Dalai Lama takes first dose, appeals to get Covid-19 jab (Lead)
Dharamsala, March 6 (IANS) Appealing to get themselves vaccinated, Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who is revered as a 'living god', on Saturday took his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in a state-run hospital near his residence here in Himachal Pradesh, doctors said.
After getting the jab, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Laureate thanked the Central and the state governments for facilitating him to get the jab at the Zonal Hospital in Dharamsala.
He appealed to all eligible, especially 'patients', to come forward and get themselves vaccinated for the greater benefit. "This is very important so I took that and I want to share that more people should have the courage to take this injection."
"According to my trusted friends, including doctors, they suggest I should take this injection. In order to prevent some serious problem, this injection is very helpful and good. So those other patients should take this injection for greater benefit."
The 14th Dalai Lama was born on July 6, 1935, in a small village in the remote Amdo region of Tibet.
The Tibetan administration in exile is based in the north Indian hill town of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh.
--IANS
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UK's Covid 'R' number remains below 1
London, March 6 (IANS) The UK's coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the R number, remains still below one, the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) has announced.
This week's R number falls between 0.7 and 0.9, largely unchanged from last week's, which was between 0.6 and 0.9, Xinhua news agency quoted the group as saying on Friday.
The figures mean that on average, every 10 people infected with coronavirus will infect between seven and nine others.
If the R number is above one, it means the coronavirus outbreak is growing exponentially.
"Although the epidemic continues to decrease nationally, there may be more variation in transmission locally, with some indications that the rate of decline in infections could be slowing in some areas," the government's Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M) said in a statement.
Health officials also warned that the number of people infected in England is still high compared to last summer, when just one in 2,000 people had the virus.
The current Covid-19 growth rate in the UK is estimated to be between minus 5 per cent and minus 3 per cent, which means the number of new infections is shrinking by between 3 per cent and 5 per cent every day.
Last week it was between minus 6 per cent and minus 2 per cent.
England is currently under the third national lockdown since outbreak of the pandemic in the country.
Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
On February 22, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his long-anticipated "roadmap" exiting the lockdown.
Schools in England will reopen on March 8 as first part of the four-step plan, which Johnson said was designed to be "cautious but irreversible".
--IANS
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Matteo Pellicone wrestling: Sarita bags silver in 57kg
Rome, March 6 (IANS) Asian champion Sarita Mor settled for silver in the women's 57kg category of the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series wrestling after going down to Giullia Rodrigues of Brazil 2-4 in the final here.
India's Anshu missed bronze after Italian Rancesca Indelicato defeated her in the semi-finals in the 57kg category (via an injury rule).
Sarita, 25, clinched the 59kg gold at the Asian Championship in Delhi last year. She is a seven-time national champion.
In the men's category, Kuldeep Malik won bronze in the Greco-Roman 72kg category, after going down to Chingiz Labazanov of Russia 0-10.
In the 130kg Greco-Roman semi-finals, Naveen defeated Stepan David of Czech Republic to clinch bronze.
In the 63kg category, Neeraj beat Samuel Jones of the USA 6-4 to bag bronze.
Overall, the Indian Greco-Roman team finished fifth with 82 points.
Russia finished on top with 175 points, followed by Hungary (145), Turkey (136), and Kazakhstan (134 points).
--IANS
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Petrol, diesel prices steady even as crude boils
New Delhi, March 6 (IANS) Oil marketing companies have spared consumers of yet another petrol and diesel price hike even though the global oil market is on the boil with crude reaching within touching distance of year-high-level of $70 a barrel.
Petrol continues to be priced at Rs 91.17 a litre and diesel Rs 81.47 a litre in the capital on Saturday. Across the country too, the petrol and diesel price remained unchanged.
This is seventh consecutive day when pump prices of auto fuels have remains unchanged.
After a spike in global oil prices seen over last two weeks with crude price jumping close to $67 a barrel, prices had fallen to around $63 a barrel but it rose again to cross $69 a barrel mark now after after the OPEC+ decision to continue with crude production cut in April.
Petrol and diesel prices have been rising continuously since February 9. In the 14 increases since then, price have gone up by Rs 4.22 per litre for petrol while diesel rate has risen by Rs 4.34 a litre in Delhi.
The increase in the previous weeks has taken petrol to cross historic high levels of Rs 100 a litre in several cities across the country.
The petrol and diesel prices have increased 26 times in 2021 with the two auto fuels increasing by Rs 7.46 and Rs 7.60 per litre, respectively so far this year.
Oil companies executives said that petrol and diesel prices may increase further in coming days as retail prices may have to be balanced in line with global developments to prevent OMCs from making loss on sale of auto fuels.
--IANS
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