Colombo, July 15 :Sri Lanka will elected a new President on July 20 to succeed the now deposed Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who on Thursday reached Singapore after fleeing the country following a mass uprising, it was announced on Friday.
Parliament will elect a new President on July 20 as decided by party leaders on an earlier occasion, newspapers quoted Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena as saying.
Nominations will be called on July 19 and a vote will take place the next day, the announcement said.
The Secretary General of Parliament, Dhammika Dassanayake, will inform the House about the official resignation of President Rajapaksa on Saturday, the Daily Mirror reported.
Before leaving Sri Lanka, first for The Maldives and then to Singapore, President Rajapaksa made Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe the acting President.
Rajapaksa was to resign as President on Wednesday but sent his resignation letter only after reaching Singapore on Thursday.
New SL President to be elected on July 20
Sensex opens marginally weak
Mumbai, July 15 :The BSE Sensex on Friday eased by 10 points at 53,406.64 in the opening session as selling was seen in energy, finance and IT stocks.
The Nifty rose 6.85 points at 15,945.50.
The Sensex registered the day’s high and low at 53,755.96 and 53,406.64 points respectively.
The Nifty registered the day’s high and low at 16,041.25 and 15,934.90 points respectively.
The Mid Cap rose by 0.14 per cent while Small Cap fell by 0.05 per cent.
In 30 scrips, 13 advanced while 17 declined.
The losers were Wipro by 2.23 per cent to Rs 392.65, HCL Technology by 1.88 per cent to Rs 886.75, Tata Steel by 1.12 per cent to Rs 897.90 and Tech Mahindra by 0.92 per cent to Rs 966.80.
The gainers were Bharti Airtel by 1.67 per cent to Rs 652.75, Titan by 1.59 per cent to Rs 2,158.50, Hind Unilever by 1.19 per cent to Rs 2,526.90 and Nestle India by 0.93 per cent to Rs 18,540.
This too shall pass: Babar backs out-of-form Kohli
New Delhi, July 15 :Pakistan captain Babar Azam has come out in support of ex-India skipper Virat Kohli, who has been going through a lean patch.
Missing the first ODI against England with a groin injury, Kohli made just 16 in the second match, which India lost by 100 runs at Lord’s on Thursday.
The right-hander has now gone 77 consecutive international innings without reaching three figures, after scores of 1 and 11 in the T20I series and failures in the rescheduled fifth Test. Kohli as not hit a century since 2019.
Kohli’s Pakistani counterpart has extended his support via social media as Babar posted a picture of Kohli and himself on Twitter with a caption: “”This too shall pass. Stay strong.”
Earlier in the week, Kohli also found support from captain Rohit Sharma, who stood up for his teammate ahead of the England ODIs.
“When someone is scoring consistently for so long, we can’t overlook his contribution if he is not scoring in one or two series or in one or two years,” Sharma to reporters ahead of ODI series with England.
“When someone is scoring consistently for so long, we can’t overlook his contribution if he is not scoring in one or two series or in one or two years. We know the importance of Virat Kohli. The experts have got all the right to talk about it but for us these things don’t matter,” he added.
Sindhu advances to Singapore Open semifinal
Kallang (Singapore), July 15 :Former world champion PV Sindhu registered a thrilling win over China’s Han Yue to march through to the semifinal of Singapore Open Super 500 badminton tournament here on Friday.
Sindhu come from one game down to beat Han 17-21, 21-11, 21-19 in a thrilling quarterfinal match at the Singapore Indoor stadium. She will next play against Saena Kawakai of Japan to secure her spot in the final.
After losing the first game in a close contest. Sindhu turned the momentum in the second and pocketed the game to force the match into decider and keeping her semifinal hopes alive.
The deciding game witness an intense action in the initial exchanges but it was Han who took three-point lead at the time of breather.
After the change of sides, Sindhu took seven points in row from 9-14 down and held 2-point lead. But Han was not ready to gave up easily as she equalised at 16-all. Sindhu regained her lead with couple of points and the Chinese again levelled it at 18-all.
The monentum kept swinging back-and-forth as none of the player held lead. The drama continued as the scores were tied 19-all and match point awaited one of them.
Other moment, Sindhu reached to the match point opportunity. Then, she went for a short lift to which Han reverted with a smash that went slight above the wide line. Sindhu confidently challenged it to be out which she won and wrapped up the win to march through to the last-four
SAIL Celebrates Fifty years of Incorporation with a Special Logo
New Delhi, May 23 :Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), the maharatna steelmaking public sector unit, is celebrating the company’s fifty years of incorporation this year in 2022. SAIL was incorporated on 24th January, 1973.
