Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

India posts record Covid-19 infections, deaths

India posts record Covid-19 infections, deaths

INDIA reported another record daily rise in coronavirus cases, 414,188, on Friday (7), bringing total new cases for the week to 1.57 million. Deaths from Covid-19 rose by 3,915 to 234,083.

Medical experts say the real extent of Covid-19 is likely to be far higher than official tallies.


India's healthcare system is crumbling under the weight of patients, with hospitals running out of beds and medical oxygen. Morgues and crematoriums cannot handle the number of dead and makeshift funeral pyres burn in parks and car parks.

Infections are now spreading from overcrowded cities to remote rural villages that are home to nearly 70 per cent of the 1.3 billion population.

Although northern and western areas of India bear the brunt of the disease, the south now seems to be turning into the new epicentre.

In the southern city of Chennai, only one in a hundred oxygen-supported beds and two in a hundred beds in intensive care units (ICUs) were vacant on Thursday (6), from a vacancy rate of more than 20 per cent each two weeks ago, government data showed.

In India's tech capital Bengaluru, also in the south, only 23 of the 590 beds in ICUs were vacant.

The test-positivity rate — the percentage of people tested who are found to have the disease — in the city of 12.5 million has tripled to almost 39 per cent as of Wednesday (5), from about 13 per cent two weeks ago, data showed.

Syed Tousif Masood, a volunteer with a Covid-19 resource group in Bengaluru called the Project Smile Trust, said the group's helpline was receiving an average 5,000 requests a day for hospital beds and oxygen, compared with 50-100 such calls just one month ago.

"The experts say we have not yet hit the peak," he said. "If this is not the peak, then I don't know what will happen at the real peak."

In the past week, India has reported an extra 1.5 million new infections and record daily death tolls. Since the start of the pandemic, it has reported 21.49 million cases and 234,083 deaths. It currently has 3.6 million active cases.

Modi has been widely criticised for not acting sooner to suppress the second wave, after religious festivals and political rallies drew tens of thousands of people in recent weeks and became 'super spreader' events.

His government - which imposed a strict lockdown in March 2020 - has also been criticised for lifting social restrictions too soon following the first wave and for delays in the country's vaccination programme.

The government has been reluctant to impose a second lockdown for fear of the damage to the economy, though many states have announced their own restrictions.

Goa, a tourism hotspot on the west coast where up to one in two people tested in recent weeks for coronavirus have been positive, on Friday announced strict curbs from Sunday (9), restricting timings for grocery shops, forbidding unnecessary travel and urging citizens to cancel all gatherings.

While India is the world's biggest vaccine maker, it is also struggling to produce and distribute enough doses to stem the wave of Covid-19.

Although the country has administered at least 157 million vaccine doses, its rate of inoculation has fallen sharply.

More For You

Ping Pong restaurant chain shuts all UK branches

The chain had also gained a following for its themed brunches

iStock

Ping Pong restaurant chain shuts all UK branches after 20 years

Key points

  • Chinese dim sum restaurant Ping Pong has closed all its UK locations
  • The chain made the announcement via social media
  • Founded in 2005, the brand thanked customers and staff for their support
  • Loyal diners shared memories and disappointment in the comments

All branches are permanently closed

Chinese restaurant chain Ping Pong has permanently closed all its branches in the UK, the company confirmed in a social media announcement.

Founded in 2005 by restaurateur Kurt Zdesar, the dim sum chain had become popular for its stylish interiors, creative menus, and Asian-inspired cocktails. The company did not provide prior notice of the closure but said the decision marked the end of an “unforgettable” 20-year journey.

Keep ReadingShow less
New Covid strain

Experts have raised concerns about the immune-evasive nature of the Stratus strain

iStock

New Covid strain Stratus spreads in UK with unusual hoarse voice symptom

Key points

  • A new Covid strain known as Stratus is spreading across the UK
  • The variant is marked by a distinctive symptom: a hoarse or raspy voice
  • Sub-variants XFG and XFG.3 now account for 30% of cases in England
  • Experts say there is no evidence of more severe disease
  • Lower immunity levels may make more people vulnerable to infection

Covid variant Stratus on the rise in the UK

A new strain of Covid-19, known as Stratus, is spreading across the UK and drawing attention for its unusual symptom — a hoarse or raspy voice. According to data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Stratus and its two sub-variants, XFG and XFG.3, are responsible for around 30 per cent of Covid cases in England.

Of the two, XFG.3 is currently the more dominant. The UKHSA confirmed that monitoring of all circulating Covid-19 variants is ongoing as part of regular surveillance.

Keep ReadingShow less
Human brain continues forming neurons

Neurogenesis, the process by which new neurons form in the brain

iStock

Human brain continues forming neurons well into old age, study finds

Key points

  • New neurons continue forming in the brain’s hippocampus into old age
  • Study confirms presence of neural progenitor cells in adults
  • DNA carbon dating and single-nucleus RNA sequencing were used
  • Research shows variation in neuron production between individuals
  • Findings could aid treatments for neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders

Human brain shows ongoing neuron formation into older age

A new study has confirmed that the human brain continues to produce new nerve cells well into late adulthood, challenging previous assumptions about age-related decline in neurogenesis. The findings, published in the journal Science, provide fresh insight into how adaptable the brain remains over a lifetime.

Neurogenesis, the process by which new neurons form in the brain, is known to occur in the hippocampus — a region involved in memory. While previous research has suggested that this process continues throughout life, there has been limited concrete evidence of the presence of neural progenitor cells in the adult brain.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kent County Show 2025

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, who grew up in Brenchley

Getty Images

Kent County Show opens with royal visit from Duchess of Edinburgh

Key points:

  • Day one of the Kent County Show begins at Detling Showground near Maidstone
  • The Duchess of Edinburgh visits the event for the first time in 16 years
  • Organisers expect up to 70,000 visitors over the weekend
  • Farming and rural life are at the centre of the three-day programme
  • Highlights include live camel racing, equine sports, livestock displays and more

Kent County Show opens with royal visit

The Kent County Show returned to Detling near Maidstone on Friday, marking the start of a major three-day celebration of farming, food, and rural living. The event opened with a special visit from the Duchess of Edinburgh, who is attending for the first time in 16 years.

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, who grew up in Brenchley near Tunbridge Wells and serves as patron of the Association of Show and Agricultural Organisations (ASAO), met with farmers, equine exhibitors, and local businesses on her tour of the showground.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sri Aurobindo

Heehs’s biography is grounded in extensive archival research across France, England, India and Israel

AMG

Sri Aurobindo and the rise of the Asian century

Dinesh Sharma

My friend and colleague, the American historian Peter Heehs, who has lived in Pondicherry, India, for decades, recently published a compelling new biography, The Mother: A Life of Sri Aurobindo’s Collaborator (2025). Heehs previously authored The Lives of Sri Aurobindo (2008), which remains one of the most balanced and scholarly accounts of Aurobindo’s life.

According to Heehs, most previous biographies of the Mother were written for devotees and relied on secondary sources, often presenting her as a divine incarnation without critical engagement. “Such biographies are fine for those who see the Mother as a divine being,” Heehs said, “but they can be off-putting for readers who simply want to understand her life – as an artist, writer, spiritual teacher, and founder of the Ashram and Auroville.”

Keep ReadingShow less