Union Bank of India cuts MCLR by 20bps across tenors

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Union Bank of India cuts MCLR by 20bps across tenors

Union Bank of India on Friday announced reduction in its marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) by 20 points across all tenors.

The rate cut will come into effect from Saturday, the company said in a statement.

Post the reduction, MCLR across tenors ranges from 6.85 per cent to 7.40 per cent.

“One year MCLR now stands at 7.40 per cent, down from 7.60 per cent. Revised MCLR will be effective from 11th Jul 2020. This is the 13th consecutive rate cut announced by the bank since July 2019,”

Banks generally review MCLR every month.

Yoga to improve reproductive, sexual health

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Yoga to improve reproductive, sexual health

Yoga is an ancient method of relaxation, exercise, and healing that has gained a wide following across the world. It rejuvenates the mind, body, and soul. It may come as no surprise, then, that yoga may also serve to enhance sexual function.

According to a study published online in The Journal of Sexual Medicine (Nov 12, 2009), regular yoga practice improves several aspects of sexual function in women, including desire, arousal, orgasm, and overall satisfaction, points out Dr. Arockia Virgin Fernando, Fertility Specialist, Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Cloudnine Group of Hospitals. The expert shares some benefits of yoga on sex life and during pregnancy.

Benefits of Yoga on your Sex life

More and more people are discovering the benefits of practicing yoga, from building strength to relieving stress. 40 percent of women with fertility-related issues have anxiety, stress, or both. Yoga and mindfulness exercises like deep breathing help in reducing the cortisol levels in our blood which is a marker for stress. High levels of cortisol damage the fine balance between the hormones which control the brain, heart, and reproductive system. Many fertility groups who conduct support group meetings to help the anxious couples trying to conceive- have included yoga in their program. It can improve your sex life.

Here’s how:

Yoga can target your sexual zones. Many forms of yoga refer to the root lock “Mula Bandha,” which is the root of the spine, the pelvic floor, the perineum. Bringing awareness to these areas in a yoga class will help you be more in touch with them overall and can help you enjoy having sex more. In the challenging physical postures such as downward dog, chaturanga, supta konasana, and plow pose, engaging Mula Bandha actually helps lift the pelvic floor muscles, which increases core strength, which then functions to support and protect the spine. Engaging Mula Bandha can help with balance in postures such as warrior 3 and crow pose.

You’ll feel better in your skin: Yoga is a series of physical exercises and postures that are geared toward improving one’s flexibility, strength, and balance. Regular practice helps to strengthen and tone your body, and all of these will make you feel better about yourself. Improved self-thoughts about your appearance will boost your body confidence and self-esteem. All of these will help you boost your personal life.

Yoga helps reduce stress and anxiety: By transferring focus and attention to breathing and the body, yoga can help to lower anxiety and release physical tension. Lower stress levels at the end of the day can lead to feeling better about being with your partner. If you are not worried about other things and feel mentally balanced, you are more likely to want and be able to give to your significant other. It will allow you to relax and enjoy sex, which makes it even better. The calming, toning practice can be a wonderful escape from the stressors of daily life while increasing your flexibility and strength to boot. This will also bring increased relationship satisfaction along with improvements in sex life and intimacy levels. It brings overall satisfaction, better communication, and trust among couples along with the overall reduction in stress and anxiety.

Yoga can increase the beta-endorphin hormone release from the brain which gives a sense of well-being, improve immunity, and prevents infections in turn increasing our reproductive health. With better hormone balance, there is increased sexual desire and reproductive function, also an increase in sperm production.

Regular yoga practice may improve the interaction between the brain and the reproductive system in both men and women. There are many positive and negative feedback systems in our reproductive endocrinology and even a subtle imbalance disrupts the whole system.

With better hormone balance, there is increased sexual desire and reproductive function, also an increase in sperm production.

Yoga indirectly improves reproductive health by improving immunity and thereby decreasing infections which damages the vaginal, tubal, and uterine bacterial flora and thus preventing pregnancy.

