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Indian Chess Champion Koneru Hampy defeats Polish opponent to reach the final round of the Chess Olympiad

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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World no.2 Chess Champion Koneru Hampy, who hails from Vijayawada, beat her Polish opponent Monika Socko to move into the finals of the online Chess Olympiad on Saturday. She played black pieces against Monika, meaning that she had four minutes to play, which is a minute lesser than the latter. Ideally, she had to draw to win. Humpy did more than what was required, winning the Catalan game in 73 moves; she checkmated Socko, promoting her pawn to have two queens.

It wasn’t an easy win, since she had lost in the previous round, and had the score at 2-4. But she bounced right back from it and defeated her Polish counterpart in the Armageddon round, which is the tie-breaker. This launched her into the finals after she had a crushing win at 4.5-1.5 points respectively.  This win is especially significant since today is the National Day for Sports, and also because her other Indian counterparts had lost the first round as well.

The second semifinal is to take place on Sunday, where India is all set to play against Russia and the United States. Hampy has been crowned the queen of Indian Chess for quite some time now, and true to her reputation, she has successfully entered the second semifinal, along with Harika, Vishwanathan Anand, and Captain Vidit Gujarati.

Former world champion Viswanathan Anand came into his own with a much-needed win over Jan-Krzystof Duda in 78 moves in the second round after losing to his opponent in the first round. Sadly, the chess childhood prodigy Pragnanandha lost to Igor Janik.

Retd Madras HC Judge Justice K Chandru puts out casteist and sexist comment against Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

By
The Commune
-

In an attempt to take a dig at former IPS officer K. Annamalai joining the BJP, retired Judge of the Madras High Court put out a casteist and a sexist comment about Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Facebook.

Savukku Shankar, a DMK sympathizer and an online troll who is known for his rabble rousing against anyone who is against the DMK high command had shared on his Facebook an article written by him in his yellow page blog ‘savukkuonline’ about K. Annamalai joining the BJP.

In this Facebook post, former Judge of the Madras High Court had commented that Annamalai is making a route for a Rajya Sabha seat through Karnataka just like “Oorugaai Ammaiyaar” – a casteist and a sexist reference to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Brahmin and woman identity.

Oorugaai Ammaiyaar in Tamil means “a woman who makes pickles”. This reference is used because it is said that women from Tamil Brahmin community make good pickles.

It is not just a casteist reference but is also sexist and highly misogynistic that indirectly implies that women from Brahmin commmunity are good for only making pickles.

Following this, many on social media called out the casteist and sexist mindset who had once wielded the pen of justice.

Social commentator and political analyst Banu Gomes said that these people don’t realize that their comments are actually appreciations. “It is challenging to make traditional pickles year after year without the change in taste. It is an activity that requires science, accounting, accuracy, purity, and sharpness. So every time someone mentions calls her (FM Nirmala Sitharaman) ‘Oorugaai Ammaiyaar’ it is a complement to her’.

13 year old from Dindigul builds Jet Live Chat, an alternative to WhatsApp

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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Pranesh, a 13-year-old from Tamaraipadi in Dindigul has invented an app that could replace WhatsApp, called Jet Live Chat. It has features that are fairly advanced in comparison with its more famous counterpart.

Pranesh is a class 9 student who had been wanting to make the most of this coronavirus lockdown. He had been taking courses in app development online and had developed this app all by himself.  This app was sent to Google for approval last week and got added into the Playstore on Friday.

 

 

Developed by a student with state-of-the-art technology with very basic coding skills, this new app has features that give it the edge over WhatsApp. It is also claimed to be faster and safer than WhatsApp, with a higher level of encryption. Another additional feature is the fact that it can be used to forward to 15 people at a time, unlike WhatsApp, which offers the forward option only for 5 of one’s contacts at a time.

Due to this, the app has become very famous among the people of that district. Various parties in the Dindigul area have lauded this achievement of a ninth-grade student.

‘Vasanth and Co’ Vasantha Kumar passes away

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
-

Congress MP H Vasantha Kumar, the entrepreneur who made his name with his electronics appliances store Vasanth and Co, Congress MP from Kanyakumari passed away on August 28 due to COVID19. He has been a two-time MLA, and was first elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly from Nanguneri constituency in 2006, and thereafter in 2016. He, however, resigned from his seat after successfully contesting from Kanyakumari parliamentary constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha Election. He defeated the sitting MP and then Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan by a huge margin.

He is also a relative of former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President and veteran Congress leader Kumari Ananthan, and Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan.

He was admitted to the hospital on August 10, after developing symptoms of COVID-19 and was put on both the ECMO and a ventilator. He passed away on Friday evening.

Tributes have been coming from across party lines. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress High Command Rahul Gandhi too expressed their condolences moments after news came out.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe steps down

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
-

Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stepped down on Friday citing health issues. He has been suffering for many years from ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease, but he said his condition had worsened recently. Notably, he had resigned from a previous tenure in 2007, due to the same condition. Shinzo, who began office in 2012, has the record of serving the longest tenure as the Prime Minister of the country. He is touted to remain in his post until the next Prime Minister is elected.

While filing his resignation, he said he could not make any mistakes in terms of important decision making, and therefore had decided to step down. “I made a judgement I should not continue my job as a Prime Minister,” he said. “I would like to sincerely apologise to the people of Japan for leaving my post with one year left in my term of office, and amid the coronavirus woes, while various policies are still in the process of being implemented,” he added, making a bow.

