The Ganguly’s plan- England tour to India in February 2021, 14th season of IPL will be held in April

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August 22, 2020

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan reconverted the historic Chora church, one of Istanbul’s most celebrated Byzantine buildings, into a mosque on Friday, a month after opening the famed Hagia Sophia to Muslim worship.

Erdogan`s edict on Friday did not say when the first Muslim prayers would be held at Chora, or what arrangements would be made for the Christian artworks there.

“Today’s decision of the Turkish authorities to turn Chora church into a mosque is another challenge that harms religious people around the world and the international community, which respects the monuments of human civilization,” the ministry was quoted as saying in a statement.

The pro-government Daily Sabah newspaper reported that Turkey’s religious authorities plan to cover the renowned Byzantine-era frescoes and mosaics during prayers. A similar approach was taken with the Hagia Sophia, the UNESCO World Heritage site converted to a mosque last month.

Greece has slammed Turkey’s move to convert the Chora museum, the 1,000-year-old former Byzantine Greek Orthodox church, into a mosque, saying it was “totally condemnable”.

Dating back to the sixth-century Byzantine Empire, the beautiful structure of the building remains intact.

The interior of the building is covered with some of the oldest and finest surviving Byzantine mosaics and frescoes. They were uncovered and restored after the building was turned into a museum.

Ottoman Empire historian Zeynep Turkyilmaz called the conversion “destruction” because the building’s walls are lined with Christian art that would have to be either covered up or plastered over — as it was by the Ottomans.

“It is impossible to hide the frescoes and mosaics because they decorate the entire building,” the historian told AFP.

Yet some locals fully supported the change.

“There are dozens, hundreds of churches, synagogues in Istanbul and only a few of them have been opened to prayer as mosques,” said Yucel Sahin as he strolled by the building after the morning rain.

Akshay Kumar to go ‘into the wild’ with Bear Grylls; watch teaser

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August 22, 2020

After PM Modi and Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar is all set to be the next Indian guest of Bear Grylls’ Into the Wild. The special episode will feature on September 11 on Discovery+, the actor has announced.

“You thinking I mad… but mad only going into the wild,” Akshay wrote on Twitter along with a teaser of the episode. The teaser showed the actor and host in a dense forest swinging towards each other with a rople.

Watch the video here:

View this post on Instagram

You thinking I mad… but mad only going into the wild. #IntoTheWildWithBearGrylls @beargrylls @discoveryplusindia @discoverychannelin

A post shared by Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) on Aug 20, 2020 at 10:32pm PDT

Akshay, who has previously hosted Khatron Ke Khiladi, is known for performing his own stunts. Even at the age of 52, the actor’s fitness is commendable.

As per media reports, Akshay shot for the episode this year at Mysuru’s Bandipur Tiger Reserve.

“Akshay Kumar makes for an ideal guest on Man Vs Wild. He’s agile, energetic and quite fit as we all know. He can easily roam around in the difficult terrain of the forest and make for great company with Bear Grylls. Akshay hopes to learn the survival techniques from Bear. The British adventurer too hopes to imbibe some of his admirable qualities. We assure it’ll be an episode to watch out for!” a source told Bollywood Hungama.

Meanwhile, on the film front, Akshay was last seen in Varun Batra’s Good Newwz last year. The actor had a number of projects releasing this year which postponed due to coronavirus outbreak and one of his films, Laxxmi Bomb, is headed for a direct OTT release on Disney+Hotstar.

The actor recently travelled to UK to shoot for his much-anticipated film Bell Bottom which also stars Huma Qureshi and Lara Dutta.

Delhi government releases new guidelines as it opens hotels, weekly markets on trial basis

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August 22, 2020

On Friday The Delhi Government notified its decisions to allow hotels and Weekly markets to operate and issued SOPs for both, that include mandatory precautions, wearing masks, strict social distancing and availability of hand sanitizers.

It also stated that gaming arcades and play areas for children shall be closed and the hotels must adopt contactless processes like QR code, online forms, digital payments like e-wallets for check-in and check outs.

The government also prescribed air conditioning to be maintained in the range of 24-30 degrees Celsius and relative humidity at 40-70 per cent. Valet staff will use face covers and disinfect key, steering and door of vehicles of the guest, it said.

