(Eds: combines related series) New Delhi, Jun 23 () As COVID-19 fatalities in India crossed the 14,000 mark, the Centre on Tuesday said the country has one death from the disease per lakh population and the mortality rate is among the lowest as against the global average of 6.04 while there was no let up in the surge in new cases. The country recorded 14,000 plus coronavirus cases for the fourth straight day as Delhi, the second worst affected state, witnessed the biggest single-day jump of 3,947 infections to take its tally to 66,602. With the Union Health Ministry crediting India's low COVID-19 mortality rate to timely detection of cases, extensive contact tracing and effective clinical management, the recovery rate also steadily improved and it was nearly 57 per cent. A total of 2,48,189 patients recovered so far, while there were 1,78,014 active cases, according to the ministry data. During the last 24 hours, a total of 10,994 COVID-19 patients have recovered. Till date, 14,011 people have died in India due to the viral infection with 312 fatalities reported in 24 hours till Tuesday 8 am, while 14,933 new cases took the total case load to 4,40,215. India is in the eighth position in the global death count of 472,541. The US accounts for the highest number of deaths totalling 120,402. "Our aim is to work towards keeping a low mortality. The number of people infected is not important as long as the mortality is low," AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria told . He also said that considering the size of the country's population the absolute number of cases will be high as compared to other countries whose population is less. "The focus and the effort from the very beginning has been on saving lives by early identification, building COVID-19 related infrastructure, ensuring oxygen support facility is available even at a district level and effective implementation of clinical management protocols." Citing the World Health Organisation(WHO) Situation Report 154 dated June 22, the Health Ministry said the United Kingdom has registered 63.13 coronavirus-related fatalities per lakh population, while in Spain it is 60.60, Italy 57.19, the US 36.30, Germany 27.32, Brazil 23.68 and Russia 5.62. "In India, early detection of cases, timely testing and surveillance, extensive contact tracing coupled with effective clinical management have helped to check case mortality," the ministry said in a statement. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR), a total of 71,37,716 samples have been tested up to June 22 with 1,87,223 samples being analysed on Monday. In some concern for the central forces, COVID-19 cases in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and the two other federal forces of National Security Guard(NSG) and National Disaster Response Force( NDRF) have shot up to over 2,981 with 85 new infections being reported on Tuesday, official data showed. These forces, as per the latest data accessed by , have recorded 23 deaths due to the pandemic. The CAPFs are the Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF), the Border Security Force(BSF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP), the Central Industrial Security Force(CISF) and the Sashastra Seema Bal(SSB). Of the total 14,011 deaths reported in the country so far, Maharashtra accounted for the highest 6,283 fatalities. The other states reporting more than 500 deaths(number in brackets) are Delhi(2,233), Gujarat(1,684), Tamil Nadu (794), West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh with 569 each and Madhya Pradesh(521), according to the morning update of the Health Ministry. Maharashtra also accounted for the highest number of 135,796 cases. Taking a cue from the Tamil Nadu government, Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu said the state authorities might have to impose a lockdown in the city, after consulting experts, if the coronavirus cases continued its upward trend. Chennai was back under intense lockdown from last Friday till June 30 after the state capital witnessed a massive surge in cases. "If the situation continues like this, in the days to come we may have to think about lockdown," he told reporters. Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy also favoured that Bengaluru be put under lockdown for 20 days. "Bengaluru will become another Brazil," the JD(S) leader tweeted, cautioning that sealing some areas would not serve any purpose. India is the fourth worst-hit nation by the pandemic after the US, Brazil and Russia. Till Monday evening, Bengaluru had reported 1,398 coronavirus cases including 67 deaths and 411 discharges. In the neighbouring state of Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the situation was becoming "grave". The COVID-19 tally touched 3,503 with 141 new cases being reported. The state has been witnessing a spike of over 100 cases for the fifth straight day. The country's first coronavirus case was reported in Kerala on January 30. Tamil Nadu reported 2,000 plus cases for the seventh successive day and over 2,500 cases for three consecutive days. The COVID-19 tally mounted to 64,603 as 2,516 more people tested positive including a maximum of 1,380 from Chennai. Chennai's share in the state count was 44,205. A new quarantine strategy confining an estimated 7-8 lakh people to homes is expected to cut down chances of transmission of the coronavirus in Chennai, according to a top official of the city civic body. The Home Quarantine Monitoring System (HQMS) has been taken up in the city with about 4,500 volunteers assigned to help and monitor those under 14-day quarantine in all 15 zones of the corporation, said Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) Commissioner G Prakash. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, meanwhile, requested Lt Governor Anil Baijal to scrap the system requiring every COVID-19 patient to visit a government-run centre for clinical assessment. He said the national capital has been reporting nearly 3,000 cases every day and it is not feasible for every patient to undergo clinical assessment at COVID quarantine centres. Delhi is the second worst affected state after Maharashtra in caseload as well as in death count which climbed to 2,301 after 68 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours, according to state authorities in the evening. PLB KND BUN VGN UD KSU NES GMS GSN GSN GSN

India has 1 COVID-19 death per lakh population, 6.04 globally, says Centre; no let up in surge in new cases

<ul><li>The North Eastern <keyword id="6360676" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="railways">Railways</keyword> will install <keyword id="138638" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="panic-buttons">panic buttons</keyword> in coaches that will be linked to the guard's compartment.</li><li>The <keyword id="6535962" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="NER">NER</keyword> will also deploy female policemen on night trains. </li><li>The installation of CCTV cameras has also been proposed. </li></ul><keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> is no stranger to crimes against women. Nearly six years after the brutal Nirbhaya gangrape that shook the nation and made unflattering headlines across the world, Indian women continue to be vulnerable on the streets and on trains. In a report by IndiaSpend in 2017, India recorded a sharp 36 percent spike in crimes against women passengers reported on Indian trains, according to <a href="http://164.100.158.235/question/annex/243/Au1584.docx" target="_blank">data </a>submitted by the railway ministry to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament. It seems that the Indian Railways' Northeastern division has decided to counter the rising spate of brutalities and make its trains safer for women by installing panic buttons in coaches. The North Eastern Railways (NER) also plans to deploy women police personnel on suburban trains travelling during the night and to recruit women in the Railway Police Force (RPF), according to Sanjay Yadav, the chief press officer of the NER. The proposed panic buttons will accessible throughout the coach and will be directly connected to the guards' compartment. “These buttons, placed at convenient spots for the easy reach of women travelers above the electric switches, when pressed will denote the coach where there is emergency and the railway staff present in the train will be informed to promptly attend to the emergency,” Yadav said. At present, the only options women have is a stop-chain in coaches or a helpline number, via call or message, when faced with uncomfortable situations during their journey. Yadav also said that some other measures – colour-coding the coaches marked for women, installation of CCTV cameras with live feed to the authorities, and installation of wire mesh on windows – were also proposed and that the work on these proposals is “going on”. The panic button in coaches, however, may become a reality this year itself, Yadav said.

The Indian Railways is going to install panic buttons in trains for women safety

A recent study by Britain’s ministry of defence has predicted that India is likely to be among the top three military powers in the world by 2045, along with the US and China, with a projected defence outlay of $654 billion. Though India’s military-industrial acumen is unlikely to surpass technological sophistication of the US by 2045, it may, along with China, rival it in terms of size. It is also likely to surpass Japan, Australia and South Korea (which will be ahead of other regional military powers) by developing sizeable and technically advanced armed forces, including ocean-going navies, capable of delivering an enduring and capable maritime presence both regionally and further afield, according to the study titled ‘Global Strategic Trends – Out to 2045’. 
 This projection explains why the Narendra Modi government is aggressively pushing its defence agenda. Recently the <keyword id="754702" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Defence-Acquisition-Council">Defence Acquisition Council</keyword> (DAC) cleared purchases worth Rs 80,000 crore, including six submarines worth Rs 50,000 crore. DAC also approved purchase of 8,356 Spike anti-tank guided missiles and 321 launchers from Israel. Modi’s reaction to the recent Pakistan-engineered skirmish on the Kashmir border—which resulted in the death of hordes of civilians besides forcing hundreds of villages to flee their homes as troops exchanged fire in perhaps the worst violence in the region in a decade—also amply demonstrated that India is posed to strongly defend its borders and foil any peer attempt aimed at weakening its military might. Modi not only asked the army to retaliate befittingly, but warned Pakistan that its military infiltration may cost the neighbour more than what it imagines. Pakistan’s subsequent retreat showed that it was sort of taken aback by the strong, calculated response from the Indian side. India’s ‘retaliation response’ to Pakistan followed its equally strong reaction during the recent border standoff with Chinese forces that overshadowed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India aimed at deepening commercial ties between the two countries. The Modi government also unveiled plans to build 54 more border posts in Arunachal Pradesh and strengthen <keyword id="6392347" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indo-Tibetan-Border-Police">Indo-Tibetan Border Police</keyword>, which guards the Indo-China border. In another geopolitical move, India said it will supply naval vessels to Vietnam and help it modernise its defence system during the India visit of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. All these recent moves are early signs of India’s determination to strengthen its defence prowess and slowly emerge a top <keyword id="423175" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="military-power">military power</keyword> globally. 
 
While the US will continue to be a key partner in India’s quest to emerge a global military power, as reflected by the Modi government’s recent decision to acquire Boeing's Chinook and Apache helicopters in a deal worth $2.5 billion, what is more important is India’s growing defence alliance with Israel. The fact India chose to buy anti-tank guided missiles worth $670 million from Israel, rejecting a rival US offer despite US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel’s ‘unprecedented’ offer to co-develop and co-produce US’ Javelin missiles in India during his recent India visit, reinforces that Israel is likely to be a crucial defence ally for India going ahead. 
 
