Shardul Vihan added to India’s medal tally on Day 5 of Asian Games 2018 taking place in Indonesia as he clinched a silver medal in men’s double trap shooting event on Thursday.

The 15-year old boy from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh shot 73 to come second to Korea’s Shin Hyunwoo, 34, who overtook the Indian shooter by a point. Qatar’s Al Marri Hamad Ali settled for bronze with a score of 53 at the Jakabaring shooting range.

In a turnaround, the Central government had on Tuesday decided that private retail chemists would be free to sell Oxytocin from September 1.

Through a notification dated April 27, 2018, the Centre had stated that sale of Oxytocin through private retail chemists would be banned from July 1. However, fearing Oxytocin shortage, the government postponed the date of implementation of this ban to September 1.

Now, in a gazette notification dated August 21, 2018, the Central government announced its decision to delete the provisions of April 27 notification that stated that “Oxytocin in any form or name shall not be allowed to be sold through retail Chemist”. The Centre on Tuesday has also deleted the provisions that stated that the Oxytocin would be sold through government chemists only.

The Government of India has taken the stand that it will meet the financial demands emanating out of the damages inflicted by the heavy rains in Kerala from domestic sources. This is in context of the reported telephone call from Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi making the offer of assistance worth $100 million (Rs 700 crore).

It would be churlish to decline the UAE's offer given the symbiotic ties between it and Kerala, which has the distinction of having sent around 80 percent of the three-million-strong Indian diaspora to the Emirates. It has been a win-win relationship between UAE and Kerala with its enterprising youngsters going there in search of greener pastures mainly in its booming construction industry which has been in decline, of late.

In Mr. Jaitley's absence, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was holding the additional charge of the Finance and Corporate Affairs portfolio.
Union Minister Arun Jaitley is back as the Finance Minister after a three month interval to recuperate from a kidney transplant surgery in May this year.

Announcing his return, a communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan read, “The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has directed to assign the portfolios of the Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs to Shri Arun Jaitley.”

In Mr. Jaitley's absence, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was holding the additional charge of the Finance and Corporate Affairs portfolio.

India's men's hockey team romped to their biggest ever tournament win at the Asian Games on Wednesday with a 26-0 thrashing of hapless Hong Kong -- who didn't have a single shot on target.

India scored nearly a goal every two minutes as they broke an 86-year-old record, surpassing their 24-1 victory over the United States at the 1932 Olympics.

The eight-time Olympic champions' dominance was such that with seven minutes to go, they took off their goalkeeper Krishnan Bahadur Pathak as the entire team laid seige to the Hong Kong goal.

India had already overtaken their previous Asian Games record -- Monday's 17-0 hammering of hosts Indonesia -- by the end of the third quarter, when they led 18-0.

But the defending champions refused to show any mercy, scoring another eight goals in the final period.

India's men have won a record eight Olympic golds, but trail on Asian Games golds (three) to their fierce rivals Pakistan (eight).

Mumbai: The Mumbai Maersk, operated by APM Terminals Mumbai, has set a world record in loading the highest number of containers, surpassing the 19,000-TEU-mark, the shipping line has said.

The vessel loaded 19,038 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) setting a new world record, which is a fete not only for a Maersk vessel but also for any vessel in the world, the shipping line said in a statement on Wednesday.

The world record load of 19,038 TEU has raised a new bar for Maersk by surpassing the Madison Maersk, a first generation triple-E class vessel, which had clocked the
previous record of loading 18,215 TEU in 2015.

The Mumbai Maersk, a second generation triple-E class vessel with a nominal capacity of 20,568 TEU, had left the Tanjung Pelepas port in Malaysia over the weekend and is sailing into Europe with the first port of call expected at Rotterdam on 5 September.

• Indian shooter Rahi Sarnobat has bagged a gold medal in the 25m pistol final after two rounds of shoot-off.

  Thailand’s Naphaswan Yangpaiboon and Rahi were tied at a Games Record final round score of 34 after 10 rounds of 5 shots each, after which the match went into a shoot-off. Both found the target four times in the shoot-off, leading to another round of five shots where Rahi shot three and the Thai two, ensuring a historic gold for the Kohlapur-born shooter.

  The other Indian in this final, Manu Bhaker who qualified in the top spot with a Games Record score, finished at the sixth spot.

  The gold now puts India in the sixth spot in the medal tally with four golds, three silvers and four bronze.

RAIPUR: 

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Tuesday announced that Naya Raipur smart city, will be renamed 'Atal Nagar' in honour of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed away on August 16 in New Delhi.

After a cabinet meeting in Raipur, Mr Singh announced that along with renaming of Naya Raipur, the Bilaspur University, a medical college, state capital expressway and the under-construction Central Park will be named after Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The first-ever joint air exercise involving the Indian Air Force and the Royal Malaysian Air Force commenced today at Subang Air Base in Malaysia, officials said.

India has been eyeing a foothold at the strategically important Subang Air Base, sources said.

"IAF & RMAF # JointExercise: Making History-Today a joint exercise with the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) commenced at Subang Air Base, Malaysia. This is the inaugural bilateral exercise between IAF & RMAF," the IAF tweeted.

The IAF, on Twitter, also shared some pictures from the event.

"IAF & RMAF #JointExercise : In a formal ceremony, exercise was inaugurated by Gp Capt CUV Rao, team leader IAF & Col Mahadzer, Ex director of RMAF. It's a platform to exchange Knowledge & Good practices with each other. Glimpses of the inaugural ceremony," it said in another tweet.

Serena Williams was the highest paid female athlete for a third consecutive year in 2018, according to an annual list published by Forbes on Tuesday that was dominated by tennis players.

Williams, who returned to competition in March after giving birth last September, earned $62,000 in winnings over the past year but received $18.1 million from an endorsement portfolio unmatched among women in sports, Forbes said.

Williams, who will try to equal Margaret Court's record of 24 grand slam titles when she competes at the Aug 27-Sept. 9 U.S. Open in New York, earned twice as much off the court as any other female athlete, according to Forbes.

Dane Caroline Wozniacki, who captured her maiden grand slam title at this year's Australian Open, was second on the list with combined earnings of ($13 million) while reigning U.S.

Open champion Sloane Stephens ($11.2 million) was third. Spaniard Garbine Muguruza ($11 million) and Russian Maria Sharapova ($10.5 million) rounded out the top five.

Indian badminton player P.V. Sindhu ($8.5 million) and retired race car driver Danica Patrick ($7.5 million) were the only non-tennis players to crack the top 10, filling up the seventh and ninth spots, respectively.