Film actor Aamir Khan on Sunday attended the launch function of Mission Shakti, an initiative by Maharashtra minister Sudhir Mungantiwar to train athletes from Chandrapur and Gadchiroli for international events like the Olympics.

Among those present at the function in Ballarpur here was state sports minister Ashish Shelar.

"I don't remember much that I learnt in school except sports. It teaches us how to complete tasks through teamwork. It trains us to handle the situation during ups and downs," Khan told the gathering.

Khan also broke into a song mid-speech to motivate the athletes attending the programme.

Khan felicitated a team of tribal mountaineers from here who had recently scaled Mount Everest as part of 'Mission Shaurya'.

Mungantiwar said youth from Chandrapur and Gadchiroli, through Mission Shakti, will get a chance to bring laurels to India in events like the Olympics in future.

Vinesh Phogat has bagged her third consecutive gold in women's 53kg category after winning the Poland Open wrestling tournament in Warsaw.

The 24-year-old prevailed 3-2 over local wrestler Roksana in the final of the competition.

Vinesh had earlier beaten Sofia Mattson of Sweden, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist, in the quarterfinals of this international tournament.

The top Indian woman wrestler had stood atop the podium at Grand Prix of Spain and at the Yasar Dogu International at Istanbul, Turkey last month.

Former national hockey captain Viren Rasquinha, who is also involved with Olympic Gold Quest, congratulated Vinesh on her success.

Article 370 ‘Scrapped’ Live Updates: By diluting the special status to Jammu and Kashmir guaranteed under Article 370 of the Constitution without scrapping the provision, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fulfilled its election promise.

With the Centre’s decision, political disagreement has also taken centrestage, experts have raised questions on the legality of the move. While senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said history will prove the BJP wrong, TMC’s Derek O’Brien called it a “dark day” for parliamentary democracy, federalism and the Constitution.

With mobile communication and Internet services suspended and public movement restricted, all of the Kashmir Valley was in a state of lockdown from midnight Sunday. On Monday night, former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah were arrested along with People’s Conference leader Sajad Lone.

The Bill to bifurcate the state into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir with a legislature similar to Puducherry, and Ladakh without one like Chandigarh was passed with a two-thirds majority of the members present in Rajya Sabha. Two PDP MPs Mir Fayaz and Nazir Ahmed Law had protested against the government’s decision in Rajya Sabha. In Lok Sabha, the statutory resolution scrapping the special status was passed by a voice vote in the evening. The bifurcation Bill will be taken up in Lok Sabha Tuesday. With special provisions gone, Indian laws will now apply to the newly created Union Territories.

While political disagreement on the Centre’s decision to strip the preferential status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state has taken centrestage, experts have raised questions on the legality of the move. The government sought to dilute the special status to Jammu and Kashmir guaranteed under Article 370 of the Constitution without scrapping the provision. It did so without bringing a Constitutional amendment that would require two-thirds majority in the Parliament.

By changing the interpretation of certain terms that find mention in Article 370, Monday’s Presidential order, through Article 367, alters the interpretation of the special provision. However, the President draws the power to issue such a notification from Article 370 itself. Article 370 sub clause 1(d) empowers the President to extend provisions of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir.

National Academy of Art, Lalit Kala Akademi, celebrated its 65th Foundation Day in New Delhi today. The event was inaugurated by Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said, his Ministry is starting cultural mapping of the country which will be completed in a speedy manner. Talking about the administrative management in the Akademi, Mr Patel said, coordinated efforts in transparent manner will ensure better functioning in the institution. 

Sanskar Bharti founder Padmshri Baba Yogendra, Lalit Kala Akademi Chairman, Uttam Pacharne and eminent artist Vasudeo Kamath also graced the occasion. The Minister also inaugurated art camp and artwork and painting exhibition and released a book - Mithila Ki Lok Chitrakala. 

Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art was established in New Delhi in 1954 by the government to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, in and outside the country.  The Academy provides scholarships, fellowship programmes and organizes art-related exhibitions in India and overseas. The artwork and painting exhibitions will be open for public till 12th of this month.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah Monday announced that the government has scrapped the special status granted to the state of Jammu and Kashmir by modifying Article 370 of the Constitution. Article 370 of the constitution is a ‘temporary provision’ granting special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Shah said Article 370 is “anti-women, anti-Dalit, anti-development”.

Furthermore, the government also ordered the division of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. While the Union Territory of Ladakh will be without a legislature, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be with a legislature. “We have four bills on Kashmir. We are ready to discuss everything and give answers on everything,” Shah said, amid chaos in Rajya Sabha.

Anant Setalvad, whose pleasant baritone voice distinguished him from other cricket commentators from the mid 1960s through to the 1980s, passed away in the early hours of Sunday. Anant was 84 and he is survived by two sons, Kevic and Tarshish.

Anant’s funeral rites will take place at 4 p.m. at Worli crematorium on Monday “He was ailing for some time. He died at 12.40 a.m. Sunday,” said his son Kevic.

Regarded as a giant in cricket commentary on All India Radio (AIR), Anant shared the microphone with Vijay Merchant, Pearson Surita, Raju Bharatan, Balu Alaganan and Suresh Saraiya.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty today became the first Indian pair to win a BWF Super 500 badminton tournament. 

They beat World champions Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen of China in the summit clash of Thailand Open 21-19, 18-21, 21-18 in Bangkok to win the men’s doubles category. 

The third-seeded Chinese pair settled for the second position after battling hard for an hour and two minutes as the Commonwealth Games silver medallists Rankireddy-Shetty claimed their maiden title. 

Sports fraternity celebrated ‘great win for the Indian doubles’. Twitter exploded with wishes for Satwik and Chirag for putting India on the doubles map. 

India today successfully test-fired its all weather tracked-chassis Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QR-SAM) from a mobile launcher at launch complex III of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha this morning. It was the second developmental trial of the missile in this year from the same test range. 

Earlier, the surface-to-air missile was tested successfully on Feb 26, 2019. It was test fired from a rotatable truck-based launch unit at Chandipur. Jointly developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Bharat Electronics Ltd, the QR-SAM weapon system is a quick reaction, network-centric missile system capable of search-on-the-move. 

Veteran Gujarati journalist and columnist Kanti Bhatt died in Mumbai at the age of 88 on Sunday, days after he suffered a stroke.

Born on July 15, 1931, Bhatt hailed from Zanzmer village in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat. He had done his Bachelor of Commerce from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (Vadodara). Following his graduation, he spent nearly 10 years in Malaysia, handling the business of his uncle.

Bhatt started his journalism career in the late 1960s as a financial journalist in Mumbai. He later became a freelance journalist and also wrote columns for various publications. Bhatt gradually rose to prominence as a prolific columnist who wrote on diverse subjects.