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Archives for March 2018

Gunfight starts in J&K’s Rajouri district

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A gunfight started on Wednesday between the security forces and militants in Sunderbani area in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, official said.

“Following suspicious movements in Sunderbani area on Wednesday morning, a search operation was launched by the security forces,” police said.

“As the security forces closed in on the hiding militants, they fired at the security forces triggering an encounter which is underway,” a police officer said.

Police also said suspicious movements were first noticed by the sentry of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) battalion headquarters in the area who fired in the air after which army, CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir Police started a search operation during which the hiding militants were spotted, police said.

SC junks plea for fresh probe into Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination

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The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a plea seeking fresh investigation into the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

The bench of Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice L. Nageswara Rao dismissed the plea by Pankaj Phadnis, who had sought re-investigation of the assassination on the basis of fresh material which he said was not available earlier.

The amicus curiae Amarinder Sharan, who had examined the material brought by Phadnis, too did not favour any re-investigation into the killing of Mahatma Gandhi.

Senior counsel Sharan was appointed amicus curiae by the court and was asked to examine the material produced by the petitioner Phadnis and give his opinion.

RBI special measures on March 31 for government accounts

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced special measures for transaction of central and state government business by banks handling government accounts on March 31 in view of the closing of the financial year on that day.

In a release late on Tuesday, the RBI also said special arrangements have been made to conduct special clearing operations on March 31 in order to facilitate government receipts and payments.

“With a view to providing greater convenience to tax payers, it has been decided that RBI offices and all designated branches of agency banks conducting government banking will keep their counters open up to 8.00 p.m. on March 31, 2018.

“Electronic transactions can be done till the midnight of that day,” it said.

“To facilitate government receipts and payments, necessary arrangements have also been made to conduct special clearing operations across the country. Centralised payment systems such as the RTGS and NEFT will also be operational with the above extended business hours.”

“As far as April 2, 2018 is concerned, since it has been declared as a holiday to enable the banks to close their yearly accounts, although RBI offices will work on that day, centralised payment systems such as the RTGS and NEFT will not be operational on that day,” the statement added.

(IANS)

How fossil fuel-producing nations can turn into infrastructure investors

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The “Global Energy & CO2 Status Report”, published by the International Energy Agency (IEA), states that “renewable energy saw the highest growth rate of all energy sources in 2017 and met around a quarter of global energy demand growth” — a significant statistic by any standard and one that clearly points to the fact that renewable
This has serious ramifications for fossil fuel-producing nations. While fossil fuels still contribute a large part of the global energy needs, the fact that a “structural shift” is in process is clear. It is clear that over a medium- to long-term horizon, fossil fuel-dependent nations will have to rethink their strategy to boost and manage their economies.

A quick look at the largest sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the world tells us that approximately 50 per cent of them are fossil fuel-based economies. Significant pools of capital are available with these SWFs and it should not be a surprise to see them diversify into various asset classes.

The next few decades may see fossil fuel-dependent countries go from being providers of energy and capital to focusing significantly more on being a source of capital, i.e., an investor. This switch towards investing is a visible trend, with SWFs being a source of significant capital across asset classes such as equity, private equity and infrastructure. The key takeaway is that SWFs, especially those from fossil fuel-producing countries, can be significant financiers of infrastructure.

Infrastructure as an asset class has two elements that make it attractive for SWFs: Fixed cash-flow profile and large market. Infrastructure assets, by their very nature, are highly regulated assets with fixed income type of cash flows. Such a structure works well for SWFs that are looking to match liabilities, i.e., cash outflows, on their balance sheets. In addition, infrastructure needs that countries face are large enough markets for SWFs to invest into in meaningful size to generate returns.

The large fossil fuel-driven SWFs are of significant size. Estimates by the Sovereign Wealth Funds Institute say the top 10 SWFs globally are managing more than $200 billion each, and four of these are fossil fuel-driven. Therefore, given the long-dated investment horizon of the SWFs, the nature of liabilities on their balance sheets, and the large size of capital that needs to be deployed, infrastructure as a broad sector is attractive.

For fossil fuel-producing countries, switching from being an energy supplier to a supplier of capital lets them reduce their exposure to fossil fuel price volatility in the short term and play a larger role in boosting trade ties with other nations through infrastructure creation in the long run.

