The Equipment Reports

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NASA Study Finds Earth’s Energy Imbalance Due To Human Caused Climate Change Doubled In 14 Years

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Climate change due to human activities has direct consequences. It affects the environment, health, disrupting the food supply chain, and more. A new study has said that energy imbalance doubled has more than doubled in a little more than a decade. The study was conducted by the American space agency NASA. It said that heat trapped by land, ocean, and atmosphere on Earth has increased twofold in just 14 years. It said that the amount of heat that was trapped in 2005 in Earth doubled in 2019. The study has directly blamed human-induced climate change. It said that the menace is a threat to clean air, water, food, and biodiversity.

NASA researchers used the data gathered from two independent measurements to understand the energy imbalance. They compared data from the agency’s Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy System and Argo. Argo is an array of ocean floats. This helped them to accurately measure the speed at which oceans are heating. Researchers said that the trends show a real phenomenon. They are not only instrumental artifacts. NASA said that the methods adopted by the team of looking at changes in energy imbalance are really good. The findings are a matter of concern for humanity. It also raises an alarm over rapid industrialization causing global warming.

The study said that greenhouse gas emissions have increased. Researchers noted that carbon dioxide and methane trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere. There has been a rise in the levels due to human activity. The emissions capture radiation that escapes into space. This causes the warming of the atmosphere and drives changes. Overall, it impacts the planet’s energy imbalance. The study said that the change in energy imbalance is partly due to the rise in greenhouse gases. The trapping of radiation in atmosphere due to human activity gives rise to water vapor and contributes to imbalance. The study added that drops in clouds and sea ice also lead to more absorption of solar radiation.

CDC Reports Fewer Number Of Pregnant Women Are Being Vaccinated Against COVID19 In The United States

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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that at present, fewer pregnant women are being vaccinated against COVID19 in the US as compared to women who are not pregnant. The agency has noted that the uptake of vaccines is significantly low among women who are in the age range of 18 to 24 years and those who belong to Black and Hispanic minority groups. Health officials have said enhanced outreach to health care providers and pregnant women might increase vaccine coverage and assurance that might bridge the gap in the rate of vaccination. The study has been done by officials from the CDC. The new report has looked at the health data of around 136000 pregnant women who have been taking treatment at eight health systems across the country. Experts have taken the data from medical records of pregnant women from Bloomington-based HealthPartners institute as well. The study has found that around 11.1 percent of women have been fully vaccinated against COVID19 from December 2020 to May 2021, as compared to 24.6 percent of non-pregnant women in the age range of 18 to 49 years who have taken the shot. Dr. Malini DeSilva, who is one of the co-authors of the study, has said that health officials need to spread awareness about the risk of COVID19 and severe infection among pregnant women.

Dr. DeSilva has said that the rate of vaccination is expected to shoot up as the availability of shots and access increase. As more safety data regarding the effects of COVID19 shots in pregnant women is available, it might influence more expecting mothers to take the shots. Since pregnant women have not been enrolled in the clinical trials of COVID19 shots, they are more hesitant to take the shots. Health experts are worried that vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women might reduce the overall rate of vaccination in the country. Dr. DeSilva has noted that there is a growing number of evidence that COVID19 shots are quite safe and effective among pregnant women. Women who are pregnant are at a greater risk of severe infection and death due to COVID19 as compared to non-pregnant women of reproductive age. However, experts have said that it is hard to assess additional risk. The authors of the study have said that COVID19 can shoot up the risk of preterm birth and other complications during pregnancy. Many studies have shown that pregnant women who have been vaccinated during pregnancy might transfer COVID19 antibodies to their newborns through the placenta and breast milk.

The authors of the study have said that health care providers who are treating pregnant women should discuss the benefits of vaccination with them and make them aware of safety and protection from COVID19. They have said that increased awareness about vaccination might lead to an increase in the rate of immunization in pregnant women. As per the latest, data around 17 percent of Asian women and 14 percent of white women who are pregnant have been vaccinated with two doses of COVID19 shot. While only 7.7 percent of Hispanic women who are pregnant have taken the shot. In addition, only 3.7 percent of black women have been vaccinated against COVID19. There has been 15.9 percent vaccination coverage among pregnant women who are in the age range of 35 to 49 years.

Among pregnant women who are in the age group of 25 to 34 years, the vaccination coverage has been 10.9 percent. There has been 3.1 percent vaccination coverage in pregnant women, who are in the age group of 18 to 24 years, said the experts. Experts have said that though vaccination coverage has been low among young women, broad access to vaccines has been available for a limited duration of the study period. This is the reason; study authors think that as access to vaccines has become easier, more women who are pregnant might have been vaccinated. It shows women’s growing comfort and confidence in COVID19 shots. An analysis of safety data emerging from vaccination among pregnant women has shown that there is no safety hazard linked to COVID19 shots for pregnant women.

