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UK exporters gain foothold in West African region, which accounts for over one-quarter of Africa’s GDP; Demand for UK products and services expands in West Africa, with deals to build hospitals, roads and bridges; UK government export finance support at its highest in decades in the region, including a record deal worth more than £200 million in Cote D’ Ivoire

UK Export Finance has released new data today showing it provided over £500 million worth of support for projects in West Africa throughout 2021, the most in over two decades.

At last week’s Africa Investment Conference (20 January), the Prime Minister said the UK is already one of Africa’s biggest commercial partners but we are “determined to do much more - our shared task must be to ensure that Africa prospers from the green industrial revolution.”

The Conference is an annual showcase event, designed to partner investment projects in Africa with British investors. Over 3000 delegates took part this year, boosting trade and investment ties between the UK and the continent.

The government is also mobilising support from its export credit agency, UKEF, to boost exports to Africa – it provided support worth £2.3 billion in the past year, more than trebling the amount provided in 2018-19.

In West Africa this has been deployed to a range of vital infrastructure projects, helping to build major roads and bridges as well as providing medical and IT equipment, design services and environmental and social work.

The region provides a unique opportunity for UK exporters as West Africa has experienced a surge in economic growth since the early 1990s. Research shows that since 2000 its collective GDP has risen from $105 billion to more than $659 billion in 2020.

UKEF has capacity to provide further support for UK trade in West Africa, with up to £3 billion available in Senegal, £2 billion in Cote D’Ivoire, and up to £2 billion in Nigeria.

Minister for Investment, Gerry Grimstone, said: “We want more British firms to sell to the world, taking advantage of new opportunities that present themselves in growing markets like this. The potential is huge. This government has the finance available to back British firms going global in West Africa, supporting growth and development in the region and helping communities and local economies to thrive.”

Examples of successful investments include an over £40 million UKEF guarantee for Gloucestershire firm Mabey Bridge to build 87 emergency bridges used to strengthen flood defences in Ghana, supporting countries suffering from the effects of climate change.

In 2021, UKEF also signed its largest-ever deal in the region worth over £200 million to support the construction of six hospitals, with support from UK suppliers, creating jobs in the UK and improving health outcomes in the Côte d’Ivoire.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Government of UK.

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Business Wire India
Armed with more than 100 patents and leveraging multi-decade expertise in creating Industry leading silicon systems, Ceremorphic® Inc. today announced its plans to deliver a complete silicon system that will enable next-generation applications such as artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML), high power computing (HPC), automotive processing, drug discovery, and metaverse processing.

Designed in advanced silicon geometry (TSMC 5nm node), this new architecture being pioneered by Ceremorphic has been built from the ground up to solve today’s high-performance computing problems to serve all high-demanding market segments. The team is leveraging its deep expertise and patented technology to design an ultra-low power training supercomputing chip.

This move by Ceremorphic furthers its commitment to solve key challenges currently being faced by the semiconductor industry globally. Additionally, with the recent developments by the Government of India to work towards developing an entire ecosystem for chip manufacturing and making the segment more conducive for the same, the time is just right to work alongside various bodies to help boost the Indian semiconductor market. And with India being home to some of the best tech talent in semiconductor design, it bodes extremely well. Ceremorphic’s India Development center in Hyderabad is a step in the right direction to complement the Government’s efforts in making India the next global semiconductor hub. Ceremorphic currently employs 150 people and by the end of 2024, plans to employ 400 people out of its Hyderabad Development Centre.

Ceremorphic was founded in April 2020 by Industry-Veteran Dr. Venkat Mattela, the Founding CEO of Redpine Signals, which sold its wireless assets to Silicon Labs, Inc. in March 2020 for $308 million. Under his leadership, the team at Redpine Signals delivered breakthrough innovations and industry-first products that led to the development of an ultra-low-power wireless solution that outperformed products from industry giants in the wireless space by as much as 26 times on energy consumption.

“We strongly believe that building a technology foundation is key to developing highly differentiated products that can lead the industry. We proved that in the wireless space with Redpine Signals and we are now doing the same thing in the computing space with Ceremorphic. Having developed many innovations in multi-thread processing, low energy network circuits, analog computing, and quantum resistant security microarchitecture, Ceremorphic is well on its way to accomplish our goals,” said Venkat Mattela, Founder and CEO of Ceremorphic.

“The challenges this market faces with “reliable performance computing” cannot be solved with existing architectures, but rather needs a completely new architecture built specifically to provide reliability, security, energy efficiency, and scalability. Our India development center and the engineering talent it houses will be key to bringing this new architecture to market and driving further innovations in the future,” he added.

Completely funded by the founders itself, Ceremorphic leverages its own patented multi-thread processor technology ThreadArch® combined with cutting-edge new technology. The team is working towards designing a supercomputing chip with unprecedented reliability and energy efficiency in TSMC 5nm node. With the company’s current state of rich technology portfolio, product design plan and customer sample planned for next year (2023), it is on a steady line of progress.

