Soyuz rocket launches 3 astronauts to space station

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Soyuz rocket launches 3 astronauts to space station

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos to the International Space Station on Wednesday.

The spacecraft began a three-hour journey to the space station from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan at 10.45 am local time.

“Kate Rubins of @NASA_Astronauts & Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos launch to the @Space_Station! Their 6-month mission will coincide with the #SpaceStation20th anniversary marking 20 years of continuous human presence,” NASA said in a tweet.

Their journey marks the first time a Soyuz crew has taken the fast-track, two-orbit rendezvous path to the space station.

The new crew members will join Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, who will complete their station mission and land on Earth on the steppe of Kazakhstan on October 21, US time, in the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft that brought them to the station on April 9, NASA said in a blog post.

Giro D’Italia: Peter Sagan pulls of sensational win in Stage 10

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Giro D’Italia: Peter Sagan pulls of sensational win in Stage 10

As the storm clouds cleared and a rainbow appeared above Tortoreto, Peter Sagan — the triple former world champion with the rainbow bands around his sleeves — pulled off a ride for the ages, soloing to a first win since the 2019 Tour de France to pick up his first-ever stage victory in the ongoing Giro d’Italia.

The finale of Tuesday’s 177km Stage 10 was peppered with steep ramps and hampered by some almighty downpours – but one man could soon see clearly once the rain had gone.

After the frustration of three second places in his debut Giro, Bora-Hansgrohe’s Sagan finally struck gold, riding clear of the day’s breakaway with 12km remaining and withstanding the chase behind as the GC favourites battled for pink supremacy in the wake of an untimely puncture for Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang.

Sagan held on to take an emphatic win by 19 seconds over the American Brandon McNulty (UAE-Team Emirates) while, right behind, Portugal’s Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep) won the sprint for third place from a select group of GC favourites to add another four seconds to his lead at the top of the standings.

But for Astana’s Fuglsang, the deficit on the pink jersey was far dearer than a handful of bonus seconds.

With the stage overshadowed by the withdrawals of both Mitchelton-Scott and Jumbo-Visma, as well as the Australian Michael Matthews of Team Sunweb, following a raft of positive Covid-19 tests on Monday’s rest day, the Giro needed a spectacle to help keep morale high in the ongoing race being broadcast on Eurosport network.

Sagan duly delivered – forcing his way into the day’s break, defying a fierce pursuit by the Groupama-FDJ team of triple stage winner Arnaud Demare, holding on over a series of double-digit ramps, before powering clear of fellow escapee Ben Swift of Ineos Grenadiers on the final climb.

Maximum points in the intermediate sprint and at the finish saw the 30-year-old Slovakian reduce the gap to just 20 points in his magliaciclamino battle with Frenchman Demare. More importantly, Sagan now joins the elusive club of riders with stage victories in all three of cycling’s Grand Tours.

Ian Healy approached to join Cricket Australia board

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Ian Healy approached to join Cricket Australia board

 Former Australian cricketer Ian Healy has been approached to join Cricket Australia board.

“Yes, there’s been an approach to me to come onto the Cricket Australia Board,” Healy said on his Brisbane breakfast program on SEN Track radio.

According to a report in ‘The Australian’, the former wicket-keeper batsman will replace Michael Kasprowicz who walked away from the board earlier this year after 11 years in the role. Kasprowicz still had 12 months to serve before facing re-election.

“It’s nominated by Queensland, there’s six states that can nominate a director,” Healy, who played 119 Tests and 168 ODIs, said.

“The one who is missing is (Queensland’s) Michael Kasprowicz, who stood down after 11 years. Queensland has decided to nominate me if I want to do it, I’ve just got to find out if I’ve got time,” he added.

The 56-year-old further said he is considering the offer.

“Yes, I am seriously considering it, I feel like I’m the most dispensable of three options on our Queensland Cricket Board, and that would mean I’d need to get off the Queensland Cricket Board,” said Healy.

