Author: Samikhsya Bureau

Biju Janata Dal has up its ante over the Minimum Selling Price (MSP) of paddy in a bid to exert pressure on the NDA government to pay the due to the farmer. For which the party has plans to go for sit-on ‘Dharna’ in the parliament premises on the 8th of next month. An issue that relates to the livelihood of farmers the BJD has criticised the central government for failing to pay the existing MSP of Rs.1750 even.

(UNI) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday appealed to all political parties to arrive at a consensus and ensure passage of Women’s Reservation Bill for providing reservation to women in Parliament and state legislatures.

“Reservation of seats for women in Panchayats and Municipalities has proved to be successful,’ he said addressing a gathering at the Women Entrepreneurship Platform Conclave and after presenting Women Transforming India Awards 2018, organised by the NITI Aayog, WEP and UN in India, here.

The Vice President said the contribution of Indian women to GDP, currently at 17 per cent, was well below the global average of 37 per cent. Only 27 per cent of women in India were gainfully employed.

It was not a day for India when the lady from India Nehal Chudasama could not make it for Miss Universe . Philipines’ Catriona Elisa Grey has been crowned the Miss Universe 2018 at a grand ceremony while the second and third position were conferred to the representatives from South Africa and Venenzuela. Gray was ecstatic as she took her first walk as Miss Universe .

(UNI)Born in Punjab (India) Indian-American Shree Saini got her cherished dream fulfilled when she was crowned Miss India Worldwide 2018 at the 27th Annual Global pageant held in the Fords City of New Jersey.

Sakshi Sinha of Australia and Anusha Sareen from United Kingdom were adjudged the first and second runner ups.

Shree Saini said, “the dream of mine of one day competing for a world title started when I was just in elementary school and watching an international pageant on TV.

“I was instantly inspired by the contestants’ confidence when they proudly said their countries’ name on stage and I was so mesmerized by their community work.

(UNI)The government on Monday welcomed the Delhi High Court verdict that convicted senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, a former MP, for the 1984 anti-Sikh mayhem and went onto say that the Congress party and the “Gandhi family legacy” will continue to pay for the sins.”Sajjan Kumar’s conviction by the Delhi High Court is a delayed vindication of Justice. The Congress and the Gandhi family legacy will continue to pay for the sins of 1984 riots,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tweeted.

(UNI) Syria’s Social Affairs and Labor Minister Rima al-Qadiri has said that 30,000 orphans have been registered in the capital Damascus and its countryside, the pro-government al-Watan newspaper said Sunday.
The minister said that the number of children who have lost their providers has increased during the Syrian war.
She said that the ministry is working to establish a database to include the number of orphans in other Syrian provinces, adding that the ministry is working on a long-term project to find a sponsor for each orphan.
Qadiri said the sponsorship of orphans should take place within the environment of the orphans, whether within their close or extended family, noting that the orphans should not be isolated in orphanages.
The minister said that there are 600 care centers for the orphans in Damascus and its countryside.

A powerful quake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale rocked Papua province in eastern Indonesia on Sunday, but did not trigger potential for tsunami, the meteorology and geophysics agency of Indonesia disclosed here.
The quake jolted at 16:42 Jakarta time (0942 GMT) with epicenter at 52 km southwest Keerom of the province and the depth at 106 km underearth, said an official in charge at the agency Dedi Sugianto.

Actor and model Milind Soman has no regrets about his wife being 25 years younger to him. His wife Ankita is 25 years younger on which Milind said, the gap in age does not matter. Its all about ‘ understanding each other, and make her feel comfortable and do what best she wants to do’.

A senior bank employee in West Bengal was arrested when it was found that he had managed to steal coins worth Rs.84 lakh from the bank and had used that to buy lottery tickets. The matter got exposed during an internal audit and the man was arrested by the police. It can leave many wonder how could he transport such huge sum from the bank.

Zee Media has served a notice of Rs.1,000 cr defamation to Navjyot Singh Sidhu who had alleged that the media had used some ‘ doctored’ visuals where people were seen giving slogans “pakisthan zindabad’ at his rally. That was a sequel to a threat by Sidhu for filing defamation for using doctored visuaks. Zee media asked Sidhu to apologise within 24 hours.

Fake cancer to jail, was the journey of a woman of Indian origin who had pretended to have detected with brain cancer and could manage lying her family and got paid with 2,50,000 pounds (Rs.2cr roughly) . However having her trick exposed she has been sentenced to four years imprisonment by a court in UK. It was traced that she managed the fake report lifted from a site.

Team India captain Virat Kohli left Sachin Tendulkar behind by hitting his 25th test hundred at Perth on Sunday. It was only Don Bradman, who had hit 25 tons only in 68 innings while Kohli did it in 127 innings. Left way behind the all time great Bradman Kohli however made Sachin look on the trail who had scored 25 tons in 130 innings.