A key feature of Modi’s government’s defence strategy is to indigenously develop military equipment as part of its broad ‘Make in India’ strategy—the decision to build six submarines in India at a cost of about Rs 50,000 crore is a clear deviation from the hitherto followed strategy of sourcing military equipment from outside. However, the government will find it difficult to convince the top honchos of armed forces which want sophisticated, ready-to-use foreign weaponry, than trying to develop it locally which may involve a lot of time and effort. The Modi government also has to keep lobbyists for foreign manufacturers of defence equipment at abeyance. 
 
While study by the Britain’s ministry of defence portrayed a bullish future for India as a military power, it warned that the country has to “overcome domestic political issues and improve the way it invests to attain the capabilities needed to project conventional military power globally”. One hopes that PM Modi is listening.

Can India Emerge As A Top Global Military Power?

NEW DELHI: Back in April 2012, S&amp;P downgraded its outlook on India to BBB- (negative from stable) and since then the Indian government has managed to revive growth, attain fiscal consolidation and also bring down inflation. 
 
“We expect rating agencies to upgrade their outlook for India sooner rather than later,” BofA-ML said in a report authored by Indranil Sen Gupta and Abhishek Gupta. 
 
“We also thought the April 2012 S&amp;P outlook downgrade was unwarranted. With Moody’s downgrading their Brazil outlook last night, key EM peers are seeing downgrades,” added the report. 
 
Last week India pitched for a rating upgrade by international credit agency Moody’s, citing steps unveiled in the Budget 2014-15 to keep the fiscal deficit in check and provide impetus to growth. 
 Moody’s has assigned ‘Baa3’ rating to India, with a stable outlook, which suggests possibility of an upgrade. According to Moody’s, “the rating reflects high domestic savings and adequate <keyword id="6368276" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Foreign-exchange">foreign exchange</keyword> reserves and the challenges posed by large fiscal deficits, recurrent inflation and weak infrastructure.” 
 
BofA-ML has identified top 5 compelling reasons for an outlook upgrade for India: 
 
Growth bottoming out: 5.5% FY15, 6.5% FY16, 7.5% FY18 
 
The slowdown in growth has largely been driven by the global down cycle rather than domestic structural issues. In fact, growth is bottoming out far higher than Brazil or Russia. This is why we always found concern that India would fall out of BRICs in 2012 to be baseless. In fact, BofA-ML believes that India should emerge as the second-largest EM after China by 2019. 
 
The global investment bank continues to reiterate its standing view that India’s potential growth is about 7.5%. It says, “We never thought that potential growth should be raised to 8-9% just because an upcycle pushed growth up to 8.4% during 2004-08.” 
 
 
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
Inflation peaking off: 8.5% in August, but 6% in 2016 
 
BofA-ML also believes that inflation is largely ‘imported’ rather than being home-grown for all the lament about India’s ‘inflation problem’. “As we have often highlighted, the RBI’s growth-inflation trade-off has been far better than most EM peers,” it says. 
 
In any case, the global investment bank thinks that inflation is peaking. “Although we have higher-than consensus inflation forecasts (8.5% in August, 7.8% consensus; 8% in July, 7.4% consensus, 8% actual), this is driven by a temporary spike in tomato prices on poor rains. This will reverse with the seasonal rainfall deficit down to 11 per cent of normal,” it says. 
 
<div style="page-break-after: always;">
	&#xa0;</div>
Twin deficit risks overdone 
 Risks from twin deficits have proved overdone. <keyword id="6355261" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Finance-minister">Finance Minister</keyword> <keyword id="6390789" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jaitley">Jaitley</keyword> has expectedly stuck to the fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of GDP set in the February Budget. There are risks to his fiscal deficit target as: (1) tax projections are ambitious; (2) Fed tapering may make divestment difficult; and (3) FY14 expenditures were deferred to the current fiscal year. 
 At the same time, this will likely not impact the government’s Rs4958bn net borrowing, as it has also inherited a large cash surplus of Rs1284bn with the RBI from the previous <keyword id="26374" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="UPA-government">UPA government</keyword>. 
 
 
 
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
 
RBI to buy FX to guard against contagion; hold Rs58-62/USD 
 BofA-ML continues to expect Governor <keyword id="6355561" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rajan">Rajan</keyword> to buy FX at Rs58+/USD to guard against contagion as Governors Jalan and Reddy did. This is reversing the policy mistake of completely unsustainable appreciation by stopping to buy FX reserves in 2H09-1H11. 
 
As import cover plummeted, that led to a 50% depreciation later. This will likely stabilize Rs58-62/USD. “Any emerging market today is going to look at the currency volatility and say ‘whatever money comes in, I’m going to be careful about it, I am going to build some reserves’..,” Governor Rajan reiterated last week. 
 
RBI to cut rates even if Fed hikes; 75 bps cut February onwards 
 
BofA-ML believes that the RBI can cut rates even if the Fed hikes rates from September 2015, with Governor Rajan recouping FX reserves. “We see it cutting policy rates by 75-100bp starting in February, even if Fed Chair Janet Yellen hikes from September 2015, as our US economists expect,” it says.

Top Five Reasons Why Rating Agencies Should Upgrade India Outlook: BofA-ML

Big banks promised to protect the planet. Now they're doing an about-face.

<ul><li><keyword id="102132" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Crude-Oil-Prices">Crude oil prices</keyword> rose 0.8% after the Iranian Revolutionary Guards seized a British <keyword id="72458" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Oil-tanker">oil tanker</keyword> in the Gulf region last week. </li><li>The British government will decide its response to Iran today. </li><li>The spike in oil prices is bad for India, which imports over 80% of the crude oil it needs. </li></ul>The prices of crude oil are on a high yet again as tensions in the Middle East don’t see an end. The Iranian military seized a British oil tanker in the <keyword id="843390" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Strait-of-Hormuz">Strait of Hormuz</keyword>, <a href="https://in.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil/oil-gains-as-gulf-tanker-seizure-raises-tensions-idINKCN1UH01L">as per reports</a> and the UK government is expected to finalise its response today. The fear of escalating tension in the Middle East has led to a spike in oil prices and that’s always bad news for India, which imports over 80% of all the crude oil it needs. The <a href="https://oilprice.com/">price of Brent Crude</a> rose 0.8% on Monday morning at $ 63.33 per barrel. Without the West’s standoff with Iran, the price of crude oil would be falling sharply. “The <keyword id="69313" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="International-Energy-Agency">International Energy Agency</keyword> (IEA) does not expect oil prices to rise significantly because demand is slowing and there is a glut in global crude markets,” Faith Birol, Executive Director, IEA <a href="https://in.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil/oil-gains-as-gulf-tanker-seizure-raises-tensions-idINKCN1UH01L">told Reuters</a>. This is largely due to rising output and inventory in the US. However, the tensions in the middle east are keeping oil buoyant, because traders fear that any blowout will affect oil supply. The crude oil price in the New York exchange fell over 7% while the <keyword id="56586" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Brent-crude">Brent Crude</keyword>, which affects the Indian crude oil basket the most, fell more than 6% last week. Response to Iran Briish Prime Minister is also expected to chair a meeting of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-iran-tanker/britain-weighs-response-to-iran-gulf-crisis-with-few-good-options-idUSKCN1UG05M">Britain’s emergency response committee today</a> to discuss the crisis. The US has also jumped in again after the incident took place and an official said that the US will destroy any Iranian drones that try to come close to is ships. Last week, the US claimed that it had destroyed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had denied. The mood in the Middle East have been grim since the<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/us-pulls-out-of-2015-iran-nuclear-deal/articleshow/64085765.cms?from=mdr"> US withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal</a> and imposed fresh sanctions on it. The latest series of escalations began with the capture of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/The-oil-tanker-attacks-could-make-a-US-Iran-military-showdown-inevitable-experts-warn/articleshow/69780308.cms">four oil tankers in the Gulf region last month</a>.

Oil prices would be down but then Iran seized a British tanker

<ul><li>Coronavirus' hit to major supply chains and spending behavior is pushing the world "to the bring of a global recession" this year, Nigel Green, CEO of financial services firm deVere Group, said Wednesday.</li><li>Investors were "caught off-guard" by major selloffs on Monday and Tuesday, as well as the possibility of prolonged economic risk posed by the outbreak, Green added.</li><li>The virus' fallout will only exacerbate lasting risks from US-China trade tensions, manufacturing industry slumps, and slowing growth in major economies, the chief executive warned, adding that investors should begin safeguarding their wealth.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/">Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul>The continued threat of coronavirus to consumer spending, supply chains, and trade is bringing the world "to the brink of a global recession" in 2020, the CEO of financial services firm deVere Group said Wednesday.Global stocks <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/worst-yet-to-come-global-stocks-plunge-coronavirus-pandemic-fears-2020-2-1028939973">extended their downturn on Wednesday</a> as concern around the coronavirus outbreak intensified. The <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/s&amp;p_500">S&amp;P 500</a> and <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/dow_jones">Dow Jones Industrial Average</a> erased the last of their year-to-date gains on Tuesday before opening roughly 1% higher the following morning.Markets weathered initial warnings as <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/apple-stock-price-coronavirus-fallout-lowers-march-revenue-forecast-china-2020-2-1028914051">companies lowered their profit forecasts</a> on virus concerns. Yet new fears of the outbreak becoming a global pandemic should prompt investors to build up defensive strategies, chief executive Nigel Green said."Investors have largely been caught off-guard by the serious and far-reaching economic consequence of the coronavirus," Green said. "Clearly, this will hit global supply chains, economies across the world and ultimately government coffers too."DeVere expects markets to act "jittery" over the coming weeks as the pace of infection either accelerates or fades. Cboe's VIX index, which measures broad market volatility, spiked through Monday and Tuesday's trading sessions to <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-fear-index-spiked-vix-highest-since-august-coronavirus-2020-2-1028932414">its highest level since December 2018</a>. Yields for 10-year and 30-year Treasury bonds sank to record lows as investors rushed for cover from the selloff. Gold, a traditional safe-haven and hedge bet for those betting on stocks to fall, hit a seven-year high.The economic fallout inflicted by the outbreak <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/coronavirus-pandemic-economic-impact-global-growth-outlook-estimated-hit-2020-2-1028937457">will vary widely depending on its global contagion</a>, Oxford Economics said in a Tuesday note. A pandemic contained within Asia would keep the hit to global growth to 0.5% - roughly $400 billion - in 2020 before a quick recovery in 2021.A global pandemic would cut 1.3% - about $1.1 trillion - from the economists' baseline projection as a labor shortage, weakened tourism, and lower capital investment shocks the world economy, Oxford estimated.The outbreak's timing also lends itself to exacerbate other economic risks, Green said. Advanced economies were already beginning to slow amid trade hurdles and manufacturing slowdowns. <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/recession-indicator-yield-curve-inversion-lowest-point-since-october-coronavirus-2020-2-1028933077">Key recession indicators flashed red</a>, and analysts began to question whether the historically long economic expansion was coming to an end. The virus could be the nail in the bull market's coffin once it joins a slew of other downward risks, deVere's CEO said."Coronavirus has struck at a time when major economies, including Japan, Germany, India, and Hong Kong are already facing a serious downturn," Green said. The upcoming US presidential election, lasting tensions between the US and Iran, and unresolved US-China trade war should also remain top-of-mind for investors, the CEO said."Together they could push the world to the brink of global recession this year," he added. "Whilst I am confident that we'll narrowly avoid a global recession in 2020, no-one can accurately predict the future - as we have seen with coronavirus, which markets wrongly assumed would be limited to mainly China."Coronavirus <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1?r=US&amp;IR=T">has killed 2,760 people</a> and infected more than 81,000 as of Wednesday morning. While most deaths are concentrated in China, new fatalities in South Korea, Italy, and Iran ratcheted up worries of the outbreak dragging heavily on several national economies.The S&amp;P 500 recovered 1.23% from Tuesday's close as of 11:10 a.m. ET, still down 1.6% year-to-date.Now read more markets coverage from Markets Insider and Business Insider:<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/pandemic-bond-debate-inside-look-world-bank-coronavirus-relief-investment-2020-2-1028906657">An inside look at the debate around pandemic bonds, which have $425 million hinging on how deadly the coronavirus ends up being</a><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/smiledirectclub-stock-price-4q-earnings-revenue-miss-tanks-growth-forecast-2020-2-1028941104">SmileDirectClub plummets 24% after missing quarterly estimates and reining in expansion plans</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-interview-mistakes-job-seekers-make-2017-9">The 2 worst mistakes you could make in a job interview, according to an ex-Apple recruiter</a>

'The brink of a global recession': A financial expert warns of severe coronavirus fallout as markets tank

(Eds: combines related stories) New Delhi, May 3 () India prepared for the third phase of the national lockdown from Monday with "considerable relaxations" in several districts but curbs will continue in containment areas even as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said people will have to be ready to live with coronavirus and that time has come to re-open the city. As coronavirus cases jumped by 2,487 in the highest ever 24-hour spike and the fatalities rose by a record 83, officials cautioned against any violation of the lockdown curbs so that the gains achieved so far in the battle against COVID-19 are not "squandered away".The lockdown was imposed on March 25 and is slated to last till May 17 after two extensions putting the total period of restrictions at 54 days. Retailers and traders expect to re-open more shops under the new relaxed guidelines although they are still seeking clarity from local authorities. As he announced the implementation of all lockdown relaxations prescribed by the Centre for the 'Red Zone' in the national capital, Kejriwal said coronavirus is going nowhere and it is impossible that the positive cases in the country will be zero. " Corona(virus) has come. It is impossible that there will be no cases of coronavirus because it has not happened across the country. We will have to be ready to live with coronavirus. We will have to get used to it," he told an online media briefing. "Time has come to re-open Delhi," the AAP leader noted, as he said the Delhi government will suggest to the Centre that only containment areas in the city be declared as red zones and not the entire district. At present, all 11 districts in the city have been declared as red zones. According to the Union Health ministry on Sunday, the death toll stood at 1,306 while the total cases climbed to 40,263 on Sunday. The recovery rate was nearly 25 per cent. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan urged people to observe the extended two-week period of lockdown in letter and spirit and treat it as an effective intervention to cut down the chain of transmission of COVID-19. "We are on the path of success and we will win this war against COVID-19," he asserted. According to the health ministry, as on Friday, there were 130 'Red' zones, maximum of 19 in UP, followed by 14 in Maharashtra. The number of 'Orange' Zones was 284 and 'Green' was 319. Vardhan said the rate of growth of new COVID-19 cases has been steadying for a while and the recovery rate improving, adding that India is on the path of success and will win the war against the pandemic. According to the data received on Sunday, for the past three days, the doubling rate of the virus is 12.0, for seven days it is 11.7 and for 14 days it is 10.4, the minister was quoted as saying in a statement. "We have crossed over 10 lakh tests till date and are performing over 74,000 tests in a day presently." He said India is on a "better footing" as compared to other nations, adding the country is capable to pull off any eventuality with more than 2.5 lakh beds in dedicated COVID-19 hospitals and health centers. Echoing Vardhan's views, Niti Aayog member V K Paul said the continuous rise in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus is expected to stabilise anytime soon, He also said the rationale behind the government's decision to extend the lockdown by two more weeks after May 3 is to consolidate the gains of the first and second phase of restrictions. In an interview to , Paul said a sudden spurt in number of coronavirus cases is still amenable to containment strategy. "The rationale (behind extending the lockdown till May 17) is that the gains of lockdown need to be consolidated in the country...Real goal of lockdown was to suppress the chain of transmission of the virus. So, we will lose that, if we abruptly end it," said Paul, who is heading an Empowered Group on medical equipment. Retailers Association of India (RAI) said it will have to be seen how the third phase of lockdown works out at the ground as there is confusion, and many states are yet to come up with guidelines to follow the Centre's decision. Similarly, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) also claimed they will be in a "dilemma" as there is confusion over "what constitutes a neighbourhood shop and a standalone shop", while organised retailers such as Future Group and V-Mart Retail said they are also seeking permissions from local authorities. "Some parts of the businesses will reopen. What we see is that there is the possibility of opening of some standalone stores...We will open wherever we can and we will talk to the local authorities to open. We will have to see how it works out. Expressing similar concerns, CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said, "The traders will be in a dilemma". National General Secretary of the Federation of All India Vyapar Mandal, V K Bansal said, "The biggest problem with the guidelines is that it all depends on the states. The states frame their own policies and do not want to take any responsibility. The Centre wants relaxation but states are restrictive". Fighter jets and transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out fly-pasts over major cities and towns while military choppers showered petals on leading hospitals across the country as part of a mega exercise to express gratitude to lakhs of doctors, paramedics and other front-line workers battling the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the mega exercise, calling It a great gesture. "Saluting those who are at the forefront, bravely fighting COVID-19. Great gesture by our armed forces," Modi tweeted. Concerned over scores of frontline security personnel catching the COVID-19 disease, the Centre has suggested to states to prepare an effective second line of defence by deploying home guards, civil defence and NCC cadets among others wherever feasible to contain the spread of the deadly virus. In a communication to all states and UTs, the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) said the police chiefs may consider the option of 'work from home' for personnel not deployed on the frontline, and wherever possible. In another communication. The MHA also made it clear that the relaxations given for the inter-state movement of people during the lockdown was available only to distressed migrant workers. Railways also pressed more 'Shramik Special' trains for the third day to ferry stranded migrants back to their native places in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha among other states. ACB SKL ASK PLB BUN PR KRH RSN RKL UZM BKS MPB GSN GSNGSN

Lockdown 3.0 begins tomorrow with 'considerable relaxations'; people should be ready to live with COVID-19:Kejriwal

By Manish Sarmah New Delhi, Jun 21 () Being trapped inside PPE suits for six hours is tough, battling the fear of contracting COVID-19 tougher and not meeting children, spouses or parents for weeks the toughest. But that is what they signed up for and that is what they do, say the doughty doctors and nurses at the AIIMS Trauma Centre. Their days revolve around their COVID-19 patients and their lives around their families and the twain can never meet. That is the maxim for the band of frontline warriors in the battle against the pandemic who go to extraordinary lengths to isolate themselves from their loved ones and ensure the two halves that make up their world stay completely separate. Like Vikas and Jyoti Yadav, both nursing officers, who live with their children, an 11-year-old daughter and a nine-year-old son, in suburban Gurgaon but haven't met them for days. The couple, both posted in the COVID-19 ward of the Trauma Centre, make it a point to return to their apartment complex about 40 km from their place of work. But make sure they isolate themselves from their children. They haven't been within touching distance of the their children since their COVID-19 duties began. "Isolating ourselves from the children is the most difficult part," Jyoti told . The children have their own room and have been very understanding. Since the lockdown began on March 25, Vikas and Jyoti spend most of their time at home in the garden close to the children's room, watch them go about their daily work and talk to them from there. It is tough but it is a commitment they made. "Vikas proposed to me inside the trauma centre in 2007 and since then we have been working and living together," Jyoti said. Kanishk Yadav, their colleague at the Trauma Centre, part of the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences dedicated to COVID-19 treatment, echoes them. He stays in a separate room in his home in Sultanpuri and hasn't touched his four-year-old son for three months. His routine is down pat. It's 6 am and he has just reached home after his shift. He keeps his scrubs for washing, takes a shower and makes morning tea for himself. It's the end of just another day but he won't have it any other way. "When the coronavirus outbreak happened , I wrote a letter to the AIIMS administration requesting them to post me in COVID-19 duty," the nursing officer said. He added that COVID-19 duty was perceived as something fearful, and he wanted to motivate others. Yadav also spells out in detail what it is to wear a Personal Protective Equipment suit for six straight hours to ward off the dangers of being in an environment where the risk of infection is ever present. It is a daily hazard for the staff involved in COVID-19 duties. The routine of getting into a suit and getting out of one is a complicated, meticulous process and extreme care is needed to avoid any exposure. They have to consume their meals at least an hour before donning the suit and avoid even drinking water. Once the PPE is worn, it is six hours of no food, no going to the toilet, excessive perspiration, nausea and even blurred vision. Ashish Jhakal, also a nursing officer, said, "With the goggles and fogging, sometimes its even difficult to read the name of medicines. We have to double check with others." Jhakal has marks on his face due to wearing of the mask and goggles inside the PPE suit. With the surge in cases, health workers around the country walk the tightrope between work and home. On Sunday, the number of cases crossed the four lakh mark with the biggest single-day spike of 15,413 new infections. More than 195 healthcare workers have tested positive in AIIMS so far. But even in the face of such adversity, the workers are undeterred in their determination to do their best. "As doctors, this isn't something new for us. We are always at a risk of infection," said Irfan V, an AIIMS resident doctor. He and nursing officer Monika Sharma are among those who have been at the vanguard since the crisis began and remain steadfast in their commitment towards their work and its many challenges. Monika said the days are a test of her patience and will power. While Irfan misses watching Lionel Messi's forward play, Monika has not jammed with her AIIMS staff band since the outbreak of the disease. But their spirit of helping their patients keeps them motivated. Letting down their guard can expose their families to all kinds of risks. Minarey and Ranjuna Milind, another couple working at AIIMS realised they may have been careful. While Minarey works in the anaesthesia department, Ranjuna is in the gynaecology section. A few days ago, their 10 month-old baby and their parents, tested positive for the novel coronavirus. "When our baby tested positive, I felt like we made our baby suffer because of our profession," Minarey said. For patients undergoing COVID-19 treatment, the hospital stay can be lonely and traumatic. Over a period of time, they develop a bond. That is perhaps the dream that Pritam Yadav, another young AIIMS resident doctor saw when he opted for the medical profession. The 25-year-old said his father, a farmer by profession, wanted him to become a doctor. He did and in doing so became the first from his village in Kothputli in Rajasthan. "Clearing MBBS was one of his happiest moments," he said. Even now, he said, his father boosts his morale when he feels low. "I feel sad sometimes. There is an infant child in the ward, who along with his parents came out positive. Although his parents are safe and recovering, the baby is still under oxygen support." MANISH MIN MIN MIN

Life through a COVID prism: Nurses, docs walk tightrope between work and home

New Delhi, Jun 28 () With a record spike of nearly 20,000 cases in a day, India's COVID-19 tally mounted to 5,28,859 on Sunday and the death toll rose to 16,095, while Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh announced a door-to-door survey joining several states and UTs which have opted for the exercise in their efforts to check the surge. The Centre noted that recoveries exceeded active COVID cases by over one lakh, stressing that "proactive steps" taken by it along with the states and union territories are showing "encouraging results". The number of active cases stands at 2,03,051, while 3,09,712 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, according to the updated data. "Thus, around 58.56 per cent patients have recovered so far," an official said. "The graded, preemptive and proactive steps taken by the Government of India along with the states and UTs for prevention, containment and management of COVID-19 are showing encouraging results," the Union Health Ministry said in a statement. India saw a surge of 3,38,324 infections from June 1 till date as the lockdown restrictions eased. The country reported 19,906 cases on Sunday. This is the fifth consecutive day that coronavirus infections have increased by more than 15,000. As the country enters the "unlock" phase, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, it will have to focus on defeating coronavirus and bolstering the economy. India has always transformed adversities into stepping stones to success and this year won't be different, he said. He said people have to remain more vigilant compared to the lockdown period. "Always remember, if you do not wear a mask, do not observe the two-yard social distancing norms or do not take other precautions, you are putting others at risk besides yourselves, especially the elderly and children at home," he cautioned in his monthly "Mann ki Baat" radio address. Speaking in the same vein, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the restrictions will continue even after June 30 as the crisis is not over. "Even if I am not using the term lockdown, do not misunderstand and lower your guard. In fact, we need to show more stringent discipline," he said. "We can't leave this war halfway in this final phase. I am sure that you will continue to cooperate with the government to ensure that lockdown is not reimposed," he said in a televised address. The unlock process, dubbed Mission Begin Again by the state government, is being gradually implemented to put the economy back on track, Thackeray said. Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 1,59,133 followed by Delhi at 80,188, Tamil Nadu at 78,335, Gujarat at 30,709, Uttar Pradesh at 21,549, Rajasthan at 16,944 and West Bengal at 16,711, according to the ministry data. Mumbai Police urged the city residents not to move beyond two-km radius of their homes for the purpose of exercise or visiting shops and salons, in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus. Movement beyond two km is permitted only for attending office or medical emergencies, a senior police official said, adding that movement outside this radius for shopping is strictly prohibited. With the further easing of coronavirus-induced curbs in the state, some salons opened in Mumbai on Sunday after a gap of three months while many remained closed due to lack of manpower. Thackeray also said the 'Chase the Virus' initiative that received good results in worst-hit Mumbai will now be expanded to other parts of the state. As part of the campaign, 15 close contacts of a COVID-19 patient will be compulsorily kept in institutional quarantine. It was launched on May 27. In Delhi, where authorities are implementing a revised strategy after a major surge in cases, the number of COVID-19 containment zones has risen from 218 to 417 after a re-mapping of such areas, while around 2.45 lakh people have been screened in a mammoth house-to-house survey to check the spread of COVID-19 Officials said the count of containment zones is expected to jump further as the authorities in some districts were yet to complete the task of redrawing such areas following the Centre's directions. "We have screened around two lakh people for COVID-19 in house-to-house survey being conducted across the city. Also, 45,000 people have been screened in COVID-19 containment zones," an official told . The process of screening every household has to be completed by July 6. According to the 2011 Census, there were over 34.35 lakh households in the national capital, including 33.56 lakh in urban areas and 79,574 in rural areas. Other states with more than 10,000 cases are Telangana (13,436), Haryana (13,427), Madhya Pradesh (12,965), Andhra Pradesh (12,285) and Karnataka (11,9230). Stepping up surveillance, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh will also conduct house-to-house survey like Delhi, Goa, Odisha and Jharkhand. Uttar Pradesh's Additional Chief Secretary (Medical and Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said the state will launch a large-scale campaign from Meerut division in July, where house-to-house survey will be undertaken similar to the pulse polio immunisation. "It will be carried out in containment and non-containment zones," he said. The Madhya Pradesh government said it will launch a 'Kill Corona' campaign from July 1 to control the spread of COVID-19 in the state. Under the campaign, door-to-door survey will be conducted and tests would also be done on citizens for other diseases as well, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said during a virtual review meeting on the COVID-19 pandemic Chouhan said during the 15-day campaign, 2.5 lakh tests will be carried out and 15,000 to 20,000 samples would be collected daily, according to a press release. In Karnataka, Bengaluru police said criminal cases will be filed against those flouting face mask and social distancing rules and public can call police in case someone refuses to follow the COVID-19 preventive norms in the city, While police and civic body officials will patrol city roads and enforce the mask rule and social distancing, the public can also do their bit and ask every other person to follow them, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said said in a series of tweets as the government stepped up efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus. Bihar's Backward and Extremely Backward Classes Welfare Minister Vinod Kumar Singh and his wife tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and were sent to an isolation ward at a city hotel in Katihar district, officials said. India now has 1,036 diagnostic labs dedicated to COVID-19. This includes 749 in the government sector and 287 private labs. "Daily more than 2,00,000 samples are being tested. The samples tested in the last 24 hours have further increased to 2,31,095. The total number of samples tested, as on date, is 82,27,802," the Union Health Ministry statement stated. As on June 28, the COVID related health infrastructure has been strengthened with the availability of 1,055 dedicated COVID Hospitals with 1,77,529 isolation beds, 23,168 ICU beds and 78,060 oxygen supported beds, it said. Of the 410 new deaths reported till Sunday morning, 167 were in Maharashtra, 68 in Tamil Nadu, 66 in Delhi, 19 in Uttar Pradesh, 18 in Gujarat, 13 in West Bengal, 11 each in Rajasthan and Karnataka, nine in Andhra Pradesh, seven in Haryana, six each in Punjab and Telangana, four in Madhya Pradesh, two in Jammu and Kashmir and one each in Bihar, Odisha and Puducherry. TEAM PLB BUN ND BNM LAL NAV GK VT RT RT

COVID: Cases surge to 5.28 lakh; MP, UP announce house-to-house survey; Centre says 'encouraging' results after proactive steps

