Israel unveils milder version of COVID-19 emergency law

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Israel unveils milder version of COVID-19 emergency law

Israeli Minister of Justice Avi Ninssenkorn the main points of a COVID-19 emergency law that will take effect in mid-June to deal with the pandemic.

The new rules are milder compared to the initial version that allowed the police to enter private residences without a warrant to enforce home quarantine, reports Xinhua news agency.

“The authorities will be given the tools to enforce the guidelines, but police will not arbitrarily break into residents’ homes,” Ninssenkorn said in a statement on Friday.

This new law, to be approved soon by the government, will replace emergency regulations set up in recent months, at a time when legislation could not be promoted in the regular parliament procedure.

The government initiated the law given the increase in the number of new coronavirus cases, the concern of a second outbreak, and repeated violations of the guidelines.

According to the Minister, the new law will be temporary as its validity would require extension by the parliament every 30 days.

In addition, the declaration of a city or neighborhood as a restricted area will be for a maximum of one week.

Israel has reported a total of 17,562 COVID-19 cases, with 291 deaths.

Apple launches open-source project for password manager developers

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Apple launches open-source project for password manager developers

In a bid to help developers create stronger passwords for its users, Apple has created a new open source project called Password Manager Resources.

Available on open-source repository GitHub, the project would help developers of password managers collaborate to create strong passwords that are compatible with popular websites, the company said in a statement on Friday.

The Password Manager Resources open source project allows developers to integrate website-specific requirements used by the iCloud Keychain password manager to generate strong, unique passwords.

The project also contains collections of websites known to share a sign-in system, links to websites’ pages where users change passwords, and more.

The Password Manager Resources initiative is one of several open-source Apple projects.

Apple is collecting data on specific password rules of certain sites and allowing developers to integrate this data in their own apps.

“Every time a password manager generates a password that isn’t actually compatible with a website, a person not only has a bad experience but a reason to be tempted to create their own password,” said the company.

Apple is also encouraging developers to incorporate data and other resources from the project into their own apps.

Odisha’s COVID-19 death toll rise to 8

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Odisha’s COVID-19 death toll rise to 8

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 in Odisha rose to eight after a 63-year-old male patient of Khordha district succumbed to the virus, informed the Health Department on Friday.

He was a chronic patient of diabetes and other underlying comorbidities.

“Regret to inform that a 63-year-old male patient of Khordha district who had tested positive for Covid, passed away while under treatment in hospital. He was a chronic patient of diabetes and other underlying comorbidities,” tweeted the Health department.

Odisha on Friday reported 130 Coronavirus positive cases taking the total count to 2,608. Out of the total cases, 124 were reported from quarantine and six are local contacts.

The active cases stand at 1,117 while 1,481 persons have recovered so far in the state.

Will be very clinical: Sangakkara on players dealing with new guidelines

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Will be very clinical: Sangakkara on players dealing with new guidelines

Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara believes it will be interesting to see how players deal with the latest guidelines put in place by the International Cricket Council (ICC) once cricket resumes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

All cricketing activities has been suspended since March as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus, which has claimed more than 3.8 lakh lives across the world thus far.

As cricket makes it way for resumption in the upcoming days, the ICC has recommended to stop the usage of saliva to shine the ball. Social distancing guidelines have also been put in place during the matches set to be played behind closed doors.

“For fast bowlers or spinners, shining the ball is an instinctive thing, they have done it over so many years since they were kids,” Sangakkara said while speaking on Star Sports show Cricket Connected.

“Cricket is a social game, most of the time you spend in the dressing room – you talk, you chat.

“This will be a very clinical thing, you come ready to play, no warmups, you do everything right and you go home. So, it will be interesting to see how the players deal with that,” the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) added.

International cricket could see its resumption early next month with West Indies travelling to England for a three-Test series beginning July 8, subject to UK government approval.

‘ISRO biz to zoom if units converted into separate entities’

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‘ISRO biz to zoom if units converted into separate entities’

The sum of the turnover of Indian space agency’s various divisions if spun off into different business entities will surpass that of its behemoth parent owing to focused leadership and innovation, said a senior official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

He said the best of the efforts in innovation in such a large industry, the conversion in product outputs are meager to the extent of 5 to 10 percent.

