Biju Babu’s Dakota Aircraft To Come To Odisha Very Soon

Biju Babu’s Dakota Aircraft To Come To Odisha Very Soon

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has already initiated a process to bring back the iconic aircraft of Biju Patnaik which is lying in a dilapidated condition at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (NSCB) International Airport in Kolkata. Biju Babu had once used his favorite plane to rescue erstwhile Indonesian Vice President Muhammad Hatta and Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir from enemy clutches in July 1947. 

The process has already been initiated and PDW has been assigned to float tender, Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera said. After the aircraft is brought back, it will be kept beside the statue of Biju Babu in front of the airport at Bhubaneswar for public view. The Odisha Government has already initiated a process to bring back the iconic aircraft of Biju Patnaik which is lying in a dilapidated condition at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (NSCB) International Airport in Kolkata.

5 Essentials Foods To Boost Your Immunity Upcoming Monsoon

Top 5 Essentials Foods To Prepare Your Body For The Upcoming Monsoon

Monsoon diet: With the onset of monsoon, it is essential to boost your immunity to prevent infections. Here are some essential foods you can add to your diet for a healthy immune system.

Most of the cities have already started to experience the pre-monsoon showers and it's predicted that the monsoons should be here in full swing anytime! While this season is such a respite from the heat, the monsoon season comes with its own set of problems like viral fever, cough, cold, stomach infections, dengue, and malaria. Usually, with the onset of heavy reasons, your immune system tends to get compromised due to bacterial or viral infections. It goes without saying that a strong immune system and taking precautions is what's going to help you recover quickly and protect you against infections.

Whether it's prevention, recovery, healing - all that matters is your immune system as it's the first and last line of defense. Your immune system is made up of immune cells and each of these cells needs to have the right amount of energy through the food you eat, the water your drink, and the air you breathe. This is how one maintains a strong immune system.

There are foods that can help you enhance your immune system through this season, but these don't magically boost your immunity. They assist. Your immune system is a function of your overall lifestyle - right nutrition, quality and quantity of water, rest, recovery, sleep, emotional detox, and an active lifestyle to help circulate all the nutrients to all the trillions of cells in your body.

Simple, easily available, and inexpensive foods you can add to your diet this monsoon season

1. Hot Soups

Think monsoons, think hot soups. You can make pumpkin soup, tomato soup, moringa soup, green pea soup, mixed vegetable soup, or even something as simple as rasam. Pumpkin is a fantastic immunity booster due to a high concentration of beta carotene; vitamin C. Make sure you add garlic and ginger as they are highly anti-inflammatory and garlic literally works as an antibiotic and antifungal food. To this preparation, you can also add chilies, unless you have an acidity issue. Chilies are extremely rich in vitamin C too. In case you are a non-vegetarian, a simple chicken broth with spices and vegetables is fantastic immune-boosting food.

2. Oregano

Do you know why? Because of its extremely potent antifungal properties. Monsoons bring the risks of even acquiring fungal infections because the dampness and moisture provides a perfect and conducive environment for them to thrive.

You could simply brew oregano tea or season your salad and food with dried/fresh oregano leaves depending on what's available. Even 1-2 drops of edible oregano essential oil mixed in your water or soup works great. Oregano also benefits the respiratory system and helps loosen up the mucus and phlegm, especially when sipped warm.

3. Nuts and seeds

Whether it's hot or cold, you cannot go wrong with unsalted almonds, walnuts, peanuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds. Make sure you have some amount of these in a day. It could be a handful or less than that, but do not overdo them. Keep them balanced.

4. Cooked Crucifers

These are cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, radish and are fantastic for controlling inflammation, fighting bacterial infections, and powerful immune boosters. Make sure they are well cleaned and cooked/steamed/blanched especially if you have a thyroid condition due to its goitrogenic effect. You can turn them into soups, stir-fries, soups, or vegetable preparations. 

