Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree to exclude his deputy Vitaly Mutko from the supervisory board of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for Russia FIFA World Cup 2018, according to the legal information portal.

Under the decree, Alexey Sorokin, the LOC director general, will replace Mutko as the committee’s chairman.

Mutko announced his decision to resign as the LOC Chairman in late December, after the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban him for life from attending all Olympic-related events. He also suspended his activities as the president of the Russian Football Union (RFU), reports Tass news agency.

The LOC Russia-2018 for the preparations and organisation of the 2018 FIFA World Cup was established by the Russian government and the Russian Football Union (RFU) in January 2011.

Mutko held the posts of the LOC Chairman and of a deputy chair of the LOC Supervisory Board.

The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 cities across Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

Two of the stadiums are located in the Russian capital.

CAT Results 2017: Candidates waiting to check their CAT Results 2017 need to wait for a little more time. As per the latest news updates, it has been informed that the Common Admission Test examination results 2017 will not be declared today.

Along with this it has been added in the reports that the CAT Result 2017 is expected to be declared online – iimcat.ac.in in the second week of January, 2018.

Once the CAT Results 2017 is declared then the candidate need to visit the official website iimcat.ac.in and fill the blank space with the required information including roll number, registration number and date of birth.

Candidates are advised to take a print out of the exam results for future purpose.

The CBI on Friday arrested Mushtaq Ahmed, an accused in the 1993 bombing of RSS’ Chennai headquarters in which 11 persons were killed.

Ahmed, 56, who had eluded the CBI for 24 years was arrested in the morning from the outskirts of Chennai, CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said here.

The blast on August 8, 1993 was triggered using RDX. It brought down the multi-storeyed RSS office at Chetput in Chennai, claiming 11 lives.

The agency had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for providing credible information about Ahmed, one of the main accused in the case.

The release of “Mukkabaaz” will be the end of an arduous journey for lead actor Vineet Kumar Singh, who also debuts as a feature film writer with the sports romance. Having written the script with a desire to play the lead, the 36-year-old struggled to find a director for the project for three years, overcame injuries while getting in shape to perform the demanding role of a boxer and even battled financial crunch.

“All those I approached liked the story but I was told to play some other role or associate myself as a writer with this film. But I did not want this to happen. I approached around 25 producers and none of them was keen to do this film with me. I was like maybe in six months or a year I will find someone but that did not happen,” he told PTI in an interview.

Vineet, who has acted in films like “Gangs of Wasseypur“, “Bombay Talkies“, wrote “Mukkabaaz” with his sister and a friend. The “Ugly” actor thought Anurag Kashyap — the director and co-producer of “Mukkabaaz” — will not buy into his dream project. A meeting to take the “Black Friday” director’s “feedback” on the script ended with more than advice.

Vineet said he was hesitant to approach the director who had already cast him in three of his films. “After he read the script, he called me up and that phone call is the most important call of my life. He told me ‘I will direct it and you will play the lead.”  Vineet said Kashyap wanted him to look like a real boxer and determined to give his best, he packed his bags and went to Patalia to train with real boxers.

“As a boxer, I had to be physically fit. I was training for stamina and physical strength. Before meeting Anurag sir, I did train in boxing in Mumbai for a brief period. I realised that it was not proper boxing but MMA. I discussed this with Anurag sir and he spoke to (star boxer) Vijender Singh, who later spoke to a coach in Patalia.”
With an aim to understand the inner life of a boxer, Vineet started the training. His only condition was to be treated like a real boxer.

“In the film, I have fought in different styles. I was playing with international players like Neeraj Goyal, Deepak Tanwar and Sandeep Yadav.” There were a lot of injuries that Vineet faced due to his extensive training but overcame them. “I did not have a house to stay. I was running out of money and had no work. If I quit this, then I had to be a doctor. I felt if I give up, then the problem is with me. I did not give up.” Vineet says the sports romance was shot like a real fight.

