Heena Sharma Blog

  Sixteen more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands taking the union territory's tally to 4,305 on Friday, an official said. The COVID-19 death toll in the union territory rose to 59 with one more person succumbing to the infection, the official said. Thirteen infections were detected during contact tracing while three patients have travel history, he said. Fifteen more people have been cured of the disease, the official said. The Union territory now has 192 active coronavirus cases, while 4,054 people have recovered from the disease, he said. The administration has tested 86,715 samples for COVID-19 so far, the official added. Read More

  The World Health Organization 's Europe director said Thursday that the 54-country region has again reached a new weekly record for confirmed cases, with more than 1.5 confirmed last week and more than 10 million since the start of the pandemic. During a meeting with European health ministers, WHO European regional director Dr. Hans Kluge said, hospitalisations have risen to levels unseen since the spring and that deaths have risen by more than 30% in the last week. Europe is at the epicenter of this pandemic once again, Kluge said. At the risk of sounding alarmist, I must express our very real concern. Testing systems have been unable to keep up with widespread levels of transmission, and test positivity levels have reached new highs, with most European countries exceeding 5 per cent and many cases spreading unchecked, he said. Read More

  A mathematical model developed by researchers at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) predicts India's Covid-19 caseload to hit 14.57 million by January 2021 while the Centre gears up to combat the pandemic as the country heads into a festive season and the winter, according to a report in the Mint. The researchers have modeled their epidemic curve, a statistical chart used to visualise a disease outbreak, based on the curves for 8 nations which include Belgium, France, Germany Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey “Our model predicts that the daily cases for India’s covid-19 epidemic are falling,” Mahendra Kumar Verma, professor of physics at IIT-Kanpur told the Mint. Verma, however, warned the curve might deviate if people fail to follow Covid-19 guidelines. A model commissioned by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) had predicted the total cases would hit 10.6 million by 2021. Read More

  Newly released research suggests that levels of antibodies against the coronavirus have declined across the UK population since testing began. Having randomly sampled 365,000 people across the country, the React2 study – which is yet to be peer reviewed – estimates that 6% of the UK population had antibodies against the virus in late June, but that this had fallen to 4.4% by September. If antibodies fade over time, how worried should we be? Does this mean we cannot be immune to COVID-19? To answer this question, we need first to consider what antibodies are and what they can tell us about immunity. When we are infected, our immune system quickly responds to try and contain the threat and minimise the damage infection causes. This initial stage of immune reactivity is covered by immune cells known as innate cells that are resident in our tissues, which use a range of fairly generic strategies to both recognise and kill off the infection. But to truly deal with an infectious chall

  Why is the reported number of Covid-19 cases rising across Europe now? Many countries ended their full lockdowns at the start of the summer, but it wasn’t until the autumn that most places began to see a significant increase in the spread of the virus again. The re-opening of schools and universities led to greater mixing of individuals from different households, but could the fall in outside temperatures also be playing a part? We know that more people get colds and flu in the winter (the colds can be caused by types of coronavirus), but there are several potential reasons for this. It’s often attributed to the fact that people spend more time indoors when it’s colder, coughing, sneezing and breathing on each other. You are more likely to choose the option of travelling on a crowded bus or train than walking or cycling to work when the weather is cold and wet. Another theory is that people produce less vitamin D when there is less sunlight and so have weaker immune systems. Rea

  Alphabet Inc's Google said on Thursday it plans to launch a VPN service for consumers, which would be available with certain subscription plans for its Google One cloud storage services. Designed for secure internet usage, virtual private networks (VPNs) are used by individuals in countries where access to certain sites and services have been barred by governments. Google said the VPN service will roll out in the U.S. in the coming weeks through the Google One app for Android users, with plans to expand to more countries and to iOS, Windows and Mac operating systems in the coming months. Read More

  A candidate for the Joint Entrance Examinations (JEE) Mains, who allegedly used an impersonator to appear for the test on his behalf in Assam and secured 99.8 per cent marks, was arrested on Wednesday, police said. His doctor father and three other accomplices were also apprehended in this connection. The arrests were made after a complaint was lodged with the police alleging that the candidate did not appear for the test held on September 5 and someone else had written the examination on his behalf at a centre in Guwahati, police said. A person identified as Mitradev Sharma lodged the complaint on October 23. He said that the candidate scored 99.8 per cent in the JEE-Mains, an entrance examination for admission to engineering colleges. The police constituted a special investigation team to probe the allegation and the five were arrested subsequently. Read More

