Covid-19 anxiety linked to body image issues: Study

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Covid-19 anxiety linked to body image issues: Study

Researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have found that anxiety and stress directly linked to Covid-19 could be causing a number of body image issues amongst women and men.

The research, led by Professor Viren Swami of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, involved 506 UK adults with an average age of 34.

Amongst women, the study found that feelings of anxiety and stress caused by Covid-19 were associated with a greater desire for thinness.

It also found that anxiety was significantly associated with body dissatisfaction.

In the male participants, the study found that Covid-19-related anxiety and stress were associated with a greater desire for muscularity, with anxiety also associated with body fat dissatisfaction.

Negative body image is one of the main causes of eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia.

This new study adds to recent research indicating that fears around Covid-19, and the consequences of the restrictions introduced to help tackle it, could be contributing to a number of serious mental health issues.

“Our results suggest the pandemic could also be leading to a rise in body image issues. In some cases, these issues can have very serious repercussions, including triggering eating disorders,” said study lead author Viren Swami, Professor of Social Psychology at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), said:

“During the lockdown period, our screen time increased, meaning that we were more likely to be exposed to thin or athletic ideals through the media, while decreased physical activity may have heightened negative thoughts about weight or shape,” Swami added.

At the same time, it is possible that the additional anxiety and stress caused by Covid-19 may have diminished the coping mechanisms we typically use to help manage negative thoughts

The study also found that when stressed or anxious, our pre-occupations tend to follow gender-typical lines.

During the lockdown, women may have felt under greater pressure to conform to traditionally feminine roles and norms, and messaging about self-improvement may have led to women feeling dissatisfied with their bodies and having a greater desire for thinness.

“Similarly, our findings reflect the way in which stress and anxiety impact men’s relationships with their bodies, particularly in terms of masculine body ideals,” Swami said.

“Given that masculinity typically emphasizes the value of toughness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of status, Covid-19-related stress and anxiety may be leading men to place greater value on the importance of being muscular,” the author noted.

Quarantine experience reminded me of my injury days: Mumtaz Khan

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Quarantine experience reminded me of my injury days: Mumtaz Khan

Mumtaz Khan, a talented young forward in the Indian junior women’s hockey tea, is ecstatic to be back on the field at the ongoing national camp after nearly six months amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The core probable group arrived at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) facility on October 5 and underwent a two-week mandatory quarantine period before commencing activities this week.

“It was a new and challenging experience to be in quarantine for two weeks. It reminded me of my injury days when I had to limit my movement and was advised rest. I am happy and kind of relieved that we are finally back on the field,” stated Mumtaz, who hails from Lucknow, said.

The youngster also feels the regime the players were asked to follow when they were on a break helped them maintain their fitness.

“When players come into Hockey India’s national program, a lot of awareness is created about fitness and diet. We are always told what to do when we are on a break, how to take care of ourselves, our weight, etc. when there is no camp. We are usually given a particular regime to follow and when we were on a break, we were doing basic workouts at home during the lockdowns and once lockdowns ended, we would do basic running, etc to work on our aerobic fitness,” she said.

Mumtaz also expressed gratitude towards her senior compatriots who egged them on via video calls during their quarantine period. “The senior women’s team who are also here would often make video calls to keep us encouraged and they would tell us about their experience in quarantine and how we can keep ourselves occupied. We are thankful to Hockey India and SAI for commencing our national camp again and providing such a safe environment to train,” she said.

The junior core probable’s group will be working on hitting their old form and prepare for the Asia Cup which will be a qualifying event for the World Cup.

“I feel we were in very good rhythm before the pandemic began. We had won important matches against good teams. Now we need to work on getting back to that same rhythm,” she said.

Apple iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 pre-orders now live in India

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Apple iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 pre-orders now live in India

Apple India Store Online on Friday started accepting pre-orders for the newly-launched iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro with some exciting trade-in offers.

The iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro are the first devices in the 2020 line-up to go on pre-orders in India and will be available from October 30.

Those who pre-book iPhone 12 can opt for either Rs 5,637 per month via the EMI route or buy the basic variant even for Rs 47,900 with trade-in.

The customers can effectively get up to Rs 22,000 off with Apple trade-in to grab a new iPhone 12.

The basic variant of iPhone 12 Pro can be pre-booked for Rs 10,110 per month on EMI or get it for Rs 85,900 with trade-in. The customers opting for trade-in can save up to Rs 34,000.

