How to have sex during pregnancy — first, second and third trimester

For many, sex and pregnancy don’t go together. This is mostly because there are a lot of myths surrounding sex during pregnancy that scares couples about its outcome. However, the truth is that sex during pregnancy is safe and harmless, though there are exceptions. But if you are healthy and do not suffer from any complications of pregnancy then you can go with the flow and enjoy sex to the fullest. Keep in mind it won’t be the same as it was before and you (along with your partner) might have to make a little adjustments to attain fulfillment during sex, what with the bulging belly and other bodily changes. Here is how you can enjoy sex during pregnancy.Read six myths about pregnancy sex busted.

It is best to abstain from sex during the first trimester of your pregnancy. This is because this phase is considered to be the most delicate phase of pregnancy. Apart from that, fatigue and other niggles can pull your energy levels down making sex taxing and tiring. This could make sex stressful and raise your stress levels which isn’t a good sign during pregnancy. Keep these few things in mind while having sex during the initial months of your pregnancy:

    Ask your partner to use a condom each time you have sex during your pregnancy. This will ensure that you don’t get any STD or other infection while enjoying lovemaking.
    If sex doesn’t excite you during the initial months, engage in cuddling, hugging and kissing each other. This will keep the romance alive and also encourage bonding between both the partners that is essential during pregnancy.
    If at any point while lovemaking you feel symptoms like uneasiness, get abdominal cramps or feel queasy stop the act immediately. There would be times when sex can become little tiring for you.
    If you are advised against sex for the first three months, try oral sex instead. However, ask your partner not to blow air into your vagina as it can lead to a life-threatening condition.

Your sexual life goes through various changes during pregnancy. Like your other pregnancy problems, this also happens due to the hormonal changes that take place during this time. Progesterone and estrogen are two hormones that govern the functioning of the body during pregnancy.  These hormones are responsible for a woman’s arousal and increased sexual desire during pregnancy, particularly estrogen.

There is a reason the second trimester of pregnancy is called as the ‘honeymoon period’. With a surge in your energy levels, sex will be more enjoyable and fun. This is the time you can get more creative with sex and try new positions too as the conventional missionary style might not be too comfortable for you with your belly protruding out. Here is what you can try:

Spooning: This is often termed as lazy sex position and requires less effort from both the partners. In this position, both of you can lie down side-by-side with your man lying behind you. This allows your man to penetrate from behind that also calls for shallow penetration without putting any pressure on your belly.  Here are seven reasons why having sex during pregnancy is good for you.

Woman on top: During pregnancy, you have an upper hand over everything with all that affection and care flowing your way. The same follows in the bedroom too and so go with the flow and enjoy the woman on top position while having sex. This position works best for sex during pregnancy as it gives you control over the movements without putting pressure on your belly. The best thing about this position is that you can have total control on speed and depth of the penetration.

The doggy-style: This style is performed with a woman being down on her knees, facing away from the partner. There are various variations to this style. To reach a comfort level you can also kneel down on the couch with your belly facing the couch and allowing your partner to penetrate from behind. This is the most preferred position during pregnancy as it doesn’t put any pressure on the belly.

You can enjoy sex even as you progress into your third trimester without much trouble. However, it is best to refrain from sexual activities at least four weeks prior to your labour. While enjoying lovemaking during the last few months of pregnancy remember to follow these rules:

    Go slow with the speed and pace.
    In case you experience spotting, abdominal cramps, heaviness or fatigue, stop the act immediately.
    If you are not in the mood for sex get cozy with your partner by showing affection through other ways like cuddling and kissing.
    Resort to oral sex if you want to.
    Stop indulging in sexual activities four weeks prior to your labour. Also read to know how often you should have sex to get pregnant.
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Lalit Modi: Rahul Gandhi was 'beneficiary of my hospitality during IPL'

Former IPL boss Lalit Modi is continuing with his "revelations" and "questions" on Twitter.

