ED summons to Farooq Abdullah part of coercive plot: NC

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The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Wednesday expressed anger over the Enforcement Directorate’s second summon to party President Farooq Abdullah, a day after he was questioned by the same agency for a marathon six hours. The party lambasted the government for its agenda of ‘cornering any voices of dissent’.

Terming this ED summons, the latest on Wednesday, calculated coercive measures, the party spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said it is aimed at curtailing Farooq Abdullah’s efforts to weave unity among the mainstream political parties in J&K.

Calling the repeated ED summons a pressure tactic, he said, “What is it that ED forgot to ask during the six hours it interrogated an 83-year-old Member of Parliament?”

The government and its agencies, the spokesperson said, ‘has no consideration for a law-abiding citizen who is severely immunocompromised and diabetic’.

“Dr. Abdullah being treated like this is proof that the BJP is not even interested in a face-saving act and is completely comfortable with being seen as a bully by the nation,” he said.

“How many times will BJP use the CBI, ED, Anti Corruption Bureau, and its other agencies to browbeat opposition? The plot has become predictable. Anyone who speaks against the government or musters courage against its divisive politics will be hounded and summoned.

“The only way to get a clean chit these days is to surrender one’s ideology and join the BJP. We’ve seen this story play out from Assam to Karnataka, from West Bengal to Andhra Pradesh but Dr. Abdullah is not going to surrender to the BJP, come what may,” he added.

This is the second time Farooq Abdullah has been called for questioning by the ED this week. Earlier, the NC President was called for questioning by the ED on Monday for a case of alleged misappropriation of money when he was chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association.

Younis, Mushtaq unlikely to be part of Pak staff for Zim series

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Pakistan batting coach Younis Khan and spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed are unlikely to part of the coaching staff for the upcoming limited-overs series against Zimbabwe beginning at the end of this month.

According to a report in Cricket Pakistan, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not yet signed a contract with Khan for the role of batting coach. The report, while quoting sources, stated that the PCB officials feel that Khan’s presence is especially beneficial in Test cricket, rather than ODIs and T20Is. And the series against Zimbabwe doesn’t consist of Test matches. In Younis’ absence, head coach Misbah-ul-Haq is expected to see the development and coaching of batsmen.

The current team management includes Misbah-ul-Haq, team manager Mansoor Rana, bowling coach Waqar Younis, fielding coach Abdul Majeed, physiotherapist Cliff Decan, strength, and conditioning coach Yasir Malik, security manager colonel retired Usman, media manager Raza Rashid, and masseur Malang Ali.

Pakistan is slated to play three ODIs and as many T20Is against Zimbabwe. 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.

Pakistan has already announced a 22-man probable list for the Zimbabwe series in which they have left out Shoaib Malik, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Mohammad Amir.

Pooran’s stance & backlift reminds me of Duminy: Tendulkar

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Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has heaped praise on Kings XI Punjab’s Nicholas Pooran, saying the West Indies batsman is a “clean striker” of the ball and has stance and backlift similar to that of former South Africa batter JP Duminy.

On Tuesday evening, Pooran scored a gutsy half-century as Kings XI chased down the 165-run target against Delhi Capitals to register their third consecutive win in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) edition. The left-handed batter scored 53 off just 28 balls, which included three 6s and six 4s at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

“Some power-packed shots played by Nicholas Pooran. What a clean striker of the ball he has been. His stance and backlift remind me of JP Duminy,” Tendulkar tweeted after the match.

Pooran has been in good form in the ongoing tournament, having scored 295 runs in 10 innings so far. His runs have come at a very impressive strike rate of over 180. He has so far hit 21 fours and 22 sixes.

Kings XI, after suffering six consecutive defeats, are back on the winning track and are currently placed at the fifth spot in the points table with four wins in 10 matches. They will next take on SunRisers Hyderabad on Saturday.

‘Crime rate low in Telangana as compared to other states’

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Telangana’s Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali on Wednesday said that Telangana has a lower crime rate than other states of the country.

Addressing the Police Flag Day parade at LB Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad, he praised the state police for its success in crime control.

