J&K Police examining evidence in alleged fake encounter case

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J&K Police examining evidence in alleged fake encounter case

Police said on Thursday it has deputed a team headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police to complete all legal and technical formalities into the disappearance of three persons belonging to Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district.

Vijay Kumar, IGP (Kashmir) told reporters that a team headed by a DSP rank officer has been deputed to Rajouri to complete all legal and technical formalities with regard to the disappearance of three persons belonging to Rajouri district.

Families of the three persons have lodged a missing report, which says the three missing persons have been killed in a fake encounter in the Amshipora village of Shopian district.

The family members have said three of their kin had come to Shopian to work as manual laborers and after their mobile phones were found switched off for several days, the anxious family members came to Shopian to find the whereabouts of the three missing persons.

“The Rajouri families filed a missing report and since then we are trying to evaluate the case through all technical evidence.

“We have taken the DNA samples of three terrorists’ killed in the Shopian encounter which will be sent to the central lab to ascertain facts.

“Besides matching the DNA samples it is being investigated whether these three persons who had come from Rajouri were in contact with local militants are not. We will examine all the technical evidence that we have”, the IGP said.

The missing report filed by the families has identified the three missing persons as Abrar Ahmad Khan, 18, Imtiyaz Hussain, 26, and another Abrar Ahmad, 21 belonging to Rajouri district.

Sushant’s sister Shweta: Demanding an unbiased investigation is our right

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Sushant’s sister Shweta: Demanding an unbiased investigation is our right

Shweta Singh Kirti, sister of Sushant Singh Rajput, posted a new video on Instagram and Twitter on Wednesday, to reiterate her demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) enquiry into the death of the late actor.

?”We stand together as a nation for CBI Enquiry! Demanding an unbiased investigation is our right and we expect nothing but the truth to come out. #CBIForSSR #Warriors4SSR #justiceforSushanthSinghRajput @PMOIndia @narendramodi @AmitShah,” Shweta said in the video, which she posted on her verified Instagram account and her unverified Twitter handle.

In another post, she is seen holding a placard that reads: “I am the sister of Sushant Singh Rajput and I request for #CBIforSSR.”

She captioned the image as: “It’s time we find the truth and get justice. Please help our family and the whole world to know what the truth is and find closure, otherwise, we will never be able to live a peaceful life!!#CBIForSSR Raise your voice and demand #JusticeForSushantSinghRajput #WarriorsForSSR @sushantsinghrajput.”

Shweta has already garnered a lot of support for her video, with people leaving comments like “We all stand strong with you”, “Hope for the best. We want justice”, “We are with you and God is with us”.

Sushant was found dead in his Bandra flat on June 14, and the late actor’s family feels he was murdered. They have alleged that they are getting threats as they continue their fight for justice.

The family has said they were not even given time to mourn Sushant’s death, with stories surfacing that he is mentally imbalanced, and photographs of his dead body going viral.

Warne like a mentor & friend to me now, says Kuldeep

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Warne like a mentor & friend to me now, says Kuldeep

India’s chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has said spin legend Shane Warne, who has always been an idol to him, has helped him in many ways and the two share a good rapport now.

Kuldeep made his Test debut against Australia in 2017 in Pune and was introduced to Warne by then India head coach Anil Kumble.

“I met Shane Warne during a Test match in Pune. When I met him for the first time, Anil Kumble was our coach and I had told him I want to meet Shane Warne. When I finally did, I couldn’t say anything for 10 minutes. He was talking with Anil Bhai, explaining to him something. I was just listening to both of them. Then finally, I started to talk. We talked a lot. I told him about my plans, about how I feel while bowling, how I try to bowl from different sides of the wicket. He told me ‘You think a lot’,” Kuldeep told TV presenter Madonna Teixeira on her Instagram show ‘Live Connect.’

“He is mentally very strong. I think more than his bowling, he got the batsmen out with his mind. His planning used to be a lot better. He said a lot of little things which tend to matter a lot,” added Kuldeep.

The left-arm Indian spinner further said the two talk a lot since the meeting and share a good bond.

