Former Indian cricket skipper Sourav Ganguly hopes that the current Test team, which recently clinched the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by defeating Australia 2-1, has the potential to win anywhere.

Ganguly said he enjoyed seeing the journey of the players like Lokesh Rahul, Umesh Ydav and Ravindra Jadeja, who gained the confidence and matched with experienced players like Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin.

In a highly successful home season, India won 10 matches, lost one and played two draws as they held on to the world No.1 spot in world Test cricket rankings.

"Having watched the last 13 home Tests, I hope Virat and his team really has the potential to win anywhere — in or outside India," Ganguly wrote in his column in International Cricket Council's (ICC) website on Friday.

"Virat will consider himself lucky as I don't recall any Indian captain and his team having an opportunity to play as many as 13 Tests at home in a single season. You still have to win a game, even at home, but we all knew India would win at least eight Tests, and they won as many as 10, missing out on a sure win in one, saving one and losing one," the former skipper added.

"More than the results, I enjoyed the journey, watching how players like Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav gained in confidence and matched the two champions, Virat and Ravichandran Ashwin," he added.

The 44-year-old tipped Cheteshwar Pujara as the batsman who will be most critical to India's successes abroad. The Saurashtra right-hander is known to bind the innings together and has the capability to grind it out under tough conditions — the traits maximum required in red-ball cricket.

"The one who stood out was Cheteshwar Pujara. I remember when he was dropped for a Test in the West Indies last year, I had said Pujara was a special batsman and shouldn't have been dropped," Ganguly recalled.

"A small matter of 1,316 runs have come from his bat this season and Pujara will be the most critical for Virat when India start travelling outside of the sub-continent," he added.

Talking about the Dharamsala Test, which according to him was the highlight of the season, Ganguly said beating Australia in the situation which favours them most will bring new twist to Kohli's captaincy.

"I was sitting at home around lunchtime on Day Three when Australia began its second innings. Over the next hour or so, I watched such a great piece of fast and hostile bowling by the two Indians, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The way they got the Australians hopping and succumbing to the pace, I am so pleased for Virat," the Kolkata batsman said.

"The most memorable win came in conditions actually tailor-made for the Australians more than the Indians. The fact that India beat the Aussies at their own game will surely give another twist to Virat's captaincy," he added.

Ganguly also commented on Anil Kumble's coaching, saying that his former captain's coaching is very decisive like his bowling.

"When the BCCI appointed a three-member panel that had (Sachin) Tendulkar, Laxman and me to help in the process of selecting a coach, Anil's vision was as decisive as his bowling used to be. He wanted India to win in India obviously, but outside of India too. And while he knew it was easier said than done, his assessment of the situation was superb," Ganguly said.

"With him, I hope the spinners, who generally always do pick wickets by the bucket loads in India, contribute to the team's success when they travel abroad, just like Anil and Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh) did. That would fit the last riddle in the jigsaw puzzle Virat and his team will hope to solve," he added.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday announced in the state Assembly that the state government would provide subsidy on power bill to consumers instead of power companies from 2017-18 fiscal.

The CM's statement came six days after Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC) had come up with an unprecedented hike of 55 per cent in power tariff that sparked protests.

Kumar said that decision to file a tariff petition before BERC for 2017-18 on zero subsidy was part of a "well thought strategy" on the basis of which the Commission issued its tariff list without subsidy.

"This will help consumer understand at which rate electricity has been made available to it and how much subsidy is given by the state government on his consumption," Kumar said.

"Subsidy amount would be spelled for clear-cut understanding of a consumer," he said in presence of Energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav.

The CM said Bihar was the first state to experiment this policy of providing power subsidy straightway to consumers.

"Officials told me that senior officials of the Centre have appreciated the concept. If this succeeds it would be followed by others too," he said.

The Bihar announced major rationalisation of power tariff for different categories of consumers which he said was lower than that in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal in 2016-17 fiscal.

Giving details, he said for Kutir Jyoti (KJ) for BPL families with limit of 50 units, BERC had announed Rs.6.08 per unit rate. On this the state government would provide Rs.3.58 per unit subsidy after which the final rate would come down to Rs.2.50 a unit.

He said this was Rs.3.44 a unit in West Bengal and Rs.3.17 per unit in UP.

