On this day in 2014: Kohli led India first time in a Test match, Kohli made his longest format captaincy debut against Australia at Adelaide Oval in the first game of the four-match Test series.

India suffered a 48-run loss in that match and they were chasing 364 and looked to be on course with Murali Vijay and Kohli batting well at one stage. The visitors were cruising but Nathan Lyon provided Australia the crucial breakthrough, dismissing Vijay for 99. After that, the Australian off-spinner simply ripped through the Indian batting line-up, picking 7/152. From being 242/3, India was dismissed for 315.

The match was also the debut for leg-spinner Karn Sharma and remains the only Test match he played.
Kohli scored a ton in both the innings, but David Warner, Michael Clarke, and Steve Smith was among the runs for the Aussies.

India lost the series 2-0 after losing the first two games. However, Kohli only led the country in the first and last match of the series.
This was the series in which MS Dhoni announced his retirement from the longest format of the game after the third Test against Australia in Melbourne.

Kohli has so far led India in 55 Tests just five short of equalling MS Dhoni’s record, who captained the side in 60 red-ball games, the most by any Indian skipper.

Kohli is also the most successful captain for India in the history of the game as the team won 33 games under his captaincy so far.
Last year in September, Kohli surpassed Dhoni to become the most successful Indian Test captain.

After winning the shortest format series 2-1, India will now lock horns in the four-match Test series against Australia which gets underway on December 17. The first match will be a day-night affair and Kohli will head back home after the first Test as he has been granted paternity leave by the BCCI.

Rohit Sharma’s availability for the Test series is also not clear as his fitness will be reassessed on December 11 at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru

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Meeting with a joint delegation of opposition parties to be held on Wednesday regarding the recently promulgated Central farm laws

Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India]: Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday said, he does not have any hope from President Ram Nath Kovind ahead of his meeting with a joint delegation of opposition parties to be held on Wednesday regarding the recently promulgated Central farm laws.

“A delegation of 24 political parties is going to meet the President today regarding the anti-farmer laws. I don’t have any hope from his majesty. These 24 political parties should also discuss with all the groups under NDA who are with the farmers. Nitishji should mount pressure on Modiji,” Singh tweeted (roughly translated from Hindi). Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday said a joint delegation of opposition parties which will include Congress, CPI, DMK apart from his party will meet President Ram Nath Kovind today regarding the recently promulgated central farm laws.

“A joint delegation of Opposition parties will meet President Kovind on December 9 at 5 pm. The delegation will include Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, a DMK leader and a CPI leader and others”

“Rashtrapati Bhawan has said that due to COVID-19 protocol, not more than five leaders are allowed to meet the President. We have asked for relaxation in the norms for all the representatives of the 11 signatories on the letter against these laws,” he added.

Meanwhile, Digvijaya Singh had yesterday slammed RSS while opposing the agricultural law, saying that RSS is not a registered organisation neither they have any membership, however, it is the most powerful organisation without any accountability.

“Why are they silent today? We want to ask Mohan Bhagwat if Modiji is not listening to the farmers’ union and farmers, then the Sangh should stop supporting Modiji. BJP is looting the country, all they care about is triple talaq, love-jihad, NCR,” said Singh. 

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Cristiano Ronaldo won the battle against Lionel Messi as Juventus defeated Barcelona 3-0 in the Champions League group-stage encounter here at the Camp Nou on Tuesday (local time)

With this win, Juventus moved to the top of Group G in the Champions League with 15 points from six matches, while Barcelona had to settle for the second spot with 15 points from six matches. Both the teams have progressed to the last-16 of the tournament, but Barcelona’s road to the quarter-finals has been hardened as they will face another Group winner in the knockout stages of the tournament.

When these two teams had met earlier in the Champions League, Barcelona defeated Juventus 2-0 in the absence of Ronaldo. However, this time, Juventus were able to change their fortunes.

In the match on Tuesday (local time), Ronaldo scored two goals for Juventus and Weston McKennie registered one goal as the visitors thrashed Barcelona 3-0.

Ronaldo was clashing against Messi for the first time as a Juventus player. He scored the first goal of the match in the 13th minute after being handed a generous penalty. Seven minutes later, McKennie doubled Juventus’ lead and Barcelona was left shell-shocked, to be 2-0 down in the 20th minute.

The hosts were given another blow in the second half as another penalty was awarded to Juventus after an intervention from Video Assistant Referee (VAR). Ronaldo did not miss the chance of converting the opportunity, and as a result, Juventus went 3-0 ahead.
In the end, Juventus walked away with a comfortable victory.

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Several borders between Delhi and neighbouring states remained closed for commuters due to farmer’s protest

New Delhi [India]: With the ongoing farmers’ agitation against the three newly enacted farm laws entering the 14th day, traffic near the borders of the national capital remained affected as several borders between Delhi and neighbouring states remained closed for commuters.

Delhi Traffic Police on Wednesday appealed to citizens to take alternative routes due to Singhu and other borders like Auchandi, Piao Maniyari, Mangesh have been closed for all kinds of traffic movement. The National Highway (NH)-44 is closed from both sides. Commuters are advised to take alternative routes via Lampur, Safiabad, Saboli, NH8/Bhopra /Apsara borders /Peripheral expressway. The police said that traffic has been diverted from Mukarba and GTK road, and asked the commuters to avoid Outer Ring Road, GTK Road, and NH-44.