He said it was because of the police’s efforts that there were no communal incidents in Hyderabad since the formation of Telangana State. He noted all festivals are being celebrated peacefully in the city.

Home Minister said the police were according top priority to the safety and security of the women.

A month-long campaign CybHer was conducted to protect women and children from cybercrimes.

Director-General of Police M Mahender Reddy said the crime rate has dropped in the state. He claimed that Telangana police have special recognition in the country.

The police took special measures to check the cybercrime which increased after the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.

The police chief said the police force rendered exemplary services during the disasters like Covid and heavy rains and also won the praise from people for this.

Since police alone can’t maintain law and order, the department is implementing friendly policing by involving the people, he said.

The DGP pointed out that Hyderabad is number one in the country in the installation of CCTV cameras.

He said various programs would be organized till October 31 to pay tributes to policemen who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

Earlier, the police department in a statement said while 264 police personnel lost their lives in the line of duty across the country this year, there was no loss of life in the Telangana Police.

A total of 326 police personnel lost their lives in the line of duty in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and after the formation of Telangana State till 2019. These included three each Indian Police Service (IPS) officers and Deputy Superintendents of Police.

Mohammad Nabi returns to Melbourne Renegades for BBL 10

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Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi will return to the Melbourne Renegades for the 10th edition of the Big Bash League (BBL). Nabi will join the Renegades after his ongoing stint in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with SunRisers Hyderabad.

This will be Nabi’s fourth season with the club. In 27 games for the Renegades, the world number one all-rounder has demonstrated his all-round talents by averaging 30 with the bat at a strike rate of 131, while also taking 21 wickets.

“I have always enjoyed my time with the Renegades and testing myself against some of the best T20 players in the world in the Big Bash. I’m very pleased to have re-signed for a fourth season,” Nabi said in a statement.

Renegades coach Michael Klinger said Nabi provides the team with added flexibility. “Nabi’s versatility makes him a very valuable member of our team. He can bat and bowl in a number of different situations and he reads the game so well,” Klinger said.

“We’ll again be looking for Nabi to play a key role in our middle order and he’ll be called upon to bowl some important overs,” he added.

BBL 10 will start with the tournament opener between Adelaide Strikers and Renegades on December 3 at the Adelaide Oval.

Renegades squad: Cameron Boyce, Zak Evans, Aaron Finch (c), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Jon Holland, Shaun Marsh, Mohammad Nabi, James Pattinson, Kane Richardson, Will Sutherland, Beau Webster.

India now has over 76.5L cases

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With a fresh spike of 54,044 coronavirus infections and 717 deaths in 24 hours, India’s tally on Wednesday stood at 76,51,107.

Out of these, 7,40,090 are currently active, 67,95,103 have been discharged, while 1,15,914 lost the battle against the pandemic.

The country saw 7,254 more than Tuesday’s fresh infections, after witnessing a slight decline in new cases.

While the recovery rate stands at 88.81 percent, the fatality rate is 1.51 percent, the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit with a total of 16,09,516 cases, including 42,453 deaths; followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi.

According to the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India conducted 10,83,608 sample tests in a single day on Tuesday, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 9,72,00,379.

According to the ministry, Covid-19 cases on oxygen support (in ICUs, through ventilators and oxygen supported beds) have shown a significant decrease since the last week of September. This aligns with the national decline of active cases to less than 10 percent of the total cases.

Refuting the widespread reports about the scarcity of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) in the country, the ministry has stated that there has never been any shortage of the medical oxygen in the country in the last 10 months, adding “we are in an extremely comfortable position”.

The ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava has stated that plasma therapy may be deleted from the national clinical protocols for the management of the Covid-19 disease.

IPL: KL, Rabada continue to wear Orange, Purple Caps

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Kings XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul and Kagiso Rabada of Delhi Capitals have held on to their respective Orange and Purple Caps following the conclusion of 38 matches in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) edition.

