Appalled by the state of infrastructure and coaching at some of the SAI centres, Sports Minister Vijay Goel says he has sought an assessment report of the facilities as well as the coaches employed there.

Goel said he recently visited the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre at Raipur and was shocked to see that the local Municipal Corporation rents out the facility for social functions.

“The SAI centre in Raipur was inside a stadium of the state government. The municipal corporation provides the place for marriages and earns rent from it. It was in poor shape,” Goel said in an interaction with PTI journalists.

“The coaches are there but they do not have enough students. If they have only 11 players for football, they can't even have two teams. I told them it won't work like this.

“We want to assess the coaches' performance. Their appraisal will also be done to see how many of them use modern technology, how is their own fitness. I have visited SAI stadiums and told them to prepare coaches' appraisal,” he added.

Goel said like in Manipur, his ministry is exploring the possibility of creating a sports university in Gwalior.

“In the last nine months, there is no institution or department that I have not visited, whether it is Patiala or Gwalior or SAI centres, or Gopichand Academy. Gwalior has good infrastructure which can be used to create a sports university,” he said.

Speaking about other issues, the minister ruled out coming out with a legislation which will make doping a criminal offence. India had featured in top-3 for the third successive year in a report published by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for 2015.

A total of 117 athletes from the country were punished after testing positive for banned substances. India followed Russia (176) and Italy (129), the same position as in the reports of 2013 and 2014.

“We check everything here. Other countries such as Russia have gone far ahead. Legislation is to create fear. But there is already a strong message out there. If an athlete loses respect (due to doping) that is also a punishment. I don't feel we need such a legislation. Our system (to catch offenders) is strong,” he said.

Goel also hinted that government does not have any plans to bring BCCI into the RTI net. Except the cricket board, all other NSFs are covered under RTI.

“Let the Supreme Court deal with them first. We will see later,” was his reply.

Recently it was reported that the government has demanded that a few India matches during the upcoming

FIFA Under-17 World Cup are alloted to the national capital.

Goel, said there was nothing wrong with such a request.

“Yes we demanded that matches should be in Delhi, if it (schedule) is still not finalised then why not.”

On the issue of popular sentiment that hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand should be given 'Bharat Ratna', Goel hinted the such a move was not on government's agenda as of now.

“My personal view is that he is already Bharat Ratna. If 15 people have got it and 40 others have not, it does not mean people who have not got it are lesser contributors,” he said.

India, with a young skilled work force, high growth rate and deregulation being undertaken by the government, is set to become an important destination for foreign investment, a former top US trade official has said.

"With the young skilled work force, its growth rate that is going to surpass China for the coming years as well as the market opening and deregulation undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make this a really important destination for foreign investment," Wendy Cutler, who was the Acting Deputy US Trade Representative under Obama administration told a Washington audience on Tuesday.

Speaking at a panel discussion on the occasion of launch of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index, Cutler said, India under Modi has emerged as among the favourite destinations for foreign investors.

For the second consecutive year, India appears in top 10 of the index. This year, it was placed at eighth spot as against ninth last year.

China has slipped to the third spot. Germany has now become the second top destination in the FDI Confidence Index after the US, which takes the fifth spot for the fifth year in a row.

"Five of the top 10 countries are from Asia. There is a lot of optimism about investment opportunities in Asia, not only among Asian but also global investors as well. Clearly China and India seems to be the cause of this lot of optimism.

India moved eighth on the index," she said.

Cutler said the optimism about investment in China "does not seem to be in line from what we are hearing" from not only the US business community but also the European business community as well.

In her previous stint in the United States Trade Representative, she was responsible for the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP), US China trade relations and US India Trade Policy Forum.

"The investment climate is getting worse in China.

Companies are facing a lot of restrictions in China, whether it be licensing or approval process or favourable treatment of domestic competitors or requirements to share technology. We are hearing from our companies that their optimism is declining," Cutler said.

Noting that the Chinese FDI in the US and vice versa should be watched closely, she said there is a growing concern that while the US and foreign companies are facing restrictions in China, there is a feeling that Chinese companies face few restrictions here in the US.

"India on the other hand is moving towards becoming a favourite FDI destination," she said.

"When you loom at India, it is moving from a close market to an open market. The reforms that are being undertaken are perhaps not as ambitious as one would hope for. But under Prime Minister Modi, India is really under track towards opening," she said.

Contrasting India, a little bit with China, Cutler said that China was really open to foreign direct investment.

"But we are seeing that trend going in a different direction," Cutler said.

"The other thing that makes me think very favourably about India is that it does not face the same demographic challenges that many Asian countries face. India with most of its population under 40 offers a very attractive destination, coupled with the high skilled nature of the work force," she said.

However, she said India is "one of the difficult countries" to negotiate.

"So while all these developments are positive, they have a way to go here, but they are moving in the right direction," Cutler said.

Global Business Policy Council chairman Paul Laudicina said that India's youth population gives India wage price advantage over China.

In China, average manufacturing wages have tripled between 2006 and 2015.

"This is part of the reason that coupled with a robust growth, a huge internal market, Modi government's attempt to promote investment, the intention to abolish the foreign investment promotion board, access to the retail sector is being made more accessible. All of this makes India a robust environment," he said.

In a major crackdown on the VIP culture in the country, the Centre on Wednesday banned the use of red beacon on vehicles of all central government vehicles from May 1.

The Cabinet also announced that the use of red beacon will only be allowed on vehicles attached to emergency services, like ambulance and police.

However, according to reports, the President, Prime Minister, Vice-President, Lok Sabha Speaker and Chief Justice of India are exempted from the ban.

Earlier, both the newly-formed Punjab and Uttar Pradesh governments had prohibited the use of red beacon light on all vehicles.

According to reports, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had last week called a meeting to discuss whether the red beacon should be discarded or restricted to certain dignitaries.

Forty-four people were killed on the spot on Wednesday when a private passenger bus from Uttarakhand plunged into River Tons near Gumma in remote Nerwa area of Shimla district in Himachal Pradesh, 140 kilometres away from here.

The bus was on its way from Himachal's Vikasnagar to Tiuni in Uttarakhand and was passing through the Himachal stretch, which fell in its route.

The bus was carrying 46 people and it rolled down as the driver reportedly lost control over the vehicle while negotiating a sharp curve on the narrow hilly road.

The two survivors include conductor of the bus, who jumped out of the bus during the accident, and a boy from Gumma. Both sustained minor injuries.

The accident took place around 11 am. The victims included 31 men, 10 women and 3 children, the Police said.

“We have recovered all the bodies. Only 20 have been identified so far, out of which 13 deceased are from Uttarakhand and seven are from Shimla district, mainly Chopal,”Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Chopal, Anil Chauhan, who was supervising rescue operations on the spot, told The Statesman. He said the rescue operations were carried out by the Police, Home Guards and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) from Uttarakhand.

“As the gorge where the bus fell down was steep and 150 metres deep, it is difficult to retrieve the bodies and bring them to road head,” Chauhan said.

There were problems in identification of the bodies as they were in bad shape, having got badly stuck in the mangled remains of the bus.

Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, Rohan Chand Thakur and a team of doctors from Shimla and surrounding areas also reached the site of accident.

The officials said exact cause of the accident could not be ascertained as it was a matter of inquiry.

The Police are inquiring into the details of the accident from the conductor.

Expressing condolences over the death of 44 persons in the bus accident, chief minister, Virbhadra Singh directed the district administration for quick rescue and relief measures on the spot.

Meanwhile, Governor Acharya Devvrat and other political leaders in the state have expressed condolence over the death.

President Donald Trump raised $107 million for his inaugural festivities, nearly double the previous record set by President Barack Obama eight years ago.

Trump's inaugural committee was due to file information about its donors with the Federal Election Commission by April 20 and said it would do so yesterday though it hadn't by 10 pm Eastern time.

The committee doesn't need to publicly disclose how the money was spent.

In a statement announcing its windfall, the inaugural committee said the multi-day event “was one of the most accessible and affordable inaugurations for the public in recent history.”

The celebrity businessman's inaugural involved less hoopla than others in recent years.

He held three inaugural balls, compared with the 10 Obama had at his first inaugural. Trump's team also shortened its parade to about 90 minutes. The longest parade, with 73 bands and 59 floats, lasted more than four-and-a-half hours, at Dwight Eisenhower's first inauguration in 1953.

Trump's inaugural team failed to attract the kind of A- list and pricey performers who turned out in force for Obama. Trump's headliners included teen singer Jackie Evancho, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Radio City Rockettes.

The committee put on a free opening day concert and charged $50 per ticket to two of its balls. The Armed Services Ball was free.

The slimmed-down affair, which inaugural chairman Tom Barrack said aimed to capture the “soft sensuality” of Washington, raises questions about whether Trump spent the entire record-setting sum. He promised to give any extra money to charity, but didn't specify which ones.

