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  • Ivanka Trump’s personal assistant tests positive for coronavirus

    Ivanka Trump’s personal assistant has tested positive for the deadly coronavirus, making her the third White House staff member to be infected from COVID-19, a media report said on Saturday.

    The assistant, who works in a personal capacity for U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter, has not been around her in several weeks, the CNN reported.

    She has been teleworking for nearly two months and was tested out of caution, the report quoted a source as saying.

    She was not symptomatic. Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner both tested negative on Friday, the person familiar with the matter told the U.S. news channel. The development comes a day after President Trump confirmed that Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller had tested positive for the coronavirus.

    PTI

  • Opposition slams Centre for Aurangabad migrant workers deaths

    Govt.’s apathy towards migrant labour to blame for 16 being run over by train’

    PTI

    Opposition parties on Friday held the Centre responsible for the death of 16 migrant workers, who were run over by a goods train in Aurangabad, contending that the sudden announcement of the lockdown in March coupled with the government’s apathy towards the stranded labourers had led to the tragic incident.

    Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, in a post on Twitter, slammed the government for the treatment meted out to the migrant workers. “I am shocked by the news of the killing of our labourer brothers and sisters as a result of being crushed by a goods train. We should be ashamed of the treatment being meted out to our nation builders. My condolences to the families of those killed and prayers for the early recovery of the injured,” he tweeted in Hindi.

    Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the lockdown had robbed the migrant workers of any means to make a living and demanded that the government should pay compensation and extend all possible help to those affected by the incident.

    The “heartbreaking incident” had occurred due to “criminal” neglect by the government, CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury asserted. “The death of these poor labourers is solely due to the sudden announcement of a lockdown and denial of transport to them for weeks, while not providing a substantive relief package. It is criminal what has been done to them by the Central govt,” Mr. Yechury tweeted.

    “The migrant workers are being treated in a most inhumane manner by the government,” CPI General Secretary D. Raja said, terming the deaths in the accident a “deliberate killing”. “They have practically left them to fend for themselves without any aid or help,” he added.

    Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in a series of tweets asserted that the Central and State governments appeared to be oblivious of the fact that thousands of migrant workers were still walking back to their home States. “The decision to provide buses and trains was hopelessly belated. Meanwhile lakhs of persons had begun their trek to their home states.” Asserting that the transport policy was “poorly designed, planned, coordinated and implemented” he said, “Once the policy was announced, government should have gone to the rescue of the trekkers and provided buses or trains to them to continue their journey”. The tragedy could have been avoided if governments had gone to the rescue of the migrant workers in time, the Congress leader added.

  • Barring Pulwama district, Cellular services restored in Valley after 3 days

    Internet services continue to remain suspended across Kashmir

    Srinagar: The cellular services were restored by the government on Friday evening after remaining suspended for three days in the Valley. However, the internet services across Kashmir continued to remain suspended across the Valley as precautionary measure.

    People – mostly students, professionals, traders and media persons – suffered badly as cellular and internet services of all companies remained suspended for the third successive day due to security reasons in Kashmir. The services were suspended on Wednesday after top Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander Riyaz Naikoo and three other militants were killed in two separate encounters in south Kashmir district of Pulwama.

    Only Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) mobile phone and landline services were working in the valley, where curfew-like restrictions

    remained imposed in some areas to maintain law and order.
    However, the government on late Friday evening restored the cellular services across Kashmir barring Pulwama district in South Kashmir while it continued to suspend the internet services here as precautionary measure.

    The consumers told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the services were restored in Kashmir, but stated that some cellular services are yet to restore services. The services were not restored in Pulwama district when the report was last filed.

    Official sources said that mobile internet services of all cellular companies, including BSNL, remained suspended since Wednesday morning as a precautionary measure. “Barring BSNL, mobile phone service of other telecom operators also remained suspended in the valley,” they said.