5. Masala box/spice kit

Stock up on common kitchen spices because these are your go-tos during monsoons. Make use of common kitchen spices to boost immunity, such as turmeric, cumin, methi seeds, ginger, garlic, cloves, cinnamon, curry leaves, tulsi/basil leaves, and black pepper. You can make a concoction or a water infusion, or simply add these to your daily cooking.

You can also brew all of it together into a steaming cup of chai, without refined sugar. Instead, replace that with jaggery and you will notice how it only enhances the taste. So, in case your body craves that cup of chai this monsoon, you know you can go for it. Only make it the right way and add spices!

Apple to make a body cams employees to stop information leakage for an upcoming iPhone and Macs model

Apple to make a body cams employees to stop information leakage for an upcoming iPhone and Macs model

Apple is serious about protecting its insider information that has taken a dramatic new step for the same. It is being reported that the company is making some of its employees wear body cameras to work to prevent any information leaks for its upcoming models.

Apple’s latest attempt to stop information leaks from the company recently got leaked. In a move unheard of before, the tech major has started making its employees wear “police-grade” body cameras to keep a check on leaks.

While the incident is ironic, the step by Apple seems to be a pretty serious one. The new move comes in line with the company’s recent crackdown on information leaks, including warnings to famous tipsters known for leaking information around Apple products.

With such steps, Apple aims to protect its trade secrets from getting out in the industry. The dramatic new step by Apple has been made public in a report by Front Page Tech. The report mentions that the company has been making its employees wear body cameras for at least the last few weeks.

It further highlights that the body cameras are police-grade in quality and are similar to those used by law enforcement agencies. It mentions the body camera to be similar to the Axon Body 2, “if not the same.”

The report clears that only some employees in specific teams are being made to wear the body cameras. It can be assumed that these specific teams are in charge of Apple’s trade secrets.

Early experiences have larger effect on mood

Early experiences have a larger effect on mood than more recent ones: Study

Washington: New insight on how our experiences during a task or interaction shape our current mood has been recently reported by an international team of researchers. Published in the open-access eLife journal, the study suggests that early experiences may have a larger effect on our mood than more recent events. These findings hold implications for the timing of events in experimental or clinical settings and suggest new directions for mood interventions tailored to individual patients. People routinely report on their moods during everyday activities and when they interact with clinicians providing mental health care. It is commonly believed that the most recent experiences during a task or interaction with someone else may have the strongest effect on how an individual feels at a given time. But in a series of experiments, researchers show that early experiences can have a more significant impact on someone's mood. The research team included first author and Postdoctoral Research Fellow Hanna Keren and colleagues at the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, US.

To address the question of how the timing of an event can impact our current mood, Keren and colleagues began with a computational modeling approach. They developed a novel Primacy model, based on the concept that experiences occurring early in an interaction or game prevail over more recent ones in affecting our mood. They then pitted this model against a Recency model, based on the idea that more recent experiences have a stronger effect on mood. They showed that the Primacy model accounts more for self-reported mood when compared to the Recency and other computational models. They also examined their models concerning the moods of people of different ages, as well as healthy and depressed participants. To do this, they recruited a group of adult volunteers to participate in an online gambling game with small monetary rewards based on their success in the game. They invited the volunteers to report their moods using a sliding scale at several points during the game.

In the second set of experiments, they recruited a group of adolescent volunteers to play a similar game in the laboratory while measuring these participants' brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging. They also collected data on whether the participants had depression, as this can also impact an individual's current mood. The researchers found that early events during the game had the greatest impact on mood in both the adolescent and adult groups. This was also true for individuals with and without depression.

Their imaging data also suggested that earlier experiences in the game 'switched on' parts of the frontal brain associated with moods, rather than later events. These results provided evidence for the neural encoding of the team's Primacy, but not the Recency model. Altogether, the findings raise some important questions, such as why adverse experiences early in a task or interaction may have lasting effects on an individual's mood. Future studies assessing the impact of events on mood over longer time periods might help answer these questions.

In the meantime, Keren and the team suggest their current work may have implications for the way clinicians providing mental health care interact with patients or assess the effectiveness of their treatment, as the timing of good and bad experiences may affect how patients feel about their treatment. 

