TODAY’S TOP NEWS: 23 SEPTEMBER, 2020 (GPN):

NATIONAL NEWS:

1. *Parliament passes Essential Commodities Amendment Bill*: The Bill allows the central government to regulate the supply of certain food items only under extraordinary circumstances such as war and famine. It will replace the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 which was promulgated in June this year.

2. *Parliament passes Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020;* provides for up to seven years in jail for those attacking healthcare workers fighting the coronavirus

3. *In Madhya Pradesh, uniforms of school children will now be made by women self-help groups* . Self-help groups will also be given the responsibility of distribution of nutritious food at Anganwadi cente

4. *Urging PM Modi’s support to Tamil Nadu farmers, DMK Chief M.K Stalin wrote a letter to PM Modi asking him to not give the nod from the Centre for the construction of Mekedatu dam* by Karnataka as it was against the interest of the state and its farmers.

5. *The Congress on Tuesday said its boycott of Rajya Sabha will not end till the government brings another bill making it illegal for private players to buy food grains from farmers below the MSP,* all state agencies comply by the MSP and the procurement price is fixed as per the Swaminathan panel’s recommendations.

6. *Taj Mahal in Agra opens for tourists, but monuments in Lucknow still under COVID-19 lockdown.* The Taj Mahal and Agra Fort were closed to tourists from March 17 amid the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

7. *Ayodhya trust seeks nod for foreign donations*: The Shri Ramjanmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust has applied for permission from the central government to accept foreign donations for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya,

8. *The death toll in the Bhiwandi building collapse in Maharashtra rose to 25 on Tuesday,* with the recovery of a dozen more bodies overnight. The dead include 11 children, aged between two to 15 years. The 43-year-old Jilani building collapsed at 3.40 am on Monday. The building in the powerloom town — which is around 10 km from Thane – had 40 flats and around 150 persons lived there.

9. *Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Harivansh goes on 1-day fast over Oppn’s ‘humiliation’*: He invoked his humble origins in Bihar and socialist inspirations like JP and Karpoori Thakur on Tuesday, as he went on a fast citing opposition members’ ‘humiliating’ conduct towards him, which the ruling National Democratic Alliance has made into a political issue in the poll-bound state.

10. *The monsoon session of Parliament is likely to conclude on Wednesday,* eight days before it is scheduled to end, amid concerns of spread of coronavirus among lawmakers,

11. *PM visited 58 countries in 2015 which cost Rs 517.82 crore* . During this visit, major MoUs were signed,” the Minstry of Exterbal Affairs said. The ministry further stated that that US President Donald Trump’s team was not tested for COVID-19 when it arrived in the country in February this year.

12. The external affairs ministry also clarified that the reason why the team was not tested for the novel coronavirus was because the World Health Organisation (WHO) had not declared the disease a pandemic in February.

13. *A Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist was killed in an encounter between security forces in the Nowhard Chrar-i-Sharief area* of Central Kashmir’s Budgam district. Army’s 53-Rashtriya Rifles, and CRPF launched a cordon-and-search-operation.

14. *The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Tuesday conducted a successful flight test of ABHYAS – High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) from the Interim Test Range, Balasore in Odisha.* During the trials, two demonstrator vehicles were successfully test flown.

15. *The Bombay high court on Tuesday permitted actor Kangana Ranaut to add Shiv Sena’s chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut as a party in her plea against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation* over the demolition of a part of her bungalow in Mumbai.

16. *COVID-19 IN INDIA*
TOTAL CASES 5562663
TOTAL ACTIVE 975861
RECOVERED 4497867
TOTAL DEATHS 88935

*✈INTERNATIONAL NEWS*

1. *Indo-China military commanders agree to avoid misunderstandings* , jointly safeguard peace
Amid the LAC faceoff, India and China on Tuesday released a joint statement on the outcome of the 6th military commander-level meeting held on September 21 and decided to stop sending more troops to the frontline in eastern Ladakh.

2. *Ladakh villagers collect food, supply it to Indian Army facing Chinese troops at LAC* : Residents of Chushul village in Ladakh are taking an arduous journey to a Himalayan mountain peak known as Black Top to provide supplies to the Indian Army engaged in a standoff with Chinese troops in a bid to safeguard their village from coming under Chinese control.

