A 17-member Indian team was on Wednesday announced for the upcoming second World T20 for the visually challenged to be held in the country from January 28, 2017.

Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) president Mahantesh GK said selecting the team was a tough task and there are 9 players named as reserves apart from the 17 in the team from 10 states of the nation.

The World Cup will be held till February 12 and the final will be played in Bengaluru.

The announcement was made on Wednesday after IndusInd Bank launched the 'World Champions Programme – Cricket for the Blind' here.

The programme is in partnership with Cricket Association for the Blind in India – Sports Initiative of Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, to aid the Indian Blind Cricket Team.

Under the programme, the Bank will be supporting the Indian Blind Cricket Team, comprising 26 players.

Under it, the team will undergo rigorous training workshops and camp. Mahantesh said the Board of Cricket for Control in India has said that they will support the World Cup.

Skipper Ajay Kumar Reddy said the team will start preparations for the tournament from January 5 from a camp in Indore and he and his men will give more than 100 per cent.

"We are short of funds and appeal corporates to support the initiative," another senior official of the Association said.

He said neighbouring country Nepal asked for travel fair for the tournament. The winners will get Rs 2O lakh and the runners-up will be richer by Rs.15 lakh.

Complete Squad: Ajay Kumar Reddy (C), Prakasha Jayaramaiah (VC), Deepak Malik, Rambir Singh, Sukhram Majhi, T Durga Rao, Sunil R, D Venkateswara Rao, Ganeshbhai Muhundkar, Md Faisal, Md Farhan, Ketanbhai Patel, Md Jafar Iqbal, Sonu Golkar, Anish Beg and Prem Kumar G

Domestic benchmark market indices extended gains for sixth straight session and closed Wednesday’s trading session in the negative zone with IT and Teck indices leading the declines.

The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) ended 66 points down at 26,242 and the Nifty at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed 21 points lower at 8,061.

Broader markets underperformed the benchmark indices, BSE Midcap index slipped 0.2 per cent while Smallcap index closed flat with a positive bias.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, Realty index closed with the biggest gain, up 1.5 per cent, while IT index ended with the biggest decline, down 0.8 per cent.

On Tuesday, the Sensex had closed 67 points down at 26,308 and the Nifty had ended 22 points lower at 8,082.

Top gainers in the Sensex-30 pack: NTPC (up 1.2 per cent), M&M (up 1.2 per cent), Lupin (up 1.2 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (up 0.8 per cent) and ONGC (up 0.8 per cent).

Top losers in the Sensex-30 pack: Sun Pharma (down 2.3 per cent), ITC (down 1.4 per cent), TCS (down 1.1 per cent), Hero Motocorp (down 1 per cent) and Wipro (down 0.9 per cent).

However, the Rupee was trading 12 paise higher at 67.91 against the US Dollar.

BCCI President Anurag Thakur said there are few recommendations by the Lodha Committee, which the Board members feel are not practical to implement but they have not been able to convey the same as the body has not given them time for last two months.

"The matter is subjudice and I have full faith in the Indian judicial system. We have called meetings time and again to implement justice Lodha committee recommendations. More than 85 per cent recommendations have been implemented," Thakur told reporters here.

"The members do not agree to implement three-four recommendations as they are not practical. To convey this, we sought time but the committee is not giving us time for the last two months," he added.

Thakur further said: "Before the recommendations, we have brought many reforms in the BCCI which is the best run organisation in the world today. Our teams have performed well in so many tournaments.

"We are the number one team in Tests, number two in T20s and number three in ODIs. Look at the performance of our junior team where they have finals of the Asia Cup. Our women's team have won the Women's Asia Cup.

"So where are shortcomings? Pressure is being created unnecessarily on us," he added.

Commenting on Rajasthan Cricket Association, Thakur said that the association is suspended due to one individual and its members have to take a decision on it.

He said that the RCA would not get one day match till this is suspended.

Borussia Dortmund shared the spoils with Augsburg in a 1-1 draw while Eintracht Frankfurt went third after a 3-0 victory over 10-man Mainz in their respective Bundesliga matches.

Dortmund are waiting for their first win after three games as Ousmane Dembele had to cancel out Augsburg's surprising first-half opener through Dong Won Ji on Tuesday, reports Xinhua news agency.

BVB controlled the proceedings from the kick-off as Mario Goezte and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tested Augsburg goalkeeper Marwin Hitz in the opening period.

