Heena Sharma Blog

Umpire Sundaram Ravi , whose no ball howler cost Royal Challengers Bangalore heavily in an IPL match and led to an angry outburst by RCB skipper Virat Kohli, is unlikely to be sanctioned due to lack of officials with international experience on the BCCI roster. Currently there are only 11 Indian Umpires allotted for on-field and TV duty for 56 IPL games, which means Ravi might get negative marking from the match referee but BCCI can hardly take any corrective measures beyond that. "Currently we have only 17 umpires assigned on-field and for third umpires' duty. Out of them 11 are Indian and six foreigners from the Elite Panel. Apart from them, we have six more Indians as fourth umpires," a member of the now defunct Umpiring sub-committee, who is privy to allocation of assignments, told PTI on Friday. Ravi, the only Indian in the ICC's Elite Panel, failed to spot an obvious no ball from Mumbai Indians' Lasith Malinga as RCB lost by six runs under controv

The ED said Friday that it has imposed a penalty of Rs 15 lakh on three alleged terrorist organisation operatives and has confiscated cash worth Rs 7 lakh in a 17-year-old terror funding case linked to the banned outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). The penalty and confiscation action has been taken under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and three people -- Mohd Ayub Mir, Bechh Raj Bengani and Harbans Singh -- have been charged under it, the agency said in a statement. The FEMA Adjudicating Authority imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Mir, Rs 7 lakh on Bengani and Rs 3 lakh on Singh and also ordered for the confiscation of seized cash of Rs 7 lakhs under an order of March 27, it said. Under the FEMA, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is empowered to impose penalty on those who contravene the law and the seized amount is confiscated by it. A special director rank officer of the agency functions as the Adjudicating Authority. The ED took over the case on the basis of a De

The Railways found itself caught on the wrong side of the model code of conduct yet again when passengers on Friday reported that tea was being served in paper cups with " main bhi chowkidaar " ('I'm also watchman') written on them. As the image of the paper cup tweeted by a passenger on Kathgodam Shatabdi went viral, the railways said its has withdrawn the cup and penalised the contractor. It has been claimed that tea was served in these cups twice. The advertisement on the cup was by Sankalp Foundation, an NGO. This issue comes days after the railways was found in violation of the poll code for issuing tickets with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pictures on them. Later, the railways said that it was an "unintentional and inadvertent mistake". "Reports that tea has been served in cups labelled as "main bhi chowkidar" have been investigated. This was without any prior approval of IRCTC. Explanation has been sought from sup

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said his government had taken measures to set up a ' chowkidar ' in space and asked people to vote for a government that can take concrete decisions and not just raise slogans. Launching his campaign in eastern India with a rally in Jeypore area of Odisha's Koraput district, the prime minister said the NDA government wouldn't have been able to do any development work in the country without the support of the people. He sought blessings from his supporters for the 2019 lok Sabha elections and asserted that the NDA government has left no stone unturned to bring about development in the state. "The NDA government has been working hard to develop road and rail infrastructure in the state. There is no dearth of funds when it comes to development work in the country. "In the last five years, the government has been able to build homes for eight lakh families, light up 3,000 houses and provide gas connections to 40

In Match 8 of VIVO Indian Premier League 2019 (IPL 2019), Rajasthan Royals will look to turn fortunes when they lock horns Sunrisers Hyderabad at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday. The Hyderabad based franchise would also be aiming to put behind a disappointing first-match show when they conceded 53 runs in last 3 overs. Bhuvneshwar along with Rashid Khan, Siddharth Kaul will be eyeing to put a much-improved death bowling show against Rajasthan. However, SRH’s regular captain Kane Williamson didn’t play the first match and it is still not clear whether he will be part of SRH playing 11 or not. Rajasthan Royals’ campaign started on a controversial note when Jos Buttler became the first cricketer in the history of IPL to be 'Mankaded', the practice of running out non-strikers, who back up early, by bowlers on their delivery stride. Chasing 185, Buttler (69) was going strong for Rajasthan when a desperate Kings XI Punjab skipper R Ashwin ran him out

The Congress on Friday fielded actress Urmila Matondkar from Mumbai North Lok Sabha constituency two days after she joined the party. Matondkar had joined the Congress after meeting Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday and had later said that she was "here to stay". "The Congress central election committee has approved the candidature of Urmila Matondkar as party candidate to contest the ensuing general elections from Mumbai North parliamentary constituency in Maharashtra," a party statement said. After joining the party, Matondkar had said she felt the need to join the Congress party as the freedom to express was under attack in the country and there are numerous examples in this regard in the last five years. She had said the Congress party has participated in the freedom struggle and it stood for freedom. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

