Google ‘Explore’ app to help users navigate Chromebook

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Google ‘Explore’ app to help users navigate Chromebook

Google has launched a new app called Explore that is built into Chromebook and will help users take full advantage of their machines.

‘Explore’ app will help users navigate Chromebook. It’s an evolved form of getting Help, the previous in-product education app.

“Now, when you log in to a Chromebook for the first time and complete the initial onboarding, the Explore app orients you to learn about the most helpful Chrome OS features,” Google said in a statement on Monday.

The Explore homepage gives users easy access to answers and visual tutorials to commonly-asked questions, like how to best manage files on Chromebook across local storage and Google Drive, or how to set up a printer with Chromebook.

‘Explore’ also includes helpful features for Chromebook enthusiasts.

It also has a tab for quick access to some of the best Chromebook perks, so users can quickly redeem them.

“In the US, you can use the Explore app to get free access to 100GB of storage and more through Google One for a year, free access to the popular game Stardew Valley, and free three months access to Disney+,” informed Google.

Google also announced some other features like Overview key that helps the users zoom out and see all the windows that are open, to multitask across windows masterfully.

An Overview, “you can drag windows from your Chromebook’s screen to an external monitor and vice versa. You can also easily split your screen from Overview, which makes it easier to multitask,” said Google.

Microsoft may launch Azure-powered ‘Cloud PC’ next year

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Microsoft may launch Azure-powered ‘Cloud PC’ next year

Microsoft is working on an Azure-powered Cloud PC that will be built on top of Windows Virtual Desktop and can arrive as early as 2021.

The true virtualized Windows PC experience will help businesses enjoy a more elastic, scalable, and secure Cloud-based Windows experience.

According to a ZDNet report on Tuesday, ‘Cloud PC’ won’t replace locally installed Windows and Office.

“Microsoft Cloud PC is a strategic, new offering that is built on top of Windows Virtual Desktop to delivering Desktop as a Service,” read a Microsoft job description for a Cloud PC team.

“At its core, Cloud PC provides business customers a modern, elastic, cloud-based Windows experience and will allow organizations to stay current in a more simplistic and scalable manner”.

Windows Virtual Desktop pricing will be set around how much the customers consume.

Microsoft currently offers a service called the Microsoft Managed Desktop (MMD), which is a subscription-based offering.

MMD includes Microsoft 365, Windows Autopilot, and select Windows 10 hardware. The service is being used by large enterprise customers.

Windows Virtual Desktop is a Microsoft Azure-based system for virtualizing its Windows operating systems, providing virtualized desktops and applications in the cloud. It is aimed at enterprise customers rather than at individual users.

COVID-19: World Snooker Championship to allow spectators

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COVID-19: World Snooker Championship to allow spectators

The upcoming World Snooker Championship to be held in Sheffield will become one of the pilot events which allow the attendance of spectators, the organizers have confirmed.

Last Friday, the British government announced that a small number of sporting events will be used to pilot the safe return of spectators through late July and early August amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Fans could return to stadiums in England in October if the pilot events go well.

The World Snooker Championship to be held from July 31 to August 16 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield will welcome a reduced crowd every session throughout the tournament, reports Xinhua news agency.

As the only indoor sporting event picked up for the pilot project, the World Snooker Tour chairman Barry Hearn believed “this highlights the government’s confidence in snooker and our ability to safely welcome back fans at one of the biggest sporting events on the planet”.

The annual event will feature defending champion Judd Trump, Chinese ace Ding Junhui as well as top stars Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson and John Higgins.

Hong Kong’s unemployment rate remains at over 15-yr high

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Hong Kong’s unemployment rate remains at over 15-yr high

Hong Kong’s unemployment rate remained the highest in more than 15 years during the past three months as the economy was still struggling against double blows from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and months of social unrest.

The unemployment rate rose further from 5.9 percent during the March-May period to 6.2 percent in the April-June period, Xinhua news agency quoted data from the city government as saying on Monday.

Over the same period, the underemployment rate also increased from 3.5 percent to 3.7 percent.

“The labor market continued to deteriorate for the second quarter of 2020 as a whole,” Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-Kwong said, stressing the two figures stayed at the highest levels in over 15 years and nearly 17 years, respectively.

The consumption and tourism-related sectors saw a combined jobless rate of 10.7 percent from April to June, much higher than the average level and marking the highest since the SARS outbreak in 2003.

