India ends year on a high with a record streak

leap of joy: Captain Virat Kohli celebrates India’s victory in the fifth Test against England in Chennai on Tuesday. India won the match by an innings and 75 runs.  

India had the last laugh at an iconic venue. It is not often that a team scores 477 in the first innings and still loses a game but such was England’s fate.

When Virat Kohli’s men secured an innings and 75-run victory over England in the fifth and final Test at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Tuesday, it helped them clinch the series 4-0, an outcome that capped a wonderful stint in cricket’s longest format.

Exactly at 4.32 p.m., 35 minutes after left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja nailed his seventh wicket to gift India a much-savoured triumph, a mail from the International Cricket Council landed in the in-boxes of cricket correspondents. It was official, India has ended the year as the number one Test team. An impressive finish to a young squad that is busy forging a bright path.

Coming as it does after disastrous results against England — losses away in 2011 and 2014 and at home in 2012, the current golden run offered overwhelming relief and joy to Kohli and company.

The nation’s cricket team is on a roll and the hot streak it nurses now is the best it ever had. India has remained undefeated for 18 consecutive Tests and has won 14 of those games. Its earlier fine show was from 1985 to 1987 when in 17 Tests, it had four wins, 12 draws and a tie.

Wearing whites and plying their wares in Tests, India’s current generation of players have humbled Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand and now England.

The playing eleven is almost set with solid openers, a strong middle-order, a tail that lasts and an attack, ominous especially at home. Kohli and R. Ashwin have been outstanding and new heroes have been found. If this Test was about K.L. Rahul, Karun Nair and Jadeja, in the previous weeks, men like Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammed Shami and Jayant Yadav have sparkled.

Under Kohli and coach Anil Kumble, India is chasing higher benchmarks and rivals are wary. A vanquished England skipper Alastair Cook said: “When you lose games of cricket, it becomes very hard and it can be quite a lonely place. You have got to give credit to India. They have played some good cricket on the way. We just haven’t been good enough to put India under pressure for long periods.”

Appraising his men, skipper Kohli said: “I am proud to be part of such a good year, especially with the team in transition. But this is just the foundation that’s been laid for us to carry on for a lot many years. It’s just the beginning.”

Source:The Hindu

I-T raids on premises of TN Chief Secretary

The Income Tax department on Tuesday conducted a raid at the premises of Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P. Rama Mohana Rao.

The raids were conducted first at his residence in the morning. A senior investigating officer told  that the Chief Secretary has been under the scanner for quite some time now.

Mr. Rao was appointed Chief Secretary in June this year.

Source:The Hindu

Berlin attack suspect was asylum-seeker from Pakistan

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere speaks during a press conference on Tuesday in Berlin following a terrorist attack the killing of 12 people when a speeding lorry cut a bloody swathe through a Berlin Christmas market.  

The suspect in the truck attack that killed 12 people at a busy Berlin Christmas market came from Pakistan and had applied for asylum in Germany, the country’s top security official said Tuesday.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the suspect, who denies involvement, entered Germany on Dec. 31 last year and arrived in Berlin in February.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel described herself as “shocked, shaken and deeply saddened” after what she said the government must assume was a “terrorist attack.” Mr. De Maiziere said that as far as officials know, the Islamic State group has not claimed responsibility.

In addition to those killed, nearly 50 people were injured when the truck ploughed into the popular Christmas market filled with tourists and locals outside the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church near Berlin’s Zoo station late Monday.

“There is still a lot that we don’t know about this act with sufficient certainty,” Ms. Merkel told reporters in Berlin, in her first personal statement following the incident. “But we must, as things stand, assume it was a terrorist attack.”

Ms. Merkel, who has been criticized for allowing in large numbers of migrants, addressed head-on the possibility that an asylum-seeker was responsible.

“I know that it would be particularly hard for us all to bear if it were confirmed that a person committed this act who asked for protection and asylum in Germany,” Ms. Merkel said. “This would be particularly sickening for the many, many Germans who work to help refugees every day and for the many people who really need our help and are making an effort to integrate in our country.”

