Home Blog Page 1210

There is lot to improve: Smriti Mandhana post T20 series debacle

smriti mandhanaIndian opener Smriti Mandhana believes that there is a lot of scope for improvement in the women’s team, which fought “really well” but lost their three-match T20 series against New Zealand.

The 22-year-old said that for 70 to 80 per cent of the time, India were in winning position while adding that they need a player who could play through 20 overs.

“I think the girls fought really well. If you look back, for 70-80 per cent of the time we were in winning positions. This is a good take away but there is a lot of scope for improvement. We need to improve and address those situations,” Mandhana told reporters.

“We need someone who could bat through 20 overs and someone who could go in the middle order and get runs, later on. We will be addressing all those issues, later,” she added.

Mandhana played a fabulous innings of 86 runs and was quite disappointed when she lost her wicket at a crucial stage.

“Today, I really wanted to finish the game for India. And I am really not that animated ever. It was just that I badly wanted to do it today and get over the line but unfortunately, I could not,” she said.

Up next, India will take on England at home in a three-match ODI series. Mandhana hoped that they would perform well in the series.

New Zealand opener Sophie Devine played a 72-run knock and picked up two wickets to emerge as the star performer of the match. While talking about the victory, Sophie said that it’s great to win the series especially ahead of their upcoming ODI series against Australia.

“It’s great to come on top in the series. It is a massive confidence booster for us especially going into big ODI series against Australia,” Devine said.

New Zealand and Australia are slated to play a three-match ODI series from February 22 to March 3.

BJP’s Mukul Roy, 3 others booked for TMC MLA’s killing; blame game on

Mukul Roy FB

BJP leader Mukul Roy was among the four people booked on Sunday in connection with the killing of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Satyajit Biswas in West Bengal’s Nadia district, police said.

Roy, on his part, said the decision to name him in the FIR was “politically motivated”.

A West Bengal Police officer told PTI that two of the four people named in the FIR have been arrested.

“So far, we have arrested two persons in this case and detained another three. A country-made revolver used to shoot the MLA has also been recovered.

“As per our primary findings, it seems that the victim was fired from behind and the act was the result of a well-planned plot,” he said.

Asked about the chances of the assailants fleeing the area, the officer said the state police has been put on a high alert.

“Nadia shares border with Bangladesh and there could be a possibility of them (assailants) trying to escape to the neighbouring country. Police have been put on high alert to check the movements along the border,” he said.

Biswas (41), who represented Krishnaganj constituency in the Assembly, was shot from point-blank range by unidentified assailants Saturday evening inside a Saraswati puja marquee at Phoolbari area in the district, bordering Bangladesh.

He was immediately taken to a local hospital where doctors announced him “brought dead”.

His body was brought home from the hospital on Sunday morning for last rites, amid a blame-game between the ruling party and opposition BJP leaders over who was responsible for the death.

A large crowd gathered to pay last respects to the deceased MLA at his residence, a few metres away from the Saraswati Puja marquee where he was shot.

Roy, a former TMC member of Parliament, said the legislator’s killing could be a result of infighting within the TMC.

Roy joined the BJP last year after his relations with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee soured.

“Naming me in the FIR is absolutely a politically motivated move. I am sorry about Satyajit’s death, but the manner in which they (TMC leaders) are trying to hold the BJP responsible is nothing but a dirty conspiracy,” Roy told agencies.

Roy said that Biswas was surrounded by TMC party workers and activists when he was shot dead. “You have to think about it. Satyajit was surrounded by his party when he was shot. How did the killers manage to go near him? It is quite clear as to what happened.”

Denying allegations of BJP’s involvement, the party’s state president, Dilip Ghosh, demanded a CBI investigation into the killing. An independent probe will reveal the truth, he said.

Gujjars continue dharna on rail tracks, trains cancelled

GUJJAR

Gujjar community members continued their sit-in protest on rail tracks in Rajasthan’s Swai Madhopur district for the third day on Sunday to press for their quota demand, forcing authorities to cancel three trains and divert one.

The blockade by Gujjar Arakshan Sangarsh Samiti chief Kirori Singh Bainsla and his supporters began Friday evening and has forced the West Central Railway (CWR) to divert, cancel or partially terminate nearly 200 trains in the last two days.

A state government delegation, including Tourism minister Vishvendra Singh and senior IAS officer Neeraj K Pawan, Saturday met Bainsla and his supporters to hold talks, but no agreement could be reached.