The unemployment rate of food and beverage service stood at 14.7 percent.

“The still serious epidemic situations in certain parts of the world, and the renewed surge in local cases lately serve as a timely reminder that the economic outlook is still subject to huge uncertainties,” Law said.

Hong Kong’s labor market situation will depend very much on how the global and local pandemic situations evolve, he added.

There was a resurgence of new COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong over the past weeks.

The Center for Health Protection on Monday reported 73 new cases, including 66 local infections.

The government has rolled out relief measures of unprecedented scale in the face of the worsening unemployment, including a series of measures to create jobs and help keep workers in employment.

Law said the government will start to provide the elderly and middle-aged workers an allowance in September to encourage them to participate in on-the-job training and will also increase the subsidy to employers hiring the elderly and middle-aged.

Snapchat launches in-app meditation experience

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Snapchat launches in-app meditation experience

Snapchat on Monday announced an in-app meditation experience with Headspace in Snap Minis as its latest feature for Android and iOS users.

“Snapchat hopes that the Snap Mini X Headspace feature will provide a safe space for friends to practice meditation and mindfulness exercises, and use these new tools to send encouraging messages to positively boost friends in need,” the company said in a statement.

The new feature aims to provide Snapchatters with expert resources related to emotional and physical well-being while offering daily meditations and tools to help Snapchatters check-in with their friends and stay healthy.

According to the company, by putting resources where friends already meet and share, Snap X Headspace Mini will provide a safe space for friends to practice meditation and mindfulness exercises, and use these new tools to send encouraging messages to check-in and positively boost friends in need.

Along with Headspace, the photo-messaging app has also launched two other Minis called Prediction Master, where friends can engage in a game of guessing the future trends and Flashcards, for users to create and share simple notes.

Lakshmi Manchu: Meditation helped me understand who I am

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Lakshmi Manchu: Meditation helped me understand who I am

Telugu actress Lakshmi Manchu says meditation has helped her understand herself, and accept her anger and disappointments.

Asked what drove her towards meditation, Lakshmi told IANS: “It happened by fluke, though even before meditation, I was really into self-discovery, in terms of ‘why am I here? Who am I? Why was I born? What is life?’ I had a lot of questions in my early years, being in elementary, and then, I think I was in my ninth grade when I took my first course in quantum physics or self-discovery. When I was 18, I did my first real meditation course. I got hooked to it because what it teaches you that everything you need is within you.”

“I love believing that life is not stuck in this body and that we have so much of our soul journey, which is continuous. So, doing meditation aligns you with your purpose, even in this life,” she added.

The daughter of veteran actor Mohan Babu has been practicing meditation for a long time.

“I’ve been very consistent since the quarantine because now I have no excuse not to meditate,” said the actress, who has spent six days in meditation and past life regression retreat.

Talking about how it has helped her, she said: “It has really helped me understand who I am like, accept all of me, my anger, my upsets, my up and downs, my disappointments and to really be aware of it and to learn that and to come to terms with life, which is always going to keep giving you twists and turns.”

Vaani: Dream come true to work with Hrithik, Ranbir and Akshay

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Vaani: Dream come true to work with Hrithik, Ranbir and Akshay

Actress Vaani Kapoor is ecstatic that she has had the opportunity to work with Hrithik Roshan, Ranbir Kapoor, and Akshay Kumar. She says it is a dream come true.

With Hrithik, Vaani was paired in “War”, while she will be seen with Ranbir in “Shamshera” and she has been cast opposite Akshay in the upcoming “Bell Bottom”.

“I feel absolutely ecstatic and I couldn’t feel more blessed that I get to work with such stalwarts in the industry. I have always idolized Hrithik, Ranbir, and Akshay Kumar. I have loved their movies so it’s like a dream come true for me!” Vaani said.

Talking about the different acting styles of these actors, Vaani says each of these actors is incredible and brings a different style to the table.

“Hrithik is incredibly talented and passionate about anything he’s involved in and that passion inspires people around him. Ranbir is effortless in his demeanor and his cool, and composed charisma is so evident on screen. Akshay, of course, is an idol who is one of the best in the industry today and his contributions and star presence cannot be ignored,” she said.

Vaani says she has interesting and different chemistry with each of these stars.

