35 new corona cases in Agra, recovery rate over 80%

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35 new corona cases in Agra, recovery rate over 80%

Thirty-five new coronavirus cases have been reported in Agra, taking the district’s tally to 1,765, including 99 deaths so far, officials said on Friday.

The total samples collected in the district so far total 48,703. The neighboring district of Mathura reported five new cases, Mainpuri 13, Firozabad 21, and Etah four.

Agra district health officials said that the recovery rate is 80.62 percent, with 1,423 patients discharged after recovery. Agra now has 86 containment zones.

The Covid-19 task force has scaled up testing along with door-to-door surveys in the district. The rapid antigen tests done at over a dozen centers have helped non-COVID patients get prompt treatment at private hospitals.

Home quarantine continues to be an option, but there were a couple of serious cases that needed to be attended to at the COVID hospital in the SN Medical College.

A doctor said the detailed protocol for home isolation is not being seriously observed by some people at their residences. This could complicate treatment. At present, 70-odd patients were in home isolation, who were monitored twice a day by the central command control center.

Alok Kumar, appointed Agra’s Nodal Officer by the state government, visited many parts of the city as well as Fatehpur Sikri on Thursday. He asked doctors at the SN Medical College not to spare any effort to protect the lives of people and give their best.

The SN Medical College will next week begin the human trial of a vaccine after clearance by an ethical committee on Thursday. Volunteers between the age of 18 and 50 will be given the shots after following the protocol. The Medical College would need around 400 volunteers, Medicine Department head Dr. Balbir Singh said.

Sweets for all embassies to mark Ayodhya Bhumi Pujan

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Sweets for all embassies to mark Ayodhya Bhumi Pujan

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust will be sending boxes of Bikaneri laddoos to all foreign embassies in Delhi to mark the Bhumi Pujan ceremony of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The laddoos will also be distributed in the temple town here.

According to the officials of the Trust, orders have been placed for 4 lakh packets of laddoos.

Preparations are on in full swing to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on August 5.

Senior officials, led by Chief Secretary R.K. Tiwari, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Avanish Awasthi and other top police officials will be visiting Ayodhya on Friday to take stock of the arrangements, particularly security arrangements.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is expected to visit Ayodhya on Sunday to oversee the preparations for the event.

The occasion will be live-streamed on Doordarshan so that the devotees across the globe can be part of the grand event.

Mahant Kanhaiya Das, president of Ayodhya Sant Samiti, said that Diwali will be celebrated in Ayodhya from August 3, while bhajans and other religious activities will also be performed. Saints will also participate in 108 Hanuman Chalisa recitations in the temples.

With Jio, WhatsApp Pay to empower millions of Indians: Zuckerberg

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With Jio, WhatsApp Pay to empower millions of Indians: Zuckerberg

Reiterating his commitment to launch WhatsApp Pay for over 400 million users of the messaging platform in India, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the Reliance Jio partnership is a huge opportunity to enable small businesses and individuals in the country to buy and sell things through WhatsApp.

Talking to analysts during an earnings call on Thursday, Zuckerberg said that a lot of people use WhatsApp, especially in India.

“We want to enable that. That starts with enabling payments. A big part of the partnership that we have with Jio will be to wire up and get thousands of small businesses across India on-boarded onto WhatsApp, to do commerce there,” the Facebook CEO emphasized.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp has been testing its payments platform in India for quite some time now but has not been successful in launching it owing to regulatory hurdles.

Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani said this month that the new commerce platform JioMart and Whatsapp will be working closely to create growth opportunities for millions of Indian small merchants and Kirana shops.

“Over 400 million WhatsApp users in India bring unique value to our partnership,” Ambani said at the company’s first annual general meeting.

Zuckerberg said that they are really excited about the opportunity in India.

“Once we prove that out with Jio in India, we’re planning on expanding it to more folks in India and to other countries as well. But, there’s no doubt that India is a huge opportunity,” he told the analysts.

