India Vs England, 3rd Test: India thrash England by 8 wickets, take 2-0 lead

Mohali, Nov 29: India on Tuesday (Nov 29) registered a convincing win over England after Virat Kohli and his men beat Alastair Cook and Company by 8 wickets here on fourth day of the third Test match here. 

Parthiv Patel (67*) struck a whirlwind half-century and also hit the winning runs as India thrashed England at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium.


India thus maintained their record of not losing a Test match at this venue for the last 22 years. The first Test hosted by this venue was in December 10-14, 1994, which saw then cricket powerhouse West Indies beat India by 243 runs.

Resuming the fourth day's play at the overnight score of 78/4, England lost quick wickets to end their second innings at 236 runs. 

Haseeb Hameed posted a half-century in difficult conditions to remain unbeaten on 59 and help take England past the 200-run mark.

Indian players congratulate each other at the end of day three of the third Test match between India and England in Mohali.

The visitors were all out for 283 runs in their first innings while India had posted 417.

India lose two wickets in 2nd innings: 

Chasing a paltry target of 103, Patel started off India's second innings in confident fashion with a boundary through the covers off Woakes. 

Vijay, however, continued his run of poor form, edging Woakes to Joe Root at second slip later in the same over. Pujara then joined Patel in the middle and the duo ensured that there were no more hiccups till the tea break. 

Pujara, who scored 25 runs, perished after tea while attempting to sweep a Rashid delivery which was pitched a little outside leg-stump. The Saurashtra batsman misjudged the bounce and ended up offering a top edge to Root at short fine leg.

As Kohli joined him at the other end, Patel continued to go after the England bowlers to end up with 11 boundaries and a six, and India won in dominant fashion. 

Indian skipper Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on six runs at the other end. Patel hit a boundary to overhaul the target as India finished at 104/2.


Ravindra Jadeja named Man of the match: 

Jadeja, who posted his career best Test score 90 runs during India's first innings and also bagged a total of four wickets, took home the Man of the Match award. 

Young Hameed impresses all: 

Earlier, striding to the middle with England tottering at 107/6, Hameed was involved in crucial partnerships with Root, Woakes and James Anderson.

The opener, who was forced to come in a number eight due to a hand injury, batted patiently for 156 deliveries to be unbeaten on 59, hitting six boundaries and a six. 

Hameed and Root were involved a 45-run partnership before the latter edged Jadeja to Ajinkya Rahane in the slips. 

Root was the top scorer in England's second innings with 78 runs off 179 balls which included six hits to the fence.

R Ashwin impresses with all-round performance:  

For India, star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin ended up with figures of 3/81 while Jadeja, Mohammed Shami and Jayant Yadav bagged a brace each. 

England lost three wickets in the morning session to reach 156/7 at lunch. 

Jadeja, who opened the proceedings for the hosts with fast bowler Umesh Yadav, struck twice before lunch to give India the upper hand. 

Jadeja trapped night-watchman Gareth Batty (0) plumb in front in his very first over of the day before dismissing make-shift opener Root just before the lunch break. 

Off-spinner Jayant Yadav piled on the misery for England by dismissing danger-man Jos Buttler (18). 

Hameed and Woakes then added 43 runs between them to take the visitors near the 200-run mark before Shami produced some excellent short pitched bowling with the second new ball to hasten England's demise. 

Shami used the short pitched stuff to good effect by dislodging Woakes and Adil Rashid in the same over. 

Bowling his first over with the second new ball, the Bengal fast bowler produced a sharp bouncer with his opening delivery which hit Woakes on the helmet. 

The Englishman was clearly shaken by the blow and had to pause for a drink as the England physio came out to check on him. 

Shami came up with another bouncer with another bouncer in his very ball which came into Woakes, hitting the handle before lobbing up for an easy catch to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel. 

Rashid, the next man in, was hit on his pads with the first ball ball he faced before another incoming short pitched ball forced him to offer an easy top edge to Umesh at fine leg. 

Hameed then joined up with Anderson and continued to defy the Indian bowlers. 

Despite facing some excellent bowling on a difficult pitch, the teenager mixed caution with aggression, bring up his half-century with a six off Ashwin's bowling. 

Hameed's aggression saw him add 41 runs in 40 balls along with Anderson before the latter was run out thanks to Jadeja's throw from the deep, thus bringing an end to the England innings.


