Microsoft’s $10bn JEDI contract win reaffirmed, Amazon to protest

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Microsoft’s $10bn JEDI contract win reaffirmed, Amazon to protest

Amazon has vowed to continue its protests after the US Department of Defense (DoD) has reaffirmed that Microsoft has won the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, Cloud computing contract.

“The Department has completed its comprehensive re-evaluation of the JEDI Cloud proposals and determined that Microsoft’s proposal continues to represent the best value to the government,” the DoD said in a statement on Friday.

Amazon’s Cloud computing arm, called Amazon Web Services (AWS), said in a blog post that the DoD’s re-evaluation is “nothing more than an attempt to validate a flawed, biased, and politically corrupted decision.”

After Microsoft was awarded the decade-long contract in October last year, AWS filed a bid protest directly to DoD, challenging the decision.

“Taking corrective action should have provided the DoD an opportunity to address the numerous material evaluation errors outlined in our protest, ensure a fair and level playing field, and ultimately, expedite the conclusion of litigation,” AWS said in a blog post on Friday.

“Unfortunately, the DoD rejected that opportunity,” AWS alleged.

After Amazon protested the original award, Microsoft said that it won the JEDI contract because the US Department of Defense found that it offered “significantly superior” technology at a better price.

“It’s also important to point out that the DoD cited price as a major factor in the previous decision. This time, AWS offered a lower cost by several tens of millions of dollars,” AWS alleged in the latest blog post.

“The DoD’s decision to intentionally ignore the clear cost benefits offered by AWS reinforces the fact that this corrective action was never meant to be fair,” it added.

AWS said that it will “continue pursuing a fair, objective, and impartial review.”

After reaffirming that Microsoft has won the JEDI contract, DoD said that the contract performance will not begin immediately due to the Preliminary Injunction Order issued by the Court of Federal Claims on February 13.

The department, however, added that it is eager to begin delivering the Cloud computing capability to its men and women in uniform.

2,511 new Covid cases take Telangana tally to over 1.38 lakh

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2,511 new Covid cases take Telangana tally to over 1.38 lakh

Telangana’s Covid-19 tally rose to over 1.38 lakh on Saturday with 2,511 new cases registered during the last 24 hours, health officials said.

The fresh cases pushed the cumulative numbers to 1,38,395 while 11 more deaths took the death toll to 877.

According to a media bulletin issued from the office of the director of public health and family welfare, the fatality rate in the state is at 0.63 percent against the national average of 1.73 percent. Out of the total fatalities, 53.87 percent had comorbidities.

Out of 1,38,395 cases, 95,493 (69 per cent) were asymptomatic and 42,902 (31 per cent) symptomatic.

Of the new cases registered during the last 24 hours ending 8 p.m. on Friday, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for 305, up from 267 the previous day.

The number of cases also increased in the state capital’s neighboring Rangareddy district from 171 to 184. However, it dropped in the Medchal Malkajgiri district to 134 from 190. Sangareddy, another district bordering the state capital, recorded 70 cases against 67 the previous day.

Outside Hyderabad and surrounding districts, Nalgonda recorded the highest single-day jump of 170 while the numbers went up by 150 in Karimnagar and 142 in Khammam district.

Warangal Urban and Suryapet saw 96 new cases each while 93 cases each were reported from Nizamabad and Bhadradri Kothagudem.

The authorities conducted 62,132 tests, taking the total number to 62,132. Officials said 29,132 primary and 8,698 secondary contacts were tested during the last 24 hours. The results of 3,145 samples are awaited.

The government has allowed three more private laboratories to conduct the tests. With this, a total of 17 government and 38 private laboratories are conducting these tests while the state has 1076 rapid antigen test centers.

The samples tested per million population rose further to 44,918. Officials say this is much higher than the daily testing target of 5,600 per day as per the World Health Organization (WHO) benchmark of 140 per million per day.

The health officials said 2,579 people recovered during the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 1,04,603. The state’s recovery rate improved further to 75.5 percent while the national average is 77.24 percent.