“If ISRO is restructured in terms of smaller single-focus business entities like payload, satellite, rocket engine production, launcher integration and launch services, tracking and satellite maintenance services, the sum of turnovers of these individual entities will surpass substantially in comparison to the same by the ISRO behemoth,” said Tapan Misra, Senior Advisor, ISRO and former Director, Space Applications Centre, ISRO.

“The reason for improvement will be the encouragement of innovation by single focus leaderships. Many mammoth MNCs like Google, Microsoft, Space X, Boeing and many others co-opt or fund or usurp innovative startups to create and absorb innovations. In India to reach this level, we may have to wait a few more years,” Misra said.

He said every industry will come to a saturation point in terms of product output and even an increase in input resource-capital and manpower, there will be hardly any increase in output beyond saturation point.

“Innovation in business processes or manufacturing methods and strategies can improve efficiency. It means the saturation point can be achieved with lesser input resources. On the other hand, innovation on simplification of product design or bringing in more productive capital goods, i.e., the more efficient machinery to manufacture the products will raise the saturation output at same or lesser resources,” Misra said.

Behemoths like ISRO with multiple focus points will be resistant to innovations owing to inertia and occupation of leaders’ mind, to run the behemoth industry itself in the present avatar, he added.

Pointing out technology will become stagnant and innovations discouraged in the absence of competition, Misra said that monopoly does not incentivize the emergence of capable, forward-looking, and risk-taking innovative leadership.

According to him, many of the monopolies were established, with sagacious minds as leaders, with an aim to bring the country in the front line of strategic sectors.

“Unfortunately, many wise men prefer less competent subordinates and successors in order to satisfy their desire of stranglehold in the organization when in service and out of service. This leads to the gradual degradation of the leadership quality with successive transitions, leading to stagnation in technology and services,” he said.

Market forces can play a role in promoting effective leadership as the profit and expansion are the prime motivation. It leads to a re-emphasis of merit and leads to a better innovative environment.

Elon Musk tells Bezos it is time to ‘break up’ Amazon

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Elon Musk tells Bezos it is time to ‘break up’ Amazon

After successfully sending 2 NASA astronauts into space aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Elon Musk has slammed Blue Origin and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, saying it is time to break up the eCommerce giant and end its monopoly.

He tweeted after former New York Times reporter and prominent lockdown critic Alex Berenson published a screenshot, saying that his book titled “Unreported Truths about COVID-19 and Lockdowns: Part 1: Introduction and Death Counts and Estimates” has been censored on the ecommerce platform.

“This is insane @JeffBezos,” Musk said, tagging the Amazon CEO. “Time to break up Amazon. Monopolies are wrong!”

The book, however, was available for purchase soon after the Musk tweet.

“IT’S LIVE! Again, thanks to @elonmusk and everyone who helped,” Berenson tweeted on Friday.

“And the paperback is LIVE…” he added.

Amazon said the book was removed by some error and was being reinstated.

Musk has been a fierce critic of lockdowns and tweeted several times to reopen the country. During the latest Tesla earnings call, Musk said stay-at-home orders are fascist.

This is, however, not the first time Musk tas taken a jibe at Bezos.

Musk mocked Bezos’ moon plans last year, saying they make no sense.

Bezos had described his vision of humans living on miles-long, orbiting space stations called “O’Neill colonies”, named after physicist Gerard O’Neill, who first floated the concept.

“Makes no sense. In order to grow the colony, you’d have to transport vast amounts of mass from planets/moons/asteroids. Would be like trying to build the US in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean,” Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla, tweeted.

Bezos last year unveiled a new Moon-lander called “Blue Moon” after three years of development, along with a smaller rover at the Walter E. Washington Convention Centre.

“We must return to the Moon – this time to stay. We’re ready to support @NASA in getting there by 2024 with #bluemoon,” Blue Origin had tweeted.