Source:One India

Congress President Sonia Gandhi admitted to hospital

New Delhi, Nov 29: Congress President Sonia Gandhi was today admitted to a hospital here following a viral infection. 

"The Congress President has been admitted to a hospital following viral fever. She will be discharged within two days.

She will resume her Parliament duty soon. There is no cause for worry," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

Sources said that 69-year-old Gandhi was down with viral fever and doctors advised her to be under medical supervision. 

She will also undergo some tests at Sir Gangaram hospital, they said. 

Gandhi had to cut short her roadshow in Varanasi in August after she fell ill and had to be hospitalised.

Source:One India

RBI eases withdrawal limits for retailers

Nudging retailers such as malls and shop owners to deposit their daily collections with banks, the Reserve Bank of India has said they would be allowed to withdraw the deposited sum in Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes, irrespective of the existing withdrawal limits.

The decision is aimed at discouraging hoarding of valid currency notes and increasing its circulation to mitigate cash crunch following the demonetisation of old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes.

In a notification, the RBI said it has been reported that “certain depositors are hesitating” to deposit their monies into bank accounts in view of the current limits on cash withdrawals.

“As it is impeding active circulation of currency notes, it has been decided, on careful consideration, to allow withdrawals of deposits made in current legal tender notes on or after November 29, 2016 beyond the current limits,” RBI said.

It added that preferably, available higher denominations bank notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 are to be issued for such withdrawals.

People have exchanged and deposited about Rs 8.45 lakh crore worth of scrapped Rs 500/1,000 notes at different banks till November 27 following demonetisation of the high value currency on November 9.

The banks also disbursed over Rs. 2.16 lakh crore over the counter and via ATMs from November 10-27. Of this, the exchange of old Rs 500/1000 notes amounted to Rs 33,948 crore and deposits amounted to Rs 8,11,033 crore.

Source:The Hindu

Brazil football team Chapecoense in Colombia plane crash

A plane carrying 81 people, including a top Brazilian football team, has crashed on its approach to the city of Medellin in Colombia, officials say.

Reports say there are six survivors. The plane reported electrical problems.
The chartered aircraft, flying from Bolivia, was carrying members of the Chapecoense football team, airport officials said.

The team was due to play in the final of the Copa Sudamericana, against Medellin team Atletico Nacional.

The first leg of the final of the cup, South America's second most important club competition, was scheduled for Wednesday, but has now been suspended.
The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) said it was suspending "all activities".

The team, from the southern city of Chapeco, was promoted to Brazil's first division in 2014 and reached the final last week after a victory against Argentina's San Lorenzo.

Reports say the British Aerospace 146 short-haul plane, operated by Bolivian charter airline Lamia and carrying 72 passengers and nine crew, crashed in Cerro Gordo in the municipality of La Union shortly before midnight local time (05:00 GMT).


According to an airport press release, it was reporting an electrical fault to the control tower.

Medellin's Mayor Federico Gutierrez described it as "a tragedy of huge proportions".
The Jose Maria Cordova de Rionegro airport, which serves Medellin, posted on its Twitter account: "Confirmed, the aircraft licence number CP2933 was carrying the team @ChapecoenseReal. Apparently there are survivors."

It later said in a statement that "all possible aid was being mobilised because six survivors are being reported".

Poor weather has meant that the crash site, in a mountainous area, is only accessible by land.

However, there was no fire on impact, which has given rescuers hope that more survivors may be found.

CONMEBOL said in a statement that its president, Alejandro Dominguez, was on his way to Medellin.


"The CONMEBOL family greatly regrets what happened. All activities of the confederation are suspended until further notice," it said.

Source:BBC

Two jawans killed in militant attack on Army camp in Nagrota near Jammu

In a separate incident, two militants were killed in Ramgarh Sector

Two jawans were killed after fierce gun battle broke out on early Tuesday morning when militants opened fire in an Army camp in Nagrota near Jammu.

Local officials told The Hindu that militants and the security forces are engaged in a gun battle on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway near Nagrota, around 20 km from Jammu city.

They said the militants appeared in the area between 5.30 a.m. and 6 a.m. and attacked a nearby Army camp. "Fierce firing is on in the area," they added.

All schools in Nagrota have been closed for the day, said an official.

Infiltration foiled

In a separate incident, two militants were killed in Ramgarh Sector in Jammu's Samba district. The BSF spotted suspicious movements of the militants using thermal imagers near Chamliyal Border outpost in the intervening night of November 28 and 29. The militants were holed up in a tube well pump house in the fields, close to the International Border (IB).


