It's been eight years since VR Raghunath last donned the India jersey at a World Cup. From an 18-year-old drafted as a replacement for the injured Sandeep Singh in the 2006 World Cup to being one of the senior-most players in the squad, times have surely changed for this dragflicker.

With 154 caps, Raghunath is just behind skipper Sardar Singh and Gurbaj Singh in terms of international experience. And as the team is gearing up for the 2014 FIH Hockey World Cup that begins on Sunday at The Hague, Raghunath knows that with the experience comes the responsibility of guiding the youngsters, some of whom have never known how it is to play in a World Cup.

Sushma Swaraj on Monday became India's first woman External Affairs minister, in yet another first for the 62-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader.

Apart from having the distinction of becoming the youngest cabinet minister in Haryana government at the age of 25, Swaraj has also many other firsts such as being the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi and woman spokesperson for any political party in the country.

As Narendra Modi takes up the post of the 15th prime minister of the largest democracy in the world, he hasn't forgotten the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Today, on Nehru's 50th death anniversary, Modi paid his tributes by tweeting on the social networking site Twitter.

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituent Shiv Sena today said with Narendra Modi at the helm, it is expected that good days will come in respect of Pakistan and there will be peace in Kashmir and the entire country but maintained it was difficult to trust the neighbouring country.

A PIL has been been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Constitutional validity of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act that led to creation of the new state of Telangana.

A bench of justices B S Chauhan and A K Sikri today refused urgent hearing of the PIL, filed by V R KrishnaIyer Free Legal Aid Committee and ordered that it be tagged along with other similar petitions on the issue.

At least 40 passengers were killed and over 150 injured when Gorakhdham Express from Delhi derailed and rammed into a stationary freight train near Churaib railway station in Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

Six bogies of the Gorakhpur-bound train were damaged in the accident which occurred at around 10 am, railway officials and district administration said.

At its bi-monthly monetary policy review on June 3, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may once again keep the key policy rate unchanged, as the inflation trajectory is likely to be in line with the central bank’s projections. Broadly, market participants expect Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation to gradually fall to at least eight per cent by January-March 2015, as projected by the Urjit Patel committee on monetary policy.

There is good news for the new finance and petroleum ministers: The under-recovery on sensitive petroleum products is set to fall 20 per cent — from Rs 1,39,869 crore during 2013-14 to Rs 1,11,000 crore in 2014-15.

According to petroleum ministry estimates, for 2014-15, the first year of the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, the oil subsidy burden will be the lowest since 2011-12. The loss on diesel, kerosene and cooking gas (LPG) is expected to be Rs 35,000 crore, Rs 29,000 crore and Rs 47,000 crore, respectively.

In a recent presentation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the power ministry listed ensuring round-the-clock electricity supply and mitigating power plants’ fuel shortages among its priorities. It added other important steps to be taken included ensuring the financial viability of loss-making distribution companies, tapping India’s vast hydro-generation potential and amending the Electricity Act to bring about a slew of reform measures, sources said.

The BSE benchmark Sensex on Monday again retreated from the 25,000 mark due to profit-taking in several blue-chip stocks, after a sharp rally this month.

In an extremely volatile trading session, certain stocks, especially of capital goods and realty companies, fell as much as 30 per cent from their day’s highs, as investors judged recent gains excessive.

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