2016 Rio Olympics: Shuttlers PV Sindhu & K Srikanth Enter Quarter-Finals

Rio de Janeiro: Day 10 of 2016 Rio Olympics was similar to the week gone by for India, with several ousters and few silver linings. And the silver lining was brought by badminton players PV Sindhu and K Srikanth, both of whom have entered quarter-finals of men’s singles and women’s singles respectively.

India's two standing badminton players, Srikanth and Sindhu kept the country's slim medal hopes alive with wins in the quarterfinals. However, both their next matches will be against higher ranked Chinese players, and will be their toughest draws of the campaign so far.

Srikanth, ranked 11th in the world, topped Group H and became the second shuttler after P Kashyap in the 2012 London Games to reach the last eight in men’s singles. Srikanth continued his commanding form to register a 21-19, 21-19 win over Denmark’s Jan Jorgensen in just 42 minutes.

In a hard fought first game, both shuttlers started on an attacking note, but it was Srikanth who managed to maintain the lead with some bodyline smashes. Jorgensen, bronze medalist in the 2014 World Championships, gave a tough fight at the end but it was the Indian lad who proved superior to clinch the first game 21-19.

In the second game, the Danish player upped the ante and played a disciplined game to maintain the lead from the start. But with some swift court movements, the Indian diminished the lead to stay at 17-17 and then took a one-point lead to make it 19-18 before wrapping up the game to advance into the quarter-finals.

Srikanth will now face the tough task of beating China's Lin Dan, the two-time defending champion and five-time world champion.

PV Sindhu, two-time World Championship bronze-medallist, advanced to the quarterfinals of the women's singles, after notching up a dominating straight-game win over Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying.

Interestingly, before Monday's match, Tzu-ying had enjoyed a 4-2 advantage in head-to-head encounters against Sindhu. But the 21-year-old was in superb form and dominated her opponent throughout.

Tzu-ying gave Sindhu a tough fight in the early stages. Even with the Indian serving for the match at 20-12, Tzu-ying managed to save three match points and pull back to 20-15. But Sindhu didn't have to wait long to celebrate, as another unforced error by Tzu-ying handed her the game and the match.

Sindhu will face World No two Wang Yihan of China, which is expected to be a much tougher challenge.

Suspect Held Over Kolkata Woman Murder

Kolkata: On Monday, police arrested a hotel manager in connection with the suspected murder of a woman whose body was found on the footpath in Ripon Street area of the city on Saturday.

The body of the woman with injury marks all over her body was found on the footpath of Ripon Street and police were awaiting the autopsy report, Kolkata Police said.

A senior Kolkata Police officer said the manager of the hotel knew the victim and her male friend - the suspected murderer who had put up at his hotel. 

The woman, who was in her mid-20s, is suspected to have been murdered inside the hotel room which had been rented by her male friend on Friday, he said.

“The duo used to frequent the hotel and the manager knew both of them quite well. We had questioned him in connection with the mishap but his replies were found to have discrepancies for which we arrested him,” the officer said. 

The manager had reportedly said during grilling that the suspect had come rushing to him saying that the woman had committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling. He had also reportedly said the suspect then went out looking for a doctor. But when he did not return the manager had asked the hotel workers to dump the body on the footpath adjacent to the hotel.

 Police have tracked down the woman’s residence in the Jorabagan area of the city from the tattoo on her left hand and a search for the suspect has been initiated.

Michelle Dockery Hints at Possibility of Downton Abbey Movie

London: In what is coming in as a relief for millions of fans around the globe, English actor Michelle Dockery who played Lady Mary Crawley in Downton Abbey has hinted the possibility of a Downton Abbey movie.

“I think there is potential for a film,” the actress who played Lady Mary Crawley told British newspaper The Telegraph. “That is something I would wholeheartedly consider, so we will see. It may not be over yet.”

“Downton Abbey was an incredible journey for six years and we were very sad to say goodbye, but it was the right time and it was very exciting actually leaving and going on to something like this and a whole new path in my career,” she said.

Dockery will next be seen on the TNT drama Good Behavior, in a role that is dramatically different to prim and proper Lady Mary. London-born Dockery plays Letty Dobesh, a drug-abusing petty thief and con artist who vomits and falls down drunk.

“I’m no longer anonymous but it comes with the territory,” she said. “‘Downton Abbey’ was something that surprised us all and was a huge springboard into America for many of us, which has obviously led to opportunities like this.”

Dockery is also currently filming a Western series for Netflix called Godless.

