Milind Lakkad, EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at Tata Consultancy Services. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest IT services exporter, has reached pre-pandemic levels on the percentage of employees working from offices, a top official has said.

Admitting that it took longer than expected, the Tata Group company’s chief of human resources Milind Lakkad said the levels have been achieved after 18 months of “hard” efforts. “We actually have come to the point where we believe we are coming back to almost the same levels as we were pre-pandemic times,” Mr. Lakkad told PTI.

Stating that “it is kind of a business as usual” for the company employing over 6 lakh people, he said TCS will not track this metric as much in the next couple of quarters.

The number of employees working from offices for five days a week is higher than the 70% it had previously announced, he said, without giving a figure.

It can be noted that the pandemic-induced lockdowns resulted in the entire IT industry’s staff delivering work from their homes, but companies, who look at working from offices as more virtuous because of the team building, mentoring, culture deepening aspects, have struggled to get them back to workplaces.

TCS reported a marginal decline in the number of women employees at 35.5% as of June this year, but Mr. Lakkad said this is not an aspect of concern for the company and added that it has a slew of policies and measures in place before the pandemic itself wherein it has been flexible as an organisation to take care of employees’ needs.

On hiring, involuntary attrition

Mr. Lakkad declined to specifically answer if it will close the fiscal year 2024-25 by hiring 40,000 freshers. Likewise, when asked if it will close the fiscal on a positive number on the net hiring front ‘last year saw a decline in staffage amid business volatilities, he declined to give a specific answer.

To a question on whether the incidence of involuntary attrition has gone up as the company becomes more rigorous in assessing its employees, he said such an eventuality is not a core part of its HR strategy.

When a resource is hired, the company feels it is its responsibility to ensure that the talent is productive, he said, adding that it is only when there are skill mismatches over a period of time or productivity issues even after attempts are mounted to improve, that it resorts to involuntary attrition.

Meanwhile, amid a raging national controversy following the integrity of professional examinations, Mr. Lakkad said the focus on governance and ethics would have to continue, adding that technology can offer solutions to avoid instances of people gaming the system by helping in assessments and background verifications.

On SBI’s disclosure that 80% of its fresher hires are qualified engineers, Mr. Lakkad said the country was producing a huge number of engineers yearly and TCS does not see any concerns from a talent availability standpoint.

With the TCS management calling expanding on utilisation as a key metric to grow its profit margins, Mr. Lakkad said there still exists the headroom of a few percentage points to grow the number but made it clear that it will not “take it to the brim” and continue to have sufficient bench strength.

New Delhi:

About one in 10 women who acquire COVID-19 infection during pregnancy are likely to suffer longer from long-term COVID symptoms like fatigue, gastrointestinal issues, and feeling drained in routine life, finds a study.

COVID acquired during pregnancy is known to be much more dangerous as it can lead to stillbirths and preterm births.

The study, published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, included 1,500 participants who already had Covid during pregnancy and reported the symptoms after six months.

Of these 9.3 per cent of people reported experiencing long-term symptoms. These included fatigue, gastrointestinal issues, and feeling drained or exhausted by routine activities.

“This is an important study for the pregnancy and postpartum times are the most vulnerable and this study gives insights on the linkage between Covid and pregnancy,” said Dr David Goff, division director for the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, US.

The researchers also called on obstetricians “to be vigilant” because the symptoms of long-term COVID can overlap with the symptoms of pregnancy itself.

To ensure that the reported long Covid symptoms weren’t symptoms of pregnancy, a secondary study was done on people who reported symptoms more than 12 weeks after giving birth. The results confirmed the findings.

As the prevalence of long Covid in pregnant populations is high the researchers called on health practitioners to keep an eye out for its symptoms.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Geneva:

Covid-19 is still killing around 1,700 people a week around the world, the World Health Organization said Thursday, as it urged at-risk populations to keep up with their vaccinations against the disease.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus sounded a warning on declining vaccine coverage.

Despite the continued death count, “data show that vaccine coverage has declined among health workers and people over 60, which are two of the most at-risk groups,” the UN health agency’s chief told a press conference.

“WHO recommends that people in the highest-risk groups receive a Covid-19 vaccine within 12 months of their last dose.”

More than seven million Covid deaths have been reported to the WHO, though the true count of the pandemic is thought to be far higher.

Covid-19 also shredded economies and crippled health systems.

Tedros declared an end to Covid-19 as an international public health emergency in May 2023, more than three years on from when the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.

The WHO has urged governments to maintain virus surveillance and sequencing, and to ensure access to affordable and reliable tests, treatments and vaccines.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

US Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff recently tested positive for Covid-19, the latter’s office has announced.

