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Vaccines are answer, not one-day lockdowns: Omar Abdullah | India News – Times of India

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SRINAGAR: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Sunday said one-day shutdowns to contain the spread of coronavirus is a “meaningless tokenism” which can lead to complacency, and called for allowing more people to take vaccine against Covid-19.
The Madhya Pradesh government had on March 19 announced Sunday lockdowns in Bhopal, Indore and Jabalpur till further orders in view of the spurt in coronavirus cases.
“With a rampaging virus that has a 2-14 day incubation period this one-day lockdown is meaningless tokenism. All it will do is create a misplaced sense of complacency,” Abdullah tweeted.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said vaccines were the answer to the spread of Covid-19 and called for opening up the vaccines to more people.
“Vaccines are the answer not one day lockdowns. Open up vaccines to more people,” he added.
His statement came as India recorded 43,846 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the highest single-day rise so far this year.
India is currently vaccinating people above 60 and those aged between 45-59 years with 20 identified comorbidities.

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Eight States Showing Rising Trajectory in Covid-19 Cases: Health Ministry

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A rising trajectory of daily new cases is visible in eight states and UTs, including Delhi and Maharashtra, while Kerala is showing a declining trend, the Health Ministry said on Saturday. The ministry said Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab cumulatively account for 76.22 per cent of India’s total active caseload, with Maharashtra contributing to 62 per cent of such cases, while Kerala and Punjab account for 8.83 per cent and 5.36 per cent of active cases respectively.

The top five districts in Maharashtra recording the highest number of cases are Pune (37,384), Nagpur (25,861), Mumbai (18,850), Thane (16,735) and Nashik (11,867). The top five districts in Kerala recording the highest number of cases are Ernakulam (2,673), Pathanamthitta (2,482), Kannur (2,263), Palakkad (2,147) and Thrissur (2,065).

The top five districts in Punjab recording the highest number of cases are Jalandhar (2,131), SAS Nagar (1,868), Patiala (1,685), Ludhiana (1,643) and Hoshiarpur (1,572). “A rising trajectory of daily new cases is visible in eight states. These are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana. Kerala is showing a consistently declining trend,” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry further said that five states account for 81.38 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties at 70, Punjab followed with 38 daily deaths and Kerala reported 17 deaths in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, fifteen states and UTs have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours. These are Assam, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Sikkim, Ladakh, Manipur, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Arunachal Pradesh.

The ministry further said India has scaled a significant peak in its battle against COVID-19 pandemic. The total vaccination coverage has surpassed 4 crore. “About 4,20,63,392 vaccine doses have been administered through 6,86,469 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today. These include 77,06,839 healthcare workers (HCWs) (first dose), 48,04,285 HCWs (second dose), 79,57,606 frontline workers (FLWs)(first dose) and 24,17,077 FLWs (second dose), 32,23,612 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities (first dose) and 1,59,53,973 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years,” it said.

As on day 63 of the vaccination drive (March 19), 27,23,575 vaccine doses were given. Eighty per cent of the 27.23 lakh vaccine doses administered in the last 24 hours are from 10 states. Of the total, 24,15,800 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 38,989 sessions for first dose (HCWs and FLWs) and 3,07,775 HCWs and FLWs received second dose of vaccine.

The ministry said eight states account for 60 per cent of the cumulative vaccine doses given so far. They are Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

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WhatsApp, FB down for 50-55 mins yesterday, but development in Bengal down for past 50-55 years: PM Modi

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Drawing a parallel with Friday’s social media outage, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said while everybody was worried when platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook were down for just 50-55 minutes, West Bengal’s development has been down for past 50-55 years.

Speaking at a public rally in Bengal’s Kharagpur ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the state, he said, “Yesterday WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook were down for 50-55 minutes, everybody got worried. But in Bengal, development and dreams have been down for 50-55 years. First, it was Congress, then Left, and now Trinamool Congress, who have blocked state’s development.”

He claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee government stands like a wall to block the central schemes and blamed her for wasting  “precious ten years” of the youth. “Didi’s government is reluctant to implement the new National Education Policy. She is not worried about the future of millions of youth of West Bengal, their career. I assure them that didi will not be allowed to play with their future,” he said.

Modi also said that Banerjee runs a ‘pathshala’ (school) of brutality in Bengal, the syllabus of which comprises ‘tolabaji‘ (extortion), cut money, syndicate and anarchy. He claimed, “Didi gets angry if asked to give an account of Amphan cyclone funds. If you ask for answers to the theft in ration rice, you are put in jail. Raise questions on the coal scam, the police gets you killed. If you ask for answers on jobs, then your house is burnt.”

