Month: July 2021

President-elect of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and Maldives Foreign Minister Abdullah Shahid on Friday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and lauded India’s continuous support and assistance for the development of the country.
“Honoured to call on Prime Minister of India @narendramodi. Extended appreciation for the continuous support & assistance extended by India for the development of Maldives. Also thanked India for the support to the Presidency Of Hope and briefed him on my priorities for UNGA76,” Abdulla Shahid tweeted.
Taking to Twitter, PM Modi also said, “Delighted to meet President-Elect of the 76th UNGA and FM of Maldives Abdulla Shahid. I wish him all success during his “Presidency of Hope”. Also reiterated India’s commitment to the Maldives, as a key pillar of our “Neighborhood First” policy.”
According to a release by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), PM Modi congratulated Abdulla Shahid on his resounding victory in the election, noting that this reflects the growing stature of the Maldives on the world stage.
The Prime Minister felicitated the President-elect on his Vision Statement for a ‘Presidency of Hope’, and assured him of India’s full support and cooperation during his Presidency.
PM Modi emphasised the importance of reforming the multilateral system, including the United Nations organs, to reflect the current realities of the world and the aspirations of a vast majority of the world’s population, the release stated.
PM Modi and Abdulla Shahid also discussed the rapid growth in the India-Maldives bilateral relationship in recent years. The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction that bilateral projects are progressing well despite the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He emphasised the importance of Maldives as a key pillar of India’s Neighbourhood First policy and vision of SAGAR. (ANI)

The results of Class X (ICSE) and Class XII (ISC) year 2021 examinations will be declared on July 24 at 3 pm, said Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations on Friday.

In an official statement, the Council informed that the results of the ICSE and ISC year 2021 examinations will be made available on the website of the Council and through SMS.
The schools can access the results by logging into the ‘Careers’ portal of the Council using the Principal’s login ID and password.

They further stated that the recheck of answer scripts is not applicable for the ICSE/ISC year 2021 examinations as the candidates have been awarded imputed marks.

The last date for dispute resolution of candidates has been set at August 1, 2021. Any requests thereof will not be entertained, said the Council. However, the dispute resolution mechanism is only for the correction of calculation errors. (ANI)

By Shalini Bhardwaj

All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Friday said the schools in the areas where the Covid positivity rate is low can be reopened.

He suggested graded reopening of schools can be done with proper monitoring of the areas where the positivity rate is low.

“I think we have to balance things out. There is a number of children who have missed out on schools for a very long time as they do not have the excess to computer and therefore they are not able to get the quality of education. Therefore, having physical classes is important also schools are not only important from an education point of view, but for building a child’s character for social interaction, for interaction with peers, the physical school has a much bigger role to play than what can be done through virtual classes,” Dr Guleria said.

“Now, we are in a situation wherein certain parts of the country the number of cases are very low, positivity rate is very low and hospitalisation is very low,” he said.

Talking about the graded reopening of schools, Dr Guleria said, “We should start thinking of opening schools in a graded manner. In areas where the positivity rate is low, the graded opening can be done.”

“We can do it in an alternate manner so that the crowd is less. We can do surveillance; children can be monitored. If they have any symptoms they can stay at home. If the positivity rate continues to be low schools can continue, if it rises then the school can be shut down,” the AIIMS chief said.

Regarding the Delta variant, Dr Guleria said, “We need more data as far as the Delta plus is a concern. The Delta plus is still the lineage from the Delta variant so it is not a different new variant, and data currently does not say that it is more infectious because wherever Delta plus is reported has not seen a huge surge in the number of cases. Also data does not suggest that it is causing more hospitalisation. I do not think that it is causing more disease and we need to monitor closely.” (ANI)

Setting the temperatures soaring on social media, Bollywood diva Jacqueline Fernandez shared stunning pictures from her latest photoshoot, accompanied with a powerful message for society.

