Share Market Highlights: Sensex ends 258 points higher\, Nifty at 11\,604; Dr Reddy\, Britannia top gainers

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Share Market Highlights: Sensex ends 258 points higher, Nifty at 11,604; Dr Reddy, Britannia top gainers

India Stock Market Highlights Today: M&M, followed by Bajaj Auto, Maruti, L&T, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement and Nestle India were among the top gainers on Sensex pack today. On the other hand, HCL Tech, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and SBI were among the laggards

Share Market Highlights: Here's a look at the updates of the market action on BSE and NSE today

Sensex, Nifty Highlights on September 16: Sensex and Nifty closed on a bullish note on Wednesday, amid positive global equities. Extending gains for the second straight session, the 30-scrip BSE benchmark Sensex ended 258 points higher at 39,302 and NSE Nifty 50 closed 82 points higher at 11,604.  Shares retreated in Asia on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy announcement. Yesterday, the 30-scrip BSE benchmark Sensex ended 287 points higher at 39,044 and NSE Nifty 50 closed 81 points to 11,521.

Here's a look at the updates of the market action on BSE and NSE today

3. 45 PM: Market at close

Sensex and Nifty closed on a bullish note on Wednesday, amid positive global equities. Extending gains for the second straight session, the 30-scrip BSE benchmark Sensex ended 258 points higher at 39,302 and NSE Nifty 50 closed 82 points higher at 11,604. 

3. 36 PM: Va Tech Wabag climbs

Va Tech Wabag rose over 5% after the company reported Q1 earnings. Its consolidated net profit surged 687.5% to Rs 5.04 crore in quarter ended June 30, as compared to Q1FY20, when it had reported Rs 0.64 crore.

Following the result updates, Va Tech Wabag Stock touched an intraday high of Rs 219.9, rising 5.59% against its last close of Rs 208.25. The stock also touched an intraday low of Rs 208.30, also its opening price for the session.

3. 14 PM: Market rises further

Sensex and Nifty traded on a bullish note on Wednesday, amid positive global equities. Extending gains for the second straight session, the 30-scrip BSE benchmark Sensex traded 250 points higher at 39,294 and NSE Nifty 50 was trading 86 points higher at 11,608.

3.05 PM: FOMC meet

"The focus will be on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) tonight. Market participants would expect further clarifications from the US Fed on how average inflation-targeting framework would be implemented," said Abhishek Goenka Founder and CEO, IFA Global.

Goenka further said that "the threshold for the US dollar to weaken from current levels is high as a lot of dovishness has already been factored in. One possible trigger could be the Fed predicating keeping rates at close to zero on inflation expectations reaching a certain level".

2. 46 PM: Market rises further

Sensex and Nifty traded on a bullish note on Wednesday, amid positive global equities. Extending gains for the second straight session, the 30-scrip BSE benchmark Sensex traded 138 points higher at 39,138 and NSE Nifty 50 was trading 45 points higher at 11,567.

2. 34 PM: Oil prices today

Brent Crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.48 per cent to USD 41.13 per barrel. Oil price rose backed by supply disruption in the US due to hurricane. However, the overall sentiment still remained a concern as participants expect a slow recovery in demand.

2. 28 PM: Rajesh Exports share price rises over 2% post Q1 earnings

Shares of gold refiner Rajesh Exports climbed over 2% in early trade on Wednesday after the company reported its Q1 earnings.

Rajesh Exports stock earlier opened at Rs 468.50 and touched an intraday high of Rs 470, rising 2.19% as against its last close of Rs 459.95. Although later, the stock erased early gains and traded 1% lower at Rs 455.35. On Tuesday, shares of Rajesh Exports closed 0.01 per cent lower at Rs 459.90 apiece on BSE.

2. 12 PM: RIL scales market capitalisation of Rs 16 lakh crore

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) became the first Indian firm to hit market cap of Rs 16 lakh crore in early trade today. The stock achieved the feat after it hit all-time high of Rs 2,368 in an otherwise flat market. Share price of RIL gained 2.2% to Rs 2,368 against previous close of Rs 2,317 on BSE.

The large cap stock has gained 1.57% in last two days. This is the first session that market cap of RIL crossed Rs 16 lakh crore making it the most valuable company on Indian bourses.

Reliance Industries scales market capitalisation of Rs 16 lakh crore for first time

2. 01 PM: Rupee trades flat at Rs 73.64

The rupee traded in a narrow range at 73.64 per dollar on Wednesday, ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision, despite positive domestic equities and foreign fund inflows.

The local unit opened at 73.70 at the interbank forex market, falling 7 paise over its last close, but soon pared the losses and was trading at 73.64, unchanged from its previous closing.

Rupee trades flat at Rs 73.64 per dollar ahead of US Fed meet outcome

1. 56 PM: Real estate sector update

Speaking on outlook for real estate sector, Pradeep Aggarwal, Founder & Chairman-Signature Global Group & Chairman - ASSOCHAM National Council on Real Estate, Housing and Urban Development said, "Affordable housing in real estate continues to be the most attractive segment for end-users. It registered 44% of the total residential sales, made during April-June quarter in eight prime residential markets of India. Moreover, the pandemic has reinforced home ownership as the most valuable asset in current times. This has led to homebuyers becoming more selective and conscious about their living conditions. With the government's support via subsidies and low home loan interest rates, the influx of end-users returning to the market has significantly increased. Developers are also ensuring to provide essential amenities within the project premises, and maintaining a strong digital presence for effective communication with the class of new-age buyers".

1. 43 PM: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das defends loan restructuring scheme

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das today invoked the 'depositor interest' and 'financial stability'  while defending the new time bound loan restructuring scheme for select 26 Covid impacted sectors with the pre-defined threshold of financial ratios for resolution. Outlining the whole rationale and reasoning behind the restructuring scheme, the RBI Governor Das said "it has to be a very balanced and careful call on the part of the RBI." He said that the primary concern of any banking system has to be the protection of depositors interest.

The Governor also highlighted that the aspect of financial stability which has to be kept in mind. "We don't want a repeat of the earlier situation of high NPAs," said Governor. The banking system is actually yet to recover from the loan extended in the boom period of late 2000 decade.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das bats for small depositors, defends loan restructuring scheme

1. 32 PM: Coronavirus toll

Worldwide, there were 297.27 lakh confirmed cases and 9.39 lakh deaths from COVID-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, India's death toll from COVID-19 infections rose to 82,091 and total coronavirus cases climbed to 50.20 lakh as of Wednesday.

1. 20 PM: Top gainers and losers

M&M, followed by Bajaj Auto, Maruti, L&T, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement and Nestle India were among the top gainers on Sensex pack today. On the other hand, HCL Tech, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and SBI were among the laggards.

1. 12 PM: Chemcon Chemicals IPO

As the stock market has recovered well from lows in March'20 and post multifold  bids for Route Mobile and Happiest Minds IPO, we will see many IPO launching in the remaining part of the year.  On September 21, two IPO issues will open: Chemcon Speciality Chemicals and Computer Age Management Services.  

Commenting on Chemcon Chemicals IPO, Keshav Lahoti - Associate Equity Analyst, Angel Broking said,"Chemcon is a manufacturer of specialised chemicals, such as HMDS and CMIC which are predominantly used in the pharmaceuticals industry and inorganic bromides which are predominantly used as completion fluids in the oilfields industry. Company supply  products to domestic customers and also export products. In Fiscals 2020, 2019 and 2018, their revenue from exports (including Deemed Exports) contributed 39.78%, 31.99% and 47.84% respectively of revenue from operations. "

He added," Objects of the issue are capital expenditure, working capital requirements and general corporate purpose expense. Fresh issue would be of up to Rs.165 cr and offer for sale would be up to 45 lakh shares. Issue dates are September 21 - September 23. Intensive and Ambit are book running lead managers."

12. 52 PM: SpiceJet Q1 update

Commenting on SpiceJet Q1 earnings,  Jyoti Roy - DVP- Equity Strategist, Angel Broking said," Spicejet reported a net loss for Q1FY21 of Rs. 593.4 crore as compared to a profit of Rs. 261.7 crore in Q1FY20. During the quarter revenues were down sharply by 83% YoY to Rs. 514.7 crore.  Company posted an EBITDAR loss of Rs. 166.5 crore for the quarter as compared to profit of 684.2 crore in Q1FY20 despite cost control. Total operating costs for the quarter excluding lease rentals were down by 70.6% YoY to Rs. 681.2 crore. During the quarter the company maintained its 16% market share with a load factor of 66% despite the Covid-19 impact which resulted in 90% YoY contraction in ASKM. During the quarter the company increased its focus on cargo as a result of which revenues from cargo increased by 144% YoY to Rs. 165.9 crore while air transport service registered a degrowth of 88% YoY to Rs. 348.8 crore. The numbers were along expected lines as it was expected that the company would post a loss in Q1FY21 given sharp fall in air traffic."

12. 48 PM: Trade deficit outlook

Commenting on India's trade deficit, Jyoti Roy - DVP- Equity Strategist, Angel Broking said,'The economic slowdown and sharp fall in fuel prices due to Covid-19 has led to compression of India merchandise trade deficit which coupled with strong FPI flows have led to a strengthening bias on the rupee. In order to counter an appreciating rupee the RBI has been intervening in the forex market which is reflected in India's foreign exchange reserves which has hit all time highs of USD 542bn as on the 4th of September. While we expect the trade deficit to increase going forward we expect overall BoP to remain in the surplus barring any unforeseen event which will put pressure on the USD relative to the INR. In order to counter the appreciating bias we expect continued intervention by the RBI in the forex market as the Government and the RBI would not want the rupee to appreciate significantly from current levels though may tolerate some amount of appreciation."

12. 34 PM: Global markets

Asian markets are trading mixed as investors await FOMC meeting outcome later in the day. Japan's exports fell 14.8% in August Vs a year ago.

U.S. markets closed higher on the back of broad market gains and positive economic data ahead of FOMC meeting outcome. However, banking stocks struggled. European markets had closed higher as investors focused on upcoming FOMC, Boj and BoE meeting outcomes. Retail stocks gained while banks finished in red.

12. 20 PM: Commodity prices

Oil price rose backed by supply disruption in US due to hurricane. However, overall sentiment still remained a concern as participants expect slow recovery in demand.

Gold price moved lower as dollar rose but expectation of dovish monetary policy outcome later in the day limited the losses.

12.09 PM: Gold, Silver prices in India on September 16

Gold prices held steady on Wednesday for the third straight session amid weak dollar as investors awaited outcome of the FOMC meeting, hoping that Fed policymakers would maintain a dovish policy.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange, Gold October Futures gained Rs 166 at Rs 51,935, after hitting an intraday high of Rs 51,943 against the previous close of Rs 51,769 per 10 gm. Silver September Futures, gained Rs 108 to Rs 69,075 per kg today after they touched an intraday high of Rs 69,105 per kg.

Gold price rises for third day; silver rates at Rs 69,100

11. 54 AM: Market Update

Market indices erased early gains and traded marginally higher, tracking mixed cues from overeas as investors awited outcome from Fed-policy meet, scheduled today.