The number of active cases in the state stands at 32,915 including 25,729A in-home/institutional isolation.

Age-wise Covid-19 positive details show that 65.3 percent of those tested positive were in the age group of 21-50 years. Officials said that 24.71 percent are above 51 years of age. About 10 percent were aged below 20 years.

Officials said 64.41 percent of those tested positive were male while the remaining 35.59 percent were female.

According to the media bulletin, out of 20,396 beds under government, 17,666 beds are vacant including 1,553 ICU beds.

The government added two more private hospitals to the list of hospitals treating Covid-19 in the state. Now, a total of 196 private hospitals treating Covid-19 patients have 10,253 beds, out of which 5,797 are vacant.

Covid-19 vaccine not a ‘prerequisite’ for Olympics, says Tokyo 2020 CEO

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Covid-19 vaccine not a ‘prerequisite’ for Olympics, says Tokyo 2020 CEO

Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto has stated that a COVID-19 vaccine is not a requirement for holding next year’s postponed Olympics and Paralympics.

Muto on Friday attended the first meeting on countermeasures against the coronavirus pandemic with a Japanese government panel, which is headed by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiro Sugita and consists of about 30 members from the central government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee.

The meeting touched upon the current status of the pandemic and basic scheme for measures for next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“It’s not a prerequisite,” Muto said of the vaccine while speaking to reporters. “The International Olympic Committee and the WHO already discussed this matter. It’s not a condition for the delivery of the Tokyo 2020 Games.”

“A vaccine is not a requirement. Of course, if vaccines are developed, we’ll really appreciate it. And for Tokyo 2020 this will be great. But if you ask me if that’s a condition – it’s not a condition,” he added.

“As for the spectators, we don’t have any conclusions yet,” the Tokyo 2020 CEO said. “But if possible, we’d like to avoid a ‘no spectators’ situation.”

The Tokyo Games were scheduled to be in July-August this year but because of the coronavirus pandemic — which has claimed more than 8 lakh lives so far –, it has been postponed till next year summer.

With spike of 86K cases, India’s corona tally crosses 4mn

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With spike of 86K cases, India’s corona tally crosses 4mn

India on Saturday recorded the highest spike of 86,432 cases taking the total tally to 40,23,179 cases, Union Health Ministry data revealed.

A total of 1,089 deaths were registered in the last 24 hours taking the toll to 69,561.

Out of the total confirmed cases, 8,46,395 are the active cases, while a total of 31,07,223 have recovered from the virus so far. With 77,072 recoveries in a day, the recovery rate has increased to 77.23 percent.

The number of patients recovering is on a steady rise over the past several months. As the daily recoveries increase, India has registered more than 60,000 recoveries each day.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit with a total of 8,63,069 cases and 25,969 deaths; followed by Andhra Pradesh with 4,76,506 cases and 4,276 deaths. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, and Bihar come next.

According to the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India conducted a record of 10,59,346 tests in a single day on Friday, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 47,738,491.

On the global front, India still remains the third worst hit nation with the Covid-19 pandemic while the US and Brazil lead the board with 62,00,518 and 40,91,801 total cases, respectively. India is a few thousand cases short of crossing Brazil.

Next ICC chairman shouldn’t be from ‘Big Three’: Ehsan Mani

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Next ICC chairman shouldn’t be from ‘Big Three’: Ehsan Mani

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani feels that the next chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) should not come from any of the “Big Three” boards.

On July 1 this year, Shashank Manohar stepped down from the post of ICC chairman after twin two-year tenures at the helm. Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja has assumed the responsibilities of the chairperson until a successor is elected.

According to Mani, it would be “healthier” if someone from other boards now leads the ICC because of the “politics introduced” by Cricket Australia, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) earlier.

“It’s unfortunate it has taken so long,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Mani as telling the Forbes about the delay. “The politics introduced by Australia, England, and India in 2014 to protect their positions – now they are struggling to unwind it because it doesn’t suit them anymore.

