Shilpa Shetty explains significance of Sarva Pitru Amavasya

The prestigious badminton tournament will unfold at the JN Indoor Stadium in Cuttack from December 12 to 17th. Recognized as one of the Asia's premier competitions, the event boasts a substantial prize pool of USD 100,000 and is also categorized as a BWF Tour Super 100 event.

Badminton fans are in for yet another thrilling competition as last year's champion in Men's Singles, Kiran George and Women's singles champion, Unnati Hooda will return to retain their title. Gayatri Gopichand and Tressa Jolly, the duo that won the Women's Doubles last year, will also be in action again.

Speaking ahead of the tournament, Odisha Sports Secretary Vineel Krishna expressed his pleasure at hosting yet another edition of the marquee competition in the state and reiterated the importance of it towards the growth and development of badminton in Odisha.

"We are looking forward to hosting yet another edition of the Odisha Masters in Cuttack. Badminton is a priority for us, and we have undertaken numerous measures towards the promotion of the game. While infrastructure is crucial, competition is equally important." he said.

Krishna further added, "With excellent Badminton players from around the world descending upon Odisha for the competition, it will serve as an inspiration for our own budding badminton athletes to strive for the highest level of the game."

The Odisha Masters 2023 is another milestone for Odisha, which has consistently showcased its willingness and ability to host international sporting events.

Furthering their commitment to the development of Badminton in the state, the Badminton High-Performance Centre at the Kalinga Sports Complex in Bhubaneswar is currently under construction and set to be inaugurated soon. Additionally, the 90 multi-purpose indoor stadiums set up across Odisha will be promoting this sport at grassroots.

(ANI)

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O'Neal was diagnosed with chronic leukaemia in 2001 and with prostate cancer in 2012.

His son Patrick confirmed the news on Instagram through an emotional post about his father.

He wrote, "Ryan was a very generous man who has always been there to help his loved ones for decade upon decade. I will share my father's legacy forever. I will not be deterred from outside voices that say negative things.

If you choose to talk shit about my dad, even though you have no clue what you are talking about, you will get called out. If you go that route, I recommend you take a good look in the mirror first."

"My dad was 82, and lived a kick ass life. I hope the first thing he brags about in Heaven is how he sparred 2 rounds with Joe Frazier in 1966, on national TV, with Muhammad Ali doing the commentary, and went toe to toe with Smokin' Joe," he mentioned in his post.

He concluded the post with, "I'll miss you dad. I love you. We love you. No one told a story better than Ryan O'Neal. 4/20/41 ~ 12/8/2023"

Later in his career, O'Neal's acting skills frequently took a back seat to media coverage of his personal struggles, which included his difficult relationship with longtime companion Farrah Fawcett, who died of cancer in 2009, and with his children, including Redmond O'Neal and actress Tatum O'Neal.

According to Variety, in the 1970s, he was a marquee draw. In 1973, he ranked behind only Clint Eastwood in terms of box office draw -- and ahead of stars like Steve McQueen, Burt Reynolds, and Robert Redford.

'Love Story' was the top film of 1970, making $106 million in the United States and Canada, and was the sixth highest-grossing film of all time at the time. The melodramatic romance, based on Erich Segal's blockbuster novel, was also a cultural sensation, with its signature line of dialogue, "Love means never having to say you're sorry," spoken both by Ali MacGraw and O'Neal at different times, inspiring parody for decades.

'Love Story' received seven Academy Award nominations, including one for O'Neal as lead actor. In 1978, O'Neal returned to co-star in the adaptation of Segal's sequel "Oliver's Story" with Candice Bergen.

O'Neal began his career in television, appearing on shows such as "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," "The Untouchables," "Leave It to Beaver," and "My Three Sons" before being cast as the second male lead in the modern Western series "Empire," starring Richard Egan, at the age of 22.

The actor made his feature-film debut in 1969 with "The Big Bounce," an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel in which he co-starred with Leigh-Taylor Young, who had been hired as Farrow's successor on "Peyton Place" and married O'Neal in 1967.

O'Neal's memoir "Both of Us: My Life With Farrah" was published in May 2012. O'Neal was married twice, both times to actresses: Joanna Moore, who died in 1997, and Leigh Taylor-Young. He is survived by daughter Tatum and son Griffin, by Moore; son Patrick, an actor and sportscaster, by Taylor-Young; and son Redmond, from his relationship with Fawcett, reported Variety.

(ANI)

Visuals from the area around Akshardham, shot at 6:55 am showed smog engulfing the city.

The air quality in the national capital was recorded in the 'very poor' category on Friday. As per the Central Pollution Control Board, the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) at Anand Vihar, Delhi, stood at 374 on Friday morning.

Earlier on Thursday, the air quality in the national capital continued to remain in 'poor' category. The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi, as per SAFAR-India (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research), was recorded at 276 on Thursday morning.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted no rainfall in the National Capital till December 11. There will be clear skies with shallow to moderate fog in the morning across the city. Delhi has been experiencing air quality in the range of 'severe' to 'very poor' over the last few weeks.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh hit out at Union Minister Bhupender Yadav saying that he gave a "gol mol" reply to pointed questions on public health and air pollution inside Parliament.

The Congress MP was referring to the reply he received from the Union Minister during Question Hour on 'air pollution in NCR and the country' in Rajya Sabha on the fourth day of the ongoing Winter Session.

Jairam Ramesh asked a question about whether the Centre was considering a review of the Pollution Control Act that was passed in 1981 and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

To this Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said, "In view of the problem of air pollution in the country, a provision of Rs 19,711 crore was made by the Central government. And to define the standards that were set, 131 cities in the country were also identified. Schemes were implemented by the central government to identify these cities, all provisions were made keeping in mind the toxic emissions that spread in the air, especially PM 2.5 and PM 10. And I would like to say that the standards which were made in these 131 cities, progress was made quite satisfactorily."

"Rather, I would like to tell Jairam Ramesh that the municipalities that did good work and contributed in these 131 cities were also given awards in a positive manner. Because this topic is related to the lives of all of us, and especially the local municipalities, we should participate in it as much as possible, and those who have done good work should be specially compensated," he added.

The air quality index from 0 to 100 is considered 'good', 100 to 200 'moderate', 200 to 300 'poor', 300 to 400 'very poor' and from 400 to 500 or above 'severe'.

(ANI)