Manchester City were handed a major boost on Friday as the the Premier League leaders announced that defensive midfielder Fernandinho had put pen to paper a two-year contract extension.

City manager Pep Guardiola, who has managed European giants such as Barcelona and Bayern Munich in the past, had recently said he considered combative Brazilian among the top three defensive midfielders on the planet.

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And Fernandinho was understandably thrilled at the compliment as he gushed, “This is a Club with a fantastic future and I want to be a part of it for as long as possible”.

“With Pep in charge, I feel sure we can win significant silverware and, importantly, we will try to do it playing attractive, attacking football.”

“It’s a pleasure to be a part of this Club and I look forward to seeing what the next few years bring.”

Currently, City are in the midst of a terrific season, competing for silverware on an unprecedented four fronts and their current squad has been rated by many as the greatest-side ever in the history of the Premier League.

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The 32-year-old Fernandinho forms a crucial part of that squad and until their dramatic defeat at the hands of Liverpool on Sunday, the Sky Blues were the sole unbeaten team in the English top-flight.

Despite their loss at Anfield, the Citizens are in pole position to clinch the league title as they hold a 12-point lead over their nearest rivals at the summit and are overwhelming favourites to reach the Carabao Cup final after edging Bristol City 2-1 in the first leg of the semi-final.

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They are in the fourth round of the FA Cup and are widely tipped to unseat Europe’s elite in the UEFA Champions League as well.

The Brazilian enforcer arrived in the summer of 2013 from Ukrainian outfit Shaktar Donetsk and has steadily established himself as one fo the Premier League’s foremost defensive midfielders.

In fact, most pundits and fans are of the opinion that Fernandinho has outshone the likes of N’Golo Kante (Chelsea) and Nemanja Matic (Manchester United) this season.

Bombay based lawyers’ association on Friday filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay High Court against the CBI decision not to challenge a lower court order discharging BJP president Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case.

In the PIL, the Bombay Lawyers Association has urged the high court to issue a direction to the CBI to file revision application challenging the sessions court order discharging Shah.

The petitioner’s lawyer Ahmad Abidi said the plea would be mentioned before a division bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and Bharti Dangre on January 22.

“The CBI is a premier investigating agency. It has public duty to observe the rule of law in its action which it has miserably failed,” the petition said.

It submitted that the trial court had similarly discharged two Rajasthan Police Sub Inspectors Himanshu Singh and Shyam Singh Charan and senior Gujarat Police officer N K Amin.

“The petitioner has learnt that the CBI has challenged their discharge before the high court. This act of the CBI in challenging discharge of the accused persons on selective basis is arbitrary and unreasonable, rather malafide,” it alleged.

The petition claimed that the Supreme Court, while transferring the trial in the case from Gujarat to Mumbai, had ordered that it to be concluded expeditiously.

“The Supreme Court had said the Administrative Committee of the high court would assign the case to a court where the trial may be concluded judiciously, in accordance with the law, and without any delay. The Administrative Committee would also ensure that the trial should be conducted from beginning to end by the same officer, the apex court had said in its order,” it said.

Sohrabuddin Shaikh, alleged to be a terrorist, was killed in an alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat and Rajasthan police along with his wife Kauser Bi and his associate Tulsi Prajapati in 2005.

The CBI took over the probe into the case in February 2010 and filed its charge sheet in July the same year against 23 accused including Amit Shah, who at that time was the minister of state for home in Gujarat.

The trial court over a period of time discharged several accused in the case, including three IPS officers.

The Chennai Super Kings along with Rajasthan Royals is back with a bang in the Indian Premier League after two years of suspension. Using their right to retain card, the team had retained their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni along with star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina.

Ahead of the mega IPL auction, the Ranchi-lad revealed the team’s strategy. The IPL auction will take place on 27 and 28 January in Bangalore.

“As far as the composition of the team, we retained three players — a keeper, two batsmen who can bowl. A lot of areas are covered when it comes to the top order. We don’t have to go for left-handers. If the need arises, we may go for. Who we will get in the auction…that becomes slightly tough to say as of now. If we are looking for a few players, a lot of others are also looking for the same,” MS Dhoni said while interacting with the media.

While praising their former players, Dhoni said, that the former CSK players will be targeted by other teams. However, the team will try their best to bring back the core team. The former skipper also hinted that they would not bring back their players by overpaying.

“In the past what we have seen is a lot of players who were part of the CSK, they get targeted very strongly. We may have to keep the emotions aside. We may want somebody but if his price goes outside our range, we have to let him go. That is the adaptability factor that we need to have at the auction table. Whoever we will get, they perform to the potential they have got,” Dhoni added.

After retaining three players, CSK still holds two right-to-match cards. So when Dhoni was asked for whom they are going to use this card, he said, “With Ashwin, we had done the same thing in the past. We will definitely go for him in the auction but it is not only him but other players that we want. Ashwin being local, we want him. We want locals to be a part of CSK. We have Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Brendon McCullum. We have two right to match cards but when and where we can use..we will have to see. With Ashwin, I don’t think we can use the right to match because we already have three Indian players. We have to buy him out in the auction. We don’t know till what margins we can go to get him. There is no fixed price on someone. Ashwin will come first in the auction but as I said I will have to wait and watch but we will try to get him in the auction. At an auction, it’s the price that dictates term and how much money we can afford to go for each individual and make a strong team will be the key factor.”

For the first time, former Indian skipper MS Dhoni talked about fixing saga. Dhoni said that the sentiments of the team were hurt, however, the brand image of CSK has not been not damaged with the fixing fiasco.

“The last two years that we have not played, our fan following got stronger and stronger because none of the players were involved with anything. Yes, often when there is some mistake committed, people bear the brunt. The team had to bear the brunt of whatever happened but the players were clear of all the controversies. We are back to cricket and the fact that we sold off everything (whatever the endorsement brackets were there) even before the retainership was announced….that proves that they believe in CSK as a franchise and the kind of cricket we play. So it (IPL controversy) has not affected us in any way. Yes, it did hurt us because we were not part of IPL for two seasons,” MS Dhoni added.

When the wicket-keeper batsman of India was asked whether he was approached by any other IPL team he confessed, “A lot of people approached me. I can’t think of not coming back to CSK. As I said, it’s because of everything that we have been through, how we have conducted ourselves, how the management, players and fans have been. It is a second home to me. The fans over here have adopted me. They accept me as one of their own. There can’t be any bigger compliment than that. This is a special place and the thought of being with any other franchise was never a question.”

Under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Chennai had won two Indian Premier League titles.

Sri Lanka and China on Friday signed a joint venture agreement to construct Sri Lanka’s largest dendro power plant in the country’s south.

The power plant will produce 70,000 megawatts of renewable energy a year to the national power grid.

The joint venture was signed between Beijing Full Dimension Power Tech Co Ltd, Nanjing Turbine and Electric Machinery Group Co Ltd and Sri Lanka’s IMS Holdings, Xinhua news agency reported.

Speaking at the ceremony, Jinawara Dharmawardana, Chairman of IMS Holdings, said dendro power was the generation of electricity from sustainably grown biomass (fuel wood) and in this project the fuel would be produced from the wood of the Gliricidia Sepium tree.

Hundreds of farmers in the drought-prone Moneragala district will benefit from this project as the farmers supplying Gliricidia Sepium wood will make $3.2 million per year as a result of the power plant, Dharmawardana said.

Explaining the reasons for choosing Gliricidia Sepium wood as the fuel rather than solar power to run the turbines in the power plant, Dharmawardana said the primary mission of the company was to financially secure the farmers in drought-prone areas of the island nation.

Hu Xingzhong, chairman of the Beijing Full Dimension Power Tech Co Ltd, said the project was of “great significance” not only to the partners but also to the two countries.

The power plant will consist of six biomass boilers and three steam turbine generators as the core of the power generation system.

The dendro power plant is expected to start operation by the end of September.

China on Friday justified its massive construction activities in the Doklam area, describing it as “legitimate” and aimed at improving the lives of its troops and the people living on its own territory.

China’s reaction came amid reports that it was building a huge military complex close to the site of the Doklam standoff with India.

Asked about reports citing satellite imagery of a Chinese military complex in the area, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said: “I have also noted the relevant report. I don t know who offered such kind of photos.”

But at same time he said he did not have detailed information on it.

The reports raised concerns that the China may be preparing for another standoff with India.

