The Evening Wrap: Sheikh Hasina resigns as Bangladesh PM

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had been in power for the past sixteen years, resigned and fled the country on August 5 noon by a helicopter after weeks of deadly unrest in which more than 300 people were killed. The country is now set to have an interim government. Later in the day, Hasina landed at the Hindon Air Force station near Delhi. Hasina has requested asylum from the U.K. Her sister Rehana, who holds U.K. citizenship, is accompanying her, sources said. In Dhaka, Army chief Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman confirmed her resignation in an address to the nation. He also urged protesters to stop the unrest and pledged to meet their demands and bring justice for those who were killed. He said he would talk to the President to form the interim government and had held talks with the main opposition parties and civil society members, but not the Awami League, Hasina’s party. The army chief will also hold meeting with protesting student leaders. On August 5, as a part of the ‘March to Dhaka’ campaign demanding Hasina’s resignation, called by the Students Against Discrimination, thousands started gathering at the main points of Dhaka, defying a curfew order. Police stopped them in some parts but couldn’t hold them for long as thousands mobilised on the streets. At around 3:00 p.m. local time, protesters breached the police barricades and opened the gates of the Gonobhaban and entered the premises of the Prime Minister’s residence. A source close to Hasina confirmed that before leaving the residence, she wanted to record a speech. But she could not get an opportunity to do that. She and her sister were taken to a motocade and was told that a huge crowd had already gathered nearby and that they must not waste time. Immediately, the security team took her to the Second World War era airport at Old Tejgaon. She and her sister were brought to the airstrip and they boarded an Air Force helicopter. Protesters joining from different parts of the capital were seen storming Gonobhaban, overturning furniture, smashing glass doors, and taking away different items. They were also seen seen dancing and chanting slogans against Hasina on the premises of the Prime Minister’s residence and elsewhere in Dhaka. Numerous Awami League offices across the country were attacked and looted. Protesters were also seen storming the residences of Awami League politicians, including former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan. BSF asked not to allow any undocumented persons from Bangladesh As the situation turned volatile in Bangladesh, the Border Security Force said “it has received strict instruction from the government to not allow anyone into the country without valid documents”. A senior BSF official said that the situation along the Bangladesh border was normal as of now and they were in contact with their counterparts, Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB). “In view of the changed situation in Bangladesh, the BSF has issued alert along the Indo-Bangladesh border and the number of troops deployed along the border has also been increased,” the border-guarding force said in a statement on August 5. As Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stepped down on August 5 amid rising protests, thousands of people marched on the streets, storming her official residence and looting valuables. India and Bangladesh share a 4,096-km border along the States of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. Following the curfew imposed by Bangladesh authorities on August 4, there was no movement of goods and vehicles from the Integrated Check Posts (ICPs), said a BSF official. “We are in touch with BGB but there has been no build up of people at the border as of now. Extra personnel have been deployed and there is heightened alert. All formations have been conveyed the Centre’s decision to not allow anyone into India without proper documents,” said the BSF official. BSF Director-General Daljit Singh Chawdhary along with Additional D-G Ravi Gandhi visited the Sunderbans in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal to review the operational preparedness. Preamble of the Constitution dropped from select new NCERT textbooks The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has dropped the Preamble to the Constitution from several Class 3 and 6 textbooks issued this year. For Class 6, in the newly published versions of the textbooks following the implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Preamble is printed in the Science book, Curiosity, and the Hindi book, Malhar. However, in the Social Science book, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, the Preamble has not been published. The book mentions the fundamental rights and fundamental duties of citizens. In Class 3, new textbooks for Hindi, English, Mathematics and ‘World Around Us’(which replaces Environmental Studies or EVS) do not have the Preamble. The old EVS book, Looking Around, and the Hindi book, Rimjhim 3, carried the Preamble. In the old textbooks for Class 6, the Preamble was printed in the English book Honey Suckle, the Science book, Hindi textbook Durva, and all three Social Science books — Our Pasts-I, Social and Political Life-I, and The Earth Our Habitat. The new English textbook, Poorvi, has the national anthem, while the Sanskrit textbook, Deepakam, has both the national anthem and the national