A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday.
The four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy is locked at 1-1 and the match at Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA), which is organising it's first-ever Test, is set to be a make-or-break affair for both teams.
The 10-day Ganesh festival began on Saturday under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, with devotees restricting celebrations to their homes and using online platforms to get 'darshan' of the Lord at temples, amid strict COVID-19 restrictions imposed by governments.
Over 200 houses were damaged, scores of people were rendered homeless and nine persons were injured as storms lashed pockets of three districts of West Bengal since last night.
'Most of the measures the finance minister announced will take effect after the lockdown.' 'By that time, millions of people will be starving.'
He was suffering from lung cancer for last several months, West Bengal CPI secretary Swapan Banerjee said.
The first COVID-19 vaccine shots in India were given on Saturday to nearly two lakh frontline healthcare and sanitary workers as Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out the world's largest inoculation drive against the pandemic that has caused 1,52,093 deaths and upended millions of lives in the country.
Here's a recap of the events from the past 24 hours.
Maharashtra has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases with 74, including three foreigners, followed by Kerala at 52 including seven foreign nationals.
'Reports in a section of media regarding Union Minister Shri Arun Jaitley's health condition are false and baseless. Media is advised to stay clear of rumour mongering,' Government Spokesman Sitanshu Kar tweeted.
The government assured the Opposition that reservation to Anglo-Indians will be considered later.
But Smith believes the world champions have a quality squad to bounce back in the series.
A round-up of Tuesday's play in the Ranji Trophy.
In a first such action in India's electoral history, the Election Commission had Wednesday ordered campaigning in the nine West Bengal constituencies to end at 10 pm on Thursday, instead of 6 pm on Friday, in the wake of violence between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata during Amit Shah's roadshow.
While lashing out at Mamata Banerjee, the prime minister said he was going for a rally in Dum Dum later in the day but was not sure if the West Bengal Chief Minister will allow his helicopter to land.
While man and a woman were reported killed when trees came crashing down on them in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, a 13-year-old girl died in a similar incident in adjoining Howrah. No casualties have been reported from Odisha yet.
A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played on Sunday.
The chief minister, speaking at her first major political rally after the Lok Sabha polls, also said the party will launch a statewide protest on July 26, demanding return of black money "siphoned off" by the BJP.
I want to make this clear again that the CAA is not about taking away anybody's citizenship, but about granting citizenship, Modi said.
The Modi government, ahead of its third anniversary in power, has asked all ministers to submit their five major achievements that have benefitted people, including key reforms and comparative data reflecting the progress made since the Bharatiya Janata Party took office.
The BJP locked in an intense rivalry with the TMC since general election vented ire against the state government over the episode, whereas the ruling party directed its criticism at the Governor for rushing to the University which it said is expected to provide justice to the university's vice-chancellor, professors, students, who were beaten up during and the after the minister's visit there.
The ABVP state secretary Subir Haldar threatened to "cut off" the legs of "anti-national" Left-aligned students of Jadavpur University if they stepped out of the campus.
The death toll climbed to 15,301 with 407 new fatalities, according to the Union health ministry data.
In its morning update, the Union health ministry said the total number of positive cases has reached 2,16,919 with a record spike of 9,304 new cases since Wednesday 8 am across the country, while the death toll has increased to 6,075 with 260 more fatalities in this period. A PTI tally of figures announced by different states and union territories, as of 9.50 pm, showed a higher number of confirmed cases across the country at 2,17,389 and the death toll at 6,233.
The 21-day coronavirus lockdown in force since Wednesday has triggered a mass exodus of migrant workers across the country since the last few days.
Cutting across party lines, chief ministers and others leaders urged the people to follow the self-imposed curfew from 7 am to 9 pm, noting that "social distancing" was key to breaking the chain of infection, as the number of coronavirus cases rose to 283 after 60 new cases were detected on Saturday, the highest so far in a day, and states like Maharashtra, Odisha and Bihar imposed partial lockdown till month end.
Having sealed the series with a comprehensive win in the second T20I at Lucknow riding on skipper Rohit Sharma's brilliant ton, the home team would look to give reserve bench players like Shreyas Iyer, MS Washington Sundar and the uncapped Shahbaz Nadeem an opportunity before it embarks on the tour of Australia.
The disease could go down several paths. One possibility, the least likely, is that it will just disappear. The most likely is that it will have seasonal impact, says Devangshu Datta.
'It's a great honour for me to represent my country and even after playing 10 years, I don't feel like I am entitled for anything here. You still have to work hard for every run that you score at the international level'
The chief minister skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on a makeshift dais along with some senior ministers and party members.
- 'The current coaching set-up has done a fantastic job and if they are given a one-year run then they could really make a difference'
Reaching out to the states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the Centre and states should work together as 'Team India' to solve national problems like they have worked to resolve issues like the Indo-Bangla Land Boundary Agreement.
'Premature lifting of the lockdown will spread the disease from asymptomatics, and those undetected, to the whole community, ushering in prolonged misery, preventable and avoidable deaths, famine and social unrest,' warns Dr Debashish Danda.
The saffron party's IT cell had realised the power of WhatsApp early in the day and wielded it to devastating effect in the Bengal elections.
'The handling of the pandemic, under this totally constitutional and legal three-level dictatorship, has begun to show its downside,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
"I want to thank god for giving me the opportunity to travel this distance, for only the second trip of my life to India."
'Overall, there is a room for improvement, I'm sure the guys have learnt from it and they will come back stronger. We have to start really well and do a lot of things right whether it's batting or bowling, and come out all guns blazing'
Images from Day 3 of the 1st Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday
Seeking cooperation from the public to fight the pandemic, the Union health ministry officials said there was no need to panic. They also said not everyone needs to wear masks and that following social distancing is more important to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
One of her coaches who came to her rescue was also injured after being grazed by the dagger.
