ELISA kits produced by Zydus Cadila has 98% sensitivity: ICMR

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ELISA kits produced by Zydus Cadila has 98% sensitivity: ICMR

Four days after successfully developing the first indigenous anti-SARS-CoV-2A (Covid-19) human IgG ELISA test kit for antibody detection of the deadly virus, the ICMR on Thursday said that the first batch of the ELISA kits produced by Zydus Cadila has similar sensitivity and specificity of 98.7 per cent and 100 per cent, respectively.

The ICMR said in a statement that the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, has validated the first batch of ELISA kits produced by Zydus Cadila and found similar sensitivity and specificity of 98.7 per cent and 100 per cent, respectively.

“The ICMR is in the process of carrying out a national surveillance study with 24,000 individuals,” it said.

According to the ICMR, the ELISA kit is cost-effective, sensitive, rapid and a large number of samples can be tested at any level of clinical setting, including public health centres and hospitals.

After the development at the ICMR-NIV, the technology has been transferred for mass production to Zydus Cadila, which is an innovation driven global healthcare company, the statement said.

The news came four days after the NIV successfully developed the first indigenous anti-SARS-CoV-2A (Covid-19) human IgG ELISA test kit for antibody detection of the deadly virus.

According to the ICMR, this robust test will play a critical role in the surveillance of the proportion of population exposed to coronavirus infection.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had said on Sunday that the kit was validated at two sites in Mumbai and has high sensitivity and accuracy. Besides, it has the advantage of testing 90 samples together in a single run of 2.5 hours, so that healthcare professionals can proceed quickly with the necessary next steps on their patients’ triage paths. This is crucial since time is of essence during a pandemic.

“ELISA based testing is easily possible even at the district level. The ICMR technology has been transferred to Zydus Cadila for mass production. The Drug Controller General has granted commercial production and marketing permission to Zydus,” Harsh Vardhan had said on Sunday.

Most countries in the world are struggling to contain the spread of the pandemic using possible interventions. There is an augmented demand of various types of diagnostic tests by countries across the globe.

Most of the diagnostic material for Covid-19 is imported into India from other countries. Therefore, Indian scientists are tirelessly engaged in developing indigenous diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of Covid-19.

Hire special buses to ferry train passengers, MHA tells states

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Hire special buses to ferry train passengers, MHA tells states

Considering problems being faced by the train passengers after arriving at the railway stations at their destination, the Union Home Ministry on Thursday allowed states and Union Territories to hire special buses to ferry these people to their locations.

“Keeping in view the situation, state and UT governments are allowed to engage special buses from railway stations wherever public or personal transport is not available, maintaining proper distancing norms,” Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said n an order to Chief Secretaries of all states.

Under the Standard Operating Protocol (SOP), to and fro movement of passengers from railway station to home has been allowed on the basis of confirmed e-tickets, the order reads.

The Home Ministry move comes after some of the state governments requested to allow special buses to ferry the passengers arriving by train to their home, keeping in view restrictions placed on public or personal transport in various zones.

The order followed the May 11 SOPs announced by the Ministry of Home Affairs that mentions strict adherence to health, hygiene and social distancing between the passengers travelling in ‘Shramik’ special trains which have been ferrying thousands of migrant workers to their native places. The SOPs for movement of persons by selected special AC trains begun this week include movement of passengers to and fro railway stations only on confirmed e-ticket and after compulsory medical screening.

India first to urge consolidated global action to fight Covid-19: Harsh Vardhan

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India first to urge consolidated global action to fight Covid-19: Harsh Vardhan

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday said India was the first country to urge consolidated global action to fight Covid-19 and convened a meeting of SAARC leaders to build a robust response against the outbreak of the virus.

Participating in the 32nd Commonwealth health ministers’ meeting through video conferencing, he said: “We convened a meeting of SAARC leaders in our region in mid-March in which the need for coming together, not growing apart; collaboration, not confusion; and preparation, not panic, was underlined. These are the elements that signify India’s response to this crisis.”

He added that it is important to facilitate universal and affordable access to all relevant medical products and technologies, both existing and new. These should be made available in a fair and equitable manner to tackle Covid-19, he said.

Harsh Vardhan said India has provided essential medicines such as hydroxychloroquine to almost 100 needy countries, extending solidarity and support during this time of crisis. “It is important to work on the causes of the pandemic and discover drugs and vaccine to control transmission and prevent recurrence,” he added.

He insisted countries should mutually support and share best practices and also explore innovative ways to address new threats and challenges in the post-Covid era. It is critical to build and strengthen core capacities of developing countries particularly the least developed countries for future preparedness, response and resilience, he said.

Harsh Vardhan said that India took all necessary and timely steps including surveillance at points of entry, evacuation of its nationals abroad, surveillance in community through disease surveillance network, health infrastructure strengthening, training and capacity building of health staff, risk communication and community involvement as part of its management efforts.

“In implementing the world’s largest lockdown to prevent the spread of this pandemic, we are aiming to protect lives by mitigating the explosive growth of the disease and by ensuring that our healthcare system is able to cope up with the growth of the disease,” he added.

More Indians prefer to have own car due to Covid concerns: Report

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More Indians prefer to have own car due to Covid concerns: Report

As the coronavirus pandemic refuses to die down and concerns over the infection likely to persist in months to come, more and more urban Indians are preferring to have a personal car, according to an Ipsos survey.

“Ipsos COVID 19 Impact on Auto Global Study shows there are likely to be happy tidings on the anvil, especially for India. At least 40 percent of purchase intenders said they are more likely to buy a new or a used car, after coronavirus crisis and 31 percent purchase intenders will have no change in purchase intentionand are likely to purchase same as before,” it said.

However, 29 percent of people are riding on caution and are less likely to purchase a new or a used car, it said.

Safety and protection is the main factor driving prospective buyers to purchase a vehicle now.

“Once the restrictions are lifted, we are likely to see consumers exercising precautions and self-distancing and choosing personal vehicles for mobility and more number of purchase intenders choosing to buy personal vehicles, and it is something which consumers will do to safeguard their own health and safety,” says Balaji Pandiaraj, Executive Director, Automotive and Mobility Development, Ipsos India.

Tusshar is ‘in a great place right now’ since ‘there is coffee at this place’

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Tusshar is ‘in a great place right now’ since ‘there is coffee at this place’

Actor Tusshar Kapoor maybe not be there emotionally, financially or mentally, but he says he is “in a great place right now” since “there is coffee at this place”.

Tushar Kapoor took to Instagram, where he shared a photograph of himself sitting on the balcony and holding a coffee mug. He is seen dressed in a navy blue T-shirt paired with white shorts.

He wrote: “I’m in a great place right now. Maybe not emotionally, financially, mentally, or physically. But there is coffee at this place.”

He later shared another photograph of himself, where he is seen sporting a T-shirt paired with jeans and a scarf.

“When R…E is inevitable, why not lie back and enjoy it! Easier said than done? At least, fight back when it’s all over! #thursdaythoughts,” he wrote.

2 K’taka gold dust hunters die in Kolar Gold Fields

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2 K’taka gold dust hunters die in Kolar Gold Fields

Two treasure hunters aiming to find gold dust in the Kolar Gold Fields mines drowned in a pit and died, an official said on Thursday.

“Three persons, including a rescuer, have died in KGF. We have taken out two bodies. They could be thieves,” Kolar district Deputy Commissioner C. Sathyabhama told IANS.

On Wednesday evening at around 7:30 p.m., Kanda, 55, Joseph, 45, and Richard went in search of gold dust in the KGF mines.

“Kanda and Joseph went down into a pit with the help of a rope as Richard waited above. Both of them did not return, prompting Richard to go back home and inform Kanda’s family,” a police officer said.

Kanda’s son Santosh, 20, then went in search of his father and got down the pit where the trio had hoped they could find gold flakes mixed in dust.

