The intense leadership battle in the BCCI after Jagmohan Dalmiya's demise has taken a new turn with known foes and former Board chiefs N Srinivasan and Sharad Pawar holding a surprise meeting in Nagpur.

Current ICC President Srinivasan, who has been at loggerheads with Pawar for a long time, is learnt to have met the Maratha strongman for a couple of hours at former Central Minister and NCP leader Praful Patel's residence late last night. Pawar is currently on a tour to drought-hit Vidarbha.

Although the details of what exactly transpired in the meeting is not known, it is learnt that the current leadership vacuum in the Board was on the agenda. Srinivasan, who had arrived in Nagpur by a special flight, is expected to meet his loyalists in the Board in Bangalore later on Thursday.

It is learnt that around 8 to 9 units will be meeting the ICC chairman to discuss the roadmap ahead of the Special General Body meeting and possibly shortlist a candidate to replace Dalmiya, who passed away last Sunday.
There is a possibility that Amitabh Chaudhary, who has emerged as one of the presidential candidates from the East Zone will be in attendance along with majority of South units as well as some of the eastern units. Also holding meetings today is BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur, who has called up members of a few of the eastern unit factions to discuss what's on their mind as he is pitching for IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla's name for presidency.

Srinivasan and Pawar's meeting is one of the most surprising developments in the he battle for BCCI President's post so far. Pawar was among the first to raise his voice against Srinivasan after his son-in-law was implicated in the IPL spot-fixing and betting scandal. Srinivasan had to eventually step aside as BCCI chief after being chided by the Supreme Court.  

N Srinivasan- Sharad Pawar

Debutant Chaitanya Tamhane's National award-winning Marathi film Court, a poignant commentary on India's judicial system, was selected to officially represent the country in the Best Foreign Film category at the 2016 Oscars, on Wednesday. 

Court helmed by debutant Chaitanye Tamhane also grabbed this year's National Award for Best Feature Film. The multilingual courtroom drama has won 18 international awards. The film examines the Indian legal system through the trial of an ageing folk singer in a lower court in Mumbai. 

Here are five Marathi films from the past that could have been nominated for Oscars

Saamna

Directed by Jabbar Patel Saamna was released in 1974. The film was written by Vijay Tendulkar and was screened at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival. Mohan Agashe, ​Nilu Phule, Shriram Lagu, Smita Patil starred in the film.

Sinhasan

This 1979 political drama was also directed by Dr. Jabbar Patel and written by Vijay Tendulkar. The film is based on novel of the same name, written by journalist Arun Sadhu. Nilu Phule had played the lead role of the journalist in the film while Arun Sarnaik, Mohan Aghase, Nana Patekar made up the rest of the cast. The move was a blockbuster in the 70s.

Pinjara

Directed by V Shantaram, the film starred Shriram Lagoo and Sandhya in lead roles. Pinjra released in 1972 and was also released in Hindi with the same title. Set in Tamasha folk musical theatre of Maharashtra, the film is about a morally righteousness school teacher, Lagoo, who wants to reform a Tamasha performer, played by Sandhya, but ends up falling in love with her. The film is known for its music and dance numbers, with music by Ram Kadam.

Shyamchi Aai

Shyamchi Aai is hailed as one of the greatest tributes to mother's love in Marathi literature. The movie released in 1953 was written by famous author and social activist Sane Guruji and directed by Pralhad Keshav Atre. The movie had won the first national award in 1954.

Chaukat Raja

The film, released in 1991, was directed by Sanjay Surkar and produced by Smita Talwalkar. It tells the story of a family which takes a mentally challenged person under their wing and encourages him to develop skills while they deal with their own instabilities. Dilip Prabhawalkar, Sulbha Deshpande, Dilip Kulkarni, Ashok Saraf made up the cast of this film. 

Wayne Rooney ended his six-month goal scoring drought at home as Manchester United defeated Ipswich 3-0 to reach the fourth round of the Capital One Cup.

The England captain put United ahead in the 22nd minute with a left-footed finish before 19-year-old Pereira doubled the lead on his first start for the club through a free-kick, the Daily Express reported.
Subsequently, Anthony Martial continued his goal scoring spree as he netted four goals since his arrival at Old Trafford. United will next face Middlesbrough in the fourth round. 
 

