Coming out of a slumber after thousands of farmers committing suicides or accidentally inhaling toxic pesticides, the Union Ministry of Agriculture on 8 August put out a gazette notification banning 18 neonicotinoid pesticides in the country. While 12 of them are banned with immediate effect, six will be phased out by December 2020. The notification bans all manufacture, import, formulate, transport, sell the pesticides listed. It all specifies that all certificates that anyone holds to sell these pesticides be returned within three months. “Every state government shall take such steps under the said Act (Insecticides Act, 1968)..,” read the notification.

While there are 104 pesticides that are used in India but are banned in other countries, the Central government’s is reviewing only 66 pesticides of them. “This is a good start, but in the same breathe I would like to say that we are disappointed,” said Kavitha Kuruganti, the lead petitioner in a Supreme Court public interest litigation, looking into pesticides violating the right to life of farmers and agricultural workers.

In 2013, some 23 children died when their mid-day meal was cooked in the same vessel that used for storing monocrotophos. In 2017, of the 40 who died in Yavatmal due to accidental inhalation of pesticides, 12 were died by inhaling monocrotophos.

Earlier this week, the California Superior Court ruled that Roundup, which contains glyphosate, was the cause of cancer for Dewayne Johnson, a school groundskeeper. It ordered Monsanto, the manufacturer of the weedicide, to pay $289 (US dollars) million in damages. In India, glyphosate is the most commonly used weedicide.

According to the Directorate Of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, 148 of the 414 metric tonnes of weedicides consumed in the country in 2014-15 was glyphosate. In 2015-16, a little more than 370 metric tonnes of monocrotophos was used on Indian soil.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee died today in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi after a long illness. The 93-year-old BJP leader was suffering from multiple ailments and was admitted to AIIMS in June. He was put on life support system by the doctors after his condition became critical in the last 24 hours. 

He was a diabetic and had only one functional kidney. He suffered a stroke in 2009 that weakened his cognitive abilities. Subsequently, he developed dementia. 

Vajpayee was admitted to the AIIMS on June 11 with kidney tract infection, chest congestion, urinary tract infection and low urine output. 

Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari today launched three short films for generating public awareness towards road safety. Film actor Shri Akshay Kumar has featured in these films, which are directed by Shri R.Balki. In a function attended by MoS Shri Mansukh L Mandavia in New Delhi, Shri Gadkari announced the appointment of Shri Akshay Kumar as Road Safety Brand Ambassador.

Appreciating Akshay Kumar’s concern for social activism, the Minister recalled his recent movies ‘Padman’and ‘Toilet : Ek Prem Katha’ which have gone a long way in passing the government’s message of cleanliness and hygiene. Shri Gadkari called upon people to adopt good practices in road safety to build a better society free of accidents.

Shri Akshay Kumar shared his experiences of producing the short films. He said, he feels proud to join the government’s efforts to make Indian roads safe, and is participating in road safety campaign for the betterment of the society.  Shri Mandavia enumerated the large number of deaths in the country due to road accidents. He said, over 65 per cent of the deaths on roads were of the people in employable age, which seriously impacts their families. He said, reducing accidents means increasing prosperity in the country.

NEW DELHI: Former India spinner Ramesh Powar was today named head coach of the women's national team till the ICC World T20, scheduled to be held in November.

Powar's term will include a tour to Sri Lanka, a bilateral series in the West Indies in October followed by the ICC Women's World T20 in West Indies in November.

"The BCCI has appointed Mr.Ramesh Powar as Head Coach of the Indian Women's Team. Mr. Powar has now been handed over full-time duties till 30th November, 2018," the Board's secretary Amitabh Choudhary said in a statement.

The 40-year-old Mumbaikar was appointed interim coach of the team last month after the resignation of Tushar Arothe.

Under Powar, the members of the women's team underwent a camp at National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Mumbai: Former India cricket captain Ajit Wadekar, who led the team to path-breaking Test wins in England and the West Indies, passed away today after prolonged illness.

He was 77 and is survived by his wife Rekha, two sons and a daughter. Wadekar was brought to a hospital in South Mumbai today where he was declared dead on arrival.

His last rites will be performed on Friday, a member of the Wadekar family, who did not wish to be named, told PTI.

