Brasilia, Mar 5 ,2021: The number of people, who have died of COVID-19 in Brazil, has increased by 1,699 to 260,970 within the past 24 hours, the national Health Ministry said.
The number of confirmed cases in the country has risen by 75,102 to 10,793,732 within the same period of time. More than 9.63 million people have recovered since the start of the outbreak.
Brazil comes second in terms of the number of deceased people following the United States with over 520,000 fatalities and third in terms of the number of confirmed cases after the US and India.
The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. To date, more than 115.57 million people have been infected with the COVID-19 worldwide, with over 2.56 million fatalities, Johns Hopkins University said.
Mumbai , March 4,2021: Maharashtra Minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday said that the central government’s role will be very important on the issue of Maratha reservation.
“During a question on Maratha reservation, we have replied and have discussed that the central government’s role will be very important. As the hearing in the Supreme Court begins and the central government has also been made a party in this case, this case must be kept in front of a larger bench. This is a time for the central government also to get involved in it for Maratha reservation,” said Chavan.
“There are many states in which the reservation has to exceed fifty per cent too,” he added.
Last year on December 22, Chavan had chaired a meeting of the state cabinet’s sub-committee on Maratha reservation and discussed the strategy of the state government to be adopted in the final hearing of the matter before the Supreme Court which started from January 25.
The top court later posted for March 8 the final hearing of petitions challenging the Bombay High Court verdict upholding reservations to Marathas in jobs and education under Maharashtra Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said the matter will now be listed on March 8 for final hearing and it proposed to complete the hearing by March 18.
The top court in 2019 had restrained the Maharashtra government by an interim order to implement the quota law.
The Bombay High Court had on June 27, 2019, observed that the 50 per cent cap on total reservations imposed by the Supreme Court could be exceeded in exceptional circumstances.
An appeal filed in the top court by advocate Sanjeet Shukla, a representative of Youth for Equality, said the SEBC Act, 2018, enacted to grant reservation to the Maratha community people in jobs and education, breached the 50 per cent ceiling on reservation fixed by the apex court in its judgment in the Indira Sawhney case.
Mar 02,2021:Zamfara state governor tells Al Jazeera 279 girls, who were kidnapped on Friday, are safe, as President Buhari expresses joy at their release.
Kidnappers have released all the girls abducted from a boarding school in the northwestern Nigerian state of Zamfara on Friday, the governor told Al Jazeera, as President Muhammadu Buhari expressed “overwhelming joy” over the news.
Bello Matawalle said on Tuesday the nearly 300 students were safe with authorities and that no ransom had been paid for their release.
“Today, we have received the children who were under captivity since Friday. I initiated a peace accord which yielded a positive result. No ransom was paid to anyone. I insisted that we were not going to give anything to any of them,” Matawalle told Al Jazeera.
The governor said the students were being taken to a health facility for medical examination.
On Friday, police said 317 girls were abducted in the raid by more than 100 gunmen on the Government Girls Secondary School in remote Jangebe village.
However, Matawalle told Al Jazeera the total number of kidnapped students was 279.
Zamfara state spokesman Sulaiman Tanau Anka told Reuters news agency some of the missing girls had run into the bush at the time of the assault, confirming the number of those kidnapped was 279.
One the girls told reporters early on Tuesday how the kidnapping took place.
“We were sleeping at night when suddenly we started hearing gun shots. They were shooting endlessly. We got out of our beds and people said we should run, that they are thieves,” she said.
“Everybody fled and there were just two of us left in the room. The other girl is from my town. I told her ‘get up!’ so we can run away, she said ‘I swear to God, I will not leave the bed’. At that stage they were pointing guns at our heads. I was really afraid of being shot,” She added.
‘Overwhelming joy’
Government officials had been in talks with the kidnappers – referred to as “bandits” – following Nigeria’s third school attack in less than three months.
Zamfara state police commissioner Abutu Yaro said a government-led peace process had resulted in the girls’ release.
“The Zamfara peace accord remains the backbone of the success we have recorded so far. These children were recovered through dialogue,” he told reporters, adding that more details of the incident and police response would be released later.
Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from Zamfara state capital, Gusau, said many parents wept when they found out about the release of their children.
“There was a huge amount of relief for the parents, students and the state government. Authorities told us it was difficult to secure the release. It took days of negotiations with what the government calls repentant bandits to bring the girls back. Some of the girls are less than 11 years old,” Idris said.
