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Tracking turnover in the Trump administration

The rate of turnover among senior level advisers to President Trump has generated a great deal of attention. Below, we offer four resources to help measure and contextualize this turnover. The first set of resources tracks turnover among senior-ranking advisers in the executive office of the president (which does not include Cabinet secretaries), whereas the second…

       




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With Acosta’s resignation, how is high turnover affecting the administration?

Following Labor Secretary Alex Acosta's resignation, Kathryn Dunn Tenpas updates her count of the Trump administration's unprecedented levels of senior staff turnover and examines the effect leadership turmoil has on the ability of departments and agencies to govern. http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/10499969 Related material:  Tracking turnover in the Trump administration Why is Trump’s staff turnover higher than the…

       




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After the NPC: Xi Jinping’s Roadmap for China


A year after he and his colleagues took control of China’s government, Xi Jinping has emerged as an extraordinarily powerful leader, with a clear and ambitious agenda for remaking the Chinese governance system. Economic, social and foreign policy are now on a far more clear and decisive course than they were during the drifting and unfocused last years under president Hu Jintao and premier Wen Jiabao.

Xi arguably wields more personal authority than any Chinese leader since Mao: he has subdued the fragmented fiefdoms that arose under Hu; has arrogated all key decisions to himself, unlike Jiang Zemin who delegated much economic policy power to his premier Zhu Rongji; and does not have to deal with the cabal of conservative patriarchs that often hemmed in Deng Xiaoping.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of Xi’s first year was the speed with which he consolidated his power and signaled his policy intentions. He achieved this through two big house-cleaning drives. First was an anti-corruption campaign that neutralized a powerful political enemy (former security boss Zhou Yongkang), brought to heel a powerful vested interest (state oil giant China National Petroleum Corporation, much of whose senior management was arrested) and signaled the costs of opposing his reform agenda by sweeping up 20,000 officials at all levels of government. The other was the so-called “mass line” campaign that involved party, government and military officials engaging in “self-criticism” sessions and getting marching orders from party central.

So there is no question that Xi has power. What does he intend to do with it? The Decision document that emerged last November from the Communist Party plenum made clear that his aim is comprehensive governance reform. This does not mean eroding the party’s monopoly on power; quite the reverse. The intention is to strengthen the party’s grip by improving the administrative system, clarifying the roles of the market and the state (resulting in a more market-driven economy but also in a more powerful and effective state), and permitting a wider role for citizen-led non-governmental organizations—so long as those NGOs effectively act as social-service contractors for the state and do not engage in advocacy or political mobilization.

And at the recent National People’s Congress (NPC) we got additional detail on Xi’s economic program, which is the most comprehensive structural reform agenda since the late 1990s. (Xi’s propagandists make the bolder claim that it is the most sweeping reform program since Deng’s original “reform and opening” drive of the late 1970s.) Much commentary has focused on the Plenum Decision’s emphasis on giving the market a “decisive role,” and this shift is indeed important. But Xi is not some Chinese version of Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher: for him and his colleagues, the market is a tool, not an end in itself. The respective roles of state and market need to be clarified, but the state role will remain very large. Xi’s economic agenda is not just about deregulation and improving the environment for private enterprise; it is also about fixing the state-enterprise and fiscal systems so that they become more effective instruments for achieving state aims.

If Xi succeeds, the result will be a China with a more efficient economy, a better run and somewhat more transparent government—and a Communist Party with enhanced legitimacy and tighter control of all the crucial levers of power. But there are also two less rosy potential outcomes. One is that his reforms fail, and China is left with a debt ridden, slow-growing economy with an overbearing state sector and an increasingly dissatisfied population. Another is that he succeeds—but either becomes a permanent dictator himself, or establishes the belief that China only be ruled by a strongman, thereby retarding the development of a more open and participatory political system.

It’s the economy, and we’re not stupid

On the immediate economic policy questions, a gulf has opened between foreign and many non-official domestic analysts on the one hand, and the apparent stance of the government on the other. According to the prevalent outside view, China’s biggest problem is the huge increase in leverage since the 2008 global financial crisis: total non-financial credit rose from 138 percent of GDP in 2008 to 205 percent last year. Unless this spiraling leverage is brought under control, the argument goes, China risks some sort of financial crisis. To stabilize the credit/GDP ratio, annual credit growth must fall from its current rate of around 17 percent to the trend rate of nominal GDP growth, which now appears to be around 10 percent. But such a dramatic fall in credit growth must almost certainly cause a drop in real GDP growth, at least in the short run. The conclusion is therefore that if Beijing is serious about controlling leverage, it must accept significantly lower growth for at least a couple of years. If on the other hand the leaders insist on keeping economic growth at its current pace, this means they cannot be serious about controlling leverage and imposing structural reform, and a train wreck is more likely.

As far as we can tell from the agenda laid out at the Plenum and the NPC, Xi and his colleagues do not agree with this analysis. Their priorities are to restructure the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the fiscal system, and maintain real GDP growth at approximately its current rate of 7.5 percent. The leverage problem, by implication, can be sorted out over several years.

The argument in favor of this approach is that SOE and fiscal reform strike at the root causes of the debt build-up. Local governments have borrowed because their expenditure responsibilities exceed their assigned revenues, they have an implicit mandate to build huge amounts of urban infrastructure, and they face no accountability for the return on their investments. SOEs have borrowed because their return on capital has deteriorated sharply. Improving SOEs’ return on capital and cleaning up local government finance, should greatly reduce the demand for unproductive debt, and hence bring credit and economic growth back into alignment—eventually. In the meantime credit will flow at whatever rate permits real GDP to keep humming at 7 percent or more, meaning that leverage will continue to rise.

In other words, the government thinks the debt build-up is merely a symptom, and it intends to attack the underlying disease while letting the symptoms take care of themselves. One can feel comfortable with approach this on two conditions: first, that the government is right that the debt buildup does not itself pose an immediate threat to economic health; and second that the government is serious about tackling the structural problems.

Debt – what, me worry?