Weekly markets will be allowed to operate on a trail experimental basis starting Monday for a week, between 4 pm and 10 pm. The markets will be allowed to continue after an assessment on August 31, a senior government official said. Both hotels and weekly markets cannot operate from containment zones.
The government on Friday issued another notification, winding up all Covid-19 health centres set up at banquet halls to augment bed capacity when the number of cases rose sharply in June.

The Delhi government’s SOPs are much in line with the guidelines issued by the central government for hotels and markets across the city.

Earlier, during the meeting with representatives of hotel associations, Kejriwal thanked the hotel industry, saying when coronavirus was at its peak, the hotels supported the government in enhancing the capacity of beds for treatment of patients.

Kejriwal said even though the central government was against the opening of the hotel industry in Delhi out of a fear that the cases might rise again, it was a very important step in reviving the economy of Delhi

“The Central government was against the idea of opening the hotel industry in Delhi, and I would not blame them because the Centre must have thought that the cases might rise again.

“But I explained to them that the hotels are functioning in areas where the cases of corona are rising in the country. Either the Centre should shut the hotels down across the entire country, or open it in the region where the corona is under control,” he said.

The chief minister said there were two challenges — how to end the spread of the virus and reviving the economy of Delhi because businesses have been shut and jobs have been lost due to the pandemic.

“I am happy that since June 1, when the central government had opened the lockdown, and after we went ahead to lift the lockdown in Delhi on their directions, we did not have the need to re-impose the lockdown in the capital,” he said.

In a joint statement J&K parties, Congress & CPM says, Will tirelessly fight to restore Article 370

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August 22, 2020

In a major development in Jammu and Kashmir politics, four main regional parties and two national parties — the Congress and CPI(M) — Saturday issued a joint statement, saying they would “tirelessly struggle to get back the special status and restore the Constitutional guarantees forcibly taken away from J&K”.

This was for the first time after more than a year that Dr Abdullah chaired a party meeting and spoke at length about the Gupkar Declaration.

The statement said that all parties will abide by the “Gupkar Declaration” of August 4, 2019 in which regional parties and the Congress resolved to protect Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status and fight against any move to dilute it.

The statement also said the “unfortunate events” of 5 August last year have unrecognizably changed the relationship between Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi.

The Gupkar Declaration was adopted by the Kashmir based parties and Congress days before the August 5 decision was taken by central government.

Prior to stripping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, the leaders had met at the Gupkar residence of Abdullah here and drafted the Gupkar declaration.

Earlier on August 20, Abdullah had told reporters that he was in constant touch with Mehbooba and that they stood by the Gupkar declaration.

“The series of measures undertaken on August 5, 2019 were grossly unconstitutional and in reality measures of disempowerment and a challenge to the basic identity of the people of J-K. The measures attempt to redefine who we are. These changes were accompanied by repressive measures meant to silence people and coerce them into submission, and continue unabated,” it said.

The NC patron said he was concerned about the slump in the economy and the situation owing to Covid19. “There is hardly anything to say as people continue to suffer. Businesses are down and so is tourism. On top of that the Covid19 has taken a heavy toll on people.”

The leaders who attended the meeting also exhorted the Centre to take due notice of the “ever increasing skirmishes at the LAC and LOC resulting in casualties on both sides” and unabated violent incidents in J&K, and work for enduring peace in the region.

Supreme Court permits devotees to pray at 3 Jain temples in Mumbai during Paryushan

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August 22, 2020

On Friday, the Supreme Court allowed Jains to offer prayers but on Saturday and Sunday only, at any one of three temples in Mumbai. This is in the Dadar, Byculla and Chembur, due to the eight-day Paryushan festival.

As per the direction given by Supreme Court, prayers could be offered as long as SOPs are followed sincerely, making sure everyone is wearing the face mask and maintaining social distancing.
Religious gatherings remain banned as per the Covid guidelines, only individuals will be allowed to worship at three temples temporarily.

