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When we asked readers to send their questions about coronavirus, a common theme emerged: Many people are fearful about tracking the virus into their homes on their clothes, their shoes, and even the mail. We reached out to infectious disease experts, aerosol scientists and microbiologists to answer reader questions about the risks of coming into contact with the virus during essential trips outside and from deliveries. While we still need to take precautions, their answers were reassuring. Should I change my  clothes  and shower after a trip to the grocery store? For most of us who are practicing social distancing and making only occasional trips to the grocery store or pharmacy, experts agree that it’s not necessary to change  clothes  or take a shower when you return home. You should, however, always wash your hands.While it’s true that a sneeze or cough from an infected person can propel viral droplets and smaller particles through the air, most of t...

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has slammed the International Cricket Council's ranking system, terming it as "absolute garbage". India are currently ranked number one in ICC Test team rankings , followed by New Zealand, South Africa, England and Australia. The cricketer-turned-commentator feels New Zealand and England don't deserve to get the second and fourth spot in the ICC Test rankings as they haven't won enough Test series in the last two years. "I will be dead honest about the ICC rankings. I think they are absolute garbage," Vaughan was quoted as saying by the 'Sydney Morning Herald'. "I have no idea how - New Zealand have won plenty of series over the course of the last two years - but for them to be second, and where it stands out for me that the rankings can't be right is that England in Test match cricket are third, and England for three or four years have struggled in Test match cricket, particularly over...

The pink ball feels like a " heavy hockey ball " to Virat Kohli, who is extremely wary of the challenges its weight, hardness and colour could pose while fielding. Indian cricket will finally embrace the pink revolution when Kohli's formidable team lock horns with a deflated Bangladesh in their maiden Day/Night Test starting here on Friday. "One thing that surprised me was the fielding sessions. In the slips balls hit so hard it almost felt like a heavy hockey ball, all those synthetic ball that we're used to play with in the younger days," Kohli said on the eve of the match. "It's purely because of the extra glaze on the ball, it is definitely much more harder. For some reason it felt heavy and even the throws took a lot more effort than the red colour to reach the wicketkeeper." India had their first brush with the SG pink ball after they wrapped up the opening Test inside three days in Indore. Read Complete Article

Actor Shahid Kapoor is zipping along on his bike across Europe and documenting his Europe diaries on Instagram. Shahid with brother Ishaan Khatter, Kunal Kemmu and the rest of their squad, seems to be having the time of their lives on their Switzerland vacay and what is adding to their fun is bikes! "Happy vibes. Boys with their toys," the 'Kabir Singh' actor wrote on the picture-sharing platform. [{ed6263de-05e9-445a-8cf6-803ff4a49067:intradmin/Shahid_Insta.JPG}] The gangs' vacation is full of surreal locations and crazy moments which the actors are constantly sharing on their social media profiles. Kunal on his Instagram stories gave a sneak peek of the majestic mountains and lush greenery as they rode their bikes. Read Complete Article

The first semi-final of the World Cup ICC 2019 gets underway tomorrow with India taking on New Zealand at Old Trafford. Virat Kohli–led Indian team finished at the top of the league table with 15 points to their credit, followed by Australia (14), England (12) and New Zealand (11). If the bet rates are anything to go by, India is likely to continue with its winning streak and eventually win the  ICC World Cup 2019 . Leading online betting websites such as Ladbrokes and Betway place the Indian team on top at the end of the tournament. The Indian cricket team has won the tournament twice – first in 1983 under Kapil Dev's captaincy and then in 2011, beating Sri Lanka on home soil. They came last in the Super Six stage in the 1999 Cricket World Cup and have been knocked out four times in the Group stage (1975, 1979, 1992 and 2007). Read Complete Article

Mahendra Singh Dhoni will continue wearing the dagger insignia on his wicket-keeping gloves as it is not a military symbol, Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai asserted Friday, saying that the BCCI has sought the ICC's permission for it. #DhoniKeepTheGlove During India's opening World Cup game against South Africa in Southampton, Dhoni's green keeping gloves had a dagger logo embossed, which looked more like an Army insignia. "The BCCI had already sent a formal request to the ICC for clearance. As per ICC regulations, players can't sport any commercial, religious or military logo. There was nothing commercial or religious in this regard as we all know," Rai told PTI over phone. "And it is not the paramilitary regimental dagger that is embossed in his gloves. So Dhoni is not in breach of ICC regulations," he added. His statement comes after the ICC "requested the BCCI" to ask Dhoni to remove the sign from the gloves,...

