‘Next 10 days crucial for controlling COVID-19 in Pak’

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‘Next 10 days crucial for controlling COVID-19 in Pak’

A Pakistani minister has warned the next 10 days are very crucial to control the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, adding that any negligence by the people could hamper the positive trend of a decline in the number of infections.

“In today’s meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) with all the chief secretaries, it was stressed that the next 10 days are very crucial,” Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar told reporters soon after chairing the NCOC meeting on Thursday.

The Minister urged the people to strictly follow the precautionary measures to avoid the spread of COVID-19 during Eid shopping in markets, sacrificial animal markets, and especially on the day of Eidul Azha, reports The Express Tribune.

“If we do not observe precautionary measures during these days, the declining trend in coronavirus cases could once again turn otherwise,” he added.

Pakistan has so far reported 270,052 COVID-19 cases, with 5,758 deaths.

Juventus ‘physically & mentally tired’, says Sarri post Udinese loss

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Juventus ‘physically & mentally tired’, says Sarri post Udinese loss

Juventus head coach Maurizio Sarri believes his team is “physically and mentally tired” after falling to a surprise loss to Udinese in the ongoing Serie A competition.

With a six-point lead before Thursday’s match, Juventus needed just one win to clinch the title with three rounds remaining.

The Bianconeri looked to have secured the Scudetto when Matthijs de Light gave his side the lead, but Ilija Nestorovski and Seko Fofana ruined Juventus’s party as Udinese won the match 2-1. As a result, Juventus will have to wait a little longer to secure their ninth consecutive Serie A title.

“We lost order, even after the draw, because we wanted to win at all costs. In this way, we took the game to a dangerous level, and after the 90th minute, we lost it,” Sarri was quoted as saying by the club’s official website after the match.

“In this period we are physically and mentally tired, and it is a problem common to all. For this reason, being aggressive is something more tiring and, therefore, now what matters most in order, because the inertia of a game changes very easily. It is difficult to keep it throughout the match and sometimes, like today, we lose it,” he added.

Looking ahead to the future, the head coach said: “At the moment I am not thinking about the Champions League, in my mind, there is only Sampdoria and Sunday’s match: we have to be “on the ball”, and then we’ll think about the Cup.”

Juventus still have a chance to be crowned before the final round of matches if they can beat Sampdoria at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday.

Petrol, diesel prices remain unchanged across metros

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Petrol, diesel prices remain unchanged across metros

Oil marketing companies kept the retail prices of petrol and diesel unchanged on Friday.

This is the fourth consecutive day when diesel prices have remained static after these were increased the previous weeks on more than two occasions.

Petrol prices, on the other hand, have been static since June 29.

With prices remaining unchanged, diesel continues to be priced at Rs 81.64 per liter in the national capital, while petrol has maintained steady levels at Rs 80.43 a liter.

Oil companies had raised diesel prices marginally by 12 paise on Monday while keeping petrol prices unchanged. On Tuesday and Wednesday, there was no change in the retail price of the two petroleum products.

The unexpected rise in diesel prices despite slower demand has put the transport sector at a big disadvantage as rising fuel cost has further shrunk its margins.

With the hike in diesel prices, the gap between the two auto fuels has further widened in the national capital. Last month, diesel prices overtook that of petrol in the national capital, in an unprecedented development.

Along with the capital, petrol and diesel prices also remained unchanged in other metro cities as well.

In Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata, petrol was sold at an unchanged price of Rs 87.19, Rs 83.63, Rs 82.10 per liter respectively. Similarly, the price of diesel in Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata was unchanged at Rs 79.83, Rs 78.60, and Rs 76.77 respectively.

Oil companies began the daily revision of the two auto fuels from June 7 after keeping the price unchanged for around 82 days during the lockdown. Since then, petrol and diesel prices have increased by Rs 9.5 and Rs 12 per liter respectively.

Raj CM to meet Guv, parade MLAs before him

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Raj CM to meet Guv, parade MLAs before him

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will meet Governor Kalraj Mishra this afternoon along with the Congress MLAs supporting his government to show the majority he enjoys in the House, officials said on Friday.

On Thursday, Gehlot met the Governor and discussed convening of the Assembly session that the government planned to convene on Monday to show his majority support in the House. However, there was no reply from the Governor’s House until the filing of the report.

