How low-carb, high-fat diets affect older populations

Sudharma Times

{ 17 august 2020 ~ 23 august 2020 }

Health Related News

1.How low-carb, high-fat diets affect older populations

22,Aug,2020

A new study observed improvements in body composition, fat distribution and metabolic health in response to an eight-week very low-carbohydrate diet.

The study led by researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Nutrition Obesity Research Centre was published in the journal Nutrition and Metabolism.

Older adults with obesity are at particularly high risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Rather than total fat mass, deposition of fat in certain areas, such as the abdominal cavity and skeletal muscle, may confer this greatest risk of disease development.

The study’s lead author is Amy Goss, Ph.D., RDN, an assistant professor with UAB’s Department of Nutrition Sciences. Goss says her team aimed to determine if a very low-carbohydrate, or VLCD, high-fat diet would deplete these fat depots and preserve lean mass without intentional caloric restriction in older adults with obesity, thereby improving outcomes related to cardiometabolic diseases, such as insulin sensitivity and the lipid profile.

“After the eight-week intervention, despite the recommendation to consume a weight-maintaining diet, the group consuming the very low-carbohydrate diet lost more weight and total fat mass than the control diet group,” Goss said.

Egg consumption was an important part of the VLCD prescription. Goss and her team provided eggs to the participants in this diet group and asked them to consume at least three per day.

“While eggs were a part of this study, we can’t conclude that our findings are a result of daily egg consumption; but I think what we can conclude is that whole eggs can be incorporated into the diet in a healthful way without adversely impacting blood cholesterol in older adults,” she said.

The primary difference in fat loss between the two groups was from the abdominal cavity and the skeletal muscle depots.

“We also found significant improvements in the overall lipid profile that would reflect the decreased risk of cardiovascular disease,” Goss said. “Further, insulin sensitivity improved in response to the very low-carbohydrate diet reflecting the reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes. Overall, we observed improvements in body composition, fat distribution and metabolic health in response to an eight-week, very low-carbohydrate diet.”

2. Covid-19 cannot be transmitted through breast milk, study reveals

20,Aug,2020

Answering the critical question of whether Covid-19 can be transmitted through breast milk or not, a recent study suggests that breast milk cannot transmit the virus to the infant.

The study, which was published in the online edition of JAMA was conducted by the researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and University of California Los Angeles.

The study examined 64 samples of breast milk collected by the Mommy’s Milk Human Milk Research Biorepository from 18 women across the United States infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Although one sample tested positive for viral RNA, subsequent tests found that the virus was unable to replicate, and thus unable to cause infection in the breastfed infant.

“Detection of viral RNA does not equate to infection. It has to grow and multiply in order to be infectious and we did not find that in any of our samples,” said Christina Chambers, PhD, MPH, co-principal investigator of the study, professor of paediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine, director of Mommy’s Milk Human Milk Research Biorepository and co-director of the UC San Diego Center for Better Beginnings.

“Our findings suggest breast milk itself is not likely a source of infection for the infant,” Chambers added.

The current recommendations to prevent transmission while breastfeeding are hand hygiene and sterilising pumping equipment after each use.

“In the absence of data, some women infected with SARS-CoV-2 have chosen to just not breastfeed at all,” said Grace Aldrovandi, MD, co-principal investigator of the study, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital and a professor of paediatrics in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UC Los Angeles.

“We hope our results and future studies will give women the reassurance needed for them to breastfeed. Human milk provides invaluable benefits to mom and baby,” added Aldrovandi.

Early breastfeeding is associated with a reduced risk of sudden infant death syndrome and obesity in children, as well as improved immune health and performance on intelligence tests. In mothers, breastfeeding has been associated with lower risks for breast and ovarian cancer, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

The researchers also mimicked conditions of the Holder pasteurization process commonly used in human donor milk banks by adding SARS-CoV-2 to breast milk samples from two different donors who were not infected.

The samples were heated to 62.5-degree celsius for 30 minutes and then cooled to 4-degree celsius. Following pasteurization, infectious virus was not detected in either sample.

“This is a very positive finding for donor milk, which so many infants, especially those born premature, rely on. Our findings fill in some important gaps, but more studies are needed with larger sample sizes to confirm these findings,” said Chambers.

