January 2022 - DigitalMedia

Canadian PM moved to secret location as anti-Covid rules protests flare-up

31Jan

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WORLD NEWS

Canadian PM moved to secret location as anti-Covid rules protests flare-up

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family have left their home in the country's capital and shifted to a secret location after a large-scale protest opposing COVID vaccine mandates converged on Parliament Hill, media reports said on Saturday. What started as a protest dubbed as 'Freedom Convoy' against a vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers has grown into a large demonstration against the Trudeau government's coronavirus regulations. Thousands of truckers and other protesters converged in the Capital city on Saturday to call for an end to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other public health restrictions, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported. Some of the protesters were seen dancing on the prominent war memorial, prompting condemnation from Canada's top ...

Airtel Africa inducted into London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 100 index

28Jan

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Business

Airtel Africa inducted into London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 100 index

Bharti Airtel on Thursday said its subsidiary Airtel Africa has been inducted into the London Stock Exchange's (LSE) FTSE 100 index. Airtel Africa listed on LSE in June 2019 and had a market capitalisation of $ 7.5 billion on Wednesday. “This is a significant milestone for Airtel Africa which becomes part of FTSE 100 index in just two and half years of listing. Airtel Africa is a strong player in the continent which has emerged as the next growth frontier globally,” Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal said in a statement.

No more weekend curfew; restaurants, cinemas can reopen with 50% capacity

27Jan

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Coronavirus News

No more weekend curfew; restaurants, cinemas can reopen with 50% capacity

The weekend curfew in the national capital has been lifted, along with restrictions at markets and malls. Cinema halls and restaurants will be permitted to reopen with 50 per cent capacity, while guests at weddings will be capped at 200. Government offices will function at 50 per cent capacity. Educational institutions will remain closed, and night curfew will continue. The weekend curfew will be lifted from the this week, while other restrictions like the odd-even rule will end tomorrow, the DDMA added. The new rules were announced after the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) held a meeting to take stock of the Covid-19 situation in the city. The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and DDMA Chairman and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, along with other exp...

Asian shares, US futures slide as traders fret about Ukraine, rate rises

25Jan

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Stock Market

Asian shares, US futures slide as traders fret about Ukraine, rate rises

Asian shares and U.S. futures tumbled on Tuesday after a tumultuous Wall Street session, with investors nervous about the situation in Ukraine and eyeing the U.S. Federal Reserve amid worries about a move to tighter monetary policy globally. NATO said on Monday it was putting forces on standby and reinforcing eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, in what Russia denounced as Western "hysteria" in response to its build-up of troops on the Ukraine border. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 1.2%, falling to its lowest in a month, and Japan’s Nikkei skidded 2% to its lowest level since August. There were sharp declines around the region. Hong Kong lost 1.64% and Korea’s KOSPI fell 1.67%. The Australian benchmark tumbled 2.73% to hit an eight-mont...

Over 21,900 families who lost member to COVID-19 given Rs 50,000 ex-gratia: Delhi govt

24Jan

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Current Affairs

Over 21,900 families who lost member to COVID-19 given Rs 50,000 ex-gratia: Delhi govt

A total of 21,914 families who have lost their loved ones to COVID-19 in Delhi have received a one-time ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 from the Delhi Disaster Response Fund (DDRF), officials said on Sunday. This amount is in addition to the financial aid of Rs 50,000 being provided by the city government under the 'Mukhyamantri COVID-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana’. "A total of 25,586 people have died due to Covid in Delhi so far. Families of 21,914 of them have received one time ex-gratia of Rs 50,000. The remaining applications are being processed,” a government official said. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Saturday released an additional amount of Rs 100 crore to 11 districts for the payment of ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 to kin of people who have died of Covid in Delhi, off...

