Indian cricket team's return disrupted by hurricane
Bridgetown (Barbados), Jun 30: Indian cricket fans might have to wait a little longer to see their T20 World Cup-winning heroes back in the country as the Rohit Sharma-led side's travel plans have been impacted by a hurricane here.
Reports said that hurricane Beryl, originating in the Atlantic, had intensified with maximum sustained winds of 210 kmph.
The Category 4 hurricane was about 570km east-southeast of Barbados and there are reports that the airport in Bridgetown will shut in the evening.
The Indian team was supposed to take an Emirates flight from New York via Dubai.
A source told PTI that the plan now is to fly the team back to India on a charter flight.
"The team was supposed to leave from here (Bridgetown) to New York and then reach India via Dubai. But now the plan is to get a charter flight straight from here to Delhi. A meeting with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also being considered," a source said.
The Indian contingent, including support staff, families, and officials, consists of about 70 members.
India had ended their 11-year wait for an ICC trophy on Saturday, overcoming South Africa by seven runs in a thrilling contest to win the T20 World Cup for the second time.
Player of the match Virat Kohli smashed a 59-ball 76 to guide India to 176/7 before restricting South Africa to 169/8 to lift the trophy they had last won in 2007.
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'Mausi ji, moral victory toh hai na': PM Modi invokes 'Sholay' scene to mock Congress
New Delhi, Jul 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday invoked an iconic scene from Hindi movie 'Sholay' to mock the Congress, saying that despite losing the Lok Sabha polls for a third time, the grand old party's refrain was -- "mausi ji, it is a moral victory after all".
In a scathing attack on the Congress in his address in the Lok Sabha, Modi also called it "parjeevi (parasitic)" party and claimed that it ate into the votes of its allies.
"The statements of Congress leaders have even surpassed film Sholay. You all would remember Mausi ji from the film. Teesri baar toh haare hain par Mausi ji, moral victory toh hai na (we have lost third time but Mausi ji, it is a moral victory).
"Arey Mausi 13 rajyon mein zero seat aayi hai par hero to hai na (Mausi, we got zero seats in 13 states but I am a hero)," he said.
"Party ki lutiya toh duboyi hai, arey Mausi party abhi saansein toh le rahi hai (Have sunk the party but it is still breathing)," Modi said.
His reference was to the iconic comic scene from 'Sholay' in which Amitabh Bachchan's character goes to speak with the 'mausi' (aunt) of the character played by Hema Malini. He seeks Malini's hand for marriage with his friend played by Dharmendra and keeps mentioning the vices of his friend while defending them simultaneously, giving hilarious reasons.
In his address, Modi urged the Congress not to suppress the mandate under the garb of "fake victory celebrations".
"Do not drown the mandate in intoxication of fake victory. Honestly understand and accept the mandate of the people," he said.
"I don't know if the Congress allies have done an analysis of the polls. This election is also a message for these allies. The Congress will be known as the Parjeevi Congress party from 2024," Modi said.
"Parjeevi" is one who feeds on the body it resides in and the Congress eats up the votes of the party it allies with while prospering at the cost of its ally, the PM said.
"I am calling it parasitic on the basis of facts. Wherever the Congress and the BJP were in a direct contest or where the Congress was the major partner, its strike rate there is 26 per cent. But where it was a junior partner, in such states, its strike rate was 50 per cent," Modi said.
On most of the 99 seats it won, Congress' allies helped it win that is why it is a "parjeevi", the prime minister said.
"In 16 states where it fought alone, its vote share went down. In Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh the Congress fought on its own and won two out of 66 seats. This means that the Congress in these polls had become parasitic and rode on the shoulder of its allies to increase its tally," Modi said.
If the Congress would not have eaten up the votes of its allies, it would have been difficult for it to win even these many seats.
No one trolls like PM .@narendramodi Ji!🔥
— BhikuMhatre (@MumbaichaDon) July 2, 2024
"The statements of CONgress leaders have surpassed even the film Sholay. You all must remember Mausi ji from the film Sholay... Are Mausi ji 13 Rajyon me zero seat aayi hai to kya hua hero to hai na..." 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/5wEQftMCAY