Chambers said future work will not only look at whether breast milk is free of the virus, but also whether it contains active antiviral components. For example, antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 that women may produce after exposure to the virus and then transfer to their infants through breast milk, protecting them from Covid-19.

3.Here’s how Covid-19 smell loss differs from common cold

19,Aug,2020

The new research has revealed how smell loss associated with COVID-19 infection differs from what you typically might experience with a bad cold or flu.

 

The research from a European group of smell disorder experts, including Professor Philpott, was conducted at the University of East Anglia.

The study published in the journal Rhinology is the first to compare how people with COVID-19 smell and taste disorders differ from those with other causes of upper respiratory tract infections.

The main differences found are that, although COVID-19 patients also lose their sense of smell, they can breathe freely, do not tend to have a runny or blocked nose, and they cannot detect bitter or sweet tastes.

These findings lend weight to the theory that COVID-19 infects the brain and central nervous system.

The research team hope that their work could help develop smell and taste tests for fast COVID-19 screening - in primary care and emergency departments.

Lead researcher Prof Carl Philpott, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “The loss of smell and taste is a prominent symptom of COVID-19, however, it is also a common symptom of having a bad cold. We wanted to find out exactly what differentiates COVID-19 smell loss with the kind of smell loss you might have with a cold and blocked-up nose.”

The research team carried out smell and taste tests on 10 COVID-19 patients, 10 people with bad colds and a control group of 10 healthy people - all matched for age and sex.

Prof Philpott said: “We wanted to see if their smell and taste test scores could help discriminate between COVID-19 patients and those with a heavy cold. We know that COVID-19 behaves differently to other respiratory viruses, for example by causing the body’s immune system to over-react, known as a cytokine storm, and by affecting the nervous system.”

“So we suspected that patterns of smell loss would differ between the two groups. We found that smell loss was much more profound in the Covid-19 patents. They were less able to identify smells, and they were not able to identify bitter or sweet tastes. In fact, it was this loss of true taste which seemed to be present in the COVID-19 patients compared to those with a cold.”

He added that this is very exciting because it means that smell and taste tests could be used to discriminate between Covid-19 patients and people with a regular cold or flu.

“Although such tests could not replace formal diagnostic tools such as throat swabs, they could provide an alternative when conventional tests are not available or when rapid screening is needed - particularly at the level of primary care, in emergency departments or at airports.

This research also shows that there are altogether different things going on when it comes to smell and taste loss for COVID-10 patients, compared to those with a bad cold.

It has previously been suggested that the COVID-19 virus affects the central nervous system, based on the neurological signs developed by some patients. There are also similarities with SARS, which has also been reported to enter the brain, possibly via smell receptors in the nose.

“Our results reflect, at least to some extent, a specific involvement at the level of the central nervous system in some COVID-19 patients.”

It is particularly interesting that COVID-19 seems to particularly affect sweet and bitter taste receptors because these are known to play an important role in innate immunity.

“More research is needed to see whether genetic variation in people’s bitter and sweet taste receptors might predispose them to COVID-19, or conversely, whether COVID-19 infection changes how these receptors function, either directly or through a cytokine storm - the over-reaction of the body’s immune system,” Philpott said.

4. Depression rate doubles during Covid-19 pandemic in UK, official data shows

18,Aug,2020

The proportion of people in Britain suffering with depression has almost doubled during the Covid-19 pandemic, official data showed on Tuesday.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said 19% of adults reported some form of depression during June, compared with 10% in the nine months to March 2020. Stress and anxiety were the most common types of depression listed by people, it said.

The data raises questions about the wider public health costs of a pandemic that has already left Britain with the highest excess mortality rate among major European countries, according to a recent ONS analysis.

“Adults who were young, female, unable to afford an unexpected expense or disabled were the most likely to experience some form of depression during the pandemic,” said Tim Vizard, ONS principal research officer.

One in eight adults developed moderate to severe depression during the pandemic, the ONS said. Only one in 25 saw an improvement.

A surge in depression is also likely to further harm the economy, which has already suffered a historic blow from the pandemic and the national lockdown it prompted in March.