Lu, however, said: “China’s position on the Donglong (Doklam) area is quite clear. Donglong always belonged to China and always under China’s effective jurisdiction. There is no dispute in this regard,” he said asserting Chinese sovereignty over the area which is also claimed by Bhutan.

He said China is building infrastructure for its troops and the people living in the area.

“In order to patrol the border and improve the production and lives of border troops and residents, China has constructed infrastructure including roads in the Donglong (Doklam) area,” Lu said.

He said China was exercising sovereignty in its own territory.

“It is legitimate and justified. Just as China will not make comments on India’s construction of infrastructure on India’s territory. We hope other countries will not make comments on China’s construction of infrastructure in its own territory,” he said.

Asked about concerns that China is preparing for a second standoff at Doklam area, he said Indian troops’ intervention to stop building a key road close the Chicken Neck Corridor of India, has put the bilateral ties to severe test.

Indian and Chinese troops had been locked in a stand-off for over two months last year in the Dokalam area near Sikkim before “disengaging” on August 28.

In an apparent referent reference to Amy Chief General Bipin Rawat’s recent remarks that Dokalam is a disputed territory between China and Bhutan, Lu said: “The Indian senior military officer has recognised that it was the Indian border troops who crossed the border”.

“This incident has put bilateral relations to undergo a severe test. We hope the Indian side can learn lessons from this and avoid the incident to happen again,” he said.

Recalling the summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Xiamen in September, Lu said “actually during the summit the two leaders has reached some consensus on improving bilateral relations and chartering the course for future development”.

“We hope relevant parties can earnestly follow through on the consensus reached by the two leaders, move in the same direction and jointly uphold the peace and stability of the border areas and stay committed for the comprehensive development of bilateral relations,” he said.

In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs yesterday said the face-off situation that had arisen in the Doklam region last year was “resolved following diplomatic discussions between India and China, based on which both sides arrived at an understanding for the disengagement of their border personnel at the face-off site”.

“Subsequently, in response to repeated questions about any change in the status quo at the face-off site, Government had stated that there was no basis for such imputations.

Government would once again reiterate that the status quo at the face-off site has not been altered. Any suggestion to the contrary is inaccurate and mischievous,” a statement by the ministry had said.

The latest buzz from Tollywood is that Vijay Deverakonda starrer Telugu film Arjun Reddy is now officially going to witness a Hindi remake backed by Murad Khetani and Ashwin Warde.

The announcement was made official on January 18, when the filmmakers bought the rights of the film to helm the super hit film in Hindi language.

Murad Khetani and Ashwin Varde – who produced the laugh-riot #Mubarakan – have acquired the Hindi remake rights of Telugu film #ArjunReddy… Sandeep Vanga, who directed the original film, will also direct the Hindi remake… The cast is under finalisation.

A post shared by Taran Adarsh (@taranadarsh) on Jan 17, 2018 at 9:04pm PST

The film’s cast and title is yet to be finalised and commencement of shooting will take place only once the director, cast and title would be decided for the remake.

Arjun Reddy was a super hit Telugu film released in 2017 and featured actor Vijay in the lead role. The film narrated the story of a medical boy, who turns up to alcohol and drugs after his girlfriend marries someone else, building the plot of the film.

The film was directed by debutant Sandeep Reddy Vanga and opened to a positive response at the box office by collecting more than Rs.50 crore.

Pakistan summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh on Friday for the second time in two days over the alleged “unprovoked ceasefire violations” by the Indian forces that killed Pakistani citizens.

Director General (South Asia & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned Singh for “unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Working Boundary on 19th January in Sialkot Sector,” the Foreign Office said.

He said the firing resulted in the death of a 24-year-old civilian and injured nine others in village Harpal.

On Thursday, Singh was summoned after two women died in the alleged unprovoked ceasefire violations.

“The Indian forces along the Working Boundary are continuously engaged in indiscriminate and unprovoked firing with heavy mortars and automatic weapons on the civilian populated villages, since the last 2 days,” Faisal said.

He said despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations.

In 2018, the Indian forces have carried out more than 125 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary in just 19 days, resulting in the killing of 4 innocent civilians, while injuring 20 others.

“This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1900 ceasefire violations,” he said.

