Azhimukham English

Wimbledon: Fabbiano stuns Wawrinka, advances to 3rd round

By IANS on July 4, 2018

London, July 5 (IANS) Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano on Thursday knocked out former world No. 3 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-6 (9-7), 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) to book a place in the third round of Wimbledon, equaling his best run ever in a Grand Slam tournament.
The match was played over two days, as rain and nightfall forced the encounter to be suspended on Wednesday while the Italian, world No. 133, was trailing 5-6 in the third set and on serve, reports Efe.
When the match was resumed, Fabbiano held serve and managed to clinch the third set tie-break, earning his first career win over Wawrinka, who struggled to regain form.
The three-time Grand champion Wawrinka, currently world No. 224, missed the later part of the last season due to a knee injury that required surgery.
Next up for Fabbiano, who had reached the 2017 US Open third round, will be Stefano Tsitsipas of Greece, who defeated United States' Jared Donaldson 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3.
--IANS kk/vm

Manipur happenings appear to be widespread,says SC on staged gunfights

By IANS on July 4, 2018

New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) Referring to alleged staged gunfights and extra-judicial killings by the security forces in Manipur, the Supreme Court on Thursday said that what had happened in the state appeared to be widespread and that the issue be given far more importance as human lives have been lost.
A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice U.U. Lalit directed the Central Bureau of Investigation's Special Investigation Team (SIT) to file final reports in four cases of such killings.
Asserting that violation of human rights "cannot be tolerated", the bench sought the SIT report by July 27, after the agency apprised the court that investigation has been completed in the four cases and final reports were in the process of being finalised.
The bench said: "There are two things. We are not talking about violation of human rights only. We are talking about deaths. Death could be murder or could not be murder. This has to be given far more importance than violation of human rights... what has happened here, it appears to be widespread."
Two National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) officials were directed to be made members of the SIT that would probe the remaining shootout cases, and would be entitled to access all record, including investigation reports.
The apex court also expressed concern over the lack of adequate staff in the NHRC and asked Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh, appearing for the SIT, to urgently take up the issue with the Centre so that rights panel functioning is not affected.
The court was hearing a PIL to seek a probe into as many as 1,528 cases of alleged extra-judicial killings in Manipur.
On July 14, 2017, the apex court set up the SIT comprising five CBI officers and ordered registration of FIRs and investigation in 81 cases, including 32 probed by a Commission of Inquiry, 32 investigated by judicial authorities, 11 in which compensation was awarded and six probed by the commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge Santosh Hegde.
--IANS gt/tsb/vm

Chandimal in Sri Lanka Test squad despite pending ball-tampering hearing

By IANS on July 4, 2018

Colombo, July 5 (IANS) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) selectors on Thursday named Dinesh Chandimal in the 16-man squad for the two-Test series at home against South Africa, despite the skipper's availability hanging by a thread due to the impending ball-tampering hearing on July 10.
Chandimal, coach Chandika Hathurusingha and manager Asanka Gurusinha were charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching it's code of conduct with behaviour contrary to the spirit of cricket and face a hearing on July 10.
If they lose the hearing, they could all be suspended for two Tests.
Sri Lanka refused to take the field on the third day of the second Test against the West Indies after ball-tampering charges were laid against the side.
Chandimal was found guilty of changing the condition of the ball and was suspended for the Barbados Test.
Meanwhile, in a boost for the Islanders, former skipper Angelo Mathews returned to the national squad after missing out the West Indies series because of the birth of his second child.
Sri Lanka, however are sweating over the fitness of veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and batsman Kusal Perera, both named in the 16-member squad, and their inclusion depends on them clearing the fitness test.
Asitha Fernando, Dasun Shanaka, Malinda Pushpakumara and Shehan Jayasuriya have been selected as standbys in case the hosts need reinforcements.
Sri Lanka will play the first Test in Galle from July 12 before moving to Colombo for the second Test from July 20.
They will then feature in a five-match One-day International (ODI) series before South Africa's tour-ending one-off T20I in Colombo on August 14.
Sri Lanka Test squad: Dinesh Chandimal (Captain), Angelo Mathews, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Janith Perera (Subject to Fitness), Danushka Gunathilaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Rangana Herath (Subject to fitness), Suranga Lakmal (vc), Dilruwan Perera, Akila Dananjaya, Lahiru Kumara, Lakshan Sandakan, Kasun Rajitha.
--IANS tri/vm