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World No. 1 Divyansh Panwar settles for bronze in Delhi Shooting World Cup | More sports News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: World No. 1 in men’s 10m air rifle, Indian shooter Divyansh Singh Panwar had to settle for a bronze medal at the ongoing ISSF World Cup, while his teammate Arjun Babuta finished an impressive fifth in his senior World Cup debut.
Panwar, who shot a 629.1 in qualifying on Friday to stand sixth in the top-eight qualifying bracket, shot 228.1 for the bronze medal here at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
Babuta had registered an impressive 631.8 in qualifying and scored 185.5 in the final for his fifth place.
In a dramatic finish for gold, USA’s Lucas Kozeniesky (249.8) edged Hungary’s Istvan Peni by just 0.1 point.
“It was like re-visiting what happens in a match. We had almost forgotten it,” said Panwar, who had bagged an Olympic quota with a silver medal at the 2019 Beijing World Cup. “I was nervous, my heartbeat was fast. It has never happened with me before,”

It’s the first ISSF event for the pistol and rifle shooters since the Covid-19 lockdown last year.
Panwar stood joint fifth after the first two series of five shots each. Babuta was just above him at fourth. The difference was just 0.5 points.

TOI Photo
World No. 1 Panwar started doing better as the final went deep. His 13th and 14th shots were 10.3 each, after which both the Indian shooters stood joint fourth at 143.8 points.
“I was in constant eye contact with my coach sitting behind. It helped. This medal will help me build and regain my confidence,” Panwar said.
After Babuta’s elimination, just 0.3 points separated Sergey Richter of Israel and Panwar. But Richter scored 9.6 on his next shot, to concede his third place to the Indian.
But Panwar could not go any further.

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Mamata didi runs school of brutality, says Modi

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Claiming Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had betrayed the people of West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress chairperson and accused her of brutality towards political opponents.

“Mamata didi runs a school of brutality where tolabaji (extortion), cut money, syndicate and anarchy form syllabus,” Mr. Modi said, while addressing a rally in Kharagpur.

During his speech, the Prime Minister referred to the 2018 panchayat polls in the State and said that the whole world watched how the democratic rights of the people were curtailed by not allowing them to take part in elections.

“This time, Didi will not be allowed to trample on democratic rights. What the Trinamool Congress used to do in the previous election will not be allowed this time,” Mr. Modi said.

He raised slogans such as Bhoy noi, Sudu joi (No fear only victory) and Is Baar BJP Sarkar (This time, it will be a BJP government).

The Prime Minister also showered praise on State BJP president Dilip Ghosh, saying that the party was proud to have a chief like him who withstood several attacks at the hands of the Trinamool.

Mr. Modi also pointed out that about 130 of the BJP’s cadre had been killed by Trinamool workers.

Referring to Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee hailing from the State of West Bengal, the Prime Minister claimed that the BJP was the only party of Bengal in true sense.

“The DNA of the BJP has the DNA of Syama Prasad Mookerjee,” he added.

The remark by the Prime Minister is aimed to counter the campaign of the Trinamool that BJP is an outside party.

Mr. Modi also took a swipe at the Trinamool slogan Khela Hobe (The game will be played).

“Didi is saying Khela Hobe. Entire Bengal is saying ‘Khela Sesh Hobe Vikas Hobe (Game over, now there will be development),” he said.

The Prime Minister said that only a double-engine government of the BJP, with the party in power in both Delhi and Bengal, could bring the State out of distress.

Targeting Trinamool leader and Ms. Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, the Prime Minister said that while in the entire country there were attempts to ease out processes and have a single-window system, in Bengal there was another unique single-window system.

“That single-window system in Bengal is Bhaipho [nephew] window,” he said.

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Former SEBI Chairman Ramakrishna no more

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G.V. Ramakrishna, 91, who was the first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India after it became a statutorily empowered markets regulator, passed away in Chennai on Saturday.

Starting his career as a biochemist doing research in haematology, Ramakrishna joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1952 and served in several capacities in the Andhra Pradesh government before rising to the post of Chief Secretary of the State.

An administrator, renowned for his integrity and no nonsense approach to addressing issues, Ramakrishna was appointed in 1990 as the second chairman of the then two-year-old Securities and Exchange Board. During his tenure, he oversaw the transition of the Board into a legally empowered markets regulator following the enactment of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.

Formally established under the Act on April 12, 1992, Ramakrishna became its first fully empowered chairman and through the sheer force of his reputation helped create the framework for a modern and vibrant securities market. In his vision for protecting investors’ interests, Ramakrishna was convinced that the way to do it would be through setting up systems and procedures to automatically take care of problems. To that end he strove to get merchant bankers to ensure that the prospectus for any capital issue provided accurate and adequate information to investors. He also sought and pushed for increased transparency in the working of the country’s GVstock exchanges.

Ramakrishna, who served the government in several other capacities both at the Centre and abroad during his more than five-decade career in public service, was also the first chairman of the Disinvestment Commission.

