Today’s News Headlines: Covid-Triggered Black Fungus Infection Continues To See A Rise In India

Government Will Set Up Defence Enclave Under Its Ambitious Centra Vista Redevelopment Project

Reportedly, demolition of the vice president’s house and its nearby buildings will take place to construct the Defence enclave under the Central Vista Redevelopment Project. According to the official sources in the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, the central government will set up the Defence Enclave to house top level Defence Brass and personnel. Currently, the Defence Minister, Defence secretary, Navy chief, Army chief and several other three-star officers resides at the south block. Under the Redevelopment Project, the North and South blocks will be converted into museums reflecting the history of India.

Covid-19 Bulletin: India’s Daily Recovery Tally Crosses 3.5 Lakh Mark; More Than The Daily Cases Reported

According to the data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India has recorded 2,59,591 fresh covid-19 cases and 4,209 deaths in the last 24 hours. India’s total tally of covid-19 cases stands at 2,60,31,991 with 30,27,925 active cases, 2,91,331 deaths and 2,27,12,735 recoveries. In the last 24 hours, India has recorded more recoveries than the daily covid-19 cases being reported.

International Monetary Fund: Ready To Strengthen Dialogue and Scale Up Technical Collaboration With India

While addressing a press conference on Thursday, the director of the communications department at the International Monetary Fund, Rice, said: “Our great sympathies and support to the people of India, and what is happening there relative to the pandemic, to those who have lost their lives and are suffering as a result of the COVID-19 crisis,”

“We stand ready to strengthen our dialogue and scale up our technical collaboration. The human tragedy in India is a stark reminder that the pandemic continues to be a grave threat globally. At the IMF, we are redoubling our effort to foster global collaboration,” Rice added further. The IMF also said that a multilateral response is needed to overcome the covid-19 pandemic in India and globally.

From today's press briefing: I provided updates and answered questions on the IMF's Comprehensive Surveillance Review, the Global Health Summit, Argentina, Chad, the reopening of IMF buildings, and more. https://t.co/1x4P5QzSBD

— Gerry Rice (@IMFSpokesperson) May 20, 2021

Covid-Triggered Black Fungus Infection Continues To See A Rise In India; 219 Dead, 7,250 Infected

Though India is witnessing a dip in covid-19 cases, mucormycosis or black fungus continues to rise. Maharashtra has recorded the highest cases of black fungus. On Thursday, the central government asked states to declare black fungus as a notified disease. States including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Odisha, Karnataka, Haryana and Telangana have already declared it as a notified disease. Reportedly, over 7,000 people have been infected with the disease, and more than 200 have lost their lives so far.

Vaccine Developed With Pfizer Likely To Be Effective Against The Indian Variant Says BioNTech

After positive findings in a scientific paper based on blood analysis of vaccinated individuals, BioNTech, in a statement, said that the covid-19 vaccine it has developed with Pfizer is roughly effective against the Indian variant of covid-19 just it has shown positive results against the South African variant. Earlier, while speaking on Turkish television, Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech, had said: “So far, we’ve had the chance to test our vaccine against more than 30 variants of the virus. It has proven effective against mutations so far.”

Maharashtra: 13 Maoists Killed In An Operation Carried Out By C-60 Commandos

Reportedly, during an operation carried out by the elite C-60 commandos in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, 13 Maoists were killed. According to Sandeep Patil, DIG (Gadchiroli), the encounter began at 5:30 am in a forested area near Kotmi. The encounter lasted between the rebels, and the commandos lasted for an hour, and the remaining Maoists escaped into the forest.

As Aditya Chopra Turns 50 Today; Here’s What Wife And Female Actor Rani Mukherjee Has To Say

Female actor Rani Mukherjee in an interview with the Indian Express, said that marrying a filmmaker has changed her. The actor said: “Getting married to a filmmaker has changed me, he sees every film every Friday, so I end up watching every film every Friday with him. I think because he is a movie watching person, I am very much ingrained with cinema yet.”. The power couple tied the knot in 2014 and have a 5-year-old daughter, Adira.

Indian Idol Winner Abhijit Sawant Criticised The Show For Focusing On Fake Love Stories Instead Of Real Talent

The winner of the first season of the singing reality show, Indian Idol, Abhijeet Sawant, has criticised the show for focussing more on pretentious love stories and poverty instead of pushing the real talent. Sawant said: “If you look at the regional reality shows, then the audience will hardly know about the contestants’ background. Their focus is only on singing, but in Hindi reality shows, contestants’ tragic and sad stories are redeemed. The focus is only on that.” Well, Abhijeet is not the first celebrity to do so; earlier, Kishore Kumar’s son Amit Kumar had also said that he didn’t enjoy the special tribute episode to his father and wanted to stop it.

Are You Excited To See Shehnaaz Gill And Sidharth Shukla Sharing Screen Together?

On Thursday evening, much to everyone’s surprise, Bigg Boss fame Shehnaaz Gill went live on her Instagram account and talked about her upcoming projects. When fans started asking her that when they get to see Shehnaaz and Sidharth Shukla together, she could not stop blushing and said: “Kisi director ko acha lagega toh karega woh movie. Aur uski aarahi hai abhi web series, acchi hai, toh aap support karo.” Sidharth Shukla will be making his digital debut with Broken But Beautiful 3.

England And Wales Cricket Board: BCCI Has Not Made Any Official Request To Alter The Schedule for India’s Five-Test Series Against England

An ECB spokesperson told the Press Trust Of India, “We talk to the BCCI regularly about a wide range of issues especially as we address the challenges of COVID-19 but have had no official request to change dates and are continuing to plan for the five-Test series as scheduled,” A BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) source said that the board is currently exploring options but hasn’t made any official announcement to the ECB. As of now, The test series is scheduled to conclude at Old Trafford, UK.