Month: August 2021

The Indian women’s hockey team created history on Monday here at Oi Hockey Stadium — North Pitch — as they qualified for the semi-finals of the Olympics for the very first time after defeating Australia 1-0.

In what comes as a historic day and possibly the greatest moment for women’s hockey in India, Gurjit Kaur scored the lone goal in the match during the first half through a penalty corner in a very tightly contested match. The Indian players looked to give it their all as they ensured Gurjit’s effort didn’t go in vain. The Australians threw it their all, but the Indian women refused to buckle even though the Aussies kept piling the pressure with each passing minute.
The first quarter started in great pace as both teams put their foot on the accelerator and the forwards from both teams came very close to finding the back of the net. But none succeeded in scoring after the first fifteen minutes.

After saving a penalty corner on another end, India soon got the second PC of the match in the second quarter. India’s star drag-flicker Gurjit made sure that she made the opportunity count as she gave the Women in Blue a crucial lead against the mighty Aussies. Indians went for a direct PC and after hitting the legs, the ball hit a stick and found a way into the goal. Notably, Australia had conceded just one goal in the tournament so far.

In the second half, Hockeyroos as expected came in waves as they looked for the goal. But India goalie Savita and the defense stood firm. The Indian team made sure they did not give any space to the Aussies as chances became rarer and rarer for their forwards as the game progressed.

India again kept Australia at bay with some smart defence in the last quarter as they made sure they didn’t let Hockeyroos spoil the dream of making it to the semi-final.

Earlier on Sunday, the Indian men’s hockey team reached the last four of the Olympics for the first time in 41 years as the team defeated Great Britain 3-1. The last four berth had eluded the Indian men’s hockey team since the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games where the team led by V Baskaran won the eighth Gold medal for India. (ANI)

The world is going through an education crisis as millions of children remain out of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday.

Taking to Twitter, Guterres said, “We are in the middle of an education crisis. 156 million students are still affected by school closures due to COVID19, and 25 million may never return. An effective pandemic recovery requires investment in teachers, digital learning, and systems fit for the future.”

The overall global COVID-19 caseload has topped 198.1 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.22 million and vaccinations soared to over 4.11 billion, according to the latest data from the Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.

In its latest update, Johns Hopkins revealed that the current global caseload, the death toll stood and vaccination tally stood at 198,175,138, 4,221,996 and 4,110,644,112, respectively. (ANI)

With 85 new COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, Delhi on Sunday witnessed a spike in daily positive cases. However, the national capital reported only one death on Sunday.

The new cases have consistently remained below 100 for the past few days.
According to the Delhi Health Bulletin, the COVID-19 positivity rate in the last 24 hours dipped to 0.12 per cent. At present, there are 582 active cases in Delhi.

The addition of fresh cases pushed the cumulative tally to 14,36,350. The overall recoveries now stand at 14,10,714, while 25,054 people have succumbed to the COVID-19.

The cumulative positivity rate is 6.05 per cent while the case fatality rate stands at 1.74 per cent.

The bulletin said 50,319 RTPCR/CBNAAT/True Nat tests and 22,128 rapid antigen tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. A total of 2,37,38,684 tests have been done so far.

The bulletin said that 83,049 eligible beneficiaries were vaccinated in the last 24 hours and 10,32,817 beneficiaries have been inoculated so far. (ANI)

India men’s hockey team on Sunday reached the semi-final of the Olympics for the first time in 41 years as the team defeated Great Britain 3-1 to reach the semi-finals of the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.

A semi-final berth had eluded the Indian men’s hockey team since the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games where the team led by V Baskaran won the eighth Gold medal for India.

Coming back to the game, India suffered a blow when skipper Manpreet Singh received a yellow card in the dying minutes, but Hardik scored in the 57th minute to extend India’s lead.

