Facebook drops flagship F8 developer conference this year

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Facebook drops flagship F8 developer conference this year

Meta has announced not to hold its flagship Facebook F8 developer conference this year, as it gears up for new initiatives towards metaverse.

Meta will instead organize its “inaugural business messaging event”, called Conversations, on May 19.

“Similar to years past, we are taking a brief break in programming and will not hold F8 in 2022 while we gear up on new initiatives that are all tailored towards the next chapter of the internet, and the next chapter of our company too: building the metaverse,” Meta said in a blog post late on Wednesday.

“Similar to the early stages of the web, building the metaverse will be a collaborative effort at every stage — with other companies, creators and developers like you,” he added.

After the inaugural business messaging event on May 19, the company will organize a ‘Connect’ event later this year, “where we’ll share the latest on our VR, AR, and metaverse platform offerings”.

Google I/O development conference will take place on May 11-12 while Apple will hold its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC22) from June 6-10 and both will be online.

IFA 2022 is set to be an in-person event in early September.

Meta said that “similar to the early stages of the web, building the metaverse will be a collaborative effort at every stage – with other companies, creators and developers like you”.

Google can’t remove apps that link to external payments in S. Korea

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Google can’t remove apps that link to external payments in S. Korea

Tech giant Google will be violating South Korean law if it pushes through with its plan to remove apps linking to external payment methods, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said in new legal guidance.

Last year, the country passed a law that requires major app stores to accept alternative payment methods, and Google readily agreed to comply, reports Engadget.

It allowed developers to offer an alternative in-app billing system to live alongside its own.

Google still collects a cut for payments made through that alternative billing system, though, and it is only 4 percent lower than the commission the company collects for payments made through its own system.

If the typical service fee for a purchase is 15 percent, then Google collects 11 percent instead. For ebooks, it collects a 6 percent commission instead of 10, the report said.

Korean developers were not happy, and as The Register and The Wall Street Journal report, they responded by linking out to third-party payment systems to avoid paying Google’s fees.

The company had already blocked them from being able to update their apps and it warned them that their apps will be removed from the Play Store if they continue to offer external links by June 1.

Federation Cup Athletics: Assam sprinter Amlan Borgohain breaks 200m National record

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Federation Cup Athletics: Assam sprinter Amlan Borgohain breaks 200m National record

Amlan Borgohain of Assam scorched the track to set a new men’s 200m National record by clocking 20.52 seconds on a rain-hit final day in the 25th AFI National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships, here on Wednesday.

In the thrilling women’s 200m final, Hima Das (Assam) held back a challenge from Aishwarya Kailash Mishra (Maharashtra) and Priya H Mohan (Karnataka). Hima Das stopped the clock in 23.63 seconds to win by one-hundredth of a second from 400m champion Aishwarya. Priya H Mohan, who did not compete in the 400m, settled for third place in a personal best time.

The 23-year-old Amlan sank Muhammed Anas Yahiya’s existing mark of 20.63 seconds in a race that saw the top three finish inside 21 seconds. However, it was only Amlan Borgohain who matched the Asian Games qualifying standard set by the Athletics Federation of India. Having run successive sub-21-second races in September and March, he gave proof of his progress.

Avinash Sable, known to break national records in the Steeplechase, rewrote the men’s 5000m meet record with a fine effort over 13:39.43 that raised the expectation that he could soon be claiming the national record standing in the name of Bahadur Prasad since June 27, 1992. Kartik Kumar’s bid for the distance double came unstuck in the face of Sable’s run.

The top three finishers, including Uttar Pradesh’s Abhishek Pal, met the Asian Games qualification criteria set by AFI. Running his maiden competitive race over the distance at the national level, Sable became the fourth-fastest Indian in the 12-1/2-lap race. In fact, it was the fastest 5000m by an Indian on home soil.

The Triple Jump saw a pulsating contest with Eldhose Paul (Kerala) breaking a 10-year-old meet mark when he leaped 16.99m to claim gold. On a day when Praveen Chithravel (Tamil Nadu) and Karthik Unnikrishnan (Kerala) also secured qualification marks for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, Eldhose Paul won by a comfortable margin.

Two 31-year-old Hammer Throwers, Sarita Romit Singh (Uttar Pradesh) and Manju Bala Singh (Rajasthan) produced a riveting contest. Having traded the National Record over the last so many years, they fought tooth and nail on Wednesday. Manju Bala Singh led with 63.12m on her third try but Sarita Romit Singh won gold with 64.16m on her fifth attempt.

Manju Bala Singh also came up with a 64m throw on her last try but had to settle for silver. They pushed one another so competitively that it was the first time that both breached the 64m in the same competition. They also earned qualification marks for the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.

There was a similar contest in the men’s 400m Hurdles final, MP Jabir (Kerala) and T Santhosh Kumar (Tamil Nadu) coming home inside 51 seconds while Dhaval Mahesh Utekar (Gujarat) beat the fancied Ayyasamy Dharun (Tamil Nadu) to the bronze medal. The seasoned Anu Raghavan beat her younger Kerala team-mate R Arathi to the women’s 400m Hurdles gold.

The results (finals):

Men:

200m:
1. Amlan Borgohain (Assam) 20.52 seconds (New National & Meet Records. Old NR: 20.63, Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Jalonec, August 15, 2018. Old MR: 20.79, Anand Menezes, Chennai, 2002); 2. Akash Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 20.89; 3. Muhammed Ajmal (Kerala) 20.92.
5000m:

1. Avinash Sable (Maharashtra) 13:39.43 (New Meet Record. Old: 13:47.28, G Lakshmanan, Patiala, 2018); 2. Kartik Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 13:48.59; 3. Abhishek Pal (Uttar Pradesh) 13:48.99.

400m Hurdles:

1. MP Jabir (Kerala) 50.35 seconds; 2. T Santhosh Kumar (Tamil Nadu) 50.72; 3. Dhaval Mahesh Utekar (Gujarat) 51.58.

Triple Jump:

1. Eldhose Paul (Kerala) 16.99m (New Meet Record. Old: 16.85, Renjith Maheshwary, Patiala, 2012); 2. Praveen Chithravel (Tamil Nadu) 16.84; 3. Karthik Unnikrishnan (Kerala) 16.81.

Hammer Throw:

1. Deepak (Haryana) 60.83m; 2. Baljinder Singh (Punjab) 59.62; 3. Gurdev Singh (Punjab) 59.39.

Women:

200m:

1. Hima Das (Assam) 23.63 seconds; 2. Aishwarya Kailash Mishra (Maharashtra) 23.64; 3. Priya H Mohan (Karnataka) 23.85.

5000m:

1. Parul Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) 15:39.77; 2. Seema (Himachal Pradesh) 15:40.60; 3. Sanjivani Babur Jadhav (Maharashtra) 15:42.80.

400m Hurdles:

1. Anu Raghavan (Kerala) 58.63 seconds; 2. Arathi R (Kerala) 59.44; 3. Simmy (Haryana) 59.87.

Hammer Throw:

1. Sarita Romit Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 64.16m; 2. Manju Bala Singh (Rajasthan) 64.01; 3. Tanya Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) 59.84.

Diabetes, BP, asthma significantly high in India post Covid

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Diabetes, BP, asthma significantly high in India post Covid

The prevalence and distribution of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, asthma, and obesity are significantly on the rise across the country after the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report, ahead of the World Health Day.

World Health Day is a global health awareness day celebrated every year on April 7.

The Health of the Nation 2022 report, by Apollo Hospitals, indicated a national prevalence for diabetes mellitus of around 7 percent, over 8 percent for hypertension, and around 2 percent for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COPD) and asthma.

NCDs pose devastating health consequences for individuals, families, and communities with socioeconomic costs that can derail India’s achieving the target of reducing premature mortality from NCDs by one-third by 2030 in line with the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In India, NCDs kill 6 million people every year of which around 23 percent are between 30-70 years of age.

“As we emerge from the shadow of Covid, it is imperative to bring the focus back on the pandemic of NCDs, a focus that faced a disruption impacting diagnosis and treatment for millions of patients,” said Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, in a statement.

“For a developing country like India, NCDs are a critical matter that needs to be addressed. Considering our population of 1.2 billion, these are huge numbers that will increase the burden of disease and impact productivity and economic growth,” he added.

He suggested addressing the NCD challenge through the promotion of healthy lifestyles, early diagnosis, and management.

The increasing risk of NCDs such as diabetes, BP, and cardiovascular diseases in India is majorly the result of physical inactiveness clubbed with genetic factors, revealed a report by Indus Health Plus. Regular preventive screening and a healthy lifestyle with physical activities may help curb NCDs in the country.

