Beaches, riverfronts in Raigad to observe night curfew; Janjira fort also closed till Jan 2
Given the coastal district s proximity to Mumbai, Thane and Pune, beaches in Raigad, mainly Alibaug, Murud and Shrivardhan, are expected to see a number of tourist arrivals for Christmas and New Year celebrations. December 26, 2020 2:26:58 am
The order also stated that the Superintendent of Police, Raigad, also suggested that this would help in preventing the infection as well as any law and order issues. (File)
PEOPLE REDRAWING New Year’s plans after the state government imposed a night curfew till January 5 will also have to strike out beaches in Alibaug and Mandwa or Janjira Fort in Raigad district from their options.
New Parliament: Location for MPs’ chambers shifted after on-ground survey
The foundation stone for the New Parliament was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 10. The new building will have 888 seats for members of the Lok Sabha, 384 for those of the Rajya Sabha. Updated: December 26, 2020 8:35:31 am
An artist’s impression of the new Parliament.
The design for the chambers for Members of Parliament, which will come up where the Shram Shakti Bhawan and Transport Bhawan are currently located on Rafi Marg and Sansad Marg respectively, is at the concept stage and will have approximately 800 or so offices for MPs, officials of the HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt Ltd have said. The new Parliament shall have six committee rooms for conducting business, they further said.
‘Vaccine price to be outcome of scale; have output capacity of 30 mn doses per month’
In an interview to PRABHA RAGHAVAN, Singh details how the Pune firm’s vaccine works and delves into plans to test and scale up production for a vast population. Edited excerpts: Updated: December 26, 2020 4:05:35 pm
Dr Sanjay Singh.
The mRNA Covid-19 vaccine by Gennova Biopharmaceuticals will hopefully not only achieve a similar efficacy to the candidates developed by Pfizer and Moderna, but will also be more affordably priced for a country like India, according to CEO Dr Sanjay Singh.
How does your mRNA vaccine, which uses a self-amplifying model, compare with Pfizer and Moderna’s candidates?
Manufacturing cos see recovery with softer Q2 sales contraction
The recovery was led by iron and steel, food products, cement, automobile and pharmaceuticals companies, showed the data on the performance of the private corporate sector during the second quarter of 2020-21. December 26, 2020 6:04:01 am
Manufacturing companies reported sales of Rs 5,99,479 crore in Q2, as against Rs 3,97,233 crore in April-June of FY21. (Representational)
Demand conditions in the manufacturing sector returned to the recovery mode, with a softer year-on-year (y-o-y) contraction of 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of this financial year, in terms of nominal sales after shrinking 41.1 per cent in the previous quarter that was hit by countrywide lockdowns due to Covid-19, according to RBI data.
“The pandemic has also reinforced the importance of scientific temper in our lives. One of the major challenges in this pandemic has been the prevalence of the ‘infodemic’. False information on the nature of the virus, medication and the vaccine caused panic and anxiety among the people. It is not vaccines or drugs that can defeat the infodemic, but a rational outlook among people. A citizenry that can think critically will be immune to such misinformation or fake news,’’ the Vice President said.
Pointing out India’s long tradition of sharing its scientific
advancements with the rest of the world, he said that our decimal system was borrowed by Arab traders, which later spread to medieval Europe and the scientist and inventor JC Bose never filed a single patent despite the many inventions and discoveries he made. “It is in the same spirit that we have not only become the pharmaceutical hub of the world, but we have been extensively sharing these life-saving drugs with