Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes current Test skipper Ben Stokes is the "final piece of the jigsaw" in the side's plans for the Men's ODI World Cup, to be held later in the year in India. Stokes had announced his retirement from ODI cricket last year, citing an unsustainable schedule. But with England recently losing the ODI series to South Africa 2-1 and previously being defeated by India and Australia in the format last year, talks of a comeback by Stokes for the ODI World Cup have gathered steam.

Myntra, one of the leading fashion, beauty and lifestyle destinations of the country, has announced the launch of "Runway Icons", a dedicated store on the app, to enable easy discovery of selected premium ethnic wear for its consumers. With an increased focus on elevating the overall experience and relevance for premium ethnic wear seekers, the store will present shoppers with a selection of customised trends and the latest fashion in the space, said the company.

Filmmaker Roman Polanski, who fell from grace in France since the premiere of his last film 'An Officer and a Spy' in competition at Venice in 2019, is back with 'The Palace' that could make a surprise splash on the festival circuit. Polanski, who fled the U.S. in 1978 after pleading guilty to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, was leading a pleasant life in France for decades until he came back into the global spotlight with the Lido premiere of 'An Officer and a Spy' and scooped the Grand Jury Prize.

The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) on Friday conducted raids at 37 locations in J&K's Jammu region in connection with the probe of Financial Accounts Assistants (FAA) paper leak. The exam was conducted on March 6, 2022 in which irregularities were found. A CBI source said that the raids were being conducted at the premises belonging to touts, J&K forest guards, CRPF constables and Air Force officials who have been accused of leaking the paper.

The state of democracy in Pakistan has deteriorated to a level where it sits just above countries described as authoritarian. This was claimed in the Economist Intelligence Units (EIU) Democracy Index 2022 released on Thursday. According to the Index, Pakistan had a cumulative score of 4.13 for 2022. As result, it fell three places in the 167 country-ranking to occupy 107th place.

Amazon on Friday reported that its net sales increased 9 per cent to $149.2 billion in the fourth quarter that ended December 31, compared with $137.4 billion in fourth quarter 2021. The Jeff Bezos-founded e-commerce giant said that excluding the $5 billion unfavourable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 12 per cent compared with fourth quarter 2021.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has signed a decree for the country to hold parliamentary elections on April 2, the fifth in two years. In a statement on Thursday, the President's press office said under the same decree, Radev also dissolved Parliament with effect from Friday.

The US House of Representatives has ousted Ilhan Omar, a Democratic Party legislator who is a strident critic of India and a supporter of Pakistan, from the influential Foreign Affairs Committee. The House voted on Thursday mainly for her bigoted comments against Jews to remove her from the committee that she had used before to campaign against India.

Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal once again implored the Delhi LG to allow teachers of Delhi Government Schools to go abroad for training. The CM, in his earnest appeal, cited the example of Punjab's educators going to Singapore for training, on the lines of Delhi, and sought to understand why Delhi's teachers aren't being allowed to go for training. He said, "I am delighted to see 36 teachers from Punjab going to Singapore for training. I appeal to LG Sahab to allow Delhi's teachers also to go to Finland for training.

Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI) has hailed the Union Budget 2023-24 as a growth-oriented budget and termed it "very good if not excellent." The industry and trade body welcomed increase in capital expenditure on infrastructure and providing more money in the hands of people with income tax rebate.

The Tamil Nadu education department is planning to take the best performing teachers and officials on annual foreign trips. This is following the state school education minister, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi taking 68 Class 11 government school students to Dubai and Sharjah for a four-day trip. The students had performed well in a state-level online quiz competition conducted by the government.

Indian-American Republican leader Nikki Haley plans to announce the launch of her 2024 presidential campaign by February 15, according to a report. Haley, 51, who served as South Carolina governor for six years, will formally declare her candidacy for the White House at an event in Charleston, South Carolina, on February 15, with an invitation soon going out to her supporters.

Former Australia captain Steve Smith and T20 skipper Aaron Finch have earned selection in the Big Bash League (BBL 12) Team of the Tournament, which was announced on Wednesday by the league. The Team of the Tournament is selected at the conclusion of the regular season by the head coaches of each of the eight clubs.

In a major clean-up drive ahead of the upcoming civic elections, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sacked 55 employees and suspended another 134 for corruption, an official said on Tuesday. The 55 staffers at various levels have been found guilty after court proceedings in corruption and have accordingly been dismissed from service.