Downton Abbey is a British-American TV series created by Julian Fellows. It started airing since 2010. It has produced six season and 52 episodes. Downton Abbey has received critical acclaim from television critics and won numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award For Best Miniseries Or Television Film and a Primetime Emmy Award For Outstanding Movie Or Miniseries. It was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed English-language television series of 2011. It earned the most nominations of any international television series in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards, with twenty-seven in total (after two series). It was the most watched television series on both ITV and PBS, and subsequently became the most successful British costume drama series since the 1981 television serial of Brideshead Revisited. By the third series, it had become one of the most widely watched television drama shows in the world.

Academic Ranking Of World Universities 2016 Results Announced

The 10 universities ranked at the top of Shanghai Ranking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) last year have all retained their place in the top 10 for 2016, despite some shuffling up and down.

The 2016 Shanghai Ranking results confirm Harvard University as number one in the world for the 14th year running. Stanford University also retained second place while Berkeley and University of Cambridge both dropped one place.

Eight of the top universities are in the United States, with Oxford and Cambridge completing the list of elite institutions in the top 10. One Swiss and one Japanese university make it in to the top 20.

Asia has broken new ground in this year’s ranking, with universities in China and Singapore in the top 100 for the first time. Tsinghua University in China is the country’s best university in 58^th position, and the National University of Singapore is the country’s top entry at position 83.

ETH Zurich (19^th overall) takes first place in continental Europe, while the University of Copenhagen (31st) in Denmark overtakes Pierre & Marie Curie (39th) in France as the second best European university outside the UK. The University of Melbourne in 40^th place is the highest performing country in Oceania.

In total, 500 universities are ranked from across the world based on six indicators. These include the number of award-winning staff and alumni and the number of articles published in prestigious journals Nature and Science.

Outside the top 100, universities are banded into groups of 50 or 100 to accommodate statistically insignificant variations in scores at this level.

The ARWU has been published annually since 2013 by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy.

The highest ranking Indian university features in the 301-400 bracket — Indian Institute Of Science.

Hyderabad: Poisonous Gas Inside Manhole Claims 4 Lives

Hyderabad: Four men including three manhole-cleaning sanitary workers, choke to death in Madhapur — the city's IT area, after inhaling poisonous gases like methane that are usually emitted inside a closed manhole. The fourth man was a Samaritan, cab driver Gangadhar, who saw the trio going in to clean, but not exiting the manhole for a significant amount of time. He lowered himself to rescue them but did not come out alive himself.

That the tragedy occurred just 36 hours before the nation turned 70 only emphasizes that India@70 is still inside a manhole. That even seven decades later, India has not been able to give freedom to sanitary workers who have to clean the city’s sewage that includes faeces, dead rodents and garbage, manually. It is something that no country that believes in dignity of a human being would do.

You would think that the more progressive part of Hyderabad, that showcases its T-Hub, its start-up ecosystem and software export figures to the world, would move away from this primitive practice of employing men to clean the underbelly of the city. But the tragedy shows that if you scratch the veneer of fake sophistry and gloss, everyone remains logged into the same abominable practice — of treating some men worse than animals.

In this case, like it happens in most cases, the workers did not wear safety gear when they got into the 25 feet deep manhole. They were apparently unskilled labourers, who walked into a deathtrap. The compensation amount of Rs 2.5 lakh that the government has announced is nothing but a way of washing its hands of any guilt.

The Hyderabad Water Board officials say the agency which undertook this cleaning up job had been blacklisted for similar negligence earlier and undertook this task without permission.

Even though the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013 had spoken of eliminating hazardous manual cleaning of sewer and septic tanks and their rehabilitation, the action on the ground has belied the promise. It is almost farcical that only death gets the families of victims some compensation but in case of the workers suffering injuries or infections, there is no social security cover.

Dengue Death Toll Reaches 17

Kolkata: With two more deaths, the dengue toll in West Bengal, since January, went up to 17 on Monday, a senior health department official said. One of the victims was from Dum Dum and the other from North 24 Parganas’ Bangaon. Both were women and died on Sunday.

“The death count has now become 17. Most of the victims were from North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts,” he said. Satpathy said, 77 fresh cases of dengue were reported in the last 24 hours. “The number of dengue cases in the state since January now stands at 2,870,” he said.

There has been a sharp rise in dengue cases across the state this monsoon. With most of the affected patients undergoing treatment at Dr B C Roy Memorial Hospital For Children and Beliaghata ID hospital, the leave of all doctors and paramedical staff, including nurses and lab technicians, have been cancelled.With dengue cases multiplying each passing day, and patients crowding the hospitals, the state government might cancel the leave of all health staff across the state in the near future.The move comes in the wake of hospitals struggling to deal with the influx of patients.