Anthony MartialReuters

DRDO chief S Christopher raised a red flag on Wednesday saying DRDO lacked funds for critical defence projects and also rued the government’s cold shoulder in catering to manpower shortage in the organisation.

The eminent scientist was picked up by the Modi government as the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief in May, four months after the unceremonious exit of Avinash Chander who was terminated 15 months before his contract was to end. 

On the occasion of the the 39th Directors’Conference of DRDO here, Christopher said that there was a need for augmentation of scientific manpower and a mere 5-6% of defence budget for R&D was inadequate to meet the aspirations of India's defence needs especially when China spent about 20% of their defence budget for the same.

"This is an issue which DRDO has been pursuing for a long time and currently a case for 436 scientists is with the government for approval," he said.

While pointing that the average age of scientist in DRDO is over 40 years and “a top heavy and narrow base is not a healthy structure for R&D organisations”, he asked the government to “appreciate the gravity of the situation and take appropriate measures to ensure manpower".

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who was present on the occasion, assured DRDO of all help but asked the scientists to constantly upgrade themselves and avoid “duplication of work”.

He asked DRDO scientists to “learn” from ‘rishis’, who overcame jealousy and anger since “many tussles and politics” had been seen in the scientists’ community. Parrikar told them to "roll up their sleeves" and put in more effort and questioned why “we cannot produce a basic assault rifle for the armed forces or a good bullet-proof jacket for the troops”.

"For an educated person, to have humility is one of the most important virtues. I think the scientist community should choose to make it part of their overall behaviour and set up. This one apsect...I see many tussles. Politics is everywhere but it is also being sometimes played in a wrong sense. I understand you have high aspirations," Parrikar said. "Defence export from India, which is at about $150 million currently, should be targeted to be increased to $1 billion if not more in the next 2-3 years,” he added.

 ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) chief Sir Ronnie Flanagan has said in an interview that corruption in cricket can't be eradicated totally. 

In an interview to  icccricket.com, retired British police officer Flanagan has said that the honest answer is corruption can't be totally eradicated but that doesn't stop them from working hard to achieve such goal. 

He said, " Well, to be honest, I would look on that question as similar to the question, will ill health ever be eradicated?  Will crime ever be eradicated?  And I think the frank answer has to be never totally and absolutely eradicated.  But that doesn’t stop us working the very hardest that we can, making the greatest effort that we can to eradicate the game as far as is humanly possible to do."

ACU chief also said that people who indulge in cricket corruption are organised criminals. He said, " "One thing I have no doubt about is that they are most evil. These are organised criminals.  These are members of organised criminal gangs across the world, and that was brought home very evidently in our preparations for the World Cup".

He was noncommittal on the question of whether re-induction of three Pakistani players who were involved in match fixing will mar the image of cricket. 

Watch the full interview here :

Recently anti-corruption unit of ICC conducted a workshop on the theme 'Keep Cricket Clean', which was attended by anti-corruption representatives of all Test-playing member-nations.

During the workshop, anti-corruption officers discussed at length the Integrity Working Party (IWP) recommendations, and expressed a resolve and commitment to continue their fight to eradicating corruption through proactive, collective and aggressive prevention and disruption tactics. The ICC Board, during the 2015 ICC Annual Conference in Barbados, had reviewed and adopted the recommendations of the IWP, which had been convened to review the global risks for international and domestic cricket created by the threat of corruption.

Reflecting on the strengths of the game's collective approach to fighting corruption, ACU Chairman Sir Ronnie Flanagan said, "The objective of our recent workshop was to bring together the anti-corruption elements in all 10 major Test-playing cricket nations, and working together with the ACU at the centre to examine the recommendations of the review report, to look at how we can best work together going forward to implement those recommendations, and to make sure that right across cricket."

"I was very pleased that the recent review we had of the work of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit, placed great emphasis on the fact that the main planks of our activity are prevention, disruption, and only then investigation and prosecution, in that order of priority. And I think that order of priority is absolutely right." he added.

With ANI inputs

 Riding on his stupendous performance in the Korea Open Super series, Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram has climbed up seven places to be ranked World No. 25 in the latest rankings issued by the Badminton World Federation on Thursday.

