On the eve of India’s 73rd Republic Day, the Government of India conferred Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian to Indian American technology leaders Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai and actor and chef Madhur Jeffery. In the “trade and industry” category, the chief executive officer of Microsoft Nadella and Google CEO Pichai will be honored whereas Jaffery will be honored with the award in the “culinary” category. After the founder and CEO of Microsoft stepped down in 2014, Nadella became the CEO of Microsoft. He has been working for the Seattle-based company for almos
British Prime Minister, Borris Johnson announced that his government is removing the mandatory coronavirus RT-PCR and other testing requirements this upcoming Thursday. The nation is ready to end Plan B measures for the fully vaccinated travelers arriving in England. The announcement came as a major relief for the aviation, tours & travel industry as the passengers and overseas travelers will not have to take the test before entering the country. In a press statement, Borris Johnson said, “To show that this country is open for business, open for travelers, you will see changes so
2022 brings in good news for travelers wishing to travel to Thailand. Thailand is set to resume a quarantine-free travel scheme for international travelers from February 1. The kingdom's tourism-dominated economy suffered a great deal following the suspension of the program due to the rise in cases of Omicron as visitor numbers plunged to a trickle. According to reports, the COVID-19 taskforce spokesman, Taweesin Visanuyothin said that fully vaccinated travelers will now be allowed to enter the country under the Test and Go scheme, and will be required to take COVID tests within the first
In December, the trial for the fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine was started by a team from Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv. The trial inoculated 120 volunteers with Moderna doses and 154 hospital personnel with Pfizer jabs. The study shows the preliminary result of the vaccines are safe and show substantial antibodies are produced. However, the hospital said that the fourth dose is considered “partially effective” in defending against the Omicron variant. According to Professor Gili Regev-Yochay, who leads the team said that vaccines were “extremely effective against the earl
On Monday, to assess the damage in tsunami-hit Tonga, Australia, and New Zealand dispatched surveillance flights. The eruption of an underwater volcano triggered a tsunami and blanketed the Pacific island with ash, cutting off the phone and internet lunes for the entire island. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison extended support for Tonga as soon as possible. However, the relief efforts were hampered due to the volcanic ash. She said, “There’s been a lot of challenges there with the ash cloud and the disruption to communications and so we are working together to get as much suppo
On Thursday, Australia reported its biggest pandemic caseload amid a runaway Omicron outbreak. The outbreak is driving up the need for hospitalization due to a surge and putting strain on supply chains, forcing authorities to ease quarantine rules for more workers. The number of confirmed cases in Australia has nearly doubled since the beginning of the pandemic as people remain unrestricted as they get used to living with the coronavirus. There have been more than 147,000 new cases confirmed, including about 92,000 in New South Wales (NSW), although that includes a backlog of positive at-h
The European Union regulators warn frequent COVID-booster shots could adversely affect the immune system and may not be feasible. According to the European Medicine Agency repeating the booster shots every four-month can weaken the immune response and might tire out people. In its report, the agency advised countries to leave more time between boosters and synchronize them with cold-season onsets in each hemisphere, following the blueprint set out by influenza vaccination strategies. Earlier this month, Israel become the first country to administer a second booster shot over people abov
Maya Angelou, a poet, and activist become the first Black woman to appear on the US quarter coin. The new version of the coin was unveiled on Monday by the US. The American Women Quarters Program, which was signed into law in January 2021, will also be the first figure commemorating. Angelou, author of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" Amnesty International hopes to honor Angelou in the future. According to the press release from the agency, the US mint has started shipping the first few coins with Angelou’s likeness on the American quarter, a 25-cent piece. Mint Deputy Director Ve
In a new lockdown to curb the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of coronavirus, millions of residents in central China are home confined. A mass testing drive has been launched by the government to control the situation. 14 million residents are ordered to undergo testing. According to the reports, all the non-essential businesses are also shut down. Beijing is looking forward to hosting the Winter Olympics next month with its “zero-Covid” strategy. The city is under high alert due to the new outbreak with targeted lockdowns, lengthy quarantines, border restrictions.
On Sunday, according to the African Union’s health watchdog by AFP, Africa has recorded more than 10 million coronavirus cases. The African Centres for Disease Control (CDC) released the data showcasing the 55 member states of the African Union with more than 10,028,508 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic. The CDC confirms recording the death toll of 231,157. Several countries on the continent have enforced new restrictions following the discovery of the highly contagious Omicron variant in South Africa in late November. However, due to poor access to jabs and some vaccine hesitancy