It increases the success rates of Assisted Reproductive Technologies like In-vitro Fertilisation and Intrauterine Insemination by reducing the stress levels; thereby improving ovulation and sperm production.

Women with high levels of stress biomarkers like cortisol have less chance of conceiving during ovulation and also an increased risk of miscarriage. Therefore Yoga can play a major role in these people.

Breathing, meditation, asanas can reduce pain levels in people suffering from painful periods and pain during sexual intercourse, thus, in turn, increasing the odds of conception. The beginners should focus on breathing and poses which are comfortable. Above all it is safe. The key is to start slow.

Benefits of Yoga during pregnancy

Yoga helps you in dealing with the symptoms of pregnancy like morning sickness and mood swings, ensuring smoother and easier delivery, and faster recovery after childbirth. So, if you want to make your pregnancy and childbirth a peaceful and easy journey, you must go for a prenatal yoga class during and after your pregnancy. Look for a prenatal yoga program where you are comfortable with the activities, style, and the yoga class environment. Always remember doing “Lamaze” which is a simple breathing yoga technique, it always encourages you to be active throughout your pregnancy and increases your sense of wellbeing.

All the exercises should be started pre-pregnancy so as to have the best result during pregnancy. Do not start exercise for the first time in the first trimester except the breathing exercises under the supervision and consultation of your gynecologist/ fertility expert.

Anderson one of the best exponents of reverse swing: Tendulkar

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Anderson one of the best exponents of reverse swing: Tendulkar

Former Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar believes veteran England pacer James Anderson is one of the best exponents of reverse swing in modern-day cricket.

“Jimmy Anderson was possibly the first bowler who bowled reverse swing also reverse,” Tendulkar said while speaking to West Indies legend Brian Lara on 100MB app explaining what makes Anderson different to other fast bowlers.

“What I experienced over a period of time that he (Anderson) would hold the bowl as if he is bowling an outswinger but at the release point, he would try and bring the ball back in.

“The number of batters would look at the wrist position and what he has actually done, he has shown you that he is bowling an inswinger but the imbalance between both sides of the ball will take the ball away from you.

“So what he has done, he has got you to commit to playing for an outswinger and the ball after covering almost three-fourths of the length of the pitch starts leaving you. And that is something which was new to me,” he added.

The 47-year-old further said now Anderson fast-bowling partner Stuart Broad is using the same skill to trouble the opposition batters.

“Nobody had done that, now I have spotted even Stuart Broad doing that. But Anderson started this long time ago. So, I rate him very, very high and he is one of the best exponents of the reverse swing.”

Anderson is England’s leading wicket-taker in Test cricket. With 871 international wickets to his name, the 33-year-old also holds the record for the most number of wickets (584) taken by a fast bowler in Test cricket.

He is part of the England XI in the ongoing first Test against West Indies and will have a big role to play after the hosts were bowled out for 204 in their first innings at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday. In reply, West Indies were 57/1 at Stump’s on Day Two.

PM inaugurates 750-MW solar power project in MP’s Rewa

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PM inaugurates 750-MW solar power project in MP’s Rewa

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday dedicated to the nation a 750-MW solar project – said to be Asia’s biggest — at Rewa in Madhya Pradesh through a videoconference from Delhi.

The Rs 4,000-crore project has three units of 250 MW each at a solar park spread over 1,500 hectares developed by Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL), a joint venture company of Madhya Pradesh UrjaVikas Nigam Limited and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a central PSU.

Union Power Minister RK Singh and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan were among the dignitaries present on the occasion.

Twenty-four percent of the solar power produced by the project will be used in the Delhi Metro and the remaining 76 percent by discoms of Madhya Pradesh.

The Centre gave Rs 138 crore to RUMSL for the project for which Mahindra Renewables, ACME Solar Holdings, and Solengeri Power were shortlisted through reverse bidding for the three units at tariffs of Rs 2.979, Rs 2.970 and Rs 2.974 for the first year.

This is the lowest tariff ever discovered through a bidding process for solar projects in India.