11. 34 AM:CAMS IPO

The much-awaited initial public offer (IPO) of Computer Age Management Services (CAMS), the registrar and transfer agent of mutual funds, will open on September 21. The share sale, which will end on September 23, will be priced between Rs 1229-Rs 1230.

One can apply in the CAMS IPO with a lot size of 12 shares for Rs 14,760. Maximum 13 lots comprising 156 shares can be allotted to an individual for Rs 191,880.

The allotment of shares will be done on September 28 and initiation of refunds will be carried out on September 29.

11. 12 AM: CAMS IPO outlook

Computer Age Management Services (CAMS), a financial services and infrastructure provider, is set to launch its initial public offering (IPO) on September 21, 2020. The IPO will open on September 21 and close on September 23.

Commentign on IPO, Jaikishan Parmar - Sr. Equity Research Analyst, Angel Broking said,"The company is India's largest registrar and transfer agent of mutual funds with an aggregate market share of approximately 70 percent based on mutual fund average assets under management. CAMS charge a percentage of AUM to AMC and charges more fees from equity mutual funds as compared to other categories of mutual funds. Change in the mix of the Mutual fund industry towards higher equity and the buoyant market will be beneficial for CAMS revenue growth. Great Terrain is an affiliate of Warburg Pincus holds 43.8%, NSE Investment Hods 37.7%. However, through IPO NSE investment is selling an entire stake. HDFC group holds 12.6%. CAMS business model is asset-light, Hence, earnings are generously distributed among shareholders. It reports RoE of more than 25%. Considering a healthy balance sheet, high return ratio, and market leadership position, IPO will see strong interest across market participants."

11. 01 AM: Liberty shoes Q1 earnings

Commenting on Liberty Shoes 1QFY21 Resul  Amarjeet Maurya - AVP - Mid Caps, Angel Broking said, "For 1QFY21, Liberty shoes (LSL)'s top-line declined by ~70% yoy to Rs51cr. Top-line was negatively impacted mainly due COVID-19 lockdown. On the operating front, the company reported profit of ~Rs0.7cr (against profit of ~Rs10cr in 1QFY20) due to negative impact of operating leverage. On the bottom-line front, LSL reported loss of ~Rs11cr (against profit of ~Rs2cr in 1QFY20) due to lower sales."

10. 54 AM: Crude oil outlook

Commenting on Crude oil outlook, Anuj Gupta - DVP- Commodities and Currencies Research, Angel Broking said, "Yesterday MCX Crude oil prices sharply increases by 2.91% and closed at 2828 levels and WTI crude oil prices were also increased by 3.03% and closed at $38.39 per barrel. This sharply rally due to Hurricane Sally. Hurricane Sally is set to make landfall along the gulf coast, the major hub for oil refineries in the US.  Around 147 offshore platforms were evacuated due to the hurricane.  U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 9.5 million barrels last week, although gasoline inventories increased, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday. Currently WTI is trading at $38.92 per barrel and Brent crude oil is trading at $41.11 per barrel. Hurricane season, geopolitical tension and falling inventories  supports the crude oil prices in short term. So as of today we are recommending to buy in crude oil on a dip. Traders can go for buy in mcx crude oil at 2800 levels, with the stop loss of 2750, for the target of 2900 levels."

10. 47 AM:Rupee outlook

As per Geojit Financial Services, For USDINR, 73.83 and 74.05 may act as crucial levels in the upside while 73.48 and 73.25 will act as support levels.

10. 32 AM:Market update

Expressing views on markets today, -Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments said,"We have moved a wee bit closer to the 11550 level this morning, we need to get past this for an impulsive rally to commence. Until then we will be stuck within a low volume range of 11400 - 11550. Once we cross the levels of 11550-11575, we can look forward to 11800 and then 12000."

10. 29 AM: Gold outlook

Commenting on gold's technical indicators, Anuj Gupta - DVP- Commodities and Currencies Research, Angel Broking said, " Due to weakness in dollar we are expecting positive trend may continue in gold and silver. As for today traders can go for buy in gold at Rs 51,700 levels with the stop loss of Rs 51,400 levels for the target of 52,300 levels. They can also go for buy in Silver  at Rs 68,600 levels, with the stop loss of 68,000 levels and for the target of 69,800 levels. In the Bullion index Bulldex traders can also go for buy at 16200 with the stop loss of 16050 and for the target of 16600. In international market gold may test $2000  per ounce and silver may test $ 28.50 per ounce soon."

10. 14 AM: Nifty outlook

 Sameet Chavan (Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking said,"For Nifty, if 11570 is taken out, we would see some extension towards 11625-11675 levels and if this has to happen, the banking stocks needs to replicate yesterday's move. On the flipside, 11450 followed by 11380 are to be seen as key supports. Yesterday for the second day, stocks from the broader market kept buzzing.

10.00 AM: India's exports and imports

India's exports slipped 12.66% to $22.7 billion in August, on account of decline in the shipments of petroleum, leather, engineering goods and gems and jewellery items, according to the government data released on 15 September 2020. The country's imports too declined 26% to $29.47 billion in August, leaving a trade deficit of $6.77 billion, compared to a shortfall of $13.86 billion in the same month last year, as per the data.

9. 56 PM: Market outlook

As per Relaince Securites, NSE-NIFTY regained 11,500 mark and rose to 8-day closing high. The index closed above its 20-day EMA for straight fourth trading session in a row. Its key technical indicators remained in neutral mode hence our cautious view will remain intact for the index. Any sustainable move above its near-term hurdle point (11,584 level) will strength the index towards 11,794 mark. However in case of decline, the index will initially find support at 11,111 mark and then at 10,787 level, which coincides with its recent swing low and its 200-day SMA, respectively.  

As for the day, support is placed at around 11,464 and then at 11,406 levels, while resistance is observed at 11,558 and then at 11,594 levels.

9. 41 AM: Global markets today

Asian markets were trading mixed today, while US markets closed in the green. Experts said market participants also awaited outcome from the Federal Reserve concluding its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. The Federal Open Market Committee will give its quarterly update on where it sees GDP, unemployment and inflation going.

Increase in U.S. factory production and data that showed China's industrial output and retail sales picked up kept markets optmistic on Tuesday.

9. 30 AM: Market outlook

Expressing views on the week ahead, Religare Broking in its note said,"Investors will watch for Federal Reserve announcements on September 16 after the two-day FOMC meeting, where it is expected that the US Fed will adopt a dovish stance. Also, market participants would wait for the BOJ and the BOE's policy decisions, due on Thursday. In the US economic calendar, industrial data and retail sales data will be watched in the first half, while housing data, weekly jobless claims and consumer sentiments data will be on the radar in later part of the week."

9. 20 AM: Opening session

Sensex and Nifty opened on a bullish note on Wednesday, extending yesterday's gains amid mixed global equities. The 30-scrip BSE benchmark Sensex traded 50 points higher at 39,095 and NSE Nifty 50  was trading 12 points higher at 11,543.

9. 10 AM: CAMS IPO to open on September 21; NSE to sale its 37% stake via public offering

Computer Age Management Services (CAMS), the registrar and transfer agent of mutual funds, will launch its initial public offering (IPO) on September 21, 2020. The booking for anchor investors will open for a day on September 18, while for retail investors it will open on September 21 and close on September 23. The equity shares of CAMS will be listed on the BSE.

CAMS IPO to open on September 21; NSE to sale its 37% stake via public offering

9. 00 AM: Market outlook

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said,"Indian benchmark indices gave up its gains and closed with a negative bias. IT stocks outperformed following a strong showing by HCL tech, which benefited most IT stock prices. However, the broader markets outperformed, especially the smallcap index, after SEBI tweaked MF norms for multi-cap funds. This SEBI measure would require more exposure to small cap stocks in most multi-cap funds, leading to the current buying interest. Global cues were also mostly positive on renewed vaccine optimism. Inspite of all the optimism, a correction due to valuations or various uncertainties cannot be ruled out and volatility is expected to continue. Trade cautiously and look at earnings stability, if investing for the long-term in Smallcaps".

8. 50 AM: FII action

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,170.89 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 895.63 crore in the Indian equity market on 15 September, provisional data showed.

8. 40 AM: Rupee closing

In the forex market, India rupee, the currency benchmark tumbled 16 paise to close at 73.64 against the US dollar.

8. 30 AM: Closing yesterday

Sensex and Nifty closed higher on Tuesday amid positive global equities and sustained foreign fund inflows. Tracking gains in index majors HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries, the 30-scrip BSE benchmark Sensex ended 287 points higher at 39,044 and NSE Nifty 50 closed 81 points to 11,521.

Sensex ends 287 points higher, Nifty at 11,521; pharma, banking stocks lead gains

Share Market Highlights: Sensex ends 258 points higher\, Nifty at 11\,604; Dr Reddy\, Britannia top gainers

Tulsi And Ashwagandha Green Tea May Help Beat Stress And Anxiety - Experts Reveal - NDTV Food

Tulsi And Ashwagandha Green Tea May Help Beat Stress And Anxiety - Experts Reveal

As per health experts around the world, herb and spice-infused tea (green, black or olong tea) have often been considered to be a natural remedy for several ailments.

Somdatta Saha  |  Updated: September 16, 2020 14:11 IST

Reddit
<i>Tulsi</i> And <i>Ashwagandha</i> Green Tea May Help Beat Stress And Anxiety - Experts Reveal

Tulsi and Ashwagandha are potent adaptogens and can be consumed in form of kadha or tea

Highlights
  • Tulsi is dubbed to maintain the cortisol hormone level (stress hormone)
  • Ashwagandha has anti-ageing and de-stressing properties
  • Green tea is known to have calming effects on our nerves

Every chai-lover will agree to this that there's hardly anything a cup of hot tea can't fix. From reconnecting with your friends and loved ones over chai to rejuvenating yourself at any time of the day, a perfectly brewed tea does it all! And if you wisely add some herbs and spices to it, then it might go a long way to benefit your health too. As per health experts around the world, herb and spice-infused tea (green, black or olong tea) have often been considered to be a natural remedy for several ailments. Two such popular traditional herbs are Tulsi (Holy Basil) and Ashwagandha (Indian Ginseng).

For the unversed, both Tulsiand Ashwagandha have been an important part of traditional medical practice since centuries. These herbs are potent adaptogens and can be consumed in form of kadha or tea. As per Macrobiotic Nutritionist and Health Practitioner Shilpa Arora ND, "Ashwagandhaand Tulsi help balance hormones. It is the root cause for stress, fluctuations of mood and weight gain. Imbalance in hormone also reduces body's energy levels."

We bring you a herbal tea recipe that includes Tulsi and Ashwagandha, along with green tea, which may do wonders for relieving stress and anxiety after a long tiring day.

Benefits Of Tulsi For Beating Stress:

Tulsiis dubbed to maintain the level of cortisol hormone (stress hormone) in the body. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, basil is a potent source of antidepressant and anti-anxiety properties.

Also Read: Tulsi Haldi Dalchini Laung Kadha May Be The Ideal Drink To Have Right Now For Good Immunity

tulsi basil teaTulsi (or Holy Basil) is a rich source of antioxidants

Benefits Of Ashwagandha For Beating Stress:

According to Consultant Nutritionist Rupali Dutta, "This traditional herb has anti-ageing and de-stressing properties. It is used to fight depression, anxiety and boost cognitive functioning. In this regard, one must remember that the ashwagandharoots have several medicinal properties and one can consume the roots in various forms."

