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Chumbak onboards Sara Ali Khan as brand ambassador

By
Shivani Negi
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Chumbak, Home & lifestyle brand, has roped in Sara Ali Khan as their brand ambassador for its home and watch categories. With the association the brand aims to reach the wide audience who have been actively participating in the campaign led by the actress. Notably, Khan is Chumbak’s first brand ambassador.

ivek Prabhakar and Shubhra Chadda, co-founders, Chumbak, said, “We’re incredibly excited to welcome Sara on board. She’s a talented artist, but also someone a lot of people relate to when it comes to her easy confidence, approachability, warmth and sense of humour. It’s the start of an amazing adventure for us at Chumbak.”

Vasant Nangia, CEO, Chumbak, said, “With our focus on great design, quality product & unique brand positioning, Chumbak has created a tremendous amount of brand love. Today, we’re ready to take the next leap. Sara Ali Khan, with her individual achievements and wide appeal, is a natural choice to represent the brand.”

“Entering into this long term association with Chumbak is a very exciting moment for me. The brand is warm, positive, creative, homegrown and real. I relate to the brand not only because I love what they do, but also because of their philosophy of making every moment count, enjoying the smaller things in life and adding vibrance where you can,” Khan said.

US First Lady Melania Trump shares farewell message for Americans

By
Shivani Negi
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Just two days ahead of the inauguration which will hand over White House duties to President-elect Joe Biden, First Lady Melania Trump shared her farewell speech, urging people to find passion in everything. Referring to the riots at U.S. capitol that shattered the democracy of the country into pieces two week ago, she asked people to never to resort to violence.

It was the first time Melania, former model and actress, spoke to the people of America as US First lady in a video message and said, “Be passionate on everything you do but always remember that violence in never the answer and will never be justified.”

“My fellow Americans, It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as First Lady of the United States. I have been inspired by incredible Americans across our country who lift up our communities through their kindness and courage, goodness and grace,” she said.

She further added that the past four years have been one exhilarating experience, adding she will lifelong cherish the people and their incredible stories of love, patriotism and determination that she witnessed during her time at the White House.

“The past four years have been unforgettable. As Donald and I conclude our time in the White House, I think of all the people I have taken home in my heart and their incredible stories of love, patriotism, and determination.”

She also lauded the bravery of American soldiers and said that they along with their families will always be in her thoughts and prayers.

“I see the faces of brave young soldiers who have told me with pride in their eyes how much they love serving this country. To every service member and to our incredible military families: You are heroes, and you will always be in my thoughts and prayers,” she added.

She further urged everyone to adhere to national integrity irrespective of gender, ethnicity and colour. “Do not lose sight of your integrity,” she said while adding that an American should be an ambassador of be best in all circumstances. “To focus on what unites us. To rise above what divides us. To always choose love over hatred, peace over violence, and others before yourself,” she added.

“To all the people of this country: You will be in my heart forever. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America,” she culminated.

Meanwhile, for the first time in the US’ history, Melania has not invited the next first lady Jill Biden to the White House for the official walkthrough of the private living quarters on the second and third floors. Notably, Donald Trump has also made it clear that the will not participate in inauguration day, thrashing age old customs.

World leaders congratulate PM Modi on vaccination drive against covid-19

By
Shivani Negi
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India kick-started world’s largest vaccination drive against novel coronavirus that has killed hundreds of thousands people in the country on January 16. Considering the population and geography of India, it is worth commneding to start a process as big as this. World Leaders from across the globe has lauded PM Modi and Indian scientists for their efforts to eradicate the virus.

Maldivian President Ibrahim Solih on Monday called India’s inoculation process a ‘landmark programme’ while hoping that the country succeeds in its endeavour. “Congratulations to PM @narendramodi and the Indian government for its landmark programme to vaccinate India’s population against COVID-19,” Mr Solih tweeted on Sunday.

“I’m highly confident that you’ll be successful in this endeavour and that we are finally seeing an end to the COVID-19 scourge,” he said.

Replying to him, PM Modi said Indian scientists and health warriors have risen to the occasion and the vaccines being developed and manufactured in India will help our people as well as humanity at large in escaping from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Thank you, President @ibusolih. Our scientists and health-warriors have risen to the occasion,” PM Modi tweeted.

“The vaccines being developed and manufactured in India will help our people as well as humanity at large in escaping from the pandemic,” PM Modi said.

