SC grants interim protection from arrest to Punjab ex-DGP

TB Team
-
0
SC grants interim protection from arrest to Punjab ex-DGP

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim protection from arrest for three weeks to retired Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in connection with the 1991 kidnapping-murder case of Balwant Singh Multani.

A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy, and MR Shah asked the Punjab government to file its reply on the anticipatory bail plea of Saini while asking him to cooperate in the investigation. The bench issued a notice on Saini’s plea, returnable by three weeks.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Saini, submitted before the bench that his client was a decorated police office and the Punjab government was after him since he had got filed two charge sheets naming present Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

Rohatgi said Saini had risen through the ranks when the Sikh militancy was raging in Punjab.

Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, opposing Saini’s bail plea, contended that Multani was picked up from his residence in SAS Nagar (adjoining Chandigarh) in 1991 and Rohatgi was attributing motives to a Judge who had declined to entertain Saini’s bail plea in the case.

Luthra pointed out that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had noted that former Director General of Police Saini had “misused” his powers.

The bench asked what was the hurry in arresting the retired IPS officer in a 1991 case, after nearly 30 years.

Luthra insisted that the court had noted that a person (Multani) had succumbed to injuries after inhuman treatment by Saini and that even after his retirement, the accused officer had the power to have some official files in his control.

Senior Advocate KV Viswanathan, representing Multani’s brother, argued that Saini was a “notorious police officer” and alleged that his client’s brother was killed at the hands of the petitioner.

The top court said that no arrest can take place before Punjab’s reply is heard on the matter. The bench also gave one week thereafter to Saini to file his rejoinder. The case is likely to come up after three weeks.

Multani, a Junior Engineer with Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation, was allegedly picked up by police in December 1991, after a terror attack on Saini (then SSP of Chandigarh) left three policemen dead.

On September 7, the Punjab and Haryana High Court declined to entertain his anticipatory bail plea in the case.

“In the light of the seriousness of offenses that have come about, there being every likelihood of petitioner stifling fair investigations and trial and for which custodial interrogation of the petitioner is very much essential to piece together this unfortunate incident, necessitates dismissal of the instant bail application,” the court had said.

In May, Saini was booked at a police station in SAS Nagar (Mohali) along with six others in the case. In August, a murder charge was added after two of the accused policemen gave details of the crime.

A trial court in SAS Nagar in Punjab had on September 12 issued an arrest warrant against Saini in the case and directed the police to present Saini before it by September 25.

Earlier, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had dismissed the retired police officer’s anticipatory bail plea, following which he moved the Supreme Court.

Saini is also facing trial in a special CBI court in Delhi in the alleged abduction of automobile businessman Vinod Kumar, his brother-in-law Ashok Kumar, and their driver Mukhtiyar Singh.

Centre bans onion export to control domestic prices

TB Team
-
0
Centre bans onion export to control domestic prices

With an increase in onion prices in the country, the central government has banned its export, which is expected to bring the prices of the staple down.

Onion exports from the country had increased considerably during the coronavirus pandemic, due to which domestic prices increased and supply decreased within the country.

At present, the retail price of onions is above Rs 40 per kg in Delhi and neighbouring areas. On Monday, onion prices at the Azadpur wholesale market ranged from Rs 13.75 to Rs 27.5 per kg.

According to a notification issued on Monday by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the export of all varieties of onions has been banned with immediate effect. The notification said that provisions of transitional agreements will not apply under this notification.

Market experts say that onion exports from April to July 2020 went up by nearly 30 per cent compared with the previous year. Onion prices may witness another hike as heavy rains across south India have damaged standing onion crop.

Rajendra Sharma, General Secretary, Azadpur Mandi Potato Onion Merchant Association (POMA), said that the export ban was a good decision to put an end to increasing onion prices. Due to crop failure in south India, there is shortage of onion supplies and hence the Union government should focus on import as well, Sharma added.

During the festive season last year, onion prices had skyrocketed. In different parts of the country, including Delhi, onions were sold at Rs 150 per kg. This forced the government to adopt various measures, including the decision to import onions from abroad as well as export restrictions.

‘JL 50’ producer Ritika Anand on how Abhay Deol, Pankaj Kapur came on board

TB Team
-
0
‘JL 50’ producer Ritika Anand on how Abhay Deol, Pankaj Kapur came on board

Actress Ritika Anand, who features in and has produced the four-episode web series, JL 50, says that although she was always keen to cast Abhay Deol as the protagonist of the show, she and writer-director Shailender Vyas were initially apprehensive about approaching him. She added she feels fortunate to have a cast that includes Pankaj Kapur and Piyush Mishra along with Abhay.