The safety of the current debt trajectory is a judgment call. On the plus side, the last several months have seen a steep decline in year-on-year credit growth, with very little apparent impact on economic activity. Growth in broad credit (including activity in the “shadow” financing sector) peaked at 23.5 percent in April 2013 and declined continuously to 17 percent in February, while GDP growth remained basically steady in both real and nominal terms. If this pattern holds, it suggests that leverage will continue to increase, but at a slower rate than in the past two years, so the runaway-train risk is reduced.

The government’s own case for the safety of the present debt situation implicitly rests on a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) in late December, which found the debt position of local governments to be poor but manageable. Total liabilities of local governments as of 30 June 2013 were found to be Rmb18 trn (US$3 trn), or approximately 31 percent of GDP; of these liabilities 40 percent were guarantees and contingencies (and thereby not an imminent risk to local finances). NAO’s estimate of consolidated public debt, including the central government, came in at about 53 percent of GDP, well below the levels of public borrowing in most OECD countries.

Another basis for the sanguine view on debt was an extensive national balance-sheet analysis published in December by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the party’s main think-tank. CASS’s calculation methods differ from NAO’s, so the two sets of figures are not directly comparable. CASS found that total government debt was 73 percent of GDP in 2011, and that broad public-sector liabilities (including the debt of SOEs and policy banks) were 151 percent of GDP. This sounds scary until you inspect the asset side of the balance sheet, which comes in at a more cheerful 350 percent. This figure is almost certainly too rosy: nearly three-quarters of it represents the land holdings of local governments and SOE assets, whose reported values are probably well above their true market values. But even discounting these values substantially, it is still possible to conclude that the public sector’s assets comfortably cover its liabilities.

Whether one agrees with these estimates or not, it is clear that policy makers accept the central conclusion that the nation’s debt problem is serious but manageable, and that direct efforts to deleverage immediately are not warranted. The important question then becomes whether Beijing’s efforts to tackle the underlying structural problems are bearing fruit.

Rolling back the SOE tide

So what are those efforts? The agenda on SOE reform is now clear. SOEs will be compelled to focus on improving their return on capital, rather than expanding their assets; private capital will be permitted to enter previously restricted sectors; direct private investment in SOEs and in state-led investment projects will be encouraged; and most likely (although government officials have been coy on this point), a swathe of underperforming locally-controlled SOEs in non-strategic sectors will be privatized or forced into bankruptcy.

In essence, this revives the zhuada fangxiao (grasp the big, release the small) SOE reform strategy of the late 1990s. The idea was that the state would retain control, and try to improve the operational efficiency, of a relatively small number of very large enterprises in strategic sectors such as railways, aviation, telecoms, power and petrochemicals, while privatizing most activity in competitive consumer goods and services sectors. This strategy was successful: in the decade ending in 2008, the number of SOEs fell from 260,000 to 110,000, the private sector’s share of national fixed investment rose from less than a quarter to 58 percent, the profitability and return on assets of state firms rose dramatically and came close to matching the returns in private firms, and the proportion of SOE assets in “strategic” sectors rose to an all-time high of 62 percent.

Thanks to the Hu/Wen leadership’s lack of enthusiasm for state sector reform, and their mandate that state firms support the massive 2009 economic stimulus, some of these gains have been reversed. Crucially, the return on assets in SOEs plummeted to less than half the private-sector average, and state firms began to re-colonize sectors from which they had previously retreated: by 2011, half of SOE assets were in these non-strategic sectors.

Now the reformers are back in charge and aim to complete the zhuada fangxiao objective. This does not mean eliminating the state sector, or privatizing the core centrally-owned firms on the economy’s commanding heights. But it does mean a determined push to shed non-core SOEs and assets, abandon consumer-facing sectors in favor of private firms, and improve the operational efficiency of the remaining SOES. The headline efforts in this direction so far have been an announcement by the Guangdong provincial government that it aims to move 80 percent of provincial SOEs to a mixed-ownership structure, with no predetermined minimum state shareholding; and an announcement by petrochemicals giant Sinopec that it will seek private investment for an up to 30 percent share of its downstream gasoline and diesel distribution operations.

Funding the unfunded mandates

SOE reform was a surprisingly strong component of the Third Plenum decision; fiscal reform took center stage in the recent NPC session. China’s central fiscal problem is unfunded mandates for local governments. Localities control less than half of revenues but are responsible for 85 percent of government expenditure. In theory, the gap is supposed to be bridged by transfers from the central government, but in practice the transfers often do not match up well with localities’ actual needs. Not surprisingly, they respond to this structural deficit by resorting to a variety of off-budget funding schemes, a lot of which involve grabbing land and selling it to developers at a big markup.

A mismatch between local expenditure and revenue was a deliberate feature of the landmark 1994 tax reform (in whose design finance minister Lou Jiwei was involved as a junior official). But until the early 2000s, localities’ expenditure share was roughly stable at around two-thirds of the total; unfunded mandates and chronic deficits have grown dramatically in the past decade.

The centerpiece of Lou’s fiscal reform strategy is a recentralization of expenditure responsibility and a more flexible transfer system, reducing incentives for local-government rapacity. But in his budget speech he outlined a host of other detailed reforms, whose combined effect would be curb over-investment in real estate and heavy industry, permit fiscal policy to become more countercyclical and increase budget accountability. The main items include:

  • Revenue estimates “are now seen as projections instead of tasks to accomplish.” This aims to discourage the current practice of trying to increase tax collections during economic downturns.
  • Adoption of a three-year budget cycle and accrual accounting.
  • Increase local government borrowing authority (from a small base), via provincial and municipal bonds.
  • Make budgets at both the central and local level more open and transparent.
  • Clean up the maze of local government tax breaks.
  • Impose the long-delayed tax on property values, establish an environmental protection tax and hike the resource tax on coal.

Good diagnosis, but will the cure cause more harm?

All in all the reform agenda is a strong one: its diagnosis of China’s economic ills is compelling, and the proposed cures seems sensible. There are three concerns. First, there is the worry that the government has underestimated the financial risks of the burgeoning debt burden and a rapidly-changing financial system. The only clear promise of stronger financial regulation so far is Lou’s statement that a deposit insurance system will be launched later this year. This would reduce moral hazard by clarifying for investors which financial assets are guaranteed and which are risky. But more action to cut debt and restrain the “shadow banking” sector may be needed.

