ICC Women’s World Cup: India Women v Sri Lanka Women

Deepthi Sharma and Mithali Raj scored fine half-centuries as India Women are in a position of strength against Sri Lanka Women in a Group match.

Electing to bat, India Women lost their openers early but Sharma (78) and Mithali (53) did the repair work to push Sri Lanka Women on backfoot.

Match 14. 46.5: A Kanchana to V Krishnamurthy, 4 runs, 210/5 https://t.co/WX2LFHmDY6 #SLvIND #WWC17

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) July 5, 2017

 

Match 14. 45.4: S Siriwardena to V Krishnamurthy, 4 runs, 199/5 https://t.co/WX2LFHmDY6 #SLvIND #WWC17

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) July 5, 2017

Match 14. 39.2: WICKET! M Raj (53) is out, lbw Inoka Ranaweera, 169/5 https://t.co/WX2LFHmDY6 #SLvIND #WWC17

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) July 5, 2017

Can America and India become real partners?

The future of US-India strategic ties is too important to be constructed solely or even primarily through a China-management lens, writes Sourabh Gupta in the National Interest.

As the US preps for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, pro/anti-India forces slug it out on the White House website, Seema Sirohi writes in the Economic Times.

What does Hinduism mean to you?

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remark that all those who live in Hindustan are Hindus have brought the origin of the word Hindu into focus.

The Times of India’s Sagarika Ghose writes that Hinduism stands for freedom of thought – “Both the atheist and agnostic can exist under Hinduism because belief in a single god, or ‘the single truth’ or the concept of ‘blasphemy’ are hardly central to Hindu traditions.”

Sagarika quotes author Jonardon Ganeri, who earlier this month, talked vedas and karma with Gary Gutting of the New York Times in an article titled ‘What Would Krishna Do? Or Shiva? Or Vishnu?’

In the Huffington Post, writer Rajiv Malhotra offers a Hindu view of ‘Christian Yoga’. He says that Yoga is a do-it-yourself path that eliminates the need for intermediaries such as a priesthood or other institutional authority.

India calls off talks with Pakistan: Self goal or a show of strength?

The Narendra Modi government has cancelled Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan to protest against a meeting between Kashmiri separatist leaders and Islamabad’s envoy to New Delhi.

In The Indian Express, Praveen Swami calls the move a self goal, saying that New Delhi is shutting off life support to secret dialogue on Kashmir dating back 10 years and more.

On the NDTV website, Sidharth Varadarajan rues that Modi’s unpredictable diplomatic bang has ended in a shabby and all too predictable whimper.

Kanchan Gupta, on the other hand, finds the decision predictable as he writes in ABP Live: That India with a new Government that is far more resolute and clear-headed than its predecessor regime would react in this manner was a foregone conclusion

Ninety days of the Modi government: But where’s the vision?

Modi’s I-day speech depicts a holistic new vision. It is not clear how it will be implemented, writes S L Rao in The Telegaph

The story of my Sanskrit

Ananaya Vajpei writes in The Hindu that Sanskrit must be taken back from the clutches of Hindu supremacists, bigots, believers in brahmin exclusivity, misogynists, Islamophobes and a variety of other wrong-headed characters on the right.

Lokpal tabled in Parliament

View the story “Lokpal Bill tabled in Parliament” on Storify]

‘No choice’ does not equal ‘Spirit of Mumbai’

You know why we all cringe when we hear a cliche? It’s because using a cliche usually represents the forcible application of a generalization or stereotype to a complex situation.

So here is India’s most cringe-worthy cliche – The spirit of Mumbai.

This concept, screamed up to the heavens by nearly all media houses and TV news anchors, has lost its sheen. It is beginning to resemble some sort of creepy badge that is affixed to those unfortunate innocents who suffer a terrorist attack, whether they want it or not. And it really needs to end immediately.

I have friends and family in Mumbai. I don’t want them to be ‘proud, defiant and bold’, stepping out of their homes the very next day after a terrorist attack to go back to school/college/work etc in the ‘spirit of Mumbai’.

I think I would just prefer them to be safe and not have to live in fear.

For the lakhs of daily wage earners in the city it’s either work or starve – a stark choice that does not allow for any leeway.

It’s not like being in the middle of the blasts is like being at a concert or an anti-corruption fast where participation in the event announces its success.

They are not asked for permission before they are attacked. And the next day, they have go to work -whether they really want to or not. Mumbaikars have to get on with their lives and they have no choice in the matter.

Equally grating is the coverage of the event. There is jazzy new-age music played over cuts of bloody bodies, flaming ruins and charred buildings. Loud roll-overs announce the death toll, snappy sound bytes intersperse the images before they cut to news anchors who, literally, scream out the news in lung-wrenching gusto with one adjective every three words on average.

