Indian Women set to play a test at Bristol - a Test after 7 years !

Remember that 3 day Test in Nov 1976 at Chepauk – a drawn match – Captain Shantha Rangaswami dazzled with the bat.   Earlier on Oct 31, 1976, Indian Women played WI Women in the first ever test for India at Bangalore and it was test no. 52 !

In a few more days, India is set to play New Zealand in World Test Championship Finals at Southampton on June 18, 2021.  .. .. and Indian women too are set to play a test on 16^th June at Bristol.   The first women's Test was played between England and Australia in 1934.  However, India did not play Test cricket until 1973 when the Women's Cricket Association of India was formed. The Indian women's team played their first Test match in 1976, against the West Indies at Bangalore.  India has thus far played 36 Tests, - heir most recent one  was in 2014!  They first won a Test in Patna (1976), in front of over 25,000 spectators, against the West Indies but did not win again until 2002, when they won against South Africa.  They won at 2014 in England beating the hosts !

At Bengaluru in 1976 debuted : Behroze Edulji, Diana Edulji, Fowzieh Khalili (wk), Sandhya Mazumdar, Shantha Rangaswamy ©, Sharmila Chakraborty, Shobha Pandit, Shubhangi Kulkarni, Sudha Shah, Susan Itticheria & Ujwala Nikam

Happy days are back again for the Indian Women’s team as they revelled in their new jersies and posted on social media.  The aim is to "leave the jersey in a better place," Jemimah Rodrigues wrote on Twitter after receiving her Test whites from Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami. She wasn't the only India Women player to celebrate. After all, it's a rare opportunity for the team - a Test match, something that had appeared a thing of the past till the other day. Since their innings win over South Africa at home in Mysuru in November 2014, the team hasn't played any Tests - no team has, apart from Australia and England. "From the players' perspective, it's just an occasion to make them feel very special about the white jersey or getting into a format which I personally fell is the most challenging, respected and oldest format,"  Mithali Raj said at the team's pre-departure press conference. "It has its own charm. When the girls who are getting into the team playing that format for the first time, it's very special for them.

Jhulan Goswami  welcomed the announcement of a Test match for India Women, during their tour of England and thanked the BCCI for realising "that this format is also important for us".  "Everyone is very excited. We played a Test match last, against South Africa in Mysore in 2014, and after six [seven] years we are going to play a Test against England," Goswami said at a press conference  after picking up 4 for 42 to lead India to a win in the second ODI against South Africa Women in Lucknow. "We are all excited because Test cricket or days' match is one thing you, as a cricketer, wanted to play, wanted to go out there and perform well. It involves a lot of challenge - from your mental strength to your physical strength. The game changes every session." The only active Indian player apart from Mithali Raj to have played ten or more Tests, Goswami was part of the team that defeated England by six wickets in the last contest between the two sides in the longest format, in August 2014.

 Jhulan Goswami, Smriti Mandhana in middle & Mithali Raj

The team is strengthened by Support staff – unfortunately WV Raman is no longer at the helm, having been replaced back by Ramesh Powar as Coach.  Shiv Sunder Das, the former India men's Test opener, is  the batting coach while Abhay Sharma is the  fielding coach.  "This is the first time I have been assigned a job with the India women's national team, so it's a quite exciting time for me," said Das.  I've toured England as a player and played a lot of league cricket. Conditions-wise I'm a bit familiar, so it will be nice to add value to the team. My focus is only on the England tour as of now because I've come in for the England tour.  The tenure of the rest of the support staff, where Tracy Fernandes has been retained as physio, remains unclear. The nine-member support staff  includes trainer R Naresh, performance analyst Sandeep Raju, and masseuse Neerja Desai.  

India's fixtures in England include a one-off Test that begins on June 16 in Bristol and three ODIs and three T20Is, the tour-ender scheduled for July 15. That sounds exciting !

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
4^th June 2021.

  

5G slap .............. Juhi, who ?!?

By any chance, does anyone remember movie - Nattukku Oru Nallavan and its cast ??

Juhi Chawla won the  1984 Miss India beauty pageant, established herself as one of the leading actresses of Hindi cinema from the late 1980s  Chawla has been married to industrialist Jay Mehta since 1995.  Along with her husband and Shah Rukh Khan, she is the co-owner of the Indian Premier League cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders. Along with Khan, she was the founder of the production company Dreamz Unlimited, which produced three films. 

5G is the 5th generation mobile network. It is a new global wireless standard that would enable  a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices. 5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connects new industries.

First generation  in 1980s was only Analog voice; 2G introduced digital voice (CDMA)  3G brought in mobile data, 4G was LTE and 5 is set to   provide more connectivity than was ever available before. 5G is a unified, more capable air interface. It has been designed with an extended capacity to enable next-generation user experiences, empower new deployment models and deliver new services. In telecommunications, 5G is the fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks, which cellular phone companies began deploying worldwide in 2019, and is the planned successor to the 4G networks which provide connectivity to most current cellphones. The main advantage of the new networks is that they will have greater bandwidth, giving higher download speeds, eventually up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbit/s). 

5G technology in India is on the cusp of bringing a connectivity revolution. As its implementation gains momentum, concerns around its use have been raised time and again, pointing out the possible harm that 5G networks can have on citizens, animals, flora and fauna. The latest one to rekindle the debate in the country was  the suit filed by actress Juhi Chawla in the Delhi High Court against the setting up of 5G wireless networks in the country.

Today comes the news that her  petition against the rollout of 5G in the country was thrown out today by the Delhi High Court, which said in very stern remarks that the lawsuit was apparently "for publicity". "The suit is dismissed. Plaintiffs abused the process of law. Costs of  Rs.20 lakh is imposed on plaintiffs," the court said, directing Juhi Chawla and others to deposit court fees.

The court also ordered action against people who interrupted a virtual hearing on Wednesday using a link the actor had shared on social media and sang songs from her films. "It appears the suit was for publicity. Juhi Chawla circulated a link of the hearing on social media," the High Court said, asking the Delhi Police to identify and take action against the rogue singers.

When Juhi Chawla's lawyer Deepak Khosla asked for the order to be put on hold, arguing that the costs were without any legal basis, the court snapped: "The matter is over. You have your legal remedies. Counsel should know his limits."

On Wednesday, the High Court's virtual hearing was repeatedly interrupted by fans who logged on and sang hits from Juhi Chawla's movies, infuriating the judge. The Bollywood actor had, oddly, shared the link for the court hearing on Twitter and Instagram, inviting people to join in. When the hearing started, someone started singing the song ''Ghoonghat ki aad se" from Juhi Chawla's 1993 movie "Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke". "Please mute," said Judge JR Midha the first time. A little later, he ordered another singer removed from the hearing. When it happened the third time, the judge directed that the person be identified and a contempt notice be issued.

The lawsuit by Juhi Chawla, Veeresh Malik and Teena Vachani said if the telecom industry's plans for 5G became a reality, it would cause irreversible damage to the environment and "no person, animal, bird, insect and plant on earth will be able to avoid exposure, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to radiation 10x to 100x times greater than what exists today."  ~  theme downloaded from 2.O perhaps !!!

Nattukku Oru Nallavan   written, produced and directed by V. Ravichandran and also produced by N. Veersamai was released in 1991 . The film starred Rajinikanth, Juhi Chawla, V. Ravichandran, Anant Nag and Khusbhu. The film was simultaneously shot in Hindi as Shanti Kranti with a slightly different cast.  The film marked the debut of popular Kannada actor Anant Nag in Tamil cinema as main antagonist. The music was composed by Hamsalekha. The film was simultaneously released in Kannada and Telugu under the Shanti Kranti title in 1991. Akkineni Nagarjuna was the lead in Shanti Kranti Telugu version & V. Ravichandran was the lead in Shanti Kranti Kannada version, while Rajinikanth was in the lead in the Tamil and Hindi version. Incidentally, all the versions failed at the box-office and Ravichandran incurred huge losses. 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
4^th June 2021. 

Marine pollution ~ - X-Press Pearl reported sinking off Colombo

 

THE OCEANS are so vast and deep that until fairly recently, it was widely assumed that no matter how much trash and chemicals humans dumped into them, the effects would be negligible.  Ocean water covers more than 70 percent of the Earth, and only in recent decades have we begun to understand how humans impact this watery habitat. Marine pollution, as distinct from overall water pollution, focuses on human-created products that enter the ocean. Each year, there are thousands of oil and chemical spills in coastal waters across the globe. These spills range from small ship collisions to fuel transfer mishaps to massive spill events that spoil the marine environ and create so much of difficulty for marine life.