World’s Largest Meat Supplier JBS Admits Paying Equivalent Of USD 11 Million To Hackers After Cyberattack

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Food processing company JBS USA Holdings has admitted that it paid an equivalent of USD 11 million to hackers. The company paid the amount was paid in Bitcoin after the plants of the company were knocked out by cybercriminals last week. The plants that were under attack by hackers process roughly one-fifth of the meat supply of the United States. According to the chief executive of the company, the payment was made to stop further disruption at JBS meat plants. The other important reason why the company decided to pay the ransom is that it wanted to limit the potential impact on grocery stores and restaurants that rely on meat products of the company, said Andre Nogueira. “It is very hard to pay the criminals. But we believe that it was the right thing for our customers,” Nogueira told a media house. He added that the company ensured that the payment is made only after the majority of JBS plants were back to normal and running again.

JBS has factories in Australia, American, and Europe. It is the largest meat company in the world by sales. The company process bee, poultry, and pork. JBS is the biggest processor of beef in the United States and the top supplier of pork and chicken. Pilgrim’s Pride Corp is the subsidiary of the JBS and was also the victim of a cyber attack.  Pilgrim’s Pride Corp is the second-largest poultry processor in the United States, with the first being Tyson Foods Inc. The attack on JBS was part of the ransomware attack where hackers take control of the operating systems of companies to demand multimillion-dollar payments. Hackers had recently adopted the same procedure to demand about USD 4.4 million from Colonial Pipeline. The recent attacks show how attackers have shifted their target from data-rich companies to these businesses.

According to Nogueira, the company learned about the cyberattack on May 30, Sunday. They came to know about the attack after some company employees of the technology department notice irregularities in the functioning of some servers. Soon after that, they received a message demanding a ransom to regain access to the servers. Nogueira said that he got a call from the chief financial officer at around 5 am in the morning and was informed about the cyber attack. The technology team of the company swung into action and started shutting down systems to slow the attack’s advance. According to Nogueira, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was alerted immediately about the cyber attack. The FBI has attributed the attack to criminal ransomware gang REvil.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Planning Bitcoin Hardware Wallet For Square Customers

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Cryptocurrency is the new fashion and Bitcoin is the most popular in recent times. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has expressed keen interest in Bitcoin. Dorsey has said that he is planning a Bitcoin wallet for Square customers. Square is a digital payments services company. It is based in California. It was funded by Dorsey in 2009. He said that Square will create a non-custodial hardware wallet. It means that the wallet will be built entirely in the open. Dorsey is a staunch supporter of cryptocurrency. He has expressed a keen interest in virtual currency. It is secured by cryptography. This makes it very difficult to be counterfeited.

Bitcoin wallets can be stored at currency exchanges both in the form of online and offline. These exchanges act as platforms where people can buy and sell Bitcoin for the exchange of traditional currencies. Dorsey and popular American rapper Jay-Z have announced that they will make an investment of 500 Bitcoins in an endowment. This money will be used to fund the development of Bitcoin. Dorsey said that Bitcoin is like poetry. He believes that Bitcoin will be the future. It will bring a sea of change in the world. Notably, in a non-custodial wallet, people have control over private keys. They can control the currency. In a custodial wallet, the private keys are controlled by another party. These wallets are mostly Web-based exchange wallets.

Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency in the world by market value. It plunged after Tesla CEO Elon Musk halted accepting Bitcoin from people for new purchases and called for promoting other currencies. He has favored setting up a Bitcoin Mining Council. It will look into the energy consumption in mining and promote transparency. He stopped accepting Bitcoin as a payment mode citing harm to the environment in its mining. The value since then took a nosedive to hover around USD 38,000. Musk has also dropped hints that he could create his own cryptocurrency.

Experts Claim Reusing Old Vaccines For Measles Polio And Tuberculosis Might Boost Natural Immunity Against COVID19

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The COVID19 vaccines are the best way to get a preeminent kind of immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its other variants at present. However, a new study has indicated that vaccines might not be a sure-shot solution to prevent the virus in long term. The lead author of the study, Robert C. Gallo from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and his colleagues from the Global Virus Network have said that giving vaccines such as polio, measles, and tuberculosis (TB) that are designed with weakened viruses might be able to shoot up innate immunity against COVID19. The findings of the new study have been released in the journal PNAS. The authors of the study have said that vaccination is required to put a stop to the COVID19 pandemic but some countries around the world are not able to speed up vaccine rollout plans the way western countries are conducting their vaccination.  As per the report, some nations are going to start their immunization programs in 2022 that will leave them vulnerable to more deadly and potentially immune-evasive strains of the virus. Innate immunity can be defined as an immediate reaction of the body to a virus, said the experts. The authors of the study have said that innate immunity takes just a couple of minutes to develop unlike adaptive immunity, which can take days and hours to produce T cells and antibodies. Past studies as well have shown that innate immunity alone is enough to put up a fight against the virus and infection.

The authors of the new study have shown that innate immunity lies in its broad, non-specific activation and the ability to reduce multiple kinds of viruses. In the case of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, innate immunity is prompted by spotting the nucleotide sequence of the RNA of the virus. Scientists have said that immunity induced by the flu and HIV vaccines can remain the same as long as adaptive immunity. They have claimed innate immunity as well carry innate memory that trains the immune system to detect a foreign virus. Experts who have been involved in the study have said that innate immunity can prevent infection from the SARS-CoV-2 virus; however, it depends on its success in preventing other coronaviruses such as MERS and SARS. The study has found that coronaviruses that are derived from bats are linked with a suitable balancing of innate immune retorts between resistance and tolerance.  Experts have said that bats are found with high levels of NK cells and IFN expressions, which show that innate immunity is required to prevent the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Scientists have said that hoarding COVID19 shots and mistrust against the rapid vaccine development have acted as a major barrier to reach herd immunity. In such a case, administering older vaccines that have been in use for years and that are widely available might resolve the issue.

