Republic Top 10 Headlines: Biden-Putin summit; PM Modi invites world to invest and more

WATCH: Joe Biden Meets Russia's Vladimir Putin For The First Time As US President

In a watershed geopolitical development, US President Joe Biden met his Russian counterpart Vladamir Putin for the first time since taking office at the White House, at the Geneva summit on Wednesday as the two are set to hold high-profile talks. Joe Biden's last meeting with Putin was in 2011 when he was the US Vice President in the Obama administration, and Putin was Russia's Prime Minister (but the de facto leader nonetheless). 

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PM Modi Invites The World To Invest In India On The Basis Of THESE Five Pillars

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday addressed the 5th edition of VivaTech via video conferencing. During the address, PM Modi invited the world to invest in India based on the five pillars of - talent, market, capital, eco-system, and culture of openness. He also claimed that India is home to one of the world's largest start-up ecosystems. 

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Twitter Breaks Silence After Losing 'legal Shield'; Strives To Comply With New IT Rules

In its first reaction after losing the "safe harbour" immunity in India, Twitter reiterated that it is making all possible efforts to comply with the new IT rules. A Twitter spokesperson stated on Wednesday that the interim Chief Compliance Officer had been retained by the company, the details of which will be shared with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology soon. 

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BJP's Sambit Patra Lashes Out At Congress Over 'heavily Superstitious' Covaxin Allegations

After Central Government clarified on reports claiming that serum from newborn calves was being used for Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Sambit Patra addressed a press conference on Wednesday and launched an attack of words at the Congress party. The BJP spokesperson explained how the COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin is being manufactured scientifically. 

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Delhi: 5000 Health Assistants To Be Trained For Possible Third Wave Of COVID-19, Says CM

To ensure enough manpower for the possible third wave of COVID-19, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Wednesday announced his government's decision to enroll 5000 health assistants or community nursing assistants. The team will be deployed to different hospitals in Delhi. The medical staff will be recruited on the basis of 'first come first serve' and they will be trained for two weeks by Indraprastha University (IP University) in nine major institutes of Delhi. 

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PM CARES Fund Allocates Two 250-bed Makeshift COVID Hospitals In West Bengal

In a major development, the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund Trust has decided to allocate Rs. 41.62 crores for the establishment of two 250 bedded makeshift COVID Hospitals by DRDO at Murshidabad and Kalyani inWest Bengal. As per the official press release, certain infrastructural support would also be provided by the State Government and the Union Health Ministry.

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Punjab Contractual Teachers Protest; Seek Job Regularisation And Revised Salary

Non-permanent teachers of Punjab School Education Board on Wednesday staged a protest against the state government seeking job regularisation and salary enhancement. Hundreds of teachers were seen outside the School Education Board building in Sector 62, Mohali, and blocked the office of the Education Secretary.

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Mayawati Mocks SP After BSP Rebel MLAs Meet Akhilesh Yadav; Says 'expelled Them Long Ago'

A day after 9 rebel BSP MLAs met Akhilesh Yadav, former UP CM Mayawati lashed out at the Samajwadi Party for trying to portray a split in her party. Contending that SP practices the "disgusting" politics of horsetrading, revenge and casteism, she pointed out that the MLAs in question- Hakim Lal Bind, Vandana Singh, Ramveer Upadhyay, Anil Kumar Singh, Aslam Raini, Aslam Ali, Mujtaba Siddiqui, Hargovind Bhargava, and Sushma Patel had been expelled ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls in October 2020.

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COVID's New Delta Plus Variant Is Not Yet Classified As A Variant Of Concern: NITI Aayog

Dr. VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog said that the newly discovered Delta Plus Variant is not yet designated as a Variant of Concern, in the context of the public debate about novel variant detection. Paul while addressing the COVID-19 Media Briefing at National Media Centre, said, "The present status is that yes, a new variant has been found. This is as of now a Variant of Interest (VoI), not as yet classified as a Variant of Concern (VoC). 

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'Green Fungus' Patient Airlifted From Indore To Mumbai, Possibly First Such Case In India

In another case of rare fungal infection, 'green fungus,' a 34-year-old patient was airlifted through a chartered plane from a private hospital in Indore to Mumbai's Hinduja hospital on Monday. According to District's health data manager, this is probably the first case of such infection in the country. The patient had recovered from COVID-19 however he underwent a test as doctors suspected contraction of dreaded black fungus infection (mucormycosis), reported PTI. 

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