Month: July 2014

The following is the list of Indian medal winners at the 20th Commonwealth Games:

Gold
Sanjita Khumukchan: women’s 48 kg weightlifting
Sukhen Dey: men’s 56 kg weightlifting
Abhinav Bindra: men’s 10 metre air rifle shooting
Apurvi Chandela: women’s 10 metre air rifle shooting
Rahi Sarnobat: women’s 25 metre pistol shooting

Silver
Mirabai Chanu Saikhom: women’s 48 kg weightlifting
Shushila Likmabam: women’s 48 kg judo
Navjot Chana: men’s 60 kg judo
Malaika Goel: women’s 10 metre air pistol shooting
Prakash Nanjappa: men’s 10 metre air pistol shooting

The Indian women’s hockey team lost 0-3 to higher ranked New Zealand in their second Pool A match of the 20th Commonwealth Games here Sunday.

The Black Sticks managed to sneak through the Indian defence in the third minute and Gemma Flynn did not disappoint, scoring the first goal at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre.

Some promising passing moves from India raised hopes and they played well to disallow World No.4 New Zealand from scoring till half-time.

India won their first match in section B against South Africa 17-12 in the men’s fours lawn bowls in the 2014 Commonwealth Games at the Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls centre here Sunday.

With the win, India are now second behind Canada in the group. Both India and Canada have a win each but the North American team is on top on account of better difference in points incurred during the match.

India will face Falkland Islands in their next group match.

–IANS

China is preparing to produce its own 3D fantasy movie, based on romantic folklore, to make it an epic on par with the US blockbuster science-fiction movie “Avatar”.

“Bainiaoyi” is expected to start shooting in May 2015 in Hengxian County of China’s Guangxi Zhuang region and debut in the regional capital Nanning at the end of 2016, Xinhua reported Sunday citing the announcement at the movie’s launch ceremony Saturday.

China will conduct a military exercise off its southeast coast starting July 29, the defence ministry said Sunday.

The manoeuvre with troops is part of the Chinese army’s routine training, Xinhua quoted the Ministry of National Defence as saying in a statement.

–IANS

All three Indian participants in track cycling had a disappointing outing at the Commonwealth Games here Sunday as each failed to qualify for the next stage.

While Amarjit Nagi could not produce a fast enough time to get out of the men’s keirin first round heat, Kerala’s Alan Baby could not reach semi-finals as he finished fourth and last in the men’s keirin first round repechage H1.

Later, Sunita Yanglem could not even finish the women’s 25 km points race finals.

–IANS

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who has been long associated with campaigns for polio eradication in India, won’t mind working on anti-tobacco projects too.

The “Bhoothnath Returns” star has been actively campaigning for polio eradication since 2002 and was appointed a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador with a focus on HIV/AIDS and polio eradication in April 2005.

At a function held here Sunday to celebrate India being certified polio-free, he revealed that he would like to extend a helping hand to those in other countries as well infected by polio virus and also support other cause.

Indian squash player Anaka Alankamony earned a 3-1 win over Mihiliya Methsarani of Sri Lanka to enter the women’s plate final at the Commonwealth Games here Sunday.

The 20-year-old Chennai girl won 11-4, 11-6, 11-7 to enter the summit clash where she will take on Welsh Deon Saffery.

However, Mahesh Mangaonkar suffered a 1-3 loss in the men’s classic plate semi-final to Canadian Shawn Delierre who won 11-6, 11-4, 7-11, 11-8.

Saurav Ghosal will play his men’s singles quarterfinal later in the day against English James Willstrop.

–IANS

Shooters continued to lead India’s medal charge with Shreyasi Singh and Mohammed Asab clinching the double trap silver and the bronze while woman lifter Punam Yadav picked up a bronze on a modest day four of competition for the nation at the 2014 Commonwealth Games here Sunday.

Australia have overtaken England and are leading the medals tally with 24 gold, 20 silver and 23 bronze on the fourth day of the 20th Commonwealth Games.

India were sixth with a tally of 20 medals, including five gold, eight silver and seven bronze.

Country Gold Silver Bronze Total

Australia 24 20 23 67

England 22 17 16 55

Scotland 11 7 11 29

Canada 7 3 8 18

New Zealand 6 4 10 20

India 5 8 7 20

South Africa 4 5 7 16

Wales 2 8 8 18

Nigeria 2 3 1 6

Kenya 2 3 0 5

Cyprus 2 1 2 5

Singapore 2 0 0 2

Malaysia 1 4 4 9

Cameroon 0 1 1 2

It was double delight for India in the 2014 Commonwealth Games men’s weightlifting as Satish Sivalingam won the gold and Ravi Katulu the silver in the 77kg Group A at the Clyde Auditorium here late Sunday.

