Thane: Thousands of households across several parts of Thane, including Vasant Vihar, parts of Ghodbunder Highway, Kolshet, Manpada, Majiwada and Balkum, woke up to major inconvenience Sunday morning following a snag in the power transmission lines that led to a sudden four-hour-long electricity cut.Officials said a Padgha–Kamba–Kharbav–Kolshet transmission line tripped at 6:05 AM, while another fault developed in the Wada Extra High Voltage substation, due to which the power could not be shifted to the Patalipada substation in Thane city, leading to the shutdown and disrupting supply to areas along the Ghodbunder serviced by it. Meanwhile, with morning temperatures hovering around 35°C, several residents, especially the elderly, children and the ailing, faced severe discomfort as fans and air conditioners stopped working. “Sunday is the only day we get to rest, but we woke up to this power outage that lasted for nearly five hours. It was unbearable to sleep in this heat,” complained Sagar Dani, a resident of a Ghodbunder-based gated complex. The impact could have been colossal if it was a working day, feared residents, who nonetheless complained of inconvenience as the cuts impacted water supply and also grocery and food deliveries, as riders refused to climb floors in societies without backup for lifts. While the power companies failed to alert residents in time, luckily, local citizen groups like the one operated by Dr Krishna Kumar, chairman of Vasant Vihar Apex Society, filled in the void as they sent messages alerting locals of the prolonged cuts. “This helped many residents, especially elders planning to go out for morning walks, to stay back home as the operations of elevators in a few high-rises were impacted,” he said. Meanwhile, the MSETCL, which arranged alternative setup in phases, managed to completely restore the supply by 11:30 AM. Naser Khan and Subhash Maskeri from Ghodbunder localities pointed out the recurring outages over the last few days, often lasting over 30 minutes, and that too without any intimation.

Google is reportedly arguing that it should not be made to pay about $370,000 in legal fees and other costs the Competition Commissioner is seeking. This comes after the tech giant lost a constitutional challenge in Canada. According to a report in Western Investor, the battle over legal fees comes a few weeks after the Competition Tribunal dismissed a constitutional challenge that formed part of a broader case where Google has been accused by the bureau of causing harm through an allegedly outsized hold on the online advertising world. Now, having lost the challenge, Google wants to avoid paying any fees or at least, see them greatly reduced.In a recent filing made with the Competition Tribunal, Google said that it should be spared from paying the money because of the public interest element of this case. Google argued that the fee is so big that it would violate the company’s constitutional rights, a stand that the bureau disputes.In its submission, Google has pointed to a previous tribunal ruling which waived costs for credit card company Visa because it advanced a “novel” argument. “Without parties like Google who are willing to bring novel challenges, ‘[g]aps in our law and policy will not be identified or remedied,'” Google said. Google cited in part the ruling Visa’s company’s case. If the tribunal decides Google should have to pay the fees, the company says they should be “significantly reduced” because of its public interest argument and acting commissioner Jeanne Pratt’s failure to prevail on one of her primary arguments.Google also said that any fees should be lower than those featured in other cases “to strike a fair and reasonable balance between compensating a successful party and not unduly burdening an unsuccessful party.”

Competition Bureau to Google: You should pay the fees

On their part, the Competition Bureau’s lawyers claimed in submission that Google should have to pay $370,096.88 in fees for the watchdog’s legal representation, experts, transcripts and printing because they are “reasonable, necessary and justified.” Google’s motion alone totalled more than 10,000 pages, included 29 volumes with four affidavits and two expert reports, the bureau said. The Commissioner’s motion was made up of 11 volumes with a single affidavit and expert report. The motion took five cross-examinations, and a hearing spanned 3 1/2 days.Judge Andrew Little took the bureau’s side, ruling that the fine the company could face is “hypothetical at best” but “may be necessary to deter non-compliance.”In this case, Google’s failed challenge took aim at a $91 billion penalty that the company would have to pay if the tribunal eventually sides with the Competition Bureau, which alleges that the tech firm abused its dominant position in online advertising.The Competition Bureau says in its own submission that Google should have to pay because “responding to the motion was also substantially more work for the commissioner than a motion of average or usual complexity.”As for Google’s take that the fees should be reduced because one of the commissioner’s arguments didn’t sway even little, the bureau’s lawyers said, “a successful party should not be penalized simply because not all the points advanced by that party have found favour with the court.”The bureau under Pratt’s predecessor Matthew Boswell launched its broader fight against Google in November. A lawsuit Boswell filed claimed Google unlawfully tied together its ad tech tools — DoubleClick for Publishers, AdX, Display & Video 360 and Google Ad — to maintain its market dominance and lessen competition.In the case Google lost, the search giant maintained that ad buyers have plenty of choice despite the hold it has on the market.