For nations that need financing for infrastructure creation, the global shift towards renewables and its consequent impact on fossil fuel-producing countries to turn investors is an opportunity not to be missed.

There are also important lessons to be learnt by both investors and infrastructure destination nations from the Norwegian government’s decision against allowing unlisted infrastructure investments by its Sovereign Wealth Fund. The reason given was that the fund wasn’t equipped to deal with the risks involved, especially from a political and regulatory perspective.

This points towards the urgent need for infrastructure destination nations to, one, improve regulations around unlisted infrastructure assets and, two, create mechanisms that allow for listed infrastructure assets to grow.

The issues faced by the Norwegian Sovereign Fund are generic issues that all SWFs face. It is important that in a highly competitive global capital market, countries expedite the creation of an enabling environment for infrastructure creation.

Clearly, the global changes in the energy markets also have significant ramifications on the financial markets.

The energy transition from a world dependent on fossil fuels to one driven by renewables does not necessarily need to have winners and losers. In a global economy besieged by the fear of “trade wars”, switching roles for fossil fuel-producing nations from major energy suppliers to large providers of capital is worth considering.

(IANS)

The French Novelist Who Fought For Justice – And The Price He Paid

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By Vikas Dutta
It is an over-century-old scandal that may seem familiar today. A country that prided itself on its ideals of liberty and justice uncovers an embarrassing espionage case, but matters are so orchestrated that an innocent, conscientious officer is accused and convicted — just because of his religion. This polarises society, but things come to a head only when an influential author jumps to defend the scapegoat — and suffers for it.

The French Revolution brought the ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity into modern political discourse, but the Dreyfus scandal of the 1890s raised the question whether these had permeated into their homeland. As this book tells us, the case exposed faultlines between France’s monarchist, religious and anti-Semitic right and the liberal, republican, and (later) socialist sections — a rift which would haunt the country in the coming century and cripple it in the face of aggression.

If Dreyfus was eventually exonerated and the country remained a liberal democracy — however imperfect — it was in no small measure due to the energetic efforts of Emile Zola. But he didn’t emerge unscathed and may have also lost his life due to it, as Michael Rosen shows in this book.

There were several attempts to persuade authorities hear the Dreyfus matter on the basis of proper evidence, instead of anti-Semitism. Among these was Zola’s famous open letter beginning “J’accuse”, accusing the state of a deliberate miscarriage of justice — which earned him a case for libel (in France then, it was also institutions, not only individuals, that could be libelled).

It was this case’s consequences for the writer, his country and the world — as well as literature — that are revealed here.

Noting that very few people outside France know much about Zola’s life, Rosen says they would have heard little or nothing about this particular but significant episode of his exile in London as the Dreyfus case raged.

“… Strictly speaking, it wasn’t exile, it was flight. The world-renowned novelist — as he was even then — fled from France, having been fined and given a prison sentence. This was not due to any of the usual writer’s transgressions — duels, crimes of passion, dissolution, immorality or indecency in their writing. It was a political offence. On behalf of the disgraced army officer Captain Alfred Dreyfus, Zola took on the highest courts in the land and lost.”

But this was no simple scandal, for “these events split France down the middle, brought the fundamental nature of the French state into question, and have left their marks on France ever since”. And Zola himself was in personal danger, with a rightist newspaper attacking him in terms that seemed, as the author says, an invitation to a lynching, and passions were so inflamed that he could have been shot dead on the street.

But the cost was also personal, as this book shows, for Zola had a uniquely delicate task of balancing the two women in his life — the mother of his children, and his wife — as this book brings out in detail.

Drawing on the author’s correspondence with his family and friends, his own writings about his exile, contemporary newspapers and other accounts, Rosen, otherwise known as a children’s author, poet and broadcaster, uses Zola’s nearly year-long enforced stay in London and around to sketch an unforgettable picture of him at a period of “turmoil, change and stress on three fronts: political, literary and personal”.

In the process, he also focuses on some of Zola’s considerable corpus of work — not well received by all sections due to its “naturalness”, or frank explorations of sex as well as descriptions of childbirth among other things — as well as the era’s social, literary and journalistic mores, and the Dreyfus case itself.

