Indian captain Virat Kohli says he is surprised at winning the ICC’s Spirit of Cricket Award after “years of being under the scanner for the wrong things”, referring to his past flare-ups.

He won the award for his gesture at the 2019 World Cup, when he egged the crowd on to support and not boo Steve Smith soon after his return to international cricket from a one-year suspension for ball-tampering.

From once stopping short of calling his Australian rival a cheat to urging the crowd to back him, it has been an incredible turnaround for Kohli, one of the world’s best batsmen alongside Smith.

“I’m surprised that I have got it, after many years of being under the scanner for the wrong things,” Kohli said in a statement issued by the ICC. Read Complete Article

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei’s digital brand Honor on Tuesday launched in India the Honor 9X smartphone, Honor MagicWatch 2 and Honor Band 5i. Successor of the Honor 8X, the Honor 9X is the company’s first pop-up selfie camera phone. The

Honor Magic Watch 2 and Honor Band 5i, on the other hand, are the first fitness wearables to launch under company’s “1+8+N” ecosystem products.

ALSO READ: Huawei’s Honor rejigs strategy, to soon launch ecosystem products in India

Honor 9X: Price in India and sale details

The Honor 9X comes in 4GB RAM + 64GB internal storage and 6GB RAM + 128GB internal storage configurations, priced at Rs 13,999 and Rs 16,999, respectively. As for the colour variants, the phone will be available in sapphire blue and midnight black colours. The phone will go on sale from January 19, exclusively on home-grown e-commerce platform Flipkart.

Read Complete Article

Microsoft officially ends support to Windows 7 after a decade. After the debut in 2009, Microsoft is finally ending support for Windows 7, the popular OS that continues to run on millions of devices globally.

Microsoft had been notifying users since last year and starting Wednesday, a full-screen notification will appear for Windows 7 users, warning them about the end of support, The Verge notes.

Microsoft has also urged Windows 7 users to make an upgrade to Windows 10 to enjoy new features and continued support.

“Today marks the end of support for Windows 7. Ten years ago, when we first announced Windows 7 and Office 2010, we focused on delivering the best productivity experience of the time. But since then, thanks to breakthrough advancements in technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), we’ve been able to build tools to help you take advantage of new forms of productivity. With Windows 10, the power of the cloud makes you and your organization more productive and secure than ever. ” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Read Complete Article

In the run-up to the Budget for FY21, steel producers have pitched for slashing import duties on critical ingredients such as pet coke, coking coal, anthracite coal and metallurgical coke. The country’s steelmakers had substantive dependence on imports for these raw materials owing to lack of ample domestic resources.

As per the existing duty structure, both coking coal and anthracite coal attract 2.5 per cent import duty. The government of India levies 10 per cent duty on pet coke imports whereas anthracite coal imports are taxed at 2.5 per cent.

“Anthracite coal, coking coal, coke and pet coke are vital ingredients in steel making. Slashing import duties on these imported raw materials will help the steel industry to achieve and sustain cost competitiveness. Non-availability of these inputs both in quantity and quality is impeding the growth of the domestic steel industry”, said an official with a leading steel producer.

Read Complete Article

The Union commerce ministry has sought a reduction in the import duty on gold in the coming Union Budget, with a view to pushing manufacturing and export of the gems and jewellery sector, a source said.

In last year’s Budget, the government raised the tariff on gold to 12.5 per cent. Since then, the global price of gold has risen nearly 20 per cent, magnifying the rise in customs duty. These, the gems and jewellery sector has pleaded, are choking the high-jobs generating sector.

Jewellery retailers and exporters have urged the tariff be cut and also the goods and services tax (GST) on jewellery certification.