Meanwhile, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) suspended 30 municipal staff and two doctors for not working properly. KMC Mayor-in-Council, Health, Atin Ghosh while speaking to the media said, “late arrival” and “non-performance” of duties were the reasons behind the notices issued.

The chief minister had sought to reassure worried citizens few weeks back after she held a high-level meeting with the responsible authorities.

Petrol Prices Cut By Rs 1/Litre, Diesel By Rs 2

New Delhi: Petrol price was today cut by Rs 1 per litre while diesel rate was lowered by Rs 2 per litre. Revised prices will take effect from midnight.

Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 60.09 per litre, and diesel will cost Rs 50.27 a litre. Fuel prices were last revised on July 31, when the price of petrol price was lowered by Rs 1.42 a litre while that of diesel was reduced by Rs 2.01 per litre.

Petrol and diesel prices are deregulated in India, which means they are linked to market rates. State-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) revise rates of the fuels on the first and 16th of every month based on the average oil price and foreign exchange rate in the preceding fortnight.

The rupee finished at 66.88 per dollar on Friday. The Indian currency has appreciated by 13 paise, or 0.2 percent, since last price revision.

Speaking on the issue, ICO said, “The current level of international product prices of petrol and diesel and rupee-dollar exchange rate warrant a decrease in selling price of petrol and diesel, the impact of which is being passed on to the consumers with this price revision.”

 The movement of prices in the international oil market and rupee-USD exchange rate shall continue to be monitored closely and developing trends of the market will be reflected in future price changes, IOC added.  

Coastal Guard’s Rescue Operation Found Most Fishing Trawlers and Fishermen in Bay of Bengal

Kolkata: All seven fishing trawlers which were missing from Wednesday morning due to heavy thunderstorms and a hit of cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal, was found by the coast guards. The trawlers had as many as 118 fishermen on board.

Details of the fishermen were provided to the coast guard officials by the Kakdwip fishermen's association.

As the latest news updates have revealed, coast guard officials has received a complaint from the fisheries department about the lost fishing trawlers; the officials started a search operation immediately since then. Also, of the seven trawlers, four boats returned safely to the harbor. One was found with engine malfunction and was located by Coast Guard ship Raziya Sultana.

The coast guard officials have deployed two Coast Guard ship and a Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft in the rescue operation which found the remaining boats later. 

Reports are that the Met Office had no alert message for the fishermen, however deep depression and cyclonic storm were in the weather forecast. All The trawlers went for fishing to the Kakdwip Steamer Ghat.

Abraj Kudai Hotel-Mecca

Mecca will soon be the home to the world’s largest hotel, Abraj Kudai. Apart from its historic and religious significance, Mecca will now become an important tourist destination too by 2017.

With 10,000 rooms, 12 towers- of which 10 will be four star and two will be for five-star guests, more than 70 restaurants and 48 storeys, the hotel will also four computer-generated helipads on the roof. Abraj Kudai’s podium will accommodate a bus station, shopping mall, food courts, conference centre and car parks.

Abraj Kudai will have five special floors, always reserved for the members of the Saudi Royal Family. The project will cost an estimated $3.5 billion to complete. It is excepted that the hotel will showcase the ‘unparalleled size, height as well as location, exposure and architectural style.’ The hotel building will also ‘pose itself as a striking landmark with a profoundly modern multifunctional identity relating to both the Saudi locality and the Islamic universality of its expected users.’

A dome on top of two mid towers will add an extra binge to the hotel. The dome, which will be one of the world’s largest domes atop its tallest tower, will comprise a ballroom and convention centre, making another record of its own.

However, the details secure that the Abraj Kudai hotel is not only the largest of its genre, but it is also one of the costliest. The hotel will boast 64,000 square-metres of total area of the building while 1,400,000 square-metres is the complete floor area.

According to a latest news development, despite of the largest hotel in making in Mecca, the locals miss the serene religious tone of the city that buckled the people together. Ziauddin Sardar, writer of Mecca: The Sacred City echoed this, saying: “The one beloved of all Muslims. The other is a place firmly rooted in time and space, where human nature is exhibited in all its foibles and ferocity.”

Lashkar-E-Tayyba Terrorist Agrees Fuelling Kashmir Unrest in NIA Custody

New Delhi: On Wednesday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has asserted that a Pakistani terrorist in its custody accepted that terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyba is ‘fuelling’ the unrest in Kashmir. The investigating agency also claimed that the terrorist was ‘infiltrated’ into Kashmir and was said to throw grenades at the security forces with the crowd.

“Bahadur Ali was member of one of the groups who was directed to take advantage of the current situation in Kashmir and throw grenades by mixing into the crowd,” Inspector-General Sanjeev Kumar Singh added,

Sources said that the terrorist, who claimed himself as Bahadur Ali alias Saifulla, is a resident of Lahore, Pakistan. Also, this is the first time NIA has released a video graph of the terrorist being interrogated and his confession, who was arrested in North Kashmir’s Kupwara on July 26.

Stating is a significant feat of the NIA officials, Singh said the evidence would ‘stand international judicial scrutiny and, if required, the agency will share it with Pakistan through proper channels for further action.’

Reports also revealed that the 21-year-old Pakistani was specially trained to use the advantage of the unrest followed killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani.

Hillary Slams Trump for ‘Inciting Casual Violence’; But Stirred Mess After Fresh Emails Found Links with Hilary Foundation and State Department

Washington: Following the public provocation of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton deprecated her opponent, saying that Trump is into ‘casual inciting of violence.’

It was on Tuesday when Trump was delivering a speech in North Carolina’s Wilmington and suggested that Clinton should be stopped by the gun owners of the state. Trump was there to speak about the next President’s power to appoint Supreme Court judges when he pronounced these extraordinary words. “Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the second amendment. If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the second amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know. But I’ll tell you what, that will be a horrible day,” he noted.

Clinton, who is a Democratic Party Presidential nominee, has asserted that, “Words matter, my friends. And if you are running to be President or if you are President of the United States, words can have tremendous consequences.” Her words, which had received huge applauds from the crowd, had also hinted to ‘further proof’ of Trump running the Presidential elections. 

In another development, 44 new emails have been released by the group Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog, showing connection of the Clinton Foundation with the State Department while Hilary was in office.

The emails have thrown lights on ‘questionable connection’ between the two, revealing that the philanthropic organization, run by Bill and Hillary Clinton, ‘not only sought to get job opportunities in the State Department, but also the help of in getting meetings with foreign government, alleged Judicial Watch which obtained these emails through Freedom of Information Act.’

2016 Rio Olympics: Day 5 Serves Highs & Lows For India

Rio de Janeiro: Day 5 of 2016 Rio Olympics brought a mixed bag of various highs and lows for India.

India’s Bombayla Devi and Deepika Kumari excelled as both won two games in a day to advance in the women's individual recurve event.

Competing in her third Olympics, the 31-year-old Bombayla, who finished 24th in the ranking round, dished out a dominating show to get the better of Chinese Taipei's Lin Shih-Chia 6-2 in the 1/16 elimination after beating Austria's Laurence Baldauff in 1/32 elimination round.

Deepika also put up an excellent show as she comprehensively defeated Italy's Sartori Guendalina 6-2 in the 1/16 elimination, after prevailing over her opponent from Georgia, Kristine Esebua, 6-4 in the 1/32 elimination round. The 22-year-old from Jharkhand, who had lost in the first round in London Games four years ago, came back strongly from a set down to register a dominating 24-27, 29-26, 28-26, 28-27 victory in the end.

However, Laxmirani Majhi suffered a 1-7 thrashing at the hands of Slovakia’s Alexandra Longova in the first round of the individual event.

In tennis, The Indian mixed doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna will start their campaign at the ongoing Rio Olympics on Thursday after most of the tennis matches had to be postponed due to rain.

Meanwhile, boxer Manoj Kumar’s win over London Olympics’ lightweight bronze-medallist Evaldas Petrauskas in the opening round of the light welterweight (64kg) category was one of India's brightest silver linings on Wednesday.

In weightlifting, Indian weightlifter Satish Sivalingam finished at 11^th position in the men’s 77kg Group B, to end his campaign in Rio. He lifted a total of 329 kg but was not close to the best lift of 346 kg in his group. The national record holder lifted 143 kg in his first snatch lift and 148 kg in his second snatch lift but he failed to lift 153 kg in his last snatch lift. In the clean and jerk attempt, he lifted 176 kg in the first lift and later lifted 181kg in the second attempt. But he again failed to lift in the third and crashed out of the event.

In Judo, India’s Avatar Singh lost to Popole Misenga of the Refugee Olympic Team in judo's 90 Kg Elimination Round of 32. The judoka from Punjab, lost by a single point at the Carioca Arena 2 on Judo Mat 2, following the end of five minutes of regular time. The 24-year-old suffered two penalty points that made it difficult for him. Misenga, who hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo, effected a shoulder throw on him to seal the victory.