A 2018 study from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development put the cost of mental health problems in Britain at around 4% of its annual economic output.

5. D614G: Malaysia detects coronavirus strain that’s 10 times more infectious

17,Aug,2020

Malaysia has detected a strain of the new coronavirus that’s been found to be 10 times more infectious. The mutation called D614G was found in at least three of the 45 cases in a cluster that started from a restaurant owner returning from India and breaching his 14-day home quarantine. The man has since been sentenced to five months in prison and fined. The strain was also found in another cluster involving people returning from the Philippines.

The strain could mean that existing studies on vaccines may be incomplete or ineffective against the mutation, said Director-General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The mutation has become the predominant variant in Europe and the U.S., with the World Health Organization saying there’s no evidence the strain leads to a more severe disease. A paper published in Cell Press said the mutation is unlikely to have a major impact on the efficacy of vaccines currently being developed.

“People need to be wary and take greater precautions because this strain has now been found in Malaysia,” Noor Hisham wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. “The people’s cooperation is very needed so that we can together break the chain of infection from any mutation.”

While Malaysia has largely managed to prevent a resurgence of the virus seen elsewhere in the world, the number of new cases found in the country has been picking up. The country confirmed 26 new cases on Saturday, the most since July 28, and added 25 cases on Sunday.

6. Covid-19, Cold, Flu or Allergy: Know the symptoms

16,Aug,2020

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, any fevers, aches, and pains can be scary. Do you have the virus? Should you be getting tested? Here’s a look at symptoms, causes and how to tell what’s what: 

IT IS HARD TRYING TO TELL THEM APART

Fever, fatigue, aches, and pains mark Covid-19, flu, respiratory allergies, and the common cold, which makes it near-impossible to figure out when to get tested for Sars-CoV-2.

Covid-19, flu, and cold are contagious respiratory illnesses caused by different viruses. The Sars-CoV-2 virus causes Covid-19, flu is caused by influenza viruses such as A/H1N1, A/H3N2, B/Colorado, and B/Phuket, among others, and the common cold symptoms are caused by more than 200 known viruses, including some coronaviruses.

Allergies are triggered by hypersensitivity to allergens in the environment, such as pollen, dust, fungi ould.

SIMILARITIES

Covid-19, the flu and the common cold are self-limiting diseases that usually last for one (cold) to two weeks.

Covid-19, the flu and cold can spread with close contact, mainly from infected droplets released into the air when infected people cough, sneeze, or speak. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of others nearby or be inhaled.

Covid-19 and the flu may lead to hospitalization and death from complications, which can include respiratory failure, sepsis, cardiac arrest.

A severe allergic reaction may cause death from anaphylactic shock.

A common cold can cause complications like ear infection, sinusitis, strep throat, and croup, among others.

The risk in all four is highest in older adults, people with certain underlying medical conditions, and pregnant women.

DIFFERENCES

Children and young people are at higher risk of severe illness and complications from the flu, but Covid-19 raises the risk of multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children.

Adults with Covid-19 may have additional complications, such as the formation of blood clots in the veins and arteries of the lungs, heart, legs, or brain.

ompared with July 2019.

 "This crisis has put the public finances under signific

Business News

                                            ~by JATIN

1.TikTok to challenge Trump's crackdown in court amid rising dispute

-23 August 2020

TikTok plans to sue the U.S. government, the company confirmed Saturday, arguing that President Donald Trump’s moves to block the app had deprived it of due process and claiming it had been unfairly and incorrectly treated as a security threat.

The lawsuit, which the company plans to file next week, would amount to the most public pushback against the U.S. by TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese internet company Byte Dance.

 “Even though we strongly disagree with the administration’s concerns, for nearly a year we have sought to engage in good faith to provide a constructive solution,” Josh Gartner, a TikTok spokesman, said in a statement. “What we encountered instead was a lack of due process as the administration paid no attention to facts and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses.”

 For weeks, Trump has railed against TikTok and its ties to China, arguing that the app was a national security threat and that it could share data about its users with the Chinese government. On Aug. 6, Trump issued an executive order against TikTok, saying it would ban transactions with the app within 45 days. A week later, he issued a separate executive order giving Byte Dance 90 days to divest from its U.S. assets and any data that TikTok had gathered in the U.S.

