Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic upset fifth seed Venus Williams in the first round of the women’s singles competition in the Australian Open tennis tournament here on Monday.

Placed 78th in the world rankings, Bencic defeated the American star 6-3, 7-5 in a match that lasted one hour and 53 minutes at the Rod Laver Arena, reports Efe news agency.

Bencic will face the winner of the match between Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum and Johanna Larsson of Sweden in the second round.

The world number 5 American struggled to find her rhythm in the rain-interrupted match, dropping the first set.

Although Williams fared better in the second, the in-form Swiss hitter outplayed the American and sealed the victory after breaking serve in the final game.

Bencic believes that in their previous meetings she showed the seven-time Grand Slam winner “too much respect.”

“I played a little bit to careful and safe. So this time I decided to come out and hit it big,” she said. “You really have to be on the limit of your game here.”

It’s the first time since 1997 that the Australian Open will not feature either of the Williams sisters in the second round after Serena withdrew from the tournament at the start of the month following her pregnancy.

“She played above and beyond,” a disappointed Williams told Xinhua news agency after the match. “I don’t think I played a bad match… maybe I had a few too many unforced errors. I think she just played well.”

A Naxal was gunned down on Monday in an encounter with security forces at a forest in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district, police said.

The skirmish took place this morning in Jhilmili forest area when a joint team of personnel from different security forces was out on an anti-Maoist operation, Superintendent of Police Prashant Agrawal told PTI.

The composite squad of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Special Task Force (STF) and the District Reserve Guard (DRG) had launched the operation in Bakarkatta, about 160 kms from here, bordering Balaghat area of Madhya Pradesh, he said.

A group of ultras fired at the security personnel following which the patrolling team retaliated.

After the guns fell silent, the security men searched the area and recovered the body of a Naxal, Agrawal said.

Three firearms, including a 12 bore gun, and a huge cache of Naxal-related material were also recovered from the spot, he said.

The identity of the killed ultra was yet to be ascertained, the SP said.

Further details were awaited as the operation was still underway in the region, he added.

Clashes broke out in Amethi between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters over posters depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Ravan and Rahul Gandhi as Lord Ram.

The posters show the Congress president holding a bow and arrow, and PM Modi as the ten-headed demon king.

Also Read: Posters showing Modi as Ravana seen in Amethi as Rahul reaches UP

BJP supporters protested as Rahul Gandhi arrived in Amethi on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency. This is the first time that the Gandhi scion is visiting Amethi since his elevation to the top post in his party.

Visuals showed a section of supporters armed with sticks. The police managed to prevent the clashes from escalating further.

The Congress has said that it did not put up the posters.

At Amethi, Rahul Gandhi was “warmly received” by his supporters. He offered prayers and also participated in “khichdi daan”.

Rahul also criticized the Narendra Modi government for failing to speed up projects.

“Jo kaam China ki sarkaar do din mein karti hai use karne mein Narendra Modi Ji ki sarkaar ko ek saal lag jaata hai (What China does in two days, Modi government does in a year),” he said addressing a gathering of Congress supporters.

The 47-year-old Rahul has been an MP from Amethi since 2004.

(With inputs from agencies.)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday launch what is being described as “work commencement” for one of the country’s most modern refineries in Rajasthan’s Barmer district — five years after Sonia Gandhi, then the Congress president, had laid its foundation stone.

The function will be held at 12.30 p.m. in Pachpadra, some 450 km from state capital Jaipur. The Rs 43,000 crore (almost Rs 7 billion) project, once complete in four years, will provide direct and indirect employment to 10,000 persons.

The 9 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum) refinery, a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and the Rajasthan government, is the state’s first. Its products will conform to BS-VI emission norms.

Meanwhile, the Barmer refinery has been the subject of a political slugfest between the Congress and Rajasthan’s ruling BJP.

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot recently wrote a to the Prime Minister questioning why the refinery’s foundation stone was being laid again when this was done way back in 2013.

Soon after this, the invitation cards distributed for the event used the expression “Work Commencement Function”.