The two phones can now be pre-ordered, with deliveries for both starting October 30.

iPhone 12 price in India starts at Rs 79,900 for the 64GB model. Meanwhile, the price of the iPhone 12 with 128GB and 256GB internal memory is set at Rs 84,900 and Rs 94,900, respectively.

iPhone 12 Pro price in India starts at Rs 1,19,900 for the 128GB model. The 256GB and 512GB iPhone 12 Pro variants have been launched in India for Rs 1,29,900 and Rs 1,49,900, respectively.

The iPhone 12 models are powered by the Apple A14 Bionic chipset and run iOS 14.

The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro feature the same 6.1-inch OLED display. However, the iPhone 12 Pro’s Super Retina XDR display has higher brightness levels.

Giro D’Italia: Australia’s Jai Hindley wins Stage 18

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Giro D’Italia: Australia’s Jai Hindley wins Stage 18

Just 15 seconds separate the top three riders of the 103rd edition of the Giro d’Italia after a sensational shake-up on the Stelvio resulted in Jai Hindley winning Stage 18 and Sunweb teammate Wilco Kelderman fighting back to end Joao Almeida’s 15-day reign in pink.

A masterclass by the Ineos Grenadiers team of Tao Geoghegan Hart on Thursday saw Australia’s Rohan Dennis lead his British teammate and compatriot Hindley over the snow-clad summit of the Stelvio with a noticeable gap on the struggling Kelderman after Portugal’s Almeida and the other race favorites had dropped like flies on the longest and highest climb of the race being broadcast on Eurosports network.

Kelderman hit the wall on the descent and looked to be losing his chance to take the pink jersey – but he rallied on the final climb to the Lakes of Cancano, limiting his losses to his teammate Hindley and Geoghegan Hart, who fought tooth and nail for the win as Spain’s Pello Bilbao closed in.

With team leader Kelderman behind, Hindley had forced the Stage 15 winner from East London to do all the work on the succession of hairpins on the final climb of Torri di Fraile. But with the finish line gaping, the 24-year-old zipped clear to deny Geoghegan Hart a second success in a race in which he has taken on the mantle of Ineos team leader following the early withdrawal of Geraint Thomas.

Bahrain-McLaren’s Bilbao came home for third place ahead of Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) before Kelderman, caught and left for dead by both riders at the start of the climb, dug deep to keep his pink dream alive.

Although he conceded over two minutes – plus bonus seconds – to Hindley and Geoghegan Hart, Kelderman did enough to hold a 12-second advantage over his teammate at the end of a fantastic stage for the ages, with the British youngster just three seconds further back.

61% Indians sceptical about Covid vax even if it came in 2021: Survey

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61% Indians sceptical about Covid vax even if it came in 2021: Survey

About 61 percent of people have claimed they are skeptical about the Covid-19 vaccine and will not rush to take it in 2021 even if it is available, a survey revealed on Friday.

Scientists from around the world, including India, are developing several vaccines that are at different stages of clinical trials. The central government maintains it has started to gear up to take these vaccines to every citizen.

‘LocalCircles’ conducted a survey to know the tentative perception of peoples’ reactions when the Government takes the Covid-19 vaccine to them finally. It also sought to know peoples’ current behavior facing COVID-19 threats, and for how long will they continue to endure the suffering from the pandemic. The survey received over 25,000 responses from over 225 districts of India.

The complexity of the COVID-19 disease has put formidable challenges for scientists to develop a safe and effective vaccine. A host of pharmaceutical companies are heavily engaged in trials for a vaccine but when a vaccine does become available in March-April 2021, it is important that there is a certain level of trust that people have in the vaccine.

To the question that asked respondents, “If the COVID-19 vaccine became available in the early part of next year, would you like to get it so you can go back to your pre-COVID lifestyle?”, 61 percent of 8,312 respondents said they are skeptical about the COVID-19 vaccine and will not rush to take it in 2021 even if it is available.

Only 12 percent of respondents said would get vaccinated and go back to living a pre-COVID lifestyle, while 25 percent said they will get vaccinated but still will not go back to a pre-COVID lifestyle, and 10 percent said they will not take it at all in 2021.

In July, Indians via LocalCircles raised the issue of an urgent need to develop serial number tracking of the COVID-19 vaccine to avoid any black marketing and to track the vaccine from point of manufacturing to the point of administration.

The key action needed here by both the pharmaceutical industry and the Government is to keep citizens updated at every step about the vaccine via various media platforms so when a safe vaccine does arrive, the Indian citizenry is ready to take it.

Respondents were also asked how they feel mentally after eight months into the Covid-19 pandemic. Of 8,590 respondents, 33 percent said they feel anxious or worried, 19 percent said calm and happy, 13 percent said depressed, 5 percent said enthusiastic, 20 percent said they were feeling thankful, while 10 percent said none of the above.

