Covid-19 update: Fresh 47,838 case push India’s tally past 84 lakh

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November 5, 2020

Arsalan Khwaja, Usman Kwaja — Arsalan Khwaja, Usman Khwaja

The elder brother of Australian international cricketer Usman Khawaja was sent to jail on Thursday on charges of conspiring to co-operate with a fake terrorist plot.

Usman’s brother Arslan Tariq Khwaja admitted that he had written fake things in the notebook of his New South Wales University colleague Kamer Nizamdin in August 2018. He was jealous when he grew closer to Nizamdin’s female friend.

Nizamdin was arrested and falsely declared a terrorist in the media, but it was later revealed in police investigations that he was implicated.

Arslan also admitted that in 2017, he also called authorities against another man for being jealous of the love affair and accused him of visas and terrorism.

India slams Pakistan over trasfer of Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara to Muslim body

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November 5, 2020

The Ministry of External Affairs of India asked Pakistan to reverse its “arbitrary decision” to hand over the management of Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara to a muslim body which have no Sikh representatives.

On November 3, Pakistan’s religious affair ministry handed over the management of Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara to “Project Management Unit” under the Evacuee Trust Property Board which is a government department that overseas the shrines of country’s minorities.

In November last year, the two countries threw open a corridor linking Dera Baba Sahib in Gurdaspur in India with Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan, in a historic people-to-people initiative.

Earlier the gurdwara was under the management of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. This is also the first time that the Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee out of the management of a gurdwara in Pakistan.

IPL 2020: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals, Who will make it to finals?

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November 5, 2020

The first qualifier of the Indian Premier League will be played today between league stage table-toppers Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals. The winner of this game will directly move to the finals while the losing team will get one more change in eliminator 2.

Mumbai Indians finished the league stage with 18 points while Delhi Capitals ended with 16 points by defeating Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last game.

Mumbai Indians will look to seal their fifth IPL championship while Delhi Capitals will be looking forward to book their place in the finals for the first time. Mumbai Indians Captain Rohit Sharma who made his comeback in the last game will also be the part of this game.

Skecher India’s new campaign featuring Ananya Panday is all about moving forward

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November 5, 2020

Skechers India has kick-started a new campaign, ‘Originals Keep Moving’ featuring Bollywood actress Ananya Panday. Under the new campaign, the brand has launched flagship lifestyle collections and the Skechers D’Lies.

The advertisement highlighting new campaign features Ananya Panday and others shaking a leg on groove-worthy tune as they wrap their feet with a range of sneakers from Skechers.

Created and conceptualised by Leo Burnett India, the TVC pays tribute to the street dance culture that has witnessed sharp growth in recent years. The message transpired by the ad is that no matter what life throws at you, you gotta keep moving.

Rahul Vira, chief executive officer, Skechers South Asia, said, ‘’As Skechers was born as a youth-focused brand, it’s our aim to strengthen our connection through communication with the youth of India and ignite a shift in the Indian mind-set at large. With this announcement, we have also launched the newest collection in our flagship lifestyle range,Skechers D’Lites and welcome Ananya to the Skechers family where she will be a perfect ambassador thanks to her role as an influencer to her fans of all ages.”

Rajdeepak Das, managing director, India and chief creative officer, South Asia, Leo Burnett, added, “Reminiscent of the 90’s style, as Ananya and her friends sashay down the streets in synchronized choreography, the visuals and the music are bound to take you through familiar yet unfamiliar territory with a retro cool meeting the edgy future vibe. Dance has always been a central form of self-expression and just like the iconic Skechers D’Lites collection and our campaign draws a parallel between the two encouraging everyone to keep moving forward in life.”

Ananya Panday is the first female brand ambassador of Skechers. Commenting on the brand association, she had earlier said, “My love for comfortable, stylish shoes is unceasing, and being a 90s kid myself, I have always loved fashion trends from that era, especially the chunky sneakers. Being associated with Skechers has absolutely been an exciting journey as the brand is synonymous with comfort which is a big part of why I love Skechers so much. I love the chic and relaxed style of footwear they offer, and I am all set to be a part of it. What ‘Originals Keep Moving’ means for me is that despite all of life’s problems, you don’t let anything or anyone stop you, and you just keep on moving. You’re original, you’re

a creator, you’re a go-getter, a hustler in every sense of the word and I absolutely believe in that 100 percent.”

