World Cup opener: New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 98 runs

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Christchurch: Co-hosts New Zealand sent out a stern warning to all their rivals by earning a convincing 98-run victory over 2011 finalists Sri Lanka in the ICC World Cup opener at the Hagley Oval here Saturday.

New Zealand showcased their all-round skills, first scoring a mammoth 331/6 and then bowling out Sri Lanka for 233 in 46.1 overs to begin their Group A campaign with a bang.

Sri Lanka got off to a good start with Lahiru Thirimanne (65) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (24) stringing together 67 runs for the opening wicket. Former captain Kumar Sangakkara (39) Thirimanne added another 57 runs to take Sri Lanka to 124/1 in 21.5 overs.

At the time, the 1996 Cup winners were in the game and in with a good chance to chase down the imposing target. However, that all changed as Thirimanne's dismissal led to a string of wickets for the Black Caps and the end of the Sri Lankan challenge.

Thirimanne, Mahela Jayawardene (0) and Sangakkara fell in the space of five runs to leave Sri Lanka tottering at 129/4 after 23.5 overs. The Sri Lankan lower middle-order failed to join the party as Dimuth Karunaratne (14) and Jeevan Mendis (4) were dismissed cheaply.

Captain Angelo Mathews (46) put up a brief fight but he too was dismissed soon enough.

New Zealand will take a bag full of positives from the game. The form of captain Brendon McCullum (65) and Corey Anderson's whirlwind 75 off 46 would head the list.

Another big plus will be the return to form of Daniel Vettori. The left-arm spinner bowled superbly, giving away just 34 runs off his 10 overs and picking two key wickets.

Earlier, the Black Caps lost the toss and were put in to bat. McCullum and Martin Guptill (49) shared a 111-run stand for the opening wicket to set New Zealand on their way.

Without much swing or seam movement, the Sri Lankan bowlers were helpless against McCullum's power hitting. The New Zealand opener hit 10 boundaries and a six to reach 65 off just 49 balls.

Kane Williamson (57) and Ross Taylor (14) put on a 57-run partnership for the third wicket to take New Zealand to 193/2 in 33 overs. However, the duo fell in successive balls as New Zealand lost some steam in the middle overs.

But Grant Elliot (29) and Anderson added 65 for the fifth-wicket to bring the Black Caps back on track. Anderson then teed off in the final overs to cause massive damage. Along with wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi, Anderson scored 73 runs off the final six overs.

The Sri Lankan bowlers came in for severe stick with premier pacer Lasith Malinga failing to pick up a single wicket and going for 84 runs off his 10 overs.

IANS

Kejriwal sworn in as Delhi's chief minister

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New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal was Saturday sworn in as Delhi's chief minister by Lt Governor Najeeb Jung at the Ramlila Maidan here along with six ministers.

Tens of thousands of Aam Aadmi Party supporters who had gathered at the sprawling ground in the heart of the capital since morning cheered loudly and waved AAP flags as Kejriwal took the oath of office and secrecy.

Kejriwal's close aide Manish Sisodia, who will be the deputy chief minister, was also sworn in along with ministers Satyedra Jain, Gopal Rai, Asim Mohammed Khan, Sandeep Kumar and Jitendra Singh Tomar.

Kejriwal, 46, led the AAP to a thumping win in the Delhi assembly election. The party won a staggering 67 of the 70 seats, leaving the BJP with just three seats. The Congress was wiped out.

This is the second time Kejriwal is becoming Delhi's chief minister. He became chief minister the first time in December 2013 but resigned after just 49 days -- on this day last year.

IANS

Train-bus collision kills 16 in Mexico

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Mexico City: At least 16 people were killed and 30 injured when a train hit a bus near the Mexico-US border.

The accident took place in the town of Anahuac in Nuevo Leon state Friday evening, Xinhua reported.

According to officials, the bus driver was trying to cross the railway line regardless of an incoming train.

There were 60 people aboard the bus, exceeding its capacity, the officials added.

IANS

Private bus strike from Feb 25

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Private buses in the state will stage an indefinite strike from February 25 seeking revision of fair wages. The bus employees are seeking a 50% hike in wages.

The Motor Thozhilali Samyukta Samara Samithi has served a notice announcing the strike to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Transport Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan. The Samara Samithi said the government has not increased the employees’ wages since five years. The government had assured to increase their wages last year, but has not been implemented it so far, blamed the samithi.

Train tragedy: Two Malayalis among the dead

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KOCHI: On the Bangalore-Ernakulam Intercity Express train that derailed on Friday, there were two Malayalis among the dead. The dead have been identified as Itteera Antony (54) who took ticket for journey to Aluva and Aman (9) from Thrissur Poovathur. Aman was travelling with his mother Sherly. Information about Sherly was not available.
 

Meanwhile, it is said that among the dead there are five Malayalis but the Railways has not confirmed this, though it has confirmed the death of Antony and Aman.  
 

In bogies D8 and D9 that got derailed there were 116 reservations. In D8 there were 60 reservations and in D9, 48. Nothing is known about those who had not reserved the tickets.

