to get their shot at being able to order the upcoming console. "There will be a limited quantity of PS5 consoles available for pre-order, so we will be inviting some of our existing consumers to be one of the first to pre-order one from PlayStation," the company said in a statement on Wednesday. Read More               

  Chinese smartphone maker OPPO is gearing up to launch the OPPO F17 series in India on September 2. Successor to the OPPO F15 series, the OPPO F17 series will come in two models, the OPPO F17 Pro and its vanilla edition the OPPO F17 . The smartphones will launch through an online event, which will livestream on company’s social media channels and YouTube. The livestream will start at 7 pm (IST). With regard to changes, the OPPO F17 Pro and the OPPO F17 are set to bring several improvements over the predecessors. However, design seems to be one of the areas where the phones improve by leaps and bounds. According to the OPPO F17 Pro listing page on the company’s official portal, the Pro edition will measure 7.48 mm thick and touted to be the slimmest smartphone of 2020. Read More               

  Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi on Thursday launched in India the Redmi 9 smartphone . Second in the Redmi 9 series , the smartphone will be available in Carbon Black, Sporty Orange, Sky Blue colours at Xiaomi online portal, Amazon India, Mi Homes and Mi Studios from August 31. The phone will be available in 64GB and 128GB internal storage variants, both with 4GB RAM, priced at Rs 8,999 and Rs 9,999. “With each Redmi device, we are moving closer to making sure technology is available for everyone. The Redmi 8 series has shipped nearly 25 million units globally, which is a testimony to the trust that our consumers have shown in us. With Redmi 9 we want to build upon the legacy of the number series,” said Sneha Tainwala, Redmi India Lead. Read More

  N95 masks may be the most effective at reducing the spread of the novel coronavirus, according a study by researchers, including those from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which suggests that any mask is better than no mask at preventing COVID-19 . The researchers noted that airborne transmission by respiratory aerosol droplets produced during coughing and sneezing is the dominant mode of spreading for infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Padmanabha Prasanna Simha, from ISRO, and Prasanna Simha Mohan Rao, from the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research in Karnataka, experimentally visualised the flow fields of coughs under various common mouth covering scenarios. The, study published in the journal Physics of Fluids, found N95 masks to be the most effective at reducing the horizontal spread of a cough. Read More  

  Wearables brand Fitbit has introduced an advanced smartwatch called the Fitbit Sense, which comes with electrodermal activity (EDA) to measure daily stress and comes with a heart rate tracker, electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor and skin temperature sensors. The company also introduced Versa 3 and Inspire 2 wearables. All three wearables will be available globally starting late September and will arrive in India in the festive season, according to the company. Fitbit Sense is priced at Rs 34,999 while the Fitbit Versa will cost Rs 26,499. The Fitbit Inspire 2 fitness band is priced at Rs 10,999. "Our new products and services are our most innovative yet, coupling our most advanced sensor technology and algorithms to unlock more information about our bodies and our health so you can be in control," said James Park, co-founder and CEO, Fitbit. Read More

  The global count of coronavirus cases has now reached 23.8 million, expected to cross 24 million soon. Of this, roughly 27 per cent of cases, or over 6.6 million, are currently active. The global death toll stands at 817,000 plus, with the US having the highest number of fatalities. India’s confirmed case tally is over 3.1 million now, with 22.2 per cent cases still active. Recovery rate has now risen to over 75 per cent, with over 2.4 million successfully cured. India's mortality rate stands at 1.84 per cent, with 58,390 deaths till now. In a positive trend, India witnessed its highest drop in active cases in a single day, a fall of 6,423 cases. However, in over two months, daily active cases have been in the negative just four times, of which one instance was of quite negligible consequence, with the gap between new cases and new recoveries at just 54 cases. Read More

  Taiwanese electronics maker Asus is set to unveil its Zenfone 7 series smartphones on Wednesday at 11:30 am (IST) in its home country. The series is expected to bring at least two smartphones; a pro model and its vanilla edition. Successor to the Zenfone 6 (Asuz 6z review), the phones are expected to bring seasonal upgrades with regard to design, display, imaging, performance and battery. Asus Zenfone 7 series specifications (expected) Asus has not officially confirmed anything related to the Zenfone 7 series but the smartphones’ launch teasers reveal some information regarding its design and expected features. Based on teasers, it is safe to say that the phones would look similar to yesteryear Zenfone offering with flip camera module and distraction free display. As for the changes, the camera module shows triple array set-up, which might be similar to the ROG Phone 3 (review). Read More                ...

  Riding on the success of its Galaxy M series , Samsung is set to launch a mid-premium smartphone with an industry-first 7,000mAh battery. Touted to be the Galaxy M51 , the smartphone is expected to be priced between Rs 25,000 - Rs 30,000 and it will be launched in the second week of September. The Galaxy M51 is tipped to come with Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G octa-core processor, which will make it the most powerful 'M' series device in India, sources told IANS. Over the last two years, the Galaxy M series has been known for large batteries but Galaxy M51 is set to take that to a new level. Galaxy M series has become immensely popular in India in a short span of time, helping Samsung increase its market share in the highly competitive online segment. Read More

  Sony has launched its Bravia X9000H series 4K LED TVs in India. The series include 65-inch and 55-inch screen models priced at Rs 1,59,990 and Rs 1,09,990, respectively. Both the TVs will be available across online portals and Sony retail stores. The TVs boast full-array LED backlighting, HDR, Android TV platform, Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support. Interestingly, the TVs are designed for upcoming PlayStation 5 and are touted to run games at up to 4K resolution with 120 frames per second (fps). The premium 65-inch model also supports Acoustic Multi-Audio feature for improved acoustics. In terms of design, the Sony Bravia X9000H series TVs get premium treatment with aluminium frame and metal stand. Though based on LCD panel, the TVs use full-array LED backlighting to light up the pixels, instead of conventional corner-lit panels. Therefore, one can expect improved contrast and brightness compared to other LED screen based smart TVs. Both the TVs feature 4K UHD resolution scre...

  Rescuers sifting through the rubble of a five-storeyed building in Maharashtra's Raigad district on Tuesday found a four-year-old boy alive and his mother dead beneath the debris, police said. Death toll in the collapse reached 10 with recovery of nine bodies from the rubble on Tuesday, police said. A man died of cardiac arrest on Monday night after he was hit by a stone from the falling building , police said. The dead - five men and five women - include two teenagers, police said. So far eight persons have been rescued, while around 10 persons are still missing after the Tareq Garden building in Mahad town, around 170 km from Mumbai, came down like a pack of cards on Monday evening, an official said. Read More               

  Due to the increase in the number of tests in the country, the positive rate of the virus has reduced, Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday. Addressing a press conference he said, "The positive rate of Covid-19 has decreased due to the increase in the number of tests. In the last 24 hours, 60 thousand 975 new cases of the corona were reported in the country. 848 people died. 66 thousand 550 patients recovered." Divulging further Bhushan said that only less than 3 per cent of the total active cases are on oxygen support and active cases are decreasing day by day in the country. "A total of 7,04,348 patients are undergoing treatment. The number of active cases is decreasing day by day in the country. Today only 15 per cent of cases come in hospitals while only 2.70 per cent of the total active cases are on oxygen support," he said. Read More