Ronaldo on bench as Juve warm up for Atletico against Frosinone

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February 14, 2019

Cristiano Ronaldo is set for a rare start on the bench as Juventus host struggling Frosinone on Friday looking to pull 14 points clear in Serie A with an eye towards next week’s Champions League trip to Atletico Madrid.

Portuguese star Ronaldo brought his tally to 20 goals for Juventus in all competitions last weekend in a 3-0 win over Sassuolo.

But the 34-year-old will start on the bench for just the second time this season before the former Real Madrid player returns to the Spanish capital next week.

Paulo Dybala returns to the starting line-up, forming an attacking trident alongside Mario Mandzukic and Federico Bernardeschi.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri’s defensive problems have been eased with trio Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini back training. Juventus captain Chiellini is expected to return on Friday.

Second-placed Napoli dropped points last weekend with a goalless draw against Fiorentina and face a potentially tricky test at home against Torino.

Walter Mazzarri’s Torino are four points off the Europa League places. Napoli will be without midfielder Marek Hamsik for the first time since the former skipper having sealed his move to Chinese Super League club Dalian Yifang.

Lorenzo Insigne takes on the captain’s role and insisted motivation remained high despite Juventus’ charge towards an eighth consecutive league title.

“Juventus haven’t sapped our motivation, we knew it would be hard to keep up with them,” said Insigne.

“We know they’re a great team, but we’re no worse than them.

“The championship is still long. We left some points on the road that we deserved, but we certainly do not give up.”

Sindhu kick starts Senior Nationals with an easy win

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February 14, 2019

Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu on Thursday opened her campaign in the 83rd Senior National Badminton Championship with a straight game win over Nagpur’s Malvika Bansod to enter the women’s singles quarterfinals here.

A former champion, Sindhu took time to get into the groove before claiming a 21-11 21-13 win over Malvika, who is a gold medallist at the South Asian U-21 Championship in Nepal and a runner-up at Khelo India Games.

Like last year, the top eight players of the competition on the combined basis of world and domestic rankings were given direct entry into the singles pre-quarterfinals for which a Super Draw was held Wednesday night.

Malvika made a dream start, moving to a 4-0 lead. Soon Sindhu clawed her way back to level the scores with a push at the back court.

Sindhu eventually grabbed a 11-7 advantage at the break. She continued to force the younger shuttler to commit errors.

At 19-11, Sindhu unleashed a couple of smashes to seal the first game.

In the second game, Sindhu was ahead 9-2 with Malvika committing unforced errors. The Hyderabadi went to the break with a 11-4 lead.

Malvika played well in the rallies but lacked the finishing touch, committing unforced errors as Sindhu eventually wrapped up her pre-quarterfinal match in 35 minutes with an precise return at the forecourt.

AgustaWestland case: Lobbyist Deepak Talwar sent to 14-day judicial custody

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February 14, 2019

A Delhi court on Thursday sent corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar, arrested in money laundering case, to 14-days judicial custody. Special Judge Santosh Snehi Mann sent Talwar to the judicial custody after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that it does not need him for further interrogation in its custody. The court has posted the matter for next hearing on February 28.

The ED had claimed earlier that Talwar has links with fugitive Vijay Mallya in a money laundering case related to the negotiations favouring foreign private airlines and causing loss to national carrier Air India. Talwar was booked by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in criminal cases of corruption, while the Income Tax Department charged him with tax evasion.

BJP in UP, Cong in MP examples of ‘state terror’, says Mayawati

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February 14, 2019

The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh and the Congress regime in Madhya Pradesh are examples of “state terror” and should be condemned, BSP chief Mayawati said on Thursday.

Her strong statement came after 14 Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) students were booked for sedition on Tuesday night and the Madhya Pradesh government imposed the National Security Act (NSA) on Muslims on charges of cow slaughter earlier in the month.

“Congress government in MP like BJP slapped atrocious NSA against Muslims for cow slaughter. Now the Uttar Pradesh BJP government has booked 14 AMU students under notorious sedition charges. Both are examples of state terror and condemnable,” Mayawati said in a statement issued here.

“People should decide what is the difference between the Congress and BJP governments,” she added.

In Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, 14 students, including the AMU students union chief, were booked under sedition charges after some students and a TV channel crew got into an altercation over reports of a visit by AIMIM lawmaker Asaduddin Owaisi.

In Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, authorities slapped NSA and jailed on three Muslim men for allegedly killing a cow in Khandwa earlier this month.

