Tendulkar, Buttler lead tributes to Morgan on his international retirement

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Tendulkar, Buttler lead tributes to Morgan on his international retirement

Cricketers past and present took to social media to pay glowing tributes to former England white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan who announced his international retirement on Tuesday, with Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar congratulating the World Cup-winning captain on a wonderful career.

Morgan called time on his 16-year international career on Tuesday, saying, “After careful deliberation and consideration, I am here to announce my retirement from international cricket with immediate effect.”

Having made his debut for Ireland in 2006, Morgan went on to play for England and retired as one of their greatest white-ball players.

“Congratulations on a wonderful career, @Eoin16. You gave cricket fans several moments to cherish. Best wishes to you. May your 2nd innings be as successful as the first,” tweeted Tendulkar.

Morgan’s teammate on several campaigns, Jos Buttler, who is likely to take over the role of white-ball skipper, posted several images of winning moments with Morgan and tweeted, “Captain leader legend. Thanks for everything boss.”

Morgan retired as England’s leading run-scorer in ODIs, as well as their most successful captain in 50-over cricket. In 225 ODIs, the southpaw scored 6,957 runs in 225 ODIs for England, including 13 centuries. Before playing for England, Morgan represented Ireland as well, where he scored 744 runs in 23 matches at an average of 35.42.

Former Australia quick Jason Gillespie termed Morgan a selfless leader. “Hats off, Morgan has been immense for England. Team always comes first. A selfless leader.”

Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Hafeez tweeted, “Congratulations mate on fantastic desirable career. To me u are game changer for @ECB_cricket in white ball cricket as captain. Loads of respect for ur services. Real entertainer @Eoin16. cricket world wil miss u. Best wishes for future endeavours. Stay blessed.”

The 35-year-old Morgan has been credited for bringing about a revolution in white-ball cricket since taking over as England captain in 2015. Under his captaincy, England famously won the 2019 Cricket World Cup in front of their home fans at Lord’s. He was also a part of the 2010 England squad that won the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.

 

Samantha’s next film ‘Yashoda’ likely to get postponed

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Samantha’s next film ‘Yashoda’ likely to get postponed

The release of Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s upcoming movie, the Hari and Harish-directed “woman-centric sci-fi thriller” ‘Yashoda’, has most likely been delayed.

‘Yashoda’ was slated to premiere on August 12, but the makers are now said to be looking for a new release date. They have, however, not made a formal announcement to this effect, nor an explanation for the postponement.

The upcoming drama ‘Yashoda’ is a survival thriller about an imprisoned woman, played by Samantha Ruth Prabhu. It was originally shot in Telugu but is now scheduled to be released in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi after being dubbed.

In addition to Samantha, other notable actors in the movie include Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Rao Ramesh, Unni Mukundan, Murali Sharma, Sampath Raj, and Shatru, Madhurima, Divya Sripada, Priyanka Sharma, and Kalpika Ganesh.

Facebook, Insta ban users who offer abortion pills via mail posts

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Facebook, Insta ban users who offer abortion pills via mail posts

Facebook and Instagram have removed posts from users who offered abortion pills via mail posts.

Facebook removed such posts, and also temporarily banned some of those users, on the same day when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade case that had legalized abortion in the US, reports Motherboard, saying such posts violate its policy around pharmaceuticals.

“I will mail abortion pills to any one of you. Just message me,” a Facebook user posted.

Following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade case last week, social media users started sharing posts offering to mail abortion pills to people whose access to abortion has been stripped away.

Facebook and Instagram immediately removed such posts.

A test by a Verge staff yielded similar results, with a post offering abortion pills being flagged within two minutes.

The sale, gifting, and transfer of firearms and marijuana are also prohibited under Meta’s policy that bans pharmaceuticals.

“Content that attempts to buy, sell, trade, gift, request or donate pharmaceuticals is not allowed,” a Meta spokesperson was quoted as saying in the report.

US President Joe Biden last week took strong exception to the court’s ruling to rescind federal abortion rights, while appealing to people, especially women, to remain calm as several of them have gone on nationwide protests against the apex court’s ruling.

Former US president Donald Trump took the SC verdict as a personal triumph for appointing the judges who gave the verdict.