The project is a step towards India’s commitment to set up 175GW solar power capacity by 2022.

Samsung ‘SpaceMax Family Hub’ refrigerator arrives in India next week

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Samsung ‘SpaceMax Family Hub’ refrigerator arrives in India next week

South Korean tech giant Samsung is set to expand its Internet of Things (IoT) product portfolio in the country next week with the launch of a connected SpaceMax Family Hub refrigerator.

The ‘SpaceMax Family Hub’ range is expected to be available in a price range of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.3 lakh and consumers can pre-book it on Flipkart, Samsung.com, and other online stores from July 13 at a special pre-book price, sources told IANS on Friday.

While the refrigerator will retain smart features of the flagship Family Hub, the new SpaceMax technology is set to add more storage space inside the refrigerator without affecting the exterior dimensions.

The refrigerator will come with features that automate meal planning and connects with other smart appliances at home including smartphones, letting users watch their favorite TV show on the refrigerator’s entertainment screen while working in the kitchen.

The company has already introduced IoT devices in the form of smart washing machines as well as refrigerators.

In 2018, Samsung unveiled ‘Family Hub 3.0′ in India for Rs 2.8 lakh. The 810-liter refrigerator with a “triple cooling” facility comes with a 21-inch touchscreen and Bixby voice control.

Looking to make a difference once hockey returns, says Sharmila

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After a fruitful debut year with the Indian women’s hockey team where she helped her team qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, forward Sharmila Devi is itching to get back on the field to make a difference.

With the team currently on a break from national camp, Sharmila has been spending time with her family in Hisar and is making sure she is up to speed whenever hockey action resumes.

“It has been a really different experience to not have felt that adrenaline rush of playing the sport, but I’m just making sure I’m maintaining my fitness and am ready to play as soon as we are allowed,” expressed the 18-year-old who has 9 appearances for the senior team.

“I feel I’ve been really fortunate to have been playing under such a good chief coach in Sjoerd Marijne, along with such experienced players like Rani and Vandana Katariya. There’s so much for me to learn, and I want to make sure I am doing everything right to develop as a decent player for my country.

“I am hoping that we will be able to play hockey again soon, and I am really looking forward to making a difference for my team once that happens and we start playing the top teams,” she said.

Having found the time to reflect on her journey with the senior team, Sharmila recalled the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2019 against the USA as her favorite moment so far.

“It was definitely a huge moment for me, to have represented the country at such a huge tournament. We were looking to secure our berth in the Tokyo Olympics and were playing against such strong opposition, so it felt really good to have done well and helped the team in achieving our goal.

“I’m looking forward to more such victories and enjoyable moments with the team,” said the forward who had scored India’s second goal in the 5-1 win in the first leg against the USA.

The forward further stated that life has really been going on at a very fast pace for her in the past year and she couldn’t have asked for more. “Having made my debut at the Olympic Test Event in Tokyo back in August 2019, it was an experience of a lifetime for me because we won the tournament there.”

“For me, it was something I had only dreamt of – to be able to play and train with the best players from our country. When I was in the Junior team set-up, I would just watch them train during national camps, and I would get goosebumps, but when I started playing, it just really felt amazing,” added Sharmila.

Google launches ‘new kind’ of open source organisation

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Google launches ‘new kind’ of open source organisation

Google has launched a new organization focused on extending the philosophy and definition of open source to project trademarks.

Called the ‘Open Usage Commons’, the organization will aim to help open source projects assert and manage their project identity through programs specific to trademark management and conformance testing.

Historically, it has been observed that many open source projects stumble in managing their trademarks — their project’s name and logo.

“How project trademarks are used is different from how their code is used, as trademarks are a method of quality assurance,” Chris DiBona, Director, Open Source at Google, said in a blog post this week.

This includes the assurance that the code in question has an open-source license.

When trademarks are properly managed, those maintaining the project can define their identity, provide assurances to downstream users of the quality of their offering, and give others in the community certainty about the free and fair use of the brand.

“Creating neutral, independent ownership for these trademarks gives contributors and consumers peace of mind regarding their use of project names in a fair and transparent way,” DiBona said.