Experts have claimed that older vaccines that are designed with the inactive virus might help as they target specific pathogen of interest. They also offer a wide range of protection against other viruses as well. Many studies that have been done in the past decades have found that non-specific effects of these vaccines can be increased with booster shots. For example, some animal studies have shown that the H3N2 vaccine can offer protection against respiratory syncytial viruses by shooting up cytokine levels and leukocytes in the body. The authors of the study have seen greater protection against COVID19 in health care workers who have been vaccinated with Bacillus Calmette – Guerin vaccine against TB.  Other studies as well have supported the findings of the new study by analyzing fewer symptoms of COVID19 or fewer cases of severe COVID19 in these people. Experts have said that reusing older shots is cost-effective as well to stimulate innate immunity.  They have claimed that some COVID19 shots are needed to be stored in refrigerators, which is an expensive affair. They have said that it will be more cost-effective to administer these shots as booster shots for added immunity rather than waiting for the second dose.

HSBC To Sell Most US Retail Banking Locations To Citizens Bank and Cathay Bank

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HSBC Holdings PLC has decided to exit the bulk of its US retail banking business. The British bank took this decision apparently after several failed attempts to revive the struggling business. The bank will sell most of its retail banking locations to Citizens Bank and Cathay Bank. The bank started thinking about it last year when it tried to dispose of its consistently loss-making division in order to make saving worth USD 4.5 billion. It was even planning to cut 35,000 jobs. After months of consideration, the bank has now decided to sell most of the branches on the east and west coast. HSBC said that is closing most of the US business so that it can shit focus on richer clients.

With this, the footprint of the bank will reduce to 25 branches in the country from the existing 148. The bank said Citizens Bank has agreed to take over 80 of its branches. It will also acquire USD 2.2 billion of outstanding loans along with USD 9.2 billion of deposits. On the other hand, 10 branches on the east coast will be acquired by Cathay bank who will take over 800 million of loans and USD 1 billion of deposits. Some other branches, the bank said, will be wound down. The remaining branches in the country will be converted into international wealth management centers. “While the bank will remain in America, the remaining branches will now concentrate on ‘international banking and wealth management. To be specific, the focus will be on serving affluent and high net worth clients,” the bank said in a statement.

The bank has been repeatedly warning that it will have to take cost-cutting measures. Especially in the United States as it has been struggling for a long to gain a foothold among everyday consumers. And this is why the pullback was widely anticipated. Commenting on the decision of the sale of the domestic mass market in the United States, Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn said that they were good business the bank lacked the scale to compete. “The next in the presence of the bank in the United States will be about team shifting its focus towards our competitive strength. We will be involved in wealth management of clients around the world,” Quinn said.

China Defers Supply Mission To Permanent Orbiting Space Station Tianhe, To Become Operational By 2022 End

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China is making its own space station. The country launched the first and main module earlier in May. It was named Tianhe-1. China, however, postponed the launch of Tianzhou-2. The Asian giant was slated to launch a supply mission to the permanent orbiting space station. However, it was delayed at the eleventh hour. The launch was likely postponed due to technical reasons. The orbiting laboratory will be called Tiangong. It was launched on April 29 this year. As per the schedule, two science modules will follow next year in a series of missions to make it operational. China didn’t share information related to the launch of the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft in the future.

Tianzhou-2 will be the first mission to head to the Tianhe module. It will be followed by 10 more launches. These launches will deliver the space station’s other modules, components, and supplies required to start experiments. Besides, a three-person crew will also be sent to the station. Chinese space station Tiangong does not aim to compete with the International Space Station. Tiangong will be smaller in size and will have a design similar to the Mir space station. The Mir space station was operated by the Soviet Union from 1986 to 2001 in the low Earth orbit. The Chinese space station will have limited capacity for astronauts. It can accommodate only three astronauts against six on ISS.

The Chinese space station is likely to be completed by end of 2022. The T-shaped station will weigh 66 tons. The ISS weighs 450 tons. The ISS was launched in 1998. It is still in operation, but the cost of maintenance has gone up manifold. Tianhe will feature a docking port. It can be expanded to six modules. Its core module will provide living space for astronauts. The space station will have the ability to connect with the Chinese space satellite. It will operate for 10 years. China started working on a project to launch its space station in 1992 and sent its first astronaut to space 10 years later. It became the third country in the world to send a human independently to space after the Soviet Union and the United States.

NASA Instrument Onboard Solar Orbiter Captures Coronal Mass Ejection From Sun

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An ESA spacecraft has captured the first power solar eruption. The spacecraft is named Solar Orbiter. It caught sight of coronal mass ejection. The Sun-observing satellite was launched to measure the Sun’s inner heliosphere and nascent solar wind. The video captured by the orbiter shows powerful eruptions from the Sun. NASA said that the orbiter had on February 12 caught sight of coronal mass ejection. It said that the phenomenon was captured by NASA’s instrument. The instrument is named Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager or SoloHI. It is onboard the spacecraft. It said that SoloHI watches cosmic rays, solar wind, and dust. The phenomenon occurs when the Sun spits large blobs into space. The space between the Sun and planets in the solar system is filled with cosmic rays, solar wind, and dust.

