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India’s Covid tally reaches 97.6 lakh, death toll at 1.41 lakh

COVID cases
File photo

New Delhi (NVI): The total number of coronavirus cases in India increased to 97,67,372 with a single-day rise of 31,522 new cases in the last 24 hours, Union Health Ministry confirmed.

The country’s death toll due to the virus rose to 1,41,772, with 412 patients succumbing to the infection since yesterday.

Currently, 92,53,306 patients have been cured an recovered all over the country, while the active cases remained below 4-lakh mark and stands at 3,72,293.

In worst-hit Maharashtra, the COVID-19 cases increased to 18,64,348 followed by Karnataka with 8,96,563 cases, and Andhra Pradesh with 8,73,457 cases.

Maharashtra has also reported the highest number of fatalities at 47,902 followed by 11,900 in Karnataka and 11,836 in Tamil Nadu.

The other worst affected states are Tamil Nadu (7,94,020), Kerala (6,49,571), Delhi (5,99,575) and Uttar Pradesh (5,59,499).

Meanwhile, the death toll in the national capital rose to 9,813, while 5,69,216 patients in Delhi have recovered so far, the healthy ministry data shows.

As per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data, more than 15 crore samples tested for COVID-19 up to December 9. Out of these, 9,22,959 samples were tested yesterday.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court yesterday said that putting up posters or signs outside the homes of COVID-positive patients was no longer required unless there was direction from a competent authority.

-RJV

West has adopted a policy to engage India in ‘anti-China games’: Russian FM

Sergey Lavrov

New Delhi (NVI): Amidst the India-China stand-off, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Western powers have adopted an “aggressive” and “devious” policy to engage India in “anti-China games by promoting Indo-Pacific strategies”.

Lavrov has accused the western powers of trying to undermine Russia’s close partnership and privileged relations with India.

“Obviously, the West is trying to restore the unipolar model of world order. “Poles” like Russia and China are unlikely to be subordinate to it. However, India is currently an object of the Western countries’ persistent, aggressive & devious policy,” Lavrov said at the general meeting of the state-run think tank Russian International Affairs Council.

The Russian foreign minister’s remarks reflected Moscow’s traditional suspicion of the Indi-Pacific concept.

He further said that rejecting the objective trends towards the formation of a multipolar world, the US-led West has launched a “game.” “It has postponed Russia and China for later and is trying to draw all others into a unipolar world by any means possible.”

“For our part, we will promote a unifying agenda. The #G20 is the only mechanism outside the @UN Security Council where it is still possible to come to terms based on a balance of interests,” Lavrov said while criticising the Western and European powers for their “notorious concept”.

“India is currently an object of the Western countries’ persistent, aggressive and devious policy as they are trying to engage it in anti-China games by promoting Indo-Pacific strategies, the so-called “Quad” while at the same time the West is attempting to undermine our close partnership and privileged relations with India. This is the goal of the US’ very tough pressure on New Delhi in the MTC area,” Lavrov said in his remarks at the general meeting of the Russian International Affairs Council.

He said, “Our official contacts with the West have been frozen by the West (I will not explain why since this is common knowledge). This is the line towards the prevalence of the unipolar approach. They believe that ‘arrogant Russia’ has been ‘isolated’ and ‘punished’.”

Notably, the Russian foreign minister’s comments came against the backdrop of tensions amid India and China over border row in Eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control, even as Russia has been nudging both the countries to resolve the issue through talks.

-ARK

UK PM left red-faced after confusing farmers’ protest with India-Pak dispute

Boris Johnson

New Delhi (NVI): In a major faux pas, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson today told the House of Commons that the farmers’ protest in India was a matter for the governments of India and Pakistan to settle when asked about his response on the issue.

The UK PM seemed to confuse two separate issues and reiterated his government’s stance that the dispute between India and Pakistan was to be settled bilaterally.