India jumps to No.10 on Global Cyber Security Index

India jumps to No.10 on Global Cyber Security Index; China at 33, Pakistan 79: UN study

Global Cyber Security Index: UN study moves India to rank 10 from rank 47 in 2019. China and Pakistan lag behind at rank 33 and 79 respectively. 

India is now ranked at No. 10 on the Global Cyber Security Index, up from No. 47 in 2019, as per a study by the United Nations. The same index ranks China at No. 33 and Pakistan at No. 79.

Speaking at the UN Security Council debate on International Peace and Cyber Security, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said digital gaps amongst nations create an unsustainable environment in the cyber domain. He added that growing digital reliance in the post-COVID era has exposed digital disparities which must be bridged through capacity building.

The foreign secretary further called on UNSC member states to tackle the implications of terrorist exploitation of the cyber domain more strategically.

"There's a sophisticated use of cyberspace by terrorists to broaden their propaganda and incite hatred. As a victim of terrorism, India has always emphasized the need for the Member States to tackle implications of terrorist exploitation of cyber domain more strategically," he said.

The UNSC held its first formal public meeting on cybersecurity, addressing the growing threat of cyber hacks to countries' key infrastructure, an issue US President Joe Biden recently raised with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

"In the United Nations first committee, we already have agreed in 2015, which is six years ago, that we are refraining from malicious cyber activities against each other's critical infrastructures as UN member states," said one European ambassador who specializes in cybersecurity.

India also participated in the annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Senior Officials' Meeting today, where Secretary (East) Riva Das Ganguly highlighted India's perspectives on addressing the threat posed by terrorism and the challenges of cybersecurity. 

In a press release, the MEA said that several points were discussed in the meeting, and senior officials in the forum discussed views on several regional and international issues.

Bharat Biotech says it received no advance payment from Brazil govt for Covaxin

Bharat Biotech says it received no advance payment from Brazil govt for Covaxin

Reacting to the Brazil government nixing the Covaxin deal, Bharat Biotech on Wednesday 30 June 2021 said the company followed all step-by-step procedures and the vaccine price in the international market too was in public knowledge.

As the Brazil government suspends the deal to purchase 20 million doses of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin over allegations of graft in the the deal, the Hyderabad-based vaccine maker on Wednesday issued a statement and said as of June 29, the vaccine maker has not received any advance payment from the Brazil government. "In the case of procurement of Covaxin by Brazil, a step-by-step approach was followed towards contracts and regulatory approvals, during the 8-month-long process. EUA received was received on June 4. As of June 29, we haven't received any advance payments nor supplied vaccines to Brazil," the company said in a statement.

Brazil suspends Covaxin deal as Bolsonaro faces graft charges

"The pricing of Covaxin has been clearly established between $15-20 per dose for supplies to Governments outside India. The pricing for Brazil has also been indicated at $15 per dose," Bharat Biotech said.

The ₹2,400 crore has turned the heat up for the Jair Bolsonaro government as it was alleged that the government struck a deal with Bharat Biotech to acquire about 2 crore doses of Covaxin at a higher price, and at a time when the vaccine was not approved by the regulator of Brazil. Covaxin received emergency use authorisation in Brazil in the first week of June, though the negotiation process has been going on for the last seven-eight months.

Here's what happened

1.       Brazil Health Ministry official Luis Ricardo Miranda who acted as a whistleblower in this case raised suspicion about the deal as Pfizer was reportedly offering Brazil its Covid-19 vaccine at a lower price.

2.       Miranda looks after the imports of the health ministry and when he had to approve an import license, he refused to do so as the company mentioned in the invoice was not Bharat Biotech, the company with which the deal was signed, but some Singapore-based Madison Biotech.

3.       Luis Ricardo Miranda also told senators that he was under pressure to clear the deal.

4.       Bolsonaro defended the allegation saying that there was no corruption as the government did not pay any money and did not receive any vaccine.

