Xi Jinping: The Chinese Hitler leading PRC to disaster

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Xi Jinping: The Chinese Hitler leading PRC to disaster

• Xi is unfairly using early recovery from pandemic for external encroachment and internal consolidation.Chinese aggression in all domains will be rebuffed globally, led by powers suffering the most.

• Xi Jinping’s over ambition and lust for power has been emboldened by mute tolerance in CPC and PRC. His adventurism is leading China to disaster, unless the Chinese reins its leadership.

Backdrop

History is full of examples whenever the ambition of any autocrat grew beyond global tolerance, he became responsible for collapse of his regime, resulting in disaster of the country and population, which emboldened him by mute tolerance. Today, despite facing unprecedented global anger for being the originator of novel coronavirus, the aggressiveness of Chinese leadership on multiple fronts to suppress internal and external dissent has pushed the world against itself. Xi Jinping’s unfair adventurism for incremental encroachment to all his ever increasing claim areas in continental and maritime domain, at a time when other countries are suffering from most dangerous pandemic of the century, with death toll rising every day, is amounting to inhuman aggression, junking all morals, international conventions, rules, treaties and forcing the world to reluctantly react against his regime.

Xi Jinping’s Overambition

Xi started his term by dream-selling to pull China out of poverty line by 2020. Internationally he projected himself as the crusader for world peace and climate change(despite junking the ruling of PCA and violating UNCLOS), with a resolve to push through Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to fulfil Chinese dream of rejuvenation, after century of humiliation. As ‘Chairman of Everything’ he indirectly declared himself as the tallest leader on the planet, got himself re-elected for second term and did everything to make himself great, under the banner of ‘Making China Great’. He assumed that the world will accept him as tallest autocratic leader, as Chinese people accepted him, without worthwhile checks and balances. His anti-corruption drive systematically eliminated the entire dissenting elements and all his possible competitors.

China: Boiling Pressure Cooker with no Safety Valve

Xi took over in 2012 as President with 7.9 per cent GDP growth and led China to economic downslide thereafter. With failing BRI, mishandling of COVID-19, there is no worthwhile achievement to his credit except that he managed to eliminate dissenting elements. His critiques in the CPC feel that his real achievements do not match his elevation to the status of MaoZedang, which has created some disgruntled elements/lobbies, who are still under check due to his comprehensive surveillance, because disagreeing with Xi ‘The Core’ is anti-national and leads to jail.

It is quite clear to Xi Jinping and CPC, that if he fails economically, and the educated people of China don’t get a decent life, they may not tolerate his autocracy, having no worthwhile grievance redressal mechanism and the democratic winds will start flowing from Hong Kong and Taiwan. The legal system stands hostage to party leadership justifies the boiling pot theory; hence the biggest threat to China comes from within. Some of his actions like laying restrictions on religious practices on Uyghurs’ and their forced abortions in Xinjiang, use of force in implementing draconian National Security Law in Hongkong are too risky. The strict censorship of media and internet, electronic isolation, social engineering to bring societal changes are unpopular steps to minimize unrests.

Why over-ambitious Xi Opening Multiple Fronts?

The viability of “Implosion theory” is feared to be a reality by a totalitarian regime; hence a dose of nationalism nurtured through external aggression, suits Xi Jinping’s hold on power, besides making best use of early recovery from COVID-19 in comparison to his competitors. China has unfairly used it as an opportunity to assert itself on multiple fronts, including India-China land borders to scrumptiously encroach some area not supposed to be held, as per the mutually agreed CBMs, where both sides were free to patrol. This is a sequel to the Chinese adventurism in Indo-Pacific at multiple places in South and East China sea with greater assertion against other claimants like Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines. The rationale of China being over assertive at the time of pandemic comes from Sun Tzu’s thoughts of ‘Strike adversary when it’s weak and preserve yourself when it is strong’. China is therefore speeding up its Incremental Encroachment Strategy in South China Sea as well as LAC.

The strategic calculations seem to be ambitious, as in authoritarian state, the sycophancy prevents leaders getting objective advices from subordinate strategists. When Hitler launched offensive in Russia in World War II, beyond its logistics limit for sustaining in winters, he overruled advices of subordinates and brought Germany to disaster.

In case of China, Xi emboldened by modernised arsenal and extensive exercises and propaganda is planning to take on some of the most experienced troops, despite not having a single pilot in the PLA with any operational experience. While its density of arsenal in South China Sea and Eastern Sea board looks impressive, but its vulnerability of long Sea lanes of Communications in Malacca strait and the Indian Ocean, coupled with blockading of its naval bases by hostile navies can draw out PLA out of its comfort zone, where it is no match to combined navies of hostile countries, including the US spending four to five times of China on defence over so many decades. The strong military posturing by navies from the US, Australia, Japan, and regional claimants of South China Sea enough for deterrence and accidental engagement, because an all-out war is recipe for mutually assured destruction (MAD), which even Beijing cannot afford given the fact that it faces potent nuclear and space power.

