Mark Sifneos cancelled out Marcelinho’s goal to give Kerala Blasters FC a vital draw (1-1) against FC Pune City in the Indian Super League season four battle at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Thursday.

The victory helped Kerala Blasters, which sees the return of David James as head coach, take the eighth spot in the ISL points table while Pune City moved on top.

Kerala Blasters, last year’s finalists, are still winless in three matches but home fans will be happy to see a more direct approach bring some positive moments in a match that could have gone either way.

Marcelinho played a neat give-and-go with Ashique Kuruniyan, opened his body towards his left side and produced a neat finish in the 33rd minute to give the visitors a well-deserved lead.

But Kerala’s equaliser, which came in the 73rd minute, was equally well worked.

Courage Pekuson escaped his marker down the left and made the right decision to cut it back for Sifneos. The Dutchman took it first time with his left foot – kept it low – and applied enough power to beat goalkeeper Vishal Kaith.

The first belonged to Pune, and suspended coach Ranko Popovic, watching from the stands, will be disappointed that his side were not a few goals ahead at the break.

Pune started in thunderous fashion, with Adil Khan’s header across the face of the goal going abegging.

Then Emiliano Alfaro took a sharp shot after a quick turn before making a decoy run down the right to allow Marcelinho space through the middle.

The resulting shot was wide though. The pressure was telling when Kerala goalkeeper Subhasish Roy Chowdhury spilled a harmless shot only to see Lalruatthara save blushes with a timely clearance.

Sandesh Jhingan’s excellent defence came to the fore again when he had to stop two fine chances for the visitors. He blocked a speeding Alfaro first before stopping Jonathan Lucca who was also through on goal. Two excellently timed challenges personified his abilities.

The second half was not as open as the first, with Kerala’s defence tightening after what must have been a fiery half-time team talk. In fact, in the last quarter of an hour, they produced some scintillating football going forward.

Barely two minutes after it was 1-1, Pekuson made a run down the right, his dummy beat his marker and the rebound from the impending pass found Sifneos. This time though, Kaith came off his line quickly to smother the ball.

But it was the chance in the 88th minute that really should have given Kerala three points. Pekuson, playing in a free role, bulldozed through the middle but his fizzing shot went wide from about 10 yards out.

The crowd held its breath, expecting a winner, but that’s as far as it got.

Apple users spent a record $300 million on purchasing or downloading apps and games from App Store on January 1 — the biggest ever since App Store’s launch in July 2008.

During the week starting on Christmas Eve, customers spent over $890 million in purchases or downloaded apps in that seven-day period, the Cupertino-based iPhone maker said on Friday.

“We are thrilled with the reaction to the new App Store and to see so many customers discovering and enjoying new apps and games,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing.

“In 2017 alone, iOS developers earned $26.5 billion a” more than a 30 per cent increase over 2016,” Schiller added.

Since the App Store’s launch, iOS developers have earned over $86 billion.

Pokemon GO went back to the top of the App Store charts on December 21 with the introduction of new Augmented Reality (AR) features, built on Apple’s ARKit framework for more detailed and realistic gameplay.

“Customers are now enjoying close to 2,000 ARKit-enabled apps spanning every category on the App Store,” Apple said.

Among the most popular AR titles are games such as “CSR Racing 2”, “Stack AR” and “Kings of Pool”; shopping apps like Amazon and Wayfair; education apps including “Night Sky” and “Thomas & Friends Minis”; and social media apps including Pitu and Snapchat.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s personal challenge for 2018 is to “fix Facebook” when it comes to dealing with abuse and hate, fake news or interference by nation-states on the platform.

In a post late Thursday, Zuckerberg said the world feels anxious and divided and Facebook has a lot of work to do when it comes to protect its over 2 billion-strong community.

“My personal challenge for 2018 is to focus on fixing these important issues. We won’t prevent all mistakes or abuse, but we currently make too many errors enforcing our policies and preventing misuse of our tools. If we’re successful this year then we’ll end 2018 on a much better trajectory,” he posted.

Facebook last year told US lawmakers that 126 million of its users might have seen content produced and circulated by Russian operatives during the 2016 US election.

Facebook, along with Twitter, has also been warned of sanctions if it fails to provide all the necessary information to a British Parliamentary committee investigating Russian interference in the European Union referendum.

Facebook has time until January 18 to hand over information the committee has requested.

According to Zuckerberg, the current issues touch on questions of history, civics, political philosophy, media, government and technology.

“I’m looking forward to bringing groups of experts together to discuss and help work through these topics,” he said.

The Facebook CEO also said he will “make sure that time spent on Facebook is time well spent”.

Facebook recently introduced Messenger Kids for under-13 children to video chat and message with family and friends when they can’t be together in person.

Joining the chorus against the messaging app exclusively for kids from Facebook, British Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned the social media giant to stay away from his children.

“Facebook told me they would come back with ideas to prevent underage use of their product, but instead they are actively targeting younger children.

“Stay away from my kids please Facebook and act responsibly!” Hunt tweeted.

Rolled out in the US for the moment, Messenger Kids is a stand-alone app that will be available on kids’ tablets or smartphones but can be controlled from a parent’s Facebook account.

“Not sure this is the right direction at all,” Hunt tweeted.

Britain recently said it will set the minimum standards for the content for younger users that social media giants, including Facebook and Twitter, have on their platform.

Mumbai Rockets trumped Awadhe Warriors 3-2 (4-1 on points) to stay alive in the Premier Badminton League (PBL) at the BBD UPBA here on Thursday.

Going into the final encounter of the evening, the Mumbai trump men’s doubles duo of Lee Yong Dae/Tan Boon Heong beat Awadhe’s Hendra Setiawan/Or Chin Chung 15-13, 15-12 to register their second win of the season.

The win gave them crucial four points that took them to fifth on the table from eighth with a total of 10 points, while Awadhe’s one point from fixture proved enough for them to consolidate their place at the top of the table with 12 points.

In the super-match of the day, World No.3 Kidambi Srikanth overcame a stiff challenge from South Korea’s World No.5 Son Wan Ho to pick-up a thrilling 15-13,13-15, 15-4 victory and reduce Awadhe’s deficit.

Srikanth who was on a two-match losing streak did well to pick up the win and log in a crucial point for his team.

In the women’s singles match, World No.10 Saina Nehwal pulled off a stunning 8-15, 15-10,15-13 victory over World No.11 Beiwen Zhang of US to keep Awadhe afloat.S aina, who is coming into the match on the back of a defeat against World No.1 Tai Tzu Ying proved to be no match against Beiwen in the opening game.

The US shuttler was using the length of the court perfectly tormenting the Indian with her superb cross-court drops and smashes and raced to the victory in the opening game in no time.

But Saina known for her resilience got back into the match and even though Beiwen was leading in the initial phases of second game, the Indian slowly turned the tides and went into break leading 8-7.

She did not allow Beiwen any chance post the interval and wrapped up the game to restore parity.

In the final game, Saina was in no mood to let go off the opportunity and pounced on her opponent before bringing all her experience into play. She made full use of the tiring US player and went into the break with a lead of 8-4.

After the change of ends, even though Beiwen troubled the Indian with her impeccable net-play and saved three match points, it was Saina who eventually went on to win the match to send the packed stadium into rapturous celebration.

Earlier in the day, Sameer Verma picked up a comfortable 15-6,15-14 straight games victory against his compatriot Harshit Aggarwal to give Mumbai a huge 2 (-1) over Awadhe in the five match duel.

The young Harshit replacing Parupalli Kashyap in the line-up could not mount any serious challenge on his senior pro and went meekly in the opening game.

He did try to make a comeback in the second game and even though he was looking in better touch and took the game to wire, it was Sameer who sealed the deal with a smash.

In the first match of the day, mixed doubles pair of Lee Yong Dae/Gabriela Stoeva pulled off a major coup by beating Christinna Pedersen/Tang Chun Man 15-10, 14-15, 15-7 to give Mumbai the early lead into the tie. The match also saw Awadhe getting penalised with a point as it was their trump match.

This marks the end of the Lucknow leg and the PBL now moves to Chennai.

Prime accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence, Sambhaji Bhide on Friday dismissing all charges of rioting against him and said that he was a victim of political conspiracy.

Speaking to a news channel in Sangli, Maharashtra, Bhide who is the President of Shivjagar Pratisthan said false allegations against had been leveled against him

“I have no role to play in the riots… There is a conspiracy to vitiate the atmosphere. I never tried to divide communities and I am just a victim of political conspiracy,” Bhide said in Marathi.

Bhide along with Hindu Janjagruti Samiti chief Milind Ekbote are accused of perpetrating the Bhima Koregaon violence against Dalits in which a youth was killed.