In a tweet, President Buhari said he was “pleased that their ordeal has come to a happy end without any incident”.
Ovigwe Eguegu, geopolitical and security Analyst at Afripolitika, a security think-tank, told Al Jazeera that kidnappers are targeting schools because they are a soft target.
Armed gangs
Heavily armed criminal gangs in northwestern and central Nigeria have stepped up attacks in recent years, kidnapping for ransom, raping and pillaging.
The Nigerian military deployed to the area in 2016 and a peace deal with bandits was signed in 2019 but attacks have continued.
In December, more than 300 boys were kidnapped from a school in Kankara, in Buhari’s home state of Katsina, while the president was visiting the region.
The boys were later released but the incident triggered outrage and memories of the kidnappings of 276 schoolgirls by the Boko Haram armed group in Chibok that shocked the world.
Many of those girls are still missing.
The gangs are largely driven by financial motives and have no known ideological leanings.
But there are concerns they are being infiltrated by rebel groups.
Kidnapping for ransom in Africa’s most populous country is already a widespread national problem, with businessmen, officials and citizens snatched from the streets by criminals looking for ransom money.
At least $11m was paid to kidnappers between January 2016 and March 2020, according to SB Morgen, a Lagos-based geopolitical research consultancy.
New Delhi, Mar 2,2021: In response to the urgent appeal made by Madagascar for international solidarity and assistance to deal with the humanitarian crisis in South of Madagascar due to severe drought, India is sending a consignment of 1000 metric tonnes of rice and 100,000 tablets of HCQ to Madagascar.
The humanitarian assistance is being delivered on-board Indian Naval Ship Jalashwa, which will leave with the food and medical assistance on March 3 and is expected to reach the Port of Ehoala in Madagascar between March 21-24.
The prompt Indian assistance to Madagascar was conveyed on Monday by External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar in a phone conversation with the Foreign Minister of Madagascar Dr. Tehindrazanarivelo Djacoba A.S Oliva.
During the phone conversation, Dr Jaishankar recalled the excellent bilateral ties of friendship between India and Madagascar and that India has always been among the first responders when it comes to assist the people of Madagascar in such humanitarian crisis. In September 2018, a consignment of 1000 metric tonnes of rice was delivered on-board an Indian Naval vessel to Madagascar. Indian Navy was the first to respond when Cyclone Diane struck Madagascar and prompt assistance was delivered under Operation Vanilla by INS Airavat in January 2020. In March 2020, INS Shardul visited the port of Antisiranana and delivered 600 tonnes of rice as HADR assistance to Madagascar from India for dealing with heavy floods in the Northern region of Madagascar.
Dr Jaishankar assured the Foreign Minister of Madagascar that as a maritime neighbour across the Indian Ocean, the Government and people of Madagascar can always count on the support and solidarity of the Government and people of India. The two Foreign Ministers also discussed other issues of mutual interest.During this trip, INS Jalashwa will also have on-board an Indian Naval training team which is being deployed in Madagascar for capacity building and training of the Malagasy Special Forces for two weeks.INS Jalashwa will also call at Port Anjoun in the Republic of Comoros where it will deliver a consignment of 1000 metric tonnes of Indian rice.
The supplies of food assistance and support for capacity building to the friendly countries of Madagascar and Comoros is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of SAGAR and India’s time-tested role as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region.
Washington , March 1,2021: US’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory committee on Sunday has voted to recommend that Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine can be given to people ages 18 and older in the United States.
The announcement by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky will allow vaccinations to begin as soon as the doses are received, The Hill reported. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 12-0, with one recusal, to recommend the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Walensky called the decision “another milestone toward an end to the pandemic.” This comes a day after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it had approved Janssen’s single-dose COVID-19 Vaccine for emergency use in the US in individuals 18 years of age and older.
“This vaccine is also another important tool in our toolbox to equitably vaccinate as many people as possible, as quickly as possible,” Walensky said in a statement.
“As a one-dose vaccine, people do not have to return for a second dose to be protected. In addition, this vaccine does not need to be kept in a freezer and can be stored at refrigerated temperatures — so it is easy to transport and store and allows for expanded availability in most community settings and mobile sites, as supply scales up,” Walensky added.
The nation’s third coronavirus vaccine arrives days after the United States surpassed 500,000 COVID-19 deaths.