Assamese murders wife before killing self in Hyderabad

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Assamese murders wife before killing self in Hyderabad

Suspecting her character, an Assam native killed his wife by drowning her in a bucket and later committed suicide by jumping under a train.

The body of Mahananda Biswas (24), who was working as a security guard in a leading shopping mall in Hyderabad’s upscale Banjara Hills, was found on the railway tracks near Lakdi Ka Pul Railway Station on Tuesday.

Police found a diary in the pocket and a phone. Since the writing in the diary was in Assamese, the police called a friend of Biswas who translated the same. Biswas wrote that he had killed his wife and planned to take his own life.

Police then rushed to Biswas’ rented house in Premnagar near Punjagutta. The house was locked and police broke it open to find the body of Pampa Sarkar (22) with her head drowned in a bucket.

Police investigation revealed that the couple had a love marriage one-and-half years ago. They had shifted to Hyderabad and were living in a rented house in Premnagar near Punjagutta in the heart of the city.

A police officer at Punjagutta police station said the investigations revealed that for a few days Biswas was suspecting the character of his wife. They had a fight over this. There was a quarrel again between them late Monday. Biswas beat up his wife and then drowned her head in a bucket full of water.

After making sure that his wife had died, Biswas locked the house from the outside. The next day his body was found on a railway track.

Police shifted the bodies for autopsies and registered a case. The families of the couple have been informed about the incident.

India records 14,506 new Covid cases, 30 deaths

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India records 14,506 new Covid cases, 30 deaths

India reported 14,506 new Covid-19 cases in a span of 24 hours, which is a substantial increase over the previous day’s count of 11,793, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Affairs on Wednesday.

In the same period, the country has reported 30 more Covid deaths, taking the nationwide toll to 5,25,077.

The active caseload of the country has also surged to 99,602 accounting for 0.23 percent of the country’s total positive cases.

The recovery of 11,574 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,28,08,666. Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.56 percent.

Meanwhile, India’s daily positivity rate has also surged to 3.35 percent, while the weekly positivity rate currently stands at 3.30 percent.

Also in the same period, a total of 4,33,659 tests were conducted across the country, increasing the overall tally to over 86.19 crores.

As of Wednesday morning, India’s Covid-19 vaccination coverage exceeded 197.46 crores, achieved via 2,56,78,429 sessions.

Over 3.65 crore adolescents have been administered a first dose of Covid-19 jab since the beginning of the vaccination drive for this age bracket.

The countdown for Indian rocket mission begins at 5 pm today

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The countdown for Indian rocket mission begins at 5 pm today

The 25-hour countdown for the Thursday evening launch of the Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) carrying three Singapore satellites will begin at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

The mission is code-named PSLV-C53/DS-EO.

The Indian rocket will carry three satellites — the 365 kg DS-EO and 155 kg NeuSAR, satellites belonging to Singapore and built by Starec Initiative of South Korea.

The third satellite is a 2.8 kg Scoob-1 of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.

If the launch is successful, the PSLV rocket would have launched 345 foreign satellites belonging to 36 countries since 1999.

According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the PSLV-C53 rocket is expected to blast off from the second launch pad at the Sriharikota rocket port at 6 p.m. on June 30.

The Indian space agency, ISRO will use the rocket’s fourth and final stage as an orbital platform for six payloads, including two from Indian space start-ups, Digantara and Dhruva Aerospace.

The mission proposes to demonstrate the utilisation of the spent upper stage of the launch vehicle as a stabilised platform for scientific payloads, subsequent to the separation of the satellites.

The four stage expendable, 44.4 m tall PSLV-C53 has a lift-off mass of about 228 ton and total weight of the three satellites is 522.8 kg.

The rocket’s four stages will be powered by alternating solid and liquid fuel.

Thursday’s flight will be the 55th mission of PSLV and 15th mission using the PSLV-Core Alone variant.

In its normal configuration, the rocket will have six strap-on motors hugging its first stage.

In the Core Alone variant of PSLV, the six strap-on motors will not be there as the payload weight is less.

The Indian space agency has PSLV variants with two and four strap-on motors and larger PSLV-XL.

