#Oscars flashback: Check out Willem Dafoe on the Oscars red carpet in 1987, when he was nominated for his first #Oscar, vs. tonight. He is nominated for best actor for "At Eternity’s Gate." https://t.co/1F5SFjWsFK https://t.co/hzrxFclNS0

By Lisa Respers France and Veronica Rocha, CNNBilly Porter knows how to "Pose. "The star of the FX series "Pose" shut down the red carpet with his Christian Siriano tuxedo gown. Porter told Vogue his "goal is to be a walking piece of political art every time I show up. ""To challenge expectations.  What is masculinity? " he asked.  "What does that mean?  Women show up every day in pants, but the minute a man wears a dress, the seas part. "The actor said he's always wanted to wear a dress. "We wanted to play between the masculine and the feminine," Porter said.  "This look was interesting because it’s not drag.  I’m not a drag queen, I’m a man in a dress. "Oscar winners Mahershala Ali, Christian Bale, Sam Rockwell, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz are nominated this year again for acting. They are among 20 acting nominees, and it’s the first acting nomination for nine members of that group. Ali, a Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice winner, is going for his second Oscar in three years.  He previously won best supporting actor for his role in "Moonlight. "He nomination this year is for "Green Book," which won best picture at the Producers Guild Awards.  The PGA winner has gone on to win the best picture 20 of the last 29 years, including seven of the last nine years since the Academy Awards expanded the category in 2010. Hollywood's top actresses are owning the red carpet tonight. They are donning long trains, ruffles, capes and pantsuits.   Here are some of the red carpet looks:Melissa McCarthyLinda CardelliniJennifer Hudson, Tina Fey, and Maya Rudolph Amy Poehler From CNN's Janelle Davis and Brandon GriggsWhat can you do to win glory at the Academy Awards?  There's no magic formula, but based on history, there are choices you can make that will boost your movie's chances of winning best picture.  Take our quiz here, and see if you've got what it takes. There can be a 100 celebrity pairings in the room and 99 don’t move you, but all it takes is one.  And that one, for us, is Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Those in the know are aware that the 100 vs.  one thing is an homage to a meme-worthy speech Gaga gave (over and over again) about how Cooper believed in her enough to make “A Star Is Born” magical. Cooper, who also directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay, stars as troubled singer Jackson Maine, who falls for Gaga’s character, Ally, a struggling artist. Cooper and Gaga play the hell out of the roles and have formed a pretty strong bond off camera. That sounds kind of romantic, doesn’t it? Of course, Cooper has been in a nearly four-year relationship with model Irina Shayk, and the couple has a young daughter. So while Gaga has reportedly split with her fiancé Christian Carino, the dream of Gooper or Caga (possible couple monikers) will probably remain just that -- a dream.  We may be overthinking it, but we see you sis! Glenn Close arrived on the red carpet, living her life like it's golden. Given that Close is favored to win the best actress Oscar for her role in "The Wife," why not color coordinate with the statue?  For the record, Close told ABC the dress has 4 million beads and weighs 42 lbs.  “Roma’s” Yalitza Aparicio is the first indigenous woman and fourth Latina actress to be nominated for best actress. But the road to the Oscars hasn't been easy for the Oaxacan actress. She recently responded to racist insults from Mexican soap opera actor Sergio Goyri, who was caught on video slamming her indigenous roots.  He later apologized. In "Roma," director Alfonso Cuarón offers a semi-autobiographical tribute to the women who raised him, focusing on the family maid, played by Aparicio.  The story is set amid a period of unrest, both within the family and society at large, in his native Mexico in the 1970s.  Shot in black and white, the film marks Netflix’s first best picture nomination. “Roma" is the 11th foreign-language film nominated for best picture.  The last was "Amour" in 2012.  No foreign-language film has ever won the award.  The first Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, down the street from its current home at the Dolby Theater.  This year’s awards show will be its 91st ceremony.  Spike Lee donned a key piece of jewelry that paid homage to Radio Raheem, a beloved character in the director's film "Do the Right Thing," and wore in all-purple look in honor of the late musician Prince as he walked the red carpet ahead of the Oscars. Actor Bill Nunn, who died in 2016, played Radio Raheem in the 1989 critically acclaimed film.  Many critics believed the film should have been nominated for an award. Lee wore knuckle rings on each hand, emblazoned with the words "Love" and "Hate. " (Nunn wore similar knuckle rings in the film. ) The director also donned a necklace with the unpronounceable symbol that Prince adopted as his name in 1993. Lee and Prince were good friends.  The filmmaker included Prince's version of “Mary Don’t You Weep" at the end of his Oscar-nominated film “BlacKkKlansman. ” Please enable JavaScript for a better experience.


Michelle Obama's mom asks if she met any "real stars" at the 2019 Grammys. https://t.co/gbnQaMqrsl https://t.co/AaO4XA3YBd

    Michelle Obama’s appearance at the Grammys Sunday night surprised millions watching at home – including the former first lady’s mother, who wanted to know if she met any “real stars” while she was there.

    Obama shared a funny text exchange between her and her mom, Marian Robinson, on Instagram Tuesday night, writing: “When your mom doesn’t think you’re a “real” celebrity…Tonight in Phoenix, I shared this text thread from my mom from #Grammys night, and I just had to share it with all of you.  #TextsFromMom”
  A post shared by Michelle Obama (@michelleobama)
    Here is the full text exchange:

    Marian Robinson: I guess you were a hit at the Grammys (smiley-face emoji)

    Michelle Obama: I’m sitting here with Valerie and this text is so typically you.  Did you watch it? !

    Robinson: I saw it because Gracie called me.  Did you meet any of the real stars or did you run right after you were done

    Obama: I told you I was going to be on it

    Robinson: No you did not.  I would have remembered that even though I don’t remember much.

    Obama: (laughing emojis)

    Obama: I thought I told you

    Obama: And I am a real star…by the way…

    Robinson: Yeah

    Obama: (heart emojis)

    Obama joined host Alicia Keys on stage at the beginning of Sunday’s award show, along with Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga and Jada Pinkett Smith.  Obama spoke of the power music has to help people relate to one another.

    “Whether we like country or rap or rock, music helps us share ourselves, our dignity and sorrows, our hopes and joys.  It allows us to hear one another, to invite each other in.  Music shows us that all of it matters — every story within every voice, every note within every song.  Is that right ladies? ” Obama said.
  © 2021 Cable News Network.  A Warner Media Company.  All Rights Reserved.   CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network.


A group of more than 150 people from Gujarat’s transgender community have set an example amid the Covid-19 crisis by helping out the needy.

#CoronavirusOutbreak

https://t.co/heTLMTXIc8

A group of more than 150 people from Gujarat’s transgender community have set an example amid the Covid-19 crisis by helping out the needy.  The members are providing free packages of food to the needy and those living in slums.  The food packets include rice, flour, oil, tea leaves, sugar, among other essential items, news agency ANI reported.  “We had started with 200 kits but now it has gone up to around 1500.  We prepare it ourselves for distribution.  We used to get together for the celebration of Navratri, but it got cancelled this year due to coronavirus.  So we thought of doing this instead,” Nisha, a member of the community said.  Nisha,a member of the group,says, "We had started with 200 kits but now it has gone up to around 1500.  We prepare it ourselves for distribution.  We used to get together for celebration of navratri,but it got cancelled this yr due to #COVID19.  So we thought of doing this instead" https://t. co/TZwcwSJ9hF pic. twitter. com/LeyqvHzUbKThis is just one example of how people are coming together to help others fight the Covid-19 crisis.  In Kerala’a Trivandrum, employees at the general post office have decided to prepare food at their homes and give it to the needy in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Home-cooked food will be given to Trivandrum Corporation which would then be provided to the needy, ANI reported. “There are many who are struggling for food in this lockdown.  We’ve a Postal Staff Quarters Welfare Association and we decided to prepare food at our homes and give to Thiruvananthapuram Corporation which will supply it to the needy.  There are 40 families in staff quarters,” an official said.  Gujarat: Food packets being prepared for needy by devotees at gurudwara Gobind Dham in Ahmedabad, amid lockdown due to Coronavirus.  pic. twitter. com/gQTeZucWYnDevotees at Gurudwara Gobind Dham in Ahmedabad are also busy making food packets for the needy amid lockdown due to coronavirus. The number of coronavirus cases in the country has jumped over 1,200.  More than 30 people in India have lost their lives to Covid-19.  101 patients have successfully recovered from the virus.


Some photos of a letter were sent to FACTLY on WhatsApp to check their authenticity.  The letter is being sent to Village Sarpanches asking them to select five qualified members from their village for employment under the ‘Saur Urja Mission Training and Employment Scheme’.  Let’s try to check the authenticity of the letter.  Claim: Employment for five qualified persons from every village under the ‘Saur Urja Mission Training and Employment Scheme’.     Fact: There is no government scheme with the name, ‘Saur Urja Mission Training and Employment Scheme’.  Also, the government does not ask demand drafts in the name of private enterprises (like ‘Urja Enterprises, in this case) for official recruitments.  In the letter, there are also many spelling and grammatical errors, which are very rare to find in an official letter.  Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE. When searched for the ‘Saur Urja Mission Training and Employment Scheme’ on Google, it can be found that there is no such government scheme.  The results only show about the ‘Suryamitra Scheme’, under which training is provided to youth in the Solar Energy sector (More about ‘Suryamitra Scheme’ can be read here and here).  Also, when searched on the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy website, no such scheme was found. In the letter, it is mentioned that the interested candidates should fill the form and send a demand draft (DD) of Rs.  1000 in the name of ‘Urja Enterprises’, payable at Delhi.  But no government agency asks for a DD in the name of a private enterprise for official recruitments.   Also, a lot of spelling and grammatical errors can be found in the letter.  No official notification or note contains such errors.  It can also be observed that there is no Ministry name or Department name on the letter. A similar fake letter in the name of ‘Gram Vikas Rozgar Yojana’ is also being sent to Sarpanches across the country.  FACTLY has already debunked it and wrote a fact-check article on it. To sum it up, letters offering employment under the ‘Saur Urja Mission Training and Employment Scheme’ are fake.  There is no such scheme. Did you watch our new Episode of the DECODE series on Parliament?


