India will look to ride support from the crowd as they eye a whitewash in the T20I series against Australia when they take the field at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday for the third and final game of the series.
This is an opportunity for Team India to complete a second T20I series whitewash over Australia in Australia after the 3-0 result MS Dhoni’s boys got back in early 2016 when they toured the country only for two limited-overs series.
India sealed the ongoing series on Sunday when they won the second game by six wickets, thanks to Hardik Pandya’s 22-ball unbeaten 42 and Shikhar Dhawan’s 52 off 36. India had won the first T20I on Friday by 11 runs at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.
“Before the (Sunday) game we said we will look to ride the atmosphere and the support we are going to get from the fans. That energy pushes you through in the tough moments. (Sometimes) You don’t feel pushing too much and then you hear the crowds and people backing you, and you push yourself,” said skipper Virat Kohli after Sunday’s game that ensured India have not lost a T20I series Down Under.
Virat Kohli
“The next game is going to be more exciting. We won the series but we still want to be professional and we are going to come out and be fearless,” he added.
India had lost just a one-off T20I game back in 2008 and since then they have either drawn a T20I series or won it.
Both the teams have been preserving their top fast bowlers in the limited-overs series ahead of the four-Test series that begins on December 17, with the second T20I witnessing second string pace bowlers from both sides.
India benched both Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami for Sunday’s game while the Aussies missed the services of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Pat Cummins had already been pulled out of the squad.
But India’s batting looks far superior as unlike Australia all their top limited-overs batsmen are available. The Aussies, who were already missing David Warner who is down with a groin injury, missed skipper Aaron Finch in the second T20I. Finch suffered a hip injury in the first T20I and Matthew Wade had to step in to lead Australia and open the innings in his place at the SCG on Sunday.
Tuesday’s game could also mark the final match on Australia tour for Hardik Pandya, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, T Natarajan, Manish Pandey and Yuzvendra Chahal.
The Pakistan men’s cricket team, which is currently in managed isolation in Christchurch, is now all set to come out of it and train, health ministry permitting.
All members of the Pakistan touring party have returned negative results in their fifth and final round of Covid-19 testing on Day 12 of their managed isolation. They will leave the isolation on Tuesday and travel to Queenstown.
“The Pakistan squad’s fifth and final day 12, Covid-19 tests have all been returned as negative. As a consequence, and pending final Ministry of Health approval, the squad will leave managed isolation tomorrow,” New Zealand Cricket said in a statement on Monday.
“The squad will fly to Queenstown, where they will train ahead of the T20I and Test series against the Black Caps.
“The member of the Pakistan squad who tested positive on Day 6 will remain in managed isolation until departing, negative tests permitting,” it added.
The Pakistan cricket squad, comprising support staff, arrived in New Zealand on November 24 for three T20Is and two-Test series against the Black Caps. 10 members of the touring side have so far tested positive to Covid-19.
pak cricket team
The visitors had their training privileges taken away and subsequently not restored despite repeated requests, and all that has affected the players’ mental and physical health, said Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-haq.
“Top professional athletes require a certain environment to prepare so that they can perform at the minimum expected levels every time they represent their countries. While we completely respect and understand the New Zealand Government Laws, which have been put in place for the health and safety of their public, there is no denying the fact that the implementation of certain regulations has affected our athletes, both mentally and physically prior to an international series,” Misbah was quoted as saying in a PCB media release.
“I want to compliment my players and the management team for their patience, sacrifices and the hardships they have endured to ensure they not only lead the safe resumption of international cricket during the Covid-19 pandemic since the series in England but also try to give their best every time they step on the field,” he added.
The Pakistan team are due to open their tour with the first T20I set to be played at Auckland’s Eden Park on December 18.
The growing cybercrime incidents now cost the world economy more than $1 trillion, or just more than one per cent of global GDP, which is up more than 50 per cent from a 2018 report that put global losses at close to $600 billion, leading cybersecurity firm McAfee revealed on Monday.
