India wins Junior Asia Cup Hockey

India won the sixth Junior Asia Cup hockey championship, by beating strong contender South Korea 3-2 with a golden goal finish in extra time. The tournament was held in Hyderabad. South Korea put pressure on the Indian side from the very beginning and was leading 2-0 till 59th minute of the match. However, Indian colts fought back to level the score.

The match finally went into extra time. In the fourth minute of extra time, India's new found hero Diwakar Ram scored on a penalty corner and sealed the victory for his team. Diwakar scored two goals in the final and 9 goals in total in the tournament. Pakistan beat Bangladesh 7-2 to finish third.

Hockey India to host World Cup Hockey in 2010

Breaking News! The next World Cup Hockey will be held in India in 2010. It was confirmed by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). In a significant development, the hockey authorities in India have decided that Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) will be henceforth known as Hockey India.

Asaram Bapu's supporters on rampage in Ahmedabad, Journalists beaten

The controversy over the mysterious death of two students of Asaram Bapu's Gurukul in Ahmedabad, has taken an ugly turn, as his supporters armed with rods and lathis have come out in open to take on the public and media who are demanding a proper inquiry over the mysterious deaths.

Asaram Bapu's supporters went on a rampage on Friday during the Ahmedabad bandh called by local residents and beat up the bandh supporters. They did not even spare the media professionals and beat Gopi Ghanghar, a female reporter from Aaj Tak. She has been admitted to the hospital. The hooligans damaged several TV cameras. The police is yet to arrest the culprits.

Yesterday, Asaram Bapu had to flee, when local residents tried to gherao his car. The residents accused Asaram Bapu and his disciples of performing 'black magic' and demanded a proper inquiry into the death of two students under mysterious circumstances. The dead bodies were found on the bank of Sabarmati River on July 5.

Political Battle heats up in Capital; Congress, Left and BJP are on Warpath

The political battle intensified just four days before the crucial trust vote that will decide the fate of the UPA government at the Centre. The Congress, which relies on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to turn to the masses in case the government falls, received more bad news on Thursday. Harish Nagpal, independent MP from Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, decided to support BJP and vote against the UPA during the vote of confidence.

In a desperate bid to woo Ajit Singh's RLD, the UPA government named the Lucknow Airport after the name of his father Chaudhary Charan Singh. However, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan met Ajit Singh at his residence and both leaders addressed a joint press conference. Although Ajit Singh hasn't yet divulged his plans, he may ultimately go with the Left, giving a jolt to the Congress and UPA. The Telengana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has already decided to vote against the government. The Congress is trying its best to woo Shibu Soren's JMM, Omar Abdullah's NC and Devegowda's JD(S).

The UPA is finding it difficult to garner support to survive the trust vote. The party leaders have already launched unofficial campaigns in some states. If we believe the indications, the four-year-old UPA government is all set to fall on July 22. However, nothing can be predicted in this political game. If the UPA and its allies manage to get 10 - 12 votes in their favor, they may survive the trust vote and emerge stronger under the leadership of PM Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Supratim Dutta - impaled by Iron Angle, had a miraculous escape from death

Breaking News! This news should generate passion for the life among all and teach us to live despite all odds. 23-year-old Supratim Dutta, an HCL Employee fought death for 7.5 hours and finally came alive. The incident occurred on July 12, 2008, when Supratim was going to his Gurgaon office in the office car. Interestingly, it was his last day in office, as he was supposed to join another company from next month.

The driver of the car lost control and hit the Metro barricades on Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road in Delhi. The impact was such that a five-feet-long and 2 inches wide iron angle pierced through the bonnet, then the dashboard and impaled Supratim. But Supratim did not lose hope. He called his mother, cousin and colleagues on mobile phone to inform them about his accident. His colleague Saurabh Aggarwal was the first to reach the spot. He, with the help of other people, managed to cut the rod and rushed Supratim to AIIMS Trauma Centre.

