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AUGUST 8, 2015 | EDIT

• Suicide bomber kills 20 in police academy attack in Afghanistan

  At least 20 people were killed in an attack conducted by a suicide bomber outside the gates of a police academy in Kabul on Friday, AP reported citing Afghan officials. According to a police officer, the victims were recruits, and the attacker had walked into a group of them by the academy entrance. At least 25 others were injured, another anonymous source in the police said. So far, nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the second deadly assault in Afghanistan’s capital on Friday. At least 15 people were killed and over a hundred injured in a truck bomb explosion earlier in the day.

• Greek PM Tsipras wants Europe to help with refugees

  The Prime Minister of Greece, Alexis Tsipras, has asked Europe to help in handling tens of thousands of refugees who have been landing on Greek soil after crossing the Mediterranean Sea, Reuters reports. The majority are coming from Syria, Afghanistan and other war-torn nations. Tsipras said that Greece, which is enduring economic hardships, is unable to deal with the influx of migrants on its own.

• Sweden won’t question Assange in UK as Ecuador cites asylum as condition

  Swedish prosecutors’ plan to question WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at Ecuador’s embassy in London has stalled. Ecuador has demanded Sweden give him asylum as a condition of the meeting, Reuters quoted a Swedish official as saying on Friday. “If he wants asylum he has to come to Sweden,” Cecilia Riddselius at the Justice Department said. Assange fears Sweden will extradite him to the US where he could be put on trial over WikiLeaks’ publication. Prosecutors first insisted Assange should travel to Sweden for questioning, but in March agreed to conduct the interview in London. Media agencies

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AUGUST 8, 2015 | EDIT

Myanmar govt peace talks with ethnic armed groups end without resolution

Talks aimed at reaching a historic Myanmar peace agreement between the government and ethnic armed groups ended without resolution on Friday, AFP said. The negotiations stumbled on whether a deal should include all rebel groups as time is running out to reach a ceasefire ahead of November 8 elections in the former junta-run nation. Ethnic organizations want 17 groups included in the deal, but the government has balked at including several of them. The talks were expected to end more than half a century of civil wars in the country.

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AUGUST 8, 2015 | EDIT

Dr. Subhash Chandra raises concern over News Media ownership in India

• A pertinent issue for the news media industry!

Mumbai, August 07, 2015: With the growing number of television channels, the critical issue facing the news media industry today is about ownership and security licenses of these mushrooming channels. The industry is in dire need of a proper regulatory framework, to create stricter entry checks.

Concerned about the issue, Dr. Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Essel Groupopines, “The media houses were started by our freedom fighters, like Raja Ram Mohan Roy to inform and empower people. However today, a few entities have started news media businesses as a shield for their illegal activities. Regulatory complexities are a concern for the industry and with skewed business models, no serious corporate wants to invest in this industry. It is high time we realize the need for a defined framework of rules under the media regulator in order to screen out these illegal players.”

Media is a soft power which in a large democracy like ours creates public opinion so that the other pillars of the society like the executive, legislature, judiciary and even business, do not use the democracy for their own gains. The TV medium is different from the print medium, as newspapers are read only by the educated class. But television being a mass medium has a far deeper penetration, reaching even the remote rural areas of the country and in their respective regional languages. Hence, television as a medium has a far greater impact on the society.

The Reserve Bank of India applies ‘fit and proper’ criteria before issuing any permission for entities entering into the financial services. The criteria unveils the corporate whole and searches for sources of funds as well as the relationship of the promoters in a vertical and horizontal manner, as these services impact the finances of the common man. So the question to be asked is, ‘Is protecting the common man’s mind from getting misled and polluted less important than protecting one’s money?’

Elaborating further, Dr. Chandra said, “Today, ownership of media, particularly of news channels is opaque. We should not be surprised if some of these news channels are owned by underworld elements. The need of the hour is to have a media council with robust media ethics and code of conduct, similar to the due diligence as provided in the Banking sector by the RBI.”

Re-iterating the need for transparent media operations, Dr. Chandra emphasized “the criticality of the industry players coming together to raise a joint voice on these crucial issues.”

Recently, Zee Business channel brought this issue to light with a compelling discussion on media ownership and transparency. Please find below the link for your reference:

https://youtu.be/3FSbE8MPiZc

Dr. Subhash Chandra’s Official Twitter Handle – @_SubhashChandra

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AUGUST 8, 2015

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RESURGENT PUNERI PALTAN HOLD TELUGU TITANS TO DRAW IN THEIR FINAL HOME GAME

Hyderabad, August 7: In a night of upsets, Wazir Singh’s Puneri Paltan almost pulled the rug from under the feet of Telugu Titans in a clash of nerves, but had to settle for a 29-29 draw. But the result didn’t prevent the Hyderabad side from taking the pole position in the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League with 42 points in 11 matches after U Mumba’s unexpected loss to the Jaipur Pink Panthers. The three that they earned improved Pune’s position to seventh on the table with a tally of 13 points. Kolkata are now relegated to the eighth spot.

Pune had the upper hand in the first eight minutes when they inflicted an all-out against the Titans to go up 12-4.  It was a Wazir super raid worth three points that set them on that path. Pravin also contributed a couple of points. But the Titans fought tooth and nail to draw level at 16-16. They did that in style by getting the rivals all-out in the 17th minute after Sukesh came up with a super three-pointer to reduce the margin from 9-15 to 12-15. Rahul Chaudhari getting caught five times in the first half forced the Titans to trail 18-20 at half-time.

