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‘Portal’ connecting New York and Dublin shut after ‘inappropriate behaviour’

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A ‘portal’ art installation that connected the US’ New York City and Dublin, Ireland, via a 24/7 video livestream has been temporarily shut down nearly a week after it was first opened to the public.

The live video ‘portal’ has been shut down due to multiple incidents of “inappropriate” behaviour in a striking blow to an ambitious public art initiative, USA Today reported.

The closure of the ‘portal’ was prompted by multiple disruptions including the display of offensive content and explicit imagery.

“Instances of inappropriate behaviour have come from a very small minority of portal visitors and have been amplified on social media,” the media outlet quoted a Flatiron NoMad Partnership spokesperson as saying.

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This initiative was designed to foster a sense of global connectedness. It featured continuous live streams that were displayed on circular screens in both cities in different parts of the world.

The New York City portal was located in the Flatiron district of Manhattan, while in Dublin, it was situated near O’Connell Street, which is the city’s main street.

As per an Instagram post by the organisation, the ‘portal’ will remain shut for a couple of days. It started on Tuesday at 5 pm (New York time) and 10 pm (Dublin time) and is expected to be back ‘by the end of this week’.

Since its beginning, this initiative was marred by several incidents, most notably the transmission of footage related to the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York by a user based in Dublin. Captured on the New York side, this video was later rapidly spread on social media and received millions of views.

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Dublin City Council and the Flatiron Nomad Partnership are co-organisers of the project.

“While we cannot control all of these actions, we are implementing some technical solutions to address this and these will go live in the next 24 hours,” Dublin City Council stated earlier on Monday.

Further, Flatiron NoMad Partnership noted that it is planning to introduce software updates designed to limit inappropriate content on the portals.

Moreover, additional staffing and physical barriers will be put in place at the Flatiron Building site so that unauthorised interactions with the portal can be prevented.

Despite the setbacks, they have stated that the majority of the interactions between people had been positive, fulfilling its aim of evoking joy and connectedness.

This project is part of the broader initiative by Portals.org. The organisation had earlier established similar installations in places like Vilnius, Lithuania, and Lublin, Poland.

These portals are aimed at bridging physical distances and fostering cross-cultural understanding.

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Punjab Lok Sabha elections: Complete list of Congress candidates

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Two years after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) defeated Congress in Punjab Assembly elections, the grand old party is attempting to regain its lost glory in the border state. The stage is set and it’s the Lok Sabha elections where AAP and Congress — part of the INDIA bloc — are going solo.

Punjab, which comprises 13 parliamentary constituencies, is all set to vote for the 2024 general elections in a single phase on June 1, followed by the counting of votes on June 4.

During the 2019 polls, the grand old party emerged victorious in Punjab, bagging eight of the 13 Lok Sabha seats, leaving the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) with just two seats each, while the remaining constituency went to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

However, the Congress has witnessed the departure of several veteran leaders, including former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, his wife and sitting Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, the party’s former state unit president Sunil Jakhar and two-time Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, to the BJP.

During the 2022 Assembly polls, AAP registered a landslide victory, getting 92 of the 117 seats in the state. Congress could only manage 18 seats, while three went to the SAD, two to BJP and one each to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and an Independent candidate.

BJP and SAD, the two former allies, earlier failed to reach a common ground and they too are going solo in these polls.

As a result, the state this time is witnessing a multi-cornered contest between the Congress, AAP, the BJP and SAD.

Punjab Lok Sabha elections: Voting dates

In Punjab, polling for the 2024 general elections will be held during the last phase on June 1. All the seats in the state will vote in a single phase.

During the 2019 elections, the state witnessed a total voter turnout of 65.94%.

Punjab Lok Sabha elections: Total seats

In total, Punjab has 13 parliamentary constituencies, of which four seats are reserved for the SC candidates, while the remaining nine are unreserved.

Punjab Lok Sabha elections: Congress candidates

After a strong performance in the last elections, the Congress is hopeful of yet another dominating show in Punjab in the 2024 polls. Here’s a complete list of candidates announced by the grand old party in Punjab:

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Raghav Chadha back in India, visits Kejriwal’s residence amid Swati Maliwal assault controversy

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha made his first public appearance in months on Saturday as he was seen arriving at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal‘s official residence in Delhi.

On Saturday morning, Chadha was seen entering Kejriwal’s residence in the national capital.

#WATCH | Delhi: AAP MP Raghav Chadha arrives at the residence of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

He was in UK and had undergone eye surgery there pic.twitter.com/XUGuqxHBIY

— ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2024

After returning from the United Kingdom, Chadha’s visit to the Delhi CM’s residence comes amid the ongoing controversy over the alleged assault of AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP and former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal.