Delhi vs Centre: Non-clarity in judgment unfortunate; Delhiites will continue to suffer, says AAP

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February 14, 2019

Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday said that it was unfortunate that there was no clarity in the Supreme Court’s split verdict on who controls services in the National Capital Territory and that Delhiites will continue to “suffer”. While Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal terming the judgment to be against “Constitution and democracy” said the AAP dispensation will seek legal remedies, party spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj asserted that there has been no decision on services even four years after the formation of the AAP government.

Bhardwaj alleged the Centre appoints such officers who create hurdles in the works of the AAP government. Addressing a press conference after the SC verdict, Kejriwal said the apex court’s ruling on the division of powers is “unfortunate” and “injustice to people” of Delhi. “The judgment is against the constitution and democracy. We will seek legal remedies,” he said.

In a jolt to the AAP dispensation, the Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a split verdict on the contentious issue of control of services in the National Capital Territory in the tussle between the Delhi government and the Centre and referred the matter to a larger bench. A two-judge bench comprising Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, however, agreed on their views on disputes pertaining to the Anti-Corruption Branch, setting up of a commission of inquiry, control over electricity boards, land revenue matters and appointment of public prosecutors.

The apex court also upheld the Centre’s notification that its employees cannot be probed in corruption cases by ACB of Delhi government. Claiming the court order states the elected government has no power to transfer officers, Kejriwal sought to know how the AAP dispensation will work and said the chief minister of Delhi does not have the power to appoint even a peon. “We have been suffering for the last four years. We cannot set up mohalla clinics… What sort of democracy is it?” he posed. It (court order) says a party (AAP) with 67 seats cannot transfer officers and a party (BJP) with three seats can do it, Kejriwal, who is also the AAP national convener, alleged. “How will the government function if officers do not obey ministers? The solution to the problem lies with the people of Delhi. They should give all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi to the AAP. We will force the government at the Centre to given full statehood to Delhi,” he said.

Decision on quota stir likely in evening, says Gujjar leader Bainsla

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February 14, 2019

Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla said on Thursday that a decision on ending the protests over a government quota for his community may be taken in the evening after studying the bill passed on the issue in the Rajasthan Assembly.

The Rajasthan Assembly has passed a bill giving a five per cent quota in government jobs and educational institutes to the Gujjars and four other communities agitating for it. The Gujjar protests led by community leader Bainsla entered its seventh day in the state even after the passage of the bill on Wednesday.

IAS Neeraj K Pawan handed over a copy of the bill and the resolution passed by the Assembly and government-issued notification to Bainsla at Malarna Dungar in Sawai Madhopur, where he is sitting along with his supporters since last Friday.

“Any decision will be taken after examining the bill and the notification. The decision may be taken in the evening,” Bainsla told reporters.

The Delhi-Mumbai rail line and several highways and roads are blocked due to the agitation. The protesters blocked a highway near Masuda in Ajmer on Thursday. Several trains have been cancelled or diverted due to the agitation.

Maha sugar mill takes lead in making ethanol from cane juice

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February 14, 2019

A cooperative sugar mill in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra has taken the lead in producing fuel grade ethanol directly from sugarcane juice in the state, a senior official said on Thursday.

The Centre had in July last year allowed sugar mills to manufacture ethanol directly from sugarcane juice or intermediate product called B-molasses. However, the decision was taken to help mills divert cane juice for ethanol manufacturing during surplus years.

Maharashtra sugar commissionerate’s joint director Sanjay Bhosale told media that Kolhapur’s Tatyasaheb Kore Warana Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Ltd is the only cooperative sugar mill in the state which has started making ethanol from sugarcane juice. Traditionally, in India ethanol is made from ‘C-Heavy’ molasses, but in July last year, the government gave permission to make ethanol from sugarcane juice and ‘B-Heavy’ molasses or B-grade molasses.

Bhosale also said that a miller can do a minimum modification in the equipment to make ethanol from B-Heavy molasses. But in case of ethanol from sugarcane juice, the mill would have to go for changes in the machinery. That is why no sugar mill was ready to go into that direction, but Warana has shown the courage.

“The fuel grade ethanol that is produced directly from cane juice is fetching Rs 59 per litre. This is going to be beneficial for the sugar industry that is facing crisis of excess stock of sugar,” Warana co-operative group chairman and former minister Vinay Kore said.