The SC clarified that it was a one-off relaxation and would not apply to the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. “This order is not intended to be used as a precedent by other persons to seek permission to hold any festival/festivities which would involve, by their very nature, congregation of people, such as ‘Ganesh festival’,” a bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde, Justice A S Bopanna and Justice V Ramasubramanian said.
Appearing for a Jain religious trust, senior advocate Dushyant Dave submitted that the temple administrations would allow only five devotees at a time and a maximum of 250 people a day. “When the Maharashtra government could allow opening of malls and liquor vends, leading to huge congregations, can they cite Covid-19 to disallow five devotees at a time to enter Jain temples to seek spiritual solace from Tirthankars and get relief from anxiety caused by the pandemic?” he asked.

The bench said: “We are of the view that a small reprieve can be granted to the petitioners, without making it a precedent. After all, the petitioners are not seeking to hold any festivities in congregation. The petitioners want by way of an interim measure opening of three temples, one each in Byculla, Dadar and Chembur in Mumbai. They have undertaken to restrict the entry of devotees only to five persons at any given time subject to a maximum of 250 devotees on a single day

Covid Update: India records highest-ever single day peak of 63,631 recoveries in the last 24 hours

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August 22, 2020

India records highest-ever single day peak of 63,631 recoveries in the last 24 hours. Recoveries exceed the active cases by more than 15 lakh. Recovery Rate is at 74.69%.

The entire administration of the KGMU in Lucknow has tested positive for coronavirus. VC Bipin Puri, the Registrar, CMS Shankhawar, MS Ojha and Microbiology head Amita Jain also tested positive.

As many as 23,097,175 people around the world have been diagnosed with Covid-19. While more than 15,174,876 have recovered, 787,567 have died so far. The US, the worst-hit country, has 5,795,777 cases. It is followed by Brazil, which has 3,411,872.

While India has the lowest fatality rate due to Covid-19, it probably has the best recovery rate in the world, said Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Saturday.

Harsh Vardhan said ”contrary to what the experts had claimed about the number of cases reaching 300 million in the country, including five-six million deaths, by July-August, India had less than three million cases, out of which 2.2 million have already recovered”.

“As far as COVID-19 numbers are concerned, our fatality rate, 1.87 per cent, is really low and we have probably the best recovery rate (75 per cent) in the world. We have around 1,500 testing labs now. It is a great achievement in itself,” Harsh Vardhan told ANI here.

BSF shot dead five intruders in Pinjab border

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August 22, 2020

The Border Security Force shot dead five intruders along the India-Pakistan International Border (IB) in Punjab.

The official said “alert troops of the 103rd battalion noticed suspicious movement of intruders violating the IB”.

”The whole area was immediately cordoned off,” said BSF sources.

“For now we have recovered five bodies, AK 47 and as many as three pistols and a grenade in the fields but we will get to know about their actual strength and their intentions only after the search is completed” said sources.

”Troops recovered nine packets containing over 9 kg of heroin, along with an AK-47 rifle, two magazines and 27 rounds, four 9 mm Berretta pistols with seven magazines and 109 live rounds, two mobile phones and Rs 610 in Pakistani currency,” a BSF spokesperson said.

The force personnel “cordoned the area and challenged the intruders to stop and surrender”.

“The Pakistani armed intruders did not pay any heed to the challenge and opened fire on the BSF troops,” the official said.

Smriti Irani says ‘Kya se kya ho gaya dekhte dekhte’ over Kokilaben’s dialogues

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August 22, 2020

Indian TV show Saath Nibhaana Saathiya keeps ruling the headlines for the viral memes that surface the internet. Over one of the main characters Kokilaben’s dialogues. As creativity in the form of hilarious posts using the dialogues.

Mukhate wrote, “First World Problems..Made Kokila Ben sing this time..I love doing harmonies, enjoyed this one a lot..Kahi share karoge toh credits zaroor dena. Aapke pyaar ke liye bohot saara dhanyawaad.”

Smriti Irani shared it on her social media with the caption, “Kya se kya ho gaya dekhte dekhte”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEJzU80nMKQ/?igshid=4t1kfr540p7d

The video has 1.6 million views on Instagram. One Instagram user wrote, “That expression omg @yashrajmukhate.” Another said, “You are next level man.” “You are definitely not “kaafi aalsi” This is amazing @yashrajmukhate,” said another.

