SUNDAY FOCUS

New Delhi:In Spain, the Supreme Court on Wednesday confirmed a 21-month jail sentence and 2.25 million Dollar fine imposed on Barcelona football star Lionel Messi for tax fraud. In July last year, Messi and his father Jorge HoracioMessi were found guilty of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on 4.16 million euros of Messi's income earned from his image rights from 2007-09.

New Delhi:Helicopters and aircraft have been pressed into service by the Indian Air Force to search for the Sukhoi fighter jet that went missing with two pilots onboard over Tezpur in Assam. But bad weather affected the operation.
The IAF said the search operation is continuing despite overcast sky and spells of rains and thundershowers in parts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh where the SU-30 MKI plane is suspected to have crashed.

New Delhi:Two Indian peacekeepers were among 117 military, police and civilian personnel honoured by the United Nations with a prestigious UN medal awarded posthumously for courage and sacrifice in the line of duty. 
Rifleman BrijeshThapa, who served with the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Private Ravi Kumar who was deployed with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon posthumously received the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal on the eve of International Day of UN Peacekeepers. 

Even as yesterday's violence in Saharanpur led to the death of one person police have arrested 25 people and lodged three FIRs at Badgaon police station against several unknown persons. 
Official sources said a financial assistance of Rs 15 lakh is being paid to the family of the victim. Rs 50,000 are being given to those with serious injuries. 

India registered a stunning 4-1 win over former champions Indonesia in the Sudirman Cup mixed team badminton championship at Gold Coast in Australia. Yesterday's victory has kept India's hopes alive for a knockout berth. 
After suffering an embarrassing 1-4 defeat against Denmark in the opening match, India desperately needed to win this contest against fifth seeds Indonesia. India rode on stupendous performances by K Srikanth, P V Sindhu and the the experienced Ashwini Ponnappa to outwit Indonesia for the first time in team events.