But this book is more than a tragi-comic account of Zola’s stay in London — initially hampered by the fear of discovery given his triumphant visit five years ago and his lack of English, as well as his measures to get his “wives” and his family to him. It is also a signal recognition of how literary creativity can flow even in unfamiliar climes and of a writer’s bravery in going against entrenched, unreasonable, yet popular, attitudes and prevailing over them — eventually.

India Condemns Missile Attacks on Saudi Arabia

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India today strongly condemned renewed missile attacks targeting civilian areas in Riyadh and other cities of Saudi Arabia, and reiterated its resolve to fight terrorism and violence in all its forms.

According to Saudi authorities, one person was killed after seven missiles were fired from Yemen by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on Sunday.

“We strongly condemn the renewed missile attacks targeting civilian areas in the direction of Riyadh and other cities of Saudi Arabia. We are deeply concerned about the escalating situation threatening the lives of innocent civilians. We reiterate our resolve to fight terrorism and violence in all its forms,” the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said.

The missiles were fired at four targets, including the capital city of Riyadh, and all were intercepted and destroyed, said spokesman of the Saudi coalition forces for supporting the legitimacy in Yemen Colonel Turki Al-Malki in a statement yesterday.

Fragments from the intercepted missiles killed an Egyptian resident, the statement added.

WATER – ELIXIR OR POISON?

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Researched & Written by: Dr.Parmeshwar Arora

Drinking water in excess can harm your health:
While, at present everybody is inclined for drinking maximum possible water for keeping healthy, our ancient Ayurvedic texts & Vedas surprisingly direct us to drink minimum possible water to remain healthy. There are certain diseases where water has been contraindicated or is allowed in very minimum quantity.
These days it is a common practice that if you have to fix your digestion – drink lots of water, if you have to detox your body – drink lots of water, if there is burning while passing urine – drink lots of water, if you have to lose weight drink lots of water etc.
But when we try to understand as to how drinking water in abundance help in these conditions, the reasoning which surfaces up is something completely beyond our understanding. For example, for all the problems related to digestion like – Constipation, Acidity, Gas formation and even IBS , the cause is our sluggish digestion power. Even the modern science says that for all these conditions the reason is decreased secretion of digestive enzymes.
Hence, we can get rid of these conditions by improving our Jatharagni i.e. digestive fire. In such a case, how would the excessive intake of water, which is the worst opponent of fire, increases digestive fire and how would it help in fixing the problems, is totally beyond understanding. Is it not possible that this excess quantity of water consumed by us to resolve our digestive issues actually make these conditions chronic which eventually become incurable? Same is the case for other conditions also. Please do think about it.