Also Read:Healthy Diet: This Moon Milk At Night May Help Induce Good Sleep

eua7pot8Ashwagandha also help to promote overall stamina

Benefits Of Green Tea For Beating Stress:

Benefit of green tea is no secret to the world. Other than improving metabolism, promoting weight loss and boosting immune system, it is also known to have calming effects on our nerves. It is enriched with Theanine that helps to beat stress and anxiety. A research by the University of Shizuoka, Japan, found that the students who consumed green tea consistently experienced lower levels of stress.

Also Read: Adding Cinnamon, Turmeric To Green Tea May Help Boost Immunity, Weight Loss And Overall Health

1k41kdjoGreen tea also helps aid weight loss and metabolism

How To Brew Tulsi-Ashwagandha Green Tea:

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of water

Half teaspoon Ashwagandha roots

3-4 Tulsi leaves

1 teaspoon green tea

Method:

Step 1. Boil the water for 2-3 minutes.

Step 2. Switch of the flame and add green tea, ashwagandha roots and Tulsi leaves. Close the lid and let it infuse for 10 minutes.

Step 3. Strain it in a cup and sip on.



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(Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.)

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About Somdatta SahaExplorer- this is what Somdatta likes to call herself. Be it in terms of food, people or places, all she craves for is to know the unknown. A simple aglio olio pasta or daal-chawal and a good movie can make her day.

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Share Market Highlights: Sensex ends 258 points higher\, Nifty at 11\,604; Dr Reddy\, Britannia top gainers

Apple iPad Air (2019) Review

Apple iPad Air (2019) Review

By Sameer Mitha | Updated Nov 04 2019
Apple iPad Air (2019) Review
DIGIT RATING
83 /100
  • design

    90

  • performance

    83

  • value for money

    82

  • features

    77

  • PROS
  • Fantastic display
  • Good battery life
  • Smooth performance
  • Well built
  • CONS
  • No stereo speaker setup
  • No 2nd gen Apple Pencil support
  • Smart cover can only prop the tablet in one angle

Verdict

The iPad Air is a fantastic device for content consumption, playing games and running a host of different apps from the App Store. It has swift performance and the display is a treat. The battery life and touch response is good too. The sound output from the tablet is good. However, it doesn’t have stereo separation when watching movies and it does not support the second-gen Apple Pencil. 

BUY Apple iPad Air (2019)

Apple iPad Air (2019) detailed review

Tablets have been a fantastic device for content consumption. However, with the increase in power available thanks to significant improvement in mobile chipsets, they are gradually creeping into laptop territory. We have seen devices like the Surface Pro, Surface Go, Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 and more try and give users a PC like experience on a tablet device. Apple delved into the laptop like experience with the launch of the iPad Pro. Uptill the launch of iOS 13, the iPad wasn't exactly a great option for those looking for a laptop-like experience. Not like the other devices, we mentioned above were anything to write home about when it came to giving users a pure laptop computing experience either. 

Fast forward to WWDC 2019 and Apple has showcased iOS 13 which brings the iPad Pro closer to a PC like experience. But what about the iPad Air? The iPad Air has been for those looking for a great content consumption device. However, this time around, it has Apple’s flagship chip, supports the first gen Apple Pencil and Apple keyboard. It is almost like the first gen iPad Pro without the quad speaker setup. So who is this device for? What utility does it serve? Is it the right iPad for you? Let's find out. 

IN THE BOX & KEY SPECS

In the box, you get the tablet along with a lightning cable and a power adaptor. Sadly, you don't get the Apple pencil or the Smart Cover in the box. You have to purchase them separately. 

KEY SPECIFICATIONS AT A GLANCE

Display: 10.5-inch True Tone display with 2224 x 1668 pixels resolution
Platform: Apple A12 Bionic
RAM: 3GB
Built-in storage: 64GB/256GB
Expandable storage: NA
SIM support: YES
USB-C: NO
3.5mm jack: YES
Thickness: 6.1mm
Battery: 8134mAh 
OS: iOS 12
Rear Camera: 8MP
Front Camera: 7MP
Speakers: 2
Bluetooth: 5

BUILD AND DESIGN

The primary design philosophy of the iPad hasn't changed much since the launch of the original iPad Air. It has become slimmer with slightly more rounded edges for better grip around the corners but apart from that, the fundamental design has remained the same. We get touch ID on the iPad Air and Apple’s Face ID is reserved for the iPad Pro.

The front of the device is clean with only the home button cum Touch ID and the front camera. We got the Silver iPad Air for review but is available in Space Grey and Gold as well. At the back, you have the apple logo in the centre and the camera without a flash in the top left corner. At the top you have the headphone jack, on the right, the volume rocker and the bottom houses the lightning port along with two speakers. On the left, we have the connector for the Apple Keyboard and the smart cover. The body of the iPad Air is solid aluminium and the build quality is top notch. This tablet can survive more than a few drops although we don't recommend you do so.

The last tablet that we reviewed was the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 and that has a glass back making it look premium but also making it fragile. 

As far as the design of the tablet is concerned it is ergonomic and easy to hold for long hours. The touchscreen of the iPad is still the best surface to type on when compared to other tablets, and if like me you are comfortable typing on an iPad, you don't really need to invest in a keyboard. The only downside is the smart cover. It fits snug on the iPad and protects the display but still only has only one angle on which the iPad Air can rest. The “jugad” we use to prop up the display slightly is stick our phone between the cover and the iPad to change the angle. That is the only drawback in the design of an otherwise great product

DISPLAY AND AUDIO PERFORMANCE

The display on the 10.5-inch iPad Pro is fantastic. The resolution makes the content look crisp, it supports Dolby Vision and if you are someone who is going to binge your favourite TV shows on this device, you are in for a treat. Needless to say that Apple has a large library of movies that you can rent/purchase with many of them supporting Dolby Vision for a rich visual experience. The vibrancy in the colours is definitely something to take note of. Be it the lively colourful town in Young Sheldon to the gritty look of the world in Wonder Woman or any of the Netflix Originals like The Umbrella Academy, Daredevil, Polar and more, the colour and visual fidelity of the content is unmatched. If a Dolby Vision enabled true tone display was reserved for the Pro’s only, I’d be disappointed, but seeing content on this display is a treat. We recorded a maximum of 550 lux on our brightness meter.

We used the display under direct sunlight and it works quite well. Although, under the harsh heat of the Delhi sun, we don't recommend using it for watching movies. When it comes to everyday tasks like reading emails, reading a book, playing games or browsing the Internet, the display worked without any complaints. It is reflective at times, but nothing that can't be taken care off by moving it around a bit.

Coming to the audio, unlike its Pro siblings that get a quad set of speakers, the 10.5-inch iPad Air gets 2 speakers, both firing in the same direction. I can understand the quad speaker setup being reserved for the Pro, but the speaker setup could have been on either side of the display to give a stereo experience. I watch a lot of video content on the iPad and I miss the left to right channel shift especially during movies. Nonetheless, the speakers are loud, clear and perform well even for watching movies. Dialogues are crisp, and even when there is a lot happening on the screen like a background score, explosions and conversations, all are easily and well discernable making the device good for content consumption. The speakers do a good job for FaceTime calls and music as well. 

Overall, the speakers are great for content consumption. They are loud enough that you don't have to huddle with your friends close to it to enjoy a trailer and clear at high volumes as well. The only qualm is the lack of channel separation which for me is a bummer

PERFORMANCE

When it comes to everyday performance, like checking mail, browsing the Internet, watching videos, etc. the tablet performed impressively without any stutters. It even works very well when you use apps in split screen. iOS is designed for the iPad and will also be upgradeable to the upcoming iPadOS 13. From the ability to use apps in split screen, to watching a movie on Netflix and yet navigating the rest of the device to simply multitasking. If you are a Mac user, then there a lot of convenient ways of moving your content from one device to the next like AirDrop. With iPad OS 13, you will be able to use your iPad as a second display without the need for a third party app which is great.

There is nothing I could do on the iPad to make it stutter, lag or freeze. Running any game, literally any game off the App store on the device and you won't see a loading screen for too long nor will you face any lags or stutters. From PUBG to Dead Trigger and more, every game we played on the device just worked.

If you are looking for a portable device to play games, watch movies, get some work done, have access to thousands and thousands of apps, read ebooks on, read comics on, the iPad can do it all. As of writing this review and running the device on iOS 12, we don't think the device is a replacement to your PC, yet. But that may change with iPadOS 13 and we will tell you how it works when we get our hands on the new OS. I still prefer the flexibility that Mac OS or Windows brings with it for a desktop work environment and that experience can’t be replicated on the iPad yet. The iPad is a great device for what it can do. It just isn’t a PC yet. 

BATTERY

On paper, the 10.5-inch iPad Air has an 8134mAh battery. Playback from streaming services with brightness set to max and headphones plugged in saw a drop of 6 to 8 per cent in one hour based on the streaming service. Local playback saw a 5 to 7 per cent drop per hour. Drop the brightness a little (trust me, you won’t use it on full brightness all the time) and you have a device that can playback content for almost 15 hours which is impressive. The battery life will vary based on usage and some productivity scenarios may see it drain faster. Gaming also drained the battery faster with drops of nearly 15 per cent in an hour. 

SHOULD YOU BUY THE IPAD AIR 10.5?

Let's rephrase that question, which iPad is right for you? For starters, if this is your first iPad and you want a taste of the Apple ecosystem, there are cheaper options to choose from. You have the 9.7-inch iPad which starts at Rs 28,000 powered by the A10 fusion chip, 32GB storage at the base variant and as the name suggests has a 9.7-inch display which honestly, is still a good display. If you are looking to use the first gen Apple Pencil, want the newer processor to future proof the device, and have specific high-end apps that you want to run smoothly, then you can choose between the new iPad Mini and the 10.5-inch iPad Air. Your buying decision honestly depends on the screen size you are comfortable with. Personally, I really like the compact form factor of the Mini, but when I’m watching videos in the morning, or need to enjoy a great TV show or a game on a larger display, then yes, I prefer the 10.5-inch iPad Air and that's the one you should consider. The near 8-inch iPad Mini (7.9 to be precise) is ideal for those that want a device with a display slightly larger than their smartphone.

If you are a Pro user with the desire to connect your flash drive and camera directly to the iPad and need a near PC like experience, then you may want to consider the iPad Pro family. We haven't reviewed the new Pros, but if the performance of the current 10.5-inch iPad is anything to go by, we think the Pros will bring with them an extra punch. 

The only downside to the new iPad Air is that it does not support the second-gen Apple Pencil and the lack of stereo speaker setup. If you are looking for a device to consume content on the go, get some productivity work done and have access to thousands of apps, then the iPad is definitely worth a consideration. Unlike a smartphone, this is one gadget that will last you for nearly 6 to 7 years before warranting an upgrade. 


