Month: May 2015

A 55-year-old Indian-origin Singaporean was among four men charged on Saturday in a court here over his alleged role in conspiring to fix a football match at the South East Asia Games which begins in Singapore next week.

Rajendran R Kurusamy was accused of corruptly agreeing to give 15,000 Singapore dollars to Orlando Marques Henriques Mendes – the Technical Director of the Football Federation of Timor Leste – as a reward, in exchange for arranging for his football team to lose their SEA Games match against Malaysia.

Expressing satisfaction with the work done by his government in the past one year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the NDA had provided a clean, transparent and efficient rule and added that bad days are over for the country.

“Corruption was seen as the biggest problem. We have given a clean, transparent and efficient Government. Burey Dino Ki Vidayee Hui hai. ( Bad days are over). Is this not Acche Din for the country?” Prime Minister Modi told ANI in an exclusive interview.

Demi Lovato has revealed that she was very much relieved after being diagnose d with bipolar disorder.

The former ‘X Factor’ USA judge admitted that she often used to get depressed and didn’t even know the reason, but thankfully her family helped her to get the treatment, the BBC has reported.

The ‘Let It Go’ singer added that at the time, she had made herself believe that there was nothing wrong with her and it was just a condition which she could easily fix.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who recently completed one year in office, has in an exclusive interview with ANI said that his government’s objective is to transform the quality of life, infrastructure and services for the people of India.

Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo could leave Real Madrid this summer, after reportedly being miffed over club president Florentino Perez’s growing closeness with teammate Gareth Bale.

Spanish publication Don Balon has claimed that Carlo Ancelotti’s exit, the cooling relations between Ronaldo and Perez, the hiring of Rafa Benitez as manager and Perez’s unrelenting support for Bale have been the major issues which have unsettled the two-time FIFA Baloon D’Or winner.

Sepp Blatter, who was recently re-elected as FIFA president, has condemned Europe’s ‘hate campaign’ against the organisation and its officials.

Blatter said that he was “shocked” by the comments of the US prosecutors after the arrest of FIFA officials under an American anti-corruption warrant, the BBC reported.

He also blamed the media for tarnishing the image of FIFA, accusing the media of exaggerating the crisis, and added that the football body remains well regarded, especially in Asia and Africa.

Former Odisha chief minister Giridhar Gamang resigned from the Congress Party on Saturday citing humiliation.

Gamang, who served as the chief minister of Odisha from February 18, 1999, to December 6, 1999, blamed the Congress leadership for not defending him for his single vote against the confidence motion that caused the fall of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1999.

The nine-time Lok Sabha member, who was addressing a press conference in Bhubaneswar, said that he would not rejoin the Congress and added if any other party comes up with a proposal he would consider joining it.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today criticised Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal for “doing politics in government meetings”.

“Politics should be kept out of government meetings. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Sonowal should give a clear picture and not mislead people in government meetings. I know how to fight back and will do so if there is a need for it,” Gogoi said at a ceremony of laying foundation of the National Institute of Pharmaceuticals Education and Research here.

Fares for first class and AC class in passenger trains besides freight charges will be increased by 0.5% from June 1 as new service tax will come into effect.

“Currently, 3.708 per cent service tax is levied on train fares for AC Class, First Class and freight. This will go up to 4.2% from June which means the rise is only 0.5%,” said a senior Railway Ministry official.

If the AC fare is Rs 1,000, then you will be charged Rs 10 more. Increase in service tax will be applicable on tickets purchased on June 1 and onwards, he added.

Terming NDA government at the Centre as “corruption free”, BJP today said that in the last one year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought back the respect and credibility of the Union government which it had lost during the UPA regime.

“The BJP-led Centre has given a corruption free government in the last one year,” party national spokesperson Nalin Kohli said, adding, “also the institution of Prime Minister has regained its lost glory and respect.”

“In the last one year of the NDA rule, the Union government has regained the power which it had lost during UPA rule,” he said.

Muhammad Ali’s grandson Biaggio Ali-Walsh seems to be following footsteps of his grandfather by although making name in a different sport, football, but with the same speed.

The American former professional boxer’s 16-year-old grandson is turning heads on the American football field as he scored scoring 10 touchdowns and ran nearly 600 yards from just 49 carries and became a standout player as Bishop Gorman claimed their sixth straight league championship, the Mirror has reported.

Luis Figo has joined the list of people who have expressed their disappointment over Sepp Blatter’s re-election as FIFA president for a fifth consecutive time, saying he has no integrity.

Figo, who withdrew his candidacy last week, was angry after Blatter defeated his lone rival Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan despite not claiming a majority during the process of the election’s first ballot in Zurich.

Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair and Sarah Michelle Gellar recently reunited for a special comedy musical of their movie ‘Cruel Intentions’.