In a statement on Sunday, Emhoff’s Communications Director Liza Acevedo said the Second Gentleman on Saturday tested positive for Covid-19 after experiencing mild symptoms.

“He is fully vaccinated and three times boosted,” she said, adding that the Second Gentleman is “currently asymptomatic, continuing to work remotely, and remaining away from others at home”.

“Out of an abundance of caution, yesterday (on Saturday), the Vice President was tested for Covid-19. She tested negative and remains asymptomatic,” Acevedo said.

Emhoff was photographed at the White House standing near Harris, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden during the Independence Day celebration on Thursday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A survey-based study by ICMR was held between July and September 2022 involving 600 adult participants

A small survey-based study held between July and September 2022 involving 600 adult participants from two blocks in Gorakhpur district in Uttar Pradesh has found that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among the participants was around 12%. This included those participants who were not vaccinated or had only received only one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine during the period of study; the study did not include those who were fully vaccinated. Of the 600 participants, 524 (87.3%) had taken only one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while the remaining 76 respondents (12.7%) did not get vaccinated at the time the survey was conducted. By the end of September 2022, while 900 million people were fully vaccinated with two doses, nearly one-fourth of the total population were not vaccinated with even one dose. The study was conducted by ICMR institutes and published on May 9 this year in the journal PLOS ONE.

The authors used three public health behaviour models — Health belief model (HBM), Theory of planned behaviour (TPB), and 5C Psychological antecedents of vaccination — and employed regression models to assess the level of vaccine hesitancy and predictive health behaviour of the respondents.

The two blocks selected for the study were Charganwa, which represented the highest vaccination coverage area among the five blocks in Gorakhpur district, and Bhathat block, which had the lowest coverage area for the COVID-19 vaccination. This low vaccination coverage was “more prominent” among the rural households, while the urban households reported high vaccination coverage.

While only 9% of the participants who had taken only one dose of the vaccine were hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccines available at the time, vaccine hesitancy was the main reason why nearly 33% of people did not take even one dose and remained completely unvaccinated. The study also found that vaccine hesitancy was comparatively higher among people older than 65 years (27.3%), men (13.2%), people who were married (12.5%), those low levels of education — below primary level (21.2%), and those with no education (18%), and finally those employed in the formal sector (27.2%). Also, people belonging to the general caste (21.2%) and those with older family members (16.1%) exhibited higher vaccine hesitancy. The most surprising finding of the study was that at nearly 16% and 14.2%, participants who regularly consumed alcohol and tobacco in any form, respectively had higher vaccine hesitancy than their counterparts.

The study found that vaccine hesitancy was less when people received information about vaccines from family members, friends, relatives, and health workers, whereas mass media and social media being the source of information led to higher vaccine hesitancy. “The findings confirmed the menace of fake news and misinformation created by social media and mass media,” they write. Being misinformed or taken in by fake news might be one reason why 61% of the participants believed that COVID-19 vaccination could lead to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Another important finding of the study was that 351 participants (63.5%) were afraid of the side effects of the vaccine, with 300 participants (85.5%) being scared of the primary side effects. If vaccine hesitancy due to fear of “primary side effects” was 6.3%, it was nearly 26% in the case of serious side effects. Vaccine hesitancy was higher among those who did not know about the effectiveness of the vaccine and were either suffering from some chronic ailments. The study also found a link between vaccine hesitancy and the practice of COVID-19 prevention strategies. For instance, vaccine hesitancy was higher among people who did not regularly practice handwashing behaviour (32.1%), did not wear a mask in public or when surrounded by people (28.7%), and avoided crowds (27.9%).

The study found that vaccine hesitancy was almost three-fourths less among those who either agreed or strongly agreed about the perceived benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine. “It shows that awareness of the perceived benefits of the vaccination would reduce the level of vaccine hesitancy. These individuals believed that after getting the vaccine, the risk of getting the COVID-19 infection would be low, with a lesser risk of severity. The results support previous studies that emphasised awareness campaigns among individuals was beneficial,” the authors write.

“From the future policy perspective, this study suggests that addressing the issue of ‘negative attitudes towards the vaccine’ and increasing the trust or confidence for the vaccine through increasing awareness about the benefits of the vaccination in India may reduce vaccine hesitancy,” they write. “It would be beneficial for the government to consider taking proactive measures to launch mass awareness campaigns at various levels, including individuals, locals, and communities, to address vaccine hesitancy.”