Arnab sent to 14-days judicial custody and appears before Bombay High court

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November 5, 2020

A day after Republic TV editor-in-chief, Arnab Goswami sent to 14-day judicial custody, the Bombay High Court heared Arnab plea against his arrest.

Arnab was arrested from his Mumbai residence in connection to a case of abetment to suicide of an interior designer and his mother over non-payment. Late in the day, he was produced before the Alibag district magistrate court aling with two more accused, Feroz Shaikh and Nitesh Darda.

The arrest of Arnab Goswami evokes strong reaction from political spectrum including Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar, Smriti Irani , Ravi Shankar, Yogi Adityanath and many other. A Supreme Court lawyer Siddharth Acharya has also filed a complaint with National Human Rights Commission against Mumbai Police.

US Elections: Is 2020 polls is closest in American history?

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November 5, 2020

The 2020 US Presidential Election might end up as the most competitive one in American history. Still, there are seven states where counting is left and both the democratic and republican sides are looking forward to the 270 mark.

As of now, Donald Trump is leading in Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Alaska. Pennsylvania is one of the most important states with 20 electoral votes, Georgia has 16, North Carolina 15, and Alaska have 3 electoral votes respectively.

While Joe Biden is leading in Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada which has 10, 11, and 6 electoral votes respectively. Looking at the voting scenarios of these seven states then Donald Trump can directly take up 54 electoral seats but still, he is leading on those and left for winning them.

Following this Joe Biden can go high as 270 Electoral Votes and will win the election while Donald Trump can also reach at 268 Electoral mark. With such numbers, the 2020 American elections are heading towards the closest conclusion.

Cinema halls reopen with 50 percent capacity in Maharashtra

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November 5, 2020

As a part of Unlock phase 5, Cinema halls, drama theatres, multiplexes, swimming pools and yoga institutes resumed services from November 5 in Maharashtra.

Following the guidelines released by Union Home Ministry, Uddhav Thackeray led Maharashtra government allowed these multiplexes to operate with 50 per cent seating capacity.

In its SOP, the state government said that these multiplexes will only be allowed to operate in the non-containment zones while lockdown guidelines will strictly be observed in containment zones.

Cheif Secretary Sanjay Kumar issued an order under Mission Begin Again campaign which aims to bring normalcy back in the otherwise covid-hit state. The guidelines added that no eatables will be allowed inside the multiplex.

“All indoor sports like badminton, tennis, squash, indoor shooting ranges will be allowed with physical distancing and sanitation measures with effect from November 5,” the order further stated.

All the leisure services including cinema halls suspended their services in March following the covid-19 pandemic induced lockdown.

Meanwhile, in the news related to covid-19, the state has shown substantial progress over the past couple of weeks.

the state’s Covid-19 deaths remained above the 100-mark, but infections dropped and the recovery rate improved, with a whopping 7.38 lakh freed from home quarantine.

The state witnessed 120 deaths on Tuesday, against 104 fatalities reported on Monday, taking the state’s death toll to 44,248.

In October, the state government allowed resumption of the Mumbai Metro in a graded manner, It also allowed gymnasiums and fitness centres to reopen from Dussehra.

WhatsApp introduces ‘disappearing message’ feature

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November 5, 2020

Facebook’s messaging service WhatsApp Thursday introduced a ‘disappearing message’ feature that deletes messages after seven days.

To make use of the feature, users have to enable it by tapping on a contact’s name.

Announcing the feature, WhatsApp wrote in its blog, “Today, WhatsApp messages often live on our phones forever. While it’s great to hold onto memories from friends and family, most of what we send doesn’t need to be everlasting. Our goal is to make conversations on WhatsApp feel as close to in-person as possible, which means they shouldn’t have to stick around forever. That’s why we’re excited to introduce the option to use disappearing messages on WhatsApp.”

“We’re starting with 7 days because we think it offers peace of mind that conversations aren’t permanent, while remaining practical so you don’t forget what you were chatting about,” says a WhatsApp spokesperson. “The shopping list or store address you received a few days ago will be there while you need it, and then disappear after you don’t.”

Disappering messages has been among the most spotted WhatsApp features on the beta app.

The company has been testing this feature for months on the WhatsApp beta app for Android and iOS.

