Sep 19 (IANS) In the last 24 hours, India logged 4,858 new Covid-19 cases and 18 deaths, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.
The new fatalities have pushed the nationwide death toll to 5,28,355.
The active caseload rose to 48,027, accounting for 0.11 per cent of the country’s total positive cases.
The recovery of 4,735 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,39,62,664. Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.71 per cent.
Meanwhile, the daily and weekly positivity rates stood at 2.76 per cent and 1.78 per cent, respectively.
Covid cases/Ians
Also in the same period, a total of 1,75,935 tests were conducted across the country, increasing the overall tally to over 89.17 crore.
As of Monday morning, India’s Covid-19 vaccination coverage exceeded 216.70 crore.
Over 4.08 crore adolescents have been administered with a first dose of Covid-19 jab since the beginning of vaccination drive for this age bracket.
Ride-hailing major Ola on Monday clarified that nearly 200 engineers, including some in the software vertical, have been asked to go from its 2,000-strong engineer workforce — 10 per cent of the headcount — as part of a larger restructuring exercise towards its electric dream.
The company denied sacking 500 employees, adding that it is “centralising operations and is undertaking a restructuring exercise to minimise redundancy and build a strong lateral structure that strengthens relevant roles and functions”.
CNBC first reported that nearly 500 employees are being laid off from the various software verticals of ANI technologies which operates as Ola Cabs.
“The company currently has around 2,000 engineers and aims to increase its engineering talent pool to 5,000 over the next 18 months,” said the ride-hailing company.
The Bhavish Aggarwal-run company has nearly 1,100 employees in its core ride-hailing business.
Earlier restructuring exercises impacted employees across product, marketing, sales, supply, tech, business, and operations verticals at the company, affecting nearly 500 employees that “were a result of restructuring in the Cars and Dash businesses”.
The ride-hailing major recently shut down its used vehicle business Ola Cars, as well as its quick-commerce business, Ola Dash, as the company shifted focus on its electric two-wheeler and car verticals.
Ola said it plans to hire 5,000 engineers as it doubles down on new engineering verticals and strengthens capabilities across vehicle, cell, battery, manufacturing and autonomous streams.
However, Ola Electric’s sales are diminishing and it sold 3,421 EV two-wheelers in August, a drop from 3,862 units the company sold in July.
More than half a dozen senior executives have quit Ola Electric in recent months while over 30 senior executives have left Ola in the past two years.
Recently, Ola Electric’s head of advanced battery engineering, Ashok Saraswat, moved on. Saraswat, who joined SoftBank-backed Ola last year, is reportedly joining a company that is entering the battery business.
As EV two-wheeler sales drop amid battery fire fears, Okinawa Autotech, PureEV and Ola Electric recalled 6,656 vehicles after the battery explosion incidents increased in the country.
The government has said it is extra vigilant about the safety standards of EVs and experts are on the job.
A bell will toll for 96 consecutive minutes, marking the length of the Queen’s life on Monday at 11 a.m., as more than 2,000 guests will gather in London’s Westminster Abbey for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on September 8, aged 96.
Towards the end of the service, the Last Post will be played, followed by a two-minute silence and a lament from the Queen’s piper at the 13th Century church and King Charles III and the Queen Consort will lead the procession behind the Queen’s coffin.
Queen Elizabeth II
The Prince and Princess of Wales will walk ahead of their nine-year-old son George and seven-year-old daughter Charlotte, followed by their uncle and aunt, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and other members of the Royal Family.
George and Charlotte’s younger brother Louis, four, is not expected to attend. Once the funeral ends, a committal service will follow in the evening at St George’s Chapel in Windsor and the bells of Westminster Abbey will later be rung, but muffled, as is tradition following the funeral of a sovereign.
Who is attending?
Some of the European royal families who will attend Monday’s funeral are Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde; King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his wife, Queen Maxima, along with his mother, former Dutch queen Princess Beatrix; and King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan will also attend the service, as well as the King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk.
Other expected guests include Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah; Jordan’s King Abdullah; Crown Prince of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah; King of Lesotho, Letsie III; and Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein. Royal leaders from Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, and Tonga are also expected.
The Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi visits the Queen Elizabeth II, of the United Kingdom, in London on November 13, 2015. (PIB)
Leaders from across the Commonwealth, including India‘s President Droupadi Murmu and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina are attending the funeral. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived in the UK, as have New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The other world leaders to be attending the funeral include US President and First Lady, Joe and Jill Biden; Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin and President Michael Higgins; German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier; Italian President Sergio Mattarella; and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Sep 18 (IANS) Delhi Police have arrested four members of a notorious family of thieves, known in their locality as ‘chor parivar’, for stealing jewellery worth Rs 1 crore, an official said on Sunday.
The accused have been identified as Amar alias Patti (prime accused), Laxmi alias Dabhi (Amar’s sister), Sobha (Amar’s wife) and Vishnu (Laxmi’s brother-in-law).
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), Shweta Chauhan, said a PCR call was received on September 13 regarding jewellery theft.
The complainant had said that he works at Sheetal Jewellery House and on September 13 he got into an e-rickshaw from Azad Market to Karol Bagh. At that time, two ladies and one child were sitting in the back seat of the e-rickshaw while two men, including the driver, were sitting in the front.
“After travelling some distance, the man sitting next to the driver changed his seat and sat next to the complainant in the back. In the meantime, one of the ladies opened the zip of the complainant’s bag and took three pairs of gold bangles from it,” the DCP said.
Gold jewellery/Ians
During the course of the investigation, the police questioned the other employees of the showroom to rule out the possibility of any internal involvement.
“The accused persons did not use any mobile phone during the entire incident which made it difficult for the police to trace them,” the official said.
However, while scanning CCTV footage, the police found that the e-rickshaw used in the crime had a designer sticker — ‘Maurya e-rickshaw’ — which helped the police established that the accused persons belonged to the Sultanpuri area.
“From local inquiry it was found that the family was famous in the area as ‘chor parivar’ as all the family members were involved in committing theft and other criminal activities,” Chauhan said.
Gold Jewellery/Ians
The police then conducted a raid at their house, but the accused had fled before the cops could reach there. After this, policemen were deployed in the area in civil clothes to gather information.
On Saturday, the police got a tip-off that the accused persons were coming to Chandni Chowk to sell the stolen jewellery after which the police laid a trap and apprehended all the four accused persons.
“The stolen jewellery worth Rs 1 crore has been recovered from the accused persons,” the officer said.
Sep 18 (IANS) The CEO of popular encrypted password manager LastPass has said that the hacking episode last month did not involve any access to customers’ data or encrypted password vaults.
In a latest statement, Karim Toubba, CEO of LastPass admitted that the security breach in August had internal access to the company’s systems for four days until they were detected and evicted.
“Our investigation revealed that the threat actor’s activity was limited to a four-day period in August 2022. During this timeframe, the LastPass security team detected the threat actor’s activity and then contained the incident,” Toubba said.
The investigation found that the threat actor gained access to the platform’s development environment using a developer’s compromised endpoint.
hacking/Ians
The threat actor utilised their persistent access to impersonate the developer once the developer had successfully authenticated using multi-factor authentication.
“Although the threat actor was able to access the Development environment, our system design and controls prevented the threat actor from accessing any customer data or encrypted password vaults,” said the CEO.
LastPass is a freemium password manager that stores encrypted passwords online.
The CEO said that LastPass does not have any access to the master passwords of its customers’ vaults.
“Without the master password, it is not possible for anyone other than the owner of a vault to decrypt vault data as part of our Zero Knowledge security model,” he mentioned.
The company said it has deployed enhanced security controls, including additional endpoint security controls and monitoring after the incident.
Sep 18 (IANS) A moderate consumption of black, green or Oolong (traditional Chinese drink) tea is linked to a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a study involving over a million adults from eight countries has revealed.
The findings suggest that drinking at least four cups of tea a day is associated with a 17 per cent lower risk of diabetes over an average period of 10 years.
“Our results are exciting because they suggest that people can do something as simple as drinking four cups of tea a day to potentially lessen their risk of developing type 2 diabetes”, said lead author Xiaying Li from Wuhan University of Science and Technology in China.
benefits of green tea/Ians
The study, to be presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) annual meeting in Sweden next week, scanned 19 cohort studies.
While it’s long been known that regularly drinking tea may be beneficial for health because of the various antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic compounds tea contains, less clear has been the relationship between tea drinking and the risk of diabetes.
