Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday called on the authorities to make the use of helmet mandatory for batsmen at professional level.
The Indian batting maestro, who rarely batted without helmet during his playing days, tweeted a video of an incident from an October 24 Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Kings XI Punjab and SunRisers Hyderabad.
During the game, Vijay Shankar was hit on the face by a throw from KXIP fielder Nicholas Pooran while the SRH batsman was reaching the crease to complete a run.
“The game has become faster but is it getting safer? Recently we witnessed an incident which could’ve been nasty. Be it a spinner or pacer, wearing a HELMET should be MANDATORY for batsmen at professional levels,” said Tendulkar alongwith the video.
He then tagged Team India head coach Ravi Shastri in another tweet and said, “This also reminded me of the time when you got hit after top-edging a full toss bowled by Mr Gavaskar during an exhibition game. That could’ve been a grave injury too but thankfully wasn’t!”
In recent times, there have been demands to use helmets with extra protection like neck guard after Australian batsman Phil Hughes died in a Sheffield Shield game in November, 2014. The batsman was hit below the helmet on the left upper side of his neck by a delivery from Sean Abbott.
Microsoft on Tuesday announced that it has successfully delivered the internet, in partnership with Eros Now as a pilot project, to the customers in the low-internet geographies in India.
The month-long pilot project leveraged Microsoft Azure, content from Eros Now and commerce capabilities from Novopay, a digital transaction partner, to drive the reach in remote geographies, ensuring last-mile content delivery for browsing and downloading.
“By helping customers in low bandwidth locations across India access the content of their choice, we can expand retail distribution opportunities, help media partners connect with more customers, and help customers connect with stories and content they love,” said Ravi Krishnaswamy, Corporate Vice President – Azure Global Industry, Microsoft.
In this pilot, Eros Now uploaded content to a central content repository, built on Microsoft Azure, that can quickly process large volumes of data to distribute to hubs.
Consumers then connect to these hubs to securely download content to their mobile devices without internet connectivity.
By using this system, consumers in low connectivity regions could access Eros Now’s rich media content and pay for services in modes they prefer, the companies said.
“The association with Microsoft to utilise its cloud-enabled last-mile content delivery enables Eros Now to lead the space by tapping the underserved potential customer base in low bandwidth areas and continue catering to market demands,” said Ali Hussein, CEO, Eros Now.
In the coming months, the companies will expand the test to additional providers to ensure consumers across India can access this service.
India is likely to spend around $513 billion on infrastructure by the year 2030 to accommodate its growing population, according to a report by Mace.
A report titled ‘INSIGHTS 2020: Blueprint for Modern Infrastructure Delivery’ said that other large countries will also incur equally large infrastructure spends.
“By 2030, India will be spending $500 billion a year to accommodate its rapidly expanding population, the USA will be spending $665 billion to maintain its status as a global super power, and Peru will be spending $28bn a year to make it more resilient to natural disasters like El Nino,” it said.
During a survey conducted by Mace to find the reasons for impact on projects and programmes across the globe, it found that lack of clarity of outcome when deciding on which schemes to take forward as a major issue. Often decisions are driven by political pressure rather than rigorous cost and benefit analysis, the report said.
“The poor predictive abilities of project teams in their early stages, who are pressured into providing fixed point price estimates and programmes well before accurate predictions are possible or realistic,” it said.
Further, procurements based on ‘cheapest price’ rather than ‘value’ to fit within unrealistic initial budgets. On large and complex projects, ‘cheapest price’ procurement is a false economy, it added.
Jason Millett, CEO for Consultancy at Mace, was of the view that around the world, good infrastructure is vital for socioeconomic prosperity, both directly through investment and jobs, and indirectly through thing like improvements to transport connectivity and access to clean water.
He added that India is no different and, unfortunately, not all infrastructure projects are properly planned and delivered, resulting in delays, cost overruns and under-delivery against expected benefits.
“The negative impact of this is significant, with our calculations showing that, in India, this could result in an additional cost of Rs 10,820 billion by 2030. Globally, the cost could be as much as $900 billion,” Millett said.
This financial burden, combined with a perceived lack of delivery capability due to project delays and mismanagement, risks severely damaging public confidence in the sector, he said.