NASA said that SoloHI used its detector to cut the amount of data acquired. There are four detectors. It used one of the detectors at less than 15 percent of its normal cadence. The view of the eruption is brief and grainy. It, however, shows particles in a form of sudden blast and escaping the Sun. When the eruption reached the Solar Orbiter, the spacecraft had passed behind the Sun from Earth’s angle. NASA said that the team didn’t plan to record such data while planning the mission. The Solar Orbiter is a mission jointly launched by NASA and ESA. It was launched in February last year. It has already made two close approaches to the Sun. The spacecraft is yet to begin its formal science experiment. Researchers have already detected a couple of coronal mass ejections in data sent home by the spacecraft when it was far away from the Sun.

NASA said that two more imagers on Solar Orbiter have captured views of the solar eruption. The spacecraft used ESA’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imager and Metis to capture coronal mass ejection. Notably, NASA said that its spacecraft have been keeping a watch on CMEs for years, but watching is a game-changer. It said that Solar Orbiter could decode mysteries surrounding the Sun. NASA’s STEREO-A spacecraft also caught a glimpse of the eruption. SoloHI’s chief investigator Robin Colaninno said that watching outflows from a close point is astonishing. Robin added that SoIoHI could provide much better resolution images. The Solar Orbiter has already taken the closest picture of the Sun. Its official mission will begin in November this year after SoloHI and other instruments will be switched on in full science mode.

Boeing-Backed Aerion To Cease Operations As It Faced Challenges In Securing Capital

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Supersonic jet developer Aerion Corporation has decided to cease all operations. The company said it took the decision as it failed to secure enough money to start the process of making aircraft. Founded by Texas billionaire Robert Bass, Aerion had the backing of Boeing. The company was working on business jets that would be capable of flying twice as fast as other commercial aircraft and that too silently. “In the current financial environment, it is becoming extremely difficult to arrange scheduled and required capital for starting the production of supersonic jet AS2,” the company said. Aerion Corporation said that it is taking steps considering the financial environment.

Ever since the pandemic hit, Aerion was founding it difficult to arrange the necessary funds to take AS2 private jet to production level. It is worth mentioning that the company had said in March this year that it is hopeful that output of first planes would start in next 2-3 years. It said that the production would start at a factory in Melbourne, Florida. By 2027, it was hoping to start its first commercial delivery. Aerion had joined hands with Boeing and General Electric for this project and had amassed more than USD 11 billion in orders. It had recently got an order from NetJets which is a unit of American investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

The coronavirus pandemic has heavily affected aerospace manufactures. This is because the passengers were not willing to fly and this stopped airlines from buying new planes. Boeing was hit really hard. It was already reeling from the grounding of 737 Max following two fatal crashes. Boeing had announced its backing to Aerion in 2019 and had pledged to provide all engineering and manufacturing support. But it had to dissolve its Boeing NeXt investment because of one of the worst financial crises in aviation history. “We are disappointed with the development. However, we would continue to work with creative and innovative partners,” Boeing said. Earlier, Aerion was in talks to go public. Aerion was working on AS2 that was being designed to travel with a speed of more than 1,000 miles per hour. In other words, around 1.4 times faster than the speed of sound.

Bank of America Raises Minimum Wage, To Give Hourly Minimum Wage Of USD 25 By 2025

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Bank of America has announced a rise in hourly wage for its employees. The nation’s second-largest bank said that it has decided to increase the minimum wage of employees working in the United States to USD 25 an hour. However, the bank said that it would be implemented in a phased manner by 2025. “It would cost a few hundred million dollars every year. But this will be an investment,” CEO Brian Moynihan was quoted as saying by some media reports. Moynihan added that it is about maintaining a “great standard of living.” The bank has just completed the last year task of giving a minimum hourly wage of USD 20.

“Paying employees more helps give them a ‘career mindset.’ This in the long run breeds loyalty. The important thing is that big companies like ours need to set a standard. According to me, it is part of sharing our success with everyone working for the company,” Moynihan said. This is not the first time when the bank has raised the minimum wage for employees under the leadership of Moynihan. The bank is run by Moynihan as the chief executive officer since 2010 and has announced several such measures. The bank had announced in 2017 that the minimum hourly wage of the bank employees would be raised to USD 15. Just two years later, Bank of America said that it would lift that level of USD 20 in the next 24 months. The bank did it ahead of schedule and around 200,000 workers were benefitted from the hike.

