Russian former world number one Maria Sharapova marched into the semi-finals of the Shenzhen Open here today with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 victory over Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan.

Sharapova, who has worked her way up to 59 in the world rankings since her return from a doping ban last year, will face either of the Czech pair Kristyna Pliskova or Katerina Siniakova in the last four in southern China.

The 30-year-old Sharapova, who is unseeded in the tournament that serves as a build-up to the Australian Open, is embarking on her first full season since returning from a 15-month drugs ban in April.

The five-time Grand Slam winner was never really in trouble against Diyas, who is 66 in the world and joins Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu in the Shenzhen semis.

With speculation on the release date of Sanjay Leela Bhansalis “Padmavati” — January 26 and February 9 — going around, the producers of the other films lined up for release in the last week of January and the first two weeks of February are anxious.

Prernaa Arora, the co-producer “Pad Man”, which will open on January 26, and “Pari”, which is slated to hit the screens on February 9, feels it would be foolhardy to release her films on the same day as “Padmavati”, which might release as “Padmavat”.

“The curiosity level to see ‘Padmavati’ has increased to a hysterical point now. Whenever it opens it is going to be an instant crowdpuller. Any film released on the same day would have to take the brunt of the ‘Padmavati’ wave,” said Arora.

With two release dates for “Padmavati” being put forward, Arora is now in a dilemma.

However, a source dismisses all rumours regarding the release date.

“There is no clarity on the release date of ‘Padmavati’ yet. The director and his producers are yet to take a call on when to release the film,” said the source.

The sentencing of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in a case of fodder scam was on Thursday deferred, yet again by a special CBI court in Ranchi. The quantum of punishment may now be pronounced on Friday.

The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge Shivpal Singh delayed the sentencing of the former Bihar chief minister along with 15 others.

The sentencing was postponed on Wednesday on account of the death of two lawyers.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief, who was lodged in the Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi after being convicted on December 23, was brought to the court in the morning on Wednesday and was present inside when the hearing was on.

He was taken away at around 12 noon.

Lalu’s lawyer had on Tuesday said that they would urge the court for minimum punishment owing to the RJD chief’s age.

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.

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.

Pakistan on Thursday released another video of Indian death row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav purportedly confessing that he was a commissioned officer of the Indian Navy and that the diplomat who was accompanying his family for the meeting yelled at his mother.

However, the veracity of the video which was released by the Pakistan Foreign Office could not be ascertained.

The video was released days after India had hit out at Pakistan for violating understandings for the Jadhav-family meet and raised questions about the 47-year-old Indian national’s well being.

India had also asserted that Jadhav appeared coerced and under considerable stress during the tightly-controlled interaction on December 25 in the Pakistan Foreign Office.

During the meeting, whose pictures were released by Pakistan, Jadhav was seen sitting behind a glass screen while his mother and wife sat on the other side. They spoke through the intercom and the entire 40-minute proceedings appeared to have been recorded on video.

In the purported video, Jadhav said, “I saw fear in her (mother’s) eyes, the Indian diplomat was shouting at my mother the moment she stepped out. I saw him shouting, yelling at her. This [meeting] was a positive gesture so that she [my mother] could be happy and I could be happy.”

However, it was not clear how Jadhav saw the diplomat shouting at his mother once she stepped out. The diplomat accompanying Jadhav’s family was India’s Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad.

Jadhav, who was captured in March, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying, an accusation that India has dismissed as concocted.

Moody’s Investors Service on Thursday said the government’s Rs 2.11 lakh crore capital infusion in PSU banks would narrow the gap between the capital profiles of public and private sector banks.

Besides, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) could peak in current fiscal, but elevated levels of provisioning on these NPAs will continue to negatively affect the banks during fiscals 2018 and 2019, Moody’s Indian affiliate ICRA said.

“The gap between the capital profiles of Indian public and private sector banks is expected to narrow following the government’s announced Rs 2.1 lakh crore (USD 32 billion) recapitalisation plan for the public sector banks, which are financially weaker entities,” Moody’s said in a statement.

