HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, in an interaction with 45,000 higher education institutions on Thursday said college final exams would be held for sure across India.

“Final exam to honge hi (will definitely take place),” said Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

Important instructions for 1st year college students

If the situation caused due to the coronavirus does not improve by July, then the first-year students can be promoted based on internal assessment.

Important instructions for 2nd year college students

The intermediate year or semester students can be promoted by giving 50 per cent weightage to internal assessment and 50 per cent to previous academic performance if exams are not held in July.

Final year college students

End-term exams will be conducted. “If the situation does not improve by July then, new dates or modes of conducting exams can be thought of but the exam will take place for final year students,” HRD Minister said.

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Samsung has launched the 8GB RAM + 128GB internal storage variant of its global best-selling smartphone, the Galaxy A51. Priced at Rs 27,999, the new variant comes in prism crush black, prism crush white and prism crush blue colours. It will be available across retail channels — offline retail stores, e-commerce portals and Samsung.com.

“The Galaxy A51’s cool and intelligent ‘Make for India’ innovations have seen widespread adoption. The Useful Cards feature helps reduce clutter in the SMS Inbox. Multilingual Typing helps millennials and Gen Z converse effortlessly in local languages. Finder lets users find app content quickly, while Smart Crop help users save, share, or edit the most relevant part of the screenshot,” the company said in a statement.

 The Galaxy A51 is an updated version of the Galaxy A50s, with a new format of display, improved optics and enhanced user interface (OneUI 2.0). It has minor but noticeable design changes when compared with the Galaxy A50 and A50s. Like its predecessors, the phone is made of polycarbonate with glass-like gradient design on the back. It sports a 6.5-inch super AMOLED display of a fullHD+ resolution, stretched in a tall 20:9 aspect ratio.

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Strengthening its online to offline (O2O) strategy to push sales amid the coronavirus pandemic, Samsung has expanded its partnership with Benow to sell its consumer electronics. The South Korean electronics initially partnered with the digital payments platform to sell its Galaxy smartphones — Benow digital platform allows consumers to buy online from neighbourhood stores. Now, besides smartphones, customers would be able to buy Samsung products like televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, etc.

“The current O2O model that we rolled out last month has been truly successful. We are now extending O2O to new platforms with our partnership with Benow,” Samsung India Senior Vice President, Consumer Electronics Business Raju Pullan said.

ALSO READ: Samsung unveils mid-range Exynos 880 chip with integrated 5G modem, AI

 “It will allow local retailers sell Samsung consumer electronics products online and go completely contactless, without making any upfront investment. Consumers, on the other hand, will be able to buy Samsung consumer electronics products online, from the safety and comfort of their homes, and make payments online through the method of their choice cash on delivery, credit card, debit card, easy EMI, etc – without any contact,” he added.

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The computing code of Aaroyga Setu, India’s coronavirus-tracing app, will be opened up for independent developers to check and make suggestions, said the government on Tuesday after privacy activists flagged their worries about its safety and use.

The app’s Android version will be made open source first and other makes later, said the government. “This is a unique thing to be done. No other government product anywhere in the world has been open sourced at this scale. Today its scale and size is 115 million. It cuts across phones, IVRS. Only product available in 12 languages. All Covid-19 related apps put together, Aarogya Setu is bigger than all of them,” Amitabh Kant, chief executive officer of Niti Aayog, was quoted as saying in a LiveMint report.

  ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: 2,091 new cases in Maharashtra; India death toll 4,197

The government has pushed the Aaroyga Setu aggressively, advising people to install it as they travel or work in offices. The app give users colour-coded designations based on their health status and travel history.

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Samsung on Monday confirmed that it will launch its new mid-range smartphone Galaxy A31 in India on June 4.

The phone will feature a quad camera set up at the rear backed by a 48MP main sensor.

  The smartphone will come with a 6.4-inch super AMOLED display and a 5,000mAh battery with 15W fast charging, Samsung revealed in a teaser.

According to industry sources, the phone will be powered by MediaTek octacore processor in India and may cost around Rs 23,000.
 

