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Covid-19 vaccine update: Clinical trials of Russia’s Sputnik V to be conducted among 100 Indians

By
Shivani Negi
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Russia’s most touted vaccine Sputnik V will have trials among 100 Indian volunteers, the Indian Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation’s Drug Controller General (DCGI) on Thursday told Sputnik, reported ANI.

The trials will be conducted by pharmaceutical giant Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. The date and time of the test will be determined by the company.

Dr Reddy’s laboratory have joined hands with the Russian Direct Investment Fund(RDIF) to conduct clinical trials of the vaccine as well as its distribution. The Sputnik news agency said that before moving to the final stage trials, the drug maker will conduct a second stage trials.

According to an official, Dr Reddy’s Lab has said that in phase 2 clinical trial – “would include 100 subjects and for phase 3, it would take 1,400 subjects.”

“Once the pharma company would submit the safety and immunogenicity data of phase 2, it would be analysed by the expert panel and then they can proceed for the phase 3 trial,” the official added.

Around 100 million doses of its potential covid-19 vaccine will be manufactured in India, the RDIF said.

In September, Kirill Dmitriev, CEO, RDIF informed that Russia is in talks with the Indian government and drug manufacturers of India regarding localisation of manufacturing of its Sputnik V vaccine in India.

Sputnik V, developed jointly by RDIF and the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, became world’s registered covid-19 vaccine on August 11.

Sputnik V, developed jointly by RDIF and the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, became world’s registered covid-19 vaccine on August 11 after it got approval from Russian Health Ministry. According to Russian researchers, Sputnik V is a human adenoviral vector vaccine that fights against coronavirus disease which has claimed over a million lives worldwide.

Donald Trump vs Joe Biden presidential debate: Key highlights

By
Shivani Negi
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US President and Republic nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden indulged in a combative spar on Friday(local time). Just two weeks ahead of the November election, Trump and Biden shred light on important topics including health care, the economy and nation’s response to the covid-19 pandemic in the final debate.

To much surprise, unlike other debates, the two candidates gave each other time to speak and ardently listened. In spite of their fierce approach, the two used respectful tones. Even when they attacked, they were polite in their tonality.

In the 90-minute slugfest, the two men slammed each other’s past records with both accusing each other on issues they have participated in, including battles on immigration, foreign policy and racial tensions in America.

Covid-19 main focus:

While Biden made covid-19 the main focus of the debate, the Trump campaign complained that debate should have been focused on policy. This might have come as a setback to president Trump who wanted to tout his accomplishments in the Middle East, trade and Syria.

NBC News correspondent Kristen Welker, who was moderating the debate, asked how each candidate would lead the country out of the pandemic crisis.

Trump: “We’re fighting it and we’re fighting it hard… We’re rounding the corner. It’s going away..“I caught it. I learned a lot … We have to recover. We can’t close up our nation.”

Biden: “If you hear nothing else I say tonight hear this . Anyone who’s responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of United States of America….This is the same fellow told you this is going to end by Easter last time. This is the same fellow who told you that, don’t worry, we’re going to end this by the summer. We’re about to go into a dark winter, a dark winter, and he has no clear plan.”

Trump: “I don’t know if we’re going to have a dark winter, and at all. We’re opening up our country. We’ve learned and studied and understand the disease.

Biden: “He says, we’re, you know, we’re learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it.”

Personal comparisons:

Coming to US President’s favourite part, the two also launched personal attacks against each other. “I ran because of you,” Trump told Biden “I ran because of Barack Obama because I thought you did a poor job.”

Biden in return said that he hopes Trump does not focus on him as it will only help voters.

“Because what’s happening here, you know who I am. You know who he is. You know his character. You know my character,” Biden said. “You know our reputations for honor and telling the truth. I am anxious to have this race.”

Racial injustice:

Welker then focused the conversation on racial injustice, asking both candidates about how African American parents have to warn their kids about the laws. Biden apologized for his role in passing the 1994 crime bill and said racial discrimination persists in the criminal justice system.

Biden mentioned his daughter, a social worker, and said his children have never had to worry about being mistreated by police because they are white.

“I never had to tell my daughter if she’s pulled over to put both hands on top of the wheel and don’t reach for the glove box because someone may shoot you,” he said.

Trump, while answering, said that he is the least racist person in the room.