Faisal also said that the deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws.

“The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation,” he asserted.

Faisal urged India to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement, investigate the ceasefire violations and instruct the forces to respect the ceasefire in letter to spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary.

He urged that the Indian side should permit UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.

Days after Pakistan refused to act against 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, India on Friday adviced its neighbour to “realise what’s in front of them” and take action against the global terrorist.

Addressing a press conference, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Raveesh Kumar said: “If somebody is designated global terrorist, it’s done based on lot of evidence available in public domain.”

“You can close your eyes, pretend nothing happened but they (Pakistan) have to realise what’s in front of them and take action against such people,” added Kumar.

Referring to Hafiz Saeed as ‘sahib’, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday gave a clean chit to the global terrorist saying there was no case registered against him.

The USA and UN had in 2017 designated Pakistan based Saeed a global terrorist.

Saeed, the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), is listed on the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) ‘Most Wanted’ list and India has banned his organisation.

He was involved not only in the Mumbai terror attack in 2008, but also in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings and the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.

India has repeatedly asked Pakistan to hand over Saeed to be tried for various terror activities but Pakistan has refused to oblige on one pretext or the other.

The UN, UK, European Union, Russia and Australia have also banned his LeT.

Film: My Birthday Song

Director: Samir Soni

Cast: Sanjay Suri, Nora Fatehi, Zenia Starr

Rating: ***

Actor Samir Soni turns director with a stylish erotic thriller about a man who on his 40th birthday gets his wish — a tumble in the hay with a young woman, which sets off a spiralling motion into his life.

No Fatal Attraction, this. Though evidently fatally attracted to the theme of a married man destroyed by a one-night stand. Sanjay Suri, always underplayed and affable, plays Rajeev, a hotshot ad filmmaker. The self-consciously stylishly done-up film begins with Rajeev’s birthday party where he is introduced to a young woman who is everything that a 40-year old married man should avoid, specially after a few drinks.

In no time, the sexually rampant man and the seductive stranger are in the bedroom, the birthday cake along with the party, forgotten in the next room.

There is an innate clumsiness in the way love-making scenes are shot in Hindi films and there is no escape from that sexual awkwardness in this film even if it is not technically a Hindi film. The characters speak in English most of the time. They glide around in sleek polished 7-star luxury with gleaming surfaces and sparkling teeth suggesting a life far removed from the grim reality of the Indian middle-class.

My Birthday Song is a good looking film. For a first-time director, Samir Soni seems to grasp the secret of audiences’ collective gasp. He goes about the business of developing his leading man’s attraction towards the forbidden fruit in scenes that suggest an erotic doom, an impending libidinous catastrophe.

It would be unjust to describe the twists and turns that propel the pulsating, pounding plot forward. A lot of the episodes that are piled on in pursuit of heightened anxiety seems ersatz. But the pseudo-momentum is maintained. It helps to keep us to be glued to the goings on.

There is a constant feeling of “What next?” in us even though the outcome is not always satisfactory. Suspense thrillers are killers only when they wrap up the messy proceedings with conviction. Here, My Birthday Song gets an ambivalent nod from us. The wrap-up is so designed to shock that it simply collapses under the weight of its own summoned urgency.

While Sanjay Suri holds up the proceedings with a looming semblance of believability, the rest of the cast loiters in the background waiting for the director to find a definitive place for them. The talented Pitobash shows towards the end as a car mechanic spouting ominous dialogues like, “A man must pay for his sins.” If you’ve seen what Sanjay Suri has done in the earlier scenes, his discomfort under scrutiny is understandable.

While Nora Fatehi remains largely clueless about her one-night stand with a man she hardly knows beyond a quick romp that she shared years ago, Zenia Starr who plays Suri’s wife is surprisingly persuasive in her confrontational sequence with her husband.

Handsomely mounted, this tale of urban infidelity is fuelled by the paranoiac fear that grips all successful organizational executives. Have I done something that may catch up with me today? Harvey Weinstein, please claim credit.

My Birthday Song struts its polished demeanour like a badge of honour. It has its slack passages. But most of the time we are absorbed in the goings-on waiting to see how Sanjay Suri gets out of the mess. The narrative gives him elbow room to seek an exit. Then pulls the rug from under his feet, leaving us with a feeling that the scriptwriter wanted us on the edge right till the end.

A 35-year-old IT professional and his wife were allegedly found hanging, and their five-year-old son dead, inside their flat in Baner area here on Friday.

Police suspect that the couple might have committed suicide but are uncertain about the cause of the child’s death, officials said.

Police have identified the deceased as Jayesh Patel (35), his wife Bhumika (30) and son Naksh (4), who originally hail from Gujarat.

“Today morning, neighbours, who developed suspicion after the Patels did not open the door for a long time, summoned the housing society office bearers and later called the police control room,” said Senior Police Inspector (Chaturshringi) Dayanand Dhome.

He said that both husband and wife were found hanging from the ceiling while the child was found dead on the floor.

“It is unclear how Naksh died and his post-mortem report is awaited,” said the officer.

Police said friends and relatives of the Patels have informed that Naksh was unwell and Jayesh was worried about his son’s health.

“We are in the process of recording the statements of the relatives,” police added.

The Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will carry pictures of candidates along with their names — when by-elections are held in Rajasthan on January 29.

According to Chief Election Officer Ashvini Bhagat, this has been done to ensure there was no confusion if there were two candidates with the same name.

According to the new arrangement, the EVMs will have the name of the candidate, his or her picture and the election symbol.

Bhagat said although this experiment was done in the Dholpur Assembly by-election, it hasn’t been done anywhere in a Lok Sabah election.

Lok Sabha by-polls are scheduled in Ajmer and Alwar on January 29 while Assembly elections will be held the same day in Mandalgarh.

The Election Commission is understood to have recommended disqualification of 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs on grounds of holding office of profit as Parliamentary Secretaries.

The Election Commission gave its opinion to the President on a complaint by the Congress in June 2016, seeking disqualification of the AAP MLAs. Under the Constitution, the President is bound to act in accordance with the EC’s recommendation.

There was no official word from the poll panel. Sources said the Commission’s recommendation had been sent to President Ram Nath Kovind.

A CBI judge who sentenced former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad in a corruption case has applied for a license to obtain a revolver along with his family members.

Shivapal Singh sent Lalu Prasad on January 6 to three-and-a-half-years imprisonment.

Singh, his son and daughter have applied for the license. The application is in the process, official sources said on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Ranchi District Bar Association on Thursday decided to boycott the court of the CBI judge. The Bar was unhappy as Singh allegedly denied time to a lawyer in a Ranchi court whose father had died.

Riding on Geno Petriashvili’s dominating win Punjab Royals thrashed Delhi Sultans 6-1 in the Pro Wrestling League at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadiumin New Delhi on Thursday.

Geno, who came into the tie unbeaten, maintained his glorious run and overwhelmed Hitender Beniwal 10-0 by pinning him down on the mat.

Before him, World Championship bronze medallist Latvian Anastasija Grigorjeva annihilated  Monia Dhanoi in the 62-kg event to put the Royals in the driving seat.

Leading 2-1, Anastasija  made a meal out of the Indian and won the contest 4-0 by pinfall in the opening period itself to help the Royals take a crucial 3-1 lead mid-way into the tie.

Winning the toss, Punjab played it smart and blocked the former Asian Championship gold medalist, Sandeep Tomar, while the Sultans elected to keep World championship bronze medallist Koumba Larroque out of action.

Delhi’s Icon player Alvarav Aslan (Azerbaijan), put his side ahead by pulling off an easy 14-1 win over  Nasir Hussain in the heavyweight category.

The World Championship bronze medallist was at the top of his game and demolished the Indian to dance to his fourth win of the season.

But thereafter, it was Punjab Royals all the way as they won their next four bouts. Commonwealth champion silver medallist Nirmala Devi began the march, registering a thrilling 6-0 victory over two-time African champion Tunisian Maroi Meizen in 50 kg category to draw level for Punjab.

Maroi, who walked into the contest as favourite, was frustrated by Nirmala’s staunch defence. Nirmala did well to not commit any mistakes and attacked her opponent on the counter to score the points and eventually walk out victorious.

In the 74-kg contest, current national champion Jitender Kinha beat Vinod Omprakash 5-0 in an exciting contest to send Punjab 2-1 up after three rubbers.