‘Some day it will be Saina-Sindhu final’

P.V Sindhu and coach Pullela Gopichand after arriving in Hyderabad following her silver medal effort in the World Badminton Championships in Glasgow.

She may have just let the gold slip but badminton ace P. V. Sindhu is content with her silver show at the World Championships and hopes she’d win the big medal some day.

She attributed her run to the final to rigorous practice ahead of the tournament.

“We got good practice time (about two months) before the tournament and had really good practice sessions which helped me throughout the tournament,” Sindhu said after arriving home to a warm welcome on Tuesday.

The gruelling final was a testimony to the fitness of both players as they played out the longest match of the tournament to leave everyone in awe.

“It’s very important to have good food and good sleep to perform better. I made sure, I had good sleep before every match,” the 22-year-old said speaking about her fitness.

Talking about the exhausting 110 minutes world badminton championships final, Sindhu said, “Every rally was very important and every point I gained boosted my confidence.”

“Nobody is getting an easy point anywhere. It is just that you have to fight for each point.

“Mentally and physically, it is just tiring. But at that point of time, you just think that you have to get that point. Because, it is a world championship final. I was just playing. She (Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara) was equally tired. That 73-shot rally, I think it happened for the first time. It was a good match because, it was anybody’s game,” she said.

With Saina and Sindhu in different halves of the draw, an all-India final was a possibility until Saina fell in the semifinals.

“Actually, we expected it at the World Championships but it didn’t happen. But yes, someday that (a Saina-Sindhu final) will happen,” she said.

There was a lot of buzz in the social media as both the Hyderabad-based shuttlers made it to the final stages of the tournament. Sindhu thanked all.

“Fan support on the social media was a big confidence booster for me. I would like to thank them all.”

Sindhu was also glad that the government was doing its bit and the Prime Minister was taking the lead.

“We have been getting very good support from the government, I am very thankful. Actually, After the Rio Olympics, when we met Modiji, he directly asked if we wanted any support. It’s really great that he was ready to do anything,” Sindhu said.

Coach Pullela Gopichand concurred. “Indian sport definitely is at a stage where it was never in the past, We have highest officers in the country talking about sports. We never had somebody at the PM’s level discussing sport successively over months,” he said.

Gopi also acknowledged the hard work put in by the support staff.

“It has been really good performance from the entire team. All the staff has been working very hard to get us these medals. I would like to thank each and everyone who supported the players,” he said.

With regard to improvement in the players’ fitness levels, Gopi said: “I have pushed the fitness bar higher for the players so that they can endure for longer time in high pressure matches.”

The coach said players sometimes lost out when it came to television’s requirements and what fans wanted.

“But, our challenge is that Indian television timings dictate matches and that’s why they want some of the matches to be in the morning and sometimes the local crowds may be wanting to see the big matches to be in the evening.

“It’s a compromise which needs to be done and sometimes we are affected,” added Gopi. Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana E.S.L. Narasimhan congratulated Saina Nehwal and Sindhu for their feats in Glasgow a Raj Bhawan statement said and wished that they would win more medals in the future.

City to get heavy rainfall for next 3 days

The IMD officials have attributed the increasing rainfall activity to the upper-air cyclonic circulation over south of Rajasthan

Mumbaikars will be able to enjoy heavy rainfall for the next three days. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has also issued a warning for heavy rainfall for the same period.

“The heavy rains are a respite from the humid climate which usually prevail in the city. We are glad that the weather has become cooler due to continuous heavy rainfall,” said Saylee Rajesh, a resident of Mulund.

The IMD officials have attributed the increasing rainfall activity to the upper-air cyclonic circulation over south of Rajasthan and a low-pressure area which is moving westward from Odisha.

On Monday, the Colaba observatory recorded at least 36mm of rainfall and at least 29mm of rainfall was recorded by the Santacruz observatory.

“There was widespread rainfall in the city and it will continue in a similar manner for next three days. The eastern suburbs of Mumbai received good rainfall as compared to other areas of the city,” said an IMD official.

