Month: November 2020

Categories
-Top News USA

Biden leads Trump in most national,state-level polls

Combo photo shows U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump attend their respective events on different occasions. (Xinhua/IANS)

Currently, Biden was ahead of Trump in a 52 per cent to 44 per cent vote nationally…reports Asia Lite News

  • Joe Biden.

Ahead of Americans heading to the polls to cast their ballots on Tuesday in one of the most-anticipated presidential elections, Democratic nominee Joe Biden was leading against President Donald Trump in most of the national and state-level polls.

On the eve of Election Day, Biden was in the lead in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio and Georgia, which all voted for Trump in the 2016 election, The Hill news website reported.

The FiveThirtyEight forecasting model has given Biden a 90 per cent chance of winning the election.

Currently, Biden was ahead of Trump in a 52 per cent to 44 per cent vote nationally.

In Pennsylvania, where the two candidates spent the weekend campaigning in a last-ditch efforts to garner votes, an NBC News-Marist poll released on Monday place Biden ahead with a 5-point lead, 51 percent to 46 percent.

Meanwhile, the RealClearPolitics polling average gave the former President a 4.3 percentage point lead over the President.

But the state’s results won’t be immediately due to the large number of early and mail-in votes that have already been cast.

  • Combo photo shows U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump attend their respective events on different occasions. (Xinhua/IANS)



In Michigan, where Trump campaigned on Monday and Biden made a joint appearance with former President Barack Obama on October 31, the latter was ahead in most of the polls, with a 7 percentage point lead.

Meanwhile in Wisconsin, a traditionally Democratic state which flipped in Trump’s favour four years ago, Biden had a commanding lead in most of the surveys conducted last month.

The Real Clear Politics average gave him a 6.6 percentage point lead over Trump, while according to FiveThirtyEight, the former President has a a 94 per cent chance of winning the state.

In Florida, a make or break state, Biden and Trump were neck and neck despite the former President leading in several polls.

A Quinnipiac University poll released on Monday showed Biden up 5 points in Florida, 47 per cent to 43 per cent.

The RealClearPolitics average shows the former Vice President leading Trump by just 1.4 percentage points.

In Minnesota Ohio, and Nevada, the former President was leading by 4.3, 4 and 3.6 percentage points, respectively.

Meanwhile in Arizona, both candidates were tied at 48 per cent among likely voters, according to an NBC News-Marist poll released on Monday.

In North Carolina, Trump was leading Biden by half a percentage point, the RealClearPolitics Polling average revealed, while an Emerson College poll released last week shows the candidates tied.

Also read:Biden tops Trump by 10 points in national poll

Categories
India News Sport

Curtains Down For PV Sindhu’s Illustrious Career

PV Sindhu

Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu on Monday gave a “mini heart attack” to sports fraternity with a social media post where she said: “I RETIRE”.

In a lengthy post on her official Twitter handle, Sindhu said that the Denmark Open was the final straw and she has decided to bid adieu to the game.

“Denmark Open was the final straw. I RETIRE,” the Rio Olympics silver medallist said.

“I have been thinking about coming clean with my feelings for a while now. I admit I have been struggling to deal with it. It just feels so wrong, you know. That’s why I’m writing today to tell you that I’m done. It’s understandable if you’re shocked or confused but by the time you finish reading this you would have learnt about my point of view, and hopefully, will support it too,” she added.

However, what she was actually talking was about the negativity which has spread amid the Covid-19 pandemic which has claimed lakhs of lives across the world.

“This pandemic has been an eye-opener for me. I could train hard to fight the toughest of opponents, tooth and nail, right till the final shot of the game. I have done it before, I can do it again. But how do I defeat this invisible virus that has the entire world in a fix? It has been months at home and we still question ourselves every time we step out. Internalising all this and reading about so many heart-breaking stories online has got me to question a lot about myself and this world we live in. Not being able to represent India in the Denmark Open was the last straw,” she added.

PV Sindhu

“Today, I choose to retire from this current sense of unrest. I retire from this negativity, the constant fear, uncertainty. I choose to retire from a complete lack of control over the unknown. Most importantly, I choose to retire from substandard hygiene standards and our lackadaisical attitude towards the virus,” she added.