Motilal Vora’s demise has left a huge void. His life is a shining example of public service & unparalleled commitment to Congress ideology. We will always miss his guidance & selfless service. My heartfelt condolences to the family: Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi https://t.co/T2ceXwZ7lN

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday condoled the passing away of senior Congress leader Motilal Vora.  The Prime Minister said that he is saddened by Vora’s demise. “Shri Motilal Vora Ji was among the senior-most Congress leaders, who had vast administrative and organisational experience in a political career that spanned decades.  Saddened by his demise.  Condolences to his family and well-wishers.  Om Shanti,” PM Modi said on Twitter.  Shri Motilal Vora Ji was among the senior-most Congress leaders, who had vast administrative and organisational experience in a political career that spanned decades.  Saddened by his demise.  Condolences to his family and well-wishers.  Om Shanti: PM @narendramodiVora died at a hospital in Delhi on Monday.  He was 93.  The Congress leader had recently recovered from Covid-19. A former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and a former governor of Uttar Pradesh, Vora served as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) treasurer for 16 years till 2018 when the important organisational post was handed over to another senior leader Ahmed Patel.  Patel died in a Gurugram hospital on November 25 after having tested positive for Covid-19 in October. Vora will be cremated in Chhattisgarh where his body will be taken either today or on Tuesday.


FROM THE ARCHIVES: @ABC News' report on Ruth Bader Ginsburg's pending confirmation for the Supreme Court following her nomination by Bill Clinton in 1993. https://t.co/2zqu10z5T4 https://t.co/Mw3pGOFOR7

Updated 11:18 PM ET, Sun September 20, 2020Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the US Supreme Court, died Friday, September 18, due to complications from pancreatic cancer.  She was 87. "Our nation has lost a jurist of historic stature," Chief Justice John Roberts said.  "We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague.  Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her — a tireless and resolute champion of justice. "Ginsburg had several bouts with cancer.  She had radiation therapy for the pancreatic cancer in 2019.  In 2018, she underwent surgery to remove two cancerous nodules from her left lung.  She was also treated for early stages of pancreatic cancer in 2009, and she had surgery to treat colon cancer in 1999. Ginsburg was the oldest Supreme Court justice.  She was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, and she led the court's liberal wing.


A screenshot of a tweet posted by ‘TIMES NOW’ is being shared on social media claiming that a former Pakistani diplomat admitted to 300 casualties in IAF airstrike at Balakot in 2019.  In response to the Pulwama terror attack, India conducted a surgical airstrike at Balakot on 26 February 2019.  Let’s verify the claim made in the post. Claim: Former Pakistani Diplomat admits to 300 casualties in IAF airstrike at Balakot. Fact: Former Pakistani Diplomat Zafar Hilaly did not admit to 300 casualties in 2019 Balakot airstrike.  Indian Media houses aired an edited video of Zafar Hilaly’s interview in ‘Hum Tak’ news channel.  Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE. On searching for the claims made in this post, we found several news articles reporting former Pakistan diplomat Zafar Hilaly admitting to 300 casualties in Balakot airstrike.  ‘India TV’ (archived), ‘Dainik Bhasker’ (archived), ‘The Tribune’ (archived) also published articles reporting the same on ‘09 January 2021’.  Archived version of the news articles published in ‘Times of India’ and ‘Republic TV’ news websites can be read here and here. Reporting the same, ‘India Today’ (archived), ‘Republic TV’ (archived) and ‘In Khabar’ (archived) media channels published videos on their official YouTube channels on ‘09 January 2021’. On ‘10 January 2021’, ‘Live Mint’ reported that ‘300 casualties in Balakot airstrike by India, admits Former Pak Diplomat’ story on their website had been withdrawn due to the factual inaccuracies.  ‘ANI’ e also published an article about Pakistan diplomat admitting to 300 casualties in Balakot airstrike.  Later, ‘ANI’ had withdrawn their article.  The archived version of ‘ANI’ article can be seen here. On searching for the truth about former Pakistani Diplomat admitting to casualties in Balakot airstrike, we found an article published by Republic TV on ‘10 January 2021’.  Republic TV shared a video claiming it as the interview video of Zafar Hilaly.  The same video was telecast by ‘India Today’ channel. Zafar Hilaly posted a series of tweets on ‘10 January 2021’, clarifying his statement telecasted in several Indian media channels.  They can be seen here, here and here.  In his tweets, Zafar Hilaly accused ‘Times of India’ news website for telecasting an edited video of his interview in ‘Hum Tak’ news channel.  He shared the original video of his interview in one of his tweets.  By observing the video, we get to know that interview of Zafar Hilaly on ‘Hum Tak’ news channel took place on ‘23 December 2020’. On searching for more sources using these keywords, we found the complete interview footage in the official YouTube channel of ‘Hum News’.  At 5. 17 of this video, we find similar visuals as telecast in Indian media channels.  In the original video, Zafar Hilaly said ‘Kam Se Kam Theen Souv Logon ko Unhe Marne Tha, Itthefaqan Wo Nahi Mare’ (They planned to kill at least 300 men on our side, But they couldn’t).  In the edited video, ‘Marne Tha’ (planned to kill) sound is replaced with ‘Maara Tha’(Killed).  At 4. 40 of the original video, Zafar Hilaly said ‘Indian Army planned to attack and kill 300 people studying in a Madrasa.  Fortunately, they were not present there’.  Also, the video shared by Indian news channels is the reverse display of Zafar Hilaly interview telecast on ‘Hum News’ media channel. To sum it up, former Pakistan Diplomat Zafar Hilaly did not admit to 300 casualties in IAF airstrike at Balakot.


Govt of India announces Rs 500 Crore for Odisha, as a measure in advance. Govt will further help Odisha govt and make rest of the arrangements to come out of this crisis, after the complete survey and the formation of a rehabilitation plan: PM Narendra Modi #CycloneAmphan https://t.co/Zl6geN65qo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an advance financial assistance of Rs 500 crore for cyclone-battered Odisha on Friday. Modi made the announcement after an aerial survey of areas hit by cyclone ‘Amphan’ and holding a review meeting with Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.  The prime minister said further assistance will be provided for long-term rehabilitation measures after getting a detailed report from the state government. The leaders toured districts such as Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj for about 90 minutes.  At the same time, there has been damage to property, which we reviewed in a meeting today. All possible assistance will be provided by the Centre to ensure quick relief work. Rs.  500 crore will be given to Odisha as advance assistance: PM @narendramodi in OdishaUnion ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Sarangi were also present at the review meeting held at the premises of the Biju Patnaik International Airport here. Modi said that though the Odisha government has been able to save lives by undertaking preparations well in advance, the cyclone has caused damage to housing, power and infrastructure, besides the agriculture sector while moving towards West Bengal. Complementing the people of Odisha, administration and the chief minister for saving lives, Modi said the disaster posed a serious challenge before the state as it struck at a time when everyone is engaged in a formidable battle against COVID-19.  PTI AAM SKN SOM KJ KJ


FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn says review process for authorizing COVID-19 vaccine was made "as transparent as possible," adding the Pfizer vaccine's benefits "outweighs its risks." https://t.co/dWfohJq3CV https://t.co/0DoANRY9w4

By Jacqueline Howard, CNNUpdated 3:40 AM ET, Sat December 12, 2020  (CNN)The US Food and Drug Administration has authorized the first Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in the United States.  Millions of doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, which has been found to be 95% effective, will be soon shipped around the country so vaccinations can begin within days. Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr.  Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team. CNN's Andrea Kane, Jamie Gumbrecht, Annie Grayer, Ellie Kaufman and Sara Murray contributed to this report.


Air India has issued a circular to all cabin crew and cockpit crew directing them to say 'Jai Hind' after any announcement onboard. https://t.co/t488kZSCzy

Air India crew will have to say “Jai Hind” after every flight announcement “with much fervour”, said an official advisory of the national carrier on Monday. “With immediate effect, all (crew) are required to announce ‘Jai Hind’ at the end of every announcement after a slight pause and much fervour,” stated the advisory issued by Amitabh Singh, Director Operations, Air India. The advisory has been marked to all crew members of the cash-strapped carrier.   During his first stint as Air India’s Chairman and Managing Director, Ashwani Lohani had issued a similar direction to pilots in May 2016. According to officials, the current advisory is a “reminder” to the staff, in line with the “mood of the nation”. “The captain of a flight should often connect with passengers during the journey and, at the end of first address, using the words ‘Jai Hind’ would make a tremendous impact,” Lohani said in a communication to his staff in May 2016.   Besides, Lohani in his communication had also asked the staff to be “courteous and polite” to passengers and said wearing a smile would be a “good thing”. Lohani had said, “The cabin crew should greet the passengers while emplaning and deplaning with a ‘namaskaar’ as was the tradition.  A smile on the face and conversing sweetly and politely without an iota of irritation would be a good thing. ” Last month, the central government called back retired technocrat Lohani to head the carrier as chairman and managing director for a second time within two years. His first tenure as Air India chief was from August 2015 to August 2017.  Lohani was appointed Railway Board chairman in August 2017 and retired in December 2018.