“I met him many times after that. He always used to guide me like a coach. Gradually he became like a friend. I spent a lot of time with him during our Australia tour. I always got the feeling that if I needed someone for suggestions he would be there. I chatted a lot on phone calls and messages.

“When I was very young I never thought I will meet him, get to discuss cricket and bowling with him so it was a very big thing for him,” added Kuldeep.

Odisha records highest 1-day spike of 1,981 corona cases

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Odisha records highest 1-day spike of 1,981 corona cases

Odisha registered the highest single-day spike of 1,981 Covid-19 positive cases in the last 24 hours, taking the state’s tally to 52,653, said the health department on Thursday.

The state also recorded nine more Covid-19 deaths, pushing the death toll to 314 in the last 24 hours.

Three patients died in Ganjam, two deaths each was reported from Cuttack and Mayurbhanj while Kandhamal and Sundargarh registered one each.

Out of the fresh positive cases, 1,225 were reported in quarantine centers while 756 were local contacts.

Contact tracing and follow up action are underway, said the department.

Fresh cases have been reported from all 30 districts with Khordha registering the highest 274 cases followed by Ganjam (267), Kandhamal (179) and Sundargarh (145).

The number of active cases in the state rose to 15,808 while 36,478 patients have recovered so far.

Samsung Galaxy M31s: Makes a stellar entry in Rs 20K segment

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Samsung Galaxy M31s: Makes a stellar entry in Rs 20K segment

The mid-price smartphone range has become super hot in India and South Korean tech giant Samsung has once again taken the competition head-on.

The company has now upgraded its most popular ‘Galaxy M series’ with ‘Galaxy M31s’ which is equipped with a 64MP quad rear camera setup and a massive 6000mAh battery.

After tasting the success with Galaxy M31, its successor ‘M31s’ comes with 64MP Intelli-Cam and Single Take feature, and the company’s signature Infinity-O super sAMOLED display.

The new mid-segment smartphone which also supports reverse charging comes in two memory variants, (6GB+128GB) priced at Rs 19,499 as well as (8GB+128GB) for Rs 21,499 and is available in two colours.

Let us see what has the 6GB+128GB variant in Mirage Black to offer against Redmi Note9 Pro Max as well as the basic variant of OnePlus Nord.

With the massive battery unit and upgraded camera setup, the Galaxy M31s may be the best camera smartphone in the mid-segment market.

Galaxy M31s has a huge 6000mAh battery bit is lighter in weight when compared to both Redmi Note9 Pro Max and Nord (basic variant).

The overall look is amazing in terms of design, display, and camera placement. The device has a rectangular camera block with a quad-camera setup at the rear top left corner.

It features an advanced 64MP main camera, 12MP Ultra Wide lens along with the 123-degree field of view for capturing images, 5MP Macro lens for close-up shots, and 5MP depth camera for portrait shots with live focus.

While taking pictures using the rear camera, the device did manage to capture good, sharp, and colored images using features like Photo, Live Focus, Panorama, and Night mode.

Overall, the smartphone produced detailed photos both indoors and outdoors. The device produced sharp and detailed images in low light as well.

The new M31s gives tough competition to Redmi Note 9 Pro Max as it offers better camera features and display.

The “Single Take” feature in M31s takes the pressure off those split-second camera decisions, as it uses AI to capture different versions of the same moment.

With “Single Take”, all the user has to do is press record at the right moment and Galaxy M31s will capture the footage, up to 10 seconds of it, and then use AI to produce up to 10 different outputs – seven photos and three videos.

The ‘Single Take’ feature is available on both the rear and front cameras.

The Intelli-Cam and Single Take features make this device a class part than the rest in its segment.

The smartphone also offers video capability with 4K recording, supports hyper-lapse, slow-mo, and super-steady modes.

While shooting videos, the M31s managed to produce shake-free and clear videos.

On the right side, the smartphone houses volume rockers and power buttons with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, which works very fast and the left side hosts a dual-SIM slot.

