Heena Sharma Blog

Three days ahead of completing 68-day countrywide lockdown , the Centre is learnt to have come up with a roadmap of an exit plan from the crisis in its fourth extension of the restrictions '5.0' which may allow malls and restaurants to reopen and limit restrictions only in containment zones. Other activities expected to get the government nod could include movement of Delhi Metro and opening of more markets. There is a possibility of allowing religious places to function. But social distancing norms, use of face cover and Aarogya Setu mobile app would be the key entry tickets everywhere. Read More

As the number of Covid-19 cases is rapidly surging in Mumbai, almost all intensive care unit (ICU) beds for the Covid-19 patients are occupied here, as per Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) data. As of May 27, of the 645 ICU beds, 99 per cent were occupied while a total of 65 per cent of the 4,292 beds with oxygen support were occupied. Seventy-two per cent of 373 ventilators were in use. A total of 1,438 people tested positive for coronavirus in Mumbai on Thursday taking the total number of cases in the city to 35,273. The metropolitan city reported 38 deaths on the day due to the disease. Read More

Home-grown short-video making platform Mitron app has clocked more than five million downloads in a month on Google Play Store. Besides, the app has received positive ratings, which stands at 4.8 stars out of 5 as on May 29. Released on April 11, the app’s popularity in India shot up in last couple of weeks owing to anti-China sentiments. Moreover, the growing criticism for TikTok over violent content on the platform also paves way for the Mitron app to shot into spotlight as a local alternative to the Chinese app. The Mitron app offers utility similar to TikTok. It is a content creation app, which allows users to create short-videos that can either be published on the app or shared with others. The app looks like TikTok replica with similar design, user interface, features and functions. Moreover, some of the videos on the app also feature TikTok watermark. Read More

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo has announced the roadmap for its Android 10 operating system-based ColorOS7 for India. The custom operating system was released to select Oppo smartphones earlier this year. These smartphones include, OPPO Find X, Find X SuperVooc Edition, Find X Automobili Lamborghini Edition, Reno 10X Zoom, Reno 2, Reno 2Z, Reno 2F, Reno, R17, R17 Pro, F11 Pro, F11, F11 Pro Marvel's Avengers Limited Edition, K3 and A9. Now, the company has shared a detailed timeline on when shall other Oppo smartphones get the update. ColorOS 7 roadmap: June: F9, F9 Pro, F7, F7 128G, A5 2020, A9 2020 July: F15 and R15 Pro Read More

American technology giant Apple is likely to push its September ‘ iPhone 12 ’ launch to November due to coronavirus pandemic, which has hit the logistics, supply chain and manufacturing globally. According to a report by an investment banking company Cowen, Apple's second-quarter production is expected to be 35 million units, down 5 per cent from the first quarter and down 13 per cent from the same period last year. The analyst said that the production supply chain has returned to normal output rates, but downstream demand remains uncertain. It predicts that Apple's iPhone shipments in the second quarter will reach 30 million. Jon Prosser, a reliable Apple insider, earlier said that the company is currently mulling the situation, and considering to push the 2020 smartphone launch in October to cut short a gap between the event and handsets reaching store shelves. Read More

BookMyShow said it is going to lay off and send on furlough 270 employees, about 20 per cent of its 1,450-strong workforce due to the pandemic. The employees being sent on furloughs or leave (without pay) will be eligible for all medical insurance, gratuity and other benefits as per their employment standards. Read More

Nearly 2.3 million people, who have moved within the country or arrived from international destinations during the ongoing nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic , are currently in quarantine facilities arranged by states and union territories. While majority of the state governments and union territory administrations have made at least seven days' quarantine compulsory for anyone arriving in their jurisdiction, a few of them have opted for home quarantine for those reaching their administrative limits. Read More

Samsung has launched the 8GB RAM + 128GB internal storage variant of its global best-selling smartphone, the Galaxy A51 . Priced at Rs 27,999, the new variant comes in prism crush black, prism crush white and prism crush blue colours. It will be available across retail channels -- offline retail stores, e-commerce portals and Samsung.com. "The Galaxy A51’s cool and intelligent ‘Make for India’ innovations have seen widespread adoption. The Useful Cards feature helps reduce clutter in the SMS Inbox. Multilingual Typing helps millennials and Gen Z converse effortlessly in local languages. Finder lets users find app content quickly, while Smart Crop help users save, share, or edit the most relevant part of the screenshot," the company said in a statement. Read More

