30 July, 2013

Trinamool surges ahead in Bengal panchayat polls

The green surge that crushed Bengal's 34-year-old Red citadel in 2011 continues to swamp the countryside, but is just short of a clean sweep.

Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress decimated the Left in south Bengal, but met with hurdles in the north, where the Congress and the Left were ahead of the ruling party in Jalpaiguri, Uttar Dinajpur, Malda and Murshidabad. The projected Lok Sabha tally extrapolated from the grassroots would put Trinamool's seats at 27 out of 42, a prospect that would give Mamata bargaining power in national politics.

Outsiders destroying J&K’s culture, Geelani says

Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani has asked Kashmiris not to allow five-lakh-odd "outsiders" mostly from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, to trample upon their culture. Shortage of labourers in most parts of the valley has led to an increase in migration of both skilled and unskilled workers from other states to Jammu & Kashmir, and Geelani sees threat to Kashmiri culture from the "outsiders".

Pakistani lawmakers vote for new president

Polling started on Tuesday in Pakistan's National Assembly and four other provincial centres to elect a new president who will replace incumbent Asif Ali Zardari in September.

The polling started at 10am amidst strict security arrangements at the National Assembly, the four provincial assemblies and the Senate.

The voting will continue without any break till 3pm. Mamnoon Hussain, the India-born nominee of ruling PML-N, is likely to win the elections for the 12th president in the one-on-one contest with ex-judge Wajihuddin Ahmad of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party.

Hungary win fuels Mercedes title hopes

Mercedes believe they can put their tyre woes behind them and mount a genuine Formula One title challenge after Lewis Hamilton's Hungarian Grand Prix win on Sunday.

The 2008 world champion might have greeted his first victory for Mercedes since his move from McLaren at the end of last season as something of a 'miracle' but others saw it differently.

Paes, Hingis lead Kastles to 'hat-trick' of titles

The Leander Paes-led Washington Kastles won their third World Team Tennis (WTT) title in a row — and their fourth in five years — after overwhelming Springfield Lasers 25-12 in the grand finale on Sunday.

Playing in front of their home fans at Kastles Stadium in Washington DC, the champions won all five matches with five-time Grand Slam singles champion Martina Hingis and doubles ace Paes playing stellar roles.

Hingis, who will make a comeback to the WTA Tour this week when she plays doubles with Daniela Hantuchova at the Southern California Open in Carlsbad, won her women's singles, women's doubles (with Anastasia Rodionova) and mixed doubles (with Paes) matches comfortably.