Taking to her Instagram handle, Jacqueline shared a couple of pictures where she could be seen posing effortlessly in a bathroom while wrapping her body with a bright reddish-orange blanket.
In the pictures, Jacqueline is seen sporting a high glossy make-up look while flaunting her flawless skin. With her luscious locks open, the actor showcased her toned body on Instagram.

She captioned her photoshoot pictures with a strong message about self-love. “You.. you’re not ugly.. society is #liveyourlifenow,” she wrote.

With the post hitting the photo-sharing platform, it garnered more than one million likes. Scores of fans chimed into the comments section and left multiple hearts and raising hands emoticons in awe of the post.

“Damn right,” one user wrote. “The moment we remove context, we find our own process,” wrote another.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Jacqueline has her kitty full with some interesting projects like, ‘Cirkus’, ‘Bhoot Police’, ‘Kick 2’, ‘Ram Setu’, ‘Attack’ and ‘Bachchan Pandey’.

She will also be a part of South star Kichcha Sudeep’s multilingual film ‘Vikrant Rona’, for which she recently shot a dance number. Additional details regarding her character in the film have been kept under wraps. (ANI)

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday took information about the flood situation in Mahad from Raigad District Collector.

“The rescue operation has been started with the help of rescue squads and helicopters in Mahad, but the administration has appealed to the rescue squads in helicopters to see the stranded people if they go to the roofs or heights of the houses”, said District Collector Nidhi Chaudhary.
The Chief Minister directed that rescue operations and removal of roadblocks should be started immediately. The water has receded but bridges and roads have been washed away in some places in the hilly areas of Mahad taluka and the rescue teams should be contacted and the citizens should be shifted to safer places, he said.

Mahad Road, Mangaon Mahad Highway, Goregaon Dapoli Road has been started via Mangaon Pachad, informed District Collector Chaudhary. The road from Konjar to Tetghar has been cleared.

At least five people have died in the landslides that occurred in Maharashtra’s Raigad district caused by incessant rains that battered the region over the last 24 hours.

“Five people died in Raigad district due to landslides and floods,” Chaudhary informed on Friday.

On Thursday, the Maharashtra Chief Minister held an emergency meeting to take stock of the flood situation in Ratnagiri and Raigad districts in the state, caused by torrential rains that have battered the region over the past 24 hours.

Thackrey also directed the Disaster Management units and departments concerned to stay vigilant and start rescue operations immediately, informed the Chief Minister’s office.

Two teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were rushed to Ratnagiri’s Khed and Chiplun areas to tackle critical situation due to high tide and heavy rain. Two more teams have been mobilised for rescue operations one each for Khed in Ratnagiri and for Mahad in Raigad, from Pune headquarters. (ANI)

After the success of ‘Toffee’ and ‘Pinni’, author-filmmaker Tahira Kashyap Khurrana unveiled her third short film titled ‘Quaranteen Crush’ as a part of Netflix’s anthology series ‘Feels Like Ishq’, which released today.

Sharing some BTS pictures from the sets of the project, Tahira penned a heartwarming post to express her gratitude to the entire team.
She captioned the post, “My happy place! Dekhna zaroor aaj #feelslikeishq @netflix_in par! Had the most amazing time making #quaranteencrush big thank you to the entire team.”

Having shot for the short film in just four days in Chandigarh between the first and second lockdown, ‘Quaranteen Crush’ depicts an innocent love story between two teenagers with the innate quirky zing of Tahira.

Utilising her quarantine to the fullest, Tahira has been working on different things through the lockdown, including her book ’12 Commandments of Being A Woman’, that released last year, ‘Quaranteen Crush’ and her upcoming book ‘7 Sins of Being A Mother’.

Currently, Tahira is also gearing up for her upcoming project, for the same the author-filmmaker was seen doing a recce in Chandigarh.

Tahira is known for her candid style of storytelling. Offering insights into her daily life via social media, Tahira often reveal updates of her personal routines in her witty, candid and hilarious manner.

Recently, the author had announced her upcoming book ‘The 7 Sins of Motherhood’ which has piqued everyone’s interest.