  A Mumbai court on Thursday granted bail to Fakt Marathi channel owner Shirish Pattanshetty, who was arrested in the alleged fake TRP scam . Additional sessions judge P R Sitre granted bail to Pattanshetty on a surety of Rs 50,000, his lawyer Aniket Nikam said. Nikam earlier argued in the court that his client had not done any rigging of the Television Rating Points nor there was a rise in the TRP of the Fakth Marathi channel. The revenue of the channel had also not increased during the relevant period, he said, alleging that this was a "witch-hunt". He further submitted that during the custodial interrogation of Pattanshetty, who was arrested earlier this month, nothing was recovered and his further detention was unwarranted. Read More

  White House advisers have made the case recently for a “natural” approach to herd immunity as a way to reduce the need for public health measures to control the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic while still keeping people safe. This idea is summed up in something called the Great Barrington Declaration, a proposal put out by the American Institute for Economic Research, a libertarian think tank. The basic idea behind this proposal is to let low-risk people in the U. S. socialize and naturally become infected with the coronavirus, while vulnerable people would maintain social distancing and continue to shelter in place. Proponents of this strategy claim so-called “natural herd immunity” will emerge and minimize harm from SARS-CoV-2 while protecting the economy. Another way to get to herd immunity is through mass vaccinations, as we have done with measles, smallpox and largely with polio. A population has achieved herd immunity when a large enough percentage of individuals become immune to a

  Scientists at MIT have designed a novel face mask that can not only filter out the SARS-CoV-2 virus , which causes COVID-19 , but also inactivate it using heat. The new mask incorporates a heated copper mesh and does not need to be decontaminated or thrown away after use, according to the researchers. As the person wearing the mask breathes in and out, air flows repeatedly across the mesh, and any viral particles in the air are slowed and inactivated by the mesh and high temperatures, the researchers said. Such a mask could be useful for healthcare professionals, as well as members of the public in situations where social distancing would be difficult to achieve, such as a crowded bus, they said. "This is a completely new mask concept in that it doesn't primarily block the virus. It actually lets the virus go through the mask, but slows and inactivates it," said Michael Strano, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. Read More

  Section 230 makes it possible for Google to provide access to a wide range of information -- including high-quality local journalism -- while responsibly protecting people from harm and keeping their information private, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said. Appearing before a US Senate hearing along with Twitter CEI Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg late on Wednesday, Pichai said: "I would urge the Committee to be very thoughtful about any changes to Section 230 and to be very aware of the consequences those changes might have on businesses and customers". Section 230 states that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider". Under the US law, Internet firms are typically exempt from liability for content that users post on platforms. Read More

  The new iPhone 12 series may have a secret wireless feature to charge an external device like upcoming AirPods and the long-expected Tile-like item tracker AirTags, reports claimed on Thursday. Citing a series of US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filings first spotted by VentureBeat, the report said that the iPhone 12 "supports a built-in inductive charging transmitter and receiver." Apple has not officially announced any such functionality yet. "In addition to being able to be charged by a desktop WPT [wireless power transfer] charger (puck), 2020 iPhone models … also support WPT charging function at 360 kHz to charge accessories," one of the documents read. The list includes iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Read More

  Suspended IAS officer M Sivasankar, facing probe in the Kerala gold smuggling case , was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from a city hospital on Wednesday, soon after a court rejected his anticipatory bail petition in the matter. A team of ED officials reached the Ayurveda hospital here, where the former Principal Secretary to the Kerala Chief Minister was undergoing treatment and detained him. Sivasankar was later taken to Ernakulam by car. Earlier in the day, the Kerala High Court passed order on two separate anticipatory bail pleas filed by Sivasankar apprehending arrest by Customs investigating the smuggling angle and ED probing the money trail in the case, dismissing them. Read More

  Microsoft CEO is delighted by early reviews and excitement for the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X, which will be the most affordable and the most powerful consoles available next month. "Our Xbox Game Pass service has more than 15 million subscribers," Nadella said during the company's fiscal Q1 earnings call on Tuesday. "Quality differentiated content is the flywheel behind the service's growth, and the addition of EA Play next month, along with our pending acquisition of ZeniMax Media, will add more of the world's most iconic franchises to the more than 100 high-quality games already available and materially increases our ability to increase content," he elaborated. Microsoft beefed up Game Pass this year by adding plenty more titles for players to enjoy. The company announced that EA Play would be added to Game Pass Ultimate in the coming months, bringing popular franchises like FIFA and Battlefield to the platform at no extra cost. Read M