The government in October last year announced plans to infuse Rs 2.11 lakh crore into PSU banks over the next two years. Of this, Rs 1.35 lakh crore would be infused through issue of recapitalisation bonds and remaining Rs 58,000 crore through government stake dilution.

“The capital infusion will also help public sector banks build their provisioning coverage ratios as they will be able to allocate much of their operating profits towards loan-loss provisioning without having to worry about the impact on their capital positions,” Moody’s VP and Senior Analyst Alka Anbarasu said.

Weak capitalisation profile is the “key credit weakness” of PSU banks when compared to their peers in the private sector, it added.

As of September 2017, Tier 1 capital ratio of rated public sector banks was 8.7 per cent compared to 12.2 per cent for the rated private sector banks.

“However, the gap is expected to narrow, given the government’s recapitalisation package,” Moody’s said.

Moody’s believes that the package will facilitate the two key policy initiatives of non-performing loan (NPL) resolution and Basel III implementation.

In addition, it will strengthen the government’s bargaining position for pushing through some of its more fundamental reforms, such as those targeting corporate governance and industry consolidation, said the US-based agency.

ICRA said while the gross NPAs are likely to peak by the end of FY2018, the negative impact arising from elevated provision levels for weak assets is likely to continue until fiscal 2019.

Led by Virat Kohli, Indian squad is going to face the biggest challenge of the year in South Africa. In 2017, Virat Kohli shattered many records and it seemed as if the Indian team was invincible on home soil.

Last year, India beat England 4-0 in the five-match Test series when the Men-In-Blue hosted the Englishmen. The current Proteas coach, Ottis Gibson, was England’s bowling coach in that tour and he remembers watching England falling apart in front of Virat Kohli’s boys. In that series, the Indian was unstoppable as he went on to score 655 runs with the help of two centuries and two half-centuries.

While talking to ‘www.sport24.co.za’ Gibson recalled, “They were too good for us. They played really well and were led very well by the captain, who got a lot of runs. There were times in those conditions where we couldn’t get him out.”

However, Gibson have some good news for South Africans, as he is not expecting the repeat of Virat Kohli’s performance in Africa as the condition will be different in the rainbow nation. “I think in these conditions it will be a lot different,” Gibson said, adding, “We’ll have some plans for him as we will for every other player in the team.”

Arsenal avoided their defeat to Chelsea here, thanks to a stoppage-time goal by Hector Bellerin that left the two English Premier League sides deadlocked at 2-2.

For Bellerin, it was redemption after he committed the foul that led to Eden Hazard’s goal for the Blues in the 67th minute on Wednesday, reports Efe.

The Gunners were overall the better side in an exciting London derby in front of the Arsenal faithful.

Jack Wilshere put Arsenal ahead 1-0 in the 63rd minute with his first goal of the Premier League season.

But the advantage lasted last than five minutes, as Bellerin fouled Hazard in the box and the Belgian striker converted from the spot.

The equaliser spurred Chelsea to press for the win and Marcos Alonso got what looked to be the winning goal in the 84th minute, knocking in a cross from Davide Zappacosta.

Bellerin, however, had other ideas and brought the Gunners level in the 92nd minute, two minutes before Zappacosta’s potential game-winner bounced off the cross-bar.

The result leaves Chelsea with 46 points from 22 matches, one point behind second-place Manchester United and 16 behind league leaders Manchester City.

Arsenal have 39 points, one fewer than fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur, who will play their 22nd match on Thursday against West Ham United.

Acclaimed filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan responded to a casteist tweet by fellow filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri by saying he won the award at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival without using his Dalit identity.

Amidst the unrest in Maharashtra over clashes between Dalits and Maratha groups, Agnihotri spoke about how he once saw a grandson of a Dalit leader in a Business Class seat in a plane while he himself, a Brahmin, was seated in the Economy Class and remarked that the “pyramid is inverted”.