Apple iPad Air (2019) Key Specs, Price and Launch Date

Release Date: 15 Apr 2019
Variant: None
Market Status: Launched

Key Specs

  • OS OS
    iOS
  • Screen Size (inch) Screen Size (inch)
    1668 X 2224
  • Resolution Resolution
    16668 X 2224
  • Memory Memory
    64 GB/2GB
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Sameer Mitha

Sameer Mitha lives for gaming and technology is his muse. When he isn’t busy playing with gadgets or video games he delves into the world of fantasy novels.

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India-China Border Face-Off: Modi Government With India Or China? - Rahul Gandhi's Latest On Border Row

"Understand Chronology": Rahul Gandhi's Latest Jibe At Centre Over China

This morning the government told Parliament that no infiltration had been reported along the LAC (Line of Actual Control, the de facto border with China) over the past six months

'Understand Chronology': Rahul Gandhi's Latest Jibe At Centre Over China

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly attacked the government over the China issue (File)

New Delhi:

Rahul Gandhi may not be in the country as Parliament takes place but the Congress MP has continued his attacks on the Narendra Modi government over the India-China border stand-off.

Mr Gandhi, who accompanied his mother Sonia Gandhi as she flew out last week for a medical check-up, tweeted: "Aap chronology samajhiye (Please understand the chronology)" and claimed that days before PM Modi said China had not crossed into Indian territory, the government "took a huge loan from a China-based bank".

The tweet doubled as a swipe at Home Minister Amit Shah, who used the same phrase last year about the controversial CAA and NRC programmes.

"Aap chronology samajhiye (Please understand the chronology). PM said no one entered the border... Then took a huge loan from China-based bank... Then defence minister said China had encroached ... Now Minister of State for Home said no encroachment," Mr Gandhi tweeted.

"Is Modi government with Indian Army or China? Modiji, why so scared?" he asked.

In June Prime Minister Modi, after the Galwan violence, said: "Neither has anyone intruded into our territory nor taken over any post" - a comment seen by the Congress as indicating China had crossed the LAC, because the alternative was India had crossed it.

The government immediately put out a clarification.

According to news agency Reuters, around that same time the government took out a $750 million loan from the Beijing-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in June. The money was to help India battle the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported.

Since then the government has cracked down on business dealings with China, including banning China-made mobile phone apps and revoking tenders with Chinese companies.

This morning the Home Ministry told Parliament no infiltration had been reported along the LAC (Line of Actual Control, the de facto border with China) in the past six months. However, this seemed to contradict Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who yesterday said China had made attempts in mid-May.

Mr Gandhi has been a vocal critic of the Narendra Modi government.

On Tuesday he tweeted after the Defence Minister's statement, urging him to "not be afraid of taking China's name". Earlier this year he accused the Prime Minister of "surrendering" to the Chinese and has since frequently alleged that the government is trying to mislead the people on this issue.

India and China have been engaged in a serious border stand-off since skirmishes were reported from the Pangong Lake region in Ladakh in May.

Multiple talks at different levels - from military to ministerial - have, so far, failed to defuse the situation. The Foreign Ministers of the two countries met in Moscow last week and drew up a five-point plan to resolve the prolonged issue.

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CLAT 2020: HC dismisses plea for law exam from home

The court said the problem of accessibility for 78,000 candidates to appropriate technology, internet connection, laptop or desktop computer would be doubtful and the plea for home exam cannot be accepted.
Representative imageRepresentative image
NEW DELHI: The possibility of home exams being compromised or manipulated by participants or coaching centres cannot be ruled out, the Delhi High Court has said while dismissing a plea that candidates be allowed to take Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2020 from their homes instead of exams centres due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The court said the problem of accessibility for 78,000 candidates to appropriate technology, internet connection, laptop or desktop computer would be doubtful and the plea for home exam cannot be accepted.

The CLAT-2020 examination, to be held on August 22 earlier, will now be conducted on September 28.
Justice Jayant Nath said it is clear that the pleas of the petitioner are misplaced and cannot be a ground for postponing the exams or change of mode to conduct the exam.

"I may also note that the petitioner (V Govinda Ramanan) has completed his LLB in 2016. It is now after a gap of 4 years that he seeks to apply for a post graduation in law. The petitioner has hence waited for four years to give the exam. There is no merit in the present petition. The same is dismissed," the judge said.

While the order was passed on September 10, it was made available on the court website on Wednesday.

The petition was filed by the petitioner seeking an appropriate direction to quash the CLAT- 2020 examination notification issued by the Consortium of National Law Universities (NLU) in so far as it mandates the petitioner to physically go to the examination centre and give the exam.

CLAT is a centralised exam for admissions to bachelors and masters courses in law in 22 NLUs in the country and is conducted by the consortium.

Under the CLAT 2020 notification, the exam would be held online at notified centres where computers would be set up for candidates to access the test.

The petitioner, who is a law graduate and wishes to pursue his LLM, said he suffered from asthma and falls under the vulnerable category of individuals who are advised by the government not to go outside in the present time of COVID-19 pandemic.

The consortium told the court that the decision to conduct CLAT-2020 at physical test centres was challenged by way of Public Interest Litigation before the Supreme Court which has dismissed it.

The high court said, "Keeping in view the aforesaid, it is clear that the aforesaid order (of Supreme Court) would remain binding on this court."

"Even otherwise, it is clear that the plea of respondent no.1 (consortium) that a home-based exam may not be appropriate for approximately 78,000 candidates who are to take the exam. The possibility of the exams being compromised or manipulated by the participants/coaching centers cannot be ruled out.

"That apart, the problem of accessibility for 78,000 candidates to appropriate technology, internet connection, laptop or desktop computer itself would be doubtful. Hence this plea of the petitioner cannot be accepted." the high court said.
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    MATCHDAY: PSG Under Pressure After Losing First Two Games
    1-MIN READ

    MATCHDAY: PSG Under Pressure After Losing First Two Games

    PSG and Marseille players clash near the end of the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille at the Parc des Princes in Paris, France, Sunday, Sept.13, 2020. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

    PSG and Marseille players clash near the end of the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille at the Parc des Princes in Paris, France, Sunday, Sept.13, 2020. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

    A look at whats happening around European soccer on Wednesday:

    • Last Updated: September 16, 2020, 4:42 AM IST

    A look at whats happening around European soccer on Wednesday:

    FRANCE

    Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel is already under pressure heading into a home game against Metz after the French champions opened the season with two league losses for the first time since 1984.

    Were not used to this, Tuchel said. The most important thing is to stay calm.

    Metz has also lost twice. Like Metz, PSG has not scored in the league yet, which is remarkable considering the Qatari-owned club’s attacking prowess.

    Marquinhos and Mauro Icardi return to the squad after recovering from the coronavirus, but striker Kylian Mbapp is absent again as he completes his COVID-19 recovery.

    Forward Neymar, midfielder Leandro Paredes and left back Layvin Kurzawa are all suspended. They were sent off deep into injury time during Sunday’s 1-0 home loss to Marseille when players from both sides traded kicks and punches.

    Four players left PSG at the end of last season, including the club’s all-time top scorer Edinson Cavani and veteran center half Thiago Silva.

    Our squad is too small, Tuchel said. We need to sign players if we want to achieve our objectives.

    His priority is getting another center half to replace Silva and a holding midfielder so that Marquinhos can concentrate on playing in defense.

    ENGLAND

    After starting the Premier League season with a victory at Tottenham, Everton opens its League Cup campaign against a fourth-division side part owned by Manchester United greats.

    Everton hosts a Salford side that has seen investment from David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers, Phil and Gary.

    Leeds plays third-tier side Hull fresh from a high-octane 4-3 loss to Liverpool in its first Premier League game in 16 years. Leeds captain Liam Cooper missed the season opener due to a calf injury but could feature against Hull, while club record signing Rodrigo could be handed his first start for the club.

    After opening the season with a loss at Crystal Palace, Southampton hosts second-tier side Brentford in the League Cup second round, which only features Premier League teams not playing in Europe.

    ___

    More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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    Xiaomi Mi A2 Review

    Xiaomi Mi A2 Review

    By Subhrojit Mallick | Updated May 22 2019
    Xiaomi Mi A2 Review
    • PROS
    • Robust, functional design
    • Low-light photography
    • Stock Android UI
    • CONS
    • Ugly camera bump
    • Instability issues

    Verdict

    The Xiaomi Mi A2 is a jack of all trades and master of some. It has a stellar camera and reliable performance, packaged in a robust, functional design. Despite a few compromises here and there, the A2 stands up to its name of offering a smooth, consistent experience and improves largely on its imaging prowess, especially in low-light.

    BUY Xiaomi Mi A2
    Buy now on amazon Available 14890
    Buy now on flipkart Out of Stock 13790

    Xiaomi Mi A2 detailed review

    When Xiaomi launched the Mi A1 last year, it raised our collective expectations higher. The company, no longer an upstart, was known for giving a big bang for the buck in terms of hardware, while refraining from experimenting with the UI. That changed when the Mi A1 came with stock Android. It was a testament to how stable performance could be had with mid-range specs. Fast forward a year later, the Mi A2 has arrived at a starting price of Rs 16,999, sealing that belief even further. I received the review unit a few days before the launch, which gave me ample time to test the important aspects of the phone, and boy oh boy, was I impressed. Xiaomi has definitely bumped up the performance of the phone, but the most startling improvement has been in its imaging prowess. Where phones in the upper mid-range segment are focusing on one aspect at a time (Honor Play, Huawei P20 Lite), the Mi A2 offers a smooth and reliable experience in almost all departments. It’s a good phone. One that will not leave you disappointed. And this review will prove exactly that. Read on!


    Design and build

    It’s easy to spot the Xiaomi DNA in the Mi A2’s design. It takes the robust utilitarian design of the Redmi Note 5 Pro and builds on top of it. Lift it up and you will feel the smooth metal finish of the back. Yes, the Mi A2 bucks the trend of the glass-sandwich design to stick to a metal unibody design. The anodised finish is smooth but slippery, and is almost completely resistant to smudges. The Mi A2 is incredibly thin at just 7.3mm at its thinnest. That’s achieved thanks to the curved edges that wrap around the display. There’s also Gorilla Glass 5 on top of the panel for added protection. It’s clear that Xiaomi wants this phone to last.

    While the body is built tough with no flex whatsoever, the buttons on the right side edge of the phone are a little wobbly. Many users including a colleague have complained about the buttons failing to register input after just a few months of usage. That fear remains with the Mi A2 as well. Another eyesore in the design is the camera bump. The vertically aligned dual camera unit on the top left corner juts out of the thin body by around half a millimeter. It’s impossible to keep the phone stable on a surface as a result. Xiaomi explains this away by saying the bump allows the auto-focus motor more space, which is an acceptable trade-off to me. On the back, there’s the fingerprint sensor centrally placed where the finger can reach easily and the Mi Logo is flushed to the body at the bottom. The front is dominated by the display. Here again, the Mi A2 sticks to the tried and tested 18:9 display instead of going for the notch. The notch is there on the Mi A2 Lite, but that’s not coming to India for now. The bezels have certainly lessened from all sides. Xiaomi has replaced the capacitive navigation buttons with on-screen navigation keys (which disappear when watching content) maximising the real estate.

