Tag: Wuhan virus

Wuhan lab chief calls coronavirus leak claims ‘pure fabrication’

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Claims promoted by the Trump administration that the global coronavirus pandemic originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the central Chinese city are a pure fabrication,” the institute’s director said.

Wang Yanyi was quoted by state media on Sunday as saying the institute did not have any knowledge before that nor had we ever met, researched or kept the virus…We didn’t even know about the existence of the virus, so how could it be leaked from our lab when we didn’t have it?

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have repeatedly said they suspect the virus that was first detected in Wuhan was somehow released from the laboratory.

Most scientists say the pathogen that has infected 5.3 million and killed more than 342,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, was passed from bats to humans via an intermediary species likely sold at a wet market in Wuhan late last year.

The virus’ toll continued to ebb in Asia and other parts of the world, with China on Sunday reporting three new confirmed cases and just 79 people remaining in treatment for COVID-19.

The New York Times devoted Sunday’s entire front page to a long list of names of people who have died in the pandemic.

The names and brief descriptions culled from obituaries from around the country fill six columns under the headline U.S. Deaths Near 100,000, an Incalculable Loss.” They Were Not Simply Names on a List. They Were Us, read the subheadline.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Amid fears of COVID-19 rebound, Wuhan to test city’s entire 11 million population

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Wuhan, the Chinese city where the deadly novel coronavirus emerged in December last year, has decided to test the city’s entire 11 million population after new cases were reported for the first time in weeks, sparking fears of the second wave of the virus attack.

The city has prepared a 10-day plan to test all its residents after six new coronavirus cases were reported in a residential community, official media reported on Tuesday.

Hubei province and its capital Wuhan on April 8 lifted a prolonged lockdown clamped on January 23 as the disease spread through the region like wildfire.

In all 4,512 people, including 3,869 in Wuhan, have died due to the COVID-19 in over three months of devastation caused by the vicious virus.

Hubei province had reported 68,134 confirmed COVID-19 cases in total, including 50,339 in Wuhan.

Besides reporting new clusters of cases, Wuhan also reported 650 asymptomatic cases.

Asymptomatic cases refer to people who are tested COVID-19 positive but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat. However, they pose a risk of spreading the disease to others.

Peng Zhiyong, director of the intensive care unit of the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, told the state-run Global Times that he has not received the details of the testing plan.

He said testing everyone would be costly, so the testing is very likely to focus on key groups and communities such as close contacts of patients and their family members, medical staff, the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions.

Yang Zhanqiu, deputy director of the pathogen biology department at the Wuhan University, expanded the scale of its testing in April and tested targeted groups of people.

“About three to five million residents have been tested and proved healthy, and thus Wuhan is capable to test the remaining 6 to 8 million in 10 days.”

Yang believes the city-wide test may be unnecessary as “you’ll never know if people were infected after testing negative.”

So “It’s essentially an epidemiological investigation to determine the current situation.”

Wu Zunyou, an epidemiologist from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that large-scale screening and testing is unnecessary. Wu told state television CCTV that he believes the main battlefields are in key communities and certain groups of people.

Wang Zhonglin, the head of the ruling Communist Party unit in Wuhan, said learning from recent new cases will prevent a rebound and is the best way to ensure people’s health and safety.

Globally, the death toll due to COVID-19 has gone up to 287,158 with over four million infections reported so far. The US is the worst affected country, according to Johns Hopkins University tally.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

China points to French connection to Wuhan lab; ambivalent on WHO probe into origin of coronavirus

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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China on Thursday said the bio-lab in Wuhan, which is in the eye of storm in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, is a Sino-French cooperation project with its staff trained in France, even as it sounded ambivalent about agreeing for a WHO probe into the origin of COVID-19.

Accusing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of fabricating lies over the involvement of the virology lab in Wuhan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying sought to deflect criticism over its role by highlighting its French connection.

“May be he still doesn’t know the P4 Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) lab is a China-French government cooperation project and it followed international standards in its design construction and management,” Hua told a media briefing here while responding to Pompeo’s allegations.

“The first batch of staff were trained at French labs,” she said, adding that its equipment is tested every year by internationally recognised third parties.

In recent days, US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo have claimed that the deadly virus originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak was first detected last December.