Amazon launches new program to pay customer for their data on non-Amazon purchases

By
Jyoti B
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Amazon has launched a new program that directly pays consumers for information about what they’re purchasing outside of Amazon.com and for responding to short surveys.

The program, Amazon Shopper Panel, asks users to send in 10 receipts per month for any purchases made at non-Amazon retailers, including grocery stores, department stores, drug stores and entertainment outlets (if open), like movie theaters, theme parks and restaurants.

At present, this opt-in, invitation-only programme is available to a limited number of Amazon customers in the US only.

Customers receiving an invitation to join the panel can download the app from either the App Store or the Google Play Store.

Users can then earn additional rewards each month for every survey they complete, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday, the receipts of the purchases need to be from non-Amazon retailers, including grocery stores, department stores, drug stores and entertainment outlets (if open), like movie theaters, theme parks and restaurants.

The e-commerce giant says the participation will help brands offer better products and make ads more relevant on Amazon.

Mirzapur web series season two releases ahead of time

By
Neha Kumari
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There is good news for those watching the web series ‘Mirzapur’. Actually, season 2 of the series has been released ahead of time. Earlier ‘Mirzapur 2’ was scheduled to be released on 23 October i.e. Friday, but the makers have released it on 22 October, a day before.

The release date of Mirzapur 2 was announced by the makers a few months back and the trailer of Mirzapur 2 was released recently. The trailer gave a light glimpse of its story, after which more excitement was created within the fans about Mirzapur 2.

Mixed reactions are coming on the web series ‘Mirzapur 2’ on the OTT platform Amazon Prime. Ending the wait for fans, Amazon Prime has released it online three hours before the scheduled time and date. People are continuously giving reactions on social media by tweeting. It is directed by Karan Anshuman and Puneet Krishna and the production is handled by Ritesh Siddhwani and Farhan Akhtar.

While releasing the web series ahead of time, Amazon Prime tweeted a tweet. They wrote, “Treat this tweet as an invite. Mirzapur has been released. This time together, I will laugh.

India’s missile Nag is ready to hit enemies

By
Neha Kumari
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India’s ‘Nag’ missile is ready to hit enemies. The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) tested it at 6.45 am on Thursday. The missile was successful in flying its target. Now the third generation anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) is ready to be a part of the army. The ‘Nag’ missile can easily fire enemy tanks day or night.

The Nag Anti-Tank Guided Missile has been developed by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). This is the successful system test of the 12th missile of DRDO during the last one and a half months.

In the past, DRDO Chief G. Satish Reddy had also expressed further intentions in this regard. He said in a statement that DRDO is engaged in preparing indigenous missiles. Soon India will be made self-sufficient in the missile sector.

DRDO has conducted tests of at least 12 missiles in the last one and a half months. These missiles are of different types and with different range of fire. DRDO is said to be testing some more missiles in the coming days. On September 7, DRDO successfully tested the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSDTV).

Bihar Assembly Election 2020- JDU releases its Manifesto

By
Neha Kumari
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The ruling Janata Dal United has released its manifesto for the Bihar assembly elections 2020. The party’s state president Vasishtha Narayan Singh released it at a function held at the JDU office in Patna on Thursday. The manifesto has been put before the public with a new slogan. The party has given the slogan, ‘Fulfilling promises, now new intentions’.

During this, the JDU state president said that our resolve is, youth power – progress of Bihar, economic solution – force to youth, reserved employment – rights to women and strong women – capable women. He said that we have fulfilled the promise we made. We will fulfill every promise of this manifesto also. Seven Ny-2 will be implemented in the entire state.

Vashistha Narayan Singh said that the Mahagathbandhan is promising to give 10 lakh jobs, but the truth of this is something else. Ask those who are making such false promises, where will they bring 58 thousand crore rupees for salary?

Vashistha Narayan Singh said that Rs 48 hundred crore will be spent this time in doubling the salary of ASHA workers-servants. The JDU leader said that the grand alliance is only cheating and tricking people.

Key points of the letter

  1. Youth power – Bihar’s progress

Under this, better technical training will be arranged for the youth.

  1. Strong woman, capable woman

Under this, special scheme will be introduced to promote entrepreneurship among women. 50% (maximum of five lakhs) of the project cost will be given in the form of ventures by them, and interest free loan up to a maximum of five lakhs will be given

  1. Irrigation water will be provided to every farm.
  2. Clean Village – Prosperous Village

Under this, arrangements will be made for solid and liquid waste management in all villages. Solar street lights will be installed in all villages. Animal and fishery resources will be developed.

