Canada today updated the travel advisory to India amid escalating tension. Canadian citizens have been warned against travelling in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, with special mention of Assam and violence-hit Manipur.
Fresh from the Asia Cup triumph, the Indian cricket team is enjoying a mini-break before the India vs Australia ODI series starting on Friday. Star batter Virat Kohli was part of the Asia Cup but he has been rested for the first two ODIs of the three-match series against Australia. On Tuesday, Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma, the former Indian cricket team captain's wife and actor, celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi and performed Puja. Actor Karishma Kapoor wished them on the occasion.
A day after Indian cricket team's Asia Cup triumph, the squad for the Australia ODI series was announced on Monday. There were several surprises in the squad for the three-ODI series. The biggest one being the return of Ravichandran Ashwin, who last played an ODI in January, 2022. Another surprise was that the team management rested the star trio - Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya - for a series that is being seen as the final dress rehearsal before the World Cup.
The trio, along with Kuldeep Yadav, has been for the first two ODIs, while they will make a comeback in the third ODI. BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar, who announced the squad, was asked by a journalist about the reason behind resting the stars ahead of 'Bharat Darshan' at the World Cup. The reference of 'Bharat Darshan' was given because India will be the most-travelled team in the ODI Cricket World Cup as it will be playing all it group stage matches in different cities.
Agarkar gave a deft reply to the query. "Rohit (Sharma) and Virat (Kohli) have been around forever and obviously Hardik is an important player for us, we want to manage him," he said.
"Kuldeep is in great form. It also gives us a chance to look at some of the other guys. That's the thing. Luckily, we got a fair amount of cricket in the Asia Cup.
"If not we might have looked at it some other way. At some stage or the other, more than physical, guys sometimes need a mental break which is not such a bad thing, leading up the tournament (Cricket World Cup).
"But comes the third game, everyone will be available to play. We will play our World Cup squad. It does give us a chance to play some other guys who have been sitting outside and it has been a strong squad," said BCCI Chief selector Ajit Agarkar.
Madhya Pradesh will keep 5 per cent seats in medical studies for students of government schools starting this year, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Monday.
Ever since admissions to medical colleges started through the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), students of government schools were not able to become doctors, he said.
"For the first time in the country, the Madhya Pradesh government has taken a decision to be implemented from this year under which five per cent reservation will be given to students from government schools in medical studies. Only government school students will be admitted on these seats," he said.
"Students of private schools used to clear NEET till now. But two lists will be prepared from now - one for government school students and the other for those from private schools," he added.
Children from poor backgrounds must also get a chance to move ahead, Mr Chouhan asserted.
Mohammed Siraj - that name will be spoken about a lot in the coming days ahead of Cricket World Cup. There are enough reasons. In the India vs Sri Lanka Asia Cup 2023 final in Colombo on Sunday, the 29-year-old right-arm pacer single-handedly broke the hosts' resistance with a fiery spell. At the end of the game, Siraj's figures read - 7-1-21-6. It was only the fourth time that an Indian bowler had taken a six-wicket haul in ODIs. Courtesy Siraj's bowling, India skittled out Sri Lanka for just 50 - the team's second-lowest score in ODIs.
India chased down the 51-run target win just 6.1 overs. As India won with 263 balls remaining, this is India's biggest ODI win for India. This is also the biggest win in an ODI tournament final in terms of balls remaining. And Mohammed Siraj was the chief architect of it.
Here are 10 facts about Mohammed Siraj:
1. Born in 1994 in Hyderabad, Telangana, Mohammed Siraj had humble beginnings. His father was an auto rickshaw driver while his mother was a home-maker. Mohammed Siraj has often acknowledged the role of his father in his cricket journey.
2. Mohammed Siraj first started getting notice from t he tennis ball cricket circle. His friends convinced him to train to become a professional cricketer. He joined the Charminar Cricket Club and played in the HCA League.
