No country, including India, raised any concerns about the proposed schedule for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan during the ICC Board meeting in Dubai last month, held alongside the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

Minutes from the board meeting indicate that the schedule, also approved by ICC broadcasters, was shared with all participating teams, and no objections were raised, highly placed sources confirmed.

“A match schedule has been developed in conjunction with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The 15 matches are to be hosted across three venues in Pakistan: Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi.

“The match schedule has been approved by ICC’s main broadcast partner, Star, and each participating team has received a copy of their schedule for the event. No member has raised any concerns with the schedule as circulated,” it stated.

A source in Islamabad with knowledge of the matter suggested that recent developments, including India’s verbal communication to the cricket’s regulatory body about its inability to travel to Pakistan, may point to “mala fide intentions” aimed at creating disruption ahead of the Champions Trophy.

“There was no discussion of such concerns during the ICC Board meeting, the appropriate forum to address such matters. Yet, just as Pakistan was set to host an event marking 100 days to the tournament, the BCCI informed the ICC of its position verbally,” the source said.

The source further confirmed that a high-profile event was planned for November 11 to unveil the match schedule, event identity, and trophy tour.

During the October board meeting, the PCB had also provided updates on the progress of development work at the three venues.

The source added that the ICC had also green-signalled the PCB to host an international testing event at all three venues before the Champions Trophy which the PCB was planning to hold in January.

Before the October meeting, the PCB and ICC had jointly briefed security managers from all participating teams on the tournament’s master security plan. No objections were raised at any stage, the source added.

The PCB, meanwhile, is awaiting a response from the ICC to a questionnaire sent two days back following India’s verbal communication to the ICC about its inability to travel to Pakistan.

“The delay in ICC’s reply suggests there is no written communication from the BCCI. If such a document existed, it would have been shared with the PCB by now. It has been two days since PCB wrote to the ICC,” the source noted.

“Pakistan was announced as the host of the Champions Trophy long ago, and the host agreement was signed in December 2023. Why didn’t the BCCI consult its government about travelling to Pakistan when the event was announced? Why wait until the last minute?” the source questioned.

With less than 100 days to go before the ICC Champions Trophy, the uncertainty surrounding the schedule is not only frustrating cricket fans globally but also affecting stakeholders with commercial interests tied to the tournament.

“A lot of branding and brand activation activities are currently on hold due to this uncertainty,” another source said.

The final schedule, though already shared with participating teams and broadcasters, for the Champions Trophy 2025 is yet to be announced, officially.

India’s top product certification agency will investigate e-scooter maker Ola Electric’s deficiency in service standards and product issues, India’s consumer affairs secretary told Reuters on Thursday.

Last month, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) sent Ola Electric a notice seeking an explanation from the SoftBank-backed company after the consumer rights agency received an unusually high 10,000 complaints.

Ola, India’s top e-scooter maker, responded that it had resolved 99.1 percent of the complaints.

After reviewing that response, the CCPA has now asked the Bureau of Indian Standards to conduct a detailed investigation into the matter, consumer affairs secretary Nidhi Khare said on Thursday.

Ola Electric did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.

The complaints were mostly for “minor” issues, Ola’s founder Bhavish Aggarwal said on an earnings call last week.

“Two-thirds of it actually are just minor issues like loose parts or customers unfamiliar with the software used,” Aggarwal said.

The rising complaints and ensuing regulatory scrutiny have cast a shadow on the e-scooter maker, following its stellar market debut in August.

