Sports

2nd ODI: Labuschagne, Warner hit tons as Australia thrash South Africa by 123 runs

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Days after Pakistan had toppled them from the No. 1 place in the Men’s ODI Team Rankings, Australia reclaimed their spot with a win in the second ODI against South Africa

Published Date – 09:10 AM, Sun – 10 September 23


2nd ODI: Labuschagne, Warner hit tons as Australia thrash South Africa by 123 runs



Bloemfontein: Days after Pakistan had toppled them from the No. 1 place in the Men’s ODI Team Rankings, Australia reclaimed their spot with a win in the second ODI against South Africa.

After winning a thriller in the first match in Bloemfontein, Australia won the second ODI by 123 runs.

Put in to bat first, Australia got a blistering start from Travis Head and David Warner. Head would score a quickfire half-century, while Warner brought up his 20th ODI ton as Australia got a solid foundation. Marnus Labuschagne, Australia’s hero in the first ODI win, then continued his brilliant run with another ton. This allowed Australia to post a mammoth total of 392/8 in their 50 overs.

South Africa got off to a rapid start but simply could not sustain the momentum, despite valuable knocks from Quinton de Kock and Heinrich Klaasen. Adam Zampa was the star with the ball for Australia, ending with figures of 4/48, as South Africa were bowled out for 269.

With this win, Australia have 121 points on the Men’s ODI Team Rankings points table. This puts them one ahead of Pakistan, who are on 120.

Ever the dominant ODI side, Australia have continued doing well in the limited overs format.

In the 2022 season, they lost a closely-fought series against Sri Lanka away from home. Their hiccups continued after reaching the Australian continent when they were humbled by Zimbabwe in a dead rubber after having won the series. However, the Kangaroos followed that with a 3-0 drubbing of regional rivals New Zealand at home.

In November 2022, they whitewashed England 3-0, again at home. They then went on to beat India in India in March 2023. With the win against South Africa in Bloemfontein, they have now taken a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

The two sides are evenly matched at the top, with India closely following them. With several ODI contests coming up, the equations and rankings might change even further.

Brief scores:

Australia 392/8 in 50 overs (Marnus Labuschagne 124, David Warner 106, Travis Head 64, Josh Inglis 50; Tabraiz Shamsi 4-61, Kagiso Rabada 2-79) beat South Africa 269 all out in 41.5 overs (David Miller 49, Heinrich Klaasen 49, Temba Bavuma 46, Quinton de Kock 45; Adam Zampa 4-48) by 123 runs.

Business

Bank credit outstanding to real estate rises to record Rs 28 lakh crore in July: RBI-Telangana Today

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Bank credit to housing as well as commercial real estate witnessed nearly 38 per cent annual growth in July

Published Date – 02:10 PM, Sun – 3 September 23


Bank credit outstanding to real estate rises to record Rs 28 lakh crore in July: RBI



Mumbai: Bank credit to housing as well as commercial real estate witnessed nearly 38 per cent annual growth in July, taking the loan outstanding to the realty sector to a record Rs 28 lakh crore, as per the latest RBI data.

It is evident from the Reserve Bank’s loan outstanding data as well as property consultants data on housing sales and new launches across major cities that activities in the real estate sector are moving at a fast pace.

The credit outstanding in housing (including priority sector housing) rose 37.4 per cent annually in July crossing Rs 24.28 lakh crore, showed the RBI’s data on ‘Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit – July 2023’.

The credit outstanding to the commercial real estate increased by 38.1 per cent to Rs 4.07 lakh crore.

Commenting on the RBI data, Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri said the impressive loan growth in the real estate sector is a function of a large-scale demand revival across the board.

“The commercial office segment was reeling under the pandemic’s pressure last year as employers were contemplating strategies around complete work from the office, work from home, or a hybrid model. However, as the situation gained normalcy, employees returned to offices and the demand for good quality commercial offices is high this year,” he said.

Another set of RBI data showed that All India HPI growth (y-o-y) inched up to 5.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2023-24 from 4.6 per cent in the previous quarter and 3.4 per cent a year ago.

In 2022, Puri said housing sales across top 7 cities were 54 per cent higher than the previous year. In January-June 2023, sales have already reached 63 per cent of the previous year, indicating the sustained demand.

The demand remained undeterred despite a steady rise in home loan interest rates, he added.

Samantak Das, Executive Director and Head of Research, JLL India, said the RBI’s latest sectoral credit data showed a remarkably high growth in bank lending to the real estate sector in July 2023.