In Marine, often the discussion is on “Perils of the sea” that encompasses the natural accidents peculiar to the sea. It can be maritime accidents and dangers such as storms, waves, wind, collision of the vessel, fire, smoke and noxious fumes; sinking, flooding and capsizing, loss of propulsion or steering, and any other hazards resulting from the unique environment of the sea. Other than inevitable perils or accidents upon the sea are not excused, whether there is a bill of lading containing the expression of peril of the sea. It also includes accidents caused as a result of stranding, striking a submerged object, or encountering heavy weather or other unusual forces of nature.

Marine Insurance Act defines :  “maritime perils” as  the perils consequent on, or incidental to, the navigation of the sea, that is to say, perils of the sea, fire, war perils, pirates, rovers, thieves, captures, seizures, restraints and detainments of princes and peoples, jettisons, barratry and any other perils which are either of the like kind or may be designated by the policy;  The term “perils of the seas” refers only to fortuitous accidents or casualties of the seas. It does not include the ordinary action of the winds and waves.

Nitric acid (HNO3), also known as aqua fortis (Latin for "strong water") and spirit of niter, is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The pure compound is colorless, but older samples tend to acquire a yellow cast due to decomposition into oxides of nitrogen and water. Most commercially available nitric acid has a concentration of 68% in water. When the solution contains more than 86% HNO3, it is referred to as fuming nitric acid.  Nitric acid is also commonly used as a strong oxidizing agent.

Their web site describes them as :  X-PRESS FEEDERS is the largest independent common carrier in the world with a rich corporate history since 1972. It is our mission to be "The Global Common Carrier" of choice, in providing the most reliable and cost-effective service to support our customers feedering needs. Being a SOC common carrier, X-PRESS FEEDERS do not compete with any of our customers. We operate a fleet of more than 110 vessels (up to New Panamax size), including 43 fully owned, covering all the major global transhipment hubs throughout Asia, Africa, Caribbean, Latin Americas, Europe, Mediterranean and Middle East. In 2019, our group’s annual throughput recorded 5.6 million TEUs in excess, placing us 18th position on Alphaliner TOP 100 list. As an independent common carrier, X-PRESS FEEDERS do not own, lease or operate any containers. We provide only transportation services to container operators and not for proprietary cargo interests or for the general shipping public. 

 

One of their vessels “X-Press Pearl” is in news !  - it  was a Singaporean Super Eco 2700–class container ship, built in 2021, measuring  around 186 metres (610 ft) long.  X-Press Pearl was built by Zhoushan Changhong International Shipyard Co. Ltd of China for Singapore-based X-Press Feeders, along with its sister ship X-Press Mekong. The 37,000-deadweight tonne (DWT) container vessel could carry 2,743 twenty-foot equivalent units. The ship was delivered on 10 February 2021  and was deployed on the Straits to Middle East service (SMX) of X-Press Feeders from Port Klang (Malaysia) via Singapore and Jebel Ali (UAE) to Port Hamad (Qatar). The return journey was via Hazira (India) and Colombo (Sri Lanka) back to Malaysia. The vessel had made three voyages, calling at Colombo on 17 March and 18 April, and caught fire shortly after its third call at the port on 19 May.

The ship departed the port of Hazira, India, on 15 May 2021. The container vessel was reportedly laden with 1,486 containers, with contents including 25 tons of nitric acid, other chemicals, cosmetics and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) pellets.  It  arrived in Colombo on 19 May; there are some reports that the container ship was denied entry in the Hamad Port of Qatar and in Hazira Port of India before entering the Colombo Port in Sri Lanka though this is being rebuffed. X-Press Feeders, the owners of the vessel, said the crew had discovered a container leaking nitric acid and requested Hamad Port in Qatar and Hazira to offload it. The request was denied as "there were no specialist facilities or expertise immediately available to deal with the leaking acid", and the vessel proceeded on its planned journey to Colombo, according to Wikipedia report.