  The new coronavirus cases reported in India in a span of 24 hours remained below 45,000, even as the total COVID-19 caseload inched closer to 80 lakh, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday. The country's COVID-19 caseload mounted to79,90,322with 43,893 fresh cases being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to1,20,010 with 508 new fatalities, the ministry data updated at 8 am showed. A totalof 72,59,509 people have recuperated from COVID-19 so far, pushing the national recovery rate to 90.85 per cent, while thecasefatality rate stands at 1.50 per cent. The active cases of coronavirus infections remained below 7 lakh for six days in a row, it said. There are6,10,803 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country ason date,which comprises 7.64 per cent of the total caseload,the data stated. Read More

  The newly-launched iPhone 12 and 12 Pro for which pre-orders were thrown open in India on October 23 have done tremendously well at Apple Authorised resellers who have received record pre-orders riding on cool, exciting offers. Trade sources told IANS on Wednesday that the pre-orders for the new iPhones this time are super high and the authorised sellers are set to hand over the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro on October 30 to those who pre-booked it in the country. iPhone 12 in 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB models in blue, green, black, white, and (PRODUCT) RED -- starting at Rs 79,900 -- will be available for Rs 73,900 with HDFC Bank's cash back offer for the 64GB version. iPhone 12 Pro in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB models in graphite, silver, gold, and pacific blue -- starting at Rs 1,19,900 -- will be available for Rs 1,14,900 with HDFC Bank's cash back offer for the 128GB version. Read More

  NEET Counselling 2020 : The Medical Council Committee (MCC) will conduct National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test - NEET (UG), 2020 counselling from today. NEET Counselling 2020 was earlier scheduled for October 27, however, it was postponed due to technical error. The counselling schedule has been released for 15% all India quota (AIQ) and seats offered by Central and Deemed Universities, AIIMS and JIPMER institutes.For state quota seats, NEET counselling 2020 will be held by the respective state authorities separately. Who is eligible for NEET Counselling 2020 Candidates who have scored a minimum of 50th percentage (40th percentile for SC/ST/OBC and 45th percentage for General-PH) will be eligible for NEET 2020 counselling round. Read More

  Microsoft Teams platform has reached 115 million daily active users and the company is seeing increased usage intensity as people communicate, collaborate and co-author contents across work, life, and learning, CEO Satya Nadella has said. According to him, Microsoft 365 users generated more than 30 billion collaboration minutes in a single day this quarter. "The key to productivity is to move beyond transactional meetings and stay in the flow of work and maintain business process context. That's where Microsoft 365 and Teams stand out," Nadella said during the company's fiscal Q1 earnings call on Tuesday. In education, nearly 270,000 institutions are using Teams to power remote learning and improve learning outcomes. The video collaboration platform has added over 100 new capabilities in the last six months, including breakout rooms, meeting recaps, shift scheduling, and large scale digital events up to 20,000 participants, to help people transcend both tim

  Lawyers practicing in different courts and registered clerks of advocates are permitted to travel from Tuesday in special Mumbai suburban trains that are currently operating, Railway authorities said on Monday night. The permission will take effect on October 27 and will be in force till November 23, 2020, the Central Railway and the Western Railway said in a joint release. The release said practicing lawyers and registered clerks can use the suburban services on all working days only during non-peak hours up to 8 in the morning, between 11 am to 4 pm and 7 pm onwards till November 23. Earlier last week, the Railway authorities permitted women to travel on special suburban services during non-peak hours. Read More

  Pune district reported 369 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking its tally to 3,20,112 on Monday, a health official said. With 32 fatalities, the death toll in the district reached 7,733, he added. Also, 410 patients were discharged from hospitals," the official said. "Of the 369 cases, 147 were detected in the Pune Municipal Corporation limits, which has recorded 1,59,845 cases so far. "With 124 new cases, the tally in Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation areas rose to 86,924," he said. Read More

  BJP MP Sambhaji Chhatrapati has said the Maratha community in Maharashtra wants reservation under the Socially and Economically Backward Classes category and not under the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Speaking at a meet on Maratha reservation in Jalna district on Monday, the Rajya Sabha member said it is the responsibility of the state government to defend the case in the Supreme Court. The SC last month stayed the implementation of 2018 Maharashtra law granting reservation to Marathas in education and jobs, but made it clear that the status of those who have availed of the benefits will not be disturbed. The Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018 was enacted to grant reservation to people of Maratha community in Maharashtra in jobs and admissions. Read More