Understanding and managing trademarks is critical for the long-term sustainability of projects, particularly with the increasing number of enterprise products based on open source.

To get the Open Usage Commons started, Google has contributed initial funding.

The trademarks of Angular, a web application framework for mobile and desktop; Gerrit, web-based team code-collaboration tool; and Istio, an open platform to connect, manage, and secure microservices, will be joining the Open Usage Commons, Google announced.

Google said ‘Open Usage Commons’ was launched in collaboration with academic leaders, independent contributors, and Cloud solutions provider SADA Systems.

Odisha registers single-day record 755 corona cases

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Odisha registers single-day record 755 corona cases

Odisha reported four COVID-19 deaths and 755 new positive cases, the highest single-day spike in the state, in the last 24 hours, the Health Department said on Friday.

With this, the total positive cases increased to 11,956 while the death toll reached 56.

All the four deaths were in Ganjam district — 41-year-old male suffering from hypertension, a 58-year-old male, a 48-year-old male suffering from diabetes, and a 32-year-old male also suffering from diabetes.

The maximum 320 were reported from hotspot Ganjam district, followed by Jajpur with 86 and Sundargarh with 62 cases.

Of the new positive cases, 508 were reported from different quarantine centers and the remaining 247 local contacts.

The department said that contact-tracing and follow-up action is underway.

Seven bombs found in Bikru village in police search

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Seven bombs have been found at the Panchayat Bhawan in Bikru village during a police search that has been continuing almost on a daily basis after the July 3 massacre in which eight policemen were killed.

The bombs are crude and of low intensity.

Some of the bombs were found from the house of Vikas Dubey’s driver Daya Shankar Agnihotri who is now in police custody.

According to police sources, three police teams are conducting searches in the Bikru village, especially of houses of those connected with Vikas Dubey. The police are also checking the legality of arms with the local people.

Meanwhile, ASP Deepak Kumar has reached the Krishna Nagar residence of the gangster’s mother, Sarla Dubey.

The police want to know if the family would want to claim the body and take part in the cremation.

Sarla Dubey, the mother of slain gangster Vikas Dubey, has refused to go to Kanpur or claim her son’s body for the last rites.

“I have nothing to do with my son now,” she told a police team that visited her residence.

Prabhas shares never-before-seen photo from ‘Baahubali’

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Prabhas shares never-before-seen photo from ‘Baahubali’

On the fifth anniversary of “Baahubali”, superstar Prabhas has shared a special photo from the film to commemorate the occasion.

Prabhas shared the photo in which he is seen riding a horse, with the caption: “Here’s to the team that created magic! Celebrating #5YearsOfBaahubali The Beginning.”

The “Saaho” actor also took to social media on Friday to share a trailer cut down and wrote: “Baahubali: The Beginning ac Feeling nostalgic @kyarlagadda17 #5YearsOfBaahubali The Beginning.”

The SS Rajamouli directorial is one of the biggest films ever made in India and received worldwide recognition.

The two-film “Baahubali” series narrates the story of two brothers at war over an ancient kingdom.

“Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” (2017) is one of the biggest Indian films at the box office, having done a global business of approximately Rs 1810 crore, while the first film, “Baahubali: The Beginning” (2015) minted over Rs 685 crore.

The series also stars Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, and Ramya Krishnan.

Brittany Snow considers herself lucky to have got married before lockdown

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Brittany Snow considers herself lucky to have got married before lockdown

Actress Brittany Snow got married to Tyler Stanaland in March, and she feels extremely lucky to have tied the knot before isolation orders were put in place due to the COVID pandemic.

“In early March, before we knew how much we’d miss hugs and live in our sweatpants, I got to marry my favorite person. The whole world shut down a few days later and we were stunned at the timing. We knew we felt incredibly lucky to have found each other but we had no idea how lucky it would be to get married right before a monumental time in our history,” Brittany wrote on Instagram.

Along with it, she shared a few pictures of her wedding day, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Despite several hurdles, the couple had a perfect celebration.

“Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong that day… but it was absolutely and impossibly perfect. I knew on that day, more than ever before, there was no one else I’d rather hold my hand while in the middle of a (life) hurricane. I love you @tylerstanaland. You’re my dream come true,” she added.

Elon Musk to reveal more about brain-computer tech on August 28

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Elon Musk to reveal more about brain-computer tech on August 28

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has announced that its most secretive brain-computer interface technology startup Neuralink will provide a key update on its progress on August 28.

To help paralyzed people control devices and empower people with brain disorders, Neuralink last year unveiled tiny brain “threads” in a chip that is long-lasting, usable at home and has the potential to replace cumbersome devices currently used as brain-machine interfaces.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk may announce human trials for the Neuralink technology that has been successful in mice and even apes.

“If you can’t beat em, join em – Neuralink’s mission statement,” Musk tweeted on Thursday. “Progress update August 28”.

In February this year, Musk promised an “awesome” update by Neuralink.

“The profound impact of high bandwidth, high precision neural interfaces is underappreciated. Neuralink may have this in a human as soon as this year,” Musk had tweeted.

“Wait until you see the next version vs what was presented last year. It’s awesome,” he added.

The technology has a module that sits outside the head, behind the ear, and receives information from “threads” embedded in the brain.

Controlled by an iPhone app, the chip called “N1 sensor” with just a USB port coming out can have as many as 3,072 electrodes per array distributed across 96 “threads” — each “thread” smaller than the tiniest human hair.

The chip which will be wireless in the future can read, transmit high-volume data and amplify signals from the brain.

“This has the potential to solve several brain-related diseases. The idea is to understand and treat brain disorders, preserve and enhance your own brain and create a well-aligned future,” Musk told the audience at the launch event last year.

Founded as a medical research company in 2016, Neuralink has hired several high-profile neuroscientists from various universities.

The company is focused on creating devices resembling tiny sewing machines that can be implanted in the human brain — to improve memory or more direct interfacing with computing devices.

With over 26k fresh cases, India inches closer to 8 lakh

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With over 26k fresh cases, India inches closer to 8 lakh

India recorded the highest single-day spike of over 26,502 new coronavirus cases and 475 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the total tally close to eight lakh with 21,604 deaths, Health Ministry’s data revealed on Friday.

According to the data, out of total 7,93,802 cases, 4,95,513 have recovered while 2,76,685 remain active in the country. With more Covid-19 patients recovering, the gap between the number of recovered cases and active cases has increased by two lakh.

The rate of recovery among the Covid-19 patients continues to increase and has touched 62.42 percent. India, however, remains to be the third worst-affected country after the US and Brazil.

During the last 24 hours, 2,83,659 samples were tested, as the testing lab network continues to expand. As on date, more than 1,119 labs have enabled people to undergo coronavirus tests.

Maharashtra tops the chart and remains the worst-hit state, with cases reaching up to 2,30,599 and 9,667 casualties so far, of which 417 occurred in the last 24 hours. Tamil Nadu remained the second-worst hit with a total of 1,26,581 cases, including 1,765 deaths.

With 2,187 new coronavirus cases and 45 deaths in the last 24 hours, the national capital on Thursday recorded a total tally of 1,07,051 cases and 3,258 deaths.

States with more than 10,000 cases include Gujarat with 39,194 cases and 2,008 deaths, Uttar Pradesh (32,362), Rajasthan (22,563), Madhya Pradesh (16,341), West Bengal (25,911), Haryana (19,369), Karnataka (31,105), Andhra Pradesh (23,814), Telangana (30,946), Assam (14,032) and Bihar (13,944) cases.

On the global front, the overall number of global Covid-19 cases has surged to over 12.2 million, while the deaths have increased to more than 5,54,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.

NSNIS Patiala announces relaxation in admission criteria of coaching course

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NSNIS Patiala announces relaxation in admission criteria of coaching course

In a first-time endeavor, 46 eminent athletes, men, and women will get direct admission to the flagship diploma course in sports coaching at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports (NSNIS) in Patiala, from the session of 2020-21 onwards.