“This is the impact of the merger of a non-banking financial company with a bank. On excluding the impact of the merger, lending to commercial real estate in July 2023 increased by ~12 per cent y-o-y and housing loans increased by ~13 per cent y-o-y during the same time frame,” he added.

Das said this double digit growth is considered quite robust given the challenging economic scenario globally.

“The double-digit growth can be attributed to the rising demand for housing which is reflected in the robust sales volume recorded till June 2023,” he added.

Aman Sarin, Director & CEO, Anant Raj Ltd, said the growth in credit indicates that the real estate sector is growing and people are investing in the sector.

“This also indicates that the banking sector is positive about real estate and willing to provide capital for construction of commercial and housing projects,” Sarin said.

Real estate developers and consultants exuded confidence that the sales momentum in the real estate sector will continue. They are also bullish about bumper sales in the upcoming festive season.

Mohit Jain, Managing Director, Krisumi Corporation, said: “The festive season typically brings optimism and increased real estate transactions.” The residential real estate sector is presently experiencing robust growth, and this trend is expected to persist, Jain said.

Puri of Anarock said the demand momentum is likely to continue, and the real estate sector is likely to scale newer heights.

As per the Anarock data, the total housing sales increased to 2,28,860 units during January-June this year across seven major cities from 1,84,000 units in the year-ago period.

These cities are — Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Kolkata.
This is despite the rise in interest rates on home loans by around 250 basis points in the last one and a half years and also increase in prices of residential properties after the COVID pandemic.

Top News

Justin Trudeau Still In India, Backup Plane En Route After Jet Trouble

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Justin Trudeau Still In India, Backup Plane En Route After Jet Trouble

The plane drama only adds to JustinTrudeau’s woes in his travels to India

New Delhi:

A backup plane and spare parts are en route to India for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is stranded along with his country’s delegation after the plane they arrived on broke down.

Trudeau will either fly home on the backup plane or wait for the original plane to be repaired, said a government official, speaking to Bloomberg on condition they weren’t named. The official declined to give details about what exactly needs replacing.

“The Canadian Armed Forces continue their best efforts to get the Canadian delegation home,” said a statement from Trudeau’s office. “Their latest update shows an earliest possible departure of Tuesday late afternoon. The situation remains fluid.”

The plane drama only adds to Trudeau’s woes in his travels to India. His first trip in 2018 became a diplomatic disaster after it emerged that a man who had been convicted of attempting to assassinate an Indian politician on Canadian soil somehow ended up on Canada’s guest list for an event.

On this trip, even before the plane breakdown, Trudeau had been publicly criticized by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly allowing the “anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada,” a reference to Sikh groups that advocate for an independent homeland known as Khalistan.

Trudeau’s national security adviser, meanwhile, has said that India is a major source of foreign meddling in Canada’s affairs. The two prime ministers did not hold a formal bilateral meeting at the summit, but in a brief conversation on the sidelines, Trudeau said the pair discussed foreign interference and “respect for the rule of law.”

Back home, Trudeau’s travel delays also stirred debate about the crumbling nature of Canada’s state infrastructure.

The Airbus A310s that carry Trudeau and other top officials abroad date back to the 1980s and are badly showing their age. They are so old they require refueling stops for Trudeau’s trips to Asia, often with stopovers in Alaska and Japan before reaching their final destination.

Even so, the planes touched off a controversy in the early 1990s when the government of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney bought and retrofitted them. Mulroney’s successor, Jean Chretien, famously derided one them as a “flying Taj Mahal” and refused to use it for official trips for fear of looking out of touch with ordinary Canadians.

The government is in the midst of replacing its fleet of government transports with Airbus 330s, but they are still being retrofitted for use.

Meanwhile, Trudeau’s official residence is also in such terrible shape that he and his family have never lived there since he was elected in 2015. The house, at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa, was filled with asbestos, faulty wiring, drafty windows and also has substandard security measures. The home has deteriorated to such a state because successive prime ministers have refused to spend the public money needed to restore it.

While a government agency has stripped out much of the problematic interior of the house, it’s an open question whether the residence will be restored and upgraded, at a cost that could top C$37 million ($27.2 million), or a new one is built instead. For now, Trudeau has been living in another government building on the grounds of Canada’s governor general.