“It would be healthier to have someone (the chairperson) not from the ‘big three’,” he added.

The PCB chairman, who served as ICC chairman from 2003 to 2006, however, ruled himself out as a candidate.

“There is a huge problem of conflict of interest on the board,” Mani said. “I’ve never seen that before, not in 17 years. This sort of conflict of interest is not transparent. The ICC is crying out for more independent directors.”

Earlier, former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir had backed current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly to put forward his candidature for the post of ICC chairman, saying it will be good for the country to have their representation in the top management of the ICC.

“I am not privy to what Sourav Ganguly is thinking. But yes, it will be good if India can have their representation in the top management of the ICC,” Gambhir had told IANS. “India deserves democratic representation in the ICC,” he stressed.

CSA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith had also supported Ganguly to take over as ICC chairman.

Kovind, Modi pay tribute to S. Radhakrishnan on Teachers’ Day

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Kovind, Modi pay tribute to S. Radhakrishnan on Teachers’ Day

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Saturday paid homage to former President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on his 132nd birth anniversary on the occasion of Teachers’ Day.

“President Kovind paid floral tributes to Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, former President of India, on his birth anniversary at Rashtrapati Bhavan,” a tweet from the official Twitter handle of Rashtrapati Bhavan read.

In a series of tweets, PM Modi said: “We remain grateful to the hardworking teachers for their contributions towards shaping minds and building our nation. On Teachers’ Day, we express gratitude to our teachers for their remarkable efforts. We pay tributes to Dr. S. Radhakrishnan on his Jayanti.”

“Who better than our knowledgeable teachers to deepen our connection with our nation’s glorious history. During the recent Mann Ki Baat, I had shared an idea of teachers teaching students about lesser-known aspects of our great freedom struggle,” Modi said attaching a video from his monthly radio broadcast programme.

“Tributes to an iconic thinker and erudite scholar, former President Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on his Jayanti,” Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted.

“On Teachers’ Day, greetings to the entire teaching fraternity who has been playing an unparalleled role in shaping the nation by selflessly guiding millions of souls,” Shah said in a tweet.

Rahul Gandhi also took to Twitter and said: “The entire universe is a teacher for those who are willing to learn.”

Teachers’ Day is celebrated on September 5 every year.

Covid-19 surge continues in Taj city

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Covid-19 surge continues in Taj city

A record 88 fresh cases in a day have alarmed the Agra authorities, who are battling the Covid-19 infection through a multi-pronged strategy.

The district authorities have streamlined the medical infrastructure, adding beds and manpower at the S.N. Medical College, district hospital, and the lone quarantine center at the campus of the Hindustan College.

Health officials said the daily testing numbers were on the rise and testing on-demand would soon be introduced at dozens of new centers in the city.

Half a dozen private nursing homes in the city have been permitted to admit Covid-19 patients. The local S.N. Medical College has only 24 beds in the ICU. The target is to increase the number of beds to 85.

District Magistrate P.N. Singh visited the facilities on Friday. Doctors asked him to arrange for more ventilators.

More than 300 samples were collected during the three-day Sero Survey that began on Friday. A health department official said the target was to collect around 1,400 samples from different age groups.

The total number of samples collected in Agra is now 1,27,881. The number of active cases has gone up to 565. The number of recovered patients is 2,531. The tally now is 3,204 with 108 deaths. Almost 65 percent of patients are from urban areas.

In neighboring districts, the surge in fresh cases continues to remain alarming, particularly in Mathura and Aligarh.

AC Milan sign midfielder Brahim Diaz from Real Madrid

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AC Milan sign midfielder Brahim Diaz from Real Madrid

AC Milan has signed midfielder Brahim Diaz from Real Madrid on loan until June 30, 2021.

“AC Milan is delighted to announce the signing of the Spanish footballer Brahim Abdelkader Diaz from Real Madrid CF on loan until June 30, 2021,” the Serie A club said in a statement on Friday, adding that he will wear the number 21 shirt.