The trio, who played rich New York teens in a fatal spiral of seduction and betrayal, shared pictures from when they went to see ‘Cruel Intentions’ musical, Contactmusic has reported.

Adam Levine recently cancelled his Maroon 5 Liverpool concert due to his throat problem, leaving his fans heart-broken.

The 36-year-old singer took to Twitter to apologise to his U.K. fans and tweeted, “Guys, I HATE having to let you down tonight. My cords are toast. We resume Sunday in Birmingham. Apologies,” reported E! Online.

The ‘Sugar’ hit-maker explained in a statement that though they always aim to give their best performance, he was really sorry for the no-show as the doctors had advised him to rest. (ANI)

Union Minister for Communication and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday said that the Centre would initiate an inquiry into the Uttrakhand flood scam after getting all details.

“We shall find out details and then investigation shall be thought about,” Prasad said while addressing a press conference.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand’s Information Commissioner Anil Kumar Sharma said that the scam looks serious and added that a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry has been recommended to Chief Minister Harish Rawat.

A CISF jawan deployed at a thermal power station here today allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself from his service weapon.

The incident occurred at about 5 AM at the Raghunathpur Thermal Power Plant where the deceased, identified as Constable Sunil Kumar, was deployed for security duty. “The trooper shot himself from the official INSAS rifle issued to him. The exact causes of his taking the extreme step are being ascertained,” a senior official said.

With both Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad rooting for broad secular unity to defeat BJP in Bihar Assembly polls, senior CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat today said his party’s immediate priority was to work for “unity” of Left parties.

“Our immediate priority to forge unity among Left parties and fight the Bihar election together,” Karat told reporters.

A mother from Tamil Nadu puts her kidney on sale just for the sake of her son’s higher education.

On 25th May a surgeon in Chennai receives a mail as written “I am a 37-year-old married woman. “I want to sell my kidney. I have no money for my son’s studies and I have family problems. So can you help me sir? It’s very urgent. My blood group is B positive”.

A series of barrel bombs dropped from Syrian regime helicopters killed at least 45 civilians and wounded dozens Saturday in the northern province of Aleppo, a monitoring group said.

“At least 45 civilians were killed, and dozens were wounded, when regime helicopters dropped barrel bombs on the city of Al-Bab and in an eastern neighbourhood of Aleppo,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the bombs on Aleppo city struck the rebel-held eastern neighbourhood of Al-Shaar, killing 12 people including eight members of a single family.

The Bombay High Court has upheld the ten-year imprisonment awarded to two persons by a lower court for gangraping a 20-year-old pregnant woman while observing that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar dismissed the appeal filed by Sunil Suryawanshi and Ramesh Mali, both residents of Ahmednagar in western Maharashtra, challenging their conviction for gangrape and the ten-year jail term handed by a sessions court in March 2010.

With the new Companies Act in place, company secretaries (CS) like other statutory auditors can now act as whistle blowers if they detect any fraud.

“There is a provision of whistle blower in the new Companies Act. It is now mandated in the act of 2013,” Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) President Atul Mehta said.

Practising company secretaries, he added, will be mandatorily required to carry out the secretarial audit of companies whose paid-up capital is more than Rs 50 crore and a turnover exceeding Rs 250 crore.

Karnataka government would take a call “as early as possible” on “merits” on the issue of filing an appeal against acquittal of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case, State Law Minister T B Jayachandra said today. “We (Government) had sought many clarifications and they have been answered by the Advocate General (Ravivarma Kumar).

Acts of terrorism and extremism aim to divide the Muslim world, said Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir.

As per reported in Al Arabiya News channel, Al-Jubeir on Wednesday at the conference of Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Kuwait said, “We have been committed to confronting the challenges of extremism and violence.”

“Terrorism, extremism and sectarianism aim to divide the Muslim world,” he added, citing the current conflict in Yemen as a “reflection of the suffering of the global Muslim community.”

Bollywood star couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan are currently vacationing in Maldives with the actor’s son Ibrahim, sister Soha and her actor husband Kunal Kemmu.

The family is on a five-day visit to the island-nation. Soha took to Twitter to share about the family holiday.

“Touchdown in the Maldives!” she tweeted alongside a photo of the stars from the airport.

Ibrahim, 14, is Saif’s son from his first marriage to actress Amrita Singh.

The two got divorced in 2004. The 44-year-old “Omkara” star married Kareena in 2012 after five years of dating.

The rupee dropped by 30 paise to close at 63.82 against the American currency on month-end dollar demand from importers after touching to 64.16 after a gap of two weeks.

The rupee resumed lower at 63.62 per dollar against the last weekend’s level of 63.52 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) and touched below 64-level to 64.16 during the mid-week.