“Action meant you will fight and keep fighting. It was more like a real fight. Nothing was planned in advance.”  Vineet, a national level basketball player, says he chose boxing because he wanted the focus to be on him in the film.

“Being a basketball player, I could have easily written a story around it but it would have had 12 actors, as the sport requires that many people. So out of selfish reasons, I chose a film on boxing so that I get the chance to show my skills.”  “Mukkabaaz”, also staring Zoya Hussain, is slated to release on January 12.

Director Paul King is amazed with the number of photographs actor Hugh Grant has of himself.

Grant has joined the cast of Paddington 2 and plays a villain named Phoenix Buchanan who is self-obsessed and has hundreds of photographs of himself in his house.

“We needed a hundred pictures of Hugh. Hugh said he had a few and he came in the next day with various portraits and charcoal sketches of himself that had been given to him by fans,” King said in a statement.

“Nobody has ever sent me a charcoal sketch of (himself) reclining on a couch semi-naked. But then, I’m not an international sex symbol,” added the director.

On a lighter note, Grant said: “I thought everyone had head shots in their house. I may have a wallpaper too.”

Paddington, released in 2014, recreates the magic of British author Michael Bond’s best-selling series of children’s stories. It follows the comic misadventures of a young bear with a passion for all things British.

In Paddington 2, the enthusiastic bear will be seen devoting himself to buying a present for his aunt Lucy’s 100th birthday and tell a story on how he ends in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, Madeleine Harris and Samuel Joslin are returning as the lead cast of the film. Ben Whishaw is also returning as the voice of Paddington and Imelda Staunton as aunt Lucy.

The sequel to Paddington, being brought to India by PVR Picture, will release in the country on January 12.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will shortly introduce new Rs 10 currency notes under the Mahatma Gandhi series,the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced on Friday

The old Rs 10 banknotes will remain legal, according to media reports.

The central bank has already printed around 1 billion pieces of the new Rs 10 banknotes, the new banknotes will have chocolate brown colour as the base and will also bear the picture of Odisha’s Konark Sun Temple on the reverse side, according to RBI.

“RBI will shortly issue Rs 10 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, bearing signature of Governor Urjit R. Patel.

“All the banknotes in the denomination of Rs 10 issued by the Reserve Bank in the earlier series will continue to be legal tender,” it added.

Among salient features of the new note, the number panel on the note has the size of numerals growing from left to right

In August 2017, the RBI had introduced new Rs 50 and Rs 200 notes under the Mahatma Gandhi series. The move to reintroduce lower denomination notes in a new design was taken to discourage counterfeit notes and a less-cash economy.

On 8 November, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation economic policy, under which Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes were withdrawn from circulation. The move removed around 86 per cent of the currency in circulation or Rs 15.44 lakh crore, according to media reports.

The Rs 1,000 notes were replaced with new Rs 2,000 notes, while the Rs 500 notes were redesigned.

According to RBI’s annual report for the last financial year, the volume of banknotes increased by 11.1 per cent mainly owing to higher infusion of lower denomination currency after the government’s demonetisation measure.

According to media reports, RBI has printed 16.96 billion pieces of Rs 500 banknotes and 3.6 billion pieces of Rs 2,000 notes as on December 8, according to information given by the finance ministry in Lok Sabha. The total value of the notes amounts to Rs 15.79 trillion.

Currency in circulation was Rs 16.71 trillion as on December 22, according to RBI. This is about 94.4 percent of the Rs 17.7 trillion that was in circulation on 4 November 2016, media reports added.

(With agency inputs)

The Russian Football Union will nominate Moscow to host the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, its Deputy President Sergei Anokhin told Tass.

The Beach Soccer World Cup has been held since 2005 with Brazil, France, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Tahiti and Portugal hosting the previous tournaments.

Russia announced its plans to submit its bid for hosting the beach soccer event in the fall of 2016.

