The information technology department of the Orissa government has mooted a proposal for bar-coding of official despatches to prevent forgery of official letters issued on the internet.

Nigeria, Senegal and surprise package Ethiopia reached the final play-offs for the World Cup after winning last-round group games on Saturday. Tunisia crashed out and will miss Brazil 2014 after being shocked at home by Cape Verde Islands.

Former governor of Uttar Pradesh and former foreign secretary Romesh Bhandari passed away on Saturday night after a prolonged illness. He was 85.

The Supreme Court has held as illegal and unethical the demand for capitation fees by private technical and medical colleges from students, and has directed the Centre to make laws to put an end to such practices which deny admission to meritorious students from financially weak backgrounds in those institutions.

Tokyo was awarded the 2020 summer Olympic Games on Saturday, beating Istanbul in a head-to-head vote after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a charismatic plea to the International Olympic Committee and promised Japan’s crippled nuclear plant was “under control.”

The Trinamul Congress on Sunday snubbed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s overture and ruled out any possibility of an alliance with the Congress ahead of next year’s LS elections. Party MP and spokesperson Derek O’Brien said Sunday that the Trinamul Congress will go it alone in the polls. TMC general secretary Mukul Roy too endorsed these sentiments.

At least 10 more people were killed in spiralling violence in Muzaffarnagar today, taking the toll to 21 in the western UP district where the army staged flag marches and thousands of anti-riot police personnel were deployed to restore law and order.

Though he is now adept at dealing with attacks from the opposition, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav does not know how to deal with this one.

There is no relief for convicted lawmakers as the Rajya Sabha failed to pass the Representation of the People (Second Amendment) Bill of 2013 on Saturday.

Sumit Gulia’s all-round show (88, 7/38) went in vain as Telefunken Club edged past Madras Club by one wicket on the very last ball in a league match of the RS Rawat London Wood U-17 cricket tournament on Saturday.