Bank of America also said that vendors will have to pay USD 15 an hour to workers. This will impact around 2000 vendor firms and 43,000 workers employed by them. According to Moynihan, around 99 per cent of vendors are already paying USD 15 hourly minimum wage. Meanwhile, other banks too are announcing raise, but not that aggressively. JPMorgan Chase had announced in 2018 that it would increase the hourly wage of around 22,000 employees to USD 18, depending on the local cost of living. Similarly, Citigroup announced in 2019 that raise the hourly minimum wage to USD 15 in 2019.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Sheds Vast Majority Of Wells Fargo Shares, Takes Stake In Aon

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Business tycoon and investor Warren Buffet has made some big decisions regarding his 31-year-old investment. Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway has sold nearly all of its stake in Wells Fargo. With this, Buffett has abandoned his one of the most successful investments. However, things were not the same after the American multinational financial services company felled following scandals for mistreating customers. As per a regulatory filing, Berkshire owned around USD 26.4 million of shares in Wells Fargo as of March 31. This was nothing when compared to January 2018 when it had USD 32 billion of shares. Wells Fargo has been a staple of the conglomerate ever since it started investing in San Francisco-based bank in 1989. Berkshire spent at least USD 12.7 billion on its share and built a stake of around 10 percent.

The company said that it has sold 51.7 million shares or 99 percent of its remaining stake in Wells Fargo. This has reduced Berkshire’s holding in the bank to just USD 26.4 million. The reputation of Wells Fargo was shattered after the revelation that several employees opened millions of unwanted accounts just to meet the target. The fake accounts scandal first surfaced in the year 2016. The scandal was only about fake accounts. But it was also about charging unnecessary mortgage fees and forcing drivers to buy vehicle insurance that they did not require. This all started because of the bank’s strategy to sell more products per customer. Berkshire’s chief executive officer once said that the bank was slow to make things right.

Berkshire started reducing its stake in the bank in 2017 and it picked the pace in the last three years. Buffett has slashed holding in other banks in the past 12 months. He offloaded shares of Goldman Sachs. Meanwhile, he has invested in insurance broker Aon. Buffett has invested around USD 943 million to purchase about 4.1 million shares of Aon. Berkshire has been steadily increasing its bet on insurance brokerages. It has extended investment to Marsh & McLennan Cos. There are reports that Aon wants to create the world’s largest insurance brokerage by buying Willis Towers Watson Plc. It is awaiting regulatory approval and the deal would cost around USD 30 billion.

Schools In The US Might Not Make Vaccination Compulsory For Children Attending In Person Classes

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The COVID19 vaccine developed by Pfizer has been authorized for emergency use in Children in the US recently. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given a green signal to the vaccine that is going to be used in children who are as young as 12 years.  However, it seems that the schools in the US might not make vaccination mandatory for children to attend in-person classes anytime soon. Considering vaccine hesitancy among people and communities and political snags, schools might not require shots for children, said the experts. A law professor, Dorit Rubinstein Reiss from the University of California-Hastings has said that for the most part, state governments can mandate that a vaccine is required for children who are attending K-12 public schools. Dorit Rubinstein Reiss has been studying school mandates and legal issues related to vaccines. He has said that all states must pass a full legislature to be added to the compulsory vaccine list. She has informed that no state government has yet made vaccination mandatory for schools.  Dorit Rubinstein Reiss has said that it is very dubious that state governments will push towards making COVID19 vaccination mandatory for children who are attending schools this year. She has said that it is a political gambit and the legislature will not even try for making the COVID19 vaccine mandatory for children as young as 12 years until they are done with kids who are 5 years and above, as authorities do not want to go through the whole process twice.

There are clear signs that proponents of vaccination mandate might face strict opposition. As per the report, even before the COVID19 vaccine for children has been authorized for kids and teenagers in the US, many Republican lawmakers from dozens of statehouses filed petitions to halt COVID19 immunization mandates stating that shots are too new to compel people to take against their wish. Republican state Senator Mark Steffen who is also an anesthesiologist has made a bill that can strip the state’s health department of its authority to add a new vaccine to the current list of mandatory shots. However, the bill is still under review by the committee. During a hearing on the bill, Mark Steffen has said that it is an experimental vaccine that can be gene-altering. He has said that it can shoot up long-term risks that will not be known for decades. Experts from Harvard, Northwestern, Northeastern, and Rutgers Universities have done a survey in April that has included around 22000 people across the country. The survey has found that over a quarter of mothers have been extremely hesitant about vaccinating their kids. Harvard, Northwestern, Northeastern, and Rutgers Universities are part of the COVID States project as well. The president of the American Federation of Teachers union, Randi Weingarten has said that considering rising hesitancy and reluctance about vaccination, education leaders should not concentrate on making vaccines mandatory. She has said that at this time, people should be educated about the efficiency of vaccines. She has claimed that parents from minority ethnic communities should be educated about the efficacy of the vaccines, as they have faced the brunt of the pandemic the most.

Randi Weingarten and her colleagues have accepted the fact that vaccines are vital for normal school experience. Randi Weingarten has been representing school leaders and staff. Experts have said that the Los Angeles Unified school district that is the second largest in the US accommodating around 650000 students has been most upbeat on vaccinating their students. As per the report, nearly 15 vaccination sites are located in Los Angeles schools. Superintendent Austin Beutner has said that a vaccine should be accessible to all middle and high school students as soon as possible. There are some private schools that are going ahead with the vaccine mandates. St. Luke’s School in Connecticut, New Canaan has said that students who are in 5th to 12th grade must take the COVID19 vaccine to attend school in the fall. The head of St. Luke’s school, Mark Davis has said that the decision has been taken after consulting with a health task force that includes parents who are doctors. He has said that the school has made vaccines mandatory after considering the guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It says that people who are fully vaccinated do not require isolation even if they are exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It means that kids can remain in the classroom in case of exposure to the virus if they are vaccinated with two doses.  Most parents and around 600 students have come forward in support of the mandate. However, there have been four or five families that have been a little hesitant about vaccinating their kids. Davis has said that he is well aware of the long history of mandated vaccines for ailments such as whooping cough and polio and the advantages of in-person learning. Many experts have said that it is shameful that some people have politicized the issue of vaccination in the US.

