Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. Tune in to get updated about the major news stories of the day.
Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Vishnu, and these are the major news stories of the day:
1. 68th National Film Awards announced; Soorarai Pottru and Ayyappanum Koshiyum win big
2. CBSE Class 10 and 12 results out
3. Dinesh Gunawardena sworn in as Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister
4. Third case of monkeypox reported from Kerala's Malappuram
5. Actor assault case: Kerala HC raps survivor over baseless allegations against trial court
Let's get into the details:
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1. The winners of the 68th National Film Awards were announced today in New Delhi. Because of Covid-19-related delays, this year’s ceremony honoured films from 2020, across several categories. Soorarai Pottru, by Sudha Kongara, won the National Award for the Best Feature Film, while Suriya and Aparna Balamurali won the Best Actors for their performances in the Tamil movie. Suriya shared the Best Actor award with Ajay Devgn for his performance in Tanhaji - The Unsung Warrior, which was also adjudged the Most Popular Feature Film. Soorarai Pottru also won the award for Best Screenplay and Best Music Direction. Malayalam film Ayyappanum Koshiyum bagged a number of awards, including Best Director for Sachy, Best Supporting Actor for Biju Menon, who played Ayyappan, Best Female Playback Singer for Nanjiyamma for her track Kalakaatha, and Best Action Sequences. Lakshmipriya Chandramouli won the Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the Tamil movie Sivaranjiniyum Iniyum Sila Pengalum, which was also adjudges the Best Tamil Feature Movie. Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam won the Best Malayalam Feature Film. While no film was considered worthy of the Best Critics Award, Madhya Pradesh was adjudged the Most Film-Friendly State.
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2. The Central Board of Secondary Education published the exam results of Classes 10 and 12 on Friday. While 94.4% students passed the 10th grade examinations, 92.71% got through the 12th grade. The Class 10 results saw Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram region recording the highest pass percentage of 99.68 in the country, and Guwahati at the bottom of the table with 82.23%. Girl students outperformed the boys by 1.41%. The pass percentage of transgender students was recorded at 90.
As for the Class 12 results, over 33,000 scored above 95%, and 1.34 lakh secured above 90% marks.
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3. Dinesh Gunawardena took oath as Sri Lanka's new prime minister on Friday, according to local television channels. Gunawardena's appointment comes a day after six-time prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the country's new president. A stalwart of Sri Lankan politics, 73-year-old Gunawardena earlier served as the foreign minister and education minister. He was appointed as Home Minister in April by then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Immediately after assuming office, Gunawardena called for bipartisanship to address the unprecedented economic crisis the country is facing at present.
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Before we move on, here's a quick reminder to checkout Onmanorama's other podcasts, Wacky News and News Brake. Wacky News is a collection of the weirdest and strangest news from across the globe and News Brake is a clutter-free explainer of the major news story of the week. Both programmes are available on all podcast platforms.
Now, back to Daily News Dose.
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4. A 35 year-old man, who came to Kerala from UAE earlier this month, has tested positive for monkeypox, making him the third case of the virus from the country as well as the state.
Health Minister Veena George said the Malappuram native arrived in the southern state on July 6 and was undergoing treatment at the Manjeri Medical College there.
His health condition is stable, she added.
The minister also said all those who were in close contact with the patient are being closely monitored.
India had last week reported a second confirmed case of monkeypox from Kerala's Kannur district. It was a patient, who arrived in the southern state on July 13, was a native of Kannur in north Kerala and was undergoing treatment at the Pariyaram Medical College there. The first case of monkeypox was reported from Kollam district of south Kerala on July 14. He is currently undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram.
According to the World Health Organisation, monkeypox is a viral zoonosis, a virus transmitted to humans from animals, with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.
With the eradication of smallpox in 1980 and subsequent cessation of smallpox vaccination, monkeypox has emerged as the most important orthopoxvirus for public health.
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5. The Kerala High Court on Friday warned the actress who survived a sexual assault by a gang five years ago not to raise baseless allegations against the trial court which is considering the case. The high court told the actress that she will have to face strict action if unfounded charges are made against the lower court. Justice Bechu Kurien Thomas made the remarks.
The high court was considering a petition filed by the survivor raising fears of attempt to subvert the probe into the case. The court asked the petitioner on what basis was she making the allegations. While she answered that she made the complaint based on the information given by the prosecution, the court asked if the investigation team was leaking information. The survivor told the court that she would decide if the petition should be withdrawn after examining the charge sheet.
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That brings us to the end of this episode. Be sure to come back tomorrow. As always, thanks for listening to Daily News Dose.