Barcelona: Newly crowned Spanish champion Barcelona celebrated winning the league title in front of their home fans by easing to a 2-1 victory over Valladolid on Sunday. While rain and dropping temperatures threatened to dampen the party in the stands, Barcelona had little trouble keeping alive its bid to equal Real Madrid's 2012 record haul of 100 points even without the injured Lionel Messi.
The weather cleared up in time for Messi to join the rest of his team-mates to receive the trophy, which captain Carles Puyol handed over for coach Tito Vilanova and defender Eric Abidal to lift to the cheers of the Camp Nou crowd in recognition of the serious health problems both have come back from this season.
"We won the league, but the most important thing is that Eric and Tito are with us," said Puyol, before adding the traditional battle cry of "Long live Barca! And long live Catalonia!"
Vilanova underwent surgery in December to remove a second throat tumor in two years, and only returned after receiving further cancer treatment for 10 weeks in New York. He is set to return to New York this week for more tests. Abidal, meanwhile, returned to the pitch recently after having recovered from a liver transplant last year....
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08:26 AM, May 20, 2013
Hyderabad: In a dramatic development, Andhra Pradesh Home Minister P Sabita Reddy and Roads and Buildings Minister D Prasada Rao, who were named as accused in disproportionate assets case involving Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy, late on Sunday night submitted their resignations to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. The two Cabinet ministers were summoned by the Chief Minister who met them for over an hour. With both the ministers...
08:22 AM, May 20, 2013
Kolkata: After two years of rule, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appears to have squandered the overwhelming mandate voters gave her, but as West Bengal gears up for panchayat polls, it seems that the TMC has the advantage as the Left is yet to regroup. Rattled by the Saradha meltdown and a spate of suicides, Trinamool faces the uphill task of addressing cries of lakhs of anguished investors and agents. With...
07:59 AM, May 20, 2013
New Delhi: The Chinese embassy was on Sunday turned into a fortress as Premier Li Keqiang arrived on a state visit while a tight security ring was thrown around the Taj Palace Hotel where he is staying. Delhi Police have deployed more personnel and shut down certain roads, including those near the Chinese embassy, as a precautionary measure. All the inner roads leading to the hotel have been barricaded and...
05:43 AM, May 20, 2013
Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday allocated portfolios to his new 28-member ministry, keeping key posts such as finance, energy, industries, IT and Bangalore city with himself. According to a Raj Bhavan communique, Governor HR Bhardwaj allocated the various portfolios on the advice of the chief minister to 20 cabinet ministers and eight ministers of state. Besides the key portfolios, the chief minister will also be in-charge of five...
04:08 AM, May 20, 2013
Guwahati: BJP will launch a week-long 'Jail Bharo' campaign protesting against alleged corrupt practices of the UPA government. The campaign would start on May 27 and continue till June 2 in all states, BJP vice president SS Ahluwalia told reporters in Guwahati on Sunday. The UPA government at the Centre had over the years been rocked by various scams losing the moral right to continue in office, he said. Various...
03:53 AM, May 20, 2013
Dharamsala: Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Sukhvinder Singh on Sunday asked party workers to start preparations for 2014 Lok Sabha elections, saying they should reach out to people and help solve their grievances. The Congress state chief told party members to work as a unified unit to help achieve desired results in the next Lok Sabha polls. Singh presided over the first meeting of Kangra District Congress Committe in Dharamsala to...
03:41 AM, May 20, 2013
Bhubaneswar: Alleging rampant corruption and plundering of BPL rice, minerals and from gullibles through chitfund during BJD rule in Odisha, Congress on Sunday claimed it would capture power in the next polls by dumping the Naveen Patnaik government in Bay of Bengal. Addressing a function to accord a reception to the new OPCC President Jayadeb Jenan, senior party leaders including Union Minister Srikant Jena slammed the BJD government of failing...
03:10 AM, May 20, 2013
Pudukottai: With the break-up of UPA in Tamil Nadu, Congress leader and former Union minister EVKS Elangovan on Sunday said there was a possibility of his party heading a new alliance sans the two major Dravidian parties - DMK and AIADMK - for the next Lok Sabha elections. Rejecting the charges against Congress over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, he said people were not aware of the party's good work...
