India to play their first-ever Day-Night Test vs Bangladesh in Kolkata
Kolkata, Oct 29: The Indian cricket team will play its first ever Day-Night Test match here against Bangladesh, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly told PTI on Tuesday, ending days of speculation surrounding the game.
The Test is scheduled to be held at the Eden Gardens from November 22-26 and will be the second game of a two-match series.
The development ended days of speculation after Ganguly first proposed the idea to the Bangladesh Cricket Board, which faced resistance from its players and sat for multiple meetings to convince them.
"It's a good development. Test cricket needs this push. Me and my team were bent on it and thanks to Virat (Kohli) also, he agreed," Ganguly told PTI.
There are plans to invite India's legendary Olympians like Abhinav Bindra, M C Mary Kom and P V Sindhu and felicitate them for their contribution to the country's Olympic movement during the match.
Just like Cricket Australia's annual 'Pink Test' (players wear Pink caps) in association with the Jane McGrath Foundation to raise awareness about breast cancer, Ganguly wants the Eden Gardens' Day-night Test to be an "annual affair".
Indian cricketers have for long objected to playing with the pink ball, asserting that sighting the ball becomes a problem after it gets old.
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Maharashtra government reduces Ladki Bahin Yojana stipend for 8 lakh beneficiaries: Report
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has reportedly cut down on the stipend received by eight lakh beneficiaries of the Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana.
Under the revised structure, the beneficiaries will receive Rs 500 instead of Rs 1,500 per month because they already receive Rs 1,000 under another government scheme, the Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi (NSMN), as reported by the Times of India.
The Ladki Bahin scheme has the stipulation that its beneficiaries can avail other government schemes only if the benefit is capped at Rs. 1,500 per month.
“There has been an ongoing scrutiny. First to scan the applications that were sent by the districts to the state headquarters. And then to re-scrutinise the eligible cases,” TOI report quoted an official as saying.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier said he expected the number of beneficiaries to reduce by 10-15 lakh after the scrutiny process. "We are not changing criteria or funding, just ensuring only eligible ones get the stipend," he claimed.
The Opposition remarked that the state government is cheating the women who voted them to power.
The Mahayuti government had launched the Ladki Bahin Yojana in July 2024, where it provides Rs 1,500 per month to eligible women under the scheme. In its poll manifesto ahead of the state Assembly elections, the Mahayuti had promised to increase the amount to Rs 2,100. However, this commitment has not been fulfilled.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s debt projection is Rs 9.3 lakh crore for 2025-26. The outlay for the Ladki Bahin scheme was reduced from Rs 46,000 crore to Rs 36,000 crore in the 2025-26 budget.
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