And despite creating most of the oppurtunities, neither Matthias Ginter nor Shinji Kagawa proved able to beat Hitz.

The visitors punished Dortmund's wastefulness as Jan Moravek's through ball allowed Dong to overcome goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller with a follow-up shot from close range in the 33rd minute.

Dortmund were unable to respond before the break. However, things changed after the restart as Dembele capitalised on Kagawa's build-up work to restore parity two minutes into the second half.

The hosts pressed frantically for the victory, but Augsburg's well-positioned defense hijacked one point on the road.

Dortmund climb from 5th to 4th place while Augsburg stay in 12th place of the Bundesliga standings.

In other action, Branimir Hrgota's brace helped Eintracht Frankfurt down 10-men Mainz 3-0 on home soil.

Frankfurt ensured a bright start as Hrgota benefited from David Abraham's deep pass into the path to overcome Mainz custodian Jonas Loessel for the opener.

Nevertheless, Frankfurt was unable to utilise that momentum to add another goal to their lead. Instead, Mainz turned up before Jhon Cordoba was sent off with a straight red card in the 55th minute.

The dismissal played into the hands of Frankfurt as the hosts doubled the lead in the 75th minute through youngster Aymen Barkok, who danced through Mainz' defense to slot home into the open goal.

The hosts were not done with the scoring as Hrgota wrapped up his brace with assistance from Barkok to make the game safe in the 85th minute.

With the eighth win of the season, Frankfurt moved from 6th to 3rd place whereas Mainz dropped from 8th to 9th in the standings.

Elsewhere, Wolfsburg inflicted a second straight loss on struggling Monchengladbach thanks to goals from Daniel Caligiuri and Mario Gomez.

Uninspired Schalke lost 2-1 to Hamburg as Nicolai Mueller and Bobby Wood were on target for the 'HSV.'

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence and Jurassic World star Chris Pratt say they are keen to visit India and "would love to" experience the country's culture.

"Let's do it," Lawrence, the world's highest paid actress, said in an interview here when asked if she and Pratt have any plans to visit India.

"I would love to. It's really vast and I would love to experience it," Lawrence said.

Pratt, who stars with Lawrence in Columbia Pictures' sci-fi action-thriller "Passengers", too sounded excited on the prospect of visiting India.

"I would love to go to India. I think that's our next vacation. I want to go and check it out. It's such a huge, huge nation, so many people, such a beautiful place," he said in the interview.

Pratt said he loves the movies that have come out of India.

"I feel like I have gotten glimpses into India but I haven't been able to get there. So I would like to go." 
The actor said he hopes his visit to India will be for vacation and not for work.

"If we came there to promote (a movie), that will be one thing but when you are on work you never get to experience any of the culture. So probably it will be vacation," he added.

Passengers, which released in the US today and will hit Indian theatres on January 6 in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, is about two strangers Jim and Aurora, who are on a 120-year journey to another planet on atechnologically- advanced "cruise-liner" style space ship when their hibernation pods wake them 90 years too early.

Jim and Aurora are forced to unravel the mystery behind the malfunction as the ship teeters on the brink of collapse, jeopardizing the lives of the several thousand passengers traveling from Earth on the spaceship to the distant planet for starting a new life.

The movie also stars Welsh actor Michael Sheen, who plays Arthur, a robotic bartender on board the ship.

On the thought of being alone and traveling to another planet, Lawrence said getting there "would be amazing" and will be the "adventure of a lifetime" but by the "time you get there, everybody you have ever known or loved is dead, so it's definitely a commitment.

Passengers employs cutting-edge technology to produce stunning special effects as it chronicles the lives of Lawrence and Pratt on the spaceship.

One of the most stunning visuals come when the gravity on the ship fails and Jim and Aurora find themselves weightless.

Aurora is in a swimming pool when the gravity fails and she is trapped in the huge ball of water as it starts surging upwards.

On shooting the swimming pool scene when the gravity fails, Lawrence said, "I have never seen anything like that in a movie before so I was excited and nervous to shoot it. but it was tough work. It was a week in water and doing tank work but it was definitely worth it." 

Pratt said the way technology is being used to make and see movies is both "exciting and challenging".

"In terms of making the movies, the technologies that are now out that are really mind blowing. Every movie I do, it seems like there is a new filming apparatus… that are creating the most dynamic physical shots that you could have never accomplished before" with simpler technologies.