Contours of Undeclared Third World War

The forced occupation of landmass by China in terms of features in South China Sea claimed by others junking PCA ruling, has graduated to skirmishes. The dimensions of warfare to include economic war, cyber and information war, biological war by asymmetrical impact of COVID-19, resulting many more deaths than all world wars put together, large scale military posturing in Indo-Pacific and physical land grab offensive by China in Ladakh, using pandemic as a weapon.

The possible alliances also seem to be on the horizon seemingly China, Pakistan and North Korea taking on competitors of China and everyone else in the world not agreeing to Chinese narrative. The current global situation has every element of a World War, except that the dimension, instruments and modalities have changed from conventional war, and the war has not been ‘Formally Declared’; hence it may well be called as “Undeclared Third World War with Changed Instruments and dimensions”. The world has already entered in preparatory phase of it, without recognising it to be so.

Pattern of Global Reaction

In continental domain its land grab efforts in Ladakh have been rebutted by India, which honoured its 20 fallen soldiers with state honours, whereas the PLA chose to hide its fallen soldiers much more in number, creating another wave of anger amongst the PLA veterans. The mutual disengagement is being viewed with suspicion as PLA demonstrated its unprofessionalism to the world by using barbaric tools for attacking Indian soldiers, junking the CBMs and yet bought heavy casualties. India is certainly not going to take mini disengagement gestures for granted, unless PLA withdraws to pre-standoff positions; hence will be ready to respond with all options on the table.

In maritime front, the US has already demonstrated strong military posturing. The ASEAN, which was muted by China so far, by consolation of draft Code of Conduct and purse diplomacy, combined with coercion due to large power asymmetry, seems emboldened to talk about UNCLOS, demanding fair share of EEZ of affected countries. Taiwan, emboldened by national sentiments, leadership, the US support through Taiwan Relation Act and NDAA has started identifying itself as a nation, junking ‘One country Two systems’, ready to defend itself should a situation arise, besides granting asylum to willing people from Hong Kong. Japan is looking for strengthening its defence capabilities. Some more adventurism by North Korea may see Japan going nuclear in future. Xi Jinping’s ambition has costed global loss of trust and some important markets for China. Russia and Iran have a forced marriage with China, due to sanctions from the West, but given the geo-strategic situation, playing neutral, along with sale of weaponry/oil may be the best option for them.

China may be able to implement the draconian National Security Act in Hong Kong, but global reaction is unavoidable. China has to bear the cost of demise of its financial hub, with many countries inclined for economic distancing, shifting FDI, banning concessions granted to Hong Kong, granting citizenship to those willing to exit, thus creating ideal conditions for urban insurgency in times to come, besides the rural insurgency of Xinjiang. Suddenly the voices in support of Uighurs and Tibetans and questions on ‘One China Policy’ have started becoming active, notwithstanding the threats of Chinese wolf warrior diplomats.

Future of China under over-ambitious Xi

Xi Jinping’s Chinese dream of ‘Rejuvenation’ and his aim of ‘Prosperous Developed Society’ with a ‘War Winning Modern PLA’ by 2050 was achievable, had he not harboured dictatorial over ambition to achieve these aims and dislodge the US as a superpower, making unfair use of pandemic. In fact, the first major conversion of features in South China Sea to military bases took place during the last US elections, with no big bang action from the US. This emboldened Xi to use pandemic unfairly to fulfil all his aims before time, without having capacity to protect its global shipping outside its eastern seaboard. With the kind of global anger he has generated against his regime, the lesson of diversification of global factory for the world, along with need of economic distancing from China has become evident. Xi has thus pushed his country on a path to disaster unless Chinese people wake up and shake up the CCP and rein their leadership to protect their dreams.

Takeaway for India

From the Indian perspective, this is the time when Beijing is under maximum external and internal pressure since last five decades. If Beijing continues with its high headedness, it will invite further pressure. This may well be the time to push through border settlement or demarcation of LAC as the political cost of resolving the border/LAC may be lesser than an active front with India. India should not settle down with token disengagement because unless the LAC is demarcated the standoffs will continue. For the time being India should not blink at the borders.

(Major General S. B. Asthana, SM, VSM Veteran is the Chief Instructor, United Service Institution of India. The views expressed here are his personal views.)

India may see 2.87 lakh Covid cases a day by winter 2021: MIT study

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India may see 2.87 lakh Covid cases a day by winter 2021: MIT study

In the absence of a COVID-19 vaccine or drugs, the researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have warned that India might record 2.87 lakh coronavirus cases per day by the end of winter 2021.