After cementing its leadership position in the smartphones and televisions segments in India, Chinese conglomerate Xiaomi is gearing up to foray into laptop market by bringing its Mi Notebook to the country next month, a company executive said on Thursday. Xiaomi sells several laptops under Mi Notebook branding globally, including Mi Notebook laptop, a Pro variant, the Mi Gaming laptop and the Mi Laptop Air. Given the company's history in India, it could launch the standard Mi Notebook first in the country. Read More

Facebook-owned photos and videos sharing platform Instagram is rolling out new tools for content creators to place ads on IGTV videos . Instagram will share at least 55 per cent of the revenue from these ads with creators, which would motivate more influencers to create material for IGTV. To begin with, the ads will only appear when people click to watch IGTV videos from previews in their feed, and the initial round of ads will be vertical videos up to 15 seconds long. "Starting next week, we are introducing ads in IGTV, our long-form video destination. We want to support creators' investment in IGTV by sharing advertising revenue with them," Instagram said in a statement. Read More

When Apple introduced the Airpods in 2016, it set a new trend of wireless earphones designed such that there is no trace of a cable or wire. Xiaomi, with its Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 , has joined a long list of smartphone and audio accessory makers that have followed in Apple’s footsteps to bring their own iterations of true wireless earphones since. Besides other generic features like an easy pairing, in-ear detection, touch control and quick charge, the Mi True Wireless Earphones 2 boasts low latency and high-definition audio codec (LHDC), which seems to give it a clear edge over other affordable TWS earphones. On paper, the Mi True Wireless earphones 2 appears to be an all-rounder in its segment. Read More

Google Pay on Wednesday announced that it's 'Nearby Stores’ spot, which provides information such as business hours, essential items stock, social distancing information, is now available in 35 cities across the country. “Originally rolled in a few cities across India, this Spot is now available in 35 cities across the country. Additionally, merchant establishments can now indicate their business hours, whether social distancing measures are in place at the store and the essential goods presently in stock. Additionally, users in Mumbai can also see if the store is present in a containment zone,” said Google in a statement. Read More

Drinking water and electricity have been restored in most parts of Kolkata, a week after a cyclonic storm tore through the state, decimating houses, uprooting trees and snapping power cables. According to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) sources, the restoration work is on at a war footing and they are hopeful that all the roads will be cleared of uprooted trees by Wednesday. Large areas of the city continue to remain without power as electric poles and communication lines had been blown away by gusting winds. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to update him on the situation "as expected under Constitution" and said that need of the hour is to engage in relief on the ground. Read More

Sony India on Tuesday announced the all-new BRAVIA X8000H and X7500H TV series with 4K Ultra HD LED display. The 85X8000H will be available at Rs 5,99,990, 65X8000H at Rs 1,39,990 and 55X7500H is priced at Rs 79,990, the company said in a statement. Sony's new 4K HDR TVs are available in various sizes. The next generation Smart TVs support true-to-life viewing experience with 'TRILUMINOS' display that reproduces the subtle nuances of colour, light and gradation from video lens to living room. The new Bravia TVs features x-balanced speaker whichnaims to deliver immersive sound experience accompanied with Ultra-vivid Picture. Read More

The computing code of Aaroyga Setu , India’s coronavirus-tracing app , will be opened up for independent developers to check and make suggestions, said the government on Tuesday after privacy activists flagged their worries about its safety and use. The app's Android version will be made open source first and other makes later, said the government. “This is a unique thing to be done. No other government product anywhere in the world has been open sourced at this scale. Today its scale and size is 115 million. It cuts across phones, IVRS. Only product available in 12 languages. All Covid-19 related apps put together, Aarogya Setu is bigger than all of them," Amitabh Kant, chief executive officer of Niti Aayog, was quoted as saying in a LiveMint report. Read More

