Heena Sharma Blog

  The global count of coronavirus cases has crossed 38.75 million, of which over 8.4 million are currently active. The global death toll is now over 1 million, with the US having the greatest number of deaths. In India, the confirmed case count has crossed 7.3 million, of which less than 12 per cent or 812,390 cases are currently active. Recovery rate is over 87 per cent, with over 6.38 million people having beaten the infection. The death toll has crossed 100,000. 1.India recorded a drop of over 128,000 active cases in the last 15 days India’s current active case count stands at 812,390, recording a drop of over 128,000 active cases in the last 15 days. The country has been recording more recoveries than adding new cases for 12 days in a row. Read More

  Amid concerns over lack of hygiene and social distancing in public transport, more Indians have now begun to prefer used cars and bikes. Shared cabs have also lost popularity. Buying new vehicles seems off the table for now because of rising financial insecurity. Sellers for used cars and marketplaces for used goods like Olx and Quikr have seen a hike in the demand for second-hand vehicles. Maruti Suzuki True Value Chain, which deals in used cars, has seen enquiry levels shoot up by 24 per cent in August and September as compared to the year-ago period. Other companies, like Mahindra First Choice, are also seeing a similar trend. Executives say that cheap options that also provide an alternative to public transport are set to be popular amid the pandemic. Read More

  IMF loans exacerbate poverty? The vast majority of International Monetary Fund loans extended during the Covid-19 pandemic have suggested or demanded spending cuts that would worsen poverty and inequality, charity group Oxfam says. Seventy-six of the fund’s 91 loans since March have sought belt tightening, according to Oxfam. The result could be deep cuts to public healthcare and pensions; wage freezes and cuts for workers such as doctors and teachers; and reduced unemployment benefits like sick pay. Total Confirmed Cases: 37,213,592 Change Over Yesterday: 329,824 Total Deaths: 1,072,959 Total Recovered: 25,883,454 Nations hit with most cases: US (7,718,947), India (7,053,806), Brazil (5,082,637), Russia (1,278,245) and Colombia (902,747). Read More

  After the government imposed the world’s harshest lockdown at short notice, migrant workers from around the country were forced to make a journey back home. It was only a matter of time before the pandemic would take off in the rural stretches of the country. On Juy 26, cases from rural India first topped the ones from urban areas. Since May, the government has not released district-wise data. However, an analysis of records throws up concerning statistics. In August alone, rural districts reported almost 1.1 million Covid-19 cases ; this was 56 per cent of all new cases recorded. For the first 27 days of September, 53 per cent of the nation’s Covid tally came from rural areas. By 27 Sept 49.7 per cent of the all cases came from these regions. UP saw a big jump in rural cases — from 40 per cent in April to 65 per cent in September. In MP, the numbers went from 20 per cent in April to 65 per cent in September. The pandemic has also killed more people in rural districts than in urb...

  Cineworld, the world’s second biggest cinema operator, is preparing to close all its screens in the US and UK after further delays to the new James Bond film pushed its struggling business to the brink. The indefinite closure of 90 per cent of Cineworld’s screens, which is expected as soon as this week, raises fundamental questions over the viability of the company and a cinema sector devastated by the Corona Virus pandemic . The closures include Cineworld’s 543 Regal theatres in the US and 128 cinemas in the UK, How remdesivir moved from back shelf to best which were banking on November’s release of the latest James Bond to boost ticket sales. Read More

  The world will officially record 1 million deaths from Covid-19 in the next few days, but the real tally might be almost twice that. Actual fatalities from the pandemic may be closer to 1.8 million -- a toll that could grow to as high as 3 million by the end of the year, according to Alan Lopez, a laureate professor and director of the University of Melbourne’s global burden of disease group. The coronavirus’s rapid spread and ability to transmit in people who show no signs of the disease have enabled it to outrun measures to accurately quantify cases through widespread diagnostic testing. Total Confirmed Cases: 32,230,923 Change Over Yesterday: 451,088 Total Deaths: 982,969 Total Recovered: 22,234,764 Nations hit with most cases: US (6,978,417), India (5,815,374), Brazil (4,657,702), Russia (1,123,976) and Colombia (790,823). Read More

  A group of EU member states including Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic will today start piloting a technical system to connect their national Covid-19 tracing apps in an effort to contain the spread of the virus as people travel across borders. The system, due to be fully operational in October, arrives as cases are again on the rise across the bloc. The move underscores the need to sync Covid-19 tracing systems with those of neighbourhood regions as, fortunately or unfortunately, people start moving around more. Total Confirmed Cases: 29,006,033 Change Over Yesterday: 245,860 Total Deaths: 924,105 Total Recovered: 19,625,959 Nations hit with most cases: US (6,519,979), India (4,846,427), Brazil (4,330,455), Russia (1,059,024) and Peru (722,832). Read More

  China honours citizen volunteers who helped during Covid-19 : In a pomp-filled ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi personally conferred medals on citizens deemed to have played instrumental roles in China’s fight against the virus identified in December in Wuhan. While other nations from India to the US grapple with ever-expanding outbreaks, China hasn’t reported a domestic infection in 22 days and Xi has increasingly turned his attention to bolstering the battered economy. Let’s look at the global statistics: Total Confirmed Cases: 27,339,132 Change Over Yesterday: 224,561 Total Deaths: 892,648 Total Recovered: 18,337,243 Nations hit with most cases: US (6,300,671), India (4,280,422), Brazil (4,147,794), Russia (1,027,334) and Peru (689,977). Read More