Trump denies being briefed on alleged Russian-Taliban bounties

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Trump denies being briefed on alleged Russian-Taliban bounties

US President Donald Trump said that he was never briefed on intelligence that Russians offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops.

“Nobody briefed or told me, @VP Pence, or Chief of Staff @MarkMeadows about the so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians, as reported through an ‘anonymous source’ by the Fake News @nytimes,” Trump tweeted on Sunday morning.

“Everybody is denying it & there has not been any attack on us,” he added.

Casualty records, however, showed that the year of 2019 was the deadliest year for US service members in Afghanistan since 2014, with 22 American troops killed, reports Xinhua news agency.

The President’s tweets echoed Saturday’s White House statement on this matter, in which Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said several senior officials had confirmed that neither Trump nor Vice President Mike Pence was briefed on the intelligence.

McEnany also noted that the statement “does not speak to the merit of the alleged intelligence but to the inaccuracy of the New York Times story erroneously suggesting that President Trump was briefed on this matter”.

In a report on Friday, The New York Times said that Trump had been briefed on the intelligence that Russian intelligence units secretly offered bounties to Taliban-related militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan during US-Taliban peace talks.

The story also said the National Security Council discussed this issue at an inter-agency meeting in late March, while the White House thus far has not taken any actions to respond.

Democrats and former officials cited the story as fresh evidence of Trump’s disqualification as the President.

Former Vice President and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Saturday criticized Trump’s failure to punish Russia as “a betrayal of the most sacred duty”.

Trump’s former National Security Adviser John Bolton on Sunday said in an interview with CNN that the President’s tweet indicated “his fundamental focus is not the security of our forces … he’s saying well nobody told me, therefore, you can’t blame me”.

Others doubted the theory that Trump had not been briefed on this matter.

“I have trouble believing it, but as someone who got the presidential daily briefing for more than 7 years the idea that a POTUS wouldn’t be briefed on a Russian bounty on US troops is even more alarming,” tweeted Ben Rhodes, who served as deputy national security advisor in former President Barack Obama’s administration.

In a Sunday interview with ABC, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also expressed concern that some officials may have avoided bringing the issues to the president.

“We’ll find out he has briefed and it was in his daily brief, but if it were not, what does that say about the concern that those who briefed the President have about not going anywhere near the Russia issue with this President?.

“Something is very wrong here, but this must have an answer,” she added.

The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, and the death toll of American service members has surpassed 2,400 in this longest war in Washington’s history.

Trump has long complained about the endlessness of the war and sought a full withdrawal from the country.

In the agreement signed in late February between the US and the Taliban, Washington said it would reduce its forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 within 135 days.

The agreement also called for the full withdrawal of the US military by May 2021 if the Taliban meets the conditions of the deal, including severing ties with terrorist groups.

Commander of US Central Command Kenneth McKenzie said earlier this month that the American military had reduced its troops level to 8,600 in Afghanistan, fulfilling its first phased pullout obligation under the deal.

Man beaten to death in UP by cricket bat over family dispute

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Man beaten to death in UP by cricket bat over family dispute

A man was beaten to death, allegedly by the members of the rival faction in the Saidpur area of Badaun district, during a fight over the sharing of offerings at a shrine between the families of two caretakers.

The dispute took a bloody turn on Sunday when the incident took place.

The police have registered an FIR against four persons and one of them was arrested, later on, Sunday. The police said the man was hit by a cricket bat.

According to reports, the family members of Mohd Shaqir and Anwar maintained the shrine of their ancestors in Saidpur village and used to share the offerings made at the shrine.

A few days ago, both the families had a tiff over the sharing of the money offered at the shrine.

On the intervening night of Saturday/Sunday, Anwar along with his aides Bachchan, Sartaj, and Shahbaz barged into the house of Shaqir and attacked his family with a cricket bat and sticks.

Shaqir, 55, sustained an injury on his head while his son Sonu received minor injuries on his hands. Both were taken to hospital where Shaqir died during treatment.

Circle officer Raghvendra Singh said, “There was a fight between the family members of two over the sharing of offerings at the shrine. Shaqir died after being hit by a cricket bat. We have booked four accused under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) on the complaint of his son.”

Global COVID-19 cases top 10.1mn: Johns Hopkins University

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Global COVID-19 cases top 10.1mn: Johns Hopkins University

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has increased to over 10.1 million, while the deaths have soared to more than 500,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

As of Monday morning, the total number of cases increased to 10,115,912, while the fatalities stood at 501,233, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

The US accounted for the world’s highest number of infections and fatalities with 2,548,143 and 125,799, respectively, according to the CSSE.