Rahul, who had a rare failure with the bat against Delhi Capitals as he could score just 15 on Tuesday evening, is leading the batting charts with 540 runs from 10 games. He is followed by Shikhar Dhawan, who after scoring back to back hundreds, has amassed 465 runs in 10 innings. Mayank Agarwal, who has collected 465 runs in 10 innings, is third on the list.

In the bowling list, Rabada continues to remain at the top spot, having scalped 21 wickets in 10 matches so far. He is followed by Mohammad Shami who has 16 wickets to his name in the same number of matches. Jasprit Bumrah of Mumbai Indians completes the podium with 15 wickets in nine matches.

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

Meanwhile, the Shreyas Iyer-led side continues to be at the top of the points table despite their five-wicket defeat against Kings XI. Capitals have 14 points from 10 games and are followed by Mumbai Indians and Royals Challengers Bangalore who both have 12 points each.

UPCA re-opens window for online registration of cricketers

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The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) has re-opened a special window for online registration for those players who were unable to register earlier in the first phase.

“It is hereby informed that UPCA has decided to re-open special window for online registration for those cricketers of our state (both men and women) who could not enroll themselves for registration in the first phase in the year 2020-21,” said Deepak Sharma, COO, UPCA in an official statement.

“Such cricketers are further advised to contact their respective honorary secretaries/presidents for further information in this regard,” he added.

The players can log on to the official website of UPCA and get themselves registered for the year 2020-21 before October 23.

Telangana’s Covid recovery rate crosses 90%

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In a remarkable development, Telangana’s Covid-19 recovery rate has crossed 90 percent as the state continued to see more recoveries than new infections.

Health officials on Wednesday said 1,811 people recovered during 24 last hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 2,04,388.

The state’s recovery rate climbed to 90.38 percent as against the national average of 88.8 percent.

The state reported 1,579 new cases, taking the cumulative tally to 2,26,124. Of this only 20,449 cases are active. Out of the total active cases, 17,071 are in-home or institutional isolation.

Five more people succumbed to the infection during the last 24 hours, ending at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

The fresh fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,287. The fatality rate dropped to 0.56 percent against the national average of 1.5 percent.

Officials said the percentage of deaths due to Covid-19 was 44.96 while the remaining 55.04 had co-morbidities.

Greater Hyderabad and districts continue to show declining trends in the number of new cases.

According to the media bulletin issued by the office of the director of public health, Greater Hyderabad reported 256 new cases. Medchal Malkajgiri t recorded the second-highest number of cases at 135 followed by Khammam (106), Rangareddy (102), Bhadradri Kothagudem (87), Nalgonda (90), Karimnagar (64), and Warangal Urban (59).

Out of 2,26,124 total positive cases so far, 70 percent (1,58,287) were asymptomatic while the remaining 30 percent (67,837) were symptomatic.

During the last 24 hours, 41,475 tests were conducted. Of these 38,614 samples were tested in government-run laboratories and 2,861 in private.

Of the total samples, 18,249 were primary and 4,977 were secondary.

With this, the cumulative number of samples tested have gone up to 39,40,304.

As many as 18 government-run laboratories, 46 private laboratories, and 1076 Rapid Antigen test centers are conducting the tests.

Samples tested per million population ratio rose further to 1,05,865. The daily testing target for the state is 5,600 per day as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) benchmark of 140 per million per day.

The data shows that 63.9 percent of those tested positive so far is in the age group of 21-50 years while 22.91 are above 51 years of age. Those below 20 years are 13.18 percent.

Officials said 60.64 percent of those tested positive were male while the remaining 39.37 percent were female.

Raj follows Punjab, to call spl Session to reject Centre’s farm laws

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After Punjab, Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to has decided to convene a special session of the Assembly to discuss the farm laws.

On Tuesday, Gehlot called a cabinet meeting and announced that Rajasthan will also call a special session of the Legislative Assembly ‘to preserve farmers’ interest’.

He tweeted after the cabinet meeting: “The Council of Ministers have decided that a special session of the Legislative Assembly should be convened soon in the interest of the farmers of the state to preserve their interests.

“In the session, the effect of the laws implemented by the Government of India will be discussed and amendment Bills should be brought in the interest of the farmers of the state,” he said.