Gehlot came up with the plan to meet the Governor soon after the High Court on Friday ordered a status quo with regard to the July 14 disqualification notices served by Speaker CP Joshi to 19 rebel MLAs, including Sachin Pilot, who was sacked as Deputy Chief Minister and PCC chief.

The High Court also accepted a plea to make the Centre a party to the case.

Since the court has said that the rebels cannot be disqualified, for now, the Gehlot camp planned to show his strength to the Governor’s house, a Raj Bhavan official said. Gehlot will visit the Raj Bhavan alone first, and thereafter, the MLAs will visit the Governor’s residence amid tight security, he added.

“This is propaganda to garner sympathy. The CM, as per the Constitution, needs to show his strength on the Assembly floor,” said state BJP chief Satish Poonia.

Telangana official hangs self over fear of contracting corona

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Telangana official hangs self over fear of contracting corona

In yet another suicide over suspicion of contracting Covid-19, a government official in Telangana hanged himself.

M. Raja Venkatraman (54), working as a superintendent in the education department, resorted to the extreme in Karimnagar town on Thursday night. He was found hanging in his flat in Christian Colony.

According to police, Venkatraman was serving in the education department office in Mancherial and was staying with the family in the same town. For the last few days, he was suffering from cold and fever and had consulted a doctor at a private hospital. The doctor had suggested him to undergo the COVID-19 test.

After attending the office on Thursday, Venkatraman did not return home and instead left for Karimnagar, where he went to his flat and hanged himself.

When Venkatraman did not return home and was not responding to the calls on his mobile phone, his family got worried and contacted the relatives in Karimnagar to check if he reached there. They went to the flat to find him hanging.

This is the latest in a series of incidents in which people have committed suicide either after testing positive or for the fear of contracting the virus.

Only two days ago a 50-year-old man, who had tested positive, hanged himself in Mahbubabad district.

An employee in a chemical company in Hyderabad, he had come to his native village on Tuesday to finish his quarantine period after testing positive for Covid-19.

On July 12, a call center employee committed suicide in his house in Hyderabad’s Santoshnagar, suspecting that he had contracted coronavirus.

The 38-year-old was unwell and had visited a few clinics for a medical check-up. He hanged himself after a doctor suggested him to undergo the COVID test.

On July 5, a goldsmith in Hyderabad committed suicide fearing that he was suffering from COVID-19. The 34-year-old who was suffering from cold and fever jumped into the Hussain Sagar lake in the city.

On May 2, a man committed suicide by jumping off the fourth floor of his apartment in Hyderabad fearing that he had contracted COVID-19.

A retired private employee was suffering from asthma and gastritis and had slipped into depression, suspecting that he might be suffering from coronavirus.

In March, a man in Suryapet district had immolated himself over suspicion of catching the virus.

I don’t mind getting hurt, just don’t want to get out: Virat Kohli

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I don’t mind getting hurt, just don’t want to get out: Virat Kohli

The 2014 tour of England is one that saw current India skipper Virat Kohli struggle against the swinging Dukes ball in English conditions. With scores of 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0,7, 6, and 20 in the five Tests of that tour, he averaged just 13.50 in his ten innings. However, Kohli doesn’t see the tour as a disappointment.

“In the 2014 England tour, it was basically about not adjusting to the conditions and doing things that I wanted to do and being rigid about it. Being rigid about anything doesn’t get you anywhere. It was a long and painful realization but I realized it,” said Kohli while speaking with Mayank Agarwal on the series ‘Open Nets with Mayank’ hosted by bcci.tv.

“2014 tour is always going to be a milestone in my career. I really had to sit down and change things about how I approach the game before that tour, the way I played the game, and start being more fearless.

“I realized that in Test cricket when it gets tough, to maintain your composure is the most difficult thing for a cricketer and that was something which I really needed to correct.

“If that tour hadn’t happened, I would have continued the same way I was and wouldn’t have improved. That tour made me think about how I approach my international career and do I just want to be a pushover every time I play Test cricket. That’s a decision I had to make,” he added.

Kohli revealed that after that England tour where India was defeated 1-3 in the five-Test series, Ravi Shastri offered him a piece of advice that worked wonders for him.

“Ravi Bhai called me and Shikhar to his room after the Test series in 2014. His understanding was very sharp. He told me to stand outside the crease and explained the mindset behind it. He also asked me if I was afraid of the short ball. I said, ‘I wasn’t afraid of the short-pitched balls. I am not afraid to get hurt, I just don’t want to get out’,” he said.