At the bottom, the device houses a Type-C USB charging port, primary microphone, and speaker, along with a 3.5mm headphone jack (which you won’t find on Nord).

On the front, the M31s features a 6.5-inch full-HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-O Display that has 420 nits of peak brightness, with Gorilla Glass 3 for protection.

There’s a punch-hole camera in the top centre of the display. The 32MP front camera also supports 4K video recording and slow-mo selfies.

The selfie camera managed to capture sharp and amazing selfies in low lights as well.

The Galaxy M31s is powered by Exynos 9611 chipset and comes with Samsung’s own UI 2.0, on top of Android 10 OS. The device worked smoothly on regular usage.

The device supports 25W fast charging. The device lasted for over a day on a single charge. It didn’t heat up during the charging.

While Galaxy M31s has the 6,000mAh battery that supports 25W fast charging, OnePlus ‘Nord comes with a 4,115mAh battery but supports Warp Charge 30T fast charging (30W).

On normal usage, The Galaxy M31s offered excellent performance. Basic tasks like playing games, watching videos, switching between apps, using multiple social media applications were smooth.

While playing games like PUBG Mobile and Asphalt 9, the phone didn’t lag and the graphics were good.

Conclusion: The galaxy M31s smartphone has ticked all the right boxes in its segment. Those looking to buy a device around Rs 20,000 have a super choice available as Galaxy ‘M’ has already been a hot-selling series for Samsung in India to date purely based on its stellar performance.

Manner of victory in 1st Test gives us lot of confidence, says Root

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Manner of victory in 1st Test gives us lot of confidence, says Root

England captain Joe Root feels the dramatic win in the first Test against Pakistan should hold them in good stead as they get ready to take the field for the second game starting Thursday at the Ageas Bowl.

England turned around a first-innings deficit of 107 runs to seal a three-wicket win at Old Trafford, with Chris Woakes (84*) and Jos Buttler (75) helping the hosts to gun down a target of 277.

“The most pleasing thing for me was that for the majority of the game we were behind the eight-ball, we were below our own personal standards but we managed to hang in there and stay in the game and then on that last day we showed a huge amount of skill, quality, and nous as well,” Root said on Sky Sports Cricket.

“At times we were quite smart – I think that Jos and Wiz (Woakes) marshaled that partnership very well. They saw the danger of the new ball and were quite proactive in making sure that wasn’t too big a factor. They took calculated risks and got us across the line.

“For us to be way off the mark for pretty much three days and still win, holds a lot of weight and gives the guys a huge amount of confidence because – when you’re not playing very well but still find ways to get across the line, that’s a great trait to have.

“It’s not a position we want to be in very much in the future but it’s obviously nice to know that the character is always there,” he added.

Earlier, Pakistan coach Waqar Younis said the team could cash-in on the absence of star England all-rounder Ben Stokes in the second Test.

“If he (Stokes) is not around it’s unfortunate for cricket, but there’s no doubt he is a match-winner,” said Waqar as quoted by Sky Sports.

“England will probably be a touch light in their middle order, so we’re going to talk about that and try to cash in. He’s the kind of batsman who takes the game away from you – single-handedly at times.

“But the way we bowled at him in the previous game showed we had very clear plans and executed (them) really well,” he added.

LA County reports 1st West Nile virus death in 2020

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LA County reports 1st West Nile virus death in 2020

Los Angeles County has reported its first death of the year caused by West Nile virus, a mosquito-borne infection, officials said.

The patient, described only as an “elderly resident” living in the South Los Angeles area, was hospitalized and died from West Nile virus-associated neuro-invasive disease, Xinhua news agency quoted a statement issued by the county’s health department as saying on Wednesday.

“West Nile virus continues to be a serious health threat to residents in Los Angeles County,” county Health Officer Muntu Davis said in the statement.

“We encourage residents to check for items that can hold water and breed mosquitoes, both inside and outside their homes, and to cover, clean, or clear out those items.”

West Nile virus, a single-stranded RNA virus that causes West Nile fever, is primarily transmitted by mosquitoes.