“We’ve got another two options in Chris Simpson and Jon Dooley, but they’re pretty busy at the moment. I’m probably best placed out of us three at the moment, but we’ll see how it goes,” he added.

His appointment is likely to be ratified at the Annual General Meeting of Cricket Australia scheduled to be held towards the end of this month.

Neymar goes past Ronaldo to become 2nd highest goal-scorer for Brazil

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Neymar goes past Ronaldo to become 2nd highest goal-scorer for Brazil

Neymar has surpassed Ronaldo to become the second-highest goal scorer for Brazil.

Neymar scored hat-trick against Peru in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier which helped Brazil register a 4-2 win on Tuesday evening. He has now taken his international tally to 64 in 104 games, two more than Ronaldo who had scored 62 goals in 98 matches for Brazil. Legendary striker Pele leads the chart with 77 goals for Brazil.

In August, legendary Brazil goalkeeper Tafarrel had termed Neymar as a superstar. In an interview to FIFA.com, he had said of the Paris Saint Germain striker: “A great player. He plays the game in a beautiful way. He’s an incredible dribbler, sets up goals, scores fantastic goals.”

“He’s very important for us. We really hope he can be at his best and help Brazil win another World Cup. He’s a superstar,” Tafarrel added.

DC still striving to put a show for full 40 overs, says Carey

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DC still striving to put a show for full 40 overs, says Carey

Australian wicketkeeper batsman Alex Carey believes it is time for the Delhi Capitals to ‘almost start the tournament again’ as they play the second round of IPL 2020 matches starting Wednesday evening when they take on the Rajasthan Royals.

Speaking ahead of the match, Carey on Tuesday said his team is definitely gutted due to the injuries in their camp, but are also looking forward to putting it behind them and peaking at the right time.

“We have seen a fair few injuries in the short amount of time we have been here, so I don’t know what that is down to – maybe the lack of matches in the past six months. So yes, its disappointing news coming out of our camp but (we know we have) two great people (Amit Mishra & Ishant Sharma) who continue to cheer us on,” said Carey.

“But yeah, it’s exciting now – we’re halfway through the tournament, we’ve played everyone once and we had a really good result against Rajasthan last time. They’ll have Ben Stokes in their side, which will strengthen them but I also think we’ve played some outstanding cricket,” added the wicketkeeper.

Commenting on his opponents, the left-handed batsman said, “It’s an outstanding line-up – like any other team here. They’ve all got dangerous players and you know they’ve got (Jos) Buttler, Steve Smith, Stokes, Jofra (Archer) as the internationals likely to play.”

“So, a real rounded group – two leg spinners – (Rahul) Tewatia is of course playing really well. So it’s exciting – you’ve got two really good teams coming up against each other tomorrow night, we’ve got full confidence in our players to get the job done and play some exciting cricket,” he added.

The 29-year-old said that the team wants to bounce back from the five-wicket defeat they suffered against Mumbai Indians last Sunday.

Analysing his team’s performances at the mid-season mark, Carey said his side has shown glimpses of outstanding cricket, but want to ensure complete performances going forward. “I think it’s nice to get wins under the belt early on in the tournament. I think now is the time to start to probably settle your team and have a run into the finals – playing your better cricket,” he said.

“You don’t want to peak too early in the tournament – I think we’ve seen glimpses of outstanding cricket, but to put a show for full 40 overs is something we’re still striving to do. And our players have at times scored runs, taken wickets, so we’re all in good form and its now about putting it together for the last seven games leading into the final. So it’s an exciting period in the tournament, we’ve had a look at everyone, played at all the three grounds, so it’s going to be a good opportunity starting again,” he added.

The Shreyas Iyer-led side are currently placed at the second spot in the points table, having registered five wins in seven matches.

Google Stadia announces ‘good stuff’ with new games, demos

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Google Stadia announces ‘good stuff’ with new games, demos

Google has announced that some ‘good stuff’ is coming for its Stadia Cloud gaming service users, starting October 20.