The BSF confirmed that the gun fight is over and the area is being sanitised. Details of the operation, including the seizures, would be released once the operation is over, it said.

Source:The Hindu

60% penalty on undisclosed income, new black money scheme launched

New Delhi, Nov 28 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the Income Tax rules levying a tax of 60 per cent on undisclosed income or investment or cash credit deposited in the banks.

According to the Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016, the declarant will additionally have to pay regular tax on the amount left after deducting the 60 per cent levy. 

The government has also come up with an income disclosure scheme called the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) 2016 which allows people to deposit money in their accounts till April 1, 2017, by paying 50 per cent of the total amount -- 30 per cent as tax, 10 per cent as penalty and 33 per cent of the taxed amount-- that is 10 per cent -- as Garib Kalyan Cess. 

Additionally, under this scheme, 25 per cent of the amount has to be locked up for four years in interest-free Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme. 

The total amount so declared under this new income declaration scheme (PMGKY) will not be included in the total income of the declarant for any assessment year. No set off is allowed under any head on this amount.

 In case of undeclared income found during income tax searches, a penalty of 30 per cent shall be imposed by the Income Tax Department apart from the regular tax on the money. This would be done if the assessee admits to the undisclosed income and "substantiates" the manner in which the undisclosed income was derived. 

However, if the assessee does not do that, the penalty would be raised to 60 per cent, in addition to the tax required to be paid. 

In the objects and reasons statement the Finance Minister said the amendment had been brought forward as "there have been representations and suggestions from experts that instead of allowing people to find illegal ways of converting their black money into black again, the government should give them an opportunity to pay taxes with heavy penalty and allow them to come clean." 

He said this would allow the government to get additional revenue for undertaking activities for the welfare of the poor, but also the remaining part of the declared income would legitimately comes into the formal economy.

Source:One India

Pay 50% tax on unaccounted deposits, or 85% if caught: Govt.

In a step aimed at providing a window to black money holders, the government on Monday proposed to levy a total tax, penalty and surcharge of 50 per cent on the amount deposited post demonetisation, while higher taxes and stiffer penalty of up to 85 per cent await those who don’t disclose but are caught.

Nearly three weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced junking Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced a bill to amend the Income Tax law, which also provides for black money declarants a mandatorily depositing of 25 per cent of the amount disclosed in anti-poverty scheme without interest and a four-year lock-in period.

Those who choose to declare their ill-gotten wealth stashed till now in the banned currency under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana 2016, will have to pay a tax at the rate of 30 percent of the undisclosed income.

Additionally, a 10 per cent penalty will be levied on the undisclosed income and surcharge called PMGK Cess at the rate of 33 per cent of tax.

Further, the declarants have to deposit 25 per cent of the undisclosed income in a scheme to be notified by the government in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India.

The money from the scheme would be used for projects in irrigation, housing, toilets, infrastructure, primary education, primary health and livelihood so that there is justice and equality, said the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill.

For those who continue to hold onto undisclosed cash and are caught, the existing provisions of the Income Tax law will be amended to provide for a flat 60 per cent tax plus a surcharge of 25 per cent of tax (15 per cent), which will amount a levy of 75 per cent.


Besides, if the assessing officer decides he can charge a 10 per cent penalty in addition to the 75 per cent tax.

Source:The Hindu

Castro's funeral: Rajnath Singh to lead delegation

New Delhi, Nov 28: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will lead a delegation to Havana on Tuesday to attend iconic Cuban leader Fidel Castro's funeral, said reports.

The revolutionary icon, who defied the United States for nearly half a century, and governed Cuba as the Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976, died on Saturday at he age of 90.

Cubans will pay tribute to their late iconic leader, Fidel Castro, for two days, starting Monday morning, at the Jose Marti Memorial, located in the Plaza de la Revolucion.

This would mark the beginning of the funeral ceremonies which would last until Sunday, December 4 From Monday 9.00 a.m. local time through Tuesday at noon, people would be able to visit the memorial to pay tribute and bid their last "goodbye" to the leader of the Cuban Revolution Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday condoled the demise of Castro whom he described as one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century and a "good friend" of India.

Source:One India

Indian IT firms to expedite acquisitions, local recruitment in U.S.

Trump's campaign rhetoric, and his pick for Attorney General of Senator Jeff Sessions, a long-time critic of the visa programme, have many expecting a tighter regime.

Anticipating a more protectionist U.S. technology visa programme under a Donald Trump administration, India's $150 billion IT services sector will speed up acquisitions in the United States and recruit more heavily from college campuses there.

Companies, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro, have long used H1-B skilled worker visa to fly computer engineers to the U.S., their largest overseas market, temporarily to service clients.

Staff from those three companies accounted for around 86,000 new H1-B workers in 2005-14. The U.S. currently issues close to that number of H1-B visas each year.

President-elect Trump's campaign rhetoric, and his pick for Attorney General of Senator Jeff Sessions, a long-time critic ofthe visa programme, have many expecting a tighter regime.

“The world over, there's a lot of protectionism coming in and push back on immigration. Unfortunately, people are confusing immigration with a high-skilled temporary workforce, because we are really a temporary workforce,” said Pravin Rao, chief operating officer at Infosys, India's second-largest information technology firm.

While few expect a complete shutdown of skilled worker visas as Indian engineers are an established part of the fabric of Silicon Valley, and U.S. businesses depend on their cheaper IT and software solutions, any changes are likely to push up costs.

And a more restrictive programme would likely mean Indian IT firms sending fewer developers and engineers to the United States, and increasing the campus recruitment there.

“We have to accelerate hiring of locals if they are available, and start recruiting freshers from universities there,” said Mr. Rao, noting a shift from the traditional model of recruiting mainly experienced people in the U.S.

“Now we have to get into a model where we will recruit freshers, train them and gradually deploy them, and this will increase our costs,” he said, noting Infosys typically recruits 500-700 people each quarter in the U.S. and Europe, around 80 per cent of whom are locals.

Acquisition 

Mr. Trump's win and Britain's referendum vote to leave the European Union are headwinds for India's IT sector, as clients such as big U.S. and British banks and insurers hold off on spending while the dust settles.

In India's IT hub of Bengaluru and the financial capital Mumbai, executives expect a Trump administration to raise the minimum wage for foreign workers, pressuring already squeezed margins.

Buying U.S. companies would help Indian IT firms build their local headcount, increase their on-the-ground presence in keymarkets and help counter any protectionist regulations.

Indian software services companies have invested more than $2 billion in the United States in the past five years. North America accounts for more than half of the sector's revenue.

“We have to accelerate acquisitions,” said Mr. Rao. Infosys, in the past two years, has bought companies, including U.S.-based Noah Consulting and Kallidus Technologies.

Jatin Dalal, Wipro's chief financial officer, said his growth strategy is to buy companies that offer something beyond what Wipro already does, or new, disruptive firms - such as Appirio, a U.S. cloud services firm.

The chief executive of Tech Mahindra, C.P.Gurnani, said his firm, which two years ago bought network services management firm Lightbridge Communications Corp, is on the lookout for more U.S. acquisitions, particularly in healthcare and fintech - financial technology firms that are disrupting traditional banking services.

Offshoring and automation

In a broader shift from labour intensive onsite projects, Indian IT firms are also turning to higher-tech services such as automation, cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) platforms.

With better technology and faster networks, IT firms are encouraging Western clients to adopt more virtual services.

Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka says he has focused on automation and AI as growth drivers since 2014. “The AI platform is 5-6percent of our revenues,” he told Reuters. “Three years ago, it was zero.”

More automation would mean fewer onshore developers.


“The 'Plan B' would be to accelerate the trend ... to reduce their reliance on people and increase their focus on delivering automation, leveraging the cloud for their clients,” said Partha Iyengar, Gartner's head of research in India.

Source:The Hindu

119-year-old Indian runner on a new mission to educate youngsters

Bengaluru, Nov 28: Although there is a dispute over his age, athlete Dharampal Singh Gujjar, hailing from Gudha village in Meerut, claims his present age is 119. 

Regarding Dharampal Singh issue, secretary of Uttar Pradesh Masters Athletics association Mr. K Tiwari said: “He might be 100 years old, not 119. And this is the reason he is not acknowledged by the country’s Masters Athletics Association. We Still have respect for him as it is almost next to impossible to clock 46.74 seconds in 200 meters even if he is 100 years old.” 

Dharampal Singh Gujjar (centre track) (Image courtesy: Youtube)

The veteran athlete from Gudha hogged the limelight after he won the gold medal in the 800 meters category at the 28th Malaysian Masters Athletics Championship in 2015.