Washington:

The U.S. Treasury on Tuesday sanctioned three Chinese individuals and three Thai companies for involvement in a cybercrime network that it said made bomb threats and fraudulent applications for COVID-related aid, costing the government billions of dollars.

The individuals and the Thai-based companies were sanctioned for activities related to 911 S5 botnet, a service that compromised computers and resulted in cybercrimes being traced back to victims’ computers instead of the perpetrators’ devices, the Treasury said.

“These individuals leveraged their malicious botnet technology to compromise personal devices, enabling cybercriminals to fraudulently secure economic assistance intended for those in need and to terrorize our citizens with bomb threats,” said the Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson.

The IP addresses compromised were linked to a number of bomb threats made across the United States in July 2022, according to the release.

Reuters was not immediately able to seek comment from the sanctioned entities or individuals.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Geneva:

Negotiations on a landmark global agreement on handling future pandemics ended Friday without a deal — though countries said they wanted to keep pushing for an accord.

Scarred by the devastation caused by Covid-19 — which killed millions of people, shredded economies and crippled health systems — countries have spent two years trying to hammer out binding commitments on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

The talks gathered momentum in the final weeks, but failed to meet a final deadline before next week’s World Health Assembly — the annual gathering of the World Health Organization’s 194 member states.

“This is not a failure,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted as the talks ended at the UN health agency’s headquarters in Geneva.

He urged countries to see it as a “good opportunity to re-energise”.

“The world still needs a pandemic treaty and the world needs to be prepared,” he commented.

‘We’re not finished’

The assembly, which runs from Monday until June 1, will take stock and decide what to do next.

The talks co-chairs Roland Driece and Precious Matsoso told AFP that countries clearly wanted to reach a final agreement.

“It’s not the end,” stressed Matsoso, noting that the same ministers who decided they wanted a pandemic agreement would be the ones deciding on the next steps.

“They are the ones who are going to say, ‘OK, you haven’t finished this. Please go back, finalise it’,” she said.

Driece said the draft they would send to the assembly was “not an agreed document, but it is a document — and we started with a blank sheet of paper. With nothing.”

“I would think it would be very stupid if they would not finish this,” he said.

After arm-twisting, horse-trading and 3:00 am finishes as the talks ramped up, Matsoso said 17 pages out of 32 had been fully agreed by countries.

Sticking points

“It’s clearly a pause. Most member states want to carry on and lock in the gains,” an Asian diplomat in the talks told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“We’re not yet there with the text we have on the table. The big question is, what will it take for the north and the south to get to convergence? It needs time.”

The main disputes revolved around access to pathogens detected within countries, and to pandemic-fighting products such as vaccines derived from that knowledge.

Other tricky topics were sustainable financing, pathogen surveillance, supply chains, and the equitable distribution of tests, treatments and jabs but also the means to produce them.

“The best thing is to have a good, inclusive text. Whether that is now or later doesn’t matter,” one African negotiator told AFP. 

“We want to continue the process. We really want this text.”

Steadfast commitment

As the talks closed, countries who took the floor stressed their commitment.

US negotiator Pamela Hamamoto said: “I’m glad that we have the draft text to show for the work that we have done together.”

Ethiopia said African countries “remain steadfast”; Britain said there was “real progress”, while the European Union remained “entirely committed” to bringing the talks to fruition.

Bangladesh still wants to deliver a “successful result that will serve humanity”, while Indonesia said “we should continue until it finishes”.

Parallel talks took place on revising the International Health Regulations, which were first adopted in 1969 and last updated in 2005.

The IHR talks outcome will also be presented at next week’s assembly.

The regulations provide a legal framework defining countries’ rights and obligations in handling public health events and emergencies that could cross borders.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

File picture of a nurse holding vials of AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19
| Photo Credit: AP

AstraZeneca said on Tuesday it had initiated the worldwide withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine due to a “surplus of available updated vaccines” since the pandemic.

The company also said it would proceed to withdraw the vaccine Vaxzevria’s marketing authorisations within Europe.

ALSO READ | AstraZeneca’s submission in U.K. court nothing new, say doctors over Covishield’s potential to cause blood clots

“As multiple, variant COVID-19 vaccines have since been developed there is a surplus of available updated vaccines,” the company said, adding that this had led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied.

According to media reports, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker has previously admitted in court documents that the vaccine causes side-effects such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts.

The firm’s application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 and came into effect on May 7, according to the Telegraph, which first reported the development.

London-listed AstraZeneca began moving into respiratory syncytial virus vaccines and obesity drugs through several deals last year after a slowdown in growth as COVID-19 medicine sales declined.

