Tamil Nadu:school, colleges to reopen from Sept 1

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has approved DNA COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D of Cadila Healthcare for restricted use in emergency situation in India for 12 years and above. It was approved after evaluation of interim Phase III clinical trial results in consultation with Subject Expert Committee of CDSCO.The vaccine has efficacy of 66.6 percent and it is to be stored at 2 degree Celsius to 8 degree Celsius. The vaccine is needle free to be administered intradermally in three doses at day 0, 28 and 56.

-Tamil Nadu Government has decided to open Colleges and Schools from September 1. Students of Classes from 9 to 12 standard will be allowed to attend classes on a rotational basis. Reopening of Schools for first standard to eighth standard will be decided on 15th September. The state government has extended Covid 19 restrictions till  September 6. The Government has encouraged people to vaccinate and follow Covid 19 regulations at all places with face masks and physical distancing. A decision to this effect was taken at the high level meeting led by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday. According to the regulations, Movie theatres will function with 50 percent seats from 28th of this month. Theatre owners have to ensure that their staff is vaccinated completely. Public will be allowed in beaches. Shops will be allowed to function till 10 pm from Monday. Transport services from Andhra and Karnataka will be allowed following Covid procedures. IT offices and IT services can function with 100 percent attendance. Public Parks, boats and zoos will be allowed to function with Covid regulations.

-NTPC Limited has commissioned the largest floating solar PV project of 25 MegaWatt on the reservoir of its Simhadri thermal station in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.The National Thermal Power Corporation, NTPC Limited has commissioned the largest floating solar PV project of 25 MegaWatt on the reservoir of its Simhadri thermal station in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. This is also the first solar project to be set up under the Flexibilisation Scheme, notified by the Government of India in 2018.The Power Ministry said, the floating solar installation has a unique anchoring design which is spread over 75 acres. This floating solar project has the potential to generate electricity from more than one lakh solar PV modules.The Ministry said, this will not only help to light around seven thousand households but also ensure at least 46 thousand tons of carbon dioxide is not emitted every year during the lifespan of this project.

-Central Board of Direct Taxes, CBDT has issued refunds of over 49 thousand 696 crore rupees to more than 22 lakh 75 thousand taxpayers between 1st of April to 16th of August this year.In a tweet, Income tax India said, the income tax refunds of 14 thousand 608 crore rupees have been issued in over 21 lakh 50 thousand cases and corporate tax refunds of 35 thousand 88 crore rupees have been issued in over one lakh 24 thousand cases.

-Indian startups got 16.9 billion dollars of venture capital funding in 2021, according to the leading data and analytics company, GlobalData.The company said, despite the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic looming large and slow economic recovery, venture capital investors seem to be reposing faith in the Indian startup ecosystem.An analysis of GlobalData’s financial deals database reveals that a total of 828 VC funding deals were announced in India during January to July 2021.

-Assam will start rolling out benefits under One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme from Monday.Talking to newspersons in Guwahati, state Food , Civil Supply and Consumer Affairs minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass said that over 2 crore 50 lakh families would be benefited under this scheme.The minister urged the beneficiaries to come forward and get their ration cards linked with their Aadhaar as without the seeding, they will not be eligible to get food grains and other items under. ONORC. He said Aadhaar seeding of ration cards of only 10.7 per cent beneficiaries and 28.3 per cent ration cards have been completed in the state so far. Cent per cent digitisation of ration cards, covering all 2.5 crore beneficiaries in the state, has been completed, he added. The ONORC is a flagship scheme of the Central government that allows eligible beneficiaries to avail food grains they are entitled to under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) from any fair price shop (FPS) across the country.The minister further said Aadhaar generation in the state is 68.9 per cent currently and 100 per cent coverage is targeted by October this year.