song, but not the Preamble. The earlier Sanskrit book, Ruchira, also did not have the Preamble. “The allegations regarding the removal of the Preamble from the NCERT textbooks do not have a sound basis,” Professor Ranjana Arora, Head of the Department of Curriculum Studies and Development at NCERT, said. “For the first time, NCERT is giving great importance to various facets of the Indian Constitution — Preamble, fundamental duties, fundamental rights, and the National Anthem. All these are being placed in various textbooks of various stages,” she said. “The understanding that only the Preamble reflects the Constitution and Constitutional values is flawed and narrow. Why should children not acquire Constitutional values from the fundamental duties, fundamental rights, and the National Anthem, along with the Preamble? We give equal importance to all of these for the holistic development of children following the vision of NEP 2020,” Professor Arora said. Wayanad landslides official death toll at 222, search and rescue operations enter seventh day The Kerala government pegged the official death toll in the Wayanad landslide disaster at 222 even as the search for survivors and bodies of victims entered the seventh day on August 5. The deceased included 37 children, and 88 women. Relatives have identified 172 bodies. Rescue workers retrieved 180 body parts from the mud-covered detritus of the massive earthfall that wiped out Chooralmala, Mundakkai and Attamala localities on July 30. Forensic doctors autopsied the bodies and body parts and collected DNA samples for identification purposes. At least 206 persons were still missing. Officials said the death toll will likely climb further as the search and rescue teams cover more ground. Forest Minister A K Saseendran said that the search focussed on four points identified by experts handling drones kitted out with ground penetrating radars. He said the focus areas were on either side of the Bailey Bridge, which linked Chooralmala and Mundakkai over the Iruvanhipuzha River. Meanwhile, the State government restricted entry into the disaster zone. Nearly 1,500 government personnel, assisted by an equal number of volunteers, were scouring the area for bodies and clues about the missing persons’ identities, including important documents and valuables. It has allowed voluntary organisations to distribute food outside the “protected zone” with the prior sanction of the food safety department authorities. The government has set up a community kitchen to feed those involved in the search and rescue. It used drones to fly food to rescue workers, including those operating earth movers and other heavy machinery, in far-flung spots in the disaster zone. Revenue Minister K Rajan said the district administration would cremate or inter 31 unclaimed dead bodies and 158 body parts. A group of clerics representing all major faiths will offer joint prayers before the burial. Leader of the Opposition V D Satheeshan urged the Centre to categorise the Wayanad landslide as a natural disaster. Or, the Centre should at least classify the catastrophe as an L3 disaster, he said. In setback for Delhi’s AAP government, Supreme Court upholds L-G’s power to nominate 10 aldermen to MCD The Supreme Court on August 5 held that the authority of the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) of Delhi to nominate 10 persons with special knowledge of municipal administration to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is a statutory duty attached to his office and he is not bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. The case was reserved for judgment by a Bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala on May 17, 2023. Justice Narasimha authored the judgment for the Bench. The Bench held that the power of the L-G is drawn from Section 3(3)(b)(1) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957. The Act, a parliamentary law, was amended in 1993 to vest the power to nominate 10 expert persons. The two-judge Bench referred to a Constitution Bench judgment which had laid down that the executive power of the Delhi government would conform to a parliamentary law dealing with subjects in the State and Concurrent Lists of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. Justice Narasimha did not agree with senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, appearing for Delhi, that the power of the L-G was both semantic and a “relic of the past”. Singhvi had argued that the national capital had a democratically elected government, which should be allowed to run its own municipal administration without interference from the L-G office. “This is a law made by the Parliament... The law requires the L-G to exercise power,” the court noted. The legal question before the court was whether the L-G could nominate the 10 persons as a part of the statutory duty of his office or was he bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. “The statutory power under Section 3(3)(b)(1) to name the 10 persons of special knowledge was vested in the L-G for the first time through the 1993 amendments to the DMC Act, 1957 in order to incorporate constitutional changes in Articles 239AA and 239AB (provisions which deal with the establishment of the Delhi government) of the Constitution in Part 9A concerning municipal administration,” Justice Narasimha observed. The power of the L-G to nominate is expressly given in the DMC Act, a parliamentary law. “The L-G is to act as