After playing 15 years of competitive cricket former India pacer Munaf Patel has decided to quit all forms of game. In his typical blunt fashion, he summarised his decision: “There is no regret; after all the cricketers I played with have retired. Only Dhoni is left! Baki sab done ho chuke hain. So, there is no sadness as such. Sabka time khatam ho chuka hain, ghum hota jab saare khel rahe hote aur mein retire kar raha hota (everyone’s time is up; there will be sadness only if others are playing and only I had quit!).

Munaf will be making his appearance in T10 League to be held in Dubai and he wants to pursue a coaching career. Still, for a man who has spent all his life playing cricket, the decision couldn’t have been easy. It was one of the reasons he kept lingering on, despite last playing for India many years back. “Mera mann aaj bhi nahi maan raha hai ke cricket chhodoon as I don’t know anything else. Cricket hi samaj mein aata hain.” (I still can’t believe I am quitting cricket as I don’t know anything else. I understand only cricket.”

Munaf says he discussed the decision with his close friend Ismail bhai of Matadar cricket club before he took the call. “There is no special reason, age ho chuka hai, fitness is not the same. Youngsters are there waiting for chances and it doesn’t look nice if I keep hanging on. The main thing is there is no motivation left. I was part of World Cup winning team in 2011; there can’t be a greater high than that,” the 35-year-old told The Indian Express.

The big three of men’s tennis – Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer – were all among the winners at the 2018 ATP World Tour Awards. The trio were named as award winners on Friday in the prelude to the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Not so surprisingly, Djokovic won the ‘Comeback Player of the Year Award’, voted by the ATP players, on the back of his glorious run during the second half of the season. Having dropped to World No 22 at one stage after struggling for form following an elbow surgery, the Serb bounced back by winning Wimbledon and the US Open including Masters titles in Cincinnati and Shanghai. His brilliant run saw him replace Nadal at the top of the ranks at the Paris Masters when the Spaniard withdrew due to injury.

Djokovic’s coach Marian Vajda was also named ATP Coach of the Year (voted by ATP coaches) after he guided the Serb back to the top following their reunion in April.

New Delhi: The stage is set for another showdown between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Union government with the Centre sticking to its ground on Friday.

Discussions are underway with the RBI to decide the appropriate economic capital framework of the central bank, Subhash Chandra Garg, secretary of the department of economic affairs, said on Twitter.

The statement comes at a time when the government and RBI are at loggerheads over a range of issues, including norms regarding weak banks, the liquidity problem faced by non-banking finance companies, as well as pressures on the central bank to transfer more of its surplus to the government.

The meeting of the central board of the RBI on 19 November is likely to be stormy with the government determined to take up these issues and press for a decisive outcome.

The Central government on Friday cleared the appointment of Chief Justices of High Courts of Allahabad, Patna, Madhya Pradesh and Tripura.
Justice Govind Mathur, the most senior judge of the Rajasthan High Court has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court. Justice Mathur is functioning at present, on transfer, in Allahabad HC.

Justice A P Sahi, the most senior judge of the Allahabad HC, has been appointed the Chief Justice of Patna HC. He will succeed Justice M R Shah, who has been elevated as a Supreme Court judge.

Justice S K Seth, who is the senior-most judge of the Madhya Pradesh HC, has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court.
Justice Sanjay Karol, the most senior judge of Himachal HC, has been appointed as the Chief Justice of Tripura HC. Justice Karol, has served as Advocate General of Himachal Pradesh.

Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu Google Doodle: By dedicating a doodle to Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu on her 131st birthday on Saturday, Google paid a tribute to one of the first women engineers in the world.

The first female member of the General Association of Romanian Engineers, Zamfirescu ran laboratories under Geological Institute of Romania and supervised a number of economic studies involving Romania’s supply of natural resources like coal, bauxite, chromium, shale, copper and natural gas. Saturday’s doodle signified her field of work.

Born on November 10, 1887 in the Romanian port city of Galati, Zamfirescu graduated from the Central School of Girls in Bucharest and had even earned a baccalaureate from Mihai Viteazul High School. However, due to prejudices regarding women in science, her application to the School of Highways and Bridges was rejected.