Overall, the new meta-analysis found a linear association between tea drinking and diabetes risk, with each cup of tea consumed per day reducing the risk of developing diabetes by around 1 per cent, said the study published in peer-reviewed journal Diabetologia.
When compared with adults who didn’t drink tea, those who drank 1-3 cups daily lowered their risk of diabetes by 4 per cent, while those who consumed at least 4 cups every day reduced their risk by 17 per cent.
The associations were observed regardless of the type of tea participants drank, whether they were male or female, or where they lived, suggesting that it may be the amount of tea consumed, rather than any other factor, that plays a major role.
“While more research needs to be done to determine the exact dosage and mechanisms behind these observations, our findings suggest that drinking tea is beneficial in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, but only at high doses (at least 4 cups a day)”, said Li.
It is possible that particular components in tea, such as polyphenols, may reduce blood glucose levels, but a sufficient amount of these bioactive compounds may be needed to be effective.
Despite the important findings, the authors noted that the study is observational and cannot prove that drinking tea reduces the risk of diabetes, but suggests that it is likely to contribute.
Sep 18 (IANS) The first alleged footage of the next Grand Theft Auto game has leaked online, with over 90 videos showcasing its engine, gameplay, and more from an early development build, media reports say.
According to Windows Central, the historic leak provides a glimpse into GTA 6 development, confirming prior reports of the series’ first female protagonist and a Vice City setting.
The title, informally known as GTA 6, will mark the first mainline game since 2013’s GTA V, having racked up a record-breaking 170 million sales to date.
As per the report, over 90 videos are now circulating from the project, showcasing its engine, planned setting, and early iterations of gameplay.
The narrative, set to draw inspiration from the infamous Bonnie and Clyde, also reportedly aims to retain the franchise’s satirical themes while crafting a more inclusive tone.
The alleged GTA 6 footage comes via GTA Forums user “tepotuberhacker,” posting various snippets of its open world in action from what appears to be an early development build.
Footage of GTA 6 gameplay leaks online/Ians
The over 90 videos also provide an extended look at robberies, NPC interactions, vehicles, and more from its sprawling sandbox.
The footage appears to be from builds at least a couple of years old, suggesting development has been underway in tandem with recent years of GTA V content updates.
Sep 18 (IANS) A huge quantity of medicines, worth over Rs 90 lakh, were seized from a Vietnam-bound passenger at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here , a CISF official said on Sunday.
The official said that on Saturday, CISF surveillance and intelligence staff noticed suspicious activities of a passenger at check-in area of Terminal 3.
The passenger, identified as Ravibhai Devanandbhai Joshi, bound for Ho Chi Minh City by a Vietnam Airlines flight, was diverted to a random checking point for thorough checking of his baggage.
Passenger carrying medicines over Rs 90 lakh held at IGI/Ians
“On screening of his baggage through X-BIS machine, CISF personnel noticed suspicious images inside the trolley bag and 7 cartons. On physical checking, a huge quantity of different types of medicines of approximate value Rs 90.68 lakh were detected. On enquiry, the passenger could not produce supporting documents or doctors’ prescription for carrying such huge quantity of medicines,” the official said.
Senior CISF and Customs officials were informed and the passenger and the medicines were handed over to Customs for further action in the matter.
Sep 18 (IANS):A 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Taiwan’s Hualien County at 2:44 p.m. Sunday Beijing Time, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).
The epicenter was monitored at 23.15 degrees north latitude and 121.30 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 10 km, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the CENC.
Strong tremor was felt across the island. A three-storey building in Hualien, whose ground floor was a convenience store, collapsed, trapping some people, according to local media.
Earthquake/Ians
A train carriage was turned over by a fallen rain shed in a railway station in Hualien, but all passengers left safe. A bridge fracture left two people injured. The rescue work is underway, according to local media.
Sep 18 (IANS) In a shocking case, a man shot dead a dog for barking at him in Bengaluru’s Madagondanahalli on Sunday.
The Karnataka Police filed a case against the man.
According to police, the person who shot the dog has been identified as Krishnappa, a local resident. Krishnappa was irked over the barking of the dog, named Rocky, at him and shot it in the head with an air gun.
