New Delhi, April 26 : Indian shuttler P. V. Sindhu, seeded eighth, advanced to the women's singles semi-finals of the $200,000 India Open Super Series here Friday.

In her quarter-final, the World No. 15 beat Japanese Yui Hashimoto 21-16, 21-16 in 47 minutes here at the Siri Fort Sports Complex Friday.

This was Sindhu's first win over the World No. 46 Japanese to whom she had lost in the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold in March. Hashimoto had beaten Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal in the second round.

Auto giant, Nissan has said that it is planning to organise the world premiere of the new Datsun at the Kingdom of Dreams in New Delhi on July 15.

The company is planning to revive the iconic Datsun brand after 32 years in countries including India, Russia, Indonesia and South Africa. Carlos Ghosn, global CEO of Renault-Nissan will showcase the new model of the car, which is expected to be a hatchback in the country.

New Delhi, April 26 : Two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp Friday reported a 4.86 percent decline in net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2013 which stood at Rs. 574.23 crore.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs. 603.59 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

However, the company's net income in the quarter under review was marginally up 1.83 percent at Rs. 6,145.75 crore from Rs. 6,034.93 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

For the last fiscal, the company's net profit stood at Rs. 2,118.16 crore, down 10.93 percent from Rs. 2,378.13 crore in the 2011-12.

New Delhi, April 26 : Not many know that Bollywood actor Vidyut Jammwal started learning an Indian martial art form, Kalaripayattu, when he was just three years old. Now, the 34-year-old actor is planning to open a university in Kerala where martial arts aspirants can seek expert training.

"People know about world martial art forms like Kung fu and Karate. But they are not aware of Indian martial art forms like Kalaripayattu. Also, we don't have many schools here that teach the art. I am working on opening a university in Kerala," Vidyut said in a group interaction here.

New Delhi, April 26 : International electronic music artist and disc jockey (DJ) Zedd is set for his first India tour, during which he will regale audiences in Delhi and Mumbai.

The capital's popular nightclub Kitty Su is bringing the artist, best known for his tracks "Spectrum" and "Clarity". He will perform at the nightclub at The Lalit here May 31, and at Pleasuredome at The Lalit in Mumbai June 2, said a statement.

Zedd, 23, has worked with artists like Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Eva Simon, Skrillex, Swedish House Mafia and The Black Eyed Peas. Currently, he is also producing Lady Gaga's "ARTPOP" album.

New Delhi, April 26 : Badminton's premier events, the Thomas and Uber Cup finals, will be held in the national capital here next year May 18-25.

Badminton Association of India (BAI) president Akhilesh Das Gupta announced the dates and the location of Badminton World Federation's (BWF) two premier tournaments after the official signing ceremony between the BAI and BWF took place here at the Siri Fort Sports Complex Friday.

New Delhi, April 26 : Electronics major Samsung Friday launched its new flagship smartphone Galaxy S4 priced at Rs. 41,500. It will go on sale from Saturday.

The latest version of Samsung's Galaxy series will compete with the likes of Apple iPhone5, HTC One and Blackberry Z10, all priced above Rs. 40,000.

The hand held device will be available for sale to Indian customers from Saturday in four cities-- Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore-- and online.

New Delhi, April 26 : Monsoon is likely to be normal this year, said Science and Technology Minister S. Jaipal Reddy here Thursday.

The minister, releasing the India Meteorological Department's report, said the monsoon this year is likely to be 98 percent of the long-term average.

"All prediction models show that monsoon will be normal," the minister said, adding: "By and large, the drought-hit areas of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka are likely to get normal rain." (IANS)

New Delhi, April 26 : The Supreme Court Monday issued notice to the CBI on a plea by Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel and Ravikant Ruia of Essar challenging their summoning before the 2G special court in the spectrum allocation scam of 2002.

The apex court bench, headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, while issuing the notice, asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file its response in four weeks and gave another three weeks to Mital and Ruia to file their rejoinder.

The court said the proceedings before the trial court in this matter would remain deferred till then.

New Delhi, April 26 : Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath Friday said there was no question of the resignation of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar.

The assertion came as opposition BJP and Left parties demanded the resignation of the law minister for vetting a CBI report on the coal block allocation scam, prior to its submission to the Supreme Court.