In his other tweet, Gehlot said, “The Indian National Congress, under the leadership of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, stands firmly in favor of our ‘Annadata’ farmers and our party will continue to oppose the anti-farmer laws that the NDA government has enacted.”

Sources said that the meeting discussed restoring the rights for dispute settlement in the purchase of crops by the civil court. “In Rajasthan, arrangements for settlement of crop purchase disputes should be retained with the Mandi Samiti or Civil Court,” it was decided in the meeting, sources said.

In a first in the country, Punjab’s Legislative Assembly led by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday unanimously passed three legislations and formally rejected the Centre’s agricultural laws brought by the BJP-led Union government.

ISL: Jeje, Balwant in 22-member Indian squad of East Bengal

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SC East Bengal has announced a 22-member domestic squad for the upcoming 2020-2021 Indian Super League (ISL) season.

Bolstered by the star power of India forward Jeje Lalpekhlua, the squad comprises the likes of seasoned India players Balwant Singh, Narayan Das, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, and Md. Rafique among others.

“Every footballer in India wants to play for East Bengal one day. It is such a big institution. I am thrilled to join East Bengal in its first year of taking part in the ISL,” Jeje said.

“I am hungry to play football again after a prolonged break due to injury. I cannot wait to don the red and gold colors and give my best every time I take the field,” he added.

Balwant, 33, spent the last two seasons with ATK making a total of 23 league appearances for the club.

“I don’t have to emphasize how big SC East Bengal club is. It’s indeed an honor to be wearing the famous Red and Gold jersey. I will give my 100% to bring success and glory to the club and happiness to all its super passionate fans,” said Balwant.

Narayan played all 18 matches for Odisha FC last season. He last played for India in the Asian Cup.

Lyngdoh, 34, had stints with ATK after signing for the reigning ISL champions in the 2017-18 season. The Meghalaya-born midfielder had to spend most of the time on the bench nursing a ruptured Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL) on his left knee.

Indian squad:

Goalkeepers: Sankar Roy, Debjit Majumder, Md. Rafique Ali Sardar, Mirshad Kootapunna

Defenders: Gurtej Singh, Narayan Das, Samad Ali Mallick, Lalram Chullova, Mohammed Irshad, N Rohen Singh, Abhishek Ambekar, Rana Gharami

Midfielders: Sehnaj Singh, Bikash Jairu, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Yumnam Gopi Singh, Wahengbam Angousana, Md. Rafique, Moirangthem Loken Meitei, Surchandra Singh Chandan

Forwards: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Balwant Singh.

IPL 13: Tim Seifert replaces injured Ali Khan in KKR

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New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Seifert has been confirmed as an addition to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) squad for the remaining matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.

Seifert comes in as a replacement for US pacer Ali Khan, who was ruled out of the tournament due to a side strain injury.

“He’s got a 100 off 40 balls in T20 cricket! That speaks for itself! Here’s welcoming explosive Kiwi, Tim Seifert,” KKR posted on their Twitter handle.

Earlier, Northern Districts had confirmed that Seifert would miss the Plunket Shield as he was called in as a replacement player in IPL, as per a report in stuff.co.nz.

Khan had been brought in as a replacement for English pacer Harry Gurney, who had to undergo a shoulder surgery before the start of IPL.

“…Kolkata Knight Riders signed up Ali Khan as a replacement for injured Harry Gurney. Khan became the first USA cricketer to be signed up by an IPL franchise. Unfortunately, Khan has since been injured and will miss the rest of the IPL 2020 season,” an official IPL statement had read earlier this month.

Khan, the first player from the US to join an IPL franchise, was, however, unable to find a place in the playing XI in the matches played so far by KKR.

The Eoin Morgan-led side is currently placed at the fourth spot in the points table and is slated to take on Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday.

Snapchat hits 249mn daily users, sales up 52% in Q3 2020

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Snapchat saw its daily active user base jump to touch 249 million, from 238 million in the last quarter, as the company registered a 52 percent increase in revenue at $679 million in its third quarter.

