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Author: Newsdesk
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes India’s best side for the first Test of the upcoming four-match series is far from settled and skipper Virat Kohli’s departure during the series will add further uncertainty around the make-up of their side.
India, who are the current holders of Border-Gavaskar Trophy, will be without Kohli for the final three Tests as he will return to India to be with his wife Anushka Sharma who is expecting their first child.
Ponting says that with the return of Steve Smith and David Warner, who were not part of the 2018-19 series, the hosts will be a tougher nut to crack this time around for the Indian team.
“The one thing we haven’t spoken enough about is yes India were really good here last time, but with those guys (Smith and Warner) missing at the top of the order, that leaves a big gap in any team,” Ponting told cricket.com.au.
“India will feel that without Kohli there (for three Tests), for his batting and leadership, that will put all sorts of pressure on different players. You’d think (Ajinkya) Rahane will take over the captaincy, which will put extra pressure on him, and they’ve got to find someone to bat at that really important No.4 spot,” he added.
According to the former Australia skipper, once Kohli goes, India will not be “clear in their own mind” with their batting order even for the first Test – a day-night fixture slated to be played at the Adelaide Oval from December 17.
“I don’t think they’ll be clear in their own mind, even now, what their batting order will look like for the first Test. Who’s going to open, who’ll bat at four when Kohli goes?” said Ponting.
“(Fast bowlers Mohammad) Shami, Jasprit Bumrah – will it be Ishant (Sharma), with it be Umesh Yadav, will it be a young guy like (Navdeep) Saini or (Mohammad) Siraj? The questions that are being asked around Australia with (Will) Pucovski and (Cameron) Green, I think India have got a few more questions to answer,” he added.
Meanwhile, he believes the Australian team management should stick with Joe Burns as David Warner’s opener for the Adelaide Test.
Ponting has also warned against making changes to a Test side that’s riding a five-match winning streak and is currently placed at the number one spot, despite not having played since early January.
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EL AL Israel Airlines, the national airline of Israel, and Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, are set to explore deeper cooperation following the signing of a virtual Memorandum of Understanding, MoU.
The wide-ranging MoU covers scope to introduce joint codeshare services between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, as well as on the global flight networks beyond the two carriers’ hubs, Etihad Airways said in a statement on Thursday.
The agreement also contains plans for greater commercial cooperation in the fields of cargo, engineering, loyalty, destination management and the optimal use of pilot and cabin crew training facilities.
The MoU was signed virtually by Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Aviation Group, and Gonen Usishkin, Chief Executive Officer of EL AL Israel Airlines.
Commenting on the MoU, Douglas said, “Following EL AL’s historic flight to Abu Dhabi, the first ever flight between Israel and the UAE, this MoU is the foundation of what we envision will be a strong ongoing relationship between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv. We look forward to examining ways in which the two flag carriers – Etihad and EL AL – can work more closely together to improve business operations and enhance the experience for our guests.”
In turn, Usishkin stated, “Following the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, we have been provided a great opportunity to examine the possibility of cooperation with Etihad Airways. This MoU is only the start and we believe that together, the two flag carriers will be able to provide our mutual customers with the best possible product and service. Already, the common goals we have outlined speak for the success of our future cooperation.”
In addition to codeshare operations, the teams at Etihad Guest and EL AL Matmid loyalty programmes will explore reciprocal earn and burn opportunities for its members, as well as other benefits. The airlines’ destination management teams will also collaborate to encourage reciprocal inbound tourism to Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv.
Both carriers’ engineering and cargo divisions are also set to begin talks about greater cooperation. These discussions would look at optimising MRO (maintenance repair and overhaul) opportunities, as well as ways to increase volumes of freighter traffic flowing into and out of Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, and across the carriers’ combined networks.
Etihad Airways announced its intention this week to commence daily services between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv from 28th March, 2021.
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Turkey has to cease provocations in the eastern Mediterranean if it wants to avoid new discussions about European Union sanctions against Ankara at an EU summit in December, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Thursday, reports Arab News.
“It is up to Turkey what decision will be taken at the EU summit in December,” the report quoted Maas said ahead of a meeting with his EU counterparts.
“If we see no positive signals coming from Turkey by December, only further provocations such as (Turkish President Tayyip) Erdogan’s visit to North Cyprus, then we are heading for a difficult debate,” Maas said.
The question of imposing sanctions against Turkey would then certainly come up again, he added.
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During the July-September period, the company witnessed 12 per cent growth in the rural areas while urban demand rose by 6 per cent…reports Asian Lite
Nestle India witnessed a change in consumption trend amid the Covid-19 pandemic as demand growth in small towns and rural areas outperformed those in the Tier-I cities, said the company’s Chairman and MD, Suresh Narayanan.
“Smaller towns have become the heroes in this pandemic,” Narayanan said in an interaction with IANS.
He noted that currently the ratio of demand in urban and rural areas is 75-80 per cent: 20-25 per cent.
During the July-September period, the company witnessed 12 per cent growth in the rural areas while urban demand rose by 6 per cent.
Narayanan said the company has also tweaked its product portfolio in terms of price-value equation and packaging, among others, to cater to the demand of smaller towns.
