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[ad_1] NEW DELHI: Isro is gearing up for the launch of PSLV-C55 mission next week and the lift-off is likely on April 22. Unlike previous launches, this launch is unique as integration of different stages of the rocket has been done in an innovative way to help reduce time in the assembly process. The PSLV-C55 is also the first rocket to be integrated at the new PSLV Integration Facility (PIF) and is said it will put a Singaporean satellite in space . During previous PSLV missions, the entire space vehicle was integrated at the first launchpad with the help of the Mobile Service Tower (MST). However, Isro is following a new approach with the PSLV-C55 mission as the first and second stages will be integrated at the PIF centre and will be transferred to the first launch pad via the new mobile launch pedestal (MLP). The new approach will allow the partial integration of a PSLV vehicle even if the first launch pad has been preoccupied with another launch and thus helps increase the

[ad_1] Carl Icahn Adam Jeffery | CNBC Biotech company Illumina pushed back Monday against Carl Icahn's proxy fight over the company's acquisition of cancer test developer Grail, saying the activist investor's board nominees "do not add value."  The San Diego-based DNA sequencing company released its latest response to Icahn's sharp criticism of the $7.1 billion deal it completed in 2021, saying it's committed to maximizing shareholder value as it works with antitrust regulators to "define GRAIL's path forward as expeditiously as possible." Icahn, who owns a 1.4% stake in Illumina, sent an open letter to the company's shareholders last week saying the DNA sequencing company paid too much for Grail and completed the "reckless" deal without getting European antitrust regulatory approval. He claimed those actions have wiped out $50 billion in Illumina's market value and "clearly shows that shareholders have lost fai

[ad_1] Next phase of Israeli campaign could be 'something different' from ground incursion: IDF The Israel Defense Forces is advancing its campaign to eliminate the military abilities of Palestinian militant group Hamas, a spokesperson said, but the next step may not be a long-anticipated ground incursion. "We are preparing for the next stages of war. We haven't said what they will be. Everybody's talking about the ground offensive. It might be something different," the IDF's Lt Colonel Richard Hecht told reporters, according to Reuters. Expectations have mounted that Israel will launch a ground offensive into the besieged Gaza Strip, which it has sealed off from its electricity, fuel, food and water supplies. Israeli troops have amassed at the border, with the IDF on Friday last week instructing the residents of Gaza City to evacuate south of the Wadi Gaza wetlands. But there has been no ground offensive as yet amid widespread warnings from human rig

[ad_1] In this photo illustration, a container of Johnson and Johnson baby powder is displayed on April 05, 2023 in San Anselmo, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images A federal bankruptcy judge on Thursday halted roughly 40,000 lawsuits that allege Johnson & Johnson 's baby powder and other talc products caused cancer . The decision is part of J&J's second attempt to settle thousands of talc cases in bankruptcy proceedings. J&J in 2021 spun off its subsidiary, LTL Management, to carry its talc-related liabilities and file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections.  Judge Michael Kaplan during a hearing Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Trenton, New Jersey, put a temporary hold on the suits that will last through mid-June, The Wall Street Journal reported . J&J won't have to go to trial over any other talc claims during the pause, but new lawsuits can still be filed against the company, The Journal reported. Kaplan said during the hearing that J&a

[ad_1] A worker prepares a 155mm artillery shell at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S., February 16, 2023. Brendan McDermid | Reuters Companies added jobs at a brisk pace in February as the U.S. labor market kept humming, payroll services firm ADP reported Wednesday. Private payrolls increased by 242,000 for the month, ahead of the Dow Jones estimate for 205,000 and well above the upwardly revised 119,000 jobs gain, from 106,000, in January . Wage growth decelerated slightly, with those remaining in their jobs seeing a 7.2% annual increase, down 0.1 percentage point from a month ago. Job changers saw growth of 14.3%, compared to 14.9% in January. The report comes with Federal Reserve officials watching jobs data closely for clues on where inflation is headed. Remarks Tuesday from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, who called the jobs market "extremely tight," triggered a sell-off on Wall Street amid expectations that the central bank could accele

[ad_1] A combination package of Procter & Gamble Co. DayQuil Severe and NyQuil Severe brand cold and flu medicine is arranged for a photograph in Tiskilwa, Illinois. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images The main ingredient used in many popular over-the-counter cold and allergy medications doesn't actually work to get rid of nasal congestion, an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration declared Tuesday.  In a unanimous vote, 16 advisors said oral versions of phenylephrine – a nasal decongestant found in versions of drugs like Nyquil,  Benadryl, Sudafed and Mucinex – aren't effective at relieving a stuffy nose.  The FDA typically follows the advice of its advisory committees but it is not required to do so. The agency could potentially move to begin a process that removes phenylephrine from the market, which would force manufacturers to pull widely used cough and cold medications from store shelves and reformulate those products.  That could affect Procter

[ad_1] China saw weaker imports despite rapid reopening: UBS China's economy saw weaker imports despite its rapid reopening, UBS' head of China economic research Wang Tao said in a note. "Despite a rapid reopening (sequentially) in the past 2 months, domestic demand growth on y/y basis may have been still relatively soft," she said in a note. She added the import volume of copper ore and iron ore both improved from December likely due to a pick up in construction activities. "Our channel checks suggest that work resumption of construction sector was slow in the first two weeks post CNY holiday, but accelerated in the 3rd and 4th weeks," she said, noting that crude oil import growth also fell alongside imports of IT components and auto products. China on Tuesday saw exports fall by 6.8% in February in U.S. dollar terms and imports also declined 10.2%. — Jihye Lee U.S. plans to lift Covid testing requirement for travelers from China: NBC The U.S. plans to