    The slim form factor of the Mi A2 makes it easy to hold the phone and operate. It’s still difficult to use it with just one-hand, but I had no problem typing out quick replies with one hand. I’m nitpicking here but the weight of the phone isn’t evenly distributed as the phone is a little top-heavy. I’ve had situations while using the phone when it was about to tumble out of my hand. The slippery surface doesn’t help with that either. The phone does come with a transparent TPU case that takes care of both the camera bump and the slippery nature.

    The Mi A2 isn’t going to make heads turn like the crop of Honor and Huawei phones does. But it absolutely functional and reliable and is bound to last longer than most glass-backed phones.

    Display

    The new display format allows the Mi A2 to provide more real estate without increasing the size of the phone by much. It has a similar 18:9 IPS LCD display introduced in the Redmi Note 5 Pro and stretches to 5.99-inches diagonally. The panel has a full HD resolution, meaning the pixel density is around 403ppi. If you seen the display on the Redmi Note 5 Pro, you’ll be familiar with the A2’s panel. It’s sufficiently bright and vibrant, although it’s not the most colour accurate one. The colour temperature is slightly on the cooler side and there’s no way to tweak it. Customisation options include turning on adaptive brightness that sets the brightness based on ambient light, scheduling the blue light filter that makes the screen glow with an amber tinge to protect your eyes. The phone also wakes up discreetly when there’s a new notification which doesn’t consume a lot of battery.

    Being an 18:9 display means it’s ahead of its time. Most videos are still in the 16:9 format and they appear letterboxed. YouTube videos do scale up to fit the larger screen, but it also crops the content slightly. I caught up on the first season of The Crown on Netflix and it was quite immersive. Games too take up the entire real estate and multi-tasking is much easier on this format. Overall, the 18:9 panel is a certain improvement and if you’re coming from the Mi A1, you’ll definitely find a lot to talk about the Mi A2’s panel.

    Performance

    One of the few snags of the Mi A1 was the compromise on the firepower. While it was certainly more efficient, the Snapdragon 625 SoC on the Mi A1 was a downgrade in terms of raw performance. That’s taken care of in the Mi A2 as it is powered by the Snapdragon 660. It’s the top-of-the-line mid-range chipset from Qualcomm that packs Kryo 260 cores with a max clock speed of 2.2GHz. That’s paired with an Adreno 512 GPU that promises a 30 percent improvement in graphical performance over its previous generation. It’s the most powerful 6-series chipset from Qualcomm and it makes the Mi A2 run like a horse. Yet, the introduction of the Honor Play in that sub-20k price segment kind of spoils things for Xiaomi’s offering. The Honor Play uses a flagship level chipset and being in the same price range, it makes the Mi A2 look sort of like David in front of Goliath. The benchmark results drives the point further. The Mi A2 scored 128895 on AnTuTu while on Geekbench Single Core and Multi Core tests, it registered 1632 and 3233 points respectively. On GFX Bench’s Car Chase, it managed a paltry 8.5 fps.  In comparison, the Honor Play that is powered by the flagship Kirin 970 SoC scored 202639 in AnTuTu while on Geekbench Single Core and Multi Core it scored 1901 and 6604. The stark difference in the two phones become more evident in the GFXBench’s Car Chase test where the Honor Play registered 21 frames per second.

    Clearly, the Mi A2 falls far behind the Honor Play, but that’s more for mobile gamers. Gaming isn’t the only aspect of smartphone usage though. In my opinion, the A2 is aimed at everyday users who are more dynamic in their usage. I used the A2 while covering ChinaJoy expo at Shanghai as my primary device and the experience was more than satisfactory. At its peak, my usage centered around frequent use of the camera, back and forth messaging with my team on Messenger, looking up information on Chrome (there were 58 tabs open at one point!!), Google Translate’s live translation in the background, and of course social media browsing while I took a break. Despite all this, the phone never slowed down one bit. I was able to switch between apps easily with minimal downtime in between. Apps also loaded without much of a delay.

    The phone did register some instability issues. Apps like Instagram and even Google search quit often during my usage in China. That could either be because it was running on pre-launch software or the Great Firewall of China. Nevertheless, in case it’s an issue with firmware optimisations, Xiaomi is bound to address it in a future OTA update.

    Speaking of updates, the Mi A2 is going to be future-proof thanks to its Android One certification. The phone will receive monthly security updates (it was already running the July security patch) along with an upgrade to Android Pie (yep, that’s the name) when it becomes available.  Its predecessor, the Mi A1’s track record of providing updates hasn’t been all that stellar. The Mi A1 received the Oreo update well after a lot of OEMs pushed out updates for their respective phones, although security updates were pushed out on time regularly. The Android One certification also means the phone runs on pure stock Android Oreo 8.1. That’s one of the major reasons behind the phone’s smooth operability, like it was on the Mi A1. Android One is Google’s program to showcase Android at its purest and to a lot of extent, the Mi A2 feels like the Pixel. It has the same launcher, the same set of apps and the same update policy. It’s also just as responsive as the Pixel and it’s heartening to see such a smooth experience in a mid-range phone. There’s almost no bloat with the only Xiaomi apps being the Mi Feedback and Mi Store app (which can be uninstalled). Optionally, you can download the Mi Remote app, as this comes with the IR sensor on top giving you control over your appliances. The camera app is also Xiaomi’s own which I’ll talk about in the next section.

    Gaming on the Mi A2 is also an acceptable experience. PubG mobile ran on medium graphics with no framedrops whatsoever. While the Mi A2 doesn’t run the popular battle royale game at Ultra HDR Realistic graphics, it gives a stable enough performance in medium graphics. Other, less intensive games like Asphalt Nitro and Dead Trigger 2 also didn’t register any frame drops. But the point remains that if you are serious about mobile gaming, this isn’t the best option out there. The thermals of the phone are a little on the higher side as well. A single match of PubG was enough to heat up the phone to a warm 42 degrees. The heating mostly happens around the camera unit. Continuous video recording too made the phone warm, despite having a 14nm chipset which promises superior power efficiency. The heating was one of the few things off the mark in the phone, where ideally the temperature stays between 38 to 40 degrees which is the case with the Honor Play.

    Overall, the Mi A2 is an all-round performer. It doesn’t focus on one single aspect and instead, tries to offer an overall smooth experience no matter whether you are gaming, streaming TV shows or browsing social media. The Mi A1 set the benchmark for mid-rangers higher and the Mi A2 takes it even further. Having the same hardware and the same interface but with a lower price, the Mi A2 essentially eats into the goodwill earned by the Nokia 7 Plus which will have a difficult time convincing buyers to pay the extra premium for its sturdy and unique design.

    Camera

    The A series by Xiaomi seems to be a good platform for the company to experiment with flagship camera setups in the mid-range price segment. The A1 last year had a secondary telephoto lens with the option of 2X optical zoom. The A2, this time, brings pixel binning which is an imaging technology seen in expensive flagships like the Huawei P20 Pro. For this, the Mi A2 relies on a dual camera setup with a 12MP primary and a 20MP secondary lens. Both lenses have an aperture of f/1.85. The primary lens uses a Sony IMX 486 RS sensor with 1.25um pixel pitch that’s has been used in the Redmi Y2 and the Redmi Note 5 Pro. The secondary camera has a Sony IMX 376 that supports pixel binning by combining four 0.5um pixels into one 2um superpixel. The secondary sensor kicks in by default when there’s less light, but you can manually switch to it in the pro-mode.

    The camera app of the Mi A2 will be familiar to anyone who has used a Xiaomi device before. The shooting modes are lined up near the bottom of the screen, easily accessible with one hand. All you need to do is swipe left or right. Options like turning on HDR (which is on ‘auto mode’ by default), along with more granular settings like turning on self-timer, tilt-shift and group selfie mode sits on top of the screen. The focus pointer also doubles up as the shutter button which helps in taking photos quickly. The app is clean, minimalist and doesn’t come in the way of shooting. It takes some exploration to understand all its capabilities which, in my mind, is always a good thing as you keep discovering new features over the time of its usage.

    The camera itself is quite fast and snappy when there’s ample light. Under low light, the camera takes a little longer to prepare for the next shot which is understandable considering the pixel binning technology which takes time. The same technology is also there in the front camera which has also has the same 20MP sensor that’s there on the back, again with pixel binning trickery.

    I used the camera of the Mi A2 extensively during my trip to China. The attached image samples are a testament to just how good the camera was, no matter what situation I used it in.

    Daylight

    In both the images, the colour representation is near about accurate and there’s a lot of sharpness in the details. The focus in both the photos was set to infinity bringing the entire frame under focus preserving every minute detail of the scene. A 1:1 crop of the photos show there’s little loss in detail while zooming in. The windows of the distant houses retained the details. It’s dangerously close to what you get from flagship phone cameras. There’s also no AI processing happening. The camera of the Mi A2 doesn’t use much of software algorithms to enhance the photos, something that Huawei and Honor likes to do a lot. That means the photos doesn’t look unnatural. Instead, you get what you see. At least, a very close representation of it.

    HDR

    Both shots have been taken against the sun, and in both the cases, the details in the shadow regions are perfectly preserved. Most other phones will output a silhouette, but the Mi A2’s HDR is quite commendable in offering a high dynamic range, once again proving its reliability in tricky situations.

    Indoors

    The camera’s strength becomes even more obvious when shooting indoors. Under more controlled lighting, the camera doesn’t disappoint. In both the photos above, you can see how well the camera has preserved the details. Every intricate details of the sprawling mall is captured (check out the full res photo in the Flickr Gallery linked below), while in the second photo, every individual face in the crowd can be distinctly made out, all under sharp focus.

    Glossy surfaces, which are more difficult to focus for phones, also seem like a piece of cake for the A2. The chrome green of the McLaren 570S looks vibrant and easily catches the viewer’s attention.

    Food

     

    Close up shots of yummy food are deliciously good. Both the colours and details are near about accurate and the resulting shots are quite sharp. Perfect to make your viewers salivate! Once again, it’s commendable to see the Mi A2 doing everything without relying on heavy software trickery. It’s more consistent as a result, unlike its rivals.

    Low light

    Now, most cameras excel at taking daytime and indoor photos. A true test of smartphone cameras is how well its low-light performance is. Xiaomi opted for a tried and tested method to improve low light photos which was one of the major complaints in the Mi A1. The result, as you can see in the samples below is a remarkable upgrade from its predecessor.

    Late night strolls around the city of Shanghai gave me ample opportunities to put the low-light imaging of the Mi A2 to test. And safe to say, I was left quite impressed. This is when the secondary camera kicks in to capture imaging data in 2um super pixels reducing the signal to noise ratio. The samples above have been taken in ISO ranging from 500 to all the way up to 2000, and still the noise levels are at a bare minimum. In some cases, that has resulted in a lesser dynamic range as most of the area in both the frames are quite dark. Although, the part that’s illuminated come out quite well detailed. The third image is taken with the portrait mode and here too, the flowers are in perfect focus with a clean, blurry background. The second last photo also has fewer shadowy regions and most of the building is under sharp focus. Finally, the last sample which was taken at around 2 in the morning sums up the low-light camera performance of the Mi A2 perfectly. All the colours in the frame are captured well enough and the dark sky above is the least noisy I’ve seen over the years of testing mid-range phones. The colours itself are a little washed out, but that’s an acceptable trade-off to me, as long as the details under low light are preserved.

