Friday, December 10, 2021

Neeli Bendapudi first Woman To Be President Of US' Penn State University

Neeli Bendapudi, an Indian-origin academic, has become the first woman and person of colour to be named president of America's famed Pennsylvania State University, the educational institution announced on Thursday.

Ms Bendapudi is the president and professor of marketing at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. She was born in Visakhapatnam and moved to the United States for higher education in 1986.

The Penn State Board of Trustees overwhelmingly named her as the university's next president on December 9, according to a statement on the university's website

Thursday, December 9, 2021

No Regular Foreign Flights Till Jan 31 due to Omicron Effect

Regular international commercial flights will not resume until January 31, the government stated on Friday, amid widespread concern about the new Omicron coronavirus type. Those covered by the "air bubble" agreements, on the other hand, will continue to operate as usual.

International flights were supposed to start again on December 15th. However, due to the spread of the new 'Omicron' type in multiple countries, the country has halted its preparations to resume international flights.

In a circular, the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that the suspension on foreign flights would be extended until January 31, but that it would not apply to international all-cargo operations or flights that it had specifically approved.

year-long farmers’ agitation is called off

After receiving an official letter from the government, detailing the unconditional withdrawal of all police cases filed against demonstrators throughout the agitation, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Joginder Ugrahan stated that the protest will be called off.

India records 8,439 new cases of the Coronavirus, up 23% from the previous day.

On Wednesday, India recorded 8,439 new Covid cases, a daily increase of 23% over the previous day. The active caseload dropped to 93,733, the lowest level in 555 days. A total of 195 deaths were recorded during the day, bringing the total number of deaths to 4,73,952.

Active cases in India account for less than 1% of total cases, and are now at 0.27 percent, the lowest level since March 2020.

So far, the Nationwide Vaccination Drive has resulted in the administration of 129.54 crore vaccine doses.

India's overall recovery rate is now at 98.36%, the highest since March 2020, after 9,525 recoveries were recorded in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 3,40,89,137.

Meanwhile, a WHO official stated that the Omicron form does not appear to produce any more severe disease than prior Covid variants, and that it is "very likely."

The Canadian government has announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics.

Canada announced on Wednesday that it will join the United States and other nations in a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February. "We are profoundly disturbed, as are many (of our) partners around the world, by the Chinese government's persistent human rights transgressions," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a news conference. "As a result, we are announcing today that no diplomatic representation will be sent to the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games this winter."

He stated that Canadian athletes will compete in the Games.

The decision comes after the US announced a diplomatic boycott of China on Monday, citing "genocide" of the Uyghur minority in the Xinjiang region and other human rights violations.

Government accepts demands, farm stir may end soon

: On Tuesday, sources said the centre had indicated it is willing to offer a written assurance on a number of the farmers' demands, including a committee on MSP.

Farmers who have been protesting farm laws and demanding a legal guarantee for MSP for the past 15 months are on the verge of ending their agitation after receiving a second draught proposal from the government that contains assurances on MSP and the removal of police cases. "We have approved the center's revised draught in response to our demands regarding farmers' protests against three farm regulations. We'll meet again tomorrow as soon as we have a formal letter from the centre. The demonstrations are still going on "On Wednesday, farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni remarked.

At 12 p.m. on Thursday, the conference will make a final decision on lessening the level of protests, which might include thousands of farmers camped out outside Delhi returning home.

Omicron may have a higher risk of reinfection

The World Health Organization said early data indicates that Omicron, the latest variant of the SARS-CoV-2 first found in South Africa, may easily infect people who have either been infected earlier or vaccinated. But the disease will be milder than what the Delta variant led to, WHO said.

The new variant was found in the last week of November and since then it has now spread to around 57 countries. No death has been linked to this variant and patients are recovering without hospitalisation, without requiring oxygen support.