Former skipper Michael Vaughan accused Alstair Cook of dropping players, who are better than him, and also said that if the England cricket captain doesn’t step down voluntarily then the selectors should sack him.
Vaughan said Cook was dropping players like all-rounder Ravi Bopara, who are better than him in the ODIs. He also said that Cook should immediately be replaced by Eoin Morgan.
A woman sub-inspector and a constable have been arrested here for extorting money from a businessman, Delhi Police said Wednesday.
Sub-inspector Vandana and constable Hans Kumar were taken into custody after a complaint was lodged against them two days ago. Both were posted with Crime Branch.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar today refused to draw comparison between country’s most successful ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his predecessors, but said that going by sheer record the wicketkeeper-batsman surpassed all his seniors.
Dhoni registered his 91st ODI win as India captain, edging past Mohammad Azharuddin to become the most successful one-day skipper during his side’s emphatic nine-wicket win over England in the fourth match of the series in Birmingham yesterday.
The Assam government Wednesday announced exemption of entertainment tax on “Mary Kom”, a new Bollywood movie on the World champion woman boxer from Manipur.
“As the movie revolves around boxer Mary Kom, the pride of the northeast and the country as a whole, we have decided to exempt it from entertainment tax,” Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said here.
Based on the life of the Olympic bronze medal winner and five-time World boxing champion, the film is scheduled for release Sep 5.
Assam is the third state to have made the film tax-free after Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
The third round of the JK Tyre-FMSCI National Rotax Max Karting Championship will return to the 1.2 km Mohite’s Racing Academy Circuit here after a gap of three years Sep 6-7.
Krishnaraaj Mahadik of Mohite’s Racing, Kush Maini of Dark Don Racing and Meco Motorsports’ Shahan Ali Mohsin, leaders in their respective categories, will look to keep their challengers at bay.
Among the local drivers, Mahadik, Chittesh Mandody and Dhruv Mohite will look to bring in crowds in the stands.
Egypt today banned two channels, including Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera for inciting “hatred and sedition” and “undermining national unity” by airing pro-Muslim Brotherhood views.
The State Council, which is a judicial advisory body, banned Al-Jazeera and privately-owned Rabaa channel after a law suit was filed with it.
The suit alleged that the channels were violating the rules set by the Council of Arab Ministers of Information that call on media outlets to maintain public unity and order, state-run Ahram newspaper reported.
Odisha Wednesday launched a helpline for its migrant workers after reports of their torture and exploitation in recent months.
State Labour and Employment Minister Prafulla Mallick who launched the service here said any worker staying in the state or outside can now call at the toll-free helpline number 155368 and can lodge complaints and grievances.
Every year, thousands of workers from districts like Nuapada, Kalahandi, Koraput, Rayagada and Bolangir migrate to other states in search of jobs. They are often exploited by middlemen and labour contractors.
The opposition negotiating team was able to break the political deadlock between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the government Wednesday after the former agreed to meet a government team to negotiate its demands, a media report said.
“PTI has agreed to move forward in a democratic manner. PTI will meet the government’s delegation at 8 p.m. today,” Dawn online quoted PTI vice-chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi as saying after a meeting with the opposition negotiating team at Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Rehman Malik’s residence in the capital.
The Delhi High Court Wednesday reserved its order on a plea seeking a CBI probe into accusations made by Press Council of India Chairman Markandey Katju that three former chief justices of India made “improper compromises” to save a tainted Madras High Court judge.
A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw, hearing the PIL that sought registration of a case against the judges, said: “We will consider the issue and pass the order. The order is reserved.”
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to resolve the ongoing power crisis in the state.
Chavan said the power crisis was affecting at least five states in the country, necessitating larger consultations and involvement of the central government in resolving the issue.
He said competive bids had been invited from private parties to generate electricity, but since the bids were finalised, there have been very serious issues regarding availability of fuel (to generate power).
A special collection of dishes comprising the favourite recipes of Bengali cinema’s legend Uttam Kumar was Wednesday launched by a city restaurant to celebrate the actor’s 88th birth anniversary.
Dubbed ‘Mahanayak’ (great actor, in Bengali), Uttam Kumar, born Sep 3, 1926, formed the greatest romantic pair in the regional film industry’s history with Suchitra Sen who passed away in January.
His most popular films with the screen goddess include “Share Chuattor”, “Agni Pariksha”, “Shilpi”, “Saptapadi”, “Pathe Holo Deri” and “Harano Sur”.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Wednesday appointed a committee to assess the unclaimed amount deposited in the public provident fund (PPF), post office saving schemes, and to suggest steps for utilisation of these funds for the benefit of senior citizens.
According to a Finance Ministry statement, the new committee has been set up under the chairmanship of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) deputy governor.
A 20-year-old national-level kabaddi player was killed after being hit by a car here, police said Wednesday.
Dipti Yash was crossing the road when a car, driven by a woman, hit her in south Delhi’s Hauz Khas area Tuesday evening. She had come to meet a friend.
A witness said the car was traveling so fast it could not stop and the driver sped away. Police said the driver, identified only as Nalini, has been arrested.
