News Flash (25th August 2020): Top 10 Stories Of The Day

1. JEE & NEET student’s protest is now backed by Greta Thunberg

The Swedish born climate champion, Greta Thunberg, took to Twitter to lend her support for students protesting the JEE and NEET exams. In the tweet, she said, “It’s deeply unfair that students of India are asked to sit national exams during the Covid-19 pandemic and while millions have also been impacted by the extreme floods. I stand with their call to #PostponeJEE_NEETinCOVID“. More than 25 lakh students are going to appear for the JEE Main and NEET UG exams.

2. CM Patnaik urges the educational minister to postpone JEE & NEET exams

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has in a letter to the Educational Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal urged to make delays in the NEEt and JEE exams. NEET 2020 and JEE Main 2020 are set to take place in September. “It would be highly unsafe and perilous for the students to appear in these tests,” said Patnaik. Odisha is set to have more than 50 thousand students appearing for NEET and 40 thousand for JEE exams.

3. Survey suggests more than 62% parents are unwilling to send students to school

LocalCircles conducted a survey to note parents’ reaction to sending their kids to schools as per the Centre’s “Unlock” guidelines. The survey included 25 thousand respondents from around 260 districts. The survey reported that around 62 percent of parents were vary of sending their kids to school. The survey also took parents’ response on taking the metros or going to the cinema. 

4. PhD students now allowed entry to research labs in Delhi University

On August 23rd, Delhi University announced that it will open its doors to research labs for PhD students. The PhD students will be given entry once they get the certificate by their supervisors and Head of Department. At a time the lab would only have ⅔ students. Extra precautions like face mask and sanitation would be implemented. 

5. Trump’s decision motivates TikTok to sue the government of the U.S.

The video-sharing app has said that “we simply have no choice” but to sue the Trump administration. This happened after Donald Trump ordered the app’s ban. The company’s official page said they were against the issued order. And that they are no national threat. TikTok has said that they are not going to take their ban lightly and this leaves them with no choice but to raise against the government’s order.

6. Trials for AstraZeneca begins

The British based AstraZeneca has started their COVID-19  antibody test. It is a mixture of two monoclonal antibodies and has proved to be safe to its participants. This test would aim to show that the vaccine will prevent a person from getting Coronavirus and would also be effective in preventing it. 

7. Sonia Gandhi to retain the position of Congress Chief

The Congress Working Party has on Monday decided that Sonia Gandhi will “continue to lead the Indian National Congress”. After a year of having Sonia Gandhi as an interim president of the party the current was unanimously taken. 

8. After attending Usain Bolt’s party, Chris Gayle tests negative

After attending Usain Bolt’s birthday party in Jamaica, Chris Gayle is reported negative for Covid-19. He is now ready to leave for the upcoming edition of Indian Premier League (IPL). Chris Gayle took the test twice and both the results turned out to be negative. 

9. “Forecast” a Facebook product to be launched

Facebook to release an experimental app for iOS users in the USA and Canada named ‘Forecast’. The app would ask its users to share their ideas and make predictions and vote on certain questions. The app is set to create debates and will ask the users to send in their responses. The users too can post questions which will earn them 100 points.

10. Shabana Azmi discusses how the Akhtars deal with nepotism backlash

Speaking with The Quint Shabana Azmi reported on the father-daughter bond she shared with her father. When she said that she wanted to become an actor her father replied, “‘Even if you want to become a cobbler I’ll support you but the only thing is you have to make sure you are best in what you do’. This topic came in discussion for her upcoming production named Mee Raqsam.