Gehlot was quick to latch onto this, describing it as a face-saving move for Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia’s government.

On his first visit as Congress president to party bastions Rae Bareli and Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi on Monday slammed the BJP, accusing it of continuously “lying” and not honouring its promises made to the people.

He was addressing a public meeting at Salon, which is located in Rae Bareli district but falls in his Lok Sabha constituency, Amethi.

“The BJP people are continuously lying…one lie after the other. Whether it is pertaining to the Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of people or giving a remunerative price to the farmers or construction of roads…,” the Gandhi scion said.

In the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the BJP had promised that it would deposit Rs 15 lakh in the bank account of every citizen if it came to power.

Stating that lakhs of youngsters were jobless in the country, Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi never uttered a word about them.

He asked the Congress workers to “expose the lies” being propagated by the BJP.

“It is your responsibility to tell the public about the lies being said by the BJP. Also, tell the people of Amethi about the various development works done by us. Whether it is related to the highways, the rail line network, the food park, the IIIT or the petroleum institute,” the Congress chief said.

He also asked the party workers to tell the people about the work done by the Congress and what had been done by the Modi government.

Referring to Gujarat, Rahul Gandhi claimed that there was 30 lakh unemployed youth in the BJP-ruled state.

“They are demanding employment, but Modi is not saying anything (about it),” he said.

“However, I want to say one thing. Come what may, the food park will be set up here (in Amethi) and I will prove this…As soon as our government is formed, whether it is the sugarcane farmers, potato farmers or farmers who grow other crops, your product will be sold here and you will get a handsome price,” he added.

After the meeting, as the Congress president’s convoy was leaving the venue, some BJP workers raised slogans against him. A commotion ensued between the workers of the saffron party and Congress and the police had to intervene.

In the melee, Congress MLC from Rae Bareli Deepak Singh was seen engaged in a verbal exchange with Additional Superintendent of Police Shekhar Singh.

The Congress tweeted pictures of Gandhi “being warmly received” and interacting with people over tea at a ‘dhaba’. He was accompanied by Uttar Pradesh Congress President Raj Babbar.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi interacting with people over tea at a dhaba in #Nigohan on his way to #Amethi pic.x.com/syePM3qPnS

— Congress (@INCIndia) January 15, 2018

Middle-order batsman Tawhid Hridoy hit a superb century and Afif Hossain produced a fine all-round performance as Bangladesh defeated Canada by 66 runs to notch up their second victory in the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2018 and strengthened their chances of progressing to the Super League stage from Group C.

Tawhid scored 122 and Afif backed up his half-century with figures of five for 43 as Bangladesh successfully defended 264 for eight by dismissing Canada for 198 with three balls to spare. Bangladesh, who had finished third in the home event in 2016, had earlier beaten Namibia by 87 runs on the opening day of the tournament on Saturday.

In the other Group C match of the day, England launched their campaign with an emphatic eight-wicket victory over Namibia after Will Jacks  (73 not out) and Harry Brook (59 not out) added 130 runs for the unbroken third wicket in just under 15 overs as the 1998 champions achieved the 197-run target with more than half the quota of overs remaining.

Bangladesh v Canada

Bangladesh lost a couple of early wickets, after being put in to bat at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln, but Tawhid took the mantle on himself to see the team to a competitive score of 264 for eight in 50 overs.

He slammed nine fours and one six in a 126-ball 122 and also stitched two useful partnerships in the process. He added 62 for the second wicket with Mohammad Naim Sheikh (47, 67b, 5×4) and 111 for the third with Afif Hossain (50, 59b, 5×4, 1×6).

Canada fast bowler Faisal Jamkhandi was the pick of the bowlers, effective with both the new ball and the old. He finished with figures of 8-0-48-5 that included the important scalps of Pinak Ghosh (0) and Tawhid.

In reply, Canada were bowled out for 198 in 49.3 overs with captain Arslan Khan getting 63 off 108 balls and opener Pranav Sharma 34 off 58 balls.