BREAKING: Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is suspending his campaign, an aide confirmed to CNN. https://t.co/benZOhTXlC

Buttigieg was the first openly gay candidate to mount a major run for president. Mayor Pete Buttigieg suspends presidential campaignSaying that "the path has narrowed to a close," former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg announced Sunday night that he is suspending his 2020 presidential campaign. "At this point in the race, the best way to keep faith with those goals and ideals is to step aside and help bring our party and our country together," Buttigieg told supporters is his hometown of South Bend.  "So tonight I am making the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency. ""I will no longer seek to be the 2020 Democratic nominee for president, but I will do everything in my power to ensure that we have a new Democratic president come January," he said. The suspension of the campaign brings to a close an historic bid by the first openly gay man to launch a major bid for the presidency. "We sent a message to every kid out there wondering if whatever marks them out as different means they are somehow destined to be less than, to see that someone who once felt that exact same way can become a leading American presidential candidate with his husband at his side," he said. In the final weeks of his campaign, Buttigieg had a clear target amongst his competition: Sen.  Bernie Sanders.  He spoke against Sanders' calls for an "ideological revolution" and his attempt at a complete overhaul of the American health care system.  In his speech Sunday tonight, Buttigieg again alluded to the threat of a Sanders nomination. "We need leadership to heal a divided nation, not drive us further apart.  We need a broad-based agenda that can truly deliver for the American people, not one that gets lost in ideology.  We need an approach strong enough not only to win the White House but to hold the House, win the Senate, and send Mitch McConnell into retirement," he said. Buttigieg, who was once a long-shot in a crowded field of candidates, became a household name during the Democratic primary and would eventually go one to fare well in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary before his momentum was slowed during contests in the more diverse states of Nevada and South Carolina. When he announced his exploratory committee in January 2019, voters didn’t know him or his policy positions, and could not pronounce his last name. "Boot Edge Edge" became a pronunciation of sorts, plastered across campaign merchandise and even adorned across an entire wall at his campaign headquarters. At 38 years old, he was a millennial and the youngest candidate in the field.  Buttigieg leaned on his youth, hoping to bring about a new generation of leadership in Washington, D. C. , and ran on a message of unifying the country in a post-Donald Trump presidency. He’d begin his town halls asking voters to visualize the day the sun comes up over America and Trump was no longer president. "We will be even more divided and polarized on that day then we are now.  Just worn out from fighting, exhausted and torn up over politics.  And that means that we are going to require a president who is focused on uniting the American people, and healing what has been torn up and broken among us," Buttigieg said during a town hall in New Hampshire in January. Buttigieg, as the first major openly gay candidate to mount a significant run for president, campaigned alongside his husband, Chasten, who developed his own fan base along the way.  In one of Buttigeig’s most powerful moments, he also became the first person from the LGBTQ community to talk openly on a presidential debate stage about his coming out. During the ABC News/Univision hosted debate in September, Buttigieg recalled being a military officer while deployed to Afghanistan in 2014 during the era of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell," while also serving as mayor in a state under then-Governor Mike Pence. "At a certain point when it came to professional setbacks, I had to wonder whether just acknowledging who I was was going to be the ultimate career ending, professional setback.  I came back from the deployment and realized you only get to live one life and I was not interested in not knowing what it was like to be in love any longer, so I just came out. "For Buttigieg, there was no setback, but rather overwhelming support from his community.  After coming out in an op-ed in his local newspaper during his 2015 reelection year, he was elected with 80% of the vote. "Mayor Buttigieg ran an incredible campaign that broke glass ceilings and inspired countless LGBTQ people to run for office and enter public service," said Alphonso David, President of the Human Rights Campaign.  "His history-making, open and honest campaign gave representation to a community that has been for far too long pushed out of the spotlight.  He gave a voice to millions across the country, to issues often ignored.  He championed his support for LGBTQ equality and effectively articulated how issues of discrimination and inequality personally affected him and his family, undoubtedly moving our country towards a more equal society. "Buttigieg took more moderate positions than some of the other candidates in his party.  Most notably, his Medicare for All Who Want It plan left private insurance in place and he opposed free college for everyone.  Instead, he supported free college for those who can’t afford it. He embraced his underdog status in the race and proved himself to be a master fundraiser, often beating out more notable names each quarter.  But his fundraising also brought about a contentious spar with Sen.  Elizabeth Warren at the end of 2019 over attending private events. For much of the year, Buttigieg’s private fundraisers were closed to press and his campaign had stopped releasing names of bundlers, but after mounting pressure from reporters and Warren to open them up, he changed course in December, allowing media in and disclosed those who were raising money for his campaign. The former mayor was constantly having to defend his experience and whether he was qualified to be commander-in-chief.  His failed runs for Indiana state treasurer in 2010 and the DNC Chair in 2016 were often pointed out as being unelectable and the wrong candidate to take on Trump in a general election. One of his biggest political shortcomings was the lack of support from African-American voters.  He hovered around 2% among black Democratic voters and black Democratic-leaning independents, according a recent Washington Post/ Ipsos poll. Some of the potential causes for his low support is the criticism he received over his relationship with black residents in South Bend and his demotion of the city’s first black police chief, Darryl Boykins, in 2012. The shooting death of a black man, Eric Logan, by a white police officer in the summer of 2019 was one of the biggest tests of Buttigieg's campaign. Anger and frustration quickly spread across the city, and the mayor was forced to cancel events in New York City and Los Angeles that week to be in South Bend to monitor the situation and meet with community members and family of the victim. Buttigieg also pulled out of Rep.  Jim Clyburn's Fish Fry in South Carolina that Friday night to return home and join a march and protest. A week later, the mayor held a town hall with the police chief and was the target of members of the South Bend community for not doing enough to prevent incidents like this from happening. Asked during the July Democratic debate about the lack of black police officers in South Bend and the failure to improve its diversity over his tenure as mayor, Buttigieg infamously admitted, "I couldn’t get it done. "24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events


AFP news agency: US President Donald Trump announces sanctions on Iran steel and mining industries. (file pic) https://t.co/lzTPuPPHV0

India and the US won’t immediately escalate vexed trade-related issues and are expected to hold their position on all important matters till a new government is formed in New Delhi by the month-end, officials with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross too hinted the two sides will maintain their positions in his speech at the Trade Winds business forum, while raising the issue of trade imbalance with India. “We applaud India’s commitment to addressing some of these barriers once the government is reformed, probably starting in the month of June,” he said. Election-bound India is expected to form a new government before the tenure of the current Lok Sabha ends on June 3. India’s main concerns include the US decision to enforce sanctions on oil imports from Iran, one of the country’s main energy suppliers, and the withdrawal of benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme. Washington is concerned by the trade imbalance because of tariff and non-tariff barriers, and regulations that US officials say put foreign companies at a disadvantage. According to the officials cited above, India has explained to the US that strategic matters, including trade-related issues, can be effectively dealt with after the new government is formed. They added the US has hinted it might make a final decision on withdrawing incentives under GSP after the new government is formed. The two sides are also locked in disputes over Indian price caps on imported US medical devices, and e-commerce rules barring companies from selling products through firms in which they have an equity interest. Ross contended India’s push to get foreign firms to store more of their user data locally is a hindrance to trade, and said India’s treatment of Walmart after its acquisition of Flipkart was an “important issue”. “So the American companies are showing very good will and a very cooperative attitude towards ‘Make in India’ and the other programmes,” Ross told CNBC-TV18.  “But there’s a limit to how far the discriminatory behaviour can go. ”Commerce minister Suresh Prabhu said he had “an excellent” meeting with Ross on Monday, during which they discussed “how to take this relationship to the next level”. Prabhu expanded US President Donald Trump’s slogan “Make America great again” to “Let’s make America great again by making India-US relationship far better again”.  Ross rephrased it to “MAGAWIC”, or “Make America great again with Indian cooperation”. Ross told the business forum US technologies and expertise can play a key role in developing India’s economy but faced “significant market access barriers”.  Noting that India is the third largest economy and would become the largest consumer market by 2030, he added: “Yet today, India is only the US’ 13th largest export market due to overly restrictive market access barriers. ”On the other hand, the US is India’s largest export market, accounting for about 20% of the total.  “That’s a real imbalance, and it’s an imbalance we must drive to counter,” he said. He contended India’s average applied tariff rate of 13. 8% is the highest of any major world economy and its “bound tariff rates”, or the highest rate that can be charged, on agricultural products ranged from 113. 5% to 300%. Ross referred to Trump’s vision of a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific and said India is key to the US administration’s approach to the region.


Daily new cases remain below 50,000 as a million tests conducted daily: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

#COVID19 https://t.co/dgF92gl0hL

India continued with its recent downward trajectory of new Covid-19 cases per day as the country recorded 67,708 new infections on Thursday to take the total caseload past the 7. 3 million mark to 7,307,097, the Union health ministry’s data showed. (Click here for full Covid-19 coverage)This is for the fourth consecutive day the country has recorded less than 70,000 new cases in a day.  However, it is a marginal rise from the 63,509 cases reported on Wednesday. With these latest figures, the number of active cases has reached 812,390 or 11. 42% of total cases.  There were 81,514 recoveries in the last 24 hours--more than the number of new cases--as overall recoveries reached 6,383,441 or 87. 05% of the total cases. Meanwhile, the disease claimed 680 lives in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 111,266 or 1. 53% of the overall caseload. Also, India’s latest Covid-19 figures come on a day schools, cinema halls, multiplexes, entertainment parks and swimming pools reopened with strict protocols in place.  Last month, the Union home ministry, in its guidelines for the ongoing fifth phase of the nationwide unlock, had allowed these to reopen, but only outside containment zones. (Read more: Reboot begins for cinemas, schools)India had crossed the seven million case mark on October 11 amid a sharp fall in the number of new Covid-19 cases per day. Earlier today, the health ministry, in a tweet said India’s case doubling time has improved sharply to 70. 4 days from 25. 5 in mid-August.  A graph attached with the tweet shows India’s case doubling time at various stages in the last two months.