3. India launches direct cargo ferry service to Maldives from Tuticorin port

4.‘ *The Indian and the Australian navies will undertake Passage Exercise or PASSEX exercises on September 23-24 in the Indian Ocean* . From the Indian side, Indian Naval Ships Sahyadri and Karmuk will be present and Australia will be represented by HMAS Hobart.

5. Australia is the third country, since June, with which India will conduct the exercises. The first was with US Navy’s USS Nimitz and the second was the Russian Navy.

6. *The Disciple’, Marathi movie directed by Chaitanya Tamhane, wins Amplify Voices Award* at Toronto International Film Festival

*WORLD NEWS*

1. *Bangladesh is preparing to tackle a possible second wave of Corona infections* even as COVID 19 deaths in the country crossed 5000 as on Tuesday.

2. *United States on Monday imposed a range of sanctions and restrictions on Iranian and Iranian-linked officials* and entities after an effort over the weekend to reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran was largely rejected.

3. *Russian authorities mounted a special operation to arrest a former traffic police officer who claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus* and has run a cult based in the depths of Siberia for the past three decades. Torop, who lost his job as a traffic officer in 1989, claimed he experienced an “awakening” as the Soviet regime began to collapse. In 1991 he founded a movement now known as the Church of the Last Testament.

4. *Chinese virologist Dr Li-Meng Yan on Tuesday (September 22) claimed that coronavirus was developed in a government laboratory in Wuhan* and alleged that the World Health Organization (WHO) is very much part of the cover-up.

5. *Iran`s president Hassan Rouhani says US can impose neither negotiations nor war on Iran:.* the UN General Assembly on Tuesday that the United States could impose “neither negotiations nor war” on the Islamic Republic amid heightened tension between the longtime foes over Tehran`s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.

6. *WORLD COVID CASES*
CONF. 31,493,415
RECOVERED 22,88,4638
DEATH 9,69,015

* SPORTS:*

1. *Indian Premier League 2020:* Rajasthan Royals complete comprehensive 16-run victory over Chennai Super Kings in a match which saw record-equaling 33 sixes.

2. *Chennai Super Kings lost their second league game to Rajasthan Royals by 16 runs* in a high-scoring encounter in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 on Tuesday (September 22). Chasing a target of 217, the MS Dhoni-led side could only muster 200 in the stipulated 20 overs. CSK required 38 from the final over.

3. MS Dhoni hits the ball out of Sharjah Stadium, passerby picks up the ball and walks away .

4. *IPL Match 5 of the Dream 11*
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) VS Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

*USD 73.55 GBP 93.66*
_In Bengaluru_(Krntk)
*Gold ₹52,320@10 gm 24 (Krt)*
*Silver ₹60,600@ Kg*
⛽ *Petrol ₹ 83.69*
⛽ *Diesel ₹ 75.50*

* FACTS ABOUT INDIA*

Kathakali’ is a folk dance prevalent in Kerala

* THOUGHT OF THE DAY*

Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.”

JOKES OF THE DAY:

1)Pappu ko sapne me ek ladki ne chappal mari,

2 din tak Pappu apne bank nahi gaya,

Qn ki bank me likha tha..
“hum aapke sapne ko hakikat me badalte hain” We Turn Your Dreams Into Reality..

2)A man writing at the post office desk was approached by an older fellow with a postcard in his hand.

The old man said, “Sir, I’m sorry to bother you, but could you address this postcard for me? My arthritis is acting up today and I can’t even hold a pen.”

“Certainly sir,” said the younger man, “I’d be glad to.”

He wrote out the address and also agreed to write a short message and sign the card for the man.

Finally, the younger man asked, “Now, is there anything else I can do for you?”

The old fellow thought about it for a moment and said, “Yes, at the end could you just add, ‘P.S.: Please excuse the sloppy handwriting’?”

3) A man is walking around the streets of the city one day when he spies an old friend of his from college.

“George!” he yells. “I haven’t seen you in ages! How have you been?”

“Well,” George replies. “I am the Clarinet player for the International Orchestra.”

“Spectacular! ” the man replies.

“It is not what you might think, my friend. We play for the Queen of England, she loves the music. She says ‘Fill the instruments with gold!’ and they fill the Tuba with gold and they fill the Saxophone with gold, and me with the darn Clarinet.”

“We play for the queen of France. She loves the music; she says ‘Fill the instruments with silver!’ and they fill the Tuba with silver and they fill the Saxophone with silver, and me with the bloody Clarinet.

