Here are the top 5 news updates of August 5, 2021:
A resolute Indian men's hockey team rewrote history as it claimed an Olympic medal after 41 years, defeating a plucky Germany 5-4 to win the bronze in an edge-of-the-seat play-off match of the ongoing Tokyo Olympic Games today. The eight-time former gold-winners, who battled a heartbreaking slump in the last four decades, made the resurgence of the last couple of years count in the best way possible with an Olympic medal. Simranjeet Singh (17th, 34th minutes) scored a brace, while Hardik Singh (27th), Harmanpreet Singh (29th) and Rupinder Pal Singh (31st) were the other goal getters for world no.3 India. Determined to clinch a medal, the Indians made one of the most memorable comebacks in the history of the game, fighting back from a two-goal deficit to turn the match in their favour.
Poll strategist Prashant Kishor today resigned as Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's principal advisor, saying he was taking "a temporary break from active role in public life". Kishor's move comes with assembly polls in Punjab less than a year away. "Since I am yet to decide on my future course of action, I write to request you to kindly relieve me from this responsibility. I take this opportunity to thank you for considering me for this position," he wrote in the letter. Kishor had managed the Congress' successful campaign in the 2017 polls and devised programmes such as "Punjab Da Captain" and "Coffee with Captain" to drum up support for the party during the polls.
Allegations of Pegasus related snooping are "serious in nature" if reports on them are correct, the Supreme Court said today and asked the petitioners seeking probe into the Israeli spyware matter whether they have made any efforts to file criminal complaint on this. A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Surya Kant stopped short of issuing notice on the pleas and took exception that one of the petitions has made individuals (Prime Minister and Union Home Minister) as parties. The apex court, which asked the petitioners to serve the copies of the pleas to the Centre so that somebody from the government is present before it on August 10 to accept notice, also questioned why the matter has suddenly cropped up now when it had come to light way back in 2019.
The Maharashtra Congress today questioned the Central Bureau of Investigation's "silence" over the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, a year after it took over the probe into the case."It's been a year today since CBI took over the investigation of the unfortunate death of Sushant Singh Rajput from Bihar police. Registration of FIR by Bihar police was against article 177 of CRPC. Supreme court also had expressed satisfaction in the overall investigation by Mumbai Police," Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant tweeted. He said it has been more than 300 days now since the AIIMS panel ruled out murder. "CBI is maintaining deliberate silence. This mockery of investigation by national investigation agencies is an apt example of how these agencies are being used by Modi government for their political agenda," he alleged in a tweet.
Extending its winning streak to the fourth straight session, equity benchmark Sensex ended 123.07 points higher at a fresh record today amid gains in index majors Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and ITC. After scaling its lifetime peak of 54,717.24 during the day, the 30-share index settled 123.07 points or 0.23 per cent higher at its record high of 54,492.84. In similar movement, the broader NSE Nifty rose 35.80 points or 0.22 per cent to an all-time peak of 16,294.60. It touched an intra-day record of 16,349.45.
