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Utilised lockdown period for studies, says 18-year-old Bihar girl who topped CLAT-2020

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Aparajita would soon get admission to the Bengaluru-based National Law School of Indian University.

PATNA: While the Corona-induced lockdown brought a plethora of problems for others, it proved to be a boon for 18-year-old Aprajita. 

While being confined to home, Aparajita, a native of Ara district of Bihar, utilized the time to prepare for the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT)-2020 for the UG course and became the national topper by scoring 127.25 out of total 147 marks.

Earlier this year, she had cleared her class 12 exam (Arts) with 93.25% marks from Patna’s prestigious Notre Dame Academy. 

“I used the six months of lockdown period as an opportunity for preparing for the CLAT. I went through almost all the study materials by devoting 12 to 14 hours every day. And finally, thank God, hard labour paid dividends”, Aprajita, the daughter of an East Central Railway employee SK Upadhayay, said.

“I think India needs a good number of women lawyers. I want to become a lawyer and fight for the rights of the poor and women”, she said, adding more girls should opt for law and civil services in order to be empowered. 

Aparajita would soon get admission to the Bengaluru-based National Law School of Indian University.

Trump free of COVID-19 symptoms since 24 hours, didn’t show fever in four days: Doctor

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The president is confronted by dire polling numbers ahead of the November 3 election, which comes as the economy struggles to recover from COVID shutdowns.

US President Donald Trump removes his mask as he stands on the Blue Room Balcony upon returning to the White House in Washington

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has been free of COVID-19 symptoms for 24 hours and has not had a fever in four days, his doctor said Wednesday. “The president this morning says ‘I feel great,'” doctor Sean Conley said in a brief update.

Trump tested positive last week and was hospitalized at the Walter Reed military medical center late Friday evening, returning to the White House on Monday evening. “His physical exam and vital signs, including oxygen saturation and respiratory rate, all remain stable and in normal range,” the doctor’s statement said.

Karnataka sees biggest single-day spike in Covid cases

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Karnataka recorded the highest single-day Covid cases on Wednesday with 10,947 positives, which brought the tally to 6,68,652.

BENGALURU: Karnataka recorded the highest single-day Covid cases on Wednesday with 10,947 positives, which brought the tally to 6,68,652. Active cases now stand at 1,16,153. With the state crossing one lakh tests in a day, the total cases reported in the state too saw a surge. Meanwhile, 113 new Covid deaths were reported, bringing the toll to 9,574.

Bengaluru Urban, which recorded 5,012 cases on Monday, recorded 5,000 cases again on Tuesday. However, Bengaluru conducted the most numbers of tests at 35,183. As many as 55 Covid fatalities were reported in the district and 2,057 discharges. Total recoveries are 2,00,426 and active cases in the district are 58,624

Munish Moudgil, in charge of State War Room,  said, “Bengaluru is conducting the highest number of daily RT-PCR tests in the state and hence the high number of positive cases. Mumbai and Chennai have been conducting about 13,000 tests daily. If Bengaluru did the same number of tests, our daily cases would be less than 1,500. But the idea is not to reduce tests to falsely claim lesser number of cases.”

Canada to ban single-use plastics such as bags, straws by end of 2021

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According to Ottawa, Canadians throw away three million tonnes of plastic waste each year — including 15 billion bags annually, and 57 million straws daily.

PLastic straws

OTTAWA: Checkout bags, straws and four other single-use plastic items will be banned in Canada by the end of 2021, the environment minister announced Wednesday, while acknowledging the nation is trailing Europe in recycling efforts.

The ban – which also targets stir sticks, six-pack rings, cutlery, and food ware made from hard-to-recycle plastics – is part of a broader plan to eliminate plastics waste by 2030, which is at the heart of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s climate and environmental agenda.

But Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson acknowledged, “We are not leading the world in this. Many countries in Europe, including the United Kingdom, have gone down this path and we’ve certainly learned from the work that they have done.”

According to Ottawa, Canadians throw away three million tonnes of plastic waste each year — including 15 billion bags annually, and 57 million straws daily. Only nine percent of it is recycled. Ottawa, said Wilkinson, aims to hike that to 90 percent, in line with European targets for 2029.

Wilkinson said that of the six plastic items that will be prohibited, there are already “readily available and affordable alternatives”. “There are lots of (plastics) that are going to have to continue to be single use,” he added, “But they need to be the kinds of things that we are able to recycle, that we are able to keep in the economy and not end up in the environment where they cause problems,” he said in a news conference.

Plastic lids on coffee cups was highlighted as the most visible plastic garbage in city dumps. Wilkinson said he’s still working on a fix.

Ottawa proposed as well to establish recycled content requirements in products and packaging, hoping to boost recycling and invite better product design to extend the life of plastic materials. “This could include a minimum requirement of recycled content in new products and greater responsibility for producers and sellers to collect and recycle plastics,” he said.

Brazil’s coronavirus cases top five million

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Coronavirus cases, deaths on rise in Brazil, Mexico

The state of Sao Paulo, the epicentre of the national epidemic with 36,669 deaths and 1,016,755 cases, reopened schools on Wednesday.

