LIVE updates: BJP to contest all 117 Punjab seats, says state party chief

Bharatiya Janata Party chief JP Nadda on Sunday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking the "bold decision" of lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic

12:10 AM

Air quality remains 'poor' in north Kolkata, 'moderate' in other areas

Air quality on Sunday decreased marginally in comparison to the previous day but remained in the 'poor' category in north Kolkata while it was 'moderate' elsewhere in the city, an official of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) said.

 

Three days after the Kali Puja and Diwali festivals when fireworks were burnt in different pockets of the city, the air quality index (AQI) at 8 pm on Sunday was 263 (PM 2.5) in the air monitoring station at Rabindra Bharati University campus on B T Road reflecting the air pollution in Sinthi, Cossipore, Baranagar and Dumdum areas of North Kolkata.

 

The AQI was 243 (PM 2.5) on Saturday night at the same monitoring station.

11:52 PM

Indonesia reports 444 new Covid-19 positive cases, 11 more deaths

Indonesia on Sunday confirmed 444 new COVID-19 cases, raising its tally of infections to 42,48,165, according to the country's Health Ministry.

 

The ministry reported that the death toll from the virus in the country rose by 11 to 1,43,545, while 587 more people recovered during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 40,93,795.

 

Indonesia started mass COVID-19 vaccinations on January 13 after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine. More than 125.10 million people have received their first doses of vaccines, while over 78.99 million have taken the second doses. Indonesia has administered over 205.26 million doses, including the third booster jabs.

11:46 PM

India ousted as New Zealand clinch semifinal spot with comprehensive win over Afghans

India were sent packing from the T20 World Cup after a clinical New Zealand clinched a facile eight-wicket triumph over Afghanistan in their final Super 12 game to claim the last available semifinal spot here on Sunday.

 

India's slim hopes hinged on Afghanistan upstaging the Black Caps as that would have brought the Net Run Rate into equation and opened the doors for Virat Kohli's men, who only have themselves to blame for the ouster now.

 

The Kiwis were favourites to win on the day and they hardly put a foot wrong, chasing down a small target of 125 in just 18.1 overs to join England, Australia and Pakistan in the last-four stage.

 

Sunday's result renders India's final league engagement against Namibia inconsequential. The team was outplayed in its first two Super 12 matches by Pakistan and New Zealand, which proved to be its undoing.

10:01 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 850 new Covid-19 cases; six fatalities

Tamil Nadu witnessed 850 fresh coronavirus infections pushing the overall tally to 27.09 lakh while the toll rose to 36,220 with six additional deaths, the health department said on Sunday.

 

Recoveries outnumbered new infections with 958 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 26,62,386 leaving 10,474 active infections, a medical bulletin said.

 

A total of 1,01,825 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 5.19 crore till date.

 

Chennai accounted for the majority of new infections with 129, while the remaining was scattered across other districts. Total fatalities in the state capital due to Covid-19 stood at 8,562.

10:00 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 850 new Covid-19 cases; six fatalities

Tamil Nadu witnessed 850 fresh coronavirus infections pushing the overall tally to 27.09 lakh while the toll rose to 36,220 with six additional deaths, the health department said on Sunday.

 

Recoveries outnumbered new infections with 958 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 26,62,386 leaving 10,474 active infections, a medical bulletin said.

 

A total of 1,01,825 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 5.19 crore till date.

 

Chennai accounted for the majority of new infections with 129, while the remaining was scattered across other districts. Total fatalities in the state capital due to Covid-19 stood at 8,562.

9:34 PM

PM Modi assures Tamil Nadu CM of Centre's support after heavy rains in state

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday spoke to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin following heavy rainfall in parts of the state and assured him of all possible support from the Centre in rescue and relief work.

 

Heavy rains lashed Chennai and its suburban areas overnight leading to waterlogging on Sunday and authorities sounded a preliminary flood alert to people as three city reservoirs were opened in a phased manner to release surplus water.

