Category: News

Batter Nitish Rana will be the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders (IPL) in the absence of regular skipper Shreyas Iyer, who is currently recovering from a back injury, the franchise announced on Monday.

The announcement was made on official Twitter handle of the franchise.
Though the franchise hopes that Shreyas will make a comeback at some stage during the league, they have chosen to bank on Nitish’s experience as a skipper for Delhi in domestic cricket in the shorter format. They also wished Iyer a full and speedy recovery.

“Kolkata Knight Riders today announced that Nitish Rana would captain the side in the absence of Shreyas lyer, who is recovering from a back injury. While we are hopeful that Shreyas will recover and participate at some stage in the IPL 2023 edition, we feel fortunate that Nitish, with the captaincy experience having led his state side in white ball cricket and the IPL experience he has had with KKR since 2018, will do a great job. We are also confident that under Head Coach Chandrakant Pandit and the support staff, he will get all the support needed off the field, and the highly experienced leaders in the squad will provide all support that Nitish may need on the field. We wish him the best in his new role and Shreyas a full and speedy recovery,” said KKR in a statement shared on twitter.

Rana has been with KKR since 2018. He has scored a total of 1,744 runs for the team in 74 matches at an average of 26.02. He has scored 11 half-centuries for the side with the best score of 87. In his IPL career, which also saw him play for Mumbai Indians from 2015-17, he has scored 2,181 runs in 91 matches at an average of 28.32, with 15 half-centuries and the best score of 87. His strike rate of 134.22 makes him a valuable asset for the side at the top.

Rana has a solid win-loss record as a captain. He has led Delhi in 12 T20Is in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the country’s top T20I domestic competition, winning eight matches, and losing four.

Iyer is likely to miss the first half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, reported ESPNCricinfo last week.

Iyer has opted out of back surgery for his recurring lower-back injury. He has been advised to rest and is continuing his rehab. The injury had first ruled him out of the final Test against Australia during the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy and he also missed the ODI series against the visitors.

There is no definite return date marked for Iyer and he will be under the supervision of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) medical staff at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. KKR, however, expects their skipper to be back for the second half of the cash-rich league.

Iyer’s issues concern a disc bulge in his spine, which has resulted in an impinged nerve. The nerve runs along the right leg and has caused extreme pain in Iyer’s calf. The batter has received six injections in the recent past to numb his back pain, according to ESPNCricinfo.

Iyer, 28, first experienced back discomfort last December just after the conclusion of the Bangladesh tour. He missed the series against New Zealand at home and the first BGT test against Australia. Though he returned to play the second and third tests, the pain resurfaced during the final test, where he fielded for two days. He did not come out to bat during India’s only innings in the match which ended in a draw.

Kolkata Knight Riders will start its IPL 2023 campaign against Punjab Kings on April 1 at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali.

On April 6, they will be playing their first match at the home arena of Eden Gardens, Kolkata against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Last year, KKR managed a seventh-place finish in the points table with six wins, eight losses and 12 points in their 14 games. They failed to make it to the playoffs.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Squad strength 22 players (Overseas 8)

Players bought in IPL 2023 auction- Shakib Al Hasan (Rs 1.50 crore), N. Jagadeesan (Rs 90 lakh), Vaibhav Arora (Rs 60 lakh), Suyash Sharma (Rs 20 lakh), David Wiese (Rs 1 crore), Kulwant Khejroliya (Rs 20 lakh), Litton Das (Rs 50 lakh), Mandeep Singh (Rs 50 lakh).

Players retained ahead of IPL 2023 auction: Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Tim Southee, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh. (ANI)

Read More Article: http://13.232.95.176/

The Supreme Court on Monday extended its interim order which had stayed the trial court’s proceedings against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a case registered against him in 2014 in Uttar Pradesh during the election campaign.

A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna while saying that its order on stay of trial court’s proceedings shall continue, adjourned the matter for hearing in May as no counsel appeared for the State of Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier, the bench had stayed the trial court’s proceedings and also issued notice on Kejriwal’s petition.

During the election campaign in 2014, Kejriwal had allegedly said that “those who believe in ‘Khuda’ would not be pardoned by ‘Khuda’ if they vote for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Kejriwal approached the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court order which had rejected his plea for discharge from the case.

The High Court while dismissing Kejriwal’s plea had said that it appeared that Kejriwal is threatening the voters in the name of ‘Khuda’ knowing full well that if he uses the term ‘Khuda’, some set of voters belonging to different religions might have severely been influenced.

Earlier, Sultanpur Court had dismissed his discharge application.

During the earlier hearing, the top court bench had expressed disapproval of the statement made by Kejriwal saying, “Why are you bringing God? In a secular country, leave God alone. God does not need anyone’s protection, he can take care of himself.”

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for Kejriwal had then said, “Sometimes during political campaigning, unintentional things are said”. (ANI)

Read More Article: http://13.232.95.176/

The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed and returned ‘The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No 2) Bill, 2023’ and ‘The Appropriation Bill, 2023’ or Finance Bill 2023 amid the din without any discussion.