US unemployment claims climbed by 1.88 mn last week

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US unemployment claims climbed by 1.88 mn last week

The number of US unemployment claims totaled 1.88 million last week as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to sweep the nation, the Labour Department reported.

In the week ending May 30, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits decreased by 249,000 from the prior week to 1,877,000, the ninth weekly decline in a row but remains staggeringly high, Xinhua news agency quoted the Department as saying on Thursday.

With the latest numbers, 42.6 million initial jobless claims have been filed over the past 11 weeks, meaning that nearly 28 percent of all Americans employed in February lost their jobs, at least temporarily, according to Tim Quinlan, the senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities.

“Last week we were excited to see that continuing claims fell, indicating that gross hiring had picked up enough to pull down the number of people receiving benefits.

“There was no such consolation this week, as they rose again to 21.5 million,” Quinlan said on Thursday.

The Labour Department is expected to release its jobs report in May on Friday.

US employers cut a staggering 20.5 million jobs in April, and the unemployment rate soared to a record 14.7 percent.

Diane Swonk, the chief economist at Grant Thornton, a major accounting firm, believed that US unemployment will remain painfully high in May and throughout the summer.

“We can be hopeful that the economy may be hitting bottom but we need a new language that goes well beyond recession and recovery to describe the persistent pain triggered by COVID-19,” Swonk tweeted Thursday.

The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic will shrink the size of the US economy by $7.9 trillion over the next decade, according to new projections issued by the Congressional Budget Office on Monday.

Face masks mandatory on public transport in England

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Face masks mandatory on public transport in England

Face coverings will be mandatory on public transport in England from June 15 to help contain the transmission of the novel coronavirus, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said.

Chairing Thursday’s Downing Street daily briefing, Shapps said people will be required to wear face coverings on buses, trains, tubes and other modes of public transport from June 15 as COVID-19 is still a “very real threat” and the “fight still goes on to defeat it”, reports Xinhua news agency.

Noting that this measure is for England, he said he expects Scotland and Wales to introduce similar face coverings rule for rail passengers.

The measure was welcomed by many transport unions.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, a British trade union representing train drivers, said it is “a sensible step”.

“The instruction to wear face coverings to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus will ease the concerns of people traveling, and working, on the transport network,” said Whelan.

According to the Office for National Statistics, transport workers who have regular contact with members of the public are at a particularly high risk of dying from coronavirus.

Bus drivers are more than twice as likely to die from coronavirus as average working-age men.

Shortly after Shapps’ announcement, Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, said that her government had already strongly advised the use of face masks on public transport and in shops.

“A reminder that @scotgov already strongly advises the use of face coverings in shops and public transport. As I said earlier today, we are considering making it mandatory.

“However, no need to wait for that — please do it now (unless you have, eg, asthma),” she said on her Twitter account.

The UK currently continues in the second position after the US with 39,987 COVID-19 deaths, which also accounts for the highest fatalities in Europe.

The country has registered 283,079 COVID-19 cases.

Slack joins Amazon to take on Microsoft Teams

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Slack joins Amazon to take on Microsoft Teams

Enterprise messaging platform Slack has joined Amazon in a multi-year agreement to take on its closest rival Microsoft Teams. Under the new deal, all Amazon employees will get access to Slacks office tools.

Slack will migrate capability of its video conferencing platform Slack Calls for all voice and video calling to Amazon Chime, Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) communications service that lets users meet, chat, and place business calls.

Slack and AWS will strategically partner to help distributed development teams communicate and become more efficient and agile in managing their AWS resources from inside Slack, Amazon said in a statement late Thursday.

“The future of enterprise software will be driven by the combination of cloud services and workstream collaboration tools,” said Stewart Butterfield, CEO and co-founder of Slack.

By integrating AWS services with Slack’s channel-based messaging platform, “we’re helping teams easily and seamlessly manage their cloud infrastructure projects and launch cloud-based services without ever leaving Slack,” he added.

After claiming that Microsoft Teams is not a real competitor to Slack, Butterfield said last month that the success of Slack threatens Microsoft’s entire Office 365 empire.