The 25-year-old further called upon people not to digress and be prepared in order to defeat coronavirus.

“The choices we make today will define our future and the future of the next generation. We cannot afford to let them down.”

Admitting that she might have given her fans a “mini-heart attack”, Sindhu stated that she did so as to catch the attention of people in these unfrequented times. However, she also made it clear that she will be participating in the upcoming Asia Open.

“I may have given you guys a mini-heart attack; the unfrequented times require unprecedented measures. I guess, I need to get you guys to sit and take notice. That being said, we must be hopeful about the light shining at the end of the tunnel,” the reigning world champion said.

“Yes, Denmark Open didn’t happen but that won’t stop me from training. When life comes at you, one must come back twice as hard. So will I for the Asia Open. I refuse to give up without putting a solid fight. I refuse to give up without conquering this fear. And will carry on doing so till we have a safer world,” she added.

Also Read: ‘Couldn’t Do Ordinary Stuff With MS Dhoni Around’

Categories
Cricket Sport

Capitals Beat Royal Challengers, Both Qualify For Playoffs

Delhi Capitals (DC) defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by six wickets in their last league match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to enter the playoffs with a second-place finish on the points table. RCB, too, qualified for the playoffs by virtue of stretching DC to the 19th over and maintaining their net run rate above Kolkata Knight Riders.

RCB’s final spot on the points table will, however, be decided after Tuesday’s match between SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Mumbai Indians (MI). If SRH, who are on 12 points, win, RCB will finish fourth but if MI win, they will finish third and KKR will finish fourth.

As for DC, Monday’s win guarantees them two shots at entering the final, the first of which will be on Thursday against Mumbai Indians in the Qualifier 1.

Shikhar Dhawan (54 off 41 balls) and Ajinkya Rahane (60 off 46) helped DC scale the 152-run target set by RCB. They added 88 runs for the second wicket to keep DC on track after Prithvi Shaw suffered yet another failure, getting bowled by Mohammed Siraj early in the innings for nine.

RCB spin attack, comprising Shahbaz Ahmed (2/26), Washington Sundar (1/24) and Yuzvendra Chahal (0-29), ensured that DC were stretched beyond 17.3 overs to be ahead of KKR’s net run rate.

Earlier, after DC won the toss and elected to bowl, South African fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje shared five wickets to help them restrict RCB to 152/7 wickets in 20 overs.

Nortje took three wickets for 33 while Rabada took two for 30 as RCB found the going tough.

Opener Devdutt Padikkal made 50 off 41 balls with five fours while AB de Villiers scored 35 off 21 deliveries.
Skipper Virat Kohli made 29 and shared a 57-run partnership for the second wicket with Padikkal.

Brief scores: RCB 152/7 wkts in 20 overs (D Padikkal 50, AB de Villiers 35, V Kohli 29, A Nortje 3/33, K Rabada 2/30) lost to DC 154/4 in 19 overs (A Rahane 60, S Dhawan 54, S Ahmed 2/26) by 6 wkts

Categories
Bollywood Celebrity Films Lite Blogs

SRK@55: Wishes Poured In On Social Media

Shah Rukh Khan turned 55 on Monday and wishes poured in on social media from friends, colleagues and fans across the globe.

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana expressed his love for Shah Rukh Khan saying the latter taught him how to love.

“Aapko dekha… aapse pyaar kiya. Pyaar kaise karte hain, aapse seekha. Aap jaise banne ki koshish kar rahe hain. Par aap jaisa koi ho hi nahin sakta,” he wrote alongside an image of him standing next to SRK.

SRK turns 55: Ayushmann wishes with a quirky twist

Actor Rajkummar Rao, who calls him big fans of SRK, took to Twitter and shared a throwback clip of him rehearsing with SRK on the superstar’s hit song, “Chaiyya chaiyya”.

“Happy birthday @iamsrk sir. From dancing on your songs in all my school functions to standing outside your house for hours and to sharing stage with you and having such wonderful conversations with you. It’s always such an honour. I love you a lot and will always pray for your good health and happiness,” Rajkummar tweeted.