“With COVID-19 placing greater emphasis on the importance of infrastructure as an economic multiplier, it is more important than ever that we get this right. Our major projects and programmes must have clarity of direction and outcome-focused decision making to ensure they do not become a burden, but rather an enabler for post-pandemic growth,” said Millett.
Commenting on the report, Anuj Puri, Chairman for Anarock Group said: “Construction halt, labour shortage and revocation of toll collection were some of the major challenges India’s infrastructure sector faced due to the COVID-19 lockdown since March.”
He noted that the government’s focus has shifted primarily towards building healthcare infrastructure to accommodate the pandemic’s fallout. “Even now, after a staggered easing of lockdown rules over the last months, major infrastructure work across the country have not resumed usual pace,” Puri added.
“In India, there is a very real need to ensure timely implementation. Many of India’s infrastructure projects were already delayed even before the pandemic,” he said.
In the view of the festive season, the Indian Railways is witnessing a huge demand for rail tickets as out of the 736 special trains currently in operation, 327 are facing waitlisting, officials said.
Addressing a virtual press conference, Railway Board Chairman and CEO V.K. Yadav said: “We are monitoring these 327 trains on a daily basis. Once we determine the nature of the waitlist — for how many days is the waitlist and how long, we will run clone trains on those routes.”
He said that railways have been saying that it will introduce trains wherever necessary. “But they will be only reserved trains and will follow all coronavirus protocols,” the CEO said.
According to data provided by the Railways, the average occupancy of these special trains is around 92 per cent.
The Railways, which had suspended all passenger train services since the lockdown in March, has so far earned Rs 3,322 crore as revenue from the segment, Yadav said, adding that it is 90 per cent less than what it earned during the same period last year.
According to the Railway Ministry, other than the 736 special trains that are being operated, the Railways is also running 200 services of the Kolkata Metro, 2276 Mumbai suburban services, 20 special clone trains and 436 festival special trains from October 20 to November 30.
Yadav said that while the overall occupancy of the 736 trains is around 92 per cent, 19 trains have occupancy below 30 per cent, 44 have occupancy between 30 per cent to 50 per cent, 83 trains have occupancy between 50 per cent to 75 percent and 327 trains which have waitlisting.
He also said that the Railways is geared to begin suburban services in cities in addition to Mumbai, adding that discussions are underway with the West Bengal and the Tamil Nadu state governments in finalising modalities for the resumption of their suburban services.
While passenger trains have all but stalled, the Railways’ freight business seems to be speeding forward with incremental loading of over 14.32 MT over October 2019.
In October this year, the freight revenue was Rs 869 crore more than last year and it also saw the highest ever automobile loading.
The Railway Board chief said that while 320 rakes of automotives were loaded in October 2020, 162 were loaded in 2019, thus meaning a 97.5 per cent increase.
Over all this year, the cumulative automobile loading surpassed last year with 1,156 rakes as compared to 886 rakes till October 2020 which is a 30.5 percent increase, Yadav added.
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Gita Gopinath, chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has urged policymakers to provide more fiscal stimulus to boost the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic as the global economy is in a liquidity trap.
“For the first time, in 60 per cent of the global economy — including 97 per cent of advanced economies — central banks have pushed policy interest rates below 1 percent. In one-fifth of the world, they are negative,” Gopinath wrote in an op-ed article in the Financial Times, adding central banks have little room to further cut interest rates if another shock strikes, Xinhua news agency reported.
“It has led to the inescapable conclusion that the world is in a global liquidity trap, where monetary policy has limited effect. We must agree on appropriate policies to climb out,” Gopinath said on Monday, noting fiscal policy must play a leading role in the recovery.
Gopinath suggested that fiscal authorities can actively support demand through cash transfers to support consumption and large-scale investment in medical facilities, digital infrastructure and environment protection.
“These expenditures create jobs, stimulate private investment and lay the foundation for a stronger and greener recovery,” she said.
Gopinath noted that “the importance of fiscal stimulus has probably never been greater” because the spending multiplier, the pay-off in economic growth from an increase in public investment, is much larger in a prolonged liquidity trap.
“Monetary policy has and will remain central to this effort, but with the world in a global liquidity trap it is time for a global synchronised fiscal push to lift up prospects for all,” said the IMF chief economist.