Diaz, born in Malaga (Spain) on August 3, 1999, began his career at his hometown club Malaga CF before moving to Manchester City in 2015. He made his first-team debut for Manchester City in 2016 making 15 appearances and scoring 2 goals before joining Real Madrid in 2019, netting 2 goals in 21 appearances.

“He joined his teammates and coach Stefano Pioli at Milanello Sports Center in preparation for the new season,” Milan said.

Earlier this week, Zlatan Ibrahimovic also ended speculation around his future by signing a one-year contract extension with Milan.

“AC Milan is delighted to announce that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has renewed his contract with the club until June 30, 2021,” the club had said in a statement on Monday.

Milan finished at the sixth spot last season to book a place in the Europa League and face Shamrock Rovers in the second qualifying round on September 17.

Marvel’s Avengers game lands on XboX, PlayStation & Stadia

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Marvel’s Avengers game lands on XboX, PlayStation & Stadia

Marvel’s Avengers by Square Enix has been officially released with some editions on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Google’s Stadia cloud-gaming platform.

Marvel’s Avengers has a single-player story mode, but the game is meant to be played online with friends and the community, reports 9To5Google.

Square Enix has been building up excitement for its Avengers game for over a year now, and the title has been highly anticipated by fans as one of 2020’s biggest games.

A key difference between Stadia and other platforms that have early access is the lack of a requirement to buy the game via pre-order. Early access also comes with the Marvel Legacy outfits.

Stadia Pro members received five new games for free with Stadia Pro last month.

These new games are Strange Brigade, Kona, Metro 2033 Redux, Just Shapes And Beats as well as Rock of Ages 3: Make And Break.

Bopanna-Shapovalov enter second round of US Open

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Bopanna-Shapovalov enter second round of US Open

The Indo-Canadian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov have made it to the second round of the men’s doubles event at the ongoing US Open after defeating the American pair of Ernesto Escobedo and Noah Rubin in straight sets.

On Friday, Bopanna and Shapovalov beat 6-2,6-4 in a match that lasted one hour and 22 minutes.

After the win, Bopanna took to Twitter and wrote, “Through to the second round. Denis Shapovalov #USOpen.”

Bopanna and Shapovalov will now lock horns with the German pair of Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Miles — who had defeated the Australian pair of Luke Saville and Max Purcell — for a place in the quarterfinals.

Mustafizur Rahman denied NOC to play in IPL 13

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Mustafizur Rahman denied NOC to play in IPL 13

Left-arm Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman has been denied a no-objection certificate (NOC) by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) slated to be held from September 19 to November 10.

According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, Akram Khan, the cricket operations chairman at BCB, said that Bangladesh’s tour of Sri Lanka in October and November was the reason for the denial.

It is said that Kolkata Knight Riders were interested to bring in Mustafizur at one point to replace Harry Gurney.

“There was an offer from the IPL but since we have a tour coming up, we didn’t give him the NOC. He is an important cricketer for us and this upcoming series is also important,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Khan as telling to Dhaka-based bdnews24.com.

Bangladesh is set to tour Sri Lanka for a three-Test series, scheduled to begin on October 24 at a time when IPL will be on in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Mustafizur last played in the IPL in 2018 for the Mumbai Indians. In seven matches that season, he took seven wickets. He had much more success while playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016 and 2017. In 17 matches for SRH overall, he scalped 17 wickets. In total, he has played 24 IPL games and has 24 wickets to his name at an average of 28.54.

I-League: Gokulam Kerala FC sign Mizoram left-back Zodingliana Tochhawng

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I-League: Gokulam Kerala FC sign Mizoram left-back Zodingliana Tochhawng

I-League club Gokulam Kerala FC have signed Mizoram left-back Zodingliana Tochhawng for the upcoming season.

Zodingliana, who is also known as Adlinga, started his professional career with Shillong Lajong FC in the 2013 I-League season, and before that, he was part of India under-14, under-16, and under-19 teams.