On the other hand, the exit of Jitu Rai, winner of the gold medal in the same 50m pistol event in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games two years ago, dented India's hopes of another Olympics shooting gold.

Jitu started the qualification by scoring consistently and managed to hit the bull's eye on nine occasions in what is considered as his pet event and his cumulative scores after the six series qualification round read 92, 95, 90, 94, 95 and 88 to total 554. But a poor sixth and final series cost him the berth to the finals.

The Indian women’s hockey team witnessed a 1-6 defeat by higher-ranked Australia in its third group stage match. The defeat, which must have dented the team's morale, also raised big doubts over their qualification for the quarter-finals.

With more than two weeks still left, things are hopeful for India.

Dil Chahta Hai Celebrates 15th Anniversary, Possible Sequel On The Cards

The movie hit the silver screens 15 years back on August 10, 2001 and won millions of hearts. Starring an awesome ensemble star cast of Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni and Dimple Kapadia; the movie became one of the biggest blockbusters of 2001.

Director Farhan Akhtar made his directorial debut with this film. It was also the first film written by him. The 42-year-old director was quite nostalgic as he took to his social media to post about the film & the memories attached. He tweeted, “#DilChahtaHai turns 15 today. Thank you to all who made it happen and to all who keep it alive. Big hug”

When a fan asked him on Twitter if the film’s sequel is in the pipeline, he neither confirmed it nor did he deny it, hanging thousands of fans with the hoe of a possible sequel in the near future.

The film is set in modern-day urban Mumbai and Sydney and focuses on a major period of transition in the lives of three young friends.

The film won The National Film award for Best Hindi Film. It also won five Filmfare awards from nine nominations at the 47^th Filmfare awards including Critic’s Award for Best Film, Best Performance In A Supporting Role, Male For Akshaye Khanna, Best Performance In A Comic Role for Saif Ali Khan, three IIFAs, two Zee Cine awards, among others.

The film received praise from critics for portraying contemporary Indian youth as cosmopolitan and urban. Over the years, the film has gained a cult status.  It also paved the way for coming-of-age movies like Lakshya and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

Well, if the sequel comes out, then it is surely set to become one of the most anticipated Bollywood movies of near future, although it will be difficult to match the level of its prequel, but Farhan Akhtar has a sense of delivering the best always.

115 Builders To Take Part In 3-Day Property Show

Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI)’s ‘Hyderabad Property Show-2016’ will be held from August 13 to 15.

The three-day property show will be held at Hitex. The programme will showcase the properties of more than 115 builders, thus providing the prospective home buyers with an opportunity to inquire about wide array of properties of various segments and price ranges.

Speaking on the event, P Ramakrishna Rao, General Secretary of CREDAI, Hyderabad, said, “The situation has changed a lot from the time fourth Hyderabad Property Show was held in August 2014 to now. City’s realty sector has put behind a prolonged slump and is experiencing a positive momentum over the past six months.”

“Therefore we found it apt to organize a property show to enable home buyers know about the authentic properties from all over city at one place. We are expecting more than one lakh prospective home buyers to visit the show,” he further added.

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) is the apex body of private Real Estate developers representing 11500 Members spread across 23 State level Chapters and 162 City level Chapters in India.

The National Convention of CREDAI, called NATCON organized every year at a location outside India serves the knowledge enhancing and peer to peer functions of CREDAI. Fifteen NATCONs organized so far have seen, an average attendance of about 800 members and experts from the real estate sector, senior professionals from the financial world and ancillary industries. NATCON enables CREDAI members to understand emerging global trends in the real estate industry.

Tata Chemicals Sells Urea Business To Yara Fertilisers In Rs 2,670 Crore Deal

Mumbai: On Wednesday, Tata Chemicals Limited announced that it will sell its business of sale and distribution of urea and customized fertilizers manufactured at Babrala, Uttar Pradesh, to Yara Fertilizers India Private Limited for a consideration of Rs 2,670 crore.

 However, Tata Chemicals will continue to own the brands Paras, TKS and Daksha. The urea business along with the assets, liabilities, contracts, deeds etc shall be transferred and vested with Yara India on a slump sale basis, Tata Chemicals said on Wednesday.

The company said that the divestment is in line with the strategic direction of the company to continue to strengthen the fertilizer businesses by partnerships and transfer of ownership to world class companies. “The divestment of the urea business by Tata Chemicals will unlock value for the company, strengthen its balance sheet and will help to pursue growth potentials and opportunities in line with its strategic directions,” the company statement said.

 R. Mukundan, managing director, Tata Chemicals said the sale marks a decisive move on part of the company to move ahead on its strategy to build consumer business while maintaining leadership in inorganic chemicals business and focusing the farm through its subsidiary Rallis and Metahelix.

Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL) is an Indian global company with interests in chemicals, crop nutrition and consumer products. The company is one of the largest chemical companies in India with significant operations in India and Africa. Tata Chemicals is a subsidiary of Tata Group conglomerate.

Yara International ASA is a Norwegian chemical company. Its largest business area is the production of nitrogen fertilizers, however it also encompasses the production of dry ice, nitrates, ammonia, urea and other nitrogen-based chemicals.

Medical Admission Racket Kingpin Arrested

Kolkata: On Wednesday, the Kolkata police arrested the kingpin of a racket involving admissions to medical colleges, as well as his associates.

Jayanta Das, 52 and his associate Pintu Dey, 42 were arrested from Dum Dum’s Mall Road based on a complaint filed last December by Ashish Kumar Laha.

The complainant alleged that he had been cheated of Rs 12 lakh, for which he had been promised a seat in a medical college for his son, a senior police officer said.

They had been running a coaching centre called Vivekananda Institute at Santoshpur in south Kolkata, and had advertised in newspapers, promising admission to both government-run and private medical colleges, he said.

The police had earlier arrested three others — husband-wife duo Chaitali Dutta, Ritwick Dutta and Ujjal Saha — who were part of the gang, and recovered Rs 60 lakh from them, the officer said.

“They used to show forged certificates to those who came to their institution in order to gain their trust,” he said. Several complaints had been filed when Vivekanand Institute’s office had suddenly vanished last August, the officer said.

2016 Rio Olympics: Michael Phelps Wins His 20th And 21st Gold Medals

Rio de Janeiro: Michael Phelps again proved that he is the undisputed king of Olympics as e won his 20th and 21st Olympic gold medal putting the total count of his Olympic medal tally to 25 on Tuesday.

Phelps made up for one of the rare losses in his brilliant career by winning the 200-meter butterfly, a triumph that sent him climbing into the stands to kiss his 3-month-old son Boomer. An hour later, he returned to take what amounted to nothing more than a triumphant victory lap in anchoring the 4x200 freestyle relay, the crowd's deafening roar growing louder with every stroke.

This was another performance for the ages, but Phelps has done it so many times that nothing else would have been fitting. It came on a night that American teammate Katie Ledecky picked up her second gold of the Rio Olympics on the way to what could be a historic run of her own in the pool.

Phelps now has 25 medals in all, and three more races in Rio to add to his almost unimaginable total.

The 200 fly was the one he really wanted, and it showed. With challengers all around, Phelps simply wouldn't be denied. After touching the wall first — by a mere four-hundredths of a second — he held up one finger. Then he sat on a lane rope, egging on the roaring crowd at the Olympic Aquatics Center with both hands, before emphatically pumping his fist.

Tears welled in his eyes during the medal ceremony — until somebody in the crowd cracked him up. Then, during the customary stroll around the pool to pose for photographers, Phelps broke ranks and bounded into the stands to plant a kiss on Boomer, the son who symbolizes just how much Phelps' life has changed since a second drunken-driving arrest two years ago.

Phelps held off Japan’s Masato Sakai with a time of 1 minute, 53.36 seconds, but that number was of little concern.

The only thing that mattered was getting to the wall first.

2016 Rio Olympics: Media Bus Carrying Journalists Attacked, No Serious Injuries

Rio de Janeiro: On Tuesday, two windows were shattered when an Olympic bus carrying journalists was hit by an unknown projectile. There were no serious injuries. 

We don’t know yet if the bus was shot, or it was a stone,” organizing committee spokesman Mario Andrada told The Associated Press.

Andrada said three of the 12 journalists on the bus suffered minor injuries. Two windows were shattered, with tiny chards of glass remaining in place.

“There was kind of a popping noise and something hit two windows on the side of the bus and left two hole marks, which looked like bullet holes,” David Davies, a photographer for the British-based news agency Press Association, told the AP.

He said occupants hit the floor, unsure what was happening. Davies said the bus eventually picked up a police escort. The bus was traveling from the northern venue cluster of Deodoro to the main Olympic Park in the suburb of Barra da Tijuca.

The incident raises more concerns about security at the Rio de Janeiro Games. Rio is deploying about 85,000 soldiers and police to secure the games, twice as many as London did four years ago.

On Saturday, a stray bullet flew through the roof of a media tent at the Olympic Equestrian Center. Officials said it had been fired from a hillside favela, but said the games had not been targeted. Organizers said the intended target was probably a security camera on a blimp.