The second match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders at the iconic Wankhede Stadium kicked off with an intriguing tactical decision that caught fans’ attention. Despite being one of MI’s most explosive batters, Suryakumar Yadav was not included in the starting XI, instead being named as an Impact Player for the game.

Mumbai Indians opt to bowl first against Kolkata Knight Riders

Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first, a decision aligned with the team’s strategy of chasing under lights at Wankhede. However, what stood out was the team combination. MI opted for a bowling-heavy starting XI, leaving out Suryakumar from the initial lineup.

This decision wasn’t due to poor form or injury concerns but rather a calculated tactical move. By holding back one of their most dangerous middle-order batters, MI ensured they could strengthen their batting lineup during the chase when conditions become more favorable.

Reason why Suryakumar Yadav is playing as impact player

Another underlying reason behind Suryakumar’s role as an Impact Player is workload management. Although there are no injury concerns, the team management is being cautious following his packed international schedule earlier in the year.

Having recently featured in a demanding global T20 campaign, Suryakumar has been under continuous cricketing action. To ensure he remains fresh and performs consistently throughout the long IPL season, MI appears to be carefully managing his game time.

Using him as an Impact Player allows the franchise to strike the right balance—keeping him match-ready while avoiding unnecessary physical strain from fielding for 20 overs.

Also READ: IPL 2026: MS Dhoni to miss the first 6 matches for CSK – here’s his comeback date

Influence of impact player rule in IPL

The decision highlights the growing influence of the Impact Player rule, introduced in the IPL in 2023. This rule allows teams to substitute one player during the match from a list of five named substitutes, depending on match situations.

In this case, Mumbai Indians appear to be maximizing flexibility. By starting with an extra bowler while fielding first, they can later replace that bowler with Suryakumar when it’s time to chase. This swap provides a significant boost to the batting lineup without compromising the bowling strength upfront.

Such strategic substitutions have become increasingly common, especially in high-scoring venues like Wankhede, where chasing teams often enjoy an advantage.

Also READ: Ravichandran Ashwin predicts CSK’s top batter in IPL 2026

Mumbai: Nearly two weeks after it was sent back to the civic administration over cost concerns, the Gargai dam project is set to be tabled again before the statutory BMC standing committee for approval. The contractor that quoted the lowest bid has agreed to slash the cost from about 9% above BMC’s estimate to nearly 2%.BMC had estimated the cost of constructing the dam in Ogada village of Palghar district at Rs 3,006 crore. Soma consortium had emerged as the lowest bidder. Objecting to the steep contract value, the BJP-led standing committee returned the proposal, saying such a significant deviation from the estimate could not be approved. Following this, BMC held three rounds of negotiations with the contractor. The consortium has now agreed to execute the project at Rs 3,276 crore—nearly 2% above the original estimate—resulting in savings of around Rs 269 crore, said a BMC official. Officials said the contractor was told that execution risks were already factored into the project, leaving little justification for the earlier higher quote. The project, however, still awaits two key clearances —from the central wildlife board and the forest departments at state and central levels. “The contractor’s initial bid for the project was 10.9% above the estimated cost. Following three rounds of negotiations, this was brought down to nearly 9%. The proposal was then placed before the civic standing committee, which called for further reduction. Over the past two weeks, we held another three rounds of negotiations with the contractor, which agreed to cut the cost further,” said an official, adding that the first year post-work order will go into securing permissions and creating infrastructure for relocation of six affected villages. Dam construction is planned in the second year, followed by installation of electrical systems in the third year. The project includes a 1,200kW hydropower unit, intended to offset the dam’s electricity costs. Soma consortium had also executed the Middle Vaitarna dam project. Once commissioned, the Gargai dam will add 440 million litres per day to Mumbai’s water supply, making it the city’s first new reservoir since Middle Vaitarna became operational in 2014. BMC is eyeing its completion by 2029, coinciding with the next Lok Sabha and assembly elections.

