Republic Top 10 headlines: Facebook Rebrands As Meta; PM Modi Arrives In Rome & More

Shringla Says India Following WHO's Talks On Covaxin 'carefully'; Approval Expected Soon

The government is carefully following the World Health Organization (WHO) discussions over Emergency Use Listing (EUL) for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, said Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Thursday, 29 October. While answering a query at a media briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Italy and the UK, Shringla said that the approval for the India-made vaccine against COVID-19 “should b given soon”. He also informed that WHO’s technical advisory group (TAG) met on 26 October and they “had a few questions” for Bharat Biotech.

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Facebook Rebrands As Meta To Emphasise 'metaverse' Vision

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday said his company is rebranding itself as Meta in an effort to encompass its virtual-reality vision for the future, what Zuckerberg calls the “metaverse”. Sceptics point out that it also appears to be an attempt to change the subject from the Facebook Papers, a leaked document trove that has revealed the ways Facebook ignored internal reports and warnings of the harms its social network created or magnified across the world.

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AICC Goa In-charge Hits Back At Prashant Kishor; Affirms 'Congress Isn't Going Anywhere'

On Thursday, Congress hit back at poll strategist Prashant Kishor's prediction that BJP will remain a dominant force in Indian politics for many decades. Disagreeing with Kishor's argument, AICC Goa in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao maintained that all parties need to exist in a democracy. In a dig at the IPAC founder, he affirmed that the Congress party will also remain relevant in Indian politics contrary to the belief of the former. At present, he is reportedly helping TMC to make inroads in Goa, a move that Congress believes is antithetical to opposition unity. 

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After Aryan Khan's Bail, Sister Suhana Khan Breaks Silence On His Arrest In Drugs Case

In the Mumbai cruise drug bust case, on October 28, the Bombay HC allowed bail to Aryan Khan, son of Shah Rukh Khan, as well as his co-arrestees Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha. This comes after the Bollywood superstar's son was detained by the NCB on October 2 after a drug raid on the Cordelia cruise ship docked at Mumbai and heading for Goa. 

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Punjab CM Channi Discusses Amarinder Singh, Party Tussle & Polls With Rahul Gandhi

As Punjab Congress' infighting continues to boil, CM Charanjit Singh Channi on Thursday, met with ex-Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Delhi. As per sources, Channi discussed party's prospects in next year's polls, ex-CM Capt Amarinder Singh's political re-entry, govt's schemes, sacrilege case and the new BSF mandate amendment. This is Channi's first meeting with the party high command after Capt Amarinder Singh announced that he was forming his own political party and contesting on all 117 seats in the Punjab Assembly Elections 2022.

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Owaisi Confirms Alliance Split With SBSP's Rajbhar; Aims To Contest 100 Seats In UP Polls

After Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party forged a pre-poll alliance with Samajwadi Party, AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi confirmed on Thursday that his party will no longer ally with Om Prakash Rajbhar. Earlier, AIMIM had joined the Rajbhar-led 'Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha' which comprised other parties including the Jan Adhikar Party, Rashtriya Uday Party, Rashtriya Upekshit Samaj Party and Janta Kranti Party. A Minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led Cabinet until 2019, Om Prakash Rajbhar has been a fierce critic of the BJP government after parting ways with the saffron party.

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Mullaperiyar Dam Dispute Between Tamil Nadu & Kerala Revived After Recent Rains, Floods

As part of regulating the water level of the Mullaperiyar dam, Tamil Nadu raised its shutters on Friday morning, Kerala Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine said on Thursday. The decades-old dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu revived after the unprecedented rains in the last couple of weeks raised the water level towards its permissible level of 142 ft. People residing downstream of the Mullaperiyar dam were evacuated as a security measure. 

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PM Modi Arrives In Rome For G20 Summit; To Pay Tribute To Gandhi, Call On Pope Francis

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning (IST) landed in Rome to take part in G20 Italy Summit. As soon as the Prime Minister landed at Leonardo Da Vinci airport in Rome, he was seen greeting the Government representatives with folded hands. The summit is scheduled from October 30-31. PM Modi will also hold a meeting with his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi.

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Biden Lands In Rome For G20 Summit; To Meet German, French, UK Leaders On Iran

United States President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Friday landed in Fiumicino airport in Rome to attend the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit, hoping to reach concrete decisions on a myriad of issues. President Biden will remain in Rome for October 30 and 31 then embark to attend the much-awaited United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, in Glasgow.

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Facebook Grilled By UK Lawmakers Over Online Safety Rules; Asked To Submit Research Data

The UK lawmakers on Thursday intensely questioned the representative of Facebook, over the online security handling by the social media tech giants. The grilling comes as a part of the European country's move to oversee the power of social media companies, as reported by the Associated Press. The 543Thursday session will be followed by a round of questioning representatives from Tik Tok, Google and Twitter by members of the parliamentary committee scrutinising the British government's draft online safety bill.

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