'There have been 4-5 mini budgets in 2020,' PM @narendramodi says ahead of #BudgetSession

https://t.co/hrojdp8PYB https://t.co/KSzCurf4dW

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has present four-five mini Budgets in 2020, making this an exceptional year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address ahead of the Budget session on Friday.  The Union Budget will be seen as a continuation of those, PM Modi said. Speaking at the start of the Budget Session.  https://t. co/qhQMTEXOsG"The first session of this decade is beginning today.  This decade is very significant for a bright future of India.  The session will keep the entire decade in mind.  There should be discussions, presentation of different views this session," PM Modi said at the Parliament. The finance ministry released several tranches of money in 2020 meant to help ease financial constraints owing to Covid-19 pandemic. Follow live updates from Parliament Budget Session"I am confident we will be able to put this sacred place of Parliament to maximum use and fulfil the expectations of the people who have sent us here, upholding the tenets of democracy," PM said. After President's address, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Economic Survey 2019-20.  The Union Budget will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1.  The session will be held in two parts --January 29 to February 15 and March 8 to April 8 and will have a total of 33 sittings. The season beginning today is likely to be stormy as 18 opposition parties have announced announcing their decision to boycott the President's address, in solidarity with the farmers' protest. A total of 18 Opposition parties including the Congress, the NCP, Shiv Sena, DMK, Trinamool Congress, CPI, CPI-M and RJD and some other parties have announced that they would boycott the President's address.


A video is being shared on Facebook with a claim that it’s the video of the golden dome at the top of the Tirupati temple.  The video which was shared on social media last year is still being shared by many.  Let’s try to analyze the extent of truth claimed in this post. Claim: Video of the golden dome at the top of Tirupati temple. Fact: The video of the golden dome shown in the post is related to the Sri Ranganathaswamy temple in New York.  Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.    In the posted video, at around 0. 40 seconds, a person saying about Sri Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam can be heard.  With that information when searched on youtube using keywords in English and Tamil, many search results were found.  Some of the search results with the same video said that the golden dome shown in the video is from Sri Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam.  But under one of the videos found in the search results, a person has commented that most of them are mistaking the Ranganathaswamy temple in Newyork as Sri Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam.  From that information, when searched on Google about that temple in Newyork, a photo of that temple’s golden dome was found.  When this photo was compared with the golden dome at 0. 17 seconds of the posted video it was found that both are similar.  Furthermore, the surroundings seen in the posted video can also be seen in the satellite image of the Ranganathaswamy temple in Newyork. The temple shown in the posted video is not of Sri Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam because when the photo of the temple in Srirangam was compared with the golden dome of the temple shown at 0. 57 seconds in the posted video, it was found that there are many differences between both the temples, which can be seen in the collage below. To summarize, the posted video is not related to the Tirupati temple, it is a video of Ranganathaswamy temple in New York. Did you watch our new video?


Three Rhino calves including 2 females and 1 male, rescued by State Forest Department outside Kaziranga National Park during floods in 2019, will be shifted to Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam: Assam Forest Department https://t.co/abdDVPCTOM

Three rhino calves rescued two years ago during floods at the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve in Assam will be trans-located to Manas Tiger Reserve (also in Assam) on Saturday.  The calves---two females and a male--- are being taken from the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near KNPTR where they were kept for the past two years to their new home at MTR located nearly 300 km away.  The translocation is part of an ongoing effort to increase wildlife at MTR, a national park, which was ravaged for nearly two decades due to insurgent activities and rampant poaching.  The two females were rescued by the forest department and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) personnel from Hatimura (Biswanath- North Bank) and Kuthuri areas whereas the male was rescued from Solmara during the Kaziranga floods that hit in July-August 2019.  “These rhino calves have undergone a protocol of rehabilitation for two years before they are trans-located to MTR.  On Friday, all three had health check-ups and markings done before they were loaded in individual crates for the translocation,” said a WTI release.  The convoy is expected to reach MTR in the early hours of Saturday for the scheduled release of the animals in their dedicated enclosure, where they will be kept for a stipulated period for habituation before their final release in the wilderness of the reserve.  “It is the right time to release them, as the calves will be developing horns.  The intra-state rhino translocation will help in improving the gene pool and give respite from any epidemics in future,” P Sivakumar, director, KNPTR.  Till date 19 rhinos have been trans-located to MTR since 2006 taking the rhino population in the reserve to 44 at present.  “The release of flood-rescued and rehabilitated rhinos into MTR is a part of the long-term project where the trans-located rhinos have bred, and their progeny have added to the rhino population of the reserve,” the release said.


Major League Baseball has suspended Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow without pay for one season after an investigation found the team used video to steal signs during their 2017 championship season https://t.co/EQDkZmSGHB

The GM and manager were fired by the team after MLB's report.  MLB suspends Astros manager, GM for sign-stealingMajor League Baseball handed down stiff penalties to the Houston Astros organization on Monday for stealing signs during its 2017 World Series win against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A. J.  Hinch were both suspended for one year.  MLB’s ruling also forces the Astros to forfeit their first and second-round draft picks in the 2020 and 2021 MLB drafts, according to an announcement from the league on Monday.  Shortly after the release of the report, the Astros fired Luhnow and Hinch, the team announced. "I find that the conduct of the Astros, and its senior baseball operations executives, merits significant discipline.  I base this finding on the fact that the club’s senior baseball operations executives were given express notice in September 2017 that I would hold them accountable for violations of our policies covering sign stealing, and those individuals took no action to ensure that the club’s players and staff complied with those policies during the 2017 Postseason and the 2018 regular season," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement Monday. "The conduct described herein has caused fans, players, executives at other MLB Clubs, and members of the media to raise questions about the integrity of games in which the Astros participated.  And while it is impossible to determine whether the conduct actually impacted the results on the field, the perception of some that it did cause significant harm to the game," Manfred added. The Astros will also be fined $5 million as well, which is the maximum allowed under current MLB rules. MLB's investigation, which covered a period starting in 2016 until today, began following a November 2019 article by The Athletic that the Astros engaged in sign-stealing. The Astros, according to MLB, began using live game footage from the center field camera in an attempt to decode the opposing team's sign sequence from the catcher and pitcher when an Astros player was on second base.  This would give a batter the advantage of knowing the pitch type, significantly increasing his chances for a hit. "Once the sign sequence was decoded, a player in the video replay review room would act as a 'runner' to relay the information to the dugout, and a person in the dugout would notify the players in the dugout or signal the sign sequence to the runner on second base, who in turn would decipher the catcher’s sign and signal to the batter from second base," MLB's report on the investigation said. Alex Cora, who is now the manager of the Boston Red Sox, was the bench coach for the Astros in 2017.  MLB's report said after the sign-stealing operation started, Cora began to call the replay room on the replay phone to obtain sign-stealing information.  On multiple occasions, MLB said, employees in the replay room sent sign-stealing information to staff members' smartwatches or phones on the bench. The Astros' sign-stealing operation advanced when players, including current New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran, went to Cora with a way to improve sign-stealing. MLB said Cora arranged for a monitor displaying the center field camera feed to be placed immediately outside of the Astros' dugout, which was allowed by MLB rules at the time.  The feed, which was supposed to be used for "player development purposes," was instead used by the Astros to set up the sign-stealing operation. Players, MLB said, would watch TV with the center field feed, decode the signs and then bang on a trash can with a bat to alert the batter as to what pitch was coming. "Generally, one or two bangs corresponded to certain off-speed pitches, while no bang corresponded to a fastball," MLB said.  "Witnesses consistently described the scheme as player-driven, and with the exception of Cora, non-player staff, including individuals in the video replay review room, had no involvement in the banging scheme. "Cora, who is facing similar allegations during his current tenure as Red Sox manager, was not handed a punishment Monday by MLB, but one is expected. "I will withhold determining the appropriate level of discipline for Cora until after the DOI [Department of Investigations] completes its investigation of the allegations that the Red Sox engaged in impermissible electronic sign stealing in 2018 while Cora was the manager," Manfred wrote in his report Monday.  The Red Sox won the World Series in 2018. During its investigation, MLB said it interviewed 68 witnesses, including 23 current and former Astros players.  MLB said it also reviewed "tens of thousands" of emails, Slack messages, texts, video clips and photographs. Trying to decode a catcher’s signs is not illegal, according to MLB rules, so long as no outside or electronic equipment is used.  In 2017, MLB issued a warning to all 30 teams that sign-stealing would not be tolerated.  The Astros, Manfred said, deliberately ignored MLB’s orders. "The Astros continued to both utilize the replay review room and the monitor located next to the dugout to decode signs for the remainder of the regular season and throughout the postseason," the MLB report said. MLB said the Astros stopped using the sign-stealing scheme at some point during the 2018 season and did not use it during the 2018 playoff nor at any point in the 2019 season. While Hinch and Luhnow were not the masterminds or organizers of the sign-stealing, MLB said it had to hold those at the top accountable. “Regardless of the level of Luhnow’s actual knowledge, the Astros’ violation of rules in 2017 and 2018 is attributable, in my view, to a failure by the leaders of the baseball operations department and the field manager to adequately manage the employees under their supervision, to establish a culture in which adherence to the rules is ingrained in the fabric of the organization, and to stop bad behavior as soon as it occurred,” Manfred said in his report. Luhnow apologized in a statement following his firing.  He said he accepts responsibility for the rules violations that occurred "on my watch," but defended his tenure and career. "I am not a cheater.  Anybody who has worked closely with me during my 32- year career inside and outside baseball can attest to my integrity," Luhnow said in a statement provided to ABC News.  "I did not know rules were being broken.  As the Commissioner set out in his statement, I did not personally direct, oversee or engage in any misconduct. "Hinch, in a statement, acknowledged his failure to stop the sign-stealing. "As a leader and Major League manager, it is my responsibility to lead players and staff with integrity that represents the game in the best possible way," Hinch said in a statement Monday.  "While the evidence consistently showed I didn’t endorse or participate in the sign-stealing practices, I failed to stop them and I am deeply sorry. "Manfred said he is not suspending any players involved because it would be "impractical," given many players are with different teams and it’s difficult to determine "with a degree of certainty" who should be held accountable. The Astros organization and its baseball operations were previously under the spotlight last year when then-assistant general manager Brandon Taubman reportedly made threatening comments to a group of female sports reporters. The year before, the Astros acquired Roberto Osuna, while he was serving a 75-game suspension for domestic violence. Taubman, following playoff game against the New York Yankees in October 2019, reportedly turned toward a group of female reporters in the clubhouse and said several times, "Thank God we got Osuna!  I’m so f------ glad we got Osuna! " Sports Illustrated reported.  He was fired not long after the allegations became public. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events