per the mandate of a statute and not guided by aid and advice of the Council of Ministers,” the court held. Lakshya Sen loses bronze play-off to Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, India’s badminton campaign ends Serving 3-1 up in the opening game of his Olympic bronze medal encounter against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, Lakshya Sen attempted a high serve against his Malaysian opponent. Sen lifted the shuttle high trying to force a high clear from his backtracking opponent. Lee took a look at the trajectory of the projectile and simply left the shuttle as it sailed over the backline of the court. Service errors are fleeting in men’s badminton. Lakshya had made one just four points into his match against Lee. Just a day before he had made another service error while three game points up against Viktor Axelsen. The Dane would make the most of his opportunity, save the remainder of the game points and end up winning it. He’d win the match, reach the Olympic finals and end up defending his title from Tokyo. While Lakshya’s error had come at a critical time against Axelsen, the one against Lee had come very early on. There was enough time to recover. But the fact that he made one at all, suggested there was something in what Axelsen had said a day before about competing in the Olympics. “These rings, they do funny things.” Indeed they do. Before the Olympic bronze medal match, Lakshya Sen had played Lee five times. He’d beaten the Malaysian in four of them including at their last encounter at the 2024 All England Championship where Lee was a former winner. Initial service error aside, for about 30 minutes into their Olympic bronze medal match, it looked like Sen was going to coast to another win too. He had taken the first game 21-13 and was up 8-3 in the second. He had all the answers to Lee’s power. He was defending well. The Malaysian seemed at times to doubt his own judgement leaving shuttles that landed inside the court. Then all of a sudden the momentum shifted. The Malaysian won the next 9 points in a row. Lakshya tried to mount a comeback but there was none. Lee would never trail again. He’d go on to claim the match and the bronze medal 13-21 21-16 21-11 against the Indian. The shifted happened almost imperceptibly. A moment where Sen was wrong footed by a change of direction from Lee. He still managed to get racquet on the shuttle. But he wasn’t able to control it. 4-8 to Lee. Next point a shuttle is hit with too much power and goes long. 5-8. Now Lee pounces on a clear that has too little power and smashes it violently past the Indian. The momentum had decidedly shifted. Everything that could go wrong seemed to be going so. Sen had been carrying a bruise on his elbow and it started bleeding on court. As Sen waited for his arm to be bandadged, chants of ‘Malaysia, Malaysia’ rang in his ears. Lee would take a 12-8 lead but Sen would fight back. He’d close in to 14-15. Then inexplicably he hit another long serve. The first one, early in the match, was perhaps inconsequential. The second won was far from it. The lead extended. There was no further comebacks to follow. Lee ran away with the third. You almost pitied the Indian for having to stay on the court. Smashes were missed, line calls were wrongly guessed. “I just didn’t have any answers he’d say later. The end came soon enough. Lakshya would be later asked what he thought went wrong. He’s played and medalled at the World championships, Asian Games. He’d played and beaten Lee before. Just what difference did the Olympic make. Was there just so much pressure to win medals that he wasn’t able to take? Just how did all of this work? Are the Olympics just that different? Lakshya had a thousand yard stare and his voice was barely audible over the cheers of the Malaysian fans still celebrating their players’ win. He held on to his injured elbow, the pain of returning without a medal being many magnitudes more intense. “I don’t know.” Lee would be asked the same question. “The Olympics are..,” he said, and then paused to collect his thoughts. “They are just different,” he said. Paris Olympics Wrestling: Injured Nisha Dahiya loses quarterfinal bout Indian grappler Nisha Dahiya was left sobbing in acute pain after she lost her quarterfinal bout against North Korea’s Pak Sol Gum 8-10 in the women’s 68 kg freestyle category at the Paris Olympics in Paris on August 5. Leading 8-1 at one point in time with just over 90 seconds left, Nisha sustained a serious injury on her right hand, which left her in agonising pain as she wept inconsolably. Following a medical break, Nisha didn’t have any strength left in her right hand and it became a cakewalk for the North Korean, who showed her ruthless streak to get a leg-hold and nine straight points. In fact, with 10 seconds left, the scoreline was 8-8 but the writing was on the wall as the Haryana woman surrendered in the dying moments without a fight. Nisha might have a shot at repechage if her North Korean opponent reaches final but whether she will be in a position to even take the mat is a bigger question as wept inconsolably after the bout. Earlier, Nisha had won her opening bout against Ukraine’s Sova Rizhko 6-4 as the wrestling competition got underway at the Games. Manika Batra-led India beat Romania 3-2 to enter quarterfinals of women’s table tennis team event Riding on her killer instinct to win, paddler Manika Batra recorded victory in both her singles matches, including the high-pressure decider, in different situations as India, playing for the first time as a team, recorded a superb 3-2 win over a higher-placed Romania in the women’s team pre-quarterfinals of the Olympics at the South Paris Arena in Paris on August 5. Manika, who became the first Indian to reach the last-16 stage, bounced back from her disappointing loss in the singles pre-quarterfinals to shoulder the responsibility with composure. Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath gave India a positive start by winning the opening match against Adina Diaconu and Elizabeta Samara 11-9, 12-10, 11-7 in the doubles. The duo coordinated well and secured the first two games even after getting a good challenge from the Romanians. The Indians erased two-point deficits in second and third games on their way to victory. World No. 28 Manika made it 2-0 as she punched above her weight to upset 10th-ranked Bernadette Szocs 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 in the singles encounter. Manika used her fine forehands to race away from 5-5 and pocket the opening game. Then she displayed more control, varying the pace of her shots, to take the second and benefitted from the Romanian’s errors in the third. In the second singles, Sreeja frittered away her leads twice to lose to Elizabeta. Sreeja was not comfortable against the left-handed and made mistakes. In the decider, Sreeja played some excellent shots to catch up with Elizabeta but the Romanian regained her lead and ultimately won the contest. Archana fought back to win the second game and level the match against Bernadette, but could not maintain her game. Learning from her past mistake, Manika rose to the challenge in the decider and did not disappoint her team-mates. Varying her shots, Manika executed some spectacular drives and backhand drop shots to surge ahead against Adina. The Romanian gave a tough challenge by exhibiting smart shots in second and third games, but could not stop the Indian ace. In Brief: The 18th Lok Sabha is in the process of constituting department-related standing committees and sources say that the BJP could chair seven to eight panels, the Congress three and Samajwadi Party one, according to the parties’ numerical strength in the House. Trinamool Congress, which is the fourth-largest party with 29 MPs, is unlikely to chair any panel. Out of the 24 standing committees, 16 fall under the ambit of Lok Sabha and eight under Rajya Sabha. Shiv Sena, the only major BJP ally without a Cabinet portfolio, could be given the chairmanship of at least one of the standing committees that fall in the ruling party’s quota. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 05 August 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Sheikh Hasina resigns as Bangladesh PM; interim government takes over Bangladeshi Prime Minister [Sheikh Hasina, who had been in power for the past sixteen years, resigned and fled the country]( on August 5 noon by a helicopter after weeks of deadly unrest in which more than 300 people were killed. The country is now set to have an interim government. Later in the day, [Hasina landed at the Hindon Air Force station near Delhi](. Hasina has requested [asylum]( from the U.K. Her sister Rehana, who holds U.K. citizenship, is accompanying her, sources said. In Dhaka, Army chief Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman confirmed her resignation in an address to the nation. He also urged protesters to stop the unrest and pledged to meet their demands and bring justice for those who were killed. He said he would talk to the President to form the interim government and had held talks with the main opposition parties and civil society members, but not the Awami League, Hasina’s party. The army chief will also hold meeting with protesting student leaders. On August 5, as a part of the ‘March to Dhaka’ campaign demanding Hasina’s resignation, called by the Students Against Discrimination, thousands started gathering at the main points of Dhaka, defying a curfew order. Police stopped them in some parts but couldn’t hold them for long as thousands mobilised on the streets. At around 3:00 p.m. local time, protesters breached the police barricades and opened the gates of the Gonobhaban and entered the premises of the Prime Minister’s residence. A source close to Hasina confirmed that before leaving the residence, she wanted to record a speech. But she could not get an opportunity to do that. She and her sister were taken to a motocade and was told that a huge crowd had already gathered nearby and that they must not waste time. Immediately, the security team took her to the Second World War era airport at Old Tejgaon. She and her sister were brought to the airstrip and they boarded an Air Force helicopter. Protesters joining from different parts of the capital were seen storming Gonobhaban, overturning furniture, smashing glass doors, and taking away different items. They were also seen seen dancing and chanting slogans against Hasina on the premises of the Prime Minister’s residence and elsewhere in Dhaka. Numerous Awami League offices across the country were attacked and looted. Protesters were also seen storming the residences of Awami League politicians, including former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan. BSF asked not to allow any undocumented persons from Bangladesh As the [situation turned volatile in Bangladesh]( the Border Security Force said “it has [received strict instruction from the government to not allow anyone into the country without valid documents](. A senior BSF official said that the situation along the Bangladesh border was normal as of now and they were in contact with their counterparts, Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB). “In view of the changed situation in Bangladesh, the BSF has issued alert along the Indo-Bangladesh border and the number of troops deployed along the border has also been increased,” the border-guarding force said in a statement on August 5. As Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stepped down on August 5 amid rising protests, thousands of people marched on the streets, storming her official residence and looting valuables. India and Bangladesh share a 4,096-km border along the States of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. Following the curfew imposed by Bangladesh authorities on August 4, there was no movement of goods and vehicles from the Integrated Check Posts (ICPs), said a BSF official. “We are in touch with BGB but there has been no build up of people at the border as of now. Extra personnel have been deployed and there is heightened alert. All formations have been conveyed the Centre’s decision to not allow anyone into India without proper documents,” said the BSF official. BSF Director-General Daljit Singh Chawdhary along with Additional D-G Ravi Gandhi visited the Sunderbans in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal to review the operational preparedness. Preamble of the Constitution dropped from select new NCERT textbooks The National Council of Educational Research and Training ([NCERT) has dropped the Preamble to the Constitution]( from several Class 3 and 6 textbooks issued this year. For Class 6, in the newly published versions of the textbooks following the implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Preamble is printed in the Science book, Curiosity, and the Hindi book, Malhar. However, in the Social Science book, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, the Preamble has not been published. The book mentions the fundamental rights and fundamental duties of citizens. In Class 3, new textbooks for Hindi, English, Mathematics and ‘World Around Us’(which replaces Environmental Studies or EVS) do not have the Preamble. The old EVS book, Looking Around, and the Hindi book, Rimjhim 3, carried the Preamble. In the old textbooks for Class 6, the Preamble was printed in the English book Honey Suckle, the Science book, Hindi textbook Durva, and all three Social Science books — Our Pasts-I, Social and Political Life-I, and The Earth Our Habitat. The new English textbook, Poorvi, has the national anthem, while the Sanskrit textbook, Deepakam, has both the national anthem and the national song, but not the Preamble. The earlier Sanskrit book, Ruchira, also did not have the Preamble. “The allegations regarding the removal of the Preamble from the NCERT textbooks do not have a sound basis,” Professor Ranjana Arora, Head of the Department of Curriculum Studies and Development at NCERT, said. “For the first time, NCERT is giving great importance to various facets of the Indian Constitution — Preamble, fundamental duties, fundamental rights, and the National Anthem. All these are being placed in various textbooks of various stages,” she said. “The understanding that only the Preamble reflects the Constitution and Constitutional values is flawed and narrow. Why should children not acquire Constitutional values from the fundamental duties, fundamental rights, and the National Anthem, along with the Preamble? We give equal importance to all of these for the holistic development of children following the vision of NEP 2020,” Professor Arora said. Wayanad landslides official death toll at 222, search and rescue operations enter seventh day The Kerala government pegged the [official death toll in the Wayanad landslide disaster at 222]( even as the search for survivors and bodies of victims entered the seventh day on August 5. The deceased included 37 children, and 88 women. Relatives have identified 172 bodies. Rescue workers retrieved 180 body parts from the mud-covered detritus of the massive earthfall that wiped out Chooralmala, Mundakkai and Attamala localities on July 30. Forensic doctors autopsied the bodies and body parts and collected DNA samples for identification purposes. At least 206 persons were still missing. Officials said the death toll will likely climb further as the search and rescue teams cover more ground. Forest Minister A K Saseendran said that the search focussed on four points identified by experts handling drones kitted out with ground penetrating radars. He said the focus areas were on either side of the Bailey Bridge, which linked Chooralmala and Mundakkai over the Iruvanhipuzha River. Meanwhile, the State government restricted entry into the disaster zone. Nearly 1,500 government personnel, assisted by an equal number of volunteers, were scouring the area for bodies and clues about the missing persons’ identities, including important documents and valuables. It has allowed voluntary organisations to distribute food outside the “protected zone” with the prior sanction of the food safety department authorities. The government has set up a community kitchen to feed those involved in the search and rescue. It used drones to fly food to rescue workers, including those operating earth movers and other heavy machinery, in far-flung spots in the disaster zone. Revenue Minister K Rajan said the district administration would cremate or inter 31 unclaimed dead bodies and 158 body parts. A group of clerics representing all major faiths will offer joint prayers before the burial. Leader of the Opposition V D Satheeshan urged the Centre to categorise the Wayanad landslide as a natural disaster. Or, the Centre should at least classify the catastrophe as an L3 disaster, he said. In setback for Delhi’s AAP government, Supreme Court upholds L-G’s power to nominate 10 aldermen to MCD The Supreme Court on August 5 held that the [authority of the Lieutenant Governor]( (L-G) of Delhi to nominate 10 persons with special knowledge of municipal administration to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is a statutory duty attached to his office and he is not bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. The case was reserved for judgment by a Bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala on May 17, 2023. Justice Narasimha authored the judgment for the Bench. The Bench held that the power of the L-G is drawn from Section 3(3)(b)(1) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957. The Act, a parliamentary law, was amended in 1993 to vest the power to nominate 10 expert persons. The two-judge Bench referred to a Constitution Bench judgment which had laid down that the executive power of the Delhi government would conform to a parliamentary law dealing with subjects in the State and Concurrent Lists of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. Justice Narasimha did not agree with senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, appearing for Delhi, that the power of the L-G was both semantic and a “relic of the past”. Singhvi had argued that the national capital had a democratically elected government, which should be allowed to run its own municipal administration without interference from the L-G office. “This is a law made by the Parliament... The law requires the L-G to exercise power,” the court noted. The legal question before the court was whether the L-G could nominate the 10 persons as a part of the statutory duty of his office or was he bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. “The statutory power under Section 3(3)(b)(1) to name the 10 persons of special knowledge was vested in the L-G for the first time through the 1993 amendments to the DMC Act, 1957 in order to incorporate constitutional changes in Articles 239AA and 239AB (provisions which deal with the establishment of the Delhi government) of the Constitution in Part 9A concerning municipal administration,” Justice Narasimha observed. The power of the L-G to nominate is expressly given in the DMC Act, a parliamentary law. “The L-G is to act as per the mandate of a statute and not guided by aid and advice of the Council of Ministers,” the court held. Lakshya Sen loses bronze play-off to Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, India’s badminton campaign ends Serving 3-1 up in the opening game of his [Olympic bronze medal encounter]( against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, Lakshya Sen attempted a high serve against his Malaysian opponent. Sen lifted the shuttle high trying to force a high clear from his backtracking opponent. Lee took a look at the trajectory of the projectile and simply left the shuttle as it sailed over the backline of the court. Service errors are fleeting in men’s badminton. Lakshya had made one just four points into his match against Lee. Just a day before he had made another service error while three game points up against Viktor Axelsen. The Dane would make the most of his opportunity, save the remainder of the game points and end up winning it. He’d win the match, reach the Olympic finals and end up defending his title from Tokyo. While Lakshya’s error had come at a critical time against Axelsen, the one against Lee had come very early on. There was enough time to recover. But the fact that he made one at all, suggested there was something in what Axelsen had said a day before about competing in the Olympics. “These rings, they do funny things.” Indeed they do. Before the Olympic bronze medal match, Lakshya Sen had played Lee five times. He’d beaten the Malaysian in four of them including at their last encounter at the 2024 All England Championship where Lee was a former winner. Initial service error aside, for about 30 minutes into their Olympic bronze medal match, it looked like Sen was going to coast to another win too. He had taken the first game 21-13 and was up 8-3 in the second. He had all the answers to Lee’s power. He was defending well. The Malaysian seemed at times to doubt his own judgement leaving shuttles that landed inside the court. Then all of a sudden the momentum shifted. The Malaysian won the next 9 points in a row. Lakshya tried to mount a comeback but there was none. Lee would never trail again. He’d go on to claim the match and the bronze medal 13-21 21-16 21-11 against the Indian. The shifted happened almost imperceptibly. A moment where Sen was wrong footed by a change of direction from Lee. He still managed to get racquet on the shuttle. But he wasn’t able to control it. 4-8 to Lee. Next point a shuttle is hit with too much power and goes long. 5-8. Now Lee pounces on a clear that has too little power and smashes it violently past the Indian. The momentum had decidedly shifted. Everything that could go wrong seemed to be going so. Sen had been carrying a bruise