Talking about the casting of Abhay in as Shantanu Ritika in the sci-fi thriller, she said: “Abhay was the first choice and an intimidating one too. We had heard so much about how he only gives a nod to excellent scripts. We had confidence in the script but we weren’t sure how he’d take the time travel angle of the story. However, upon Shailender and Piyush ji’s suggestion, we sent Abhay the script and after a few anxious nights, we heard that he loved the premise of the story and the script of the film.”

According to Ritika, the idea of sci-fi came to her mind in 2016.

“In March of 2016, I suggested to Shailender that we should make a Hindi film on quantum physics, time travel, and inane crashes. At the offset, my suggestion was met with an ‘it doesn’t work with an Indian audience’. However, with some deliberation, I got Shailender to write a detailed 13-page story synopsis in March 2016. Around June or July the same year, amidst challenging times, I once again suggested to Shailendra that we convert the synopsis into a full script,” Ritika said.

However, from scripting to raising the fund and finding the cast, and releasing the show, took her four years.

Talking about casting Pankaj Kapur, she said: “We had approached Pankaj ji for a film in 2015, called ‘Palki’, which didn’t materialize with him. However, for ‘JL50’, Shailender was certain that he wanted Pankaj Ji for the role of professor Das and this time we weren’t going to let it fall through. We weren’t sure though that he would accept a script with such fantasy and unreal elements, when we went to see him after he had read the script, he told us that he had watched ‘Interstellar’ and ‘JL 50’ reminded him of it. It was a compliment and we were thrilled to have him on board,” she added.

The show released on the OTT platform SonyLIV September 4.

Xiaomi launches affordable Redmi 9i with 4GB RAM in India

TB Team
-
0
Xiaomi launches affordable Redmi 9i with 4GB RAM in India

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi on Tuesday launched a new budget smartphone Redmi 9i at a starting price of Rs 8,299 (4GB+64GB variant) in India.

The 4GB RAM with a 128GB internal storage variant will cost Rs 9,299.

“The smartphone will be available in three color variants, nature green, sea blue, midnight black across mi.com, Flipkart, Mi Homes, and Mi Studios starting September 18,” the company said in a statement.

The smartphone features a 6.53-inch HD+ IPS LCD display with a 20:9 aspect ratio with TUV Rheinland Low Blue Light certification for better visibility in reading mode.

The device is powered by octa-core MediaTek Helio G25 chipset clocked at 2.0 GHz coupled with 4GB RAM and up to 128GB internal storage. It also has a dedicated microSD card slot allowing expansion up to 512GB.

Redmi 9i houses a 5000mAh battery. It comes with a 13MP AI camera on the rear with features such as AI Portrait mode, AI scene detection, document scanner, and kaleidoscope.

There is also a 5MP AI selfie camera with AI portrait mode.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+: Seamless multi-tasking arrives on Android

TB Team
-
0
Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+: Seamless multi-tasking arrives on Android

Device makers are constantly looking to refine their best-selling products with productivity and creativity in mind in the social distancing era when the home is the office. Samsung Galaxy tabs delivered wonderful Android-based experiences earlier somehow missing a complete package to date.

With the 12.4-inch Super AMOLED display-packed Galaxy Tab S7+ LTE, the company has hit the jackpot, fulfilling most of the criteria for a professional or a creative buddy to unleash Android capabilities at its optimum best — at work, home, or on the go.

Those who are not on the Apple iPad Pro or, for that matter, not on the iOS ecosystem at all, this new Samsung tab does complete justice for seamless Android navigation amid killer features.

Priced at Rs 79,999, The Mystic Black device (6GB+128GB variant that can go up to 1TB with a micro-SD card) with an improved S Pen removes the need of a fully-packed laptop from your life.

How? Let us find out.

One of the USPs on the device (that supports a 16:10 aspect ratio picture) is ‘Audio Bookmark’ in Samsung Notes app that allows you to record interviews, lectures, or online meetings as you write, and then sync the two together.

This feature makes it stands apart from the rest of the similar devices ((iPad Pro to has this killer feature but the pencil makes a bit of a tapping sound as audio is being recorded).

We can easily navigate lengthy recordings by tapping on a sentence and automatically jump back to the corresponding audio timestamp.

The device offers good mouse support and integrates seamlessly with an external monitor.

If you add a highly-responsive Book Cover Keyboard (that costs an additional Rs 17,999) and a mouse, it becomes the best alternative to a notebook for work at home or office.

The improved S Pen is another striking feature which is a great improvement from the S6 series.

Engineered with a rounded form factor and an elongated tip, the S Pen offers a natural writing and drawing experience.

Combined with the display’s refresh rate of up to 120Hz, the S Pen’s biggest leap in responsiveness to date reduces lag significantly, allowing us to write with life-like precision and accuracy when we take notes.

For the multi-taskers, the Galaxy Tab S7+ LTE offers an enhanced multi-active window.