“I am very impressed with the Ceremorphic approach to solving some of the key challenges in the reliability and performance computing space today,” said Subhasish Mitra, Professor of Electrical Engineering and of Computer Science at Stanford University. “Reliable performance computing is absolutely something this industry needs and the approach that Ceremorphic is pursuing is a significant step in the right direction.”

“I am very happy to note the success of Redpine Signals, Inc., which built the entire wireless technology and product from Hyderabad, India and it depicts the engineering talent and infrastructure capability of the city and the state of Telangana. Venkat and his team were actively involved in supporting our state initiatives related to semiconductor technology for many years. I am optimistic and supportive of Venkat’s new venture in the supercomputing space and wish the team very best,” said Shri Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of the Industries & Commerce (I&C) and Information Technology (IT) Departments of the Telangana.

“We want to make Hyderabad a technology hub to attract entrepreneurs from across the world to build industry leading products in technology space and my team has been providing necessary support,” Mr. Ranjan added.

Renowned scientist and Niti Ayog Member, Dr VK Saraswath added, “It is noteworthy to see a company like Redpine Signals, Inc. which developed highly differentiated wireless products and technology entirely from India; demonstrated the talent capability of the country. Venkat and his team were actively involved in our initiative on National Supercomputer Mission (NSM) and semiconductor technology in general. I am optimistic and supportive of Venkat’s new venture in High Performance Computing space and wish the team very best. We want to see the engineering teams in the country to undertake such ambitious product development and expand the expertise across all phases of product design and my team is supportive of such companies at multiple levels.”

Ceremorphic’s go-to-market strategy will be global in approach, with India being a key target market as high-performance computing is a paramount piece in the future of AI and ML. The team will be working through the OEM network to create end products for identified market segments like datacentre, AI training, robotics, automotive, metaverse processing and life sciences.

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Business Wire India
 

O-RAN ALLIANCE:
 

O-RAN ALLIANCE Industry Briefing, March 1, 2022 at MWC Barcelona
 

O-RAN ALLIANCE plans to hold its next industry event on March 1, 2022 from 17:15-18:00 CET, hosted at the Deutsche Telekom booth at MWC Barcelona 2022, Hall 3 Stand 3M31. The event will include keynotes from O-RAN ALLIANCE’s leadership and an industry panel discussion.
 

Save the date and follow our website for further updates.
 

5^th Release of Open Software for the RAN – “E” – Delivered by the O-RAN Software Community
 

The O-RAN Software Community (OSC or O-RAN SC) was formed in partnership with the Linux Foundation in April 2019, to support software development of open RAN solutions available to everyone.
 

In December 2021, following on the half year release cycle, the OSC published its 5^th open software release dubbed "E". The E release further enhances the traffic steering use case, introduces basic RAN slicing feature and closed loop slice SLA assurance. With these enhanced features and the end-to-end integration of O-RAN architecture components, the E release moves the O-RAN ecosystem one step closer to commercial deployments in mobile networks around the globe.
 

The main use cases and features delivered in the E release include:
 

• Slicing-related 3GPP-compliant Performance Measurement (PM) events, which are supported by the O-RAN Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework
• O1 Simulator for slicing support
• Two simplified rApps for close loop O-RU recovery and O-DU slicing assurance added to the Non-Real-Time Radio Intelligent Controller (Non-RT RIC) software
• Improved E2 interface Application Protocol (E2AP) software implementation according to updated O-RAN Near-Real-time RIC (Near-RT RIC) E2AP specification version 1.1
• A new RAN Control (RC) xApp added to the Near-RT RIC, which implements a subset of the new E2 Service Management RC to support traffic steering end to end use case
• Software implementation of the O-Cloud reference design and O2 interface defined in O-RAN ALLIANCE’s Minimum Viable Plan (MVP)
• O1/Virtual Event Streaming (VES) disaggregation
• Multi UE and Multi Bearer support

To deep-dive into the E release and to get the open software, please visit the O-RAN Software Community website.
 

"In addition to the continuous enhancement on the Traffic Steering use case, I am glad to see the community march in a significant way forward by starting the support of Network Slicing. For this, we are thankful to the joint efforts from all the contributors," said Chih-Lin I, the co-chair of O-RAN Technical Steering Committee. "Equally significant, we have established two additional open labs for open source software test and integration, which will further accelerate our feature implementation and delivery activities in the future."
 

“With Release E, Nokia continues to demonstrate its commitment to O-RAN and advance the maturity of O-RAN specifications,” said Pasi Toivanen, Head of Edge Cloud at Nokia. “This work is supported by Nokia’s open-source contributions to the O-RAN software community Near-Real-Time Radio Intelligent Controller platform, with the simplified REST-based interface for xApps to manage O-RAN E2 subscriptions as well as additional functionality in the xApp framework SDKs, including also the SDL (Shared Data Layer) APIs.”
 

