Category: Amazing Feats

Neeraj Chopra wins silver at World Athletics Championships, scripts history again

Neeraj Chopra produced a best throw of 88.13m to finish second after Anderson Peters of Grenada

Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra scripted yet another history as he became only the second Indian and first male track and field athlete to win a medal in the World Championships by clinching silver in the javelin throw final here.

The 24-year-old Chopra, who had come into the showpiece as a hot medal favourite, produced a best throw of 88.13m to finish second.

The legendary long jumper Anju Bobby George was the first Indian to win a medal — bronze — in the World Championships in the 2003 edition in Paris.

Chopra began with a foul throw and had 82.39m and 86.37m to be at fourth after three rounds. He got his rhythm back with a big fourth round throw of 88.13m, his fourth career-best effort, to jump to second place, which he held on to till the end. His fifth and sixth throws were fouls.

Also read:A look at javelin champ Neeraj Chopra’s achievements

Defending champion Anderson Peters of Grenada won gold with a best throw of 90.54m while Olympic silver winner Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic took the bronze with 88.09m.

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Leicester Cricket Ground to be named after Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar

Gavaskar has become the first Indian to have a cricket ground named after him in England.

On Saturday (July 23), a cricket ground in England’s Leicester will be dedicated in the honor of legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar.

Gavaskar, who is considered one of the game’s all-time greats, set and broke numerous records while playing and his legacy has grown as he becomes the first person from his country to have a ground named after him in England.

The former India captain expressed his gratitude for the honor and assured to be present at the venue to unveil his name plaque on the ground.

“I am delighted and honored that a ground in Leicester is being named after me. Leicester is a city with possibly the strongest supporters of the game, especially Indian cricket, and therefore it is a huge honor indeed,” he told The Times of India.

According to TOI, the initiative was taken by UK MP Keith Vaz, who is of Indian descent and has been serving Leicester in the legislature for more than three decades.

“We are thrilled and honored that Gavaskar has agreed to have this pitch and ground named after him,” Vaz was quoted as saying by the daily.

The former cricketer, according to Vaz, is not simply the “Little Master”; he is a great master of the game.

“He is a living legend and over the years, has delighted Indians and other lovers of cricket with his record-breaking performances. To us, he is not just the ‘Little Master’, he is a great master of the game. Nothing delights the Indian population of Leicester more than when an all-time great visits us. There is now a part of Britain that is forever Gavaskar,” he added.

The five-acre field is owned by Bharat Sports and Cricket Club, and one of the pavilion walls has already been painted with a huge portrait of the 73-year-old.

Gavaskar in his playing days faced off against some of the best fast bowlers ever, and that too without a proper helmet, and still averaged over 50 (51.12), is a testimony to his genius. He was the first batter in the history of the game to have breached the 10000-run mark in the longest format. In 125 Tests while wearing whites, he amassed 10122 runs which included a record at the time, 34 centuries.

In ODIs too, he left a mark having scored 3092 runs in 108 games.

circleofcricket.com

Droupadi Murmu elected 15th President of India

Amid heavy cross-voting, she received 64.03% of total valid votes polled

Former Jharkhand Governor and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Droupadi Murmu was elected the 15 th President of India, the first tribal woman to be elected to the position and the youngest as well. She was declared elected on Thursday after four rounds of counting, although she had crossed the halfway mark after the third round of counting itself, posting an unassailable lead over her rival and the Opposition’s candidate Yashwant Sinha, who conceded the election thereafter.

After four rounds of polling, Ms. Murmu received 2,824 votes of 6,76,803 value while Mr. Sinha received 1,877 votes or 3,80,177 value. She received 64.03% of total valid votes polled, much more than what was openly declared in her support and pointing to the fact there had been a lot of cross-voting in Ms. Murmu’s favour from the Opposition ranks.

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Rapid fire pistol team silver for India

India tops the medals table in the shooting World Cup that ended on Wednesday

The Indian team lost the gold in a thriller in the rapid fire pistol team event, but topped the medals table in the shooting World Cup that concluded in Changwon, Korea, on Wednesday.

Anish Bhanwala, Sameer and Vijayveer Sidhu had topped the second stage to make the gold contest, and led 10-2 before the Czech Republic turned it around to make it a lively contest.

At 15-15, the Czech Republic had 11 hits out of 15 to pip India which had shot 10, with Anish’s perfect five proving inadequate.

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Pratt and Whitney to set up engineering centre in Bengaluru

To be operational in 2023, facility will be fifth globally

Aircraft engine maker Pratt & Whitney (PW) on Monday said it will set up an engineering centre in Bengaluru, that is slated to commence operations in January 2023.

The centre, which will be its first facility in Asia Pacific and fifth globally, will enable the firm to offer engineering services on contract to its domestic and international customers, a spokesperson said.

PW’s integrated global engineering operations currently has centres in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Poland.