    In a major success, security forces on Wednesday killed Naikoo besides three other militants in two separate encounters in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

    Fearing deterioration of law and order situation, authorities suspended mobile phone and internet services in the Valley.

    Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir zone, Vijay Kumar had on Thursday said that the communication services in Kashmir will be restored soon—(KNO)

  • COVID-19 cases across India crosses 57,150 mark

    08-May-2020 | PTI

    COVID-19 | INDIA TRACKER

    Confirmed Cases: 57155

    Total Deaths: 1897

    Active Cases: 38250

    The COVID-19 cases in India are likely to peak in June-July according to data released by experts and going by the current trend, said All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director Randeep Guleria.

    Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that in comparison to other countries, India was in a better condition as the fatality rate was 3.3% and recovery rate was 28.83%.

  • U.S. based Vista Equity Partners picks 2.32% stake in Jio Platforms for ₹11,367 crore

    Vista’s investment will translate into a 2.32% equity stake on a fully diluted basis, making Vista the largest investor in Jio Platforms behind Reliance Industries and Facebook.

    Piyush Pandey

    Vista Equity Partners (Vista) will invest ₹11,367 crore to buy 2.32% stake in Mukesh Ambani led Jio Platforms Limited m, valuing the company at an equity value of ₹4.91 lakh crore and making Vista the largest investor in Jio Platforms behind Reliance Industries and Facebook.

    “Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, is a next-generation technology company building a Digital Society for India by bringing together Jio’s leading digital apps, digital ecosystems and India’s high speed connectivity platform under one umbrella has now raised ₹60,596.37 crore from leading technology investors in less than three weeks,” said a RIL statement.

    Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), which provides connectivity platform to over 388 million subscribers, will continue to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms.

    Commenting on the transaction with Vista, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, RIL, said, “I am delighted to welcome Vista, one of the world’s marquee tech investors globally as a valued partner. Like our other partners, Vista also shares with us the same vision of continuing to grow and transform the Indian digital ecosystem for the benefit of all Indians. They believe in the transformative power of technology to be the key to an even better future for everyone. In Robert and Brian, whose family hails from Gujarat, I found two outstanding global technology leaders who believe in India and the transformative potential of a Digital Indian Society. We are excited to leverage the professional expertise and multi-level support that Vista has been offering to its investments globally for the benefit of Jio.”

    Jio’s vision is to enable a Digital India for 1.3 billion people and businesses throughout India, especially small merchants, micro-businesses and farmers. Jio has brought transformational changes in the Indian digital services space and propelled India on the path towards becoming a global technology leader and among the leading digital economies in the world.

    Vista is a leading global investment firm focused on empowering and growing enterprise software, data and technology enabled companies that are reinventing industries and catalyzing change.

    Commenting on the investment, Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista, said, “We believe in the potential of the Digital Society that Jio is building for India. Mukesh’s vision as a global pioneer, alongside Jio’s world-class leadership team, have built a platform to scale and advance the data revolution it started. We are thrilled to join Jio Platforms to deliver exponential growth in connectivity across India, providing modern consumer, small business and enterprise software to fuel the future of one of the world’s fastest growing digital economies.”

    Vista has more than $57 billion in cumulative capital commitments and its global network of companies collectively represent the 5th largest enterprise software company in the world. With 20 years of investing experience exclusively in enterprise software, Vista believes the transformative power of technology is the key to an even better future — a healthier planet, a smarter economy, a diverse and inclusive community, and a broader path to prosperity. Currently, Vista portfolio companies have a significant presence in India with over 13,000 employees.

    “This investment by Vista, which exclusively focuses on enterprise software, data and technology enabled companies, is further testament to the world-class digital platform that Jio has built, powered by leading technologies, such as Broadband connectivity, Smart Devices, Cloud and Edge Computing, Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Augmented and Mixed Reality and Blockchain,” said the statement.

