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Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi arrived in the UK on Wednesday as part of a Europe tour to meet key leaders in the region.
The prime minister’s office announced his arrival through the official twitter handle.
Prior to his UK trip, Al-Kadhimi had meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.
During these visits, Al-Kadhimi discussed Iraq’s main challenges such as the fight against terrorism and the interference of foreign powers in its internal affairs.
Kadhimi, who was appointed prime minister in May, has roots in the UK, according to Arab News. He fled Iraq in the 1980s headed to Iran, and then he stayed for a short period in Germany, before settling for many years in the UK and obtaining British citizenship.
Britain too is a part of a US-led international coalition tasked with helping Iraqi security forces in the fight against Daesh. The US-led coalition also provides military equipment and training for Iraqi forces.
Also Read: US to formally Pull out troops from Iraq
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Wednesday cruised to a facile eight-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Mohammed Siraj led the way with figures of 2/8 as RCB strangled KKR to 84/8 in their 20 overs. They chased down the target with a whopping 39 balls to spare.
The win takes RCB level on points with the top-placed Delhi Capitals at 14, from 10 matches. They remain second only on the basis of their inferior net run rate.
RCB openers Aaron Finch and Devdutt Padikkal started the farcical chase with an opening stand of 46 runs. They played through the powerplay before Finch fell to Lockie Ferguson. Padikkal then departed after a mix-up with new batsman Gurkeerat Mann Singh landed both batsmen at the same end of the pitch.
Captain Virat Kohli then took his place with Gurkeerat and saw the team home with an unbeaten stand of 40 runs.
Earlier, pacer Siraj led the stranglehold for RCB, taking three wickest for eigth runs and bowling two maidens in four overs.
Siraj and his new ball partner Navdeep Saini tore into the top half for the KKR batting order in the powerplay overs. While Siraj dismissed opener Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana and Tom Banton, Saini got Tripathi’s openng partner Shubman Gill.
Captain Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik tried to steady the ship by holding on to their wickets between the fourth and eighth over. Karthik finally departed, falling to Yuzvendra Chahal in the ninth over, having made four runs from 14 balls. An eighth wicket partnership of 27 runs between Lockie Ferguson and Kuldeep Yadav was KKR’s highest.
Record Night For Siraj
RCB speedster Mohammed Siraj became the first bowler in the 13-year history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to bowl two maiden overs in an innings.
The Hyderabadi right-armer’s first two overs were maidens, and took all his three wickets during those overs.
Siraj’s spell of 4-2-8-3 against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday night is also the most economical this year. No one has conceded runs at two an over this season like Siraj did.
Siraj’s 16 dot balls are also the second most dot balls bowled in an innings in this year’s IPL, behind CSK player Deepak Chahar’s 17. SunRisers Hyderabad’s Rashid Khan and Siraj’s RCB teammate Navdeep Saini too have bowled 16 dot balls in a spell this season.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ total of 84 of eight is the lowest by a team that hasn’t been bowled out in the IPL history.
This surpasses the 92 for eight by Kings XI Punjab against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Durban in 2009.
Brief scores: KKR 84/8 wkts in 20 overs (Eoin Morgan 30, Lockie Ferguson 19; Mohammed Siraj 3/8) lost to RCB 85/2 in 13.3 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 25, Gurkeerat Mann Singh 21; Lockie Ferguson 1/17) by eigth wickets
Among the many patterns set in the first half of the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) was the struggles of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) to replicate their initial success.
While RR started their campaign in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a win against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and KXIP, they went on to lose the next four matches on the trot. The situation in the KXIP camp was even more worrisome.
KXIP lost their first match to Delhi Capitals only in the Super Over before captain KL Rahul’s record 132 not out and a clinical performance from their bowlers helped the trump Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their second game by 97 runs.
After that, however, they went on to lose five games on the trot, most of them being heavy defeats.
Both teams have shown a tendency to depend upon their top order to provide the goods in batting. While Rahul Tewatia has proven to be a handy player in the lower order since he burst into the collective conscience of those that follow the tournament with his match-winning knock against KXIP, RR’s initial success was centred around Sanju Samson’s extraordinary form in the first three matches.
He scored 74 and 85 in the first two matches but since, he has managed two-digit scores only twice in eight matches.
The same has been the case for captain Steve Smith, who struggled to reach double digit scores in six innings before he scored 57 against Royal Challengers Bangalore on October 17. RR lost that match because they came across a purring AB de Villiers later in the day.