Jayaram's runner-up finish at the US $600,000 Korea Open has helped him re-enter the top-25. In the final of the Super Series event at Seoul, Jayaram lost to defending champion and World No. 1 Chen Long of China.
He had also reached the semifinals of Russian Open, Swiss Open and Malaysia Masters -- all Grand Prix level tournaments -- earlier this year. Meanwhile, K Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap have managed to retain their fifth and eighth positions, respectively in the men's singles rankings.

H S Prannoy, however, has dropped a spot to be at 16th the position. In women's singles, star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal is still heading the chart, while PV Sindhu is static at 13. Women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa have also managed to retain their No.11 spot, while men's doubles duo of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy are stagnant at No.19. No Indian combination figure in the top-25 list of mixed doubles.  CM PM
 

Ajay JayaramFile Photo

British diva Adele is reportedly set to release her highly-anticipated full-length on November 20.

HDD additionally said Adele, 27, will accompany her new song and album with appearances on some TV shows on NBC.

She has inked an exclusive deal with the Today show, Saturday Night Live, a prime-time special and another yet-to-be-announced show.

The deal, however, will still allow Adele to appear at the 2016 Grammys.

Adele's new album, which she last year hinted would be titled 25, will be her first in four years. Its predecessor, 2011's 21, was a huge critical and commercial success. It spent several weeks atop Billboard 200 and won multiple Grammys including the coveted Album of the Year Award.  

Read: Is Adele working on new 'James Bond' soundtrack?

 Northwest Delhi District Magistrate (DM) Sanjay Goel on Thursday was allegedly attacked by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Udit Raj's personal secretary Parminder and his supporters.

An FIR has been filed against Parminder for thrashing the district magistrate.

"BJP MP Udit Raj's personal secretary and his supporters barged into my office and threatened to beat me up. They also held me hostage for some time," Goel told ANI. "An FIR has been filed against Parminder for attacking me. I also have CCTV footage of the incident," he added. 

Udit Raj

To celebrate one year's completion of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has released a commemorative Mars Atlas. The atlas is a compilation of pictures and data obtained from the Mars Colour Camera (MCC), open for public viewing. 

The images from MCC provide unique information about Mars at varying spatial resolutions. The MOM has obtained Mars Global data showing clouds, dust in atmosphere and surface variations. On the other hand high resolution images acquired show details of various morphological features on the surface of Mars. 

You can download a free PDF copy of the Mars Atlas from the ISRO website here.

Dust storms over Mars' northern hemisphere, taken by the MCCImage Courtesy: ISRO

Creating a fresh controversy, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has tweeted morphed picture of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

The picture has been strongly criticised by Owaisi. He said the Congress leader has insulted all Muslims by showing a bearded Muslim wearing a skull cap with the RSS leader. Taking it to micro blogging site, Digvijaya had tweeted , "The two perpetrators of religious fanaticism who are destroying social fabric of this country."

The Two Perpetrators of Religious Fanaticism who are destroying Social Fabric of this Country. Image sent by a friend pic.twitter.com/8xWLg5yov6

— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) September 22, 2015

Congress leader's tweet comes amid reports of a secret deal between AIMIM and BJP in the poll-bound Bihar.

However, the AIMIM president has taken it as an ''insult'' to Muslims.  Owaisi also asked, "When a 1,000 Muslims were killed in Bhagalpur massacre of Bihar was not the Congress in power? Was that not a destruction of the social fabric? And when idols were placed in Babri Masjid wasn’t the Congress government in power in Uttar Pradesh," reported the Hindu.  

Owaisi, taking a dig at Singh, said, "The latter had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a family wedding. "Why have you not put up those pictures," he asked," said report.

Actress Neha Dhupia has replaced Esha Deol to become the new judge of reality show Roadies X3 amid reports that Esha opted out of the show due to monetary issues.

Dhupia, 35, said she is excited to be a part of the show. "To influence youth and to be influenced by them is what excited me to take up the show. "And coming from an army background, I think I've got a thing or two to add to its action aspect. I want to propagate the idea of being yourself, having faith and never giving up on your dreams," Dhupia said in a statement.

Esha's mother Hema Malini took to Twitter to thank the channel for giving her daughter a chance to judge the reality show.

Thank you MTV for selecting Esha as ur 1st female judge! She had a ball doing the prog & being part of ur family. We loved watching it too!

