India is set to resume regular international flights from March 27. After 2 years the flight will resume as pre-pandemic schedules. Civil Aviation Minister said that international operations will be subjected to strict adherence to Ministry of Health guidelines for international travel. In November last year, the aviation ministry announced it would resume regular international flights starting December 15, 2021. That order was subsequently revoked due to the rise in Omicron cases. The government official said, “After being recognised the increase of vaccination coverage across the gl
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved Covovax for 12-17 years after the Subject Expert Committee on COVID-19 of the CDSCO last week recommended granting emergency use authorisation (EUA). It was authorized by DCGI to the Serum Institute subject to certain conditions. Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute said confirming the DCGI approval, “@SerumInstIndia’s brand Covovax has completed bridging studies in India and has been granted Emergency Use Authorization by DCGI for adults and for children above the age of 12. Younger age groups will follow shortly”. To recei
Malaysia is ready to re-open its border for tourists after two-year of Covid closure. From April 1, all vaccinated travelers will be permitted to enter the nation in an attempt to live with Covid. Prime Minister Ismail Sabri said, “The government has decided to open its borders on April 1, 2022. We believe this decision will boost our economy and help revive our ailing tourism sector”. The change comes despite Malaysia is reporting more than 25,000 infections a day. However, the infection is said to have mild symptoms, the decision came mirroring to its neighboring nations Singapore
Professor Deepak Dhar who is a physicist and emeritus faculty at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune will be awarded the prestigious Boltzmann Medal for 2022. Along with him, Professor John Hopfield is also selected from Princeton University. Boltzmann Medals honor outstanding achievements in statistical physics and are awarded once every three years by C3 Commission on Statistical Physics of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). The award will be held in Tokyo, Japan which will be presented during the Stathys28 Conference next year i
India’s largest electric vehicle (EV) charging station with a capacity of 121 charging points for four-wheelers is opened in Gurugram’s Sector 86. With the new EV station, the city now has two of the largest electric vehicle charging stations in the nation. The first EV station was opened in January which would facilitate 100 four-wheelers to charge at the same time and is located at Sector 52 of Gurugram. The Ease of Doing Business Program has aided Alektrify Private Limited to develop an EV charging station that has 75 AC, 25 DC along with 21 hybrid charging points with a potentia
As part of the UAE's effort to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, Dubai plans to cut carbon emissions by 30% by 2030. The UAE became the first Middle Eastern oil exporter to present its national contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to achieve carbon neutrality by the middle of the century. Ahead of the COP26 in Glasgow, Dubai’s carbon abatement strategy follows the UAE’s pledge to offset all of its emissions by 2050. Vice-Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and head of the emirate’s utility, Saeed Al Tayer said, “The council has started evalua
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) backed the use of Merck & Co Inc’s Covid-19 pill for high-risk patients. Post-six clinical trials involving 4,796 patients, the recommendation was made based on new data. The WHO’s Guideline Development Group (GDG) recommendations are aimed to help the doctors by providing the best care for the patients in fast-moving situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. The Molnupiravir pill was conditionally recommended by the expert panel for patients with non-severe diseases like immunocompromised, unvaccinated, older people, or with chroni
The United Arab Emirates government's National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority updated its guidance by ending the mandatory requirement to wear face masks and obligatory quarantine for COVID-19 contact cases. The rule went into effect on Saturday, where the fully vaccinated passengers will no longer require PCR tests. The management said, “for economic and tourist sector, physical distancing has been canceled while mask-wearing in closed places is still mandatory”. Abu Dabhi, UAE’s capital, also removed the requirement for those coming from other UAE emirates to
The Singapore government announced on 16 February 2022 that it will extend the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme to several countries. These countries included Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, the Philippines, Israel, UAE, and a new VTL to Hong Kong. the scheme came into force in a phased manner starting from 25 February. This decision allowed vaccinated travelers to fly quarantine-free into Singapore from the approved countries. Singapore said it will gradually lift the 50% cap on VTL travelers to let more people in. In a press release, the Ministry of Health said, “We will progressi
On Thursday, Canada approved the use of the world’s first plant-derived Covifenz Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccine is jointly developed by GlaxoSmithKline Plc. and Medicago Inc. A two-dose regimen of 3.75 micrograms per dose is authorized by Medicago Covifenz which is to be administered 21 days apart. The trial for this was found to be 71% effective against the infection within the Symptomatic patients and 100% effective against the severe disease caused by the coronavirus. Covifenz uses Glaxo’s adjuvant that consists of DL-alpha-tocopherol, polyphosphate 80, squalene, phosphate-buffere