Drinking too much of water at a time, even when thirsty, can make you ill
As per Ayurveda, a generally healthy person should drink adequate amount of water in summer (Mid May to Mid July) and Autumn (Mid September to Mid December) and minimum possible amount of water in rest of the seasons. If someone has a tendency to drink too much of water at a time even when thirsty, this can become a cause of ‘Pitta’ and ‘Kafa’ related diseases like indigestion, bloating, nausea, vomiting, over-salivation, heaviness in the body and even cold-cough and respiratory issues. Especially, the fever patients should only drink small quantity of water slowly and with patience.
Modern science does not have any specific guidelines about consumption of food while Ayurveda which has been written with the main motive of maintenance of good health, talks about food/drinks in detail. So if we go by the deteriorating levels of health, the time has come when we should drop the common beliefs and adopt the food habits directed by our Shastras which will eventually help us in keeping healthy like our ancestors and keep away from diseases.
Water is ELIXIR only when taken correctly, can be POISON if consumed otherwise :
As per Ayurveda whether water has to be taken on its own or after medicating it with suitable herbs or taken after boiling it or taken in cold form or taken as just warm water, deciding this on the basis of state of body and when taken in right quantity at right time & in right way, then only acts like Elixir else it acts like Poison if used otherwise.
There is almost opposite opinion about drinking of water when present trends are compared with the directions of our ancient Ayurvedic texts. Whereas there is no authentic & detailed book about correct diet and life style of present era, Ayurveda was written with the primary intention of maintaining health by correct diet and correct life style. For the same every dietary item including water has been explained in detail in Ayurvedic texts.
Drinking water in excess can complicate or produce diseases like Indigestion, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure & Kidney diseases :
Anyone who tends to consume water in excess or at wrong time or in wrong manner initially weakens his Digestive fire (Jatharagni) and subsequently fire at tissue level (Dhaatvagni) & cellular level (Bhutaagni). It gives rise to a condition of Ajeerna (Indigestion) & Aama (Undigestive Food) at various levels in the body. Ajeerna & Aama are supposed to be the root cause of almost every disease, including Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Kidney Diseases & Heart Diseases etc.
How drinking excess of water complicates or leads to Indigestion Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Kidney Diseases etc. has been explained in detail in the book, “Water-Elixir or Poison ?”. Various other important facts about water consumption have also been explained in the book.
Recommended Quantity of Water can not be defined:
The common recommended quantity of water consumption can’t be defined for every person. The adequacy will vary based on the physical work done by that individual, environment around them and status of body health.
Right Quantity, Right Time & Right Way of drinking water:
In general, a healthy person should consume between 1 to 1.5 litres of liquid in a day which includes water, milk, juice, tea, coffee etc. To put it more precisely, we can assume a person to be consuming enough quantity of liquid if he/she is releasing ½ to 1 litre of clear urine in a day.
General recommendations are as follows:
For Intestinal Cleansing: Consume 250-300 ml or a full glass of warm water, sip by sip on empty stomach in the morning.
For Helping in Digestive Process: Water with Meal: a cup (i.e. about 150 ml) of warm water should be consumed, sip by sip while having meal. After Meals, consume a small cup (150-200 ml) of warm water every hour or two, even when not feeling thirsty.
On Feeling Thirsty: Drink a small cup (i.e. 150-200 ml) of water, patiently. It is best to drink warm water or boiled water kept for less than 24 hours.
Drinking too much of water at a time can lead to indigestion:
The excess water consumed, being a good medium of transportation, pushes the food down ahead of time irrespective of digestive stage. Due to this hurry, the digestion-process of the prior stages is missed out and hence the digestion remains incomplete. This results in a condition of indigestion. Even in summer season, consuming small quantity of water at regular intervals, when feeling thirsty, helps in maintenance of better health. Consumption of more water in summer season is usually the reason behind our digestion fire becoming sluggish and hence we feel less hungry and also there is trouble in digesting consumed food.
Always Drinking Boiled Water is beneficial for health:
Consumption of un-boiled water increases the possibility of different types of infections in the body. Water is the only liquid food which is neither cooked before consumption nor it is processed by our digestion fire. So, it is clear that if water is contaminated, it can reach out blood streams and become the cause of infections. In general this contamination is removed by boiling process. Hence it is recommended to consume only boiled water, even in Summers.
Special contribution of this research besides providing better health:
This research papers about water would not only give us better health by avoiding the possible damages from drinking excess water, but it would also help in coming out of the misunderstanding about consumption of more and more water. This will also help us in reducing the need of scarce potable water resources and would also help in its conservation.
If one fourth of the population of India comes out from the myth of drinking excess water and reduce just 1 litre of water intake, then there will be saving of about 500 crores litres of clean drinkable water everyday. Calculations about this figure have also been explained in the book.

Dr. Arora’s questions for the Doctors recommending consumption of more and more water:
1. While giving commandments of drinking of more and more water, is not it their moral responsibility to also mention the deadly effect of this on diseases related to heart, digestion, kidney and hundreds of issues related to hormones?
2. Can I ask those water healers who are associated with either Allopathy, Ayurveda or Naturopathy, as to how does consumption of excess quantity of water help our body? Do they have a scientific, textual or research based evidence to support their process?
3. I would like to ask these water healers who simply quote Ayurveda in their lectures on consumption of high quantity of water, that have they even touched the original text books of Ayurveda like Charak Samhita, Sushruta Samhita or Ashtang Sangrah by Acharya Vagbhatt? Can they quote even a single line from these texts which recommend consumption of excess water? If not then what action should be taken against these people who are spreading the wrong trend and creating health hazards for millions of people?
4. These water healers should explain to the society if a patient of kidney problems or blood pressure or diabetes which impacts the kidneys negatively or diseases which bring swelling in different parts of body – should drink excess water? If yes, then please explain how as otherwise it is well known to have adverse effect on the health condition. You can read about scientific and Vaidic analysis of this subject along with references in my book – “Water – Elixir or Poison?”.

