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Humpy won gold and Harika won Silver in the World Women's Team Chess Championship.

MARDIN: The Indian team met another nemesis in China and went down 1.5-2.5 to miss out on a medal and sign off fourth in the World Women's Team Chess Championship .  For the Indians, Koneru Humpy played out a draw on the top board against world champion Yifan Hou while Donavalli Harika also did not disappoint on the second in splitting the points with Ju Wenjun .  Humpy was the pick among the Indians and the world number two also won the gold medal on the first board with her fine 6/8 performance. Harika was the other medal winner from India to win a silver for her performance on the second board. In the last round, Humpy did not let Yifan do much and got an easy draw as black with exchanges at regular intervals while Harika was her solid self yet again.

Madhucon to set up Indonesia power plant

A consortium led by Madhucon Projects (Nama Nageswara Rao, Chairman) has received a letter of intent to set up 300 mw (2 x 150 mw) coal-fired power plant at south Sumatra in Indonesia. The mine-mouth project would be set up on a build-operate-transfer basis. The project would come up close to a coal mine owned by PT Madhucon Indonesia at Dawas. This mine is expected to assure the supply of coal to the project and also offer significant cost benefits. According to sources, the power project would cost about Rs1,800-2,000 crore. The company would achieve financial closure for the project in about a year’s time and would have another 36 months from there to complete the project. The company officials were not available for providing the details. A special purpose vehicle would be incorporated to handle the power project and Madhucon Projects would hold about 65% stake in the SPV, while its other group companies would hold the remaining 35%. However, Madhuc

Karuturi to Construct Sugar Factory in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, Dec 26: Karuturi Agro Products, a subsidiary of Indian giant Karaturi International, (Sai rama Krishna Karuturi, Chairman) is set to establish a sugarcane factory in Ethiopia. The factory, with an estimated capacity of crushing 7,000 tonnes of cane a day, is to be built in Ethiopia's Gambella Regional state. Some 15,000 hectares of Karuturi land in Gambella will start producing sugarcane in three years, said Assefa Arega, manager of Karuturi's sugarcane plantation. The company expects the crushing plant to be ready in time for the harvest. Karuturi is currently undertaking a feasibility study and work on the sugarcane crushing factory, including site identification, supplying and installation, will commence early in 2012. The sugarcane plantation and the factory will be adjacent to each other, said Assefa. Karaturi Group is one of the biggest flower exporters in the world and has its farms in Ethiopia and Kenya. Establishing a

LaPlace movie theater completes face lift

New Year's brings a season of turning over new leaves and starting fresh. But this year, few can claim to be starting fresher than Vishu Mandava, owner of the Hollywood Cinemas 7 movie theater in LaPlace. A pair of new high-backed movie seats await installation at LaPlace's newly renovated Hollywood 7 movie theater. This past week, crews have completed the installation of hundreds of new high-back, rocker-style seats in the theater's seven auditoriums. And with that, Mandava -- who bought the then-neglected facility a year and a half ago -- will put the finishing touches on months' worth of renovations. "Everything is new," Mandava said during a recent tour of the theater in which he showed off the upgrades. "We've replaced almost everything" over the past 16 months. That starts with a renovated lobby, which Mandava connected to the Baskin-Robbins ice-cream parlor next door -- which he also owns -- to allow pat

Former Tennis Player Wins First Professional Tournament

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Saketh Myneni , a 2010 graduate of the University of Alabama, won his first professional tennis tournament at the International Tennis Federation's Futures Tour in India this past November. Myneni won both the men's singles and doubles tournament, a feat not shared by many of even the best professional tennis players. "I am really happy to have won my first professional event and I feel pleased with my efforts the entire week," says Myneni. As a result of his win, Myneni gained 18 points to go towards his ATP ranking. Based on more recent tournament play, Myneni now has 21 points in singles play and is ranked around 700th in the world, says Billy Pate, UA's men's tennis coach. Myneni now plans to focus his efforts on increasing his ATP ranking so that he may compete in higher-level tournaments. "My main goal is to play on India's team in the 2012 Davis Cup tournament," says Myneni. "My short term goals are to t

