Himachal Pradesh has urged Centre for providing more money for various Central schemes.

Social Justice and Empowerment minister Rajiv Saizal called upon Union Social Justice and Empowerment minister Thawar Chand Gehlot at New Delhi and sought for more funds.

He apprised him about various schemes and programmes being implemented by the state’s Social Justice and Empowerment Department.

He said that the socio-economic development of all sections of the society and equal representation of women in all spheres of development was the priority of present state government.

The state government had also recently established a 24×7 ‘Gudiya Help Line’ to control crime against women.

The Union Social Justice and Empowerment minister was informed about various state run schemes for senior citizens. Saizal said that the state government immediately after assuming power had reduced the age from 80 to 70 years for social security pension. It will benefit thousands of elderly people of the state.

Union Social Justice and Empowerment minister Thawar Chand Gehlot said that the Union government was providing enough financial assistance to Himachal Pradesh and assured him that the state would be provided adequate money for successful implementation of various welfare schemes.

In the wake of complaints of labours working in registered private units being paid less the state government is will prioritise the labour welfare.

While presiding over the meeting of the state Labour and Employment Department, Industries minister Bikram Singh said on Wednesday that a mechanism would be evolved to make Aadhar linked payments of salaries and other dues to the workers in the private sector, in order to ensure cashless transaction and check under payment of salaries to the workers working in private establishments.

The minister who is also Labour and Employment minister said that it has been noticed that many a times complaints were received that the labourers working in registered private units were being paid less and are made to sign on the higher amount.

He said that the Aadhar linked mechanism would go a long way in checking this practice.

Directing the officers of the Department to ensure strict and effective enforcement of all the labour laws, he said that the state was known for industrial peace and the same should be maintained at any cost.

He said that at least 70 per cent employment in all the upcoming industrial, tourism, hydro-electric units must also be ensured to the Himachali youths.

The departments like Labour and Employment, Technical Education and Skill Development Corporation must work with greater co-ordination in order to achieve desired results, he said, adding that the employment exchanges must have authentic data of the unemployed youth and semi-employed.

Bikram Singh said, “All the forms and procedures in the Department regarding benefits to workers must be simplified and made more realistic. This would not only ensure smooth functioning of the Department but also enhance its efficiency.”

He said that all the functional posts laying vacant in the Department would be filling up on priority.

The state government has urged Centre for liberal allocation of funds under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) for hill states like Himachal Pradesh.

Speaking at the 65th meeting of Central Advisory Board of Education at New Delhi on Wednesday Education minister, Suresh Bhardwaj also urged the Centre for releasing funds under RUSA for those colleges which were opened in the state by the previous government without making proper budgetary provisions.

The meeting was chaired by Union Human Resourse Development minister Prakash Javadekar.

Bhardwaj also urged the Centre for releasing funds under RUSA for those colleges which were opened in the state by the previous government without making proper budgetary provisions.
He said that there are many tough and remote areas in the state where educational institutions were needed and in order to expand educational facilities up to remotest corners, funds were needed to manage the colleges.

Education minister informed the Union minister about various ongoing schemes being implemented by the department and assured that the present government is committed to strengthen the education system in the state.

The government would take effective steps to bring about qualitative improvement in the primary as well as higher education sectors which included providing laptop, tablets and 1 GB monthly internet data to meritorious college students, Wi-Fi facility in government educational institutions, implementing Vidyarthi Credit Card Yojna, modernisation and computerisation of all labs, providing shoes and school bags to students under Atal School Vardi Yojna, he said.

Ten months after the suspicious death of Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) employee, Tej Prakash, his family members on Wednesday demanded the high level probe into the case.

Alleging that the 32-year-old man who was working as a bus driver with IGMC blood bank, his father, LR Kaundal told media he was murdered. But the police officials didn’t investigate the case properly and termed it as an accidental death.

“We had approached the Director General of Police (DGP), Superintendent of Police, Shimla and Home Secretary at that time for impartial probe in the case, though no concrete action was taken so far,” he alleged.
On 8 April, TejPrakash had gone for the blood donation camp at Theog in Shimla district and had returned to hospital in the evening after which he was called by a doctor to his residence in Bharari in Shimla.