The move is expected to showcase new games coming to Stadia, along with some exclusive demos for users. The multi-day event will start on the official Stadia YouTube channel.

“Good stuff is coming! We’ll be lighting up your week with three days of announcements, reveals, and other surprises. And if that wasn’t enough, we will have three games you can try right away. It all starts October 20,” the company said in a tweet on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, Ubisoft revealed “Gods And Monsters” had been renamed to “Immortals: Fenyx Rising” and may have a Stadia-exclusive demo.

Stadia Pro members also received five new games for free with Stadia Pro..

Five new games for free with Stadia Pro are Strange Brigade, Kona, Metro 2033 Redux, Just Shapes And Beats as well as Rock of Ages 3: Make And Break.

The US-based search engine giant also announced a new Stadia experiment that lets users play games on mobile devices over 4G and 5G cellular networks.

Samsung unveils new SD cards for first time in 5 years

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Samsung unveils new SD cards for first time in 5 years

Samsung has introduced new SD cards featuring exceptional speeds and improved durability that aim to deliver exceptional speeds to support 4K UHD and Full HD video formats.

The world leader in advanced memory technology, Samsung unveiled the PRO Plus and EVO Plus, its two new lines of SD cards in nearly five years that will be available this month.

With the PRO Plus and EVO Plus, content creators and general consumers can seamlessly work across a wide range of devices including DSLR, mirrorless and compact cameras as well as camcorders and PCs, the company said in a statement late on Tuesday.

The price for the 128GB models for the PRO Plus and the EVO Plus has been set at $24.99 and $19.99, respectively.

The 256GB models for the PRO Plus and the EVO Plus will be sold at $44.99 and $39.99, respectively.

“For years, consumers around the world have trusted Samsung to deliver high-performance memory cards in a variety of capacities that meet their unique needs,” said Dr Mike Mang, vice president of the Memory Brand Product Biz Team at Samsung.

“Samsung has gone beyond that with the PRO Plus and EVO Plus SD cards, providing additional layers of protective measures to withstand intensive usage and the most rugged conditions”.

The PRO Plus offers sequential read and write speeds of up to 100MB/s and 90MB/s, respectively.

For professional photographers, cinematographers and YouTubers, the PRO Plus SD card’s outstanding sequential write performance enables flawless 4K UHD video recording and burst shots.

The EVO Plus also ensures smooth playback when editing 4K as well as Full HD videos with transfer speeds of up to 100MB/s.

Available in four storage capacities from 32GB to 256GB, consumers can easily add extra storage to enjoy more rich content on their devices.

Designed with maximum durability in mind, the PRO Plus and EVO Plus help capture more moments in extreme conditions with their comprehensive seven-proof protection.

In addition to protection from water, temperature, x-rays, magnets and shocks, the new SD cards are now drop-proof and wearout-proof, withstanding up to five-meter drop as well as up to 10,000 swipes. Both lineups come with a 10-year limited warranty, Samsung said.

Twitter suspends fake accounts posing as Black Trump supporters

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Twitter suspends fake accounts posing as Black Trump supporters

Twitter has disabled several accounts posing as Black supporters of US President Donald Trump and his re-election campaign for breaking its rules against platform manipulation.

According to a report in The Washington Post on Wednesday, Clemson University social media researcher Darren Linvill tracked and found more than two dozen similar accounts, many of them using identical language in their tweets.

“Several had tens of thousands of followers and all but one have now been suspended,” the report said.

The network of more than two dozen similar accounts generated more than 265,000 retweets or other amplifying “mentions” on Twitter.

Many of the accounts used profile pictures of Black men taken from news reports or other sources.

“Several of the accounts claimed to be from members of groups with pro-Trump leanings, including veterans, police officers, steelworkers, businessmen and avid Christians”.

Twitter spokesperson Trenton Kennedy said Twitter took down some of the network identified by Linvill.

“Our teams are working diligently to investigate this activity and will take action in line with the Twitter Rules if Tweets are found to be in violation,” Kennedy said in a statement.