Two-thirds of surveyed companies reported some kind of cyber incident in 2019 and the average cost was more than half a million dollars per incident.
IP theft and financial crime account for at least 75 per cent of cyber losses and pose the greatest threat to companies, according to the report conducted in partnership with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The report. titled ‘The Hidden Costs of Cybercrime,’ also explored the damage reported beyond financial losses, revealing that 92 percent of businesses felt there were other negative effects on their business beyond financial costs and lost work hours after a cyber incident.
“The severity and frequency of cyber attacks on businesses continues to rise as techniques evolve, new technologies broaden the threat surface, and the nature of work expands into home and remote environments,” said Steve Grobman, SVP and CTO at McAfee.
“We need a greater understanding of the comprehensive impact of cyber risk and effective plans in place to respond and prevent cyber incidents given the 100s of billions of dollars of global financial impact.”
Damage to companies also includes downtime, brand reputation and reduced efficiency and 56 per cent of surveyed organisations said they do not have a plan to both prevent and respond to a cyber-incident.
Out of the 951 organisations that actually had a response plan, only 32 per cent said the plan was effective.
The system downtime was a common experience for around two thirds of respondents’ organisations.
The average cost to organisations from their longest amount of downtime in 2019 was $762,231, said the report based on interviews with 1,500 IT and business decision makers online.
Thirty-three per cent of survey respondents stated that IT security incident resulting in system downtime cost them between $100,000 and $500,000.
“As a result of system downtime, organisations lost, on average, nine working hours a week leading to reduced efficiency. The average interruption to operations was 18 hours”.
According to the report, it took an average of 19 hours for most organisations to move from the discovery of an incident to remediation.
Nearly 26 per cent of the respondents identified damage to brand from the downtime experienced because of a cyber-attack, the McAfee report mentioned.
Kang Kyung-wha, Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs
Abraham Accords proves that decades-long disputes can be solved through negotiations, which could be possible in the Korean peace process as well, South Korea’s top diplomat told Emirates News Agency.
“I think looking at the breakthrough here with Abraham Accords, you realise how with bold decision making, you can really make big changes. We have also a challenge to bring about enduring peace and complete denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula, with North Korea,” said Kang Kyung-wha, Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In an during her two-day official visit to the UAE, she expressed her hope that the Korean peace process would succeed one day, referring to the lengthy unsuccessful efforts to forge a comprehensive peace treaty between South Korea and North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War.
Stalemate in negotiations
“With the change of administration in the United States, we are preparing to work very closely with the new US administration to strategise how we can bring North Korea back to the table for dialogue and negotiations,” revealed Kang who became the foreign minister in June 2017.
“We have pursued this goal for the past three-and-half years. Things are stuck at this point because North Korea has seized engagement with us or the United States for over a year now,” she said, adding that North Korea has been less willing to engage since COVID-19 outbreak as they were busy dealing with the pandemic.
The fact is that in 2018 the top leaders of South Korea, North Korea and the United States committed to these goals very publicly after a series of summits, and so that they complete denuclearisation and bring about lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, Kang noted.
Fragile truce
The framework that defines relations between North Korea and South Korea is an armistice. “That is about 70 years old. It is s a very fragile peace. So, we want to start a process to replace that armistice with a full peace agreement between both Koreas and others who had signed on to the armistice.”
The top diplomat was referring to the armistice signed on 27th July 1953 after the Korean War. Military commanders from China and North Korea signed the agreement on one side, with the US-led United Nations Command signing on behalf of the international community. It was intended as a temporary measure until achieving a final peaceful settlement, but no peace treaty was signed as of now.
“It’s a huge undertaking, but we’re committed to working towards that goal through dialogue and negotiations,” the minister stressed.
Optimistic about peace
She expressed hope that North Korea will come to the dialogue table. “North Korea has to engage with the international community to get itself on the trajectory towards economic development.”