4G Identity Solutions Wins the Prestigious ET Now ‘Leaders of Tomorrow’ Award 2011

An able thought leader and a successful architect of Identity innovation, Dr. Sreeni Tripuraneni, Chairman & CEO of 4G Identity Solutions has received the prestigious Indiamart ET Now ‘Leaders of Tomorrow’ Award 2011, at an award function held at Mumbai, India on 28th November 2011. The award was presented by the chief guest Legendary N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus, Infosys Technologies. 'Leaders of Tomorrow' salutes the spirit of entrepreneurship and celebrates the success of India's best Small and Medium Enterprises. This award will inspire future leaders to tread a path of success and triumph. The award will celebrate the success stories and honor entrepreneurs who have transformed stumbling blocks into stepping stones driven by their passion,Determination and undying spirit of entrepreneurship. More than 50,000 nominations have been received across 13 different categories for the Leaders of Tomorrow Award 2011 and after thorough review of the nomin

Holding The Aces

Live online rummy proves a moneyspinner for this company. Deepak Gullapalli had a feeling that the cards before him held his future. He liked playing rummy and many a time as a Master’s student in Middlesex University, London, Gullapalli and his friends unwound with a game in the evenings. They were also online gaming junkies. It didn’t take him long to put two and two together and end up with an idea for an online portal for rummy. So in 2005, Gullapalli quit his internship at a consultancy, and came to India to set up Ace2three.com, making it the first portal for rummy in India.   Today, with 600,000 registered users, the portal owned by Head Infotech expects to clock Rs 25 crore in revenues this year. “We have tried to create the same user experience online as one would find offline,” says Gullapalli. About 8,000-10,000 tournaments per day are played on the website with an average 15,000 players logging in. The stakes: cash prizes of up to Rs 15,000 per day.   Though

Senior IPS officer Kode Durga Prasad likely to head SPG

NEW DELHI: Andhra Pradesh cadre senior IPS officer Kode Durga Prasad , who had a long stint in the state's anti-naxal force Grey Hounds, is frontrunner in the race to head the elite Special Protection Group (SPG). The elite force is headed by BV Wanchoo, who retires on Monday after having the longest tenure of seven years. Durga Prasad, a 1981 batch IPS officer, is presently the additional director general of police (Sports) in AP. He, however, had no previous experience in the SPG, a force which was primarily created to guard the Prime Minister and their immediate family members. Besides the Prime Minister, SPG also guards Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her two children— Rahul and Priyanka. Durga Prasad is among the few officers who were considered for the post. Though Durga Prasad said he did not have any `news' of his posting, he confirmed that he was considered for the same. "Yes. I was among quite a few people (officers) who were interviewed for the

Meghana Kamineni Wins 33rd Orland Park Open Spelling Bee

Meghana Kamineni, a 6th Grade student at St. George School, felt wonderful when she took home this year’s trophy for first place in the “10 and under” division. Last year she came in second in the competition. Meghana said "I did not get a chance to really practice this year because I entered at the last minute.”

Divi Murali and L Madhusudhana Rao in the Forbes India's Richest list

Divi Murali: #53 with $1.05 billion Pharmacist and youngest of 13 siblings, owns 52% of Divi's Laboratories, pharma firm he founded in 1990 after stint partnering with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories. Company makes off-patent generics and does custom manufacturing of patented drugs for big pharma companies. Gets over 90% of its $266 million revenues from international markets. Investing $90 million to expand its manufacturing capacity; its new 350-acre special economic zone in eastern India opened in June. Lagadapati Madhusudhana Rao: #91 with $495 million Fortune down 78% as shares of his power producer Lanco Infratech plummeted amid sector slowdown. Inked $716 million deal to buy Australia's Griffin Coal but got slapped with $3.5 billion lawsuit by fertilizer maker Perdeman Chemicals alleging breach of a coal-supply agreement. Tripling power capacity to 9,300 megawatts by 2014 and bidding for power projects in Bangladesh, Indonesia. Brother L. Rajagopal has been me

