Heena Sharma Blog

Budget 2020 LIVE updates and Budget highlights: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is presenting her second Union Budget in Parliament today. The Budget speech is being keenly watched on both sides of the aisle in Parliament, and also by investors, both domestic and foreign, besides various interest groups like farmers and the anxious middle class. Budget 2020 comes at a time when India is staring at an estimated 5 per cent annual rate of expansion, the slowest pace since 2009. The economy has lately been impacted by slowing trade, rising protectionism, and concerns over a high level of unemployment. The recent sluggishness in the economy has led to expectations that the Budget would contain further stimulus measures to boost growth through new policy initiatives and continued reforms to achieve accelerated growth and employment generation. On Friday, the government tabled the Economic Survey 2019-20, which projected the country's GDP growth for 2020-21 at 6-6.5 per cen

The Congress on Saturday expressed hope that the Union Budget would provide relief to the salaried class through tax cuts and invest in rural India besides providing a healing touch to the common man and industry facing "hardship" since demonetisation. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the last budget led to crashing consumption levels, soaring unemployment and falling GDP. "Budget 2019= Consumption crashed, Unemployment soared, Farm distress surged, Incomes declined, Investments slumped, Public spending fell, GDP nose dived!," Surjewala tweeted. "Yet, Modiji gave Corporate Tax Cuts of Rs 1,45,000 crore. Let Budget 2020 give tax cuts to Salaried Class and invest in Rural India," he said Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot hoped the budget fulfils expectations of the common people. Read More

The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme of the government which gives Rs 6,000 a year to farmers may see a cut in budgetary allocation. It is learnt that the allocation for PM-Kisan may be slashed by 20 per cent to about Rs 60,000 crore in the general Budget from Rs 75,000 crore. The amount allocated to the scheme was Rs 75,000 crore, in the Budget estimate of 2019-20. The reason for this massive cut is the obstacles being faced in its implementation in some of the states. Under the PM-Kisan scheme, farmers are given a total of Rs 6,000 in three instalments annually. However, according to sources, the revised estimate can come to Rs 61,000 crore in the current financial year. The reason for this is not to implement the scheme by some states like West Bengal. Also, many states do not have proper data of farmers. The target of farmers availing this scheme has been reduced from 14.5 crore to 14 crore which will mean lower spending and allocation under the s

Budget 2020 LIVE updates: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her second Union Budget in Parliament at 11 am today. The Budget speech will be keenly watched on both sides of the aisle in Parliament, and also by investors, both domestic and foreign, besides various interest groups like farmers and the anxious middle class. Budget 2020 comes at a time when India is staring at an estimated 5 per cent annual rate of expansion, the slowest pace since 2009. The economy has lately been impacted by slowing trade, rising protectionism, and concerns over a high level of unemployment. The recent sluggishness in the economy has led to expectations that the Budget would contain further stimulus measures to boost growth through new policy initiatives and continued reforms to achieve accelerated growth and employment generation. On Friday, the government tabled the Economic Survey 2019-20, which projected the country's GDP growth for 2020-21 at 6-6.5 per cent. Catch All

A cut in personal income tax, sops for rural and agriculture sectors as well as an aggressive push on infrastructure spending are likely to be part of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 's "feel-good" second Budget. Facing the worst economic slowdown in more than a decade, Sitharaman is expected to pull out all stops to spur consumer demand and investment, government sources and economists said. Sitharaman's second Budget, to be presented on February 1, is expected to announce measures to restore economic growth and to set out a clear road map for achieving the ambitious target of USD 5 trillion economy by 2025. Investments have failed to pick up despite corporate tax cuts and other stimulus measures, higher FDI inflows, plans to consolidate state-owned banks and monetary easing. After corporate tax cuts in September last year, speculation is rife about possible reduction in personal income taxes. A combination of an increase in the basic exemption limit