“I have a different equation with all of them and our chemistry is also different because of the kind of roles. They all make me want to do better, and try and match them,” she said.

Priyanka to hubby Nick: Thank you for thinking of me all the time

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Priyanka to hubby Nick: Thank you for thinking of me all the time

Actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas has penned a mushy note on Instagram for the “greatest joy” of her life, pop star husband Nick Jonas. She thanked Nick for thinking of her all the time and called herself the “luckiest girl” in the world.

Priyanka shared a picture of her birthday celebration with Nick along with the note. In the image, Priyanka and Nick kiss in front of a mirror.

“To the greatest joy of my life. 2 years ago on this day you asked me to marry you! I may have been speechless then but I say yes every moment of everyday since. In the most unprecedented time you made this weekend so incredibly memorable,” she wrote with the image, which currently has 1.6 million likes.

“Thank you for thinking of me all the time. I am the luckiest girl in the world! I love you @nickjonas,” she added.

Nick and Priyanka got married over a series of ceremonies over three days in India in December of 2018. They later hosted multiple receptions for friends and family.

On the work front, Priyanka will be seen in “The White Tiger”, an upcoming Netflix adaptation where she features with Adarsh Gourav and Rajkummar Rao. The film is based on Aravind Adiga’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name, and directed by Iranian filmmaker Ramin Bahrani.

Radhika Madan takes ‘raincheck’ in new post

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Radhika Madan takes ‘raincheck’ in new post

Actress Radhika Madans new Instagram post is all about “raincheck”.

In an image that Radhika has posted, she is seen posing in an elevator dressed in a powder blue shirt-dress paired with nude stilettos.

“Raincheck,” she wrote alongside the image.

Recently, Radhika posted a new picture and the caption was inspired by superstar Salman Khan.

For the caption, she borrowed a few lines of the hit song “Oh oh Jaane Jaana” from Salman Khan’s 1998 superhit, “Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya”.

The actress was last seen in “Angrezi Medium”, the last Bollywood release before the lockdown, and also the final film of the late Irrfan Khan.

She will next be seen in the upcoming romantic comedy “Shiddat”, which also stars Mohit Raina, Diana Madan, and Sunny Kaushal, and is directed by Kunal Deshmukh of “Jannat” fame on a script by Shridhar Raghavan and Dheeraj Rattan.

Facebook inks music licensing pact with IPRS

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Facebook inks music licensing pact with IPRS

The Indian Performing Rights Society Ltd on Monday announced a pact to license its music repertoire for video and other social experiences across Facebook and Instagram.

People will now be able to choose music from the IPRS repertoire with hundreds and thousands of songs, to add in their own videos they share on Facebook and Instagram, as well as other social features like Music Stickers on Stories.

“Music plays an important role in India for sparking people’s creative expression. With this agreement, people will be able to access a wide variety of music and discover new scores from hundreds of authors and owners, across various genres in many Indian languages,” Manish Chopra, Director, and Head of Partnerships, Facebook India, said in a statement.

Through this association, the artists/ members of IPRS would be able to get their music compositions out to millions of people in the country, as some of the largest and most thriving communities on Facebook and Instagram are here in India.

The IPRS is a representative body of authors and owners, which include composers, lyricists, and owner publishers of music.

The deal with Facebook will cover licensing and royalties whenever music represented by the IPRS is used on Facebook and Instagram.

The announcement comes just a couple of weeks after Instagram announced the extension of the testing of TikTok rival Reels, which allows users to record, edit and share short multi-clip videos, to India.

“IPRS is excited to create opportunities for our songwriters and composers for their use of works on Facebook and its platforms. The future is brighter when all industries work together and evolve the next phase of music usage together,” said lyricist Javed Akhtar who is also the Chairman of IPRS.

It’s been a long time: Smith shares picture of him taking ice bath

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It’s been a long time: Smith shares picture of him taking ice bath

Prolific Australia batter Steve Smith on Monday took to social media to share a photo where he is seen taking an ice bath after a long time.

“It’s been a long time between ice baths but this week somehow @zocobodypro has convinced me they aren’t so bad,” Smith said in a post on Instagram with a picture of him taking a dip in an ice tub.

Fellow teammate and dashing opener David Warner commented: “telling him for years about ice baths”.

With no cricket around, Smith enjoyed some backyard cricket with his friends recently.

