Archives for July 2020

“This is TOOO FUNNY,” wrote Farah Khan while sharing the video.

Farah Khan wants to hug and gag comedian Johnny Lever’s daughter at the same time – the reason being a video that Jamie Lever recently shared on social media. Johnny Lever is one of the most well-known comedians of the Hindi film industry, and his daughter is following in his footsteps. The 32-year-old is already an established presence on social media with thousands of followers, and performs live gigs as a standup comedian. Jamie Lever also shares hilarious spoof videos on Instagram and Facebook, and she recently posted a video mimicking Farah Khan which got a shout-out from the director and choreographer herself.

The video shows Jamie imitating the voice and mannerisms of Farah Khan as she through some of the most well-known numbers choreographed by her – including Sheila Ki Jawani and Fevicol. In the video, the comedian, playing the role of Farah Khan, is seen holding online classes over Zoom for Kareena Kapoor amid the coronavirus pandemic and doing household chores. She fixes a drawer, wipes down a wall and does a lot more – all the while performing signature dance steps from some of her famous songs. 

“This is TOOO FUNNY,” wrote Farah Khan, 55, while sharing the video on Twitter this morning. “You are sooo talented! Want to hug you and gag you at the same time,” she said, adding the hashtag #IHateMyVoice.

Ms Khan’s tweet collected a ton of amused comments.

“Was a laugh riot. She got your voice perfectly,” wrote one Twitter user, while another remarked: “She was too good”.

Jamie Lever’s video has collected over 3.8 lakh views on Facebook since being shared a week ago. The comedian has more than 87,000 followers on the social media platform, along with another 1.2 lakh followers on Instagram. 

BJP chief JP Nadda, in tweets, said Rahul Gandhi “does not attend a single meeting” of the panel but continued to question the armed forces.

Rahul Gandhi has been leading the Congress party’s attacks on the government over a range of subjects 

The ruling BJP, bombarded with questions from Rahul Gandhi on the China crisis, hit back today with a dig at his reported absence from meetings of the Standing Committee on Defence, a cross-party panel of MPs. BJP chief JP Nadda, in tweets, said the Congress MP “does not attend a single meeting” of the panel but continued to question the armed forces.

“Rahul Gandhi does not attend a single meeting of Standing Committee on Defence. But sadly, he continues to demoralise the nation, question the valour of our armed forces and do everything that a responsible opposition leader should not do,” Mr Nadda tweeted this morning.

“Rahul Gandhi belongs to that glorious dynastic tradition where as far as defence is concerned, committees don’t matter, only commissions do. Congress has many deserving members who understand parliamentary matters but one dynasty will never let such leaders grow. Really sad,” said the BJP president.

Rahul Gandhi has been leading the Congress party’s attacks on the government over a range of subjects including the June 15 clash with China in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the line of duty.

Reports have flagged, citing the Lok Sabha website, that Mr Gandhi has not attended a single meeting of the Standing Committee on Defence since it was formed last year.

The committee has met 11 times since September last year, and Mr Gandhi is not listed among those who attended each meeting.

The former Congress president’s sharp attacks on the government on China have included questions on whether Indian Territory was “surrendered” to the country in the long face-off with the country at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.

In one of his recent tweets, Mr Gandhi said while the people of Ladakh claim that China has taken their land, the PM says otherwise and someone is “lying”. He also tweeted a video of residents of Ladakh accusing China of occupying Indian Territory.

Total lockdown in Madurai where 303 fresh cases were reported on Sunday as Tamil Nadu fully reopens malls with restrictions. IT companies allowed 100 per cent staff, told to arrange for transportation

Coronavirus: Tamil Nadu, with 1.1 lakh cases, will fully reopen malls from today except in Chennai

Tamil Nadu, the second worst-affected state by coronavirus in the country, will fully reopen malls from today except in Chennai, where the total lockdown ended June 30 as the district tally recorded a slight dip over the last few days. However, a total lockdown has been imposed in Madurai where 303 fresh cases were reported on Sunday taking its total to 4,085 cases with 2,975 active.

While malls can function with 50 per cent staff and without air conditioning, large showrooms can have only five customers at a time.

The state has also allowed IT and IT-enabled industries to reopen with 100 per cent staff though companies must provide transport and allow at least 20 per cent staff to work from home.

Bus services remain suspended across the state till July 15 and people will need e-passes for inter-district travel.

Small places of worship in villages of Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Thiruvallur districts will also reopen from today with restriction in places, such as no distribution of prasad, no singing of bhajans individually or by choir, and use of individual prayer mats.