The network of fake accounts claiming to represent Black Trump supporters became increasingly active in the past two months.

“Researchers call fake accounts featuring supposed Black users ‘digital blackface,’ a reference to the now-disgraced tactic of White people darkening their faces for film or musical performances intended to mimic African Americans,” the report mentioned.

Google makes Chromebooks more accessible for the disabled

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Google makes Chromebooks more accessible for the disabled

Google has introduced new updates for Chromebooks that help people with disabilities make their working environment accessible and productive.

Now, the visually impaired can change the colour of the cursor to improve its visibility and add a personal touch to Chromebook.

This feature is designed to help people with low vision and complements other ways Chromebook cursors can be customized, like adjusting its size for further visibility.

“Select-to-speak lets people choose text on screen to be spoken aloud. You now have the option to shade background text that isn’t highlighted, which makes it easier to focus on the words being recited,” Google said in a statement late on Tuesday.

This is a helpful tool for people with low vision and learning disabilities like dyslexia.

ChromeVox is the built-in screen reader on all Chromebooks. Screen readers are critical for people who are blind or low vision to use computers.

Voice Switching on ChromeVox now automatically changes the screen reader’s voice based on the language of the page.

If the page is in both English and Spanish, ChromeVox will detect which voice to use when reading it aloud.

“We also added more speech customization options, Smart Sticky Mode and improved navigation in ChromeVox menus,” Google said.

It is now easier to export websites as accessible PDFs in Google Chrome, including on Chromebooks.

Chrome is now the first browser to generate PDFs with auto-generated headings, links, tables and alt-text that make them more easily legible for screen-readers.

“This makes the web more accessible for people with low vision or who are blind”.

For children with disabilities, a new Guardian’s Guide includes tips tailored for different types of disabilities to help the family get the most out of Chromebooks and adapt to distance learning.

Google recently launched the Chromebook accessibility hub for people to learn about getting started with accessibility features on Chromebooks.

It includes information on key Chromebook accessibility features, including links to video tutorials and useful Help Center articles.

63K Covid cases, 703 deaths in a day in India

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63K Covid cases, 703 deaths in a day in India

Around 8,000 more cases were seen in the daily spike as 63,509 fresh infection were reported in 24 hours, taking the total Covid tally to 72,39,389 on Wednesday.

After 55,342 new cases were reported on Tuesday giving a sense of a downward trend, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) gave a jolt to general expectation as ICMR DG Balram Bhargava informed that so far there has been three cases of re-infection of Covid-19 identified in India — two in Mumbai and one in Ahmedabad.

There were 730 deaths in one day taking the overall toll to 1,10,586.

Out of the total cases, 8,26,876 are currently active, 63,01,927 have been discharged as India showed an indication of declining average daily cases for the past five weeks.

While the recovery rate stands at 87.05 per cent, the fatality rate is 1.53 per cent, the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Three states account for maximum caseload in the country — besides Maharashtra which continues to be the worst-hit with a total of 15,43,837 cases including 40,701 deaths; it is Karnataka and Kerala. In fact Kerala, which till two weeks back, did not feature in the top list — is now in the third spot.

It was after nearly two months that the daily spike had dropped below 60,000 on Tuesday. For the fifth day in a row, the active cases remained below 9 lakh, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data showed. The fatalities have come down below 1,000 for 10 straight days. India had recorded a spike of 97,894 cases on September 17.

According to the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India conducted 11,45,015 sample tests in a single day on Tuesday, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 9,00,90,122.

13 killed as heavy rains batter Hyderabad, areas submerged

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13 killed as heavy rains batter Hyderabad, areas submerged

Several residential areas in Hyderabad and suburbs remained inundated on Wednesday as unprecedented rainfall has left at least 13 people dead.

Hyderabad has been lashed by rains since Tuesday evening.

The rains abated early Wednesday, but dozens of colonies both in the city and suburbs remained under water while water logging and fallen trees affected the vehicular traffic within the city and also on the national highways to Vijayawada and Bengaluru.

