Popular television and film actor Sidharth Shukla, best known for his role in the long running TV show Balika Vadhu, died on Thursday, an official at the Cooper Hospital here said. He was 40. Shukla suffered a massive heart attack in the morning, accoridng to media reports. He is survived by his mother and two sisters.

“He was brought dead to the hospital some time ago,” the senior Cooper Hospital official told PTI.

Sidharth Shukla’s early life

Shukla attended St. Xavier’s High School, Fort, Mumbai and holds a bachelor’s degree in Interior Design from Rachana Sansad School of Interior Design. He played against Italian football club, AC Milan’s under-19 team, on their Mumbai visit as part of Festa Italiana.

After completing bachelor’s degree in interior design, Shukla worked in an interior designing firm for a couple of years.

Sidharth Shukla as a TV star

In 2008, he made his acting debut with a lead role in the television show Babul Ka Aangann Chootey Na on Sony TV. From there he went on to act in several shows. However, it was social drama series Balika Vadhu, which earned him widespread recognition and popularity, including several awards and nominations.

In 2014, Shukla made his Bollywood debut in the romantic comedy Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania in a supporting role. He has hosted popular Indian shows like Savdhaan India,  Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 7 and India’s Got Talent 7. 

In 2019, he participated in the reality show Bigg Boss 13, and was declared the winner in February 2020.

Read Complete Article

Over 190 players were sold to 12 franchise teams with as many as 10 Final Bid Match (FBM) cards being used in the auction for the eighth season of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), slated to take place in December, the organizers said on Wednesday.

Raider Pardeep Narwal emerged as the highest paid kabaddi player in the PKL’s history as the three-day auction witnessed teams spend Rs 48.22 crore in total across various categories. Narwal smashed a record after he was bought by UP Yoddha for Rs 1.65 crore, while Siddharth Desai was retained by the Telugu Titans through FBM card for Rs 1.30 crore. Rahul Chaudhari will now play for the Puneri Paltan. Tamil Thalaivas successfully bid for raider Manjeet, who joined them from Puneri Paltan for Rs 92 lakh.

Rohit Gulia, an all-rounder from Category A, was sold to Haryana Steelers for Rs 83 lakh, a significant jump from his Rs 25 lakh price tag with Gujarat Giants in season 7. Some other big buys included Sachin (Patna Pirates) for Rs 84 lakh and Chandran Ranjit (Bengaluru Bulls) for Rs 80 lakh. A stand-out from Category B was the purchase of raider Arjun Deshwal who was snapped up by Jaipur Pink Panthers for Rs 96 lakh. Puneri Paltan successfully retained raider Nitin Tomar by using FBM card for Rs 61 lakh while all-rounder Sandeep Narwal was snapped up by Dabang Delhi KC for Rs 60 lakh.

The Delhi franchise also bought defender Jeeva Kumar for Rs 44 lakh. Veteran raider Ajay Thakur also found himself a new home with Dabang Delhi KC who bought the former India captain for Rs 46 lakh. Over 22 overseas players were sold on the second day. Iranian all-rounder Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh was the most expensive foreign signing as three-time champions Patna Pirates bought him for Rs 31 lakh. Patna Pirates also used one of their two FBM cards to retain Republic of Korea’s raider Jang Kun Lee for Rs 20.5 lakh. Iranians were in high demand as defending champions Bengal Warriors bought defender Abozar Mohajermighani for Rs 30.5 lakh. Telugu Titans acquired the services of Japanese defender Tetsuro Abe for Rs 10 lakh. Among Category C players, Sandeep Kandola emerged as the highest bid. He was bought for Rs 59.5 lakh by the Telugu Titans. Puneri Paltan bought Sombir for Rs 34.5 lakh while U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers spent Rs 32 lakh and Rs 20 lakh on Rinku Narwal and Amit. A total of 10 New Young Players (NYP) were picked up at the auction. Narwal said he never expected to be the highest paid player. It has been memorable five seasons with Patna Pirates, and now I am looking forward to representing UP Yoddha, he said.

Read Complete Article

India captain Virat Kohli says his relationship with head coach Ravi Shastri is based on mutual respect and trust, something that has helped them make this team the one that “everyone wants to beat.”

On the eve of the fourth Test against England at the Oval on Thursday, Kohli was joined by his teammates at the Taj hotel here for the launch ceremony of a new exclusive members’ club ‘The Chambers’.

“Our working relationship, and off the field as well, has been built on mutual respect and trust, on a vision that has been shared, which has been focussed in one direction which is to take Indian cricket higher and in a better place than we found it,” said Kohli.

“That was always our aim and I think, along with the brilliance of the whole team, the talent that we have been blessed with, we have been able to achieve that.

“We stand as the team that everyone wants to beat anywhere we play in the world and that for us is a matter of immense pride,” he added.

The event was marked with a special ‘Rendezvous Series’ around the UK launch of Shastri’s debut as an author with ‘Stargazing: The Players In My Life’.

“It’s his first book and I hope he writes a few more because he has a lot more to share,” said Kohli.