These bills were passed amid a ruckus created by the Opposition parties seeking a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue.
Both bills were passed by the Lok Sabha last week amid similar pandemonium created by the Opposition parties on the same issue.

Minutes after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman moved the ‘The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No 2) Bill, 2023’ and ‘The Appropriation Bill, 2023’ in the Rajya Sabha, they were considered and returned amid ruckus and sloganeering by Opposition parliamentarians.

The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No. 2) Bill, 2023 aims to authorise payment and appropriation of certain sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the services of the financial year 2023-24.

The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha last week without discussion amid din in the Lower House.

The Appropriation (No. 2) Bill, 2023 seeks authorisation of payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2022-23. The Bill was also been passed by the Lok Sabha last week without discussion.

The Lok Sabha on March 24 passed the Finance Bill 2023 with several official amendments amid din created by sloganeering by the Opposition parliamentarians who continued with their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had tabled 64 official amendments to the Finance Bill which was tabled in Parliament on February 1 along with the Budget proposals. (ANI)

Read More Article: http://13.232.95.176/

Makers of the upcoming Hindi remake of SS Rajamouli’s ‘Chatrapathi’ announced the official release date of the film on Monday.

Taking to Instagram, trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared the poster of the film which he captioned, “‘CHATRAPATHI’ HINDI REMAKE RELEASE DATE… #Chatrapathi – the #Hindi remake of #Telugu film #Chatrapathi, starring #Prabhas and directed by #SSRajamouli – to release on 12 May 2023… The film marks #SreenivasBellamkonda – who has acted in #Telugu films – debut in #Hindi films. #VVVinayak – a top name in #Telugu films – directs the #Hindi film #Chatrapathi… Vinayak had launched #SreenivasBellamkonda in #Telugu films [#AlluduSeenu], now launches him in #Bollywood too… Written by V Vijayendra Prasad… Dr Jayantilal Gada [PEN] presents. #BSS9.”

The Hindi remake is helmed by V.V. Vinayak and is all set to hit the theatres on May 12, 2023.

In the poster, actor Sreenivas could be seen standing in the ocean with his chiselled bareback against a dark background of ships. The actor’s look has not yet been revealed and is being kept under wraps.

‘Chatrapathi’ marks the Bollywood debut of Telugu actor Bellamkonda Sreenivas who is known for his performances in films like ‘Sita’, ‘Alludu Adhurs’, ‘Kavacham’ and many more.

Soon after the makers unveiled the poster, fans flooded the comment section and dropped red hearts and fire emoticons.

The film is an official Hindi remake of a Telugu film with the same title which was helmed by the ‘RRR’ director SS Rajamouli and starred actors Prabhas and Shriya Saran in the lead roles.

Released in the year 2005, the action-drama film gathered positive reviews from the fans. (ANI)

Read More Article: http://13.232.95.176/

Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain have made everyone proud by clinching gold medals at the Women’s World Boxing Championships Final on Sunday.

While Nikhat Zareen won the gold in the 50kg category, Lovlina Borgohain clinched the yellow metal in the 75kg category.
Nikhat and Lovlina’s achievements received praise from people across the country. Actor Abhishek Bachchan, who is actively involved in sports as an entrepreneur, congratulated Nikhat and Lovlina.

Taking to Instagram Stories, Abhishek wrote, “Congratulations Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain on your gold medal wins at the Women’s World Boxing Championship 2023. Your dedication and hardwork has paid off, we could not be more proud.”

The reigning World champion Nikhat (50kg) defeated Nguyem Thi Tam of Vietnam to win gold for a second consecutive year at the tournament while the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina (75kg) claimed her maiden Worlds gold with a 5-2 win on points after the bout was reviewed against Caitlin Parker of Australia.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Nikhat and Lovlina.

“Congratulations to @nikhat_zareen for her spectacular victory at the World Boxing Championships and winning a Gold. She is an outstanding champion whose success has made India proud on many occasions,” PM Modi tweeted.

For Lovlina, he wrote, “Congratulations @LovlinaBorgohaifor her stupendous feat at the Boxing World Championships. She showed great skill. India is delighted by her winning the Gold medal.”

With this victory, Nikhat became only the second Indian female pugilist to win two golds at the World Championships alongside the boxing legend Mary Kom who claimed a record six gold medals in the competition. Alongside Nikhat and Lovlina, 2022 Commonwealth Games medallist Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) and three-time Asian medallist Saweety Boora (81kg) were the other gold medallists for the hosts. All pugilists were rewarded with INR 82.7 lakhs ($100,000) each in prize money for becoming World Champions. (ANI)

Read More Article: http://13.232.95.176/

It’s celebration time! As actor Ram Charan turned a year older today, he treated fans with a return gift on this special occasion by announcing the title of his upcoming film.

