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A robot developed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras to help eliminate <keyword id="6390598" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="manual-scavenging" source="Orion">manual scavenging</keyword> in India, is all set for field deployment, the institute said on Thursday. Ten units of the robot named '<keyword id="12828292" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="homosep" source="Orion">HomoSEP</keyword>' will be first deployed across Tamil Nadu, and later in Gujarat and Maharashtra. "The septic tank is a poisonous environment, filled with semi-solid and semi-fluid human faecal material that make up about two-thirds of the tank. Hundreds of deaths are reported every year across India, due to manual scavenging in septic tanks despite bans and prohibitory orders," said Prof. Prabhu Rajagopal, from Department of Mechanical Engineering, <keyword id="6356755" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="iit-madras" source="Orion">IIT Madras</keyword>, in a statement. HomoSEP was first developed in 2019 as a final year Masters' project by Divanshu Kumar under the guidance of Prof. Rajagopal. Despite the pandemic-related difficulties over the next couple of years, the IIT Madras researchers collaborated with an IIT Madras-incubated start-up Solinas Integrity Private Limited (now headed by Kumar) to further develop HomoSEP. The path-breaking project was also supported first by several CSR donors over the years. The HomoSEP Robot can homogenise the hard sludge in septic tanks through custom-developed rotary blade mechanism and pump the tank slurry using an integrated suction mechanism. Sanitation workers will be able to operate the HomoSEP on their own, after being provided with the relevant training and appropriate guidance along with necessary safety measures, both of which our team is working on right now. Safety plays a vital role in this whole procedure, starting with the design of HomoSEP itself. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/meesho-recorded-5-35-million-orders-during-the-one-day-sale/articleshow/92100754.cms">India's youngest ecommerce giant received more than 60 orders every second during its one-day sale</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/mobikwik-plans-to-raise-100-million-as-ipo-delayed/articleshow/92099731.cms">Mobikwik looks to raise $100 million as it delays IPO plans, founder says the ‘markets are not ready’</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/zomato-can-show-ebitda-profitability-in-the-next-three-years-but-only-on-one-condition/articleshow/92095600.cms">Zomato’s path to profitability in the next three years requires two things, say analysts</a>

IIT Madras to deploy robot to clean septic tanks in Tamil Nadu and end manual scavenging

<ul><li><keyword id="94272" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="keshub-mahindra" source="Orion">Keshub Mahindra</keyword>, the former chairman of <keyword id="1263014" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mahindra-and-mahindra-group" source="Orion">Mahindra and Mahindra group</keyword> was amongst the world’s oldest billionaires. </li><li>The Wharton University graduate had dreamt of becoming either a soldier or a farmer as a young boy. </li><li>Keshub Mahindra, who had seen licence raj and many other government controls in the 50s and 60s, believed that the pressures helped the Indian <keyword id="34478" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="auto-industry" source="Orion">auto industry</keyword> become cost competitive. </li></ul>The patriarch of the Mahindra group, Keshub Mahindra died on Wednesday, at the age of 99. “The industrial world has lost one of the tallest personalities today. Shri Keshub Mahindra had no match; the nicest person I had the privilege of knowing. I always looked forward to meetings with him and was inspired by how he connected business, economics and social matters. Om Shanti,” said Pawan <a href="https://twitter.com/GoenkaPk/status/1646012668103495681">Goenka in a tweet</a>. The former chairman of Mahindra and Mahindra group who had retired in 2012, was amongst the world’s oldest billionaires as per a recent Forbes report. He had just re-entered the coveted billionaire list in 2023. The businessman turned philanthropist, however, leaves a larger and wider legacy — he was instrumental in helping build India’s indigenous auto industry into a force to be reckoned with. ‘We don’t know a damn thing about the auto industry’ Keshub Mahindra’s story is intertwined with the history of the auto industry in