Humans get the virus through the bite of an infected mosquito, although most mosquitoes do not carry the virus.

There is no specific treatment for the disease and no vaccine to prevent infection, according to the public health department.

It is estimated that there are more than 10,000 infections of the disease countrywide every year.

However, most people’s symptoms would be too mild to be recognized.

A total of five cases have been registered in the Los Angels county so far this year.

It is neighboring Orange County announced on Monday that a child recovered from West Nile virus, becoming the county’s first confirmed human case this year.

NZ reports 14 new COVID-19 cases amid 2nd wave

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NZ reports 14 new COVID-19 cases amid 2nd wave

New Zealand reported 14 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, amid a second wave of the virus resurgence in the country.

A positive case in managed isolation was a woman in her 30s who arrived in New Zealand from the Philippines on August 8, reports Xinhua news agency.

She has been in managed isolation at the Distinction Hotel and tested positive around day 3 of her stay, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told a press conference.

The 13 other cases were reported in Auckland and were all linked to the four people from the same family in the city previously reported, Bloomfield said.

The 14 cases have brought the total number of active cases in New Zealand to 36, 17 of which are linked to the recent outbreak, he said.

The country’s total number of confirmed cases reached 1,238.

Auckland resumed COVID-19 Alert Level 3 at noon on Wednesday for three days, with the rest of the country going to Level 2, after 102 days without community transmission in the country.

The government will make decisions and inform people in advance of a lockdown ending on Friday midnight, said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

New Zealand reported new cases this week after 102 days without a new infection.

No FIR was lodged in Mumbai due to political pressure: Bihar to SC

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No FIR was lodged in Mumbai due to political pressure: Bihar to SC

The Bihar government in its written submission to the Supreme Court on Thursday said that on account of political pressure in Maharashtra, neither an FIR was lodged nor any cooperation was provided to Bihar Police in the case in connection with the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

The Supreme Court has reserved the order on the plea of main accused Rhea Chakraborty seeking transfer of the case registered in Patna to Mumbai.

On Tuesday, the apex court reserved the order and asked all the parties in the case to file their written submissions.

“It is apparent that it is on account of political pressure in the State of Maharashtra that neither the FIR has been registered by the Mumbai Police nor did they extend any cooperation to Bihar Police in discharging their obligation to conduct investigation expeditiously,” said the Bihar government in its submissions before the top court.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing the Bihar government, had argued on similar lines.

Criticizing the quarantine of senior Bihar police officer in Maharashtra, the government said, “Whereas on the one hand, the State of Bihar and its officials had acted with all sense of responsibility and regard to authorities of State of Maharashtra, sadly, it has met with a complete absence of reciprocation by similar conduct by the authorities of the State of Maharashtra.”

The written submissions also cited that Rhea in the transfer petition relied upon a tweet to the Union Home Minister requesting for investigation by the CBI. “Even in the Additional Affidavit, Petitioner has stated that she has reiterated for investigation by CBI,” said the Nitish Kumar government.

The state government argued that the attention of the apex court is also invited to the provision of Section 406 of the CrPC, whereunder it has been envisaged to make a prayer for transfer of a case. Whenever there is information regarding the commission of a cognizable offense, u/s 154(1) Cr.P.C. it is mandatory to register an FIR and conduct investigation immediately and expeditiously.

“No doubt or dispute with regard to jurisdiction would permit, in any manner whatsoever, to cause any impediment in the expeditious conduct of the investigation. It is in this background that Section 406 provides for the transfer of the case and not for transfer of the investigation,” said the written submissions.

The state government urged the apex court to reject the transfer petition filed by Rhea. “It deserves to be rejected/disposed of by the orders of this court.

“In the facts and circumstances of the present case, it is humbly submitted that no impediment would deserve to be allowed to come in the way of the CBI to undertake and complete the investigation expeditiously,” said the Bihar government.

The 34-year-old actor was found dead in his Bandra flat on June 14. His father registered an FIR in a Patna police station on July 25 accusing his live-in partner Rhea and a few others of abetment to suicide and misusing Rs 15 crore from Sushant’s bank account. The ED took over the financial probe involved in the case on July 31. The CBI took transfer of investigation from Bihar Police on August 7.