“In 2020, deaths around the world rose by 10.8% compared to 2019, and in 2021, they rose by 7.5% relative to 2020.”
| Photo Credit: Reuters

COVID-19 (coronavirus) replaced stroke to become the second-leading cause of death globally in 2021, causing 94 deaths per one lakh population and slashing life expectancy by 1.6 years, an international research published in The Lancet journal has found.

“Disrupting more than three decades of consistent improvements in life expectancy and deaths, COVID-19 reversed this long-standing progress to emerge as “one of the most defining global health events of recent history,” researchers said.

“In 2020, deaths around the world rose by 10.8% compared to 2019, and in 2021, they rose by 7.5% relative to 2020. Death rates too followed a similar trend, rising by 8.1% in 2020 and an additional 5.2% in 2021,” the study estimated.

“Globally, COVID-19 and related deaths were responsible for slashing life expectancy by 1.6 years between 2019 and 2021, even as reduced deaths from infections, stroke, and of newborns, among others, had helped steadily enhance life expectancy between 1990 and 2019,” the researchers found.

“India lost 1.9 years of life expectancy due to COVID-19, resulting in a net gain of 7.9 years of life expectancy between 1990 and 2021,” the study showed. “COVID-19 had a pronounced influence on the reduction in global life expectancy that occurred,” the authors wrote.

The researchers forming the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Causes of Death Collaborators estimated mortality and years of life lost from 288 causes of death across 204 countries and territories for every year from 1990 until 2021. Region-wise, death rates from COVID-19 were the highest in the sub-Saharan Africa.

“In Latin America and the Caribbean, it was at 271 per one lakh population and almost 200 deaths per one lakh population, respectively. The rate was the lowest in southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania at around 23 deaths per one lakh population,” the researchers estimated.

“The impact of COVID-19 on life expectancy was found to be wide-ranging in severity, with Andean Latin America seeing a loss of 4.9 years and the southern sub-Saharan Africa seeing a reduction of 3.4 years, to the east Asia, which witnessed almost no change,” they said in the study.

“The leading cause of death worldwide in 2021 continues to be ischaemic heart disease, as was the case in 2019 and 1990,” the researchers found. The disease is caused by a reduced blood flow to a certain body part due to clotting or constricting blood vessels.

Stroke, at the third position amongst the top five causes of death, was found to be followed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at fourth, and other pandemic-related mortality at fifth. COPD is a lung condition usually seen to affect heavy smokers.

The GBD study, providing “latest comprehensive estimates of cause-specific mortality,” gives insights about the global landscape of disease before and during the first two years of the pandemic, revealing changes in disease-burden patterns that followed, according to the researchers, coordinated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington, U.S.

“Combination therapy is the new buzz word as customers are getting much better results.”
| Photo Credit: G. Ramakrishna

The interventional aesthetic industry is continuing to register the positive trend seen in the market post-COVID-19 said Lior Dayan, CEO of Alma Lasers, among leading companies world-wide in the aesthetic and surgical markets. 

He added that the bounce in the industry has been maintained by people actively wanting to feel and look better. 

“The post-COVID growth and use of combination therapy are the key trends that we are registering,” he said speaking to The Hindu at the two-day Alma Academy conference in Barcelona which concluded earlier this week.

“Combination therapy is the new buzz word as customers are getting much better results when techniques and technologies are used together to provide wellness and care,” he explained.

The conference saw the participation of dermatologists, aesthetic doctors, cosmetic surgeons, and plastic surgeons from several countries including India, the U.K., Australia, and the U.S.A. Workshops and lectures on key skin care topics including use of Energy Based Device for scar removal, discussion of challenging cases from round the global etc were the highlights of the conference.

“Alma, as part of the Sisram group offers a complete ecosystem for high-end aesthetic and wellness solutions, including injectables, skincare, aesthetics and digital dentistry and home-use devices. In future the company plans to bring in this ecosystem for wellness to its users,” said Mr. Dayan.

The company which is a provider in the aesthetic and surgical markets, offering laser, light-based RF, plasma, and ultrasound technologies is also expanding its market.

Speaking about it venture into newer markets including China and Japan, Mr. Dayan noted that India too is an important market in the region. 

“With the growth in GDP and increased life span people world over want to live well in terms of their mental, physical, and social position. It’s a trend across globe. With the advancement in technology, we are now moving into the arena of offering safer, more controlled, and stable wellness knowledge through the doctors to our customers,” he explained.

Speaking about the growth and influence of social media in the field Mr. Dayan said that expansion of this new area should be seen as an opportunity. “We are reaching out and educating people through this medium and the engagement has been rewarding,” he said.