While we get to watch new films all the time, the lockdown could be a golden chance to catch up with a few classics across genres. Digital platforms are overflowing with them, and you would literally be spoilt for choice selecting some really enjoyable stuff that has come out of Bollywood over the decades. Twenty-one days, it would seem, is too short a time to catch up with what really defines vintage Bollywood and is available in the OTT libraries.

Here is a list of old films that you might want to revisit, that will let you relax and bust the stress of lockdown. Of course, this is not a definitive list.

Chupke Chupke (1975)

Directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, the comedy film is about a man pretending to be a driver and fooling his wife’s brother-in-law as an attempt to prove that the brother-in-law is not as smart as he claims to be. The film stars Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan and Om Prakash. It is available on Netflix.

Munna Bhai MBBS (2003)

The comedy-drama, directed by Rajkumar Hirani, is about a goon who sets out to fulfill his father’s dream of becoming a doctor. It stars Sanjay Dutt, Gracy Singh, Arshad Warsi, late Sunil Dutt and Boman Irani. It is available on Netflix.

Read complete Article

IITs across the country have joined the fight against Covid-19, activating their incubation centres to develop solutions that could help contain the virus. While some researchers are developing prototypes for ventilators to overcome their shortage, others have teamed up to develop testing kits.

A team of innovators from IIT Kanpur’s incubator company Nocca Robotics has developed a ventilator prototype, currently in the testing phase. “Our next step is to test the prototype and get it validated with the doctors to fine-tune the design, which will take at least two more weeks. Once the testing is over, we will begin mass-scale manufacturing,” said Abhay Karandikar, director of IIT Kanpur.

Given that almost all components are locally sourced, the price will be much less compared to imported ones that cost over ~4 lakh, he added.

IIT Guwahati, which is set to get a Technology Innovation Hub at the campus, has developed a mask in line with World Health Organization guidelines, and plans to 3D print about 100 of these.

A team of researchers at the campus is also trying to develop a vaccine. It is currently analysing the sequence of the virus from samples collected from Kerala and China. Besides, IIT Guwahati students have also developed sanitisers on a World Health Organization (WHO) formulation.

Read Complete Article

Cupertino-based tech giant Apple is reportedly planning to include a touch ID fingerprint sensor into the crown of its upcoming Watch Series 6 smartwatch.

The Apple Watch already unlocks when the iPhone is unlocked, but unlocking it on a standalone basis requires a numerical code to be entered.

It is not clear how the alleged Touch ID fingerprint sensor would be implemented, as the Digital Crown is already used for capturing an ECG in the current Apple Watch models, reports MacRumors.

ALSO READ: Apple revokes purchase limit restriction on iPhone, iPad outside China

Apple is also reportedly planning to bring blood oxygen detection and an improved ECG to its next Watch Series 6.

The technology for blood oxygen detection has existed in the Apple Watch since the first version, it has never been used, but now the upcomming Apple Watch may have the ability.

Read Complete Article

Engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Monday announced Rs 150 crore donation to the PM-CARES Fund to fight the coronavirus outbreak

and said it has set aside over Rs 500 crore per month to support about 1.60 lakh contract workers.

L&T joins a list of other corporates including Tata Group and Reliance Industries who have come forward to offer their support to fight this unprecedented crisis.

The company said it has set aside an outlay of over Rs 500 crore per month to support about 1.60 lakh contract workers by continuing to pay their wages during the ongoing lockdown and providing them with food and basic amenities at labour camps, while maintaining the COVID-19 prevention and containment protocol.

“Responding to the call given by Prime Minister of India, the company will donate Rs 150 crore to the PM-CARES Fund,” the company said in a statement.

The diversified conglomerate said it is committed to participate in corporate India’s response to COVID-19 through funds, community welfare plans and through leveraging its expertise to offer assistance.

Read Complete Article

Asian Development Bank (ADB) will now join the Government of India (GOI) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as an investor in one of the instruments of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) of India.

ADB will invest $100 million equivalent in the NIIF Fund of Funds (FoF). With ADB’s investment into the NIIF platform, the FoF has now secured $700 million in commitments.

NIIF’s FoF is targeted at India-focused PE fund managers who rely on international investors for large-scale fundraising as domestic institutions such as Indian pension funds and insurance companies have not been significant investors in PE funds.

“Mid-market entrepreneur-led companies are the backbone of most growth sectors in India and are responsible for millions of jobs. These companies are hungry for growth equity, and efficient allocation of capital to them, tied-in with good governance, highest environmental, and social standards and strong business principles, is an imperative,” said a NIIF statement today.