You can run up to three apps simultaneously — make video calls, monitor email and take notes all at once.

With the App Pair tool, one can even tie up three apps together for simultaneous launch to save time in a hurry.

The tab that runs Android 10 also comes with an edge screen, similar to the feature on Galaxy smartphones, providing quick access to the most-used apps.

If you are looking for a true PC-like interface on the tab, use the improved Samsung DeX along with the Book Cover Keyboard.

This upgraded keyboard comes with an added line of intuitive function keys, a larger touchpad, and several new angles, so that you can comfortably write, type, and sketch when you’re away from a desk.

Samsung’s close partnership with Microsoft brings big benefits to tab users too. One can quickly sync Samsung Notes with Microsoft OneNote and Outlook.

Available for the first time on an Android tablet, the popular drawing app ‘Clip Studio Paint’ will help digital artists. It comes preloaded on the tab (Samsung is also offering YouTube Premium free for 4 months).

With up to 120Hz refresh rate, we enjoyed smooth gaming and social media time (quad speakers sound by AKG is there).

The 10,090mAh battery that supports 45W super-fast charging is “intelligent” that adapts power output based on the activity.

Equipped with 5G and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, the tab is always connected.

Conclusion: The device is the best Android experience yet in a tab and for multi-taskers, the tab can up their game to a brand new level.

In simpler words: Get computer-like experience on a tablet. In the era of productivity, new form factors are arriving fast and Galaxy Tab S7+ LTE is a refreshing change.

4 crore scholarships given to minority EWS, 54% to girls

TB Team
-
0
4 crore scholarships given to minority EWS, 54% to girls

The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs has told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply that since 2014-15 till date, over four crore scholarships have been distributed to the students belonging to the economically weaker sections (EWS) of the minority communities. Of this, a 54 percent scholarship has been given to the girl students.

The information was given by Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in the Upper House on Monday.

The Ministry implements various welfare schemes for the socioeconomic and educational empowerment of six Centrally notified minority communities, namely the Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Muslims, Parsis, and Sikhs.

During the period from 2015-16 to 2019-20, the total fund allocated to the Ministry of Minority Affairs was Rs 21,160.84 crore and the actual expenditure was Rs 19,201.45 crore, which is approx 90.75 percent of the total fund allocated.

Since 2014-15 to date, a total number of 4,00,06,080 scholarships have been distributed to the students belonging to the economically weaker sections of the minority communities, by incurring a total expenditure of Rs 11,690.81 crore.

An amount of Rs 9,223.68 crore has been spent for providing scholarships to 3,06,19,546 beneficiaries under various scholarship schemes of the Ministry during the period from 2015-16 to 2019-20, out of which about 54 percent scholarships have been awarded to the minority girl students.

Facebook took political manipulation lightly, says leaked memo

TB Team
-
0
Facebook took political manipulation lightly, says leaked memo

Facebook has been accused of ignoring fake accounts undermining political affairs around the world, according to a memo by a former employee of the social networking giant shared with BuzzFeed News.

In the 6,600-word memo, former Facebook data scientist Sophie Zhang wrote that she found evidence of coordinated campaigns to boost or hinder political candidates or outcomes in India and other countries like Ukraine, Spain, Brazil, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

“I’ve found multiple blatant attempts by foreign national governments to abuse our platform on vast scales to mislead their own citizenry, and caused international news on multiple occasions,” she wrote in the memo, as reported by BuzzFeed News on Monday.

“I have personally made decisions that affected national presidents without oversight, and taken action to enforce against so many prominent politicians globally that I’ve lost count,” according to the memo that details her experiences of working with the social networking giant over the past two-and-a-half years.

Zhang said in the memo that in countries like Azerbaijan and Honduras, heads of government and political parties made use of fake accounts or misrepresented themselves to sway public opinion.

Giving an example of how slow Facebook was in acting against global political manipulation, she said that it took Facebook’s leaders nine months to act on a coordinated campaign “that used thousands of inauthentic assets to boost President Juan Orlando Hernandez of Honduras on a massive scale to mislead the Honduran people.”

Her LinkedIn profile said she “worked as the data scientist for the Facebook Site Integrity fake engagement team” and dealt with “bots influencing elections and the like”.

“I know that I have blood on my hands by now,” Zhang wrote.

However, giving a reference to her work related to India, the memo detailed that she worked to remove “a politically-sophisticated network of more than a thousand actors working to influence” the Delhi Assembly election that took place in February.

Facebook did not reveal the detection of such a network or that it had taken it down, according to the report.

“We’ve built specialized teams, working with leading experts, to stop bad actors from abusing our systems, resulting in the removal of more than 100 networks for coordinated inauthentic behavior,” Facebook spokesperson Liz Bourgeois was quoted as saying in a statement.