“He didn’t return to his residence after that,” he said, adding his body was found lying near the house of the doctor next morning.

Kaundal said there were several reasons for us to believe that he was murdered as there were several injury marks on his body which could not be the result of accident fall. The family is now running from pillar to post since last 10 months to seek justice for the victim, though the probe in the case has not moved ahead from the earlier line of investigation.

“We had written to the Chief Minister to issue necessary directions for fair and speedy investigations for our son,” he said.

The investigations should either be probed by CID or Special Investigation Team (SIT) as the case bears uncanny similarities to Gudia and Hoshiar Singh case, he added.

Punjab Markfed, the marketing federation of over three thousand societies in the state, has entered the e-commerce market by launching ‘Markfed Sohna App’ for online purchase of wide range of its grocery products.

This application (App) was launched by chairman Markfed, Amarjit Singh Samra on Wednesday. The additional chief secretary, cooperation, DP Reddy said with the launch of this application the customers would be able to place orders and buy Markfed products online thereby could save their time in standing in queues at retails counters and traffic hassles.

He said the Markfed has launched this mobile app initially for Tricity areas like Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali and buyers could avail discount upto 15 per cent on products.

Reddy revealed that this was the official mobile application of the Punjab State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Ltd for online selling of Markfed’s ‘Sohna’ products and other state cooperative undertakings could also follow such e-commerce activities in future to sell their products online..

Elaborating the features of this application, managing director Markfed, Arshdeep Singh Thind, said this application would provide instant confirmation through SMS and email on receipt, rescheduling, cancelation and delivery of products for the order. He further informed the customers could avail Rs 100 discount on the first purchase of Rs 1,000 and get reward points on every purchase.

“Free home delivery would be provided for billing Rs1,000 and above and buyers can choose options for payments by using credit/debt card, net-banking or cash on delivery”, he added.

Thind said the buyers would get purchased products through a delivery partner and delivery service have been divided into two slots in Tricity, first upto 2 p.m. and second upto 7 p.m. He informed that customers placing orders up to 1 p.m. would receive delivery on the same day at their doorsteps.

With the Opposition parties seeking Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s resignation over recent crime against women in the state, the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday hit back by pointing to such crimes during the Congress rule.

In a statement, Haryana BJP’s media incharge, Rajiv Jain, said during the previous Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government, people indulged in the exploitation and harassment of women got the government protection and the common man had lost hope of getting justice.

“Apart from this, his (Hooda’s) own city Rohtak was rocked by the Apna Ghar case,” he said adding that Sachakheda gang-rape and incident of suicide by rape victim and her mother in Rohtak and Indri, murder of 80 years old woman after rape in Baghpur, Palwal and gang-rape with old woman in Kharkhoda are among the major incidents happened during that time.

He said that 730 rape cases were come to fore in the year 2011 and 700 cases in year 2012 that is two rape cases per day.

“Our aim is not to give place to such wicked act in the society by comparing the incidents during the Congress rule. But if the previous government had taken steps as are being taken by the present state government for punishing those involved in the harassment of women, situation would have been different,” Jain said.

He said that setting up of women police stations at district level, women police volunteers and increasing the number of women police personnel have resulted in keeping a check on
Condemning the recent incidents of gang rapes in the State especially with a minor girl, Jain said that the state government would take strict action in all these cases and ensured that the culprits get maximum punishment.

He said such incidents reflect the pervert mentality being developed in our society. To improve this, the society should also come forward and discharge its responsibility.

He said that the BJP government in the State has made huge efforts right from the birth of girls upto their uplift and also for giving them due honour in the society. An atmosphere has been created in the state as a result of which, the women are now coming forward to report any crime against them before the police. About a decade earlier, the sex ratio in the State was 830 girls per 1000 boys but this has now increased to 913 girls per 1000 boys.

While launching a scathing attack on former CM Hooda and other Congress leaders for politicing this issue, Jain said that had the Congress taken any effective steps against the skewed sex ratio and harassment of women, the people with pervert mentality would not have been grown in the society.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday said Irrigation and Power minister Rana Gurjit Singh’s resignation had completely exposed the friendly Commissions instituted by the Congress government to exonerate Congressmen and implicate Akalis.