This decision was announced by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju in May. Now, it has been decided to relax a few of the admission criteria earlier stated.

While the educational qualification from entry to the course remains 10+2 for all eminent athletes, changes have been brought about in the sports achievements criteria so as to allow more Asian and Commonwealth medallists and participants of Senior World Championships to enroll for the course.

Earlier, it was mandatory for an applicant to have won a medal in the Senior World Championship, however, in the new criteria athletes who have participated in the event are also eligible to apply. The criteria of winning a gold medal in the Asian or Commonwealth Games have been replaced by winning a medal – gold, silver, or bronze – in either of the events. Elite athletes who have participated in the Olympics are automatically qualified to apply for the course.

The 46 eminent athletes will be chosen for 23 sports (1 male, 1 female coach in each discipline), and will not have to appear for the entrance exam, which has been made online for the first-ever time in the history of the course. All eminent athletes who are shortlisted for the course director will however have to take the medical and physical tests alongside other candidates.

In the case of two eminent athletes applying from the same discipline, a point-system has been put in place to identify the final candidate.

In view of the relaxation in the criteria for eminent athletes, it has also been decided to extend the last date of submission of online application for enrolment to the course to July 31.

For other candidates whose educational qualification required in a graduation degree, it has been decided that in keeping with the current situation of the coronavirus pandemic, candidates who are awaiting final year results of graduation level degree courses or if universities that they are enrolled in are yet to conduct final examination of the graduation-level degree courses, can also apply online for the admission to the diploma course but have to produce the final year passing certificate by September 30 to be eligible for the course.

Sony invests $250 million in Fortnite maker Epic Games

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Sony invests $250 million in Fortnite maker Epic Games

Sony on Friday announced it has made a strategic investment of $250 million to acquire a minority interest in Epic Games, creator of the popular video game Fortnite.

The investment enables Sony and Epic to broaden their collaboration with Sony’s portfolio of entertainment assets and technology, and Epic’s social entertainment platform and digital ecosystem to create unique experiences for consumers and creators.

“Epic’s powerful technology in areas such as graphics places them at the forefront of game engine development with Unreal Engine and other innovations. There’s no better example of this than the revolutionary entertainment experience, Fortnite,” Kenichiro Yoshida, CEO Sony said in a statement.

The companies noted they have “an already close relationship,” and that the investment allows them to “broaden their collaboration.”

Tim Sweeney, CEO Epic, said that both Sony and Epic have created businesses at the intersection of creativity and technology and they share a vision of real-time 3D social experiences that will lead to a convergence of gaming, film, and music. He added that the parties plan to build a “more open and accessible digital ecosystem for all consumers and content creators.”

Epic operates Fortnite, the world’s largest game with over 350 million accounts and 2.5 billion friend connections.

Epic also develops Unreal Engine, which powers the world’s leading games and is being adopted across industries such as film and television, architecture, automotive, and manufacturing for visualization and simulation.

Meanwhile, Sony is all set to launch its next-generation console PlayStation 5 later this year, with titles including Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” and Rockstar Games’ “Grand Theft Auto V.”

Quad-camera phones to push CIS sensors sales to 5bn units in 2020

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Quad-camera phones to push CIS sensors sales to 5bn units in 2020

Led by OPPO, Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung, and Realme, the global shipment of smartphone CMOS image sensors (CIS) is likely to reach 5 billion units this year as quad-camera smartphone designs witness great momentum despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report has said.

The pandemic has overall affected the global smartphone industry and the market is expected to be dragged down to the level of shipments in 2014, slightly over 1.3 billion units, representing a nearly 10 percent (year-on-year) decline in comparison to 2019.

However, as a beneficiary of the continuous improvement in technology and feature sets, the sales volume of CMOS image sensors (CIS) for smartphone applications increased eightfold over the past decade, reaching more than 4.5 billion units in 2019.

