Deshpande, Mandhana among Maharashtra state sports award winners

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February 13, 2019

The Maharashtra government has bestowed the ‘Shiv Chhatrapati Lifetime Achievement Award’ on mallakhamb coach Uday Deshpande for 2017-18.

An announcement to this effect was made by the state Sports Minister Vinod Tawde at a media conference where he also declared the other award winners.

“The (Shiv Chhatrapati) lifetime achievement award is being conferred upon Uday Deshpande of Samarth Vyayam Mandir, who has dedicated his life for mallakhamb,” Tawde said.

Deshpande has been promoting and coaching mallakhamb, a traditional Indian sport dating back to the 12th century where the practitioner performs gymnastic and yoga postures with wrestling grips on an erect pole or a suspended rope, at the ‘Samarth Vyayam Mandir’ at Shivaji Park in Central Mumbai.

The names of the Shiv Chhatrapati award winners in the players’ category also include Indian women’s cricket team member Smriti Mandhana, who hails from Sangli in western Maharashtra.

Tawde also announced that these awards will be given away at the iconic ‘Gateway of India’ on February 17 during a glittering ceremony.

Among the other award recipients are hockey player Suraj Karkera, paddler Sanil Shetty, track and field athlete Siddhant Thingaliya, who specialises in 110 metres hurdles, runner Monika Athare and squash player Mahesh Mangaonkar.

The sports minister also announced that Satara’s mountaineer Priyanka Mohite, who has scaled the Mt Everest and the Mt Lhotse among other peaks, will be awarded the ‘Shiv Chhatrapati Award for Adventure’.

The state government will also be giving ‘Eklavya State Awards’ for physically handicapped players and ‘Shiv Chhatrapati’ awards for associations and coaches.

Democracy has become ‘Namocracy’: Mamata Banerjee

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February 13, 2019

Democracy has become ‘Namocracy’ and the situation in the country is worse than emergency, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday, and asserted that the opposition parties will fight unitedly at the national level to oust the NDA from power.

Addressing a mega rally organised by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at the Jantar Mantar, the Trinamool Congress chief also attacked the Centre over the CBI’s failed bid to question Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar at his home, saying that she had not seen a government that “stooped so low”.

“It is Prime Minister’s last day as elected leader in Parliament today. Everyone is afraid of Gabbar Singh. There are two of them — (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and (BJP chief Amit Shah),” she said after the Lok Sabha adjourned sine die.

A host of opposition leaders including TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah, Nationalist Congress Party’s Sharad Pawar and CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury spoke during the rally.

Footballer Sala’s body to be returned to Argentina on Friday

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February 13, 2019

Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala’s body is to be returned to Argentina on Friday, the mayor of his hometown of Progreso, Julio Muller.

Sala’s body was recovered from plane wreckage in the English Channel last week.

He was flying to his new team, English Premier League side Cardiff City, from his old French club Nantes when his plane went missing over the Channel on January 21.

Muller said Sala’s body would arrive in the late afternoon and be taken to the gymnasium next to his youth club’s headquarters, where a vigil was scheduled.

He said Sala’s “mother, sister, and brother have already arrived in Progreso.”

British authorities formally identified Sala’s body last week, after which his family said they could “now begin to mourn our son and our brother.” Sala, who was 28, died of “head and trunk injuries,” an inquest in England heard on Monday.

He was travelling in a light aircraft that disappeared near the British island of Guernsey. The wreckage was found on the seabed but 59-year-old pilot David Ibbotson remains missing.

Indian shuttlers get tough draw at All England Championship

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February 13, 2019

India’s dream of breaking an 18-year-old title jinx at the All England Championship got tougher after the country’s shuttlers, including PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, were handed a tricky draw in the World Tour Super 1000 tournament in Birmingham.

Olympic and World Championship silver medallist Sindhu, who had reached the semifinals last year, will open her campaign against South Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun, while Indonesia Masters champion Saina takes on Scotland’s Kristy Gilmour in the first round.

Both Sindhu and Saina are currently playing at the Senior National Championships and will head straight to Birmingham from here for the prestigious tournament, starting March 6.

Sindhu will have to be cautious against Hyun, who had defeated her at the Hong Kong Open last year. If she gets past Hyun, the Indian is likely to face third seed Chen Yufei in the quarter-final.

