Political News
1.Govt Watchdog:
Politics Caused ‘sharpie gate’ Frantic Rebuke.
-11 JULY 2020
Political pressure from the White
House and a series of “crazy in the middle of the night” texts, emails and
phone calls caused top federal weather officials to wrongly admonish a weather
office for a tweet that contradicted president Trump about Hurricane Dorian in
2019, an inspector general report found.
Commerce Department Inspector
General Peggy Gustafson concluded in a report issued Thursday that the
statement chastising the National Weather Service office in Birmingham,
Alabama, could undercut public trust in weather warnings from the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and for a short time ever
hindered public safety.
2.Political Depression:
How Bad is India’s Politics for our Mental Health.
-10 JULY 2020
This phrase, coined by Feminist
scholar carol Hamish, has been used as a rallying slogan of student’s movement
and second wave feminism from the late 1960s. It aimed to talk about the
underscoring connection between personal experiences and a larger
socio-political structure. Even though this slogan has been used predominantly
to emphasize upon the live experience of women under patriarchal power
structure, It has now been increasingly used to denote the interrelation
between an individual and the socio-political structure which exist around
them.
Politics plays a large part in a
rapidly growing society and nation like India. Similarly, the political
structure of a society can plays a dominant role in the basic socialization,
ideology and lived experiences of an individual. However, what we tend to gloss
over is the mental and physical impact of politics on the masses, especially
those who involve themselves extensively into the political happening in their
nations and across the world.
3.Noting green-shoots,
PM Modi beckons global investors.
-9 JULY 2020
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
Thursday told a virtual meeting of diaspora and other individuals based across
the globe that India is already witnessing ‘green-shoots’ of economy recovery
and beckoned global investors by offering them a red-carpet welcome.
Addressing over 5,000 participants
in various countries in an event called ‘India Global Week 2020’ organized by
the London-based group India Inc. headed by Manoj Ladwa, Modi set out details
of the initiative taken to encourage foreign investment.
4.Donald Trump
considering ban on TIK TOK to punish China.
-8 JULY 2020
US President Donald Trump said he
is considering a ban on the video-sharing app TIK TOK as a way to punish China
over the corona virus pandemic.
‘It’s something we’re looking at,’
Trump said on Tuesday when asked about a possible ban. ‘It’s a big business.
Look’ what happened with China with this virus, what they’ve done to this
country and to the entire world is disgraceful.’
Trump said the banning of the app
was ‘one of many’ option he was considering against China.
5.Trump insists that school open, but teacher isn’t
so sure.
-7 JULY 2020
President Donald Trump has made
his position clear: ‘SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!’ he tweeted Monday. As
covid-19 surges in part of the US, many teachers aren’t convinced.
The pandemic’s even-shifting
nature has robbed school districts of the ability to plan with certainty—not
only for instruction, but to provide protective equipment and intensive
cleaning. Ever if a sustained decline in infections allows them to open their
doors, many are preparing a mix of in person and remote education that is certain
to fall short of the president’s expectation.
6.Top Xi Jinping critic
arrested in China.
-6 JULY 2020
Beijing police arrested a law
professor who had criticized President Xi Jinping’s style of functioning and
recently questioned the government’s handling of the covid-19 pandemic on
Monday.
Xu Zhang Run, 58, was arrested from
his house in a Beijing suburb, Geng Xiao nan, his friend, told
Bloomberg. She got to know about the arrest from his domestic helper, wife and
students, Geng added.
Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Zhao Lijiang said at regular ministry briefing that he had no
information about the arrest.
7.Iran mandates masks as
public shrugs off resurgent corona virus.
-5 JULY 2020
Iran on Sunday instituted
mandatory mask wearing as fears mount over newly spiking reported deaths from
the corona virus, even as its public increasingly shrugs off the danger of the
Covid-19 illness it causes.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei publicized an image of himself in a mask in recent days, urging both
public official and the Islamic Republic’s 80 million people to wear them to
stop the virus’s spread.
But public opinion polling and a walk through any of the streets
of Tehran show the widespread apathy felt over a pandemic that saw Iran on
February among the first countries stuck after China.