India. The Mahindra and Mahindra group had started two generations before Anand Mahindra, the nephew of Keshub Mahindra and chairman emeritus of the group. The company was founded by two brothers Kailash Chandra Mahindra and Jagdish Chandra Mahindra in 1945, as a steel trader. Kailash Chandra Mahindra, the father of Keshub Mahindra had met the inventor of Jeep, Barney Roos in Washington. That’s how the company became an assembler of Willys jeep in India. A young Keshub, freshly graduated from Wharton University and grown up beyond his boyhood dreams of becoming either a soldier or a farmer, was called into a meeting with the defence minister. This was in 1947 when India had just won its freedom but was finding it tough to find spare parts for their tanks from Britain and other countries. At the meeting, the government said that it was planning to develop its own automotive industry. “We don’t know a damn thing about the auto industry,” Keshub Mahindra told the defence minister. That, however, did not stop neither Mahindra nor the only other auto companies existing back then — Premier Automobiles and Hindustan Motors – from building indigenous vehicles. M&amp;M started manufacturing jeeps in a full do-it-yourself (DIY) mode — when there were no suppliers or vendors. They had to make engines, transmissions, axles, stampings, the body – everything to produce 2,000 Jeeps a year, Keshub Mahindra said in an <a href="https://www.autocarindia.com/interviews/india-at-75-keshub-mahindra-%E2%80%93-the-man-who-saw-it-all-425406">interview with Autocar</a>. <div type="image" title="Keshub Mahindra anand mahindra" msid="99426813" hostid="261" sizebytes="59302" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Source: BCCL&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Licences, price controls and capacity caps For another 30 years, the group had fought many battles both from the supply chain ecosystem angle as well as the many rules and regulations back in the day. It was the age of licence raj and M&amp;M was not given a licence to make cars, no matter how many times they applied. In fact they were rejected a dozen times – as they tried to manufacture cars in partnership with various multinationals. Moreover, companies could not increase prices without government nod, and added to that even their capacities were limited by rules. Once, the group was sent a letter by the government asking them why they should not prosecute them for exceeding capacity. “Prosecute us,” Keshub responded to the letter. Forced to do things he described as ‘crazy’, Keshub also admits that it has made Indian manufacturers control costs with frugal engineering and much more —- a move that has made them competitive. It was a good thing in the long run, he admitted in the Autocar interview. The courage of change His can-do attitude is also one of his guiding principles as <a href="https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/dream-impossible-life-lessons-keshub-mahindra/">he shared in a Wharton page</a>, “Dream about achieving the impossible — because impossible things do happen. Only the brave have the courage to transform their lives,” he shared. He served as the chairman of M&amp;M for 48 years and ably steered the group through winds of change. The group now has interests across software, financial services and more. In FY22, the group’s revenue stood at ₹90,170 crore as against ₹74,277.78 crore in FY21. The auto business too grew exponentially both organically and inorganically under Keshub Mahindra’s leadership and expanded into light commercial vehicles, tractors and even farm equipment. It acquired companies like Punjab Tractors and Gujarat Tractors and also acquired companies in South Korea like SsangYong Motor, entered the two-wheeler market and also made early strides into the electric vehicle (EV) market by purchasing REVA. Years later, Anand Mahindra and his father Harish Mahindra also started another unique partnership when they lent ₹1 lakh to Uday Kotak for a business that went on to become the Kotak Mahindra Bank. Not just business Even before he retired in 2012, Keshub did not dedicate all his time to business itself — and made space and time for philanthropy. Keshub also founded Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), and ran it for many years. “During this time, I visited some of the most deplorable slums in India. I would come home and wonder how people could live like this. That had a huge influence on my life,” he told Wharton. Educating girls and housing for the cancer afflicted are some of the many charity projects he supported with the help of his family.