Former World No. 1 Saina, who had reached the All England final in 2015, made a good start to the new season with a semifinal finish at the Malaysia Masters and a title win at Indonesia.

But the London Olympics bronze medallist is expected to face world no. 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals. Saina had lost her last 11 encounters against Tai, who had an injury-marred end to the last season.

The Indian duo will also fancy their chances after three-time world champion Carolina Marin of Spain has been ruled out due to the knee injury suffered during the Indonesia Masters final.

In men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth, who missed the Senior Nationals due to a minor issue with his ankle, will take on Frenchman Brice Leverdez in the opening round. He is likely to meet world no. 1 Kento Momota in the quarter-finals. The seventh-seeded Indian had lost to Momota five times last season.

The last time an Indian had won the All England Championship was way back in 2001 by current national coach Pullela Gopichand, while Prakash Padukone was the first from the country to win the coveted crown in 1980.

Artificial intelligence to pinpoint fake dating profiles

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February 13, 2019

Scientists have developed new Artificial Intelligence (AI) based computing algorithms for dating apps and websites that ‘think’ like humans to pinpoint fake profiles designed to con victims out of thousands of pounds. The researchers led by the University of Warwick in the UK developed the algorithms as part of wide-ranging research into combating online fraud.

The new algorithms have been designed specifically to understand what fake dating profiles look like and then to apply this knowledge when they scan profiles submitted to online dating services. They automatically look out for suspicious signs inadvertently included by fraudsters in the demographic information, the images and the self-descriptions that make up profiles, and reach an overall conclusion as to the probability of each individual profile being fake.

When tested, the algorithms produced a very low false-positive rate, the number of genuine profiles mistakenly flagged up as fake of around one per cent. “Online dating fraud is a very common, often unreported crime that causes huge distress and embarrassment for victims as well as financial loss. Using AI techniques to help reveal suspicious activity could be a game-changer that makes detection and prevention quicker, easier and more effective, ensuring that people can use dating sites with much more confidence in future,”said Professor Tom Sorell of the University of Warwick.

The aim is now to further enhance the technique and enable it to start being taken up by dating services within the next couple of years, helping them to prevent profiles being posted by scammers. “The news that these AI capabilities have the potential to help thwart so-called ‘rom-con’ scams will be very welcome to the millions of people who use online dating services in the UK and worldwide,” researchers said.

The researchers furthed added that in these scams, fraudsters target users of dating websites and apps, ‘groom’ them and then ask for gifts of money or loans which will never be returned. In 2017, over 3,000 Britons lost a total of 41 million pounds in such incidents, with an average loss of 11,500 pounds.

Prof D P Goyal to be new director of IIM-Shillong

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February 13, 2019

Prof D P Goyal has been appointed the director of the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong, an official said on Wednesday.

Presently Dean of Management at Gurgaon-based Management Development Institute (MDI), Goyal was appointed by the board of directors for a period of 5-years, IIM-Shillong chief administrative officer Prashant Kulkarni told media.

Goyal would replace Prof Amitabha De as the director, he said

The IIM-Shillong chairperson of the Board of Governors Shishir Bajoria made the announcement officially on Tuesday.

Bajoria said “I am indeed delighted to convey that Prof D P Goyal was the unanimous choice of the search-cum-selection committee and the BoG.

Goyal holds a PhD from Kurukshetra University in Management and Information Systems and is presently the Dean at the MDI in Gurgaon. He has more than 20 years of teaching experiences at Thapar Institute of Technology, Punjabi University, IMT, Ghaziabad and MDI.

Adani Transmission profit drops 77.52 pc to Rs 189.22 cr in Q3

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February 13, 2019

Adani Transmission on Wednesday reported a 77.52 percent drop in its consolidated net profit at Rs 189.22 crore in the quarter ended on December 31, 2018, mainly due to higher base last fiscal on account of factoring in one-time income of Rs 742 crore.

The company’s consolidated net profit was Rs 841.88 crore in the third quarter last fiscal. “The consolidated net profit for third quarter this fiscal is Rs 189 crore compared to Rs 100 crore year ago after eliminating one time income of Rs 742 crore (net of tax),” a company statement said.

The total income of the company rose to Rs 2,921.07 crore in third quarter this fiscal from Rs 1,806.50 crore year ago. Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group said, “We aspire to enter into electricity distribution business in key cities and districts in India in pursuit of government of India’s vision to enable power for all by 2022”.

