Category Archives: World Opinion

INTERNATIONAL: COMMONWEALTH GAMES, Birmingham (CWG 2022): The Full List of 61 Medals Won by India

Indian athletes won medals across 12 different sports that included a historic gold medal in lawn bowls while wrestlers once again had a 100% strike rate.

India ended the 2022 Commonwealth Games on Monday with 61 medals: 22 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze medals, which placed the contingent fourth on the overall standings.

India’s campaign in Birmingham ended with gold medals for PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj-Chirag Shetty in badminton and Sharath Kamal in table tennis. Sathiyan G won bronze in TT while the men’s hockey team won silver in the final on Monday.

Scroll.in’s full coverage of CWG 2022 here.

MEDAL TALLY: India finish fourth in the final standing with 61 medals

Weightlifters Sanket Sargar, Gururaja Poojary, Bindyarani Devi and Mirabai Chanu opened India’s medal account on the second day of the Games.

India secured medals in 12 different sporting disciplines.

India topped the individual discipline medal tally in wrestling, weightlifting, badminton and table tennis (including para table tennis).

The women’s fours lawn bowls fours team scripted history by winning India’s first medal in the sport when they clinched gold. The men’s team also came back with a silver medal.

PV Sindhu completed her set of Commonwealth Games medals, winning the elusive singles gold to add to the silver and bronze she won at previous editions. Lakshya Sen, and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won gold in men’s singles and doubles events as India claimed six medals in badminton.

In athletics, Eldhose Paul and Abdulla Aboobacker completed a historic 1-2 after winning gold and silver in the men’s triple jump. Avinash Sable put in arguably the best individual performance by an Indian athlete in Birmingham when he ended Kenya’s 24-year-old monopoly in the 3000m steeplechase by winning silver.

The veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal, playing in his fifth Commonwealth Games, won medals in all four table tennis events he participated in including a first gold in mixed doubles to complete his set of gold medals.

The Indian wrestlers won medals in all events for the second time in a row with Vinesh Phogat completing her hattrick of gold medals.

For the first time in the history of the Commonwealth Games, India won medals in both the men’s and women’s hockey event in the same edition after the men won silver while the women clinched bronze.

Here is the list of all 61 medals won by India at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham

Athletics

AthletesEventMedal
Eldhose PaulMen’s Triple JumpGOLD
Abdulla AboobackerMen’s Triple JumpSILVER
Avinash SableMen’s 3000m SteeplechaseSILVER
Priyanka GoswamiWomen’s 10km Race WalkSILVER
M SreeshankarMen’s Long JumpSILVER
Tejaswin ShankarMen’s High JumpBRONZE
Annu RaniWomen’s Javelin ThrowBRONZE
Sandeep KumarMen’s 10km Race WalkBRONZE

Badminton

AthletesEventMedal
PV SindhuWomen’s singlesGOLD
Lakshya SenMen’s SinglesGOLD
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag ShettyMen’s DoublesGOLD
Kidambi Srikanth, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, B Sumeeth Reddy, Lakshya Sen, Chirag Shetty, Treesa Jolly, Aakarshi Kashyap, Ashwini Ponnappa, Gayatri Gopichand, PV SindhuMixed TeamSILVER
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri GopichandWomen’s DoublesBRONZE
Kidambi SrikanthMen’s SinglesBRONZE

Boxing

AthletesEventMedal
Nikhat ZareenWomen’s 50kgGOLD
Nitu GhanghasWomen’s 48kgGOLD
Amit PanghalMen’s 51kgGOLD
Sagar Ahlawat Men’s +92kgSILVER
Rohit TokasMen’s 67kgBRONZE
JaismineWomen’s 60kgBRONZE
Mohammed HussamuddinMen’s 57kgBRONZE

Cricket

AthletesEventMedal
Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Taniya Bhatia, Yastika Bhatia, Harleen Deol, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Sabbineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar, Shafali Verma, Radha YadavCricket T20SILVER

Hockey

AthletesEventMedal
Manpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Abhishake Nain, Surender Kumar, Hardik Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, PR Sreejesh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Akashdeep Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jigraj Singh, Vivek Sagar PrasadMen’s HockeySILVER
Savita Punia, Gurjit Kaur, Deep Grace Ekka, Monika, Sonika, Sharmila Devi, Nikki Pradhan, Rajani Etimarpu, Sangita Kumari, Nisha, Vandana Katariya, Udita, Lalremsiami, Jyoti, Navneet Kaur, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Salima Tete, Neha GoyalWomen’s HockeyBRONZE

