India beat New Zealand by 45 runs via D/L method in warm-up tie India beat New Zealand in the opening warm-up game of the Champions Trophy by 45 runs via Duckworth-Lewis method. The defending champions scored 129 for 3 in 26 overs in pursuit of 190 when rain stopped play. India needed to score 84 after 26 overs and were ahead of target. Skipper Virat Kohli looked in good form having already reached an unbeaten 52 in company of former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (17 batting). Opener Shikhar Dhawan (40, 59 balls) also got some much needed batting practice while Ajinkya Rahane (7) and Dinesh Karthik (0) couldn't make much use of the opportunity. Earlier, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami got three wickets apiece to bundle out the Kiwis for 189 in 38.4 overs.
London airports mayhem: British Airways blames Indian IT services British Airways GMB union has blamed the airline's 2016 decision of outsourcing information technology (IT) jobs to India as the reason behind cancelling all Saturday flights from London's two biggest airports. The GMB union said the airline's decision to outsource hundreds of IT jobs to India last year was behind the problems, the Guardian reported. The GMB union said BA laid off hundreds of IT staff last year and outsourced the work to India and blamed cost cutting for the travel chaos. "This could have all been avoided," said Mick Rix, national officer for aviation at the GMB union. British Airways has cancelled all flights from Heathow and Gatwick on Saturday due to a major IT failure causing severe disruption to its global operations that is expected to run into Sunday. The airline said its terminals at Heathrow and Gatwick became "extremely congested" due to the computer problems. More than 1,000 flights were affected.
Be cautious: China warns Modi on launch of India's longest bridge in Assam China asked India on Monday to be “cautious” and exercise “restraint” over building infrastructure in Arunachal Pradesh, days after Prime Narendra Modi launched the country’s longest bridge linking Assam with the state claimed by Beijing. “We hope India adopts a cautious and restrained attitude on the issue before the final settlement of the border issue with China to jointly control disputes, safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” the Chinese foreign ministry said. “China’s position on the eastern section of the Sino-Indian border areas is consistent and clear,” a statement in Chinese said. Modi last week opened the country’s longest bridge over Brahmaputra river that connects Assam’s easternmost region with Arunachal Pradesh, claimed and dubbed by China as South Tibet. “China and India should resolve territorial disputes through negotiations and consultations between the two countries,” the foreign ministry said.
Strike today: Chemists down shutters across India, protest e-platform plan Over 800,000 chemists across the country have decided to shut shop on Tuesday to protest against the government's e-platform plan to regulate the sale of drugs. The platform is being set up to ensure supply of quality drugs and curb anti-microbial resistance, but chemists are opposing the move. Under the plan chemists will have to upload details of all medicines purchased and sold on the e-platform and will have to pay a transaction fee to support cost of running the system. All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) president Jagannath Shinde claimed that the strike has hundred per cent support from members across India and all stores except those in hospitals and day-and-night outlets will remain closed. MedPlus, which runs 1,400 outlets in southern and eastern India, has said it will not participate in the strike and "will try and keep all stores open." There are other indications too the strike may not get full support.
Bhupen Hazarika Setu launched by Modi today to help Army keep China at bay The Dhola-Sadiya Bridge, the country's longest river bridge, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Assam on Friday, will provide a big boost to the Indian Army as it protects the nation's Northeast region against China. According to a Bloomberg report, the bridge, spanning 9.2 km across the Brahmaputra River, will ensure the smooth movement of troops to Arunachal Pradesh, one of India’s most remote regions that is claimed in full by China. The bridge, according to news agency ANI, will be named the Bhupen Hazarika Setu. Speaking to Bloomberg, K V Kuber, an independent defence analyst and former colonel in the Indian Army, said, "The bridge across the Brahmaputra into Arunachal Pradesh is a great strategic shift in the thinking in the Indian defence establishment regarding infrastructure development in the borders with China.” “The new infrastructure will help the Indian military to be prepared for a decent rebuttal to ward off any misadventure from the Chinese side,” Kuber added.
Inside story behind Modi govt's move to regulate cattle slaughter markets While there has been outrage over the new rules framed by the government banning the sale of cattle for slaughter, the exercise to frame these rules started out to put an end to something happening in neighbouring Nepal. The government is on record saying that the new Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules 2017 was conceived on the directions of the Supreme Court (SC). The SC, in turn, had set the ball rolling after a petition filed by Gauri Maulekhi, animal rights activist. Maulekhi’s petition seemed to have achieved what she hadn’t set out to achieve in the first place. The petition sought the court’s intervention after pointing out that cattle was being illegally transported from Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal “across the India-Nepal border for a gruesome and barbaric ritual sacrifice at the Gadhimai festival held every five years in the village of Bariyapur, across the India-Nepal border.
RCom woes: Pain from telecom wars extends beyond Ambani sibling spat Reliance Communications' balance sheet troubles, which have wiped off more than a third of its value this month, have thrown into sharp relief the squeeze afflicting India's telecoms sector: fickle users, wafer-thin margins and crippling debt. Reliance Communications, known as RCom, has seen its shares and bonds tumble since it reported weaker results over the weekend - along with a shrunken user base and higher debt. It said on Monday it was in talks with banks to defer loan repayments due over the next four months. RCom, owned by billionaire Anil Ambani, is a relatively small player in an industry dominated by the likes of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, and its financial position is considerably worse than its rivals. But almost all India's mobile operators posted a loss in the first quarter and the one exception, Bharti, recorded its smallest profit in four years. The culprits? "The sector is under pressure due to competition," said one senior public sector banker.