Ola Electric’s shares are down about 7.6 percent from their listing price of 76 rupees. On the day, its shares were down about one percent, while auto stocks had risen 0.5 percent.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

BAKU: With the first draft decision text on new post-2025 climate finance goals released at COP29 here on Wednesday, amid huge differences between rich and developing nations on the issue, UN climate body said developing countries would need $1.1-2.4 trillion annual investment by 2030, and up to $2.9 trillion till 2035, to meet mitigation goals.
This could, at least, be an indication to negotiators of rich nations about requirement when developing countries have been struggling to get a deal on having at least $1.3 trillion a year from their developed counterparts with a significant provision component for adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage.
Developing countries, however, don’t want it in the form of “investment” as currently much of climate finance discussions are focused on investments in mitigation actions.
Though the new text has mentioned the amount ($1.3 trillion), it also carried the other much lesser options in brackets with caveats on the nature of climate finance which won’t be acceptable to developing countries.
Developing countries expressed that climate finance should be “adequate, predictable, accessible, grant-based, low-interest and long-term”. The developed countries have, so far, not put in any numbers.
Referring to the text, developing countries have already pointed out that it was an attempt to push weak language to avoid providing real grant-based finance. Negotiations at COP29 would, therefore, see more texts on a new climate finance goal — called New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) — in the coming days for countries to thrash out their differences. In all probability, the more intense discussions for some convergence in the final text is expected next week when ministers are around.
Albanian PM goes off script, speech creates a stir
Albanian PM Edi Rama created a stir on Wednesday at COP29, claiming that nothing had actually changed in the real world despite big appeals by leaders, who he blamed lacked common political will to go beyond words and unite for meaningful action. Citing an observation he had made a day before, Rama said he decided to leave aside his “well prepared speech” after watching the “silent TV” in the leaders’ lounge.
“People there eat, drink, meet, and take photos together, while images of voiceless speeches from leaders play on and on and on in the background. To me, this seems exactly like what happens in the real world every day,” he said.
Special envoy says US will continue path of decarbonisation
Putting up a brave face amid the threat of dilution of climate actions under Donald Trump, the American special Presidential envoy for climate John Podesta said the US economy would continue down the path of decarbonisation, reducing emissions for years to come, because of historic private sector investments made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act under President Joe Biden.
Delivering his nation’s statement here at COP29, he said the US is on track to meet President Biden’s ambitious international public finance commitment of $11 billion per year by the end of 2024. He emphasised that the American negotiators would need to first conclude the key negotiated outcomes including Article 6 (carbon market) and a robust new climate finance target here at the climate conference.
“It should be multi-layered with an ambitious, realistically achievable support layer involving new contributors … underpinned by a set of qualitative elements that evolve the international financial architecture,” said Podesta in the context of the new post-2025 finance goal.

NEW DELHI: Mahayuti leaders, including Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, on Wednesday shared videos of their bags being checked by poll body officials in response to Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray‘s criticism of the Election Commission.
Sharing a video on X, NCP chief Ajit Pawar wrote: “Today, while on my way for election campaigning, the Election Commission conducted a routine check of my bags and helicopter. I fully cooperated and believe that such measures are essential to ensure free and fair elections.”
“Let us all respect the law and support efforts to uphold the integrity of our democracy,” the NCP chief wrote.

The bags of chief minister Eknath Shinde being checked by the poll officials was also shared by Shiv Sena. The party said Shinde’s bags were checked at Palghar Police ground helipad when he reached for the election campaign.

Ramdas Athawale’s party, which is a BJP ally, also shared video of party chief’s frisking video in Pune.
Earlier in the day, BJP shared a video of its leader Devendra Fadnavis being checked at an airport, saying it was a normal procedure ahead of the election.
The frisking by poll officials became the latest flashpoint in Maharashtra after UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray’s bags were checked twice in Yavatmal and Latur.
Criticising the EC, Uddhav asked if the election authorities would also inspect the bags of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders.
The sources in the Election Commission, however, told PTI that aircraft and helicopters of top leaders across political spectrum are checked as part of standard operating procedure.
They said in the previous polls too, planes and helicopters of BJP president JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah were checked.
“There have been strict SOPs followed by enforcement agencies for a level playing field. During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a similar issue was raised in Bihar and it was clarified that the helicopters of prominent leaders, including Nadda was checked in district Bhagalpur on April 24 and Shah in district Katihar on April 21 were also checked as per SOP,” a functionary pointed out.
The sources also recalled the statement of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar during the announcement of ongoing assembly elections that directions have been given to the enforcement agencies to ensure checking of helicopters of all leaders for a level playing field.

