Andy Murray announced he had hip surgery in Australia and is hoping to return to competitive tennis in time for the grasscourt season midway through the year.

The 30-year-old Scot has not played competitively since being knocked out of the Wimbledon quarter-finals last year and last week withdrew from this month’s Australian Open.

“Today I underwent successful right hip surgery at the St Vincent Hospital in Melbourne,” the former World No.1 said on Facebook.

“I’d like to thank Dr John O’Donnell and all of the staff for looking after me. I look forward to returning to competitive tennis during the grasscourt season. Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and support over the last few days. I’ll come back from this.”

The three-time Grand Slam champion, who dislodged Novak Djokovic from the top of the rankings towards the end of 2016, has slipped to 19th in the world due to his lengthy lay-off.

He first felt pain in his right hip during his French Open semi-final loss to Swiss Stan Wawrinka in June.

The grasscourt season starts after the French Open, with the first event taking place in Stuttgart, Germany, from June 11.

Murray is a two-time Wimbledon winner and has been champion at Queen’s in London on five occasions, both of which are played on grass courts.

The BBC reported that he hopes to be hitting balls on court in about seven or eight weeks and has been given a timescale of 14 weeks as a guide for a return.

But Murray said he is not “interested in coming back for a specific tournament”, in comments reported by the BBC.

“My plan is to be back playing around the grass-court season — potentially before then — but I’m certainly not going to rush anything,” he said. “I want to know when I come back that I’m ready.”

“The surgeon felt that my hip will be feeling better than it did a year ago,” Murray added. “Obviously, I was still doing fine a year ago — I was ranked No.1 in the world.

“I’m certainly not going to be putting in the same amount of tournaments and effort to try to get to number one in the world. I’ll be playing a reduced schedule, and then focusing more on trying to win major events and big tournaments rather than trying to achieve certain ranking goals.”

A host of top names are battling to be fit for the first Grand Slam of the year, which starts in Melbourne on January 15.

Japan’s Kei Nishikori has already pulled out and World No.1 Rafael Nadal and six-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic remain huge doubts, having yet to play a competitive match this year.

Former champion Stan Wawrinka and Canada’s Milos Raonic are also returning from injuries but intend to play in Melbourne.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore to deepen India’s ties with key ASEAN countries has been productive, an official said on Monday.

Swaraj was in Singapore on the last leg of the 5-day tour.

“Bidding farewell to the Lion City #Singapore. EAM @SushmaSwaraj emplanes for Delhi after a productive 5-day visit to Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore to deepen our relationship with key ASEAN countries,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Her three-nation visit was the part of New Delhi’s efforts to hold bilateral interactions in various sectors with the countries of South East Asian region within the framework of India’s Act East Policy.

During her visit, Swaraj addressed the Indian diaspora at the ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) in Singapore and reaffirmed India’s commitment to the ASEAN.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is India’s 4th largest trading partner, accounting for 10.2 per cent of its total trade.

India is the ASEAN’s 7th largest trading partner.

The ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean on Sunday said his country could provide a good base for Indian companies as a civil aviation, trading and financial hub.

Going by the popular mood in Rajasthan, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia on Monday said Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s movie ‘Padmavati’, now rechristened as ‘Padmavat’, will not be released in the cinema halls of the state.

“The sacrifice by Queen Padmini (also known as Padmavati) is a matter of honour and respect for all of us and hence we will not allow anyone to show disrespect to this honour,” Scindia added further.

Queen Padmini, she said, “is not just a historical character for us, but a pride for all of us and we will not allow anyone to disrespect this pride in any away”.

Scindia has also written to state Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria in this regard.

Bhansali’s period saga Padmavati, which was mired in controversy, is finally going to see the light of day and it will now be released on January 25 as Padmavat across the country but not in Rajasthan.

Vasundhara Raje said the film would not be released in the state “respecting the sentiments of the people of Rajasthan”.

“Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has already written to Smriti Irani (Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting) in this regard. As it touches the emotions of people of Rajasthan, we will not allow it to be released in Rajasthan,” Home Minister Kataria told media persons.