According to a latest Goldman Sachs report, the recent RIL and Facebook partnership can potentially increase the monetization levels of India internet as consumers in the relatively higher income bands (Urban Mass and Urban Middle) are monetized through transactions – redirecting traffic from social media to e-commerce, O2O, financial services.

“We believe the recent Reliance Industries (RIL) and Facebook partnership could increase monetization levels of India internet, and garner 25% of all internet Gross Transaction Value (GTV) by FY25,” Goldman Sachs said.

“With a user base of 400 million-plus in India, and three out of the top five apps in the country (in terms of Daily Active Users and time spent), we believe Facebook, along with its partner RIL, can bring more transacting users (100 million currently) into the fold, especially in e-commerce, the largest internet category,” the report mentioned.

In India, there are more than 15 million monthly WhatsApp Business app users.

In April, Facebook announced a $5.7 billion, or Rs 43,574 crore, investment in Jio Platforms.

“It is the largest country by the size of our community that we’re serving already. And it should be one of the fastest-growing business opportunities as well to help businesses grow there, and we’re very excited about that,” Zuckerberg said during the earnings call.

Low-key Bakrid celebrations for Kerala Muslims

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Low-key Bakrid celebrations for Kerala Muslims

With the Covid-19 crisis still looming large over Kerala, Muslims in the southern state on Friday celebrated Eid al-Adha or Bakrid in a low-key manner.

Of the 3.34 crore population in Kerala, the Muslims account for 88.73 lakh, with the community present in good numbers in districts like Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, and Kasargode, where the mood was somber during the day.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had held discussions with clerics and other community leaders last week and asked them to see that all Bakrid celebrations, including prayers, were kept to the minimum. The community leaders had agreed to the suggestion.

Consequently, there were no offering of prayers in large public gatherings while prayers held in big mosques had not more than 100 faithful each.

Many mosques remained closed, while those that opened saw to it that all health and other protocols were observed as prayers were conducted.

Many of the mosques that were open provided live coverage of the prayers through their own YouTube channels for the benefit of those sitting at home.

Saifudeen Haji, an office-bearer of Vallakkadavu Muslim Jamath in the heart of the city, told IANS that everything went as per the COVID norms and no Muslim below the age of 10 and above 60 had come to join the prayers.

“As per the government directive, we closed the gates of the mosque when the number touched 100, as it was made clear that admission will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Every visitor was thermally scanned, his name registered, hands sanitized and allowed to enter with the mask. Those who came without their own spread mats were not given entry. The prayers and the brief message lasted just 20 minutes and when it got over, all left and the mosque was closed,” Haji said.

In Muslim homes, it was more of a close family affair, with feast included mutton and other delicacies. The government had allowed the opening of meat stalls even in areas under lockdown, allowing people to go out and buy necessities during the festivities.

“Contrary to the general practice when people flaunt new dresses, modesty is being practiced as mankind is passing through untold misery due to the coronavirus pandemic,” added Haji.

The Kerala government has declared a public holiday in all offices.

J&J Covid-19 vaccine protected monkey in single shot

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J&J Covid-19 vaccine protected monkey in single shot

A leading candidate of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by global healthcare company Johnson & Johnson raised neutralizing antibodies and robustly protected monkeys against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

“This vaccine led to robust protection against SARS-CoV-2 in rhesus macaques and is now being evaluated in humans,” said study researcher Dan H. Barouch from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in the US.

The vaccine uses a common cold virus, called adenovirus serotype 26 (Ad26), to deliver the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein into host cells, where it stimulates the body to raise immune responses against the coronavirus.

Barouch has been working on the development of a Covid-19 vaccine since January when Chinese scientists released the SARS-CoV-2 genome.

The research team developed a series of vaccine candidates designed to express different variants of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which is the major target for neutralizing antibodies.

They conducted a study in 52 NHPs, immunizing 32 adult rhesus macaques (monkeys) with a single dose of one of seven different versions of the Ad26-based vaccine, and giving 20 animals sham vaccines as placebo controls.

All vaccinated animals developed neutralizing antibodies following immunization. Six weeks after the immunization, all animals were exposed to SARS-CoV-2.

