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National Review Dated: April 09, 2020 By  JIM GERAGHTY E arlier this week, the Morning Jolt newsletter examined a  study that contended the virus SARS-CoV-2  has certain features indicating it evolved through a considerable period of natural selection, and those traits are just too similar to coronaviruses from pangolins for the virus to have jumped straight from bats to humans, a scenario that made the researchers conclude that an accidental release from a laboratory was unlikely. But scientists are always learning more. And  Matt Ridley , a science journalist and author in the United Kingdom, offers significant news  in the  Wall Street Journal  today : RaTG13 is the name, rank and serial number of an individual horseshoe bat of the species  Rhinolophus affinis , or rather of a sample of its feces collected in 2013 in a cave in Yunnan, China. The sample was collected by hazmat-clad scientists from the Institute of Virology in Wuhan th...

The Irish Times Dated : April 06, 2020 By Kevin O Sullivan More “striking” evidence has emerged that the BCG vaccine given to counter TB may provide protection against Covid-19 and significantly reduce death rates in countries with high levels of vaccination. A study of 178 countries by an Irish medical consultant working with epidemiologists at the University of Texas in  Houston  shows countries with vaccination programmes – including  Ireland  – have far fewer coronavirus cases by a factor 10, compared to where BCG programmes are no longer deployed. This translates into a death rate up to 20-times less, according to urologist  Paul Hegarty  of the  Mater Hospital , Dublin. Their “correlation” study, expected to be published shortly by PLOS journal, is largely a statistical one and comes with caveats because of possibility of confounding factors. But it is more comprehensive than an initial one conducted in New York, which prompted a ...

Business Standard Dated: April 11, 2020 By Yuvraj Malik Europe, the most affected by the  coronavirus  pandemic globally at present, has finally agreed upon a relief package totalling 500 billion euros ($560 billion). This marks the end of a long deadlock — mostly on a video conference — among finance representatives of European nations. The main component of the rescue plan is 240 billion euros worth of credit lines to indebted countries hit by Covid-19. A part of the money will also go to European Investment Bank, which has been asked to increase lending to recovery initiatives. And finally, 100 billion euros will be set aside for a new unemployment insurance scheme. Reference: https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/world-coronavirus-dispatch-eu-finally-announces-560-bn-relief-package-120041100108_1.html

The Hindu April 13, 2020 It will raise it’s head during winters in this country. Once a vaccine is ready, recommendations may be made for vulnerable populations, including senior citizens. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s fulsome praise for the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) for his treatment for  COVID-19 , has raised the profile of the public-funded healthcare service. A senior member of the NHS and alumnus of the Madras Medical College Pala B. Rajesh details the protocols to combat the pandemic. How helpful is a lockdown in containing the spread of the infection? Any decision that has been made thus far, regarding this unprecedented epidemic has been binary. Public safety and economic backlash have been the two considerations. In the United Kingdom, we took a decision in late March that the lockdown would be total and we would have a review it in three weeks. Public health experts have recommended the  three week lockdown  based on the exper...

Dawn Dated : April 11, 2020 By Ramsha Jahangir   A day after digital and human rights groups urged the government to protect the public’s right to privacy while adopting technological solutions to the Covid-19 outbreak, the authorities released a draft personal data protection bill for consultation. In a press release issued on Friday, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) said it had formulated a draft ‘Personal Data Protection Bill, 2020’ as privacy of personal data of an individual had become more relevant and important than ever because of the increasing use of ICT (information and communications technology) services during the Covid-19 pandemic. “In order to promote a broader collaborative process, the MoITT has placed the draft bill on its website for public opinion. The Ministry of IT and Telecom invites all the stakeholders to share their feedback on the aforesaid bill for further enhancements,” it said. The bill is available to do...