ALSO READ: Samsung may launch Galaxy A31 smartphone with 48MP quad rear camera in June

Galaxy A31 is likely to come in just one 6-128 GB variant.

The device, featuring a 20MP front camera, will sell across all of Samsung’s online and offline platforms and will also be available across e-commerce platforms, sources told IANS.

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Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi on Tuesday launched its wireless earphones the Earbuds S for Rs 1,799 in India.

The Redmi Earbuds S will go on sale on May 27 and will be available via Amazon India, Mi.com, Mi Home stores and Mi Studio outlets.

 It will soon be available across all retail channels, said the company.

” Features like the compact design and IPX4 rating increase the versatility of Redmi Earbuds S, allowing usage across different scenarios. We hope that with the Redmi Earbuds S, our consumers have a great audio experience,” Anuj Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Xiaomi India said in a statement.

The device features dedicated gaming mode (low-latency mode), reducing audio lag while playing games.

According to the company, the Earbuds S are capable of providing 12 hours of usage with the charging case.

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Sony India on Tuesday announced the all-new BRAVIA X8000H and X7500H TV series with 4K Ultra HD LED display.

The 85X8000H will be available at Rs 5,99,990, 65X8000H at Rs 1,39,990 and 55X7500H is priced at Rs 79,990, the company said in a statement.

 Sony’s new 4K HDR TVs are available in various sizes.

The next generation Smart TVs support true-to-life viewing experience with ‘TRILUMINOS’ display that reproduces the subtle nuances of colour, light and gradation from video lens to living room.

The new Bravia TVs features x-balanced speaker whichnaims to deliver immersive sound experience accompanied with Ultra-vivid Picture.

The new lineup comes with Android 9 Pie with voice search powered by Google Assistant.

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Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) has reported a consolidated profit after tax of Rs 306 crore during the January to March quarter and reduced its net debt by Rs 4,379 crore in FY20 on constant currency basis.

The gross revenue totalled Rs 9,674 crore in Q4 FY20 while the net revenue was Rs 8,836 crore, the company said in a statement. The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were Rs 2,220 crore and EBITDA margin stood at 25 per cent.

 JSPL ramped up production and sales in the financial year ending March, reporting the ever highest steel production and sales volumes.

ALSO READ: Metal stocks shine amid strong global cues; JSPL, JSW Steel jump up to 10%

“The year gone by saw the company better not only on the volume front but also on the product mix which made it more resilient and nimble for the uncertainty and difficult times which wrapped the world during the latter part of the quarter,” it said.

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Volkswagen must pay compensation to owners of vehicles with rigged diesel engines in Germany, a court ruled on Monday, dealing a fresh blow to the firm almost five years after its emissions scandal erupted.

The ruling by Germany’s highest court for civil disputes, which will allow owners to return vehicles for a partial refund of the purchase price, serves as a template for about 60,000 lawsuits that are still pending with lower German courts. Volkswagen admitted in September 2015 to cheating emissions tests on diesel engines, a scandal which has already cost it more than 30 billion euros ($33 billion) in regulatory fines and vehicle refits, mostly in the United States (US).

US authorities banned the affected cars after the cheat software was discovered, triggering claims for compensation. But in Europe vehicles remained on the roads, leading Volkswagen to argue compensation claims there were without merit. European authorities instead forced the firm to update its engine control software and fined it for fraud and administrative lapses.

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Why is locust attack in news?

Locusts normally arrive during July-October, but have already caused chaos in Rajasthan. At a time India is battling coronavirus pandemic, locusts present a new worry with their potential for exponential growth and crop destruction. Standing crops and vegetables in Rajasthan, Punajb, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh face a major threat as swarms of locust have been reported a month in advance. There is an alert for Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Delhi as well.

Locusts in India, Pakistan

Lcusts are normally seen in India between July-October and mostly as solitary insects or in small isolated groups. Their being spotted along the India-Pakistan border before mid-April this time — and coming after the damage they caused to the growing rabi crops along western Rajasthan and parts of northern Gujarat during December-January — has raised the alarm bells. Read Complete Article