The United States has reported more than 28.6 million confirmed Covid-19 cases and over 512,000 reported deaths. The demand of vaccines still far exceeds supply, these vaccines can’t come soon enough.
US President Joe Biden on Saturday said the approval of Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot coronavirus vaccine by the FDA is “exciting news” but warned Americans against letting their guard down as the situation could deteriorate.
TOKYO,Mar 01,2021:Japanese companies are ramping up the use of artificial intelligence and other advanced technology to reduce waste and cut costs in the pandemic, and looking to score some sustainability points along the way.
Disposing of Japan’s more than 6 million tonnes in food waste costs the world’s No.3 economy some 2 trillion yen ($19 billion) a year, government data shows. With the highest food waste per capita in Asia, the Japanese government has enacted a new law to halve such costs from 2000 levels by 2030, pushing companies to find solutions.
Convenience store chain Lawson Inc has started using AI from U.S. firm DataRobot, which estimates how much product on shelves, from onigiri rice balls to egg and tuna sandwiches, may go unsold or fall short of demand.
Lawson aims to bring down overstock by 30% in places where it has been rolled out, and wants to halve food waste at all of its stores in 2030 compared with 2018.
Disposal of food waste is the biggest cost for Lawson’s franchise owners after labour costs.
Drinks maker Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd is experimenting with another AI product from Fujitsu Ltd to try to determine if goods such as bottles of oolong tea and mineral water have been damaged in shipping.
Until now, that’s been a time-consuming human endeavour. With the new AI, Suntory hopes to gauge when a damaged box is just that, or when the contents themselves have been damaged and need to be returned.
Suntory aims to reduce the return of goods by 30-50% and cut the cost of food waste and develop a common standard system that can be shared by other food makers and shipping firms.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Japan’s notoriously fussy shoppers are showing signs of getting on board, especially as the coronavirus pandemic hits incomes.
Tatsuya Sekito launched Kuradashi, an e-commerce firm dealing in unsold foods at a discount, in 2014 after seeing massive amounts of waste from food processors while working for a Japanese trading firm in China.
The online business is now thriving due partly to a jump in demand for low-priced unsold foods as consumers became more cost conscious amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Sales grew 2.5 times last year from a year before, while the amount of food waste has doubled since the coronavirus cut off food supply chain,” Sekito told Reuters.
Kuradashi has a network of 800 companies, including Meiji Holdings Co, Kagome Co and Lotte Foods Co, who sell it a total 50,000 items including packs of instant curry, smoothies and high-quality nori.
“Japanese shoppers tend to be picky but we attract customers by offering not just a sale but a chance to donate a portion of purchases to a charity, raising awareness about social issues,” Sekito said.
Membership numbers jumped to 180,000 in 2021 from 80,000 in 2019.
Others have also joined forces with food firms in developing new technological platform to cut food waste as part of global efforts to meet sustainable development goals (SDGs).
NEC Corp is using AI that can not only analyse data such as weather, calendar and customers’ trends in estimating demand but also give reasoning behind its analysis.
NEC has deployed the technology to some major retailers and food makers, helping them reduce costs by 15%-75%.
NEC hopes to share and process data through a common platform among makers, retailers and logistics, to reduce mismatches in supply chains.
“Reducing food waste is not our ultimate goal,” said Ryoichi Morita, senior manager overseeing NEC’s digital integration.
“Eventually, we hope it can lead to resolve other business challenges such as minimizing costs, fixing labour shortages, streamlining inventory, orders and logistics.”
Geneva, Mar 1,2021: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that less than 10 percent of the global population have antibodies to the coronavirus, WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said.
“Less than 10 per cent of the world’s population actually has antibodies to this virus. Of course in some settings, like particularly in the very high density urban settlements, there are pockets where 50, 60 percent of the population has been exposed to the virus and has antibodies,” Swaminathan said in a Sunday interview, released on the official WHO twitter page.
The only way to achieve mass herd immunity is through vaccination, the WHO chief scientist stressed.
According to Swaminathan, the currently approved vaccines offer good protection against severe disease, hospitalisation and death from COVID-19. The vaccines’ effectiveness with regard to mild disease and asymptomatic coronavirus infection is still being studied.
More than 114 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed globally since the start of the pandemic last spring. According to Johns Hopkins University data, the global COVID-19 death toll stands at over 2.5 million.