Gigi, Bella Hadid and Ashley Graham steal Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

On October 15, the 2024 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show returned after five years. Hosted by Victoria's Secret Angels Tyra Banks (front row), Gigi Hadid (second row), Bella Hadid (third row), Candice Swanepoel, Candice Swanepoel, Adriana Lima (5th Row), Alessandra Amoresio (6th Row), Behati Prinsloo (7th Row), Barbara Palvin (8th Row), Doutzen Kroes (9th Seat), Jasmine Tookes and Josephine Skriver.

Gigi Hadid, an American supermodel, kicked off the show wearing pink lingerie topped with matching straps and large pink feathers reminiscent of Taylor Swift's style; audiences at Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City applauded enthusiastically as she followed in Swift's footsteps on the runway by copying it as she copied Swift's style from her earlier performance on it; also wearing red bikinis for another appearance!

Hadid had hinted earlier in the day that she would channel Taylor: "There's something I learned during Taylor's tour that will make an appearance tonight; in one of her practice sessions she said: 'I'll show you how to do this.' She told Entertainment Tonight, 'I did it back then and now I'm doing it again tonight."

Bella Hadid made a surprise runway appearance. A veteran from Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, she appeared at the end of show wearing a red bra and large red wings.

Adriana Lima made an illuminating comeback to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show this year. After first walking it 18 years prior, in 2018 Adriana announced it would be her final Victoria's Secret show appearance.

People Magazine spoke with Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima regarding her return to this renowned fashion event, the Victoria's Secret Show. She noted her excitement at returning: "I am overjoyed to return because this show marks where everything began for me - my debut performance took place in New York in 1999; in 2018 and now, it feels incredible that I am back here performing again! Never imagined being back; feels great!"

Cher was followed by Candice Sweepoel and Tyra Banks - two well-known models.

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2018 showcased an inclusive cast, including models with different sizes, shapes, gender identities and abilities - creating a culture that embraces diversity.

Ashley Graham, 36, made her runway debut at VS Fashion Show wearing an all-black outfit including matching robe and bodysuit as well as black heels. Ashley then posed briefly on the runway as Lisa from Blackpink sang their hit track "Moonlit Floor."

Mother Ashley Graham of VSFashionShow pic.twitter.com/eLvwwdTfvu -- Aashi (@_aashiiii_) October 15, 2024

Ashley shared her excitement for walking the runway of her lingerie line with People Magazine. "I'm feeling really excited." Ashley told People Magazine, "I am feeling really excited. Everything feels very secure - nothing will pop out, so this gives me confidence to strut on stage with confidence - plus, I'm really looking forward to the full presentation that is taking place during this show!"

Kate Moss and Lila Moss both made their Victoria's Secret runway debuts, while other Victoria's Secret models also debuted with them. Lila donned a pink ensemble with sparkling lingerie and tassels; Kate, Lila's mother was 50 when she entered with "I Love Rock 'N Roll" being played over the speakers; when she came out wearing black clothing the crowd went wild in excitement!

Victoria's Secret's website promised an "inclusive" show at their event, noting, "Victoria's Secret will continue to honor and empower all women."

Due to declining ratings and criticism about body image standards of VS Angels models for women and other models, it was decided to cancel this year's annual televised runway event.

Read More

Elon Musk confirms no spectrum auction at Centre: 'Much appreciated'

Elon Musk, CEO of Starlink, responded on Wednesday to Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Skindia's announcement to forgo spectrum auction, calling the move 'much valued. Scindia announced that India will allocate spectrum administratively in accordance with global norms.

Musk responded to this news on X (formerly Twitter), writing, "Thank you so much! Starlink will strive to serve India's people to the best of our ability."

Musk has previously voiced his opposition to auctioning satellite spectrum, in contrast with Indian telecom giants such as Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio and Sunil Bharti Mittal's Bharti Airtel.

India Adopts Globalised Practices

Scindia, India's Telecom Minister, noted during his announcement that India's decisions conform with international standards.

Scindia explained that satellite frequencies are allocated globally administratively and that India stands in line with all the rest of the world in this respect.

Elon Musk and Starlink as well as other satellite players such as Amazon's Project Kuiper have publicly voiced support for administrative allocation as a strategy to protect satellite frequency sharing; according to Musk, ITU (International Telecommunication Union), an intergovernmental agency, classifies this frequency as shared and should therefore not be sold; India being part of ITU only strengthens their argument in favor of administrative allocation.