 

 

Kamal Haasan's 'Uttama Villain' to release on April 2

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A still from the movie

Chennai: Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan-starrer Tamil drama "Uttama Villain" will hit the theatres on April 2. Eros International has bagged the theatrical rights of the film along with its Telugu dubbed version.
"We are extremely proud to associate with Eros, the most powerful and successful name in contemporary Indian cinema to co-produce our prestigious 'Uttama Villain', starring Kamal Hassan. It will be released worldwide April 2," producer N. Lingusamy said in a statement.
Produced by Thirupathi Brothers, "Uttama Villain", which is directed by actor Ramesh Aravind, features Haasan in dual roles that of an eighth century artist and a modern-day superstar.
The film also features Andrea Jeremiah, Pooja Kumar, Parvathy Menon, Parvathy Nair, Urvashi, Jayaraman, M.S Bhaskar, K. Balachander and K. Vishwanath.
Eros will also release Thirupathi Brothers-produced Tamil comedy "Rajini Murugan" in May

Truck drivers at Chelari IOC plant call strike

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Representative image: LPG transportation

Kochi: Truck drivers at Chelari IOC plant will go on strike as their talks with the district collector failed to produce any results. The Collector had called the meeting with the workers in the face of complaints that continuous labour strikes in the plant has thrown normal life out gear.
The strike by contract workers over conditions set with regard to service and wages are affecting the drivers too, the complaint said. Though the plant started functioning the other day a majority of the drivers refused to transport LPG cylinders to different locations.
No breakthrough was achieved in the meetings called by the Manager of the IOC plant and also by the Collector. The supply of LPG cylinders from the plant to domestic users will be hit if the truck drivers go on strike.

Breast milk transfers good microbes to babies

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London: Babies get microbes from mother's milk that makes them 'more ready' to digest solid food later in life, says a new study.

Babies who miss out on breast feed are more likely to develop stomach aches and colic.

The team found that a baby's diet during the first few months has a tremendous impact on the composition, diversity and stability of the gut microbiome.

'We found that babies who are fed only breast milk have microbial communities that seem more ready for the introduction of solid foods,' said Andrea Azcarate-Peril from the University of North Carolina's School of Medicine and one of the authors of the study.

For this study, the team collected stool samples and information about the diets and health of nine babies as they grew from two weeks to 14 months.

Applying genomic sequencing techniques to the stool samples, they deduced the types and functions of the bacteria in the babies' gut microbiomes.

The analysis revealed that during the first few months of life, there were clear differences between the microbiomes of babies that were exclusively breastfed as compared to those fed both formula and breast milk, Daily Mail reported.

'This study provides yet more support for recommendations by the World Health Organisation and others to breastfeed exclusively during the first six months of life,' added lead author Amanda Thompson.

The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.

Chili pepper ingredient could prevent weight gain

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Washington: There is good news for those who find it hard to resist fatty foods. An ingredient found in chili peppers could help you prevent weight gain after eating a high-fat diet, a study involving an Indian-origin researcher has found.

As capsaicin -- the chief ingredient in chili peppers - stimulates energy burning, a dietary supplement could be developed to do away with restriction in calorie intake, the findings suggest.

'Our group's laboratory data revealed that dietary capsaicin suppresses high-fat-diet-induced obesity,' explained Vivek Krishnan, a graduate student from the University of Wyoming in the US.

'In our bodies, white fat cells store energy and brown fat cells serve as thermogenic (heat produced by burning fat) machinery to burn stored fat. Eating calorie-rich food and a lack of physical activity cause an imbalance in metabolism that leads to obesity,' Krishnan explained.

The researchers found that dietary capsaicin -- 0.01 percent of capsaicin in the total high fat diet -- prevented high-fat-diet-induced weight gain in trials with wild type mice.

Dietary capsaicin may induce browning of white adipose tissue and stimulates thermogenesis to counteract obesity, the researchers noted.

Developing a natural dietary supplement as a strategy to combat obesity can be easily advanced to human clinical trials.

'We envision a nanoparticle-based sustained-release formulation of capsaicin, which is currently under development in our laboratory,' the researchers added.

'In turn, this will advance a novel dietary supplement-based approach to prevent and treat one of the life-threatening diseases, obesity and its associated complications -- in humans,' they noted.

The findings were presented at Biophysical Society's 59th annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
 

HC rejects PIL on intervening in Sunanda death probe

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New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Wednesday refused to entertain a PIL seeking its intervention in the probe into the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar, the wife of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

A division bench of Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S Endlaw, after taking note of the submissions of the centre and the Delhi Police, and that an FIR has been registered, said it will not entertain the plea as the necessary steps have already been taken.

Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain told the court that a five-member SIT team is investigating the case.

ASG said: 'A five member SIT has been formed, they are investigating the matter. At this stage the investigation can't be interfered with. The issue can't be raised in a PIL.'

The bench also questioned the locus standi of petitioner, saying: 'It seems Publicity Interest Litigation.'

'We are not entertaining this PIL. An FIR has been registered, and an investigation is going on....' said the bench.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by NGO Anti Corruption Front, saying the investigating agency was biased in probing the case and there was no positive and constructive development in the case.

The NGO'a counsel argued that police had registered an FIR almost a year after the incident despite clear guidelines by the Supreme Court and high courts that on receiving information disclosing commission of a cognizable offence, the police should register an FIR without any delay.

'In the present matter, police registered an FIR almost after 342 days of the occurrence of the crime,' he contended.

'Even the investigating agency found it is a clear case of murder but till date it is in dark. Even a long one year passed after the incident occurred in a five star hotel of the capital, no convincing conclusion has come out with regard to the accused persons who planned and executed the murder,' the PIL stated.

Delhi Police have constituted a special investigative team to probe the death of Pushkar after registering an FIR in the case Jan 1 following Pushkar's third autopsy report by the AIIMS medical board.

Tharoor, a former UN diplomat and union minister in the previous Manmohan Singh-led government, has also been called for questioning by the probe agency.

Pushkar was found dead in a luxury hotel here Jan 17, 2014. Police have said she was poisoned.