The stock of its parent company Snap rose 17.1 percent after bumper quarter results. Operating cash flow improved by $21 million to $55 million in Q3 compared to the prior year.

“Our focus on delivering value for our community and advertising partners is yielding positive results during this challenging time. We’re excited about the growth of our business in Q3 as we continue to make long-term investments in our future,” CEO Evan Spiegel said in a statement late on Tuesday.

“The adoption of augmented reality (AR) is happening faster than we had previously anticipated, and we are working together as a team to execute on the many opportunities in front of us,” he added.

The average number of Snaps created every day grew 25 per cent year-over-year.

Total daily time spent by Snapchatters watching Shows increased by over 50 per cent year-over-year in its third quarter.

“The daily average number of Snapchatters in India watching Discover content increased by nearly 50 per cent sequentially in Q3 2020,” the company announced.

As of the end of Q3, over 1.5 million Lenses have been created through Lens Studio.

“Our ‘Anime Style’ Lens powered by real-time machine learning was engaged with 3 billion times in its first week,” the company informed.

Snap said it helped over one million Snapchatters with voter registration for the 2020 US election through its ‘Register to Vote’ Mini, developed in partnership with Democracy Works.

Didn’t know about consecutive IPL tons record, says Dhawan

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Shikhar Dhawan on Tuesday became the first player to score back to back centuries in the IPL. But his unbeaten 106 off 61 balls went in vain as Delhi Capitals lost to Kings XI Punjab by five wickets. While he hit 12 fours and three sixes, his teammates just scored a combined 54 off 59 balls and DC’s score was 164/5 batting first.

KXIP chased down the total with five wickets and an over in hand. The highest score for DC after Dhawan’s ton was Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant’s 14.

“Today, it happened that way otherwise the boys have been playing very well. I took the responsibility of holding one end up and was also hitting the boundaries when I got the chance,” he said in the post-match presentation ceremony in which he was player of the match despite his team losing.

Dhawan was, however, unaware of the record he broke. “I didn’t know,” he said when asked about it.

Dhawan scored 69 not out, 57, 101 not out in his three innings before Tuesday and said that he had been battling this fluently when he made his Test debut. Dhawan famously broke the record for the fastest Test century by a debutant in his first game at Mohali against Australia in March 2013, reaching three figures in just 87 balls.

“I really enjoyed it today. I was this fluent on my Test debut. It’s good that I am scoring consistently, you gain confidence. I make sure I take proper rest and am fresh for the match,” he said.

Nice to finish in penultimate over for once: Rahul

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Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) won their third consecutive match on Tuesday when they beat Delhi Capitals by five wickets. While their first match of this run ended in an eight-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore, they got over the line only on the last ball.

Their previous win came after an extraordinary two Super Overs against the Mumbai Indians and KXIP captain KL Rahul said that it is nice to not have a close finish for once.

“Nice to finish in the 19th over for once,” he said in the post-match presentation ceremony. Needing to chase down 165, KXIP had to depend upon their middle order to take them over the line after a rare lapse from Rahul and his opening partner Mayank Agarwal. He said that the team will be looking to have one of the top-order batsmen stay on till the end in the coming matches.

“Especially when you play with six batters and one all-rounder it is important that a set batter, one of the top four, goes on and finishes the game. That something that we need to make sure happens going forward,” he said.

While DC scored 164/5, 106 of their runs were scored by opener Shikhar Dhawan with the rest being limited to scoring just 54 runs off 59 balls by KXIP’s bowling lineup led by Mohammed Shami, who took two wickets. Rahul said that Shami is carrying forward the confidence he took from the previous game against Mumbai Indians in which he stopped them from scoring six runs in the first Super Over, thus forcing another tie-breaker.

“Shami was coming in after some confidence from the last game, the way he bowled in that Super Over,” said Rahul. “As I said, he is one of the senior players and is getting better with every game. Arshdeep [Singh] bowled two overs in the powerplay and then came back for one over at the death and he nailed six yorkers. Can’t be easy for a fast bowler. Shows how hard guys have worked.”