5.     Covaxin was granted emergency use approval on June 5. Bharat Biotech also corroborated Bolsonaro's statement that no vaccine has been sent and no money has been received.

6.      Bharat Biotech has, however, said that Madison Biotech is its global sales and marketing arm.

7.     An investigation into the deal began in April.

8.     Brazil's newspapers reported that Bharat Biotech had initially quoted a price of $1.34 per dose, the government agreed to pay $15 per shot.

9.     Whistleblower Miranda and his brother who is a lawmaker met Bolsonaro “The President looked me in the eye and said, ‘This is serious’,” adding, “'If I interfere with this thing, you know what kind of shit it’s going to stir up. This must be so-and-so’s deal.’” the whistleblower has told the investigators.

10. Bharat Biotech said it followed all processes in Brazil as in other countries while the price of the vaccine in the international market was made public beforehand.

Explaining the process of how a country can procure vaccines from Bharat Biotech, the vaccine maker said that the company first received a letter of intent, following which it applues for emergency use authorisation in the country. Once the vaccine gets approval, the health ministry of that country releases a purchase order. Even if the order is placed before the approval, the procurement happens only after the approval.

Once the purchase order is released, the company raises a Pro Forma Invoice based on which the ministry makes the payment. Once the payment is received, the company proceeds to supply the vaccines. In this case, the company received no money from the health department of Brazil, Bharat Biotech said

Maldives to resume visa-on-arrival for tourists from South Asia

Maldives to resume visa-on-arrival for tourists from South Asia

Male: The Maldives to resume visa-on-arrival for tourists from South Asian countries Including India starting from July15.The Ministry of Tourism, Maldives tweeted on Tuesday, Maldives will restart issuing of on-arrival tourist visas starting 15th July to tourists traveling from South Asia. Tourists should have a negative PCR result before landing on the Island.

At the Press Conference held in the President's Office, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih announced that the Maldives will restart issuing tourist VISAs to South Asian tourists and travelers from July 15 onwards. Further details regarding this issue will be announced soon.Additionally, from July 1, work visa holders will be able to re-enter the Maldives. After crossing the border, they will be subject to quarantine in the Maldives. 

The ban was imposed on travelers from across South Asia in the Maldives in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka were among the countries affected by the restriction, in addition to India.

However, after reviewing the current situation and the drop in the number of cases the Ministry will decide to allow tourists to the Island.

Big Tech is gearing up for a massive fight with India

Big Tech is gearing up for a massive fight with India

NEW DELHI: India is growing increasingly assertive in its efforts to control online communications, challenging Twitter and Facebook’s practices and threatening to set a precedent that could extend far beyond its borders. 

The largest US internet firms are fighting new Intermediary rules issued by Narendra Modi’s government in February that they say curtail privacy and free speech. Officials have demanded Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc take down hundreds of posts this year, divulge sensitive user information and submit to a regulatory regime that includes potential jail terms for executives if companies don’t comply.

While the administration’s push to exert more control over user data and online discourse reflect efforts globally to come to grips with tech giants and their enormous influence, the stakes in India are particularly high for internet firms because -- shut out of China -- it’s the only billion-people market up for grabs. Unlike authoritarian regimes such as Beijing, critics fear actions taken by the world’s largest democracy could offer a template for other governments to encroach on personal privacy in the name of domestic security.

“India has introduced draconian changes to its rules,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote in April. They “create new possibilities for government surveillance of citizens. These rules threaten the idea of a free and open internet built on a bedrock of international human rights standards.”
Holding internet companies responsible for content posted -- and in some cases, executives personally liable -- goes beyond what many countries demand and is a key point of dispute. Caught in this tug-of-war are hundreds of millions in India whose way of engaging with the internet now hangs in the balance. Facebook’s WhatsApp is in court arguing the new rules would circumvent its encryption, a key feature the company has touted in global marketing.