“We are excited to assist the OSC's delivery of its industry-leading fifth software release, with an expanded slate of applications (xApps) and Interfaces, in alignment with O-RAN specifications," said Arpit Joshipura, general manager, Networking, Edge, and IoT, the Linux Foundation.
 

“It is exciting to be part of the major steps forward in O-RAN over the last few months. With the support of our business partners, highstreet technologies continues to advance the O1/OAM capability for both O-RAN and OSC. And in 2022 we will have the opportunity to showcase to the world the full benefits of the disaggregated O-RAN architecture when deployed for Small-Medium Enterprise users,” said Alfons Mittermaier, Managing Director of highstreet technologies.
 

“The growth of the O-RAN Software Community has been remarkable. With the O-RAN SC E release, this milestone will help to further accelerate O-RAN globally and advance the deployment of flexible networks demanding carrier-grade cloud-native infrastructure as we move towards an intelligent systems world fueled by innovative edge applications,” said Gil Hellmann, vice president, Telecom Solutions Engineering, Wind River. “In O-RAN SC E release, Wind River has continued with key contributions to the INF project by enabling more open RAN related features, implementing a framework supporting O2 interface which is pivotal to the cloud infrastructure management and deployment operations.”
 

“HCL is glad to be a part of the O-RAN ALLIANCE and has significantly contributed to several O-RAN Software Community (OSC) projects. Our collaboration with the OSC aligns with HCL’s Mode 2 strategy of accelerating new Digital Engineering services by leveraging next generation 5G technologies. HCL has made important contributions to the E-release of OSC’s Open software around the hardening of the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) platform, InfluxDB SDL integration, ODU High O1 support for the closed-loop slice SLA assurance automation use case, and 4 xApps (Near-Real-Time RIC Apps). HCL looks forward to further contribution on realizing a Minimum Viable Plan (MVP) from the OSC,” said Rajiv Shesh, Corporate VP, Engineering and R&D Services, HCL Technologies.
 

About O-RAN ALLIANCE
 

The O-RAN ALLIANCE is a world-wide community of more than 300 mobile operators, vendors, and research & academic institutions operating in the Radio Access Network (RAN) industry. As the RAN is an essential part of any mobile network, the O-RAN ALLIANCE’s mission is to re-shape the industry towards more intelligent, open, virtualized and fully interoperable mobile networks. The new O-RAN standards enable a more competitive and vibrant RAN supplier ecosystem with faster innovation to improve user experience. O-RAN based mobile networks at the same time improve the efficiency of RAN deployments as well as operations by the mobile operators. To achieve this, the O-RAN ALLIANCE publishes new RAN specifications, releases open software for the RAN, and supports its members in integration and testing of their implementations.
 

For more information please visit www.o-ran.org.
 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220125005619/en/

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Business Wire India
MG Motor India, along with the consortium members, is back with the third season of the MG Developer Program & Grant – the annual flagship innovation program, supported by Startup India and Invest India. The initiative aims to encourage tech start-ups to build new, technologically advanced applications and experiences to strengthen India’s mobility space.

The theme for Season 3.0 of MG Developer Program & Grant is centered on Car as a Platform (CaaP), a future of mobility concept that makes cars safer and smarter. To further propagate this new-age innovation, MG Motor India has also unveiled an in-depth white paper on CaaP to illustrate the game-changing applications of this futuristic technology. The consortium partners are Jio, SAP, Adobe, KoineArth, L&T Technology Services, MapmyIndia, and Bosch amongst others.

Rajeev Chaba, President and Managing Director, MG Motor India said, "At MG, we strongly believe that collaboration is the key to disruption. We had previously partnered with various startups resulting in successful stories. We believe CaaP has the potential to redefine mobility. Therefore, in MG Developer Program & Grant 3.0 we are inviting all industry stakeholders to contribute towards developing this revolutionary concept."

Mr. Deepak Bagla – MD & CEO Invest India said, “India is the 4th largest vehicle market in the world and is expected to be the world's third-largest automotive market in terms of volume by 2026. This program is a crucial step towards nurturing innovation in India’s automobile sector, for continued strength in the global economy.”

Start-up India and Invest India are government-backed initiatives to empower start-ups for simplification & handholding, funding support, and incentives. It also helps investors looking for investment opportunities and options in India.

MG is inviting participation from start-ups, developers, or individuals under three categories: Utility (location tracking, GPS navigation, search, payment), Security (car and driver analytics), and Entertainment (games, music, etc.). In its first two seasons of MGDP, the automaker had interacted with over 500 start-ups.

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Chennai, Jan 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) History sheeter and notorious don, Padappai Guna who is an accused in 25 criminal cases including murder, surrendered before the Madras High Court on Tuesday. Police were on the lookout for him for a long time.