During an interaction around his new book, Shastri was asked about the ongoing series, which stands at 1-1 right now, and he promised things are set to get “spicier” in the last two games.

“When you have a captain on the same page, it becomes pretty easy and most of my boys are on a similar page,” said Shastri.

“The idea was to take the game forward and play to win. We’re not here to fill in the numbers, we’re here to play cricket that is positive and play to win.

Read Complete Article

Twitter Inc launched a “super follows” feature on its social media platform on Wednesday, which would allow creators to generate monthly revenue by sharing subscriber-only content with their followers.

People in the U.S. and Canada using iOS can super follow a select group of people within the United States, the company said, adding that it would roll the feature out to people using iOS globally in the next few weeks.

In February, the company had outlined plans, which included tipping and paid subscriptions to “super follow” some accounts, to attain at least $7.5 billion in annual revenue and 315 million monetizable daily active users (mDAU) by the end of 2023.

Creators can set a monthly subscription of $2.99, $4.99 or $9.99 a month to monetize bonus, behind-the-scenes content for their most engaged followers through the feature, Twitter said in a blog.

Earlier in the day, Twitter said it would launch a safety feature that allows users to temporarily block accounts for seven days for using harmful language or sending uninvited replies.

Read Complete Article

The South Korean parliament on Tuesday passed a bill that would rein in the dominance Google and Apple exert over payments on their respective app stores. It became the first nation in the world to enact such a law.

The South Korean lawmakers voted to approve the amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act, which bars app market operators from forcing certain payment systems on mobile content businesses by abusing their market positions, reports news agency Yonhap.

The move comes amid growing global scrutiny of Google and Apple, who maintain a strong grip over mobile ecosystems, for requiring developers on their app stores to use their proprietary payment systems that charge fees of up to 30 per cent when users purchase digital goods within apps.

Developers around the world have questioned app market operators’ exclusive in-app payment systems, opposing their relatively high commissions and demanding that they should be able to freely use other systems, the report said.

The latest legislation in South Korea is expected to give app developers the choice to use other payment systems, potentially signalling a major shift in how Google and Apple run their app markets, it added.

The legislative movement in South Korea picked up after Google announced in September last year it would enforce its billing system on all developers on its Play Store starting October this year.

Local tech groups vehemently opposed the move, calling it a monopolistic measure and saying it would likely lead to a price hike in the broader digital content industry, the report said.

Read Complete Article

Android users are significantly less interested in the iPhone 13 models than they were for the iPhone 12 models, having been put off by the continued lack of a fingerprint scanner and concerns around child safety features, says a new report.

According to a new survey by SellCell, only 18.3 per cent of Android users would consider switching to an iPhone 13, which is a significant decline from last year when 33.1 per cent of Android users were open to switching to an iPhone 12 model.

The survey, conducted earlier this month, asked more than 5,000 current Android users in the US aged 18 or over for their opinions about Apple’s upcoming products, revealing how the iPhone 13 and Apple’s other expected products are viewed by customers of the rival platform ahead of their launch, reports MacRumors.

Of the iPhone 13 lineup, expected to consist of a 5.4-inch iPhone 13 mini, a 6.1-inch iPhone 13, a 6.1-inch iPhone 13 Pro and a 6.7-inch iPhone 13 Pro Max, 39.8 per cent of the Android users open to switching are most interested in the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

A little over 36 per cent are most interested in the iPhone 13 Pro, 19.5 per cent are most interested in the iPhone 13 and just 4.6 per cent are interested in the iPhone 13 mini, the report said.

When the potential switchers were asked what would compel them to switch to an iPhone 13 model, 51.4 per cent cited longer software support, 23.8 per cent cited the Apple ecosystem and 11.4 per cent cited better privacy.

In the survey, 31.9 per cent of Android users said that the iPhone 13’s lack of a fingerprint scanner for authentication was the main reason they will not consider switching. 16.7 per cent said that they will not consider switching due to iOS’s limited customization, 12.8 per cent pointed to iOS’s lack of support for sideloading apps.

Also, 12.1 per cent cited general design and hardware and 10.4 per cent said that “intrusive” scanning for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) was the main reason for not switching, the report said.

Read Complete Article

Global smartphone brand Vivo is likely to launch its upcoming smartphone — X70 Pro+ — with 50MP primary camera and Snapdragon 888+ chipset on September 9.

According to GSMArena, the shooters, developed alongside Zeiss, will include a 50MP 1/1.31″ main snapper and a periscope lens. The main camera will have a Samsung ISOCELL GN1 sensor.

The ultra-wide-angle snapper will come with Sony IMX598 48MP sensor behind, while the third cam will be a dedicated shooter for portraits. Its sensor will be 12MP Sony IMX663 and will offer 2x magnification.

The periscope cam will have an 8MP sensor and will support 5x zoom. Three of the four shooters will also support OIS for video stabilization, with only the ultra-wide-angle shooter missing it, the report said.

The new flagship is expected to run the Snapdragon 888+ chipset, and its appearance on Geekbench suggests the same. It was tested with its V2145A model name on the benchmarking platform and scored 1156 with a single core and 3460 with multiple cores, it added.