The win means that KXIP, who lost five consecutive matches after their win in their second match of the season against RCB, has now beaten the top two sides in their last two matches.

“That feels really good. The talk before the last couple of games was to beat two teams were at the top of the points table and bring a lot of confidence into the team,” said Rahul.

Google to deliver printed photos at your doorstep for $7

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Google has added new ways to print your photos with same-day printing in the US where the users can get 10 high-quality photo prints delivered to their homes every month.

The premium print series will be available for $6.99 per month, including shipping and before tax.

“You’ll get 10 high-quality photo prints delivered to your door every month, so you can decorate your home with important memories, create a scrapbook or share with a loved one,” Google said in a statement on Tuesday.

The premium print series will start rolling out later this month in the US and people can order same-day prints, canvas prints or photo books (now with up to 140 pages).

The premium print series uses machine learning to suggest 10 recent photos to print.

“You can edit your photo selection, choose a matte or glossy finish or add a border before your photos ship each month. You can also easily skip a month or cancel the service,” Google informed.

The users can turn photos into postcards, perfect for mailing a memory to a loved one.

“Starting today, you can now order 4×6, 5×7, or 8×10 photo prints through Google Photos for same-day pickup at Walgreens. This nearly doubles the total number of stores available for same-day prints,” the company said.

Agra Covid cases show downward trend

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Agra reported 42 fresh Covid-19 cases and one death in the last 24 hours, the health department said on Wednesday. For the past ten days, the daily reporting of the Covid cases remained almost stable under 50, while the recovery rate too, continues to remain healthy at over 90 percent.

The total number of Covid cases in Agra is 6,820 while the number of recoveries is 6,197 and the death toll is 138. The number of samples collected so far is 2,41,779.

The Health Department officials said there was no room for complacency. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s televised message had given a clear direction. “We are maintaining a high level of vigil and taking appropriate measures to ensure that the guidelines are followed in letter and spirit,” an official said.

The response to the reopening of the secondary-level schools has not been encouraging as parents are reluctant to send their wards as yet. “Maybe, we will wait till after the festivals”, said Sangeeta, mother of a Class 9 girl-student. The attendance has been thin, but the positive feature was the strict compliance of the guidelines by the school management.

Banks, government offices, courts, and other public places are generally following the norms, but markets continued to be crowded by people who did not fancy wearing masks or maintaining social distancing, a Johri Bazar shopkeeper, Bankey Lal Maheshwari told IANS.

Meanwhile, the state health department has streamlined testing facilities and at the OPDs in the hospitals. More private nursing homes have opened Covid wards. The Agra Municipal Corporation has launched an all-out war against dirt and squalor. Mayor Navin Jain said the campaign for clean Agra will continue till January 30.

Dhawan acclimatised to the conditions quicker than others: Shreyas

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Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Shreyas Iyer said that opener Shikhar Dhawan adapted better to the wicket than the others on Tuesday after their 5-wicket defeat to Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the Dubai International Stadium

Dhawan became the first player to score back to back centuries in the IPL with an unbeaten 106 off 61 balls as he pulled DC to 164/5. The rest of the DC players scored a combined 54 runs off 59 balls with Shreyas’ 14 being the joint second-highest score behind Dhawan’s along with Pant.

“I feel that we fell around 10 runs short, but we got a lot of learnings from this game. Shikhar’s batting was a positive,” said Shreyas after the match.

“Shikhar read the wicket well, adapted to the situation, he went hard from ball one and passed the message onto the youngsters that the wicket is stopping. He acclimatized to the conditions quicker than others.”

While they still remain top of the table, the defeat gives third-placed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) the chance to catch up with them on points when they play Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday.

“The good thing is that the boys will be charged up for the next game. We weren’t up to the mark, but I’m sure we will be next time,” said Shreyas.

US vs Google antitrust case: 10 top takeaways from 64 page complaint

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In a 64 page complaint with 194 numbered items, the US Justice Department and 11 states sued Google Tuesday for antitrust violations, alleging that it weaponized its dominance in online search and advertising to kill off competition and harm consumers.