The disaster management cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recorded at least 16.37 mm of rainfall in the eastern suburbs and at least 13.07 mm of rainfall in western suburbs of the city. There were no complaints of water logging received by the disaster management department.

The department also received four complaints of tree falling cases in the western suburb due to heavy rainfall. It also received two complaints of short circuit in the city and three on the central suburb on the same day.

The department also recorded one slab collapse on the central suburb and two on the western suburb. The officials also said that rain water also entered the changing room of a security guard which is located on the ground floor of the BMC main building which caused inconvenience to the security guards.

INFOSYS ON ACHHE DIN TRACK UNDER NILEKANI, SAYS MURTHY

Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy on Tuesday defended his actions against the company’s board over the Panaya deal probe and other corporate governance-related issues, and hoped the new non-executive chairman, Nandan Nilekani, would bring back “acche din” to the information techonology major.

“Businesses will always have ups and downs. Business decisions are sometimes taken as bold bets that may not pan out as expected. That is par for the course in any company. However, when there is a cloud around how the organisation is being governed, we must speak up,” Murthy told analysts, according to a transcript shared by him. “This is the key ingredient to keep an institution healthy in the long run and hold it accountable to all stakeholders.”

Nilekani, co-founder and former chief executive of Infosys, returned as non-executive chairman last Thursday after chairman R Seshasayee, two independent directors — Jeffrey Lehman and John Etchemendy — and former CEO Vishal Sikka exited India’s second-largest software exporter. Nilekani’s return was triggered by a months-long public spat between Murthy and the Infosys board, which had also led to Sikka’s resignation as CEO. Murthy had threatened to reach out to investors lastWednesday against the company, but he put it off citing illhealth. This indicated that there was a compromise being arrived at Infosys, which saw the exit of four directors and the return of Nilekani.

Since then, Nilekani has outlined measures, including looking into

BUSINESSES WILL ALWAYS HAVE UPS AND DOWNS. BUSINESS DECISIONS ARE SOMETIMES TAKEN AS BOLD BETS THAT MAY NOT PAN OUT AS EXPECTED. THAT IS PAR FOR THE COURSE IN ANY COMPANY”

WHILE KEEPING QUIET MAY MAKE ME SEEM GENTLE AND “GOOD”, IT HAD THE POTENTIAL TO MORTALLY WOUND THE COMPANY IN THE LONG TERM. THEREFORE, I CHOSE TO SPEAK UP AND QUESTION” N R NARAYANA MURTHY CO-FOUNDER, INFOSYS

Infosys’ $200-million acquisition of Israeli firm Panaya and the severance pay given to former chief financial officer Rajiv Bansal, which first sparked concerns among founders of failure in disclosures by the company.

He also has engaged human resources firm Egon Zehnder and tasked independent directors Ravi Venkatesan and D N Prahlad to help prepare a strategy for the way ahead to be presented to the board in October.

Murthy, in his call with analysts, also indicated that all the founders, including Nilekani had raised the red flag against governance failure at Infosys.

“Nandan, the other co-founders and I askedMr. Seshasayee on June 28, 2016 how the board arrived at this strange decision to pay such a large sum as severance. Seshasayee told us that the decision was taken by David Kennedy, the former General Counsel. When we probed further whether the remunerations committee, the audit committee, and the board applied their mind to this issue, there was silence from Seshasayee,” said Murthy.

“On July 15, 2016, when I asked the board members, in the presence of Nandan and Dinesh, why they agreed to pay such a huge severance amount, Jeff Lehman said it was confidential and could not be disclosed to us. Roopa Kudva said we had to sign an NDA if we wanted to know the reason. So much for shareholder transparency and democracy! On October 14, 2016, Seshasayee told us that the Board agreed to pay this sum because they felt generous,” he said.

“Folks, it is not lost on me that the choice I have faced was to keep quiet, not raise these questions, and let the company suffer, or to stand up and ask questions. While keeping quiet may make me seem gentle and good, it had the potential to mortally wound the company in the long term,” said Murthy. “Therefore, I chose to speak up and question because, like every one of you on this call, I wish to see this company flourish as an institution”

“I wish Nandan the best of everything in his effort to bring back Acche Din to Infosys,” he added.