India is currently in the fifth phase of unlocking, which has seen most restrictions removed. The Unlock 5.0 guidelines allow states and union territories to take a call on determining the capacity of people allowed to gather, along with the call to open schools, cinemas, multiplexes, among others.

While the Central and State Governments are permitting various services like markets, restaurants, metros, multiplexes, markets, parks, etc. to operate the general guidelines are still to minimize social interactions, maximize social distancing, always wear mask when out of home, and in general, avoid crowded public places.

These restrictions have led to a change in lifestyle for the majority of the people across the country. Work from Home model has been implemented by many businesses, also leading to a significant change in the lifestyles of their employees.

To understand if people are tired of the new pandemic induced lifestyle, LocalCircles asked people, “How long do you think you can easily sustain this post-Covid way of living with restriction?”

Out of 8,496 citizens participated, of which 38 percent said they are willing to live the Covid-19 way of living for as long as it takes, while 23 percent said they are already tired of the restrictions.

While 14 percent each said till December 31, 2020, and till March 31, 2021, 6 percent said till June 30, 2021, 2 percent said till September 30, 2021, and 3 percent said till Dec 31, 2021.

If the numbers are added up, 63 percent of citizens feel they can easily sustain the post-Covid way of living with restrictions till March 31, 2021.

Cricket South Africa launch ‘see us on the pitch’ season

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Cricket South Africa launch ‘see us on the pitch’ season

Cricket South Africa (CSA) have launched ‘see us on the pitch’ 2020-21 cricket season.

The season starts with the first few rounds of the CSA’s 4-day domestic series from the beginning of November. The bulk of the Proteas will be able to take part before the start of the international season with England’s white-ball tour of both ODIs and T20I matches that runs from late November to early December.

“We sincerely thank our partners in government for their assistance and guidance in making the series against England possible from November 27 to December 9,” said CSA Acting Chief Executive Kugandrie Govender at Hammanskraal on Thursday.

“As per South Africa’s high standards and international convention, all Covid-19 protocols will be strictly observed and bio-secure conditions will be met to ensure the safety of all players and staff,” he added.

This is the first of four projected incoming tours for the South Africa men’s team in what is going to be one of the most congested and intensive seasons at both international and domestic levels, as per an official CSA media release.

“It is an unfortunate reality that the new normal requires cricket all our matches to take place behind closed doors for the foreseeable future,” said Govender.

Jason Roy signs up with Perth Scorchers for BBL 10

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Jason Roy signs up with Perth Scorchers for BBL 10

The Perth Scorchers have strengthened their top-order for the upcoming Big Bash League season, with the signing of explosive England opening batsman Jason Roy. Roy will play alongside countryman Liam Livingstone in orange this year.

“The Scorchers squad looks very strong, I’m excited to be joining the club,” Roy said in a statement.

“I’ve heard the environment of the club is awesome and that it’s a place where everyone wants to help get the best out of each other. I can’t wait to get amongst the boys and help contribute to as many wins as possible,” he added.

With over 200 T20 matches to his name, Roy comes with a wealth of experience and the enviable reputation of a power hitter capable of match-winning brilliance. The explosive opener has devastated new-ball attacks on the international stage with a strike rate of 147.51 across his T20I career.

Perth Scorchers coach Adam Voges said: “Jason is a world-class performer who will bring added power and experience to our top order. He is a great competitor and we look forward to welcoming Jason to the Scorchers.”

Scorchers also confirmed signing Joel Paris, who returns for his sixth season with the club, and Cameron Gannon, who’s previously played for Brisbane Heat, Melbourne Renegades, and Melbourne Stars.

Perth Scorchers squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Jason Roy, Cameron Bancroft, Ashton Agar, Liam Livingstone, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Fawad Ahmad, Cameron Gannon, Jason Behrendorff, Matt Kelly, Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner.

As IPL 2020 rounds the final bend, competition heats up

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As IPL 2020 rounds the final bend, competition heats up

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has approached its final bend. This now is the business end of the tournament and so any glitch or hiccup henceforth may have a team licking its wound as an ‘also-ran’.

This year’s edition has shown that all the teams are evenly matched and several of the games have had very close finishes. The two tied matches last Sunday were just what the doctor ordered. To have one of the matches, which were decided by two Super Overs, with the ever-smiling face of Kings XI Punjab’s owner, Priety Zinta, was delightful to watch. The three wins in a row have catapulted the Punjab team, to perhaps sneak into a qualifying position.