Keshub Mahindra: The man who thought impossible is possible

<ul><li>The monsoon session of the <keyword id="145182" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Parliament">Indian parliament</keyword> began on July 19 and is almost half way through.</li><li>Several pressing matters have been raised during this session regarding the COVID-19 situation, farmers' protest and more.</li><li>However, when faced with questions, the government has cited lack of data on at least four issues listed below.</li><li>The session is scheduled to close on August 13 and several other matters like Pegasus spyware are yet to be discussed.</li></ul>It has already been more than 10 days since the Indian parliament kicked off its monsoon session on July 19, 2021. Lot of important questions have been raised over several long hours of discussions and brawl, however, not all have been answered. From death due to oxygen shortage during the pandemic to cryptocurrency investments, these are the pressing issues for which the <keyword id="44734" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Government">Indian government</keyword> has simply slid past saying it has no data in hand. ‘No one died due to oxygen shortage’ If the first wave of COVID-19 brought Indian healthcare system to its knees, the second one was a blade on the neck. The South Asian country witnessed the worst healthcare crisis in its history, with people looking for hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and concentrators, COVID-19 medicines and other necessary equipment over Twitter. Many lost their lives in this struggle. However, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar in the Rajya Sabha, a day after the monsoon session began,<a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/parliament-proceedings-no-deaths-reported-due-to-lack-of-oxygen-health-ministry-tells-rajya-sabha/article35428791.ece"> said</a>, “no deaths due to lack of oxygen have been specifically reported by states/union territories’ during the second wave of COVID-19. This led to a nationwide outrage. ‘Farmers death, what?’ The farmers of <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> took to streets in September 2020, after the government passed three farm acts. On 30 November 2020, an estimated crowd of 200,000 to 300,000 farmers were walking to the national capital of Delhi to make their voices heard. The protest went on for close to ten months, however the government has no data on how many people have lost their lives during this course. As per a press release issued by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Joint Farmers’ Force), a coalition of over 40 farmers’ unions, 537 farmers have died in the agitation till date. SKM has also updated the<a href="https://humancostoffarmersprotest.blogspot.com/2020/12/list-of-deaths-in-farmers-protest-at.html"> list of farmers</a> who have died during the protest since November 24 last year. However, the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar, in the parliament, said that the government has no record of farmers having died or fallen ill during the protests. ‘Black money is white money painted in a different colour’ Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech of 8 November 2016, while announcing the demonetisation of some currency notes, was a historical moment against black money in India. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“To break the grip of corruption and black money, we have decided that the five hundred rupee and thousand rupee currency notes presently in use will no longer be legal tender from midnight tonight, that is 8th November 2016. This means that these notes will not be acceptable for transactions from midnight onwards. The five hundred and thousand rupee notes hoarded by anti-national and anti-social elements will become just worthless pieces of paper.”" auname="— Narendra Modi, demonetisation speech of 2016."></div> He also highlighted the government passed a law 'The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015', soon after taking over the office, for disclosure of foreign black money. The country had signed agreements with many countries, including the USA, to add provision for sharing banking information. Cut to 2021, there is no data available. The Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, has informed that there is <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-no-official-estimate-of-black-money-stashed-in-swiss-banks-centre-tells-parliament-2902569">no official </a>estimate of the amount of black money deposited in Swiss banks in the decade. According to data shared by Switzerland's central bank, Indian individuals and firms have deposited over CHF 2,554.7 million or<a href="https://scroll.in/latest/997838/indian-deposits-in-swiss-banks-rise-to-over-rs-20700-crore-highest-in-13-years"> ₹20,700 crore</a> in Swiss Banks in 2020. All of this may not be black money, but it’s a good data point to begin with. The Indian government, in 2019, said that it has an information sharing agreement with the Swiss authorities. Yet they have no data to show in 2021. ‘Cryptocurrency bill on the way, but no data yet’ Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) on July 27 that the government does not collect any information on the