Modi’s administration has trained its sights on Twitter in recent months, given its role as the social platform of choice for politicians and celebrities. Cabinet ministers have accused the US company of defying orders and suggested it should be stripped of its intermediary status -- making it directly accountable for content posted by its users. In May, Twitter slapped a “manipulated media” label on tweets from several accounts linked to Modi’s party. Police investigators have since called on senior executives and its offices, placing business in the world’s second-most populous nation at risk.

“Twitter is in a no-win situation here,” said Mike Masnick, founder of tech policy blog Techdirt. “Giving in to excessive government demands not only suppresses important speech but opens the company up to even further pressure to silence critics of the government in India and elsewhere.”
Representatives for the ministry of electronics and information technology (MEITY) that oversees regulation did not respond to several calls and emails seeking comment. WhatsApp and Twitter representatives declined to comment beyond past statements that they will aim to comply with government regulations.

India has said it welcomes criticism and dissent and its new rules are aimed at safeguarding public order and preventing harmful content such as child pornography and abuse videos. The country in recent years has grappled with an explosion of fake news across social media, much of it targeted at a largely first-time internet audience unaccustomed to sifting through online falsehoods. It came into conflict with Facebook in 2018 when the government asked WhatsApp to curb the spread of messages in connection with two dozen lynchings. Facebook’s response then was to restrict the forwarding of messages and label them as “forwarded.”

WhatsApp has more than 530 million users in India, Alphabet Inc’s YouTube has about 450 million and Facebook has over 410 million users, making it the biggest market for all three. Twitter, a comparative minnow with 17.5 million users, counts India among its fastest-growing territories. But that limited reach makes it vulnerable in a nation that showed itself willing to outlaw popular foreign services a year ago when it banned TikTok -- which had signed up 200 million users in the country -- WeChat and hundreds of more China-made apps after a violent clash on the disputed border between the two countries.
As in the US, however, Twitter wields influence disproportionate to its size. It’s vital to political discussion in India and Modi himself is an avid user and enjoys a following of over 69 million, showing its international reach. While ministers have tweeted belligerently about Twitter, none have yet openly voiced the threat of banning it.
Even while clashing with China, India may still draw inspiration from its neighbor’s experience, where the void left by foreign social platforms blocked for opposing stringent censorship created room for homegrown alternatives to develop. In fact, Modi’s colleagues have been actively touting Koo, a local micro-blogging rival.
“I have to imagine that Modi is looking at China and thinking they can have economic prosperity while also exercising a lot of authoritarian control over speech and communications,” said Katie Harbath, a former Facebook public policy director who worked with the country’s officials between the fall of 2013, ahead of Modi’s first election as prime minister, until earlier this year. “So the big question is what direction will India go?”
Much of the current rancor stems from the government’s push to control the conversation around farmer protests that have been going on since November, centered on proposals to tax agricultural inputs and remove minimum price support. The administration compelled Twitter to block some popular figures expressing support for the protesters -- such as Punjabi singer JazzyB, whose account has 1.2 million followers but can’t be accessed within India -- though the company hasn’t enacted all of its requests.
US and EU lawmakers should be paying closer attention to the South Asian country, Harbath said. Like Masnick, she sees few good options for private companies to oppose laws handed down from above, and it would be up to the international community to steer India back toward a more liberal path.
The US has embraced India in recent years as a counterweight to China, boosting defense cooperation as part of the four-nation Quad group that also includes fellow democracies Japan and Australia. For its part, Modi’s administration has sought to attract firms seeking to diversify supply chains away from China -- giving it an incentive to maintain good relations with the Biden administration and the American business community at large.
Relations with American social platforms were much warmer and more collaborative in the early years of the Modi government. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg hosted Modi for a town hall event at the company’s headquarters in 2015. The two men embraced and smiled for the cameras. But, Harbath said, whenever the administration’s popularity has slipped since then -- after moves such as the sudden currency demonetization in 2016 -- it has grown more aggressive in trying to steer the public narrative.
Most recently, Modi’s government has come under fire on Twitter from critics who say it bungled efforts to fight Covid-19. In response, it has sought to block recent criticism on Twitter, where the anger and disappointment in India’s leader are manifest.
“Silicon Valley’s social media platforms have a huge base in India and the confrontation is over who controls these users,” said Delhi-based Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint. “In the next three to five years, some 300 million new users equaling the population of the US will get online in India, shifting the balance of power eastward for these companies.”
Twitter appointed an interim compliance officer two weeks ago, long after its peers had assigned permanent representatives, and that person reportedly quit the position. A company spokesperson declined to confirm or comment on the reasons.
On Friday, the head of MEITY, Ravi Shankar Prasad, had his Twitter account briefly locked due to a complaint of alleged copyright infringement, according to the company. Upon regaining access, the frequent Twitter antagonist wrote that its “actions indicate that they are not the harbinger of free speech that they claim to be but are only interested in running their own agenda.” Twitter declined to comment further but pointed to its original statement that Prasad’s account was briefly locked for copyright violation.

