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Showing posts from June, 2020

The Pink City Jaipur

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Jaipur is a capital city in the Indian state of Rajasthan , it is called ‘pink city’ due to the pink color buildings. It is the first city in India that is planned as per Vastu Shastra and the Shilpa Shastra. The city was founded by the ruler of Amer Jai Singh II in 1727 after whom the city was named and was planned and designed by Vidyadhar Bhattacharya. In 2019 UNESCO World Heritage Committee included the pink city among its World Heritage Sites. Rajasthan is a state that was ruled by the Royal Hindus, hence Hindu arts, forts, and sculptures can be found here. The King of Amer who ruled the regions of Rajasthan from 1699 to 1743, planned to shift his capital from Amer to another place due to the increase in population along with the scarcity of water. He consulted many architects for the plan and later Vidyadhar Bhattacharya’s plan was accepted and was decided to shift the capital by forming a new city 11 km away from Amer. The construction started in 1726 and took almost four ye

Wirecard ex-CEO Markus Braun arrested for missing $2.1 billion

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Markus Braun , the former CEO of scandal-hit digital payments firm Wirecard, has been arrested after the company confirmed that the missing $2.1 billion did not exist, German Police told the media on Tuesday. Munich prosecutors confirmed that Braun was arrested on suspicion of having inflated the digital payment company's balance sheet and sales through fake transactions, reports CNN. He did this in order to make the company more attractive to investors and customers. Braun was likely to be released from custody on a bail of $5.7 million, according to the prosecutors. Earlier, Germany-based Wirecard said on Monday that 1.9 billion euros (nearly $2.1 billion) that were supposed to be in its accounts simply did not exist at all. "The Management Board of Wirecard assesses on the basis of further examination that there is a prevailing likelihood that the bank trust account balances in the amount of 1.9 billion EUR do not exist," the company said in a statement. Braun re

Amazon launches $2bn fund to invest in climate change mitigation

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 Amazon has announced a $2 billion venture capital fund to invest in companies whose products and services will facilitate the transition to a zero carbon economy. The announcement is part of the Climate Pledge -- a commitment to reach the Paris Agreement ten years early and be net-zero carbon by 2040 � which was co-founded by Amazon and non-profit Global Optimism last year. Verizon, Reckitt Benckiser (RB), and Infosys recently joined the pledge. "The Climate Pledge Fund will look to invest in the visionary entrepreneurs and innovators who are building products and services to help companies reduce their carbon impact and operate more sustainably," Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder, and CEO said in a statement on Tuesday. "Companies from around the world of all sizes and stages will be considered, from pre-product startups to well-established enterprises. Each prospective investment will be judged on its potential to accelerate the path to zero carbon and help protect the

Sri Lanka's COVID-19 recoveries surpass 1,500-mark

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The number of COVID-19 recoveries in Sri Lanka surpassed the 1,500-mark on Monday after 28 patients were discharged from hospital, according to the Health Ministry. To date, 1,950 people have been infected with the virus after the first local patient was detected in March out of which 1,526 patients have recovered, bringing down the total active cases to 424, reports Xinhua news agency citing the Ministry as saying. A total of 11 deaths have been reported from the virus in the country so far. Sri Lankan authorities said last week that no public transmission of the virus had been reported since April 30 but the public had to maintain strict health guidelines such as social distancing and wearing face masks when leaving homes. The island country is gradually returning to normalcy as capital Colombo resumed economic activities late last month after being shut for over two months. Read More:  https://www.uitvconnect.com/newspaper/sri-lankas-covid-19-recoveries-surpass-1500-mark

Beijing PepsiCo factory suspends production after COVID-19 cases

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A PepsiCo food factory in Beijing has suspended production after eight COVID-19 cases were found, some of whom had been to the Chinese capital's wholesale food market where a fresh coronavirus outbreak was reported last week, authorities said. Two of the cases from the factory in Daxing district had been to the Xinfadi wholesale market, Xinhua news agency quoted Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing center for disease control and prevention, as saying to the media on Sunday. The factory has initiated an emergency response and took measures including suspending the production and operation, sealing the products, disinfecting the environment and quarantining the personnel, according to Fan Zhimin, an official with the PepsiCo Greater China Region. The information at the website of the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System shows the suspended factory mainly processes grains and produces potato-related and puffed food Beijing has reported over 200 domestical

Australia hit by massive cyber attack, Chinese hackers suspected

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A massive cyber attack hit Australian Government and businesses on Friday which is reported to be handiwork of a nation-state backed hacking group and China is top on the suspect list, the media reported. In an urgent press conference in Canberra, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the ongoing, large-scale hack was being executed by a "sophisticated, state-based cyber actor", reports  www.news.com.au . "This activity is targeting Australian organisations across a range of sectors, including all levels of government, industry, political organisations, education, health, essential service providers and operators of other critical infrastructure," Morrison told the media. According to The New Daily, government agencies believe "China is behind cyber attacks on Australian institutions, including hospitals and state-owned utilities". The report quoted ABC television as saying that government sources had confirmed the attacker was China, while Australian Str

Beijing reports 21 new confirmed COVID-19 cases

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Beijing reported 21 new confirmed domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases and three new asymptomatic cases on Wednesday, the municipal health commission said on Thursday. By Wednesday, Beijing had reported 578 confirmed domestically transmitted cases, including 411 who had been discharged from hospitals after recovery and nine deaths, Xinhua reported. There were still 158 patients receiving medical treatment, and 15 asymptomatic cases were under medical observation. So far, 174 imported cases have been reported in Beijing, with one still hospitalized. Read More:  https://www.uitvconnect.com/newspaper/beijing-reports-21-new-confirmed-covid-19-cases

Benjamin Netanyahu says Map for West Bank annexation isn't ready

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the map for annexing portions of the West Bank "isn't ready", suggesting that the controversial plan might be postponed. On Monday, Netanyahu told a weekly meeting of his right-wing Likud party that he wishes to bring his plan for annexing the Jordan Valley, a part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, for a government vote "soon", reports Xinhua news agency. However, he added that "the map isn't ready yet". Netanyahu said the position of the Blue and White party, his centrist ally to the new power-sharing coalition, is not clear. "We don't know what about Blue and White, that's a good question," he said. "We are in talks with the Americans, we want their agreement for the entire matter." During his election campaign in March, Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, said he will support annexing parts of the West Bank only if the move will be acceptable by the