Archive for: July 13, 2010

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s monetary worth has got a huge boost. The Indian cricket captain has signed a deal worth Rs 200 crore with a talent management company.

Rhiti Sports Management and Mindscapes One will now be in charge of managing all the endorsements of Dhoni. Sources said the deal stands for three years.

Dhoni’s deal surpasses that of even Sachin Tendulkar, who in 2006 had a three-year deal worth Rs 180 crore with sports management firm Iconix.

Apart from Dhoni, Rhiti Sports also manages cricketers R.P. Singh and Harbhajan …

Following Zaheer Khan’s withdrawal, the Indian squad in Sri Lanka has been hit by another injury crisis with fast bowler Sreesanth returning home due to a knee injury. He suffered a medial collateral ligament tear in his left knee and has been declared unfit to take part in the Tests. Munaf Patel, who last made an international appearance in November 2009, has been named his replacement.

Sreesanth’s availability was in doubt yesterday when he missed the team’s first net session on tour. His team-mate Harbhajan …

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex touched the 18,000-level on Monday and ended 104 points higher than its previous close.

After crossing the 18,000 points level during the day, the Sensex eased on profit-booking to close 103.66 points higher at 17,937.20, led by blue chip stocks in the realty, banking and information technology segments.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty hit the 5,400 points level and closed 30.55 points higher at 5,383.00.

The measure rose for the third straight day after the International Monetary Fund said India’s economy may expand …

State-owned NTPC has scrapped its plans to set up a 4,000-MW power plant in Uttar Pradesh over differences with the Mayawati-led BSP state government, and instead moved the coal-fired project to Barethi in Madhya Pradesh.

The Madhya Pradesh government has assured land, water and fuel for the project and NTPC is currently conducting site-specific studies, a senior company official said.

“We are preparing the feasibility report for the 3,960-MW project at Barethi in Madhya Pradesh,” he said. …

Uttar Pradesh Minister Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi was critically injured in a bomb blast near his house in Allahabad on Monday.

The Institutional Finance Minister was going to a temple in a narrow lane of the Mutthiganj area, about 60 metres from his house, around noon when explosives kept in a two-wheeler went off. His police gunner Sanjay, a local scribe, the Minister’s staff member Preetam and sanitation worker Shyam Babu too were injured. They were admitted to a hospital in the city, where Mr. Nandi’s condition was stated to be serious.

There was no …

President Mahinda Rajapaksa and UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe who met today have agreed to continue talks on constitutional reforms and also reached a consensus in principle to abolish the executive presidency and replace it with an executive premiership responsible to the Parliament

The two leaders, flanked by senior members of their parties held talks today at Temple Trees on electoral reforms and constitutional changes.

Shortly after the meeting, Mr. Wickremesinghe stated at a press conference that the two parties would continue the dialogue this week and discuss issues on a priority basis. He said that …

In a two-pronged strategy to defuse the crisis in Jammu and Kashmir, an all-party meeting on Monday called for an independent inquiry into the death of civilians, and urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give a fillip to “internal and external dialogue.”

The meeting, convened by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, appealed to all political parties to help in restoration of peace and normality in the State, which has been rocked by disturbances in the past one month. In the period, 15 persons have died, mostly in firing by security personnel.

The main Opposition, the People’s …