Centre profiteering from increased fuel prices: Goa Congress

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Centre profiteering from increased fuel prices: Goa Congress

Accusing the central government of “profiteering from the miseries of countrymen” amid the coronavirus crisis and an economic downturn, the Congress state unit on Monday demanded a rollback in the increased prices of petrol and diesel.

In a representation to the President of India Ram Nath Kovind, the party alleged that the “repeated and unjust increase in the prices as also central excise on petrol and diesel over the last three months of the lockdown has inflicted insurmountable pain and suffering on the people of India”.

The representation demanded an immediate rollback in fuel prices, especially in view of the low price of crude oil in the global markets.

“Since the lockdown three months ago, the extent of extortion and profiteering by repeated increases in prices and excise duty on petrol and diesel has surpassed all forms of exploitation,” the representation said.

Vicky Kaushal’s latest photo draws hilarious comment from brother Sunny

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Vicky Kaushal’s latest photo draws hilarious comment from brother Sunny

Bollywood heartthrob Vicky Kaushal shared a photograph of himself “prepping in the dark”. However, this time it was not the picture that grabbed the attention of fans but a hilarious comment by his actor-brother Sunny Kaushal.

Vicky took to Instagram, where he shared a picture of himself. In the image, the actor’s silhouette can be seen as he stands next to a window.

“Prep in the dark, till it’s your time to shine,” he captioned the image, which currently has over 794k likes on the photo-sharing website.

To this Sunny wrote: “Ab sab fans belonged ‘Sunny is such a good photographer’ Thanks guys (Now fans would say ‘Sunny is such a good photographer. Thanks, guys.”

His comment currently has over 4510 likes.

This is not the first time Sunny has made a hilarious comment on his brother Vicky’s picture.

In April, amid lockdown, Vicky took to Instagram, where he shared a photograph of himself smiling at the camera while lying in what seems like a couch. He captioned the image with a couch and a potato emoji.

Sunny that time commented: “Uth Ja!! Mummy bol rahi hai pankhe saaf ho Gaye, ab dusting Karni hai… (Get up! Mummy says the fans are clean, so get going with the dusting now.)”

On the work front, Vicky will be seen in “Piku” maker Shoojit Sircar’s “Sardar Udham Singh” next. The film is slated to release in January 2021 as of now.

He will also be seen playing Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw is a biographical drama directed by Meghna Gulzar.

Healthy monsoon rains to limit tractor volume fall in FY21

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Healthy monsoon rains to limit tractor volume fall in FY21

Rating agency Crisil expects a well-distributed and normal monsoon to limit the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tractor sales volume this fiscal.

According to the rating agency, despite a 37 percent year-on-year decline in April and May combined, tractor volume will likely be only one percent below last fiscal’s level.

This will be in sharp contrast to a double-digit decline expected for the rest of the automobile industry.

“Lower raw material costs and strong balance sheets bode stable credit outlook for tractor makers this fiscal,” the agency said in a statement.

As per the forecast by the India Meteorological Department, the south-west monsoon to be at 102 percent of the long period average (LPA) in the calendar 2020.

“Crucially, it sees rains well-distributed at 96-107 percent of the LPA in all the four regions. The monsoon’s approach so far has been timely with rains 21 percent above normal in June to date,” the statement said.

“The forecast for July and August — crucial months for Kharif crop — is also encouraging at 103 percent and 97 percent, respectively, over LPA.”

Besides, the report cited that favorable distribution of rains can even offset the adverse impact of a below-normal monsoon, such as in fiscal 2019 when domestic tractor sales volume grew a strong eight percent on a high base and despite monsoon being nine percent below the LPA.

In fiscal 2020, on the other hand, poor month-wise distribution and large state-wise variation in rainfall — despite an above-average monsoon season overall — contributed partly to a 10 percent decline in tractor sales volume.

Additionally, agriculture will be supported by high reservoir levels, seen at a massive 94 percent higher than last year and 71 percent above the average of the past decade.

“Apart from overall adequacy, monsoon needs to be spatially well-distributed by geography and timeliness to propel farm incomes and stoke demand for tractors. The IMD’s forecast is very encouraging for tractor volumes this fiscal,” said Manish Gupta, Senior Director, Crisil Ratings.

Russia probes new pollution at Arctic mining firm

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Russia probes new pollution at Arctic mining firm

Russian officials were investigating a mining company in the Arctic over the pumping of wastewater from one of its processing plants into the nearby countryside, the media reported on Monday.

Norilsk Nickel said it had suspended staff involved in the violation. The pumping has now reportedly stopped, reports the BBC.

It is a new pollution incident involving the firm, known as Nornickel.