 Trump’s actions have pushed Byte Dance to seek a sale of Tiktok U.S. operations to a U.S. company. Microsoft and Oracle are among those that have recently held discussions for such a deal. The companies remain in negotiations for a potential acquisition of TikTok, which has more than 100 million regular users in the U.S.

 TikTok, which has repeatedly denied that it shares data with Beijing, previously tried to pacify the Trump administration. But as the White House’s actions escalated, TikTok became more critical of its moves.

 Representatives for the White House and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters previously reported on Tiktok plan to file a lawsuit.

 Trump’s first executive order against TikTok draws its legal authority from the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which allows the president to regulate economic transactions in a national emergency. Past administrations have used it to sanction foreign governments as well as terrorists, drug kingpins and hackers, but have never used it against a global technology company.

 Past administrations have also used the authority somewhat cautiously, wary that a legal challenge could result in a court curtailing some of the president’s expansive powers. Some Trump administration advisers have been concerned about such an outcome, but others view the economic powers as a kind of blank check, giving the administration wide-ranging authority to restrict U.S. commerce.

 Jason M. Waite, a partner at Alston & Bird, said the order raised serious questions, including whether the provision could be used to target people or companies registered in the U.S., even if they had a foreign parent company.

 “Using this authority against a Hezbollah leader does not present litigation risk like using this authority against a major global technology company,” he said. He added that the odds would be in the president’s favor but that the administration had still opened itself up to the possibility of having its economic powers curtailed.

 

2.United States just crossed the line debt hawks warned about for decades

-22 August 2020

Economists and deficit hawks have warned for decades that the United States was borrowing too much money. The federal debt was ballooning so fast, they said, that economic ruin was inevitable: Interest rates would skyrocket, taxes would rise and inflation would probably run wild.

The death spiral could be triggered once the debt surpassed the size of the U.S. economy — a turning point that was probably still years in the future.

 It actually happened much sooner: sometime before the end of June.

The coronavirus pandemic, and the economic collapse that followed, unleashed a historic run of government borrowing: trillions of dollars for stimulus payments, unemployment insurance expansions, and loans to prop up small businesses and to keep big companies afloat.

 But the economy has not drowned in the flood of red ink — and there is a growing sense that the country could take on even more without any serious consequences.

 “At this stage, I think, nobody is very worried about debt,” said Olivier Blanchard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund. “It’s clear that we can probably go where we are going, which is debt ratios above 100% in many countries. And that’s not the end of the world.”

That nonchalant attitude toward what were once thought to be major breaking points reflects an evolution in the way investors, economists and central bankers think about government debt.

As levels of debt among rich nations like the United States and Japan have climbed relentlessly in recent decades, the cost of carrying that debt — reflected in interest rates — has tumbled, leaving little indication that markets were losing confidence in the willingness and ability of these countries to carry their financial burdens.

And since the 2008 financial crisis, traditional thinking about borrowing by governments — at least those that control their own currencies — has further weakened, as central banks in major developed markets became enormous buyers in government bond markets.

 Critics repeatedly said this circular form of fiscal finance — in which one arm of the government, the central bank, basically creates the money needed to fund the arm of government that taxes and spends — would inevitably lead to a spiral of inflation, a spike in interest rates or a loss of confidence in the currencies. It didn’t.

 “This is a 40-year pattern,” said Stephanie Kelton, a professor of economics and public policy at Stony Brook University and a proponent of what’s often called Modern Monetary Theory. That view holds that countries that control their own currencies have far more leeway to run large deficits than traditionally thought. “The whole premise that deficits drive up interest rates, it’s just wrong,” she said.

At the end of last year, the United States was about $17 trillion in debt — roughly 80% of the gross domestic product. In January, government analysts predicted that debt would approach 100% of the GDP around 2030. But by the end of June, the debt stood at $20.53 trillion, or roughly 106% of GDP, which shrank amid widespread stay-at-home orders. (These numbers do not count trillions more the government owes itself in bonds held by the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.)