Dharampal, when contacted over the phone in his village said, “I am an illiterate person. I never went to school. 

"Following a certificate issued by The District Magistrate of Meerut, I got my voter ID card and my Permanent Account Number (PAN) was also made. According to my voter ID card, I was born in 1897.” 

Dharampal had a huge land in his village, nearly 60 bighas. And from his childhood days, he used to look after their family animals. 

He calls himself an agriculturist. And recalling his early days Dharampal added: “Everyday I had to run a lot after the cows on my land. And one day I realized I could run even without doing duty. In that way, I became a runner.”

Dharampal has won at least 50 medals in the different Masters tournaments in India so far. But he has been able to compete only in one international tournament. That was last year in Malaysia. The old man lamented: “Despite the fact that I received several invitations from all over the World to compete I was not able to participate as I did not have even the passage money.


"In spite of having received an invitation to take part in World Masters Championship in Perth this month, I had to cancel the tour due to lack of passage money.” 

Dharampal is now busy in fulfilling his new mission. He has already started training the young lads in his village.  

Regarding his new mission, the veteran athlete said: “Some boys had joined gangsters. Some of the young boys became drug addicts. 

"I have forced them to join my coaching camp and bring them back to normal life through running. And this will be my mission.”

Source:One India

Khalistan Liberation Front chief arrested in Delhi

Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo, who escaped from the high security Nabha jail in Punjab on Sunday, was arrested in Delhi on Monday. Five armed men in police uniform stormed the jail and escaped with six prisoners, including Mintoo.

“Khalistani terrorist Harminder Mintoo, who escaped from jail yesterday, [has been] arrested near Delhi railway station,” a Punjab police officer said.

Others who fled were Kashmira Singh, an alleged terrorist, and alleged gangsters Vicky Gaundar, Amandeep Dhotian, Gurpreet Sekhon and Nita Deol.

Mintoo, who formed a new outfit after breaking away from Babbar Khalsa International in 2009, was held in November 2014 after he was deported from Thailand. He is wanted in 10 terror cases.

Source:The Hindu

'Left' alone, Kolkata unaffected by Bandh

Kolkata, Nov 28: There were no takers for the bandh call given by the Left parties in West Bengal. While the Left had called for a complete shut down in West Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress had opposed the same and decided only to protest. 

Government buses and other private vehicles were seen plying on the road.

"So far there has been no major incident, except a few small ones in the districts," a senior police official said.

Although, the TMC opposed the Bandh, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that they would take out a protest march (against demonetisation) on Monday. 

The TMC said it was against putting people to more hardship when they are "already facing a lot of problems owing to the scarcity of cash". 

Instead, the TMC will take out a rally from College Square to Esplanade today to protest against demonetisation, TMC general secretary Subrata Bakshi had said. 

Initially, the opposition parties gave an impression that the day will be marked by nation-wide strike against Narendra Modi government's decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes on November 8.

Source:One India

Trump claims ‘millions voted illegally’ for Clinton

In an unprecedented allegation by a president-elect, Donald Trump has alleged that “millions of people” voted illegally for Hillary Clinton in the November 8 polls and serious voter fraud were committed in three states where he lost.

Trump, who offered no evidence for his claims, said that he would have won the popular votes in the U.S. general election “if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally”.

“In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally,” Trump said in a first of the series of tweets last evening.

He alleged that serious voter fraud were committed in three States of Virginia, New Hampshire and California where he lost.

Clinton ahead by 2 million votes

The allegation by Trump, who won the required votes in the Electoral College to secure the presidency, comes as Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s lead in the popular vote over Trump has surpassed 2 million votes and is expected to grow to more than 2.5 million as ballots in populous states such as California continue to be tallied.

Clinton has 232 electoral college votes in her kitty as against 270 required to be declared as elected.

The Republican billionaire’s allegations came as steps are being taken towards recounting of votes in the swing state of Wisconsin, which Trump won.

Earlier he described an impending recount of votes in Wisconsin as a “scam” and said the results of the presidential election should be respected instead of being challenged or “abused“.

“Serious voter fraud, serious bias”

“It would have been much easier for me to win the so-called popular vote than the Electoral College in that I would only campaign in 3 or 4 states instead of the 15 states that I visited. I would have won even more easily and convincingly (but smaller states are forgotten)!” Trump said in another tweet.