“It’s highly involved work that these teams do as their full-time remit. Working against coordinated inauthentic behavior is our priority, but we’re also addressing the problems of spam and fake engagement. We investigate each issue carefully, including those that Ms. Zhang raises before we take action or go out and make claims publicly as a company.”

These revelations come barely a month after a Wall Street Journal report on August 14 said that the top leadership at Facebook’s India office refused to apply the company’s own rules to politicians from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), despite clear violations of Facebook’s policies against incitement to violence, hate speech, and misinformation.

Facebook India’s public policy head Ankhi Das reportedly “told staff members that punishing violations by politicians from Mr. Modi’s party would damage the company’s business prospects in the country.”

Following the report, the opposition Congress Party raised the issue of what it calls “unholy nexus” of the ruling BJP with Facebook and WhatsApp.

On August 18, the Congress Party wrote a letter to Facebook Inc expressing concern and asking them to acknowledge the issue and take corrective action. Congress had raised alarm over “interference in India’s internal affairs by a foreign company”.

Ludhiana topped romantic conversations on Twitter last year

TB Team
-
0
Ludhiana topped romantic conversations on Twitter last year

A study by micro-blogging site Twitter India on Tuesday revealed that Ludhiana topped the charts for conversations on romance, followed by Ahmedabad and Kolkata while Raipur led conversations around animals.

The study conducted by Twitter revealed the ten most talked about themes on micro-blogging which brought Joy to people across the country in 2019.

As per the ‘Conversation Replay’ study, in 2019, themes such as animals, celebration, celebrity content, doing good deeds, family, food, humour, nostalgia, romance and sports drove joyful conversations on Twitter.

For the findings, the research team studied 8,50,000 tweets across 22 cities in India from September-November 2019, over a 100-day framework.

“With Conversation Replay, we intend to throwback to those vibrant conversations, across varied themes of joy from diverse parts of India,” Manish Maheshwari, Managing Director, Twitter India, said in a statement.

“Sharing these conversations is our way of giving Indians a moment of happiness and reminding them that little pleasures lead to joy,” Maheshwari added.

The study revealed that southern cities like Ernakulam, Hyderabad, and Chennai led conversations across themes of sports, food, celebration, celebrity content, and humour.

According to the report, Bhubaneswar had the most conversations around the family and doing good deeds, whereas Mumbai led conversations on nostalgia.

The data also showed that Hyderabad led engagement around celebration, followed by Indore, and Visakhapatnam. Chennai led engagement around celebrity content, followed by Visakhapatnam and Coimbatore.

People on Twitter witnessed great joy through this conversation theme, with Bhubaneswar being the top city Tweeting and contributing to it, followed closely by Ludhiana and Mohali.

“With Conversation Replay, we hope to delight people with a throwback to the unique, happy, and joyful moments that they Tweeted about in 2019,” said Martyn Uren, Head of Research – APAC & MENA, Twitter.

Leading Israel, UAE banks sign cooperation agreement

TB Team
-
0
Leading Israel, UAE banks sign cooperation agreement

Bank Hapoalim, one of Israel’s largest, announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement with Emirates NBD, a top bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“The memorandum of understanding signed by the two banks is a historic step, in which they will deepen cooperation as part of the strengthening of economic relations between Israel and the UAE,” Xinhua news agency quoted Bank Hapoalim as saying in a statement on Monday.

“The agreement with a leading bank in the UAE is a groundbreaking achievement that allows Israeli clients to operate directly in the UAE and later in other countries,” said Dov Kotler, CEO of Bank Hapoalim.

Shayne Nelson, CEO of Emirates NBD, hailed the agreement with Bank Hapoalim as an opportunity for the UAE bank to “strengthen leading position in the MENAT region (Middle East, North Africa and Turkey)”.

On August 13, Israel and the UAE announced a US-brokered deal to normalize their ties.

The deal is scheduled to be signed on Tuesday at the White House.

Sasikala’s probable date of release is Jan 27, 2021: Bangalore Central Prison

TB Team
-
0
Sasikala’s probable date of release is Jan 27, 2021: Bangalore Central Prison

The probable date of release of V.K. Sasikala, a close aide of Tamil Nadu’s late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, from jail in Karnataka is January 27, 2021, said the Bangalore Central Prison.

Sasikala and two of her relatives — Illavarasi and Sudhakaran — have been in prison since 2017 following their conviction in a corruption case.

In a reply to a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Bangalore Central Prison on September 11, 2020, said: “As per Convict prisoner number 9234 ‘probable date of release’ is 27-01-2021 provided the in-default fine amount is paid as awarded by the Hon’ble Court.”

“Further her ‘probable date of release’ would be 27-02-2022 if the fine is not paid,” the Bangalore Central Prison said.