Boris was responding to a question by British Sikh Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi who asked the UK PM if he could convey to the Indian Prime Minister (Modi) the anxieties in the United Kingdom over police action on protesting farmers. Dhesi has been leading a drive to keep the protests by the Indian farmers against the government’s agricultural reforms in the news in Britain.

“So, will the Prime Minister (Johnson) convey to the Indian Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) our heartfelt anxieties, our hopes for a speedy resolution to the current deadlock and does he agree that everyone has a fundamental right to peaceful protest,” he asked Johnson.

However, Johnson went on to address a completely unrelated matter and confused the issue with India-Pakistan dispute.

“Our view is that of course we have serious concerns about what is happening between India and Pakistan but these are pre-eminently matters for those two governments to settle and I know that he appreciates that point,” said Johnson.

After hearing the UK PM’s remarks, Dhesi looked visibly confused. He was quick to take to social media and posted the exchange on Twitter:

“The world is watching, issue is a huge one with hundreds of thousands protesting globally (including in London, reported on by BBC) and the usual Boris Johnson bluff and bluster heaps further embarrassment onto our nation. Absolutely clueless! So disappointed with his response…But it might help if our PM actually knew what he was talking about!”

-ARK

Minor Christian girl abducted in Pakistan for forced conversion, marriage

Minor Christian girl abducted in Pakistan for forced conversion, marriage

New Delhi (NVI): In another instance of lawlessness and abduction of girls from the minority community in Pakistan, a 14-year-old Christian girl was abducted in Faisalabad in Punjab province of the country for forced conversion and marriage.

The girl has been identified as Anum Shahzadi and human rights groups have launched an online campaign to put pressure on the authorities in Pakistan to come into action.

Voice of Pakistan Minority, one such organisation committed to protect the rights of minorities in Pakistan shared a video on Twitter in which the parents of the abducted minor girl can be seen pleading for her release.

The kidnapping of girls from minority community is on the rise in Pakistan, despite pressure from the international community and Human Rights groups.

Earlier in October, a 13-year-old Christian girl named Arzoo Raja was forcibly abducted while playing outside her home in Karachi’s Railway Colony. She was forcibly converted to Islam and later married to a 44-year-old man. Various human rights organizations have demanded justice for Raja.

-ARK

Pak violates ceasefire in Mankote sector of Poonch in J&K

Ceasefire
Representational image

Jammu (NVI): Pakistani troops today violated ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Mankote sector of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir, defence officials said.

The Pakistani Army resorted to heavy shelling and small arms fire in the area at around 10 pm, they said.

“At about 2200 hours Pak initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with Small Arms & intense shelling with Mortars along LoC in Mankote sector in District Poonch (J&K),” the officials said, adding that the Indian Army was retaliating befittingly.

Earlier on December 5, Pakistan engaged in heavy unprovoked ceasefire violation (CFV) in Qasba and Kirni sectors of Poonch district in J&K.

-ARK

PM Modi to lay foundation stone of new Parliament building tmrw

File photo

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of new parliament building tomorrow in a programme that will be attended by over 200 guests including former prime ministers and former Lok Sabha speakers.

PM Modi will lay the foundation stone of the building at 1 pm in the Parliament House Complex. The PM, who has been virtually addressing during the pandemic phase, will be physically present on the occasion. He will also perform ‘bhumi pujan’ or the groundbreaking ceremony.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will also deliver his address on the occasion. 

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri will deliver the welcome remarks. Pralhad Joshi, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, will deliver the vote of thanks.

The four-storied new Parliament building would be built in an area of 64,500 square metres at an estimated cost of Rs 971 crore.

The construction of the building will begin in December and is likely to be completed by October 2022. The new Parliament building will have a built-up area of approximately 60,000-metre square.

It is set to come up on plot number 118 of the Parliament House Estate, which currently houses a reception, boundary walls and other temporary structures.

-ARK

Dassault Systemes unveils ‘Water for Life’ to protect world’s most precious resource

New Delhi (NVI): Dassault Systemes, a software company that develops software for 3D product design, simulation, and manufacturing, has unveiled “Water for Life” to enable the industry to consume smarter and protect the world’s most precious resource.

