Baltimore (USA): Olympic swimming great Michael Phelps looked to the future, including the Rio Olympics in 2016, after he dodged a stint in prison for drunk driving.
Nagapattinam: An engineer was missing after a barge carrying 60 tonnes of essential commodities and diesel to a ship engaged in exploration activities off Nagapattinam coast sank in the sea, Coast Guard officials said.
The CG managed to rescue seven workers on board but the Engineer Ranjith Singh, who was in command of the barge, was missing.
They had set sail from Karaikal port on Thursday to ferry the items to the ship owned by a Mumbai-based firm, officials said.
Last evening, the barge developed a problem when it was off Nagapattinam coast with workers spotting an oil leak. When the engineer was trying to set things right, a glass pane of the barge broke and sea water started getting in following which it started sinking.
The seven workers managed to jump into the sea.
On information, Indian Coast Guard, Karaikal Station Commander Uddhal Singh deputed a vessel to the spot which rescued the workers struggling in the water and brought them to shore. They were given first aid and admitted to Karaikal Government Hospital last night.
However, the team could not trace the engineer, a native of Mumbai, Singh said, adding, search operations were still on.
A listless India capitulated to a four-wicket defeat in the second cricket Test against Australia with an inept batting display by the top-order to give the hosts an invincible 2-0 lead in the four-match series here today.
Resuming at the overnight score of 71 for one, the visitors lost four wickets in quick succession with an addition of only 16 runs and were eventually bowled out for 224 in 64.3 overs.
Chasing a paltry victory target of 128, Australians lost as many as six wickets but were always in control as they knocked off the required runs with more than a day to spare in what turned out to be a miserable fourth day for the Indians at the Gabba.
Nothing seemed to go right for the visitors when play started this morning with regular opener and overnight unbeaten batsman Shikhar Dhawan (81) not coming out to bat.
Dhawan, apparently suffered an injury to his right wrist during the morning practice session which led to Virat Kohli (1) coming out with Cheteshwar Pujara (43).
Kohlis early departure virtually triggered off the collapse as Mitchell Johnson ripped through the top-order and finished with figures of four for 61 while Josh Hazlewood (2/74), Mitchell Starc (2/27) and Nathan Lyon (2/33) also chipped in.
Had it not been for 60-run eighth wicket partnership between Dhawan and Umesh Yadav (30), India wouldnt have been able to set a three-figure target.
Australian run-chase was marked by two early jolts with David Warner (6) and Shane Watson (0) and though they continued to lose wickets, the target was never beyond reach.
Mitchell Marshs cover drive brought about the victory triggering off scenes of celebrations in the Australian camp as the players hugged each other.
The defeat also brought to the fore Indias dismal record outside the sub-continent with their 15th defeat in the last three and half years.
Mahendra Singh Dhonis poor track record as Test captain in overseas conditions continued as he lost his 14th Test match outside the sub-continent. Dhoni has now lost seven Tests in England, four in Australia, one in New Zealand, one in South Africa since 2011.
The two teams will now travel to Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test with Australia needing a win or atleast a draw to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Even though there couldnt be excuse for abject surrender, India did suffer due to a few umpiring howlers with Rohit Sharma (0) and Ravichandran Ashwin (19) being adjudged out when the TV replays showed that there was no nick.
However one cant deny that Indian batsmen were done in by the extra bounce.
When Australia chased, Chris Rogers (55 runs, 57 balls, 10 fours) and Steve Smith (28 runs, 39 balls, 4 fours) added 63 runs for the third wicket to lay the platform which ensured that Australia reached home safely despite the fall of a few wickets.
Rogers brought up his seventh Test half-century off exactly 50 balls, playing the aggressor as the Australian batsmen scored at a good pace. Their 50-mark came up in the 13th over and only two overs later they celebrated their 50-run stand.
India suffered a blow to any hopes they had of winning the match when Smith, on nine, was dropped in the 14th over off Varun Aaron (0-38) by Virat Kohli at second slip. Then came the hiccups with Rogers the first to go, caught at third slip off Ishant Sharma (3-38).
Shaun Marsh (17) then added a quick-fire 29 runs for the 4th wicket with Smith, before being dismissed off Umesh Yadav (2-46) in the 21st over, caught behind as he tried to clip one to the leg-side.
