Deccan express

        PUNE Day two of the Deccan ITF $25,000 women’s tennis tournament at the Deccan Gymkhana on Thursday saw five players who came through qualifying entering the quarterfinals. Sato Naho from Japan battled for two hours and six minutes to overcome Nudnida Luangnam of Thailand 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-0. Luangnam defeated top seeded Jia Jing Lu in the first round.Alicia Smith from Australia also entered quarterfinals as she defeated Corinna Dentoni of Italy 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).Emma Raducanu of Great Britain upset fourth seeded Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway 6-3, 6-0 , while another qualifier Olga Doroshina of Russia upset sixth seed Latvia’s Diana Marcinkevica 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 to enter the quarterfinals.In the doubles quarterfinals, Kang Jia-Qi Of China and Peangtarn Plipuech of Thailand ended the challenge of Samoa’s Steffi Carruthers and Indian Ramya Natarajan 6-0, 7-6 (7-3)Results: (pre quarterfinals; q:qualifier)q-Sato Naho (Jpn) bt Nudnida Luangnam … [Read more...] about Deccan women’s ITF sees 5 qualifiers through to quarters

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee after going through a complete revamp under the AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s might be proactive raising issues on the ground. But has it really moved in the direction to becoming the main opposition party in the state? This is a question that several political experts and commentators are debating even as Congress leaders seem convinced that the party under Priyanka’s leadership will make strides in the state. In fact, several leaders think that Priyanka has pushed the state government to the backfoot on various issues. “In the last five months our leader Priyanka Gandhi had raised issues related to women safety, farmers issue, mid-day meal and corruption issues with the state government and the government had to go on backfoot on many issues,” Congress spokesperson and UP media co-ordinator, Rajiv Tyagi, said. He further said that because of this proactive approach, the Congress party has … [Read more...] about As Congress Eyes to Become Main Oppn Party in UP, Leaders Express Confidence in Priyanka Gandhi

The privatisation of Indian Railways is gathering speed. At a high-level meeting on December 8-9, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal asked railway bureaucrats to prepare a plan for introducing around 150 new routes – covered by premier trains such as Duronto, Tejas and Rajdhani Express – that will be run by private operators. Of these around 30 private trains are likely to run from Mumbai on both Central and Western Railways. This will be on the lines of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express trains, which will soon be operated by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation. Sources told Mumbai Mirror that participants in the meeting discussed the new routes, which will soon be unveiled. The private parties will decide the fares and the food that will be served on-board, they said. The companies will also arrange concierge services and pick up luggage from passengers’ homes. The trains are expected to be punctual – they will be given … [Read more...] about Privatisation of Indian Railways gathers speed, bidding process for 150 trains by next month

        Pune: Top seed and last year’s runner-up Jia Jing Lu of China and Russia’s Valeriya Savinykh lost their matches in the round one of the NECC Deccan ITF $25,000 women’s tennis tournament at Deccan Gymkhana on Wednesday.Lu was ousted by Nudnida Luangnam of Thailand 4-6, 6-7 (8-10) while qualifier Corinna Dentoni of Italy plotted the downfall of second seed Savinykh 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance in the tournament.Ranked 348, Luangnam needed an hour and 53 minutes to stun 163rd ranked Lu who committed six double faults to end on the losing side.Luangnam broke the opponent in fourth, eighth and 10 game to wrap up the set 6-4. Second set turned out to be tough as Lu broke the opponent’s serve in first game and took a 3-1 lead before Luangnam made it 3-all by breaking Lu’s serve in the sixth game. Players held their serve for next six games as Luangnam took the honours in the tie-breaker.Longest match of the dayQualifier Dentoni had to … [Read more...] about ITF: Two top seeds sent home packing

New Delhi:  The Supreme Court will consider in-chamber review petitions challenging the November 9 verdict in the Ayodhya title dispute on Thursday. The apex court had allocated the disputed site for the construction of Ram temple and granted five-acre land to Muslim parties for the construction of mosque elsewhere in Ayodhya. The new five-judge bench is headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprises Justices Ashok Bhushan, S.A. Nazeer, D.Y. Chandrachud and Sanjiv Khanna. Justice Khanna is the new judge on the bench who has replaced retired Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. The in-chamber review will begin at 1:40 p.m. by circulation of petitions. A total of 18 review petitions have been filed in the apex court in connection with its November 9 judgement -- nine parties were part of the earlier litigation and the remaining have been filed by third parties. The bulk comprises review pleas from Muslim parties expressing discontent with the judgement. On Wednesday, the Nirmohi … [Read more...] about Supreme Court To Begin In-Chamber Review Of Ayodhya Verdict Today