“Currently it is under a very heavy sanctioned regime. Now with the COVID-19 challenge, it is not a sustainable situation in the long run. So, it would be in its self-interest to come back to the dialogue table,” she added.
Asked whether she is confident that denuclearisation of the peninsula and a full-fledged peace agreement with North Korea would be possible, she said with an optimistic smile, “Anything is possible, it just takes a lot of work and patience.”
Kang has done her PhD in Communication at the University of Massachusetts in the US. In her early career, she had worked as an associate professor in the US and Korea, and later held various senior positions in the Korean government, before occupying the top diplomat’s job.
During her visit to the UAE, she met with H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and reviewed the prospects of fostering cooperation in areas of health, education, technology and investment.
Kang Kyung-wha, Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs
Manama Dialogue
The minister reached the UAE after attending Manama Dialogue, a high-level forum to debate the Middle East’s most pressing security challenges, which took place in Bahrain from 4th to 6th December.
“It is the first ever time that the foreign minister of the Republic of Korea was invited to the Manama Dialogue and I take it as an indication of the growing importance that the countries of the Middle East region place upon the Republic of Korea and their ties with us,” Kang said.
“I was very happy to talk to some key players in this region, certainly the Bahraini foreign minister, the Saudi foreign minister and many other foreign ministers at a time when exciting things are happening with the Abraham Accords,” she added.
Abraham Accords
“Hats off to the UAE and Bahrain for that bold decision. I think that it changes the political dynamics in this region a great deal,” the minister emphasised.
As a foreign minister and a professional in diplomacy, she is happy about the developments. “Diplomacy is about building relations from difficult situations. This accord is a breakthrough from decades of tension and animosity. From there to move towards normalised relations with Israel is a diplomatic breakthrough. So, I have to certainly applaud the UAE and Bahrain.”
Kang continued, “It can only help strengthen stability and peace in this region. And this is a very important region for us, very important economic partners and very important source of our energy needs. Therefore, these important partners moving towards strength, stability and peace is only good news.”
The minister hopes that this will lead to a positive momentum to resolve the longstanding conflict between Israel and Palestine, and “towards an independent Palestine state based upon the two-state model. And we very much hope that this change creates the positive dynamic towards that end.”
Asked about the possible joint economic initiatives or projects between Korea, UAE and Israel, she said, “That would be beyond my specialty [as foreign minister], I think. But certainly we have close economic relations with Israel and the UAE, so I’m sure there can be areas of convergence where we can complement each other, but I would let my minister of industry and business deal with that part.”
The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, ENEC, has announced that its operating and maintenance subsidiary, Nawah Energy Company, Nawah, has successfully achieved 100% of the rated reactor power capacity for Unit 1 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant. This major milestone brings the Barakah plant one step closer to commencing commercial operations, scheduled in early 2021.
100% power means that Unit 1 is generating 1400MW of electricity from a single generator connected to the UAE grid. This milestone makes the Unit 1 generator the largest single source of electricity in the UAE.
The Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant is the largest source of clean baseload electricity in the country, capable of providing constant and reliable power in a sustainable manner around the clock. This significant achievement accelerates the decarbonisation of the UAE power sector, while also supporting the diversification of the Nation’s energy portfolio as it transitions to cleaner electricity sources.
The accomplishment follows shortly after the UAE’s celebration of its 49th National Day, providing a strong example of the country’s progress as it continues to advance towards a sustainable, clean, secure and prosperous future. As the Nation looks towards the next 50 years of achievements, the Barakah plant will generate up to 25 percent of the country’s electricity, while also acting as a catalyst of the clean carbon future of the Nation.
Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Chief Executive Officer of ENEC said: “We are proud to deliver on our commitment to power the growth of the UAE with safe, clean and abundant electricity. Unit 1 marks a new era for the power sector and the future of the clean carbon economy of the Nation, with the largest source of electricity now being generated without any emissions. I am proud of our talented UAE Nationals, working alongside international experts who are working to deliver this clean electricity to the Nation, in line with the highest standards of safety, security and quality.”