 

Modi tweeted, "Spoke to Tamil Nadu CM, Thiru @mkstalin and discussed the situation in the wake of heavy rainfall in parts of the state. Assured all possible support from the Centre in rescue and relief work. I pray for everyone's well-being and safety.

8:29 PM

Jammu and Kashmir records 165 new Covid cases

Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday recorded 165 fresh cases of coronavirus, raising its tally to 3,33,076, officials said. No death due to the infection was reported from the union territory in the past 24 hours, they added. Of the fresh cases, nine were from the Jammu division and 156 from the Kashmir division, the officials said.

 

They said Srinagar district recorded the highest of 87 cases, followed by 26 cases in Baramulla district. There are 1,153 active cases in the union territory, while the number of recovered patients was 3,27,483, the officials said. The death toll in the union territory stood at 4,440. Meanwhile, the officials said there were 49 confirmed cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) in the union territory and no fresh case was reported since Friday evening.

8:01 PM

Reopening of schools for classes 1 to 8 in Pondy put off

Puducherry Education Minister A Namassivayam on Sunday announced that the reopening of schools, both government and privately managed, has been put off in view of incessant rains in the Union Territory.

 

He said in a release after holding discussions with the officials of Department of Education that the incessant rains is the immediate reason to put off the date of reopening of schools for Classes 1 to 8. The government would soon announce the fresh date to reopen the schools for these classes. Namassivayam said holiday has been declared for Classes 9 to 12 on November 8 and 9.

 

The government had announced a few days ago that all schools would resume classes for students of 1 to 8 tomorrow. But the incessant rain has necessitated the postponement of the reopening date. "Fresh date would be decided and announced soon," he said in the release.

7:17 PM

Drugs-on cruise: NCB SIT team summons Aryan Khan, others for questioning

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) summoned Aryan Khan, who was granted bail in the drugs-on-cruise case, for questioning in connection with drugs-on-cruise-case on Sunday, the central law enforcement and intelligence agency said.

 

The agency has already summoned Arbaaz Merchant and Achit Kumar for questioning in connection with the case. Both reached the NCB office today.

6:59 PM

Be a bridge between party and people: PM Modi to BJP men at national meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked the BJP members to become a bridge of faith between the party and the common man and expressed confidence that the BJP will win the trust of people in the upcoming assembly polls.

 

Addressing the valedictory session of the BJP's national executive, Modi stressed that the BJP runs on the values of "Sewa, Sanklap aur Samparan (service, resolution and commitment)" and "does not revolve around a family", party national general secretary and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said quoting the prime minister. Read more

6:53 PM

NZ beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets, qualify for semis and oust India of T20 WC

New Zealand comfortably beat Afghanistan by eight wickets in their final Super 12 match to qualify for the semi-finals and send India out of the T20 World Cup here on Sunday.

 

New Zealand chased down the small target of 125 with 11 balls to spare to secure a top-2 finish in Group 2 with eight points from five matches.

 

The win by the Kiwis meant that India -- currently with four points from four matches -- cannot qualify for the semifinals even if they beat Namibia in their final Super 12 on Monday.

6:16 PM

Sitharaman lauds India vax drive, scrapping of Art 370 at BJP national meet

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday lauded the initiatives taken by the Centre to curtail the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and reaffirmed the commitment of the party to seek justice for the victims of the political violence in West Bengal.

 

Sithararam addressed a press conference at NDMC Convention Center in New Delhi. She had also attended the BJP's national executive meeting today.

6:15 PM

India at COP26 says solar energy capacity increased 17 times; now at 45 GW

India on Sunday told the UN climate summit here that its solar energy capacity stands at about 45 gigawatts after it increased 17 times in the last seven years, asserting that although the country represents 17 per cent of the global population, its historical cumulative emissions are only 4 per cent.

 

India said this while giving a presentation on its third Biennial Update Report (BUR) during the 11th Facilitative Sharing of Views (FSV) at the ongoing COP26 climate summit.