Facebook Inc said on Thursday it will take down misinformation about China's fast-spreading coronavirus in a rare departure from its approach to health content, after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global health emergency. The world's biggest social network said in a blog post that it would remove content about the virus "with false claims or conspiracy theories that have been flagged by leading global health organizations and local health authorities," saying such content would violate its ban on misinformation leading to "physical harm." The move is unusually aggressive for Facebook, which generally limits the distribution of content containing health misinformation through restrictions on search results and advertising, but allows the original posts to stay up. That approach has angered critics who say the company has failed to curb the spread of inaccuracies that pose major global health threats. Read More

To spur economic growth and achieve $5 trillion economy, India needs to spend about $1.4 trillion on the infrastructure sector during FY2020-2025, the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament said on Friday. Investment in infrastructure is necessary for the economy, as power shortages, inadequate transport and poor connectivity affects overall growth performance, as per the Economic Survey 2019-20, tabled in Parliament by Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. "To achieve GDP of $5 trillion by 2024–2025, India needs to spend about $1.4 trillion (Rs 100 trillion) over these years on infrastructure so that lack of infrastructure does not become a constraint to the growth of Indian economy. "NIP is expected to enable well prepared infrastructure projects that will create jobs, improve ease of living and provide equitable access for infrastructure for all thereby making growth more inclusive", the Survey said. As per the National Infrastr

The Budget session was inaugurated today with the President’s address. The Budget would be presented by Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2020. General Election 2019 saw the opposition try to corner the Narendra Modi government on the issues of a slowing economy, unemployment and rural distress. The voters however reposed their faith in the government and gave it an even bigger mandate. The state of the economy however has continued to be the biggest cause of worry for the government. Not only has unemployment reached record high levels, GDP growth has tanked and India may go by a less than 5 per cent in this fiscal year. The state of the economy is what makes Budget 2020 very important. How important is the Budget for the government politically? What can the government do to mitigate the political risk? Is it the best chance for Modi 2.0 to announce major economic reforms? Read More

The Supreme Court on Friday sought response of the Uttar Pradesh government on a plea seeking quashing of notices sent to alleged protestors by district administration for recovering losses caused by damage to public properties during agitations against Citizenship Amendment Act in the state. A bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and K M Joseph, issued notice to the state government and directed it to file its response within four weeks. The apex court was hearing a plea which has alleged that that notices have been sent in Uttar Pradesh in an "arbitrary manner" against a person, who had died six years ago at the age of 94, and also to two others who are aged above 90. Advocate Parwaiz Arif Titu, petitioner in the case, has sought stay on these notices claiming they have been sent to persons who have not been booked under any penal provisions and no details of FIR or any criminal offences have been made out against them. Read More

Air India's 423-seater jumbo B747 plane will depart from Delhi airport at 12.30 pm on Friday to Beijing to evacuate Indian nationals who are in China as the neighbouring country deals with novel Coronavirus outbreak. "The B747 plane is all set to depart from Delhi at 12.30 pm. It came from Mumbai on Friday morning only," said a senior airline official. The government has reached out to over 600 Indians living in China's Hubei province, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, to ascertain their willingness to be brought back to India. The death toll in China's novel coronavirus outbreak on Friday climbed to 213 with the number of confirmed cases totalling to 9,692. Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, reported 5,806 confirmed cases, including 204 deaths. Read More

NEET PG 2020 Result: The National Board of Examinations has declared the NEET PG 2020 result for the January session. Candidates can check NEET PG 2020 Result on the official website, nbe.edu.in. The NEET PG examination was conducted on January 5. Individual score card of candidates will be released by February 3. The candidates would be able to access their NEET PG 2020 individual score card from the website once it's released by the exam authority. How to check NEET PG Result 2020 1. Visit the official website nbe.edu.in 2. Click on 'Result' link 3. Enter your login credentials 4. NEET PG Result 2020 will be displayed on the screen. Download it for future reference. Click here to get direct link to download the NEET PG Result 2020. Read More

