Kynan Chenai is new national trap shooting champion
Jaipur, Nov 22: Kynan Chenai claimed the men's trap gold medal after getting the better of Asian Games silver winner Lakshay Sheoran at the 62nd National Shooting Championships here on Thursday.
Kynan, representing Telangana, shot 43 out of 50 to pip Haryana's Lakshay, who managed 42. Tamil Nadu's Prithviraj Tondaiman, who had topped the qualification round with a 124 out of 125, won bronze with a final round score of 33 hits.
In a strong men's trap field, which had the likes of former world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu among others, Kynan began the day in seventh position, just outside the top six who make it through and needing a solid round. He obliged with a 24 out of 25 for a tally of 118, which placed him fourth in the standings.
In the junior men's trap however, Lakshay won gold with a finals score of 47, while Manavaditya Singh Rathore won silver for Rajasthan with a score of 39.
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Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah slams 'evil forces' for misleading claims in mining lease row
Bengaluru, Apr 9 (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday alleged that several attempts were being made by "evil forces" to create confusion over the renewal of mining leases.
His statement came after activist H Ramamurthy approached Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, seeking a sanction to prosecute the Chief Minister in a mining-related case.
Ramamurthy claimed that mining approvals were granted at throwaway prices to nine firms involved in illegal mining, resulting in a loss of over Rs 5,000 crore to the state exchequer.
“It has come to light that in 2015, during his tenure, Sri Siddaramaiah allegedly granted ‘in-principle approval’ and deemed extension to nine private firms engaged in illegal mining,” the activist claimed.
“The renewal of these licences was reportedly done at throwaway prices, causing a significant loss of over Rs 5,000 crore to the state exchequer,” he added.
In response, Siddaramaiah said in a statement that multiple attempts had been made to create confusion over the mining lease renewal issue.
“Such misinformation has been circulating since I assumed office. Certain malicious forces are continuously trying to mislead the Raj Bhavan,” he alleged.
Under the MMDR Act, 1957—as it existed prior to 2015—lease renewals were applicable for 20 years. As per this provision, the government had granted only conditional in-principle approvals to obtain forest clearance for the renewal of mining leases, Siddaramaiah explained.
He added that on April 12, 2015, the central government amended the MMDR Act through an ordinance.
Following several stages of verification, it was concluded that the conditional approval letters issued to eight companies on February 9, 2015, for lease renewals were not valid.
These approvals were subsequently cancelled, and action was taken in accordance with the amended Act.
Siddaramaiah said that after reviewing the deemed extension proposals submitted by the Mines Department, the state government cancelled one case without considering it for a deemed extension, in accordance with a Supreme Court order.
In the remaining seven cases, deemed extension letters were issued with conditions—including submission of statutory forest and environmental clearances, a no-dues certificate, and compliance with the government's decision based on final investigation reports by agencies such as the CBI and the Special Investigation Team on illegal mining.
"Of these seven companies, two were not granted mining rights as they failed to submit the required statutory documents. Of the remaining five, three were granted mining lease rights during the BJP regime in 2020 and 2021," the Chief Minister added.
The remaining two cases were granted conditional deemed extension of mining lease rights through supplementary agreements in 2016 and 2018, he added.
“Therefore, in all these eight cases, the government did not incur any financial loss. Not a single piece of ore was extracted during this period,” Siddaramaiah said.
The Chief Minister claimed that similar cases had earlier been filed by opposition parties and individuals in various forums, but the complaints were closed as they were found to be baseless.
“After about 10 years, this case is being exhumed with political malice. I appeal to the intelligent people of the country not to believe the evil political conspiracies that are trying to poison their minds over a matter that has no substance,” he said in the statement.
