Author: LokMarg

India on Thursday slammed Pakistan for politicising an international sporting after the country withdraw from the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai.

Pakistan withdrew from the Chess Olympiad this week being held in Tamil Nadu after accusing India of mixing politics with sports.
“It is surprising that Pakistan has taken a decision not to participate in Chess Olympiad even after their team reached India,” said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi during a press briefing.

Pakistan was invited by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) to participate in the 44th Chess Olympiad scheduled to be held in Chennai, from July 28 to August 10.

However, Pakistan has chosen to withdraw its contingent already training for this event, while objecting that the torch relay passed through Srinagar on June 21.

“Pakistan condemns India’s mischievous attempt to mix politics with sports. As a protest, Pakistan has decided not to participate in the 44th Chess Olympiad and will also raise the matter with the International Chess Federation at the highest level,” the Pakistan Foreign Ministry had alleged in a statement.

In response to Pakistan’s argument, Bagchi said,” the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and will remain an integral part of India. It is highly unfortunate that Pakistan has politicised the prestigious international event by making such statements and withdrawing its participation.”

The Chess Olympiad 2022 is being held at the Four Points by Sheraton Mahabalipuram Resort and Convention Centre in Mahabalipuram. The Chess Olympiad was initially scheduled to be held in Russia and was moved to Chennai after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The upcoming edition will witness a record 188 teams in the Open section and 162 in the women’s category. The 44th Chess Olympiad will run till August 10. (ANI)

On the eve of the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games 2022, the Indian flag was hoisted at the CWG Village in Birmingham.

Several athletes, including the hockey men’s and women’s teams of India, took part in the flag-hoisting ceremony at the CWG Village on Thursday.
In the presence of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Acting President Anil Khanna, IOA Treasurer Anandeshwar Panday, Anil Dhupar, the Deputy Chef de Mission for the Games, and other IOA officials, Team India’s Chef de Mission, Rajesh Bhandari, hoisted the flag in a ceremony filled with music and dance.

Earlier on Wednesday, Indian ace shuttler and Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and hockey men’s team captain Manpreet Singh were announced as the two Flagbearers of the Indian contingent at the Opening Ceremony.

“It is a great honour to be bestowed with the responsibility to lead the contingent and hold the flag at such an august gathering. I am extremely happy and I wish all my fellow contingent all the best for the Games. I would like to thank IOA also for choosing me as the flag bearer,” said Sindhu in a statement as per Badminton Association of India (BAI) Media.

Alongside Sindhu, who medalled at the Rio 2016 Olympics and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, two other highly deserving athletes were considered to be Team India’s Flagbearer: weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and boxer Lovlina Borgohain, who are both Olympic medallists.

Meanwhile, the decision to name Singh, who led the Indian men’s hockey team to a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics last year, as the second Flagbearer for the said occasion was arrived at after the IOA was intimated by the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee that two Flagbearers – one male and one female – must be named by each nation for the Opening Ceremony.

IOA Acting President Anil Khanna: “Manpreet Singh ended Indian hockey’s 41-year Olympic medal drought with a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics last year. He is one of the finest athletes to have ever represented India on the international stage. We are delighted to name him and Sindhu as the two Flagbearers who will lead the Indian contingent out at the Parade of Nations tomorrow during the Opening Ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.”

In addition, Rajesh Bhandari, Team India Chef de Mission, Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, announced that a maximum of 164 participants from the Indian contingent can take part in the Parade of Nations in the Opening Ceremony, scheduled for July 28, 2022.

The Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 is being held from July 28 to August 8. India will be represented by 215 athletes who will take part in 141 events across 19 sporting disciplines. (ANI)

The auction for the 5G telecom spectrum has garnered bids worth Rs 1,49,454 crore at the end of the second day and the bids for the much-awaited spectrum sale are extended for the third day.

A comparison of the two-day figures shows that the 5G spectrum auction fetched Rs 71,639.2 crore more than the 4G spectrum auction of 2021. In percentage terms, it is 92.06 per cent higher. Wednesday saw five rounds of the auction, taking the total rounds to nine.
Earlier it was expected the auction would be completed on the second day – Wednesday.

The bids received so far are almost double the amount received for the 4G spectrum auction in 2021. The 4G spectrum auction in March 2021 fetched Rs Rs 77,814.80. The auction in 2021 was concluded in two days.

Giving updates about the second day of the auction, Union Minister of Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said: “700 MHz has seen a good response, it has been sold this time. Good response in other low and mid bands as well.”

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently approved the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)’s 5G spectrum auction through which spectrum will be assigned to bidders to provide 5G services to the public as well as enterprises.

5G is the fifth-generation mobile network capable of transmitting a large set of data at a very rapid speed. In comparison to 3G and 4G, 5G has a very low latency which will enhance user experiences in various sectors. Low latency describes the efficiency to process a very high volume of data messages with a minimal delay. 5G services are expected to be about 10 times faster than 4G.

The 5G rollout is also expected to bring more development in remote data monitoring in sectors such as mining, warehousing, telemedicine, and manufacturing, among others.

Reliance Jio, Adani group, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea are the four major participants in the spectrum auction. This is the first time that the Gautam Adani-led Adani group, which recently forayed into the telecom sector, participated in the bidding process of the 5G telecom spectrum auction.

Allocation of spectrums to the telecom operators is expected before August 15, and the initial 5G services in the country will start by September-October. Subsequently, high-speed 5G telecom services are expected to be offered in several cities in the county by the end of the year 2022. (ANI)

Days after monkeypox cases were reported from parts of India, the Central Government has invited Expression of Interest (EOI) in developing a vaccine against monkeypox virus.

The Government floated EoI for developing monkeypox vaccine, diagnostic kits in public-private partnership mode.

The Centre has invited EoI from experienced vaccine manufacturers, and in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) kit manufacturers for joint collaboration in developing a vaccine candidate against monkeypox and the development of diagnostic kits for diagnosis of this infection.

The last date for submission of EoI is August 10.

The objective of the tender read, “ICMR is willing to make available Monkeypox Virus strain/isolates for undertaking R&D, validation as well as manufacturing activities using characterized isolates of Monkeypox virus under the joint collaboration in the public-private partnership mode for the following two activities- 2.1 Development of vaccine candidate against Monkeypox disease. 2.2 Development of diagnostic kits for diagnosis of Monkeypox virus infection.”

ICMR-National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV), Pune, one of the Institutes of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi has isolated the Monkeypox virus, which is being propagated on specific cell lines under biosafety laboratory conditions. These isolates were further purified and characterized. Tissue culture infective dose (TCID50) has been estimated and bulk propagation of the virus stock has been achieved, the tender copy read.

ICMR reserved all the Intellectual Property Rights and Commercialization rights on the Monkeypox virus isolates and its method/ protocols for purification, propagation and characterization. ICMR is lawfully entitled to enter into any form of non-exclusive agreements with experienced Drug/Pharma/Vaccine/IVD manufacturers through defined agreement for undertaking R&D as well as manufacturing activities using characterized Monkeypox virus isolates of ICMR for development of vaccine against Monkeypox disease or Diagnostic kit for diagnosis of Monkeypox virus, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Product(s)’, the tender copy read.

Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) sounded its highest level of alert for monkeypox and declared the virus as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).

Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the same family of viruses that causes smallpox. The disease is endemic in regions like West and Central Africa but lately, cases have been reported from non-endemic countries too, according to the WHO.

In India, a 34-year-old man from Delhi with no history of foreign travel tested positive for monkeypox on Sunday, taking the country’s tally of cases to four. Three cases of monkeypox were earlier reported in Kerala. (ANI)

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday said that there is no question of apologising as he had mistakenly referred to President Droupadi Murmu as ‘Rashtrapatni’.

He further said that the BJP is deliberately trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

“There is no question of apologising. I had mistakenly said ‘Rashtrapatni’, now if you want to hang me for it, then you can…the ruling party, in a deliberate design, trying to make mountain out of a molehill,” said Congress Chowdhury on his ‘Rashtrapatni’ remark.

Earlier, Union Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday slammed the Congress and demanded an apology for maliciously targeting President Droupadi Murmu and said the country knows that the opposition party is “anti-tribal, anti-Dalit and anti-women”.

The Union Minister’s remarks come after Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury referred to President Droupadi Murmu as “Rashtrapatni”.

In Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi.

In Lok Sabha, Smriti Irani spoke on Adhir’s remarks and sought an apology from him and Sonia Gandhi. BJP members were on their feet supporting her.

“Ever since the name of Droupadi Murmu has been announced as the candidate for the presidency of India. She has been targeted maliciously by the Congress party. Congressmen had termed her as a puppet candidate, and Congressmen have called her a symbol of evil. Their attacks do not seem to stop against Droupadi Murmu ji even after she has now been elected to the highest constitutional office of the country,” said Smriti Irani addressing reporters here today before the Parliament began.

The Union Minister lashed out at the opposition party, which said that despite being led by a woman leader Sonia Gandhi, Congressmen continue to demean women posted at constitutional posts.

“The Congressman knew that to address the President of India in this way not only demeans her constitutional post but also the rich tribal legacy that she represents,” Smriti Irani said.

The Union Minister alleged that Adhir Chowdhury knew that to demean the President of the country is to demean the potential of women in the country.

Addressing a press conference, the Union Minister said the attacks do not seem to stop against Droupadi Murmu even after being elected as President.

She further said a tribal woman from a poor family who created history in the country is continuously demeaned by the Congress party.

Congress leader Ajoy Kumar on Wednesday had said that Droupadi Murmu represents a “very evil philosophy of India.”

On Thursday, women MPs including Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman staged a protest in the Parliament complex.

“Sonia Gandhi appointed the leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha a man who calls Droupadi Murmu ji ‘Rashtrapatni’. The Congressman knew that this way to address the President of India was demeaning, and addressing in this way not only demeans her constitutional post but also the rich tribal legacy she represents in our country. The Congressman knew to demean the President of India in such a fashion is to demean the potential of women in our country. To demean the President of India, the Congressman knew that it is to demean the supreme commander of the Armed forces. The Congressman knew that to demean Droupadi Murmu ji as President of India is to demean the potential of poor who rise through the ranks with hard work,” said the BJP leader.

She further said that to demean Droupadi Mumru and the Office President of India is to demean the hope and aspiration of Indians.

“Droupadi Murmu led a life of struggle and had represented the country’s aspirations from Panchayat to Parliament,” she said.

Smriti Irani also said that Congress should apologise in Parliament, and on the streets of India and the apology is not only due to the President of India but to every citizen of India

“Under Sonia Gandhi’s leadership, Congressmen continue to demean the women in constitutional posts. Congress party for demeaning the first tribal President of our country needs to apologise in Parliament, on the streets of India and the apology is not only due to the President of India but to every citizen of India who is duly represented by Droupadi Murmu ji in office,” she added.

Previously, Ajoy Kumar alleged the condition of scheduled castes in India had become ‘worse’ and that Droupadi Murmu should not be used as an ‘adivasi symbol’ by the ruling party.

“It’s not about Droupadi Murmu. Yashwant Sinha is also a good candidate and Murmu is also a decent person. But she represents a very evil philosophy of India. We should not make her a symbol of ‘adivasi’. We have President Ram Nath Kovind (and) Hathras (the gangrape and murder of a young Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh) happened. Has he said a word? The condition of scheduled castes has become worse,” Kumar said. (ANI)

Twenty Opposition MPs, who were suspended from the Rajya Sabha for disrupting proceedings, started a 50-hour-long protest at the Gandhi statue in Parliament on Wednesday.

Speaking to ANI, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said, “Suspended MPs will sit on dharna till Friday 5 p.m. Meanwhile, some women MPs and elderly MPs will sit shift-wise.”

As many as 24 Opposition MPs – 20 from the Rajya Sabha and four from the Lok Sabha – have been suspended for their unruly behaviour in Parliament.

A meeting of Opposition parties was held to discuss the issue of suspension of MPs. However, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) skipped the meeting.

The 20 MPs, suspended over the last two days, include seven from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), six from the DMK, three from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), two from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and one each from the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Today, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh was suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of this week for “throwing paper on the Chair” a day ago during proceedings of the House. Singh is the 20th MP from the Upper House who has been suspended for disrupting proceedings. This is the highest number of single-batch suspensions in the Upper House.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said that the opposition will submit a request to the Speaker of Lok Sabha and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha to rescind the suspension of the members who raised their voices against the price rise.

A meeting of opposition parties was held today to discuss the issue of suspension of MPs and to chalk out a strategy for the floor of the house.

Speaking to ANI, Kharge said, “The issues that we have been raising since the last 7 days regarding inflation and imposition of GST on essential commodities, today on the eighth day also we will raise our voice regarding the same. Common people are worried about this. We are also raising our voices continuously, but the government is not ready for discussion. I personally met the chairman and said that you allow the discussion and tell the date and time, we will be ready for discussion, but the government is not ready to accept it. We will submit a request to Speaker and the Chairman to rescind the suspension of the members who raised their voices against the price rise.”

He further said that the suspension of MPs which has been done at the behest of the government should be withdrawn with immediate effect.

Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) MP NK Premachandran, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) MP Vaiko, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) ET Mohammed Basheer, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and Priyanka Chaturvedi, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha, Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP Elamaram Kareem, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) MP Jayant Chaudhry were present in the meeting today.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) skipped the meeting.

Opposition MPs also protested in front of the Gandhi statue on the suspension of MPs from ParliamentEarlier on Tuesday, 19 Opposition MPs including TMC leaders Sushmita Dev, Santanu Sen, and Dola Sen were suspended from Rajya Sabha for the remaining part of the week for ‘misconduct’.They were suspended for storming into the well of the House and sloganeering against the government over inflation.

On July 25, four Congress MPs including Manickam Tagore, Ramya Haridas, Jothimani and TN Prathapan have been suspended from the Lok Sabha for the entire Monsoon session for their ‘unruly behaviour and disrupting proceedings. The MPs were suspended according to Rule 374 on ‘unruly and disrespectful behaviour towards the Chair.’

The Upper House has been facing adjournment on various issues due to the Opposition ruckus since the Parliament’s Monsoon Session started.

The Monsoon Session of Parliament commenced on July 18 and will continue till August 12. There will be 18 sittings during the Session. (ANI)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted fresh searches at the premises linked to West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee’s aide Arpita Mukherjee in the teacher recruitment scam and seized a huge amount of cash.

Till now Rs 20 crore have been counted so far, and further recovery of money is expected, said ED sources on Wednesday.

Earlier, Rs 20 crore was recovered from her residence in South Kolkata.

This brings the total cash recovered to Rs 40 crore till now.

The ED raided Arpita Mukherjee’s property located at Belgharia Town Club. According to ED, the flat of her mother at Belgharia Club town in North 24 Parganas and three other premises has been covered in the action initiated today.

Cash counting machines were also brought by ED to the residence of Mukherjee.

One of the two flats of Arpita Mukherjee, in Belghoria has been sealed by ED.

A notice pasted there mentions a due maintenance amount of Rs 11,819 against her name.

ED officials also conducted a raid at the residence of businessman Manoj Jain in Ballygunge. Jain is reportedly an aide of state minister Partha Chatterjee.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday arrested Partha Chatterjee in connection with the West Bengal Primary Education Board recruitment scam.

The arrests took place following the raids by the central probe agency in which it seized over Rs 20 crore in cash from the premises of his close associate Arpita Mukherjee. She was also arrested.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials had on Friday raided the residences of Partha Chatterjee and another Bengal Minister Paresh Adhikari.

A total of more than 20 mobile phones have also been recovered from the premises of Arpita Mukherjee, the purpose and use of which is being ascertained, said the probe agency.

Besides cash, a number of other incriminating documents, records, details of dubious companies, electronic devices, foreign currency and gold has also been recovered from various premises of the persons linked to the scam. (ANI)

The Pakistani rupee continued to sink against the US dollar for the ninth straight session in the interbank market, hitting a new record low of 236 on Wednesday.

The figures released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed the greenback closed at an all-time high of 236.02 rupees in the interbank market, up from 232.93 rupees a day earlier as it shed 1.31 per cent, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Since the start of 2022, the rupee has lost over 30 per cent of its value, according to the Foreign Exchange Association of Pakistan.

On Wednesday, Pakistan Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail expressed hope that the pressure on the rupee would ease in a couple of weeks.

“From the next month onwards, incoming dollars in Pakistan by way of exports and remittance will be more than the outgoing dollars by the way of imports and debt servicing. Therefore, pressure on the rupee would subside and the currency would appreciate,” said Ismail.

He said that multiple factors including the US dollar reaching historic highs internationally, interest rate hikes, worldwide inflation and supply chain disruption have led to the rupee’s depreciation.

Earlier this month, the IMF reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan authorities for the conclusion of the combined seventh and eighth reviews of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

Despite the agreement, the ongoing political and economic turmoil in the country has raised concerns among investors, Pakistan’s Business Recorder reported.

This downfall of Pakistani rupees comes as Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings said they expect Pakistan to secure the USD 1.2 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Once the deal amount will be secured, it is expected that pressure on the country’s currency and forex reserves will ease.

“We assume IMF board approval of Pakistan’s new staff-level agreement with the lender,” Krisjanis Krustins, a Hong Kong-based director at Fitch, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg on Wednesday. “This will unlock significant additional financing from the IMF and other multilateral and bilateral sources and may well provide a significant confidence boost to the markets.”

Grace Lim, a sovereign analyst with the rating company in Singapore, said Moody’s expects IMF to disburse the funds in the third quarter.

This comes after Fitch Ratings downgraded Pakistan’s outlook from stable to negative in view of the significant deterioration in the country’s external liquidity position and financing conditions since early 2022.

Earlier, Moody’s downgraded Pakistan’s outlook to negative from stable in June. (ANI)

‘Badlapur’ actor Varun Dhawan is currently riding high on the success of his latest film, ‘Jug Jugg Jeeyo’. And to add a feather to his hat, it is being speculated that the actor’s upcoming flick ‘Bawaal’ is the most expensive film so far from the production value.

As per the source close to the makers revealed, “We’ve extensively shot the film in the most expensive & interesting locations like Paris, Berlin, Poland, Amsterdam, Krakow, Warsaw along with a brief portion in India as well. It’s a very unique love story and now we are gearing up for a huge action sequence in Warsaw. We have called for action directors & stuntmen from Germany along with a talented crew of 700+ members every day, Nitesh Sir and Sajid Sir have scaled up the film to leave the audience to a visual treat.”

“An action sequence as planned required multiple things such as 45 plus hedgehogs along with innumerable number of grenades, knives, and variety of explosives for an important action sequence which will be shot from tomorrow. The costs incurred for shooting daily is about 2.5 crore and this is a 10 days schedule. This is Varun’s most expensive film so far,” the source further added.

Recently, a video of Bawaal actor Varun Dhawan went viral saying that the team is headed to Warsaw, Poland for their next schedule.

Helmed by Nitesh Tiwari, ‘Bawaal’ is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and is a social drama. Recently both Varun and Janhvi announced that they had wrapped up their shoot for ‘Bawaal’ in Amsterdam and currently shooting in is currently being shot in Warsaw, Poland. ‘Bawaal’ marks the first collaboration of the lead cast Varun and Janhvi.

‘Bawaal’ is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, under the banner of Nadiadwala Grandson and is co-produced by EarthSky Pictures.

The film is slated to hit the theatres on April 7, 2023.

Meanwhile, talking about the ‘Coolie No 1’ actor, Varun, will be next seen in Dinesh Vijan’s next horror-comedy film ‘Bhediya’ with Kriti Sanon, which is all geared up to hit the theatres on November 25, 2022.(ANI)

Protesters broke into the parliament building in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, as per the Shafaq news agency.

Earlier, it was reported that the protesters were able to enter the specially guarded Green Zone in the centre of Baghdad. On Wednesday, a demonstration began in the Iraqi capital against the nomination of Mohammed Al Sudani for the post of the Prime Minister of the country.

The current Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, called on the demonstrators to immediately leave the parliament building.

The Green Zone houses government offices and embassies, as well as an international airport, which is adjacent to a military airfield. (ANI/Sputnik)