In its World Economic Outlook report released last month, the IMF revised up the 2020 forecast for global economy to a contraction of 4.4 per cent. Despite the upward revision, the IMF said the ascent out of this crisis is likely to be “long, uneven and highly uncertain”.
Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu on Monday gave a “mini heart attack” to sports fraternity with a social media post where she said: “I RETIRE”.
In a lengthy post on her official Twitter handle, Sindhu said that the Denmark Open was the final straw and she has decided to bid adieu to the game.
“Denmark Open was the final straw. I RETIRE,” the Rio Olympics silver medallist said.
“I have been thinking about coming clean with my feelings for a while now. I admit I have been struggling to deal with it. It just feels so wrong, you know. That’s why I’m writing today to tell you that I’m done. It’s understandable if you’re shocked or confused but by the time you finish reading this you would have learnt about my point of view, and hopefully, will support it too,” she added.
However, what she was actually talking was about the negativity which has spread amid the Covid-19 pandemic which has claimed lakhs of lives across the world.
“This pandemic has been an eye-opener for me. I could train hard to fight the toughest of opponents, tooth and nail, right till the final shot of the game. I have done it before, I can do it again. But how do I defeat this invisible virus that has the entire world in a fix? It has been months at home and we still question ourselves every time we step out. Internalising all this and reading about so many heart-breaking stories online has got me to question a lot about myself and this world we live in. Not being able to represent India in the Denmark Open was the last straw,” she added.
PV Sindhu
“Today, I choose to retire from this current sense of unrest. I retire from this negativity, the constant fear, uncertainty. I choose to retire from a complete lack of control over the unknown. Most importantly, I choose to retire from substandard hygiene standards and our lackadaisical attitude towards the virus,” she added.
The 25-year-old further called upon people not to digress and be prepared in order to defeat coronavirus.
“The choices we make today will define our future and the future of the next generation. We cannot afford to let them down.”
Admitting that she might have given her fans a “mini-heart attack”, Sindhu stated that she did so as to catch the attention of people in these unfrequented times. However, she also made it clear that she will be participating in the upcoming Asia Open.
“I may have given you guys a mini-heart attack; the unfrequented times require unprecedented measures. I guess, I need to get you guys to sit and take notice. That being said, we must be hopeful about the light shining at the end of the tunnel,” the reigning world champion said.
“Yes, Denmark Open didn’t happen but that won’t stop me from training. When life comes at you, one must come back twice as hard. So will I for the Asia Open. I refuse to give up without putting a solid fight. I refuse to give up without conquering this fear. And will carry on doing so till we have a safer world,” she added.
Delhi Capitals (DC) defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by six wickets in their last league match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to enter the playoffs with a second-place finish on the points table. RCB, too, qualified for the playoffs by virtue of stretching DC to the 19th over and maintaining their net run rate above Kolkata Knight Riders.
RCB’s final spot on the points table will, however, be decided after Tuesday’s match between SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Mumbai Indians (MI). If SRH, who are on 12 points, win, RCB will finish fourth but if MI win, they will finish third and KKR will finish fourth.
As for DC, Monday’s win guarantees them two shots at entering the final, the first of which will be on Thursday against Mumbai Indians in the Qualifier 1.
Shikhar Dhawan (54 off 41 balls) and Ajinkya Rahane (60 off 46) helped DC scale the 152-run target set by RCB. They added 88 runs for the second wicket to keep DC on track after Prithvi Shaw suffered yet another failure, getting bowled by Mohammed Siraj early in the innings for nine.
RCB spin attack, comprising Shahbaz Ahmed (2/26), Washington Sundar (1/24) and Yuzvendra Chahal (0-29), ensured that DC were stretched beyond 17.3 overs to be ahead of KKR’s net run rate.
Earlier, after DC won the toss and elected to bowl, South African fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje shared five wickets to help them restrict RCB to 152/7 wickets in 20 overs.
Nortje took three wickets for 33 while Rabada took two for 30 as RCB found the going tough.
Opener Devdutt Padikkal made 50 off 41 balls with five fours while AB de Villiers scored 35 off 21 deliveries. Skipper Virat Kohli made 29 and shared a 57-run partnership for the second wicket with Padikkal.