According to the party, Chadha was in the UK for an eye surgery. While he stayed away from party affairs for a long duration, questions were raised over his absence.

However, the party stated that he would be back once he recovers.

“Raghav Chadha has undergone major eye surgery in the UK. It is said that his condition was serious and there was a possibility of blindness. As soon as he gets better, he will come back to India and join us in the election campaigning,” Delhi Minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj told PTI last month.

Chadha, AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, had been missing from the party’s election campaigning for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections for the last few months.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police officials on Saturday arrested Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar in connection with the alleged assault case.

Bibhav Kumar was picked up from the chief minister’s official residence by a Delhi Police team around noon, a senior police officer informed, adding that he had been taken to the police station for interrogation.

This came after Swati Maliwal’s medical report suggested that she has bruises over her left leg dorsal and right cheek. Earlier this week, Maliwal had filed an FIR against Kumar for assaulting her at the Chief Minister’s residence.

As per the FIR details, Maliwal alleged that she was hit by Kumar with “full force again and again” and was even “kicked and slapped seven to eight times”.

Her medical examination was conducted on Friday.

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Missing ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah…’ fame actor Gurucharan Singh returns home; here’s what he said

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Television actor Gurucharan Singh, popularly known as Roshan Singh Sodhi of ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’, finally returned home on Friday, May 17, after remaining missing for nearly a month.

Singh came back to his residence in Delhi early morning on Friday 24 days after he went missing on April 22

After he returned, Singh was interrogated by Delhi Police officials, following which he said that he had gone on a ‘religious journey’.

Police officials said that Singh visited several Gurudwaras in cities like Amritsar and Ludhiana after he was reported ‘missing’. However, he later returned home.

His statement has been recorded before the magistrate and he is fine now, according to Delhi Police officials.

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Gurucharan Singh was supposed to fly from Delhi to Mumbai on April 22, but he did not board the flight and soon went missing.

According to police, his phone was active until April 24 and he made multiple online payments. A few days later, his father Hargit Singh filed a missing person complaint with the police. The Delhi Police later registered an FIR of abduction.

Earlier, Hargit Singh in an interview had stated that his son looked troubled, but never shared with his family what was bothering him.

“My son Gurucharan Singh, 50 years old, left at 8:30 am on 22 April to go to Mumbai. He went to the airport to catch a flight. He didn’t reach Mumbai, neither has he returned home and his phone is not reachable. He is mentally stable and we had been searching for him but now he has been missing,” Hargit Singh said in his complaint to police.

According to reports, a team of police officials had also visited the sets of ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’ and questioned the actor’s co-stars in connection with the matter.

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Gurucharan Singh played the role of Roshan Singh Sodhi on the show, before taking a break in 2013. He came back the following year on public demand. After a few years, he made a permanent exit in the year 2020 and is said to have not been a part of any other project since then.

During that time, there were speculations that Gurucharan Singh may have exited the show due to delays in his payments. However, the actor always remained tight-lipped on the issue and never spoke about this to anybody.

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Raghunandan Kamath, the man behind Naturals Ice Cream, no more

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Raghunandan Kamath, the founder of Naturals Ice Cream, passed away at the age of 75 at a hospital in Mumbai after a brief illness.

Kamath died on Friday night, Vijay Karnataka reported.

He was reportedly ill for the past several days and was admitted to the hospital. He is survived by his wife and sons.

“A phenomenal journey comes to an end. Saddened to know of the demise of ‘Icecream Man’ Shri Raghunandan Kamath, the founder & force behind Natural Icecreams. From Mulki to Mumbai with just a dream of creating a brand that became a ‘natural’ choice for every ice cream lover, his life is a huge lesson and inspiration for every entrepreneur. Prayers for his sadgati and strength to all his loved ones in this hour of grief. Om Shanti,” Captain Brijesh Chowta, secretary of BJP’s Karnataka unit wrote on social media site X.

A phenomenal journey comes to an end🙏🏽

Saddened to know of the demise of ‘Icecream Man’ Shri Raghunandan Kamath, the founder & force behind Natural Icecreams.

From Mulki to Mumbai with just a dream to creating a brand that became a ‘natural’ choice for every icecream lover,… pic.twitter.com/nPRw8CHZZj

— Captain Brijesh Chowta (Modi Ka Parivar) (@CaptBrijesh) May 18, 2024

Kamath started his journey from Mulki, a town in Mangalore taluk of Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka and went on to become a renowned name in the ice cream industry with his company Naturals Ice Cream, which is valued at approximately ₹400 crore today.