 

Kajol, Suriya invited to join Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

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Kajol, Suriya invited to join Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Popular Tamil star Suriya, Bollywood actress Kajol, award-winning filmmaker Nalin Kumar Pandya aka Pan Nalin, Oscar-nominated documentary makers Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas, and Indian American ‘Deadpool’ and ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ producer Adiya Sood have been inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body that presents the Oscars each year.

Our correspondent from Chennai reports that Suriya is the first South Indian actor to be inducted into the Academy till date.

On Tuesday, the Academy released the list of 397 distinguished artistes and executives it had invited to join the organisation in 2022. The Academy said the new members had been selected on the basis of their professional qualifications and their “ongoing commitment to representation, inclusion and equity”.

‘Variety’ notes that if all of this year’s invitees accept membership, it will bring the total number of Academy members to 10,665, with 9,665 eligible to vote for the 95th Oscars set to take place on March 12, 2023.

The new invitees, 50 per cent of whom are from 53 countries and territories outside the United States, include 71 Oscar nominees, including 15 winners.

Some of the big names invited are recent winners Ariana DeBose (‘West Side Story]) and Troy Kotsur (‘CODA’), and nominees Jessie Buckley (‘The Lost Daughter’), Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee (‘The Power of the Dog’).

Also invited, according to ‘Variety’, are a slew of global artistes such as Robin de Jes s (‘Tick, Tick … Boom!’), Olga Merediz (‘In the Heights’) and Vincent Lindon (‘Titane’), director Reinaldo Marcus Green (‘King Richard’), screenwriters Jeremy O Harris (‘Zola’) and Jon Spaihts (‘Dune’), and pop star Billie Eilish, who also sang for ‘No Time to Die’.

Lindon, incidentally, was the president of the competition section jury of the 75th Cannes Film Festival.

 

Popular Tamil actress Meena’s husband Vidyasagar passes away

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Popular Tamil actress Meena’s husband Vidyasagar passes away

Vidyasagar, the husband of well-known Tamil actress Meena, passed away at a private hospital in the city on Tuesday night. He was 48.

Sources close to the actress said that Vidyasagar was diagnosed with a lung ailment in March this year and had to be treated for it. Prior to that, he was down with Covid-19 but had managed to recover from it.

The health condition of Vidyasagar, who was hospitalized for the treatment of his lung problem, worsened on Tuesday night and he passed away around 7 p.m.

His funeral is to take place at the Besant Nagar crematorium in Chennai at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

Meena, who has worked extensively in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam cinema for over three decades, has been a part of several critically acclaimed superhits including Mohanlal’s ‘Drishyam’ and Kamal Haasan’s ‘Avvai Shanmugi’.

 

Hansika’s ‘Maha’ to hit screens on July 22

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Hansika’s ‘Maha’ to hit screens on July 22

Director U.R. Jameel’s much-awaited thriller ‘Maha’, featuring actress Hansika Motwani in the lead, will finally hit screens on July 22, its makers announced on Tuesday.

The film, which has been awaiting release for quite a long time, has triggered a lot of interest amongst industry insiders and film buffs for two reasons.

The first is that the film is Hansika’s 50th film and the next is that actor Silambarasan has played a role in the film.

‘Maha’ is produced by Malik Streams Corporation, a production, and distribution company that is based in Malaysia.

The film, which has music by Ghibran, has cinematography by J Laxman and editing by John Abraham.

Along with UR Jameel, the film has been co-directed by Anju Vijai and is touted to be a gripping thriller.

 

Gal Gadot, Priyanka Chopra Jonas congratulate Alia on her pregnancy

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Gal Gadot, Priyanka Chopra Jonas congratulate Alia on her pregnancy

Hollywood star Gal Gadot, who will be seen sharing the screen with Alia Bhatt in the latter’s Hollywood debut ‘Heart of Stone’, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who will co-star with Alia in the Farhan Akhtar directorial ‘Jee Le Zaraa’, have congratulated the ‘Dear Zindagi’ actress on the announcement of her pregnancy.

Alia had shared the happy news with her friends and fans, writing in the caption, “Our baby .. coming soon.” Gal Gadot had commented on the post with three heart emojis. Gal had also congratulated Bhatt on her wedding to Ranbir in April of this year.