Gurugram registers 9 cybercrime cases everyday this year: Police

By IANS on July 4, 2018

Gurugram, July 5 (IANS) More than nine people here have been the victim of cyber frauds everyday in last six months with registration of 1,750 cybercrime complaints, maximum of which belong to online banking, collated police data revealed on Thursday.
Of these, 253 were related to criminal activities through social networking sites like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Twitter while three were of website hacking, the data compiled between January 1 and June 30 revealed.
"A number of 998 complaints were related to online banking fraud and the remaining were linked to lottery fraud and fake websites," it said.
The data showed that at least 180 complaints were related to Facebook, 32 lottery, 19 fake websites, 16 WhatsApp and six linked to Twitter. Taking cognisance of the steep hike in cybercrimes in the city, Gurugram Police spokesperson Subhash Boken told IANS a separate cyber police station has been dealing with these cases with an strength of 60 cyber sleuths.
Headed by its Chief Anand Yadav, the cyber crime cell has three Inspectors, four B.Tech graduate officers and others.
--IANS pradeep/rak/qd/vm

SC asks state cricket bodies not to hold election till it passes order

By IANS on July 4, 2018

New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Thursday asked all state cricket bodies not to hold elections till it pronounced a verdict on finalisation of the draft constitution of the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), which incorporates the recommendations made by the Justice R.M. Lodha Committee on the organisational reforms in the apex cricketing body.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud reserved the verdict on the issue and also asked the high courts not to entertain any plea on the appointment of administrators for state cricket bodies.
The bench said prima facie it does not accept the three-year cooling-off period recommended by the Lodha panel for BCCI administrators before they contest elections in the board for a different post in the hierarchy.
The bench said it will also consider modifying the earlier verdict on one state, one vote.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed the BCCI and its state affiliates to submit their suggestions on the draft constitution prepared by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) -- managing cricket affairs in the country -- incorporating organisational reforms as directed by the top court.
The court had said that after considering the suggestions by the BCCI and its affiliated state associations, the CoA will submit the final draft constitution of the apex cricketing body for its (top court) consideration.
It had asked the CoA to prepare a draft of a new constitution on the basis of its directions based on the Lodha Committee recommendations that it has endorsed.
The top court had said that the draft constitution would be based on its directions of July 18, 2016 and its order of July 24, 2017 by which it had agreed to re-examine the one state one vote principle, the strength and composition of the selection committee and the status of associate members including Railways, tri-services and the Association of India Universities.
The Lodha panel was formed in January 2015 in the wake of the Justice Mukul Mudgal Committee report that called for reforms in the BCCI.
The Mudgal panel had gone into state of affairs of the BCCI, following the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) betting and spot-fixing controversy.
IANS gt/tri/vm