Emergency workers are struggling to contain a huge diesel spill from a fuel depot owned by the company.

A local ecologist and reporters from Russia’s independent daily Novaya Gazeta filmed foamy water being pumped into Arctic tundra from the reservoir at the Talnakh enrichment plant near Norilsk.

The reporters said the wastewater was believed to contain heavy metals – nickel, cobalt, and copper – and sulphuric acid, which the firm has denied.

In a statement, Nornickel said “those responsible at the plant have been suspended” for “allowing a flagrant violation of the operational rules at the plant’s tailings reservoir”.

“Nornickel has launched an investigation into what happened, and the firm is working with the ministry of natural resources and the emergencies ministry,” it said.

Russia’s Investigative Committee (SK), which probes serious crimes, has launched its own investigation into the incident.

The diesel spill in late May involved about 21,000 tonnes, some of which contaminated the lake, said the BBC report.

Stretches of the Ambarnaya river, flowing to the lake, turned red from the diesel.

Nornickel has numerous plants in and around the Arctic city of Norilsk, which has long been categorized as one of the world’s most polluted places.

Murray’s next event is likely to be the Citi Open in Washington

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Murray’s next event is likely to be the Citi Open in Washington

Former world number one Andy Murray pulled out of his last match at the Battle of the Brits exhibition event on Sunday. Murray was due to face Cam Norrie in a third place play-off in Roehampton after losing in the semi-finals to Dan Evans on Saturday.

But after playing four matches in the previous five days in his first tournament since November, the 33-year-old decided not to push his body any further.

The match will still go ahead with James Ward taking Murray’s place, before Evans takes on Kyle Edmund in the final.

Murray’s next event is likely to be the Citi Open in Washington, scheduled to start on August 14, as the three-time Grand Slam champion builds up to the US Open.

30 killed in B’desh boat capsize (Ld)

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30 killed in B’desh boat capsize (Ld)

At least 30 people were killed on Monday when a boat capsized in Bangladesh’s Buriganga river after it collided with another vessel, according to authorities.

Bodies of 19 males, eight females and three children were recovered so far, Shahadat Hossain, a duty officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence, confirmed to The Daily Star news.

The boat, Morning Bird, which was coming to Dhaka from Munshiganj, capsized in the river after it was hit by the other vessel, Moyur-2 near Sadarghat launch terminal at around 9.30 a.m., he said.

The boat was reportedly carrying over 100 passengers, according to local police.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has seized Moyur-2 but its captain and other staffers managed to flee the scene, BIWTA Joint Director Alamgir Kabir told The Daily Star.

BIWTA has formed a four-member committee to investigate the launch capsize and asked to submit a report as soon as possible, said its Chairman Commodore Golam Sadeq.

The highly polluted Buriganga river forms a part of the main waterway connecting Dhaka with other parts of the country.

Boat accidents occur frequently in Bangladesh, where hundreds of waterways, including the Ganges Delta rivers Brahmaputra, Padma, and Meghna, are commonly used for transport, Efe news said in a report.

In most cases, the mishaps can be attributed to overloading and the poor condition of the vessel.

However, such incidents have considerably reduced over the years due to improvements in weather forecasting and the implementation of new safety regulations.

Sudden spike in air pollution in Delhi

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Sudden spike in air pollution in Delhi

Witnessing azure skies and breathable air for the last three months, Delhi on Monday recorded deterioration in its air quality, with the particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 and 10 microns — too small to be filtered out of the human body — standing at 52 and 297 micrograms per cubic respectively.

Gufran Beig, Project Director of System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), said that the sudden spike in air pollution is due to a mild dust storm blowing from Rajasthan.

“Since the wind direction is changing and moist air is coming in, the air quality in Delhi will become better by tomorrow,” Beig told IANS.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed that the overall air quality near Delhi Technical University (DTU) area stood at 326 micrograms per cubic, followed by 308 at Narela and 307 at Mundka.

Out of 36 stations, the AQI in as many as 30 stations was above 200 micrograms per cubic till 1 pm on Monday.

The System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research categorizes air quality in the 0-50 range as good, 51-100 as satisfactory, 101-200 as moderate, 201-300 as poor, 301-400 as very poor, and above 400 as severe.

According to SAFAR’s website, “PM 10 (coarser dust particle) is the lead pollutant. AQI is likely to improve to the moderate category by tomorrow, and further improvement is expected by July 1.”

Researchers indicated that PM 10 and PM 2.5 will be 170 and 47 micrograms per cubic on Tuesday.

With no vehicles plying on the roads or industries shut due to the lockdown since March 25, Delhi’s air quality had improved drastically.

