Gymnast Dipa Under House Arrest Ahead Of Vault Finals

  Dipa Karmakar, the gymnast who made India proud by qualifying for the Vault finals in Rio Olympics will be celebrating her 23rd birthday on Tuesday. But it is unlikely to receive birthday greetings from anyone else except for the ones from her parents. Faced with the gigantic expectations of an excited nation, India's pride, gymnast Dipa Karmakar has been put under "house arrest" at the Olympic Games Village by her coach Bishweshwar Nandi as she gears up to script history in the vault finals on August 14. "I've removed the SIM card from her mobile. Only parents are allowed to talk to her. I don't want her to lose focus," Nandi told reporters from the Games Village, a day after Dipa became the toast of the nation by making the final of artistic gymnastics' vault finals.   "Her birthday celebration can wait for the moment. It's only her parents who are allowed to talk to her at the moment during the small breaks I give her." "But she does not miss it. She likes to stay aloof from friends, her friends circle is very small, thanks to her tough regimen in gymnastics," Nandi said of Dipa who trains in SAI New Delhi. "Every event in gymnastics is a risk, accident may happen anytime but Dipa has mastered the Produnova and we're very hopeful," Nandi said. She has also caught attention for performing the risky Produnova vault, a double-front somersault which has the highest degree of difficulty for a women's vault. "Every event in gymnastics is a risk, accident may happen anytime but Dipa has mastered the Produnova and we're very hopeful," Nandi said.

Rio Olympics:Bindra comes 4th; Gives up shooting

  India's biggest medal hope at the ongoing Rio Olympics, shooter Abhinav Bindra, went down fighting for a podium finish. He stood 4th in the competition missing out on the bronze medal hope too. "I am done with shooting, even hobby shooting," said Abhinav Bindra in detailed comments after coming fourth in the 10m air rifle event here at the Olympic Shooting Centre on Monday. Asked whether he would be at least shooting in his backyard range, he quipped: "I am turning that into a vegetable garden. Are you serious? he was asked, "don't I look like a serious person," he replied. He did concede that not getting a medal did "hurt a little bit", but added "that's life. It's part and parcel of the game". India women hockey team fell short against Great Britain as they lost their second Pool B match 0-3 at the Olympic Hockey Centre on Monday. India women now have a draw and a loss to show for after two matches in their historic Olympic appearance in 36 years.   Just before the start of the 10m air rifle qualification at 9am local time, Bindra fell down along with his gun from the chair and as a result the 'sight' of his rifle broke. "This is something a shooter would not want before a game. He had specially made it for the Olympics to suit the lighting. Even after such meticulous detailing he fell short. But a shooter is conditioned to shoot even if the roof is falling. We got over it and started with our game," his coach Heinz Reinkemeier said. The men's hockey team got down to a 1-2 defeat to Germany by conceding a goal with three seconds left in the match on the third day of competitions on Monday. There were setbacks in other events too as the trap shooting duo of Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Kynan Chenai could not improve on their opening day performance and failed to qualify for the Olympics men's trap semifinals.

GST Bill passed; Modi says no more tax terrorism

  After the passage of the GST bill in Rajya Sabha, it was passed in the Lok Sabha too. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said GST was "crucial" for ending tax terrorism besides reducing corruption and black money. The GST will make consumer the "king", PM Modi said thanking all parties for their support to the Bill. Minutes before the Lok Sabha passed the 122nd constitution amendment bill, Modi called the GST “pro-poor” echoing a plank used by the Congress to demand changes in the NDA’s version of the legislation. After a six-hour debate, the Lower House passed the bill with all the 443 members present voting in favour after AIADMK members staged a walkout while opposing the measure. The government had moved six official amendments, including scrapping of 1 per cent additional tax, to the bill which were approved by the Upper House.   Recalling that August 8 was the anniversary of the Quit India Movement that Mahatma Gandhi launched, Modi said, "this anniversary of August Kranti marks a crucial step towards making India free of tax terrorism. In Parliament, both the PM and finance minister Arun Jaitley maintained the states will gain under GST, brushing aside allegations they will forgo their financial sovereignty.  “States and Centre will be pooling in their sovereignty together and creating a new mechanism which will take all its decision within that pooled sovereignty,” Jaitley said. Describing the passage of the bill as victory of democracy, Modi, while speaking in Lok Sabha, coined the GST in a new manner 'Great Step by Team India', 'Great Step towards Transformation', 'Great Step towards Transparency'.