Srinagar, May 02: Australian Ambassador Shri Barry O’Farrell and Second Secretary Shri Jack Taylor met with Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha to discuss a range of issues here at Raj Bhawan.
The meeting discussed development in J&K and investment opportunities in the Union Territory particularly in horticulture and food processing sector.
Discussions also focused on areas of interest, including technology, renewable energy, and tourism.
The Lt Governor highlighted the importance of the upcoming G-20 summit in Srinagar as an opportunity to showcase the region’s economic potential and ongoing efforts to enhance international investment.
The discussions also touched upon bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.
La Rochelle’s second-row Will Skelton believes Eddie Jones has “brought some life back” to Australian rugby since rejoining the Wallabies in January as head coach.
Skelton’s most urgent appointment on a rugby field is against Exeter on Sunday, but the 30-year-old also hopes to feature in Australia’s World Cup plans this autumn.
Jones was dismissed as England head coach last December but, with nothing in his Rugby Football Union contract blocking him from working for a rival nation at the World Cup, he was swiftly hired by Rugby Australia as Dave Rennie was let go. Jones last held the post in 2005, having led his country to the 2003 World Cup final on home soil when they were defeated by England in extra time.
“When you look at the media, he’s definitely brought some life back into Aussie rugby,” Skelton said of Jones’s impact. “As a player it’s refreshing to have a new coach come in and bring in his style, his way of playing, which the boys have to buy into.”
Jones’s successful efforts to lure the 19-year-old Sydney Roosters back Joseph Suaalii into a code switch have also generated headlines in Australia. “The Suaalii signing is massive for the game,” Skelton said. “It’s putting rugby back in the papers back home.”
Skelton revealed he has recently lost sleep in order to attend Wallabies team activities online. “[We had] a few Zoom calls last week for the foreign players,” he said. “We had to tune in in the middle of the night and did a few meetings with the team … it was good to be a part of.”
Will Skelton (centre) has a big weekend ahead, with La Rochelle set to meet Exeter in the Champions Cup semi-finals. Photograph: Manuel Blondeau/INPHO/Shutterstock
Skelton has played in three of the past four Champions Cup finals, and is one of only six players to win the tournament with two different clubs. He won it with Saracens in 2019, lost the final with La Rochelle against Toulouse in 2021, and played a key role in their triumph against Leinster last May.
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With an exodus of Exeter players looming, the New Zealand-born lock believes Rob Baxter’s men will be all the more motivated on Sunday. “The core of their group has been together a long time, they have won trophies together, it is quite a tight-knit group,” Skelton said. “If any team had that many changes, it would definitely be their last dance. Exeter are a great team and they will definitely bring it this weekend.”
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
The only Australian to play an official role in the coronation of King Charles III lives in the small Victorian town of Wangaratta – but most in the town have never heard of him.
Simon Abney-Hastings, the 15th Earl of Loudon, is one of 13 people appointed to play a ceremonial role at the 6 May ceremony.
In a statement provided to some media outlets, his private secretary, Terence Guthridge, said Abney-Hastings was “delighted” to have been invited to be the bearer of the great golden spurs, a part of the ceremony dating back to the coronation of Richard I (Richard the Lionheart), in 1189.
The mayor of the Rural City of Wangaratta, Dean Rees, learned of Abney-Hastings only recently, from media reports. Journalists from Melbourne have been scouting around the town trying to catch a glimpse of the royal, and his face was on the front page of the local independent newspaper, the Wangaratta Chronicle, on Friday.
“We certainly did not know that we had an earl – what is he, the 15th Earl of Loudon?” Rees told Guardian Australia. “He keeps a very low profile.”
Wangaratta, famously described as a ‘horrible town’ by Nick Cave Photograph: Stuart Walmsley/The Guardian
Wangaratta is not the easiest town in which to keep a low profile: it has just under 30,000 residents and only three supermarkets. Shoppers trying to navigate the grocery aisles at Woolworths on Saturday morning have to dodge around clusters of people who have stopped for a chat.