Trump's $107 million fundraising total is “an awful lot of money it's roughly what we spent on two,” said Steve Kerrigan, who was CEO for Obama's inaugural committee in 2013 and chief of staff in 2009.

Kerrigan said the inaugural events may have served as an opportunity for donors who held back during the presidential campaign to try to curry favor by showing support for the incoming president.

Inaugural officials didn't immediately return requests for comment yesterday. Their release promised more details about charitable giving at a later date, “when the organisation's books are fully closed.”

Trump placed no restrictions on the amount of money donors could give. Obama limited contributions to $50,000 in 2009 but lifted that cap four years later.

After raising about $55 million in 2009, Obama used excess funds to help pay for the White House Easter egg roll and other events, his former inaugural committee chief executive officer said.

Actor Kevin Spacey has been announced as the host of the 2017 Tony Awards.

"I was their second choice for Usual Suspects, fourth choice for American Beauty and 15th choice to host this year's Tony Awards," Spacey, the former artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London, said in a press release, reports eonline.com. 

"I think my career is definitely going in the right direction."

The actor, who won a 1991 Tony for his performance in Lost in Yonkers, also tweeted: "Honoured to host the Tony Awards 2017…fingers crossed all the envelopes are in order." 

The nominations for this year's award ceremony will be announced on May 2. The final event will take place on June 11 at Radio City Music Hall here.

West Indies batting great Chris Gayle scripted history on Tuesday as he became the first ever cricketer to score 10,000 runs in T20 cricket.

Gayle crossed the milestone while smashing a strokeful 77-run knock for Royal Challengers Bangalore to drive them to a 21-run win against Gujarat Lions.

Although it would be one of the most cherished memories of Gayle, the 37-year-old sassy cricketer feels good to have Virat Kohli by his side in those happy moments.

“It’s a great feeling to open the innings with you (Kohli). It’s an absolute pleasure mate. You’re a legend and you have many more runs to score,” Gayle told Kohli in a chat quoted by ‘iplt20’.

RCB skipper Kohli helped Gayle in putting early pressure on Gujarat at their home ground. He scored 64 runs off 50 balls with one six and seven boundaries to excite the crowd.

“It’s a privilege to actually watch you (Kohli) from the other end and to see you score fluently. Well done on your career so far and I wish you many more from my heart,” Gayle added.

The opening pair of Gayle and Kohli established a 122-run partnership stand that ensured RCB a victory well before Yuzvendra Chahal took three wickets to hammer the final nail in the coffin.

The Congress on Wednesday welcomed the revival of conspiracy charges in the demolition of the Babri mosque, and demanded speedy trial in the case.

"The law of the land has prevailed. We hope that there will be speedy trial and all the guilty will be punished and face the consequences," Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha said.

"It is a known fact that the Babri demolition as a spontaneous reaction has been proven wrong and it was indeed a political conspiracy," Jha said.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday revived the conspiracy charge in the Babri Masjid demolition case against senior BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti, among others. The CBI had petitioned the court for restoring criminal conspiracy charges.
 

Iconic singer Prince's new music has been released to mark the first anniversary of his death.

Rogue Music Alliance is releasing a six-song EP on Friday, the anniversary of Prince's death. It will feature studio recordings from the musician made from 2006 to 2008, reports usatoday.com.

The title track Deliverance is available now on iTunes and Apple Music.

The Deliverance album features previously unreleased Prince tracks: Deliverance, Sunrise sunset, No one else and an extended version of I Am.

The songs were written and recorded when Prince was an independent artiste, "protesting what he saw as an unjust music industry," according to an RMA release.

Prince died April 21, 2016 at age 57.

Prince and musician Ian Boxill co-wrote and co-produced all of the tracks. After Prince's death, Boxill completed the compositions and arrangements, finished the production and mixed the songs.

"I hope when people hear Prince singing these songs it will bring comfort to many," Boxill said in a statement.

Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Katiyar on Wednesday said there was no criminal conspiracy in the Babri Mosque demolition as the Supreme Court on Wednesday revived the conspiracy charges against senior BJP leaders including him, LK Advani and Uma Bharti among others.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader who is also Founder-President of Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Hindu organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad, said he was ready to go to jail for the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

"There was no conspiracy, there is nothing of that nature," Katiyar said in response to a question by Times Now news channel on the revival of conspiracy charges.

"It is a conspiracy, but we will follow the orders… If I have to go to jail for Ram temple, I will," Katiyar said, who was in the Bajrang Dal at the time of demolition of the mosque in 1992.

Asked if he will resign from his seat in the Rajya Sabha, he said: "Why would I resign, there is nothing in it that I should resign."

