A school in India has adopted a unique means of educating underprivileged children while creating awareness about environmental concerns at the same time.
In a remote village of the Indian state of Assam, plastic bottles are taken from children as fees.
The school was started by a couple, Mazin Mukhtar and Parmita Sarma, in 2016 to reduce the growing pile of garbage in the village and to provide free quality education to the children.
While no fee is taken from the students, they have to deposit 25 plastic bottles full of waste to the school every week.
By recycling these plastic bottles and the waste they contain, roads, bricks and toilets are made.
Older students earn a living by teaching the younger children.
Apart from education, children are taught different languages, recycling of plastics, carpentry and gardening.
By accepting plastic waste as school fees, the Akshar Foundation school has helped #CutTheCrap in Pamohi, Assam. We salute Akshar’s founders, Parmita Sarma and Azin Mukhtar, who have leveraged the power of education to #RiseForGood. Know More: https://t.co/w3rkxgR28Qpic.twitter.com/EE58AE50TV
The most-anticipated match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is being played on Saturday.
Billions of cricket fans from around the world will tune in to watch great rivals, Pakistan and India, play at the biggest cricket stadium, the Narendra Modi Stadium.
The contest will mark the first instance of Pakistan and India playing a One-Day International against each other on Indian soil after 10 years. Their last bilateral meeting resulted in Pakistan defeating the hosts 2-1.
In these exciting times, Make My Trip, an Indian travel company, has launched a newspaper ad campaign, mocking Pakistani cricket fans by promising discounts if Pakistan loses the match.
Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag took to X (former Twitter) and wrote, “Na Ishq mein na Pyaar mein. Jo mazza hai Pakistan ki haar mein.”
Na Ishq mein na Pyaar mein . Jo mazza hai Pakistan ki haar mein.
But let’s be honest here, the ad, published in Bangalore Times, Ahmedabad Times and other newspapers, would’ve made sense if the Modi Government had issued visas to Pakistani fans.
Senior editor of CNN News 18, Pallavi Ghosh, believes that the ad is violating sporting spirit.
Another X user, Rahul Fernandes, says that this ad doesn’t represent Indian values.
As an Indian, I want to apologize to every Pakistani person for this @makemytrip ad. This does not represent Indian values. It only represents the worst among us. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/xzJ7GWd5hY
Sumit also criticizes the campaign by saying, “We are terrible people. First, we deny them visas and then this.”
We are terrible people. First, we deny them visas and then this. This is not funny, it only reflects our insecurities and our crass sense of humour. The foundation of any sporting competition is in respecting the opponent and bringing people together. We have forgotten that. https://t.co/pSQ8yQwukp
It is pertinent to mention that Pakistani journalists got their visas on October 12 and 13, facing unexplained delays by the Indian government, and were not allowed to be in the media box throughout the World Cup.
Reuters: Cricket fever has gripped Ahmedabad ahead of Saturday’s World Cup group stage clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan and a visit to hospitals near the venue of the match in the western Indian city clearly shows the degree of excitement.
Quite a few of the hospitals have seen a sudden influx of patients booked in for check-ups involving a night’s stay to coincide with the most anticipated match of the World Cup.
Several doctors told local media the rush for check-up ‘packages’ was an ingenious way to find affordable accommodation as hotel costs have soared up to 20-fold ahead of the match.
“We have come across some cases of people coming to watch the India-Pakistan match also taking an appointment for health check-ups and staying in hospitals,” Tushar Patel, President of the Ahmedabad Medical Association, told Reuters.
The Ahmedabad Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association has discouraged its members from accommodating such fans. “We have asked our members not to entertain such requests. Hospitals are not meant for non-patients,” its president Bharat Gadhavi told Reuters.
THREE WARS
The Asian neighbors have fought three wars since becoming separate countries in 1947 and the relationship further soured after gunmen killed 166 people in Mumbai in 2008, which India blamed on a Pakistani militant group.
While bilateral cricket became a casualty of geopolitical realities, it also whetted the appetite for a clash between neighbours who play each other only in multi-team events.
India and Pakistan head into the showdown having both won their opening two matches at the tournament.
The first batch of tickets for Saturday’s game were sold out within an hour of going on sale in August, prompting the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to release another 14,000 earlier this month.
Ahmedabad resident Hemish Patel and his friends, after several days of failed attempts, grabbed four tickets, each costing 6,000 Indian rupees ($72.15).
“We logged into the site with multiple devices,” he said.
“We constantly kept on refreshing the site and were able to book within 10 minutes after the sale of tickets began.” Patel was one of the lucky few.
Tickets are fetching up to 25 times face value on resale and city police arrested four youths on Tuesday for selling fakes.
Airfare has surged up to four times and Indian railways will run a pair of super fast trains linking Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
PERFECT VENUE
The 134,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium, which hosted former US President Donald Trump in 2020 and Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese earlier this year, looks a perfect arena for cricket’s fiercest rivalry.
The city has been declared a ‘no-drone zone’ on Saturday, and 11,000 security personnel will be deployed for the high-profile match, Ahmedabad police commissioner GS Malik said.
#WATCH | Gujarat | On security arrangements for the India vs Pakistan ICC World Cup match scheduled for October 14, Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik says, “Ahmedabad Police has made a lot of arrangements. Besides the total arrangement for the match, we have extra… pic.twitter.com/9yt3XKBsXF
On their first tour of India since the 2016 T20 World Cup, Pakistan were accorded a warm welcome in Hyderabad, where they played their first two matches.
India have a perfect 7-0 record against Pakistan at ODI World Cups and while the rivalry assumes the Orwellian concept of serious sport — “war minus the shooting” — players from both sides share good relations.
During the Sri Lanka leg of the Asia Cup last month, Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi gave Jasprit Bumrah a gift for the Indian’s newborn baby and the video went viral.
Best moment of the day
Shaheen Afridi gets a gift for new dad Jasprit Bumrah ❤️
It will be a special occasion for Indian Liyakat Khan, whose daughter Samiya is married to Pakistan fast bowler Hasan Ali. “My wife went to Pakistan in 2021 when my daughter was expecting her first child. We will meet again … I can’t wait to hold my grandchild,” Khan told the Indian Express newspaper.
Pakistanis celebrated all night long after their cricket team’s stunning victory against Sri Lanka on Tuesday night, successfully chasing down a 345 runs target with six wickets to spare. The win created history as the highest successful chase in the World Cup. Cricketers Muhammad Rizwan and Abdullah Shafiq paved the way for the team, leading it to a comfortable victory with their stunning centuries.
Now, Rizwan’s hilarious quips after the match have taken center stage. Addressing a press conference, he talked about the cramps that plagued him while he was playing, limping on the pitch.
Addressing the moment, Rizwan cheekily replied “Sometimes it’s cramps, sometimes I’m acting.”
News about veteran Indian economist and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen’s death started circulating on social media today.
A social media post about Sen’s death that the Indian media was quoting was from Claudia Goldin’s X (formerly Twitter) account, which turned out to be a fake account.
Claudia Goldin is an American economic historian and has been announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize Economics for this year.
Sen’s daughter took to X and tweeted:
“Friends, thanks for your concern but it’s fake news: Baba is totally fine. We just spent a wonderful week together w/ family in Cambridge—his hug as strong as always last night when we said bye! He is teaching 2 courses a week at Harvard, working on his gender book—busy as ever!”
Friends, thanks for your concern but it’s fake news: Baba is totally fine. We just spent a wonderful week together w/ family in Cambridge—his hug as strong as always last night when we said bye! He is teaching 2 courses a week at Harvard, working on his gender book—busy as ever! pic.twitter.com/Fd84KVj1AT
Other accounts also corrected the misinformation being spread about Sen’s death.
As Seema says, Prof Sen is fine. Just confirmed. Appalling how misinformation spreads so quickly and even seasoned media establishments fall for it. https://t.co/wi7oyyj1YW
Senior Indian journalist Rajdeep Sardesai expressed disappointment on his government’s continuous delay in issuing visas for Pakistani journalists, stating that if Pakistan is playing the World Cup in India, visas cannot be denied to journalists.
Morning musing: disappointing to hear that Pakistani cricket journalists haven’t been given visas so far. Why should journalists be caught in political tangles? Once Pakistan has qualified to play the World Cup and is being hosted in India, then you can’t deny visas to their…
Rajdeep Sardesai asked why should journalists be politically demotivated. “We should adopt the attitude of good hosts,” he remarked, saying that he will expect the same from Islamabad in the future.
It should be noted that the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Zaka Ashraf, contacted Foreign Secretary Cyrus Sajjad Qazi in regards to the issuance of Indian visas to Pakistanis for the cricket World Cup.
Here are some more reactions of Twitter users:
1/2 exactly , if india is hosting the world cup..then it should host it in full vigour…..or don’t host….if we are concerned about safety issues then dont give visas to common citizens..atleast visas to journalists and there popular celebrities and ex crickters,youtubers..