number of cryptocurrency exchanges and investors in India. It does sound fair, but not when the government of India has been pushing to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/indias-crypto-bill-is-unlikely-to-be-up-for-discussion-this-month-and-it-may-be-a-while-before-we-see-it-in-parliament/articleshow/84401863.cms">regulate cryptocurrency</a> in India since 2019. As per the <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/no-information-collected-on-number-of-crypto-exchanges-and-investors-in-india-finance-minister-nirmala-sitharaman-7232611.html">data </a>shared by crypto exchanges, there are about 15 million Indian cryptocurrency investors, with holdings worth ₹15,000 crore ($2 billion) cumulatively. There are 350 startups that operate in the blockchain and crypto space, as per the crypto currency exchanges. Besides this, Sitharaman also mentioned that the government of India has no information on drug trafficking and money laundering that is being carried out through crypto exchanges. ‘No one dies due to manual scavenging’ No deaths have been reported due to manual scavenging in India over the last five years, the minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said in the Rajya Sabha on <a href="https://thewire.in/government/centre-says-no-death-reported-due-to-manual-scavenging-activists-decry-govt-response">July 29</a>. If only, the ministry had thought of going through this year’s budget session thoroughly. Athawale, during his own speech during the budget session, highlighted<a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/340-sewer-cleaning-deaths-in-past-5-years-government/article33732992.ece"> 340 people </a>died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks in the last five years till December 31, 2020. He also noted that 66,692 manual scavengers have been identified across the country. ‘Information on witnesses killed, turned hostile not maintained centrally’ The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, has informed the parliament that the government has no data of the cases where key witnesses were killed or turned hostile. “The Witness Protection Scheme, 2018 provides that the witness protection measures ordered shall be proportionate to the threat and shall be for a specific duration not exceeding three months at a time," Rai added. However, these cases are fairly common in India. In March 2021, the family and lawyers of the 19-year-old Dalit girl who was allegedly gang raped and murdered in Hathras in 2020, were <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/allahabad-high-court-on-threats-to-hathras-family-will-consider-shifting-trial-2395571#:~:text=The%20affidavit%20said%20that%20the,stated%20that%20it%20was%20%22evident">threatened </a>before the special court where the case was pending. ‘Hospital beds data not available’ The Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, informed that the government of India does not centrally maintain the data of hospital beds. This is majorly because health is a state subject, meaning it's up to the governments in states and union territories (UT) to increase the bed strength in their hospital. Despite this, Pawar shared that India has an isolation and ICU bed capacity of 18.21 lakh and 1.22 lakh, respectively. If the government had data on isolation and ICU beds, then the question remains why doesn’t it have information on hospital beds. ‘No data available for MSMEs that went under’ When the member of parliaments (MPs) asked the government for details on the number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which shut down during the pandemic. Instead of the data, the government listed the steps taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for extension and restructuring of credit. It even cited two surveys, which stated 88% of MSMEs were affected by the pandemic. ‘No data on deaths due to air pollution’ Minister of State for Environment, Forest And Climate Change Ashwini Kumar Choubey informed the parliament that they do not have any conclusive data to establish a direct correlation of death/disease exclusively due to air pollution. According to ‘States of India: The Global Burden of Disease Study 2019’ <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/17-million-deaths-in-india-were-attributable-to-air-pollution-in-2019-says-study/article33394600.ece">report</a>, nearly 1.7 million deaths in India were attributed to air pollution in 2019. This was 18% of the total deaths in the country. ‘No updates on how many lost jobs during second wave of COVID-19’ A few MPs asked the government for details on the number of casual or contractual employees who lost their jobs during the second wave of COVID-19. However, the government did not share any such details. Instead, it listed out several initiatives undertaken by the government to boost hiring. [This is a developing story. The article will be updated as the government shares more details about the lack of data in their repository.] SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/droom-automobile-marketplace-raises-200-million-in-a-pre-ipo-round-at-unicorn-valuation/articleshow/84818567.cms">Automobile marketplace Droom is raising $200 million in a pre-IPO round at unicorn valuation</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/the-whole-truth-a-healthy-packaged-food-brand-raises-6-million-from-sequoia-capital/articleshow/84815594.cms">The Whole Truth, a ‘healthy’ packaged food brand, raises $6 million to enter new categories</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/rolex-rings-ipo-opens-on-july-28-and-closes-on-july-30-with-a-price-band-of-880-900/articleshow/84813639.cms">Rolex Rings IPO opens today with a price band of ₹880-900</a>