“While Kanda and Joseph went inside the pit and died, Santosh went into a deeper place and died,” said the officer. Police are yet to find the body of Santosh.

According to the officer, the deceased did not know that there was water inside the pit, which led to their drowning and death.

“We have completed the post-mortem and returned the bodies of Kanda and Joseph to their families,” he said.

The officer said that gold dust hunting has been happening stealthily for a while as the seekers aim to salvage gold flakes by sieving the dust to sell them.

The police have registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 of the IPC. The officer said the deceased duo were history-sheeters with police record.

IOC committing upto $800 million for postponed Tokyo Olympics

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IOC committing upto $800 million for postponed Tokyo Olympics

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said on Thursday that the IOC is willing to bear up costs of upto $800 million in the organisation of the postponed Tokyo Olympics. The 2020 Olympics was postponed to 2021 this March due to the coronavirus pandemic that has killed an estimated 3 lakh people worldwide and infected over 4 million.

“We anticipate we will have to bear costs of up to $800 million for our part and responsibilities in the organization of the postponed Games Tokyo 2020,” Bach said in a teleconference after the IOC’s Executive Board meeting.

Bach said that “$650 million would go towards the organization of the Games next year and $150 million to support international federations and National Olympic Committees (NOC).”

This is the first time that the IOC is publicly stating the extent of additional costs that it has to bear due to the unprecedented postponement of the Games.

Bach also denied any speculation on a potential second postponement of the Games or shifting it to a different venue if a vaccination is not found for coronavirus by the time the Games start. The Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to start on July 23 and end on August 8, 2021.

“We are now working with full engagement for the success of Tokyo 2020 in 2021 and to have these Games in a safe environment for all participants,” he said.

“We are one year and two months away from the opening of these postponed Olympic Games. We should not fuel any speculation on any future development.”

MakeMyTrip rolls out gourmet meal delivery service

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MakeMyTrip rolls out gourmet meal delivery service

Online travel major MakeMyTrip has rolled out an online gourmet delivery service in partnership with luxury and premium hotel chains and independent properties across cities in India.

With traditional dine-in experiences coming to a grinding halt due to the coronavirus pandemic-triggered lockdown, MakeMyTrip aims to bring culinary experiences from top restaurants to the doorstep of discerning customers in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru, the company said in a statement.

It said: “With a commitment of adhering to food safety and hygiene standards, MakeMyTrip will be delivering orders through third-party service providers in respective cities.”

Opening up the new offering, Deepak Tuli, Chief Business Officer, Emerging Businesses at MakeMyTrip said: “As the world adopts life-altering measures to adjust to the new order, customers are seeking options that can help them with familiar experiences in safe and hygienic environment. Our new online gourmet delivery initiative is a step towards ensuring that food-lovers continue to enjoy their in-city fine-dining experiences by bringing their eating-out adventures to their homes.”

Available on the MakeMyTrip app, the offering is available under the ‘Meals & Deals’ category on the home page and is being rolled-out in phases on the Android and iOS platform. In the coming weeks, the company plans to extend the new offering to other cities including Pune, Jaipur, Kolkata and others.

Won’t restrict those engaged in essential services: Hry govt to HC

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Won’t restrict those engaged in essential services: Hry govt to HC

The Haryana government on Wednesday apprised the Delhi High Court that it will “not restrict the movement of people who man essential services”

Appearing before the court through video conferencing, Anil Grover, Additional Advocate General of Haryana government, said, “Movement of people who man essential services as mentioned in the notifications issued by the Union of India, including but not limited to government as well as private doctors, nurses, paramedics, sanitation workers, staff of Delhi Police, Delhi Transport Corporation, Delhi Jal Board, Municipal Corporations, High Courts, trial courts etc., shall be allowed between Delhi and Haryana on the production of e-passes and they shall not be quarantined unless and until they test positive for Covid-19 or have been found in contact with Covid-19 patients.”

He further submitted that e-passes shall be issued to all the aforesaid individuals within 30 minutes of receipt of the applications. Each e-pass shall be valid for the entire duration of the lockdown and could be used for multiple visits.

