Daily News Wrap | Union Health Ministry releases Monkeypox guidelines; Adani announces Q1 results

National

Delhi liquor stores partially reopen, bars begin service

After remaining shut for a day, liquor stores in Delhi started reopening partially on Tuesday, as the Delhi government's decision to extend excise licences of private liquor vends as well as hotels and bars by a month got approval.

Delhi government has extended private liquor vends' licenses for a month to make the transition from private shops to government ones smoother.

However, all liquor shops did not open and lesser people were seen outside some of these vends which opened in the early hours in different parts of the capital.

Meanwhile, the bars and restaurants served the liquor on Tuesday.

Indian Union Health ministry unveils Monkeypox guidelines

In the wake of the rising cases of Monkeypox in the country, Union Health Ministry on Wednesday released guidelines to prevent the spread of Monkeypox disease. India needs to be prepared in view of the increasing reports of cases in non-endemic countries.

What is Monkeypox?

Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease with symptoms similar to smallpox, although with less clinical severity. It was first discovered in 1958 in colonies of monkeys kept for research, hence the name 'Monkeypox.

Modes of Transmission

1. Human-to-human transmission is known to occur primarily through large respiratory droplets generally requiring prolonged close contact. It can also be transmitted through direct contact with body fluids or lesion material, and indirect contact with lesion material, such as through contaminated clothing or linens of an infected person.

2. Animal-to-human transmission may occur by a bite or scratch of infected animals like small mammals including rodents (rats, squirrels) and non-human primates (monkeys, apes) or through bush meat preparation.

Suspected cases

A person of any age, having a history of travel to affected countries, within the last 21 days presenting unexplained acute rashes and one or more of the following signs could be a Monkeypox victim.

• Swollen lymph nodes

• Fever

• Headache

• Body aches

• Profound weakness

Common symptoms and signs

Prodrome symptoms (0-5 days)

• Fever

• Lymphadenopathy

• Typically occurs with fever onset

• Periauricular, axillary, cervical or inguinal

• Unilateral or bilateral

• Headache, muscle aches, exhaustion

• Chills and/or sweats

• Sore throat and cough

• Skin involvement (rash)

• Usually begins within 1-3 days of fever onset, lasting for around 2-4 weeks

• Deep-seated, well-circumscribed and often develop umbilication

• Lesions are often described as painful until the healing phase when they become itchy (in the crust stage)

Measures to prevent infection

• Avoid contact with any materials, such as bedding, that have been in contact with a sick person.

• Isolate infected patients from others.

• Practice good hand hygiene after contact with infected animals or humans. For example, washing your hands with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser.

• Use appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when caring for patients.

• Surveillance and rapid identification of new cases is critical for outbreak containment. During human Monkeypox outbreaks, close contact with infected persons is the most significant risk factor for monkeypox virus infection. Health workers and household members are at a greater risk of infection.

• Health workers caring for patients with suspected or confirmed monkeypox virus infection, or handling specimens from them, should implement standard infection control precautions. Samples taken from people and animals with suspected monkeypox virus infection should be handled by trained staff working in suitably equipped laboratories. Patient specimens must be safely prepared for transport with triple packaging in accordance with WHO guidance for the transport of infectious substances.

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC)

A combination of standard, contact and droplet precautions should be applied in all healthcare settings when a patient presents with fever and vesicular/pustular rash. In addition, because of the theoretical risk of airborne transmission of the Monkeypox virus, airborne precautions should be applied as per risk assessment.

Finance

Indian stocks decline marginally after 5 straight day of gains

Snapping five straight days of gains, Indian stock indices declined marginally this morning ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy meeting.

The three-day monetary policy review will commence today. It is very much likely that the RBI will raise interest rates, investors will, however, keenly track the degree of such rise for fresh investment cues.

Sensex traded at 57,954.84 points, down 181.52 points, and Nifty traded at 17,283.55 points, down 61.90 points.

Among the Nifty 50 stocks, 39 were in the red and the rest 11 in the green, National Stock Exchange data showed.

Business

Adani Green Energy Ltd announces Q1 FY23 results

Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL), the renewable energy arm of Adani Group, announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30.

The company's operational capacity increased by 65% YoY to 5,800 MW. It also commissioned India's first solar-wind hybrid project of 390MW at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

The sale of energy increased by 73% YoY to 3,550 mn units. AGEL received an ESG score of 66/100, the highest in the Indian power sector, in CRISIL Sustainability Yearbook 2022.

Its solar portfolio CUF improved by 150 bps YoY to 26.5%. Wind portfolio CUF improved by 850 bps YoY to 47.0%, the highest ever reported wind CUF by AGEL.

Revenue from power supply increased by 57% YoY to ₹1,328 crores. EBITDA from power supply increased by 60% YoY to ₹1,265 crores with a consistent EBITDA margin of 92%.

Uber likely to sell 7.8% stake in Zomato for Rs 2,938 cr

Uber is likely to sell its 7.8% stake in online food delivery platform Zomato which could be worth around ₹2,938 crores ($373 million), multiple reports said on Tuesday.

The offer is expected to come with a price range of ₹48-54 per share, equivalent to 612 million or 7.8% of total outstanding shares.

Uber received a stake in Zomato after selling off its food delivery business in India to the food aggregator in a transaction in 2020.

Zomato shares closed 19.96% up, at ₹55.60 on Tuesday. Its stock has lost over 60% of it value this year. Zomato reported ₹185.7 crores in consolidated loss for the quarter ending June 30, compared to a loss of ₹359.7 crores in the previous quarter.

International

India, Japan hold working group meeting on specified skilled workers

India and Japan held the third Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting on Specified Skill Workers (SSW) in hybrid format on August 2 in New Delhi and tool stock between the cooperation between the two countries, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday.

During the JWG meeting, both sides took stock of the existing cooperation between India and Japan under SSW and concurred that there was considerable potential to boost the number of SSW workers from India to Japan.

Key issues discussed during the meeting included demand-supply matching including the use of digital technology and platforms, raising the number of test centres in India, expanding the sectors of implementation, raising awareness about the SSW programme in India, Japanese language promotion in India, and setting up of a framework for programme monitoring.

Technology

Sony unveils its flagship LinkBuds in India

Sony India unveiled its truly wireless flagship earbuds -- LinkBuds -- that come with an open-ring design and audio transparency.

Priced at ₹19,990, the new Linkbuds will be available on both online and offline stores from August 13.

The company said that LinkBuds' new design makes it the perfect companion for a range of uses, including working from home, listening to music, gaming and more.

LinkBuds include precise voice pickup technology that performs advanced voice signal processing. The company claims that LinkBuds is designed to support an all-day listening experience, with the earbuds offering 5.5 hours on a single charge.

Sports

Suryakumar scores big on Windies tour; India win by seven wickets in 3rd T20I

Suryakumar Yadav finally succeeded at the top of the order after two successive below-par scores as India defeated the West Indies by seven wickets in the third T20 International at Warner Park to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series

On a day when the visitors had a major injury scare with Rohit Sharma retiring hurt while batting due to a back spasm, Suryakumar took off smashing a 44-ball 76 as India overhauled West Indies' score of 164/5 for the loss of just three-wicket and an over to spare.

West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran rued the fact that his bowlers couldn't make early breakthroughs.

Brief scores: West Indies 164/5 in 20 overs (Kyle Mayers 73, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/35) lost to India 165/3 in 19 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 76, Rishabh Pant 33 not out) by seven wickets.