All 20 animals that received the sham vaccine became infected and showed high levels of virus in their lungs and nasal swabs.

Of the six animals that received the optimal vaccine candidate, Ad26.COV2.S, none showed the virus in their lungs, and only one animal showed low levels of virus in nasal swabs.

Moreover, neutralizing antibody responses correlated with protection, suggesting that this biomarker will be useful in the clinical development of COVID-19 vaccines for use in humans.

“Our data show that a single immunization with Ad26.COV2.S robustly protected rhesus macaques against SARS-CoV-2 challenge,” said Barouch.

“A single-shot immunization has practical and logistical advantages over a two-shot regimen for global deployment and pandemic control, but a two-shot vaccine will likely be more immunogenic, and thus both regimens are being evaluated in clinical trials,” Barouch added.

“We look forward to the results of the clinical trials that will determine the safety and immunogenicity, and ultimately the efficacy, of the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine in humans,” the authors wrote.

The team also noted that the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine is on track to start a phase 3 efficacy trial in 30,000 participants in September.

Bobby Deol’s digital debut project to release in August

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Bobby Deol’s digital debut project to release in August

Actor Bobby Deol is all set to enter the digital world in August with his upcoming film, “Class of 83”.

“Class of ‘83” is backed by superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s banner Red Chillies Entertainment. On Friday, it was announced that the film will release on Netflix next month.

The film is directed by Atul Sabharwal.

That apart, “Masaba Masaba” is also slated to release in August.

The scripted series is based on real-life moments from fashion designer Masaba Gupta’s life. It follows her background, her fashion world, family, and her foray back into the dating world. It will also feature her mother, actress Neena Gupta. The series is written and directed by Sonam Nair.

Meanwhile, the Janhvi Kapoor-starrer “Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl” is also slated to premiere on Netflix on August 12.

“Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl” is inspired by the life of Indian Air Force combat pilot Gunjan Saxena, and stars Janhvi in the titular role. Saxena entered the war zone during the 1999 Kargil War.

Directed by Sharan Sharma, the cast also features Pankaj Tripathi, Angad Bedi, Vineet Kumar, Manav Vij, and Ayesha Raza.

Diesel run ends in Delhi, now Rs 8.38/l cheaper

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Diesel run ends in Delhi, now Rs 8.38/l cheaper

Consumers in Delhi have finally heaved a sigh of relief as the price of diesel fell by Rs 8.38 per liter on Friday. The price cut made diesel cheaper than petrol after more than a month. It is now cheaper than petrol in Delhi by the widest margin among all metros.

Diesel is now priced at Rs 73.56 a liter in the national Capital, down from Thursday’s Rs 81.94 a liter. The fall in the price came about due to a sharp reduction in VAT on diesel by the Delhi Government.

Delhi was the only major city in the country where diesel prices were higher than petrol. It first rose above petrol in Delhi last month, much to the discomfort of the transport sector and the fuel dealers.

The Rs 1.5 a liter differential had led substantial loss of business to pump operators in Delhi as vehicles were getting diesel filled in neighboring Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

The Delhi cabinet on Thursday approved VAT cut on diesel from 30 percent to 16.75 percent. The price revision follows changes in the duty structure on the fuel in Delhi, otherwise the oil marketing companies kept the price of fuel unchanged.

Even in Delhi, only diesel prices changed while petrol continues to be priced at Rs 80.43 a liter, the same levels that are prevailing since June 29.

In other metro cities, there has been no change in the retail price of petrol and diesel. While petrol continues to be priced at Rs 82.10 a liter in Kolkata, diesel prices there also remained unchanged at Rs 77.04 a liter. In Mumbai, petrol and diesel prices remain at the same level at Rs 87.19 and 80.11 a liter, respectively.

Diesel in Delhi became expensive on May 5, when revenue starved the Delhi government raised VAT on the fuel suddenly from 16.75 percent a liter to 30 percent raising pump prices by Rs 7.10 per liter in one go.