Apart from a four-year jail term, the court had levied a fine of Rs 10 crore on Sasikala.

The Public Information Officer and Superintendent also said the probable date of release would vary if Sasikala utilizes a parole facility.

There have been speculative reports about Sasikala’s early release.

Recently the Income Tax (IT) Department attached about 65 properties belonging to Sasikala and her associates in and around the Tamil Nadu capital.

One of the properties that are being attached is a residential building under construction in Poes Garden.

It was said that Sasikala after her release from the jail will be residing at the Poes Garden residence.

In 2017, the Income Tax Department had raided about 187 properties said to be linked to Sasikala and her relatives and unearthed alleged tax evasion of about Rs 1,430 crore.

CBI searches premises of J&K ex-Minister’s wife, others

TB Team
-
0
CBI searches premises of J&K ex-Minister’s wife, others

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting searches at nine locations in Jammu and Kashmir, including premises of former state Minister Choudhary Lal Singh’s wife Kamta Singh, in a case of illegal encroachment of forest land in Kathua district, an official said on Tuesday.

On June 25, the CBI had registered a preliminary inquiry (PE) to probe the land encroachment allegations.

The agency said it found the existence of prima facie material to move ahead with formal registration of a case, known as a Regular Case or FIR, to start an investigation.

A CBI spokesperson said in Delhi: “Multiple CBI teams are conducting searches at nine locations, three in Jammu and six in Kathua, including at RB Educational Trust office, the residence of its chairperson Kamta Singh and other accused.”

The official said that the agency also carried out searches at the premises of Ajay Singh Jamwal, then District Collector of Kathua; Avtar Singh, then Tehsildar of Marheen area; Desh Raj, then Naib Tehsildar, Ramphal, then Girdawar; and Sudesh Kumar, then Patwari.

The official said that the CBI had registered a case against RB Educational Trust, (through its Chairperson Kamta), above-mentioned officials, and unknown persons on the charges of facilitating possession of land by the Trust much beyond the permissible limit and submission of a false affidavit in Trust’s support, thereby causing loss to the exchequer.

According to a CBI official, RB Educational Trust continues to be in possession of huge tracts of land in gross violation of the ceiling prescribed under the J&K Agrarian Reforms Act, 1976.

It was also alleged that an affidavit was filed in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on June 6, 2015, in which false information was submitted by public servants serving in Kathua.

The official said the writ petition was filed in Jammu so as to favor the RB Educational Trust, a family trust of former Member of Parliament Choudhary Lal Singh.

The official said that in lieu of illegal consideration, the Revenue and Forest department officials in Kathua allowed the sale and purchase of government/public/forest land by certain persons on the basis of false certificates that such land falls under the exempted category as per law.

The official said that such encroachment is still continuing and vast tracts of state land is in illegal possession of encroachers due to the connivance of Revenue officials in Kathua.

Choudhary Lal Singh had quit the BJP following a row over the rape-murder of an 8-year-old girl in Kathua in 2018.

Karnataka minister Basavaraj tests Covid positive

TB Team
-
0
Karnataka minister Basavaraj tests Covid positive

Ahead of the Monsoon Session of the Karnataka Legislature from September 21, state Urban Development Minister Byrati Basavaraj tested COVID positive and was admitted to a private hospital in the city, an official said on Tuesday.

“Basavaraj tested COVID positive and has been admitted to the Columbia Asia Hospital in the city’s northern suburb for treatment,” the minister’s secretary said here.

Basavaraj, 56, is the ruling BJP’s Legislator from the K.R. Puram Assembly segment in the city’s eastern suburb.

“The minister had body ache and no other symptoms on Monday when he took the COVID test,” the official said.

Basavaraj defected from the Congress and was re-elected from the same constituency in the December 5 Assembly by-elections. He revolted against the 14-month JD(S)-Congress coalition government and resigned from the Assembly seat in July 2019.

State Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chauhan also tested positive for the coronavirus on September 9 at Bidar in the state’s northern region.

“As Chauhan was asymptomatic, he was advised to quarantine at home after his car driver, the gunman, and personal assistant contracted the virus on September 8, said his special officer Shivakumar Katte in a statement earlier.

Bidar is 680km north of Bengaluru in the southern state.

In a related development, opposition Congress legislator H. P. Manjunath from Hunsur in Mysuru district also tested COVID positive on September 11 and is under treatment at home as he is asymptomatic.

Early this month, state Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar tested positive on September 5 and has been in home quarantine for treatment at Yellapur in Uttara Kannada district in the state’s northwest coastal region.

Besides state Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa, half-a-dozen ministers, including B. R.Sriramulu (Health), C. T.Ravi (Tourism), Shashikala Jolle (Women and Child Development), Anand Singh (Forests & Environment), and S. T.Somashekar (Cooperation) tested for the virus and were discharged after they recovered over the last one month.