Dilpreet Singh got India off the mark early as he netted a goal in the seventh minute of the match. Simranjeet stole the possession and passed through England’s defenders to Dilpreet who gave India the lead. Gurjant Singh doubled the lead as he scored right at the start of the second quarter. India maintained the lead and went to the second half of the game with a score of 2-0.

In the third quarter, Sam Ward gave Great Britain something to play for as he netted a goal in the dying minutes of the essay. Great Britain won three back-to-back penalty corners and finally converted the last one into the goal.

Despite the goal, India went into the fourth and final quarter with a lead of 2-1 with a thrilling essay on cards for both sides.

In the final quarter, Great Britain tried hard to score a goal after breaching the Indian defence. The side even won a penalty corner but PR Sreejesh made a fine save to keep India on top.

Hardik scored in the closing stages as India defeated Great Britain 3-1 to reach the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics. The team will face Belgium in the semis. (ANI)

Shuttler PV Sindhu on Sunday became the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. Sindhu defeated China’s He Bing Jiao in the bronze medal match of the ongoing Tokyo Olympics here at the Musashino Forest Plaza Court 1.

Sindhu defeated Bing Jiao 21-13, 21-15 in the bronze medal match that lasted for 52 minutes. Sindhu had earlier returned with a silver medal at the Rio Olympics 2016.
The 26-year-old Sindhu is now just the second Indian athlete to win two individual Olympic medals. Wrestler Sushil Kumar also has two medals as he returned with a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics 2008 and a silver at the London Olympics 2012.

In the match between Sindhu and Bing Jiao, the former was dominant in the first game and she did not give her opponent any chance, winning it 21-13.

Continuing from where she left off, Sindhu did not relent, and in the end, she wrapped up the match in straight games.

Sindhu missed out on a chance to win gold or silver as she lost her semifinal match on Saturday against Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu-Ying.

Tzu-Ying defeated Sindhu 21-18, 21-12 in the semifinals. On Friday, Sindhu had stormed into the semi-finals of the women’s singles event after defeating Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-finals. (ANI)

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) face for 2022 Punjab Assembly polls will be announced soon, said party’s Punjab unit chief and MP Bhagwant Mann on Sunday.

Mann’s remarks came after his meeting with AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to discuss issues related to Punjab Assembly elections.
“It was a positive meeting with CM. All the MPs and MLAs were present at the meeting. We had a detailed discussion on our blueprint for (Punjab) elections. We tried to focus on the old loopholes that caused backdrop and how we can overcome them this time,” he said.

Mann further said, “We all have seen what all the other two governments did for Punjab. Unlike them, our focus is to see what good we can do for the people.”

He also told, “Some big announcements would be made in next few days and a CM face for Punjab to be announced soon”.

During his Punjab visit in June, Kejriwal had announced that the AAP’s chief ministerial candidate for Punjab will be from the Sikh community.

In 2017 Assembly polls, Congress won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years. Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could only manage to win 15 seats while the BJP secured 3 seats. (ANI)

To further the spirit of trust and cordial relations along the borders, a hotline has been established between the Indian Army in Kongra La, North Sikkim and China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at Khamba Dzong in the Tibetan Autonomous Region on Sunday.

In a statement, the Indian Army said the event coincided with PLA Day today.
“The Armed forces of the two countries have well-established mechanisms for communication at ground commanders level. These hotlines in various sectors go a long way in enhancing the same and maintaining peace and tranquillity at the borders,” the Army said.

As per the Army, the inauguration of the hotline was attended by ground commanders of the respective Armies and a message of friendship and harmony was exchanged through the Hotline.

This is the sixth Hotline to have been established between the countries including two each in Eastern Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. (ANI)

Arjun Kapoor and Malaika Kapoor enjoyed a Sunday lunch date and posted pictures on their social media.

Taking to their respective Instagram handles, Arjun and Malaika, who spent quality time with each other today gave their fans a sneak peek into their lunch date.
The ‘Ishaqzaade’ star posted a candid picture of Malaika and alongside informed that she cooked pasta for him.

“The pasta and the maker,” Arjun captioned the post.

Malaika also took to her social media to share a glimpse of their lavish meal, which included popular Italian dishes like spaghetti Aglio e Olio, fusilli tossed with red cherry tomatoes and basil. In another story, she even posted a picture of Arjun sitting next to her dog Casper.

“My Sunday view,” she wrote, adding a heart emoji.

The PDA did not stop here. Re-sharing Malaika’s story, Arjun quipped: “She’s got the best view ever.”

Arjun and Malaika have been in a relationship for a long time now. However, they made their relationship Instagram official on Arjun’s 34th birthday in 2019. (ANI)

America has outlined a four-year plan to boost the air exports of Afghanistan, according to the latest report by the US Special Investigation General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

In order for the plan to get underway, the US is closely working with the Afghan government to renovate the Hamid Karzai International airport in Kabul, Kandahar in the south, Mazar-e-sharif in the north, Herat in the west, and Jalalabad airport in the east of Afghanistan, The Khaama Press reported.
The 2021-2025 project is expected to generate more than 20,000 jobs and may boost Afghanistan’s air exports by 30 per cent, the daily said.

Afghanistan mostly exports dry fruits and is the largest producer and exporter of pine nuts in the world. The saffron produced in the country is also believed to be the best in the world.

The report comes at a time when the Taliban are having control over six dry ports of the country, which the publication said has decreased the national revenue of Afghanistan. Herat airport was a halt for a short period of time due to ongoing conflict and Kandahar has been changed to a battlefield between ANDSF and the Taliban.

Meanwhile, the Afghanistan government has stopped all development projects following a reduction in revenues and escalation in security expenses.

In another recent development, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani met prominent Afghan politicians and jihadists to discuss the ongoing volatile situation in the country.

Taliban have intensified their offensive against civilians, Afghan defence, and security forces as the foreign troops are withdrawing from the war-torn country.

Over the last few weeks, they captured several districts in Afghanistan including Takhar, the country’s northeastern province. The extremist group issued diktats like ordering women to not leave home alone and men to grow their beards. (ANI)

Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Sunday informed that the cases of instant triple talaq has been dropped by 80 per cent since the Muslim Women (Protection Of Rights On Marriage) Act was enacted.

Speaking at an event in the national capital to commemorate two years of triple talaq law, Naqvi said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi fulfilled his promises. The Ram Temple issue in Ayodhya was resolved, Article 370 was abrogated for the benefit of the people in Jammu and Kashmir and ‘mahram’ law was ended by the Modi government.”
“More than 3500 Muslim women have travelled to Hajj without a mahram,” he said.

“The cases of instant triple talaq has been dropped by 80 per cent since the Muslim Women (Protection Of Rights On Marriage) Act was enacted on August 1, 2019. In Uttar Pradesh, before the law was enacted there were 0ver 63,000 cases were registered but after the enactment of the law, the cases dropped to 221 cases. Bihar registered 49 cases after enactment of the Muslim Women (Protection Of Rights On Marriage) Act,” he added.

Union Minister Smriti Irani and Bhupender Yadav were also present at the event.

Irani said that Muslim Women’s Rights Day is to salute the spirit and struggle of Muslim women.

She also took the occasion to appreciate the Ministry of Minority Affairs for working for the benefit of Muslim women.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs earlier said that August 1 will be observed as “Muslim Women Rights Day” across the country to celebrate the second anniversary of the enactment of the law against triple talaq.

Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “The Government enacted the law against Triple Talaq on August 1, 2019, which has made the social malpractice of Triple Talaq a criminal offence.”

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage), Act, 2019, criminalises instant ‘triple talaq’ among Muslims and attracts a jail term of three years for the husband.

The Act was the first bill introduced in Parliament after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was re-elected to power in 2019. (ANI)