Wayne Rooney got Manchester United's bid for a fourth consecutive Premier League title off to a winning start with the only goal in a 1-0 victory over promoted Birmingham City at Old Trafford on Sunday.

With the Premier League season kicking off on Saturday we look at the prospects of the 20 top-flight clubs.

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, invites applications for MBA (International Business) degree programme conducted at New Delhi and Kolkata Centres.

Claiming that his government did not support the "unconstitutional" acts of Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court's recent verdict on imposition of emergency in 2007, saying it will go a long way in strengthening the democratic institutions.

Hike import duty on finished products; Rationalize excise Duty on Molasses to 8% ad valorem or Rs. 375/PMT and on Naphtha to 8%, cut corporate tax to 25%, service tax to 5%.

Seeks declared goods status to Natural gas; extension of tax holiday benefits to find and sale of natural gas

Last year's runners-up Services held on to a Laldingliana penalty to beat fancied Maharashtra 1-0 in a Group B quarter-final league match of the 63rd National Football Championship, for the Santosh Trophy, at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, in Chennai on Wednesday.

Defending champions Punjab were shocked by Manipur 2-1 in the quarter-final Group A league opener in the 63rd National Football championship, for the Santosh Trophy, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in Chennai on Tuesday.

As thousands of trapped civilians continued to flee the war zone, the Sri Lankan government today said the LTTE would be stamped out within the next 48 hours, signaling that a final offensive against Tigers was on.

A lacklustre Dempo suffered a 1-2 defeat to Syrian side Al Maged in their Group E AFC Cup match in Damascus on Tuesday night. Dempo, who had beaten their opponents 1-0 at home, were outclassed by the Syrian side and could have lost by a bigger margin had not goalkeeper Abhijit Mondal saved at least half a dozen shots on target at the Al Abbassiyin Stadium.

Australia had one foot in next year's World Cup finals in South Africa after beating Uzbekistan 2-0 on Wednesday, while South Korea scored a late winner to down rivals North Korea 1-0 and wrestle back their Group Two lead.

India beat New Zealand by 10 wickets on Day 4 of the first Test to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series at Seddon Park, Hamilton, on Saturday. Harbhajan Singh returned a six-wicket haul as New Zealand were dismissed for 279 in their second innings. India then chased down the required 39 runs for victory in 5.2 overs. Gautam Gambhir was unbeaten on 30 and Rahul Dravid on 8.

A missed penalty from midfielder Marcos Pereira in the first half proved expensive as Federation Cup champions Mohun Bagan went down 0-1 to Al Karama in the opening Group D encounter of the AFC Cup at the Khaled Ibn Al Waleed Stadium on Tuesday night.

After the scandals of the 1990s, didn't investment banks put sexist employment practices behind them? Evidently not.

Being one of the most ecologically modernized state in the world, Japan heads to Copenhagen with its ambition of green leadership in the post Kyoto regime. Japan has nurtured this ambition through smart diplomatic endeavors, ecological restructuring of policies and technological innovations.

Substitute Mario Balotelli scored a fluke goal moments after coming on to give Serie A leaders Inter Milan a 2-1 win at Bologna on Saturday. Jose Mourinho's side, who went ahead through Esteban Cambiasso before Miguel Britos equalised, stayed nine points clear after second-placed Juventus won 2-0 at Palermo.

Samuel Eto'o scored twice to help Barcelona rally from two down to draw 2-2 at Real Betis on Saturday, stretching their Primera Liga lead to 13 points.

India conceded a goal in the dying minutes and lost to European champions The Netherlands 1-2 in the final of the Punjab Gold Cup hockey tournament in Chandigarh on Monday evening. The tournament's top-scorer Jeroen Hertzberger converted a penalty-corner in the 66th minute to break Indian hearts, at the packed Sector 42 hockey stadium. Earlier, New Zealand beat Germany 3-2 to take third place.

More unanswered questions about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that need to be answered.