Slack is also leveraging AWS’s global infrastructure to support enterprise customers’ rapid adoption of its platform and to offer them data residency – the ability to choose which country or region their data is stored at rest in while fulfilling compliance requirements.

Additionally, AWS has agreed to use Slack to simplify the way teams at AWS communicate and work together.

“Together, AWS and Slack are giving developer teams the ability to collaborate and innovate faster on the front end with applications, while giving them the ability to efficiently manage their backend cloud infrastructure,” said Andy Jassy, AWS CEO.

Enterprise customers can rely on Slack’s channel-based messaging solution, combined with AWS’s proven infrastructure and security services, for secure, reliable, and scalable communication.

Slack and AWS will also extend product integration and deepen interoperability to help developer teams manage their AWS resources in Slack channels and Amazon Chime chat rooms with greater flexibility, said Amazon.

Going forward, the AWS Chatbot service will incorporate AWS’s more than 175 services to give developers the ability to collaborate with their teams to manage all of their cloud-based services without leaving Slack.

In an earlier interview with The Verge, Butterfield said that the company feels that “Microsoft is perhaps unhealthily preoccupied with killing us, and Teams is the vehicle to do that.”

While Slack also has voice and video calling features, they are not the focus of the app, Butterfield said, adding that Teams is more of a competitor to Zoom.

NYC unveils plan for expanded outdoor dining

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NYC unveils plan for expanded outdoor dining

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan that would give restaurants more space for outdoor dining after the city reopens.

New York City is set to enter phase one of reopening on June 8 and outdoor dining is now permitted in phase two, as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday, reports Xinua news agency.

De Blasio said at his daily briefing on Thursday that he expected New York City to enter phase two as early as the beginning of July, when the city will allow temporary use of open space for restaurants to maintain social distancing while at the same time maximizing their customer base.

According to the plan, restaurants can set tables in the curbside and sidewalks, and those along the 100-mile open streets developed by the city can use the space in front of their establishments.

Various regulations will be applied to specific situations.

The City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and the Department of Transportation will monitor the success of this program and will step in if it creates concerns, according to a statement issued by the mayor’s office on Thursday.

“Our restaurant owners need help now more than ever and have shared their concerns about traditional practices. This plan will enliven our commercial corridors and provide businesses with a much-needed opportunity to generate further revenue while maintaining safety,” said Jonnel Doris, commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services, in the statement.

Seven of 10 regions in New York State have stepped into phase two of reopening, during which real estate companies, vehicle sales, hair salons, outdoor and take-out food service, among others, are allowed to restart operating.

New York City is the only region in the state that is still under the “PAUSE” order due to COVID-19 with all non-essential businesses closed.

Saudi-led coalition in Yemen launches 14 airstrikes on Houthis

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Saudi-led coalition in Yemen launches 14 airstrikes on Houthis

Yemen’s Houthi militia said the Saudi-led coalition launched 14 airstrikes on their positions.

The group’s al-Masirah TV on Thursday reported four airstrikes on the Haradh district in Hajjah province, one on al-Buka area in Saada and nine on Sirwah district in Marib reports Xinhua news agency.

The Saudi-led coalition has made no comment on the Houthi allegations.

On Monday, the coalition announced the interception of two drones launched by the Houthi militia toward the Saudi border city of Khamis Mushait against civilians.

Turki Al-Maliki, the spokesman of the coalition, said the Houthis reject the ceasefire that has been enforced by the coalition since April 9.

The ceasefire decision came after a call by UN Secretary-General Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths for warring parties to lay down their weapons.

Yemen has been mired in civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of much of the country’s north and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in early 2015 to support Hadi’s government.

The five-year civil war has pushed more than 20 million to the brink of starvation.

Shane Long extends stay at Southampton until 2022

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Shane Long extends stay at Southampton until 2022

Southampton forward Shane Long has agreed on a two-year contract extension at St Mary’s, the club has announced.

The Republic of Ireland international had been approaching the end of his pre-existing deal this summer but is now set to remain with Southampton until the end of the 2021/22 season.

Long has been with the club since the summer of 2014, recently making his 200th appearance for the team, and he has been an important part of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s squad since the manager took the helm 18 months ago.