“I started practicing that in Australia in the same year and the results were unbelievable.”

The 31-year-old also had a chat with legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar after the England tour and had few sessions as well with him in Mumbai.

“After the England tour, I looked at my footage. I spoke to Sachin Tendulkar in Mumbai and had a few sessions with him. I told him that I am working on my hip position and he made me realize the importance of a big stride, the forward press against fast bowlers as well.”

On his next tour of England in 2018, Kohli emerged as the leading run-scorer with 593 runs, including two hundred and three half-centuries.

“I never really paid attention to the perception of the people about me after 2014. Obviously, it troubled me a little because all my credibility as a player went away in a month or so. But then I stopped focussing on what people had to say about me,” Kohli said.

“I went into my zone and kept working on my game. The great thing about 2018 was I went as a captain and a player. I wanted to lead from the front and contribute to the team by scoring runs.

“That’s why I was nervous before the first Test in 2018. I wanted to start well. It was not like that I performed badly in 2014 and now here’s my chance of redemption in 2018,” he added.

Despite a brilliant batting performance from Kohli, India went on to lose that series 1-4. However, the Indian captain believes the tour boosted the confidence of the team, which later on helped them win their maiden Test series in Australia.

“We weren’t too heartbroken about the England series in 2018 to be honest because we really competed well. It was a tight and confidence-boosting series for us.”

Talking about his X-factor as a captain, Kohli said: “I would not compromise on wanting a result in any situation. A draw comes to me, only and only if the situation has gone too bad or in the last hour when you don’t have an option. I will not think of a draw from the first minute in the morning.

“Fearing a loss is the most negative thing you can think of as a sportsperson and it causes self-harm. If you are surrendering before you can achieve a victory means you are causing harm to your own mindset. My only aim is to make people realize how good they can be,” he signed off.

Samsung launches new range of UHD Business TVs in India

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Samsung launches new range of UHD Business TVs in India

Samsung on Friday launched a new range of ultra high definition (UHD) Business TVs in India for places like restaurants, retail stores, shopping complexes, and salons, among others.

New TV series is available in 43-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch, and 70-inch variants, with prices ranging from Rs 75,000-Rs 175,000 and comes with a three-year warranty, the company said in a statement.

“With the new Samsung Business TV, we want to meet the requirements of various small and medium businesses, helping them communicate and operate effectively and hassle-free,” said Puneet Sethi, Vice President, Consumer Electronics Enterprise Business, Samsung India.

“Our latest range of Business TVs will help businesses such as restaurants, retail stores, shopping complexes, salons redefine the experience for end consumers,” he added.

The TVs come preloaded with over 100 free templates that allow business owners to create their own content.

Some of the templates include vertical orientation, promotions that display content alongside TV programs, motion-embedded, seasonal sales, and other pre-designed layouts providing business perfect visuals for different occasions.

In addition to customizable free templates, the Samsung Business TV app allows remote management of content.

This app also aids easy DIY (do it yourself) installation of the TV. After downloading the Business TV app, users’ devices are automatically connected to the TV and available for immediate use, said the company.

India feature phone market declines 68% in Q2, itel leads

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India feature phone market declines 68% in Q2, itel leads

With the Covid-19 pandemic leading people to cut on discretionary spending, the India feature phone market declined 68 percent (year-on-year in the second quarter this year, a Counterpoint Research report said on Friday.

Consumers in this highly cost-sensitive segment tried to save money by reducing discretionary purchases, said the report.

The nationwide lockdown imposed by the Indian government to combat Covid-19 resulted in zero shipments during April. This was also the time that saw a huge exodus of migrants from cities as many of them lost livelihood.

itel remains the market leader in the feature phone market reaching its highest ever share of 24 percent in the second quarter of 2020, said the report. Just a year ago, it’s share was a mere 10 percent in the same market.

The market share of home-grown company Lava went up from 12 percent in Q2 of 2019 to 23 percent in Q2 of 2020.

Samsung’s share in the India feature phone market reached 22 percent in Q2 of this year, from 21 percent a year ago.

They were followed by Nokia and Karbonn whose market share stood at nine percent and five percent, respectively.