A student from Jamia Millia Islamia was injured when a man opened fire at a group of protesters on Thursday afternoon and shouted "Yeh lo azaadi", triggering panic in the city's Jamia area, eye-witnesses said. The man, who is yet to be identified, was detained after he fired at students demonstrating against the Citizenship Amendment Act , police said. The man was overpowered by protesters. "We were moving towards the Holy Family Hospital where the police had raised barricades. Suddenly, a gun-wielding man came out and opened fire. One bullet hit my friend's hand," Aamna Asif, a student of economics at the university, told PTI. She said her friend, Shadab Farooq, a mass communication student, was injured in his left hand and taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre. Al-Ameen, another student, said the man was brandishing his pistol and shouted "Yeh lo azaadi (Here, take your freedom)". There was heavy police and media presence when the inc

All the three men kept under observation at an isolation ward of the RML Hospital here for possible exposure to novel coronavirus have tested negative, a Health ministry official said on Thursday. "Their samples were sent for testing to NIV Pune and they have tested negative," the official said. So far 38 samples from all over India have been tested at the Pune laboratory and all have tested negative, the official said, adding there is no confirmed case of novel coronavirus in the country. The three men had self reported at the Centre-run hospital, designated to deal with such cases, on Monday with complaints of respiratory trouble and fever. With China struggling to containthe fast-spreading novel coronavirus, the Union Health Ministry had on Wednesday urged Indians to refrain from travelling to China. The advisory further urged all travellers to China to monitor their health closely. A 24x7 helpline number (011-23978046) to redress any queries related the re

India confirmed on Thursday its first patient of coronavirus infection , isolating a male patient in the southern state of Kerala. The patient studied in a university in Wuhan, the Chinese city from where the virus infection spread, and he "his stable at the moment and is being closely monitored," said a government press release. The total number of confirmed deaths from the coronavirus in China climbed to 170 as of late Wednesday and the number of infected patients soared to 7,711. Infections have been reported in at least 15 other countries with 104 confirmed cases. But no deaths have occurred outside China. Read More

Even as the threat from coronavirus looms, no Chinese company is expected to pull out of the Auto Expo 2020 , to be held in Greater Noida from February 7. This assurance was given by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), which said it is taking adequate precautions at the venue in accordance with the instructions of the health ministry. Some of the measures include a full medical team and thermal screenings. Siam representatives met ministry officials and local administration on Wednesday to discuss the measures to be taken during the auto expo. While Siam did not disclose any information on number of Chinese delegation to attend, things discussed at the meeting and others, Rajan Wadhera, president of Siam, said, “We have gone through the advisory issued by the ministry of health and are taking adequate precautions.” Sources said over two dozen top officials from various companies were planning to participate in the event, besides a group of journalists. R

South Korean electronics maker Samsung has begun its 2020 smartphone journey with the launch of the Galaxy A51 . Priced at Rs 24,000 (6GB/128GB), this midrange smartphone brings several upgrades to the last year’s Galaxy A50 and A50s. Among noticeable changes is design, which seems to be inspired by the company’s upcoming flagship in the Galaxy S-series line-up. On paper, the Galaxy A51 seems to be a rehashed version of the Galaxy A50s, with a new format of display, improved optics and enhanced user interface (OneUI 2.0). Do these upgrades make the Galaxy A51 truly better than its predecessor? Let’s find out: Design The Galaxy A51 has got minor but noticeable design changes when compared with the Galaxy A50 and A50s. Like its predecessors, the phone is made of polycarbonate with glass-like gradient design on the back. It has a slightly raised rectangular quad-camera module on the back and a tiny punch-hole display on the front. Other than these changes, the phone looks quit

The lawyer for the death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case Thursday moved a Delhi court seeking a stay on their executions scheduled for February 1, saying legal remedies of some of them are yet to be availed. The plea was mentioned before Special Judge A K Jain who said it will be heard later in the day. The 23-year-old paramedic student, referred to as Nirbhaya, was gang raped and brutally assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 in a moving bus in south Delhi by six persons before being thrown out on the road. She died on December 29, 2012 at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. Read More