The opening day of the ICC Women’s World T20 saw multiple records broken in West Indies. In the first match of the day, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opt to bat. After losing three wickets with just 40 runs on the board, the skipper led from the front to settle down her side and hammer a 51-ball ton in the process. In doing so, the right-hand batswoman became the first Indian player to score a T20I century.

Before she was dismissed for 103, Kaur took India’s total to 194/5 which is the highest ever team total in a Women’s World T20 tournament in history. In reply, the Kiwis could only muster to reach 160/9 in their quota of 20 overs, handing India an easy 34-run win in the first game.

If that was not enough, West Indies Deandra Dottin produced a brilliant spell against Bangladesh Women to break more records. In 3.4 overs, the seamer took a fifer, giving away just 6 runs in her spell. Dottin became the first West Indies bowler to record a five-wicket haul in Women’s T20I. It was also the best figures in all Women’s World T20s.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend the swearing-in ceremony of Maldives President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on November 17, signalling New Delhi’s attempt to reset ties with Male. This will be Modi’s first visit to the Maldives after assuming office. In March 2015, his visit was cancelled owing to the volatile political situation in that country.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted Maldives President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s invitation to attend the swearing-in ceremony on November 17,” MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. PM’s official advance teams have already reached Male to begin preparations for his visit. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled to take place at the national stadium in Male.

Less than four hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation on November 8, 2016, the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gave its approval to the scheme but also rejected, in writing, two of the key justifications — black money and counterfeit notes — that he would make in his televised address to the nation.

The minutes of the 561st meeting of the RBI’s Central Board, which was convened hurriedly in New Delhi at 5.30 pm that day, reveal that the central bank’s directors described the move as “commendable” but also warned that demonetisation “will have a short-term negative effect on the GDP for the current year”.

Sugar stocks got a boost and rose up to 7% on Friday following the government’s recent announcement that India is planning to export 2 million tonnes of sugar to China from early 2019. With this step, India will resume exporting raw sugar to China after a decade. Shares of domestic sugar manufacturing companies like Dhampur Sugar Mills Ltd, Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd, Shakthi Sugars, Ugar Sugar Works Ltd, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries, Mawana Sugars and E.I.D-Parry (India) Ltd, among others, posted gains in the range of 3-7% following the report.

E.I.D-Parry (India) Ltd rallied higher by nearly 7% to a high of Rs 239 per share on the BSE today, while Sakthi Sugars share price rose by 4.8% to an intra-day high of Rs 14.45 per share. Dwarikesh Sugar Industries shares edged higher by 4.5%, Balrampur Chini Mills stock by 5.3%, Mawana Sugars by 4.09% and Dhampur Sugar Mills Ltd by 5.83%. Ugar Sugar Works Ltd posted the biggest intraday gain in a month, up 5% intra-day.

Their run to the World Cup final last year brought them to the limelight, but the Indian women’s cricket team has been largely relegated to the background since then. A good performance at the ICC World T20 would point to the good work being continued and prove that the side can be counted among the top three or four in the world.

The shortest format has not been too kind to the Indian team — they have made the semifinals twice in five editions, with the last three events only bringing group-stage exits. But the tournament starting in the Caribbean on Friday could well be different. The portents are encouraging, as Harmanpreet Kaur’s team got the better of 50-over world champions England and holders West Indies in warm-up games.

It is the first big test for head coach Ramesh Powar, who was put in charge after something of a player revolt got rid of Tushar Arothe. It will be the first major tournament for India since pace spearhead Jhulan Goswami quit the T20 scene. The other veteran of Indian women’s cricket, Mithali Raj, is still going strong and it will be up to her, along with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana to give the batting the required ballast. Taniya Bhatia is another batswoman who can make a mark. Jemima Rodrigues and Veda Krishnamurthy are other mainstays in the line-up, but in the absence of an experienced seam attack, Harmanpreet, true to the Indian tradition, will bank on her spin options. Ekta Bisht, Anuja Patil and Poonam Yadav would be assigned the responsibility on controlling opposition batsmen.