Pradhan Bats For 'Medical College' Status To Newly Inaugurated Pabitra Mohan Pradhan Govt Hospital

From a coaching perspective, this will be the start of Gautam Gambhir’s coaching era for India, with Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate joining in as assistant coaches. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka have Sanath Jayasuriya as interim coach, as the hosts and India now focus on building a team for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

After electing to bowl first on a fresh pitch, Asalanka said, “It looks like a pretty good pitch and we want to see how it goes. We are going with a 6-5 (batters-bowlers) combination. I want to give every player a specific role and that’s why we are going with five bowlers. You can expect more wins and more consistency.”

Suryakumar said Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson and Khaleel Ahmed missed out on spots in India’s playing eleven. “It (the pitch) looks good and is fine to bat first. The brand of cricket remains the same. The relationship me and him (Gambhir) have had for so many years is special. That (World Cup) is history, we start from scratch and it is a new challenge.”

Playing XIs:

India: Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Riyan Parag, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera, Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Dasun Shanaka, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka

--IANS
 

“The year 2036 marks the completion of 100 years of the statehood of Odisha. Hence, the next decade is crucial for us. We have started working on a strategy to stimulate high growth to realise the dream of Viksit Odisha by 2036, leading eventually to Viksit Bharat by 2047,” said the CM.

This was the maiden appearance of Majhi at the country’s highest policy deliberation body after being sworn-in as the new CM of Odisha on June 12.

The CM’s demands ranged from making best use of the state’s natural resources, leveraging its skilled workforce and strategic location to building new infrastructure in different sectors, including ports, industries and renewable energy.

“To leverage Odisha’s long coastline of 480 km, we shall adopt the model of port-led development, positioning us as the gateway to Eastern and South Eastern Asia and a port of call for neighbouring landlocked states. Support is therefore required for establishment of large-scale port-based industrial zones in areas surrounding the existing ports of Dhamra and Gopalpur; while further developing greenfield ports at Astaranga, Palur, Bahuda, and Subarnarekha. In this regard, salt pan land of around 4300 acres owned by the Central Government in Ganjam district may be transferred to the State Government early,” the CM said.

Odisha is already building its infrastructure such as industrial parks and corridors, electricity grids, railway infrastructure and enhanced air connectivity. The CM sought “dedicated budget allocations” and “quick clearances” from the Centre for all these infrastructure projects.

Stating that Odisha, though prone to natural disasters, had emerged as a pioneer in disaster management, demonstrating remarkable resilience;  the CM said financial support of the Union government for creation of disaster-resilient infrastructure in power, telecom sectors and coastal saline embankments will help the State in minimising the adverse consequences of cyclones and floods.

Asserting that Odisha is recognized as a potential green economy, Majhi sought support for Pumped Hydro Storage Plants (PSPs) projects, Floating Solar Projects (FSPs) and intrastate green energy transmission corridor projects.

To ensure financial inclusion, the CM urged the Union government to expedite opening more numbers of brick and mortar bank branches and ATMs in the unbanked/ under-banked gram panchayats.

Odisha has a lower railway density compared to the national average. The CM urged the Centre to consider its demand for increasing railway density in the state.

“With over 33 per cent forest cover, Odisha plays a crucial role in environment protection. However, the state's high forest cover limits its ability to utilize land for development projects, affecting its economic growth. I urge the Central government to consider incentivising Odisha for reducing its carbon footprint and rendering ecological services,” the CM said.

Observing that Odisha has a growing pool of talented tech professionals, a thriving startup ecosystem and an ambitious semiconductor policy, Majhi sought support for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and State-of-the-art technology for design and manufacturing semiconductors.

According to the bank’s executive director (ED) Sandeep Batra, “in Q1 FY25, we infused about Rs 500 crore” in ICICI Home Finance, the home finance subsidiary.

The bank's net interest income went up by 7.3 per cent to Rs 19,552.9 crore during the first quarter from Rs 18,227 crore in the year-ago period.

The gross non-performing asset of the lender came in at 2.15 per cent. The net non-performing assets (NNPA) stood at 0.43 per cent compared to 0.42 per cent last year.

ICICI Bank also disclosed that its provisions for Q1 have increased by 3.1 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,332.2 crore, compared to Rs 1,292 crore in the same period last fiscal.

The period-end deposits grew by 15.1 per cent (year-on-year) to Rs 14,26,150 crore while average deposits grew by 17.8 per cent to Rs 13,78,658 crore in the quarter.

Domestic loan portfolio grew by 15.9 per cent year-on-year to Rs 11,88,587 crore.

According to the bank, average current account deposits increased by 13.3 per cent while average savings account deposits went up by 8.2 per cent.

With the addition of 64 branches during Q1-2025, the bank had a network of 6,587 branches and 17,102 ATMs and cash recycling machines.

“The gross NPA additions were Rs 5,916 crore in Q1 FY25 compared to Rs 5,139 crore in the same period last fiscal.

“The Bank has written off gross NPAs amounting to Rs 1,753 crore in Q1-2025. The provisioning coverage ratio on NPAs was 79.7 per cent at June 30,” said the ICICI Bank.

In the quarter, the annualised premium equivalent of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance (ICICI Life) increased by 34.4 per cent to Rs 1,963 crore, from Rs 1,461 crore in Q1 2024.

--IANS