Hua again asked Pompeo to show “enormous evidence” he has to prove that the novel coronavirus originated from the lab in Wuhan. “He (Pompeo) contradicts himself. He is making lies to cover up other lies. It is an open secret,” she said.

About President Trump’s assertion that COVID-19 attack was worse than that of the Pearl Harbour attack in WW-II and September 1, 2001 terrorist attack, Hua said that in such a case the enemy is coronavirus, not China.

“If it can be compared to pearl harbour or 9/11 attack, so the enemy US faces is coronavirus. The US should work with China as a comrade in the fight instead of enemy. Because only with the concerted efforts we can win this war against virus,” she said.

“But regrettably, we see some in the US officials shifting the blame which we believe is wrong”, she said.

While China contained the virus attack in over two months, the US being highly developed country has not succeeded yet, she said.

Since emerging in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December, the coronavirus is confirmed to have infected 1.2 million Americans, killing more than 73,000.

Hua sounded ambivalent about China agreeing for an inquiry by the World Health Organisation (WHO) into the origin of the coronavirus.

Asked about reports that Chen Xu, China’s ambassador to UN institutions in Geneva, backed the WHO probe, Hua said, “we have never said we oppose WHO. We have been supporting WHO’s work. (We’re) Cooperating with WHO in an open and transparent manner including tracing the origin.”

“At an appropriate time we will have a conclusion on that. But we oppose the US and some other countries trying to politicise this issue and conduct investigations on the presumption of guilt, she said.

“So in the future if it is good for human beings to deal with similar pandemics in future Chinese side can do whatever it can to achieve good results and make all the contributions, she said.
She reiterated that the issue of the origin of coronavirus is a scientific matter and should be assessed by scientists and professionals.

Besides attacking China over the coronavirus emanating from Wuhan, Trump is also deeply critical of WHO accusing it of siding with Beijing in mismanaging and covering up the spread of the virus. He also suspended over USD 400 million funding for the WHO pending an inquiry.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

What ICMR said on coronavirus today on masks, testing capacity and more

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Friday said it is ready to ramp up capacity of testing labs and it will soon have 67 labs where the primary tests for coronavirus will be done.

Currently, there are 51 labs in the country which can conduct primary tests for the novel coronavirus. Out of these 51, the second test or the confirmatory tests can be conducted at 31 labs.

“We are conducting 60-70 tests every day across the entire network of 51 labs as of now. But, we can scale it up. Each lab has the potential to conduct 90 tests every day,” ICMR said.

Earlier, National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune was the only lab which could confirm the presence of coronavirus in a person. ICMR has been able to gradually but quickly ramp up this number to 13, then 18 and now, a total of 31 labs can perform the confirmatory tests.

ICMR also said that rapid diagnostic kits are also being sent to NIV, Pune for validation and if these are approved by NIV, then these will also help in creating a widespread network of preliminary detection of the virus.

India has also become the fifth country in the world after China, Thailand, US and Japan to isolate the novel coronavirus and hence, this will pave the way for the development of its vaccine, ICMR added.

“As per our tests so far, the virus in India is 99.99 percent similar to Wuhan virus. Hence, lessons from China will be useful. China and Italy are at the stage where the outbreak has been such that it has resulted in an epidemic there. India is at stage 2 and there is a window of opportunity where we all together can contain it at Stage 2 which involves local transmission, not community transmissions,” ICMR added.

ICMR is also keen on keeping an eye on preventing community transmission and hence, it will start conducting weekly tests from samples taken across its 51 labs, from people with no travel history.

As of March 13 morning, ICMR said it has conducted 6,500 tests across 5,900 individuals and out of which, 78 tests were positive for the novel coronavirus. As of 5: 00 pm of March 13, there were 81 cases of coronavirus, out of whom 10 have recovered.

A 76-year-old man from Karnataka, who died on March 10 and had a travel history of Saudi Arabia, also tested positive for coronavirus. “Death of a 76-year-old male from Karnataka is confirmed to be caused due to co-morbidity and has also tested positive for COVID-19. The details of the case are as follows: He visited Saudi Arabia from 29th January 2020 to 29th February 2020,” the government said on March 12.

As far as testing facilities and material is concerned, ICMR said as of now, government labs are more suitable for conducting the tests for coronavirus and hence, private sector help has not been sought and enough inventory is available. While most testing material is made in India, probes are being imported from Germany but as of now, sufficient stock is present, ICMR said.

Asked on why only people who show symptoms are being tested, ICMR clarified that diagnosing asymptomatic people can give an impression of false security and hence, it is restricting itself to symptomatic cases only.

It is interesting to note here that before 2008 all samples for such deadly diseases used to be sent outside for testing, but ICMR has the capability now to conduct these tests in the country.

ICMR also reiterated that N95 masks are useful for people who are directly in proximity to someone who is suffering from coronavirus or who is a suspected patient. People should not hoard masks, ICMR added.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Sit up and take notice: Rich Indian culture can help check coronavirus spread

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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While the current topic of discussion across the world is coronavirus, India had ages ago shown the way to beat it. I am not referring to any new or revolutionary discovery but simply the age-old custom of Namaste. I say age-old because I was trying to trace the origin of when people started saying Namaste. But, even Google does not say how old it is or when the custom started.

For those from the West or the millennials who are wondering what Namaste is all about, Namaste is more than a word used to end a yoga session. It is a customary Hindu greeting. It signifies the bringing together of mind and matter or of oneself meeting thyself. The gesture in its pure, simple and beautiful sense means “I bow to the divine in you”. Namaste is an action done with a slight bow and hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointing upwards, thumbs close to the chest. The namaste is used while greeting and while taking leave. The gesture is performed with the utterance of Namaste or it can also be performed as a silent action without exchange of words. The action by itself speaks volumes about respect, acknowledgment, courtesy, hospitality, warmth, friendship and welcome to the person across. It is the equivalent of today’s handshake with ‘Hello or How are you’ … minus corona.

Research has shown that twice as much bacteria is transferred with a handshake as against a high five, and the numbers can considerably reduce in a fist-bump greeting. However, it is only the Namaste that guarantees zero bacteria transfer. And the icing on the cake is the Namaste as a silent gesture where we can even eliminate the face mask. The numbers shown on recent WhatsApp forwards look frightening that just the utterance of ‘co…ro’ would have the remotely suspected case catapulted into orbit.

In fact, there are many well-known world personalities who suffer from Mysophobia (fear of contamination and germs) who would look less snobbish and more graceful if only they understood the rich meaning and adopted the Indian Namaste.

While we are on the subject of culture, during the course of my research for the first article ‘Coming Home’, I realised there is another Indian culture that the world can very safely adopt for delivering a great customer experience. It is the usage of the word ‘Ji’. I experienced some initial discomfort while using ‘Ji.’ But I soon realised it was the safest and coolest way to avoid any kind of gender bias. There are many names that show up in both genders. Take for example Chandan, Harsha, Kiran, Krishna, Madhu, Shashi or Veda. Now it would be very embarrassing to send a mail to Mr. Harsha who is a female or vice versa. The safest route I realised is to address as Harsha Ji or Kiran Ji. No offence to anyone knowingly or unknowingly. Now isn’t that cool?

Looking back, Indian culture has always shown the world a better way of doing things but sadly, they did not market it like the West. A perfect example is the present trending term super brain yoga. When I googled this word, I came across 343,000 results. But when I typed ‘Thoppukaranam’ it came back with 41,000 results. In fact, super brain yoga is the traditional ‘Thoppukaranam’. A simple devotional action performed in front of Lord Ganesha from time immemorial. And the west propagates it as a Yogic process to improve the concentration of the mind and activate parts of the brain to attain a higher sense of alertness.

They never dreamt of popularising ‘Thoppukaranam’ ‘Namaste’ or the use of ‘Ji’. Thanks to coronavirus, it is time to revive the age-old values behind our rich traditions and customs.

The rich culture of India has always demonstrated beautiful values like hospitality, respect and warmth to the person across. Its practices for human interaction and people management were centuries old and ingrained in the very fibre of society. It was more a way of life and not an imposed discipline. Not to be taught in training rooms, nor hold conferences and symposiums where you see the ‘customer’ as a specimen to be studied under a microscope and definitely, not to dissect his behaviours and come with complex strategies and solutions to keep him happy.

In fact, ‘Atithi Devo Bhavah’ is not a new concept for Indians. Our service culture has been so deep rooted, that Indians saw every visitor as a guest, and have gone out of their way to serve and keep them happy. A gesture the British misunderstood in the 1600s and it took India 90 years to explain to them that Namaste meant ‘welcome’ and not ‘stay forever’.

Gangadhar Krishna is the founder of delightingcustomers.com and author of an illustrative business book titled ‘Delighting Customers Is …’. He firmly believes in organic business development based on the philosophy ‘Sales Heaps but Service Reaps’. He can be reached at gangadhar@delightingcustomers.com.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Point of care diagnostics needed as screening tool: Gagandeep Kang

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is investing in developing diagnostic tools and vaccines for emerging diseases, Dr Gagandeep Kang, Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad told CNBC-TV18.

It is now looking at funding new approaches particularly from the point of care diagnostics that is needed as a screening tool. “This will give India the preparedness to test/screen lots of people simultaneously, something that does not exist today,” she said.

Kang is the first woman from India to be elected to the Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) and is also the Vice-Chair of the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). CEPI is a global collaboration between public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organisations to develop vaccines for infectious disease epidemics. The DBT is a founding member of CEPI, along with the Government of Norway, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the World Economic Forum.

CEPI is currently supporting funding for developmental work on four vaccine candidates. One is from Queensland University and the other three from biopharma companies CureVac, Inovio and Moderna.

As the Vice-Chair of CEPI, Kang says no vaccines will be ready this year to tackle COVID-19. However, these initiatives will change a lot in terms of our ability to kick-start programmes much earlier. “CEPI getting four vaccine programmes off the ground for a new virus in just a month of getting the virus genetic sequencing is a major move forward.”

“For new epidemics that are caused by unknown pathogens, we are not ready,” says Dr Gagandeep Kang, Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad.

With just 12 laboratories across the country under guidance from the National Institute of Virology, Pune, equipped to test coronavirus samples, Kang says it is not enough for a country with a population of 1.3 billion people.

While some diagnostic tools have been rolled out by the government and thermal testing being done at airports and transit points, there is a lot in terms of therapeutics and prevention “where there’s opportunity to do more and we are not taking it.”

The DBT has outlined an investment of Rs 300 crore for the India chapter of CEPI which will be focusing on COVID-19. It has charted out a research strategy for diagnostic tool development and for vaccines against COVID-19. The department is also exploring the use of monoclonal antibodies in designing therapies and vaccines against COVID-19.

The coronavirus outbreak in China is threatening to become a pandemic with death tolls rising. In China, the death toll has crossed 2,700 as of February 24, with casualties rising in other countries too. Seven people have died in South Korea, seven more in Italy and 12 deaths have been reported in Iran.
As the virus spreads, there is a scramble across the globe to look for treatments and prevention methods. China has over 80 clinical trials currently ongoing to test a variety of therapies from anti-HIV drugs, stem cells and other treatments against COVID-19.

The major focus of the current Randomised Clinical Trials is to test repurposed anti-retrovirals and use that to be able to treat diseases. Kang says it is absolutely the right way to go as far as finding treatments for novel epidemics is concerned. “The biggest challenge in testing new technology or drugs is how do you access patients and test them with drugs in a rigorous fashion,” she added.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Call for caution: Why the full impact of coronavirus is not yet known

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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As the head of the World Health Organisation says that the window of opportunity to contain the coronavirus is narrowing, the three people in Kerala who were infected with the nCoV-2019 have been declared virus-free. While the state of Kerala has displayed successful public health measures in early detection and containment of the virus, the spread of the virus has meant that the Indian government should actively look to mitigation strategies to prep for a global pandemic. Outside India, eight Indian nationals aboard the cruise ship the Diamond Princess and one in the Middle East have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. While this is a miniscule number, worries about the rise of non-transmissible cases as is the problem with Iran, Italy and South Korea show that India is not immune from a public health crisis as these countries are now facing. Indeed, as cases surfaced in Nepal and Sri Lanka over the last month, India should note that the public health systems across South Asia are ill-equipped to deal with a large-scale outbreak as we are now witnessing in East Asia.

As this column has discussed in earlier weeks, misinformation about the epidemic is rife. Last week, a man in Andhra Pradesh killed himself after believing that his symptoms betrayed the disease – a conclusion he reached by watching Youtube videos. While misinformation and mediation about the spread of the disease are important, the debate in India is now also taking cognisance of the economic impact that the nCoV-2019 could have not only on the global economy but also for India. One particular sector that will be impacted is the pharmaceutical industry. As Reuters points out, “An important supplier of generic drugs to the world, Indian companies procure almost 70 percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for their medicines from China.” If the shutdown continues, sectors including automobiles, consumer durables and agrichemicals that depend on China for components will be forced to shut down owing to the shortages.

Another report from the Hindustan Times points out that exports to China such as human hair, crabs and cumin seeds have seen a nosedive. Similarly other reports posit that the diamond industry could also face huge loses if the situation does not improve. However, all of these reports seem to be searching for strands that support the hypothesis that the Indian economy will be affected by the coronavirus. Because of the lack of information regarding the situation in China, it is difficult to ascertain a time frame during which the economy will be affected.

Furthermore, our trade deficit with China means that we export to them far less than we import from them. 2019 figures show that Indian exports to China are around $16 billion while imports from China are around $68 billion. Therefore, in a short term, while the prices of electronics and automobiles could get more expensive, it may result in India substituting some of these imports with the same from other countries. Other experts have even made the argument that some manufacturing in China can be shifted to India for business continuity to cushion the short-term shock. However, this approach will not prove fruitful for India’s interests unless our domestic policies can prove friendly enough for foreign businesses that need an alternative over countries in South or South-East Asia.

While combating the coronavirus, there are so many variables that we simply do not know. The numbers of infected people within China are estimated to be much higher than the official estimates. The rise of cases outside the country shows that we still do not know the nature of what we are dealing with. So, I would urge caution before estimating medium- or long-term impacts to the economy.

Hamsini Hariharan is the host of the States of Anarchy podcast and is currently based in Beijing.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Coronavirus outbreak: Robots take over disinfection work in China

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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As China struggles to contain the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus (COVID-19), robots were being deployed in the country’s front lines in an effort to combat the disease.

The development came to light after a video was shared by one of the country’s leading media outlets with the caption: “Robots are taking over the disinfection work and expected to be put into use in factories and other public indoor spaces in different cities of China.”

In the video, a robotic sprayer can be seen on a street that can help reduce the transmission of the COVID-19 in heavily populated urban areas.

Besides disinfection and street patrols, the robot was also deployed to deliver food and medicine in quarantine wards.

Netizens have hailed the Chinese government’s initiative to deploy robots and said that it could help in improving sanitation levels, which would result in the drastic reduction of the number of patients.

A user wrote: “Robots are taking over! The only job left for humans is elder care, even the robots won’t do it.”

Another wrote: “Looks like a leaf blower on a skateboard. I’d be more impressed if it moved like the boston dynamics doggo but could fog your face even if you kicked it.”

“Interesting how China already had these disinfectant robots at the ready, hummmmmm. Makes one wonder,” another post read

The overall death toll in mainland China increased to 2,236 on Friday, while the number of confirmed cases reached 75,465.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Coronavirus infects commodity markets: Why the sector needs to embrace digital transformation now

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Nothing demonstrates the volatility of commodity markets better than the above title. In just a few days, the virus went from a serious problem in China to a global health emergency impacting more than a dozen countries. As the coronavirus spreads, there is a cascading effect that runs through commodity markets, disrupting commodity trading across the globe.

* Oil prices slumped to a 3-month low in response to the widening spread of the virus in China, the world’s top oil importer.

* Opec may extend current oil output cuts until at least June and consider deeper cuts if oil demand is badly hit.

* Flights in and out of China were cancelled, depressing jet fuel prices and production margins in Asia and hurting refiners and fuel exporters.

* Palm oil prices tumbled as traders reacted to China closing offices, malls and factories. China is the second largest palm importer in the world.

* Prices for key industrial raw materials such as copper, iron ore, nickel, aluminium and liquid natural gas declined sharply.

* Base metals slumped as Toyota and other manufacturers announced extended plant shutdowns.

* Grain markets slid sharply.

The disruption has left commodity businesses stunned.

Speed is essential 

Commodity markets have always been unpredictable, and disease outbreaks, extreme weather, fast-spreading viruses, geopolitics, and trade wars can dramatically swing markets in just a few hours.

At the end of the day, the one certainty in commodity markets is that speed is essential.