NIIF FoF was established in 2018 with the objective of creating a vehicle to provide India-focused private equity fund managers with a go-to institutional investor operating at scale and based in India.

Read complete Article

A body suit developed by India’s premier research and development organisation DRDO can protect doctors and other health workers attending on Covid-19 patients.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said the body suit can shield doctors, medical staff, sanitation workers and others.

According to a DRDO statement, the body suit developed earlier for medical and paramedical staff to manage and evacuate the causalities in the event of radiological emergencies has now been converted into a full body suit to stop contamination.

“The suit is washable and has passed the ASTM International standards. The suit is widely tested by DRDO and other agencies and found suitable for the cause,” it said.

Each suit costs Rs 7,000. Frontier Protective Wear Pvt Ltd, Kolkata and Medikit Pvt Ltd, Mumbai are producing 10,000 suits per day.

Read Complete Article

FMCG major ITC on Friday announced setting up of a Rs 150-crore coronavirus contingency fund for vulnerable sections of society.

Apart from setting up of the fund, the company said it will collaborate with authorities to provide assistance to district health and rural healthcare eco-system that reaches out to the weakest sections of society.

“Over the past few weeks several initiatives have been implemented in response to the crisis. We are now happy to announce that ITC is setting up a contingency fund of Rs 150 crore to address and manage the challenges arising out of this adversity,” the company said in a statement.

This fund will be utilised primarily to provide relief to the vulnerable and most needy sections of society who have been harshly impacted by the pandemic and have faced significant disruption in their livelihoods, it added.

The resources under this fund will be channelised towards the protection and well-being of the ground forces who are doing commendable work to reach medicines, groceries, other essential goods for people across the country during the lockdown, “by providing protective personal gear and hygiene products to such frontline warriors,” it said.

Read Complete Article

In a bid to help its employees during Covid-19 lockout, Cognizant has announced an additional payment of 25 per cent of the base pay for April for employees up to associate level in India and the Philippines. The company said it will be reviewing this approach monthly.

This applies to more than two-thirds of the India workforce.

The company has allowed work from home for the majority of its offshore teams to ensure employee health and safety, and to maintain continuity of service for clients, while safeguarding their data and protecting access to their systems. The WFH measures include provisioning new laptops and encrypting desktops and moving them to associates’ homes, enabling the use of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), providing additional bandwidth connectivity and air cards — all with the appropriate client permissions and security protocols, said the company.

Cognizant, like all global companies, is also experiencing the effects of this public health emergency on both the demand and fulfillment sides of the business, from London to Mumbai to Manila and New York, said the IT major.

Read complete Article

The year 2020 seems more about nostalgia than anything else, especially for the kids of the 1990s.

Old phones are making a comeback in new avatars (we’re talking about the Moto Razr (not Nokia, as it’s long gone, and people have moved on), Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag opening the innings in a cricket match together, even if not for the national team (in the Road Safety World Series), and yes it’s happening: the F.R.I.E.N.D.S cast is reuniting for an exclusive special on HBO Max.

In the middle of all this, Sony has brought its new Walkman, the Sony NW-A105, which has a nostalgic appeal that takes us back to the good ol’ days when things were simple and easy.

One might wonder… what’s the deal with Sony? Why would it launch a Walkman in the streaming age? We had the same question, so we spent a month with Sony’s first Android Walkman and tried to find the answers.

I do not have one of the sharpest memories when it comes to dates, but if it serves me right, it was in 2003-2004 that I first noticed a Walkman and demanded one from my family.

Read Complete Article

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday went all guns blazing to arrest a potential slowdown caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19), lowering the policy repo rate by 75 basis points to 4.4 per cent.

“Given the Covid-19 stress, the six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) advanced their March 31-April 3 meetings to meet on March 24-26 and 27, and voted 4:2 to cut the policy repo rate to 4.4 per cent”, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das, who addressed the media through video streaming, said.

At the same time, the reverse repo rate, which is the rate at which banks keep their excess funds with the RBI, was lowered by 90 basis points to discourage banks from keeping their excess liquidity with the central bank. The idea is that banks must lend funds for productive needs.

Apart from the rate cuts, the central bank also announced a number of liquidity infusion measures, putting Rs 3.74 trillion of liquidity in the banking system. The total liquidity infusion by the central bank due to coronavirus stress now amounts to an unprecedented Rs 6.5 trillion.

Read complete Article