Smith was run-out in the very next over, and when Brad Haddin (1) was caught at fine leg in the 23rd over, there was still some cricket left to play as Australia struggled to 122/6. But Mitchell Marsh (6 not out) and Mitchell Johnson (2 not out) had none of it, taking their side home without any more fuss.
Just before tea, Ishant took two quick wickets to send back David Warner (6) and Shane Watson (0), reducing the hosts to 25/2 at the break and raising visions of a tough fight-back from the touri
DUBAI: A bomb blast in a Shiite village in Bahrain, the scene of simmering unrest since anti-government protests were crushed in 2011, has left three policemen slightly wounded, officials said.
The three were on patrol in the village of Bani Jamra when the blast occurred, the Gulf kingdom’s Interior Ministry said in a statement on Twitter posted late Friday.
It said that the three sustained minor injuries, describing the explosion as a “terrorist” blast and adding that “necessary steps are being taken,” without elaborating.
Witnesses said that the blast occurred late Friday and that security forces swiftly sealed off the village, which lies not far from the capital Manama.
They added that a young protester was also injured in clashes with police in another Shiite village, Sanabes, late Friday.
Attacks against security forces have intensified this year.
Two people, including a Jordanian policeman, were killed in the area last week.
It was the first deadly attack on security forces since parliamentary polls in November boycotted by the main Shiite opposition group, which is calling for democratic reforms in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.
The election was the first in the Gulf state since authorities quelled the 2011 protests.
Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, remains deeply divided three years after the month-long demonstrations.
Protests still frequently break out in Bahrain’s Shiite villages, sometimes sparking clashes with police.
Attacks on the security forces have increased this year, with three policemen – including an Emirati – killed in a bombing in a Shiite area on March 3.
Another policeman was killed in a bomb blast in a Shiite village in February during protests marking the third anniversary of the failed uprising.
With an aim of preserving and revitalising the soul of old cities, government will launch the Rs 500 crore heritage city development project early next year.
National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) will be launched for 12 selected cities early next year, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said at a workshop organised here for the project.
The cities selected for the HRIDAY project are Amritsar, Varanasi, Gaya, Puri, Ajmer, Velankanni, Mathura, Kanchipuram, Dwarka, Badami, Warangal and Amravati.
The cities selected under the scheme are symbolic of the broad diversity in the heritage prevalent in our country, in form of their cultural, regional and religious identities, he said, adding, “More cities will be identified in due course based on joint consultations between Centre and states.”
As per the plan of action, steps will be taken to tap the unlimited potential underlying in tourism and heritage sector unleashing the power of skillful artisans and traditional economy.
“Our aim is to preserve the rich heritage and showcase them to the next generation as the contribution or achievements of our ancestors,” he said.
The project with a time-frame of three to five years and an outlay of Rs 500 crores in Phase 1 is expected to be launched next year.
Naidu said the entire funding will be from the Centre and the cities will have to submit the detailed project report for this.
HRIDAY will have four themes – physical infrastructure, institutional infrastructure, economic infrastructure and social infrastructure for reviving and revitalising the soul of heritage city.
He said the project is also open to private participation. “If any organisation wants to join it then it is OK because citizens’ engagement shall be pivotal”.
“A liitle effort on our side can create transformational changes, which will make the past, the present and the future generations of the country and the world proud of India,” he said.
The United Nations has been talking to the Afghan Taliban on measures to limit the impact of the conflict on civilians, as it recorded the highest ever number of civilians killed and injured in Afghanistan in 2014.
UN’s top official in Afghanistan Nicholas Haysom told reporters here yesterday that the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is continuing discussions with all parties, including the Taliban, to strengthen mitigating measures to limit the impact of the conflict on civilians.
“We think it is really important to engage all parties to the conflict on the question of civilian casualties…We have more recently engaged with the Taliban,” he said.
UNAMA continues to advocate and lobby all parties particularly “anti-government elements” to do much more to abide by their legal obligation under international law and under Afghan law to reduce civilian casualties and to not attack civilians either deliberately or indiscriminately.
Haysom highlighted the devastating impact of the conflict on Afghan civilians.
Civilian casualties in Afghanistan increased by nearly 20 per cent in 2014 compared to the previous year and are expected to rise to a figure over 10,000 by end of December for the first time since the UN mission in the country began keeping record in 2008.
UNAMA documented that from January 2014 to the end of November there were 9,617 civilian casualties which includes 3,188 civilian deaths and 6,429 civilian injuries.