Later he was loaned to North East United FC and played 10 matches for the highlanders. The next year, he represented Delhi Dynamos and played 12 matches. His last stint in ISL was with Pune City before moving to FC Goa reserve team.

Last season, the 25-year-old played a major role for NEROCA FC in the I-League, starting 11 matches.

“Representing Gokulam Kerala FC is a privilege for me. I thank everyone who helped me to get here. I am very happy and motivate to play for Malabarians. It is a new beginning for me and I aim at landing the league title for the club and its fan,” said Tochhawng.

“We welcome Zodingliana Tochhawng a versatile Mizo-midfielder to our GKFC family. He is a seasoned player having vast experience in both I-League & ISL. The lightning left-footed player will be a great competitor to our first choice left full-back Naocha Singh” said Gokulam Kerala FC CEO, B. Ashok Kumar.

“He is a player we have been tracking for a while. He is a player of high quality and our technical team will be looking forward to integrating him into the club. We have a competitive squad now and will be aiming at the I-League title,” said Gokulam Kerala FC chairman Gokulam Gopalan.

Teacher’s Day: Manushi Chhillar recalls the teacher who ingrained love for stage in her

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Teacher’s Day: Manushi Chhillar recalls the teacher who ingrained love for stage in her

When it comes to imbibing self-discipline, Manushi Chhillar remembers her junior school dance teacher.

The beauty queen-turned actress opened up on the subject on the occasion of Teacher’s Day on Saturday, and recalled one of her “most special” teachers in school.

“One of my most special teachers from school was Ms. Bose. She used to teach us Indian dance and music in junior school. I moved to Delhi when I was seven and in second class, and it was she who ingrained the love for the stage in me. From a very young age she would take me in her programs,” Manushi said.

Manushi, who is all set to step into Bollywood with the Akshay Kumar-starrer “Prithviraj”, recalled that even though her teacher was strict, she loved her dearly.

“She was among the strictest teachers I had but I loved her dearly because through her strictness I learned about performance discipline, and I understood that when you enjoy performing and like the stage, there is a lot of practice and self-discipline to go with it,” she said.

Remembering the special bond she shared with her teacher, Manushi said: “As I grew older and left for senior school, I remember I used to meet her once a year during our annual day and she would come with her squad of girls from the junior school to senior school. I would always touch her feet (to date whenever I get a chance to meet her I do so), but she would never let me finish my namaskar and would hug me.”

“I share a special bond with Ms. Bose and she is one of my most special teachers. I remember that when we were finishing class XII, we had our candlelight ceremony and everyone was quite emotional. The only teacher I kept thinking about was her because she had seen me grow and always encouraged and pushed me to give my best. I hugged her and I think both of us ended up crying and both of us knew we would miss working with each other,” Manushi recalled, adding that she met her teacher again when she won the Miss India title.

Djokovic, Kvitova in pre-quarters of US Open 2020

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Djokovic, Kvitova in pre-quarters of US Open 2020

Tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova made it to the last 16 of the ongoing US Open after winning the third-round matches in their respective categories.

In men’s singles, Djokovic defeated No. 28 seed Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 in a match that lasted one hour and 42 minutes at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday.

“It was a very good performance from my side. I managed to read his serve well,” the top-seeded player said after the match as per the ATP Tour website. “I found my way, especially after the first set. The second and third sets were a really great feeling on the court.

“I’ve been playing well the past couple of weeks, training well, focussing on the right things, maintaining that level of performance, and hoping for the best. I’m feeling confident about my game and taking that to every match I play,” he added.

Awaiting him in the next round is No. 20 seed Pablo Carreno Busta, who breezed past Ricardas Berankis 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

In women’s singles, No.6 seed Kvitova moved past Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the round of 16 at a Grand Slam event for the 20th time in her career.

“I think the whole match was at a pretty good level,” Kvitova told the media, after her win. “We both played nice tennis, I would say.” She will next face another hard-hitting American Shelby Rogers, who ousted Madison Brengle earlier on Friday.