Guna is involved in murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, and extortion in several cases in Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts of Tamil Nadu. Recently the Kancheepuram police had held a meeting with the industrialists at Sriperumbadur and told them not to succumb to pressure from gangsters for protection money. The Tamil Nadu police in a bid to showcase the state as an investment destination do not want complaints from a place like Sriperumbudur where several Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) have set shop.

Several small units and micro industries were facing trouble from gangsters like Guna who tried to extort money from them.

Tamil Nadu DGP C. Sylendrababu had constituted a special team of police officers led by ADGP, Velladurai considered an expert in cracking high profile criminal cases, to catch Guna and bring him before the law of the land.

Velladurai is himself being named as one of the tough police officers of Tamil Nadu and is being seen in the criminal circles of Tamil Nadu as an encounter specialist. He was also in the team of TN police officers who had killed forest brigand Veerappan in 2004.

He was also part of the Tamil Nadu police team that had gunned down gangster Veeramani in 2003.

Sources in the police told IANS that the constitution of the new police team under ADGP Velladurai had sent shock waves across the criminals in and around the state and the surrender of Padayappa Guna before the Madras High Court is seen as a move to protect himself from the ire of the police officer who is considered as a no-nonsense taskmaster and goes for the kill.

Source: IANS

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Mumbai, Jan 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) The sarod rendition of the bhajan 'Vaishnav Jana To' performed by the bigwigs of Indian classical music Padma Vibhushan awardee Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash was released on Tuesday.

The meditative piece of music has been filmed in a minimalistic yet rich style in monochrome, keeping the divine essence of the hymn intact.

Talking about the rendition, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan said: "Music unites everyone. Like fragrance, water, fire, colours, air, it belongs to everyone. 'Vaishnava Jana To' becomes even more symbolic today when peace across the world is being seen as the elixir for the sustenance of global harmony and brotherhood."

Speaking about the collaboration, Rajesh Menon, CEO, Panorama Music, said: "This is a really special year for all Indians and to commemorate it and make it memorable for successive generations, we have come up with this unique rendition which will undoubtedly tug at our collective heartstrings."

"Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is one of 20th century's greatest masters of the sarod and together with his sons, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, are a part of our national cultural heritage," he added.

'Vaishnava Jana To' was Mahatma Gandhi's favourite bhajan and was sung religiously at the Sabarmati Ashram when Mahatma Gandhi lived there and is still a must.

The three-minute rendition, which celebrates the 75th year of India's Independence, is available to stream on Panorama Music's YouTube Channel and other audio streaming platforms.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader R.P.N. Singh on Tuesday joined the BJP here.

He joined the BJP in presence of Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Anurag Thakur and Jyotiraditya Scindia, deputy Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya, state BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh and party national media head Anil Baluni at party headquarters here.

Welcoming Singh in party, Pradhan said, "Election process is on in Uttar Pradesh and BJP has been continuously winning the confidence of Uttar Pradesh for the last eight years. Once again we are goinig with the issues of development, better law and order, welfare schemes to seek people's support. Singh has joined to make Uttar Pradesh number one state. Many times I told Singh that he is the right man in the wrong party. Today, I welcome him in BJP."

Singh thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief J.P. Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party leadership for inducting hime in the BJP family.

"I worked hard for 32 years in Congress but it is no longer what it used to be. Many asked me to join the BJP for a long time, but I can only say 'Der aaye durust aye (better late than never)'. I will work as a 'Karyakarta' (worker) towards fulfilling Prime Minister Modi's dream for nation building," Singh said.

The former Union minister said that the way the BJP government has worked hard to improve the law and order situation in the state is commendable.

"I will do everything that is assigned to me as a small party worker for the development of Uttar Pradesh and country," Singh added

Before officially joining the BJP, Singh tweeted, "This is a new beginning for me and I look forward to my contribution to nation building under the visionary leadership & guidance of the Honourable Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi, BJP President Shri @JPNadda ji & Honourable Home Minister @AmitShah ji."

Earlier in the day, Singh resigned from the primary membership of Congress a day after being named as one of the party's star campaigners for Uttar Pradesh.

Tweeting his resignation letter, Singh said, "Today, at a time, we are celebrating the formation of our great Republic, I begin a new chapter in my political journey. Jai Hind."

The former Union Minister of State for Home, Singh has been MLA and MP from the party and also was in-charge of the party in Jharkhand.

The Congress has been facing a major exodus of its leaders in Uttar Pradesh. Recently, three candidates named by the party switched sides to other parties.

Singh will be a high profile exit from the Uttar Pradesh Congress after Jitin Prasada, who quit the party and now is a minister in the Yogi government. Singh is an influential leader in his area, but could not win two consecutive elections on the Congress ticket.

Sources said that he is likely to be fielded on a BJP ticket from the same seat against Samajwadi Party's Swami Prasad Maurya, who recently left the saffron party.