Delhi: ISIS Terrorist Arrested In Delhi, Was Plotting Attack

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August 22, 2020

Delhi: Police arrested an ISIS operative after an encounter near Ring Road in the national capital. The also police recovered two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), weighing approximately 15 kilogrammes in two pressure cookers, from his possession. Besides, a pistol was also recovered from him post-firing.

According to reports, a bomb squad team is on the spot and is diffusing the IEDs recovered from the terrorist.

However, the ISIS operative has been identified as Abu Yusuf Khan and hails from Uttar Pradesh. He was nabbed on Ridge Road between Karol Bagh and Dhaula Kuan in Delhi after a shootout at around 11:30 pm on Friday.

“One ISIS operative with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) by our Special Cell after an exchange of fire at Dhaula Kuan,” Pramod Singh Kushwaha, Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police said.

National Security Guard (NSG) and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) will analyse the contents of the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) recovered today from the ISIS operative: Delhi Police pic.twitter.com/qw3AporSDY
— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2020

Raids are being conducted at different places in the national capital to catch their hold. The police also claim that Khan was a lone wolf operative who had on his own planned an attack in the national capital.

Facebook chief marketing officer Antonio Lucio steps down

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August 22, 2020

The Chief marketing officer of Facebook, Antonio Lucio, has decided to leave social networking giant after two years. Sources confirmed that employees were notified on Friday in a post on Facebook’s internal message board.

Lucio’s departure comes at a time when Facebook is preparing steps to tackle fake news and misinformation ahead of the US presidential election in November. Lucio has been Facebook’s global marketing chief for nearly two years. He took charge of Facebook’s marketing efforts in September 2018, nine months after the company’s previous CMO, Gary Briggs, had resigned. Lucio immediately dealt with the onslaught of negative press and fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which revealed the company mishandled data from over 50 million users.

Prior to joining Facebook, Lucio was the global chief marketing and communications officer at HP, and beforehand held the same position at Visa.

Lucio was reporting to Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox and was part of Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg’s leadership team.

“Facebook’s story is at an inflection point. We have never faced bigger challenges, and we have never had more opportunities to have a positive impact on the world by improving our products at their core,” said Cox.

High-tech Boeing for VVIPs arrives next week

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August 22, 2020

Highlights:
The aircraft will go with the Air India One sign.

The aircraft will be operated by the IAF, although Air India would receive them.

The planes will bear the Ashoka emblem with Bharat and India written over them.

Air India One, the highly customised wide-bodied Boeing 777-300 ERs, meant exclusively for the Indian Prime Minister, President and the Vice-President, is set to land in Delhi by early next week, according to reports.

A six-member team from Air India and the Indian Air Force left for the US last week to escort the newly-customised Air India One. Government sources in New Delhi revealed that the team is in the final stages of finishing the formalities to bring the aircraft home

The two Boeing aircraft have been converted into an impregnable air fortress and would cost around Rs 8,458 crore to the exchequer.The aircraft have their own missile defence system, Self-Protection Suites (SPS) and state-of-the-art communication system.

The Boeing 777-300 planes were inducted into Air India’s fleet in 2018, but sent to Boeing’s facility at Dallas- Fort Worth within months for retrofitment worthy of India’s top dignitaries.

These planes were scheduled to return by June 30 and July 30 this year, according to the agreement between Air India and Boeing but the aerospace manufacturer sought an extension of two months after delays in regulatory clearances from the US Federal Aviation Authority caused due to travel restrictions imposed following the spread of COVID-19.

At present, VVIPs travel long hours on Air India’s Boeing 747 aircraft. However, the aircraft is not capable of flying more than 10 hours without refuelling. The new aircraft can fly over 17 hours continuously without refuelling.

Retired IAS Officer Rajiv Kumar Appointed EC in Place of Ashok Lavasa

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August 22, 2020

Retired bureaucrat Rajiv Kumar was on Friday appointed as election commissioner in place of Ashok Lavasa who resigned.

Lavasa had on Tuesday sent his resignation as Election Commissioner to the President, as he has been selected as Vice President of the Asian Development Bank.

