Press Trust of India All set to catch the World Cup action in Brazil – their ninth on a trot – Kolkata’s famous football couple 81-year-old Pannalal Chatterjee and his wife Chaitali are as enthusiastic today as they were when they watched their first World Cup in 1982.
With five first-timers accompanying the evergreen fans of the beautiful game this time, Pannalal wants them to experience the wonder and see for themselves why the couple “live for the game”.
In a major find, new fossil evidence suggests that the famed Ice Age animal Arctic fox – thought to have been evolved in Europe – ‘pre-adapted’ to living in the cold and harsh environment on lofty Tibetan terrains before moving to Europe.
The new fossils that researchers unearthed from the Zanda Basin and the Kunlun Pass Basin in the Tibetan Plateau do not match any of the roughly 20 known fox species, and so represent a new species, scientists claimed.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan is set to make his debut on a fiction TV series titled “Yudh” and a grand event was planned here to unveil the poster, but the capital’s storm played a spoilsport leaving him disappointed.
“It was to be a grand ‘poster drop’ on the facade of the Statesman building in Delhi, Connaught Place… So… the Statesman… and the unfurling of the poster for ‘YUDH’. Well a slight disappointment!
Actor Surendra Pal, who has entered Sony TV’s successful historical saga “Bharat Ka Veer Putra Maharana Pratap” as Rao Maldeo Singh, King of Marwar, is in awe of the war sequence that will go on air from June 23 in the show.
Surendra is confident that the war sequence, to be shot in Amgaon in Gondia district in Nagpur, will match the scale of the war sequences of B.R. Chopra’s “Mahabharata” that went on air in 1988, and in which he played Guru Dronacharya.
Air cargo handling terminals will be developed at 24 airports, identified by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Lavasa reviewed the functioning of AAI Wednesday and asked it to develop domestic cargo terminals throughout the country, an official statement said.
Currently, air cargo represents about ten percent of the airline industry’s revenue. About 35 percent of all goods traded internationally are transported by air.
The ministry had setup a working group to study the air cargo logistics in India and had released the report in May 2012.
It has nearly been a month since the historic BJP electoral sweep. We have seen equities climb to record highs on expectations that the Modi government led reforms will finally unlock India’s true economic potential. Mid-cap and small-cap stocks have outperformed blue chips in recent weeks indicating that the risk appetite is returning to the Indian markets. Gold has witnessed a correction and FII has flowed into the debt markets with the ten year yield having fallen 50 basis points since April.
The gloves are off in this year’s Indian Rally Championship with the powerful SUVs thrown together with the saloon cars for the overall title as the all-tarmac three-day Mahindra Adventure Rally of Maharashtra, the first of the six rounds of the re-christened series, commences here Friday.
Finger pricking to monitor blood sugar levels could be a thing of the past. An implantable device to track your blood-sugar levels round-the-clock is the future with the scientists now having developed a new glucose-sensing protein.
“It is a glucose/galactose binding protein (GBP) that changes shape when it attaches to glucose,” a research by Sylvia Daunert from University of Miami in the US and colleagues showed.
Matters are moving, and fast, in the information and broadcasting ministry under new minister Prakash Javadekar, who has asked officials to “show quick progress” in pushing ahead with ventures and also suggested launching a television channel for kids and one on animation on Doordarshan.
Javadekar has brought along with him the fast-paced movement that is becoming a hallmark of the Narendra Modi government.
According to officials, Javadekar has been clearing off piles of files, including many left over by his predecessor Manish Tewari of the UPA, in minutes.
Indian cricket board president N. Srinivasan can go ahead and participate in the election for ICC president as the Supreme Court Thursday declined to entertain a plea by the Cricket Association of Bihar to restrain him from joining the polls.
Declining to pass any order, the apex court bench of Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice C. Nagappan said the earlier “order of the court was clear and there was no conflict”.
The election of the International Cricket Council (ICC) is scheduled for June 27.
MONUSCO, the United Nations’s mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), will organise public screenings of all games during the FIFA World Cup, starting with the Brazil-Croatia fixture Thursday, in two public areas of the central African country’s capital Kinshasa.
“The operation ‘Mundial pour tous’ or ‘World Cup for all’ will also be an opportunity for the Mission to raise awareness on several issues, from human rights to HIV/AIDS prevention,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here Wednesday, reports Xinhua.
Actress-singer Sophie Choudry has collaborated with music director-singer Raghav Sachar for her next performance in the seventh season of celebrity dance show “Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa”.
Sophie and Sachar have come up with their own version of the classic song “Raat akeli hai”. They have re-created all the sounds, including the percussion with their own voice.
Sounds inspired by fashion like the heels of a stiletto and zipping up of leather boots have also been used in the track.
If the “Hate Story” content was bold, the second instalment is bolder and now adult star and Bollywood actress Sunny Leone is set to spice it up further with her item number.
According to a source, the trailer featuring lead actors Surveen Chawla and Jay Bhanushali’s love scenes in the recreated version of the song “Aaj fir tumpe pyaar aaya hai” is already scorching the web space. And Sunny’s item song “Pink Lips”, composed by Meet Bros, will be like a cherry on director Vishal Pandya’s “Hate Story 2”.