Source: IANS

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Melbourne, Jan 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) Showing his legendary fight and grit that has defined his career, Rafael Nadal overcame an abdominal injury to beat Denis Shapovalov in a five-set quarterfinal and reach the 2022 Australian Open semifinal, here on Tuesday.

Playing in his 14th Melbourne quarterfinal, Nadal battled through to his seventh semifinal with a 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 win over Canada's Shapovalov in four hours and seven minutes.

"I was completely destroyed after that," said Nadal, who will now have a "very important" two full days of rest before taking the court again on Friday. "For me it's amazing, honestly, to be in the semifinals."

The Spaniard, who is gunning for a record 21st Grand Slam men's singles title and now two wins away from a second Aussie Open men's singles title (2009), survived an inspired comeback from the 14th seed and a troubled stomach to avoid the upset.

In the final set, Nadal crucially broke in the second game, either side of two dramatic service holds in which he saved a combined three break points across four deuces. Conserving his reserve energy for his service games, he saw the advantage home with an array of clutch deliveries to close out the match.

"I was lucky that I was serving great in the fifth, said Nadal, who credited Shapovalov for his aggressive play. "He was serving huge, and especially the second serve."

The 35-year old was dominant early on Tuesday in Melbourne. Entering the match with just two breaks of serve against the fortnight, Nadal did not face a break point until the third set.

With temperatures as high as 32 degrees Celsius on the show court, his heavy ground game benefitted from bouncy conditions. He was at his best in medium-length rallies, amassing a 37 to 16 edge over the course of the match on exchanges of five to eight balls.

After winning an epic first-set tie-break against Adrian Mannarino in the fourth round, Nadal was clinical early on against Shapovalov. The Spaniard won his first five service games to 15, coupled with a break at love in the fourth game of the set. The break was given as much as it was earned, as Shapovalov followed a Nadal winner with three unforced forehand errors.

However, the Canadian started to find traction on his serve after the early wobble, cashing in on free points to string together easy holds and assert himself in the match in set two. Defending with more success and dragging Nadal into longer rallies, Shapovalov threatened in three straight return games -- including a combined four deuces -- but still could not get to break point.

Nadal left the court to change into a dry kit after the second set, as Shapovalov plotted to change the course of the match. With increased aggression, the Canadian finally made his breakthrough with Nadal serving to stay in the third. He fired a menacing backhand winner to seal the set after more attacking play forced two Nadal errors.

It was a signal of intent, as Shapovalov was firmly in the ascendancy from there. Nadal required treatment from the physio and took tablets for a stomach problem prior to the fifth, but returned to show his championship mettle with a vintage final-set performance.

The 35-year-old will take on either seventh seed Matteo Berrettini or Frenchman Gael Monfils in the semifinals.

Source: IANS

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Bengaluru, Jan 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) A 25-year-old student has accused Bengaluru police of inaction over her complaint of rape. She has alleged that police are not arresting her Facebook friend who raped her as he is a man of influence, even six days after lodging a complaint.

The victim, a fashion designing graduate, had lodged a police complaint with Madanayakanahalli police station in the outskirts of Bengaluru on January 19. She complained that one Harsha Gowda, a local youth had raped her in his car, took her nude videos and photos.

She has further alleged that, if she opened her mouth, her sister would also meet the same fate and the victim's nude photos would be made viral on social media. However, the police after registering the complaint are yet to arrest the accused. Condemning the delay in making arrests, the victim had even staged a protest in front of the Madanayakanahalli police station on Monday.

When contacted, Madanayakanahalli police stated on Tuesday that they have taken up the investigation. "The victim has to make her statement before the judge. The complaint was lodged on Jan 19. She is demanding an arrest. We will take him into custody soon," the police maintained.

In her complaint, the victim explained that she came to know about the accused Harsha Gowda in 2014 through Facebook. They started chatting and later the accused proposed to her. After being forced, the victim stopped communicating to him.

Since the accused's father provided bus services to garment factories, the girl contacted the accused on January 16 on Facebook and asked him for a job opportunity. The accused agreed to meet her near Virus Bar and Restaurant. When the victim went there, he was in the car and asked her to come inside.

The accused told her they can talk about jobs later but first they have to discuss his love proposal to her. The victim alleged that he forced her to drink beer and tried to hug her. He told her he has a private room nearby and they should go there. The accused also told her that he wouldn't allow her to leave till morning.

When the victim started screaming for help, the accused told her no one will hear her cries as the car is sound proof. No one will be able to see as the vehicle has tinted glasses. Victim alleged that the accused pulled her seat back, slapped her and stripped her. He took videos and photos. The victim alleged that when she tried to cover her face with hands, he slapped again and moved her hands off her face and shot videos.

She alleged that accused dragged her to back seat and raped her. Later, he gave back her clothes and threatened that if she opened her mouth her sister would meet the same fate and her nude videos and photos would be put up on social media. The accused also told she should come whenever he wishes.

