Despite the major calamity witnessed by Uttarakhand, the four religious shrines of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath and Hemkunt Saheb will be open to the public from September 15.

The Supreme Court on Monday once again expressed its displeasure over the “misuse” of the red beacon and sirens, questioning why these facilities are given to ministers, bureaucrats and politicians when only Constitutional authorities should be entitled to them.

Oozing positive energy, world no. 1 Magnus Carlsen made his opening gambit by saying he would return to Chennai to win the world chess championship by defeating five-time champion Viswanathan Anand. “I respect Anand. But I don’t fear him,” Carlsen told reporters here on Monday.

It is imperative for a franchise-based tournament to have a resounding start to capture the imagination of the fans. The Indian Badminton League, which is making a gradual progress after some gripping ties in Delhi and Lucknow, needs to generate interest among the masses at other venues as the IBL bandwagon rolls on.

The 25-odd divers carrying out rescue operation on the INS Sindhurakshak had completed searching five of the six flooded compartments of the submarine, but there was no sign on the remaining 12 Navy personnel. On Tuesday night, the submarine faced a catastrophe with 18 personnel on board, six of whom were found charred to death.

At the launch of the “World Health Report 2013: Research for universal health coverage,” the World Health Organisation (WHO) called on countries to continue investing in local research in order to develop a system of universal health coverage tailored to each individual country’s situation.

The Indian national anthem reverberated at the famous Nurburgring circuit in Germany as Narain Karthikeyan stood proudly on the podium. Saturday’s victory was Karthikeyan’s third as he clinched Round Six of the 2013 Auto GP World Series, but it was the first time he celebrated it on the podium. The previous two wins were achieved after original winners were penalised for infringements.

VHP was Monday refused permission by Uttar Pradesh government for a yatra from Ayodhya to push for Ram Temple at the disputed site, just days after it asked Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to work as a bridge between Hindus and Muslims on the issue.

After a PIL was filed before the Bombay high court by a social activist seeking an inquiry by the charity commissioner against the Bhujbal Knowledge City in Nashik, chairman of Mumbai Education Trust (MET) run by PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal, sought an independent audit of the institute for allegedly defrauding students into paying excess fees worth `8 crore in just two years since 2010.

In a new initiative, the Haryana forest department has started the exercise of mapping the plantation in forests of the state with the help of Global Positioning System. Besides, it also plans to use pictures received from satellites for evaluating the changes in the forest and plantation area.