Hyderabad

Rail Coach Restaurant launched at Hyderabad’s Necklace Road

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This is second such coach restaurant in Telangana after the “Restaurant on Wheels” which was launched earlier at Kacheguda railway station premises

Published Date – 04:33 PM, Mon – 11 September 23


Rail Coach Restaurant launched at Hyderabad’s Necklace Road



Hyderabad: Taking yet another step towards providing unique experience to rail passengers, the South Central Railway (SCR) has replicated one of its novel initiatives at another important railway station in the twin cities. As part this, the SCR Secunderabad division on Monday started a ‘Rail Coach Restaurant’ in the premises of Necklace Road railway station, which promises to offer a novel experience to food lovers through its unique dining ambience.

This is second such coach restaurant in Telangana after the “Restaurant on Wheels” which was launched earlier at Kacheguda railway station premises.

Necklace Road railway station is one of the busiest rail stations in the suburbs network of the twin cities having lots of picnic spots around the railway station vicinity.

Railway officials said the station witnesses good number of tourists footfall daily. To provide an unparalleled dining experience to the twin city food connoisseurs, Necklace road railway station has been chosen to set up with the concept of a coach restaurant.

Accordingly, one unused coach has been completely refurbished with modern and aesthetic interiors to provide a unique dining experience to the passengers. The maintenance of the “Rail Coach Restaurant” has been awarded to Boomerang Restaurant, Hyderabad for a period of five years.

This multi cuisine restaurant has been opened at the vacant space in the circulating area providing dining opportunity to both the rail passengers as well as common public. The Multi-Cuisine restaurant offers both Dine-In and Take away facility to the customers. Situated along one of the popular places in Hyderabad, this Coach Restaurant initiative provides a unique blend of nostalgia and gastronomy along with an unforgettable dining experience to its users.

SCR General Manager Arun Kumar Jain appealed to the rail users and general public to avail the facility to get first-hand experience of the novel initiative being taken by the railways.

World

Iran rejects reports on troop deployment on Azerbaijan border

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Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces for International Cooperation Brigadier General Mohammad Ahadi addressed the allegations during an interview to Azerbaijani Press Agency (APA) on Sunday. The senior military official, leading an Iranian military delegation, was in Baku to participate in the Azerbaijan-Iran Joint Commission meeting.

These are “completely groundless” reports, he said, playing down suggestions that Iran sought to dispatch forces for engagement in a possible war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Iran and Azerbaijan enjoy “very good” relations, he said.

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Baqeri and Azeri Defense Minister Colonel General Zakir Hasanov recently held a phone conversation over the situation in the region.

On Saturday, the Azerbaijani defense minister received the Iranian delegation and discussed the reconstruction work undertaken in the liberated territories under the leadership of Azerbaijan’s President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev and the operational situation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian conditional border and in the Karabakh economic region.

During the meeting, the sides also exchanged views about the prospects for the development of military cooperation, regional security, and other issues of common interest.

In a phone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, President Ebrahim Raeisi said Iran was ready to play an effective role in preventing new clashes and any geopolitical change in the disputed Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The president reiterated Iran’s support for the territorial integrity of all regional countries.

MNA/PressTV 

Sports

Coco Gauff becomes first American teen to win US Open title since 1999

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American teenage tennis sensation Coco Gauff secured her maiden US Open title, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the title clash in New York on Saturday night

Published Date – 09:30 AM, Sun – 10 September 23


Coco Gauff becomes first American teen to win US Open title since 1999

ANI Photo

New York: American teenage tennis sensation Coco Gauff secured her maiden US Open title, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the title clash in New York on Saturday night.

She defeated Gauff by 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to emerge victorious over soon-to-be number one Sabalenka. This win was Gauff’s 12th successive victory. In a span of 40 days, Gauff has won three huge titles and a total of 18 out of her 19 previous matches. She previously won the Washington Open and Cincinnati Open in August.

When Gauff was 12-years old, she was a 12-Under Junior Orange Bowl title, joining players like Steffi Graf (1981), Monica Seles (1985) and Jennifer Capriati (1986), who later went on to win a total of 34 Grand Slam titles combined. Now, Gauff is in their company with a Major title of their own.

She is the first American teenager to win the US Open singles title this century and only third overall. Serena Williams, another legendary women’s American player did it back in 1999 when Gauff was not even born. Gauff regained her composure after delivering the opening set to Sabalenka. Despite the circumstances, she was calm in the midst of the storm.

Sabalenka committed 16 unforced errors in the deciding set, while Gauff committed two unforced errors. Finally, it was Gauff’s tenacious defence that irritated Sabalenka, thereby driving her into a match-high 46 unforced errors.