The company has also enhanced its distribution network for villages in the last one year, he said.
The essential nature of its products helped the company withstand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, compared to other sectors which were severely hit due to a sudden halt in demand.
He noted that the consumer goods sector has witnessed “very little” pent-up demand and the growth has been largely steady.
On the growth in the urban centres, Narayanan said: “If all goes well, we should start to see urban growth coming back from next year.”
He said that it will be visible once the economy witnesses growth. “We have to wait for the next couple of months to see how the pandemic behaves, and see its economic impact,” Narayanan added.
Speaking on online business, he said the company was already in the process of digitisation, which got accelerated with the aggravating pandemic situation.
“Digitisation was on before the pandemic. Earlier it was 10-15 per cent of total business. Then we accelearated… it became imperative during the pandemic,” Narayanan said.
On the shopping trends, he said that in organised trade, footfalls and shopping activitises may have fallen, but the average ticket size has been increasing.
On the proposed investment of Rs 2,600 crore in its plant in Sanand, Gujarat, over the next three to four years, the CMD said that around the existing facility, a new factory would be built with the fresh investment, adding to its capacity across products.
Regarding the recently announced Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme announced for 10 sectors, including food products, he said the company would wait for the details and the regulations of the scheme before making any decision on applying for the scheme.
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Shares of budget airline SpiceJet rose over 13 per cent on Thursday after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the US cleared Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft to resume flying, nearly two years after it was banned post two fatal crashes.
The stock price surged 13.6 per cent on the BSE to hit an intra-day high of Rs 75.40 per share.
Around 11 a.m., its shares were trading at Rs 74.35, higher by Rs 8 or 12.06 per cent from its previous close.
SpiceJet is the only India airline with the aircraft, apart from the now-grounded Jet Airways, and has 13 Boeing 737 Max in its fleet.
The company it its July-September earnings had said that despite its inability to undertake revenue operations, the company continues to incur various costs with respect to these aircrafts.
On Wednesday, FAA said in a statement: “The design and certification of this aircraft included an unprecedented level of collaborative and independent reviews by aviation authorities around the world,” the FAA said in a statement.
The American regulator said that globally, regulators have indicated that Boeing’s design changes, together with the changes to crew procedures and training enhancements, will give them the confidence to validate the aircraft as safe to fly in their respective countries and regions.
In a statement, Boeing said the move will allow the airlines that are under the FAA’s jurisdiction, including those in the US, to take the steps necessary to resume service and begin making deliveries.
“We will never forget the lives lost in the two tragic accidents that led to the decision to suspend operations,” David Calhoun, Chief Executive Officer of The Boeing Company, said in a statement.
“These events and the lessons we have learnt have reshaped our company and further focused our attention on our core values of safety, quality and integrity,” it added.
The statement noted that throughout the past 20 months, Boeing had worked closely with the airlines, providing them with detailed recommendations regarding long-term storage and ensuring that their inputs were part of the effort to safely return the airplanes to service.
“The FAA’s directive is an important milestone. We will continue to work with regulators around the world and our customers to return the airplane back into service worldwide,” said Stan Deal, President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
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The Indian data centre industry has attracted investments totalling around $396 million during January-September 2020, a report by Anarock and Mace said on Thursday.
“The Indian data centre industry has attracted close to $977 million in PE and strategic investments since 2008, of which nearly 40 per cent or approximately $396 million were infused between Jan-Sept 2020 period alone,” said the report titled ‘Navigating the India Data Centre Lifecycle – Trends & Perspectives’.
It said that India will see at least 28 large ‘hyperscale’ data centres constructed over the next three years. These will span over 16 million square feet space with at least over 1,400 MW of IT power capacity, equalling nearly 0.6 million square feet and 50 MW per facility on an average per hyperscale data centre.
Anuj Puri, Chairman, Anarock Group, said: “While India has been seeing a massive digital thrust since 2014, the current government’s data localisation policy has paved the way for hyperscale data centres to handle the increasing data consumption.”
He noted that ‘hyperscale’ facilities have clear advantages over smaller colocation centres as they can cater to the huge domestic data warehousing demand for operating efficiencies and thus pass on cost benefits to their customers.
“Smaller colocation facilities will need to reassess their competitive position and may need to repurpose to ensure survival,” Puri said.
Indians’ data consumption increased from 0.3 GB per user per month in 2014 to 10 GB per user per month in 2018. The per capita consumption is likely hit 25 GB per month by 2025 and the total data traffic in the country is likely to touch 21 EB (exabytes) per month, as per the report.
The report finds that India currently has 126 third-party data centres (colocation or hyperscale) spanning across more than 7.5 million square feet, and a cumulative IT power capacity of over 590 MW.
While 53 players own or operate these 126 third-party data centres, the capacity is highly concentrated among the top 12 players who operate 95 per cent of the total IT power capacity in the country.
Further, upcoming supply is expected to be concentrated in Mumbai and Chennai, followed by NCR and Hyderabad with a fair share of interest. Mumbai and Chennai together will witness 60 per cent of the total future capacity, with NCR and Hyderabad contributing another 33 per cent, it said.
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