The VAT on petrol was also raised from 27 to 30 percent that increased its pump prices by marginal Rs 1.67 a liter then. The present decision of the Delhi government has brought VAT rates on diesel to the same level that was prevailing before May 5.

Taxes on fuel is a rich source of revenue for state governments and account for almost a third of its total tax collections. With GST collections hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, taxes on fuel is an easier source to quickly raise revenue.

Pakistan lifts PUBG ban

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Pakistan lifts PUBG ban

The Pakistan Telecom­munication Authority (PTA) announced that it has decided to lift the ban on the online game PlayerUnknowns Battle Ground (PUBG).

In a statement on Thursday, the authority said that it had met with the legal representatives of the game, reports Dawn news.

“(The) representatives briefed the authority on the response to queries raised by PTA with respect to controls put in place to prevent misuse of the gaming platform.

“The authority expressed its satisfaction on measures adopted so far and emphasized on continued engagement and a comprehensive control mechanism,” it added.

Reacting to the news, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said that the decision was a “sane approach”, adding that Pakistan must work closely with tech companies to resolve issues.

PTA had banned the online game on June 1, citing several complaints about it being “addictive”, a waste of time, and its potential negative impact on children’s physical and psychological health, Dawn news reported.

Last week, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had declared PTA’s move void and directed the authority to immediately lift the ban.

But the PTA had refused to review its decision and said it considered it “necessary” to block PUBG in the interest of public order.

Apple confirms 2020 iPhones won’t arrive in September

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Apple confirms 2020 iPhones won’t arrive in September

Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri has confirmed that the new 2020 iPhones may not launch in September as they usually do.

According to Maestri, Apple last year started selling iPhones in late September but this year, Apple projects supply will be available a few weeks later.

“Last year, we started selling new iPhones in late September, this year we expect supply to be available a few weeks later,” Maestri said in an earnings call on Thursday.

He added that all of Apple’s other product categories other than the iPhone will likely see strong sales, particularly because of the back-to-school shopping season.

The Wall Street Journal also said in April that mass production for new iPhones had been pushed back about a month.

Recently, Qualcomm hinted that the iPhone 12 launch could be delayed past September when it said that there would be a slight delay of a flagship phone launch in the fourth quarter.

Apple is expected to launch four new iPhones under the iPhone 12 series which would include two premium variants this year.

iPhone 12 Pro will come in 6.1-inch or 6.7-inch sizes and may feature a high refresh-rate 120Hz ProMotion display, as presently seen on iPad Pro.

The rear camera module on the device will house four sensors with a LiDAR scanner which was introduced in the recently launched Apple iPad Pro.

All four iPhone models are expected to feature OLED displays and 5G support, as famed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously claimed.

Record spike of over 55K coronavirus cases

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Record spike of over 55K coronavirus cases

India reported the single-day spike of 55,079 coronavirus cases and 779 deaths in the last 24 hours pushing the total tally to 16,38,871 and 35,747 deaths, stated the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday.

More than one million people have recovered until now, over 1.9 times the number of active cases. As many as 10,57,805 have been discharged, while 5,45,318 still remain affected.

As many as 16 states and UTs have a recovery rate more than the national average of 64.44 percent. The highest number of recovered patients are in Delhi, Ladakh, Haryana, Assam, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat.

Maharashtra remains to be the worst-hit state and has 4,11,798 total cases, including 2,48,615 recovered cases and 1,48,150 active cases. It is followed by Tamil Nadu, which has 2,39,978 cases and then Delhi, which logged 1,34,403 cases.

Besides this, India achieved another landmark. More than six lakh tests were done in 24 hours on Thursday, the Ministry said that the testing infrastructure has increased and almost one crore tests were conducted in the span of the last month.

At the global front, The total number of global coronavirus cases has topped 17.2 million, while the deaths have increased to more than 6,71,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.

