Fadnavis says Army to build Elphinstone station footover bridge, sparks row

The foot overbridges will be built on Elphinstone Road of Western Railway, and Currey Road and Ambivali stations of the Central Railway

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday said the Army would build three footover bridges including the one at Elphinstone railway station where a stampede killed 23 people in September, sparking a political slugfest over soldiers being used in civil works.

The foot overbridges (FOBs) will be built on Elphinstone Station of Western Railway, and Currey Road and Ambivali stations of the Central Railway on the congested Mumbai suburban network.

"Given the Army engineers' expertise, they will construct the three foot overbridges by January 31. The Army has been very helpful to not just us but the society at large and I am very thankful to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal for this huge help to bring ease in Mumbaikars' life," Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the media.

Sitharaman said: "The Indian Army has always been steadfast in the provision of aid for disaster relief issues. This is the first time when we are actually Army to help us in what essentially could be called civil work in the financial capital city of the country."A

Goyal said work on the bridges was expected to begin within 15 days, and in a later tweet, said it will be done by January 31, 2018.

Western Railway Divisional Railway Manager Mukul Jain had told IANS that the Elphinstone Road bridge will be a new one, independent of the one being planned and constructed by the railways, and be be located towards the Parel side at the northern end of the Elphinstone Road station.A

He said an Army team will identify the spot, submit its design and plans to the railways before proceeding with the work, adding that is the first time such a civilian contract would be handled by the Army. (more)

Mumbai-Delhi Jet flight diverted to Ahmedabad over 'threat letter' found in plane's loo

The flight with 122 passengers, including seven crew, landed in a remote bay at the Ahmedabad airport and all passengers were disembarked and screened.

A Jet Airways Mumbai-New Delhi flight was diverted to Ahmedabad due to "security issues" after a letter warning about a hijack and bomb threat was discovered in the plane's toilet. The person who left the note has been identified.

The flight with 122 passengers, including seven crew, landed in a remote bay at the Ahmedabad airport and all passengers were disembarked and screened.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju in a tweet said: "I am informed that the person responsible for the Jet flight (9W-339) incident causing landing at Ahmedabad today morning has been identified."

"I am advising the airlines to put him on the 'No Fly List' immediately, in addition to other statutory criminal action," Raju said.

The Boeing 737-900 flight 9W-339 had departed from Mumbai around 2.55 a.m., and after diversion landed in Ahmedabad around 3.45 a.m.

The flight was finally cleared for take-off and left for New Delhi around 10.45 a.m., said an airlines spokesperson.

The pilot alerted Ahmedabad airport authorities about the threat letter after the plane took off. The letter was reported to be in Urdu and English.

The Jet Airways statement said the flight was diverted following "declaration of an emergency as per established security procedures, due to the detection of an onboard security threat".

Sachin: A Billion Dreams: A glorified account of an over-glorified celeb

Like his book, Tendulkar's biopic is a nostalgic cruise through his career

As I walked out of the cinema hall after watching Sachin: A Billion Dreams, I wondered: Would I have thought differently of this biopic had I not known anything about the person it is based on? James Erskine’s documentary on one of the most celebrated cricketers in the world – one who has achieved a near-deific status in India – went along expected lines.

But was that because I, like many Indians and cricket followers around the world, already knew so much about Sachin Tendulkar? How would someone living under a rock for the last quarter of a century, and did not know who Tendulkar was, have liked it?

Sachin: A Billion Dreams starts off rather nicely, showing us a naughty curly-haired boy of seven or eight years living in Mumbai’s Bandra suburb, getting up to the usual seven-or-eight-year-old boy things like annoying his neighbours with pranks. The boy then receives a cricket bat as a gift from his elder sister, and this is where the story that most Indians and cricket followers already know begins.

This wasn’t the first time I was watching the celluloid adaptation of a story I already knew. I wasn’t, of course, expecting any suspense or plot twists, but I have been far more entertained by some of those other movies where I already knew what was going to happen, than I was by Sachin: A Billion Dreams. Maybe our man under the rock might think differently, but then a story still needs to be told properly, completely and honestly, and this is where Erskine’s attempt is found lacking. (more)

Brad Pitt in Mumbai to attend War Machine screening, meets Shah Rukh Khan

The 53-year-old actor plays a US General posted in Afghanistan

Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt is in India to promote his latest film, the Netflix satire "War Machine".

Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan will be moderating a special chat session here with Pitt, in which the two actors will discuss the project.

In the movie, the 53-year-old actor plays a US General posted in Afghanistan.

Directed by David Michod, of "Animal Kingdom" fame, the Netflix Original film is inspired by the book "The Operators: The Wild & Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan" by late journalist Michael Hastings.

An investment in the range of $60 million also makes it Netflix's biggest-budget feature to date.

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There is a big fear of Hollywood taking over Bollywood: SRK

Surprise! Brad Pitt in India to promote 'War Machine'

Pitt's character is loosely based on General Stanley A McChrystal, a retired United States Army general best-known for his command of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

His last assignment was as Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Commander, US Forces Afghanistan.

Hastings's blistering profile on McChrystal led to his firing by Obama.

Pitt's company Plan B is also one of the producers of the film.

The first big-budget Hollywood movie on Netflix will be released on May 26.

Pune beats Mumbai by seven wickets; Smith, Rahane seal win

Chasing a target of 185, Pune crossed the line with just one ball to spare

Rising Pune Supergiants rode on superb batting by captain Steve Smith and Ajinkya Rahane to defeat Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in the second game of the 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Thursday.

Chasing a target of 185, Pune crossed the line with just one ball to spare.

The hosts had started their chase on a strong note, scoring at more than 10 runs an over in the initial stages before Mayank Agarwal was dismissed by Mitchell McClenaghan.

Also Read : Reliance Jio stops Summer Surprise scheme: 5 things to know

Smith then joined Rahane in the middle and the duo added 58 runs in the space of seven overs to lay the foundation of a successful run chase.

Rahane scored 60 runs off 34 balls with six boundaries and three hits into the stands. He was finally dismissed when Nitish Rana pulled off an excellent catch at deep square leg off the bowling of Tim Southee.

Smith, however, continued in the same vein and remained unbeaten on 84 runs off a mere 54 deliveries. His innings included seven boundaries and three sixes.

Fittingly, it was he only who brought up the winning runs with two consecutive sixes off Kieron Pollard in the final over.

For Mumbai, Southee, Hardik Pandya and McClenaghan bagged a wicket each. (more)

Jet Airways joins SpiceJet, Vistara, starts variable pay to save wage bill

Plan covers 100 execs; fixed pay at 80-85%, rest based on staff performance, firm's profitability

Jet Airways is introducing 15-20 per cent variable pay component for its top management as it looks to save on its wage bill.

The Mumbai-headquartered airline has a higher cost structure than other listed domestic airlines and is undertaking cost control exercises to remain nimble. The variable pay scheme will be applicable to around 100 senior executives of Jet Airways and is expected to result in annual savings of Rs 25-30 crore, an airline source.

While the fixed salary component will be 80-85 per cent, the remainder will be linked to employee performance and airline profitability. The senior executives will also not receive salary increment this year.

A Jet Airways spokesperson did not offer immediate comments.

Some of Jet's peers already have a variable pay scheme in place. Vistara and SpiceJet too have variable pay for its senior management. Air India a productivity linked incentive scheme which was a variable pay out in mid-1990s but the same was discontinued in 2012.

Jet Airways has a staff strength of around 15,000 and had a wage bill of Rs 2,316 crore in the first nine months of FY 17. Employee costs rose 26 per cent on a year on year basis for the period. The airline has around 2000 pilots on its rolls whose salaries account for nearly half of the wage bill. Read more

IPL 2017 auction LIVE: English bowler Tymal Mills goes to RCB for Rs 12 cr

Tymal Mills was in demand as four teams bid for him

( Sony's ten-year contract for broadcasting IPL matches gets over after the 2017 season )

IPL 2017 : 11: 00 am Tymal  Mills was in demand as four teams bid for him, ultimately going to RCB for Rs 12 crore. A total of Rs 6.9 crore was spent in acquiring fast bowlers while wicketkeepers seemed out of favour as only one out of the batch of six found a buyer, that too at base price

KKR entered the bidding for the first time this season with  Trent Boult. The Knightriders have just four overseas players in the squad currently and need more players from abroad. They were joined in the bid battle by Mumbai Indians who bowed out at KKR’s bid of Rs 5 crore. Boult played for the Hyderabad team in 2016 and this year, will don the KKR jersey.

