Daily wrap: Sheila Dikshit cremated; PV Sindhu loses Indonesia Open finals

Sheila Dikshit cremated with full state honours, Delhi bids adieu

The mortal remains of former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit were consigned to flames on Sunday (July 21), with colleagues, Congress workers and admirers braving heavy rains and gusty winds to bid her final farewell. The 81-year-old Congress veteran, who died on Saturday due to cardiac arrest, was cremated with full state honours at the Nigambodh Ghat. Top Congress leaders, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were present at the funeral.

Granted leave for daughter’s wedding, Nalini’s parole to begin on Tuesday

Nalini Sriharan, a convict in former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination case, is likely to come out of prison on parole on Tuesday (July 23). She had sought six months’ leave to make arrangements for her daughter Harithra’s wedding but was granted only 30 days’ leave by the Madras High Court. “She was expected to be released on Sunday or Monday. However, it is getting delayed due to some reasons and she will be released on Tuesday,” said P Pugalenthi, the counsel of Nalini.

BJP using CBI to get TMC leaders, says Mamata, told to reveal names

West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Dilip Ghosh dared Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday (July 21) to name the CBI officers, who had allegedly threatened Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders to join the saffron camp. Addressing the Martyrs’ Day rally at Kolkata on Sunday, Banerjee, who is also the TMC supremo, alleged that central agencies were threatening leaders and elected representatives of her party to “get in touch” with the BJP or face a jail term in chit fund scams. She, however, did not name any central agency.

Also read: TMC MLA Sabyasachi Dutta seen with Mukul Roy quits as Bengal municipality mayor

With problems fixed, countdown for Chandrayaan-2 begins

As the famous proverb ‘for want of a nail the shoe was lost’, bespeak, a simple nipple joint shrinking in the freeing sub-zero temperature halted the launch of the much-awaited Chandrayaan-2 on early hours of July 16, 2019. Helium stored under high pressure, as high as 350 bars, to drive the fuel and the oxidiser into the combustion chamber, leaked. According to insider information in the public domain, the problem was not daunting; however exercising ‘abundant caution’, rightly so, alert engineers of ISRO decided to call off the launch. Better safe than sorry; no point in a haughty 1000 crore firework.

Sonbhadra shooting: UP CM accuses Cong of shedding crocodile tears

Calling the murder of 10 tribal farmers in Sonbhadra district a big “political conspiracy”, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday (July 21) accused the Congress of shedding crocodile’s tears over the recent deaths. The chief minister on Sunday visited Umbha village in Sonbhadra to meet the family members of the deceased farmers, a day after Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi met them at the Chunar fort guest house.

Kerala CM appeals for release of Indians onboard seized British tanker 

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday (July 21) urged the Centre to take all possible efforts to secure the release of Indian nationals including four Keralites on board a British-flagged oil tanker seized by the Gulf country in the Strait of Hormuz. In a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Vijayan asked the ministry to share the details of the persons aboard the ship so that their families could be helped.

Kohli to lead India in Windies tour; Dhawan back, Chahar to debut

Shikhar Dhawan made a comeback to India’s limited overs squad after recovering from a thumb fracture while rookie leg-spinner Rahul Chahar is the only new face across three formats for the upcoming West Indies tour, BCCI chief selector MSK Prasad announced here, on Sunday. Skipper Virat Kohli will lead India in all three formats while Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has taken a two-month break, won’t be part of the team.

CRPF gets sanction to install sanitary pad dispensers for women in combat

In a first instance of gender-sensitive budgeting, the government has sanctioned exclusive funds to the country’s largest paramilitary force CRPF to procure and install over 500 sanitary pad dispensers and incinerators for its women personnel in combat. Funds have been sanctioned to procure a total of 288 pad vending machines and as many incinerators to scientifically dispose used sanitary napkins.

Endgame for Avatar as Avengers becomes highest-grossing movie ever

Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame on Sunday became the highest-grossing film of all time, crossing James Cameron’s film Avatar worldwide box office collection of Rs 19,210 crore. According to Hollywood website Deadline, the gap of Rs 3.44 crore in global ticket sales between the two was breached. As per the latest box office collections, Endgame has collected Rs 19,268 crores worldwide. This was confirmed by Disney, the parent company of Marvel Studios.

Japan’s Yamaguchi beats PV Sindhu to lift Indonesia Open title 

PV Sindhu’s hopes of breaking a seven-month title drought came crashing down as the Indian lost in straight games to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the finals of Indonesia Open BWF Tour Super 1000 tournament here, on Sunday (July 21). Olympic silver medallist Sindhu had an opportunity to finally lay her hands on another crown only to squander, losing 15-21 16-21 to the Japanese in a lop-sided summit clash that lasted 51 minutes.

Carnatic vocalist Sowmya to get Sangita Kalanidhi award

Well-known Carnatic vocalist S Sowmya was on Sunday (July 21) selected for the prestigious Sangita Kalanidhi award this year by The Music Academy. At its meeting held in Chennai, the academy’s executive committee unanimously chose Sowmya for the honour and also announced the winners of other awards. Sowmya would preside over the 93rd annual conference of The Music Academy scheduled to be held from December 15 to January 1, 2020.