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<ul><li>The tech industry has seen more than 200,000 <keyword id="6357067" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="layoffs" source="Orion">layoffs</keyword> since the start of 2022.</li><li>Instead of performance, the focus for layoffs is more on eliminating redundant roles that no longer add a major value to the organization.</li><li>Some of the red flags an employee should look out for are a decrease in hiring, budget cuts and changes in management.</li></ul>Bipin Singh, a business development manager at Byju’s with over 11 years experience in the EdTech industry was laid off last month after a stint of 1.5 years at the company. In his LinkedIn post he mentioned about the layoff and urged everyone to reach out to him with job offers or if not, like share and comment on his post to increase reach. Anil <keyword id="906861" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sahani" source="Orion">Sahani</keyword>, a software engineer, lost his job in Accenture recently .“I was one of the first ones to let go as I was a contract employee and also did not have any notice period. The layoffs are still on.” Singh and Sahani are among the thousands of employees who have been affected by tech layoffs in India. Google trend data, which reflects what people search for, shows that between January 22-28 this year, the term ‘layoff’ was at its peak popularity of 100, while between January 23 to January 29 last year, it was just at five. This is not surprising because layoffs are being reported majorly in the media and almost every other post on Linkedin is talking about layoffs. It all started with the news that the big tech giants like Amazon and Google parent Alphabet were laying off in large numbers. While Alphabet laid off 12,000 people, the Amazon layoffs affected more than 18,000 people. Microsoft said it will lay off 10,000 people by the end of the third quarter of 2023 and even SAP and IBM have started laying off employees. It seems it is almost like a contagion that is spreading rapidly like wildfire. The Indian situation: Which brings us to the question: Is the situation as bad in India? Layoffs are now a reality in India too. Reports suggest that around 21,000 techies have lost their jobs in the last three to four months. In the third week of January, Wipro fired more than 400 freshers for failing performance tests. While Amazon has laid off 1,000 of its employees in India, IBM and SAP are also laying off employees, affecting their employees in India as well. Very recently, Byju’s laid off 1,000 people, in a second round of layoffs in February. Sivaprasad N, vice president &amp; business head, TeamLease Digital, a staffing solutions company, puts the number of layoffs in the tech industry at more than 2,00,000 since 2022. Over 21,000 employees <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/70-plus-indian-startups-show-exit-door-to-21k-techies-more-pink-slips-coming/articleshow/97411761.cms?">have been laid off </a>by 70 startups in the past 3-4 months including from unicorns like BYJU'S, <keyword id="6354720" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="ola" source="Orion">Ola</keyword>, MPL, Innovaccer, Unacademy, Vedantu, Cars24, OYO, Meesho, Udaan and many more. Anuj Gupta, who has over 10 years of experience in SEO, has lost his job in edtech company upGrad and is a part of the current tech and marketing layoff wave. The layoff situation in India is currently more of a spill-over effect of shake-ups in the West. Unlike the funding winter that hit the Indian funded tech startups cohort in 2022, the current layoffs by big labels are largely corrective talent adjustments. “Despite potential opportunities coming our way due to global shakeups, it is prudent for India Inc. to treat the current layoffs as a tip of the iceberg,” says <keyword id="138078" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="kamal-karanth" source="Orion">Kamal Karanth</keyword>, CoFounder, Xpheno, a specialist staffing company. He adds that enterprises, especially in tech, will benefit from remaining alert and conservative on costs for at least two quarters. Agrees Sivaprasad, “Companies are battling a slowdown in demand after a hiring frenzy. No company is certain to avoid significant cutbacks in such an economic environment. We are witnessing a significant drop in tech hiring unlike previous years as companies are only doing selective hiring for critical projects. It looks like the trend will continue for some time.” Many IT majors have announced mass layoffs in the last couple of months, quoting factors like overhiring, an impending recession and geopolitical conflicts. “We expect businesses to exhibit caution in hiring and workforce management through a major part of 2023,” <keyword id="13896318" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sachin-alug" source="Orion">Sachin Alug</keyword>, CEO, NLB Services - a global technology &amp; digital talent solutions company. Delhi-based Pankaj Kumar, laid off from a software company this month, says that one day he got a message saying that the company was restructuring and that it was his last day. “However, we were forced to resign and also we received very little in the name of assistance as promised.” Kumar feels that most startups today have no clue about manpower requirements and just hire to show their investors that they are doing well without having an idea of how they can sustain themselves in crucial times. Tech jobs have been the most affected: As discussed, tech companies, especially IT firms, are very vulnerable to an impending recession in the US. “The tech sector has always been highly sensitive to economic cycles, and the current economic downturn could have a significant impact on these companies. A recession could lead to decreased consumer spending, reduced corporate investment, and layoffs, which could all hit tech companies hard,” says <keyword id="328697" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sandeep-budhiraja" source="Orion">Sandeep Budhiraja</keyword>, Co-founder, Executive Director and Chief People Officer - BYLD Group which provides HR and Business productivity solutions, Additionally, the US market is a major source of revenue for many tech companies, so a recession here could have a widespread impact on global operations. Finally, any disruption to the global supply chain could further disrupt tech companies, as many rely on components and materials sourced from around the world. “The sectors that may be most affected, other than the technology, are telecommunications, financial services and retail. The telecommunications sector could be hit by reduced investment in infrastructure and lower customer demand. The financial services sector could be adversely affected by a decrease in credit availability and tightened lending standards, while the retail sector could suffer from decreased consumer spending,” adds Budhiraja. Everyone is vulnerable: “Instead of performance, the focus for layoffs is more on eliminating redundant roles that no longer add major value to the organization. Usually, mass layoffs affect employees invariably regardless of their performance but in organizations that choose to let go of a selected few, performers at a certain level tend to be the target,” says Alug. The primary causes of layoffs are the foreseeable recession and the geopolitical scenario which have led to inflation, impacting many industries. Prominent players in the IT and Technology domain are being cautious to ensure profitability and better predictability of business. Agrees Karanth, “The larger layoffs related to enterprise strategy and austerity are mostly across the ranks and ratings of performance. Such layoffs related to macroeconomic movements are typically steamrollers on entire divisions, geographies and business units. While each enterprise has their own pattern of priority on the layoffs, the high cost and high volume headcounts typically come under the lens faster.” Look out for red flags: “Layoffs in a situation like now are largely written on the wall. It is often the speed and style of a layoff that's a surprise to talent, and not the layoff by itself,” says Karanth. Some of the red flags an employee should look out for are a decrease in hiring, budget cuts and changes in management. “Additionally, if a company is reducing or eliminating certain departments or projects, it may be a sign that layoffs are coming. If there are rumours of layoffs or if employees are being asked to take unpaid leave, this could also be a sign that layoffs are imminent. Finally, if the company is not meeting its financial goals or is experiencing a downturn in business, layoffs may be a possibility,” says Alug. Hiring remains slow: “Many of those who lost their jobs are still looking for work, as nearly every major corporation has put a freeze on new hiring due to global macroeconomic conditions and recession fears. We are witnessing a significant drop in tech hiring unlike previous years as companies are only doing selective hiring for critical projects. Looks like the trend would continue for some time,” says Sivaprasad. However Karanth feels that while tech hiring has slowed down, there are opportunities for talent who are flexible and agile to look beyond their domain. The non-tech sector's talent demand has been compensating well for tech's hiring slowdown. <keyword id="2838370" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="shraddha-jain" source="Orion">Shraddha Jain</keyword>, who is also known as 'Aiyyo Shraddha' on social media, posted a hilarious video on Instagram, where she slammed companies for laying off employees despite making a profit. "At the company offsite, we celebrated the company tripling its profit in a year. What happened? A month later we are so poor. Who robbed us?" she asked. While these are questions that reflect the grim reality of large scale layoffs, employees should brace themselves for tough times ahead. 2023 will be a turbulent ride.

Tech layoffs to continue for sometime thanks to a slowdown in demand and an uncertain economic environment

New Delhi, Apr 15 () Thousands of healthcare workers and patients at country-wide facilities of a leading private hospital network will be tested for COVID-19 as a precautionary measure, the hospital group said on Wednesday.Healthcare workers from hospitals under Max Healthcare (18,000 workers), BLK Hospital (3,000) and Nanavati Hospital, Mumbai (3,000) will be tested over the next few weeks, officials said.The announcement was made by senior officials of the hospital network in an online press conference addressed by Abhay Soi, Chairman, Max Healthcare and Chairman, Radiant Life Care Private Limited and Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, Group Medical Director, Max Healthcare."Patients being admitted will also be tested first. We want to ensure safety of all our employees and patients, especially our front-line healthcare staff," Soi told reporters.Answering a question, he said the tests will be conducted free of cost.Max Healthcare, BLK Hospital and Nanavati Hospital are part of the Radiant Life Care Private Limited.On Tuesday, authorities at Max Healthcare had said they planned to have COVID-19 tests conducted on its entire workforce and patients, spanning all its facilities in the country.The move comes in the wake of a doctor, a nurse and a non-medical staffer at Max Hospital, Saket here recently testing positive for coronavirus infection."The tests will be prioritised with admitted patients and new patients getting top priority, our front line health workers will be next and then doctors, nurses and other staff subsequently," Dr Budhiraja said.Pool testing will be used for the employees, while individual RT-PCR testing will be done for all the patients admitted in the hospital, he said.Max Healthcare has 13 facilities in north India, offering services in over 30 medical disciplines. Of these, 10 facilities are located in Delhi-NCR and the others in Mohali, Bathinda and Dehradun, the group said.The total number of COVID-19 infections has crossed 12,000 while the death toll has surpassed 400 in the country, according to official data. KND RDMRDM

Private hospital network plans to have its total workforce, patients tested for COVID-19