The world may witness 249 million (24.9 crore) cases and 1.8 million (18 lakh) deaths by spring 2021 if there are no effective treatments or vaccination, according to the study conducted by the researchers Hazhir Rahmandad, TY Lim and John Sterman of MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

“In this paper, we build and estimate a multi-country model of the Covid-19 pandemic at a global scale,” the study authors wrote.

For the findings, the MIT research team use a multi-country modified SEIR (Susceptible, Exposed, Infectious, Recovered) model, a standard mathematical model for infectious diseases used by epidemiologists, to simultaneously estimate the transmission of Covid-19 in 84 countries (4.75 billion people).

The model tracked community transmission, excluding the global travel network and instead separately estimating the date of introduction of patient zero for each country.

Within each country, the core of the model tracks the population through susceptible, pre-symptomatic, infected pre-testing, infected post-testing, and recovered states.

“Our model captures transmission dynamics for the disease, as well as how, at the country level, transmission rates vary in response to risk perception and weather, testing rates condition infection and death data, and fatality rates depend on demographics and hospitalisation,” they explained.

According to the study, the top 10 countries by projected daily infection rates at the end of winter 2021 are India, US, South Africa, Iran, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey, France and Germany.

India will be the worst affected country due to coronavirus followed by the US (95,000 cases per day), South Africa (21,000 cases per day) Iran (17,000 cases per day), and Indonesia (13,000 cases per day) at the end of winter 2021.

The MIT researchers also said that Infections are 12 times higher and deaths 50 per cent higher than previously reported.

“While actual cases are far greater than official reports suggest, the majority of people remain susceptible. Waiting for herd immunity is not a viable path out of the current pandemic,” Rahmandad said.

“Every community needs to keep the pandemic under control until a vaccine or treatment is widely available. A slow and half-hearted response only increases the human costs without offering much of an upside in terms of economic output,” Rahmandad noted.

As of Wednesday morning, the overall number of global COVID-19 cases has increased to more than 11.7 million, while the deaths have soared to over 543,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Samsung confirms ‘Galaxy Unpacked’ flagship launch on August 5

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Samsung confirms ‘Galaxy Unpacked’ flagship launch on August 5

Samsung on Wednesday confirmed it will host a virtual Galaxy Unpacked event on August 5 to debut the new Galaxy Note 20 series and a next-generation foldable device.

The event will begin at 7.30 pm India time, and will be live-streamed on the company’s official website.

The smartphone maker has shared a video related to the event but hasn’t revealed much in the teaser itself.

Ahead of the launch, some specifications of the Galaxy Note 20 series surfaced online.

The standard Galaxy Note 20 will sport a 6.42-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 1084×2345 resolution.

The top-end Note 20 smartphone will get slightly bigger and sport a massive 6.87-inch LTPO screen with an AMOLED panel.

Like Note 20, Note 20+ will also have support for 120Hz refresh rate but with QHD+ resolution of 1444×3096 pixels.

The smartphone maker may launch the Galaxy Note 20 with Snapdragon 865 processor or its custom Exynos 990 SoC, depending upon the region.

The processor could be paired with up to 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, which Samsung had previously started mass-producing.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 is likely to feature a 7.59-inch screen with 2213×1689 resolution and a refresh rate of 120Hz.

63-yr-old woman killed in Pakistan firing in J&K’s Poonch

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63-yr-old woman killed in Pakistan firing in J&K’s Poonch

A 63-year-old woman was killed and two civilians were injured in Pakistani firing in the Mendhar sector near the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch.

According to details, Pakistani forces resorted to ceasefire violation in the Mendhar and Balakote sectors on Tuesday night in which Rasham Bi (63) was killed and two civilians were injured.

“On July 8 at about 2 a.m., Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with Small Arms and intense shelling with Mortars along LoC in Balakote and Mendhar sectors in Poonch district. Indian Army retaliated befittingly. Firing stopped at around 2:45 a.m.,” the Army said in a statement.

There has been a spike in ceasefire violations with Pakistani forces targeting defence positions and civilian areas at the LoC in Kashmir Valley.

Facebook, Zoom pause Hong Kong’s requests for users’ data

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Facebook, Zoom pause Hong Kong’s requests for users’ data

Microsoft and video meet platform Zoom have joined several tech giants who have decided not to process data requests from the Hong Kong authorities in the wake of China imposing a controversial new National Security Law in Hong Kong.

Apple, however, said it was still “assessing” the new rules.

A Microsoft spokesperson said on Tuesday: “In the past, we’ve typically received only a relatively small number of requests from Hong Kong authorities, but we are pausing our responses to these requests as we conduct our review”.

The company received requests for data linked to 81 accounts from Hong Kong’s government between July and December 2019, according to its latest transparency report.