The ship reached Colombo on the night of 19 May and was anchored in the outer harbor awaiting a berth. The ship did not declare an emergency or the cargo acid leak. On 20 May the ship's agents requested a re-working of the container.  It was reported that the ship caught fire on 20 May, 9.5 nautical miles (17.6 km; 10.9 mi) northwest of the Colombo Port.  The Sri Lanka Navy, along with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, which got aboard the ship in order to find out the cause of fire, suspected that the fire might have started as a result of the reaction of chemicals being transported on the ship. On 25 May, a large explosion took place inside the vessel and all 25 crew members were evacuated safely from the vessel. The fire continued to blaze during 25 May, and by late afternoon containers were dropping off the vessel into the sea. The Sri Lanka Maritime Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) declared a Tier II oil spill event from on-board bunkers as the blaze got worse.  India dispatched firefighting and pollution control Coast Guard vessels, a tug and a Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft to help containment measures, and fishermen were asked to stay clear of the ship.

              On 29 May, X-Press Pearl was still smouldering and belching smoke, though flames were down. Hull integrity was still intact. Firefighting tugs continued to pour water on the ship. The Sri Lanka Air Force dropped dry chemical powder. The Indian Coast Guard vessel ICG Samudra Prahari, a pollution control ship, joined the task force.  Salvors boarded the vessel on 1 June for the first inspection and reportedly observed that the engine room flooded and smoke still coming out from cargo hold 1, 2 and 3 intermittently.  After burning for 12 days, the vessel sank on 2 June as it was being towed away to deeper waters.

The incident  threatens to be the worst marine ecological disaster in Sri Lankan history due to the oil and chemical products on board.  General Average has been declared on the X-Press Feeders ship, which was carrying around 25 tons of acid among the 1,486 containers onboard.  “The biggest threat to container shipping is fire onboard on ships,” a spokesperson is quoted as saying.  

Sri Lankan authorities Sunday said they will sue the owners of a Singapore-registered cargo carrier which has burned for 11 straight days off the island's west coast and caused some of its worst-ever marine pollution. Police said a criminal investigation was also launched into the blaze aboard the MV X-Press Pearl, which was carrying 25 tonnes of nitric acid and a huge amount of plastic raw materials. The intense fire, still burning at the rear of the 186 metre (610 feet) vessel, has destroyed much of the cargo, some of which also fell into the Indian Ocean. Tonnes of microplastic granules have inundated the South Asian nation's famed  beaches, forcing a fishing ban and sparking fears of ecological devastation.

Sri Lanka's Marine Environment Protection Authority said it met with attorney general Sanjaya Rajaratnam on Sunday to plan legal action against the owners of the vessel, its crew, as well as insurers. "We have gone through the details and will be taking action against those responsible," MEPA Chairman Dharshani Lahandapura told reporters in Colombo. She said they were, however, yet to make an assessment of the environmental damage, but she believed it was the "worst marine pollution" Sri Lanka has ever suffered.

While the media reports mention the sinking of the vessel, the official release of X-Press Feeders, operators of the container ship 'X-Press Pearl' states that it  can confirm that the situation on scene remains the same with no signs of debris and no reports of fuel oil pollution as of 0700 Sri Lanka local time as of today ie., 4^th June 2021

No doubt it is a big Marine loss for Cargo owners, container owners, traders, logistics operators, the owners of the ship, freight interest, Srilankan port and for the Sea  .. .. … .

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
4^th June 2021.

Photos from twitter page of Srilankan Navy &  Kanchana Wijesekera State Minister of Fisheries. Srilanka

Devon Conway basks in glory with a double ton in Test debut

 

Devon Conway is basking in glory at Lords after joining a long list of 111 players – and there are 15 of them who have made it for India.  ‘Century on debut’ – Conway has garnered more glory.

Lala Amarnath; RH Shodhan; AG Kripal Singh; Abbas Ali Baig; Hanumant Singh; Gundappa Viswanath; Surinder Amarnath; M Azharuddin; Pravin Amre; Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina; Shikhar Dhawan; Rohit Sharma & Prithvi Shaw.  Now reading this list, can you tell – who was the first Indian to make a century on debut as also the Second Indian to do so ?