Taking to Instagram, the ‘RRR’ star dropped a video with a title announcement.
Sharing the video, he wrote, #GameChanger it is !”

The film which was earlier tentatively titled ‘RC 15’ is now officially ‘Game Changer’.

To wish the birthday boy, Kiara Advani also dropped a video with a message.

She wrote, “Happiest Birthday to my dearest friend and costar @alwaysramcharan !! May this truly be a Game Changer in every way. @shanmughamshankar Sir.”

The team recently wrapped up shooting a song for the film in Hyderabad after Ram’s return from the Oscars.

Ahead of Ram’s birthday, he received a sweet surprise from the ‘Game Changer’ team on Saturday.

Director S Shankar, choreographer-actor Prabhu Deva and Kiara Advani were also part of the celebrations.

The film billed as an action drama with current-day politics, features an ensemble cast, with Kiara playing the female protagonist.

The upcoming project is jointly produced by Dil Raju and Shirish Garu under the banner of Sri Venkateswara Creations for a Pan-India release.

‘ Game Changer’ will release in three languages – Telugu, Tamil and Hindi.

Apart from Ram Charan and Kiara Advani, the film also stars SJ Suryah, Jayaram, Anjali, and Srikanth.

The film is slated to release in 2023. (ANI)

Read More Article: http://13.232.95.176/

Union Minister Anurag Thakur, on Monday, mourned the demise of Malayalam actor and the former member of parliament Innocent.

Taking to Twitter, Anurag shared a picture and wrote, “Sh Innocent Vareed Thekkethala (fmr MP) was a gifted actor who worked in over 700 films; he filled people’s lives with happiness through his comedy. My sincere condolences to his family and admirers.”

The veteran actor and former member of Parliament Innocent Vareed Thekkethala passed away at a private hospital in Kochi on Sunday at the age of 75.

The actor, a cancer survivor was reportedly not keeping well for some time and was admitted to the hospital on March 3 with respiratory problems.

He passed away at 10:30 pm on Sunday night, the VPS Lakeshore Hospital in Kochi said in a statement. He is survived by his wife Alice, and a son, Sonnet.

The hospital said that the non-functioning of many organs and a heart attack led to the actor’s death.

A few years ago, the thespian had been diagnosed with cancer but in 2015 he announced that he was finally free of the disease. He had written about his battle with cancer in his book ‘Laughter in the Cancer Ward’.

The actor, who was last seen in Prithviraj Sukumaran’s 2022 film ‘Kaduva’, has done over 700 films in Malayalam in a career that spanned over five decades. He had also served as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) for 12 consecutive years.

Considered one of the best comedians in Malayalam cinema, Innocent also appeared in villainous roles.

With his unique voice and mannerisms, he had endeared himself to countless cinema lovers as well as a toast of mimicry artists.

Born in Inrinjalakuda in 1948, Innocent entered the film industry in 1972 with the movie ‘Nrityashala’ starring Prem Nazir and Jayabharathi.

He played comedy roles in ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’, ‘Mannar Mathai Speaking’, ‘Kilukkam’, ‘Godfather’, ‘Vietnam Colony’, ‘Nadodikattu’, ‘Manichitrathazhu’ and ‘Kalyanaraman’ among others. (ANI)

Read More Article: http://13.232.95.176/

Within minutes of the commencement of proceedings of both Houses, Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm and Lok Sabha till 4 pm on Monday, amid Opposition MPs’ protest in the second phase of the Budget Session.

They were sloganeering over the Adani Group issue and Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification.
Earlier today, the opposition MPs held a meeting at the chamber of LoP Rajya Sabha and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge in the Parliament building on Monday to formulate the strategy for the day.

The opposition parties which participated in the meeting include DMK, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), Bharat Rashtra Samithi, CPI(M), RJD, Nationalist Congress Party, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, J-K NC and Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction).

Trinamool Congress MPs also participated in the meeting which came as a huge development following Rahul Gandhi’s suspension as MP from Lok Sabha.

TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been a critic of the BJP, supported Rahul Gandhi.

“In PM Modi’s New India, Opposition leaders have become the prime target of the BJP! While BJP leaders with criminal antecedents are inducted into the cabinet, Opposition leaders are disqualified for their speeches. Today, we have witnessed a new low for our constitutional democracy,” the TMC Supremo had earlier said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge welcomed TMC’s move to participate in the meeting stating that anyone who comes forward to “protect democracy” is welcome.

“I thank everyone who supported this. That is why, I thanked everyone yesterday and I thank them today as well. We welcome anyone who comes forward to protect democracy and Constitution and safeguard the people. We extend heartfelt gratitude to the people who support us,” Kharge said.

Meanwhile, the opposition MPs were seen donning black clothes in protest against the Centre over the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification.

The Congress MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, earlier in August last year, had worn black clothes and staged a protest against the Centre against price rise, GST hike on essential items and unemployment. They had marched towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan as part of their stir against the issues. (ANI)

Read More Article: http://13.232.95.176/