Author Archives: Sayantani Singha

Will government order impartial probe in Essar Tapes case: Congress

Keeping up its offensive over the ‘telecom scam’, Congress Friday alleged that conduct of the Modi government and its ministers has “come under a cloud” in the wake of their “lame duck” reaction to the Rs 45,000 crore scandal in the sector. The party also raked up the Essar Tapes issue wondering as to what connection it has with the Read More


Roger Federer after Wimbledon loss: This one clearly hurts, I was so close

Roger Federer had his serve broken from 30-0, 40-0 and 40-30 and 5-6 in the fourth set. Twice there were double faults involved in his break of serves – such small were the margins between win and defeat in the Wimbledon semi-final where Milos Raonic triumphed over the Swiss champion. In the press conference, Federer called the break from 5-6, Read More


African Union to withdraw troops from Somalia by 2020

The African Union says it plans to withdraw its forces from Somalia by the end of 2020 after years of trying to secure the Horn of Africa country against extremist group al-Shabab. The AU’s Peace and Security Council statement issued this week comes after a series of challenges for the 22,000-strong multinational peacekeeping force, including funding issues that left some Read More


Uttarakhand cloudburst: Ambika Soni meets CM Rawat, takes stock of relief efforts

Congress general secretary in-charge of party affairs in Uttarakhand Ambika Soni on Thursday met Chief Minister Harish Rawat and state party chief Kishore Upadhyay to review relief efforts in the wake of torrential rains and cloudbursts in Pithoragarh and Chamoli districts that killed 21 people. Taking stock of the relief efforts at the Congress office, Soni asked party workers to Read More


Sebastian Coe cool over injury-hit ‘genius’ Usain Bolt

The prospect of Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt missing the Rio Olympics through injury will rightly give organisers and fans palpitations. But track and field’s chief administrator, Sebastian Coe, insisted today that the Summer Games were not based around one athlete, albeit acknowledging the “genius” of the six-time Olympic gold medallist. Bolt is facing a race against time to be Read More


Neeraj Goyat loses in semis but remains in fray for Rio Olympic berth

Indian boxer Neeraj Goyat (69kg) lost in the semifinals but remained in the hunt for an Olympic quota berth in the International Boxing Association’s Olympic qualifying tournament for professional boxers in Vargas, Venezuela today. The 24-year-old Neeraj, who is the reigning WBC Asian champion, went down 0-3 to second-seeded German Arajik Marutjan, a former European Championships silver-medallist. However, the loss Read More


Amit Shah meets Gujarat BJP leaders, ministers

BJP President Amit Shah met party leaders and Ministers in Gujarat, where Assembly election is due in late 2017, and discussed organisational matters. Shah, who arrived in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, is expected to stay till Friday and meet some more leaders, said Gujarat BJP media convener Harshad Patel. Several top BJP leaders and Ministers, including state unit chief and Transport Read More


Investigative journalists who published the secret recordings of Pope Francis’s, acquitted in Vatileaks trial

Two investigative journalists at the heart of a controversial leaks trial at the Vatican were acquitted on Thursday after judges ruled they did not have the authority to examine their cases. Italians Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, who had published books based on the documents at the heart of the trial, were not considered to have committed a crime on Read More


In Euro 2016 final, Fernando Santos back where Portugal mission began

The Portugal reign of Fernando Santos will come full circle in the Stade de France on Sunday. In October 2014, Santos began his mission to revive Portugal’s fortunes after a poor World Cup with a friendly defeat by France at the stadium outside Paris. Portugal will be back there in Sunday’s European Championship final, against either France or Germany, which Read More


Trump to Republicans: ‘I am going to make you proud’

Donald Trump faced a tough crowd when he met Republicans in Congress on Thursday but several lawmakers, including past critics, emerged from the closed-door meeting with encouraging words about their presumptive White House nominee. Republican aides cited good attendance from both houses of Congress at the two meetings, although some lawmakers made a point of staying away, citing previous commitments. Read More