A picture went viral showing Big B serving food at the wedding of Isha Ambani when a woman asked in tweeter why did he and Aamir serve food there. To which Abhisek tweeted back saying that is ‘ sajjan ghot’ a tradition when the bride’s side serve food to the grooms people at such occasions.

(UNI) Two prime suspects facing charges of murdering Indian national Sarabjit Singh in a Pakistani jail have been acquitted by a district and sessions in Pakistan court.
According to media reports from Lahore, Amir Tandba and Mudasir Munir who were Singh’s fellow inmates at Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore allegedly tortured him to death in 2013.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Moin Khokar ordered the release of suspects after witnesses withdrew their statements, the Dawn reported.
Singh died in a Lahore hospital after suffering severe injuries in the head after being hit by bricks and other blunt weapons. He breathed his five days after being admitted to Lahore Jinnah Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in May, 2013.
Singh had been sentenced to death on charges of espionage and alleged involvement in a string of bombings in Pakistan in 1990 – his sentencing created a huge outcry in India. Several mercy petitions were filed by his lawyers none of which were granted.

(UNI) Claiming that country will never forgive Congress for its anti-army attitude, Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that some or the other foreign middleman was involved in every defence deal during UPA regime.

Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, Mr Modi said, “Country will neither forget nor forgive previous government’s attitude towards our Army. For us, the country comes first and not the party. BJP government is trying their best that those who sacrifice their lives for us shouldn’t face any difficulties.”

“There are people who don’t like to say Bharat Mata Ki Jai .These are people who are not proud of the nation, they insult me and they want to tarnish my reputation. But what I can’t understand why do they want to target the nation in order to target me?” he said.

(UNI) Theresa May has attacked one of her predecessors – accusing Tony Blair of “undermining” the Brexit talks by calling for another referendum.
She called his comments an “insult to the office he once held” and said MPs could not “abdicate responsibility” to deliver Brexit by holding a new poll, said a BBC News report.
Mr Blair said MPs might back a new vote if “none of the other options work”.
It comes after Labour MPs who support the idea met Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington to make their case.
About 10 MPs met Mr Lidington on Thursday to argue for another public vote and make it clear there was no other government plan they could support.
But many senior Labour figures are deeply uneasy about endorsing another referendum.

(UNI) The final of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup will be an all-European affair, with Belgium’s Red Lions facing the Netherlands after a thrilling day of semi-final action at the Kalinga Stadium on Saturday. Belgium made a massive statement with a staggering 6-0 semi-final triumph over England in the first match of the day, while Australia’s hopes of winning a third successive World Cup title were ended by European champions the Netherlands, who emerged victorious in a shoot-out after a breathless contest finished with the scores locked together at 2-2.

Belgium– wearing black armbands in memory of Simon Gougnard’s father, who sadly passed away on Friday – were absolutely sensational against England, a team that had reached the semi-finals for the third World Cup in succession. The Red Lions themselves were aiming to reach a third major final in as many years, following the silver medals won at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the EuroHockey Championships 2017.

Striker Tom Boon gave Belgium the perfect start, getting ahead of his marker to deflect past England goalkeeper George Pinner in the eighth minute. That lead was almost doubled when Boon – later named Odisha Player of the Match – dived at full stretch to touch on a searching pass from Loick Luypaert onto the England cross-bar. Belgium took a 2-0 lead into half time thanks to the outstanding Gougnard, who pounced on a penalty corner rebound to smash into England’s net shortly before Sebastien Dockier wasted a brilliant chance from close range, failing to convert after some fine set-up play from Florent Van Aubel.

England – searching for their first World Cup final appearance since the Willesden 1986 event on home soil – came out firing in the third quarter, playing their best hockey of the match in a bid to drag themselves back into the contest. However, their hopes were cruelly dashed when Cedric Charlier’s blistering strike finished off a rapid counter-attack, leaving Danny Kerry’s team with a mountainous task to overcome.

A penalty corner double from Alexander Hendrickx – his sixth and seventh goals of a hugely productive World Cup – either side of the quarter-time break all but sealed a Belgian victory, with Sebastien Dockier firing a late sixth into the roof of Pinner’s net to complete an emphatic 6-0 triumph.

Speaking after the match, Belgium captain Thomas Briels said, “We worked really hard for this success. It was a big challenge. Especially after the Germany victory, we had a tough game and we wanted to be really ready for this challenge and I think we did a really good job today. It feels amazing to be in the final.”

“It was really our big goal to be in the last game of the tournament and hopefully we can do one more step and play even better than today. We really hope we can bring the Cup home. We have to recover first. It’s going to be another really tough game. But I think we still have the energy to deliver one more good performance,” he added.

The second semi-final was a replay of the World Cup final of 2014, with reigning champions Australia and the Netherlands taking to the field for what proved to be a truly epic encounter. The Kookaburras came into the game having just conceded once in their previous four games here in Bhubaneswar, but that all changed in one of the best games seen at the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2018. After soaking up some early Australian pressure, the Netherlands took the lead when Jonas de Geus surged around the back of the Kookaburras’ defence before finding Glenn Schuurman who made no mistake from close range.