English bowler Tymal Mills saw some aggressive bidding as well as Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab held their ground against each other. Both the teams did not shy from upping the stakes till Mumbai bowed out at Punjab’s bid of Rs 7 crore. At this point, the bid war between KKR and RCB started. RCB came out a winner with a bid of Rs 12 crore.

Australian Patrick Cummins was fought over by Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevil, the former opening the bid at the reserve price of Rs 2 crore. They however bowed out at Rs 4.5 crore, thus giving Delhi the winning bid and Cummins’ services for the 2017 edition. Fellow autralian Mitchell Johnson was up next (base price Rs 2 crore). Mumbai Indians opened the bid for the fast bowler and snapped him up at reserve price.

South African fast bowler Kyle Abbott (reserve price Rs 1.5 crore) went unsold. Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma (Rs 2 crore base price) shared the same fate, as he surprisingly remained unsold in the first round of bidding.

After three unsold players in the wicketkeeper category, the Mumbai Indians picked up Nicholas Pooran of West Indies at base price (Rs 30 lakh). The two wicketkeeprs to follow – West Inidan Johnson Charles and Sri Lankan Dinesh Chandimal too remained unsold. Read more.

No vacation for ministers and bureaucrats this holiday season

Ministers and bureaucrats in the Narendra Modi government have no time to let their hair down this holiday season. There’s nothing official about it, but the unwritten directive from the top is “no leave”, says a central government official. “Holiday is the biggest luxury in this government... there’s no platform for such thoughts at all,” is how the official describes the mood in the corridors of power. According to another official, “there’s an air of doubt and caution after demonetiSation. Nobody wants to risk going on an overseas trip at least, in the fear of attracting scrutiny.’’

Holidays have hardly been part of the narrative ever since Modi took charge as Prime Minister in May 2014. In fact, in reply to a Right to Information query a few months ago about Modi’s leave, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said he had not taken a single day off so far. However, this year-end might mean a greater work load on both ministers and bureaucrats as a lot of deadlines are bunching up.

For instance, the PM had set year-end as a goalpost for the demonetisation pain to ease. Ministers are also learnt to have been told to create awareness about the benefits of digital transactions; some are going to their respective constituencies to drive home the message of cashless payments. Also, the committee headed by former chief economic adviser Shankar Acharya is slated to submit a report on the feasibility of changing the financial year — from April-March to January-December — at year-end. In addition, the Union Budget has been advanced by a month to February 1 this time, making it impossible for the government to take it easy. Add to that the many state elections, especially Uttar Pradesh, early 2017, which will keep the top leadership on the road, but the destination will be rallies and not sunny beaches. (more)

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Kohli: 'Team performances key to India's success'

His fast bowlers have been in and out of the team due to injuries, but Virat Kohli has said he was not bothered by it due to the good performances by his replacement bowlers. 

India’s captain Virat Kohli has underlined his team’s principle in compartmentalising roles for a common goal. He has said batsmen or bowlers have had a template to follow to complement the relevant efforts of others to chalk out Test victories.

Ahead of the fourth Test in Mumbai, Kohli elaborated on how his bowlers have been effective in Tests in the past year, a marked change from a lacklustre bowling effort during the tour of Australia in 2014-15, when Kohli had taken over captaincy.

Read: As always, dry pitch awaits teams at Wankhede

India, under Kohli, has won 12 of the 18 Tests it has played since the Australia tour, and lost just one, against Sri Lanka in Galle.

“I think one area that [fast bowlers] have worked really hard on is the consistency bit, and understanding that you don’t necessarily have to come at the batsman all the time. It’s important to have patience in particular sessions and for that you need to get fitter. You need to get fitter to keep bowling those lines – those fourth, fifth stump lines,” Kohli said.

Mohammed Shami doubtful for Mumbai Test

“I think it’s been a process that they’ve followed. It’s a routine that they’ve been a part of where they get physically stronger, they get mentally stronger to keep bowling in those areas. They’re not desperate to come in and pick up five wickets. They’re pretty happy playing their roles and as a captain, I think that’s the most important thing as a team, when people are willing to play their roles and not get desperate or selfish at any stage of the game. I think that’s been a key factor for us to get the results that we wanted and come back from difficult situations,” he added.

Read: Rahane ruled out for fourth and fifth Tests

His fast bowlers have been in and out of the team due to injuries, but Kohli has said he was not bothered by it due to the good performances by his replacement bowlers.