“Thanks for the batting tips today @zocobodypro in return I’ll help you work on those calves. Stop skipping leg day mate! #backyardcricket,” Smith said in an Instagram post with a photo of him having a light moment with his friends in his backyard.

Smith has been making the most of this period of lull caused due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, the former Australian captain was seen spending quality time with friends in another social media post.

“Quality time with a few good men #farmlife,” Smith had posted on Instagram with a photo of him in the company of four others in the garden.

He had recently posted about him hitting the nets for the first time in three months.

International cricket, which was halted since mid-March due to the coronavirus outbreak, recently started with England taking on West Indies in the three-match Test series.

Australia is likely to tour England next for a limited-overs series, consisting of three T20Is and three ODIs, in the month of September.

Salman Khan goes farming on a tractor

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Salman Khan goes farming on a tractor

Salman Khan went off for a spin on a tractor at the farm and shared his experience in an Instagram video.

In the video, Salman, who has been staying at his Panvel farmhouse during the lockdown, can be seen plowing the land on a tractor.

“Farming,” he captioned the clip that shows him wearing a pink T-shirt.

Fans found reasons enough to gush about their superstar.

“You are great,” a user commented.

Another one wrote: “Inspiring, farmer Sallu.”

A few days ago, Salman had posted a picture from the field, paying respect to all farmers.

On the work front, Salman will be seen in “Radhe”, which marks his return with director Prabhudheva after the 2009 film “Wanted” and last year’s “Dabangg 3”.

UK signs deals for 90mn COVID-19 vaccine doses

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UK signs deals for 90mn COVID-19 vaccine doses

The UK government has signed deals for 90 million doses of promising coronavirus vaccines that are being developed, the media reported on Monday.

The vaccines are being researched by an alliance between the pharmaceutical companies BioNtech and Pfizer as well as the firm Valneva, reports the BBC.

The new deal is on top of 100 million doses of the Oxford University vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca.

However, it is still uncertain which of the experimental vaccines may work.

“The fact that we have so many promising candidates already shows the unprecedented pace at which we are moving,” the BBC quoted Kate Bingham, the chair of the government’s Vaccine Taskforce, as saying.

“But I urge against being complacent or over-optimistic.

“The fact remains we may never get a vaccine and if we do get one, we have to be prepared that it may not be a vaccine which prevents getting the virus, but rather one that reduces symptoms,” she added.

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, told the BBC on Monday morning that vaccine development was “an incredibly long process and we are doing it at breakneck speed” but that we should expect a COVID-19 vaccine “after winter”.

The government is hoping to get half a million people to sign up for trials of vaccines in the UK through the NHS COVID-19 vaccine research registry website.

At least eight large scale coronavirus vaccine trials are expected to take place in the UK.

Malicious spam targeting India’s manufacturing, export detected

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Malicious spam targeting India’s manufacturing, export detected

A new malspam or malicious spam campaign is now targeting the manufacturing and export sectors in India, Seqrite, the enterprise arm of Pune-based IT security firm Quick Heal Technologies, warned on Monday.

The attackers generally use publicly available file hosting services such as Pastebin and Bitly to host their payloads to hide behind legitimate services that remain undetected, said researchers at Seqrite.

The attack begins in the form of a phishing email sent to a genuine user.

This contains MS Office PowerPoint files with a malicious Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macro.

Cybercriminals use VBA programming in Microsoft Office macros as a medium to spread viruses, worms, and other forms of malware on a computer system.

Post execution, the malware takes advantage of pre-existing legitimate software to download malicious payload from Pastebin and continues to spread the infection.

According to Seqrite, some of the common Remote-Access-Tools used by attackers are Agent Tesla, Remcos RAT, and NanoCore RAT.

Following the tracks of these campaigns since April, the researchers have found that attackers do not restrict themselves to a single geography or vertical.

They also noticed that similar campaigns existed earlier as well that targeted varied organizations including those managed by the government.

The timely detection and blocking of such attack campaigns is essential for maintaining the integrity and trust in the businesses.

Seqrite recommended users to exercise ample caution and avoid opening attachments and clicking on web links in unsolicited emails.

Businesses should consider disabling macros, keep their Operating Systems updated, and have a full-fledged security solution installed on all the devices, the company said.

Aftab Shivdasani, wife Nin announce production company

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Aftab Shivdasani, wife Nin announce production company

Actor Aftab Shivdasani and his wife Nin Dusanj Shivdasani announced their production company, Mount Zen Media, on Monday.