Brazil came in second place with 1,344,143 infections and 57,622 deaths.

In terms of cases, Russia ranks third (633,563), and is followed by India (528,859), the UK (312,640), Peru (279,419), Chile (271,982), Spain (248,770), Italy (240,310), Iran (222,669), Mexico (216,852), Pakistan (202,955), France (199,476), Turkey (197,239), Germany (194,693), Saudi Arabia (182,493), South Africa (138,134), Bangladesh (137,787) and Canada (105,153), the CSSE figures showed.

The other countries with over 10,000 deaths are the UK (43,634), Italy (34,738), France (29,781), Spain (28,343), Mexico (26,648), India (16,095) and Iran (10,508).

Family fined over lavish wedding, groom & 15 others get Corona

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Family fined over lavish wedding, groom & 15 others get Corona

The Bhilwara district administration has slapped Rs 6.26 lakh fine on a family for organizing a lavish wedding, attended by 250 guests flouting all Covid-19 norms and restrictions, on June 13.

While the number of guests was much above the permitted 50, one person died and 15 attendees, including the groom, had tested coronavirus positive by June 27.

Officials said the groom’s grand-father died from Covid-19, and his aunt and uncle also tested coronavirus positive. However, the bride and 17 others tested negative.

All the 15 Covid-19 patients have been admitted to hospital and over 100 quarantined.

The state government slapped a notice on the groom’s father ordering him to foot the bill of the quarantine facility and treatment of infected people by paying Rs 6,26,600 fine.

Bhilwara District Magistrate Rajendra Bhatt has asked the Tehsildar to recover the fine from the groom’s father within 3 days and deposit that in the Chief Minister Relief Fund.

Other expenses, to be incurred in the coming days, should also be recovered from the groom’s family, the order, issued under the Epidemic Act, added.

The order also said the groom, Rizal, and his father Gheesu Lal Rathi didn’t follow the social distancing norms, were not wearing masks and there was no use of sanitizer at the event.

I didn’t choose poetry, it chose me: Sudeep Sen

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I didn’t choose poetry, it chose me: Sudeep Sen

During the early days of the Covid-19 lockdown, when things were changing at a break-neck speed, laying bare many aspects of the society – the play of politics, how people thought and reacted, the changing culture of ‘working from home’ for the privileged and lack of work for the dispossessed, and the gruesome images of migrants walking hundreds of kilometers – a newspaper editor asked poet Sudeep Sen to contribute something for the editorial page.

“He was probably looking for a sensitive and incisive non-fiction piece from an artist’s point of view. I am pretty certain he did not expect my response in the form of poetry. In any case, I sent him the poem ‘Love in the Time of Corona’,” said Sen about the poem which took a life of its own after that — with the former UK poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy selecting it for a world project ‘Write Where We Are Now’, currently hosted on the Manchester Metropolitan University’s website.

Not to mention, ArtVirus magazine (USA) carried the poem, which will also be published in the forthcoming edition of The Guardian newspaper (UK). A slew of translations have already appeared – in French, Spanish, Serbian, Persian, Urdu, Marathi, Bengali, and Hindi. “Various editors have anthologized this poem in new books that have been recently published on the subject,” he added.

Filmmaker Anirban Dutta, who he has never met has even made an avant-garde, creative short film on it. The poet says that he was extremely pleased to see the first cut of his film based on his poem.

“Not only because I love collaboration across artistic genres, but more because I admired Dutta’s visual aesthetics, his intelligent sense of pacing and haunting sound design. Working with him was easy. We were mostly on the same page regarding aesthetic choices. He was very quick to respond.”

Stressing that for him it is enriching to collaborate with like-minded artists, and many filmmakers, musicians, and dancers have responded to his work in the past too including ‘Flying Home’ by David Wheeler & Michael Walling (UK), ‘Lines of Desire’ by Davina Lee (St Lucia) and ‘Prayer Flag’ by Aparna Sanyal (India), the poet adds that for him there is no escape from the political and social issues around him.

