Author: Mike Harrison

Top seed Saketh Myneni kept the Indian hopes alive as he beat compatriot and former National champion Siddharth Vishwakarma 6-3, 7-6(2) in the quarterfinals of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament here on Friday.In the semifinals, Myneni will play third seed Aidan Mchugh of Britain.Myneni also made the doubles final in partnership with Yuki Bhambri.The two will face another all-India pair of Kaza Vinayak Sharma and Vijay Sundar Prashanth who ousted the top seeds Filip Bergevi and Jonathan Mridha of Sweden 13-11 in the super tie-break.The only other Indian figuring in the singles quarterfinals, second seed Sidharth Rawat was beaten…

Through Sri Lanka’s over three decade-strife, India, and its military, have played a significant role. With the participation of the Indian Air Force Chief and 23 aircraft in the three-day event in Colombo to mark the 70th anniversary of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), India sought to reaffirm its strong defence cooperation with Sri Lanka. The last time Indian aircraft took part in such an event was in 2001, on the occasion of the SLAF’s 50th year, according to Captain Vikas Sood, Defence Adviser at the Indian High Commission.A team of 4 Sarang Advance Light Helicopters, Surya Kiran (Hawks),…

The decision by YouTube followed Facebook’s earlier announcement that it has removed all Myanmar military-linked pages from its site and from Instagram YouTube removed five channels run by Myanmar’s military for violating its guidelines, it announced on Friday, as demonstrators defied growing violence by security forces and staged more anti-coup protests ahead of a special UN Security Council meeting on the country’s political crisis.YouTube said it is watching for any further content that might violate its rules. It earlier pulled dozens of channels as part of an investigation into content uploaded in a coordinated influence campaign.The decision by YouTube followed…

Chinese Premier and second-ranked leader Li Keqiang presented the draft government work report for the year China’s government on Friday announced a 6% growth target for 2021 and unveiled a five-year plan and vision for 2035 that aims to expand China’s global footprint as a major technology power.The plans, unveiled at the start of the annual week-long convening of the Communist Party-controlled legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), outlined a push for China to consolidate the positions of its supply chains in key strategic industries, amid a push from some countries towards decoupling, and to significantly increase China’s spending on research and…

Mr Khan is expected to meet lawmakers from Mutahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) to discuss the vote of confidence Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has convened a meeting of his allies on Friday to firm up his strategy, a day ahead of seeking a vote of confidence from the National Assembly following a key defeat in this week’s closely-contested Senate elections.Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) candidate and former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani defeated ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Wednesday, in a major blow to Mr Khan,…

The pontiff’s landmark visit has been months in the making and is the first papal visit to Iraq, one that eluded his predecessors Pope Francis has arrived in Iraq on a visit to rally the country’s dwindling Christian community after decades of war.The pontiff’s landmark visit has been months in the making and is the first papal visit to Iraq, one that eluded his predecessors.He brings a message of peace and coexistence to comfort the country’s deep-rooted Christian minority, many of whom fled the country in the successive conflicts that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.His trip will begin…

The survey said the unemployment rate in January to March 2020 was 5.6% as compared to 5.2% in October to December 2019. The Corona pandemic and subsequent lockdown has taken a heavy toll on the state’s economy. Maharashtra’s economy is expected to grow at (-)8% in 2020-21 compared to 5.0% of the previous fiscal, according to the Economic Survey presented in the Assembly on Friday. The Indian economy is also expected to grow by (-)8.0 per cent during the same period. The State budget will be presented on Monday. During 2020-21, the ‘Agriculture & allied activities’, ‘Industry’ and ‘Services’ sectors are expected to grow by 11.7%, (-)11.3% and (-)9.0% respectively. The ‘Manufacturing’ and ‘Construction’ sectors were hit…

Plans were submitted to China’s National People’s Congress, the country’s Parliament which began its annual session on Friday As the ice-covered parts of the Arctic Ocean melt due to climate change, China has flagged its interest to take part in building “Polar Silk Road”, raising prospects for the emergence of a new sea route. China will participate in the pragmatic cooperation on the Arctic and the building of a “Polar Silk Road,” the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the draft outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for national economic and social development and the long-range objectives to the year…

The test was carried out at around 10.30 a.m. from the integrated test range (ITR) launch platform at Chandipur The Defence Research and Development Organisation on Friday successfully conducted a flight test of Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) technology in Odisha, official sources said.The test was carried out at around 10.30 a.m. from the integrated test range (ITR) launch platform at Chandipur, they said.The successful demonstration of the SFDR technology will enable DRDO to develop long-range air to air missiles, the sources said.During the test, all subsystems including the ground booster motor have performed as expected, they added. You have…

The BSE gauge Sensex tumbled over 440 points and the NSE Nifty cracked below the psychological 15,000-level on Friday in line with relentless sell-offs in global equities as US bond market turmoil continued to rattle investors. At the closing bell, the Sensex was quoted at 50,405.32, showing a decline of 440.76 points or 0.87 % over the previous close. Intra-day, the index swung around 726 points. The NSE barometer Nifty ended lower by 142.65 points or 0.95 % at 14,938.10. On the Sensex chart, IndusInd Bank, SBI, Dr Reddy’s, NTPC, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech and Bajaj FinServ emerged as major…