In a statement here, former minister Bikram Singh Majithia said the Congress high command decided to sack Rana after finding he was complicit in getting sand mining contracts allotted to his minions, had rubbished the findings of the Justice (Retd) J S Narang Commission which game him a clean chit in sand mining scam.

Stating that just as the Narang Commission was formed with a pre-meditated goal whose script was written in advance by the Congress government, similarly the Ranjit Singh and MS Gill Commissions were formed to implicate the SAD in incidents of sacrilege as well as blame it for registering false cases against Congressmen.

“They are not Commissions but personal fiefdoms. We demand immediate dismantling of both Commissions. They should be replaced by an inquiry by a sitting judge of Supreme Court judge who should go into all sacrileges committed during the last ten months of Congress tenure as well as false cases registered against Akali leaders and workers by the Congress government,” Majithia said.

The Akali leader said people’s money should not have been spent on funding the sham Narang Commission as well as the Ranjit Singh and MS Gill Commissions.

A government which is crying hoarse about financial crisis is wasting people’s money on Commissions who can never deliver justice to the people. All judges should be asked to refund money used from the State exchequer by them immediately, he said.

Majithia said this is very important because just like Justice (retd) Narang who spent people’s money to exonerate Rana, Justice Gill is indulging in vendetta against the SAD as per the orders given to him by the Congress government.

Justice Ranjit Singh also needs to resign immediately as his findings have been already prejudged and announced by both Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Punjac Congress president Sunil Jakhar, he said.
Calling for an end to the trend of appointing “blue eyed boys and evening buddies” as heads of Commissions, the Akali leader said the Ranjit Singh and MS Gill Commissions were already discredited and should not be allowed to even present their sham inquires.

With the International Aviation Hub coming up at Hisar, Haryana government intends to enhance rail and road connectivity between Delhi and Hisar to boost the economic development of the area and enhance viability of the aviation hub.

The Haryana Civil Aviation Minister, Rao Narbir Singh, on Wednesday said the Hisar airport would be ready for operations under the Regional Connectivity Service Scheme of the Union government by July, 2018.
He said a proposal for enhancing rail connectivity between Delhi and Hisar was under active consideration. Work on direct rail connectivity between New Delhi and Hisar would be expedited, and appropriately strengthened to accommodate superfast trains. This would reduce the distance and time taken to travel between Hisar and New Delhi, he said.

Similarly, a proposal for developing controlled access expressway from Delhi to Hisar is under consideration, and a meeting was also held in this regard with the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, where it was decided that the existing four-lane national highway between New Delhi and Hisar would be converted into a six-lane controlled access expressway for rapid connectivity between the two cities, Singh said.

This would give a boost to the economic development of the area and enhance viability of the International Aviation Hub at Hisar, the minister added.

Singh said after the decision to elevate Hisar Aerodrome to the level of International Airport, the state government has set apart about 4,200 acres of land adjoining the existing airstrip at Hisar, which is 165 kilometers from New Delhi.With an operational flying club being run by the state government on 196 acres of land, it is an ideal site for development as an integrated aviation hub, the minister said.Having a large cantonment which is strategically close to the Punjab and Rajasthan borders, Hisar is also ideal for defence and aerospace industry, he added.

Singh said the state government was proceeding with the plans to develop the International Aviation Hub at Hisar. In this regard, an memorandum of understanding was signed with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) on December 11, 2017 for technical assistance in setting up the infrastructure and other facilities for the project, he said.

With the spurt in crime against women, Haryana government intends to advance the launch of its ‘100 Dial Scheme’ to reduce criminal cases and to provide fair justice to victims.

Under the ‘100 Dial Scheme’, when a victim would contact the police control room, he or she would get police assistance within 15 minutes in any area of the state.

Initially 600 vehicles would be provided by the state government to police and each district would get 30 to 35 vehicles.

The foundation stone of the scheme at Panchkula recently and about Rs 153 Crore would be spent under it. The scheme is likely to be implemented from November 1, 2018 but given the recent spurt in the crime against women, the state governments intends to pre-pone the launch of the scheme by a few months.