Ghaywan on Wednesday replied to Agnighotri: “I am a Dalit. I won the Cannes Film Award for our country. Also the Cannes advertising award. I won the National award and the Filmfare award. All without using my Dalit identity. And yes, I fly Business Class now and I will offer you my seat next time you are on the same plane.”

A shutdown called by Dalit parties hit Maharashtra on Wednesday following Monday’s riots in Pune district.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday questioned the government on why the benefit of lower crude oil prices was not being passed on to the consumers.

He said the government has also slashed funds for all welfare schemes.

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha during zero hour, Kharge said: “Consumers are not getting any benefit of the low crude oil price, the entire money is going into the government’s coffers.”

He said the government has earned a profit of Rs 550,000 crore due to low crude oil prices.

“They have cut the finance for all welfare schemes… The government should tell which social welfare scheme they have invested the money in,” he added.

The 11th edition of the most talked about cricket tournament, Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, is still far away, yet all the franchises taking part in the event have started preparing to dominate the event.

The IPL started in 2007 and with the end of its 10th season, every team has a chance to prepare from start as the players’ contract has expired.

The mega IPL auction is going to take place on Jan 27 and 28 in Bengaluru. And ahead of the auction, the player retention is going to commence in Mumbai on January 4.

Well, ahead of the auction, here is everything that you need to about the IPL 2018 Players’ Retention Policy:

What is Pre auction Retention?

In Pre auction retention, every single franchise taking part in the tournament can retain a maximum of three players.

For a sum of Rs 33 Crore, 3 players can be retained.

For a sum of Rs 21 Crore, 2 players can be retained.

For a sum of Rs 12.5 Crore, 1 player can be retained.

Right-to-Match card

The Right-to-match card is like a trump card for every franchise. It gives a chance to franchise to retain a player at the same auction price.

Squad size of every franchise

Every single franchise taking part in the 11th edition of IPL can have maximum 25 and minimum 18players in their side. In the 25-member squad, a franchise can have a maximum of eight foreign players in their squad.

List of players who are likely to be retained by their teams:

MI – Pandya Brothers, Rohit Sharma

KKR – Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, Manish Pandey

RCB – AB De Villiers, Virat Kohli

SRH – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan

RR – Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith

CSK – MS dhoni, Suresh Raina, DJ Bravo

KXIP – David Miller, Glenn Maxwell

DD – Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian and husband Kanye West, who moved into their new mansion here a few weeks ago, have banned jewellery at the property.

“Kim decided to put the policy in place at the Hidden Hills home because she doesn’t want it to be a target for thieves,” a source told tmz.com.

Kim’s collection of jewellery, which is worth millions, is being stored elsewhere and in “under constant supervision, with very elaborate security measures to get to it”, the source shared.

While there won’t be any expensive ornament at Kim’s new home, she will still live under tight security every time.

According to the site, the couple decided to do so as “the trauma of the Paris robbery is still on Kim and Kanye’s minds”.

After actress Pooja Hedge wowed audiences with her role in ‘DJ'(Duvvada Jagannadham), she has signed another big Telugu film officially for the same producer and seems to be in a contract with Dil Raju.

The actress will be paired up with hero Nithiin in Dil Raju’s next production called ‘Srinivasa Kalyanam’.

Srinivasa Kalyanam will be directed by Sateeh Vegesna who was responsible for the fame of ‘Shatamanam Bhavati’.

The actress is also being considered as the main heroine in many other films such as the one directed by director Vamshi Paidipally and produced by Dil Raju in a role opposite Mahesh Babu.

She will also be seen playing opposite Belllamkonda Sai Srinivas in his movie titled ‘Sakshayam’ and has agreed to do an item song for Ram Charan’s movie ‘Rangasthalam’.

From 8 January, Delhi Metro cards will be valid in 250 select city buses for a month-long trial period under the ‘Common Mobility Card’ project that will eventually seek to merge Metro and bus travel. The 250 buses include 200 DTC buses and 50 cluster buses.