A Zoom spokesperson said that they are “actively monitoring the developments in Hong Kong” and “have paused processing any data requests from, and related to, Hong Kong”.

Facebook, WhatsApp, Google, Twitter and Telegram have already announced not to process official requests from the Hong Kong authorities to hand over user data for the time being.

Chinese short-video making app TikTok has said it will quit Hong Kong after China imposed a new national security law.

The national security law, which Beijing put into effect on the eve of the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from British to Chinese rule, criminalises a wide range of behaviour and acts under four categories of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with a foreign power.

The people in Hong Kong fear that the new law can send them to jail on the basis of their social media posts and messages.

The new law requires local authorities to take steps to supervise and regulate the city’s internet.

Instagram begins testing ‘Shops’ feature with select users

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Instagram begins testing ‘Shops’ feature with select users

After Facebook, Instagram has begun testing the new Shops feature with select users globally to help set up a single online store for customers.

Tapping on the ‘Shops’ tab at the bottom bar in Instagram will take users to existing shopping experience in the app, with a listing of posts that have Shopping Tags added via approved merchants, reports TechCrunch

The Shops tab would replace the current ‘Activity’ tab for those in the test.

Users would be able to access ‘Activity’ via an additional icon in top right.

Facebook in May announced to roll out Shops on its platform.

“Creating a Facebook Shop is free and simple. Businesses can choose the products they want to feature from their catalog and then customise the look and feel of their shop with a cover image and accent colours that showcase their brand,” Facebook said in a statement.

Any seller, no matter their size or budget, can bring their business online and connect with customers wherever and whenever it’s convenient for them.

The company said that in Facebook Shops, users will be able to message a business through WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct to ask questions, get support, track deliveries and more.

In the future, they will be able to view a business’ shop and make purchases right within a chat in WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct.

Anushka Sharma: Pandemic taught me we are all co-dependent

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Anushka Sharma: Pandemic taught me we are all co-dependent

Actress-producer Anushka Sharma says the Covid-19 pandemic has taught her that all are co-dependent on one another even if it is clearly not seen.

“I think what this pandemic has taught me is that we are all co-dependent on one another even if we don’t see it very clearly. The connection that all of us have — right from a farmer to a person working at the topmost level in a corporate (organisation) — everyone is connected in some way, and the work that one person does affects the life of another. So it’s something like a Butterfly Effect,” Anushka told IANS.

Everyone is connected to one another, stressed Anushka.

“I think this is something that we are sometimes ignorant of, and we think our life is autonomous, but it actually isn’t. We are all connected with one another and this pandemic has taught us to appreciate one another so much more, and to appreciate the work that everybody does. I’m not only talking about the frontline workers — their contribution has been extremely brave and we all feel extremely grateful for it,” she said.

Anushka said that every job that anyone does is equally important, and they are all linked in a way.

“It is the realisation I’ve had through this pandemic and it has really made me feel way more humbled, and it has made me feel way more connected to everybody and every job that people do right now,” she said.

“Because when everything moves along smoothly you don’t realise the work that you are looking out for, something that you want to get done. You don’t realise that so many people have to come together for it to happen. So many people’s contribution and their expertise in that field helps you attain what you want to attain in life. This is the realisation I had during this pandemic,” she told IANS.

Amit Sadh: Don’t give any person the courage to call you an ‘outsider’

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Amit Sadh: Don’t give any person the courage to call you an ‘outsider’

Amit Sadh is an actor who has made it in Bollywood with no filmi bloodline or industry connections, but he is not ready to call himself an “outsider”.

“I don’t consider myself as an outsider. I am and insider and I stay inside the secure borders of India. Every person is an insider. Don’t give any person the strength or courage to make you feel like in outsider or call you an outsider,” Amit Sadh told IANS.

“I want to mention one more thing. People who are elder in age or in position, and understands more, it is their responsibility to never make those people who are in a lower position and not powerful enough to feel like outsiders. I just hope as long as I am in this industry, I can stop this outsider-insider debate. Instead, we should devote more time for debating on topics that are important and necessary,” added the actor.

Amit began as a television actor in 2002 and later forayed into Bollywood with the film “Phoonk 2” in 2010. He has worked in films like “Kai Po Che”, “Guddu Rangeela”, “Sultan”, “Running Shaadi”, “Raag Desh”, “Gold”, and “Super 30”.

Asked how he has evolved as an actor in all these years, he replied: “I don’t know how much I have evolved because evolution is something that you should see in somebody’s work and you should talk about it. It will look very silly if I talk about my own evolution. Hope people sees that in my work and my behaviour. All I can say is that I am happy that I survived. I am just happy that I am here. I am grateful to all those who gave me work. I am grateful to all of you for allowing me to stay here,” added the actor.