What if live-streaming required a government permit, and videos could only be broadcast online after a seven-second delay? What if Facebook, YouTube and Twitter were treated like traditional publishers, expected to vet every post, comment and image before they reached the public? Or like Boeing or Toyota, held responsible for the safety of their products and the harm they cause? Imagine what the internet would look like if tech executives could be jailed for failing to censor hate and violence. These are the kinds of proposals under discussion in Australia and New Zealand as politicians in both nations move to address popular outrage over the massacre this month of 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The gunman, believed to be an Australian white nationalist, distributed a manifesto online before strea­ming part of the mass shootings on Facebook. If the two countries move ahead, it could be a watershed moment for the era of global social media. No estab...

Each evening, the sun sets more than 90 minutes later in western India than in the east of the country, yet the entire country follows the same time zone. Later sunset means people stay awake longer, which induces sleep deprivation among children and negatively affects their study efforts, a new study by a research scholar at Cornell University has found. As a result of sleeping late, children are less likely to complete primary and middle school, and this effect is most pronounced among poor households, says the study, ‘Poor Sleep: Sunset Time and Human Capital Production’, which analysed the consequences India faces by operating under a single time zone. “ Back-of-the-envelope estimates suggest that India incurs annual human capital costs of roughly $4.1 billion (nearly Rs 29,000 crore) or 0.2% of nominal GDP [gross domestic product] due to the existing policy regulating time zone boundaries,” Maulik Jagnani, the author of the study, told IndiaSpend in an email interview. ...

Budget 2019 : The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the ODI and Test team and a few other awards for the year 2018 and to no one's surprise, Indian captain Virat Kohli swept all of them. Virat Kohli was named ICC ODI captain of the year, ICC Test Captain of the year, ICC Test player of the year, ICC ODI player of the year. He also won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year. Three player of the year awards, captain of teams in both formats. He has become the first player in the history to bag all three awards. The flurry of awards reflects the kind of year Virat Kohli had in 2018. It won't be surprising if he now goes on to win the Wisden Player of the Year award as well. Virat Kohli amassed 1,322 runs in 13 tests and 1,202 runs in 14 ODIs in 2018. India won the T20 series in England, however, lost both ODI and Test series . As a batsman, England was probably the last frontier for Kohli to conquer; something he did. While Ind...

Budget 2019 : Breaking his silence on the " sexist comments " made by Hardik Pandya and Lokesh Rahul on a TV chat show, India team captain Virat Kohli on Friday denounced the statements and said the team management is still waiting for a decision on the duo. Terming the comments as "inappropriate", the 30-year-old skipper said the belief in the dressing room is completely different from the individual comments of the two young players. "We as the Indian cricket team and responsible cricketers do not support such views," Kohli said ahead of the first ODI against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) here. "The two concerned players have realised what has gone wrong and they have understood the magnitude of what has happened," he said. On Thursday, Vinod Rai, Chairman of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) had recommended a two-ODI ban on the duo but fellow member Diana Edulji had pushed for a...

Budget 2019 : Being the doting wife she is, Anushka Sharma had a special surprise for Virat Kohli to celebrate the latter's historic 2-1 series win on Australian soil. In a picture shared by her husband and Indian cricket captain on social media, the couple can be seen commemorating the victory by cutting a cake with 'Congratulations Virat' written on it. The 30-year-old posted the happy picture on her Instagram story. Anushka, who is on cloud nine after India's historic Test win over Australia, had even penned a heartfelt note for "my love" Virat on Monday. Apart from her, a number of Bollywood celebrities, including megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Preity G Zinta, Farhan Akhtar and Anupam Kher, among others also cheered for team India. Ranked as world number one, India lifted the Border Gavaskar Trophy after clinching the four-Test series 2-1. The hosts Australia were bundled out for 300 on the fourth day of the fourth ...

