News Flash (2nd October 2020): Top 10 Stories Of The Day

UGC seeks suggestions for implementation of NEP

University Grants Commission (UGC) is seeking suggestions from higher education institutes for the implementation of the NEP (National Education Policy). The NEP summit will be held from Oct 5-9th 2020. Institutions have been asked by UGC to encourage faculty and students to participate in it. 

BrahMos supersonic cruise missile successfully test-fired by India

On Wednesday, India was successful in test-firing the supersonic cruise missile in Odisha. This missile is capable of being launched from land, submarines, warships or fighter jets.Rajnath Singh, the Union Defense Minister stated that this achievement will be a “big booster” for the Atmanirbhar Bharat pledge. 

Media & opposition leaders stopped by Hathras police from meeting family of victim

The UP police have stopped multiple reporters and opposition in an effort to curb the growing public anger. People are enraged over the way the administration of the victims death was handled. Rahul Gandhi was detained while he was on his way to meet the family. 

Donald and Melania Trump test positive for COVID-19

US president Donald Trump and First Lady, Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19. They were tested after his close aide was tested positive. This is a major blow for him as he tried to convince the Americans that the worst of the pandemic is behind them although cases keep rising everyday. 

Serena Williams out of French Open due to injury

Serena Williams, who was supposed to play against Tsvetana Pironkova in the second round, had to be pulled out due to an Achilles injury. She mentioned that she is having trouble walking which is a sign that she needs to try and recover. 

Outlook users suffer glitches worldwide

On Thursday, Microsoft Outlook servers were down for nearly four hours. It impacted web mails, desktops and mobiles. They mentioned the cause of this to be a configuration update.

This is the second time this week that services were down. 

A woman from Kerala creates a new world record

Arathi Regunath spent her free time during the lockdown studying in online courses and has achieved a world record from Universal Record Forum for completing 350 courses in the past three months on the platform “Coursera”. She is a second year MSc Biochemistry student. 

Cannes Film Festival to organize a special 3 day event in October

Four previews of films from the 2020 Official Selection, short films selected in Competition and Cinefondation’s school films will be screened. It will be hosted on October 27-29th. The event will be organized in collaboration with the Cannes City Council. 

Pakistanis stranded in India during pandemic return home

415 Pakistani nationals were stranded in India due to lockdown restrictions. On Wednesday, they finally returned to Pakistan through Attari Wagah border. They all arrived at the border with COVID-19 test reports and a team of doctors performed screening tests, customs and immigration checks. All the civilians were relieved to return to their homes. 

Double moonbow with Northern Lights spotted in Scotland

Photos taken by Andy Walker showed a rare double moonbow. It is a rare optical phenomenon caused  when the light of the Moon is refracted and reflected off water droplets present in the air. Walker mentioned that he has been taking pictures of the Northern Light for a decade but has never seen anything like this before.