The submissions came while the court was hearing a plea filed by O.P. Gupta, which said that a number of Delhi residents have to travel to Sonipat for essential work and similar is the situation for Sonipat residents and they are being stopped by the Haryana authorities at the borders.

Gupta said the District Magistrate of Sonipat has imposed blanket cross-border transit restrictions between the two cities and granted exemptions to only a few categories of government officials and for movement of goods not destined for there.

Maha records 1,602 Covid-19 cases, deaths cross 1,000

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Maha records 1,602 Covid-19 cases, deaths cross 1,000

Maharashtra on Thursday notched a new high of 1,602 Covid-19 cases and the death toll crossed 1,000, while Mumbai recorded a new high of 991 cases, state health officials said here.

With 44 fatalities – down from Wednesday’s highest 54 – the state death toll shot up to 1,019 and the total number of coronavirus patients increased to 27,524, the highest jump of 1,602 after the previous high recorded on May 13.

Of the total deaths, 25 were recorded only in Mumbai, taking up the city’s toll from Wednesday’s 596 to 621 and the number of Covid-19 positive patients in the city shot up by a new high of 991 to touch 16,738.

Mumbai’s Dharavi slum alone continued to be a major hotspot and a headache for the health authorities, notching 33 new cases, taking the total number of patients to 1,061, and 49 deaths till now.

Besides Mumbai, there were 12 deaths in Navi Mumbai (Thane), five deaths in Pune, and two Aurangabad.

They comprised 31 men and 13 women, and nearly 77 percent of them suffered from other serious ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, heart problems and asthma.

On the positive side, 512 more fully cured patients returned home, taking the number of those discharged to 6,059 till date.

Mumbai recorded its 6th and the state its 9th policeman victim when a 45-year old policeman of Shivajinagar Police Station, succumbed to Covid-19 at the MGM Hospital in Navi Mumbai.

Another 1,000-plus police personnel have tested positive and several thousands more are in quarantine around the state.

With the continuous daily spike in Covid-19 cases and deaths in Mumbai grabbing attention, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) assured the people that besides Coronavirus, the civic body has kept aside 7,500 beds for all other non-Corona diseases at major hospitals in the city and suburbs, maternity hospitals, clinics and nursing homes.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (Thane Division) continued to cause huge concerns with 681 Covid-19 deaths and cases shooting beyond 20,000 to 20,689, with Thane district notching 36 deaths, Palghar 13 and Raigad 11 fatalities so far.

Pune Division trails a distant second with 198 fatalities and 3,783 patients.

The next major area of concern is Nashik Division with 71 deaths and 1,193 positive cases, followed by Akola Division with 26 deaths and 428 cases, and finally Aurangabad with 20 fatalities and 799 patients.

There’s also Kolhapur Division with 5 deaths and 158 patients, Latur Division with 5 fatalities and 94 cases, and finally Nagpur Division with 3 deaths and 339 patients.

Meanwhile, the number of people shunted in home quarantine increased from 298,213 to 315,686, and those in institutional quarantine went up from 14,627 to 15,465, while the state’s containment zones increased from 1,439 to 1,512 on Thursday.

As many as 14,253 teams have carried out a survey of a population of around 59 lakhs in the state till date.

Microsoft acquires virtualised network software provider Metaswitch Networks

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Microsoft acquires virtualised network software provider Metaswitch Networks

Microsoft on Thursday signed a definitive agreement to acquire UK-based Metaswitch Networks, a leading provider of virtualized network software and voice, data and communications solutions for operators, for an undisclosed sum.

The convergence of cloud and communication networks presents a unique opportunity for Microsoft to serve operators globally via continued investment in Azure,

“This announcement builds on our recent acquisition of Affirmed Networks, which closed on April 23. Metaswitch’s complementary portfolio of ultra-high-performance, cloud-native communications software will expand our range of offerings available for the telecommunications industry,” said Yousef Khalidi, Corporate Vice President, Azure Networking.