The heavy rains under the impact of deep depression wrecked havoc in the Telangana capital as overflowing lakes and open nalas flooded roads and colonies.

The highest rainfall in over a century paralysed the city and outskirts, plunging hundreds of colonies into darkness.

People in flooded areas spent a sleepless night. With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting more rains, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner Lokesh Kumar has appealed to people to stay indoors.

Disaster Response Force (DRF) with the help of fire services personnel and police were attending to distress calls from people stranded in flood water.

Police said dozens of people were rescued from vehicles caught in flood waters at various places.

Nine people were killed and three injured when a wall collapsed and fell on two houses in Bandlaguda in the old city of Hyderabad.

Two persons drowned and two others went missing in the Gaganpahad area in Shamshabad on the outskirts. Two more persons were feared killed in Abdullahpur, also on the outskirts.

The DRF teams deployed boats to rescue people caught in flood waters in the Nadeem Colony in Toli Chowki area in the city. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, who visited the colony late last night, said 600 people were evacuated from 170 houses and shifted to relief camps.

Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway after a stretch of the highway came under flood water.

The movement of traffic was also hit on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru highway. People were also facing problems in reaching Hyderabad Airport at Shamshabad. Cyberabad police have appealed to those going to the airport to use Outer Ring Road.

Colonies in areas like Khairatabad, Chintal Basti, Gandhi Nagar, Maruti Nagar, Srinagar and Anand Bagh in the heart of the city were also inundated.

Several parts of the city remained without power for more than 12 hours.

According to the weather office, Ghatkesar on the city outskirts received record rainfall of 32.20 cm. Hayathnagar and Hastinapuram recorded 29.45 and 28.30 cm rainfall respectively.

Covid recoveries cross 6 lakh in Karnataka

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Covid recoveries cross 6 lakh in Karnataka

The recovery of Covid patients across Karnataka crossed the six lakh-mark, with 10,421 cases discharged and outnumbering 8,191 new cases in the last 24 hours.

“With 10,421 patients discharged from across the state on Monday, 6,02,505 recovered from the infection till date,” said the state health bulletin on Tuesday.

For the second consecutive day, new cases at 8,191 were less than recoveries (10,421), taking the state’s Covid tally to 7,26,106, including 1,13,459 active cases so far.

With 87 succumbing to the infection in the last 24 hours, the death toll rose to 10,123 since the pandemic broke in the southern state on March 8.

Bengaluru also reported 4,529 recoveries, taking the number of discharged to 2,21,615 till date, outnumbering 3,776 fresh cases. The Covid tally reached 2,88,831, including 63,789 active cases till date.

With 28 dying of the virus during the last 24 hours, the city’s toll rose to 3,390.

Of the 919 patients in the intensive care units (ICUs), 346 are in Bengaluru hospitals, followed by Dharwad 93, Ballari 76, Hassan 49 and Kalaburagi 41.

Of the 1,06,241 tests conducted on Monday, 43,023 were through rapid antigen detection and 63,218 through RT-PCR.

“The positivity rate for the day was 7.7 per cent and the case fatality rate 1.06 per cent,” added the bulletin.

Facebook Oculus Quest 2 VR headset now available for $299

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Facebook Oculus Quest 2 VR headset now available for $299

Facebook has announced that its virtual reality (VR) headset Oculus Quest 2 is now available for $299 in select markets.

Quest 2 gives the users access to the full library of Quest content, including Echo VR, Moss, Vader Immortal and many more.

There are also new games and updates available, like The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, Beat Saber multiplayer, Rez Infinite and some great Japanese content — with even more on the way.

“With Quest 2, Oculus Link and a compatible gaming PC, you can enjoy some of the best that PC VR has to offer, including Asgard’s Wrath, Stormland and Lone Echo, plus upcoming titles like Lone Echo II and Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond,” the company said in a statement late on Tuesday.