Priyanka too reacted to the news, saying, “Congratulations honey!! Yaaaaay! Can’t wait”, in the comments section of Alia’s post. In addition, Neha too commented, “Congratulations welcome to the best hood!

Alia’s mentor and Dharma Productions head honcho Karan Johar too had taken to the story section of his Instagram as he uploaded a picture from Ranbir and Alia’s wedding day. Congratulating the couple, he wrote on the picture, “So much love for them! My baby is going to be a mother! I can’t express my feeling… so so so excited! Love you Both (sic).”

Alia changes Instagram profile pic after pregnancy announcement

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Alia changes Instagram profile pic after pregnancy announcement

After announcing her pregnancy through an Instagram post recently, Alia Bhatt also changed her Instagram display picture to the one where she can be seen embracing her husband Ranbir Kapoor, as infectious smiles light up the couple’s faces.

Incidentally, the new picture was earlier shared by Alia’s mother-in-law and Ranbir’s mother, Neetu Kapoor on her Instagram. She had captioned the picture, “God bless”. Alia had taken to the comments sections of Neetu’s post as she wrote, “My favorite picture” followed by heart emojis.

Alia has since then put up the picture in question as to her profile picture. Earlier, Alia’s mom Soni Razdan expressed happiness over Alia and Ranbir’s announcement of their baby’s arrival.

She told ‘India Today’, “We are simply overjoyed and over the moon with happiness. Both for the soon-to-be parents as well as for the whole family. There is nothing more profound, more joyful, and more significant in life than having a child and bringing another being into this world. Our cup runneth over.

Big B poses with big names of South Indian cinema, pic goes viral

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Big B poses with big names of South Indian cinema, pic goes viral

A picture of superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas, Nani, and Dulquer Salmaan with filmmakers Raghavendra Rao, Prashanth Neel, and Nag Ashwin is currently going viral on the Internet.

The picture is reported to be from the inaugural ceremony of the production house Vyjayanthi Movies’ new office in Hyderabad. Vyjayanthi Movies, which recently clocked 50 years in the business, is currently bankrolling ‘Project K’ starring Prabhas, Big B, and Deepika Padukone.

Earlier, Prabhas had requested the makers of ‘Project K’ to push the shooting dates of the film following Deepika’s health care.

The film, which is reportedly mounted on a budget of Rs 500 crore, is being simultaneously shot in Hindi and Telugu and is Deepika’s debut vehicle in Telugu cinema. The film is science fiction and is directed by Nag Ashwin.

 

Team of ‘My Dear Bootham’ on cloud nine after Udhayanidhi Stalin praises the film

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Team of ‘My Dear Bootham’ on cloud nine after Udhayanidhi Stalin praises the film

The team of director N Ragavan’s upcoming kid’s fantasy film ‘My dear Bootham’, featuring actors Prabhu Deva and Remya Nambeesan in the lead, is on cloud nine as actor-producer-politician Udhayanidhi Stalin, who recently watched their film, has praised it.

Sources close to the unit say that the actor, who watched the film at a special screening, recently called director Ragavan over the phone and praised the film.

The out-and-out kid’s fantasy flick, which has been produced by Ramesh P Pillai for Abhishek Films, is ready for release.

Udhayanidhi is believed to have told the director that he liked the film very much and added that it had struck an emotional chord. He said people from all walks of life would enjoy ‘My Dear Bootham’ and that the movie would go on to become a blockbuster.

Meanwhile, the movie’s team said that the satellite rights and OTT rights of ‘My Dear Bootham’ had been bagged for a hefty price by Zee Tamil and Zee5, respectively.

Prabhudeva plays the role of a genie in the flick, which also stars N Aswanth, Aliya, Suresh Menon, Samyuktha, Imman Annachi, and Lollu Sabha Swaminathan. Child artists Param Guhanesh, Saathvik, Sakthi, and Kaesitha are also part of the cast.

N Ragavan said that the bonding and journey of the Genie and a ten-year-old kid is the main theme of the story. “The movie belongs to the kid’s fantasy genre, and it can be thoroughly enjoyed by family audiences,” he said.

N Ragavan further said that the movie will have CG sequences for almost one-and-a-half hours and that they had used state-of-the-art technology for these sequences. “Every filmmaker will have the desire to make a movie for kids, mine is getting fulfilled with this,” he added.