According to Dr. Tilak Suvarna, senior interventional cardiologist, Asian Heart Institute, Mumbai, correcting six lifestyle choices such as unhealthy snacking habits, excessive salt consumption, lack of physical activity, overindulging in alcohol, smoking and chewing tobacco, and excessive stress can help people live with not only a healthy heart but overall fitness and well being.

South African woman first to test positive for XE Covid variant in India

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South African woman first to test positive for XE Covid variant in India

A woman costumes designer of South African origin has become the first person in India to test positive for the XE variant of Covid-19, the state health department and officials of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said here on Wednesday.

‘XE’ is a mutant hybrid of the two previous versions of the Omicron variant, BA.1 and BA.2, which is spreading across the world. It was first detected in the UK on January 19 and since then a few hundred sequences have been reported and confirmed.

The 50-year-old fully vaccinated patient, whose identity has not been disclosed as per norms, was part of a film shooting crew that arrived here from South Africa on February 10.

She had no previous travel history and as per the protocols, she underwent regular tests and tested Covid positive on February 27. Her lab sample was referred to the Kasturba Hospital Central Laboratory here.

The BMC said that during routine testing by Suburban Diagnostics, the woman – jabbed with both doses of Comirnaty vaccine – tested positive again on March 2.

She was immediately quarantined at the Hotel Taj Land’s End in Bandra, where she recovered in a couple of days and another test conducted on her by Spice Health returned negative.

Given her recent foreign travel, the BMC had sent this sample for genome sequencing along with 230 other positive samples of which one was an XE variant, one Capa and the rest were Omicron BA.2 variants, informed BMC Commissioner I.S. Chahal.

After the woman was detected with the XE Covid variant, her condition was described as asymptomatic and without comorbidities. All her high-risk contacts have tested negative and there is no cause for worry, assured Chahal.

This was among the 230 samples tested by the health authorities as part of its ongoing serosurvey series in which the XE variant emerged, while another was detected with the Capa variant.

The state health department said that on repeated RT-PCR testing, the woman has tested negative.

As per the World Health Organization’s (WHO) notification issued last week, the new XE variant, first detected in the United Kingdom, is a mutant hybrid of two other Omicron versions, BA.1 And BA.2, and accounts for a minuscule fraction of cases globally.

The WHO has said that the new mutant is around 10 percent more transmissible than the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron.

The latest development has caused concerns in the health circles as Maharashtra is on the path of recovery and in the final stages of the ongoing third wave which started in December 2021.

To date, the state has notched 78,74,690 Covid cases in the past two years, along with 1,47,800 deaths, both the highest in the country.

President Kovind calls for new age relationship between India and the Netherlands

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President Kovind calls for new age relationship between India and the Netherlands

Calling for a new-age partnership between India and the Netherlands, President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday said it can focus on three broad elements and can combine resources, expertise, and knowledge with the skills to address contemporary challenges, add strategic direction to the cooperation and maximize benefits for both countries.

“First, we become knowledge and innovation partners with our people joining hands to undertake pioneering work in the fields of digital technology, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and fintech. Second, as two responsible members of the international community, we play a more proactive role in addressing common global challenges including climate change and adaptation. Third, India and the Netherlands, as key partners in defense and security work for a stable global order,” he said in response to remarks by the Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte at a lunch the latter hosted in his honor.

The President, who is on a visit to the Netherlands and will return to India on Thursday, said the two countries are long-standing partners with historical ties of friendship and collaboration.

“In the 75 years of our diplomatic ties, we have worked together in wide-ranging areas of mutual interest. These include our cooperation in water, agriculture, healthcare, science and technology, urban development, and smart cities. Our partnership has been both meaningful and impactful, contributing to improving the lives of our people,” he said.

On the third day of his stay in the Netherlands, President Kovind met Prime Minister Rutte, President of the Senate, Jan Anthonie Bruijn; and President of the House of Representatives, Vera Bergkamp, a communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

During interaction with the Presidents of the Senate and House of Representatives, he said that he was happy to be in the Netherlands in this special year of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

The President said that parliamentary exchanges between the two countries would help in promoting mutual understanding and exchange of ideas. He also said, there is a need for more regular exchanges among their Parliaments. India would be happy to receive a visit by a parliamentary delegation from the Netherlands and a similar goodwill delegation could visit the Netherlands at a mutually convenient time, he said.