New Delhi, Apr 21 () A critical COVID-19 patient admitted to a private hospital here has shown signs of improvement and taken off ventilator support after he was administered plasma therapy, officials said on Tuesday. The 49-year-old had tested positive for coronavirus on April 4 and the same day he was admitted to the dedicated COVID facility in East Block of Max Hospital, Saket, with moderate symptoms and a history of fever and respiratory issues.His condition deteriorated during the next few days and he soon required external oxygen to maintain saturation, hospital authorities said."He soon developed pneumonia with Type I respiratory failure and had to be put on ventilator support on April 8," the hospital said in a statement on Monday.When the patient showed no improvement in his condition, his family requested the hospital for administration of plasma therapy on compassionate grounds, "a first of its kind treatment modality that was used for this disease in India," it said.This patient has shown positive results and was recently weaned off ventilator support, the hospital authorities said.Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, Group Medical Director, Max Healthcare, said, "We are delighted that the therapy worked well in his case, opening a new treatment opportunity during these challenging times. But it is important that we also understand that plasma therapy is no magic bullet".During the patient's treatment at Max Hospital, Saket, other standard treatment protocols were followed and one can say that plasma therapy could have worked as a catalyst in speeding up his recovery, he added."We cannot attribute 100 per cent recovery to plasma therapy only, as there are multiple factors which carved his path to recovery," he said.Hospital authorities said the family came forward to arrange a donor for extracting plasma."The donor had recovered from the infection three weeks ago and again tested COVID-19 negative at the time of donation along with other standard tests to rule out infections like Hep B, Hep C and HIV," the statement said.The critically ill patient was administered fresh plasma as a treatment modality as a side-line to standard treatment protocols on the night of April 14, it said.After receiving the treatment, the patient showed progressive improvement and by the fourth day, he was weaned off ventilator support and continued on supplementary oxygen thereafter, the hospital authorities said.He has been shifted to a room with round-the-clock monitoring at present. He has started taking oral feed since Sunday and is faring well, they said.Budhiraja said, "One donor can donate 400 ml of plasma which can save two lives, as 200 ml is sufficient to treat one patient". The patient is now doing well and his two consecutive COVID-19 tests have come negative, the hospital authorities said. KND DPBDPB

COVID-19 patient given plasma therapy at pvt hospital shows improvement, weaned off ventilator

New Delhi, Apr 26 () A private hospital here claimed that a coronavirus patient, who was administered plasma therapy for the first time in the facility, was discharged on Sunday after being completely cured.The 49-year-old man had tested positive for COVID-19 on April 4 and was admitted to Max Hospital, Saket, it said in a statement. As his condition deteriorated, he was put on ventilator support on April 8, the hospital added.When the patient showed no signs of improvement, his family requested for administration of plasma therapy on compassionate grounds, it said, adding that the family arranged a donor for extracting plasma. The patient was administered fresh plasma as a treatment modality as a side-line to standard treatment protocols on the night of April 14, the statement said.Subsequently, the patient showed improvement and by the fourth day, was weaned off ventilator support and continued on supplementary oxygen. He was shifted to a room with round-the-clock monitoring on Monday after testing negative twice within 24 hours, it said.He has now fully recovered and was discharged, the hospital said, adding that he will stay at home for another two weeks.Group medical director of Max Healthcare and senior director of the Institute of Internal Medicine Dr Sandeep Budhiraja said, "We can say that plasma therapy could have worked as a catalyst in speeding up his recovery. We cannot attribute 100 per cent recovery to plasma therapy only, as there are multiple factors which carved his path to recovery." SLB IJT

Pvt hospital says it successfully cured COVID-19 patient using plasma therapy

New Delhi, Apr 24 () Three of the four COVID-19 patients, who received plasma therapy at a Delhi government hospital, were elderly ones while the fourth one was in his mid-30s, officials said on Friday.Four serious COVID-19 patients admitted at the Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan Hospital of the Delhi government have been given plasma therapy as part of a trial to assess its efficacy on such patients."Plasma therapy has been started on four patients at LNJP Hospital. All these patients are elderly except one patient, who is aged about 35," a senior official of the hospital said.LNJP Hospital is a dedicated COVID-19 facility in the national capital."The patients are showing fair response to the treatment. It will, however, be premature to comment upon the efficacy of the treatment based on the response of four patients," the official said.More plasma patients as well as donors are in the pipeline, hospital authorities said.Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said the plasma therapy trial conducted on the four COVID-19 patients here has yielded "very encouraging" initial results, giving a ray of hope to seriously ill coronavirus patients.Addressing an online media briefing, Kejriwal said more clinical trials of plasma therapy will take place over the next two-three days, and his government will seek the Centre's nod next week for using the technique on all seriously ill COVID-19 patients in the city.The chief minister expressed hope that the Union government will give a go-ahead to the treatment regimen.He was joined by S K Sarin, director of the Institute of Liver and Biliary Science (ILBS) here, during the briefing.The four patients who were given plasma therapy have shown improvement in their health condition, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation, Kejriwal said.Two of the four patients, whose condition was serious, have now been shifted to general ward from the ICU and two others are also responding well, he said.Sarin said donating plasma would be an act of patriotism by recovered patients. It does not lead to any physical weakness to the donor, he said."It is not blood donation... Plasma therapy is also inexpensive," he said.Recently, a COVID-19 patient at Max hospital here, who was administered plasma therapy, had shown signs of improvement, and was taken off ventilator support.The 49-year-old, male patient from Delhi who had tested positive for coronavirus infection on April 4 was admitted at the dedicated COVID facility in East Block of Max Hospital, Saket, with moderate symptoms and a history of fever and respiratory issues, the same day.Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, Group Medical Director, Max Healthcare, had said, "We are delighted that the therapy worked well in his case, opening a new treatment opportunity during these challenging times. But it is important that we also understand that plasma therapy is no magic bullet".During the patient's treatment at Max Hospital, Saket, other standard treatment protocols were followed and one can say that the plasma therapy could have worked as a catalyst in speeding up his recovery, he added."We cannot attribute 100 per cent recovery to plasma therapy only, as there are multiple factors which carved his path to recovery," he said.Budhiraja said, "one donor can donate 400 ml of plasma which can save two lives, as 200 ml is sufficient to treat one patient".The total number of coronavirus cases in the national capital on Friday rose to 2,514, with 138 new cases and three fresh fatalities, taking the death toll from COVID-19 in the city to 53, according to the Delhi government authorities. KND RAXRAX

'3 elderly COVID-19 patients, one in mid-30s underwent plasma therapy at LNJP'

<ul><li><keyword id="6358887" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amitabh-kant">Amitabh Kant</keyword>, CEO of the government think tank <keyword id="2665691" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Niti-Aayog">Niti Aayog</keyword> says that the positive cases detected during testing in India have remained low — despite the increase in testing. </li><li>The analysis shared by Kant shows that India’s positive cases as a percentage of total tests stood at 4.7%. </li><li>But this does not pass over the fact that the figures account for merely 177 tests per million — that’s as low at 0.0177%. </li><li>However, experts believe that to be ‘modest for a court of the size of 1.3 billion’ adding that more tests need to be conducted. </li></ul>Amitabh Kant, CEO of the government think tank Niti Aayog says that positive Covid-19 cases detected during testing in India have remained low — despite the increase in testing. “Despite increased testing our percentage of positive cases is still low compared to others. India’s strong measures on travel restrictions, social distancing, janta curfew and lockdown have paid dividends. Social distancing has to be the new norm,” Kant said in a tweet. <div type="twitter" handle="amitabhk87" handlename="Amitabh Kant" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/602702156165029888/M4hUz8oe_normal.jpg" favoritecount="585" retweetcount="173" status="Despite increased testing our % of positive cases is still low compared to others. A Country by country analysis. I… https://t.co/7NygFM0mzp" createdat="1587005796000" id="1250619070321356801"></div> The country-by-country analysis shared by Kant, shows the positive cases as a percentage of total tests. As per this data, India’s infection rate with regard to the total tests conducted is at 4.7%. That’s 11,555 of the 239,127 tests conducted so far. But this does not cover for the fact that the figures account for merely 177 tests per million — that’s as low as 0.0177%. However, experts say that India needs to ramp up testing to contain <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">Coronavirus</keyword>, which has already infected over 12,000 people and killed 414, as per the data by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India tested over 2.4 lakh samples for Coronavirus on April 14 — up from 2.17 lakh a day before. Experts believe that to be ‘<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/india-needs-to-test-coronavirus-cases-more-rigorously-experts/articleshow/75163216.cms">modest for a court of the size of 1.3 billion</a>,’ adding that more tests need to be conducted. But Kant argues that “the low test counter argument is not valid; if the infection rate across the world is similar then all else equal, the ratio of positive cases and total tests conducted should be roughly the same.” It also reveals that France tops the list with nearly 42% positive cases against 342,638 tests conducted in the country as of now. It is followed by Spain and Iran at 29% and 26% respectively as the positive cases. The two countries have also seen several thousands of fatalities due to the global pandemic. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/1957256" data-url="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/1957256/embed"></div>]]></cdata></div> “A case in point is Germany, which has the highest testing rate per million population and yet remains at 10%,” the report noted. This reiterates the expert take on the current situation in India. "Priority will be to test our admitted patients and new patients being brought in. And front-line healthcare workers. India is doing a lot of tests, but it is not enough compared to what the US and Singapore and other countries are doing,” Sandeep Budhiraja, group medical director at Max Healthcare <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/india-needs-to-test-coronavirus-cases-more-rigorously-experts/articleshow/75163216.cms">told</a> news agency PTI. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/wash-your-hands-often-to-keep-covid-19-away-but-most-indians-cant-afford-the-water/articleshow/75173348.cms">Wash your hands often to keep Covid-19 away, but most Indians can't afford the water</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/after-50000-ppe-kits-from-china-fail-quality-tests-india-ramps-up-in-house-production/articleshow/75173170.cms">After 50,000 PPE kits from China fail quality tests, India ramps up in-house production</a>

Niti Aayog’s Amitabh Kant says lockdown is helping as positive cases are at 4.7% of those tested

