Full schedule of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 (June 1 to 18)

London, June 1: India will start their title defence against arch rivals Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2017 One Day International tournament in England. 

MS Dhoni speaks on 'intense' Champions Trophy 

The groups and schedule of the tournament were announced today (June 1) in London. India and Pakistan are in Pool B.

Champions Trophy One Day Internatioanl tournament will be contested by top 8 sides in the world. India are the holders, having won in 2013. 

Champions Trophy 2017 Fixtures 

Group A: Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand 

Group B: India, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka 

Match timings - Day matches will start at 10.30 AM (UK time) (GMT+1), while day/night matches will start at 1.30 PM (UK time) 

June 1 (Thursday) - England Vs Bangladesh (The Oval) - 3 PM IST 

June 2 (Friday) - Australia Vs New Zealand (Edgbaston) - 3 PM IST 

June 3 (Saturday) - Sri Lanka Vs South Africa (The Oval) - 3 PM IST 

June 4 (Sunday) - India Vs Pakistan (Edgbaston) - 3 PM IST 

June 5 (Monday) - Australia Vs Bangladesh (The Oval) - Day/Night - 6 PM IST 

June 6 (Tuesday) - New Zealand Vs England (Cardiff) - 3 PM IST 

June 7 (Wednesday) - Pakistan Vs South Africa (Edgbaston) D/N - 6 PM IST 

June 8 (Thursday) - India Vs Sri Lanka (The Oval) - 3 PM IST 

June 9 (Friday) - New Zealand Vs Bangladesh (Cardiff) - 3 PM IST 

June 10 (Saturday) - England Vs Australia (Edgbaston) - 3 PM IST 

June 11 (Sunday) - India Vs South Africa (The Oval) - 3 PM IST 

June 12 (Monday) - Sri Lanka Vs Pakistan (Cardiff) - 3 PM IST 

June 13 (Tuesday) - REST DAY 

June 14 (Wednesday) - 1st Semi-final (A1 Vs B2) (Cardiff) - 3 PM IST 

June 15 (Thursday) - 2nd Semi-final (A2 Vs B1) (Edgbaston) - 3 PM IST 

June 16, 17 - REST DAYS June 18 (Sunday) - FINAL (The Oval) - 3 PM IST 

June 19 (Monday) - Reserve Day for the FINAL 

Previous Champions 

1998 - South Africa (Hosts - Bangladesh, Runner-up - West Indies) - 9 teams participated 

2000 - New Zealand (Hosts - Kenya, Runner-up - India) - 11 teams participated 

2002 - India and Sri Lanka joint winners after the final was washed out twice (including reserve day) (Hosts - Sri Lanka) - 12 teams participated 

2004 - West Indies (Hosts - England, Runner-up - England) - 12 teams participated 

2006 - Australia (Hosts - India, Runner-up - West Indies) - 10 teams participated 

2009 - Australia (Hosts - South Africa, Runner-up - New Zealand) - 8 teams participated 

2013 - India (Hosts - England, Runner-up - England) - 8 teams participated 

Previous India-Pakistan contests in Champions Trophy - Pakistan lead 2-1 

September 19, 2004 (Birmingham, England) - Pakistan won by 3 wickets 

September 26, 2009 (Centurion, South Africa) - Pakistan won by 54 runs 

June 15, 2013 (Birmingham, England) - India won by 8 wickets (Duckworth/Lewis method) 

ICC ODI Team Rankings 

(as on 30 September 2015, top 8 sides qualified for the Champions Trophy 2017) 
(Read as Rank, Team, Points) 

1. Australia - 127 

2. India - 115 

3. South Africa - 110 

4. New Zealand- 109 

5. Sri Lanka - 103 

6. England - 100 

7. Bangladesh - 96 

8. Pakistan- 90 

9. West Indies - 88 

10. Ireland - 49 

11. Zimbabwe - 45 

12. Afghanistan- 41


Read more at: http://www.oneindia.com/sports/cricket/full-schedule-icc-champions-trophy-2017-june-1-18-2115411.html

7th Pay Commission: Good news for Govt employees! Salary hike from July 1, say reports

New Delhi, June 2: There is a good news for the central government employees as their wait is going to end soon. 

If reports are to be believed then the increased pay scale will be given to them from July. 

Also read: 7th Pay Comm:Good news for govt employees! Panel to give final shape to recommendations on June 11

According to a ZeeNews report, "The long wait for implementation of 7th Pay Commission recommendation will soon come to an end. The new increased pay scale for all central government employees will be given from next month.

" Reportedly, the group of secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha is all set to meet on June 11 to give final shape to the changes on 7th Pay Commission recommendations. 

Also read: Seventh Pay Commission: Govt employees to get better pay scales than proposed earlier 

In Janurary, Government had appointed Empowered Committee of Secretaries under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha to process the recommendations of the Pay Commission. 

The recommendations when implemented would have bearing on remuneration of 47 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners. 

Subject to acceptance by the government, the recommendations will take effect from January 1, 2016.


Read more at: http://www.oneindia.com/india/7th-pay-commission-increment-govt-employees-to-get-better-pay-scales-from-july-report-2116580.html

India, Pakistan in same group always: ICC admits to fixing the draw

London, June 2: Fans and players have often wondered how India and Pakistan end up in the same group in every global event. The answer has been revealed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and it has admitted to fixing the draw in order to put the neighbours together. 

Full schedule of Champions Trophy
Yesterday (June 1) was another instance of arch rivals India and Pakistan being grouped together. This time it was for the Champions Trophy 2017 One Day International tournament.

File photo: India captain MS Dhoni (left) and Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq

Since 2012, this is the 6th tournament in a row where the 2 teams will be in the same pool. Whenever they meet on a cricket field, it generates huge interest across the globe. Record television ratings are achieved. And due to this, ICC has manipulated the draw. 

"No doubt we want to try to put India versus Pakistan in our event. It's hugely important from an ICC point of view. It's massive around the world and the fans have come to expect it as well. It's fantastic for the tournament because it gives it a massive kick," ICC chief executive David Richardson admitted on Wednesday (June 1) after the Champions Trophy draw. Richardson was quoted as saying this by Britain's "The Telegraph". 

India and Pakistan met in 2012 World Twenty20, then in 2013 Champions Trophy, followed by 2014 World T20, 2015 World Cup and this year's World T20. 

Next year's Champions Trophy sees India and Paksitan facing off at Edgbaston on June 4 (Sunday). As always it is expected to be a high-voltage contest. 

The top 8 ODI sides, as on September 30, 2015 (on the ICC Rankings) will compete the Champions Trophy. India are the holders having won in 2013.

Read more at: http://www.oneindia.com/sports/cricket/india-pakistan-same-group-always-icc-admits-fixing-the-draw-2116354.html

Time up for 'When Rahul Gandhi?'; time now to ask 'Why Rahul Gandhi?'

The 'Rahul Gandhi is set to take over' headline in the Indian media is a tiring one now. People are feeling frustrated reading on and hearing about this not just because the Congress hasn't been able to take that simple but decisive step in all these years and despite repeated defeats in elections, but also because this much-awaited medicine for the Congress now looks obsolete.

Since 2014, India has moved on and now it is too late for the Congress to cover up the lost miles by riding on the back of Rahul Gandhi.

How to go about it?

Supporters of the BJP, critics of the Congress and political experts have agreed on one point and that is: Rahul Gandhi's rise in the ranks now will help Narendra Modi and his team to achieve their dream of Congress-Mukt Bharat.

The time for Rahul Gandhi has come and gone

This is just not a mere mockery. This speaks about the wide gap which exists between Modi and Rahul today and whether the latter becomes the formal head of the party or not, his time has gone for sure.

The continuous effort to shield Rahul Gandhi against the Modi Blitzkrieg that swept the country in 2014 has reduced the former's utility by far. Even if Rahul has not been officially made the president of the Congress party, but one can't deny the fact that the party has fought all the major elections since 2009 with the vice-president as its face.

Whether Rahul becomes president or not, Congress has been fighting the polls under his leadership and losing most or all of them

And barring the decent show of the Congress in UP in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, the Congress has failed in every big election under the disguised leadership of Rahul Gandhi. It has lost major states, including some where it had been in power for a long time, and the leader's failure in gauging the ground reality was held responsible for some of those defeats.

If the future leadership is a spent force, it's a big disadvantage
This is a big, big disadvantage for the Congress and Rahul Gandhi. It is now a perceived truth that Rahul Gandhi doesn't have it in him to successfully lead the Congress. And this perception has taken effect at a time when the country has found a more trusted leader in Modi.

Rahul would have had an opportunity still had the uncertainty of the coalition era persisted for the "secular forces" could rally around him to prevent the "communal forces" to come to power.

Regional leaders have grown in stature more than Rahul

But the situation isn't the same after the 2014 Lok Sabha election. With the BJP getting a brute majority in the Lok Sabha and the party slowly but gradually expanding its base in corners of the country, the space for the "secular forces" led by the Congress has got drastically reduced.
It is no over-statement to say that as long as Modi leads a majority government at the Centre and the Congress goes on losing its footholds across the country, the mediocre leadership of Rahul Gandhi has simply no chance.

What was Congress doing in 3 years since Rahul Gandhi was made vice-president?

Instead, there is enough possibility of regional leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar and Arvind Kejriwal getting more significance than either Rahul Gandhi or Congress in the future elections. These regional leaders are seen more as teh future rival of Modi, not Rahul Gandhi.

By focusing on the dynasty, what new Prashant Kishor is doing?

It is also dissatisfying to see master strategist Prashant Kishor prescribing the same medicine of prioritising the Gandhis to revive the Congress. If that is the only way out, then why does the Congress need a Kishor to show it the way forward?

The party has anyhow carried on with the same arrangement of a Gandhi leading the rest since Indira Gandhi had taken over. But can Kishor make a drastic proposal to change the Congress's way of functioning since that party is a prisoner of a mindset.

Not when but why Rahul Gandhi

Sometimes, it requires a vibrant jerk as a reaction to an adversity. But the Congress leadership never felt it that way and continued to hide Rahul Gandhi till the time that there was no more place left. Today, after wasting too much time, the Congress is forced to face that same question: When Rahul Gandhi? And its failure to find a timely answer has given birth to the next question: Why Rahul Gandhi?

Read more at: http://www.oneindia.com/feature/time-up-for-when-rahul-gandhi-time-to-ask-why-rahul-gandhi-2116460.html