With farmers firm on their demand about the repealing of the three agriculture laws, their protest entered the 14th day on Wednesday with demonstrations continuing on Sant Nirankari Samagam ground in Burari on the outskirts of Delhi and at other borders.

The sixth round of talks which was scheduled for today was cancelled after a small delegation of farmers met the Union Ministers Amit Shah, Narendra Singh Tomar, and Piyush Goyal on Tuesday.

After the meeting, Rakesh Tikait, spokesperson of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) described the meeting with Union Ministers as ‘positive’ and said that the government would give a draft to the farm leaders today, which would be discussed by the rest of the group.

“We have not yet received a date for another meeting. The protest will continue,” he added.

The farmers are protesting against the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

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Farmers at Burari’s Nirankari Samagam ground started their day with the morning prayers as usual

New Delhi –

Amid a Bharat bandh call on Tuesday, the farmers’ protest against the three recently enacted agricultural laws entered its 13th day on Tuesday with demonstrations continuing on Sant Nirankari Samagam ground in Burari on the outskirts of Delhi and at borders.

 Farmers at Burari’s Nirankari Samagam ground started their day with the morning prayers as usual.

 The day ahead is expected to be busy with the protesting farmer unions observing a nationwide bandh today as they are not satisfied with the amendments to the agricultural legislation being proposed by the government during several rounds of talks.

 Farmers, however, have informally assured police that the protest will be peaceful and participation is voluntary.

 While many mandi’s in the national capital like Azadpur have supported the Bharat bandh call, several big market associations like Chandni Chowk, Connaught Place, Sadar Bazar and Sarojni Nagar have decided not to be part of it.

 As per Delhi Police, security deployment at market areas has been increased to make sure that nobody puts pressure on shopkeepers to shut shops.

 In view of the bandh, a huge force of security personnel was deployed at Singhu border between Haryana and Delhi.

 The police said their focus will be between 10.00 am and 3.00 pm when farmers are proposing Chakka Jam (traffic blockade).

 Farmers are protesting against the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

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PM Modi said India emerging as the most preferred destination for mobile manufacturing

New Delhi [India]: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that India is emerging as the most preferred destination for mobile manufacturing.

Addressing the India Mobile Congress via video conferencing, he said that every village in India will have high-speed optical fiber data network connectivity in three years. “India is emerging as the most preferred destination for mobile manufacturing. We have also come up with a production linked incentive scheme to promote telecom equipment manufacturing in India. Let us work together to make India a global hub for telecom equipment, design, development, and manufacturing,” he said.
“We need to work together to ensure a timely roll-out of 5G to leapfrog into the future and empower millions of Indians,” he said.

The Prime Minister said that the country will embark on one of the world’s largest COVID-19 vaccination drive with the help of mobile technology.
“Today we are a country with billion-plus phone users, we have a billion-plus people with unique digital identity, we have over 750 million users, the scale and speed of internet penetration can be seen by following facts,” he said.

“Half of the total internet users in India were added in the last 4 years, half of the total internet users are in rural areas, our digital size and digital appetite are unprecedented. We are in a country where the tariff is the lowest in the world. We are one of the fast-growing mobile app markets in the world. The digital potential of our nation is unparallel,” he added.
PM Modi said that the government is able to provide benefits worth billions of dollars to millions of Indians due to mobile technology.

“Because of mobile technology that we were able to help the poor and vulnerable quickly during the pandemic. Because of mobile technology that we are seeing billions of cashless transactions which boost formalization and transparency. Because of mobile technology that we will enable smooth contactless interface on toll booths,” he said.

PM Modi said that it was difficult to imagine the kind of impact the mobile revolution had on our country, society, and the world ten years ago.
“It is important to think and plan how do we improve lives with the upcoming technology revolution. Better healthcare, Better education, Better information and opportunities for our farmers, Better market access for small businesses are some of the goals we can work towards,” he said.

“It is due to your innovation and efforts that the world was functional despite the pandemic. It is due to your efforts that a son connected with his mother in a different city. A student learns from his teacher without being in the classroom. A patient consulted his doctor from his home A trader connected with a consumer from different geography,” he added.
The Prime Minister said that the new other service provider guidelines will help the Indian IT Industry achieve new heights. “It will boost the growth of this sector even after a pandemic is long gone. This initiative will help to democratize the Indian IT industry and take it to the far corners of our country,” he said.

Speaking further, the Prime Minister said: “A lot of young techies tell me that it is the Code which makes a product special. Some entrepreneurs tell me that it is a Concept which matters more. Investors suggest that it is Capital which is important to scale a product.”

“But often, what matters the most is the Conviction the youngsters have on their product. Sometimes conviction is all that stands between just a profitable exit and making of a unicorn,” he added.

The Prime Minister pointed out that due to technological up-gradation, we have a culture of replacing handsets and gadgets frequently. “Can the industry form a task-force to think of a better way of handling electronic waste and create a circular economy?” he sought to know. 

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