Late fightback helps England beat Australia in 1st T20I

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Late fightback helps England beat Australia in 1st T20I

A late fightback from the bowlers helped England beat Australia by two runs in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Ageas Bowl.

Chasing 163, Australia at one stage needed just 39 runs from the last six overs with nine wickets in hand to take a 1-0 lead in the series on Friday. However, they ended up on 160/6 and lost the game which was in their grasp for the majority of the duration.

Earlier, Australia restricted England to 162/7, despite Jos Buttler’s early fireworks and Dawid Malan’s well-composed 66. For the visitors, it was Kane Richardson and Glenn Maxwell who provided control as they returned with figures of 2/13 and 2/14 respectively from three overs apiece.

Left-arm spinner Aston Agar, who was taken for 16 by Buttler in his first over, also bounced back and returned with figures of 2/32 in his four overs.

Other than Buttler and Malan, only Chris Jordan got to double figures, hitting 14* from 8 balls in a late cameo.

Australia had a great start to their chase and looked on track to register a comprehensive victory, thanks to Aaron Finch and David Warner’s early dominance, with the pair adding 98 runs in 11 overs before the Australia captain lost his wicket after scoring 46 runs.

Steve Smith, who came in next, looked fluent as he scored 18 from 11 balls, but Adil Rashid had him caught sweeping and he then dismissed Maxwell four balls later as England fought back.

Warner (58) and Alex Carey also went back to the pavilion in quick succession as Australia lost four wickets for nine runs, with the visitors still needing 30 from 21 balls.

Australia needed 15 from the final over but Tom Curran kept his cool and didn’t allow Marcus Stoinis to take his team across the line.

The two teams will now lock horns in the second T20I at the same venue on Sunday.

Brief scores: England 162/7 (Dawid Malan 66, Jos Buttler 44; Glenn Maxwell 2/14) beat Australia 160/6 (David Warner 58, Aaron Finch 46; Adil Rashid 2/29) by two runs.

Gujarat Covid-19 tally at 1,01,695, toll reaches 3,078

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Gujarat Covid-19 tally at 1,01,695, toll reaches 3,078

Gujarat’s corona cases rose to 1,01,695 with the addition of 1,320 cases on Friday while the toll reached 3,078 as 14 more succumbed.

During August, the state had seen 35,002 positive cases with a daily average of 1,129 cases, while in September so far, 5,260 cases have been detected with an average of 1,315 cases daily.

A total of 1,218 patients were discharged on Friday, taking the total to 82,398, while the state has 16,219 active cases, of which 92 critical patients were still on a ventilator.

Of the new cases, hotspot Surat continued to lead with 271 cases, followed by Ahmedabad with 171 and Rajkot with 163.

Vadodara saw 125 cases, Jamnagar 111, Bhavnagar 53, Gandhinagar 36, Patan 30, Panchmahals and Junagadh 29 each, Amreli and Mehsana 26 each, Kutch and Morbi 25 each, Banaskantha 24, Narmada 20, Bharuch 19, Gir-Somnath 15, Sabarkantha and Surendranagar 14 each, Navsari and Tapi 13 each, Anand and Dahod 12 each, Devbhumi Dwarka 10, Kheda and Mahisagar seven each, Botad, Chhota Udepur and Valsad six each and Aravalli with three.

Of the new deaths, four were reported from Ahmedabad, three from Surat, two from Rajkot, and one each from Gir-Somnath, Junagadh, Patan, Vadodara, and Gandhinagar.

Gujarat’s mortality rate is currently 3.02 percent.

Health authorities have so far conducted 26,35,369 RT-PCR tests, while the state has 5,53,061 people under quarantine – 5,51,582 at home and 1,479 in government facilities.

Chelsea sign Kai Havertz from Leverkusen

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Chelsea sign Kai Havertz from Leverkusen

Chelsea has completed the signing of German international midfielder Kai Havertz on a five-year contract, the Premier League club has confirmed.