In a tweet, the president of Sri Lanka Shri Gotabaya Rajapaksa said, “My heartiest congratulations to Prime Minister Shri Narednra Modi on the successful roll out of the #COVID19 vaccine & his generosity towards friendly neighbouring countries.”

“Congratulations PM @narendramodi and the Government of India on taking this very important step with this massive #COVID19 Vaccination drive. We are starting to see the beginning of the end to this devastating pandemic,” said Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

In a tweet, the Prime Minister of Bhutan Dr Lotay Tshering Said “I would like to congratulate PM @narendramodi and the people of India for the landmark launch of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive today. We hope it comes as an answer to pacify all the sufferings we have endured this pandemic.”

Ahead of Biden’s inauguration, US tightens security fearing violence from pro-Trump supporters

By
Shivani Negi
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Ahead of the Inauguration Day which is scheduled to take place on January 20, the United States has now tightened security measures in the Capitol and a large portion of city.

In the capital city D.C., a scores of National Guard troops were seen patroling in the streets. Meanwhile, over the weekend, the city was covered with multiple reports of threats and armed violence that security agencies receiving over the past few weeks.

This comes in the light of the scare spread by Trump supporters at U.S. Capitol a week ago that took the entire country by storm, attracting criticism from around the world.

Just two days ahead of the inauguration, the leaders of D.C., Maryland and Virginia asked citizens to not to come to D.C. to witness the inauguration.

“Due to the unique circumstances surrounding the 59th Presidential Inauguration, including last week’s violent insurrection, as well as the ongoing and deadly COVID-19 pandemic, we are taking the extraordinary step of encouraging Americans not to come to Washington, D.C., and to instead participate virtually, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said last week in a joint statement.

“Anyone attempting to unlawfully gain access to the Capitol Grounds by climbing a fence or any other unlawful means will be subject to an appropriate use of force and arrest,” Capitol Police said in a statement. 

“I think this will be an inauguration unlike any other. It was already destined to be, given COVID concerns and some of the limited seating and public access. But having our fellow Americans storm the Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the government certainly warrants heightened security,” Mayor of Washington DC, Muriel Bowser, told NBC News in an interview.

“Our police department is working with our federal law enforcement partners and the United States Army also has a plan to pivot if we have any attacks in our neighbourhoods,” she said.

Brazil approves two vaccines against coronavirus as cases continue to mount

By
Shivani Negi
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Brazil has authorised emergency use of two vaccines as covid-19 cases in the country continued to mount. The country has approved vaccines from China’s Sinovac Biotech and Britain’s AstraZeneca for emergency use in Brazil, which is the second worst affected country due to the pandemic with 209,000 virus related to the virus.

Country board of directors votes unanimously to approve both vaccine after holding discussions for five hours.

Meanwhile, unlike other countries, the currently immediately started the inoculation process. Monica Calazans, a 54-year-old nurse in Sao Paulo, became the first person to be administered the vaccine. He received the Chinese vaccine known as CoronaVac.

“This is good news for Brazil, but 6 million doses are still very few. It will not allow the entire population at risk to be fully immunized, nor is it clear how quickly the country will obtain more vaccines,” said Ethel Maciel, an epidemiologist at the Federal University of Espirito Santo.

Notably, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has earlier downplayed the virus but is now facing extreme pressure as deaths due to the virus continue to mount.

Brazil has recorded more than 8.45 million cases of covid-19 to date, according to Johns Hopkins University. While the cases in the country are third highest in the world after United States and India, the death toll is at the second highest with only behind the United States.

Was the timing of IPL 2020 right? Australian head coach Justin Langer questioned

By
Harshit
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Justin Langer, India vs Australia,

Atleast 7 Indian players were injured in the ongoing India-Australia series which included, KL Rahul, Hanuma Vihari, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami.

Apart from these Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma were already injured in the 13th season of the Indian Premier League who were the top contender of the …..

But why these injuries are happening now? Why so many players across the cricket spectrum are finding it hard to stay fit?

Recently Australian head coach Justin Langer has blamed the Indian Premier League and players involved with the league for the injury concerns. He said the timing of IPL 2020 was wrong keeping the mega Test series between India and Australia in mind.

Justin Langer has said that IPL bio-bubble has changed the mental approach of the players towards the game which led to the injury of most of the players whether it’s the Indian side or the Australian side.

