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Just days after IPL 2025 final setback, Shreyas Iyer suffered another heartbreak in an T20 league final.

When it comes to finals, Shreyas Iyer‘s luck doesn’t seem to be on his side. Just 10 days after his side, Punjab Kings, suffered a defeat at the hands of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 final, Iyer was at the center of another runners-up show in the Mumbai T20 league. Iyer’s side, SoBo Mumbai Falcons, were beaten by Mumbai South Central Maratha Royals, with the batter himself failing to fire in the title-decider, much like what happened in the IPL final.

Batting first, the Falcons could only put 157 runs on the board, with Mayuresh Tandel (50) and Harsh Aghav (45) being the top-scoring batters for the team. Iyer could only score 12 off 17 balls while Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who plays for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL, also faltered, scoring 7 runs in 12 balls.

Chasing the target, the Maratha Royals saw Chinmay Rajesh Sutar and Awais Khan Naushad lead the run chase, scoring 53 and 38 respectively. The Maratha Royals chased down the target with 4 balls to spare.

After the game, a heartbroken Iyer said that he didn’t want to single anyone out for the defeat as that’s ‘backstabbing’.

“Don’t want to pinpoint any particular incident. Overall, the boys were brilliant with their efforts. We lost just one game en route to the final. Just a one-off game where you can’t single out anyone – it’s basically backstabbing, and I don’t enjoy that. We’ve learnt a lot.

“It’s pretty common to feel dejected after a final loss. It must hurt them. But when they come back next year, they’ll have that extra motivation and confidence. They should be proud of their effort,” he added.

Indian cricket icon Rohit Sharma was also present at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai for the final, and even gave the runners-up medal to Iyer after his team endured a defeat.

Iyer didn’t have the best of the tournamnent himself, failing to go past the 25-run mark in any of the 5 matches he played

Earlier, four postponements on the Axiom 4 mission were reported due to weather and technical problems on the Falcon 9 rocket.

A glitch on the International Space Station, where astronauts of the Axiom-4 mission would spend 14 days, has postponed the lift-off to space. Earlier, four postponements on the Axiom 4 mission were reported due to weather and technical problems on the Falcon 9 rocket. 

The glitch at the International Space Station, where NASA says “A pressure signature” on the Russian module has been noticed, is the next cause of the delay.

What NASA Said

“NASA and Axiom Space are postponing the launch of Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Station. As part of an ongoing investigation, NASA is working with Roscosmos to understand a new pressure signature, after the recent post-repair effort in the aft most segment of the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module,” NASA said in a statement.

“Cosmonauts aboard the space station recently performed inspections of the pressurized module’s interior surfaces, sealed some additional areas of interest, and measured the current leak rate. Following this effort, the segment now is holding pressure. The postponement of Axiom Mission 4 provides additional time for NASA and Roscosmos to evaluate the situation and determine whether any additional troubleshooting is necessary. NASA defers to Roscosmos to answer specific questions about the Zvezda module,” they said.

“A new launch date for the fourth private astronaut mission will be provided once available.”

“Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.”

“The crew will lift off aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida,” NASA said.

Yesterday, the mission was deferred for the fourth time, due to a technical glitch in its Falcon 9 rocket that is being used for the launch. 

Fuel Leak Issue And ISRO 

It is unclear whether SpaceX resolved the fuel leak issue on the rocket or is still working to repair it. A leak of liquid oxygen (LoX) was detected, and SpaceX was working to fix it.

ISRO had objected to the ‘band-aid’ like solution being offered by SpaceX. Indian space agency played a big role in making sure the launch is postponed till the oxygen leak is fixed on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to ISRO’s full satisfaction.

ISRO chairman Dr V Narayanan told NDTV, “He was happy with the decision to postpone flight on June 11, 2025, as human crew were involved and safety was paramount.” 

The ISS has a contingent of seven global crew members onboard, with a Japanese astronaut as the commander of the station. The ISS is a football field-sized orbiting laboratory inhabited by humans continuously for the last 25 years. 

