LIVE updates: BJP to contest all 117 Punjab seats, says state party chief

Bharatiya Janata Party chief JP Nadda on Sunday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking the "bold decision" of lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic

5:28 PM

No plan to leave BJP, will play role of conscience-keeper: Tathagata Roy

BJP leader Tathagata Roy on Sunday asserted that he will continue to play the role of his party's "conscience-keeper", a day after the saffron camp national vice-president, Dilip Ghosh, told him that he was free to leave the camp if he was "upset and ashamed" over its style of functioning.

 

Roy clarified that he has no plan of quitting the organisation.

 

He took to Twitter on Sunday and said, "I am being deluged with phone calls since yesterday. Let me assure you that I am not voluntarily leaving the party."

5:19 PM

Q2 earnings, macro data to set market trends next week, say analysts

Quarterly earnings from IT majors Infosys, Wipro and HCL Technologies, macroeconomic data and global trends would drive sentiments in the equity market in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said.

 

Equity markets would remain closed on Friday for 'Dussehra'.

 

"Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech will come out with their numbers this week therefore we are going to see lots of volatility in the market, especially in the IT sector, said Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart.

4:38 PM

Has Union govt privatised prisons, central probe agencies? Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday took a swipe at the BJP, wondering if the Union government has privatised prisons and central probe agencies.

 

Speaking to reporters here, Raut said every day BJP leaders, who recently joined the party and had "no connection with the party ideology", were threatening to put political rivals in jail.

 

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is privatising all public and government assets. Have prisons and central probe agencies been privatised? Are prisons your private property?" the Rajya Sabha member sought to know.

 

4:37 PM

TMC urges Centre to extend free ration scheme for 6 more months

The TMC on Sunday urged the Centre to extend its free ration scheme under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for another six months amid reports that the programme might be discontinued after November 30.

 

The scheme was launched in March last year, after the Covid-19 pandemic struck, leaving lakhs of people in distress.

 

Veteran TMC MP Sougata Roy told reporters that he would soon write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking an extension of the scheme.

4:36 PM

Google Pixel Fold to have same 12.2MP main camera from Pixel 5: Report

US-based search engine giant Google is planning to launch its first foldable phone 'Pixel Fold' and now a new report has claimed that it will use the same 12.2MP main camera that's found on the Pixel 5.

 

According to an APK teardown performed by 9to5Google, Google's upcoming foldable Pixel smartphone will not pack the recently unveiled camera setup of the Pixel 6 series.

4:35 PM

Short break between IPL and Word Cup would have helped, says outgoing bowling coach

A day before his last match as India's bowling coach, Bharat Arun did admit that both toss and bubble fatigue contributed to India's indifferent performance in the T20 World Cup, where they lost to Pakistan and New Zealand in Super 12 stage.

 

Asked if the absence of a gap between IPL and T20 World Cup became a factor, Arun responded in the positive.

 

"Being on the road for six months is huge ask. Players haven't gone home and I think they had a short break after the last IPL got suspended.

4:16 PM

Musk says he will sell $24 bn of Tesla stocks if Twitter votes for it

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has said that he is prepared to sell about $24 billion worth of his electric vehicle company Tesla's stocks if his Twitter followers vote for it.

 

According to the auto-tech website Electrek, the Tesla CEO said that it is to address the accusation that he is not paying taxes

4:07 PM

DATA STORY: India logs 10,853 cases; 526 new deaths added to toll

India on Sunday reported a net reduction of 2,105 in active coronavirus cases to take its count to 144,845. India’s share of global active coronavirus cases now stands at 0.79 per cent (one in 126). The country is thirteenth among the most affected countries by active cases. Read more

4:05 PM

On track to report Rs 1,000 cr revenue, says WayCool Foods CEO

Agriculture supply chain startup WayCool Foods and Products Pvt Ltd is 'on track' to report Rs 1,000 crore top line during the current financial year, nearly tripling its revenues registered last year, a top company official said.

 

The city-based company was also in the 'process of a large fundraising' to augment its "technology platform" and also fulfill its plan of having a presence in every pin code of Southern and Western regions, WayCool Foods and Products Pvt Ltd., chief executive officer and co-founder Karthik Jayaraman said.

4:04 PM

China Oct exports beat forecasts, offer buffer to slowing domestic economy

China's export growth slowed in October but beat forecasts, helped by booming global demand ahead of winter holiday seasons, an easing power crunch and an improvement in supply chains that had been badly disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

 

However, imports missed analysts' expectations, likely pointing to the overall weakness in domestic demand.

 

Outbound shipments jumped 27.1% in October from a year earlier, slower than September's 28.1% gain. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast growth would ease to 24.5%.

4:04 PM

Vice Admiral Swaminathan new Chief of Staff of Western Naval Command

Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan has assumed charge as Chief of Staff of Western Naval Command, a defence official said on Sunday.

 

Commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1987, Admiral Swaminathan, who took charge on Thursday, is a specialist in Communication and Electronic Warfare and an alumnus of National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, the Joint Services Command and Staff College, Shrivenham, United Kingdom, the College of Naval Warfare, Karanja and the United States Naval War College, NewPort, Rhode Island, a release said.

4:04 PM

BJP sharpens Hindutva agenda, targets Akhilesh Yadav ahead of UP polls

The BJP is likely to make the construction of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya and 'Jai Shri Ram' the major issues in the next year's Assembly polls in five states, especially in Uttar Pradesh, where it is strengthening its connect with cadre vote bank and is targeting the main opposition -- Samajwadi Party (SP) and its chief Akhilesh Yadav.

 

Talking to IANS, a veteran BJP national leader said: "For us, Lord Shri Ram and the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya was never an election agenda, but an issue that once isolated us in Indian politics. It is necessary to tell the public about the achievements related to it."

4:03 PM

Sidhu hits back at Punjab AG, accuses him of subverting justice

A day after Punjab Advocate General A P S Deol accused Navjot Singh Sidhu of spreading misinformation and obstructing him, the state Congress chief on Sunday hit back, alleging that the AG's "earnest inaction" was subverting justice in the sacrilege and drug cases.

 

The advocate general had on Saturday accused Sidhu of obstructing the functioning of the state government and his office, and "spreading misinformation to gain political advantage".

 

In a series of tweets on Sunday, Sidhu lambasted Deol, saying "justice is blind but the people of Punjab are not".

4:03 PM

Covid-19 AY.4.2 variant frequency too low to be of concern, says INSACOG

The frequency of the new AY.4.2 variant of Covid-19 is less than 0.1 percent of all VOI/VOC and is too low to be of concern at this time, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) said.

 

Its weekly bulletin said the vaccine effectiveness does not seem to be different for AY.4.2 when compared to other Delta variants.

 

The INSACOG said that AY.4.2 variant of Covid-19 is less than 0.1 percent of all of all variants of concern and variant of interest (VOC/VOI) and is too low to be of concern at this time.

4:02 PM

TikTok emerges as most downloaded non-gaming app worldwide for Oct

Short video platform TikTok emerged as the most downloaded non-gaming app worldwide for October 2021 with more than 57 million installs.

 

The countries with the largest number of installs were from Douyin in China at 17 per cent, followed by the US at 11 per cent, reports Sensor Tower.

 

Instagram was the second most installed non-gaming app worldwide last month with more than 56 million installs, which represented a 31 per cent increase from October 2020.