Science & Technology

MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/: Deliveries of the Russian drug Avifavir for treatment of coronavirus infection cases may start on June 11, the Izvestiya newspaper reports, citing the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). The pharmaceutical will not be released for free sale and it will only be used under the supervision by medical workers, the newspaper said.

"It will be supposedly supplied to Russian hospitals on June 11, 2020, RDIF noted," the newspaper reported.

30 May 2020; MEMO: Turkish researchers have sequenced the genome of the novel coronavirus isolated from four patients, the head of the project said on Friday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Dr. Sadrettin Pence, the vice rector of Istanbul Medeniyet University, told Anadolu Agency the genomes were sequenced using the latest sequencing platforms.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia is prepared to collaborate with Turkey to develop COVID-19 vaccine and related medicines, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said.

Muhyiddin said he and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had also agreed to fully utilise the strength of the two countries in combating the spread of the coronavirus and facing the challenges post-COVID-19.

Washington, May 26 (PTI) Prolific Indian-American inventor Rajiv Joshi has bagged the prestigious Inventor of the Year award in recognition of his pioneering work in advancing the electronic industry and improving artificial intelligence capabilities.

Dr Joshi, who is a master inventor with more than 250 patented inventions in the US, works at the IBM Thomson Watson Research Center in New York.

Pune, May 21 (PTI) The first experimental use of plasma therapy for treating a COVID-19 patient has been successful at Pune's state-run Sassoon general hospital, a senior doctor claimed on Thursday.

A 47-year-old woman, who had co-morbid conditions such as hypertension, hyperthyroid and obesity and who was in critical condition, was given convalescent plasma therapy twice on May 10 and 11.

Pune, May 22 (PTI) At least 25 COVID-19 patients, who are in a semi-critical condition at Pune's government-run Sassoon General Hospital, will be administered tocilizumab, a drug which has proven effective in treating the infection, an official said on Friday.

The new drug, an injection which costs around Rs 20,000, will be given to 25 patients in the first phase and depending on the results, the Pune Municipal Corporation will decide on its further use, municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said.

MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/: Unofficial testing of a coronavirus vaccine on volunteer employees of the Gamalei National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology finished successfully and caused no side effects, the Center’s director Alexander Gintzburg told TASS Friday.

15 May 2020; MEMO: A team of researchers are believed to have discovered the earliest known evidence of a person being killed by a meteorite in what is today’s Iraq in the year 1888.

14 May 2020; MEMO: A piece of a Chinese rocket launched as an experiment to send humans to the moon in the future has crash-landed in the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of Mauritania.

The Long March 5B (CZ-5B) rocket was launched into space on 5 May before its core stage, which serves as the backbone and weighs almost 18 tonnes, made an uncontrolled descent back to Earth on Monday and crashed into the waters of Mauritania’s west coast.

GENEVA, May 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Pinning down the source of the coronavirus pandemic should help in working out how COVID-19 has “invaded the human species” so quickly, a senior WHO official said.

The outbreak has triggered a fierce diplomatic spat between China and the United States — with the World Health Organization at the centre of the row.

In late March, US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping struck an informal truce in the war of words over the origin of the deadly disease.