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="1655" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Priyanka-Chopra">Priyanka Chopra</keyword>'s memoir titled "<keyword id="1618636" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Unfinished">Unfinished</keyword>" is filled with stories about her life and career.</li><li>Many of the stories will be surprising to fans because the actress hasn't shared them before. </li><li>For example, she sent a security member to spy on <keyword id="6381400" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="nick-jonas">Nick Jonas</keyword> for her when he took her mom to lunch.</li></ul><a href="https://www.insider.com/category/priyanka-chopra">Priyanka Chopra Jonas</a>' new memoir titled "<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/unfinished">Unfinished</a>" is stuffed with <a href="https://www.insider.com/priyanka-chopra-googled-nick-jonas-after-dms-memoir-2021-2">humorous anecdotes</a>, heartbreaking stories, and <a href="https://www.insider.com/priyanka-chopra-director-boob-job-butt-lift-plastic-surgery-memoir-2021-2">new revelations</a> about <a href="https://www.insider.com/priyanka-chopra-quantico-abc-career-bio-life-2018-4">her life and career</a>. The book, released on February 9, details the 38-year-old actor's childhood in India (and abroad) and her rise to fame. Though Chopra Jonas has previously talked about many milestones in her life, she's even more outspoken and vulnerable in "Unfiltered."Here are the most surprising details from Chopra Jonas' memoir. <h2>1. She felt abandoned when her parents sent her to boarding school at 7 years old</h2><div type="image" title="priyanka chopra and parents november 2009" height="2181" width="2909" msid="81060819" hostid="261"></div>Parents Ashok and Madhu Chopra sent their daughter to La Martiniere Girls' College because her father believed she needed to learn discipline. Chopra Jonas says in chapter two of her book that the feeling of being abandoned lasted for a prolonged period of time and she struggled to adjust to her new living situation.Each time her mom visited her at the school was traumatizing and resulted in plenty of tears, so her parent was told to stop visiting because it was making the experience more difficult for Chopra Jonas. After going six months without visits from her mom, she stopped questioning why she was sent there in the first place and "began to settle in" and thrive.It also instilled a sense of independence that Chopra Jonas has carried with her throughout her life. <h2>2. She got escorted out of the Museum of Modern Art as a teen when she reached out and touched Van Gogh's famed 'Starry Night' painting</h2><div type="image" title="Priyanka Chopra Nokia 2010" height="1389" width="1852" msid="81060820" hostid="261"></div>In chapter three, Chopra Jonas talks about visiting the MoMa with her relatives after moving to Queens, NY. She recalled being "utterly fascinated by the deep swirls of color and texture" in Van Gogh's art, so much so that she reached out and touched it. Chopra Jonas says that "a nearby security guard swooped" in and escorted her and her family out of the museum, much to her cousin's embarrassment. "I was mortified that I was the reason all of us had gotten kicked out," she writes. "Somewhere inside, though, I was also silently exhilarated."<h2>3. At 14 years old, she stuffed her then-boyfriend in her closet to avoid getting caught by her aunt who she was living with at the time in America</h2><div type="image" title="priyanka chopra february 2012" height="1503" width="2000" msid="81060822" hostid="261"></div>After living in NY, Chopra Jonas and her relatives rejoined other family members in Indianapolis, Indiana. There, she met her first boyfriend, who she refers to in her novel as "Bob" to protect his privacy. Because Chopra Jonas wasn't allowed to date, she circumvented the rule by confining their relationship to school grounds. The actress says that she tried to "outsmart" her clever aunt Kiran on many occasions, which only fueled her suspicions. Chopra Jonas' sneaking around caught up to her when her aunt showed up at the house earlier than usual one afternoon, just as she and her boyfriend were about to have their first kiss together on her couch. With no way for the boy to escape undetected, Chopra Jonas "shoved him into my closet." But her aunt found him anyway and scolded her for being deceitful. <h2>4. Her dad had wrought iron bars installed on the windows of their house after a guy followed her home after tutoring, jumped their gate, and climbed to the balcony of her room</h2><div type="image" title="priyanka chopra march 2013" height="1285" width="1714" msid="81060825" hostid="261"></div>Chopra Jonas says that when she left her home country for America at almost 13 years old, she was "gawky." When she returned years later at 16, her body matured and she looked more "womanly," which caught the attention of boys. The actress says that in order to catch up on her academics, she and other girls traveled via a rickshaw to a tutor's home and "sometimes boys would follow on their bikes."Chopra Jonas says she was unfazed by the attention, but her father took it seriously when one guy trespassed on her family's property. To prevent that from happening again, he had bars installed.<h2>5. At one point, her goal was to study aeronautical engineering at a college in Australia </h2><div type="image" title="priyanka chopra august 2013" height="1614" width="2152" msid="81060829" hostid="261"></div>Prior to entering the pageants that changed her life, Chopra Jonas planned on becoming an aeronautical engineer."I'd always been fascinated by the physics and modern technology," the star writes in chapter four of her book. She became particularly interested in aeronautics the first time she flew on a plane. As a teen, Chopra Jonas was interested in pursuing that career path in Melbourne, which had an aeronautical engineering program that intrigued her.To complete the application, she needed to include a passport-style photo, so she went to a studio at a nearby mall, and that eventually led to her taking additional photos - which her brother and mom then submitted to the Miss India World contest without telling her. <h2>6. She had a 'crazy tendril of hair swirling down over my left eye' at the Miss World 2000 competition because of a curling iron mishap</h2><div type="image" title="priyanka chopra miss world november 2000" height="1015" width="1354" msid="81060832" hostid="261"></div>Chopra Jonas' hair was in a sophisticated up-do for Miss India World in January 2000, where she was crowned the winner. In her book, the actress reveals that the section of hair that cascaded over one side of her face was put there to conceal a blemish. Earlier in the day, she used a curling iron to touch up her hair, but "with all the congestion, I got jostled and accidentally burned my forehead with the hot metal."Chopra Jonas tried to cover the resulting scab with foundation, but that wasn't enough - hence the piece of hair in the front. <h2>7. Her signature namaste pose that she frequently does at red carpets originated at Miss World 2000, as a way to keep her strapless dress from falling down</h2><div type="image" title="priyanka chopra miss world namaste pose" height="900" width="1200" msid="81060834" hostid="261"></div>In all the hustle and bustle of the Miss World 2000 competition in November of that year (which she won), Chopra Jonas says that the tape that was put on her body earlier in the day to keep her strapless dress in place had loosened due to perspiration. To hold her dress up, Chopra came up with a solution on the spot. "I pressed my hands together in a namaste and kept them close to my body as much of the time as I could in an effort to hold my gown up," she writes in her book. <h2>8. Promoting skin lightening creams was 'one of the biggest missteps of my career and is one of my most profound regrets' </h2><div type="image" title="priyanka chopra september 2013" height="1734" width="2312" msid="81060835" hostid="261"></div>One of the more controversial aspects of Chopra Jonas' career was her involvement in ads for "fairness creams" or products that had lightening properties. In Indian culture, fair skin is considered more beautiful, and Chopra Jonas had her own experiences of feeling "unattractive" because of comments made about her darker skin tone when she was younger.In retrospect, the actress says that "promoting the destructive messages" of those ads was a major regret. And after realizing her error, she distanced herself from such brand deals.<h2>9. She fell 'into a depression' three years after her dad died</h2><div type="image" title="priyanka chopra september 2017" height="1392" width="1857" msid="81060836" hostid="261"></div>Chopra Jonas' father died in June 2013 after a long battle with a rare form of cancer known as cholangiocarcinoma. The actress said that she walled herself off emotionally afterward and didn't unpack her grief.Three years later, when she moved from Montreal, Canada to New York City to film the second season of "Quantico," she became depressed because of the weight of her grief. She describes that period as "a never-ending slump, a long sigh of sadness" that lasted for nearly two years.Chopra Jonas was consumed by numbness and isolation, and didn't receive support from others because she didn't tell anyone about her struggles.Eventually, she realized that she missed the lively person she used to be, and began being kinder to herself and being more sociable.She also healed by allowing herself to "feel the sadness that I hadn't wanted to feel."<h2>10. She sent a member of her security team to spy on Jonas when he first took her mom out for lunch without her</h2><h2><div type="image" title="priyanka chopra nick jonas january 2020 grammys 1" height="1832" width="2442" msid="81060837" hostid="261"></div></h2>Jonas first visited India in June, shortly after he and the "Baywatch" star started dating. On one of the days when Chopra Jonas was preoccupied with work commitments, Jonas said that he was going to <a href="https://www.insider.com/priyanka-chopra-sent-security-spy-on-nick-jonas-mom-2021-2">use it as an opportunity to take her mom out for lunch.</a>"I zipped right into worrying mode," Chopra Jonas writes in chapter nine, explaining that she couldn't help but be concerned about what they'd talk about during the meal and if they would embarrass her.She was consumed by the possibilities during a meeting that day, so "unable to take the suspense any longer, I sent a member of my security team out to take pictures of them at the restaurant they'd gone to."Chopra Jonas says she asked the security member to "spy on them" and snap photos so she could analyze their body language.Unbeknownst to her, that was the day when Jonas told her mom that he planned on proposing to Chopra Jonas and wanted her approval. <h2>11. Her foot got pierced by a piece of wood sticking out of the bathroom floor the day before her wedding</h2><h2><div type="image" title="priyanka chopra nick jonas wedding reception new delhi india december 2018" height="1313" width="1751" msid="81060838" hostid="261"></div></h2>On the day of the Mehndi (the pre-wedding henna ceremony) and the Sangeet (the musical celebration), Chopra accidentally "stepped down hard" on a two-inch, spike-like piece of wood that "drove straight into my heel."A doctor was called to assist, but Chopra Jonas says that she was impatient, so she took matters into her own hands.With Jonas holding her foot, she drenched it in perfume (because of the product's alcohol) and "pulled the bloody spear out with a pair of tweezers."Hours later, she attended the two pre-wedding events - and even wore heels at the Sangeet.

