India to play three-match T20I and ODI series in England next July
London (PTI): The Indian cricket team will play six white-ball matches against England in July next year, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced as it unveiled its international home fixtures for 2022.
The Indian team is currently playing a five-Test series against England with the last match slated to start September 10.
However, unlike other years, India's red and white ball series have been segregated due to the length of the tours in times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
England men will play all of their home white-ball matches in July against India, followed by South Africa.
As per the schedule released by the ECB, India will begin the T20 International series at the Old Trafford on July 1 before matches at Trent Bridge (July 3) and the Ageas Bowl (July 6).
A three-match ODI series follows with games at Edgbaston (July 9), the Oval (July 12) and the Lord's (July 14).
England men will begin their 2022 home summer with a three-match Test Series against world champions New Zealand.
Joe Root's Test team will begin its series against the Black Caps at Lord's on June 2 before the series heads to Trent Bridge (10-14 June) and Emerald Headingley (23-27 June).
ECB Chief Executive Officer, Tom Harrison, said: "It has been a scintillating summer of cricket and so good to see crowds back packing out venues later this summer.
"For next summer, I am pleased to be able to confirm three high-quality men's international touring teams for 2022, starting with a three-Test LV= Insurance Series against World Test champions New Zealand.
"We also look forward to India returning for two white-ball series before we host South Africa for what promises to be hard-fought series across three formats, including three Test Matches," he added.
England Men v India -- T20 Series schedule, 2022:
Jul 1, 2022 - Emirates Old Trafford
Jul 3 2022 - Trent Bridge
Jul 6 2022 - Ageas Bowl
England Men v India -- ODI Series
Jul 9, 2022 - Edgbaston
Jul 12, 2022 -Kia Oval
Jul 14 2022 - Lord's.
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PM must explain why his govt scrapped Backward Region Grant Fund: Congress
New Delhi(PTI): The Congress on Friday hit out at the BJP for "scrapping" the Backward Region Grant Fund in 2015 and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain why his government "callously" did away with the "forward-thinking" scheme of the UPA.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to the prime minister ahead of his rallies in Uttar Pradesh.
"Why has the Modi Sarkar scrapped the Backward Regions Grant Fund? Why has the BJP neglected UP's mentha farmers? Why has CM Yogi repeatedly lied about reopening the Budhwal Sugar Mill?" Ramesh said.
Elaborating on what he said were "jumla details", the Congress leader said the Backward Region Grant Fund, aimed at uplifting the backward districts of India, was "callously scrapped" by the Modi government in 2015.
"This forward-thinking scheme was established by the UPA government in 2006 and by 2013, Uttar Pradesh's backward districts had received benefits worth Rs 4000 crore from it," he said.
Ramesh pointed out that in 2015, the Modi government discontinued separate budgetary allocations for this scheme, transferring it to states and slashing annual funding to the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan (RGPSA) from Rs 1,006 crore to just Rs 60 crore.
"This came as a significant blow to districts like Fatehpur that received crucial development funds from the scheme. Can the outgoing PM explain why his government so callously scrapped the Backward Region Grant Fund?" Ramesh said in a post on X.
Pointing out that India is the world's largest producer and exporter of mentha oil and UP alone accounts for 90 per cent of India's total production, Ramesh claimed that the mentha oil industry is now reeling from convoluted tax classifications, high GST, and general government neglect.
"Instead of trying to support farmers and processors, the government is trying to extract maximum revenue from the industry. First, the government follows a dual policy for mentha - it is classified as an industrial product under GST, but it is classified as agricultural produce when it comes to the Mandi Tax," he said.
This enables double taxation - GST as an industrial product, Mandi Tax as an agricultural product, Ramesh said.
"Farmers already have to pay the 12% GST on mentha oil sales, and under the new Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM), RCM is levied on purchase. Mentha oil processors are forced to take on the tax liability when purchasing mentha oil from farmers and therefore take on dual tax liability," he said.
Finally, despite mentha being an entirely export-oriented product, the government provides no incentives to boost production, processing, or export, Ramesh claimed.
Why have the outgoing PM and the BJP neglected such an important Indian export, he asked.
"Even after repeated promises from PM Modi and CM Yogi, the Budhwal Sugar Mill remains inactive," he said.
"The PM first promised to revive all of UP's inactive sugar mills in 2014.Then in 2017, before assembly elections, Yogi Adityanath said that the mill would be revived if the BJP formed the government. The BJP won and formed the government but the mill remained inactive," Ramesh said.
Again, in 2022, CM Yogi Adityanath promised to restart the mill and even approved a supplementary budget of Rs 50 crore for the project, he said.
"The government also began to acquire land near the mill, raising hopes of its revival. However, months have now passed and no construction work has been initiated. After all of the BJP's promises, can the outgoing PM explain why the Budhwal Sugar Mill still remains inactive?" Ramesh said and asked the prime minister to break his "silence" on these issues.
