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Hyderabad-based playback singer   L.V. Revanth   was on Sunday night declared to be the winner of the season of the singing reality show 'Indian Idol'. 26-year-old Revanth, has won a prize money of Rs. 25 lakh and a contract with Universal Music. Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar handed over the trophy to Revanth with other judges Anu Malik, Farah Khan and Sonu Nigam in attendance. The season finale witnessed three contestants - L.V. Revanth, Khuda Baksh and PVNS Rohit - battle it out to win the title of Indian Idol. The first runners-up was Khuda Baksh, the second runners-up was PVNS Rohit. Revanth had a terrific journey on the show by singing songs like 'Moh Moh Ke Dhaage' from 'Dum Laga Ke Haisha' for the semi-finals. He hails from Vishakhapatanam and is not a new comer to the world of singing as he had lent his voice to one of the biggest projects including the regional version of 'Baahubali'. His song 'Manohari' also made him...

At the same time, he, however, said the Pakistani government had no role in the attack Pakistan's former national security adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani today said the   26/11 Mumbai attack   was carried out by a terror group based in Pakistan and called it a "classic" example of cross-border terror. At the same time, he, however, said the Pakistani government had no role in the attack. Durrani was speaking at a conference on combating terrorism at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis. 26/11 Mumbai strike, carried out by a terror group based in Pakistan, was a classic trans-border terrorist event, he said.   Read more

He also wants to buy a house for his family IPL Auction 2017   : The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 auction spread smiles in a Hyderabad neighbourhood. There was a good reason too. Mohammed Siraj, the younger son of auto driver Mohammed Ghaus was picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a staggering Rs 2.6 crore. As reporters made a beeline outside the cricketer's modest rented family house, he explained how he plans to use his money now."My father drove auto all these years but never let financial pressure of the family affect me or my elder brother. A bowling spikes costs a lot and he would just get the best for me. I want to buy a house for them now in a good locality," Siraj told The Quint. While Siraj wants his father to stop driving autos, his father wishes otherwise. "I will drive the auto as long as I have the strength. Why should I depend on sons?" Ghaus was quoted as saying by Mumbai Mirror. Interestingly, Siraj was often admonished by his mo...

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2016 is awarded to Bob Dylan "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition". The prize has gone to an American after a gap of 23 years, novelist Toni Morrison won it for the US in 1993.   The Nobel Prize in Literature 2015 was awarded to Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich Svetlana Alexievich.  Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Japanese author Haruki Murakami and Syrian poet, essayist and translator Adonis were among the favourites tippped to win the prize. Dylan has recorded a large number of albums revolving around topics like the social conditions of man, religion, politics and love. The lyrics have continuously been published in new editions, under the title Lyrics. As an artist, he is strikingly versatile; he has been active as painter, actor, and scriptwriter. Bob Dylan was born on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota. He grew up in a Jewish middleclass family in the city of Hibbing.  Dylan ...

Can't Attend Court, Passport Was Cancelled, Claims Vijay Mallya Liquor baron   Vijay Mallya   on Friday informed a Delhi court that he wants to come to India but is unable to travel back as his passport has been suspended by Indian authorities. Mallya made the submission through his counsel before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass in a case lodged for allegedly evading summons in connection with a FERA violation matter. On July 9, the court had cancelled the exemption from personal appearance granted to him and had directed him to appear before it. In his application moved through senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, Mallya requested the court that some time be given so that his appearance can be secured. The counsel submitted the copy of an email sent by Mallya, stating that his passport was suspended on April 23, 2016 without giving him any opportunity of being heard. Enforcement Directorate (ED), however, told the court that Mallya is already evading proceed...

Reliance Jio to launch on Sept 5: Top 10 things to know The mega telecom disruption is finally here. Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman   Mukesh Ambani   announced at the 42nd AGM that Jio will be launched on September 5, offering customers free domestic voice calls and zero roaming charges. "Jio will out an end to voice call charges in India. No   Reliance Jio   customer will ever have to pay for voice calls again," Ambani said during the AGM. Data tariff plans will begin from Rs 149 for 0.3 GB to Rs 4,999 for 75 GB. All data plans, except for the 0.3 GB plan, will also provide unlimited 4G data at night. "These are the simplest and the most attractive tariff plans in the market, with the lowest data rates anywhere in the world," Ambani said.   Read Full Story Read More On: *   Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani says to slash telecom prices *   Jio impact: Bharti Airtel, Idea slip over 9%, Idea nears four-year low * ...

