India’s performance with the ball was not up to the mark

Australia (Sydney) –

November 27, 2020: Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has said that India’s body language was “defensive” and bowling ordinary while praising Australia for their “outstanding” performance in the first ODI, being played at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

“India’s over rate is appalling … !!! Body language defensive … fielding is my standard (shocking) … Bowling ordinary !!! Aussies on the other hand have been outstanding … Long tour for India methinks … #AUSvIND @FoxCricket @cricbuzz !!!,” Vaughan tweeted.

In another tweet, he wrote: “This Indian ODI team is to (too) old school for me …. Just 5 bowling options & the batting isn’t deep enough !!! #AUSvsIND.”

Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Australia put up an enthralling performance as the hosts set India a mammoth target of 375. Australia skipper Aaron Finch and Steve Smith played knocks of 114 and 105 runs respectively.

India’s performance with the ball was not up to the mark. Also, during Australia‘s innings, Yuzvendra Chahal registered an unwanted record as he became the Indian spinner to concede most runs in an ODI.

Chahal gave away 89 runs in his 10 overs against Australia. Interestingly, the spinner broke his own record of conceding 88 runs in an ODI. Chahal had conceded the most number of runs by an Indian bowler in a World Cup match against England in 2019.

Vaughan even went on to say that Australia will “convincingly” defeat India in all formats.

“Early call … I think Australia will beat India this tour in all formats convincingly … #AUSvIND,” Vaughan tweeted.

India’s chase did not start well as they lost skipper Virat Kohli for just 21 while youngsters Shreyas Iyer (2) and KL Rahul (12) failed to rise to the challenge.

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Sonakshi shared her 100 percent scorecard and images on the social media

Mumbai (Maharashtra) –

November 27, 2020: Bollywood star Sonakshi Sinha who is on a dreamy vacation in the Maldives, on Friday announced that she is a licensed scuba driver, and flaunted her 100 percent score in the open water diver course test.

 The ‘Holiday’ star took to Instagram and shared pictures featuring her receiving the license, and the scorecard in which she had scored outright.

 In the first picture, Sonakshi is knelt down on the deck as she receives the honour of becoming a trainer by her coach and mentor. In the backdrop is the picturesque view of a beach and a cloudy sky – with palm trees and rich flora.

 The ‘Dabangg’ star penned a note explaining her fascinating experience, alongside the post. She noted, “Knighted by the holy fins!!! I am now a licensed scuba diver… something i have been wanting to do for years, and finally got down to it! My love for the ocean has just grown ever since my first snorkel experience and this is taking it to a whole new level…”

 “Thank you @oceanicworldmaldives for giving me my super strict and super cool instructor Mohammed, I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher(i mean this is the first time I’ve scored a 100% in ANY exam)! And thanks @grandparkkodhipparu @kapilmathur1985 (the post certification photographer) for making it happen!!!,” she added.

 Of late, the actor has been treating her fans on mesmerising pictures from the exotic location.

 Sonakshi Sinha who has been enjoying a vacation in the Maldives, earlier, treated her fans to a mesmerising picture of the sunset.

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Russia agrees to produce the Sputnik V vaccine from the beginning of 2021

Moscow [Russia]: The Russian Sovereign Wealth Fund and India’s pharmaceutical company Hetero have agreed to produce over 100 million doses per year of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V in India, according to a statement on Sputnik V Twitter account on Friday.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Hetero intend to start the production of Sputnik V at the beginning of 2021. Russia became the first country to register the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine on August 11.
Sputnik V, named after Russia’s first satellite, is developed by the Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology (GNRCEM) of the Russian Healthcare Ministry.

On Tuesday, the GNRCEM and RDIF declared results obtained during the second interim data analysis of the largest double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled phase III clinical trials in Russia involving 40,000 volunteers.