He added that the flip side to technology that is "scary" is when "everything you say is written in stone. You are human and make little mistakes and that can resonate around the world in less than 10 minutes. Millions and millions of people can hear if you say something wrong or screw up, so the pressure is on." 

Fashionista Paris Hilton says her great-grandfather Conrad Hilton and actress Zsa Zsa Gabor were a "beautiful couple".

The 35-year-old star took to social media to pay tribute to the late actress, who passed away at the age of 99 on December 18 after suffering a heart attack, saying, Gabor and Conrad, were perfectly suited to one another.

The blonde beauty shared a picture of Gabor with her great-grandfather, who were married to the Hungarian-American star from 1942 to 1946.

"Sad to hear the news of Zsa Zsa Gabor's passing. My great grandfather and her made such a beautiful couple. May she rest in peace," she captioned the picture.

The first day of the 'Chillai Kalan'- the 40-day long period of extreme cold in Kashmir Valley- began on Wednesday with the coldest night of the season so far in Srinagar, Jammu and Leh.

"The minimum temperature was minus 6.5 degrees Celsius in Srinagar, the lowest recorded here this season so far," a Met official said.
Leh town recorded its coldest night at minus 14.9 degrees Celsius. So did the Jammu city at 5.2 degrees Celsius. Pahalgam recorded minus 6.9 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature, Gulmarg minus 2.2 degrees Celsius and Kargil town witnessed minus 11.4 degrees Celsius as the lowest temperature.
"Jammu city recorded 5.2 degrees Celsius, Katra 10.1 degrees Celsius, Batote 6.8 degrees Celsius, Bannihal 4.7 degrees Celsius and Bhaderwah recorded 1.9 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature on Wednesday," said the official.

According to the official, cold and dry weather is likely to continue in Jammu and Kashmir during the next 24 hours.

Director Martin Scorsese says filmmaking is not work for him.

The legendary director said he does not consider it a job as he never feels "forced" to go to set, reported Female First.

"I don't like working. Work, for me, is forcing you to do something, and I have had a life where I didn't feel I ever went to work.

"Even if I had to make a film for certain reasons, I've been lucky enough to have the story, actors, style, cinematic discoveries – expeditions, in a way – without being forced to do them," Scorsese, 74, said.

Director Martin Scorsese says filmmaking is not work for him.

The legendary director said he does not consider it a job as he never feels "forced" to go to set, reported Female First.

"I don't like working. Work, for me, is forcing you to do something, and I have had a life where I didn't feel I ever went to work.

"Even if I had to make a film for certain reasons, I've been lucky enough to have the story, actors, style, cinematic discoveries – expeditions, in a way – without being forced to do them," Scorsese, 74, said.

Paying tributes to Cuba's late leader Fidel Castro, India said Cubans have achieved notable success in education and healthcare under his leadership despite outside pressures and Havana's struggle for the global south brought it and the Caribbean island nation together.

"Fidel Castro indeed towered on the global stage. Under his leadership the people of Cuba achieved notable development successes in areas such as education and healthcare, despite outside pressures," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said at a special commemorative meeting in the General Assembly on Tuesday to pay tribute to the late commander of the Cuban revolution.

Akbaruddin said Cuba gave a "significant voice" for the cause of the global south, and this is what drew India and Cuba together. Over the years, the two nations have worked together closely at the UN to promote the aspects of economic equity and social justice in international relations, he added.

Nearly 30 envoys representing regional groups and nations paid tributes to Castro, who died at age 90, and his indelible legacy during the ceremony, presided over by General Assembly President Peter Thomson. While speakers included Russia, South Africa, Iran and China, there were no representatives from Western nations.

Akbaruddin said Indians learnt about Castro's demise last month "with a sense of loss." Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described Castro as one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century and had captured the emotions of India's one billion people when he stated that the country mourns the loss of a "great friend", Akbaruddin added.

As a mark of respect to the legendary leader, members of both houses of the Indian Parliament had paid tributes to the late leader.

The Indian envoy told the General Assembly that India was one of the first countries to recognise Castro's government after the Cuban revolution in 1959. "Fidel Castro was a stalwart of the Non Aligned Movement during the Cold War years, when India and Cuba commenced their close partnership to advance the interests of developing countries," Akbaruddin said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in his message on the occasion said, Castro was "one of the most important Latin American leaders of the 20th century" and "the most influential shaper of Cuban history since his own hero, Jose Marti, struggled for Cuban independence in the late 19th century."

