A S Kashyap

England batsman Joe Root has called on his team mates to deliver a more consistent performance as New Zealand have opted to bat first in the second ODI of the five-match series at the Oval on Friday.

Earlier on Tuesday, England registered a record 210-run win over New Zealand in the first ODI at Edgbaston.

Root believes that the key thing is giving themselves the best chance of making a big score, insisting that they need to do that on a more consistent level, the BBC has reported.

Germany has reportedly dropped a probe into the alleged tapping of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone by the United States’ National Security Agency (NSA).

The office of the Federal Prosecutor, Harald Range, said that the American spy agency had failed to provide enough evidence to justify legal action, reported the BBC.

The alleged phone tapping was made public by whistleblower Edward Snowden while leaking documents pertaining to large-scale surveillance by U.S. in 2013. The revelation had strained the German-U.S. ties.(ANI)

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Friday named Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar as the person in-charge for the party in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has been appointed as the co-in-charge.

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik on Friday dubbed the murder of journalist Jagendra Singh by a state minister as a ‘serious’ matter, and assured that he has asked Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to look into it.

“The murder of a journalist in Shahjahanpur is a serious issue. I have asked the UP Gvernment to look into it. The chief minister has assured action in the same,” Naik told ANI.

“People expect strict action in this case, so the UP Government must ensure justice,” he added.

In what will come as a relief to millions living in East Delhi, sanitation workers employed by the city’s municipal corporation have called off their strike.

The workers had gone on strike after the East Delhi Municipal Corporation failed to pay their salaries for the third month running, citing paucity of funds.

The resultant mess had led to enormous piles of garbage littering East Delhi’s streets.

Further details are awaited. (ANI)

Nominations for the National Communal Harmony Awards- 2015 have been invited from eligible individuals and organizations for their outstanding contribution in promoting communal harmony and national integration.

These awards were instituted by the National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH), which functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has refused to dismiss reports that a migrant boat was paid by an Australian navy ship to return to Indonesia.
However, he added that the country had devised ‘incredibly creative’ ways to stop migrant boats from reaching Australia, reported the BBC.

Indonesian police had earlier said that they had detained the captain and crew of a boat for trafficking people in late May, who had revealed that an Australian navy ship had intercepted them at sea and paid USD 3,900 each to return to the South Asian country.

A six-member delegation from the ” Naga Hoho” called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.

The delegation was led by the Naga organisation’s president Chuba Ozukum.

The delegation appreciated the Prime Minister Modi’s vision of development for the North-East.

They also emphasized their commitment towards peace in the entire region. (ANI)

Residents of Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s hometown in Jharkhand rejoiced as the Indian skipper made it to the Forbes list of highest paid athletes in the world.

Dhoni is the lone Indian sportsperson to feature in the magazine’s popular list. His ranking dropped to 23 from 22 this year.

Dhoni’s total earnings stood at USD 31 million, including amount from salary and winnings at USD 4 million and USD 27 million from endorsements during the calendar year 2014-2015.

Visakhapatnam continues to simmer in heat despite many areas in Andhra Pradesh receiving rainfall after June 5 as predicted by weather officials.

Weather department said that the weakening of upper air circulation over the region and in the adjoining Bay of Bengal, along with the occurrence of a western disturbance, would delay rainfall in many parts of the state.

Following the unfurling of the flag of the dreaded Islamic State (IS) in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir National Panther’s Party Bhim Singh o Friday called for Governor’s rule to be imposed in the state.

Story to follow. (ANI)

Liverpool have announced that an agreement has been reached to sign Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper Adam Bogdan on a free transfer when his contract expires next month.

The 27-year-old, who has made 120 appearances for the championship side, will be arriving at the Premier League club on July 1, the BBC has reported.

The signing of the Hungary international will put pressure on first-choice keeper Simon Mignolet after the Brendan Rodgers’ club released Brad Jones. (ANI)

A female lawyer, who was involved in a hit-and-run accident on the Mumbai Expressway late on Monday night, was on Friday, placed in judicial custody for fourteen days.
Thirty-five-year-old lawyer Jahanvi Gadkar, who had crashed her Audi Q3 car into a taxi in Mumbai late on Monday night, was seen being taken away by female police officers after the court issued the order for her detention.

A 92-year-old Dallas woman legally adopted a 76-year-old as her daughter, after 60 years of referring to one another as mother and daughter.

Muriel Clayton and Mary Smith, who are actually cousins, made it official in a Dallas courthouse on June 9, Us Magazine reported.