As of Friday morning, the overall number of cases stood at 1,72,37,642, while the fatalities rose to 6,71,909, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

Queensland’s Alister McDermott retires after injury-plagued season

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Queensland’s Alister McDermott retires after injury-plagued season

Queensland fast bowler Alister McDermott has announced his retirement. A persistent back complaint that curtailed his cricket over the past 12 months and saw him miss out on a playing contract with the Queensland Bulls this season saw him reconsider his playing future.

McDermott made his debut for Queensland as a 17-year-old in the old Big Bash League and went onto play 20 first-class games and 27 one day matches. He was a BBL player for the Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder teams. He won one-day (2012-13) and Sheffield Shield (2011-12) titles with Queensland and was a member of the Heat’s BBL 2 championship team, taking 2-21 including the key scalp of Mike Hussey in the final win over the Perth Scorchers in Perth.

“From a young age I gave my full commitment to fulfilling my dream, looking to improve my fitness, strength, and skill level,” he wrote on his Alister McDermott Cricket Academy website.

“Even though I did not have the extended career I had dreamed of as a kid due to injuries, form, and self-confidence, I have had some amazing memories that I can be proud of, and was fortunate to play with some absolute legends of the game,” he added.

A clever swing bowler, he took 69 first-class wickets at 25.92 for the Bulls, with the best haul of 7/24 in an innings. In one-day cricket, his best return was 5/64 for Queensland as part of 40 wickets at 27.50.

Among his career-high points were Australia ‘A’ selection in first class and one day cricket, and touring the United Arab Emirates as part of the Australian squad for T20I and ODI games against Pakistan in 2012.

After a three-year absence, he was contracted by Queensland for the 2019-20 season but a spate of injuries, including a broken wrist in an off-season fielding accident, prevented him playing any games for the Bulls and he was left off the list for this summer as he fought to recover sufficiently to bowl again.

Gangster Act invoked against Vikas Dubey’s financer

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Gangster Act invoked against Vikas Dubey’s financer

Businessman Jai Bajpai who was arrested in Kanpur on July 20 for helping slain gangster Vikas Dubey with arms and money, will now be booked under the Gangster Act.

According to a release by the Kanpur police, three brothers of Jai Bajpai — Rajat Kant Bajpai, Ajay Kant Bajpai, and Shobhit Bajpai — are also being booked under the Gangster Act since they were also involved in the nefarious activities of their brother.

Earlier, Jai Bajpai and Dablu, another aide of Bajpai, were booked under the Arms Act and criminal conspiracy under Section 120 B.

During his house search, more than 20 cartridges were found missing and Jai Bajpai could not explain the missing ammunition.

Bajpai, sources, said was the link between Vikas Dubey and his political and bureaucratic contacts.

Dubey was killed in an encounter on July 10. He was the main accused in the killing of eight policemen in Bikru village on July 3.

The remaining accused in the Bikru massacre has already been booked under National Security Act. Five were killed in encounters between July 3 and 10 with police before Dubey was shot dead.

Willey, Billings star as England beat Ireland in 1st ODI

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Willey, Billings star as England beat Ireland in 1st ODI

David Willey’s maiden five-for, followed by an unbeaten half-century from Sam Billings helped England beat Ireland by six wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series.

Chasing a small target of 173 at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday, England suffered from early hiccups, however, skipper Eoin Morgan and Billings shared an unbroken 96-run partnership to see them cross the line.

Earlier, Morgan won the toss and chose to bowl first in what was England’s first ODI match since their dramatic tied match against New Zealand in the World Cup final on July 14, 2019, which led to them winning the title for the first time in their history.

Willey opened the hosts’ attack and struck on the fourth ball as Paul Stirling sent an inswinger straight down the throat of the fielder at midwicket. He then got Ireland captain Andy Balbernie off the first ball in his next over as the latter only managed to get a nick to Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps while attempting a drive.

Gareth Delany then tried to up the ante for the hosts, smashing three consecutive fours in the fourth over bowled by Saqib Mahmood. Mahmood eventually got the next Irish wicket in his next over, dismissing Harry Tector who walked for a nine-ball duck.

Willey picked Delaney and Lorcan Tucker off consecutive deliveries but couldn’t get his hat-trick.