Authorities arrested a man about 2 kilometres from the crash site on suspicion of having been at the wheel of the truck. Footage showed the suspect, his head covered in a white sheet, being pushed into a police car shortly after the attack. Berlin’s Tagesspiegel newspaper reported that the man was known to police for minor crimes.

A spokesman for Berlin’s office for refugee affairs said police conducted a large-scale search overnight at a large shelter for asylum-seekers at the city’s now-defunct Tempelhof airport. Four men in their late 20s were questioned but nobody was arrested, Sascha Langenbach told The Associated Press.

Among the dead was a man in the truck, who succumbed as paramedics treated him, Berlin police spokesman Winfried Wenzel said. Police said later that the man was a Polish national, but didn’t give further details of who he was or what happened to him.


The Polish owner of the truck said he feared the vehicle may have been hijacked. Ariel Zurawski said he last spoke with the driver, his cousin, around noon, and the driver told him he was in Berlin and scheduled to unload Tuesday morning. “They must have done something to my driver,” he told TVN24.

Source:The Hindu

5th Test: Ravindra Jadeja Powers India To 4-0 Series Win Vs England

India 759 for 7 dec (Nair 303*, Rahul 199) beat England 477 (Moeen 146, Root 88, Jadeja 3-106) and 207 (Jennings 54, Cook 49, Jadeja 7-48) by an innings and 75 runs

In Mumbai, England had slipped to an innings defeat after batting first and scoring 400. In Chennai, they batted first again and scored 477. At lunch on the fifth day, they were 97 for no loss in their second innings, trailing by 185. This was a flatter pitch than Mumbai, less bouncy and a lot slower. Surely it couldn't happen again?

It did. This time, they lost by an innings and 75 runs, their punishing seven-Test tour of the subcontinent ending at 3.56pm IST, with a draw nine overs away. In Mirpur, they had lost all ten wickets in one session. Here, in less frightening conditions, they lost all ten in 48.2 overs, for the addition of 104 runs, after their openers had added 103.

Ravindra Jadeja was India's matchwinner, taking seven wickets for the first time in a Test innings and ten for the first time in a match as well as grabbing two catches, including what was surely the catch of the series. England, though, were their own worst enemy, batsman after batsman getting himself out to hasten India to a 4-0 series win.

England still had six wickets in hand when the final session began, and, in Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes, batsmen at the crease with three hundreds between them in the series. But Jadeja hounded them, pounding the rough outside their off stump relentlessly. Moeen stepped out, looking to hit him off his length, and only found a leaping R Ashwin at mid-on. Stokes went on the back foot, looking to work him with the turn. The ball stopped and popped to midwicket.

This was no longer an entirely flat pitch. It still wasn't doing much for the bowlers from the Pattabiraman Gate End, but there was something in it now for those approaching from the Anna Pavilion End. England could have negotiated it if the decisions made by their top order hadn't exposed Nos. 8 and 9 to it. Amit Mishra bowled the No. 8, Liam Dawson, with a googly as he looked to drive against the turn. Umesh Yadav had the No. 9, Adil Rashid, caught off the leading edge, at point, by, who else, Jadeja.

Out of the attack for seven overs, Jadeja returned with 12 overs remaining. Stuart Broad saw out the first over of his spell, but could do nothing about the first ball of the second; it jumped out of the rough as he stretched out to defend, and popped up off the glove to leg slip. Three balls later, it was all over. Turn and bounce again, this time to the right-handed Jake Ball. The No. 11 poked, and it was Virat Kohli, fittingly, who caught the ball at slip.

Broad and Ball, the Nos. 10 and 11, were the only two England batsmen dismissed while trying to defend. It was an indictment of their approach after they had made the best possible start to the fifth day, a wicketless first session.

