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Sindhu, Lakshya To Lead India’s Challenge At Canada Open 2023

By LokMarg 4th July 2023

India’s star shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen will spearhead India’s challenge at the Canada Open 2023 badminton tournament starting Tuesday in Calgary, as per Olympics.com.

After missing the Taipei Open 2023, Sindhu will start afresh in the tournament.
The 12th-ranked Sindhu has failed to make a mark in the past three BWF World Tour events as she did not cross the second rounds. The former world champion was knocked out in the round of 16 of the Indonesia Open after exiting the Singapore Open and the Thailand Open in the first round.

In this season, Sindhu reached the final only once at the Madrid Masters 2023. Sindhu also made the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters. The 27-year-old will open her women’s singles campaign against Canada’s world No. 61 Talia Ng.

Apart from Sindhu, Tasnim Mir and Gadde Ruthvika Shivani are India’s others who will participate in the women’s singles main draw. Tasnim start her campaign against Thuy Linh Nguyen of Vietnam while Ruthvika Shivani will face Thailand’s Supanida Katethong in her opening game.

In the men’s singles event, world No. 19 Lakshya Sen will be India’s only badminton player in the main draw. Lakshya Sen will play Thailand’s world No. 3 Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the round of 32.

Parupalli Kashyap, the 2014 Commonwealth Games champion, will face German Kai Schaefer in the opening round of qualifying. In the qualifications, S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian and B Sai Praneeth will also start.

HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth have skipped the Canada event. India’s top doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who won the Indonesia Open last month, have also given the tournament a miss.

Meanwhile in the men’s doubles, the pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala will be India’s only challenge. The duo will play the French pair of Julien Maio and William Villeger in the opener.

In the women’s doubles, the Indian pair Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa will take on the Australian duo of Kaitlyn Ea and Gronya Somerville. The pair of Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda will also start in the main draw.

B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa will play the Japanese duo of Yuki Kaneko and Misaki Matsutomo in the first round of mixed doubles. Sai Pratheek K and Tanisha Crasto will start in the qualifiers.

The Canada Open 2023 is the fourth Super 500 tournament of the 2023 BWF World Tour calendar after Indonesia Masters, Malaysia Masters and the Thailand Open. (ANI)

US Returns 307 Stolen Antiquities To India

By LokMarg 20th October 2022

After the 15-years of investigation, the US authorities returned 307 antiquities that were stolen by multiple smaller trafficking networks to India, valued at nearly 4 million Dollars, according to a press statement released on Monday.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L Bragg Jr on Monday announced that they are returning 307 antiquities valued at nearly USD 4 million to the people of India and the majority of them were seized from disgraced art dealer Subhash Kapoor.
Subhas Kapoor is a looter, who had helped to traffic the items from Afghanistan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and other countries.

According to the statement, “Five of the antiquities were seized according to the Office’s investigation into Nancy Wiener, and one according to an investigation into Nayef Homsi.”

All the antiquities were returned during a repatriation ceremony at the Indian Consulate in New York attended by India’s Consul General Randhir Jaiswal, and US Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) Acting Deputy Special Agent-in-Charge, Tom Lau.

“We are proud to return hundreds of stunning pieces to the people of India,” the press statement quoted District Attorney Bragg as saying.

“These antiquities were stolen by multiple complex and sophisticated trafficking rings – the leaders of which showed no regard for the cultural or historical significance of these objects. Tracking down these antiquities would not be possible without the collaboration of our law enforcement partners at HSI and the outstanding work of our world-class investigators,” he added.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso said, “Today we are proud to join our partners from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to return an incredible 307 stolen works of art and antiquities to their rightful home in India. This repatriation is the result of a globe-spanning, fifteen-year investigation whereas the investigative team chased leads, followed the money, and ultimately seized these pieces, ensuring their return to the people of India,”

He further added that HSI will continue to investigate artifacts with little or no provenance, or of questionable origin, and work with domestic and international partners to return these priceless pieces of history to their rightful homes, the statement reads.

The District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit, along with law enforcement partners at Homeland Security Investigations, have investigated Kapoor and his co-conspirators for the illegal looting, exportation, and sale of artifacts from numerous countries all over the world, for over a decade.

Among the pieces being returned is the Arch Parikara, crafted from marble and valued at approximately USD 85,000.

The Arch Parikara first surfaced in photographs depicting antiquity in a dirty, pre-restoration condition. These photographs, along with dozens of others depicting antiquities lying in the grass or on the ground, were sent to Kapoor by a supplier of illicit in India. The piece was smuggled out of India and into New York in May 2002, the statement reads.

Thereafter, Kapoor laundered the Arch Parikara to the Nathan Rubin – Ida Ladd Family Foundation, who donated the piece to the Yale University Art Gallery in 2007, the statement added.

In 2022 alone, the Office has returned 682 antiquities, valued at over USD 84 million to 13 countries. Since its founding, the Antiquities Trafficking Unit has returned nearly 2,200 antiquities, valued at over USD 160 million, to 22 countries. (ANI)

32 Dead In Shooting At Daycare In Thailand

By LokMarg 6th October 2022

At least 32 people were killed in a mass shooting at a nursery in northeast Thailand, local media reported on Thursday.

Many children and adults were killed in the shooting in Na Klang district in the country’s Nong Bua Lamphu province.
Police said that the gunman was a former police officer and a hunt was underway for him, according to media reports.

“Follow up Mr. Panya Khamrab, 34, the assailant in the shooting at the child’s center. Uthai Sawan Subdistrict, Na Klang District, Nong Bua Lamphu Province. Observe the vehicle used by the culprit, a white Toyota Vigo pickup truck, license plate registration 6 Kor 6499, Bangkok,” Thailand’s Central Investigation Police (CIP) said in a Facebook post.

The suspect who fled the crime scene reportedly shot himself.

A local publication said Panya was fired from his position in the police force in 2021 for failing a drug test.

More details are awaited. (ANI)