Trending News India

Tom and Jerry, Popeye creator Gene Deitch dies at 95

Working from behind the Iron Curtain, he directed 13 episodes of "Tom and Jerry" and also some of the "Popeye the Sailor" series



Gene Deitch, an American Oscar-winning illustrator, animator, film director and producer has died. He was 95.

His Czech publisher, Petr Himmel, told The Associated Press Deitch died unexpectedly during the night from Thursday to Friday in his apartment in Prague's Little Quarter neighborhood. No further details were given.

Deitch's movie "Munro" won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1960. He was also nominated for the same award twice in 1964 for "Here's Nudnik" and "How to Avoid Friendship."

Earlier, he had created the "Tom Terrific" series, while the "Sidney's Family Tree," which he co-produced was nominated for an Academy Award in 1958.

Born Aug. 8, 1924, in Chicago, Deitch arrived in Prague in 1959 intending to stay for 10 days, but fell in love with his future wife, Zdenka, and stayed in the Czechoslovakian capital.

Working from behind the Iron Curtain, he directed 13 episodes of "Tom and Jerry" and also some of the "Popeye the Sailor" series.

He captured life in communist Czechoslovakia and later in the Czech Republic after the 1989 anti-communist Velvet Revolution in his memoirs "For the Love of Prague."

In 2004, he received the Winsor McCay Award for his lifelong contribution to animation.

Deitch is survived by his wife and by three sons from his first marriage, all of whom are cartoonists and illustrators.

businesstoday

Padarayanapura vandalism: Who is Zameer Ahmed Khan, asks angry BS Yediyurappa

Khan, who represents the constituency where Padarayanapura is located, said authorities should have gone there during day time



Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday came down heavily on Congress legislator BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan over the Padarayanapura vandalism that saw a mob run amok against efforts to quarantine suspected COVID-19 persons late on Sunday evening....

Khan, who represents the Chamarajpet constituency where Padarayanapura is located, said that authorities should have gone to the area during day time.

“Who is he to say that? What does he have to do with this? Why should we ask him? Should we get his permission to carry out government work? Instead of saying that action should be taken, he is speaking like this. Should we then think that he incited the mob? This is the height of being irresponsible,” Yediyurappa said.

Following the violence, the police have arrested 54 persons and “five more will be arrested,” Yediyurappa said.

Khan clarified that he did not defend those who indulged in vandalism. “I condemn the incident and action should be taken. I’m not saying officials shouldn’t have gone. My point is that they should’ve gone during the day and by creating awareness beforehand that people need to be quarantined,” he said, adding that the BBMP had identified 57 people to be quarantined in Padarayanapura.

“People in this area are poor, uneducated and are mostly coolie workers and daily wagers. But whatever happened was wrong,” Khan said. He also pointed out that he was the one who arranged for 80 people to be quarantined in Tipu Nagar.

Yediyurappa said the Padarayanapura incident was unprecedented. “In the entire state, never had such incidents taken place. Everybody agrees this is unacceptable,” the CM said. “Whoever breaks the law - Hindu, Muslim, Christian or anyone - should should face action,” he said.

deccanherald

The death of Yogi Adityanath's father, Uttarakhand CM said- his passing is very sad

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's father died in Delhi AIIMS this morning. He took the last time at 10:44 in the morning. He was admitted to AIIMS in Delhi on 13 March due to ill health. He had liver and kidney problems.

According to Minister of State for Higher Education Dhan Singh Rawat, the body of Anand Bisht, father of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, is being brought to the village. The body is expected to reach the village by evening.

The relatives of Yogi Adityanath have told that the self. Anand Singh Bisht's last wish was to take his last breath in his native village. The body is being brought to the village with this interest. It is not clear where the last rites will be performed now. The body is expected to reach by evening. Only then will you get confirmed information in this regard.