Replying to a question as to why it was being released in India then, he said that the controversial part had been removed from the film.

“Although no one has seen it as of now, the CBFC (Central Board for Film Certification) and producer are claiming the same (removal of controversial part). Once it is released, the facts will come to the fore,” he added.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Ashok Parnami also said that the film Padmawat would not be released in Rajasthan.

“If there is tampering with the history in any film that affects the sentiments of people of Rajasthan, then it will not be released in the state,” he added.

Later in the day, the Rajput Samaj also called a press conference to announce that the central as well as the state governments would lose a major share of their vote bank if they chose to allow the release of the controversial film.

Rajpur Sabha chief Giriraj Singh Lotwada said: “Queen Padmini is our honour and we will not allow our honour to be desecrated at any cost.”

Shri Rajput Karni Sena, however, still remains firm on its stand, disallowing release of the movie. It is now demanding that the names of the characters in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie be changed.

Global fashion retailer H&M had to apologise on Monday after it was accused of being racist for using a black child to model a sweatshirt with a “coolest monkey in the jungle” slogan.

After facing the ire of hundreds of people on social media, the company removed the ad from its website. It continues to sell the hooded top online, CNN reported.

“This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologise to anyone this may have offended,” said H&M (HNNMY) spokeswoman Anna Eriksson.

“In the year 2018, there’s no way brands/art directors can be this negligent and lack awareness…. We have to do better,” designer Alex Medina said on Twitter.

It is not for the first time that a popular brand has come under fire over racist advertising. In October last year, Unilever-owned Dove was also forced to apologise for a social media post that showed a black woman and read “missed the mark”.

The post showed an image of a black woman removing her brown t-shirt to turn into a white woman.

In April 2018, Nivea, part of German skincare group Beiersdorf (BDRFF), had to remove an ad that ran with a slogan “white is purity”, after facing severe criticism on social media.

As Italy took on the six-month chairmanship of a multi-donor peace fund, its Ambassador to Myanmar urged an international diplomatic push for peace in the southeast Asian nation, the foreign ministry said on Monday.

“I believe that pressing ahead with the peace process is of the essence for the future of Myanmar,” Pier Giorgio Aliberti said after Italy became chairman of the Joint Peace Fund Board (JFP).

“I also believe the resolution of ethnic conflicts, which have been going on for too long, will be a key step to ensure the development of the country.

“In this respect the people of Myanmar will have to face important challenges, but the international community is ready to support the government and all those involved in laying the ground for national reconciliation by constructive dialogue,” he said.

Aliberti’s comments came as over 650,000 Rohingya Muslims fled from Myanmar to neigbouring Bangladesh amid a military crackdown that the United Nations has called a “textbook example” of ethnic cleansing.

The crisis is threatening Myanmar’s hard-won democratic transition, its stability, and that of Bangladesh and the region as a whole, according to analysts.

Italy has contributed $3 million dollars to the JFP, which was set up in 2015 with contributions by Australia, Canada, Denmark, European Union, Finland, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Britain, the US and Japan and was then opened to more donors.

During its mandate, Italy is determined to encourage dialogue, enhance JPF visibility at local and international level, and assess the results in terms of individual projects and the fund’s overall contribution to the Myanmar peace process, the foreign ministry said.

After Bahrain, Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s next foreign trip would be to countries like Canada and Singapore followed by another one to the Middle East.

Gandhi visited Bahrain as a part of his outreach to the Indian diaspora. His outreach is seen as a move to popularize the Congress among the Indian diaspora.

He said this during an interactive session with the Indian diaspora in Bahrain.

“In fact I was speaking to Sam (Sam Pitroda) in the car today, and that’s exactly what we said that one of the places we really need to go is Canada.

“Sam and Milind (Deora) are organising a set of trips to different parts of the world. We are going to do one to Canada, we are going to do one to Singapore and we are going to do another one to the Middle East. So, we are looking forward to that. And we will be in Canada, we will come and have a chat with you in Canada,” Gandhi said in a reply on being asked about his plans to visit Canada.