In a series of tweets, Lalit Modi has alleged that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi "was a beneficiary of his hospitality" during his tenure as the IPL commissioner.

In a tweet, Lalit Modi has asked Rahul Gandhi and Robert Vadra to clarify if they ever received any hospitality from him.

In another tweet, Modi has asked that whether Rahul Gandhi and Robert Vadra declared this to the Congress leadership.

Lalit Modi has also tweeted a picture of him with Rahul Gandhi and Robert Vadra. In the picture, Rahul Gandhi and Robert Vadra are seen sitting with other celebrities during an IPL match. Lalit Modi and Rahul Gandhi are seen talking on their mobiles.

Lalit Modi has been tweeting about his "relationship" with politicians across the party spectrum.

A few days back, Lalit had tweeted that Varun Gandhi had met him in London and offered to settle everything with Sonia Gandhi.

He had also claimed that he had met Priyanka Gandhi and Robert Vadra in a restaurant in London.

Hema Malini discharged from hospital, flies home to Mumbai

BJP MP and Bollywood actor Hema Malini, injured in an accident in Dausa district of Rajasthan, left for Mumbai on Saturday after being discharged from Fortis Hospital in Jaipur.

According to sources in the hospital, Hema Malini’s condition is better and she was discharged at 930am on Saturday morning.

Hema Malini, 66, left the hospital through a rear entrance to avoid the media and was driven in an ambulance to the airport, from where she flew to Mumbai in a chartered flight.

"On the request of family members, she was discharged around 930am," a spokesperson for Fortis Hospital said.

She sustained injuries when her Mercedes car collided with another vehicle on National Highway 11 near Dausa on Thursday night. A two-year-old girl named Sonam was killed and her parents, brother and aunt were injured in the accident.

The actor had undergone surgery for her wounds on Friday. She was also treated for a minor fracture on her nose.

Hema Malini faced criticism for her apparent insensitivity and for not taking the injured family with her to hospital. She later expressed grief at the death of the child and conveyed her condolences to the family.

Talking to the media before leaving the hospital on Saturday, her daughter Esha Deol said: “The incident was quite unfortunate and we extend heartfelt condolences to the family members who are in profound grief over losing their young daughter.

We are taking mother back home to Mumbai as she is recovering.”

Esha Deol and her husband travelled to the airport in another car.

Members of Sonam’s family being treated at Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital are recovering. An official at SMS Hospital official said, “The victims of Dausa accident are out of danger and their condition is improving.”

Hema Malini was travelling from Mathura to Jaipur when her Mercedes collided with an Alto car going from Jaipur to Lalsot on Thursday night.

Mahesh Chand Thakur, who was driving the Mercedes, was arrested and an FIR was filed against him. He was produced before an additional chief judicial magistrate, who granted bail to Thakur.

Over 50% Indians rejected as donors due to fatty liver

According to top surgeons of India, about 50% of livers get rejected to be used for a transplant due to the accumulation of fat in them. And with rising obesity levels and diabetes, the rate is likely to go up further.

A 20% fatty liver can be accepted for a transplant. If it is about 30%, a strict diet needs to be followed to reduce it. But if it is more than that, it is rejected. Transplanting a fatty liver can put the recipient’s life at risk. Our genetic predisposition makes Indians likely to accumulate fat in the liver.

A healthy liver does not have fat in it but in this disease, the liver accumulates fat from the body that reduces its ability to function properly. Fatty liver disease could be alcohol-related and there is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease as well.

Consuming more than 14 and 21 units of pure alcohol per week for women and men respectively can cause alcoholic fatty liver disease. But people who do not consume alcohol and are obese, diabetic, etc. can have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

In order to prevent or control the damage, it is important to exercise, lose body fat and eat a healthy diet that is low in fats and carbs. Herbal remedies such as ginger, triphala and kutki are also useful in dealing with a fatty liver. Read more…

'Second Hand Husband' tweet review: This half-baked film could be the biggest mistake of Gippy Grewal's career

Gippy Grewal has established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the Punjabi film industry thanks to successful big screen outings like ‘Singh vs Kaur’ and ‘Bhaji in Problem’.