11 of the most surprising things Priyanka Chopra revealed in her new book

<ul class="summary-list"><li>While coronavirus has put a majority of the world on some form of lockdown, conservationists consider how these restrictions will impact animals.</li><li>In some regions, sea turtles will be able to nest and hatch easier since beaches are closed. But in other areas, closed beaches may make poaching easier. </li><li>"The news is not all great in terms of how this virus is affecting turtles," David Godfrey, the executive director of the <keyword id="831085" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="sea-turtle">Sea Turtle</keyword> Conservancy, told Insider.</li><li>Either way, experts doubt these lockdowns will have any long-term effects on sea turtle populations. </li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>The world's population is on pause and beaches around the world are deserted. It's just in time for sea turtle nesting season.These empty beaches have conservationists questioning how lockdown measures will affect <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photo-sea-turtle-stuck-in-plastic-ocean-pollution-2020-1">sea turtles</a> around the world."The news is not all great in terms of how this virus is affecting turtles," David Godfrey, the executive director of the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=sea+turtle+conservancy&amp;oq=Sea+Turtle+Conservancy&amp;aqs=chrome.0.0l5j69i60j69i61j69i60.219j0j9&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8ome&amp;ie=UTF-8">Sea Turtle Conservancy</a>, told Insider.In some locations, closed beaches have clear positives for turtles. But in other regions, conservationists are concerned that empty beaches might see an uptick in poaching. Either way, experts are unsure if these lockdowns will have any long-term impact. <div type="image" title="Credit Neil Osborne Green" height="804" width="1071" msid="75699018" hostid="261"></div><h2>Although sea turtles have survived for 100 million years, six of the seven species are currently threatened or endangered</h2>Each year, millions of female turtles head to the coastline to lay eggs. Their nesting season starts in March and lasts through October. Populations of loggerheads, leatherbacks, and Kemp's ridleys will head to the shores of <a href="https://www.insider.com/conservationists-are-protecting-sea-turtle-nests-from-hurricane-dorian-2019-9">Southeast US</a>, while other groups of green sea turtles and leatherbacks will swim hundreds of miles to lay eggs in places like <keyword id="57870" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Costa-Rica">Costa Rica</keyword> and Gabon. On these shores, turtles are met with challenges. They might face boat collisions in the shallow water, poachers on land, or disorienting artificial lights.Depending on a turtle's nesting location, the set of challenges vary. For some nesting and hatching populations, empty beaches may be helpful.<div type="image" title="sea turtle conservancy baby turtles" height="900" width="1200" msid="75699020" hostid="261"></div>Take <keyword id="6357385" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="florida">Florida</keyword> for instance, where <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/insight/understanding-vessel-strikes">boat collisions</a> are one of the leading causes of mortality for sea turtles. The coronavirus has largely eliminated that obstacle. "Many of the marinas are closed. Many of the public boat launches are closed," Godfrey said. "So there are few fewer people cruising around our coastline in boats."But even if a turtle makes it to the shore, it could still get deterred by beach debris — whether that's beach chairs, sandcastles, or trash.If the female turtle successfully lays eggs, the eggs will hatch a couple of months later."They all tend to sort of bubble out of the nest, and they immediately are trying to find their way to the water," Godfrey explained. Debris and bright lights can cause them to head in the wrong direction, where they could be caught by predators or become dehydrated. It's estimated that only <a href="https://www.seeturtles.org/baby-turtles">one sea turtle in 1,000</a> will make it to adulthood.<div type="image" title="sea turtle conservancy panama" height="800" width="1067" msid="75699023" hostid="261"></div>Now that beaches are closed, restaurants have shuttered, and hotels sit empty, the female turtles have a better chance of making it to shore and successfully laying eggs. As turtles begin to hatch in lockdown, the babies will also have an easier time finding their way to the ocean. "Purely from a biological standpoint, I expect that there will be less hatching disorientation. I suspect there will be fewer boat collisions. I expect that fewer adult female turtles will be disturbed and caused to go back to the water," Godfrey said. "From a biological standpoint, we're talking about Florida, I think you're going to see those benefits."<h2>At Juno Beach in Florida, researchers have recorded an increased number of loggerhead and leatherback turtle nests than the year before</h2>Just two months into the typical nesting season, the <a href="https://marinelife.org/2020/04/17/leatherback-aussie/">Loggerhead Marinelife Center</a> has already counted 676 nests on its nine and a half miles of beach. At this time last year, the research team had marked 494 nests. But Justin Perrault, the director of research at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, said there's no indication the increase is due to coronavirus. "We are actually above our record year for loggerheads right now," Perrault told Insider. "That doesn't mean anything at the moment. They could start early and end early." <div type="image" title="Morning Surveys_Jen Reilly, Research Operations Manager copy" height="900" width="1200" msid="75699027" hostid="261"></div>Nesting rates vary from year to year as female turtles only nest every few years. The organization expects to have between 10,000 and 15,000 nests, which it's on track for. Perrault also noted that the leatherbacks started nesting in February, which is earlier than usual and before stay-at-home orders had been placed in south Florida. "We don't know the impacts of coronavirus and beach closures on sea turtles in Florida yet," Perrault said. <h2>Empty beaches have created another problem in some regions: the potential for increased poaching</h2>Many coastal communities have long histories of turtle poaching. According to <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/sea-turtle">WWF</a>, tens of thousands of sea turtles and their eggs are lost to unsustainable harvesting each year. Turtle meat and eggs have been used as a source for food, income, and medicine across the world for thousands of years. But as sea turtle populations declined, groups formed to support both the turtles and coastal communities.Godfrey and his team at the Sea Turtle Conservancy work directly with communities to reduce turtle poaching. One successful strategy is by providing <a href="https://www.insider.com/airbnb-influencers-sustainable-tourism-5-ways-travel-changed-this-decade-2019-12">ecotourism</a> opportunities. <div type="image" title="sea turtle conservancy" height="800" width="1067" msid="75699031" hostid="261"></div>"In more developing countries, like Costa Rica and Panama for example, we work with coastal communities essentially to eliminate the unsustainable harvesting of turtles and their eggs and replace it with the sustainable use of turtles as an <keyword id="828728" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="ecotourism">ecotourism</keyword> driver," Godfrey said. The coronavirus lockdowns have put tourism on hold, and businesses now face a lack of business. That, paired with an escalated need for food and income, may lead to an increase in poaching."All the people that make their living off those tourists are getting more desperate," Godfrey said. "Those forces are going to cause people to go out and get food for their family off the beach."<div type="image" title="green sea turtle" height="786" width="1048" msid="75699034" hostid="261"></div>In Tortuguero, Costa Rica, Godfrey has heard from his team "that there's less patrolling by park guards taking place, and they are seeing evidence of increased poaching.""The direct human consumption threat is the problem there, and that's only going to get worse because of the virus," Godfrey said. "There's nothing about the virus that will make that better."Before lockdowns, volunteer groups would walk the beaches, tourists would be present, and residents could go on beach walks. Their presence was often enough to deter poachers. With these groups staying home, people have an easier time stealing turtle eggs.Roderic Mast, the CEO of the Oceanic Society and sea turtle expert, said he's heard similar accounts in French Guiana.Mast, who works with turtle conservationists on a global scale, said the pandemic has caused challenges in regulating fisheries. While there might be fewer fishermen on the water, which could lead to fewer accidental turtles caught, there are fewer people on the water to enforce regulations."I think it's not only important to continue to enforce," Mast said. "But I think it's important to take this moment to engage the public in understanding why we enforce. Why it is we protect these resources, not just turtles, but everything."<h2>Are new nests a result of coronavirus?</h2>In a few locations around the world, there has been new or increased sea turtle nesting attributed to empty beaches.On one of <keyword id="3739" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Thailand">Thailand</keyword>'s popular tourist islands, Phuket, leatherbacks are nesting for the first time in five years, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-thailand-turtles/deserted-thai-beaches-lure-rare-turtles-to-build-most-nests-in-20-years-idUSKBN22207G">Reuters</a>.Across the beaches, 11 leatherback nests have been spotted, the highest number in the past 20 years. Although these new nests have been associated with quiet beaches during Thailand's lockdown, according to Aorn Sillapasathitwong, foundation manager at the <a href="http://www.maikhaomarineturtlefoundation.org/about.html">Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation</a> in Thailand, the nesting happened before Thailand's lockdown went into effect. "There is no sea turtle rebounding during COVID-19 in Thailand," he told Insider in an email. "If we consider the timeline, the returning of the leatherback is not related to the lockdown."In India, an estimated 60 million eggs were laid on the eastern coast this year and linked to lockdowns, according to <a href="https://seavoicenews.com/2020/04/01/an-estimated-60-million-sea-turtle-eggs-have-been-laid-on-indias-beaches/">Sea Voice News</a>.Where a sea turtle decides to nest is coded in its DNA, explained Godfrey. By using the earth's <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(18)30351-8">magnetic fields</a>, female turtles can relocate their birthplace and navigate back to the area each year they nest. <div type="image" title="green sea turtle lays eggs" height="784" width="1045" msid="75699036" hostid="261"></div>While it's an exciting discovery, a single sea turtle can nest anywhere from <a href="https://conserveturtles.org/information-sea-turtles-frequently-asked-questions/">two t0 11 times</a> each season, meaning that it could be as few as two turtles who nested on the beaches in Thailand. That's still promising. Those beaches may have previously been inaccessible to turtles due to fisheries in the water or tourists on the land."We don't want to fool ourselves into believing that a spike portends some sort of recovery of the species," Mast said. "It takes more than a spike to indicate that something like that is happening. But it offers us an opportunity to really stop and reflect on, not just as the status turtles, but the status of nature in general."<div type="image" title="Florida loggerhead hatchlings emerging" height="649" width="865" msid="75699041" hostid="261"></div><h2>Experts doubt empty beaches will have any lasting impact</h2>While the prospect of lockdown has people questioning the benefits and disadvantages it will likely have on turtle populations, the experts that Insider spoke to agreed that one season won't have long-term impacts on sea turtles unless it leads to changes in human action."If we do find these positive impacts of beach closures on the sea turtles, maybe there will be some increased management," Perrault said of Juno Beach.Godfrey agreed. One good or bad season won't make or break sea turtle populations, but he does hope that data might.The data collected during this time could be used to persuade people to protect these animals and change their behaviors."If we can take lessons learned from this year about positive things that have happened to these animals and say, 'Look, you know all those things we've been asking you guys to do the last couple of decades? It actually works. That's the only silver lining I see coming out of this for turtles," he said.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/couple-living-on-sailboat-waiting-to-cross-indian-ocean-2020-5">A couple living on a sailboat had plans to cross the Indian Ocean before lockdowns put their journey on hold in Malaysia</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/photos-children-spain-enjoy-outdoors-first-time-in-six-weeks-2020-4">Photos show children in Spain enjoying the outdoors for the first time in weeks</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/family-quarantining-tree-house-village-dominican-republic-2020-4">What life is like for a family quarantining in an empty treehouse village that usually accommodates 52 people</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/icelandic-forest-service-urges-residents-hug-trees-not-people-2020-4">The Icelandic Forest Service is encouraging residents to hug trees instead of people</a></li></ul>Read the original article on <a href="https://www.insider.com/sea-turtles-coronavirus-lockdowns-florida-thailand-poaching-2020-4">Insider</a>