Official sources said efforts are being made to pre-pone the launch of ‘Dial 100’ so that police response time to crime against women could be improved.

Following the three rape incidents – in Jind, Panipat and Faridabad – in just four days. the state government has already decided to centralise its Women Helpline number-1091 to provide 24-hour immediate response to any women in need across Haryana.

Haryana Director General of Police, BS Sandhu, has directed all field units to take the cases of crime against women and children at utmost priority and put the best resources available with them to prevent and detect such offences.

Addressing the senior district functionaries of the police department through a video-conference on Tuesday, he directed that no missing report should be taken casually and prompt action initiated.
There should be close monitoring at the level of Superintendent of Police (SP) and Range Inspector Enrage of Police (IGP) thus sending a clear message to all field officers, Sandhu said.

He said that the police is serious about the safety and security of every citizen, specially women and children and under no circumstances, any lapse or negligence on part of any staff and official of any rank would be tolerated while dealing with such cases.

The DGP directed all Senior Superintendent of Police (SSPs) and Commissioners of Police to ensure security and patrolling near all women colleges and school. They were also asked to closely monitor the investigation and trial of heinous cases of Crime against women till finalization by courts.

Besides he directed the all district SP’s and DCP’s to personally monitor cases of crimes against women particularly of minors and ensure prompt action on complaints being received on the helpline.

After the resignation of cabinet minister Rana Gurjit Singh over graft charges, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday suffered another setback with the Punjab and Haryana High Court setting aside the appointment of his chief principal secretary Suresh Kumar.

The bench headed by Justice Rajan Gupta ruled that Kumar, a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, was holding the post in violation of Article 166 (3) of the Constitution and thus his appointment was ‘null and void’.

Kumar was earlier principal secretary to Amarinder Singh during his previous tenure as Punjab CM in 2002-2007.

A Mohali-based lawyer had moved the high court to challenge Kumar’s appointment, made after the Congress government took over in March 2017.

The development is seen as a major blow to the CM as Suresh Kumar was one of his loyalists playing a vital role in running the state government.

Punjab Congress sources said Kumar may now be given an advisory role.

They added that Kumar may not like to continue with the state government as he had already tendered his resignation after his appointment was challenged in high court in August last year.

After that Kumar stopped going to his office or take part in official meetings. It is learnt that he had written to the CM that he would not continue on the post during the pendency of the case.

In the petition, it was contended that there was no provision in the rules for bestowing the rank of a cabinet secretary on a retired officer.

A postgraduate in commerce from Delhi University, Kumar is was 1983 batch IAS officer. He started his career as a sub-divisional magistrate in Talwandi Sabo and retired as Additional Chief Secretary (Development) in April 2016. Kumar served the Punjab government and remained on deputation to the Centre in different capacities.

Rana Gurjit Singh who submitted his resignation from the state cabinet on 4 January is a billionaire industrialist who is also considered close to CM.

Rana’s name had cropped up in alleged proxy bidding in mutli-crore sand-mine auctions.

However, the CM had stated that a decision on Rana’s resignation will be taken after his meeting with Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Parents whose children study in Delhi government schools will have real-time access to CCTV footage of classrooms to ensure transparency and safety of children, it was announced on 17 January.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reviewed the progress of installation of closed-circuit televisions in each class in all government schools, a statement said.

“Each parent will be given access on real-time basis on his phone as to see his/her child studying in class. This will make the whole system transparent and accountable. It will ensure the safety of kids,” Kejriwal tweeted.

The process of installation of CCTVs in schools is expected to start within three months.

Once the project is implemented, the Education Minister, Education Department’s Secretary and Director will have the rights to view any classroom of any government school through a mobile application at any point of time.

There would be an auto complaint system to check non-functioning of these CCTVs.

The auto system would itself lodge a complaint which will then go to the system integrator who would then ensure correct functioning of the CCTV concerned.

The Congress on Wednesday held a silent sit-in protest at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai demanding a detailed probe into the 2014 death of special CBI judge B H Loya who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh “fake encounter” case.