They seem to be a team buzzing with confidence. With captain KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal in good form, the emergence of the ‘Universal Boss’ Chris Gayle and power hitters in Nicholas Pooran and Glenn Maxwell to support them, Punjab look like a very good batting outfit. For KXIP and Rajasthan Royals, each match is similar to a knock-out, as one defeat will be sufficient to eliminate them from qualifying for the final leg of the tournament. Their league encounter between each other could become the deciding factor in their way forward.

Rajasthan Royals have suffered because of their inconsistent performance. Their hopes were majorly dependent on their international players, especially on the batting of captain Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, and Ben Stokes. The bowling of Jofra Archer and the superlative performance of their unknown Indian hero, Rahul Tewatia, has still kept them in the game. They will all need to perform consistently and at their best to make it to the final four.

Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore are comfortably placed at the top. Both require just one win to qualify and along with Mumbai Indians, they seem to have, at present, reserved the top three slots.

The battle for fourth place is wide open. With no runaway winner as yet, the points table between the last five teams has a very close jumble at the bottom. Apart from Chennai Super Kings perhaps, all the others have a chance to reach the magic eight-win target to definitely qualify. However, at present, it seems that there could be a good possibility of even qualifying with seven wins.

This is where the net run-rate will play a deciding factor. Teams will now not only be pressing for a win but will also look to ensure that they do so efficiently to improve their overall run rate. This becomes a tricky situation as both the bowlers and the batsmen will come under immense pressure. The teams will need to get huge totals and will need their bowlers to either get the opponents out cheaply or win by a good run margin. Similarly, a side facing a possible defeat will need to ensure that they do so taking every run into account. Each run for them would be like gold dust as the final net run-rate analysis could become the deciding factor.

The IPL has become the selection ground for the Indian players for the Australian tour in November. India, one gathers, will be selecting 32 players, a number that has never been done before for an overseas trip. The young Indian players are looking at the IPL as an opportunity to get recognized. Unfortunately for some of them, the T20 format is ideally suited for power-hitting batsmen, and therefore, players with technique and good batting prowess are falling prey to playing adventurous shots in trying to impress one and all.

With batsmen in an attacking mode in the T20 format of the game, most wickets are obtained through mishit and cross bat strokes rather than getting one out through a genuinely good delivery. The bowling skill of fast bowlers in the IPL is based on having a good bouncer and yorker and the ability to have variation in their bowling armory. It does not recognize the art of bowling on a consistent good length or the ability to swing and cut the ball.

The finger spinners, on the other hand, in the IPL, seem to be bowling their deliveries like a dart, without any flight or turn and hoping to live on the lines of the famous saying “if you miss, you get dismissed”.

One hopes that the selectors go beyond the process of players playing in the IPL as the only criterion for selection. Many of the domestic good performers are not playing in the tournament. These players are not at present in the famous UAE bio-bubble. The BCCI should have identified them as prospects and got them for a fitness and training camp in India. At present, Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari, the two-Test match specialists, are the only names that are doing the rounds. The selectors will need to go beyond them, as performance in the Ranji Trophy, T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and Vijay Hazare Trophy also need to be taken seriously. An Indian cricket side cannot be selected on the basis of just the IPL. If so, then there is a major lacuna in the system.

TikTok to tell users why their videos were removed

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TikTok to tell users why their videos were removed

Short video-making app TikTok has announced it will now tell users why their videos were removed from the platform.

The affected users will have an option to appeal the content removal.

“We’ll let the video’s creator know which policy was violated in leading to the removal and provide the video creator with the ability to appeal the decision,” TikTok said in a statement on Thursday.

The company which is banned in India and facing a turbulent time in the US said that for the past few months, it has been experimenting with a new notification system to bring creators more clarity around content removals.

“Our goals are to enhance the transparency and education around our Community Guidelines to reduce misunderstandings about content on our platform, and the results have been promising,” said TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance.

TikTok said that it has seen a 14 percent reduction in requests from users to appeal a video’s removal.

The company said that when content is flagged as self-harm or suicide-related, “we’ll provide access to expert resources through a second notification”.

In September, Oracle and Walmart came together to save TikTok from the US ban, forming a new company called TikTok Global which will be headquartered in the US.

Oracle announced it was chosen as TikTok’s secure cloud provider and will become a minority investor with a 12.5 percent stake.

Walmart said it has tentatively agreed to a purchase 7.5 percent stake in TikTok and its CEO Doug McMillon would serve as one of the five board members of the newly-created company.

The parent company ByteDance will own the remaining 80 percent of TikTok.

Seagate misses expectations in Sept quarter, shares drop

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Seagate misses expectations in Sept quarter, shares drop

US data storage company Seagate Technology reported its fiscal first-quarter 2021 revenue that missed the Wall Street expectations and the stock dropped in late trading.