G Varadaraj

Shri . G.Varadaraj was a pioneer of education, business and industry as well as a Parliamentarian. Born to Shri.Ganga Naidu on 1st November 1936, at Coimbatore. Shri.G.Varadaraj proved an astute businessman while promoting industry, education, science, sports, culture and social welfare. He supported the growth and development of the PSG( Periaveedu Sama Naidu Govindaswamy Naidu) college of Arts and Science. the PSG industrial Institute, the PSG college of Technology and the PSG Medical College. As the Managing Trustee of the PSG Group of Institutions from 1978 to 1990, he founded the institute of Medical Science and Research in 1985. He was the founder of Rajshree Sugars and Chemicals Limited in 1987 in a most backward area of the Theni District of Tamilnadu which paved the way for the economic and social development of the area by providing employment opportunities to the local people. Shri.G.Varadaraj was a distinguished Parliamentarian. As a Mamber of the Rajya Sabha for

Padma Shri T. N. Manoharan former president of ICAI

Padma Shri (CA.) Thotala Narayanaswamy Manoharan is an Indian Chartered Accountant and a former president of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). Manoharan was born in April 1956 in a freedom fighter's family in a small village near Vellore, with agricultural background. He obtained a post graduate degree in Commerce from Sri Venkateshwara University and a law degree from Madras Law College. He became a Chartered Accountant in 1983 and set up his public practice in the same year. He is the founding partner of the accounting firm Manohar Chowdhry & Associates, Chennai. He was elected to the central council of ICAI in 2001 and its Vice President in 2005. He remained as a Central Council Member till 2007. He has also chaired various committees of the Institute. In 2006, he was elected as the President of the ICAI (for a one year term). He is also a notable freemason. In 2009, Manoharan was one of the four members (as representatives of Government of India)

The business of jokes

Comedy group Cheese Monkey Mafia scouts for talent while making the city laugh. I have two skills that are talking points at parties… making drinks and telling jokes,” claims Raghav Mandava, founder of Cheese Monkey Mafia (CMM), a Delhi-based events company set up in 2010. While his bar-tending days are behind him, Mandava uses CMM to organise comedy events and Open Mic Nights across the capital. Working as a bartender in Delhi’s News Cafe, Mandava met internationally-acclaimed comedian Papa CJ who took him under his wing in 2009. Admitting that he still lacked a “funny bone”, Mandava had to perform at nine shows amidst awkward silences before receiving his first laugh from the audience. “It took me a while to find that one joke that clicked with the audience,” he says. Funny or not, Mandava manages to pull in a crowd — his show ran to a packed house this week at the India Habitat Centre. At present, artists performing in the capital are seasoned ones such as Abish Mathew

Happy Diwali to all

Justice Jasti Chelameswar sworn in, SC strength now 28

Justice Jasti Chelameswar today sworn in as Supreme Court judge, raising the strength of the apex court to 28. Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia administered the oath of office to Chelameswar, former chief justice of Kerala high court. Justice Chelameswar had assumed the charge of Kerala High Court as its chief justice on March 17, last year. He was first elevated as an additional judge in the Andhra Pradesh High Court on June 23, 1997 and was made a judge there on May 17, 1999. On May 3, 2007, he was appointed as chief justice of the Gauhati High Court. Born on June 23, 1953 in Andhra Pradesh, Justice Chelameswar enrolled as an advocate in the Andhra Pradesh High Court in 1976.

The Leader

Novatel Varun Beach Hotel to be ready by next month

Novatel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach — a five-star hotel built by the Varun group on the beach road — is getting ready and will be operational by next month, according to Mr Vallurupalli Prabhu Kishore, Chairman and Managing Director. He said at a press meet here on Tuesday that almost 90-95 per cent of the work on the project had been completed and it would be ready by November. “We started the work on the project in 2008. Sea Valley Private Ltd, our company, started the work and later on we entered into an agreement with Accor Hotels group and Novatel is their brand. There are three Novatel properties in the country, two in Hyderabad and one in Mumbai, and Varun Beach will be the fourth,” he said. Mr Kishore said that Varun group, the dealer of Maruti here, had hitherto been only in the automobile business and for the first time had ventured into the hospitality and entertainment sector. “We have constructed six Inox cinema halls adjacent to the hotel and started operations in Marc

