Heena Sharma Blog

  South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed below 400 for the second straight day Tuesday on fewer tests over the weekend, but authorities are vigilant over the rising reproduction rate amid eased social distancing measures and an increase in the number of patients infected with Covid-19 variants. The country reported 357 more virus cases, including 330 local infections, raising the total caseload to 87,681, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Yonhap reported. On Monday, South Korea reported 332 cases, the lowest in a week. It marked a sharp decrease from more than 600 daily virus cases reported last week, before falling below 500 over the weekend. The country added 11 more deaths, raising the total to 1,573. The fatality rate came to 1.79 per cent. Despite a slowdown in virus cases, health authorities are still concerned over the rise in the reproduction rate of the virus estimated at 1.12, which indicates that a single Covid-19 pat...

  A drone taxi and a drone delivery were tested in South Korea’s capital on Wednesday as the country moves closer to launching unmanned air vehicles by 2025. The event, near Seoul’s Han River, offered a glimpse into the future and what flying vehicles might look like in a densely populated city. South Korea is investing around 24.5 billion won ($22 million) through 2022 to develop the so-called K-Drone System . The EHang 216 autonomous aerial vehicleThe EHang 216 autonomous aerial vehicle The demonstration in a quiet riverside park started with the flight of several small drones, which are designed to monitor traffic conditions and alert for any potential danger. A siren rang to signal the all clear before a larger, two-seater drone, made by Chinese company Ehang, began its takeoff. Read More

The coronavirus -driven global shift to working from home is set to have boosted demand for Samsung Electronics ' memory chips from laptop makers and data centres, but first-quarter profits are likely to remain flat as the outbreak weakened consumer electronics sales. The South Korean tech giant is the world's largest memory chip maker, and its Galaxy smartphones are a major rival of Apple Inc's products. Samsung, which also makes home appliances and displays, on Tuesday releases guidance for the January-March quarter profit which is widely expected to be unchanged, and come under pressure in the next few quarters as the impact of coronavirus-related factory and retail stores shutdowns bites. "The visibility for Samsung's earnings is low for the second quarter," said Lee Do-hoon, an analyst at CIMB Research. Read More

International concern about the spread of coronavirus outside China grew on Sunday with sharp rises in infections in South Korea, Italy and Iran. The government in Seoul put the country on high alert after the number of infections surged over 600 with six deaths. A focal point was a church in the southeastern city of Daegu, where a 61-year-old member of the congregation with no recent record of overseas travel tested positive for the virus. In Italy, the number of cases jumped to above 130 from just three before Friday. Authorities sealed off the worst affected towns and banned public gatherings in much of the north, including halting the carnival in Venice, where there were two cases, to try to contain the biggest outbreak in Europe. Italian health authorities were struggling to find out how the virus started. “If we cannot find ‘patient zero’ then it means the virus is even more ubiquitous than we thought,” said Luca Zaia, the regional governor of the wealthy Veneto regio...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday laid a wreath at the National Cemetery in Seoul and paid tribute to the fallen soldiers, including those who died in the Korean War . Prime Minister Modi arrived on a two-day visit to South Korea on Thursday to strengthen India's strategic ties with the country. On the first day of his visit, Modi unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the prestigious Yonsei University in Seoul along with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "PM Narendra Modi laid a wreath at the National Cemetery of Republic of Korea that entombs remains of 165000 martyrs and paid homage to the fallen soldiers," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. Established in 1956, the Seoul National Cemetery is reserved for Korean veterans, including those who died in the Korean independence movement, Korean War and Vietnam War. The prime minister was also accorded a ceremonial reception at the offici...