On January 2, the Pimpri police (Pune) lodged a complaint against Bhide and Ekbote while the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, a Dalit party headed by Prakash Ambedkar – the grandson of Bharat Ratna BR Ambedkar, called for a ‘peaceful Maharashtra shutdown’ to express anger over the Pune incident.

On Thursday, Prakash Ambedkar called on Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding the arrest and prosecution of Bhide and Ekbote.

However, Bhide rebuffed Prakash Ambedkar’s charges and demanded a thorough investigation into the matter.

“Prakash Ambedkar blamed me for the conspiracy which is completely wrong, demand the government to investigate this matter thoroughly, strong punishment must be given to whoever is guilty,” Bhide said in a statement.

The disturbances erupted in the village of Koregaon-Bhima on January 1 during the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Anglo-Maratha War of January 1, 1818, between the army of Peshwa Bajirao II and a small force of the East India Company that comprised a large number of Dalits.

Several lakhs of Dalits had congregated around the Victory Pillar (Vijay Stambh) erected by the British in Sanaswadi village when suddenly stone pelting started, allegedly by some right-wing groups carrying saffron flags.

In the ensuing clashes, more than 30 vehicles, including buses, police vans and private vehicles, were torched or damaged and one youth, Rahul Fatangale, 28 of Nanded lost his life.

With over 46 percent share, Chinese operators dominated the cellular Internet of Things (IoT) connection market globally in the third quarter last year, a new report said on Thursday.

The 4G LTE connections accounted for more than half of the cellular IoT connections, registering 84 percent (Year-on-Year) growth, said research from Counterpoint’s IoT (Internet of Things) service.

According to the latest research from Counterpoint’s IoT (Internet of Things) service, global IoT cellular connections grew 41 percent annually, having already crossed the half billion mark earlier in 2017.

China Mobile was the world’s leading operator in terms of IoT connections. However, outside China, Vodafone leads in IoT cellular connectivity globally.

“Cellular IoT acts as the backbone in driving secure connectivity for different devices to the Internet and across different verticals,” said research analyst Satyajit Sinha.

“Today, 4G LTE supports IoT with legacy 4G and LTE-Cat1 connections. The main application areas are for Energy Utilities and Remote Asset Monitoring. However, going forward most of these applications will be supported by cellular LPWA technologies like EC-GSM, LTE-M and NB-IoT, especially for low-power, low-data, battery-powered use-cases,” Sinha said.

According to Research Director Peter Richardson, IoT cellular connectivity has been modest so far. “But we expect the next half billion IoT cellular connections to be added by 2020,” he added.

Cellular IoT operators are well-positioned to become a single and preferred source for IoT solutions by bundling IoT devices, secure connectivity, platform and data management.

“While some operators might lead in offering end-to-end IoT solutions for specific verticals e.g. connected cars or asset tracking, for some verticals, operators will still depend on system integrators and other solution providers to help customers deploy the complete solution,” noted research director Neil Shah.

Asia grew 64.2 percent (YoY) and dominates cellular IoT connections with a 57.2 percent share. China is the major contributor with 81 per cent of Asian connections and grew 75 per cent (YoY).

The cold wave continued in the valley and the Ladakh region on Friday as the Met forecast light rain or snow in Jammu and Kashmir till Saturday.

Kargil town was the coldest at minus 20 in the state, while Gulmarg at minus nine was the coldest in Kashmir Valley, a Met Official said.

Srinagar city recorded minus 3.2 and Pahalgam minus four. Leh town recorded minus 10.3 and was the second coldest place in the state.

Jammu city recorded 6.7, Katra 7.3, Batote one, Banihal 0.4, Bhaderwah minus 0.2 and Udhampur 5.8 degrees Celsius, the Met office said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Friday interact with the officials in-charge of country’s 100 most backward regions to deliberate upon ways to ensure “rapid transformation” in their respective districts.

The ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ is being organised to realise Modi’s vision of a new India by 2022, officials said.

In a tweet, the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) said: “At 5:30 PM today, PM @narendramodi will address the Conference on Transformation of Aspirational Districts at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi. PM will interact with officials in-charge of transformation of over 100 districts.”

https://x.com/PMOIndia/status/949161294275403776

“The government has embarked upon a major policy initiative for the rapid transformation of districts lagging on specific development parameters,” an official statement said.

In August 2017, Modi addressed district collectors of 100 most backward districts across India, via video conference and asked them to work in a mission mode to improve socio-economic conditions in their districts.

Niti Ayaog has identified 115 such districts and nominated senior government officials for each of these districts in November 2017.

The officers will act as a bridge between the Centre and the district and will coordinate efforts between the Centre and states.

A moderate fog cover over the national capital region disrupted train and flight operations as visibility dropped to 300 metres on Friday.

Operations at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here were affected due to the low visibility and at least 15 flights were delayed.

The Railways had to cancel 18 trains while 62 were delayed besides 20 rescheduled due to fog in several parts of northern India.

The minimum temperature was recorded at 7.2 degrees Celsius, the season’s average. The maximum was likely to hover around 20 degrees.

The sky will remain clear during the day, an India Meteorological Department official said.

The visibility which had dropped to 300 metres at 5.30 a.m., improved to 600 metres at 8.30 a.m., while the humidity was 97 per cent.

Thursday’s maximum temperature settled at 20.3 degrees Celsius, one notch above the season’s average while the minimum was recorded at five degrees Celsius, two notches below the season’s average.

Actress Juhi Chawla says her children, Arjun and Jahnavi, are not thinking about entering Bollywood at the moment. But she will be “thrilled” if they decide to get into showbiz.

The actress is married to businessman Jai Mehta.

“Jahnavi is academically inclined. She is extremely brilliant and a focused girl and is extremely hard-working. She topped History in India in her IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) exams in 2017,” Juhi told IANS.

“Arjun is an all-rounder. He is quite a clown. He is really fun and expressive and can do everything but I think he gets shy. I would be thrilled if my kids would like to join Bollywood. At this moment, I don’t think they are thinking of Bollywood,” added the actress.

At the moment, she is enjoying her stint as a narrator on Epic channel’s TV show “Sharanam”.

“I am enjoying doing this show because one learns something absolutely amazing and new about the places of worship which have been here for centuries,” she said.

The sentencing of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in a case of fodder scam may finally take place on Friday, after being deferred twice and the judge hearing the case indicating that he was being threatened by Lalu’s men.

In a startling revelation, Justice Shivpal Singh, who is set to pronounce the quantum of punishment for the former Bihar chief minister on Thursday said that he “got phone calls from Lalu’s men”.

“I got phone calls from Lalu’s men about the case,” the judge said indicating that he might have been threatened to award a lighter sentence to Lalu.

Lalu is likely to get three to seven years’ punishment, as per reports. If he is awarded three years’ sentence, he will be able to get bail soon.

The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge deferred Lalu’s sentencing along with 15 others first on Wednesday on account of the death of two lawyers and then again on Thursday.

The quantum of punishment may now be pronounced on Friday.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief is at present lodged in the Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi after being convicted on December 23.

His co-accused and former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra was let off in the case pertaining to embezzlement of over Rs. 85 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury between 1991 and 1994.

A total of 17 accused including Lalu were pronounced guilty by the court while six were let off.

The RJD chief has already been convicted in another fodder scam case that cost him his Lok Sabha seat and disqualified him from contesting elections. Both Lalu and Jagannath Mishra are out on bail in the case.

Hearing in the multi-million fodder scam case was completed on December 13 in a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court of Ranchi.

In all, there were 34 accused in the case, out of which 11 died during the course of the trial, while one turned CBI approver and admitted the crime.

The rupee gained 10 paise to trade at over 2-1/2 year high of 63.31 against the US dollar in early session today on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks.

Besides, stock markets opening with gains and sustained foreign fund inflows also supported the domestic unit, forex dealers said.

The dollar’s weakness against some currencies overseas also supported the rupee’s upmove.

The rupee opened higher at 63.35 a dollar and moved to a high of 63.31 a dollar in early trade.

The rupee on Thursday bounced back to end at a fresh 2-1/2 year high of 63.41, gaining by 12 paise against the US dollar on optimism over a brightening economic picture.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose 100.48 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 34,070.12 in early trade.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday wished veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi on his birthday and credited him for leaving a “strong mark” on the education sector with his “great work”.

“Birthday greetings to our senior leader Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi. He has made a significant contribution in building the BJP,” tweeted Modi.

“He left a strong mark on our education sector with his great work. May he be blessed with a long and healthy life,” he said.

https://x.com/narendramodi/status/949096112274644993

Born on January 5, 1934, Joshi was the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) between 1991 and 1993, and at present is a Lok Sabha member from Kanpur.

