May 21,2022:In wake of a spurt in monkeypox cases in some foreign countries, a health expert on Saturday insisted on observing the evolution of the disease while also advising not to panic.
The Centre on Friday issued an alert to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and asked them to keep a close watch on the situation evolving in relation to the monkeypox cases abroad. “Everything should be taken seriously. And we should keep a guard but at the same time, there is no need to get panic. We need to study how it is evolving, and how many people are getting affected. Fortunately, it is not that severe as smallpox,” said Dr Ishwar Gilada, infectious diseases expert and consultant for HIV/STDs, while speaking to ANI.
Explaining the type of virus and the availability of their treatment, the expert said, “basically, what we are currently worried is a lot of new infections will be viral infections. Usually, there are four types of infections bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and virals.” “We have very effective antibiotics to take care of the bacteria, very effective antifungus to protect from fungus and very potent anti-parasitic. Now new infections, what we are seeing in the last 40 years are all viral because there are no potent antivirals and viruses are very much different like RNA virus, DNA virus, they are versatile, they change their shape, they have different clades they have different variants, sub-variants, so it becomes very difficult to find antiviral,” Dr Gilada said.
Meanwhile, the WHO has confirmed 80 cases of monkeypox in 11 countries and said they are working to better understand the extent and cause of the outbreak. In a statement issued on Friday, the WHO said the virus is endemic in some animal populations in a number of countries, leading to occasional outbreaks among local people and travellers.
Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms very similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe. According to WHO, Monkeypox typically presents clinically with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications. Monkeypox is usually a self-limited disease with symptoms lasting from 2 to 4 weeks.
New Delhi,May 16,2022: Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani’s group on Sunday said it has clinched a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Holcim Ltd’s businesses in India for USD 10.5 billion, marking the ports-to-energy conglomerate’s entry into the cement sector.
The Adani Group will acquire 63.1 per cent of Ambuja Cements Ltd along with related assets. Ambuja’s local subsidiaries include ACC Ltd, which is also publicly traded.
“The Adani Family, through an offshore special purpose vehicle, announced that it had entered into definitive agreements for the acquisition of Switzerland-based Holcim Ltd’s entire stake in two of India’s leading cement companies – Ambuja Cements Ltd and ACC Ltd,” the group said in a statement.
Holcim, through its subsidiaries, holds 63.19 per cent in Ambuja Cements and 54.53 per cent in ACC (of which 50.05 per cent is held through Ambuja Cements).
“The value for the Holcim stake and open offer consideration for Ambuja Cements and ACC is USD 10.5 billion, which makes this the largest-ever acquisition by Adani, and India’s largest-ever M&A transaction in the infrastructure and materials space,” the statement said.
Holcim in a statement said, “The corresponding offer share prices of Rs 385 for Ambuja Cement and Rs 2,300 for ACC translate into cash proceeds of CHF 6.4 billion (Swiss Franc) for Holcim.”
Adani has in the last couple of years diversified beyond its core business of operating ports, power plants and coal mines into airports, data centres and clean energy.
The group had last year set up two cement subsidiaries – Adani Cementation Ltd which was planning to set up two cement units at Dahej in Gujarat and Raigarh in Maharashtra; and Adani Cement Ltd.
The world’s largest cement maker Holcim last month announced its exit from the country after struggling here for a long. The company through two listed entities ACC and Ambuja has 66 million tonnes per annum capacity (MTPA).
Suman Bery
According to a statement issued by the Department of Personnel and Training, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has accepted the resignation of Rajiv Kumar and will relieve him from his post on April 30.
It also said that Bery has been appointed, with immediate effect, as a full-time member of NITI Aayog on the same terms and conditions as are applicable to the position, and will take over as Vice Chairperson on May 1.
Rajiv Kumar was the government think-tank’s Vice Chairperson since September 2017.
Bery has served in the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and the National Statistical Commission, as well as being Director General of the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi. He also had a stint in the World Bank.