Second, it is possible that reforms may be thwarted by powerful bureaucratic and business interests: some reforms (like the property tax) have been proposed in the past but gone nowhere. On the whole, Xi’s success at whipping officialdom into line by the anti-corruption and mass line campaigns suggests he will be more effective than his predecessor, but there is no guarantee. Finally, there is the worry that Xi’s program succeeds, and validates highly centralized and authoritarian style of governance that could harm China’s long-term prospects for development into a more open and liberal society.

Image Source: © Carlos Barria / Reuters
      
 
 




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Health care priorities for a COVID-19 stimulus bill: Recommendations to the administration, congress, and other federal, state, and local leaders from public health, medical, policy, and legal experts

       




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Infrastructure issues and options for the Trump administration

Complacency is not an option for the next president, should he or she hope to avoid a presidency marred by collapsed bridges, increasing traffic congestion, and overworked power grids. Rather, it is essential that the presidential candidates develop strategies for utilizing the federal government to: address our basic infrastructure needs and shore up existing programs,…

       




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Federal education policy under the Trump administration

The federal government has been involved in public schools for decades. Yet, the relationship between the federal government and the states has evolved and recalibrated regularly over that period. Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election is widely viewed as a signal of change for the federal government’s role in American society generally, and…

       




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Reviving China’s Growth: A Roadmap for Reform

After a peaceful power transition in the 18th Party Congress, the new leadership in China is again under the limelight. The world is watching how it tackles the many challenges facing the nation: rising inequality, worsening pollution, rampant corruption, restless society, to name just a few. Most policy analysts therefore, believe that the top priority…

      
 
 




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In administering the COVID-19 stimulus, the president’s role model should be Joe Biden

As America plunges into recession, Congress and President Donald Trump have approved a series of aid packages to assist businesses, the unemployed, and others impacted by COVID-19. The first three aid packages will likely be supplemented by at least a fourth package, as the nation’s leaders better understand the depth and reach of the economic…

       




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Beyond 2016: Security challenges and opportunities for the next administration


Event Information

March 1, 2016
9:00 AM - 4:15 PM EST

Falk Auditorium
Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20036

Register for the Event

The Center for 21st Century Security Intelligence seventh annual military and federal fellow research symposium



On March 1, the seventh annual military and federal fellow research symposium featured the independent research produced by members of the military services and federal agencies who are currently serving at think-tanks and universities across the nation. Organized by the fellows themselves, the symposium provides a platform for building greater awareness of the cutting-edge work that America’s military and governmental leaders are producing on key national security policy issues.

With presidential primary season well underway, it’s clear that whoever emerges in November 2016 as the next commander-in-chief will have their hands full with a number of foreign policy and national security choices. This year’s panels explored these developing issues and their prospects for resolution after the final votes have been counted. During their keynote conversation, the Honorable Michèle Flournoy discussed her assessment of the strategic threat environment with General John Allen, USMC (Ret.), who also provided opening remarks on strategic leadership and the importance of military and other federal fellowship experiences.

 

Video

Audio

      
 
 




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The state of tech policy, one year into the Trump administration

Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address offers the president an opportunity to list his achievements over the past year and outline his policy agenda for the year to come. In the realm of technology policy, the past year has seen an emptying out of key science advisory positions, the repeal of existing net…

       




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Trump admin removes White House Capital Bikeshare station

It's not a big deal but it could become a big symbol.




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Trump administration, EPA say radiation is good for you

Soon American workers can get more health-giving exposure to x-rays and radiation and help the economy boom!




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Oil pipeline regulation is broken, admits US top oil pipeline regulator

In a shocking exclusive report, Marcus Stern and Sebastian Jones at InsideClimate News write that the top official of the agency that regulates oil and gas pipelines recently admitted that he's essentially powerless as a regulator.




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Honey laundering exposed as industry giant admits to mislabeling Chinese honey

The largest honey packer in the US faces criminal charges over fraudulent trade in Chinese honey.




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Here's the best treadmill desk we've seen yet, designed long before all the other ones

Steven M. Johnson really should have had an agent.




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Standing desks are so yesterday; try a treadmill desk for a really energizing experience

After 52,696 steps, a review of a LifeSpan treadmill desk.




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10 endangered species the Trump administration may kill off entirely

A new report describes the 10 species most at risk from policies proposed by the current administration.




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Trump administration will try to exempt specialty bulbs from energy efficiency standards

Mini-spots, reflectors and candelabra bulbs were supposed to become more efficient next year, saving 80 billion kWh.




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Why is the Trump administration putting a tariff on Chinese LEDs?

Could it be that more efficient lighting means less coal being dug to power it?




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If you think the Green New Deal is tough to do, think about the Rural Electrification Administration

Starting in 1936 they wired the entire country, the houses, the tools and the farms, changing America. It is time to think big and do it again.




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Michael Pollan Admits He Was Wrong

Almost every time we post something on the meat debate we get a slew of emotional comments from readers that sit on either side. The vegan side was backed up by sustainable food icon Michael




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Green fuzz on buildings is an admission of defeat, says Edwin Heathcote

Really, this trend should be nipped in the bud.




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Obama Administration Just As Bad On Environment As Bush, Says New Report

"Tucked in a corner of the Old Executive Office Building, an obscure group of some three dozen economists exerts extraordinary power over federal rules intended to protect public health, worker and consumer safety, and the environment."





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2016 MORE/SHAPE Women's Half-Marathon Honors 13 Female Leaders, Including Sara Bareilles, Danielle Brooks And Padma Lakshmi, For The First-Annual Women Run The Worldâ„¢ Relay & Mentorship Program - 2016 MORE/SHAPE Half-Marathon BTS

Behind the scenes with Elizabeth Goodman Artis, Natalie Morales, Danielle Brooks, Padma Lakshmi and Sara Bareilles at the 2016 MORE/SHAPE Women’s Half-Marathon in Central Park on April 17.




