Posts published in “International,Diplomacy,Education”

Sochi (Russia), July 8 (IANS) Croatia overcame hosts Russia with a 4-3 (2-2) win via penalty shootout at the Fisht Stadium on Saturday to enter the FIFA World Cup semi-finals for the second time after a gap of 20 years.
Denis Cheryshev's 25-yard screamer in the 31st minute gave Russia the lead but Croatia pulled level through Andrej Kramaric's header in the 39th minute.
Domajog Vida gave Croatia the lead with a header in the 101st minute.
But Mario Fernandes found Russia's equaliser in the 115th minute to stretch the match to penalty shootout, in which Croatia prevailed.
--IANS<br>pur/pgh/

Los Angeles, July 8 (IANS) Reality television star Kylie Jenner knows her body has "bounced back super fast" since welcoming her daughter in February, but says she has struggled with her share of post-baby body insecurities.
While answering some fan questions, the 20-year-old mother opened up about it, reports people.com.
"I feel like people think that I bounced back super fast, which I guess I did," said the "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star in a new video posted on her YouTube page, and added that "people can get the wrong idea on Instagram sometimes."
She said her body changed in significant ways.
"My b**bs are three times the size, which bothers me. I have stretch marks on my b**bs. My stomach isn't the same, my waist isn't the same, my bu**'s bigger, my thighs (are) bigger.
"And honestly, I'm finding I have to change my style a little because nothing in my closet fits me from before," added Kylie, who has named her daughter Stormi.
She wants to get back in shape and have "real abs", people.com reported.
"I know I can have a super fit body. And just for my health a" I want to do this. I want to feel good."
Watching her body go through changes at her age was "physically, mentally, and emotionally a challenge". But Kylie also found it to be a "beautiful thing".
"It was such a great pregnancy and birth. And I'm so happy. I would have done the same thing over again," she said.
--IANS<br>rb/pgh/

Gandhinagar, July 8 (IANS) Patel quota stir leader Hardik Patel, OBC and Dalit leaders as well as legislators Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mevani reached the office of the Gandhinagar Superintendent of Police to court arrest in a trespass case against them.
But before they sat on a dharna on late Saturday evening, they demanded the SP declare the antecedents and the business of the person, who had complained against the three for illegal trespass in home, as part of their self-styled 'janata raid' against sale of illicit liquor in the state capital last Thursday.

They said they would not move from there till the senior officer agrees to their demand.

After the late-night drama, the Superintendent of Police eventually came out and admitted that the family was indeed into illegal sale of country-made liquor. Following this, everyone dispersed.

While the three had been claiming that liquor was sold there and even found a few pouches of liquor during their raid, Gandhinagar Police did not find anything there.

After the incident, the owner of the house, Kanchanben Makwana filed a police complaint, alleging that Thakore, Patel and Mevani, had entered her house without permission and "this was harassment".

Makwana claimed the alcohol 'found' at her home was planted by one of the supporters of the three before they entered her house in garb of carrying out a 'janata raid'.

"In her complaint, Kanchanben has said that she does not sell liquor and the two pouches recovered from her house were planted by the people who had entered her home," Virendrasinh Yadav, SP, Gandhinagar, said.

"The three leaders have arrived here, but police are investigating the case. Only after the investigations, we will make our further move," the police officer said.

The three have been booked under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Section 452 (assault or wrongful restraint), Section 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), Section 193 (intentionally giving false evidence) and trespass.

If proven, the provisions in the law stipulate up to 7 years in jail. However, bail is possible at the police station level itself.

The three leaders had begun their 'janata raid' and announced they would carry out campaign against illicit liquor in the "dry state".

As part of their initiative and to prove their point, they carried out a 'janata raid' at Kanchanben's house, located at around 100 metres from the office of Gandhinagar SP and claimed to recover two pouches of liquor.

A large number of supporters, including Congress MLAs Kirit Patel and Dhavalsinh Rathod, were present outside the police station, in support of the three.

Later in the evening, Leader of Opposition, Paresh Dhanani also reached there.

"This is a failure of the BJP government whose police, instead of nabbing the culprits behind the illegal bootlegging, is trying to intimidate the social workers who are trying to wipe out the illegal trade of liquor. This is a message by them to intimidate the public by levying false charges against them," Dhanani told reporters.

--IANS
desai/pgh/

London, July 8 (IANS) Australia's Alex de Minaur, world number 80, was no match for Spanish tennis great Rafael Nadal, the world number 1, who defeated him 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in Wimbledon's third round on Saturday.
With the win, Nadal ensured that he would keep the top spot of the ATP ranking upon its release following the tournament.
Having reached the round of 16, where he fell in 2017, Nadal will maintain at least a 50-point advantage in the ATP ranking over his main rival, Roger Federer of Switzerland, who is the defending champion and so will not add any points to his ranking from this year's tournament, Efe news reported.
At a match attended by Australian tennis legend Rod Laver and golfer Sergio Garcia, the Augusta Masters champion, second-seed Nadal displayed strength against his 19-year-old rival.
Seventeen-time Grand Slam champion Nadal stormed to a 6-1 lead in just 33 minutes based on the strength of two service breaks, while remaining untouchable on serve, as he faced no break points during the opener.
Nadal's powerful forehand and his effectiveness on serve -- winning more than 80 per cent of the first and second serve put in play during the second set -- proved more than De Minaur could handle.
De Minaur squandered two break points during the second set, and conceded his own the same number of times to fall two sets behind.
With everything on the line, De Minaur forced Nadal into longer rallies, giving one of the trademark performances that have distinguished him as a promising young player.
Squandering a break point, De Minaur saw his serve broken once in the third set, which proved to be decisive.
Although the Australian fended off a match point, he was unable to save the second, with Nadal approached the net playing a backhand volley to seal the win.
In the next round, Nadal is to take on either Fabio Fognini of Italy, world number 16, or Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic, world number 93.
--IANS<br>pgh/

Jaipur, July 8 (IANS) Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interaction here with beneficiaries of government welfare schemes a "flop show".
"Our PM was supposed to have a direct interaction with beneficiaries but he was shown clippings of beneficiaries in audio-video presentation. This could have been sent to Modi in a pen drive without wasting so much efforts, time and money... Can this presentation be called as dialogue?" asked the Congress leader.
Noting that around three lakh beneficiaries were called from distant locations of the state, and government functionaries worked overtime to get huge numbers while putting other work on hold and ignoring public petitioners, he said now the "tall claims of the government have fallen flat".
"The entire show which was organised with government funds was turned into a political event where funds worth crore of rupees were wasted," he said adding all constitutional limits were crossed in the presence of Governor Kalyan Singh.
"The government programme was turned into a political event. Both (Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara) Raje and Modi smashed all records in praising each other. Had they shown the same respect and regard for each other in last four years, the state wouldn't have been ignored the way it is," he said.
--IANS<br>arc/vd/qd<br>

New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of protecting the "corrupt" BJP leaders including Chief Ministers of various BJP-ruled states, Congress on Saturday said when it comes to power, there will be thorough investigation on the cases against them and they will be in "jail" and not out on "bail".
Responding to Modi, who on Saturday said people are calling Congress "Bail gadi" because many of its senior leaders are out on bail in various cases, the party said that the Prime Minister, "who talks about bail gadi (bullock cart)", has taken the farmers to its era in the age of tractors.
"PM talks about corruption, but there are so many corruption cases aginst the Chief Minister of Rajasthan (Vasundhara Raje). There are also cases aganst other BJP chief ministers," said Congress spokesperson R.P.N Singh.
Attacking Modi for hielding corrupt BJP leaders, he said that the Prime Minister always maintained silence on the matter and never ordered a probe against BJP leaders allegedly involved in corruption.
"There will be investigation on the crores of money which have been siphoned off. We have raised various cases of corruption against BJP ministers and even the son of BJP president (Amit Shah) but no reports, no CBI inquiry, not even an income tax investigation has been initiated," Singh said.
"When PM was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, the GSPC scandal of Rs 20 lakh crore took place. The day our government comes to power, we will investigate all these matters. And all these people will not get bail and will be in jail. When they are in power they do not investigate such matters," he added.
Slamming Modi, who addressed a rally in Rajasthan on Saturday, Singh accused the state government of not allowing farmers to attend the rally.
He also alleged that private players had been forced by the Rajasthan government to bring people to the rally.
He also termed the government's announcement on doubling the income of farmers and raising the MSP of farm produce another 'jumla'. "This is the first government which has put farm products under GST. The PM of the country always speaks half-truth. This was no where close to the Swaminathan report," he said.
--IANS<br>sid/vd

Bengaluru, July 7 (IANS) About 250 unemployed youth who sought jobs at Karnataka Chief Minister's public interface (Janata Darshan) have got job offers, said an official statement from Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy's office on Saturday.
"A special team formed at the Chief Minister's home office has made pact with various companies to provide employment opportunities to these 250 applicants," the statement said.
The Chief Minister also directed the Deputy Commissioners of the state's 30 districts to hear public grievances and resolve the problems of disabled, poor and the unemployed on the spot.
"The issues which cannot be resolved at their level can be referred to the CMO, which I will review twice a month," the statement quoted Kumaraswamy as saying.
District-in-charge secretaries will also be directed to bring issues from across the state to the Chief Minister's notice, Kumaraswamy said, adding that changes will be made in the administration so as to benefit the common man.
--IANS<br>bha/qd

Chandigarh, July 7 (IANS) After allegations that he was being shielded by top police officers in the Punjab Police, the state Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Saturday issued a lookout notice for former Moga Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Raj Jit Singh.
A police spokesperson said the step was taken following media reports indicating that Raj Jit Singh may flee the country.
He said Raj Jit Singh is required for questioning in connection with a case registered by the VB in 2015.
"The FIR pertains to allegations against the dismissed Inspector Inderjit Singh, then posted in Tarn Taran, and Raj Jit, who was then SSP there," the spokesman said.
"As per the FIR, some alleged drug smugglers had managed to get a clean chit in the chemical examination of certain drugs seized from them as a result of the complicity of the lab staff.
"It was further alleged that Inspector Inderjit, on receiving a tip-off, had called the said lab staff for questioning and instead of arresting the main accused Jagdeep Singh, he had, in consultation with Raj Jit Singh, made him an approver in the case. There are allegations that money was exchanged in the process," the spokesman added.
The lookout notice issued by VB has been sent to the Punjab Police Intelligence Bureau and will be dispatched to airports and other exit points to prevent Raj Jit Singh from escaping questioning.
Raj Jit is currently posted as Commandant, 4th Battalion of the Punjab Armed Police, Mohali since his transfer out of Moga on Monday, following his alleged links with drugs racket.
--IANS<br>js/qd/vd