Vice President-elect Kamala Harris: "For four years, you marched and organized for equality and justice, for our lives and for our planet and then you voted. And you delivered a clear message. You chose hope and unity, decency, science and, yes, truth." https://t.co/bcbtfR7EGD https://t.co/EIV7YtFW2r

They spoke to the nation from Wilmington, Delaware. Election 2020 timeline: 11. 13. 20President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris made victory speeches to the nation Saturday night in Wilmington, Delaware, with primetime remarks stressing unity for a sharply-divided nation. Harris, 56, the first woman and first woman of color to be elected vice president, was first to take the stage, savoring the solo moment in a suffragette-white pantsuit, waving to the crowd and smiling broadly as she approached the lectern. She began with a tribute to the late congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis, giving a nod to those who paved the way for a more representative democracy. "Congressman John Lewis before his passing wrote 'Democracy is not a state, it is an act. ' And what he meant was that America's democracy is not guaranteed.  It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it," Harris said.  "And when our very democracy was on the ballot in this election -- with the very soul of America at stake and the world watching -- you ushered in a new day for America. "She went on to thank the voters, organizers, poll workers and activists who she said delivered a clear message in what became a referendum election, choosing, she said, "hope and unity, decency, science, and yes, truth! ""You chose Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.  And Joe is a healer, a uniter, a tested and steady hand.  A person whose own experience of loss gives him a sense of purpose that will help us as a nation reclaim our own sense of purpose," Harris said, talking up her former opponent and now partner. The daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, Harris also thanked her late mother and the generations of women before her -- "including the black women who are often, too often overlooked but so often prove they are the backbone of our democracy. ""When she came here from India at the age of 19, she maybe didn't quite imagine this moment," Harris spoke of her mother, an Indian immigrant.  "But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this  is possible, and so I am thinking about her and about the generations of women, Black women, Asian, white, Latina, Native American women, who throughout our nation's history, who paved the way to tonight, women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality and liberty and justice for all. "She gave credit to Biden for helping her ascend to the second highest office in the nation and said she hopes her place on the stage will inspire others to follow. "What a testament it is to Joe's character that he had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exists in our country and select a woman as his vice president," Harris said. "While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last.  Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities," she added. Biden, after nearly 50 years in public and three tries for the White House, then took the stage and squarely focused on healing a divided nation -- but first took a moment to tout his history-making win. "Folks, the people of this nation have spoken," Biden said to cheers and honking horns.  "They've delivered us a clear victory, a convincing victory, a victory for we, the people.  We've won with the most votes ever cast on a presidential ticket in the history of the nation -- 74 million. "Speaking to several hundred supporters in the parking lot of the Chase Center, standing and cheering amid their cars and waving giant and small American flags, Biden walked out -- as he always does -- to Bruce Springsteen’s “We Take Care of Our Own" and expressed surprise at celebrations taking place across the country. “What I must admit has surprised me, tonight we're seeing all over this nation, all cities in all parts of the country, indeed across the world, an outpouring of joy, of hope of renewed faith in tomorrow, bring a better day.  And I'm humbled by the trust and confidence you've placed in me,” Biden said. The president-elect acknowledged that bringing the nation together, given all Americans have been through, will be a daunting and unprecedented challenge. "I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify.  Who doesn't see red states and blue states, only sees the United States," Biden said.  "I sought this office to restore the soul of America, to rebuild the backbone of this nation, the middle class, to make America respected around the world again, and to unite us here at home. ""It's the honor of my lifetime that so many millions of Americans have voted for that vision.  And now, the work of making that vision is real, it's a task -- the task of our time," he continued. Biden thanked the coalition his campaign put together to bring him to this moment, calling it the broadest and most diverse movement in history, and paid special acknowledgement to the demographic that has historically led him to victory. "Especially in those moments when this campaign was at its lowest ebb, the African American community stood up again for me," Biden said, pounding his first on the lectern.  "You always had my back, and I'll have yours. "Biden addressed President Trump only once and indirectly in his remarks, noting he, too, had lost several times before making history in 2020. "For all those of you who voted President Trump, I understand the disappointment tonight.  I've lost a couple of times myself, but now let's give each other a chance," Biden said.  "It's time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again.  And to make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as our enemies.  They are not our enemies.  They are Americans. "Saying he would win the "battle of the soul of nation," Biden quoted the Bible, defining the next chapter as the "time to heal. "He turned to the raging COVID-19 pandemic, pledging to get the virus under control, and said on Monday he would announce a task force of experts and scientists to oversee his administration’s efforts to stop its spread. Invoking his Catholic faith, Biden shared a hymn he said he'd thought about in the last days of his campaign that is personal to him and his late son Beau, who died of a brain tumor in 2015 at age 46. "It captures the faith that sustains me and which I believe sustains America," Biden said.  "'And he will raise you up on eagles' wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, and make you to shine like the sun and hold you in the palm of his hand. ' And now together on eagles' wings, we embark on the work that God and history have called us to do -- with full hearts and steady hands, with faith in America and in each other, with love of country, a thirst for justice. ""Let us be the nation that we know we can be.  A nation united, a nation strengthened, a nation healed," Biden said in closing.  "Spread the faith.  God love you all.  May God bless America and may God protect our troops.  Thank you. "Following the victory speeches, illuminated drones spelled out "46" -- representing Biden as the incoming 46th president of the United States -- against a backdrop of fireworks.  Viewers from across the country were projected onto screens and buildings as a part of a virtual stage, highlighting the campaign’s decision to stress and focus on social distancing. Outside the Chase Center in Delaware, where Biden, 77, was first elected to the U. S.  Senate 48 years to this date, ecstatic supporters had gathered hours earlier to celebrate as people were around the country. In rows of cars -- most tagged with Biden-Harris merchandise -- they honked their horns as the pair to took the stage in their first joint appearance, reminiscent of the trademark drive-in rallies they'd held before. Many took to the tops and hoods to get a better view of the historic moment. When spouses and other family members took the stage, it was another history-making moment as Doug Emhoff, Harris' husband, is slated to become the first-ever second gentlemen. Their families joined together to celebrate the moment they -- and 75 million Americans and counting -- had been waiting for. ABC News' John Verhovek, Molly Nagle, Beatrice Peterson and Averi Harper contributed to this report. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events


India continued unbroken trend of daily new recoveries outpacing daily new additions for the 44th day. 43,851 #COVID19 patients recovered in last 24 hours against just 30,548 new cases. This translates to a net reduction of 13,303 in active caseload which is now at 4,65,478: Govt https://t.co/eQT7jWAgEs

Sep 08, 2021-Wednesday

Metro cities -  Delhi, Mumbai,
											Chennai,
											Kolkata

Other cities -  Noida,
											Gurgaon,
											Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Bhopal
											, Chandigarh , Dehradun,
											Indore,
											Jaipur,
											Lucknow,
											Patna,
											Ranchi

											Powered by
Kerala's Covid-19 tally reaches 2,56,850'Not acceptable': Trump pulls out of virtual debate with BidenEight new Covid-19 cases in Mumbai's DharaviSri Lanka closes govt offices, expands curfew over recent outbreakFrance records its highest-ever Covid-19 spikeJoe Biden criticises Donald Trump for not taking Covid-19 'seriously'Positivity rate less than 10 in almost all districts: Tamil Nadu health secretaryGermany records over 4,000 infections for first time since AprilUK considering more local Covid-19 curbs, says ministerSeven states/UTs have reported less than 5% positivity rate: Health ministryUS firm applies for emergency use authorisation of its experimental treatment195 new Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra policeAustralia's most populous state reports highest spike in over a monthIndia performing remarkably on WHO's advice of 140 test/day per million population75% of new recoveries in last 24 hours from ten states: Health ministryIndia’s coronavirus tally crossed the 6. 7 million mark after 72,049 new infections were reported between Tuesday and Wednesday, the Union health ministry’s dashboard showed.  On Wednesday, parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi became the latest central minister to contract the infection as he announced in a tweet he had tested positive for Covid-19. Click here for full Covid-19 coverageAlso on Wednesday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced all weekly capitals in the national capital can open.  So far, only two markets per zone were allowed to open.  Kejriwal also announced theatres in Delhi will reopen from October 15, in line with the Centre’s directives for the fifth phase of nationwide unlock or ‘reopening. ’ The global Covid-19 tally, meanwhile, stands at over 36 million, including a death toll of more than a million, according to worldometers. Follow live updates here:Kerala's Covid-19 tally reaches 2,56,850In some relief after sharp spike in Covid-19 cases, Kerala on Thursday reported 7,003 recoveries and 5,445 fresh Covid-19 cases while the toll mounted to 930. The total infection count has touched 2,56,850, while 1,67,256 people have recovered so far and 90,579 are presently undergoing treatment, Health Minister K K Shailaja said. 'Not acceptable': Trump pulls out of virtual debate with BidenTrump says "I'm not going to do a virtual debate' with Biden, as commission makes changes after his Covid-19 diagnosis. It was “not acceptable”, says Trump said a live interview with a US channelEight new Covid-19 cases in Mumbai's DharaviEight new Covid-19 cases in Mumbai's Dharavi take total number of cases here to 3,300, including 2,2820 discharges and 187 active cases: BMCSri Lanka closes govt offices, expands curfew over recent outbreakSri Lanka has ordered closure of key government offices and expanded curfew to contain a recent virus outbreak which has grown to more than 1,000 cases, with over 2,000 told to quarantine at home. France records its highest-ever Covid-19 spikeFrance records its largest single-day tally of 18,746 taking its caseload to 653,509.  Its previous highest was 16,972 on October 3. Joe Biden criticises Donald Trump for not taking Covid-19 'seriously'US presidential hopeful Joe Biden said, "I think it's a tragedy that the president deals with Covid-19 as if it is something not to be worried about. "Positivity rate less than 10 in almost all districts: Tamil Nadu health secretaryCompared to situation in June, the positivity rate is less than ten in all districts including Chennai.  The weekly death rate has come down to almost 1. 2 but our goal overall is to bring it below one," says Tamil Nadu health secretary J Radhakrishnan. Germany records over 4,000 infections for first time since AprilGermany records 4,058 new cases of Covid-19, recording over 4,000 cases a day for the first time since April.  It had recorded 2,828 infections on Wednesday. UK considering more local Covid-19 curbs, says ministerBritish housing secretary Robert Jenrick has said PM Boris Johnson's govt is considering extra Covid-19 curbs for parts of northern England as new Covid-19 cases continue to rise by about 14,000 a day in the uNited Kingdom. Seven states/UTs have reported less than 5% positivity rate: Health ministryLast three weeks' trend have shown a steep decline in the national cumulative positivity rate, which is currently at 8. 19%.  Seven states/UTs have reported a positivity rate of less than 5%.  22 States/UTs have a positivity rate less than the national average: Health ministryUS firm applies for emergency use authorisation of its experimental treatmentUS pharmaceutical firm Eily Lilly says it has applied for emergency use authorisation of its experimental Covid-19 antibody treatment. 195 new Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra police195 new Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra police in last 24 hours as force's tally reaches 24,581.  21,862 recoveries, 2,462 active cases and 257 deaths thus far,Australia's most populous state reports highest spike in over a monthNew South Wales, Australia's most populous state, recorded 12 infections over the previous 24 hours, the biggest one-day jump since September 2, when 17 infections were reported. India performing remarkably on WHO's advice of 140 test/day per million population35 states/UTs performing more than 140 tests/day/million population: Health ministryIndia has performed remarkably on fulfilling World Health Organisation's advice of 140 tests/day per million population.  National average of tests/day per million population stands at 865 with 35 states/UTs performing more than 140 tests/day/million population: Ministry of Health https://t. co/9x9beNMQDR pic. twitter. com/1RNHYae2ih75% of new recoveries in last 24 hours from ten states: Health ministry83,011 single-day recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours across India as against 78,524 new Covid-19 confirmed cases.  75% of new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 states/UTs.  79% of the new positive cases are from 10 states: Health ministryFirst published: Oct 08, 2020 06:55 IST


