Expert panel to review Meril’s price exemption bid for stent

• NPPA verified the company’s submissions and decided that the matter be sent to an expert body for re-examination
• The company says its stents are made of biodegradable material, and are an alternative to the traditional metal stents

India biggest producer of 'game-changer' hydroxychloroquine drug

• The country has the capacity to quickly ramp up the output of hydroxychloroquine
• India manufactures 70% of the world's supply of hydroxychloroquine, according to Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) secretary-general Sudarshan Jain

Earth's crust is shaking less as people stay home

• Data from a seismometer at the observatory show that measures to curb the spread of covid-19 in Brussels caused human-induced seismic noise to fall by about one-third
• In Belgium, scientists report at least a 30% reduction in that amount of ambient human noise since lockdown began there

As infections spike, ICMR allows CSIR labs to conduct Covid-19 testing

• CSIR is India’s premier national research and development organization which operates a network of over 38 laboratories across the country
• The approvals to start testing would be accorded only by the Secretary of the concerned departments as deemed appropriate

Potential Covid-19 vaccine shows promise in mouse study

• Researchers around the world are working to develop potential treatments or vaccines against the respiratory disease
• The team said they hope to start testing the vaccine candidate on people in clinical trials in the next few months

IIT alumnus Bob Balaram creates chopper that will fly over Mars

• Helicopter concept was funded, planned, developed and built and is heading to Mars this summer
• The Mars Helicopter created by Bob Balaram will ride to Mars this summer with NASA's Perseverance rover.

Is India’s rural health infrastructure enough to tackle coronavirus?

• Indian presently faces an acute shortage of primary health centres and community health centres, with highest dearth in West Bengal, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and MP
• More than 90% of India’s workforce is estimated to in the informal sector which includes both rural and urban

Israel lab reports 'progress' in designing coronavirus vaccine prototype

• The IIBR is also involved in plasma collection from people who have recovered from infection with the new coronavirus
• Scientific collaboration lifts veil on secret lab

'Middle-aged people too have a dramatically higher risk of dying from Covid-19'

Researchers from Britain analysed more than 3,600 confirmed Covid-19 cases as well as data from hundreds of passengers repatriated from Wuhan

Coronavirus impact: Lybrate sees 60% jump in online doctor consultations

• The number of confirmed covid-19 cases in India rose by 17% in 12 hours to reach 1,251 yesterday evening
• People are consulting doctors on Lybrate about health issues ranging from cold, cough, flu, fever to joint pain, and immunity among others

Science dept gives ₹1 crore for new tech to disinfect hospitals in Maharashtra

• The Department of Science and Technology has already released ₹1 crore for manufacturing 1,000 such units which would be ready for installation soon.

MIT to share low-cost ventilator design, as hospitals face shortage worldwide

• The institute would publish the clinical and design considerations online to support rapid scale-up of device production to alleviate hospital shortages
• The prototype under development is yet to be approved by US FDA

Age is not the only risk for severe coronavirus disease

• Senior citizens undoubtedly are the hardest hit by Covid-19
• While death rates fluctuate wildly early in an outbreak, Italy has reported more than 80% of deaths so far were among those 70 or older

Have coronavirus and can’t smell? Harvard scientists explain why

Doctors around the world are reporting anecdotal Covid-19 cases in which patients have experienced an abrupt and unexplained total or partial loss of smell and taste

Opinion | The story behind the coronavirus numbers

The exponential growth of cases is rather like a fractal: zoom in or out, you’ll see essentially the same kind of curve, a gradual increase that turns to steep

Coronavirus infections near 500,000 as health systems buckle

• India on Thursday began enforcing the world's largest coronavirus lockdown, trying to keep its 1.3 billion people indoors
• As the virus spreads into new territory, many countries took drastic measures

Coronavirus may not spread through tears

• Coronavirus: Researchers now claim it is unlikely that infected patients are shedding virus through eye fluid
• The findings showed that when a sick person coughs or talks, virus particles can spray from their mouth or nose into another person's face

WHO launches Health Alert on WhatsApp

• The WHO Health Alert will provide official information on topics such as how to protect yourself from infection, travel advice, and debunking coronavirus myths

Department of Science & Tech designs scheme for R&D on vaccines for Covid-19

Science & Engineering Research Board has invited proposals as part of special call under IRHPA to ramp up national R&D efforts