Quest 2 is designed to support a variety of optional accessories that give people more choices for fit, comfort and portability.

For companies and teams, Facebook said that Quest 2 is also available as an enterprise solution.

“Oculus for Business offers enterprise-grade security and support, is easy to manage, and is supported by a growing ecosystem of Independent Software Vendors (ISVs).”

Quest 2 pushes the state of VR forward with a redesigned all-in-one form factor, new Touch controllers and our highest-resolution display ever. The new display is capable of supporting 90Hz.

Apple iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max push boundaries of innovation

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Apple iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max push boundaries of innovation

In a huge 5G leap for smartphones, Apple has launched iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max that feature the powerful A14 bionic chip, all-new design with Ceramic Shield, pro camera system, LiDAR scanner and the biggest Super Retina XDR display ever on an iPhone.

Called a photographer’s or a videographer’s delight, the pro camera is a more versatile tool for all levels of photo and video enthusiasts with state-of-the-art camera hardware powered by A14 bionic chip.

Together with the new image signal processor (ISP), A14 Bionic drives increased image quality and enables powerful computational photography capabilities not possible with traditional cameras, the company said in a statement late on Tuesday.

iPhone 12 Pro models also feature the new Apple ProRAW (coming later this year) which combines Apple’s multi-frame image processing and computational photography with the versatility of a RAW format.

Users can experience full creative control over colour, detail, and dynamic range natively on iPhone or with other professional photo editing apps.

“The pro camera system on iPhone 12 Pro models includes new Wide cameras for even better low-light performance, an expansive Ultra Wide camera, and a Telephoto camera for capturing stunning images and video,” Apple informed.

iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max will be available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB models in graphite, silver, gold, and pacific blue starting at Rs 119,900 and Rs 129,900, respectively.

iPhone 12 Pro will be available in India beginning October 30.

iPhone 12 Pro features the new seven-element lens Wide camera with an ƒ/1.6 aperture, the fastest ever on an iPhone, for 27 per cent improved low-light performance in photo and video; the Ultra Wide camera with a 120-degree field of view, perfect for capturing more scene in tight spots or epic landscapes; and a 52 mm focal length Telephoto camera, great for framing portraits, bringing the optical zoom range to 4x.

iPhone 12 Pro Max takes the pro camera experience even further. The new ƒ/1.6 aperture Wide camera boasts a 47 percent larger sensor with 1.7µm pixels for a massive 87 per cent improvement in low-light conditions.

It also includes the expansive Ultra Wide camera and a 65 mm focal length Telephoto camera for increased flexibility with closer shots and tighter crops. Combined, this system offers 5x optical zoom range.

iPhone 12 Pro models also introduce a new LiDAR Scanner for immersive augmented reality (AR) experiences and MagSafe, which offers high-powered wireless charging and an all-new ecosystem of accessories that easily attach to iPhone.

“A state-of-the-art LiDAR Scanner means users can experience AR like never before, and also offers benefits to the camera with faster autofocus in low light and the introduction of Night mode portraits. These experiences and so much more make this the best iPhone lineup ever,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

The 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro and 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max feature the largest Super Retina XDR displays ever on iPhone.

5G on iPhone boasts improved speeds for faster downloads and uploads, higher quality video streaming, more responsive gaming, real-time interactivity in apps, FaceTime in high definition, and much more.

Customers will also be able to enjoy a secure, fast connection, reducing the need to connect to public Wi-Fi hotspots.

Global Covid-19 cases surpass 38 million

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Global Covid-19 cases surpass 38 million

Global Covid-19 cases have surpassed 38 million, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The global case count on Tuesday reached 38,006,121, with a total of 1,083,875 deaths worldwide, the CSSE data showed, Xinhua news agency reported.

The US reported 7,850,829 cases and 215,775 deaths, both the highest around the world.

With 7,175,880 cases, India ranked second worldwide. Brazil recorded the world’s third largest caseload of 5,103,408 and second largest death toll of 150,689.