Eight of his 35 goals for Saints have come under the Austrian’s guidance, with Long making 43 appearances in that time.

“I love the way the club is run, I love what the club stands for and I’m excited about what the club will do over the next couple of years,” Long said in an official statement.

“I can see the club pushing up the league, back to where we all want to be, and I want to be part of that. I’m just delighted to get it done.”

Hasenhuttl said: “Shane is an outstanding professional. He has been an important player for me and I know also for the managers before me.

“He is also a player who sets the right example for our youngsters to follow in how he conducts himself on and off the pitch, so this is good news for us that we will have him as part of the squad for another two years,” he added.

Didi pads up for 2021 polls with virtual campaigns

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Didi pads up for 2021 polls with virtual campaigns

Targeting the state assembly polls that is scheduled to be held within a year if not postponed by the Covid-19 pandemic, West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress on Friday geared up with its virtual reach out drive to connect with party cadres across the state.

Chief Minister and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee is slated to hold a meeting with all her party MLAs, MPs, district presidents and other leaders through video conferencing this evening to prepare the party’s campaign blueprint ahead of the 2021 elections.

The high-level meeting was called by Banerjee in the wake of the Corona crisis and the subsequent ‘new normal’ that has changed the whole equation of social gathering across the globe.

Party sources said that Trinamool chief would chalk out a thorough campaign policy to virtually connect with all the voters across the state ahead of the upcoming polls, as holding meetings, taking out rallies would be strictly prohibited considering the post-Covid-19 situation.

Sources further informed that the party is going to focus big on its social media tools to reach out to the masses. Grassroots workers would also be given the training to conduct virtual campaigns, using various technologies, to connect with voters in the districts.

The meeting by the Trinamool supremo was called in the wake of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s virtual BJP rally scheduled on June 7 in Bihar during which Shah would be addressing party workers live-streamed at 60,000 booths via the Internet.

Organizing regular political rallies virtually came to a halt owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is set to be resumed now for political parties with the help of digital technology.

‘Don’t bring kids to Chandigarh’s Sukhna Lake for excursion’

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‘Don’t bring kids to Chandigarh’s Sukhna Lake for excursion’

Chandigarh Advisor Manoj Parida has expressed concern over people bringing their minor children for excursion to the famed Sukhna Lake here.

He has hinted at use of police force to educate them. Take precautions as the fight against the coronavirus is far from over, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has already cautioned earlier.

“It was sad to see educated people bringing small kids to the Sukhna Lake,” Parida tweeted.

“I really don’t mind these stupid adults’ ‘early departure’ with smiling eyes through the corona, but risking young innocent lives of future generations is criminal,” he said.

“Plan to use police to drill sense in their head. What say?” Parida added.

At this, someone responded: “You can’t call a parent of a stupid or criminal mind. Every parent knows very well about the safety and wellbeing of their kids while going outside and in-home as well. They are not stupid. Sorry, but your statement is not appreciated.”

Parida retorted: “Strong sarcastic words are meant to provoke. Due to immunity issues, kids and old men must stay indoors. We all must be strict on this.”

Two more residents of Chandigarh were tested positive on Friday. Both belonged to the Bapu Dham Colony in Sector 26, the epicenter of the virus.

They were family contacts of the previous positive cases, an official told IANS.

Of the 304 cases, 77 are active, while 222 patients have recovered. The city has recorded five Covid deaths.

Italian football to return on June 12 with Coppa Italia semis

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Italian football to return on June 12 with Coppa Italia semis

Italy’s Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora has confirmed that the Coppa Italia semi-finals will resume on June 12 while the final taking place on June 17.

The first leg of the semi-finals had concluded in February as AC Milan played out a 1-1 draw with Juventus at San Siro while Napoli enjoyed a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan. But the return legs which were originally set in early March were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reports Xinhua news agency.

The coronavirus outbreak saw all football in Italy cancelled indefinitely in March, but the action is set to get back underway later this month following the easing of lockdown restrictions across the country.