On the occasion, Mumbai Congress unit president Sanjay Nirupam alleged that an attempt was being made to “cover up the mysterious death of judge Loya”.

“People should know who was responsible for the judge’s death. A detailed probe should take place to inquire about his death. If a judge gets no justice what will happen to the common man,” he questioned.

Judge Loya allegedly died of a cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague’s daughter.

Separate petitions have been pending before the Supreme Court and the Bombay High Court demanding a probe into judge Loya’s death.

A magazine had last year raised suspicion over the circumstances surrounding judge Loya’s death at a time when he was hearing the politically sensitive alleged fake encounter case in which BJP president Amit Shah was named one of the accused. He was discharged later.

However, judge Loya’s son Anuj on Sunday said he had no doubts about the death of his father.

Referring to a rift between the four judges of the Supreme Court and Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Nirupam said that everyone needs to come together to save democracy.

“For the first time, four senior judges of the supreme court addressed a press conference saying all is not well in the judicial system. Even VHP leader Pravin Togadia fears that he would be killed in an encounter. Nobody is safe under the BJP rule,” the Congress leader said.

Togadia yesterday told reporters in Ahmedabad that he had information that a plan was being made to kill him in an encounter.

Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor Khan will take to the ramp at the finale of the forthcoming Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Summer-Resort 2018 edition as showstopper in a creation by designer Anamika Khanna.

“Kareena Kapoor Khan, as the face of Lakme, will be our showstopper. We hope we have support from people who believe in what we do,” Khanna told IANS in an email interview from Mumbai.

The designer, known for her rich craftsmanship that blends Indian colours with global contours, is going to reinvent nude with her finale collection. Her contemporary designs will be interspersed with the diverse nude palette that Lakme will be introducing this season.

Kareena has added grandeur to LFW finales in the past. She dazzled the ramp when she was pregnant with her first child Taimur, and then she also did her first ramp walk at LFW after delivering Taimur.

The forthcoming edition of the fashion gala will be held from January 31 to February 4.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam were at the forefront of the 101st birth anniversary celebrations of AIADMK founder, the late M G Ramachandran, in the state on Wednesday.

They garlanded a statue of Ramachandran, a former matinee idol who later went on to become the Chief Minister, at the AIADMK headquarters here.

Palaniswami paid floral tributes to a portrait of MGR, as he was fondly called, at the Dr MGR Medical University, with his cabinet colleagues in tow.

AIADMK leaders and workers elsewhere in the state also paid floral tributes to portraits of MGR at party offices.

A charismatic superstar, MGR a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, is a legendary name in Tamil cinema. He made a name in state politics after he broke away from the DMK following differences with its chief M Karunanidhi and founded AIADMK in 1972.

Known for his flamboyant acting and songs preaching values and virtues, Ramachandran ruled the state from 1977 till his death in 1987.

Amidst incessant speculations over their respective political careers, Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan came together for an event honouring Tamil legend MG Ramachandran on his 101st birth anniversary, triggering a fresh round of speculations – this time, of an alliance.

The two shared the stage at the launch of the film ‘Kizhakku Africavil Raju’, a dream project of MGR which never materialised.

Ever since Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan announced their respective foray into politics, there have been speculations on everything from the names of their parties to alliances with others.

While Rajinikanth announced his intention of joining politics on 31 December 2017, Kamal has been sending clear signals of his political intent for the last one year. Yet both Thalaivar, as Rajinikanth is fondly addressed by his fans, and Ulaganayagan, as Haasan is called by his, have kept themselves away from joining any political party.

This has triggered speculations that the two might join hands to give a fresh option to the people who are fed up with both the ruling AIADMK and the DMK.

No party other than AIADMK and DMK has come to power in Tamil Nadu since 1969.

Haasan will announce the name of his party on 21 February and begin a tour of Tamil Nadu on the same day to understand the needs and aspirations of the people. On 1 September 2017, Haasan, after a meeting with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, had remarked that his “colour” is “not saffron” indicating that he has no intention of forming an alliance with the BJP.

Later that month, Haasan had said that he will join Rajinikanth if the latter enters politics.