A recent report said that the company might launch both the smartphones — X70 and X70 Pro — with different chipsets in China and global markets.

Last year, the Vivo X60 and X60 Pro were released with Exynos 1080 chip in China, whereas the global markets received their Snapdragon 870 SoC variants.

Read Complete Article

Apple Inc.’s push to bring satellite capabilities to the iPhone will be focused on emergency situations, allowing users to send texts to first responders and report crashes in areas without cellular coverage.

The company is developing at least two related emergency features that will rely on satellite networks, aiming to release them in future iPhones, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Apple has been working on satellite technology for years, with a team exploring the concept since at least 2017, Bloomberg has reported. Speculation that the next iPhone will have satellite capabilities ramped up this week after TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the phone will probably work with spectrum owned by Globalstar Inc.

That’s led to conjecture that the iPhone will become something akin to a satellite phone, freeing users from having to rely on cell networks. But Apple’s plan is initially more limited in scope, according to the person, with the focus on helping customers handle crisis scenarios.

And though the next iPhone could have the hardware needed for satellite communications, the features are unlikely to be ready before next year, said another person, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t yet public. The features could also change or be scrapped before they’re released.

An Apple representative declined to comment.

The first component, dubbed Emergency Message via Satellite, will let users text emergency services and contacts over a satellite network when there’s no cell signal available. That feature will be integrated into the Messages app as a third protocol — alongside the standard SMS and iMessage — and appear with gray message bubbles instead of green or blue. The second feature will be a tool to report major emergencies, such as plane crashes and sinking ships, also using satellite networks.

The texting-via-satellite tool, codenamed Stewie inside Apple, will restrict messages to a shorter length. The texts will automatically push through to an emergency contact’s phone, even if the do-not-disturb setting is on. One planned design will let a user send the message by typing “Emergency SOS” where they would usually input a contact name. In addition to delivering texts, the service may eventually be able to handle some phone calls too.

Read Complete Article

The Indian cricket board could soon get richer by at least Rs 5000 crore with the addition of two new franchises during the 2022 edition of Indian Premier League.

The IPL, which is currently an eight-team tournament, will become a 10-team affair from the next edition and during a recent governing council meeting, the modalities of the bidding process were chalked out.

“Any company can buy the bid document paying Rs 75 crore. Earlier top brass was thinking about keeping the base price for two new teams at Rs 1700 crore but later it was decided to keep the base price at Rs 2000 crore,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

The source, who has dealt with the financial side of IPL in the past, said that the BCCI stands to gain at least Rs 5000 crore if the bids go as per plan with plenty of large business conglomerates showing active interest in bidding.

“The BCCI is expecting anything in the range of 5000 crore if not more. There will be 74 IPL games next season and it’s a win-win situation for everyone.”

It is learnt that only companies with an annual turnover of Rs 3000 crore will be allowed to bid for the teams.

In a welcome news, the BCCI is planning to allow a consortium to bid for teams as it makes the bidding process more vibrant.

“I think more than three business entities won’t be allowed to form a consortium but if three business come together and wants to jointly bid for a team, they are welcome to do so,” he said.

Among the venues where the teams could be based include Amedabad, Lucknow and Pune.

The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, with bigger capacities, could be the choice for franchises.

Some of the names that are doing the rounds include the Adani group, RPG Sanjeev Goenka group, noted pharma company Torrent and a prominent banker who has shown active interest in buying teams.

Read Complete Article

Celebratory gunfire echoed across Kabul as Taliban fighters took control of the airport before dawn on Tuesday following the withdrawal of the last US troops, ending 20 years of war that left the Islamic militia stronger than it was in 2001.

Shaky video footage distributed by the Taliban showed fighters entering the airport after the last US troops took off a minute before midnight, marking the end of a hasty and humiliating exit for Washington and its NATO allies.

“The last US soldier has left Kabul airport and our country gained complete independence,” Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf said, according to Al Jazeera TV.

The US Army shared an image taken with night-vision optics of the last US soldier to step aboard the final evacuation flight out of Kabul – Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division.

America’s longest war took the lives of nearly 2,500 US troops and an estimated 240,000 Afghans, and cost some $2 trillion.

Although it succeeded in driving the Taliban from power and stopped Afghanistan being used as a base by al Qaeda to attack the United States, it ended with the hardline Islamic militants controlling more of the country than they ever did during their previous rule from 1996 to 2001.

Those years were marked by the brutal enforcement of the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic law, and the world is now watching to see whether it forms a more moderate and inclusive government in the months ahead.

Thousands of Afghans have already fled fearing Taliban reprisals. A massive but chaotic airlift by the United States and its allies over the past two weeks succeeded in evacuating more than 123,000 people from Kabul, but tens of thousands who helped Western countries during the war were left behind.

A contingent of Americans, estimated by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as under 200 and possibly closer to 100, wanted to leave but were unable to get on the last flights.

General Frank McKenzie, commander of the US Central Command, told a Pentagon briefing that the chief US diplomat in Afghanistan, Ross Wilson, was on the last C-17 flight out.

Read Complete Article