For dometic consumer in rural areas, the Commission suggested tariff of Rs.6.45 per unit on which the state would provide Rs.3.10 per unit subsidy on which the final rate would come down to Rs.3.35 a unit, he said adding the same is Rs.4.75 and Rs.3.35 per unit in West Bengal and UP respectively.

For Urban domestic consumer, BERC rate was Rs.6.48 per unit, subsidy is Rs.1.48 a unit and final charge is Rs.5 per unit. This is Rs.5.02 a unit in West Bengal and Rs.5.28 per unit in UP.

About 800 personnel deployed with VIPs, including politicians, have been withdrawn by the Punjab police following a review of the security cover provided to various protectees in the state.

"About 800 police personnel have been withdrawn from various protectees. The security has been reviewed on the basis of threat perception, intelligence and norms," a senior police official said here on Friday.

However, those who were being given 'Z plus' and 'Y plus' security cover would continue to get the same, he said, adding fresh threat perception reports were also being prepared to ascertain the threat level to various individuals as part of security review exercise.

During the previous SAD-BJP regime, several political leaders were allegedly enjoying police security more than the prescribed norms.

The new Congress-led Punjab government has committed to end VIP culture and prune their security which was being shown as a status symbol by many political leaders.

After Amarinder Singh formed the government, the Director General of Police Suresh Arora had constituted a State Level Review Committee (SLRC) under the chairmanship of DGP (Law & Order) Hardeep Singh Dhillon to review the security provided by the state police to various 'protectees'.

The committee has mandate to carry out a comprehensive security review of the security provided to constitutional or public functionaries, officers as well as private individuals.

An interim report and two supplementary reports on review of security cover have already been submitted to the Punjab DGP, the official said.

The other members of the committee are ADGP Intelligence Dinkar Gupta, ADGP Security B K Bawa as Member Secretary and IGP (Special Protection Unit) Pramod Ban.

A man convicted by a trial court here for sexually assaulting a minor hurled a slipper at the judge on Friday after he was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

As soon as Additional Sessions Judge (ad hoc) I Panjabakesan of a local court in Wynad pronounced the sentence, convict Armugham removed one of his slippers and flung it at the judge, hitting him, the police said.

The man had been held guilty of various offences in a 2014 case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Armugham was arrested and a fresh case was registered against him, the police said.

With the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report pointing to irregularities in the working of de-addiction and the rehabilitation centers in Punjab, the state government on Friday ordered an inquiry into the working of these centers.

The health and family welfare minister, Brahm Mohindra, has directed the secretary, health, Husan Lal to conduct inquiry into the irregularities in the working of de-addiction centers and the rehabilitation centers and submit the report within a week.

Mohindra said that the matter is very serious, as huge amount of public money have been spent on these centers while the deliverance was nil.

The findings of the report will be taken very seriously and proper legal and criminal action would be initiated against those whose name figures in the report.

Taking on the previous Parkash Singh Badal government, Mohindra said that the centres were running without proper licensing from the government, which went unchecked during the previous regime.

There is huge nexus of anti social elements and the persons running these illegal centres. This needs to be thoroughly probed so that the people of Punjab come to know about the miss governance of the previous regime, the minister said.

The report clearly shows the seriousness of the previous regime towards health sector. The SAD- BJP played with the health of the state as well as of the people, Mohindra added.

The CAG report tabled in the Punjab assembly showed that there were 35 drug de-addiction centers and rehabilitation centers, which were running without proper license from the government while another five were not functional at all.

Also five de-addiction and rehab centres, which were set up in 2014 and 2015 at cost of Rs 6.93 crores, were not functional due to non availability of the psychiatrists, medical officers and other staff.

While the drug addicts were deprived of the benefits of these centres.
 

The Supreme Court on Friday said hotels and restaurants falling within 500 metres on either side of the national and state highways cannot serve liquor.

A bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice L. Nageswara Rao, however, relaxed the ban to 220 metres in respect of municipal bodies with 20,000 or less population falling along the highways. 

Amid weak Asian and European equity markets, Indian benchmark indices snapped three-day winning streak and closed last trading session of the week with marginal declines.