— Hema Malini (@dreamgirlhema) September 24, 2015

Two actors in Tollywood are set to tie the knot! Happy Days actor Varun Sandesh is all set to get married to his Paddanandi Premalo Mari co-star Vithika Sheru.

Romance reportedly between the two actors blossomed when they were shooting for their film Paddanandi Premalo Mari. Both Varun and Vithika had been dating for a while but only now decided to make it official. They first informed their families and after getting their blessings have made it official.

However, neither of them has made a formal announcement regarding their marriage. It looks like they are waiting for the right time. Varun Sandesh was said to be in a relationship earlier with Shraddha Das. 

Varun Sandesh and Vithika Sheru

Slinging birds at pigs--sure, that’s something pretty much all of us have done at one time in our life or another. From an age when we couldn’t wait to fire up that next fix of Angry Birds on our smartphones to a time when the once-epic mobile casual game has all but faded into insignificance, here’s a definitive ray of hope for all lovers of the franchise--rejoice, for the first official trailer of the upcoming movie is now out.

In what looks to be an incredibly slick production, the birds are back and they’re looking better than ever. From writers Clay Kaytis (Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, Tangled, Mulan) and Fergal Reilly (Spider-Man 2, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs), the movie looks to be packed to the gills with wisecracks, stellar voice acting, and a plot that sets out to answer the age-old question: Why are the birds so angry?

Completing the animated ensemble is an all-star cast including Jason Sudeikis (Red), Bill Hader (the evil pig leader Leonard,) Danny McBride (the volatile bomb,) and Peter Dinklage (Mighty Eagle.) The movie breaks out May 2016.

Following up the release of Firefox 41 just two days ago, Mozilla has unveiled its new beta client, Firefox 42 Beta, which focuses first and foremost on Tracking Protection in Private Browsing. 

Tracking Protection is an experimental feature in private mode that protects users from third-party tracking. "Most websites rely on many different “third-parties” — companies that are separate from the site you’re visiting — to provide analytics, social network buttons and display advertising. These third-parties sometimes include page elements that could record your browsing activity to create profiles about you across multiple sites and Private Browsing with Tracking Protection in Firefox Beta blocks some of these page elements," Mozilla said in a blog post for the browser.

There's also a new Control Center for Private Browsing, that contains site security and privacy controls in a single place. You can access the toggle to run off Tracking Protection in instances where it causes website elements to malfunction. The new Firefox also has an indicator to show tabs playing audio, complete with one-click muting. You can download the beta version from the blog post linked above.

Mozilla Firefox 42 Beta

 Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to raise Kashmir issue during his address at the UN General Assembly, a senior diplomat in Islamabad said on Thursday. 

The Pakistani diplomat said that Sharif is conscious about the importance of Kashmir and would raise the issue at the UNGA. Last year too Sharif had raked up Kashmir issue at the UN, evoking strong reaction from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who protested to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, saying raising bilateral issues on such fora was not the way to resolve them.

The diplomat said Pakistan Prime Minister, however, would offer several steps to de-escalate the tension and establish peace along the Line of Control (LoC). Sharif left for New York on Tuesday and is scheduled to address the General Assembly on September 30. The diplomat told PTI, "The Prime Minister do not want to add to the existing tension but at the same time he is conscious of importance of Kashmir and Indian intervention in Pakistan."
The official said that it had been decided that the speech should not deviate from the vision of the Prime Minister and should offer several steps to de-escalate the tension and establish peace along the LoC.

"Measures like frequent security exchanges and mechanism to tackle the outbreak of firing incident are expected to be proposed," he said. Sharif is also expected to talk about the threat posed by unresolved issue of Kashmir to regional peace as both India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons. Pakistan is also expected to raise the issue of India's alleged intervention in its domestic affairs but modalities are still being worked out for it.
He said no meeting between Sharif and his Indian counterpart has been planned so far.

Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on National Security Sartaj Aziz has already made it clear that any proposal for the meeting should come from India. Sharif will also push for resolution of Afghanistan issue through peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban militants. He would also highlight Pakistan's efforts to eliminate militants and achievements of Zarb-e-Azb operation which killed over 3,000 militants sine it was launched in June last year.

Nawaz Sharif File Photo

From being a broke 24-year-old to directing a National-award-winning film that will represent India at the Oscars, life has come a full circle for Chaitanya Tamhane with his debut movie Court.

Tamhane, 28, says he never expected the Marathi film to have the kind of journey that it has but it was a story that he always believed in.

"I feel very fortunate and grateful for the way it has been received. We did not make the movie with that many expectations. We were not sure what will happen but we were surprised constantly. It is my debut film so it is a great feeling," Chaitanya said. He is there to attend a film festival.

Court saw off competition from 29 other films including Killa, NH 10, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Baahubali, Haider and Masaan to be named as India's official entry to the Oscars yesterday.

The director says the announcement came as a surprise as they had kept their expectations low, considering the unpredictability around the selection.

He and his producer-actor friend Vivek Gomber are now in touch with their US and French distributors to take their campaign forward for the Oscars next year.

"Vivek plans to rely on the expertise of our distributors. They are quite experienced and they have had a few films which have won Oscars and have been nominated. Our Paris-based distributors are also involved. We plan to reach out to Indian producers who had their films as official entry to Oscars. We hope to have a plan in place once we return to India." The road to success has not been easy for Chaitanya, who first started writing the film when he was 24.

"I was 24, broke, with no money and there was a lot of pressure from my family to earn. Till that time, I had done my own projects like a play, a short film and a documentary but that did not earn me any money. I was very depressed at that time.

"Vivek was a friend and I had directed him in a play. He knew that I wanted to develop an idea and that was Court. He offered to help me as a friend and said I will give you a monthly stipend to sustain yourself, you go and develop your script. I wrote Court in a year and after some research.

Vivek read the script and decided to produce it." 

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Acting on a tip off from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) busted a major money laundering racket in the heart of Kolkata and Siliguri on Thursday. The officials raided over nine locations in Kolkata and Siliguri and seized Rs. 20 crores.

The CBDT officials with the help of Special Task Force of Kolkata Police carried out raids at two South Kolkata based companies, General System and Future Plan Enterprises, and at S Nagarjan and Santiago Martin.  They seized 16 gunny bags, 27 travel bags carrying currency notes. Currency notes to the tune of Rs.20 crores were stacked in two almirahs in the premises of this Kolkata-based company.

The operation was initiated in the West Bengal capital and adjoining areas in early hours based on inputs provided by central security agencies about an alleged fake lottery racket which has its tentacles spread upto Tamil Nadu.

According to sources, the premises is owned by a Tamil Nadu-based business who used to run a fake lottery business in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. The money collected used to be channelised to Dubai through the hawala route. On Thursday, the money that was stacked across the corners of the offices of this company was to be transferred to a hawala account.

It is believed the racket was run to the tune of several crores. Official sources told PTI that the teams, comprising about 100 members, had to deploy ten note counting machines to find the exact value of the stash recovered from two firms identified as G Systems and F P Enterprises. "Few executives and people of these firms are being questioned. It is suspected that these firms were involved in a fake lottery racket. Further investigations are on," they said.

They said few locations in Siliguri are also being searched by tax sleuths in this connection even as the teams have recovered and seized a number of documents including bank accounts and business receipts. The raid was being carried out in other locations of Kolkata till the last reports came in.

With PTI inputs.

Representational image

Intimate relationships are one of the greatest – if not THE greatest – sources of joy in life.

But creating and maintaining a successful relationship takes time and energy – and growing it to the point of true intimacy takes courage and a willingness to be vulnerable. With so many different things competing for our attention these days, it’s all too easy to find excuses not to put in the effort needed to grow and maintain the relationships we need to thrive. And so we find ourselves in a world where too many relationships fall apart before they’ve reached their true potential.

Lovers drift apart because they’ve never developed the deep sense of connection required to overcome the stumbling blocks that occur in every relationship. Partners share a bed but not a life. Spouses sit side by side on the sofa but never share their deepest thoughts and feelings with each other – then wake up one day to discover that the person sleeping beside them is a stranger.

The good news is, it doesn’t have to be this way. You can easily grow and maintain healthy intimate relationships using one of my simplest yet most effective Success Principles: goal-setting. 

Planning and foresight are sexy

Goal-setting is one of the most powerful Success Principles – yet I see few people using it within the context of creating healthy intimate relationships. Which is crazy, because if you set a concrete, achievable goal for yourself, you are far more likely to achieve it – no matter what that goal happens to be.

