(IANS)
Antigua, Feb 6: Riding on half-centuries by Nishant Sindhu and Shaik Rasheed and clinical bowling performances from Raj Bawa and Ravi Kumar, India clinched a record-extending 5th U-19 World Cup title after beating England by four wickets in the final of the 2022 edition of the tournament at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, here on Saturday.
This is India's record fifth title in the tournament's history and came after previously winning it in 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018. The Yash Dhull-led India U19 finished the tournament with an unbeaten run in the West Indies, flaunting the strength of the assembly line of Next-Gen India cricketers.
With this, Dhull joins the illustrious list of captains -- Mohammad Kaif (2000), Virat Kohli (2008), Unmukt Chand (2012), Prithvi Shaw (2018) -- who have lifted the U19 trophy for India in the past.
A superb bowling performance by Raj Bawa (5/31) and Ravi Kumar (4/34) helped India bowl out England for 189 despite a fighting fifty by James Rew (95). In reply, Shaik Rasheed (50 off 84) and Nishant Sindhu (50 not out off 54) smashed fifties while Raj Bawa (35 off 54) also played a vital knock and helped India chase the target in 47.4 overs, with four wickets in hand.
Chasing a challenging target, India were off to a poor start as left-arm pacer Joshua Boyden removed Angkrish Raghuvanshi for zero in the very second delivery of the innings. After losing Raghuvanshi early, Shaikh Rasheed and Harnoor Singh didn't take too many risks and batted cautiously. The duo took India to 33/1 after 10 overs as England used three bowlers, including captain Tom Prest, in the first powerplay.
From there on, England dried the runs up by bowling some disciplined overs and backed that up with solid efforts in fielding. It was Thomas Aspinwall who gave England the big breakthrough by dismissing opener Harnoor Singh with an unplayable bouncer and ending a 49-run stand for the 2nd wicket.
Captain Yash Dhull, who played a match-winning knock of 110 runs against Australia in the semi-final, then joined vice-captain Rasheed at the crease. The asking rate was not too much but India were under a bit of pressure after that slow start. But Dhull and Shaikh Rasheed showed great composure and added runs quickly.
Rasheed, who took his time during the partnership with Harnoor, was more proactive between the two as he got to his fifty in 83 balls. However, he couldn't carry his innings longer and got out to James Sales while going for a big hit. Soon, Sales dismissed Yash Dhull for 17 and helped England claw back in the match with India at 97 for 4 in 28.4 overs.
From there on, Raj Bawa and Nishant Sindhu joined hands to bail India out of the tricky situation. Both Bawa and Sindhu looked in solid touch and scored at a brisk rate, taking India closer to the target. It took 40 overs for India to hit their first six as Rehan Ahmed was launched over the long-on boundary by Nishant Sindhu, who hit the first six of the second innings to bring his 50-run partnership with Bawa.
With India needing 44 runs in the last 60 balls, Bawa changed gears and smashed a six and a four to turn things in India's favour. In continuation of his aggressive batting, Bawa hit the ball straight to the mid-on fielder and departed after scoring 35 from 54 balls. However, Nishant Sindhu kept his nerves and hit a superb fifty, putting India on the cusp of victory. It was Raj Bawa -- the star of the day-- who hit a couple of sixes and took India over the victory line in style.
Earlier, England won the toss and opted to bat first, but they were off to a terrible start as they lost Jacob Bethell (2) in the second over of the innings. Bethell played for an in-swing but the ball bowled by Ravi Kumar kept its line and the England opener was trapped plumb in front of the wicket.
Captain Tom Prest, who came to bat first, didn't trouble the scorers and got out a duck. He was also dismissed by Ravi Kumar, who bowled a short delivery and Prest dragged the ball onto the stumps, leaving England to 18-2 after 3.3 overs. Thereafter, George Thomas, who was playing counter-attacking shots looking to rebuild England's innings along with James Rew after two early blows.