Seagate’s revenue dropped 10 percent (year over year) to $2.31 billion. However, the company’s earnings per share at 93 cents topped Wall Street’s estimate of 90 cents.

For the current quarter, Seagate sees revenue in a range of $2.35 billion to $2.75 billion.

“Seagate delivered solid September quarter results supported by a strong recovery in the video and image applications market and healthy cloud data center demand, which drove double-digit year-over-year revenue growth for our mass capacity storage solutions,” said Dave Mosley, Seagate’s chief executive officer.

“We see indications for Enterprise demand to improve and we expect this to continue as the broader markets gradually recover, supporting our positive December quarter outlook and reinforcing our revenue expectations for the fiscal year”, he said in a statement on Thursday.

The company generated $297 million in cash flow from operations and $186 million in free cash flow during the fiscal first quarter of 2021.

It paid cash dividends of $167 million and repurchased 1.5 million ordinary shares for $68 million.

“As a leader in mass data management, Seagate is executing a technology roadmap focused on helping customers put their valuable data to work,” Mosley said.

IPL: KL, Rabada continue to dominate batting, bowling charts

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IPL: KL, Rabada continue to dominate batting, bowling charts

 Kings XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul and South African pacer Kagiso Rabada of Delhi Capitals continue to dominate the respective batting and bowling charts following the conclusion of 40 matches in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) being played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Rahul, who has so far scored 540 runs in 10 matches, holds the Orange Cap. He is followed by Delhi Capitals opener Shikhar Dhawan, who has collected 465 runs — including two hundred — from 10 matches. Mayank Agarwal comes third in the list with 398 runs in 10 matches.

In the bowlers’ list, Rabada has scalped 21 wickets in 10 matches and has the Purple Cap. Mohammad Shami of Kings XI(16 from 10) and Jofra Archer of Rajasthan Royals (15 from 11) are next in line.

These running caps are presented to the leading run scorer and wicket-taker and keep changing hands throughout the duration of the tournament.

Meanwhile, SunRisers Hyderabad has moved to the fifth spot in the points table following their win against Rajasthan Royals on Thursday evening. They have eight points from 10 matches. The list is topped by Delhi Capitals who have 14 points in 10 games. Royal Challengers Bangalore (14 from 10) and Mumbai Indians (12 from nine) complete the podium.

Two Zimbabwe players test positive for Covid-19

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Two Zimbabwe players test positive for Covid-19

Two Zimbabwe players, Regis Chakabva and Timycen Maruma – who were on standby for the upcoming tour of Pakistan – have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, both were part of the provisional 25-man squad for the white-ball tour of Pakistan but were left out of the 20-man party that arrived in Islamabad earlier this week. The two were roommates for a week while in a bio-secure bubble set up for players placed on standby at the ZC Academy House in Harare.

“Chakabva and Maruma, as well as the other two infected backroom staffers, are currently observing a period of self-isolation in accordance with Covid-19 protocols. We wish the four a speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming them back at work soon,” a statement from Zimbabwe Cricket read.

“Apart from providing support to those infected and affected, we will continue to adhere to government and public health guidelines with regards to our facilities and staff, and will be taking further steps to curb the spread of the coronavirus,” it added.

The detection of positive cases will, however, not affect the series against as Zimbabwe’s main squad had stayed in a secluded wing of a different hotel, away from the standby players. They tested negative before departing for Islamabad, and upon reaching there.

The Zimbabwe players will now have to undergo another test at the end of their quarantine period on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe is scheduled to play three ODIs and as many T20Is in Pakistan. While the ODIs, part of the ICC World Cup Super League will be played on October 30, November 1, and 3 in Rawalpindi, the T20Is are scheduled for November 7, 8, and 10 in Lahore.

LG dual-screen Wing coming to India on Oct 28, teases company

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LG dual-screen Wing coming to India on Oct 28, teases company

LG is likely to launch its premium dual-screen smartphone Wing in India on October 28.

The company took to Twitter to confirm the arrival of the device and shared a video teaser.

“Awaken the explorer within you with LGMobile – The Innovation of Tomorrow. Explore the Future, ExploreLG, Explore You!,” the company said in a tweet.

The company will host an online-only event for the launch of its flagship smartphone in the country.

The South Korean giant unveiled the LG Wing smartphone earlier in September with two distinct displays that can be achieved via a unique swivel mode.

The handset brings a primary 6.8-inch Full HD+ P-OLED display with a resolution of 2440×1080 pixels and a 20.5: 9 aspect ratio and a 3.9-inch G-OLED secondary screen with 240×1080 pixels.