When Supratim reached the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre, AIIMS, the doctors were astonished. They later admitted that they never witnessed such a scene in their life. The doctors had a tough time to handle this case. The surgery lasted for six hours during which iron angle was carefully removed. The iron angle not only partially damaged Supratim's liver and lungs, but also it damaged at least 10 ribs. However, Supratim is now out of danger is kept under medical observation.

By God's grace, Supratim Dutta's spine was not damaged and his body movements remain intact. The doctors do not see any further danger to his life although they did not rule out infection. The surgery was rarest of rare, as the object was not sharp and it was pierced through the chest. It was Supratim's will power, God's blessings and Doctors' efforts that gave him a new lease of life. Death is finally beaten........

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee keeps everyone guessing

Even though Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee broke his silence over his resignation speculations, he still kept everyone guessing by telling the media, "It is a million dollar question...you keep on speculating". He urged the media and public to wait till July 22 to know what he was going to do.

It became apparent that Somnath Chatterjee is upset his party for putting him in an embarrassing position. The Left parties had included Somnath's name on the list of MPs that withdrew support to the UPA government. Somnath tried to put up a brave face by stating that Speaker's post is above party politics. However, Left parties are not relenting and they want the veteran CPI(M) leader to resign.

There have been speculations in the media that Somnath Chatterjee is going to quit both Speaker's post and CPM membership once the trust vote is over. However, the veracity of such reports is not yet established. Meanwhile the CPM sources said that there was nothing wrong in including Somnath's name in the list of MPs withdrawing support to the UPA government, as he was elected on a party ticket.

Anil Ambani's Aircraft is in Customs Net

Continuing with its crackdown on private aircraft owners in order to track evasion of customs duty, the Customs department has issued a notice to Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) for payment of over Rs. 37 crore as duty on the import of a Bombardier BD-700 Global Express aircraft. The cost of the aircraft is estimated at Rs. 150 crore.

This is not the first instance the Customs department has caught any imported aircraft for the evasion of customs duty. It has already seized at least 10 aircrafts from Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Group, GMR, Oberoi and Indiabulls. The seized aircrafts have been released on bank guarantees and bonds. According to sources, Tatas, DLF and Raymonds are also on Customs department's hit list.

Jungle Warfare Training Schools to be set up to fight Naxal Menace

In order to fight the growing Naxal menace in several parts of the country, the Union government has come up with a plan to create a special anti-insurgency police force and jungle warfare training schools. The decision was taken at a meeting of officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs, chief secretaries and police director-generals from four states - Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh.

The government acknowledges that Maoists are the biggest threat to nation's peace and growth at this moment. The Maoists or Naxalites are active in 11 out of 28 states of the country. Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh and Andhra Pradesh are the worst affected states.

Naxalites kill 24 Orissa Policemen in Malkangiri

Breaking News! In a shocking development, the Maoists blew up the anti-landmine van carrying the Orissa police personnel in Malkangiri, killing at least 24 SOG policemen. The cops were engaged in landmine cleaning operation when the blast took place near MV-126 in Malkangiri. Read more here: http://www.orissatimes.net/2008/07/20-orissa-policemen-killed-in.html

Rahul Gandhi tries to divide BJP on Nuclear Deal, BJP hits back

In a desperate attempt to divide the opposition BJP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that young MPs across the party line support the nuclear deal. Rahul even claimed that some young BJP MPs talked to him in private to lend their support to nuclear deal. The message is loud and clear - Congress is using all tricks to win the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha and ultimately pass the Indo-US nuclear deal to keep its promises made to US President George W. Bush.

Rahul Gandhi hailed the Prime Minister for showing guts on the nuclear deal and said that he won't regret if the Government falls trying to get the deal through. The BJP, which issued a whip to its party members to be present during the trust vote and vote against the UPA government, has dared Rahul Gandhi to name the "young MPs" from BJP, who lent their support to Indo-US nuclear deal. While Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders turned to the masses to garner support for the nuclear deal and the government, the divisive tactics used by him may serve as a boomerang for the party.