The EU will not ban Chinese telecom giant Huawei in Europe, a top official said on Tuesday, despite intense pressure from Washington to shun the company over spying fears. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, will officially unveil its recommendations on Wednesday, but commissioner Thierry Breton told MEPs that Brussels will choose tight scrutiny over any blanket ban. "It is not a question of discrimination it is a question of laying down rules. They will be strict, they will be demanding and of course we will welcome in Europe all operators who are willing to apply them," he said. Read More

British Airways has suspended all direct flights to and from mainland China after Britain warned against all but essential travel to the country due to the coronavirus outbreak. BA.com, the airline's website, shows no direct flights to China are available in January and February. "We apologise to customers for the inconvenience, but the safety of our customers and crew is always our priority," BA said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. "Customers due to travel to or from China in the coming days can find more information on BA.com." Britain on Tuesday advised against "all but essential" travel to mainland China due to the coronavirus outbreak. Read More

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

SpiceJet on Wednesday suspended stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra from flying with it after he allegedly heckled journalist Arnab Goswami aboard an IndiGo Mumbai-Lucknow flight. SpiceJet is the third airline to take action against Kamra. While IndiGo suspended Kamra from flying with it for a period of six months on Tuesday itself, Air India banned him until further notice. Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had taken note of the incident on Tuesday and "advised" other airlines in India to impose similar restrictions on Kamra, stating "offensive behaviour designed to provoke & create disturbance inside an aircraft is absolutely unacceptable & endangers safety of air travellers". On Wednesday morning, SpiceJet said on Twitter, "SpiceJet has decided to suspend Mr. Kunal Kamra from flying with the airline till further notice." An AirAsia India official told PTI that the airline is waiting for the aviation regulator DGCA to issue a formal n

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would hear on February 11 the Centre's plea seeking Rs 7,844 crore as additional funds from successor firms of the US-based Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) for giving compensation to victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy . A five-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra also said that the plea would be heard by the apex court in a "different combination" of judges. Justice S Ravindra Bhat, who is part of the five-judge bench, on Tuesday had offered to recuse himself from hearing the matter saying he had earlier appeared as a lawyer for the Centre when the review plea in the case was adjudicated upon. At the outset of the hearing, Justice Mishra said, "We will hear this on February 11 in different combination (of judges)." Attorney General K K Venugopal told the bench, also comprising justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, M R Shah and Bhat, that a full-fledged hearing in the matter may not be possible from F

Among UPI (unified payments interface) apps, Google Pay contributed 59 per cent and Walmart-owned PhonePe facilitated 26 per cent, followed by Paytm (7 per cent) and BHIM (6 per cent) in digital transactions in 2019, according to fintech firm Razorpay’s report ‘The Era of Rising Fintech.’ The report provides an in-depth study of a rapidly evolving fintech ecosystem in India and analyses the patterns of digital transactions and the impact of industry innovations, such as UPI, which are harnessing a digitally inclusive economy. In 2018, Google Pay contributed 48 per cent and BHIM facilitated 27 per cent in digital transaction, followed by PhonePe (15 per cent) and Paytm (4 per cent). Also, Amazon Pay was the most preferred wallet among consumers (33 per cent), followed by Ola Money (17 per cent) in 2019. While the usage of cards (46 per cent) and Net banking (11 per cent) saw a decline in 2019, down from 56 per cent and 23 per cent respectively in 2018, UPI (38 per cent) went up

TANCET 2020: Tamil Nadu Common Entrance Test (TANCET) registration is underway. Candidates must note that the last day for applying online through the official website is tancet.annauniv.edu. Anna University will conduct TANCET 2020 across 15 cities in Tamil Nadu. TANCET 2020 is the state level entrance exam for admission to PG degree programmes for the academic year 2020-2021 in the participating institutes includes ME/M.Tech/M.Arch/M.Plan, MBA and MCA. Students can fill the online form at www.annauniv.edu . Steps for TANCET registration Step 1: Visit the official website www.annauniv.edu Step 2: Click on 'Register' link Step 3: Provide the required information and press 'Next' icon Step 4: Now you receive a TANCET security key in your mobile, which you have to retain till you successfully complete the application process Step 5: Log inusing the credentials, and provide other required details Step 6: Verify the details and confirm Step 7: P