Dog/Ians
Police said that Krishnappa had chased the dog for quite a distance before shooting at it in the village. The villagers were shocked to see the dog being killed in a public place.
The dog was nursed by Harish who also belonged to the same village. He lodged the complaint with Doddaballapura rural police station.
Animal lovers have expressed shock over the incident.
Sep 18 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday said all three major rail projects, proposed by Kerala, have been rejected.
Talking to media after meeting with the delegation headed by the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at his official residence, Bommai said: “We are sister states and a lot of cultural exchange is also there. But, three railway projects proposed from Kasargod to Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru to Talacherry and Kanhangad – Kaniyur railway lanes come under eco-sensitive zones.”
“The railway department had rejected the Kangar – Bantur – Kaniyur railway project. Now, the railways is maintaining that if the two states agree, the project could be pursued. So, they brought this proposal and it was rejected,” Bommai said.
“This lane passes through eco-sensitive Sullia, Subramanya stretch. “We can’t agree. We will see how much it is beneficial for Karnataka passengers and check environmental challenges. We have clearly told them that until then, it is not possible to give consent,” Bommai said.
“The projects will pass through the national parks, tiger sanctuaries and elephant sanctuaries. These are old proposals. Earlier also we have rejected them and now also we have said no to them,” Bommai said.
“Talacherry-Mysuru railway lane passes through Bandipur and Nagarahole National Sanctuaries. They proposed to implement the project with new alignment. We have not agreed. We have told them that no compromise will be made with the environment,” he said.
elephants
“The Kerala delegation also proposed an underground tunnel in the forest stretch, which we have rejected,” he said.
Vijayan had asked for a meeting during South Zone Committee convention of South Indian Chief Ministers at Thiruvananthapuram. “Today we met,” Bommai said.
On arrival, Vijayan was honoured with the traditional ‘Mysuru Peta’ headgear and sandalwood garland.
Sep 18 (IANS) Twenty-seven people were killed and 20 others injured after a bus turned on its side in China’s Guizhou Province early Sunday morning.
The bus with 47 people on board was running on a highway section in Sandu Shui Autonomous County when the accident happened, Xinhua news agecy reported quoting the county’s public security bureau.
NASA will provide live coverage with commentary of the upcoming Artemis I cryogenic demonstration test beginning at 7:15 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 21.
The demonstration test will allow teams to confirm the repair to a hydrogen leak seen during an early September Artemis I launch attempt, evaluate updated propellant loading procedures, and conduct additional evaluations. The demonstration will conclude when the objectives for the test have been met.+
Live coverage of the test will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. While NASA is airing coverage of the launch, rendezvous, docking, and hatch opening of the Soyuz MS-22 carrying NASA Astronaut Frank Rubio to the International Space Station on NASA’s Television’s Public Channel, the Artemis I demonstration test will air only on the Media Channel. During all other times, the test will air on both the Public and Media Channels.
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as preparations for launch continue, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. Launch of the uncrewed flight test is targeted for no earlier than Aug. 29 at 8:33 a.m. ET. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
The agency also will host a media teleconference to preview the test at 11:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 19. Participants include:
Tom Whitmeyer, deputy associate administrator for Common Exploration Systems Development, NASA Headquarters
Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager, NASA Headquarters
Jeremy Parsons, deputy manager, Exploration Ground Systems Program, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
John Blevins, chief engineer, Space Launch System Program, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
Audio of the media call will stream live on the agency’s website at:
To participate by telephone, media must RSVP no later than two hours prior to the start of the event to: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test. It is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to provide a foundation for human exploration in deep space and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.
Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone to send astronauts to Mars.
For updates, follow along on NASA’s Artemis blog at:
NASA will provide live coverage of key events as a NASA astronaut and two cosmonauts launch and dock to the International Space Station on Wednesday, Sept. 21.
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin will launch aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 9:54 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 21 (6:54 p.m. Baikonur time). Coverage will begin at 9 a.m. on NASA Television’s Public Channel, the NASA app, and on the agency’s website.
NASA also will air continuous coverage of an Artemis I tanking test on NASA TV’s Media Channel beginning at 7:15 a.m.
