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Vishy Anand puts his weight behind Gukesh ahead of high-stake Norway Chess 2025

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Mumbai, April 10: The youngest-ever world champion Gukesh Dommaraju will take on Magnus Carlsen – the world’s No. 1 player in a high-stakes contest — in the most highly-anticipated contest in the world of chess at this year’s Norway Chess 2025. The tournament will take place in Stavanger from May 26 to June 6.

Addressing an event hosted by the Norway Chess and Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai (SJAM) in Mumbai, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand put his weight behind the prodigy from Chennai.

“I expect a very exciting battle. Gukesh will not lack motivation or the determination to go after Magnus Carlsen. But Magnus is also highly motivated by the challenge of playing against our young players. I’ve seen him in multiple tournaments whether it’s Kolkata or the World Rapid Blitz, he eagerly looks forward to these match-ups and so we have the perfect storm. I think we have the right to expect some great battles,” Anand said appearing at the event virtually.

Gukesh, 18, has achieved remarkable success in 2024, winning the Tata Steel Masters, leading India to gold at the Chess Olympiad, dominating the Candidates Tournament, and finally claiming the ultimate prize in classical chess: the World Championship title in Singapore last December.

This year’s Norway Chess will see a star-studded line-up featuring world No.1 and defending champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Gukesh D. (India), Fabiano Caruana (USA), Arjun Erigaisi (India), and Wei Yi (China) among the men.

The Norway Chess Women will feature reigning four-time Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun (China), Lei Tingjie (China), Koneru Humpy (India), Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine), Vaishali Rameshbabu (India), and Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Spain).

Norway Chess and Norway Chess Women, feature the same format, same prize money, and take place in the same playing hall. Both tournaments follow a 6-player double round-robin format.

From his own experience of playing at the Norway Chess, Anand highlighted the reasons behind Norway Chess being different from any other world event under FIDE’s calendar. This year, with the top 5 in the world participating in Norway Chess, the contest promises to be nail-biting for any chess aficionado following the tournament.

“It is one of the premier events in the sport of chess, and since Norway Chess began in 2013, it has kept on evolving very well. They continue to make the tournament very attractive a demonstration of what chess is all about. They always have some extra tweaks to make it very interesting, whether it’s the confessional booth or now the Armageddon. It’s a very innovative tournament, and the levels of competition are simply outstanding,” Anand said.

He further added, “And for Indian chess, the fact that we have four players, says a lot. On the men’s side, Indian chess is as strong as it’s ever been. Even more so obviously due to the depth we have. But it’s great that Koneru Humpy is still competing so successfully and that she’ll be joined by Vaishali as well, which bodes well for us.”

Visiting India to explore partnerships, Kjell Madland, the Managing Director and visionary behind Norway Chess expressed a keenness to expand further.

“Norway Chess is absolutely honoured to be hosting the Gukesh and Magnus clash, especially on the back of Gukesh’s incredible run of form. Both the champions will have a couple of chances to go after each other which bodes very well for Norway Chess,” he said.

“And hopefully, next year, Norway Chess can host this exact fixture in India as well, where there are so many champions. The quality of chess in India over the last ten years has been, and for sure, the sport would be poorer without the Indian champions,” he added.

National

Maha govt tables bill to set up Gadchiroli district mining authority

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Mumbai, June 30: The Maharashtra government on Monday tabled the bill for the establishment of the 16-member Gadchiroli District Mining Authority for the coordination and supervision of orderly and rapid development of the mineral-bearing area and execution of plans and projects.

The authority will be headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the Gadchiroli district guardian minister. The government’s move is important as it hopes to finish the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and develop Gadchiroli as the next steel city of India.

The district is endowed with abundant minerals such as iron ore, hematite, magnetite, BHQ, limestone, Dolomites and coal, which are used as raw materials for various manufacturing industries.

Further, Gadchiroli district, which is rich in iron ore, has the potential to be developed as a hub for mineral-based industries, especially the steel industry, said the bill.

“Currently, the absence of an integrated administrative mechanism hampers the swift execution of the mining project. Hence a need was felt for the establishment of a unified authority comprising of certain ministers and secretaries of the relevant departments under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister to expedite mining approvals and foster the growth of mineral based industries such as steel and cement, thereby accelerating the holistic development of the Gadchiroli district and consequently of the state,” said the bill.

It pointed out that the authority will act as a catalyst in speeding up the process of operationalisation of approved mining leases, and will also generate employment in the district and boost the revenue of the state.

According to the bill, the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, and rules framed thereunder govern the development and regulation of mines and minerals. The major mineral blocks are auctioned following the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015. The mining concession holder is required to obtain various clearances and no-objection certificates from various departments and district officers of the government and local authorities within the timelines prescribed in the rules.

If the bidder fails to meet the prescribed timeline, the alloyed major mineral blocks will have to be auctioned again.

The Chief Minister last week at the industry conference said, “Gadchiroli 10 years ago was zero industrial area, nobody thought that it would become an Industrial magnet. Due to a slew of policies, Gadchiroli is becoming a new steel city of India to produce one-third of India’s steel that will change the entire outlook of the district.”

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National

Hindi cannot be forced now in Maharashtra: Uddhav Thackeray

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Uddhav Thackeray

Mumbai, June 30: Shiv Sena(UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said the Hindi language cannot be forced upon people now as the power of the Marathi people has compelled the state government to withdraw two of its resolutions on introducing Hindi along with Marathi and English for Classes 1 to 5.

Thackeray, who attended the Monsoon Session of the state legislature on its first day, said, “We will announce in two to three days what exactly the victory rally or victory march will be like and where on July 5 it will be held (as the joint morcha has been cancelled due to the government’s decision). We are also talking to everyone about that. The Marathi traitors raise their heads as soon as they realise that we are a little scattered. Yesterday, we crushed this head. If we don’t want them to come back, then we should maintain this unity instead of waiting for another crisis. We will not stop until we create a vision of this unity on July 5. We will definitely celebrate the victory. Everyone forgot their party differences and came together with us during the movement. We need to show the same unity in the victory march.”

“Love for the mother language should be beyond the party, the government has made a lot of efforts. Still, I thank them. A new committee has been appointed under the chairmanship of Narendra Jadhav (former Planning Commission member). I am telling the government that this is a matter of education, and you have appointed a committee of an economist. Whatever the committee, the issue of compulsion is over now. Even if a committee is formed now, Hindi cannot be forced on us; the power of the Marathi people has shown this yesterday,” said Thackeray at the press conference.

Thackeray said that the slogan of ‘Jai Maharashtra’ has once again been raised in every village and corner of Maharashtra.

“Shiv Sena and Shiv Sainiks were at the forefront in raising this slogan of Maharashtra. But along with that, I sincerely thank all the political parties and Marathi-speaking people who forgot their party differences and participated. We will know in the coming days whether the government has shown wisdom or not. But they immediately cancelled the government resolution on making Hindi compulsory. It was achieved due to the unity of the Marathi people. If they had not cancelled it, many Marathi lovers from the BJP, Shinde group and Ajit Pawar group would have participated in the July 5 morcha, which now will become a victory rally,” he added.

Thackeray on Sunday said the government’s power faced defeat before the power of Marathi Manoos on the contentious issue of the introduction of Hindi as a third language after Marathi and English for Classes 1 to 5. “Now this unity of Marathi people should continue,” asserted Thackeray.

“The BJP’s hidden agenda was to divide the Marathi people and attract the non-Marathi voters by raking up the Marathi vs Non-Marathi issue. But the good news is that the Marathi people took a sensible stance. They are not against the Hindi language, but against coercion. Since there was a movement against coercion, there was no division. The government thought that the division of the Marathi people would be beneficial to it,” claimed Thackeray.

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Crime

CBI books ex-SBI branch manager in Assam for illegal assets of Rs 80 lakh

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CBI

New Delhi, June 30: The CBI has booked a former manager of the State Bank of India branch in Assam for possessing allegedly illegal assets worth over Rs 80 lakh, an official said on Monday.

Pinku Kumar, former Branch Manager, SBI, Ramkrishnanagar Branch, Karimganj, is also facing a separate investigation over his alleged collusion in a multi-crore scam involving sanction of loans using forged documents, the official said.

CBI’s Shillong-based Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) registered the latest Disproportionate Assets case against Pinku Kumar on June 27 after receiving a complaint from a preliminary investigator.

The complaint alleged commission of criminal misconduct by Pinku Kumar while intentionally enriching himself illicitly, during the check period from April 1, 2019 to March 27, 2025.

During this period, he was found in possession of pecuniary resources/property, disproportionate to his known sources of income which he cannot satisfactorily account for, to the tune of Rs 99.20 lakh -(81.84 per cent DA), said the CBI FIR filed against the former bank manager.

Taking note of the preliminary probe conducted in the matter of criminal misconduct, the CBI’s FIR said, “The facts mentioned in the aforesaid complaint, prima facie, reveal commission of congnizable offences, punishable under Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended 2018) on the part of Pinku Kumar.”

Section 13 of the Act defines various forms of criminal misconduct by public servants. These include actions like abusing their position, misappropriating property, or possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

Earlier in March, the CBI booked Pinku Kumar twice in separate corruption cases naming two brokers Sumen Paul and Jadab Paul, along with the former, in each of the cases.

Raids conducted by the federal agency in these two cases led to seizure of 481 grams of gold, 11.11 gram of diamond-studded jewellery and 1,092 gram silver.

The CBI investigation showed that the former bank manager conspired with the two brokers and allegedly approved loans base on forged papers, leading to a loss of crores of rupees to the SBI.

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