More than 1.5 million children in 21 countries, including 1,19,000 from India, lost their primary and secondary caregivers to COVID-19 during the first 14 months of the pandemic, according to a study published in The Lancet.

The study funded in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), stated that 25,500 children in India lost their mother to COVID-19 while 90,751 lost their father and 12 lost both their parents.

At the latest health ministry briefing, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has stated that it would be prudent to open primary schools first as kids fare better with COVID-19 infections.

ICMR Director-General Dr Balram Bhargava said at the briefing, We know clearly that children can handle viral infections much better than adults. Antibody exposure is also similar in children as adults. Some Scandinavian countries didn't shut their primary schools in any COVID waves.

More than 6 lakhs direct and indirect employment has been generated through the 22 operational Mega Food Parks, said Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in Loksabha on Tuesday.

As per Mega Food Park Scheme Guidelines, each Mega Food Park after being fully operational would create direct and indirect employment of about 5,000 persons.

The price of 10 gm of 22-carat gold on Wednesday rose to Rs 47,300 from Rs 47,040 and silver declined to Rs 67,500 per kg, according to the Good Returns website.

Gold jewellery price varies across India, the second-largest consumer of the metal, due to excise duty, state taxes, and making changes.

Russia has handed over to India a commercial offer to deliver 21 MiG-29 fighters, a spokesperson for Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said on Tuesday.

The Indian Air Force staff received a tender request for the supply of 21 aircraft in 2021. The Russian side has transferred to Indian partners the commercial offer that is now being considered by the customer, spokesperson Valeria Reshetnikova told reporters on the sidelines of the MAKS-2021 international aerospace show.

The World Health Organisation, which is currently reviewing Bharat Biotech's application for an Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, has said it is assessing the data of the jab.

In an update on its website, the WHO, which began rolling data on July 6, said the date for a decision on the jab is yet to be confirmed.

The United States has improved the travel advisory for India, upgrading from Level 4 category to Level 3 which urges citizens to reconsider travel. The Level 4 category means no travel.

Your risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe symptoms may be lower if you are fully vaccinated with an FDA authorised vaccine. Before planning any international travel, please review the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) specific recommendations for vaccinated and unvaccinated travellers, the advisory by US State Department said.

More than 2.11 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and union territories, and private hospitals, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.

Over 42.15 crore (42,15,43,730) vaccine doses have been provided to states and union territories (UTs) so far, through all sources, and 71,40,000 doses are being supplied, it said.

The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 190.8 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.09 million and vaccinations soared to over 3.64 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Tuesday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and the total number of vaccine doses administered stood at 190,853,085, 4,095,437 and 3,646,500,394, respectively.

A new study led by researchers at Imperial College London and University of Padua shows antibody levels remain high nine months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, whether symptomatic or asymptomatic.

The results of the study were published in the journal Nature Communications.

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