Haryana CM presents budget of Rs 177,256 crore, announces Sushma Swaraj Award

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Haryana CM presents budget of Rs 177,256 crore, announces Sushma Swaraj Award

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who also holds the finance portfolio, on Tuesday, proposed a populist budget of Rs 177,256 crore for 2022-23, an increase of 15.6 percent over this fiscal of Rs 153,384 crore.

He also announced a ‘Sushma Swaraj Award’ for women for their significant contributions or achievements in different walks of life.

The budget outlay comprises 34.4 percent as capital expenditure of Rs 61,057.36 crore, while 65.6 percent as revenue expenditure of Rs 1,6,198.63 crore.

Presenting the budget, Khattar said the state has laid special emphasis on increasing capital infrastructure investment to boost demand, which holds a key role in speedy economic revival with a multiplier effect.

He announced tablets for all students from class 10 to 12, a scheme to provide soft loans to women entrepreneurs, and set up three dedicated funds to accelerate growth in various sectors.

A climate and sustainable development fund to achieve green development objectives, research, and innovation fund to promote scientific activity, besides scholarships in universities and educational institutions, and a venture capital fund to promote entrepreneurship was also announced.

According to the budget, the State Gross Domestic Product (GSDP) has increased from Rs 370,535 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 588,771 crore in 2021-22, at an annual increase of 6.5 percent.

The budget’s outlay includes revenue expenditure of Rs 61,057.35 crore and Rs 116,198.63 crore, which is 34.4 percent and 65.6 percent, respectively.

The total revenue receipts in the budget estimate for 2022-23 are projected at Rs 106,424.70 crore, which comprises tax revenue of Rs 73,727.50 crore, non-tax revenue of Rs 12,205.36 crore, the share of Central taxes at Rs 8,925.98 crore, and grants-in-aid of Rs 11,565.86 crore.

Besides, the capital receipts are projected to be Rs 5,393.89 crore.

This budget allocation has been aligned with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). Out of the total budget of Rs 177,255.99 crore, Rs 114,444.77 crore has been allocated for SDG-related schemes.

Haryana has remained successful in keeping the fiscal deficit within the percentage of GSDP as recommended by the 15th Central Finance Commission for the year 2021-22, said the Chief Minister.

Despite the Covid-19 crisis, about Rs, 30,820 crores have been borrowed from the market, while the permissible borrowing limit of the 15th Finance Commission was Rs 40,872 crore.

The fiscal deficit is estimated to be 2.99 percent of GSDP in 2021-22.

For 2022-23, it is estimated to reduce to 2.98 percent of GSDP. “This is within the limit of 3.5 percent as fixed by the 15th Finance Commission for 2022-23,” Khattar said.

The revenue deficit is also decreasing continuously. This revised estimate is estimated at 1.40 percent in 2021-22. It has been projected to further decrease to 0.98 percent of the GSDP in budget estimates of 2022-23.

The debt liability has also been successfully included.

The ratio of debt to GSDP in the Revised Estimates 2021-22 is estimated at 24.98 percent, while the stipulated limit recommended by the 15th Finance Commission is 32.6 percent of GSDP.

For budget estimates, the debt stock is expected to be 24.52 percent of GSDP, below the stipulated limit of 33.3 percent of GSDP recommended by the 15th Finance Commission.

Capital expenditure has a direct impact on economic development. The government is committed to enhancing the proportion of capital expenditure in the total expenditure, said the Chief Minister in his third consecutive budget speech in the House as the Finance Minister.

The capital share in the total expenditure has increased to 31.5 percent with Rs 48,265.49 crore in 2021-22.

It is proposed to increase the capital expenditure by 34.4 percent with Rs 61,057.35 crore in 2022-23.

In addition to the budgetary allocation for capital expenditure, Public Sector Undertakings are also investing substantial capital for the creation and strengthening of capital infrastructure in the state.

Dedicating the budget to women, Khattar announced many significant gifts for them on International Women’s Day.

He announced to start an award of Rs 5 lakh in the name of former Union minister Sushma Swaraj, who belonged to the state.

Noting that without women, society cannot even be imagined, he said that the women of Haryana have made their mark in many fields at the national and international level.

