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Listen to Manjula Narayan discuss with the Aashima Dogra, co-author of Lab Hopping, how from Bhopal to Bhubaneswar, from Bangalore to Jammu, she and her co author Nandita Jayaraj engage in thought-provoking conversations with renowned scientists like Gagandeep Kang, Rohini Godbole, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Prajval Shastri, as well as researchers at earlier stages of their scientific careers.
In the second week of September, the number of weekly reported deaths due to Covid-19 plunged to its lowest since March 2020. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cited this last week when he said that the end of the pandemic was now in sight. “We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic,” the WHO chief told the media during his regular weekly press conference. However, in a word of caution, he also added that the world was “not there yet”. To date, according to WHO data, India has seen 44,539,046 confirmed cases of Covid-19, which have resulted in 528,355 lives lost. During the course of the pandemic, there were times when India's economy was virtually shuttered due to lockdowns that varied in their strictness. Except for select essential services and activities, shops, eateries, factories, transport services, and business establishments, all came to standstill for long periods of time, leaving a devastating impact on the economy. Released in April this year, the Reserve Bank of India's report on currency and finance for FY22 said that it would take nearly 15 years for the Indian economy to make up for the losses incurred during the coronavirus pandemic. This projection was arrived at after taking the actual growth rate of -6.6 per cent for FY21 and 8.9 percent for FY22 into account, along with assuming a growth rate of 7.2 per cent for FY23 and 7.5 per cent beyond that. In monetary terms, the output losses estimated by the report were 19.1 trillion rupees for FY21, 17.1 trillion rupees for FY22 and Rs 16.4 trillion for FY23. The report does not reflect the views of the RBI itself. Instead, it reflects the view of its contributors, who are part of RBI's Department of Economic and Policy Research. Against this backdrop, the answer to whether the end of the Covid-19 pandemic is in sight or not becomes the most crucial determinant for how the Indian economy will fare going ahead. Recent data also points to an improving situation. The seven-day moving average of daily new infections in India has been holding steady in the range of 5,000 to 6,000 in the past 10 days. This is down considerably from the recent high of 19,658 on the 24th of July, whereas, in the first week of April, India had been seeing just around 1,000 cases per day. So, is India out of the danger zone? Speaking to Business Standard, K Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India, says serious Covid infections are coming down but virus will stay. Must be vigilant about new variants from northern hemisphere in winter. Omicron seems destined to stay, it is not serious too. Gagandeep Kang, Microbiologist and Professor, Christian Medical College says, end is not in sight but it will be less of a public health problem. We need to generate evidence on the best vaccine among a cluster, she says. On whether the coming winter is crucial for India to get a measure of the pandemic's direction, Gagandeep Kang said a lot of it is coming from the West where respiratory infections are particularly bad, and when combined with Covid, there is a sense that public health systems could be overwhelmed. But in India, flu seasons are varied and have smaller peaks, and hence we cannot take the problems of the west and expect to have a similar impact in India. How will business fare? Meanwhile, Indian companies are hiring thousands of temporary workers as the country prepares to celebrate its peak festival season without COVID restrictions for the first time in three years. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) expects sales in this Diwali season to be at least 30% higher than last year. With health experts expecting lower mortality and largely a controlled scenario, businesses are hopeful that the country has left the Covid-induced lockdowns behind. However, with the threat of new variants emerging and some regions likely to witness a spike, activity may be disrupted in short ph