“Having produced before I am familiar with the business of cinema. These are exciting times to develop content that is cutting edge, contemporary and appealing,” Aftab said.

The couple plans to produce films, online shows, and documentaries.

Aftab added: “Being in the industry for over 20 years has given me a great deal of experience in front of the camera and valuable insight in filmmaking.”

Nin Dusanj said she is excited because there are so many fascinating stories to be told on this creative journey.

“Always intrigued by the art of storytelling, I look forward to working with a multitude of talent across various projects,” she said.

Microsoft Surface Duo seen with ambient light, proximity sensors

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Microsoft Surface Duo seen with ambient light, proximity sensors

Microsoft’s upcoming foldable smartphone Surface Duo will reportedly come with an ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, and the top speaker grill.

The smartphone is expected to offer an 11MP front camera, but it is not known if it will offer features such as Optical Image Stabilization or not, reports MSPoweruser.

Microsoft is planning to ship the device with Snapdragon 855 processor, 6GB RAM, and 64GB or 256GB storage options.

The smartphone houses two equal-sized 5.6-inch AMOLED displays. Each screen offers a 4:3 aspect ratio, 1800 x 1350 pixels resolution, and 401ppi pixel density.

Surface Duo’s two displays held together with a fully rotating hinge can be adjusted to any angle, and a recent patent for this hinge mechanism has been published by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

The device is loaded with Android 10 OS and is expected to come with apps from Microsoft.

Surface Duo will ship with a 3460mAh battery and will feature USB-C fast charging.

It won’t support 5G, maxing out at 4G LTE speeds instead. It is also speculated that the device lacks support for wireless charging and NFC.

In February, an image of the same device revealed a new front-facing flash that was not there on the original prototype that was shown earlier.

Google Cloud India hires Oracle veteran Mitesh Agarwal

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Google Cloud India hires Oracle veteran Mitesh Agarwal

Google on Monday announced the appointment of Oracle veteran Mitesh Agarwal as Director of Customer Engineering for Google Cloud India.

In this role, Agarwal will lead a team of engineers and consultants who are focused on helping Indian organizations accelerate their ability to transform through data-powered innovation with Google Cloud Platform and G Suite.

He will further provide impetus to the technology, architecture, and solution selling teams, Google said.

“Mitesh is an industry leader and his expertise will add great value to Google Cloud in India as we help our customers accelerate their digital transformation journey with the cloud,” Karan Bajwa, Managing Director, Google Cloud India, said in a statement.

Agarwal brings with him over two decades of experience across technology consulting, product strategy, enterprise architecture, and enterprise sales.

He joins Google from Oracle where he spent 18 years with his most recent role as the Vice President of Global Key & Lead Accounts.

Prior to that, he was the Chief Technology Officer for Oracle India.

It is noteworthy that Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian spent 22 years at Oracle before assuming his current role in January 2019.

Agarwal came into Oracle with the Sun Microsystems acquisition where he led the Systems Sales Consulting team followed by a stint leading the Engineered Systems Sales where he delivered outstanding growth.

Prior to Sun Microsystems, he worked with Ramco Systems and Wipro Infotech.

In his new role, Agarwal reports to Andrew Hobby, Senior Director of Customer Engineering for Google Cloud in the Asia Pacific (APAC) who is based in Singapore.

Chhattisgarh first state to buy cow dung from farmers

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Chhattisgarh first state to buy cow dung from farmers

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday launched the ‘Gordhan Nyaya Yojana’ in 2,408 rural areas and 377 urban areas during the first phase of the scheme in the state.

Under the scheme, the government will purchase cow dung at Rs 2 per kg and sell the vermicompost at Rs 8 per kg.

In a statement, the Chhattisgarh government said, ” It is the first state in the country to buy cow dung directly from farmers with the launch of ‘Gordhan Nyaya Yojana’.”

Baghel launched the ‘Gordhan Nyaya Yojana’ on the occasion of Harel, a festival of Chhattisgarh associated with love and dedication to nature.

On the occasion, Baghel said, “The state already has a systematic procedure and infrastructure for dupatta collection, paddy procurement, and minor forest produce procurement at the support price. In days to come, cow dung procurement will be done on the same lines, along with marketing of the vermicompost so produced.”