He is a staunch conservative who is known for stimulating the growth of Japan’s economy, with his aggressive economic policy known as “Abenomics”. He has also been credited with strengthening the country’s defences and has been a major part in increasing the country’s military spendings. However, one of the shortcomings during his tenure was his inability to revise the constitution’s pacifist Article 9, which bans a standing army for anything other than self-defence.

Finance Minister Taro Aso, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba and LDP policy chief Fumio Kishida are being seen as his potential successors.

Rafale to be formally inducted on Sep 10, second batch of jets to arrive in India in October

By
Balaji Subramanian
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India will induct the Rafale fighter jets in a formal induction ceremony on 10 September and the ceremony would be attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his French counterpart Florence Parly, reported by Theprint.

But even more, important news is the arrival of the second batch of Rafale fighter jets — likely to be four in number will arrive at the Ambala Air Force Station in October. The arrival of these four additional fighter jets will bolster our airpower even more.

The five Rafale jets India that landed in the Ambala airbase on 29 July, include two twin-seaters trainers and three single-seat fighters after it had flown 8,500 km from Merignac in France, with a stopover in UAE.

The newly acquired Rafale fighters are a 4.5 generation aircraft, the Rafale is considered as an ‘omnirole’ aircraft that can carry out different missions on a single flight.

The new aircraft would have to be able to carry out a very wide range of missions:

Air-defense / air-superiority, Anti-Access/Aera Denial, Reconnaissance, Close air support, Dynamic Targeting, Air-to-ground precision strike/interdiction, Anti-ship attacks, Nuclear deterrence, buddy-buddy refuelling

After a long delay, India had ordered 36 Rafale fighters in 2016, on a government to a government contract. However, the numbers are just too small for the IAF, which is faced with a dwindling fighter squadron. At present, the IAF has a strength of 31 squadrons against the requirement of 42 Squadrons which is crucial for our national security.

It is quite possible when the French defence minister will arrive for the formal indication of Rafale, talks on the purchase of an additional 36 Rafale fighters could doing the rounds.

LG PuriCare wearable air purifier face mask with dual fans unveiled

By
The Commune
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The LG PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier mask features Dual Fans and also includes a Respiratory Sensor.

The smart mask is sought as a solution for the shortage of disposable masks and also for supplying fresh air, both indoors and outdoors.

The LG PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier mask is said to use two H13 HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air/Arrestance) filters to purify air.

The face mask also uses built-in Dual Fans which have three speed levels that speed up  automatically to assist air intake and slow down to reduce resistance while exhaling. They have also provided a Respiratory Sensor that they claim can detect the cycle and volume of the wearer’s breath, and adjust the fans according to the same. To minimise the air leakage around the mouth and nose, a facial shape research was apparently conducted and the mask has been designed ergonomically. It comes with a 820mAh battery that can last for upto 8 hours on low mode and 2 hours on high mode.

Delhi High Court halts insolvency proceedings against Anil Ambani

By
The Commune
-

The Delhi High Court on Thursday halted insolvency proceedings against Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani and has barred him from disposing any of his assets.

Anil Ambani, runs a business group separate from his brother Mukesh Ambani, He filed a plea with the Delhi High Court challenging the appointment of a resolution professional over  roughly  ₹12 billion (163 million USD) personal guarantee that he had given to the State Bank of India for the loans to his companies.

His RCom (Reliance communications) is currently in insolvency. Due to heavy debt and losses it had to be shut down. His other companies in sectors such as defence, infrastructure and entertainment have performed poorly as well. He forced a split in the Reliance industries that he was a joint heir to following the death of Dhirubhai Ambani in 2002. In a deal mediated by his mother, he won the control of the power, financial services and then newly built telecom business, while Mukesh Ambani retained the oil and petrochemical business.

New Air Defence Command on the works to secure our skies

By
Balaji Subramanian
-

According to a report published in the Economic Times, the Ministry of Defence is likely to make an announcement in October on setting up of a new air defence command.

This will be a convergence among the three services in the soon to be formed new air defence command that will handle critical air assets like missiles of the Indian Army.

A high-level committee was appointed earlier this year to frame contours of the new air defence command with a focus on ensuring jointness among the three services.

This is the idea of India’s first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat’s who wants to redesign all existing military commands to effectively deal with all future security challenges.

The new air defence command will be under the Indian Air Force (IAF) Western Command headquartered in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. The air assets of the Army and the Navy will come under the new Air Defence Command.

The decision to create Air Defence Command is to enhance the security of India’s skies from threats and protect key areas in the Country.

This will help in bringing the tri-services jointness and synergy and set up of common “logistics support pools” in stations where two or more services have their presence.

Yogi Govt seizes properties worth ₹25 crore of mafia don and Samajwadi Party Politician Atiq Ahmed

By
Balaji Subramanian
-

In a no-compromise attitude towards ending Mafia-Raj in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government on Thursday (27 August) seized the properties of don-turned-politician, former Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Atiq Ahmed.

As per reports, five properties worth nearly ₹25 crore of Ahmed have been attached in Prayagraj. Along with this, other assets are also being seized.

Prayagraj Senior Superintendent of Police Abhishek Dixit said, “Action has been initiated to attach five properties worth 25 crores of former strongman and MP Atiq Ahmed. The assets acquired through crime were attached at the behest of the District Magistrate. These include two houses worth two-and-a-half crore in Chakiya, two properties worth two-and-a-half crore in Om Prakash Sabhasad Nagar and Kalindipuram and property worth Rs 20 crore in the Civil lines, MG Road.”

The UP civil administration is also working on attaching 13 other properties.

Atique Ahmed is one of UP’s Bahubali politicians and a gangster implicated in several serious crimes including kidnapping, extortion and murder.

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