It’s disheartening to hear that Pakistani sports journalists won’t be present at the inaugural WorldCup match due to visa issues. Sports should unite people, and access for journalists is crucial for fair coverage. Let’s hope for improved cooperation and inclusivity in the future
Indian journalists know this is an unorganised and mismanaged tournament, but they can’t reveal it as jay shah is amit shahs son, and they are afraid of him. If Pakistani journalists are allowed there, they will expose bcci, so visas will be issues only after the event is over or…
Couldn’t agree more! It’s disappointing to hear about the visa issues for Pakistani cricket journalists. Journalists should be free from political tangles when it comes to covering sports events like the World Cup. Reciprocity and fairness are key in being good hosts.
Sports presenter Zainab Abbas has left India, citing safety concerns after an Indian anti-minority lawyer filed a complaint against her over ‘anti-Hindu’ tweets. Her exit was met with severe criticism from Pakistani celebrities who expressed their disappointment at the lack of their country’s representatives at the World Cup.
Director Nabeel Qureshi slammed Zainab’s departure as “ridiculous”, saying that already few fans and journalists from Pakistan are present in India.
“This is the limit! Ridiculous, already so many fans and journalists are not getting a visa’s either.”
Actor and singer Ahmed Ali Butt called it a pathetic move to target professional women.
“A very pathetic move from a very pathetic world cup. Seriously!! We shoudl BAN going such Pathetic Hosting countries who target professional women.”
According to the lawyer Vineet Jindal, the tweets were posted approximately nine years ago under the username zainablovessrk, which afterwards changed to ZAbbasofficial, and is currently the active account of the sports presenter.
At least 42 people have reportedly died after flash floods swamped following a glacial lake burst its banks in the Indian Himalayas in Kolkata this week.
150 missing people are still missing.
On Wednesday, a cloudburst led to severe rain, causing Lhonak Lake to overflow and a consequential avalanche resulting in the flooding of Teesta river.
It is said to be one of the worst calamities in the region in more than 50 years.
Accoeiding to authorities in Sikkim, 22,000 people have been affected.
“We got calls from people that river levels could rise at 3am and we ran for our lives,” Reuters quotes Javed Ahmed Ansari, 44, a resident of Teesta valley, who owns a river rafting business.
“We ran towards the hill in the jungle … We saw houses getting swept away. I can now only see the first floor of our house which is filled with sand, everything is submerged.”
According to Reuters, officials involved in the project said that scientists and government authorities had beenbworking on an early warning system for glacial floods at Lhonak Lake which could have given people more time to evacuate if it was fully operational.
In India, prominent celebrities were summoned by the Enforcement Directorate regarding an online betting app Mahadev Book. Ranbir Kapoor was summoned yesterday and now Shraddha Kapoor and comedian Kapil Sharma have been called up. These celebrities were summoned after an exclusive report by India Today in September revealed many prominent Bollywood public figures were attendants at the wedding ceremony of the Mahadev app promoter Sourabh Chandrakar.
“In February 2023, Sourabh Chandrakar got married at RAK, UAE, and for this marriage ceremony, the promoters of Mahadev APP spent around ₹ 200 Crore in Cash,” ED responded in a statement.
According to Times of India, Pakistani singers Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Atif Aslam was among the attendees at the wedding, who may also be summoned by the ED in the coming days.
The betting app is currently under investigation by police officials from several states after the Enforcement Department alleged the app was being used by the company to enrol new users, create ID’s and launder money through a layered web of benami bank accounts.
Actors like Hina Khan and Huma Qureshi were summoned for allegedly promoting the app, while Kapil Sharma was called up for attending the success party held by the company in Dubai in September. Ranbir Kapoor has requested the agency to give him more time before appearing in person.
Social media users are questioning the decision by the ICC to let India host the World Cup when there is no opening ceremony and barely any spectators in the first match.
Interestingly, when the Asia Cup was being partially hosted by Pakistan, some Indians criticized the ‘empty stadium’ in Multan. Now, the tables have turned, India is the host, the first match is between New Zealand and England, finalists of the last World Cup, and the stadium is empty. There was no opening ceremony for ICC World Cup 2023 and honestly, we can’t see spectators either.
This one’s hilarious, to be honest, does this remind you of Asif Zardari too?
Tendulkar waving hand at Empty Stadium reminds me off Asif Ali Zardari in Punjab. pic.twitter.com/Xk16eTBAge
Osama highlighted multiple issues regarding the World Cup being hosted in India
Opening ceremony canceled, scheduled changed numerous times, ticketing issues, visa delays for participating team, warm up to be played behind closed doors due to security, completely empty stadium in the opening match, is India really the right venue to be hosting global event?
Trendulkar hopes that the stadium will fill up after office hours
Currently, the stadium in Ahmedabad looks empty for the World Cup opener. Hope it gets gradually filled up after office hours.pic.twitter.com/VsBCZahnwg