The north-east Victorian town had one of the highest growth rates in the state in 2021, due in part to mass regional migration during Melbourne’s extended Covid lockdowns. In the past decade it has undergone a rebranding from an industrial town, powered by employers such as Bruck Textiles, which collapsed in 2014, to a gateway to the Milawa and King Valley wine and food regions.
Rees said Abney-Hastings clearly valued his privacy “and we have got to respect his wishes”.
“He is a resident of Wangaratta and we are very proud to have him,” he said. “I hope he doesn’t have too many issues from the media as to his privacy.”
Abney-Hastings’ desire for privacy does not extend to Facebook, where he regularly updates his 991 followers about the Melbourne Highland Games and Celtic Festival, of of which he is a patron.
He also posted that he was “delighted and sincerely honoured to accept the invitation by the Crown to perform the Bearer of the Great Golden Spurs”.
The gold spurs feature a Tudor rose and a red velvet covered strap, and symbolise knighthood. The set currently in circulation was made in 1661 for Charles II. They were traditionally fastened to the sovereign’s feet but are now just held up to their ankles, then placed on the altar.
The 48-year-old is a direct descendent of George Plantagenet, the brother of Edward IV and Richard III, through his grandmother, Barbara Huddleston Abney-Hastings. Some historians have claimed that Edward was illegitimate and that George, as the eldest legitimate son, should have inherited. In 2004, a Channel 4 documentary entitled Britain’s Real Monarch asserted that Michael Abney-Hastings, the current earl’s father, was, as George Plantagenet’s eldest heir, the rightful king of England.
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, visits a winery near his home town during last year’s Victorian election campaign. Photograph: Luis Ascui/AAP
In a statement to Nine Newspapers, Guthridge acknowledged the claim, saying that “as a direct descendant of George Plantagenet, Simon Abney-Hastings has a right to inherit the throne of England”. But he added that the earl was a loyal supporter of the late Queen and her eldest son and had no intention of asserting himself.
“Indeed, they exchange birthday or Christmas cards each year,” the statement said.
But a claim to the English throne is not enough to make him one of Wangaratta’s most famous residents. That honour, says Rees, is a three-way tie between Nick Cave, who was expelled from Wangaratta high school at the age of 13 and later described it as a “horrible town” that inspired his bleak artistic vision; the Olympic cyclist Dean Woods, who won gold in the team pursuit at Los Angeles in 1984 and whose name and achievements adorn signs welcoming visitors to the town; and the current Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews.
Rex Hartwig, a two-time Wimbledon doubles champion who retired to a property on the outskirts of town, and the bushranger Ned Kelly, who did not even live in Wangaratta but hid out in the Warby Ranges and was arrested in the nearby village of Glenrowan, also rank before Abney-Hastings in a list of Wangaratta royalty.
A ceremonial role in the coronation is not likely to bump him up the list, Rees said.
“He might get some photos over there with the king that might make it into the paper, and it will all slow down from there,” he said.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
New Delhi: Indian students are reported to have been restricted from around five Australian universities over fraudulent visa application cases.
According to reports emerging from sections of Australian media, it has been alleged that migrants from India used the student visa system as an easier alternative to access work rights in Australia.
Reports further said that cases of sham visas are on the rise and therefore, Australian authorities have restricted entry of Indian students.
These reports quoting investigations by leading Australian newspapers like “The Age” and “The Sydney Morning Herald”, said that mails obtained from some known universities of that country, showed the crackdown on applications from Indian students.
With Australia expecting a huge surge of Indian students this year, the reports said that cases of expected visa fraud have raised concerns within authorities.
Signing of a wide ranging agreement between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, will also allow easier travel for studying in both countries. This too is likely to pose a challenge to authorities to prevent cases of sham visas, reports said further.
