Tag: India

The IPL grew to a 10-team league this …

The IPL grew to a 10-team league this season with expansion teams Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants paying a combined $1.7 billion to join. With 1.4 billion people, India is the second-most populous country in the world behind China, according to World Population Review. Despite declines in viewership compared with the end of the previous season, the first week of IPL matches last month still had an overall reach of 229.06 million viewers, according to India’s The Economic Times. “The potential is unreal, especially in India,” Paul said. “Honestly, as far as the game of basketball, it’s trying to grow in India. But cricket rules. It’s been an education process for me, too. It’s something I’m excited about.”

Watch: Elephant charges safari bus in harrowing close encounter

Tourists on a safari bus in India will not soon forget their recent encounter with a wild elephant that charged the bus head-on, forcing the driver to flee in reverse.

Tourists on a safari bus in India will not soon forget their recent encounter with a wild elephant that charged the bus head-on, forcing the driver to flee in reverse.

The accompanying footage, shared Sunday by Surender Mehra of the Indian Forest Service, shows the elephant closing to within feet of the bus as the crew yells and frightened passengers scream.

Fortunately, the elephant pauses without making contact and veers into the trees.

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Mehra, an officer with the IFS, wrote on Twitter: “Always be cautious and keep a safe distance from wild animals, especially in elephant area. Even if you are in a close vehicle.”

Mehra did not state who captured the footage.

Fisherman nets rare two-headed shark, decides to throw it back

A commercial fisherman in India discovered a rare surprise Friday when he hauled up his net: a tiny two-headed shark.

A commercial fisherman in India discovered a rare surprise Friday when he hauled up his net: a two-headed baby shark.

The shark, caught by Nitin Patil off the village of Satpai in Palghar, measured only six inches and was tossed back after the fisherman took photographs.

“We do not eat such small fish, especially sharks, so I thought it was strange but decided to throw it [back] anyway,” Patil told the Hindustan Times.

The news website quotes another fisherman as saying, “We have never seen anything like this before.”

It’s believed to be the first documentation of a two-headed shark caught off the Indian state of Maharashtra, and scientists wish Patil would have kept the specimen.

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Biologists with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research – Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute said the fetus was that of either a spadenose shark or sharpnose shark, which inhabit the tropical Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean.

“Both are viviparous [birthing live young that have developed inside the parent], and are common in Maharashtra waters,” Dr. Akhilesh KV, CMFRI scientist, told The Hindustan Times.

“These are dicephalic. This phenomenon is reported in several animal species including sharks, possibly due to mutation or any other embryonic malformation, disorders, and these are very rare reports. Similar cases are reported elsewhere outside the northern Indian Ocean. These materials should be preserved out of scientific interest.”

The Hindustan Times notes that a two-headed milk shark was caught off Gujarat in 1964, and a two-headed spadenose shark was caught off Karwar in 1991.

–Images courtesy of Nitin Patil and Umesh Palekar

NBA Academy graduate Princepal Singh, a …

NBA Academy graduate Princepal Singh, a 6-10 forward from Punjab, India, has signed to play in the NBA G League next season, it was announced today by NBA G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Singh, who will train and compete alongside the new G League team featuring elite youth prospects, is the first NBA Academy graduate to sign with the NBA G League and first NBA Academy India graduate to sign a professional contract.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer …

“We are thrilled to be able to offer Princepal the opportunity to begin his professional basketball journey in the NBA G League,” said Abdur-Rahim. “We’ve long hoped that our development pathway for elite high school players would include roster spots for emerging international talent, including players who have participated in the NBA Academy program, and we’re excited to have Princepal forge this new path and develop his skills in our league.”

Roy Rana, the assistant coach of NBA’s …

Roy Rana, the assistant coach of NBA’s Sacramento Kings, ’embarrassingly’ admits that he never understood cricket. Growing up in Toronto, Rana said cricket that was largely played over 3 or 5 days was a ‘huge commitment’ in North America. Roy Rana, who was born in Wolverhampton to Indian parents, moved to Toronto at a young age. Like most Indian families, it was ‘all about academics’ in his family in Canada and Rana was ‘okay with it’ but he says he was not destined to be the doctor that his family wanted him to be.

In his first season in the NBA, Rana …

In his first season in the NBA, Rana says he is learning everyday. It’s like doing a ‘PhD in basketball’ for him. “I hope I haven’t been too overwhelmed by it but I’m learning every day [at NBA], that’s part of the excitement,” Rana said. “I often thought this move for me was the ability to say I’m getting a PhD in basketball at the highest level of earnings. Every day trying to provide as much value as I can for our team and our players and I think it’s been pretty good so far.