IMD forecasts rain today and hotter days till February 7

https://t.co/BOIn0O68Xk https://t.co/9tZw6zncOp

Delhi and the neighbouring NCR towns are expected to receive light to moderate rainfall on Thursday under the influence of a fresh western disturbance that will pass over the region, weather scientists said. India Meteorological Department (IMD) said under the influence of the same western disturbance the temperatures may rise.  A western disturbance is an extratropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region that brings sudden winter rain to the northwestern parts of the subcontinent. India Meteorological Department (IMD) recordings on Wednesday show that the minimum temperature at the Safdarjung observatory, which is considered the official marker for Delhi, was 10. 4 degrees Celsius, which was two degrees above the season’s normal.  The maximum temperature of the day also clocked four degrees above the normal, at 26. 1 degrees Celsius. Also read: Of 18,000 beneficiaries, only 7,000 get Covid-19 shots in CapitalKuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said light to moderate rainfall along with thunderstorm is likely in Delhi and NCR on Thursday. “The clouds, however, will pass from Friday.  The temperatures will remain on the higher end because of the passing western disturbance,” he said. Srivastava added the temperature will fall again briefly from February 7.  This fall, however, will not be very significant, he said. “The large difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures can happen specially when a western disturbance is approaching and the wind direction changes,” Srivastava had said. “There is no forecast of a drop in temperatures.  From February 7, the minimum temperature will be around 7-8 degrees Celsius.  From February 11 again, the minimum temperature will rise,” Srivastava said. The incoming western disturbance also resulted in improved wind speed leading to a reduction in the pollution levels in the city.  Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recordings show that the overall air quality index (AQI) of Delhi was 330, in the ‘very poor’ zone.  The AQI on Tuesday was 364, also in the ‘very poor’ category. Union ministry of earth science’s air quality monitoring centre System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar) predicted that the western disturbance is likely to positively impact ventilation. “The improved ventilation is likely to influence AQI positively for the next three days.  AQI is likely to improve to the lower end of the very poor to poor category for the next two days.  AQI is forecasted to marginally deteriorate but in the lower end of the very poor category on February 6,” the Safar forecast read. In a statement, IMD said heavy rainfall or snowfall is also expected to take place over Jammu and Kashmir on February 3 and 4, and over Himachal Pradesh on February 4. Moderate rain or thundershowers with isolated lightning and hailstorm is also likely over the plains of northwest India during February 3 to 5, over Madhya Pradesh, east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand on February 4 and 5.


West Bengal: BJP national president JP Nadda holds a roadshow in Bardhaman of Purba Bardhaman district. https://t.co/YmJ0HRvXoQ

A Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator in Bengal’s Malda district has accused a former minister and a youth front leader of the party of vandalizing his home on Monday night prompting the police to start a probe. Nihar Ranjan Ghosh, TMC MLA from Englishbazar in a complaint to the police said more than 100 men owing allegiance to TMC district youth wing president Prasenjit Das and former minister Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury barged into his home and vandalised his office.  He alleged that the attackers were armed with iron rods and destroyed furniture at random. The incident which was captured by several security cameras also exposed the infighting in the ruling party in the region.  Ghosh alleged that stones were hurled at him but he escaped unhurt. Officers from the Englishbazar police station rushed to the spot.  “We have received a complaint and a probe is on,” an officer from the police station said on condition of anonymity. In 2016, Ghosh won the assembly seat as an independent candidate supported by the Congress and the Left Front alliance.  Chowdhury resigned from the post of chairman of Englishbazar municipality after Ghosh joined the TMC and the latter was made the new chairman. “Chowdhury and Das led the attack.  Their followers tried to kill me.  The duo is trying to stop my political activities.  The goons threw stones at me, ransacked my office and vandalized some two-wheelers parked outside the house.  I am going to inform the state leadership,” Ghosh said. Das dismissed the allegation and said the violence was the fallout of a quarrel that took place in Ghosh’s neighbourhood. “On Monday morning, there was a quarrel between Chottu Saha, a local businessman, and Ghosh’s wife.  Some followers of Ghosh allegedly thrashed Saha for quarreling with her,” said Das. “The businessman’s wife lodged a complaint at Englishbazar police station.  In the evening, Ghosh was spotted with the youths who allegedly thrashed the businessman.  This led to another quarrel.  The allegation against me and Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury is completely baseless,” said Das. TMC’s Malda district unit president Mausam Noor said, “I am in Delhi but I have heard everything.  Top leaders of our party have been informed.  They will take action. ”Chowdhury was not available for comment.


A post accompanying an image of Neeta Ambani receiving an award from President Ram Nath Kovind is being circulated on social media with a claim that Neeta Ambani has received the Khel Ratna award.  Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post. Claim: Image showing Neeta Ambani receiving Khel Ratna award from the President. Fact: The image actually shows Neeta Ambani receiving the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar on behalf of Reliance Foundation from President Ram Nath Kovind back in 2017.  Neeta Ambani has not been conferred with the Khel Ratna award.  Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE. Reverse image search of the photo in the post led us to News18 news article dated 29 August 2017 which published the same image.  As per the article, ‘The Reliance Foundation was awarded the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Award for its contribution in promotion of sports during the national sports awards ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.  The foundation’s chairperson Nita Ambani accepted the award from President Ramnath Kovind. ’Further search led us to a tweet dated 29 August 2017 by ANI and Outlook India’s photo gallery which shared the same image.  Even according to these two sources, the image shows President Ram Nath Kovind presenting the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2017 to Nita Ambani who received it on behalf of the Reliance Foundation. Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind conferred Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar on Nita Ambani for Reliance Foundation Youth Sports pic. twitter. com/iauZnF5910Taking a cue from the news articles YouTube search with relevant keywords yielded us the video footage of the award ceremony uploaded on ‘DD News’ YouTube channel back in 2017.  From all these, we can conclude that Neeta Ambani has received Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar on behalf of Reliance Foundation and not the Khel Ratna award. Further, the official list of 2017 sports awardees can be accessed through PIB archives.  From this list, it is evident that Reliance Foundation was conferred with Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar for 2017. In view of recognizing the contribution made to sports development by entities other than sportspersons and coaches, Government of India from 2009 has instituted a new award named the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar, which has four categories, namely, community sports development, promotion of sports academies of excellence, support to elite sportspersons and employment to sportspersons. To sum it up, Neeta Ambani did not receive the Khel Ratna award.


Photo of a mountain in the shape of sleeping lady is shared on social media claiming it as the awesome photo click of ‘The Sleeping Lady’ Mountain in Alaska.  The post claims that this picture was shot from Aircraft.  Let’s verify the claim made in the post. Claim: Photo of Alaska’s ‘The Sleeping lady’ mountain, captured from an Aircraft. Fact: Sleeping Lady shaped mountain seen in the post is a digitally created photo version of Alaska’s Mount Susitna, which is famously known as ‘The Sleeping Lady’ mountain.  It was created by a digital artist named Jean-Michel Bihorel.  Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE. On reverse image search, a similar photo was found in ‘Behance’ social media service website.  In the website, this photo was shared in ‘Winter Sleep’ album collection, created by a digital artist named Jean Michel Bihorel.  Video showing this digital version of ‘The Sleeping Lady’ mountain was posted in the YouTube channel of Jean Michel Bihorel. When we searched for more information using these keywords, we found the same photo in the official portfolio of Jean Michel Bihorel.  In the Portfolio of Bihorel, this photo was shared inside the album of ‘Winter Sleep’.   Sharing the same photo, ‘Art Station’ social media website also credited the photo to Jean-Michel Bihorel. Jean Michel Bihorel, a digital artist is known for creating digital images.  In his ‘Winter Sleep’ album collection, he published this version of Alaska’s Mount Susitna, which is famously known as ‘The Sleeping Lady’ mountain. When someone asked him about the location of this image on his Facebook post, Jean Michel Bihorel clarified that it’s and digital artwork, and not a real place. To sum it up, a digitally created photo of ‘The Sleeping Lady’ Mountain in Alaska is falsely shared as an awesome photo click shot from aircraft. Update (AUGUST 9, 2020):Jean Michel Bihorel’s Facebook post was added to this article as an additional evidence. Did you watch our new video?