Right now, Amit is gearing up for the second season of the crime-thriller web series “Breathe”, titled “Breathe: Into The Shadows”. In the Amazon Prime Videos series, Amit is set to reprise his role as Inspector Kabir Sawant from the first season.

What new challenges await Inspector Kabir Sawant this time? “Unfortunately I can’t say much because it is a thriller. But I can definitely say that it is bigger, wider and has a new dimension,” shared Amit, adding: “A lot of great actors have come in this season. The new season has been quite challenging for us. But all of us in every department — be it writing, technical, production, DOP or acting — everybody has given their best. We are very excited and happy the trailer has done phenomenally well.”

“Breathe: Into The Shadows” begins streaming from July 10.

US stocks drop amid coronavirus concerns

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US stocks drop amid coronavirus concerns

US stocks fell on Tuesday as market sentiment was dampened by a resurgence in coronavirus infections in the country.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 396.85 points, or 1.51 per cent, to 25,890.18. The S&P 500 fell 34.40 points, or 1.08 per cent, to 3,145.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 89.76 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 10,343.89, Xinhua reported.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors finished lower, with energy down 2.01 per cent, leading the laggards.

Meanwhile, US-listed Chinese companies traded mostly lower, with six of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P US Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.

Stocks closely tied to economic reopening, such as those of airlines and cruise lines, declined amid the soaring number of coronavirus cases in the country.

More than 2.96 million confirmed Covid-19 cases have been reported in the United States, with nearly 131,000 deaths, as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

India records 7.42 lakh coronavirus cases, 20,642 deaths

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India records 7.42 lakh coronavirus cases, 20,642 deaths

India recorded over 22,752 new cases and 482 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the total tally to 7,42,417 with 20,642 deaths, Health Ministry’s data revealed on Wednesday.

According to the data, out of total 7,42,417 cases, 4,56,830 have recovered while 2,64,944 remain active in the country. India is the third worst affected country after the US and Brazil.

During the last 24 hours, 2,62,679 samples have been tested, as the testing lab network continues to expand. As on date, more than 1,115 labs have enabled people to undergo corona tests.

On Tuesday, the central government cited a World Health Organisation (WHO) situation report and claimed the country had one of the lowest coronavirus deaths and cases per million population. The recovery rate has surpassed 61 per cent, it added.

With a spike of more than 5,134 cases in just one day, Maharashtra remains the worst hit state with cases reaching up to 2,11,987 and 9,250 casualties so far, of which 224 occurred in the last 24 hours.

Tamil Nadu remained the second worst hit with a total of 1,18,594 cases, including 1,636 deaths.

With 2,008 new coronavirus cases and 50 deaths in the last 24 hours, the national capital recorded a total tally of 1,02,831 and 3,165 deaths. The recovered patients in the city are almost three times that of the active coronavirus cases.

States with more than 10,000 cases include Gujarat with 37,550 cases and 1,977 deaths, Uttar Pradesh (29,968), Rajasthan (21,404), Madhya Pradesh (15,627), West Bengal (23,837), Haryana (17,999), Karnataka (26,815), Andhra Pradesh (21,197), Telangana (27,612) and Bihar (12,570) cases.

On the global front, the overall number of cases have increased to more than 11.7 million, while the deaths have soared to over 5,43,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Father-son held for duping by posing as IPS officer

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Father-son held for duping by posing as IPS officer

 A man, claiming to be a retired senior executive from the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), and his son, posing as an IPS officer, have been arrested by the Aligarh Police for allegedly extorting money from people.

The police identified the fake cop as Anuj Chawla, 34, who introduced himself to people as an IPS officer posted in the Home Ministry, Delhi. He is a law graduate from Dehradun.

Anuj’s father, Rajendra Chawla, 66, who retired from the BHEL, was also involved in the scam with him and the duo had been fleecing people for the past five years. They belong to Lucknow.

The police found that their car had several fake vehicle passes purportedly issued by the Union Home Ministry and Uttar Pradesh government, apart from fake investigation reports of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and a two-way walkie-talkie set.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Arvind Kumar said that the vehicle, Innova Cresta, carrying a logo of Deputy Inspector General (DIG), was spotted by the police during checking at the Bhikampur crossing.

Kumar said that the vehicle in which they were travelling in was hired from Lucknow and a DIG star plate was displayed on it.

The two occupants were questioned by the police and finally they confessed that they were impersonating the policeman.

The driver, who drove the car to Aligarh, was told that they were travelling to Aligarh on a secret inspection of COVID-19.

Circle officer Bannadevi area, Pankaj Srivastava, said that they had come to Aligarh two days back and had stayed in a posh hotel. They later shifted to some local resident’s house. The father and son had also duped some people by promising marriage to the ‘IPS officer’.