Australia too suffered injuries in the white ball series and in the Test series as well which included the players who were part of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League. Australia faced a big blow with the injury of David Warner and Marcus Stionis in the early half of the series.

Big success of Kejriwal govt.: 72.87% Delhiites prefer Delhi Govt Hospitals over private hospitals

By
Shivani Negi
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New Delhi: Out of the total population of Delhi, 72.87 percent population is getting treatment in government hospitals and dispensaries, as per the socio-economic survey of the Delhi government conducted between November 2018 and November 2019. The survey revealed that only 27.13 percent of people in Delhi are treated in private hospitals. According to the report, 2.60 percent of the two crore population of the capital has chronic (chronic) diseases. Out of this 2.60 percent population, 50.29 percent are male and 49.71 percent are female. On the classification of people suffering from chronic diseases, 36.33 percent people have diabetes and 21.75 percent people have heart disease, while 9.17 percent people have respiratory diseases and 24. 28 percent of people have arthritis and other types of disease. Diabetes is the highest in the central district of the state with 43.34 percent of the patients being affected by it while the northwestern district has 26.20 percent of heart disease patients. The northern district has the highest 11.56 percent of respiratory disease patients.

0.80 percent of people have disabilities
Among those surveyed, 0.80 percent of people are differently-abled. Of the total disabled people, 33.43 percent have a disability certificate, out of which 50 percent of people are availing the financial assistance provided by the Delhi Government. At the same time, 77.54 percent of children in the age group of 0-5 years are undergoing vaccination.

69.80 percent of people use public transport
The Socio-Economic Survey report has revealed that 69.80 percent of the people in the capital Delhi use buses, charter buses, metro, and public transport to go to work. Private cars are used by 0.32 percent of people. According to the report, 11.15 percent of the people in the capital use cabs, e-rickshaws, or taxis. 15.44 percent of the people in the capital use private two-wheelers (motorcycles or scooters) to go to work. Two-wheeler is the most used vehicle in the three districts of the capital. 21. 51 percent in the Shahdara district, 18.37 percent in the eastern district, and 16.54 percent in the western district use private two-wheelers

Increase in metro use
10.89 percent of the people of the New Delhi area use the metro. 68.34 percent of the women in the capital using public transport (bus), 14.69 percent of the women use autos or e-rickshaws. At the same time, 6.78 percent of women use private two-wheelers and 6.74 percent of women travel by metro.

Schools reopen after 10 months in Delhi

By
Harshit
-
School Reopen in Delhi, Delhi,

After 10 months schools in Delhi are reopened for classes 10th and 12th.

Deputy Cheif Minister and Delhi’s Education Minister Manish Sisodia said that he is glad that schools are reopened and it brought smile on everyone’s face.

“Best wishes to the students of class 10&12th who are going to visit their school today after 10 months… (though it’s only for a limited purpose and with covid protocols..) But still… I am glad that schools are opening in Delhi today,” Sisodia said in a tweet.


The move of reopening schools in the national capital came when the positive rate of the COVID-19 cases fall below 1%.

The schools are asked to maintain the COVID protocols and not to mandate the hundred percent attendence as of now.

BCCI: Decision on Ranji Trophy soon

By
Harshit
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Bcci, Ranji Trophy,

The future of domestic cricket season in India continues to hang remain in the fray.

The Board for Control of Cricket in India’s Apex Council met yesterday but failed to come to a conclusion on the future of domestic cricket in the country.

The Apex Council also confirmed that the home series of New Zealand will take place in India.

The mega World T20 is also scheduled this year and the teams are already preparing for it. West Indies and Australia are eager to play the more and more T20 series in the last leg of September and October as well.

Gabba Test: Australia in driving seat post on Day 4 against India

By
Harshit
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Gabba Test, India vs Australia,

The fourth day of the Gabba Test match is underway. The Australian team now in the lead of more than 280 runs with the loss of lost eight wickets in the third innings.

All the Australian batsmen got a start but failed convert it into big a start. Steven Smith is the leading run scorer from the Australian side with his 55 runs before Siraj sends got him out.

As of now the hosts Australia are in the driving seat on Day 4. Australia is not likely to declare after the Sydney Test match scare where where Ashwin, Pant, Pujara, and Hanuma Vihari has almost driven the match towards the Indian side.