Both sides of lunch, Jadeja had threatened to dismiss Alastair Cook for the sixth time in the series. He produced a loud lbw shout with his first ball of the day, turning the ball past the inside edge when Cook, on 25, pressed forward to defend. India did well not to review umpire Marais Erasmus' not-out decision: replays suggested the ball struck Cook in line with off stump but would probably have spun past leg stump. Then, on 47, Cook shuffled across his stumps and missed a flick; this time India reviewed, and ball-tracking suggested the ball was turning too much to hit leg stump.

Eventually, Cook's shuffling unease about getting lbw caused him to play at a ball fired a long way down the leg side, and he effectively glanced the ball straight to leg slip. He fell one short of a half-century in his final innings of this long and difficult tour of the subcontinent, and what might possibly be his final innings as England's captain.

It was a typical innings in cussedness if not in length, taking no risks and forcing India to bowl their best balls at him even as he struggled against both Jadeja and Ashwin, who had beaten his outside edge frequently in the first hour. There was a dropped catch too, Ashwin finding dip and turn in the third over of the day to find his outside edge, but not the desired support behind the wicket, the ball bouncing off Parthiv Patel's gloves.

Keaton Jennings had played the spinners well, sweeping and reverse-sweeping confidently and also using his feet to try and get to the pitch and work Jadeja and Amit Mishra with the turn. This enabled him to clip both of them for fours through midwicket, but having done this to go from 50 to 54, he stepped out again, premeditatedly, and Jadeja fired it in low and full. The ball hit Jennings on the front foot, and then bounced up into the face of his bat, and looped back for a simple return catch.

Joe Root, England's best batsman of the series, got himself out six overs later, sweeping unwisely off the line of the stumps. The ball was too full for the shot, and it sneaked under his bat and hit his front pad instead. India reviewed Simon Fry's not-out decision - a fair call, given it wasn't immediately apparent whether the ball had straightened enough to hit the stumps - and ball-tracking said it was hitting more than 50% of leg stump.


Jonny Bairstow was next to go, perhaps unfortunate to see a perfectly acceptable flick, off a full, leg-stumpish Ishant delivery balloon into the air, the ball perhaps stopping on him. He was even more unfortunate that Jadeja was the fielder sprinting from midwicket towards the square leg boundary with his back to the pitch, looking over his shoulder to keep his eye on the ball. Perhaps no one else on the field would have been able to pull off the catch.

Source:ESPN CRICINFO

Railway services must be paid for, says Arun Jaitley

New Delhi, Dec 20: Weeks before he presents India's first combined general and railway budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said rail commuters must pay for the service they receive even as he made a strong case for outsourcing of non-core functions like hospitality services. 

He said year after year, the success of Railway Budget was measured by subsidising consumers and making populist announcements regarding trains. "Railways got caught in a battle where populism prevailed over performance and the basic principle on which any commercial establishment is to be run, the first essential principle is that consumers must pay for the services that they receive," he said.

Speaking at a conference on Accounting Reforms in Railways organised by CII, Jaitley said unless the railways strengthen its performance and internal management system, they will lose out to competition from other sectors like highways and airlines in passenger and cargo transportation.


"The core competence of railways is really to drive trains, to provide those services. Hospitality may not be the core competence of the railways and therefore, what is not within its core competence, the principle of outsourcing -- which is accepted world over -- can be a logical addition to those activities of railways," Jaitley said.

Citing example of power and highway sectors which started doing well only after consumers paid for services they got, Jaitley said worldover, only those services have succeeded where there is a financial model which says that consumers pay for what they receive. " (But) We turned this whole theory upside down by a self imposed indiscipline that populism requires that I require that consumers not to pay for service that they receive. Therefore any establishment will start crumbling in its own weight and contradictions," he said.

The government had in September scrapped the 92-year old practice of presenting a separate railway budget and decided to present a combined general and railway budget for 2017-18 on February 1, 2017. 