This was her fourth three-set win in a row, demonstrating her fortitude. Gauff has now defeated Sabalenka once in each of the last four years, which no one else has done.

“Being in any sentence with her is great,” Gauff said of her idol Serena as quoted by WTA earlier during the tournament.

“It is something that I am used to a lot. So I am not going to sit here and be like, ‘Oh, I am shocked, but I feel like a lot of the stats have aligned with her, and people find new things to think about. I was the first teenager in the quarters and now semis, so I am guessing if I win they are going to be, like, finals. It is just going to keep going. I mean, she is the greatest player of all time. I am nothing close to that yet,” she added.

Following the match, she signed tennis balls and took selfies with fans. She will stay world number three among WTA Tour players when new rankings are issued on Monday. “Honestly, the French Open moment (where she finished runners-up)” she said in her post-match interview.

“I do not know if they caught it on camera but I watched Iga lift up that trophy. I watched her the whole time. I said, ‘I’m not going to take my eyes off her, because I want to feel what that felt like for her.’ That felt like craziness today lifting this trophy. It has not sunken in and I think it probably will maybe in a week or so,” she added. During the awards ceremony, Gauff made sure that she thanked her doubters.

“Thank you for the people who didn’t believe in me. A month ago, I won a 500 title — people said I would stop at that. Two weeks ago, I won a Masters title, and people said that was as big as it was going to get,” she said. “Three weeks later, I am here with this trophy. To those who thought they were putting water on my fire, they were adding gas to it. Now I am burning so bright right now,” he concluded.

India

AIMC files plea against preservation of evidence in Gyanvapi survey

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AIMC has filed an objection in the Varanasi district court against the application of four Hindu women seeking preservation of evidence found

Published Date – 09:20 AM, Tue – 12 September 23


AIMC files plea against preservation of evidence in Gyanvapi survey



Varanasi: The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC), which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, has filed an objection in the Varanasi district court against the application of four Hindu women seeking preservation of evidence found during the court-mandated survey of the mosque in May 2022 and those found during the ongoing survey by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The ASI has been conducting a survey in the barricaded area of the Gyanvapi mosque premises, excluding its sealed section, since August 4. The survey was ordered to determine whether the 17th-century mosque was constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple. Four women, the plaintiffs number 2 to 5 of Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi case, filed the application last week urging the court to pass an order to preserve all the evidence found in Gyanvapi in ‘Malkhana’ (store house).

The court fixed Wednesday as next date of hearing in the matter. The AIMC counsel filed the objection against the plea. Advocate Akhlaque Ahmad said they had filed the objection on Monday. In its objection, the AIMC said: “The plaintiff numbers 2 to 5 have filed the application in the court on the basis of baseless facts. No idol, article or artefacts were found during the court- mandated advocate commissioner’s survey proceedings conducted last year. Survey is being conducted by the ASI on Gyanvapi mosque premises.”

“Till now, the ASI has not submitted any report about what has been found during the survey. In such a situation, the so-called ancient articles of Hindu mentioned in the application by the plaintiffs are their brainchild.” The committee said the claim made by the plaintiffs in their plea was against the truth. Therefore, the application deserved to be rejected, it said.

Business

For now grounded Go First cannot use ‘G8’ designator code-Telangana Today

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International Air Transport Association (IATA), which provides two-letter designator and numeric codes to airlines, has blocked the ‘G8’ for Go First for a 12-month period

Published Date – 08:00 PM, Sun – 3 September 23


For now grounded Go First cannot use ‘G8’ designator code



New Delhi/ Mumbai: Bankrupt Go First is now not eligible for the two-letter designator code ‘G8′, with global airlines’ grouping IATA blocking the code as the airline has not been flying for the past few months.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which provides two-letter designator and numeric codes to airlines, has blocked the ‘G8’ for Go First for a 12-month period, according to an official.

IATA assigns the airline designator code to companies to use for reservations, schedules, timetables, telecommunications, ticketing, cargo documentation, legal, tariffs and/or other commercial/traffic purposes, according to IATA website.

“One of the requirements for a company to be eligible for an IATA two-letter designator is that the airline needs to be operating. As Go First ceased to operate commercial flights since early May 2023, it is currently not eligible for the IATA two-letter designator,” Albert Tjoeng, Head of Corporate Communications at IATA, said in a statement.

He said the two-letter designator and numeric codes will remain blocked for 12 months, during which Go First can ask for the reinstatement of the designator if the requirements are met.