Off-spinner Afif followed up his 59-ball 50 with figures of 10-0-43-5, while Hasan Mahmud took two for 23 as Canada were never to make a chase of it. Afif, for his outstanding all-round performance, was later adjudged player of the match.

Bangladesh captain Mohammad Saif Hassan was happy at his team’s performance:

“We played very well. First (we lost) two early wickets and then (there was) the recovery. Then we had some good batting partnerships Tawhid got a hundred and Afif got a fifty and we had a good score on the board. Then the bowlers did the job very well,” he said.

England v Namibia

Electing to bat first in Queenstown, Namibia could not get the partnerships going in the face of some tight bowling from the 1998 champions and were restricted to 196 for nine in 50 overs.

Shaun Fouche (44) and Nicol Loftie-Eaton (36) were the notable scorers as leg-spinner Luke Hollman led the England bowling with a haul of three for 41. Fast bowlers Tom Scriven and Harry Brook grabbed two wickets each conceding 30 and 32 runs, respectively.

Brook also got the winning runs later in the day as he partnered with Will Jacks in an unbroken 130-run stand. Number-four batsman Brook stroked a quick 48-ball 59 with 12 fours but number-five batsman Jacks overshadowed Brook with a brisk 44-ball 73 that comprised 12 fours and a six.

Jacks, who was later declared player of the match, said: “We have played these guys a few times before and knew what we were going to expect, we can now look to push forward from this to our game against Bangladesh on Thursday.

“For the first game of the tournament, you just like to hit the ground running and start with a good performance bat and ball, and we did that today. The captain has been playing very well recently, in South Africa and in the warmup game, he’s very important for us.”

Scores in brief:

Group C

England beat Namibia by eight wickets, John Davies Oval, Queenstown

Namibia 196-9, 50 overs (Shaun Fouche 44, Nicol Loftie-Eaton 36; Luke Hollman 3-41, Tom Sciver 2-30, Harry Brook 2-32)

England 198-2, 24.1 overs (Will Jacks 73 not out, Harry Brook 59 not out; Gerhard Lottering 2-33)

Player of the Match: Will Jacks (England)

Bangladesh beat Canada by 66 runs, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Christchurch

Bangladesh 264-8, 50 overs (Tawhid Hridoy 122, Afif Hossain 50, Mohammad Naim Sheikh 47; Faisal Jamkhandi 5-48)

Canada 198 all out, 49.3 overs (Arslan Khan 63, Pranav Sharma 34 Asif Hossain

Player of the Match: Afif Hossain (Bangladesh)

Tuesday’s fixtures:

India v Papua New Guinea, Bay Oval, Tauranga (Group B)

Ireland v Pakistan, Cobham Oval, Whangarei (Group D)

India and Israel on Monday inked nine pacts to boost cooperation in key areas, including cybersecurity after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu held extensive talks strengthen then ties in the strategic areas of defence and counter- terrorism.

Modi also invited Israeli defence companies to India for co-production in the sector.

India and Israel will strengthen the existing pillars of cooperation in areas such as agriculture, technology and security, Modi said at a joint media event with Netanyahu.

On his part, Netanyahu described Modi as a “revolutionary” leader.

“You are revolutionising India and also relations between India and Israel,” Netanyahu said, addressing Modi.

The two prime ministers, accompanied by their respective senior Cabinet colleagues, held delegation-level talks during which they also discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest.

Apart from a pact on cyber security, the agreements included cooperation in the oil and gas sector, film-co- production as well as amendments to an air transport pact.

Netanyahu, who arrived here yesterday, will also visit Ahmedabad and Mumbai during his six-day stay in India.

An adult female rhino was shot dead by poachers in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO declared World Heritage site, a senior Forest department official said on Monday.

Forest guards at Daflang camp under Bagore range of Kaziranga National Park heard two gunshots around 9.10 yesterday night and reacted immediately by firing six rounds in defence of the animals there, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Bikash Brahma told media here.

Brahma said because of the quick action of the forest guards the poachers could not take away the horn of the dead rhino.

