American defending champion Ashton Eaton and Canadian world record holder Damian Warner kicked off the battle for decathlon gold on Wednesday, with Eaton making up for a second place 100 metres finish with a strong long jump and shot put. Warner set an Olympic best of 10.3 seconds for the decathlon 100m on the event’s first day, easily bettering the Read More

Hot favourite Caster Semenya qualified for the Olympic women’s 800 metres semi-finals with supreme ease on Wednesday and will no doubt be braced for another wave of discussions about her gender should she go on to take the gold medal on Saturday. The South African has dominated the event this season and there has even been speculation that she could Read More

Two persons were killed while several others were buried under the debris as a five-storied dilapidated building collapsed following heavy rains in Rohroo area in Shimla on Wednesday. “The deceased have been identified as Nishu and Anshu,” SDM, Rohroo, Y P S Verma said. Six persons were rescued from under the debris of the building that was situated near Saraswati Nagar. They have been admitted to hospital and were Read More

Terming India’s relationship with China a “mixed picture”, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Wednesday said bilateral ties faced “some challenges” in the recent past, including when it blocked New Delhi’s NSG membership bid and UN sanctions against Pakistani terrorist Masood Azhar. Addressing reporters, Jaishankar also maintained that India has been largely able to address two big “constraints” – opportunities for China to invest in India and easier Read More

Global economic crisis will continue to drive the demand for gold and silver worldwide, with appetite for the yellow metal likely to pick up in India in the second half of 2016 on the back of festive season and Pay Commission award, industry experts said. The demand for gold in the domestic market is expected to pick up in the second Read More

World Championships bronze-medallist Shiva Thapa was the only boxer recommended for this year’s Arjuna award, the country’s second highest sporting honour, by the selection committee headed by Justice (Retd) S K Agarwal and comprising cricketer Gautam Gambhir and shooter Anjali Bhagwat among others. The 22-year-old, who lost in the opening round of the ongoing Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Read More

Kenya’s Conseslus Kipruto stormed to victory in the men’s 3,000 metre steeplechase final on Wednesday, ensuring the East African nation maintained its iron grip on the event it has won in every Games since 1984. The 21-year-old had long been touted as the young pretender to Kenya’s steeplechase crown but he produced a final lap sprint that saw him grab Read More

A Brazilian judge has ordered U.S. swimmers Ryan Lochte and James Feigen not to leave the country, saying they gave conflicting accounts of how they were robbed at gunpoint outside the Rio Games at the weekend. Judicial sources say they believe the pair are no longer in Brazil. Judge Keyla Blanc, of Brazil’s Special Tribunal for Fans and Major Events, Read More

The protest rally by Dalits in Una in Gujarat on the independence day has come in for praise from Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who said it was the people’s response to the “farce” of Sangh Parivar’s love for Dalits and that the movement had far reaching consequences in national politics. “The Declaration of Independence echoed in Una (Gujarat), during Read More

Amidst politics over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mention of Balochistan in his Independence Day speech, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has demanded introducing of a bill announcing Lok Sabha seats in Pakistan-occupied- Kashmir (PoK). “I want government to introduce a bill announcing Lok Sabha seats from PoK and Gilgit,” said Dubey while talking to media on Wednesday. A few days ago, Read More