Hibiscus Tea Glazed Shortbread Cookies (Eggless) By Certina Romel

This is a melt-in-a-mouth cookie with a little tartness and lovely hues from wonderful hibiscus flowers. You’ll love making it as much as you’ll love having it with your family. How I developed this recipe- I’m in Kerala and last day my mom was talking about the medicinal properties of hibiscus flowers and how we kids used to love our grand mom’s hibiscus chutney and were amazed by it’s beautiful pink colour, which she used to make quite often to make us finish our breakfast plates filled with tiny dosas/idlis.  Hearing about how good it is for our health and remembering how pretty that pink color was I decided to search for a sweet recipe that too a melt-in-mouth butter cookie recipe, so that my sweet-toothed family would love it. That’s the story of this lovely cookie.. What’s special about this recipe- Health benefits of hibiscus- These are numerous.. Hibiscus tea, which is basically brewed from dried hibiscus flowers, being packed with anti-oxidants, helps lower body fat levels, blood pressure and even helps in preventing cancer. It’s quite flavourful and fights bacteria too. This easy-to-brew tea promotes liver health as well. No artificial colours- The natural pretty pink color that I had mentioned in the initial paragraphs comes from the concentration of hibiscus tea itself and thus this additive-free cookie is a bliss in every way. What you’ll need- For the cookies-

  • 1/4 dried hibiscus flowers, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup softened butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

For the glaze-

  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon loose dried hibiscus flowers (tea)
  • 1/4 cup water

How to make- For the cookies- . Preheat the oven to 325 Fahrenheit.. Whisk together flour, salt & cinnamon in a bowl.. Cream together the butter until the sugar has almost dissolved, the mixture should be pale and fluffy.. Add vanilla and blend it in.. Keeping the mixture on a low stir, add in the dry ingredients and stir-in until well-incorporated.. Gently stir-in the chopped hibiscus to incorporate as well.. Gently gather the dough on a floured surface and shape it into a cylindrical log.. Cut it into half inch circles (~ 17-21 cookies).. Bake on a parchment lined tray for 16 to 18 minutes.. Wait to cool down. For the glaze- . Brew the hibiscus flowers in boiling water until well concentrated as shown in the figure.. Once it has cooled down, whisk it up into the powdered sugar until lump free.. Dip half part of the cookies in it and wait to cool for atleast half an hour to set before having or storing in an airtight container. Notes, tips and suggestions- . I you don’t have home-dried hibiscus flowers you could easily find it online or in almost any Trader Joe’s store.. If the dough is not easily coming together due to stickiness, you could refrigerate it for a while before forming a log.

“There has never been a better time to invest in India:” PM Modi Tells During Keynote Address at the India Ideas Summit

“There has never been a better time to invest in India,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while delivered a keynote address at the India Ideas Summit on July 22nd, 2020, hosted by the US-India Business Council (USIBC). In the virtual summit, which brought together senior officials from the Government of India and the United States to set the post-pandemic economic recovery agenda, PM Modi invited US businesses to invest in various economic sectors of India.

“Global economic resilience can be achieved by stronger domestic economic capacities,”  Modi said, while pointing that “India is contributing towards a prosperous and resilient world through the clarion call of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat.’” Describing India as the emerging land of opportunities, Modi said, India-US partnership can play an important role in helping the world bounce back faster after the pandemic.

The theme for this year’s Summit was ‘Building a Better Future’. Prime Minister congratulated USIBC on its 45th anniversary this year. He thanked the USIBC leadership for their commitment to advancing India-US economic partnership.

Modi talked about the need to place the poor and the vulnerable at the core of growth agenda. He underlined that ‘Ease of Living’ is as important as ‘Ease of Business’. He said that the pandemic has reminded us of the importance of resilience of the global economy against external shocks, which can be achieved by stronger domestic economic capacities.

India offers a perfect combination of openness, opportunities and options Prime Minister said that there is global optimism towards India because it offers a perfect combination of openness, opportunities and options. He noted that in the last six years, efforts have been undertaken to make our economy more open and reform oriented, adding that reforms have ensured competitiveness, enhanced transparency, expanded digitization, greater innovation and more policy stability.

Citing a recent report, Prime Minister said that there are more rural internet users than urban internet users. Hailing India as a land of opportunities, he said there are about half a billion active internet users in the country now, while there are over half a billion more people who are being connected. He also mentioned opportunities in the frontier technologies of 5G, Big Data analytics, Quantum Computing, Block-chain and Internet of Things.

Extensive opportunities to invest across sectors Prime Minister underlined that there are extensive opportunities to invest in a variety of sectors in India. He talked about the historic reforms recently undertaken in the agriculture sector and said that there are opportunities to invest in areas including agriculture inputs and machinery, agriculture supply chain, food processing sector, fisheries and organic produce.

Noting that the healthcare sector in India is growing faster than 22% every year and the progress of Indian companies in production of medical-technology, tele-medicine and diagnostics, he said that now is the best time to expand investment in Indian healthcare sector. Prime Minister listed several other sectors which offer tremendous opportunities to invest, viz. the energy sector; infrastructure creation including building houses, roads, highways and ports; civil aviation, wherein top private Indian airlines plan to include over a thousand new aircrafts over the coming decade, thus opening up opportunity for any investor who chooses to set up manufacturing facilities in India, and also through setting up of Maintenance Repair and Operations facilities.

He mentioned that India is raising the FDI cap for investment in defence sector to 74%, two defence corridors have been established to encourage production of defense equipment and platforms, and added that special incentives are offered for private and foreign investors. He also mentioned pathbreaking reforms being undertaken in the space sector.

Inviting investment in finance and insurance, Prime Minister said that India has raised the FDI cap for investment in insurance to 49% and 100% FDI is permitted for investment in insurance intermediaries. He noted that there are large untapped opportunities for increasing insurance cover in health, agriculture, business and life insurance.

Rising investments in India Prime Minister talked about India’s rise in Ease of Doing Business rankings of the World Bank. He underlined that each year, India is reaching record highs in FDI, adding that FDI inflows in India in 2019-20 were 74 billion dollars, which is an increase of 20% over the previous year.

He highlighted that even during the pandemic, India has attracted foreign investment of more than 20 billion dollars between April and July this year. Best time to invest in India Prime Minister said that India has what is needed to power the global economic recovery. He noted that India’s rise means a rise in trade opportunities with a nation that can be trusted, a rise in global integration with increasing openness, a rise in competitiveness with access to a market which offers scale, and a rise in returns on investment with the availability of skilled human resources.

Stating USA and India as natural partners, he said this partnership can play an important role in helping the world bounce back faster after the pandemic. Reaching out to the American investors, he said that there has never been a better time to invest in India.

“This year’s summit, “Building a Better Future,” featured a series of conversations that explore how U.S.-India partnerships — and the governments, businesses and institutions that sustain them — have been instrumental to combating the health and economic challenges of COVID-19,” said Nisha Biswal, President of USIBC. “We’ve also focused on how the U.S.-India corridor can leverage post-pandemic opportunities to support a more secure and sustainable world. The 2020 conference brings together thought leaders to discuss shared challenges in areas like geopolitics, inclusive economic growth and job creation, supply chain integrity, the digital divide and resilient infrastructure development.”

Will Dr. Manny Sethi Win GOP Primary for US Senate Seat in Tennessee Against Trump’s Endorsement for His Opponent?

A Republican primary win by Dr. Manny Sethi might not be quite as big of a political upset in Tennessee as Bill Lee’s primary win was two years ago, but it might not be far from it.Sethi, a trauma surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who is the son of Indian-American immigrants, is trying to do the same thing Lee: campaign as an outsider and political newcomer, and upset a well-entrenched insider. Lee did it against Randy Boyd in his successful campaign for governor in 2018; Sethi is trying to do it against Bill Hagerty for the U.S. Senate.President Donald Trump’s endorsement clout will get another test in the Aug. 6 open Republican U.S. Senate primary in Tennessee. Bill Hagerty, Trump’s former ambassador to Japan, has the president’s endorsement in a race against Manny Sethi, a Nashville trauma surgeon who doesn’t disagree with Trump on a whole lot, either — other than his preference of candidate. So far, the contest for the GOP nomination has revolved around who would be a more fitting right-hand man for Trump in Washington.The 41-year-old Indian American Republican entered the race in June 2019 after Sen. Alexander’s late 2018 announcement that he will not seek a fourth term. He is a surgeon and associate professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the director of Vanderbilt Orthopedic Center for Health Policy.More than a dozen are running for the seat’s Republican nomination: Sethi, Clifford Adkins, Matisha Brooks, Byron Bush, Roy Dale Cope, Terry Dicus, Jim Elkins, Tom Emerson, Jr., George S. Flinn, Jr., Bill Hagerty, Jon Henry, Klent A. Morrell, Glen L. Neal, Jr., John E. Osborne, Aaron L. Pettigrew, Johnny JJ Presly and David Shuster.An internal poll shared by Republican U.S. Senate candidate Manny Sethi indicated that he is close to Bill Hagerty in the race for outgoing U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander’s seat. According the internal poll results shared from Sethi’s office, Hagerty leads the race by a 2% lead as the August primary election approaches for the state. Hagerty has been endorsed by President Donald Trump.“We can’t let up now,” Sethi said in a press release. “We have moved over 20 points in the polls this past month. Voters are responding to our conservative message of standing up to the left wing mobs and defending America.”Sethi, a Nashville surgeon, Sethi has run a preventative health nonprofit, Healthy Tennessee, and co-edited a book on health policy with former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, also a former Vanderbilt surgeon from Tennessee.Trump tweeted an endorsement for Hagerty on July 12, 2019. “I have had the benefit of working with President Trump for a long time,” said Hagerty, in a June interview with The Daily Herald. “I appreciate the fact that President Trump takes my input. If I have something I want to discuss with him, whether he agrees with me or not, we sit and talk about it. I do not issue a press release. I do not go on TV and complain about it. I talk with him about it. I have the ability to do that.He was part of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign brain trust and served as his ambassador to Japan. “The grassroots momentum of this campaign is growing,” Sethi said last week when announcing the opening of additional campaign offices across the state. “This campaign is powered by conservatives all across Tennessee. With seven offices across the state, we’re going to continue to connect with activists from Mountain City to Memphis who are hungry for a conservative to represent our values in the United States Senate.”In late June, the Associated Press reported that the Conservative Outsiders PAC, funded with $100,000 from David Ingram, Sethi’s campaign state finance chairman and president of a large distribution company, sent to more than 300,000 Republican activists a video attacking Hagerty.The group also set up an anti-Hagerty website and shared plans for more videos, ads on multiple platforms. In response, Hagerty’s campaign didn’t mention the attack or Sethi, and instead continued to direct focus to Trump’s endorsement. “Now more than ever, we have to support the president,” Sethi said. He added that America “is the greatest country on earth. Don’t let anybody, anywhere, ever tell you different. My family’s story, my personal story, is a testament to that.”But, he added, America does have some pressing issues, chief among them being the rioting that is taking place across the nation in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers that have since been criminally charged and jailed.“We have this mob that is burning, rioting, looting in the streets,” Sethi said. “If anybody says anything, they call you a racist. And these weak-kneed Republicans in Washington, they won’t take them on. If I am your U.S. Senator, we will take them on.” With less than two weeks remaining before the final votes are counted, all the indications are that momentum is shifting to Sethi.