US President Joe Biden spoke today with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. They discussed their continued commitment to a strong bilateral partnership following the departure of US troops from Afghanistan: White House

(file photos) https://t.co/4qsVGVm4PJ

Pakistan is looking forward to work with the new President of the United States, Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted as Joe Biden took oath as the 46th president of the US.  Imran Khan also mentioned areas where his country wants to work with the US, and regional peace is one of them. "Look forward to working with @POTUS in building a stronger Pak-US partnership through trade & economic engagement, countering climate change, improving public health, combating corruption & promoting peace in region & beyond," Imran Khan tweeted in both English and Urdu. I congratulate President @JoeBiden on his inauguration.  Look forward to working with @POTUS in building a stronger Pak-US partnership through trade & economic engagement, countering climate change, improving public health, combating corruption & promoting peace in region & beyondPakistan's proximity with China changed the dynamics of US-Pakistan relationship in the Trump regime.  In 2018, Donald Trump stopped all financial and security aid to Pakistan, citing lack of cooperation in the fight against terrorism. As Biden is now at the helm of US presidency, alliances are likely to be rewritten.  In his inauguration speech too, Biden talked about repairing alliances, of leading "not by the example of power but by the power of the example". Biden's defense pick Gen Lloyd Austin has recently expressed his understanding of India and Pakistan.  Asked if there had been any change in Pakistan’s cooperation with the US after American security aid was cut off in 2018, Austin replied: “I understand Pakistan has taken constructive steps to meet US requests in support of the Afghanistan peace process.  Pakistan has also taken steps against anti-Indian groups, such as Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, although this progress is incomplete. ”


A post with a photo of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Adityanath drinking cow urine is being widely shared on Facebook.  Let’s try to analyze the extent of truth in this post. Claim: An image of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Adityanath drinking urine from a cow. Fact: The posted photo is a photoshopped image.  In the original photo, Adityanath is seen drinking water from a hand pump.  Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.    In the process of verifying the information about the shared photo, it was found that when the same photo was circulated on Twitter, a journalist has tweeted the original photo saying that the photo shared in the post is fake.  In the original photo tweeted by him, no cow is visible and Adityanath is seen drinking water from a hand pump.  When the two photos are compared with each other, it can be seen that the surroundings in both photos are the same. When the portion of the cow in the posted photo was cropped and searched on the internet, the complete photo of that cow was found on this website.  The back portion of the cow from that photo was used to create the photo that was shared in the post. To sum it up, the photo of Adityanath drinking urine from a cow is a photoshopped image. Did you watch our new video?


#Karnataka: Congress leader & Karnataka Minister DK Shivakumar meets JD(S) leader & former PM, HD Deve Gowda in Bengaluru. https://t.co/zhJW6jPFb3

Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy was forced to cut short his US visit and head home on Sunday to take stock of the growing political crisis in his coalition government with 12 MLA sending their resignations to the Assembly speaker on Saturday.  Straight after landing in Bengaluru this evening, Kumaraswamy got into a meeting with JD(S) national president HD Deve Gowda, Deputy CM G Parameshwara and other senior Congress leaders at the Taj West End hotel in the city.  Earlier in the day, Congress’s trusted troubleshooter DK Shivakumar met senior JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda at his residence.  A cirular has been issued by the Congress to all MLAs to attend Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting called by CLP leader Siddaramaiah on July 9.  Karnataka Congress in charge KC Venugopal and Karnataka Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao will also be present in the meet. The Congress workers held a protest outside party office in the city asking Congress MLAs to take back their resignations.  “They’ve (JDS) called a meeting of their party leaders.  We’ll also call our party leaders and sort out this issue.  I’m confident things will cool down immediately.  In interest of nation and both parties we’ve to run government smoothly.  I’m confident MLAs will come back,” Congress’s Shivakumar was quoted as saying by ANI. Out of the 12 legislators who submitted their resignations to Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar, nine were from the Congress and three from the JD(S).  The legislators were not able to meet the Speaker and left their resignations with his aides in his office. The strength of the ruling coalition in Karnataka has come down to 105, which is eight short of the half-way mark of 113. Also read: ‘Wait and watch’, says Yeddyurappa as Karnataka govt plunges into crisisResponding to the developments, BJP state chief BS Yeddyurappa on Sunday said, “I am going to Tumkur and I will come back at 4 pm.  You know about the political developments.  Let’s wait and see.  I do not want to answer to what HD Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah say.  I am nowhere related to this. ” While senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said he wants the alliance government to continue.  “We want that this should go on smoothly,” he said. The differences in the ruling coalition government, which came together to forestall a BJP bid for power in the only southern state it has ever ruled, have been out in the open for quite sometime.  Leaders of both the parties have been involved in war of words. The Congress and JD(S) won just one Lok Sabha seat each in the Lok Sabha elections while the BJP won 25 of the 28 seats in the state. (With agency inputs)


Prakash Karat, CPI(M) ex-General Secy: Decision of Congress to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad shows their priority now is to fight against Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress' national commitment to fight BJP, as in Kerala it's LDF which is the main force fighting BJP there https://t.co/S3AShzSQpZ

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance has begun scouting for a formidable candidate to pitch against Congress president Rahul Gandhi in north Kerala’s Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency. Earlier in the day, senior Congress leader AK Antony had announced that Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from north Kerala’s Wayanad constituency apart from his current seat Amethi. The BJP has a seat sharing deal with its ally the Bharatiya Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), a political outfit of the backward Ezhava community.  As part of that seat sharing deal, the BJP has given the Wayanad constituency to the BDJS.  However, the BDJS has said that in case the Congress president contests from Wayanad, it will vacate the seat for the BJP to field its own candidate to contest against Rahul Gandhi. “I am in touch with the national leaders.  We will take a decision by evening,” said BJP state president PS Sreedharan Pillai. Earlier there were speculations Union Minister Smriti Irani will contest from Wayanad also but the party leaders later denied it. Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that Rahul Gandhi has decided to contest from Wayanad in north Kerala because of fear imminent defeat in Amethi. Addressing the media, Prasad, who is also the Union minister for information technology and law, said, “Rahul Gandhi is going to contest from Wayanad because his roots in Amethi have begun shaking. ”He said that the reason behind Rahul Gandhi’s move to contest from Wayanad was because of the constituency’s demographic make up. “The reality of Rahul Gandhi’s extraordinary escape from Amethi is evident because of the ethnic profile of Wayanad where 49. 4 per cent of the population is Hindu and the rest are all minorities.  The seven assembly seats within Wayanad are all minorities.  If Rahul Gandhi has so much love for South India, he should have chosen some other seat,” Prasad said. Also read | Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad apart from Amethi, announces CongressHinting that the Congress president’s candidature from Wayanad was because the party was worried that he may lose from Amethi, Pillai said that the BJP would ensure a tough fight for Rahul Gandhi. “Rahul Gandhi is running around for a safe seat fearing defeat in Amethi.  We will not ensure an easy victory for him here,” he said“The BJP will field a strong candidate in Wayanad,” Pillai said. The BJP is likely to announce its candidate from Wayanad later in the evening on Sunday. So far, the party sources have ruled out the entry of Union minister Smriti Irani in Wayanad.  A final decision will be taken by the national leadership, sources within the party said. Meanwhile, the BDJS candidate from Wayanad will be shifted, said its leader Thushar Vellapally. Also read | Left unhappy with Rahul Gandhi’s Wayanad outing, says will ensure defeat


Germany has sent China a bill of £130 billion for damages caused to the economy due to coronavirus.

A news report by Express whose display headline claims that Germany has sent China a £130 billion bill for coronavirus damages has gone viral on social media.  The display picture of the article is of German chancellor Angela Merkel. Social media users, while sharing the article, have demanded that since Angela Merkel’s Germany has sent China an invoice of £130 billion for coronavirus damages, India should do the same and send Beijing an invoice of £300 billion.  The archived version of the post can be seen here.  India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the headline of Express’s article is misleading.  The German government has not sent any such bill to China.  It was actually a tabloid newspaper in Germany called “Bild” which issued a mock bill to China after assessing damages to the country’s economy due to Covid-19.  The newspaper said China owes Berlin around 149 billion (£130 billion) for coronavirus damages. The misleading post is being widely circulated on Facebook and Twitter. Germany sends Invoice of $130 billion to Beijing for damages due #coronavirus pandemic. 1st Nation to do so.  BRAVO@realDonaldTrump @narendramodi #WorldLeadersWorld MUST unite, hold #China accountable for mass massacre.  Take action against #WHO head. https://t. co/xYPNixH3GBViral articleThe “Express” article says in the very first paragraph that “Bild” has put together a £130 billion invoice that Beijing “owes” Berlin, but the misleading display headline, along with Merkel’s photo, gave the impression that the German government had sent the bill to China. The inside headline of the article was later changed with a clarification that it was not the German government that estimated the bill for coronavirus damages (that should be paid by China), but rather the leading German news publication “Bild”. Some global media houses had also covered the news that “Bild” demanded China pay billions in coronavirus damages. Fact-check website Full Fact has also debunked the misleading news. As of April 21 evening, Germany reported almost 1. 5 lakh coronavirus cases with close to 5,000 deaths.  More than 95,000 people have also recovered. Read | Coronavirus drugs-vaccines coming, give us time: Pulitzer-winning cancer researcher Dr Siddhartha MukherjeeAlso read | There is a vaccine against coronavirus.  Behavioural vaccineWatch | Vaccine to fight coronavirus soon? The number of crows determines the intensity of the lie.


