Rookie golfer Shweta Galande and Delhi’s Vani Kapoor shared the lead with level par scores on Wednesday after the end of the first round of the Hero-KGA Women’s Pro-Golf Championship being played at the KGA course in Bengaluru.

Apparently in a desperate need for a face-saving escape route, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung on Wednesday welcomed West Bengal governor M.K. Narayanan’s “announcement” to play the role of a mediator to resolve the crisis in the hills. He expressed hopes that Mr Narayanan would take necessary steps as early as possible. Mr Gurung posted this message on the popular social networking site Facebook.

Reliance ADA Group chairman Anil Ambani failed to get any relief on Wednesday against the summons issued to him for appearance before a trial court here on Thursday to depose as a prosecution witness in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case. The Supreme Court declined to stay the summons following which the special CBI court conducting the trial dismissed the plea seeking that the date of his deposition be postponed.

Ace shooter and Khel Ratna selection panel member Anjali Bhagwat on Wednesday lashed out at discus thrower Krishna Poonia, who called her to lobby for the top honour just a day before the committee met.

Mohd Ansar’s brace helped Government School, Sector 11, Rohini beat Pragati Public School, Dwarka, 3-0 in a knock-out match of the 2nd edition of the Airtel Rising Stars-Delhi Leg, at Ganga International School Ground on Wednesday.

The media war between the Congress and the BJP could intensify further with the Sonia Gandhi-led party holding a one-day national workshop for its select 300 activists on Thursday to foil the saffron party’s design.

The Pakistan Army and its elite intelligence unit, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), is mounting pressure on Indian militants holed up in Pakistan to either step up their terror activities against India or leave their country. This startling revelation has been made by Abdul Karim Tunda, the key Lashkar-e-Tayyaba operative, who is being interrogated by multiple security agencies.

World number ones Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams were confirmed Tuesday as the top seeds for the 2013 US Open.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet US President Barack Obama at the White House on September 27, with a top Indian official saying groundwork has been done for a “very successful visit” to boost trade and defence ties.

The UPA government has decided to set up a 20-member committee to make in-depth analysis of the reasons for backlog in filling up of reserved vacancies. The committee, headed by the secretary, ministry of social justice and empowerment, will suggest measures to enhance the employability of reserved category candidates.