As the industry moves to 5G, operators will have opportunities to advance the virtualization of their core networks and move forward on a path to an increasingly cloud-native future.

Microsoft aims to leverage these two organizations — extending the Azure platform to both deploy and grow these capabilities at scale in a way that is secure, efficient and creates a sustainable ecosystem.

“We will continue to support hybrid and multi-cloud models to create a more diverse telecom ecosystem and spur faster innovation, an expanded set of unique offerings and greater opportunities for differentiation,” said Khalidi.

5G will ultimately give operators a path to accelerate service innovation and deliver new transformative experiences that are faster, more resilient and more secure, spurred on by software advances to drive transformation at scale, said the company.

Darshan Raval excited about lockdown version of ‘Dil Beats’

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Darshan Raval excited about lockdown version of ‘Dil Beats’

Singer Darshan Raval will be back on the small screen as the host of special lockdown version of “Dil Beats”, and says the lockdown has redefined the rules of modern relationships.

“With video calls and texts taking over dinner dates and weekend getaways, this lockdown has definitely redefined the rules of modern relationships,” Darshan said.

“As we stay away from our loved ones, ‘Dil Beats Lockdown Love’ offers an apt chance to keep love fresh and free of worries amongst love birds. I’m excited to extend my portrayal as a Love Dost to the virtual world and also help solve the love problems of the audience,” he added.

The lockdown version of “Dil Beats” will have Darshan present real-life lockdown love stories, and discuss the challenges of keeping love fresh and exciting in the current scenario. Viewers will also be asked to share their real-life love stories on social media and talk about their ‘lockdown’ relationships. The show will premiere on May 20 on MTV Beats.

The channel has also come out with another show “MTV Beats Sessions From Home”, which will give viewers a chance to indulge in unplugged versions of Bollywood’s popular songs and groove with artists including Jonita Gandhi, Lisa Mishra, Nikhita Gandhi and Shashwat Singh. While performing, each artist will also share anecdotes about each song.

Talking about the show, Jonita said: “The show is a unique platform to offer a musical respite during this lockdown. Not only does it highlight our undying love for Bollywood music but it also makes us revisit some of our most beloved songs. I am looking forward to entertaining my fans with some unplugged and a capella versions of my favourite songs and sharing some interesting stories around them. There is nothing that music cannot heal, so let’s heal together and spread some cheer.”

To this, Nikhita and Shashwat added: “This lockdown has prompted us to explore newer ways of offering music to our fans and keep up the momentum. ‘MTV Beats Sessions from Home’ is a one of a kind platform to relook at Bollywood’s most popular songs and present our own renditions… We hope the audience has as much fun in listening to the sessions as we will have in creating them.”

Sameera hilariously compares daughter to Rajinikath

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Sameera hilariously compares daughter to Rajinikath

Actress Sameera Reddy, in a new video, has drawn a funny comparison between southern superstar Rajinikanth and her daughter Nyra, who has just turned 10-months-old.

Sameera took to Instagram, where she shared a video of her daughter Nyra channeling her inner Thalaiva by sporting sunglasses. The clip then shows Rajinikanth’s famous sunglass flip. Nyra too seems to try to put the glasses on.

“Mass baby #babyThalaivaa #rajnikanth #superstar “Summa pere ketta athrudula” @rajinikanth #naughtynyra#10monthsold #itsmybirthday#baby #milestone,” she captioned the video.

Sameera recently gave Nyra a haircut and said that she has turned her little one into a “rowdy munchkin”.

Sameera took to Instagram Stories where she shared a photograph of her daughter, with her hair in hand.

Along with the photograph, she wrote: “Oh god yes I had to cut her hair myself in this lockdown! Now she looks like a rowdy munchkin!”

Nvidia introduces first Ampere A100 GPU for data centres

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Nvidia introduces first Ampere A100 GPU for data centres

Amid surge in demand for cloud computing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, graphics giant Nvidia on Thursday said its first GPU based on the Ampere architecture, A100, is in full production and shipping to customers worldwide.