It seems almost impossible to believe, but 12 months have gone by since we reported the tragic passing of Shane Warne. One of Melbourne’s most famous sons, the Australian cricketer was without doubt among the most talented players of his, or indeed any, era. Yet his almost magical skills on the field of play are only a small part of the legend that was Shane Warne.
Ruffling feathers with the ball of the century
This year will mark 30 years since Warne first took to the field of play at the Home of Cricket, Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. Plenty has changed in 30 years. Today, nobody would look twice at a cricketer with bleached hair and an earring, but the staid members in their MCC ties were bemused and concealing smirks – just who did this chap think he was?
The answer came around 17 seconds after he was thrown the ball. His first delivery pitched way outside leg stump, spun all the way around Mike Gatting, which was a long way even then, and struck the top of off stump. Gatting’s look of bewilderment as he walked off would be repeated another 707 times before Warne retired from test cricket 15 years later.
Never a dull moment
It doesn’t take a cricketing genius to recognize Warne’s extraordinary talent – but it was arguably a cricketing genius who described him best. When Warne passed, Sachin Tendulkar took to Twitter in tribute and said there was “never a dull moment, on or off the field, with Warnie around.”
Some of those off-field moments landed Warne in hot water, but he always owned his falls from grace and bounced back. To the general public, it just proved that he was only human like the rest of us. Let’s be honest, the adulation afforded to the likes of George Best, Alex Higgins, Diego Maradona and Warne’s old buddy Ian Botham, demonstrate that we all have fondness for a flawed genius.
Casino life – a real bloke’s bloke
Australian comedy singer Kevin Bloody Wilson was one of many to write songs in Warne’s honor, like Hero of Ancient Greece. It opened with the words “A cricketing legend all Australian boy, A real bloke’s bloke and we all loved him for it.” Warne liked to drink beer, smoke cigarettes and play the pokies at the casino just like a million other “Australian blokes” of his generation.
But to use the gambling terminology, Warnie knew no other way than to go all in. Most of us might look at a list of minimum deposit casino platforms and choose somewhere to play cricket pokies like Cricket Star or Cricket Hero for perhaps $10. That would hold little appeal for Warne, who would be straight across to the casino’s high roller tables, and buying champagne and cigars all round, too!
Known the world over
Shane Warne was known everywhere he went. But unlike so many famous athletes, he always found time to say hello, sign an autograph and pose for a selfie. Whether he was working his magic in the middle, chatting with those curmudgeons in the Long Room at Lord’s or getting into another scrape at a nightclub or casino, Warnie knew no other way than to be himself.
A year on from his passing, the cricketing world is a quieter place, and has lost a certain lustre. We’ll never forget Shane Warne.
Sydney: An emergency operations centre has been activated in Menindee, a small town in the far west of Australia’s New South Wales (NSW), to facilitate multi-agency operations, after millions of native fish were found floating down the Darling river.
The NSW Police Force said on Sunday that the massive fish deaths are believed to be attributed to hypoxic blackwater, a naturally occurring phenomenon that causes extremely low dissolved oxygen levels, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The scale of this event has been exacerbated by recent hot weather and significantly increased the number of fish in the system as floodwaters recede,” the police noted.
According to the police statement, authorities are continuing to release higher-quality water to boost dissolved oxygen levels in this area, while the emergency operations center (EOC) was established to ensure fresh and clean water supply as well as to coordinate the removal and disposal of fish.
NSW Police Force Assistant Commissioner Brett Greentree, who oversees the centre, pointed out that numerous agencies are already on the ground in the area with more on the way to conduct and support operational activities.
“Significant planning, including risk assessments, is already underway for clean-up efforts, which will include the removal of as many of the dead fish as possible, prioritising the immediate areas around Menindee, as well as other areas deemed high-risk in terms of water supply,” Greentree said.
“While this will require specialised skills and equipment, experts in the EOC have already identified suitable contractors, and it is expected work will commence this week,” he added.