With Less Than 100 Days To 2020 Election, Trump Is Behind In A State No Republican Has Won The Presidency Without In 96 Years

The indisputable fact that the polls in Florida favor Biden ought to be considered one of the greatest warning indicators but for Trump’s fledgling marketing campaign. Yes, we nonetheless have less than 100 days to go, and historical past does counsel that the hole in Florida may shut. Still, Florida is most likely the bellwether state that almost all meets the definition of “must win” for Trump if he desires to be elected to a second time period, and he is dropping there.

A new CNN/SSRS poll finds that former Vice President Joe Biden leads in the state of Florida by a 51% to 46% margin over President Donald Trump among registered voters. The CNN poll follows a Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this week, which showed Biden with a 51% to 38% lead.
Trump hasn’t led in a single Florida poll since early March.  The fact that the polls in Florida favor Biden should be one of the biggest warning signs yet for Trump’s fledgling campaign. Yes, we still have 100 days to go, and history does suggest that the gap in Florida could close.

Still, Florida is probably the bellwether state that most meets the definition of “must win” for Trump if he wants to be elected to a second term, and he is losing there. No Republican has won the presidency without Florida since Calvin Coolidge in 1924.

Moreover, it’s a state that leans a little bit to the right of the nation. The last time the state voted more Democratic than the nation as a whole in a presidential election was 1976. The fact that Trump is down here by an average of 8 points in high quality live interview polls since June 1 suggests he is down significantly nationally.

Biden, on the other hand, has a clear path to 270 electoral votes without Florida. Biden has held 6 to 12 point leads in polls released this week from Michigan and Pennsylvania. This includes 6 point and 12 point advantages in Michigan from CBS News/YouGov and CNN/SSRS polls respectively released on Sunday. High quality polls from June gave Biden an average 10-point lead in Wisconsin. If Biden adds all of those states to his column plus the 232 electoral votes from the states Hillary Clinton won in 2016, he gets to 278 electoral votes.

Winning Florida gives Biden a lot of backup options given that it’s worth 29 electoral votes. If Biden adds the 29 electoral votes from Florida to the states Clinton took in 2016, he gets 261 electoral votes. Biden would need just 9 electoral votes more to get an electoral college majority. He could add any other state that Trump won in 2016 by 9.0 points or less.

As I noted a few months ago, Florida is geographically and demographically diverse from the Great Lake battleground states. If Biden stumbles in the mostly White Great Lake swing states, he could conceivably hold onto Florida and add on the diverse swing state of Arizona. Biden has consistently been ahead in Arizona, and he was up 4 and 5 points in the latest CNN/SSRS and NBC News/Marist College polls out Sunday.

Additionally, Biden could just win one of those Great Lake battleground states and Florida to get to 270 electoral votes. Biden could, for example, add Michigan (16 electoral votes) to his column, and it would be enough. Biden has held the advantage in every single nonpartisan poll in Michigan since early March.
Perhaps as importantly for Democrats, the polling in Florida has generally been accurate at the end of the campaign. There hasn’t been an error like there was in the Great Lakes in 2016. The final Florida polls from CNN have been within 3 points of the outcome in every presidential election since 2008. The same holds true for the gubernatorial and Senate elections in 2018.
With Biden’s polling lead being as wide as it is right now in the Sunshine State, the past accuracy of the final polls suggest he really is ahead right now.

The good news for Trump is that history does indicate how difficult it would be for Biden to win the state by a large margin. The last time a Democrat won the state by more than 6 points was 1948. No candidate from either party has won the state by more than 6 points since 1992.
(That’s an even longer streak for close elections than the infamous bellwether of Ohio. Unlike Florida, Ohio really isn’t a bellwether state anymore as indicated by Trump’s 1-point advantage in a CBS News/YouGov poll out on Sunday. Biden was up 10 points in a national CBS News/YouGov poll also released Sunday.)

Overall the point is that we shouldn’t be surprised if the margin in Florida closes down the stretch. That’s exactly what happened in the 2018 midterms, when Republican candidates for governor and Senate squeaked out wins by less than a point.  But for now, Florida is emblematic of larger challenges Trump faces. It’s been a state ravaged by the coronavirus, which has almost certainly contributed to Trump’s problems in the state.

Doug Sosnik, one of the top political analysts in America, framed it in this colorful way: “Watching Donald Trump running for reelection is like watching an old Austin Powers movie. Both Austin and Trump walk around without a shred of self-awareness, without a clue as to how the world has changed around them. Trump is starring in a rerun of his 2016 campaign in a different country than the one that elected him president.”

The polling numbers from WSJ/NBC News, the Pew Research Center and Gallup tell the story of why Trump needs an ideological culture war to win this election. Eighty percent of Americans believe the country is out of control, 65% think the coronavirus is getting worse, only 19% of Republican voters are satisfied with the way things are going in our country, 72% of all voters believe the country is on the wrong track, Trump’s job approval can barely break 40% driven by the public dissatisfaction of his handling of the coronavirus and Joe Biden holds a steady and significant lead in all public polls.

Every quantitative signal and historical precedent points to a surefire loss for the President in November. Now, most people looking at the numbers 97 days out, including me, made the same judgment in 2016 — Trump couldn’t win. He trailed in most public polls for the entire general election and he did lose the national popular vote, yet he was elected with a solid electoral college victory.

Trump likely can’t win if he doesn’t turn around his low approval ratings on the coronavirus. His approval rating in Florida on the issue is just 42% among registered voters in the latest CNN poll. Were that to remain the case through Election Day, Biden’s likely the next President.

Republicans Unveil $1 Trillion COVID Stimulus Proposal

Senate Republicans on Monday formally unveiled their stimulus proposal, which will serve as an opening bid ahead of bipartisan negotiations with Democrats as lawmakers scramble to respond to the ongoing economic and public health crisis sparked by the pandemic.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor, “The American people need more help,” and that the GOP proposal will be called the HEALS Act, an acronym for Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools.” McConnell announced that a series of GOP committee chairmen will roll out the component parts of the legislation shortly.  “Just like in March with the CARES Act, Senate Republicans have authored another bold framework to help our nation. So now we need our Democratic colleagues to reprise their part as well,” McConnell said, calling on them to “put aside partisan stonewalling,” and “rediscover the sense of urgency that got the CARES Act across the finish line.” The Senate Republican proposal will sit around $1 trillion and include $105 billion for schools, a second round of direct payments to individuals and families, $16 billion in new money for testing, a second, more targeted round of forgivable small business loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, a myriad of tax incentives for employers to rehire, retain and retrofit their offices for employees. It will also include Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s redline: liability protections for businesses, schools, hospitals and non-profits. The plan includes a $400 cut in enhanced unemployment benefits, and will serve as an opening bid for bipartisan negotiations with Democrats while Congress scrambles to respond to the economic and public health crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic. It will also cut enhanced federal unemployment benefits — set to expire at the end of this week — to $200, from the current level of $600, as states transition to implement a system designed to provide approximately 70% wage replacement for laid off workers, according to two people familiar with the proposal. McConnell has said that he hopes that in the next two to three weeks the Senate will be able to get the next coronavirus relief bill to the House. Democrats are already unified behind their own opening offer — a $3 trillion proposal that passed the House back in May.  The GOP plan had originally been expected to be released last week, but was delayed amid disputes and holdups. Hard-fought negotiations are expected ahead given that Democrats and Republicans are far away from each other in terms of both topline numbers as well as specifics in their proposals.  Republicans have also faced division within their own ranks as they have worked to put together a proposal, and some GOP senators are wary of spending more money on top of the trillions of coronavirus aid that lawmakers have already enacted. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said on Monday that he expects “significant resistance” from Republicans to the GOP stimulus bill. “There is significant resistance to yet another trillion dollars. The answer to these challenges will not simply be shoveling cash out of Washington, the answer to these challenges will be getting people back to work. And as it stands now, I think it’s likely that you’ll see a number of Republicans in opposition to this bill and expressing serious concerns,” he said. Democrats put forward their stimulus plan earlier in the year, with the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passing the $3 trillion HEROES Act in May, but Republicans have struggled to answer it with legislation of their own, failing to share their plan as promised last week. Passing the bill — which will involve striking a deal with Democrats — is a deeply urgent matter for Congress. McConnell, on Monday following the roll out of the GOP stimulus proposal, described the plan as “a starting place,” acknowledging that Democrats will be needed to get anything to the President’s desk and that more negotiations lay ahead.  “Every bill has to start somewhere. Republicans are in the majority in the Senate. This is a starting place. You’ll have plenty of stories to cover along the way as we have these discussions back and forth across party lines and with the administration,” he said.

‘Gang’ in Bollywood is Working Against A R Rahman, Not Letting Him Curate Music For Hindi Films

World renowned Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman says that a ‘gang’ of people in the Hindi film industry is preventing him from making music for the Hindi movie audience. The highly talented musician has composed music for thousands of songs in Hindi and other regional languages, including the songs for Sushant Singh Rajput’s last film Dil Bechara that streamed on Disney+Hotstar recently.

In his latest interview with Radio Mirchi recently, Rahman said that when director Mukesh Chhabra came to him for the music of Dil Bechara, he told him that many people had asked to not approach him and that was when he realised that even though he wants to work for the Hindi audience, a few people in the industry are not happy about it. Also Read – SSR Case: PM Modi ‘Acknowledges’ Subramanian Swamy’s Letter Requesting For a CBI Inquiry

Rahman was quoted saying, “I don’t say no to good movies, but I think there is a gang, which, due to misunderstandings, is spreading some false rumors. When Mukesh Chhabra came to me, I gave him four songs in two days. He told me, ‘Sir, how many people said don’t go, don’t go to him (AR Rahman) and they told me stories after stories.’ I heard that, and I realized, yeah okay, now I understand why I am doing less (work in Hindi films) and why the good movies are not coming to me. I am doing dark movies, because there is a whole gang working against me, without them knowing that they are doing harm.”

The celebrated musician added that he doesn’t mind it because he believes in the power of destiny. The legendary music composer said that he wants everyone to know that he’s happy to create music for Hindi films and filmmakers should not hesitate before approaching him. Also Read – Dil Bechara Movie News: AR Rahman Mentions ‘Memories of Sushant’ as Film’s Soundtrack Released last week.

“People are expecting me to do stuff, but there is another gang of people preventing that from happening. It is fine, because I believe in destiny, and I believe that everything comes from God. So, I am taking my movies and doing my other stuff. But all of you are welcome to come to me. Make beautiful movies, and you are welcome to come to me,” he explained.

Rahman’s account of groupism in Bollywood supports the narrative that irrespective of the talent of any artist in the industry, a select few allegedly powerful people in the Hindi film industry control fates of artists. The ace music composer has been winning acclaim for his latest score in Sushant Singh Rajput’s last film Dil Bechara, directed by Mukesh Chhabra. Rahman realized the lack of offers from Bollywood when Chhabra approached him and narrated allegedly false “stories” about him that have been circulating in the industry.

Reposting a tweet shared by filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, Rahman stated that he believes in peace and that is the time to maneuver on. The celebrated musician stated that all the things comes again however not the time that’s spent in doing frivolous issues.