CBI files FIR in WBSSC recruitment scam

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CBI files FIR in WBSSC recruitment scam

The Central Bureau of Investigation team probing the recruitment irregularities in the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) on Wednesday filed an FIR at a local police station in the case.

It also submitted the report of its preliminary findings to the Calcutta High Court.

Following the instructions of the Calcutta High Court, the CBI team has already interrogated four present and former associates of the WBSSC, and on Wednesday, they grilled WBSSC’s program officer, Samarjit Acharya, and another officer Alok Kumar Sarkar.

Earlier the CBI team also integrated WBSSC advisor Santi Prasad Sinha in this connection. Sinha’s counsel, Bishwarup Sinha told media persons that his client will fully cooperate with CBI and reach the agency’s office whenever summoned.

The high court will hear the case again on April 27.

Since Monday there had been lots of complications relating to the hearing of the case by the high court as a number of judges heading division benches chose to recuse themselves. Finally, a division bench headed by Justice Subrata Talukdar agreed to hear it.

Cyber Police Kashmir save Rs 18 lakhs defrauded in scam

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Cyber Police Kashmir save Rs 18 lakhs defrauded in scam

The Cyber Police Kashmir has saved Rs 18 lakhs lost in a fake investment scam, officials said on Wednesday.

Cyber Police Station Kashmir Zone, Srinagar said in a statement that it received a complaint from a resident of Bandipora stating that he had been duped of Rs 18 lakhs by fraudsters in an online investment scam.

“The complainant received a link to a fake investment website on his cell number wherein he was promised to get double monetary benefits. The victim fell prey and accessed the website where he get himself registered on the said website by the opening of e-wallet,” the police said.

“After registration, the victim was made to transfer the hefty amount of Rs 18 lakhs in the said wallet through various UPI transactions. The victim after depositing the said amount was unable to get benefits and was also not able to withdraw his own amount from the said wallet. The complainant tried hard to reach out on available contact details of the said company but all in vain.”

The complainant approached Cyber Police Kashmir Zone Srinagar for redressal of his grievance. Subsequently, the matter was taken up with bank authorities to ascertain the details of UPI transactions.

“During analysis of transactions, it came to fore that the said amount has been transferred through payment gateways into their PayTm Nodal Accounts. With the strenuous and timely intervention by the team of Cyber Police Kashmir Zone Srinagar, the payment of Rs 18 lakhs was put on hold and later on refunded the whole amount into the complainant’s bank account,” police said.

Cyber police said it is a new trend for online influencers to convince gullible citizens about “double money return” schemes and make people feel bad about missing the “opportunity” of investing in instruments like crypto-currency, binary trading, crypto mining, online betting, and gaming.

Confident Indian junior women’s hockey team ready for Korea challenge

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Confident Indian junior women’s hockey team ready for Korea challenge

Ahead of their FIH hockey women’s junior World Cup quarterfinal on April 8, the Indian team expressed confidence and stated that the players are upbeat ahead of their important tie against Korea.

“The mood in the team is very good and every player is looking forward to the quarterfinal match against Korea. They are a good team but the focus will be on ourselves, and how we can improvise on our performance from the round-robin league matches,” stated captain Salima Tete.

The Indian women’s team topped pool D in the round-robin league stage where they beat Wales 5-1, Germany 2-1, and Malaysia 4-0.

Team vice-captain Ishika Chaudhary said their experience of playing alongside the senior women’s team, particularly over the past three months has helped boost their confidence.

“Many of us have been playing together for over three years now, there’s good team bonding and we understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. But getting to play with the Seniors over these last few months and working with them for the FIH Pro League matches was a big advantage,” she said.

“It helped us understand the structure better and some of us who made our debut with the senior side gained a lot of confidence. This has benefited us a lot in our Junior World Cup campaign.”

Further talking about taking on an opponent like Korea, who tends to slow their opponent with a solid defense structure, Ishika said, “Yes, speed has been our advantage and Korea is a team who can slow their opponent down. This is something we will be conscious about and we try to work our way around it and focus on creating space.”

Goalkeeper Bichu Devi Kharibam, who was the star of the match against Germany where she made a match-winning penalty stroke save, also reflected upon the experience she gained playing for the Senior side.

“I think that exposure was very important for me. While I was nervous and felt the pressure during the Pro League debut match, I am able to play here without any pressure and with a free mind. We have come into this tournament with a burning desire to win and I think we are showcasing that attitude on the field,” Bichu said.

