Tendulkar meets budding Indian cricketers at Lord”s

PTI |

Batting great Sachin Tendulkar took out time to meet 20 Indian students currently undergoing a camp in London.

According to a press release, Tendulkar shared words of wisdom with the select U-17 cricketers from Yuvraj Singh Centre of Excellence (YSCE).

"The unplanned visit of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar at Lord’s, who was in town to catch the action at Wimbledon, swept everyone off their feet. Sachin came at Yuvraj’s special request, and conducted a net session with the future cricket stars, while imparting his vast knowledge and experience in the profession and coaching the young players to improve their cricket skills and techniques," said the release.

The ongoing 20-day tour, which started last week, involves specialised cricket training and practice sessions with reputed cricket coaches, competitive matches with other schools and cricket clubs in England, and a lucky chance to an indoor session at Lord’s.

Observe ”Mother Nature Day”, says Amma

IANS |

The world should observe a day dedicated to "Mother Nature" when people must plant at least one tree, Indian spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi has said.

"Just as we celebrate Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Thanksgiving, we should have a day to respect and worship Mother Nature," Amma, as she is widely known, said in an address here. 

"On that day, everyone in the world should try to plant at least one tree," she said, addressing a conference on sustainable development the UN organised here on Wednesday. 

In the capacity of the chancellor of Amrita University, Amma addressed researchers representing 93 leading international universities here.

"In the olden days, because people lived in tune with nature, they would look for an auspicious day before planting or cutting down a tree," she said. 

On Friday, she lamented, "not only do we rarely plant trees, we relentlessly destroy them and all of nature".

Amma said the annual day dedicated to "Mother Nature" could even coincide with New Year’s Day, "so we start the year on an auspicious note. 

"If we do so, this planet will become a paradise. A tree is like a house that we construct for Mother Earth."

Amma, who is based in Kerala, went on to say that "science, technology, and spirituality must unite in order to ensure a sustainable and balanced existence of our world. 

"The present age and the world around us demand this transformation."

Arrested AAP MLA hospitalised

PTI |

Arrested Aam Aadmi Party MLA Manoj Kumar was hospitalised last night after he complained of chest pain within hours of being sent to police custody by a Delhi court in a case of alleged cheating and landgrabbing.

Police has so far not been able to question the 35-year-old legislator, who was shifted to AIIMS today.

Within hours of being remanded in police custody, Kumar complained of headache and chest pain due to high blood pressure and was admitted to Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hospital at Khicharipur in East Delhi last night.

"He was admitted to LBS hospital at around 9 PM after he complained of ill health. Now he is being shifted to AIIMS for further treatment," said Sanjay Beniwal, Jt Commissioner of Eastern Range.

Doctors at LBS said Kumar’s blood pressure and blood sugar level were found to be high.

"He complained of headache, chest pain and palpitation following which doctors conducted several tests which include ECG and Troponin T tests primarily performed to diagnose a heart attack and rule out other conditions with similar signs and symptoms.

"He was kept at LBS the entire night under observation.

Today morning at around 10.30 AM we referred him to AIIMS and he was shifted there," said a senior doctor at LBS.

Kumar was yesterday arrested in connection with a cheating and land grabbing case and remanded by a court in two days police custody.

The MLA from Kondli in East Delhi was arrested in connection with an FIR filed against him on May 19, 2014, on a complaint of cheating lodged by New Ashok Nagar resident Vijay Kumar.

 

Violence continues in Manipur despite curfew

IANS |

Violence continued in Manipur on Friday despite indefinite curfew imposed by the authorities to tackle protests which broke out after a student was killed by police on Wednesday during a march demanding a stringent law to check the influx of immigrants.

Violating the curfew, people in some parts of the town took to the streets and put up blockades to stop movement of vehicles and people. The police fired tear gas to disperse protestors in some areas.

"The situation is still tense but totally under control. We are able to maintain law and order situation but curfew is still clamped," Manipur Special Director General of Police Santosh Macherla told IANS over phone.

"Protests are still continuing in some parts of Imphal. As long as they are protesting peacefully, we are not disturbing them but we have acted against them in certain areas as they turned violent", Macherla said.

Six Joint Committee of Inner Line Permit (JCILPS) leaders have been arrested by the Manipur police for violating the curfew order.