“The flick will have comedy and emotions in the right mixture. Prabhu Deva has done his homework for the character and evokes laughter even with his body language,” he said.

D Music for the film is by D Imman, while cinematography is by U K Senthil Kumar.

Editing is by San Lokesh and art direction is by A R Mohan. Deva has penned the dialogues.

Red Giant Movies acquires TN distribution rights of Vikram-starrer ‘Cobra’

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Red Giant Movies acquires TN distribution rights of Vikram-starrer ‘Cobra’

Actor and politician Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Red Giant Movies has acquired the Tamil Nadu distribution rights of director Ajay Gnanmuthu’s eagerly awaited action thriller ‘Cobra’, which features actor Vikram in the lead.

Making the announcement on its Twitter handle, Red Giant Movies said, “Thrilled to announce that Red Giant Movies have acquired the Tamil Nadu theatrical distribution rights for Chiyaan Vikram’s ‘Cobra’. Save the date. ‘Cobra’ from August 11.”

‘Cobra’, which took close to three years to film, has triggered a lot of interest among audiences as it will mark the acting debut of former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan, who plays the villain in the film.

Vikram plays a brilliant mathematician who uses numbers to solve crimes in the film, which features Srinidhi Shetty as the female lead.

The film has cinematography by Harish Kannan and music by A R Rahman.

 

Chris Hemsworth fanboys over ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ co-star Russell Crowe

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Chris Hemsworth fanboys over ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ co-star Russell Crowe

Chris Hemsworth, who is set to headline the upcoming superhero film ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, recently expressed his happiness about co-starring with Academy and Golden Globe award-winning actor Russell Crowe the film, who happens to be the latest addition to the MCU.

Speaking of acting alongside Crowe, Chris Hemsworth who plays the titular role of Thor in the franchise, said, “I never thought I’d see the day where Russell would appear on-screen with hints at ‘Gladiator’ imagery, yet with a wink, totally self-deprecating. He didn’t hold back.”

In his own words, Hemsworth fanboyed over Crowe, who is the former’s childhood idol. “I’m such a fan. I have been since I first started acting. There’s such weight and seriousness to his performances and to him, as an individual, from afar. But meeting him, he has a great sense of humor and did whatever Taika asked on set, which was mind-blowing”, Hemsworth added.

Russell Crowe will be seen playing Greek God, Zeus in the Chris Hemsworth-Natalie Portman-Christian Bale starrer, ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ which will release in Indian cinemas on July 7 in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.

 

Hockey Olympian Varinder Singh passes away

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Hockey Olympian Varinder Singh passes away

Hockey Olympian Varinder Singh passed away at Jalandhar in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Born on May 16, 1947, he won a bronze medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. He also competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics.

Hockey India mourned the demise of the 75-year-old Varinder, saying the two-time Olympian was a part of Indian hockey’s glorious past.

Recipient of the prestigious Dhayan Chand Award, Varinder was an integral part of India’s various memorable victories in the 1970s. Some of his major achievements include a gold medal at the 1975 Men’s Hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This remains India’s only gold medal at the prestigious World Cup where India had beaten arch-rivals Pakistan 2-1.

Varinder was also part of the bronze medal-winning team at the 1972 Munich Olympics and the silver medal-winning team at the 1973 World Cup in Amsterdam.

He also had to his credit silver medals at the 1974 and 1978 Asian Games, respectively. The Indian hockey stalwart was also featured in the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

In 2007, Varinder was conferred with the prestigious Dhyan Chand Life Time Achievement Award.

His funeral will likely take place on Tuesday.

 

India to play away white-ball series against New Zealand in November

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India to play away white-ball series against New Zealand in November

New Zealand will play a limited-overs series against India at home immediately after the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia in what promises to be one of the most keenly-contested fixtures in the busy schedule for the Black Caps this year.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced the schedule of the tour on Tuesday with the opening fixture, a T20 International, scheduled at the Sky Stadium in Wellington on November 18. The two teams will first play a three-match T20I series, which will be followed by a three-match One-day International series beginning at Eden Park, Auckland on November 25.