6:06 PM

Meet Byju's content team, which is helping children learn better using tech

Byju’s, the world’s most valuable edtech company with a valuation of $18 billion, is betting big on using technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to create online learning content that is personalised, immersive and engaging at the same time. This includes a combination of teachers, video lessons and interactive games, where the firm helps explain concepts by relating them to real-life experiences. Read more

 

5:59 PM

BJP to contest all 117 seats in Punjab, says state chief Ashwani Sharma

The BJP will contest all 117 seats in Punjab in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, said Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma, who is virtually attending the party national executive meeting being held in the national capital on Sunday.

 

Punjab is slated to go to Assembly polls in 2022.

 

In 2017 Assembly polls, Congress had won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years. Read more

5:28 PM

No plan to leave BJP, will play role of conscience-keeper: Tathagata Roy

BJP leader Tathagata Roy on Sunday asserted that he will continue to play the role of his party's "conscience-keeper", a day after the saffron camp national vice-president, Dilip Ghosh, told him that he was free to leave the camp if he was "upset and ashamed" over its style of functioning.

 

Roy clarified that he has no plan of quitting the organisation.

 

He took to Twitter on Sunday and said, "I am being deluged with phone calls since yesterday. Let me assure you that I am not voluntarily leaving the party."

5:19 PM

Q2 earnings, macro data to set market trends next week, say analysts

Quarterly earnings from IT majors Infosys, Wipro and HCL Technologies, macroeconomic data and global trends would drive sentiments in the equity market in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said.

 

Equity markets would remain closed on Friday for 'Dussehra'.

 

"Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech will come out with their numbers this week therefore we are going to see lots of volatility in the market, especially in the IT sector, said Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart.

4:38 PM

Has Union govt privatised prisons, central probe agencies? Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday took a swipe at the BJP, wondering if the Union government has privatised prisons and central probe agencies.

 

Speaking to reporters here, Raut said every day BJP leaders, who recently joined the party and had "no connection with the party ideology", were threatening to put political rivals in jail.

 

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is privatising all public and government assets. Have prisons and central probe agencies been privatised? Are prisons your private property?" the Rajya Sabha member sought to know.

 

4:37 PM

TMC urges Centre to extend free ration scheme for 6 more months

The TMC on Sunday urged the Centre to extend its free ration scheme under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for another six months amid reports that the programme might be discontinued after November 30.

 

The scheme was launched in March last year, after the Covid-19 pandemic struck, leaving lakhs of people in distress.

 

Veteran TMC MP Sougata Roy told reporters that he would soon write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking an extension of the scheme.

4:36 PM

Google Pixel Fold to have same 12.2MP main camera from Pixel 5: Report

US-based search engine giant Google is planning to launch its first foldable phone 'Pixel Fold' and now a new report has claimed that it will use the same 12.2MP main camera that's found on the Pixel 5.

 

According to an APK teardown performed by 9to5Google, Google's upcoming foldable Pixel smartphone will not pack the recently unveiled camera setup of the Pixel 6 series.

4:35 PM

Short break between IPL and Word Cup would have helped, says outgoing bowling coach

A day before his last match as India's bowling coach, Bharat Arun did admit that both toss and bubble fatigue contributed to India's indifferent performance in the T20 World Cup, where they lost to Pakistan and New Zealand in Super 12 stage.

 

Asked if the absence of a gap between IPL and T20 World Cup became a factor, Arun responded in the positive.

 

"Being on the road for six months is huge ask. Players haven't gone home and I think they had a short break after the last IPL got suspended.

4:16 PM

Musk says he will sell $24 bn of Tesla stocks if Twitter votes for it

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has said that he is prepared to sell about $24 billion worth of his electric vehicle company Tesla's stocks if his Twitter followers vote for it.

