World Health Organisation (WHO) spoke highly of China’s effective control measures to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak, and called on all countries to invest in preparedness, not panic to manage the epidemic. Addressing the 146th session of the WHO Executive Board meeting that kicked off here on Monday, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said China “take serious measures at the epicenter, at the source,” which not only protected Chinese people, but also prevented the spread of the virus to other countries, reported Xinhua news agency. “Because of this strategy, if it weren’t for China’s efforts, the number of cases outside China…
Author: Our Correspondent
Chinese authorities confirmed on Tuesday 425 have died in the country due to the novel coronavirus, while Hong Kong reported its first fatality becoming the third nation after China and the Philippines to report deaths. China’s National Health Commission said that the overall number of confirmed cases in the Asian giant was 20,438, reports Xinhua news agency. It received reports of 3,235 new confirmed cases and 64 deaths on Monday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. All of the deaths were in Hubei province, whose capital Wuhan is the epicentre of the outbreak. Also on…
US Secretary Pompeo urges Taliban to show clear commitment to peace US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was in Uzbekistan as part of his ongoing foreign tour, has urged the Taliban to show clear signs that they were committed to reducing violence and promoting peace in Afghanistan. “What we are demanding now (of the Taliban) is demonstrable evidence of their will and capacity to reduce violence, to take down the threat, so the inter-Afghan talks will have a less violent context,” Efe news quoted Pompeo as saying at a press conference here on Monday. Pompeo recalled that US authorities…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to be “very upset” with party Katnataka MP Ananthkumar Hegde’s comments on Mahatma Gandhi, say sources. So much so that not only a showcause notice is being served to him but he may face temporary suspension from attending BJP’s Parliamentary party meetings. The notice that is being served to Hegde seeks to know why action should not be taken against the lawmaker. The BJP is also mulling him to block from attending the Parliamentary party meeting for the rest of the Budget session. This strong action against Hegde is being thought about, after the…
J&K Chief Secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam here on Monday chaired a meeting to review the schemes, like Kisan Credit Card (KCC), the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan), MGNREGA and disbursement of relief to farmers under the SDRF. Several top officials along with representatives of J&K Bank and State Bank of India attended the meeting. Divisional Commissioner Kashmir and Deputy Commissioners along with representatives of the lead banks and other officers attended the meeting through video link. Expressing dismay at slow progress in registration of beneficiaries under the KCC scheme, the Chief Secretary said, “The process needs to be completed in…
As netizens took to Twitter to react to the Union Budget 2020-21 which was presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, the micro-blogging platform saw more than 11 lakh Budget-related tweets recorded between January 30 to February 3, 2020. The hashtag #UnionBudget2020 was used by the Twitterati to react to the budget. The Economic Survey released the day prior to the Budget also dominated conversations. “We are delighted that with the help of our news partners, we were able to bring the Union Budget 2020 speech and analysis to Indians across the country, enabling their questions and…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Monday slammed the anti-CAA agitators in Shaheen Bagh and other areas saying the protest against the new citizenship law was an “experiment” and there was a design of politics behind it, which would ruin the national harmony. Addressing an election rally at Karkardooma in east Delhi, Modi said the spurt in protests in areas like Shaheen Bagh, Seelampur and Jamia were not just co-incidences. “The agitation should have ended after the government assurance (on CAA). Attention is being diverted from the real conspiracy. If this plot grows, they can jam any road, any street…
Four persons have been admitted in the isolation ward of the state-run Beliaghat ID and BG Hospital here for observation in connection with the Coronavirus scare in India, an official said here on Monday. Two of them returned to the country on January 23 in the same flight as the person from Kerala declared as the first confirmed case of the dreaded disease in the country. Two others, who came to the country from abroad after January 15, are also under observation as they have exhibited some classical symptoms of the viral disease like cough, cold and slight fever. “We…
Tesla CEO Elon Musk who is a staunch critic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has now hired the technology, turning AI into a subordinate that “reports directly” to him daily. Musk, who has crossed swords with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma over the role of AI, is finally giving the technology some space, like in his startup Neuralink which is creating a brain-machine interface. Tagging Lex Fridman, popular host of the Artificial Intelligence podcast on YouTube, Musk tweeted: “At Tesla, using AI to solve self-driving isn’t just icing on the cake, it the cake” @lexfridman “Join…
Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos will now fight a family battle as Michael Sanchez, brother of his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez, has filed a lawsuit against him, alleging that the world’s richest man defamed him by saying that Michael leaked intimate photos and texts to the National Enquirer. In January 2019, the National Enquirer exposed Bezos’ extramarital affair with Lauren, including text messages between them. In the lawsuit, Michael claimed he suffered substantial harm as a result of Bezos’ allegations, including an FBI raid at his residence in front of neighbours. The lawsuit said he was a “dutiful brother and…