Normal life has come to standstill and operations at various hospitals have been cancelled. Emergency services have also been affected as ambulances were not able to traverse since the protestors under the banner of JCILPS have blocked the roads with burning tyres and wooden planks fitted with nails.

JCILPS had launched a stir demanding the implementation of the British-era Inner Line Permit (ILP) system to regulate entry of outsiders into the state.

Inner Line Permit is an official travel document issued by the central government to allow inward travel of an Indian citizen into a protected/restricted area for a limited period. It is obligatory for Indian citizens, not residents of those states, to obtain a permit for entering the restricted areas.

Early this year, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh introduced the ‘Manipur Regulation of Visitors, Tenants and Migrant Workers’ Bill 2015 in the assembly to safeguard the interests of the indigenous people of the state.

However, JCILPS said the bill was protecting the interests of immigrants rather than the indigenous people of Manipur.

Meanwhile, the Joint Action Committee, an umbrella body of social organisations constituted following the killing of Sapam Robinhood, a student from Ananda Singh Academy Higher Secondary School, on Wednesday by the state police during the protest march demanding the implementation of the Inner Line Permit, refused to claim the body.

"Sapam Robinhood has sacrificed his priceless life for the people of the state. We will not claim his body unless the government endorsed the demands made by the JCILP," JAC Convener, Raghubir Salam said.

Calling the Congress-led government under Chief Minister Okram Ibobi a "criminal government who killed students", Salam warned the government of further intensifying the agitation until the demands are met.

"It is time that the people of the state join hands and fight against the government in making them realise that Inner Line permit system is very necessary to implement at the earliest before the people become slave to the increasing influx."

The JCILPS has also threatened to further intensify its agitation to put pressure on the government to implement the Inner Line Permit system.

"We are not at all happy with the ‘Manipur Regulation of Visitors, Tenants and Migrant Workers’ Bill 2015. The people of Manipur were expecting a stringent law besides preventing migrants from land ownership right. We want the government to implement the Inner Line Permit system like it exists in Nagaland or Mizoram," JCILPS convenor Khomdram Ratan said.

This app lets you decide your own discount

IANS |

Now, with the help of this shopping app, you can decide your own price for the goods you want to buy.

The new app, called Compelation, allows shoppers to bid on products displayed with their approximate retail price, using an in-app slider and setting a date on the expiration of their bid offer, pymnts.com reported.

If the shopper’s bid offer gets accepted, the app charges the credit card associated with the user account.

As a product gets more bids, the app plots the offers into a demand curve and lets the seller decide the lowest bid it is willing to accept.

For instance, a user could bid $100 for a $150 pair of shoes. The app would aggregate all bids ranging from the lowest amount that shoppers are willing to pay to the highest bid. Upon receiving the data, the merchant can choose to accept all bids over a designated threshold.

Using the demand curve plotted by ‘Compelation’, merchants can gain flexibility in applying the data metrics for their own sales target and regulate warehouse supply-demand balance.

To build a more customised experience, the app also allows users to follow other shoppers and buy products they have shared. The iOS app is currently in private beta stage.

Not a guarantor for in-law”s loan: Rajinikanth

IANS |

Rejecting a claim by a film financier who sought to make him responsible for a loan availed of by son-in-law Dhanush’s father Kasthuri Raja, superstar Rajinikanth submitted in his petition to the Madras High Court that he was not the guarantor of the loan sum of Rs.65 lakh.

According to petitioner S Mukanchand Bothra, filmmaker Kasthuri Raja had borrowed Rs.65 lakh from him in 2012 on the promise that if he failed to repay the loan, Rajinikanth would do it.

When the case came up for hearing on June 22, Justice Ravichandra Babu issued notices to Kasthuri Raja and Rajinikanth.

The superstar said the financier cannot hold him liable for such a loan.

"The financier should not have advanced loan because my name was used, and hold me liable. I’m neither the guarantor nor the borrower of the loan, hence I’m not responsible to pay any money," Rajinikanth said in his petition.

Rajinikanth also said that if Kasthuri Raja had used his name to avail loan, the financier should have informed him or at least verified.

He said that these allegations are aimed at tarnishing his image in public.