The police have registered the case under IPC section 342, 323, 354, 376, 504 and 506. The victim had the support of Kannada and women's organisations. Madanayakanahalli police are investigating the case.

Source: IANS

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FIFA (www.FIFA.com) sends its deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims who lost their lives following the tragic incident that took place at Olembe Stadium during the Africa Cup of Nations fixture between Cameroon and Comoros.

The thoughts and prayers of the global football community are with the victims, the ones who have been injured in this incident, and all the staff of both CAF and the Cameroonian Football Association (FECAFOOT) at this difficult moment.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of FIFA.

Contact for African media: 
AfricanMedia@fifa.org

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Canberra, Jan 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) A new survey on Tuesday revealed that 51 per cent of Australians disapproved the federal government's handling of the Omicron spread amid surging cases of the highly-transmissible Covid-19 variant.

According to the survey published by the Australian Financial Review (AFR), the people said the handling of the Omicron outbreak and a shortage of rapid antigen tests (RATs) for coronavirus has diminished their view of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's federal government, reports Xinhua news agency.

Almost 50 per cent of respondents rated Morrison's pandemic response as either poor or very poor compared to 27 per cent who approved him.

While 49 per cent said governments have not found the right balance between opening up the economy and the surge in Covid-19 infections.

Australia on Tuesday reported more than 40,000 new locally-acquired coronavirus infections and 76 deaths - 29 in New South Wales, 29 in Victoria, 11 in Queensland, five in South Australia, and one each in Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory, according to health department figures from states and territories.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that now there have been 74 Covid-19 deaths in South Australia, 70 of which have occurred since the state reopened its borders on November 23, 2021.

According to the federal Department of Health, there were 5,173 cases being treated in Australian hospitals, including 404 in intensive care units, 146 of which were on ventilators.

Currently, 2,285,286 cases are confirmed in the country with 3,225 deaths.

Source: IANS

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Mumbai, Jan 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) Anil Kapoor's film 'Race 2' has completed nine years in Hindi cinema. The actor says the movie clocking nine years brings back some fun memories from the shoot.

After his character, Inspector Robert D'Costa, received a good response in 'Race 1', Anil Kapoor was seen slipping into his skin once again. Also known as RD, Anil's character is a smart policeman, accompanied by a secretary who is portrayed as dim-witted.

Anil said: "'Race 2' is a special movie for me and has always been close to my heart. Completing nine years of the film brings back some fun memories from the shoot. Congratulations to the entire team behind the massive success of the film!"

Anil gave us an impactful performance with some on-point hilarious moments. He was also the narrator for the film.

Produced by Ramesh Taurani under the banner of UTV Motion Pictures and Tips Industries, the film also co-stars Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Bipasha Basu, Jacqueline Fernandes, Ameesha Patel, Aditya Pancholi and Rajesh Khattar.

While the background score for the film was done by Salim-Sulaiman, the music album was a creation by Pritam and Honey Singh.

Currently, Anil is filming for 'Jug Jugg Jeeyo', a Raj Mehta directorial starring Neetu Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and Kiara Advani and produced by Dharma Productions and Viacom18 Studios.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) As the country gears up to celebrate its 73th Republic Day, e-commerce giant Amazon is facing backlash on micro-blogging site Twitter for selling products having the Indian National Flag imprinted on them.

With the Tricolour imprint products, including clothing, face masks, keychains, etc., available on the platform, several users took to Twitter to share their outrage for disrespecting Indian sentiments.

"We demand that you immediately take down the offending items and stop hosting such items on your online store or face a boycott!!" a user wrote on Twitter.

"Amazon has often insulted India's tricolour flag by selling shoes, shoes and toilet seat covers, masks, etc," another user wrote, with a hashtag #Amazon_Insults_National_Flag.

Several users reported that the tech giant is selling shoes with Tricolour imprints on them.

"Let us respect the sacrifices made by our National heroes who laid their lives for the freedom of India. Let us unitedly oppose the denigration of our National Flag," another user wrote.

"Let us boycott these products on Amazon," it added.

Few users also pointed out that using the flag on several products is against the flag code of India.

"The Flag shall not be used as a portion of a costume or uniform of any description. It shall not be embroidered or printed upon cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins or boxes," as per the code.

However, this is not the first time that the tech giant has faced such an allegation.

Previously, Amazon's US website marketed Indian Tricolour-themed shoes and metal hoops for shoelaces.

Source: IANS

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Chennai, Jan 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) Cinematographer Dinesh Krishnan B, the cameraman of director Venky Atluri's bilingual film 'Vaathi', starring Dhanush and Samyuktha Menon, on Tuesday announced that he wouldn't be able to be a part of the project.

Taking to Twitter, Dinesh said: "It is unfortunate that I couldn't be a part of Dhanush k Raja's #Vaathi #SIR movie. Hoping to work soon with Fortune Four Cinemas, Sithara Entertainments and Venky Atluri. #covid"

While it is unclear why the cinematographer chose to opt out, the cameraman's mention of the hashtag #covid in his tweet has led to speculation if he has had to pull out because of the virus.

