NEW DELHI — Using a combination of two vaccines at the center of India’s national Covid-19 vaccination program has returned results of significantly higher safety and immunogenicity among subjects relative to other groups that were given two installments of the same dose, the Indian Council of Medical Research reported in a study. “Eighteen individuals, under the national program, inadvertently received Covishield as the first jab and Covaxin as the second,” states the study. “Immunogenicity profile against Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants in the heterologous group was superior; IgG [Immunoglobulin G] antibody and neutralizing antibody response of the participants was also significantly higher…
Author: zenger.news
NEW DELHI — A massive wave of Covid-19 infections raging throughout Myanmar compound hunger, as families struggle amid job losses, rising food and fuel prices, political unrest, violence, and displacement, said the United Nations World Food Programme. “World Food Programme warned that its lifesaving operations in Myanmar are being held back by a major funding shortfall, with over 70 percent of its funding needs over the coming six months still unmet,” the United Nations food assistance agency said in a statement. The World Food Programme had launched a new food response targeting over two people in the country’s two biggest cities — Yangon and Mandalay. The…
NEW DELHI — Indian envoy to the United Nations, T.S. Tirumurti, said there must be zero tolerance for terrorism to restore peace and sovereignty in Afghanistan, and terrorist breeding grounds in the region should be eliminated. “It needs to be ensured that Afghanistan’s neighbors and the region are not threatened by terrorism, separatism, and extremism,” Tirumurti said. “There needs to be zero tolerance for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It is equally important to ensure that the territory of Afghanistan is not used by terrorist groups to threaten or attack any other country. Those providing material and financial support to terrorist…
MUMBAI, India — India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, on Aug. 6, retained the real Gross Domestic Product projection at 9.5 percent for 2021-2022. This means India’s domestic economy has begun to show signs of stabilization due to the receding effects of the second Covid-19 wave that hit the country in the first quarter. The growth projection was lowered from 10.5 percent earlier to 9.5 percent in the June monetary policy. The quarterly breakdown includes 21.4 percent in the first quarter, 7.3 percent in the next, 6.3 percent in the December quarter, and 6.1 percent for the March quarter. “Real gross domestic…
NEW DELHI — “Shershaah”, an upcoming Hindi film based on a fallen Indian soldier’s quest to save the motherland, will release on Amazon Prime Video this week, and actor Pranay Pachauri opened up about the intense military training he was subject to for the role of a subordinate fellow soldier ahead of the release. “To understand the mind of a soldier, we had to mingle, talk and train with jawans to get a better understanding of their psyche,” said Pachauri. “We were given a lot of tactical training and inputs from army personnel’s on how to shoot, hide, run and respond to commands…
NEW DELHI — Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan, on Aug. 8, 2021, marked 18 years of his National Award-winning sci-fi movie “Koi… Mil Gaya” by sharing a social media post. Roshan took to his Instagram and shared two pictures from the 2003 movie, wishing the film’s iconic character “Jaadoo” a happy birthday. The first snap is a solo picture of the alien character “Jaadoo.” The second picture is a still from the film featuring Roshan as Rohit Mehra with his alien friend. “To the one who filled Rohit’s and personally my life with happiness & magic (sic),” he wrote, reminiscing about his attachment towards…
SWANSEA, Wales — A new study has revealed that venom contributed significantly to the extraordinary diversity of insects and fishes and is the most species-rich invertebrate and vertebrate group in the animal kingdom. The findings of the research were published in the journal BMC Ecology and Evolution. Venomous fishes and insects diversify around twice as fast as their non-venomous counterparts, the research said. Venom provides an effective means of repelling predators or catching prey, which may allow species to exploit more opportunities in their environment, potentially leading to the formation of new species as they diversify in their ecology. Over 1 million species of…
NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan environmentalists have condemned a decision by soft drinks manufacturer Coca-Cola to switch from green-colored plastic bottles to clear easily-recyclable bottles for their Sprite drinks. “Coca-Cola’s latest campaign is nothing short of greenwashing,” Fredrick Njehu, a senior political advisor at Greenpeace Africa, told Zenger News. “Corporate capture in the production and distribution of plastic bottles cannot be corrected through collection and recycling. These have proven to be unsustainable, backward, and in total disregard of efforts to curb plastic pollution in our environment.” Coca-Cola is switching to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles for their lemon-lime flavored Sprite drinks worldwide. The soft-drink maker recently…
An Argentinian woman conquered her fear of surfing near sharks by engaging in a controversial extreme sport: freediving. Freediving, also called breath-hold diving, takes a daredevil to an average depth of 20 feet — without the breathing apparatus that scuba divers use. Luciana “Lou” Blanco Villegas moved to Manly, a beachside suburb of Sydney, three years ago. “One of my biggest motivations to move here was to learn how to surf, and I couldn’t do that from the sand,” she said. Luciana Blanco Villegas freediving with a friend. For the majority of swimmers, a depth of 20 feet is the most…
A 60-meter pool — the world’s deepest for diving — is now open to the public in Dubai. And adventure-seekers can explore a “lost city” with a Pac-Man game, a foosball table and billiards. There’s also a library, a working bicycle and an apartment building, all underwater. The Pearl Diving Pool in the bustling United Arab Emirates city bottoms out at 196 feet, 10 inches, making it the deepest man-made place you can dive, according to Guinness World Records. Opened on July 27 at Deep Dive Dubai, it boasts more than 53,000 square feet of floor area and was built…