The total caseload of the top three countries combined accounted for more than half of the global cases, according to the tally.

Countries with more than 820,000 cases also include Russia, Colombia, Argentina, Spain, Peru, and Mexico, while other countries with over 36,000 deaths include India, Mexico, Britain and Italy, according to the center.

Iranian Super Cup postponed

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Iranian Super Cup postponed

The Iranian Super Cup, which had been scheduled for October 26, has been postponed. Iran Football League Organisation announced the postponement but did not provide details on the reason.

The sixth edition of Super Cup between Persepolis, as the titleholder of Iran Professional League (IPL), and Tractor, the winner of the Hazfi Cup, will be held in mid-season, according to a Persian Football website, writes Xinhua news agency.

The 20th edition of the IPL will begin on October 31, but Persepolis announced that they need more time to rest since they participated in the recently-concluded 2020 AFC Champions League (west zone) in Doha, Qatar, where the Iranian giants qualified for Asia’s final match.

Persepolis won the last three editions of the Iranian Super Cup. Saba and Zob Ahan have claimed the title once each.

Ranvir Shorey, Purbi Joshi shoot for ‘Metro Park 2’ in New Jersey

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Ranvir Shorey, Purbi Joshi shoot for ‘Metro Park 2’ in New Jersey

The cast of the web show, Metro Park, has started shooting for the second season in New Jersey, USA.

Ranvir Shorey, Purbi Joshi, Omi Vaidya and Vega Tamotia are amomng actors facing the camera for season two of the series that showcases the quirks of the everyday life of a Gujarati family living abroad. Sarita Joshi and Gopal Dutt have also joined the team.

“Finally back to work… thank you #Metropark season 2 this is going to be a fun ride,” Purbi shared.

The second season of “Metro Park” is written by Ajayan Venugopalan and directed by Abi Varghese ans Ajayan Venugopalan. The season will stream on Eros Now.

Johnson & Johnson suspends Covid-19 vaccine trials in Brazil

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Johnson & Johnson suspends Covid-19 vaccine trials in Brazil

The Janssen-Cilag company, the pharmaceutical division of US multinational Johnson & Johnson, temporarily suspended clinical trials in Brazil of a vaccine against the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), the national health regulatory body Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) said on Tuesday.

Janssen-Cilag notified Anvisa that testing to determine the safety and efficacy of its vaccine VAC31518COV3001 “was temporarily suspended due to a serious adverse occurrence in a volunteer abroad,” Xinhua news agency reported.

The company did not provide more details about the case, as the volunteer’s health status is kept confidential.

According to Anvisa, the trials will not resume until there is an investigation into the cause of the problem by the Independent Safety Committee, as part of good clinical practice procedures.

“In Brazil, the inclusion of the first volunteer in the study occurred on Oct. 9 and new inclusions can only occur when there is authorization from Anvisa, which will proceed with the analysis of the research data and decide on the continuity or permanent suspension based on the safety and risk/benefit assessment,” the agency said.

Janssen-Cilag received authorization from Anvisa in August to carry out the trials in Brazil.

Bigg Boss 14 housemate Rahul Vaidya: People in power promote remixes

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Bigg Boss 14 housemate Rahul Vaidya: People in power promote remixes

Bigg Boss 14 housemate, singer Rahul Vaidya, disapproves of musical recreations, and he is certainly no fan of remixes.

Asked if he feels Bollywood has run out of ideas when it comes to music, what with the sudden surge in remixes, Rahul blames music labels and producers for the trend.

“It is a marketing decision. People in power always decide what they want to do. They have decided they want to take a safe bet and put out a sound that is already popular,” Rahul told IANS.

“It is extremely unfortunate because in a country of 1.3 billion people we have talent dying for opportunities. It is extremely unfair of the producers to not give it a thought. It is a question of faith. They don’t have faith and trust. They don’t have confidence that if we give a chance to someone, ‘he will kill it’,” he added.

Rahul insists recreations are “not worth it”.