As the number of cases in the country surge and fear of a third wave looms large, host Devina Sengupta speaks to virologist Dr Gagandeep Kang, Dr. Alok Khullar, CEO, Gleneagles Global Health City and ET's Nidhi Sharma to assess whether India is better prepared than last year to deal with the Covid onslaught. Credits: TRT World, NDTV, CNN-News 18, WION
For about 18 months, children in India have not gone to school. The school closures have been among the longest in the world. This month, many state and local governments opened physical schools for children. Yet, private schools have not fully reopened as parents are reluctant to send their children to school and want to continue online education. We at Suno India want to address the various questions that parents, school staff and administrators have in mind when it comes to school reopening. How do we ensure that children, school staff and people at home are safe. What should be a cause of worry and what should not be To answer these questions, Suno India's Menaka Rao spoke to Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, a medical doctor who works in the field of public health policy and health systems. He has co-authored the book Till We Win: India's Fight Against The COVID-19 pandemic, with Dr Randeep Guleria, the director of AIIMS, New Delhi and Dr Gagandeep Kang, professor of Microbiology at the Christian Medical College, Vellore. He has recently been writing and tweeting extensively advocating for schools to reopen. Show Notes: Delhi's private schools take cautious steps towards reopening Online Education: कोरोना काल में कैसे पिछड़े स्कूल जाने वाले बच्चे Delhi's private schools take cautious steps towards reopening https://www.theindiaforum.in/article/reopening-schools?utm_source=website&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=category&utm_content=Covid-19 Kids and COVID: why young immune systems are still on top Science Brief: Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs - Updated Over 70% patients above 40 yrs in both waves: ICMR SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence in India, August–September, 2020: findings from the second nationwide household serosurvey 6th Delhi sero survey shows 97% prevalence of antibodies covid-19 update https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-children-and-masks-related-to-covid-19 See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.
While the government is looking at approving Covaxin for those between 2-18, experts advise exercising caution amidst a lack of choices and data for healthy kids before they return to school. Virologist Dr. Gagandeep Kang and Dr. Anand Pillai, Assistant Professor, Global Institute of Public Health, Ananthapuri Hospitals and Research Institute, Trivandrum, discuss the issue. Credits: T-Series, Maithri Manthan, India Today, WHO, WION, Shubham Jha.
In big news in India's vaccination drive, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) recommended to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to grant emergency use authorisation for Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children as young as two years. On 12 October, the expert panel in a statement said that “after detailed deliberation, the committee recommended for grant of market authorisation of the vaccine for the age group of 2 to 17 years for restricted use in an emergency.” This announcement makes Covaxin the second vaccine after Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D DNA based vaccine, to be approved for vaccinating those under the age of 18, and the first vaccine in the world to be approved for children below the age of 12. Though DCGI has not given the formal nod yet, the lack of publicly available data regarding the clinical trials and the fact that Covaxin has still not been approved by the World Health Organisation has raised some concerns with health experts on how effective the vaccine will be on children. What also does not help Bharat Biotech's case is its previous lack of transparency about the conduct of Covaxin clinical trials in adults and how it reported adverse side effects. And this brings up the pertinent questions on every parents mind-how safe is Covaxin for children? How many doses should be administered? And do children already affected with COVID-19 need the vaccine? Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram Guest: Dr Gagandeep Kang, a renowned virologist with CMC Vellore and a member of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur To help us answer these questions, for today's episode we spoke to Dr Gagandeep Kang, a renowned virologist with CMC Vellore and a member of the COVID-19 World Group the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.