South Korean electronics giant Samsung in February showcased its new category of foldable devices with the announcement of the Galaxy Fold . Though the smartphone-cum-tablet looks futuristic, it has a lot of mechanically moving parts, making one wonder if it can match the longevity factor of the current-generation bar-shaped smartphones. Since the time the phone was announced, only a few people had been able to get hands-on experience of the product. Therefore, it was difficult to know if the phone was durable. However, the new video uploaded by the company shows behind-the-scenes action where the Galaxy Fold is put through stress test. The test simulates screen fold and unfold mechanisms multiple times, or at least 200,000 times – according to the company’s claim. If the numbers are true, the Galaxy Fold should be able to withstand 100 folds and unfolds in a day for around five years. This Galaxy Fold has a book-like inward foldable design with a secondary small screen on

In the Match 7 of VIVO Indian Premier League 2019 (IPL 2019), Mumbai Indians (MI) would fancy their chances against an erratic Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) when the two star-studded teams square off at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday. Virat Kohli's RCB, who are yet to win IPL title and regularly draw a lot of flak for that, were bundled out for 70, the sixth-lowest score in IPL history, in their first game of IPL 2019 against Chennai Super Kings. The injury of Jasprit Bumrah has given the sleepless night to India and Mumbai Indians a sleepless night after he injured his shoulder during the last ball of the Delhi Capitals innings. However, according to various media reports, he is fit as it was just a case of shoulder spasm. But it would be interesting to see whether Mumbai Indians team management will pick him in their playing 11 or give him more time to become match fit. Lasith Malinga is likely to be available for the next two Mumbai Indians IPL matc

The Central Railway has banned the sale of lemon and other syrup-based juices at food stalls under its jurisdiction after a video of such a drink being allegedly prepared unhygienically went viral on social media. The video, apparently recorded by a commuter, purportedly showed a man using water from the tank placed over a food stall on a platform at Kurla railway station in Mumbai for preparing lime juice. The person was also seen squeezing lemons in a drum and stirring the mixture with his bare hands. The video went viral on social media Monday evening after the commuter tagged it to the Central Railway's (CR) Twitter handle. Central Railway's Principal Chief Commercial Manager Shailendra Kumar told PTI that lemon and other synthetically flavoured juices made my mixing water would not be sold at its stations now. The ban, which came into effect on Wednesday, does not include fresh juices made by crushing fruits, he said. The decision was taken in view of the

Pakistan on Thursday said it has examined 22 "pin locations" shared by India but found no terror camps and claimed that there are no links to nail 54 people detained in connection with the Pulwama terror attack as it shared the "preliminary findings" with New Delhi. Pakistan is willing to allow visits, on request, to these locations, the Foreign Office (FO) said. "While 54 detained individuals are being investigated, no details linking them to Pulwama have been found so far," it said. "Similarly, the 22 pin locations shared by India have been examined. No such camps exist. Pakistan is willing to allow visits, on request, to these locations," the FO said. It said that in consistent with its commitment to cooperate, Pakistan on Wednesday shared preliminary findings of its investigations with India along with a set of questions. India handed over the dossier to the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in New Delhi on February 27 with

Google showcased an innovation for its mobile payments app Google Pay on Wednesday, wherein merchants at stores can initiate payment requests by punching in a customer’s mobile number on their point-of-sale (POS) terminals. With this the California-based firm is taking on PhonePe and Paytm in their own home ground and is also challenging its US rival Amazon. Google also unveiled two other services through which its payments application users can book train tickets and buy gold. “ Digital payments has been a phenomenal story for India,” said Ambarish Kenghe, director, product management, Google Pay, India. “We want to address use cases that are close to our (customer’s) heart.” Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transaction volumes have outpaced all other forms of digital payments including wallets, mobile banking, and credit and debit cards. It has grown 40 times in 18 months, from 17 million transactions in August 2017 to 673 million in February 2019. Read More Article

After four consecutive years as Asia’s best restaurant , Bangkok’s Gaggan has finally been dethroned. Odette in Singapore managed to wrestle the title from the iconic Indian-fusion restaurant, famed for its emoji-filled menu. Chef Julien Royer, who named the place after his maternal grandmother, steered Odette to first place from ninth in 2017 with multiple-course French fare that has included “seared foie gras, miso caramel, lemon quinoa and Japanese strawberries.” Gaggan landed in second place, still retaining the title of Thailand’s best—a bittersweet run for a restaurant that is due to close in 2020 as chef-owner Gaggan Anand plans new ventures in Japan. Tokyo kaiseki eatery Den; German restaurant Sühring, run by twin brothers in Bangkok; and French-inspired Florilège in Tokyo rounded out the top five of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Den Chef Zaiyu Hasegawa, who also won the chef’s choice award, said he introduced Japanese truffles to his dishes over the past year, pa