Disappearing messages is now rolling out for the public worldwide across Android and iOS devices starting today.

The feature will definitely be handy for the ones who are a part of multiple WhatsApp groups and are bombarded with messages on a daily basis.

Disappearing messages will also wipe out photos and videos after seven days, and while messages will disappear for both parties it’s still possible to take screenshots or just simply copy messages before they’re automatically deleted.

CM Nitish Kumar announces retirement after 2020

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November 5, 2020

While addressing the last public meeting on the last day of the Bihar assembly election campaign, CM Nitish Kumar announced retirement from politics.

Speaking at a rally in Purnia’s Dhamdhaha, Nitish Kumar announced that the current assembly elections will be his last electoral outing.

“Please know today is the last day of campaigning. Day after tomorrow is voting. And this is my last election. All’s well that ends well,” Bihar CM Nitish Kumar told the crowds at the election rally.

As the comments set fire to retirement speculation, Nitish Kumar’s party men denied accusations that he had pulled a desperate stunt for votes.

“It is wrong to link his statement to the third phase of polls. He could have said this in the earlier rounds also. But Nitish Kumar is a serious sort of person and has a political standing. When he says something, he says it with full seriousness and thought,” said Janata Dal United leader Ashok Chowdhary.

Union Home Minister Amit shah on two-day visit in Kolkata

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November 5, 2020

Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah arrived in Kolkata for a two-day visit to the state.

Ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections in West Bengal, Shah has arrived in the state to take stock of the party’s organisational matters.

Buoyed with former party president’s arrival, the BJP workers greeted Shah with slogans of “Amit Shah zindabad and Bharat Mata ki Jai” at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.

The union minister was accompanied by BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy and national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya.

Om November 6, Shah will offer his prayers at Dakshineswar Kali Temple. “Before holding an organisational meeting with BJP state unit leaders in Kolkata for the 2021 Assembly polls, Amit Shah Ji will also be visiting Gauranganagar, a refugee colony where he is slated to have lunch with them,” said senior BJP leader Sabyasachi Dutta.

Earlier, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had met Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi last week discussing affairs relating to Bengal at length.

Covid-19 update: India logs in 50,210 new cases, 720 deaths

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November 5, 2020

India reported fresh 50,210 cases, pushing total tally past 83/64 lakj. WIth 77,11,809 votes, national recovery rate has rose to 92.20 per cent.

The total coronavirus cases mounted to 83,64,086 and the deaths have climbed to 1,24,315, with the virus claiming 704 lives in a span of 24 hours in the country, the data uploaded by Health Ministry said.

The covid-19 fatality rate in the country further driopped to 1.49 per cent. As of now, there are 5,27,962 active cases which consist of 6.31 per cent of total case recorded since the inception of the pandemic.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 11,42,08,384 samples have been tested up to November 4, with 12,09,425 samples being tested on Wednesday.

Here’re some more updates related to Covid-19:

*Telangana reported 1,539 new COVID-19 cases taking the tally to 2,45,682 while five more deaths pushed the number to 1,362, the state government’s health ministry said on Thursday.

*Telangana State Health Minister Eatala Rajendar on Wednesday inaugurated the COVID-19 testing lab at GMR Hyderabad International Airport

*380 new cases were reported in Assam, taking totoal case tally to 2,07,741.

*The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 19,990 to 597,583, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday.

*More than 99,000 coronavirus cases were recorded in the United States in the past 24 hours, a new daily record, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

*Delhi reported its highest single-day count of 6,842 cases in last 24-hour.

*Mexico’s health ministry reported on Wednesday 5,225 additional cases of the novel coronavirus and 635 more deaths, pushing the total number of cases to 943,630 and the deaths to 93,228.

Meanwhile, the overall number of global coronavirus cases was nearing the 48 million mark, while the deaths have surged to more than 1,223,450, according to the latest update from Johns Hopkins University.

As of Thursday morning, the total caseload and death toll stood at 47,997,816 and 1,223,456, respectively, the University added.

Picture Credit: Google

On Virat kholi’s birthday, here’s a quiz for all ardent fans

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November 5, 2020

Indian captain and one of the greatest batsmen in modern era, Virat Kohli is celebrating his 32nd birthday today.