Is it too much to ask that the news be covered in a simple sombre manner which reflects the fact that 17 innocents have been murdered? Is it too much to ask that information is put out without resorting to conspiracy theories, blame-games or even self-congratulatory phrases? And does anyone really care what unique angle each channel takes to cover the event? Just give us the facts and we will appreciate it.

Meanwhile once again we wait to see if we can figure out who committed the attack and make our feeble attempts to catch those responsible.

But those in Mumbai don’t seem optimistic on that outcome.

– Vinayak Hegde

Live updates: TN, West Bengal, Kerala, Puducherry and Assam election results

10:00 am: The picture gets rosier for Amma in TN. All she needs is for the trend in the leads to hold and she will romp home the big winner in these elections, along with West Bengal’s own Didi of course.

Tamil Nadu Party Leading Won Total seats DMK+ Allies 38 234 ADMK+ Allies 113 Others  1

Puducherry Party Leading Won Total seats DMK + Allies  10  30 AIDMK + Allies  5 Others 1

9:50 am: As we await Mamata’s historic win in Bengal, an interesting election tidbit from there:

One of the earliest elections in South Asia brought to power Gopala, a military commander, who was elected the first Buddhist king of Bengal in the eighth century – in  750 AD in Gaur (now in the Malda district in Bengal) to be precise according to a famous Buddhist historian Taranatha (1575-1634).

Gopala was the founder of the famous Pala empire of yore.

9:40 am: For all of you who were missing tables on this page, here goes our first one. In TN, Amma has reasons to cheer, folks, and here is why:

Tamil Nadu Party Leading Won Total seats DMK+ Allies 32 234 ADMK+ Allies 72 Others

Puducherry Party Leading Won Total seats DMK + Allies  10  30 AIDMK + Allies  4 Others 1

9:30 am: An interesting Tamil Nadu factoid: The first assembly elections involving Tamil Nadu (in the Madras State as it was known then) threw up a hung assembly.

The Congress party, the leading party in the state then, could only win 152 of the 375 seats.

They were forced to turn to that towering figure in Indian politics, C Rajagopalachari (who later refused to stand for a by-election and had to be nominated by the governor).

The wily legend managed to lure back T Prakasam, a key figure, and engineer a series of re-alignments of the various political parties and the independents. When the vote  of confidence came, Rajaji won it by 200 votes to 151. Click here for the latest party position

9:23 am: We are not calling Tamil Nadu yet. But ADMK and allies are pulling ahead at the moment, with early leads putting them ahead in 47 out of the 70 seats.

9:20 am: The Bengal elections it is safe to say is in TMC’s bag. Mamata and her allies are ahead in 112 seats, with the Left heading for a rout with just 49 seats against their name.

9:14 am: Assam seems headed the Congress way. Tarun Gogoi looks set to lead his party to a third term in power if early leads are indications. Congress and allies are ahead in 21 out of the 26 seats for which data is in. The Asom Gana Parishad its closest competitor is leading in only three seats. Click here for the latest party positions in all the states

9:03 am: Tamil Nadu is another state where a close fight might be in the offing. Early leads have the ADMK and allies ahead in six seats and DMK and allies ahead in four.Click here for the latest party positions in all the states

8:58 am: 20-7 for the TMC now. Let us reiterate that these are only leads. But the trend seems to point to a Left rout in West Bengal and an end to their 34-year-long stint in power.

A brief pen-sketch of Mamata, the Chief Minister to be: The 56-year-old single woman lives with her mother. The Lok Sabha lists her permanent address as  30-B, Harish Chatterjee Street,Kolkata-700 026 West BengalTels. (033) 24753000.

The daughter of a teacher, she holds a MA, BEd and LLB, and also was trained in work education.

She is known for her fiery temper and frugal lifestyle.

A battle-hardened poll veteran, she certainly is. CPM acolytes famously fractured her skull leaving her hospitalised for many months. As she told Jim Yardley of the New York Times, “They have attacked me many times. From my belly to my back to my eyes, I’m covered in these things (scars).’

8:49 am: Early indications are that Kerala is in for a keen fight. It is a dead heat there with both the UDF and the LDF leading in 58 constituencies each. The two biggies CPI (M) and the Congress have fielded 84 and 81 candidates in the fray respectively. Either of the fronts will need a 71-seat tally to gain a clear majority in the 140-seat assembly. Click here for the latest party positions

8:43 am: TMC and allies have begun to pull ahead in West Bengal. Mamata’s combine is now ahead in 10 out of the 15 constituencies for which leads are in. Mamata spent Thursday working on her paintings. Preparations for a huge victory celebration were also underway at her residence with loudspeakers and the rest of the paraphernalia already assembled. Click here for the latest party positions.

8:40 am: The action is hotting up in Kerala. Now it is neck and neck with both the UDF and the LDF leading in 40 constituencies each.