 

According to the auto-tech website Electrek, the Tesla CEO said that it is to address the accusation that he is not paying taxes

4:07 PM

DATA STORY: India logs 10,853 cases; 526 new deaths added to toll

India on Sunday reported a net reduction of 2,105 in active coronavirus cases to take its count to 144,845. India’s share of global active coronavirus cases now stands at 0.79 per cent (one in 126). The country is thirteenth among the most affected countries by active cases. Read more

4:05 PM

On track to report Rs 1,000 cr revenue, says WayCool Foods CEO

Agriculture supply chain startup WayCool Foods and Products Pvt Ltd is 'on track' to report Rs 1,000 crore top line during the current financial year, nearly tripling its revenues registered last year, a top company official said.

 

The city-based company was also in the 'process of a large fundraising' to augment its "technology platform" and also fulfill its plan of having a presence in every pin code of Southern and Western regions, WayCool Foods and Products Pvt Ltd., chief executive officer and co-founder Karthik Jayaraman said.

4:04 PM

China Oct exports beat forecasts, offer buffer to slowing domestic economy

China's export growth slowed in October but beat forecasts, helped by booming global demand ahead of winter holiday seasons, an easing power crunch and an improvement in supply chains that had been badly disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

 

However, imports missed analysts' expectations, likely pointing to the overall weakness in domestic demand.

 

Outbound shipments jumped 27.1% in October from a year earlier, slower than September's 28.1% gain. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast growth would ease to 24.5%.

4:04 PM

Vice Admiral Swaminathan new Chief of Staff of Western Naval Command

Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan has assumed charge as Chief of Staff of Western Naval Command, a defence official said on Sunday.

 

Commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1987, Admiral Swaminathan, who took charge on Thursday, is a specialist in Communication and Electronic Warfare and an alumnus of National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, the Joint Services Command and Staff College, Shrivenham, United Kingdom, the College of Naval Warfare, Karanja and the United States Naval War College, NewPort, Rhode Island, a release said.

4:04 PM

BJP sharpens Hindutva agenda, targets Akhilesh Yadav ahead of UP polls

The BJP is likely to make the construction of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya and 'Jai Shri Ram' the major issues in the next year's Assembly polls in five states, especially in Uttar Pradesh, where it is strengthening its connect with cadre vote bank and is targeting the main opposition -- Samajwadi Party (SP) and its chief Akhilesh Yadav.

 

Talking to IANS, a veteran BJP national leader said: "For us, Lord Shri Ram and the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya was never an election agenda, but an issue that once isolated us in Indian politics. It is necessary to tell the public about the achievements related to it."

4:03 PM

Sidhu hits back at Punjab AG, accuses him of subverting justice

A day after Punjab Advocate General A P S Deol accused Navjot Singh Sidhu of spreading misinformation and obstructing him, the state Congress chief on Sunday hit back, alleging that the AG's "earnest inaction" was subverting justice in the sacrilege and drug cases.

 

The advocate general had on Saturday accused Sidhu of obstructing the functioning of the state government and his office, and "spreading misinformation to gain political advantage".

 

In a series of tweets on Sunday, Sidhu lambasted Deol, saying "justice is blind but the people of Punjab are not".

4:03 PM

Covid-19 AY.4.2 variant frequency too low to be of concern, says INSACOG

The frequency of the new AY.4.2 variant of Covid-19 is less than 0.1 percent of all VOI/VOC and is too low to be of concern at this time, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) said.

 

Its weekly bulletin said the vaccine effectiveness does not seem to be different for AY.4.2 when compared to other Delta variants.

 

The INSACOG said that AY.4.2 variant of Covid-19 is less than 0.1 percent of all of all variants of concern and variant of interest (VOC/VOI) and is too low to be of concern at this time.

4:02 PM

TikTok emerges as most downloaded non-gaming app worldwide for Oct

Short video platform TikTok emerged as the most downloaded non-gaming app worldwide for October 2021 with more than 57 million installs.

 

The countries with the largest number of installs were from Douyin in China at 17 per cent, followed by the US at 11 per cent, reports Sensor Tower.

 

Instagram was the second most installed non-gaming app worldwide last month with more than 56 million installs, which represented a 31 per cent increase from October 2020.