Bhupathi-Bopanna in semis, Sania-Bethanie bow out in Rome Rome: Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna reached the semi-finals of the Rome Masters after getting a walkover from rivals Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek even as Sania Mizra and Bethanie Mattek-Sands crashed out of the women's event, here.

Berdych, who shocked world number one Novak Djokovic in the men's singles in a gruelling three-setter, cited muscle fatigue as the reason for him withdrawing.

Bhupathi and Bopanna will now fight it out with Mexico's Santiago Gonzalez and American Scott Lipsky for a place in the final. Gonzalez and Lipsky came from a set down to upset second seeded Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez 1-6, 6-4, 10-6 in their quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Sania and Bethanie's campaign ended in the women's doubles after their 4-6 3-6 defeat against top seeds and local favourites Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. The Indo-American pair lost in one hour and 15 minutes as they squandered six of the nine break chances....more    
01:49 PM, May 18, 2013

Odisha investment scam: Seashore Group's office sealed Bhubaneswar: More than a fortnight after CNN-IBN exposed that Odisha-based Seashore Group had duped over 1.5 lakh investors of Rs 1700 crore, the state's crime branch on Saturday sealed the headquarters of the group in Bhubaneshwar. The company had reportedly offered investors 24 per cent interest per annum. While the chairman of Seashore Group Prashant Das has yet not been arrested, the police had earlier detained over a hundred staff...  
12:21 PM, May 18, 2013

Viswanathan Anand beats Ludvig Hammer to jump to joint second Sandnes (Norway): Riding high on confidence, world champion Viswanathan Anand outsmarted Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway to jump to the joint second spot in the Norway chess 2013 super tournament, here. The penultimate round victory turned out to be an important one for Anand as it brought him within striking distance of winning the super tournament for which the Indian ace will need a victory against Wnag Hao of China...  
11:24 AM, May 18, 2013

J&K: Army foils infiltration bid along LoC in Kupwara, 1 JCO killed Srinagar: One Junior Commanding Officer (JCO) was killed and another jawan injured on Saturday after a major infiltration bid by a group of six terrorists was foiled by the Army along LoC in Machil in Kupwara district of North Kashmir. According to sources, six terrorists tried to infiltration into the Indian side of LoC at around 2.30 am on Saturday. The terrorists, who were trying to sneak into the Valley...  
11:23 AM, May 18, 2013

Bangalore in must-win situation against CSK Bangalore: Royal Challengers Bangalore find themselves in a do-or-die situation after two back-to-back losses to Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab. Not only do they have to beat Chennai Super Kings handsomely on Saturday, but they need Sunrisers Hyderabad to lose their last match on Sunday. A seven-wicket loss to KXIP on Tuesday meant sure shot play-off berths for Chennai, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians, leaving three teams fighting...  
10:37 AM, May 18, 2013

Odisha chit fund scam: Police intensifies crackdown
by IANS
Bhubaneswar: At least 177 people were arrested in different parts of Odisha during the past week for their involvement in illegal money circulation and chit fund activities, a police official said on Friday. The crackdown on the firms began May 10, 2013 and about 200 offices of 84 companies were raided, Rajesh Kumar, deputy inspector general (economic offence wing) of the crime branch police, told IANS. The arrested include two...  
05:45 AM, May 18, 2013

Haryana to the rescue of Delhi facing water shortage New Delhi: Haryana on Friday agreed to release raw water from its quota in Yamuna to Delhi which is reeling under shortage of water due to a breach in the upper Ganga canal in Uttar Pradesh. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda agreed to provide Delhi around 240 cusecs of raw water from its share in Yamuna following a request by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Areas in East and South...  
02:25 AM, May 18, 2013

We will look to get Bangalore's top order early: Fleming Bangalore: Aware from the fact that Royal Challengers Bangalore have a top-order that can destroy any attack on a given day, Chennai Super Kings are aiming to get their top three batsmen early when they lock horns in an IPL match on Saturday. "We have our work cut out. If it is a high-scoring game, and if any of their top three get away. It`s always been a case in...  
11:39 PM, May 17, 2013

Aarushi-Hemraj murder: Rajesh Talwar's statement recorded Ghaziabad: Recording his statement in the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case, accused and Aarushi's father Rajesh Talwar Friday answered questions raised by the court from the evidence of the witnesses. To the about 180 questions asked, Talwar either denied the allegations or alleged the prosecution was trying to influence the witnesses, deviating from original statements recorded under section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Asked by the court whether he agreed over...  
11:37 PM, May 17, 2013

The Last Word: Is the govt right to seek conciliation to resolve the Vodafone problem?