Megan Fox And Brian Austin Green Welcome Third Son

Los Angeles: American Actor and model Megan Fox has given birth to her third son by her husband, American actor Brian Austin Green. The baby has been named as Journey River Green.

On Tuesday, People Magazine that Journey River Green was born on August 4. Fox and Green are also the parents of Noah Shannon, 3 and Bodhi Ransom, 2. Green has a 14-year-old son named Kassius from a previous relationship.

E News, which also announced the birth of the newest addition to the family, said 30-year-old Fox surprised fans at 2016 Cinema Con in the spring when she showed off a baby bump months after filing for divorce from 43-year-old Green, her spouse of five years.

Green and Fox first met in 2004 when Green guest-starred on Fox’s series Hope and Faith, and they married in 2010. The couple split in 2015, with Fox filing for divorce last August, but they were later reconciled.  As per sources, Brian and Megan have been working on themselves as individuals and things have gotten better between them as a couple. The formerly estranged couple has reportedly since called off their divorce plans.

Now that the baby has finally arrived, there is one element of the brunette beauty's parenting style we know for sure—this child won't be on social media anytime soon. In fact, don't count on the baby sitting in front of any kind of screen in the near future. “I try to keep (the kids) from television and movies for the most part because I think screen time—any sort of screen whether it's television or iPad or iPhone—is really bad for their brain development, so I try to remove that from their lives,” she said. “I’m going to deter them from ever being a part of social media because I think it's detrimental to a child's self esteem.”

Dutch Employment Agency Randstad Acquires Monster.Com For $429 Million

On Tuesday, Dutch temporary employment agency Randstad announced that it is buying up US jobs site Monster for $429 million (EUR 386.8 million or roughly Rs. 2,868 crores), boosting its foothold in the United States.

Monster.com is one of the most visited employment websites in the United States and one of the largest in the world. It was created in 1999 by the merger of The Monster Board (TMB) and Online Career Center (OCC), which were two of the first and most popular career web sites on the internet. Monster is primarily used to help those seeking work to find job openings, for lower to mid-level employment, that match their skills and location. It has its headquarters in Weston, Massachusetts, USA. The company has approximately 5,000 employees on its payroll in 36 countries. In 2008, Monster had over a million job postings at any time and over one million resumes in the database and over 63 million job seekers per month.

“Under the terms of the merger agreement, Randstad will pay $3.40 per share in cash, or a total purchase price of approximately $429 million,” Randstad, which is based in the Diemen suburb of Amsterdam, said in a statement. Randstad said it aimed to leverage Monster’s network “to build the world’s most comprehensive portfolio of HR (human resources) services”.

Randstad chief executive Jacques van den Broek said, “In an era of massive technological change, employers are challenged to identify better ways to source and engage talent.”

Under the deal, Randstad is offering $3.40 per share in cash some 22.7 percent up on Monster’s closing price on Monday.

Randstad will finance the merger through existing credit facilities, and the acquisition is expected to be completed by the final quarter of 2016.

In 2015, Randstad achieved a turnover of €19.2 billion and a net income of €518.8 million. The Dutch multinational human resource consulting firm employs around 29,000 staff. Globally, Randstad has 4,473 branches. IT is the world’s second-largest HR service provider after Adecco. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1960 by Frits Goldschmeding and operates in around 39 countries. Its headquarters is located at Diemen, Netherlands.

Former Arunachal Pradesh CM Kalikho Pul Commits Suicide

Itanagar: On Tuesday, Former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Kalikho Pul was found dead and hanging from a ceiling fan, police and officials said, after a court ruled last month that his appointment had been illegal.

The Supreme Court ruling dealt a blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitions of expanding in the northeast, where his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) scored its first state election victory in the region with a win in Assam in May.

Kalikho Pul, 47, until July the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, had suffered from depression and was upset over the judgment, his aides told media.

“He has committed suicide,” Nabam Tuki, a senior lawmaker of the opposition Congress party said in the capital of the vast but sparsely populated region bordering China. Pul’s family discovered the body in his bedroom at the Chief Minister’s residence. Media said he had left a diary, which police were examining.

A politician with Congress since 1995, Pul became Chief Minister in February after rebelling against the party. He was put in charge by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s federal government, which had imposed direct rule in the state to end a political crisis.

But the Supreme Court held illegal the imposition of president’s rule, as it is called in India, ordering that the dislodged Congress should return to power immediately, forcing Pul out from office. China claims more than 90,000 sq km (35,000 sq miles) of territory disputed by India in the eastern sector of the Himalayas. Much of that forms the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China calls South Tibet.

India says China occupies 38,000 square km (14,600 sq miles) of its territory on the Aksai Chin plateau in the west.

