News in Brief

BY | Tuesday, 23 August, 2022

Rajasthan: Flood-like situation worsens in Kota, nearby areas

Kota/Jaipur: Flood-like situation in Rajasthan’s Kota worsened on Tuesday due to incessant rainfall, officials said. An Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter has been called to conduct a rescue operation in Baran district while schools in all four districts of Kota division – Kota, Baran, Jhalawar and Bundi – have been shut, they said. Several areas in these districts are waterlogged due to heavy rains and water being released from dams. In Baran district, the water level in Parvati and Parvan river increased on Monday night due to which many low-lying areas faced waterlogging. The water also entered several residential areas. People are also being rescued from other locations in the district and shifted to safer places by teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).

 

Vikram Doraiswami to be India’s next high commissioner to UK

New Delhi: Seasoned diplomat Vikram K Doraiswami was on Tuesday appointed India’s new high commissioner to the United Kingdom, considered an important posting in view of growing strategic ties between the two countries. The Indian Foreign Service officer of 1992 batch is currently serving as Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh. The overall ties between India and Bangladesh witnessed a major expansion during Doraiswami’s tenure in Dhaka that began in October 2020. High Commissioner to the UK Gaitri Issar Kumar retired from service on June 30.

 

George Fernandes’ biography to be released on 26 Aug

Mangaluru: Life and times of George Fernandes, a biography of the former Union Minister and socialist leader will be released here on 26 August. The book will be released by bishop of Mangalore diocese Peter Paul Saldanha at St Aloysius college here, Fr Praveen Martis SJ, principal of the college said in a release here on Tuesday. Rahul Ramagundam’s book The Life and Times of George Fernandes is based on 12 years of research and offers a deep dive into the personal and political life of the leader. George Fernandes was a native of Mangaluru, born in Bejai in the city. His initial schooling was in the city before starting life as a trade unionist in Mumbai and starting his political career from the grassroot level. His gradual struggles took him to post of Defence Minister of India. He is one of the most admired statesmen and Parliamentarians in the country. Rahul Ramagundam is a historian and a professor at Jamia Millia Islamia University, who has a PhD in modern Indian history from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

 

BWF Worlds: Saina advances in to pre-quarters

Tokyo: London Olympic bronze medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal kicked-off her BWF World Championships campaign with a straight game win over Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi here on Tuesday. Saina, took 38 minutes to dispatch Ngan Yi 21-19 21-9 in the opening round. The 32-year-old, who has a silver and bronze from the Worlds, thus moved into the pre-quarterfinals as her second-round opponent, Nozomi Okuhara pulled out of the tournament due to an injury, giving the Indian a bye. The women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also made a winning start. The Indian duo hardly broke a sweat as they inflicted a 21-11 21-13 defeat on Malaysians Yeen Yuan Low and Valeree Siow. However, it was the end of the road for the mixed doubles pair of Venkat Gaurav Prasd and Juhi Dewangan as they went down 10-21 21-23 to Gregory Mairs and Jenny Moore of England.

 

India remain static on third in ICC ODI Team Rankings

Dubai: A clean sweep of Zimbabwe helped India maintain their third spot in the latest ICC ODI Team Rankings, released here on Tuesday. India now have 111 rating points on the back of the 3-0 series win in Harare. Pakistan too was rewarded for their recent series sweep against the Netherlands. The Babar Azam-led side eked out a hard-fought victory by a similar 3-0 in their Cricket World Cup Super League series, moving to 107 rating points and fourth in the standing. New Zealand continue to reign supreme at the top of the table with 124 rating points following the Black Caps’ narrow 2-1 series triumph over the West Indies, while England remain second with 119 rating points. India’s next chance to make further ground on the ODI rankings comes when they host South Africa for three ODIs, starting 6 October.

 

Dravid tests positive for COVID-19, not travelling to Dubai for Asia Cup for now: BCCI secy Jay Shah

New Delhi: India head coach Rahul Dravid has tested positive for COVID-19 and didn’t accompany the Rohit Sharma-led team that left for Dubai to compete in the Asia Cup, starting August 27, BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed on Tuesday. India play arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening game on 28 August. “Dravid is under the supervision of the BCCI Medical team and has mild symptoms. He will join the team once he returns with a negative COVID-19 report,” Shah said in a release. It is understood that for the time being, assistant coach Paras Mhambrey will be in-charge of the team but a call on whether NCA head VVS Laxman will join the team in Dubai will be taken later on Tuesday. While majority of the members of the team left from Mumbai on Tuesday morning, vice-captain KL Rahul, Deepak Hooda and reserve player Axar Patel will travel from Harare, having finished their Zimbabwe assignment.

 

Nawazuddin Siddiqui to star in Zee Studios’ revenge drama Haddi

Mumbai: Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui will be playing the lead role in an upcoming revenge drama movie, titled Haddi. The film, which has started production, comes from Zee Studios and is directed by debutante filmmaker Akshat Ajay Sharma, the banner said in a press release on Tuesday. “I have portrayed different interesting characters but ‘Haddi’ is going to be a unique and special one since I will be sporting a never-seen-before look and it will also help me to push the envelope as an actor. Looking forward to starting shooting the film,” the 48-year-old actor said in a statement. The director said Haddi is special for him as he also gets to collaborate with Siddiqui, best known for his critically-acclaimed performances in movies like the Gangs of Wasseypur series, Kahaani, Raman Raghav 2.0, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Serious Men.

 

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