Category: Uncategorized

Prithvi Shaw has revealed that legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar continues to have faith that he can bounce back.
Prithvi Shaw‘s career has taken a sharp nosedive in recent years. 2024/25 saw the talented opener dropped from Mumbai’s domestic teams, and he also went unsold in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. However, despite all the downs, Shaw has revealed that legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar still has the faith that he can bounce back. He stated that after his own father, it is Tendulkar who has been a strong support system for him, revealing that he also shares a great bond with Tendulkar’s son, Arjun.
“My biggest support system is my father, but after him, he (Tendulkar) knows a lot. Arjun and I have been friends since we were eight or nine years old. Sir also used to be there. He has seen,” Shaw said in an interview with News24.

“Hardly two months ago, he was practising at MIG for the (International) Masters League. I was also there. At such a time, you need a mentor who gives a spark,” Shaw stated.

Shaw revealed that Tendulkar continues to give him words of advice and retains the belief that he can bounce back from his struggles.

“He still believes in me. ‘Prithvi, I have belief and I will continue to believe.’ He has seen me. He has trust. ‘Get back on track. Everything is still possible.’ That belief is very precious to me. Just like my father and a few friends believe,” Shaw spoke about Tendulkar.

Meanwhile, Shaw on Monday ended his ties with home team Mumbai after being granted a No Objection Certificate by the MCA to sign up with a new domestic side for his “growth and development as a cricketer”. Shaw has been out of reckoning from the red ball set-up for some time but has played white ball cricket. However, his off-field disciplinary issues have grabbed more air time than his on-field performances. The Mumbai Cricket Association confirmed receiving Shaw’s request and has given its approval to it.

“The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) would like to inform that cricketer Prithvi Shaw had formally requested a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to represent another state as a professional player in the upcoming domestic season. After due consideration, the MCA has granted the NOC,” the MC stated MCA Secretary Abhay Hadap said the body appreciates Shaw’s contributions over the years.

“Prithvi Shaw has been an exceptional talent and has contributed significantly to Mumbai cricket. We respect his decision and wish him the very best in his future endeavours,” he stated.

Dropping eight catches in a single Test, India gifted England opportunities that proved costly.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, despite scoring a ton for India vs England in the 1st Test in Leeds, got quite a lot of flak due to his fielding follies. During the entire Test, India dropped as many as eight catching opportunities, which tipped the scales in England’s favour. The eight dropped chances cost India a whopping 250 runs, a valuable tally that held the power to change the visitors’ fate. Yashasvi Jaiswal was the prime offender with four dropped chances, followed by other top fielders. 
Former India captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar was not pleased with the fielding of Team India. “I don’t think there will be any medal given. T Dillip gives those after a match. This is what was really very, very disappointing. Yashasvi Jaiswal is a very good fielder but he hasn’t been able to hold on to anything this time,” Sunil Gavaskar, who was commentating, said.

Stuart Broad was also critical. “Crucially, and I mean this in the kindest possible way, they have to take their catches. They can’t lob three or four of them on the floor when you’re trying to get 10 wickets to take a test match,” he said. 

However, former India fielding coach R Sridhar has come in defence of Yashasvi Jaiswal. “He’s actually an excellent gully fielder. Make no mistake. He’s had just two bad games — one in Melbourne, one here in Leeds. Otherwise, he’s been exceptional. The catches he took against Bangladesh in Kanpur were outstanding. It’s easy to sit in the commentary box and criticise, but these are challenging conditions, and for many of them, it’s their first experience of this environment,” he told Sportstar.

Sridhar, however, said that India’s ground fielding level was not good at all.

“The standard of ground fielding which is exhibited is not acceptable. Unlike catching, ground fielding is something which is totally in your control. You should know which ball to put your body behind, which ball to attack, which ball to play safe,” he said.

“You know when to pick up the right cues, you know, based on the breeze. Wind is another big factor. As the television visuals showed, Leeds was extremely blustery and cold when we were fielding. But even then, Karun Nair took two brilliant catches, and so did KL Rahul.”

The former coach urged everyone to show some patience with the Indian cricket team.
“Going on the first tour to England and adapting and being a good slip fielder is not an easy task. You can practice all you want, but in the match, it’s quite challenging. The conditions are very cold, so the fingers get very numb. And secondly, the Duke’s ball wobbles a lot as it comes towards you. It’s not easy to catch,” he said.