“Then we play for the czar of Russia. He hates the music; he say ‘Shove the instruments up their backsides!’ and the tuba doesn’t fit and the Saxophone doesn’t fit. And me with the bloody Clarinet!”

4) Indians Unique Traits:

1. Every Indian bachelor wants to marry a fair girl.

2. We spend more time talking to guests at the door when they are leaving than while sitting in the living room.

3. Picking up/dropping a relative (airport/railway station) is an important family affair.

4. We thrive on street food and we don’t get sick.

5. Every Indian mother has 2 careers – Working/Housewife + Match Making.

6. Indian girls have 3 types of brothers. Real brother, Cousin brother, Rakhee brother.

7. The bride must cry at her Vidai. She has no business looking happy.

8. We go on cleaning sprees only when we have guests coming over.

9. However old we are, our parents need to know every detail of our schedule. Daily. No excuses. No exemption.

10. When Indian parents buy tickets, every child becomes under 12 Getting a half ticket is a huge victory!

11. If we live in another city and don’t call our Mom daily, she’ll freak out and call all our friends to make sure we are alive.

12. No other nationality can beat Indians in bargaining. “Chalo Bhaiya. Na Tera Na Mera. Itne Paise Theek Hain.”

13. No matter if we are Convent educated. When we are actually angry, we switch to highly effective, dirty, swear words in our mother tongue.

14. When the doorbell rings, a male or kid goes to open the door. But the female runs for her dupatta.

15. Why change the remote batteries when you can just slap the remote and make it work?

16. Meeting a person with the same surname is like finding a long lost twin.

Does any of these match your’s..

5) Prior to taking retirement and selling off his land, a farmer needed to get rid of all the animals he owned, so he decided to call on every house in his village. At houses where the man was the boss, he decided to give a horse and at houses where the woman was the boss, he decided to give a chicken.

He could barely find any house dominated by men as his chickens got depleted faster.

Approaching one cottage, he saw a couple gardening and called out, “Who’s the boss around here?”

“I am,” said the man.

Alas! the farmer said, “I have a black horse and a brown horse. Which one would you like?”

The man thought for a minute and said, “The black one.”

“No, no, get the brown one,” said his wife.

The farmer said, “Here’s your chicken.”

6) Two men walking their dogs met outside a bar. After chatting a while, one suggested they go inside for a drink.

The man with the Chihuahua said, “Good idea, but the sign says ‘No Dogs’.”

The man with the golden retriever smiled and said, “No problem. Follow me and do what I do.”

As he entered the bar, the bartender yelled, “Hey, buddy, no dogs allowed in here!”

The guy replied, “Oh, he’s my seeing-eye dog.”

So the bartender relented, but then he spotted the other guy.

“I’m sorry, sir, but no dogs are allowed in my bar.”

The second guy echoed the first, “But he’s my seeing-eye dog.”

The bartender looked skeptical, “Your seeing-eye dog is a Chihuahua?”

“What! They gave me a Chihuahua?!”

7)  A Cruise Ship stuck in the waters. The stewardess asked the passengers to slide down to the lifeboats, but the passengers refused.

The stewardess then asked the captain to help.

The captain being very knowledgeable and experienced, guided her:
Tell the Americans this is an ADVENTURE.
Tell the British this is an HONOUR.
Tell the French this is a ROMANTIC activity, and tell the Germans this is the LAW.
Tell the Japanese this is an ORDER, and everyone will be sorted out.

Stewardess: Can I convince the Pakistanis ???

Captain: Yes dear, just whisper, ‘This is a suicide mission’.

And what about the Singaporeans? stewardess persisted.

The captain, taking a deep breath, patiently explained: You need not tell the Singaporeans anything, my dear. Once they see a QUEUE , they will join it without questions.

Stewardess remembered the flight had some passengers from India.
And Captain, what about Indians, she asked.

The captain laughed and said: Easy. Just tell the Indians this activity is FREE.

8) Morris realized he needed to purchase a hearing aid, but he felt unwilling to spend much money.

“How much do they cost?” he asked the salesperson.

“That depends,” he said. “They run from $2.00 to $2,000.”

“Let’s see the $2.00 model,” said Morris the miser.

The salesperson put the device around Morris’ neck.

“You just stick this button in your ear and run this little string down to your pocket,” he instructed.

“How does it work?” asked Morris.