Bainsla said the community will continue their protest demanding 5 per cent reservation to the Gujjars, Raika-Rebari, Gadia Luhar, Banjara and Gadaria communities in government jobs and educational institutions, as promised by the government in its election manifesto. “We will continue the dharna on the rail tracks. No compromise was made with the government delegation. We want a 5 per cent reservation order,” Bainsla had said Saturday.

Gujjars had given a 20-day ultimatum to the state government to clear its stand on providing the quota.

Currently, the five communities are getting one-per cent separate reservation under the most-backward category in addition to the Other Backward Class (OBC) quota.

Cong launching fake campaigns; time to protect nation from ‘institution wreckers’: Jaitley

jaitelyAccusing the Congress party of launching ‘fake campaigns’ against the defence forces, judiciary and Reserve Bank, Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said that it is time to protect the country as well as its institutions from ‘institution wreckers’.

In a hard-hitting Facebook post, the minister recalled how the Congress-led governments used to interfere with institutions like the RBI, judiciary and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

“It is about time that India and its institutions are protected from these ‘institution wreckers’,” said Jaitley, who Saturday returned from the US after medical treatment.

In the post titled ‘Institutions Under Attack – The Latest Fabrication’, Jaitley said the past two months have witnessed several “fake campaigns” which failed to cut much ice as falsehood does not have longevity.

The ‘compulsive contrarians’ continued to jump from one falsehood to another, he said.

Jaitley said in West Bengal, democracy is seriously under peril.

“BJP leaders can’t land, public meetings are being prevented and the Rath Yatra was disallowed. The Congress Party’s stand on multiple issues is self-contradictory. It slaughters a cow before the cameras in Kerala, and invokes the National Security Act against the cow killers in Madhya Pradesh,” he said.

There are two critical features of these new emerging breed of institution protectors’. They criticise the government the maximum and simultaneously argue that the free speech is in danger, Jaitley said.

“They shed crocodile tears for democracy and make every effort to convert the world’s largest democracy into a dynastic one,” he said.

“The Congress aligned with the Maoist in the recent Chhattisgarh elections. Rahul Gandhi stood shoulder to shoulder with the ‘Tukde Tukde’ gang at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. The Congress was in the forefront of defending the urban naxals in court. And yet it claims to be friend of both, the idea of India and its institutions,” Jaitley said.

He said these ‘institution protectors’ support the legitimising of illegal infiltrators into India. They readily jump to the support of those who want to dismember the country, he said.

Accusing Congress President Rahul Gandhi of stalling functioning of Parliament, Jaitley said his two speeches on Rafale are based on a personal hatred for the Prime Minister emanating from envy.

“History will record that Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru’s great grandson has singularly damaged India’s Parliament as an institution more than anyone else,” he said.

The Minister said the Congress attempts at 11.00 am every morning to disrupt both houses of Parliament.

“If we analyse Rahul Gandhi’s two speeches on Rafale, they are based on a personal hatred for the Prime Minister emanating from envy. A failed student always hates the class topper. Additionally, the context of the speeches points more to college-level lumpenisation in content.

“It has been left to two opposition members namely Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJD and N.K. Premachandran of the RSP to fill up the intellectual vacuum that the Congress has created,” he said.

On Rafale, Jaitley said the deal not only strengthens the combat ability of the Indian Air Force but saved thousands of crores for the exchequer.

“When its falsehood collapsed, its creators by producing half a document lost their full credibility. They forgot that truth always prevails,” he said.

Accusing the Congress of organising loot on the banks between 2008-2014, Jaitley said the party is now alleging that industrial loans had been waived. “Not a single rupee was waived. On the contrary, the defaulters have been thrown out of management & Congress’s falsehood was exposed,” he said.

Stating that the government has consistently maintained an arm’s length distance with the Election Commission, he said the attack on the EVMs is not merely to allay defeat, it is an attack on the commission.

He also said it is the Opposition which questioned first the existence of the surgical strike and then played it down as a routine action which has also taken place in the past.

“The Army Chief was described as a ‘Sadak ka Gunda’. Serious doubts have been raised on the Air Force led choice of the combat aircraft Rafale and its negotiation process. In the face of all this, they allege that institutions are under attack by the Government would be a mockery he said.

On RBI, Jaitley said that Congress governments in the past have been liberal in asking governors of the central bank to quit.

“Pt. Nehru, Mrs. Indira Gandhi and subsequently Mr Yashwant Sinha had asked Governors to quit. During the UPA Government, two Governors were barely on speaking terms with the Finance Minister. Nothing of this kind has happened in the recent past, he said.