“ In pursuance of clause (2) of article 324 of the Constitution, the President is pleased to appoint Rajiv Kumar, IAS(Retd.) as the Election Commissioner with effect from the date he assumes the office vice Ashok Lavasa, Election Commissioner who has resigned with effect from 31st August, 2020,” the Law Ministry said in a notification on Friday.

Lavasa still has over two years left in his term at the Election Commission. He would have retired as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in October 2022.

As Chief Election Commissioner, he would have conducted Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa.

His premature exit — the second in the Election Commission’s history — puts his colleague Sushil Chandra next in the line of succession.

Rajiv Kumar holds two bachelor’s degrees, one in zoology and the other in law, along with a master’s degree in public policy and sustainability. He is known as a person who manages to find solutions to difficult problems.

Kumar has widespread administrative experience in more than 30 years of service during which he held various important assignments including the Administrative postings in his home state of Jharkhand. Kumar has also worked in the Central Government in various capacities.

May there be joy and prosperity: PM Modi sends wishes on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi

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August 22, 2020

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday extended greetings to fellow countrymen on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.

Wishing prosperity and joy, PM Modi in a tweet wrote: “Greetings on the auspicious festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. May the blessings of Bhagwan Shri Ganesh always be upon us. May there be joy and prosperity all over.”

आप सभी को गणेश चतुर्थी की बहुत-बहुत बधाई। गणपति बाप्पा मोरया!

Greetings on the auspicious festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. May the blessings of Bhagwan Shri Ganesh always be upon us. May there be joy and prosperity all over.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 22, 2020

Union Minister Amit Shah also sent greetings to the nation to mark the festival. “Heartfelt greetings to all countrymen on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi,” his tweet read.

समस्त देशवासियों को गणेश चतुर्थी की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं। pic.twitter.com/R9EoBe5aVG
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) August 22, 2020

Rajnath Singh also wished blessings for everyone and wrote: “Wishing everyone a happy Ganesh Chaturthi. May Lord Ganesha bless you and your family with good health, wealth and prosperity.”

Wishing everyone a happy Ganesh Chaturthi. May Lord Ganesha bless you and your family with good health, wealth and prosperity.

आप सभी को गणेश चतुर्थी के पावन पर्व की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं। भगवान गणेश आपके एवं आपके परिवार के स्वास्थ्य एवं समृद्धि में वृद्धि करें।ॐ महागणाधिपतये नमः!
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) August 22, 2020

“My best wishes to all the countrymen on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. May Lord Shri Ganesha give everyone more power and strength to serve the country and society,” Union Minister Goyal’s tweeted in Hindi.

गणेश चतुर्थी के पावन अवसर पर सभी देशवासियों को मेरी शुभकामनाएं।

विघ्नहर्ता भगवान श्री गणेश आप सभी के जीवन को हर्षोल्लास और खुशियों से पूर्ण करें, तथा देश और समाज की सेवा के लिये सभी को अधिक शक्ति और सामर्थ्य प्रदान करें। pic.twitter.com/gMJKrdsmza
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) August 22, 2020

“Today the whole country needs the blessing of Mangalakarta-Vighnaharta. Best wishes to you on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi,” he added.

Meanwhile, on the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi, President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday had extended wishes for the festival and prayed that Lord Ganesha help us all to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic. “Ganpati Bappa Morya! Greetings on Ganesh Chaturthi. The festival is an expression of people’s enthusiasm, joy and forbearance in taking every section of the society along. May Vighnaharta helps us all to overcome COVID-19 pandemic and bless us with a happy and healthy life,” he tweeted.

Ganpati Bappa Morya!

Greetings on Ganesh Chaturthi. The festival is an expression of people’s enthusiasm, joy and forbearance in taking every section of the society along.

May Vighnaharta help us all to overcome COVID-19 pandemic and bless us with a happy and healthy life.
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) August 22, 2020

Ganesh Chaturthi which is also known as Vinayak Chaturthi is celebrated every year to mark the birth anniversary of Lord Ganesha. The festival is impressioned with the establishment of Ganesha idols in homes.

While we usually see devotees organising pandals to celebrate the day, however, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the celebrations have been muted this year.

WHO Chief hopes COVID-19 pandemic will be over in ‘less than 2 years’

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