In Match 6 of VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL 2019), Kings XI Punjab will take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the backdrop of mankading controversy at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday. Skipper R Ashwin is in the eye of a storm after 'Mankading' Jos Buttler but a winning start will keep Kings XI Punjab upbeat against home favourites Kolkata Knight Riders. It was Ashwin's mankading of Jos Buttler that had triggered a dramatic collapse with Kings XI Punjab restricting Rajasthan Royals to 170 for nine to notch up a 14-run win. Buttler was looking in imperious touch with 69 from 43 balls and Rajasthan well on course to overhaul the target of 185 but following the dismissal they went on to lose eight wickets for 62 runs to hand Kings XI Punjab their maiden win in Jaipur. Though the dismissal was within the rules of the game, it sparked a huge furore with spin legend and Rajasthan Royals brand ambassador Shane Warne labelling it as "disgraceful" and against

India has become the fourth country in the world to hit a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite in space, with Indian scientists using an anti-satellite missile to bring down an LEO satellite . The mission was completed in 3 minutes. "India has shot down an LEO satellite to make ' Mission Shakti ' a benchmark in the history of our country," said Prime Minister Modi in his address to the nation on Wednesday. "Till now, only US, Russia and China had achieved this; India has become the fourth country to achieve this feat," the Prime Minister added. "Mission Shakti is a huge step forward! It will ensure our spy satellites will not be shot down by China in case of war." Article Source -> Business Standard

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei on March 26 announced the P30-series smartphones in a global unveiling event from Paris. The series includes two devices – the Huawei P30 Pro and the Huawei P30 – both boasting OLED screen, triple camera module on the back (excluding time-of-flight 3D sensor in the P30 Pro), and in-display fingerprint sensor. Taking forward the imaging capabilities that the P-series stands for, the premium P30 Pro has been rated the best camera smartphone with an overall score of 112 by camera benchmark company DxOMark. The P30 Pro is Huawei’s first to boast a periscope telephoto lens capable of 5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid zoom and up to 50x digital zoom. The phone boasts a 40-megapixel primary sensor of f/1.6 aperture on the back, mated with a 20MP ultra-wide angle lens, 8MP telephoto lens, and a ToF sensor for 3D mapping. The phone’s primary sensor and the telephoto lens are backed by optical image stabilisation and the rear camera module supports artifi

Diversifying its midrange smartphones portfolio, South Korean electronics giant Samsung on March 26 unveiled the Galaxy A70 . Expected to launch in India on April 10, the smartphone will be the fourth device in the 2019 series of the Samsung Galaxy A smartphone series. The current range of Galaxy A-series smartphones includes the Galaxy A50 (review), Galaxy A30 and the Galaxy A10. The Galaxy A70 boasts the company’s first 25W fast-charging technology for quicker battery replenishment time. Powered by a 4,500 mAh battery, the phone has a 6.7-inch fullHD+ AMOLED screen with a waterdrop notch on top, accommodating a 32-megapixel front-facing camera for selfies. On the back, the phone has a triple-camera module, featuring a 32MP primary sensor of an f/1.7 aperture, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and a 5MP depth sensor. The camera supports a scene optimiser for auto scene selection that can recognise up to 20 scenes. It also features ‘flaw detection’, which automatically identifies and no

Apple Inc. infringes a Qualcomm Inc. patent and some imported iPhones should be blocked from the U.S. as a result, a U.S. trade judge said in one of two cases before the U.S. International Trade Commission. ITC Judge MaryJoan McNamara said she would be recommending an import ban on certain model iPhones, which are made in China, according to a notice posted on the Washington agency’s electronic docket. The judge found no violation of two other Qualcomm patents in the case. The judge’s findings are subject to review by the full commission, which has the power to block imports of products that infringe U.S. patents. A final decision is expected by July. Qualcomm jumped as much as much as 2.6 percent in New York and were trading at $58.11 at 3 p.m. Apple pared gains and was down less than one percent. The judge’s full findings aren’t yet public, and won’t be until both sides get a chance to redact confidential information. The case is one of two that Qualcomm brought at the tr