According to the new calendar, Juventus will take on the Rossoneri at Allianz Stadium on June 12, while the Beneamata visits Napoli one day later, and the final will kick off on June 17 at the Rome Olimpico Stadium.

Serie A have confirmed to be restarted on June 20.

Curfew lifted in LA County amid peaceful protests

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Curfew lifted in LA County amid peaceful protests

A night-time curfew has been lifted in the Los Angeles County as largely peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd continued across the area.

“Based upon current situational awareness and the recent pattern of peaceful actions by protesters, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will no longer enforce a curfew,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva tweeted on Thursday, adding that other jurisdictions were free to make their own decisions.

A curfew had been in effect for four nights in a row in the most populous US county, with a population of over 10 million, since Sunday due to the protests which sometimes descended into chaos, reports Xinhua news agency.

“I agree with this decision — it gives the peaceful protesters more time to speak out on our streets without fear of arrest,” tweeted Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn.

Hahn reminded local residents that cities may impose their own curfews.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that he will not impose a curfew in the city.

Thousands of peaceful protesters packed streets in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday as smaller demonstrations spread across the area.

Multiple protests over Floyd’s death which took place in police custody on May 25, were held in cities across Southern California on Thursday.

‘Historic commitments’ at Global Vaccine Summit

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‘Historic commitments’ at Global Vaccine Summit

The virtual Global Vaccine Summit hosted by the UK drew pledges of $8.8 billion, far more than its target of $7.4 billion, showing “historic commitments” made by world leaders to provide equal access to vaccines for all.

On Thursday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson opened the Global Vaccine Summit virtually, urging countries and organizations to pledge funding for vaccinations to save millions of lives in the poorest countries and protect the world from future outbreaks of infectious diseases, reports Xinhua news agency.

Addressing attendees from over 50 countries and organizations, Johnson said that the summit is a moment “when the world comes together to unite humanity in the fight against the disease”.

“I urge you to join us to fortify this lifesaving alliance and inaugurate a new era of global health cooperation, which I believe is now the most essential shared endeavor of our lifetimes,” he added.

With a target of $7.4 billion for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the summit raised $8.8 billion from 32 donor governments and 12 foundations, corporations and organizations.

The UK pledged 1.65 billion pounds (about $2.07 billion) to Gavi over the next five years, according to Johnson.

While the UK remains Gavi’s largest donor, other top donors include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and European countries such as Norway and Germany.

Eight countries made their first ever pledge to Gavi, including Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Finland, Greece, New Zealand, Portugal and Uganda, according to Gavi.

The summit is expected to raise money to immunize a further 300 million children in world’s poorest countries by 2025, protecting them from deadly diseases like polio, diphtheria and measles, and also helping ensure the global recovery from COVID-19 pandemic.

As the world focuses on tackling the novel coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO), Unicef and Gavi have warned that the pandemic is disrupting routine immunization, affecting approximately 80 million children under the age of one across the world.

To provide access to COVID-19 vaccines for low- and middle-income countries, the summit also raised $567 million for new innovative financing instruments.

“This is the first building block towards a global mechanism to ensure equitable access to future COVID-19 vaccines,” Gavi said.

Missing hustle bustle in Delhi’s Gandhinagar market

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Missing hustle bustle in Delhi’s Gandhinagar market

Shops have opened in Delhi’s Gandhinagar market, the country’s largest readymade garment wholesale market, in the fifth phase of lockdown that includes some relaxations. However, the hustle bustle in the market is missing.

Due to the corona outbreak, the crowds in the market have vanished. Businessmen open shops, but close before dusk as they hardly receive any customer. Many shops are shut because the staff working there has returned home. The exodus of workers from Delhi has greatly affected the business in the market.

Textile businessman Harish Kumar told IANS that shops have been opened, but there are no customers. He said the market is receiving barely 25 per cent of its usual number of customers.

He said since the factories are still closed, neither new orders are being received nor there are artisans and staff. The factories even do not have the staff for cleaning the premises.

Kumar said that due to the sealing of the borders of Delhi, wholesalers are not coming from outside.

Traders say that the usual sheen of Gandhinagar market, Asia’s largest wholesale market of readymade garments, will not return unless transportation becomes accessible and available.