Commodity trading companies cannot afford to wait days or weeks to analyse shifting markets. They need to study the situation as it occurs, so they can create a plan to capitalise on opportunities, minimise losses, or mitigate risk.

Studying markets is a time-consuming process. It requires a lot of data collection and manipulation, which is typically done on spreadsheets or legacy systems that are not designed to respond with speed. They do not provide real-time visibility into coverage or the impact of market shifts on company portfolios. Managing risk on spreadsheets requires a lot of manual effort that often opens the door to human error and increases risk.

Against a backdrop of constant volatility, commodity businesses need to take advantage of the latest technologies – and this is where the problem lies. Digital forces are disrupting a wide range of industries, but the world of commodities remains stuck in the analog age. The inability to connect the dots between systems, data and people puts commodity trading companies at a real disadvantage.

What the commodity industry needs is a platform-driven solution that is agile and helps businesses achieve the speed they need to thrive in volatile markets.

Data is crucial 

Platforms, by design, provide real-time access to critical data residing in multiple systems within a business – market feeds, weather reports and inventory positions.

When businesses can automatically aggregate data from excel sheets, broker statements, CTRM systems and more, they can run fast and accurate analyses for a deeper understanding of their business.

This is where advanced analytics play a pivotal role. With real-time data and advanced analytics driven by machine learning algorithms, businesses can detect anomalies instantly. With anomaly detection, users can understand commodity price movements in a way that allows them to simulate the anomaly and assess the impact of disruptive events on the business. The business can prevent anomalies from recurring and determine the optimal strategy to manage market shifts and maximise profits.

Trading profitably in uncertain markets requires a careful evaluation of all variables. The sheer number of variables is too big for manual analysis. However, with sophisticated analytics, businesses can analyse this data quickly and effectively. They can analyse both structured and unstructured data – including weather feeds, market information, supply chain variables, market sentiment, and more – to evaluate dozens or hundreds of possible choices and make the best, most profitable decisions. Even better, they can do these simulations at any time, in any place, by using simple apps on a laptop, tablet or cell phone.

Putting this in context of the subject, if contracts with Chinese businesses are in jeopardy, a platform-driven solution allows traders to pull in data from all their sources instantly, study historical trends with a few clicks, and simulate different outcomes. They can quickly evaluate if they should sell to other markets, reallocate their products or wait until prices recover.

Making faster, smarter decisions is really about having access to the most current data at all times. There is little you can do to stop disease outbreaks, natural calamities or trade wars from happening, but you can prepare your business to weather these storms with technologies that are future ready.

Manav Garg is CEO and Founder of Eka Software Solutions.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

China hiding asymptomatic cases, epidemic bigger, says report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In yet another report claiming that China may not be reporting actual figures in the coronavirus ourbreak, scientists have questioned China’s decision not to report symptom-free coronavirus cases and excluding those from the official list.

The report in the prestigious scientific journal Nature on Thursday claimed that China’s official reports on the number of coronavirus infections have not been including people who have tested positive for the virus but who have no symptoms.

“They fear the practice is masking the epidemic’s true scale. But public health experts say China is right to prioritize tracking sick patients who are spreading the disease,” claimed the report.

Earlier this month, officials from Heilongjiang province in northeast China announced that 13 people who had tested positive for the virus with a lab test but who had no symptoms had been removed from the region’s list of confirmed cases.

Positive cases 

Officials said that they were following the commission’s guidelines for reporting infections, which state that such people should be classified as ‘positive cases’ rather than ‘confirmed cases’.

Only confirmed cases are noted in the commission’s official daily reports, said the report.

According to Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing, they have always required that positive cases not be counted as confirmed cases.

But in some people, the virus might not have entered cells and started replicating.

But it’s not clear whether such ‘carriers’, who test positive for the virus but are not actually infected, exist. “That is one of the big scientific questions,” he was quoted as saying.

“Omitting these cases from official counts gives the impression that the virus is more severe than it really is,” said Ian Mackay, a virologist at the University of Queensland in Brisbane.

This could mislead other countries that are trying to prepare for the most likely effects of an epidemic of the disease.

Researchers suspect that many more people have been infected than over 74,000 cases that have been reported to date, and that most cases are probably asymptomatic and would be positive if tested.

The overall death toll in China increased to 2,118 on Thursday, with a total of 74,576 confirmed cases.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow