Former Barcelona coach Vilanova dies at 45

1.    Former Barcelona coach Vilanova dies at 45

i. Tito Vilanova, the coach who succeeded Pep Guardiola at Barcelona and won the Spanish league title in his only season in charge, died Friday following a long battle with throat cancer. He was 45.

ii. Vilanova, who has battled a recurring tumour in a saliva gland, was admitted to a local hospital in Barcelona last week. He reportedly had emergency surgery on Thursday.

iii. Barcelona star Lionel Messi said that is was a “moment of profound pain for Vilanova’s family, and also for Barcelona and its fans.”

iv. Vilanova will also be remembered for his role in a brawl in the 2010 Spanish Super Cup won by Barcelona, when Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho poked him in the eye.

v. Vilanova is survived by his wife, Montse Chaure, and two children. His son Adrian is currently in Barcelona’s youth academy.

2.    Sindhu settles for bronze in Asian Championship

i. India’s teen sensation P V Sindhu had to settle for a bronze medal after her gallant fight against top seed Shixian Wang of China ended in a narrow three-game defeat in the semifinals of the Asian Badminton Championship today.

ii. The 18-year-old fought hard for one hour and 18 minutes before losing to the two-time reinging All England champion Shixian 21-15 20-22 12-21 in the women’s singles competition.

iii. India ace Saina Nehwal had won the bronze in 2010 Asian Championship in New Delhi.

3.     BCCI recommends Ravichandran Ashwin for Arjuna Award

i. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who won the Cricket Board's Polly Umrigar Trophy best player award in 2012-13 season, has been recommended by the BCCI for the Government's prestigious Arjuna Award this year.

ii. The cricketer to get the Arjuna Award was Virat Kohli last year. A total of 46 cricketers, including women, have been conferred the sporting honour.

iii. Ashwin, who is also a useful batsman, has taken 104 wickets in Tests, 106 in 79 ODIs and 25 wickets in the same number of T20 internationals

4.    Akash test fired successfully

Aakash Missile successfully trial  

i. India on Saturday successfully conducted two rounds of trials of its indigenously developed surface-to-air Akash missile as part of a user trial by the air force from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near Balasore in Odisha.

ii. Akash is a medium range surface-to-air anti-aircraft defence system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. 

iii. It has the capability to target aircraft up to 30 km away and is packed with a battery that can track and attack several targets simultaneously, they said. 
iv. With the capability to neutralise aerial targets like fighter jets, cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles, defence experts compare Akash to the MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system of USA.