The government legitimately flags the issues relating to liquidity and credit availability with the RBI, Jaitley said.

“The Government is the principal manager of the nation’s economy. How can raising legitimate issues relating to credit and liquidity availability be an interference with the RBI. The Government consistently maintained communications with the RBI Governors during its tenure,” Jaitley said.

Stating that the government does not interfere in any investigative function of CBI or any other investigative agency, Jaitley said restoring the credibility of an investigative agency is strengthening the institution and not assaulting it.

SBI, Oriental Bank put on sale stressed accounts to recover dues of Rs 5,740 crore

sbi obc

State-owned State Bank of India (SBI) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) have put on sale various financial accounts to recover dues of around Rs 5,740 crore.

The country’s largest lender SBI has invited bids from asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) and financial institutions (FIs) to recover an outstanding of Rs 4,975 crore.

The bulk of accounts up for sale by SBI are of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that have dues amounting to Rs 4,667 crore.

OBC wants to sell 13 accounts with a collective outstanding of Rs 764.44 crore, according to the bid document placed on its website.

As many as 281 SME accounts are up for sale by SBI, belonging to those firms that have dues of up to Rs 50 crore. The collective dues on these SMEs are Rs 4,666.50 crore.

“In terms of the bank’s policy on the sale of financial assets, in line with the regulatory guidelines, we place these accounts for sale to banks/ARCs/NBFCs/FIs,” SBI said in an auction notice.

Also, SBI will sell three accounts — Dennis Steels Pvt Ltd with outstanding of Rs 258.73 crore, Shiva Speciality Yarns (Rs 37.90 crore) and Bansidhar Spinning & Weaving Mills Ltd (Rs 11.73 crore).

Inviting expression of interest from ARCs and FIs, Oriental Bank of Commerce said it proposes to sell its stressed financial assets comprising 13 accounts with a principal balance of Rs 764.44 crore.

Among the major loan accounts invited for sale by OBC include Mittal Corp Ltd (Rs 207.17 crore), Jayaswal Neco Industries Ltd (Rs 157.03 crore), NCS Sugars Ltd (Rs 106.60 crore), Mahalaxmi TMT Pvt Ltd (Rs 77.61 crore), Kohinoor Steel (Rs 45.06 crore), Sova Ispat Alloys (Rs 37.99 crore), Atlantic Projects (Rs 33.36 crore) and Sova Ispat Alloys (Mega Projects) Ltd (Rs 31.28 crore).

E-bidding for SBI accounts will take place on February 27. For OBC, the e-bidding is scheduled for February 25.

There is no “safe”or “unsafe” zone for actors: Sonam Kapoor

sonam 1

From “Neerja” to “Padman” to her latest “Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga” Sonam Kapoor has made some unconventional choices in her career and the actor says that her aim is to support stories which have strong women representation. While “Neerja” was the story of slain flight attendant Neerja Bhanot, “Padman” talked about menstrual hygiene and it was her character who helped the protagonist (Akshay Kumar) to make low-cost sanitary napkins. “Veere Di Wedding” revolved around four contemporary Indian women and with “Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga” she became the first A-list actor to have played a homosexual character.

“Women need to have more representation in this film industry. Women don’t have it. Last year we have had ‘Veere Di Wedding’ and ‘Raazi’ doing well commercially. There should be more women representation in terms of lead, more thought and content for them. There are talented woman in the film industry here, who have also achieved stardom and it all should be used in the right way,” Sonam told media.

The actor, who made her debut in films with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Saawariya” and starred in a few cliche romantic dramas, shifted her focus to content driven projects with Aanand L Rai’s “Raanjhanaa”. She then featured in films like “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” and “Khoobsurat” among others.

Sonam believes with content becoming the hero of the film, there is no “safe”or “unsafe” zone for actors. “What is playing safe? I have done commercial films and they did not do well at all. And some of my films that were not commercial did well. I am wondering what is safe today?, she said.

She further added that today we have films headed by Ayushmann Khurrana, Vicky Kaushal and Rajkummar Rao and they are so successful. Nobody knows what the audience is going to like or not like at this point. There is no formula. The only thing that works is honesty, integrity and a good story.

“I think commercially we are going in the right direction. I wish it was a wider release, we only released it in 1,000 screens. With the kind of response we are getting and due to word-of-mouth if we had a wider release we would have had better numbers. It was the producer’s call. This is the film that should reach more people. It has exceeded the expectation of the producer and next time they will have a wider release for a film like this,” she said.

