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President Kovind greets people on occasion of Mahavir Jayanti NEW DELHI: President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday greeted the countrymen on the occasion of Mahavir Jayanti. “My heartiest wishes to all the countrymen, especially the Jain community, on the auspicious occasion of Mahavir Jayanti. Lord Mahavira’s teachings of truth, non-violence, astey (non-stealing) and aparigraha (non-attachment) are still relevant today. I wish that this festival bring health, peace and prosperity in everyone’s life,” the President said in a tweet. Source: The Times of India

Nasscom appoints Infosys’ Pravin Rao as chairman Bengaluru: IT services industry body Nasscom has appointed UB Pravin Rao, chief operating officer, Infosys, as the chairman for the current financial year. The National Association of Software and Services Companies said Rao, who was previously vice- chairman of Nasscom, would succeed Keshav Murugesh, Group CEO, WNS Global Services. Nasscom said in a press release that it hosted its first-ever Executive Council meeting via a video conference to ensure business continuity during this unprecedented situation and the appointment was announced at the meeting. Source: The Economic Times

Indian-origin Lisa Nandy appointed UK shadow foreign secretary Indian-origin Lisa Nandy, who lost in the Labour leadership contest to Keir Starmer, was on Sunday appointed shadow foreign secretary as the new party leader put together his shadow cabinet to monitor the work of the Boris Johnson government. Nandy, 40, is MP from Wigan. She replaces Emily Thornberry, who was in the role in former leader Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet. The composition of Starmer’s team is seen as reflecting a purge of Corbyn’s followers. Starmer said the shadow cabinet will respond to developments related to the coronavirus pandemic. Source: Hindustan Times

Anurag Srivastava becomes new foreign ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1999 batch, took over on Monday as spokesperson of the external affairs ministry, replacing Raveesh Kumar who is set for an ambassadorial assignment. Srivastava’s last posting was as the ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union. Before his assignment as the envoy to Ethiopia, he headed the political wing at the Indian high commission in Sri Lanka and was closely involved in framing and implementing India’s development assistance projects. Source: Hindustan Times

Former Libya Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril dies from coronavirus Mahmoud Jibril, the former head of the Libyan rebel government that overthrew longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, has died from the coronavirus, his party said. Jibril, 68, died on Sunday in Cairo where he had been hospitalised for two weeks, said Khaled al-Mrimi, secretary of the National Forces Alliance, founded by Jibril in 2012. He had been admitted to the Ganzouri Specialized Hospital in Cairo on March 21 after suffering from cardiac arrest and three days later tested positive for coronavirus, hospital director Hisham Wagdy said.     “He started … recovering the...

Irish PM Leo Varadkar Rejoins Medical Register to Work for Health Service During Covid-19 Crisis Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has re-joined the medical register to help the health service during the coronavirus crisis, a government spokesman said Sunday. Dr Varadkar “has offered his services to the Health Service Executive for one session a week in areas that are within his scope of practice”, a government spokesman said in a statement. The Irish Times reported Varadkar, who graduated with a medical degree from Dublin’s Trinity University in 2003, is to work assessing patients over the phone. The son of a...

Nobel winner Abhijit Banerjee in Mamata Banerjee’s Covid-19 policy team Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said Bengal is forming a team to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and will rope in services of Nobel winner Abhijit Banerjee. “Due to lockdown, there’s no revenue. We don’t know how long we’ve to stay like this. We’ve to plan for future. Our government will form a Global Advisory Committee for Covid-19 response policy in state. Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee will be a part of the committee,” said CM Banerjee. On Friday, the Centre approved the release of Rs11,092 crore to states under State Disaster Risk...

Veteran Malayalam Music Composer MK Arjunan Passes Away in Kochi Veteran music director in the Malayalam film industry, MK Arjunan, fondly called Arjunan Master, has passed away at his residence in Palluruthy, Kochi. He was 84 and was suffering from age related ailments. In an illustrious career spanning over five decades, Arjunan scored music for more than 600 songs in over 200 Malayalam films. He also worked extensively in plays. Most of his songs were all-time super hits. His evergreen melodies have placed master Arjunan among the legendary composers of Malayalam cinema like G Devarajan, V Dakshinamoorthy and MS Baburaj....

Carrie Symonds, fiancee of Covid-19-positive UK PM Boris Johnson, recovering from symptoms of coronavirus London/New Delhi: Carrie Symonds, the fiancee of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, revealed on Saturday that she was recovering after suffering coronavirus symptoms. The development comes within days of Johnson declaring that he is quarantining himself after contracting the virus. The 32-year-old Symonds is pregnant and is reportedly expecting the couple’s first child in early summer. Taking to Twitter, UK’s soon-to-be first lady revealed yesterday that she has Covid-19 despite no official announcement of the same. She self-isolated herself after Johnson officially revealed that he is suffering from...

Shobhaa De: Diya jalao, folks! Diwali in April! “Light a diya at 9 pm on Sunday…,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told an anxious nation on Friday morning. A candle will do, he said. And an avalanche of mixed reactions followed his 9 am telecast. We had two days and 12 hours to get our diyas and candles and our emotions together. The initial reaction was one of immense relief… citizens had been prepared for the worst: an extension of the nationwide lockdown beyond April 14. Then came the disbelief. Considering that the Railways had opened online bookings (and sold out within...