The outgoing UN Chief said as president, Castro turned Cuba into a "regional model of access to education and public health" and "until his last days he was deeply concerned about the future of humanity and challenges of the current times."

Castro left "a major imprint on his country and global politics," Ban said in remarks read by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenca.

Lauding Castro's "charismatic and wise leadership," Akbaruddin said India will always "remember and cherish our friendship" with the "strong leader of a resilient nation."

Delhiites woke up to a clear, windy morning with minimum temperature recorded at 11.1 degrees Celsius, even as poor visibility in northern states delayed the movement of 32 trains and rescheduling of five others.

The visibility in the national capital was normal. It was recorded at 2000 metres at 5.30 am and 1500 metres at 8.30 amalthough mist was also there, said a MeT official.

Wind was blowing at 8 knots(15 km/hr) in the morning resulting in normal visibility, he said.

The minimum temperature was recorded three notches above the normal at 11.1 degrees Celsius. The maximum is expected to be around 25 degrees Celsius.

Humidity was recorded at 77 per cent at 8.30 AM.

The day ahead is forecast to be clear with mist or haze likely to occur next morning.

The operations at Delhi airport were normal. The aircraft arrivals and departures were on time according to Delhi airport website.

However, thirty two trains were running late while five have been rescheduled due to visibility issues, said a Railways spokesperson.

Yesterday, the minimum temperature was recorded at 11.6 degrees Celsius while maximum settled at 24.6 degrees Celsius.

Bayern Munich's defender Jerome Boateng will be out for at least six weeks after undergoing an operation on his right chest muscle on Tuesday, the German football champions said.

The 28-year-old German international will be out of the game until February 2017. He has amassed a long streak of injuries in the last year, reports Efe.

"If there are no problems with the healing process, Jerome Boateng will be unavailable for approximately six weeks," the Bayern medical team said.

The next European commitment for Carlo Ancelotti's side will be the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 against Arsenal on February 15.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday blamed the group of exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen for the assassination of Russia's ambassador in Ankara, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

In an interview with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Cavusoglu said "Turkey and Russia know that behind the attack… there is FETO," it said, referring to Turkey's acronym for Gulen's organisation.

Gulen — an exile accused of orchestrating an abortive coup in Turkey in July — had earlier condemned the assassination as a "terrorist act" that left him "shocked and deeply saddened." 

The United Naga Council, which represents Nagas living in Manipur, met Home Minister Rajnath Singh here on Tuesday and demanded President's Rule in the state in the wake of ongoing violence in the Imphal Valley.

The delegation will also meet President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday. It termed the creation of seven new districts as illegitimate as the Hill Area Committee was not consulted- mandatory under the article 371(C) of the Indian Constitution.

"The state government, without consulting the Naga people, created the districts mostly by bifurcating the Naga districts. This is against the promise under four various memorandums (1981, 1992, 1996 and 1998) and a written assurance by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2011 that without consulting the stakeholders no administrative set-up decisions will be taken," said KS Paul, a former UNC president.

He said: "We have met the Home Minister and sought his immediate intervention. The Nagas won't tolerate the division of land and creation of new districts. We demand President's Rule in Manipur."

The Imphal valley has been simmering under violence after the Congress-led government declared the creation of seven new districts- Jiribam, Kangpokpi, Tengnoupal, Pherzawl, Kakching, Noney and Kamjong. 

A blockade has been called by the UNC to oppose the decision to create Sadar Hills and Jiribam as full-fledged districts. The UNC says this would bifurcate the ancestral lands of the Nagas living in Manipur.

Jiribam was announced as a district. But the government could not do so with Sadar Hills due to the strong opposition by the Nagas.

Asked about Rajnath Singh's response, Paul said: "He (Rajnath) said he is aware of the entire situation."

"The CM has been only appealing to maintain peace but has not been doing anything to provide security forces to stop violence," a Naga leader said.

L. Adani, also a former president of UNC, said: "This move by the state government is for political mileage. Nagas and their land are inseparable."

As tension continues to grip violence-hit Manipur, six Naga political groups on Tuesday jointly condemned the acts of violence and call for peace among the communities living in the state. They called for leaders of the concerned communities to hold talks and said that "all sides must make an effort to restore communal harmony."