  Home-grown audio and gaming accessory company Zebronics recently launched its new soundbar, the Zeb-Juke Bar 9700 Pro , with Dolby Atmos support. Boasting a total sound output of 450W, the soundbar is competitively priced in the sub-Rs 20,000 category. But does the soundbar fare well enough on audio parameters to make for a sweet deal? We reviewed the device to see if it meets the expectations. Here’s what we found: Design and connectivity The Zeb-Juke Bar 9700 Pro has a sleek profile that goes well with most home décor types. The metal grilles covering the front and top add to the appeal of the soundbar. At the top, there are buttons for power, volume controls and input options. There is an LED display beneath the front grille to show basic information. However, the display looks a bit awkward. Read More

  Windows 10X , a modular and lightweight version of Windows 10 designed for dual-screen and foldable devices, is expected to arrive as early as December but without support for Win32 apps. Win32 is the 32-bit application programming interface (API) for versions of Windows from 95 onwards.   Microsoft had promised that Windows 10X will be able to run Win32 applications using virtualization. However, reports have emerged that there will no support for Win32 apps and the users will be forced to use Universal Windows Platform (UWP) and Progressive Web Application (PWA) applications. Microsoft earlier confirmed that it is aiming to refocus Windows 10X on single-screen devices like laptops first and will look for a right moment to integrate Windows 10X with dual-screen devices. Read More

  Smartphones once again led the most sought-after shopping category with capturing 47 per cent of total festive sales in the seven day period (October 15-21), driven by new launches and affordable models. According to Bengaluru-based market research firm RedSeer, smartphones worth Rs 1.5 crore were sold every minute across online platforms in the first week of festive sales -- enabled by value selection, affordability schemes and fast delivery. "In many aspects this is indeed a #festivaloffirsts for Indian eCommerce which will build a strong foundation for its future growth," said Mrigank Gutgutia, Director at RedSeer Consulting. Fashion, while not as big a sales contributor as last year, showed resilience to reach 14 per cent of the festive days sales, despite the demand for formal and festive wear still being low. Read More

  As you drive down the road leading to Jodrell Bank Observatory , a sign asks visitors to turn off their mobile phones, stating that the Lovell telescope is so powerful it could detect a phone signal on Mars. Radio telescopes are designed to be incredibly sensitive. To quote the legendary astronomer Carl Sagan, “The total amount of energy from outside the solar system ever received by all the radio telescopes on the planet Earth is less than the energy of a single snowflake striking the ground.” The total energy now is probably a few snowflakes’ worth, but nevertheless it is still true that astronomical radio signals are typically magnitudes smaller than artificial ones. If Jodrell Bank could pick up interference from a phone signal on Mars, how would it fare with an entire 4G network on the Moon? That is the issue that is worrying astronomers like me, now that Nokia of America has been awarded US$14.1m (£10.8m) for the development of the first ever cellular network on the Moon.

  A Special CBI court on Monday sentenced former Union Minister Dilip Ray to three-years imprisonment in a coal block allocation case . Ray was the Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1999. The case pertains to allocation of 105.153 hectares of non-nationalised and abandoned coal mining area in Jharkhand's Giridih district in favour of Castron Technologies Limited by 14th Screening Committee of the Ministry of Coal in 1999. Special Judge Bharat Parashar also awarded three years term each to two senior officials of the Ministry of Coal at that time -- Pradip Kumar Banerjee and Nitya Nand Gautam -- and Castron Technologies Limited's Director Mahendra Kumar Agarwalla. The CBI had earlier urged the court to award life imprisonment to Ray and other convicts to send a message to the society as white-collar crimes were on a rise. Read More

  Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday said he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is admitted in a hospital here on the advice of doctors. In a message, Pawar said his health condition is fine. "I have tested positive for COVID-19. My health condition is fine. As a precautionary measure I have admitted self to Breach Candy Hospital on the advice of doctors," the NCP leader said. He also said the party workers and citizens need not worry about his health and that he will be back among all after a brief period of rest. On Thursday, Pawar tested negative for coronavirus but was in home quarantine as a precautionary measure. In the last few months, over a dozen Maharashtra ministers have tested positive for the viral infection. Read More

  Chrome OS is reportedly getting a dark mode which has been in high demand for its benefits on eye strain and general readability. Spotted in Google's experimental Canary channel, Android Central reported that the Canary version of Chrome OS contains an experimental version of Chrome OS's dark mode. "It may only be accessed via Google's "bleeding edge" developer mode of the browser, but that could indicate that it's being readied for a wider rollout soon," the report said on Sunday. There are currently some bugs within the dark mode setting as it is still being tested. Dark mode does seem to apply across the user interface and not just simply appear as darker backgrounds. Read More