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Eight states showing rising trajectory in Covid-19 cases: Health ministry | India News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: A rising trajectory of daily new cases is visible in eight states and UTs, including Delhi and Maharashtra, while Kerala is showing a declining trend, the health ministry said on Saturday.
The ministry said Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab cumulatively account for 76.22 per cent of India’s total active caseload, with Maharashtra contributing to 62 per cent of such cases, while Kerala and Punjab account for 8.83 per cent and 5.36 per cent of active cases respectively.
The top five districts in Maharashtra recording the highest number of cases are Pune (37,384), Nagpur (25,861), Mumbai (18,850), Thane (16,735) and Nashik (11,867).
The top five districts in Kerala recording the highest number of cases are Ernakulam (2,673), Pathanamthitta (2,482), Kannur (2,263), Palakkad (2,147) and Thrissur (2,065).
The top five districts in Punjab recording the highest number of cases are Jalandhar (2,131), SAS Nagar (1,868), Patiala (1,685), Ludhiana (1,643) and Hoshiarpur (1,572).
“A rising trajectory of daily new cases is visible in eight states. These are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana. Kerala is showing a consistently declining trend,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry further said that five states account for 81.38 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties at 70, Punjab followed with 38 daily deaths and Kerala reported 17 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, fifteen states and UTs have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours. These are Assam, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Sikkim, Ladakh, Manipur, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Arunachal Pradesh.
The ministry further said India has scaled a significant peak in its battle against COVID-19 pandemic. The total vaccination coverage has surpassed 4 crore.
“About 4,20,63,392 vaccine doses have been administered through 6,86,469 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today. These include 77,06,839 healthcare workers (HCWs) (first dose), 48,04,285 HCWs (second dose), 79,57,606 frontline workers (FLWs) (first dose) and 24,17,077 FLWs (second dose), 32,23,612 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities (first dose) and 1,59,53,973 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years,” it said.
As on day 63 of the vaccination drive (March 19), 27,23,575 vaccine doses were given. Eighty per cent of the 27.23 lakh vaccine doses administered in the last 24 hours are from 10 states.
Of the total, 24,15,800 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 38,989 sessions for first dose (HCWs and FLWs) and 3,07,775 HCWs and FLWs received second dose of vaccine.
The ministry said eight states account for 60 per cent of the cumulative vaccine doses given so far. They are Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

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App Install Optimisation on Google Play in the Works to Improve App Performance, Reduce Download Time

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Google Play Store image used for representation.

Google also adds that the feature does not collect any personal information, such as name or email address. The ‘app install optimisation’ also does not look at anything outside of the app, such as other apps or content on the device, the company claims.

Google is seemingly working to improve apps’ performance on Android smartphones. As spotted by 9to5Google, the software giant is developing ‘App install optimisation’ on Google Play that needs to be enabled manually to improve the app installation experience. The feature is not currently live, though the support page is accessible. Google explains that when users turn on the app install optimisation, the AI can tell which parts of app users use the first time after installation. “When enough people do this, Google can optimize the app to install, open, and run faster for everyone,” the support page notes. The feature is aimed to improve apps downloaded via the Google Play Store as Android phones are slowly getting heavy applications that read more memory to boot. Hence, select social media giants are reviving the ‘lite’ version of their platform for entry-level smartphones. Google also tried addressing this with App Bundles, a system that lets developers build multiple versions of their apps for different device configurations.

Since Google will be reviewing information for app optimisation the company notes that “all info is used in accordance with Google’s Privacy Policy.” The company’s ‘app install optimisation’ will use the data to speed up installation for apps from Google Play, reduce the amount of time it takes to open and run apps, and reduce strain on the smartphone’s CPU, battery, and storage. As mentioned, the option seems unavailable and Google will likely provide more details once the rollout is complete. Users can check the availability manually by heading to the menu (three vertical dots) > Settings > App install optimisation on or off.

Google also adds that the feature does not collect any personal information, such as name or email address. The ‘app install optimisation’ also does not look at anything outside of the app, such as other apps or content on the device, the company claims. Those not comfortable with the capability can turn it off from Play Store settings, but they will “still benefit from data gathered from other people.” References to the ‘app install optimisation’ feature were spotted on Google Play version 24.5.13.

Users can check the Google Play Store version by heading to Settings > Apps & notifications > Google Play services. Check the version number you have.

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Microsoft Teams adds new features to iOS and Android

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Microsoft Teams app for Android and iOS devices received an update this week. The update to the teamwork and video-conferencing app brings a number of features to both platforms. However, the features included in the update are different on both platforms. The iOS update has more major features compared to its Android counterpart.

Launched on Microsoft Teams desktop the previous month, iOS users can now use live reactions during a team meeting or a one-to-one call. These reactions range from animated thumbs up to heart, clapping, laughter and more. Users with iPad will now be able to present in live events. This feature will help to share content with the team easily. Also, iOS users can now remove cached account information from the sign-in page.

For the Android folks, the new update brings minor updates. Now anyone can sign in and join events with Teams for friends and family. They also have the ability to forward meetings to one person or more. For users who have updated to Android 11, there is an improved notifications support on the top of the Notifications drawer.

The update is being rolled out for users worldwide. In order to get these features on your smartphones, ensure that the app is updated by going on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

Recently, Microsoft Teams introduced Snap Camera (by Snapchat) integration with the desktop app giving users the ability to add AR filters. In addition, a “Together Mode” was introduced as well which lets the host transport the participants to a coffee shop, auditorium during a meeting.

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