New Zealand's new Cabinet will be focused on "core bread and butter issues" like the cost of living, education, health, housing and keeping communities and businesses safe, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said on Tuesday while announcing his new Cabinet lineup.

A day after the conclusion of India's disastrous campaign in the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 in which the team finished a disappointing joint-9th, Graham Reid has tendered his resignation as chief coach of India men's hockey team. The former Australia coach and player submitted his resignation to Hockey India President Dr Dilip Tirkey in Bhubaneswar, Hockey India informed in a release on Monday.

The much-awaited ropeway project in Varanasi is finally set to take off. This is India's first 'urban ropeway' project which is likely to start operations by May 2025. The work on this project will start by May 2023. The ropeway will reduce the travel time between the Cantonment railway station and Godowalia Chowk, one of the most congested stretches, to barely 17 minutes.

The Washington State Democratic Party has chosen Shasti Conrad as its new chair, making her the youngest and first Indian-American woman to serve as a state party chair anywhere in the country. Conrad, 38, a political consultant and former leader of the King County Democrats, takes over from Tina Podlodowski, who had served as party chair since 2017.

The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) concluded its extraordinary congress on Sunday, voicing its full support for the candidacy of incumbent Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen to run for a new five-year term in the July general election.

The preliminary turnout of Tunisia's second round of legislative elections was 11.3 per cent, the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) said. "The turnout in the second round of legislative elections in Tunisia has reached 11.3 per cent, as 887,638 out of 7,853,447 registered voters cast their ballots," ISIE President Farouk Bouasker announced at a press conference here on Sunday night.

Among the many startups founded and operating in South Korea, TagHive, an education technology company launched in 2017, is distinguished for its founder and CEO Pankaj Agarwal. Agarwal was born in a small town in northern India and studied at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur. He started TagHive through Samsung Electronics Co's venture incubator programme, Creative Lab (C-Lab).

Maldivian President Ibrahim Solih won the presidential primary election of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). This is the first time in the country's history that a sitting president contested in a primary for re-election, and Solih's challenger was Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed.

Amid a rapidly tumbling economy, the writing on the wall for Pakistan's future is clear - that the country faces another monumental crisis in its history. Following the State Bank's removal of a cap on Pakistan's foreign currency exchange rate, the steep drop in the value of the rupee is bound to add to an already high rate of inflation. The change came shortly after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) raised its interest rate to 17 per cent as it sought to battle inflation hovering around 30 percent.

Gujarat Panchayat Service Selection Board (GPSSB) has blamed the contractor for the Sunday paper leak in the recruitment examination for the post of junior clerk. The contractor was given the contract to get question papers printed. The GPSSB has said that an interstate gang is involved in the paper leak racket.

The ongoing feud between the grapplers and the Wrestling Federation of India and its chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, against whom female wrestlers have levelled charges of sexual harassment, is a major topic of discussion nowadays.Speaking to on the issue in a telephonic interaction, sports activist and advocate Rahul Mehra gave his take on the entire episode and how it is impacting the athletes.

Star Indian table tennis player Manika Batra, who had a difficult last year, both on court and off-court, is slowing but steadily finding her mojo once again, which is a good sign for Indian sports. Putting her 2022 Commonwealth Games 'horror show' behind, Manika has performed well in the last few tournaments and looks all set for a superb season ahead.

In December 2012, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) from all Olympic-related activities for misgovernance, internal squabbling and electing people facing criminal charges and court cases over corruption charges as administrators.

Under BCCI President Roger Binny's leadership, Indian cricket has seen big developments since the newly-elected office-bearers took over in October 2022. Pay parity for international cricketers was initiated, which means the match fees for women's players are now at par with their male counterparts across formats.

As the Indian startups ecosystem goes through a churning as VCs squeeze funds, certain industries such as quick service restaurants (QSR), direct-to-consumer (D2C) and electric vehicle market and infrastructure still hold promise this year, especially for early-stage platforms.

Not too long ago, skilled software professionals experienced a greater boom and demand. Startups offered attractive joining bonus and even facilitated moonlighting, which triggered a debate. But the scenario has now changed for the worst. The layoffs, salary cuts has hit the professionals in the industry hard.

The second round of the Czech presidential election concluded on Saturday, with retired general Petr Pavel winning over former Prime Minister Andrej Babis, according to official results. With 99.99 per cent of precincts counted, Pavel won with 58.32 per cent of the vote to Babis' 41.67 per cent. Turnover for the election surpassed 70 per cent.