Virat Kohli had a dream. A dream like every other young kid in India to represent the country in the gentleman’s game. It is this vigor and fervor for the game of cricket that has helped this extremely talented young boy from Delhi to scale great heights at a very young age.

He has represented India in 86 Tests, 248 ODIs and 82 T20Is. However, before he became one of the modern greats of the sport Kohli had shot to fame after leading India to U-19 World Cup glory in 2008.

Kohli has performed well all three formats – Tests, One-Day Internationals (ODI) and T20s. In 86 Tests, he has scored 7,240 runs, while in 248 ODIs, the Indian skipper has 11,867 runs to his name. He has also played 81 T20s, in which he has scored 2,794 runs.

Forbes’ list for the 100 highest-paid athletes for 2020 ranked Kohli in 66th place, with estimated earnings of $26 million. Kohli was the only cricketer, and sole Indian, on the list.

Virat is currently in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) plying his trade for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2020.

His team had performed exceptionally well in the initial stage of the tournament. However, in the final group games, RCB didn’t do too well as they lost 4 games on the trot. Even after that, RCB have managed to qualify for the playoffs and will be taking on SRH in Qualifier 2 of the tournament.

Netizens went absolutely berserk as Team India and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli celebrates his 32nd birthday today.

Virat Kohli quiz:

1.Virat is alumni of which school?
A. Delhi Public School
B. Vishal Bharti Public school
C.New Holy Public school
D.Govt.Boys Sr.Src. School

2.When India skipper Virat made his international debut in..
A. August 10, 2008
B. August 18, 2009
C. August 18, 2008
D August 10, 2011

3. Virat Kohli is _________ handed batsman.
A. Left-handed
B. Right-handed

4. Test ranking of virat Kohli..
A. 1st
B. 2nd
C. 3rd
D. 4th

5.Kohli was appointed vice-captain of the ODI team in…
A. 2008
B. 2011
C. 2012
D. 2018

6. Height of Virat Kohli..
A. 1.58m
B. 1.78m
C. 1.76m
D. 1.75m

7. When Kohli was selected in the India Under-19 squad on its tour of England.
A. July 2006
B. August 2006
C. July 2005
D. August 2009

8. Anushka Sharm and Virat Kohli married on
A. December 12, 2017
B. December 11, 2017
C. December 21, 2017
D. December 15, 2017

Answer Key:

1. (B) Vishal Bharti Public school
2. (C) August 18, 2008
3. (B) Right-handed
4. (B) 2nd
5. (C) 2012
6. (D) 1.75m
7. (A) July 2006
8. (B) December 11, 2017

Covid-19 vaccine to be available at affordable prices from Jan, says Adar Poonawalla

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November 5, 2020

Adar Poonawalla chief executive officer (CEO) of Serum Institute of India(SII), on Wednesday said that a vaccine to curb the covid-19 infection could be available by January 2021 after permission from regulatory bodies.

SII has collaborated with UK based AstraZeneca Plc. to manufacture millions of doses of its potential covid-19 vaccine candidate, Covishield. AstraZeneca’s vaccine developed with Oxford University has been one of the most touted vaccines around the globe as it was well-tolerated by the volunteers in the early-stage trials.

Covishield is currently in the phase 2/3 clinical trial in India and will be produced by SII for sixty low-and-middle income countries.

In an interview with Mint, Poonawalla said, “Based on the success of the trials in India and the United Kingdom, and if approvals from regulatory bodies are in place in time, then we can expect the vaccine to be available in India by January 2021, only if its proven immunogenic and efficacious.”

Talking about price of the vaccine, Mr Poonawalla said, “We are certain that it will be affordable for all.” He further mentioned that they will soon reach their target of producing 100 million doses of the vaccine candidate.

AstraZeneca and Oxford University have said that two-dose of the vaccine showed greater results among volunteers, while a single-dose injection is also being tested in trials.

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca Plc has said that Britain’s health regulator had started an accelerated review of its potential coronavirus vaccine.

“We confirm the MHRA’s (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency) rolling review of our potential Covid-19 vaccine,” an AstraZeneca spokesman said.

In an earlier statement, AstraZeneca had said that its experimental covid-10 vaccine developed strong immune response among older adults and vulnerable groups. It also added that the vaccine did not trigger any notable adverse effects among the volunteers.

US election 2020: Biden registers victory in key state Wisconsin, Trump accuses fraud

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