On Friday, the NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) confirmed on social media that the agency is aware of a developing large-scale fish death event on the Lower Darling-Baaka below Menindee Main Weir through to Weir 32, adjacent to the Menindee township.
“It is estimated that millions of fish, predominantly Bony Herring (Bony Bream) have been affected, as well as smaller number of other large-bodied species such as Murray Cod, Golden Perch, Silver Perch and Carp,” said the department.
Cameron Lay, Director of freshwater environments at NSW DPI, told local media that the situation is “very distressing”.
New Delhi: Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese inspects the Guard of Honour during his ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi, Friday, March 10, 2023. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)
New Delhi: Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, in New Delhi, Friday, March 10, 2023. (PTI Photo)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese during the latter’s ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi, Friday, March 10, 2023. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)
New Delhi: Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese inspects the Guard of Honour during his ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi, Friday, March 10, 2023. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)
New Delhi: Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese after inspecting the Guard of Honour during his ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi, Friday, March 10, 2023. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi being greeted by delegates as Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese looks on during the latter’s ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi, Friday, March 10, 2023. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)
New Delhi: Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese addresses the media as Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks on during his ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi, Friday, March 10, 2023. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese during a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi, Friday, March 10, 2023. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)
Part of the announcement may involve plans to allow U.S. Virginia-class attack submarines to ramp up visits to Australia, or even home port one of the submarines in the country as the work continues on the Australian boats. The first Australian submarine won’t be operational until the late 2030s or early 2040s at the earliest. Officials still must sort through a raft of complicated issues, including how to export nuclear technology to the country, which has no civil or military nuclear programs in the works.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the event has not been officially announced yet. The White House declined to confirm plans.
The allies are expected to detail a path forward on “Pillar One” of the deal, which centers around the submarine design, training to manage the new fleet and all the associated costs. Reforms to U.S. laws on technology-sharing are required before advancing further to “Pillar Two,” American officials said.
But the announcement itself will show the progress made by allies to strengthen Australia’s naval capabilities and the three countries’ partnership to counter China’s growing military heft in the Indo-Pacific. The deal was viewed as a win-win-win in each of the three capitals. For Canberra, AUKUS helps Australia scrap its Collins-class fleet of conventionally-powered submarines. London, meanwhile, will see itself play a bigger role in the Indo-Pacific while Washington aids its ally’s military capabilities — sending a signal to Beijing.
“All of this is being undertaken to help make our closest allies more powerful and to convince Beijing that it is no longer operating in a permissive security environment,” said Charles Edel, the Australia chair at the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.
By joining AUKUS in 2021, Canberra reneged on a multibillion-dollar nuclear sub agreement with Paris, causing a major diplomatic row that led France to recall its ambassador to the U.S.
Biden spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron Tuesday in part about “shared efforts to address challenges posed by the People’s Republic of China to the rules-based international order,” per a White House readout.
Bloomberg News first reported on the planned announcement.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
JAMMU: Adding another feather to his already colourful cap, Abid Mushtaq, a left-arm spinning sensation and hard hitting batter has been called as a net bowler for the Australian Team for Test Series against India. His genuine all-round talent finds recognition at the highest level. Possibly a stepping stone for the national team. He will join the team at Bengaluru on Feb 2, 2023.
This extraordinary talented cricketer, who unfortunately failed to make it to the Indian Premier League (IPL) this season scalped 32 wickets in Ranji Trophy this season while representing Jammu and Kashmir in this prestigious tournament, with 8/18 against formidable Vidarbha as his best, which is the second best in the country. With 29.00 as his bowling strike rate, he stands 4th in the entire country and with 14.38 as his bowling average, Abid is among the top ten in India.
He was brilliant with the ball in this season’s Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 and Vijay Hazare One-Dayers in which J&K qualified for the knockout stage.
The best part of Abid’s perMformance is that he took all these wickets against the strong sides like Punjab, Railways, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Gujarat and Tripura.