India has evacuated over 30,000 stranded Indians on 158 flights from different countries under Vande Bharat Mission till Monday, said Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. The minister announced that another 49,000 people will be repatriated till mid-June. "Mission Vande Bharat flies high. Till May 25, more than 30,000 people have returned to India on 158 flights from different countries and more than 10,000 people have flown out of India on 164 flights. Another 49,000 people will be able to fly until mid-June 2020," Puri tweeted on Tuesday. Read More

The number of Covid-19 cases in India climbed to 151,767, out of which 64,426 have been cured and 4,337 succumbed due to the pandemic, according to the data released by the Health Ministry. Globally, 5,683,802 people have been infected by coronavirus so far, and the total number of deaths from the disease now stands at 351,667, with more than 100,000 deaths reported from the United States alone. But the good news is the number of daily new deaths globally has been on the decline for four days straight. Specifically speaking, on May 25 it dropped to 1,179, which is the lowest in the month. Read More

Nokia last week suspended operations at a telecom gear manufacturing plant in Sriperumbudur of Tamil Nadu, the company said on Tuesday, after some employees tested positive for Covid-19 . Nokia did not disclose how many workers at the Sriperumbudur plant tested positive, but a source familiar with the matter said they were at least 42. The Finnish firm said it had already implemented measures such as social distancing and changes to canteen facilities. The factory had begun operations in a restricted manner over the past few weeks, Nokia said in a statement, after India eased the world’s biggest lockdown to kick-start its economy which has been pummelled by the shutdown. Read More

Odisha has become the second state where online restaurant guide and food ordering platform Zomato will be deliver alcohol at home, starting with state capital Bhubaneswar. Zomato first started the servce in Jharkhand. Starting with Bhubaneswar, Zomato will soon expand to other cities in Odisha like Rourkela, Balasore, Balangir, Sambalpur, Berhampur, and Cuttack, Zomato said in a statement. "We're happy to be of service to our users in Odisha who can now use Zomato to get alcohol delivered in addition to grocery and food delivery," Zomato Vice President Rakesh Ranjan said. Read More

Vestaspace Technology, a nano, cube, and small satellite-manufacturing company and space service provider, is launching a constellation of 35-plus satellites pan-India, to build 5G speed network connections and IoT functionalities across industries. With its AI-powered novel communication architecture, the company is set to release a beta version of next-generation satellite constellations this September. It plans to launch a fully operational constellation of satellites in early 2021 into Low-Earth-Orbit or Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit. The company plans to replace traditional fiber networks with the satellite constellations and provide high-speed 5G network connections pan-India with its unmanned Software Data processing. Read More

Telecom service-providers were able to restore connectivity to only 80-85 per cent capacity level in areas of West Bengal hit by super cyclone Amphan . This is due to erratic power supply, continued fibre cuts and obstruction by people protesting against disruption in electricity and water supply, industry body COAI said on Monday. Earlier in the day, the Department of Telecom had asked the companies to bring the connectivity level to 95 per cent by Monday evening. "The overall telecom network has been restored to about 85 per cent level. The main reasons are erratic power supply, fibre cuts and problems in reaching places because roads are blocked by fallen trees and also obstruction by agitated people," COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews told PTI.   Read More

The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 4,167 in the country, while the number of cases climbed to 1,45,380, registering an increase of 146 deaths and 6,535 cases since Monday. It has been five days in a row that India has recorded its biggest single-day spike with around 7,000 new cases. Well, the good news is that Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has ramped up testing capacity from 1.4 lakh samples to 2 lakh samples per day. Globally, 5,588,356 people have been infected by coronavirus so far, and the total number of deaths from the disease now stands at 347,873, according to Worldometer. Read More

As India ranked 10th in the global infection list, overtaking Iran, which was an early hotspot of coronavirus , India's top medical body has said the human trials of Covid-19 vaccine may begin at least in six months. Speaking to IANS, Dr. Rajni Kant, Director Regional Medical Research Centre and Head at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said, "The virus strain isolated at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) laboratory in Pune will be used to develop the vaccine, and this strain has been successfully transferred to the Bharat Biotech International Ltd. (BBIL). It is expected that the human trials of the vaccine will begin in at least six months." Queried on the focus areas as India inches closer to 140,000 Covid-19 cases, Kant said we should not get anxious about the rapid increase in numbers, especially in the past week, which saw 5,000 Covid-19 cases daily, instead focus on protecting the most vulnerable group. Read More

