An international team, including scientists of Indian origin, has identified 69 drugs and experimental compounds which may be effective in treating COVD-19.

According to the researchers, some of the medications are already used to treat diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, and repurposing them to treat COVID-19 may be faster than trying to invent a new vaccine.

In the new study, published on the pre-print website bioRxiv, the scientists investigated 26 of the 29 coronavirus genes, which direct production of the viral proteins.

“The team took a different approach, targeting host proteins, not viral proteins. 26 out of 29 SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins were studied in human cells to find out what human proteins they interact with,” Gina T Nguyen, Assistant Director of Communications & Events, Quantitative Biosciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the US, told PTI in an email.

Around 332 human proteins were found to interact with the SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins, the researchers, including Advait Subramanian, Srivats Venkataramanan, and Jyoti Batra, all from UCSF, said.

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India’s central bank and major lenders are considering shutting down most branches across the country to prevent tens of thousands of employees from getting infected with the coronavirus, four sources familiar with the plan told Reuters.

India is still very much a cash society and banks have been exempted from a 21-day lockdown that began this week as they are considered an essential service.

Under the plan, in major cities there would likely be only one bank open every five kilometres, the sources said, declining to be identified as it has not yet been publicly disclosed.

In the countryside, where 70% of people live and often rely only on cash, banks will likely operate on alternate days and redeploy staff to only allow disbursal of welfare cash to the poor, one of the sources said.

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India and the US are working together on combating the deadly coronavirus and collaboration is underway in the areas of diagnostics and therapeutics of the disease, which so far has taken the lives of more than 20,000 people globally, according to the Indian envoy here.

The deadly coronavirus that first emerged in China’s Wuhan city has drastically spread around the world, infecting 471,518 people and causing 21,293 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker.

“In the present context of COVID-19 pandemic, close collaboration in the areas of diagnostics and therapeutics of the disease is underway, India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu told PTI.

ALSO READ: Wall Street bonuses to plunge 30%, layoffs likely as Covid-19 hits markets

“India and the United States have had a long-standing productive partnership in the healthcare sector, especially between the research institutions and industries of both countries, he said.

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The coronovirus pandemic has brought civil society to a grinding halt. While cases in Iran and Italy have blown up, India is still managing to contain the spread. Critics say that is because enough people aren’t being tested. This is set to change as the government recently allowed more laboratories to conduct tests for Covid-19.

As new cases come to the fore, one of the prime necessities is to determine the patient’s activity over the past two weeks. The people the infected person came in contact with at the various places he or she visited are then tested for potential contamination and put on quarantine.

The problem is that one gets to know very late whether he or she is a carrier of the virus.

Nav Chatterji, a New Delhi-based technologist, has come up with a solution. He is rolling out an app that will track a user’s location history over the past 14 days, with the capability to present the data in a readable list-like format.

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Apple has lifted purchase limits on its phones, tablets and laptops for customers outside China, the media reported.

The company last week imposed a purchase limits across several of its products, reports MacRumors.

The new MacBook Air and Mac mini were limited to five orders per customer, the new iPad Pro was limited to two 11-inch models per customer and two 12.9-inch models per customer, and iPhones were limited to two of each model per customer.

Meanwhile, some purchase limits have yet to be lifted in China.

The restrictions were imposed to better manage the demand-supply ratio following a slowdown in production due to factory shutdowns in China.

Additionally, Apple is still on course to launch a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a mini-LED display later this year.

A new supply chain report says that Apple will utilize mini LED in an iPad Pro and the source further claims that this is only the start of Apple adopting this display technology, as the company aims to increasingly deploy it over the next five years.

Amazon has finally introduced Netflix-like user profiles for its Prime Video audience. The feature is currently limited to certain countries and is rolling out to users gradually, reports XDA Developers.

With this new feature, up to six different profiles can be created, letting users track their viewing progress, manage watch lists, and receive personalized recommendations.

Kid profiles can also be added which may prohibit content that is deemed unsafe for children under 12.

As per report, out of the six profiles, there needs to be at least one adult (admin profile) while the rest can either be profiles for kids under 12 years of age or adults.

A new profile can be created either through the Prime Video’s app or the web browser by tapping on the “My Stuff” button and then the “+” icon in the drop-down menu.

Amazon along with Netflix, YouTube and Apple has reduced the streaming quality in Europe in order to lessen the load on broadband networks.