Governor expresses deep condolences

Governor Baby Rani Maurya has deeply mourned the death of Yogi Adityanath's father Anand Singh Bisht. The Governor himself Praying for the peace of Bisht's soul and expressed condolences to the bereaved family.

Deeply saddened to hear of the death of Anand Singh Bisht. Whenever I met him during the treatment, his smile on his face always made him feel healthy, but today he is so sad for us all. Place the Supreme Father, the Supreme Soul, in your deeds and provide support to the mourners.

- Trivendra Singh Rawat, Chief Minister

amarujala

MP Tejasvi Surya’s ‘disrespectful’ 2015 tweet on Arab women kicks up new row, deletes post

Various prominent Twitter handles in the Middle East call out Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya for the 2015 tweet, which he has now deleted.

Bengaluru: Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya has landed in a row for a tweet he had posted in 2015 with an “objectionable” comment about Arab women. The tweet was highlighted by various prominent citizens of Arab nations Sunday, following which the BJP MP deleted it. 

Among the first to call out Surya was Dubai-based businesswoman Noora AlGhurair, who said she “pitied his upbringing that has taught him to disrespect women”. She also warned him against “travelling to Arab lands if he is ever bestowed a foreign ministry”. 

It was soon picked up by other prominent Arab Twitter handles, some of whom tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

The tweet had earlier been circulated on social media when Surya contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 but it did not gain much traction then. The issue snowballed after AlGhurair, who has been very vocal about the way Muslims are being treated in India, highlighted it once again. 

Several prominent social media handles in the Arab nations have been of late calling out “ill-treatment” of Muslims in India.  

The Surya controversy comes on the back of Princess Hend Al Qassimi, a member of the royal family of United Arab Emirates, warning that Indians who work in the UAE and post ‘Islamophobic’ content on social media will be deported.  

A number of Indians working in the Middle East have already been sacked in the recent past for objectionable social media posts.  

ThePrint tried to reach out to Surya for his comment on the controversy but all the calls went unanswered. This report will be updated when he responds.  

Past controversies involving MP Surya

The BJP MP had been called out for the same tweet in 2015 too. Among those who had slammed him back then was Karnataka Congress leader Y.B. Srivatsa, who had called it “cheap”.  

“He (Surya) used to put out a lot of such comments claiming they are quotes of others. When I called him out then, he claimed he was merely quoting Tarek Fatah, a Pakistani-Canadian journalist-author,” Srivatsa told ThePrint. 

“It is his way to push his type of ideology but the fact that he tweeted it only means Surya endorses what Fatah has said.”  

Srivatsa added that such tweets could cause problems to Indians working in the Middle East as there “are several young Surya followers who have been posting venomous comments against Arabs while working in the Emirates”.  

“Old utterances are also being culled out and that is how Surya’s sexist comments came to light,” the Congress leader said. “While it shows how people of the Sangh Parivar view such things, it will also cause problems to Indians living in the Middle East.”  

BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje was also of the same opinion. “Indians work all across the world. As responsible citizens, we should ensure we do not make comments that can hurt or affect our fellow Indians,” she told ThePrint.   

Handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contest from Bengaluru South, Surya has landed in trouble several times for his tweets. He once posted that he “dreads” the day when women reservation will become a reality. Surya deleted a tweet within 24 hours of being named as the BJP candidate in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.  

“With the exception of Womens’ Reservation in Parliament, Modi govt agenda is inspiring. Dread d day when women’s reservation becomes reality,” he had said in the now-deleted tweet.

theprint

Oil price plunges to 22-year low

US benchmark WTI crude for May delivery tanked more than 32 percent — the lowest level since 1999.

New York oil crashed on Monday to nearly $11 per barrel, the lowest level since 1998, extending a dizzying plunge to almost 40 percent on abundant supplies and virus-sapped demand.

Just before 1200 GMT, the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for May delivery tanked to $11.31 per barrel, as the market was hit also by technical trade ahead of the contract's expiry later on Monday.