 

3.UK government debt exceeds £2 trillion for the first time in July

-21 August 2020

British government debt has exceeded £2.0 trillion for the first time following large state borrowing as the coronavirus pandemic pushed the UK economy deep into recession, official data showed Friday.

At the end of July, total accumulated debt hit £2.004 trillion ($2.61 trillion, 2.2 trillion euros), the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

The debt increased by £227.6 billion compared with July 2019.

 "This crisis has put the public finances under significant strain as we have seen a hit to our economy and taken action to support millions of jobs, businesses and livelihoods," finance minister Rishi Sunak said in a separate statement.

"Without that support things would have been far worse."

UK borrowing last month alone was estimated at £26.7 billion, the ONS said.

 

4. Departing World Trade Organization chief Roberto Azevedo gets top job at PepsiCo

-20 August 2020

The World Trade Organization's exiting chief, who is leaving the crisis-stricken institution a year ahead of schedule, will move to the private sector as a top executive at PepsiCo, the company said Thursday.

Roberto Azevedo, who on August 31 will step down as WTO Director-General after seven years at the helm, will the next day become an executive vice president and chief corporate affairs officer with PepsiCo, the US soft drink and snacks giant said in a statement.

 The company said the role had been created for the Brazilian career diplomat who will work on "solidifying PepsiCo's external engagement efforts with national and international (authorities), regulators, international organizations and non-governmental stakeholders."

 Azevedo, PepsiCo chief Ramon Laguarta said, would bring "valuable political skills and technical knowledge of the complex social, political, and regulatory environments" impacting the company.

 The departing WTO chief, who was educated as an engineer, said in the statement that he was "delighted to join PepsiCo at time when strengthening relationships between business, government and society has become essential to generating sustainable and inclusive long-term growth."

Azevedo, who made the surprise announcement in May that he would end his second WTO term 12 months early, for "personal reasons", is leaving the organization engulfed in multiple crises.

 One of eight candidates currently in the running to succeed him will be taking the reins in the midst of a devastating global economic downturn sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, trade negotiations appear hopelessly stalled and trade tensions between the US and China continue to soar.

 At the same time, the appellate branch of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body, sometimes called the supreme court of world trade, stopped functioning in December after years of relentless US opposition.

Washington accuses the court of major overreach and has blocked appointments of new judges, leaving it without the quorum needed to hear cases.

 Last month WTO members failed to agree on what had been expected to be a straight-forward appointment of one of four current deputy directors as an acting chief during the months-long selection process for a permanent leader.

 

5.World Trade Organization goods trade index hits record low, detects some recovery signs

-19 August 2020

The World Trade Organization said on Wednesday its goods trade barometer hit a record low, suggesting global merchandise trade registered a historic fall in the second quarter of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic raged.

"Additional indicators point to partial upticks in world trade and output in the third quarter, but the strength of any such recovery remains highly uncertain: an L-shaped, rather than V-shaped, trajectory cannot be ruled out," the WTO said on its website.

 The barometer reading of 84.5 was down 18.6 points down from the year-ago period. In normal times, it anticipates changes in the trajectory of trade by a few months, but volatility triggered by the pandemic has reduced its predictive value.

"This reading - the lowest on record in data going back to 2007, and on par with the nadir of the 2008-09 financial crisis - is broadly consistent with WTO statistics issued in June, which estimated an 18.5% decline in merchandise trade in the second quarter of 2020 as compared to the same period last year," the WTO said.

The exact extent of the fall will become clear only when official trade data for April to June become available.

The WTO had forecast in April that global trade in goods would fall between 13% and 32% in 2020 before rebounding by 21-24% in 2021, but in June said rapid responses by governments meant its pessimistic scenario for this year was unlikely.

 "The WTO's June statistics implied a 14% drop in global merchandise trade volume between the first and second quarters of this year. This estimate, together with the new Goods Trade Barometer reading, suggest that world trade in 2020 is evolving in line with the less pessimistic of the two scenarios outlined in the WTO's April forecast," it said on Wednesday.

 

6.Britain's Marks & Spencer to shed 7,000 jobs in latest blow to retail sector

-18 August 2020

Marks & Spencer will cut a further 7,000 jobs, it said on Tuesday, as the COVID-19 crisis deals another blow to Britain's beleaguered retail sector.