Budget 2019 : India’s historic test series win against Australia on Australian soil was path-breaking in more ways than one. It reversed the normal gap that Australia enjoyed over India in multiple departments of the game. For once, India had a large bowling gap in its favour, with a much better average on a per-bowler basis. This Business Standard analysis, based on ESPNcricinfo data for Indian matches against Australia played in Australia, shows that the batting average of Team India, led by Virat Kohli , also showed a similarly wide gap over Australian batsmen. The batting average is based on total number of runs scored divided by the innings played by the run-scorers. Innings in which batsmen remained unbeaten were excluded. Sixteen Indian batsmen played a total of 69 innings, including seven not-outs. This meant that every time an Indian got out in the middle, he added an average of 32.72 runs to the board. For Australia, the average was 24.6 runs. This eight-run...

Business Standard : According to a new research, dietary and lifestyle interventions are important for overweight and obese women before their pregnancy . The study was published in the journal 'The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology'. The researchers reported the results of a large study of birth outcomes in more than 500 overweight or obese women from three public maternity units in Adelaide, Australia. The GRoW (Metformin for Gestational Restriction of Weight in pregnant women) trial was designed to reduce risks for pregnant women who are overweight or obese . The researchers investigated the potential of the use of common diabetes medication metformin during pregnancy to reduce pregnancy weight gain and improve pregnancy outcomes. "In high-income countries, roughly 50% of women are already overweight or obese when they become pregnant. This places both the mother and her infant at risk of a range of pregnancy and birth outcomes and can also lead to ...

Business Standard : If you thought WiFi hotspots delivered faster internet in your region, a latest report by OpenSignal indicates that there are 33 countries in the world where the mobile data is faster than the new-age WiFi hotspots . These countries include multiple African, European, Latin American, and Middle Eastern nations. There is typically an advantage of 10Mbps or more in places such as Australia, Oman, and the Czech Republic, while multi-megabit advantages are seen in places like Austria, Iran, and South Africa, Engadget reported. In countries such as South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the US, the WiFi has a clear advantage owing to home broadband. The findings suggest that WiFi may not usually the best when it comes to speedy internet. As the world is preparing to welcome 5G, the problems of the overcrowded networks may finally be resolved. BS

Business Standard : Surgeons in Australia on Friday began a complex operation to separate 15-month-old Bhutanese conjoined twins Nima and Dawa Pelden . The girls are joined at the torso and share a liver and possibly a bowel, their doctor said, adding "our challenge will be to reconstruct their abdominal walls to close it over", the BBC reported. "What we will be looking for is simply what bits actually connect the two girls together," lead surgeon Joe Crameri told reporters on Friday. He said they would separate the liver, but there was one "unknown" --whether the girls shared a bowel. If it was, it would also be divided, he said. Nima and Dawa face each other, and cannot sit down together. They can stand if they do so at the same time, the BBC said. About 18 specialists in two teams, one for each girl, are taking part in the procedure at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital . The surgery is expected to last at least six h...

Business Standard : Virat Kohli sauntering towards Sachin Tendulkar 's records that once looked staggering and seemingly unsurpassable has amazed the icon, who Thursday called the Indian captain one of the greatest but said he "never believed" in comparisons. Recently Kohli surpassed Tendulkar to become the fastest player to score 10,000 One Day International runs. He is also inching towards Tendulkar's record for highest number of ODI hundreds (49), having notched his 38th ton in Pune in the third game against West Indies. "Coming to Virat 's development as a player, I think he has developed immensely. And I always saw that spark in him. I always felt that he is going to be one of the leading players in the world, not just of this generation, but one of the leading players of all time," Tendulkar told reporters here. "And then it is again about opinions. But if one has to go into comparisons, then I don't want to get into that. Th...