Coronavirus lockdown in India has been extended till June 30 with more relaxations.
While the lockdown has been extended in containment zones, relaxations outside containment zones include reopening of religious places for public from June 8.
Hotels, restaurants and shopping malls also to open from June 8. Decision on opening educational institutions to be taken in July.
New Delhi, April 2: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a bio suit to keep the medical, paramedical and other personnel engaged in combating COVID-19 safe from the deadly virus.
"Scientists at various DRDO laboratories have applied their technical know-how and expertise in textile, coating and nanotechnology to develop the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) having specific type of fabric with coating," read a statement.
The suit has been prepared with the help of the industry and subjected to rigorous testing for textile parameters as well as protection against synthetic blood. The protection against synthetic blood exceeds the criteria defined for body suits by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
"DRDO is making all efforts to ensure that these suits are produced in large numbers and serve as robust line of defence for the medics, paramedics and other personnel in the front line combating COVID-19," the statement said.
The industry is geared up for production of the suit in large quantities. Kusumgarh Industries is producing the raw material and coating material, with the complete suit being manufactured with the help of another vendor. The current production capacity is 7,000 suits per day.
Another vendor is being brought in with the experience in garment technology and efforts are on to ramp up the capacity to 15,000 suits per day.
The bio suit production in the country by DRDO industry partners and other industries are being hampered due to non-availability of seam sealing tapes, the statement said.
"The DRDO has prepared a special sealant as an alternative to seam sealing tape based on the sealant used in submarine applications.
Presently, bio suits prepared using this glue for seam sealing by an industry partner has cleared test at Southern India Textile Research Association (SITRA) Coimbatore," it said.
"This can be a game changer for the textile industry. The DRDO can mass produce this glue through industry to support the seam sealing activity by suit manufacturers," the statement added.
Mar 19: Amidst spiralling cases of COVID-19 in the country, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Thursday advocated "absorbing sunlight" as a possible precaution against coronavirus that has claimed over 8,000 lives globally.
Speaking to reporters outside parliament, Choubey said 10-15 minutes in the sun would build immunity as sunlight provides Vitamin D.
"From 11 am to 2 pm the sun is shining brightly. We should spend at least 10-15 minutes to absorb sunlight so that we get vitamin D which improves the immunity of our body and also kills such viruses. All should be aware of (this fact)," he said when asked about the spread of coronavirus.
COVID-19 cases in India climbed to 169 on Thursday after 18 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country, according to the Union health ministry.
The cases include 25 foreign nationals -- 17 from Italy, 3 from the Philippines, two from the UK, one each belonging to Canada, Indonesia and Singapore.
The figure also includes three deaths reported from Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra so far.
According to the World Health Organisation, the novel coronavirus has killed over 8,000 people globally and infected more than two lakh.
Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 17: A gunman posted at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram allegedly attempted suicide on Friday, the police said.
"A gunman who was working at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram allegedly attempted to commit suicide today. He is currently admitted to a hospital.
The police were searching for him after his relatives had filed a missing complaint on Thursday night. A case has been registered and a probe is underway," said Police.
The person is identified as Jayagosh. He is attached to the police Armed Reserve (AR) camp and was reported missing since last night. Later, his relatives had filed a missing complaint with the police.
Jayagosh was later found lying in a pool of blood near his house in Akkulam and was taken to the hospital.
A police investigation is underway and more details are awaited.
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