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2016 MORE/SHAPE Women's Half-Marathon Honors 13 Female Leaders, Including Sara Bareilles, Danielle Brooks And Padma Lakshmi, For The First-Annual Women Run The Worldâ„¢ Relay & Mentorship Program - 2016 MORE/SHAPE Half-Marathon BTS

Behind the scenes with Elizabeth Goodman Artis, Natalie Morales, Danielle Brooks, Padma Lakshmi and Sara Bareilles at the 2016 MORE/SHAPE Women’s Half-Marathon in Central Park on April 17.





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2016 MORE/SHAPE Women's Half-Marathon Honors 13 Female Leaders, Including Sara Bareilles, Danielle Brooks And Padma Lakshmi, For The First-Annual Women Run The Worldâ„¢ Relay & Mentorship Program - 2016 MORE/SHAPE Half-Marathon BTS

Behind the scenes with Elizabeth Goodman Artis, Natalie Morales, Danielle Brooks, Padma Lakshmi and Sara Bareilles at the 2016 MORE/SHAPE Women’s Half-Marathon in Central Park on April 17.




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Chief Justice John Roberts pauses order requiring Trump administration to turn over Mueller docs to Congress

The order would have required the Trump administration to turn over to Congress secretive materials produced in connection with Robert Mueller's Russian probe.




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Melinda Gates says US coronavirus response is 'chaos,' gives Trump administration a D-minus grade

Melinda Gates, co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, gave President Donald Trump's administration a "D-minus" on its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, criticizing lack of leadership on both national and international levels.




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Sweden's chief scientist admits lessons have been learned over no-lockdown policy

Sweden's decision to avoid a strict lockdown like its European neighbors drew global attention and was not without controversy, but its chief epidemiologist says there are few things he would have done differently.




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GST Update: ITC admissibility on demo cars and various ancillary issues

GST law was introduced with the objective of seamless flow of input tax credit but on actual implementation of CGST Act, 2017, admissibility of input tax credit has been restricted subject to provisions contained in section 17(5) of the CGST Act, 2017. The input tax credit on motor vehicles was disp





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Dr. Karen Ruskin, former star poly basher, admits she was wrong.




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React v16.9.0 and the Roadmap Update

Today we are releasing React 16.9. It contains several new features, bugfixes, and new deprecation warnings to help prepare for a future major release.

New Deprecations

Renaming Unsafe Lifecycle Methods

Over a year ago, we announced that unsafe lifecycle methods are getting renamed:

  • componentWillMountUNSAFE_componentWillMount
  • componentWillReceivePropsUNSAFE_componentWillReceiveProps
  • componentWillUpdateUNSAFE_componentWillUpdate

React 16.9 does not contain breaking changes, and the old names continue to work in this release. But you will now see a warning when using any of the old names:

As the warning suggests, there are usually better approaches for each of the unsafe methods. However, maybe you don’t have the time to migrate or test these components. In that case, we recommend running a “codemod” script that renames them automatically:

cd your_project
npx react-codemod rename-unsafe-lifecycles

(Note that it says npx, not npm. npx is a utility that comes with Node 6+ by default.)

Running this codemod will replace the old names like componentWillMount with the new names like UNSAFE_componentWillMount:

The new names like UNSAFE_componentWillMount will keep working in both React 16.9 and in React 17.x. However, the new UNSAFE_ prefix will help components with problematic patterns stand out during the code review and debugging sessions. (If you’d like, you can further discourage their use inside your app with the opt-in Strict Mode.)

Note

Learn more about our versioning policy and commitment to stability.

Deprecating javascript: URLs

URLs starting with javascript: are a dangerous attack surface because it’s easy to accidentally include unsanitized output in a tag like <a href> and create a security hole:

const userProfile = {
  website: "javascript: alert('you got hacked')",
};
// This will now warn:
<a href={userProfile.website}>Profile</a>

In React 16.9, this pattern continues to work, but it will log a warning. If you use javascript: URLs for logic, try to use React event handlers instead. (As a last resort, you can circumvent the protection with dangerouslySetInnerHTML, but it is highly discouraged and often leads to security holes.)

In a future major release, React will throw an error if it encounters a javascript: URL.

Deprecating “Factory” Components

Before compiling JavaScript classes with Babel became popular, React had support for a “factory” component that returns an object with a render method:

function FactoryComponent() {
  return { render() { return <div />; } }
}

This pattern is confusing because it looks too much like a function component — but it isn’t one. (A function component would just return the <div /> in the above example.)

This pattern was almost never used in the wild, and supporting it causes React to be slightly larger and slower than necessary. So we are deprecating this pattern in 16.9 and logging a warning if it’s encountered. If you rely on it, adding FactoryComponent.prototype = React.Component.prototype can serve as a workaround. Alternatively, you can convert it to either a class or a function component.

We don’t expect most codebases to be affected by this.

New Features

Async act() for Testing

React 16.8 introduced a new testing utility called act() to help you write tests that better match the browser behavior. For example, multiple state updates inside a single act() get batched. This matches how React already works when handling real browser events, and helps prepare your components for the future in which React will batch updates more often.

However, in 16.8 act() only supported synchronous functions. Sometimes, you might have seen a warning like this in a test but could not easily fix it:

An update to SomeComponent inside a test was not wrapped in act(...).

In React 16.9, act() also accepts asynchronous functions, and you can await its call:

await act(async () => {
  // ...
});

This solves the remaining cases where you couldn’t use act() before, such as when the state update was inside an asynchronous function. As a result, you should be able to fix all the remaining act() warnings in your tests now.

We’ve heard there wasn’t enough information about how to write tests with act(). The new Testing Recipes guide describes common scenarios, and how act() can help you write good tests. These examples use vanilla DOM APIs, but you can also use React Testing Library to reduce the boilerplate code. Many of its methods already use act() internally.

Please let us know on the issue tracker if you bump into any other scenarios where act() doesn’t work well for you, and we’ll try to help.

Performance Measurements with <React.Profiler>

In React 16.5, we introduced a new React Profiler for DevTools that helps find performance bottlenecks in your application. In React 16.9, we are also adding a programmatic way to gather measurements called <React.Profiler>. We expect that most smaller apps won’t use it, but it can be handy to track performance regressions over time in larger apps.

