South Asia

In a tweet, Ramesh, who is party's communication incharge said, "It’s clear that the Prime Minister is very rattled by the 26-party INDIA. Not only is he trying to give new life to the almost-dead NDA but has also given it a new meaning through his vile abuses this morning—the National Defamation Alliance."

He added that, "When he is cornered, this is what Mr. Modi does all the time—deny, divert, distort, deflect and defame."

The veteran leader's remarks came after Prime Minister Modi during the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting this morning said that the East India Company and the Indian National Congress were created by the British.

Speaking to the media after the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting, former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that while addressing the MPs in the Parliamentary Party meeting, the Prime Minister said that the name INDIA has a strange coincidence.

"He (Modi) told that Prime Minister Modi said that the East India Company and the Indian National Congress were created by the British," he said, adding, "The Prime Minister said the Indian Mujahideen was founded by the terrorists and organisation like the Popular Front of India also has INDIA."

The Prime Minister said that he has not seen such "directionless" Opposition till date, the senior BJP leader quoted Modi as saying, in an apparent reference to Opposition's 'INDIA'.

--IANS

aks/shb

In the last 24 hours, the DGHS said nine people died of the mosquito-borne disease, raising the death toll to 138 so far this month, reports Xinhua news agency.

Since the beginning of this month, 27,292 more dengue cases were reported in comparison to the 5,956 infected persons registered in June.

A total of 2,293 fresh dengue cases, including 1,238 in Dhaka, were reported in the 24.

DGHS said 27,622 dengue patients have recovered after receiving treatment from various hospitals across the country from January 1 to July 24.

In order to fight the rising number of dengue cases, Bangladesh health authorities have strengthened measures to check the breeding of mosquitoes and conduct anti-larval operations.

--IANS

ksk

Briefing the press on Tuesday, Mishra said that earlier prisoners serving life imprisonment were released twice a year -- on the occasion of Independence Day and the Republic Day, but now this exercise takes place four times in one year.

The minister also made it clear that those serving life imprisonment on rape charges would not be given any leniency. While those who have been punished with fines, they will be released only after paying the amount.

"If someone is punished in any other case, then heshe will be released after completing the sentence in that case. Those who did not get bail in their second cases will be detained as undertrials and not as convicts. If convicted in a case of another state, they shall be transferred to that state,” the minister added.

Meanwhile, he also informed that the state government has decided to increase 'Samman Nidhi' of the ex-servicemen of the Second World War from Rs 8,000 per month to Rs 15,000. "At present, there are at least 112 ex-servicemen from Madhya Pradesh who had participated in World War II i," Mishra added.

--IANS

pd/dpb

A single-judge bench of the High Court pronounced the order on an election petition filed by Venkat Rao, challenging the election of Venkateshwar Rao.

Justice Radha Rani also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Venkateshwar Rao.

The petitioner alleged that Venkateshwar Rao had not given complete property details of himself and his wife in the Form 26 to the election commission.

Interestingly, both the leaders are from ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

In 2018 elections, Venkat Rao contested from Kothagudem Assembly constituency on the ticket of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

He lost to his nearest rival Venkateshwar Rao of the Congress party by 4,139 votes.

In January 2019, Venkat Rao had filed the petition challenging Venkateshwar Rao.

Venkat Rao raised various issues, including the failure to file a proper mandatory affidavit under section 125A of Representation of People’s Act. He alleged that Venkateshwar Rao submitted false information with respect to immovable assets, assets of family members and failed to disclose pending criminal cases.

However, Venkateshwar Rao had joined the TRS (now BRS) in March 2019.

Last year, Venkateshwar Rao had denied reports that he was planning to resign as MLA in view of the court case. He had alleged that Venkat Rao was creating confusion among the people.

--IANS

ms/shb

Former world No. 1 Srikanth, currently ranked 20th, defeated world No. 8 Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen 21-13, 21-13 in a round of 32 encounter, which lasted for 43 minutes. It was his second win over the Chinese Taipei shuttler in eight meetings.

Later, eighth seed HS Prannoy, 10th in the badminton rankings, defeated world No. 7 and reigning All England champion Li Shi Feng of China 21-17, 21-13 in 49 minutes. It was the Indian’s third straight win over the Chinese shuttler.

Now, Srikanth and Prannoy will face each other in the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF Super 750 tournament on Thursday.

In the women's singles opening round, Aakarshi Kashyap, world No. 42, went down 17-21, 17-21 to top-ranked Japanese shuttler Akane Yamaguchi in 34 minutes.

In the women's doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand staged a comeback to beat Japanese duo Sayaka Hobara and Yui Suizu Japan 11-21, 21-15, 21-14 in a little over an hour to advance to the pre-quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy were ousted from the mixed doubles after the Indian pair were defeated 21-18, 9-21, 18-21 by Chinese Taipei’s Hong Wei and Lee Chia Hsin in 53 minutes.

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, currently ranked 17, will take the court on Wednesday. She will be up against world No. 18 Zhang Yiman of China in her opening match.

Notably, results at the Japan Open will count towards players' qualifying rankings for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The qualification window for badminton started on May 1 this year.

--IANS

ak/

The IMD further predicted fresh spell of Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall over east central India during July 26-27 while the same is expected over Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, north Haryana and West Uttar Pradesh during July 25-27 and over East India between July 28 and 30.

According to the IMD, the weather forecast for different regions in India from July 25 to 29 indicates a mix of light to moderate fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with chances of isolated heavy and very heavy rainfall.

In Northwest India, states like Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, and West Uttar Pradesh are expected to experience widespread rainfall during the mentioned period. “Himachal Pradesh will also receive rainfall from Tuesday to Friday, with isolated very heavy rainfall on July 26 and 27. East Rajasthan will see rainfall from 25th to 27th, and West Rajasthan on 25th and 26th. Jammu and Kashmir will experience rainfall on July 26 and 27, with isolated heavy rainfall,” the weather department said in its bulletin released on Tuesday.

Central India will also witness fairly widespread to widespread rainfall. Vidarbha and Chhattisgarh will experience rainfall from Tuesday to Friday, with isolated very heavy rainfall on July 26 and 27.

East Madhya Pradesh will have rainfall from July 26 to 28, with isolated very heavy rainfall on July 27.

The IMD further predicted that West India, regions like Konkan, Goa and ghat areas of Madhya Maharashtra will experience widespread rainfall from Tuesday to Saturday, with isolated extremely heavy rainfall on July 25 and 26.

South India will also experience widespread rainfall during the period. “Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Rayalaseema, South Interior Karnataka, and Kerala and Mahe will see rainfall till July 27, while Telangana will experience it from Tuesday to Friday. Coastal and North Interior Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Puducherry & Karaikal will receive rainfall on July 25 and 26. Isolated very heavy rainfall is likely in several areas during this time,” said the IMD.

It further said that Northeast India will witness fairly widespread rainfall till July 29 in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, and on July 28, and 29 in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. “Isolated very heavy rainfall is expected in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Meghalaya on July 27 and 28,” it said.

--IANS

ssh/shb

According to sources, Piyush Goyal called these MPs to his office in the Parliament House and gave strict instructions that no excuses will be entertained for their absence from the House. If sources are to be believed, Piyush Goyal while instructing them to be always present in the House during the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha, even told these MPs of the party to go for lunch only during lunch time.

During the Monsoon Session of Parliament, the government has to pass many important bills related to the rights of the Delhi government from the Rajya Sabha where the government does not have a majority. The government always wants to be present in the Rajya Sabha in full numbers as opposition parties have been attacking the Centre over several issues in the ongoing Parliament Session.

--IANS

stp/uk

The defamation suit was based on a story published by Tehelka in March 2001, which portrayed Ahluwalia as an alleged corrupt middleman involved in defence deals related to the import of new equipments.

A video tape and transcript had also alleged that Ahluwalia had accepted a bribe of Rs 50,000 from one of the reporters. This "false" allegation received wide publicity through various media channels and had serious repercussions, leading to a Court of Inquiry initiated by the Indian Army.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna observed that the article had severely damaged Ahluwalia's reputation, leading to a decline in public esteem and causing serious harm to his character with allegations of corruption that could not be easily rectified or healed by subsequent refutation.

Ahluwalia had previously sent a legal notice seeking an apology, but it was refused by the defendants. The court observed that the apology at this stage has become irrelevant as the plaintiff has already suffered the Court of Inquiry and has already been punished with severe displeasure qua his conduct which was held to be unbecoming of an Army Officer.

The court ordered: "... damages in the sum of Rs 2,00,00,000/- (Rupees two crores) is awarded to the plaintiff to be paid by defendant No.1 to 4 for having caused defamation, along with costs of the suit."

The court said that Ahluwalia, an honest Army Officer who had rejected bribes, had suffered significant harm to his reputation due to the false statements made about him.

Noting that the Court of Inquiry gave a clean chit to Ahluwalia and severe displeasure was awarded only because of his conduct of agreeing to meet with people of doubtful credentials, the judge said: "It is a service discipline which was questioned and not the integrity or character of the plaintiff (Ahluwalia). To borrow the triple test... this false statement about the plaintiff to his discredit, exposed him to hatred, ridicule, or contempt, or which causes him to be shunned or avoided, or which has a tendency to injure him in his office, professional or trade and consequently tended to lower the plaintiff in the estimation of right thinking members of society."

While the court said that Tehelka's objective might have been in the public interest, it stated that this did not justify fabricating false statements to sensationalise the story among the general public.

As for Zee Telefilm Limited, its former Chairman Subhash Chandra, and former Chief Executive Officer Sandeep Goyal, the court found no evidence to support Ahluwalia's claim of defamation against them.

--IANS

spr/sha

In India’s chase of 226, Harmanpreet went for a sweep off Nahida Akter in the 34th over. But the Indian skipper missed the delivery and the ball seemingly went to slip off the pads. On Nahida’s appeal, the umpire raised his finger, leaving Harmanpreet furious.

In anger, she hit the stumps with her bat and exchanged a few angry words with the umpire before walking towards the pavilion. On the way, she showed a thumbs up to the crowd when she reached the boundary ropes.

"They (Bangladesh) batted really well, batted according to the situation. They were taking those singles which were very crucial. In between we leaked a few runs but when we were batting, we controlled the game very well. But as I mentioned earlier, some pathetic umpiring was done and we are really disappointed about some decisions given by the umpires," said Harmanpreet in the post-match presentation ceremony.

Apart from her, Yastika Bhatia also fell to a controversial lbw decision off Sultana Khatun, but with no DRS for the series, she had to walk back for five and expressed displeasure at the decision by the umpire. Amanjot Kaur was also left unhappy over an lbw decision she received against Rabeya Khan.

Harmanpreet went on to add that the Indian team will be better prepared to deal with the umpires’ questionable decision-making whenever they are in Bangladesh next time.

"I think a lot of learning for us from the game. Even apart from the cricket, the kind of umpiring that was happening we were very surprised. The next time when we come to Bangladesh we will make sure we have to deal with this type of umpiring and prepare ourselves accordingly."

Harmanpreet was in praise of Harleen Deol’s 77 keeping India in the hunt of chasing 226, before a dramatic collapse saw them lose six wickets for just 34 runs and end up being 225 all out in 49.3 overs, with the series shared at 1-1.

"My hand is fine. She (Harleen) looked very promising in the last game, so we promoted her to bat freely and she took the opportunity with both hands. Jemi was really good throughout the innings. She played that crucial inning for us."

"Good game, lot of learnings and lastly our High Commission from India is also there and I hope you could have invited him here, but that is also fine. And thank you sir for coming here."

Harleen, named Player of the Match for notching up her second ODI fifty, stated that she wants to take the confidence from this knock into upcoming games.

"Actually it was a good wicket to bat on. Initially, we were struggling because we didn't know the conditions that well. We were ahead of the game and we got out and then the game turned."

"Game plan was the same as last game -- our players got settled (in the last game), so Harry di went to bat. Today, we lost early wickets so I came in to bat. A lot of confidence comes in after a good knock. Want to take it forward."

--IANS

nr/bsk

This victory propelled tournament favorite England to a temporary top spot in Group D with three points, ahead of a match between China and Denmark later that Saturday.

Participating in the World Cup for the first time, Haiti lost central defender Jennyfer Limage early in the game due to injury. The team faced another setback in the 29th minute when they were penalised for a handball in the penalty area, a Xinhua report said.

Stanway, a midfielder, accurately dispatched the retaken penalty to the bottom corner, securing England, the world's fourth-ranked team, a 1-0 lead.

Despite ranking lowest in the group, Haiti demonstrated their determination to fight for a last-16 berth, threatening England with swift counterattacks and clear opportunities.

Melchie Dumornay, who recently joined French league titleholder Lyon, assumed a No. 10 role in Haiti's 4-2-3-1 formation. She guided the team with assured ball control, expansive vision and judicious distribution.

The 19-year-old star engineered the majority of Haiti's dangerous chances, forming an effective partnership with forward Roselord Borgella and left midfielder Nerilia Mondesir, who both play in the top division of the French league.

Haiti, ranked 53rd in the FIFA rankings, nearly leveled the score with nine minutes remaining when substitute Roseline Eloissaint squandered a one-on-one opportunity from close range, her shot blocked by a fantastic left-foot save from England goalkeeper Mary Earps.

The 2023 World Cup, hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20, will see only the top two teams from each of the eight groups progress to the round of 16. This marks the inaugural instance of the women's football's premier tournament expanding to a 32-team format.

--IANS

ak/