The move is part of a month-long trial to shift to a ‘Common Mobility Card’ which could be used to travel in Metro, Delhi Transport Corp (DTC) buses and cluster buses in the capital.

On Wednesday, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said the project would be rolled out in all city buses by 1 April.

During the one-month trial, by tapping the Metro card on an Electronic Ticketing Machine– currently used by conductors to issue tickets– in a bus, a ticket would be generated, which would also reveal the balance in the passenger’s Metro card.

The idea was first floated in 2010. Gehlot said it was delayed due to technical issues and lack of political will.

The money deducted from commuters’ Metro cards will go to Delhi Metro Rail Corp (DMRC), which currently issues the Metro cards. The money will be later transferred to the Delhi government, which has the Reserve Bank of India’s permission.

Also read: Dip in metro smart card sales, DMRC says fluctuation ‘normal’

The minister said a MoU would be signed with DMRC on Thursday.

Gahlot said that after the trial period, a new card would be designed which would have both DMRC and Delhi government etched on it.

Commuters would be able to purchase and recharge these cards at all Metro stations, railway stations, airports, Inter State Bus Terminals (ISBTs) and DTC bus pass counters.

The Minister said the government had been carrying out unofficial trial runs for the past two months to resolve different issues.

The world’s top chip maker Intel Corp on Wednesday confirmed a report about a potential security flaw in its Chips that is vulnerable to hacking and promised to fix the bug as soon as possible.

Security researchers at Google said they discovered serious security flaws in Intel chips and other chipmakers. The security bug, if used for malicious purposes, has the potential to improperly gather sensitive data from computing devices. “Recent reports that these exploits are caused by a ‘bug’ or a ‘flaw’ and are unique to Intel products are incorrect,” Intel was quoted as saying.

Intel also said that the vulnerability is not unique to their products. It argued that “many types of computing devices – with many different vendors’ processors and operating systems – are susceptible to these exploits.”

However, Intel said it is working with its tech partners such as AMD, ARM Holdings and several operating system vendors, to develop an industry-wide approach to resolve this issue “promptly and constructively.”

AMD said in a statement that it believes its chips are safe because they use different designs, reported Los Angeles Times.

“Intel has begun providing software and firmware updates to mitigate these exploits,” and average computer user won’t experience significant slowdowns as it’s fixed, noted press statement from Intel.

(Written with agency inputs)

Two Bihar police jawans were found dead inside a pit on the roadside here in the early hours of this Thursday, in what appears to be a road mishap, police said.

The bodies of Dhananjay and Pankaj, both jawans of the Special Task Force posted in the district, were found inside a pit close to the road near Shyampur outpost, Superintendent of Police, Munger, Ashish Bharti, said.

He said the motorcycle which they were riding was also lying in the pit in a mangled condition and it appeared that their two-wheeler was hit by some vehicle in the early hours when the dense fog had enveloped the area.

The bodies were spotted by local villagers who informed the police, the SP said adding that a detailed investigation was being carried out to ascertain the cause of the deaths.

Actor Dileep, who is known for his slapstick comedy in the south, will be seen in a never before seen avatar in his upcoming film, Kammara Samabhavam.

#Kammarasambhavam
So Here is The Beginning.
The first Look is here#Dileep paaji
Excitement begins, A lot more to Come
Lets pray for the Best @Dileep_Online @Forumkeralam1 @MalayalamReview @KeralaBO1 @sri50 @sridevisreedhar @PyckerMollywood pic.x.com/31tUIPAm22

— Simarjeet Nagra (@SimarjeetNagra) January 3, 2018

The film was reportedly delayed for months due to its lead actor being jailed in the actress assault case.

The film Kammara Samabhavam has Namitha Pramod as the female lead and Murali Gopy and Tamil actor Sidharth can also be seen in prominent roles throughout the film

The film is expected to hit theatres within a few months.