Smokers and vegetarians at lesser risk of getting infected by coronavirus

By
Jyoti B
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Smokers and vegetarians were found to have lower seropositivity indicating that they may be at a lesser risk of getting infected by coronavirus, according to a pan-India serosurvey conducted by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in its nearly 40 institutes.

The CSIR survey also reveled, a person with blood group ‘O’ may be less susceptible to the infection, while people with ‘B’ and ‘AB’ blood groups were at a higher risk.

For its study, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) took samples of 10,427 adult individuals working in its laboratories or institutions and their family members, based on voluntary participation, to assess the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2.

A follow up on 346 seropositive individuals among the samples after three months revealed ‘stable’ to ‘higher’ antibody levels against SARS-CoV-2, but declining plasma activity for neutralizing the virus, Shantanu Sengupta, senior scientist at IGIB and one of the co-authors of the paper said.

A repeat sampling of 35 individuals, at six months, revealed declining antibody levels while the neutralising antibody remained stable compared to three months.

However, both the normal antibody as well as the neutralising antibody were much above the required threshold, he said.

In July last year, the Ministry of Health of the Union reported that smokers were likely to be more vulnerable to Covid-19, as smoking increases the risk of virus transmission from hand to mouth, and cautioned that smoking tobacco products may increase the severity of respiratory infections and render people susceptible to coronavirus.

Shantanu Sengupta, senior scientist at IGIB and one of the co-authors of the paper said this is for the first time that a study has been conducted in India wherein individuals have been monitored for three months (35 individuals) to six months (346 individuals) for antibodies including those with probable neutralising activity.

The CSIR has some 40 institutes covering the length and the breadth of the country and each specialises in different fields. The IGIB and its sister institute Centre of Cellular and Molecular Biology have been at the forefront in conducting the genome sequencing of coronavirus.

Won’t take covid-19 vaccines until farm laws are repealed: Farmers’ Unions

By
Shivani Negi
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The impasse between farmers and Centre over farm laws remains unsolved. While the government still adheres to their belief that the three farm laws will turn out to be fruitful, farmers are adamant in their demand to repeal them. Amid this, the farmers have now intensified their protests and has vowed to continue protests till May 2024 if Centre fails to meet their demands. On Sunday, Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a body of farmers’ unions, said that a tractor parade would be carried out on Outer Ring Road on January 26, a day before the apex court hears on seeking injunction against the projected protests.

Meanwhile, in a new form of dissent, the farmers have now announced that they would not be taking covid-19 vaccines which are currently being administered under government’s pan-India covid-19 vaccination drive. They added that they would only participate in the mass drive when the farm laws are repealed.

In the first phase, the centre aims to inoculate approximately 3 crore people including health care and frontline workers. After that people aged above 50 and those below 50 with comorbidities will be vaccinated.

“We have heard many doctors say that Covid-19 existed earlier as well and affected people with less immunity. There are thousands of poor people living on the streets here, who have no means to wash their hands or wear masks. How are they managing? We believe the lockdown was just a ploy of the government to get the [farm] laws passed without any resistance,” said Chamkaur Singh, who hails from Dhudike village in Moga district, and is a member of Kirti Kisaan Union.

Talking about the parade that is scheduled to be conducted on Republic Day, the farm unions said that it will be held peacefully.

“This will be a peaceful parade. No disruption will be caused to official Republic Day celebrations or provocative speeches will be made. The national flag will be placed on all tractors,” farmer leaders said during the press conference.

 “There will be no threat to any national heritage sites, or to any other site. The vehicles in the parade will consist of tableaus and floats that will reflect the agricultural reality of different states in addition to showcasing historical regional and other movements. No political party flags will be allowed,” HT quoted farmer leader Darshan Pal.

Boris Johnson Invites PM Modi for G7 summit

By
Jyoti B
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The United Kingdom (UK) has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the G7 Summit as a guest. The G7 Summit would be held in Cornwall in June 2021. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also likely to visit India ahead of the G7 Summit, a statement by British High Commission said.

“Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use the first in-person G7 summit in almost two years to ask leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to seize the opportunity to build back better from coronavirus, uniting to make the future fairer, greener and more prosperous,” the statement said.

“As the most prominent grouping of democratic countries, the G7 has long been the catalyst for decisive international action to tackle the greatest challenges we face,” it added.