Residents of Somalia capital Mogadishu are frantically doing last minute shopping to be able to enjoy the 2014 FIFA World Cup that kicks off in Brazil Thursday night.
Hundreds of shoppers flocked to the main Bakara market to buy TV sets, satellite dishes and receivers Wednesday to view the 2014 World Cup for the first time since the ouster of the radical Islamist group Al Shabaab in late 2011, reports Xinhua.
Kiara Advani, who teamed up with boxing ace Vijender Singh in her debut film “Fugly”, marvels at the champion’s spontaneity in front of the camera.
“He stunned all of us as an actor. His role in the film is very close to how he is as a person,” Kiara said here in an interview. “He is very natural, very spontaneous. He is hilarious in the film. His comic timing is outstanding. He is very spontaneous as an actor,” she added.
Coming out Friday, “Fugly” also features newcomers Mohit Marwah, Arfi Lamba along with Jimmy Shergill.
Residents of the national capital and adjoining suburbs finally got relief from the blistering heat Thursday as strong winds and heavy rain lashed the city. Some parts witnessed a hailstorm as well.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its forecast Thursday morning said the city would see cloudy skies and thunderstorms in some parts, though rainfall was not likely.
However, early afternoon, the skies turned dark and strong winds started blowing in the national capital region. Minutes later, a spell of heavy rain and hailstorm followed.
In a highly significant move that was evidently cleared at the highest level, Bangladesh is allowing India to ferry foodgrain to the landlocked northeastern states using its territory and infrastructure.
“To begin with, the Bangladesh government has under a special transit facility agreed to transport 10,000 tonnes of foodgrain for Tripura via its territory,” Tripura’s Principal Secretary (Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs) B.K. Roy told IANS.
Actress Patralekha dedicates the success of her debut film “Citylights” to the film’s director Hansal Mehta as well as filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.
“For me it’s something very new that I have not experienced before. But, yes this success was not overnight, we struggled for the film,” Patralekha told IANS.
“It was not an easy journey and for me and my family it’s a moment of pride. I dedicate the success of the film to Mahesh Bhatt and Hansal Mehta,” she added.
Starring Rajkummar Rao in the male lead, “Citylights” collected Rs.3.57 crore in its opening weekend.
A woman was gang raped allegedly by four policemen inside a police station in Uttar Pradesh. The SHO was arrested Wednesday.
The incident took place Monday when the woman went to meet her husband, detained in connection with a case, in Sumerpur police station of Hamirpur district.
Hamirpur Superintendent of Police Virendra Shekhar told IANS that following a complaint by the woman, a first information report was lodged and the station house officer (SHO) was arrested Wednesday.
Shekhar assured the woman that no one would be spared if found guilty.
At least 11 people were killed and two churches razed by gunmen who stormed two communities in central Nigeria’s Plateau State Wednesday, local media cited security sources as saying.
Six civilians and five security personnel lost their lives in the attack on Gako and Tanjol communities, both located in the restive Riyom area, Xinhua reported.
Police said only six dead bodies had been found so far.
The cause of the attack was still unknown, although residents said it might be a reprisal attack following unsolved ethnic-religious violence plaguing the state.
At least five people were killed and some 24 others wounded in two bomb attacks in a Shiite-predominant district in Iraq’s capital Baghdad Wednesday, a police source said.
A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest blew himself up at a funeral tent in Sadr City district in eastern Baghdad Wednesday afternoon, leaving at least two people killed and 16 others wounded, Xinhua quoted a source as saying.
Minutes later, a car bomb was detonated at a popular market in the same district, killing three people and wounding eight others, the source said.
A New Zealand citizen was arrested from northern West Bengal’s Bagdogra airport near here Wednesday for carrying a satellite phone.
Police said the foreigner was arrested form the airport before he could catch a flight to Delhi.
David, who had entered India via Nepal June 9 on a tourist visa, was scheduled to return to New Zealand through Delhi.
The security personnel stumbled upon the satellite phone kept in a bag during the security search.
He was later brought to the Bagdogra police station for questioning by senior police officers. The phone has been confiscated.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Wednesday his government will work for the poor, improve the lot of the weaker sections including Muslims, curb price rise, take all political parties along in its march to progress and seek to change India’s identity from “scam India” to “skill India” .
Two people were killed and five others injured in lightning strikes in Tripura Wednesday, officials said.
Narayan Das, 24, and Ajoy Bhattacharjee, 42, were killed on the spot when lightning struck them in Khayerpur area in western Tripura while they were working in their home courtyard.
Official sources said five people suffered burns due to lightning in different places of the mountainous Tripura.
Lightning and thunder with rains, accompanied by high velocity winds, have been lashing Tripura since Tuesday, damaging crops and uprooting electric poles and trees.
Top Indian doubles shuttlers Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa continued their good run when they proceeded to the women’s doubles second round at the $250,000 Japan Open Super Series here Wednesday.
The Indian combine, who were in fine form during last month’s Uber Cup, moved past Japan’s Ayane Kurihara and Naru Shinoya 21-18, 21-16 in 36 minutes in their first match at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.