During the process, Kaushal Tambe dropped a straightforward catch at first slip as Thomas survived and Raj Bawa, the first change bowler, was denied a wicket.
However, the drop didn't cost India that much as Bawa dismissed the dangerous Thomas for 27. Opener Thomas looked to put pressure on Bawa by hitting across the line in the first delivery of the 11th over but he got a leading edge and was caught inside the 30-yard circle.
Continuing his dreamy bowling spell, Raj Bawa soon got rid of Will Luxton and George Bell in two consecutive deliveries of the 13th over as England were five down for 47 runs. Things were not looking good for England; it got worse when Bawa picked his fourth wicket of the match, dismissing Rehan Ahmed (10), who edged the ball straight to the slips and Kaushal Tambe made no mistake.
Wickets were falling from one end but James Rew was holding the fort for England amid all the carnage. He along with Alex Horton hit a few much-needed boundaries and stitched a 30-run stand for the seventh wicket before the latter got out to spinner Kaushal Tambe for 10 in the 25th over of the innings.
At 91-7, it looked like England would get bowled out for a lower total but James Rew and James Sales stitched a solid partnership for the 8th wicket. Rew mixed aggression with caution and found the gaps with ease, scoring his fifty in 79 balls. He was well supported by Sales from the other end as the duo took England to 147/5 after 35 overs. On the other hand, India were looking desperate for a wicket as skipper Yash Dhull made multiple bowling changes.
It was Ravi Kumar, who brought India back into the game by taking two quick wickets in the 44th over. He first got rid of James Rew, who played a fantastic knock of 95, snapping a 93-run stand for the 8th wicket and then removed lower-order batter Thomas Aspinwall for a duck.
Raj Bawa then dismissed Joshua Boyden to take his five-fer as England were bowled out for 189 after 44.5 overs. James Sales remained not out after scoring 34 off 65.
Brief scores: England U-19: 189 all out in 44.5 overs (James Rew 95, James Sales 34; Raj Bawa 5/31, Ravi Kumar 4/34) lost to India U-19: 195-6 in 47.4 overs (Shaik Rasheed 50, Nishant Sindhu 50; Joshua Boyden 2/24) by four wickets.
(IANS)
New Delhi, Oct 4: Centre on Wednesday notified the establishment of a National Turmeric Board in Telangana, which would be aimed at increasing consumption of turmeric and developing new markets internationally to increase exports.
The decision was taken during the union cabinet meeting, held earlier today.
The board, which will be set up in Nizamabad in Telangana, will promote research and development into new products and develop our traditional knowledge of value-added turmeric products.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 1 during his visit to Telangana, had announced the setting up of the National Turmeric Board in Nizamabad.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur told media persons after the cabinet meeting that the board will help increase turmeric exports from India to $1 billion by 2030.
The board will have a chairperson, who will be appointed by the Centre.
It will have members from the Ministry of AYUSH, departments of pharmaceuticals, agriculture and commerce ministry as well as senior state government representatives from three states (on a rotation basis), select national or state institutions involved in research, representatives of turmeric farmers and exporters, and a secretary, who will be appointed by the commerce ministry.
India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of turmeric in the world.
In 2022-23, an area of 3.24 lakh hectares was under turmeric cultivation in India with a production of 11.61 lakh tonnes.
More than 30 varieties of turmeric are grown in India and it is grown in over 20 states in the country.
The largest producing states of turmeric are Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The National Turmeric Board will provide leadership on turmeric-related matters, augment the efforts, and facilitate greater coordination with the Spices Board and other government agencies in the development and growth of the turmeric sector.
There is significant potential and interest the world over on the health and wellness benefits of turmeric, which the board will leverage to further increase awareness and consumption, develop new markets internationally to increase exports, promote research and development into new products, and develop on our traditional knowledge for value-added turmeric products.