Now the singer-actor is all set to make his Bollywood debut with ‘Second Hand Husband’. The film, which arrives in theatres today, also marks the debut of actor Govinda’s daughter Tina Ahuja. Directed by Smeep Kang, ‘Second Hand Husband’ is touted as a romantic-comedy.
It will be interesting to see whether the two newcomers - Gippy Grewal and Tina Ahuja - are able to strike a crackling onscreen rapport and find a firm foothold in the industry.
#Gippy Grewal #second hand husband #Tina Ahuja

It will be interesting to see whether the two newcomers are able to strike a crackling onscreen rapport and find a firm foothold in the industry. Roktim Rajpal is inside the theater to live tweet the experience.

1:46 PM Stay tuned for the live tweet review of Tina Ahuja's maiden Bollywood film #SecondHandHusband

1:50 PM Gippy Grewal is a popular name in Punjabi cinema. But will he strike gold in Bollywood as well? #SecondHandHusband

2:04 PM Comedy can be over the top or intelligent. #SecondHandHusband sadly falls into the first category

2:12 PM #Dharmendra's comic timing is still top notch. Dharam is still garam naram! #SecondHandHusband

2:45 PM Uff! Too many cliched dialogues are killing #SecondHandHusband.

2:46 PM #SecondHandHusband is moving along at snail's pace. The experience of watching this film is just so painful.

2:47 PM Can someone please do humanity a favour and help #GeetaBasra learn acting? #SecondHandHusband

2:57 PM @igippygrewal has tremendous potential. But deserved a better debut film. #SecondHandHusband

3:09 PM #Dharmendra's druken act is a bit reminiscent of his 'mausi jee' gig in 'Sholay'.

3:19 PM Talented actors like #VijayRaaz have been wasted in #SecondHandHusband

3:22 PM Most of the songs in#SecondHandHusband seem forced.

3:33 PM #SecondHandHusband is a quirky title. But the film as such is boring and unimaginative.

3:39 PM Tina Ahuja can't emote. She has delivered a wodden act in #SecondHandHusband

3:46 PM .@igippygrewal better select his future projects with caution #SecondHandHusband

3:53 PM Thanks for being with us through out the tweet review of #SecondHandHusband. Watch this space for more Bollywood updates.

Modi Announces Father-Daughter Selfie Campaign For The Girl Child

Addressing the nation over the radio on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a nationwide social media campaign for fathers and daughters to take selfies together, and post them on Twitter with the hashtag #SelfieWithDaughter.


Modi promised to retweet the Twitter messages with the best tag line as part of his 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' (Save your Daughter, Teach your Daughter) campaign to save the Girl Child in India.

Speaking on the ninth edition of "Mann Ki Baat," the radio program in which Modi shares his thoughts with the nation, the prime minister expressed his concern about the declining sex ratio in several districts of India.


Modi talked about Sunil Jaglan, the sarpanch of Bibipur village in Haryana, who organised a 'Selfie With Daughter' contest for WhatsApp.


Haryana, which is plagued by widespread female foeticide, has one of the worst sex ratios in India.


"Usually we don't see many pictures of daughters in people's house. The objective of the contest is to increase importance of daughters in their homes. Clicking selfies is the latest craze, so we decided to hold this contest to encourage parents to take pictures with their daughters," said Jaglan, earlier this month.


On Sunday, Modi also said that Indians should celebrate Raksha Bandhan in August by enrolling the women, who work in their home and fields, in social security programs which the government has recently launched.


The Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojna life insurance scheme is a one-year cover for Rs2 lakh at a premium of Rs330, and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana accident insurance scheme is Rs2 lakh for accidental death and full disability at a premium of Rs11.

