Heena Sharma Blog

  More people were diagnosed with Covid-19 during the past seven days than any other week since the start of the pandemic — topping 5.2 million globally — with the worst outbreaks accelerating in many countries that are ill-equipped to deal with them. The worrisome trend, just days after the world surpassed 3 million deaths, comes as countries are rolling out vaccinations in an effort to get the virus under control. The data from Johns Hopkins University showing a 12 per cent increase in infections from a week earlier casts doubt on the hope that the end of the pandemic is in sight. The weekly increase surpassed the previous high set in mid-December. While infection rates have largely slowed in the US and UK, countries in the developing world — India and Brazil in particular — are shouldering surging caseloads. Read More

Days after India banned 59 apps including TikTok and UC Browser, the United States on Tuesday said that it was also 'looking' at banning Chinese social media apps. “I don’t want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but it’s something we’re looking at,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News, as reported by Reuters. TikTok, along with 58 other Chinese apps, including Tencent Holdings LTD’s WeChat and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s UC Browser, were banned in India last week following a border clash with China. India had banned apps for engaging in "activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". Read More

Cash-strapped Pakistan has received an emergency loan of $1.39 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to boost its foreign exchange reserves in the wake of the coronavirus crisis . The $1.39 billion loan is in addition to the $6 billion bailout package that Pakistan had signed with the IMF in July last year to stave off a balance of payment crisis. "SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) has received $1.39 billion under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) from the IMF," the central bank said in a tweet on Wednesday. Pakistan in March had requested the global moneylender for a low-cost, fast-disbursing loan under its Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to deal with the adverse economic impact of the pandemic. The RFI is used to provide financial assistance to IMF member countries facing an urgent balance of payments need without requiring them to put a full-fledged programme in place. Read More

Oxford University will start human testing with a Covid-19 vaccine they developed from Thursday, the UK government said in a coronavirus press conference. The Oxford team – led by Professor Sarah Gilbert, is testing ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, a candidate based on a chimpanzee adenovirus modified to include the spike or ‘S’ protein on the surface of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. The government funded the vaccine project with 20 million pounds to Oxford University and another 22 million pounds to a second vaccine project at Imperial College, London, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Wednesday, adding the project will help support phase 2 trials and help prepare for a larger phase 3 study. Read More

While Google is still working on a coronavirus screening and tracking website, Microsoft Bing team has already launched a web portal for tracking COVID-19 infections worldwide. The website, accessible at bing.com/covid, provides up-to-date infection statistics for each country. The COVID-19 Tracker currently lists 168,835 as total confirmed cases, 84,558 active cases, 77,761 recovered cases and 6,516 deaths. There are at least 3,244 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the US and at least 61 deaths. "Lots of Bing folks worked (from home) this past week to create a mapping and authoritative news resource for COVID19 info," Michael Schechter, General Manager for Bing Growth and Distribution at Microsoft, was quoted as saying in a ZDNet report on Sunday. An interactive map allows site visitors to click on the country to see the specific number of cases and related articles from a variety of publishers. Read More

With no signs of the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) abating, US technology major Apple has postponed the launch of the new iPhone model — iPhone SE 2 or iPhone 9 — by at least a fortnight, sources said. The delay of the SE 2, billed as the cheapest iPhone and tentatively priced below Rs 40,000 in India, puts the brakes on the tech major’s plans for a revival in the second largest smartphone market. Planned in line with its earlier bet for the India market — iPhone SE, launched in 2016 — the SE 2 was positioned as an entry-level phone targeting aspirational buyers. However, with the supply chain at its largest manufacturer Foxconn in disarray, as it is struggling to operate in China because of the COVID-19 crisis, the postponement was inevitable, said experts. The iPhone SE was a 4-inch model priced at Rs 39,000 to lure consumers who were unwilling to shell out Rs 50,000 or more for a premium handset. Coupled with the success of its earlier launches — iPhone 6 and 6S — App...

