After veteran party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad turned down the role of Jammu and Kashmir Congress Campaign Committee Chairman, senior leader and member of G23 ginger group Anand Sharma  on Aug 21 resigned as Chairman of the Himachal Congress Steering Committee, months before state elections.

In a letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Sharma expressed reservations that he has not been kept in the loop of key election strategy meetings and decisions related to poll-bound states and that his self-respect is non-negotiable.

Sharma, who hails from the state, added that he will campaign for the party in the state and would proceed on a four-day tour of the state. In the letter, he cited a multiplicity of committees and overlapping functions.

This comes as a setback to the party ahead of the elections in the state where the party has chances to make a comeback.

Earlier, Azad had declined the role of the campaign committee chairman. Elections in the Union Territories (UTs) of Jammu and Kashmir can be held anytime with the process of finalizing electoral rolls in full swing.

Former Lok Sabha member and prominent OBC leader Haribhau Rathod is all set to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is now eyeing expansion in various states.

Rathod, who was the Lok Sabha member of the BJP from Yavatmal in Maharashtra said  that he would join the AAP in the presence of the party's National Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

A prominent leader of the Banjara community, Rathod was once a confidant of BJP leader late Gopinath Munde and a Lok Sabha member from 2004-08.

He was expelled from the BJP after he abstained from the trust vote sought by the then UPA government in 2008 over the nuclear deal with the US.

Rathod joined the Congress in 2013 and was made a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council the next year.

In 2019, Rathod aligned with the Shiv Sena and campaigned for the party candidates in the assembly elections.

Celebrated Pakistani singer Nayyara Noor, adored by millions from both sides of the border for her soulful melodies, passed away after a brief illness on Aug 21 , bringing the curtains down on the life of one of the last musical icons to represent the shared culture of India and Pakistan.

Noor was 71, and had been under treatment for quite some time in Karachi.

Noor was born in Guwahati in 1950. Her father was an active member of the All-India Muslim League and hosted Pakistan's founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah during his trip to Pakistan before the Partition in 1947.

A Glasgow-based museum has signed a historic agreement with the Indian government to repatriate seven artefacts including a 14th-century Indo-Persian sword, a first such move by the UK museum's service.

The transfer of ownership took place in the presence of the Indian High Commission officials on Aug 19 , according to the Glasgow Life Museums statement.

Following the meeting at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, the Government of India and Archaeological Survey of India delegates were given the opportunity to view the objects at Glasgow Museums Resource Centre, where they are safely stored.

Museum conservator Stephanie De Roemer holds a ceremonial Indo-Persian sword during a transfer of ownership ceremony at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.

The transfer of ownership ceremony took place after Glasgow City Council's City Administration Committee approved a recommendation made in April by the cross-party Working Group for Repatriation and Spoliation to return 51 items to India, Nigeria and the Cheyenne River and Pine Ridge Lakota Sioux tribes in South Dakota, US.

Six of the objects were removed from temples and shrines in different states in Northern India during the 19th century, while the seventh was purchased following a theft from the owner. All seven artefacts were gifted to Glasgow's collections.

Drug firm Micro Labs has termed the allegations that it offered freebies worth Rs 1,000 crore to doctors to promote its anti-inflammatory drug Dolo 650 as baseless.

The Supreme Court was told by an NGO that the Central Board of Direct Taxes has accused the Bengaluru-based drug firm of distributing Rs 1,000 crore freebies to doctors for prescribing its 650 mg tablets.

In a statement, a Micro Labs spokesperson said that in some of the recent media reports it has been falsely and maliciously alleged that the company has been distributing freebies worth Rs 1,000 crore to promote Dolo 650 in one year.

The annual sales of Dolo 650 have been Rs 360 crores, about 8 per cent of the company sales.

Despite the raw material cost tripling during covid times, Micro Labs maintained its uninterrupted supplies without any price change as per the government fixed retail price of less than Rs 2 per tablet.

With an economical option like Dolo 650, doctors across the country have been able to manage most of their patients in the pandemic without resorting to expensive antiviral and other drugs

The medication has been prescribed by doctors due to its quality, effective and speedy relief from fever and on the trust built over three decades.

Last month, the Income Tax department conducted searches at the premises of the drug firm over alleged tax evasion.

Shareholders of One97 Communications, which operates under the Paytm brand, have approved the re-appointment of Vijay Shekhar Sharma as managing director and chief executive officer of the company, according to the scrutinizer report filed by the firm on Aug 21.

Investors advisory firm IiAS had recommended against the reappointment of Sharma and several other resolutions that were part of the agenda of the 22nd Annual General Meeting held on Aug 19.

C.P. Rizwan, the newly-appointed T20 captain of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) cricket team for the Asia Cup qualifier hails from the vibrant seaside town of Thalassery in north Kerala. The town is synonymous with the Three Cs -- Cricket, Cake and Circus -- as it is believed to be the cradle of all the three.

Almost all the Indian circuses are owned by people from Thalassery, the most famous bakeries are based out of Thalassery, and it is said that Colonel Arthur Wellesley, the man who eventually defeated Napoleon and became the Prime Minister of Great Britain, introduced cricket for the first time in India at Thalassery when he was commanding the East India Company's forces stationed in Kerala in the 1790s.

Q1. Name the 17-nation air combat exercise in Australia for  which Indian Air Force  has  sent  four Sukhois and  two C-17 aircraft ?

1. Pitch Black
2. Black Panther
3. Thunder Storm
4. Operation Kangaroo
5. None of These

Q2. Name the  newly-appointed T20 captain of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) cricket team for the Asia Cup qualifier ?

1. Alishan Sharafu
2. Basil Hameed
3. Chirag Suri
4. C.P. Rizwan
5. None of These

Q3. Name the Celebrated Pakistani singer  adored by millions from both sides of the border for her soulful melodies who  passed away after a brief illness on Aug 21 ?

1. Kanan Bala
2. Begum Akhtar
3. Nayyara Noor
4. Munni Begum
5. None of These

Q4. Name the Chief Minister  of Mizoram  who has publicly apologised for the “misbehaviour” of his daughter Milari Chhangte with a doctor recently?

1. Neiphiu Rio
2. Zoramthanga
3. Qhehezu Tuccu
4. Neiba Kronu
5. None of These

Q5. Name the  actress who has decided to sue Filmfare magazine for inviting her to award her for Thalaivii ?

1. Vidya Balan
2. Taapsee Pannu
3. Kangana Ranaut
4. Kiara Advani
5. None of These

Answers

1-----------------1   Pitch Black

2----------------4   C.P. Rizwan

3----------------3   Nayyara Noor

4----------------2  Zoramthanga

5----------------3  Kangana Ranaut