Born to a fruit vendor, Kamath in his early days assisted his father in the fruit business, which is said to have provided him with an invaluable understanding of fruits.

He left his village at the age of 14 and shifted to Mumbai, where he found a job at his brother’s restaurant.

According to a report by Udayavani, he forayed into the ice cream business in February 1984 with the help of just four workers. During the initial days, his company reportedly featured just 12 flavours of ice cream.

To attract more customers, Kamath used to sell Pav Bhaji, while serving ice cream as a side offering. This turned the world in his favour and drew several customers.

As the company – Naturals Ice Cream – gained popularity with time, Kamath decided to focus only on the ice cream business, which later allowed him to refine his products.

Later on, Kamath went on to open a total of 135 outlets across India by 2020. One of its unique selling propositions is that the company sells ice cream, which they say is made from natural ingredients without artificial flavouring.

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Space startup Agnikul Cosmos finally to launch maiden sub-orbital rocket after multiple delays

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Indian aerospace startup Agnikul Cosmos on Saturday informed that it will launch its 3D-printed, semi-cryogenic Agnibaan rocket between May 28 and June 5.

The Chennai-based company wrote on social media platform X, “NOTAM issued. It is launch time.”

NOTAM issued. 🚀🌏 It is launch time. pic.twitter.com/KfntcDXZBN

— AgniKul Cosmos (@AgnikulCosmos) May 18, 2024

The launch is scheduled from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

This comes after the start-up on April 7 called off the maiden launch of Agnibaan rocket just 92 seconds before lift-off citing some technical issues, PTI reported.

It was the company’s third attempt at the test launch of the Agnibaan Sub-Orbital Technology Demonstrator (SOrTeD) since March 22 – the first scheduled date for the test flight.

“The Agnibaan SOrTeD lift-off was cancelled at T minus 92 seconds,” the IIT Chennai incubated start-up noted.

“Had to call off today’s launch attempt of Agnibaan SOrTeD just a second into Automated Launch Sequence (ALS) initiation (at T-129 seconds), because of a communication issue between 2 of our onboard hardware. Although it is frustrating to see a HOLD this close to lift off, we are glad that our ALS did its job. We’ll get to the root cause and come back for launch after fixing the cause. Thank you for the support as always,” it wrote on X on April 7.

After the launch of the Vikram-S sub-orbital rocket by another start-up Skyroot Aerospace in November 2022, Agnikul is aiming to conduct the country’s second private rocket launch.

As per the company, Agnibaan is a customisable, two-stage launch vehicle, which is capable of carrying a payload of up to 300 kg into orbit of about 700 km.

The Agnibaan rocket is based on a semi-cryogenic engine with a mix of liquid and gas propellants — the technology which is yet to be demonstrated by ISRO in any of its rockets.

Agnikul’s SOrTeD mission is a single-stage launch vehicle demonstration. It is powered by a semi-cryogenic engine, named Agnilet, which is a sub-cooled liquid oxygen-brd propulsion system developed indigenously, reports said.

It is powered by sub-cooled Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) and is further equipped with four carbon composite fins to provide passive control.

As per reports, the start-up’s mission will last for just over two minutes from launch to splashdown. After lift-off, it is expected to perform a pitch-over manoeuvre nearly four seconds into flight.

The manoeuvre will involve the controlled rotation of the vehicle to change its orientation from vertical to a predetermined angle concerning the ground or its flight path, PTI reported.

After that, it will go into the wind-biasing manoeuvre at just over 39 seconds. At about 1 minute 29 seconds, the vehicle is expected to reach the apogee — a point it will be farthest from the launch site, before splashing down just over two minutes into the flight which will mark the end of the mission.

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Punjab Lok Sabha elections: Check full list of AAP candidates and constituencies

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Punjab is facing a four corner fight in the state as the campaigning in the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections has entered the last leg. The polling for all the 13 parliamentary constituencies in the state will be held in the seventh and final phase of voting on June 1.

The border state is witnessing an action-packed poll campaign with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trying to garner maximum support defying the ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s dominance.

Despite being members of the Opposition’s INDIA bloc, AAP and Congress have decided to go solo in the 2024 general elections. Also, the BJP and their ex-ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) failed to reach an agreement regarding the revival of their alliance in the state. As a result, Punjab is witnessing a multi-corner contest this time among AAP, Congress, the BJP and SAD.

During the 2019 elections, the Congress occupied the top spot in Punjab, winning eight out of 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The BJP and SAD won two seats each, while the AAP could only manage to secure one seat.