Axiom-4 Mission

The Axiom-4 mission is a commercial space flight being spearheaded by a Houston-based private company, Axiom Space. India has purchased a seat on the Axiom-4 mission at the cost Rs 550 crores and so, India has a full stake in ensuring the safety of its own astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and the other crew members from US, Hungary, and Poland he is piloting on a 14-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

There are many opportunities till June 30 this year, when the Axiom-4 mission can still lift off, and further, there could be opportunities in the middle of July. Subsequently, the traffic to the International Space Station would be high.

Dr Peggy Whitson is confident of life far beyond among the billions of galaxies that unfold outside the space station’s portal windows.

Likening a visit to the space station to a camping trip, former NASA astronaut and Axiom-4 mission commander Peggy Whitson said the orbital station has enough food, water and other supplies to sustain the daily lives of those on board.

“We have wet towels that we can use every day to clean ourselves. And we have enough resources from food and water perspectives that we can provide for ourselves. So it isn’t like going to some ultra-rich hotel spa or whatever. It is very much a bit of a camping trip. But it’s a lot of fun,” she told NDTV.

Days ahead of the mission’s June 10 launch, Dr Whitson said that the most “special part” would be the integration of her team of four with the seven astronauts already on board the International Space station (ISS). The orbital station, she said, is equivalent to inter-connected bus-sized modules of various sizes with four pull-up laboratories, a toilet, exercise hardware and life support systems. “There’s actually a lot more space than you think. But obviously, by increasing the crew size by four, it will be a challenge for us to all integrate and work together,” she said when asked if the ISS will become crowded when the Axiom-4 team enters it.

Should the Axiom-4 mission launch be successful, Dr Whitson and her team members Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, European Space Agency project astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary will be seen floating around the orbital lab amid its screens, plugs, wires, switches, pipes and knobs. But what she is confident of is life far beyond among the billions of galaxies that unfold outside the space station’s portal windows.

“I haven’t seen any (extraterrestrial life) with my own eyes. But what I have seen is just billions and billions of stars. And this is just our little galaxy. And there’s billions and billions of galaxies. And I know, I know there has to be other life out there, because it is so expansive. I’m sure it exists, it may not look or sound like us,” Dr Whitson said. That, she said, is the what pushes the idea of exploration and drives the continuous development of technologies further and further to find out about life beyond Earth.

Dr Whitson and her colleague Mr Shukla, who is called “Shux” by the team, will especially look at India from space. “All of planet Earth is beautiful. India is special as well. It’s relatively easy to pick out India because of the geography. I’m looking forward to seeing it again,” she said.

The Axiom-4 mission will launch on June 10 at 5.52 pm IST on board SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Mr Shukla will be the second Indian to travel to space four decades after Rakesh Sharma’s iconic spaceflight onboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft in 1984.

Once docked, the astronauts plan to spend up to 14 days aboard the orbiting laboratory, conducting science, outreach, and commercial activities.

The Axiom-4 astronauts will perform around 60 scientific studies and activities representing 31 countries during their 14-day stay at the ISS. Mr Shukla is set to conduct exclusive food and nutrition-related experiments developed under a collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), with support from NASA.

The experiments aim to pioneer space nutrition and self-sustaining life support systems, vital for future long-duration space travel. ISRO has lined up a set of seven experiments for Mr Shukla, who will also participate in five joint studies planned by NASA for its human research programme. It has drawn up plans to focus on India-centric food for carrying out experiments on the ISS, including sprouting methi (Fenugreek) and moong (green gram) in microgravity conditions

Thug Life, starring Kamal Haasan and directed by Mani Ratnam, has seen a sharp drop at the box office, earning Rs 36.90 crore in four days, much lower than their past hits

Mani Ratnam’s gangster thriller Thug Life, starring Kamal Haasan in the lead, is struggling to make the expected impact at the domestic box office. 

What

• The film opened at just half of what Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam’s recent films have earned on their debut, and has since seen a steady decline in collections.
• On Sunday, its fourth day at the box office, Thug Life collected Rs 6.50 crore in India. 
• This figure is lower than its earnings on Friday and Saturday, which stood at Rs 7.15 crore and Rs 7.75 crore, respectively. 
• The downward trend was first noticeable on Friday, as the film’s earnings dropped to half of its opening day collection of Rs 15.5 crore.
• According to Sacnilk, the film’s total domestic box office collection across all languages after four days stands at Rs 36.90 crore. 
• While it has crossed the Rs 35 crore mark, the number is modest when compared to the performance of Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam’s earlier hits, which earned similar amounts in under two days.