There are at least 10 hot issues in India that the government has no data for

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Molly LipscombA driver stands next to a truck used to remove sludge from homes in Dakar, Senegal.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>In Dakar, Senegal, residents can drain their septic tanks by manually emptying pits or by hiring truck drivers to take the poop away. </li><li>Hiring a truck driver is too expensive for many residents, and leaving poop in pits outside the home can increase disease risk.</li><li>Molly Lipscomb, a professor at the University of Virginia, helped developed a new system that encourages people to use the truck service.</li><li>Residents can now text a call center, which runs an auction that allows drivers to compete for desludging requests. </li></ul>The <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diarrhoeal-disease">World Health Organization estimates</a> that diarrhea kills about 525,000 children under the age of five each year. A significant percentage of these deaths could be prevented through proper sanitation, good hygiene, and safe drinking water, according to the WHO. Many people around the world, however, do not have access to centralized sewer networks that help improve sanitation.In Dakar, Senegal, only a small fraction of the population - wealthy residents and people in commercial areas - have access to sewer networks. Middle- and low-income residents often flush poop into septic tanks that can be emptied in two ways: paying someone to shovel the waste into a bucket that gets dumped onto the street, or hiring a truck driver to take the poop to a treatment center.Manual emptying costs roughly half as much as the truck service, and residents can remove the waste themselves. But leaving the poop outside can make people sick; University of Virginia professor Molly Lipscomb, who researches how developing countries adapt to a lack of centralized sanitation services, told Business Insider that the poop puts people at risk of diseases, especially children who play on the street. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-wants-world-to-move-past-flush-toilets-2018-11">Bill Gates is so obsessed with redesigning the world's toilets, he brought a jar of poop onstage in Beijing to prove it</a>Hiring a truck driver, meanwhile, is a pricey route that many residents avoid.In an attempt to improve the system, Senegal's government invited Lipscomb and a team of researchers to Dakar, the country's capital. Lipscomb, who began working with Senegal's national sanitation office in 2011, said she wanted to increase the number of people using the mechanical desludging service but decided against recommending the addition of more trucks.There are about 120 desludging trucks in Dakar, which is likely enough to accommodate requests if all residents used the mechanical service, Lipscomb said. As of 2015, however, only 50% of people in the capital relied on truck drivers. "The trucks actually have a lot of excess capacity right now," Lipscomb said. "So you can find trucks that are sort of hanging around not doing a lot of work, or just between jobs, pretty easily."On top of that, owning a truck comes with a significant entry barrier, as each vehicle costs between $40,000 and $60,000, Lipscomb said. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Molly LipscombPoop that has been emptied outside a home in Dakar, Senegal.</div></div></div>Lipscomb's team turned to cellphones and came up with a system for residents to order a desludging truck via text message. A call center would hold an auction where truck drivers compete to claim a resident's desludging request - a process that helps bring the service's cost down.<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/07/27/633171643/uber-for-poop-aims-to-break-up-senegals-septic-cartel">NPR referred</a> to Lipscomb's idea as "Uber for Poop."Previously, Lipscomb said, wealthier households paid more for the mechanical service because truck drivers set prices based on what they expected residents to be able to pay. The truck drivers have not engaged with the call center format equally, Lipscomb said, but some have participated actively in the auctions. She added that prices have gone down about 7% due to the auctions. "It does look like people who call in are the slightly more wealthy households that would probably be price discriminated against in the market," she said. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Molly LipscombTwo women work at a call center that runs auctions for emptying septic tanks in Dakar, Senegal.