Under this scheme, cow dung will be purchased from agriculture and livestock farmers through which large-scale preparation of vermicompost and other products will be done. This will provide employment and economic benefits to the villagers. Organic farming will get a boost in the state.

Under the scheme, in the first phase, procurement of cow dung will be started in 2,408 Gothans in rural areas and 377 Gothans in urban areas. Cow dung will be purchased in a phased manner in all 11,630-gram panchayats of the state.

“There will be active participation of the youth of the village along with women of self-help groups in conducting this whole process. The government will prepare vermicompost by purchasing cow dung, through which the state will move towards organic farming,” said Baghel.

The vermicompost fertilizer will be sold through cooperative societies. In the state, along with the farmers, the forest, agriculture, horticulture, urban administration departments require a large amount of fertilizer at the time of plantation and horticulture cultivation.

The government will also arrange for the marketing of additional organic manure.

Vermicompost fertilizer will be distributed to farmers as a commodity loan.

The use of organic manure will be promoted which will decrease the dependence on chemical fertilizer. Local self-help groups will also get employment. Soil fertility, availability of non-toxic foods, and level of nutrition will thus be improved.

The state government has launched a scheme for farmers through the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana to provide them a fair price for their crops and to promote crop productivity. Nearly Rs 5,750 crore is being provided to 19 lakh farmers of the state under this scheme.

Under this scheme, Rs 1,500 crore has been given to farmers as the first installment. The second installment will be released on August 20.

Sushant Singh Rajput lookalike Sachin Tiwari to star in film ‘Suicide Or Murder’

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Sushant Singh Rajput lookalike Sachin Tiwari to star in film ‘Suicide Or Murder’

TikTok star Sachin Tiwari became an internet sensation due to his uncanny resemblance with late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Now, Sachin is all set to star in a film inspired by Sushant’s life!

Sachin will play the lead in “Suicide Or Murder,” a film being pitched as an effort based on the life of Sushant, directed by Shamik Maulik and produced by Vijay Shekhar Gupta. The music is by Shraddha Pandit.

Sachin shared a poster of his debut film on an unverified Instagram account and wrote: “A boy from small-town became a Shining Star in the film industry. This is his journey. Introducing Sachin Tiwari (@officialtiwarisachin) as ‘The Outsider’.”

He included the hashtags #SuicideOrMurder, #officialtiwarisachin #bollywood #sushantsinghrajput with his post.

Sushant Singh Rajput was found hanging at his residence on June 14. The actor’s postmortem report stated that he committed suicide. While Mumbai Police investigate the actor’s death, several politicians, celebrities, and fans have demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, suspecting foul play.

YSRCP’s rebel MP donates three months salary for Ram temple

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YSRCP’s rebel MP donates three months salary for Ram temple

YSR Congress Party’s rebel MP K. Raghu Ramakrishna Raju on Monday donated his three months salary for the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya.

The member of Lok Sabha from Narsapuram constituency in Andhra Pradesh sent a cheque of Rs 3.96 lakh to Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra.

In a letter to the chairman of Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust, he said he was happy to know that the decades-old dream of construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya was becoming a reality with the laying of the foundation stone by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 5.

“I this regard like the help of a little squirrel in the war against Ravana Lanka by Lord Sri Ram, I am herewith enclosing my 3 months of salary as Member of Parliament,” he wrote.

“Along with the billion Hindus world over, we are also anxiously awaiting for the memorable occasion of laying of the foundation stone by the Prime Minister,” he added.

Raju’s move came amid reports that he is moving closer to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

YSRCP early this month sought disqualification of Raju for his revolt against the party. A delegation of party leaders called on Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to submit a disqualification petition.

They said Raju lost the moral right to continue as a member of Lok Sabha representing the party as he was airing views against the party line and hobnobbing with the leaders of the opposition party. They also complained that Raju used unparliamentary language against the party president and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

YSRCP took the action after it found Raju’s reply to the show-cause notice ‘irresponsible’. Instead of responding to the questions posed by the party, he raised new questions in his reply.

Raju has also moved the High Court seeking directions to his party not to take any action against him until the Election Commission disposes of his complaint.

The rebel MP alleged that the notice was served in the name of YSRC instead of Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress despite the fact that the Election Commission forbid them from using YSR as a party name. He said he had complained to the Election Commission for the failure of the party to form a disciplinary committee.

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