"The CBI director has clearly said that the draft report was seen by the law minister and not the final report. There is no question of him (Ashwani Kumar) resigning," Nath told reporters here.

New Delhi, April 26 :  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi Friday held discussion with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) allies to find ways to break the logjam in parliament over various issues.

The meeting was held in the Parliament House complex after repeated disruptions by the opposition parties over issues related to the coal blocks and 2G spectrum allocations.

New Delhi, April 26 : CBI director Ranjit Sinha Friday defended his meeting with Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V. Narayanasamy the previous evening, saying it was a "routine meeting".

Talking to reporters after submitting the central investigating agency's affidavit to the Supreme Court Friday on the status report on coal block probe, Sinha said: "He (Narayanasamy) is our minister and what is (the) problem in meeting him... I keep meeting him."

New Delhi, April 26 : Actor Shahid Kapoor is soaking in the sun to get a tanned look for his upcoming movie "Rambo Rajkumar".

Even though he has donned a chocolate boy look in movies like "Ishq Vishk", "Vivah" and "Kismat Konnection", it was his chiselled body and rugged look for the character of Charlie in 2009 movie "Kaminey" that created a lot of buzz.

This time the 32-year-old has got skin colour three shades darker than his original so that his look is in perfect sync with the character.

He has also got a stubble look, which is giving him a perfect biker boy image.

New Delhi, April 25 : American Swan, an online fashion and lifestyle store, Thursday announced its association with Indian Premier League team Pune Warriors India and they are targeting youth.

The brand will be the official apparel partner of the team and the players will be seen wearing co-branded American Swan apparel.

New Delhi, April 25 : Impressed with a positive response to the trailer of the forthcoming film "Aurangzeb", producer Aditya Chopra has given the green sigal to director Atul Sabbarwal and actor Arjun Kapoor to start work on their next venture.

According to a source close to the project, Aditya Chopra is really happy and excited with the reaction the trailer has generated.

"From the first look itself, Aditya has become positive about the film. He is so content and glad with the team that he has given the go-ahead to Atul and Arjun to plan their next film," added the source.

New Delhi, April 25 : "Kai Po Che!" actor Sushant Singh Rajput has been roped in as the brand ambassador for Pepsi Atom, a new drink by PepsiCo India.

For Sushant, it's a dream come true.

"It was my dream to be associated with PepsiCo. I am thrilled about this association with Pepsi Atom... It is my first major endorsement and is even more special as Pepsi Atom is also new, like me, and 2013 is the debut year for both of us," Sushant said in a statement.

New Delhi, April 25 : An 11-year-old girl from Africa, who had sickle cell disease, underwent a rare open heart surgery, doctors at a hospital here claimed Thursday.

Ayesha Sadiq was diagnosed with a disorder of the heart valve, which caused outflow of the blood from the right side to be obstructed. She also had sickle cell disease, a genetic disorder.

New Delhi, April 25 : From food to music, stand-up comedian-actor Vir Das chooses something or the other to connect with his male co-actors because he feels bromance relies on their off-screen chemistry.

After "Delhi Belly", Vir will be seen in zombie comedy "Go Goa Gone" with male co-stars Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Khemu and Anand Tiwari. Since it's a multi-star cast, connecting with his co-stars is very important to him.

"I've been working on bromance zone, which is comedy, and it relies on buddy system. It's very important to get to know each other fast, otherwise it affects the comedy," Vir told IANS on phone from Chandigarh.

New Delhi, April 25 : Eighth seed P. V. Sindhu of India entered the women's singles quarter-finals at the India Open Super Series Thursday, raising the possibility her showdown with Saina Nehwal.

The 17-year-old overcame unseeded Chinese Sun Yu 19-21, 21-19, 21-15 in one hour and eight minutes. This was Sindhu's first win against the Chinese in two career meetings.

The Hyderabadi could face her city mate and World No. 2 Saina, who will play her second round match against Yui Hashimoto of Japan here at the Siri Fort Sports Complex later in the day. (IANS)

New Delhi, April 25 : From the Khans - Aamir, Shah Rukh and Saif Ali - to leading ladies like Madhuri Dixit, Vidya Balan and Rani Mukerji, as many as 20 screen stars have united for a special title track for unique movie "Bombay Talkies", which celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema.

The song, titled "Apna Bombay talkies", has been choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant.