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Prague throws “farewell party” for corona as country ends lockdown

Citizens of Prague threw a “farewell party to coronavirus”, as the country emerges out of the pandemic and ended its lockdown with just 350 deaths. A 500 metre table was set up on the famous Charles Bridge in the capital of the Czech Republic. People threw social distancing norms to the air as they attended this party in massive numbers, and shared food and drinks.

The Czech capital held the unorthodox gathering to say a “symbolic farewell” to the infection and to show residents should no longer be scared to meet with friends or visit local businesses. Local bands and musicians dotted the streets, as they danced and partied to mark the end of the lockdown.

The number of diners was limited and they all had to register through the Goout.cz website.

The event was held despite some 260 new Covid-19 cases being found in the country last week. Fears that such an event could become a super-spreader if just a few undiagnosed sufferers turned up were apparently dismissed. Notably, this country has had less than 12,000 diagnosed infections, and the leaders had enforced a lockdown that was implemented hard and early.

Largely free of foreign tourists, Charles Bridge was transformed into one long dining table – as people gathered to mark what organisers described as the end of a period of crisis, although everyone here freely admitted that such celebrations might well turn out to be premature.

Bombay High Court permits minor rape survivor to go through with abortion

The Bombay High Court has permitted a 17-year-old rape survivor to go through with the abortion of a 25-week pregnancy. This has been considered as a milestone judgement of sorts since this verdict has come despite the civic-run KEM Hospital here advising against the abortion. This board that had made the recommendation also suggested that the court provide the victim with the necessary medical and psychological support to go through with the pregnancy.

The bench, which was headed by Justices K K Tated and Milind Jadhav, ordered this on Tuesday, in response to a plea lodged by the victim’s father on her behalf. As per the plea, the girl is a victim of rape and a case against the perpetrator is lodged at the Vakola police station in Mumbai.

Provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act do not permit a woman to terminate the pregnancy if it has crossed 20 weeks and she will have to seek the high court’s permission to do so. The bench in its order, however, noted that in the present case the pregnancy was caused by rape, and hence, there is no doubt that continuance of this pregnancy “is causing a grave injury to the mental health of the petitioner”.

“In case the child is born alive during the termination procedure and if the petitioner and her parents are not willing or are not in a position to take responsibility of the baby, then the state government and the agencies concerned will have to assume full responsibility of the child, the court directed.

Boiler explosion at Neyveli Power Plant kills 6

A boiler exploded in the thermal power plant of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation on Wednesday, killing 6 contract workers and injuring 17 with burn injuries. The accident took place at the fifth unit of the Centre-run thermal power station-II (210 MW x 7) when workers were in the process of resuming operations in the morning.

It was reported that when this explosion had happened, the boiler had been out of operation. The six men who had died were aged between 25 and 42 years. The area has been cordoned off to prevent villagers around the area from entering the facility. The injured workers were given first aid in the NLCIL hospital and were later referred to a hospital in Chennai for further treatment.

Speaking about this, Union Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, had expressed condolences to the families of those who had lost their lives. He also added that he had spoken to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami about providing all possible help to the families of the fallen.

The labour union, as well as various political fronts, have been blaming the management for the frequent accidents that have been happening in the plant. Notably, this is the second time this year that an incident like this has happened at the NLC. In May, eight workers had sustained injuries due to a similar incident. There have been five incidents in the same plant over the last 18 months.

Tihar prisoner kills inmate to avenge rape of his sister

On June 29, in jail number 8 of Tihar Central Jail, 28-year-old Mehtab was stabbed to death by a by Zakir (22) to avenge the rape of  his sister .

Mehtab was accused in a rape case of the minor sister of Zakir in 2014 and the girl committed suicide later. Mehtab was booked under POCSO Act .

Delhi Police said “during initial inquiry at Tihar jail no 8, it surfaced that the prisoner Zakir stabbed Mehtab multiple times with a self-made knife-like metal piece,”

It is said that Zakir somehow got himself transferred to the close vicinity of Mehtab at jail premises to target him. Police said that Zakir plotted the murder before committing it .

While other inmates came for morning prayers Zakir used the opportunity to execute his plan, police said. Zakir have been booked for murder.

Explosion kills more than 13 at clinic in Tehran

An explosion was reported at Sina Athar hospital in the northern region of Tehran, followed by a fire. It resulted in damage to the buildings in the area as thick black smoke was sent to the atmosphere.

Patients in the clinic were reported to be evacuated on wheelchairs. According to an Emergency official, it was caused due to an explosion of a cylinder at the medical center.

The death toll from the incident has crossed 15 while 14 were injured.

Tehran’s police chief, Hossein Rahimi told the Islamic Society of North America that ten of the casualties were women.

Tehran Fire Department Spokesman explains in detail to State TV that first gas canisters in the clinic’s basement caught fire resulting in an explosion. Victims of the explosion were on the upper floors in operating rooms. The fire was extinguished around two hours after.

This was followed by another explosion that occurred near a military facility in Tehran.

“My deepest sympathies go out to the families of the victims, particularly the patients, who lost their lives in the catastrophic fire in Tehran’s Sina Clinic. My heartfelt condolences to all the people of Tehran. Wishing quick recovery of those hurt and injured in the fire,” said Maryam Rajavi who is the leader of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran.

Japanese startup create face masks with Bluetooth facility

Amid the pandemic, wearing a face mask has become the new norm. Donut Robotics is a Japanese based startup that has developed an internet-connected “smart mask”. The mask can transmit messages and translate into eight other languages from Japanese.