The Sensex at the BSE closed 27 points or 0.09 per cent down at 29,621 while the NSE Nifty ended unchanged at 9,174.

However broader markets closed in the positive zone. BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices jumped 0.8 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, Oil & Gas index closed with the biggest gain, up 1.9 per cent. Metal (up 1.1 per cent), Consumer durables (up 1.1 per cent), Capital Goods (up 1 per cent) and Power (up 0.6 per cent) indices were other notable gainers. Telecom and Bankex indices declined 0.9 per cent and

On Thursday, the NSE Nifty had closed at record closing high, up 30 points or 0.33 per cent at 9,174. The Sensex at the BSE had closed 116 points or 0.39 per cent higher at 29,647.

Top gainers in the Sensex-30 pack: Reliance Industries (up 3.9 per cent), NTPC (up 1.6 per cent), L&T (up 1.3 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (up 1.2 per cent) and Tata Steel (up 0.9 per cent).

Top losers in the Sensex-30 pack: Axis Bank (down 1.7 per cent), ICICI Bank (down 1.5 per cent), HDFC Bank (down 1.5 per cent), HDFC (down 1.2 per cent) and HUL (down 1 per cent).

The Rupee closed two paise down at 64.94 against the US Dollar.

Gujarat Lions assistant coach Sitanshu Kotak on Friday said the present team is much more balanced as compared to the last year's squad.

"I think we have a much balanced side as compared to our last year's squad," Sitanshu Kotak, who is in charge of Gujarat Lions' practice session till the arrival of head coach Brad Hodge, said.

"We have more options, particularly in the bowling department, which we didn't have last time and had to depend on couple of bowlers," he said.

"Our bowling was a bit weak last year and we had to depend on a couple of seam bowlers throughout the season because of not having much options. But this time, the inclusion of two experienced bowlers like Munaf Patel and Manpreet Gony and two young bowlers- Basil Thampi and Nathu Singh- has put us in a position to change the bowling combination as per the conditions," he said.

According to Kotak, the team has plenty of options, particularly in the batting department as it has openers like Brandon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Jason Roy and Aaron Finch.

"Who will open will be decided by the team management once the head coach Brad Hodge joins the team, but we have a very strong batting line up. Suresh Raina has always been a good and top-ranked batsman in the shortest format of the game," he said.

Dinesh Karthik is in good form scoring century in Deodhar trophy final, while Ravindra Jadeja too is in good form and useful in all the three departments, Kotak said.

"In the spin bowling department, we have two leg spinners- Tejas Barokha and Subham Agarwal. So I think overall we have options in every department and can choose the eleven according to the conditions", he said.

Gujarat Lions will play their first match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 7.

The Lions had won their two matches against the KKR last time and Kotak felt that last year's performance will help the team to have the upper hand while playing against the KKR.

Gujarat Lions assistant coach Sitanshu Kotak on Friday said the present team is much more balanced as compared to the last year's squad.

"I think we have a much balanced side as compared to our last year's squad," Sitanshu Kotak, who is in charge of Gujarat Lions' practice session till the arrival of head coach Brad Hodge, said.

"We have more options, particularly in the bowling department, which we didn't have last time and had to depend on couple of bowlers," he said.

"Our bowling was a bit weak last year and we had to depend on a couple of seam bowlers throughout the season because of not having much options. But this time, the inclusion of two experienced bowlers like Munaf Patel and Manpreet Gony and two young bowlers- Basil Thampi and Nathu Singh- has put us in a position to change the bowling combination as per the conditions," he said.

According to Kotak, the team has plenty of options, particularly in the batting department as it has openers like Brandon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Jason Roy and Aaron Finch.

"Who will open will be decided by the team management once the head coach Brad Hodge joins the team, but we have a very strong batting line up. Suresh Raina has always been a good and top-ranked batsman in the shortest format of the game," he said.

Dinesh Karthik is in good form scoring century in Deodhar trophy final, while Ravindra Jadeja too is in good form and useful in all the three departments, Kotak said.

"In the spin bowling department, we have two leg spinners- Tejas Barokha and Subham Agarwal. So I think overall we have options in every department and can choose the eleven according to the conditions", he said.

Gujarat Lions will play their first match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 7.

The Lions had won their two matches against the KKR last time and Kotak felt that last year's performance will help the team to have the upper hand while playing against the KKR.

Actor Deepak Tijori, who has starred in a lot of Bollywood films, is in the news again for being thrown out of his house by his wife, Shivani Tomar . But the bigger revelation to him was that Shivani was not legally his wife!

The ex-Bigg Boss contestant has been married to Shivani Tomar for more than 20 years, was thrown out of his home after he had an ugly spat with her recently.

According to Deepak, he discovered that his wife, with whom he has a 20-year-old daughter Samara, isn’t his wife legally.

Sources close to them reveal that after his fight with Shivani, Deepak consulted a lawyer. And he came to know that Shivani hadn’t divorced her first husband in the first place.

Deepak and Shivani also have a daughter named Samara, who is more close to Shivani than to Deepak.

Actor Deepak Tijori, who has starred in a lot of Bollywood films, is in the news again for being thrown out of his house by his wife, Shivani Tomar . But the bigger revelation to him was that Shivani was not legally his wife!

The ex-Bigg Boss contestant has been married to Shivani Tomar for more than 20 years, was thrown out of his home after he had an ugly spat with her recently.

According to Deepak, he discovered that his wife, with whom he has a 20-year-old daughter Samara, isn’t his wife legally.

Sources close to them reveal that after his fight with Shivani, Deepak consulted a lawyer. And he came to know that Shivani hadn’t divorced her first husband in the first place.

Deepak and Shivani also have a daughter named Samara, who is more close to Shivani than to Deepak.

Six employees of the US embassy in Kabul have been dismissed for using or possessing drugs, an official said, in an embarrassment to Washington which has splurged billions on Afghan counter-narcotics efforts.

The sacking followed an embassy investigation after staff noticed a person wandering around the premises "in a state of confusion and appearing to be intoxicated", the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week.

"We can confirm that six individuals were involved and that all of them were contract employees," the US State Department said on late Thursday.

"No State Department employees were involved in the incident."

It was not immediately clear what kind of drugs the employees were using.

Over the last 15 years, the US government has spent billions of dollars on a war to eliminate drugs from Afghanistan, but the country still remains the world's top opium producer.

Opium production is a major source of income for the Taliban insurgents.

Last year, Afghanistan saw a 10 per cent jump in opium cultivation compared to the previous year because of bumper harvests, collapsing eradication efforts and declining international aid to combat drugs, according to the United Nations.

Six employees of the US embassy in Kabul have been dismissed for using or possessing drugs, an official said, in an embarrassment to Washington which has splurged billions on Afghan counter-narcotics efforts.

The sacking followed an embassy investigation after staff noticed a person wandering around the premises "in a state of confusion and appearing to be intoxicated", the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week.

"We can confirm that six individuals were involved and that all of them were contract employees," the US State Department said on late Thursday.

"No State Department employees were involved in the incident."

It was not immediately clear what kind of drugs the employees were using.

Over the last 15 years, the US government has spent billions of dollars on a war to eliminate drugs from Afghanistan, but the country still remains the world's top opium producer.

Opium production is a major source of income for the Taliban insurgents.

Last year, Afghanistan saw a 10 per cent jump in opium cultivation compared to the previous year because of bumper harvests, collapsing eradication efforts and declining international aid to combat drugs, according to the United Nations.

European Council President Donald Tusk has said the EU will not punish Britain, because Brexit is "punishment enough", as he released a set of draft guidelines on Friday for the two-year Brexit negotiations.

Tusk spoke at a news conference in Malta on Friday after the guidelines were sent to the heads of the 27 remaining members of the EU, reported the Independent.

The draft guidelines appeared to offer a concession to Prime Minister Theresa May, suggesting that talks on future trade arrangements could begin once "sufficient progress" was made on the initial Brexit deal.

Tusk said that the EU will not seek to punish Britain in the initial stages of the talks. "We will not be punitive. Brexit itself is punitive enough," he said.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who is the incumbent rotating EU President, appeared alongside Tusk at the conference and said the Brexit negotiations will be tough but "it will not be a war".

He warned both sides that citizens in Britain and other EU nations should not be used as "bargaining chips". 

Going into the two-year negotiation period triggered by Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty (official process to leave the EU), the EU would think of the people first, Tusk said.