Microbiologist and virologist, Dr Gagandeep Kang speaks with Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the founder-chairperson of one of India's largest pharmaceutical companies, about India's flawed vaccine roll-out, and the trade-offs between patents and pricing. Highlights India's vaccine roll-out programme: How does one decide who gets priority and who does not? What does the Indian government need to do to ensure vaccines are affordable and available for everyone? What role should the private sector play in India's vaccine roll-out programme? Should COVID-19 vaccines be protected by patents? For more information about IDR, go to www.idronline.com. Also, follow IDR on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and Instagram. Read more India's COVID-19 vaccine drive is excluding millions of citizens India's COVID-19 response limited by strong urban and tech bias Fighting the pandemic: Two contrasting approaches[T1] How rebuilding trust in the public healthcare system can help combat vaccine hesitancy in rural communities A ‘corona demon' raises awareness about COVID-19 in rural Andhra Pradesh A pathway to universal healthcare in India Engaging communities is critical to the COVID-19 response Is the COVID-19 vaccine in India a public or a private good? Upholding trust in vaccination Covid-19 Pandemic: Shortages, Hesitancy and Pricing Plague India's Covid-19 Vaccination Programme All work, no vaccines: Security guards and COVID-19 Learn more about the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations or Cepi ‘None are safe until all are safe': COVID-19 vaccine rollout in low- and middle-income countries Covid: The vaccine patent row explained This podcast is a Maed in India production, you can find out more about us https://www.maedinindia.in/
The 45th GST Council Meet, the first physical one since the coronavirus outbreak, will be held in Lucknow today. What are the key issues the Council is likely to address? The govt report on Air India plane crash at Kozhikode airport squarely blames the pilot for “misjudgment”. But there are serious questions on institutional failures. Where does the blame really lie? And what should be done to prevent such mishaps in future? From hefty discounts to ironing out supply bottlenecks, India Inc is betting on revenge buying this festive season to perk up sales. But will this translate into gains on Dalal Street? As fears of a third Covid wave loom, some relevant questions need answering. What do virologist Gagandeep Kang and Public Health Foundation of India President K Srinath Reddy think about the present state of the pandemic and the way forward? The remaining matches of IPL 2021 are going to be played in the UAE from September 19, and we are hearing a lot about safety protocols and the ‘bio-bubble'. What exactly is a bio-bubble and how does it work? Listen to this episode of the Business Standard Morning Show podcast to get answers to all these questions.
800 million vaccine doses is almost half of what India needs to vaccinate its entire adult population by the end of 2021. So why, and how, did they disappear in a span of 3 weeks from the centre's list of vaccines needed for the drive? And with a third wave looming, what will it take to protect the population against the continued wrath of COVID-19? Stories originally reported by Maitri Porecha and Seema Singh. With guest Gagandeep Kang, virologist and professor at CMC Vellore. India's vaccine shortfall grows as Sputnik V struggles to launch: https://the-ken.com/story/vaccine-sputnik-v-india/ Covid Taskforce, let's get real on vaccines. It's time for plan B: https://the-ken.com/story/covid-taskforce-lets-get-real-on-vaccines-its-time-for-plan-b/ Related episode: https://the-ken.com/unofficial-sources/inside-adar-poonawallas-plan-to-global-vaccine-domination/ Music and editing by Sameer Rahat from Baqsa Studios Check out our special podcast offer for you: https://the-ken.com/podcastoffer/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheKenWeb Psst share your feedback with us on podcast@the-ken.com
The infamous Israeli spyware Pegasus has kicked up a storm once again. Over 300 Indians may have been spied on using this dangerous software that can allow a hacker to gain access to pretty much everything in a person's phone including encrypted messages. This egregious breach of privacy was reported by The Wire in a collaborative investigation conducted along with several other international media houses like The Guardian and The Washington Post that found a leaked database with 50,000 phone numbers from across the world, believed to be linked to persons of interest listed by the clients of the NSO — the Israeli firm that sells the Pegasus Spyware. From the first tranche of reports that came on 18 July, we know that 40 of the 300 verified numbers from India belong to journalists from some of India's top media houses like the Hindustan Times, India Today, Network18, The Hindu, The Indian Express and The Wire. The spyware is also believed to have been used on numbers belonging to at least nine rights activists, lawyers and academics who have been arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case. The second tranche of reports, that came on 19 July, state that PM Modi's political adversary Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and political strategist Prashant Kishor's numbers were also added to the list. Ironically, even the recently sworn in IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw who is defending the Centre from allegations of spying is on the target list along with MoS Prahlad Patel. Former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa and India's leading virologist Dr Gagandeep Kang have featured on the list of potential targets as well. While the NSO claims that it only sells the spyware to "vetted governments", the Indian government has dismissed the reports saying that they are not only 'bereft of facts but also founded in pre-conceived conclusions'. But at a time when our smartphones have become a primary device that stores a lot of our personal data, what does the use of the Pegasus spyware on Indian journalists, opposition leader and other citizens say about the state of surveillance? Who is answerable for this grave assault on privacy? Tune in! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Shashi Tharoor, Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP, Mishi Chaudhury, Lawyer and the Legal Director and founder of the Software Freedom Law Center, Apar Gupta, Executive Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation. Editor: Shelly Walia Interviews: Anthony Rozario, Mehab Qureshi Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng
After a promising start in January, India's vaccine drive has been hobbled by challenges. A severe shortfall from May onwards left many searching for jabs. But logistics aside, another problem has cropped up – women are falling behind men in getting vaccinated. According to recent data, of the total jabs administered so far, 54% have gone to men and only a little over 46% to women. Experts say women's health has always taken a backseat due to patriarchal social norms. Access to healthcare continues to be a challenge, particularly in rural areas, where nearly 65% of India's population lives. On top of that, unfounded beliefs that the vaccine may cause infertility or menstruation issues also are keeping women away. What can be done to counter these challenges at the grassroots, as well as at a policymaking level? In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we discuss the measures needed to bridge the gender divide in India's vaccination programme. Presenter: Devina Gupta Contributors: Shivangi Karmakar, sr project officer, DEF; Dr Tanya Seshadri, community health practitioner; Dr Gagandeep Kang, virologist, professor, CMC Vellore
In this episode, Sandip talks to Dr Gagandeep Kang, who addresses the concerns around India's vaccine policy.
The lofty ambition of the global community was that across the globe, those with the highest risk of losing their lives to this virus should be vaccinated first. With 99% of deaths coming in the over fifties, the plan was that everybody in this age group should be inoculated. But that’s not what has happened. Vaccine supply is in crisis and in Africa, a continent of over 1.2 billion people, only around 20 million Africans have been vaccinated, with only 35 million vaccines landing so far on the continent. It’s been called “vaccine apartheid” and “a moral outrage” but as South Asia, South America find themselves again, in the eye of the virus storm, largely unvaccinated Africa fears the next wave is heading for them. Can vaccine nationalism be overcome and scare supply be fairly distributed? It’s a question that very much concerns Claudia Hammond’s expert panel: Gagandeep Kang, Professor of Microbiology at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, Dr Yodi Alakija, co-chair of the African Union’s Vaccine Delivery Alliance for Covid-19, Professor Andy Pollard from the Oxford Vaccine Group who led the clinical trials for the Oxford/Astra Zeneca (or Covishield) Vaccine and Professor Peter Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine in Houston and co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Centre for Vaccine Development in the USA. Produced by: Fiona Hill, Hannah Fisher and Maria Simons Studio Engineers: Jackie Marjoram and Tim Heffer Claudia Hammond and her expert panel consider what the new shapeshifting virus means for the global goal of herd immunity and an end to the pandemic. And they answer your questions. Please do keep your virus queries coming in to the.evidence@bbc.co.uk and your question could be included in the next programme. Claudia’s guests include Dr Richard Lessells, infectious diseases specialist from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and part of the team that identified the South African variant; Dr Muge Cevik, clinical lecturer in infectious diseases and medical virology at the University of St Andrews in Scotland and a member of the UK’s expert committee NERVTAG (New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group); Dr Shane Crotty, Professor for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research at la Jolla Institute for Immunology, University of California San Diego in the USA and Dr Margaret Harris from the World Health Organisation in Geneva. Produced by: Fiona Hill, Samara Linton and Maria Simons Editor: Deborah Cohen Technical Support: Donald McDonald and Tim Heffer
India is in the throes of the world’s worst COVID-19 infection with overwhelmed health systems and a shortage of oxygen, hospital beds, testing, and medications. Dr. Amita Gupta, chair of the Johns Hopkins India Institute, Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director of All India Institute of Medical Service in New Delhi, and Dr. Gagandeep Kang, professor of microbiology at Christian Medical College in India, talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about this ”unprecedented public health disaster” and what needs to be done to address the crisis.
