Why it’s going to be hard to rein in the Covid variants on the rampage in India
Scientists are working to understand several coronavirus variants now circulating in India, where a ferocious second wave of Covid-19 has devastated the nation and caught authorities unawares. The country recorded nearly 400,000 new infections on May 9, taking its total to more than 22 million. Evidence is growing that one...
‘India’s Covid death may be far above 200,000 as rural cases are unregistered’
India has reached the devastating figure of 200,000 coronavirus deaths, with the pressure on many hospitals showing no sign of abating amid a surging second wave. The real number of fatalities is thought to be far greater, with many not being officially recorded. Oxygen supplies remain critically low across the...
Sex pests: Acquittal of senior journalist Priya Ramani big victory for media women
The acquittal of senior journalist Priya Ramani of criminal charges of defamation brought by former editor and politician MJ Akbar is a landmark in the struggle against sexual harassment at the workplace in India. On February 17, 2021, history was made in a court room on Rouse Avenue in New...
Bali’s extortionist monkeys can spot high-value items, then ‘demand’ ransom
At the Uluwatu temple in Bali, monkeys mean business. The long-tailed macaques who roam the ancient site are infamous for brazenly robbing unsuspecting tourists and clinging on to their possessions until food is offered as ransom payment. Researchers have found they are also skilled at judging which items their victims...
Billions poured into Covid vaccine facilitated multiple tests at the same time
The slowest part of vaccine development isn’t finding candidate treatments, but testing them. This often takes years, with companies running efficacy and safety tests on animals and then in humans. Human testing requires three phases that involve increasing numbers of people and proportionately escalating costs. The Covid-19 vaccines went through...
Fast quest for coronavirus vaccines and what it means for other diseases
When scientists began seeking a vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in early 2020, they were careful not to promise quick success. The fastest any vaccine had previously been developed, from viral sampling to approval, was four years, for mumps in the 1960s. To hope for one even by the summer...
Accor hotel chain adds Turkey, India to its Middle East and Africa business
Accor, a world-leading augmented hospitality group, has added India and Turkey to its Middle East and Africa region.The newly expended region will now comprise of a portfolio of more than 84,000 rooms across 400 hotels.With the industry’s most dynamic portfolio of brands, covering every market segment from economy to luxury...
Trade: Synthetic alternatives to endangered wildlife products being developed
Roughly a million species are threatened with extinction, according to a major international study published last year. And trade and personal use by people is the second leading driver behind habitat destruction, the research established.Conservation agency, Cites (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)...
CITES is a terminally ill patient in need of serious attention – conservationists
Customs officials in Singapore made a grisly discovery last April at a port on the island’s southern coast. Inside shipping containers supposedly transporting frozen beef from Nigeria to Vietnam, they found bloodstained sacks stuffed with 14 tonnes of scales stripped illegally from pangolins — scaly anteaters endemic to Africa and...
How to stop restaurants, gyms from driving up coronavirus infections
In cities worldwide, coronavirus outbreaks have been linked to restaurants, cafes and gyms. Now, a new model using mobile-phone data to map people’s movements suggests that these venues could account for most Covid-19 infections in US cities.The model, published this week, also reveals how reducing occupancy in venues can significantly...