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday attacked Law Minister Kapil Sibal over Vodafone tax case and said all the corrupt ministers have joined the Group of Ministers on CBI autonomy. ...
10:48 PM, May 17, 2013

Greater Noida: Woman allegedly killed for dowry Greater Noida: A newly-married woman was burnt to death allegedly by her in-laws in Jarch area in Greater Noida. Five persons, including her husband, have been booked, police said, adding that they are absconding. According to the complaint filed by father of the twenty-year-old Renu, she got married to one Dushyant in April 2012. Since her marriage, she was constantly being harassed by her husband and in-laws. Her father Deshraj...  
10:40 PM, May 17, 2013

Cong top brass discusses way ahead on Food Security Bill New Delhi: Congress top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, on Friday deliberated on the way ahead on the issue of Food Security Bill. All options were considered, was the response of party sources who said no decision has been taken about the future course of action on the ambitious legislation as also on the Land Acquisition Bill. Food Minister KV Thomas was specially invited...  
09:28 PM, May 17, 2013

Parl panel for single regulator to monitor chit fund schemes New Delhi: Against the backdrop of recent chit fund controversy in West Bengal, a Parliamentary committee on Friday slammed such schemes with demands for putting in place a single regulator to oversee their functioning or scrapping them altogether. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance closely scrutinised the functioning of such schemes which recently led to a series of suicides in West Bengal. Senior officials from RBI, CBDT, SEBI, Corporate Affairs...  
07:40 PM, May 17, 2013

UPA should declare its PM candidate first: BJP Jammu: BJP on Friday said the Congress-led UPA should declare its Prime Ministerial candidate first and whether Rahul Gandhi is a stakeholder for the top job or not. While insisting that BJP Parliamentary Board will take a decision regarding its PM candidate at an appropriate time BJP national general secretary and former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah said, since UPA was in power, it should first take a decision in...  
07:28 PM, May 17, 2013

Promiscuous character of woman irrelevant in rape cases: SC New Delhi: Promiscuous character of a woman is irrelevant in rape cases and a rapist cannot take it as ground of defence for his henious act, the Supreme Court has ruled saying even a female of easy virtue has a right to life. Holding that rape is not only an offence against a woman, but a crime against the entire society, the apex court said that courts should deal with...  
05:51 PM, May 17, 2013

Bhupathi-Bopanna advance in Rome Masters Rome: Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna entered the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters but it was curtains for Leander Paes and his Austrian partner Jurgen Melzer, here. Sixth seed Indian combo of Bhupathi and Bopanna scored a 6-2 6-3 win over unseeded British team of Dominic Inglot and Jonathan Marray in the second round of the Euro 3,204,745 elite clay court tournament. However, Paes and Melzer made an early exit...  
05:19 PM, May 17, 2013

ASC employee held in Jaipur on spying charges Jaipur: An employee of the Army Supply Corp, posted in the South Western Command in Jaipur, was arrested for allegedly passing confidential information to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, police said on Friday. "The accused Upper Division Clerk BK Sinha (43) was spying for ISI and sharing classified information and documents regarding Army's transport related movements to Nepal based ISI agent," said Additional DG (Intelligence) Dalpat Singh Dinkar. Sinha was arrested by...  
04:56 PM, May 17, 2013

Non-bailable warrant issued against Zaibunissa Mumbai: A TADA court on Friday issued a non-bailable warrant against 1993 Bombay blasts co-accused Zaibunissa Kazi after she failed to surrender in the court on Friday, as per scheduled. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will execute this warrant. The daughter of 70-year-old Zaibunissa was likely to seek a day more for her mother to surrender citing health reasons. The Supreme Court had earlier granted four weeks time to...  
04:43 PM, May 17, 2013

Sanjay Gupta wants to cast John as 'Bollywood Rambo' Mumbai: Actor John Abraham and director Sanjay Gupta will be teaming up for "an epic revenge saga" that promises to give Bollywood its own Rambo, the iconic Hollywood character. After the box-office success of just-released 'Shootout at Wadala', Gupta and John are keen to come together again for a film which will be an epic revenge saga. It will be on the lines of Hollywood blockbusters like 'Kill Bill' and...  
03:47 PM, May 17, 2013

Watch: Emraan, Vidya create havoc in the title track of 'Ghanchakkar' The title track of 'Ghanchakkar' seems to reflect the mood of the film itself. Rajkumar Gupta's mad cap thriller features Emraan Hashmi as a conman who suffers from amnesia. Vidya Balan plays his boisterous Punjabi wife. The title song, 'Ghanchakkar Babu' has been sung and composed by Amit Trivedi and penned by Amitabh Bhattcharya. The film will be releasing on 28 June, 2013. ...  
11:48 AM, May 17, 2013