Dr Gagandeep Kang, professor of microbiology at CMC, Vellore, and former chair of an ICMR panel on Covid drugs and vaccines spoke to Hindustan Times’ Sunetra Choudhury on the ongoing second wave of the Covid pandemic. Dr Kang said that if there is someone who has been infected with the virus at home, all others in the house should wear masks, even when they are inside. She added that masking up at home is a good advice to follow at this time when cases have seen a steep rise in the capital.
आज के FYI एपिसोड में साहिबा ख़ान बात करेंगी उन सभी सवालों की जो आपके मन में आते हैं Vaccine को लेकर। Social media के कारण सभी की नज़रें कोरोना टीकाकरण पर टिकी हुई हैं। कब टीका आएगा, कैसे आएगा, उससे कोई खतरा तो नहीं है, कौन लगवा सकता है, कब लगवा सकता है, क्या reactions हैं, ये सब वाजिब सवाल हैं और इसलिए हम लाएं हैं भारत की मशहूर virologist , डॉ. गगनदीप कांग को आप तक, क्योंकि एक एक्सपर्ट ही आपके सवालों के सही जवाब बता सकती हैं। तो सुनिए ये एपिसोड, और फिर जाईये vaccine लगवाने
Allowing all adults to get vaccinated against Covid-19 from next month brings new challenges – from supply chain issues to the ethical dilemma of equitable distribution. Gagandeep Kang, Virologist and Professor at Christian Medical College, Vellore, and ET's Nidhi Sharma discuss the hurdles ahead.
In this episode, microbiologist Dr Gagandeep Kang and Sandip Roy discuss why South Asian and Sub-Saharan countries have shown higher seropositivity than the West, why vaccinations are necessary but not enough and the pressing need for more clinical research.
Exactly a year ago, on January 30, 2020 the World Health Organisation declared that the Covid-19 outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern. We have all suffered a year of the pandemic now and it's time to look back and see what we have learned in hindsight. For this episode, Host Menaka Rao spoke to Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, a public health policy expert. He has co-authored the book Till We Win: India's Fight Against The COVID-19 pandemic, with Dr Randeep Guleria, the director of AIIMS, New Delhi and Dr Gagandeep Kang, professor of Microbiology at the Christian Medical College, Vellore which was released recently. Being an editorially independent platform, we rely on you to help us bring in untold stories that have the potential for social change. Do consider supporting us! See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.
Sandip talks to Dr Gagandeep Kang about what we're really looking for in a COVID-19 vaccine, and clears up some burning coronavirus concerns.
Nearly a hundred vaccine candidates are being developed across the world. Award-winning medical scientist, Dr Gagandeep Kang talks to host Pavan Srinath about the development of vaccines, ongoing efforts on COVID-19, and the challenges of developing immunity and resistance against the virus, on Episode 137 of The Pragati Podcast.This episode is a rebroadcast of Episode 8 of Bangalore International Centre's BIC Talks Podcast. Pavan is a consultant for BIC Talks, and also hosts this episode. Visit https://bangaloreinternationalcentre.org/watch-listen-read/audio/ to find all episodes of BIC Talks, and you can subscribe to BIC Talks on all podcast apps.Dr. Gagandeep Kang is the Executive Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute. She is a key contributor to the understanding of diarrhoeal diseases, rotavirus epidemiology and vaccinology, and is the Vice Chair for the Coalition of EpidemicPreparedness and Innovations.If you have any questions or comments, write in to podcast@thinkpragati.com, we would love to hear from you.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.
In this episode, Dr Gagandeep Kang, one of India's leading clinical scientists, busts myths about coronavirus, talks about why she is hopeful for a vaccine and how climate change affects the spread of such viruses.