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Gukesh: Super Grandmaster at a sweet 16

Gukesh has been on a winning spree, capturing four tournament titles this year and reaching No 32 in the world chess rankings based on live ELO ratings

D. Gukesh, the 16-year-old Grandmaster from Chennai, became only the sixth Indian to reach and cross the coveted 2700 ELO ratings mark in chess. Following his victory against GM Le Quang Liam from Vietnam in the Biel Chess Festival (Classic) in Switzerland on July 16 to take his point tally to 2.5 in 3 games, the young grandmaster’s Live ELO ratings went up to 2703.9.

Only two other players – China’s Wei Yi (some months before turning 16) and Iranian-born French player Alireza Firouzja achieved this earlier than the 16 years and nearly 2 months old Gukesh, even as world champion Magnus Carlsen attained a FIDE rating of 2700 when he was 16 and a half years old. Note, this is a live rating; FIDE updates its ratings list every month and Gukesh would have to avoid setbacks for the live rating to stay above 2700 in the games he will have to play in the next 15 days.

Gukesh is among a cohort of Indian grandmaster youngsters which includes GM Arjun Erigaisi, GM R Praggnanandhaa, GM Nihal Sarin and GM Raunak Sadhwani who have recently showcased their skills in their teens and have attained significant ELO ratings. While GMs Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin stole a march initially in their careers as prodigies with high ELO ratings at a tender age, GMs Arjun and Gukesh have had spectacular tournaments recently, propelling them above Nihal and Praggnanandhaa among junior GMs in the ratings tally. Gukesh in particular has been on a winning spree, capturing four tournament titles this year and reaching No 32 in the world chess rankings based on live ELO ratings.

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India’s missile woman Tessy Thomas to receive APJ Award 2022

The selection committee, headed by AP Majeed Khan, Chancellor of Noorul Islam University in association with NINS Medicity, announced the award recently.

Dr Tessy Thomas, Scientist and Director General (Aero Systems) at Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), also known as India’s missile woman, will be awarded APJ Award 2022. 

A release said that Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education at Kumarakovil in Kanniyakumari district and NIMS Medicity have been jointly organising the award since 2019 to recognise government officials who have achieved excellence and achievements in their respective field of work. 

Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammad Khan will present the award at a ceremony which will be held at NIMS Medicity, Neyyartinkarai on Tuesday (July 19) at 11 am.

The awardee will be receiving a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, a certificate of appreciation and a commemorative trophy, the release added. It is to be noted that Tessy Thomas is the first woman scientist to head India’s missile programme.

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Varanasi to be first ‘Cultural and Tourism Capital’ of SCO: Secretary General Zhang Ming

Under this initiative, each year, a city of the cultural heritage of a member country that will take over the rotating Presidency of the organisation will get the title to highlight its prominence.

The holy city of Varanasi, showcasing India’s culture and traditions over the ages, will be declared the first “Cultural and Tourism Capital” of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Secretary-General of the bloc Zhang Ming said here on Friday.

The Beijing-headquartered Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an eight-member economic and security alliance comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

Mr. Ming said Varanasi will become the “Cultural and Tourism Capital” of the SCO for 2022-23 under a new rotating initiative by the eight-member organisation to promote people-to-people contacts and tourism among the member states.

“We are about to implement a rotating mechanism. We will rotate the title of ‘Cultural and Tourism Capital’ among the member states,” he said, adding that Varanasi, India’s ancient city, will be the first to be granted the title.

Under this initiative, each year, a city of the cultural heritage of a member country that will take over the rotating Presidency of the organisation will get the title to highlight its prominence, Mr. Ming told presspersons.

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From media to medicine to Apple Health V-P: Sumbul Desai’s Indian roots is common strand

If the rebel within her had prevailed, Dr Sumbul Desai would have been a journalist or a media honcho. But after many pivots in her career, the Sweden-born with Indian roots is now one of the most influential women in global tech — as Apple’s VP-Health.

“You’d never think that all of those stops you are going to make are going to help you with your ultimate role. All that learning ends up putting you exactly where you should be,” Desai told The Indian Express on video call from California.

Desai joined Apple five years ago to strengthen the Cupertino-based tech giant’s foray into personal health technologies. Before that, she was Vice Chair of Strategy and Innovation in the Department of Medicine at Stanford Medicine as well as Associate Chief Medical Officer at Stanford Healthcare.

And yet, those early stints with the Walt Disney Company and ABC News still stand out in her impressive resume. “My parents wanted me to be either a doctor or an engineer,” says Desai. Echoing millions of Indians across the world, her parents, who moved from India to Sweden and then the US, were no different when it came to their children, she points out.

Former Kerala MLA MJ Jacob hurdles age, wins medal at World Masters Athletics Championship

At 82, when his peers are leading a retired life playing with grandchildren or reading books at home, former MLA MJ Jacob refuses to be cowed down by age, and is vying with the best in the world. And winning too.

He has won medals for India at the World Masters Athletics Championship (WMAC) 2022 that concluded in Finland on Sunday.

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