Sindhu, Saina to lead Indian challenge in Denmark Open badminton
Odense (Denmark), Oct 15 : Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will lead a strong Indian challenge at the Denmark Open badminton tournament which gets underway here on Tuesday.
While Sindhu has been seeded third in the event, world no.11 Saina is unseeded here.
Sindhu will take on USA's Beiwen Zhang in the opening round of the women's singles. Saina, on the other hand, will be up against Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong.
In men's singles competition, world no.6 Kidambi Srikanth will be India's best bet and has been seeded seventh in the tournament.
Srikanth will face Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark in the opening round, while B Sai Praneeth will play Huang Yuxiang of China.
However, it will be a difficult opening encounter for another Indian, Sameer Verma, as he will square off against third seed Shi Yuqi of China.
The other Indian in fray, HS Prannoy also faces a tough first round match as he will be up against sixth seed Son Wan Ho of Korea.
Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap, who lost his passport at Amsterdam and sought the Indian government's help on Friday, however doesn't feature in the men's singles draw.
In men's doubles, the Indian pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy will take on local hope Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the opening round.
Ashwini Ponappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will face the Korean combination of Seo Seung Jae and Chae Yujung in the first round of the mixed doubles competition.
Ponappa will pair up with N Sikki Reddy and play the American duo of Ariel Lee and Sydney Lee in the opening round of the women's doubles event.
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Congress voices concern over safety of minorities in Bangladesh
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Wednesday expressed deep concern over the "atmosphere of insecurity" being faced by religious minorities in Bangladesh and the arrest of Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das.
In a statement, Chairman of the party's Media and Publicity Department Pawan Khera said, "The Indian National Congress expects the government of India to prevail upon the Bangladesh government to take necessary steps and ensure security of life and property of minorities in the country".
"The Indian National Congress expresses its deep concern at the atmosphere of insecurity being faced by religious minorities in Bangladesh. The arrest of the ISCKON monk is the latest example," he said.
A lawyer was killed on Tuesday during clashes between security personnel and followers of Das, who was denied bail and sent to jail by a court in the port city of Chattogram in Bangladesh in a sedition case.
Das, the spokesperson for Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was arrested from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka a day earlier.
India on Tuesday noted with "deep concern" the arrest and denial of bail to the Hindu leader, and urged authorities in the neighbouring country to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all other minority groups.
Bangladesh reacted sharply to the Ministry of External Affairs statement, saying it was unfounded and stood contrary to the spirit of friendship between the two countries.
In its statement, Dhaka said it does not interfere with the country's judiciary, which is fully independent