Places of worship in other districts, except Chennai, had reopened last week.

In Chennai, large showrooms, standalone shops, salons, restaurants, tea shops have been permitted to reopen without air conditioning, but malls, gyms and theaters will continue to remain shut.

Other restrictions that were in place before June 19 will also continue to apply as the district’s coronavirus tally remains high.ADVERTISING

IT and IT-enabled industries in Chennai can function only with 50% staff or a maximum of 80 members.

The movement of private vehicles in the city is no longer banned, autos and cabs can ferry 2 and 3 passengers, respectively.

Restaurants and tea shops can open, they can only offer takeaways.

Outside Chennai, though restaurants can offer dine-in services with maximum 50 per cent seating, the Restaurants’ Association has decided to continue with takeaways only.

The President of the Restaurants’ Association, Venkatasubbu, told NDTV, “We are concerned about the safety of our customers and employees. So except in one or two districts, restaurants will only offer takeaways.”

Some 4,150 people have tested positive in Tamil Nadu over the last 24 hours. The total number of coronavirus cases in the state has crossed 1.1 lakh.

A dozen institutes have been selected for clinical trials of the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine (BBV152 COVID vaccine), the government’s top medical research body has said.

The ICMR talked about plans to launch the vaccine for public health use by August 15

The first made-in-India coronavirus vaccine may be launched by August 15, with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) fast-tracking efforts to develop “Covaxin” in partnership with Bharat Biotech International Limited.

A dozen institutes have been selected for clinical trials of the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine (BBV152 COVID vaccine), the government’s top medical research body has said.

The institutes have been asked by the ICMR to step up clinical trials as it is a “priority project” monitored at the topmost level of the government.

“The vaccine is derived from a strain of SARS-CoV-2 isolated by ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune. ICMR and BBIL are jointly working for the pre-clinical as well as clinical development of this vaccine,” the ICMR said in a letter to the institutes.

The ICMR talked about plans to launch the vaccine for public health use by August 15, Independence Day.

“It is envisaged to launch the vaccine for public health use latest by 15th August 2020 after completion of all clinical trials,” said the research body.    

The final outcome will depend on the cooperation of all clinical trial sites involved in this project, the ICMR told the institutes, advising them to speed up approvals related to clinical trials and ensure that subjects are enrolled starting this week.

“Non-compliance will be viewed very seriously. Therefore, you are advised to treat this project on highest priority and meet the given timelines without any lapse,” said ICMR’s letter.    

The institutes selected for the clinical trial are in Visakhapatnam, Rohtak, New Delhi, Patna, Belgaum (Karnataka), Nagpur, Gorakhpur, Kattankulathur (Tamil Nadu), Hyderabad, Arya Nagar, Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Goa.

Worldwide, scientists are racing to produce a vaccine for the deadly virus that has infected over 10 million, including 600,000 in India, and caused more than 500,000 deaths.

No vaccine has yet been approved for commercial use against COVID-19. More than a dozen possible vaccines from over 100 being developed globally are being tested on humans. Some have shown potential in early-stage trials.

“We are committed to working with the government to address its concerns,” a TikTok spokesperson said.

• TikTok released a statement to highlight no legal action is in plans
• The government banned TikTok and other 58 apps on Monday
• TikTok India head earlier this week responded to the “interim order”

TikTok has refuted the media reports that suggest it will take legal action against the ongoing ban in India, and confirmed that there are no plans to pursue such action. The video-sharing platform owned by China’s ByteDance is currently in discussions with various government officials to resolve key issues. On Monday, the government imposed a ban on 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, CamScanner, UC Browser, and WeChat, stating that the move was taken in view of national security. Internet service providers (ISPs) and telcos in the country were directed to block access to all these apps shortly after the ban was announced publicly.

“There have been statements in the press concerning the possibility that TikTok might pursue legal action regarding the directive by the Government of India. We have no plans to pursue such action,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.

The latest communication by TikTok comes just a day after its CEO Kevin Mayer called the ban “an unfortunate challenge in India” in a message to the company’s employees in the country. Shortly after the government’s decision came in public earlier this week, TikTok India head Nikhil Gandhi also responded to the ongoing restrictions and said that it was in the process of complying with the “interim order” passed by the government.

Sources suggest that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, in addition to Alibaba, Tencent, and UC Web, internally discussed various legal moves, though the plan is initially to convince the government by submitting clarifications.

“We are committed to working with the government to address its concerns. We comply with the laws and regulations of the Government of India. Ensuring the data sovereignty, security and privacy of our users has always been and will continue to be a top priority for us,” the spokesperson said.