UK asks Russia for information over new nerve agent poisoning

By IANS on July 4, 2018

London, July 5 (IANS) The UK has asked Russia for information that might help clear up how a British couple came into contact with the same type of nerve agent that came close to killing a former Russian spy and his daughter months before, a government official said on Thursday.
UK Security Minister Ben Wallace said while there was no information forthcoming from Russia, it would be impossible to give 100 per cent guarantees to British citizens that they would not come into contact with contamination from the Russian-made Novichok nerve agent, Efe news reported.
The couple -- Charlie Rowley, 45, and Dawn Sturgess, 44 -- fell ill at a house in Amesbury, Wiltshire, on Saturday and remain in a critical condition, the BBC said.
"The nature of an agent such as Novichok is that it is an absolutely tiny needle in a very large haystack," said Wallace, describing how difficult it was to trace evidence.
"The offer is still there to the Russian state to try and assist us, to tell us what happened, because that would definitely help to keep the people of Salisbury safe," he added.
John Glen, the lawmaker representing Salisbury in the UK Parliament, said he was extremely concerned about the latest poisoning which had left two people fighting for their lives in the hospital since it had echoes of the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal in March.
"My strong instinct is that they have somehow encountered some discarded paraphernalia from the Skripal incident and certainly there is no reason to believe they would have been targeted in any separate way, but nonetheless the uncertainty of how that happened is concerning," Glen said.
Meanwhile, Neil Basu, Assistant Commissioner Specialist Operations of London's Metropolitan Police said they had received test results from the UK's foremost hazardous chemical laboratory in Porton Down that showed the two people had been exposed to Novichok, the nerve agent used in the Skripal case.
"We can confirm that the man and woman have been exposed to the nerve agent Novichok, which has been identified as the same nerve agent that contaminated both Yulia and Sergei Skripal," Basu said.
Basu said some 100 detectives from the Counter Terrorism Policing Network were helping Wiltshire Police in their investigations.
--IANS soni/vm

South Korean President to arrive in India on Sunday

By IANS on July 4, 2018

New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) South Korean President Moon Jae-in will visit India from July 8 to 11 during which new partnerships are expected to be forged, particularly in the economic domain.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters that various agreements will be signed during the state visit of Moon, after his official talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bilateral, regional and global issues will be discussed during Moon's talks with Indian leaders.
Moon, who will will be accompanied by senior members of his cabinet, officials and industry captains, will attend the India-Korea Business forum on Monday.
Modi and the visiting leader will together visit Gandhi Smriti and a Samsung plant located in Noida.
Moon will be accorded ceremonial reception on July 10 and this will be followed by official talks between him and Modi.
The two leaders will also address India-Republic of Korea CEOs roundtable.
Moon will meet President Ram Nath Kovind in the evening and a banquet will be hosted in his honour. He will depart from New Delhi on July 11 morning.
The relationship between India and South Korea was elevated to "special strategic partnership" during Modi's visit to the country in 2015 and the relationship has since expanded in several areas.
Kumar said relationship with South Korea was logical extension of India's Act East policy. He said South Korea has a new southern strategy and "there is a lot of convergence as far as our outlook is concerned".
"We expect the visit to open new partnership particularly in economic domain. Repubic of Korea is a valued partner. Our bilateral trade last year passed $20 billion and investments are also rising," he said.
Kumar said South Korean brands were household names in India and they were also major partners in some of the government's initiatives such as Digital India, and Make in India. A financing arrangement of $10 billion has been set by South Korea for infrastructure development in India.
"We have also set up a Korea-plus cell within Invest India to fast-track Korean investment in India," he said.
--IANS ps/vd