SAO PAULO: Brazil on Wednesday said 31,553 COVID-19 cases were reported over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total to 5,000,694.

And 734 more patients died of the disease, raising the national death toll to 148,228.

On Feb. 26, Brazil reported its first case and also the first in Latin America in the city of Sao Paulo, South America’s largest city.

Brazil has the world’s second-highest death toll, after the United States, and is the third-worst hit by the pandemic after the United States and India.

The state of Sao Paulo, the epicentre of the national epidemic with 36,669 deaths and 1,016,755 cases, reopened schools on Wednesday, with social distancing rules in place.

The state government announced that it will carry out tests starting next week on 19,300 people within the educational system in 20 cities to track the virus as in-person classes begin.

More than 36 million cases were reported worldwide as of 0100 GMT, Oct.8, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

IAF will evolve, ready to safeguard India’s sovereignty and interests ON 88th Indian Air Force Day

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‘I want to assure the nation that the Indian Air Force will evolve and be ever ready to safeguard our nation’s sovereignty and interests in all circumstances,’ said Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria.

Air Chief Marshal R K Bhadauria inspecting the guard of honour during the 88th Airforce Day celebration in Hindon airbase

GHAZIABAD: On the occasion of Indian Air Force Day, 2020 Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria on Thursday assured the nation that the Indian Air Force will evolve and be ever ready to safeguard India’s sovereignty and interests in all circumstances.

“I want to assure the nation that the Indian Air Force will evolve and be ever ready to safeguard our nation’s sovereignty and interests in all circumstances,” said Bhadauria at Hindon airbase.

“As we enter the 89th year, the IAF is undergoing a transformational change. We are entering an era which will redefine where we employ aerospace power and conduct integrated multi-domain operations,” he added.

Bhadauria further stated that this year has indeed been an unprecedented one. As COVID-19 spread across the globe, our nation’s response was firm.

“The tenacity and resolve of our air warriors ensured that IAF continued to retain its capability to undertake full-scale operations throughout this period,” said IAF Chief.

“I commend all air warriors for quick response in the recent standoff on the northern frontiers when we deployed our combat assets at short notice to handle any eventuality and provided proactive support to all requirements of deployment and sustenance for Indian Army,” he added.

Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff, General Manoj Mukund Naravane and Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh attended the 88th Indian Air Force Day celebrations at Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad.

Bhadauria inspected the 88th Indian Air Force Day parade here.

Nishan Toli being led by Squadron Leader Shivangi Rajawat marched at the Hindon Air Force Station in Ghaziabad on the occasion.

Two Chinook helicopters also took part in the flypast to mark

COVID-19 Update India’s tally crosses 68-lakh mark with spike of 78,524 new cases

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Total case tally stands at 68,35,656 including 9,02,425 active cases, 58,27,705 cured/discharged/migrated cases & 1,05,526 deaths, Union Health Ministry said.

India’s Covid tally crossed the 68-lakh mark with a spike of 78,524 new cases & 971 deaths reported in the last 24 hours.

Total case tally stands at 68,35,656 including 9,02,425 active cases, 58,27,705 cured/discharged/migrated cases & 1,05,526 deaths, according to the Union Health Ministry’s Thursday update.

West Bengal’s COVID-19 tally mounted to 2,80,504 after the highest single-day spike of 3,455 new infections was reported on Wednesday, the health department said in a bulletin.

The death toll in the state rose to 5,376 with 58 more fatalities.

Meanwhile, Kerala ministers M M Mani and K T Jaleel tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday.

With this five members of the Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet have so far been infected by the deadly virus.

Airline industry to suffer USD 77 billion loss: IATA

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The slow recovery in air travel will see the airline industry continuing to burn through cash at an average rate of $5 to $6 billion per month in 2021, IATA said. 

NEW DELHI:  The International Air Transport Association (IATA) in a fresh report has estimated that the airline industry will burn through $77 billion in cash during the second half of 2020 (almost $13 billion/month or $300,000 per minute), despite the restart of operations. 

The slow recovery in air travel will see the airline industry continuing to burn through cash at an average rate of $5 to $6 billion per month in 2021, IATA said. IATA called on governments to support the industry during the coming winter season with additional relief measures, including financial aid that does not add more debt to the industry’s already-highly-indebted balance sheet. To date, governments around the world have provided $160 billion in support.

“If these support programs are not replaced or extended, the consequences for an already hobbled industry will be dire,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. IATA estimates that despite cutting costs just over 50 per cent during the second quarter, the industry went through $51 billion in cash as revenues fell almost 80 per cent.

The industry is not expected to turn cash positive until 2022. As for India’s aviation industry, the situation is no better. Except two airlines, all other payers continue to struggle hard to remain operational and have their net worth in negative territory. 

India to overtake China as world’s largest LPG residential market by 2030

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Driven by environmental and health concerns, the government has also been implementing schemes to help lower-income families cope with the cost of switching from dirtier biomass to LPG.