COVID-19: Zero positive cases recorded in NBA before restart

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COVID-19: Zero positive cases recorded in NBA before restart

Of the 342 players tested for COVID-19 on the NBA campus since test results were last announced on August 5, zero have returned confirmed positive tests. The 2020 NBA Playoffs are slated to begin on August 17.

In the event that a player on the NBA campus returns a confirmed positive test in the future, he will be isolated until he is cleared for leaving isolation under the rules established by the NBA and the Players Association, said NBA in a statement.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Life Prep Academy announced the signing of Ann Mary Zachariah and Siya Deodhar.

Zachariah, a 6-2 forward and Deodhar, a 5-7 point guard, will join this high school basketball program based in Wichita, Kansas. Both Zachariah and Deodhar have been part of all the three NBA Academy Women’s Program (May 2018, January 2019 and October 2019) organized in India and the Basketball Without Borders Asia Camp 2018 in Delhi NCR.

The two have also been a part of the Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program. Zachariah, from Kochi, won the Most Improved Player Award (January 2019) and the Coaches Award (October 2019) at the NBA Academy Women’s Program camps. She was a member of the Indian national team that won the U-18 Women’s Asia Championship (B Division).

In April 2019, Zachariah was invited to participate in the NCAA Next Generation Showcase in Florida. Nagpur-based Deodhar won an award at every NBA Academy Women’s Program camp in India: Most Improved Player Award (May 2018) and Best Teammate Award (January and October 2019).

Scientists identify hundreds of drugs to treat Covid-19

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Scientists identify hundreds of drugs to treat Covid-19

Scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have used machine learning (ML) to identify hundreds of new potential drugs that could help treat Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel Coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2.

“We have developed a drug discovery pipeline that identified several candidates,” said study lead author Anandasankar Ray from the University of California, Riverside in the US.

The drug discovery pipeline is a type of computational strategy linked to artificial intelligence — a computer algorithm that learns to predict activity through trial and error, improving over time.

According to the study, published in the journal Heliyon, a vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 virus could be months away, though it is not guaranteed.

“As a result, drug candidate pipelines, such as the one we developed, are extremely important to pursue as a first step toward the systematic discovery of new drugs for treating Covid-19,” Ray said.

Existing FDA-approved drugs that target one or more human proteins important for viral entry and replication are currently a high priority for repurposing as new Covid-19 drugs.

“The demand is high for additional drugs or small molecules that can interfere with both entry and replication of SARS-CoV-2 in the body. Our drug discovery pipeline can help,” he added.

For the findings, the research team used small numbers of previously known ligands for 65 human proteins that are known to interact with SARS-CoV-2 proteins. They generated machine learning models for each of the human proteins.

The researchers were thus able to create a database of chemicals whose structures were predicted as interactors of the 65 protein targets. They also evaluated the chemicals for safety.

The team used their machine learning models to screen more than 10 million commercially available small molecules from a database comprised of 200 million chemicals, and identified the best-in-class hits for the 65 human proteins that interact with SARS-CoV-2 proteins.

Taking it a step further, they identified compounds among the hits that are already FDA approved, such as drugs and compounds used in food.

They also used machine learning models to compute toxicity, which helped them reject potentially toxic candidates.

This helped them prioritize the chemicals that were predicted to interact with SARS-CoV-2 targets.

Their method allowed them to not only identify the highest scoring candidates with significant activity against a single human protein target but also find a few chemicals that were predicted to inhibit two or more human protein targets.

Facebook could face up to $500bn in fines in new lawsuit

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Facebook could face up to $500bn in fines in new lawsuit

Facebook could face up to $500 billion in fines if it is found violating laws in the US in a class-action lawsuit that accused its subsidiary Instagram of collecting biometric data without the consent or knowledge of users, the media reported.

The lawsuit was filed on Monday in state court in Redwood City, California, DailyMail.com reported on Wednesday.

