Heena Sharma Blog

India reported nearly 15,000 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 440,215, an increase of 3.5% according to the Health Ministry.The country's death toll has crossed the 14,000 mark with 312 fatalities in a day. India is the fourth-most-affected country by total cases, and eighth by death toll. According to government data, however, the situation in India is not as alarming as some of the other countries, given a limited spread on a per-capita basis. India has 30.04 coronavirus cases per 100,000 population, which is just a little more than a third of the global average of 114.67, the health ministry has said, referring to the WHO Situation Report 153, dated June 21. Read More

French drugmaker Sanofi SA said on Tuesday it expects to get approval for the potential Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with Britain's GlaxoSmithKline Plc by the first half of next year, faster than previously anticipated. Sanofi, which is hosting a virtual research and development event, and GSK had said in April the vaccine, if successful, would be available in the second half of 2021. "We are being guided by our dialogue with regulatory authorities," Sanofi research chief John Reed told reporters, when asked about the accelerated time frame. Read More

Apple on Monday kickstarted its worldwide developers conference (WWDC) with a keynote speech where the technology giant previewed its upcoming operating system and software features for iPhones, iPads, Watch, TV, Airpods and Macs. In a major move, the company also announced its plan to shift its Mac computers to ARM-based Apple Silicon from Intel processors. From iOS 14 to iPadOS 14, macOS Big Sur and watchOS 7, the Apple WWDC 2020 keynote event had a rich assortment of announcements. Here are the key announcements from the WWDC 2020 keynote session: The Mac's transition to Apple Silicon This is a major announcement that might set the future direction for Apple Mac computers. After shifting to Intel chips in 2006, the company is now ready to power its Mac computers with its own ARM-based chips. In the keynote address, Apple previewed a Mac powered by Apple A12Z Bionic chip. The early look reveals that Mac on ARM chips is ready to replace the Intel powered Macs. Apple has

Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, who was rearrested in Los Angeles on an extradition request by India for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack , is not a flight risk, his attorney has told a US court and proposed a $1.5 million bond for his release. Rana (59), was recently released from jail on compassionate ground after testing positive for Covid-19. However, he was rearrested in Los Angeles on June 10 following an extradition request by India. US District Judge Jacqueline Chooljian of the Central District of California has scheduled his bond hearing for June 30. Rana should be released on a robust bond: secured by approximately $1.5 million in property pledged by family and friends and under the supervision of his daughter, Lemaan Rana, a matriculating medical student and PhD candidate, Amy Karlin, the Interim Federal Public Defender said in the court submission on behalf of Rana. Read More

US-based healthcare technology maker Abbott on Monday said it can supply over one million of its laboratory-based serology blood test for the detection of the antibody, IgG (Immunoglobulin G), that identifies if a person has had the novel coronavirus (Covid-19). Abbott said it is already in the process of delivering antibody tests to leading government and private hospitals and labs in Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat. "Abbott is pleased to contribute to ICMR's (Indian Council of Medical Research) Covid-19 antibody testing strategy to use IgG CLIA antibody tests," Narendra Varde, General Manager and Country Head at Abbott's diagnostics business in India, said in a statement. Read More

ROG Phone II on Monday goes on sale at Flipkart, announced the Taiwanese electronics maker Asus. Launched at Rs 37,999 in 2019, the gaming smartphone gets a price hike of Rs 2,000 owing to increase in goods and services tax on smartphones and depreciating currency value. However, this revision in price is subsidised as Asus absorbs some portion of price hike due to depreciation currency and GST, which is touted to be more than Rs 2,500 on each unit. Asus ROG Phone II price in India The price of ROG Phone II with new GST and depreciated rate impact should have been approximately Rs 42,554, according to Asus. With the company absorbing some portion of the impact on pricing, the ROG Phone II is available at a subsidised price of Rs 39,999. Read More

The global count of confirmed coronavirus cases stands at almost 9 million, 467,418 people have lost their lives in the pandemic till now, while 4.8 million people have managed to beat the virus. Two countries, the US and Brazil, have more than a million million cases each in the world. In India, there are now more than 400,00 confirmed cases of coronavirus, of which 169,451 are still active. Recoveries, currently at 227,755, are growing well and have improved India’s recovery rate to over 55 per cent. There have been 13,254 fatalities in the country because of the virus. Read More