Joshi was awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award, in 2017 by the Government of India.

Joshi along with party veterans Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani were dropped from the party’s Parliamentary Board and made a part of the Margdarshak Mandal after Amit Shah became the BJP chief in 2014.

Taking a cue from global markets, the key Indian equity market indices on opened higher on Friday.

The Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which had closed at 33,969.64 points on Thursday, opened higher at 34,021.27 points.

Minutes into trading, it was quoting at 34,090.14 points, up by 120.50 points, or 0.35 per cent.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 51-scrip Nifty, which had closed at 10,504.80 points, was quoting at 10,531.30 points, up by 26.50 points or 0.25 per cent.

After three sessions of losses, the key Indian equity indices on Thursday recovered from the lows to close in the green as positive global cues, along with inflow of foreign funds and healthy buying in consumer durables, capital goods and metal stocks, lifted investors’ risk-taking appetite.

The Sensex was up by 176.26 points or 0.52 per cent at the Wednesday’s closing. In the day’s trade, the barometer 30-scrip sensitive index had touched a high of 33,995.40 points and a low of 33,802.13 points. The Nifty too was up by 61.60 points or 0.59 per cent.

On Friday, Asian indices were mostly showing a positive trend. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was trading in green, up by 0.36 per cent, Hang Seng up by 0.15 per cent while South Korea’s Kospi was also up by 1 per cent. China’s Shanghai Composite index was quoting in green, up by 0.23 per cent.

Nasdaq closed in green, up by 0.18 per cent while FTSE 100 was also up by 0.32 per cent at the closing on Thursday.

On the last day of Parliament’s winter session with no end in sight to the deadlock in the Rajya Sabha over the Triple Talaq Bill, the government, outnumbered in the upper house is likely to finally send the contentious bill to a parliamentary committee, effectively ruling out its passage in the ongoing session.

The truncated and delayed winter session ends on Friday and the Muslim Women Protection of Rights in Marriage Bill 2017, which in all likelihood will be sent for review can only be passed in the next session of Parliament as first, the panel has to be set up which will then scrutinise the bill and suggest changes.

As soon as the bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday, the house witnessed noisy scenes as a united opposition led by the Congress demanded that the bill be sent to a Select Committee.

In minority in the upper house, the government didn’t get any support from friendly parties like the AIADMK and the Biju Janata Dal while its ally Telugu Desam Party too demanded that the bill be reviewed by a select committee.

The government however, was against any climbdown on the bill that also provides for maintenance for victims of triple talaq and custody of children resulting in a stalemate which triggered a fierce slugfest forcing the house to be adjourned for the day.

The legislation, which seeks to make instant Triple Talaq illegal with up to three years in jail as punishment, was passed last week by the Lok Sabha, where the government has a brute majority.

However, the opposition leaders are claiming that an isolated BJP is in no position to stop them from moving a resolution that the bill be sent to a select committee.

With no solution in sight, the fate of the crucial bill and millions of Muslim women hangs in balance.

Hours after sacking Thisara Perera as the One-day International (ODI) captain, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Thursday announced that they will name a new limited overs skipper next Tuesday.

The SLC said it would name Perera’s successor after consulting new coach Chandika Hathurusingha, who has pledged to get tough with the under-performing national team.

Perera took on the job in late November, succeeding Upul Tharanga, who was sacked after a series of losses.

“During the discussion, the chairman of selectors informed me that they are considering appointing either Angelo Mathews or Dinesh Chandimal to fill the role,” SLC President Thilanga Sumathipala said in a statement.

“Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will announce its limited over captain on January 9,” it further stated.

A series of losses, most recently to India, have affected the morale of the Islanders who will next tour Bangladesh later this month.

Criticising West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her “conspiracy” comments on updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh on Thursday said she was making it “an issue out of a non-issue” for political interest.

“Nothing of that sort is being done. Some surveys were conducted to drive out foreigners. In the first draft of NRC, many names of our party leaders are missing. Such allegations are made to get political mileage out of it,” Ghosh said

“The Trinamool (Congress) supremo is trying to make an issue out of a non-issue. The updating of NRC was our responsibility, but for her it was an (political) issue,” he added.

Banerjee had claimed the updating of the NRC to determine the state’s original inhabitants was a “conspiracy to drive away Bengalis” from there.