Trade, however, and the very sharp losses were technically driven as investors closed out their positions ahead of the May contract expiry due later Monday so that they would not be obliged to actually take delivery of the oil. 

"The real problem of the global supply-demand imbalance has started to really manifest itself in prices," said Rystad Energy analyst Bjornar Tonhaugen.

"As production continues relatively unscathed, storage is filling up by the day. The world is using less and less oil and producers now feel how this translates in prices."

The European benchmark contract, London Brent North Sea oil for June delivery, was meanwhile down 3.8 percent at $27.01 per barrel.

Signs that the coronavirus may have peaked in Europe and the United States failed to lift Asian and European financial markets generally.

Traders are instead becoming more and more concerned that oil storage facilities are reaching their limits, as stockpiles continue to build owing to the crash in demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Analysts said this month's agreement between OPEC and its peers to slash output by 10 million barrels a day was having little impact because of the virus lockdowns and travel restrictions that are keeping billions of people at home.

WTI was hit particularly hard as its main US storage facilities in Cushing, Oklahoma, were filling up, with Trifecta Consultants analyst Sukrit Vijayakar saying refineries were not processing crude fast enough.

There are also plenty of supplies from the Middle East with no buyers as "freight costs are high", he told AFP.

Some analysts predict that WTI could soon test 1998 lows of just $11.

AxiCorp's Stephen Innes said: "It's a dump at all cost as no one... wants delivery of oil, with Cushing storage facilities filling by the minute.

"It hasn't taken long for the market to recognise that the OPEC+ deal will not, in its present form, be enough to balance oil markets."

Stock markets were mostly lower despite governments starting to consider how and when to ease the lockdowns that have crippled the global economy.

Italy, Spain, France and Britain reported drops in daily death tolls and slowing infection rates, while Germany began allowing some shops to reopen and Norway restarted nurseries.

'No time to get cocky'

In the US, Andrew Cuomo, governor of badly hit New York state, said the disease was "on the descent", though he cautioned it was "no time to get cocky".

Mounting evidence suggests that the lockdowns and social distancing are slowing the spread of the virus.

That has intensified planning in many countries to begin loosening curbs on movement and easing the crushing pressure on national economies.

Investors are keeping an eye on Washington, where Congress and the White House are working towards a $450 billion economic relief plan for small business to add to the trillions already pledged to support the economy.

Big-name companies including IBM, Netflix and Coca-Cola are also due to deliver their earnings reports.

the hindu

Infosys Q4 results: Profit rises 6% to Rs 4,321 crore; firm suspends guidance

Operating profit margin came at 21.20 per cent in Q4FY20 against 21.40 per cent in Q4FY19.

NEW DELHI: IT major InfosysNSE 3.90 % on Monday reported a 6.10 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in consolidated profit for the March quarter at Rs 4,321 crore compared with Rs 4,074 crore in the same quarter last year. Analysts in an ET NOW poll had projected the number at Rs 4,382 crore.

Revenue for the quarter rose 8 per cent to Rs 23,267 crore, the company said in a filing.

Infosys said considering business uncertainty emanating from Covid-19, it is unable to provide gui ..

Salil Parekh, CEO and MD, Infosys said, “We had an exceptional year in 2020 with growth of 9.8 per cent and operating margin of 21.3 per cent. While the immediate short-term will be challenging, we can see that there is a strong interest to consolidate with partners with high-quality and agile service delivery and strong financial resilience. I am confident we will emerge from this stronger.”

The IT major also announced a final dividend of Rs 9.50 per share.

We continue to remain focused on execution excellence in a period of high uncertainty. Our relentless focus on liquidity will be supported by our strong balance sheet of $3.6 billion cash, backed by accelerated cost take-outs and operational rigor,” said Nilanjan Roy, CFO. He added that the final dividend was a testimony of a strong free cash flow performance for FY20.

The company had Rs 27,300 crore cash as of March 31, while it signed a $1.65 billion of large deals in January-March March period.