The Reserve Bank of India’s MANI ( Mobile Aided Note Identifier ) app is for visually-impaired persons to identify bank notes. And it is off to a poor start. The complaints on the Google Play Store are stacking up with no signs of improvement so far. First, it suffers from some basic flaws. The problem starts with the name. Visually-impaired persons are already struggling to adapt to Android’s perilous talkback feature in smartphones, which announces everything on the screen and helps them perform basic functions. A lot of the actions require people to give voice commands through Google Assistant. And the voice assistant just does not recognise an app spelled MANI (instead of money), yet. So, one has to have the MANI app widget on the home screen to find it with touch. The app recognises new currency notes accurately when placed in front of the phone’s camera and speaks the denomination out loud, but it struggles with the old notes. It also does not identify coins, nor can it

A Rajya Sabha panel has recommended that law enforcement agencies should be permitted to break end-to-end encryption to trace the distributior of child pornography on social media. The ad hoc committee of the Rajya Sabha formed to look into pornography on social media and its effect on children and society has also recommended that apps that help in monitoring children's access to pornographic content be made mandatory on all devices sold in India, and such apps or similar solutions be developed and made freely available to internet service providers (ISPs), schools and parents. The 14-member committee, chaired by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, has made 40 recommendations in all, including changes to the Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The recommendations assume significance in view of the ongoing battle between the government and WhatsApp over encryption. The government has been looking for a way to trace messages to curb spread of rumours

The ongoing tussle between the US and China has made the latter’s biggest technology company Huawei change its product strategy in several international markets, including India. Known for its premium smartphones in the country, Huawei announced in 2019 that it would also bring its ecosystem products to India. Soon after, the company launched in India its premium smartwatch, the Huawei Watch GT2. Priced at Rs 15,990, the Huawei Watch GT2 (46mm) has packed in some interesting features, besides the regular fitness-related ones. On paper, the smartwatch seems to have something in store for everyone. But does it? Let’s find out: Design: The Huawei Watch GT2 has a mature design that goes well with most outfits. It has a circular case with a slightly raised touchscreen on top and a heart-rate sensor at the bottom. Covering the case is a metallic frame made of stainless steel, which looks novel and modern. The frame around the screen is minimal and stamped with numerical (multiple

Three persons with a travel history to China have been kept under observation at an isolation ward of the RML Hospital here for a possible exposure to novel coronavirus , officials said on Tuesday. The three -- all men aged between 24 and 48 -- were admitted on Monday and their samples have been sent for testing to ICMR-NIV Pune laboratory, Dr Minakshi Bhardwaj, Medical Superintendent of RML Hospital, said. While two of the men are residents of Delhi, one hails from NCR. All the three patients have respiratory problems like cold and cough along with fever and they self-reported at the designated health facility to deal with such cases. According to Bhardwaj, two of the patients had returned from China about a week ago while the other about a month back. Till Monday, a total of 33,552 passengers arriving in India from China in 155 flights have been screened As per data received on Jan 14, total 17 samples have been received by the ICMR-NIV Pune Lab, out of which 14 have

A gay couple has moved the Kerala High Court, seeking to strike down certain provisions under the Special Marriage Act , 1954, which do not permit to get their marriage registered. Considering the writ petition by the petitioners on Monday, the court has sought the views of Central and state governments on the matter. The petitioners, a business man and an IT professional had met each other in May 2018 and fallen in love. After being in a relationship for two months, they decided to get hitched. In September last year, they got married in a private ceremony. However, the religious authorities declined to solemnise the wedding and hence the couple decided to get their marriage registered under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, which does not recognise homosexual marriages. Read More