The <Profiler> measures how often a React application renders and what the “cost” of rendering is. Its purpose is to help identify parts of an application that are slow and may benefit from optimizations such as memoization.

A <Profiler> can be added anywhere in a React tree to measure the cost of rendering that part of the tree. It requires two props: an id (string) and an onRender callback (function) which React calls any time a component within the tree “commits” an update.

render(
  <Profiler id="application" onRender={onRenderCallback}>    <App>
      <Navigation {...props} />
      <Main {...props} />
    </App>
  </Profiler>);

To learn more about the Profiler and the parameters passed to the onRender callback, check out the Profiler docs.

Note:

Profiling adds some additional overhead, so it is disabled in the production build.

To opt into production profiling, React provides a special production build with profiling enabled. Read more about how to use this build at fb.me/react-profiling.

Notable Bugfixes

This release contains a few other notable improvements:

  • A crash when calling findDOMNode() inside a <Suspense> tree has been fixed.
  • A memory leak caused by retaining deleted subtrees has been fixed too.
  • An infinite loop caused by setState in useEffect now logs an error. (This is similar to the error you see when you call setState in componentDidUpdate in a class.)

We’re thankful to all the contributors who helped surface and fix these and other issues. You can find the full changelog below.

An Update to the Roadmap

In November 2018, we have posted this roadmap for the 16.x releases:

  • A minor 16.x release with React Hooks (past estimate: Q1 2019)
  • A minor 16.x release with Concurrent Mode (past estimate: Q2 2019)
  • A minor 16.x release with Suspense for Data Fetching (past estimate: mid 2019)

These estimates were too optimistic, and we’ve needed to adjust them.

tldr: We shipped Hooks on time, but we’re regrouping Concurrent Mode and Suspense for Data Fetching into a single release that we intend to release later this year.

In February, we shipped a stable 16.8 release including React Hooks, with React Native support coming a month later. However, we underestimated the follow-up work for this release, including the lint rules, developer tools, examples, and more documentation. This shifted the timeline by a few months.

Now that React Hooks are rolled out, the work on Concurrent Mode and Suspense for Data Fetching is in full swing. The new Facebook website that’s currently in active development is built on top of these features. Testing them with real code helped discover and address many issues before they can affect the open source users. Some of these fixes involved an internal redesign of these features, which has also caused the timeline to slip.

With this new understanding, here’s what we plan to do next.

One Release Instead of Two

Concurrent Mode and Suspense power the new Facebook website that’s in active development, so we are confident that they’re close to a stable state technically. We also now better understand the concrete steps before they are ready for open source adoption.

Originally we thought we would split Concurrent Mode and Suspense for Data Fetching into two releases. We’ve found that this sequencing is confusing to explain because these features are more related than we thought at first. So we plan to release support for both Concurrent Mode and Suspense for Data Fetching in a single combined release instead.

We don’t want to overpromise the release date again. Given that we rely on both of them in production code, we expect to provide a 16.x release with opt-in support for them this year.

An Update on Data Fetching

While React is not opinionated about how you fetch data, the first release of Suspense for Data Fetching will likely focus on integrating with opinionated data fetching libraries. For example, at Facebook we are using upcoming Relay APIs that integrate with Suspense. We will document how other opinionated libraries like Apollo can support a similar integration.

In the first release, we don’t intend to focus on the ad-hoc “fire an HTTP request” solution we used in earlier demos (also known as “React Cache”). However, we expect that both we and the React community will be exploring that space in the months after the initial release.

An Update on Server Rendering

We have started the work on the new Suspense-capable server renderer, but we don’t expect it to be ready for the initial release of Concurrent Mode. This release will, however, provide a temporary solution that lets the existing server renderer emit HTML for Suspense fallbacks immediately, and then render their real content on the client. This is the solution we are currently using at Facebook ourselves until the streaming renderer is ready.

Why Is It Taking So Long?

We’ve shipped the individual pieces leading up to Concurrent Mode as they became stable, including new context API, lazy loading with Suspense, and Hooks. We are also eager to release the other missing parts, but trying them at scale is an important part of the process. The honest answer is that it just took more work than we expected when we started. As always, we appreciate your questions and feedback on Twitter and in our issue tracker.

Installation

React

React v16.9.0 is available on the npm registry.

To install React 16 with Yarn, run:

yarn add react@^16.9.0 react-dom@^16.9.0

To install React 16 with npm, run:

npm install --save react@^16.9.0 react-dom@^16.9.0

We also provide UMD builds of React via a CDN:

<script crossorigin src="https://unpkg.com/react@16/umd/react.production.min.js"></script>
<script crossorigin src="https://unpkg.com/react-dom@16/umd/react-dom.production.min.js"></script>

Refer to the documentation for detailed installation instructions.

Changelog

React

  • Add <React.Profiler> API for gathering performance measurements programmatically. (@bvaughn in #15172)
  • Remove unstable_ConcurrentMode in favor of unstable_createRoot. (@acdlite in #15532)

React DOM

React DOM Server

  • Fix incorrect output for camelCase custom CSS property names. (@bedakb in #16167)

React Test Utilities and Test Renderer




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BWF names PV Sindhu as an ambassador for its 'i am badminton' campaign

World Champion PV Sindhu was on Wednesday unveiled as one of the ambassadors for Badminton World Federation (BWF)'s 'i am badminton' awareness campaign. The campaign provides a platform for players to express their love and respect for badminton by advocating and committing to clean and honest play. Sindhu, an Olympic silver medallist, said playing clean and honest is very important in any sport. "This message starts with one voice. If we as ambassadors can highlight this, then I think this will spread to more players," said the 24-year-old Indian.