Cose friend and actress Juhi Chawla declared she would plant 500 trees.

“I plant 500 trees for #ShahRukh on his birthday for #CauveryCalling. From co-star, co-producer to co-owner ….dotted with much laughter and some tears, it’s been a long, colourful and eventful journey,” she tweeted.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with actor Shah Rukh Khan.

Actresses Anushka Sharma and Shilpa Shetty, who made their debut opposite SRK in “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi” and “Baazigar” respectively, have also wished him on social media.

“A very happy birthday to my first hero, my Baazigar. I pray you always get all that your heart desires and a lot more, because you deserve all of it, Shah,” Shilpa wrote.

Anushka praised SRK for his “wit”.

“To your wit, charm, intelligence and openheartedness! Have a legendary birthday Shah Rukh,” Anushka conveyed.

Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan shared a still from their song “Marjaani” (“Billu”) and wrote: “Happy birthday King Khan… Let’s always have fun dancing. You are the warmest, most gracious superstar we have… Keep soaring @iamsrk.”

Actress Madhuri Dixit Nene tweeted: “Whenever we meet, there’s masti, magic & loads of love Heart suit Here’s wishing you a very happy birthday @iamsrk. Stay safe and hope to see you soon.”

SRK is currently in the UAE along with his family to support his cricket team, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

His daughter Suhana, too, wished him on social media.

Suhana also wished her best friend Shanaya Kapoor, who turned 21 on Monday.

Sharing a throwback photo from Shah Rukh and Shanaya’s birthday celebrations last year, Suhana wrote: “Love… Happy birthday to my best friends.”

Shah Rukh Khan.

A few days back, SRK urged his fans not to gather outside his home, Mannat, on his birthday due to the pandemic. Traditionally fans gather around Shah Rukh’s residence in Mumbai to catch a glimpse of their star on his special day.

“Please I recommend nobody should collect in crowds. My birthday or wherever! Iss baar ka pyaar…thodha door se yaar,” SRK had requested.

Also Read-‘South Producers Take More Risk To Do Experiments’

Categories
Economy India News

Five Coal Mines On Auction Garner Wide Interest

The much-anticipated auctions for commercial mining of coal started on Monday with five coal mines put on the block.

According to the Coal Ministry, the mining blocks put on auction generated wide interest from bidders who had submitted their bids for various blocks on offer.

Hindalco has put the highest bid for Chakla mine in Jharkhand, while Vedanta was the highest bidder for Radhikapur West mine in Odisha.

Aurobindo Realty and Infrastructure was the highest bidder for Takli Jena Bellora North and Takli Jena Bellora South in Maharashtra.

Yazdani International and JMS Mining were the highest bidder for Marki-Mangli II (Maharashtra) and Urtan (Madhya Pradesh) coal blocks, respectively.

A Coal Ministry statement said that first day of auction of coal mines for sale of coal saw strong and healthy competition among the bidders.

The ministry had launched the auction of coal mines for commercial mining on June 18, pursuant to a two stage forward auction process, comprising of initial offer and final offer, wherein the bidders have to bid for the percentage revenue share over the reserve price.

In all the mines auctioned, the final offer received is above 10 per cent signalling strong demand of coal mines in the market, it said.

Also Read: 41 Coal Mines Offered for Commercial Extraction

Also Read: Exports to China come to the rescue India’s aluminium sector

Categories
-Top News USA

Trump Hints Firing Fauci After Election Results

Trump campaign announces second term agenda.

The slow explosion of the Donald Trump-Anthony Fauci bombshell is heading into all too familiar territory…reports Asian Lite News

“Fire Fauci”, a Florida crowd chanted, well past midnight with 24 hours to go before US election day. Trump’s response: “Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election.”

Trump liked the advice. “I appreciate it,” he told his supporters in must-win Florida, which delivers 29 electoral votes to the winner.

The chanting began after Trump repeated a familiar trope: That the virus would get less news coverage after Election Day.

In the process, Trump set in motion a classic shoot-the-messenger tactic and found a crowdsourced post-election target: America’s top infectious diseases specialist Anthony Fauci.

Fauci has become increasingly vocal about Trump’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, revealing that he and the president have not spoken for months and raised the alarm that the “stars” are aligned all wrong going into the winter of 2020.

In recent days, Trump has called Fauci and his ilk “idiots” and claimed that Americans are tired of “Covid, Covid, Covid” all the time.

Fauci has pinned America’s failure to contain the virus on the lack of a uniform guidance from the top, saying: “I’ve always felt that uniformity of response and consistency of response is always a good thing. People know where they stand, know what they need to do and it was certain fundamental things that have not been adhered to consistently.”

Trump’s comments in Florida came at a time when the US has hit another grim world record – it crossed 100,000 daily cases. America leads the world in Covid-19 caseload and deaths. More than 230,000 Americans have perished since the virus entered the homeland early this year.

Also Read-Veteran British journalist Robert Fisk dies at 74

Categories
Food Health Lite Blogs

Healthy Diet To Reduce Cancer Risk

Lifestyle changes for a healthy monsoon. (Photo Courtesy: Turmeric tea/unsplash)
High-Fibre Diet May Lower Colon Cancer Risk

A healthy lifestyle which includes exercise and a nutrient-dense diet may help reduce the risk of cancer. Foods which are rich in antioxidants and fiber have been found to regulate oestrogen and inhibit cancer cell formation. Small changes to a routine can help reduce the risk of breast cancer. Rohit Shelatkar, VP at Vitabiotics, Fitness & Nutrition Expert lists down some superfoods to add in ones diet to reduce the risk of breast cancer…writes Puja Gupta.

Walnuts: Walnuts are packed with Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phytosterols which helps regulate oestrogen levels and slow the growth of breast cancer cells.

Superfoods that can lower the risk of breast cancer. (Photo: unsplash)

Walnuts have been known to help fight inflammation which in itself is beneficial in avoiding heart disease and a host of other chronic conditions, but it is also linked to cancer.

Blueberries: Research suggests, that blueberries can reduce the growth of breast cancer tumours by causing cancerous cells to self-destruct, a process called apoptosis. Frozen wild blueberries are just as antioxidant and nutrient-packed as fresh. One can consume blueberries with smoothies, oatmeal or yogurt.

Sweet Potatoes: The sweet potato can inhibit proliferation and can regulate cell growth, defend and repair them. Studies have shown that women who eat sweet potatoes on a regular basis are at a 17 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer.

Flaxseeds: Flaxseed has all kinds of amazing health benefits, including lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. Flaxseed is the richest source of lignans, a type of antioxidant. Dietary flaxseed has the potential to reduce tumour growth in patients with breast cancer. One can add flaxseeds to smoothies, yogurt parfaits, or mix in the morning oatmeal.

Garlic: Garlic gets its cancer-busting properties from allicin, a component of garlic that’s been shown to inhibit the division of cancer cells. Other cancer risks also found to lower lung, stomach, and prostate, possibly due to the flavonols present in the garlic. Eating garlic raw can maximize the anti-cancer effects.

Lifestyle changes for a healthy monsoon. (Photo Courtesy: Turmeric tea/unsplash)

Green Tea: Green tea is packed antioxidants with immense health benefits. One of those benefits includes having anti-breast cancer properties.

Decreasing the number of fatty foods in the diet and replacing them with whole foods will reduce the risk and have been shown to improve the survival rate of breast cancer patients. While no single food is guaranteed to keep oneself cancer-free, changing the diet to include more of these superfoods that can help fight breast cancer would prove beneficial.

Also Read-Taish: A Non-Linear Visual Treat

Categories
Business Tech Lite

India’s data centre market to reach $5bn value by 2025: Crisil

As digital adoption grows amid the pandemic across the spectrum, the data centre industry in India is likely to touch $1.2 billion in the fiscal 2020 and is expected to log a rapid 25-30 per cent compound annual growth rate CAGR to reach $4.5-$5 billion by fiscal 2025, a new report said on Monday.

The Indian data centre industry, which accounts for 1-2 per cent of the global pie, is estimated to have clocked a modest CAGR of 15-20% since fiscal 2016 to touch $1billion in fiscal 2019, according to a Crisil Research report.