The Supreme Court on Wednesday revived the conspiracy charge in Babri Masjid demolition case against senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh, Union Minister Uma Bharti, among others.

The CBI had petitioned the court for restoring criminal conspiracy charges.

The Allahabad High Court had earlier dropped the criminal conspiracy charges.

Blaise Matuidi's 93rd-minute winner earned defending Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) a 3-2 away victory over FC Metz and three crucial points in their Ligue 1 title race.

PSG drew level with league leaders AS Monaco on 77 points but are second due to a huge deficit in goal difference. Monaco however, have a game in hand. Nice, four points adrift, were placed third, reports Xinhua news agency.

PSG built a comfortable two-goal advantage in the first half on Tuesday, both assisted by Brazilian left-back Maxwell Scherrer Cabelino Andrade. 

In the 33rd minute, Edinson Cavani netted his 30th league goal of the season, before Matuidi doubled PSG's lead with a low ast Metz goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima three minutes later.

However, things changed dramatically in the second half, as Yann Jouffre, Cheick Diabate and Ismaila Sarr, the substitute trio of Metz, were a huge boost for their team's comeback.

Jouffre's brilliant free-kick left PSG goalkeper Kevin Trapp stranded, and Diabate poked Sarr's cross from the right flank into the net.

Jouffre got the chance to put Metz up late in the game, while seeing his another free-kick hit the crossbar.

With a draw looming, Matuidi kept PSG's title hope alive with a header three minutes into stoppage time.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Wednesday wielded the broom and began cleanliness work at the Kedar Ghat and many other lanes adjoining Yttarkashi's Vishwanath temple.

On a trip to Uttarkhasi, the chief minister urged people to spread awareness about the importance of cleanliness.

Rawat also exhorted people to partake in the 'Swacch Bharat' Mission started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Earlier he went to the temple and performed puja for over an hour and took part in the aarti.

He also began a cleanliness drive on the ghats of the Ganga river and said that under the 'Namami Gange' project of the central government, many medicinal herbs and plants would be planted on the banks of the river.

Hair is one of the sensitive parts of the body like your skin. It needs proper care and treatment. Not only internal but external factors cause severe damages to hair texture. It could be the sun, wind, heat styling tools, harsh chemicals, desiccated styling products or even the wrong choice of shampoo. Yes, a bad shampoo can worsen the quality of hair texture and cause irritation to the scalp.

Shampooing is the normal process to clean the scalp along with hair. Comprising of some amount of cleanser and some amount of conditioner, different shampoos for different types of hair flood the world of hair cleansing products with different brand names.

Select a shampoo knowing the condition of your scalp and hair type and its requirements. The best way to proceed is to take help of a dermatologist. Then spend some time reading labels in cosmetic stores to know about the ingredients content and warnings.

Here are important tips one needs to bear in mind when buying a shampoo suitable for your hair type.

Sensitive hair: Use mild shampoo having colourant-free, silicone-free and alkaline soap-free properties. They are specially designed to maintain your skin’s natural pH level and effectively cleanse scalp and hair to prevent dryness and irritation. These shampoos give your hair a healthy shine with a bounce and a soft supple feel.

Dry hair and scalp: Choose a detergent-free shampoo. It should keep the moisture level high with least reactions. If you are using a protein shampoo, protein should be the dominant ingredient on the label. Then comes Shea butter and glycerine. These kind of shampoos are equally good for curly hair.

Greasy hair and scalp: Avoid using shampoos that are hydrating, moisturising or smoothing. Look for the labels that read increasing volume, strengthening or balancing to treat these types of scalp and hair.

Hair with dandruff: While buying a dandruff-free shampoo, certainly check for Ketoconazole. It is the key antifungal medication necessary to treat dandruff and prevent premature hair-loss. The shampoo should also include Nizoral. It works best to control mild to moderate dandruff problem. The other powerful dandruff fighter is Zinc Pyrithione that has antifungal and antibacterial properties to help reduce dandruff.

Hair-loss treatment shampoo: To treat hair loss, you may go with a shampoo made for dry scalp and hair or oily scalp and hair according to your type of structure of both. Your shampoo should be free from chemicals and loaded with minerals, essential oils and vitamins good for scalp and hair thickening and strengthening.

Split-ends free hair: You may use a hydrating shampoo to get rid of split-ends. The product should contain panthenol that penetrates the hair follicle, brings moisture to the cortex and acts as humectant for the hair, giving them more shine. Water, avocado oil, citric acid, dimethicone and keratin binding ingredients are other essentials that should be comprised in it.