It accuses Instagram of using a photo-tagging tool that uses facial recognition to identify people.

In terms of service, Instagram admits that it has a facial recognition feature that users can turn on.

The face-recognition “templates” it creates may constitute data with special protections “under the laws of your country,” Instagram discloses in its data policy.

“If we introduce face-recognition technology to your Instagram experience, we will let you know first, and you will have control over whether we use this technology for you,” says Instagram.

But the lawsuit alleges that Instagram automatically scans the faces of people who may not even have an Instagram account but appear in posts of other users.

Thus, Instagram harvested biometrics data of people who did not agree to the platform’s terms of service, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit accused the company of collecting, storing, and profiting from 100 million users without their consent.

In a statement to DailyMail.com, a Facebook spokesperson said that the “suit is baseless”, and that Instagram does not use the face recognition services that are offered on Facebook.

This is not the first time Facebook has faced a lawsuit for the use of facial recognition technology.

Last month, the social networking giant agreed to pay $650 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused it of violating data collection rules in the state of Illinois, US.

64% people with disabilities facing severe money woes: Survey

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64% people with disabilities facing severe money woes: Survey

As the pandemic intensifies, nearly 64 percent of people with disabilities say they are facing financial problems, and nearly 60 percent have zero income in these trying times, a new survey has revealed. It also showed that a significant number of PwDs either lost their jobs or are incurring losses in business.

According to a nation-wide survey of over 2,000 PwDs conducted between July 18-27 2020 by EVARA Foundation, Dashamlav YouTube Channel and WeCapable.com, the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions have severely affected the daily lives and psychological state of the PwD.

Nearly 75 per are facing emotional challenges ranging from anxiety to depression and suicidal thoughts. Data also reveals that nearly 43.6 percent of the total respondents of the present survey are not sharing their problems or emotional state with anyone.
Employment of PwD has always been a key issue in India. Pandemic and lockdown have further aggravated this problem as many PwD either lost their jobs or incurring a loss in business.

The survey also reveals that a large number of job-seeking PwD were shattered because of the cancellation or postponement of the exams/interviews. A significant number of respondents have said that they are not getting basic necessities like food/shelter/medicine during these times.

“More than 75 percent of respondents stated that their emotional state lies between anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Suicidal thoughts are twice more prevalent in males than females. Data analysis provides hints that financial loss faced by the respondents have had an impact on their mental health.

“More than 78 percent of respondents who are experiencing financial loss are also experiencing a range of mental health-related issues. Out of a total 868, 44 percent of respondents have marked anxiety, fear, or sadness. More serious mental health issues have been observed in the remaining 34 percent, out of which, nearly 12.09 percent of respondents feel suicidal,” the survey found.

The comments received along with the questionnaire responses indicate that persons with disabilities in smaller cities and rural areas are facing severe problems in ensuring the most fundamental requirements for sustaining their lives. Accordingly, the present survey report recommends that the State Disability Commissioners should take cognizance and make efforts at the panchayat level to identify PwD who are facing problems related to basic needs like food/shelter/medicines.

The survey report also recommends the state government to take appropriate measures for ensuring psychological counseling of the needy PwD as the study shows a worryingly high number of PwD are facing psychological issues.

TV star Vikas Sethi to launch production house with comedy web series

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TV star Vikas Sethi to launch production house with comedy web series

TV star Vikas Sethi has ventured into production along with his wife Jhanvi. The couple is all set to launch their company with a five-episode web series.

“It’s a five-episode web series that we are going to produce. It’s a comedy show about a phone call that leads to chaos. We have not registered the name yet, but it is tentatively titled ‘Phone Ka Jhol’,” revealed Vikas.

He added that he has already done a location recce but they couldn’t start shooting because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I had gone to Jaisalmer for a recce and as soon as I came back the lockdown was announced. I have to shoot in Rajasthan and it’s not possible right now to travel with a crew. Because we will be traveling from Mumbai, they will straightaway place us in quarantine. So, we are waiting for things to get back to normal,” said Vikas.