“For $2.00 it doesn’t work,We call it a dummy” the salesperson replied. “But when people see it on you, they’ll talk louder.”

*TELL ME WHY ❓❓*

*Why Mango becomes yellow when it is riped.* ⁉️

The change in skin colour from green to yellow is a process that typically occurs during ripening of mangoes. The other ripening processes are softening, conversion of starch to sugars, loss of acidity, and the development of flavours and aromas.

The deep yellow colour of mango fruits is due to the presence of beta carotene a common phytochemical within a group of 600 known carotenoids. Similarly the red colour development in apples and purple colour development in grapes are due to the formation of anthocyanin pigments in their skin.

*LEARN SANSKRIT*

*मस्तिष्कम्* : Brain

*How it works* ⁉

*How a lighter works*

A spark is created by striking metal against a flint, or by pressing a button that compresses a piezoelectric crystal (piezo ignition), generating an electric arc. In naphtha lighters, the liquid is sufficiently volatile, and flammable vapour is present as soon as the top of the lighter is opened.

Lighter fluid or lighter fuel may refer to: Butane, a highly flammable, colorless, easily liquefied gas used in gas-type lighters and butane torches. Naphtha, a volatile flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture used in wick-type lighters and burners.

‍♂️ *GK TODAY*

*The world’s longest and deepest rail tunnel* has officially opened in Switzerland, after almost two decades of construction work. The 57km (35-mile) twin-bore Gotthard base tunnel will provide a high-speed rail link under the Swiss Alps between northern and southern Europe.

*VEDIK GYAN*

*Legend associated with Markandeya* :-Mrikandu was a great rishi married to Marudvati. The couple were leading a happy married life. The only thing that was missing was a child. The sage was a devotee of Lord Shiva. One day pleased with his devotion and love. Lord Shiva appeared before Mrikandu. Shiva asked Mrikandu “You want 100 sons who will live long but will be foolish or do you want a very wise son who shall live till the age of 16 years”. Listening to Lord Shiva, Mrikandu chose the latter wish. Soon Mrikandu and his wife were blessed with a son. The son was named Markandeya. He was handsome and intelligent. Mrikandu ensured that his son learned all the Vedas and Shastras.

Markandeya instead of being afraid clasped the Shiva lingam. Yama got annoyed and threw his noose on Markandeya pulling the Shiva lingam also along with him. As soon as Yama pulled them, the Shiva lingam burst open and Lord Shiva appeared. He kicked Yama on his chest ordering him to go away. Lord Shiva ordered Yama to leave Markandeya, as he was his beloved devotee. Yama had to follow the orders of the Lord.From that day onward, Markandeya prayed to Lord Shiva ardently. Markandeya came home to his parents. Seeing him alive, they rejoiced and thanked Lord Shiva. Markandeya became a great sage and lived a long life.Even a prayer is made on this folklore, which states, “What can death do to me?” This story thus spreads the message that true love and devotion never goes waste.

Markandeya instead of being afraid clasped the Shiva lingam. Yama got annoyed and threw his noose on Markandeya pulling the Shiva lingam also along with him. As soon as Yama pulled them, the Shiva lingam burst open and Lord Shiva appeared. He kicked Yama on his chest ordering him to go away. Lord Shiva ordered Yama to leave Markandeya, as he was his beloved devotee. Yama had to follow the orders of the Lord.From that day onward, Markandeya prayed to Lord Shiva ardently. Markandeya came home to his parents. Seeing him alive, they rejoiced and thanked Lord Shiva. Markandeya became a great sage and lived a long life.

*HEALTH CARE: HOME REMEDIES*
( *Note* : These home tips followed in villages/ancient traditions, it is up to you to use it or not)

*Health Benefits of Multani Mitti for Face and Hair*

A Multani mitti pack can be applied every other day, if the skin is oily. You need not use lemon juice; mix using rose water. Since you have oily skin, use a scrub twice or thrice a week, after cleansing in the morning using face wash or soap. … This astringent-toner will suit oily skin.

Combine 2 tablespoons of multanimitti with 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 pinch of cinnamon powder and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Mix well into a paste and apply it all over your face and neck. Leave it for 40 minutes, then wash it off with warm water. To get rid of dark spots.

*PLZ FOLLOW GOVT. NORMS, MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCE, KEEP YOURSELF & YOUR FAMILY SAFE* ENDS