    RIL shares on BSE were trading up 3.48% at Rs 1559.70 in a firm Mumbai market on Friday morning.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Pending Class 10, 12 CBSE exams to be held from July 1 to 15: HRD Ministry

    Pending CBSE class 10, 12 board exams, which were postponed due to the COVID-19-induced lockdown, will now be conducted from July 1 to 15, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ announced on Friday.

    “The students have been impatiently waiting for the schedule for pending exams. It has been decided today that the exams will be conducted from July 1 to 15,” he said.

  • 30 more BSF men test positive taking total to 235

    The cases have been reported from units posted in Delhi, Jodhpur, Kolkata and Ambassa in Tripura.

    Thirty more BSF personnel tested positive to COVID-19 on Friday, six in Delhi and 24 others in Tripura.

    The total number of infected persons stood at 235 in the 2.5 lakh strong force, two others have recovered.

    So far two BSF personnel have died.

    The cases have been reported from units posted in Delhi, Jodhpur, Kolkata and Ambassa in Tripura.

  • PM Modi should talk to CMs more, not as a boss, but as a colleague: Rahul Gandhi

    He also added that Congress CMs said that they are not getting funds from the Centre.

    PTI

    Addressing the media on May 8, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi appealed to the Prime Minister to work with Chief Ministers as a colleague.

    “If we speak fairly, the situation we are in today is not a normal situation. So, we can’t have normal solution. We need to decentralize and take it to the district level, we will win. If we keep it in PMO, we will lose the fight. PM should talk to CMs more, not as a boss but as a colleague,” said Mr. Gandhi.

    “In the Congress party, we have been having discussions internally. We are now into lockdown for 45 days and we are beginning into a bit of problem. There is this feeling that we need to immediately get this package for small and medium businesses, help migrants and exit the lockdown.

    “These suggestions are in the spirit of helping the government. The central government needs to give a sense of transparency about their plan or action. Government needs to tell the people these are the criteria that needs to be ticked off and then this is what we will do.

    “This is not the time to criticize and I won’t do it. We need to get out the situation we are in right now. If you ask any businesses, they say our supply lines that run through red, orange and green. But there is a problem there. We need to restore these chains.

    “I would urge the Prime Minister to treat the States and District Magistrates to treat as partners. We have been talking about cash transfers. Migrants need the money now. There are pushes and pull with regard to migrant workers. Start implementing NYAY and put it in 50% of the households. It won’t cost much.

    “PM Modi has a style and that’s alright. But in such a situation, I would want many strong CMs, strong DMs and a strong PM working together. For example, these zones of red, green and orange. Our CMs say what they think is green has been marked red by the Centre. So, there is a mismatch between what the States think and Centre marks,” he said.

    He also added that Congress CMs said that they are not getting funds from the Centre.

    In a video conference on May 6, the Chief Ministers of the party-ruled States accused the Union government of taking decisions without consulting the States and not providing them with adequate funds to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • MiG-29 crashes near Jalandhar

    PTI

    Pilot ejects safely; court of inquiry ordered

    A MiG-29UPG of the Indian Air Force (IAF) from an airbase near Jalandhar crashed on Friday. The pilot, however, ejected safely.

    “On May 08 at 1045h, one MiG-29 aircraft airborne on a training mission from an Air Force base near Jalandhar met with an accident. The aircraft had developed a technical snag and the pilot ejected safely as he was unable to control the aircraft,” the IAF said.

    The pilot has been rescued by a helicopter, it added.

    A court of inquiry has been ordered.

  • J&K scales up COVID-19 testing facilities

    The Jammu and Kashmir administration has scaled up sampling and testing facilities, with over 3,000 samples and 1.000 tests on a daily basis.

    The increased sampling and testing has become all the more important as the migrant workers and students belonging to the Union territory are returning back to their home districts, an official spokesperson said.

    Special sample collection centres have been set up in Lakhanpur in Kathua, Thandi khui in Samba, Tikri in Udhampur, one in Doda. All migrant labourers and truck drivers are being tested at Lakhanpur. – PTI