Mukesh Ambani, CEO of Reliance Jio, has advocated for a spectrum sale. This has reignited debate about this idea; Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly expressed his opposition and called this auction "unprecedented." According to Musk, this would mark a change from global satellite communication services and could impede expansion efforts such as Starlink in India.

Musk replied just a day ahead of the government announcement by questioning Reliance Jio's position and its approach to auctioning satellite spectrum. Musk expressed concerns that such auctioning might create unnecessary barriers for Starlink, an initiative intended to provide affordable satellite internet access in rural and remote parts of India.

Elon Musk, founder of Starlink satellite internet service, has long had India in his sights. Starlink aims to provide high-speed internet access in remote regions that lack traditional telecom infrastructure by using an extensive constellation of satellites orbiting low earth orbit (LEO). Elon believes this administrative allocation will speed Starlink's entry into India while improving internet accessibility in regions without traditional telecom infrastructure.

Administrative allocation, widely utilized in countries across the globe, enables companies like Starlink to operate without incurring auction costs that would otherwise prohibit expansion of satellite-based service for areas with limited access to traditional networks. This approach has proven itself more favourable.

Read More

PT Usha, Sahdev Yadav are at loggerheads once again after IOC refuses to release Olympic Solidarity Fund for IOA because of internal feud

The IOA's internal conflict has prompted IOC to deny the Indian Olympic Association its sha
re of Olympic Solidarity Grants meant for athlete-development programmes. This has triggered a new war of words between the IOA's embattled treasurer Sahdev Yadav and president PT Usha.

The IOC made the decision at its Executive Board Meeting on October 8, and informed the Indian Olympic Association in a Friday letter.

James MacLeod's letter to Usha, Executive Council and NOC Relations Director, NOC Solidarity and Olympic Solidarity, stated that there were "obvious ongoing internal disputes" and "governance issues" facing the IOA.

The IOC and Olympic Solidarity have decided to withhold payments until further notice to the IOA except for direct payments made to athletes who benefit from Olympic scholarships.

Olympic Solidarity offers assistance to all National Olympic Committees by providing a portion of the broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games to be used to support athlete development programs.

Olympic Solidarity offers athletes scholarships that provide them with subsidies to help them train and qualify for Olympic Games.

The IOC has said that it has received the latest communication from various parties regarding the "unfortunate" situation in the IOA.

The IOC made a number of attempts to find solutions that would help the IOA to function more efficiently and to work as a cohesive team. Unfortunately, all these efforts have failed.

We urge all parties concerned to act swiftly and responsibly in order to resolve all outstanding governance issues, according to the IOA Constitution.

In a press statement, the IOA blamed Sahdev Yadav for the IOC decision, saying that he had failed to submit the required annual financial reports to its international parent.

The press release stated that "the IOA is deeply worried about the severe financial consequences caused by the IOA Treasurer's failure to file the required annual financial reports despite repeated reminders of the IOC."

This negligence will lead to the IOA missing out on crucial Olympic Solidarity Grants for the last few years. It will be a major blow to IOA's efforts in supporting Indian athletes.

This will have a significant impact on the IOA’s ability to support Indian athletes financially, and could affect their performance at upcoming international events.

An IOA official said that the top sports body in India received Rs 8,50 crores annually from the Olympic Solidarity Fund over the past four years.

The official said that the IOC would first require the submission of annual financial reports. They will then determine whether or not we receive the funding.

In the IOA press release, it was also stated that the IOC Executive Board "specifically noted" the IOA's inability to function properly due to its persistent opposition to ratifying the appointment of the CEO.

A special general meeting of the IOA was called on October 25, due to an ongoing feud within the IOA between Usha, 12 Executive Council Members and Raghuram Iyer over the nomination of Raghuram Iyer CEO.

Usha said Iyer's nomination was approved by the EC at a meeting held on 5 January, and that his salary was the last issue to be negotiated. The 12 EC members refused to ratify Iyer as CEO.

Usha also refuted Yadav’s claims that an erroneous sponsorship agreement with Reliance India Limited led to IOA losing Rs24 crore due to a defective sponsorship agreement.

Usha said that the due process was followed when redrafting the RIL deal and the negotiation proposal had been circulated to all EC members.

Yadav, in a Thursday rebuttal to Usha, alleged that "the president has sold IOA assets (i.e. Without exploring alternatives or discussing with EC, a scenario that can be viewed as the president's office being compromised."

"...you have chosen to individually and personally accept the terms of the amended agreement, and you put your signature in front of the Executive Council approval as required by the IOA constitution," Sahdev wrote.

