Politics In Odisha Heats Up, BJP Warns BJD Against 'Defiance' Of Central Welfare Schemes

While Rhythm Sangwan failed to make her place in the final after finishing in 15th place.

Manu Bhaker displayed a stunning performance in the qualification round. In the first two series, Manu ended with 97 points. In the third series, the 22-year-old bagged 98 points. In the final three series, she sealed 96 points to finish in third place with a total of 580-27x.

Only the top eight shooters have qualified for the final round. Hungary's Veronika Major secured the top spot with 582-22x points and South Korea's Ye Jim Oh secured the second place with 582-20x.

On the other hand, Manu's teammate, Rhythm ended up in the 15th spot with a total of 573-14x points and failed to make it into the qualification round.

Earlier in the day, Indian shooters Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Cheema failed to make it to the final round of the men's 10 m air pistol competition.

Cheema (18th spot with 574-17x points) and Sarabjot (9th spot with 577-16x points) failed to make it to the final eight who qualified for the medal round.

In the qualification round for the 10 m air pistol men's competition, players can take 60 shots within a time frame of 75 minutes. Only eight players out of 33 could qualify for the medal round set to take place Sunday.

India's shooting campaign in the Paris 2024 Olympics started with disappointment as two Indian teams in action during the qualification round in the 10 m air rifle mixed team events failed to make it to the medal matches Saturday.

Two Indian pairs, Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh and Arjun Babuta and Ramita Jindal, took part in the 10 m air rifle mixed teams qualifiers. Only four teams out of 28 had the privilege of qualifying further for the knockout stages, i.e., a gold medal match for the top two teams and a bronze medal match for teams ranked third and fourth. India could not make it to the final four.

Ramita and Arjun finished in sixth place with a total of 628.7 points after three series, out of which Ramita managed 314.5 and Arjun got 314.2 points. They fell just one point short of Germany, who finished at number four with 629.7.

On the other hand, the pair of Elavenil and Sandeep finished in 12th place with 626.3 points, with Elavenil scoring 312.6 points and Sandeep got 313.7 points.

The 10 m air pistol qualification for women's shooters, including India's Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan will take place from 4 pm. 

(ANI)

Read more: Sports News

While speaking to reporters, the West Bengal Chief Minister alleged "political discrimination" and said that at the NITI Aayog meeting which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she was not allowed to speak for more than five minutes while other chief ministers were given more time.

"CM Mamata Banerjee attended the Niti Aayog meeting. We all heard her. Every CM was given the allotted time, and that was displayed on the screen, which was present before every table. We could see that two tables have a screen before us. She said in the media that her mic was turned off. That is completely false. Every CM was given their due time to speak," the Finance Minsiter told ANI.

Sitharaman said that it is "unfortunate" that the West Bengal CM is making such claims, adding that the government is happy that West Bengal Chief Minister attended the meeting and she said that she is speaking on behalf of the opposition, i.e. INDIA bloc.

Sitharaman further said that the Bengal CM should have requested for more than the allotted time but she chose to use it an excuse to walk out of the meeting.

"If she's reminded that her time is over, even with the mic on, she could have requested that she will continue speaking like some other Chief Ministers did. But she chose to use it as an excuse so that she can get out of the meeting," Sitharaman said.

"She should speak the truth behind this rather than again build a narrative based on falsehood," the Finance Minister added.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that he feels Mamata Banerjee is lying, as it's surprising if a state's CM wouldn't be allowed to speak.

"The things that Mamata Banerjee is saying regarding the NITI Aayog meeting, I feel like she is lying. It is very surprising if a state's CM wouldn't be allowed to speak. Mamata Banerjee knew what would be happening there. she had the script," he said.

Earlier, the central government's fact-checking body refuted as "misleading" the claim made by the West Bengal CM about her microphone being switched off.

A PIB fact check today debunked her allegations stating that "only the clock showed that her speaking time was over."

"It is being claimed that the microphone of CM, West Bengal was switched off during the 9th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog. This claim is Misleading. The clock only showed that her speaking time was over. Even the bell was not rung to mark it," the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said in a post on X.

According to the government fact check body PIB, Mamata Banerjee's turn to speak would be only after lunch if one goes alphabetically, but she was "accomodated" as the seventh speaker on an official request from the Chief Minister.

"Alphabetically, CM, West Bengal turn would have come after lunch. She was accommodated as the 7th speaker on an official request of the West Bengal government as she had to return early," PIB Fact Check explained in a subsequent tweet.

While speaking to reporters, the West Bengal Chief Minister alleged "political discrimination" and said that at the NITI Aayog meeting she was not allowed to speak for more than five minutes while other chief ministers were given more time.

Claiming that she had chosen to participate in the meeting to strengthen "cooperative federalism" Banerjee said, "There are many regional aspirations. That is why I am here, to share those aspirations. If a state is strong, the Union will be strong."

(ANI)

Read More: National News

A notification in this regard was issued by the Home Department today. 

Sources said the State government would constitute a committee to address the issues about the appointment and transfer of DSP-rank officers. The committee will decide on appointing and transferring DSPs, ASPs, Assistant Commandants, and Deputy Commandants. 

The committee will comprise the Health Secretary, DGP and IG of Police as its members. Besides, the Special Secretary and Additional Secretary or Joint Secretary of the Home Department will also its members.  

Earlier, the DGP had the prerogative to appoint and transfer DSP-rank officers. 

The decision of the Mohan Majhi government has been hailed as a transparent move. According to them, the decision would ensure that DSP-rank officers will be appointed and transferred most transparently in the coming days. 

Read Mode Odisha News