Observers were quick to point out the disconnect between Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s ultra-wealth and the underwhelming design of their wedding invitation.
The wedding festivities for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and former news anchor Lauren Sanchez have already begun in Venice, but the couple has found itself at the centre of an unexpected criticism – their wedding invitation.

A glimpse of the invite, obtained by ABC News, has triggered a wave of ridicule online. The couple, together for six years, will exchange vows in a multi-day celebration said to include an official ceremony on the picturesque island of San Giorgio Maggiore on Friday, June 27.

Far from the elegance expected of a billionaire’s wedding, the invitation’s design – a collage of butterflies, birds, feathers, and shooting stars in shades of pink and blue, set against a stark white background – has been branded “atrocious” and “ugly” by social media users.

The card included a message requesting guests not to bring gifts. It read, “We are excited for you to join us! We have one early request: please, no gifts.”
Instead, the invite said the couple would make charitable contributions on behalf of attendees. “Donations on your behalf are being made to the UNESCO Venice Office to safeguard this city’s irreplaceable cultural heritage, to CORILA to restore the vital lagoon habitats that protect Venice’s future, and to Venice.”

“This magical place has gifted us unforgettable memories. Our hope is that through these efforts and by you joining us, Venice will continue to inspire wonder for generations to come,” the invitation added.

While the intention appeared thoughtful, the visual presentation left many unimpressed.

People on X (formerly Twitter) quickly began mocking the invite.

One user joked, “Was the invitation made in Microsoft Paint?”
Despite the backlash, anticipation for the high-profile event remains sky-high. While initial reports suggested the wedding festivities would run from June 24 to 26, The Independent reported the actual timeline appears to be later in the week. Italian authorities have only confirmed that the ceremony will be held in late June.

Multiple reports say the lavish affair will span three days, with Bezos’s luxurious superyacht Koru.

New Delhi:

Sending a stern message to India’s neighbours, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has refused to sign a joint statement at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet because it did not mention the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 innocent lives and did not reflect India’s strong position on terror. While skipping any mention of Pahalgam, the document mentioned Balochistan, tacitly accusing India of creating unrest there. Pahalgam’s exclusion from the document appears to have been done at Pakistan’s behest as its all-weather ally, China, holds the Chair now. 

India has consistently trashed Pakistan’s allegations about its involvement in Balochistan and said Islamabad must look within and stop backing terror instead of making wild allegations. 

“India is not satisfied with the language of the joint document. There was no mention of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, there was mention of the incidents that happened in Pakistan, so India refused to sign the joint declaration, and there is no joint communique either,” a Defence Ministry source said.

Mr Singh is currently in China’s Qingdao to attend the SCO Defence Ministers’ meeting. The summit is being attended by member states, including Russia, Pakistan and China, to discuss issues related to regional and international security. Established in 2001, SCO aims to promote regional stability through cooperation. The bloc currently has 10 member states — Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Addressing the summit, the Defence Minister called upon SCO members to unite to eliminate terrorism for collective safety and security. He said the biggest challenges faced by the region are related to peace, security and trust deficit, with radicalisation, extremism and terrorism being the root cause of these problems.

“Peace and prosperity cannot co-exist with terrorism and proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the hands of non-state actors and terror groups. Dealing with these challenges requires decisive action. It is imperative that those who sponsor, nurture and utilise terrorism for their narrow and selfish ends must bear the consequences. Some countries use cross-border terrorism as an instrument of policy and provide shelter to terrorists. There should be no place for such double standards. SCO should not hesitate to criticise such nations,” Mr Singh, taking in a veiled swipe at Pakistan.

Referring to the Pahalgam terror attack, he said India had exercised its right to defend against terrorism and pre-empt as well as deter further cross-border attacks. “During the Pahalgam terror attack, victims were shot after they were profiled on religious identity. The Resistance Front, a proxy of UN-designated terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) claimed responsibility for the attack. The pattern of Pahalgam attack matches with LeT’s previous terror attacks in India. India’s zero tolerance for terrorism was demonstrated through its actions. It includes our right to defend ourselves against terrorism. We have shown that epicentres of terrorism are no longer safe and we will not hesitate to target them,” he said.

He stressed the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of terror and to bring them to justice. He termed any and every act of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable. SCO members, he said, must condemn this evil unequivocally.

The Defence Minister’s refusal to sign the joint statement reflects India’s stern stand against terror now and falls in line with the global messaging in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor. Eight delegations were sent abroad to articulate New Delhi’s stand on terror and how it plans to tackle it going forward.

New Delhi:

Air Force pilot Shubhanshu Shukla wrote a historic new chapter in the country’s space exploration story Thursday after becoming the first Indian to float into the International Space Station.