01:27 AM, May 20, 2013
Thane: Union Agriculture Minister and NCP Chief Sharad Pawar was greeted with black flags by the Congress, the Shiv Sena, the SP and the BSP workers to protest wastage of water by the civic corporation in Thane on Sunday in Bhiwandi. Pawar inaugurated the Bhiwandi-Nizampur City Municipal Corporation's new administrative building, when protesters including three MLAs Rashid Tahir, Abu Azmi and Roopesh Mhatre waved black flags at him. The three...
10:55 PM, May 19, 2013
New Delhi: BJP youth wing workers led by party's Delhi unit president Vijay Goel on Sunday courted arrest while protesting at the residence of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda demanding release of Delhi's share of water allegedly held back by the state. Goel and scores of activists of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), including Delhi BJYM chief Gauarav Khari, were taken to Parliament Street police station and were later...
06:53 PM, May 19, 2013
Mumbai: Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, who topped the list of Times 50 Most Desirable Women of 2012, says she is not good at fielding compliments and adds that beauty and physical attributes are 'artificial'. "It is a bit embarrassing. I mean, I don't know how to take compliments! I don't know how to react! It must be a good thing only," said the 27-year-old in an interview. Part of hit...
05:54 PM, May 19, 2013
Hyderabad: Three Congress MPs from Telangana region on Saturday said they would not hesitate to quit if the party leadership does not take a decision on statehood issue by May 30. The MPs -- M Jagannath, G Vivek and S Rajaiah -- met in Hyderabad and discussed the issue. Talking to reporters, Jagannath said they would not hesitate to quit the party if no favourable decision came by May 30....
05:15 PM, May 19, 2013
New York: A topless portrait of the late actress Beatrice Arthur has gone under the hammer at Christie's auction house here, fetching $ 1.9 million. The portrait, titled 'Bea Arthur Naked', was created by artist John Currin and was sold for the huge amount at Christie's auction of post-war and contemporary art, reported Huffington Post. The final offering met its estimates of receiving between $ 1.8 million and $ 2.5...
01:10 PM, May 19, 2013
Islamabad: In the backdrop of Nawaz Sharif's positive remarks on ties with India, powerful Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has suggested Pakistan's Prime Minister - designate to take gradual initiatives with utmost caution for improving relations with New Delhi, a media report said on Sunday. Kayani made the suggestion when he called on PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, set to become Prime Minister for a record third term following his...
12:38 PM, May 19, 2013
Stavanger (Norway): World champion Viswanathan Anand suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Hao Wang of China for the second time this year to sign off joint fourth in the Norway Chess 2013 super tournament that concluded here. In with a chance to finish first in a major tournament, Anand could not control the proceedings and was on the defensive early against Hao Wang who seems to be in...
12:27 PM, May 19, 2013
Mumbai: The Congress party is debating holding a General Election in November, six months ahead of schedule, senior party leaders said, reflecting an internal discussion over whether to pull the plug on the shaky ruling coalition or have it serve a full term. Officially, the Congress party says the government - which has been battered by a series of corruption scandals and now governs as a minority after two allies...
11:45 AM, May 19, 2013
Burdwan: West Bengal Agriculture Minister Malay Ghatak on Saturday said he has received a letter threatening to kill him and his family unless he resigned from the Cabinet and quit Trinamool Congress. "I saw the letter this evening. It was sent by post from Kharagpur in West Midnapore district on May 13 by N Rama Rao of Indian People's Liberation Army," Ghatak told reporters. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the...
07:59 AM, May 19, 2013
Kolkata: Bringing out an assessment report of West Bengal's Trinamool Congress government, two days before it completes two years in office, the Congress on Saturday alleged that the regime was moving in a negative direction and was clueless about the course it wanted the state's economy to take. "We do not expect that within two years, they will be able to change the face of the state but the direction...
05:20 AM, May 19, 2013
Shimla: Ending over five months of speculation after the recovery of a wireless transmitter close to India-China border in Himachal Pradesh, the state police on Saturday said it was used by trekkers for communication and posed no security threat. "The equipment found December 4 near Jangi vilage in Kinnaur district by forest officials of Moorang were examined by communication experts and it was revealed that the equipments doesn't pose any...
05:14 AM, May 19, 2013
