Month: July 2014

Brazil communications director Rodrigo Paiva, who was suspended for a match after allegedly punching Chilean player Mauricio Pinilla during the halftime break of the game between the two sides, has accused the Chilean delegation of “reprehensible” behaviour.

Paiva said in an official statement that FIFA Disciplinary Committee has available “evidence of reprehensible conduct by members of the Chilean delegation, which would be brought to light by the true facts” which took place at the break, reports EFE.

Even as the government said “bitter medicine” is needed for reviving the economy, the BJP Wednesday said the budget would be “sweet”.

“A sweet budget is being prepared in the finance ministry,” Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier said that “bitter medicine” might be needed to rescue the economy and restore its fiscal health even if the measures dent his popularity and hurt the BJP in the short run.

The newly-installed National Democratic Alliance government will present its first budget July 10.
(IANS)

Portuguese midfielder Tiago Mendes will join Chelsea for two years, reports here said.

The 33-year-old has concluded his contract at Atletico Madrid and will join Jose Mourinho’s side as a free agent, reports EFE.

Mendes will leave the current La Liga champions after joining them at 2011 in a permanent deal and will return to Stamford Bridge after staying away for nine years.
(IANS/EFE)

Uncertainty about their safe evacuation has heightened anxieties of relatives of Keralite nurses, stranded in a state-run hospital in Tikrit in strife-torn Iraq, though they still keep in touch with their homes to the relief of near and dear ones.

According to P Sudeep, CEO of state’s non-resident Keralites agency NORKA Roots, there are 46 nurses working in a hospital in Tikrit and taking them safely to the nearest airport is the biggest problem.

Real estate developers and builders in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have decided to stop purchase of cement from July 5 to 12 if cement companies fail to roll back the steep hike in prices.

Terming the hike of 50 percent as “unjustified”, the construction industry Wednesday called on people to join the protest.

The government Wednesday hiked the minimum export price of onions by 67 percent to $500 per tonne in a bid to discourage exports and improve local supplies as the price of the vegetable surged in domestic markets.

The government has taken tough steps for the second time in nearly two weeks to curb onion exports. With a view to discouraging onion exports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had June 17 set a minimum price of onion exports at $300 per tonne.

MiCar, offering self-drive car rental services, Wednesday launched its operations in the national capital.

“MiCar envisages to give the city dwellers a better and comfortable way to commute,” the company said in a statement.

Initially it will offer membership-based service wherein one can subscribe to yearly plans based on one’s usage at subsidised rates.

In the first phase of operations, the company has introduced one car in each of the three categories namely, compact, sedan and sports utility vehicle (SUV) in their fleet of 50 cars.

India Wednesday became the first country to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty that facilitates access to published works for blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled people.

A statement from the human resource development ministry said Dilip Sinha, the Permanent Representative of India to the UN, handed over the Instrument of Ratification to Francis Gurry, director general of the World Intellectual Property Organisation, at a ceremony held at its headquarters in Geneva.

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets hit a record high of 25,864.53 points Wednesday before closing at a new high of 25,841.21 points on the hopes of a fiscally prudent and growth oriented budget.

All key sectors ended the day’s trade in the green. Capital goods, metal, automobile, healthcare, bank and oil and gas stocks rallied.

Portuguese football club FC Porto is interested in signing Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas, according to media reports.

The Portuguese press said Porto will offer the current Levante goalkeeper a four-year deal for 1 million euro per season, reports EFE.

The 27-year-old told the press that playing in the Portuguese Premier League is an option he will consider.
(IANS/EFE)

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Wednesday said she was appalled at the Centre’s stand that Indian fishermen had no traditional fishing rights around Katchatheevu island.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the text of which was released to the media here, she urged him to review the matter.

She said a counter-affidavit filed on behalf of the external affairs ministry before the Madras High Court “comes as a rude shock”.

Two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp Wednesday reported a growth of eight percent in sales for June at 541,594 units from 502,279 units sold in the corresponding period of 2013.

According to the company, sales in the quarter ended June 30 2014-15, grew by 10 percent at 1,715,129 units from 1,559,282 units sold in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

The company had sold 571,054 units and 602,481 units of two-wheelers respectively in the months of April and May this year.

For Australian legend Pat Cash watching teen sensation Nick Kyrgios knocking out World No.1 Rafael Nadal from the Wimbledon was fun. It revived his memories of another teenager, Mark Philippoussis, who had stunned then World No.1 Pete Sampras in the 1996 Australian Open.

Cash, 1987 Wimbledon champion, recalled a rain soaked Saturday night at the Rod Laver Arena in 1996 when Philippoussis stunned another world No.1, Pete Sampras, in three sets to reach the fourth round.

Researchers from two Spanish universities have discovered a new species of beetle in the depths of the Krubera cave, the deepest cave known to man, 2,140 metres deep in the Western Caucasus.