Bihar Intermediate Exam Scam Kingpin Arrested In West Bengal

Kolkata: On Tuesday, a suspect in the Bihar topper scam, Vikas Kumar was arrested from Maheshtala Jhinjhirabazar in South-24 Parganas in a joint raid by the West Bengal CID and Bihar ATS.

Kumar, 39, a resident of Bihar’s Pataliputra, is a clerk and storekeeper with Bihar State Examination Board (BSEB). He had allegedly played an important role in several such scams.

This comes days after BSEB Class XII Arts topper Ruby Rai was arrested in the exam racket.

Rai had famously described the political science subject as “prodigal science”, and also described it as the science of “cooking” before television cameras after the results were announced, and she was declared the topper. The education board later cancelled her results after she failed in the re-test that was conducted. Two other toppers, Saurabh Shreshtha and Rahul Kumar, also failed their re-exams.

“Vikas Kumar had been absconding for a long time. He was finally arrested in a joint raid by the CID and Bihar Police officials… The Bihar Police had been tracking him. They will take him to Bihar where he will be interrogated further,” said CID DIG (Operations) Dilip Adak.

“Vikas is believed to be one of the key accused in the Ruby Rai case. His exact role is a matter of investigation,” said a senior officer.

Sources said a Mathura-based agency had received the tender to print question papers for BSEB. However, Kumar being a clerk at BSEB, handed over the question papers to another agency, Bindya Enterprises, for printing purposes. He reportedly took help from his associate, R Kishore, in this.

7th Pay Commission: Pre-2016 Retirees To Get Pension Hike

New Delhi: All pre-2016 retirees will get the benefits of seventh Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommendations like hike in pension and arrears by this month end, the government has said.

For existing pensioners, who have retired till December 31, 2015, the revised pension or family pension with effect from this year shall be determined by multiplying the pension or family pension, as had been fixed at the time of implementation of sixth CPC recommendations, by 2.57, it said, adding that, the amount of revised pension so arrived at shall be rounded off to next higher rupee.

The Seventh CPC’s recommendations will be implemented from January 1, 2016. The ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions has issued an order regarding increase in pension and grant of arrears to pre-2006 retirees. “It is considered desirable that the benefit of these orders should reach the pensioners as expeditiously as possible,” the ministry said.

To achieve this objective it is desired that all pension disbursing authorities should ensure that the revised pension and the arrears due to the pensioners is paid or credited to their account by August 31, 2016 or before positively, it said.

Further, public sector banks handling disbursement of pension to the central government pensioners are hereby authorised to pay pension or family pension to existing pensioners at the revised rates “without any further authorisation from the concerned Accounts Officers or Head of Office etc”, the order said. There are about 58 lakh central government pensioners.

2016 Rio Olympics: Judoka Rafaela Silva Wins First Gold For Brazil

Rio de Janeiro: Brazil’s Rafaela Silva overcame top seed Dorjsürengiin Sumiyaa of Mongolia to win gold in the women’s - 57kg judo on Monday, sending the crowd into joyous celebration of their first Olympic gold as host country.

Silva raised her arms to the crowd in triumph as she beat Dorjsürengiin on a waza-ari, following a pulsating semi-finals victory that went into extra time against Romania’s Corina Caprioriu.

Portugal’s Telma Monteiro and Japan’s Kaori Matsumoto won bronze.

Silva’s win also settles an old Olympic score. At the 2012 London Games, she was disqualified for an illegal leg grab during a fight against Hedvig Karakas of Hungary. 

This time, it was Silva who advanced from their quarterfinal match.

Silva, who is from Brazil's largest favela and trained at a judo dojo founded by former Olympic bronze medalist Flavio Canto, was in top form for much of the day. Her first match lasted only 46 seconds. Silva developed her aggression trying to survive in her violent neighborhood, which has been 'pacified' — or taken over by military police. Still, it's a violent area and Silva's rise is seen as a symbol of hope in the favelas.

Meanwhile, USA won two gold medals and six medals in four finals on Monday night. When it comes to the pool, the team already has 14 medals — or as many as the next six most successful countries combined. That dominance helped push the USA to the medal lead with 19 platform appearances in only three days of competition. In total, USA has 19 medals (five gold, seven silver and seven bronze). China, with five gold medals and 13 total medals (three silver and five bronze), currently ranks second. Australia ranks at number three with four gold and three bronze medals for a total of seven medals. Italy ranks at fourth position with nine medals (three gold, four silver and two bronze medals), while Japan round off the top five with ten medals (three gold and seven bronze medals).