The AAP has emerged as a key player in the 2024 general elections in the state, following the Arvind Kejriwal-led party’s landslide victory in the 2022 Assembly elections. The party won 92 out of 117 seats, dethroning the Charanjit Singh Channi-led Congress government in the state. The grand old party was limited to just 18 seats, while three seats went to the SAD, two to BJP, and one each to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and an Independent candidate.

However, AAP recently suffered a major setback in Punjab after its Jalandhar MP Sushil Kumar Rinku switched to the BJP.

Punjab Lok Sabha elections: Voting dates

Polling in Punjab for the 2024 general elections will take place during the last phase on June 1. All seats in the state will vote in a single phase.

During the 2019 elections, it had registered a total voter turnout of 65.94%.

Punjab Lok Sabha elections: Total seats

Punjab has 13 parliamentary constituencies in total. Four seats are reserved for the SC candidates, while the remaining nine are unreserved.

Punjab Lok Sabha elections: Full list of AAP candidates

With its growing dominance in Punjab and after the emphatic in the last Assembly polls, the AAP looks to be in a strong position, hoping to improve its tally in the Lower House of Parliament this time. Here’s a complete list of AAP candidates in Punjab for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections:

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Maharashtra HSC, SSC Result 2024: MSBSHSE Class 10, 12 score to be out soon, details here

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE), Pune, will soon declare the 2024 class 10th and 12th results. Candidates can check their scorecard on the official website at mahresult.nic.in and mahahsscboard.in after the declaration.

According to reports, it is predicted that the Higher Secondary Certificate Examination (HSC) and the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) are expected to be released by the third or fourth week of May. As of now, MSBSHSE has not released any official date or time for the same. The board will announce the complete details of the results, including pass percentage and stream-wise performance.

Almost 26 lakh students took the board exam for both classes. To check the result, students will need to enter their roll number and mother’s name.

The Maharashtra Class 12th exams were conducted from February 21 to March 19, and exams for the Class 10th were held from March 1 to March 26, 2024.

How to check the board results?

Step 1: Visit the official website at mahresult.nic.in or mahahsscboard.in.

Step 2: Click the Maharashtra HSC Results 2024 link on the homepage.

Step 3: Enter the required credentials, like the roll number and mother’s name, and submit them.

Step 4: The board result for 2024 will be displayed on the screen.

Step 5: Download the result and print a hard copy for further reference.

To pass the board exams, students are required to score at least 35% marks in both theory and practical, according to MSBSHSE rules. Candidates who don’t make it through the Maharashtra board exams for classes 10 and 12 in 2024 are eligible to take the supplementary exams. Following the announcement of the results, the full schedule for the same will be declared.

In 2023, the overall pass percentage for the SSC examination stood at 93.83%, whereas in the HSC it was recorded at 88.13%.

Candidates are advised to visit the official MSBSHSE website to stay informed and get the latest updates.

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MOIL Shares hit 20% upper circuit on robust Q4 results, dividend declaration

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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MOIL Ltd shares hit a fresh 52-week high and 20% upper circuit limit of ₹524.6 apiece on the BSE on Friday after the company reported strong financial results for the quarter ended March 2024.

The state-owned mining company reported a net profit of ₹91.15 crore for the quarter ended March 2024, marking a growth of 12.6% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis from ₹80.95 crore in the same period last year. On a quarter-on-quarter basis the company’s net profit surged more than 40% compared to ₹54.1 crore in the December 2023 quarter.

The company’s revenue from operations, however, dropped almost 3% to ₹415.9 crore in the final quarter of FY24 compared to ₹428.06 crore in the year-ago period, while marking a healthy double-digit growth of 36% on a sequential basis.

In the December quarter, the central public sector undertaking (PSU) had reported revenue from operations at ₹306.3 crore, as per the earnings report released on May 15.

Its total income dropped 2% YoY to ₹439.85 crore from ₹448.05 crore in the year-ago period.

On the operating front, MOIL’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped 3.2% on a YoY basis to ₹128.3 crore in Q4FY24 from ₹132.6 crore in the year-ago period.

The state-run manganese producer’s EBITDA margin contracted slightly to 30.8% in the quarter under review as opposed to 31% in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year.

MOIL recorded its highest-ever production of manganese ore in the financial year 2024, since its inception, at 17.56 lakhs tonnes, which is also 35% higher than the company’s manganese ore production in the previous financial year.

The company also reported its best-ever sales in FY24 of 15.36 lakh tonnes, with an impressive growth of 30% year-on-year, along with registering a record turnover of ₹1,449.42 crore in the financial year under review.

The company’s Board has recommended a final dividend of ₹2.55 per equity share having a face value of ₹10 each for the financial year 2024.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow