India

New Delhi, June 2 (IANS) A strong military not only secures the borders, but also protects the culture and economy of a country, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday.

The goal is to build a strong, self-reliant and prosperous nation, which caters to its own needs as well as the requirements of friendly countries. This is an era of renaissance. It is time to re-establish India as a global superpower," said the Defence Minister at an event here.

"India is not only an emerging but a resurgent power which is regaining its place on the global economic map," said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

He began his address by stating that until the 17th century, India had a remarkably strong economy, constituting over a quarter of the world's GDP, but it lost its glory due to a weak military and political slavery." Singh asserted that the government was working on both these fronts to ensure that India regains its old glorious status.

He stated that no stone is being left unturned to create a strong, young and tech-savvy Armed Forces on the back of robust defence industry which indigenously manufactures state-of-the-art weapons and equipment, while efforts are also being made to get rid of the colonial mind-set.

Citing a report by Morgan Stanley, he said that after naming India among the 'Fragile 5' economies in 2013, the investment firm recently stated that the country will be the third largest economy by 2027.

Rajnath Singh listed out a number of reforms undertaken by the government to facilitate the economic growth of the country. These include direct tax reforms, GST and steps to enhance ease of doing business. There has been a revolutionary transformation in all sectors and foreign investors today see India as an attractive destination, he said.

The defence minister said that a number of steps have been taken to achieve complete 'Aatmanirbharta' in manufacturing of weapons and technologies. The major decisions include notification of four positive indigenisation lists of 411 items on behalf of the Armed Forces and four other lists of 4,666 items for DPSUs, besides setting up of Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Shedding light on the positive results achieved due to the government's efforts, Rajnath Singh stated that a record over Rs one lakh crore defence production and all-time high defence exports of almost Rs 16,000 crore in Financial Year 2022-23 are proof of the massive growth of the defence sector. He added that the startup friendly ecosystem created by the government has led to the creation of over 100 unicorns in the country, with the defence R&D and manufacturing sector witnessing a significant increase in the number of start-ups.

Rajnath Singh also envisioned a developed India which ensures that universal values like democracy, religious freedom, dignity and world peace are established across the globe.

"Together, let us dream of an India where people have the same feeling of nation building, where all Indians work together without any discrimination. Let us dream of an India where people are judged not by their caste and religion, but by their knowledge and character, where every Indian has access to human rights and has commitment towards their duties. Let us dream of an India which is strong enough to defend itself and be ready to stand against any injustice anywhere in the world," he said.

--IANS
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San Francisco, June 2 (IANS) Meta-owned WhatsApp is reportedly working on a redesigned keyboard with an emoji category bar on Android.

With this feature, the tabs that provide easy access to other keyboard functionalities (including GIF and sticker selection) will be moved upwards, according to WABetaInfo.

There are also plans for the chat bar, including the relocation of the attachment sharing buttons and the emoji keyboard button to match the style of WhatsApp Desktop and WhatsApp for iOS.

Currently, the redesigned keyboard is under development and it will be released in a future update of the app, the report said.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp is now rolling out a 'companion mode' feature to iPhone users, which will allow them to link an existing account to a second iOS device.

With this feature, users can link up to four devices simultaneously, meaning they can connect even more than two mobile phones to their WhatsApp accounts.

Users can link their existing WhatsApp account to a secondary iPhone by scanning the QR Code.

Earlier, the company rolled out the 'companion mode' feature to Android users only.

--IANS
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San Francisco, June 2 (IANS) Meta has announced over 20 new titles for Quest VR headsets at the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase, in addition to the introduction of a $499 Quest 3 headset which will be launched later this year.

The games include Stranger Things VR, a new version of NFL Pro Era, Assassin's Creed: Nexus VR, Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire, Dungeons of Eternity, Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable, and more.

The company is collaborating with a number of game studios to bring a variety of games to the Quest platform. A VR version of SEGA's classic 1999 arcade game Samba de Amigo is set to be released soon, according to TechCrunch.

Vampire: The Masquerade -- Justice will let gamers become a vampire in Venice.

In the Stranger Things VR game, players will get to be evil and take on the role of Vecna. Racket Club is a racket sport that combines tennis and pickleball.

Meta's announcement comes just days before Apple is expected to unveil its much-anticipated VR headset at next week's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC).

According to a new report, over 51 million VR headsets have been shipped worldwide in the past five years as Big Tech firms bet big on Metaverse and other augmented reality (AR)-VR technologies.

According to data presented by CasinosEnLigne.com, the installed base of VR headsets is likely to surge from 51 million to almost 100 million by 2024.

The global VR headset sales are expected to bring in $9.1 billion in revenue in 2023, or 13 per cent more than last year.

--IANS
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Washington, June 2 (IANS) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said here that his disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP was actually an advantage as the move allowed him to redefine himself without the BJP even realising it.

"My disqualification in many ways is an advantage because it has completely opened up new spaces for me, allows me to completely redefine myself. I think the BJP has given me a gift and frankly dont think they realise it," he said on Thursday at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.

"Politics is not linear, it completely goes off in one direction, its asymmetric. So I think that they have given me a gift its apparent right now... they have," the former MP added.

Rahul was disqualified as an MP in March following a defamation case against him.

"I am the first person in Indian history since 1947 to be given the highest punishment for defamation. My disqualification happened right after my speech on Adani in Parliament. This should explain what is going on in India," he alleged.

Rahul further said that he is not concerned about threats of assassination.

"I am not concerned about threats of assassination. Everybody has to die. That's what I learnt from my grandmother (Indira Gandhi) and father (Rajiv Gandhi) -- you don't back down because of something like that," the Congress leader said.

While speaking at the Stanford University on Wednesday, Rahul had said that he "never imagined" that he would get maximum punishment in a defamation case and would be disqualified as an MP, but asserted that it has given him a lot of opportunity to work.

The Congress leader who is on an ongoing six-day visit to the US is scheduled to meet several people in the coming days in Washington D.C. and New York.

He arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday.

--IANS
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Chandigarh, June 2 (IANS) In a joint operation by the Border Security Force (BSF) and Punjab Police, three packets of suspected heroin, weighing 2.5 kg was seized from a house in Fazilka district, which is suspected to be dropped by a drone from Pakistan, the paramilitary force said on Friday.

On specific information of the BSF, a joint search operation was launched with the police at some houses of Chakkhewa village on Thursday.

During the search, two suspects were taken into custody and on the basis of their revelation during interrogation three packets of suspected heroin were recovered from the house of the individual.

The consignment was probably dropped by drone few days back and further concealed inside the house, said the BSF.

The case is being registered and investigation is on.

Another coordinated action of the BSF and the police against drugs led to the recovery of contrabands, it added.

--IANS
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Jammu, June 2 (IANS) One terrorist was killed on Friday in the ongoing operation against the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district.

Defence sources said that one terrorist was killed in the gunfight with the security forces in Dassal Gujran area of the district.

Sources said gunfight had erupted between the terrorists and the security forces during the search operation that followed the nightlong firing exchange between the hiding terrorists and the security forces.

Earlier in the day, the Army said, "In a joint operation by Indian Army in coordination with JKP, the intelligence based ambushes noticed a suspicious movement in forest area of Dassal Gujran (near Rajouri) on the night of 01/02 June 2023..

"On being challenged by our troops, they were fired upon which was retaliated by our troops. Sporadic firing continued through out the night."

--IANS
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Pilibhit (UP), June 2 (IANS) A 37-year-old man allegedly hurled his two-day-old girl child on the floor at a private maternity clinic.

The baby died instantly.

The man was reportedly upset as he wanted a son after two daughters.

His wife, Shabbo Begum, filed an oral police complaint, in which she claimed that her husband used to curse her for giving birth to two daughters earlier and subjected her to cruelty.

"After I gave birth to another girl child on Monday, my husband took the infant on his lap and then hurled her on the floor on Wednesday. The baby died," the wife said in her complaint.

She said the infant had some health issues and doctors advised them to shift the baby to a hospital with better medical facility, but her husband refused.

Shabbo Begum, 28, had got married to Mohammad Farhan, 32, a marginal farmer, about five years ago, and stayed with their two daughters in Sirsa village under Puranpur Kotwali police station.

She alleged that when she was pregnant, her husband hit her on the abdomen several times, threatening to give her 'talaq' if she gave birth to a girl again.

Though Shabbo's mother filed a written police complaint, no FIR has been registered so far.

"The police are putting pressure on me to compromise with my husband and settle the matter," Shabbo said.

Meanwhile, Puranpur Kotwali SHO Ashutosh Raghuvanshi said the couple has settled the matter amicably, and that the wife did not want any police action in the matter.

The wife, however, refuted the SHO's claim and said she wanted her husband punished.

CO Sunil Dutt said on Friday, "I will look into the matter and probe allegations levelled against the SHO. If the victim wants an FIR registered, it will be lodged."

--IANS
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Lucknow, June 2 (IANS) Investigating agencies probing into the Rs 500 crore scholarship scam are now focusing on 20 more colleges that may have been involved in the crime.

According to reports, investigators have picked up clues which suggest that the scam may be much bigger than what is being estimated.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate is preparing to attach properties worth Rs 90 crore belonging to the accused named in the case so far.

The ED sources said that these 20 colleges embezzled scholarships worth several crores, the exact amount of which is being ascertained.

It surfaced that these 20 colleges had fudged registration of students in different courses. The institutes/colleges have been accused of furnishing details of students who were never enrolled with them, to seek scholarships from the Uttar Pradesh government under various schemes.

Soon after opening bank accounts, they were registered as students and all scholarships coming into their accounts was used by the owners. They were kept in the dark about any such transaction taking place into their accounts, the sources added.

The ED has compiled properties worth Rs 90 crore belonging to the three arrested persons, identified as Izhar Hussain Jafri, Ali Abbas Jafri and Ravi Prakash Gupta, and the process to confiscate it has already begun.

Sources added that Ravi Prakash Gupta, one of the three arrested accused, was only a graduate, but he was made principal of one of these institutes which is against the norms.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in April had arrested three owners of educational institutes in connection with a scholarship scam.

The arrests came after ED raids on 10 educational institutes across several districts of Uttar Pradesh in February. It allegedly seized crucial evidence of the offence not only of these 10 institutes but also in respect of several other colleges and institutes which, prima facie, were also found engaged in the scam.

ED investigation revealed that the trio were operating the scam from Hygia Group of colleges and fraudulently obtained scholarship funds using Aadhaar and bank details of ineligible persons shown as students.

--IANS
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By Arul Louis
Dallas, June 2 (IANS) Keeping up the dominance of the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee in the US by Indian-origin children, 14-year-old Dev Shah from Florida has won the competition by correctly spelling the word "psammophile".


He carried home the trophy and the $50,000 prize at the finals held on Thursday night in National Harbor, Maryland, after he spelt the word for an animal or plant that thrives in sandy soil.

From the 231 national contestants, the 11 finalists left standing in three days of gruelling competition, 10 were of Indian origin.

After nine were eliminated, Shah went into the final round against 14-year-old Charlotte Walsh from Arlington, Virginia, beating her with bathypitotmeter (a device for measuring water temperature and current) before clinching the award by spelling the final word correctly.

Shradha Rachamreddy and Surya Kapu tied for the third place with a $15,000 prize.

Shah is a class 8 student from Largo.

Schistorrhachis, aegagrus and were among the words he spelt correctly through 15 rounds reaching the top.

Children of Indian origin have dominated the contest, which tests not only the rote memorisation of spellings but also the knowledge of the origin of words and their structure and usage.

Thousands of students from around the US and some foreign countries compete in local and regional competitions before the field is narrowed to 231.

Since Balu Natarajan won it in 1985, 21 Indian-origin children have followed him, monopolising it from 2008 to 2018.

Harini Logan was the winner last year resuming the Indian lead, after a 2021 win by a non-Indian.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

--IANS
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Washington, June 2 (IANS) Dev Shah, a 14-year-old Indian-American teenager from Florida, has won the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee in the US, by correctly spelling the word "psammophile" -- an organism that lives in sandy areas.

On Thursday evening, Shah, a student from Largo, became the winner of the 95th national bee and the $50,000 prize, the BBC reported.

The runner-up was 14-year-old Charlotte Walsh from Arlington, Virginia. She failed to correctly spell "daviely" in an earlier round.

Eleven students made the finals after 11 million people entered spelling competitions, according to the organisers.

"It's surreal... my legs are still shaking," the BBC quoted Dev as saying as he collected the trophy on stage, joined by his family.

His mother said she was "very proud" of him.

He had previously entered the competition in 2019 and 2021, finishing tied 51st and tied 76th, respectively.

On his way to the final he correctly spelled words such as bathypitotmeter, schistorrhachis and rommack. He also correctly answered a question, saying that a magician would be most likely to practice legerdemain.

In 2022, Harini Logan, an Indian-American from San Antonio, Texas, won the first-ever spell-off at the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee against Vikram Raju getting 21 of 26 words right.

Indian-American students have dominated the competition and have won every Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2008.

The Spelling Bee has seen a total of 26 winners, comprising a historic win of seven out of eight students of Indian origin in 2019.

The Spelling Bee launched back in 1925, has been noted as the country's largest and longest-running educational program.

--IANS
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