No more haircare mistakes! Avoid using shampoos containing high amount of alcohol, silicone or sulphates. They strip away the natural oils, ruining the hair and scalp. Don’t waste money on cheap variations. Go wisely for quality branded products safe for hair cleaning.

READ MORE: http://www.thestatesman.com/beauty/

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday stressed the need for an alliance of "all good people" to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after a meeting here with his Kerala counterpart, Pinarayi Vijayan.

"There is an atmosphere of fear. The business community, industrialists, media people or commoners, everybody is afraid of the situation in this country, which is wrong," the Delhi CM said.

Kejriwal, who called on Pinarayi at Kerala House, told reporters they discussed "a range of issues" at their breakfast meeting.

"I feel that power is in the hands of wrong forces and they are getting an edge in the country…To fight this, all good people should come together," he said when asked if this was the beginning of a new alliance between his Aam Aadmi Party and other political forces.

"Those who raise the voice of dissent against the Centre are being muzzled," Kejriwal, with Pinarayi by his side, added.

His remarks came just days after Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said they were ready for a coalition of political forces to fight the BJP.

Pinarayi, who is currently in Delhi to attend a central committee meeting of the CPI(M), agreed with Kejriwal about a "situation of fear" in the country. But "there was no point" in relying on the Congress to fight the BJP, he added.

"We all saw yesterday how a prominent Congress leader of Delhi shifted his camp to BJP," he pointed out.

"We need to counter these threats without affecting the secular fabric of the country," Pinarayi added.

"The situation in our country is very serious. We have discussed the fear in the society created by the RSS," Pinarayi said.

The Kerala CM also backed Kejriwal's demand that full statehood status be granted to Delhi.

"The Centre must recognise full statehood to the Delhi government. These days, the Union government is trying to grab all the powers even from the states. Now they are trying to choke the Delhi government by taking away all its powers. This is not acceptable," Pinarayi added.

Brazilian construction company Odebrecht paid 7.3 million reals ($2.3 million) in bribes to gain contract for the iconic Maracana Stadium here ahead of the 2014 World Cup, the Supreme Court was told.

In the confessions released by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Odebrecht's head of structural operations, Benedito Barbosa da Silva Junior, admitted to paying $2.02 million to former Rio Governor Sergio Cabral, who was arrested in November for corruption.

The rest of the money was paid to members of Rio de Janeiro's state accounts court, an institution authorised to guarantee that public contracts are assigned legally.

Former Odebrecht executives Marcos Vidigal do Amaral, Leandro Andrade Azevedo and Joao Borba stated in their testimonies that Jonas Lopes, the president of the state accounts court, received $320,000 in bribes.

They also said the Maracana contract was rigged so that Odebrecht would carry out the work alongside with two other companies on the orders of Cabral.

The remodelling of Maracana, one of the most famous football stadiums in the world, was carried out ahead of the 2014 World Cup.

The initial budget for the project was set $225 million but rose to over $384 million in the end.

Amid the ongoing debate over use of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)-enabled EVM machines in elections, the Centre on Wednesday cleared the proposal of the Election Commission (EC) to buy new VVPAT-enabled EVM machines.

The EC has so far given 11 reminders to the government since June 2014, seeking funds for VVPAT machines

Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi had last year written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for funds to buy the machines.

Earlier this month, top leaders from the Opposition including Ghulam Nabi Azad, party president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi met President Pranab Mukherjee and apprised him over the issue of EVM tampering in the recently held assembly elections. Other political parties such as BSP and AAP were also demanding the use of VVPAT-enabled EVM machines in elections. 

(With inputs from agencies)

The death toll of fire in Ranipura area here has risen to seven, with two more persons succumbing to injuries late last night, a municipal official said on Wednesday.

The fire started at a firecracker shop in Ranipura area on Tuesday afternoon, and spread to the adjoining shop selling polythene bags and five other outlets.

Owner of the firecracker shop, Gurvinder Singh Narang, and another person, Jagdish Solanki, were found dead on the spot on TUesday. Others who died at the government-run M Y Hospital during treatment were identified as Suresh Sharma, Chetan, Sudarshan, Raja and Karan.

Another injured person was undergoing treatment at a private hospital, police said.

The district administration has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident.

Collector P Narhari said the shop where the fire started was authorised to keep only samples of firecrackers, but the owner had illegally stocked a huge quantity.

As many as 20 two-wheelers parked in front of the shops were also gutted in the fire.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced aid of Rs.2 lakh each for the kin of deceased.