The addition of Jos Buttler has been a help, although the wisdom in moving him into the lower order and sticking with Ben Stokes in the opening slot along with Robin Uthappa is debatable. In RR’s last match, however, Buttler looked at home wherever he is asked to bat, leading them to victory over the beleaguered CSK with an unbeaten 70 after coming in at No.5.
The win against CSK was the one of the few times that RR’s batsmen matched up to the performance put in by their bowling lineup led by the fiery Jofra Archer. A theme of RR’s run of defeats in the first half of the league stage was the batsmen woefully underperforming compared to the efforts put in by the bowlers.
For KXIP, openers Rahul and Mayank Agarwal have been overdrive this season. Both have scored a century each this season and while Mayank has scored 398 runs at an average of 39.8, Rahul has smashed 540 at an average of 67.5.
A feature of their three wins in the last three matches has been that the openers have been backed by the rest of the players in the team, whether it be the batsmen that come after them or their bowlers. In what was his first game of the season, Chris Gayle scored 53 coming at No.3 against RCB.
The fact that KXIP had to win that match – their first since their win against the same team in their second match – off the last ball, despite needing just two runs from the last over showed where they were mentally.
It would be more angst for Rahul in their next match against the dominant Mumbai Indians (MI) which could be decided in their favour only after two Super Overs. It featured a brilliant effort from Mohammed Shami to deny MI six runs in their Super Over to force the second eliminator in which Chris Jordan limited MI to 11 runs. Gayle and Mayank finished the chase in four balls.
Their win against Delhi Capitals (DC) would have been what Rahul and coach Anil Kumble wanted to see all season. DC were pushed to 164/5 because of opener Shikhar Dhawan’s unbeaten 106. For once, Rahul and Mayank failed to fire and Gayle left after scoring 29 off 13. It was Nicholas Pooran (53 off 28 balls) and Glenn Maxwell (32 off 24) who led the effort from the middle order to complete a five-wicket win for KXIP.
Both KXIP and RR have made promising starts to the second-half of the league stage, the former more so than the 2008 champions. As the race for the top four heats up, the team managements would be hoping that individuals who haven’t been firing can step up and provide the balance that the two sides would need to make the most of the season.
Also Read: Rajasthan Royals back in the race with easy win over CSK
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Eyeing on the Rs 50,000 crore footwear market in India, Khadi Village Industries Corporation (KVIC) on Wednesday launched a range of footwear for men and women made of Khadi fabric and said that it plans to tap the Rs 1,000 crore market in the first year.
The first ever KVIC footwear range was launched by MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari, Minister of State for MSME Pratap Sarangi and KVIC Chairman Vinai Saxena.
Speaking at the launch of the Khadi footwear, Gadkari said, “Global market share of footwear is worth Rs 1.45 lakh crore. And with the new range of Khadi footwear, it will generate immense demand for the Khadi footwear “
He said, “This venture of Khadi can generate business worth Rs 5,000 crore in the coming years.”
He also said that Khadi India needs to tap on the purse, wallet and women’s bag market made of Khadi fabric, which has high global demand, particularly in the European countries.
Gadkari also hailed KVIC for launching the product and said, after the US and China, India is one of the biggest shoe consumers globally.
The KVIC Chairman said in India the market of footwear is worth Rs 50,000 crore. “And we plan to get the market share of at least Rs 1,000 crore in the first year,” Saxena said.
He said the Khadi footwear range is made up of the best fabric just like the Patola saree of Gujarat, Madhubani painting of Bihar, Matka silk of Bihar and the Denim fabric. He said that the Khadi has the best rubber soles in these shoes. These footwear will be sold online through KVIC website, he said.
Saxena pointed out that many European countries were turning vegan and with no use of leather in the Khadi shoe range, we are hopeful to generate a good demand for the same globally.
He also added that this step of launching own Khadi footwear is a step towards self reliant India.
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Kia Motors India on Wednesday said its recently-launched compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) Sonet has got 50,000 bookings.
In a statement, Kia Motors India – a wholly owned subsidiary of Kia Motors Corporation of South Korea – said: “This record booking number affirms its status as a game-changer by customers in the highly competitive compact SUV category. This milestone figure was attained within two months of opening of bookings on August 20, 2020.”
Kia Motors said that last month 9,266 units of the Sonet were dispatched, making it the leader of the compact SUV segment within 12 days of its price announcement and market launch.
Curiously, the announcement comes on the day when Japan’s Nissan Motor Corporation world premiered its new compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) Magnite and said it would be made in India for Indian and the global market.