Opposition Congress leader Siddaramaiah, his party’s state unit president D. K. Shivakumar and scores of lawmakers of the BJP, Congress, and Janata Dal (Secular) were affected by the virus and recovered after treatment since July.

With so many ministers and Legislators getting infected, Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Kageri Hegde on September 8 directed all the MLAs to undergo RT-PCR test in their respective constituencies on September 18 before the eight-day Monsoon Session from September 21 at Vidhana Soudha.

“Only those who test negative will be allowed to attend the session. The Legislators should carry a certificate from a state-run hospital showing they tested negative for the virus when they enter the Assembly,” said Kageri.

The state Legislature has made elaborate arrangements for the session in compliance with the standard operating procedure of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the COVID-induced guidelines of the Union Health Ministry to prevent the pandemic spread.

“As in Parliament, seating has been re-arranged in the treasury and opposition benches to ensure physical distancing with transparent shields separating them from each other to avoid physical contact,” a secretariat official told IANS here.

Wearing a mask, washing hands with sanitizers, and maintaining social distancing will be mandatory for all the Legislative members.

Telangana’s Covid-19 tally breaches 1.60 lakh mark

TB Team
-
0
Telangana’s Covid-19 tally breaches 1.60 lakh mark

Telangana’s Covid-19 tally crossed 1.60 lakh with the state adding 2,058 new cases in the last 24 hours, health officials said on Tuesday.

With 1,60,571 cases, Telangana overtook Bihar to have the eighth highest numbers in the country.

10 more people succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll in the state to 984. The case fatality rate in the state stands at 0.61 percent against the national average of 1.64 percent.

The state saw more recoveries than new cases during the last 24 hours ending 8 p.m. Monday. With 2,180 more patients recovering from the virus, the total number of recoveries mounted to 1,29,187.

The recovery rate has also further improved to 80.45 percent against the national average of 78.26 percent.

The number of active cases in the state stands at 30,400 including 23,534 in home isolation.

The daily count of Covid-19 cases, which had dropped to 1,417 the previous day with the weekly dip in testing level, crossed 2,000 again as authorities conducted over 51,000 tests. With this, the number of samples tested so far mounted to 21,69,339.

A total of 17 government and 38 private laboratories and 1076 rapid antigen test centers across the state conducted 51,247 tests. These include 22,548 primary and 6,149 secondary contacts. However, no break-up of RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests were available.

The state health authorities said samples tested per million population improved further to 59,811. This is much higher than the daily testing target of 5,600 per day as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) benchmark of 140 per million per day.

During the last 24 hours, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) reported 277 new cases. Neighboring districts Rangareddy and Medchal Malkajgiri reported 143 and 97 cases respectively. Sangareddy, another district bordering the state capital, recorded 24 cases.

Outside Hyderabad and surrounding districts, Karimnagar recorded the highest single-day jump of 135. Warangal Urban district saw 108 new cases. Siddipet added 106 cases, Khammam 103, Nizamabad 84.

According to the director of public health, 70 percent of 1,60,571 cases reported so far in the state were asymptomatic.

Age-wise COVID positive details show that 65.23 percent of those tested positive were in the age group of 21-50 years.officials said that the ratio of those above 51 years dropped to 21.82 against 24.71 percent earlier. Those below 20 years are now 12.95 percent against 10 percent earlier.

Officials said 64.83 percent of those tested positive were male while the remaining 38.17 percent were female.

Out of 20,396 beds under government, 17,730 beds are vacant including 1,586 ICU beds.

The number of private hospitals treating COVID patients rose to 204 with the government adding one more hospital to the list. They have 10,773 beds, out of which 6,533 are vacant.

Immuno suppressing drugs do not increase Covid-19 risk: Study

TB Team
-
0
Immuno suppressing drugs do not increase Covid-19 risk: Study

Patients on immunosuppressive therapy for common skin and rheumatic diseases like psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis are not at increased risk for contracting Covid-19 and should continue taking their medicine as prescribed, say researchers.

According to the study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, most of these patients are not at any greater risk for Covid-19 than the general population, despite their weakened immune system.

“If you require an immune suppressant medication for your condition to be well controlled, you should not be afraid to continue that medication during the pandemic,” said study author Jesse Veenstra from Henry Ford Health System in the US.

For the findings, the research team analyzed the association between immunosuppressive medications for skin diseases and the risk of Covid-19 infection and outcomes.

Until recently, little was known about managing patients on these medications in the pandemic and whether they may be at increased risk for infection with Covid-19 or related complications because of their weakened immune system.

The team conducted a retrospective analysis of 213 patients who were taking immunosuppressive medication for immune-mediated inflammatory disease.