Vikas said during the lockdown they have developed six to seven stories, including a comedy, a thriller, and a story about a teen girl’s life.

As for producing TV shows, he said: “I still want to get the experience of producing first and then get into TV. TV needs a huge moolah. You need to invest at least a crore (rupees) to start a show. You have to make the set, then you need to run the show for at least three months. You have to pay for it at first and then later you start getting recovery. If the show doesn’t do well, they will take it off air within six months. Then you land in lots of problems. So I am still learning. That’s definitely the plan, eventually, I want to produce a TV show, but not right now.”

Vikas has made his mark on shows such as “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi”, “Kahiin Toh Hoga”, “Kasautii Zindagii Kay” and “Sasural Simar Ka”. He was also seen in the 2001 hit, “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham”.

PM unveils ‘transparent taxation’, Rights’ Charter for taxpayers

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PM unveils ‘transparent taxation’, Rights’ Charter for taxpayers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched the ‘transparent taxation’ platform, which brings into effect faceless assessment of taxpayers, and the Rights’ Charter for the taxpayers.

With the ‘Transparent Taxation Honouring the Honest’ that is aimed at carrying forward the journey of direct tax reforms, the taxpayers would not be harassed and treated with suspicion here on.

Speaking at the launch, the Prime Minister said that India is among few countries giving such rights and dignity to the taxpayers.

He said that the charter has been introduced with defined rights and responsibilities. From here on the Income Tax Department cannot doubt anyone without a basis, he said.

Modi is of the view that the structural reforms will add a new dimension along with the transparent taxation platform. He also noted that reform should be policy-driven and holistic.

Speaking of the recent measures, he said that nearly 3 lakh cases were resolved under the “Vivaad Se Vishwas” scheme.

He also appealed to the citizens and said that those who are capable of paying taxes but not in the tax net should also voluntarily pay taxes.

Mahant Nritya Gopal Das tests Covid positive

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Mahant Nritya Gopal Das tests Covid positive

Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the chairman of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust, has tested positive for Covid-19.

The Mahant is in Mathura where he had gone for the Janamashtami celebrations. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the district officials to take proper care of the seer.

Adityanath has also spoken to medical experts and the Mahant is likely to be shifted to Medanta hospital later in the day.

Injured Sanchez doubtful for Europa League semi-final

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Injured Sanchez doubtful for Europa League semi-final

Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez’s participation in Inter Milan’s Europa League semi-final clash against Shakhtar Donetsk to be played on August 18 is in doubt after the Serie A side confirmed he has a hamstring strain.

Sanchez picked up the injury in the 2-1 quarter-final win over Bayer Leverkusen earlier this week.

“Alexis Sanchez underwent medical tests this morning in Duisburg after suffering an injury during our match against Bayer Leverkusen,” the club said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The tests confirmed that he has suffered a strain in his right hamstring. His condition will continue to be reassessed over the next few days,” it added.

The Chilean forward, who only last week completed a permanent move to Inter from Manchester United, has contributed four goals and 11 assists in 31 appearances for Inter this season.

Inter had last Thursday announced the signing of Sanchez on a permanent transfer from United and he put pen to paper on a deal till 2023.

Film lyricist Chunakkara Ramankutty passes away

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Film lyricist Chunakkara Ramankutty passes away

Popular Malayalam poet and film and drama lyricist Chunnakara Ramankutty passed away at a private hospital here on Thursday, said family sources. He was 84.

Ramankutty has written for around 75 films for over 200 songs besides lyrics for over 100 dramas.

Starting from 1978 he wrote lyrics for Malayalam films, till a few years back.

His last piece was after the death of media baron and veteran Rajya Sabha member M.P.Veerendra Kumar, last month.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the death of the popular lyricist and termed his passing away as a big loss for Kerala. “Several melodious songs have been penned by him and he also excelled in the drama arena. He was also a good orator,” recalled Vijayan.

Study reveals why Covid-19 virus impacts patients differently

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Study reveals why Covid-19 virus impacts patients differently

Previously scientists have determined that entry of SARS-CoV-2 into cells occurs through a receptor on the cell surface, known as ACE2 but a new study has found that the ACE2 receptor is at very low levels in human lung tissue.

