Polish National Flag Day

ON MAY 2, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Polish Diaspora Day.15 million Poles live abroad while 38 million live in Poland. The trend started at the end of the 18th century following failed rebellions against Russia. May 2nd is the Polish National Flag Day. The holiday has been celebrated since 2004.Polish National Flag Day, 2 May, Military Parade.

Nations defence spending

ON MAY 2, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Total world military expenditure rose to $1739 billion in 2017, a marginal increase of 1.1 per cent in real terms from 2016, according to new figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

China, the second largest spender globally, increased its military spending by 5.6 per cent to $228 billion in 2017. China’s spending as a share of world military expenditure has risen from 5.8 per cent in 2008 to 13 per cent in 2017. India spent $63.9 billion on its military in 2017, an increase of 5.5 per cent compared with 2016, while South Korea’s spending, at $39.2 billion, rose by 1.7 per cent between 2016 and 2017.

China’s military expenditure rose again in 2017, continuing an upward trend in spending that has lasted for more than two decades. Russia’s military spending fell for the first time since 1998, while spending by the United States remained constant for the second successive year. 

‘Continuing high world military expenditure is a cause for serious concern,’ said Ambassador Jan Eliasson, Chair of the SIPRI Governing Board. ‘It undermines the search for peaceful solutions to conflicts around the world.’

The United States, China, Saudi Arabia and Russia were the leading four last year in military spending. “The Indian government plans to expand, modernise and enhance the operational capability of its armed forces, motivated at least partially by tensions with China and Pakistan,” the report read.

World’s biggest military spenders  in recent years, dominated by the US and China, which spent US$610 billion and US$228 billion last year respectively, according to the SIPRI.

At $66.3 billion, Russia’s military spending in 2017 was 20 per cent lower than in 2016, the first annual decrease since 1998. ‘Military modernization remains a priority in Russia, but the military budget has been restricted by economic problems that the country has experienced since 2014,’ said Siemon Wezeman.

Japan in eighth spot for military spending, its defence outlays for the year starting April 1 were due to rise for a sixth straight year, going up by 1.3 per cent to 5.19 trillion yen (US$45.76 billion), according to a budget breakdown published by its government last month.

China’s military spending was 3.6 times that of India, which was the region’s second-largest spender. China has pledged to raise its military spending by 8.1 per cent this year, after its 2017 total showed an increase of 5.6 per cent compared with 2016.

US geopolitical intelligence company Stratfor in January revealed that both countries have been actively bolstering their military presence near the border.

Seven of the 10 countries with the highest military burden are in the Middle East: Oman (12 per cent of GDP), Saudi Arabia (10 per cent of GDP), Kuwait (5.8 per cent of GDP), Jordan (4.8 per cent of GDP), Israel (4.7 per cent of GDP), Lebanon (4.5 per cent of GDP) and Bahrain (4.1 per cent of GDP).

Worldwide military spending rose marginally last year to US$1.73 trillion, or roughly 2.2 per cent of global gross domestic product, the SIPRI said.

Kerala Men and Women start Day 1 with convincing victories at the 32nd Federation Cup in Chittoor

ON MAY 2, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Bengaluru, 2nd May 2018: The 32nd Federation Cup has tipped off at the District Sports Authority in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh on 1st May. The best club/state teams from the top 8 states in both the Men’s and Women’s category with addition of the hosts Andhra Pradesh are participating in this 6 day long tournament.  The championship is being organised by the Basketball Association in Andhra Pradesh under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India.

Customs and Excise, Cochin kicked off the tournament with an exciting victory over the home team of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh(S.A.A.P). Kerala’s Veteran Forward who has also represented India on the international stage, Eudrick Pereira lead his team with 21 points in a 70-62 victory.  Kerala women’s team started their campaign with a win over the state team of Tamil Nadu as the Indian International star Jeena PS outscored everyone else with 19 points. The last game of the day saw Punjab Police take over MEG from Bangalore. International fame Satnam Singh Bhamara was leading the Punjab Police team through the game for the first two quarters but the Madras Sappers had a great comeback in the second half with some excellent three point shooting. Rahul for MEG scored 24 points.

MEN:

Customs and Excise, Cochin(Eudrick 21 pts) bt S.A.A.P(Naveen 14 pts) 70-62[19-14, 10-16, 16-22, 17-18]

Indian Overseas Bank, Chennai(Aravind 16 pts) bt Hisar Club, Haryana(Sandeep 13 pts) 73-65[20-14, 16-08, 19-20, 18-23]

MEG Bangalore(Rahul 24 pts) bt Punjab Police(Rajveer 12 pts) 66-58[12-14, 08-17, 26-16, 20-11]

WOMEN:

Kerala(Jeena 19 pts) bt Tamil Nadu(Pushpa 14 pts) 66-60[15-08, 12-11, 21-20, 18-21]

Eastern Railways(Salma 13 pts) bt Telangana(Manasa 8 pts) 64-22[19-12, 14-08, 14-02, 17-00]

Karnataka(Priyanka 9 pts) bt Andhra Pradesh(Jyothi 6 pts) 45-19[17-04, 10-06, 10-02, 08-07 ]