The Baffling Success Of Sunny Leone

There’s a curiously distant feeling about the rise and rise of Sunny Leone, from the time she entered Indian households via Bigg Boss in 2012 to April 2015, when her film 'Ek Paheli Leela' became a hit. Soon after, she topped The Times of India list of most desirable female stars, ahead of Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif — no small achievement. Yet, her success feels blandly numerical, with none of the visible cultural resonance that accompanies the rise of a new star.

On consideration, it becomes apparent that this feeling arises from a certain invisibility of Leone’s fandom. The number of fans of her various Facebook pages total nearly 15 million. Yet, while images and videos earn plenty of likes, there are hardly any comments on posts. The media compounds this by constantly reporting on her with reference to her past work as a porn star (or, as she prefers to call it, adult entertainment professional), thus providing no fresh persona — a Sunny Leone of the Hindi films, distinct from her earlier avatar.

Let me just come right out and say it — Leone is one of the most boring performers I’ve ever watched. I fast forwarded my way through two of her porn films, so tedious and mechanical was their spreadsheet porn-sex. ‘Baby Doll’ may be a catchy song, but visually it is so leaden that I have never been able to watch its video through to the end, not even for the purposes of this piece. As for Ek Paheli Leela, despite my love of kitschy reincarnation dramas, I found it very easy to take my eyes off Ms Leone when she was onscreen. There’s nothing offensive about her (she is rather sweet, in fact) but there’s just nothing riveting about her either.

When I discussed this with a male friend, he said, “Well, obviously. You’re a woman.” But, as a dedicated viewer of porn, he admitted in the next breath that he wasn’t a fan of Leone’s adult videos, as they were “typical Amriki porn. Too plastic for me”. The real mystery about Leone is not how an adult entertainment artist has crossed over, with such success, to a mainstream entertainment space in India. The pertinent question is, how did someone so completely unremarkable onscreen, and possessed of such limited charisma, achieve this?

One of the reasons particular stars achieve ascendency at particular moments in history is because they somehow embody the social rhythms and cultural tendencies that are still taking shape around them. They represent the gestalt of a moment, an essence of larger social experience and aspirations that have not yet been fully recognised. Often, the officially elite culture does not have the space, vision or the means to recognise these new feelings, these still-forming quicksilver selves. What is this sense that Leone captures through her success? READ MORE 

BJP backs Vasundhara Raje, says she will stay as Rajasthan CM

Standing firmly behind Vasundhara Raje, who is embroiled in a controversy for allegedly having business relation with former IPL chief Lalit Modi, the BJP on Wednesday reiterated that she will stay as the Rajasthan Chief Minister.

"Raje will stay as the Rajasthan Chief Minister and continue to serve her people," BJP national spokesperson Syed Shahanwaz Hussain said, giving clean chit to Raje.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. ReutersRajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Reuters
Slamming the Congress for running a smear campaign against Raje out of its ill will towards her for making Rajasthan a Congree-free state, Hussain rubbished all charges of wrongdoing against the Chief Minister without going into details.

On the charge against Raje's son Dushyant Singh for acquiring a palace allegedly belonging to the state, Hussain claimed any dispute on the said property has been settled by the court and it has ruled that the multi-crore palace belonged to the Chief Minister's son.

"When the court has ruled in favour of Dushyant Singh on the palace's ownership, why is the Congress playing politics over the matter?" the BJP national spokesperson asked.

He further claimed even the Congress government in Rajasthan had acknowledged Dushyant Singh's ownership right on the palace and gave him compensation in lieu of acquisition of land.

On the controversy surrounding External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's husband Swaraj Kaushal in the wake of Modi's last tweet about offering directorship to one of Swaraj's companies, Hussain said that when the concerned person (Kaushal) had rejected such an offer, he should be appreciated and not sullied with charges that the Congress had been doing consistenly against the family.