In an extremely busy for New Zealand cricket, they will host England in a day-night Test this summer, while the Black Caps will also play white-ball series at home against Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, besides India, over the next 10 months.

This effectively means that they will be hosting five different teams between October 2022 and April 2023.

The Kiwis will take on Pakistan and Bangladesh in a T20I tri-series at the start of October, before traveling to Australia for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. At the completion of that tournament, India will visit New Zealand for three T20I and three ODIs, before England arrive in the middle of February for two Tests that won’t form part of the current World Test Championship (WTC) period.

The opening Test of that series will be under lights in Mount Maunganui and will be the first day-night Test match in New Zealand since Auckland hosted a clash against England in 2018. England was rolled for just 58 on the opening day of that day-night Test at Eden Park, with current stars Joe Root, Ben Stokes, and Jonny Bairstow all dismissed without scoring as Trent Boult and Tim Southee ripped through the visitors’ batting line-up, according to ICC.

Two Tests against Sri Lanka in March will follow the England series, before a bumper few months of cricket will finish with white-ball series against the Island nation all the way through until April 8.

New Zealand’s women’s team will also host Bangladesh for three T20I and three ODIs in December, before they travel to South Africa for next year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

NZC CEO David White is hopeful of attracting big crowds to all series throughout the summer.

“Last summer’s Women’s World Cup did so much to promote the game, and it will be great to see the White Ferns in action right around the country,” White said. “And to have India, England and Sri Lanka touring here, on top of visits from Pakistan and Bangladesh, means cricket fans can look forward to a summer of top-quality cricket.”

New Zealand Men’s schedule:

T20 tri-series v Bangladesh and Pakistan: October 8, 9, 11, 12 and 14.

Tour by India: November 18: 1st T20; Sky Stadium, Wellington; November 20: 2nd T20; Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui; November 22: 3rd T20; McLean Park, Napier; November 25: 1st ODI; Eden Park, Auckland; November 27: 2nd ODI; Seddon Park, Hamilton; November 30: 3rd ODI; Hagley Oval, Christchurch.

Tour by England: February 16-20, 1st Test; Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui; February 24-February 28, 2nd Test; Basin Reserve, Wellington.

Tour by Sri Lanka: March 9-13, 1st Test; Hagley Oval, Christchurch; March 17- 21, 2nd Test; Basin Reserve, Wellington; March 25, 1st ODI; March 28: 2nd ODI; March 31: 3rd ODI; April 2: 1st T20; April 5: 2nd T20; April 8: 3rd T20.

New Zealand Women’s schedule

Tour by Bangladesh: December 2: 1st T20; December 4: 2nd T20; December 7: 3rd T20; December 11: 1st ODI; December 14: 2nd ODI; December 18: 3rd ODI.

Virat, Pant or Bumrah: With question mark over Rohit’s availability, India stare at captaincy puzzle

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Virat, Pant or Bumrah: With question mark over Rohit’s availability, India stare at captaincy puzzle

With a question mark hanging over skipper Rohit Sharma’s availability for the rescheduled fifth Test against England starting at Edgbaston on July 1 as the charismatic batter continues his recovery from Covid-19, India has a captaincy puzzle to contend with ahead of a high-stakes contest.

India leads the five-match Test series 2-1, and a win or even a draw will help them clinch the series, but a loss would certainly not do their morale any good given the busy season ahead and the crucial World Test Championship (WTC) points at stake.

Sharma had tested positive for Covid-19 during the warm-up game against Leicestershire, missing the second innings of the match. There is hope in the Indian team management that he will recover in time for the Test, but should he fail to do so, India will be in a piquant situation as vice-captain KL Rahul too has been ruled out due to a groin injury.

On Monday, India had to fly opener, Mayank Agarwal, to join the squad in Birmingham as cover for Sharma. While the India squad still has a few members on the side who can step up to fill the void, it remains to be seen how things pan out in the next couple of days.

Among the leading contenders for the role of captain should Sharma continue his process of recovery, is pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah. It will be a historic moment for Indian cricket as the talismanic bowler will become the first quick since the legendary Kapil Dev to lead an Indian Test side after nearly three decades, according to ICC.