Key men at TCS get 31% pay hike, despite slowdown in IT industry Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest IT firm, offered a more than 31 per cent hike in remuneration to its key managers at a time when the rest of the company's employees received average salary increase of around 10 per cent. The IT services major declared its the performance-based hike in remuneration for the last financial year, the firm said in in its annual report for fiscal 2017. Former chief executive officer N Chandrasekaran, who served as TCS CEO till February 21, 2017, earned more than Rs 30.15 crore including a large share of commission in last fiscal. N G Subramaniam, who became the chief operating officer since February, earned Rs 6.1 crore last fiscal Two other key persons in the company's executive team, Aarthi Subramanian, Executive Director and Suprakash Mukhopadhyay, Global Treasury Head and Company Secretary, were given more than 30 per cent increase.
You don't have to be a cricket fan to love 'Sachin: A Billion Dreams' There is something about Sachin Tendulkar, something so correct and so innocent you want him to win in life even when you know he is no more the 'God' of the cricket field. The rousing farewell speech that Sachin gives at the end of this astutely emotional journey into the heart and mind of India's most celebrated Bat Man, left me dewy-eyed. This, when I know zilch about cricket and practically nothing about Sachin's exploits on the field. One has to break bones and crack ribs to get there. "Sachin: A Billion Dreams" is the story of a national hero who sails through every crisis with his simple philosophy of good existence and hard work. Sachin Tendulkar's wife talks about how he would clam up after every defeat on the field. The documentary, dotted with a smattering of fictionalisation from the protagonist's growing years, constructs an extremely strong case for the joint-family system. This brings me to the other hero in Sachin: A Billion Dreams. Signed by the man.
Caste violence in Saharanpur a 'well-planned' conspiracy: Adityanath govt Terming the recent caste-based violence in Saharanpur as a "well-planned" conspiracy, Uttar Pradesh Principal Home Secretary Mani Parsad Mishra on Thursday said those responsible will not be spared. Addressing a press conference here, he said though there had been incidents of violence reported from the district in the last few years, it had not attained the magnitude which was witnessed during the April 20, May 5, May 9 and May 23 clashes. "It was also witnessed that since (the) April 20 violence, the intensity of such incidents has been on a rise and somewhere it has been felt that there was something lacking in the police administration," he said, adding that following which, a new team was sent to the district within 24 hours. He said that in the next 24 hours, the situation is likely to become normal and those responsible for the violence would not be spared and no innocent would be made a scapegoat.
IS hates what Ariana Grande stands for - that's why we should celebrate her The so-called Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the recent bombing of an Ariane Grande concert in Manchester. Whether it really was involved or not has yet to be verified. What is not in doubt, however, is that IS extremists hate everything the popstar represents. She is an independent young woman with a mind of her own and thousands of loyal followers keen to follow in her footsteps. To IS, Grande lives up to the tagline of her tour: she really is a “dangerous woman”. Terrorism is a “communicative act” – its targets are not only those who died or were injured – but the wider audiences drawn in by its spectacular violence. Targeting is never accidental. In Paris, London, Madrid, Bali, Tunisia and now Manchester, everyday living and politics is in the cafes, on the bus, the train, the beach, in nightclubs, shopping malls and music venues. Music epitomises this. Ariana Grande’s fanbase is predominantly young and female. This toxic masculinity is not inherent in Islam.
In India's richest city, 1 in 3 children in BMC schools is malnourished Despite an extensive mid-day meal programme, a third of children in schools run by India’s richest municipal corporation in India’s richest city, are malnourished, according to a new report that quotes the corporation’s own data, obtained through a right-to-information request. Malnutrition has increased more than four times in Mumbai, from 8% in 2013-14 to 34% in 2015-16, according to the report released on May 30, 2017, by Praja Foundation, a nonprofit focussed on governance, even as the city leaves a rising proportion of its mid-day meal budget unused. The malnutrition was revealed during routine health checks conducted in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) schools. “We cannot compare Mumbai to Shanghai if many wards in Mumbai have malnutrition rates worse than sub-saharan Africa,” said Nitai Mehta, Founder and Managing Trustee of the Praja Foundation. Source: Status of Malnutrition in Municipal Schools in Mumbai More girls malnourished than boys Malnutrition rises in higher grades
Cow should be national animal, its killers must get life term: Rajasthan HC The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday suggested that the cow should be declared a national animal and its killers be sentenced to life imprisonment. "Keeping in mind Articles 48 and 51A (g) of the Constitution and to provide legal entity for their proper protection and conservation of cow, it is expected from the government that cow is declared a national animal," Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma said in a 145-page order. Describing himself as a "Shiv bkaht", the judge, on the eve of his retirement, gave a ruling relating to the Hingonia Gaushala of Jaipur. According to NGOs, over 500 cows had died at the Hingonia Bovine Animal Rehabilitation Centre in a span of 1-2 months in 2016 due to improper care. The court said India was a predominantly agriculture-based country where animal husbandry played an important role. "It should also be kept in mind that that Hindus have got great faith in cows and Nepal, which is a Hindu nation, has declared cow a national animal," he said.