If the Titans managed to salvage a draw the credit should primarily go to Sukesh Hegde. He scored 8 raid points with a bonus to boot. He came out successful in three do-or die –raids with one of them being a three point super raid. Sukesh had an able ally in all-rounder Deepak Niwas Hudda. The lanky Haryanvi lad came up with seven raiding points and had a hand in three tackles besides lending a helping hand to others. Sandeep Kandola too enhanced his reputation as a defender. The trio performed well to make up for the inability of ace raider Rahul Chaudhari. He contributed just one point in 14 raids before he was replaced.

Puneri Paltan’s captain Wazir Singh’s gallant efforts with the ever reliable Pravin Niwale brought his side close to a major upset but the pressure in the last two three minutes proved too much. A frog jump by Sukesh and a quick touch and return by Prashant Rai enabled Titans draw the match from a 25-27 deficit. Pune had an opportunity to clinch the issue after Ravi Kumar got a hold on Sukesh and Pravin got Deepak. Pravin was then caught after Prashant’s smart touch and scoot act.

MATCH 35 – TELUGU TITANS VS PUNERI PALTAN

No.	Award	Player/Team
1	TVS BEST RAIDER OF THE MATCH	WAZIR SINGH (PUNERI PALTAN)
2	BAJAJ ELECTRICAL INSPIRING DEFENDER OF THE MATCH	RAJAGURU SUBRAMANIAM (TELUGU TITANS)
3	TVS TYRES MOMENT OF THE MATCH	SUKESH HEGDE (TELUGU TITANS)
4	VIP FRENCHIE BIG IMPRESSION PLAYER OF THE MATCH	DEEPAK NIVAS HUDDA (TELUGU TITANS)
5	DAE DUMDAAR ATOM AWARD	SANDEEP (TELUGU TITANS)
5	FLIPKART AUDIENCE KI WISH PLAYER OF THE MATCH	SUKESH HEGDE (TELUGU TITANS)

(additional photos attached)

Watch Season 2 of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi LIVE on Star Sports 2, 3, HD2, HD3 and hotstar.com from 7:50pm onwards

Star Sports Pro Kabaddi – Points Table after Matches 34 and 35 as of 7th August  

POS	TEAM	PLAYED	WIN	DRAW	LOSS	POINTS
1	TELUGU TITANS	11	7	2	2	42
2	U MUMBA	9	8	0	1	40
3	BENGALURU BULLS	8	6	0	2	30
4	JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS	9	3	1	5	21
5	PATNA PIRATES	8	3	1	4	20
6	DABANG DELHI	8	3	0	5	17
7	PUNERI PALTAN	8	1	1	6	13
8	BENGAL WARRIORS	9	1	1	7	11

—

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AUGUST 8, 2015

India’s Shooting Squad Eye Rio Quota Berths at the ISSF World Cup in Gabala, Azerbaijan

New Delhi, 07 August 2015: A 45 member strong Indian Shooting squad, among the largest in the competition along with the USA, Russia and China, will look to grab as many Rio 2016 Olympic quota berths of the 34 available, when the year’s first combined (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup gets underway in the city of Gabala in the central Asian republic of Azerbaijan. The premiere world event, will begin its first day of competition on August 8 and end on India’s Independence Day (August 15), with 1106 athletes from 90 countries vying for top honours across 15 shooting disciplines for men and women.

According to Mr. Raninder Singh, President of the National Rifle Association of India, “We are expecting at least four quota places from the Gabala World Cup if all goes well, and we aim to win the maximum number of medals for India from the Rio Olympics as well. We have a top squad with a healthy mix of experience and youth and the commitment and dedication shown by our shooters have been exemplary. With the tremendous support that the sport has been receiving from all quarters, including the Government authorities, support staff, the media and the fans, we are sure the National team will continue to do the country proud.”

Shooting, along with wrestling has been India’s top Olympic sport till date after hockey, and the top sport in recent times, with Indian shooters having bagged four medals, including one Gold, two Silvers and one Bronze medal in the last three consecutive Olympics- more than any other sport.

India has already bagged five quota places for the Rio Olympics in 2016, out of a maximum possible 30 per nation. Abhinav Bindra, India’s only individual Olympic Gold medalist, is one of the shooters who has already secured a Rio berth along with Olympic Bronze medalist Gagan Narang and Pistol shooters Jitu Rai and Gurpreet Singh. Apurvi Chandela is the lone woman shooter to have secured a quota place for her country thus far.

Sporting powerhouses China the USA lead the race, having won 20 quota places each already, followed by the likes of Russia (15), Italy (14), Germany (13), Korea (12) and France (10). Serbia (9), Ukraine (8) and Cuba (7) complete the top 10 in the race followed by India.

India’s stated goal for Rio is to win 12 quota places at the bare minimum and there is one more quota event after this, in the form of the Asian Shooting Championships in November, to reach that goal.

With most top shooters of the world, having already secured their quotas and therefore deemed ineligible for quotas according to ISSF norms, even a finish in the top six or eight, will help Indian shooters clinch quota places.

A few names to look out for in Gabala, from a perspective of favourites to win quota places for India based on recent form, include the likes of Manavjit Sandhu (Trap), Chain Singh (Rifle), Vijay Kumar (Pistol), Heena Siddhu (Pistol) and Ayonika Paul (Rifle) among others.

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AUGUST 8, 2015

Naresh Kumar Sagar

Just now ·

Lenovo K3 Note Limited Edition Yellow Version to go on sale on August 11th, 2015

Keeping up with the demand from the consumers, Lenovo today announced that its immensely successful smartphone K3 Note will be available in yellow colour variant on Flipkart on open sale on Tuesday, August 11th, 2015 from 12 noon onwards. Lenovo has seen tremendous success in terms of consumer response for the K3 NoteⳠblack and white versions. The K3 Note has received over 2 million registrations in the first five weeks of K3 NoteⳠsale and over 2 lakhs devices have been sold so far.