    The only tradeoff here is a lack of bigger sensor and more importantly, a lack of stabilisation. Neither EIS nor OIS is present in the camera, which in means in certain situations, photos come out quite blurry unless taken with the phone mounted on a tripod. Example given below:

    Portrait Mode

     

    The Mi A2 can take some stellar portrait shots, keeping the subject of the frame in focus and blurring out the rest of the background. It does so with the help of the secondary camera and by relying the Snapdragon 660’s AI Engine for semantic image segmentation, which is a term used to explain the technology behind separating the subject from the background. The blurring looks very natural with light sources turning into bokehs. The edges of the subjects are uniformly highlighted and details enhanced. This is hands down one of the best execution of the portrait mode I’ve seen on a mid-range phone and can give a lot of expensive phones a run for their money.

    Check out all the image samples posted above in high resolution here.

    Overall, the camera on the Mi A2 is one of the biggest reasons to buy the phone. A lot many phones now offer a stock Android experience with commendable hardware, but few come close to the all-round consistency of the A2’s camera.

    Battery

    Owing to its slim form-factor, the battery capacity automatically becomes a trade-off. The Xiaomi Mi A2 packs a 3010mAh battery which is a hair lesser than what the Mi A1 had. Yet, thanks to a similarly efficient processor and lightweight stock Android, the A2 easily manages to last a work day which typically begins around 10AM till 8PM in the night. After heavy usage during my coverage of ChinaJoy, I had to put it on charge around 6:30PM, which is when the battery hit the 10 percent mark. On PCMark’s Work 2.0 Battery Test, the Mi A2 lasted 5 hours 13 minutes, which is a reassuring score. The Honor Play, in comparison has around 800mAh more battery capacity and ekes out around 9 hours of screen time on PCMark. The major quip with the phone comes with a slow charger out of the box even though it supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 4.0 standard. Using a Quick Charge certified charger easily tops up the battery in around an hour, which otherwise takes a good 30 minutes more.

    Bottomline

    The Mi A2 has all the elements of success. A robust, functional design, a reliable display, lightweight UI augmented by a fast-performing chipset and a class-leading camera (especially in the low-light segment) makes the Xiaomi Mi A2 hard to pass over. It’s definitely pricier than its predecessor but for good reason. The improvements in the camera and performance is reason enough to upgrade if you are using the Xiaomi Mi A1. There are some niggles and compromises in the form of an ugly camera bump, thermal instability and app crashes, which might indicates there’s more work needed in optimising the stock Android interface with the hardware. The Mi A2 is also going to be the first Xiaomi device in years to priced around the 20k mark. The Mi 5 was the last to command that price. There was of course the Mi Mix 2, but that’s in a different price segment altogether. It would be interesting to see whether the Mi A2 manages to sell as fast as Xiaomi’s Redmi phones especially when the asking price this time is much higher. As for me, I would recommend the Mi A2 over Honor Play for its all-round smooth experience.  The Honor Play is the superior performer here and it looks more premium as well, but the stock Android experience is much more usable and customisable than Honor’s EMUI. Furthermore, the camera on the Mi A2 will be a definite hit with anyone even remotely into photography. The Mi A2 is also a more reasonable buy over the Nokia 7 Plus which has been ruling the upper mid-range segment in our review sheets for a while now, simply for the lesser price tag it comes with.

    Xiaomi Mi A2 Key Specs, Price and Launch Date

    Price:
    Release Date: 16 Aug 2018
    Variant: 32GB , 64GB , 128GB
    Market Status: Launched

    Key Specs

    • Screen Size Screen Size
      5.99" (1080 x 2160)
    • Camera Camera
      12 + 20 MP | 20 MP
    • Memory Memory
      64 GB/4 GB
    • Battery Battery
      3000 mAh

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    Bernadette Walker: Parents in court charged with girl's murder - BBC News

    Bernadette Walker: Parents in court charged with girl's murder

    Published
    image copyrightCambridgeshire Police
    image captionBernadette Walker, 17, was reported missing on 21 July
    The parents of a missing teenage girl have appeared in court charged with her murder.
    Bernadette Walker, 17, of Peterborough, was reported missing by her mother in July, the town's crown court heard.
    She has not been found but her parents were arrested on Monday on suspicion of her murder by joint enterprise.
    Sarah Walker, 37, and Scott Walker, 50, both of Century Square in Millfield, Peterborough, appeared in court on separate videolinks.
    They will next attend court on 30 November for a plea hearing, with a trial set for 9 March.
    Cambridgeshire Police said Bernadette's parents reported her missing on 21 July after she had not been seen for three days.
    On Friday, the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit started a "no-body" murder investigation.

    'Promising student'

    Police searches for Bernadette are continuing, with officers scouring open farmland near the village of Cowbit in Lincolnshire on Tuesday.
    Rachel Nicholls, the principal of Peterborough College, described Bernadette as a "promising student and we are deeply concerned to hear of her disappearance".
    Ms Nicholls said: "Our specialised wellbeing team are providing the utmost support to Bernadette's friends, fellow students and staff at the college."
    Peterborough College confirmed Mr Walker had also been a student there.
    image copyrightJoe Giddens/PA Media
    image captionPolice were searching open areas in Cowbit, Lincolnshire on Tuesday
    Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk

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    Body Rots At Indore's Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital Mortuary, Kept On Stretcher For 11 Days

    Body Rots At Indore Hospital Mortuary, Kept On Stretcher For 11 Days

    The hospital said the unidentified man's body had been at the mortuary for 11 days and that it was kept on the stretcher to be handed over to an NGO or Indore's civic body employees to perform last rites.

    Body Rots At Indore Hospital Mortuary, Kept On Stretcher For 11 Days

    The body had been at the mortuary of Maharaja Yeshwantrao (MY) Hospital for 11 days

    Indore:

    A highly decomposed body of a man was found in the mortuary of government-run hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Indore on Tuesday. The body, with its skeleton, was found on a stretcher in the mortuary of Maharaja Yeshwantrao (MY) Hospital, the city's largest hospital.

    The hospital said the unidentified man's body had been at the mortuary for 11 days and that it was kept on the stretcher to be handed over to an NGO or Indore's civic body employees to perform last rites.

    A notice will be given to those responsible for the mortuary and a probe into the alleged lapse will be started, said Dr PS Thakur, superintendent of Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital.

    "Since the COVID-19 outbreak in the district, the load on the mortuary has increased and many times, we ran out of freezers. At present, the mortuary has 16 freezers for preservation of the body. But it has been receiving bodies more than its capacity in a day, sometimes even 21 or 22. So we had requested the government earlier too about increasing the number of freezers," he said.

    In July, a family cremated a different person instead of their son, who shared the same name, in an alleged mix-up by the same hospital. A complaint was filed accusing the hospital management of gross negligence.

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    Japanese actress Sei Ashina is found dead in her Tokyo apartment at age 36 | Daily Mail Online
     
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    Japanese actress Sei Ashina is found dead in her Tokyo apartment at age 36

    •  Ashina's death by suicide was confirmed by her management company and the Tokyo police
    • The actress was best known for playing one of the lead roles in the 2007 historical drama Silk, an international co-production directed by François Girard 
    • No motive is currently known for Ashina's death, and she doesn't appear to have left a note
    • Her brother was the first to discover her body after she failed to return text messages and phone calls starting on Sunday 
    • Ashina, whose real name was Igarashi Aya, was born in 1983 and grew up in Japan's Fukushima Prefecture 

    The Japanese actress Sei Ashina was found dead at age 36 in her apartment in Tokyo on Monday.

    Ashina's death by suicide was confirmed by her management company and the Tokyo police, according to Variety.

    The actress was best known for playing one of the lead roles in the 2007 historical drama Silk, an international co-production directed by François Girard. 

    Tragic news: The Japanese actress Sei Ashina was found dead in her Tokyo apartment on Monday at age 36. Tokyo police and her management company have called her death a suicide; pictured in 2010 in Tokyo

    Tragic news: The Japanese actress Sei Ashina was found dead in her Tokyo apartment on Monday at age 36. Tokyo police and her management company have called her death a suicide; pictured in 2010 in Tokyo

    No motive is currently known for Ashina's death, and she doesn't appear to have left a note.

    Her brother was the first to discover her body after she failed to return text messages and phone calls starting on Sunday.  

    A statement from her representatives, HoriPro, called Ashina's death 'sad and unfortunate.' 

    'The detailed situation is currently under investigation, but we would like to ask the media to consider the deep sorrow of their families and refrain from interviewing them,' it read.

    'We would like to express our sincere gratitude for the kindness of Ashina during his lifetime and pray for the souls of all of you.'

    Sad discovery: Ashina's body was discovered by her brother after she stopped responding to calls and messages on Sunday. No note was found; pictured in July 2019

    Sad discovery: Ashina's body was discovered by her brother after she stopped responding to calls and messages on Sunday. No note was found; pictured in July 2019

    Showbiz dreams: Ashina, whose real name was Igarashi Aya, was born in 1983 in Fukushima Prefecture. She moved to Tokyo as a teen to pursue modeling, before her 2002 acting debut; still from Silk

    Showbiz dreams: Ashina, whose real name was Igarashi Aya, was born in 1983 in Fukushima Prefecture. She moved to Tokyo as a teen to pursue modeling, before her 2002 acting debut; still from Silk

    Ashina, whose real name was Igarashi Aya, was born in 1983 and grew up in Japan's Fukushima Prefecture.

    Following a move to Tokyo when she was just a teenager, Ashina began a career as a model. 

    Her onscreen acting debut came in the 2002 Tokyo Broadcast System drama series A Tale Of Happiness (Shiawase no Shippo).

    Following more film and television projects, she scored her highest-profile film with Silk, an adaptation of the Italian author Alessandro Baricco novel of the same name. 

    The big time: Following more film and television projects, she scored her highest-profile film with Silk, an adaptation of the Italian author Alessandro Baricco novel of the same name; still from Silk

    The big time: Following more film and television projects, she scored her highest-profile film with Silk, an adaptation of the Italian author Alessandro Baricco novel of the same name; still from Silk

    High-profile role: She starred as an unnamed Japanese concubine, whom Michael Pitt's character falls in love with, despite being married to a teacher (Keira Knightley); still from Silk

    High-profile role: She starred as an unnamed Japanese concubine, whom Michael Pitt's character falls in love with, despite being married to a teacher (Keira Knightley); still from Silk

    The movie was directed by French–Canadian filmmaker François Girard, best known for helming the critically acclaimed drama The Red Violin. 

    American actor Michael Pitt starred as a French silkworm smuggler and Keira Knightley as his wife.

    Ashina played an unnamed Japanese concubine whom Pitt's character falls in love with and corresponds with via a series of translated letters.

    Ashina scored the role after beating out 800 actresses vying for the part.

    TV star: The actress was recently featured on the Japanese series Aibo: Tokyo Detective Duo, in which she played a recurring role from 2017 through this year; shown in 2007

    TV star: The actress was recently featured on the Japanese series Aibo: Tokyo Detective Duo, in which she played a recurring role from 2017 through this year; shown in 2007

    The actress was recently featured on the Japanese series Aibo: Tokyo Detective Duo, in which she played a recurring role from 2017 through this year.