Before ‘The 7 Sins Of Being A Mother’, Tahira has written several other books — including ‘Cracking the Code: My Journey in Bollywood’, ‘Souled Out’ and ‘The 12 Commandments of Being a Woman’. (ANI)

Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty got trolled over social media after she urged her fans and followers to watch her comedy-drama ‘Hungama 2’ amid her husband Raj Kundra’s arrest in porn films case.

Shilpa’s much-awaited comeback movie ‘Hungama 2’, released on Disney+ Hotstar on Friday amid the ongoing arrest of her businessman husband Raj Kundra’s pornography case.
Taking to her Twitter handle, Shilpa shared the poster of the film and captioned it as, “I believe and practice the teachings of Yoga, ‘The only place where life exists is the present moment, NOW’. Hungama 2 involves the relentless efforts of an entire team that’s worked very hard to make a good film, and the film shouldn’t suffer… ever!”

She added, “So today, I request you all to watch Hungama 2 with your families to put a smile on your face and for the sake of every single person attached to the film. Thank you! With gratitude, Shilpa Shetty Kundra.”

As soon as the actor shared the post, many social media users chimed into the comments section to troll her regarding her husband’s case.

“Have to be so fearless to promote the movie on Twitter even if your husband is in jail,” one user wrote.

Another wrote, “Why didn’t you give all the gyaan and all teachings to Raj Kundra? There cannot be any smoke without fire…Cricket betting/cheating case and now this…You said once that you both struggled and came to this level and enjoying this lifestyle…but now it is exposed.”

“One always have a choice in life at every stage. It is greed that pushes you to do wrong things in life. Greed is good if it pushes you to achieve things with the right approach. But everyone wants shortcuts in life and get into this kind of a mess,” a user wrote in the comments section.

A social media user even tweeted, “ab apke pati ki news dekhe ya Hungama2,” (should we watch your husband’s news, or Hungama 2.”

Earlier in the day, Shilpa shared the first social media post since the arrest and ongoing investigations of husband Raj Kundra for allegedly making pornographic films. The cryptic Instagram post, which appeared to be a page out of author James Thurber’s books read, “Do not look back in anger, or forward in fear, but around in awareness.”

After the arrest on late night of July 19, many industry faces have stepped in and shared their side and cases related to Kundra and his business of pornographic films.

Speaking about ‘Hungama 2’, the movie is a sequel to director Priyadarshan’s 2003 released hit ‘Hungama’.

The new version also stars actors Meezaan Jaffey, Pranitha Subhash, Rajpal Yadav, and Ashutosh Rana.

It will be launched on July 23 exclusively for subscribers of Disney+ Hotstar VIP and Disney+ Hotstar Premium. (ANI)

As many as 35,342 new COVID-19 cases and 38,740 recoveries were reported in the last 24 hours, the union health ministry informed on Friday.

The cumulative positive cases now stand at 3,12,93,062, including 3,04,68,079 recoveries and 4,05,513 active cases.
The country’s COVID death tally has reached 4,19,470, including 483 in the last 24 hours.

As per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), as many as 45,29,39,545 samples have been tested for COVID so far. Of these, 16,68,561 were tested in the last 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate currently stands at 2.12 per cent, and has remained less than 3 per cent for 32 consecutive days. The active cases constitute 1.30 per cent of total cases.

The recovery rate is currently at 97.36 per cent

A total of 42,34,17,030 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across the country so far, including 33,39,45,151 first doses. 8,94,71,879 people in the country are fully vaccinated.

54,76,423 doses were administered in the last 24 hours, of which 36,24,007 were first doses and 18,52,416 were second doses.

According to the health ministry, 43,87,50,190 vaccine doses have been supplied to states so far. 41,12,30,353 have been consumed (including wastage), while 71,40,000 are in the pipeline.

2,75,19,837 unutilized COVID Vaccine doses are still available with the States and union territories and private hospitals to be administered. (ANI)