“We will be striving for hosting the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Moscow,” Anokhin said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday arrested Sandip Jhunjhunwala, Managing Director of REI Agro Ltd, in connection with a money-laundering investigation against him for allegedly defrauding a consortium of banks to the tune of Rs 3,871.71 crore.

Jhunjhunwala is accused of “diverting the fund fraudulently for the purpose other than for which it was sanctioned”.

The agency, in 2016, had registered a money laundering case against the company which claims to the world’s largest basmati rice processing firm, and its directors based on the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) October 2015 case.

The CBI FIR alleged REI Agro, its directors — Sandip and Sanjay Jhunjhunwala — and others availed various credit facilities from 14 banks under consortium arrangement led by UCO Bank and defrauded them from 2013 onwards to the tune of Rs 3,871.71 crore.

In its investigation, the ED found REI Agro and its directors diverted the funds sanctioned as working capital loan by the consortium of banks using different modes including trading in fake bills, investing the money in Varrsana Ispat Pvt Ltd directly and through controlled companies.

Setting the higher amount of “Capex advances” to various shell companies by way of arbitration at a very low amount, showing the higher cost of construction and arranging fake purchase and sale bills were the other forms of modus operandi used by the REI Agro, an ED statement said.

It also revealed that Sandip was engaged in arranging false purchase and sales of invoices of rice and paddy through brokers and dealers of Delhi for availing maximum working capital limits from the consortium of banks and diverted working limits for capital expenditure, the statement said.

“Sandeep has also illegitimately diverted the funds over Rs 600 crore through Kolkata-based shell companies to the accounts of associates companies or companies controlled by him using banking channels.

“Later on, part of the above amount, approximately Rs 300 crore, was settled through arbitration against taking over of land valued around Rs 22 crore. He also arranged fake bills of iron and steel to the tune of more than Rs 25 crore and showed it as capital expenditure but received back this amount in cash,” said the statement.

Earlier, the ED had attached properties of REI Agro in the form of land located at Sonipat in Haryana, of Varrsana Ispat, in the form of machinery and equipment, land and buildings located in Kutch district of Gujarat, of Quick Connect dot com and its director located at Sainik Farm in Delhi, totalling worth Rs 411.24 crore.

Actor Sterling K Brown has been tapped for a guest role in an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Brown will appear as Philip Davidson, a murder suspect who undergoes an all-night interrogation carried out by Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Captain Holt (Andre Braugher), reports variety.com.

Brown’s episode will focus entirely on the one storyline.

Internationally, season five of Brooklyn Nine-Nine will return this spring on Fox. The show is aired in India on Comedy Central.

In addition to Samberg and Braugher, it also stars Terry Crews, Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio, Stephanie Beatriz, Chelsea Peretti, Joel McKinnon Miller and Dirk Blocker.

Hugh Jackman’s Logan, Emily V Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani’s The Big Sick and James Franco’s The Disaster Artist are among the films nominated for the The Writers Guild of America Awards 2018.

The nominations were announced on Thursday, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Logan, the final X-Men movie for Jackman, has been nominated for its screenplay, co-penned by Scott Frank and Mangold. The movie did not make it to the same category in the Golden Globe or Screen Actors Guild nominations.

Other contenders in the adapted screenplay category of The Writers Guild of America Awards include James Ivory’s screenplay for Call Me by Your Name, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber’s screenplay for Franco-starrer The Disaster Artist, the Aaron Sorkin-penned Molly’s Game and the Virgil Williams-Dee Rees collaboration Mudbound.

In the best original screenplay category, Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird are up against Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor’s The Shape of Water, Emily V Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani’s The Big Sick and the Steven Rogers-penned biopic I, Tonya, which stars Margot Robbie as the disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding.

The 2018 Writers Guild of America Awards will take place on February 11 across two separate ceremonies in New York City and Beverly Hills.

Actor Ram Kapoor is attempting the comedy genre with a new non-fiction show called Comedy High School. He says it’s the toughest genre.

The show, which will be aired on Discovery JEET, will have a light-hearted take on society, culture, education and current affairs through a classroom-based set-up, read a statement.

Ram said: “Comedy is the most difficult art to master. I have never tried it before but have always been open to play a strong role in this genre.

“I gave my consent to ‘Comedy High School’ the moment I heard the plot – it is fundamentally funny and invariably leads to situations which produce laughter. You can watch it all days with your family and laugh your lungs out as fun never ends in our school.”

Theme-based episodes of the show will have celebrities visit the ‘school’ every week in myriad avatars like educational inspectors or parents of students who are seeking admissions.

Besides Ram, the cast has names like Gopal Dutt, Paritosh Tripathi, Krishna Bhatt, Jasmeet Bhatia and Deepak Dutta.

Actress Prachi Tehlan is excited to shoot a wedding sequence for her TV show Ikyawann in the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.

In the Star Plus show, Prachi plays a tomboy who has been raised by four men in her family — her father, grandfather and two uncles. A wedding track between Susheel (Prachi) and Satya (Namish Taneja) will be shown soon.

“The Rann of Kutch is a beautiful place to shoot a destination wedding. I am excited that Susheel will be wearing a ghagra choli and will take on a female’s avatar. I would love to see the audience’s reaction on Susheel’s different look,” Prachi said in a statement.

The location is in sync with the Gujarati theme of the show. The crew is expected to start shooting in the Rann of Kutch later this month.

Talking about the sequence, Namish said: “After Ahmedabad and Surat, this is our third outdoor location shoot. I feel very happy for our characters, Satya and Susheel and lucky that we are shooting at an incredible location.”

The days of cool flip flops, stylish Capri pants and sheer cotton shirts that used to make your attire look on point are gone. It is the fall season that would make you stand in front of your wardrobe and think what different to wear today. Ditch the brown leather jackets and the bomber ones too this year. Go for something trendy yet cosy this winter. Does that sound like a lot of effort to you? Well, it isn’t because we have brought you five looks that you can carry and look effortless yet fabulous.

1. The casual yet classic look

The archaic winter wear, shirt with a sweater look is something that will never go out of style. You can pair your classic white or black shirt with different sweaters for a sleek look. Go for quirky designs this season and make all heads turn.

2. The brunch date looks

Dress up well for your dates, Wear a dark-coloured trench coat with trousers, the olive green colour is in these days. This would make you look effortlessly stylish. You can also pair it up with a beanie.

3. The formal look

Why just the formal blazer all the time? Why not something new? Try out the duster coat and shawl scarf look this time.

4. The subtle look

Prove that cardigans are not just for women. The attire will surely make you stand out from others. Go for the subtle fall colours when choosing the cardigan.

5. The guy’s day-out look

A denim jacket with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt or hooded jackets inside will make your peers all praises for you. Chose a pair of sneakers that would compliment your attire.

No sweat folks, move over the old winter wear and explore the trendy looks this year.

Megastar Rajinikanth and veteran actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan will be seen together at the Natchathira Vizha 2018 festival in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

Organised by the South Indian Artistes Association, in collaboration with Malik Streams Corp and MyEvents International, the event includes performances by comedians, singers and actors as well as friendly sporting matches — cricket and football — between the Indian and Malaysian-Indian artistes.

Kamal will fly to Kuala Lumpur on January 12, according to a source close to the actor,

Rajinikanth has been in news after he announced his entry into politics while Kamal too has given indications he will take a political plunge.

Joining Rajinikanth and Haasan at the event will be actors Vijay, Surya, Arya, Vishal, Dhanush, Vikram, Vijaysethupathy, Jayam Ravi, Siva Karthikeyan, Samantha, Amala Paul and Kushboo among others.

According to Datuk Abdul Malik Dasthigeer, CEO, Malik Streams Corp, Natchatira Vizha 2018 will see the attendance of around 250 artistes, reported The Star.

“About 200 experienced security personnel have been appointed to look into the matter including transporting the artistes, to ensure everyone arrives safely where they need to be. They have a tight schedule as it’s a full-day event,” Dasthigeer said.

The event will take place at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

Here are some of the tweets showing the enthusiasm of people involved with the event:

Thalaivar!! @superstarrajini sir!! Off to Malaysia!! @Actor_Vivek sir @arunvijayno1 sir #NatchathiraVizha #NatchathiraVizha2018 #NatchathiraVizha2018Malaysia pic.x.com/VWEyPCS8in

— Sanjana Singh (@SanjanaSingh_) January 5, 2018

Superstar #Rajinikanth in Malaysia for #NatchathiraVizha. pic.x.com/sWcYNx2Tme

— Heytamilcinema (@Heytamilcinema) January 5, 2018

all sets and ready for the biggest tamil event in Malaysia By SIAA tomorrow at Stadium Bukit Jalil … Some of them already here .. @arya_offl @superstarrajini @actorkaruna @iamvishnuvishal @vikranth_offl @Karthi_Offl ##NatchathiraVizha ##NatchathiraVizha2018 #NadigarSangam pic.x.com/A6ThIhphxH

— Shida Jammy (@shida_ak) January 5, 2018

Majority of Kollywood stars including @superstarrajini, @Siva_Kartikeyan and many have already reached Malaysia for the #NatchathiraVizha event that is to be conducted tomorrow. Here are some of the pictures and selfie during the travel. pic.x.com/V5DDbo8LiX

— Ajay V (@kollyempire) January 5, 2018

#thalapathy #vijay going to #Malaysia for #NatchathiraVizha ?
Recent pic! pic.x.com/qCleSG5Ztx

— Hemant Kishore (@ihemantkishore) January 5, 2018

One tourist was killed and 12 others were injured when a hot air balloon crashed near Egypt’s ancient city of Luxor on Friday.

The balloon was carrying 20 people at the time of the accident. The deceased was identified as a 36-year-old South African woman, state-run Al Ahram reported.

The balloon was travelling over the ancient city when it was forced off course and into a mountainous area by strong winds.

Those on board the flight included a number of foreign nationals along with Egyptian tourists.

Luxor has witnessed hot air balloon accidents in past years.

In 2013, 19 tourists, including nine from Hong Kong, were killed when their balloon caught fire.

In 2016, 22 Chinese tourists were injured when their balloon crash landed, after which Egypt temporarily halted balloon rides.

Terming the Winter Session of Parliament “successful”, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar on Friday said it saw the two Houses pass 22 bills in a session that had just 13 sittings.

In a press conference after both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die, he said the productivity of Lok Sabha was 91.58 per cent and that of Rajya Sabha was 56.29 per cent.

“There were 13 sittings in this session, of which four were Fridays. In eight working days, the two Houses passed 22 bills,” the Minister said, thanking opposition parties for their cooperation.

Asked about two of the important bills of the government – The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 and The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-third Amendment) Bill, 2017, Ananth Kumar hoped that both the bills will be passed in the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament that starts on January 29.

“Government is committed to pass important bills like Triple Talaq Bill and National Commission for Backward Classes Bill and cooperation from all parties is expected on such issues of national importance,” he said.

While The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill was stuck in Rajya Sabha, the The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-third Amendment) Bill, 2017, which proposes constitutional status for the OBC commission, could not be passed in Lok Sabha.

“When a revolutionary bill is introduced, it results in a countrywide debate. The whole country is now debating on the OBC commission and triple talaq,” Ananth Kumar said.

“Opposition obstructed the (OBC commission) bill with a meaningless amendment in the Rajya Sabha. We will get it passed in the Budget session,” he said.

The government tabled the bill in Lok Sabha with an amendment alternative to the amendment made by the Rajya Sabha.