Read More

FIFA World Cup-Argentina holds, Brazil leaves it late to win 2-1 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

Argentina was held to a draw of 1-1 by Venezuela upon Lionel Messi’s return, while Brazil put their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign on track after a last-gasp victory against Chile on Thursday.

After his free kick, Messi looked to have set the world champions in motion after Nicolas Otamendi scored the opening goal in the 13th minute in Maturin, Venezuela.

Salomon Ronaldo, a veteran striker from Venezuela, met Yeferson's Soteldo cross with a head that flew by Argentina goalkeeper Geronimo Roulli midway through second half.

The 2022 World Cup winner Argentina remains firmly on track to qualify for the 2026 Finals which will be held in the United States of America, Canada, and Mexico.

The tournament has been expanded to 48 teams. The top six finishers of the 10-team South American round-robin qualification competition will receive a ticket to finals.

Argentina leads the standings after nine matches with 19 points. This is three points ahead of Colombia in second place, which suffered a shocking 1-0 loss to Bolivia on Thursday.

Brazil continues to struggle in their qualification campaign, despite Argentina's apparent ease of qualification.

After just two minutes, Chile, one place below the bottom of the table, stunned Brazil when veteran striker Eduardo Vargas looped a header over Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson, making it 1-0.

Brazil equalized in the first-half extra time when Savinho, who had worked his way into space and crossed for Botafogo's Igor Jesus, headed home.

It looked like the match would end in a draw, until Luiz Henrique, the Brazilian substitute, arrowed a low shot into the goal from the outside of the box to make it 2-1.

Brazil is now in fourth place with 13 points after nine matches, six points behind the leaders.

Bolivian boost

Bolivia's 1-0 victory over Colombia, played in El Alto at 4,150m (13,600 feet) above the sea level, boosted their chances of making their first World Cup since 1994.

Miguel Terceros's superb goal gave the Bolivians a fourth win in qualifying, and boosted them into automatic qualification.

Bolivia's fortunes are on the rise since they started playing in El Alto. This is a stadium that's just 500m above their usual home ground, the Estadio Hernando Siles near La Paz.

Bolivia chose to play in El Alto this year after losing their first two home qualifiers at La Paz.

The move paid off as Thursday's 1-0 victory came after a 4-0 defeat of Venezuela in September at the same stadium.

Bolivia is now sixth in South American rankings with 12 points after a 2-1 victory away from Chile in last month's game.

Terceros scored the winning goal in the 58th minutes. The 20-year old winger, who plays for Brazilian side Santos, cut in from the right wing, shimmying by Colombian defenders Jhon Lucumi and Kevin Castano, and unleashing a thunderbolt left-footed that flew to the top corner.

Bolivia is level with Ecuador in points after the Ecuadorian team finished fifth in the table following a 0-0 tie with Paraguay at Quito.

Read More

Video of pilots safely leaving Trichy Airport after landing Air India Express aircraft

 Pilots of Air India Express Flight IX613, Iqrom Rafadly Fahmi Zainal, and Maitryee Shikrikrishna, left the Tiruchirapalli Airport after a harrowing encounter dealing with a mid-air hydraulic failure.

Quick thinking by the pilots saved approximately 141 lives. MK Stalin, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, praised the crew and pilots for a successful landing.

He wrote on the social media platform X: "Many thanks for the safe landing after the landing gear malfunction of flight IX613 between Tiruchirappalli and Sharjah." The calm professionalism and courage of the cabin crew and cockpit really shone through during this tense and trying moment.

After detecting the cause of the problem, the pilots decided to circle in air for two hours to burn off excess fuel and landed back at Tiruchirapalli airport. The pilots, after identifying the problem, decided to fly in circles for two hours in order to burn excess fuel. They then landed at Tiruchirapalli Airport.

According to a senior Boeing pilot, narrow-body planes like the Boeing 737 cannot dump fuel but can only burn it. This is why pilots have to circle the plane to reduce the weight.

A spokesperson for Air India Express told the news agency PTI there were no technical problems flagged before takeoff. A team is investigating the issue and a new flight has been arranged to take passengers to their destinations.

K Rammohan Naidu, the minister of civil aviation, said that when the problem was discovered at 18:05pm all emergency teams were on hand to respond immediately.

Read More

Australia's star player cries out in pain and lies on the boundary line, before physios rush to help.