A study conducted by David Kohl, professor emeritus at Virginia Tech, showed that Americans who write down their goals and reviewed them regularly earned nine times more over the course of their lifetimes than those who didn’t set goals. This particular study focused on financial achievement, but the power of goal setting can be applied in every area of your life, including your intimate relationships.

Here are my top 5 tips on how to use the power of goal-setting to enjoy deeper, more authentic relationships with your loved ones:

1. Get specific about what you want

Vague goals produce vague results. It’s not enough to say that you want to “spend more quality time together." To achieve real results, you want to be specific and state your goal in a way that you and anybody else could measure it. Get clear on what you’re going to do – how much or many actions – and by when.

For example: “I will take my spouse out for dinner once a month and schedule one evening a week to hang out together without any TV or screens, so we can spend more time talking and enjoying each other’s company.” “We will set aside two hours for a heart talk next Saturday so we can discuss the things that have been bothering us and gain a deeper, more sympathetic understanding of how the other person feels. At the end of the talk we will each commit to taking 3 actions to make our life together more enjoyable for both of us.”

By saying what you’re going to do – and when you’re going to do it by – you make it possible to determine how well you’ve managed to reach your goal.

2. Write it down in detail

Once you’ve gotten clear on what actions you’d like to take to improve your intimate relationship, write them down in detail. Be sure to include the outcome you hope to achieve through your actions, so you can visualise what your life will be like once you accomplish your goal.

For example: “I will take my spouse out for dinner once a month and schedule one evening a week to hang out together without any TV or screens, so we can spend more time talking and enjoying each other’s company. We will share deep, soul-baring conversations that help us create a united vision of what our dream future will look like – and our increased intimacy and sense of partnership will greatly enrich all areas of our life together.”

The better able you’re able to identify what you truly want, the easier it will be for you to work toward it – and achieve it. The universe will conspire to help you!

3. Set goals that make you uncomfortable

It’s good to have a goal that makes you feel a little uncomfortable. Why? Because your ultimate goal (beyond your relationship goals) should be to grow as a person and become a master at life. To do this, you need to stretch your horizons – and learn new skills, expand your vision of what’s possible, and overcome whatever fears and roadblocks are standing in your way. 

In the process, you’ll build the confidence, wisdom, and self-esteem you need to open yourself more fully to your significant other and achieve a deeper level of intimacy that will enrich your life.

4. Reread your goals 2-3 times a day

Once you’ve written down your relationship goals, review your list two or three times every day.

Take the time to really focus on each goal. Read the list (out loud with passion and enthusiasm if you are in an appropriate place) one goal at a time. Close your eyes and picture each goal as if it were already accomplished – then take a few more seconds to feel what you would feel if you had already accomplished each goal.

By following this daily discipline of success, you’ll activate the creative power of your subconscious mind. Your brain will want to close the gap between your current reality and the vision of your goal – and that will increase your motivation, stimulate your creativity, and heighten your awareness of opportunities that will help you achieve your goal.

5. Get ready to confront some fears and roadblocks

When you set your relationship goals, you’ll probably find yourself confronting some long-standing fears and roadblocks. For example, maybe you set the goal of spending more quality time with your spouse. Then you realise that means saying “no” to your boss when he asks you to work overtime on the evenings and weekends – and you worry about the impact this will have on your career.

Maybe you worry that opening yourself up to your spouse or partner will leave you vulnerable to rejection – or that if you ask for the truth, you’re not going to like what you get. It’s important to remember that there is always a solution to any obstacle – you just have to look for it.

If you want to spend more time with your family but still need to put in a certain amount of hours at the office, ask your boss if you can come in a couple of hours early on weekdays so you can make sure to get your evenings and weekends off. If your attempts to connect at a deeper level are met with initial rejection, be patient – your spouse or partner may need time to face their own fears or roadblocks before being able to meet you halfway.

Even if you discover that all your worst fears about the relationship are real, at least now you have the opportunity to move forward in truth and integrity to solve the problem together or let each other go – and open yourself to the opportunity of entering into relationship with someone else who better meets your needs.

And don’t forget, all these potential setbacks are part of the goal-setting process – both in your relationships and in all other areas of your life. If these challenges don’t appear, it means you haven’t set a goal that’s big enough to stretch you and grow you – and there’s no real potential for self-development.

The effort and risk are more than worth it

Cultivating an authentic intimate connection with another person is one of the most profoundly enriching experiences life has to offer. But you can’t expect such relationships to just fall into your lap. You have to take action and make them happen.

