Morning Digest | India to buy 70,000 assault rifles from Russia, U.S. orders American airlines to aid Afghan evacuation, and more

Robert Bobby George and Anju George, who coach and guide Shaili Singh in Bengaluru, expect her to win medals at the Olympics and Worlds in the next few years.

And the 17-year-old from Jhansi, who was raised by a single mother who works as a tailor, offered a glimpse of what she is capable of as she claimed the women’s long jump silver with a personal best 6.59m, missing the gold by just one centimetre to Sweden’s Maja Askag, at the World Athletics under-20 championships in Nairobi on Sunday.

The United States on Sunday enlisted several major airlines in its frantic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans, Americans and other foreigners from Kabul following its fall to Taliban extremists.

With repeated delays in deals for procurement of AK-203 assault rifles and Kamov-226 utility helicopters from Russia, India has signed a deal for 70,000 AK-203 assault rifles to be procured off the shelf, while the Army is also looking at procuring limited number of helicopters off the shelf to meet immediate shortage of light utility helicopters. Meanwhile, Russia has carried out upgrades of the Ka-226T helicopter on offer, according to officials.

Authorities of Assam’s Hailakandi district returned some seized construction materials to their counterparts in Mizoram’s Kolasib district on Sunday to ease fresh tension brewing on the inter-State border since August 20 afternoon.

Amid growing demands for the restoration of Statehood for Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh have been visited by members of as many as three Parliamentary Committees in the past 10 days.

After reaching out to activist-turned-politician Akhil Gogoi, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has been angling for a Member of Parliament to make inroads in Assam.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday took exception to the recent remarks of two of Congress’s State president Navjot Singh Sidhu’s advisors on sensitive national issues like Kashmir and Pakistan.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur will be launching a week long set of activities around the theme of India’s 75 years of independence or Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav in India and at its embassies abroad between August 23rd to 29th, including film shows, quizzes, dramas and skits and the launch of an e-book on the “Making of the Constitution.”

The Delhi High Court observed that the menace of drug abuse was on the rise in the country and its consequences “can be experienced across the board from causing economic issues to societal disintegration”.

With the total infections among people in the 0-18 age group approaching the 1,000-mark in Odisha since August 15, experts have advised the government to take a cautious approach towards reopening schools for regular classes for all students.