Gandhi on Monday met Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Foreign Minister Prince Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa and discussed ways to develop sports and cricket ties between the two countries.

Twenty nine people were killed by cyclone Ava that hit Madagascar from Friday to Sunday, officials said on Monday.

The National Office of Risks and Disasters Management (BNGRC) said in its provisional report that 22 people are still missing, while 17,170 have been displaced.

Five national roads were cut while 17 health centers were destroyed, Xinhua reported.

BNGRC said in the report that 3,191 hectares of rice fields are totally flooded in the capital Madagascar.

The cyclone hit the eastern part of Madagascar on Friday and left the country on Sunday by continuing its trajectory to the southeast off the country with an average speed of 15 km per hour.

State-run Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has announced its plans to set off its accumulated losses with funds from its share premium account.

In a release late on Monday, IOB said it intends using Rs 7,650 crore in its share premium account to write off its accumulated losses worth Rs 6,978.94 crore. The decision, approved by the bank board last week, will now be put to vote at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on January 30.

“The Bank proposes to utilise the balance in its share premium account as at 31.03.2017 of Rs 7650.06 crore to set off its accumulated losses on that date of Rs 6978.94 crore so as to present a true and fair view of the financial position of the Bank,” the statement said.

“Necessary approvals have been obtained. The Bank is convening an extraordinary general meeting on 30.01.2018 for the purpose of obtaining the approval of the shareholders for the proposal,” it added.

According to IOB, the bank is only setting off its losses to strengthen its balance sheet and and not writing these off .

“The proposed utilisation of share premium account to set off accumulated losses is a balance sheet neutral action. Book value of shares, Bank’s net worth, equity capital structure and shareholding pattern will all remain unchanged,” it said.

“No reduction in the paid-up share capital of the Bank Ais contemplated in the proposal . Capital adequacy ratios will not be impacted thereby.”

IOB has recently been brought under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s prompt corrective action (PCA) framework which forces banks to increase recoveries of bad loans, reduce risky loans and strengthen their capital base, among other measures, in order to improve their balance sheet position .

The RBI has brought 11 state-run banks, including IOB, IDBI Bank, Allahabad Bank, Central Bank of India, UCO Bank and Bank under the PCA owing to their weak financial health caused by the huge accumulation of non performing assets (NPAs), or Abad loans.

The operational restriction at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), as part of security requirements for the upcoming Republic Day, have been relaxed for two days, said an official on Monday.

Accordingly, the operational restriction has been reduced to seven days from the earlier nine days.

Airport sources told IANS that landing and takeoff would not be allowed from 10.35 a.m to 12.15 p.m during January 18-26, excluding January 19 and 25.

“The NOTAM (Notice to Airmen), which was issued earlier regarding the operational restrictions from January 18-26 has been tweaked,” said the official.

“Airlines have been asked to submit a new flight schedule in consonance with the changes made.”

The changes were discussed during a meeting held between the IGIA operator — DIAL — and other stakeholders of the airport, including airlines and Air Traffic Control (ATC) to chalk out an operations plan for the “NOTAM period”.

However, even the reduced period under the NOTAM will call for truncation of flight operations. On an average, the airport handles over 65 movements per hour which includes domestic and international flights.

It is, therefore, expected that around 600 flights will either be cancelled or re-scheduled.

Highlighting how job creation in India is at an eight-year-low, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the two threats facing India under the Narendra Modi government are inability to create jobs and the rise in the forces of hatred and division.

Addressing the Indian diaspora in Bahrain here, he said: “Tragically the conversation in our country today is not about jobs, healthcare or education. The only thing India talks about is what you are allowed to eat, who is allowed to protest and what we can say or rather what we cannot say.

“India today is free, but once again it is under threat. There are two clear threats facing our country today. The first is our government’s inability to provide jobs for our people. Our main competitor China produces 50,000 jobs every 24 hours. India currently produces 400 jobs in the same amount of time.”