Goal-setting is one of the best possible ways to do that. With just a bit of planning and foresight, you can enjoy deeper, more fulfilling intimate relationships that will make all areas of your life so much sweeter.

The author is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul®

Have a spiritual message? Mail it to us at inbox@dnaindia.net in less than 250 words.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation today registered a case against JP Singh, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) Officer posted as Joint Director at the Ahmedabad office of Enforcement Directorate. The officer was booked under various sections of Prevention of Corruption act and the Indian Penal code after the Ministry of Finance in an official complaint stated that some officers of the ED were involved corrupt practices. Two other senior officers of the ED are also being investigated by the CBI along with the father-in-law of Singh, sources said.

The complaint by the Finance Ministry stated that some of the officers of Enforcement Directorate, while investigating the cases of money laundering in betting and other such activities, have allegedly demanded and accepted huge illegal gratification from the accused and suspect persons in the said cases.

Singh, a 2000 batch Indian Revenue Service officer of Customs and Excise wing, was part of the investigating team which was probing money laundering in Indian Premier League cricket matches that were held earlier this year.Sources added that ED's Ahmedabad unit was probing two important cases -- Rs 2,000 crore IPL betting scandal and Rs 5,000 crore money laundering case against alleged hawala operator Afroz Fatta in which the suspects allegedly sought favours.

Involvement of three other persons has also surfaced during the investigation, all of whom played a pivotal role in the alleged transaction between the ED office and those accused for betting. While one of the three persons is Singh's father-in-law, identified as SKS Somvanshi, two others to have been booked under similar sections of PC act are PS Srinivas and Sanjay Kumar, both assistant directors at the ED office of Ahmedabad. 

It is alleged that Rs.15 crore was handed over as bribe to Singh's father-in-law, by hawala dealers and tax consultants for giving relief and extending favours to suspects in two cases probed by ED.

On Wednesday, CBI conducted searches at several locations in Ahmedabad and one in South Delhi which is said to be the residence of Singh's father-in-law. According to sources, the father-in-law has also been a senior official of the revenue department and a cadre of the 1978 batch. He is being investigated for his role as a middlemen between the accused and officers of ED.

"CBI carried out searches the ED office in Ahmedabad and residences of Singh and Additional Directors Sanjay Kumar and PS Srinivas, both ED cadre officers in Ahmedabad. The operation, is still continuing with a team of the agency reaching Surat to search the residence of Srinivas there as well," said the source.

"Huge bribe amount was allegedly taken by these officers as quid pro quo for various acts of omission and commission. Searches are being conducted today at the office and the residences of accused and suspect persons," Devpreet Singh, CBI Spokesperson. 

The Supreme Court on Thursday considered Centre's submission that it has not re-promulgated the Land Acquisition Ordinance and disposed of two PILs challenging the re-promulgation exercise.

A bench headed by Justice J S Khehar took note of the submission of Additional Solicitor General Pinki Anand, appearing for the government, that as of now, the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 is not in existence. The court, at the request of senior advocate Indira Jaising who was representing the PIL petitioner, left legal questions pertaining to the government's right to promulgate ordinances, open for future challenges. 

On July 16, the bench had issued notice to the Centre on a plea by farmers body Delhi Gramin Samaj against the re- promulgation of the ordinance. The NDA government had re-promulgated the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015, after it lapsed on June 4. The ordinance was first promulgated in December last year, re-promulgated in April this year and again in May. It was finally allowed to lapse on August 31.

The farmers' organisations had challenged re-promulgation of the ordinance terming it 'unconstitutional' and 'ultra vires' of the Constitution, saying it was a "colourful exercise of power" by the executive to "usurp" the law-making powers of the legislature. Besides Delhi Grameen Samaj, Bharatiya Kisan Union, Gram Sewa Samiti and Chogama Vikas Avam were also co-petitioners in the case.

The petition had said the government's action in promulgating successive ordinances "bypassing" the legislative process of Parliament, was not only "arbitrary and violative" of Article 14 but also a "fraud on the Constitution" itself. It had said the government's action in re-promulgating the land ordinance was "malafide" and thus open to challenge.

The court left legal questions pertaining to the government's right to promulgate ordinances, open for future challenges. undefined