Fruit bats identified as source of Nipah virus spread
Thiruvananthapuram, July 3: Fruit bats were the source of Nipah virus which created havoc in Kerala's Kozhikode in May according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), an official said on Tuesday.
Kerala Health Secretary Rajiv Sadanandan said that tests of the first batch of 21 bats were were negative, but the second set of tests done on 55 fruit bats from Kozhikode confirmed that the nocturnal mammals were behind the spread.
Sadanandan told IANS that Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda on Tuesday confirmed the latest test results.
At least 13 people died and more than 2,000 were kept under observation when the virus struck in May. Most of them were from Kozhikode district and some from Malappuram.
Even when the final green signal came from Kerala health authorities that the fear of the spread has been contained, the source of the virus outbreak was yet to be ascertained.
The ICMR is the country's premier body engaged in formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research.
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Sensex, Nifty nosedive over 5 percent in early trade in tandem with global markets meltdown
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Mumbai (PTI): Stock market benchmark indices went into a tailspin in early trade on Monday, with the Sensex and Nifty crashing over 5 percent, mirroring a sharp fall in global equities, after US President Donald Trump's tariff hikes and retaliation from China fanned fears that a full-blown trade war will impact economic growth across the globe.
The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex crashed 3,939.68 points or 5.22 percent to 71,425.01 in early trade. The NSE Nifty tumbled 1,160.8 points or 5.06 percent to 21,743.65.
All the Sensex firms were trading in the negative territory. Tata Steel dropped over 8 percent, followed by Tata Motors which cracked more than 7 per cent. HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries were the other big laggards.
In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng tanked nearly 11 percent, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 plunged nearly 7 percent, Shanghai SSE Composite index dropped over 6 percent and South Korea's Kospi index sank 5 percent.
US markets ended sharply lower on Friday. The S&P 500 plummeted 5.97 percent, Nasdaq composite slumped 5.82 percent and the Dow tumbled 5.50 percent on Friday.
"Both China and Japan index declined by 10 percent and 8 percent, respectively. This escalates the stakes in the ongoing trade war and raises concerns about a potential global recession that could affect everyone. On Friday, the US S&P 500 dropped by 6 percent, and the Dow Jones fell more than 2,000 points, marking its worst week since the COVID-19 crisis. This came after China announced it would impose reciprocal 34 percent tariffs on all US imports starting April 10," Vikas Jain, Head of Research at Reliance Securities, said.
The sharp increase in tariffs by both the US and China could lead to higher inflation, slower global growth, and intensify trade tensions, he added.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,483.98 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude dropped 2.74 percent to USD 63.78 a barrel.
On Friday, the Sensex tumbled 930.67 points or 1.22 percent to settle at 75,364.69. The Nifty declined 345.65 points or 1.49 percent to close at 22,904.45.
Last week, the Sensex tanked 2,050.23 points or 2.64 percent, while the NSE Nifty declined 614.8 points or 2.61 percent.
