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Sonia Gandhi Should Realise Only Democracy Can Save the Congress Now I write this as a 79-year-old citizen with no formal political affiliation but a lifelong allegiance to the ideals of the anti-colonial freedom movement enshrined in the preamble of the Indian constitution. I hold to the view that, contrary to the monochromatic western models of nationalism, it was a monumental achievement of the leaders of that movement led by the Indian National Congress to forge a post-colonial nation and republic from an inclusive and pluralist vision. I have also the faith that, after all the turmoil the Congress has suffered...

Car crashes more dangerous than coronavirus: Tesla CEO Elon Musk NEW DELHI: Tesla and SpaceX CEO and tech billionaire Elon Musk thinks that the risk of death from coronavirus infection is less than the risk of dying in a car accident. As per a report by BuzzFeed News, Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently wrote to SpaceX employees an e-mail in which he said: “As a basis for comparison, the risk of death from C19 is *vastly* less than the risk of death from driving your car home.” He went on to add: “There are about 36 thousand automotive deaths per...

Warren Buffett joked that he’s drinking more Coke to avoid catching coronavirus Warren Buffett famously guzzles five cans of Coke a day. The billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO joked in a Yahoo Finance interview this week that he’s boosted his intake recently to avoid catching the new coronavirus. “I’m drinking a little more Coca-Cola actually, that seems to have warded off everything else in life,” he said, chuckling. Buffett switched from Pepsi to Coke after 48 years and invested in the company after an old neighbor, Don Keough, became Coke’s president and sent him samples of Cherry Coke in...

UK will move to shielding over-70s in coming weeks to tackle virus: Health Minister LONDON: Isolating people aged over 70 for up to four months is in Britain’s action plan to tackle coronavirus and it will be implemented in the coming weeks, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday. Asked by Sky News whether people would be told to isolate for up to four months, Hancock said: “That is in the plan, yes, it’s clearly in the action plan… We will be setting it out with more detail when it’s the right time to do so because we absolutely appreciate...

Virus hit to economy likely worse than 2008 crisis: Singapore PM SINGAPORE: Singapore’s prime minister warned on Saturday that the negative economic effects of the coronavirus outbreak will likely be deeper and more prolonged than the 2008 financial crisis. “The economic hit will likely be more serious than the global financial crisis , and longer-lasting too, even beyond the end of the pandemic,” Lee Hsien Loong said in a Facebook post. He said the pandemic will likely last at least this year, and possibly longer. With 200 infections, the Asian travel hub has signalled that there is a chance of...

SAARC coronavirus video meet: Afghanistan seeks Indian satellite for distance learning to contain infection The Saarc videoconference for thrashing out a joint strategy to combat coronavirus disease on Sunday evening saw the Afghan president Ashraf Ghani propose a common framework for telemedicine and a mechanism to ensure the flow of essential goods between the member countries among other things. Ghani said Afghanistan was in an unknown territory and its vulnerability came from the open borders with Iran which is severely-hit by the disease that has taken close to 5.5 thousand lives globally including over 700 in Iran. Source: Hindustan Times

Coronavirus pandemic: UFC to fight on, tournament president Dana White says sports world is ‘panicking’ Los Angeles: The UFC is determined to fight on amid the coronavirus pandemic. While leagues and organisers across sports cancelled or delayed competition this week, the UFC proceeded with its plans to hold a fan-free event Saturday night in Brasilia, Brazil. Next weekend, the promotion still plans to stage a full fight card with fans inside London’s O2 Arena. The UFC hasn’t cancelled any competitions, even those previously scheduled for areas where large gatherings are now banned. Instead, the promotion has moved events scheduled for 28 March...

Brad Hogg rates IPL and PSL on a scale of 1 to 10 The Pakistan Super League (PSL) was founded in 2016 by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) with five teams. The initial few seasons of the T20 league was played in the UAE due to security concerns in the country. Slowly but surely, the PCB decided to bring some matches back into the country which started with the knockout games and the final and then holding a part of the tournament in Pakistan as well. Seeing their favorite Pakistani and international cricketers playing in front of them was a...

COVID 19 effect: Southern star Utthara Unni postpones wedding MUMBAI: Professional Bharatanatyam dancer and actress Utthara Unni has decided to postpone her wedding due to the coronavirus outbreak. Utthara on Friday took to Instagram to announce: “As the world is going through an epidemic outbreak of the coronavirus, we have decided to postpone our wedding celebrations until the situation calms down. We regret to inform this to everyone who had booked their tickets in advance to join our joyous events.” However, Utthara, who is getting married to Nithesh S Nair, “will be having the ritualistic Thaali-kettu ceremony in the temple...

OnePlus 8 spotted in the hands of Robert Downey Jr ahead of rumoured April launch OnePlus 8 may have been just spotted in the hands of Robert Downey Jr. ahead of the expected April launch. For those unaware, the Avengers star is the global brand ambassador for OnePlus. The alleged live-images only show the OnePlus 8 rear design in shiny new orange colour and what looks like a leather finish. It reiterates the fact that the flagship will have vertically arranged triple rear cameras with LED flash and PDAF aligned parallelly. Unfortunately, the front-design can’t be seen but recently leaked renders show a punch-hole design...