Bharat Bandh On Tuesday; China Ready to Reset Ties With US; US House Passes Gandhi-King Initiative; S’pore pledges to strengthen global recovery – all in India Daily Digital – please click here to read
The pick up in the economic activity in the unlock phase has pushed up electricity trading with the country’s largest power exchange, Indian Energy Exchange, registering a 61 per cent growth in the traded electricity volume of 6164 MU (million units) in November.
According to the data published by National Load Despatch Center (NLDC), the national peak demand in November saw an increase of 3.2 per cent YoY while the energy consumption registered 3.15 per cent YoY growth.
The significant growth in the electricity trade volume at IEX despite a moderate increase in consumption and peak demand is a clear reflection that the distribution utilities as well as the open access consumers have a greater preference for competitive and efficient power procurement through the Exchange market, IEX said in a press statement.
The day-ahead market volume at 4860 MU also recorded 43 per cent YoY growth. The market continued to see high sell side liquidity with total sell bids at 9778 MU being twice that of the cleared volume. This enabled the market to maintain an attractive average market clearing price at Rs 2.73 per unit during the month seeing a four per cent YoY decline over the price of Rs 2.85 during the same period last year.
Attractive power prices in the Exchange Market continued to yield greater financial savings for the distribution utilities and industries enabling them to build on and improve their financial liquidity as well as overall efficiency.
One Nation One Price prevailed during all 30 days of the month making Exchange the most reliable platform for power procurement.
The term-ahead market traded 245 MU volume during November 2020.
The real-time electricity market saw an all-time high volume of 894 MU in November since commencement on June 1, 2020 and registered a 10 per cent growth on MoM basis. The highest volume traded on a single day was 40.6 MU on November 29.
The market witnessed a significant sell side liquidity with sell side volume being 2513 MU which was more than twice the buy side liquidity. This also ensured a competitive average market price of Rs 2.75 per unit.
Further, the market also continued to witness increased participation — a total of 318 participants traded in the market in November with the highest number of participants trading on a single day at 168 on November 19. Over the past six months, the real time market has registered a cumulative volume of 4574 MU.
The market enables DISCOMs and open access to consumers address their demand-supply variations in the most dynamic and efficient manner through ensuring delivery at just one-hour notice.
Kuwait and the Trump administration played key role in the discussions, aware that energy-rich Qatar had shown itself capable of surviving the blodckade, and was increasingly being drawn into an orbit closer to Turkey and Iran, something the president’s team dreaded…reports Asian Lite
A breakthrough in the three-and-a-half-year dispute between Qatar and its neighbouring Gulf states appears to have been achieved following what were described as “fruitful” talks to resolve the conflict, reports the Guardian.
The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, said “significant progress” had been reached in the last few days and he was optimistic all countries were close to finalising a resolution.
In talks brokered jointly by Kuwait and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Saudi Arabia appears to have agreed to open its land and air border with Qatar as a confidence-building measure.
Qatar has been subject to a political and economic blockade by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, known as the quartet, in a complex dispute turning partly on personal rivalry, and Saudi anger at Qatar’s independent-minded foreign policy.
Earlier, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed Kuwait’s mediation efforts to defuse tension between Qatar and several other Gulf countries.
Qatar Emir (R) and Jared Kushner
“The Secretary-General is encouraged by the statement by the foreign minister of Kuwait and other reports that the Gulf rift is close to a resolution,” Xinhua news agency quoted Stephane Dujarric, the UN chief’s spokesman, as saying on Friday.
“The Secretary-General welcomes the efforts and contributions of Kuwait in building bridges of understanding in the Gulf region and beyond,” the spokesman added.
Guterres expressed the hope that all countries involved in the dispute will work together to formally resolve their differences, and stressed the importance of Gulf unity for regional peace, security and development.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have imposed a diplomatic and economic blockade on Qatar since June 2017, alleging that the gas-rich Gulf country supports terrorism and interferes in their domestic affairs.