Speaking at a conference on Accounting Reforms in Railways organised by CII, Jaitley said that the shift towards accrual system of accounting from cash system will better reflect its performance. 

"Your accounting systems really must reveal more instead of concealing the reality. What is the kind of investment in infrastructure that is coming in, what is the kind of investment in railway safety, what is the kind of outcome of outlay that you have planned, I think those accounts must really reflect the reality," he said.

Source:One India

Taimur Ali Khan: Saif and Kareena become parents, name him as well

The wait is over. Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan are parents to a healthy baby boy.

Kareena Kapoor Khan is finally a mother!


The prince of Bollywood has arrived. Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan are now the blessed parents to a baby boy. And his name is Taimur Ali Khan.

The couple got hitched together on October 16 four years. After an extensive media coverage of Kareena's pregnancy over the last nine months, the wait is finally over.

Saif Ali Khan spoke to Pinkvilla.com and confirmed saying, "Yes. We are blessed with a baby boy. My manager will release a statement soon."

Moments later, statement from Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan which said that the baby's name is Taimur Ali Khan.

The statement read, "We are very pleased to share with you all the wonderful news about the birth of our son : Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi, on the 20th of December 2016. We would like to thank the media for the understanding and support they have given us over the last 9 months, and of course especially our fans and well wishers for their continued affection. 

Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you all...With love, Saif & Kareena."

While female actors, once pregnant, are traditionally media-shy and don't come out too often, Kareena broke all the rules and did not turn away from the paparazzi. Her public appearances and maternity fashion inspired many a women across the country.

A picture of Saif and Kareena's newborn Taimur is yet to arrive. The story will be updated when the first photos come in.

"We are extremely excited and very happy for my daughter and my grandson and I want to thank all the well-wishers who have prayed and wished all their very best to Kareena and Saif," grandfather Randhir Kapoor was quoted as saying to Pinkvilla.com.

Randhir further added the mother and the newborn are doing well.

Earlier, Randhir Kapoor had told that the baby was due on December 20.
"Kareena has handled her pregnancy very well. We're all waiting to hold her little one in our arms. She's extremely healthy and the baby is doing fine. Yes, she is due on December 20. At the moment, we can't say whether she will opt for a surgery or follow the natural procedure. Her doctors will take a call closer to the due date depending on the baby's position and Kareena's health. For now, we're just preparing to welcome our grandkid," Randhir Kapoor was quoted as saying.

According to reports, the royal couple, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan had been busy making arrangements for the past few months to welcome their bundle of joy. A report in DNA said that Saif bought what is considered to be the Rolls Royce of prams- a Peg Perego stroller with matching accessories, said to be worth Rs 30,000.


Saif was also said to be consulting a Delhi-based children's boutique store owner to prepare for the baby nursery.

Source:India Today

Terror attacks a global jihad against Christians, says Trump

The U.S. President-elect condemns the killing of the Russian ambassador to Turkey and the terror attack in Germany.

The U.S President-elect Donald Trump on Monday termed the terror attack in Germany a part of a global jihad against Christians and called the assassin of the Russian ambassador to Turkey a “radical Islamic terrorist” even as the Obama administration condemned the incidents in a more measured tone.

While the State Department spokesperson did not rule out terrorism as a motive behind the assassination of the Russian envoy, he said the administration would wait for more information before making a more definitive comment.

‘Echoes campaign rhetoric’

Mr. Trump’s statements on the incidents echoed the campaign rhetoric that fuelled his rise and signalled a willingness to follow it up with changes in the U.S policy on fighting Islamist terrorism.

“ISIS [Islamic State] and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians and their places of worship as part of their global jihad,” Mr. Trump said in a statement on the violence in Berlin that claimed the lives of at least 12 people. “Innocent civilians were murdered in the streets as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday. These terrorists and their regional and worldwide networks must be eradicated from the face of the earth, a mission we will carry out with all freedom-loving partners.”