Debutant Curtis Campher hung on for Ireland and managed a 51-run stand with Kevin O’Brien and later a 66-run stand with Andy McBrine to take Ireland beyond the 150-run mark. Campher took his time with getting runs though, ending the innings unbeaten on 59 off 118 balls.

Willey himself ended the Irish innings, dismissing Craig Young in the 45th over. He finished with his career-best figures of 5/30.

Chasing the target, England didn’t have a great start as they lost Bairstow with just 12 runs on the scoreboard. Jason Roy then threatened to take the game away, scoring 24 from 22 balls before he was out lbw. James Vince hit some sweetly timed boundaries before nicking off attempting an off drive to Young. Tom Banton, who came in next, also could not stay much at the crease and went back to the dressing room after contributing with 11 runs.

At 78/4, Ireland was in with a good chance of forcing a close finish, but Billings and Morgan then batted steadily and made easy work of the remaining 95 runs. Billings finished with a 54-ball 67* while the England skipper made an unbeaten 36.

The two teams will now face each other in the second ODI at the same venue on Saturday.

Brief Scores: Ireland 172 (Curtis Campher 59*, Andy McBrine 40; David Willey 5/30), England 174/4 (Sam Billings 67*, Eoin Morgan 36*; Craig Young 2/56)

Pandemic sales help Amazon post biggest profit in history

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Pandemic sales help Amazon post biggest profit in history

Riding on surging online sales during the pandemic as people stayed home, Amazon reported solid second quarter results, registering a 40 percent increase in net sales to $88.9 billion, compared with $63.4 billion in the same period last year.

Net income increased to $5.2 billion in the second quarter, compared with net income of $2.6 billion in the second quarter 2019, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Amazon shares rose 5 percent in the after-hours trade.

“This was another highly unusual quarter, and I couldn’t be more proud of and grateful to our employees around the globe,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder, and CEO.

“As expected, we spent over $4 billion on incremental COVID-19-related costs in the quarter to help keep employees safe and deliver products to customers in this time of high demand,” he added.

Bezos said the company has created over 175,000 new jobs since March and are in the process of bringing 125,000 of these employees into regular, full-time positions.

“Third-party sales again grew faster this quarter than Amazon’s first-party sales. Even in this unpredictable time, we injected significant money into the economy this quarter, investing over $9 billion in capital projects, including fulfillment, transportation, and AWS,” Bezos informed.

The cloud computing arm Amazon Web Services (AWS) reported revenues of $10.81 billion for the quarter, up 29 per cent year over year,

“Customers are using AWS to lessen the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on families, communities, and businesses,” said the company.

For its third quarter, Amazon said it expects net sales to be between $87 billion and $93 billion, or to grow between 24 percent and 33 percent compared with third-quarter 2019.

“Operating income is expected to be between $2.0 billion and $5.0 billion, compared with $3.2 billion in third-quarter 2019. This guidance assumes more than $2.0 billion of costs related to COVID-19,” said the company.

Alphabet revenue declines for 1st time, Google Cloud grows 43%

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Alphabet revenue declines for 1st time, Google Cloud grows 43%

Despite strong growth in Google Cloud, Alphabet saw its revenue declining for the first time to $38.3 billion (down 1.7 percent from the year-ago period) in the quarter that ended June 30.

The company reported a net income of $6.96 billion in Q2.

Alphabet shares were up less than 1 percent after the Q2 earnings report.

“We’re working to help people, businesses, and communities in these uncertain times,” said Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

“As people increasingly turn to online services, our platforms — from Cloud to Google Play to YouTube — are helping our partners provide important services and support their businesses,” Pichai added.

Google Search and others logged $21.3 billion in sales (down 9.8 percent) while YouTube ads posted $3.81 billion in revenue (up 5.8 percent).

Google Cloud registered revenue of $3 billion (up a massive 43 percent).

“In the second quarter our total revenues were $38.3 billion, driven by a gradual improvement in our ads business and strong growth in Google Cloud and other revenues,” said Ruth Porat, Chief Financial Officer of Alphabet and Google.