She further revealed that the film will be released on a digital platform with an aim to expand the reach. The 33-year-old actor said that the response to the movie on a broader level is a tiny step towards acceptance. “It is too early to celebrate anything as there is a long way to go. We are constantly stereotyping people in the film industry and it is important to move away from that and making sure the labels are disabled,” she said.

Sonam believes that Indians are liberal and progressive people and cinema should be used in the right way to make the comman aware. We need to have some kind of representation of certain things through art, cinema. I want to be part of films like that. I want to be responsible in the choices I make, if you are not responsible you are not an artiste. Art is one way through which you can make people change the way they think.

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, which released on February 1, has minted about Rs 20 crore and Sonam is happy with the critical appreciation.

 

On the Shortness of Life by Seneca

sennecaDoing for the sake of just doing, doing for the sake of proving, doing for the sake to satisfy others, doing just for the sake of enjoying or doing for the sake of learning, and evolving the self. These are the factors which mostly decide our actions and lead us to a destination that could be either heaven or hell for us. Our life is very delicate and that’s something which could either our strengths or our weaknesses and this is eventually decided by the way we look at things, accept, observe, analyse, and interpret it. We have to be very alert while seeing and ignoring anything that comes into the radar of our consciousness because that is the exact place where either we keep something in our brain as a memory for lifetime or reject for the same too.

Life is short if we don’t know how to use and it’s long enough too to do or to experience that is most important to us if we understand how to use it as well. For that reason, we will have to be selective in everything, every book we read, music that we listen, every film we watch, every place we visit, every person we spend time with, every thought we think of. In short, we have to be selective in everything either we are associated with or we be associating in coming time. There are so many things to experience. So many places to go, so many people to meet, so many things to see, and things to do that we couldn’t possibly do all in one lifetime. That’s why we have to make the most out of it and select the best times, the best people, the best places, the best things of things and the best experiences so that we can live the best of life.

Eating, drinking, marrying, bearing children and just passing time are not the only meaning of life. In the physical sense or in materialistic way, it is well and good to fulfill all these aspects of our physical needs. But we also must know the fact that human being is made up of body, mind and soul and along with physical needs we must fulfill the needs of mind and soul too. By only doing this we get to the station of mindfulness and tranquility where we can bring out the real self of us and feel free, free of all rituals, customs, cultures, traditions, belief systems and the conditioning of our mind.

We can enjoy more if we prioritise soulful deeds along with day to day physical and mental activities because our soul is our life supportive system. If we don’t satisfy its needs and always do whatever our senses say us to do then we will be happy just for a moment afterwards we lose our inner calmness and make karmas which bind us with this universe permanently. Anything we do to boost our ego then we become the slave of our mind and then again and again we commit same mistakes and find yourself in a never ending vicious loop.

Greed and lust seem very attractive at the start but after a point of time a person loses attraction in his life, this is the fact and we should be dependent to materialism as less as we can because a time comes when we don’t need popularity, respect, branded stuffs, costly and spicy foods, parties, crowds, sounds and noises, fake friends, fake relationships, fake repetition, representation or imitation but what you need the most are genuinity, truth, honesty, peace of mind, solitude, mental and spiritual satisfaction, no longings and above of you need neutrality. You want to be neutral just like a devotee who forgets himself in the process of devotion. You got to be that, that is the way to that can make you meet to your truest self to which you have never met before but acted like you have met him. Those books help you to come out of that delusional idea of self actualisation and make you explore the true self by following the path oneness.

In this book, he talks about how we should view everything as taken on loan from fortune, and never think of ourselves as owners of that stuff, and how to keep a distance so that fortune is able to gently take back and not tear away everything that was given to us by fortune itself. He also talks about not being worried or ashamed of poverty, misfortune, disease and death as these are nothing but a cycle that every living has go through.

It’s a thin book that tops the list of Penguin books of great ideas. Seneca was a philosopher for whom the issue of wealth and richest took central stage in his writings. How can a so called Stoic philosopher at one point be one of the richest people in the Roman Empire? This paradox alone makes Seneca one of the most fascinating figures from antiquity and worth studying.

 

9 crore TV homes migrate to new tariff regime: TRAI chief

trai

Telecom regulator TRAI has said nine crores out of 17 crore TV homes have made their channel preferences to onboard the new tariff regime, and it is constantly monitoring the situation to ensure that consumers do not face inconvenience.

“The speed (of onboarding) has increased as per our data and we expect the rest of the people to also register their choice of channels soon,” Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman R S Sharma told PTI.