“Water for Life,” is the next act in the company’s “The Only Progress is Human” campaign to increase awareness of societal and environmental challenges and inspire the use of virtual worlds to drive sustainable innovations.

“Water for Life” combines the themes of water and consumption to explore the challenge of how industry can consume smarter and protect the world’s most precious resource, which is threatened by overconsumption, Dassault Systemes said in a release.

The campaign is part of the company’s commitment to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular SDG 6 to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”

Through “Water for Life,” Dassault Systèmes will help its customers address this challenge from three angles: measure and optimize, innovate and create, and educate.

First, it will drive the 3DEXPERIENCE platform as an accelerator for measuring and optimizing the water footprint of businesses by providing customers with integrated industry solutions that deliver data on the water consumption associated with the experience they are creating and the impacts of various design options.

In the future, AI-generated recommendations will guide them toward the creation of new and more sustainable products, services and experiences, according to the company.

“Dassault Systemes will also support the idea of a water handprint through its 3DEXPERIENCE Lab. This will be achieved by using collective intelligence to accelerate disruptive innovations such as EEL Energy that transform processes in industries needing to reduce their water consumption, as well as by reinforcing this engagement with a partnership of incubators worldwide such as OceanHub Africa,” the company said in a statement.

It will also nurture educational programs that aim to increase awareness of major water-related issues and inspire future generations to conserve this key resource, such as the Mission Ocean project in France that is supported by La Fondation Dassault Systemes, according to the statement.

“The world is recognizing the urgency of preserving water and moving toward a new era of responsibility and sustainability. Industry has its role to play in this ‘UN Decade to Deliver,’” said Bernard Charles, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systemes.

“Virtual universes are a key enabler for our customers to imagine, design, and test the radically new products, materials and manufacturing processes needed in tomorrow’s more sustainable economy.  Through new industry solutions, we can become the world’s number one partner for a more sustainable industry renaissance that meets Paris Agreement goals,” he added.

Water is vital to life, yet overconsumption of water to produce the goods and services the world uses every day jeopardizes its availability. Already, more than 40% of the world’s population is affected by water scarcity. In line with its Sustainable Development Goals, the UN declared a Water Action Decade from 2018-2028 focused on the sustainable development and integrated management of water, the company said in a release.

“Water for Life” aligns with this movement as well as the company’s recent commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative, and its role as Official Supporter of the TCFD (Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures).

The act was officially launched in a video featuring Bernard Charles alongside the professional explorer and adventurer Mike Horn, who share the same passion for water conservation.

“As a professional explorer, I witnessed firsthand how human activities directly impacted the state of our Earth. It is crucial for humans to take care of it, and more importantly in preserving water, our most precious resource,” said Mike Horn.  “I am happy that not only the UN, NGOs and politicians meet this goal but also that industrial leaders like Bernard Charlès, CEO of Dassault Systèmes stress the importance of this key topic,” he said.

Launched in February this year, “The Only Progress is Human” is a communications campaign that aims to increase awareness of today’s societal and environmental challenges, and inspire people to use the virtual world to gain deeper insights into these challenges and drive sustainable innovations for a better future.

The initiative is engaging the public through a series of “10 Acts” that illustrate how virtual twin experiences can be used to create human-centric and real-world experiences that address each Act’s challenge. The first Act focused on the challenge, “How can virtual worlds change the way we experience emotions?” through a unique musical and visual experience called “Virtual Harmony” that featured the 3Dvarius, the first 3D-printed electric violin, which was designed using Dassault Systèmes’ solutions.

-ARK

IAF objects to Anil Kapoor’s costume, scenes in AK vs AK, actor apologises

IAF objects to Anil Kapoor's costume, scenes in AK vs AK, actor apologises

New Delhi (NVI): The Indian Air Force today objected to some scenes in the upcoming Anil Kapoor starrer AK vs AK on Netflix, pointing out that Kapoor donned the force’s uniform ‘inaccurately’ and used ‘inappropriate’ language.