India’s longer-format captain Rohit Sharma on Sunday, addressed the ongoing uncertainty regarding India’s participation in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to be hosted in Pakistan during the February-March window.

Sharma, during an interaction with the media, was probed about whether the men in blue would travel to Pakistan for the eight-team tournament. The Indian captain, in response, reiterated that the decision lies with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and not the players.

“The decision is not in our hands. It will be made by the cricket boards, and we are focused on the tournament ahead,” said Sharma.

“If we are sent to Pakistan, there will be no issue,” he added.

Sharma’s remarks came amid the reports suggesting that the BCCI has formally informed International Cricket Council (ICC) that it will not send its national men’s team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, citing the directives of the federal government.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is firm on its stance of not receiving any formal update from either ICC or BCCI.

“In the last two months, the Indian media has been reporting that India isn’t travelling. I discussed this with them and my team, and our stance is clear: they need to give us in writing any objections they may have,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters on Friday.

Notably, India’s refusal to visit Pakistan, gave rise to the prospects of Champions Trophy being played in a ‘hybrid model’ with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) emerging as the strong candidate to host India’s matches.

However, PCB chairman Naqvi expressed his unwillingness for the model and assured every participating team of top-notch facilities.

“Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one. The Indian media are reporting it, but no formal communication has reached the PCB… Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here.

“I remain in touch with several boards, and they’re all looking forward to playing here. I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter. We’ll give every team as many facilities as we can. We’d like to see fans from abroad come for the tournament, too.”

 

An investigation by India’s antitrust body found food delivery giants Zomato and SoftBank-backed Swiggy breached competition laws, with their business practices favouring select restaurants listed on their platforms, documents show.

Zomato entered into “exclusivity contracts” with partners in return for lower commissions, while Swiggy guaranteed business growth to certain players if they listed exclusively on its platform, according to non-public documents prepared by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

Exclusivity arrangements between Swiggy, Zomato and their respective restaurant partners “prevent the market from becoming more competitive,” the CCI’s investigation arm noted in its findings reviewed by Reuters on Friday.

The antitrust investigation against Swiggy and its top rival Zomato began in 2022 after a complaint by National Restaurant Association of India about the impact on food outlets of alleged anti-competitive practices of the platforms.

The CCI documents are not public, in line with its confidentiality rules, and were shared with Swiggy, Zomato and the complainant restaurant group in March 2024. Their findings have not been previously reported.

Zomato declined to comment, while Swiggy and the CCI did not respond to Reuters queries.

Shares in Zomato fell three percent after the Reuters report, from being flat in earlier trade.

The CCI case is mentioned as one of the “internal risks” in Swiggy’s IPO prospectus, which says “any breach of the provisions of Competition Act, may attract substantial monetary penalties.”

The CCI report noted that Swiggy told investigators the “Swiggy Exclusive” program was phased out in 2023, but the company “is planning to launch similar program (Swiggy Grow) in non-metropolitan cities.”

Food delivery giants Swiggy and Zomato have in recent years reshaped how Indians order food, as hundreds of thousands of outlets listed on their apps just when smartphone use, and online ordering, both grew rapidly.

Swiggy, which on Friday is closing bids for its $1.4 billion (roughly Rs. 11,811 crore) IPO – India’s second biggest this year, and Zomato both in recent years also pushed restaurants to maintain a parity on prices, directly reducing competition in the market by preventing restaurants offering lower prices on other online platforms, the CCI documents stated.

Zomato was found to have imposed pricing and discount restrictions on restaurant partners, and in some cases included a “penal provision” if the outlet failed to comply.

Some of Swiggy’s partner restaurants were “threatened that their rankings will be pushed down, if they do not maintain price parity,” the CCI’s investigation arm noted.

The next, and final phase, of the CCI case is a decision by the CCI leadership which is still reviewing the investigation findings to decide on any penalty or order changes to Swiggy’s and Zomato’s business practices.

That decision could take several weeks, and the companies still have the option of contesting the investigation findings with the CCI.

Zomato, which listed in 2021, has seen its shares more than triple to a valuation of about $27 billion amid rising demand. Swiggy is valuing itself at $11.3 billion in its IPO.

Macquarie Capital estimates Swiggy’s food order values in 2024-25 will be $3.3 billion, roughly 25% below Zomato’s.

Both are now diversifying fast into quick commerce where groceries are delivered in as little as 10 minutes.

India’s biggest group of retail distributors has asked the antitrust authority to investigate quick commerce businesses of Zomato, Swiggy and another rival Zepto for alleged predatory pricing, Reuters reported last month.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

An investigation by India’s antitrust body found food delivery giants Zomato and SoftBank-backed Swiggy breached competition laws, with their business practices favouring select restaurants listed on their platforms, documents show.

Zomato entered into “exclusivity contracts” with partners in return for lower commissions, while Swiggy guaranteed business growth to certain players if they listed exclusively on its platform, according to non-public documents prepared by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

Exclusivity arrangements between Swiggy, Zomato and their respective restaurant partners “prevent the market from becoming more competitive,” the CCI’s investigation arm noted in its findings reviewed by Reuters on Friday.

The antitrust investigation against Swiggy and its top rival Zomato began in 2022 after a complaint by National Restaurant Association of India about the impact on food outlets of alleged anti-competitive practices of the platforms.

The CCI documents are not public, in line with its confidentiality rules, and were shared with Swiggy, Zomato and the complainant restaurant group in March 2024. Their findings have not been previously reported.

Zomato declined to comment, while Swiggy and the CCI did not respond to Reuters queries.

Shares in Zomato fell three percent after the Reuters report, from being flat in earlier trade.

The CCI case is mentioned as one of the “internal risks” in Swiggy’s IPO prospectus, which says “any breach of the provisions of Competition Act, may attract substantial monetary penalties.”

The CCI report noted that Swiggy told investigators the “Swiggy Exclusive” program was phased out in 2023, but the company “is planning to launch similar program (Swiggy Grow) in non-metropolitan cities.”

Food delivery giants Swiggy and Zomato have in recent years reshaped how Indians order food, as hundreds of thousands of outlets listed on their apps just when smartphone use, and online ordering, both grew rapidly.

Swiggy, which on Friday is closing bids for its $1.4 billion (roughly Rs. 11,811 crore) IPO – India’s second biggest this year, and Zomato both in recent years also pushed restaurants to maintain a parity on prices, directly reducing competition in the market by preventing restaurants offering lower prices on other online platforms, the CCI documents stated.

Zomato was found to have imposed pricing and discount restrictions on restaurant partners, and in some cases included a “penal provision” if the outlet failed to comply.

Some of Swiggy’s partner restaurants were “threatened that their rankings will be pushed down, if they do not maintain price parity,” the CCI’s investigation arm noted.

The next, and final phase, of the CCI case is a decision by the CCI leadership which is still reviewing the investigation findings to decide on any penalty or order changes to Swiggy’s and Zomato’s business practices.

That decision could take several weeks, and the companies still have the option of contesting the investigation findings with the CCI.

Zomato, which listed in 2021, has seen its shares more than triple to a valuation of about $27 billion amid rising demand. Swiggy is valuing itself at $11.3 billion in its IPO.

Macquarie Capital estimates Swiggy’s food order values in 2024-25 will be $3.3 billion, roughly 25% below Zomato’s.