The 28-year-old Bumrah was earlier named vice-captain during India’s tour of South Africa during the ODI series, with KL Rahul leading the side in Sharma’s absence. He was also the vice-captain during the Test and T20I series against Sri Lanka, serving as Sharma’s deputy.

Captaining the side though will still be a big ask for Bumrah, who has so far played 29 Tests at the international level. He is yet to don the leadership hat for India in any format and has also not captained a side in the IPL.

On the other hand, India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is a rising star and is being groomed as a future captain. Having received guidance from none other than former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting in the Indian Premier League and having led Delhi Capitals for two seasons, Pant has enough captaincy experience under his belt to lead the side if the need arises.

He recently captained India in the five-match T20I series at home against South Africa, and while it wasn’t the most promising of starts for Pant, as India drew 2-2 with the final match being washed out, the side did claw back from a 0-2 deficit to end the series on level terms.

Pant’s aggressive instincts could come in handy as a leader against England, and it remains to be seen whether the team management is keen to task him with the responsibility in the high-profile fifth Test.

While former skipper Virat Kohli has an outside chance of being asked to lead the side, given the fact that it was under him that India took the 2-1 lead against England last year, it would be befitting for him to complete the unfinished task.

Kohli gave up the captaincy in the longest format after a 2-1 series loss in South Africa. But there is no questioning his credentials as a leader. Under him, India scaled the peak of Test cricket, becoming the No.1 ranked side in the world and reaching the final of the World Test Championship, losing to New Zealand. Kohli is India’s most successful captain in the longest format, with India winning 40 out of the 68 matches under his leadership — a win percentage of 58.82, according to ICC.

Whether Kohli remains keen on donning the captaincy role again remains to be seen.

The world’s richest person Elon Musk turns 51

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The world’s richest person Elon Musk turns 51

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk touted to be the most successful tech entrepreneur and investor in the world, turned 51 on Tuesday.

Musk, born on June 28, 1971, often remains in the news for his updates on his ventures such as SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Co.

He is also known to comment on politics, pop culture, and world events.

His fans and followers poured birthday wishes for him on the microblogging site Twitter.

“Happy birthday @elonmusk. You are my superhero. I hope you will succeed in the Mars mission,” a user wrote.

“51 years ago on this day, a man with a vision of changing the future was born… Happy Birthday, Elon,” another user wrote on the platform.

As per Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with an estimated net worth of around $203 billion as of June 2022, Musk is the wealthiest person in the world.

In 2002, Musk founded SpaceX of which he serves as CEO and Chief Engineer. In 2004, he was an early investor in electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors, Inc. (now Tesla, Inc.).

He became its chairman and product architect, eventually assuming the position of CEO in 2008.

Musk helped create SolarCity, a solar energy company, in 2006, which was later acquired by Tesla and became Tesla Energy.

In 2015, he co-founded OpenAI, a nonprofit research company promoting friendly artificial intelligence.

In 2016, he co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology company focused on developing brain-computer interfaces and founded The Boring Company, a tunnel construction company.

Musk, who made a whopping $44 billion deal, has been quiet on the social media platform since June 21.

Ukrainian, Moldovan Presidents discuss EU integration

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Ukrainian, Moldovan Presidents discuss EU integration

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his visiting Moldovan counterpart Maia Sandu discussed bilateral cooperation and the two countries’ integration into the European Union (EU).

At a news conference after the talks on Monday, Zelensky said that Ukraine and Moldova have all opportunities to deepen their partnership in the humanitarian sphere, economy, politics, and cross-border cooperation, reports Xinhua news agency.

The two sides also discussed the partnership in the transport sector, in particular Ukraine’s assistance in the reconstruction of the Moldovan railway, as well as strengthening energy cooperation.

Zelensky also urged Sandu to deepen security cooperation between Ukraine and Moldova.

For her part, Sandu said that obtaining the status of candidates for EU membership is a historic event for Ukraine and Moldova.

She added that her country is ready to assist Ukraine in the post-conflict reconstruction and in transit goods.

Sandu arrived in Kiev earlier in the day for her first visit to Ukraine since the start of the war.

Ukraine applied for EU membership shortly after the conflict began, and was granted, along with Moldova, the status of candidate for EU membership last week.

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