G7 countries that consists of world’s seven leading democratic nations –  the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the USA – and the European Union, will discuss a range of global issues like the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and open trade during the summit.

Modi had attended the G-7 summit in Biarritz in France in August 2019 and was also invited for the 2020 summit hosted by the US — which could not take place due to the pandemic.

This is expected to be Modi’s second G-7 summit; his predecessor Manmohan Singh had attended the G-8 summit (it became G-7 from G-8 with the expulsion of Russia in 2014) five times between 2005 and 2009 through his first term in UPA 1.

Making the invitation official, Johnson said: “As the most prominent grouping of democratic countries, the G7 has long been the catalyst for decisive international action to tackle the greatest challenges we face. From cancelling developing world debt to our universal condemnation of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the world has looked to the G7 to apply our shared values and diplomatic might to create a more open and prosperous planet.

In addition to the G7 Summit this year, during February, the UK will assume the Presidency of the UN Security Council, and later this year the UK will host COP26 climate summit in Glasgow and a global education conference aimed at getting children in the developing world into school.

India to ship covid-19 vaccine doses to neighbouring countries soon

By
Shivani Negi
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India has recently kick-started the inoculation process and remains far away from even the thought of being able to inoculate its entire population of 135 crores. However, amid this, the government has to meet the foreign demands for covid-19 vaccines and supply the doses to neighbouring countries. The sources close to the matter on Saturday had said that India will supply vaccines to low-income neighboruing countries soon. In the latest, it has been reported that India is all set to ship vaccines to neighbours in a couple of weeks as part of its vaccine diplomacy.

According to a TOI report, India will first send vaccines to immediate neighbours, including Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives and Mauritius in order for them to start their own vaccination drive against the novel coronavirus. The first shipment would be good samaritan but after that companies who have been authorised emergency use of the vaccine will take orders from countries payment basis. The price of the vaccines with which they will be sold to these countries have been kept under wraps.

But according to people familiar with the development, countries would not be charged much more than Indian are paying for the vaccines. However, before exporting the vaccines, India will make sure to store enough doses for its vaccination drive to run smoothly.

Serum Institute of India, world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, has been locally developing AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s vaccine candidate in the country. Earlier, SII CEO Adar Poonwalla had said that the country aims to produce vaccine doses for 60 countries under COVAX programme, but its first priority would be to secure enough doses for locals. According to the TOI report, Brazil was prepared to send an aircraft to pick up 2 million doses of SII’s covishield, however, it had to halt plans as the company first aims to incoluate their vaccine in local market.

Meanwhile, Bharat Biotech which has developed first indigenous vaccine against coronavirus, has also signed a deal with Brazil to supply them with vaccine doses of covaxin.

Shiv Sena to contest upcoming WB Assembly polls

By
Jyoti B
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The Shiv Sena will contest the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal, party MP Sanjay Raut said on Sunday.

Raut said the decision to contest the polls has been taken after holding discussions with Maharashtra Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.

Notably, Raut has not specified the number of seats the Shiv Sena will contest during the election to the 294-member Assembly in West Bengal.

“So, here is the much-awaited update. After discussions with Party Chief Shri Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena has decided to contest the West Bengal Assembly Elections. We are reaching Kolkata soon.!! Jai Hind, Jai Bangla!” Raut tweeted.

However, this is not the debut for Shiv Sena in West Bengal. The party had also contested in Bengal during the 2019, Lok Sabha elections from 15 seats including Tamluk, Midnapur, North Kolkata, Purulia, Jadavpur, Contai, Barrackpore, Barasat, Bankura, Bishnupur and North Malda, among others. Sena had also contested the 2016 Assembly elections in the state but did not win any seat in either attempt.

The tenure of the current Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal is coming to an end on May 30 this year. Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, along with Election Commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajiv Kumar, will visit Assam and West Bengal early next week to take stock of preparations for the two assembly elections scheduled for later this year.

The Bengal election has become a closely watched battle nationally with the BJP pumping in its vast resources to carve out a base in the state that has long eluded it by remaining a communist citadel for three decades before being wrested by Mamata Banerjee in 2011.

After turning several states since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s win in 2014, the BJP leadership has signalled that they have made Bengal one of its top priorities in recent years, gunning for Ms Banerjee and launching an aggressive poaching campaign from local parties.

The dates of the West Bengal election have not been announced yet, but it is slated to be held in the months of April-May.

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