At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio performs preflight checkouts in the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft. Rubio is scheduled to launch with crewmates Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin Sept. 21 for a six-month mission on the International Space Station. Credits: NASA/Victor Zelentsov
Soyuz MS-22 launch and key events as well of coverage of the Artemis I tanking test will be available to watch online at:
After a two-orbit, three-hour journey, the Soyuz will dock to the space station’s Rassvet module at 1:11 p.m. About two hours after docking, hatches between the Soyuz and the station will open and the crew members will greet each other.
Once aboard station, the trio will join Expedition 67 Commander Oleg Artemyev, cosmonauts Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov of Roscosmos, as well as NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. Rubio, Prokopyev, and Petelin will spend six months aboard the orbital laboratory.
This will be Prokopyev’s second flight into space and the first for Rubio and Petelin.
Mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):
Wednesday, Sept. 21
9 a.m. – Coverage begins on NASA TV’s Public Channel for 9:54 a.m. launch.
12:15 p.m. – Coverage begins on NASA TV’s Public Channel for 1:11 p.m. docking.
3:30 p.m. – Coverage begins on NASA TV for hatch opening and welcome remarks.
Sep 18 (IANS) India on Sunday reported 5,664 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hrs, against 5,747 Covid cases reported on previous day, said the Union Health Ministry.
In the same period, the country has recorded 35 more Covid related deaths, taking the national fatalities tally to 5,28,337 as per the report.
Meanwhile, the active caseload of the country has marginally risen to 47,922 cases, accounting for 0.11 per cent of the country’s total positive cases.
The recovery of 4,555 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,39,57,929. Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.71 per cent.
Vaccine
Meanwhile, India’s Daily Positivity Rate has been reported to be 1.96 per cent, while the Weekly Positivity Rate in the country currently also stands at 1.79 per cent.
Also in the same period, a total of 2,89,228 tests were conducted across the country, increasing the overall tally to over 89.15 crore.
As of Sunday morning, India’s Covid-19 vaccination coverage exceeded 216.56 crore.
Over 4.08 crore adolescents have been administered the first dose of Covid-19 jab since the beginning of vaccination drive for this age bracket.
Sep 18 (IANS) The Tenkasi police has arrested Maheswaran, a shopkeeper for refusing to sell snacks and candies to Scheduled Caste children. The district administration sealed the shop and cancelled his license.
Police said that a group of Scheduled Caste children approached Maheswaran for buying snacks and candies on Saturday. He refused to sell them and told them that they won’t get snacks and candies or for that matter anything from his shop.
When the children asked him the reason, he told them that the village elders belonging to his community had decided that they wouldn’t sell anything to the Scheduled Caste people. The video of Maheswaran refusing to sell snacks and candies went viral and Tenkasi district collector, P. Akash intervened in the matter and ordered an investigation.
Arrested
It was found that there was a clash between a group of Scheduled Caste youths with the youths of the intermediate caste during a marriage function and police had registered a case against youths of both sides. A youth belonging to the intermediate caste, K. Ramachandran was to attend an interview with a defence force, but was not able to attend as he was charged under SC/ST Atrocities Act. This infuriated the intermediate caste people and decided to ostracise the Scheduled Caste youth.
Ramachandran was arrested by the Karivalamvanthallur police in Tenkasi district and later on Saturday night, Maheswaran was also arrested.
Sep 17 (IANS) Aiming decriminalisation of offences, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Saturday issued revised guidelines for compounding of offences under the Income Tax Act, 1961 with reference to various offences covered under its prosecution provisions.
Some of the major changes made for the benefit of taxpayers include making the offence punishable under Section 276 of the Act as compoundable. Further, the scope of eligibility for compounding of cases has been relaxed whereby the case of an applicant who has been convicted with imprisonment for less than 2 years being previously non-compoundable, has now been made compoundable. The discretion available with the competent authority has also been suitably restricted.
CBDT /Ians
As per the department, the time limit for acceptance of compounding applications has been relaxed from the earlier limit of 24 months to 36 months now, from the date of filing of the complaint. Besides, procedural complexities have also been reduced and simplified.
Officials said that specific upper limits have been introduced for the compounding fee covering defaults across several provisions of the Act. Additional compounding charges in the nature of penal interest at the rate of 2 per cent per month up to 3 months and 3 per cent per month beyond 3 months have been reduced to 1 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.