Robin Van Persie agrees to Fenerbahce deal

IANS |

Manchester United striker Robin Van Persie has agreed to move to Turkish side Fenerbahce and is expected to arrive in Istanbul on Friday.

Fenerbahce will pay Manchester United nine million euros while the Dutch international will earn more than the 330,000 pounds weekly wage he had at United. The 31-year-old underwent a medical check on Thursday afternoon in London, reports Xinhua.

Van Persie has struggled to break into the first team at Manchester United since coach Louis Van Gaal took reign in the 2014-2015 season. He had scored 10 goals out of 29 games last season.

Last season runners-up Fenerbahce has made international headlines in the summer transfer market with signing Manchester United’s Portuguese winger Nani for six million euros early in the week.

The Istanbul-based side is undergoing an ambitious renewal of its squad ahead of next year’s Champions League campaign. Fenerbahce have also brought in coach Vitor Periera, Danish skipper Simon Kjaer from Lille, 28-year-old Brazilian goal scorer Fernandao amongst others.

Besiktas, city rival of Fenerbahce, also made moves to renew its squad by reportedly securing 28-year-old Chelsea striker Loic Remy on loan.

Besiktas finished third in the domestic league after spending a majority of the season in close contention for the title.

 

In ”Fan”, I play the one who makes a star: SRK

IANS |

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who has unveiled the release date and a teaser of his upcoming film ‘Fan’, says in the film he plays "the one who makes a star".

The 49-year-old took to micro-blogging platform Twitter to talk about his role in the Maneesh Sharma directorial, and wrote: "And hope u all ‘feel’ yourselves as I play the one who makes a star. All who make me…I am your FAN".

The 63-second teaser for ‘Fan’ came out just a day after the walls of the ‘Don’ actor’s four-storeyed house were painted with messages like ‘love you SRK’ and ‘c u 15th’, and it was signed with the name ‘Gaurav’. It was a promotional strategy to denote the extent of how crazy a fan of a film actor can get.

Produced by Yash Raj Films, the movie will hit the theatres on April 15, 2016.

Read more: 

Book April 16, 2016 for SRK&’s Fan

 

Industry demands import duty hike on aluminium

PTI |

To protect the interest of homegrown companies from rising imports of aluminium metal and its scrap, the aluminium industry has demanded that the Centre increase import duty on these products.

As per statistics of Aluminium Association of India, Indian Aluminium Industry has seen a huge surge in imports in recent years from 8.81 lakh tonne in the year 2010-11 to 15.63 lakh tonne in 2014-15 financial year – primarily from Middle East and China. Similarly, the import of aluminium waste and scrap has increased at a compound annual growth rate of 16 % in the same period.

The Indian Aluminium Industry is at a critical phase where it requires support from the government to maintain not only its current viability but also protect its growth plans that have significant economy contributions and benefits, Vice President, Community Relations of Balco (Bharat Aluminium Company), BK Shrivastav told PTI .

In London Metal Exchange (LME), aluminium prices have fallen to USD 1685 /MT in June 2015 which has significantly affected the global aluminium market.

The production cost of Balco is USD 1900/ MT that means the company is facing a loss of around USD 200 from per MT production, Shrivastav said.

Chhattisgarh’s only aluminium production unit Balco of Vedanta group located in Korba, had to suffer a huge loss in first quarter of current financial year as per the company.

There are four primary aluminium producers in the country — Balco, Nalco, Hindalco & Vedanta Aluminium.

"Indian aluminium industry is facing big challenge from increasing import of primary aluminium metal and aluminium scrap.The rising imports are endangering the very basis of these large investments and their viability. Sale of domestic producers in the country is going down as imports are on the rise," Shrivastav said.

”Ira Singhal could be brand ambassador for specially-abled”

IANS |

Specially-abled Ira Singhal, who topped this year’s IAS examination, could be the brand ambassador for theprogrammes of department of empowerment of persons with disabilities, a minister said on Friday.

"Singhal could be the brand ambassador for the department for its schemes and programmes," Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot said in a statement.

"Her achievements shall inspire a whole generation of youth to come forward and achieve glorious heights," he added.

Lov Verma, secretary, department of empowerment of persons with disability, ministry of social justice and empowerment, assured her that the problems she said persons with disabilities faced while appearing in competitive examinations shall be addressed, the statement said.