Twitter was recently cited alongside journalists and opposition party leaders by police in Uttar Pradesh for hosting a video that provoked communal discord, according to local reports. Delhi police also said they were investigating another complaint against Twitter India chief Manish Maheshwari related to that video, which purported to show majority Hindus assaulting a minority Muslim man. The company has since removed the offending clip, offering no comment beyond its statement about complying with local laws. The Uttar Pradesh government has petitioned India’s Supreme Court to revoke a lower court’s protection of Maheshwari from arrest.
Without pressure on India to dial back its online powers -- which the Washington Post’s editorial board called for this month -- companies like Twitter will have to carefully weigh their decisions so as not to be ousted from a vast market while still upholding the principles they espouse, Harbath said.
It’s a delicate dance that’s becoming more common around the world. Countries as far afield as Australia, Poland and Nigeria are cracking down on social platforms, alleging they have excessive power to determine what is acceptable speech and are meddling with domestic affairs. Nigeria barred Twitter this month and Germany’s hate speech rules will require platforms to speedily take down illegal content or face penalties.
“It’s complicated. A decision taken by these companies in India will not be for India alone,” said Bangalore-based Prateek Waghre, a research analyst at the Takshashila Institution who studies the governance of digital platforms. “What they do here will serve as a template for the rest of the world.”

Last Troops Leave Afghanistan

Last German Troops leaves Afghanistan

The last of the remaining German troops have left Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of deployment in the war-torn country, Defence Minister said Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

The German Defence Minister said in a tweet that the last Bundeswehr soldiers "left Afghanistan safely" on Tuesday evening, reports TOLO News.

She thanked the more than 150,000 troops who have served there since 2001 and said that "they can be proud of this mission".

Germany maintained a contingent of around 1,100 troops before starting the drawdown in May.

The country deployed its forces in the wake of the deadly 9/11 attacks in 2001, according to a DW News report.

The first troops arrived in Kabul in January 2002.

Over 150,000 German soldiers have been stationed in Afghanistan since the report added.

Since US President Joe Biden's announcement of the pullout of troops on May 1, the American military has completed more than half of the withdrawal.

Delhi govt launches app to push for Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum

Delhi govt launches app to push for Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum

Delhi DCM Manish Sisodia

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, under the Seed Money project of EMC, students with “entrepreneurial acumen” will be granted an amount of Rs 2000 to build enterprises.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Tuesday launched a web application for Heads of Schools, teachers, and Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum (EMC) coordinators to access EMC-related teaching-learning material.

Sisodia said, under the Seed Money project of EMC, students with “entrepreneurial acumen” will be granted an amount of Rs 2000 to build enterprises.

The app would allow teachers and HOS to “share resources and teaching material pertaining to EMC, collect real-time data of EMC classes, and most importantly, gather feedback from every EMC teacher”, the Delhi government said in a statement.

“This platform will use a decentralized approach, where teachers will be able to access all EMC resources. Success stories from students will also be gathered through the platform,” it said.

The app was launched following a review meeting attended by SCERT Director Rajanish Singh, Additional Director (Education) Rita Sharma, senior officers, Heads of Schools, mentor teachers, and EMC coordinators.