Background 

Kamal Haasan’s last release, the vigilante action film Indian 2, directed by S Shankar, opened to Rs 30.25 crore across all languages and collected Rs 62.5 crore in its first four days. 

Haasan’s 2022 action thriller Vikram, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, had a strong opening of Rs 32.05 crore and entered the Rs 100 crore club within four days of release.

Director Mani Ratnam’s last film, the 2023 period drama Ponniyin Selvan: II, opened at Rs 34 crore and crossed the Rs 100 crore mark over the opening weekend. Its predecessor, Ponniyin Selvan I, also performed well, opening at Rs 28.45 crore and crossing Rs 100 crore within the first four days in 2022.

Over the weekend, Thug Life registered its highest occupancy on Sunday during the evening shows (39.43%), followed by the afternoon (37.96%), night (29.43%), and morning shows (22.17%). The film’s Tamil version contributed the most to the Sunday earnings, followed by the Hindi and Telugu versions.

In the Hindi belt, Thug Life is facing stiff competition from Tarun Mansukhani’s ensemble whodunit comedy Housefull 5. Later this week, it will also have to contend with the release of Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1, directed by Krish Jagarlamudi and Jyothi Krishna. 

The action film starring Pawan Kalyan and Bobby Deol is set to release on Thursday, June 12, and is expected to perform well in the Telugu market.

The film also suffered a setback due to its absence from theatres in Karnataka. The makers informed the Karnataka High Court that they are not willing to release the film in the state unless a dialogue or trialogue is held with the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce. The court criticised Kamal Haasan for a recent remark in which he suggested that “Kannada was born out of Tamil,” and added that a “single apology could have resolved the situation.”

In A Nutshell

Thug Life, starring Kamal Haasan and directed by Mani Ratnam, has seen a sharp drop at the box office, earning Rs 36.90 crore in four days, much lower than their past hits. The film also wasn’t released in Karnataka due to controversy over Haasan’s remarks on Kannada, which the court said could have been resolved with “a single apology.”

After India’s 0-1 loss to Hong Kong in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers, former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia strongly criticised the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for reportedly offering players a USD 50,000 bonus had they won the game.

After India’s 0-1 loss to Hong Kong in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers, former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia strongly criticised the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for reportedly offering players a USD 50,000 bonus had they won the game. Following a goalless draw against Bangladesh in their opening match, India desperately needed a win to stay in contention. However, their hopes were dashed by a stoppage-time penalty, leading to another disappointing result. In an exclusive interview with IANS, Bhutia called for AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey to step down “to save Indian football” and questioned the logic behind such ad-hoc financial incentives.

“We’ve seen reports that players haven’t even received their daily allowance of RS 2,500. Indian footballers don’t have central contracts like cricketers. They don’t earn in lakhs or crores. Their compensation largely comes through daily allowances,” Bhutia said.

“Then suddenly, out of nowhere, there’s a USD 50,000 prize announcement if they had won the game. Where did this come from? If they had won, would the same bonus be offered for the next four games? There’s clearly no system, no strategy. Just random decisions with no clarity,” he said.

In July 2023, India were ranked 99th in the FIFA rankings and had a promising year—winning the Intercontinental Cup, Tri-Nation Tournament, and SAFF Championship. However, Bhutia remarked that it’s been “one disaster after another” ever since.

Following former coach Igor Stimac’s turbulent exit and India’s elimination from the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the team went winless throughout 2024. Their only victory came recently when veteran striker Sunil Chhetri came out of retirement to lead the side to a 3-0 win over the Maldives—India’s first win in 489 days.

As nations like Uzbekistan secure their maiden World Cup qualification, India now faces the grim prospect of missing out on the 2027 Asian Cup—a tournament they’ve consistently qualified for in recent years.

Reflecting on the broader situation, Bhutia didn’t mince words, “It’s been a terrible two and a half to three years under Kalyan Chaubey’s leadership. On-field performances have been poor, and off-field management has been chaotic, riddled with controversies. It’s time for him to step down—for the sake of Indian football.”

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