Srivastava said that whenever someone questioned them about their backgrounds, they usually told them that his name and details would not be available on google as he was working as a secret officer at the Kolkata branch of NIA.

An FIR has been registered under various sections including 170 (impersonating a public servant), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of IPC at Bannadevi police station. Further investigations were on.

Big names of global transport evince interest in running private trains

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Big names of global transport evince interest in running private trains

Global infra biggies like Hyundai, Hitachi, Mitsui, Bombardier, Mitsui, Alstom, Macquarie and Siemens are among the companies that have expressed interest in running private trains as per the policy formulated by the Railways.

The companies who have evinced interest in the private trains include Japanese names like Hitachi India, Mitsui & Co. and other global names like Hyundai Rotem, Bombardier Transportation, Alstom Transport, Siemens, Macquarie, CAF India, CRRC ZELC, GATX among others.

The Indian companies include Tata Realty, Adani Ports, Bharat Forge, KEC International, Essel Group, PSUs like IRCTC and BEML.

The Group of Secretaries for this projected was constituted in October, 2019 and wide stakeholder consultations were conducted.

The in principle approval of PPPAC has been received and 12 RFQs issued on July 1, one for each cluster. The RFQ applicants to be shortlisted for submitting financial bid which are expected in 6-8 months.

This will cover 5 per cent of existing 2800 Mail/ Express Rakes over Railways. The concession period is 35 years and the concessionaire to pay fixed haulage charges for path, stations, access to railway infrastructure and charges for electricity consumed.

The concessionaire will share revenue with Indian Railways through competitive bidding. The private entity will ensure 95% punctuality, not more than one failure per lakh kilometre of travel and ensure high level of cleanliness.

The majority of trains will be manufactured in India and trains to be operated by driver and guard of Railways. Tests and trials to validate rolling stock operation will be done by RDSO.

The PPP in passenger train operations envisages induction of modern technology and reduced maintenance intervention of 40,000 km, reduced
transit time, enhanced safety, world class travel experience to passengers, reduce demand supply deficit in the passenger transport sector and bring private investment in rail sector of Rs 30,000 crore.

Railways has invited request for qualifications for private participation for passenger train operations on 109 pairs of routes through 151 modern trains.

The private train operations are likely to begin by April 2023 and all coaches will be procured under Make in India policy. The Railway Board said that the train sets have to be brought by private operators and maintained by them. Fares in private trains will be competitive and prices on other modes of transport like airlines, buses have to be kept in mind while fixing the fares.

The private trains will operate in 12 clusters, including Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Prayagraj, Secunderabad, Howrah and Chennai.

Financial bids for private trains by are expected by February or March and finalisation by April 2021 and Request For Quotation (ROQ) bids will be done by September.

Hina Khan: TV actors don’t get a fair chance in Bollywood

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Hina Khan: TV actors don’t get a fair chance in Bollywood

From starring in the TV show “Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai” for eight years to foray into Bollywood and the digital space, actress Hina Khan has carved a space in the entertainment industry. She feels it is not easy for a TV star to make it big in films.

“What we lack is equality. Nepotism exists everywhere and it does exist in our industry, too. If you are a star and you want to launch your kid, it’s absolutely okay. But, it is not fair when you don’t give an equal chance to outsiders. TV actors hardly make it big in Bollywood, just because we don’t get a fair chance. At least, give us a chance to prove ourselves,” Hina told IANS.

“Sushant Singh Rajput’s journey inspired me a lot. I look up to him for so many things. He made a place for himself in Indian cinema with his hard work. We outsiders do not have godfathers, what we want is a little bit of respect and recognition. So, a proper balance should prevail,” she said.

She also recalled how big Indian designers looked down upon her when she was about to make her debut at the Cannes Film Festival a year ago.

“I don’t know why people in India look down upon TV actors. I remember how international designers helped me instead of Indian designers, during my Cannes debut. In the West, TV actors are treated with dignity, but it is the opposite here. Many people here do not want to work with us. I don’t understand the reason behind it. Are we beneath them or are they insecure of our talent? I hope things change in our industry as soon as possible,” Hina emphasised.

She says it is high time to appreciate talented artistes irrespective of their medium.

“Discrimination on the basis of medium should be stopped. An actor is an actor. It does not matter whether he or she works in a daily soap or a film or a digital show. If he or she is talented, then that particular person should be appreciated and should be given a chance to prove her/his skills,” Hina concluded.

On the work front, Hina was recently seen in the digital film “Unlock”, currently streaming on Zee5.

Andhra govt speeds up mega housing scheme for 30L BPL families

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Andhra govt speeds up mega housing scheme for 30L BPL families

Despite the financial pressures brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is speeding up the groundwork to deliver one of his most ambitious poll promises — housing for 30 lakh below the poverty line (BPL) families of the state by 2024.