GST target for July has been exceeded: Jaitley

38.38 lakh returns filed so far; more on the way, says Minister

• The Hindu Business Line
• 30 Aug 2017

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said collections are likely to increase with greater compliance

The government’s gamble with Goods and Services Tax (GST) seems to have paid off as the indirect tax regime has yielded higher than expected revenue in the first month of its operations.

As many as 38.38 lakh businesses have filed GSTR- 3B for the month of July, paying ₹92,283 crore as tax. This is marginally higher than the ₹91,000 crore budgeted by the Centre and the States.

Increase expected

“We have already exceeded the target in the first month,” said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday, adding that the tax collection number would “somewhat

Collections from Integrated GST is ₹47,469 crore of which IGST from imports is ₹20,964 crore. Compensation cess amounts to another ₹7,198 crore of which ₹599 crore is compensation cess from imports.

Clearer picture next month

The last date for filing the self assessment return for GST was August 28. A clearer picture on tax collections will be available later next month when final returns for July are filed.

A Finance Ministry statement said that the allocation of IGST between the Centre and the States will depend on the extent that it was used for payment of CGST and SGST.

“This exercise will be done based on the cross-utilisation report to be received from the GSTN,” it said, adding that the exact revenue figures of the Central and the State Governments respectively will be known after this exercise is complete before the end of this month.

Enrolments under GST have risen to 91.16 lakh. Jaitley said this includes 72.33 lakh taxpayers who have migrated and another 18.83 lakh new registrations.

Fiscal deficit impact

The Minister, however, did not comment on the impact of the robust receipts on the fiscal deficit. “It is too early to comment. Not many people thought the red line would be crossed in the first month.

“We need to study the collections for a few more months,” he said.

The final returns for month of July will be filed next month. Filing of GSTR-1 for the month of July is scheduled between September 1 and 5, followed by filing of GSTR- 2 between September 6 and 10 and GSTR-3 between September 11 and 15.

N. Korea fires ballistic missile over Japan

The U.S. cannot browbeat us, says Pyongyang; Japanese PM Abe calls it an unprecedented and grave threat

Provocative move: A television news screen in Seoul shows file footage of a North Korean missile launch; soldiers from the Japan Air Self-Defence Force carry out a temporary deployment drill at the U.S.’s Yokota Air Base in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Nuclear-armed North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday in a major escalation that triggered global alarm and a furious response from the government in Tokyo.

Later, two U.S. officials said it was likely an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) and further analysis was under way to determine whether it was a success or failure. It appeared to be a KN-17, or Hwasong-12, according to initial data, they said.

A visibly unsettled Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said it was an “unprecedented, serious and grave threat”, while the UN Security Council called an emergency meeting at Tokyo and Washington’s request.

2009 satellite launch

The last time a North Korean rocket overflew Japan was in 2009, when Pyongyang said it was a satellite launch. Washington, Seoul and Tokyo believed it was a clandestine test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Pyongyang last month carried out two overt ICBM tests that appeared to bring much of the U.S. mainland within reach for the first time and heightened strains in the region.

At the time, U.S. President Donald Trump had issued an apocalyptic warning of raining “fire and fury” on the North, while Pyongyang threatened to fire a salvo of missiles towards the U.S. territory of Guam.

South Korea said the latest missile was launched from Sunan, near Pyongyang and flew around 2,700 km at a maximum altitude of around 550 km.

Guam is about 3,500 km from North Korea — although the missile was fired in an easterly direction and not towards the U.S. outpost, home to 1,60,000 people and host to major military facilities. Mr. Abe said the overflight was an “outrageous act” that “greatly damages regional peace and security”. In a 40-minute telephone call with Mr. Trump, he said, the two allies had agreed to “further strengthen pressure against North Korea”.

Pyongyang defiant

However, North Korea was defiant.

“The U.S. should know that it can neither browbeat the DPRK with any economic sanctions and military threats and blackmail nor make the DPRK flinch from the road chosen by itself,” North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun said, using the initials of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Robert Wood, U.S. Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament at the UN in Geneva labelled it “another provocation” that was “a big concern”.