</div></div></div>Lipscomb said she and her team - Terence Johnson at the University of Notre Dame, Laura Schechter at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Jean-Francois Houde at the University of Wisconsin-Madison - did not set out to oversee the system long-term. The professors worked with an NGO and handed the project off to Senegal's government after finishing their research in 2016.In April 2018, the government decided to put a private company in control of the auctions, Lipscomb said. The Senegalese company Delvic Sanitation Initiatives is set to restart the system in January 2019.Lipscomb is still in contact with Delvic and said her team is continuing to examine how to improve the sanitation system. The call center system only covers Dakar right now, though Delvic may choose to expand in the future, Lipscomb said. "[Delvic] actually substantially improved the treatment centers when they were privatized," Lipscomb said. "We can see that through the quantity of sludge going through these treatment centers. So we expect that the call center will do very well under them." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/swearing-good-for-workouts-work-life-health-2018-12">Swearing has more benefits than you may think - from improving your workouts to bonding with your coworkers</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

A new 'Uber for Poop' in Senegal is creating competition to pick up waste from people's homes

(Eds: Combining related stories) New Delhi, May 5 () The nationwide tally of COVID-19 cases rose by a record 3,900 on Tuesday and the death toll topped the 1,500-mark with nearly 200 more fatalities, even as the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said "fighting coronavirus is no rocket science" and the people may remember this pandemic as a "blessing in disguise" if they imbibe good hygiene practices. Vardhan told that India has been able to stave off community transmission of COVID-19 and hoped that "behavioural changes" brought about by the infection could become the "new normal" for a healthy society after the pandemic abates. In its 5 PM official update on the spread of the deadly virus infection, the Union Health Ministry said the death toll due to COVID-19 has risen to 1,583 with 194 fatalities reported since Monday evening, while the number of cases saw a big jump of 3,875 to reach 46,711 cases. However, a tally of numbers reported by different states and union territories till 6.30 PM showed more than 47,000 people testing positive for the deadly virus so far, while it put the death toll at over 1,500. It also showed nearly 13,000 COVID-19 patients having recovered. Tamil Nadu reported more than 500 new cases on Tuesday, which took its tall past 4,000, while Gujarat also tested 441 more people positive for the virus, taking its total to more than 6,200. Several other states also reported rising numbers. Experts, however, said the peak of this deadly virus outbreak was yet to come and may be witnessed in India over the next 4-6 weeks, while another spurt might be seen later during the winter season. The numbers suggested that more than one-third of the confirmed cases across the country has been detected in the past one week, with only a few urban centres in a handful of states including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi accounting for a bulk of it. Fears also emerged that India's tally may increase further with the government announcing plans to bring back a large number of Indians from various countries, beginning Wednesday, in what is being called the world's biggest ever evacuation programme. Sources said over 3 lakh people have registered for the evacuation from the Gulf region itself. While the absolute number of cases and the death toll in India is lower than many others, with more than 2.5 lakh people having lost their lives and over 35 lakh having been infected worldwide ever since the emergence of this virus in China last December, the lockdown restrictions have been lifted in several countries and many of them are now reporting few or zero cases. China and South Korea together reported only four cases on Tuesday, while Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand were among the countries having reported no cases for two consecutive days. Also, focus seems to have shifted globally towards developing a vaccine with several world leaders committing more than USD 8 billion since Monday for this purpose. The government officials, however, maintained that India has managed to stave off a community transmission risk and the country remains in a "comfortable" position in terms of managing the COVID-19 crisis, though they cautioned against any laxity at the field level. The Health Ministry said the country recorded a record single-day increase of 195 deaths and 3,900 cases between Monday 8 AM and Tuesday 8 AM. These included fatalities reported from West Bengal, Maharahstra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, among other places. At the same time, the recovery rate has improved to 28.17 per cent, joint secretary at the health ministry Lav Agarwal said during a press briefing on the COVID-19 situation. "We are very comfortable in terms of managing COVID-19 as of now, but any laxity at the field level or any lack of cooperation may have its consequences," he warned. Agarwal also said that the delay in reporting of COVID-19 cases by certain states has led to the sudden spurt in figures. The country's top medical institute AIIMS' Director Randeep Guleria also said the COVID-19 curve