Deeply disappointed over Air India’s move: Taiwan

By IANS on July 4, 2018

New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) Taiwan on Thursday expressed deep disappointment over Indian flag carrier Air India's decision to refer to self-ruled Taiwan as Chinese Taipei, saying the move can be seen as a gesture of succumbing to the "unreasonable and absurd pressure" from China.
"Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in India (TECC) is deeply disappointed with Air India changing 'Taiwan' into aChinese Taipei' on its website and regrets that this move by Air India, a state-owned airline, can be seen as a gesture of succumbing to the unreasonable and absurd pressure from China," a TECC statement here said.
"TECC Representative Ambassador Chung Kwang Tien calls on Air India to stand up against the unreasonable demand from the government of People's Republic of China and promptly restore the name of 'Taiwan' on its official website," it stated.
The airline is the latest to join international airlines in changing the name of the self-governed island after China's civil aviation authority's formal communication to them.
Until some time ago, Air India website called the island as 'Taiwan', which China considers a breakaway province and has vowed to unite it with the mainland someday.
In Thursday's TECC statement, Ambassador Tien stressed the need for consultation with TECC if Air India chose to change the name of Taiwan on its website and expressed the hope that "the Indian government can provide firm support to its public services and private businesses to defend themselves from a foreign country's bully actions".
"The TECC has lodged a formal note concerning against the change to India's Ministry of External Affairs, and is currently waiting for the MEA's official response," it stated.
Tien said that his country is "afraid that if such politically motivated bully actions are let prevail, people's freedom in doing business and in their expression of opinion may be undermined; therefore, free and democratic nations should work together to protect their common values and interests".
Earlier in the day, Beijing welcomed Air India's move saying foreign companies must respect the country's sovereignty.
--IANS ab/tsb/vm

India emphasises energy security before US officials’ visit

By IANS on July 4, 2018

New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) With a team of US officials likely to visit India soon to hold discussions on sanctions against Iran and impact on oil imports, the government on Thursday emphasised on energy security that is vital for economic growth.
"We are, of course, prepared to take all necessary steps, including engagement with all stakeholders. I had mentioned about ensuring our energy security. We will have to see how we go about doing that. It is vital for economic growth. We have to see the steps we take, the discussions we have, and the engagements which we have to undertake to ensure that we maintain our energy security," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters here.
Kumar said that he was not aware of any firm dates for the discussions at this stage.
He said that whenever the discussions take place there would be representatives from the Ministries concerned, including of external affairs and petroleum and natural gas. He was reacting when asked about reports of a US delegation's visit to India to talk about the Iran nuclear deal.
Kumar said that the question pertained to a statement made by a US State Department official and there was no specific mention about any country.
Brian Hook, Director of Policy Planning at the US State Department, had said on Monday that the US was not looking to grant licences or waivers because doing so would substantially reduce pressure on Iran.
He had said that the US was prepared to work with countries reducing their imports on a case-by-case basis, but as with our other sanctions, it is not looking to grant waivers or licences.
Iran is India's third-largest oil supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
The US has told India and other countries to cut oil imports from Iran to "zero" by November 4 or face sanctions.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is also learnt to have reiterated the US position in a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
--IANS ps/tsb/vm

Banks to cease cryptocurrency transactions from Friday

By IANS on July 4, 2018

Mumbai, July 5 (IANS) Commercial banks in the country will no longer be able to transact in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin from Friday in view of a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directive in April.
In a bid to protect consumers and curb money laundering and other financial irregularities, the RBI had, on April 5, barred all its regulated entities, including banks, from dealing in virtual currencies like bitcoins, following its earlier multiple warnings on their risks.
Regulated entities already providing services to any individual or business dealing in digital currencies had been given three months to exit the relationship.
Cryptocurrency trade in rupees will stop from midnight, while exchanges or cryptocurrency companies will now be unable to avail loans or hold bank accounts.
Investors would only be able to do peer-to-peer transactions with a fellow trader and such transaction would only be possible in the form of exchange with any another cryptocurrency.
The RBI statement in April had said: "We have now decided to fence RBI-regulated entities from the risk of dealing with entities associated with virtual currencies. They are required to stop having a business relationship with entities dealing with virtual currencies forthwith, and unwind the existing relationship within three months."
"Virtual currencies, also variously referred to as cryptocurrencies and crypto assets, raise concerns of consumer protection, market integrity and money laundering, among others".
The RBI, however, also said it is exploring a "fiat digital currency" issued by the central bank.
According to investigation agencies here, with the demand and price of cryptocurrencies on the rise, cyber criminals have found innovative ways to dupe those looking to invest.
Bitcoins in India have been trading at more than Rs 10 lakh each, while people are investing amounts ranging from Rs 3,000 to several lakhs of rupees.
--IANS bc/qd/sed/vm