ViacomCBS, Former CEO Les Moonves Resolve Dispute Over USD 120 Million Severance Package

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A dispute between ViacomCBS and former CBS chief executive officer Les Moonves over the severance package has been mutually resolved. Moonves had to leave the company in 2018 following allegations of sexual harassment and assault. Moonves had resigned from the post of CEP and chairman of the CBS group. He was denied the severance package after a board of the company investigated allegations and concluded that Moonves had violated company policies. The CBSE board said that he not only breached his employment contract but intentionally did not cooperate with the ongoing investigation. Following the outcomes of the month-long investigation, Moonves decided to challenge the company’s decision in 2019. USD 120, which was meant as the severance package, has been held in a grantor trust since then. Now the amount will be transferred back to ViacomCBS. It must be noted that CBS was merged with Viacom in 2019.

A joint statement issued by Moonves and ViacomCBS said, “The dispute between parties – Moonves, CBS, and a contractor of CBS – has been resolved. According to people familiar with the development, law firm Covington & Burling will pay the cost of the settlement fees to Moonves. However, the amount has not been disclosed. In the joint statement, Moonves said that the settlement amount will be donated to charities. For the uninitiated, Covington & Burling and Debevoise & Plimpton were hired by the company to investigate the allegations against Moonves and find out whether he violated the terms of his employment.

After the investigation, CBS’s board of directors had said that “there are ground to terminate.” “He not only violated policies of the company and breached his employment contract but also willfully failed to cooperate with the investigation.” Moonves was accused by several women, during the span of several years, of sexual misconduct and how he used his authority to retaliate if someone resisted. However, he always denied any wrongdoing. Moonves was one of the highest-paid executives in the United States for several years. There were times when he earned more than USD 50 million in a year. He was also one of the most powerful figures in the entertainment industry for over 30 years. According to Forbes, his estimated net worth in 2015 was at USD 700 million. After the merger with Viacom, the company became ViacomCBS and is now controlled by chairman Shari Redstone.

Biden Administration Reverses Trump Era Order, To Remove Chinese Smartphone Giant Xiaomi From Blacklist

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Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has reached an agreement with the Biden administration. The US Department of Defense has agreed to remove Xiaomi from the list of blacklisted firms. This will undo a decision by the Trump administration that blacklisted over 40 Chinese companies. This had barred Americans from investing in the Chinese giant. The US government had designated Xiaomi as a Communist Chinese military company. It had also blocked the company from doing business in the country. The decision was taken in January ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration as the President of the United States. Xiaomi had in January filed a lawsuit against the ban.

The decision to delist Xiaomi from the blacklisted firms saw its shares jumping over 6.5 percent. The company in a regulatory filing confirmed the pact. It said that parties have agreed to resolve the litigation. They don’t want contested briefing. It added that Xiaomi and Pentagon will together work on a joint order. The order will be submitted to the court by May 20. The latest agreement comes after Xiami’s partial relief from the court in March. A court had in March ordered to temporarily halt the ban slapped on Xiaomi. The company had expressed confidence that will win a full reversal in the court. Xiaomi had said that it is a publicly-traded and independently managed corporation. It had categorically denied any link to the Chinese military.

Xiaomi had in March said that it only manufactures and offers consumer electronics products. Its products and services are for civilian and commercial use. The company said that it is committed to following international rules and working with global partners. It vowed to offer innovative technology to the world. Xiaomi said that its objective is to help people spend a better life with the adoption of innovative technology. It wants to make people’s life easier by bring new technologies. Xiaomi said that it is committed to guarding the interests of its customers and shareholders as well. In July 2020, dozens of Chinese telecom firms were tagged as a threat to America’s national security and its communications networks. The firms included Huawei, ZTE, and others.

German Regulator Issues Emergency Order Prohibiting Facebook From Processing WhatsApp User Data

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WhatsApp has been ever since it announced a new controversial privacy policy. Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, even faced criticism for forcing users to accept the new policy. It recently extended its May 15 deadline but told users that they will start losing features if they don’t accept the new term. Now Facebook has been asked by a German regulator to stop processing any data from WhatsApp Users. The Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, or HmbBfDI has issued an emergency order in this regard. The order prohibits the social media giant’s European operations from processing data from WhatsApp for its own use for three months. There are around 60 million users of WhatsApp in Germany. It said that new policies of WhatsApp are illegal under European privacy law.

Mark Zuckerberg-owned company has been looking for ways to monetize WhatsApp. In January this year, WhatsApp announced a new privacy policy. The new policy of the instant messaging app gives the company more power to share the data of users with its parent company Facebook. The social media giant had acquired WhatsApp for USD 19 billion in 2014. WhatsApp told users that they will have to ultimately accept the new norms if they wish to continue using the app. Some reports suggest that WhatsApp has been sharing some data with Facebook since 2016. But it now wants to share payment and transaction data as well. Due to this privacy policy, its competitors like Signal and Instagram have seen a sudden surge in the number of users.