Sep 17 (IANS) Kavita Chawla, a homemaker from Kolhapur, Maharashtra, became the first ‘crorepati’ in the quiz-based reality show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 14’ hosted by Amitabh Bachchan.
The 45-year-old talked about how she was able complete her education, despite her father not being prepared to educate her after Class X. She was able to clear Class XII before marriage only because her teacher intervened and reasoned with her father.
Talking about how she prepared for the show, Chawla said: “I used to teach my son Vivek at home and have taught him from KG to Class VIII. I used to prepare for the show along with it because I have always dreamt about going to ‘KBC‘ since the time it began.
She continued: “When I used to teach him, I used to study as well and I knew that the knowledge would help me in the future. Whenever I used to get some time off from my household chores I would study to remain updated about current affairs and brush up my general knowledge.”
KBC 14./IANS
Kavita added that preparing for the show was not easy. “For a housewife, studies do feel like multitasking and on top of it I had a child and my in-laws to take care of,” Chawla said, adding: “Shouldering those responsibilities and also studying had me understand time management. I did not want to waste time by going out, for instance.”
It took her 21 years and 10 months to finally reach the hotseat and fulfil her dream. On many occasions, in fact, her son would prank her, claiming a call had come from the makers of the reality show.
“The journey from registrations to the hotseat is not that easy and is tediously long,” Chawla said. “Sometimes, when I would register, I would not get the call. Then when I did get the call, I did not get the call for the procedures that follow. If I got the call for an audition, I did not get the call for the interview. I took time to reach the hotseat because I was moving ahead step by step and it took really long to reach here,” she exclaimed.
Talking about meeting Amitabh Bachchan, Chawla said: “It was surreal. I was mesmerised by sir. The most beautiful part of meeting him was the conversations that we had and the most glorious part of meeting him was the time he announced my name for the hotseat and when I won Rs 1 crore.”
Chawla plans to invest the money she has won “in my son’s future because I want him to study further. I want my son to study and grow and make the country proud.” As for her, she said: “I want to travel across India and experience its beauty.”
Kavita Chawla will be seen on the hotseat on September 19 and 20 on ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 14’, Sony Entertainment Television.
Burmese pythons are not just big snakes, growing to more than 18 feet and 200 pounds, but big eaters, taking on prey as large as a deer.
Biologists at the University of Cincinnati found that it’s not just the size of its head and body that puts almost everything on a python’s menu. They evolved super-stretchy skin between their lower jaws that allows them to consume prey up to six times larger than similar-sized snakes.
Since most snakes swallow prey whole, they must have wide mouths to accommodate a meal. Unlike our lower jawbone, the lower jawbones of snakes are not connected, allowing them to open wide.
“The stretchy skin between left and right lower jaws is radically different in pythons. Just over 40% of their total gape area on average is from stretchy skin,” lead author and UC biology professor Bruce Jayne said. “Even after you correct for their large heads, their gape is enormous.”
Ecologists with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida capture a 215-pound Burmese python in Everglades National Park./Photo:Ian Bartoszek/Conservancy of Southwest Florida
Pythons are constrictors. They bite their prey and wrap their powerful coils around it, fatally cutting off the animal’s vital blood flow, before consuming it whole at their leisure.
The bigger the prey, the more energy a snake derives from a meal. For pythons, that means not having to hunt as often, which can carry extensive risk in a world full of busy roads and dangerous predators.
Along with pythons, Jayne studied the gape size of brown tree snakes, a mildly venomous arboreal specialist that hunts birds and other animals in the forest canopy. Brown tree snakes were introduced in the 1950s to Guam, wiping out many bird species.
Besides measuring the snakes, Jayne also measured the dimensions and weight of potential prey animals. This allowed Jayne to use snake size to predict the maximal size of its prey and the relative benefits of consuming different types such as alligators, chickens, rats or deer.
Small snakes derive greater benefits in relative prey mass from a modest increase in gape size, the study found. This gives python babies an early advantage in taking on a broader range of prey compared to other snakes their size, Jayne said.
Being big also helps snakes avoid becoming meals themselves. Snakes fall prey to everything from wading birds to minks and raccoons to alligators and other snakes.
“Once those pythons get to a reasonable size, it’s pretty much just alligators that can eat them,” Jayne said. “And pythons eat alligators.”