Scheduled to begin from August 26 this year, the first phase of the massive ‘Pedalandariki Illu’ or ‘housing for all the poor’ scheme is expected to be completed by 2021. The project is part of the Chief Minister’s poll promises made to the people during the course of his 3,000-km long padayatra when he was in the opposition in Andhra Pradesh.

“The government has decided to first provide the house sites to the beneficiaries. Therefore, we have acquired 44,000 acres of land, both from the government and private persons. More than Rs 7,000 crore has already been spent. Unless the basic infrastructure is available, people will not be able to live in those areas.

“Therefore, we are currently in the process of providing infrastructure like land leveling, approach roads, electricity, water, etc. at about 15,000 layouts,” Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary, Housing Department, said on Tuesday.

The AP government has earmarked Rs 90,000 crore for the program which has now been scaled up from the original 25 lakh homes to 30 lakh homes. The government is spending Rs 15,000 crore on acquiring land and creating infrastructure. So far, Rs 7,000 crore has been spent on acquiring 62,000 acres of land for the project.

“This is a beneficiary-led construction and each house would cost us Rs 2.5 lakh. All these houses will be individual houses measuring 288 sq ft to 300 sq ft each. They will be constructed following energy-efficient practices. As a result, the temperature inside the houses will be 3-4 degrees less compared to the outside temperature. We have tied up with BEE and GOI in this regard,” Jain explained.

In the first phase starting August 2020, 15 lakh houses are planned to be constructed, while work on the remaining houses will begin from August 2021.

110 K’taka pharmacies lose licences for withholding data

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110 K’taka pharmacies lose licences for withholding data

The Karnataka government has annulled the licenses of 110 pharmacies for failing to report the sales data of medicines used for treating symptoms similar to Covid-19 amid the pandemic, an official said on Tuesday.

“The licenses of 110 pharmacies who failed to share the sales reports of ILI and SARI related drugs with the government have been suspended,” Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey said.

The state has instructed all druggists to inform it about people purchasing medicines for fever, cough and cold, and other COVID-like symptoms.

Seventy of the pharmacies whose licenses got revoked are in Kalaburagi, while Bengaluru has three.

Video conferencing app ‘VideoMeet’ announces expansion

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Video conferencing app ‘VideoMeet’ announces expansion

VideoMeet, a free video-conferencing platform, on Tuesday, rolled out its expansion plan in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Badu, and Gujarat with an investment of around Rs 2 crore.

Developed by Rajasthan-based IT firm, Data Ingenious Global Ltd, the VideoMeet app has set up resources to cater to more than 2,000 people in various conferences.

The ‘Made in India’ video conferencing app currently stands at a count of 50,000 downloads for Android smartphone users and is increasing every day.

According to the company, the expansion is needed to provide uninterrupted and secured video calling service to its growing user base.

“The application in its upcoming updated version will see vernacular languages integrated for an indigenous touch. VideoMeet currently supports Hindi,” Ajay Data, Founder and CEO, Data Ingenious Global Ltd, said in a statement.

“We are not aligned with any telecom network; therefore we have facilitated a system that regulates data usage. Our back-end team keeps working to make VideoMeet a one-stop video conferencing solution for the Indian citizens,” he added.

The highlights of the platform remain its set of features like recording, screen share, music share, flip cameras and chat during the video call.

The application is fully equipped to handle virtual meetings and webinars for work or any other personal and social interests, the company said.

This application regulates the user’s data consumption, with its data compression technology, and is available free of cost on all platforms, Android, Web, and iOS, the company informed.

It also said that IT-resources like high capacity servers need to be deployed in four different states for hosting larger meetings without any technical glitches.

Covid recovery rate tops 70%, 25,449 active cases in Delhi

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Covid recovery rate tops 70%, 25,449 active cases in Delhi

With 2,008 new cases and 50 deaths in the last 24 hours, the national capital’s coronavirus tally has risen to 1,02,831 and toll to 3,165.

Till now, 74,217 people have recovered, almost three times the number of active cases that stand at 25,449. Over 3,165 deaths mean that the city’s fatality rate is 3 percent.

While the city crossed the grim milestone of 1,00,000 cases on Monday, the silver lining was the recovery rate that exceeded 70 percent.

According to the Delhi government’s daily bulletin, 2,129 patients recovered in the last 24 hours.

On June 23, the city had witnessed the highest single-day peak of 3,947 cases, but the number has come down steadily since then despite the rise in the number of tests.

The number of tests has gone up with the launch of rapid antigen tests last month. Over 8,795 RT-PCR and 13,653 rapid antigen tests were conducted during the day.

In total, 6,79,831 tests have been conducted in the national capital that has 454 containment zones.

Currently, 5,003 beds are occupied at the COVID hospitals, and other facilities and 16,608 are in home isolation.

