New Delhi: Former President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday launched Neta App, a technology platform that allows voters to rate their political representatives. The app’s makers say it would help “fostering political accountability by being an early indicator of how a leader’s performance is being perceived by the voters”.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, former election commissioners SY Quraishi and Nasim Zaidi; former union law minister Ashwini Kumar; veteran BJP leader and former union minister Murli Manohar Joshi; former union home minister Shri Shivraj Patil; and minister of state of social justice and empowerment Vijay Sampla were also present at the launch.

The Indian men's tennis pair of Rohan Bopanna-Divij Sharan outclassed Kazakhstan's Aleksandar Bublik and Denis Yevseyv 6-3, 6-4 in the men's doubles final to bag a gold medal in a match that lasted 52 minutes. Bopanna and Sharan added the sixth gold medal to the Indian contingent's medal tally. India, now have a total of 22 medals in their kitty -- consisting 6 gold, 4 silver and 12 bronze. Earlier in the semi-final, Rohan Bopanna and Sharan won 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 against Japan's Kaito Uesugi and Sho Shimabukoro in a three-set thriller which lasted for 72 minutes.

In the quarterfinals, which also went to three sets, Bopanna and Sharan edged past Chinese Taipei's Yang Tsung-Hua and Hsieh Chengpeng 6-3, 5-7, 10-1 in 76 minutes.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram on Saturday stepped up Congress’ attack on the Centre over the Rafale deal, demanding a public debate and a detailed inquiry. Addressing a press conference at the party office in Kolkata today, the senior Congress leader accused the Centre of ignoring the defence procurement procedure and “bypassing” several committees to secure the deal.

“We think that the matter is serious enough that there should be a public debate and there should be a detailed inquiry. Which is why the Congress President and the party has raised it,” he was quoted by ANI as saying.

Chidambaram further alleged that the Cabinet Committee on Security was not taken into confidence by the government before signing the deal. “Why was the defence procurement procedure ignored in the Rafale deal… and why were the Contract Negotiation Committee and the Price Negotiation Committee kept in the dark about it? The Cabinet Committee on Security was also not taken into confidence,” he said.

Asian Games 2018 Live Streaming India Badminton Live Updates: India will look to get past Friday’s shocking results in badminton which saw top Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy crashed out of the tournament in the first round. PV Sindhu will be in action against Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung while Saina Nehwal will face Indonesia’s Fitriani. Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will face Korea’s S Choi and M Kang in Men’s Doubles, while B Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri will take on China’s Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen. In Women’s Doubles action, Ashwini Ponappa and N Sikki Reddy will take on China’s Q Chen and Y Jia. Catch Live score and updates of India Badminton action at the Asian Games 2018.

Jawaharlal Nehru University has proposed to rename its newly introduced 'School of Management' after BJP's stalwart leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee's death. This has been suggested in a bid to a renaming spree across the Indian states' landmarks. Apart from JNU, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Gujarat have also suggested to rename their landmarks.

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN: Sweden released a handbook of its "feminist foreign policy" Thursday for rights groups and foreign governments, showcasing lessons from the Scandinavian nation's flagship approach to promoting women's rights globally.
The manual, published on the government's website in English weeks before a September 9 general election, is derived from four years of work to place gender equality at the heart of the country's international agenda.

Sweden began its feminist foreign policy "in response to the discrimination and systematic subordination that still mark the daily lives of countless women and girls around the world", the handbook said.

After India Men’s Kabaddi team went down 27-24 in the semifinal against Iran on Thursday, India Women’s team suffered another big upset in Kabaddi on Friday as they lost 27-24 in the final match and had to settle for a silver medal. India started off brilliantly, taking a lead of 5 points, 13-8 at one stage in the first half. But Iran defence held their nerves and took three points in the final few minutes of the first half to close the gap to 13-11.

In the second half, Iran’s defence continued to trouble India and did not give leave any space for them get a point. After a nervy final minute, in which Sakshi Kumari earned a super raid to get three points for India, the two-time Asian Games Champions brought the score to one-point difference. But Iran held their nerve to take three more points before the final raid to script another historic win and getting the top medal finish.

Rejecting the petitions filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the CPM challenging the West Bengal Panchayat polls, the Supreme Court Friday said the challenge must be pursued through election petitions instead. The top court also underlined that the charges of obstruction of elections is a serious matter. The pleas have sought cancellation of panchayat polls in over 20,000 uncontested seats.

All these uncontested seats were won unopposed by candidates of the ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition parties had alleged that their candidates were obstructed from filing nomination papers.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud exercised its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution and held that the limitation period of 30 days for filing the election petitions, which has expired, would now commence from the date of notification of panchayat poll results. “Whoever is aggrieved with the election results can file their petitions before the concerned court within 30 days.”

A National Logistics Portal is being developed to ensure ease of trading in the international and domestic markets, as India eyes lowering logistics cost from14 per cent of GDP to less than 10 per cent by 2022, the Commerce Ministry said today.

The portal will link all the stakeholders of export-import, domestic trade and all trade activities on a single platform.

"The portal will be implemented in phases and will fulfil the commitment of the Government of India to enhance trade competitiveness, create jobs, boost India's performance in global rankings and pave the way for India to become a logistics hub," the ministry said in a statement.

In a major upset, seven-time gold medallist India suffered their first ever loss in the Asian Games to South Korea in the men's Kabaddi group A game here on Monday. India lost 23-24 to South Korea, who won the bronze medal in the Incheon Games four years ago, in a match that went down to the wire.

This is the first defeat for India in 28 years at the Asian Games. They will lock horns with Thailand in their final Group A game on Tuesday. The team had dished out a clinical performance on Sunday