The Wing is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 5G chipset that is 10 percent faster than the standard Snapdragon 765 processor in graphics processing unit performance.

The Wing has 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage, which can be expanded up to 2TB with a microSD card. It packs a 4,000mAh battery.

There is no punch-hole camera on the main screen. Instead, the Wing has a 32-megapixel (MP) pop-up selfie camera appearing from the top of the body.

The Wing sports a triple rear camera system including a 64MP primary sensor, a 13MP ultra-wide lens, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera for the swivel mode.

Despite using two screens, LG said the Wing weighs only 260 grams, as it applied high-strength aluminum alloy to make the device.

The 256GB variant of the LG Wing is currently priced at $999. It comes in aurora gray and illusion sky color options.

Speedster Archer continues to carry RR bowling gallantly

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Speedster Archer continues to carry RR bowling gallantly

England speedster Jofra Archer is going from strength to strength for Rajasthan Royals (RR) as their lynchpin and on Thursday he added another cap to his father as he returned excellent figures of 4-0-21-2 in an Indian Premier League game against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH).

That Archer finished on the losing side was immaterial. The 25-year-old bowler has been holding the fort for RR at a time when their bowling department has not really clicked. So far, the Bridgetown-born gangling fast bowler has captured 15 wickets in 11 matches at a strike rate of 17.46.

On Thursday, Archer had the SRH batsmen dancing to his tunes in his first two overs. Consistently bowling close to 150 kmph or faster, he dismissed SRH’s powerhouse opening pair David Warner and Jonny Bairstow before they could get their sights in before being taken off in a move that, captain Steve Smith later admitted, was a mistake.

Archer sent the ball whizzing past Warner’s outside edge twice in the first over of SRH’s chase of a target of 155. He finally got the edge off the third ball as Warner’s attempted cut went just overslip. He got his man off the next ball though, banging it on a length outside off stump which squared Warner up. The SRH captain edged it to Ben Stokes at second slip.

It was the second time this season that Archer had dismissed Warner and the sixth time overall in white-ball cricket this year. Overall, Archer has sent 45 deliveries Warner’s way in limited-overs cricket this year and conceded 32 runs while taking six wickets.

Warner cut a visibly frustrated figure after the dismissal. “I was frustrated. In these games when you go up against world-class bowlers and there is a fraction of swing or seam, you try hard to get through the first over. But with someone bowling at 150kmph and its jagging, there is not much you can do. You try to get it in the middle of the bat or you edge it and get caught at the third man which happened to me,” he said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

Archer almost got Manish Pandey out off the second ball of his next over but he did not need an edge or a catcher for Bairstow. Warner’s opening partner was facing his England teammate for the first time in the match after Pandey got to strike off the third ball and ended up losing his middle stump.

And then, Smith took Archer off the attack, a decision that turned out to be a turning point. “I consulted a few other boys, it was talked about [giving Archer another over up front] but opted against it and in hindsight, after what happened, probably would’ve given him one moreover. It was on my mind,” he said.

By the time Archer was brought back in the 12th over, Pandey and Vijay Shankar had steadied the ship for SRH. Shankar hit three consecutive fours off Archer’s fourth over, thus all but ending any chances that RR had in the game.

Archer had started his fourth over with figures of 2/8. At the end of it, his figures read 2/21 — excellent by any standard.

India’s daily spike again on rise as total mounts to 77.61L

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India’s daily spike again on rise as total mounts to 77.61L

After dipping below 47,000 new cases three days back, a spike in daily fresh corona cases has been on the rise ever since. A total of 54,366 new infections and 690 deaths in 24 hours, took India’s tally on Friday to 77,61,312.

Out of the total Covid cases, 6,95,509 are currently active, 69,48,497 have been discharged, while 1,17,306 lost the battle against the pandemic.

India’s cumulative Positivity Rate is 7.81 percent and the daily figure is 3.8 percent. Several states and UTs are exhibiting a Positivity Rate higher than the national average indicating a need for aggressive and widespread testing.

While the recovery rate stands at 89.53 percent, the fatality rate is 1.51 percent, the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit with a total of 16,25,197 cases, including 42,831 deaths; followed by Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi.

According to the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India conducted 14,42,722 sample tests in a single day on Thursday, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 10,01,13,085.

“India achieved a remarkable milestone of 10 crore tests for Covid-19 ICMR has been working to exponentially increase access to testing. Rampant testing has enabled to successfully test, track and treat infections that led to the efficient management of Covid-19 situation in the country,” ICMR stated.