8: 29 am: It is 36-27 in favour of the UDF (the Congress Front) in Kerala now. Left Front are leading in two constituencies in West Bengal. DMK continues to be ahead in the only seat for which leads are available in Tamil Nadu.

8:22 am: More leads from Kerala. The tally is 25 for UDF and 17 for LDF.  DMK is leading in the only seat for which data is available at the moment from TN.

8.10 am: First leads pour in from Kerala. Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan leads in Malampuzha for over 1000 votes. Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan leading in Thalassery with over 3000 votes. UDF is leading in five seats.

8 am: The six-week wait for who will rule Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal ends today. Counting of votes for Assembly elections began at 8 am in 839 halls spread over in the five states involving 43,982 personnel.

Ahead of counting

Record turnout

It has been one of the biggest elections in recent times.

Big because Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, the two most important states among the five awaiting the verdicts on Friday, have recorded their highest polling percentages in 60 years.

Big because all analysts are predicting a win (at long last) for Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance, who they say will sweep the ruling Left Front out of power for the first time in 34 years.

And big, well, because when over 215 million people get together to decide their future, you can’t call the event anything but big…

Some interesting facts from the polling data shared by the election commission ahead of the results.

Home is where their heart is

For the first time 4,639 overseas voters, out of the 8,820 who had registered, exercised their franchise in the Kerala elections.

Women power

Women yet again turned out to be more eager voters than men.

“I am very happy to tell you like Bihar, women turned out in larger number than men in Kerala, Puducherry, West Bengal and (in) almost equal (numbers) in Tamil Nadu,” Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi revealed in New Delhi.

And when it came to the actual percentages, it was not just Tamil Nadu and West Bengal that recorded high numbers.

They were in the high seventies and above throughout – with Tamil Nadu recording 78.8%, West Bengal 84.46%, Kerala 75.12%, Puducherry 85.57% and Assam 76.04%.

Money power

The Election Commission revealed that over Rs 74.27 crore in unaccounted money had been seized during the elections.

Tamil Nadu led the way with over Rs 60.1 crore being recovered from the state.

In Assam, Rs 5.20 crore was seized.

Raids in West Bengal yielded Rs 8.35 crore and those in Kerala Rs 62 lakh.

Eleven cases of ‘paid news’ were also being investigated by the commission.

The actual counting

The Chief Election Commissioner has said that the vote counting will take place in 839 halls – 234 of them in Tamil Nadu, 312 in West Bengal, 142 in Assam, 140 in Kerala, and 11 in Puducherry.

An elaborate three-tier security cordon has been put in place for the counting, set to begin at 8 am.

43,982 officials and nearly 17,700 central security personnel will be involved in the process.

Exit Poll predictions: Here is how the various exit polls called the elections

Mobile number portability: A great idea sirji?

Mobile number portability

Okay, as of Thursday we will all have the means to switch mobile phone operators without having to lose our precious 10-digits.

But is this the real deal we as cell phone users really sought?

Before you pop a vein in outrage and accuse me of whining against a much-needed “progressive” law, consider that as an Indian mobile phone user you still can’t keep the same number living in another state in the country.

Consider that you still pay substantially high amounts to get new SIMs and are otherwise charged a lot more under “roaming” charges, when in fact you are still only roaming well within the confines of your own country.

We call ourselves united, a nation of one, and yet we are forced to pay to get new SIM connections just because we choose to move to live in another part of this good green nation.

I don’t want to offend any pro-Telangana, anti-Telangana or neutrals with this hypothetical example, but consider that if tomorrow they do decide to partition Andhra Pradesh into two or more numbers, and decide to call it two states, then bigger contentious issues aside, would I have to then pay roaming charges travelling from Visakhapatnam to say Hyderabad?

Idea Mobile Number Portability: ‘Lift’

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is set to flag off the nationwide rollout of number portability on Thursday. Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal claims that this move would increase competition among providers, “enhance” choice among consumers and force telecom providers to “improve the quality of their services”.

I really wonder if portability would do all that. Because much of the mobile phone users I know are more than content with sticking with one mobile service operator.

How many people do you really know are eager to switch from A to V? They are virtually the same. The rates are almost the same. The service, barring minor differences, is the same and yet we are supposed to get excited about this paltry new reform set to be unveiled?

This just sounds like another pretentious move to keep the public content with moderately improved services.

And despite the comforting fact that V and A do allow me as a user to shut their ridiculous promotional offers on call and messages within a month or two of me harassing their staff and raising a “Do Not Disturb” complaint at their office, I still get weird automated calls from husky sounding women singing vernacular songs that gloat up some random company or offer.

Yes, I’m a mobile phone user and I’m still deeply disturbed by the service I receive. Now here’s an Idea, sirji: How about we get mobile numbers and SIMs that follow us wherever we choose to move to within India? How about a real ban on unsolicited texts and calls from all those companies whose products I don’t need?

Ashwin Sriram