Is it a good time to buy Infosys? Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS’) last week’s decision of not pursuing its plan to separate and list a new bank – Williams & Glyn   (W&G) – hit   Infosys   in trade on Tuesday with the stock plummeting 3% in intra-day deals to its eight-month low of Rs 1,028 levels on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Click here to track Infy's stock price movement Since then, it has recovered and is trading at Rs 1,046 levels, down nearly 1.5% around noon deals. By comparison, the Nifty 50 index was trading lower by 0.7% at 8610 levels, while the Nifty IT index slipped 1.3% to 11,029 levels. Also Read:   I am disappointed, says Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka in a letter to employees Given the RBS’ decision, Infosys would see a ramp down of around 3,000 resources. The likely impact on revenue could be around $50 million, reports suggest. This comes at a time when Infosys recast its annual revenue guidance for FY17 while announcing its ...

Amit Shah not to be next Gujarat CM: BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday cleared the air on party president   Amit Shah   being appointed as the next   Chief Minister   of Gujarat after Anandiben Patel offered to resign from the post on Monday. It was also announced that the next chief minister would be from the existing party MLAs in Gujarat . "There is no such consultation going on in the party. He (Amit Shah) is party's national president and under his leadership the party has reached great heights. The party needs his leadership. The CM will be from the existing legislators", said Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu after the BJP's parliamentary board meeting. He, however informed that Shah would be present in the meeting of legislature party to be held in Gujarat on Thursday to decide the next chief minister. "He will chair the meeting of state legislature party and hold consultation with the stakeholders to decide on the...

'Pakistan group uses disfigured celebrity faces to campaign against use of pellet guns in Kashmir' Pellet   guns were first introduced to   Jammu and Kashmir   police in 2010 during   Omar Abdullah   government. The use of such guns, however, has shot to the forefront after protests against the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani saw the use pellets for crowd control. ( more )

Kashmir gets out of hand Funerals of militants have become a public expression of rage and alienation in   Kashmir . While the Union home ministry’s official estimate for the number of militants in the Valley is now a little less than 200, against over 3,500 in the 1990s, the army and paramilitary report an unprecedented rise in local support to insurgency. This is manifested in efforts by villagers to hamper counter-insurgency operations in the Valley, including by women. Army units have been reporting efforts to snatch weapons, something unprecedented. Earlier north   Kashmir Valley   used to be the centre of insurgent activity. It is now south Kashmir. Militants, dead and alive, are present in public consciousness everywhere. Burhan Lions, Aabid Khan Qalandars and Khalid Aryans were the names of cricket teams that played IPL-type matches in south Kashmir this April. These teams were named after militants from the region killed in army action. The cricket matc...

Bangladesh attacks: No NSG team to Dhaka Government sources have confirmed that media reports about an   NSG team   heading to Bangladesh, to assist in the post blast analysis of the attack at the Eid prayer gathering in Kishoreganj on Thursday and the Gulshan cafe attack last week, are false. "These are baseless reports, no truth in them," said the government source to ANI when asked about movement of the NSG team. Earlier, media reports had stated that the Special Force s   establishment of   Bangladesh Attacks   had approved India's request for inspection by NSG teams of the blast site to gather "first hand understanding of the situation." The National Security Guard, is India's elite counter terrorism force that specialises in hostage rescue missions, countering hijack situations among other special operations. NSG teams were last seen in action during the Pathankot terror attack, wherein six terrorists were neutralised. An explosion took...

SC admits plea challenging Salman Khan's acquittal in hit and run case Bollywood   superstar   Salman Khan   wanted the Supreme Court to hear the 2002 hit-and-run case against him on merit, his lawyer said on Tuesday. "The honourable Supreme Court had on the last date asked us whether Salman would consent to the Supreme Court hearing the case on merits. On Tuesday, we informed the honourable Supreme Court that we had taken instructions from our client Salman Khan and the matter should be heard on merits." "Accordingly, leave is granted and the final hearing will take place in due course," Salman's lawyer Anand Desai, from DSK Legal, said in a statement to   IANS. (more)

'No to Trump, yes to Hillary': Indian diaspora in the US tells New Delhi The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), given its recent anti-immigrants election campaign in Assam and the perception that the Republican administrations have been friendlier towards India, should have found an alter ego in Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. But the   Indian diaspora   in the United States, even its more prosperous sections, have conveyed to the BJP’s overseas arm that they were unlikely to support Trump in the   US presidential elections   due in November. Overseas friends of BJP chief Vijay Chauthaiwale was in the US in the latter half of June. He travelled across the US to meet representatives of Indian diaspora associations. There are literally dozens of associations of each linguistic group. The Rockefeller Foundation — Aspen Institute Diaspora Programme (RAD) survey in July 2014 — had identified 224 important diaspora associations of Indian linguistic, regi...