Covid-19: Scientists identify new variant that combines Delta, Omicron

10Jan

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Coronavirus News

Covid-19: Scientists identify new variant that combines Delta, Omicron

A new coronavirus variant Deltacron has emerged in Cyprus which has a similar genetic background to the Delta variant, as well as some of the mutations from Omicron, and experts say that it is not something to be worried about at the moment, a media report said. In total, 10 of the mutations from Omicron were found in the 25 samples taken in Cyprus. 11 of the samples came from people who were hospitalized due to the virus, while 14 came from the general population, reported Jerusalem Post citing Cyprus Mail. Dr. Leondios Kostrikis, the head of the laboratory of biotechnology and molecular virology at the University of Cyprus, said that the frequency of the mutation among hospitalized patients was higher and could point to a correlation between the new variant and hospitalizations. ...

Fed’s faster-than-expected rate hike signal triggers world stock sell-off

7Jan

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Stock Market

Fed’s faster-than-expected rate hike signal triggers world stock sell-off

Stock markets were deep in the red and some key government bond yields climbed to their highest in years on Thursday after the Federal Reserve signalled the possibility of faster-than-expected US rate hikes and stimulus withdrawal. The 10-year Treasury note’s yield briefly topped 1.75%, approaching its 2021 high, deepening one of the biggest weekly selloffs in U.S. government debt in years. The benchmark note’s yield rose as much as 4.6 basis points to 1.751%, within three basis points of last year’s high, reached on March 30. After retreating to around 1.73% it remains about 22 basis points higher on the week, on track for its biggest weekly increase since June 2020. Both Asia and Europe's bourses fell heavily after Wall Street's tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged more than 3% on Wednesday a...

India confirms first Omicron-related death as Covid-19 cases jump

6Jan

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Coronavirus News

India confirms first Omicron-related death as Covid-19 cases jump

India on Wednesday confirmed its first death linked to the Omicron variant of Sars-CoV-2 after a deceased Udaipur resident’s sample showed presence of the virus. Meanwhile, cases continued to climb sharply across major cities – Mumbai’s fresh Covid cases breached the 15,000 mark, up almost 40 percent from Tuesday, while Delhi’s cases nearly doubled to 10,665. The country had 214,004 active Covid19 cases as of Wednesday, and reported 58,097 fresh cases on January 5. The Health Ministry said that 43 districts in India are reporting a weekly positivity between 5 per cent to 10 per cent now. The 73-year old man had died last week in a Udaipur hospital due to post-Covid pneumonia coupled with comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension. The man had tested positive for Covid-19 on Dece...

India spends record $55.7 billion on gold imports in 2021: Report

5Jan

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Economy

India spends record $55.7 billion on gold imports in 2021: Report

India splurged a record $55.7 billion on gold imports in 2021, buying more than double the previous year's tonnage as a price drop favoured retail buyers and pent up demand emerged for weddings that were delayed when the pandemic first hit. The previously unreported details of the world's second biggest consumer nation's soaring imports were disclosed to Reuters by a senior government official who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media. The 2021 gold import bill easily doubled the $22 billion spent in 2020, and surpassed the previous high, set in 2011, of $53.9 billion, according to the official, who tracks broad import trends. In volume terms, India imported 1,050 tonnes of gold in 2021, the most in a decade, and far more than 430 tonnes imported in 2020, ...

Over 40 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses administered on Day 1 of vaccination drive for 15-18 age group

4Jan

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Vaccine

Over 40 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses administered on Day 1 of vaccination drive for 15-18 age group

More than 40 lakh children in the age group of 15 to 18 years received their first vaccine dose against COVID-19 on January 3 - the first day of the widened immunisation drive, as infections inch up again in the country. Announcing the same, Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted: "Well done Young India! Over 40 Lakhs between 15-18 age group received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on the 1st day of vaccination drive for children, till 8 PM. This is another feather in the cap of India’s vaccination drive" Over the last few days, India has seen a surge in cases as states continue to report more infections, which is believed to be driven by the more transmissible Omicron variant. As per the numbers available on the CO-WIN dashboard, 34,84,212 children had been vacci...