Live visuals from the ISS showed Shukla, and the other three astronauts on the Crew Dragon capsule, being helped through the vestibule connecting the spacecraft and the ISS. Each had big grins on their face and were welcomed with bear hugs by the seven astronauts already on the ISS.

The four then lined up for a photo op drinking liquids from a foil packet.

The capsule that carried the astronauts – part of Axiom-4, a private mission – docked this evening, completing a 28-hour flight from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre to a point 424km over the northern Atlantic Ocean.

Docking is the procedure by which a spacecraft connects to the space station.

But before that docking can even begin the spacecraft must first rendezvous with the space station, meaning they must both be in the same orbital plane and be positioned close to each other.

What follows is a series of complicated manoeuvres, including precise positioning by matching positional (location) and velocity vectors (speed and direction) to confirm a safe and secure physical connection between the spacecraft and space station to allow exchange of astronauts and cargo.

And then, at 4.01 pm (India time), Mission Control confirmed a ‘soft capture’, i.e., a connection allowing the spacecraft, named Grace after it reached orbit, and the station some room to move to absorb kinetic energy generated during initial contact.

Minutes later a ‘hard capture’, i.e., a more robust connection, was confirmed and, at 4.15 pm (India time) NASA said the docking sequence had been completed. “We are honored to be here… thank you,” Mission Commander Peggy Whitson told the International Space Station in a live stream of the docking.

The view from inside the Dragon capsule before it docked with the ISS.

Mr Shukla and the other three astronauts in the Dragon capsule – the US’ Peggy Whitson, Slawoz Wisniewski of Poland and Hungarian Tibor Kapu – will not immediately join the other seven on the ISS.

It will take some time for the connection to the station to stablise and for the system to ensure there is no break in the seal or any issue with the link that could compromise astronauts’ safety.

The hatch separating the ISS and the Dragon capsule will open at 6.10 pm (India time).

Axiom-4’s journey began at 12.01 pm Wednesday when SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Launch Complex 39A, the same site, in fact, that launched Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 mission.

The launch had been delayed six times and hovered on the edge of a seventh after a software glitch prevented upload of weather data. However, that was resolved with minutes to go and, a little past 12.01 pm (India time), the Falcon 9 rocket’s powerful Merlin engines roared into life.

Shukla and his fellow astronauts have a busy 14 days ahead of them.

Over the next fortnight they will conduct 60 experiments, seven of which were proposed by India, including one to study ‘water bears’ – microscopic organisations – to understand how living things adapt to microgravity. The focus will also be on bio-manufacturing and bio-astronautics’ during the mission.

‘Thrilled To Be Here’

Earlier today, in the Dragon capsule as it hurtled towards the ISS, Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the mission pilot, described the launch as ‘magical’ and reflected on his journey.

“I am thrilled to be here with my fellow astronauts… what a ride it was. Honestly, as I finally sat on the launchpad after 30 days of quarantine (thanks to numerous launch delays), all I could think was… ‘let’s just go!’. When it happened… it was something else entirely. You’re pushed back into the seat and then, suddenly, there’s silence. You’re just floating in the vacuum… and it’s magical,” he said.

Shukla also expressed gratitude to the muriad engineers and scientists around the world who made this mission possible, calling the experience a ‘collective achievement’. “I truly appreciate the efforts of every individual who made this journey possible. This accomplishment belongs to all of us,” he said.

A tourist guide on Saturday claimed that the honeymoon couple from Indore, Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam, was accompanied by three men on the day they went missing from Meghalaya’s Sohra area.

An official confirmed that the guide had provided this information to the police.

While the couple went missing on May 23, Raja’s body was found in a gorge on June 2 while a search for his wife was underway.

Speaking to PTI, Albert Pde, a guide at Mawlakhiat, said he had seen the couple accompanied by three male tourists as they were climbing over 3,000 steps from Nongriat to Mawlakhiat around 10 am on May 23.

He said he recognised the couple as he had offered his services to them on the previous day to climb down to Nongriat but they had politely refused and hired another guide.

Newlyweds Raja and Sonam Raghuvanshi visited Nongriat, Meghalaya, during their honeymoon but went missing on May 23. Raja’s body was found on June 2, while Sonam’s search continues, with family fearing kidnapping. Witnesses recall their last 12 hours.

The 12 hours that a couple from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore spent at Nongriat village in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills during their visit to the popular double-decker living root bridge have now been accounted for, according to investigators who spoke with the locals and took their statements.