The residential rights of EU citizens living in Britain would be one of the main focuses.

The EU companies in Britain would need to be safeguarded against losing the protection of the 27-member bloc's law and regulation, he said.

Tusk also said the EU would honour all its commitments, and stressed that Britain would have to as well.

He also raised the issue of Britain's financial bills with the EU, estimated to be as much as 51 billion pounds ($64 billion).

In a sign of the bloc's determination to secure a "divorce bill" from Britain, he said: "We will need to make sure that Britain honours all financial commitments and liabilities it has taken as a member state."

He also said the EU would seek "flexible and creative solutions" to avoid the creation of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Britain's only land border with the EU.

Tusk will meet May in London ahead of an EU summit on Brexit, which will not include her, on April 29.

Trinamool Congress on Friday took out its second rally here in two days against what it called BJP's "vendetta politics" and accused it of trying to malign its leaders in false cases.

TMC senior leader and minister Sovan Chatterjee addressing the rally said, "The people's struggle will intensify in days to come. Whenever we have been under attack – be it in the Left regime, the Congress regime or BJP rule, the people have stood by us and have supported us.

"As our party supremo Mamata Banerjee has raised her voice against demonetization, they are trying to malign us."

A large number of TMC activists led by Chatterjee, Power Minister Sovandeb Chatterjee, TMC MLA and wife of arrested TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay, Nayana, marched from Sealdah to Esplanade carrying placards against the Narendra Modi government.

The party has planned three rallies to oppose the alleged "witch hunting" against its leaders, who are purportedly seen accepting money in a sting operation.

The first rally took place on Thursday and the third rally is scheduled on April 3.

Sovandeb Chatterjee said central government agencies were out to malign the TMC by making false cases against the them.

"Harassing TMC leaders or threatening them won't stop them from raising their voice against the anti-people decisions. The Left Front government which had given birth to chit funds, have remained untouched " he said.

Happy Wedding Director Omar Lulu has wrapped up shooting for his upcoming movie Chunkzz. The director made the announcement on social media recently. Director Omar Lulu posted 'OMG! Finally its pack up time for Chunkzz. Thanks to all the 'Chunks' who stood by us' along with a team picture.

Omar's debut movie 'Happy Wedding' wowed the audience and this time he is expecting the same response from Chunkzz.

Chunkzz stars Vishak Nair, Balu Varghese, Dharmajan Bolgatty, Honey Rose and Marina Michael.

Newly-appointed analytical coach Hans Streeder wants the Indian men's hockey side to work on its defensive structure, which in turn can bolster any team's attacking capability.

"I would like to see the team improve upon their defence structure. You can only attack freely when you know your defence is covered," the the 58-year-old Dutchman said at the Sports Authority of India centre here, where a group of 33 core probables are training ahead of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, which starts in April.

While the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an important tournament for last year's runners-up India, Streeder and chief Coach Roelant Oltmans has set their sights on the Asia Cup in Bangladesh and Hockey World League Final in Bhubaneswar later in 2017.

Streeder feels one of the key challenges for an analytical coach is to keep the sessions fresh.

"It is important to stay fresh in doing what you do on pitch. Drills need to be fresh but not too difficult so the players can be excited and upbeat about it. The structure needs to be clear for them to execute well. But since I have worked with Roelant (Oltmans) in the past I know exactly what he expects from me so it becomes easier," he said.

India is not new to Streeder as he has worked briefly with former coach Michael Nobbs when the Indian team visited Rotterdam.

Streeder was also part of the Hockey India League franchise Uttar Pradesh Wizards as their analytical coach for three years since the inaugural edition.

"I've seen a lot of these players closely. They are a very skillful and excited bunch," said Streeder, who joined the national camp on March 14.

Before joining India, Streeder was with the Netherlands junior squad and has closely watched and analysed the junior Indian team that lifted the junior World Cup in December last year.

"I was on the video tower for every single match and I have watched these boys closely. The 11 players from that team who are in the camp here are very talented, no doubt, but I would like them to work in a new structure, understand what's expected of them from every session and execute it," he said.

"Whether they are junior or seniors it doesn't matter as long as they play in the structure planned and created for them," Streeder asserted.