KPMG’s UK arm has told nearly 600 employees in its audit business that their roles are at risk, as the Big Four firm moves to cut costs in a tougher market.The proposed shake-up is expected to lead to up to 440 exits if the redundancy process goes ahead.The affected staff have been informed that they could be laid off, subject to a formal consultation, Bloomberg reported, citing a memo sent to employees and people familiar with the matter.

Up to 440 audit exits possible after consultation

According to Bloomberg, the proposed cuts are centred on assistant managers who are qualified accountants and affect roughly 6 per cent of KPMG UK’s 7,100-strong audit division.KPMG UK confirmed on Saturday that it plans to reduce staff in its audit business, after Bloomberg first reported the potential scale of the move. However, the firm did not specify how many jobs could ultimately be cut.KPMG UK said the decision was being driven by unusually low staff turnover in parts of its audit practice.“Current market conditions mean our attrition rates are very low within certain parts of our audit population, which is why we are proposing to right size those areas,” a KPMG UK spokesperson said in a statement to Bloomberg.“This isn’t a decision we take lightly.”The consultation on the audit cuts is expected to run until mid-May, reported the Financial Times.

Advisory arm also facing fresh redundancies

According to The Financial Times, KPMG has also separately told staff in its advisory business that it plans to cut around 120 roles, while hundreds more could also be considered for possible redundancies.Most of the advisory job losses are expected to fall in the enterprise risk division, which advises companies on governance, risk and compliance. Some back-office roles and staff in an economics team are also said to be affected.One person familiar with the advisory cuts told the FT that the latest round had been “pretty devastating”, especially for employees who had already been through similar disruption last year.Another person was cited by FT as saying that senior leaders were under pressure to meet budgets during a prolonged slowdown, saying the firm had carried “a large bench” of unassigned consultants for around six months and had seen fewer projects in the pipeline.A separate person said the changes would affect just over 2 per cent of the advisory business.KPMG confirmed that it was “launching proposals to reduce roles in some areas” of its advisory arm.“While the firm continues to experience growth in some areas, we are always looking at the shape of our business to stay in step with client demand and to support sustainable growth,” the firm said, as quoted by the FT.

Consulting slowdown and AI transition add pressure

The job cuts highlight the continuing strain across professional services firms, which have been trying to rein in costs after a sharp post-pandemic expansion and a subsequent slowdown in demand for consulting work.Other major firms have also turned to layoffs. McKinsey & Co. has discussed cutting about 10 per cent of headcount in non-client-facing teams, potentially amounting to several thousand jobs over the next 18 to 24 months.KPMG’s latest move comes as firms across the sector try to adjust to weaker client demand while also reshaping their operations for an AI-driven environment.KPMG’s audit cuts are somewhat unusual because earlier Big Four redundancy rounds have generally been concentrated in consulting or support functions, given the more stable nature of audit work. However, low attrition has swelled the number of junior staff, and PwC cut 175 junior auditors last year, the newspaper reported.

Profits rise despite weaker advisory performance

KPMG employs about 16,700 people in the UK. While the firm does not break out staff numbers by division, the advisory arm accounts for close to half of annual sales.According to the FT, KPMG’s advisory business shrank 3 per cent last year, in line with revenue declines at the consulting units of EY, PwC and Deloitte, even as the firm’s overall profitability improved.KPMG’s profit before tax rose 14 per cent to £576 million last year, which the firm attributed to “careful cost management in response to the economic cycle”.UK chief executive Jonathan Holt, who recently lost the race to become KPMG’s next global chief, has been boosting profitability through cost cuts, pay and promotion freezes, and lower headcount. It added that UK partners received an average £880,000 for the 12 months to September, up 11 per cent, marking the first time in more than a decade that KPMG’s UK partners were paid more than those at PwC and EY.