Soon he fired another tweet alleging voters fraud in three States.

“Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California — so why isn’t the media reporting on this? Serious bias — big problem!” Trump said.

It’s an unprecedented allegation by a president-elect.

Media says allegations are baseless

This is the first time he has alleged voter fraud in his own victory, however, neither he nor the campaign explained the reasons for such an allegation or if they have any evidence of it.

The Washington Post described the allegations as baseless, while The New York Times said the claims are unsubstantiated.

The Presidential Transition Team did not respond to a question in this regard.

“Donald J Trump made the unsubstantiated claim during a series of Twitter posts in which he railed against a push for a recount in three states,” the New York Times reported.

Trump taking up the social media with a flood of tweets — nearly a dozen — comes a day after the Clinton Campaign said that it would join the Green Party efforts towards recounting of votes in three States of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Trump won all these three states but by a narrow margin.

Source:The Hindu

SBI writes off Rs 7,016 crore loans owed by wilful defaulters, including Vijay Mallya’s defunct airlines

The State Bank of India got non-performing assets worth Rs 7,016 crore off its books by writing off loans owed to it by 63 wilful defaulters, Daily News & Analysis reported Wednesday. The clean-up saw the bank forgo almost Rs 1,201 crore in dues owed by Vijay Mallya’s defunct Kingfisher Airlines, which heads the list of wilful defaulters. Documents accessed by DNA reveal that 63 accounts have been fully written off, 31 partially written off and six have been shown as NPAs. SBI adjusted its balance sheets by moving the Rs 7,016 crore to an Advance Under Collection Account (AUCA). The top wilful defaulters include KS Oil (Rs 596 crore), Surya Pharmaceuticals (Rs 526 crore), GET Power (Rs 400 crore) and SAI Info System (Rs 376 crore).

Mallya, who has been declared by ED as a proclaimed offender, has left the country after banks moved the Supreme Court to seize his assets. Kingfisher Airline owes a total of Rs 6,963 to 17 banks. In February, The Indian Express first reported that Twenty-nine state-owned banks wrote off a total of Rs 1.14 lakh crore of bad debts between financial years 2013 and 2015. SBI topped the list by writing of bad debts worth Rs 40,084 crore in the last three financial years.  The Supreme Court, taking suo motu cognizance of The Indian Express report, called the write off “a big fraud” and ordered the RBI to share with it names of the biggest defaulters. On Tuesday, the Parliamentary consultative committee, constituted to study non-performing assets (NPAs) in the banking sector, has suggested that the government should name all the defaulters whose loans have been written off by state-owned banks.


“Members (of the committee) suggested that there is need for bringing more transparency in the system, and list of all the defaulters whose loans have been written off by the PSBs be made public. They asked for exemplary action against the wilful defaulters so that others do not indulge in similar activities,” said a statement released by the Finance Ministry.

Source:Indian Express

ISIS made a back door entry into Pakistan

Islamabad, Nov 17 Pakistan is in denial, but the very fact of the matter is that the ISIS is rising in the country. The bombing of the shrine last Saturday in which 52 people were killed was an act of the ISIS.

While Pakistan says that there is no evidence to link the ISIS to the blast, the point the country is missing is that this outfit has taken a back channel route. These attacks are carried out in the name of the ISIS by a group called the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al Alami. The recent spate of attacks in Pakistan claimed by the ISIS were orchestrated for the group by LeJ.

In the name of the ISIS: 

The ISIS is aware that it cannot send its foot soldiers into Pakistan due to various issues such as jurisdiction etc. It has been relying on the local outfits to execute the job in its name. It followed a similar pattern when it made its entry into Afghanistan as well. 

Following the blast, the LeJ, Al Alamo group did not claim direct responsibility for the attack. However the group's spokesperson said that they cooperate with the ISIS leadership and its ideology. 

The spokesperson went on to add that his outfit would continue to cooperate with the ISIS whenever it plans an attack in Pakistan. The cooperation would be either direct or indirect, the spokesperson also said. 

The ISIS appears to be fine by this arrangement. It would look for more such local proxies in the region as these groups are well versed with the terrain and the dynamics.

Source:One India

Indelible ink on right hand index finger for currency exchange

The district election authorities here have asked the banks and post offices to ensure that they applied the indelible ink mark on the right hand index finger of those seeking to exchange the scrapped currency notes, to avoid any confusion during the by-poll to Nellithope assembly segment.