Giving a clean chit to the External Affairs Minister, who was accused by the opposition for helping out Modi in obtaining travel documents from the British authorities to visit his ailing wife in Portugal last year, he said that Swaraj had a spotless political career spanning over four decades.

On the Congress pestering the BJP to come clean on their senior leaders' alleged dealings with the controversial former IPL Commissioner, Hussain charged the main opposition party with playing 'politics of muck' and observed that the same muck had sullied its own senior leaders.
Hussain was referring to Lalit Modi's claims that he had interacted with some members of the Gandhi family and in a latest tweet dragged its President Sonia Gandhi's name in a controversy.

"Instead of asking us to respond to baseless allegations, they (Congress leaders) should respond to allegations being levelled against their leader," the BJP national spokesperson asked.

On Lalit Modi's claim that BJP MP Varun Gandhi had met him to reportedly settle his issues with the UPA government through the Congress President, Hussain said the BJP leader has cleared the matter and now the Congress leaders and Sonia Gandhi should come forward to explain charge against her.

Tennis: Wimbledon heat on Djokovic, Serena, Sharapova

Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are targeting quickfire second-round wins at Wimbledon on Wednesday to escape the searing heat, with temperatures expected to soar to a brutal 34 degrees Celsius.
That would equal the highest-ever temperature recorded at Wimbledon, in 1976, the year when Bjorn Borg and Chris Evert reigned as champions.

The heat rule will be introduced, allowing for a 10-minute break between the second and third sets of women's matches. However, the rule does not apply to the men's tour, despite them having to sweat it out over five sets.

Early Wednesday, All England Club chiefs closed the Centre Court roof to keep the 15,000-capacity arena air-conditioned.

But it will be reopened for the start of play at 1200GMT as organisers insist on the integrity of the event as an outdoor grasscourt tournament.

"The Centre Court roof is currently closed to protect the playing surface from the heat. It will re-open at 11.30am. #Wimbledon," the tournament tweeted.

Defending champion Djokovic opens play on Centre Court against Finnish veteran Jarkko Niemenin.

World number 92 Nieminen is playing in his 12th and last Wimbledon having ended the All England Club career of 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt over five sets in the first round.

Djokovic, also the 2011 champion, has a 5-1 career record over the 33-year-old Nieminen, a quarter-finalist in 2006.

The last time Djokovic lost in the second round at a Grand Slam was at 2008 Wimbledon, when as number three seed he was defeated by Marat Safin.

Fourth seed and French Open champion Stan Wawrinka takes on world number 48 Victor Estrella Burgos, only the second Dominican Republic player to take part in a Grand Slam.

Wawrinka recorded his best Wimbledon performance by reaching the quarter-finals in 2014.

Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori takes a 6-1 career lead into his second round match against Santiago Giraldo while 2014 semi-finalist Milos Raonic, the seventh seeded Canadian, faces German veteran Tommy Haas.

At 37 years and 100 days old, Haas is bidding to become the oldest man to reach the third round at a Grand Slam since Jimmy Connors, who was just past his 39th birthday when he made the last 32 at the 1991 US Open.

US Open champion Marin Cilic, the ninth seed, meets Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis in a tussle between two former world junior number ones.

Five-time women's champion and top seed Williams faces Hungary's Timea Babos as she continues her bid to sweep a calendar Grand Slam and a 21st major.

Sunny Leone slams Rakhi, Celina's 'useless' comments

Sunny Leone finds it "unprofessional" on the part of item girl Rakhi Sawant and actress Celina Jaitley to make "baseless" comments about her in public.

The Indo-Canadian adult film star, who has carved a niche in Bollywood over the years, however, doesn't care.

At the launch of MTV Splitsvilla 8, Sunny was asked about her reaction to the duo's remarks.

She said: "They are useless and baseless comments. It is unprofessional. You would never see an actor or actress speaking bad in the way they have. So it's their problem, I don't care about it. I am here to do good work and I will focus on doing that."