  1. Clean city-developed city

Under this, arrangements for solid and liquid waste management in all cities will be made through appropriate technology. A shelter home will be constructed for the elderly. Mokshadham will be constructed along with electric crematoriums on all cities and important river ghats.

  1. Accessible Connectivity

Under this, the surrounding villages will be connected by connecting them to the main roads. Bypass and flyovers will be constructed as per the requirement in the urban area.

  1. Additional Health Care for All

Under this, arrangements for better animal health management will also be made.

IPL 2020: Expensive players not performing in this year’s league

By
Harshit
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IPL 2020, IPL UPDATE, KXIP, Glenn Maxwell
IPL 2020, IPL UPDATE, KXIP, Glenn Maxwell

The players who make headlines because of the high amount of money have failed to perform in this year’s IPL. The amount that the player has received, however, cannot tell how the player will perform after the tournament starts.

Kolkata picked Pat Cummins of Australia by giving him a sum of Rs 15.5 crore. With this, he also became the most expensive player in the IPL. The number-1 bowler in Tests since 2019, however, has not been able to show the amazing performance for Kolkata in the 13th season of IPL, which was expected from him. Cummins has taken just three wickets in 10 matches played so far. Contrary to expectations, his best contribution has come from the bat. He scored 53 against Mumbai Indians and gave the team a respectable score.

Cummins’ Australian aide Glenn Maxwell has also not been able to justify the amount received from Kings XI Punjab. Punjab invested 10.75 crore rupees for Maxwell, but there is still stormy innings and the first half-century from Maxwell. However, the team has given Maxwell a chance. Team captain Lokesh Rahul said, “Glenn is batting well in the nets. We know what Maxwell can do. He brings a good balance to the team.”

Australia’s Nathan Coulter Nile was bought by the defending Mumbai Indians for eight crore rupees, but Nathan did not play in the first seven matches. In the last two matches, he came back rhythm.

Eros Now issues apology after netizens slam its Navratri marketing posts

By
Shivani Negi
-

One of the prominent over-the-top streaming platforms, Eros Now, faced major backlash after it posted exceedinlgy sexualised posts on its Twitter handle.

The posts in reference to the ongoing Navratri festival did not go down with netizens who trolled Eros Now back and forth. Among the posts, one said, “Be naughty, sweet toh mithai bhi hai” followed by “#Navratri”. The other post showed a photo of actor Katrina Kaif alongside the text, “Do you want to put the ‘ratri’ in my Navratri?”

By the time Eros Now took down the posts, they had already started making rounds on the social media. The netizens asked Eros Now to refrain from relating vulgar content to the pious festival of Navratri. Since morning, #BoycottErosNow trended at number two on Twitter.

“Why have you posted these double-meaning vulgar banners for the auspicious festive season?” a user wrote on Twitter.

“BoycottErosNow. @ErosNow is intentionally sexualising Hindu festivals and traditions while maintaining a totally different approach for non Hindu festivals. I wonder will they sexualise Eid and Ramzan?!” another user mentioned.

Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut also criticised Eros Now for their posts and compared streaming platforms to porn hubs. She underlined that in the world full of OTT platforms, it has become important to protect our theatres.

“We must preserve cinema as a community viewing theatre experience,its more difficult to enthrall large section of audience than sexualise content for personal viewing, digitisation of art faces this major crisis, all streaming platforms are nothing but a porn hub. SHAME @ErosNow,” she wrote.

She wrote: “And it’s not streaming platforms fault when you wear headphones and watch content in your personal space all you need is instant gratification, it’s important to watch the movies with entire family, children, neighbors basically it must be a community experience.”

“Community viewing enhances our awareness when we know someone is watching what we watching we want to be who we want them to think we are, we make conscious choices, censorship of what we feed our brains n emotions is very important and censor can be our own conscience as well.”

Following the backlash, Eros Now issued an apology on their official Twitter account on Thursday.

They issued a statement which reads: “To all those concerned, we at Eros love and respect our cultures equally. It is not and it has never been our intention to hurt anyone’s emotions. We have deleted the concerned posts and we apologise for having offended anybody’s sentiments. Thanking you, Team Eros Now.”