The first batsman to achieve this feat was Charles Bannerman playing for Australia against England in the very first test in Mar 1877 – scoring 165*  

At Lords – yesterday, Test no. 2422 between New Zealand and England got off to a start.  This is a not a regular series, perhaps this will give England some money while New Zealand some good training opportunity before the face the Indians in Test challenge.  England is without IPL stars.  By the time the Test series was arranged, the ECB had already agreed to allow its top players to appear in the IPL: contracts had been signed and no-objection certificates agreed. At the same time, the ECB has been keen to ensure players exposed to sustained times in bio-bubbles would be given time to refresh and see friends and family. It was accepted they would not be involved in this series. And remember: there are no WTC points available here !

There were 3 debutants :  Devon Conway for NZ; James Bracey & Ollie Robinson for England.  Ollie Robinson took 4 wickets in the first innings of NZ but  while he was on the cricket field, bitter and spiteful social media scourers were digging up the Twitter history of the teenage Ollie Robinson, who has been open about his troubled past.  He was brutally trolled for his racist and sexist  comments earlier.

The post is on Devon Conway, who started playing in South African domestic cricket. In August 2015, he was included in Gauteng's for Africa T20 Cup. He played in all three matches for Gauteng, scoring 53 runs. Gauteng (formerly Transvaal) is the first-class cricket team of the southern parts of Gauteng province of South Africa. The team was called Transvaal from April 1890 to April 1997 (the area north of Johannesburg, including Pretoria being part of the Northerns, formerly Northern Transvaal).  Conway arrived in Wellington in August 2017. He joined Victoria University Cricket Club in a dual capacity as player and coach. Within four days of landing in the country, he had found accommodation and had "fallen in love with Wellington". He was to say - "I sold my property, car and everything that we couldn't bring over, because I wanted to close that chapter and start afresh," he says. "If I hadn't done that and my cricket didn't feel all right after one season, I might have started thinking on the lines of 'Maybe I can move back'. I didn't want to."

Conway, the 29-year-old South African-born player, was  preferred to Tom Blundell or Will Young and opened  the batting alongside Tom Latham yesterday and straightaway made an outstanding start to his international career. After three ODIs, he is averaging 75 and made a maiden international century in his most recent game, while in T20Is, he is averaging 59.12 with an impressive strike-rate of 151.11 having twice been left undefeated in the 90s, including an unbeaten 99 against Australia in Christchurch.

New Zealand batsman Devon Conway on Wednesday not only became the sixth cricketer to hit a Test hundred on his debut at Lord's but also broke former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly's record at the venue.   The left-handed batsman was unbeaten on 136 as New Zealand marched to a strong position, finishing Day 1 at 246 for three.  Today, he almost carried his bat through becoming the last man out at 122.4 – run out after completing his double ton.  He got to his double hundred with a hooked six off Anderson... and then in the next over was run out. 

This is the  seventh-highest score by a man on Test debut, and the second-highest for NZ, but he doesn't manage to carry his bat. A superb innings from Conway, nevertheless, and all the more so given the next-highest score was Nicholls' 61. From 288 for 3, he ensured NZ reached a good score.  Devon Conway went past former England cricketers Ranjitsinhji and WG Grace. Ranjitsinhji held the record for the highest score by a debutant in England for 125 years. He had scored an unbeaten 154 against Australia in 1896 in Manchester. Grace had scored 150 on debut against Australia back in 1880 in Manchester.

Now if you had answered the Q at the start.  The first and second Indians to score a century on debut is none from that list of 15 starting from Lala Amarnath.

The senior Nawab of Pataudi, Iftikhar Ali Khan, is the only Test cricketer to have played for both England and India. Educated at Aitchison's College, Lahore and Balliol College, Oxford, he made the England squad for the 1932-33 Bodyline series.  Though he scored a century on debut (the Second Indian to make a century on debut), he was dropped after the next Test, apparently because he disagreed with the tactics of Douglas Jardine, and returned home before the end of the tour.  That was Test no. 220 at Sydney in Dec 1932.  He played for England against Australia. 

The first Indian to score a century on debut was KS Ranjit Sinhji. Ranji, an Indian prince, was probably one of the finest batsmen of all time, not only in terms of runs scored but also because he brought new strokes to the game  He arrived at Cambridge in 1891 (where he acquired the nickname "Smith") never having played an organised game and won a Blue in his final summer. After serving his qualification, he marked his debut for Sussex at Lord's in May 1895.  He made his debut at Manchester in July 1896 playing for England against Australia scoring 62 and 154 not out.  

Interesting !

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
3^rd June 2021.