Follow the correct way of Water Consumption even in Summers:
A person should consume water on the basis of the condition of their body in right quantity, at right time and in right process. The time has come when we should come out of the jugglery of over consumption of water as it can lead to several health conditions. This is the reason that our texts have called it even a ‘poison’ if water is consumed in a wrong way. We should consume water patiently and in right process even in Summer. You would notice that in the summer oriented seasons i.e. even in rainy season a person feels less hungry and the possibility of issues like indigestion and other digestive problems also increases, a person may feel low energy levels and anxiety and restlessness. If you observe closely, these things happen to a person more he/she consumes more and cold water.
Same way winter dominated seasons like Autumn, Fall and Winter a person feels comparatively more hungry and chances of diseases also reduce, energy levels are better and one finds self in better mental health too. Please notice that these are the times when we usually consume lesser amount of water and certainly not cold water.
So it is quite evident that the hunger, better digestion and good mental health are all dependent on our digestive fire i.e. Agni and not on consumption of water. Is it not possible that the because of effect of summer we consume excess water that makes our Agni sluggish which in turn makes our digestion worse resulting in indigestion, lack of hunger etc. and we feel physically and mentally weaker.
A person should drink adequate quantity of room-temperature water patiently and slowly in small quantity as per the need of our body to maintain our digestive fire properly.
Not drinking increased quantity of water in Summer – is not the reason behind Diseases:
Please note that most of the dehydration issues found during summer are not because of lack of water intake but they are caused by consuming contaminated water resulting in indigestion and diarrhea. The issues like headache, bad throat, cold and cough etc. are caused by drinking cold water after coming from high temperature environment. Hence it is recommended to consume only adequate quantity of water at right time and in right way as per the requirement of one’s body.

‘Biggest’ evacuation sees more than 6,700 people leave Ghouta

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One rebel group in Eastern Ghouta’s Douma has refused to surrender and is still engaged in negotiations [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

At least 6,750 people have been evacuated from towns in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, marking the largest evacuation to date, according to state media.

A convoy of 100 buses departed on Tuesday morning from the Irbin corridor towards rebel-held Idlib province in the north, state news agency Sana reported.

In previous evacuations about 6,000 people have already left the towns of Harasta, which was controlled by the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group, as well as Irbin, Zamalka, Jobar and the district of Ain Tarma, which were controlled by the Faylaq ar-Rahman rebel group.

The rebel groups last week reached an evacuation deal with Russia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s main ally in the seven-year war.

A third rebel group in Eastern Ghouta’s Douma, the enclave’s biggest town, home to about 140,000 people, has refused to surrender and is still engaged in negotiations.

According to activists, a deal between the Jaish al-Islam rebel group and the Russians will most likely be announced at the end of the week.

Eastern Ghouta has been under rebel control since mid-2013. That year, Assad’s government imposed a tight siege on the Damascus suburb, which was home to about 400,000 people.

For six weeks since February 18, Syrian government forces, backed by Russian fighter jets, tightened their siege on the city with heavy bombardments and shelling that killed about 1,500 people and wounded more than 5,000.

Douma-based activist Laith al-Abdullah told Al Jazeera that Faylaq ar-Rahman are trying to evacuate their extended family members currently trapped in Douma – despite ongoing negotiations.

“Negotiations are ongoing and we expect to hear in three days whether a deal is reached,” he told Al Jazeera.

Douma’s local council on Tuesday described the negotiation process as “difficult”.

“We do not expect fast results. We all need to be patient,” the council said in a statement.

The first round of negotiations between the Douma-based rebels and the Russians included talks on improving shelters for displaced civilians, the statement added.

The talks also included ceasefire extension to last throughout the entire negotiation period, and to allow aid trucks in.

The second round of talks will kick off on Wednesday, activists told Al Jazeera.

It is still unknown what the agenda of the second round will entail.

Residents of the enclave have been in dire need of food and medicine, especially since the latest offensive began, which has exacerbated Eastern Ghouta’s humanitarian crisis.

Though some aid has previously been allowed in, a 46-lorry aid convoy only included supplies for 27,000 people. Other convoys have not been able to enter due to the government’s bombardment campaign that had been ongoing for more than a month.

Cricket can expect some good from Cape Town shock.

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By Veturi Srivatsa.

Australians proudly proclaim they play their cricket hard, now they have revealed they play so hard that they are out to win at any cost.