“As an artist, I cannot be apolitical – everything one does is ultimately political. Often I will just listen and absorb, and at some point, it may find its way into my writing. You will see that important issues seep into my writing quite unobtrusively, through a process of osmosis. In poetry, the challenge is always how to make the writing universal and creatively fulfilling – ideally. Otherwise, it can become prosaic sloganeering or protest poetry which, while it is an absolutely valid form of writing, tends to have a limited shelf-life.”

For someone who believes that the best English poetry written by Indians in the contemporary national and international literary arena is perhaps as good or superior to Indian fiction in English as a whole, he added, “There is bravura, experimentation, risk-taking, innovation, erudition, and delightfully uninhibited and fine use of language by the poets here. The range of style, preoccupation, technique, is vast, various, and impressive. Many ‘Indian’ poets are now part of the broader Indian diasporas across the globe. This diversity allows them to have an internal dialogue between themselves and the varied topographical cultural spaces they come from or are influenced by. Therefore, the poems create an inherent syntactical and historical tension – one that ultimately celebrates the written word, imagination, artistry, intellect, and humanity. Though, I must add – that in the current scenario there seems to be a vast amount of poetry being ‘published’ on social media. Much of this is terribly mediocre or worse. Some of it even finds its way into vanity publishing. Still, largely speaking – the best of Indian poetry is flourishing well and is in good hands.”

A regular at major literature festivals around the country, he admits that though resorting to the online format (due to the pandemic) does take away the immediacy and buzz of an actual festival on the ground – but it is the second-best option in these unusual times.

“The more festivals, the better all-around for writers, readers, publishers, and booksellers – it is a win-win situation. But an important lacuna that needs to be addressed is a payment to the writers, which the organizers think of only when prompted to do so. This culture of ‘free’ is ultimately disrespectful to the writers and arts as a whole.”

While the year 2020 has already witnessed the launch of his ‘Selected Poems in Malayalam’ (translated by Syam Sudhakar) and ‘The Sahitya Akademi poetry anthology’, which he selected and edited, those in the pipeline include ‘My Typewriter is My Piano’ (Aark Arts) by Anamika, a 200-page book of ‘selected poems’ in English translation from the original co-translated by him, and his own ‘elected Poems’ in Hindi and Punjabi translation ‘My Body is the Stepson of my Soul’.

When he is not writing poetry, reading, and writing every day is what keeps him sharp. “It is a royal or practice. As for translations, unless commissioned, they are usually a labor of love – as I want to transmit to a wider audience in English what I might have enjoyed in another language.”

Kashmir authorities dispel alarmist rumours about stock building

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Kashmir authorities dispel alarmist rumours about stock building

Authorities in Kashmir have dispelled alarmist rumors spread following an official order for a two-month-long stock building.

Department of Food, supplies, and consumer Affairs had asked oil companies to build cooking gas stocks for two months in the Valley.

The order was followed by wild rumors that the decision to build stocks was a prelude to ‘something big in the offing’.

The rumor came in the background of heightened border tensions between India and China in Western Ladakh.

Trying to set the rumor mill at rest, authorities today said some people are spreading false information regarding communication with respect to the LPG stock in Kashmir valley.

A statement issued here by the food, supplies and consumer affairs department said some people are spreading all kind of rumors by referring to a letter, written by Director, of the department addressed to Nodal coordinator for Oil companies in J&K, in connection with “ensuring adequate stocking of LPG in Kashmir.

“The same has been written by the Director, FCS&CA Kashmir, to prevent any shortfall of essential commodities (particularly LPG) during the ensuing Monsoon season.

“We all know that the NH-44, between Ramban-Jawahar tunnel stretch, behaves in an unpredictable manner during the rains.

“Currently, we maintain nearly a month of stock in Kashmir. We have requested the LPG companies to explore the feasibility of maintaining the stock for nearly 2 months to prevent any panic situations that may arise in the event of highway closure for a longer duration,” the statement added.

Mississippi House passes bill to remove Confederate emblem from state flag

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Mississippi House passes bill to remove Confederate emblem from state flag

The House of southern US state Mississippi passed a bill to remove a Confederate battle emblem from its state flag, local media reported.

The House passed the bill in a vote of 91 to 23 with broad bipartisan support, said the reports.

The bill now sends to the state Senate and Republican Governor Tate Reeves has said he will sign it if passed, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

A commission would design a new flag that cannot include the Confederate symbol broadly condemned as racist, said the reports, the new design would go before voters in November for approval.

The state flag, adopted in 1894, nearly 30 years after the end of the Civil War, is the last in the country to feature the Confederate battle emblem.

The move came in the wake of weeks of anti-racism protests and civil unrest following the death of black man George Floyd in police custody on May 25, renewing attention on symbols of the Confederacy across the country.

African American people make up 38 percent of the Mississippi population.

Nivetha Thomas is said to have been approached to play a vital role

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Nivetha Thomas is said to have been approached to play a vital role

Recently, it was revealed that Keerthy Suresh is going to play the leading lady in Mahesh Babu’s Sarkaaru Vaari Paata. The actress revealed this news while a live show on Instagram.

As per the latest update, another actress is going to be part of the film to play a key role. Actress Nivetha Thomas is said to have been approached to play a vital role. There is no official confirmation yet but the grapevine suggests that this Kerala beauty has heard the narration and is yet to sign the dotted line.

Nivetha is basking on the success of her last film Darbar, in which she played the daughter of Superstar Rajinikanth. She is currently awaiting the release of her upcoming film V in which she has paired up with Sudheer Babu. This film is directed by Indraganti Mohan Krishna and is a thriller.

The actress has recently completed four years in Telugu film industry and has thanked all her Telugu fans for showering love on her. Sarkaaru Vaari Pata is going to be directed by Parasuram of Geetha Govindam fame.

Sources claim that the plot of the film revolves around the financial frauds in the banking sector. While SS Thaman has been roped in to compose the music, PS Vinod will be cranking the camera and Marthand K Venkatesh is the editor.

Corona Virus positive cases in Hyderabad

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Corona Virus positive cases in Hyderabad

Telangana’s Coronavirus infected statistics are sending tremors across, with the numbers hinting the chances of becoming the next epicenter in the country. As of today, the state has 1087 new positive cases and 6 deaths. 888 cases are from GHMC. The worrying thing is that the samples tested were only 3923 and 1087 of them came out positive.

With the unlocking, the community transmission of COVId-19 is hitting big on cosmopolitan cities and the virus positivity rate in Hyderabad is more than 32 percent as on June 23. The rate is higher and alarming when it is compared to the tests per 10 lakh population.

The Central government experts are said to be worried about the percentage of positive cases in Hyderabad with extremely low tests being conducted. According to the reports of testing status in Hyderabad and Telangana, only one out of 19 private labs in Telangana is conducting more than 500 tests per week, while the majority of testing is focussed on Hyderabad.

The same report says the testing rate per 10 lakh population in districts Ranga Reddy, Sanga Reddy, Warangal, and Jangaon, is extremely low. Telangana has the highest positivity rate and the lowest tests per 10 lakh population. The center is instructing the states to conducts more tests to track the growth of viruses, particularly in the cities with a sharp surge of cases, like Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, and Chennai.

Telangana reportedly received multiple instructions to ramp-up the testing and is being compared to that of Andhra Pradesh, which is testing 12,000 persons a day. A report said Andhra Pradesh has 336 TruNat machines and 42 labs for COVID-19 testing while Telangana has just 21 machines and one lab.

The COVID-19 management in Telangana turned exemplary at the beginning of the pandemic spread, but the low tests and drastic increase in virus positivity is worrying health officials post-lockdown. Telangana has so far tested 79,231 samples, out of which 65,705 tested negative and 13,436 tested positive. The total active cases are 8265 and 4928 were dicharged from the hospital. 243 Coronavirus infected died in Telangana state.

Sidharth Shukla and Shehnaaz Gill are back with Pepsi…Fans are trending “PepsiWithSidNaaz”

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Sidharth Shukla and Shehnaaz Gill are back with Pepsi…Fans are trending “PepsiWithSidNaaz”

Sidharth Shukla and Shehnaaz Gill have been the most popular Bigg Boss 13 contestants and continue to be as fans shower them with all the love from time to time. Recently, their media interaction has left all their fans overwhelmed since they got an update on what has been up with them, their viewpoints about so many things and some more. In a matter of just a couple of hours, their Twitter trend has taken over as netizens can’t keep calm.

Sidharth and Shehnaaz have always been shipped by their fans and this time around, they are trending SidNaazians for the sheer love they have for them. Time and again, both Sidharth and Shehnaaz fans take to various trends and it comes as no surprise when these trends take over. None the less, just sometimes, they happen to leave everyone overwhelmed and this one time is exactly that.

During their recent chats, Sidharth and Shehnaaz both got talking about a lot of things and in fact, the former also spoke some about love life, marriage plans and his friendship with Shehnaaz. While it looks like he is not looking for anyone special right now, he sure does have some kind words to say about love and feels that it is always about accepting someone the way they are and not outer beauty.

Meanwhile, Shehnaaz was also spotted in the city recently as she headed out for a meeting and that sure had fans in awe of her. However, her interaction later, came across as quite the breather for the fans as they keep waiting to hear more about her and her work.

Manish Sisodia’s statement had created panic among people in Delhi

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Manish Sisodia’s statement had created panic among people in Delhi

Delhi will not have 5.5 lakh cases by July end, Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday. Amit Shah added that Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s statement had created panic among people in Delhi. The home minister said he disagrees with Manish Sisodia as the Central government has stressed on the preventive measures.

Speaking in an interview with a news agency, Amit Shah said that there was panic among people after Manish Sisodia’s “5.5 lakh coronavirus cases in Delhi by July end” statement.

“I am sure we will not reach that stage,” Amit Shah said, adding that Delhi will be in a much better situation than it is today when the city continues to cross records in its daily number of coronavirus positive cases.

“After Delhi Deputy CM made a statement that by July 31 we will have 5.5 lakh coronavirus cases in Delhi…there was panic. I am sure now we will not reach that stage and will be in a much better situation because we stressed preventive measures,” Amit Shah said.

The home minister said PM Narendra Modi asked the home ministry to help the Delhi government in reviewing the surge in the coronavirus cases. “Soon after, a coordination meeting was called and a number of decisions, including testing of all individuals in containment zones, were taken,” he said.

Amit Shah also asserted that there is no community transmission in Delhi. “There is no such situation in Delhi today, there is no need to worry,” he said.

On coordination between the Delhi and the Central government, Amit Shah said CM Arvind Kejriwal is always kept in the loop and is always involved in decision making.

“There is coordination…Arvind Kejriwal is always kept in the loop. He is also involved in decision making. Some political statements may have been made but no impact on decision making,” Amit Shah on controversies regarding some decisions taken on Delhi’s coronavirus battle.

About the situation of bodies of coronavirus patients in Delhi, Amit Shah it was grim. “Over 350 bodies were pending for last rites. We decided that within two days, the last rites of bodies will be done as per religion. Today, nobody is left for the last rites. Now last rituals are conducted the same day,” he said.On his visit to Lok Nayak Hospital in Delhi, Amit Shah said it helped boost the morale of the healthcare workers.

“It helped boost the morale of healthcare workers and the confidence of citizens. I met a number of nurses who are working and fighting strong. I came to know about a number of issues,” he said.

“On Jun14, there were 9,937 coronavirus beds in Delhi. 30,000 beds will be available by Jun 30 and 8,000 beds are available in railway coaches; 8000 more being added. DRDO is setting up a dedicated hospital with 250 ICU beds. ITBP to run 10,000 bedded Radha Soami Satsang Beas Covid centre,” Amit Shah said.

Tennis star Sania Mirza uploaded an adorable video in Instagram

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Tennis star Sania Mirza uploaded an adorable video in Instagram

Tennis star Sania Mirza took to Instagram to upload an adorable video which also featured her son Izhaan Mirza Malik, where she teases her brother-in-law Mohammad Asaduddin, saying that he hits fours while Izhaan’s father Shoaib Malik – Pakistan all-rounder – hits sixes.

“Asad khaalu hits a 4 but Baba hits a 6,” she captioned the video and added “he might be a bit biased”. Asaduddin, also known as Asad, responded to the video and wrote “Such a sweetheart,” and left a heart-eyed emoji.

In the video, Sania starts off asking Izhaan what a dog does, to which he responds by imitating a barking noise. She then asks him “What does Asad khaalu do?”

Izhaan responds by gesturing a boundary.”And what about Baba? Baba hits a six, right?” Sania says as Izhaan holds his arms up in the air.

The two sign off with multiple high-fives at the end of the video.India all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who will be a father soon, also responded to the video with a heart emoji.

Fans loved the video, with many Instagram users commenting that it is adorable.”Mother son goals,” one user commented on the video.

Asad, who is the son of former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin and has represented Goa in the Ranji Trophy, got married to Sania Mirza’s sister Anam Mirza in December last year.

Robert Lewandowski is the best centre-forward in the world

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Robert Lewandowski is the best centre-forward in the world

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has said that Robert Lewandowski is the best centre-forward in the world. His remark came after Lewandowski scored a second-half penalty as Bayern Munich thrashed Wolfsburg 4-0 to finish the Bundesliga campaign on a high.