Bihar Board 10th result 2020: The wait is finally over for Bihar Class 10 board students. Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) will announce the Bihar Class 10 Matric Result 2020 today at 12:30 pm. The Bihar 10th result 2020 will be announced by the Education Minister Krishnanandan Prasad Verma in the presence of additional chief secretary RK Mahajan. The board will will however not conduct any press conference following the social distancing guidelines The Bihar Board 10th result will also be uploaded on the official websites - biharboard.ac.in or biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in. This year, more than 15 lakhs students appeared for the Bihar Board Class 10 exams, which were scheduled from February 17 to February 24 at 1,368 exam centres. Read More

WhatsApp is working on a new feature that will make it easier for users to add contacts to their list by scanning a QR code . A fan website that tracks WhatsApp beta , QR Code scanning was first introduced in the iOS beta and now has made its way to the Android beta of the app. The feature is available in the 2.20.171 version of the app, news agency IANS reported. Android beta users will be able to find their own custom QR codes in the Settings section of the app on the top right side in front of the name. Read More

Here is a round-up of important articles from across Indian publications on Covid-19 . From the role of a constitutional court, to why increasing indebtedness is not the wisest solution, and the chances of catching Covid-19 on a plane — read these and more in today’s India dispatch. Expert Speak Govt’s stimulus package would increase indebtedness, not the wisest solution: The increased allocation to India’s rural jobs programme may help to some extent, but some of it will fund the increased wage-rate announced earlier, and only a fraction may be available to increase the mandays of work available. Read More

Arrival and departure of as many as 80 flights were cancelled at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport on Monday, the first day of phased resumption of domestic flights after a two-month suspension, officials said. Earlier, the flight schedule had been done for all airports, including those in West Bengal (where flight operations will now start from May 28), Maharashtra (which has allowed only 25 takeoffs and 25 landings in a day) and Chennai (where incoming passenger flights are restricted to 25). Domestic flight operations had been suspended soon after the imposition of the first nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus in March 2020. Read More

With the Covid-19 cases zipping past five million people globally last week and rocketing towards six million, the search for a vaccine and a therapy has become more and more urgent. Some statisticians say the case count could be at least 5 to 20 times higher due to inconsistencies and variations in testing and testing protocols in different countries. A paper published by the Imperial College London estimated that the number of people infected by Covid-19 in the UK as of March 30 was between 800,000 to 3.7 million. The official case count then was just 22,141. Even the more conservative actual estimate of 800,000 is 36 times higher than the reported count. Without a vaccine and an effective treatment, we may never get back to life as it used to be. Read More

India has recorded its biggest single-day spike for the fourth consecutive day on Monday with around 7,000 new cases, taking the country’s official total to 138,845, out of which 57,721 have been cured and as many as 4,021 people have died, which means the country currently has 77,103 active cases according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare . Meanwhile, India has also surpassed Iran’s tally, making it into the list of 10 most affected countries globally. Maharashtra, the most affected state, has added more than 3,000 cases in a single day, breaching the 50,00-mark of total positive cases, so far. Read More

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday informed that Railways has successfully operated over 3,000 Shramik special trains to send migrant workers stranded in different parts of the country to their home states. "I am very happy to say that the Railways has successfully operated more than 3,000 Shramik special trains and transported migrant workers from different parts of the country to their home states," Goyal tweeted in Hindi. The Railways Minister urged the states to cooperate with his Ministry to help the workers. Read More

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Monday an advance interim assistance of Rs 1,000 crore for cyclone-hit West Bengal. In a video message after reviewing the situation with Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district, Modi also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the families of each of those killed during the devastation caused by cyclone Amphan, and Rs 50,000 for the injured. Read More

South Korean electronics maker Samsung is geared up to launch its new mid-range smartphone, the Galaxy A31 , in the first week of June. The phone is expected to cost around Rs 23,000. The device will sell across online and offline platforms. The smartphone will come with a 6.4-inch super AMOLED display and will be powered by MediaTek octa-core processor in India, sources told IANS on Friday. The Galaxy A31 is likely to come in 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant. The smartphone would sport a quad camera setup, with 48MP main sensor. The front camera will be 20MP. The Galaxy A31 will be the third A-series device to launch in India this year. Read More