The Kolhapur-based sugar mill is producing 70,000 litres of ethanol per day, another factory official said. The government allowed fuel grade ethanol production from sugarcane juice with an aim to increase the earnings of sugar mills and help them in making full and timely payments to farmers.

Cane-based ethanol can be produced in three different ways directly from cane juice, from B-grade and C-grade molasses. Molasses is a viscous product obtained from raw sugar during the refining process.

Maharashtra is one of the leading sugarcane producing states. Sugar mills in the country were incurring losses as prices fell below the production cost on account of record output as against the annual domestic demand.

It doesn’t look real: James Cameron on ‘Aquaman’s’ depiction of underwater life

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February 14, 2019

Director James Cameron, who has pioneered the art of underwater storytelling, says DC blockbuster “Aquaman” could not do justice to the real life of ocean.

The filmmaker, who is currently working on the sequels to his award-winning film “Avatar”, said even though he finds the James Wan-directed superhero film “fun” he would never be able to make a movie which is detached from realism.

“I think its great fun. I think its a movie I could have never made. Truthfully. I could have never made that film because it requires this total dreamlike disconnect from any sense of physics or reality. It exists somewhere between a Greek mythic landscape and a fairy tale landscape.

“And people just kind of zoom around underwater because they propel themselves mentally? I guess? I don’t know. But it’s cool. You buy it on its own terms. But I’ve spent thousands of hours underwater. I’m very literal about my underwater. It needs to look like it’s real. And while I can enjoy that film I don’t resonate with it because it doesn’t look real,” Cameron told an leading daily.

“Aquaman” starring Jason Momoa, Nicole Kidman and Amber Heard released in December and went on to make over USD 1 billion worldwide.

Never thought I’d get to talk about feminism all day: Larson on being Captain Marvel’

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February 14, 2019

Featuring in and as Captain Marvel helped Brie Larson realise a dream she didn’t think was possible. The actor says the film gave her a “larger” platform to contribute to feminism, a cause dear to her heart.

Larson stars as US Airforce pilot Carol Danvers, who becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes Captain Marvel.

The 29-year-old actor, who is a vocal women’s rights activist, said it struck her while working on the Marvel film that she would be able to reach out to more people with the message of gender parity, a privilege not enjoyed by an indie movie that she usually collaborates on.

“It was really powerful and exciting. And it’s also allowed me opportunities ‘coz the film is so big, I knew I would be able to share certain concepts on a much larger scale than I’d been able to previously in independent films and even carry that over in the press tours.

“I have never had a press tour like this where we were able to work on reaching parity along the way. I feel so lucky that I made my first blockbuster movie and I just get to talk about feminism all day. I never would have thought that was like a possibility for me. That’s like my dream, Larson told an agency during a group interview.

With Captain Marvel, which is an origin story set in the 1990s, the actor has become the first woman to lead a standalone Marvel superhero film.

The film also stars Samuel L Jackson, Gemma Chan, Jude Law, Annette Bening, Ben Mendelsohn, Clark Gregg, Djimon Hounsou and Lee Pace.

“Captain Marvel” hits the screens on March 8 in India.

Stan Lee will be missed: Samuel L Jackson

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February 14, 2019

Hollywood star Samuel L Jackson says Stan Lee has been “one of the greatest influences” on his life as the late Marvel comic legend was instrumental in helping him understand the world of superheroes intimately.

Lee, who revolutionised pop culture as the co-creator of iconic superheroes like Spider-Man and The Hulk, died in November last year, at the age of 95.

“We generally ran into work, at premiers, occasionally he might show up on sets. I’ve been reading comic books all the time and so Stan has been one of the greatest influences on my life in terms of ‘who they are’, ‘how I feel about them’, ‘what I think that they can do’, ‘what they are capable of and what it means to be on the inside’. He’ll be missed,” the actor said at “Captain Marvel” Asia press conference.

Jackson, 70, who plays the inimitable Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will appear in his de-aged persona keeping the film’s timeline of the ’90s in mind.

And he said the way the studio scans the actors as they prepare for their roles, it would be obvious to see Lee star in all Marvel movies till the end of time.

Before his death, Lee had already filmed his signature cameos for “Captain Marvel”, “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and the much anticipated “Avengers: Endgame”.

“We all feel Stan is going to be somewhere. I don’t know where he was in this particular film, when he’s going to show up or most of the other films. And I’m sure, the way they scan us, he might still end up in every Marvel movie we do. You’ll be shocked. They probably got a lot of stuff so they can stick Stan… anywhere,” Jackson said.