“It is an important figure. What China does in two days, it takes India one year to do. These are not my figures, these are figures of the government of India given in the Parliament. Job creation in India is at an eight-year-low,” Gandhi said in his address at an event organised by Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin.

“New investments have been lowest in 13 years. Bank credit growth has sunk to a 63-year low. To make matters worse, many in the Indian diaspora have lost hard-earned money because of arbitrary decisions like demonetisation. It landed a crippling blow to India’s overall economic growth. The fact is that India can simply not afford this,” he added.

Underlining India was the second-most populous country with 30,000 new youngsters coming daily into India’s job market, he said that not providing education and jobs to these youngsters was “a recipe for disaster”.

“The government’s failure to creating jobs is resulting in tremendous anger and unrest in India. The youth are asking a very simple question, what are we going to do in future. This anger is visible in the streets and is rising rapidly,” he said, adding the “tragedy” is that instead of focusing on what is critical issues like poverty alleviation, job creation and building a world class education system, “we see instead rise in the forces of hatred and division”.

Gandhi also said that activists and journalists are threatened in India. “They are shot dead for expressing their views. People are killed because of their religious beliefs, Dalits are beaten into submission, judges investigating sensitive cases die under mysterious circumstances. And through all this the government has nothing to say.”

Claiming India has been taken off its path of progress, he said: “We need to bring our conversation back from violence and hatred to one of progress, jobs and love between our people. And we cannot do that at home without our largest skill base on the planet – all you people in this room.

“Together, we must steer India back to its original strengths, we need to make India the centrepiece of ahimsa, of non-violence, of compassion.”

He also said that he was in Bahrain for a purpose and that is “to tell you what you mean to your country”.

“That you are important. To tell you that there is a serious problem at home, to tell you that you are part of the solution and that I am here to build the bridge between your world and home,” he added.

National People’s Party (NPP) supremo Conrad K. Sangma on Monday voiced confidence that his party will replace the ruling Congress government in Meghalaya after the assembly elections.

“NPP would not be the single largest party but the single majority in the 2018 election,” Sangma said at a rally for party candidate Sniawbhalang Dhar.

Dhar, who severed ties with the Congress and joined NPP, had served as a cabinet minister in Mukul Sangma-led government before he was sacked last year for his anti-party activities.

Sangma said that the NPP has prepared a road map and a mission document for the state, which encompasses all the important issues for the welfare of the people.

Predicting the defeat of the Congress, he said that there was a time when it used to rule in 18 states, but has been reduced to four states and the 2018 assembly election, loose Meghalaya as well.

“Not just the people have lost faith and confidence in Congress but even their leaders – former Chief Minister D.D.Lapang, Deputy Chief Minister Roytre Christopher Laloo and Health and Family Welfare Minister Roshan Warjri (who have announced their retirement) – are not confident and opted not to contest the elections,” he said.

The NPP, an ally of the BJP-led NDA central government, has two members in the Meghalaya Assembly. It is also supporting the BJP-led government in Manipur.

The Central government on Monday asked the Supreme Court to put on hold its December 2016 order making mandatory the playing of national anthem in cinema halls and the audience to stand up during its rendition.

Telling the top court that it has set-up an inter-ministerial committee for framing guidelines describing occasions and circumstances in which the national anthem is to be played or sung and the observance of proper decorum, it said that it would require extensive discussions on wide ranging issues.

Telling the court that the committee has been asked to submit report with its recommendations in six months, the Centre urged the top court to put on hold its direction vis-a-vis playing of national anthem in cinema halls.

The Supreme Court may consider restoration of “status quo ante until then”, that is restoration of the position as it stood before the December 2016 order.

The matter will come up for hearing on Tuesday.

The government stand comes as a total summersault of its previous stand on the issue.

The Supreme Court, on October 23, asked the government to consider amending the national flag code for regulating the playing of national anthem in cinema halls across the country.

And while Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, who was a member of the bench along with Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A.M. Khnawilkar, questioned the logic behind the order, saying there is no need for an Indian to “wear his patriotism on his sleeve”, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, said India was a diverse country and the national anthem needs to be played in the cinema halls to bring in unity.