The patients were tested for Covid-19 between February 1 and April 18 and had been receiving immunosuppressive medication for at least one month prior to being tested for Covid-19.

The findings showed that, of the 213 patients, 36 percent tested Covid-19 positive and had no greater odds of being hospitalized or placed on a ventilator than the general population.

There was no evidence that any single immunosuppressive medication increased a patient’s odds of testing positive or developing serious disease.

Patients prescribed a TNF alpha inhibitor had significantly lower odds for hospitalization. TNF alpha inhibitors are part of a class of immunosuppressive biologics used to stop inflammation.

“More research is needed to fully explain this finding, but it may suggest that multiple medications further suppress a patient’s immune system, thus rendering them more susceptible to Covid-19,” Veenstra noted.

Flipkart to create 70,000 direct jobs this festive season

TB Team
-
0
Flipkart to create 70,000 direct jobs this festive season

Flipkart on Tuesday said it will help generate over 70,000 direct and lakhs of indirect seasonal jobs this festive season.

The direct jobs will be across supply chain — delivery executives, pickers, packers, and sorters — while there will be additional indirect jobs at Flipkart’s seller partner locations and kiranas, the company said in a statement.

“We are focused on creating impactful partnerships that offer great consumer experience while creating additional opportunities for the progress of the entire ecosystem as it scales for the Big Billion Days (BBD),” said Amitesh Jha, Senior Vice-President, Ekart and Marketplace, Flipkart.

Flipkart said that onboarding of more than 50,000 kiranas for the last-mile delivery will also create thousands of seasonal jobs to deliver millions of packages.

“By generating employment and enabling our sellers to scale their businesses during this time, we’re doing our part to drive growth in the industry and the economy,” Jha said.

Flipkart is undertaking training programs for its direct hires in various aspects of the supply chain through a mix of classroom and digital training, enhancing their understanding of supply chain management.

The company said it is now enabling customers to get their GSTIN on their invoices, thereby allowing them to claim the input tax credit on their purchases.

“The capability to allow GSTIN on their invoices will help millions of business entities – to claim the input tax credit on their business-related purchases, saving up to 28 percent on their purchases,” the eCommerce leader said.

Call me, I will come, play cricket anywhere: Sreesanth

TB Team
-
0
Call me, I will come, play cricket anywhere: Sreesanth

The desperation was written large on his face when fast bowler S. Sreesanth said, “call me and I will come and play cricket anywhere”. Sreesanth, who was part of the 2007 World T20 and 2011 World Cup-winning Indian teams, made this statement after his seven-year ban ended recently.

“I am speaking to agents in Australia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka as I want to play cricket at the club levels in these countries. My aim is to represent my country in the 2023 World Cup. Another wish is I want to play in a match at the Lords when the MCC plays the Rest of the World,” he added.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had banned Sreesanth for life in August 2013 for his alleged involvement in the spot-fixing scandal that rocked the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL). In 2015, however, a special court in Delhi acquitted him of all charges.

In 2018, the Kerala High Court had struck down the life ban imposed on the cricketer by the BCCI and also quashed all proceedings against him. However, a division bench of the High Court restored the ban.

Sreesanth then moved the Supreme Court against the order. And last year in March, the apex court upheld his guilt but asked the BCCI to reduce his quantum of punishment. The cricket board then reduced his life ban to seven years which came to an end on September 12 this month.

The 37-year-old has so far played 27 Tests, 53 ODIs, and 10 T20Is in which he took 87, 75, and 7 wickets respectively.

Tesla, Huami join hands to launch new smartwatch: Report

TB Team
-
0
Tesla, Huami join hands to launch new smartwatch: Report

Elon Musk-run Tesla and Xiaomi-backed wearable brand Huami have reportedly partnered to launch a smartwatch that will have support for controlling certain aspects of Tesla cars.

Huami CEO Huang Wang teased about a launch event on Weibo and it appears that the company could unveil an upgraded variant of the ‘Amazift GTR’ smartwatch, reports GizmoChina.

Interestingly, the Amazfit GTR and Amazfit GTS smartwatches from the company recently received an update, enabling them to be used as car keys for Xiaopeng P7/Xpeng P7, touted as the Chinese rival to the Tesla Model 3.

The upcoming product could have the same feature, with support for cars from Tesla.

Earlier, it was reported that Tesla is working with the Norway-based wearable company Xplora Technologies to develop smartwatches for kids.

While there is no official word from Tesla on the same, Tesla’s involvement in the Xplora smartwatch was revealed in a US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filing.

80K lost Covid battle in India as tally breached 49L

TB Team
-
0
80K lost Covid battle in India as tally breached 49L

India has lost 80,776 people to the Coronavirus to date, Health Ministry data revealed on Tuesday that also showed a spike of 83,809 new cases in the past 24 hours.