Cave beetles are one of the most iconic species found in subterranean habitats. They were historically the first living organisms described by science that are adapted to the conditions of hypogean or subterranean life.

“The new species of cave beetle is called Duvalius abyssimus. We only have two specimens, a male and a female,” said Vicente OrtuAo from the University of AlcalAi in Spain.

Hockey India (HI) Wednesday named its 16-member women’s team for the Commonwealth Games scheduled to take place in Glasgow from July 23 to Aug 3.

The squad was chosen by HI selectors B.P. Govinda, Harbinder Singh, Surinder Kaur along with high performance director Roelant Oltmans, chief coach Neil Hawgood and scientific advisor Matthew Tredrea during the selection trials conducted at National Institute of Sports (NIS) Patiala June 28-29.

Midfielder Ritu Rani (179 caps) will be the captain while defender Deepika (126 caps) will be the vice-captain of the team.

Model-turned-actress Kriti Sanon, who made her debut in Bollywood opposite Tiger Shroff in ‘Heropanti’, is currently busy shooting a Telugu film.

With her new project, the 23-year-old actress is again going back to her South Indian roots as she made her foray into acting with Sukumar’s Telugu psychological thriller film ‘1: Nenokkadine’.

“I am doing a Telugu film now. It is an ambitious film I am working on,” she said.

The Delhi-born actress was here today to launch ‘Quickster Football’ watch of swiss brand Tissot at the company’s store here.

As the 2014 FIFA World Cup approaches its business end, Colombian star James Rodriguez became the most searched player on the planet.

Rodriguez is now the top scorer with five goals and further enhanced his status as perhaps the World Cup’s biggest revelation, search trends by Google revealed Wednesday.

Robin Van Persie’s ‘flying goal’ has also ruled the search charts during the group stage as fans flocked to the internet to relive his incredible piece of skill near the start of the tournament

The final result of the Afghan presidential election will be announced Aug 24, Election Commission chairman Ahmad Yusuf Nuristan said here Wednesday.

The preliminary results of the presidential polls will be announced July 7, Xinhua cited Nuristan as saying in a press conference.

Afghanistan’s presidential election was held April 5 wherein eight candidates contested to secure the country’s top slot for the next five years.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi said that there are no pushovers in the FIFA World Cup.

Argentina squeezed past Switzerland 1-0 with Angel di Maria scoring on a Messi assist in the dying moments of extra time here Tuesday, reports EFE.

“Great teams were eliminated from this tournament. We are in the World Cup and here there are no pushovers,” said Messi, who has scored four goals in the tournament so far.
(IANS/EFE)

Seven expatriate Indians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who were not paid their salaries for the past three months, raided their office and destroyed electronic equipment, a media report said.

The Indian suspects, identified only as G.S., B.S., S.S., M.S., B.S., H.Y. and A.Y., have been accused of attacking their Indian manager of a computer company and destroying two computers and other mobile items in the assault, The National reported Tuesday.

The prosecutors said the men were under the influence of alcohol during the incident.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemn the suspected retaliatory killing of an Arab teenager in occupied East Jerusalem early Wednesday.

“We demand Netanyahu condemn the kidnap and murder of a Palestinian teenager as we did condemn the abduction and killing of three Israeli settlers,” Xinhua quoted Abbas as saying in a press statement published by official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The AIIMS administration Wednesday categorically denied doctor Sudhir Gupta’s allgeation that he was pressurised to amend the post-mortem report of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

“The AIIMS administration has come to know through the media report about the allegations made by Sudhir Gupta about he being pressurised to amend the post-mortem report of Sunanda Pushkar,” said Neerja Bhatla of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology.

“The AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) administration categorically denies any such allegations,” she added.

The Supreme Court Wednesday decried the tendency of undermining the conduct of election in the country while comparing it with elections in England and America, saying the world was envious of the way elections were carried out on such a vast scale in the country.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi was chosen as the Man of the Match for the fourth time in a row in the FIFA World Cup.

Messi assisted Angel di Maria in scoring the winning goal Tuesday, assuring ‘La Albiceleste’s’ passage into the quarterfinals after defeating Switzerland 1-0 in extra time, reports EFE.

The striker has scored four goals from as many matches so far.
(IANS/EFE)

Singer Ankit Tiwari, whose “Sun raha tu” in “Aashiqui 2” turned out to be a chartbuster, has hit the right note with “Galliyan” in “Ek Villain”. He says that he tries to keep his music “pure”.

Why is there so much angst in your singing and composition?

“I wouldn’t say it’s angst. I’d say it’s just the natural feelings within me,” he said.

“Luckily, I’ve the ability to express my music exactly the way I create it because I sing my own compositions. I suppose that is why ‘Sun raha hai tu’ and now ‘Galliyan’ have come out sounding so heartfelt.”