"He had been critically unwell for some time and was seeking treatment for the same," read the statement from the Jaslok Hospital.

The aggressive batsman was a trailblazer in Indian cricket despite a mere 37 Test appearances, leading India to triumphs in England and the West Indies in 1971.

Wadekar scored 2,113 runs in his Test career, including one hundred, and was also the country's first ODI captain. He appeared in just two matches, though.

India lost both those ODIs against England, which prompted Wadekar to retire from international cricket in 1974.

International Master Nihal Sarin became the 53rd Grandmaster of India despite losing his final round game to Richard Rapport of Hungary in the ninth and final round of Abu Dhabi Masters here.

The 14-year-old Nihal tallied 5.5 points out of a possible nine and the final GM norm came the Kerala boy’s way with one round to spare.

Daniil Dubov of Russia won one of the strongest Asian open thanks to a better tiebreak with a splendid score of 7.5 points out of a possible nine. Anton Korobov of Ukraine and A R Salem Saleh of Uae matched Dubov on points but the Russian was ahead as the tie was resolved.

Aravindh Chithambaram lost to Salem Saleh in a keenly contested Sicilian game in the final round while Dubov accounted for Ivan CHeparinov of Georgia. The overnight sole leader Korobov was happy to get a draw as black against Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia.

NEW DELHI: 

Pune, Navi Mumbai and Greater Mumbai from Maharashtra were ranked India's three most livable places on the government's inaugural 'Ease of Living Index', where the national capital came at 65th place out of total 111 cities.

Rampur in Uttar Pradesh figured at the bottom of the livability index released by the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. Chennai has been ranked 14th, while Kolkata did not participate in the survey. Kohima (Nagaland) and Patna (Bihar) were also placed in the bottom-three.

In the top-ten, the three cities from Maharashtra were followed by Tirupati, Chandigarh, Thane, Raipur, Indore, Vijayawada and Bhopal.

Varanasi is at 33rd place, Ahmedabad at 23rd and Hyderabad at 27th.

This is the first-ever exercise undertaken by the ministry to rank the country's major cities on the basis of four parameters of ease of living - governance, social, economic and physical infrastructure.

The ministry said evaluation of cities has been done on a 100-point scale across 78 indicators - institutional and social pillars carried 25 points each, 5 points were given for economic pillar and 45 points for the physical pillar.

No city from Uttar Pradesh or Tamil Nadu figured in the top-ten.

While Rampur is ranked the lowest, those in the bottom-ten also include Kohima, Patna, Bihar Sharif, Bhagalpur, Itanagar, Pasighat, Kavaratti, Saharanpur and Silvassa.

Srinagar is ranked 100th, Jammu at 95th, Panaji 90th, Aligarh 86th, Gurugram at 88th and Meerut is 101st. Ghaziabad is ranked 46th and Rai Bareli is at 49th.

Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Aug 13 (ANI): Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh along with Union Minister of State for Skill Development Anant Kumar Hegde flagged off fifteen Skill Chariots to launch the government's project of 'Skills on Wheels' in the state. Speaking at the event, CM Raman said that his state is the first among the 28 other states in the country to provide Right to Skills' Development to the youth.

Toronto (Canada), Aug 13 (ANI): 17-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal produced a rich vein of form as he thrashed Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to clinch his fourth Canadian Masters 1000 title at the Rogers Cup here in Toronto on Sunday.

The world number one swept aside Tsitsipas 6-2, 7-6 in a thrilling summit clash of the men's singles event that lasted one hour and 41 minutes. With the win, Nadal clinched his 80th ATP World Tour title and fifth victory of the year.
Heading into the clash, 19-year-old Tsitsipas-- who celebrated his birthday earlier in the day-- looked all set to upset another tennis giant but he failed to counter Nadal's steady and effective brand of tennis.
Earlier, Tsitsipas had pulled off one surprise after the other as he humbled the likes of Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and 13-time Grand slam champion Novak Djokovic in the previous three rounds. He also brushed aside Wimbledon runner-up Kevin Anderson to reach his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final in Toronto.

With the spectacular win, Nadal secured his record-extending 33rd Masters 1000 title. The Spaniard also became the fourth player in the Open Era to win 80 titles and is now behind the likes of Ivan Lendll, Roger Federer, and Jimmy Connors. (ANI