With 1,054 deaths India now has a toll that is barely 5,000 short of total Covid-19 cases reported in China, the ground zero of the virus that turned into a pandemic since the first case was reported in Wuhan in December 2019.

China has so far recorded only 85,202 cases while India that reported its first Covid-19 case on January 30, now has 49,30,236 cases, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data.

Out of the total cases, 9,90,061 are active, 38,59,399 have been discharged, while 79,292 were cured in the past one day.

While the recovery rate is 78 percent, the fatality rate is 1.64 percent.

On July 17, India had logged 10 lakh cases, which then doubled to 20 lakh in 20 days, on August 7. The country added another 10 lakh on August 23 and went past 40 lakh on September 5.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit state with a total of 10,60,308 cases, including 29,531 deaths; followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh.

According to the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India conducted 10,72,845 sample tests in a single day on Monday, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 5,83,12,273.

The US is the only nation worse hit than India with 65,53,303 cases and 1,94,489 deaths so far.

B-town wishes ‘inspiring’ star Ayushmaon his birthday

TB Team
-
0
B-town wishes ‘inspiring’ star Ayushmaon his birthday

Ayushmann Khurrana turned 36 on Monday, and friends and colleagues took to social media to wish the actor.

Sharing a picture of him shaking Ayushmann’s hands at the National Film Awards ceremony in 2019, Akshay Kumar wrote: “Happy birthday. Keep up the amazing work, my best wishes always.”

Varun Dhawan went down memory lane and shared how the two danced on the same stage years ago. “This was many years back when we danced on the same stage on each other’s songs. Happy birthday paaji,” Varun wrote on Instagram Story.

Reacting to the wish, Ayushmann wrote: “Wow paaji. Blast from the past.”

Taking to Instagram Story, Vicky Kaushal wrote:” Happiest birthday Veerey.”

Taapsee Pannu wrote: “Happy birthday Khurrana. Let’s explore the sporting arena this year.”

Bhumi Pednekar, who made her Bollywood debut opposite Ayushmann in “Dum Laga Ke Haisa”, expressed her desire to work with the birthday boy soon.

“Happy birthday my dearest AK. Can’t wait to create more magic with you,” Bhumi said.

Wishing Ayushmann, Anushka Sharma wrote: “May you keep pushing boundaries and creating landmarks.”

Katrina Kaif praised Ayushmann for his performances. “Keep raising the bar with incredible performances. Have a wonderful year,” she wished.

Ayushmann’s family members, including wife Tahira Kashyap Khurrana and brother Aparshakti Khurana, also wished the actor.

Tahira posted a picture of her and Ayushmann with cake smeared on his face.

“Having my cake and eating it too,” Tahira quipped.

Aparshakti shared an old picture with his “bhaiya”.

“Picture from our first photoshoot together. Our hairstyle might be a little controversial but my love for him was definite and remains so. Always his first fan. Happy birthday bhaiya!@ayushmannk,” he wrote.

Sushant probe: 7 drugs accused sent to NCB, judicial custody

TB Team
-
0
Sushant probe: 7 drugs accused sent to NCB, judicial custody

Seven drug peddlers/dealers, nabbed by the Narcotics Control Bureau as part of its probe in the drug angle in Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, were Monday sent to the agency’s or judicial custody for varying periods, officials said.

Drug peddler Anuj Keshwani, who was one of the earliest arrested by the NCB, has been sent to judicial custody till September 23.

While Karamjeet Singh Anand, Dwayne Fernandes, and Ankush Anreja, all arrested in the past couple of days, were sent to NCB custody till September 16, three others – Sanket Patel, Sandeep Gupta, and Aftab Fateh Ansari – also arrested in this period, have been sent to judicial custody till September 23.

All the accused were produced before a Mumbai Court via video-conferencing this afternoon.

Keshwani was arrested after another drug peddler Kaizen Ebrahim revealed to the NCB that he procured drugs from Keshwani for onward supplies to other clients.

Following further revelations made by Keshwani and others, the NCB had swooped down on drug-dealers and peddlers in the city, and 16 of them have been rounded up so far.

In the latest round, Anand, Fernandes, Anreja, Patel, Gupta, and Ansari were arrested from Mumbai and Chris Costa from Goa.

These arrests are part of the case in which the NCB has earlier arrested Sushant’s girlfriend and Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, Sushant’s house manager Samuel Miranda, his staffer Dipesh Sawant, and drug peddlers Abdul Basit and Zaid Vitra.

Sushant was found dead at his Bandra home on June 14, triggering a huge upheaval in Bollywood and simultaneous probes by the NCB, the Enforcement Directorate, and the Central Bureau of Investigation in various aspects of the case.

1...1,4811,4821,483...2,189Page 1,482 of 2,189