Anil Sardana, MD and CEO of Adani Transmission said, “In the coming years, we have identified key growth areas which includes transmission and distribution along with new value-added businesses. We will continue to build strong focus on seamless integration of processes, people and technology which have been our key drivers.

Meghalaya govt puts cap on weight of school bags

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February 13, 2019

In a major relief to students, the Meghalaya government has put a cap on the weight of schoolbags for all classes and set restrictions on homework for classes 1 and 2.

According to the state education department, the official order issued to the school authorities is in tune with the directives of the Union Human Resources Development Ministry.

“We have issued instructions via a notification, setting limits on the weight of school bags. This is in line with the guidelines of the Union Human Resources Development Ministry, keeping in mind that the weights the children carry affect their health,” Education Principal Secretary DP Wahlang told agencies.

The department has also asked the heads of institutions to ensure that timetables are designed in a way that students do not have to carry too many books or notebooks to school.

“The weight of school bags for classes 1 and 2 has been capped at 1.5 kg, while bags for those studying in classes 3 to 5 should not exceed 3 kg,” the notification said.

For students of classes 6 to 7, the maximum weight should be 4 kg, it said.

Similarly, the weight of school bags for classes 8 and 9 has been capped at 4.5 kg and the maximum weight of bags for class X students has been limited to 5 kg.

“Schools should make sure that the students are asked to carry only those textbooks that have been mentioned in their time table,” the order said.

The education department has also barred schools from assigning homework to students of classes I and II, except in subjects recommended by CBSE, ICSE or MBOSE (Meghalaya Board of School Education).

“Students should not be forced to bring additional books and materials,” it said, adding that children should be encouraged to participate in co-curricular activities for their holistic development.

Rajasthan govt introduces 5% quota Bill for protesting Gujjars, 4 other castes

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February 13, 2019

Rajasthan government on Wednesday introduced a bill in the Assembly to give a five percent quota in jobs and educational institutes to Gujjars and four other communities agitating for it.

Gujjar leaders were yet to call off their protest, saying that they are awaiting a concrete proposal from the government, indicating that they wanted the bill to be passed first.

Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla and his supporters have blocked the railway tracks in Sawai Madhopur district and several highways, demanding the quota in government jobs and educational institutes.

PM’s defence on pricing of Rafale deal ‘demolished’: Rahul

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February 13, 2019

Stepping up his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale issue, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday cited a media report to claim that the PM’s argument of better pricing and faster delivery of the jets to defend the deal has been “demolished”.

His attack came after a report in a leading media claimed that the Rafale deal was not on “better terms” than the UPA-era offer.

“The PM defended his personal RAFALE bypass deal on 2 counts: 1. Better Price 2. Faster Delivery. Both have been demolished by the revelations in the Hindu today,” he tweeted.

The government has in the past rejected all such allegations and claims against the deal.

Three senior Defence Ministry officials who were the domain experts on the seven-member Indian Negotiating Team (INT) came to a “well-substantiated and clear conclusion” that the Narendra Modi government’s new Rafale deal for 36 flyaway aircraft was not on “better terms” than the offer made by Dassault Aviation during the procurement process for 126 aircraft under the United Progressive Alliance government, the report in the English daily said.

Raising slogans such as “chowkidar chor hai”, Congress lawmakers, including Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh, protested near the Gandhi statue in Parliament complex over the Rafale deal.

The Congress leaders were seen carrying paper planes and posters, alleging scam in the multi-crore fighter jet deal.

Citing the report, Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the “theft has been caught”.

Surjewala highlighted four points citing the report — price of 36 Rafale jets was 55 per cent higher than the UPA-era offer, loss incurred by not taking 25 per cent discount for Rafale as offered by Eurofighter, bank and sovereign guarantee waived, and no aircraft for 10 years with escalation cost to be paid.

The Congress’ attack came a day after, Rahul Gandhi accused the prime minister of “treason” and violating the Official Secrets Act by acting as Anil Ambani’s “middleman” in the Rafale jet contract, citing an email to claim the businessman was aware of the deal days before India and France finalised it.

The BJP, however, had rejected the charge, saying the email purportedly by an Airbus executive referred to a helicopter deal and not Rafale.

Reliance Defence, in a statement, also refuted Gandhi’s allegation saying the “proposed MoU” mentioned in the email referred to its cooperation with Airbus Helicopter.