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Not too long ago, Rakhi reportedly lashed out at Sunny for forcing other artists to wear skimpy clothes and even asked the latter to leave India.

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Meanwhile, Celina accused Sunny and her husband of leaving her house, which they had taken on rent, in shambles.

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Helen Flanagan and boyfriend Scott Sinclair welcome their first child almost two weeks after due date

Helen Flanagan has given birth to her first child with boyfriend Scott Sinclair.

The former Coronation Street beauty, who was nearly a fortnight past her due date, is reportedly recovering in a hospital in Birmingham after giving birth on Monday.

According to The Sun, one pal sent their best wishes, saying: "Helen gave birth on Monday in Birmingham and she is still there recovering. It is hoped that she'll be back home in a day or so.

"It is very exciting for them and both of their families."

The 24-year-old model and actress was expected to give birth in mid-June and doctors decided to induce her in the past few days. It is not yet known what sex the baby but we cannot wait to find out.

Her friend revealed Helen was hoping to have the baby naturally but the doctors decided it was for the best, adding that she is "exhausted but doing well."

A few months ago the star said she was the "happiest I've ever been" with Aston Villa player Scott and revealed the pair plan to tie the knot soon.

InstagramHelen Flanagan and Scott Sinclair
She said: "We'll definitely get married at some point. Scott knows what type of ring I want — one with a huge rock on it.

The couple have been keeping themselves occupied while waiting for the baby to arrive and Helen shared a snap of them playing Monopoly, writing:

Chrissy Teigen gets topless again! Star shares semi-naked mirror selfie

Fans were treated to a topless photograph of model Chrissy Teigen earlier this week.

But because she was naked and breeched the Instagram terms and conditions on nudity - they removed it.

So now the gorgeous model has shared another snap from inside her dressing room.

The 29-year-old posted a mirror selfie while getting her hair done for a photo shoot on Tuesday that shows her exposed breast, with a carefully placed bottle of hairspray covering just enough to make it Instagram-appopriate.

The star promised a return of the nipple after her racy Instagram post from the August edition of W Magazine was taken down. In the snap Chrissy was seen straddling a chair in a pair of white knee-high boots and high waisted pants but nothing else.

"The nipple has been temporarily silenced but she will be back, oh yes, she will be back," she tweeted.

Earlier this year the blonde was hailed a role model after sharing a picture of stretch marks.

The model uploaded an image of her thighs, writing: “Bruises from bumping kitchen drawer handles for a week. Stretchies say hi!”

Since the picture was uploaded fans have praised her.

Only recently one of the commenters mistakenly thought that Chrissy had a baby, and was praising her for her confidence.

When Rishi Kapoor did not recognise Meenakshi Damini Seshadri

Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor, claimed that he could not recognise his Damini co-star Meenakshi Seshadri when he met her after several years.

Reacting to reports that she will be part of Sunny Deol-starrer remake of Ghayal, Meenakshi Seshadri recently clarified that she was approached but nothing materialised.

The 62-year-old actor took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to share a photograph of Meenakshi and asked his fans to guess who she was. "Any guesses who this is? I didn't recognise her for a moment. What a lovely surprise. Name in 30 mins no hints," Rishi tweeted.

Rishi received many answers. He then replied: "99% got it right. Meenakshi Sheshadhari as always whenever in Mumbai pays us a visit unannounced. Looking gorgeous."

Rishi also told his fans and well-wishers about the Damini actress' whereabouts and tweeted, "Damini, MS, lives happily with hubby Harish Mysore and 2 kids, girl and a boy in Dallas, U.S. Visiting relatives,can work in film if a good role."

Rishi and Meenakshi have also worked together in films like Vijay, Sadhna, Ghar Parivar,Bade Ghar Ki Beti and Gharana.