Sharma, who is spearheading TRAI’s new tariff and regulatory framework for broadcasting and cable services, said of the nine crore TV homes that have made their channel preferences clear, 6.5 crore are cable TV homes and 2.5 crore are DTH homes.

“Out of the total 17 crore TV homes (which includes 7 crore DTH homes and 10 crore cable TV homes), about nine crore homes have already registered their choice with the operators, which is a big number,” he said.

Since DTH is a pre-paid model, as and when customers’ long and short duration packs come to an end, people will make channel selection, he added.

“We are guiding and helping the operators where ever required and are calling regular meetings to clarify matters,” Sharma noted.

The regulator also plans to step up efforts on customer outreach and awareness programmes. “TRAI will take up a massive campaign on consumer awareness, through social media, print, advertisements, jingles and other programs,” he said.

Last week, the sector regulator had asked platform operators to revert on special schemes and plans for households with multiple TV connections. TRAI had made it clear that players have to allow individual set-top boxes (even within the same household) to have a separate choice of channels if the consumer wishes.

As per the regulations, players can also choose to offer discounts, even waive off the network capacity fee (a maximum of Rs 130) on the subsequent connections in the same household. But such discounts have been offered uniformly in a location and declared transparently on the players’ website.

The regulator has unveiled the new tariff order and regulatory regime for the broadcast and cable sector, which paves the way for consumers to opt for channels they wish to view and pay only for them. It has said every channel should be offered a la carte, with a transparent display of rates on electronic programme guide. The new framework has come into effect from February 1.

Bajaj Electricals aims 48% jump in revenue to Rs 7,000 cr this fiscal

bajaj

Consumer durables maker Bajaj Electricals is eyeing around 48 percent growth in revenue to Rs 7,000 crore this fiscal, mainly driven by robust performance of its EPC segment, said a top company official.

The company’s major growth is coming from its engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) segment, on the back of big orders of power distribution and transmission line projects in Uttar Pradesh.

“We would end current fiscal with around Rs 6,800 crore to Rs 7,000 crore as per our estimates,” Bajaj Electricals Chairman and Managing Director Shekhar Bajaj told agencies.

Bajaj Electricals had posted a revenue of Rs 4,716.39 last fiscal, in which EPC had contributed around Rs 2,500 crore.

“We have done around Rs 2,900 crore in the last three quarters and do around Rs 1,100 crore in the fourth quarter and as per our projections, we would have around Rs 4,000 crore from EPC business,” Bajaj said, adding that this would be over 60 percent growth.

He expects the EPC segment to continue the growth momentum in the next fiscal also, although the pace may be slow.

Besides, Bajaj also expects high double-digit growth from its consumer product segment this fiscal.

“The company would continue with 25 percent growth projection from the Consumer Products segment and end around Rs 2,800 to Rs 2,900 crore,” he noted.

Moreover, Bajaj Electricals reported a Profit before exceptional items and tax (PBT) of Rs 100.02 crore in the October-December quarter this fiscal.

“This is the first time in the history of Bajaj Electricals when we have crossed a PBT of Rs 1,00 crore. This is the highest ever for the company,” he noted.

Bajaj Electricals has two segments — Consumer Products and EPC.

Voltas to invest over Rs 500 cr to set up plant in AP’s Tirupati

voltas 1280

Tata group firm Voltas on February 10 said that it will invest over Rs 500 crore to set up a manufacturing facility in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. “This facility will initially manufacture and assemble air conditioners and related cooling products with a total capacity of more than 1 million units to start with,” the company said in a BSE filing.

Voltas said it aims to create technologically advanced products which are expected to start rolling out from the second half of 2020.

The company plans to invest over Rs 500 crore while putting together an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) base for home appliances, and simultaneously creating local employment opportunities in the region.

The manufacturing facility, spread over 65 acres, will be one of the first cooling appliances units in Andhra Pradesh. The choice of Andhra Pradesh as the destination for the new manufacturing unit was due to the state’s ease of doing business and growing focus on ‘Make in India’, it said.

The chosen location provides dual benefits of superior market access and costs effective connectivity via road and port, it added. Voltas will cater to the south, west and east markets through this manufacturing facility.

“We are delighted to have laid the ground for the Voltas manufacturing plant here in Tirupati. This facility helps us in expanding our manufacturing capabilities while increasing our reach in the Southern market,” said Pradeep Bakshi, managing director and CEO, Voltas Ltd.

Voltas, among the top ten companies within the Tata group, provides air conditioning and engineering solutions.