"It is clear that there has been a material shift in trade and whilst it is too early to predict with precision where a new post-COVID sales mix will settle, we must act now to reflect this change," M&S said.Clothing and home trading in its stores remained well below last year though online and home delivery were strong, said the retailer, which has a UK workforce of about 78,000.

The 136-year old M&S is seeking to reinvent itself after decades of failed attempts. In May it said the crisis would indelibly change its business and that it would accelerate its turnaround plan.

 M&S said the crisis had shown it could work more flexibly and productively with more employees multi-tasking and switching between the food and clothing and home divisions. Its use of technology has also increased.

Last month M&S shed 950 store management jobs. Its latest cuts will impact its headquarters, regional management and UK stores over the next three months.

 The cuts add to thousands already announced by other major British retailers, including Boots, John Lewis, Dixons Carphone and WH Smith.

M&S expects a significant proportion of its cuts to be through voluntary departures and early retirement. Shop Workers' trade union Usdaw called for urgent talks.

 "These proposals are an important step in becoming a leaner, faster business set up to serve changing customer needs," CEO Steve Rowe said.

M&S shares were down 2.8% at 0818 GMT, extending 2020 losses to 48%.
The firm said it was retaining a cautious approach to planning for the balance of the year.

 Group sales were down 19.2% year on year in the 19 weeks to Aug. 8, which included part of Britain's lockdown period, with clothing and home sales down 49.1% and food sales down 1.1%.

Clothing and home sales were down 29.9% in the eight weeks since stores reopened. Store sales were down 47.9%, while online sales were up 39.2%.

 Food stores, which traded throughout the lockdown period, saw sales increase 2.5% in the latest eight weeks.

M&S said it was on track to launch an online food service next month through its partnership with Ocado.

 

7.Japan's economy shrinks at record rate, slammed by pandemic

-17 August 2020

Japan's economy shrank at annual rate of 27.8% in April-June, the worst contraction on record, as the coronavirus pandemic slammed consumption and trade, according to government data released on Monday.

 The Cabinet Office reported that Japan's preliminary seasonally adjusted real gross domestic product, or GDP, the sum of a nation's goods and services, fell 7.8% quarter on quarter.

 The annual rate shows what the number would have been if continued for a year.

 Japanese media reported the latest drop was the worst since World War II. But the Cabinet Office said comparable records began in 1980. The previous worst contraction was in 2009, during the global financial crisis of 2008-2009.

 The world's third largest economy was already ailing when the virus outbreak struck late last year. The fallout has since gradually worsened both in COVID-19 cases and social distancing restrictions.

The economy shrank 0.6% in the January-March period, and contracted 1.8% in the October-December period last year, meaning that Japan slipped into recession in the first quarter of this year. Recession is generally defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.

Japanese economic growth was flat in July-September. Growth was minimal the quarter before that.

For the April-June period, Japan's exports dropped at a whopping annual rate of 56%, while private consumption dipped at an annual rate of nearly 29%.

That was without any full shutdown of businesses to contain coronavirus outbreaks, which have worsened in the past month, pushing the total number of confirmed cases to over 56,000.

Analysts say the economy is expected to recover gradually, once the impact of the pandemic is curbed. Japan's export-dependent economy relies heavily on growth in China, where outbreaks of the novel coronavirus began and have since subsided. But demand has remained subdued.

 Development of a vaccine or medical treatment for COVID-19 would also help, but prospects for such breakthroughs are unclear.

Since GDP measures what the economy did compared to the previous quarter, such a deep contraction will likely be followed by a rebound, unless conditions deteriorate further.

 On the other hand, some companies have reaped the rewards of people staying at home, such as the Japanese video-game maker Nintendo Co, whose recent profits have boomed.

Technology News

                                               ~by GAURAV

1.Why India need a strong cybersecurity policy 

soon

-23 August 2020

Prime minister Narendra modi on Saturday reiterated that the government will soon unveil a new cybersecurity policy. during his speech from the red fort on the 74^th Independence Day, Modi said that India is alert cautious and is taking decision to counter cyber threats and is constantly developing new systems.