Judo

AthletesEventMedal
Sushila Devi LikmabamWomen’s 48kgSILVER
Tulika MaanWomen’s +78kgSILVER
Vijay Kumar YadavMen’s 60kgBRONZE

Lawn Bowls

AthletesEventMedal
Lovely Choubey, Rupa Rani Tirkey, Naynmoni Saikia, PinkiWomen’s FoursGOLD
Chandan Kumar Singh, Dinesh Kumar, Navneet Singh, Sunil BahadurMen’s FoursSILVER

Powerlifting

AthletesEventMedal
SudhirMen’s HeavyweightGOLD

Squash

AthletesEventMedal
Saurav GhosalMen’s SinglesBRONZE
Dipika Pallikal Karthik and Saurav GhosalMixed DoublesBRONZE

Table Tennis and Para Table Tennis

AthletesEventMedal
Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sreeja AkulaMixed Doubles GOLD
Achanta Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Harmeet Desai, Sanil ShettyMen’s TeamGOLD
Bhavina PatelWomen’s Singles Classes 3-5GOLD
Achanta Sharath KamalMen’s SinglesGOLD
Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan GnanasekaranMen’s DoublesSILVER
Sathiyan GnanasekaranMen’s SinglesBRONZE
Sonal PatelWomen’s Singles Classes 3-5BRONZE

Weightlifting

AthletesEventMedal
Saikom Mirabai ChanuWomen’s 49kgGOLD
Jeremy LalrinnungaMen’s 67kgGOLD
Achinta SheuliMen’s 73kgGOLD
Sanket SargarMen’s 55kgSILVER
Bindyarani DeviWomen’s 55kgSILVER
Vikas ThakurMen’s 96kgSILVER
Gururaja PoojaryMen’s 61kgBRONZE
Harjinder KaurWomen’s 71kgBRONZE
Lovepreet SinghMen’s 109kgBRONZE
Gurdeep SinghMen’s 109+kgBRONZE

Wrestling

AthletesEventMedal
Bajrang PuniaMen’s 65kgGOLD
Sakshi MalikWomen’s 62kgGOLD
Deepak PuniaMen’s 86kgGOLD
Ravi Kumar DahiyaMen’s 57kgGOLD
Vinesh PhogatWomen’s 53kgGOLD
NaveenMen’s 74kgGOLD
Anshu MalikWomen’s 57kgSILVER
Divya KakranWomen’s 68kgBRONZE
Mohit GrewalMen’s 125kgBRONZE
Pooja GehlotWomen’s 50kgBRONZE
Pooja SihagWomen’s 76kgBRONZE
Deepak NehraMen’s 97kgBRONZE

source/content: scroll.in (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: ENGINEERING SERVICES: In a First, the U.S. Navy Ship ‘Charles Drew’ Arrives in India for Repairs and Maintenance at L&T Shipyard, Chennai

It will undergo maintenance activities at L&T’s Shipyard in Chennai for 11 days.

In a first, a U.S. Navy Ship, Charles Drew, arrived in India for carrying out repairs and allied services at Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) Shipyard at Kattupalli, Chennai, on Sunday adding a new dimension to the fast expanding Indo-U.S. strategic partnership.

“This is the first ever repair of a U.S. Navy ship in India.

The U.S. Navy had awarded a contract to L&T’s Shipyard at Kattupalli for undertaking maintenance of the ship. The event signifies the capabilities of Indian shipyards in the global ship repairing market,” a Defence Ministry statement said. 

The USNS Charles Drew will be at the Kattupalli shipyard for a period of 11 days and undergo repairs in various areas.

At the India-U.S. 2+2 in April, both sides agreed to explore the possibilities of utilising Indian shipyards for the repair and maintenance of ships of the U.S. Maritime Sealift Command to support mid-voyage repair of U.S. Naval ships.

source/contents: thehindu.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL: EDUCATION, ACADEMIA: University of California – UC Merced, names Dr. Rakesh Goel, the New Dean for the School of Engineering

After a nationwide search, Rakesh Goel was selected as UC Merced’s next dean of the School of Engineering.

Goel is a seasoned academic leader who currently serves as executive associate dean in the College of Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly).

Before he arrived at Cal Poly, Goel was an assistant professor of Civil Engineering at Syracuse University and worked at the Earthquake Engineering Research Center at UC Berkeley as an assistant research engineer. He has industry experience both in India and the U.S. in civil and structural engineering. He is a registered civil engineer in the State of California and is a certified safety assessment program worker for the California Office of Emergency Services.

Goel is a national and international leader in the discipline of earthquake analysis and design structures. His work has been adapted by seismic codes and guidelines, such as the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) ASCE 7, FEMA-356, California Building Code and ASCE 61. He has authored/co-authored more than 150 publications. He has been awarded the Amman Fellowship, the Huber Research Prize and the Norman Medal by the American Society of Civil Engineers, among many other recognitions.

He is a fellow of the ASCE and the Structural Engineering Institute, where he has chaired three prominent committees and served on the editorial board for the Journal of Structural Engineering and Earthquake Spectra.

Goel earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, India. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in structural engineering from UC Berkeley.

He succeeds Mark Matsumoto, who has served as the school’s dean since 2015. Goel is expected to join the campus in the fall.

source/content: news.ucmereced.edu (headline edited)

GLOBAL: BUSINESS & ECONOMY: Recently listed Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) Breaks into the Fortune 500 List Ranked at 98 and is one of 9 Indian Companies on the List.

The list, topped by US retailer Walmart, has nine Indian companies — five of them state-owned, and four from the private sector.

Recently-listed Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has broken into the latest Fortune Global 500 list, while Reliance Industries has jumped 51 places.

The nation’s biggest life insurer with revenue of USD 97.26 billion and a profit of USD 553.8 million, was ranked 98th on the just released Fortune 500 list.

Reliance Industries jumped 51 places to 104 on the 2022 list.

This is the first outing of LIC on the list, which ranks listed companies by sales. Reliance, with revenue of USD 93.98 billion and a net profit of USD 8.15 billion in the latest year, has been on the list for 19 years.

source/content: indianexpress.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: RECORDS: DEFENCE, NAVY: Indian Navy’s INAS-314 All-Women Crew Created History by Completing the First All-Women Independent Maritime Reconnaissance, Surveillance Mission Onboard a Dornier 228 Aircraft in the North Arabian Sea

The women officers received months of ground training and comprehensive mission briefings in the run up to this historical sortie.

An all-women crew of the Indian Navy has completed maritime reconnaissance and surveillance mission in the North Arabian Sea onboard a Dornier 228 aircraft, the Navy said on August 4. The mission was completed on August 3, an official said.

The aircraft was captained by mission commander, Lt. Cdr. Aanchal Sharma, who was accompanied by pilots Lt. Shivangi and Lt. Apurva Gite, and Tactical and Sensor Officers, Lt. Pooja Panda and SLt. Pooja Shekhawat, it said.

“On August 3, 2022, five officers of the Indian Navy’s INAS 314 based at Naval Air Enclave, Porbandar, created history by completing the first all-women independent maritime reconnaissance and surveillance mission in the North Arabian Sea onboard a Dornier 228 aircraft,” it said.

INAS 314 is a frontline Naval Air Squadron based at Porbandar in Gujarat and operates the state-of-the-art Dornier 228 maritime reconnaissance aircraft. The squadron is commanded by Cdr. S. K. Goyal, a Qualified Navigation Instructor.

The women officers received months of ground training and comprehensive mission briefings in the run up to this historical sortie. “This first-of-its-kind military flying mission was, however, unique and is expected to pave the way for women officers in the aviation cadre to assume greater responsibility and aspire for more challenging roles,” the navy said.

The navy said it has undertaken a number of steps in pioneering women empowerment with initiatives that include induction of women pilots, selection of women as Air Operations Officers into the helicopter stream and conducting an all-women sailing circumnavigation expedition across the globe in 2018.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: ARTS & CRAFTS, CINEMA: Vijay Sethupathi-starrer ‘Maamanithan’ Wins Gold Medal in the ‘Best Asian Film Category’ at the Tokyo Film Awards 2022

Maamanithan’ won the gold in the Best Asian Film category, while Takahiro Kawabe’s ‘Love Song at 5 pm’ won the silver and Mart Bira’s ‘Nomadic Doctor’ took the bronze.