In his speech, he mentioned the first woman state Speaker, Shanno Devi, and the first woman Deputy Speaker, Lekhvati Jain.

The Chief Minister also announced to increase the participation of women in Panchayati Raj Institutions to 50 percent seats from 33 percent.

In addition, to attract women towards entrepreneurship, a new scheme, Haryana Mukhyamantri Udyami Yojana, has been announced. For this, assuming the annual income of the woman and her family members is less than Rs 5 lakh on the basis of the data of the Parivar Pehchan Patra, financial assistance of up to Rs 3 lakh will be given to the self-help group in the form of a loan.

Under this scheme, the Haryana Women Development Corporation will give a rebate of up to 7 percent in interest for three years.

Google to acquire cyber-security firm Mandiant for $5.4 bn

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Google to acquire cyber-security firm Mandiant for $5.4 bn

Google on Tuesday announced to acquire leading cyber defense and response company Mandiant in an all-cash deal of $5.4 billion.

Upon the close of the acquisition, Mandiant will join Google Cloud.

The acquisition of Mandiant will complement Google Cloud’s existing strengths in security, the company said in a statement.

“Organizations around the world are facing unprecedented cybersecurity challenges as the sophistication and severity of attacks that were previously used to target major governments are now being used to target companies in every industry,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud.

“We look forward to welcoming Mandiant to Google Cloud to further enhance our security operations suite and advisory services, and help customers address their most important security challenges,” he added.

With the addition of Mandiant, Google Cloud will deliver an end-to-end security operations suite with even greater capabilities to support customers across their cloud and on-premise environments.

Mandiant brings real-time and in-depth threat intelligence gained on the frontlines of cybersecurity with the largest organizations in the world.

“Since our founding in 2004, Mandiant’s mission has been to combat cyber attacks and protect our customers from the latest threats,” said Kevin Mandia, CEO, Mandiant. “To that end, we are thrilled to be joining forces with Google Cloud. Together, we will deliver expertise and intelligence at scale, changing the security industry.”

The acquisition of Mandiant is expected to close later this year.

New age boarding school redefining Indian education system

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New age boarding school redefining Indian education system

True education is far beyond imbibing theoretical knowledge or learning new concepts. Parents today want holistic education for their children, which includes the joy of learning, attaining life skills, developing an inquisitive mindset, discovery perspective, and innovative thinking. To equip their children with these qualities, parents are keen on sending their children to progressive educational institutions, which help them identify their strengths and ways of overcoming their weaknesses.

Pathways Education 2.0 is one such premium institute, which can be called a ‘house of learning as it helps students grow academically while parallelly helping them in reaching their true potential in sports, public speaking, music, arts, leadership, and design thinking. From an early age, the school encourages students to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset while holding a sense of adventure and developing leadership qualities that contribute to the overall growth of society. The schools’ curriculum design and offerings set it aside from the other regular boarding schools of the country. Being the first International Baccalaureate (IB) Continuum School in North India and the first residential school in the region to follow the IB curriculum, Pathways 2.0 is truly a one-of-a-kind boarding school that ensures a child’s holistic growth and development.

With a total strength of 1400 students belonging to 40 different nationalities, the school offers a perfect platform for indirect global exposure alongside myriad opportunities of learning from each other and growing together. With each classroom having an average strength of 15-20 students, all the children get maximum attention, despite the huge strength of the entire school. With this, it becomes convenient for the teachers to evaluate and mentor students as per their strengths and weaknesses. To ensure the holistic development of a child, Pathways provides multiple platforms to hone their academic and interpersonal skills such as empathy and active listening.

Pathways have successfully imbibed the Gross Student Happiness philosophy from Bhutan. The concept is new for any school as it evaluates how safe and loved a student is feeling within the premises and the boarding environment.

At Pathways, students are allowed to explore a sport of their interest. The range of sports facilities given at the school not only helps students in staying active and mentally alert but also helps them in developing life skills such as gamesmanship, team spirit, and a sense of building self-worth. One of the school’s key attractions is its elaborate sports infrastructure that includes an Olympic-sized Soccer field, Half Olympic-sized all-weather swimming pool, Glass Squash Courts, Multi-utility Gymnasium, Aerobics & Gymnastics, Horse Riding, Golf area, they even have Mini Basketball & Tennis Courts for kindergarten kids.