Amit Shah to be in Bengal on April 16-17

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Amit Shah to be in Bengal on April 16-17

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to be on a two-day visit to West Bengal on April 16 and April 17, a BJP leader said on Wednesday.

This will be Shah’s first-ever visit to the state since the disappointing performance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last year’s West Bengal Assembly polls.

A BJP source told an interview that on April 16, the Home Minister would visit north Bengal, and the next day, attend several government and party programs in state capital Kolkata.

“He will hold meetings with all the elected party MPs and MLAs from the state, as well as the members of the newly formed state committee of the party. He is expected to seek details on the internal evaluations of the state committee on the election disaster,” he said.

Confirming this, West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said Shah will attend the party’s organizational meetings, besides attending government programs.

“The state committee will also hand over an organizational report to the Home Minister,” Majumdar said.

Meanwhile, state BJP sources said there is also a possibility of Shah holding a meeting with the rebel sections in the party’s state unit, and suggesting solutions to bring an end to the infighting.

IPL 2022: KKR win toss, opt to bowl against Mumbai Indians

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IPL 2022: KKR win toss, opt to bowl against Mumbai Indians

Kolkata Knight Riders’ captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl first against the Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians in an IPL 2022 match at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, here on Wednesday.

Speaking at the toss, Shreyas mentioned that Rasikh Salam is making his debut for Knight Riders and replaces Shivam Mavi, while Pat Cummins comes in place of Tim Southee.

“We are gonna bowl first. We are comfortable chasing with a set target in mind. All the teams are equally good and we always have to take that winning mindset and try and back your abilities,” the KKR captain said.

“We got two changes. Pat Cummins comes in place of Southee and Rasikh Salam comes in for Shivam Mavi. Southee was very supportive and we had a good conversation about the team changes,” he added.

On the other hand, Mumbai Indians also made two changes as Surykumar Yadav came in place of Anmolpreet Singh while debudent Dewald Brevis replaced Tim David in the playing XI.

“We were looking to bat first. We are not looking at what happened in the last two games, we have to play good cricket to win games and that is what we are prepared for. Looks like a good pitch,” said MI skipper Rohit.

“We have done well in patches and when you want to win games you gotta perform collectively and I think that is something that was missing in the last two games. A couple of changes. Sukumar Yadav comes in place of Anmolpreet Singh and we got Dewald Brevis who comes in for Tim David,” he added.

Playing XIs:

Mumbai Indians:

Ishan Kishan(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Daniel Sams, Dewald Brevis, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills, Basil Thampi.

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Sam Billings(w), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Umesh Yadav, Rasikh Salam, Varun Chakravarthy.

Tiger Shroff’s ‘Heropanti 2’ shot across five picturesque locations

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Tiger Shroff’s ‘Heropanti 2’ shot across five picturesque locations

Tiger Shroff’s upcoming film ‘Heropanti 2’ has been shot across five beautiful international locations to offer a visual treat to the audience.

After roping in some of Hollywood’s renowned action directors to work on the action sequences for the film, the producer also spared no cost in mounting the film on a huge scale which included filming at some prime international locations – England, India, Russia, Thailand, and Abu Dhabi.

After films like ‘Baaghi 2’ and ‘Baaghi 3’, trio Sajid Nadiadwala, Tiger Shroff and director Ahmed Khan are now looking to push the envelope and set a new benchmark in action with ‘Heropanti 2’.

The film also features Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Tara Sutaria in pivotal roles.

Written by Rajat Arora and with music by A R Rahman, the movie is scheduled to release in theatres on April 29 on Eid.

Google to bring Emoji reactions to Docs

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Google to bring Emoji reactions to Docs

Google Docs is getting support for emoji reactions that will allow users to respond to the text with a simple symbol rather than a fully written comment.

It said the new emoji reactions feature provides a less formal alternative to comments to express your opinions about document content.

“Emoji set is updated to the latest version (Emoji 14.0), reflecting the latest emoji set with options to accurately reflect your identity,” the company said in a blog post.

It also said it is bringing gender-neutral options for gender-modifiable emojis.

The company also said that there is no admin control for this feature. This feature will be ‘on’ by default and can not be disabled by the user.

To access reactions in Docs, users can hover over any message or an existing anchor and click on the “Add reaction” icon.

Additionally, emoji preferences are shared with Google Chat, so any preferences set in one app will be reflected in the other. Both apps can be used to update emoji preferences via the picker.

