Month: August 2021

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday condemned the vandalism of the statue of Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Pakistan’s city of Lahore, stating that this act attempts to erase the shared history of the subcontinent.

“Vandalism in Lahore of the statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji, the great unifier of India, has to be strongly condemned. This act, which attempts to erase the shared history of the subcontinent shows how extremist ideologies feel emboldened in our volatile neighbourhood,” Union Minister Puri tweeted.

This incident has happened for the third time in recent years. Ranjit Singh’s statue was also vandalized in December 2020. The Lahore police have arrested a man and a hammer has been seized from his possession, Samaa TV reported.

The nine-foot-tall structure in cold bronze was unveiled at the Lahore Fort on June 27, 2019, to mark the former ruler’s 180th death anniversary.

Earlier today, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) chief Manjinder Singh Sirsa also condemned the incident, stating Pakistan’s radicals have once again hurt Sikh sentiments by vandalising Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s statue.

“I have apprised Jt Secretary, Minister of External Affairs (PAI) JP Singh about this incident who has assured me that he would take up this matter with Pakistan embassy in India and ask them to take a strict action to curb such hateful vandalising events,” Sirsa said in a video posted on his Twitter handle.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh, known as Lion of Punjab, Singh was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire who ruled over Punjab for close to four decades. (ANI)

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur interacted with the World Youth Archery Championship winners during an event on Tuesday and congratulated them for making the nation proud.

Team India won a total of 15 medals — 8 gold, 2 silver, and 5 bronze — from the archery meeting in Wroclaw, Poland. Thakur heaped praise on the diversified and existing talent pool the country has at the grassroots level.
“The initiatives taken under the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi to develop schemes such as the Khelo India to develop and nurture the grassroots level talent are showing results in Championships like this,” he said.

“It is overwhelming to see so many of our youth across the country are bringing laurels across all sports and going forward, it gives us major hopes.

“I congratulate all the young archers and wish them all the luck in the competitions ahead. As they transition to the senior team, they shall be getting all the possible support to compete at the high-performance level,” he added.

The gold medalists included the Cadet Compound Women’s Team, the Cadet Compound Men’s Team, the Junior Recurve Men’s Team, the Cadet Recurve Men’s Team, the Cadet Recurve Mixed Team, the Junior Recurve Mixed Team and Komolika Bari, who won the gold in the Junior Recurve Women’s Individual event.

Komolika, who won two gold medals, in the individual and the mixed doubles events, also won the coveted medal at the 2019 World Cadet Championships.

A part of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Core team, Komalika, also another TATA Academy product, became the national champion in Women’s Individual Recurve at the 41st NTPC Junior Archery National Championship held in Dehradun in March.

Her tremendous rise came to the fore since the Khelo India Games, where she had participated and made podium finishes at the Khelo India Youth Games 2019, 2020 as well as the University Games last year.

The silver medalists from Poland meet, meanwhile, included Priya Gurjar, who won the Cadet Compound Individual Event, and Sakshi Chaudhary from the Compound Junior Individual (Men and Women) event.

The bronze medalists included Parneet Kaur in the Compound Cadet Women’s category, Rishabh Yadav in the Compound Junior Individual (Men and Women) event, Manjiri Manoj Alone and Bishal Changmai in the Recurve Cadet Individual (Men and Women) event as well as the Cadet Recurve Women’s Team. (ANI)

Taking a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who is on a visit to Wayanad, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda on Tuesday said that political tourism is happening here in Kerala.

While inaugurating the party’s newly constructed district committee office building in Kozhikode via video conference, Nadda said, “Rahul Gandhi’s political tourism is also happening here in Kerala. He lost from Amethi, so he ran to Wayanad. Changing states doesn’t change someone’s behavioural patterns, intentions, and the dedication to serve people.”
This comes as the Congress leader is on a 3-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Wayanad in Kerala from August 16 to August 18.

Further, Nadda said, “I feel a lot of anguish and pain when I talk about Kerala. In spite of all the support from PM Modi, it is not functioning as it should have. The development of Kerala has been hampered because of the political culture that has prevailed for the last 3-4 decades.”

People of Kerala have made their place across the world. However, in Kerala, all development has come to a standstill.

Rahul Gandhi had also inaugurated two drinking water projects, one at Koovalathod Colony in Padinjarathara and another at Kattunaika Colony in Ponkuzhi on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the Congress leader held a review meeting with the District Collector in Kalpetta, Wayanad. (ANI)

With Olympic Gold medallist Neeraj Chopra heading home to Samalkha in Panipat on Tuesday, a grand feast is being organised by the family for around 30,000 people. This will be Neeraj’s first visit to his hometown after he won the coveted medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

The whole village and distant relatives have been invited for the grand celebration.
“He will be receiving a grand welcome, I have prepared ‘churma’ for him. We will keep his gold medal in the temple, as it is after the blessings of God that he has reached these heights. I am looking forward to his arrival,” says Neeraj’s mother Saroj Devi.

Another distant relative of Neeraj said: “We have made all the preparations. The welcome will be grand and all the relatives and the whole village is invited. The gold medal will be kept in the temple and some rituals will be performed. Food preparations for around 25 to 30 thousand people have been done which needed manpower of about 150 people. The whole village is in a festive mood since the day he has won the medal.”

Neeraj created history at the Tokyo Olympics as he became the first athlete from the country to win a medal in track and field in the showpiece event. He threw the javelin to a distance of 87.58m to pick the yellow metal at the Games.

Neeraj’s historic golden throw in the Olympics has been listed as one of the 10 magical moments of athletics (track and field) in the Tokyo Olympics by World Athletics.

He has been felicitated by the Indian Government, the Sports Ministry, the Athletic Federation of India as well as the Indian Army post his return. (ANI)

Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor Khan treated her fans to a stunning new picture from her ongoing vacation in the Maldives.

The ‘Good Newwz’ actor along with husband and actor Saif Ali Khan and kids Taimur and Jeh, is vacationing in the Maldives to celebrate Saif’s 51st birthday.

On Tuesday, Kareena took to her Instagram handle and shared a picture sporting a black bikini. Bebo’s beach fun is noticeable from her flushed-red skin.

Kareena posted this picture on her Insta Story with a sticker saying ‘beach bum’.

The actor had also shared beautiful pictures of the family having a gala time in the Maldives from Saif’s birthday on Monday.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Kareena recently launched her book ‘Pregnancy Bible’, which captures her physical and emotional experiences from both her pregnancies.

The ‘Jab We Met’ star is also set to make her debut as a producer with director Hansal Mehta’s yet-to-be-titled thriller. She will also act in the film.

Excited about her new venture, she said, “Very honoured and excited to work as a producer on this film with Ekta whom my family has known for years and of course to be directed by Hansal for the first time. I am a huge fan of Hansal’s films and to be working with him for the first time will be special. There are a lot of firsts on this film and I cannot wait to begin this journey.”

Kareena will co-produce the project with Ekta Kapoor. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said New India will never pressurise its athletes to win medals, rather everyone should just focus on giving their 100 per cent.

PM Modi on Tuesday interacted with the Indian contingent headed for the upcoming Tokyo Paralympics, beginning August 24. In an effort to boost the confidence of the para-athletes, he wished them luck and asked them to go ahead and express themselves at the showpiece event.

“COVID-19 may have increased your hardships but you people have never given up, this is real sportsmanship. Your victory, your medal is very important but New India will not pressurise our athletes to win the medal, you just need to give your 100 per cent,” said PM Modi during the interaction.

While talking to para-badminton player Parul Dalsukhbhai Parmar, Modi said: “You will turn 50 in the next 2 years. You’ve worked hard on your fitness. I think you will be giving a present to your brother, this Raksha Bandhan.”

As many as 54 para-athletes from across nine sports disciplines will be heading to Tokyo to represent the nation in the upcoming Paralympics. This is India’s biggest-ever contingent to the Paralympic Games. Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and Law Minister Kiren Rijiju were also present during the interaction.

“Your encouragement will motivate the youth to take up sports and do well in it,” Anurag Thakur told PM Modi during the session.

The Tokyo Paralympic Games is scheduled to be held between August 24 and September 5. India will start its campaign on August 27 with men’s and women’s archery events. (ANI)

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday urged Minister of State for External Affairs of India V Muraleedharan to immediately evacuate Kulgam professors teaching at Bakhtar University in Kabul, informed Office of LG.

“Spoke to MoS Foreign Affairs, V Muraleedharan for the immediate evacuation of professors from Kulgam teaching at Bakhtar University in Kabul. He has assured the government is committed to bring back every citizen safely as soon as possible,” the Office of Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor said in a tweet.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor further assured the families that they will be home soon.

“I assure the families of Prof Asif Ahmed and Prof Adil Rasool that they are safe and will be home soon,” it added.

Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force is evacuating Indian officials from Afghanistan.

According to the sources, 120 Indian officials from Afghanistan has landed in Gujarat’s Jamnagar earlier today.

The Taliban entered Kabul on Sunday and took control of the presidential palace. Soon after the terror group claimed control over the Afghan capital, several countries evacuated their diplomatic personnel from the country. Hundreds of people flocked to the Kabul airport in an attempt to leave Afghanistan. (ANI)

Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft which was carrying 120 Indian officials from Afganistan has landed in Gujarat’s Jamnagar, sources confirmed on Tuesday.

Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs informed that the Indian Ambassador in Kabul and his Indian staff will move to India immediately, in view of prevailing circumstances in the war-torn country.
“In view of the prevailing circumstances, it has been decided that our Ambassador in Kabul and his Indian staff will move to India immediately,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a Tweet.

India is closely monitoring the fast-changing situation in Afghanistan and will be deciding on the evacuation of diplomatic personnel from Kabul, sources said.

Afghanistan government collapsed on Sunday with President Ashraf Ghani leaving the country and the Taliban’s entry into the capital, the New York Times reported.

Earlier the same day, an Air India flight AI244 carried 129 passengers has arrived in Delhi from Kabul. They expressed concerns about the safety and security of people back home, saying the situation is ‘really bad’ in the country.

Taliban entered Kabul on Sunday and took control of the presidential palace. Taliban leaders have been discussing future government plans in Doha after gaining control of Kabul and seizing the presidential palace in Afghanistan’s capital, as per a media report.

Panic gripped the Afghan capital as people fear about a return to the Taliban’s brutal rule and the threat of reprisal killings.

Thousands of Afghans flooded the tarmac on Monday morning, at one point swarming around a departing US military plane as it taxied down the runway. (ANI)

US President Joe Biden on Monday authorised a third combat team from the 82nd Airborne from Kuwait to head to Kabul to bring the total eventual US footprint to 7,000 troops in Afghanistan.

“We anticipate that in the coming hours we’ll be able to restore air operations at the airport,” said Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby to reporters adding that it will allow additional US troops to flow in.
Turkish forces, other allied forces are assisting US troops at the Kabul airport, he added.

In the wake of the Taliban entering Kabul on Sunday, earlier the US Department of Defense announced that it sent more than three battalions – two Marine, one Army — currently in the US Central Command area of responsibility within two days to Afghanistan.

Pentagon also said it cannot confirm the validity of a video showing people falling off a US C-17 transport plane.

Earlier today, a shocking video in which desperate Afghans who had clung on to the underbelly of a C-17 Globemaster falling down from the plane, surfaced on Internet and was circulated widely.

Meanwhile, United States troops shot two armed men at Kabul airport as the mass evacuation from Afghanistan continues.

Press Secretary confirmed two separate incidents of US troops responding to “hostile threats.”

“It’s out understanding that these [US] troops acted on what was perceived to be a real & tangible threat,” Kirby said. (ANI)