Sourav Ganguly: Ahemdabad to host India-England day-night Test match

By
Harshit
-
-England, India-England Test series
India-England, India-England Test series

Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly said on Tuesday that Ahmedabad will host the day-night Test during England’s tour of India early next year. England has to tour India for five Tests and limited-overs series starting from January to March next year. While releasing the book of CPI (M) MLA Ashok Bhattacharya at Kolkata Press Club, Ganguly said, “Ahmedabad will host the day-night test.”

There has been speculation that the series may be transferred to the UAE, where IPL 2020 is currently underway, given the recent rise of COVID-19 cases in India. However, the BCCI is committed of hosting England in the country itself and is already considering all options, including creating a biologically safe environment.

Ahmedabad, Dharamsala and Kolkata could be the three possible sites of the Test series, but Ganguly said that he has not yet taken a final decision. Ganguly said, “We have made some temporary plans, but no decision has been taken yet.

1/3rd of Tamil Nadu’s population has already contracted COVID-19

By
Harshit
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Tamil Nadu, COVID-19, Tamil Nadu COVID cases
Tamil Nadu, COVID-19, Tamil Nadu COVID cases

India reported a spike of more than 55 thousand COVID cases with 702 fatalities in the last 24 hours. With the new addition, the country’s total COVID tally crossed the 77 lakh mark and the death tally also crossed the mark of 1.16 lakh.

Meanwhile, the second serosurvey which was conducted in Chennai revealed that nearly one-third of Chennai’s population has already exposed to the coronavirus. These results have shown an overall positivity rate of 32.3 percent in the city.

“Results of Chennai Serosurvey-II: Serosurvey samples tested- 6,389 out of which 2,062 are positive for IgG antibodies presence with overall positivity of 32.3 per cent,” Greater Chennai Corporation said in a brief statement.

Bigg Boss 14: Shehzad Deol becomes the second person to get evicted

By
Shivani Negi
-

Bigg Boss is in its full swing as dramatic sides of all the contestant have kicked in. While the contestants have just started to reveal their true colours, eviction from the house have already started. As of now, the eviction is decided by contestants and seniors without audience’s interference.

On Wednesday, Shehzad Deol became the second person to get evicted from the Bogg Boss house in a surprise midweek eviction.

Bigg Boss asked Shehzad to exit the house along with Eijaz Khan and Pavitra Punia after Sidharth’s team lost the ‘Game Over’ task. Shehzad was also named one of the bottom three contestatnts by host Salman Khan during Monday ka Vaar episode. He was given the status of ‘Gayab’ on the show. Due to which, he was no longer a confirmed contestant of the show and also did not hold any power of making decisions inside the Bigg Boss house. And was evicted from the house eventually.

Seniors– Sidharth Shukla, Gauhar Khan and Hina Khan — along with a few contestants also suggested Shehzad’s name for eviction last week.

Unhappy with the decision, Shehzad took to Instagram to express his disappointment.

View this post on Instagram

#SaathNaChodna

A post shared by Shehzad Deol (@shehzaddeol) on

“I thought it would be a fair game, I thought I was on a two-way road, But the journey has ended too soon… One which though has given me the love and support of all of you!!! I know if it was upto you guys, I would have been inside, But it is what is, toh koi gaal nahin, zindagi kabhi fair nahi hondi (doesn’t matter, life can be unfair), But I’m here with a promise to continue entertaining you. Aapka Punjab Da Munda,” he said.

Netizens also felt that Shehzad was unfairly evicted from the house and had it been up to audience to decide, he would had never gotten evicted.

Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi tests positive for COVID-19

By
Harshit
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Sushil Modi, BJP, Sushil Kumar Modi tests positive for COVID-19
Sushil Modi, BJP, Sushil Kumar Modi tests positive for COVID-19

The Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi has tested positive for COVID-19. The BJP leader shared this news on Twitter and said he is admitted to the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences, Patna.

Sushil Kumar Modi’s news about contracting the virus comes just days before Bihar polls, which are scheduled to begin from October 28.

Ahead of the assembly election, Sushil Kumar Modi also held a joint election campaign with Cheif Minister Nitish Kumar and other party members on Sunday and his last public appearance was at an election rally in Katihar and Purnia on same day.