According to Johannes Caspar of the HmbBfDI, the updates are not legal. “The three-month order has been passed with the intent to safeguard the rights and freedom of millions of WhatsApp users in Germany. It is very important to stop the damage associated with such black box procedure,” he said in a statement. Caspar said that incidents like Cambridge Analytica shows that data of social media users are at risk. Commenting on the order, a WhatsApp spokesperson said that the order has no legitimate basis as it is based on a fundamental misunderstanding. “We are fully committed towards the safety of our users’ data and will continue to private communications for everyone.”

Pentagon Mulling To Suspend USD 10 Billion JEDI Cloud Contract Amid Charges Of Influence

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Amid all the controversies over the USD 10 billion JEDI cloud computing contract, the Pentagon is mulling to ‘pull the plug.’ According to reports, the officials are wary of recent complaints and legal cases from other companies. This is also being considered as some lawmakers too suggested that the Pentagon should stop the project. They even asked officials to spread the multi-billion project to different vendors. The project has faced several roadblocks ever since the contract was won by Microsoft. The project is all about migrating the computing infrastructure and data of the Pentagon to the cloud. The contract was given to Microsoft in the year 2019. Amazon, which was one of the frontrunners for the project, has mounted a legal battle since then.

The e-commerce giant has accused former US President Donald Trump of improperly influencing the contract process. Amazon has made several other acquisitions related to the project. The Department of Defence (DOD) sent a memo on January 28 in this regard. The memo, sent to Congress, suggested that the lengthy deposition would make the cloud computing project untenable. Also, a federal judge has refused to dismiss allegations that the former US president interfered with the contract. The judge allowed the e-commerce giant to pursue the case in court.

It must be noted that the US Defense Department initiated a comprehensive re-evaluation after the allegations were raised. However, after evaluating its contract proposal the Department of Defense determined that the proposal given by Microsoft was still of the best value for the government. Commenting on the project, Microsoft said that it is fully prepared and ready to work on the JEDI project but is being pulled back because of the litigation battle. “We totally agree with what the US Defense Department said. This legal battle is harmful and is delaying the process of giving the technology to our military which needs it.” For the uninitiated, Microsoft has been working closely with the US Army for around the past two years.

Norwegian Cruise Line Not Happy With Vaccine Passport Ban, Threatens To Boycott Florida Ports

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There are various guidelines being issued to curb the spread of coronavirus infection. One such guideline introduced required people to show proof that they are vaccinated before using a business or service. However, the Florida governor has ordered banning businesses from asking customers to provide what some call ‘vaccine passport.’ Unhappy with the decision, Norwegian Cruise Line has now threatened that it will boycott Florida port unless the regulation is rolled back by the state. Norwegian CEO Frank Del Rio said that he would stop sending cruise ships if the order from Governor Ron DeSantis remains in force.

The treat from the Norwegian Cruise Line came just days after the Governor signed the legislation that bars government and businesses from asking for so-called vaccine passports. “If by any chance we are not able to operate in Florida, there are other states from where we can continue our operations. We can even operate from the Caribbean,” said Del Rio. Norwegian Cruise Line Holding is responsible for operating not only Norwegian Cruise Line but also Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas. Del Rio reiterated that every passenger and crew member onboard will be vaccinated against Covid once operations restart. Cruises are already on hold since March 14 when a No Sail Order was passed on March 14, 2021.

The legislation signed by Governor DeSantis will go into effect from July 1. Earlier in March, DeSantis openly opposed the move of making vaccine passports necessary. He had signed an executive order at that time. He had said that it was being done for the time Legislation could be drafted. The governor is of the view that Americans should be allowed to make their own decisions. Some states, which are ruled by Republicans, have followed the suit and have banned the passport visa. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has also announced that his administration was not in favor of making passport visas compulsory and therefore would ban such requirements in his state.

The Death Of Infants On The Rise In The US Due To Usage Of Soft Bedding

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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) is on the rise in the US. Experts have revealed that around 3500 babies lose their lives due to SUID each year in the country. As per the officials of the CDC, SUID is the leading cause of death among those who are in the age range of 1 month to 1 year in the US. A review by experts has shown that a SUID death might be due to choking via airway blockage or entangling in bedding or blanket, infection, choking injury, and cardiac or metabolic damage. Experts have said that at times when the death of an infant cannot be explained, it is considered due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The officials have been spreading public health messages to prevent SUID-related deaths in the country for decades. However, the number of such deaths is increasing in the country. Dr. Rachel Moon, who is the head of the American Academy of Pediatrics task force on SIDS, has said that such things are happening to well-informed parents as well.  She has written the AAP policy statement on safe infant sleep. Dr. Rachel Moon has said that the US has continued to have the same rate of sleep-linked deaths since 1998. As per the report, the rate of sleep-related deaths is higher in the US as compared to most developed nations and some developing countries as well.