Havertz, joining his German teammate Timo Werner who arrived at Chelsea earlier this summer, is the Blues’ second most expensive signing at 71 million pounds ($94 million), reports Xinhua news agency.

“For me, it is a dream come true to play in a big club like Chelsea and I can’t wait to meet all the players and the trainers,” said the 21-year-old, who arrives from Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen.

Havertz joined Leverkusen at the age of 11 in 2010 and made his debut for the senior team in 2016. He made a total of 118 Bundesliga appearances with 36 goals and 25 assists.

Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia described Havertz as “one of the best players of his age in world football”.

Chelsea finished fourth in last season’s Premier League and reached the final of the FA Cup where they lost to Arsenal.

Since the start of the summer transfer window, the London club has added the German duo Werner and Havertz, Morocco’s Hakim Ziyech, England’s Ben Chilwell, and Brazilian veteran Thiago Silva to their squad.

Tax Devolution: Finance Commission advised to treat FY21, FY22 differently

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Tax Devolution: Finance Commission advised to treat FY21, FY22 differently

At a time when the Centre is facing difficulties to disburse GST compensation to states on the low revenue collection, the Economic Advisory Council of the 15th Finance Commission has advised the latter to treat the financial year 2020-21 and 2021-22 differently in comparison to the next four years.

The commission is to give recommendations for devolution of taxes and other fiscal matters over the next five years starting April 1, 2020.

An official statement said that during an online meeting of the advisory council with the commission, the council was of the view that the Finance Commission is faced with an “unprecedented situation of uncertainties”.

The council suggested that the 15th Finance Commission under the chairmanship of N. K. Singh will have to take a nuanced approach towards tax devolution to the states, other transfers, financing of expenditures in the midst of revenue strains including through borrowings and the path of fiscal consolidation.

“The Members of the Council also felt that the Commission will have to think unconventionally, especially in treating the five years at hand from 2021-22 to 2025-26. They advised that the base year 2020-21 and the first year of 2021-22 may need to be viewed differently from the remaining four years when the revenue situation is likely to improve gradually,” it said.

The meeting, chaired by N. K.Singh, was attended by all members of the Finance Commission and senior officials of the commission. From the Economic Advisory Council and the special invitees Arvind Virmani, Indira Rajaraman, D. K.Srivastava, M. Govinda Rao, Sudipto Mundle among others gave their views.

The commission will have a meeting with another set of distinguished scholars on Saturday to get their views.

The meeting on Friday discussed a wide gamut of issues around GDP growth, the tax buoyancy of the Centre and the states, GST compensation, and fiscal consolidation.

Specific issues relating to public expenditure on health, investment revival, recapitalization of the financial system and its impact on public finances, focus on strengthening of defense capabilities, emerging trends in GST collections, and its connection with improvements in its technology platform was also discussed.

The statement said that different views were expressed on the GDP growth in the current year in terms of the quarterly built-up, and the growth revival that is likely in the subsequent years.

The advisory council felt that the government debt relative to GDP is likely to increase steeply in the initial years, however, the purpose should be to endeavor to bring it down in the subsequent years.

In the initial years, this ratio will be affected by the increased revenue-expenditure imbalance on the numerator and the downward pressure on GDP on the numerator.

Akshay Kumar unveils FAU-G as India’s alternative to PUBG (Ld)

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Akshay Kumar unveils FAU-G as India’s alternative to PUBG (Ld)

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar on Friday announced a multi-player game titled ‘FAU-G: Fearless and United Guards’ that will support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ movement.

The game aims to provide an Indian alternative to PUBG Mobile that has been recently banned in India along with 117 more apps.

“Supporting PM @narendramodi’s AtmaNirbhar movement, proud to present an action game, Fearless And United-Guards FAU-G. Besides entertainment, players will also learn about the sacrifices of our soldiers. 20% of the net revenue generated will be donated to @BharatKeVeer Trust #FAUG,” Kumar said in a Facebook post.