Seve van Ass made it 2-0 in the second quarter when his attempted cross was inadvertently deflected into the Australian net by Tim Howard, giving the Dutch some breathing space. Australia’s response was fierce, with Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak producing numerous high-quality blocks to keep the title holders off the score-sheet ahead of the half time break. The match continued to move from end-to-end at breakneck speed, with Australia pulling a goal back through Howard’s ferocious slap-shot from the top of the circle to give his team hope going into the final quarter. Blaak – later named Odisha Player of the Match – continued his sensational form in the fourth period by making further crucial saves, including a remarkable close-range block from Flynn Ogilvie who seemed almost certain to score. Australia’s equaliser arrived with just 26 seconds of the match remaining, and there was little Blaak could do about it. Eddie Ockenden was the scorer, brilliantly intercepting an aerial pass before eventually getting a first time shot towards goal, only for the unfortunate Schuurman to edge the ball through his goalkeeper’s legs to send the match to a shoot-out.

With both teams missing twice, the shoot-out score was locked at 3-3 and went to sudden-death. Jeroen Hertzberger made no mistake with the first of the sudden-death efforts, piling the pressure on Daniel Beale, who needed to score to keep Australian hopes alive.

However, it was Blaak and the Netherlands who would emerge triumphant, with the goalkeeper standing tall to make a superb stick save to put the Oranje into the World Cup final at the expense of the defending champions. Speaking after the match, Netherlands forward Jeroen Hertzberger – who scored twice in the shoot-out – said, “It was great. I think we deserve to win. We made it very hard for ourselves but at the end of the day we kept our focus and deserved to win the game. To be honest, the shoot-outs were obviously a bit nerve-breaking but there’s also something amazing about it.” “I had real confidence that we were going to win. I had so much confidence in our goalie even after we missed. Belgium are a good team obviously. It’s not for nothing that they are in the World Cup final and were in the Olympic final. We’re going to have to be even better than today and then I think we have a good chance to win,” he added. The medal matches will take place on Sunday, with England playing Australia for bronze at 1630 hours before Belgium and the Netherlands – who met in the final of the EuroHockey Championships 2017 – take to the field at 1900 hours for the chance to be crowned as champions of the world.

(UNI) PV Sindhu won BWF World Tour Finals title in the women’s singles category here on Sunday, becoming the first player from India to win the title.

She defeated Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara 21-19, 21-17 in the 62 minutes summit-clash to clinch the elusive title that she had lost last year. This is also her first title of this year.

The sixth-ranked Sindhu has been in brilliant form all week. In semifinal, Rio Olympic silver medallist overcame Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon.

(UNI) Bhupesh Baghel has been chosen as the new Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and the leader of Congress Legislative Party (CLP).

The Congress has come back to power in Chhattisgarh after 15 years.

Bhupesh was chosen at the CLP meeting held on Sunday in the presence of party’s central observer Mallikarjun Kharge and state in-charge PL Punia. The envelop sent by the party high command was opened at the meeting, attended by the newly elected Congress legislators. The envelop contained the name of Baghel.

The CLP has formally chosen Baghel as its leader.

Bhupesh Baghel will be the third Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and second CM from the Congress party.

The CLP meeting was also attended by other contenders for chief ministerial post-Dr Charandas Mahant, Tamradhwaj Sahu and TS Singhdeo

(UNI) The government machinery has been put on high alert to face the ‘Phethai’ Cyclone threat in Andhra Pradesh.

According to the Real Time Governance Society’s (RTGS) forecast, the ‘Phethai’ cyclone is likely to cross between Machilipatnam in Krishna district and Kakinada in East Godavari district.

‘Phethai’ lay centred at 550 KM from Sriharikota in Nellore district and moving towards coast with 15 kms speed. The RTGS and State Emergency Operations wing are in coordination with officials in various districts.

Officials said here on Sunday that 234 villages were identified in the coastal districts as vulnerable to be affected by the Cyclone. Special officers were appointed in various districts to monitor relief operations.

In Krishna district, 181 villages were identified as vulnerable to be affected by cyclone. There was rain at many places in Krishna district while cloudy and chilly weather prevailed across the Coastal Andhra Pradesh districts. Cyclone relief centres were set up in Narasapuram, Achanta and Mogalturu mandals in West Godavari district and special officials were deployed to monitor the operations.

The NDRF teams were also put on alert to swing into action, if needed. Cyclone control rooms were set up in all districts with 1100 phone number.

Officials in Guntur district said that 20 relief camps have been kept ready to shift people from low-lying areas, if necessary. They said that the villages located in Bapatla, Nizampatnam, Karlapalame and Repalle mandals were identified as venerable.

Minister for Municipal Administration P Narayana held teleconference with the officials in coastal AP districts today. He asked officials to take all precautionary measures to ensure that there is no loss of life and make arrangements to shift people living in low-lying areas to safer places if needed.