State Department spokesperson John Kirby said, "We are deeply saddened by today’s horrendous events at a Christmas market in Berlin. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family members of those killed, and we hope for a speedy recovery for the many injured. The United States stands firmly with the German people during this time of national sadness, and we offer any support they may require."

In a separate statement on the assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, Mr. Trump said: “Today we offer our condolences to the family and loved ones of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov, who was assassinated by a radical Islamic terrorist. The murder of an ambassador is a violation of all rules of civilised order and must be universally condemned.”

In a tweet later, the President-elect said: “Today there were terror attacks in Turkey, Switzerland and Germany - and it is only getting worse. The civilized world must change thinking!”

‘Support to Bashar regime’

Mr. Trump has repeatedly called for U.S cooperation with Russia and a softer approach toward the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria in the fight against Islamist radicals. The assassin of the Russian ambassador reportedly cited the Russian support for Mr. Assad as the provocation for his action. Two days ago, President Barack Obama blamed Russia and Mr. Assad for the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the city of Aleppo that the regime is trying to seize from the rebels. The Syrian leader, meanwhile, is hoping to find an ally in Mr. Trump. The President-elect said last week at a rally in Pennsylvania that he would get the “Gulf States to give us lots of money,” and “we’ll build and help build safe zones in Syria, so people can have a chance.”

The assassination of the Russian ambassador happened on the eve of a meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia and Iran, on the Syrian crisis. Russia and Turkey have termed the assassination an effort to derail their bilateral relations, while some Turkish officials have linked it to Fethullah Gülen, a U.S based detractor of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Asked whether the U.S was concerned about the “inevitable claims from some parts of Turkey that either the U.S. is somehow responsible or that its protection of Mr. Gulen is somehow involved in this (assassination),” Mr. Kirby said: “We always have – and continue to support the democratically elected government of Turkey, and any suggestion that the United States in any way, shape, or form would be responsible for this act of murder and assassination…obviously flies in the face of facts.”

Mr. Kirby also welcomed the tripartite meet on Syria. “…any solutions that can be arrived by any of the parties that can lead to a reduction in the bloodshed, to a cessation of hostilities, to humanitarian aid, and to a resumption of political talks is welcome, whether or not we’re at the table,” he said.

Source:The hindu

Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara

A man gestures near the body of Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov after gunning him down at a photo gallery in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Monday.  

A gunman wearing a suit and tie and shouting Allahu Akbar shot and killed Russia’s ambassador to Turkey as he gave a speech at a photo exhibition in Ankara on Monday.

Turkish police fatally shot the gunman, Turkish station NTV reported.


The ambassador, Andrei Karlov, was several minutes into his speech at the embassy-sponsored exhibition in the capital, Ankara, when the gunman fired at least eight shots, according to an AP photographer in the audience. The attacker also smashed several of the photos hung for the exhibition. There was panic as people ran for cover. NTV said three other people were wounded in the attack.

Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov speaks at a gallery, minutes before he was shot dead by a man (seen in the background) in the Turkish capital Ankara on Monday. 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Karlov was shot “when an unidentified assailant opened chaotic gunfire during a public event in Ankara”. She later confirmed he had died. She said Russia was in contact with Turkish officials about the incident.

The gunman has been identified as a Turkish policeman, Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek  said. 


"The attacker is a policeman," Mr. Gokcek said on his official Twitter account, after numerous reports on social media identifying the gunman.

An unnamed gunman gestures after shooting the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, at a photo gallery in Ankara on Monday.  

The Yeni Safak daily said on its website that the attacker — named as M.M.A. — worked with anti-riot police in Ankara.

Mr. Gokcek told reporters outside the exhibition center that the “heinous” attack aimed to disrupt newly-reestablished relations between Turkey and Russia.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said U.S. officials were aware of reports about the shooting.


“We condemn this act of violence, whatever its source,” Mr. Kirby said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.”

Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, lies on the floor after being shot by a gunman during an attack during a public event in the Turkish capital Ankara. 

