No longer can it be considered a fluke or just a major stroke of luck. In Sunday's men's singles final of the China Open World Tour Super 1000 badminton championships, pint-sized Indonesian dynamo, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, repeated his Asian Games triumph over Japan's recently crowned world champion, Kento Momota, to pocket the winner's cheque of $70,000 in the $1 million tournament.

The 21-year-old Indonesian's 63-minute 23-21, 21-19 triumph at the Olympic Sports Center in Changzhou over the Japanese left-hander, three years his senior, came on the back of a 21-18, 21-18 victory at the Asian Games, almost exactly a month ago.

Anthony Sinisuk Ginting of Indonesia reacts after beating Kento Momota of Japan in the men's singles final at the BWF China Open badminton tournament in Changzhou in eastern China's Jiangsu province, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. Sinisuk Genting beat Momota, 2-0. (Chinatopix via AP)Anthony Ginting reacts after beating Kento Momota in the final at the China Open. Chinatopix via AP
The prestigious China Open win brought their head-to-head tally to 3-4 against Ginting's name, and firmly reversed the trend of three losses in a row that the young Indonesian had suffered at Momota's hands at the Malaysian and Indonesian Opens earlier this year, and at the team event at the Asian Games.

The New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries has approved a $525-million loan to Madhya Pradesh for infrastructure projects, it said on Thursday.

The Board of Directors of the NDB on Wednesday approved a $350-million loan for the Major District Roads Project II of Madhya Pradesh and $175 million for building and upgrading 350 bridges.

The loan will be used by the Indian Government for on-lending to the Madhya Pradesh government for rehabilitating major district roads with a total length of about 2,000 km to improve the connectivity of the rural interior with the national and state highway networks, a press release issued by the Shanghai-based bank said.

The project will improve the road conditions and enhance the transport capacity, which will lead to a less travel time, reduced vehicle-operating cost, reduced emissions and improved road safety, it added.

KATHMANDU: While the number of tigers in many countries is witnessing a decline, a recent survey led by the Government of Nepal has shown that the population of tigers has almost doubled in under a decade in the country.

According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF), an organisation dealing with wildlife conservation and endangered species, this news can help Nepal become the first country to double its national tiger population since the ambitious TX2, a goal to double tiger numbers in the wild by 2022, was set in 2010.

India successfully conducted an interceptor missile test off the Odisha coast Sunday night, achieving a major milestone in developing a two-layer Ballistic Missile Defence system, defence sources said.

The interceptor was launched from Abdul Kalam Island, earlier known as Wheeler Island of the Integrated Test Range (ITR), at about 8.05 pm, the sources said.

This Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV) mission is for engaging the targets in the exo-atmosphere region at an altitude above 50 km of the earth's atmosphere, a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist said.

State-run telecom firm BSNL has inked a pact with Japan’s Softbank and NTT Communications to roll out 5G and internet of things (IoT) technology in India, a top official has said.

“We have signed an agreement with Softbank and NTT Communications to roll out 5G and IoT products and services in India. Under the agreement, we will look at solution specially for the smart cities,” BSNL chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava told PTI in an interview.

He said most of the BSNL competitors are still looking at monetising their 4G services and hence leading companies have started looking at the State-run firm for 5G services roll out.

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA: Opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the Maldives' presidential election, results showed Monday, a surprise defeat for President Abdulla Yameen following a campaign observers said was rigged in the strongman's favour.
Results released by the Elections Commission early Monday morning showed Solih had secured 58.3 percent of the popular vote.

Celebrations broke out across the tropical archipelago with opposition supporters carrying yellow flags of Solih's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and dancing on the streets. There was no response from Yameen after results were announced.

Solih had the backing of a united opposition trying to oust Yameen but struggled for visibility with the electorate, with local media fearful of falling afoul of heavy-handed decrees and reporting restrictions.

There were also no other candidates at Sunday's election held with all key dissidents either in jail or exile.

Earlier in the night Solih had called on Yameen to concede defeat once the tally showed he had an unassailable lead.

"I call on Yameen to respect the will of the people and bring about a peaceful, smooth transfer of power," he said on television.

rime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Sikkim's first-ever airport at Pakyong on Monday. The Prime Minister arrived in Sikkim on a two-day visit on Sunday.

He will also address the people at the St Xavier's School at Pakyong after inaugurating the airport.

The Prime Minister reached in an MI-8 chopper from Bagdogra and was received by Governor Ganga Prasad, Chief Minister Pawan Chamling and others at Libing Army Helipad. He was given a gun salute by the Army there.

rime Minister Narendra Modi launched Centre's flagship Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM) from Ranchi on Sunday, reported news agency Press Trust of India (PTI). However, the scheme will now become operational from September 25 on the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay. The ambitious Ayushman Bharat scheme, renamed the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan (PMJAY) aims to provide coverage of Rs. 5 lakh per family annually, benefiting more than 10 crore poor families, according to a release issued by PIB (Press Information Bureau).

Fuel prices continue to soar across the country, pushing the petrol price in Mumbai today past the Rs 90 per litre mark. A litre of petrol in Mumbai costs Rs 90.08, while the price in Delhi is Rs 82.72. Diesel, meanwhile, is being sold at Rs 78.58 per litre in Mumbai and Rs 74.02 per litre in Delhi. In Patna, petrol is priced at Rs 91.96/litre –one among the highest in the country — and diesel at Rs 79.68/litre.

According to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the largest fuel retailer in India, petrol is retailing at Rs 83.37/litre in Bengaluru, Rs 82.14/litre in Lucknow, Rs 84.54/ litre in Kolkata, Rs 87.70/litre in Hyderabad, Rs 85.17/litre in Guwahati and 85.99/litre in Chennai. Diesel prices too registered a surge in major metros across the country. In Bengaluru diesel is priced at Rs 74.40/litre, in Lucknow at Rs 74.15/litre, in Kolkata at Rs 75.87/litre, in Hyderabad at Rs 80.51/litre, in Guwahati at Rs 77.40/litre and in Chennai at Rs 78.26/litre.

Midsized private sector lender Yes BankNSE -29.04 % has paid Rs 38 crore in fines to the GST department for alleged violations in domestic remittances, officials said Friday.

A bank official, however, said the money has been paid "in protest" and the lender believes that it has not violated any norms.

The bank, which saw Friday its stocks bleed as much as over 35 per cent intra-day and close with a loss of 29 per cent after news came out that the RBI has asked incumbent CEO Rana Kapoor to step aside by end of next January, has paid the fine earlier this week.

Many peers have received similar demands and the "in protest" protest payment will be taken to its logical end, the officials added.

The issue relates to remittances by migrants from urban pockets to their homes in rural areas. The tax department feels the bank has violated norms and under-paid the tax, while the bank feels the opposite.

Over Rs 32 crore has been paid to the GST department, while Rs 6 crore has been paid in