 Director Seenu Ramasamy’s critically acclaimed entertainer, ‘Maamanithan’, featuring actors Vijay Sethupathi and Gayathrie in the lead, has won a Gold medal at the Tokyo Film Awards this year.

The story of ‘Maamanithan’ is about a simple man who longs to provide good education to his children by getting them admitted to a private school. To increase his income, he enters into a deal with a real estate developer and in the process gets conned. The problems he faces is what the film is all about.

The film, which garnered huge praise from various quarters soon after its release, has ace director Shankar calling it a ‘realistic classic’.

Shankar had even said that Vijay Sethupathi’s brilliant performance in the film deserved a National Award.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

INDIA: NATIONAL IMPORTANCE: HISTORY, HERITAGE & CULTURE: Twenty Sites Identified for ‘National Importance’ Tag

The Rakhigarhi site is one of the “five iconic sites” declared by the Central government in the Union budget 2020-21.

Twenty heritage sites, including two ancient mounds at Haryana’s Rakhigarhi and the age-old Anangtal in Delhi, have been identified for the national importance tag, the government has said.

Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy shared the details in a written response to a question in Lok Sabha on whether the central government has identified new historical and religious places in the country that can be declared as monuments/sites of national importance during the last three years.

The other sites include rock painting at Chintakunta, Andhra Pradesh; rock art site Murgi at Rdanag, Leh; Kaleshwar Mahadev Temple, Kalesar (Manyala Panchayat), Himachal Pradesh, as per the information shared.

Seven mounds (RGR 1-RGR 7) scattered around two villages (Rakhi Khas and Rakhi Shahpur) in Hisar district of Haryana are part of the Harappan-era Rakhigarhi archaeological site. RGR 7 is a cemetery site when this was a well-organised city, ASI had said in May.

The Rakhigarhi site is one of the “five iconic sites” declared by the Central government in the Union budget 2020-21.

Asked whether the government proposes to establish the memorial of King Vikramaditya in the Parliamentary constituency of Panipat in co-ordination with the state government, the minister said, “there is no such plan as on date”.

Quoting Indian Council of Historical Research, Ministry of Education as a source, the Union culture minister said historian Sunil Kumar Sarker mentions in his book that Himu fought 22 battles and was everywhere victorious but the “same fact has not been furnished” by many others.

Historians, however, do appreciate his strategic skills and mention various battles he won. Many of these battles he fought must have been against Afghans who revolted against his employer Adil Shah, he said.

In response to another question, he said, no specific proposal has been received by the Ministry of Culture for the renovation of ‘Rabindra Bhavans’ in the country since 2015.

Also, 55 monuments, sites are declared protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 in Assam.

Three monuments have been identified to be declared as monuments of national importance in Mizoram in the last five years, the government said.

Responding to a question on whether the government has a plan for the protection and preservation of ancient temples in Tamil Nadu, he said, the temples under the jurisdiction of the ASI in the southern state are in a “good state of preservation and regular conservation work is undertaken” by the ASI from time to time.

Also, Rs 15 crore has been provided by ASI for the protection and preservation of centrally-protected monuments in Tamil Nadu, including temples, for the year 2022-23, as per the data shared by him.

On a question on the Baba Baidyanath Dham in Jharkhand’s Deoghar, the government said, it is not a centrally-protected monument under the ASI.

“There is no such provision for the conservation of Baba Baidyanath Dham in Jharkhand by the ASI,” the minister said.

During the last five years (2017-18 to 2021-22), 13 state governments and 50 societies, autonomous bodies, local bodies and trusts registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, have been granted financial assistance for establishing, developing museums under the Museum Grant Scheme, he said in response to another question.

Also, during the last five years (2017-18 to 2021-2022), 39 existing museums have been strengthened and modernized under Museum Grant Scheme, the government said.

The current number of beneficiaries as per the last selection under the Schemes for Financial Assistance for Veteran Artists stands at 2,251, it said in response to another question.

On a question on the National Culture Fund (NCF), he said in a written reply, the government has set up NCF as a Trust on November 28, 1996 under the Charitable Endowment Act, 1890 with a view to mobilize extra resources through public private partnerships (PPP) towards promoting, protecting and preserving India’s cultural heritage.