on his elbow and it started bleeding on court. As Sen waited for his arm to be bandadged, chants of ‘Malaysia, Malaysia’ rang in his ears. Lee would take a 12-8 lead but Sen would fight back. He’d close in to 14-15. Then inexplicably he hit another long serve. The first one, early in the match, was perhaps inconsequential. The second won was far from it. The lead extended. There was no further comebacks to follow. Lee ran away with the third. You almost pitied the Indian for having to stay on the court. Smashes were missed, line calls were wrongly guessed. “I just didn’t have any answers he’d say later. The end came soon enough. Lakshya would be later asked what he thought went wrong. He’s played and medalled at the World championships, Asian Games. He’d played and beaten Lee before. Just what difference did the Olympic make. Was there just so much pressure to win medals that he wasn’t able to take? Just how did all of this work? Are the Olympics just that different? Lakshya had a thousand yard stare and his voice was barely audible over the cheers of the Malaysian fans still celebrating their players’ win. He held on to his injured elbow, the pain of returning without a medal being many magnitudes more intense. “I don’t know.” Lee would be asked the same question. “The Olympics are..,” he said, and then paused to collect his thoughts. “They are just different,” he said. Paris Olympics Wrestling: Injured Nisha Dahiya loses quarterfinal bout Indian grappler Nisha Dahiya was left sobbing in acute pain after she [lost her quarterfinal bout]( against North Korea’s Pak Sol Gum 8-10 in the women’s 68 kg freestyle category at the Paris Olympics in Paris on August 5. Leading 8-1 at one point in time with just over 90 seconds left, Nisha sustained a serious injury on her right hand, which left her in agonising pain as she wept inconsolably. Following a medical break, Nisha didn’t have any strength left in her right hand and it became a cakewalk for the North Korean, who showed her ruthless streak to get a leg-hold and nine straight points. In fact, with 10 seconds left, the scoreline was 8-8 but the writing was on the wall as the Haryana woman surrendered in the dying moments without a fight. Nisha might have a shot at repechage if her North Korean opponent reaches final but whether she will be in a position to even take the mat is a bigger question as wept inconsolably after the bout. Earlier, Nisha had won her opening bout against Ukraine’s Sova Rizhko 6-4 as the wrestling competition got underway at the Games. Manika Batra-led India beat Romania 3-2 to enter quarterfinals of women’s table tennis team event Riding on her killer instinct to win, paddler [Manika Batra recorded victory in both her singles matches]( including the high-pressure decider, in different situations as India, playing for the first time as a team, recorded a superb 3-2 win over a higher-placed Romania in the women’s team pre-quarterfinals of the Olympics at the South Paris Arena in Paris on August 5. Manika, who became the first Indian to reach the last-16 stage, bounced back from her disappointing loss in the singles pre-quarterfinals to shoulder the responsibility with composure. Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath gave India a positive start by winning the opening match against Adina Diaconu and Elizabeta Samara 11-9, 12-10, 11-7 in the doubles. The duo coordinated well and secured the first two games even after getting a good challenge from the Romanians. The Indians erased two-point deficits in second and third games on their way to victory. World No. 28 Manika made it 2-0 as she punched above her weight to upset 10th-ranked Bernadette Szocs 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 in the singles encounter. Manika used her fine forehands to race away from 5-5 and pocket the opening game. Then she displayed more control, varying the pace of her shots, to take the second and benefitted from the Romanian’s errors in the third. In the second singles, Sreeja frittered away her leads twice to lose to Elizabeta. Sreeja was not comfortable against the left-handed and made mistakes. In the decider, Sreeja played some excellent shots to catch up with Elizabeta but the Romanian regained her lead and ultimately won the contest. Archana fought back to win the second game and level the match against Bernadette, but could not maintain her game. Learning from her past mistake, Manika rose to the challenge in the decider and did not disappoint her team-mates. Varying her shots, Manika executed some spectacular drives and backhand drop shots to surge ahead against Adina. The Romanian gave a tough challenge by exhibiting smart shots in second and third games, but could not stop the Indian ace. In Brief: The 18th Lok Sabha is in the process of constituting department-related standing committees and sources say that the [BJP could chair seven to eight panels]( the Congress three and Samajwadi Party one, according to the parties’ numerical strength in the House. Trinamool Congress, which is the fourth-largest party with 29 MPs, is unlikely to chair any panel. Out of the 24 standing committees, 16 fall under the ambit of Lok Sabha and eight under Rajya Sabha. Shiv Sena, the only major BJP ally without a Cabinet portfolio, could be given the chairmanship of at least one of the standing committees that fall in the ruling party’s quota. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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