Russia, which also has ties to Pyongyang, said it was “extremely worried”, hitting out at a “tendency towards escalation”.

Any launch towards Guam would have to pass over Japan first and analysts said Tuesday’s overflight presents a major challenge to both Tokyo and Washington.

Before 2009, the only time it had traversed Japanese airspace was in 1998, in what it also claimed it was a space launch. The U.S. said it was a Taepodong-1 missile.

Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons to protect itself against the U.S., and the firing comes during the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian South Korean-U.S. joint military exercise, which the North always condemns as rehearsals for invasion.

‘Halfway house option’

Euan Graham, of the Lowy Institute in Australia, said that a launch towards Guam would have been a “red line” for Washington, and instead Pyongyang selected a “halfway-house option”.

Japan has in the past vowed to shoot down North Korean missiles or rockets that threaten to hit its territory.

Vivegam Movie Review

CAST: Ajith Kumar, Vivek Anand Oberoi, Kajal Aggarwal, 

Akshara Haasan, Karunakaran, Serge Crozon, Amila 
Terzimehic, Arav Chowdharry,

DIRECTION: Siva

GENRE: Action


DURATION: 2 hours 29 minutes

VIVEGAM SYNOPSIS : A group of counter-terrorism agents are brought in to track down a man who was once the head of their squad, and is believed to have gone rogue.

VIVEGAM REVIEW : Vivegam is an over-the-top but engaging action thriller with a calculated mix of brawn and brain, action and sentiment, smartly pandering to fans while giving families something to connect with. Right from the moment the film begins, it is all about one man — Ajay Kumar or AK (Ajith Kumar). Once the head of a counter-terrorism squad, AK is now most wanted by the intelligence agencies after his daring strike on a terrorist outfit gives him a hard drive containing codes to launch a nuclear weapon. Assembled to track him down are his former team mates, his friend Aryan Singha (Vivek Anand Oberoi), Mike (Serge Crozon), Rachael (Amila Terzimehic) and Shawn (Arav Chowdharry).

As a team, their previous mission involved capturing Natasha (Akshara Haasan), a brilliant hacker who possessed the codes to launch deadly man-made earthquakes with the nuclear weapons. Even as AK succeeds in tracking down the hacker, we get an unexpected twist that sets him on a rage-filled revenge spree! Meanwhile, there is also AK's pregnant wife Yazhini (Kajal Aggarwal), who becomes a player in the life-threatening mission he has embarked on.

Action is what Vivegam promises and it is what the film offers — bangs for every buck. And Ajith takes it upon himself to single handedly provide plenty of mass-hero moments (a shirt-ripping, six-pack showcasing climactic moment is a particular highlight) and innumerable punch dialogues (Jaikaradhukku munnadi kondadradhum jaichadhukku aprom aadradhum namma agaradhilaye illa).



Vivek Oberoi, who appears in stylish attire, is often used to hype up AK (or rather Ajith), giving fans plenty of whistle-worthy moments in the first half. However, the dubbing for the actor gives the film a dubbed-film feel. Kajal, as the wife who pines for her husband and also proves to be his biggest strength, is quite likeable, while Akshara Haasan, for whom this marks her Tamil debut, acquits herself well in what is essentially an extended cameo role.

Director Siva sticks to his filmmaking style of ramped-up visuals and hyper-editing, and it does take some time to get used to the rhythm of the film, which is way over the top of over-the-top. It even feels like an assault on our senses, initially. Plus, the scenes involving white people talking in Tamil is quite comical. But once the film gets into flashback mode to narrate the mission to capture Natasha, things starts to get engaging. Karunakaran, who appears in these portions, acts as a good comic relief. The stunts, too, are exciting enough to keep us hooked.

The film really takes off in the second half, by when we have gotten used to its loudness. And Anirudh's electric (and again, loud) score lends punch to the proceedings. We also get a formidable antagonist, a friend-turned-foe, whom AK has to take down and stop mass destruction. The battle between them is largely one of wits and it is these moves and counter-moves that give the film its rush.