Compared to the 68 percent year-on-year decline in the shipment of feature phones in India in Q2 of 2020, India’s smartphone shipments declined by 51 percent year-on-year in the same period.

Moreover, Jio-Google’s recently announced partnership to bring highly affordable 4G Android smartphones may further impact the feature phone market in India which is home to more than 350 million feature phone users.

The growing anti-China sentiment due to border tensions in Ladakh has “given a window of opportunity for brands like Samsung and local Indian brands such as Micromax and Lava, to recapture market share,” according to Shilpi Jain, the Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research.

Apple leads ultra-premium smartphone segment in India in Q2

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Apple leads ultra-premium smartphone segment in India in Q2

Riding on the success of the iPhone 11 in India, Apple remained the leading brand in the ultra-premium segment in the country in the second quarter this year, a new report said on Friday.

Within models, iPhone 11 continued to do well and was the highest-selling model in the ultra-premium segment (Rs 45,000 and above for Q2 in the face of competition from Samsung, Huawei, and OnePlus.

Apple, however, lost some market share to OnePlus in Q2, according to the report by Counterpoint Research.

In the premium segment (Rs 30,000 and above), OnePlus regained its top position with its newly launched OnePlus 8 series, which also comes with 5G.

Xiaomi also entered the ultra-premium segment with its flagship Mi10 5G device in Q2.

In the first quarter this year, Apple grew 126 percent in the premium segment (Rs 30,000 and above), reaching its share to 33 percent as compared to 18 percent a year ago.

In the ultra-premium segment (Rs 45,000 and above), Apple was the leading brand with a market share of 55 percent in Q1 driven by strong shipments of the iPhone 11, a story that continued in Q2.

Going forward, the launch of 5G devices by Apple will play a key role in the growth of the ultra-premium segment.

Intel delays 7-nanometer chips until late 2022

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Intel delays 7-nanometer chips until late 2022

The world’s biggest chipmaker Intel has delayed the rollout of its 7-nanometer chips by six months, which pushes the release date to late 2022 or early 2023.

The company had initially planned on releasing the 7nm processors in 2021’s fourth quarter, but during an earnings call on Thursday, the firm announced it had to delay the technology due to low yield rates in the chip manufacturing process.

“The company’s 7nm-based CPU product timing is shifting approximately six months relative to prior expectations. The primary driver is the yield of Intel’s 7nm process, which based on recent data, is now trending approximately twelve months behind the company’s internal target,” the company said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the company is on track to release its 11th Gen Tiger Lake chips to succeed the 10th Gen Ice Lake lineup for laptops later this year, bringing with them Intel’s much-hyped Xe graphics.

Intel is also expecting to launch its first products from its 12th Gen Alder Lake lineup towards the end of this year.

For the second quarter ended in June, Intel said overall revenue and adjusted profits were $19.73 billion and $1.23 per share. Revenue for its data center segment was $7.1 billion and sales for PC chips were $9.5 billion.

Samsung becomes 2nd largest smartphone brand in India in Q2

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Samsung becomes 2nd largest smartphone brand in India in Q2

Stuttering supply for some major Chinese brands and the anti-China sentiment helped South Korean major Samsung gained big and became the second-largest brand with 26 percent market share in India in the second quarter (April-June period), a Counterpoint Research report said on Friday.

Samsung reached its highest share in the past two years owing to the fact that pent-up smartphone demand after lockdown pushed the June volumes and the company was ready with full manufacturing capacity to meet that demand.

Samsung closely followed Xiaomi which logged 29 percent market share to remain at the top in Q2 2020.

Revamping the M-series and launching it in offline channels together with new schemes like Samsung Care+ helped the brand to further restore its position in the Indian market, according to Counterpoint’s ‘Market Monitor Service’.

Samsung also has a diversified supply chain compared to its competitors, which helped it to maintain a steady flow of components. It was the first brand to reach almost full manufacturing capacity by the end of June, the report mentioned.

“The contribution of Chinese brands fell to 72 percent from 81 percent in Q2 2020. This was mainly due to the mixture of stuttering supply for some major Chinese brands such as OPPO, Vivo and realme, and growing anti-China sentiment,” said Shilpi Jain, Research Analyst at Counterpoint.

It was compounded by stringent actions taken by the government to ban 59 apps of Chinese origin and delay the import of goods from China amid extra scrutiny.