3. Mohammed Siraj made some rapid progress. He made his first-class debut for Hyderabad on November 15, 2015, under the coaching of Karthik Udupa in the 2015–16 Ranji Trophy tournament. He made his T20 debut on January 2, 2016 in the 2015–16 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament. During the 2016–17 Ranji Trophy season, Siraj picked 41 wickets at an average of 18.92 - the highest that season for Hyderabad.
4. His big break came in February, 2017, when he was picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad for that year's Indian Premier League for a whopping Rs 2.6 crore. Next Year, he was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he currently plays.
5. In 2017, Siraj was named in India's T20I squad for their series against New Zealand. He made his debut for India against New Zealand on November 4, 2017, taking the wicket of Kane Williamson.
Siraj has so far played 21 Tests (59 wickets), 29 ODIs (53 wickets) and 8 T20Is (11 wickets).
6. Siraj has ben a no. 1 ranked bowled in the past. On January 21, 2023 Siraj became No. 1 ODI Bowler in ICC Rankings. Currently, he is ranked 9th in ODIs.
7. Mohammed Siraj Siraj is a great Cristiano Ronaldo fan. His celebration after taking a wicket is similar to what Ronaldo does after scoring a goal.
8. With his 6/21 against Sri Lanka, the pacer became only the fourth bowler in ODI history to take four wickets in an over, and he matched former Lankan pacer Chaminda Vaas as the fastest to a five-wicket haul in one-dayers – in just 16 deliveries.
9. Siraj is the second bowler in the Asia Cup 50-over format to take a 6-wicket haul after Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis bagged the figure of 6/13 against India in 2008.
10. Mohammed Siraj, who is also known as 'Miyan Magic' to his fans, won hearts at the R Premadasa stadium after the Asia Cup final match as he dedicated the 'Player of the Final' cash prize to the ground staff.
After the INDIA bloc decided to boycott shows of 14 television news anchors, Aam Aadmi Party leader and minister Atishi said that the party spokesperson has the freedom to choose the channel they want to go to.
Atishi told ANI, “We are in support of the freedom of the media. But it is any party spokesperson's freedom to choose the channel and the anchors in whose program they want to go or not. We also have this freedom."
INDIA bloc's media committee on Thursday decided to boycott the TV news shows of several journalists. The list shared by leaders of the INDIA bloc contains the names of 14 news anchors.
Bihar Chief Minister and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar on Saturday made a reference to the boycott by INDIA bloc of shows of 14 television news anchors and said he is not against anyone and “those who are with us must have felt that something is happening”.
"I have no idea about this...I am in support of journalists. When everyone gets full freedom, journalists will write what they like. Are they controlled? Have I ever done it? They have rights, I am not against anyone. Right now those who are at the Centre have controlled a few people. Those who are with us must have felt that something is happening. However, I am not against anyone,” Nitish Kumar told journalists in response to a query.
JD-U is part of the INDIA bloc.
Congress leader Pawan Khera on Saturday said that the INDIA alliance has “not boycotted or blacklisted anyone” but it is a movement of non-cooperation and that leaders of the opposition bloc will start attending shows of 14 journalists named if they realise their mistakes.
"We have not banned, boycotted or blacklisted anyone. This is a non-cooperation movement, we will not cooperate with anyone spreading hatred in the society...They are not our enemies," Mr Khera said.
BJP has strongly attacked the opposition bloc over its decision.
Boycott of media and journalists is not new; it is just a rehearsal, as the Congress party had done the same thing in 1975, said Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday, addressing a media conference in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.
The salvo was fired as the Opposition bloc INDIA on Thursday released a "boycott list" of TV anchors and journalists. "This boycott and media censorship can be traced back to 1975. It is not new. It is a rehearsal for you," said the Assam Chief Minister.
"For any reason, if the Congress government comes to power, the media will get censored, but ISRO has made the Chandrayaan at the right time. I will send the entire Congress party to the moon to form a government there. This is childish," Mr Sarma quipped.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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