Korea Open badminton: Sindhu, Srikanth advance to second round

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Korea Open badminton: Sindhu, Srikanth advance to second round

Top Indian shuttlers — PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth — advanced to the second round of the 2022 Korea Open Badminton Championships after winning their respective matches at the Palma Stadium here on Wednesday.

Sindhu, ranked seventh in the BWF world rankings, defeated her 70th-ranked opponent Lauren Lam of the USA 21-15, 21-14 in 34 minutes, to progress to the second round of the women’s singles event.

The Indian badminton ace got off to a decent start and went into the break leading 11-6. She then dominated Lauren for the remainder of the first game to take a 1-0 lead. The American shuttler put up a good fight and kept Sindhu in check during the early part of the second game. However, the former world champion, who was leading 15-14, scored the final six points of the match to move into the second round of the BWF Super 500 event.

This was Sindhu’s second win against Lauren Lam in as many matches. The two shuttlers had previously clashed at the Syed Modi International earlier this year. The 26-year-old seeded third will now face world No 26 Aya Ohori of Japan.

Meanwhile, Kidambi Srikanth also made the second round in men’s singles with a 22-20, 21-11 over Malaysia’s Liew Daren.

The Indian shuttler, seeded fifth, had to come back from a three-point deficit to win game one but comfortably navigated the second game. He will now face Israel’s Misha Zilberman, the world No 50.

In men’s doubles, India’s M.R Arjun and Dhruv Kapila received a walkover from South Korea’s Ba Da Kim and Hee Young Park. They will face second seeds Muhammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan from Indonesia in the next round.

On the other hand, India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, third seeds in men’s doubles, got the better of South Korea’s Tae Yang Shin and Wang Chan 21-16, 21-15 while B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa accounted for Jun Liang Andy Kwek and Yujia Jin of Singapore by a 21-19, 21-18 scoreline in mixed doubles.

The only Indian defeat of the day came with world No 119 Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli going down 5-21, 13-21 against South Korean second seed and world No 4 An Seyoung in the final match of the day.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lakshya Sen and Malvika Bansod also won their respective first-round matches to make it to the second round.

IPL 2022: From Venkatesh Iyer to Ruturaj Gaikwad, last year’s performers are struggling

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IPL 2022: From Venkatesh Iyer to Ruturaj Gaikwad, last year’s performers are struggling

In this edition of IPL 2022, where newbies have performed to the best of their abilities, some of the top batters who did well in the last season of the tournament have struggled to get going.

These players, who amassed huge runs in the 2021 edition split into two halves, have not found the mojo that their teams would have liked to see in the first 13 matches of the 2022 edition.

The interviewer takes a look at the performers of last season who have struggled in the ongoing seasons of the league so far.

Ruturaj Gaikwad (CSK)

The orange cap holder of IPL 2021 with 635 runs in 16 matches, Gaikwad hasn’t been among the runs in the 2022 season. The right-handed opener from Pune has managed to score just two runs from the first three matches of Chennai Super Kings, including being out for a duck against Lucknow Super Giants.

Due to a lack of runs from the 25-year-old’s bat, Chennai hasn’t been able to get going with the bat in the first six overs. Chennai will be hoping that Gaikwad, who entered the tournament after recovering from a wrist injury during the T20I series against Sri Lanka, turns his poor start into something spectacular, just like he did in the last two seasons of IPL.

Venkatesh Iyer (KKR)

The breakout star of the second half of IPL 2021 with 370 runs in 10 matches has found his start to IPL 2022 a bit rough. Iyer entered the tournament for Kolkata Knight Riders after impressive performances with bat and ball in the T20I series against West Indies and Sri Lanka. But, in the IPL, Iyer has scored 16, 10, and 3 while opening at the top till now while he bowled once against Bangalore, conceding 10 runs as Harshal Patel took him to the cleaners.

Yashasvi Jaiswal (RR)

The youngster shined in an underwhelming campaign for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2021, making 249 runs in 10 matches with a high strike rate of 148.21. Rajasthan backed the left-handed opener when they retained him ahead of IPL 2022.

But Jaiswal hasn’t been able to repay the faith shown in him with scores of 20, 1 and 4 in the first three matches. Rajasthan will need runs from him to complement an in-form Jos Buttler at the top.

