England beat New Zealand, qualify for World Cup semis after 27 years
England defeated New Zealand by 119 runs in their last league match of 2019 World Cup today to qualify for World Cup semi-finals for the first time since the 1992 edition. England are the third team to qualify for the semi-finals of 2019 edition after India and Australia. New Zealand and Pakistan remain in contention for the fourth semi-final spot.
Bhagyashree’s husband arrested over alleged role in gambling racket
Himalaya Dasani, husband of actress Bhagyashree who’s known for starring in ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’, was arrested by Mumbai Police for his alleged involvement in a gambling racket. A few days back, the police had raided a poker racket in Andheri, and in their bust, discovered Himalaya Dasani’s involvement, said reports. However, Bhagyashree has said her husband has been “falsely implicated”.
SC orders Meghalaya to pay ₹100cr fine, permits resuming coal mining
The Supreme Court has ordered Meghalaya to deposit a ₹100-crore fine, imposed by National Green Tribunal, for failing to curb illegal coal mining in the state. It also lifted a 2014 ban on coal mining, saying it would be permitted, subject to permission from concerned authorities. It asked Meghalaya to hand over illegally extracted coal to Coal India Limited (CIL).
Cabinet gives approval for leasing out three airports to Adani
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved leasing out of Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangaluru airports to Adani Enterprises. Earlier this year, Adani had won the bids to operate the three airports for a period of 50 years. The Gautam Adani-led company also won the bids to operate Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports.
Wimbledon debutant defeats 3-time Grand Slam champ Wawrinka
USA’s 21-year-old Reilly Opelka, who made his Wimbledon debut on Monday, defeated three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 8-6 in his second-round 2019 Wimbledon match on Wednesday. Meanwhile, women’s world number seven Simona Halep defeated Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the third round of the tournament for the fifth time in six years.
Ex-Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure signs for Chinese club
Former Manchester City and Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure on Wednesday signed for Chinese second-tier club Qingdao Huanghai. “Qingdao is a very exciting young club with a lot of potential and we share the same philosophy,” Toure said in a statement. The former Ivory Coast international, who has won the Premier League three times, has not played since December.
Apple sued for alleged patent infringement over iOS low-power mode
Apple is being sued for alleged patent infringement tied to iOS ‘low-power mode’, ‘core location’ and ‘facedown detection’ across devices, including iPhone and iPad. Filed by LBT IP I, the lawsuit leverages five patents “originally assigned to Location Based Technologies, who commercialised the technology in its PocketFinder GPS Devices”. LBT sent notice of potential infringement to Apple in June.
Petition claims PayPal India ops illegal, Delhi HC issues notice
The Delhi High Court reportedly issued notices to PayPal and RBI over a petition alleging that PayPal Payments’ operations in India are illegal. The petition claims PayPal has violated section 4(1) of Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. The section states that no person other than RBI, shall commence or operate a payment system except in accordance with RBI-issued authorisation.
Tesla delivered record 95,200 cars in second quarter of 2019
Elon Musk-led electric automaker Tesla announced it has achieved record production of 87,048 vehicles and record deliveries of approximately 95,200 vehicles in the second quarter of 2019. In the first quarter, Tesla had produced approximately 77,100 vehicles and delivered approximately 63,000 vehicles. Tesla said it will enter the third quarter with an increase in its order backlog.
Kalaari-backed fintech startup Rubique scales down operations
Kalaari Capital-backed online lending startup Rubique’s CEO Manav Jeet said it’s scaling down its operations and trimming its workforce amid rising liquidity concerns affecting the overall non-banking lending sector. Rubique decided to focus only on three products including personal and business loan. Employee headcount has reportedly fallen from 100 in November 2018 to 47 after long delays in salary payments.
Bounce raises ₹10-crore venture debt from Sachin Bansal’s BACQ
Bike and scooter-sharing startup Bounce has raised about ₹10-crore venture debt from Flipkart Co-founder Sachin Bansal’s co-founded firm BAC Acquisitions, documents sourced from Paper.vc stated. The current funding is the final tranche of the reported $3-4 million investment by BACQ announced earlier this year. In June, Bengaluru-based Bounce raised $72 million in a Series C funding round.
PM Modi meets man who cycled 1,100 km as BJP won over 300 seats
PM Narendra Modi today met Khimchandbhai from Gujarat, who had decided that if BJP wins more than 300 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, he would cycle 1,100 km from Amreli to Delhi. “He kept his word and am told that his cycle journey drew several admirers,” said PM Modi. “I was deeply impressed by his humility,” the PM added.
Putin signs law suspending nuclear arms treaty with US
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed a law suspending the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The 1987 treaty banned both the countries from stationing short and intermediate-range, land-based nuclear missiles in Europe. The US is set to withdraw from the pact on August 2, claiming Russia’s development of a missile violated the accord.
Pakistan registers cases of terror financing against Hafiz Saeed
Pakistan has registered cases of terror financing against 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, his brother-in-law and other aides. The government targeted five outfits that operated as charities and facilitated funds to terrorists. The move follows the Financial Action Task Force’s warning to Pakistan to improve efforts against terrorism financing or face action.
Reliance to invest ₹1,500 crore in 2 yrs in Jio Institute: Reports
Reliance Industries has reportedly informed the government’s Empowered Expert Committee that it is investing about ₹1,500 crore in its proposed Jio Institute in the next two years. Jio Institute was the only greenfield institute to be accorded the ‘Institute of Eminence’ tag by the government last year. The Reliance Foundation Institution of Education and Research is setting up the university.
Maria Sharapova out of Wimbledon after retiring in 1st round
Former champion Maria Sharapova crashed out of Wimbledon after she was forced to retire from her first round match against France’s Pauline Parmentier due to an injury on Tuesday. The former world number one trailed 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 0-5 before she pulled out. Sharapova had not won a main draw match at Wimbledon since 2015.
China’s Didi Chuxing removes 3,00,000 drivers amid safety overhaul
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing has removed over 3,00,000 drivers who don’t meet its standards since launching a safety overhaul last year. Two passengers of Didi’s carpooling service Hitch were killed in separate incidents last year following which, Hitch was suspended. Didi is reportedly contemplating resuming Hitch and plans to engage public in talks on how to increase Hitch’s safety.
Air India Assets plans ₹22,000 crore bond sale: Reports
Air India Assets Holding (AIAHL) is reportedly planning to raise ₹22,000 crore via a bond sale to refinance some of Air India’s debt. AIAHL, a special purpose vehicle set up for Air India’s disinvestment, has reportedly sought fee bids from bankers for its first rupee-denominated bond sale. The government earlier transferred about ₹29,500 crore of Air India’s debt to AIAHL.
Industrialist BK Birla, grandfather of Kumar Birla, dies at 98
Industrialist Basant Kumar Birla, the youngest son of Ghanshyam Das Birla and the grandfather of Kumar Mangalam Birla, passed away in Mumbai on Wednesday aged 98. He was the Chairman of BK Birla Group, which includes Century Textiles and Kesoram Industries. Birla is survived by his daughters Jayshree Mohta and Manjushree Khaitan. His son Aditya Vikram Birla died in 1995.