Overall, the smartphone market declined a massive 51 percent (year-on-year) to just over 18 million in Q2 as April was a washout.

The nationwide lockdown resulted in zero shipments during April.

“The pandemic wiped out almost 40 days of production as well as the sales of smartphones due to the nation-wide lockdown. The quarter was marred by both demand and supply constraints which led OEMs to rethink their go-to-market strategies,” said Prachi Singh, Senior Research Analyst at Counterpoint.

In June, the smartphone shipments registered a mild decline of 0.3 percent (YoY) thanks to the pent-up demand as well as a push from brands.

Vivo with 17 percent share at the third spot was able to manage post lockdown demand well as it exited the quarter with 60 percent pre-COVID levels.

The launch of flagship V19 and adding more smartphones like Y50, Y30 to its Y-series portfolio helped the brand to recover fast in June.

“Local manufacturing, R&D operations, attractive value-for-money offerings, and strong channel entrenchment by Chinese brands leaves very few options for consumers to choose from. Additionally, in the era of globalization, it is difficult to label a product based on country of origin as components are being sourced from many different countries,” said Jain.

Realme maintained the fourth spot though its share declined to 11 percent as it faced manufacturing constraints due to the shutdown of the factory for almost all of May.

Notice to MLAs: Rajasthan HC accepts plea to make Centre a party

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Notice to MLAs: Rajasthan HC accepts plea to make Centre a party

The Rajasthan High Court on Friday accepted a plea filed by Congress MLA Prithviraj Meena to make the Centre a party to an ongoing case filed by former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and 18 other party MLAs following disqualification notices to them by the Assembly Speaker.

In his petition filed on Wednesday, Meena said: “It is humbly prayed that the Union of India through the Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, (Dept of Legal Affairs) be made a party/respondent to the present writ petition in the interest of justice and law.

Assembly Speaker CP Joshi had served the disqualification notices to the rebel MLAs, including Pilot, on the charge of “anti-party activities” soon after they skipped two Congress legislative party meetings in July.

The Speakers were first asked to defer action in the matter by three days last week when the High Court began hearing the case in which the petitioner MLAs challenged Para 2(1)(a) of the Schedule X of the Constitution.

The Pilot camp got another three-day breather on Tuesday from the High Court after it finished hearing the arguments and reserved the judgment for July 24.

The rebels had argued that no whip can be in issued when the Assembly is not in session and maintained that they had no plans to quit the ruling Congress but wanted a change in its Rajasthan leadership.

Meanwhile, Speaker Joshi on Wednesday filed a CLP in the Supreme Court, and its hearing is scheduled on Monday.

Sensex, Nifty in red, RIL crosses Rs 2,100/share

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Sensex, Nifty in red, RIL crosses Rs 2,100/share

The key Indian equity indices traded on a negative note on Friday morning.

Around 10.30 a.m., the BSE Sensex was trading at 37,956.93, lower by 183.54 points or 0.48 percent from its previous close of 38,140.47.

It opened at 37,949.59 and has touched an intra-day high of 38,001.64 and a low of 37,804.57 so far.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 11,147.50, lower by 67.95 points or 0.61 percent from its previous close.

Among the stocks, Reliance Industries (RIL) continued its bull run and touched a fresh high of Rs 2,149.70 on Friday on the BSE.

Currently, its shares on the BSE are trading at Rs 2,129.25, higher by Rs 68.60 or 3.33 percent from its previous close.

Maren Morris expresses anger against mommy shamers

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Maren Morris expresses anger against mommy shamers

Singer Maren Morris is completely against mommy shamers.

Morris recently made headlines when a section of social media users criticized her for posting a picture in a low-cut top. Now, in a chat show, she opened up on the criticism, slamming trollers, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“I would just have to say to anyone that is a mother who is shaming another mother, it obviously comes from deep insecurity in your own motherhood that you have to criticize someone else that’s brand new at this. We all feel like we suck in the beginning anyway,” she explained.

Morris and her husband Ryan Hurd became proud parents to their son Hayes in March this year.

Also, the singer has decided to be a little more private about her son on social media.

“It’s been so fun sharing photos of him, but I feel like I can take someone saying my music sucks, or I’m ruining country music, but for some reason the ‘mother card’, I just can’t emotionally handle right now. So I’m just going to protect myself and him from it,” she added.