Kapur had shared a chunk of reports that quoted Rahman’s assertion about not getting quite a lot of work within the Hindi movie business. Whereas sharing the identical on Twitter, he wrote, “Misplaced Cash comes again, fame comes again, however the wasted prime time of our lives won’t ever come again. Peace! Lets transfer on. We have now larger issues to do.

Recently, Rahman and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur have joined hands with life coach Shayamal Vallabhjee to create awareness on mental health and promote positive mental wellbeing. After the demise of Sushant Singh Rajput, many celebs have come forward and spoke at length about mental health and their battles with depression. Talking about the same, South Africa based sports scientist Vallabhjee said in a statement about his show In Pursuit of Balance. AR Rahman, who has composed hundreds of songs in several languages in a career spanning three decades, recently co-wrote and produced the film 99 Songs, for which he has also designed the original score. He has won the National Awards six times while he has twice won at the Oscars and the Grammys (all four for his work on 2008’s film Slumdog Millionaire).

Top Technologist Simplifies Ventilator By Inventing An Affordable Design

Ravinder Pal Singh, shies away from attention, despite the fact that he’s one of the world’s most sought out experts in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Innovation and Robotics. Ravinder Pal Singh (Ravi), is an award winning Technologist, Rescue Pilot and Angel Investor with several patents. As an inventor, engineer, investor, highly sought global speaker and storyteller, his body of work focuses on making a difference within acute constraints of culture and cash, mostly via commodity technology. Ravi’s latest invention is arguably the world’s most affordable ventilator and what has fuelled him, in his own words, is – “Fear of human contact is not sustainable for civilization. Everyone has to contribute to overcome this fatigue and fatality of fear”.
 
His latest visionary creation is a blueprint to help humanity in the fight for survival against one of the most challenging health crises in the recent past. The impact of COVID-19 has prompted a reluctant but much needed change. According to Ravi, the cost of life should not come at the price of lifestyle. Intent for compassion has to translate into actual actions by everyone and everywhere and every day.
 
Disparity and imbalance take resources away from most people to live a basic life, so a minority can afford an expensive (lavish) lifestyle, and this is no longer sustainable. Secondly, the world, till now, has been driven by collaboration of conflict (potential of war) and/or economics (fiscal prudence), which should be changed towards collaboration to survive, keeping health as a priority. Healthcare infrastructures across countries needs to be revisited and global uniformity has to be established.
 
Thirdly, how we design our lives – places where we live, places where we work, places where we interact – should all change. The glorification of creating mega cities is no longer sustainable. In fact, the history of the demise of past civilizations has a commonality of 4 factors — A combination of an epidemic plus population movements plus the pressure urbanization put on rural lifestyles as well as climate change. There is still merit in non-political Gandhian theories based on – De-centralization and Micro Markets, Rural development (ideal cluster of villages), Self-sufficiency while living harmoniously with nature and a greater equity or “distributive justice via creating institutions than solely profit driven businesses.
 
The inspiration for Ravi’s latest invention came from his own experience at the frontlines. The world faces a severe and acute public health emergency due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. It is a stark truth that COVID-19 can require patients to be on ventilators for significant periods of time and that hospitals can only accommodate a finite number of patients at once. Ventilator shortages are an unfortunate reality as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to worsen globally.
 
Ventilators are expensive pieces of machinery to maintain, store and operate. They also require ongoing monitoring by health-care professionals. To solve the above situation, Ravi has invented and prototyped an affordable ventilator for all, using a minimalistic design which can be easily operated by anyone. The key design element is the ability to build it quickly for mass production so governments around the world can encourage existing industrial setups and start-ups to manufacture them locally to help save lives.
 
Ravi was baffled with the thought of why one would require an engineering degree to design, produce and manufacture a ventilator.  He has built two different working prototypes on common platform design.
 
The first version is the simplest and is an extremely portable ventilator, one which is intuitive, can be used by anyone and fundamentally takes air from the atmosphere, extracts oxygen, controls pressure and pushes the output to the lungs. The second one is an advanced version of this particular ventilator.
 
It is on a similar design platform which converges artificial intelligence with electrical, mechanical, electronics and instrumentation,  with the capability to supply pure oxygen. It has self calibration capabilities, a machine learning algorithm to adjust the air flow according to the needs and the resistive nature of the lungs of any patient. Both of them are based on common platform design thinking and that’s the real beauty of his patented design and platform thinking. The reason to work and produce outcomes has become purified through the stark reality of death. Driving Ravi’s imagination and the core to all of his inventions is the burning desire to create a meaningful body of work through compassion oriented design and architectural forms.
 
Ravinder Pal Singh (Ravi) is a Harvard Alumni and Award Winning Engineer with over several hundred Global Recognitions and Patents. His body of work, mostly 1st in the world, is making a difference within acute constraints of culture and cash via commodity technology. He has been acknowledged as one of the world’s top 10 Robotics Designers, #1 Artificial Intelligence Leaders in Asia and featured as one of the world’s top 25 CIOs. Ravi is currently employed as the Chief Innovation and Information Officer at Tata Singapore Airlines (Vistara). Ravi is the advisor to a board of nine enterprises where incubation and differentiation is a core necessity and challenge. He sits on the advisory council of three global research firms where he contributes in predicting practical future automation use cases and respective technologies.email: [email protected]: www.ravinps.com
 

Apple Starts Making First Flagship Iphone In Chennai, India

In a major major boost to the Indian government’s Made in India initiative, Apple has started manufacturing one of its flagship devices, the iPhone 11, in Chennai’s Foxconn plant. Notably, this is the first time Apple has manufactured a top-of-the-line model in India, reports ET. Prior to this, the Cupertino-based tech giant had started assembling the iPhone XR in the country’s Foxconn plant. Apple manufacturer Foxconn has started building iPhone 11 units in a facility near Chennai in India, TechCrunch reported, the first time Apple has made one of its top-tier phones in that country.  Apple has manufactured lower-priced iPhone models in India since 2017, and reportedly has been considering moving production of its more premium models there for some time.

India was the second-biggest smartphone market in the world in 2019, ahead of the US and second only to China. According to TechCrunch, Apple plans to scale up production in India, which would in turn reduce how much it depends on China, where most of its iPhones are currently made. And while Apple tops the premium smartphone market in India, it has only about a 1 percent share of the total smartphone market there. The iPhone’s price puts it out of reach for many consumers in India.

By selling locally-made devices in India, Apple would be able to avoid a 20 percent import duty that India imposes on foreign-made electronics. It’s not clear whether the devices are being manufactured for sale within India only, or for the broader worldwide market.

The local assembly of Apple iPhones would be beneficial for buyers in many ways. The Made in India units won’t cost as much as the imported devices as the company will not have to pay a 20 percent tax that is required to import the smartphones from its global manufacturing facilities. The ET report states that the production of the iPhone 11 will be done in phases and one of Apple’s largest suppliers, Foxconn will make an investment of 1 billion dollars to expand its plant in Tamil Nadu over the next couple of years. Apple currently has three major suppliers for its iPhone models Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron. And not just Foxconn, Pegatron too has plans to invest big in India.

“We are fully pushing ahead with the next steps there (in India), and maybe in a few months’ time, we can reveal on our website the next steps and report back to everyone. We’ll have a further investment there,” Liu Young-Way, Chairman of Foxconn, has said during the company’s Annual General Meeting held in June 2020. Now coming back to the Apple iPhone 11, it is one of the most popular Apple smartphones in India. Cheapest in the iPhone 11 series, the Apple iPhone 11 sells in India for Rs 68,300 for the 64GB variant, whereas the 128GB variant is priced at Rs 73,600 and iPhone 11 256GB costs Rs 84,100 in India. Earlier this year, Apple had increased the price of its iPhone by over 5 percent due to an increase in customs duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST).

2nd Wave of Covid 19 Witnessed Around the World

While India continues to reel under Covid-19, a number of places that were once seen as the gold standard for pandemic responses are now also seeing surges in cases, as the coronavirus continues to spread around the world unabated.

Australia’s hard-hit Victoria state on Monday posted a new daily record of 532 new Covid cases, and Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews warned that a lockdown in the city of Melbourne will continue if infected people continue to go to work instead of staying home. Melbourne is almost half way through a six-week lockdown aimed at curbing community spread of the coronavirus. Mask wearing in Australia’s second-largest city became compulsory last week.Meanwhile, Hong Kong is locking down yet again amid its third wave. Hong Kong banned gatherings of more than two people, closed down restaurant dining and introduced mandatory face masks in public places, including outdoors.

And Japan, which has not imposed lockdowns, just recorded its highest daily infection rate yet, just before the weekend. Also, Vietnam is evacuating 80,000 people, mostly local tourists, from Danang after three residents tested positive at the weekend. Until Saturday, the country had reported no community infections since April.

In Europe, parts of Spain, which brought a virulent outbreak to heel this spring with strict measures, are closing down again as infections soar. In fact, a surge in infections in Spain prompted Britain to order all travellers from there to quarantine for two weeks, wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of people.

And the Czech Republic, which held a ‘farewell party’ to the pandemic just weeks ago, is experiencing a new jump in cases linked to a Prague nightclub. The Czech government, on Monday, announced an overhaul of its much-criticised ‘smart quarantine’ system of tracking and isolating contacts of people with Covid as it battles the spike in new infections.

Finally, China had managed to squelch local transmission through firm lockdowns after the virus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan late last year. But a new surge has been driven by infections in the far western region of Xinjiang. In the northeast, Liaoning province reported a fifth straight day of new infections and Jilin province reported two new cases, its first since late May.

So even with the most well-intentioned, widespread restrictions, it seems the virus is not going away anytime soon. And until there is a vaccine, governments may be forced to rely on the strategy of “suppress and lift” — coined by Hong Kong authorities — whereby rules are relaxed and then swiftly reinforced at the first sign of new spikes. The Covid map of India has transformed this month, with the virus having reached almost all the districts and cases growing fast. While the pressure seems to be easing in early hotspots like Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, roughly half the country’s districts now have more than 500 cases each. Of them, about 200 have more than 1,000 cases each, and there has been at least one Covid death in almost 80% of the districts. Many of these emerging hotspots have scanty health infrastructure and managing an explosion of cases could prove beyond their capabilities. Already, cases in 11 districts are growing at double-digit rates.

