Daily Briefing / June 15, 2020

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput dies at 34

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his apartment in Mumbai. He was 34. Police said that Sushant was battling depression and was under medication. PM Narendra Modi described him as a bright young actor gone too soon. “He excelled on TV and in films. His rise in the world of entertainment inspired many and he leaves behind several memorable performances. Shocked by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family and fans,” the PM said on Twitter. An engineering student, Sushant  left his course at the Delhi Technological University in the early 2000s to enroll in choreographer Shiamak Davar’s dance classes and later joined acting guru Barry John’s classes. He also performed as a background dancer in a song in the 2006 film ‘Dhoom 2’. But it was the small screen that gave him his breakout role as the mild-mannered Manav in the TV series ‘Pavitra Rishta’ in 2009. He left the show in 2011 and two years later made his film debut with ‘Kai Po Che’. He also starred in films such as ‘Shuddh Desi Romance’, ‘Raabta’, ‘Kedarnath’ and ‘Sonchiriya’. But his most prominent role came as cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s in the 2007 biopic, ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’.

India’s WPI contracts by 3.21% in May

Prices in the wholesale market fell to a 4.5-year low level in May, recording a deflation of 3.21 per cent, due to sharp decline in fuel and power items even as food articles turned expensive. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) has hit its lowest level since November 2015, when deflation was 3.7 per cent. “The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at (-3.21 per cent) (provisional) for the month of May, 2020 as compared to 2.79 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year,” the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement. However, inflation in food articles during May stood at 1.13 per cent, as against 2.55 per cent in April. WPI inflation in pulses continued to remain in double digits at 11.91 per cent, against 12.31 per cent in April. In potato, inflation was 52.25 per cent, even as vegetables witnessed a deflation of 12.48 per cent in May. 

ICMR recommends use of rapid antigen kits for testing 

In view of its high specificity but relatively low sensitivity, the ICMR has recommended the use of rapid antigen test kits for diagnosis of COVID-19 in containment zones and healthcare settings in combination with the RT-PCR test. The kits will allow faster diagnosis without laboratory examination Standard Q COVID-19 Ag detection kit (rapid antigen test kits) is a rapid chromatographic immunoassay for qualitative detection of specific antigens to SARS-CoV-2. Suspected individuals who test negative for COVID-19 by rapid antigen test should be tested sequentially by RT-PCR to rule out infection, whereas a positive test should be considered as a true positive and does not need reconfirmation by RT-PCR test, the ICMR said. The Standard Q COVID-19 Ag detection can be interpreted as positive or negative after 15 minutes of putting the sample into the well by appearance of test and control lines, which can be read with a naked eye, requiring no specialized equipment, it said. 

UK PM sets up new commission to fight racism 

British PM Boris Johnson announced a new cross-government commission to tackle racism and all other forms of inequality in the UK, in response to the worldwide anti-racism ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests. Johnson said that it is not possible to ignore the many thousands who joined the protests in Britain over the past few weeks, in the wake of the killing of 46-year-old African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis in police custody. “No one who cares about this country can ignore the many thousands of people who have joined the Black Lives Matter movement to protest peacefully, as most of them have, in the last few days,” the UK PM wrote in a newspaper. “It is no use just saying that we have made huge progress in tackling racism. There is much more that we need to do; and we will. It is time for a cross-governmental commission to look at all aspects of inequality  in employment, in health outcomes, in academic and all other walks of life,” he said.

Israel nod for new Golan settlement named after Trump

An Israeli cabinet minister said the government approved plans to build a new settlement in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights named after President Donald Trump. Settlements Minister Tzipi Hotovely wrote on Facebook that her ministry will start preparations for ‘Ramat Trump’,  Hebrew for ‘Trump Heights’ to house 300 families. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in 1981. Most of the international community considers the move, and Israeli settlements in the territory, illegal under international law. But Trump signed an executive order recognising the strategic mountainous plateau as Israeli territory in March 2019. The move came during a visit to Washington by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu just weeks before Israeli elections. The Israeli government’s approval of the plan, which according to Israeli media will involve earmarking 8 million shekels ($2.3 million) for developing the town, advances a project announced by Netanyahu last year.

Newsmaker

Vasant Raiji, one of India’s oldest First Class cricketers, passed away in Mumbai at the age of 100. Raiji, also a cricket historian and chartered accountant, made his debut for a Cricket Club of India team that played Central Provinces and Berar in Nagpur in 1939. Raiji, a right-handed batsman, played nine first-class matches in the 1940s.

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