Beaches around the world may be empty, but conservationists question if sea turtles are truly thriving during lockdowns

Crystal Cox/Business InsiderThe anti-malaria pill chloroquine is showing early promise is treating the novel coronavirus.<ul class="summary-list"><li>As the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">coronavirus pandemic rages on</a>, some drugs are showing promising potential to treat patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. </li><li>There are no approved treatments or vaccines for the coronavirus, but researchers are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-treatments-vaccine-jj-regeneron-gilead-2020-2?r=corona-lp">testing a slew of existing drugs</a> to see if they may work.</li><li>One of those drugs is called chloroquine. It's a widely used anti-malaria pill that was first approved in the US in 1949.</li><li>Countries including China, South Korea, and Belgium, have added it to treatment guidelines for COVID-19 as anecdotal reports have come in suggesting it may work.</li><li>There is no peer-reviewed clinical data showing chloroquine works against COVID-19. But that hasn't stopped doctors from using it, US prescriptions from spiking, and even Elon Musk from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-malaria-drugs-could-treat-coronavirus-2020-3">tweeting about it as a potential treatment</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>In the scramble to find drugs to treat the coronavirus pandemic, one potential treatment has been flying relatively under the radar, despite promising early results.The drug is chloroquine, a widely prescribed anti-malaria pill that was first approved in the US <a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/index.cfm?event=overview.process&amp;ApplNo=006002">in 1949</a>. Early laboratory research and anecdotal reports from using the drug in patients with COVID-19 have shown encouraging signs that it may work to fight this virus.As dozens of drug companies have rushed into research projects to develop antibodies and other next-generation therapeutics, chloroquine stands out as a potentially simple, cheap, and scalable treatment, though we haven't yet seen data from any randomized clinical trials, the gold standard of medical research."If clinical data confirm the biological results, the novel coronavirus-associated disease will have become one of the simplest and cheapest to treat and prevent among infectious respiratory diseases," a group of French researchers <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924857920300662?via%3Dihub#bib0013">wrote on February 15</a> in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. One of the three authors of that article was Didier Raoult, a prominent infectious disease expert who's running a clinical trial in France to test a version of the drug called hydroxychloroquine on a few dozen patients with COVID-19. It's one of many clinical studies going on around the world in testing chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine.Early reports of Raoult's trial <a href="https://www.en24.news/a/2020/03/hydroxychloroquine-would-be-effective-according-to-professor-raoult-of-the-ihu-in-marseille-after-a-first-limited-test.html">in the French press</a> were positive, with Raoult saying chloroquine appeared to shorten the time that COVID-19 patients are infectious.When combined with the antibiotic azithromycin, it also reduced the viral load in these patients, he added. Azithromycin helps fight lung infections that can come along with COVID-19, and also may play a role in fighting the virus, <a href="https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/927033">Medscape reported</a>.The French government plans to expand testing of chloroquine on a larger scale.<h2>Chloroquine has 'been underappreciated'</h2>Steven Seedhouse, a biotech analyst at Raymond James, sees chloroquine as just as promising as any treatment option for COVID-19. That includes remdesivir, an antiviral drug being developed by the giant biotech company Gilead Sciences. World Health Organization officials have called remdesivir <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-treatment-gileads-remdesivir-clinical-testing-timeline-2020-3">"the most promising candidate" against the coronavirus</a>. He recently analyzed the early evidence for three top drugs being tested against COVID-19: remdesivir, chloroquine, and Kaletra, an HIV drug sold by AbbVie. He concluded that chloroquine was the most promising candidate. "If we had to pick one of the three at this point that actually seems most likely to have the biggest impact on treating COVID-19 in the coming months/years, it would be chloroquine," he wroteEarly reports of chloroquine working have also caught the attention of Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO tweeted on March 16 that it might be worth considering chloroquine for COVID-19. He said the drug saved his life when he faced a serious case of malaria. Repurposed antiviral drugs aren't likely to be cure-alls for the virus, but they are the only near-term treatment options. It will take months, if not years, to determine if a new drug or vaccine is safe and effective.Vaccines, in particular, are seen as the gold standard for infectious diseases - protecting people from infections in the first place. But if drugs like chloroquine and remdesivir work, they could bring major relief to healthcare systems around the world that are feeling the weight of a pandemic.In the US, there are widespread concerns about the likelihood that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-intensive-care-unit-shortages-of-ventilators-staff-space-2020-3">hospitals will run out of beds and ventilators</a> as the virus spreads, forcing doctors into difficult rationing decisions. That's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-advice-from-italian-doctor-to-us-doctors-and-hospitals-2020-3">already happening in Italy</a>.Remdesivir, given as a 10-day intravenous infusion, could shorten hospital stays and lower ventilator use if it can help patients with serious COVID-19 cases recover faster.<h2>Chloroquine is being tested to treat coronavirus, and to prevent people from catching it</h2>Chloroquine, as a simple pill, could prevent some COVID-19 patients from worsening to the point of needing hospitalization in the first place.Researchers also plan to test chloroquine in healthcare workers to see if it can <a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04303507?term=chloroquine&amp;cond=covid&amp;draw=2&amp;rank=1">help prevent them from getting the virus</a> in the first place.The drug can have serious side effects, such as causing damage to an individual's eyes. It can also cause headaches, dizziness, and stomach problems ranging from discomfort to vomiting and diarrhea.For both remdesivir and chloroquine, there is no peer-reviewed clinical data about whether they work to halt the coronavirus. Raymond James' Seedhouse said that even in the face of a pandemic, it is essential to stick to evidence-based approaches. "All we have is some preclinical rationale and some mechanistic rationale, but no hard randomized clinical data yet," Seedhouse said. "I think it's appropriate to be cautious on chloroquine and anything else." <h2>US prescriptions are spiking, as the UK guards its supply</h2>While peer-reviewed results are the standard in medicine, the lack of that data hasn't prevented the world from acting. China has said that chloroquine is effective against COVID-19, the state-owned Xinhua news agency <a href="http://english.www.gov.cn/statecouncil/ministries/202002/17/content_WS5e4a944dc6d0595e03c20f35.html">reported on February 17</a>. Countries including <a href="http://kjfy.meetingchina.org/msite/news/show/cn/3337.html">China</a>, <a href="https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2020/03/12/South-Korea-experts-recommend-anti-HIV-anti-malaria-drugs-for-COVID-19/6961584012321/">South Korea</a>, and <a href="https://epidemio.wiv-isp.be/ID/Documents/Covid19/COVID-19_InterimGuidelines_Treatment_ENG.pdf">Belgium</a> have added chloroquine to their treatment guidelines.US physicians don't appear to be waiting for data, either. Prescriptions for chloroquine are surging, according to recent tracking data from IQVIA. For the weeks of February 21, February 28, and March 6, weekly prescriptions have grown from 531 to 957 to 1,290, according to Raymond James.Doctors in the US have broad authority to prescribe approved medications for what are known as off-label uses, or conditions that the drug isn't approved to treat.In the past month, the UK has added both chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/872567/medicines_that_cannot_be_parallel_exported_from_the_uk_13_march_2020.csv/preview">a list of drugs</a> that drug wholesalers cannot export out of the country because UK patients need them and exporting them may lead to a shortage in the UK.<h2>Early reports of success 'should be taken seriously'</h2>Andrea Savarino is an Italian scientist who has worked at the Italian Institute of Health, the country's top medical research body, since 2006. He has been studying chloroquine and its potential uses for even longer than that, starting as a virologist in 1994.In the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, which is also a coronavirus, Savarino showed that chloroquine may be a useful weapon against that virus in laboratory research. But by the time his research was <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(03)00806-5/fulltext">published in The Lancet in November 2003</a>, the outbreak had dissipated and there were no human cases available to test."There has been a number of press releases, unfortunately not yet papers, but even the local experiments are things that should be taken seriously," Savarino told Business Insider. "Chloroquine plus the HIV inhibitors has produced interesting results, at least curative results, both in China and Australia." In Australia, researchers at the University of Queensland have said a combination of chloroquine and the HIV drug Kaletra led to the complete recovery of some of the first COVID-19 patients in Australia. "It is a potentially effective treatment," University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research director David Paterson <a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/coronavirus-australia-queensland-researchers-find-cure-want-drug-trial/news-story/93e7656da0cff4fc4d2c5e51706accb5">told the Australian news site news.com.au</a>.Savarino said he has heard anecdotal accounts from other countries as well, including Japan, India, and Thailand."Given these promising results, I am of course optimistic but I cannot give percentages of success as of now," Savarino said. He emphasized the need to collect more data before reaching conclusions.Savarino said he is developing an online platform that will collect hydroxychloroquine data on COVID-19 patients across Italy, and eventually add in other countries. He hopes to get the site going in the next few days, he said, and will make the data widely available as soon as possible.Ultimately, Savarino said he thinks a combination of two or three drugs will be found to be the most effective treatment for COVID-19, in a similar way that therapies using multiple drugs have become the standard for treating HIV.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-treatments-vaccine-jj-regeneron-gilead-2020-2">The US is sprinting to develop a coronavirus vaccine or treatment. Here's how 10 top drugmakers are racing to tackle the pandemic.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-treatment-gileads-remdesivir-clinical-testing-timeline-2020-3">The 'most promising' coronavirus treatment faces its biggest test yet. Clinical data for Gilead's drug remdesivir is coming in a matter of weeks.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moderna-coronavirus-vaccine-development-inside-the-lab-ceo-interview-2020-3">'Crazy hours, short nights': The inside story of how a buzzy biotech upstart developed a potential coronavirus vaccine in record time</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-vaccine-timeline-what-to-watch-leading-research-2020-3">There are at least 35 potential coronavirus vaccines in the works, aiming to halt the pandemic. Here are the top efforts to watch and what to expect in 2020 and beyond.</a></li></ul><a href="/intelligence/digital-health?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_subscription&amp;itm_content=health&amp;itm_campaign=digital-health"></a>Featured Digital Health Articles: - <a href="/telehealth-industry-explained">Telehealth Industry: Benefits, Services &amp; Examples</a> - <a href="/value-based-care-pay-for-performance-healthcare-model">Value-Based Care Model: Pay-for-Performance Healthcare</a> - <a href="/senior-care-market-trends">Senior Care &amp; Assisted Living Market Trends</a> - <a href="/wearable-technology-healthcare-medical-devices">Smart Medical Devices: Wearable Tech in Healthcare</a> - <a href="/artificial-intelligence-healthcare">AI in Healthcare</a> - <a href="/remote-patient-monitoring-industry-explained">Remote Patient Monitoring Industry: Devices &amp; Market Trends</a>