According to a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, if the low levels of air pollution reached during the lockdown period are maintained, India’s annual death toll could reduce by 6.5 lakh.

Centre agrees to form standing committees for SERC

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Centre agrees to form standing committees for SERC

As part of big-ticket reforms in the power sector, the government has proposed to fast track appointment of power sector regulators both at central and state levels by forming permanent standing selection committees presided by Chief Justice of High Court of the state that would oversee and clear all appointments based on merit.

The proposal is expected to remove delays in appointments of power sector regulators. Such delays are disastrous for the functioning of the power sector as the absence of regulators results in power tariff not being revised for years resulting in financial stress for discoms and the states.

Officials in power ministry said that to prevent such a situation, it had now been proposed that a standing selection committee would be set up in each state exclusively for an appointment that would be headed by Chief Justice of High Court while having equal members from both Centre and state. Selection of members and chairperson of State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERCs) would be done by a panel formed by the state government while selections for Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) would continue to be carried out by the Centre.

Power and Renewable Energy Minister R.K. Singh had earlier proposed a single Standing selection committee presided by sitting Supreme Court judge and members from both centers and states to do appointment for both SERCs and CERC. This was also proposed in the Draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020. But with several states not comfortable with the idea of having a central structure for such appointments, Singh has agreed to include provision for the standing committee in each state for appointments in the draft bill before it is placed for cabinet approval.

The reform initiative is being taken as in the current structure for every appointment of regulators at the central and state level, a fresh committee has to be set up and this took time. In some cases, the time taken for the appointment was up to 2 years leading to disruption of work of the Regulatory Commission.

Regulatory Commissions are the fulcrum around which the Power sector revolves. Delays were deleterious for the various stakeholders such as consumers, Discoms, and generators, etc.

Last week Singh had said that a canard is being spread that the government is shifting the power of appointment to SERCs from State to Central Government through an amendment in the Electricity Act. This, he had said, was false as Centre respects the authority of states and just proposes to fast track appointments without invading into state’s jurisdiction.

The Electricity Amendment Bill is currently being vetted by the Law Ministry. Power Ministry wants to introduce it in the coming monsoon session of Parliament.

Ban on PPE exports lifted, capped at 50L units/month

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Ban on PPE exports lifted, capped at 50L units/month

Centre has lifted the ban on the export of personal protective equipment (PPE) but has put it under quantitative restrictions as shipments can not exceed 50 lakh units per month.

According to a notification by Directorate General of Foreign Trade, PPE medical coveralls for Covid-19 have been moved to the ‘restricted’ list for exports from the ‘prohibited’ list.

It, however, said that all items that are part of PPE kits, however, continue to be prohibited from exports.

The export of PPE kits was prohibited by the government to meet the domestic demand and avoid supply crunch in the country.

The industry has been seeking the lifting of the ban in order to cater to the global demand.

Urging the government to lift the ban on exports, the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) had recently said that several countries, like Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Pakistan, have lifted the ban on PPE exports and are receiving huge orders.

“We are afraid to lose export markets to competing countries. The production of PPEs is more than sufficient to cater to the domestic needs and can be opened for exports,” said AEPC Chairman A. Sakthivel.

kuldeep about Dhoni and Virat

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kuldeep about Dhoni and Virat

Since taking over the captaincy of the Indian cricket team from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, talismanic skipper Virat Kohli has been compared to his predecessor on almost a regular basis.India’s Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav spoke with Timesofindia.com in an exclusive interview and talked about the role he feels Kohli is playing in grooming youngsters, including him, in the team.

“If you are young and your captain is backing you every time on the field and off the field as well, it gives you extra motivation to perform. Virat bhai supports me on and off the field. He supports me in tough situations as well. Virat bhai is someone who knows how a bowler feels. He comes to you and guides you where to bowl. He will come, pat you on the back, guide you, gives you a solution and helps you take a wicket,” Kuldeep said.

“There is no doubt he (Virat) is a world-class player. Be it his batting, fielding or decision-making abilities, Virat bhai is unmatchable,” Kuldeep told TimesofIndia.com.But the absence of MS Dhoni behind the stumps is definitely being felt.It has been more than a year since the fans have witnessed Dhoni in action. Dhoni last played in international colours in the ICC World Cup 2019 semi-final against New Zealand and has been out-of-action since then.

“We all are missing Mahi bhai. I am a big fan of Mahi bhai. I really want him to come back into the team soon and play. Personally, I really feel he should play for India again,” the 25 yer old spinner said.