Nice to show people we do have a middle order: Warner

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Nice to show people we do have a middle order: Warner

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain David Warner was happy that their middle-order stepped up to lead the team to victory against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday and their chances of qualifying for the IPL playoffs alive.

“It’s just great to show people that we do have a middle-order, there is always [a] question on it. They haven’t had much time to bat in previous matches, we haven’t lost early wickets before. For them to come out and play like this, I am so happy for them,” said Warner in the post-match presentation ceremony.

Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar put up an unbeaten 140-run stand for the third wicket to lead SRH to an eight-wicket win at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.

SRH bowled after winning the toss after Jason Holder, playing his first match of the season, took three wickets to restrict RR to 154/6 wickets.

“Jason adds strength to our bowling, his height, and experience… we didn’t get to see him bat tonight but he is an all-round package. He’s a quality player and a great inclusion,” said Warner.

“I think the way we started was fantastic. We were able to bring it back after the powerplay. It’s been a complete game which is what we have been asking for. Good to see two guys getting the reward for their hard work.”

Google will hold itself accountable on racial equity: Pichai

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Google will hold itself accountable on racial equity: Pichai

In a commitment to advance racial equity, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said that the company will hold itself accountable for creating an inclusive workplace.

In June, Google committed to improving the representation of underrepresented groups at senior levels by 30 percent by 2025.

“Today, we’re adding a goal to more than double the number of Black+ Googlers at all other levels by 2025,” Pichai said in a note sent to employees on Thursday.

The Google CEO said that the company is setting a goal to spend $100 million with Black-owned businesses, as part of its broader commitment to spend a minimum of $1 billion with diverse-owned suppliers in the US, every year starting in 2021.

“Moving forward, all VP+ performance reviews will include an evaluation of leadership in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” he announced.

Google also committed $12 million to support racial justice organizations in June and almost all of that has been distributed.

“On the product side, we’re continuing to make our products more helpful in the moments that matter most to Black users,” Pichai said.

Recent activations include a new Black-owned business attribute on Maps, Assistant responses on Black Lives Matter, and new ways marketers can support Black-owned publishers in Display & Video 360.

“We’ve also announced the first YouTube Originals to come from our #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund, a $100 million global commitment to acquire and produce programming focused on Black experiences and racial justice education, as well as support Black YouTube creators and artists”.

Pichai said the racial equity the company is working towards internally will “help us build better products and continue to support our users, businesses, and communities”.

He emphasized that while much of the initial work has been focused on the US, “we are deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion globally”.

Pandey, Shankar lead SRH to 8-wkt win over RR

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Pandey, Shankar lead SRH to 8-wkt win over RR

An unbeaten 140-run partnership for the third wicket between Manish Pandey (83 not out) and Vijay Shankar (52 not out) guided SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) to an eight-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday and kept their team in contention for playoffs of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

SRH chased down a target of 155 with 11 balls to spare after surviving the early headway made by a fiery early spell from Jofra Archer (2/21) at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.

Shankar hit a four to take SRH over the line and bring up his half-century off the first ball of the 19th and penultimate over of the innings. While Pandey hit eight sixes and four fours while Shankar hit four fours.

Archer gave RR a strong start to their defense, dismissing SRH openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow in his first two overs. SRH was on 16/2 wickets when Shankar joined Pandey in the middle. Smith took Archer off the attack after which Pandey went on the counter and shifted momentum back his team’s way.

While Shankar took the role of holding up the other end, he shifted gears after the 12th over and eventually took on Archer himself. Smith decided to let Archer bowl his last over in the 16th and while the England fast bowler had figures of 2/8 wickets at the start of the over, Shankar hit three consecutive fours off him to all but end RR’s chances of making a comeback.

Earlier, Holder led the way as SRH restricted RR to 154/6 wickets. Brought in as a replacement for the injured Kane Williamson, Holder took the important wickets of Sanju Samson (36), RR captain Steve Smith (19), and the dangerous Riyan Parag (20) and ended the innings with figures of 3/33.

Brief scores: RR: 154/6 wkts in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 36, Ben Stokes 30; Jason Holder 3/33) lost to SRH 156/2 wkts in 18.1 overs (Manish Pandey 83 not out, Vijay Shankar 52 not out) by 8 wkts.

FB to roll out secure hosting service for businesses on WhatsApp

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FB to roll out secure hosting service for businesses on WhatsApp

In the next step towards monetizing WhatsApp after introducing shopping and pricing tiers to the mobile-messaging platform, Facebook has now announced a new way for businesses to store and manage their WhatsApp chats with customers using Facebooks secure hosting infrastructure, which will roll out early next year.

This essentially means that Facebook hosting service will offer the same end-to-end encryption as WhatsApp currently provides to chats.