For someone like Steve Smith, one of the the best batsmen in world cricket, going by sheer weight of figures, it is hard to believe that he could resort to a stupid tactic like tampering with the ball to win a match, when scores of television cameras are catching every minute happening in detail.

In three years as captain of Australia, he has done everything a leader is expected to do and he is the No.1 batsmen in the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings.

Yet, even the most liberal Australian cricket fan is today condemning Smith as a cheat after he had admitted to the ball-tampering plot in the third Test at Cape Town. Accepting the guilt does not mitigate the gravity of the crime.

Chief executive officer of International Cricket Council (ICC) David Richardson speaks during a news conference at the end of its annual conference in Kuala Lumpur June 28, 2012. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad (MALAYSIA – Tags: SPORT CRICKET HEADSHOT)

Now even the ICC levels of offence and the punishment look inadequate as Smith was slapped a ban of just one Test and fined the entire Cape Town match fee while the young man (Cameron Bancroft) who exuberantly executed the disgusting plan 75 percent of his match fee.

After the reactions from cricket-loving Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and former cricket stars, continuation of Smith as captain has become highly untenable.

The Prime Minister’s shock is palpable: “It seemed completely beyond belief that the Australian cricket team had been involved in cheating.”

“After all, our cricketers are role models and cricket is synonymous with fair play.

“How can our team be engaged in cheating like this? It beggars belief.

He wants Cricket Australia to take a decisive action and was assured of action by David Peever, Chairman of Cricket Australia.

As ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said the decision of the leadership group is clearly contrary to the spirit of the game, and it “risks causing significant damage to the integrity of the match, the players and the sport itself.”

It is beyond one’s comprehension that an Australian team management did not know that to carry a foreign object on to the field with the objective of changing the condition of the ball to gain an unreasonable advatage. It is clearly against not only the Laws, but the spirit of the game.

Smith knew the enormity of his wrongdoing and promptly decied to stand down from captaincy midway through the just-concluded third Test which resulted in victory for South Africa and take an unbeatable 2-1 lead in the four-match series, though he blamed the entire “leadership”, whoever he may have meant by that, for the detestable act.

The Australians have always been famous for their sledging, and their unprintable verbal on-field exchanges between individuals unnerved their opponents, disturbing their equanimity. This was part of their strategy, but seldom have they been so desperate to employ underhand methods to win a match.

Smith should have known what is fair and what is foul in international cricket. He once got away on India’s tour last year, admitting he had a “brain fade” when he looked up to the players’ enclosure in Bengaluru for a nod to go in for a DRS, but an alert English umpire Nigel Llong quickly thwarted it.

Interestingly, Llong was the umpire at Cape Town, and he, along with countrymen Richard Illingworth and third umpire Ian Gould, tracked down opening batsman Bancroft’s suspicious on-field activity when he tried to use what looked like a piece of sandpaper or some stickly patch of substance to alter the condition of the ball.

It is not that Smith got into a fit all of a sudden to numb his thinking. He has had a record of on-field eruptions.

He was fined for his unacceptable behavior in the Christchurch Test and had his run-ins with fast bowlers, Englishman James Anderson and on the current tour with Kagiso Rabada. He was clearly unhappy that Rabada’s ban for two Tests was overturned by an ICC inquiry committee.

After the Christuchurch flare-up, Smith stated that he should learn from his mistakes to be a better leader. This was two years ago and obviously he has not learnt anything from his past errors.

Having won the first Test and losing the second to be tied 1-1 before they went into the third match and there was no need for the Australians to get into a confrontational situation. Losing a Test or a series is not the end of the world.

The ball-tampering saga has its fallout on Indian cricket, Smith will not lead the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and his deputy David Warner, who has quit as Australia’s vice-captain, may follow suit by relinquishing the Sunrisers Hyderabad captaincy.

It will also have its repercussions on all the Australians playing anywhere.

Cricket can expect some good from Cape Town shock.

(IANS)

 

Mamata meets Pawar, Sena and TRS MPs

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West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday met leaders from the BJP ally Shiv Sena as well as MPs from several opposition parties in the national capital.

Banerjee visited Parliament on Tuesday where she met Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar. She also met Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MP K. Kavitha, daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

The details of the meetings, which come at a time when opposition parties as well as former government ally Telugu Desam party (TDP), have come together to move a no confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, was not shared.

Banerjee is seen as a key player in a possible grouping of non-BJP political parties ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections

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