“In the past 12-18 months, at least 20 per cent of a skilled workforce of an estimated million has migrated to other services, including food delivery chains like Swiggy and public car transportation services like Ola and Uber. Migrated skilled workers, according to them, earn around Rs 45,000 a month, which the jewellery industry cannot match due to a slowdown in domestic sales,” said Anantha Padmanabhan, managing director at Chennai-based NAC Jewellers. Read Complete Article

Facebook-owned Instagram on Saturday introduced three new options to share Boomerang Stories: SlowMo, Echo, and Duo, along with a new few feature to trim their length.

“Your Instagram camera gives you ways to express yourself and easily share what you’re doing, thinking or feeling with your friends. Boomerang is an iconic part of that, and one of the most beloved camera formats. Instagram is excited to expand on the creativity and give you new ways to use Boomerang to turn everyday moments into something fun and unexpected,” the company said in a statement.

The new filters are available in the Boomerang composer located in the Instagram Stories camera.

With SlowMo, as the name suggests, Boomerang videos are slowed to half their original speed. Echo creates a double vision effect, enhancing Boomerang and Duo, both speeds up and slows down Boomerang, adding a texturized effect. Read Complete Article

Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite that will be available in India in the first week of February for Rs 39,999 can be pre-ordered on Flipkart from January 23.

The e-commerce platform has set up a landing page that reveals the pre-order date for Galaxy S10 Lite.

The much-anticipated device in one variant is likely to cost Rs 39,999 — giving Chinese player OnePlus a tough competition in this price segment, industry sources told IANS on Saturday.

The smartphone will give a renewed push to Samsung’s strategy in the premium segment (priced above Rs 30,000), where its flagship smartphones Galaxy S and Note series have traditionally done very well.

Galaxy S10 Lite will house 48MP main camera, 12MP ‘Ultra Wide’ and 5MP ‘Macro’ sensors alongside the new ‘Super Steady OIS (optical image stabilisation)’. The device will feature a 32MP Selfie camera.

Read Complete Article

Chinese smartphone brand Realme on Thursday launched in India the Realme 5i. Priced at Rs 8,999, the smartphone comes in forest green and aqua blue colours. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 system-on-chip, mated with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. The phone goes on sale from January 15, exclusively on Flipkart and Realme online portal.

The Realme 5i has a 6.52-inch screen of HD+ (1600 x 720 pixels) resolution, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass. The display has a dew drop-shaped notch on the top that accommodates the phone’s front camera. On the back, the phone has a polished textured design with glass-like reflective properties. Though the phone does not have any ingress protection, it boasts a splash-resistant design for protection against minor spillage.

Powering the phone is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC, paired with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. The phone supports dualSIM and has a microSD card slot for storage expansion. It is powered by a 5,000 mAh battery, and comes bundled with microUSB-based 10W charger. The phone supports reverse charging, allowing it to be used as a power bank to charge other devices.

Read Complete Article

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) has alleged that the varsity administration has blocked the registration of 300 students on the basis of ‘fake Proctor inquiries’.

The union had on Saturday asked students of the university to pay their academic tuition fee but not the hiked hostel fee.

“Today the Vice Chancellor first blocked the fee payment portal and then blocked the payment of tuition fees. It is clear that the VC was lying through the teeth when he said students want to register but are not being allowed to by protesters,” JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh said.

She said the VC has also blocked the registration of 300 students based on fake proctor enquiries which are not even completed.

“The truth is that it is the administration which does not want students to register and is blocking their registration,” she said.

Apple has announced its all-new Night Mode photo challenge, inviting users around the world to share their best Night Mode photos captured with the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, or 11 Pro Max.

“Beginning today through January 29, Apple is in search of the most stunning Night mode shots from users around the world. A panel of select judges will evaluate submissions to reveal five winning photos on March 4,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Winners will be selected by a panel of judges, including Apple executives and photographers Malin Fezehai, Tyler Mitchell, Sarah Lee, Alexvi Li and Darren Soh.

The winning photos will be celebrated in a gallery on Apple Newsroom, apple.com and Apple Instagram (@apple). They may also appear in digital campaigns, at Apple Stores, on billboards, or in a third-party photo exhibition.

Read Complete Article