Prithvi Shaw (DC)

The 2018 U19 World Cup-winning captain has been a mainstay in the Delhi Capitals’ batting order for four seasons, which was exhibited when he got 479 runs in 15 matches of IPL 2021. Delhi has banked on him to get explosive starts in the first six overs.

But Shaw hasn’t been able to replicate the good starts of the past, getting out for 38 and 10 in playing the pull shot twice.

Delhi will be hoping that the potential return of David Warner in the opening slot will boost Shaw’s scoring abilities.

Nitish Rana (KKR)

The left-handed middle-order batter has been a crucial cog in the wheel for Kolkata, which was seen when he top-scored for them in IPL 2021 with 383 runs in 17 matches.

But Rana has been far from his best in IPL 2022, making 21, 10, and 0 in the first three matches. Kolkata will be hoping that Rana finds his groove with the bat for the upcoming matches.

Venkaiah Naidu praises RS MPs for showing patience during discussion on 2 bills

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Venkaiah Naidu praises RS MPs for showing patience during discussion on 2 bills

Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday praised the Members of the House for showing patience during the debate on the Chartered Accounts Bill and the Bill for re-unifications of the Delhi Municipal Corporations.

“I am so happy to see the patience shown by Deputy Chairman(Harivansh)and Members, cutting across the party lines. The Ministers who piloted the replies to the Bill were sharp but at the same time brief. I felt happy and also made a note to include it in my memoirs,” Naidu said.

He also said the debates were very impressive and others called him up to know about them.

While mentioning the cultural program held at his residence on the occasion of retirement of 72 Members of the Upper House on March 31, he said that the performance of the six Members was very impressive. “I enjoyed the performance of the six Members and yesterday Sansad TV broadcast the program. Those who could not attend the event can see it on the Youtube channel of Sansad TV, he said.

The Chairman also said that some of the members are very talented.

While moving ahead with the proceedings of the House, the Chairman also informed that the notices given by the Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Sushmita Dev, Nadimul Haq, and other Members gave notices under rule 267 to suspend the business of the House to discuss various issues including price hike, stand rejected.

Amid the commotions of the Opposition Members, the Chairman reiterated that if they give notice every day that was not correct as the chair has already stated its decision.

However, Leader of Opposition Kharge said that he a given notice regarding the hate speeches and harassment of some journalists. In many religious assemblies, the leaders of one community threat a minority community, but he was interrupted by the Chair who asked him to refrain from taking the name of a particular minority community.

Zomato, Swiggy suffer brief outage due to ‘technical glitch’

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Zomato, Swiggy suffer brief outage due to ‘technical glitch’

Online food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy, along with several other online platforms, suffered a brief nationwide outage on Wednesday, as thousands waited with bated breath to place or track their food orders.

According to the website outage monitor platform DownDetector, the Amazon Web Services (AWS) servers went down at the same time on Wednesday afternoon, indicating that it may have caused the brief outage. However, it could not be confirmed.

While 55 percent of users reported problems with server connection at AWS, 38 percent had problems with AWS Console, according to DownDetector.

AWS was yet to react while Zomato and Swiggy said on Twitter that they were working on resolving the “temporary glitch”.

Both food delivery apps were back in service after nearly half an hour-long outage.

Various users took to social media with complaints like being unable to place orders or browse menus.

“Zomato Swiggy down. Hungry people waiting for food” posted one user.

“Hey Zomato, it seems like the Android app has crashed. I am unable to track my order,” posted another.

TN to hold Global Investors Meet in Dec 2023: Stalin

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TN to hold Global Investors Meet in Dec 2023: Stalin

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin on Wednesday said the Global Investors Meet will be organized in December 2023.

Announcing this in the state Assembly, Stalin said the investors’ meeting will be organized by the government in December 2023 and attract more industrial investments.

He said the government has signed 130 Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with several investors involving an investment of Rs 68,375 crore.

According to him, the government will spread out industrialization in the state.

Stalin said the MoUs signed by his government with the investors will get converted into actual investments providing jobs to several people.

Telangana government insulted office of Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan

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Telangana government insulted office of Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan

Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Wednesday alleged that the state government is insulting the office of governor.

The Governor, who called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital, is believed to have apprised him of the recent incidents in the state including violation of the Governor’s protocol and the state government doing away with the Governor’s address from the Budget session of the state Legislature.

Talking to reporters after meeting with the Prime Minister, she referred to the recent incidents and said that the Constitutional post of the Governor should be respected.