Health News
Difference between covid-19 symptoms and seasonal allergy symptoms-https://healthmantraocean.blogspot.com/2020/07/difference-between-covid-19-symptoms.html
1.7 Reasons why kissing is good for health and why we
should kiss more often
6,July,2020
1.It boosts your ‘happy hormones’
Kissing triggers
your brain to release chemicals such as oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin,
which make you feel euphoric, encourage feelings of affection and bonding and
ignite the pleasure centre of the brain. It also lowers your cortisol (stress
hormone) levels.
2.Stressbuster
Kissing could be
the best distraction you can get as it takes your mind off dozens of problems
and stress-inducing issues. As the levels of oxytocin rise, you feel calmer and
more relaxed. According to a 2013 study, oxytocin is particularly important in
helping men bond with a partner and stay monogamous. Women, on the other hand,
experience a flood of oxytocin during childbirth and breastfeeding,
strengthening the mother-child bond.
3.Reduce allergic response
Kissing may
provide significant relief from hives and other allergic reactions associated
with pollen and household dust mites. Stress is also known to worsen allergic
reactions, so kissing’s effect on stress may help to reduce allergic responses.
4.Burns calories
If you thought
that rigorous gymming and running could get you to burn some calories, here’s
something you might actually like! You can burn anywhere from 2 to 26 calories
per minute depending on how passionate your kiss is. It may not be directly
linked with weight loss but it will definitely keep you calm and low on stress,
in turn helping you stay happy.
5.Tones facial muscles
This is a
natural facelift of sorts. Kissing can stimulate over 30 facial muscles and
regular kissing is a workout for your face and neck. Working out your facial
muscles can also up collagen production, contributing to firmer,
younger-looking skin. The blood circulation helps with a healthy glow too!
6.Bid tooth decay goodbye
Kissing can aid
dental hygiene as it stimulates the salivary glands, which helps increases
saliva production. Saliva keeps the mouth lubricated, aids in swallowing food
and also helps food debris from sticking to your teeth, in turn protecting
against tooth decay and cavities.
The extra saliva
washes bacteria off your teeth, helping to break down oral plaque, says Mathew
Messina, DDS, a private practice dentist in Fairview Park, Ohio, and consumer
advisor for the American Dental Association. “Still, I would not go around
advocating kissing after meals instead of brushing,” he adds.
7.Kissing a romantic partner boosts your libido
Romantic kissing
leads to sexual arousal and is often considered the driving force behind a
woman’s decision to have sexual intercourse with someone. Saliva also contains
testosterone — a sex hormone that plays a key role in sexual arousal.
Anthropologist
Helen Fisher describes kissing as a “mate assessment tool.”
According to
Fisher, “the kiss plays a role in each of the three phases of our evolved
reproductive strategy: first, the kiss helps inspire and direct the libido,
which causes us to desire sex with multiple partners. Later, the kiss works to
stoke the fires of romantic love, the deep infatuation that motivates us to
choose one of many partners. Finally, the kiss helps us sustain and reinforce
the ongoing attachment bonds, which allow us to endure together long enough to
raise our children (our gene carriers) into sexual maturity.”
Kissing makes
both partners feel good about themselves and can help strengthen their bond. So
kiss more, and kiss often because it’s good for you.
2.Covid-19: Novel air filter to “catch and kill”
coronavirus developed
8,July,2020
Scientists
have designed a “catch and kill” air filter which they say can trap the novel
coronavirus and neutralise it instantly, an invention that may reduce the
spread of COVID-19 in closed spaces such as schools, hospitals and health care
facilities, as well as public transit environments like airplanes.
According to
the study, published in the journal Materials Today Physics, the device killed
99.8 per cent of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, in a single pass through
its filter.
It said the
device, made from commercially available nickel foam heated to 200 degrees
Celsius, also killed 99.9 per cent of the spores of the deadly bacterium
Bacillus anthracis which causes the anthrax disease.
“This filter
could be useful in airports and in airplanes, in office buildings, schools, and
cruise ships to stop the spread of COVID-19,” said Zhifeng Ren, a co-author of
the study from the University of Houston (UH) in the US. “Its ability to help
control the spread of the virus could be very useful for society,” Ren added.
The researchers said they are also developing a desk-top model for the device
which is capable of purifying the air in an office worker’s immediate
surroundings.
According to
the scientists, since the virus can remain in the air for about three hours, a
filter that could remove it quickly was a viable plan, and with businesses
reopening across the world, they believe controlling the spread in air
conditioned spaces was urgent.
The study
noted that the novel coronavirus cannot survive temperatures above 70 degrees
Celsius, so by making the filter temperature far hotter -- about 200 degree
Celsius, the researchers said they were able to kill the virus almost
instantly.
3.Scientists discover protective Alzheimer’s gene,
develop rapid drug-testing platform
10,July,2020
In breakthrough
research, a gene has been discovered that can naturally suppress the signs of
Alzheimer’s disease in human brain cells. The scientists have also developed a
new rapid drug-screening system for treatments that could potentially delay or
prevent the disease.
The research led
by the Queen Mary University of London was published in the journal Molecular
Psychiatry.
The main
challenge in testing Alzheimer’s drugs in clinical trials is that participants
need to have symptoms. But once people have symptoms, it is usually too late
for treatments to have a significant effect, as many brain cells have already
died.
The only current
way to test potential preventative treatments is by identifying participants
who are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s and seeing if treatments
prevent the onset of their disease. This includes people with Down’s syndrome
(DS) who have around a 70 per cent chance of developing Alzheimer’s during
their lifetime. This is because the extra chromosome 21 they carry includes the
gene for amyloid precursor protein which causes early Alzheimer’s when
overdosed or mutated.
In the study,
published in the Nature group journal Molecular Psychiatry, the researchers
collected hair cells from people with DS and reprogrammed them to become stem
cells, which were then directed to turn into brain cells in a dish.
In these brain-like cells, the researchers saw Alzheimer’s-like pathology develop rapidly, including the hallmark trio of signs of Alzheimer’s progression - amyloid plaque-like lesions, progressive neuronal death and abnormal accumulations of a protein called tau inside neurons.
Business News
1.Emirates
airline to cut up to 9,000 jobs: Report
-11 JULY 2020
Emirates airline has cut a tenth of its workforce during the
novel coronavirus pandemic in layoffs that could rise to 15 percent, or 9,000
jobs, its president said, according to a report on Saturday.
The Middle East's largest carrier, which operates a fleet of
270 wide-bodied aircraft, halted operations in late March as part of global
shutdowns to stem the spread of the virus.
It resumed two weeks later on a limited network and plans to
fly to 58 cities by mid-August, down from about 157 before the crisis.
However, its president Tim Clark has said previously that it
could take up to four years for operations to return to "some degree of
normality", and the airline has been staging rounds of layoffs, as
recently as last week, without disclosing numbers. Before the crisis
hit, Emirates employed some 60,000 staff, including 4,300 pilots and nearly
22,000 cabin crew, according to its annual report.
Clark said in an interview with the BBC that the airline had
already cut a tenth of its staff and that Emirates "will probably have to
let go of a few more, probably up to 15 percent". A company
spokeswoman told AFP the airline had nothing to add to the report.
2. S&P warns Dubai economy to shrink 11%, cuts
property giants to junk
-11
JULY 2020
S&P Global warned that Dubai's economy was set to shrink
11% this year, as it cut the credit ratings of two of the emirate's biggest
property firms to 'junk' status.
Dubai, the Middle East's trade and tourism hub, has been hit
hard by coronavirus-containment measures and is set for an economic contraction
almost four times worse than during the global financial crisis in 2009,
S&P said.
"We now expect Dubai's real GDP will shrink by about 11%
in 2020, compounding the economic slowdown that began in 2015," S&P
analysts wrote in a note dated July 9, adding that the emirate's fiscal deficit
was expected to balloon to about 4% of GDP this year.
A growth rebound of about 5% is expected next year, but real
GDP growth will then slow to 2% through to 2023, which would be half of what it
has averaged for the last 10 years.
S&P downgraded Emaar Properties, the United Arab
Emirate's largest property firm and the builder of the world's tallest
building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, to a BB+ 'junk' rating from an investment grade
BBB- score.
It said it expected a 30%-40% slump in Emaar's earnings in 2020, a 15%-20% dive in overall revenues, while the anticipated recovery next year would be only partial.
"We expect Dubai's balance sheet to deteriorate,
reducing its ability to provide extraordinary financial support to its related
entities," S&P's analysts said.
3. Harley-Davidson to cut hundreds of jobs as part
of turnaround strategy
-10
JULY 2020
Harley-Davidson Inc on Thursday said it will lay off 500
employees this year as part of new Chief Executive Jochen Zeitz's efforts to
revive the struggling motorcycle maker.
As part of the overhaul, Chief Financial Officer John Olin
will leave the company effective immediately. Darrell Thomas, treasurer, will
become interim chief financial officer, it said.
Harley-Davidson's sales have been declining for the past five
years in the United States, its largest market, as its baby-boomer customer
base ages. The economic pain caused by the coronavirus pandemic has further
dented retail demand.
In response to weak sales, the Milwaukee-based company has
cut production, leading to 140 job cuts last month at its factories in
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The latest cuts are in addition to those layoffs, a company
spokeswoman said.
Zeitz, who took over in February, is hailed for turning
around the Puma brand's near-bankrupt business.
His restructuring strategy, dubbed The Rewire, is aimed at making Harley a leaner and more nimble organization. It seeks to reset product lines, focus on the company's core strengths and prioritize profitable markets.
4. Chinese banks prepare
contingency plans over threat of U.S. sanctions: Sources
-9 JULY 2020
Chinese state lenders are revamping contingency plans in
anticipation of U.S. legislation that could penalize banks for serving
officials who implement the new national security law for Hong Kong, sources at
five state financial institutions said.
In worst-case scenarios under consideration by the Bank of
China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the lenders are
looking at the possibility of being cut off from U.S. dollars or losing access
to U.S. dollar settlements, two sources said.
The dollar is the dominant global currency for international
payments and central bank reserves.
"We are hoping for the best, but preparing for the
worst. You never know how things will turn out," one of the sources said.
Reflecting concern over the erosion of the former British
colony's autonomy, the U.S. House and Senate unanimously passed the bill last
week. It has yet to be signed into law by President Donald Trump.
The bill calls for sanctions on Chinese officials and others who help violate Hong Kong's autonomy and on financial institutions that do business with them. But it does not spell out what the sanctions would look like.
5. Six candidates battle it out
for WTO leadership
-8 JULY 2020
Six candidates are vying to become the next head of the World
Trade Organization -- an institution which faced mammoth challenges even before
the pandemic-driven global economic crisis struck.
The window to enter the race slams shut on Wednesday, in a
speeded-up contest to replace the outgoing WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo
-- the Brazilian career diplomat who is stepping down one year early at the end
of August.
The six candidates in the running are from Egypt, Kenya,
Mexico, Moldova, Nigeria and South Korea.
The new chief must revive stalled trade talks, lay the ground
for the 2021 ministerial conference -- one of the WTO's major events -- and
thaw relations with Washington.
The United States, which has threatened to leave the WTO, has
blocked the organization’s dispute settlement appeal system since December, and
wants China moved up from the developing economies category.
In a surprise move in mid-May, Azevedo, 62, announced that he
would end his second four-year term early for personal reasons, forcing the
Geneva-based WTO's 164 member states to come up with a successor in just three
months instead of the usual nine.
6. Hong Kong’s richest man
is losing friends in China
and the West
-7
JULY 2020
To some he is the “Cockroach King,” accused of being a closet
supporter of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and a traitor to China. To
others — namely the Trump administration and its allies — he is a Chinese
Communist Party loyalist who can’t be trusted with critical infrastructure.
Li Ka-shing, who built Hong Kong’s biggest fortune by
straddling the divide between China and the West, is now finding it harder than
ever to keep both sides happy. As Beijing spars with western governments on
everything from Hong Kong to trade and the coronavirus, the 91-year-old
billionaire’s business empire has become an important test case for whether
international companies can navigate what many are calling a new Cold War.
The odds of success are getting smaller by the day, if the
stock market is any guide. CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., the largest piece of
Li’s empire, now trades at less than half the value of its net assets, the most
depressed level since the company was formed in a 2015 restructuring. The stock
has tumbled 30% over the past year, versus a 7% decline for Hong Kong’s Hang
Seng Index.
7.UK watchdog asks big 4 to separate audit practices
-6 JULY 2020
The UK dominant accounting firms must separate their audit
units from other businesses by June 2024 as the country’s accounting watchdog
reacts to shortcomings that led to the collapse of several companies.
The Financial Reporting Council is asking the so-called Big
Four — KPMG, Deloitte, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers LLC and Ernst & Young — to
agree to operational separation to ensure audit practices don't rely on
“persistent cross-subsidy from the rest of the firm,” it said Monday in an
emailed statement.
Auditors are under greater regulatory scrutiny than ever
after a serious of high-profile lapses in recent years, with Ernst &
Young's role in the collapse of German payments provider Wirecard AG now under
the microscope.
“These final principles follow extensive discussions with the
audit firms,” the regulator said. “The FRC is now asking the Big Four firms to
agree to operational separation of their audit practices on this basis and to
provide a transition timetable to complete implementation by June 30, 2024 at
the latest.”
Technology News
One Plus 8 Pro Is Better Then Motorola One Fusion Plus?-https://technicalocean2020.blogspot.com/2020/07/one-plus-8-pro-is-better-then-motorola.html
1.View from India:
silver lining for app developers
-6 JULY 2020
In Covid times when many organizations have shrunk in size with
dwindling employee strength, mobile app developers in India are preparing for a
new innings.
In an effort to promote app developers nationally, prime minister
(PM) Narender Modi has introduced an App innovation challenge. the announcement,
which was made earlier this month will roll out in two tracks aimed at tech
entrepreneurs and the start-up community.
2.How did Apple’s supply
chain evolve?
-7 JULY 2020
A visual analysis shows how Apple’s supplier network has evolved
over past years, and what these changes mean for the tech giant’s future and
competition.
Apple announced in July that it will begin making its own chips, confirming insider
prediction of a move away from Intel chip the company will processors for its
own desktop and laptop, which marks a big strategic shift.
It could affect Apple’s Intel supplier networks in nine location:
three in the US (previously four) two in china and one each in Israel, Vietnam
Malaysia and Ireland.
3.Reusable N95 Face mask
created using silicone
Rubber
-8 JULY 2020
A new type of face mask made from reusable silicone rubber has
been designed that can be sterilized multiple times and should be able to stop
viral particles as effectively as N95 masks
The durable silicon rubber face mask developed by MIT researchers
can be manufactured using injection molding a process used widely in
factories around the world. the mask also includes an N95 filter but it
requires much less N95 material than a traditional N95 mask.
N95 masks are those which meet the US national Institute for
Occupation in safety and Health (NIOSH) classification of air filter at least
95 per cent of airborne particles
4.Tik Tok deleted more
49 million videos breaking content rules
-9 JULY 2020
The popular video-sharing app said took down 49,247,689 videos in
the second half of which were removed before they were reported by users.
Around 5.5 per cent of those removed videos in December 2019 broke
the sexual activities, with another 24.8 per cent violating rule designed to
protect minors.
“Around the world tens of thousands of videos are uploaded
on Tik Tok ever minute,” the firm said in a blog post. “with every
video comes a greater responsibility on our end to protect the safety and wellbeing
of our users.”
It added as a global platform we have thousands of
people across the markets where TikTok operates working to maintain a safe and
secure app environment for everyone.”
5.EVs, batteries and the
multi-million- tone scrap
Heap
-10 JULY 2020
As sale of electric vehicles start to soar, the thorny issue of
what to do with end-of-life lithium ion batteries isn’t going away. we look at
the problem and explore the solution s.
To say that the legacy of today’s electric vehicles is set to be a
mountain of lithium-ion battery waste would be kind. in 2017 when
worldwide sales of electrics vehicles exceeded one million cars per year for
the first-time calculation from UK based University of Birmingham researchers
revealed stark figures. these vehicles alone are destined to leave some 250,000
tons of unprocessed battery waste when they eventually
reach the scrap heap in 2027 this is just the beginning.
Latest modelling from the Paris-based international energy
agency indicates the number of electric cars on the road will lie between 125
million and 220 million by 2030. give this come the middle of this century the
250,000 –tone waste figure looks meagre against the tens of millions of tons
of waste that could follow .and to make matters, recycling is playing catch-up.