"A path of violence would not be in the interest of either Nagas or Meiteis" in the state, the Working Group of six Naga political groups said in a statement, strongly condemning the acts of violence against innocent people by a mob of miscreants in Imphal valley in the past few days.

Appealing for calm and restoration of peace in the state, the group called upon the government to act. 

"The government of the day must ensure that communal peace and harmony is not hijacked by mobs. The two communities have co-existed for centuries and for the sake of future generations, Nagas and Meiteis must learn to live together as trustworthy friends and neighbors," the Naga leaders said.

Demanding immediate arrest of the perpetrators, the group said, "Targeting innocent people, burning of church, vehicles and looting of passengers,.. This hate campaign must stop".

"… All sides must make an effort to restore communal harmony," they added.

The recent attacks are said to have been carried out by a mob as counter economic blockade called by the United Naga Council in the state. The UNC has been relentless with the demand for the release of their arrested leaders, including their president Gaidon Kamei.

The six political groups are GPRN/National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), NSCN (Reformation), Naga National Council/FGN (Shingnya/Thinosilie), NNC (Z Royim/ V Nagi) NNC/GDRN (Kiumukam/Hetoi) and NNC/NPGN) (Temjenyanger/Hozheto).

In nature, genetic recombination usually takes place between two DNA molecules derived from organisms of the same species. In animals and plants, for example, an individual’s parents are the original sources of DNA that recombine during meiosis.

A naturally-arising recombinant DNA molecule usually differs from the parental molecules only in the combination of alleles it contains; the fundamental identities and sequences of its genes remain the same. In the laboratory, such limitations do not exist. Since the development of recombinant DNA technology in the 1970s, scientists have had at their disposal a collection of techniques for making recombinant DNA in the laboratory. Any segment can now be excised from any genome and spliced together with any other piece of DNA. Initially derived from basic research on the molecular biology of bacteria, these techniques have enabled researchers to isolate and study genes from both prokaryotes and eukaryotes with greater ease and precision than was earlier thought possible. A central feature of recombinant DNA technology is the ability to replicate or clone specific pieces in order to prepare large enough quantities for research and other uses. Cloning is accomplished by splicing the DNA of interest to the DNA of a genetic element, called a cloning vector, which can replicate autonomously when introduced into a cell grown in culture — in most cases, a bacterium such as E Coli. The cloning vector can be a plasmid or the DNA of a virus, usually a bacteriophage; in either case, the vector’s DNA “passenger” is copied every time it replicates. In this way, it is possible to generate large quantities of specific genes or other DNA segments and their protein products as well, if the passenger genes are transcribed and translated in proliferating cells that carry the vector. To appreciate the importance of recombinant DNA technology, we need to grasp the magnitude of the problem that biologists faced as they tried to study the genomes of eukaryotic organisms. Much of our early understanding of information flow in cells came from studies with bacteria and viruses, whose genomes were mapped and analyzed in great detail using genetic methods that were not easily applied to eukaryotes. Until a few decades ago, investigators despaired of ever being able to understand and manipulate eukaryotic genomes to the same extent because the typical eukaryote has at least 10,000 times as much DNA as the best studied phages — truly an awesome haystack in which to find a gene-sized needle. But the advent of recombinant DNA technology has made it possible to isolate individual eukaryotic genes in quantities large enough to permit them to be thoroughly studied, ushering in a new era in biology. Much of what we call recombinant DNA technology was made possible by the discovery of restriction enzymes. The ability of restriction enzymes to cleave DNA molecules at specific sequences called restriction sites makes them powerful tools for cutting large DNA molecules into smaller fragments that can be recombined in various ways. Restriction enzymes that make staggered cuts in DNA are especially useful because they generate single-stranded sticky ends (also called cohesive ends) that provide a simple means for joining DNA fragments obtained from different sources. In essence, any two fragments generated by the same restriction enzyme can be joined together by complementary base pairing between their single-stranded, sticky ends. The combined use of restriction enzymes and DNA ligase allows any two (or more) pieces of DNA to be spliced together, regardless of their origins. A piece of human DNA, for example, can be joined to bacterial or phage DNA just as easily as it can be linked to another piece of human DNA. In other words, it is possible to form recombinant DNA molecules that never existed in nature, without any regard for the natural barriers that otherwise limit genetic recombination to genomes of the same or closely related species. Therein lies the power of (and, for some, the concern about) recombinant DNA technology.