The A100 is also built for data analytics, scientific computing and cloud graphics, according to an announcement made at the GPU Technology Conference (GTC).

At the core of NVIDIA Founder and CEO Jensen Huang’s talk was a vision for how data centres, the engine rooms of the modern global information economy, are changing, and how Nvidia and Mellonox, acquired in a deal that closed last month, are together driving those changes.

“The data center is the new computing unit,” Huang said, adding that NVIDIA is accelerating performance gains from silicon, to the ways CPUs and GPUs connect, to the full software stack, and, ultimately, across entire data centres.

Nvidia A100 provides the greatest generational performance leap of NVIDIA’s eight generations of GPUs, Huang said, adding that it is in full production and shipping to customers worldwide.

Eighteen of the world’s leading service providers and systems builders are incorporating them, among them Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Baidu Cloud, Cisco, Dell Technologies, Google Cloud, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft Azure and Oracle.

The A100, and the Nvidia Ampere architecture it’s built on, boost performance by up to 20x over its predecessors, Huang said.

Original plans for the keynote to be delivered live at Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference in late March in San Jose were upended by the coronavirus pandemic.

In his address recorded from the kitchen of his California home, Huang explained that Nvidia is working with researchers and scientists to use GPUs and AI computing to treat, mitigate, contain and track the pandemic.

“Researchers and scientists applying Nvidia accelerated computing to save lives is the perfect example of our company’s purpose — we build computers to solve problems normal computers cannot,” Huang said.

Huang also announced NVIDIA GPUs will power major software applications for accelerating three critical usages: managing big data, creating recommender systems and building real-time, conversational AI.

These new tools arrive as the effectiveness of machine learning has driven companies to collect more and more data.

“That positive feedback is causing us to experience exponential growth in the amount of data that is collected,” Huang said.

To help organizations of all kinds keep up, Huang announced support for NVIDIA GPU acceleration on Spark 3.0, describing the big data analytics engine as “one of the most important applications in the world today.”

TN corona count at 9,674, Koyambedu cluster accounts for over 2,500

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TN corona count at 9,674, Koyambedu cluster accounts for over 2,500

Tamil Nadu on Thursday registered a slightly lower number of coronavirus positive cases with as many as 447 persons testing positive over the past 24 hours, said the state Health Department.

With this, the total tally of coronavirus positive persons in the state goes up to 9,674 and the share of the Koyambedu Market corona cluster in the overall tally is over 2,500 persons (primary and their contacts), officials said.

Two Covid-19 patients lost their lives taking the death toll to 66.

The Koyambedu market is one the Asia’s largest wholesale markets where about 20,000 persons frequent daily during normal days. A number of positive cases in the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh have also been linked to this market as their travel history points out.

The Tamil Nadu government has closed the market after persons associated with the market – traders, customers, delivery persons, truck drivers and others- tested positive for coronavirus.

Further hundreds of those who were associated with the market have gone back to their native places in Tamil Nadu where they tested positive for the virus resulting in a huge spike in infection numbers in different districts.

The number of Covid-19 patients who were cured and discharged on Thursday was 64, and the total is 2,240.

According to the government, a total of 11,965 samples were tested taking the total to over 2.80 lakh till date. The testing of 757 samples is under process.

The state capital Chennai continued to see the highest number of infections at 363 taking the total tally to 5,637.

The number of infected children in the age group 0-12 went up to 555. The total number of active cases in Tamil Nadu stands at 7,365.

Meanwhile a committee of medical experts has recommended to the government not to reduce the number of sample tests so that remedial action in those pockets could be taken.

The committee had earlier met Chief Minister K. Palaniswami.

Speaking to reporters Prabhdeep Kaur, Deputy Director, National Institute of Epidemiology said the biggest achievements of Tamil Nadu is testing of large number of persons and the low Covid-19 deaths.

She said the committee has recommended to the government to lift the lockdown only in a phased manner.