    Earlier this year, she was featured in the film AI Amok. 

    Ashina was also a popular voice actress, and she dubbed the the lead character on the American series Revenge, which ran on ABC for four seasons from 2011–2015.  

    If you or anyone you know is dealing with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, text 'STRENGTH' to the Crisis Text Line or click here

    Multiple talents: Ashina was also a popular voice actress, and she dubbed the the lead character on the American series Revenge, which ran on ABC for four seasons from 2011–2015; pictured with Keira Knightly in 2007 at the Toronto International Film Festival

    Multiple talents: Ashina was also a popular voice actress, and she dubbed the the lead character on the American series Revenge, which ran on ABC for four seasons from 2011–2015; pictured with Keira Knightly in 2007 at the Toronto International Film Festival

    Japanese actress Sei Ashina is found dead in her Tokyo apartment at age 36

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    YouTube 2020: Why politics have exploded on the video platform

    YouTube 2020: Why politics have exploded on the video platform

    Digital strategists for various political campaigns are exploring ways to seep political discussion deeper into YouTube's niche audiences.
    Image: YouTube Election
    Adrian Lam / NBC News

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    By David Ingram

    Politics are hard to miss on YouTube this year.

    Last month, Joe Biden made a splash when his campaign bought out YouTube's homepage with an ad about sports stadiums that had been left empty by the coronavirus pandemic. The ad got more than 10 million impressions, his most ever on the site.

    President Donald Trump's campaign has purchased YouTube homepage ads, too, and he reserved the space again for early November as voting ends, Bloomberg News has reported. The ads are autoplay, making them all but unavoidable.

    Beyond those ads, politics are popping up in all sorts of videos. A legion of well-practiced right-wing YouTube personalities, some with large followings, have been posting daily videos boosting Trump and launching attacks against Biden. And digital strategists for various political campaigns are exploring ways to seep political discussion deeper into YouTube's niche audiences, placing ads alongside cooking shows, for example. Others are working on campaigns that ask for donations, which used to be less common on the site.

    YouTube, founded in 2005, has often been overshadowed by the likes of Facebook and Twitter as a place where political campaigning happens online, but this year is shaping up differently, and the fall promises to test YouTube's capacity to serve as a political referee.

    "YouTube has come into its own. It has blossomed. It is incredibly effective," said Rebecca Donatelli, president of Campaign Solutions, a political consulting firm that works with Republican candidates. In the realm of politics, she said, "this is the year of YouTube."

    Trump himself has more than tripled his YouTube following in five months, growing from 320,00 subscribers in April to more than 1 million now. Politico reported this month that the Trump campaign was trying to flood YouTube with content and leverage the site as a secret weapon, much as the Trump campaign did with Facebook in 2016.

    But the Biden campaign says it has doubts. Megan Clasen, a Biden campaign adviser, tweeted that it had outspent Trump on YouTube at the start of September.

    In a sense, it's about time YouTube got so much attention. It often ranks first or second on lists of most-visited websites, and it's the most widely used online platform among U.S. adults, a Pew Research Center survey found last year.

    It may be that 2020 is an especially good year to match with YouTube as a medium. News about police shootings, Black Lives Matter protests and the coronavirus pandemic is often highly visual.

    "That's where the electorate is this cycle, and if it doesn't have a video attached to it, it's not as real," Donatelli said.

    But YouTube's emergence as a central political battleground is causing alarm among advocates for voting rights, as well as people who research disinformation online, who fear that the Google-owned service is underprepared for election season.

    They point to a growing body of research that has identified YouTube as a primary way people learn to believe conspiracy theories or consume extreme commentary, sometimes fueled by YouTube's recommendation algorithm.

    "I still think they really haven't figured out with YouTube how to stop those who are profiting off misinformation and disinformation from continuing to do it," said Joan Donovan, research director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University.

    YouTube said it is taking the challenge seriously. Leslie Miller, YouTube's vice president for public policy, wrote in a blog post last month that the service was committed to removing content that violates its rules, such as videos that encourage others to interfere with voting.

    The company has outlined other steps to ensure a credible election, such as pledging to terminate channels that misrepresent their countries of origin or conceal their associations with government actors. YouTube has banned videos promoting Nazi ideology and promised a crackdown on "borderline content."

    "Over the last few years, we have developed a systematic process to effectively remove violative videos, raise up authoritative content and reduce the spread of borderline content. We apply this framework to elections around the world, including the 2020 U.S. election," YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi said in a statement.

    The primary season saw at least one example of a political dirty trick carried out on YouTube. Last month, as polls opened in Florida, some voters received fake text messages and a YouTube video falsely claiming that Republican congressional candidate Byron Donalds had dropped out. YouTube removed the video, and Donalds prevailed in the primary.

    But YouTube's policies still lag behind those at Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter, according to a report card from the Election Integrity Partnership, a group of academics and nonprofits tracking misinformation online. The group says YouTube's policy on voter intimidation, for example, isn't comprehensive enough.

    It's not just Nazis and voter intimidation that worry people, however. It's also how YouTube shapes the broader information ecosystem.

    More so than in 2016, YouTube is a home for livestreamers and social media celebrities who have built followings of thousands or millions of people. YouTube shares revenue with them and offers other opportunities to make money that other tech platforms don't match.

    Donovan of Harvard said she expects some YouTube provocateurs to wield newfound media influence over the next two months, backing one candidate or another. "And we're not going to know if those influencers are being paid by companies, charities, dark money groups or super PACs," she said, because political operatives may be able to avoid disclosure requirements from the company, the government or both.

    In February, the Democratic primary campaign of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg helped to popularize new marketing forms, such as endorsements from social media meme accounts.

    "There's a shadow market for political advertising that is potentially going to be supercharged in the lead-up to the election," Donovan said. If YouTube can't keep up, she said, "the whole of society suffers."

    Voting rights lawyers worry about the spread of false information about how to register or how to vote. In a report this month, the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School urged tech companies to increase the visibility of reliable sources, such as election agencies.

    When people search for voting information, "some video gamer shouldn't be the No. 1 result," said Ian Vandewalker, senior counsel at the Brennan Center.

    Trump's courting of YouTube influencers was on show last year when he invited many of them to a social media summit at the White House. They now make up something like a YouTube cheering section, often popping up on the most-viewed list with a search for Biden's name.

    Covid-19 has only added to the value of streaming services like YouTube, said Shannon Kowalczyk, chief marketing officer for Acronym, a group that's working to elect Democrats including Biden.

    "People have more time on their hands at home. We've seen streaming numbers surge," Kowalczyk said. Acronym uses YouTube to target people, especially young people, who don't normally tune in to political discussions and may be in a position to be persuaded, she said.

    YouTube and Google surprised many digital ad buyers last November when they said they wouldn't allow political campaigns to target ads based on public voter records or political affiliations. They said ads would be more widely available for public discussion.

    That caused some money to shift to other platforms that allow narrow targeting, such as Roku, strategists said. But they're also finding YouTube useful in unexpected ways.

    "We're using it a lot for fundraising, which is way different from what it has been in the past. It was mostly a persuasion play," said Eric Frenchman, chief marketing officer for Campaign Solutions, the Republican firm. He said the return on investment rivals that of Facebook, where campaigns have typically gone in the past to raise money.

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    Motorola Moto Turbo Review

    Motorola Moto Turbo Review

    By Prasid Banerjee | Updated May 22 2019
    Motorola Moto Turbo Review
    DIGIT RATING
    89 /100
    • design

      86

    • performance

      93

    • value for money

      95

    • features

      94

    User Rating : 3/5 Out of 1 Reviews
    • PROS
    • Best performance amongst Android phones
    • Well built, sturdy and handy
    • Amazing battery life
    • CONS
    • Poor camera for a flagship level phone

    Verdict

    The Moto Turbo is by far the most powerful smartphone that we've tested so far. It outperforms the likes of the Galaxy Note 4 and lives up to its 'beast' monicker. If Motorola could just have given a flagship level camera, this would be the perfect phone for everyone.

    BUY Motorola Moto Turbo
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    Motorola Moto Turbo detailed review

    There’s an inherent flaw in pricing Android phones above Rs. 40,000 nowadays. No matter how good the phone, it’s hard to argue against the likes of the OnePlus One, which cost about half of what Samsung, Motorola and others sell their flagships at, while seemingly making no compromise. So, if you’re going to price a phone at such premium amounts, the company better make sure it’s absolutely top notch.


    That brings me to the Moto Turbo, also known as the Moto Maxx or Droid Turbo overseas. We, especially us geeks, have been waiting for this phone for a long time. We’ve read everything there is to read about it and watched every video that the Internet has to offer. There’s hardly a bad word that anyone’s said about it. Will we?

    Build and Design

    Take a brief look at the smartphone market and you’ll find two words that dominate — slim and light. These are also two words that Motorola has stayed away from, intentionally if I may say so. The Turbo is not a slim phone and at 169 grams, it’s not light either. Now I don’t know about you, but I would readily trade both of these for better battery life. Let’s face it, making phones slim as paper is stupid if you can’t deliver performance and battery life (think Gionee Elife S5.1, Vivo X5Max, Oppo R5).

    The device is 8.3 mm thick, but despite the 169 grams on paper, it feels lighter than what I expected. This is because how snuggly it is in your hand. Motorola’s slightly curved back takes the shape of your hand and makes the phone fit right in, overruling both the thickness and lightness quotients.

    That leaves me with the ballistic nylon back. It reminds me a lot of those super tough rugged smartphones made for the army and other tough conditions. The Ballistic Nylon is very new and gives the phone a very unique feel.

    It’s not a design that looks very good, it’s a design that’s practical, fresh and just simply works. Personally, I still like the Moto X (2nd Gen) more (and the Moto X (1st Gen) even more), but that’s just me.

    Tip: Try turning on the flashlight on the Turbo in a dark room. The dual-LED flash on the back looks like two bright eyes shining at you.

    Display and UI

    At this size, a 2k display is really not what you need, it’s something you want, perhaps for bragging rights. At 5.2 inch, it doesn’t make a very big difference. In fact, I found the Turbo’s display to be somewhat dimmer than many others in its category. In fact, the Honor 6 Plus, which I had alongside this, has a much brighter display.

    I’m not complaining though. The 565 ppi pixel density makes this one of the sharpest displays you can find today and 5.2 inch coupled with Motorola’s design language makes for a compact beast in a world of phablets. It was a nightmare to use the Nexus 6 after this one.

    While stock Android doesn't make a big difference on performance anymore, the Droid Turbo does a better job of exhibiting what Android Lollipop was meant to be than even the Nexus 6. That brings me to the next part of this review.

    Performance

    There’s a reason they call this phone the beast. The Moto Turbo performs better than any phone we’ve tested to far in terms of benchmarks, and this translates to the real word as well. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get this phone to stutter even once. The only time it did so was when the 3G speeds dropped while playing Marvel: Contest of Champions (the game is heavily dependent on data). A better judge is Real Racing, which ran as smooth as butter on this phone, just like Asphalt 8 and Injustice: Gods Among Us did.

    | Create infographics

     

    Android Lollipop runs better on this than the Nexus 6, even if only barely. Having used the two phones side by side, I saw a split second difference on the Nexus 6 sometimes. The difference is very very small, but it’s there.