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Over the past few weeks, Medimix, the low-key medicinal soap brand that was once the staple of budget hotels and rail travel has found itself thrust into the limelight. Born and sold as a cure for skin ailments, the brand that turned 50 last year has never seen such a massive crush at its shelves. So much so that the company is struggling to keep up with demand.

Medimix is owned by two companies. Cholayil in the North run by the son of founder V P Sidhan, who is said to have mixed herbs and oils on his kitchen counter to make a medicinal mix and then named the soap thus, and AVA, in the South, owned by his son-in-law. Although the two are run as separate businesses, they share the brand name. And while Ava has seen a huge surge in demand, for Cholayil, there is a perceptible shift in the way the brand is being perceived.

A V Anoop, managing director, AVA Group says demand for the products, especially for hand wash (liquid soap) has increased by nearly 25 per cent. “The growth came as sweet surprise for the segment, which was de-growing,” he said.

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Mukesh Ambani promoted Reliance Industries on Monday announced an initial support of Rs 5 crore to the state’s chief minister relief fund. In addition, the company looks to ramp up production of face masks and other personal protective equipments (PPEs) for the health care sector, to aid India’s battle with Covid-19.

The firm looks to boost its production capacities to produce 100,000 face-masks a day and a large number of personal protective equipments (PPEs), such as suits and garments. Through Reliance Life Sciences, the group has also started importing additional test kits and consumables for effective testing.

In its statement, the company added, Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital in collaboration with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has set up a dedicated 100-bedded centre at Seven Hills Hospital, Mumbai for patients who test positive for Covid-19. The statement said RIL has built a fully-equipped isolation unit in Lodhivali, Maharashtra and handed it over to the district authorities.

Among other aid extended, RIL fuel retail outlets will offer free fuel to emergency services, run for COVID-19 patients and those quarantined. Part of the organized retail business, the company looks to offer free home delivery service for groceries for senior citizens.

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From being a brand that has traditionally associated luxury with wealth and framed itself within a class-led social hierarchical system, Mercedes Benz is looking to define itself afresh, for its millennial buyers. With a new campaign Mercedes Benz wants the young to be ‘restless for tomorrow’ or in other words, pull the brand off their wish lists and drop it into the purchase cart.

Santosh Iyer, vice president, sales and marketing at Mercedes Benz India says “One clear insight from the market research was the spirit of restlessness. It’s not about been-there-done-that any more. People are constantly challenging themselves, be it a start-up or an established business. They aren’t averse to risks.” The company’s market research indicated that new buyers are unlikely follow the traditional purchase route that used to be to first buy a mass market model and then upgrade to a luxury brand.

Iyer says that close to 10 per cent of auto buyers are those that are straight away buying a luxury car and have never owned a car before. And, he adds, Mercedes is enticing buyers to own the car they always aspired for, today, instead of an indeterminate future in a yet undefined salary slab.

A greater digital thrust has helped the company understand its customers better. The company said that it had been prioritising digital when devising a communication, sales and retail strategy and has, over the years, increased its digital spend though it is still lower than traditional mass media channels. It has collaborated with Facebook, LinkedIn and other partners to know its buyers and has an integrated CRM platform that gives marketing, sales, commerce, and service, a single, shared view of every customer.

Focusing on the numbers has helped. For instance, the company took cue from the growing share of female buyers in its sales gender mix and by targeting its marketing efforts, managed to double the share of female buyers in its mix. Women made for 16-17 per cent in Mercedes’s total sales in 2019 as compared to the previous year.

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Hydroxychloroquine, a drug whose largest manufacturer is an Indian firm, has shot into the limelight after the US president advocated it as potential therapy for COVID-19.

Ipca is the biggest producer of the drug. Cadila Healthcare, based in Ahmedabad, too is a major player. Both are gearing up to meet the demand and have said there will be enough supplies.

On top of this, a combination hydroxychloroquine and azithro­mycin, a common antibiotic, is being considered.

Vadodara-based drug major Alembic is the domestic market leader with its brand Azithral, with an almost 30 per cent share.

Sources said the country’s apex health research body, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), had included the drug in its protocol for treating COVID-19. The ICMR, however, has not confirmed this.

Pankaj Patel, chairman of Cadila Healthcare, said the firm was producing 20 tonnes of Hydroxy­chloroquine per month, and had started ramping up production.

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