UiTV Connect

  Former US president Barack Obama's new book 'A Promised Land' lands a sharp left hook on Rahul Gandhi's "nervous, uninformed quality" while directing warm, not-so-political praise at Rahul's mother Sonia Gandhi, according to a book review Thursday in the New York Times. The first rush of book excerpts swirling on the internet point to a brutal takedown of Rahul Gandhi. "Rahul Gandhi has a nervous, unformed quality about him, as if he were a student who'd done the coursework and was eager to impress the teacher but deep down lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject," notes the review. "We are told of the handsomeness of men like Charlie Crist and Rahm Emanuel, but not the beauty of women, except for one or two instances, as in the case of Sonia Gandhi," writes reviewer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Secretary of Defense Bob Gates and the Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh both are clubbed into a subset of peopl...

  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered boosting the survivability of the country's nuclear forces control systems. In a meeting with leaders of the defence ministry, federal agencies and defence industry companies in Sochi, Putin emphasized the importance of the survivability of these systems and their ability to continue operating in a combat environment, even in the event of a nuclear strike, the Xinhua news agency reported. "The creation of an absolutely secure facility for controlling strategic nuclear forces, among others, is nearing completion. It will have a very high safety margin," he said. Putin said it is important that all equipment, hardware and communication systems of the nuclear forces control systems are regularly upgraded yet remain "as simple and reliable as a Kalashnikov rifle." He also ordered the constant checking of the efficiency of the main components of the nuclear forces control systems during drills, as well as the d...

  Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) captain KL Rahul and Delhi Capitals (DC) fast bowler Kagiso Rabada won the Orange Cap and Purple Cap respectively following their superb performances in the 13th Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday. Rahul ended up as the highest run scorer, as he tallied a whopping 670 runs, scored at an average of 55.83, with five half-centuries and one century. His extraordinary form in the group stage meant that he remained on top of the charts despite KXIP not making it to the playoffs. Delhi Capitals (DC) opener Shikhar Dhawan finished the season in second place with 618 runs after being dismissed on 15 runs in the final against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday. He scored four half-centuries and two centuries, both of which came on the trot and made him the first Indian player to do so. SunRisers Hyderabad captain David Warner was third with 548 runs, including four half centuries. He is the first player to score more than 500 runs for six consecutive seasons in the IPL. D...

  US President-elect Joe Biden issued a dire warning as the COVID-19 pandemic continues worsening in the United States. "We are still facing a dark winter," Biden said from Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday as the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has topped 10 million, with 237,000 deaths. "The challenge before us right now is still immense and growing." The Democrat went on urging Americans to wear masks, Xinhua news agency reported. "The goal of mask wearing is not to make your life less comfortable, or to take something away from you," he said. "It is to give something back to all of us. A normal life." The remarks came hours after American drugmaker Pfizer and German pharmaceutical company BioNTech announced that data analysis shows their COVID-19 vaccine candidate is more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19. Biden called the news "positive" but stressed that the vaccine, even if it's approved by the US Food an...

    Indian-American organisations and leaders are seeing the announcement of the election of Kamala Harris as the next US Vice President as a vindication of the dream of America as the land of opportunities and look forward to working with her and Joe Biden as President in healing the national divide. "A generation of Indian-Americans made this country their home because they knew it meant anything was possible for their children. Today, the daughter of one of those Indian-Americans proved their faith," said Neil Makhija, the executive director of the Indian-American Impact Fund, an advocacy and political action group. He said that the Indian-American community coming out to vote in key states like Pennsylvania and Arizona took the Biden-Harris team to victory. IMPACT raised $10 million to support the voter turnout efforts of the Asian and Indian American community "in critical states, including Pennsylvania and Arizona, where our community's engagement was enough t...

  Twitter has flagged more tweets from US President Donald Trump that spread false claims about election fraud, forcing Trump to say that Twitter has gone out of control. Trump tweeted eight times on Thursday night and saw fully half of the tweets restricted by Twitter. New tweets that were barred included the allegation that election observers were prevented from entering counting stations in Philadelphia and Detroit, a claim contradicted by direct testimony from observers in both cities, reports The Verge. "Twitter is out of control, made possible through the government gift of Section 230!" Trump said in a tweet. The micro-blogging platform said that the action "is in line with our Civic Integrity Policy, and as is standard with this warning, we will significantly restrict engagements on these tweets". Two of the tweets had broadcast clips from Trump's recent press conference, in which he made baseless claims of election fraud. Overall, Trump tweeted 30 time...

  Singer Sam Smith has shared how frequently being on the road and barely spending time at home contributed to their lockdown struggles earlier this year. In the beginning of the pandemic, Sam had shared an Instagram photo of themselves going through the "stages of a quarantine meltdown". This didn't go down well with people. Many accused Sam of complaining despite them being more privileged than most. However, being at home for a long period was a big adjustment for the star, who has spent years performing around the world, reports metro.co.uk. "Yeah, I found it hard, I've been travelling for eight years and I hadn't been in my house for more than three weeks in eight years," Sam said during their appearance on a show. They explained: "I was living with my sister, and I'm still going to be with her in the next four weeks, and she helped me out and we buckled down and did fun stuff. But it's a weird time." The 28-year-old also revealed...