Boomberg April 14, 2020 Jennifer Epstein Bernie Sanders endorsed Joe Biden on Monday in an effort to persuade his loyal supporters to support the presumptive Democratic nominee, saying that Americans of all political affiliations should back the former vice president to defeat President Donald Trump. “Today I’m asking all Americans, I’m asking every Democrat, I’m asking every independent, I’m asking a lot of Republicans to come together in this campaign to support your candidacy,” Sanders said on a livestream organized by Biden’s campaign, which had been billed as an update on the candidate’s plans to tackle the coronavirus crisis. “We’ve got to make Trump a one-term president and we need you in the White House,” Sanders told his former opponent, side-by-side on a split screen from their homes in Burlington, Vermont, and Wilmington, Delaware. “I will do all that I can to see that that happens.” The surprise announcement came less than a week after Sanders dropp...

Hindustan Times Dated :April 10, 2020 Saudi Arabia, Russia and their allies will press Mexico on Friday to join an accord for collective oil production cuts equivalent to 10% of global supplies and will push the United States and other producers to remove a further 5%. The plan for cuts top the agenda for Friday’s video conference of energy ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) major economies, after Moscow, Riyadh and others in the OPEC+ group forged a deal in marathon talks on Thursday, only to have it stumble when Mexico balked at the initiative. Oil prices have plunged to their lowest in two decades as global measures to prevent the coronavirus spreading led to a collapse in demand for crude, at the same time as Moscow and Riyadh’s battle for market share produced a flood of extra oil. U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened OPEC leader Saudi Arabia, which hosts Friday’s call, with punitive steps if it did not fix the oversupply problems, which has hit budgets of oil p...

The Hindu April 15, 2020 Deliberations on the €540-billion emergency rescue package that Eurozone Finance Ministers agreed on Thursday underscore the difficult road ahead to chart the economic recovery from the  coronavirus crisis . They also decided to open an emergency credit line in a fortnight, raise the lending capacity of the European Investment Bank and back the European Commission’s €100-billion unemployment insurance scheme. Separately, the European Central Bank in March decided to expand its asset purchase programme by €750-billion over the next nine months, even as its President, Christine Lagarde, pledged to do whatever it took to save the single currency. Thursday’s steps have been hailed as swift and substantial. But the current formula has stoked controversy, like during the economic meltdown, over burden-sharing between the richer members in the north and the poorer states in the south. The Netherlands initially opposed demands from Italy, the country worst aff...

scroll.in April 15, 2020 The Pentagon said that India will make use of the ‘enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats’ and to strengthen its defense. The United States on Monday approved the sale of Harpoon air-launched missiles and lightweight torpedoes worth $155 million to India, PTI reported. President Donald Trump conveyed his determination to confirm the deal, following a request made by the Indian government to provide the two military hardware. According to the Pentagon, the Harpoon missile system will be integrated into the P-8I aircraft to carry out anti-surface warfare missions in defense of critical sea lanes while enhancing interoperability with the United States and other allied forces. “India will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense,” the Pentagon said. The sale of ten AGM-84L Harpoon Block II air launched missiles is estimated to cost $92 million, while 16 MK 54 All Up Round Li...

Scroll.in April 15, 2020 British brokerage Barclays on Tuesday said India’s decision to extend the nationwide lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic till May 3 will inflict an economic loss of $234.4 billion (approximately Rs 18 lakh crore) or 8.1% of GDP. It also cut its growth forecast for the calendar year 2020 to 0% from the earlier projection of 2.5%, PTI reported. For the financial year 2020-’21, Barclays revised the growth to 0.8% from the earlier projection of 3.5%. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told Indians that they will need to  stay at home until May 3 . Extending the lockdown to check the spread of the coronavirus that began on March 25 with four hours’ notice, Modi called Indians to be even more vigilant about staying indoors until April 20, after which areas that do not have cases may be allowed some leeway. India has so far reported 10,363 cases of Covid-19, including 339 deaths, 1,035 recoveries and one migration, according to the  Uni...