When Facebook acts as a hosting provider to a business, it will use the messages it processes on behalf of and at the instruction of the business.

“While Facebook will not automatically use messages to inform the ads that a user sees, as is always the case, businesses will be able to use chats they receive for their own marketing purposes, which may include advertising on Facebook,” explained Nate Cardozo, Privacy Policy Manager at Facebook.

The move, said Facebook, will make it easier to onboard to WhatsApp Business API, allow the businesses to respond to WhatsApp messages faster, keep their inventory up to date, and sell products through chats.

“We’re committed to providing people with a secure, transparent, and privacy-protective way to communicate with businesses”, it said in a statement late on Thursday.

Earlier, Facebook said it will finally start charging companies using WhatsApp for Business, as it expanded ways for its users to check out available products and make purchases right from a chat.

Some 50 million businesses and 175 million people message a WhatsApp Business account every day and this move will help WhatsApp continue building a business of its own while it provides and expands free end-to-end encrypted text, video, and voice calling for more than 2 billion people.

According to the social network, every message sent on WhatsApp — be it text, call, voice note, or video — uses the same industry-leading Signal protocol that protects messages from before they’re sent until they’re delivered to the intended recipient.

But messaging a business is different than messaging a loved one.

Chats with businesses that use WhatsApp Messenger, WhatsApp Business app or that self-host the WhatsApp Business API to manage and store customer messages themselves are end-to-end encrypted.

“If a business chooses to use a third-party vendor to operate the WhatsApp Business API on their behalf, we do not consider that to be end-to-end encrypted since the business you are messaging has chosen to give a third-party vendor access to those messages,” Cardozo said.

This will also be the case if that third-party vendor is Facebook.

While Facebook will not automatically use messages to inform the ads that a user sees, as is always the case, “businesses will be able to use chats they receive for their own marketing purposes, which may include advertising on Facebook”.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has time and again reiterated that all his apps — WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram — will soon become a unified experience for billions of users.

FB users can now approach Oversight Board against content removal

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FB users can now approach Oversight Board against content removal

An independent Facebook oversight board with 20 external members of the society (including one from India) is now functional and people who disagree with Facebooks decision to take down content and has exhausted its existing appeals process can appeal their cases to the Oversight Board.

The oversight board was formed in May this year to offer a new model of content moderation for Facebook and Instagram.

“In order to review and hear cases, board members will need a secure way of accessing and reviewing all the necessary information on the content in question,” Facebook said in a statement late on Thursday.

The social network has built a case management tool that will allow board members to collaborate and review information from anywhere in the world.

The tool will only show information to the Oversight Board that is relevant to the board’s operations, in line with the Board’s purpose, and in accordance with all the necessary and relevant legal and privacy considerations outlined in the Board’s foundational documents.

“Those at Facebook who will review the information within the case management tool will be a small group of employees responsible for supporting the Board’s proceedings,” informed Fay Johnson, Product Lead, Integrity Transparency & Oversight at Facebook.

Finally, when case decisions are made public by the board, information that could easily identify an individual will only be published with the impacted individual’s consent.

“Without this consent, all information which could easily identify an individual will be removed before the case decision is published”.

The Facebook oversight board has onboarded Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Vice-Chancellor of the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru, and the only member on the board from India.

According to Facebook, within the case management tool, members of the Board will have access to basic information they would reasonably require to make a decision.

The board can also request additional information about the case from Facebook, such as details on engagement and reach of the content, how the content was reported, or additional details about the relevant policy and how we enforce it that can help provide context.

Facebook said it will review these requests on a case-by-case basis.

There are two ways content can be brought to the board for review.

One is through people who disagree with Facebook’s decision and have gone through Facebook’s appeals process. These are called User Generated Appeals.

The second way is through Facebook itself. Facebook can refer to “significant and difficult” cases directly to the Board. These cases are called Facebook Referred Cases.

“We will notify a user that the content they posted is being sent to the board”.

According to Krishnaswamy, the Facebook board will also review whether Facebook and Instagram will implement its decisions.

“Both Facebook and Instagram as well as their CEO have given a clear unequivocal undertaking that the decisions of the board will be implemented. We are confident that our decisions will be implemented,” he told IANS in an earlier interview.

However, Krishnaswamy, who is also Co-Founder of the Center for Law and Policy Research which works to advance constitutional values for everyone, including the LGBTQ+ and transgender persons in India, added that whether in the physical world or the Internet universe, there will always be some “compliance problem”.

In November 2018, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a new ‘independent’ body to provide outside oversight, and in May this year, the first 20 members of its new Oversight Board were announced.

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