“The IAF uniform in this video is inaccurately donned & the language used is inappropriate. This does not conform to the behavioural norms of those in the Armed Forces of India. The related scenes need to be withdrawn,” the IAF wrote on Twitter while sharing a trailer of the movie and tagging @NetflixIndia, @anuragkashyap72.

Anil Kapoor later apologised on Twitter in a video message: “It has come to my attention that the trailer of my new film “AK vs AK” has offended some people. As I am wearing the Indian Air Force Uniform while using unparliamentary language, I would like to sincerely offer my humble apologies for unintentionally hurting sentiments.”

In a one-minute long clip, the 63-year-old actor and 48-year-old Anurag Kashyap can be seen sparring as Kapoor uses foul language and abusing the filmmaker.

Netflix also responded on the issue, tweeting: “Hon. @IAF_MCC, our intention would never be to disrespect the Armed Forces of India in any regard. AK Vs. AK is a film in which Anil Kapoor and his co-stars are playing themselves as actors.”

The movie is directed by Vikramaditya Motwane and also features filmmaker Anurag Kashyap.

Notably, the Government had issued an order last month, bringing OTT (over-the-top) platforms, including Netflix, Hotstar, Prime Video, etc & online news portals are now under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

-ARK

Govt gives nod for setting up of public WiFi networks under ‘PM-WANI’

New Delhi (NVI): The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today approved the setting up of public WiFi networks across the country in a bid to strengthen the public WiFi service.

This Wi-Fi access network interface will be known as PM-WANI and there will be no licence fee for providing broadband Internet through these public Wi-Fi networks.

This would be done by Public Data Office Aggregators (PDOAs) which will provide public WiFi service through Public Data Offices (PDOs) spread across the country.

Addressing media, the Information Technology (IT) Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Cabinet has taken a decision to launch PM- Wi-fi Access Network Interface-to unleash a massive Wi-Fi network in the country.”

With this, the government expects to accelerate the proliferation of broadband internet services through public WiFi networks in the country.

Public Data Office (PDO) will establish, maintain and operate Wi-Fi Access Points and deliver broadband services to subscribers, while Public Data Office Aggregator (PDOA) will act as an aggregator of PDOs and perform the functions relating to authorisation and accounting.

App provider will be responsible for developing application to register users and discover WANI compliant Wi-Fi hotspots in the nearby area and display the same within the app for accessing the internet service.

A Central Registry will maintain the details of app providers, PDOAs, and PDOs.

No registration would be required for PDOs, while PDOAs and app providers will get themselves registered with the telecom department through the online registration portal without paying any fee. The registration will be granted within seven days of applying.

-CHK`1

Fact check: Fake CBSE class 12 date sheet circulating on social media

New Delhi (NVI): The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) time-table declaring the Class 12 board exam dates has been doing rounds on social media platforms.

According to the “Central Board of Secondary Education Senior School Certificate Examination 2020 – Class XII date sheet”, the Class 12 board exams are scheduled to start from March 15, 2021.

Refuting such claims on social media, the fact check wing of the Government’s Press Information Bureau said the CBSE has not made any such announcement and the news is fake.

PIB in the Tweet wrote, “A date sheet for 2020-21 class 12th examination allegedly issued by the CBSE is in circulation on social media. It added that, “PIB Fact Check: This date sheet is #Fake.”

The CBSE has not yet taken a final decision regarding the Class 10 and Class 12 board exams to be held next year.

On December 2, the CBSE issued a statement which said that the board exam 2021 will be held in offline or written mode, as and when they are to be conducted. “While the consultations on the CBSE exam dates for holding the examination are still underway,” it added.

Earlier in November, a WhatsApp forward claiming to be date sheet of CBSE board examination for Class 10th and 12th had gone viral.

-RJV

 

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