Happy 'Vijaya Dasami'

Yeswanth Nadella and Raymond Wins Doubles Regional Title

Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney doubles team of Josh Raymond and Yeswanth Nadella won the ITA Central Regional for a second straight season Sunday afternoon at Harmon Park in Kearney. Raymond, a senior from Elkhorn, and Yeswanth Nadella , a sophomore from India, had to both bounce back from losses in the single semifinals Sunday morning. The second-seeded Raymond fell to 3rd-seed Shane Giannetti of William Jewell (5-7, 6-3, 8-10) while the 7th-seeded Nadella pushed top-seed Lucio Cangiano of Metro State before also losing in three sets (4-6, 6-4, 10-7). In his third set tiebreaker, Nadella fought back from a 3-0 hole to tie things at seven before Cangiano, the defending champ, scored three straight to advance. Giannetti managed to score six straight points to win the first set against Raymond. He then came back from a 7-5 deficit to win the third set. Raymond and Nadella wasted little time, getting out to a 3-0 lead. Eventually up 6-1 and then 7-2, Cangiano and Vlahos bat

Durban man Euvin Naidoo makes Forbes list

A former Durban man has been placed on the Forbes list of “the 10 youngest ‘power men’ in Africa” for his work in promoting investments in the continent in the West. Also on the list are Mark Shuttleworth and Julius Malema. At 40, Euvin Naidoo is the CEO of the SA Chamber of Commerce in America and facilitates the expansion of business, trade, and investment opportunities between SA and North America with the view of promoting sustainable economic growth across the two continents. The former Stanger High School pupil graduated with a BA Law from UKZN in 1998, and went on to graduate from the Harvard Business School in 2007. Naidoo, a father of two, said: “Africa is going to need an investment of human capital, particularly African-born leaders who are being educated or have now emigrated to the US or elsewhere in the Western world.” The Forbes list of “power men” in Africa is described by the publication as a “line-up of 10 youthful movers and shakers who wield influence in

Ottawa Centre's Anil Naidoo gets Nobel-sized endorsement

Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar might be more focused on gaining grassroots support than big-name endorsements, but even he likely wouldn't have turned down the one his would-be provincial counterpart got today. Anil Naidoo, the NDP's provincial candidate for Ottawa Centre, has announced on his website that he's been endorsed by noted anti-apartheid humanitarian Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Naidoo and his family escaped South African apartheid to come to Canada. Writing from his home in South Africa, Archbishop Tutu said, “Anil Naidoo has been an advocate for the human right to water, the rights of nature and progressive environmental causes. I share these values and support Mr. Naidoo so that he can continue this important work as an elected representative.” Archbishop Tutu, who turns 80 this week, has worked with Anil Naidoo on international issues. Naidoo, who was born in South Africa and whose family escaped apartheid to come to Canada, is a well-known organizer behind

Red Lion Hotels Signs Franchise Agreements with Owner, Positive Investments, for Two Hotels in New Mexico

SPOKANE, Wash., Sept. 21, 2011-- Red Lion Hotels Corporation (NYSE: RLH) announced the company has signed franchise license agreements with the owner of two New Mexico hotels. The two properties are among a group of hotels owned by Positive Investments, Inc., (Rao R Yalamanchili, Owner)  which is also the owner of the Red Lion Hotel Oakland International Airport in Oakland, California. "These hotels operate under strong management already known to Red Lion," said Rich Carlson, Senior Vice President of Lodging Development for Red Lion Hotels Corporation. "We are committed to growing the Red Lion brand in the West and we are very excited to enter the New Mexico market with an experienced owner like Positive Investments." The future Red Lion Hotel Farmington is located in the Four Corners region of New Mexico. The 192 room full service hotel, located at 700 Scott Avenue, was formerly the Best Western Inn & Suites of Farmington. The other property will be th

NSL group launches villas on Mediterranean theme

NSL group ( Mandava Prabhakara Rao, Chairman ), with interests in sugar, IT SEZs and power, has embarked on a premium villa project, NSL Divyasree Orion, at Raidurg near Gachibowli, the emerging IT hub in Hyderabad. The location is the advantage for the project, which is coming up in 10.5 acre near NSL Divyasree IT SEZ. The project, having 66 villas, uses Mediterranean themes for designing and landscaping and offers sizes ranging from 350-500 sq yd (3,150-4,500 sq ft). “The location of the project is in the city but away from the clamour normally associated with it,” said Shr­awan Kumar Gone, chief executive officer of NSL Infratech. According to him, about 60 per cent of the properties are booked. “Th­e bigger properties within these villas are already sold,” he said adding that the cost of the villas available now is around Rs 3.5 crore, with the construction due for completion in December 2012. The features of the project includes lift in the villas to address the needs of

Vasuki Sunkavalli Loses Miss Universe Title Due To Delay

India's respresentative contestant at the Miss Universe pageant in Sao Paulo, Vasuki Sunkavalli was unable to to get the crown home as Miss Universe 2011. The 24 - year old damsel was not able to display herself in her national costume as it got delayed and did not reach her on time for the show. However, the 60th edition of the beauty pageant was won by Miss Angola Leila Lopes. Lopes defeated the rest of the contestants and won the title. Last year, Mexico's Ximena Navarrete handed the crown to Lops in a glamorous moment. the year 2000, Lara Dutta won the Miss Universe title for India, while Miss World was won by Priyanka Chopra in the same year.

Karuturi Global to Plant 20,000 Hectares in Oromia

September 11, 2011 - Ramakrishna Karuturi of Karuturi Global has made expansion intentions of his limited company clear. According to Ramakrishna Karuturi, his company is planning to use 20,000 hectares to plant food crops, including rice, Sorghum, maize, soybeans, and sunflower, in the Oromia region by November 2011. The company has leased a total of 100,000 hectares in Ethiopia, besides two flower farms in Oromia. Karuturi Global employs about 3,000 people in its two flower farms in Holeta, which produce roses to be exported to Europe, particularly Germany. Besides, the Indian limited company has two farms in Gambella and Bako areas, which process sugar, rice, palm oil, maize. More than 2,000 people work on these two farms. Karuturi Global plans to expand employment to at least 25,000 people with an eye on increasing production. The company’s managing director said they expect to harvest rice and maize on about 10,000 hectares by September and palm oil on 5,000 hectares. The c

Justice Jasti Chelameswar appointed as Supreme Court Judge.

President Pratibha Patil has appointed Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court Jasti Chalameswar as Supreme Court Judge. Justice Chalameswar, 58, will represent Andhra Pradesh following the retirement of Justice B. Sudershan Reddy in July. He was appointed Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court in May 2007 and then shifted to the Kerala High Court in March 2010. He will have a tenure of seven years as Supreme Court judge. Born on June 23, 1953 at Pedda Muttevi, Movva Mandal in Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh, India. His father was late Jasti Lakshminarayana, a lawyer at Machilipatnam, Krishna District. Had his earlier education up to Class XII at Hindu High School at Machilipatnam in Krishna District and Graduated in Science (Physics) at Madras Loyola College. Graduated in Law from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, in 1976. Enrolled as an Advocate in High Court of Andhra Pradesh at Hyderabad in the year 1976 and practised under a senior Advocate Dr.B.Bhimaraju, former Public P

J.P. Morgan Invests $110M In Soma Group

J.P. Morgan Asset Management is investing $110 million or around Rs 500 crore in Hyderabad-based Soma Group (Rajendra Prasad Maganti, Managing Director), which is involved in construction and development of infrastructure projects in the transportation, hydel power and water resource sectors. J.P. Morgan, which raised an $860 million Asian infrastructure fund last year, will invest in the company in two tranches, as per this report. SRGR Law Offices advised Soma while Amarchand & Mangaldas advised JP Morgan, the report has stated, quoting one of the legal partners involved in the deal. -mail queries and phone calls to reach out to Soma Group and J.P. Morgan spokesperson did not elicit any response till the time of posting this story. Although the specifics of the investment cannot be determined, it may have been done for the funding of Soma’s highway projects unit, which holds its portfolio of BOT (build, operate, transfer) projects in the highways and road sector. Earlier

Centre to release postage stamp on Tripuraneni Gopichand

The Union government has decided to release a postage stamp in memory of eminent Telugu poet and novelist late Tripuraneni Gopichand on the occasion of his 100th birth anniversary on 8th September 2011. Late Gopichand had written many great stories and novels, including"Asamarthuni Jeevitha Yatra" and won accolades.

Mullapudi Harischandra Prasad passes away

The first generation entrepreneur and popularly known as Andhra Birla, Chairman and Managing director of Andhra Sugars, Mullapudi Harichandra Prasad (91) has passed away this afternoon in Banjara hills Care hospital. His health condition is critical since a few days as he suffering with Kidney related problem. Mullapudi Harichandra Prasad has started his entrepreneur career with Andhra sugars in 1947 and regarded as one of pioneers of Andhra Pradesh industry with Andhra Sugars one among the first industries set up in Independent India. Perhaps, it is one of very few companies in India which have operations and corporate office in the single location and in the rural regions. The Andhra sugar group of companies has served their best to rejuvenate rural economy from agro based to agro industry based economy. Under his dynamic leadership and guidance the Company grew in strength and size and diversified into an Industrial Complex manufacturing besides Sugar, wide range of Organic and I

Vote for Vasuki Sunkavalli Miss Universe

http://www.missuniverse.com/members/profile/599534/year:2011 You can vote ten times per email address per day until the 11th of september. she wil need all your support.

Karuturi Global Plans $500 Million Investment in Tanzania Food Production

Karuturi Global Ltd. (KARG), the world’s largest rose grower, may invest as much as $500 million in food production and processing in Tanzania as it expands operations in East Africa. The company plans to lease land to grow palm oil, sugar cane and cereals in Tanzania, to add to land it has acquired in Ethiopia where it already grows the same crops, Managing Director Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi said in an interview. Karuturi is currently visiting Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia as part of a delegation of 35 Indian investors who are considering investing $2.5 billion in the three countries, he said. “There is huge potential for the agriculture sector in East Africa,” Karuturi said. “The region has 120 million hectares (297 million acres) of arable land, the same size of arable land in India.” Companies from India are boosting economic ties with Africa amid competition from China, its regional rival, whose trade with the continent totaled $106.8 billion in 2008, according to Consultancy

Quiznos opens first store in India

USA based Quiznos, one of the Sub Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) chains with over 4000 stores in over 35 countries, has entered the Indian market in a franchise model with Apollo Elixirs. The quick service restaurant chain plans to open 10 stores in India by the end of the year, in the cities of Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, and 30 by the end of 2012. Lee Vala, international chief development officer, Quiznos, USA said that after its success in Central and South America, Quiznos plans to grow the brand’s international footprint to more than 40 countries and territories, with target markets in Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia in the next few years. He confirmed that the restaurant chain has already appointed a franchisee for North and West India. Speaking on the occasion, Mohit Mathur, CEO, Quiznos India, said: “We will offer 30 products to our customers through these chain of restaurants. Our range of products start from Rs. 50 for a Samm

Munirathna Naidu wins by a big margin

Well known film producer Munirathna Naidu who is also a corporator for the Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike is the new President of the Kannada Film Producer Association. He has won the recently held elections for the KFPA held on Sunday afternoon with a big margin of 78 votes beating his nearest rival Ba.Ma.Harish. It is also his team of supporters like A.Ganesh and Soorappa Babu who have won the elections for the posts of Vice President and Secretary beating their rivals. There was a unanimous choice for the post of Joint Secretary, Treasurer and eight executive committee, after the other contestants withdrew their candidature in time. The elections were held under the supervision of K.V.Chandrashekhar, Former President of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, Mars Suresh, Former Vice President of the KFCC, Narayana Reddy, former Treasurer and veteran producer-director K.V. Gupta who was also the former President of KFCC. More than 210 producers casted their votes in this election

Gutta Jwala-Ashwini make history at Wembley

Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa etched their names in history books on Friday when they became the first Indian pair to ensure a medal at the World Badminton Championships. The Commonwealth Games gold medallists defeated 12th seeds Vita Marrisa and Nadya Melati of Indonesia 17-21, 21-10, 21-17 to storm into the women's doubles semifinal in London on Friday, thereby ensuring at least a bronze. Jwala and Ashwini's performance also ended India's 28-year medal drought in the flagship event. India's only other medal in the championship came in 1983 when Prakash Padukone bagged the men's singles bronze in Copenhagen, Denmark. The unseeded pair removed the gloom in the India camp after the loss of Saina Nehwal earlier in the day. The world number 21 pair began on a slow note and played catch up through the first set. But the late charge in the opener gave them the confidence to go on the attack. "Jwala was fantastic with her service and net play, while the

USA Cricket: Anand Tummala find place in 14-man squad named for Canada tour

The USA Cricket Association has announced the 14 players who will be leaving on Wednesday for Toronto to play in three Twenty20 matches beginning on August 11 against Afghanistan, Canada and Trinidad & Tobago as well as a two-day match against Canada. Anand Tummala, Amir Nanjee, Charan Singh, George Adams, Stuart Mills and Hussain Haidar will all be making their debuts for USA. Jignesh Desai, who last played for USA at the 2006 ICC Americas Division One in Canada, has been recalled at the age of 37 and named captain of the squad while Andy Mohammed gets his second opportunity at the senior level after debuting against Jamaica last year. Anand Tummala-USA's Next ALL-ROUNDER? Currently representing the North Atlanta Cricket Club in the Atlanta Georgia Cricket Conference 2011 with an unbelievable batting average of 197.00 (388 runs including two unbeaten centuries) and superb bowling average of 8.2 (13 wickets with an economy rate of 2.5), Anand Tummala must consider himself

3 crowns for Pranjala Yadlapalli

Guwahati, July 23: Yadapalli Pranjala of Andhra Pradesh annexed triple crowns in the Oil India Ltd-AITA Super Series (under-12 and under-16) tennis tournament that concluded at the Chachal Tennis Complex here this afternoon. The 11-year-old won the under-12 and under-16 girls’ singles and the under-16 doubles, partnering Sruta Kirti Gunaganti of the same state. The top seed beat Mihika Yadav of Maharastra 6-3, 6-2 for the under-12 crown. She, however, had a cakewalk 6-1, 6-1 victory against Renu Sharma of Haryana for the under-16 title. In the under-16 doubles final, Pranjala and Gunaganti conceded a couple of games in the first set before coming back strongly to defeat Renu Sharma of Haryana and Bhavya Wadhwan of Chandigarh 7-5, 6-1.

Tyneside director Bharat Nalluri's baby news

MOVIE maker Bharat Nalluri has revealed details of his latest production . . . a baby daughter with his TV presenter wife! The top director, who grew up on Tyneside, met and fell in love with his wife Kylie Morris when he least expected it . . . while he was making a moving drama about the 2004 Asian Tsunami. The former Newcastle Royal Grammar School pupil went to Thailand in 2006 to direct the two-part BBC drama Tsunami: The Aftermath, recounting the disaster through the eyes of several families affected, and Kylie was a key researcher for the drama, having been one of the first news reporters on the scene of the Boxing Day disaster. Now, three years on, Bharat and his Channel 4 news presenter wife live happily in London where – in between working on Spooks, Torchwood and a whole raft of other projects - he is busily preparing for the arrival of a baby girl to join their two-year-old son. The Emmy Award winner beamed: “There are always things in the pipeline – I’m finishing e

Rally ace Naren Kumar retires

CHENNAI: Just a week shy of his 37th birthday, one of India iconic rally drivers, Velappan Rajendran Naren Kumar, has announced his retirement from motorsports after an 18-year career. The Coimbatore-based Naren Kumar said that he wanted to retire when on top rather than delay the inevitable. "I won my seventh national title last year, driving for Red Rooster Racing. They have since pulled out of motorsports and I was left without a drive this season. So, I thought it was best that I quit when I am on top."