A combing operation has been launched to trace the poachers who fled away, the senior official said.

The incident was the first case of rhino killing by poachers this year.

Last year five rhinos were killed by poachers in Kaziranga National Park while in 2016, 18 rhinos were killed by poachers and their horns taken away.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli shut down his critics with his batting, as he went on to score his 21st Test century in the first innings of the second Test match at Centurion on Monday. In the process, Kohli also equalled West Indian great Brian Lara’s record of 53 tons.

Kohli now has 32 ODI and 21 Test centuries in his international career. With 53 tons to their credit, Kohli along with Briana Lara is now seventh in the list of players with maximum number of centuries.

The 29-year-old cricketer, who is hailed as a batting genius and one of the best in business, already has many batting records to his credit. And now if he manages to score one more century in this series, he will equal the record of Sri Lankan legend Mahela Jayawardene, who has 54 tons from 654 matches to his name.

Earlier, South Africa scored 335 runs in their first innings, following which the visitors lost five wickets for 183 runs at the end of the second.

On third day, Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli came in to bat but soon Pandya was back into the pavilion, falling short of the crease. After Pandya ‘s departure, spin wizard Ravichandran Ashwin joined the skipper and till the filing of this report, India had scored 233 runs for six with R Ashwin (23 batting) and Virat Kohli (104 batting) at the crease.

At every Australian Open tennis great Ken Rosewall writes a heartfelt letter and leaves it for Roger Federer in the players’ locker room.

It’s just a short note on a single slip of paper in neat hand writing, which Rosewall gives to the doorman.

“I just write a simple half-page,” Rosewall told The Australian newspaper on Monday. “Good luck. Hope the family’s well. That’s the extent of it.

“My accreditation pass doesn’t allow me to get into the dressing room. I don’t want to invade his privacy or bother him at all, so I just figure I’ll write him a note.”

He said he had met Federer several times and would like to see more of him, “but obviously his time is pretty well taken care of”.

“He’s admired by millions of people, including me. He’s been winning major championships for a long time,” added 83- year-old Rosewall, who won eight Grand Slams.

“Now he’s 36 and still doing it. Now he’s still carrying himself the way he does. He’s done an amazing thing for tennis.”

Federer cherishes the Australian great’s letters and has spoken often about his affection for the game’s enduring legends.

“I think he’s a wonderful man. We don’t speak about him enough,” Federer told the newspaper.

“I love that generation of players with Tony Roche, Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson … I know Ken’s a few years older, but I know he had a tremendous career.

“So to be in the same break as these guys, it’s a great feeling. I love these guys.”

Rosewall won the 1972 Australian Open as a 37-year-old.

Federer is defending the title as a 36-year-old.

The UIDAI on Monday allowed face recognition as additional means of Aadhaar authentication to be used in combination with existing ways such as fingerprint or iris scan.

The move will enable easy authentication for those individuals who face a difficulty in other biometric authentication like fingerprint and iris.

The facility is being allowed only in a “fusion mode” that is along with other existing means of authentication, and will be available by July 1, 2018, an official release said.

“This facility is going to help in inclusive authentication of those who are not able to biometrically authenticate due to their worn out fingerprints, old age or hard work conditions,” the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said.

As of now, two modes of biometric authentication, fingerprint authentication and iris authentication, are allowed under Aadhaar.

“The face authentication provides additional option for all residents to have inclusive authentication. It shall be allowed only in fusion mode along with one more authentication factor combined with either fingerprint or iris or OTP to be able to successfully authenticate an Aadhaar number holder,” UIDAI said.

The new method will also be allowed “on need basis”.

Today’s move comes close on the heels of the biggest overhaul of Aadhaar system by the UIDAI last week when it allowed individuals to create and use a virtual ID to avoid sharing their unique identity numbers, when using government and other services.

Users will, from March 1, have the option of generating a 16-digit virtual identity mapped to their Aadhaar number that can be shared with telecom companies and others at the time of authenticating their identity.

From June 1, 2018, it will be compulsory for all agencies, which undertake authentication, to accept the virtual IDs from their users.

