Month: August 2022

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu congratulated ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu after she captured a gold medal in the women’s singles category at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Monday.

Sindhu clinched India’s first gold medal in badminton at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 and the first women’s singles CWG gold medal of her career by defeating Canada’s Michelle Li in the final on Monday.
“PV Sindhu has won the nation’s heart by winning a historic badminton gold at #CommonwealthGames. You created magic on the court, enthralling millions. Your masterly win makes our Tiranga fly high & our national anthem resonate at Birmingham. Heartiest congratulations!,” tweeted President Murmu.

Prime Minister Modi also congratulated the badminton star on her gold medal triumph.

The phenomenal @Pvsindhu1 is a champion of champions! She repeatedly shows what excellence is all about. Her dedication and commitment is awe-inspiring. Congratulations to her on winning the Gold medal at the CWG. Wishing her the best for her future endeavours. #Cheer4India,” tweeted PM Modi.

Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur also lauded Sindhu on her accomplishment.

“The brilliance of @Pvsindhu1 creates history once again! You had us glued to our tv screens! What an amazing show of excellence and determination! Congratulations on a remarkable GOLD #CWG2022 ! PV SINDHU you are India’s PRIDE !,” tweeted the minister.

Sindhu was a dominant figure in the match, though her opponent competed well. The Indian won the match in straight two games by 21-15, 21-13.

PV Sindhu got off to a great start. Halfway through the first game, she was leading by 11-8. Michelle Li offered her Indian opponent great competition but fell short in every rally. The result was a 21-15 win for Sindhu in the first game.

Li started the second game on a good note. But Sindhu took advantage once again within no time. The Canadian kept making errors and it kept widening Sindhu’s lead with every failure. Halfway through the second game, Sindhu was in an advantageous position with an 11-6 lead. She needed ten more points to take home the first CWG 2022 gold medal for India in badminton.

After the break, things started more even, with both players getting two points quickly due to errors committed by their opponent. Sindhu and Li had an exciting rally of 57 shots, which concluded with the Indian losing a point. Li was slowly gaining an advantage over Sindhu as she was cutting the deficit. Eventually, Sindhu’s lead was reduced to 13-11.

Sindhu kept fighting through the second game and eventually won it by 21-13. With the win, she also clinched her first-ever women’s singles medal in Commonwealth Games 2022 and India’s first-ever gold in badminton at CWG 2022. (ANI)

Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament and senior advocate, Kapil Sibal, has expressed his displeasure over some of the recent judgements passed by the Supreme Court saying he has “no hope left” in the institution.

“If you think you will get relief from Supreme Court, you are hugely mistaken. And I am saying this after completing 50 years of practising in the Supreme Court,” Sibal said.
Even if a landmark judgement is passed by the apex court, it hardly ever changes the ground reality, he added.

“This year I will complete 50 years of practising in the Supreme Court and after 50 years I feel I have no hopes from the institution. You talk about progressive judgements delivered by the Supreme Court but there is huge difference of what happens at the ground level. Supreme Court gave judgement on privacy and ED officers come to your home… Where is your privacy?” said Sibal.

Sibal was speaking at a People’s Tribunal which was organized on Saturday here in Delhi on the “Judicial Rollback of Civil Liberties” by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR), People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and the National Alliance of People’s movements (NAPM).

Sibal critised the Supreme Court for dismissing the plea of filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several others in 2002 Gujarat riots; upholding the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act which give vast powers to the Enforcement Directorate; and dismissing plea filed in 2009 seeking an independent investigation into alleged incidents of extra-judicial killings of 17 tribals by security forces during anti-naxal operations in Chhattisgarh.

A bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar, now retired, had passed all these judgements. Sibal had appeared for Zakia Jafri and for petitioners challenging provisions of the PMLA Act.

He also said that “sensitive cases” are assigned to only select judges and the legal fraternity usually knows beforehand what would be the outcome of the judgment.

“… I do not want to talk like this about a Court where I have practised for 50 years but the time has come. If we don’t speak it, who will? The reality is such that any sensitive matter which we know has a problem is placed before certain judges and we know the outcome.”

Sibal also questioned the independence of the judiciary saying, “Jis court mein judge bithaye jaate hain (where judges are instituted) through a process of compromise, a court where there is no system to determine which case will be presided over by which bench, where the Chief Justice of India decides which matter will be dealt with by which bench and when, that court can never be independent.”

The senior advocate said the situation will not change if people don’t change their mindset.

“In India we have mai-baap culture, people fall at the feet of the powerful. But the time has come for the people to come out and demand protection of their rights,” he said.

Sibal further said that “independence is only possible when we stand up for our own rights and demand that independence”.

He also mentioned the Dharma Sansad matter pending in the apex court saying the court had heard the case and sought responses from the governments. The accused were not arrested and even if arrested, they were released on bail in 1-2 days and then again they continued with Dharma Sansad meetings after a gap of two weeks, he said. (ANI)

The Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Gorakhpur has issued a non-bailable warrant against Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister and Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad, in a 2015 case in which he is accused of inciting a mob during a protest.

The court directed the police to present Nishad before the court by August 10.
The case dates back seven years ago. On June 7, 2015, there was an agitation in Kasarwal area of Sahjanwan where protestors demanded 5 per cent reservation for the Nishad community in government jobs. Agitators sat on the railway track and as the protest escalated police resorted to lathi-charged in which one person was killed.

It was alleged that the person was killed by police firing and the agitation turned violent and during this several vehicles were torched.

Following this, police filed a case against several people including Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad under sections related to rioting, sabotage, arson and other offences.

Now the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court has issued a non-bailable warrant against Minister Sanjay Nishad in this case.

Advocate Surendra Kumar Nishad, the counsel of the Minister said, “This is not a non-bailable warrant issued against Nishad but it is a bailable one. This thing about the warrant that is going on are baseless rumours.”

Notably, Sanjay Nishad’s party is an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh. Nishad Party forged an alliance with BJP before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Sanjay Nishad was made a Cabinet minister after the BJP formed government in the state. (ANI)

A Special CBI Court of Delhi on Monday awarded three years imprisonment to former Coal Secretary HC Gupta in a coal scam case after finding irregularities in the allocation of a Maharashtra coal block.

The court also awarded two years imprisonment to former joint-Secretary K S. Kropha and four years to director Mukesh Gupta of Nagpur-based firm M/s Grace Industries Ltd in the coal scam case.
The Special judge Arun Bhardwaj (Coal Scam) Rouse Avenue Court on Monday while pronouncing the Judgement on sentencing also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on HC Gupta, 50,000 Rs on KS Kropha, two lakhs on Mukesh Gupta and 2 lakhs on Nagpur based firm M/s Grace Industries Ltd.

The same court last week convicted H C Gupta Under section – 120B and section – 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, K S. Kropha, Under section – 120B and section – 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, Mukesh Gupta, Director of M/s Grace Industries Ltd. under section – 120B and section – 420 IPC and M/s Grace Industries Ltd. under section – 120B and section – 420 IPC.

The court convicted them in the Coal Scam case related to the allocation of the Lohara East Coal block situated in Maharashtra.

CBI had registered on September 20, 2012 under section – 120B r/w 420 IPC r/w 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of the PC Act, 1988. On completion of the investigation, a charge sheet under section – 420 IPC was filed by CBI against M/s Grace Industries Ltd. and Mukesh Gupta, Director of the company in the Court on October 28, 2014.

Special Judge while discussing the role of Public Servants of Ministry of Coal, Govt. of India and government of Maharashtra in the alleged crime on January 19, 2015, ordered further investigation into the matter with a direction that the evidence collected during further investigation, may be placed before the Competent Authority for the consideration of the issue of sanction to prosecute the public servants namely K. S. Kropha, the then Joint Secretary, Ministry of Coal and V. S. Sawakhande, the then Director, Directorate of Geology and Mining, Nagpur, Govt. of Maharashtra under section – 19 of the P.C. Act, 1988.

The Court on August 10, 2015, took cognizance of the offences punishable under section – 120B r/w 409/420 IPC r/w 13(2) r/w 13(1)(c) & (d) of the PC Act, 1988 and substantive offences. Accordingly, the summons was issued to the accused persons for their appearance before the Court. During the course of the trial total of 34 witnesses had been examined by the prosecution/CBI to prove its case.

According to the CBI, allegations against the convicts M/s Grace Industries Ltd. and Mukesh Gupta during the period between years 2005 to 2011 in New Delhi, Maharashtra and other places, in furtherance of the common object of the criminal conspiracy hatched with other co-accused persons i.e. H.C. Gupta, K. S. Kropha and cheated Ministry of Coal, Government of India by dishonestly and fraudulently inducing the Ministry of Coal to allocate “Lohara East Coal Block” situated in the state of Maharashtra in favour of M/s GIL on the basis of false information about net worth, capacity, equipment and status of procurement and installation of the plant.

CBI also stated that the said company in its application claimed its net worth as Rs. 120 Crores whereas its own network was 3.3 crores only Company falsified its existing capacity as 1,20,000 TPA against 30,000 TPA.

In a video order dated August 25, 2014, the Supreme Court of India cancelled the entire allocations of Coal Blocks. Vide order dated: January 19, 2015, Special Judge of the trial court had observed that the working of the officers of the Prime Minister’s office also does not appear to be above Board.

The trial of this case was conducted by Sanjay Kumar, Deputy Legal Advisor of CBI as he was appointed by the Supreme Court vide order September 1, 2014 passed by the Supreme Court of India in Coal Scam. (ANI)

From farmers’ plight to GST revenue, chief Ministers of States raised several issues in the 7th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and held in the national capital on Sunday.

Assam Chief Minister Hemanta Biswa Sarma discussed the modernization of the agriculture sector while attending the Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog in Delhi.
He said the meeting mainly concentrated on the reduction of imports and finding more ways to produce paddy, millet, oil, pulses and others.

The Assam CM said, “Last year, export was around Rs 50 lakh crore and the Prime Minister is now working on increasing it. In the discussion, representing Assam, I informed about the implementation of the National Education Policy, modernization of the agriculture sector and urbanization in the state.”

Participating in the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Sunday expressed his commitment to move forward with a determination to uphold the state as a role model of development and good governance in the country.

Speaking at the meeting, Patel said Gujarat has earned first place in various categories of Good Governance Index, Logistics Performance Index, State Energy and Climate Index, Export Preparedness Index and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index 3.0 released by the Government of India. He said the state has scaled new heights of development through several ambitious projects like GIFT City, Dream City, 30 GW hybrid renewable energy park, Dholera SIR and Statue of Unity.

Referring to the initiatives and achievements of the urban sector in Gujarat, Chief Minister Patel said that the state government is fully committed to realising the dream of the Prime Minister of making Gujarat’s cities world-class. Giving details of this, he said that for speedy development of cities, the state government has given top priority to various welfare schemes for planned urban development and citizen-oriented governance.

He informed that a three-tier urban development roadmap has been prepared for the planned development of the cities of the state.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that in the Himalayan states, the NITI Aayog should make a model of development through science and technology, which is based on ecology, population, and environmental sensitivity.

Dhami said work is also being done at a fast pace, at the World Prasadav Pilgrimage Site Badrinath under Kedarnath’s Master Plan. He said Uttarakhand is the leading state in achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

Giving information about development work in different areas in the state, Chief Minister Dhami said that there is immense potential for agricultural diversification in the state. Mandua, Jhingora, Madira, Ramdana, mountainous pulses such as rajma etc. and medicinal plants are being consistently promoted. Aroma Park has been established on 40 acres in the state. In which the establishment of Aroma industries will have to invest around Rs 300 crore and more than 5,000 job opportunities. Horti-tourism is being developed to promote tourism and Horticulture in the state.

Dhami further said in order to promote online education, Virtual Class Room has been established in 500 schools in all 13 districts of the state. In 200 schools, 08 business education courses have also been started.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who attended the NITI Aayog’s governing council meeting here on Sunday, said that he raised the issues of farmers including Minimum Support Price (MSP) while adding that he was happy with the meeting.

Speaking to media persons after the meeting, Mann said, “Today was NITI Aayog’s 7th meeting and it was the first for me after becoming the Chief Minister. It is unfortunate that no one has come from Punjab in the last three years. I went with detailed homework today and kept Punjab’s issues. The biggest issue was of the variety of crops.” Chief Minister Mann said he was satisfied with the NITI Aayog’s meeting as all issues were listened to.

“We are caught up in wheat and rice. Our water levels have decreased to a dangerous level. We demand MSP for farmers and demand a reformed committee as there are no stakeholders in it. I am happy with the meeting and all issues were listened to,” he said.

At the NITI Aayog’s meeting, Mann suggested holding the G20 meeting in Amritsar.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday suggested that Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) should be implemented in rural areas located near cities and cities with a population of less than 20 thousand.

Chief Minister Baghel also suggested that agricultural research institutes should be given the responsibility of providing free seeds of newly developed crop varieties, mini kits and breeder seeds on a large scale to ensure crop diversification and increase in the production and productivity of pulses, and oilseeds.

“Chhattisgarh is self-sufficient in the production of food grains and has taken many innovative measures to increase the production of pulses and oilseeds in the state,” he said.

Baghel also reiterated the state’s demand of GST compensation, transferring of the amounts collected as ‘additional levy’ from coal block companies and reimbursement of expenditure of Rs 11 thousand 828 crores made by the state government for eradication of Naxalism.

The Chief Minister said that there has been a loss of revenue to the states due to the GST tax system, the Center has not made arrangements to compensate for the loss of revenue of about Rs 5000 crores to the state in the coming year, so the GST compensation grant should be continued for the next 5 years even after June 2022.

He said Chhattisgarh has received less shares of central taxes by Rs 13,089 crore in the Union Budget of the last three years, resulting in extreme pressure on the resources of the state. In the coming budget, the share of central taxes should be given to the state completely.

He also demanded that Rs 4,140 crore deposited with the center at the rate of Rs 294 per tonne on coal mining from coal block companies should be transferred to Chhattisgarh soon.

Baghel made five demands for the welfare of the people of the state. He urged the revision of the royalty rate of the main minerals, including coal.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said NITI Aayog can take up the role of an ombudsman and can resolve disputes between States and central governments in the implementation of central schemes.

“We all accept that the State and central governments are political entities and sometimes there are disputes in the implementation of central schemes. NITI Aayog can resolve these issues like an ombudsman,” Patnaik said in his remarks during the Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog.

Further in his remarks, Odisha has been historically neglected in the subjects that are in the central list such as telecom, railways and banking.

“We have the lowest density in all these crucial infrastructures and I would urge the central government to give special focus for Odisha,” Patnaik said.

Odisha is impacted almost every year by natural disasters.

“It’s important to have disaster resilient infrastructure to protect the state and its people from the vagaries of nature. I would sincerely request the central government to make Odisha a special focus state and allocate funds for disaster proofing,” he added.

Speaking about Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana, he said the scheme has some implementation issues in the field level because of which genuine farmers were deprived in some cases.

“Nitiayog may study this and suggest ways to protect the interest of farmers,” he said without exactly explaining the issues.

The 7th governing council meeting of NITI Aayog chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was held at Rashtrapati Bhawan’s Cultural Centre in the national capital on Sunday.

The meeting was attended by Chief Ministers of the States and Union Territories, legislators, Lt Governors of UTs, Ex-Officio Members, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, Full-Time Members of NITI Aayog and Union Ministers as Special Invitees. However, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar skipped the meeting.

Notably, this meeting is the first in-person meeting of the Governing Council since July 2019.

The agenda of the NITI Aayog meeting includes crop diversification and achieving self-sufficiency in oilseeds and pulses; implementation of the National Education Policy-school education; implementation of the National Education Policy-higher education; and urban governance. (ANI)

At least three people were killed and several were injured at a stampede at the Khatu Shyamji Temple in Sikar early on Monday morning during the monthly fair.

Two injured have been shifted to a hospital in Jaipur.

The three deceased were women. Police have reached the spot and are exercising crowd control.

A stampede took place at around 5 am at the entrance of the temple.

Today, the 11th day of the lunar calendar is considered auspicious for darshan of Khatu Shyam Ji who is believed to be an incarnation of Lord Krishna.

The temple is considered to be one of the most important pilgrim destinations in Rajasthan and sees huge crowds.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to express his grief.

“Saddened by the loss of lives due to a stampede at the Khatu Shyamji Temple complex in Sikar, Rajasthan. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I pray that those who are injured recover at the earliest,” the PM tweeted.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot expressed grief over the loss of lives in the stampede and wished a speedy recovery of the injured.

Taking to Twitter, Gehlot wrote “The death of three women devotees due to a stampede in Khatu Shyamji Temple in Sikar is very sad and unfortunate. My deepest sympathies are with the bereaved family, may God give them strength to bear this loss and may the departed soul rest in peace.”

“Wishing a speedy recovery to the devotees injured in the stampede,” he said in a subsequent tweet.

Further details are awaited.

Meanwhile earlier in April this year, three people were injured in a stampede-like situation at the ticket counters at the Tirumala shrine in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati.

Also, In January this year 12 people died in a stampede at Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Katra. (ANI)

Bulldozers were seen arriving inside Noida’s Grand Omaxe Society on Monday morning as part of an encroachment drive against one Shrikant Tyagi, who has been accused of misbehaving and threatening a woman inside the residential complex.

The Nodia administration began the demolition of illegal construction at the Sector 93 residence of Tyagi, who was seen in a viral video abusing and pushing a woman inside the society complex.
The demolition exercise comes a day after an FIR was lodged against Tyagi after a group of his supporters entered the society on Sunday and started shouting slogans and creating a ruckus in the society. The Nodia Police has invoked the Gangster Act against Tyagi who has been on the run.

The residents of the society have welcomed this step by the administration. “We are very happy now that this action is being taken because we all were fed up of Tyagi’s behaviour. He used to threaten us and behave very inappropriately,” said a resident.

People of the Grand Omaxe Society even started distributing sweets after the demolition.

“He is facing whatever he has done to the society since last two years. We are very happy to see this step by the administration,” said another resident.

Deputy Commissioner of Police of Central Noida, Rajesh S said that six persons who had entered the society on Sunday and created a ruckus have been detained.

“Seven people who entered the Grand Omaxe Society have been arrested and are being interrogated. It was found that there was negligence from SHO Phase 2, Central Noida Sujeet Upadhyay, who has been suspended, further investigation is underway,” said Alok Singh, Noida Police Commissioner

“We have provided security to this family and the license of the security in the society will also be cancelled soon. We are taking action against Shrikant Tyagi under the Gangster Act and all his illegal property will be identified,” the Noida Police Commissioner said.

Tyagi, who claims to be a member of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kishan Morcha, has been accused of allegedly abusing and pushing a woman who is a resident of Grand Omaxe society in Noida’s Sector 93B, during an argument.

BJP MP from Gautam Buddha Nagar, Mahesh Sharma who met residents of the society on Saturday said that the party cannot condone the actions of Tyagi.

“We’ve informed Awanish Awasthi (Uttar Pradesh Home Secretary), that the manner in which unidentified people entered society is not at all right. Police protection should be given to the lady within two hours,” the MP said.

Sharma also said that Tyagi is not associated with his party.

Tyagi, was on Friday booked by Noida Police after a video of the incident where he can be seen abusing and pushing a woman came to light.

Noida Police said that IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 447 (punishment for criminal trespass) have been added to the FIR registered on Friday.

Additional DCP Ranvijay Singh said, “A separate FIR under IPC sections 419 (punishment for cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 482 (punishment for using a false property mark) has been registered against the accused in light of the Fortuner car recovered from the society premises omn Saturday.”

“A Toyota Fortuner, had the official symbol of the UP government on it but in violation of rules and for misuse of government symbol, a separate FIR has been lodged,” the additional DCP further said.

Noida District Magistrate Suhas LY had on Friday said that the Noida administration will attach Tyagi’s property. (ANI)

Indian star boxer and world champion Nikhat Zareen captured the country’s third consecutive boxing gold medal of the day by defeating Carly MC Naul of Northern Ireland in the final of women’s 50kg (Light Flyweight) at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Sunday.

Zareen lived up to her ‘world champion’ status as she dominated Carly across all three rounds. She won by 5-0 on basis of points scored.

The Indian world boxing champion was off to a great start. Carly competed really well in the first round. But Nikhat took advantage of her strengths and maintained a slight advantage over her opponent, which made all five judges vote in her favour at the end of the first round.

Nikhat continued her dominance in the second round. Her agility and ability to land the right punches at the right time helped her earn unanimous decisions in her favour from all judges. Carly on the other hand was losing momentum fastly and getting tired.

The pattern of Nikhat’s dominance continued in the final round. Her opponent was clearly frustrated with her lack of performance and Nikhat continued to tire her out. The gold medal went to the Indian after yet another unanimous decision by judges in the final round.

Earlier, Amit Panghal captured another boxing gold for the country after defeating England’s Kiaran Macdonald in the final of 48-51 kg (Flyweight) at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Sunday.

Panghal was extremely dominant in the match and won it by 5-0. He won it on basis of points. In the first round, Panghal made a great start. Though his English opponent was always in contention, the Indian was the better boxer as the judges decided in favour of Panghal and he got 10 points from all while Macdonald got nine from all.

In the second round, Panghal continued with the same momentum and kept his upper hand intact. Macdonald tried to fight back but simply could not match the Indian’s prowess and hence lost on the second round as well.

The pattern of Panghal’s dominance continued in the final round as well as he kept scoring points effortlessly. Once again, all judges decided in his favour. This helped him seal the match and add another medal to his country’s tally.

Nitu Ghangas also clinched a gold medal after defeating England’s Demie-Jade Resztan in the final of the women’s 48 kg category at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Sunday.

She won on basis of points by 5-0 over her English opponent. Ghangas was a notch above Resztan throughout the match. The English boxer was fighting well, but fell short in all three rounds as all five judges voted in favour of Ghangas.

The Commonwealth Games 2022 started in Birmingham from July 28 and will go on till August 8. (ANI)

After clinching a gold medal in the final of the women’s 50kg Light Flyweight category, Nikhat Zareen said she is excited to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and added that she will take his autograph on her boxing gloves.

Indian star boxer and world champion Nikhat Zareen captured the country’s third consecutive boxing gold medal of the day by defeating Carly MC Naul of Northern Ireland in the final of women’s 50kg (Light Flyweight) at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Sunday.

Zareen lived up to her ‘world champion’ status as she dominated Carly across all three rounds. She won by 5-0 on basis of points scored.

“I’m very excited to meet him (PM Modi); I took a selfie with him last time & want a new one now. Last time, I took his autograph on my T-shirt, now I’ll take it on my boxing gloves,” Nikhat Zareen told ANI.

Talking about the multi-sports event Zareen said that people expected her to win a medal in the CWG 2022 and she had uncountably done it with a stunning score of 5:0.

“I’m thrilled to have won the Gold for my country. This was my next major competition after World Championships; people expected me to win Gold here as well, so I am very glad,” she added.

The gold medallist said that she got emotional when the national anthem was played and she is hopeful to continue her good performance in the upcoming events.

“I can’t describe the moment (during the National Anthem), it was memorable & very emotional for me. I am hoping to give such performances further and make my nation proud,” Zareen said.

Talking about the bout, the Indian world boxing champion was off to a great start. Carly competed really well in the first round. But Nikhat took advantage of her strengths and maintained a slight advantage over her opponent, which made all five judges vote in her favour at the end of the first round.

Nikhat continued her dominance in the second round. Her agility and ability to land the right punches at the right time helped her earn unanimous decisions in her favour from all judges. Carly on the other hand was losing momentum fastly and getting tired.

The pattern of Nikhat’s dominance continued in the final round. Her opponent was clearly frustrated with her lack of performance and Nikhat continued to tire her out. The gold medal went to the Indian after yet another unanimous decision by judges in the final round.

Earlier, Amit Panghal captured another boxing gold for the country after defeating England’s Kiaran Macdonald in the final of 48-51 kg (Flyweight) at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Sunday.

Panghal was extremely dominant in the match and won it by 5-0. He won it on basis of points. In the first round, Panghal made a great start. Though his English opponent was always in contention, the Indian was the better boxer as the judges decided in favour of Panghal and he got 10 points from all while Macdonald got nine from all.

In the second round, Panghal continued with the same momentum and kept his upper hand intact. Macdonald tried to fight back but simply could not match the Indian’s prowess and hence lost in the second round as well.

The pattern of Panghal’s dominance continued in the final round as well as he kept scoring points effortlessly. Once again, all judges decided in his favour. This helped him seal the match and add another medal to his country’s tally.

Nitu Ghangas also clinched a gold medal after defeating England’s Demie-Jade Resztan in the final of the women’s 48 kg category at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Sunday.

She won on basis of points by 5-0 over her English opponent. Ghangas was a notch above Resztan throughout the match. The English boxer was fighting well but fell short in all three rounds as all five judges voted in favour of Ghangas.

The Commonwealth Games 2022 started in Birmingham from July 28 and will go on till August 8. (ANI)

India On Sunday saw a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases as the country recorded 2423 new corona cases during the last 24 hours, which is the highest after 3 February, 2668 cases came on 3 February.

New corona cases are the highest in the last 6 months and the number of active patients crossed 8 thousand on Sunday.

Corona infection rate in Delhi reached near 15 percent, which is the highest level in about last 6 and a half months as before that on January 22, the infection rate was 16.36 percent.

On Saturday, India recorded 19,406 COVID-19 cases.

With the fresh surge in COVID-19 cases, India’s total tally of cases increased to 4,41,45,732. Of these total cases, 1,34,933 are active cases which account for 0.31 per cent of the total cases.

The recovery rate, currently, stands at 98.50 per cent with 18,558 fresh recoveries from the infection in the last 24 hours thereby taking the total recoveries to 4,34,84,110.

As many as 3,72,910 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the last 24 hours, the government data-informed, thereby taking the daily positivity rate to 5.02 per cent. Moreover, the weekly positivity rate is at 4.63 per cent.

On the COVID-19 vaccination front, 206.21 crore total vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

India has now administered over 100 million precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines, the Union health ministry said on Friday.

In a tweet, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed and wrote, “This has been achieved by collective efforts. India has administered over 10 crore (100 million) precautionary doses. 10 crore people now have an extra layer of safety. Under PM Narendra Modi Ji’s leadership, ‘Covid vaccination Amrit Mahotsav’ is going on in full swing to provide free precaution dose for all adults.”

This comes after the government started providing free precautionary for all adults in the age group of 18-75 years at government COVID vaccination centres as part of the Central government’s 75-day booster drive. (ANI)