Australia was dealt two blows during its T20 World Cup Group A match against Pakistan on Friday: both winning easily by nine wickets yet suffering two key injuries (Alyssa Shealy included).

Tayla Vlaeminck dislocated her shoulder after just four balls bowled by Alyssa Healey of Tayla Healey vlaeminck's right-arm speedster Alyssa Healey; later during the match Alyssa healy appeared to pull her hamstring and had to retire injured from playing further innings.

Vlaeminck had made her World Cup return after six years. She had been recruited into Australia's pace bowling department as she wanted more depth. But after only four balls into the match, Vlaeminck experienced a serious injury when trying to prevent Muniba's bat from hitting a boundary by sliding under it using an attempt at stopping Muniba from hitting it outside the ropes; unfortunately her leg got caught and this sent her flying into the air before she eventually landed on her shoulders.

She then grabbed her left shoulder in an agonising motion before collapsing on the boundary line in apparent distress, further alarming Australian players. Physios quickly responded, with relocation being attempted but remaining concerns as to its severity.

Vlaeminck experienced her third shoulder dislocation while playing for Victoria during the 2017-18 season, dislodging her left shoulder during play.

Ash Gardner, an all-rounder from Australia, expressed his sorrow over Tay's injury: "It is obviously heartbreaking to witness one of your friends suffer, particularly after witnessing her long journey back here. Tay works harder than anyone I know so seeing someone like her go down with yet another injury was something we all felt for."

"Several team members were visibly emotional during Tay's return. To meet her request quickly and support her as much as possible. Unfortunately, this meant we needed to quickly reorganize for Tay had worked so hard for it."

After Healy had helped the Australian players recover, she left the field limping with an angry expression on her face hours later.

Cricket Australia announced later that Healy had sustained a severe foot injury; she will undergo scans over the weekend, at which point the results of this tournament will be determined.

Read More

Noel Tata: From Zara to Zudio, his journey in building the Tata Group's retail giant

 

Noel Tata is the new head of Tata Trusts, succeeding his late half-brother Ratan Tata. He has achieved a lot, including building up the retail side of the business.

On Friday, October 11th, 2024 he was named chairman of Tata Trusts. Tata Trusts is the philanthropic arm of the conglomerate. Tata Trusts also owns approximately 66% of Tata Sons which is the private holding company of all other major Tata Companies.

Noel Tata & Trent

Trent Ltd was founded by Noel Tata's mother Simone Tata in 1999. It is the main retail arm of his mother's group, founded by Simone Tata.

It started as a small store on Hughes Road in south Mumbai, but has grown to become the fourth-largest company within the Tata Group, after TCS Titan and Tata Motors.

Noel Tata, the company's leader, had expanded its store network to 823 stores across India.

The Westside story

Trent, under Noel Tata, acquired a chain of department stores called Littlewoods International.

Zudio

Trent's 2016 launch of the private label menswear retailer Zudio was one of its biggest successes. Although it began in the affordable menswear segment, Zudio expanded to include women, kids and accessories.

Trent has grown into one of India's largest apparel retailers, surpassing Westside both in terms of revenue and number of stores. It contributes to more than a quarter of Trent's overall revenue.

Noel Tata brings giants from abroad to India

Noel Tata also launched several international brands in India. This list includes clothing giant Zara, cosmetics brand Sisley and footwear manufacturer Wolverine, among others.

He also headed a joint-venture with British multinational chain Tesco, to operate stores such as Star Bazaar and Star Daily in cities like Mumbai. Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Chennai. The tagline was 'A Tata and Tesco Enterprise.'

Croma

Noel Tata is also the man behind Croma, a retailer of consumer electronics and durables. However, it's a Tata Digital subsidiary rather than Trent. The company has over 400 stores in more than 130 Indian cities.

Tata International

Noel Tata was the Managing Director of Tata International from 2010 to 2021. He joined Tata International after completing his graduation. Under his leadership, the company's revenue grew from $500 million up to more than $3 billion.

What's the story behind Noel Tata succeeding Ratan Tata as Ratan Tata's successor?

Ratan Tata died at Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital on October 9, 2024 at the age 86, from old age-related issues.

He never got married and had no children. His succession was therefore a major focus.

Ratan Tata is the son of Naval Tata, and his first wife Sooni Tata. In 1948, when he was only 10 years old, his parents separated. Noel Tata is the half-brother of Naval Tata.

Noel Tata received his Bachelor's Degree from the University of Sussex. He then completed an International Executive Programme (IEP) at France's INSEAD Business School.

Read More