“I was extremely upset about the film ‘Simmba’. There is this romantic song ‘Tere bin nahi lagda’. It’s an original Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan song. It has been recreated and sung by Rahat sahab and a female singer. Now, imagine a newcomer had gotten a chance to create such a love song, picturised in such a big film as ‘Simmba’. But the producers chose to go on with the recreation,” he npoted.

Lack of protest is also a reason why the recreation culture thrives, he feels. “The second issue is that the people around them don’t want to contradict them. Because if I contradict a big guy, he will think I have attitude and kick me out from my job,” said Rahul.

“They are all feared, so I will not say anything to him even if he is doing something wrong. But I am absolutely in no favour of remixes,” Rahul summed up.

Apple enters 5G era with 4 iPhone 12 series smartphones

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Apple enters 5G era with 4 iPhone 12 series smartphones

Heralding a 5G era for its iPhones, Apple on Tuesday introduced a new lineup of four iPhone 12 smartphones that are expected to log even bigger sales than the iPhone 11 family last year despite a delayed launch.

Apple launched iPhone 12, 12 Mini, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max models. The elevated new design of the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini are as beautiful as they are durable, the company announced.

The top versions — iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max — will be available in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB models in graphite, silver, gold, and pacific blue, starting at Rs 119,900 and Rs 129,900, respectively.

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini will be available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB models in blue, green, black, white and red colours, starting at Rs 79,900 and Rs 69,900, respectively.

iPhone 12 will be available in India beginning October 30.

Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max feature a new lidar sensor on the back – a technology first introduced on the iPad Pro in March.

The newly designed iPhone 12 models feature expansive edge-to-edge Super Retina XDR displays for a brighter, more immersive viewing experience, and a new Ceramic Shield front cover, providing the biggest jump in durability ever on iPhone.

The Apple-designed A14 Bionic, the fastest chip in a smartphone, powers every experience on iPhone 12, and coupled with an advanced dual-camera system, delivers meaningful new computational photography features and the highest quality video in a smartphone.

iPhone 12 models also introduce MagSafe, offering high-powered wireless charging and an all-new ecosystem of accessories that easily attach to iPhone.

Pre-orders for iPhone 12 begin from October 16 and availability from October 23 globally. iPhone 12 mini will be available for pre-order beginning November 6 and in stores beginning November 13.

“The arrival of 5G marks the beginning of a new era for iPhone and we’re thrilled to bring these impressive new capabilities to our customers with iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

“Available in two great sizes, iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini take design to a new level in a new form factor that’s as beautiful as it is durable, and makes it easier than ever for customers to find the perfect iPhone to fit their lifestyle.”

Pushing the limits of machine learning (ML), A14 Bionic features a 16-core Neural Engine — for an 80 per cent increase in performance — that is capable of completing 11 trillion operations per second, enabling improved performance on even the most intense ML models.

Featuring the most 5G bands on any smartphone, iPhone 12 models offer the broadest 5G coverage worldwide.

Models in the US support millimeter wave, the higher frequency version of 5G, allowing iPhone 12 to reach speeds up to 4Gbps, even in densely populated areas.

iPhone 12 models also feature Smart Data mode, which extends battery life by intelligently assessing 5G needs and balancing data usage, speed, and power in real time.

Apple also unveiled HomePod mini, the newest addition to the HomePod family. HomePod mini will be available in white and space grey colours at Rs 9,900.

At just 3.3 inches tall, HomePod mini is packed with innovative technologies and advanced software that together enable computational audio to deliver breakthrough audio quality wherever it is placed.

“HomePod mini is the ultimate smart speaker for anyone with an Apple device. It works effortlessly with iPhone to hand off music, answer calls, or deliver personalised listening suggestions, elevates the sound from Apple TV, plays music from a Mac, and so much more,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.

HomePod mini is designed to work with Apple Music, podcasts, radio stations from iHeartRadio, radio.com, and TuneIn, and in the coming months, popular music services including Pandora and Amazon Music.

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