Earlier during the day, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia visited a newly developed 500-bed COVID hospital. It was set up six days by the city government.

Google Meet crosses 10 crore installs in less than 2 months

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Google Meet crosses 10 crore installs in less than 2 months

Popular video meets app Google Meet for Android has surpassed over 10 crore downloads globally on Google Play Store.

The platform doubled the install base in less than two-months time as more and more people turned to video conferencing owing to the global pandemic, reports Android Police.

According to app traffic and performance observer AppBrain, Google Meet passed 5 crores (50 million) installs or downloads mark on Google Play on May 17. AppBrain figures indicated that the app crossed 10 crore installs on July 7.

According to Javier Soltero Vice President & GM, G Suite, the tech giant has seen daily usage of the Meet app grow by 30 times, with hosting 3 billion minutes of video meetings daily.

The search engine giant had earlier made Meet video platform free to anyone with a Gmail account, as part of Google’s Meet expansion.

Google Meet is completely free and anyone with an email address can sign up and get started. Users can see Google Meet on the left menu, with two options: Start a meeting and join a meeting.

WI can win against top sides now in Tests, says Holder

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WI can win against top sides now in Tests, says Holder

Jason Holder on Tuesday said West Indies have improved a lot as a Test outfit and can now challenge any top team in the world in the five-day format which is considered their weakest link.

The Windies, led by all-rounder Holder, will lock horns against England in a three-Test series starting Wednesday at the Ageas Bowl, and it will mark the resumption of cricket after the sport was suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former West Indies captain and batting great Brian Lara has said Holder’s troops will have to try and finish the game inside four days as they won’t be able to attain a positive result if the Test matches against England go into the fifth and final day.

“This West Indies team has had really good results in the last three years. We can win against top sides and we can win series against top sides as well,” Holder said during a video conference on the eve of the first Test.

“England will come at us hard. We expect a tough contest and the onus is on us to dethrone England in their own backyard and it’s not going to be easy,” said the world’s No. 1 ranked Test all-rounder. The matches can be watched live from 3:30 p.m. on SONY SIX channels from Wednesday.

Asked about the saliva ban, Holder said it has not been much of a problem in the warm-up game but they will have to wait and watch how it goes in the first Test.

“The only thing we can do is put the body sweat on it (ball). There is nothing else we can do. As to the impact, it can only be told when the series starts. We have tried it in the warm-up games and it hasn’t gone too badly for us. Let’s see what happens on the field. Conditions will have a lot of impacts. It will be a trial and error in this series.”

All eyes will be on all-rounders Ben Stokes and Holder in Southampton as they will lead their respective teams on the pitch at Ageas Bowl to mark the beginning of this historic series. England’s World Cup hero Stokes is second to Holder in allrounders’ rankings in Tests.

Asked about the personal battle, Holder said: “I don’t get caught up with it, my job is to play.”

Holder became the first West Indian since the great Garfield Sobers to be named as the world’s leading all-rounder following his superb display against England in Barbados last year.

“It feels good to be in elite company, I have had tons of conversations with him and he is so positive. He is one of those guys who will put his arm around you and nurture you,” said Holder of Sobers.

Hardik & Krunal Pandya reach Ranchi to celebrate Dhoni’s birthday

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Hardik & Krunal Pandya reach Ranchi to celebrate Dhoni’s birthday

Former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had special guests at his Ranchi home on Tuesday as India all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya reached Captain Cool’s doors to surprise him on his 39th birthday.

Speaking to IANS, sources in the know of developments said that the duo left Baroda on Tuesday itself and are most likely to return on Wednesday.

“It is no secret that Hardik considers Dhoni as not only his mentor but also his elder brother. He has often spoken about the kind of guidance he has got from Dhoni. Similarly, Krunal also respects him a lot. So, they decided to take a chartered flight to Ranchi today and are likely to return tomorrow after celebrating Dhoni’s birthday. It was a surprise planned for the former India skipper,” the source pointed.

Social media was flooded with birthday wishes with people from all walks wishing the former India captain on his special day. However, among all this, there was a special wish for Dhoni — the one from wife Sakshi.

“Marking the date you were born, another year older, greyed a bit more, become smarter and sweeter. You are a man who will not be moved by all the sweet wishes and gifts,” said Sakshi while posting several pictures of Dhoni on her Instagram handle.

“Let’s celebrate another year of your life by cutting a cake and blowing the candles! Happy Birthday, Husband!!” she added.

The couple got married on July 4, 2010. Dhoni became a proud father on February 6, 2015, to Ziva. At the time of her birth, he was in Australia as the captain of the Indian team with the 2015 Cricket World Cup only a week to kick off. However, Dhoni decided not to travel back to India and was famously quoted saying that “I am on national duty, other things can wait”.

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