A court here on Monday declared controversial defence consultant and arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari a “proclaimed offender” in an Official Secrets Act case.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat declared Bhandari as proclaimed offender as the accused failed to appear before him despite lapse of 30 days.

The Crime Branch of Delhi Police told the court that it had published the proclamation of accused in the newspaper but the accused did not mark his presence.

The Delhi Police booked him for alleged violation of the Official Secrets Act in 2016.

Aam Aadmi Party’s victorious Rajya Sabha candidate Sanjay Singh on Monday said that he along with N.D. Gupta and Sushil Gupta will be the voice of the people of Delhi who till now didn’t have a say in the “biggest temple of democracy” (upper house of the Parliament).

The party made its debut entry in the Rajya Sabha when its three candidates were elected unopposed from Delhi.

Chartered accountant and AAP Accounts Manager N.D. Gupta’s candidature was challenged by the Congress saying he held an office of profit but the complaint was quashed by Returning Officer Nidhi Srivastava.

After getting ‘Certificate of Election’ confirming their election to the Upper House, the three jointly addressed a press conference where they said that they will raise the issues of the people of Delhi.

“Our first and foremost priority is to stand for the rights of the people of Delhi in the Rajya Sabha by being a voice to their issues that have been long pending due to the many hurdles created by the Lt Governor (Anil Baijal) and the Centre,” said Singh.

He named electricity, education, health, and the security system among the areas which “can be worked on in a better way now”.

Singh also committed that his party would be a voice to the plight of farmers and the youth of this country. “Everyday, farmers are committing suicide. The youth is unemployed.”

He further spoke about the initiatives taken by the AAP-led Delhi government in the education sector, “appreciated by people everywhere but not the LG”.

N.D. Gupta thanked the party, it’s Chief Arvind Kejriwal “for having faith” in him, while businessman Sushil Gupta said that they will put across the issues of the poorest to the central government.

He also said that Delhi being the capital should be “beautiful” as it hosts a huge number of people from abroad.

The election to the three Rajya Sabha seats from Delhi was necessitated as the tenure of the Congress members now holding the membership is set to expire later this month.

The AAP came to power in Delhi in February 2015 but has been caught up in a running feud with the city’s centrally-nominated administrator, the Lt Governor. The AAP is also the main opposition party in both the Punjab Assembly and the municipal corporation in Delhi.

It has four members in the Lok Sabha, all elected from Punjab, but only two are loyal to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Speaker of the state Assembly, Biman Banerjee today said while the Assembly cannot function without a “ strong opponent” creating “disruption” mid-session and staging “ walk out” to gain media attention is not “ desirable”. The Speaker was addressing several college and school students at a mock-parliament session where these institutions were competing against each other.

“The Assembly functions with the ruling and the Opposing party. Democracy is strengthened only when the Assembly has a strong Opposition. It is the duty of the Opposition to point out the mistakes of the government,” he said.

In the same breath the Speaker condemned “walk out” and “boycott” staged by the Opponent.

“ There is tendency to disrupt the ongoing discussions and halt the session. This does not paint a pro-democratic picture. Once the Opposition boycotts the session the media too follows,” he said in an obvious reference to the repeated instances of walk out.

Reacting to the Speaker, the Leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan said,“The Speaker is right in saying that the Assembly functions with a strong Opposition party. Just as the Speaker fulfils his duty, the duty of the Opposition is to oppose and criticise the government’s actions that demand scrutiny . We are just not there to praise every action of the government.”

The veteran politician Mr Mannan also rued that while a good debate in Assembly largely goes unnoticed by the media and the public,politicians who “dance around atop tables” are widely “reported”.

“The general notion is that these misbehaving politicians are doing a great work.”

The Speaker also addressed the charges levied against him of exhibiting preference to members of the ruling party by the Opposition.

