Republic Top 10 Headlines: Black Fungus claims 4245 lives; Pegasus row and more

Navjot Sidhu invites CM Amarinder Singh for installation ceremony

Ahead of his installation ceremony as the Punjab Congress Chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu has sent a special invite to Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. According to reports, Sidhu and four other working presidents of the Congress party have sent a special invite to Singh to join the installation ceremony that is scheduled for Friday. The invitation comes as a first attempt from Sidhu to reach out to Captain Amarinder Singh. 

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Black Fungus claims 4245 lives in India

Until July 15, Mucormycosis also known as 'black fungus' has claimed 4245 lives in India, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed Rajya Sabha. He was responding to Congress MP L Hanumanthaiah's starred question regarding the plan to tackle the outbreak of fungal infections on Tuesday. Mandaviya mentioned that the Centre requested the states to submit details about the cases and deaths due to black fungus to get an objective assessment of the infection in the community.

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Haryana CM claims 'private agencies can procure pegasus'

Defending the Centre over the snooping row, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar claimed that even private agencies could procure the Pegasus spyware. This was in clear contradiction to Pegasus maker NSO Group's stance that it sells this software only to "vetted governments". The controversy came to the fore when French non-profit Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International accessed a leaked database of 50,000 phone numbers that were allegedly targeted by Pegasus. 

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Delhi police barricade Jantar Mantar, barbed wires at Singhu for farmers' daily protest

Barbed wires, wall barricades, and heightened security reappeared at Delhi's Jantar Mantar and Singhu border as Delhi police readied themselves to manage the Farmers' protest against the three contentious laws. Delhi police and the Farmer unions have agreed that 200 farmers will head from the Singhu border daily and protest at Jantar Mantar from 11 AM to 5 PM till the Monsoon Session of Parliament lasts. Farmers have been protesting demanding a rollback of the laws since December 2020 at Delhi's borders - Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur.

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Two more Olympic athletes test positive a day before opening ceremony

The COVID-19 cases at the Tokyo Olympics 2021 have already seen a couple of athletes being sent back home before the start of the event. The organisers on Thursday, revealed that two more athletes have been tested positive for COVID-19. The Tokyo Olympics 2021 is being conducted under tight quarantine rules to prevent the spread of Covid-19, however things are not going according to the plan for the organisers. 

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NIDHI4COVID 2.0 to fund Indian startups that aim to aid nation's fight against COVID-19

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the struggles of the startups and innovators have become more evident. As a response to help and support Indian startups, the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) has launched NIDHI4COVID 2.0. This initiative aims at introducing indigenous solutions and innovative products which would aid the nation in fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic effectively.

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RSS-backed academic research team submits suggestions for 'effective' COVID containment

The Research for Resurgence Foundation (RFRF), an RSS-backed academic research organisation on Wednesday submitted a detailed research report to the central government on ways to contain COVID in the country. The report was submitted in the wake of a possible third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nagpur-based RFRF is the academic research wing of RSS' Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal. 

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CM Yogi warns UP youth of property confiscation for wrongs

Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls, CM Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday, distributed appointment letters to Excise inspectors who cleared the UP Public Service Commission (UPPSC) exams. Heralding it as the UP and Centre's vision under 'Mission Rojgar', he claimed that the govts were empowering the youth. Addressing the Lucknow event, Adityanath warned the youth to not be swayed by people saying 'those who do wrong things will have their properties snatched'.

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In a first, women seen guarding the annual Hajj pilgrimage

In a first, dozens of female guards were seen as security services at Mecca and Medina, the birthplaces of Islam, reported ANI. As a big step towards empowering women, many female soldiers were seen dressed in uniforms and monitoring the pilgrims who were visiting the holy sites during Hajj. According to reports, Saudi female soldiers were seen standing as guards as thousands of Muslim pilgrims took part in this year’s Hajj.

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India among WTO's top 5 nations producing 75% of world's COVID-19 vaccines

Only five member states of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will account for three-quarters of the entire global output of COVID-19 vaccines this year, said Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Wednesday. The WTO Director-General said, "Production remains highly centralised - about 75 per cent of this year's vaccines appear set to come from five WTO members - China, India, Germany, the United States, and France." The dialogue was aimed at "Expanding COVID-19 vaccine manufacture to promote equitable access". 

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German Floods: Insurance loss worth 5 billion euros incurred says GDV Chief

Germany is likely to incur an estimated EUR 4 billion and EUR 5 billion market losses in insurance for the flood damage in the North Rhine-West­pha­lia and Rhi­ne­land-Pala­ti­nate regions, German insurance association, the GDV stated Wednesday. "We currently expect insured losses of 4 to 5 billion euros," said Jörg Asmussen, managing director of the insurance federation, in a statement. This makes the recent “Bernd” storm which mainly wrecked property in two federated states of the Rhineland as “one of the most devastating calamities of the recent past", he added. This damage is likely to be even higher than that of the August flood in 2002 that stood at 4.65 billion euros, according to the preliminary estimates made by the agency. 

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