New Delhi, Jun 3 () As the coronavirus cases continue to spiral in the national capital, the Delhi government has set up a five-member panel to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure in the city and look into the overall preparedness of hospitals to battle the pandemic, officials said on Wednesday. Delhi recorded 1,513 fresh cases, the highest spike so far, taking the tally to 23,645, while the death toll rose to 606, according to a health bulletin. The officials said that there are 8,386 COVID-19 dedicated beds in the city hospitals, of which 3,446 are occupied. Of the 408 ventilators dedicated for COVID-19 patients, 255 are being used for patients. The newly-formed committee will guide the Delhi government on healthcare infrastructure augmentation and overall preparedness of the hospitals to battle COVID-19, they said. The members of the panel are Dr. Mahesh Verma, the vice-chancellor of IP University; Dr. Sunil Kumar, the medical director of GTB Hospital; Dr. Arun Gupta, president of Delhi Medical Council; Dr. R K Gupta, former president of Delhi Medical Association; and Dr. Sandeep Budhiraja, the group medical director of Max Hospital, according to an official order. The panel will also guide the government on any other area where strengthening of infrastructure is required to better manage the pandemic in Delhi. The daily spike in cases has been upwards of 1,100 for last several days while the total number of containment zones has risen to 158. Delhi has the highest number of cases after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the complete lockdown has helped the Delhi government in strengthening the city's health infrastructure to effectively battle COVID-19. Addressing the "Cities Against COVID19 - Global Summit 2020" via video conference on Wednesday, he mentioned key measures adopted by the Delhi government to contain the spread of the dreaded virus. The summit was attended by mayors and experts from 21 cities, including Moscow, Jakarta, Istanbul, Budapest, Tehran, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, Vancouver and Chongqing. "As Delhi got its first COVID-19 positive case on March 2, it was very important to curb the spread of the disease. The total lockdown enabled us to spread awareness about the virus among the citizens and strengthen our health infrastructure to effectively battle the disease," he said. The deputy chief minister said the government has adequate medical facilities to deal with coronavirus cases. He said the Delhi government's relief teams have been working round the clock to provide meals to almost a million people twice a day. "Delhi plans to restore economic activity safely in a phased manner," the deputy chief minister said. Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party claimed that the Centre-run (Ram Manohar Lohia) RML Hospital was giving out "erroneous" COVID-19 test results and violating government norms of submitting them within 48 hours. Addressing a press conference here, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha said the Delhi government re-tested 30 samples from the RML Hospital which were declared COVID-19 positive. He said 12 of these samples were found to be negative and the results of two samples were inconclusive. "As per the protocol and to maintain the certainty of the tests, the Delhi government checks the test results of the hospitals by re-testing some samples time and again. Recently, the Delhi government took 30 samples from RML Hospital which were declared to be positive (by the hospital) and sent for re-testing. "You will be surprised to know that the result of 12 samples out of the 30 came negative and results for two samples were inconclusive," he said. No immediate reaction was available from the hospital. KND VIT UZM PR RT RT

As coronavirus cases spiral, Delhi govt forms 5-member panel to strengthen health infra in city

New Delhi, Apr 15 () India needs to "significantly ramp up" the number of tests done across the country to trace COVID-19 infection cases if the pandemic is to be contained in time, experts said.The death toll due to coronavirus crossed 375 while the number of cases in the country mounted to nearly 11,500 on Wednesday, according to the Union Health Ministry.Data obtained from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said, till April 14, the number of samples tested stood at 2,44,893, an increase of 27,339 from the corresponding figure till the previous day (2,17,554).Experts feel the figures are modest for a court of the size of 1.3 billion and "much more number of tests" are needed to combat COVID-19 outbreak in the country.According to worldometers.info which maintains a global database on coronavirus cases and tests conducted, the US, where over 26,000 COVID-19 deaths have occurred, has done 31,00,387 tests averaging about 9,367 per million of population.The figures for India is 2,44,893 tests averaging 177 per million of population.Spain and Italy, two countries which have also seen several thousands of fatalities, have done 6,00,000 and 10,73,689 tests respectively.Dr Ravi Shekhar Jha, Senior Consultant and Head of the Department of Pulmonology at Fortis Escorts, Faridabad, said India is going in the right direction but it is not enough."Given the massive size of our population, the number of tests needs to be ramped up and should be conducted more rigorously. We need to do effective contact tracing and test them so that those people in turn do not infect others," he told .The number of samples tested till March 28 stood at 27,688, a rise of 7,038 from the corresponding figure till March 27, according to ICMR data."The rise in number of cases happening is also because in the last few weeks during the lockdown, people who came in contacts with affected people were traced and tested. This has to be increased manifold if we have to contain coronavirus in time, otherwise it will be a difficult affair," Jha said.Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, Group Medical Director at Max Healthcare, said it has been decided to conduct coronavirus tests on "all our workforce and patients across the country"."Priority will be to test our admitted patients and new patients being brought in. And, the front-line healthcare workers," he said.India is doing lot of tests, but it is not enough compared to what the US and Singapore and other countries are doing, he said, adding, "much more testing needs to be done".Another expert from a leading private hospital here, who did not wish to be named, said, "The volume of tests conducted need to be ramped up significantly to capitalise on the gains from the lockdown".Two kinds of diagnostic tests are being currently used in India -- RT-PCR test and rapid antibodies test, according to global health norms.A reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test is a laboratory technique combining reverse transcription of RNA into DNA that detects the virus while the antibody tests, which use blood, detect the body's response to the virus.Dr Arvind Kumar, noted lung surgeon at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said the key to fighting the COVID-19 battle is "testing, testing and testing" and then "quarantining and treating"."The more number of people we screen, the greater our chance of winning this fight against COVID-19. The number of tests have to be significantly increased," he said.In Delhi, which has seen 1561 cases and 30 deaths till April 14, over 16,000 samples been tested till that period."Number of cases were rising and they will increase even more now, as more testing is done. We are still on the rising limb of the epidemic curve. Also, people are learning social distancing, sneezing etiquette, which are important elements in this fight," said Dr Rajesh Chawla, a pulmonologist at Apollo Hospital.  KND PLB  ZMN

India needs to test coronavirus cases more rigorously: Experts

New Delhi, Jun 6 () In view of a surge in coronavirus cases, a panel formed by the Delhi government has suggested that the city's health infrastructure should be used only for treating its residents, sources said on Saturday even as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal warned hospitals of stern action if they refuse COVID-19 patients or indulge in "black-marketing" of beds. With 1,320 more people testing positive, the total number of coronavirus cases has increased to 27,654 in the national capital, according to the daily health bulletin. The death toll has risen to 761. There are 16,229 active cases. The Delhi Health Department also lodged an FIR against the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) for allegedly violating COVID-19 regulation norms. Addressing an online media briefing, Kejriwal said the Delhi government will depute medical professionals in each private hospital to ensure patients are aware of beds available and they are admitted without any hassle. The chief minister also rubbished claims that COVID-19 tests have been stopped in Delhi, and asserted that the number of tests conducted in the city is the highest in the country. He, however, said the testing capacity is limited and it will be overwhelmed if everyone went for the test, adding that asymptomatic persons should not go for it. The suggestion on using Delhi's health infrastructure came from a five-member panel in the backdrop of Delhi recording over 1,000 fresh coronavirus cases daily for the past few days and the AAP government fending off allegations of lack of hospital beds and other facilities. The panel, headed by Indraprastha University vice-chancellor Dr Mahesh Verma, has submitted its report to the government in which it has said that if Delhi health infrastructure is open for non-residents, all beds will be occupied within just three days, according to the sources. An official said that the government will soon take a decision on the report of the panel, constituted earlier this week. The other members of the panel are: Dr Sunil Kumar, the medical director of GTB Hospital; Dr Arun Gupta, president of Delhi Medical Council; Dr R K Gupta, former president of Delhi Medical Association; and Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, the group medical director of Max Hospital. On the capacity of hospitals, Kejriwal said some hospitals are lying about their availability of beds. "False refusal cannot be tolerated and admitting coronavirus patients is non-negotiable," he said. "We have been calling and meeting the heads of all these hospitals since yesterday and they are being told that there will be no negotiations in the treatment of people in their hospitals as they have to admit the people who are in need. "We will take strong action against such hospitals and they cannot refuse patients. Some time will be needed to break the mafia who are indulging in it. These few hospitals have a political approach but they should not be under the illusion that their political masters can save them," he said. Private hospitals are a critical part of the city's health infrastructure and the Delhi government acknowledges their role, he added. "There are some private hospitals which are resorting to such means. First they say they don't have bed and when patients insist, they demand a huge amount. Isn't this black-marketing of beds?" he asked. The chief minister said the Delhi government had to face a backlash from hospitals for providing the information on availability of beds and ventilators on an app launched on Tuesday. Kejriwal said coronavirus testing has not been stopped and currently 36 government and private labs are doing the tests. Action was taken against six labs for irregularities, he said. "There are flu clinics of Delhi government hospitals and some private ones, there are COVID centres where you can go for tests. Even today, 5300 samples were tested," he said. The Delhi government's priority for now is to save lives, he added. On the FIR registered by the Delhi Health Department against SGRH, the complainant, who is a Delhi government official, alleged that the hospital was not using RT-PCR app while collecting COVID-19 samples. As per the guidelines, it is "mandatory" for labs to collect samples through RT-PCR app, it said. The official has alleged that the hospital had violated the COVID-19 regulation norms, as specified under the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897. There was no immediate reaction from the hospital. The fresh fatalities include a 30-year-old Delhi Police constable. His report came positive for the COVID-19, days after he died at Safdarjung Hospital here. The constable was posted in northeast district and resided in Mandoli with his family. He was undergoing treatment for lung infection. Earlier three Delhi Police personnel died due to COVID-19. According to police, around 500 personnel have tested positive for the deadly virus so far, of whom 200 have recovered. VIT BUN KND NIT PR RT

Stern action to be taken against hospitals for refusing patients, says Kejriwal; Coronavirus cases rise to over 27,600 in Delhi