SAIL’s legacy of fifty years is being celebrated with the launch of a new commemorative logo and will be followed by several events to be held all across the company throughout the year. The design of the commemorative logo retains the essence of SAIL’s company logo while bringing out the spirit of fifty years of journey of this company. The logo was launched by Smt. Soma Mondal, Chairman, SAIL in presence of the Company’s directors here today.
This feat is a testimony of the company’s sustained efforts and initiatives in ensuring better stakeholders’ engagement and contribution in nation building over the years.
Sports Department Udhampur conducts yoga camp at GHS Nagrota Panjgarain
Udhampur, April 21: As part of the celebration of “Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav” a one day Yoga camp was organized by the Department of Youth Services & Sports Udhampur in the premises of Government High School Nagrota Panjgarain Block Chanunta of District Udhampur.
The whole programme is being conducted under the patronageship of Alok Kumar, Principal Secretary Youth Services & Sports U T of J&K and overall supervision of Director Youth Services & Sports UT J&K, Gazanfar Ali and Chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur Indu Kanwal Chib.
Dr. Balbir Singh who is presently working as a research expert in the Pasteur Institute, Paris France was the chief guest while Ram Kumar Sawhney, Headmaster Government High School Panjgarain was guest of honour on the occasion.
Earlier, Yash Pal Sharma Incharge ZPEO Office Ghordi welcomed all the dignitaries and presided over the function and guided the participants regarding “Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav” and briefed about various benefits of Yoga and Asanaas in our life.
Among others, all the field staff of Youth Services and Sports of Zone Ghordi and Staff members of Govt High School Nagrota panjgarain were also present during the Yoga camp.
SKS initiative aims to identify sports talent at grassroots level: MP Jugal Kishore
Launches Sansad Khel Spardha at Nagrota
Reviews development works in Nagrota Panchayat under SAGY
Jammu, April 13: Member Parliament Jammu-Poonch Constituency Jugal Kishore Sharma today launched Sansad Khel Spardha by declaring open a multidisciplinary sports tournament here at Khel Gaon Nagrota.
The event will witness Volleyball, Kabaddi and Tug of War competitions.
DDC Chairman Bharat Bhushan; Deputy Commissioner Jammu Anshul Garg; DDC Member Joginder Singh; BDC Member Rehmat Ali; ADDC Ramesh Kumar; DEO Suraj Singh; CMO JP Singh; ACD Ashok Choudhary; DYSO Sukhdev Raj besides Members of the Committee Ankush Gupta, Surjeet Singh, Puran Singh, Satish Sharma, Surinder Bhagat, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Raman Suri, Sunil Dogra, Ankush Mahajan and other senior officers of the concerned departments were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the Member Parliament said that Government has taken many initiatives like ‘Khelo India’ to identify the sports talent at the grassroots level. He added that these sports are organised to promote sports culture among youth.
He emphasized upon to create sports champions at state, national and international level and provide best facilities to them for improving their skills.
The MP said that these kinds of sports events would also encourage the youth for adopting a healthier lifestyle and channelize their energy in positive direction. He also presented sports kits to every Panchayat of Nagrota Block.
In his address, the Deputy Commissioner Anshul Garg highlighted the role of sports in the development of an individual. “Sports help an individual in achieving mental health much more than the physical health alone and it also helps to make the society progressive and harmonious” he said.
Later, the Jugal Kishore Sharma also chaired a meeting to review the physical and financial status of developmental works being carried out in Nagrota Panchayat under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna.
The DDC member, BDC member, Panchs-Sarpanchs and locals present in the meeting, raised their issues/demands like irregular water and power supply, requirement of road connectivity, hand pump, community hall, bathing facility at Shamshan Ghat etc.
The MP also took a detailed department wise review of works and schemes initiated to provide facilities and benefits to the people of the Nagrota Panchayat.
The Member Parliament also gave away Rs 10 lakh from MP Local Area Development Fund for the construction of Community Hall and Solar lights at Panchayat Nagrota.
After the review, the Member Parliament asked the officers to ramp up the pace of work on undertaken projects for their timely completion and without compromising the quality standards.
Sports Competitions hosted in Doda under My Youth My Pride programme
Doda, April 13: Sports Competitions for Kabbaddi, Kho-Kho and Chess were today conducted here at Sports Stadium Doda under My Youth My Pride Programme.
Kho-Kho and Chess were organised under the dynamic leadership of Secretary sports council Nuzhat Gil under the guidance of Div. Sports officer Jammu and supervision of Rajesh Kumar and concerned game coaches especially Hockey Coach Dalbir Mehta, Ajay Gupta Kabaddi Coach, Anil Sharma Kho-Kho Coach and Manmeet Kour Kabaddi Coach.
The Chief Guest of the sports competition was Ravinder Thakur and Shivali Rana Sarpanch was Guest of Honour.
Sports activities which are organised by the Sports council are a big boost for sports lovers. These types of sports activities are required to be organised in future for the betterment of the local youth of District Doda.
A total of 110 sports persons participated in the game of Kabaddi, Kho-Kho and Chess.
India is ‘the’ destination for UAE businesses -Shri Piyush Goyal
New Delhi :Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, invited the business community from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to come and capitalise on the business-friendly policies and the opportunities that the emerging India is offering to global businesses. “With the cost and trust advantage that India offers, it is time to invest in India. As partners, we can secure each other’s economic future and strengthen our partnership in the post-COVID world,” said Shri Goyal.
Shri Goyal was speaking at India’s Honour Day Celebrations at Expo2020 in Dubai.
He said, “I believe we are now at the cusp of growth and development in the years to come. India provides talent and investor friendly policies. In most sectors, FDI is open 100%. We have several new initiatives to promote industry like the Production Linked Incentive scheme and the Make in India policy, our efforts to provide Ease-of-doing-Business, all of which will lead to ease of living for our people,” he added.
“To the global community, I say, ‘Come experience India – the land of opportunities’. Let’s grow together, let’s change together, let’s transform together because together we can surmount any obstacles and achieve humongous goals and targets beyond anyone’s imagination,” said the Minister.
Shri Goyal said that the new India is fearless and confident where we wish to see the prosperity of every Indian. “Next 25 years in India will signify a strong and inclusive India,” added the Minister.
He said the word ‘trust’ describes India-UAE relationship. “Our ties will remain vibrant and grow from strength to strength,” said the Minister.
Shri Goyal said, “The special partnership that Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan share is legendary. It’s a bond of eternal friendship symbolising trust and we are natural partners due to the complementary nature of our economies and increasing trade will always showcase the synergy that the two nations have, strengthening further, our bonds.”
“Our shared vision which has opened newer avenues, one of which is the commitment to establish an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in the United Arab Emirates,” added the Minister.
On government cooperation, Shri Goyal said both the governments supported each other. “We were the brothers working for each other during COVID,” he said.
“The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is a win-win agreement for the good of the people of both the countries,” he added.
On the grand success of Dubai Expo, the Minister said that Expo2020 is victory of courage over adversity. “The Expo will go down in history as a memorable chapter where the two brothers came closer. It will conclude but the memories will remain. The India Pavilion is going to be a permanent structure; it is not going to be dismantled. It will stand as a testimony to our two countries working towards the collective good of the people,” added the Minister.
The India Pavilion, one of the largest and most iconic pavilions at EXPO2020 Dubai, recorded more than 1.6 million footfalls since its inauguration on October 1st last year. The India Pavilion was inaugurated by Shri Piyush Goyal.
Expo2020 Dubai is concluding on March 31st.
Sadhna Top Snowslide: All 8 Passengers Rescued In Injured Condition
Srinagar, Mar 21: All eight passengers onboard a sumo vehicle which was swept away by a snow slide and fell into a gorge along Sadhna Top in frontier north Kashmir’s Kupwara district have been rescued in injured condition, officials said. Among the injured include three members of a family and five minors, officials said.
They told GNS that the snowslide hit the sumo vehicle (JK09 5693) at Sadna top at around 12:30 p.m.
Soon a rescue operation was launched by civil and army men along with locals. All eight passengers were rescued in injured condition and shifted to Sub District Hospital Tanghdar and condition of all but one is stated to be “stable”, an official told GNS. One among the injured women is being shifted from the SDH for suffering “bit serious injuries”, he said.
He identified the injured as Toffeq Ahmad (16), Ajmal Rafeeq(13), Abdul Rasheed (40), his wife Zameeda Begum (36), their daughter Sadiya Rashid (13),Sarwar Jan (70) and rehyan (7), all locals from Badharkote and Ibkote areas.