Apart from sports, Pathways focuses on developing creativity among students as it helps them in problem-solving, gaining perspective, purpose, and satisfaction in life. Unlike traditional schools, Pathways equally emphasizes arts for having a huge significance in daily activities. Students can explore their creative side while learning and experimenting in theatre, visual and digital art, and music labs. The emphasis on creativity can easily be assessed by the aesthetic values of the school, which is adorned with student masterpieces, ceiling to floor.

To help students develop various competencies required to ace in the 21st century, Pathways provides them multiple opportunities such as participation in the Model UN or StartUp Challenges. The school takes pride in nurturing and preparing students for various competitions and has won accolades at the World Scholars Cup competitions or IB Student Conferences around the globe. The school organizes assemblies and competitive events to encourage excellence in spoken word poetry, design challenges, and robotics. Apart from these, drama, music, and dance are a part of the regular curriculum.

Pathways organize camps, expeditions, and international exchanges to expose students to a wide range of cultural, educational, and linguistic diversities during their stay in camps and international visits. These camps and expeditions make students more sensitive towards biodiversity and natural resources available on the earth. To inculcate practical learning, Pathways shares research projects with students where they can implement various concepts learned in science, economics, history, and environmental issues. At Pathways, students are motivated to take initiatives through which they often display their capabilities by making small-level but effective changes. For instance, a Pathways student formed a team and cleaned a garbage field near his house to grow veggies, which are free to be consumed by passers by.

Pathways also have several ‘interact clubs’ that enable students to develop leadership skills and personal integrity. The separate leadership council helps students democratize their thoughts and provides an avenue for identifying a variety of issues affecting them while suggesting innovative, yet implementable solutions.

Unlike traditional boarding schools, Pathways provides flexible boarding options, which help students stay connected with their families. The school has replaced strict wardens with ‘residence parents’ who are available all the time and cater to all student needs.

Battle for UP: We fought hard, says Priyanka Gandhi

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Battle for UP: We fought hard, says Priyanka Gandhi

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, on Tuesday, that her party fought the electoral battle hard. “We fought as hard as we could. We will wait and see the results,” she said.

Priyanka, who reached Lucknow on Tuesday to lead a march under the party’s ‘Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon’ campaign in Uttar Pradesh, said, “Today’s march is to celebrate our 159 women candidates. I think it is a big thing that all of them fought, and on International Women’s Day we should celebrate them.”

Priyanka led the all-women march from the 1090 crossing to the National Botanical Garden crossing.

The exit polls have predicted a comfortable majority for the BJP in UP while the Congress remains at the periphery with most polls giving it a single-digit tally.

The exit polls were released on Monday evening after the seventh and last phase of the election in Uttar Pradesh.

Men’s Hockey Pro League: India’s matches postponed due to Covid cases in Germany team

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Men’s Hockey Pro League: India’s matches postponed due to Covid cases in Germany team

The Indian men’s hockey team’s Pro League matches against Germany, to be held here on Saturday (March 12) and Sunday (March 13), have been postponed. The matches have been postponed because of the “high number of Covid-19 cases affecting” the German team.

Because of the large number of cases, the German men’s team decided not to travel to India.

The international hockey federation (FIH) confirmed this development on its official website on Tuesday.

“The FIH, Hockey India, and Hockey Germany are already working together to find alternative dates,” the report on the FIH website said.

The German men’s team had last played in the Pro League between February 17 to 21 against France and South Africa at the University of North West, Potchefstroom in South Africa. India too had played the same two opponents at the same venue from February 8-13, 2022. After returning home, the Indian men had played Spain at the Kalinga Stadium here on February 26-27.

Both India and Germany are currently are on 12 points from six matches in the Pro League. India is ranked second on better goal difference with Germany third. The Netherlands leads the table with 16 points from six matches.

Meanwhile, the German women’s national team on Tuesday reached Bhubaneswar to play against Ithe India women’s team at the Kalinga Stadium on March 12 and 13.

Kerala to observe 2022 as Year of Tourism: Official

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Kerala to observe 2022 as Year of Tourism: Official

For Kerala, the year ahead is packed with absorbing events and festivities including the Kerala Travel Martin May, Champions’ Boat League and literary fests and adventure tourism activities, said VR Krishna Teja, State Tourism Director, here on Tuesday.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a Partnership Meet held here on Tuesday. He said that in a paradigm shift from a one-stop location-specific approach, Kerala has firmly marked itself as a destination for extended holidays for all segments of visitors with a bouquet of diverse experiences across the state.

Kerala has also launched a major initiative to open up the whole state to tourists in a sustainable manner without disturbing the ecology and cultural mileu of the destinations by partnering with the local communities and civic institutions.

“With the pandemic caused international travel restrictions being lifted, Kerala is in a resurgent mode now and the recently launched products will woo travelers from both inside and outside the country”, said Krishna Teja.

Kerala has initiated caravan tourism to host domestic and foreign guests. “Keravan Kerala, the states caravan tourism initiative has elicited a tremendous response from the industry within a short span of time, emerging as a major product after Kerala Tourism recorded an exponential rise powered by the houseboat cruise some three decades back, he added.

Crypto exchange Coinbase blocks 25K Russian-linked accounts

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Crypto exchange Coinbase blocks 25K Russian-linked accounts

Coinbase, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, has blocked over 25,000 addresses related to Russian individuals or entities engaged in illicit activity.

Coinbase said when a user opens an account, it checks provided information against a list of sanctioned individuals or entities provided by the US, the UK, European Union, UN, Singapore, Canada, and Japan, as well as blocking users from sanctioned areas such as Crimea, North Korea, Syria, and Iran.

“If someone has opened a Coinbase account and is later sanctioned, we use this ongoing screening process to identify that account and terminate it. Because sanctions evaders often try to mask their identities, Coinbase also proactively works to map transactions beyond the entities and individuals specifically flagged by governments,” it said in a statement late on Monday.

“Through advanced blockchain analysis, we proactively identified over 1,200 additional addresses potentially associated with the sanctioned individual, which we added to our internal blocklist,” said Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer.

The company revealed that it keeps a list of accounts held by sanctioned people outside of Coinbase.

“When the United States sanctioned a Russian national in 2020, it specifically listed three associated blockchain addresses,” it said.

“Through advanced blockchain analysis, we proactively identified over 1,200 additional addresses potentially associated with the sanctioned individual, which we added to our internal blocklist.”

Coinbase also claimed that digital assets are able to “naturally deter common approaches to sanctions evasion”.

Several of the blocked Russian individuals or entities Coinbase identified through its own proactive investigations.

“The Russian government and other sanctioned actors would need virtually unobtainable amounts of digital assets to meaningfully counteract current sanctions. The Russian central bank alone holds over $630 billion in largely immobilized reserve assets,” it informed.

That’s larger than the total market capitalization of all but one digital asset, and 5-10 times the total daily traded volume of all digital assets.

Google launches anti-harassment filter to help women journalists

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Google launches anti-harassment filter to help women journalists

Google on Tuesday launched an open-source anti-harassment tool called ‘Harassment Manager’ to help women journalists and activists, especially those covering controversial topics or living under autocratic governments, manage online abuse.

Google’s Jigsaw unit has released the code for the open-source anti-harassment tool on Microsoft-owned open source repository GitHub.

‘Harassment Manager’ allows users to document and manage abuse targeted at them on social media, starting with Twitter.

“It helps users easily identify and document harmful posts, mute or block perpetrators of harassment and hide harassing replies to their own tweets. Individuals can review tweets based on hashtag, username, keyword or date, and leverage our Perspective API to detect comments that are most likely to be toxic,” Jigsaw said in a post.

In addition to the partnership with Twitter, the effort also involved collaborations with several NGOs in the journalism and human rights space.

The Harassment Manager code is now available on Github, open-sourced for developers and non-governmental organizations to build and adapt for free.

“Our hope is that this technology provides a resource for people who are facing harassment online, especially female journalists, activists, politicians, and other public figures, who deal with disproportionately high toxicity online,” Jigsaw noted.

The company also looks forward to seeing developers and organizations tailor it to their specific needs and use the technology to help other at-risk populations.

Women’s World Cup: Committed to building on 74 in losing cause against Australia, says Beaumont

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Women’s World Cup: Committed to building on 74 in losing cause against Australia, says Beaumont

England opener Tammy Beaumont said on Tuesday that she is committed to building on her 74 in the opening loss to arch-rivals Australia when her side takes on the Stafanie Taylor-led West Indies in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 match at the University Oval here on Wednesday.

England came perilously close to a win in a high-scoring match but fell 12 runs short in their chase of 310 against their Ashes rivals. The 30-year-old Beaumont, one of four players to make over 70 in the match, will be hoping for more of the same in Dunedin against the West Indies, who are on a high after defeating hosts New Zealand in the opener.

Following the three-run defeat, the White Ferns have bounced back with 34-year-old batting stalwart Suzie Bates scoring an unbeaten 79 in a nine-wicket win over Bangladesh at the University Oval here on Monday. It was Bates’ maiden international outing on her home ground in Dunedin.

“I didn’t watch yesterday (Monday’s game) but obviously for Suzie to score runs on the home ground, great for her and I think so far the tournament has shown it is really high-scoring grounds and high-scoring games of cricket. As a batter that’s good to see knowing that you’re going to get value for shots and can build those innings in all the venues that we’ve got so far,” said Beaumont to ICC.

“For me, I’m rubbing my hands and ready to get out there.”

Dunedin will be hosting its third game on the same wicket with Monday’s tie between the White Ferns and Bangladesh heavily affected by rain. The damp conditions and a slightly worn-out pitch brought spinners into that game but Beaumont is not expecting a different approach from their match against Australia.

“I don’t necessarily think there’s too much to change in approach to the game. Although we didn’t get over the line, that’s the highest we’ve chased in a chase. We could probably have tightened up a little bit in the field and with the ball, we bowled quite a few extras.

“I don’t think the strategy is going to be too different, our bowling tactics have been exceptional for a number of years now in both ODI and T20 cricket. I’m fully backing the likes of Katherine Brunt, Anya Shrubsole, and Kate Cross they’ve all been absolutely exceptional for us — Sophie Ecclestone I think is the best spinner in the world in my opinion,” added Beaumont.

Beaumont will be coming up against a familiar face in Deandra Dottin, the final-over hero of the West Indies’ surprise win first up. Dottin was part of the London Spirit side in The Hundred that also featured Beaumont and England captain Heather Knight.

West Indies skipper Taylor and Hayley Matthews, who blasted 119 to set up the New Zealand win, also played in The Hundred — and for all-rounder Chinelle Henry that experience will be invaluable.

50% On IVF Procedures on behalf of Women’s Day Celebrations

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50% On IVF Procedures on behalf of Women’s Day Celebrations

State government of Andhra Pradesh has revised movie ticket prices

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State government of Andhra Pradesh has revised movie ticket prices

The Andhra Pradesh government has responded positively to the cinema ticket rates in the state.

It is reported that Andhra Pradesh’s CM Jagan Mohan Reddy has given a green signal for the new GO (Government Order), which will be implemented soon.

The state government of Andhra Pradesh released the much-anticipated new G.O on cinema ticket prices, earlier on Monday, but there was no reference to the new online ticket booking system.

The new GO is expected to provide much-needed relief to the producers, exhibitors, and distributors.

It is to be noted that, the new ticket price hikes will be in effect for big-ticket movies ‘Radhe Shyam’ starring Prabhas-Pooja Hegde and ‘RRR’ starring Ram Charan-NTR.

Previously, the government of Andhra Pradesh vowed to introduce a new online cinema ticket booking portal in order to bring transparency to the ticket booking model.

Stalwarts like Chiranjeevi, Rajamouli, Mahesh Babu, and Prabhas had met the CM to request the same, earlier. Now that the government has come up with the new ticket prices, it appears like a fresh breeze of air, for the upcoming biggies.

SC agrees to hear plea demanding VVPAT verification at the beginning of counting of votes

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SC agrees to hear plea demanding VVPAT verification at the beginning of counting of votes

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on Wednesday a PIL, a day before counting of votes begins in five states, demanding VVPAT verification at the beginning of counting of votes, rather than verification after the counting is over.

Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora mentioned the plea before a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hima Kohli. The bench queried Arora, the counting is the day after tomorrow and she has mentioned the plea now? Arora pressed for a hearing on the petition Wednesday, as counting is the day after tomorrow.

The bench told her to inform the election commission about the plea and the court will examine the matter Wednesday.

During the brief hearing, the bench pointed out the 2019 guidelines.

The plea has sought VVPAT verification of EVMs in five booths per constituency instead of one booth per constituency, which is the current practice.

In April 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the Election Commission to increase the Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips from one Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) per Assembly constituency to five.

Samsung launches India’s first all-women powered mobile store in Ahmedabad

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Samsung launches India’s first all-women powered mobile store in Ahmedabad

Tech giant Samsung India on Tuesday launched the country’s first mobile store run entirely by women here, on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

The Samsung SmartCafe located at Vijay Cross Road, in Navrangpura, in the heart of the city of Ahmedabad, is the first of several initiatives Samsung plans to foster diversity and ensure meaningful opportunities for all.

The store will be fully managed by women employees – from the Store manager to Samsung Experience Consultants, who help consumers make informed choices about buying the company’s devices.

“We are very excited to set up India’s first all-women mobile store and are confident about the new possibilities and milestones this incredible team is set to achieve, in keeping with our values of people, excellence, and co-prosperity,” said Ken Kang, President & CEO, Samsung Southwest Asia, in a statement.

The store will offer consumers Samsung’s unmatched retail experience. Consumers can experience and purchase Samsung’s entire range of mobile devices including the latest flagships Galaxy S22 series of smartphones, Galaxy Tab S8 series, Galaxy Buds2, and Galaxy Watch4.

Besides Galaxy devices, women employees in the store are also trained in key operational functions such as customer service, sales, financial management, stock planning, and most importantly consumer safety protocols.

On the occasion of Women’s Day, Samsung has also set up an Employee Resource Group (ERG) called WiSE (Women in Samsung Electronics), which will provide support and help to women employees in personal and career development.

“We are committed to growing the number of women in our workforce and nurturing the next generation of women leaders across the company,” Kang added.

Moon urges S.Koreans to vote in presidential election

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Moon urges S.Koreans to vote in presidential election

On the eve of South Korea’s presidential election, President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday urged people across the country to vote, while calling for thorough preparations to prevent lapses and guarantee Covid-infected people’s right to cast ballots.

“Tomorrow is the time for people to choose a President who will lead state affairs over the next five years,” Yonhap News Agency quoted Moon as saying at a Cabinet meeting.

The President said he hopes people “show collective intelligence of our people through an active participation in the main vote tomorrow”.

In the two-day early voting that ended on March 5, turnout stood at a record of about 37 per cent.

Meanwhile, the National Election Commission (NEC) has decided to allow Covid-19 patients and those in quarantine to put their votes into ballot boxes themselves after an earlier decision to collect their ballots in unofficial containers first sparked widespread complaints of foul play.

Moon ordered the NEC to cope with all possibilities “to guarantee confirmed virus patients’ right to vote” by turning lapses in early voting into a lesson.

Wednesday’s election comes as the nation is grappling with the worst wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, with daily infections hovering around some 200,000.

The President also said Wednesday’s election is expected to draw more virus-infected voters than early voting.

He asked the NEC to “make utmost efforts so that there is no negligence in managing (the election) until the vote-counting is over”.

Moon also instructed his aides to make preparations to cooperate with the President-elect on diplomatic and security issues.

The presidential election has shaped up to be a two-way race between former Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-Myung of the ruling Democratic Party and former prosecutor-general Yoon Suk-year of the main opposition People Power Party.

In the polls, the two have long competed within the margin of error at around 40 percent support each.

More than 44 million people are eligible to vote on Wednesday.

Voting for overseas South Koreans took place over six days until February 28, while sailors aboard ships cast their ballots from March 1-4.

ICC launches ‘100 per cent Cricket Year of Women’s Cricket’ on Women’s Day

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ICC launches ‘100 per cent Cricket Year of Women’s Cricket’ on Women’s Day

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday launched the ‘100 percent Cricket Year of Women’s Cricket’ campaign to coincide with International Women’s Day in order to further promote gender equality and empower women and girls through cricket.

The global governing body for the sport said in a statement on Tuesday, “The 100 percent Cricket Year of Women’s Cricket campaign has been introduced to help drive transformative change and be part of accelerating the growth of the game.”

Using the #IDeclare hashtag, the ICC is urging cricket fans worldwide to show what they can do to “further promote gender equality and further empower women and girls through cricket”.

ICC CEO Geoff Allardice said he was ‘proud’ of the initiative.

“Cricket has an incredible power and reaches to raise awareness and effect change and we’re proud to partner with UNICEF as part of 100 percent Cricket Year of Women’s Cricket to #IDeclare our commitment to empowering women and girls through cricket,” said Allardice.

“We are committed to gender equity and using the platform of our sport to promote equal opportunities for girls and boys is a great way of doing this. We will also focus all of our Cricket 4 Good efforts on this too, ensuring we’re giving as many women and girls the chance to grow through our game.”

Cricket stars currently competing at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand got behind the new campaign, with India captain Mithali Raj one of the first to show her support.

#IDeclare — “I declare that I will scout and train as many young girls as possible to take up this wonderful sport,” Mithali said.

Pakistan Captain Bismah Maroof and Bangladesh seamer Jahanara Alam followed suit shortly after.

#IDeclare — “I declare I will encourage my daughter to play cricket,” Maroof said.

#IDeclare — “I declare I will work hard and play good cricket to set an example not only for Bangladeshi girls but also all over the world,” Alam added.

Twitter trying to fully restore service in Russia

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Twitter trying to fully restore service in Russia

Twitter is trying to fully restore its services in Russia as users report “increasing difficulty” accessing its platform amid the Ukraine invasion and the country’s growing restrictions on Big Tech.

Twitter said it is investigating and working to restore full access for its users in the country.

“We’re aware of reports that people are increasingly having difficulty accessing Twitter in Russia. We’re investigating and working to fully restore access to our service,” a Twitter spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Reports surfaced last week that Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor had been blocking access to Twitter, like other social media platforms, as Vladimir Putin’s regime clamped down on the free flow of information.

Twitter then did not see any significant change in its service in the country.

However, users in Russia reported having troubles accessing Twitter after Roskomnadzor said it would cut access to Twitter and Facebook in line with a decision by the prosecutor general’s office.

Twitter has been accused of failing to delete the content banned by Russian authorities and slowed down access to it.

Russia has put in place a draconian law that says if fake news “led to serious consequences, (the legislation) threatens imprisonment of up to 15 years”.

In an unprecedented action, Russia last week blocked Facebook as the Kremlin wages war on Ukraine.

K’taka student’s body preserved in Ukraine mortuary: CM Bommai

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K’taka student’s body preserved in Ukraine mortuary: CM Bommai

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday stated that the authorities have recovered the body of Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagaudar, the Indian student from the state who died in Russian shelling in Ukraine.

“I have spoken to the External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in this regard. He has informed that the body has been embalmed and preserved at a mortuary. He has assured that as soon as the shelling is stopped, attempts will be made to bring it back to India,” he said.

“Continuous attempts are being made, the embassy officers have also told us that they are in touch with mortuary authorities where the body is kept,” he added.

Naveen Shekarappa Gyangaudar was killed on March 1 on Maha Shivratri after being hit by the Russian shelling. He had come out of his bunker in search of food early in the morning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called up Naveen’s father and consoled him. Shekarappa, Naveen’s father had requested the Prime Minister to arrange for safe passage of other students stuck in Ukraine as they are the assets of the country.

Naveen’s death has also raised questions on the cost of medical education in India and opposition parties in Karnataka are demanding scrapping of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in this regard. The ruling BJP government has granted compensation of Rs 25 lakh for the family of Naveen.

As many as 500 students from Karnataka have returned home from Ukraine since the war broke out. Manoj Rajan, nodal officer, and commissioner, Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) has stated that 142 students from the state are still stranded in war-torn Ukraine. The largest batch of students returned on Thursday.

Hit by injury to key bowler, England hope for a turnaround in opening Windies Test

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Hit by injury to key bowler, England hope for a turnaround in opening Windies Test

England, under skipper Joe Root, will be hoping for a turnaround in fortunes when they take on the West Indies in the inaugural Test of the three-match series at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium later on Tuesday, knowing that some much-needed points in the ICC World Test Championship standings are at stake after the Ashes debacle.

Both England and the Kraigg Brathwaite-led home team currently occupy the bottom two places on the WTC standings, with the West Indies eighth and England one rung below following a 0-4 drubbing during the Ashes series in Australia.

The Caribbean side was most recently featured in Sri Lanka towards the end of last year, where they were comprehensively beaten 2-0 in the two-match series in Galle. England didn’t fare any better as they only managed to hold on to a draw in the fourth Test at Sydney, losing the other four by big margins.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) acted swiftly, showing the door to coach Chris Silverwood and leaving out experienced seamers Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad for the tour of the Caribbean. But their problems have been compounded on the tour with pace bowler Ollie Robinson succumbing to a shoulder injury and set to miss the first Test.

The two teams will battle it out for the newly-created Richards-Botham trophy, named after West Indies great Sir Vivian Richards and England star Sir Ian Botham.

The last time the teams had met, pace stalwart Stuart Broad had picked up 10 wickets for the match as England won by 269 runs in Manchester to ensure they registered a 2-1 series triumph over the West Indies in 2020.

Broad was named ‘Player of the Series’ for his 18 wickets during the three Tests, while all-rounder Ben Stokes topped the run-scoring charts with 363 runs at an average of 90. West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite managed two half-centuries during that series, while experienced all-rounder Jason Holder picked up 10 wickets.

“We’re really excited and ready for the upcoming Test series against England. This is going to be an amazing three weeks of cricket. It’s extra special too that we’re playing for the new Richards-Botham trophy, a fitting tribute to these two great men. We want to be the first team to get our hands on it and celebrate with our fans,” said Brathwaite to ICC ahead of the Test.

“I’m very grateful to get the opportunity — and hopefully this can be a real start of a change in our performances. It’s a real chance to start getting back to where we need to be, which is one of the leading teams in Test cricket,” said England skipper Root.

West Indies squad:

Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Joshua Da Silva, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Veerasammy Permaul, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales.

England squad:

Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Apple suspends Search Ads on App Store in Russia

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Apple suspends Search Ads on App Store in Russia

Apple has reportedly suspended Search Ads service on the App Store in Russia until further notice.

According to an email shared with developers, Apple Search Ads ads, that allow developers to run advertising campaigns on the App Store, have now been placed on hold in Russia amid Ukraine’s invasion, reports TechCrunch.

No new Search Ads campaigns will be eligible to run on the App Store in Russia for the duration of the suspension, the email read.

Apple was yet to confirm its development.

Earlier this week, Apple halted sales of all of its products in Russia. The tech giant also removed media outlets RT and Sputnik from the App Store.

The company also disabled both traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps in Ukraine as a safety measure.

Apple is prompting users to donate to Unicef, with banners and notices on its website and in some apps urging customers to aid Ukraine.

Apple might lose at least $3 million in iPhone sales revenue daily or $1.14 billion annually as it announced to pull out from the Russian market in the wake of the Ukraine invasion, according to reports.

Alia Bhatt to make Hollywood debut with ‘Heart Of Stone’

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Alia Bhatt to make Hollywood debut with ‘Heart Of Stone’

Bollywood Actress Alia Bhatt is set to join the cast of Netflix’s ‘Heart of Stone, as she makes her global debut opposite Gal Gadot.

The film will release globally on Netflix this spring and has received great reviews singling out her performance in the title role.

The film follows the story of Rachel Stone (Gal Gadot), an intelligence operative, the only woman who stands between her powerful, global, peacekeeping organization and the loss of its most valuable — and dangerous — asset.

‘Heart Of Stone’ is directed by Tom Harper. It is written by Greg Rucka and Allison Schroeder.

Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger, along with Mockingbird’s Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn, and Pilot Wave’s Gal Gadot and Jaron Varsano are producing the film.

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