has remained relatively flat so far, but he cautioned that the continued rise in the number of cases at a steady rate is a cause of concern. Different modelling experts have predicted that a peak in number of cases of novel coronavirus infection may occur in the next four to six weeks, that is by the end of May or the middle of June, Guleria said, while stressing on the need to be extra vigilant and to make efforts to reduce the number of cases in the hotspots. He also said that the country may see a rise in COVID-19 cases during the winter again. At the same time, Guleria said the curve has remained relatively flat so far because of the lockdown and other containment measures and this has given the authorities time to prepare the health infrastructure and ramp up testing facilities in the country. Several state and central government officials also said that the numbers have been going up in recent days due to increased number of tests being conducted. "However, the number of cases continue to rise at a steady rate and this is a cause of concern. Every citizen should understand his responsibility and sincerely follow the principles of lockdown and social distancing, especially if they are in hotspots or containment areas," Guleria, a pulmonologist, said. Separately, Health Minister Vardhan also underlined the importance of the nationwide lockdown, imposed since March 24 and scheduled to remain in place till May 17, and said health should be on the radar just as much as the economy. Several experts have already flagged the huge economic cost of the pandemic and the lockdown, while the economic activities are yet to gain any significant traction despite various relaxations given to the industrial and agriculture units from the lockdown curbs. Several states are also looking to shore up their depleting revenues with Delhi announcing a 70 per cent 'corona fee' on liquor sales, allowed since Monday, and by increasing the local taxes on petrol and diesel. Andhra Pradesh also announced a hike in liquor prices. But several industry organisations have expressed their inability to resume their operations due to the labour shortage and other operational issues. Lakhs of migrant labour are returning to their native places including in special trains organised by the central and the state governments after most of them were rendered jobless and homeless. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said in a report that India's unemployment rate has soared to 27.11% amid the COVID-19 crisis, from below 7 per cent in mid-March. The Mumbai-based think tank said the rate of unemployment was the highest in the urban areas, which constitute the most number of the red zones due to the COVID-19 cases, at 29.22 per cent, as against 26.69 per cent for the rural areas. "The government has to do a balancing act," Vardhan said on the need to focus on the health of people as well as on the economy. He also said the nation in a post-coronavirus future could well look back on the pandemic period as a "blessing in disguise" if Indians imbibe hand, respiratory and environmental hygiene and practise it in their everyday lives. "By now we know that fighting coronavirus is no rocket science. If behavioural changes such as hand, environmental and respiratory hygiene, which are being practiced more rigorously during this period, get imbibed in society it will become the new normal," Vardhan said. Other than smallpox and polio, no other viral infection has been completely eradicated from this country. Other diseases keep recurring, the minister said, indicating that COVID-19 might be here for the long haul. In the meantime, new cases that were detected on Tuesday included the serving and retired armed forces personnel in the Army's Research and Referral hospital in the national capital. Authorities also sealed a floor of Shastri Bhavan, which houses several important ministries, after a senior official of the Law Ministry tested positive for the coronavirus. This was the second incident of a government building being partially cordoned off in the Lutyen's Delhi within a week, after the NITI Aayog building in the high-security zone was sealed on April 28 for 48 hours after a director-level officer tested positive for the virus. Before that, Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, which houses the Civil Aviation Ministry, was sealed for sanitisation. In other such incidents, the CRPF headquarters and a portion of the BSF headquarters were also sealed recently. These buildings are in CGO Complex in the national capital. PLB ASK NES DSP ALM MPB DP NAB AA BJBJ

COVID-19: Nationwide tally up by record, Minister says nation may remember pandemic as 'blessing in disguise'

<div class="KonaFilter image-container full click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="Tom Archer" title_caption="Lake Erie in 2009 from an altitude of 2,500 feet just north of Kelley's Island, Ohio. " class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5318a88869bedd8220354544-960/tom%20archer%204.jpg"></a>Tom ArcherLake Erie in 2009 from an altitude of 2,500 feet just north of Kelley's Island, Ohio. </div></div>Lake Erie is being invaded by algae that is turning its waters bright green, killing off communities of fish, and seriously injuring the tourism industry.