As many as 119 crore biometric identifiers have been issued so far, and Aadhaar is required as an identity proof of residents by various government and non-government entities.

For instance, the government has made it mandatory for verifying bank accounts and PAN to weed out black money and bring unaccounted wealth to book.

The same for SIM cards has been mandated to establish the identity of mobile phone users.

Friends is counted among classic American TV shows which is loved by the fans till death. A Friends fan cannot miss giving show references for any real life events and it is because they remember almost each and every scene and dialogues that cast has ever said. So, when a TV show audience who remembers it vividly, sees any ‘copied’ scene they definitely know it. Friends fanatics if you have missed to notice anything copied from the show in Bollywood, we are here to remind you. Here is list of five scenes from Bollywood that were copied from Friends.

Salaam Namaste

One where Saif and Arshad remind us of Joey and Chandler’s chairs, yes one which Joey loved and named Rosita. You must remember the scene where both of them try out their new comfortable chairs. The scene was impersonated by Saif and Arshad in the film when Saif visits Arshad’s new home.

Salaam Namaste

In the same flim, the last scene where Preity Zinta is about to deliver a baby will totally remind you of the episode ‘one where Rachel has a baby.’ Check out to find the similarities.

Heroes

Film featuring Sohail Khan and Vatsal Seth also had an iconic scene from the sitcom. Remember, Ross’ New Year resolution to wear leather pants? This scene was totally ripped off by this film as Vatsal gets stuck with his sweaty leather pants on a date night.

Jann-e-mann

This is not a scene but the whole look of a character. We can also call it inspired as they totally picked Ross’ look for Akshay Kumar’s nerdy character. Here is the picture.

Jann-e-Mann

Remember when Joey wanted to kiss Janine on New Year’s night and splashed water on the ‘tall guy.’ Exactly, same thing happens in a scene where Salman Khan does it.

Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya

The last is the major one. The last scene is exactly same as the episode ‘Last one’ — one where Rachel makes everybody panic as Pheobe informs her that there is no ‘phalange’ in the plane. That was epic.

A man was shot dead in Prashant Vihar area of Delhi on Monday morning. As per reports, the victim had come in a car and was having some snacks outside an eatery in the market.

The assailants came in another car and opened indiscriminate firing at him, killing him on the spot. As per reports, about two-dozen bullets were pumped into the victim. The backside registration plate of the assailants’ car was missing, eyewitnesses said.

The victim couldn’t be identified till the filing of the report. Shopkeepers informed the police and cops were investigating the case.

All the judges of the Supreme Court met here informally on Monday, leading Attorney General K.K. Venugopal to claim that the crisis in the country’s top court “has been settled”.

“There was an informal meeting in the morning (before the commencement of the court). Now everything has been settled,” Venugopal told the media.

Also Read, SC crisis: Attorney General Venugopal says everything ‘okay’

An unprecedented crisis engulfed the Supreme Court after four senior-most judges went public questioning the functioning of the top court in a direct attack on Chief Justice Dipak Misra.

“The full court met (today morning). It seems that everything is settled. Everything is hunky-dory,” said a source privy to the development.

Bollywood producer and entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala doesn’t mince words to censure the practice of selling satellite rights and rights to a digital medium before a film opens in theatres.

He says producers are “killing the industry” by adopting this business model, as it is a big threat to the existence of theatres in India.

“The problem is that a lot of producers have screwed up the windows (of business) and that is the threat. The threat is when some producers decide that ‘I am not sure about the movie so I will pre-sell it. I will sell it to Netflix and it will come on the platform in four weeks and then I will sell it to Star, Zee or Sony and it will come on TV in the next five weeks,” Screwvala told IANS in an interview here.

“I am saying that if you are not sure about the movie, then why to make it?” he questioned.

There’s a lot of money involved in making a film, and the trend continues with the makers securing exclusive deals running in crores by selling satellite television rights and partnering with a digital medium.

“This is killing the industry,” Screwvala asserted.