Taylor Swift surprises fan who wrote a moving letter to mailman

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Taylor Swift surprises fan who wrote a moving letter to mailman

Singer Taylor Swift surprised a young fan with a handwritten letter and gifts after she thanked her mailman for his service during the COVID-19 crisis.

Emerson Weber, 11, made it to the news recently after she sent a sweet note to her local postal worker, Doug, and said that writing letters are “important”.

Taylor was so touched by Emerson’s story that she sent the young fan her own letter in the post and a collection of gifts, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Emerson’s father, Hugh, took to Twitter to share the news along with a collection of photos.

He revealed that Taylor had sent perfume, merchandise in different sizes, a handwritten letter with illustrations and had even gifted her own wax seal stamp.

Hugh tweeted: “I’ll be honest. We didn’t think too much about it. There have been so many letters this week that the most unlikely scenario didn’t even occur to us.

“I cut the box open while we sorted through some other mail. And, then Em pulled back the packing materials to reveal a bubble wrapped gift.

“On it, we saw a tag that simply said, ‘To Em. From Tay.’ Talk about breathless. I’ll admit. Our brains broke for a minute. We put the gift and the packaging back in the box. And, waited an hour.

“No joke. Sometimes, you need to calm down. After a deep breath, we all sat down on the living room floor and opened the box.”

Hugh explained that Taylor’s letter was hand-painted with gems, had a personalised wax seal and even decorated with her own personal glitter glue.

“Then, came the letter. Oh dear lord, this letter. All four of us – including Finn – sat quietly & hung on every word as Emerson read the letter aloud,” he added.

“Most of the letter is personal and between Em & Taylor. But a couple of details just for you…”

Hugh revealed that Taylor said she was “touched” and “honoured” Emerson used her song lyrics in her letter, adding: “An innate sense of empathy, a curiosity about the feelings of strangers, and the drive to try to brighten someone’s day. ”

The singer also told Emerson to “find time to create and daydream” and that “no one expects you to be perfect… you’ve already set a really cool example and I’m proud of you”.

Feeling overwhelmed, Emerson’s father concluded the tweets by saying: ‘We’re a puddle of tears over here. And, it has nothing to do with Taylor’s celebrity.

“It has everything to do with her humanity. Inexplicably, she sees Em. She sees her beauty. She sees her heart. She sees the real her.”

Sonakshi Sinha thanks fans for donating PPE kits to Pune hospital

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Sonakshi Sinha thanks fans for donating PPE kits to Pune hospital

Fans of Sonakshi Sinha have donated personal protective equipment (PPE) to Pune’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Hospital. The actress took to social media to thank them and acknowledge their donation.

“All you lovely people! Thank you for your trust and generosity. A huge consignment of top grade PPE material is leaving factory for Sardar Patel Hospital,#Pune! Let’s protect our frontline medicos together,shall we? Lots of love and thank you,” tweeted Sonakshi.

The actress also shared photographs of huge cartons carrying the PPE materials being prepared for the hospital. A note on one of the cartons reads: “Dedicated from fans of Sonakshi Sinha. Sardar Patel Hospital, Pune.”

The actress has been campaigning to raise PPE for healthcare workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic because she feels it is unfortunate that hospitals are facing a shortage of these kits.

Sonakshi recently shared: “Unfortunately, hospitals are facing a shortage of PPE kits which is putting the lives of all our medical staff at risk. Through this campaign, I am urging all my fans to come forward and donate PPE kits generously which will be directly reaching the hospitals that require them. It is the need of the hour and I hope we all can come together and fight this war.”

In this initiative, the actress has collaborated with Manish Mundra of Dhrishyam Films, Atul Kasbekar and the celebrity shout out network Tring.

Vizag gas leak a human rights issue: UN experts

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Vizag gas leak a human rights issue: UN experts

A group of UN experts have said that the Visakhapatnam gas leak has drawn attention to what they asserted were “human rights infringements” due to the proliferation of plastics.

