MOSCOW — Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is around 83 percent effective against the Delta variant of Covid-19, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said on Aug. 11, citing data collected by the country’s health ministry. “The data confirms that Sputnik V remains protective against newly detected variants and retains one of the best safety and efficacy parameters,” the Russian Direct Investment Fund statement said. “The Russian Ministry of Health has also published data on Sputnik V’s efficacy against the Delta variant. The vaccine is 83.1 percent effective and shows a six times reduction of infection risk. Sputnik V is also 94.4 percent effective against hospitalizations with…
Author: zenger.news
MOSCOW — Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), proposed that US drugmaker Pfizer start joint trials with Sputnik Light as a booster Covid-19 vaccine shot. “Delta cases surge in the US and Israel shows mRNA vaccines need a heterogeneous booster to strengthen and prolong immune response,” Russian Direct Investment Fund said in a tweet on Aug. 11. “Sputnik V pioneered mix &match approach, combo trials & showed 83.1 percent efficacy vs. Delta. Today Russian Direct Investment Fund offers Pfizer to start a trial with Sputnik Light as a booster.” Russian Direct Investment Fund said that Sputnik V is the first in…
NEW DELHI — The apex child rights body in India, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), in a report, said that the minority schools in the country comprise 62.50 percent of students from the non-minority communities. In comparison, only 37.50 percent belong to minority communities. “Muslim community schools [20.29 percent] have the lowest percentage of non-minority population among their minority schools,” the report said. “The Christian community schools have 74.01 percent of the student population belonging to the non-Christian community.” The report was prepared to find a way and ensure that children from minority communities receive their fundamental rights…
NEW DELHI — Multinational professional services firm PwC India on Aug. 11 unveiled a new approach in how the firm sees new opportunities to serve clients in the country as they work to build trust and deliver sustained business outcomes to their stakeholders. As part of the India commitments, PwC in the next five years will seek to invest up to INR 1,600 crore ($215.5 million) and create over 10,000 additional jobs — a large proportion of these will come in the areas of digital, cloud, cyber, analytics, and emerging technologies. “The New Equation is based on an analysis of trends…
SINGAPORE — Banks’ asset risks will rise in most parts of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India as the region battles new waves of coronavirus infections amid low vaccination rates, credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service said on Aug. 11. Multiple rounds of coronavirus outbreaks that led to strict containment measures will impede economic recovery and erode borrowers’ debt repayment capacity, Moody’s said in the latest in-depth report. “Banks in Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia are particularly vulnerable as their economies struggle with elevated numbers of virus cases, heightening uncertainties around the reopening of their economies,” Rebecca Tan, a vice-president…
Five seals are back in their natural habitat in Russia after being rescued and treated for malnutrition and other ailments and then released by conservationists on Aug. 9. The ringed seals were released at Lake Ladoga near Saint Petersburg. The Baltic Seal Friends Fund animal-welfare group said the seals were rescued after a recent heavy storm. The four males and one female required urgent medical care, according to the Baltic Seal Friends Fund. The organization said the animals weighed around 44 pounds, except for the female. She was severely underweight at 9 pounds. By the time she was returned to…
WASHINGTON — Popular instant messaging platform WhatsApp introduced a feature that allows users to transfer chat history, including voice notes, photos, and conversations when switching from iOS to Android. This long-rumored feature was announced during Samsung’s launch event on Aug. 11 and will initially cover transfers from iOS to the company’s new Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 and other Samsung phones in the coming weeks. Eventually, this feature will cover all transfers between iOS and Android phones, though it’s unclear when it will be available for all devices. The new feature should help address one of WhatsApp’s most concerning issues as…
TORONTO — The extradition process against Huawei Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Meng Wanzhou could not be any fairer, Crown attorney Robert Frater said to a British Columbia Supreme Court judge, rejecting the defense’s appeal to end the proceedings. The final arguments in the nearly 19-month extradition process against the Huawei executive continued on Aug. 10. Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder and Chief Executive Officer Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on Dec. 1, 2018, at Vancouver International Airport during a layover stop at the request of the US government. The US Justice Department alleges that Meng committed fraud by misleading HSBC into…
WASHINGTON — A recent study led by an international team of researchers suggests that eating a more nutritious and plant-based diet can lower the risk of heart diseases in young adults and older women. The findings of the studies were published in the “Journal of the American Heart Association,” an open-access journal of the American Heart Association. In the two separate studies analyzing different healthy plant food consumption measures, researchers found that young adults and postmenopausal women had fewer heart attacks and were less likely to develop cardiovascular disease when they ate more healthy plant foods. The American Heart Association Diet and…
A helicopter pilot faces charges after making a non-emergency landing near an ice cream store. The pilot waited while a passenger “entered a nearby restaurant to buy an ice cream cake,” the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said. The pilot, who landed in a town parking lot in Tisdale, Saskatchewan, on July 31, is charged with dangerous operation of an aircraft, the RCMP stated. The RCMP received a complaint that the helicopter had landed “in a high-traffic parking lot [and] blew up dust and debris through the area, which includes schools, an aquatic center and more.” After investigating, police determined…