District Election Officer, Satyendra Singh Dursawat in a release today said, the banks and post offices in Puducherry have been asked to apply the indelible ink mark on the right hand index finger of their customers.

If the ink is applied on the left hand index finger of the customers, and when they turn up at the polling booths to cast their vote, it might be mistaken for the one applied already at the booths.

As a result, genuine voters would be deprived of their right to vote, he said.

The Election Commission has mandated that the voters of Nellithope constituency should get their left hand index finger marked with indelible ink while exercising their franchise on November 19.

Hence, the voters should also make it clear to the bank staff that the ink mark should be applied on their right hand index finger as they were to vote in the by-election, he added.

Source:The Hindu

A more helpful pitch awaits Ashwin & Co.

The members of the Indian team, full of verve, were engaged in a game of football at a corner of the arena here on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Anil Kumble was eyeing something that hid beneath it, the mysteries of the upcoming second Test. The Indian coach was having a hard look at the pitch.

The surface for the drawn first Test in Rajkot would not have pleased the Indians. There was not enough purchase for the spinners; the pitch did not deteriorate much and the turn was largely slow.

The track for the second Test, beginning at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium here on Thursday, is likely to be far more conducive to R. Ashwin & Co. It could be a drier surface, where the ball might grip for the spinners.

The Indian camp, already buoyed by the return of fit-again opener K.L. Rahul to the squad, is keen to recover from a probing final day in Rajkot when England managed to exert considerable pressure on the host.

Asked about the gains and losses from the first Test, Kumble said, “I think it was a draw. It was a good wicket to bat on. There were six centuries in the game.”

He wanted to look ahead and not ponder over the last day of the first Test when India lost its sixth wicket in the 43rd over, and skipper Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja had to bat out the final 10 overs to salvage a draw.

“I don’t want to read too much into our batting on day five in Rajkot. Had Cheteshwar Pujara taken the DRS, India could have been 170 for one when the game ended,” said Kumble.

The Indian coach was referring to Pujara not opting for the DRS after being ruled leg-before to leg-spinner Adil Rashid when the replays showed the ball had clearly pitched outside the leg-stump.

“I guess when there were only 40-50 overs remaining on the final day and the DRS was available, it should have been taken,” said Kumble.

Early days

Perhaps, the Indian coach is not entirely pleased with the manner in which his team went about utilising the DRS — it requires tactical acumen — in the series opener. But then, these are early days yet for the Indians with this system.

Despite the success of the England spinners in the opening Test, Kumble believed the Indian batsmen did well to last 160-odd overs in the first innings.

The Indian coach, however, wanted the Indians to sharpen their close catching. It is indeed those captivating close-in catches that lift a spin combination. “This Indian team prides itself on its fielding and catching. We let ourselves down in the first Test and need to get better.”

Unperturbed

Despite the possibility of England’s influential swing bowler James Anderson playing in the second Test, Kumble seemed unperturbed. “He has got over 450 Test wickets and has played here before. We will have Rahul for the Test. It will be good if both sides played their full teams.”

Even as the focus was on spin, Kumble, rather shrewdly, dwelt on the pace attack. “I though Shami and Umesh bowled exceptionally well. They got the ball to reverse and troubled all the batsmen.”

Mind games are on. Come Thursday, the Indians will be eager to get back to their dominant best at home.

Source:The Hindu

Preview: 2nd Test: India Vs England in Visakhapatnam from November 17

Visakhapatnam, Nov 16: Under fire after a below-par show on a good batting strip, the Indian spinners will aim for an improved show on a comparatively more helpful track as they take on a gritty England in the second cricket Test, starting here on Wednesday (Nov 17).

Questions are being raised about Ravichandran Ashwin's ability to get wickets on a good track after finishing with underwhelming match figures of 3/230. 

Veteran opener Gautam Gambhir's Test career seems to be all but over after skipper Virat Kohli made it clear that KL Rahul is team's first choice opener and comes back into the side. "We had it pretty clear in our heads that KL is our number one choice alongwith M Vijay. He is fit at any stage, he comes back into the team and we are going to start with him. Be it pulling him out of a first-class game in between.

It's within the rules and the regulations," Kohli told a news conference on the eve of the second Test. As the battle is expected to boil down to the spinners, it will be interesting whether Virat Kohli wants an extra batsman or an all-rounder in the playing XI. Fielding is another area where the Indians would like to improve after their dropped catches.