Are you worried about not being able to vote in Lok Sabha elections 2019 because you are on the move? Well, you're not the only one. India's 900 million voters are expected to take part in the world’s biggest democratic exercise, but, according to an analysis published by Business Standard, despite a mammoth number of voters, India is behind several countries when it comes to the number of people turning up to vote. India had a record voter turnout of 66.4 per cent in 2014. This is still lower than the global median of 68.03 per cent. There could be many reasons for this. One of the causes for the 'lost vote' is that many registered voters are on the move or have relocated in search of jobs. According to a report by the Times of India, 281 million registered voters did not vote in Lok Sabha Elections 2014 because they were on the move. These would include voters who move in search of work or for higher education, those who shift from city to city on work every fe

Some, including the NITI Aayog chief, have slammed the Congress party of fiscal imprudence in proposing minimum income guarantee, or NYAY , of Rs 6,000 per month to 20 per cent poorest households. The estimated Rs 3.6 trillion payout looks prohibitive. However, a closer inspection of the proposed scheme and current political dynamics make it eminently workable. To begin with, Congress does not intend to implement it as soon as it comes to power, that is if it does, on May 23, 2019. Experts in the party, which include Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram, who were helped by its data analytics chief Praveen Chakravarty in putting together the scheme, have proposed a new committee that would be constituted to steer the implementation of the scheme. It is likely that former chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian could head such a committee. Subramanian, as Chakravarty has acknowledged in his interviews, is closely involved in helping Congress with the details of the scheme. In the

US-based technology behemoth Apple on March 25 announced Apple Arcade , the world’s first game subscription service for mobile, desktop and the living room. The service that will be launched later this year, will feature over 100 new and exclusive games, including original releases from creators Hironobu Sakaguchi, Ken Wong, Will Wright and dozens more. Apple Arcade will be launched as a dedicated tab in the App Store. It will have access to a collection of brand new games that will not be available on any other mobile platform or in any other subscription service. Being a game subscription service, the Apple Arcade would give gamers the opportunity to try any game before purchase and get access to the full experience by paying subscription amount, which would include all game features, content and future updates, and no additional in-game purchases. Every game that will be available in Arcade will support offline play. It will also feature games with support for game controll

At a time when India is fuming diplomatically at the conversion of two minor Hindu girls to Islam in the Sindh province of Pakistan, a look at the religious composition of Pakistan’s population shows that the Hindu population has increased exponentially over a three-decade period. Pakistan in 2017 conducted its first census since 1998. Before 1998, the census was last been held in 1981. According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the country’s population in 2017 was 207 million, growth of 146% from 1981. While Pakistan has not yet revealed the religious composition of its population in the latest census, the 1998 census pegged the population of Hindus at 2.1 million. In 1998, Hindus comprised 1.6 per cent of Pakistan’s population which made them the biggest minority group in the country. Assuming that the proportion of Hindus in Pakistan’s total population remained the same, the number of Hindus in Pakistan, according to its latest census, would be around 3.3 million. Since 1

Cupertino, US-based technology giant Apple on March 25 introduced the Apple Card , a digital credit card bundled with reward programmes and daily cash benefits. Built into the Apple Wallet app on iPhone, the digital credit card has several advantages compared to physical credit cards. Some of these benefits are that it is easy to apply, there are no late fees, over-the-limit fees, international fees, and there are very low interest rates. Importantly, the Apple Card stores all the information related to user and transactions in the phone – not on Apple servers – making it a secure digital payment service. Apple Card uses machine learning and Apple Maps to label each transaction with merchant names and locations. Purchases are automatically totalled and organised by colour-coded categories like food and drinks, shopping, entertainment, etc. The Apple Card also provides weekly and monthly spending summaries, making it convenient for customers to understand their spending habits.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi said his party, if it were to form the government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha elections, would ensure a minimum income of Rs 6,000 per month to 20 per cent poorest of poor households, or 250 million people. While the Narendra Modi government had promised to Rs 6,000 per year to poor farmers, the Congress has promised a matching amount to all poor, particularly the landless. The party, however, scrapped its earlier proposal that envisaged topping up the gap between a poor household’s income to bring it to Rs 12,000. It has now promised a flat Rs 6,000 per month allowance, or Rs 72,000 per year, if a family’s income is below Rs 12,000. Gandhi said a committee of party leaders, which included Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram, had calculated that the basic living income each family needs to survive is Rs 12,000. Calling the scheme “ last attack on poverty ”, Gandhi said the income would be transferred to the bank accounts of women in each

