Cricketer retires aged 85 after taking 7,000 wickets in 60 years
Jamaican fast bowler Cecil Wright has announced his retirement from cricket at the age of 85. Wright launched his career as a professional in England’s Central Lancashire League for Crompton and took over 7,000 wickets in his 60-year-long career. At one point in his career, he took 538 wickets in five seasons, averaging one wicket every 27 balls.
US TV news host compares black co-host to gorilla, apologises later
Alex Housden, a news anchor in US, apologised to her black co-host Jason Hackett after comparing him to a gorilla on a live TV segment last week. “I want to apologise, not only to…Jason, but to our entire community,” she said. While reporting on a gorilla at Oklahoma City Zoo, Housden had told Hackett, “It kind of looks like you”.
Was offered ₹40 cr for mining baron Janardhan Reddy’s bail: Ex-CBI judge
Former CBI special judge B Naga Maruti Sarma has claimed that he was offered ₹40 crore bribe to set mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy free on bail. The alleged bribe was offered in April 2012. At the time, Reddy was under judicial custody at the Chanchalguda jail after his arrest in 2011 by the CBI in an illegal mining case.
World’s last 2 northern white rhinos’ eggs fertilised artificially
Scientists have successfully fertilised seven eggs from the world’s last two surviving northern white rhinos, Najin and Fatu, via artificial insemination. The sperm used in the process had been harvested from two bulls of the same species, Suni and Saut, and kept frozen. The world’s last male northern white rhinoceros, 45-year-old ‘Sudan’, died last year in Kenya.
When dad died, no one from Marvel reached out: Stan Lee’s daughter
Comic book legend Stan Lee’s daughter Joan Celia Lee has criticised Disney and Marvel, saying they disrespected her father, who died in 2018. “When my father died, no one from Marvel or Disney reached out to me. From day one, they’ve commoditised his work,” she said. “No one could’ve treated my father worse than Marvel and Disney’s executives,” said Joan.
I’ve turned director but Aamir is yet to know: Actor’s brother Faisal
Aamir Khan’s brother Faisal Khan, who’ll make his directorial debut with the upcoming film ‘Factory’, has said Aamir and their mother are yet to know that he has turned director. “I wanted to surprise them after finishing one schedule. I am waiting to see their reaction,” he added. “Direction was always on my mind, but this happened organically,” said Faisal.
Para athlete asks PM Modi to bless them also after he meets Sindhu
PM Narendra Modi congratulated the Indian contingent, who won 12 medals at 2019 BWF Para-Badminton World Championships, 17 hours after bronze-medallist Sukant Kadam requested him to “bless them”. Kadam tweeted to the PM on his post wherein he shared pictures from his meeting with PV Sindhu, who won gold in women’s singles event of the BWF World Championships.
Google to shut down job service ‘Hire’ in 2020, 3 yrs after launch
Google has announced it will shut down its online jobs service ‘Hire’ in September 2020, around three years after it was launched. “While Hire has been successful, we’re focusing our resources on other products,” Google said. Hire came into existence after Google acquired Bebop, a startup by VMware Co-founder Diane Greene, for a reported $380 million in 2015.
Jairam responsible for UPA-II’s policy paralysis: Congress’ Moily
After Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said demonising PM Narendra Modi all the time isn’t going to help, his party colleague M Veerappa Moily claimed Ramesh was responsible for “policy paralysis” in the UPA-II government. Moily called for appropriate disciplinary action against Ramesh and Congress’ Shashi Tharoor, who’d said that PM Modi should be praised when he does the right thing.
Chowdary got land near Amaravati before capital declaration: AP govt
Andhra Pradesh government has accused former Union Minister YS Chowdary of purchasing land around Amaravati capital region before the state was bifurcated in 2014. YSRCP minister Botcha Satyanarayana alleged that several TDP leaders including Chowdary, who recently defected to BJP, were involved in insider trading and bought lands just before Amaravati was announced as the capital.
Iran jails British-Iranian national for 10 years for spying
Iran on Tuesday sentenced a British-Iranian national to 10 years in jail for spying for Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and two years for acquiring illegitimate wealth. Iran’s judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili named the jailed dual national as Anousheh Ashouri. Esmaili also said the Supreme Court had upheld a 10-year prison sentence for spying against an Iranian woman, Aras Amiri.
Iranian Prez rules out talks with US until sanctions relief
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that he will not talk to the US until all sanctions imposed on Iran are lifted. US President Donald Trump on Monday said he was willing to meet his Iranian counterpart under the right circumstances. Tensions between Iran and the US rose after Washington pulled out from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal last year.
Too early to call for 2022 CWG boycott: Sports Minister Rijiju
Speaking about the decision to let the Indian contingent boycott the 2022 Commonwealth Games, India’s Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said, “[W]e will see but the call for a boycott at this point of time is too early.” A boycott was suggested by a few athletes after ‘shooting’ was axed from the 2022 edition by Birmingham Organising Committee, citing logistical issues.
Indian documentary wins top award at We Care Film Festival
Indian documentary ‘I’m Jeeja’ on Monday won the top award in the ‘Under 30 minute’ category at the We Care Film Festival on Disability Issues. The film tells the story of specially-abled activist Jeeja Ghosh who suffers from cerebral palsy. A total of 36 films were selected for the finals out of which 10 films were awarded in different categories.
IAF’s S Dhami country’s 1st female Flight Commander of a flying unit
Indian Air Force’s Wing Commander S Dhami on Tuesday became the country’s first woman officer to assume charge as the Flight Commander of a flying unit. She took charge of a Chetak helicopter unit at Hindon Airbase in Uttar Pradesh. The Flight Commander is the second in command of the unit. Notably, Dhami has served for 15 years now.
RBI can pay interim dividend to govt in rare cases: Jalan panel
A panel led by ex-RBI Governor Bimal Jalan has recommended that the central bank pay interim dividend to the government under exceptional cases. It also recommended maintaining RBI’s realised equity, which is the country’s fund to handle financial stability, to be maintained at a range of 5.5%-6.5% of the balance sheet from its current 6.8%. RBI accepted all the recommendations.
Ditch third-degree & use scientific methods for probe: Shah
Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asked the police machinery to ditch third-degree methods and adopt scientific methods of investigation. “We need to modernise the police department,” he said while addressing an event of the Bureau of Police Research and Development in Delhi. Shah announced that a Police University and Forensic Science University will be set up at national level.
PMO note only a suggestion, NHAI to continue making roads: Gadkari
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is fully capable of raising debt and continuing to meet its road construction targets. A recent letter from PMO suggested that NHAI discontinue constructing roads as road infrastructure has become “financially unviable”. “What PMO has said in its note are only suggestions,” he added.
1 million hectares of land affected by Bolivia forest fires
Around 1 million hectares of land have been affected due to wildfires in Bolivia’s forests and the fires from the Amazon rainforest in neighbouring Brazil have also reached the country. Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has accepted international aid to fight the fires and contracted a Boeing 747 SuperTanker from the US to drop water.
Reiterated that J&K internal matter of India at UNSC: Russia Deputy chief of Russian embassy in India Roman Babushkin has said that Russia “reiterated that Kashmir is an internal issue of India” during the closed-door meeting at United Nations Security Council. Further, Russian envoy to India Nikolay Kudashev stated, “All issues existing between India and Pakistan should be resolved through dialogue on the basis of Simla Agreement and Lahore Declaration.”