Researchers at McMaster University (MU) and the University of Waterloo in Canada are searching for how the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects the lungs – and they’re challenging what has become an accepted truth about the virus.

“Our finding is somewhat controversial, as it suggests that there must be other ways, other receptors for the virus, that regulate its infection of the lungs,” said study researcher Jeremy Hirota from MU.

“We were surprised that the fundamental characterization of the candidate receptors in human lung tissue had not yet been done in a systematic way with modern technologies,” Hirota added.

“Finding such low levels of ACE2 in lung tissue has important implications for how we think about this virus. ACE2 is not the full story and maybe more relevant in other tissues such as the vascular system,” said study researcher Andrew Doxey from Waterloo.

To explore alternate additional infection pathways and different patient responses to infection, the team is using nasal swabs that were collected for clinical diagnoses of Covid-19, the study, published in the European Respiratory Journal, reported.

These samples offer the opportunity to determine which genes are expressed by patients’ cells and associate this information with the development of the patients’ disease.

The ongoing study will better identify and treat patients who are at risk of developing serious complications and provide predictive capacity for hospitals.

According to the researchers, It is clear that some individuals respond better than others to the same SARS-CoV-2 virus.

“The differential response to the same virus suggests that each individual patient, with their unique characteristics, heavily influences Covid-19 disease severity,” said Hirota.

“We think it is the lung immune system that differs between Covid-19 patients, and by understanding which patients’ lung immune systems are helpful and which are harmful, we may be able to help physicians proactively manage the most at-risk patients,” he noted.

NASA probe completes final practice before asteroid sample collection

TB Team
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NASA probe completes final practice before asteroid sample collection

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has performed its final practice before making its first attempt to grab a sample from asteroid Bennu’s surface in October.

During the practice run of the sampling sequence this week, the spacecraft reached an approximate altitude of 40 meters over sample site Nightingale before executing a back-away burn, NASA said on Wednesday.

“This rehearsal confirmed that the team and all of the spacecraft’s systems are ready to collect a sample in October,” OSIRIS-REx principal investigator Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, said in a statement.

Nightingale, OSIRIS-REx’s primary sample collection site, is located within a crater in Bennu’s northern hemisphere.

The approximately four-hour “Matchpoint” rehearsal took the spacecraft through the first three of the sampling sequence’s four maneuvers: the orbit departure burns, the “Checkpoint” burn, and the Matchpoint burn.

A checkpoint is a point where the spacecraft autonomously checks its position and velocity before adjusting its trajectory down toward the event’s third maneuver.

Matchpoint is the moment when the spacecraft matches Bennu’s rotation in order to fly in tandem with the asteroid surface, directly above the sample site, before touching down on the targeted spot.

Four hours after departing its 1-km safe-home orbit, OSIRIS-REx performed the Checkpoint maneuver at an approximate altitude of 125 meters above Bennu’s surface.

From there, the spacecraft continued to descend for another eight minutes to perform the Matchpoint burn.

After descending on this new trajectory for another three minutes, the spacecraft reached an altitude of approximately 40 meters — the closest the spacecraft has ever been to Bennu — and then performed a back-away burn to complete the rehearsal.

During the rehearsal, the spacecraft successfully deployed its sampling arm, the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM), from its folded, parked position out to the sample collection configuration, NASA said.

This second rehearsal provided the mission team with practice navigating the spacecraft through the first three maneuvers of the sampling event and with an opportunity to verify that the spacecraft’s imaging, navigation, and ranging systems operated as expected during the first part of the descent sequence.

On October 20, the spacecraft will travel all the way to the asteroid’s surface during its first sample collection attempt, NASA said.

During this event, OSIRIS-REx’s sampling mechanism will touch Bennu’s surface for approximately five seconds, fire a charge of pressurized nitrogen to disturb the surface, and collect a sample before the spacecraft backs away.

The spacecraft is scheduled to return the sample to Earth on September 24, 2023.

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