The algae's extensive blooming in recent years is due to surges in phosphorus, which is running into the waters from farms and cities, which the algae feeds on.
You can see how much worse Lake Erie is than the other great lakes in the image below from October 2011. The milky blue near the shores of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan is quartz sand and sediment stirred up by strong winds.
You don't see that in Lake Erie, the smallest of the Great Lakes. The green is the smelly algae:
<div class="KonaFilter image-container full"><div class="image">NASA Earth Observatoy</div></div> This 2011 algal bloom was record-setting - three times the size of the largest previous bloom - and triggered an <a href="http://ijc.org/language/">International Joint Commission</a> investigation. Their report, released last month, discussed the particularly hard-hit western end of Lake Erie, where the Maumee River spills into the lake.
While boaters and swimmers aren't likely to become seriously ill from touching or swimming in the green waters, some may experience "skin irritation....gastrointestinal discomfort and, in very rare but severe cases, acute liver failure if the bloom is ingested," according to the <a href="http://www.ijc.org/files/publications/2014%20IJC%20LEEP%20REPORT.pdf">report</a>. Of all the Great Lakes, only Lake Erie has noted cases of human and dog deaths from harmful algal blooms, said the report.
Algae can produce toxins harmful to fish. Additionally, as algae die, they decompose, using up oxygen supplies in the process that would normally be reserved for the fish. As the shallowest and warmest of the Great Lakes, Erie supports more than 130 fish species, said the report.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container full"><div class="image">Tom Archer</div></div>The 2011 bloom caused an estimated $2.4 million dollar loss in Ohio's recreational fishing industry alone and a $1.3 million dollar loss to Maumee Bay State Park due to lack of visitors, said the report.
The image below, from 2011, shows the algae's impact in Pelee Island in Canada, which is East of Maumee Bay and five miles north of the international border:
<div class="KonaFilter image-container full"><div class="image">Tom Archer</div></div>The commission said the bloom was caused by increased phosphorus runoff from a variety of sources including farm and residential fertilizers, septic tank leaks, pet waste, and storm drains.
One of the most infamous bloom-inducing culprits is known as dissolved reactive phosphorus - popular in certain types of farm fertilizers - the use of which has increased two-fold and is algae's favorite meal, Don Scavia, director of the University of Michigan's Graham Sustainability Institute, <a href="http://www.newsdaily.com/canada/42be9b5d0a08ac7fb6a458e1ec85d2e5/plan-seeks-phosphorus-cuts-to-stop-lake-erie-algae">told the Associated Press</a>.
Roughly 63% of Lake Erie's watershed is used for agriculture, said the report, which is a main source of these phosphorus-heavy runoffs.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container full"><div class="image">NASA/AP</div></div>The commission says a 39% decrease in phosphorus levels (from the 2007-2012 average) in the Maumee River - which is Lake Erie's single largest source of phosphorus - would go a long way to solving the algae problem.
The report also calls for better industrial fertilization practices, such as making sure the fertilizer is directly applied to the soil instead of being trapped on top of ice and snow, which can happen when it is applied in fall and winter.
There is hope. Similar, though less extreme, blooms occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. By decreasing how much phosphorus made it into the lake, the algal blooms were curbed by the mid 1980s. The lake came back from the dead.
While we can't predict future blooms, the report suggests bigger and badder blooms may keep coming if nothing is done. Climate change could cause more extreme runoff events and warmer water temperatures - conditions ideal for blooms.

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