“We continue to navigate through a difficult global economic environment.”

The company said it has authorized $28 billion more in stock buybacks.

More Ayodhya saints to be invited for ‘bhumi pujan’

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More Ayodhya saints to be invited for ‘bhumi pujan’

With barely five days left for the ‘Bhumi Puja’ of the Ram temple, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust has decided to invite more Ayodhya saints for the event.

A senior member of the Trust, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “Some senior saints in Ayodhya have not been invited and they are upset over the fact. Mahant Dharamdas is one of them. We have, therefore, decided to invite these saints because they are a part of the entire temple movement.

“There was widespread resentment among saints in Ayodhya after they were denied the invite for the ‘bhumi puja’.”

The Trust had initially decided to invite only 200 people for the ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but now the proposal to put up an exhibition at Ram Janmabhoomi detailing the life journey of Lord Ram has been shelved and that space will be used to make seating arrangements for around 600 more saints.

Chairs will be placed at the venue in compliance with social distancing norms.

Various akharas and mutts of Ayodhya had expressed their resentment over the issue before Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, chairman of the trust.

Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, successor designate to Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, said: “Bhumi puja for Ram temple is a historic moment. Saints have requested to attend the ceremony. There is a possibility that more saints will be allowed to attend the ceremony.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to reach Ayodhya at around 11 a.m. on August 5 and he is likely to stay there for around three hours.

Modi will first offer prayers at Hanuman Garhi and then visit the pre-fabricated temple at Manas Bhawan where the idol of Lord Ram is presently kept.

He will then proceed to the Ram Janmabhoomi for the ‘bhumi puja’.

A small stage is being set up at the event venue from where the Prime Minister will address the saints.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat will also share the stage with the Prime Minister.

Facebook logs solid growth in Q2, 3.14bn people use its apps

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Facebook logs solid growth in Q2, 3.14bn people use its apps

Facing ad boycott over its inaction to remove hate speech, Facebook shares surged over 7 percent after the social network reported net income of $5.18 billion as revenue jumped 11 percent to $18.69 billion from $16.89 billion a year ago.

“We’re glad to be able to provide small businesses the tools they need to grow and be successful online during these challenging times,” said Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

“We’re proud that people can rely on our services to stay connected when they can’t always be together in person”.

The monthly active users (MAUs) hit 2.7 billion while daily active users (DAUs) rose 12 percent to 1.79 billion (as of June 30).

Facebook said it counts 3.14 billion monthly users across its family of apps (Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp), compared to 2.99 billion in the first quarter.

“Our business has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and, like all companies, we are facing a period of unprecedented uncertainty in our business outlook,” Facebook said in a statement.

“We expect our business performance will be impacted by issues beyond our control, including the duration and efficacy of shelter-in-place orders, the effectiveness of economic stimuli around the world, and the fluctuations of currencies relative to the U.S. dollar”.

Looking forward, said the company, as shelter-in-place restrictions continue to ease, “we expect the number of Facebook DAUs and MAUs to be flat or slightly down in most regions in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the second quarter of 2020”.

Facebook expects total expenses in 2020 to be in the range of $52-55 billion, narrowed slightly from the prior range of $52-56 billion.

“We do not profit from misinformation or hate,” Zuckerberg said on the conference call.

Earlier on Wednesday, four big tech CEOs — Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai of Google and Tim Cook of Apple — pushed back against accusations during a US Congress panel hearing capping a yearlong investigation into these companies’ market domination online.

Apple beats Covid blues, revenue up 11% in June quarter

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Apple beats Covid blues, revenue up 11% in June quarter

Beating the pandemic blues, Apple has posted $59.7 billion in revenue for its fiscal 2020 third quarter ended June 27, an increase of 11 percent from the year-ago quarter, as iPhone sales beat the Wall Street estimates.

Apple’s board of directors approves a four-for-one stock split, effective from August 31.

International sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

“Apple’s record June quarter was driven by double-digit growth in both Products and Services and growth in each of our geographic segments,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“In uncertain times, this performance is a testament to the important role our products play in our customers’ lives and to Apple’s relentless innovation,” he said in a statement.

iPhone sales were $26.4 billion, iPad revenue was $6.6 billion while Mac revenue reached $7.1 billion.

Apple posted revenue of $6.5 billion in the Wearables, Home and Accessories segment while its Services vertical (App Store, Apple Music and iCloud, etc) reached $13.2 billion in sales.

The solid results took Apple stock up to as much as 6.3 percent in extended trading, pushing the stock above $400 for the first time.

“Our June quarter performance was strong evidence of Apple’s ability to innovate and execute during challenging times,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO.

“The record business results drove our active installed base of devices to an all-time high in all of our geographic segments and all major product categories.

We grew EPS by 18 percent and generated operating cash flow of $16.3 billion during the quarter, a June quarter record for both metrics,” Maestri informed.

Following last quarter’s lead, Apple didn’t provide guidance for the September quarter.

Russia given 2nd deadline of Aug 15 by World Athletics to pay fine

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Russia given 2nd deadline of Aug 15 by World Athletics to pay fine

World Athletics has decided to expel the Russian Federation (RusAF) from its membership if it does not make the outstanding payments of $6.3 million in fines and costs for anti-doping breaches by August 15.

The payments due from RusAF are $5 million (fine) and $1.31 million (reinstatement conditions & verification criteria costs incurred from June 30, 2019, to March 31, 2020, including legal & CAS costs; task force costs; doping review board costs, and Lysenko investigation costs).

The World Athletics Council had decided in March to sanction RusAF’s admitted breaches of the Anti-Doping Rules during the Lysenko investigation with a $10 million fine, with $5 million to be paid by July 1 and the other $5 million suspended. The Council had also required RusAF to pay related costs by July 1.

Rune Andersen, the head of the World Athletics Taskforce dealing with Russia, expressed his disappointment that the taskforce had seen “very little in terms of changing the culture of Russian athletics” in the past five years.

He said the task force had spent “an enormous amount of time and effort trying to help RusAF reform itself and Russian athletics, for the benefit of all clean Russian athletes” but the response from RusAF had been inadequate.

If the money is not paid, World Athletics will call a special congress to be held as soon as possible which has the power to expel the Russian athletics federation (RUSAF) from the sport.

Earlier this month, World Athletics had decided to put on hold the process of granting Authorised Neutral Athlete (ANA) status for Russian athletes who want to compete internationally, following the failure of RusAF to pay its fine for breaching anti-doping rules before the July 1 deadline.

Jerry Lalrinzuala signs new multi-year deal with Chennaiyin FC

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Jerry Lalrinzuala signs new multi-year deal with Chennaiyin FC

Indian Super League (ISL) club Chennaiyin FC on Thursday announced that left-back Jerry Lalrinzuala has extended his stay at the club after signing a new multi-year deal.

Heading for the fifth season in Chennaiyin blue, Jerry has already made 65 appearances for the club and played a pivotal role in the 2017-18 ISL title triumph as he featured in all but one game that campaign.

“I am very happy to have extended my time at Chennaiyin after another memorable season last time out. My journey with the club so far has been an incredible learning experience; everyone associated with it over the years has molded me into the footballer I am today, said Jerry in a statement.

“I can’t wait to wear the CFC jersey again and continue fighting for our passionate supporters. Looking ahead, I hope my fifth season at the club results in five-star achievements,” Jerry, who made 14 appearances and notched two assists in the 2019-20 ISL campaign en route the final, added.

“Jerry is a fantastic talent whose qualities have been nurtured at Chennaiyin FC over the years. We are incredibly proud to see the progress he has made, becoming a tenacious and gritty presence who has been a vital component of our recent success. And we are excited to see him developing further and contributing to the club’s ambitions,” said Vita Dani, co-owner of Chennaiyin FC.

Having represented India across multiple age-groups, Jerry made his senior debut in June 2017 against Nepal in a friendly and has been capped nine times with the national team.

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