Moreover, this die-hard cricketer, a tough customer, who is a hard nut to crack, rather a class act when on song, promising bowling all-rounder, Abid Mushtaq has a good record in First-Class, List-A and T20 Tournaments, being organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) among all its affiliate units across the country.
He has taken 71 wickets with a magnificent economy rate of 2.91 and an average of 19.6 in his 19 First-Class matches, besides taking 22 wickets in equal number of matches in the T20 format with an economy rate of 6.30 and an average of 20.6. In List-A, Abid has 18 scalps in 23 matches with an economy of 5.21.
As a batter, Abid has scored 577 runs with an average of 23.1 and a strike rate of 92 in his 19 First-Class matches, besides scoring 411 runs with an average of 29.4 and a strike rate of 120.2 in his 23 List-A matches.–(Agencies)
Novak Djokovic was not aware Andy Murray was about to be beaten on another court. He was still on Rod Laver Arena, having survived the pain of his troublesome hamstring and then thrived despite it to see off Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (7), 6-3, 6-4. As far as he knew, he and Murray were the only grand slam champions left in the men’s draw. Two 35-year-olds battling their own bodies as much as their opponents.
“Thirty-five is the new 25, you know,” Djokovic said, jesting as if he had not just grunted through more than three hours of probable torture and a medical timeout to get the job done. “Look at Rafa, look at Andy. They’re all playing at an extremely high level.
“Every season counts now, when you come to the last stage of your career. You start appreciating and valuing every single tournament more because you know you might not have too many left in the tank. It’s been almost 20 years of professional sport, so I can’t be more grateful than I am.”
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A minute or so before Djokovic was feeling grateful, he and Dimitrov played a 31-point rally until the latter overcooked a shot to give the Serb two match points. Djokovic closed his eyes and raised his arms above his head in a clapping motion, corralling the crowd into his orbit for the next big moment.
Loth to miss out, Dimitrov did the same, mimicking his close friend, who was about to beat him. Teasing? Not sure, but it was funny. Then Djokovic served and Dimitrov’s 50th unforced error ended the match and his campaign.
Djokovic is still standing, the only major winner remaining, with his mindset on that coveted 10th Australian Open title, even if his body is not. If there exists such a thing as a gruelling straight-sets win, this was it. The hamstring injury is common knowledge. After defeating France’s Enzo Couacaud in the second round he said it was getting worse, that “it’s not good at all” and he was apprehensive about this third-round tie.
Novak Djokovic, with a strapped left thigh, watches the ball fly back towards Grigor Dimitrov. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
On Saturday night he was limited in what he could accomplish physically, unable to run for balls he would usually track with no issue, limping at times and even falling dramatically after dragging himself to the net for a drop shot that won him a shaky first set. He had an early break and appeared well on his way before Dimitrov fought back to 5-5 and almost broke Djokovic’s serve a second time while up 6-5 but for three precision aces that forced a tie-break.
The Bulgarian world No 28 had an extra pep in his step, but he could not poke enough holes in Djokovic’s game to drain dry the man he has beaten once in their 11 meetings – as a 21-year-old in 2013. Djokovic was world No 1 then. He is not any more but still knows how to play like he is. How to turn a precarious contest into a regulation win, with one heavily taped leg buckling beneath him, as if it is just the normal thing to do? Part of the result came down to Dimitrov’s inability to exploit the hampered movement of his adversary and his big-point management ceded several opportunities.
But this is the spell of Djokovic, who is four matches away from a 22nd grand slam title. The next will come on Monday against the Australian , the local hope whose legs are very much intact. “De Minaur is one of the quickest players on the tour, the quickest guy,” he said. “He has improved a lot, has Lleyton [Hewitt] in his corner – that’s a great team.”
De Minaur, who has never played Djokovic, was “ready for the battle”. “I’m not going to read into too much of that injury,” De Minaur said after beating Benjamin Bonzi. “Ultimately, he’s one of the best players in the world and I’m just going to have to take it to him and not shy away from the occasion.”
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
