NewsBytes

Star Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu lived up to her top billing with a record-breaking show as she expectedly won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Championships here on Monday. The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist lifted a total of 193kg (84kg 109kg) to set new Commonwealth Championship records in snatch, clean and jerk, and total, finishing atop the women's 48kg podium. Her effort was a whopping 14kg more than the previous total record in the tournament. National Games champion Rishikanta Singh added the second gold of the day in the men's 60kg with a total effort of 271kg (120kg 151kg). Returning to international action after a year-long hiatus due to an injury, Chanu did look rusty at times, managing only three successful lifts out of six.

Tree coverage, quality of the habitat and animal population have declined in Jharkhand's wildlife sanctuaries and a national park between 2017 and 2021, according to a CAG report tabled in the state assembly on Monday. While the area covered by trees decreased by 2.60 per cent, bare ground and built-up areas increased by 13.51 per cent and 22.33 per cent, respectively, during the period, it said. Similarly, the animal population, which was at 20,028 in 2017-18, declined to 12,104 in 2019-20 but rose to 19,882 in 2020-21 in the state's national parks and sanctuaries. The wildlife sanctuaries and national park mainly house leopards, wolves, sloth bears, deer, elephants, jackals, chital, sambhars, wild boars and hyenas. Jharkhand has a network of 11 wildlife sanctuaries and one national park. Additionally, there is a Tiger Reserve in Palamau and an Elephant Reserve in Singhhum.

The Indian Air Force's MiG-21 fighter jets, the backbone of its combat fleet for over six decades, made their last operational flights at the Nal Air Force Station in Bikaner, a month ahead of the formal retirement ceremony to be held in Chandigarh on September 26. As part of the symbolic farewell, Air Chief Marshal A P Singh flew solo sorties of the MiG-21 from Nal on August 18-?19, marking an emotional moment for the force and for generations of pilots trained on the Russian-origin fighter jet that served the force for 62 years. "The MiG-21 has been the workhorse of the IAF since its induction in the 1960s and we are still continuing with it. It is one of the most mass-produced supersonic fighter jets in history, with over 11,000 aircraft operated by more than 60 countries," Air Chief Marshal Singh told PTI after his sortie. IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Jaideep Singh recalled the MiG-21's historic contributions in combat. The IAF currently operates two squadrons of the jet, which will be phased out next month. The official farewell in Chandigarh, where the MiG-21 was first inducted in 1963, will mark the closure of a historic chapter in India's air power.

The head of the World Health Organisation called on Monday for attacks on health care to stop after Palestinian officials said at least 20 persons had been killed in Israeli strikes on a hospital in southern Gaza. "While people in #Gaza are being starved, their already limited access to health care is being further crippled by repeated attacks," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X. "We cannot say it loudly enough: STOP attacks on health care. Ceasefire now! He said 50 people had also been wounded in the strikes, including critically ill patients who had already been receiving care.