Soundararajan, however, said she was not feeling offended and was leaving it to the people of Telangana to judge how the state government was behaving toward her.

“This is an open thing. Even media people, everyone knows. There is no need to report these things,” she said when asked if she reported to the Prime Minister about the incidents.

The meeting comes amid the growing chasm between Governor Soundararajan and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in recent months.

She said that though she has Constitutional powers, she doesn’t want to enforce them. She claimed that she wants to maintain good relations with the government.

She denied that she politicized anything or took any controversial decision. She defended the decision taken on the government’s recommendation to nominate P. Kaushik Reddy as a member of the Legislative Council.

“They can’t force me. I have already explained it. It’s the Governor’s quota and the provision is for the service category. When I am not satisfied with the candidature, it’s my right to tell. It’s not that everything should be accepted. It’s not that I am opposed to everything and I wanted to create a controversy,” she said.

Soundararajan argued that it was not a political decision but a Constitutional one.

“When they wanted to have a problem chairman of the Council once again, I pointed out the Constitutional provision as protem chairman is an interim arrangement. It should be accepted with an open heart or it could be discussed. Ministers or Chief Ministers can come to Raj Bhavan and discuss. I am for open discussion,” she said.

“If something is not accepted it does not mean that the Governor’s office should be insulted. Maybe some decisions of the Governor are not accepted. Does that mean the Governor’s office should be insulted, Governor’s protocol should be violated and Governor is not taken care of when she goes for a tour,” she asked.

She pointed out that the district and SP did not receive her when she went to Medaram Jatara, a tribal fair held in February.

She, however, said she didn’t care about these protocol violations. “I am concerned about the office of Governor. It should not be repeated. The office of the Governor should be respected. I am here today but somebody else may come tomorrow,” she said.

The Governor also mentioned the Chief Minister and ministers not attending the pre-Ugadi celebrations hosted by her at Raj Bhavan. She said others who were invited but were unable to come called her and explained why they couldn’t attend. “Even that response did not come (from the Chief Minister and ministers),” she said.

Karthik’s calm approach and innings of character was the key: RCB skipper Faf du Plessis

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Karthik’s calm approach and innings of character was the key: RCB skipper Faf du Plessis

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Faf du Plessis attributed his team’s win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) from a near-hopeless situation to Dinesh Karthik’s calm approach and the innings of character that he played at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday night.

Chasing RR’s 169, RCB were 4/62 at one stage, which became 5/87 soon, but Karthik’s unbeaten 44 off 23 deliveries and an equally belligerent 45 from Shahbaz Ahmed saw the Bengaluru franchise win by four wickets with five balls to spare.

Du Plessis gave RCB a solid start with a 20-ball 29, but two of their former players — Yuzvendra Chahal and Navdeep Saini — wrecked havoc and had the Bengaluru outfit on the mat. However, the batting master-class from Shahbaz and Karthik made the impossible happen.

Du Plessis was effusive in his praise of Karthik, saying the wicketkeeper-batter had pulled a rabbit out of the hat.

“That’s one out of the hat. To pull it out of nowhere you need some good characters, and DK (Dinesh Karthik) is as big a character as you can get. That calmness towards the end allows others to just come in,” said du Plessis.

The South African added that Jos Buttler’s (70 not out off 47 balls) last-over belligerence had made the chase difficult for RCB.

“I think we bowled really well up until the 19th, then Jos (Buttler) got some shots in with the bowlers under pressure. (He) got them (RR) a score just above par. We didn’t get the start we needed; Yuzi (Chahal) came in and bowled well. But the belief we have, guys can come in and win games from nowhere.

“He’s (Shahbaz) a skinny guy but he hits a long way, and he’s got a clear game plan. I believe he’ll play a big part with the ball too,” opined du Plessis.

Karthik, who was adjudged as the player of the match, said, “I made a conscious effort to do justice to myself. Felt I could have done better in the last few years. The way I’ve trained has been different. I was telling myself I’m not done yet.

“I have a goal and I want to achieve something. We needed 12 runs an over, so you need to figure out what to do. Stay calm, know your game and who you can take on. Made an effort to play white-ball cricket, practice matches, and scenarios. Those are the hours you put in when no one sees.

“The real work is done in the lead-up, which is what I’ll give credit to. You have to premeditate in T20, but if it’s not there, you have to have the ability to change the shot,” added Karthik.

RCB will next play Mumbai Indians in Pune on April 9.

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