Should schools reopen? Balancing COVID-19 and learning loss for young children By Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Michael Yogman, and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff

Sadly, there is no risk-free decision about school reopening: Decisionmakers must balance the risks of children contracting and/or spreading COVID-19 with counteracting risks of children falling academically behind and being deprived of social relationships from in-school learning. Decisions as to whether students should return to school in person must be tailored to fit each specific community, school district, and even grade within school. The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine this week released a report focused on younger children. Their advice? Open schools for children in kindergarten through fifth grade with well-funded safety measures in place. On the one hand, there is much scientific data to suggest that even our youngest children have already lost academic and social readiness during the COVID-19 slump. This is even more true for children from underserved communities. Science tells us that social relationships with friends and teachers are essential for social and academic learning during early childhood. Children learn, love, and thrive best when interacting with other adults and children. For example, research shows that strong language skills are born in the context of conversations with other people. Interactions between young children, their peers, and adults—real interactions—literally mold areas of the brain that support social bonding, language, and the seeds of literacy. Put simply, social relationships play a critical role in learning and child development. On the other hand, with respect to public health, there is much that we do not know. Data are still evolving and are sometimes contradictory on 1) the level of health risk children with COVID-19 personally face; 2) whether children are more likely to be asymptomatic shedders; and 3) whether children are likely to spread COVID-19 to teachers and parents. According to a recent report based on international data, countries like Denmark and Germany have had fairly safe results. This is to be contrasted with data out of Israel suggesting that school reopening created a spike in cases. It remains unclear what factors (i.e., timing of reopening with respect to national COVID-19 trajectories and other cultural factors) drive these differences. A new study out of Korea examined 65,000 people and concluded that even younger children do catch and spread the virus. Those under 10 are roughly half as contagious. A true unknown is whether the virus has lasting effects on children as they grow up. Importantly, we have yet to know whether young children can follow the safety mandates. Try to envision a group of 4-year olds really keeping a mask on throughout the day. It is as baffling as imagining a team of 3-year-olds who can truly keep six feet apart? Ask any parent or early childhood educator: Preschoolers are not well known for following rules. So, what is a parent to do? What is a teacher to do? What policies should guide decisions about whether, and if so, how to open school? This is the balancing act. In two pieces, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that for young children, returning to school with the right provisions in place would be optimal. In an amendment to their post, they write: “Returning to school is important for the healthy development and well-being of children, but we must pursue reopening in a way that is safe for all students, teachers, and staff.” There is no one-size-fits-all blueprint for reopening, and significant resources will be required. Local conditions are paramount. These include the prevalence of the virus in the community, the health risks for staff (both teachers and custodial staff), whether adequate financial resources are provided for schools to disinfect classrooms, students and employees are screened for symptoms, and academic spaces are reconfigured, such as by setting up tented learning areas for outdoor classes. The risk-benefit calculus is also influenced by individual characteristics associated with student needs. Importantly, children from underserved communities—who are disproportionately racial minorities and immigrants—as well as children with food insecurity and special needs, often receive services that are only provided through schools. The bottom line is that the answer is just not as black and white as many in the media lead us to believe. Decisions about whether and how to reopen schools require a delicate balance of dynamic factors. Surely with such complicated decisions, a scientific response rather than a political one is in order. The scientific data about how children are affected by and spread COVID-19 are accumulating before our eyes. While the health risks are real, they must be balanced with the scientific consensus that children must be around other people. The optimal way for schools to strike this balance is not yet known. But if we empower decisionmakers with the scientific evidence, and update them as it accumulates, we can at least make informed decisions about how to keep our children safe while also feeding them the psychological nutrients to develop in a healthy way.

Coronavirus is preventable, not treatable till vaccine found BY FAKIR BALAJI

With no sign of the pandemic flattening the curve, as evident from the daily surge in positive cases across the country, Bengaluru-based eminent pediatric cardiologist Vijayalakshmi I. Balekundri said Coronavirus is preventable but not treatable till its vaccine is found.
In an exclusive interview to IANS, the Bengaluru Medical College and Research Institute Emeritus Professor said the only way to avoid getting infected is to wear mask, wash hands and maintain physical distance because prevention is better than cure till a vaccine is found to treat the deadly disease. Excerpts:
Q: Why and how different is Covid-19 from other viruses?
A: Corona viruses are not a living organism like bacteria or fungus. They are non-living large, lipid capsule enveloped and positive-stranded RNA viruses. Like other viruses, the novel Coronavirus tries to burrow into a cell and turns it into a virus-replicating factory. If it succeeds, it can produce an infection in throat, respiratory system, heart, brain, blood vessels and in all the 100 trillion cells in a human body.
The type of cells a virus targets and how it enters them depends on how it is built. The genetically engineered Coronavirus is virulent, spreads from human to human without a vector and enters the body through nose, throat and eyes as an airborne infection. It affects vital organs and cells in the body through blood vessels.
The novel Coronavirus gets its family name from a telltale series of spikes — tens or even hundreds of them — that circle its blob-like core as a crown or corona. Studying its cousins which cause SARS and MERS, virologists know that the spikes interact with receptors on cells like keys in locks, enabling the virus to enter body cells.
As the Corona virus that spread from Wuhan in China is mutant, efforts are on the world over to develop a vaccine that can treat its 11 mutations so far.
Covid-19 is a mutant in a clever disguise! Like sugar (carbohydrate molecule) dots outside the spike, it dots outside human cells. The carbohydrate camouflage makes the virus difficult for the human immune system to recognise it initially.
Each spike is made up of three identical proteins twisted and they have to open to gain access into a cell. We need to find a method to prevent these tiny invaders, which are 1,000 times smaller than our body cells they infect.
Q: How the new Coronavirus enters human cells?
A: To infect a human host, the virus gains entry into an individual’s cells, uses their machinery to replicate, spill out of them and spread to other cells. The tiny molecular key on SARS-CoV-2 gives the virus entry into the cell. This key is called a spike protein.
The structure of coronavirus is like a key and receptors on cells are like a lock. Theoretically, they provide an entry point to a thief (virus) into a house (body cells) through a lock (receptors).
Q: How to prevent the virus from spreading further although it has infected lakhs the world over during the last 6 months and threatens to attack more till a vaccine is discovered?
A: First of all, we should understand the Coronavirus structure, method of its spread, mechanism to replicate and organs it damages, whom all it affects the most, how to contain it and myths about it.
The virus can be prevented transmitting from person to person, entering body and replicating in cells by wearing mask, washing hands repeatedly, keeping 4-6 feet distance from others, toilet hygiene and avoid travelling.
As Covid-19 is an air born droplet infection, millions of its viruses are thrown out in small droplet forms at 166km per hour speed when an infected person sneezes. When a person coughs, many larger droplets with billions of the virus are thrown out at 100km per hour from mouth.
Larger droplets fall on a person’s face standing even at three feet or on objects around. Hence, wearing mask is mandatory for everyone.
The three-layer surgical masks doctors and nurses wear are not enough to protect them from Coronavirus. They need N95 or N99 masks with 7 layers to prevent the virus infecting them. Face protection shields are better for all healthcare warriors.
As N95 or N99 masks are costly and meant for medical staff, citizens can wear a home-made cloth mask. They should be changed every 4-6 hours after dipping them in antiseptic solution for 15 minutes, washed and dried in sunlight, as ultraviolet rays sterilise them.
Those who ignored wearing mask and not maintained physical distance were the most infected by the pandemic, as evident from the whopping number of cases in all countries the world over, including the US, Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa, Peru, Mexico, Chile, the UK and Iran.
Social distancing has to be maintained as a person standing even 3 feet of an infected being is sprayed with millions of viruses, as smaller droplets float in the air up to 33 feet.
If an infected person is in an enclosure like an office, mall, community hall or party hall, the virus spreads to everyone present, as it happened in South Korea, where a single infected lady from Wuhan spread it 900 people in a church.
Hence, large gatherings in grounds, religious places, movie halls, malls, schools, colleges, stadiums and markets have been banned to prevent the virus spread.
Repeated hand wash is also compulsory for infected as well as non-infected persons to prevent the virus spread.
The fat covering (lipid capsule) over the Coronavirus gets destroyed in soap water and sugar (carbohydrate) molecule that helps to disguise gets dissolved in water. By rubbing hands, the thorns (spikes) on the surface get damaged making it impossible for the virus to stick or enter body cells as key to the lock.
Toilet hygiene is most important as the virus shred from 22-feet long small intestine can contaminate toilets. Stool and farts contain billions of coronaviruses and can infect anyone using common toilets. While community toilets were sealed in cities like Seattle in the US, open defecation is banned in India.
The reason for avoid travelling is that an estimated 4.5-lakh infected people travelled from China to the US, especially New York, spreading the Coronavirus. Travelling increases transmission of the infection.
Going out of house unnecessarily to market or visiting relatives and friends, especially by a infected person can trigger community transmission, which is the most dangerous phase of the virus, as it will double or treble the cases, making it impossible for any government or healthcare system to contain it.
Senior citizens and elders with comorbid conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, bronchial asthma, cancer, kidney diseases and other chronic debilitating diseases with immune compromised state should stay at home till the virus is found to treat it, as mortality in them is very high.
Q: What are signs and symptoms of Corona infection and how fatal it is?
A: If a person is not able to smell anything or taste sugar or salt and is having fever with a bitter tongue, he or she should immediately take a Covid test, as they are signs or symptoms of Corona infection. If the test shows positive, it indicates that the virus has entered the body through nose, eyes or mouth into cells of mucus membrane and replicated inside the body cells.The patient will have mild fever, body ache, throat irritation and dry cough for 3-4 days without sense of smell and taste. The virus enters lungs or stomach through nose or throat and causes viral pneumonia, abdominal pain and loose motions from 5-7th day.
The virus replicate in lung cells leading to breathlessness, fatigue and drop in saturation from 8-10th day. At this stage, steroid inhalations or nasal spray are useful. An x-ray will show the damaged lungs while pulse oxymeter indicates drop in oxygen saturation.
As the virus spreads from lungs to heart, brain, kidney and all blood vessels by 14th day, it causes multi-organ failure and eventual death.
Q: How quarantine helps in preventing or treating the virus?
A: Those coming from hot spots like Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi to Karnataka have to undergo 14-day quarantine, including a week institutional and a week at home because they may not show the symptoms on arrival but develop after 3-4 days. If they test positive, they are shifted to a designated hospital for treatment. If they are asymptomatic, they get quarantined at home or a Covid care centre to recover. (IANS)

Spicy & Sticky Chinese-style Pork Spareribs By Certina Romel

This dish is so full of flavours especially that of umami n mildly sour, sweet… and is pleasantly spicy to your palate. It’s gonna be a new favourite in your family. Trust me, kids who used to walk around holding chicken drumsticks are gonna get a rib this time.. haha.. I mean, no one will be able to resist this fall-off-the bone well-seasoned ribs.. How I developed this recipe – Ribs are one of mine and my family’s favourite cut- whether it’s a bbq or a braised one. I love how this cut takes in the seasoning as it cooks in its on beautifully stacked layers of fat, meat and bones.Once me and my dad had ‘Chinese five spiced pork spare ribs’  from an lovely Chinese restaurant and we could never stop talking about how damn delicious it was even after 10 long years. I wanted to bring in that texture of stickiness to my dish and finally I succeeded in doing so after making it several times, referring many Chinese cooking videos. What’s special about this recipe- Flavour burst– From the right amount of not-so-overpowering sauces and spices, the ribs are very well coated in the umami and spices. Perfectly cooked– When i say ‘perfect’, i mean it. It’s a never-fail stove top recipe which does not compromise on texture. First the meat it charred and then slow-cooked to first ensure the smoky flavours and release the fat, then cook to fall-of-the bone, to-die-for ribs! What you’ll need– 

  • 400-500g pork spareribs 
  • 1 bulb of garlic- skin not fully removed- cloves seperated and slightly crushed
  • 2 tablespoons Shaoxing/ Chinese cooking wine
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar 
  • 4 slices of Ginger 
  • 1 tablespoon of dark and light soya sauces each
  • 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce 
  • 3 cups of water
  • Half teaspoon white pepper powder
  • Half teaspoon red chilli flakes 
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil 

 How to make- . Heat a wok and pour very little (about a teaspoon) neutral oil to sauté the ginger and garlic.. Now add the sugar and once it starts caramelising, add the ribs and start browning. Add the sauces once the juices from the meat starts drying up.. Sauté until almost 2/3rd of the fat is melted. Now season it with pepper and chilli flakes.. Pour the rice wine, water and cook well-covered for 45 minutes to an hour. PS: keep an eye on whether the ribs are sticking to the bottom of the vessel (I used a non-stick thick bottom wok), stir every 15 minutes and add more water – by half cup, if needed—when you are making this for the first time… Once the ribs are perfectly cooked, it’ll be sticky and tender. Add a little of light soya sauce and sauté for a minute if you need more seasoning for your ribs.. At this point, season with the sesame oil for a nutty flavour and serve hot after garnishing. Notes, Tips and Suggestions- . You could try the same recipe with beef ribs, but make sure you add more oil to the wok before sautéing.. Garnish with chopped spring onions or toasted sesame seeds.. Covered cooking time may vary by 20 minutes depending of the type of vessel and temperatures you use. 

Nature study identifies 21 existing drugs that could treat COVID-19

Multiple drugs improve the activity of remdesivir, a current standard-of-care treatment for COVID-19 A Nature study authored by a global team of scientists and led by Sumit Chanda, Ph.D., professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, has identified 21 existing drugs that stop the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The scientists analyzed one of the world’s largest collections of known drugs for their ability to block the replication of SARS-CoV-2, and reported 100 molecules with confirmed antiviral activity in laboratory tests. Of these, 21 drugs were determined to be effective at concentrations that could be safely achieved in patients. Notably, four of these compounds were found to work synergistically with remdesivir, a current standard-of-care treatment for COVID-19.  “Remdesivir has proven successful at shortening the recovery time for patients in the hospital, but the drug doesn’t work for everyone who receives it. That’s not good enough,” says Chanda, director of the Immunity and Pathogenesis Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys and senior author of the study. “As infection rates continue to rise in America and around the world, the urgency remains to find affordable, effective, and readily available drugs that can complement the use of remdesivir, as well as drugs that could be given prophylactically or at the first sign of infection on an outpatient basis.” Extensive testing conducted  In the study, the research team performed extensive testing and validation studies, including evaluating the drugs on human lung biopsies that were infected with the virus, evaluating the drugs for synergies with remdesivir, and establishing dose-response relationships between the drugs and antiviral activity. Of the 21 drugs that were effective at blocking viral replication, the scientists found: 13 have previously entered clinical trials for other indications and are effective at concentrations, or doses, that could potentially be safely achieved in COVID-19 patients. Two are already FDA approved: astemizole (allergies), clofazamine (leprosy), and remdesivir has received Emergency Use Authorization from the agency (COVID-19). Four worked synergistically with remdesivir, including the chloroquine derivative hanfangchin A (tetrandrine), an antimalarial drug that has reached Phase 3 clinical trials.  “This study significantly expands the possible therapeutic options for COVID-19 patients, especially since many of the molecules already have clinical safety data in humans,” says Chanda. “This report provides the scientific community with a larger arsenal of potential weapons that may help bring the ongoing global pandemic to heel.”  The researchers are currently testing all 21 compounds in small animal models and “mini lungs,” or lung organoids, that mimic human tissue. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss a clinical trial(s) evaluating the drugs as treatments for COVID-19. “Based on our current analysis, clofazimine, hanfangchin A, apilimod and ONO 5334 represent the best near-term options for an effective COVID-19 treatment,” says Chanda. “While some of these drugs are currently in clinical trials for COVID-19, we believe it’s important to pursue additional drug candidates so we have multiple therapeutic options if SARS-CoV-2 becomes drug resistant.” Screening one of the world’s largest drug libraries The drugs were first identified by high-throughput screening of more than 12,000 drugs from the ReFRAME drug repurposing collection—the most comprehensive drug repurposing collection of compounds that have been approved by the FDA for other diseases or that have been tested extensively for human safety. Arnab Chatterjee, Ph.D., vice president of medicinal chemistry at Calibr and co-author on the paper, says ReFRAME was established to tackle areas of urgent unmet medical need, especially neglected tropical diseases. “We realized early in the COVID-19 pandemic that ReFRAME would be an invaluable resource for screening for drugs to repurpose against the novel coronavirus,” says Chatterjee.  The drug screen was completed as rapidly as possible due to Chanda’s partnership with the scientist who discovered the first SARS virus, Kwok-Yung Yuen, M.D., chair of Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong; and Shuofeng Yuan, Ph.D., assistant research professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, who had access to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in February 2020.  About the ReFrame library  ReFRAME was created by Calibr, the drug discovery division of Scripps Research, under the leadership of President Peter Shultz, Ph.D., with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It has been distributed broadly to nonprofit collaborators and used to identify repurposing opportunities for a range of disease, including tuberculosis, a parasite called Cryptosporidium and fibrosis.  A global team  The first authors of the study are Laura Riva, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow in the Chanda lab at Sanford Burnham Prebys; and Shuofeng Yuan at the University of Hong Kong, who contributed equally to the study. Additional study authors include Xin Yin, Laura Martin-Sancho, Naoko Matsunaga, Lars Pache, Paul De Jesus, Kristina Herbert, Peter Teriete, Yuan Pu, Courtney Nguyen and Andrey Rubanov of Sanford Burnham Prebys; Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan, Jianli Cao, Vincent Poon, Ko-Yung Sit and Kwok-Yung Yuen of the University of Hong Kong; Sebastian Burgstaller-Muehlbacher, Andrew Su, Mitchell V. Hull, Tu-Trinh Nguyen, Peter G. Schultz and Arnab K. Chatterjee of Scripps Research; Max Chang and Christopher Benner of UC San Diego School of Medicine; Luis Martinez-Sobrido, Wen-Chun Liu, Lisa Miorin, Kris M. White, Jeffrey R. Johnson, Randy Albrecht, Angela Choi, Raveen Rathnasinghe, Michael Schotsaert, Marion Dejosez, Thomas P. Zwaka and Adolfo Garcia-Sastre of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Ren Sun of UCLA; Kuoyuan Cheng of the National Cancer Institute and the University of Maryland; Eytan Ruppin of the National Cancer Institute; Mackenzie E. Chapman, Emma K. Lendy and Andrew D. Mesecar of Purdue University; and Richard J. Glynne of Inception Therapeutics.

Dr. Babu Prasad, A Retired Anesthesiologist Donates $1M To St. John’s NICU

Dr. Babu Prasad’s recent $1 million donation to the HSHS St. John’s Foundation for the neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU) at St. John’s Children’s Hospital is his love letter to the hospital and community. “I am giving back to a hospital, a community and a country that I dearly love,” Prasad said Thursday at a press conference at the hospital. “Springfield is a beautiful city and a wonderful place to live. I gave this contribution because I want Springfield to continue to grow, to bring new jobs here and to build upon the excellent medical community and medical services that we all enjoy. “Children are our future, so I wanted to direct my gift to the neonatal intensive care unit to give the babies a healthy start to their lives.” Dr. Babu Prasad came to the United States in 1971 after graduating from medical school in India with no money. But Prasad became a successful anesthesiologist, including an 18-year stay at HSHS St. John’s Hospital, where he retired in 2004. Prasad joined St. John’s in 1986. He still works two weeks per month at Interventional Pain Management Specialist in Carterville, Ill. In October, St. John’s began a $19 million renovation and expansion of the NICU to provide single-family patient rooms for premature and critically-ill infants.The project will more than double the size of the NICU, taking it from 15,000 square feet to 36,500. It will open in February. Each year, approximately 2,000 babies are born at St. John’s Children’s Hospital. The NICU cares for about 700 babies annually from a 35-county area. “Dr. Prasad’s gift is a beautiful testament as to who he is as a person,” said Beverly Neisler, chief development officer for the HSHS St. John’s Foundation. “He is a generous and kind man who has built a successful life through his hard work, dedication and determination.“Today, St. John’s and our most vulnerable patients are benefiting from his generosity. It’s a wonderful day for St. John’s Children’s. “He means so much to all of us.” Neisler said Prasad has been “a consistent donor” of the NICU. “He wanted to make a difference for Springfield and he wanted to make a difference for St. John’s,” Neisler added. “He has a real heart for babies and we’re delighted that he does.” “Donors, like Dr. Prasad, make all the difference by giving so generously to provide exceptional care and comfort to our most vulnerable patients,” said E.J. Kuiper, president and chief executive officer of HSHS Illinois. Dr. Beau Batton, director of newborn services at St. John’s Children’s, pointed out that the hospital was one of the first in the state to have a unit dedicated to the exclusive care of premature babies. “The NICU renovation, made possible through generous contributions, like of those of Dr. Prasad, will allow St. John’s to remain in the forefront of innovative, high quality care,” Batton said. Prasad called coming to the U.S. nearly 50 years “a golden opportunity. “It felt like heaven,” he added. “There was no comparison to India in the 1970s.” Prasad passed an exam given by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) that granted him a residency in the U.S. “It was the first time I saw TV,” said Prasad, who was 24 when he came to the U.S. Prasad first worked in Canton, Ohio, before moving to the University of Illinois Chicago, where he completed his anesthesiology residency. He practiced for 10 years in Alabama before coming to Springfield. Prasad has three children, including two daughters who followed him into medicine, and six grandchildren. “I was so pleased this project came up and I was able to do it,” Prasad said. “Those who can afford it have to step in and contribute. “I was amazed. This place looks beautiful. Springfield has the best medical community in the country.”

Skypass Foundation Charters U.S. Airline To Repatriate Indian Citizens During Pandemic

The Skypass Foundation, part of the Dallas-based Skypass Group of Companies, chartered a United Airlines plane Wednesday to repatriate more than 150 Indian citizens stranded in the U.S. because of the pandemic. The one-way flight took off in the evening from Newark Airport in New Jersey heading to the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.
 
Priority was given to seniors and families with young children who needed to return to India for urgent medical treatment or death emergencies and to those with expired U.S. visas. Other Indian citizens eligible to travel, based on the Embassy of India’s rules and regulations, were also on the flight.”The Skypass Group has served the South Asian community for more than three decades,” said Founder & CEO Victor Abraham. “While we have been deeply impacted during this pandemic, our mission has always been to transport passengers back to their homes so that they can be reunited with their families, especially during these turbulent times.”

On July 4th, another private charter flight (Etihad Airways) transported 300 passengers from Chicago to Mumbai. Employees and their families of some of the top global technology and professional services companies were on that flight, which was the first passenger charter plane approved to repatriate stranded citizens from the U.S. to India.

The Skypass Foundation, as part of its mission & humanitarian activities complementing its efforts to provide resources, education and support to those impacted by major medical challenges, has led both these efforts. The Foundation collaborated with both public and private sector agencies in the U.S. and India to accomplish these undertakings. 