Satish lifted a total of 328 kg to set a Games Record while Ravi got the silver with a total lift of 317 kg.

The bronze went to Australian Francois Etoundi with a lift of 314 kg. Etoundi, who represented his country of birth Cameroon in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, sought asylum in Australia soon after the Melbourne Games.

–IANS

A pilot was killed when a Russian fighter jet crashed in southern Russia Sunday morning, a senior Air Force official said.

The MiG-29 jet was on a routine training flight when it crashed in an airfield, 30 km from the port city of Astrakhan.

“A pilot has been killed in a fighter crash. We are investigating this incident and, according to preliminary data, the crash was caused by aviation equipment failure, Xinhua quoted Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Viktor Bondarev as saying.

–IANS

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Ram Vilas Paswan along with son Chirag Paswan hosted Iftar party here on Sunday. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Sushil Kumar Modi and Ram Kripal Yadav attended the party “This is a festival for everyone. We pray to god to keep everyone happy,” said Ram Vilas Paswan “Our fest is so strong that we have become friends with enemies. Our work will be better in the Vidhan Sabha, and in coming days also we will win,” added Chirag Paswan.

Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Akhilesh Singh Yadav today attended Iftar party hosted by U.P. governor Ram Nayak.

Every year, Hindus and Muslims participate in Iftar festivities with fervour and gaiety. In fact, Hindus visit the houses of their Muslim friends, in order to be part of their celebrations. During Ramadan, Muslims offer special prayers called Taraweeh at the end of their usual five times prayers. Ramadan lasts for 29 or 30 days and culminates in the Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi hosted an Iftar party here on Sunday. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and Janata Dal (United) (JDU) President Sharad Yadav attended the party.

Other prominent leaders included Salman Khurshid, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik, Digvijay Singh and Rajiv Shukla. Senior Bollywood actor and politician Raj Babbar and actress Sharmila Tagore were also present at the party.

Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit visited Jama Masjid at the invitation of Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari and had Iftar there.

The threat posed by terrorist outfits in Iraq and Syria which are recruiting several western citizens to their organization, is something that the United States will have to deal with for the next decade, said U.S’s House Homeland Security Committee. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the head of the House Homeland Security Committee, told reporters attending the Aspen Institute”s annual national security forum yesterday that it is the biggest threat to the homeland because the new western recruits are passport-holders and can therefore blend in easily, ABC News reported.

Condemning violence, Sikh protesters today took to streets here, terming the clashes in Saharanpur as a conspiracy against the minorities.

Six people lost their life after a high tension electricity wire fell on a passenger bus in Erwakatra area of Uttar Pradesh’s (UP’s) Auraiya district.

The incident happened when the bus was travelling from Kannauj’s Chhibramau city to Auriya. The dead include two women passengers also. The injured have been admitted to the local government hospital. Out of the six three have been identified so far. The accident resulted in outrage among the people due to which they pelted stones on the local police that reached the spot after the incident. (ANI)

Muslims in Bangalore today held a peaceful protest to condemn Israel”s attacks on Palestine that does not even spare women and children. They also criticised the United Nations and America for what they alleged ” turning a blind eye” towards the ongoing crisis.

Eminent scientist C.N.R. Rao Saturday here urged IITians to stay back in India and serve the nation as they are “well-suited” for it.

“India will benefit if IIT students prefer to stay and work in India. All my achievements and works, even while teaching abroad, was done for India. IIT students are very well suited to serve this nation as the courses are broad based.

“I hope all of you are successful in your endeavours as that will result in a successful India,” the Bharat Ratna awardee said at IIT-Kharagpur’s 60th convocation.

A judge presiding over a child rape trial in Manchester Crown Court reportedly fell asleep, causing the child rape trial to collapse.

According to The Guardian, the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) confirmed it was looking into the allegation against Recorder Philip Cattan, who has been accused of sleeping while the alleged victim was giving evidence in Manchester.

The complaint said that the judge slept through the trial as a young alleged victim was giving evidence via videolink in the trial of John Quigley.

Israel has resumed its ground, air and naval offensive in Gaza after Hamas militants refused to observe an extended ceasefire and fired rockets over the border.

On the request of the UN, Israel had agreed to a 24-hour pause, but warned that it would retaliate in case Hamas breached it.

However, Hamas militants refused to accept a truce unless Israeli troops retreated from Gaza and allowed the displaced to return home.

The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) is reportedly under fire from opposition parties over its decision to call-in the army in order to prevent Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) from holding a mass protest march in Islamabad on August 14.

A new study has found that a particular protein that controls gene and has a crucial role in certain brain areas to regulate metabolism, and could help in treatment of obesity and diabetes.

The research by UT Southwestern Medical Center potentially shows that the spliced X-box binding protein 1 (Xbp1s), appears to influence the body’s sensitivity to insulin and leptin signaling.