“We have been rivals on the professional front, but we always consult over key issues,” Haasan had told a leading Tamil daily.

Both the actors have been friends from the start of their respective careers.

On the other hand, Rajinikanth has already stated that his party, once officially formed, will contest from all 234 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu in the 2021 elections. He has said that he wants only those who will work for the party without ulterior motives. There are speculations that he might join or form an alliance with the BJP.

On the stage, Rajini and Kamal stood next to each other and spoke with other guests at the event. Rajinikanth sounded the clapper board before a portrait of MGR to mark the start of the shooting of the film.

The wait for that much-delayed train might just get a tad bearable, thanks to the TVs, beverage dispensing machines and light refreshments that will soon be available at Indian Railway’ waiting rooms.

As a pilot project, the Delhi Division has been asked to undertake the upgradation of its waiting rooms by providing modern facilities for passengers.

“The Delhi Division will undertake a pilot project for upgradation of waiting rooms with modern facilities for dispensing beverages, light refreshments, TVs, upgraded furniture, toilet facilities and other prescribed amenities and services under PPP mode through open bidding process,” a set of instructions sent from the railways’ transformation cell to the Northern Railway general manager said.

The division has been asked to conduct the project for three months and then submit a detailed assessment report to the Railway Board for consideration.

“Passengers have to wait in waiting rooms for hours sometimes, specially during specially foggy weather when trains get delayed indefinitely. So, equipping the waiting room is just to make the passengers comfortable during the long wait,” a senior railway official said.

Once, the division implements the project successfully, the board might issue instructions to replicate the model across the railway network, officials said.

The Delhi Division is one of the five railway divisions under the Northern Railway zone. It’s headquarter is located here and has a route of 1,386.82 km with 213 stations.

It handles around 500 passenger trains and 210 freight trains every day.

Batsmen let the team down, said India captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday, conceding that his team has been just not good enough in the Test series against South Africa so far.

India suffered a 135-run drubbing at the hands of South Africa in the second cricket Test on the fifth day on Wednesday to lose the three-match series 0-2. The visitors had lost the first Test by 72 runs in the first Test in Cape Town.

“We failed to get a good partnership and take lead. We have let ourselves down. The bowlers have done the job but the batsmen have let the team down,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

“We tried but we weren’t good enough, especially in the fielding department. That’s why they (South Africa) are the winner,” he added.

Kohli, who stroked a fighting 153 in India’s first innings, said his side erred in reading the Centurion wicket properly.

“We thought the wicket was really flat. Quite surprising.

I told the guys the wicket looks different to what it looked before toss. Especially after SA lost wickets in the first innings, we should have capitalised,” the Indian skipper said.

“I want to leave everything on the field. That’s the way I play. 150-odd runs (for himself) means nothing now that we have lost the series. If we had won, even a 30 would have mattered more. As a team, you want to win collectively.”

South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis said his side were were pretty much on top of India in all the five days of the game.

“It took a lot of hard work over the last five days. We were on top pretty much most of the times,” he said.

Du Plessis said after a not-so-impressive last session of the opening day, the Proteas showed a lot of character in the next four days to pull off the comprehensive win.

“It was one of the harder Tests, given it was tough to pick wickets. After Day 1, we were very disappointed. In that last 45 minutes, we gave India a sniff but we made sure we showed character over the last four days,” he said.

“We were short in the first innings. We needed to get 400 but for me the vital time was the second innings. We kept pushing and we knew anything over 250 would be challenging.”

The South African skipper had special praise for debutant fast bowler Lungi Ngidi, who returned with figures of 6/39 to dismantle India in the second innings to earn the man-of-the- match award.

“It was special performance by Ngidi. He’s a great guy and we welcome him into the team. I look at the person’s personality and he’s a wonderful human being,” du Plessis said.

Ngidi was delighted to win the man-of-the-match award in his debut and that too in front of his home crowd.

“The moment hasn’t really sunk in. I am very chuffed with my performance and I’m very happy at the moment. Been a quick turnaround for me. I was in good nick in franchise cricket.

“I came out here to try pretty much what I could do. The support was great at my home ground. It’s a great moment,” Ngidi said.