It will especially focus on capacity building and skill development of turmeric growers for harnessing greater benefits out of value addition. (IANS)
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New Delhi, Oct 4: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed an FIR against a private company and other unknown people for causing an alleged loss of Rs 63.71 crore to IDBI Bank, an official said on Wednesday.
According to a senior CBI official, the agency has registered a case on the basis of a complaint filed by the IDBI Bank Ltd., NPA Management Group, Mumbai, against a private company, private persons and unknown others accusing them of causing a loss of Rs 63.71 crore (approx) to IDBI Bank.
The official said the accused named in the FIR are - SPG Multitrade Pvt. Ltd. (the company), Madan Lal Goyal, Prince Goyal, Shally Prince Goyal and unknown public servant(s) and private persons.
“It is alleged that the borrower company and its promoters entered a conspiracy with others and cheated IDBI Bank by way of misappropriation of funds and criminal breach of trust, manipulation of books of accounts etc.,” said the official.
“It is further alleged that the borrower company carried out fraudulent sales/purchase transactions, overstated receivables and trade payables resulting in higher drawing power and submitted wrong drawing power statements.
“An alleged loss to the tune of Rs.63.71 crore (approx) plus expenses and uncharged interest thereon was caused to IDBI Bank. Searches were conducted at Mumbai and Bhopal at the premises of the accused, which led to recovery of incriminating property documents, hard disks, locker keys, etc.,” said the official. (IANS)
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New Delhi, Oct 4: Google on Wednesday announced that the all-new Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones with next-gen AI capabilities, and Pixel Watch 2 are now available for pre-orders in India.
The Pixel 8 is priced at Rs 75,999 and the Pixel 8 Pro will cost Rs 106,999. Both devices will be available for purchase on Flipkart, starting October 12.
The Google Pixel Watch 2 is priced at Rs 39,900 and will be available for purchase on the same day on Flipkart, the company announced.
The limited-time launch offers in India include a bank offer of Rs 8,000 on select banks and exchange offer of Rs 3,000 on Pixel 8, with its terms and conditions.
There will be an offer of Rs 9,000 on select banks and exchange offer of Rs 4,000 on Pixel 8 Pro.
“With any purchase of Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro, you can buy a Pixel Watch 2 for Rs 19,999 or a Pixel Buds Pro for Rs 8,999,” according to the company.
The new line-up of AI-powered Pixel 8 smartphones come with new Tensor G3 chip and will be supported with seven years of “OS, security, and Feature Drop updates”.
Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro feature powerful, upgraded camera systems for stunning photo and video quality, plus game-changing editing tools.
“We’ve packed both phones with a new, 50-megapixel main camera, with 21 per cent more light sensitivity than Pixel 7,” said the company.
Pixel 8 has an updated ultra-wide camera with autofocus that enables Macro Focus.
The bigger ultrawide lens delivers even better Macro Focus, the telephoto lens captures 56 per cent more light than Pixel 7 Pro and takes 10x photos at optical quality, and the front-facing camera now has autofocus for the best selfies on a Pixel phone.
One can also get high-resolution 50MP images from across the zoom range, in both JPEG and RAW.
Magic Editor in Google Photos uses generative AI to help you reposition and resize your subjects to create a perfect photo of the moment you were trying to capture.
Audio Magic Eraser feature lets you easily reduce distracting sounds in your video, like howling winds or noisy crowds.
This first-of-its-kind computational audio capability uses advanced machine learning models to sort sounds into distinct layers so you can control their levels.
“Pixel Watch 2 comes with upgraded performance, all-day battery life (with always-on display), new safety features and sensors for deeper health insights — including our most accurate heart rate tracking on any tracker or smartwatch2 — to give you a much better pulse on your day,” said Google.
Pixel Watch 2 is made from 100 per cent recycled aluminum which makes it 10 per cent lighter than Pixel Watch3.
Together with the low-power co-processor, the new CPU gives the watch 24 hours of battery life, even with always-on display, said the company. (IANS)
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