It has been barely three days since the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2019) kicked off in Chennai, and the blockbuster T20 championship has already got embroiled in controversy over Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) captain R Ashwin's unusual dismissal of Rajasthan Royals' Jos Buttler. During the KXIP vs RR match on Monday, when Ashwin ' mankaded ' Buttler — dislodged the bails on the non-striker's end of the wicket while cutting short his bowling stance to run out BUttler, who had already stepped out of the crease before the ball was delivered — the Rajasthan Royals opening batsman became the first victim of 'Mankading' in the IPL history. The controversial dismissal of Buttler has polarised the cricket world, with some fans and former cricketers labelling Ashwin’s act disgraceful and against the spirit of the game, and others defending it as it is indeed a ligitimate way to dismiss a batsman according to cricket rule books. Also, this is not

This gotta give you goosebumps! Deepika Padukone, who won hearts with her performance in 'Padmaavat', is leaving everyone stunned with her first look of an acid attack survivor in her upcoming film ' Chhapaak '. Revealing the look of real-life acid attack survivor, Laxmi Agarwal, Deepika posted a picture on her Instagram account and the resemblance is uncanny! Deepika's character will be called 'Malti' and she looks absolutely unrecognisable in the picture. The picture is as powerful as it can get! Apart from the amazing prosthetics, it's the intensity in the actor's eyes that will win you over. Deepika effortlessly emotes the undying human spirit and determination of the survivor in the picture. In the caption, the actor revealed that the film goes on floors today and also shared the release date of the upcoming drama. Giving an essence about the story, Deepika had posted a tweet on December 24, last year, writing, "A story of trau

WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned instant messaging platform, on March 25 launched the second phase of its ‘Share Joy, Not Rumors’ campaign, encouraging its subscribers to use the platform with responsibility. This is one of the steps that the company has undertaken to control the spread of fake news before the Lok Sabha Elections 2019 . The campaign is available in the form of short online videos (available on YouTube) showing step-by-step tutorials on how to exit a group, block a contact and the significance of the forwarded label. “ Proactively working with the Election Committee and local partners for a safe election is our top priority. Expanding our education campaign to help people easily identify and stop malicious messages is another step towards improving the safety of our users,” said Abhijit Bose, Head of India, WhatsApp. WhatsApp bans accounts engaging in bulk messaging and automated behavior to stay ahead of highly-motivated abusers. Most recently, a partnership with

Before you start the day, take a look at the major events in the country that are likely to make headlines today. From RR vs KXIP IPL 2019 match to Jet Airways board meeting, here are some of the most important news events scheduled for today. The lenders to Jet Airways worked through the weekend to finalise the details of a new resolution plan to rescue the failing airline. That includes an emergency funding of at least Rs 1,500 crore. The plan prepared by the lenders’ consortium, led by the State Bank of India, will be discussed at the Jet board meeting scheduled for Monday, according to sources in the know. It is learnt that a change in the Jet management, including a new board chairman, could be executed immediately after the board approvals. In Match 4 of VIVO Indian Premier League 2019 (IPL 2019), Rajasthan Royals will start their IPL campaign against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The Supreme Court will resume on Monday after the Holi br

Redmi Go , an Android Oreo Go operating system-based smartphone from Xiaomi, is set to go on sale exclusively on Flipkart, Mi stores and Mi online stores on Monday. Priced at Rs 4,499, the phone will be available in black and blue colours. Aimed at first-time smartphone users, the phone comes bundled with a cashback offer worth Rs 2,200 and 100GB additional data from Reliance Jio. To avail the offer, Jio customers need to recharge their account with either Rs 198 or Rs 299 recharge plan. On a successful recharge, Jio would credit 44 discount vouchers of Rs 50 each to customer account along with 100GB additional data – both of which can be redeemed on future monthly recharge. The Redmi Go is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 system-on-chip (SoC), paired with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage -- expandable up to 128GB through microSD card. The phone boots Android Oreo Go, an operating system designed for entry-level smartphones with limited hardware resources. The OS comes preload

Amazon India is hosting a four-day sale on smartphones and is offering discounts, exchange offers, no cost equated monthly instalment (EMI) schemes, and cashback on EMI transactions from an SBI bank credit card. Named Amazon fab phone fest , the sale is currently live and would continue till March 28. Here are some of the deals and offers on smartphones: This midrange flagship smartphone from Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus, priced at Rs 37,999 for 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, is eligible for Rs 2,000 additional exchange value, meaning you can trade your old smartphone for the OnePlus 6T and get Rs 2,000 additional discount on the exchange. For example, if you want to trade the Nokia 7 Plus for the OnePlus 6T, you will get an exchange discount of Rs 5,100 (Rs 3,100 phone exchange price plus Rs 2,000 additional exchange value). This Apple’s ten-year anniversary edition is available at a discounted price of Rs 73,999, down from its original listed price of Rs 91,900. The phone i