News Flash (22nd April’ 2020): Top 10 Stories Of The Day

1. Chandigarh University to offer 10% reservation to children of COVID-19 warriors

Chandigarh University has announced a new COVID-10 warriors scholarship scheme which is worth Rs 5 crore. All those fighting against the coronavirus and their wards will be able to avail of this scheme. Under the COVID-10 Warriors Scholarship Scheme, 10% of seats will be reserved in the undergraduate and postgraduate programs offered by the Chandigarh university to the wards of COVID-19 warriors. In addition to these, all admitted to the Chandigarh university under this category will also be eligible for a 10% fee rebate for the entire course of the program. 

2. Actor Milind Soman learns skipping from 81-year-old mother: Video goes viral

A video of model-turned-actor, Milind Soman learning to skip from his 81-year-old mother, Usha Soman has gone viral. The duo took to skipping on their building’s terrace as a part of the daily exercise regimen. Milind recently started sharing motivational and fitness videos on his social media handle to urge people to exercise regularly in their homes even during the lockdown. Along with the video that he posted with his mother, he also sent out a message through it that read “you are old only when you think you are”.  

3. Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand to lead the Indian Challenge in Online Nations Cup

Indian Chess Grandmaster, Vishwanathan Anand will be leading the Indian challenge in the Online Nations Cup, a team tournament that is scheduled to be conducted between May 5 to 10. 6 teams from across the world, that include Russia, Europe, China, USA, India and a team representing the “Rest of the World”, will be participating in the competition. The competition is going to be conducted by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and Chess.com.   

4.  South Korean company to make COVID-19 rapid test kits in Haryana

A company of South Korea named SD Biosensor is set to start mass-producing the COVID-19 rapid test kits at the Manesar facility in Harayan after the testing kits provided by China turned out to be faulty. The company currently has the capacity to produce 5 lakh rapid test kits and aims at scaling up the production in the upcoming weeks. This action came in as a reaction to the ever-growing demand for kits and the shortages India is currently facing. 

5. Facebook to invest $5.7 billion and hold 10% stake in Reliance Jio’s platforms

 Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook will soon pick up 10% of Reliance Jio’s stake for $5.7 billion. With this announcement that was made earlier in the morning today, Facebook is now to become Jio platform’s largest minority stakeholder. Facebook seems to be predominantly interested in ‘Jio’s platforms’ which is basically a term used for the services that Jio is looking to build up for its users. After Facebook’s investment into Jio’s platforms, its value stands at $65.95 billion (Rs 4.62 lakh crore). The main motive of this deal is to carve out new ways for people and businesses to operate efficiently in the growing digital economy. 

6.  US President Trump suspends issuance of new green cards for the next 60 days

The President of the United States, Donald Trump has decided to halt the issuing of new green cards to non-Americans for the next 60 days. This, he said, was to protect the jobs of the Americans. Due to the outbreak of coronavirus, about 60 million Americans have lost their jobs, and it is the government’s duty to protect those who have lost their jobs. Issuing green cards, he says, will leave most of the Americans with no jobs. Critics, however, have called Trump’s this move, a tactic to distract the world’s attention from the errors he has made while attempting to contain the spread of the virus.

7.  Cannabis Farming legalized in Lebanon for medicinal use

On Tuesday, the Lebanese parliament made the farming of cannabis legal, but only for medical use. This decision was taken as an attempt to help the sliding economy generate revenue. Farming of Cannabis will flow in foreign currency, which will help the country in the times of financial crises.  

8. Federer asked Nadal: Why he plays with his left hand when he is right-handed

While connecting over Instagram live, both the living legends of Tennis had a fun chat with each other and with their fans. During this live chat, Roger Federer asked Rafael Nadal why in spite of being a righty, he plays with the left hand. To this, Nadal delightfully added “I can write with the right hand. My basketball skills are with right but not in tennis. I started with two hands-backhand and forehand. I was hitting with two-hand backhand so people did not know whether I was left-handed or right-handed. But I always played with left-hand.”

9. Beaches in Thailand witness rare turtles who built the largest number of nests in 20 years

Due to the lockdown, the beaches of Thailand are deserted. This has invited many rare leatherback sea turtles to build the largest amount of nests in two decades. The authorities found 11 turtle nests since November, last year, the highest number of nests built in the last 20 years. These rare leatherback sea turtles are the largest sea turtles in the world. They are endangered in Thailand and are listed as vulnerable species globally. The coming back of these turtles have left the animal and nature loves feeling happy. 

10. Dwayne Bravo shares teaser of his next song on MS Dhoni

Caribbean cricketer Dwayne Bravo recently shared a teaser of his next song which he has dedicated to the Indian cricketer, MS Dhoni. Bravo won hearts not just with his stupendous cricket skills, but also with his ‘Champion’ song that gained immense popularity. Bravo was also expected to show his ‘music and rap’ skills this year in India during the IPL (Indian Premier League), however, due to the lockdown, the IPL got postponed. To keep up the spirits the cricketer shared his song’s teaser. CSK reshared the teaser as well.