Daily roundup by CSE and Down to Earth @COP27 by Avantika Goswami and Rohini Krishnamurthy, November 7, 2022
Daily roundup by CSE and Down to Earth @COP27 by Avantika Goswami and Rohini Krishnamurthy, November 7, 2022 • UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that Loss and damage can no longer be swept under the rug. “It is a moral imperative, a fundamental question of international solidarity and climate justice,” …
Coronavirus ourbreak: ICMR gets nod for ‘restricted use’ of two anti-HIV drugs
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has obtained permission for “restricted use in public health emergency” of two second-line HIV medications for use against the novel coronavirus (nCoV). Top Health Ministry officials said these medications are to be used only in “vulnerable” cases, as they are not without side-effects. …
Virus across borders
This week Kerala reported its third case of coronavirus, a student of a university in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the viral outbreak that has spread globally in less than a month. The student who hails from Kasargode is out of danger, and so are the other …
Explained: Why 98.6°F is no longer ‘normal’ for the body
The thermometer reading of 98.6°F has been a gold standard for a century and a half, ever since a German doctor laid it down as the “normal” human body temperature. If you suspect you have a fever, a reading of 98.6 tells you that you are not. Over the last …
Amendments to Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act are a mixed bag
The Union Cabinet’s approval of the amended Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Bill 2020 was reported on January 29. This amendment was long due and has made some anticipated changes demanded by women’s groups and courts, including the Supreme Court. The Act is not yet available in the public domain …
FM tried to address issues facing the economy. But state and municipal budgets are equally critical
Fiscal deficit targets sometimes lead to vicious cycles. As an economy slows, so do tax collections, and if the government slows down its spending to meet the deficit targets, it exacerbates weak growth — one of the risks flagged in this column last year (‘Seize the slowdown’, IE, August 30, …
Poor ventilation in public transport responsible for transmission of airborne tuberculosis (TB) infection in South Africa, says study.
South Africa is one of the countries with the highest burden of tuberculosis (TB). According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics, 322,000 TB cases reported in South Africa in 2017. The highest TB incidence rates reported in Western Cape province in South Africa and reported rate was 938 per …
Ghanaian president urges African countries to fight climate change vigorously
Ghanaian President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo urged African countries here on Thursday to strengthen the fight against climate change and rescue the African continent from effects of carbon emissions. Opening the ongoing three-day second Africa Climate Chance Summit, Akufo-Addo added that determined actions were necessary as climate change posed the greatest …
Malawi: National CPAP program is a boon for more than half of newborns with respiratory illness
Malawi has the world's highest preterm birth rate, with almost 1 in 5 babies born prematurely , but the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) programme introduced by the health ministry as part of a quality-improvement initiative increased survival rates of respiratory illness for newborns finds a new study.
…
The Zambian agri-tech app making farming cool
In Zambia, where agriculture accounts for 35% of the country’s GDP, farming is a way of life. One agri-tech company is bringing the future to Zambian farms. Agripredict, led by young founder and CEO Mwila Kangwa, helps identify and stop the crop diseases that have ravaged Zambia’s farms in past …