It fits over a regular face mask and uses the Bluetooth feature to connect to a smartphone or tablet application. Through this facility, speech messages can be transcribed to text, calls can be made or even amplify the voice of the person wearing the mask.

The prototype was built within a month as they adapted a developed translation software and a mask design. The mask design was created four years ago by Shunsuke Fujibayashi for a student project to interpret speech by comprehending face muscles.

Taisuke Ono, the chief executive of Donut Robotics says that they used the technology from a  robot they developed to create a product that responds to how the society is reshaped by the pandemic. Their engineers came up with this idea keeping in mind the needs of the society during COVID-19.

He also says that the first batch of 5000 c-masks will be shipped to buyers in Japan from September. They are also planning to expand their sales to China, Europe, and the United States of America.

The objective is to generate revenue from subscriber services offered via an app that users will download. At a price point of $40 for each mask, they aim to establish a market that did not exist before.

By selling their shares, Ono has raised $260,000. Within a span of three minutes, they reached their target of 7 million yen

SpaceX pays tribute to late Air Force Space Wing Commander

SpaceX launched the ‘military’s newest, most accurate GPS satellite to “deliver an upgraded global positioning satellite into the orbit.” The rocket was launched from Florida’s Cape Carnival Air Force on 30 June 2020. It was initially scheduled to take place in April but was delayed considering the health and safety over the past few months due to the ongoing pandemic.

“This is the third in the most advanced line of GPS satellites and joins a constellation of 31 GPS satellites in orbit,” according to the Space Force.

United States Space Command congratulated SpaceX and the team behind the launch of the third GPS satellite. “The next generation of GPS enables more resilient, precise navigation and timing to US & Allied warfighters & more than 4 billion users worldwide,” it says.

The launch was a tribute to Col. Thomas Falzarano. He was a commander of the 21st Space Wing at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. He died in the month of May at age 47.

Air Force officials described him as a talented space officer who was heading to become a general officer in the Space Force, according to a source.

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, also known as SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk is an aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company. The private company aims to reduce space transportation costs and colonize Mars.

TN Govt withdraws circular directing Tehsildars to stop issuance of income and assets certificates

The Tamil Nadu government has withdrawn the circular dated June 4, 2020 that directed the District Collectors to instruct the tehsildars to stop issuance of income and assets certificates for EWS quota.

The move comes in response to the petition filed against the government’s move at the Madras High Court by All India Brahmin Association and Reddy Sangha.

The petition was filed by T.P Kulathumani, President of Akhil Bharatiya Brahmin Association and advocate G. Girubakaran who is an executive member of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Pondicherry Reddy Nala Sangam.

Advocate General Vijay Narayan submitted that the matter will now be referred to a group of ministers who will now take policy decision on the same which will be conveyed to the court.

The advocate general representing the state government submitted before the court that the erstwhile Revenue Commissioner had issued the circular without consulting the government. He said that the current Revenue Commissioner has withdrawn the circular after consulting the government.

The matter is currently under the purview of the group of ministers who will take a policy decision and the court will be apprised of the same. The case is due for hearing on July 13.

Source: The New Indian Express

Israel faces backlash from the rest of the world over the annexation of the Palestinian territory

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has warned that the shock waves that could possibly be caused by this annexation of Palestine by Israel could last for decades.

“Annexation is illegal. Period,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement. “Any annexation. Whether it is 30 percent of the West Bank or 5 percent,” she said, urging Israel to “listen to its own former senior officials and generals, as well as to the multitude of voices around the world, warning it not to proceed along this dangerous path.”

There have also been petitions to Prime Minister Netanyahu repeatedly, asking him to to withdraw this declaration to occupy the West Bank region of Palestine as well as the Jordan valley.

While countries like Germany have come out in opposition to this decision, US President Donald Trump said that he stood by the Israel Prime Minister’s decision saying that it this would be another step towards his vision for peace in the region.

Israel has planned to annex a third of the West Bank, including parts of the strategic Jordan Valley. Annexing the Jordan Valley would mean that Israel would officially consider it part of its state. In addition, significant tracts of private lands would likely be expropriated, and even in cases where this does not occur, many Palestinians could lose access to cultivate their own lands. The annexation is set to begin on July 1, in an attempt to fulfill an election pledge by Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Suspects arrested under the new security law could be tried in mainland China

China implemented its new security law for Hong Kong on the 30th of June. Following this, all the suspects that were arrested under the jurisdiction of the new security office could possibly be tried in mainland China. This new piece of information has started striking terror in the hearts of the citizens of Hong Kong.

This comes as a result of Article 55 of the new security law, which states that Beijing could exercise its power over complex or serious cases. This also bans violators of the law from contesting in elections and greater oversight of non-government organizations and news houses.

Speaking at a flag-raising ceremony to mark the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover in 1997, the city’s embattled leader Carrie Lam said the law was the most important development since the city’s return to Beijing.

“It is also an inevitable and prompt decision to restore stability in the society,” Lam said at the same harbor-front venue where 23 years ago the last colonial governor, Chris Patten, a staunch critic of the security law, tearfully handed back Hong Kong to Chinese rule.

After a long-drawn series of protests and opposition, The authorities have come out and said that this legislation is only aimed at “troublemakers” and will not affect the common public or their freedom, despite evidence suggesting otherwise.