Attrition rate for January-March stood at 20.7 per cent against 20.4 per cent last fiscal. Infosys had 2,42,371 employees as of March 31, against 2,28,123 for the same quarter ended last year

“We will honour all job offers made by the company,” Infosys said.

In dollar terms, revenue increased 4.5 per cent to $3,197 million. On the other hand, the figure inched lower by 1.4 per cent on a sequential basis.

The IT major also announced the appointment of Uri Levine as an independent director of the company with effect from April 20. The appointment is for a period of three years and is subject to the approval of shareholders.

economictimes

OnePlus 8 Series Price in India Announced, Significantly Cheaper Than the US

OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro price in India has been revealed. The company has also launched a new OnePlus storage variant for India, exclusively.

OnePlus 8 Pro price in India has been revealed, alongside the prices for the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z headphones. OnePlus on Sunday announced the pricing for all of its new products, just days after their introduction. The exact sale dates for each of the products is still unclear and OnePlus has just said that these will go on sale next month. The OnePlus 8 series prices in India are much lower than the prices of the two smartphones in the US. What's also worth noting is that the company has launched a brand new variant of the OnePlus 8 in India - the 6GB + 128GB - that hasn't been unveiled globally.  Read on for more details on OnePlus 8 series price in India and sale details. 

OnePlus 8 Pro, OnePlus 8 price in India

The OnePlus 8 price in India starts at Rs. 41,999, whereas the OnePlus 8 Pro starting price is Rs. 54,999. As mentioned, these are much lower than the US pricing, where OnePlus 8 starts at $699 (roughly Rs. 53,000) and the OnePlus 8 Pro starts at $899 (roughly Rs. 68,000). The OnePlus 8 series will go on sale in India in May, and no precise availability details have yet been detailed. Interested buyers can choose to be notified via Amazon India.

These prices were first revealed via OnePlus' Red Cable Club forum and then confirmed by OnePlus India in an emailed statement. The OnePlus 8 base variant with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage has been priced at Rs. 41,999 and this is exclusive to Amazon India. The middle variant of OnePlus 8 with 8GB RAM, 128GB storage has been priced at Rs. 44,999, and the top variant of the OnePlus 8 with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage has been priced at Rs. 49,999. These two variants will be available “across all online and offline channels”, OnePlus said, which means Amazon India, the OnePlus India website, and presumably the OnePlus experience store and Croma.

OnePlus 8 price in India was revealed via its Red Cable Club forum

The OnePlus 8 Pro 8GB RAM, 128GB storage variant has been priced at Rs. 54,999 and the 12GB RAM, 256GB storage variant has been priced at Rs. 59,999. OnePlus 8 Pro will be available via Amazon India and offline stores.

OnePlus 8 Pro, OnePlus 8 specifications

The dual-SIM (Nano) OnePlus 8 Pro runs Android 10 with OxygenOS on top. It features a 6.78-inch QHD+ (1,440x3,168 pixels) Fluid AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC, coupled with 8GB and 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM. It comes with a quad rear camera setup comprising a 48-megapixel primary Sony IMX689 sensor, an 8-megapixel secondary sensor with a telephoto lens, a 48-megapixel tertiary sensor with a wide-angle lens, and a 5-megapixel “Color Filter” camera sensor. As a front camera, the OnePlus 8 Pro sports a 16-megapixel Sony IMX471 sensor.

The OnePlus 8 Pro has 128GB and 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage options, and connectivity options include 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5.1, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC, and a USB Type-C port. It feature an in-display fingerprint sensor, and the company has provided a 4,510mAh battery that supports Warp Charge 30T (5V/ 6A) and Warp Charge 30 Wireless, apart from reverse wireless charging. It measures 165.3x74.35x8.5mm and weighs 199 grams.

