Author: Starvision News Desk

United Nations, Sept 18 (IANS) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday renewed his call for the reform of the “outdated, dysfunctional and unfair” World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and for a $500 billion stimulus fund for the world organisation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Speaking at the opening of the SDG Summit, Guterressaid that in the dark global scenario of “people crushed under the grinding wheels of poverty”, climate change and conflict, the SDGs “carry the hopes, dreams, rights and expectations of people everywhere”.The faltering SDGs — the 17 lofty goals hoping to cure the world’s ills from poverty…

San Francisco, Sep 18 (IANS) Billionaire Elon Musk, who is still toying with the idea to establish a Tesla factory in India, is in early talks with South Arabia to build a new EV manufacturing facility there, a report claimed on Monday. The Tesla CEO, however, denied any such talks.According to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources, Saudi Arabia is in talks with Tesla about setting up a manufacturing facility in the country.This is part of an ambitious push by the oil-rich nation “to secure metals needed for electric vehicles and help diversify its economy away from oil”.However, any deal…

Athens, Sep 18 (IANS) Five members of a Greek humanitarian mission to Libya were killed and 10 others injured in a car accident, Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said here on Monday, expressing condolences and declaring a three-day period of mourning in the Armed Forces.The incident occurred on Sunday shortly after the 19-member team arrived in Benghazi. A bus transporting them from Benghazi to the city of Derna to assist in the wake of devastating floods collided with another vehicle, defence ministry officials said.Three of the dead were officers of the Hellenic Armed Forces and two were translators from the…

San Francisco, Sep 18 (IANS) Exposure to certain endocrine-disrupting chemicals like PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) and BPA (phenols) found in everyday use products like plastics, nonstick cookware, dyes and may be playing a role in cancers of the breast, ovary, skin and uterus in women, suggests a study.PFAS is referred to as “forever chemicals” and has contaminated water, food and people through products such as Teflon pans, waterproof clothing, stain-resistant carpets and fabrics, and food packaging.While it does not prove that exposure to chemicals like PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) and phenols (including BPA) led to these cancer diagnoses,…

New York, Sep 18 (IANS) United Auto Workers (UAW) union and the Big 3 auto companies were set to resume talks on Sunday, being seemingly no closer to reaching deals than they were when autoworkers went on strike on Friday.The union has rejected an offer from US automaker Stellantis to increase workers’ wages by 21 per cent, Shawn Fain, head of UAW said on Sunday.”I don’t really want to say we’re closer,” he said. “It’s a shame that the companies didn’t take our advice and get down to business from the beginning.”Rather than focusing on one company as it has…

Tokyo, Sep 18 (IANS) Cancer patients face a risk approximately 1.8 times higher of taking their own lives within two years of diagnosis compared to the general population, a survey by a research team with the Japanese health ministry has found.The team emphasised the importance of early intervention for suicide prevention in cancer patients, according to the report released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which highlighted that the shorter the time elapsed since diagnosis, the higher the suicide risks.The study analysed data from about 1.07 million individuals diagnosed with cancer in 2016. Over a span of two…

Lucknow, Sep 18 (IANS) All the 1,242 private hospitals in Uttar Pradesh empanelled for giving treatment to patients under Ayushman Bharat scheme, have been allowed ‘green payment channel’.The hospitals will thus get 50 per cent of their claim amount as soon as they submit the bill, but it will remain under watch for any default and they will face action for the same.“With green channel there also comes artificial intelligence to watch erroneous billing. There are several parameters that have been brought in to check every bill via artificial intelligence and mark them red in case of any discrepancy,” said Sangeeta…

Toronto, Sep 18 (IANS) One hospital bed is roughly equivalent to the carbon footprint of five Canadian households, according to a first-of-its-kind study to calculate the environmental footprint of hospitals.Carbon footprint refers to the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) that are generated by our actions.Researchers from the University of Waterloo studied a hospital in British Columbia during its 2019 fiscal year and identified energy and water use and purchasing of medical products as the hospital’s primary hotspots, accounting for over half of the yearly footprint, totalling 3500-5000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent.For the study,…

New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) Amid recent surge in Covid-19 cases globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said it is “willing” to send another mission to China to probe the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus’ origin, if the country will cooperate, according to a media report.WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged Beijing to offer more information on the origins of Covid-19, the Financial Times reported.“We’re pressing China to give full access, and we are asking countries to raise it during their bilateral meetings — (to urge Beijing) to cooperate,” Ghebreyesus was quoted as saying to FT.“We have already asked in writing…

New York, Sep 18 (IANS) Two people in the US, who underwent lung transplantation, have been infected with a deadly bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Legionnaires disease is a severe pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria. Comorbidities, including recent organ transplantation, increase the risk for infection.The CDC in its latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) detailed two cases of Legionnaires disease from Pennsylvania in June 2022 in patients who received a lung transplant from the same donor.The donor, a man aged 30-39 years, died after drowning in a river, raising suspicion of potential donor-derived transmission, because…