Like invasive brown tree snakes in Guam, Burmese pythons are wreaking havoc on the ecology of Everglades National Park where they were introduced due to the release of captive animals from the exotic pet trade in the 1980s.
Study co-author Ian Bartoszek works as an environmental science project manager for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, where he has led a project to track pythons. They implant radio transmitters in male snakes during breeding season to find females before they can lay more clutches of eggs. A big female python can lay more than 100 eggs.
Researchers routinely find deer hooves and the remains of other big animals in their stomachs. Bartoszek photographed one python regurgitating a full-grown white-tailed deer.
“The Everglades ecosystem is changing in real time based on one species, the Burmese python,” Bartoszek said.
The good news is that pythons rarely attack people. Bartoszek said the only defensive encounters he’s had with wild pythons are with females guarding their nests.
“It’s way more dangerous to drive there than to work with the snakes,” he said.
Sep 17 (IANS) On the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 72nd birthday, Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama has written to him offering his warmest wishes and prayers for his continued good health.
“It’s wonderful that India has successfully met the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. Although we have not seen the complete end to it, India today is better placed to address similar challenges in the future,” His Holiness wrote in a letter.
“As the longest-staying guest in India I have observed its development first hand. Now the country is also a rising economic power and a leader in science and technology.
“India’s strong democratic foundation is an example of peace and stability. Having one of the youngest populations is an asset that will enable further development and the fulfilment of positive aspirations. I am delighted to say India is poised to assume its rightful place in the world.
“I have great admiration for the way Mahatma Gandhi made the age-old practice of ‘ahimsa’ appreciated across the world.”
The spiritual leader ended his letter with thanks.
“Once again, I would like to take this opportunity to express deep gratitude to the government and people of India for the warm and generous hospitality we Tibetans have enjoyed since we were forced into exile in 1959.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Wishes kept pouring in for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 72nd birthday on Saturday amidst a packed schedule for the day.
In her message on Twitter in Hindi, President Droupadi Murmu wished that the “nation-building campaign” being carried out by the Prime Minister with “incomparable hard work, dedication and creativity, continues to progress” under his leadership
Union Home Minister Amit Shah called him the creator of a “safe, strong and self-reliant New India” and a symbol of service and dedication.
In a series of tweets in Hindi, he said with the parallel coordination of welfare of poor, good governance, development, national security and historical reforms, the Prime Minister has fulfilled his resolve to establish ‘Maa Bharti’ again at the top of the world.
Shah said all this has been possible only because of a decisive leadership and the firm faith of the people.
“The life of the creator of a safe, strong and self-reliant New India Narendra Modi is a symbol of service and dedication. For the first time after independence, by giving their rights to crores of poor, Modi has instilled a sense of hope and faith in them. Today, every section of the country is standing with Modi like a rock,” the Union Minister said.
In his tweet, Shah hailed the Prime Minister as the flag-bearer of Indian culture and “someone who has connected the country to its roots and led it forward in every field”.
He said that under Modi’s farsighted leadership, India has emerged as a world power and the Prime Minister has distinguished himself as a global leader.
In his message, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh praised Modi’s governance and leadership.
“Hearty congratulations and best wishes to the illustrious Prime Minister of India on his birthday. He has given unprecedented strength to progress and good governance in the country under his leadership and has given new heights to India’s prestige and self-respect all over the world,” he said.
Meanwhile, BJP national president J.P. Nadda called Modi the “world’s most popular leader”, adding that the Prime Minister’s leadership has “given a new direction to the destiny and future of India”.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted a one-line greeting, saying: “Wishing PM Narendra Modi a happy birthday.”
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wished for the Prime Minister’s long and healthy life. “Birthday greetings to Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji. Praying for your long and healthy life,” he said on Twitter.
To mark the Prime Minister’s birthday, the BJP has planned several events.
Nadda will inaugurate an exhibition on Modi’s life and leadership at the party headquarters in New Delhi.
But the most notable project planned for the day will take place in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park where Modi will release eight African cheetahs from Namibia, into the wild.
A special Jumbo Jet Boeing 747 carrying the big cats landed at the Gwalior airport on Saturday morning.
Besides this, the Prime Minister is also scheduled to launch the National Logistic Policy at the Vigyan Bhawan later in the day.