"You are playing the sport for yourself. You need to be happy about it. You have to play it very clean and that is very important to me." It has been five years since BWF's Integrity Unit was formed and this time the campaign has been at the forefront of the governing body's efforts to communicate its approach towards integrity. Besides Sindhu, other ambassadors include Canada's Michelle Li, Chinese duo of Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong, England's Jack Shephard, Germany's Valeska Knoblauch, Hong Kong's Chan Ho Yuen and Germany's Marc Zwiebler, who is Athletes' Commission Chair. "It's hoped such a concerted effort will not only raise awareness across the entire badminton landscape but encourage players to be active participants in shaping the integrity of the sport," the BWF said in a release.

Former elite players who have fronted the campaign since 2016 include BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer, BWF Para Badminton Athletes' Commission Chair Richard Perot, and superstars such as Saina Nehwal, Viktor Axelsen, Hendra Setiawan, Christinna Pedersen, Chen Long, Misaki Matsutomo and Akaya Takahashi. "Every player has the right to compete in clean and fair sport. Match fixing, match manipulation and doping are contrary to the spirit of sport. As an ambassador, we all play an important role in safeguarding the future of badminton," Høyer said. "Our youth and Para badminton players are perceived to be at greater risk of match manipulation and doping due to their lack of exposure on the international circuit. "The idea of the 'i am badminton' campaign is for us as role models to share our experiences with these target groups so they have a heightened level of awareness on the importance of anti-match manipulation and anti-doping."

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

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WhatsApp rolls out 'Restrict Group' feature for admins, say report

San Francisco: Facebook-owned WhatsApp is rolling out its "Restrict Group" for all iOS, Android and Windows Phone users -- a feature that gives the group administrator powers to restrict other members from sending text messages, photographs, videos, GIFs, documents or voice messages in case the admin thinks so.

According to WABetaInfo, a popular fan site that tests new WhatsApp features early, you need to update your WhatsApp version to the 2.18.132 Android update in order to remotely receive the activation of the feature.

The "Restrict Group" feature, first spotted in last December, adds "Privacy settings" in the group.

"All participants can normally edit the group description, icon and subject, but finally the administrator can restrict this feature today, preventing no-administrators to modify the group description," the website said.

This action can be managed in the Admin Settings, a new option located in Group Info that's visible to the administrator only.

In Admin Settings, the administrator can restrict who can change the group info.

Administrators can keep sharing media and chatting as normal as they restrict other members.

Once restricted, other members will simply have to read their messages and will not be able to respond.

They will have to use the "Message Admin" button to post a message or share media to the group. The message will need to be approved by the administrator before going through to the rest of the group.

In October, reports said administrators on WhatsApp groups will soon be able to choose if other participants can modify the subject of the group, its icon and its description.

With over 1.5 billion monthly active users, WhatsApp is available in more than 50 different languages around the world and in 10 Indian languages.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever





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WhatsApp facilitates group descriptions, admin controls

New Delhi: Instant messaging platform WhatsApp announced the rollout of a number of new features for group chats, in a bid to make the platform more interactive and engaging. Among the new features is group descriptions, wherein a short blurb will appear under the group info tab that allows users to set the purpose, guidelines, or topics for the group.

Furthermore, when a new member joins a group, the description will show up at the top of the chat.

In a move to give group administrators more authority, WhatsApp introduced a new control that will allow the former to restrict who can change the group's subject, icon, and description. Admins can also remove admin permissions of other group participants, while group creators can no longer be removed from the group they started.

Among other features, WhatsApp also introduced a 'group catch up' option, whereby a user, who has been away from a group chat, can quickly catch up on messages that mention or reply to them by tapping on a new @ button that appears at the bottom right corner of the chat.

Group participants can now search for anyone in a group by using the search option on the group info page. WhatsApp also introduced protection controls so users can't be repeatedly added to groups they've left. The new features are being rolled out for Android and iPhone users globally.





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COVID-19: All not right, improve Maharashtra's administration

A day after most Maharashtra ministers rued the flip-flop on COVID-19 policies, indecisiveness and lack of coordination between empowered bureaucrats, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray received suggestions, objections and full cooperation at an all-party meet on Thursday.

The common sentiment was that everything wasn't right and needed timely correction at medical, social, economic and agricultural fronts, among others.

Thackeray told the leaders that the lockdown has been effective so far. "If all cooperate, we should be able to control the pandemic," the CM said during the video-conference attended by ex-CM and Assembly opposition leader, Devendra Fadnavis, Council opposition leader Praveen Darekar, MNS president Raj Thackeray, Prakash Ambedkar (BVA), Jogendra Kavade (RPI), Rajendra Gavai (RPI), Vinay Kore (Jansurajya Party), Mahadev Jankar (Samaj Paksh), Ashok Dhawale (CPM), Imtiaz Jalil (AIMIM), Kapil Patil (JD), Jayant Patil (PWP), DCM Ajit Pawar, senior ministers Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat.

Senior minister Chhagan Bhujbal and other ministers had raised voices against the bureaucracy which enjoys unlimited powers under Disaster Management and Epidemic Diseases Acts. Bhujbal said that bureaucrats at the top and district-level were unwilling to accept sane advice from political leaders and ministers. The minister's strong views were endorsed by his cabinet colleagues and junior ministers during the online meeting on Wednesday. Similar concerns were expressed in the all-party meeting too.

'Healthcare gone for a toss'

Former chief minister Fadnavis demanded Thackeray's urgent attention towards the healthcare system. He said the situation in Mumbai is serious and needed special, focused efforts. He added that hospital management isn't good and cited the incident of bodies kept around patients in a Sion hospital ward. He demanded timely and quality treatment for non-COVID-19 patients and better food and facilities at quarantine centres.

"Patients should know of beds available and other information on a dashboard. More and more healthcare staff are getting infected," he said, adding that contact-tracing was stopped for no reason and asymptomatic people were not tested. "Hiding the number of patients and dead is serious. The political leadership should enforce much-needed coordination between various arms of the government," he said.

Fadnavis protested against the growing attacks on police, which he said is demoralising the force already under duress. "The police force is increasingly getting infected but isn't getting adequate treatment," he said.

Council opposition leader Darekar said that in many cases test reports came after patients died of COVID-19. "It is wrong if people die without getting treated. The quarantine centres don't have proper facilities," he said.