Both are now diversifying fast into quick commerce where groceries are delivered in as little as 10 minutes.

India’s biggest group of retail distributors has asked the antitrust authority to investigate quick commerce businesses of Zomato, Swiggy and another rival Zepto for alleged predatory pricing, Reuters reported last month.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Google Cloud announced a collaboration with DeliverHealth, a clinical documentation and digital health platform, on Thursday. The announcement was made at the Google Cloud Startup Summit 2024 India event in Bengaluru. The strategic partnership will combine the Mountain View-based tech giant’s Gemini AI models with the large data repository of the health tech platform. Alongside, Google Cloud also shared that it is expanding the role of AI and cloud technology in India’s startup ecosystem. The expansion is aimed at introducing AI innovation for Indian startups to spur accelerated growth cycles.

Google Cloud Partners With DeliverHealth

A large part of healthcare involves documenting patient journeys, starting from diagnosis and assessment to rehabilitation. The process involves noting down critical health information about patients which becomes the basis for treatment as well as follow-up visits. DeliverHealth already operates in the digital health space and offers solutions to clinics to digitize such information.

Now, with this collaboration with Google Cloud, the health tech platform will combine its repository with the Gemini 1.5 Pro AI models to co-develop unique solutions for healthcare institutions.

In a press release, the tech giant said that the Gemini AI model will be trained on DeliverHealth’s extensive repository of 1,50,000 hours a month of human-curated medical notes. With this training, the two entities will develop an AI model that uses medical vocabulary for speech recognition. It will also enable clinicians to use detailed medical language and natural language processing to document patient journeys.

This would enable doctors and other support staff to create accurate documents for the patient based on their conversations, Google claimed. One obvious benefit would be that doctors will be able to fully focus on patient care without worrying about the documentation process. They will also be able to easily access patient documents without having to run detailed searches of the repository.

“Our collaboration with DeliverHealth is a reflection of our shared commitment towards innovation through the transformative potential of GenAI by automating tedious tasks and improving efficiency and accuracy,” said Bikram Singh Bedi, Vice President and Country MD, Google Cloud India.

Google Cloud announced a collaboration with DeliverHealth, a clinical documentation and digital health platform, on Thursday. The announcement was made at the Google Cloud Startup Summit 2024 India event in Bengaluru. The strategic partnership will combine the Mountain View-based tech giant’s Gemini AI models with the large data repository of the health tech platform. Alongside, Google Cloud also shared that it is expanding the role of AI and cloud technology in India’s startup ecosystem. The expansion is aimed at introducing AI innovation for Indian startups to spur accelerated growth cycles.

Google Cloud Partners With DeliverHealth

A large part of healthcare involves documenting patient journeys, starting from diagnosis and assessment to rehabilitation. The process involves noting down critical health information about patients which becomes the basis for treatment as well as follow-up visits. DeliverHealth already operates in the digital health space and offers solutions to clinics to digitize such information.

Now, with this collaboration with Google Cloud, the health tech platform will combine its repository with the Gemini 1.5 Pro AI models to co-develop unique solutions for healthcare institutions.

In a press release, the tech giant said that the Gemini AI model will be trained on DeliverHealth’s extensive repository of 1,50,000 hours a month of human-curated medical notes. With this training, the two entities will develop an AI model that uses medical vocabulary for speech recognition. It will also enable clinicians to use detailed medical language and natural language processing to document patient journeys.

This would enable doctors and other support staff to create accurate documents for the patient based on their conversations, Google claimed. One obvious benefit would be that doctors will be able to fully focus on patient care without worrying about the documentation process. They will also be able to easily access patient documents without having to run detailed searches of the repository.

“Our collaboration with DeliverHealth is a reflection of our shared commitment towards innovation through the transformative potential of GenAI by automating tedious tasks and improving efficiency and accuracy,” said Bikram Singh Bedi, Vice President and Country MD, Google Cloud India.