We have locked Sep 19-Nov 8 window for IPL 13: Chairman Brijesh Patel

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We have locked Sep 19-Nov 8 window for IPL 13: Chairman Brijesh Patel

Indian Premier League (IPL) Chairman Brijesh Patel has confirmed that the 13th edition of the league will be played around the September 19 to November 8 window and the same has been communicated to the franchises.

Speaking to IANS, IPL Chairman Patel said that the window has been zeroed in on. “We have had a discussion and we are looking at the September 19 to November 8 window for this edition of the league. We have informed the franchise about the same,” he said.

The window could see some discussion as the England and Australia players will be engaging in a series in the UK till September 15 and that could mean them missing the first few games of their respective franchises. But Patel said it shouldn’t be an issue and these things are set to be discussed in the Governing Council meeting that is to be held next week.

“Shouldn’t be a problem. The England-Australia series ends on September 15. So, we should have them flying indirectly to Dubai. We will discuss the final matters in the governing council meeting next week,” he said.

The official announcement might happen only after the Indian Premier League’s Governing Council meeting, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has joined the franchises in making logistical plans for the 13th edition of the cash-rich league to be played in the UAE as reported by IANS.

Apart from the IPL teams, logistics and operations teams from the BCCI will also be heading to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah to see to it that preparations are on in full swing and there are no execution woes. If the UAE airlines don’t start operations then all will fall back on chartered planes.

The ICC on Monday announced that the T20 World Cup cannot be held in Australia in October-November as the time isn’t conducive to host so many teams in the country as the threat of the coronavirus pandemic isn’t over yet. This has opened the door for the BCCI to host the IPL in that window.

Decks cleared for Agra Metro project, with conditions

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Decks cleared for Agra Metro project, with conditions

After the Supreme Court green signaled the Agra Metro project, the fourth largest in the state, the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (UPMRCL) has started gearing up. The biggest task, however, is planting 18,230 saplings as per the Supreme Court order.

The Agra Metro project is worth Rs 8,379.62 crore having two corridors — Sikandra to Taj East Gate of 14 km route length and Agra Cantt to Kalindi Vihar of 15.4 km. The corridor 1 — Sikandra to Taj East Gate — will comprise 13 Metro stations, six elevated and seven underground.

The project will benefit around 20 lakh people.

The feasibility study for the Agra Metro project was conducted in 2016, which was later approved by the Cabinet on February 28, 2019.

On March 8, 2019, the Prime Minister laid down the foundation stone of the project via video conferencing. Due to the restrictions and intervention from the Supreme Court of India, the construction work was put on hold which finally got a nod from the apex court two days ago.

The apex court gave its approval for the implementation of the Agra Metro project subject to certain guidelines and conditions to be followed as per the recommendations of the Central Empowered Committee.

The apex court stated that as per the recommendations of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), UPMRC will now have to plant 18,230 saplings, 10 times more than the number initially proposed during the project execution phase.

The CEC submitted its final recommendations to the Supreme Court on February 12, 2020. In a hearing held in December last year, the court sought a report from the CEC on the petition of the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation to which the Committee itself visited Agra and after overviewing the overall conditions gave its final approval for the implementation of the Agra Metro project.

Kumar Keshav, MD, UPMRCL said, “It’s a moment of immense pleasure for the entire UPMRC team that the apex court has finally given its nod to carry on the civil construction work of the Agra Metro project.

“We have already floated various tenders of the Agra Metro to expedite the commencement of the civil construction work. We had received various ‘Green Initiative’ awards for the Lucknow Metro project, which will be replicated in Agra and Kanpur Metro projects. We will continue to strive hard to achieve our mission of ‘Green Metro-Clean Metro’.”

Ali Fazal about returning to work: We need to be smart, healthy, cautious

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Ali Fazal about returning to work: We need to be smart, healthy, cautious

Actor Ali Fazal recently returned to the studios for a dubbing session. Although the COVID pandemic still looms large, Ali feels there is no scope for fear anymore.

The actor was back at work for the upcoming second season of the web series, “Mirzapur”.

“I am rather happy about going to work. We cannot fall prey to fear or that’s the end of us as we know it. Nothing can come out of fear. We need to be smart, healthy, and simply cautious,” he said.

Working remotely all through the lockdown, the cast recently reunited in full strength for the dubbing session.

Besides key members of the cast including Shweta Tripathi Sharma, the actors were also joined by people from the production team. The actors ensured that they practiced social distancing all through.

“We had dubbed a few episodes before the lockdown, so we picked up mid-way. It was great to be back because this has been an unusually long break. We shot for the show long back, so it took us some time getting back into the groove,” said Ali.

“The studios are on point about hygiene, so they allow one artiste at a time. So we walk into a pre-sanitized studio. The instructions are given on the other side. Dubbing is a system that was already an isolated job,” he added.

Microsoft Surface Duo appears at US FCC ahead of release

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Microsoft Surface Duo appears at US FCC ahead of release

Microsoft in October last year showcased a foldable smartphone Surface Duo and now, a new report has claimed that the tech giant submitted the device to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), indicating work on the hardware has been finished.

According to a GizmoChina report, FCC tested both the screens of the device along with its hinge as well as the device’s network capability.

The foldable smartphone is at the end of its testing phase and could possibly become available in late August or early September.

Surface Duo is expected to come with mid-range specs, including the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC, 6GB RAM, and either 64GB or 256GB of storage.

The device will also feature a single 11MP camera sensor above the right display that will be used for both front and rear-facing photos and videos and will be powered by Snapdragon 855 processor, 6GB RAM/64GB or 256GB storage options.

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

Surface Duo’s two displays are held together with a fully rotating hinge that can be adjusted to any angle. The device is loaded with Android 10 OS and is expected to come with apps from Microsoft.

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

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

Hackers steal data from 8 universities in UK, Canada

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Hackers steal data from 8 universities in UK, Canada

Hackers have compromised student and alumni data in at least eight universities in the UK and Canada including University of York, University College, Oxford, University of Leeds, and University of London via a massive attack on a US-based software provider called Blackbaud.

Blackbaud, one of the world’s largest providers of education administration, fundraising, and financial management software, was hacked in May and it did not disclose this externally until July and for having paid the hackers an undisclosed ransom, reports the BBC.

Now, it has been learned that at least 8 universities have suffered data breach.

Oxford Brookes University, Loughborough University, University of Reading, Ambrose University in Alberta, Canada, Human Rights Watch, Young Minds, and Rhode Island School of Design in the US are among those impacted.

“All the institutions are sending letters and emails apologizing to those on the compromised databases,” the report said on Friday.

The compromised data involves former students, staff, existing students, and other supporters.

In some cases, the stolen data included phone numbers, donation history, and events attended.

Credit card and other payment details do not appear to have been exposed, according to the report.

Blackbaud did not provide the information on those impacted, saying it wanted to “respect the privacy of our customers” and was working with law enforcement and third-party investigators to check if data is being circulated or sold on the Dark Web.

“We want to reassure our alumni that, since being informed by Blackbaud of this incident, we have been working tirelessly to investigate what has happened, in order to accurately inform those affected,” Leeds University said in a statement.

Blackbaud in July admitted the hack.

“While this sophisticated ransomware attack happened, we were able to shut it down and have no reason to believe this will result in any public disclosure of any of our customers’ data,” Blackbaud President and CEO Mike Gianoni told The NonProfit Times.

Blackbaud paid a ransom to have the hijacked data destroyed by the cybercriminals but did not reveal the amount.

128 UP jail inmates test positive for Covid

TB Team
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128 UP jail inmates test positive for Covid

Four barracks of the Jhansi district jail have been converted into a level one COVID hospital after a total of 128 inmates tested Corona positive.

A spokesman of the Director-General (Prisons) said “two inmates were symptomatic while 126 were asymptomatic” about the Thursday development.

So far, 748 inmates in the district jail have been tested and of these, 126 have turned out positive.

District Magistrate Jhansi, Andhra Vamsi, said: “Four barracks have been converted into a level one COVID hospital and all the 120 are admitted there.

“We have sent three medical teams to the jail for round the clock monitoring. Teams are sufficiently equipped and we are prepared to send the patients to Jhansi medical college if needed.”

On July 9, one inmate with fever was sent to the district hospital where he tested positive. Later, one more who showed symptoms tested positive.

“Following this, rapid antigen test was carried out at the jail that has 1,110 inmates,” a jail official said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that the spread of the Coronavirus should be checked in jails under all circumstances.

He said inmates and staff of jails should be checked for Covid-19 and cleanliness should be maintained in all jails, apart from regular sanitization.

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