Give jobs to locals: Raj

Asking for a lockdown exit plan, MNS chief Raj Thackeray said it was the right time to give local skilled and unskilled workers jobs as migrants are leaving the state. He also asked to register migrants to ease their return, if any. "Also ensure that migrant workers are screened when they return home. I had told earlier that these people would leave us in difficult times. We should have strong control over the entry and exit of migrant workers. A human approach doesn't work every time," he said.

Raj added that he had never seen Mumbai in such a state. "Please ensure that additional forces like SRPF relieve police personnel who have been on duty for two months. The containment zones need more police presence," he said.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

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Admo for Mysore Race Club Trophy

The Mysore Race Club Trophy for maiden three-year-old horses is slated as the feature event of Saturday's race card which features eight races. There are seven runners in the fray, two of them--Grand Accord & Sagittarius--making their debut.

While a victory by one of the two first-timers cannot be ruled out, the fact remains that at least two of the experienced lot, namely Admo and Masquerade, have it in them to stake a serious claim for the winner's prize.

My vote goes to the Nosher Cama-trained Admo (PS Chouhan up) because he has had the benefit of a decent run on this track when finishing a noteworthy runner up to the good type Batteleur three weeks ago.

First race at 2 pm.
Selections:

Adam's Treasure Plate - Div II (For 4y&o, class V; 1200m)
Divine Spark 1, Arc Of Passion 2, Rising Concert 3.

Enaksi Plate (Class III; 1000m)
Wild Fire 1, Lincoln 2, Free Speech 3.

Eloise Plate (Class III; 1800m)
Daffodil 1, Unforgettable You 2, Comic Timing 3.

Mysore Race Club Trophy (For 3y, maidens; 1400m)
Admo 1, Masquerade 2, Grand Accord 3.

Yogender Singh Trophy - Div II (For 4y&o, class IV; 1400m)
Godsent 1, Frosted 2, Arabian Storm 3.

Adam's Treasure Plate - Div I (For 4y&o, class V; 1200m)
Headlines 1, Lilac Time 2, Royal Mews 3.

Alexandress Plate (For 3y, maidens; 1000m)
Excellent Gold 1, Hopeilicious 2, Kotor 3.

Yogender Singh Trophy - Div I (For 4y&o, class IV; 1400m)
Dibaba 1, Ame 2, Star Comrade 3.

Recommendations
Best bet: Excellent Gold (7-2)
Upset: Name Of The Game (6-3)

Today's pools
Super jackpot pool: 3,4,5,6,7,8
Jackpot pool: 4,5,6,7,8
Treble pool: I - 5,6,7; II - 6,7,8
Tanala pool: All races.





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Irrfan Khan admitted to Kokilaben hospital due to colon infection

A few days ago, Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan lost his mother and was unable to attend the funeral due to the lockdown that has been imposed. And now, in another unfortunate news, he has been admitted to the Kokilaben hospital in Mumbai due to colon infection. He's being currently treated for the same and his wife and children are with him.

Speaking about the same, the actor's official spokesperson said, "Yes it is true that Irrfan Khan is admitted to the ICU at Kokilaben in Mumbai because of a colon infection. We would keep everyone updated. He is under the doctor’s observation. His strength and courage have helped him battle and fight so far and we are sure with his tremendous willpower and prayers of all his well-wishers, he will recover soon."

In 2018, Khan was diagnosed with the Neuroendocrine Tumour and for the last two years, has been travelling back and forth for his treatment. Some of his films like Blackmail and Karwaan released in cinemas but he couldn't promote them due to his illness. He was last seen in Angrezi Medium and most of the Bollywood fraternity wished the actor for this moving and emotional film.

Khan is a fighter and will surely come out stronger and sooner, his fans and everyone from the fraternity are praying for his health and we cannot wait to see him back on the celluloid! 

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Rishi Kapoor admitted to hospital

Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor is not keeping well and has been admitted to a city hospital here, his elder brother Randhir Kapoor said. The 67-year-old actor was taken to H N Reliance hospital by his family on Wednesday morning.

"He is in the hospital. He is suffering from cancer and he has some breathing problem, so he has been admitted to the hospital. He is stable now," Randhir told PTI. The actor returned to India last September after undergoing treatment for cancer in the US for almost a year. In February, Kapoor was hospitalised twice due to his health issues. He was first admitted to a hospital in Delhi where he was attending a family function.

At the time, Kapoor had said that he was suffering from an "infection". After his return to Mumbai, he was again admitted to a hospital with viral fever. He was discharged soon after. Kapoor, who has been quite active on social media, hasn't posted anything on his Twitter account since April 2. The actor recently announced his next project, a remake of Hollywood film "The Intern", also featuring Deepika Padukone.

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever




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Padmini Kolhapure: Like a hero, Rishi Kapoor saved me from fire

It is hard to believe that I will not see him again, in person. The worst part is that I couldn't be there with him and his family for the final rites. I met him in the latter part of 2019. He was jovial. I remember looking at him and thinking that the worst phase of his life is behind him. There wasn't an iota of [weakness] in his eyes. One couldn't, from his body language, gauge that he was enduring any pain or difficulty. The unfortunate turn of events was unexpected.

More than being his co-star, I was a fan. I loved Rishi and Neetu, as a couple, and wouldn't miss a single film of the duo. For me, the turning point [in my career] came when I signed a movie with him. Rishi was the one who recommended my name to Nasir Hussain, and that's how I landed up in Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai.
 
The first shot that we did together was for the song Poocho na yaar kya hua. I remember it vividly. I had to do a dance sequence and then hug him. I was shivering because I was a fan.

We shot [Hoga tumse pyara kaun] on a train, and it was a surreal experience. It was hot, and we were trying to look our best, and do the best that we could. Unfortunately, my scarf caught fire, and, like a true hero, Rishi ran towards me and rescued me. 

He was a foodie. I'd get prawns and fish curry to the sets and we would eat together. More than him, we loved his Punjabi lunch that Neetu would send. Neetu would send healthy food, but she never knew that he'd, in fact, be eating his co-stars' meals.

He is going to be missed. My heart goes out to Ranbir and Ridhima. 