More unanswered questions about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that need to be answered.

Ranty Martins' brace guided Dempo to an impressive 4-0 win over Chirag United in the ONGC I-League match at Nehru Stadium in Margao on Sunday. The impressive win put Dempo back into their winning ways as they collected 11 points from eight matches, while Chirag United remained on eight points from eight matches.

One of the brightest Tamil directors after the unprecedented success of his first film, Chennai 600028, Venkat Prabhu got candid with his fans during a rediff.com chat.

Mumbai FC scored their second victory in as many matches when they beat Kolkata giants East Bengal by a solitary goal in Kolkata on Tuesday.

I-League champions Dempo scripted history becoming the first team from India to make it to the semi-finals of the AFC Cup when they defeated Home United 4-3 in Singapore on Tuesday.

India rode on a late goal by Sunil Chhetri to beat Myanmar in the first semi-final of the AFC Challenge Cup football tournament.

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research announces the A*Star India Youth Scholarships 2008, full scholarships for four years of secondary and pre-university studies in Singapore.

Switzerland notched their first win at a European Championship finals when it least mattered by beating a second-string side from Euro 2008 quarter-finalists Portugal 2-0 on Sunday.

Notwithstanding all the talk and euphoria over the progress in terms of US-India trade and investment, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said that India punches way below its weight when it comes to global trade.

An injury-time penalty by Ivica Vastic earned co-hosts Austria a dramatic 1-1 draw with Poland at Euro 2008 on Thursday. A confident Vastic showed no sign of nerves as he sent goalkeeper Artur Boruc the wrong way from the spot after Sebastian Proedl had his shirt pulled by Mariusz Lewandowski in the 93rd minute.

Cristiano Ronaldo, tipped by many to become Euro 2008's player of the tournament, scored one goal and made another to give Portugal a 3-1 win over Czech Republic in Group A on Wednesday.

A resolute Jeev Milkha Singh fought back from a disastrous start for his best Major finish at a creditable tied 25th in the US Masters but his failure to sign off among the top-16 has denied him a return ticket to the prestigious event. The Indian shot a final-round three-over 75 on a chilly windswept day to end his campaign with a total of four-over 292, 12 strokes off the pace of winner Trevor Immelman (75).

Kolkata giants East Bengal scored a morale-boosting 2-0 win over Jordan outfir Al Wihdat at the Prince Mohammad International Stadiun at Zerqa City on Wednesday.

India rallied after a shaky start to beat Austria 7-3 and post their second successive victory in the Olympic hockey qualifier in Santiago, Chile. Rocked by a second minute goal, India bounced back in a splendid fashion as Dilip Tirkey (9th, 23rd minutes), Shivendra Singh (51st, 55th), Ignace Tirkey (42nd), Bharat Chhikara (53rd) and Rajpal Singh (53rd) struck telling blows.

Sporting Clube-de-Goa came from behind in the second half to hold title aspirants Churchill Brothers to a 1-1 draw in the penultimate round of the ONGC I-League at Nehru Stadium in Margao on Saturday.

Egypt retained hopes of a successful African Nations Cup title defence with a 2-1 win over Angola in their quarter-final.

Taking full advantage of Viva Kerala's poor defence, Mahindra United won 2-0 in the 13th round of the ONGC I-League football tie in Kozhikode on Thursday.

Bangalore Hi-Fliers and Chandigarh Dynamos set up a title clash after winning their semifinal matches in the fourth edition of Premier Hockey League in Chandigarh on Saturday.

Blogging might be a leisure activity for many famous personalities but it has brought fame to people like India-born Om Malik who has been named as one of the global web celebrities by American magazine Forbes.

Former champions Bangalore Hi-Fliers made a strong comeback after trailing 0-2 to score a thrilling win over local favourites Chandigarh Dynamos 3-2 in a league match of the Premier Hockey League.

Mohun Bagan beat Salgaocar 5-4 in a thrilling tie to register only their second win in the I-league.