Clayton, who has four other children, surprised Smith, who was taken under Clayton’s wing at the age of 14 after her father died, with the adoption idea this past Mother’s Day. (ANI)

Rain continued to frustrate the Indian team as the third day of the lone test against Bangladesh was washed out on Friday.

India was cruising at 462-6, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh at the crease. Only 47.3 overs could be bowled in the entire day’s play.

Shikhar Dhawan added to his overnight score to make 173, with Murali Vijay giving him ample support with a sublime 150. However, the innings of the day came from Ajinkya Rahane, who chipped in with a 103-ball 98.

Meanwhile, skipper Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma disappointed with the bat, as did Wriddhiman Saha.

In what may improve customer satisfaction, the Delhi Jal Board will now start regular e-interaction with its consumers via SMS.

The CEO Delhi Jal Board, SS Yadav, today informed that this would benefit more than 21 lakh consumers of DJB.

Yadav said that to get regular information from DJB the consumer will have to link his/her mobile number with his/her ten digits KNO.

This can be done by sending SMS or by registering at DJB revenue department website www.djb.gov.in. Registration via SMS can be done by typing DJBIN <10 DIGIT K NO.> and sending it via SMS to 7738299899.

The Bombay High Court on Friday refused to grant relief to Nestle over its petition against the FSSAI’s country-wide ban on Maggi noodles.

The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for June 30.

Nestle India had yesterday approached the court against the food safety regulator’s ban on its popular instant noodles.

The company had sought a judicial review of the order dated June 5, 2015 passed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and against the order dated June 5, 2015 by the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) in Maharashtra.

The American singer Carrie Underwood has revealed how she actually managed to keep herself fit even after having cesarean delivery three months back.

The ‘Blown Away’ singer, who recently appeared at CMT Music Awards, said that because of her C-section delivery she wasn’t immediately able to hit gym, but rather than losing the hope she opted for other ways to get back down to her pre-pregnancy weight, E! Online has reported.

The former ‘American Idol’ winner explained that after having her son Isaiah, she altered her diet and once her body was healed and she hit the gym.

Imagine a car that knows where potholes are before people get to them, and, can also warn them ahead of time.

Jaguar Land Rover has been developing a series of sensors that can detect when a car goes over a pothole and then relay that information both to local road authorities, which could go out and repair them, and to other vehicles, which could warn drivers of a pothole’s presence or adjust their suspension to make travel smoother, the Verge reported.

Pakistan has reportedly dismissed the European Union’s (EU) concern over reactivation of the death penalty, saying that it was not violating international laws.

Foreign Office Spokesman Qazi Khalilullah was quoted by The Dawn, as saying that only those convicts, who were involved in heinous crimes, were being hanged.

The statement came a day after EU asked Pakistan to reinstate the moratorium on capital punishments and respect all of its international obligations, while expressing concern over the increasing number of executions in the country.

Porn star Jenna Jameson seems to be completely in love with her Israeli fiance Lior Bitton as she has announced that she will soon be converting to Judaism.

The 41-year-old pornographic film actress broke the news on social media, saying that its been six months now that she has started with the weekly tradition, E! Online has reported.

The American entrepreneur further continued that she was doing so as her love is from Israel and she had to serve the real deal.

Twitter has reportedly lifted the classic 140-character limit from its Direct Messages feature as part of an ongoing drive to overhaul the service.

Starting in July, messages on Twitter will run as long as the user likes, turning the service into much more of a typical instant message and group chat service, reported The Verge.

The move is being dubbed as ‘sensible’ because the 140-character limit on messages was seen as a nuisance as they were meant to be private and not the same type of quick info byte as a tweet. (ANI)

Representatives of various media organisations boycotted the daily briefing of the Congress Party on Friday, over not being informed about party vice president Rahul Gandhi’s “planned” meeting and interaction with agitating workers of the Muncipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)
A majority of the media squarely blamed Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Ajay Maken for the faux pax, saying that they were misled by the latter and his representatives about the event.

A bus carrying a wedding party met with disaster when a high tension wire fell on the vehicle on the outskirts of Tonk in Rajasthan.

According to reports, 25 people have been killed in the mishap.

Further details are awaited. (ANI)

Scientists have found a gene switch that controls whether germ cells eventually become sperm or eggs.

New experiments in the Japanese rice fish show that the fox13 gene appears to be the switch that determines whether a germ cell becomes an egg or sperm cell.

The finding could help researchers learn more about how the sexual fate of germ cells is determined during vertebrate development.