Maharshtra(Mugdha 18 pts) bt Delhi(Manali 16 pts) 44-26[23-04, 11-07, 04-06, 06-09]

GROUPINGS

MEN		WOMEN
POOL ‘A’	POOL ‘B’	POOL ‘A’	POOL ‘B’
ONGC, DEHRADUN	IOB, CHENNAI	KERALA	TELANGANA
BSF , JODHPUR	PUNJAB POLICE	CHHATTISGARH	EASTERN RAILWAY
CUSTOMS & EXCISE, COCHIN	HISSAR CLUB	TAMIL NADU	DELHI
S A A P	MEG, BANGALORE	KARNATAKA	MAHARASHTRA
		ANDHRA PRADESH

1ST MAY, 2018

COURT NO. 1

S. No.	Team ‘A’	V/s	Team ‘B’	Group	Time
1.	S A A P	V/s	CUSTOMS & EXCISE, COCHIN	MA	05.00 PM
2.	KERALA	V/s	TAMIL NADU	WA	06.30 PM
3.	ANDHRA PRADESH	V/s	KARNATAKA	WA	08.00 PM
4.	PUNJAB POLICE	V/s	MEG, BENGALURU	MB	09.30 PM

COURT NO. 2

S. No.	Team ‘A’	V/s	Team ‘B’	Group	Time
5.	TELANGANA	V/s	EASTERN RAILWAY	WB	05.00 PM
6.	IOB, CHENNAI	V/s	HISAR CLUB	MB	06.30 PM
7.	DELHI	V/s	MAHARASHTRA	WB	08.00 PM

2ND MAY, 2018

COURT NO. 1

S. No.	Team ‘A’	V/s	Team ‘B’	Group	Time
8	ANDHRA PRADESH	V/s	TAMIL NADU	WA	05.00 PM
9	IOB, CHENNAI	V/s	MEG, BENGALURU	MB	06.30 PM
10	MAHARASHTRA	V/s	TELANGANA	WB	08.00 PM
11	ONGC, DEHRADUN	V/s	SAAP	MA	09.30 PM

COURT NO. 2

S. No.	Team ‘A’	V/s	Team ‘B’	Group	Time
12	KARNATAKA	V/s	CHHATTISGARH	WA	05.00 PM
13	BSF, JODHPUR	V/s	CUSTOMS, COCHIN	MA	06.30 PM
14	EASTERN RAILWAY	V/s	DELHI	WB	08.00 PM
15	HISAR CLUB	V/s	PUNJAB POLICE	MB	09.30 PM

3RD MAY, 2018

COURT NO. 1

S. No.	Team ‘A’	V/s	Team ‘B’	Group	Time
16	KERALA	V/s	ANDHRA PRADESH	WA	07.00 AM
17	TELANGANA	V/s	DELHI	WB	05.00 PM
18	ONGC, DEHRADUN	V/s	COCHIN CUSTOMS	MA	06.30 PM
19	BSF, JODHPUR	V/s	SAAP	MA	08.00 PM
20	KERALA	V/s	CHHATTISGARH	WA	09.30 PM

COURT NO. 2

S. No.	Team ‘A’	V/s	Team ‘B’	Group	Time
21	CHHATTISGARH	V/s	TAMIL NADU	WA	07.00 AM
22	HISAR CLUB	V/s	MEG, BENGALURU	MB	06.00 PM
23	EASTERN RAILWAY	V/s	MAHARASHTRA	WB	07.30 PM
24	TAMIL NADU	V/s	KARNATAKA	WA	09.00 PM

4TH MAY, 2018

COURT NO. 1

S. No.	Team ‘A’	V/s	Team ‘B’	Group	Time
25	CHHATTISGARH	V/s	ANDHRA PRADESH	WA	05.00 PM
26	ONGC, DEHRDUN	V/s	BSF, JODHPUR	MA	06.30 PM
27	KERALA	V/s	KARNATAKA	WA	08.00 PM
28	PUNJAB POLICE	V/s	IOB, CHENNAI	MB	09.30 PM

5TH MAY, 2018

COURT NO. 1                                                 SEMI – FINALS

S. No.	Team ‘A’	V/s	Team ‘B’	Group	Time
29	B1	V/s	A2	WOMEN	05.00 PM
30	B1	V/s	A2	MEN	06.30 PM
31	A1	V/s	B2	WOMEN	08.00 PM
32	A1	V/s	B2	MEN	09.30 PM

6TH MAY, 2018

3RD & 4TH PLACE

S. No.	Team ‘A’	V/s	Team ‘B’	Group	Time
33	L/O  B1/ A2	V/s	L/O  A1/ B2	MEN	05.00 PM
34	L/O  B1/ A2	V/s	L/O  A1/ B2	WOMEN	05.00 PM – COURT 2
F I N A L S
35.	W/O  A1/B2	V/s	W/O  B1/ A2	WOMEN	06.30 PM
36.	W/O  A1/ B2	V/s	W/O  B1/ A2	MEN	08.00 PM