“Thanks to the irreversible trend towards multi-camera setups and the spreading adoption of 3D sensing systems, the smartphone CIS segment will likely still register high-single-digit shipment growth in 2020, hitting an all-time high of close to 5 billion units,” said senior analyst Ethan Qi from Counterpoint Research.

Each smartphone shipped in the March quarter this year packed more than 3.5 image sensors on average.

The growth is primarily driven by the rising penetration of quad-camera designs in the high- to mid-end smartphones, which jumped to nearly 20 percent during the period.

Smartphone brands OPPO, Xiaomi Huawei, and Samsung were at the forefront of adopting quad-camera setups, collectively accounting for 83 percent of all the quad- and Penta-camera-based smartphone shipments during Q1 2020.

The fast-growing brand Realme was most aggressive to ride on this trend.

“Almost two-thirds of its smartphone volumes in Q1 packed a quad-lens system. The next brand squeezing more camera sensors into the rear camera module was OPPO accounting for more than half of its smartphones shipped in Q1 2020,” said the Counterpoint report.

“As camera function has become a key differentiator in smartphones, we expect the quad-camera feature will become a standard moving forward,” said Research Director, Tom Kang.

Leading smartphone brands will continue to enrich and enhance the photography and video capture experiences, as well as exploring AR applications, “by leveraging diversified lens and sensor combinations along with the increasing AI computing power”.

Google joins Canonical to bring Flutter apps to Linux

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Google joins Canonical to bring Flutter apps to Linux

Google has announced that it is partnering with open source software operating system Ubuntu maker Canonical to bring its open-source UI software development kit Flutter to Linux desktop operating system.

Google’s goal for Flutter has always been to provide a portable framework for building beautiful user interfaces (UIs) that run at native speeds no matter what platform.

“To validate this capability, we started by focusing on the mobile platforms, Android and iOS, where we’ve seen more than 80,000 fast, beautiful Flutter apps published to Google Play,” said Google’s Chris Sells and Canonical’s Ken VanDine.

Flutter is now ready to handle first-featured, full-sized desktop apps, they added.

More than 500,000 developers use Flutter each month and two million developers have used it since version 1.0 was released in December 2018.

Canonical is making a significant investment in Flutterby dedicating a team of developers to work alongside Google’s developers to bring the best Flutter experience to the majority of Linux distributions.

“Canonical will continue to collaborate with Google to further improve Linux support and maintain feature parity with the other supported platforms,” said the companies.

Flutter is Google’s cross-platform application framework that allows developers to create responsive apps for Android, iOS, and macOS.

Hours before Dubey’s encounter, plea in SC apprehended Vikas’ fate

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Hours before Dubey’s encounter, plea in SC apprehended Vikas’ fate

A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking directions for the Uttar Pradesh government to conduct a thorough investigation into the killing/alleged encounter of five aides of gangster Vikas Dubey who might have been involved in the killing of eight policemen in Kanpur on July 3.

The petitioner also expressed the apprehension of Dubey’s encounter killing and sought a CBI probe into the matter. The plea was moved on Thursday evening by advocate and petitioner-in-person Ghanshyam Upadhyay seeking urgent hearing on the matter.

Hours later on Friday, Dubey was killed after being critically injured in an alleged shootout with STF officials on way to Kanpur. He was shot when he reportedly tried to flee, following a road accident in which the vehicle he was traveling in overturned.

The plea contended the debates on news channels indicate that Dubey got himself arrested by Madhya Pradesh police to avoid his encounter by Uttar Pradesh police. “Thus, there is every possibility that even accused Vikas Dubey shall be killed by Uttar Pradesh Police like other co-accused once his custody is obtained by Uttar Pradesh Police. Since the killing of the accused by the police in the name of encounter even in howsoever heinous crime is against the rule of law and serious violation of the human right and this is nothing short of Talibanisation of the country and hence the instant petition,” said the plea.

The plea contended that acts of Uttar Pradesh Police/administration of pulling down/demolishing the residential building, shopping mall of Dubey and also his expensive cars/vehicles and various other movable/immovable properties with the help of a bulldozer, JCB, Poclain machines is highly illegal and impermissible in law.

“Punishing the accused/culprit after his crime being proved, is the function of the competent court of law and thus, police cannot usurp jurisdiction to itself to punish the accused by killing him in the name of the encounter before his crime being proved in accordance with the law,” said the plea.

The petitioner urged the top court to direct the UP police to register an FIR in the incident of pulling down/demolishing the residential building, shopping mall of accused Vikas Dubey and so all his expensive cars/vehicles and various other movable/immovable properties with the help of a bulldozer, JCB machines and further killing of five co-accused, who were alleged to be involved in the killing of eight policemen and transfer the investigations to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Inter Milan held by Verona 2-2 in Serie A

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Inter Milan held by Verona 2-2 in Serie A

Inter Milan have slipped to the fourth place in the Serie A after playing out a 2-2 draw against Hellas Verona in a topsy-turvy thriller.

On Thursday, Antonio Candreva took center stage, scoring one goal and setting up another, but it was not enough as Miguel Veloso came up with the equalizer before the whistle, reports Xinhua news agency.

Inter’s coach Antonio Conte surprisingly dropped playmaker Christian Eriksen and hitman Lautaro Martinez, as Borja Valero and Alexis Sanchez stepped in.

It took Verona just two minutes to break the deadlock as Darko Lazovic dribbled past Milan Skriniar near the by-line, bursting into the box and drilling home from a tight angle.

Inter got back on level terms straight after the restart when Romelu Lukaku smacked the woodwork, and Candreva turned in the rebound.

The away side quickly rode the momentum in the 55th minute and it was Candreva again, as his cross-shot accidentally took a deflection off Inter’s loanee Federico Dimarco to wrong-foot Verona’s goalie Marco Silvestri.

When the Nerazzurri were about to take the three points, Veloso ruined their victory as the Portuguese smashed home in the 86th minute on Amir Rrahmani’s assist, leaving Inter’s goalkeeper Samir Handanovic stranded.

The draw, coupled with Atalanta’s 2-0 victory over Sampdoria on Wednesday, sent the Beneamata into fourth place with 65 points.

In an earlier fixture on Thursday, Udinese enjoyed a 3-0 away triumph over SPAL.

UK entering severe recession: Sunak

TB Team
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UK entering severe recession: Sunak

UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the country has entered a “severe recession” and was “sorry” for not helping “everyone in exactly the way they would have wanted”.

Speaking to the BBC on Thursday, the Chancellor said the government was “throwing everything” at stemming job losses with a 30 billion pounds stimulus package.

But Sunak added that he will not be able to protect “every single job”, as the UK was “entering one of the most severe recessions this country has ever seen”.

“If you’re asking me ‘can I protect every single job’ of course the answer is no,” he told the BBC.

“‘Is unemployment going to rise, are people going to lose their jobs?’ Yes, and the scale of this is significant.”

Sunak’s remarks come as figures released by the Treasury revealed that public spending on the battle against the coronavirus pandemic has risen to nearly 190 billion pounds.

And the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned the UK was not in a “normal recession” but “the deepest in history”.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that unemployment in the UK will reach “record highs” of up to 11.7 percent by the end of 2020, without a second COVID-19 wave.

On Wednesday, the Chancellor announced a series of measures to help the economy, including a VAT cut for the hospitality and tourism sectors, a bonus scheme for employers, and an eating out money off scheme for August.

Sunak said the 1,000-pound bonus being offered to businesses that keep furloughed staff in jobs until January 2021 would be a “dead weight” cost, as some employers who intend to retain workers anyway would benefit.

“Throughout this crisis, I’ve had decisions to make and whether to act in a broad way at scale and at speed or to act in a more targeted and nuanced way,” he told the BBC.

“In an ideal world, you’re absolutely right, you would minimize that dead weight and do everything in an incredibly targeted fashion.

“The problem is the severity of what was happening to our economy, the scale of what was happening, and indeed the speed that it was happening at demanded a different response,” Sunak added.

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