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New Delhi: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) Thursday announced that the draw ceremony to determine the pools of the upcoming FIH Odisha Hockey World Cup 2023 will be held on 8 September, at 12 noon at the Convention Centre, Lok Sewa Bhawan, Bhubaneswar.

New Delhi: Ace striker and former captain Bhaichung Bhutia on Thursday stressed the need for more junior level football tournaments in the country to spot the talented players at the grassroot level.

Hyderabad: Hitaashee Bakshi fired a late eagle on the 14th hole and carded 4-under 68 to grab a one-shot in the 11th Leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Boulder Hills Golf & Country Club here Thursday.

Last month, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (‘PMLA’) in its judgment titled Vijay Madanlal Choudhary versus Union of India. A petition seeking review of the said judgment, filed by politician and businessman Karti Chidambaram before the Supreme Court, was heard in open court on August 25 by a bench presided by the outgoing Chief Justice of India. N.V. Ramana, and it was unanimously decided to review the judgment on two aspects – (i) handing over the copy of the Enforcement Case Information Report to the accused, and (ii) reversal of presumption of innocence in the twin bail conditions under Section 45(1) of the PMLA.

In a breakthrough, IMF said in a statement Thursday morning that a staff-level agreement between IMF and the Sri Lankan government has been achieved. The agreement provides for $2.9 billion in assistance under Extended Fund Facility (EFF) over 48 months. The details of the agreement were made public on Thursday while the agreement seems to have been finalized on Tuesday. A staff-level agreement needs to be approved by the IMF management and the executive board to become effective. Sri Lanka had sought up to $3 billion from IMF. A crucial meeting in this regard took place late Tuesday evening between visiting IMF team and Sri Lankan government officials. President Ranil Wickremesinghe who also heads the finance department took part in the meetings with IMF.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s long-awaited visit to India beginning September 5 is unusually significant for a variety of reasons: From all indications, the burden of expectations is more palpable within the ruling establishment in Dhaka than among Indian political leaders. During her three-day stay, Ms Hasina would meet Indian Prime Minister Mr, Narendra Modi and other top leaders/Ministers, while major bilateral official-level talks on various issues would be held.

When in 2016, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was targeted by the new regime, the students and teachers refused to submit. Classes continued under the open skies since authorities had locked the class rooms. Teachers kept their promise. Students debated the concepts that were posed as challenges to them. The undeterred steps showed that those attending the classes had realised the enormity of the crisis. In fact entire country was in the grip of it. Someone had pointed out that in independent India, whenever we had faced the polarising attack on our fabric, it had been only from those who believed in the supremacy of the majority over the minority. In fact, it had been Hindutva, keen to establish its exclusivity, ideologically and politically, that wanted to reconstruct India as a whole with absolute state power.

Thiruvananthapuram Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor might run for Congress president. A final call is awaited. The last time the 70-year-old fought a non-parliamentary election, he aimed for the moon! But the moon was out of his orbit. This time, if he does contest, and he was still mulling the decision, he would be aiming for the scorching sun!

On the last day of his tenure as chief justice on August 26, Justice Ramana referred the pleas on political parties promising freebies to a three-judge bench to be decided by the new chief justice of India. The Supreme Court, getting into the freebies issue, is an example of misplaced priorities and entering into an area which is not the business of the higher judiciary.

Just eighteen months are now left for the holding of the next Lok Sabha elections in March/April of 2024. BJP has been talking of a “Congress-mukt Bharat”, while the Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao called for “BJP-mukt India” in Patna on Wednesday in the presence of the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The latter has already declared that he would start meeting all the opposition leaders to form a viable front to fight the BJP in the coming polls.