Karnataka: Counting of votes cast in Local Body elections underway in Davanagere https://t.co/laa0iUabf7

The results of the Karnataka gram panchayat elections will be announced on December 30.  The Karnataka gram panchayat elections were held in two phases on December 22 and December 27.  A total of 5,728 gram panchayats voted on December 22 and December 27. Candidates have been elected unopposed for 8,074 seats.  More than 2 lakh candidates contested the recently conducted elections which saw 82% voter turnout in the first phase and 80% voter turnout in the second phase of the elections.  On December 22, elections were held for 43,238 seats in the first phase.  On December 27, elections were held for 39,378 seats on the day of the second phase of the election.  Close to 3 lakh people have voted in the recent gram panchayat polls.  The state election commission and government officials had made adequate efforts to ensure that people can vote safely amid the Covid-19 pandemic.  Special efforts were undertaken to ensure that Covid-19 infected individuals could also cast their vote.  The results of the Karnataka polls can be accessed at karsec. gov. in and ceokarnataka. kar. nic. in.  Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa is hopeful that BJP has performed well in the elections.  “According to my information it is certain that 85-90 per cent BJP supported candidates will get elected in Gram Panchayat polls,” the Karnataka chief minister was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.  Local body election allow political parties to assess their grasp of the state or region’s politics at its grassroots level.  It also helps political leaders to understand the demands of the electorate ahead of any major elections. (with inputs from PTI)


#Karnataka: Former Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa present at Siddaganga Mutt in Tumkuru. Mutt seer Sri Shivakumara Swami will be laid to rest here today. https://t.co/lS07NdudYf

Thousands of people from across Karnataka have paid homage to the 111-year-old seer Shivakumara Swami at the Siddaganga Mutt on the town’s outskirts, said an official on Tuesday. “Around three lakh people visited the Mutt so far since Monday afternoon and throughout the night, braving the weather and difficulty in travelling from towns and villages across the state,” a Mutt official told IANS here. The most popular and influential seer of the Lingayat community passed away on Monday at 11. 44 a. m.  in the mutt due to protracted illness in old age. Though the state-run road transport corporation deployed over 200 buses to let people travel to Tumakuru from various districts in the state for a last glimpse of the seer, hundreds of them rushed to the Mutt on their two-wheelers and four-wheelers, including tractors in the past 24 hours. “Elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure orderly movement of the people to the makeshift venue where the seer’s frail body has been kept in a glass case for public homage,” said the official. The South Western Railway was also operating special trains from Bengaluru to Tumakuru for enabling the people travel to pay tributes to the seer. Draped in saffron robes and sporting holy ash powder across the forehead, the late seer appeared to hundreds of people “sleeping” in the sitting posture. “As the mutt is well known for piety and hospitality, people rushing to pay tributes to Swami were served food for supper on Monday night, breakfast and lunch on Tuesday,” added the official. Moved by the mutt’s gesture to feed the people free, many hotels, restaurants and eateries in the town offered free food to hundreds of people flocking to the venue for paying homage to the seer. With the state government declaring holiday for offices, schools and colleges on Tuesday as a mark of respect to the seer, men, women, children and elderlies made a beeline to the Mutt from cities and towns and paid homage to the holy man. The state-run National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) suspended toll fee on the highway from Bengaluru to Tumakuru till evening for those taking private vehicles. The state is observing a three-day mourning since Monday as a mark of respect to the seer and all official engagements have been cancelled till Wednesday.  The national flag is flying at half-staff on government offices and designated places.  The seer’s last rites would be held with state honours later at the Mutt premises.


Andhra Pradesh reports 10,548 new #COVID19 cases and 81 deaths in the last 24 hours. Total cases at 4,14,164. Number of active cases and deaths stand at 97,681 and 3,796 respectively: State Health Department https://t.co/EfRvelQIZs

Sep 08, 2021-Wednesday

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Total positive cases in Assam now stands at 44Covid Cess will be  ₹5 per quart in case of Country Liquor with effect from tomorrow: Haryana GovtLockdown extension till May 29 in TelanganaIndian vaccine companies have come across as innovators in early stage vaccine development research: PMOPrime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the task force on coronavirus vaccine developmentNumber of Covid-19 positive cases in Delhi crosses 5,000 markMaharashtra records 15,525 new Covid-19 casesPunjab's Excise and Taxation Department proposes home delivery of liquor between 1 pm to 6 pm to avoid rush at vends amid coronavirus outbreakTwo more zones in Delhi have been de-contained todayMEA to provide database to states and central ministries for employing skilled workers who are returning after losing jobs in Gulf: SourcesIn last 24 hours, 49 deaths and 441 new Covid-19 cases have been reported in GujaratTamil Nadu reports 508 fresh cases of Covid-19All crew who will be travelling will be tested and they will be COVID-19 negative certifiedUK official virus death toll tops 32,000, becoming second highest in worldTotal number of discharged patients in Maharashtra is 2465 till todayWith 85 percent of the deaths reported from the US and Europe, Covid-19 has claimed the lives of more than 2,50,000 people.  US continues to be the worst-affected country with more than 68,000 lives lost.  China, where the pandemic had initiated late in December, has reported no deaths from the Covid-19 since the last two days. Click here for the complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemicIndia has seen cases cross the 46,000 mark.  Currently, India’s confirmed cases tally has touched 46,711, registering a spike of more than 3,900 cases.  Nationwide death toll has reached 1,583.  Maharashtra remains the most-affected state with above 15,525 cases and 841 deaths. Follow major highlights on how Covid-19 is affecting lives in India and across the world: Total positive cases in Assam now stands at 44One person from Kokrajhar district with a travel history of Cooch Behar in West Bengal, has tested positive for Covid-19.  Total positive cases in Assam now stands at 44: Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam MinisterCovid Cess will be  ₹5 per quart in case of Country Liquor with effect from tomorrow: Haryana GovtCovid Cess will be  ₹5 per quart in case of Country Liquor, ₹20 per quart in case of Indian-made foreign liquor, Rs.  5 in case of strong beer& ₹2 in case of other beer and Rs. 50 per pack greater than 375 ML in case of Imported Foreign Liquor,with effect from tomorrow: Haryana GovtLockdown extension till May 29 in TelanganaLockdown extension till May 29 in Telangana, notwithstanding central deadline of May 17.  Public should complete purchase of essential items by 6 pm and they should reach their residences.  There will be curfew in the state from 7 pm.  If anyone is found outside, police will initiate action: Telangana CM K.  Chandrashekar RaoIndian vaccine companies have come across as innovators in early stage vaccine development research: PMOIndian vaccine companies have come across as innovators in early stage vaccine development research. Similarly,Indian academia&start-ups have also pioneered in this area.  Over 30 Indian vaccines are in different stages of vaccine development,with few going on to trial stages: PMOPrime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the task force on coronavirus vaccine developmentPrime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the task force on coronavirus vaccine development and took a detailed review of the current status of India’s efforts in vaccine development, drug discovery, diagnosis and testing: Prime Minister's OfficeNumber of Covid-19 positive cases in Delhi crosses 5,000 markNumber of Covid-19 positive cases in Delhi crosses 5000 mark; total positive cases stands at 5104 of which 206 cases have been reported today.  Death toll at 64: Delhi GovernmentMaharashtra records 15,525 new Covid-19 casesMaharashtra records 15,525 new cases, 841 deaths so far, 617 people along with 34 new cases have recovered so far.  The state has so far tested 1,82,884. Punjab's Excise and Taxation Department proposes home delivery of liquor between 1 pm to 6 pm to avoid rush at vends amid coronavirus outbreakPunjab's Excise and Taxation Department proposes home delivery of liquor between 1 pm to 6 pm to avoid rush at vends amid coronavirus outbreak; state cabinet to take final decision: OfficialsTwo more zones in Delhi have been de-contained todayTwo more zones in Delhi have been de-contained today; total number of containment zones in the national capital now stands at 88.  No New addition in containment zones today. Two more zones in Delhi have been de-contained today; total number of containment zones in the national capital now stands at 88.  No New addition in containment zones today.  pic. twitter. com/f9wI4PFAZFMEA to provide database to states and central ministries for employing skilled workers who are returning after losing jobs in Gulf: SourcesMEA to provide database to states and central ministries for employing skilled workers who are returning after losing jobs in Gulf: Sources, reports PTI. In last 24 hours, 49 deaths and 441 new Covid-19 cases have been reported in GujaratIn last 24 hours, 49 deaths and 441 new Covid-19 cases have been reported in Gujarat.  39 deaths and 349 new cases are from Ahmedabad.  Total positive cases stand at 6245 and death toll is at 368: Health Department, GujaratTamil Nadu reports 508 fresh cases of Covid-19Tamil Nadu reports 508 fresh cases of Covid-19, taking tally past 4,000 mark.  Two deaths reported on Tuesday: Health Department. All crew who will be travelling will be tested and they will be COVID-19 negative certifiedWe will be bringing back only Indian citizens, no OCI (Overseas Citizen Of India) card holders.  All crew who will be travelling will be tested and they will be Covid-19 negative certified: Sources, reports news agency ANI. UK official virus death toll tops 32,000, becoming second highest in worldUK official virus death toll tops 32,000, becoming second highest in worldTotal number of discharged patients in Maharashtra is 2465 till today350 Covid-19 patients have been recovered and discharged today, of which 165 patients are from Mumbai.  This is the highest discharge number in a single day in Maharashtra.  Total number of discharged patients in the state is 2465 till today: Health Department, MaharashtraFirst published: May 05, 2020 05:55 IST