[ad_1] In this aerial image, damage is seen to a Pfizer pharmaceutical factory after a tornado hit the facility two days earlier, on July 21, 2023 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Sean Rayford | Getty Images Pfize r on Friday said there does not appear to be major damage to the drug manufacturing areas of its plant in Rocky Mount, North Carolina , after a tornado hit the facility two days earlier.  The plant supplies nearly 8% of all sterile injectable medicines used in U.S. hospitals, including anesthesia, analgesia, therapeutics, anti-infectives and neuromuscular blockers. Pfizer added that the facility manufactures about 25% of the company's sterile injectables.  related investing news An initial assessment found that the tornado primarily damaged a warehouse facility, which stored raw materials, packaging supplies and finished medicines waiting to receive quality assurance, according to Pfizer.  The drugmaker did not say whether it expected that damage to lead to new drug

[ad_1] Thibaut Mongon, CEO and Paul Ruh CFO of Kenvue Inc. a Johnson & Johnson's consumer-health business, pose together during the company's IPO at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., May 4, 2023. Brendan McDermid | Reuters Johnson & Johnson on Thursday said its shareholders will soon be able to swap their shares for stock of Kenvue , which spun out as an independent consumer health company just two months ago. J&J owns nearly 90% of Kenvue shares and plans to reduce its stake through an exchange offer that could launch "as early as the coming days," depending on market conditions, J&J CFO Joseph Wolk said during the company's second-quarter earnings call.  That process, also known as a split-off, will allow J&J shareholders to exchange all or a portion of their shares for Kenvue's common stock. J&J did not provide further details on the planned offer. But Wolk said a split-off is the "most advanta

[ad_1] Johnson & Johnson on Thursday reported second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations, and lifted its full-year guidance as sales from the company's medtech business jumped. The medtech division provides devices for surgeries, orthopedics and vision. The company is benefitting from a rebound in demand for non-urgent surgeries among older adults, who deferred those procedures during the pandemic. That increased demand has been observed by health insurers like UnitedHealth Group and Elevance Health . Here's how J&J results compared with Wall Street expectations, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv: Earnings per share: $2.80 adjusted, vs. $2.62 expected Revenue: $25.53 billion, vs. $24.63 billion expected Shares of J&J rose more than 5% in morning trading Thursday. The stock has dropped more than 5% for the year, putting the company's market value at roughly $436 billion.  J&J, whose financial

[ad_1] Streptococcus agalactiae bacteria, responsible for vaginal and urinary tract infections and newborn infections including meningitis and septicemia. Optical microscopy view. Cavallini James | BSIP | Universal Images Group | Getty Images Pfizer on Wednesday said its experimental vaccine targeting the potentially deadly bacterial disease Group B Streptococcus returned strong mid-stage clinical trial results , a promising step as the drug inches toward potential approval. Pfizer is among several drugmakers racing to develop the world's first shot targeting Group B strep disease, which is linked to nearly 150,000 infant deaths worldwide each year, especially in lower-income countries. The Food and Drug Administration in September granted breakthrough therapy designation to Pfizer's vaccine, which is intended to expedite the development and review of the shot.  Pfizer's single-dose shot generated antibodies that may provide infants with meaningful protection aga

[ad_1] LOS ANGELES: Researchers have discovered a new way to reverse the effects of fentanyl , which is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. Their research, which was published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, could lead to a new method of reversing overdoses, either through a new product or by working in tandem with naloxone. According to the Centres for Disease Control, 100,000 Americans die each year from overdoses, the majority of which are caused by the use of synthetic opiates such as fentanyl. While naloxone, the only antidote for opiate overdose , is becoming more widely available, it is less effective against fentanyl-class synthetic opioids. "The synthetic opiates bind very tightly to the opioid receptors," said Alex Straiker , senior research scientist for the Gill Center for Biomolecular Science. "Naloxone must compete with opioids for the same binding site in the central nervous system to cancel out an overdose. But during a fentanyl overdose,

[ad_1] Novartis said in August that it plans to spin off its generics unit Sandoz to sharpen its focus on its patented prescription medicines. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Novartis shares jumped on Tuesday after the Swiss drugmaker raised its full-year guidance on strong drug sales and announced a $15 billion share buyback.  The company made both announcements as it reported second-quarter earnings , which topped Wall Street's expectations.  related investing news The share buybacks will go to the end of 2025, Novartis said. The company, which is sitting on a large cash pile after selling its stake in Swiss rival Roche in 2021, completed an earlier buyback program of roughly the same size last month. Novartis expects sales to rise by a high-single-digit percentage in 2023, an increase from a previous expectation of mid-single-digit growth. The company also anticipates group core operating income will grow by a low double-digit percentage, up from a previous expec

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: The Chandrayaan-3 mission , which was launched on Friday, “will take up the exploration of the Moon where India’s first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, left and in the process it will also look for resources that could sustain life” on the Earth’s natural satellite, Union space minister Jitendra Singh has said. In an interview to TOI , Jitendra Singh said, “Chandrayaan-1 was altogether a different mission as compared to all other space missions. This is because when India started its space journey in the early 1960s, then America was already busy with its Apollo manned missions to the Moon. Though the US had landed on the Moon decades ago, they had not found any evidence of water on the Moon in the past.” He said, “When Chandrayaan-1 found the first concrete evidence of water molecules on the Moon (in 2009), then it started a new chapter in space research. Nasa also showed interest in our Moon mission. Hence, Chandrayaan-3 will dig deeper and continue the resear