Heena Sharma Blog

In Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's virtual address to the Plenary session of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata, he reached out to a major business chamber for the second time in less than 10 days. PM today said our economy is facing unprecedented challenge but is determined to convert them into an opportunity. "Mann ke haare haar, mann ke jeete jeet" — meaning, it is our will power and grit that decide how we deal with crises. People, planet and profit — This is a very crucial theme. Many think these cannot co-exist. But it is not so. They can and should work hand in hand. To explain it he used the example of LED blubs. He said LED has led to a saving of Rs 19,000 crore per year in electricity bills. This has been a relief on the pockets of people. It is good for environment. And, of course, with mainstreaming of LED bulbs, manufacturers' profits have also increased. Read More

The International Cricket Council (ICC) launched the inaugural World Test Championship on Monday, setting the stage for a long tournament in red-ball cricket to determine the World Test Champion. The two-year affair comprises top nine Test teams-- Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies -- who will compete in 71 matches in 27 series. Each team will play three home and three away series. The top two teams at the end will compete in the ICC World Test Championship Final in the UK in June 2021. The first Ashes Test between England and Australia at Edgbaston will mark as the inaugural game of the event. India will not play against Pakistan because each team has picked six opponents by mutual agreement, within the existing framework of the Members rights agreements. Also, the teams can play matches outside the World Test Championship during this period. Accordingly, The Indian team would be playing against Wes...

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) and the BCCI have not prepared any note seeking a ban on Pakistan at the upcoming World Cup and even if such a move is made, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is bound to reject it. The Pulwama terror attack, that claimed the lives of over 40 CRPF personnel, has escalated the diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan, the reverberations of which are also being felt in the sporting arena. Already, Pakistani shooters couldn't make the World Cup in Delhi, starting Saturday, after not getting visas. And there is a demand for India to boycott its June 16 World Cup clash against the neighbours and the matter is likely to come up on the sidelines of the ICC meetings between February 27 to March 2 in Dubai. "There is absolutely no constitutional or contractual way this could happen. the ICC constitution allows members the right to participate in ICC events as long as they've qualified," a BCCI official told PTI. ...

Indian captain Virat Kohli Tuesday became the first cricketer to make a clean-sweep of individual honours in the ICC annual awards, claiming the Test, ODI and overall Player of the Year trophies besides being named captain of the world body's all-star teams. Kohli has become the first player in history to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year , his second consecutive, the ICC Test and the ODI Player of the Year awards following an extraordinary 2018. "Not only is Kohli the first player to win these three major ICC awards together but he has also been named the captain of the ICC Test and ODI teams of the year for a fabulous run in international cricket," the ICC said in a statement. Kohli scored 1,322 runs at an average of 55.08 in 13 Tests with five hundreds during the calendar year while in 14 ODIs he amassed 1202 runs at an astonishing average of 133.55 with six centuries. He also scored 211 runs in 10 T20Is. Read More Busine...