Google’s response, via tweet, points to the fierce opposition it plans to serve up: “Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed. People use Google because they choose to — not because they’re forced to or because they can’t find alternatives.”

The lawsuit marks the US government’s biggest move since its case against Microsoft more than 20 years ago. This comes after 15 months of investigation and could be the opening scene of more antitrust actions against other Big Tech companies.

Here, IANS extracts 10 key takeaways from the Justice Department’s case against a company that now controls about 90 percent of global web searches. From how it began to where it is now, these excerpts sum up the short history of the rise and rise of a wildly successful online empire.

The last 20 years: “Two decades ago, Google became the darling of Silicon Valley as a scrappy startup with an innovative way to search the emerging Internet. Google is long gone.”

The Google of today: “A monopoly gatekeeper for the Internet, and one of the wealthiest companies on the planet, with a market value of $1 trillion and annual revenue exceeding $160 billion. For many years, Google has used anti-competitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in the markets for general search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising — the cornerstones of its empire.”

Precedent: “Almost 20 years ago, the D.C. Circuit in the United States vs. Microsoft recognized that anticompetitive agreements by a high-tech monopolist shutting off effective distribution channels for rivals, such as by requiring preset default status (as Google does) and making software undeletable (as Google also does), were exclusionary and unlawful under Section 2 of the Sherman Act.”

Keeping it quiet: “Referring to a notorious line from the Microsoft case, Google’s Chief Economist wrote: “We should be careful about what we say in both public and private. ‘Cutting off the air supply’ and similar phrases should be avoided.”

Internal policing: “In particular, Google employees were instructed to avoid using terms such as “bundle,” “tie,” “crush,” “kill,” “hurt,” or “block” competition, and to avoid observing that Google has “market power” in any market.”

A taste of things to come: “Absent a court order, Google will continue executing its anti-competitive strategy, crippling the competitive process, reducing consumer choice, and stifling innovation. Google is now the unchallenged gateway to the Internet for billions of users worldwide.”

Exclusionary: “Google’s exclusionary agreements cover just under 60 percent of all general search queries. Nearly half the remaining queries are funneled through Google owned-and-operated properties (e.g., Google’s browser, Chrome). Between its exclusionary contracts and owned-and-operated properties, Google effectively owns or controls search distribution channels accounting for roughly 80 percent of the general search queries in the United States.”

Monopoly revenues: “In the United States, advertisers pay about $40 billion annually to place ads on Google’s search engine results page (SERP). It is these search advertising monopoly revenues that Google “shares” with distributors in return for commitments to favor Google’s search engine.”

The scale is the key: “When asked to name Google’s biggest strength in search, Google’s former CEO explained: “Scale is the key. We just have so much scale in terms of the data we can bring to bear.” By using distribution agreements to lock upscale for itself and deny it to others, Google unlawfully maintains its monopolies.

Good to know: “For mobile browsers, Google is the default search provider for both Apple Safari (approximately 55 percent share) and Google Chrome (over 35 percent share), which together account for over 90 percent of the browser usage on mobile devices in the United States.”

Samsung patents three new foldable smartphones: Report

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South Korean tech giant Samsung has filed a patent for three foldable smartphone designs with cutouts for inner cameras.

According to LetsGoDigital, the newly-spotted foldable design patent was filed by Samsung Electronics with the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office) in April this year.

It got approved and published on October 15 titled ‘Foldable electronic device including a plurality of camera modules’.

The patent includes three different designs — two with an outward folding screen like the HUAWEI Mate Xs and one with an inward folding screen like the Galaxy Z Fold2.

All three of them have a cutout on the front display so that the cameras present inside can be used even when the phone is closed.

The company also filed a new patent for a smartphone with an expandable display which can give users more screen when required.

According to the patent, one would be able to increase or decrease the size of the display with the help of a moveable backside plate.

The company last month introduced Galaxy Z Fold2 that sports a 6.2-inch cover screen and a 7.6-inch main screen when unfolded.

Galaxy Z Fold2 is Samsung’s third foldable smartphone after Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Flip.