“The purpose of EMC is to work and build on the entrepreneurial mindset of our students. Our school community, especially our Teachers and Heads of Schools, need to accept EMC as a subject in their daily teaching and learning. It is not just an initiative or a scheme but an indispensable subject that will equip our students with the mindset and skills needed to triumph in any challenge,” Sisodia said at the occasion.

“If our children receive 100/100 in Business Studies or if they get a 100/100 in Science, but if they are not able to apply their knowledge and skills, then our education and teaching is redundant. Now, when employers hire individuals, they not just look for individuals who have knowledge but also want someone who can apply their knowledge in a creative way… Keeping this in mind, we have to take EMC forward on a large scale and believe that it has the power to create a cohort of successful and brilliant students who will become job providers,” he added.

The thematic units of EMC include “sharing success stories of students and activities”, a “micro-research project where students understand the pros and cons of being an entrepreneur”, and a “live interaction with entrepreneurs wherein, local and renowned entrepreneurs interact with students”.

Malaysian palm giant IOI faces labour abuse allegations in a new report

Malaysian palm giant IOI faces labour abuse allegations in a new report

KUALA LUMPUR - Workers at Malaysian palm oil company IOI Corp are mistreated by managers, face poor living conditions and pay high recruitment fees, according to a report to be published on Wednesday by human rights group Finnwatch.

IOI said it would comment on the report after its public release and directed Reuters to a "grievance tracker" on its website where it addressed the specific complaints raised by Finnwatch.

IOI faces the accusations days after saying it will assist in any investigation after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a letter to an activist that it was investigating the firm over forced labour allegations.

Similar U.S. investigations have in the past led to some Malaysian companies, including two palm oil producers, being banned from selling their products in the United States.

Helsinki-based Finnwatch said it found IOI estate workers from India paid up to 45,000 rupees ($606.31) in recruitment fees, lived in poor housing conditions and were not given copies of their employment contracts. It also criticized its wage policy.

"The case also brought into light serious, persisting gaps in the IOI Group's wider recruitment and wage policies, and commitment to respect for human rights," Finnwatch said in the report.

The findings follow an investigation by Finnwatch at an IOI estate in Pahang state on Malaysia's east coast. It opened an investigation in August 2020 after receiving complaints from a relative of an IOI worker.

Finnwatch shared the report on the investigation with Reuters ahead of its publication on Wednesday. It has also shared the findings and the full report with IOI, and has engaged with IOI since last August.

In the 'grievance tracker' on its website, IOI said it had suspended recruitment of workers from recruitment agencies in India after Finnwatch said workers were forced to pay high fees to secure a job. IOI said the fees paid by its workers were illegally collected by unknown actors, cannot be verified, and were beyond the firm's jurisdiction.

U.S. CBP SCRUTINY

Malaysia, the world's second-largest palm oil producer, relies on migrants to produce the edible oil found in products from food to fuel.

The U.S. CBP has banned three Malaysian companies in the last year, including palm oil producers FGV Holdings and Sime Darby Plantations, for allegedly practicing forced labour including abusive working and living conditions.

Both companies have appointed auditors to evaluate their labour practices and said they would engage with the agency to address the concerns raised.

Following Finnwatch's investigation, IOI said on its website it had demoted an employee for mistreating a worker and released guidelines on providing basic amenities and verifying work hours.

IOI told Finnwatch that some workers are paid less as they do not reach the set work targets, according to the company's response that is also published in the report.

Finnwatch found that IOI had a complex piece-rate wage policy that it said has led to abuse, errors, and some being paid below the minimum wage.

In its response to Finnwatch, IOI said workers were given decent housing, but conditions deteriorated "because of a lack of cleanliness by the workers."

IOI also said it has ordered all estates to give workers a copy of their employment contracts.

Green Tea Might Help Tackle Covid

Green Tea Might Help Tackle Covid: Indian-Origin Researcher

Green Tea 

As India continues to be ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, a team of researchers is investigating how green tea could give rise to a drug capable of tackling Covid-19.