Last week, Meenakshi was seen at an event in Mumbai and she quashed rumours that she may be seen in the sequel of her 1990 hit film Ghayal, saying she is "not interested in films at this point".

Meenakshi, who is now based in the US, said, "There were talks, but nothing materialised. Whatever you have heard so far, it's all just stories and not true. I am not interested in films at this point. I would like to do stage production and dance dramas."

"I didn't work in movies for this long because my kids and family are more important to me. I am thinking that the day my daughter graduates, maybe at that time I will think about something," she added.

Harbhajan Singh back in blue jersey

Harbhajan Singh will return to One Day International (ODI) arena after a gap of 4 years as his name was up in the squad for the upcoming Zimbabwe series. The senior player is looking forward to bowl in the limited over format game.

"Obviously can't tell you how happy I am that I will be wearing this blue jersey again. I don't know anything apart from playing cricket. This is all I have done in my life and I am happy that I can again try and give my all for India," Harbhajan was quoted saying by rediff.com.

The veteran thinks the Zimbabwe tour call is a big exam for him and he wants to excel in it.  Harbhajan has played 228 ODIs and 102 Tests for India, he'll definitely be the senior most player on the tour as the rest of senior team members have been rested.

“I believe cricket has a similarity with academics. A student studies day and night for his exams after 10 months. The only difference is for a cricketer, there is an exam every third day and you have to be well prepared for every exam. I feel that Zimbabwe series is another exam and I am studying hard to excel," he said.

"If you ask me, there is always pressure when you are making a comeback. As you cross different levels, the pressure increases. That's what happens from junior cricket to first class to international cricket."

He added saying that he wants to help the young cricketers of India who'll be on tour with him. The Turbanator also thinks that exchanging of ideas with the players will help him to cope up with the gap.

"I have always believed in exchange of ideas. I believe that it is my responsibility to help the new crop of cricketers, guide them with my experience and also at the same time learn from them. Cricket is like life. You never stop learning. Till the day, I would play this game, I would not like to stop learning."

Here’s the 15 members squad for the three ODI matches against Zimbabwe. Ajinkya Rahane will lead the lead team in absence of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.

ODI squad: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), M Vijay, Ambati Rayudu, Manoj Tiwary, Kedar Jadhav, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Harbhajan Singh, Axar Patel, Karn Sharma, Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma.

Cong questions PM's silence on 'Lalitgate'

 Senior Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao today questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on 'Lalitgate' issue during his 'Mann ki Baat' programme and on allegations against foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje.

"He (Modi) talked about yoga, environment, women and all in his 'Mann ki Baat'. That is good. But, he did not remember Lalitgate," Rao said.

During the UPA government, Congress leaders like Pawan Bansal, Ashwini Kumar and Shashi Tharoor had quit as Union ministers soon after allegations were made against them, he recalled.

Swaraj and Raje are under opposition fire to quit their respective posts over their links with former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, who is facing probe by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with alleged Forex violations.

On a separate issue, Rao urged Telangana Government to help the family of Hyderabad-based Ghazal singer Vithal Rao who passed away recently.

"A 'charity ghazal nite' can be organised by the state government to help the singer's family as they are facing problems," the Rajya Sabha member said.

PM tweets, expresses apologies to people of Varanasi.

After the cancellation of his visit to Varanasi on Sunday the Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his 'sincere apologies to the people of Varanasi' through his tweet.

At 4.01pm the PM tweeted - "Was eagerly awaiting the Varanasi visit but unfortunately due to the weather I had to cancel. Sincere apologies to the people of Varanasi."

It was the incessant rain since morning that played spoilsport to his visit to Varanasi, where he was to address a public meeting on Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) ground besides launching various projects like Integrated Power Development Project (IPDP), ring road project of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), and a four lane road from Babatpur airport to main city area.

During his visit he was also to inaugurate the multi-specialty trauma center of the Institute of Medical Science at Banaras Hindu University (BHU).