Bayern had already secured their eighth consecutive Bundesliga title earlier this month and with the help of the spot-kick on Saturday, Lewandowski took his season tally to 34. “To score 34 goals in one Bundesliga season is an incredible achievement. Only ‘Der Bomber’, Gerd Muller, has ever scored more goals in one campaign. I’d like to congratulate and thank Robert Lewandowski. He is the best centre-forward in the world,” the official Bayern Munich website quoted Rummenigge as saying.

This is now the fifth time that Lewandowski has finished as the Bundesliga’s highest-scorer.Lewandowski has the third-most goals in Bundesliga history having scored 236 times.

Only Thomas Muller and Schalke great Klaus Fischer have scored more goals than Lewandowski in the history of Bundesliga.In the match between Bayern and Wolfsburg, Kingsley Coman, Mickael Cuisance, Lewandowski and Thomas Muller got on the scoresheet for the Bundesliga champions.

Bayern finished the 2019-20 Bundesliga season with 82 points from 34 matches while second-placed Borussia Dortmund ended their campaign on 69 points just three points ahead of RB Leipzig.

Nadal was described as wavering over defending his US Open title

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Nadal was described as wavering over defending his US Open title

As Rafael Nadal was described as wavering over defending his US Open title or preparing for an assault on a 13th Roland Garros, Britain’s Andy Murray said Saturday he fears for the safety of top players as tennis emerges from its five-month coronavirus lockdown. Tennis has been on ice since mid-March and will not return until early August. The US Open will run from August 31 to September 13 on the hard courts of New York with the rescheduled French Open on clay taking place just a fortnight after.

In between are Masters events in Madrid and Rome, both on clay and also rescheduled from the spring.”I have spoken to Rafa and he is doubting which tournaments to play,” Nadal’s uncle — and long-time former coach — Toni told ESPN Deportes.”The schedule is unrealistic, especially for veteran players, who cannot compete for so many weeks in a row.”I think it is a bit ugly what the ATP has done. This decision is totally against players like Rafa and Novak Djokovic.”

Murray, meanwhile, expressed his fears over player safety in quickly switching from surface to surface.He suggested that a rankings rethink might be a solution.”It’s not safe for players to go from the semis or final in New York, quarters even, and then you’re playing on the Tuesday in Madrid at altitude on the clay court, when players haven’t competed for a very long time,” said Murray.

“None of the top players have competed a week before a Slam. The rankings, if you can keep the points as they are, could get a bit skewed.”Murray added: “It might be worth potentially looking at a two-year ranking for the time being so that the guys who did well last year and are not able to defend their points properly aren’t punished.

“There are big tournaments every single week and it’s going to be very difficult for players that are winning consistently to commit to that many events. I just think we need to be a bit careful with the rankings.”Murray, returning from injury, went down to a 1-6, 6-3, 10-8 loss to Dan Evans in the semi-finals of the ‘Battle of the Brits’ tournament exhibition event in Roehampton on Saturday.

It was Murray’s fourth match in five days in his first event since last November after being sidelined because of bone bruising on his pelvis.Murray also needed hip surgery last year, but the 33-year-old is confident he is heading back to his best.”My game is there, I just need more time to practise and prepare and I’ll get there,” he said.

MS Dhoni liked to control his bowlers when he started his captaincy: Irfan Pathan

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MS Dhoni liked to control his bowlers when he started his captaincy: Irfan Pathan

Former India pacer Irfan Pathan has revealed that World Cup-winning ex-skipper MS Dhoni liked to control his bowlers when he started his captaincy stint back in 2007 but came to trust them by 2013, a phase during which he also became a calmer leader.

The 35-year-old Pathan, who played under Dhoni as part of both the 2007 World Cup-winning team and the 2013 Champions Trophy-clinching side, said the years, as they went by, changed Dhoni the captain in more ways than one. “In 2007, it was the first time and you understand that when you are given a big responsibility of leading a team, you get excited,” Pathan said on Star Sports’ ‘Cricket Connected’ when asked how Dhoni changed as a captain between 2007 and 2013.

“The team meetings were always small though, both in 2007 and 2013 during Champions Trophy, just 5 minutes meeting,” added the bowler, who announced his retirement from all forms of cricket earlier this year.