IPL 2020: Siraj stars in RCB’s win against KKR

By
Harshit
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IPL 2020, RCB, KKR, IPL 2020 update, IPL 2020 updates
IPL 2020, RCB, KKR, IPL 2020 update, IPL 2020 updates

Virat Kohli led- Royals Challengers Bangalore won their seventh match of this year’s IPL as they thrashed Kolkata Knight Riders in an one-sided encounter by 8 wickets.

Kolkata Knight Riders batted first and just managed to score 84 runs in 20 overs. Mohammad Siraj was brilliant with the ball as he gave away just 8 runs in his 4 over quota and picked 3 wickets.

Kolhi’s men were on top of their game right from the start of the chase and won the match with six and a half overs still left to play. With this win RCB moves up to second position in the points table and as of now they require just a single win to qualify for the play-offs.

“It was a late call to be honest (to give Siraj the new ball). Was thinking of giving Washy. When we got here, we saw the surface, it looked drier. At the toss I said that it was a good toss to lose. We would have batted first but the pitch just seemed to look much better under lights. We had the option of the plan to start with Washi and bring Morris in the second over, then we thought let’s give Siraj the new ball with Morris. Let him set the tone and then let Siraj try and swing the ball,” said Virat Kolhi in the post-match presentation.

“Even against Kings, he tried to york Gayle, that showed heart. He never loses belief and that’s contagious. His energy is amazing. A great, great addition to our squad. (On Siraj’s performance) Last year he had a tough year. Lot of people went quite hard at him. This time around he worked hard, he was really determined. He’s seeing the result now and we want him to continue.”

Mumbai police summons Kangana Ranaut, sister Rangoli in sedition case

By
Shivani Negi
-

Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut and her sister and spokesperson Rangoli Chandel have been summoned by the Mumbai Police on October 26 and 27. According to ANI’s report, the sisters have been asked to appear before an investigating officer in a sedition case.

Last week, a First Information Report was registered against the two Mumbai following an order from the Mumbai Magistrate’s court.

The complaint was registered over Kangana’s anti-farmers tweet wherein she had compared farmers protesting against the controversial farm-bills to terrorists. Earlier, an FIR against the actor was registered in a Karnataka court.

The petitioner in Mumbai case is a casting a director who had alleged that besides defaming Bollywood, Kangana is also involved in igniting communal disharmony through her social media accounts. The court has said a thorough probe in the case is necessary.

The Mumbai Police thereafter filed a First Information Report against Ranaut and her sister under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc), 295A (deliberate acts hurting religious sentiments) and 124-A (sedition), 34 (common intention).

“We have issued notices to Ranaut and her sister, asking them to appear before the police in connection with the FIR registered against them. They have been asked to remain present on Monday and Tuesday,” said an official.

Post the summon was issued, Kangana took to twitter to respond. : “Obsessed penguin Sena … Pappupro of Maharashtra, bahut yaad aati hai k-k-k-k-k-Kangana, koi baat nahin jaldi aa jaungi (You miss Kangana so much, never mind, I will be back soon),” she said in a tweet.

Kangana has been in feud with Shiv Sena led Maharashtra government for quite some time now. From accusing Mumbai Police of tampering with evidences in Sushant Singh Rajput case to comparing the city to PoK, the Manikarnika actress has launched many attacks against the Sena government.

Meanwhile, Sena has also given it back to the actor by demolishing her property in Mumbai, and not to forget Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s derogatory remark against Kangana.

Central government relaxes onion import norms till December 15

By
Harshit
-

The central government has decided to relax the import norms for onions till December 15 to facilitate the early shipment and directed to use the buffer stock for increasing the supplies. The Union Consumer Affair Ministry said in a statement that the step will offload more onion from its buffer stock in the open market to limit price hike. They also said estimated Karif crop of Rs 37 lakh tonne will be available in Mandis to reprive the rising prices.

“An undertaking will be obtained from the importers that the onion will be used only for consumption and not for propagation,” the ministry said.

While the rate at which retail prices increased had been “moderated to some extent”, recent incidents of heavy rainfall in onion growing districts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh had “caused damage to standing Kharif crop, stored onion and seed nurseries,” the ministry said.

“These developments on the weather front have resulted in sharp increase in onion prices,” it added.

The retail price of onion has also increased since the end of August this year. The Indian High Commissions have been instructed in the relevant countries to contact the traders for greater onion imports.

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