BPSSC result: The Bihar Police Subordinate Services Commission has declared the BPSSC SI result along with results for Sergeant, Assistant Superintendent Jail, Assistant Superintendent Jail (Ex-Serviceman) posts on its official website, bpssc.bih.nic.in. The said exam is the preliminary test for selection to the posts. BPSSC SI exam was held on December 22, 2019, and a total of 585,829 candidates appeared for it. Steps to check BPSSC SI result Step 1: Visit the official website - bpssc.bih.nic.in Step 2: Click on the link that says 'Results: Prelims Result of Examination for the post of Police Sub Inspector/Sergeant/Assistant Superintendent Jail (Direct recruitment)/Assistant Superintendent Jail (Ex-Serviceman) in Bihar Police' Step 3: A PDF will open. Check your roll number and download it for future reference Click here for a direct link to download BPSSC SI result Sub Inspector of Police: 2,064 posts Police Sergeant: 215 posts Assistant Superinte

The Madras High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed against actor Rajinikanth over his remarks on rationalist leader E V Ramasamy " Periyar " as the petitioners withdrew the plea. Justice P Rajamanickam was hearing the petition by Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam, a fringe outfit. State Public Prosecutor A Natarajan submitted the petitioners had approached the court without seeking the alternative remedy available to them. Justice Rajamanickam asked the counsel for the petitioners if they would withdraw the petition. After the counsels admitted they would do so, the judge recorded the same and dismissed the plea. Rajinikanth made the controversial remarks against Periyar recently at an event organised here by Tamil magazine 'Thuglak'. Read More

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "creating a Hindu nationalist state" in India, said US financier and philanthropist George Soros on Thursday in a speech attacking "would-be and actual dictators" in the world. Soros, who was speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said nationalism was making further headway around the world, and the "biggest and most frightening setback" was in India. Soros criticised rising populism internationally and picked out US president Donald Trump, China’s Xi Jinping, Modi and Brexit. He described Trump as a "conman and the ultimate narcissist" but said the current surge in economic strength for the United States may have come too soon for the US leader as he faces re-election later this year. "Trump... has managed to overheat an already buoyant economy. An overheated economy can't be kept at the boiling point for too long," warned Soros, credited with correctly predicting major market s

The ' Maharashtra bandh ' called by Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar's party on Friday to oppose the new citizenship law saw heavy police deployment across the state with public transport and normal life remaining largely unaffected. The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) has called for the statewide shutdown to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). Barring stray incidents of stone-pelting and attempt to disrupt road traffic in Mumbai, there was not much impact of the bandh in the metropolis. While a BEST (BMC's transport body) bus was stoned by unidentified persons near Swastik Park in suburban Chembur, VBA supporters gathered in large numbers at Teen Haath Naka in Thane to protest against the CAA, an official said. Several VBA activists were detained by the police, when they tried to stop vehicles on Eastern Express Highway at Ghatkopar, he said. Read More

Chinese smartphone brand Realme made strides in several new areas last year. From foraying into the premium midrange segment to introducing true wireless earphones, the young and ambitious OPPO spin-off did not hesitate to explore and experiment. At the same time, it continued to focus on its midrange smartphone portfolio, considered its area of strength. A recent addition to this portfolio is the Realme X2, the plain-vanilla edition of its premium Realme X2 Pro . Business Standard tried the Realme X2 to see how it fared on key parameters. Here is what we found in our review: Design The Realme X2 takes its design inspiration from the Pro edition in more ways than one. However, you cannot overlook how drastically similar it looks to the Realme XT as well. The phone has a glass construction, with a Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the front and back, and a polycarbonate chassis that looks metallic. Though the phone’s back is resilient to scratches, its glass cover is prone to s

Clinical trials for a vaccine against the new virus sweeping China could be carried out in the summer, the head of an anti-epidemic coalition said on Thursday, as different companies announced research into the disease. "We can announce that we have three partnerships to develop vaccines against the novel coronavirus ," Richard Hatchett, chief executive of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), said in Davos. "Our goal is to have these vaccines developed very rapidly and to move very rapidly to begin clinical trials, perhaps as early as the summer," Hatchett said during the annual World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort town. A fourth company, Novavax, which has worked on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), said earlier it had also initiated development of a vaccine candidate. There is no vaccine or antiviral treatment against the novel coronavirus detected in China, which has killed 18 people so far and has now spread in