The styrene leak at the LG Polymers plant that killed 12 people and injured about 1,000 last week “illustrates the range of human rights infringements brought by our rampant consumption and production of plastics,” Baskut Tuncak, UN’s special rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes, said on Thursday.

His statement issued from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva was endorsed by the working group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations, which includes Anita Ramasastry and Surya Deva.

Tuncak said, “The latest disaster has rightly drawn parallels to the toxic gas leak that killed thousands in Bhopal, India, in 1984, involving another trans-national chemical company, Union Carbide of the United States.”

While welcoming the “investigation, including possible charges of homicide,” into the leak at the plant owned by the South Korean multinational LG Polymers, he said that steps should be taken “to avoid the same mistakes and abuse of judicial procedures that have denied justice to the victims of the Bhopal disaster, who are still suffering to this day.”

“I am concerned about ensuring that the victims of exposure who develop diseases or disabilities later in life are provided an effective remedy,” he added.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that he wanted a full investigation into the gas leak.

“These kinds of incidents need to be fully investigated by the local authorities,” he said.

IT professionals more worried about corporate security than home: Oracle-KPMG

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IT professionals more worried about corporate security than home: Oracle-KPMG

Data security is creating fear and trust issues for IT professionals in these COVID-19 times who are more concerned about the security of company financials and intellectual property than their home security, a new Oracle-KPMG study said on Thursday.

Only 8 percent of IT security executives said they fully understand the Cloud shared responsibility security model, 87 percent of IT professionals saw AI/ML capabilities as a “must-have” for new security purchases, said the third annual ‘Oracle and KPMG Cloud Threat Report 2020′.

The study of 750 cybersecurity and IT professionals across the globe found that a patchwork approach to data security, misconfigured services and confusion around new cloud security models has created a crisis of confidence that will only be fixed by organizations making security part of the culture of their business.

“Adopting tools that leverage intelligent automation to help close the skills gap are on the IT spend roadmap for the immediate future and the C-level is methodically unifying the different lines of business with a security-first culture in mind,” said Steve Daheb, Senior Vice President, Oracle Cloud.

While 78 per cent of organisations said they are using more than 50 discrete cybersecurity products to address security issues, 37 percent used more than 100 cybersecurity products.

Organisations who discovered misconfigured cloud services experienced 10 or more data loss incidents in the last year, according to the report.

IT professionals have concerns about cloud service providers. Nearly 80 percent are concerned that cloud service providers they do business with will become competitors in their core markets.

“Seventy-five percent of IT professionals view public cloud as more secure than their own data centres, yet 92 percent of IT professionals do not trust their organization is well prepared to secure public cloud services,” the findings showed.

Nearly 80 percent of IT professionals said that recent data breaches experienced by other businesses have increased their organization’s focus on securing data moving forward.

IT professionals are using a patchwork of different cybersecurity products to try and address data security concerns, but face an uphill battle as these systems are seldom configured correctly, according to the report.

“In response to the current challenging environment, companies have accelerated the movement of workloads, and associated sensitive data, to the cloud to support a new way of working and to help optimize cost models. This is exposing existing vulnerabilities and creating new risks,” explained Tony Buffomante, Global Co-Leader and U.S. Leader of KPMG LLP’s Cyber Security Services.

Lockdown diaries: Ranvir Shorey’s workout tales with father, son

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Lockdown diaries: Ranvir Shorey’s workout tales with father, son

Actor Ranvir Shorey is catching up on his fitness goals along with his father and his son amid the ongoing lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Every evening, the actor, his father KD Shorey and son Haroon come together for workout.

“Haroon plays catch with a ball. My father does some stretching and a short walk around the house with his walker. I do a mix of yoga and strength training. It’s our daily routine,” Ranvir said.

On the work front, Ranvir was recently seen in Netflix show “Hasmukh”, which is about an ambitious comic on a mission to prove to his mentor that he is a good comedian. It shows how every dream comes with a price and Hasmukh (Vir Das) realises that the only way to “kill it on stage”, is if he “kills off stage”.

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