NEW DELHI: India is expected to overtake China as the world’s largest cooking gas LPG residential sector market by 2030, Wood Mackenzie said on Tuesday.

“Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) demand in the residential sector will continue to see sustainable growth at a cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.3 per cent, reaching 34 million tonnes (MT) in 2030 as households’ dependence on solid biomass diminishes in the long run supported by rising average household incomes and urban population,” it said in a report.

Driven by environmental and health concerns, the government has also been implementing schemes to help lower-income families cope with the cost of switching from dirtier biomass to LPG.

The Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) gives out subsidies to the vulnerable population, while the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) provides families living below the poverty line access to free LPG stoves.

Wood Mackenzie research analyst Qiaoling Chen said: “Although nationwide LPG coverage has reached 98 per cent, up 42 per cent from 2014, usage is still low. Average annual cylinder refills have not kept up with the pace of new connections, with average consumption remaining below the benchmark of 12 cylinders.”

Even with subsidy and the initial cost of set-up covered by the government, LPG is more expensive than biomass.

Still, the Indian government is committed to roll out plans to further address affordability and infrastructure challenges in the LPG sector.

These include smaller-size LPG cylinders which reduce upfront cash payment required for each refill, more LPG distributors as well as the ‘Give it Up’ campaign where households can voluntarily give up their LPG subsidies from the DBTL scheme to benefit lower-income families.

Chen said: “Assuming the government continues to subsidise residential LPG throughout the decade, total subsidy for LPG could reach USD 5.7 billion annually by 2030.

“By then, it will overtake China as the world’s largest LPG demand centre for the residential sector.”

However, the lack of infrastructure continues to restrain piped natural gas (PNG) penetration in areas outside of top tier cities and retail PNG prices continue to be at a premium to subsidised LPG prices, making PNG a less attractive alternative to LPG before 2030, Wood Mackenzie said.

Wood Mackenzie senior analyst Vidur Singhal said: “Between 2020 and 2030, PNG demand will primarily be from urban households in tier I and tier II cities awarded under CGD bidding rounds.

City gas companies will increase PNG connections and its related infrastructure, which typically takes five to eight years to construct and commercialise fully.”

“In addition, growing LPG demand in the residential sector requires more subsidies, which will increasingly become a huge burden for the government,” Singhal said adding it is likely that subsidies will taper off over time, as growing income allows more households to pay the unsubsidised price.

The combination of ready PNG infrastructure and less policy support for LPG help to support PNG demand growth post-2030.

“We expect PNG demand in India’s residential sector to grow at a CAGR of 12.7 per cent, reaching 2.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) by 2030 from 0.8 bcm currently,” Singhal said.

By the end of 2030, India’s LPG demand in the residential sector will account for 82 per cent of the country’s total LPG demand while natural gas demand in the same sector will only account for 3 per cent of total natural gas demand in India, Wood Mackenzie added.

Nearly 40 nations demand China respect Uighur human rights

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Among the 39 signatory countries were the United States, most of the EU member states including Albania and Bosnia, as well as Canada among others.

UNITED NATIONS: The US, Japan and many EU nations joined a call on Tuesday urging China to respect the human rights of minority Uighurs, and also expressing concern about the situation in Hong Kong.

“We call on China to respect human rights, particularly the rights of persons belonging to religious and ethnic minorities, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet,” said German UN ambassador Christoph Heusgen, who led the initiative during of a meeting on human rights.

Among the 39 signatory countries were the United States, most of the EU member states including Albania and Bosnia, as well as Canada, Haiti, Honduras, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

“We are gravely concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang and the recent developments in Hong Kong,” the declaration said.

“We call on China to allow immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent observers including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,” it added.

Immediately afterward, the envoy for Pakistan stood up and read out a statement signed by 55 countries, including China, denouncing any use of the situation in Hong Kong as an excuse for interference in China’s internal affairs.

Addressing Germany, the United States and Britain, Chinese ambassador Zhang Jun criticized what he called their “hypocritical” attitude and demanded that the three countries “put away your arrogance and prejudice, and pull back from the brink, now.” 

The organization Human Rights Watch praised the fact that so many countries had signed on to the declaration “despite China’s persistent threats and intimidation tactics against those who speak out.”

In 2019, a similar text drafted by Britain only garnered 23 signatures.

Western diplomats have said that China is piling on more pressure each year to dissuade UN member states from signing such statements, threatening to block the renewal of peacekeeping missions for some countries or preventing others from building new embassy facilities in China.

On Monday, China led a group of 26 countries in a joint declaration calling for an end to US sanctions which they said violate human rights during the struggle to combat the coronavirus pandemic. 

Last month, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said it had identified more than 380 “suspected detention facilities” in the Xinjiang region, where China is believed to have held more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking residents.

In the United States, the House of Representatives passed a bill at the end of September that aims to ban imports from Xinjiang, contending that abuses of the Uighur people are so widespread that all goods from the region should be considered made with slave labor.

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