“One of the measurements of the security situation has been civilian casualties,” the special envoy said.
“Civilian casualties are a particularly tragic and very prominent part, even benchmark, of the horror of the violence that ordinary Afghans face.”
As of November 30, UNAMA recorded more civilian deaths and injuries during 2014 than in any other year since it began its authoritative reports in 2009.
Civilian casualties increased 19 per cent overall from last year, Haysom said. These casualties resulted mostly from ground engagements between parties to the conflict, improvised explosive devices, and suicide and complex attacks.
Insurgents were responsible for at least 75 per cent of the casualties. Children casualties increased 33 per cent compared to 2013, with casualties among women up 12 per cent.
Georgette Gagnon, the Director of Human Rights at the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said current projections indicate that 2014 will be the first year that the civilian casualty count will pass 10,000 civilian casualties since it began its reports.
Hunger strike broken due to AAP-MUMBAI. Since last 8 days the teachers of Swami Vivekand high school situated at Appa wada,Malad East were sitting on an indefinite hunger strike at Ismal Yusuf college outside the Education Department Building to protest against the injustice and atrocity of the school management and the trust headed By Mr Shamsher Singh . The most astonishing fact is that some of the officers of the Education department namely the Education Inspector Mr Bagul,Clerk Mrs Tawde were also hand in glove with the trust. AAP-MUMBAI committee took the issue head on and the Mumbai secretary Mayank Jain along with Mr Kiran Advankar, Rakesh kakria, Shobha Pande met the Deputy Director of education Mr Fadtare and took him into confidence. Initially After being evasive about the situation The DDG visited the sight and took the case into his hands. After nearly hours of arguments and struggle Finally the DDG gave us /affected teachers the letter which statted the following :
1.Immediate Reinstatement of the teachers and a administrative enquiry on the trust.
2.Transfer of the Concerned officer Mr Bagul
3.Inquiry about the fraud committed by the trust with respect to the suspension, recruitment of permanent teachers.
Today Monday 16/12/14 After getting a written assurance from the DDG the teachers have now ended their fast .Parties like MNS AND SHIV SENA were pursuing the case for two years but only gave false assurances. AAP gave justice to the teachers in mere three days. This shows for good work and results will power is more important than simply power
New Delhi: In a move which is bound to have long-term political repercussions, a special CBI court on Tuesday directed the investigative agency to examine former prime minister Manmohan Singh over its probe into the allocation of the Talabira-II coal block to Hindalco in 2005, that involved top industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla.
Dr Singh held the coal portfolio in 2005.
Besides Dr Singh, the court also said it would be appropriate if the investigating officer examines B.V.R. Subramanyam, who was PS to Dr Singh, and T.K.A. Nair, who was then working as principal secretary in the PMO, in connection with the case.
Sending the matter back to the CBI for a further probe after it had filed a closure report, special judge Bharat Parashar said it would be “appropriate” that the then coal minister be “first examined” on various aspects of the matter.
India’s troubled airline SpiceJet has grounded flights after oil companies refused to refuel any of its planes, reports say.
The debt-ridden carrier owes money to creditors, including oil companies.
SpiceJet is India’s fourth-biggest airline by market share.
On Tuesday, civil aviation authorities gave SpiceJet a reprieve when they said state-owned oil companies would be asked to give credit to the cash-strapped airline for up to 15 days.
The civil aviation ministry also said that banks or other financial institutions would be asked to lend up to $94m (£60m), backed by a personal guarantee of SpiceJet chairman Kalanithi Maran, a well-known media businessman.
The ministry said the measures were aimed at avoiding a collapse which it said would be a “major setback” for the airline industry.
Correspondents say the government hopes to save jobs and prevent a repeat of the high-profile collapse of Kingfisher Airlines which was grounded in 2012.
It is not clear, however, why oil companies have refused to refuel SpiceJet planes after Tuesday’s announcements.
“Not even a single flight has taken off this morning due to fuel supply issue with the oil companies,” sources in the SpiceJet told the BBC on Wednesday.
SpiceJet has $314m (£200m) in debts and it is looking to raise funds.
The company has been unable to pay its dues to staff, airports, tax authorities and its lenders.
The airline, which has been making losses since last year, is also battling refunds for customers and forced flight cancellations.
It has already cut the size of its fleet by a third since September and cancelled dozens of flights a day for the rest of the year.
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