Brief scores: RCB 152/7 wkts in 20 overs (D Padikkal 50, AB de Villiers 35, V Kohli 29, A Nortje 3/33, K Rabada 2/30) lost to DC 154/4 in 19 overs (A Rahane 60, S Dhawan 54, S Ahmed 2/26) by 6 wkts
The much-anticipated auctions for commercial mining of coal started on Monday with five coal mines put on the block.
According to the Coal Ministry, the mining blocks put on auction generated wide interest from bidders who had submitted their bids for various blocks on offer.
Hindalco has put the highest bid for Chakla mine in Jharkhand, while Vedanta was the highest bidder for Radhikapur West mine in Odisha.
Aurobindo Realty and Infrastructure was the highest bidder for Takli Jena Bellora North and Takli Jena Bellora South in Maharashtra.
Yazdani International and JMS Mining were the highest bidder for Marki-Mangli II (Maharashtra) and Urtan (Madhya Pradesh) coal blocks, respectively.
A Coal Ministry statement said that first day of auction of coal mines for sale of coal saw strong and healthy competition among the bidders.
The ministry had launched the auction of coal mines for commercial mining on June 18, pursuant to a two stage forward auction process, comprising of initial offer and final offer, wherein the bidders have to bid for the percentage revenue share over the reserve price.
In all the mines auctioned, the final offer received is above 10 per cent signalling strong demand of coal mines in the market, it said.
As digital adoption grows amid the pandemic across the spectrum, the data centre industry in India is likely to touch $1.2 billion in the fiscal 2020 and is expected to log a rapid 25-30 per cent compound annual growth rate CAGR to reach $4.5-$5 billion by fiscal 2025, a new report said on Monday.
The Indian data centre industry, which accounts for 1-2 per cent of the global pie, is estimated to have clocked a modest CAGR of 15-20% since fiscal 2016 to touch $1billion in fiscal 2019, according to a Crisil Research report.
The data centre growth rode on a sharp increase in Internet penetration from 30 per cent in fiscal 2016 to 55 per cent in fiscal 2019.
“Also, on account of COVID-19, data consumption has seen sharp a 38 per cent rise on-year in the first quarter of the financial year 2021,” the findings showed.
The growth drivers include an exponential surge in data being generated and a growing need for local data storage in line with the government’s thrust on data localisation.
The data centre industry has been largely concentrated in top four cities, with Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai accounting for 60 per cent of total data centre sites and more than 75 per cent in terms of IT load capacities.
In terms of IT load capacities, Mumbai alone accounts for over 40 per cent of total installed capacity, given the availability of required infrastructure in terms of adequate linkages with global cable landing stations, reliable power supply, broadband connectivity and skilled manpower.
Crisil.
“Some state governments already have incentives in place for the data centre industry. For instance, Maharashtra and Telangana are offering incentives in land and electricity along with a special single-window clearance for permissions to set up data centres,” the report mentioned.
However, the report expects the share of top 4 cities to decline marginally in the next five years as lack of space and higher rental costs along with improved infrastructure availability in next rung cities leads to some larger hyperscale data centres being set up in those cities.
The industry capacity, which stood at 360MW in fiscal 2020, is expected to expand more than threefold to reach 1,100-1,200MW by fiscal 2025 “on the back of $4-5 billion investments announced over the past three years for both brownfield and greenfield expansion of projects”.
The increase in data volume, said the report, would be supported by high growth in e-commerce, increase in usage of social media, greater preference for over the top (OTT) platforms, the government’s impetus to the Digital India initiative and rapid digitalisation of services across industries (Industry 4.0 and 5G).
“Data localisation norms initiated by the government and regulators, that mandates storage of sensitive data within India, which, in turn, would support development of local data centers,” it added.
According to Nasscom, as of fiscal 2020, more than three-fourth of the total IT infrastructure spend was concentrated towards captive and co-location based operating models.
By fiscal 2025, however, the share of infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) in IT infrastructure spends is forecast to increase to more than 40 per cent.
The Crisil research expects the shift towards IaaS to continue as rapid adoption of Industry 4.0-led revolution leads to exponential growth in data volume and increases the need for scalability of resources.