The data centre growth rode on a sharp increase in Internet penetration from 30 per cent in fiscal 2016 to 55 per cent in fiscal 2019.

“Also, on account of COVID-19, data consumption has seen sharp a 38 per cent rise on-year in the first quarter of the financial year 2021,” the findings showed.

The growth drivers include an exponential surge in data being generated and a growing need for local data storage in line with the government’s thrust on data localisation.

The data centre industry has been largely concentrated in top four cities, with Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai accounting for 60 per cent of total data centre sites and more than 75 per cent in terms of IT load capacities.

In terms of IT load capacities, Mumbai alone accounts for over 40 per cent of total installed capacity, given the availability of required infrastructure in terms of adequate linkages with global cable landing stations, reliable power supply, broadband connectivity and skilled manpower.

Crisil.

“Some state governments already have incentives in place for the data centre industry. For instance, Maharashtra and Telangana are offering incentives in land and electricity along with a special single-window clearance for permissions to set up data centres,” the report mentioned.

However, the report expects the share of top 4 cities to decline marginally in the next five years as lack of space and higher rental costs along with improved infrastructure availability in next rung cities leads to some larger hyperscale data centres being set up in those cities.

The industry capacity, which stood at 360MW in fiscal 2020, is expected to expand more than threefold to reach 1,100-1,200MW by fiscal 2025 “on the back of $4-5 billion investments announced over the past three years for both brownfield and greenfield expansion of projects”.

The increase in data volume, said the report, would be supported by high growth in e-commerce, increase in usage of social media, greater preference for over the top (OTT) platforms, the government’s impetus to the Digital India initiative and rapid digitalisation of services across industries (Industry 4.0 and 5G).

“Data localisation norms initiated by the government and regulators, that mandates storage of sensitive data within India, which, in turn, would support development of local data centers,” it added.

According to Nasscom, as of fiscal 2020, more than three-fourth of the total IT infrastructure spend was concentrated towards captive and co-location based operating models.

By fiscal 2025, however, the share of infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) in IT infrastructure spends is forecast to increase to more than 40 per cent.

The Crisil research expects the shift towards IaaS to continue as rapid adoption of Industry 4.0-led revolution leads to exponential growth in data volume and increases the need for scalability of resources.

Also Read: Global spending on cloud set to cross $1 trillion: Report

Also Read: Cloud business powers Microsoft to a 12% growth

Categories
-Top News UK News

Veteran British journalist Robert Fisk dies at 74

Veteran journalist, author, and commentator Robert Fisk has died of a suspected stroke at the age of 74.

According to BBC, he had been admitted to St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin after falling ill at his home on Friday, and died shortly afterwards, the Irish Times reported.

He was born in Maidstone, Kent in 1946, and later took Irish citizenship.

Fisk won numerous awards for his reporting on the Middle East.

His sharp criticism of the US and Israel, and of Western foreign policy also drew controversy.

Covering wars in the Balkans, Middle East and North Africa for UK newspapers over five decades, Fisk was described by the New York Times, in 2005, as “probably the most famous foreign correspondent in Britain”, the BBC reported.

Irish President Michael D Higgins has expressed his “great sadness” about Fisk’s death on Sunday.

“With his passing the world of journalism and informed commentary on the Middle East has lost one of its finest commentators,” he said in a statement.

Categories
Business

PhonePe surpasses 250 million users

Digital payments platform PhonePe on Monday claimed it has crossed the 250 million registered users in India.

The company also reported over 100 million monthly active users (MAU) and 2.3 billion app sessions in October.

“Our next target is to cross 500 million registered users by December 2022,” said Sameer Nigam, CEO and Founder of PhonePe.

PhonePe said it processed a record 925 million transactions in the month on October, with an annual TPV (total payment value) run rate of $277 billion.

The company also processed 835 Million UPI transactions in October, for a market leading share of over 40 per cent.

“We are on a mission to make digital payments a way of life for every Indian citizen,” Nigam added.

In August, the digital payments platform said that it will enable digital payments for over 2.5 crore small merchants across India in the next one year.

Also Read: Exports to China come to the rescue India’s aluminium sector

Also Read: Air India Express records highest ever profit