“It has shown a 91.4 per cent efficacy on day 28 after the first dose while preliminary data from volunteers obtained 42 days after the first dose(corresponds with 21 days after the second dose) indicates an efficacy of the vaccine above 95 per cent,” stated press statement issued by the RDIF.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the RDIF, said that the agreement between the RDIF and Hetero will pave the way for the production of the safe and highly effective Sputnik V vaccine on Indian soil.

“We are delighted to announce the agreement between RDIF and Hetero that will pave the way to the production of the safe and highly effective Sputnik V vaccine on Indian soil. The vaccine’s interim clinical trial results show 95 per cent efficacy on the 42nd day after the first dose,” he was quoted by the statement on Sputnik V Twitter account.

“I am confident that Sputnik V should become an integral part of the national vaccine portfolio of every country willing to protect its population from the coronavirus. Thanks to our cooperation with Hetero, we will be able to significantly increase production capacity and provide people of India with an efficient solution in this challenging period of the pandemic,” he added.

B. Murali Krishna Reddy, Director – International Marketing, Hetero Labs Limited, meanwhile said that the collaboration is another step towards their commitment in the battle against COVID-19 and realising the objective of ‘Make-in-India’ campaign.

“We are pleased to collaborate with RDIF as a manufacturing partner for the most anticipated Sputnik V vaccine for the treatment of COVID-19. While we look forward to the clinical trial results in India, we believe that manufacturing the product locally is crucial to enable swift access to patients. This collaboration is another step towards our commitment in the battle against COVID-19 and realising the objective of the ‘Make-in-India’ campaign as envisioned by our Prime Minister of India (Narendra Modi),” he said. 

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GMR Hyderabad Intl Airport introduced the Internet of Things (IoT) enabled Smart baggage trolleys

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India]: In line with the flagship Digital India Programme of the Government of India, GMR led Hyderabad International Airport has introduced the Internet of Things (IoT) enabled Smart baggage trolleys, becoming India’s first Airport to deploy IoT for tracking and maintaining the availability of baggage trolleys for passengers in the real-time across the airport.

SGK Kishore, ED-South and Chief Innovation Officer, GMR Airports said, “Hyderabad International Airport has been the flag bearer of innovation and technology adoption in many ways and has pioneered many innovative digital solutions to scale up our service and operational excellence.” “After the successful marquee projects like domestic and international E-boarding and face recognition trials, we are revolutionising the way baggage trolleys are managed with the adoption of IoT as a smart and intelligent solution to help enhance passenger experience and also enable smooth operations and inventory management. Smart baggage trolley is one of the many initiatives as part of our digital excellence transformation and journey,” he added.

The airport has deployed LoRa (Long Range) IoT platform for the Airport Baggage Trolley Project. The entire fleet of 3,000 baggage trolleys has been enabled with IoT technology. With this technology in place, there will be a substantial reduction in the waiting time of passengers for baggage trolleys and will ensure its availability insufficient number in the real-time.
Trolley management and replenishment will be based on the requirement at various areas across the airport enhancing efficiency and passenger experience while making way for smooth operations as well.

Trolley requirement at the airport is very dynamic in nature. There are two critical zones where availability of trolleys for passengers is vital – departures ramp and baggage belts at the arrivals. As per the IATA (International Air Transport Association), a global organisation supporting aviation with global standards for airline safety, security, efficiency and sustainability, there should be at least 160 trolleys available for 1 million passengers at any airport.

The smart baggage trolley management will address challenges of trolley retrieval and replenishment by locating trolleys at the right time and at the right spot. It will also help tackle the theft of trolleys and empowers the airport to meet passenger requirements on a real-time basis.
The management system has the capability to plan baggage trolleys according to the predictive analyses of estimated departure and arrival passenger loads.

“It preps the operations team with proactive planning with real-time dashboards/information on the availability of the number of baggage trolleys in different airport areas, ensuring its availability for the passengers at the right place and the right time. It gives ease of accessing data as it is compatible on mobile, desktop and laptop making it user-friendly,” as per an official release.

With an inbuilt alert mechanism, in case of any trolleys carried out of a “no airport zone” area, it generates an alert message tipping off the location for necessary action which can then be taken to retrieve.