The Magnite will soon be fighting against Sonet, Hyundai Motor’s Venue and others in the Indian market.
Also Read: M&M’s new Thar clocks 15K bookings
La Liga has launched the ‘La Liga eSpace’ ahead of the marquee match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. This season’s first El Clasico is scheduled to take place on October 24.
The app is available for Android on Google Play from October 19. The Spanish top flight said in its statement that it aims to “provide fans with interesting up-to-date, exclusives, and last-minute content to create a complete football experience”.
“Fans can now access footages from the previous El Clasico matches, interesting facts about the matches, testimonials from La Liga ambassadors, games and much more, on a single mobile app,” said the league.
“Prior to the match, spectators can brush up on their El Clasico knowledge to enrich their debate on which team will come out on top. Through the La Liga eSpace application, not only can fans watch footage of previous El Clasico matches but, they can also view virtual stadium models, and interesting information about all 20 La Liga clubs.”
La Liga India Managing Director Jose Antonio Cachaza said that the app is “another initiative to bring all La Liga excitement closer” to Indian fans.
“Our focus towards providing the fans with the best football entertainment and grow the fanbase remains unchanged. Through this app fans can now be up to date with the latest facts and real time information about their favourite clubs,” he said in the statement.
Also Read: Messi adds 36th Champions League team to his scorecard
Football legend Lionel Messi scored a historic goal during his side’s 5-1 win over Ferencvaros at the Camp Nou in the ongoing Champions League.
After his goal on Tuesday night, Messi now has scored goals against 36 different teams in the Champions League. Of the 41 teams the Argentinian has faced in the competition, only Rubin Kazan, Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Udinese and Inter Milan have managed to survive unscathed.
The goal moved him three ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Raul Gonzalez with 33 goals each, and Karim Benzema and Zlatan Ibrahimovic with 29, according to official FC Barcelona website.
By successfully converting the penalty in the 27th minute, he also became the first player in the history of Champions League football to score in 16 back to back seasons.
The goal against a Hungarian side also meant that Messi has now netted against teams from 16 different countries, England being his greatest victim, having being on the end of 26 of his goals, while the team he has scored against most has been Arsenal, nine times, followed by AC Milan and Celtic with eight each.
His other goals have been scored against APOEL, Ajax, Basel, BATE Borisov, Bayern, Werder Bremen, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, Dinamo Kyiv, Juventus, Copenhagen, Leverkusen, Liverpool, Lyon, Manchester City, Manchester United, Monchengladbach, Olympiacos, Napoli, Panathinaikos, PSG, Viktoria Plzen, PSV Eindhoven, Glasgow Rangers, Real Madrid, Roma, Shakhtar, Spartak Moscow, Slavia Prague, Sporting Lisbon, Stuttgart, Tottenham and now Ferencvaros.
Also Read: Barca extends player contracts
Displacement of around 87 million jobs is expected in the coming years due to shift from human labour to machines, a report by World Economic Forum (WEF) has said.
The ‘Future of Jobs Report 2020’, however, noted that 97 million new roles may emerge that are more adapted to the new division of labour between humans, machines, and algorithms.
“Although the number of jobs destroyed will be surpassed by the number of ‘jobs of tomorrow’ created, in contrast to previous years, job creation is slowing while job destruction accelerates,” it said.
Employers expect that by 2025, increasingly redundant roles will decline from 15.4 per cent of the workforce to 9 per cent, and that emerging professions will grow from 7.8 per cent to 13.5 per cent of the total employee base of company respondents, the report said.
“Based on these figures, we estimate that by 2025, 85 million jobs may be displaced by a shift in the division of labour between humans and machines, while 97 million new roles may emerge that are more adapted to the new division of labour between humans, machines, and algorithms,” it added.
It observed that automation, in tandem with the COVID-19 recession, is creating a ‘double-disruption’ scenario for workers. In addition to the current disruption from the pandemic-induced lockdowns and economic contraction, technological adoption by companies will transform tasks, jobs and skills by 2025.
Around 43 per cent per cent of businesses surveyed indicate that they are set to reduce their workforce due to technology integration, 41 per cent plan to expand their use of contractors for task-specialised work, and 34 per cent plan to expand their workforce due to technology integration.
“By 2025, the time spent on current tasks at work by humans and machines will be equal. A significant share of companies also expect to make changes to locations, their value chains, and the size of their workforce due to factors beyond technology in the next five years,” it said.
Also Read: AI may overtake humans by 2025: Musk
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