(Eds: Recasting overnight story) New Delhi, Apr 16 () India needs to "significantly ramp up" the number of tests done across the country to trace COVID-19 infection if the virus is to be contained in time, experts said. The death toll due to coronavirus rose to 414 and the number of cases to 12,380 in the country on Thursday, according to the Union Health Ministry. While the number of active COVID-19 cases is 10,477, as many as 1,488 people have been cured and discharged and one had migrated, it said. Data obtained from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said, till April 14, the number of samples tested stood at 2,44,893, an increase of 27,339 from the corresponding figure till the previous day (2,17,554).Experts feel the figures are modest for a count of the size of 1.3 billion and "much more number of tests" are needed to combat COVID-19 outbreak in the country.According to worldometers.info which maintains a global database on coronavirus cases and tests conducted, the US, where over 26,000 COVID-19 deaths have occurred, has done 31,00,387 tests averaging about 9,367 per million of population.The figures for India is 2,44,893 tests averaging 177 per million of population.Spain and Italy, two countries which have also seen several thousands of fatalities, have done 6,00,000 and 10,73,689 tests respectively.Dr Ravi Shekhar Jha, Senior Consultant and Head of the Department of Pulmonology at Fortis Escorts, Faridabad, said India is going in the right direction but it is not enough."Given the massive size of our population, the number of tests needs to be ramped up and should be conducted more rigorously. We need to do effective contact tracing and test them so that those people in turn do not infect others," he told .The number of samples tested till March 28 stood at 27,688, a rise of 7,038 from the corresponding figure till March 27, according to ICMR data."The rise in number of cases happening is also because in the last few weeks during the lockdown, people who came in contact with affected people were traced and tested. This has to be increased manifold if we have to contain coronavirus in time, otherwise it will be a difficult affair," Jha said.Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, Group Medical Director at Max Healthcare, said it has been decided to conduct coronavirus tests on "all our workforce and patients across the country"."Priority will be to test our admitted patients and new patients being brought in. And, the front-line healthcare workers," he said.India is doing lot of tests, but it is not enough compared to what the US and Singapore and other countries are doing, he said, adding, "much more testing needs to be done".Another expert from a leading private hospital here, who did not wish to be named, said, "The volume of tests conducted need to be ramped up significantly to capitalise on the gains from the lockdown".Two kinds of diagnostic tests are being currently used in India -- RT-PCR test and rapid antibodies test, according to global health norms.A reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test is a laboratory technique combining reverse transcription of RNA into DNA that detects the virus while the antibody tests, which use blood, detect the body's response to the virus.Dr Arvind Kumar, noted lung surgeon at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said the key to fighting the COVID-19 battle is "testing, testing and testing" and then "quarantining and treating"."The more number of people we screen, the greater our chance of winning this fight against COVID-19. The number of tests have to be significantly increased," he said.In Delhi, which has seen 1561 cases and 30 deaths till April 14, over 16,000 samples been tested till that period."Number of cases were rising and they will increase even more now, as more testing is done. We are still on the rising limb of the epidemic curve. Also, people are learning social distancing, sneezing etiquette, which are important elements in this fight," said Dr Rajesh Chawla, a pulmonologist at Apollo Hospital. KND PLB ZMN DVDV

India needs to step up coronavirus testing: experts

A few days back, Indian IT giant <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Infosys-relaunches-ESOP/articleshow/53225972.cms">Infosys </a>shocked the stock markets when it posted a weak performance in the first quarter of this fiscal. 
 
Even though the last few quarters saw the company impressing one and all with its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Infosys-posts-13-4-rise-in-net-profit-misses-estimates/articleshow/53222425.cms">performance</a>, everyone was shocked when it lowered its full-year guidance from April’s 11.5-13.5% April to 10.5-12%. 
 As reported earlier, CEO <keyword id="6369763" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vishal-Sikka">Vishal Sikka</keyword> has said that this poor performance was the result of an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Infosys-CEO-says-low-performance-in-Q1-a-result-of-execution-failure/articleshow/53265955.cms">execution failure</a>, and he has started to take <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Disappointed-Vishal-Sikka-re-jigs-top-order-after-dismal-Q1-another-key-executive-quits/articleshow/53278154.cms">remedial actions</a> for the same. 
 Sikka has written a detailed e-mail to all <keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Infosys-to-allow-employees-to-switch-job-profiles-using-an-internal-platform/articleshow/53005186.cms">employees</a>, announcing the changes and confessing that he himself was "disappointed" with the performance. 
 
Here's the letter (verbatim) that company's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Infosys-Comfy-app/articleshow/52972236.cms">employees </a>received from Sikka. 
 
Friends, 
 
The first quarter of our new financial year was a revelation in many ways. I view the reaction by the markets and the media as a clear sign of the high standards our company is held to, the expectations we carry, even though everyone understands that a 90 day cycle means little on a long journey. I am disappointed. Disappointed that our revenue performance was not what we could have delivered, but even more so, that this overshadowed the many strong strides we made on executing our strategy. 
 
Our revenue growth of 2.2% to $2501M, included a shortfall in consulting revenue, some declines in package implementations, and small declines in our India business and Finacle. But at the same time, we made great progress in both, renewing our core, AND in the new areas of our business, as well as in our culture of enabling this continual renew-new improvement. Our core business, delivery, under Ravi's great leadership, grew by 3.4%, improved its utilization, lowered its dependence on subcontractors, delivered ever higher benefits from automation, and derived tangible gains from both Zero Distance and Zero Bench. 
 