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Telugu actor Sivaji Raja admitted to a private hospital in Hyderabad following a heart attack

Sivaji Raja, a renowned Telugu actor, was admitted to a private hospital in Hyderabad on May 5 after he suffered a heart attack. Times of India reports that the actor complained of severe chest pain and was rushed to the emergency department. He's being treated in the ICU, but his health is currently stable, as reported by the portal.

Talking about the same, PRO Suresh Kondeti said, "I just talked to him now. His BP drastically went down and that resulted in a heart attack. He is expected to get a heart stent."

The actor is known to have acted in as many as 400 Telugu films and his recent ones include some immensely successful titles like MLA and Nela Ticket.

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Mayur Verma reacts after Shehnaaz Gill admits she regrets signing Mujhse Shaadi Karoge

Shehnaaz Gill signed Mujhse Shaadi Karoge immediately after she exited the Bigg Boss 13 house. The idea of the show was to find her a potential groom through various tasks and activities. However, during her last interaction with a portal, Shehnaaz accepted that she was not interested in the show and that she regrets being a part of it. She has always been clear about her feelings for Sidharth Shukla and has confessed them to him.

Mayur Verma, one of the contestants on the show has reacted to her statement. He said that they knew she was not interested in the show from the third day itself. He said that she told them to have fun and enjoy their stay in the house and that it should look like the best boys were shortlisted for her. she further explained to them that she liked Sidharth and he liked her too. The boys would joke with her saying that when she got married, they would push the car for her groom and her.

What do you think of this entire reality show controversy? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.

Also Read: Shehnaaz Gill says she does not care about other people’s opinions, but feels bad when they target her fans




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Ramayan's Sita denies asking for Padma Award from government

On Wednesday the nation woke up to Ramayan’s favourite Sita, Dipika Chiklia being quoted in a Hindi daily, “अगर मोदी सरकार को लगता है क‍ि 'रामायण' ने संस्‍कृति में योगदान द‍िया है तो हमें पद्म सम्मान से सम्‍मानित करें (if the Modi government feels that Ramayan has contributed to India culture then we should be honoured with the Padma award).”

On hearing this statement, there was a widespread hue and cry among the fans and well-wishers of the serial. A Union Minister on oath of anonymity observed, “I’ve never heard of an artiste lobbying for his or her own Padma award. Let the Government decide whom it wants to honour.”

In a startling twist to the controversy Dipika completely denied having lobbied for her own Padma. “I never said that I should be given the Padma award. People are twisting my words. The topic (of getting the Padma award) never came to me. It was directed at Arun Govil only. I was asked about the royalty from the latest telecast of Ramayan. And yes, I did say we should get royalty. It was Arunji who spoke about the Padma awards, and that too because he was asked about it,” says Dipika in an exclusive chat with me.

Also Read: World’s favourite television series, Ramayan, launches on StarPlus!




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Mumbai: Lawyer dies of heart attack after hospitals refuse admission

Amid lockdown, a woman from neighbouring Navi Mumbai found herself completly helpless when two hospitals refused to admit her husband, a lawyer, who had suffered a heart attack. After running from one hospital to another in an ambulance, when Jaideep Jaywant (56) was finally admitted to a medical facility, it was too late, his distraught wife Deepali, who is also a lawyer, told PTI. She said in the initial days of lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus, it was her husband who had taken an initiative to supply essential items to harried neighbours, but he died without getting timely help.

The victim, resident of Sector 17 in Vashi area of Navi Mumbai, had a massive heart attack on April 14. He collapsed after having lunch. "I could feel his pulse. There was still life in him. I immediately called an ambulance and rushed him to a nearby hospital," his wife said. "But, the security guard at the hospital did not even open the gates. They said they admitted only COVID-19 patients and no (other) emergency," she said.

They then went to a municipal hospital in Sector 10 but were not allowed inside. They subsequently proceeded to D Y Patil Hospital in Nerul. "By the time we reached there, 30 minutes were wasted and he was declared dead," the grief-stricken wife said. "Can't there be any medical emergencies other than COVID-19 during the lockdown? Is it right for hospitals to turn away patients needing emergency medical aid?" she asked.

The woman said she can't seek action against the hospital in her neighbourhood since she has no evidence against it. "General practitioners are all closed. Where do
ordinary people go?" she asked.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever




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Cheteshwar Pujara: Missing playing badminton on outdoor courts

India's top-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara misses playing badminton on the outdoor courts. Sporting action across the world is on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic and in India a nationwide lockdown in place till May 3 has imposed restrictions on movement of people.

Pujara, used to enjoy badminton outdoors apart from cricket. Now he plays with his wife or with his Saurashtra team-mate Jaydev Unadkat. "Usually when I am at home in Rajkot, we go and play badminton on weekends on proper courts. That is something I am missing," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Pujara as saying.

"With my wife - she wants to learn. At times if Jaydev Unadkat is in Rajkot, he is a decent badminton player, so I play with him," he added. Pujara also revealed that he is very competitive when it comes to playing badminton and he cannot let anybody win.

"No, no. I can't allow my wife to win. I can't allow anyone to win against me at badminton. That is not possible. I've been telling her that she has to get better at it and win that way. I don't want to lose to make her happy that she has beaten me. As a sportsperson your mentality is to make sure that the other person becomes stronger than you," Pujara said.

Pujara was supposed to be in the UK, playing for Gloucestershire, at this time of year, but all plans have been tossed away due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He had signed a deal in February to represent the county for the first six matches of the championship. He was set to become Gloucestershire's first Indian player after Javagal Srinath in 1995.

But with the first seven rounds of the Championship postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and international travel severely limited, he will be unable to fulfil his deal. The batsman was last seen in action during India's two-match Test series against New Zealand.




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No Need to Panic Over Chikungunya and Dengue: Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party

Chikungunya has affected tens of thousands across New Delhi. Cases of viral fever and dengue are also rampant. There is no need to panic over the spread




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Tax-News.com: Liechtenstein, Switzerland Agree Administrative Cooperation On VAT

Liechtenstein and Switzerland have agreed a new cooperation pact in the area of value-added tax administration and enforcement.