Faced with financial headwinds and engine woes, budget carrier Go First stopped flying on May 3 and is undergoing an insolvency resolution process.

In the case of Jet Airways, which was grounded in April 2019, also the two-letter designator ‘9W’ remains blocked.

IATA codes are key for the identification of an airline, its destinations and traffic documents.

Top News

North Korea's Kim Jong Un Arrives In Russia For Weapons Summit With Putin

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North Korea's Kim Jong Un Arrives In Russia For Weapons Summit With Putin

North Korea has confirmed that its supreme leader Kim Jong Un left for Russia by Train on Sunday.

Seoul:

A train carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has entered Russia, Russian state news agency Ria Novosti said Tuesday, ahead of a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

The train crossed into Primorsky region from North Korea, the agency said, with images showing a train with dark green carriages being pulled along a track by a Russian Railways locomotive. 

Meanwhile senior officials and Pyongyang residents gave him “a warm send-off”, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Experts say Putin is seeking artillery shells and antitank missiles from North Korea for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, while Kim is reportedly in search of advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines, as well as food aid for his impoverished nation.

Kim “left here by his train on Sunday afternoon to visit the Russian Federation,” KCNA said.

State media images showed Kim walking to his train on a red carpet with honour guard through the station.

Kim was accompanied by top North Korean military officials, including his defence chief, foreign minister and officials in charge of weapons production and space technology, state media said.

KCNA did not report on the location of Kim’s train Tuesday, including whether it had crossed the Russian border.

It would take at least 20 hours for Kim to reach Vladivostok from Pyongyang on a 1,200 kilometre (745 miles) journey, assuming that Kim’s special train — which is likely very heavy due to its armour — travels at around 60 kilometres per hour, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo said.

On Monday KCNA had reported that “the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un will meet and have a talk with Comrade Putin during the visit.”

The Kremlin also confirmed that Kim would visit Russia.

Washington swiftly derided the upcoming summit as a sign that Putin was “begging” for help with his floundering invasion of Ukraine.

The confirmation from North Korea ends days of speculation after US and other officials said recently that Kim, who rarely leaves North Korea, was likely to head to Vladivostok for arms talks with Putin.

Kim has not travelled outside the North since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. His last proper overseas trip was in 2019, also to Russia to meet Putin.

South Korean broadcaster YTN said Seoul “expects that Chairman Kim will hold a meeting with President Putin of Russia around the day after tomorrow”, meaning Wednesday.

It is possible the pair will meet on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, the Far East city closest to the North Korea-Russia border. The forum runs until Wednesday.

Moscow, a historical ally of Pyongyang, was a crucial backer of the isolated country for decades and their ties go back to the founding of North Korea 75 years ago.

Kim has been steadfast in his support for Moscow’s Ukraine invasion, including, Washington says, supplying rockets and missiles.

In July, Putin hailed Pyongyang’s “firm support for special military operations against Ukraine”.

‘Pay a price’

The White House recently warned that Pyongyang would “pay a price” if it supplies Moscow with weaponry for its war in Ukraine.

On Monday the United States described Putin as desperate in seeking a meeting with Kim.

“Having to travel across the length of his own country to meet with an international pariah to ask for assistance in a war that he expected to win in the opening month, I would characterise it as him begging for assistance,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

Washington has said Russia could use weapons from North Korea to attack Ukrainian food supplies and heating infrastructure heading into winter to “try to conquer territory that belongs to another sovereign nation”.

Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Kookmin University in Seoul, told AFP that a Putin-Kim summit was part of Moscow’s “gentle diplomatic blackmail” of Seoul because Russia did not want South Korea to supply weapons to Kyiv.

Seoul is a major arms exporter and has sold tanks to Kyiv’s ally Poland, but longstanding domestic policy bars it from selling weapons into active conflicts.

“The major worry of the Russian government now is a possible shipment of the South Korean ammunition to Ukraine, not just one shipment but a lot of shipments,” Lankov said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad

Man electrocuted in Khammam

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The deceased, A Venkateswar Rao (28) suffered electric shock and died on the spot while saving his mother from electric shock at his residence.

Updated On – 04:48 PM, Mon – 11 September 23


Man electrocuted in Khammam



Khammam: A man was electrocuted at Bhimavaram village of Sathupalli mandal in the district on Monday. The deceased, A Venkateswar Rao (28) suffered electric shock and died on the spot while saving his mother from electric shock at his residence.