Equally importantly, if not even more so, our New business grew extremely well, under Sandeep's stewardship. Gains in our newly introduced Mana, as well as in Skava, EDGE, design services and other new areas, accounted for more than a fifth of our growth! On Mohit's watch, large deal wins crossed the $800M mark in TCV, our top 5, top 10 and top 25 clients, all grew faster than the company, the number of our $100M clients grew by 3 to 17, and we added 95 new clients. 
 
Ranga and his amazing finance team, helped improve the overall health of our company's profitability and financials. We are close to 100k Infoscions having been exposed to design-thinking, the number of ZD ideas crossed 11k, and more than 5k of these have been discussed with clients, and the first ones already monetized, thanks to a simple new process Ravi and Ranga have enabled, and ZB now has more than 20k jobs, and, in a year since its launch, this initiative got us to the point that more than 99.5% of the bench colleagues have been engaged, thus helping them deliver value and break the cycle of being on the bench not helping them gthe experience they need to get off the bench. And there were many others. 
 
Reflecting on this on my trip back home, mainly I learnt this: those areas which receive "the flame of our attention" in Jiddu Krishnamurti's words, show progress. And when running an operation as large and complex as ours, we must attend to each cog, every piece of our spectrum, to prevent a few negatives from overshadowing the many great positives. We cannot take our eyes off any important aspect of our business, each area of our large and diverse portfolio of services, products and platforms. In Q2, and beyond, we must accelerate our work in all the key strategic aspects of our work, AND we must address the weaknesses of Q1. 
 
Our stock incentive rewards program, back after 13 years, is a great celebration of our people, our potential, and our commitment to recognize performance, and to have us participate in our collective work, and its outcomes, for Infosys is no more and no less than us, each one of us, and all of us. To help us lead from the front, Pravin and I are making some changes to the team. In Consulting, we had already announced that Rajesh Murthy would take over going forward. 
 
Reporting to Rajesh, Michael Pesch will continue to run Europe, LATAM and APAC, and Kenneth Toombs, who recently joined Infosys, will run North America and India. Sanjay Purohit will join Pravin to work on strategic initiatives in bringing Design Thinking to our clients at scale. Ritika Suri will take over our large deals work, including SGS, from Anup Uppadhayay. Anup has decided to leave Infosys, and I would like to thank him for his tremendous loyalty and service to Infosys over the last 23 years. I have been privileged to work with Anup since I started my journey almost two years ago, and we wish him all the best. 
 
Ritika brings a strong background in sales, particularly in driving large deals for products and platforms, and this is exactly the kind of experience we need to help transform our large client engagements with a focus in our renew-new strategy. M&amp;A will move to Deepak Padaki, while Ritika continues to lead the Innovation Fund and our work with startups. She will continue to report to Ranga and Mohit will continue to sponsor our large deals work. In CIS, we will focus on renewing the existing business and bringing Mana to every aspect of it. 
 
This will be led by Narry (Narsimha Rao) who will take over from Samson David. Narry has been with Infosys for 15 years, and has been running IVS for the last 1.3 years with great success and excellence. Narry and the entire delivery team under Ravi's leadership, will work closely with Navin Budhiraja on the Mana platform. I am very happy that Sudhir Jha has joined us from Google to help with product management and product marketing for Mana and for bringing a product discipline to all our work. 
 
We thank Sam for his great work in growing the infrastructure business over the last few quarters, and his great contributions to Infosys for more than two decades, and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors. Our success will be the result of our endeavor. The work of our people. The amazing individuals I meet every single day. I learnt that a million folks wanted to join the Infosys family last year! Our people focus will continue, and will be at the core of all that we do. 
 
My belief in each one of us was redoubled last week, when I spoke to a few PMs at Bangalore. One Infoscion from Chandigarh, with her zeal and her team's proactive ZD ideas for banking, represented the vision of unleashing the innovator within each of us, more than any words can express. But it will take the very best of the very best in us. At a time when the world around us seems ever more influenced by the baser instincts and tendencies, we must bring the best of our intentions, and the best of our imagination, our knowledge and our conviction, to all that we do. 
 
When Krishnamurti spoke of the flame of attention, he spoke of a compassionate attention, to what matters, to the long-term, purposeful, vision, to a fun, rewarding journey along the way. Over the weekend, a friend of mine wrote to me, asking me to "stay healthy, stay in the moment, focused on your actions, even as you work hard to let your achievements outshine your aspirations...". 
 
Here's to a strong Q2, and a strong remainder of the year, one that not only exceeds the high standards we are held to, but does so purposefully, in moving forward on the long haul, one that shows what we as Infoscions are capable of. Here's to our actions, our flames of attention, outshining our aspirations and others' expectations. 
 
Let's do it! 
 
Best, V 
 
<a href="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/idGDFItGn7o/maxresdefault.jpg">Image source</a>

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Here’s the letter Vishal Sikka wrote to Infosys employees after disappointing Q1 performance

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