Kuldeep, who has played 6 Tests, 60 ODIs and 21 T20Is for India so far, recalled how Dhoni used to react, after he conceded a four or a six, during a match. The young spinner is missing the ‘behind the stumps’ advice from the 2011 World Cup winning captain.“Whenever we stepped onto the field, Mahi bhai would come up with some instant advice. That (kind of) advice helped me a lot in my career.

He is a great instant advisor. He is someone who doesn’t believe giving advice ahead of and after the game. He will analyse things and come up with instant advice on the field. That’s what Virat bhai does as well. Mahi bhai is an instant advisor, Virat bhai is a great motivator. Apart from these two, Rohit bhai also guided me a lot on many occasions. I am really grateful that I am playing under seniors like Virat, Dhoni and Rohit,” Kuldeep said.Kuldeep, who made his ODI and T20I debut under Kohli’s captaincy against the West Indies in 2017, also described how Kohli motivates him, when he has a bad day at the office.

“Sometimes, a bowler has an off day (bad day) and Virat bhai knows what a bowler goes through. That’s because of his captaincy experience. Before the senior team, he had captained the Under-19 team and the Ranji team as well. He pushes me to do better and motivates me. Not just me, he does that with every bowler in the team,” the 25-year-old Chinaman bowler said.

“For any youngster, if his captain is backing you, that’s a big plus point. Be it me, Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal) or Jasprit Bumrah, we all know our roles and we know that our captain is backing us. Many times, Virat bhai would understand what I am going through from my body language during a match. He comes over and gives an immediate solution,” Kuldeep signed off.

Several celebrities in shock over inflated electricity bills

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Several celebrities in shock over inflated electricity bills

After Taapsee Pannu alleged that she had received an inflated electricity bill for the month of June, several other celebrities such as Renuka Shahane, Human Qureshi, Amyra Dastur, Dino Morea, and Kamya Punjabi, have posted on social media to voice similar complaints.

Like Taapsee, Huma complained about an inflated bill for the month of June. “What are these new electricity rates ?? @Adani_Elec_Mum. Last month I paid 6k .. and this month 50 k ????!!! What is this new price surge ?? Kindly enlighten us,” she wrote.

Taapsee on Sunday had tweeted about receiving a huge amount of bill for electricity usage during the lockdown.

“3 months of lockdown and I wonder what appliance(s) I have newly used or bought in the apartment only last month to have such an insane rise in my electricity bill @Adani_Elec_Mum. What kind of POWER are you charging us for,” Taapsee had questioned?

Along with it, she attached the pictures of the electricity bills, showing how she was charged Rs 36,000 for the month of June. Whereas, the bill for the month of April was Rs 4,390 and May was Rs 3,850 only.

Dino Morea tweeted: “I was just going to tweet about it. Literally got a shock, pun intended. There was no surge in electricity, just the bill.”

Shortly after Taapsee’s tweet on Sunday, Renuka Shahane had complained, tweeting: “Dear @Adani_Elec_Mum I got a bill of Rs5510/= on the 9th of May while in June I got a bill of Rs 29,700 combining May & June where you’ve charged me Rs 18080 for the month of May. How did Rs.5510/= become Rs.18080.”

Ranvir Shorey called it a “scam”, writing: “The 21st century, a free market and a pandemic are apparently not enough for us to still be held to ransom by electric power companies like @Adani_Elec_Mum #scam #shame,” Ranvir tweeted.

In his tweet, comedian Vir Das asked Mumbaikars if anyone was getting an electricity bill that is triple of what they usually pay. The response to his tweet was a flood of complaints by netizens, including celebrities.

Among them was Amyra Dastur, who mentioned she was charged by the electricity provider for a house where she didn’t even stay for three months.

“I freaking shifted to my mom and dad’s house in April! They’ve been charging my flat which I haven’t lived in for 3 months, double what I would pay actually living there! Mine is best. Do you know how to stop this nonsense,” tweeted Amyra?

The issue got highlighted on Sunday when Taapsee Pannu slammed the company for an inflated electricity bill, and also for serving her a bill for a house where no one has been living for a while.

“3 months of lockdown and I wonder what appliance(s) I have newly used or bought in the apartment only last month to have such an insane rise in my electricity bill @Adani_Elec_Mum. What kind of POWER are you charging us for,” Taapsee had tweeted?

Later on Sunday evening, the company responded to Taapsee’s complaint. “We have re-started physical meter reading which was temporarily halted since March because of Covid-19. Bills were generated on the lower side, being an average of preceding three months – that is, December, January, and February, which is winter months. Actual consumption in the months of April, May, and June is comparatively higher due to seasonal impact (summer) and increased usage (the advent of Lockdown/WFH),” said a spokesperson of Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited (AEML).