The draft of National cyber security strategy 2020, that envisages creating a secure cyberspace in India is ready and is likely to be finalized this year.

The threats from cyberspace can endanger all these aspects of Indian life the government is alert to this threat and is taking all the necessary action,” Modi said the government recently banned several Chinese apps to apps to protect the personal data of the India users.

As nation-state bad actors from countries like china Russia and Pakistan amid the demand to keep the data of Indians to remain within the boundaries of the country the government has envisioned the country the government has envisioned the national cyber security strategy 2020”.Prime minister Narendra modi on Saturday reiterated that the government will soon unveil an new cybersecurity policy . during his speech from the red fort on the 74^th Independence Day, Modi said that India is alert cautious and is taking decision to counter cyber threats and is constantly developing new systems.

The draft of National cyber security strategy 2020, that envisages creating a secure cyberspace in India is ready and is likely to be finalized this year.

The threats from cyberspace can endanger all these aspects of Indian life the government is alert to this threat and is taking all the necessary action,” Modi said the government recently banned several Chinese apps to apps to protect the personal data of the India users.

As nation-state bad actors from countries like china Russia and Pakistan amid the demand to keep the data of Indians to remain within the boundaries of the country the government has envisioned the country the government has envisioned the national cyber security strategy 2020”.

2.With reels launch mark Zuckerberg’s personal

wealth hits $100 billon

-22 August 2020

The personal wealth of Facebook founder and CEO mark Zuckerberg has touched $100 billion after the social network launched a Tik Tok rival called integral reel this week .

With the launch of the short -video making app Facebook stock rose by more than 6% (Zuckerberg holds a 13 per cent stake in the social networking giant).

This rise, Zuckerberg has joined Amazona founder and CEO jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s bill gates in the exclusive the BBC.

Zuckerberg plant to donate 99 per cent of his Facebook share over his lifetime through the charitable foundation he set up with his wife priscilla Chan.

Amid uncertainties surround Tik Tok business in the US Facebook has introduced Instagram reels that will allow people to create and discover short entertaining videos.   

3.COVID-19 tracing app launches in northern 

Ireland

-21 August 2020

The stop COVID NI proximity App is available on both the apple store and google play and works by emitting anonymized coded key or identifier beacons which change every 15 minutes.

The UK government was developing its own app. which was originally supposed to rollout in England by June. however, the app was ineffective at tracking iPhone users and work was restarted using a new method developed by apple and google that the NI app is based upon.

The app has been designed to assist in stopping the spread of covid-19 by anonymously contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus. It will notify any app users that have been closer than two meters for more than 15 minutes in the previous 14 days.

4.Nasa’s latest mars rover blasts off in search of 

alien life

-20 August 2020

Nasa’s perseverance rover has successfully blasted off on its $2.4 Mission to mars atop an atlas 5 rocket signs of life on the planet.

The car – sized robotic spacecraft is set to deploy a mini helicopter on mars for the first times time and test equipment that may ultimately be used in a future manned mission.

The rocket carrying the rover launched from the cape Canaveral air force station in Florida today at around 12.50 pm GMT.

Dramatically a 4.2 magnitude earthquake shook southern California just 20 minutes before departure.

“I’m so relieved: Nasa’s science division chief Thomas Zurbuchen said on a live stream after the launch saying everything looking good.

5.EVs, batteries and the multi-million- ton scrap 

heap

-19 August 2020

As sale of electric vehicles start to soar, the thorny issue of what to do with end-of-life lithium ion batteries isn’t going away. we look at the problem and explore the solutions.

To say that the legacy of today’s electric vehicles is set to be a mountain of lithium-ion battery waste would be kind. in 2017 when worldwide sales of electrics vehicles exceeded one million cars per year for the first-time calculation from UK based University of Birmingham researchers revealed stark figures. these vehicles alone are destined to leave some 250,000 tons of unprocessed battery waste when they eventually reach the scrap heap in 2027 this is just the beginning.

Latest modelling from the Paris-based international energy agency indicates the number of electric cars on the road will lie between 125 million and 220 million by 2030. give this come the middle of this century the 250,000 –tone waste figure looks meagre against the tens of millions of tons of waste that could follow .and to make matters, recycling is playing catch-up.