Indian couple sues USCIS for work permit delays

An Indian couple waiting in a years-long backlog for a green card has initiated a lawsuit against the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) over delays in sending approved printed work permits, a media report said.
Filed in Ohio federal court on Wednesday, the lawsuit on behalf of Ranjitha Subramanya, claims that the USCIS is arbitrarily refusing to print work permit cards after approving them, leaving visa-holders unable to show their American employers that they are authorized to work in the US, the American Bazaar said in the report on Friday.
Subramanya, an Indian citizen came to the US on an H-1B specialty occupation visa to work at Nationwide Insurance.
She later changed her status to an H-4 visa, reserved for spouses of H-1B holders, through her husband’s H-1B visa, which is valid through June 2023, according to the lawsuit.
According to Subramanya’s lawyer, Robert H. Cohen, her husband, also an Indian citizen, has an approved green card petition, but the couple is stuck in a green card backlog.
Subramanya applied to extend her H-4 work permit in December 2019, and USCIS approved the request in April. Typically, the printed card is issued within a few days of the approval, the suit says.
However, despite multiple calls and requests to the agency, Subramanya still didn’t have her printed card by June, when her previous work permit expired, the American Bazaar report quoted the lawsuit as saying.
She was forced to leave her job then, and her employer has told her that she will be terminated permanently if she does not have her work permit by August.
Cohen told the media that the lawsuit was “born out of extreme frustration”.
“We’ve made every effort that we could, but USCIS is not a user-friendly agency anymore,” he was quoted as saying. “We had just reached the end of what we could do short of filing a lawsuit.”
The suit also argues that USCIS is depriving foreign workers of the work permits they are legally owed in violation of their constitutional rights, and alleges that the agency is sitting on a backlog of at least 75,000 unprinted employment authorization documents, or EADs.
The current production backlog is roughly 115,000 green cards and employment authorization documents, CNN reported citing a USCIS spokesperson, with the oldest pending card order in the queue from July 6.
Earlier, a group of 174 Indian nationals, including seven minors, has filed a lawsuit against the recent presidential proclamation on H-1B that would prevent them from entering the United States or a visa would not be issued to them.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson at the US District Court in the District of Columbia issued summonses on Wednesday to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad F Wolf, along with Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court on Tuesday last week. “The proclamation 10052’s H-1B/H-4 visa ban hurts the United States’ economy, separates families and defies the Congress. While the two former points render it unseemly, the latter point renders it unlawful,” said the lawsuit filed by lawyer Wasden Banias on behalf of the 174 Indian national
The lawsuit seeks an order declaring the presidential proclamation restriction on issuing new H-1B or H4 visas or admitting new H-1B or H-4 visa holders as unlawful. It also urges the court to compel the Department of State to issue decisions on pending requests for H-1B and H-4 visas.
In his presidential proclamation on June 22, Trump temporarily suspended issuing of H-1B work visas till the end of the year.
“In the administration of our nation’s immigration system, we must remain mindful of the impact of foreign workers on the United States labor market, particularly in the current extraordinary environment of high domestic unemployment and depressed demand for labor,” said the proclamation issued by Trump.
 

Why the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policies are the United States’ loss and the rest of the world’s gain By Britta Glennonn, an Assistant Professor at the Wharton School of Business – University of Pennsylvania

On June 22, the Trump administration announced expansive new bans on worker visas—in addition to an extension of restrictions on new green cards–under the premise of protecting American jobs and spurring economic recovery in the United States. But the announcement—which is only one in the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to block legal immigration, beginning with the “Buy American Hire American” executive order in 2017—is likely to have precisely the opposite effect: sending jobs, innovation, investment, and economic growth abroad instead.
1. These actions will motivate companies to move jobs out of the U.S.
Prominent American companies like Duolingo and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have already announced that, rather than rescinding offers to those affected by the new visa rules, they will simply move those jobs to Canada or elsewhere. And they are not outliers, nor is this without precedent. In a recent paper, I show that U.S. multinational companies have already offshored tens of thousands of jobs and opened new foreign affiliates in response to H-1B visa restrictions much less severe than those being implemented now. The countries that benefited the most at the time—and are likely to benefit once again now—were China, India, and Canada. I find that U.S. multinational companies particularly increased employment in those three locations in response to the growing constraints of the H-1B visa cap, even as U.S.-based employment at the same firms remained flat. That response is likely to be amplified under the much more restrictive regime being put into place now, particularly as remote work becomes more common. In other words, rather than going to Americans, those jobs are likely to go to another country.
2. Entrepreneurial immigrants will start businesses outside of the U.S.
Nearly half of all Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their childrenA quarter of all new firms are created by immigrantsResearch shows that not only are immigrants 80 percent more likely than Americans to start new firms, but that the higher propensity to start new firms applies to all firm sizes. As a result, immigrants act more as “job creators” than “job takers;” immigrant-founder firms create 42 percent more jobs than native-founder firms. So, if immigrants originally destined for the U.S. instead choose to go to Canada—for example—instead, they also create new jobs for Canadians, rather than for Americans.
3. Investors will seek investment opportunities elsewhere.
Jobs are not all that will go to other countries as a result of these expansive visa bans. Foreign investment is tightly linked to immigration; even ancestral links from immigration a century ago continue to drive foreign investment today. Innovation is also tightly linked to immigration. Immigrants patent at double the native rate, increase firm patenting, and enhance the innovativeness of native scientists by introducing new and complementary knowledge and ideas. History provides a clear example of what happens to American innovation when immigration flows are restricted; immigration quotas in the 1920s caused a significant decline in American innovation—at least in part because Americans were actually less innovative without immigrants around. Furthermore, Israeli science benefited when at least some scientists moved there instead. Halting immigration will not only reduce innovation and investment in the U.S., but will likely send that innovation and investment to countries that welcome foreign talent with open arms.
President Trump’s order to block hundreds of thousands of immigrants from working in the U.S. will not improve unemployment for American citizens. It will not aid economic recovery. Instead, it will send jobs, innovation, and investment—and hence economic growth—to those countries who are not so shortsighted as to ban the very people who are instrumental in ensuring America’s future economic prosperity.

Green Card Wait Time for Indians Could Increase to 450 Years

The wait time for green cards for Indian professionals stuck in the “awful, hellish green card backlog” could go up from the current 195 years to 450 years in ten years without a comprehensive reform of the immigration system, a Republican senator has warned.
Senator Mike Lee said July 22: “By the time we stretch this (backlogs) out to 2030, the 195-year backlog I mentioned a moment ago would be extended out to a 400- to 450-year backlog.”
He said that for those filing for green cards “in 2020, the wait for an EB2 green card is not, in fact, 20 to 30 years for an Indian national. What is it, then? Is it 30? Is it 40, 50, 60? No, it is much longer than that. It is 195 years. This means that someone from India entering the backlog today would have to wait 195 years to receive an EB3 green card.”
EB2 green cards – the permanent immigration visa leading to citizenship – are for those with advanced degrees and EB3 for skilled and professional workers.
The annual green card quota for India and most countries is about 26,000.
Lee gave these wait times while opposing a Democratic bill that would protect the children of those on H1-B and other employment visas who are waiting for their green cards from being deported when they turn 21.
He said that with such long wait times, the children would not be able to qualify for green cards in their lifetimes and, instead, a comprehensive reform is needed.
When children turn 21, they are no longer considered dependents and will lose their visa status based on their parents’ visas as well as their claim to a green card, and the Protect Children of Immigrant Workers Act proposed by Democrat Senator Dick Durbin seeks to remedy this.
While the cause of children who came to the U.S. illegally has a lot of political support, the children who came in legally but reached adulthood has been under the radar and Durbin’s bill proposes a parallel remedy.
Durbin said that without increasing the total number of green cards, it would not be possible to deal with the huge backlogs and the decades-long wait times.
He said, “Just do the math; 140,000 EB (employment) visas and 226,000 family visas per year and 5 million people waiting. If you think you can solve this without changing the number of green cards, you can’t.”
He said that Lee told him that many Republicans opposed increasing the number of green cards that can be issued in a year.
Durbin’s bill would also allow H1-B visa-holders to file early for green cards, freeing them to switch jobs without being held down by the employers who sponsored them for the visa.
One of the compromises offered in Durbin’s bill is to restrict H1-B visas for outsourcing companies.
It would prohibit a company from hiring additional H-1B workers in the future if the company’s workforce is more than 50 employees and more than 50 percent of those are temporary workers.
He said that eight of the top ten companies getting H1-B visas were outsourcing companies. Defending his opposition to Durbin’s bill, Lee said that the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act he and Democratic Senator Kamala Harris have proposed would protect children, protects widows and widowers of H1-B visa-holders, while expediting green cards for all high-skilled immigrants.
A version of the bill that would lift national quotas to allow Indian applicants for green cards to get access to more immigration visas has been passed by the House of Representatives, but has been blocked by Durbin and two Republicans.
Durbin has said that lifting the national quota restrictions would only increase the wait times for other countries unless the number of green cards is increased.

One in Five People in India Jobless after Covid Lockdown

After the easing of the Covid lockdown in the country, one out of five people has been rendered jobless, as per the IANS-CVoter Covid-19 Tracker conducted among a sample size of 1,723. According to the survey, 21.57 percent of people have either completely laid off work or are out of work. The survey also indicated that 25.92 percent of people are still working under regulations and safety measures with same income or salary while 7.09 percent people are working from home without having any cut in salary. The central government had imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25, while the process of unlocking was started from June 1. This survey was done from June 24 to July 22, focusing on the status of the main wage earner of the family. According to the survey, income of 8.33 percent people have decreased but they are working under regulations and safety measures, while 8 percent people who are working from home also faced salary cuts or decrease in income. The survey also indicated that 6.12 percent people in the country are left with no income after the lockdown was eased, while 1.20 percent people are still working but not getting any salary. The current survey findings and projections are based on CVoter daily tracking poll conducted among 18+ adults statewide.