    The performance that the Turbo gives is better than the Galaxy Note 4 and closer to the iPhone 6 than perhaps any other Android phone has achieved.

    I’m not merely talking about the benchmarks scores here. Android Lollipop takes a lot of cues from Apple’s iOS, but the fragmentation in Android results in lack of fluidity in the UI, unlike iPhones. The Turbo achieves this fluidity to a higher degree than any other smartphone.

    The only complaint I have in terms of performance is that the Turbo doesn't have the loudest sound output of all smartphones. It's nowhere near as bad as Huawei phones, but not the best either. It'll work for your alarms and stuff and music will be fine through headphones.

    Camera

    If there’s one area where the Turbo is weak then its the camera. While Motorola has got the spec sheet covered, with a 20.7MP camera, this isn’t anywhere close to what you can get in Sony or Samsung’s devices. The Moto Turbo’s camera is the best amongst Motorola devices right now, but it can’t provide the white balance and sharpness that the Sony Xperia Z3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 4 do. The low light performance isn’t anywhere close either.

    Battery

    What surprised me the most about the Moto Turbo was the battery life. The kind of performance it delivers is usually done by compromising on the battery life. That’s where the trade-off in the build pays off. The Turbo’s 3900 mAh battery excels like no other. With over two hours or gaming, more than three hours of music streaming and then browsing, calls, texts, social networking etc, the Moto Turbo lasted me for a good 21 hours.

    | Create infographics

     

    If the phone can do this with a QHD display, then a 1080p would perhaps have made it run over two days. What I mentioned above isn’t regular usage, it is very heavy usage, but the Turbo took it like a boss. On regular usage, you can easily get a day and a half out of this device.

    Bottomline

    Coming back to the point I made at the beginning. One has to make a mighty good argument to buy a phone above 40k nowadays and the Turbo makes that argument. Well almost, the camera is still a concern. If I’m going to spend on such a phone, I want no compromise anywhere. Nevertheless, Motorola's superior support service is a huge boost to the decision as well.

    That said, here’s who should buy a Moto Turbo. If you want a battery or a performance beast, then this is the best that you can get today. On the other hand, if the camera matters to you, then you would be disappointed.

    Buy Moto Turbo on Flipkart at Rs. 41,999

    Motorola Moto Turbo Key Specs, Price and Launch Date

    Price:
    Release Date: 13 Jul 2015
    Variant: 64GB
    Market Status: Launched

    Key Specs

    • Screen Size Screen Size
      5.2" (1440 x 2560)
    • Camera Camera
      21 | 2 MP
    • Memory Memory
      64 GB/3 GB
    • Battery Battery
      3900 mAh
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    Prasid Banerjee

    Trying to explain technology to my parents. Failing miserably.

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    Share Market Highlights: Sensex ends 258 points higher\, Nifty at 11\,604; Dr Reddy\, Britannia top gainers

    Share Market Highlights: Sensex ends 258 points higher\, Nifty at 11\,604; Dr Reddy\, Britannia top gainers

    Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Slams BJP State Chief: Lost His Mental Stability

    "Lost His Mental Stability": Kerala Chief Minister Slams BJP State Chief

    Pinarayi Vijayan, when asked about the BJP chief's allegations, said K Surendran has "lost his mental stability" and, without any sense of decency, has been raising allegations without any basis.

    'Lost His Mental Stability': Kerala Chief Minister Slams BJP State Chief

    Pinarayi Vijayan said K Surendran has "lost his mental stability" (File)

    Thiruvananthapuram:

    Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday lashed out at BJP state chief K Surendran, for raising "baseless allegations" against the former's family in the LIFE Mission (Livelihood Inclusion and Financial Empowerment) project "kickbacks" matter.

    Mr Vijayan, when asked about the BJP chief's allegations, said K Surendran has "lost his mental stability" and, without any sense of decency, has been raising allegations without any basis.

    "The party (BJP) should ponder as to why it has kept a mentally flawed person as its president. Surendran has lost his mental stability. It's as if he can say anything. Shouldn't there be a sense of basic decency? Shouldn't he say what his statements are based on? Should one just issue statements on a whim?," Mr Vijayan asked.

    At a press meet on Monday, Mr Surendran alleged that the investigation agencies should probe and interrogate Mr Vijayan's daughter and said his family members were allegedly involved in securing kickbacks in the Life Mission project.

    "Pinarayi Vijayan is not like Mr Surendran. I'm used to opposing corruption.That habit has helped me keep my head high whenever there are allegations against me.

    When someone sees that I rule without corruption, such allegations will arise. Can my daughter or son or family be labelled corrupt because of pure allegations?" Mr Vijayan asked.

    Life Mission project was envisaged by the state government for construction of free houses for homeless poor in the state and at least 2.26 lakh houses had been built and handed over to homeless people in the state under the project so far.

    Mr Surendran has alleged that the fire incident at the state secretariat was intended to remove the evidence against the chief minister's office in the gold smuggling case.

    However, the state government had rebutted this allegation and said none of the files were destroyed as the filing was under the e-filing system since long back.

    The Opposition parties have been alleging that the prime accused in the gold smuggling case was involved in securing commissions with relation to the Life Mission project.

    (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

    Share Market Highlights: Sensex ends 258 points higher\, Nifty at 11\,604; Dr Reddy\, Britannia top gainers

    Parliament LIVE Updates: RS to Discuss Govt Action on Covid 19; FinMin Will Seek Passage of Bill for Bringing Co op Banks Under RBI - News18
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    Parliament LIVE Updates: RS to Discuss Govt Action on Covid-19; FinMin Will Seek Passage of Bill for Bringing Co-op Banks Under RBI

    News18.com | September 16, 2020, 8:32 AM IST
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    Event Highlights

    Parliament LIVE Updates: As the coronavirus situation in India continues to be alarming, the Rajya Sabha is set to discussion the pandemic and the steps taken by the Centre to curb the spread of the deadly virus. Vardhan had on Monday told Parliament that the decision to impose nationwide lockdown prevented 14-29 lakh Covid-19 cases and 37,000-78,000 deaths in India. Reports on Tuesday state that the number of infections in the country have crossed the 5 million mark with 91,136 new cases.

    Meanwhile, in Lok Sabha, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will move the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020 for its passage. The Bill seeks to protect the interest of the depositors by bringing co-operative banks under the regulatory framework of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
    Read More
    Sep 16, 2020 8:32 am (IST)
    Sep 16, 2020 8:29 am (IST)

    Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will move the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020 for its passage in the Lok Sabha today. The Bill seeks to protect the interest of the depositors by bringing co-operative banks under the regulatory framework of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

    Sep 16, 2020 8:28 am (IST)

    RS to Hold Talks on Pandemic | The Rajya Sabha is set to discussion the pandemic and the steps taken by the Centre to curb the spread of the deadly virus. Union Minister Harsh Vardhan had on Monday told Parliament that the decision to impose nationwide lockdown prevented 14-29 lakh Covid-19 cases and 37,000-78,000 deaths in India. Reports now state that the number of infections in the country have crossed the 5 million mark with 91,136 new cases.

    Sep 16, 2020 8:22 am (IST)

    RJD MP Manoj Jha has given Zero Hour notice in Rajya Sabha over 'COVID-19 and its impacts on migrant workforce.'

    Sep 16, 2020 8:20 am (IST)

    MPLAD Fund Restoration | Opposition parties, including the Congress, in the Lok Sabha had demanded the restoration of Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) fund, even as they supported the government's decision to cut salaries of MPs. Participating in a discussion on the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020, in the Lower House, members of the Congress, TMC, BJD, NCP, TRS, TDP and other parties pitched for the restoration of the funds.

    Sep 16, 2020 8:13 am (IST)

    BSP MP Veer Singh has given Zero Hour notice in Rajya Sabha over 'increase in unemployment due to lockdown and COVID-19 pandemic.'

    Sep 16, 2020 8:12 am (IST)

    PDP MP Gives Zero Hour Notice | PDP MP Nazir Ahmad Laway has given Zero Hour notice in Rajya Sabha over "MPLAD funds and poor condition of National Highway from Jammu to Srinagar."

    Sep 16, 2020 8:05 am (IST)
    Sep 16, 2020 7:57 am (IST)

    RECAP | Congress leader P Chidambaram had called out the central government. Chidambaram had said India is a unique parliamentary democracy where no questions are asked and no debate takes place, aafter the party was not allowed to speak on the Ladakh standoff issue in the Lok Sabha. Members of the Congress walked out of the Lok Sabha and staged a protest in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the Parliament House complex after they were not allowed to speak following a statement by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the border standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.

    Sep 16, 2020 7:47 am (IST)

    Ministers to lay papers on the Table  | For Lok Sabha, a revised list of business names the following papers to be laid on table 

    Following Ministers to lay papers on the Table:-

    1. SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI for Ministry of Coal and Ministry of Mines;
    2. SHRI RAO INDERJIT SINGH for Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation;
    3. SHRI SHRIPAD YESSO NAIK for Ministry of Defence;
    4. DR. JITENDRA SINGH for Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions;
    5. SHRI HARDEEP SINGH PURI for Ministry of Commerce and Industry;
    6. SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL for Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs;
    7. SHRI DHOTRE SANJAY SHAMRAO for Ministry of Communications and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology;
    8. SHRI ANGADI SURESH CHANNABASAPPA for Ministry of Railways; and
    9. SHRI SOM PARKASH for Ministry of Commerce and Industry

    Sep 16, 2020 7:41 am (IST)

    The Lok Sabha will sit from 3 pm to 7 pm. Rajya Sabha will sit from 9 am to 1 pm.

    Sep 16, 2020 7:34 am (IST)

    Today will be the third day of the 18-day Monsoon Session of Parliament that began on September 14, amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The session is being held amid many firsts, including sitting of the two Houses in shifts without any off day. 

    Sep 16, 2020 7:30 am (IST)

    The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which seeks to deregulate food items, including cereals, pulses and onion, with opposition parties describing the measure as anti-farmer and NDA ally Shiromani Akali Dal opposing changes in the law. The amendment is aimed at transforming the farm sector and raising farmers' income, the government has said.

    Parliament LIVE Updates: RS to Discuss Govt Action on Covid-19; FinMin Will Seek Passage of Bill for Bringing Co-op Banks Under RBI
    Image: ANI

    With the amendments, RBI will be able undertake a scheme of amalgamation of a bank without placing it under moratorium. Earlier, if a bank was placed under moratorium, it not only limited withdrawals by depositors, but also disrupted a bank’s lending operations.

    The cooperative banks will also be allowed to raise money via public issue and private placement, of equity or preference shares as well as unsecured debentures, with the central’s bank’s nod. Currently, access to capital for cooperative banks is limited.

    In March, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled in the Lok Sabha the amendments to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. However, due to the outbreak of the covid-19, the Parliament could not approve the changes. Thereafter, on June 26, an ordinance was promulgated.

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