 

 A gunman gestures after shooting the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov at a photo gallery in the Turkish capital Ankara on Monday.   | Photo Credit: AP

Pepole react after the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov was shot at a photo gallery in Ankara on Monday.  

Source:The Hindu

5th Test: Karun Nair scores triple ton (303*), joins Virender Sehwag in elite list

Chennai, Dec 19: Young Karun Nair today (December 19) became only the 2nd Indian batsman to score a triple century in Test cricket.

On Monday, the 25-year-old Karun converted his maiden Test ton into a triple hundred, against England on the 4th day of the 5th Test. Karun remained unbeaten on 303 (381 balls, 32x4, 4x6) as India declared at a mammoth 759/7, a lead of 282 runs.

Karun is only the 2nd Indian after Virender Sehwag to register a triple hundred in Test cricket.

In the third and final session of play at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the right-handed Karun brought up 300 runs with a boundary off Adil Rashid. This was his second triple century in first-class cricket after having scored 329 for Karnataka in Ranji Trophy last year.


Soon after Karun reached the 300-run milestone, captain Virat Kohli declared India's innings.

Highest individual Test scores for India (Top 6)

319 -  Sehwag
309 - Sehwag
303 not out - Karun Nair
293 - Sehwag
281 - VVS Laxman

270 - Rahul Dravid

Source:One India

EPFO To Give 8.65% Interest On Provident Fund Deposits This Year, 4 Crore Employees Impacted

EPFO at a meeting on Monday decided to give an 8.65% interest rate for 2016-17.

Provident fund subscribers will get lower interest rate on their deposits this year as compared to last year. The provident fund body - the Employees Provident Fund Organisation or EPFO - at a meeting today decided to give 8.65 per cent interest rate for current fiscal year (2016-17). The move will impact over four crore employees who contribute part of their salary towards the provident fund kitty.


Provident fund subscribers had received an 8.8 per cent interest on their deposits last year (2015-16).

For salaried individuals, the employee provident fund is an important tool for savings towards retirement years. Every month, a salaried individual contributes 12 per cent of his/her salary to the EPF account the employer matches this. A part of the employer's contribution goes to into Employee Pension Scheme.

The lower interest rate on provident fund deposits comes in the wake of a general decline in interest rate across different financial savings instruments, including bank fixed deposits and small savings schemes. Analysts say that interest rates on fixed deposits are likely to fall further as the banks' kitty swells after demonetisation.

Despite the lowering of interest rate on provident fund deposits, analysts say that it still remains an attractive investment avenue. Rakesh Bhargava, director at Taxmann, said, "Reduction in rate of interest is a setback for 4 crore employees, yet the rate of interest is still very attractive in comparison to rate of interest on bank fixed deposits, National Savings Certificates, government bonds, public provident funds, etc."


If the provident fund body had retained 8.8 per cent rate of interest for the current fiscal year, it would have faced a deficit of Rs 383 crore. The provident fund body had earlier projected an income of Rs 39,084 crore for the current fiscal year.

The government had earlier this year sharply lowered the interest rate on small savings schemes like Public Provident Fund (PPF), Kisan Vikas Patra and Sukanya Samriddhi Account.

According to the new norms on small savings schemes effective from April 2016, interest rates will be revised every quarter as opposed to earlier norm of annual revision.

The popular Public Provident Fund will fetch an interest rate of 8 per cent for the December quarter. The rate of interest for 5-Year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme and 5-Year National Savings Certificate had been reduced to 8.5 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively.


Earlier this year, the Finance Ministry had had decided to lower interest on provident fund deposits for 2015-16 to 8.7 per cent from the 8.8 per cent approved by the Central Board of Trustees or CBT, headed by the Labour Minister. The Central Board of Trustees is the apex decision-making body of EPFO. Following protests by trade unions, the government later rolled back its decision and approved an 8.8 per cent rate of interest on provident fund deposits for 2015-16.

Source:NDTV