“There are two reasons that you as an audience will go to the theatre. One is when you love the trailer and secondly, word of mouth. The reason you wouldn’t go to the movie theatre despite liking the trailer is when you know the film will come in some medium in the next three weeks.

“If you feel that the film should be watched on the big screen, then I will go. Otherwise, I will watch it in three weeks. I will be choosy. That window is the single biggest problem happening in the space.

“Hollywood films are doing better in India because they don’t put their movies on any platform for six months. It should be the same with Bollywood.”

Screwvala, the former Disney UTV managing director, is the brain behind RSVP — his motion picture company, co-founder of UpGrad, an ed-tech startup, Swades Foundation and he has also attached his creative vision to UCypher, a multi-platform eSports league.

He has joined hands with global streaming video service Netflix to release his “Love Per Square Foot”, which features Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar.

Talking about the move, he said: “What I have done is that when I want to sell it Netflix, I will keep the window there only. And when I want to go to theatres, then I will opt for that way.”

He said: “People should be straightforward about the fact that ‘I don’t expect you to watch it in theatre, so I am going to the digital medium’.

“The other way is killing everything. Multiplexes won’t be able to grow and we need them. We need to co-exist.”

As a producer, he is backing diverse subjects. “Uri” tells a story of India’s surgical strike on terrorist hubs in Pakistan; then there’s a film set in the world of blind cricket; and a biopic on veteran advocate-politician Ram Jethmalani. He is also co-producing “Salute”, a biopic on India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma.

Screwvala says he wants to tell stories that need to be told.

“And stories that with reality and contextuality,” he said, adding that he hopes to create franchises with his projects.

The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group said on Monday it was working to create a 30,000-strong border security force in northern Syria, drawing sharp condemnation from Turkey.

With the offensive against IS winding down, the coalition and its allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance were beginning to shift their focus to border security, coalition spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon told AFP.

“There is a goal of a final force of approximately 30,000,” about half of whom would be retrained SDF fighters, he said.

“There are approximately 230 individuals that are training right now in the border security force. That’s an inaugural class,” Dillon said.

Backed by the US-led coalition’s air strikes, special forces advisers, and weapons, the SDF has ousted IS from swathes of northeastern Syria.

Its Kurdish and Arab members now control territory bordering Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east and Syrian government forces to the west.

Turkey reacted sharply to news of the border force today, saying it would “legitimise a terror organisation”.

Ankara is fiercely opposed to the SDF, which is dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) – considered by the Turkish government to be a “terrorist” group.

“Rather than end its support to the PYD-YPG, these steps taken to legitimise a terror organisation and to make it permanent in the region are worrying,” said Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“Accepting this state of affairs is absolutely not possible,” Kalin added.

Top SDF media official Mustefa Bali confirmed the creation of the border force, and said training had already begun.

“We are transitioning to a new phase of coordination between us and the international coalition,” Bali told AFP.

“The wide areas and cities that were liberated need someone to protect them.”

Bali said the new units would be deployed along the Turkish border and adjacent to territory held by Syrian troops, but did not immediately respond to a question on rules of engagement in those areas.

Turkey has often targeted YPG positions in northern Syria and on Sunday, Erdogan threatened to attack the Kurdish-held area of Afrin in northern Syria “in the days ahead”.

The SDF’s relationship with regime forces is less tense.

Since last year, a “de-confliction line” cutting diagonally across eastern Syria has largely kept the two forces from clashing.

There was no immediate reaction from the Syrian government to the border force announcement.

The coalition declined to comment on possible military protocol when it came to Turkish or regime troops.

Dillon said the force was primarily part of a broader strategy to “prevent the resurgence of IS”.

“With the fight against IS, as the remaining pocket continues to go away, we know that doesn’t mean the end of Daesh,” he told AFP, using the Arabic acronym for IS.

“We’ll have to make sure that there is security that can be maintained,” he said.

Dillon said SDF troops in Syria’s east were already coordinating with Iraqi forces across the border to target any “transient movement” by IS fighters between the two countries.