Two Republican senators on Thursday introduced a bill aimed at banning federal employees from using Chinese social media app TikTok on their government-issued phones, amid growing national security concerns around the collection and sharing of data on US users with China's government. The bill by Senators Josh Hawley and Rick Scott comes as several US agencies that deal with national security and intelligence issues including the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have banned employees from using the app. It is also the latest attempt to rein in technology companies by Hawley, who has repeatedly clashed with big tech companies. "TikTok is owned by a Chinese company that includes Chinese Communist Party members on its board, and it is required by law to share user data with Beijing," Hawley said. " As many of our federal agencies have already recognized, TikTok is a major security risk to the United States, and it has no place on gove...

Hong Kong stocks plunged Wednesday as investors in the city returned from their Lunar New Year break to a global panic over the deadly coronavirus , though most other Asian markets were lifted by bargain-buying after recent losses. Healthy US data reinforced hopes for the global economic outlook and supported a rally across US and European markets, which provided a strong lead for Asia, while a record earnings report from Apple also helped the mood. Still, the focus remains on developments in the virus outbreak -- which has now killed at least 132 people and infected more people in China than SARS did 17 years ago -- and concerns about the impact on the world economy. Among the worst-hit sectors on global trading floors are firms linked to travel and tourism, as big-spending Chinese tourists stay at home with Beijing clamping down on people's movement. The outbreak carries echoes of the SARS crisis, which paralysed regional travel and battered local economies. Chinese ...

Ford Motor is considering making its new electric Mustang Mach-E in China, depending on how the trade war between Washington and Beijing plays out, CEO Jim Hackett said. “ We need to determine whether the tariffs are settled. And it would be great” if they were settled, Hackett told Bloomberg after a launch event for the car in Los Angeles. “We have a plan to build there if we have to.” In an earlier interview with Bloomberg TV, Hackett said he believed there would be good demand for the car in China. “I’m smiling because China has got a mandate for electrification, so the Mach-E has a role in that,” he said. While Ford is building the Mach-E in Mexico, Hackett said the company employs more workers in the US than its competitors. Read More

At least fifteen people were killed and nine others injured in a coal mine gas explosion in north China's Shanxi Province, local authorities said on Tuesday. The incident happened on Monday when 35 miners were working underground at the coal mine in Pingyao County when the blast happened, the Shanxi Administration of Coal Mine Safety said. Authorities said that 15 people were killed in the blast. "Eleven miners managed to escape," the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Read More

China has officially commenced the research and development of the 6G telecom service, days after launching 5G cellular services in the country in a bid to advance its ambitious goal to emerge as a global leader in the next generation telecom technology, surpassing the US and the western countries. The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology on Wednesday announced the establishment of two offices to develop 6G, setting off the competition for the next-generation cellular data service that comes after the super-fast 5G. The Ministry said one of the offices will house the government agencies responsible for the relevant policy making. The other is comprised of 37 experts from colleges, research academies and enterprises, who are expected to advise policymakers, it said. China's Vice-Minister for Science and Technology Wang Xi said that worldwide knowledge about the telecom technology is still in an exploratory stage, without consensus over its definitions and applic...

At least 46 people were killed and several others injured as a massive fire broke out on a train in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province on Thursday after a gas canister carried by a passenger exploded. The train, Tezgam, was on its way to Rawalpindi from Karachi when the fire broke out, destroying three of the train's carriages, including two economy class carriages and one business class carriage at Liaquatpur near Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab province. Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said a gas stove blew up when some of the passengers were preparing breakfast on the speeding train in violation of rules. At least 46 people killed and several others injured in the fire, District Police Officer Rahim Yar Khan Ameer Taimoor Khan said. Most deaths occurred from people jumping off the train, he added. Prime Minister Imran Khan while expressing his condolences directed the authorities to ensure the provision of best medical treatment for the injured. Read More ...

A powerful early morning suicide truck bomb devastated a hospital in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 90 others, an official said. The Taliban took responsibility for the attack, which destroyed part of the hospital in Qalat, the capital of southern Zabul province, and left a fleet of ambulances broken and battered. Residents, many of whom had come to see their sick family members, used shawls and blankets to carry the wounded inside the destroyed building, while authorities scrambled to take the worst of the wounded to hospitals in nearby Kandahar. In the early hours after the explosion there were contradictory figures of the dead and wounded. The provincial governor's spokesman Gul Islam Seyal put the death toll at 12 but said authorities were on the scene sifting through the debris. Atta Jan Haqbayan, head of the provincial council, put the death toll at 20. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

