Top news of the day: Vinesh Phogat disqualified from Olympics wrestling finals, India files appeal; Bangladesh interim government under Muhammad Yunus to take oath on August 8, and more

Vinesh Phogat disqualified from Olympics wrestling finals, WFI files appeal; Bangladesh interim government under Muhammad Yunus to take oath on August 8, and more in The Hindu’s top news of August 07, 2024.

The Indian contingent was in for a shock as wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who was on her way to become the country’s first woman wrestler to reach the Olympics final by defeating Cuba’s Guzman Lopez on Tuesday night, was eliminated for being overweight ahead of her final bout against USA’s Sarah Ann Hildebrandt on Wednesday (August 7, 2024). “It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the Women’s Wrestling 50kg class. Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50kg this morning. No further comments will be made by the contingent at this time. The Indian team requests you respect Vinesh’s privacy. It would like to focus on the competitions on hand,” the Indian Olympic Association said in a statement.

Experienced Indian javelin thrower Annu Rani once again failed to impress on the global stage as she made a qualification round exit from the Olympics with an extremely poor performance here on Wednesday (August 6, 2024). The 31-year-old national record holder opened her event with 55.81m and could not improve upon that mark in her next two attempts, which measured 53.22m and 53.55m, to finish at 15th among 16 competitors in Group A and 26th overall. In another below-par show, national record holder 100m hurdler Jyothi Yarraji failed to book an automatic semifinal spot after finishing seventh in her round one heat race. The Olympic debutant, who is the first Indian to compete in 100m hurdles in the Games, clocked a below-par 13.16 seconds in heat number four to finish 35th overall out of 40 total runners.

India bowed out of the women’s team event after losing 3-2 to a superior Germany in the quarterfinals of the Olympics at the South Paris Arena’s table tennis venue in Paris on Wednesday (August 7, 2024). The 11th-ranked India, which qualified in the team event for the first time and creditably reached the last eight, could not match the Germans’ well-planned and controlled performance.

Addressing a press conference, Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman says the interim government, headed by Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus, will take oath on Thursday (August 8, 2024) at 8 p.m. He also added that the advisory council may have 15 members.

India has evacuated all non-essential staff and their families from its embassy and consulates in neighbouring Bangladesh, two Indian government sources said on Wednesday (August 7, 2024), after weeks of unrest forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to quit and flee. “All Indian diplomats remain in Bangladesh and the missions are functional,” the sources added.

Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India following mass protests against her government, is going to stay in Delhi “for a little while,” her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said on Wednesday (August 7, 2024). Ms. Hasina, the 76-year-old Awami League leader, landed at an airbase near Delhi on Monday (August 5, 2024) and later shifted to a safe location in Delhi under tight security. She is accompanied by her sister Sheikh Rehana.

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday (August 6, 2024) passed the Finance Bill 2024 after the government relaxed the just-introduced new capital gains tax on real estate, allowing taxpayers an option to switch to a new lower tax rate or stay with the old regime that had higher rate with indexation benefit. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who in her Budget for 2024-25 proposed to lower the long-term capital gains tax on real estate to 12.5 per cent from 20 per cent but without the indexation benefit, moved an amendment to the bill to give the option. Indexation benefit allows taxpayers to arrive at the cost price of the property after adjusting for inflation.