The spokesperson had added: “The bill amount for the past period shall be accounted as per Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) guidelines. The consumers will start receiving the bills based on their actual consumption with appropriate tariff slab benefits.”

SC to ICAI: Don’t be rigid, show some concern for students

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SC to ICAI: Don’t be rigid, show some concern for students

The Supreme Court on Monday told the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to be flexible and consider allowing students to opt-out of the exams amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari, and Sanjiv Khanna took up the matter through videoconference and told ICAI during the hearing: “Don’t be rigid, be flexible. Show some concern for the students.” The ICAI counsel sought time to issue fresh guidelines in connection with the current cycle of the CA exams slated this year.

The bench noted that the option to change examination centers should be made available to students/candidates to help avoid traveling and that things cannot be rigid as the coronavirus situation in India is still evolving.

The ICAI counsel contended that it has 567 test centers that are properly sanitized and that it cannot change the exam centers now.

In response, the bench said that the option to change the test center should be available in case a particular area becomes a containment zone. “This option should be kept open till the last week as the situation is not static. It is dynamic,” noted the bench.

The ICAI counsel argued that a standard operating procedure is in place, and the authorities will shift the exam center in case there is a containment zone.

The bench asked ICAI that if a candidate in a containment zone is forced to appear in an exam only in November, could it be counted as an appearance in July.

The ICAI council said that the concerns of the petitioner are “unfounded” in connection with the opt-out option and the ICAI was bound by the Chartered Accountants Act.

The ICAI counsel also submitted that if a candidate sends an email saying he/she is unable to sit in the exam due to Covid-19, it will not be questioned. “It is a group of 4-4. They can choose to appear at a later date if they are Covid-19 affected,” the ICAI counsel maintained.

ICAI general secretary Rakesh Sehgal submitted before the top court that they will permit an “opt-out” to all candidates wherever the situation has deteriorated, and the only difficulty is in the change of exam centers.

The bench said that whatever notification ICAI issues must clarify about the opt-out option. “You are a professional body. Must take care of your candidates. There could be a case where one candidate is appearing in two sets of papers,” said the bench.

The bench then asked ICAI to issue fresh guidelines by incorporating the suggestions made and posted the matter for further hearing on July 2.

“The ICAI counsel may take instructions and file the modified draft notification setting out the changes,” said the top court.

The India Wide Parents Association had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court to seek quashing of an ICAI notification in order to allow CA aspirants to opt-out of the exams to be held this year.

BCCI keeping watch if Dandiwal is trying to contact Indian players: ACU chief

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BCCI keeping watch if Dandiwal is trying to contact Indian players: ACU chief

The BCCI has made it clear that they are keeping a watch on Ravinder Dandiwal, an Indian man who has been identified by the Australian police as the alleged kingpin of a major international tennis match-fixing syndicate.

BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) head Ajit Singh confirmed on Monday that Dandiwal, who hails from Mohali, Chandigarh, is a person of interest.

“Well, he is one of the people of interest. He has come to the adverse notice of the anti-corruption unit in a few matters,” Singh told IANS.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported last week that Victoria Police have named Dandiwal as the “central figure” in the fixing scam.

However, Singh said that BCCI cannot directly take any action against him as he is not a “participant”. “In ACU, we can only take action against participants.”

Dhaliwal is known in the Chandigarh cricket circuit and has been reportedly organizing private leagues not recognized by the BCCI.

Singh revealed that some two-three years back, Dandiwal wanted to hold a league in India which the BCCI ACU was able to disrupt.

“He is focussed more on outside the country than in India,” Singh said.

“He has associated with the Afghanistan Premier League two years ago. But then again, that’s not under our purview. He was also reportedly involved in some league in Nepal some two-three years ago. His name has come up in trying to organize leagues somewhere sometime in Bangkok as well.

“But, even though he is outside the purview of BCCI ACU, he is corrupt. So, we have to keep an eye if he is trying to contact any one of our players, which thankfully hasn’t happened.

“Nothing can be done in India as nothing on-record has happened here. It’s somewhere in Australia or Egypt, so it doesn’t invoke any jurisdiction of Indian police,” he added.

The SMH has also reported that Indian-origin Melbourne residents Rajesh Kumar and Harsimrat Singh appeared at the Melbourne Magistrates Court last week for allegedly attempting to win up to AUS$320,000 on fixed games using illegal means.

Victoria Police have charged the two with allegedly “corrupting” at least two tennis tournaments in Brazil and Egypt in 2018, the report said.

Commenting on the duo, Singh said: “Rajesh Kumar and Harsimrat Singh are based in Australia. Australian police are taking action against them. So, nothing more can be done. Another agency cannot take action under similar charges. Similarly, if this guy (Dandiwal) is involved, Australian police have the jurisdiction to take action against him.”