The film, which went on the floors with a puja ceremony in Ramanaidu Studios, Hyderabad on January 3 this year, is titled 'Vaathi' in Tamil and 'Sir' in Telugu. S. Naga Vamsi and Sai Soujanya are bankrolling the prestigious project.

Cinematographer Dinesh Krishnan is known for having shot films like 'Soodhu Kavvum', 'Sethupathi', 'Thegidi' and 'Maara'.

Source: IANS

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Wellington, Jan 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) New Zealand's PCR testing capacity can be increased by nearly 20,000 tests per day to deal with a surge in cases as part of the country's wider Covid-19 testing strategy, Associate Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall said on Tuesday.

"We have continued to adapt our public health response to safeguard the health and wellbeing of all New Zealanders throughout this pandemic," Verrall said in a statement.

"Our labs have already processed 5,906,843 tests to date and our highest testing day so far was August 24, 2021 where 49,736 tests were completed."

With Covid-19 cases of the Omicron variant now in the North and South islands, testing, tracing and quickly isolating any cases and their contacts will be all the more important for protecting families and communities, Xinhua news agency quoted the MInister as saying.

"A rapid rise in case numbers will require us to shift from identifying all infected individuals to being more targeted to those most at risk and those needed to maintain critical infrastructure," she said, adding testing remains a cornerstone of the Covid response.

Nasopharyngeal PCR tests will continue to be used as the primary diagnostic test in our initial phase of dealing with Omicron in the community, but this will be supplemented by wider use of rapid antigen testing, Verrall said.

The PCR testing capacity has been increased from a maximum of 39,000 tests a day to a baseline of 58,000 tests. Surge capacity is now 77,600 tests, which can be sustained for seven days, she said.

Saliva testing has been introduced to 4,000 border workers, Verrall said.

From December 2021, businesses in New Zealand have been able to order approved rapid antigen tests directly from importers for use with their workforce.

These tests are also used across the health system, including residential aged care.

The government will on Wednesday announce further details on how New Zealand will manage Omicron through the various phases of community spread.

Source: IANS

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Tokyo, Jan 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) A member of Japan's Self-Defense Force (SDF) unit that was dispatched to provide aid to disaster-struck Tonga has tested positive for Covid-19, public broadcaster NHK said on Tuesday.

According to the Defence Ministry, a member of the Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) tested positive for the virus after getting a fever on Monday and taking an antigen test, reports Xinhua news agency.

The ASDF member belongs to a unit currently based in Australia and took the test there, NHK quoted the Ministry as saying.

As a result, the infected individual is now in quarantine along with 21 other SDF personnel who are suspected of having close contact with the individual.

The Ministry said that the infected member, along with all the other personnel dispatched to provide assistance to the disaster-stricken Pacific islands nation, all took polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests before they departed from Japan.

Tonga, which is currently free from Covid-19, was rocked by a powerful undersea volcanic eruption on January 15, triggering a devastating tsunami.

On Monday, Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) dispatched a transport vessel with more aid to help the disaster-hit Pacific islands nation.

The Defence Ministry said the vessel was carrying 60,000 litres of drinking water as well as 60 high-pressure washers.

The high-pressure washers will be used to help remove a thick blanket of volcanic ash left in the wake of the massive undersea volcanic eruption.

The Ministry said that the unit's delivery of drinking water and other emergency supplies to be delivered to Tonga, will not be affected by the Covid-19 incident.

It also said that along with two CH-47 transport helicopters, two hovercrafts and trucks, 300 personnel would also join the mission as part of Japan's ongoing relief operation to Tonga.

The latest dispatch followed two transport planes loaded with drinking water and other emergency supplies sent by Japan.

According to the Tonga government, the falling ash and the tsunami have affected more than 80 per cent of its population.

Japan's first dispatch on January 20 of supplies and aid to Tonga arrived on January 22.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 25 (IASN) The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a plea seeking an interim relief to allow the continuation of FCRA licenses of nearly 6,000 NGOs, which were only valid till September end last year. The Centre's counsel wondered why a Houston-based association is interested in this matter.

Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, representing the US-based NGO Global Peace Initiative, submitted that there are thousands of NGOs, which are doing good work for the society. Global Peace Initiative, an organisation incorporated in the US, has an office in India and Dr. K.A. Paul, represents the organisation here.

A bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre whether he has got instructions in the matter?

Mehta pointed at the time limit for the renewal, and added that nearly 11,000 NGOs applied for Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licenses renewal within the cut-off date and it has been extended.

He said the government is well aware of the situation and wondered what is the purpose of this PIL. Mehta said: "Why a Houston-based person is so interested in Chhattisgarh. We are here for them..." Hedge added that nearly 6,000 NGOs have not applied.

The bench, also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and C.T. Rajkumar said: "If those 6,000 NGOs have not applied under the present regime, they have chosen not to continue in the current regime," Mehta reiterated, "How is the Houston-based association concerned?"

The bench said that the petitioner can move a representation before the authorities concerned, with suggestions and the authorities may consider it.

The bench, in its order, said: "In the light of this stand taken by the authorities, we don't intend to pass any interim order as prayed. If the petitioners have any other suggestion, they may file a representation before the authorities which may be considered on its own merits by the authorities".

The petition, filed by the NGO and others, challenged the Central government's decision to refuse renewal of FCRA licenses of close to 6,000 NGOs.

The plea has stated, "The work done by these NGOs helped millions of Indians. The sudden and arbitrary cancellation of FCRA registration of thousands of these NGOs violates the rights of the organizations, their workers as well as the millions of Indians who they serve. This is especially relevant at a time when the country is facing the third wave of the Covid-19 virus."

The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020 was introduced in Lok Sabha on September 20, 2020, which amended FCRA Act, 2010. The Act regulates the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution by individuals, associations, and companies.

The plea claimed the FCRA Amendment Act, 2020 significantly hampered their activities and operations.

Source: IANS

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Canberra, Jan 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) Australians will commemorate one of the highlights of their national calendar on Wednesday with an array of events big and small.

Australia Day, on January 26, is traditionally a summer holiday celebrated with family get-togethers, picnics and barbecues, sunbathing at the beach and flocking to outdoor concerts with many patriotic revellers bedecked with removable tattoos bearing the national flag, reports Xinhua news agency.

The biggest city, Sydney, has a packed schedule of crowd-pleasing events around the harbour beginning with a Morning Ceremony complete with Aboriginal artwork projected onto the "sails" of the Sydney Opera House.

Other highlights around the harbour will include an Air Force aerial display, a race featuring 19th-century sailing ships, a boat regatta, a concert and fireworks in the evening.

Meanwhile, one of the nation's biggest Australia Day events, Skyworks, will be staged on the foreshores of the Swan River in Perth, the capital of Western Australia (WA).

WA has had the nation's toughest border control measures throughout the pandemic and its tight restrictions led to last year's Skyworks being shelved, and there were concerns the same would happen in 2022.

The WA government, however, confirmed earlier this week that the huge fireworks display, which usually attracts tens of thousands of onlookers, would go ahead.

"We have to be safe and we have to be smart," Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas told local newspaper The West Australian.

"Everyone must wear a mask, but we can't live in fear. Australia Day is a day worth celebrating, so the City of Perth's position right now, is it's on with the show," he said.

Source: IANS

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Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) Till the infamous gold smuggling case surfaced, M. Sivasankar, the then principal secretary and top Kerala bureaucrat was one of the most powerful official. But after that things went for a toss and on his 59th birthday, on Tuesday, Sivasankar recalls what life actually is, through his social media account.

The smuggling case came to light on July 5, 2020, when the Customs arrested Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate here, for allegedly smuggling gold in a diplomatic baggage destined for the Consulate.

Swapna Suresh, who previously worked in the UAE Consulate, and her associate Sandip Nair were arrested in the case by the NIA from Bengaluru a few days later.

Trouble started for Sivasankar after Swapna's arrest and then came out juicy tales of the relation with Sivasankar.

Vijayan, unable to stand the massive onslaught, first suspended Sivasankar from service and in October 2020, Sivasankar was arrested and for 98 days he was cooling his heels in a jail, after which he got bail.

Sivasankar's suspension was revoked on January 5 and has been posted as principal secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs.

"Today is my birthday. I turned 59; I was born in the sixties. Like many who are from that generation, (perhaps even those who were born in the 70s and early 80s) in Kerala, birthdays were not really occasions of joyous celebration. It was just another day which indicated a new number in your template,".

"While this year too, there is no celebration, today is extremely special to me. It is with profound gratitude that I remember the last year. This date last year, I had spent on the cold floor of a prison cell, surrounded by people whom I hardly knew. Since there is no Facebook alert to remind people around me, nobody even knew that it was my birthday. The very fact that I have the freedom now, to at least acknowledge birthday greetings, I realize, it means a lot. That is the one lesson which I had learnt- never ever take your freedom, which is invaluable, for granted. And always be on the lookout for people who could snatch it away,".

Looking ahead, however, he says he is excited.

"I now have another 372 days more to complete my tenure in government service. This year, I feel relieved that the days are countable. Also I feel excited that after around this time next year, I can take on more challenging and meaningful work without the burden of expectations and the possibility of getting misunderstood. To that extent, it has been a very good makeover, personally,".

"I also realise that even with FB reminders, the number of people who wished me well today are practically 1/10th of the usual well wishers. I am extremely happy to have been provided with this eye opening realisation that the people who really care for you are now clearly identifiable from the multitudes who extend meaningless pleasantries at an FB prompt,".

Source: IANS

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