“Whoever has stepped in has given match-winning performances. The two times Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) has come in, in St. Lucia once, and in Kolkata once, he has picked up five wickets and became a match-winner for us. I’m not worried at all because the guys sitting outside are waiting for opportunities, which is I think a great sign for the team and that’s why whoever has played at any stage has given those performances for us because they’re pretty keen to step on to the field and grab the opportunity with both hands,” Kohli said.(more)

Markets remain listless; Bank of Baroda drops 7% Edit

Markets remain listless; Bank of Baroda drops 7%

Benchmark shares indices continued to trade firm led by gains in index heavyweights ITC and Reliance Industries and IT majors.

At 10:30am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 22 points at 27,797 and the Nifty50 was down 4 points at 8,572. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading flat with mixed bias. Market breadth was firm with 1011 advances and 948 declines on the BSE.

ITC was up 1.3% on renewed buying interest while Reliance Industries was up over 1%.

IT majors continued to trade firm with Infosys and TCS were up 0.5%-0.9% each.

On the losing side, Bank of Baroda was down 7% after the state-owned bank reported 60% year-on-year (YoY) drop in net profit at Rs 424 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 (Q1FY17) due to higher provisions and lower net interest income. Further, the bank’s gross net performing assets (NPA) as a percentage of total loans rose to 11.15% at the end of the June 2016 quarter as compared to 9.99% in the March quarter and 4.13% in the June 2015 quarter.

Sun Pharma was down 2% on the back of weak earnings from its overseas subsidiary Taro Pharmaceuticals.(more)

Ways to use 4G data while paying 3G rates

Ways to use 4G data while paying 3G rates

With mobile companies offering faster 4G data service at 3G rates, many customers are shifting to the newer technology. After all, who does not want more speed at the same price? But here’s a catch — faster speed means quicker usage of data packs.

However, just because 4G consumes more data, one does not have to stick with 3G to save on data consumption. Checking emails, sending and receiving messages over WhatsApp, checking Facebook and Twitter doesn’t eat much of your data. Usually, streaming media services like videos and games dries up a large chunk of data.

If you can change settings of your apps and proactively manage their data consumption, you can reduce your 4G bill. For example, if you go to YouTube app’s settings, you can choose to stream HD videos only when the phone is connected to Wi-Fi. Similarly, in video conference apps such as Skype, you can opt for lower quality video.Read more.

Nine killed, 1 fireman injured in fire at Mumbai medical store

Nine killed, 1 fireman injured in fire at Mumbai medical store

Nine persons, including five children, were killed and a fireman was injured when a firebroke out at a medical store in a chawl in suburban Andheri this morning, police said.

Among the five deceased children was a 3-month-old infant, they said.

The fire occurred early this morning at 'Wafa' medical store located on the ground floor of a chawl in Juhi Galli on Wireless Road in Andheri, Mumbai police spokesman Ashok Dudhe said.

Eight persons were initially killed in the blaze. Later, a seriously injured woman also succumbed to her burns at a hospital, police said.

The families of the victims were staying on the first and second floors of the premises, he said.

According to police and fire brigade officials, the electric wiring and other power installations in the 120 sq ft medical store caught fire. The blaze then spread to other floors of the ground plus two-floor chawl in which nearly 17-18 people were staying.

Prima facie, the police and fire officials suspect that because of a very small internal staircase in the chawl, the victims were trapped inside the premises and got engulfed in the fire. Read more.

Virat Kohli promotes a healthy lifestyle; launches Stepathlon Kids

Virat Kohli promotes a healthy lifestyle; launches Stepathlon Kids

After launching his apparel line under the Wrogn brand name and investing in FC Goa in the (football) Indian Super League, Indian cricket Test captain Virat Kohli has now partnered with Stepathlon Lifestyle, a wellness-promoting entity, to launch Stepathlon Kids, a company dedicated to children's fitness programmes.

This venture will also mark Stepathlon’s entry into the business to consumer space. The company will also receive operational support from Cornerstone Sports and Entertainment, a sports celebrity management company.

The new firm, through an annual ‘30 Day Race’ around a virtual world, will urge children to take 15,000 steps a day, in a bid to have a healthy lifestyle and to create long-term positive behaviour. According to a study commissioned by the World Health Organization in 2014, as many as 22 per cent of children in India are obese and facing health issues. Stepathlon Kids will be focused on building children’s holistic health – encouraging of physical activity and educating them on nutrition, exercise, stress and more. Kohli will play a role in creating widespread awareness. Read more.