The new PUBG alternative has been announced by the developer nCore Games and will be developed under the mentorship of Kumar.

The game is expected to based on real scenarios encountered by the Indian security forces to deal with both domestic and foreign threats and it will be available on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

The government banned the multiplayer action game PUBG on September 2 and it has been pulled out from both Google Play Store and Apple App Store in India following the directive from the Indian government.

PUBG was banned on an order by the Ministry of Information and Technology (MeitY), which also banned 117 other popular apps from China over national security concerns.

In June, 59 apps were banned, including TikTok, and another 47 apps were suspended in July.

The PUBG game, which has more than 600 million downloads and 50 million active players globally, has millions of users, especially young, in India.

PUBG Mobile saw a global revenue gain of $1.3 billion (roughly Rs 9,731 crore) in the first half of this year, bringing its lifetime collection to $3 billion (nearly Rs 22,457 crore) with the highest number of downloads in India which ranks at the top with 175 million installs as people stayed home owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns.

IOC chartered on fire oil tanker towed away from Sri Lankan coast

TB Team
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IOC chartered on fire oil tanker towed away from Sri Lankan coast

The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) chartered huge oil tanker ‘New Diamond’, laden with about 3,00,000 tonne of Kuwaiti crude on fire, has been towed more than 35 nautical miles away from the Sri Lankan coast to safe waters, Indian Coast Guard said on Saturday.

The ship has been on fire since Thursday.

According to Coast Guard, with the coordinated efforts of the Sri Lankan ships and aircraft, the ALP Winger vessel successfully towed New Diamond more than 35 nautical miles away from the island nation’s coast.

The Indian coastal security agency added that the fire on-board of the very large crude carrier (VLCC) New Diamond is still on but on a reduced scale and there is no oil slick.

The fire was brought under control on Friday evening.

The 20-year old VLCC New Diamond, sailing under the Panama flag, was on fire since Thursday morning, about 37 nautical miles off the Sri Lankan coast and in the Sri Lankan Exclusive Economic Zone.

On Friday, the New Diamond’s Captain along with a Coast Guard officer and a sailor boarded the blazing oil tanker and assessed the towing and anchoring facilities of the massive vessel that was still blazing.

“The towing and anchoring facilities are in good condition for those activities. Where the vessel would be towed will be decided by the Central government,” a Coast Guard official had told IANS.

He also said the cargo pumping facility is also intact and the cargo area has not been affected.

According to him, the fire is on the vessel’s port side and there is not much heat on the deck. The fire in the crew accommodation area has been put out.

The Indian government has decided to deploy two emergency towing vessels to tow New Diamond.

The Coast Guard was working on a multi-pronged strategy to prevent an oil spill from the massive vessel, which would be a huge environmental disaster if it occurs.

The Coast Guard also said a two-meter crack has been observed near the port aft portion of New Diamond, 10 meters above the waterline.

“If the crack propagates, and there is every likelihood of that, but cannot be predicted, then the ship’s stability could be affected. A ship at a standstill is still subjected to tremendous stresses and could break and capsize,” M. Kalayanaraman, Technical Editor, Riviera Maritime Media, had told IANS.

Kalyanaraman also said if the fire is still raging, it means the availability of fuel for the blaze, which could be bunker oil.

A Coast Guard official, however, told IANS that the crack has not grown further.

As per www.marinetraffic.com, the New Diamond oil tanker departed from Mina Al Ahmadi on August 23 and was headed to India’s Paradip port.

The oil tanker was expected to reach Paradip in Odisha on September 5 where the IOC has a large refinery.

The Coast Guard said the Sri Lankan Navy had sought assistance to fight the fire and the explosion on board the New Diamond.

According to reports, another oil product tanker Helen M, sailing under the Panama flag, had reached the location of New Diamond for rescue after receiving a distress message. Helen M was sailing from Mangaluru to Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, officials of IOC remained silent and were not available for comment.

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