Polling began on a brisk note for the Vice Presidential election in which UPA candidate Hamid Ansari appears set to fend off the contest put up by NDA nominee Jaswant Singh. A total of 788 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, including nominated members, are eligible to vote in the poll to elect the 14th Vice President. Ansari, who is seeking re-election, has the support of the UPA, its allies, the Left parties as also other parties supporting it from outside.

Two CRPF commandos were killed in an IED blast triggered by Naxalites in Chhattisgarhs Dantewada district early today.

At least three more persons were killed while two others injured as fresh violence erupted in strife-torn Kokrajhar district.

Vijender Singhs dream to become first individual athlete to win medals came crashing down as he lost quarter final bout.

A total of 788 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs are eligible to vote today in the poll to elect the 14th Vice President. In the poll, UPA nominee and incumbent Hamid Ansari appears to have a clear edge over his rival Jaswant Singh, backed by the opposition NDA. The result will be declared in the evening. According to UPA managers, alliance is confident that 75-year-old Ansari is set to get at least 500 votes in a contest in which Ansari has a definite edge as far as the arithmetic is concerned. Congress itself has 204 members in Lok Sabha and 71 in Rajya Sabha.

The five-time world champion and the face of womens boxing in India for the past decade has now been assured of at least a bronze medal in the inaugural edition of womens boxing in the Games. She will also be the third Indian woman after Karnam Malleswari and Saina Nehwal to win an Olympic medal. Someone who enjoys iconic status in the North-East India, the performance of the 29-year old Manipuri woman who is mother of twin boys will surely encourage many more from the region to take up the sport.

A bomb blast rocked Syrian state television headquarters in the heart of Damascus wounding several people today just two days after the army said it had seized the last rebel-held area of the capital.

Buoyed by good response to its Vespa brand in India, Italian two-wheeler maker Piaggio is planning to launch a mass market scooter by the end of 2013.

Maoists blew off a Mine Protected Vehicle (MPV) killing a CRPF personnel and injured few others in the naxal hotbed of Dantewada.

Indias new shooting sensation Vijay Kumar, who clinched a silver medal in Olympics, said the low-profile build-up to his participation in the London Games turned out to be a "blessing in disguise" as it helped him to focus more on his game.