Newly wed couple Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam visited some areas during their honeymoon in Meghalaya before they went missing on May 23. While Raja Raghuvanshi’s body was found in a gorge on June 2, a search is still on for his wife.

Teams from the police and even the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are searching for Sonam, whose family said they believe she must have been kidnapped and have not lost hope of finding her.

The couple checked into a guesthouse in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong on May 21. The next day they hired a scooty and rode to the popular tourist hotspot Sohra (Cherrapunji). After reaching Mawlakhiat village in East Khasi Hills, they kept the scooty at a parking spot run by the local community for tourists, and hired a local guide to trek to a homestay at Nongriat village in the same district.

The India Meteorological Department has issued red alerts for Idukki, Kannur, and Kasaragod districts and orange alerts for the remaining districts.

Heavy rain lashed many districts of Kerala on Friday, disrupting normal life and causing waterlogging.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued red alerts for Idukki, Kannur, and Kasaragod districts and orange alerts for the remaining districts today.

Authorities in several districts have declared holidays for educational institutions under their jurisdiction.

As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), strong westerly winds are likely to persist at lower tropospheric levels over Kerala and the Lakshadweep region for the next two to three days, resulting in widespread rainfall.

The IMD stated, “Strong westerlies likely to continue at lower tropospheric levels over Kerala and the Lakshadweep region during the next 2-3 days. Under the influence of these, widespread rainfall activity with scattered Heavy rainfall to Very Heavy rainfall with isolated Extremely Heavy rainfall is very likely to occur over Kerala on 29th & 30th May 2025. Heavy rainfall is very likely to occur at isolated places over Kerala on 31st May, 1st and 2nd June 2025.”

District administrations across Kerala have declared a holiday for all educational institutions in several districts on May 30 (Friday).

The precautionary measure applies to professional colleges, anganwadis, tuition centers, madrassas, and special coaching classes.

Kannur District Collector announced a holiday for all educational institutions, including anganwadis, madrassas, tuition centers, and special classes. The district declared a similar holiday on the previous day due to intense rainfall.

According to the police, the victim had been living with her two daughters in a rented house in a village after separating from her husband.

A 34-year-old woman was hacked to death and her teenage daughter seriously injured in an attack in this hill district, police said here on Monday.

Another daughter of Praveena was also missing after the attack, they added.

The incident occurred at their residence under the Tirunelli police station limits in the late evening on Sunday, they said.

According to the police, the victim, Praveena, had been living with her two daughters in a rented house in a village after separating from her husband.

Police believe the attack was carried out by her male friend. Praveena’s 14-year-old daughter sustained deep wounds to her neck and ear. She is currently being treated at a government hospital, they said.

Her nine-year-old daughter is missing, along with the suspect.

A police team is investigating the case.

Search efforts are ongoing for the missing girl, but strong winds and heavy rain are hampering the operation, they added.

Police booked a man on Saturday after disturbing visuals of him “brutally assaulting” his eight-year-old daughter went viral on social media recently.

In the footage, the man could be seen beating the child and trying to slam her head against the wall as she cries in fear.

As the issued triggered widespread outrage on social media platforms, Health, Women and Child Development Minister Veena George and General Education Minister V Sivankutty came out strongly condemning the act and assured stringent leagal measures against the accused.

Following circulation of the video, the police launched a probe and identified the man as Jose alias Mamachan, living in a rented house in Cherupuzha of this district.

A senior police official said he was summoned to the local station in the morning.

His estranged wife and two children were also called to the station to record their statements, K Vinod Kumar, Deputy SP, Payyannur said.

“As soon as the video came to our notice yesterday, we contacted the man and the children. But, they claimed that it was a prank video,” he told a TV channel.

They claimed that it was picturised to bring back their mother who was staying separated from them.

“But, prima facie, we don’t think it is a prank video. Even if it is a prank video as claimed by them, a video showing brutality to children cannot be taken like this,” he said.

Responding to the criticism about police inaction, Kumar said the children were shifted to their paternal aunt’s house with their consent on Friday itself.

The officer further said legal action would be taken in connection with the incident and a case would be registered after recording the statements of the man, his wife and the children.

Later in the day, Cherupuzha police said a case has been registered against him and he was being interrogated.

“He still claims that it was a prank video. A detailed statement of the children should also be taken and procedures for it are are going on,” a police officer belonging to the station said.

The man was booked under Section 75 of Juvenile Justice Act (cruelty to children) and various sections of the BNS including Section 115 (voluntarily causing hurt), he said.