China 2050: How the US should prepare for an ascendant China — RAND Report

Newswise — The United States should prepare for a triumphant or ascending People’s Republic of China – scenarios that not only align with current PRC national development trends but also represent the most challenging future scenarios for the U.S. military, according to a new RAND Corporation report that examines China’s grand strategy out to 2050. The authors make the case that the kind of country China becomes, and the way that its military evolves, is neither foreordained nor completely beyond the influence of the United States or U.S. military. However, Beijing’s intense preoccupation with internal security and deep suspicions regarding U.S. intentions toward China may frustrate attempts by Washington to improve bilateral relations and encourage more liberal domestic policies. “The experience of COVID-19 is a prime example,” said Andrew Scobell, the study’s lead author and a senior political scientist at RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization. “Beijing’s secretive approach to the pandemic has exacerbated tensions with a wide array of other countries, including the United States, and contributed to economic dislocation (aka ‘decoupling’) between China and some of its key trading partners. While Beijing seems to have been effective in dealing with the pandemic at home, this has been accomplished through draconian and repressive measures.” To map out potential future scenarios – What will China, and its military, look like in 2050? What will U.S.-China relations look like in 2050? – researchers studied trends in the management of politics and society and analyzed the specific national-level strategies and plans that China’s Communist Party rulers have put in place to further their vision of a China that is well governed, socially stable, economically prosperous, technologically advanced, and militarily powerful by 2049, the centenary of the founding of the PRC. The report describes four possible scenarios for China at mid-century – triumphant, ascendant, stagnant and imploding – with the middle two most likely. If China proves ascendant, the U.S. military should anticipate increased risk to already threatened forward-based forces in Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines, as well as a loss of the ability to operate routinely in the air and sea space above and in the Western Pacific. The report recommends that the U.S Army be prepared for a China whose role on the Asia-Pacific and global stages grows steadily. To prepare for military conflict in such circumstances, the U.S. Army should optimize its abilities to deter hostilities, get troops and equipment to hotspots quickly, operate from forward bases, and work with allied forces. The U.S. could field more robust cyber and network attack capabilities and other means to counter China’s unmanned aircraft systems, the authors assert. The capacity to respond quickly and effectively to China’s burgeoning reconnaissance-strike system will play an important role in determining the extent to which China’s leadership remains risk averse when considering military options to resolve regional disputes. The report, conducted for the U.S. Army, is based on a review of Chinese and Western literature on the PRC’s long-term strategic development and security plans and objectives, official statements by high-level Chinese officials and institutions, speeches by paramount leaders, white papers published by the Ministry of National Defense and other PRC government agencies, authoritative People’s Liberation Army (PLA) texts, as well as Western and other non-Chinese analyses of these documents. Other authors of the study, “China’s Grand Strategy: Trends, Trajectories, and Long-Term Competition,” are Edmund J. Burke, Cortez A. Cooper III, Sale Lilly, Chad J. R. Ohlandt, Eric Warner and J.D. Williams. Research for the study was conducted within RAND Arroyo Center’s Strategy, Doctrine and Resources Program. RAND Arroyo Center is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the United States Army.

Coronavirus vaccine: When will we have one?

Coronavirus still poses a significant threat, but there are no vaccines proven to protect the body against the disease it causes – Covid-19. Medical researchers are working hard to change that, and the UK government has ordered 100 million doses of a vaccine that isable to trigger an immune response and appears safe. Why is a coronavirus vaccine important? The virus spreads easily and the majority of the world’s population is still vulnerable to it. A vaccine would provide some protection by training people’s immune systems to fight the virus so they should not become sick. This would allow lockdowns to be lifted more safely, and social distancing to be relaxed. What sort of progress is being made? Research is happening at breakneck speed. About 140 are in early development, and around two dozen are now being tested on people in clinical trials. Trials of the vaccine developed by Oxford University show it can trigger an immune response and a deal has been signed with AstraZeneca to supply 100 million doses in the UK alone. The first human trial data back in May indicated the first eight patients taking part in a US study all produced antibodies that could neutralise the virus. A group in China showed a vaccine was safe and led to protective antibodies being made. It is being made available to the Chinese military. Other completely new approaches to vaccine development are in human trials. However, no-one knows how effective any of these vaccines will be. When will we have a coronavirus vaccine? A vaccine would normally take years, if not decades, to develop. Researchers hope to achieve the same amount of work in only a few months. Most experts think a vaccine is likely to become widely available by mid-2021, about 12-18 months after the new virus, known officially as Sars-CoV-2, first emerged. That would be a huge scientific feat and there are no guarantees it will work. Four coronaviruses already circulate in human beings. They cause common cold symptoms and we don’t have vaccines for any of them. What do I need to know about the coronavirus?A SIMPLE GUIDE: How do I protect myself?AVOIDING CONTACT: The rules on self-isolation and exerciseHOPE AND LOSS: Your coronavirus storiesLOOK-UP TOOL: Check cases in your areaVIDEO: The 20-second hand wash What still needs to be done? Multiple research groups have designed potential vaccines, however, there is much more work to do. Trials need to show the vaccine is safe. It would not be useful if it caused more problems than the disease Clinical trials will also need to show vaccines provoke an immune response, which protect people from getting sick A way of producing the vaccine on a huge scale must be developed for the billions of potential doses Medicines regulators must approve it before it can be given Finally there will be the huge logistical challenge of actually immunising most of the world’s population The success of lockdowns has made the process slower. To know if the vaccine works, you need people to actually be infected. The idea of giving people the vaccine and then deliberately infecting them (known as a challenge study) would give quicker answers, but is currently seen as too dangerous and unethical. How many people need to be vaccinated? It is hard to know without knowing how effective the vaccine is going to be. It is thought that 60-70% of people needed to be immune to the virus in order to stop it spreading easily (known as herd immunity). But that would be billions of people around the world even if the vaccine worked perfectly. How do you create a vaccine? Vaccines harmlessly show viruses or bacteria (or even small parts of them) to the immune system. The body’s defences recognise them as an invader and learn how to fight them. Then if the body is ever exposed for real, it already knows what to do. The main method of vaccination for decades has been to use the original virus. The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is made by using weakened viruses that cannot cause a full-blown infection. The seasonal flu jab takes the main strains of flu doing the rounds and completely disables them. Some scientists, particularly those in China, are using this approach. There is also work on coronavirus vaccines using newer, and less tested, approaches called “plug and play” vaccines. Because we know the genetic code of the new coronavirus, Sars-CoV-2, we have the complete blueprint for building it. The Oxford researchers have put small sections of its genetic code into a harmless virus that infects chimpanzees. They appear to have developed a safe virus that looks enough like the coronavirus to produce an immune response. Other groups are using pieces of raw genetic code (either DNA or RNA depending on the approach) which, once injected into the body, should start producing bits of viral proteins which the immune system can learn to fight. However, this approach is completely new. Would a vaccine protect people of all ages? It will, almost inevitably, be less successful in older people, because aged immune systems do not respond as well to immunisation. We see this with the annual flu jab. It may be possible to overcome this by either giving multiple doses or giving it alongside a chemical (called an adjuvant) that gives the immune system a boost. Who would get a vaccine? If a vaccine is developed, then there will be a limited supply, at least initially, so it will be important to prioritise. Healthcare workers who come into contact with Covid-19 patients would top the list. The disease is most deadly in older people so they would be a priority if the vaccine was effective in this age group. The UK has also said other people considered to be at high risk – potentially included those with some conditions or from certain ethnicities – may be prioritised 

In Hour of Need “Ekal Foundation” Stands By The Community By Prakash Waghmare

When the ‘Covid-19’ pandemic brought the worldwide life to a grinding halt, it posed a grave economic concern to Ekal movement. Currently, it has presence in over 102,000 villages and reach to 300,000 such pockets of humanity. In absence of usual stage performances for fundraising, the future of its numerous projects was in jeopardy. Concerts or no-concerts, Ekal has always enjoyed generosity of its loyal donors to shoulder a portion of movement’s annual tab but that wasn’t enough in this critical phase. Moreover, as a brand name in North America, ‘Ekal’ was part of the Indian community’s social consciousness – an institution – for classy entertainment, everywhere. The community longed for Ekal to provide refreshing relief – even in this ‘new world order’. Therefore, ‘Ekal-USA’ launched a series of virtual concerts across North America, with groups of Ekal chapters as focal points for each of them.

In essence, Ekal, was obligated to preserve the heightened enthusiasm and expectations of the countless volunteers, well-wishers and the supporters. The two troupes engaged for virtual concerts had, not only, the huge fan following, but also, had the proven record of success for fund-raising. One of the troupes was headed by Sa, Re, Ga, Ma contest winner ‘Sanjeevani Bhelande’ and another was headlined by Milind Oak’s ‘Niche’ banner.

‘Event committee’, in consultation with ‘Technology-Team’ provided significant support to the chapters in strategic transatlantic hook ups while the Artistes performed live in the Indian studios. The Chapter-groups assigned for each concert did a remarkable job in marketing their concert by engaging the community and social organizations around them. Chapters beyond the spheres of the concert-regions also helped out in propagating these events. Between May 23 and July 25, Sanjeevani’s troupe had four virtual concerts and Milind Oak had two.

All concerts were interactive and the donations were realized ‘live’ in ‘real time’. The montage of Video-clips and narration about ‘Present day’s Ekal’ prepared by ‘Media-Teams’ were very helpful. The Concert on May 23 for Midwest Regions by Sanjeevani raised $162,510; Concert on June 20 for Central Regions by Sanjeevani raised $367,830; Concert on June 28 for Northeast Regions by Milind Oak raised $239,800; Concert on July 11 for Washington DC by Sanjeevani raised $381,290 and the Concert on July 18 for Central Regions by Milind Oak raised $177,100.

In this endeavor, Ekal-Canada has also come a long way in last 5 years. With their Concert for Canada-East on July 25 by Sanjeevani it has raised CA $420,000 for the year, so far. Essentially in two months, ‘Ekal’ has managed to raise approx. $1.65 Million during virtual concerts. There are still couple of more concerts yet to follow – e.g. on Aug 1, there is concert for Southwest region by ‘Hemant Kumar Group’ and on Aug 8 for Canada-West by Milind Oak’s group. Before the official ‘clamp-down’ in late-March, Ekal in fact, had started the year by hosting 10 fund-raising stage-events that highlighted fascinating rural-tribal artistry and their unique culture. These events took place basically in sunshine and southern states and raised $650,000. According to Arun Gupta, Chairman of ‘BOD’ of Ekal-USA, “this is a splendid testament to donor’s trust in Ekal movement”.

During ‘Covid-19’ pandemic, the schools were closed and virtual tutoring & home assignments for the students had come to an end. Outdoor group-activities were not available either. Therefore, Ekal undertook a creative approach to channelize youth’s pent-up energy and brain-power for their mutual benefit. It was the need of the hour. Numerous ‘Do-it-yourself’ (DIY) projects – where youths provided virtual tutoring to other youths – were floated on Ekal platform.

Since the youths opted to tutor subjects that touched with Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, this campaign was headlined with ‘STEAM’ as its acronym. This is an on-going effort till the schools open. As of this moment, in 17 such active series youths from 7 states have been enrolled, raising sizable amount for Ekal. Swetha Mulukutla, Isabelle Bodkhe & Spandana Gandhi raised $4130 by tutoring PSAT classes to support ‘skill-training’ for migrant workers in EKAL villages while Ritvik Shah raised more than $3314 by tutoring Python classes to equip few Ekal schools with tablets. In New England area, Jharna Madan and Parveen Minocha (Ekal volunteers) are spearheading another effort to bring light-hearted fun to people of all ages during the current Corona crisis. ‘Indi Art’ is national art competition organized in collaboration with “Khula Asmaan”, an art portal in India. On their behalf 30 art teachers acting as ‘Ekal Indi Art’ ambassadors are offering free workshops in various artforms like MadhuBani, Warli, Watercolors, Acrylic, Textured Art, Tanjore Painting, 3D Art, Digital Art etc. Over 500 have already benefited from these workshops which are open to people of all ages and approx. $10,000 have been raised through these efforts. For more details on activities and forth-coming events, kindly visit www.ekal.org. “Ekal V. Foundation” (“EVF”) is in 10 countries and is tax-exempt in several of them, including U.S & Canada. It renders all services free-of-cost, irrespective of caste, faith and gender. For this reason and specifically for its enormous work in empowering the rural-tribal folks, the Government of India honored “EVF” with Iconic “Gandhi Peace Prize”, two years back.