Passers-by took Dipti to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Dipti had won at least 40 medals in kabaddi and athletics in various events, police said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has allocated $450,000 for health projects in Haryana, Rakesh Gupta, Mission Director, National Health Mission, Haryana, said Wednesday.
Gupta was speaking at a three-day workshop on “Implementation Research proposal development” organised by ‘Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research’, the WHO and National Health Mission, Haryana, which concluded here Wednesday.
Atletico de Kolkata will take on Mumbai City FC in the opening game of the inaugural Indian Super League (ISL) at Kolkats’s Salt Lake Stadium Oct 12.
Promoters of ISL, IMG-Reliance and Star India announced the fixtures Wednesday. The tournament will have eight clubs playing 61 games in 70 days. The league stage will witness 56 games on home and away format, followed by two-legged semi-finals and the final Dec 20.
All matches will be played at 7.00 p.m. On days of double headers, the first game will start at 5.00 p.m. followed by the 7.00 p.m. game.
The government Wednesday said it has started work on a new policy on smart cities towards enabling citizens enjoy modern civic life in line with its stated goal of developing 100 smart cities.
“We are in the process of finalising the framework for smart cities. It is a huge exercise and all possible pitfalls, effects and other factors are being considered before announcement of the policy,” Urban Development (UD) secretary Shankar Aggarwal said at a real estate conference here organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The US has confirmed that the beheading video of a second American journalist was authentic, as President Barack Obama Wednesday vowed to punish the Islamic State terrorist group, saying America would not be intimidated.
“Those who make the mistake of harming Americans will learn that we will not forget… that our reach is long and that justice will be served,” Obama said at a news conference in the Estonian capital Tallinn Wednesday.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah will perform a ‘maha-aarti’ of Lord Ganesha as part of the ongoing 11-day Ganeshotsav during his visit to Mumbai Thursday, party sources said.
The ‘maha-aarti’ shall be performed at a Gilder Tank ground in south Mumbai’s Grant Road area with the accompaniment of priests from five prominent temples in the city.
They are Swami Narain temple, ISKCON, Babulnath, Phadke Ganpati Temple and Mahalaxmi, and the high attraction of the venue is a huge replica of the famous ‘Char Dham’ created by Bollywood’s top notch art director Nitin Desai.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott arrives here Thursday on a two-day visit that is expected to see inking of a nuclear cooperation agreement that would enable uranium sales by Australia to India.
Abbott, who is the first head of state arriving on a bilateral visit to establish contact with the new government, is to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday during which a slew of agreements are expected to be inked.
New Zealand Cricket today confirmed a two-year extension of the Black Caps coach Mike Hesson”s contract.
According to Stuff.co.nz, Hesson, 40, was initially contracted till the end of next year”s World Cup, but the side”s strong recent run prompted NZ Cricket chief executive David White and the board to extend his contract till April 30, 2017.
After the confirmation of Hesson”s contract White said it was great news for the players and for the sport to have consistency in this role for its flagship team for nearly five years.
The Islamic State fighters are petrified of dying at the hands of women fighting alongside Kurdistan”s Peshmerga, as many fear that getting killed by a female would mar their chance to go to heaven.
According to FOX news, the women fighters from the Kurdistan Workers” Party, also known as the PKK, told Stars and Stripes they have an intense interest in killing the bloodthirsty marauders who have beheaded Christians, raped women and sold females into slavery across a treacherous swath of Iraq and Syria.
UK’s Advertising Standards Agency has banned American Apparel””s “School Days” campaign, after finding it “sexually explicit”. The British agency that regulates advertisements cited the campaign was conspicuous in displaying the models’ ‘buttocks’ and ‘groin’ rather than on the skirt shown in the advertisement, Mashable reported. With a tagline “Your first assignment is to dress appropriately”, American Apparel””s one-ad features a female model being shot from below wearing a miniskirt leaning into the window of a car, outrageously allows the viewer to peek at her underwear.
Jessica Alba has revealed that she was disillusioned by the Church after she had a crush on a guy who was bisexual and a ballerina, during her teenage years. During an interview with the Daily Beast, the 33-year-old actress admitted that she moved away from the church, which held strong views about pre-marital sex and gays, as she was in love with a “drag queen” guy, and believed he “couldn’t go to hell” as he was “amazing”, MVP Entertainment India reported.
Russia has indicated that it plans to review its military doctrine, following the imminent plans by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of endorsing a Rapid- Reaction Spearhead Force in Wales to respond more quickly to the crisis in eastern Ukraine. Kremlin’s decision came at a time when Russian-backed rebels swiftly recaptured territory in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, which weeks ago appeared to have been lost by them.
The trainer version of the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) was flown here Wednesday by the IAF deputy chief, Air Marshal S.B.P. Sinha.
“Having had first hand experience and feel of the aircraft, (he) expressed that the aircraft handles well both on the ground and in the air,” a defence ministry statement said.
Air Marshal Sinha was on a two day visit to Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) during which he reviewed various aspects of the Tejas programme.