They have been asking for a list of demands which Qatar has to implement in order to revive ties.
Qatar has repeatedly denied the charges, calling it “unjustified” and “baseless”, and refused the demands, citing them as interference in its sovereignty.
The Trump administration had tried to broker a deal before, aware that energy-rich Qatar had shown itself capable of surviving the blodckade, and was increasingly being drawn into an orbit closer to Turkey and Iran, something the president’s team dreaded. Qatar is the site of the US’s largest military base in the Gulf, said the Guardian report.The Saudi Foreign Minister also openly hailed the efforts of Kuwait and the US in solving the Gulf crisis.
Taking to Twitter on Friday, the Minister said: “We consider with great appreciation the efforts made by Kuwait to bridge the gap in viewpoints regarding the Gulf crisis, and we thank the American efforts in this regard, and we look forward to being crowned with success for the benefit and good of the region.”
The Minister’s tweet was the first official announcement by the Kingdom after recent reports of the end of the crisis, Xinhua news agency reported.
It also came after the statement of Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah on Friday about “fruitful” talks held recently.
“Fruitful discussions took place recently, in which all parties affirmed their keenness on Gulf and Arab solidarity and stability,” he said.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks to conserve capital and not make any dividend payments for financial year 2020.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in his monetary policy statement on Friday that in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Reserve Bank has focused on resolution of stress among borrowers, and facilitating credit flow to the economy, while ensuring financial stability.
“In continuation of this effort and to help banks conserve capital, while creating room for fresh lending, it has been decided after a review that commercial and co-operative banks will retain the profits and not make any dividend pay-out from the profits pertaining to financial year 2019-20”, Das said.
Reserve Bank Of India
The growing significance of NBFCs and their interlinkages with different segments in the financial system has made it imperative to enhance the resilience of the sector, Das said. Therefore, it has been decided to put in place transparent criteria as per a matrix of parameters for declaration of dividends by different categories of NBFCs. A draft circular containing the proposed criteria and parameters will be released soon for public comments.
Further, the current regulatory regime for the NBFC sector, built on the principle of proportionality, warrants a review. It is felt that a scale-based regulatory approach linked to the systemic risk contribution of NBFCs could be the way forward. As part of the stakeholder consultation process, a discussion paper on this subject will be issued before January 15, 2021 for public comments.
In April, RBI had announced that scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) and cooperative banks shall not make any dividend payouts from profits pertaining to the financial year ended March 31, 2020, until further instructions, which shall be reassessed based on financial results of banks for the quarter ending September 30, 2020.
All the 28 states and three union territories with legislature have decided to go for the Centre-suggested compensation formula to meet the revenue shortfall arising out of the GST implementation.
Jharkhand, the only remaining state, has now communicated its acceptance of Option-1 given by the Centre.
All the three union territories with Legislative Assembly who are members of the GST council have already decided in favour of Option-1.
The Central government has set up a special borrowing window for the states and union territories who choose Option-1 to borrow the amount of shortfall arising out of GST implementation.
The window has been operationalised since October 23 and the Centre has already borrowed an amount of Rs 30,000 crore on behalf of the states in five instalments and passed it on to the ones who chose Option-1.
Now Jharkhand will also receive funds raised through this window starting from the next round of borrowing.
The next instalment of Rs 6,000 crore will be released on December 7.
Under the terms of Option-1, besides getting the facility of a special window for borrowings to meet the shortfall arising out of GST implementation, the states are also entitled to get unconditional permission to borrow the final instalment of 0.50 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) out of the 2 per cent additional borrowings permitted by the Centre under the Atma Nirbhar Abhiyaan on May 17.
This is over and above the Special Window of Rs.1.1 lakh crore.
On receipt of the choice of Option-1, the Centre has granted additional borrowing permission of Rs 1,765 crore to Jharkhand (0.50 per cent of the state’s GSDP).