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Smoke at Haryana-Delhi Singhu border during ‘Delhi Chalo’ to disperse farmers protesting the central farm laws

Haryana/ New Delhi [India]: Plumes of smoke were seen at Haryana-Delhi Singhu border on Friday as the security personnel used tear gas to disperse farmers protesting the central farm laws.

Farmers are headed to Delhi as part of their protest march against the Centre’s Farm laws amid heavy security deployment. Besides the tear gas, security personal was seen marching towards the crowd, dressed in all protective gear. Delhi Traffic Police earlier today informed that vehicles are not allowed towards the Singhu border area. “Vehicles are not allowed towards Singhu Border. Interstate vehicles may take Western/Eastern peripheral expressway,” Delhi Traffic Police tweeted.

Members of Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Committee were seen stocking up essentials in trolleys for their tractor rally towards Delhi.

“We have loaded food material for months and cooking utensils in our trolleys. We’re all headed towards Delhi now,” said one of the protesting farmers.

Another protestor said: “We are approaching Delhi peacefully. They are trying to stop us by using tear gas and water cannons. We are the farmers of Punjab, we provide food grains to the people of the country. We are going to get our rights.”

Meanwhile, some of the protesting farmers were seen jumping barricades in Sirsa. “Whatever we do will be peaceful. We will not harm any person or property. Even if we have to stay for a month, we will. Even if we will have to attain martyrdom, we will,” said one of the farmers.

“Police personnel are trying to maintain the law and order. Police were deployed here. But due to the large strength of the farmers, they surpassed the barricade from here and moved ahead towards Delhi. We have several other barricades in Sirsa,’ said SDM, Kalanwali (Sirsa).

Furthermore, the Delhi Police on Friday sought permission from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s government to convert nine stadiums into temporary prisons, in view of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ farmers protest.

This comes a day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal came out in support of Punjab farmers and their protest against the Centre’s recently passed farm laws, saying that peaceful protest was a Constitutional right and the use of water cannons against them was a crime.

While the government said the three laws will do away with middlemen, enabling farmers to sell their produce in the commercial markets, protestors fear that this could lead to the government not buying produce at guaranteed prices, thereby disrupting their timely payments.

The Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 were passed by the Upper House in September through voice vote despite objection from opposition parties.

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India and Australia are slated to lock horns in three ODIs, three T20Is, and four Tests

Australia (Sydney)-

November 26, 2020: With the ODI series against Australia starting on Friday, India skipper Virat Kohli looked in fine flow at the nets on the eve of the first game as he was seen timing the ball to perfection.

India and Australia are slated to lock horns in three ODIs, three T20Is, and four Tests. The first ODI will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

In a video posted by BCCI on its Twitter handle, Kohli was seen playing both the grounded and lofted shots. The Indian skipper worked on playing shots on both the backfoot and front foot.

“Timing them to perfection! #TeamIndia skipper @imVkohli getting batting ready ahead of the first ODI against Australia,” BCCI tweeted.

Earlier on Thursday, Australia’s white-ball skipper Aaron Finch said that Kohli doesn’t have too many weak points in his technique and is one of the best ODI players. Finch and Kohli had shared the dressing room for RCB in the recently-concluded IPL.

“He doesn’t have too many, to be honest. If you look at his record it’s second to none. His records are remarkable. I think what we need to keep in mind is we have to keep looking at ways to get him out because if go away from this you could miss the trip,” Finch said in a virtual press conference while replying to media query.

“There are not too many chinks in his armour. He is probably the best one-day player of all time. It’s about sticking to our plan,” he added.

After the white-ball leg, both sides will shift their attention to the longest format of the game. The first Test between India and Australia will be a day-night contest, beginning from December 17 in Adelaide.

Kohli would be playing just one Test and then he would return home after being granted paternity leave by the BCCI.

 The four-match series will be a part of the World Test Championship (WTC). Australia are on top of the standing while India is at the second position after ICC altered the points system for WTC due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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