Amitabh Bachchan Shares Message on Religious Harmony from Hospital While Being Treated for Covid

Amitabh Bachchan has shared a message on religious harmony. The veteran actor, who is undergoing Covid treatment in a hospital here, took to his verified Twitter account July 23 to post the message. Big B shared two photographs of himself, one with folded hands and the other where he stretches his palms in prayer. “Mazhab toh yeh do hatheliyaan batati hain, jude to ‘puja’ khule toh ‘dua’ kehlaati hain (The two hands describe religion. Whenever they are folded it is called puja and when they are stretched it is called dua),” he tweeted. Amitabh, his son Abhishek Bachchan, daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and granddaughter Aaradhya are currently hospitalized with coronavirus infection. Reacting to Bachchan’s tweet, fans shared their prayers and wishes for a speedy recovery. Unconfirmed reports claim that the veteran actor is recovering and might be discharged from hospital soon. Big B, meanwhile, July 23 evening tweeted to refute a news reports claiming he has tested Covid-19 negative. On his verified Twitter account, he shared a video clip of a TV news channel that claims “Amitabh Bachchan tests negative for COVID” as “breaking news.” “.. this news is incorrect, irresponsible, fake and an incorrigible LIE !!” Big B tweeted on his official account, @SrBachchan. The Bollywood icon seems quite disturbed by the fake news surrounding his health. He also retweeted a tweet posted by a fan that reads: “That’s playing with someone’s privacy. Why do media play with people’s emotions? Take Care Sir Ji.” Earlier on July 22, Amitabh Bachchan shared a video on social media that shows students of Wroclaw University, Poland, paying a tribute to his father, poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Big B shared the video on Instagram, where students from the university recite a few lines from his father’s renowned poem “Madhushala.” Alongside the clip, Big B wrote: “Last year the Mayor of Wroclaw declared me as the Ambassador of the City of Wroclaw, in Poland… Today they organized a recitation of my Babuji’s Madhushala by the University students on the roof of the University building. “As Wroclaw was awarded the title of a UNESCO City of Literature, they could pass on the message to Babu Ji’s lovers from all around the world – Wroclaw is a City of Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Moved beyond emotion .. thank you Wroclaw .. in this time of my trial it brings so much cheer to me.” Sharing about his life in general from his Covid ward, Bachchan took to his blog July 21 and wrote: “It is the silence and the uncertainty of the next … it is a wonder of the nature of life .. of all that it brings to us each moment, each living breathing day… In the activity driven past days of normalcy, never was there inclination to assess or sit back and think of what thoughts invade us now.””But they do now with a regularity that fills those idle hours, sitting, thinking, looking out into nowhere .. “.. in these conditions thoughts race at greater speed and in a vividity that had eluded us before .. they were always there, but just the presence of them remained silenced by the mind in its other business of existence ..the business is dormant now. The thespian added that “the mind is freer.” “It reflects greatly more than ever .. and I wonder if this is correct, admissible pertinent or not.” He wrote that a wandering mind often leads to “destinations that, because of their complex vagaries, brings on that which at times be not what you may want to hear or see .. but you do .. the eventuality of all that surrounds us blows heavily about us.” “Ignorance of it would not be a considered act .. so you succumb to it .. bear it .. live it .. caress it at times .. play with it at others.. wish it away, hold on to it, embrace it and accept .. but never be able to desist its presence ..” He says the time “today gives liberty to stretch the gravitas of the cerebrum.” “We may never get opportunity to be involved in this act, but given the circumstance, I would like to believe that each one of us .. each individual has the will and the capacity to be what they may have believed, they would never be.” Talking about his health, Bachchan wrote: “In the condition of the solace in the room of cure .. the restlessness keeps in the search for reaction .. for a connect .. for something to respond to .. to do .. to do just more than what the condition dictates..” “At times you find it .. at times you stare at barren walls and with empty thoughts .. and you pray that they be filled with the life of existence .. of reaction and company .. All of you push your prayers and concern each hour I know .. and I have only folded hands ..”

Want to live a healthy life? Have sex once a week

Having sex at least once a week halves the risk of early death, say researchers, adding that regular action between the sheets is linked to lower odds of dying from cancer, heart disease and other illness. According to researchers from Washington University in the US, sex is equivalent to “moderate intensity exercise,” and has similar health benefits for those partaking.

For the findings, the research team picked more than 15,000 adults. They had an average age of 39 and were quizzed on their sex lives for around 11 years, the mirror.co.uk reported.

The researchers found that almost three quarters engaged in sexual activity at least once a month and 36 per cent at least once a week. Over the course of the lengthy study, 228 died, including 62 from cancer and 29 from cardiovascular disease.

The study showed that those who had sex weekly were 49 per cent less likely to die than those who only had sex once a year or less. Their odds of dying from cardiovascular disease were 21 per cent less and from cancer 69 per cent lower.

According to the media reports, The researchers said that sex releases feel-good chemicals, which boost mental health and promote the activity of “natural killer cells”.

Those cells lower the risk of cancer and viral illness, prevent infections of the lungs and improve other conditions, such as asthma, they claimed. (IANS)

‘Hopes Of Developing Vaccine Against Covid Rising

The race to develop the first effective vaccine against COVID-19 involves an awfully crowded field, with 137 candidate vaccines in pre-clinical study worldwide and another 23 actually in development. But a leader seemed to emerge today with research published in the Lancet reporting promising results in a robust study by investigators at Oxford University in England. The study began in April, with a sample group of 1,077 adults aged 18 to 55—an age group young enough to tolerate exposure to SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, with less risk of adverse effects than would be seen in older, more vulnerable adults. The group was divided more or less in half, with 543 participants receiving the experimental COVID-19 vaccine, and the other 534 serving as a control group, receiving an existing vaccine against meningococcal vaccine. (The investigators chose not to use an inert saline solution for the control group because both vaccines can cause side effects such as achiness, fever and fatigue. Saline would cause no such symptoms and would thus reveal which group was the control group and which was not.) The vaccine uses a harmless-to-humans chimpanzee adenovirus as a delivery vector. That virus is modified to carry spike proteins from SARS-CoV-2—the component of the coronavirus that, in theory, should induce the sought-after immune response in humans. What the researchers were looking for were two kinds of immune reaction: humoral immunity, or the system-wide generation of antibodies against the virus; and cellular immunity, or the activation of immune system T-cells that attack human cells infected with the COVID-19 virus. Oxford vaccine triggers immune response, trial findsA Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by the Oxford University has safely prompted a protective immune response in hundreds of volunteers who got the shot in an early trial, preliminary findings published Monday in the journal Lancet said. The vaccine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (also called AZD1222), designed by Oxford and developed by AstraZeneca, the Anglo-Swedish pharma major, triggered a dual immune response in people aged 18 to 55 that lasted at least two months. The preliminary findings are from the placebo-controlled, phase-I trial held between April 23 and May 21, involving 1,077 participants. 543 were administered the vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, another 534 a control vaccine (to rule out placebo). Further, ten participants were given a booster shot of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine. All participants who received the vaccine developed spike-specific antibodies by day 28, an immune response similar to those who recover from Covid-19. Spikes are the spike proteins on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that it uses to attach to human receptor cells. The ten who received a booster shot produced neutralizing antibodies (antibodies in higher titers). The vaccine also triggered T cells, a type of white blood cell that “remembers” and attacks the coronavirus. Side effects including fever, headaches, muscle aches, and injection site reactions were observed in about 60% of patients; but all these were deemed mild or moderate and were resolved during the trial. T-cells and antibodies: That the vaccine has induced antibodies and T cells are significant. T cells can stay in the body for a longer period in a dormant state, and can re-emerge to attack the virus in case of an infection. The science behind the Oxford vaccine

Preliminary data from the phase I/II trial of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University showed it was safe and prompted an immune response that lasted at least two months. More on that and India’s role in the eventual rollout of the vaccine in today’s Times Top10. Here, we delve deeper into the science behind the vaccine.

Oxford’s candidate, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (also called AZD1222), is a non-replicant viral vector vaccine. The vector (the carrier) is derived from adenovirus (ChAdOx1) taken from chimpanzees. This is a harmless, weakened adenovirus that usually causes the common cold in chimps. It is genetically engineered so that it does not replicate itself in humans. Now, a gene (the load) from the coronavirus, SARS CoV-2, that instructs cells to build spike proteins is loaded into the vector.

Remember, coronaviruses have club-shaped spikes on their outer coats — the ‘corona’. These spike proteins allow the virus to attach to the ACE2 receptors in human cells. When the genetically engineered ChAdOx1 with the spike-responsible gene from coronavirus is administered in a person, the gene is “expressed”, causing the build-up of spike proteins. The body’s immune system recognises this and begins to create the antibodies to defeat the foreign object. Note: the vaccine vector is non-replicant so it doesn’t harm the person, but the spike proteins nevertheless trigger antibodies. The preliminary findings showed participants also produced T cells, a type of white blood cell that “remembers” and attacks the coronavirus infection. Oxford researchers led by Professor Sarah Gilbert were able to quickly develop the vaccine candidate as they had been working on the ChAdOx1 platform against Ebola and MERS viruses.

And other vaccine candidates?

India’s hope: Pune-based Serum Institute of India, under an agreement with AstraZeneca, is to bulk produce the Oxford vaccine. The company’s CEO, Adar Poonawalla, had earlier said it will produce 5 million doses per month for the first 6 months before ramping up the production. The findings are from the phase-I/II trial. The larger, phase-III trials of the vaccine have already begun in Brazil and South Africa. A vaccine being developed by China’s CanSino Biologics and China’s military research also appeared to safely induce both antibodies and T cells, a mid-stage study released Monday said. Both CanSino’s and Oxford’s vaccines are based on a similar science of using a non-replicating viral vector to trigger the immune response. Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has announced that the Phase-I clinical trials of India’s first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin began across the country on July 15. “This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial on 375 volunteers in India,” the company said in a brief statement. The leading vaccine maker had announced on June 29 that it successfully developed Covaxin in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology.The SARS-CoV-2 strain was isolated in NIV, Pune and transferred to Bharat Biotech. The indigenous, inactivated vaccine was developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech’s BSL-3A (Bio-Safety Level 3) High Containment facility located in Genome Valley, Hyderabad.

The vaccine developed by China’s CanSino Biologics in partnership with the country’s military research wing also relies on a viral vector, but a weakened human cold virus, adenovirus 5 (Ad5). CanSino, too, published its findings from phase I/II trial on Monday that showed it safely prompted an immune response.

But… the vaccine was inadequate to induce immunity response in people aged 55 or older — a group vulnerable to Covid-19. Researchers contend an additional dose given between the third and sixth month could negate this. The use of Ad5 itself has left some scientists unconvinced. Since most people would have already been infected by Ad5 (cold virus), they fear the immune system induced would focus on the Ad5 parts of the vaccine rather than the SARS-Cov-2 material fused to it.

Two other advance candidates are developed by Massachusetts-based Moderna and Germany’s BioNTech in partnership with Pfizer. These are messenger-RNA based candidates. They rely on synthetic mRNA that delivers the genetic code for spike proteins, thus triggering an immune response. Early findings by Moderna and BioNTech-Pfizer, too, showed they prompted an immune response.

Another reason to be hopeful about the Oxford vaccine: Viral vector-based vaccines need only be cold stored, whereas mRNA vaccines need to be in a frozen state — a challenge for developing countries.

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