“A donor/sponsor while making contributions to the NCF may indicate a project along with any specific location/aspect and also an agency for execution of the project. Besides, the interests accrued from the Primary and Secondary Corpus is also utilized for activities associated with the field of culture,” he said.

source/content: indianexpress.com (headline edited)

INDIA GLOBAL: ARTS & CULTURE, MUSIC: United Colours of ‘Berklee Indian Ensemble’, Boston

Shuruaat, the Boston-based multi-cultural collective’s debut album, tracks its decade-long journey across genres.

“Are you jet-lagged?” asks Annette Philip. “Not at all. How can I be when I am in this musically charged environment,” replies Shreya Ghoshal. “Actually I see myself in these youngsters and wish I had the opportunity to be at such a place. It’s so much fun and an open and inclusive space to learn music. You are all blessed,” she smiles, looking at the students attending the residency that she conducted at the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2017.

The singer is now part of the Berklee Indian Ensemble’s debut album  Shuruaat, which marks the music collective’s first decade together.

‘Sundari Pennae’, one of the tracks in the album, was originally sung by Shreya for composer D. Imman for the Tamil film  Oru Oorla Rendu Raja. Presented in a grunge-inspired version, the song, recorded during her residency, fuses progressive rock, konnakol and jazz over intricate Indian classical rhythms. “Till date, it is the most collaboratively re-arranged cover that the ensemble has produced,” says Annette, the first Indian musician to be appointed as a faculty at Berklee, and the founder of the ensemble.

Popular content

What started out as a class in 2011 is today among the well-known global acts to emerge from Boston that organically transitioned into a 11-member professional band in 2021. It hosts productions, headlines international music festivals, and creates YouTube content. Their success on YouTube can be traced to their interpretation of A.R. Rahman’s ‘Jiya Jale’ (from  Dil Se). The ensemble’s version became viral, garnering over 50 million views. It led to a sold-out concert of new arrangements of Rahman’s music, featuring 109 Berklee musicians onstage at Boston Symphony Hall. This also paved the way for the ensemble to work with some of the biggest names in South Asian music.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

WORLD RECORD: SPORTS, CRICKET: Rohit Sharma surpasses Virat Kohli to Reign Supreme in T20Is, Scripts Two Sensational World Records during IND vs WI

Rohit Sharma scored a 35-ball fifty to take India past the 100-run mark in the Twenty20 series opener in Trinidad.

Rohit Sharma on Friday went past Martin Guptill to regain first place in the list of top run-getters in T20 Internationals. The India skipper achieved the milestone en route his 35-ball fifty in the T20 series opener against West Indies in Trinidad. Earlier this week, Guptill had surpassed Rohit to become the leading run-scorer in the shortest format. He was 20 runs ahead of Rohit before the Indian recouped lost ground. 

Guptill is closely followed by former India captain Virat Kohli (3,308), Ireland’s ODI skipper Paul Stirling (2,894), and Australian captain Aaron Finch, who is fifth on the list with 2,855 runs.

Apart from Guptill, Rohit also eclipsed Kohli in the list of most 50-plus scores in men’s T20Is. Kohli held the first position before notched up a fifty – his 31st 50-plus score in the 20-over format.

Most fifty-plus scores in Men’s T20I:

31 – Rohit Sharma*

30 – Virat Kohli

27 – Babar Azam

23 – David Warner

22 – Martin Guptill

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL: INDIA HOSTS the INTERNATIONAL CHESS OLYMPIAD, SPORTS: Gala Opening of ’44th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022′ at Chennai, July 28th. First Time Ever Outside of Moscow, Russia. PM Modi says Tamil Nadu is the Chess Powerhouse of India

A gala opening of the 44th FIDE Chess OIympiad took place at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on July 28, 2022. The international event was integrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the presence of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.

The world’s biggest team chess championship, featuring players from 187 countries, takes place at Hotel Four Points by Sheraton, Mamallapuram, starting July 29 and is to conclude on August 10. The Olympiad is being held in India for the first time ever, after being moved out of Moscow in Russia following the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who declared open the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad said that in a short period of time, the organisers had made outstanding arrangements.

The grand inaugural was also attended by the Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Anurag Thakur, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan and Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)