The initial findings suggested that one of the compounds in green tea could combat the coronavirus behind Covid-19, said lead author Suresh Mohankumar, who researched during his time at JSS College of Pharmacy in Ooty before taking up his current role at Swansea University Medical School.

"Nature's oldest pharmacy has always been a treasure of potential novel drugs and we questioned if any of these compounds could assist us in battling the Covid-19 pandemic?" said Mohankumar.

"We screened and sorted a library of natural compounds already know to be active against other coronaviruses using an artificial intelligence-aided computer program," he added.

Mohankumar emphasized that the research was still in its early days and a long way from any kind of clinical application, in the study published in the journal RSC Advances.

"The compound that our model predicts to be most active is gallocatechin, which is present in green tea and could be readily available, accessible, and affordable," the researcher said.

There now needs to be further investigation to show if it can be proven clinically effective and safe for preventing or treating Covid-19.

"This is fascinating research and demonstrates that natural products remain an important source of lead compounds in the fight against infectious diseases," said Andrew Morris, Professor, Swansea University.

"I am also really pleased to see this international research collaboration continuing now that Mohankumar has joined the Pharmacy team," Morris added.

Green Tea Video Link 

Healing Jagannath & Siblings

Healing Jagannath & Siblings: Phuluri Tela Seba & 75% Chariot Work Complete Today 

Puri: Treatment of sibling deities is underway at Anasara Ghar (an asylum for the sick) at Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri, The triad fell ill after the elaborate bath with 108 pitchers of herbal and aromatic water on June 24.

As a part of the treatment, Phuluri Tela (Oil) will be applied to the whole body of the idols by Daitapati Sevayats (servitors) after Madhyana (midday) Dhupa on Tuesday.

The special Phuluri Tela Seva is a unique healing method to cure the deities effectively.

Bada Odia Mutt, which is the Adi Pitha of Atibadi Jagannath Das, supplies Phuluri Tela for the deities. The oil is made using flowers such as Ketaki, Malli, Boula, and Champa, roots, sandalwood powder, camphor, rice, and grains. The main ingredient is Sesame oil.

This special oil is prepared on Hera Panchami — the fifth day of the rath yatra festival — to be applied on the idols during the following year’s hibernation.

“Phuluri Tela is applied to the Lords on Ashtami, the fifth day of the Anasara period, as they continue to suffer from fever. This oil protects the idols from moths and insects. All rituals are being held in time,” said senior Daitapati Binayak Dasmohapatra.

During these fifteen days, the Lords are offered fruit juices and medicines made of indigenous herbs and roots. Other medicinal lotions are also being applied for the recovery of the deities under the Osa lagi ritual. The sevayats renovate and repaint the deities with natural paints that need about 15 days to dry.

The deities are expected to recover and be fit by July 11 following which they will be taken to the chariots for Rath Yatra.

Meanwhile, Rupakara Sevayats are busy constructing the three chariots of the presiding deities and are hopeful of finishing the work before time.

“We are doing Rishi Patta work now. The Rishis (sage) are the saviours of the chariot.  We hope the chariot work will be finished before time. As many as 30 Chitrakara Sevayats have been engaged in the painting work,” said a sevayat.

Puri Collector Samarth Verma said that all rituals after Snana Purnima and work for Rath Yatra are going on smoothly and 75 percent of chariot work has been completed. “Servitors are being administered the second dose of vaccine and we have set a target to complete the vaccination process before Rath Yatra. They will also undergo RTP-PCR tests and take part in the rituals only if the report is negative. A list of sevayats has been prepared for it. All guidelines issued by the SRC officer are being followed,” he said.

The servitors, who will be engaged in various rituals of the sibling deities during Rath Yatra, will undergo multiple rounds of the COVID-19 test.

According to Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), the testing will be done at four stages – before Snana Yatra, before Gundicha Yatra, before Bahuda Yatra, and 15 days after Niladri Bije.

In view of the COVID pandemic, the annual sojourn of the sibling deities will be held only on the Grand Road of Puri without devotees on July 12.