The dual-SIM (Nano) OnePlus 8 runs Android 10 with OxygenOS on top and features a 6.55-inch full-HD+ (1080x2400 pixels) Fluid AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC, 8GB and 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM options, a triple rear camera setup (48-megapixel Sony IMX586 primary sensor + 2-megapixel secondary sensor + 16-megapixel tertiary sensor), a 16-megapixel Sony IMX471 sensor front camera, 128GB and 256GB of UFS 3.0 two-lane storage options, the same connectivity options, an in-display fingerprint sensor, apart from a 4,300mAh battery that supports Warp Charge 30T (5V/ 6A). It measures 160.2x72.9x8.0mm and weighs 180 grams.

OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z price in India, specifications

The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z price in India is Rs. 1,999. In the US, they were priced at $49.95 (roughly Rs. 3,800). They feature a IP55 rating for sweat and water resistance. They also have a 9.2mm dynamic driver apart from super bass tone. There is a Low Latency Mode on the wireless headphones, where latency is reduced to 110ms. They weigh 28 grams, and are said to have an improved wireless range of 10 metres. In terms of connectivity, they feature Bluetooth v5.0 and charge using a USB Type-C port. Three silicon earbuds come in the pack.

gadgets.ndtv

Rudratej Singh, CEO Of BMW India, Dies Due To Cardiac Arrest

Rudratej Singh, president and chief executive officer of BMW Group India, died on Monday morning following a cardiac arrest. Arlindo Teixeira, chief financial officer at the company, has been appointed as the acting president in the interim. Singh had joined BMW Group in August 2019 following a stint as global president of Royal Enfield, Eicher Motors Ltd.’s motorcycle arm. Before that, worked with Unilever Plc in India and international markets for over 16 years. 

"BMW Group India, with profound sorrow, announces the demise of Rudratej Singh (46), President and Chief Executive Officer, on April 20, 2020," the Indian arm of the German automaker said in a statement.

The cause behind the sudden and unexpected death is yet to be ascertained, the company said, but sources confirmed that Singh suffered a massive cardiac arrest.

"Our prayers are with his family and loved ones during this difficult period. He'll always be remembered as an inspiring and compassionate human being," BMW Group India said in the statement. His transformational vision and strategic orientation played a crucial role in navigation of BMW Group India in a challenging business environment.

Singh’s death comes at a time when BMW Group India was in midst of implementing the strategic measures for strengthening its dealer network across India, the automaker said.

Singh had more than 25 years of experience and held multiple leadership positions both in the automotive and non-automotive industries.

BloombergQuint

Thatte is my best friend 

On the occasion of Chandrababu's birthday , grandson Nara Devansh made a special greeting. Devansh is very associated with his grandfather, and Chandrababu, who has found some time to play with his grandson. Devansh is also featured in many programs. On the occasion of his grandfather's birthday, Nara Brahmani tweeted a comment on Nara Devansh visions. 'Happy birthday to the most wonderful grandfather in the world. It is a “great” thing for you to love me. To me you are an icon, inspiration. Especially when you tweeted, "You are my best friend." Brahmani posted this on his Twitter account on behalf of Devansh. She also shared the grandfather's grandfather, Oftoto.

April 20 is the birthday of Chandrababu. Chandrababu stepped into the 70s. Chandrababu is a senior leader in national politics and a leader with 40 years of political experience. Become an MLA for 25 years. He took over as minister for 28 years. He has been a key figure in the politics of the Telugu Desam Party, Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition in joint Andhra Pradesh. Chandrababu played a key role in the politics of Delhi. Chandrababu was also the first chief minister of Navandra after the partition.

telugu.samayam

Goa, Manipur go Covid-19 free

On April 19, Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant declared that at present Goa does not have a single Covid-19 positive patient.

He said, “A moment of satisfaction and relief for Goa as the last active Covid-19 case tests negative. The team of doctors and entire support staff deserves applause for their relentless effort. No new positive case in Goa after April 3, 2020.”