Spin has been the way forward for India but the mantra did not exactly work out for MS Dhoni and Co more than four years ago when England snatched a 2-1 series win after losing the first Test in Ahmedabad. 

It was widely attributed that India will come out all guns blazing against the embattled England especially after their embarrassing first-ever defeat in Bangladesh about two weeks ago.  

Despite the drawn result, four of England's batsmen got centuries and spinners had a larger share of 13 wickets, Alastair Cook and Co. have shown that they they will not be pushovers unlike New Zealand, who were whitewashed 3-0 in the last series.

It's clear from the visitors' improved show that a tricky road lies ahead for India. The famed Indian spinners did not dominate in Rajkot where the battle was won by the England troika of Moeen Ali, Zafar Ansari and leg-spinner Adil Rashid who returned with a match-haul of seven wickets. 

Head coach Anil Kumble, however, defended their spinners who did not get much turn in Rajkot to return with nine wickets. 

"Just because they got more wickets than our spinners doesn't mean we will be at a loss but that's what I am saying that we batted 160 overs. We will make our strategy based on the pitch we get, we will select the team accordingly. We play to take 20 wickets and win matches. Whatever wicket we get, we will play on that," Kumble said. 

Action shifting to Visakhapatnam, Ravichandran Ashwin will be in focus. Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra will also like to up the ante. 

The leg-spinner Mishra in particular will be looking forward to return to the venue where he had shot New Zealand out for 79 in 23.1 overs with his devastating 5/18 in an ODI two weeks back.

But it is really not the bowling that will turn it around for India as the New Zealand series suggested that India is yet to come to terms with five-bowler theory as there has been times the middle-order has looked brittle whenever Kohli or Rahane has had failures. 

The middle-order looked wobbly the moment Cheteshwar Pujara or Ajinkya Rahane have a failure with the bat as they have to bat deep with Virat Kohli at centre to give their spinners enough cushion on the scoreboard. 

Gambhir's comeback experiment is clearly not giving the results and the lefthander with his open chested stance found himself out of sorts against a Stuart Broad in-coming delivery to be trapped leg before wicket. 

Making a return after two years, Gambhir's Test comeback scores read 29-50 against New Zealand and 29-0 against England, enough for the team thinktank to rush in a fit-again KL Rahul midway from his Ranji Trophy match in Vizianagaram, about an hour from here. 

About the spin battle, England cannot be underestimated and they have made their intention clear by extending the contract of Pakistani great Saqlain Mushtaq who's travelling as the spin bowling consultant. 

Originally he was slated to leave after the first Test but Saqlain is to stay here till Mohali Test as there will be an off the field battle between him and India head coach Anil Kumble.

He has made his presence felt in Rajkot with Rashid attributing the fact that the former Pakistani offspinner had made to bowl at natural pace rather than being quick in the air to get more turn.  

Past series have proven that India tour have produced two of the best batsmen they have produced recently -- in Cook and Joe Root both of whom made impressive debuts in Nagpur in 2006 and 2012.

Much similar to what happened in the past, the present series has seen the emergence of Haseeb Hameed who showed the perfect temperament needed in a Test format, by leaving the ball and dodging well to bouncers with his 31 and 82.

He also had a combative approach to spin and was not afraid of running down the pitch besides being a handy fielder at short leg as Hameed's impressive debut has been the biggest positive in the drawn affair. 

The skipper Cook has returned to his masterful best becoming the first Englishman to get past 1000 Test runs in India en rout to his 130 in the second innings, while Root proved his consistency by laying the foundation in the first innings with his 124. 

To make matters more tilted to the visiting side, England have a fit-again James Anderson in the squad. 

The English leader of the pace attack had returned with six wickets to complement their spinners at Eden Gardens in Kolkata to help them take a 2-1 lead going into the last and fourth Test in Nagpur which resulted in a draw. 

It may not be a surprise if Anderson is included in the side in place of Chris Woakes but it remains to be seen whether Trevor Bayliss rushes him after his recovery from shoulder injury. 

Whatever the combination or the conditions may be, India will be certainly wary of an England backfire in their own spin-friendly domain. 

Squads 

India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Ravndra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, KL Rahul, Ishant Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Karun Nair and Jayant Yadav. 

England: Alastair Cook (Captain), Haseeb Hameed, Joe Root, Ben Duckett, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Zafar Ansari, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Gareth Batty, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn and Jake Ball.

Source:One India