Could a malaria pill from the 1940s treat the coronavirus? Early results for chloroquine have caught the eyes of doctors, analysts - and even Elon Musk

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Dominic Ebenbichler<keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="China">China</keyword>'s Xue Chen (R) blocks a spike by Brazil's Juliana in their women's beach volleyball bronze medal match at the Horse Guards Parade during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 8, 2012. </div></div>Over a decade ago, economist <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/jim-oneill">Jim O'Neill coined the term BRIC</a>. The acronym was used to identify four fast growing economies that by 2050 would be bigger than the current richest economies in the world.
China has been living up to those expectations. But many have questioned whether Russia, Brazil, and India deserve to be part of the group. In the recent past, experts argued that <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_48/b4205021134076.htmhttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_48/b4205021134076.htm">Russia</a> and <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/47423993">India</a> should be replaced by Indonesia.
And in a <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/08/23/china-only-bric-country-currently-worthy-of-the-title-oneill/">Wall Street Journal column in August,</a> O'Neill argued that China is the only <keyword id="55357" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="BRIC">BRIC</keyword> nation worthy of that title. And it would appear he is bang on the money.
<a href="http://www.gti.org/thinking/gdi/2013.asp">Grant Thornton's 2013 Global Dynamism Index (GDI)</a> - which assesses the world's 60 largest economies ranked on 22 indicators including business operating environment, science &amp; technology, labour &amp; human capital, financing environment, economics &amp; growth - saw China jump 17 places from 2012 to take the third spot.
China is not without its problems, but of the four emerging nations that were expected to become the next big nations, China is the only one to stand true to that prediction.
In terms of economic growth, China had been growing at an unsustainable breakneck speed and is expected to slow to 7.5% in 2013. But a hard economic landing -- four straight quarters of below 6% growth -- hasn't emerged.
Some economists still predict a "bumpy landing," but China is making an effort to rebalance its economy and move towards growth supported by domestic demand.
So, what went so wrong in the other three BRICs?
Brazil's Dutch Disease &amp; Credit Woes
By comparison, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/whats-the-matter-with-brazil-2013-7">Brazil has flustered and flailed</a>. Brazil's economic growth plunged from 7.5% in 2010, to 0.9% in 2012.
Some blame the Dutch disease. China's investment-led growth helped boost commodity prices subjecting Brazil (and Russia, but more on that later) to the Dutch disease, where "an overemphasis on commodity-led growth," strengthens the currency and boosts wages, "twin forces" that are a blow to the country's manufacturing sector, according to Morgan Stanley's Joachim Fels. Of course this isn't Brazil's only problem. 
Using monetary policy easing (a cyclical tool) to fix economies suffering from the Dutch Disease (a structural problem) creates "unintended consequences."
Rate cuts by Brazil's central bank eased borrowing conditions for everyone (not just the sectors that needed help) <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/5-key-charts-on-brazils-economy-2013-6">boosting lending for everyone</a>. This in turn boosted "bank lending to consumers and inflation expectations, precisely the two things that Brazil's economy did not need." In fact, inflation is a deep rooted problem for the country and one that the government needs to tackle.
Growth has continued to slow despite the money being spent on infrastructure leading up to the World Cup and the Olympics.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Maxim Shipenkov</div></div>Russia Is Too Dependent On Oil 
The World Bank expects the <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/world-bank-cuts-russias-economic-growth-forecast-2013-09-25-6485324">Russian economy to grow a mere 1.8% this year.</a>
Like Brazil, Russia suffers from the Dutch Disease, and experts have long argued that the country is too dependent on its oil and gas sector.
This in turn has impacted its manufacturing sector. In fact, <a href="http://www.markiteconomics.com/Survey/Page.mvc/PressReleases">Russia has had three-straight months of sub-50 HSBC PMI readings</a>, showing that its manufacturing sector has been contracting.
The state's role in the economy is another problem plaguing this BRIC nation. "In Russia, the corporate sector is dominated by state-run companies. The efficiency and flexibility that the private sector tends to provide, is thus missing in Russia Inc," writes Fels.
Russia continues to face structural challenges to its economy and external demand issues, and it needs to get serious about cracking down on corruption.
India's "Vicious Loop"
In India, a mix of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/india-economic-slowdown-2013-5">global headwinds and disastrous domestic policies</a> have sent growth to a 10-year low. Fels thinks India's biggest problems are its "deep cyclical issues:"
"Policy action in 2009/10 created unintended consequences... Aggressive fiscal easing supported consumption and economic growth during the Great Recession. However, the lack of support for investment meant that productive activities did not benefit from the government's initiative. The result? A widening of the fiscal and current account deficits along with a deterioration of what our colleague Chetan Ahya calls the 'productive dynamic'. This poor productive dynamic helped to produce an inflation problem that appears to be ebbing only now."
India's high gold and oil imports haven't helped narrow its troublingly wide current account deficit. This in turn has been crushing the Indian rupee, boosts inflation, and external debt.
"In the absence of a credible policy response, currency weakness and volatility may create a vicious loop," wrote Lombard Street Research's Shweta Sing in an August note.
India's labor laws and corruption also continue to hold it back. O'Neill thinks <a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/12/06/investment-summit-oneill-idINDEE7B50AA20111206">India has been the most disappointing</a> of the BRICs.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://pictures.reuters.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult_VPage&amp;VBID=2C0BXZL7061WS&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1286&amp;RH=817">REUTERS/Jerry Lampen </a></div></div>What Has China Done Right?
While the economy is slowing, it has long been argued that the ongoing slowdown was inevitable as officials began to rebalance the economy towards domestic demand. Premier Li Keqiang promised a growth floor of 7.5% in 2013. The Chinese leadership's promise to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-new-income-distribution-plan-2013-2">double per capita income by 2020</a> is in line with their efforts to boost domestic demand.
Moreover, policymakers seem aware of problems in the economy. Wary of a property bubble, they acted aggressively to deflate it, forcing China bears like Jim Chanos to admit the country might have got a handle on the property sector.
In an effort to boost land reform and achieve growth, officials are trying to speed up urbanization.
Yes, China has a burgeoning shadow banking system and will have to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/a-painful-chinese-credit-burst-is-coming-2013-6">worry about its "Minsky moment</a>." Yes its state-run banks can't guarantee bad debts forever. Yes the nation has a long way to go in liberalizing its capital account, and yes the government is right to be wary of social unrest.
But for now, it's easy to see China has been the star BRIC nation.

You Searched For "spike guards in india" and got 14 results

India has 1 COVID-19 death per lakh population, 6.04 globally, says Centre; no let up in surge in new cases

PTI

The Indian Railways is going to install panic buttons in trains for women safety

BI India Bureau

Can India Emerge As A Top Global Military Power?

Preetam Kaushik

Top Five Reasons Why Rating Agencies Should Upgrade India Outlook: BofA-ML

Economic Times

Big banks promised to protect the planet. Now they're doing an about-face.

Catherine Boudreau

Oil prices would be down but then Iran seized a British tanker

BI India Bureau

'The brink of a global recession': A financial expert warns of severe coronavirus fallout as markets tank

Ben Winck

Lockdown 3.0 begins tomorrow with 'considerable relaxations'; people should be ready to live with COVID-19:Kejriwal

PTI

Life through a COVID prism: Nurses, docs walk tightrope between work and home

PTI

COVID: Cases surge to 5.28 lakh; MP, UP announce house-to-house survey; Centre says 'encouraging' results after proactive steps

PTI

11 of the most surprising things Priyanka Chopra revealed in her new book

Olivia Singh

Beaches around the world may be empty, but conservationists question if sea turtles are truly thriving during lockdowns

Monica Humphries

Could a malaria pill from the 1940s treat the coronavirus? Early results for chloroquine have caught the eyes of doctors, analysts - and even Elon Musk

Andrew Dunn

Why 3 Of The 4 BRICs Are Failing To Meet The World's Expectations

Mamta Badkar