India picked up two more gold medals on day five of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG), including a historic gold in Lawn Bowls and the men’s Table Tennis team who successfully defended their title. Vikas Thakur also picked up a silver in the men’s 96kg weightlifting, the eighth medal in the sport, as India held on to sixth place in the medals tally with five gold, four silver and three bronze medals in their kitty thus far.
 
The Lawn Bowls fairy tale
Lovely Choubey, Pinki Singh, Nayanmoni Saikia and Rupa Rani Tirkey struck gold, India’s fourth of the Games, in the Women’s Fours Lawn Bowls competition beating South Africa 17-10 in the gold medal match. It was not only the first ever gold, but also the first ever medal for India in the sport.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today inaugurated the fourth ONGC Para Games in Thyagaraj Sports Complex in New Delhi. On the occasion Mr. Puri said, the ONGC Para Games is a wonderful platform to bring in inclusiveness and equity in the human resource of the public enterprises under the Ministry.

Beginning from today the fourth ONGC Para Games is being organized by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) by the 4th of this month. Nearly 275 Persons with Disabilities (PwD) are participating in the Games. These all are employees of eight central oil and gas public enterprises.

The Lok Sabha today passed the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021, seeking to increase the species protected under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, and implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, CITES.

Replying to the discussion in Lok Sabha, Environment and Forests Minister Bhupender Yadav said that the unique ecosystem in the country must be preserved. He said, the Government has given equal importance to the development and environment. The Minister said, in the last eight years protected areas in the country have increased from 693 to 987, which includes fifty two tiger reserves.

Fourth Edition of India-Oman joint military Exercise Ex Al Najah -IV is underway at Mahajan Field Firing Range in Suratgarh, Rajasthan.

Exercise scheduled from 1 to 13 August is aimed at enhancing cooperation and inter-operability of two militaries. The joint exercise will focus on Counter Terrorism Operations, Regional Security Operations and Peace Keeping Operations under United Nations charter apart from organising joint physical training schedules, tactical drills, techniques and procedures.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari today inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 6 National Highway projects of 119 KMs worth 2300 Crore rupees in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Speaking on the occasion Shri Gadkari informed that the projects being launched for better connectivity in Indore will make the path of progress easier in the State. He said, the problem of jams on Rau circle will end and there will be ease in the traffic.

With easy connectivity from Indore, artisans, students and businessmen of nearby areas will get better opportunities. He added the connectivity of the villages of the Indore-Harda section with Indore will be better. The development of the Dhar-Pithampur Industrial Corridor will create new employment opportunities.  

Ministry of Culture is organizing “Tiranga Utsav” an evening filled with cultural and musical performances to celebrate the contributions of Pingali Venkayya to the nation on the occasion of his 146th Birth Anniversary in New Delhi today. Union Home Minister  Amit Shah will participate in  “Tiranga Utsav. The event will include the release of a commemorative Postal Stamp in honor of Pingali Venkayya for his invaluable contribution to the country followed by the felicitation of his family. The Tiranga Utsav will also witness the grand launch of the “Har Ghar Tiranga” anthem and video. The musical evening will see live performances by maestros such as Kailash Kher & Kailasa, Harshdeep Kaur, and Dr. Ragini Makkhar.

Pingali Venkayya, a freedom fighter and the designer of India’s National Flag was a follower of Gandhian principles, and it was upon the request of Mahatma Gandhi that he designed the Indian National Flag with saffron, white and green colors with chakra in the middle.

Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the fifth generation -5G telecom services is likely to be launched by October this year. Briefing reporters in New Delhi, Mr Vaishnaw said, more than one lakh 50 thousand crore rupees of bids were received during the 5G auction, which commenced on 26th of last month. The spectrum will be assigned to the successful bidders for providing 5G services to the public and enterprises. The auction was held for spectrum in various Low, Medium, and High-frequency bands. Mr Vaishnaw said, of the 72 thousand 98 Mega Hertz of spectrum offered across ten bands, 71 percent was sold.

AIR correspondent reports that Digital connectivity has been an important part of policy initiatives of the government through its flagship programmes such as Digital India, Start-up India, and Make in India. The upcoming 5G services have the potential to create new age businesses, generate additional revenue for enterprises, and provide employment arising from the deployment of innovative use-cases and technologies. Eighty-crore subscribers have access to broadband today compared to ten-crore subscribers in 2014.

National Testing Agency has released the admit cards for the Common University Entrance Test undergraduate (CUET UG 2022) for phase II candidates. Registered candidates can now download their hall tickets from the official CUET UG website by logging in through their registered credentials. The website is cuet.samarth.ac.in. The Phase I exams were conducted in July and the second phase exams are scheduled to take place on 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, and 20th of August.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched India’s first International Bullion Exchange (IIBE) at Gujarat International Finance Tech (GIFT) City in Gandhinagar today.

Prime Minister also launched NSE IFSC-SGX Connect and laid the foundation stone of the headquarters of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) at GIFT City.

Addressing the gathering, Prime Minister said GIFT city has been established as an integrated finance and technology services hub for India and the world.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Power Ministry’s flagship Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme today. Mr Modi will unveil the scheme during a programme marking the culmination of ‘Ujjwal Bharat Ujjwal Bhavishya - Power @2047’ at 12.30 pm through video conferencing. The five-day programme that concludes today is a part of the ongoing 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' to showcase the transformation in the power sector achieved in the last eight years. It aims to empower citizens by improving their awareness and participation in various power-related initiatives, schemes and programmes of the government.