S.K. Goyal, President of the Ramnagar Readymade Merchant Association based in Gandhinagar, said that as long as the borders of Delhi with the NCR cities are sealed, the opening of the market will not make any difference.

Another textile businessman Kailash Aggarwal of Gandhinagar has also started going to his factory. He said that only a few shops have opened because there is no demand.

Traders say that unless the demand gets created and new orders do not arrive, the functioning of the garment factories will not be back on track.

Revenue, profit in Q1, Q2 to be hit due to Covid: Indian Hotel

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Revenue, profit in Q1, Q2 to be hit due to Covid: Indian Hotel

Tata Group-backed Indian Hotels Company Ltd on Thursday said that sales volumes, revenue, and profit of the company will be impacted during the first and second quarter of the financial year 2021 as its operations are presently shut-in most geographies.

In a regulatory filing, the company said that it will gradually ramp up the operations only after the resolution of the pandemic.

“Since the situation is exceptional and is changing dynamically, the company is not in a position to gauge with certainty, the future impact on its operations,” it said.

It said that the company is confident about adapting to the changing business environment and respond suitably to fulfill the needs of its customers.

It said that the lockdowns and restrictions imposed on various activities due to the Covid-19 pandemic have posed challenges to all the businesses of the company and its subsidiaries, joint ventures, and associates. Lockdown guidelines issued by Central and state governments mandated closure of hotel operations and cessation of air traffic and other forms of public transport.

“This has resulted in low occupancies/shutdowns of our hotels pan India. Business operations in the various international markets where the company operates have also been impacted to the varying extent based on the spread of the pandemic and the restrictions on business activities placed by the respective foreign governments,” said the filing.

On the resumption of services, the company said that with the partial lifting of the lockdown restrictions, Indian Hotels has started re-opening a few hotels in the non-containment zones, after establishing thorough and well-rehearsed safety protocols.

It expects all the hotels to become operational in a phased manner after the lockdown is lifted and the confidence of travelers is restored. However, at this stage, the duration for which these restrictions will remain in place is uncertain and resumption of full-fledged operations will depend upon directives issued by the Central and state governments.

Informing the exchanges that the company is taking all necessary measures to contain costs and uplift revenue, it said: “The company has put in place a series of short term & long-term measures to optimize cost across all the lines namely raw material, manpower, power & fuel, corporate overheads & other costs. The company is also in discussion with all its lessors for waiver or deferment of lease rentals during the lockdown period.”

Further, all employees in its hotels and offices have been working from home in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Centre, states and municipal authorities. An exclusive helpline & online counseling for employees is made available and the company has been providing help to the employees as and when needed for various purposes.

The safety of employees who are now required to step out for work is being ensured and they have been mandated to use protective gear and take all safety precautions. All employees have been instructed to download the Aarogya Setu app, the company said.

Places of worships, hotels, malls to re-open in Telangana from June 8

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Places of worships, hotels, malls to re-open in Telangana from June 8

All places of worship, hotels, and shopping malls outside the containment zones in Telangana will re-open from June 8, the state government announced on Thursday.

The government issued an order with fresh guidelines in line with those issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on May 30.

This was done with a view to the phased reopening of prohibited activities in areas outside containment zones.

The Government Order (GO) allowed reopening of religious places/places of worship for public, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services and shopping malls, other than gaming centers and cinema halls. This will be subject to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as prescribed by the government from time to time.

However, activities like educational institutions, metro rail, cinema halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, entertainment parks, sports complexes, bars, social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural and religious functions and other large congregations will remain prohibited throughout the state.

The government on May 31 had announced the extension of lockdown in containment zones till June 30 and permitted relaxations in areas outside containment zones.

As per the latest GO, the night curfew will continue throughout the state from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. No shops/establishments, except hospitals and pharmacies, will remain open after 8.30 p.m.

Large public gatherings/congregations shall remain prohibited. However, marriage related gatherings shall be permitted with a maximum of 50 participants. Funeral/last related gatherings shall be permitted with a maximum of 20 participants.

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