In Union Territory of Ladakh, two new bird species have been found during the Great Backyard Bird count. The three-day exercise undertaken by the Wildlife Conservation and Birds Club of Ladakh concluded yesterday.
 
Red Throated Thrush and Plumbeous Water Redstart have been found for the first time in Ladakh Region. On the other hand, Common Rose Finch and Grey Haron species have arrived in Ladakh region early than usual. A three-group birders and wildlife experts have counted and recorded a total of 87 various species of birds in Ladakh.

Along with the count, the birders also noted various observations from place to place to conserve the bird species in Ladakh region. The details will be recorded in the eBird India website for further studies.

Greco Roman wrestler Sunil Kumar opened India's medal account in the Asian Wrestling Championships at New Delhi today by winning a Gold. The seasoned grappler beat Azat Salidinov from Kyrgyzstan in the final of the 87 kg category. Sunil Kumar had reached the final by a victory over Kazakh opponent Azamat Kustubayev to finish the semi-final bout  12-8.  Last year also, Kumar had made it to the final and ended with a silver medal.

Earlier in the day, Arjun Halakurki lost his semi-final bout 7-8 against Iran's Pouya Mohammad Naserpour in 55 kg category. He will now be up against Korea's Donghyeok Won in the bronze medal playoff. The Indian wrestlers who crashed out today were Mehar Singh, Sajan and Sachin Rana in different weight categories. 

The Soil Health Card Day is being observed today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme on 19th February 2015 at Suratgarh in Rajasthan. The scheme aims at issuing soil health cards to farmers every two years so as to provide a basis to address nutritional deficiencies in soil. The scheme ensures additional income to farmers by increase in yields and it also promotes sustainable farming.

Launching the scheme, Mr Modi said, the farmers should know the health status of soil. He said, if soil will not be healthy, the farm production will not increase.
 
Talking to AIR News, Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal termed it a very important scheme and said that in the last five years crop production is continuously increasing due to this initiative.

India claimed five silver and six bronze medals at the ongoing 2020 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
 
In 45 kilogram category, K V L Pavani Kumari won silver medals in both youth girls and junior women section, while Sidhanta Gogoi claimed silver in youth boys and junior men events in 61-kilogram category after lifting a total of 145 and 269 kilograms.

Then, Mukund Aher in 49-kilograms then clinched a silver in youth boys category with a lift of 189 kilograms. In 45 kilogram category, Harshada Goud clinched two bronze medals with a lift of 139 kilograms in youth girls and junior women events.

Other lifters to win bronze medals are Boni Manghkya in 55 kg, Nirmala Devi in 59 kg, S Gurunaidu in 49 kg and Golom Tinku in 55 kg.

A total of 197 athletes from 20 Asian countries are participating in the event.

National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) has banned javelin thrower Amit Dahiya for four years for evading sample collection and trying to cheat officials during the 2nd National Javelin Throw Open Championship 2019 held at SAI Centre in Sonipat.

NADA had issued the charge of notice to Dahiya on July 16 for violating rule 2.3 of the NADA. The doping agency presented the case to the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (ADDP) on January 9 where the athlete's justification was found to be unsatisfactory.

NADA said the ADDP has now passed an order to suspend him for four years from the date of his provisional suspension. 

Asian Wrestling Championship will begin in New Delhi today. It will be held at the KD Jadhav Hall of Indira Gandhi Stadium till 23rd of this month. The event will have a total of 30 weight classes, 10 each in Freestyle Men, Women, and Greco Roman.

The Championship will begin with Greco-Roman events, followed by women wrestling and men's freestyle. On day 1 of the tournament, 55, 63, 77, 87 and 130 kg wrestlers will take to the mat to prove their mettle.

The preliminary and qualification matches will be played in the morning sessions while the semis and finals will be conducted from 6 PM to 9 PM. India will be among the favourites to bag gold on Day 1 itself. 

The largest crafts fair in the world, the 34th Surajkund Mela -2020 culminated today. 

More than million visitors came this year in the International craft fair.

The Mela is organized every year by the Surajkund Mela Authority & Haryana Tourism in collaboration with Union Ministries of Tourism, Textiles, Culture and External Affairs.

The state of Himachal Pradesh was chosen to be the Theme State for this year.

At least 20 countries & all the states of India participated in the Mela.

Haryana government has decided to give 6 crore rupees to players of the state that bag gold medals at the Olympic Games. State Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said, 3 crore rupees will be given to those winning gold medals at Asian Games and 1.5 crore rupees to the winners of yellow metal at Commonwealth Games.

An amount of 15 lakh rupees will be given to each player participating in the Olympic Games so that the players can make the state, as well as the country, proud. Mr Khattar said, the move is aimed at promoting sports in the state and encouraging youths to excel in the field. He said, the state government will also provide employment to the sportspersons in addition to the cash incentive. The Chief Minister was addressing the concluding function of the four-day 46th Junior National Kabaddi Competition at Maharishi Dayanand University in Rohtak yesterday. 

Grand master Koneru Humpy has won the Cairns cup chess tournament. In the 9th and final round of the tournament at St. Louis, USA, she drew with fellow grand master Drona Valli Harika.

Humpy ended up with 6 points ahead of the reigning world champion Zu Wezun who finished with 5.5 points. Drona Valli Harika finished 5th with 4.5  points.

Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal today took oath as Chief Minister of Delhi for the third consecutive time.

Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal administered the oath of office and secrecy to Kejriwal and six Cabinet Ministers at Ramlila Maidan in the national capital. 

Mr. Kejriwal has retained all the Cabinet Ministers who were part of his last government. They are Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gehlot, Imran Hussain and Rajendra Gautam.  

Mr. Kejriwal's first term lasted only for 49 days and completed the full tenure in the second term. The Aam Aadmi Party swept the Delhi assembly polls held last week, bagging 62 out of 70 seats.