Experts have found that making infants sleep on their back on a firm crib is linked to the lowest risk of sleep-related deaths in the 1990s. A massive public awareness campaign has been launched in 1994 to educate parents to make their babies sleep on their back and not their stomachs. This campaign has been named Back to Sleep. Experts have said that parents should avoid using soft bedding and blankets in the crib. They have said parents should avoid keeping crib bumpers, decorative items, and toys where babies sleep. A new study has been conducted on 5000 infants who have lost their lives between 2011 and 2017. The team of experts has found that around 70 percent of babies who have been included in this study have been sleeping in an unsafe atmosphere according to the AAP safe-sleep guidelines. As per the report, these infants have been sleeping on soft bedding, blankets along with decorative items, and toys. Dr. Moon has said that soft bedding is generally defined by blankets, pillows, and bumper pads. Dr. Rachel Moon also heads the general pediatrics at the University of Virginia. She has not been involved in the study. She has said that bed-sharing is restricted due to the presence of blankets and pillows. As per the expert, couches, chairs, and such beds can be very risky as they are plush and soft.

Health experts have said that there are many unsafe sleeping postures that parents are unaware of. Many parents concentrate on the sleeping position of their babies but they do not consider eliminating risk factors such as soft blankets, bedding, couches, bumpers, and pillows, which is very crucial. The new study has shown that 75 percent of infants have died due to airway blockage via soft bedding. The cause of 1 to 2 percent of deaths has not been established yet, however, there has been no unsafe sleeping factor linked to these deaths. Dr. Moon has said that babies should be lying on their back in the crib, bassinet, or flat and firm surface that is closed to parents. There should be a thin tight-fitting sheet and the baby in the crib. She has said that a baby who is lying on his or her back in the crib with no soft bedding pillows and cushions is the safest. According to the AAP safe-sleep guidelines, babies should always be sleeping on their back until they are 1 year old. It applies to those babies as well who are dealing with gastroesophageal reflux or GERD. Experts have said that if babies have fallen asleep in a car seat, stroller, swing, or sling, they should be moved to a firm and flat surface immediately. There should be no decorative items, toys, bumper pads, soft pillows, or bedding in the crib.  Parents should be careful that babies should never be sleeping on a couch, sofa, or armchair.

Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson Loses Title Of World’s Busiest Airport

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Pandemic impacted almost everything last year. The one industry that is most affected is apparently aviation. Most of the airports wear a deserted look most of the time in 2020. Amid this, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport lost its title of being the world’s busiest airport to China. The airport in the biggest city in Georgia has now fallen to the second position in the list of busiest airports. According to a report of 2020 by Airports Council International World, a Chinese airport is on the top of the list now. As per the report, Guangzhou Bai Yun International Airport emerged as the busiest airport of 2020. It received the maximum number of passenger flights during the year when the coronavirus pandemic hit the world.

Reports suggest that Atlanta was on the top of the list for almost 22 years. But it lost around 61 percent of its passengers in 2020 when compared to the previous year. This downfall in passenger traffic was primarily because of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. “The coronavirus pandemic brought the movement of passengers to a virtual standstill last year. Most of the airports faced an existential threat,” said ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira. Felipe said that the finding of the report suggests that the impact was uneven. “Different regions witnessed different challenges. They even required different policy decisions,” he said.

Atlanta saw the biggest fall in the number of passengers. ACI said that the airport received 42.9 million passengers last year. This was less than half of 110.5 million in 2019. Guangzhou too saw a decline in passenger numbers. But the Chinese city logged 43.7 million passengers last year. The airport was at 11the position in the 2019 list. It received 73.3 million passengers that year. ACI in the report said that passengers at the 10 busiest airports globally decreased by around 48 percent. Overall, the decline in the number of passengers was more than 65 percent.

Scientists Expect JWST Will Help In Detecting Extraterrestrial Life In 5-10 Years

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Space agencies are racing against time to find extraterrestrial life. Several scientific instruments have been developed by scientists to detect extraterrestrial life. These instruments lashed with high technologies have detected several potential signatures of life beyond Earth. But scientists are yet to arrive at a conclusive result. The Ohio State University has said that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) could provide a fresh window to advance the search. The JWST will be launched in October. The telescope is being developed by NASA. The agency said that it is a high-tech and extremely powerful scientific equipment developed by any agency so far.

JWST will succeed the decades-old Hubble Space Telescope which was launched in 1990. The research tool is still operational in the low Earth orbit, providing a window for making some incredible discoveries. It is the largest most versatile instrument ever launched by humans into space. Scientists expect that the JWST will help them in detecting ammonia around gas dwarf planets. Any evidence about the presence of ammonia will be crucial in detecting signs of life on other planets. Ammonia is found in nature, the human body, animals, and plants. It is an essential compound for making proteins and other molecules in humans and animals. The compound is formed from bacterial processes in soil.

Scientists believe that gas dwarf planets could foster life. These gas dwarf planets are also known as super-Earths or mini-Neptunes. They exist within the solar system. Scientists have struggled for long in determining whether these gas dwarf planets’ atmospheres contain ammonia. Caprice Phillips who has research interests in exoplanets said that realistic signs of life could be detected in the next 5-10 years on other planets. She said that JWST is more powerful than the Hubble. Its technological capabilities will respond to atmospheric conditions and varying clouds. The new telescope will be placed into orbit atop Ariane 5 rocket in October. Scientists expect that JWST will bring some unknown facts about the universe to humanity.

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