Goa becomes the first Indian state to become free from the novel coronavirus disease.

He tweeted, “We are proud to announce that all the patients that were reported positive in the state of Goa have recovered from the Covid-19. The active number of cases in Goa now stands at zero.”

Though currently, Goa does not have any active case, the state authorities stress that they would continue to follow the guidelines issued by both Central and State government, and adhere to the rules of the nationwide lockdown stated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Another Indian state Manipur has also become coronavirus free.

Last night, Manipur CM N Biren Singh tweeted “I am glad to share that Manipur is now corona free. Both patients have fully recovered and have tested negative. There are no fresh cases of the virus in the state. This has been possible because of the cooperation of public and medical staff and strict enforcement of lockdown @PMOIndia“

businesstraveller

Zoom and WebEx users targeted by credential stealing attempts

Videoconferencing apps such as Zoom and Cisco’s WebEx are being targeted by cyber criminals trying to steal users’ personal data

Users of popular videoconferencing services such as Zoom and Cisco WebEx should be on their guard against phishing attacks that seek to steal their service credentials, according to Proofpoint’s senior director of threat research, Sherrod DeGrippo, who has been tracking an uptick in videoconferencing-themed attacks since the end of March.

The latest wave of attempted cyber attacks predictably focuses on the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, which has seen millions of people switch to working from home to comply with national lockdown regulations.

DeGrippo said: “Videoconferencing has become very popular very quickly. Attackers have noticed and moved to capitalise on that popularity and brand strength. Not only are attackers using videoconferencing brands as a lure for malware, but they’re using it for credential phishing, in particular to steal Zoom and WebEx credentials.

“This points to the increasing value of compromised videoconferencing accounts. Stolen account credentials could be used to log in to corporate videoconferencing accounts and violate confidentiality. They could also be sold on the black market or used to gain further information about potential targets for launching additional attacks.”

The credential-stealing attacks do not hinge on any vulnerabilities in either Zoom or WebEx, but rather exploit the services’ names and brands as themes in social engineering lures, enticing victims to enter their passwords on a fraudulent website in order to fix a problem or receive an upgrade.

DeGrippo said she had observed variants of both attacks targeting organisations in the accounting, aerospace, energy, government, healthcare, manufacturing, technology and telecoms, and transport sectors.

The WebEx attacks purport to come from admin email addresses that, at first glance, could be legitimate Cisco addresses, and will generally have subject lines such as “Critical Update”, “Alert!”, or “Your account access will be limited”.

The targets are told that they need to upgrade their WebEx clients to fix a cyber security vulnerability in the Docker Engine Configuration in Cisco CloudCenter Orchestrator, a legitimate vulnerability (CVE-2016-9923) first disclosed some time ago, and which was fixed – such as it pertains to Cisco products – in a December 2016 patch. If they click on the link, they will be redirected to a fake website that asks for their WebEx username and password.

The attacks on Zoom target similar sectors, and take the form of a welcome wagon, trying to get their targets to click a link to activate their new Zoom account. The link redirects to a generic webmail page on which they are asked to enter their credentials. A second variant of this lure claims the recipient missed their Zoom meeting and includes a link they can use to “check your missed conference”. Almost needless to say, the link does nothing of the kind.

DeGrippo said another particularly dangerous campaign targeting Zoom users had been seen aimed at businesses in the construction, energy, manufacturing, marketing and technology sectors. It uses similar lures exploiting Zoom, but in reality is distributing the ServLoader/NetSupport remote access trojans (Rats). If enabled, these malicious executables will be able to access files and information on the victim’s system.

The message identified thanks the target for responding to a fake request for quotation (RFQ), includes an attachment that relates to the RFQ, and offers a Zoom call to discuss further. Subject lines spotted in the wild include “[Company name] Meeting cancelled – Could we do a Zoom call?” and “[Company] – I won’t make it to [various US states] – Could we talk over Zoom?”

computerweekly