Explaining the role of BCCI ACU, Singh said: “We are not the police, we are an anti-corruption agency which looks after to ensure the anti-corruption code of the BCCI is followed by the participants in BCCI tournaments. Now, participants include players, ground staff, officials, and team managers, support staff. So, if they have done something wrong, we can take action against them.

“But if someone who is not a participant, there’s little we can do than keep an eye on him and his activities. We can only ensure that our participants stay insulated from him,” he added.

Bharti Airtel shareholders to vote on July 31 on scheme of arrangement

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Bharti Airtel shareholders to vote on July 31 on scheme of arrangement

The National Company Law Tribunal has directed for a meeting of Bharti Airtel shareholders to consider and approve the scheme of arrangement between Airtel, Bharti Airtel Services, Hughes Communications, and HCIL Comtel.

The meeting will be held on July 31 through video conferencing.

In an order dated May 11, 2020, the Principal Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal at New Delhi had directed a meeting to be held of the equity shareholders of Bharti Airtel Limited on Friday, July 31, 2020, between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. (“Meeting”) through video conferencing or other audiovisual means.

The meeting is being called for the purpose of considering, and if thought fit, approving with or without modifications, the proposed composite scheme of arrangement between Bharti Airtel, Bharti Airtel Services Limited, Hughes Communications India Limited (now known as Hughes Communications India Private Limited) and HCIL Comtel Limited (now known as HCIL Comtel Private Limited) and their respective shareholders and creditors under Sections 230 to 232 and other applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013.

As per a company’s notice to shareholders, there shall be no meeting requiring physical presence at a common venue in view of the present circumstances on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Airtel will also be offering Postal Ballot and remote e-voting facility prior to the meeting of the equity shareholders including the public shareholders to cast their votes for or against the resolution set forth in the notice.

Airtel has appointed KFintech to provide remote e-voting facility as well as to enable the equity shareholders of Airtel to attend and participate in the meeting through VC/ OAVM.

Each equity shareholder (including public shareholders) can opt for only one mode for voting i.e. through postal ballot or through e-voting prior to or at the meeting (through VC/OAVM). In case of equity, shareholders cast their vote via both the modes i.e. postal ballot as well as e-voting either prior to or at the meeting, then voting done through either of the e-voting modes shall prevail and voting by equity shareholder through other means shall be treated as invalid.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani quits Hurriyat Conference

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Syed Ali Shah Geelani quits Hurriyat Conference

Senior hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Monday said he is distancing himself from the separatist platform — the All Party Hurriyat Conference.

In a press statement the octogenarian separatist leader, Geelani said he is distancing himself completely from the All Party Hurriyat Conference.

“He has written a detailed letter to Hurriyat members in which he said, given the present situation within the Hurriyat Conference, he is completely dissociating himself from the platform”, the statement said.

In his detailed letter to the members of the Hurriyat Conference, Geelani has said that henceforth he shall not be answerable in any manner about the future conduct of the constituent members of the platform.

Hurriyat Conference was formed on March 9, 1993, as a united political platform of the separatist parties in Kashmir.

Ten years after its formation, the Hurriyat Conference split into the moderate group headed by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and the hardline group headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Not keeping good health, Geelani has mostly remained under house arrest in his Srinagar uptown of Hyderpora area residence for the last four years.

Before that also authorities used to detain him on and off under house arrest to maintain law and order in Kashmir.

6 killed in Pakistan Stock Exchange attack (Ld)

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6 killed in Pakistan Stock Exchange attack (Ld)

A gun and grenade attack at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) in Karachi on Monday claimed the lives of two civilians, authorities said, adding that law enforcement agencies have gunned down all four militants that stormed the building and opened indiscriminate fire.

Police said militants launched a grenade attack at the main gate of the PSX and stormed the building after firing indiscriminately, Geo News reported.

A police officer and the security guard stationed outside the PSX building were also injured in the attack.

People inside the PSX building were evacuated from the backdoor.

Confirming the attack in a tweet, PSX Director, Abid Ali Habib said: “An unfortunate incident took place at the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

“They (terrorists) made their way from our parking area and opened fire on everyone.”

Speaking to Geo TV, the Inspector-General Karachi said that the situation was under control and all militants had been killed in the attack.

He said that Rangers and police officials had entered the building and were conducting a search operation.

Sindh Governor Imran Ismail condemned the incident, saying: “Strongly condemn the attack on PSX aimed at tarnishing our relentless war on terror. Have instructed the IG & security agencies to ensure that the perpetrators are caught alive & their handlers are accorded exemplary punishments.”

The PSX is located at the heart of Karachi’s business center. Important buildings like that of the State Bank of Pakistan is located near it.

What is Rheumatoid Arthritis

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What is Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis, commonly known in Hindi as “Gatiya”, is a disease of our own dysfunctional immune system. When I say the dysfunctional immune system, it means that our own body and immune system which is meant to protect us from other infections and foreign invaders, starts attacking us back.

One percent of India’s population has rheumatoid arthritis. Considering a large number of the population we have if we calculate almost 10 lac people are affected by it.

People often have this conception that it is the disease of the elderly and we as a young individual should not be having it. To broadly identify it, we have two types of arthritis. One is the age-related one known as Osteoarthritis where there is more wear and tear of the cartilage. Osteoarthritis is a disease of the elderly.

The other arthritis is inflammatory arthritis, which has fifty different variants with Rheumatoid arthritis being one of them. Rheumatoid arthritis affects most of the people in the younger age group between 20-40 and is more common in the girls. Arthritis in itself can affect the children as young as 6 months of age, known as Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. So it doesn’t really spare any age group.

But it is very important to be aware of the signs and symptoms of the disease. Only then you can approach your Rheumatologist early and help in arresting the disease at an early stage. One of the first signs is pain and stiffness in the hand joints (wrist, knuckles) and foot joints. One very peculiar feature of this arthritis is the early morning stiffness. You feel the hands and body are stiff in the mornings and takes you more than 30-45 minutes to get back to the daily routine.

The stiffness goes down as day passes only to worsen at night again. And this is the exact time we should intervene and halt the disease. Eventually, within 4-6 weeks of these symptoms, you will start experiencing the swelling of the joints and progression to the large joints like knees, shoulders, elbows. Those are the early signs that the disease has progressed. All the new data points towards early control of disease, within six months of onset. People who start treatment late have more intake of pain killers and higher chances of joint damage. Rheumatoid arthritis does not limit to the joints only. It can affect lungs, kidneys, eyes as well.

Coming to the most important aspect is the treatment. There have been a lot of advances in recent years but we still haven’t been able to find the ultimate cure for it. One of the main goals which have changed over the years is to use almost negligible pain killers and minimum steroids. We prefer avoiding steroids in our prescriptions. The drugs are divided into DMARDS and Biological DMARDS. 90 percent will respond to the traditional old DMARD Drugs (Methotrexate, LEflunomide, Hydroxychloroquine, and Sulphasalazine) while 10 percent with the aggressive disease may need the help of the Biological drugs.

As with alternative medicines, I will not comment much but to my experience, it doesn’t really help patients with moderate to severe disease and we end up losing crucial time to control the disease. Patients with mild disease may benefit a little from it. The ultimate goal remains to minimize the damage caused to the joints, provide good quality of life, and avoidance of pain killers and steroids.

Apart from the medications, lifestyle modifications are very much needed to keep the disease at bay. Make sure you exercise daily for 20-30 minutes, avoid smoking, and eat hygienic food which should be well cooked. stress has been found to be a major culprit in triggering autoimmune diseases. We should learn the art of stress coping strategies to lead a well-nurtured balanced life.

Telangana Home Minister tests positive for COVID-19

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Telangana Home Minister tests positive for COVID-19

Telangana Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali has tested positive for COVID-19.

He was admitted to a private hospital in Hyderabad on Sunday night. Health officials described his condition as stable.

Ali had participated in Haritha Haram, a plantation program, with top police officials on June 25.

He is the first minister to be found infected by Coronavirus.

So far three members of State Legislative Assembly, all belonging to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), have tested positive.

Vindhyachal temple reopens after 100 days

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Vindhyachal temple reopens after 100 days

The famous Vindhyachal temple of Uttar Pradesh in Mirzapur district has finally reopened after 100 days of closure in view of the corona crisis. Pilgrims will be allowed restricted entry from Monday.

An elaborate ritual was performed on Sunday evening, as it reopened. The temple had remained closed even after June 8 when most other temples reopened in Unlock 1.0.

The Vindhyachal temples, located about 8 km from Mirzapur, on the banks of the holy river Ganga, is dedicated to Goddess Vindhyavasini (daughter of Yashoda-Nanda) and is one of the most revered ‘Siddhapeeth’ of the presiding deity.

The Vindhya Panda Samaj (VPS) had decided to close the Vindhyachal temple and other temples of the triad, including Kalikhoh and Ashtabhuja, on March 20 in view of the pandemic. The VPS did not reopen the temples on June 8 because one of the priests had tested positive for corona.

VPS president Pankaj Dwivedi said: “We decided to reopen the temple after all plans for crowd control, arrangements related to safety as per the guidelines of the government were discussed and implemented.

“An ‘Akhand Kirtan’ (mass religious recital) by selected priests was organized on Sunday afternoon with the performance of ‘Rajshree aarti’.”

He said that devotees will have to stand within circles drawn to maintain social distancing and wait for their entry in the temple after wearing masks and sanitizing hands.

Devotees will offer prayers from outside the sanctum sanctorum and exit the temple without touching anything. Similar arrangements will be effective in other temples of the Vindhya triad.

State govts, firms harnessing Cloud to fight COVID-19 in India: AWS

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State govts, firms harnessing Cloud to fight COVID-19 in India: AWS

The COVID-19 onslaught has accelerated the pace of IT modernization and digital transformation via Cloud-driven solutions in the vast public sector in India and various state governments are fast embracing the Cloud technology to reduce the infection rate while efficiently managing the lockdown, a top global Amazon Web Services (AWS) executive has stressed.

According to Teresa Carlson, Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector, AWS (the Cloud arm of e-commerce giant Amazon with over $40 billion annual run rate), as COVID-19 continues to spread, the global health emergency will only be resolved by governments, businesses, academia, and individuals working together to better understand this virus and ultimately find a cure.

“Research institutes, scientists and organizations working on diagnostics need reliable, scalable compute power, which AWS can deliver to them along with industry-leading services like analytics and machine learning, so they can process and analyze large data sets and iterate quickly,” Carlson told IANS.

Today, from state governments to startups, India is fast harnessing AWS Cloud technology for scale, speed, and agility and above all, data security.

Quintela, a provider of smart urban infrastructure automation, has developed the CoVER (COVID-19 emergency response) platform in India.

“CoVER is used by government authorities across 10 cities in India to monitor, manage, track, diagnose, communicate, collaborate, and prevent the impact of COVID-19. In one of the large cities in southern India that has so far reported far fewer COVID-19 cases, they used CoVER to track about 120 hospitals, 600 ambulances, and 400 isolation beds, and monitor people in quarantine,” informed Carlson.

The officials attributed real-time access to data and quick decision-making as among the key measures that helped the city contain the spread of COVID-19 even in densely-populated areas, and significantly helping reduce the infection rate in the city.

The India eGovernments Foundation collaborated with AWS to develop the National COVID-19 e-Pass solution within 72 hours to provide a digital pass management system that supports multiple state governments, to manage the lockdown while ensuring smooth movement of the essential service providers across and within states.

“Since its launch, more than 50,000 organizations have been evaluated, and more than 6,00,000 daily passes have been issued on the platform. It has been deployed in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Telangana, Puducherry, Odisha and Karnataka,” the AWS executive noted.

TruFactor is a platform that provides mobile-first consumer data and insights. The company has a patented platform that ingests, filters, and processes over 100TB of data anonymously, using AI to produce graphs that combine digital signals, physical people movement data, and demographics to help tackle the spread of COVID-19.

TruFactor has listed datasets on AWS Data Exchange, a service that makes it easy for millions of AWS customers worldwide to securely find, subscribe, and use third-party data in the cloud.

Innovaccer, a San Francisco-based healthcare technology company, with offices in India and Asia, launched a COVID-19 Management System that can conduct early community-based triage of COVID-19 patients through automated assessments in minutes.

The multi-platform system is currently in use by the governments in Goa and Puducherry in India. Within three days of launch, more than 25,000 citizens in Goa had already used the app to assess their vulnerability to COVID-19.

Mumbai-based Qure.ai, a healthcare startup built on AWS, has developed a machine learning-powered solution called ‘qXR’ which uses X-rays to classify patients as high, medium, or low risk for COVID-19 in less than a minute.

Built on data from more than 2.5 million radiology scans, qXR is capable of detecting problem areas and abnormalities that are indicative of COVID-19.

Since its deployment in over 40 sites across South Asia, Europe, and North America, it is identifying approximately 5,000 suspected cases on a weekly basis. Qure.ai is currently in talks with the state governments to use its solution in government hospitals, large clinics, and healthcare centers across the country.

AWS announced the Diagnostic Development Initiative (DDI) in March this year.

“This is a program to support customers who are working to bring better, more accurate, diagnostics solutions to market faster, and promote better collaboration across organizations that are working on similar problems,” Carlson told IANS.

This includes an initial investment of $20 million to accelerate diagnostic research, innovation, and development to speed collective understanding and detection of COVID-19 and other innovative diagnostic solutions to mitigate future infectious disease outbreaks.

“We are actively working with 35 projects that have been submitted and are still accepting more applications,” said Carlson.

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