Speaking at length about the work of the Speaker, he said, “Sometimes the Opposition is not satisfied and allege that I play favouritism when the session is on. However, I have to clear my stand that there are rules laid down even for the Speaker and we have to adhere to that. This chair I hold cannot satisfy everyone.”

State parliamentary affairs minister who at one time had essayed the role of the Leader of Opposition said, “I have been on both sides, what I feel is, the number of heads who make up an Opposition do not matter. The point raised and the criticism made against the government should be reasonable.”

Mr Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has been retained as the PCC president. The AICC, it was learnt has not made any changes in the organisational structure in state unit, thereby leaving the simmering intra-party differences unresolved.

The decision of keeping the party portfolio holders unchanged is a pointer to the newly elected AICC president Rahul Gandhi’s style of functioning.

It is going to be consensus rather than confrontation, a senior leader said lest some of the leaders defect.

Leaving the PCC chief unchanged comes at a time when several leaders of the party expressed their difference with his policies. But reposing its faith on Chowdhury’s leadership, the AICC has made it clear that it does not yet want to reshuffle the organisational structure in the state.

Armed with the AICC’s blessings, Mr Chowdhury’s tenure so far was marked by hits and misses ever since the state Assembly elections last year.

An electoral understanding with the CPI-M-led Left Front saw state Congress emerge as the principal Opposition party in the state.

Though the PCC chief and other senior leaders supported the candidature of Abdul Mannan as leader of the Oppostion in the state Assembly over Dr Manas Bhunia, differences have cropped up between Mr Chowdhury and Mr Mannan.

By expressing his unhappiness about the lack of intitiative on part of the state unit led by the Behrampore MP in launching agitations and lack of co-ordination in the campaign for the coming by-elections, Mannan has made no secret of his reservations.

Moreover, several leaders felt that the PCC chief has not been able to play a pro-active role to prevent some of the newly elected Congress from joining Trinamul Congress. While the leader of the Opposition has moved court in this matter, no remarkable endeavour of the PCC chief was discernible.

On the other hand, two state Congress delegations gave memorandum to govenor, Keshari Nath Tripathi in a space of few days with almost identical grievances. One of them was led by Mr Mannan and another by Mr Chowdhury, thereby bringing their difference out in the open.

A change in the top leadership of AICC was viewed to be a sign of sweeping changes in the organisational structures whose weakness was bemoaned by Mr Gandhi on several occassions.
But the decision to maintain a status quo in the party structure is an indication that despite complaints piling up, the national leadership is unlikely to make major changes in a hurry.

A major fire swept through a resto-bar located in a 70-year-old building in a busy area in the city, killing five employees in their sleep early today, police said.

The blaze broke out in Kailash Bar and Restaurant on the ground floor of the Kumbara Sangha (potters association) building at Kalasipalya around 2.30 a.m., when smoke was noticed and fire brigade alerted by some persons nearby, police said.

“Fire services were pressed into action.. Two fire tenders and one fire rescue vehicle attended to it and it has been doused…The cause of the fire is not known and is being investigated,” a senior police officer said.

Resto-bar owner V R Dayashankar who went absconding after the incident was later arrested, police said.

Karnataka home minister Ramalinga Reddy told reporters at the spot that it was the responsibility of the owner to look after the safety of his employees. Reddy also said the city civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) should have ensured safety. “BBMP and excise department should have looked into the safety aspect of the building. The owner should have also considered whether to allow his employees to stay in the building.”

Police suspect that though the owner was the licence holder to run the business, he had leased it to someone else.

The victims were identified as Swami (23), Prasad (20), Mahesh, all natives of Tumakaru, Manjunath (45) from Hassan and Keerthi (24) from Mandya.

Bengaluru Development minister K J George who visited the spot along with Mayor R Sampath Raj announced a compensation of Rs five lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased. Condoling the deaths, George said, “Whoever is guilty in the incident will not be spared.”

“This is a 70-year old building where the incident happened.. We’ll wait for the forensic and postmortem report.. It appears all the five died of suffocation,” he said. Sampath Raj said the BBMP will carry out fire safety audit of all high rise and commercial buildings.