The Asia-Pacific Group of the the global watchdog for terror financing and money laundering has put Pakistan in the Enhanced Expedited Follow Up List (Blacklist) for its failure to meet its standards, officials said on Friday. The Asia Pacific Group (APG) of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has also found that Pakistan was non-compliant on 32 of the 40 compliance parameters of terror financing and money laundering. The FATF APG meeting was held in Canberra, Australia and the discussions lasted over seven hours over two days. "The APG has placed Pakistan in the Enhanced Expedited Follow Up List (Black List) for failure to meet its standards," an Indian official privy to the development said. On 11 effectiveness parameters of terror financing and money laundering, Pakistan was adjudged as low on 10. The official said despite its efforts, Pakistan could not convince the 41-member plenary to upgrade it on any parameter. Read More Article Source -> Bus...

At least nine people, including six policemen, were killed and around 40 others injured in northwest Pakistan on Sunday in a terror strike on a checkpost and a subsequent suicide blast by a burqa-clad woman at a hospital where the victims of the first attack were shifted. Both the attacks took place in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a day after the first-ever successful election was held in the newly merged tribal areas of the province. Both the attacks took place in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a day after the first-ever successful election was held in the newly merged tribal areas of the province. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Mumbai terror attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed was arrested Wednesday by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Pakistan's Punjab Province, officials said. Saeed, who has several cases pending against him was travelling to Gujranwala from Lahore to appear before an anti-terrorism court when the arrest took place, officials said. He has been moved to an unknown location, they said. Saeed-led JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. The US Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings Saeed to justice. Under pressure from the international community, Pakistani authorities have launched investigations into matters of the JuD and LeT regarding their holding and use of trusts to raise funds for terrorism financing...

Facebook and Twitter have apparently not been invited by the White House to a social media summit hosted by President Donald Trump for a robust conversation on the challenges of the online environment, according to a media report. The summit, set for Thursday, is to address issues relevant to social media, all the more important as Trump utilizes the platforms like no other president before him. The two prominent social media companies were not extended invitations, CNN was quoted the sources familiar with the matter as saying. The people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, suggested it was not surprising. They said they believe the summit would amount to a right-wing grievance session and was not aimed at seriously discussing some of the issues facing large technology companies, the report added. The White House, however, refused to comment, the report said. A Social Media Summit without representation from the giants like Facebook and Twitter cannot be thought o...

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Thursday it had shot down a US "spy drone" over its territory after it violated Iranian airspace, according to Iranian state television. "The US-made Global Hawk surveillance drone was brought down by its Air Force" in the country's southern coastal province of Hormozgan, the Revolutionary Guard added, according to the English-language Press TV. Article Source -> Business Standard

Brazil's Supreme Court voted Thursday to criminalise homophobia, an important step for sexual minorities in one of the most dangerous countries for LGBT people in the world. The Supreme Federal Court (STF), which voted eight to three in favour of the measure, classified homophobia as a crime similar to racism, until Congress -- which is held by a conservative majority and is strongly influenced by evangelical churches -- passes a law specifically addressing such discrimination. Brazil now joins a growing number of countries in the typically conservative and Catholic-influenced Latin American region that have passed measures in favour of LGBT rights. "All prejudice is violence. All discrimination is a cause of suffering," said judge Carmen Luzia while voting in favour of the measure. "But I learned that some prejudices cause more suffering than others." According to the NGO Grupo Gay de Bahia, which has collected national statistics for the past fou...

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects it could take until August before the Boeing Co 737 MAX returns to service, the airline group's head said on Wednesday, adding that the final say on the timing rested with regulators. The 737 MAX was grounded globally in March after a crash in Ethiopia killed all 157 people on board, the model's second deadly crash in five months. "We do not expect something before 10 to 12 weeks in re-entry into service," IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac told reporters in Seoul. "But it is not our hands. That is in the hands of regulators." IATA plans to organise a summit with airlines, regulators and Boeing in 5 to 7 weeks to discuss what is needed for the 737 MAX to return to service, he said. The airline industry has had a tough six months with fuel, labour and infrastructure costs increasing and trade tensions rising in addition to the 737 MAX grounding, de Juniac said. IATA's Decemb...