Talking about the one change that he noticed in Dhoni, Pathan said, “…in 2007, he used to run from wicketkeeping to bowling end in excitement and try to control the bowler as well but by the time 2013 came he was letting the bowler control themselves. He was very calm and in control

Dhoni has not played any cricket since India’s semifinal exit from the ODI World Cup last year. He led the country in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2016 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014.

The 38-year-old is the only captain to win all ICC trophies. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 World T20, the 2010 and 2016 Asia Cups, the 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy. Pathan said by 2013, Dhoni had started employing the spinners in crunch situations to win matches.

“Between 2007 and 2013 he gained the experience of trusting his slow bowlers and spinners and by the time Champions Trophy came, he was very clear that in crucial time he needs to get his spinners into play to win the games,” he said.

New definition will improve credit flow to MSMEs: SBI Chairman

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New definition will improve credit flow to MSMEs: SBI Chairman

Lending major SBI’s Chairman Rajnish Kumar on Saturday said the new definition of MSMEs which includes both turnover and investment limits will lead to improved credit flow to the sector.

He was speaking at the dialogue session organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry on the occasion of ‘International MSME Day’.

During the session, he interacted with various representatives from the MSME industry through a virtual platform.

Highlighting the importance of the sector, the SBI Chairman said that they have vast outreach and play a critical role both in terms of economic activity and employment generation.

At the same session, CII President and MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Uday Kotak said that MSMEs need risk capital to grow.

Besides, Kumar said that the credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs under the ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’ will reduce the pain of the sector, which has come under stress in the aftermath of Covid-19 induced crisis.

On the issue of financing, he said that SBI is the largest lender to the sector and is increasingly utilizing digital technology platforms to enable hassle-free credit flow to the MSME industries.

Flood situation remains grim in Assam, 4.63 lakh people affected

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Flood situation remains grim in Assam, 4.63 lakh people affected

As the incessant monsoon rains continued, flood situation in Assam further worsened on Saturday with 1,289 villages in 21 districts being inundated, distressing 4.63 lakh people, while the Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level at many places in nine districts, officials said.

Meanwhile, officials of the state-owned Oil India Ltd (OIL) said that due to the heavy downpour over the past few days, Baghjan – where its leaking oil well caught fire – and adjoining areas in Tinsukia district have been badly hit by floodwater and the accident site has been inundated, affecting the efforts to douse the blaze.

“All connecting roads to the OIL’s oil well site have been submerged with floodwater. Bridges were damaged. At many places, water is flowing over the road with a knee to waist-deep water. OIL’s operational areas are heavily inundated,” an OIL release said.

A massive fire broke out on June 9 at OIL’s Baghjan oil well near the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park that had been spewing natural gas and oil condensates uncontrollably since May 27.

An important bridge en route to Baghjan, around 550 km east of Guwahati, was damaged due to the floods and the Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has asked the official to build a bailey bridge for unimpeded movement of emergency services.

An official of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said that the flood-hit districts are Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Udalguri, Darrang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Chirang, Bongaigaon, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Morigaon, and Tinsukia.

The official said: “Over 4.63 lakh people affected by the floods and over 37,313 Ahectares of the crop were badly affected due to the floods. Around 19,500 people took shelter in 132 relief camps.”

The official said that in the current wave of floods, three persons died in Goalpara and Dibrugarh districts while in the first wave of floods from May 22 claimed 15 lives in different districts of Assam.

In all, at least 2,49,300 various pets (domestic) animals were affected due to the current wave of floods since early this week.

The National Disaster Response Force, Assam State Disaster Response Force personnel, along with local administrations, are continuously working to rescue the affected people and rendering the relief services, including distribution of relief to the marooned villagers.

TThe Chief Minister has also directed the Deputy Commissioners of all the affected districts to address the needs of the flood-hit people urgently while also adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols. Meanwhile, the heavy monsoon rains affected the normal life in most of the other northeastern states.

The rainwater has inundated vast low lying areas of Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Mizoram.

Bihar should act against officials, NGOs in shelter home cases: CBI

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Bihar should act against officials, NGOs in shelter home cases: CBI

The CBI has informed the Supreme Court that investigation of all 17 shelter home cases in Bihar has been completed except two cases – Balika Grah, Muzaffarpur, and short-stay home, Motihari — where further investigation is being carried out on the allegations of sexual and physical exploitation. The investigating agency has requested the Bihar government to take departmental action and also cancel registration and blacklist NGOs and their office-bearers.

The CBI said that the inquiry into four preliminary inquiries (PEs) has also been completed and no evidence proving the commission of criminal offense could be gathered.

“However, evidence of gross negligence was found on part of public servants and NGOs running the shelter homes for which CBI reports have been sent to the Bihar government for taking departmental actions against erring government officials and cancellation of registrations of NGOs and blacklisting them and their office-bearers for future social/ government contracts,” the CBI said in its application in the apex court.

The CBI said the trial of Muzaffarpur shelter home case has been completed and judgment was pronounced on January 20 this year, convicting 19 accused persons for committing offenses of gang rapes, aggravated sexual assault, and other offenses.

In November 2018, the apex court had directed the CBI to conduct an investigation into the allegation of sexual abuse in 16 homes in Bihar cited by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in its report. The CBI informed the top court that final reports have been filed before the competent courts in 13 cases.

The CBI said notes have been forwarded to the Chief Secretary of Bihar for taking action against erring government servants.

The CBI has also sought the top court’s permission “for utilizing services of team members of the investigating team of shelter home cases, Bihar for other official works as the assigned task has been completed except further investigation in Muzaffarpur shelter home case and short stay home, Motihari case”.

Jacqueline to Sanjana Sanghi: ‘You had an amazing first co-star’ in Sushant

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Jacqueline to Sanjana Sanghi: ‘You had an amazing first co-star’ in Sushant

Jacqueline Fernandez is the latest Bollywood star who has come forward to promote late Sushant Singh Rajputs last release, the upcoming “Dil Bechara”, after Rajkummar Rao, Kartik Aaryan and Shraddha Kapoor pitched in to do so.

Jacqueline, who worked with Sushant in “Drive”, the actor’s last-released film that went straight to OTT, shared a poster of “Dil Bechara” on Instagram and shared: “He’s going has left a void, everywhere and with everyone.. he taught me to ALWAYS be there for people, whenever I was down or confused, he never hesitated to help.. watching his film is not going to be easy for me but I know he’s going to light up the screen so beautifully and that will give me some peace.”

Sharing a message for the film’s director Mukesh Chhabra and actress Sanjana Sanghi, Jacqueline further wrote: “@castingchhabra I know how close you were to Sushant, pls stay strong @sanjanasanghi96 all the best for your debut, you had an amazing first co-star and I’m sure he would’ve been proud of the performance you’ve given. #dilbechara @foxstarhindi @disneyplushotstar 24th July #countdowntodilbechara.”

In response, Sanjana Sanghi, Sushant’s co-star in “Dil Bechara”, shared: “Amen. Sailing through rough waters with the kindest support like yours helps more than can be put into words. Thank you, Jacky.”

Meanwhile, netizens continue to express their disappointment with the decision to release “Dil Bechara” on an OTT platform as they had been yearning for a theatrical release.

Replying to netizens’ demand for theatrical release, Sanjana shared in an Instagram post: “Let’s make this a time to celebrate a legendary life, a film? A time to give a tribute, to embrace these extremely challenging circumstances we all are in. And not a time to revolt, asking for something that in our present reality cannot be made possible. Blockbuster banani hai, toh apke Pyaar se hi ban jayegi! Hamesha box office ki zarurat toh nahi hain na (Your love will turn the film into a blockbuster, we don’t always need the box office to do that, right)?”

Karnataka to build industrial townships for MSMEs

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Karnataka to build industrial townships for MSMEs

Karnataka would soon set up industrial townships near cities for more micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the southern state, said state industries minister Jagadish Shettar on Saturday.

“The proposal to set up industrial townships near cities across the state will soon be placed in the cabinet meeting for approval and implementation,” said Shettar on MSME Day celebration, organized by the Karnataka Small-Scale Industries Association (Kassia) here.

The minister also unveiled the Covid-19 Udyog Sahayavani (helpline) on the occasion.

“I have directed the officials to draft a proposal with a geographical map for setting up the new industrial townships,” added Shettar.

The state government is also simplifying regulations for hassle-free acquisition of land to set up industries and make Karnataka an industry-friendly state.

“MSMEs play a key role in the economic development of the state and the country. They have the spirit of reviving the economy from challenges posed by the Corona crisis, as the central government is encouraging them to spur growth,” asserted Shettar.

The state’s new industrial policy, awaiting the finance department approval, will fix the land cost on a scientific basis for setting up industries in tier-2 and tier-3 cities across the state.

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