Daily News Dose: India script history with maiden Thomas Cup win, defeat Indonesia in final | May 15, 2022

Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Vishnu, and these are the major news stories of the day:

1) Chintan Shivir: Congress adopts 'one family one ticket' formula with a rider

2) India script history with maiden Thomas Cup win, defeat Indonesia in final

3) Devasahayam Pillai, 9 others declared saints by Pope Francis

4) Former Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds dies in car crash

5) Actor Vijay Babu was framed by cinema rivals, claims mother in letter to Chief Minister and DGP

Let's get into the details:

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1. The Congress on Sunday adopted a 'Nav Sankalp', which is a road map for wide-ranging reforms in the party organisation to make it battle-ready for the next round of assembly and Lok Sabha polls, according to sources. The party has supposedly adopted the 'one family, one ticket' formula with the rider that another family member seeking to contest elections should have worked in the party in an exemplary manner for at least five years.  The party has also approved 50 per cent representation to SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities at all levels of the organisation, as part of its social engineering efforts to win the confidence of the weaker and oppressed sections of society, said sources.

The resolution was adopted by the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision-making body, after the final round of deliberations on key issues.

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2. Dishing out a performance for the ages, India's men's badminton lifted the Thomas Cup title with a commanding 3-0 win over powerhouse Indonesia on Sunday, a historic triumph that will enhance the country's status in the sport.

World Championship medallists Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and doubles players Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy delivered when it mattered the most to stun the 14-time champions.

An incredible week culminated in a fitting manner for Indian badminton as the country had never reached the summit clash of the world's most prestigious team event before this.

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3. The Blessed Devasahayam Pillai and nine others have been elevated as saints by Pope Francis. The declaration in this regard was made by the Pope at Vatican time 10 am on Sunday.

Prior to the declaration, the special religious ceremonies leading to the Canonization Mass commenced at the St Peter's Basilica.

Thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square on the occasion.

Devasahayam Pillai, a Hindu converted to Christianity in the 18th century, is the first Indian layman to be conferred sainthood, according to an announcement by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican.

Pillai, who was born into a Hindu Nair family in Kanyakumari, which was part of erstwhile Travancore kingdom, on 23 April, 1712, took the name "Lazarus" after embracing Christianity in 1745.

"While preaching, he particularly insisted on the equality of all people, despite caste differences. This aroused the hatred of the higher classes, and he was arrested in 1749. After enduring increasing hardships, he received the crown of martyrdom when he was shot on 14 January 1752", the Vatican had said in a note earlier.

Devasahayam was declared Blessed on December 2, 2012, in Kottar, 300 years after his birth. He belongs to the Latine rite Church.

The Vatican has so far declared four Kerala-born Indian Catholics as Saints. While Fr Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Sister Euphrasia were canonised into the league of saints by Pope Francis in 2014, Sister Alphonsa was declared a saint in 2008. The latter was the first native Indian to be canonized.

In 2019 nun Mariam Thresia was also canonised.

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4. Former Australia all-rounder and two-time ICC World Cup winner Andrew Symonds has died following a car accident in Queensland, Cricket Australia (CA) said on Sunday. Symonds was aged 46.

He had played 238 matches, including 26 Tests, for Australia between 1998 and 2009.

Police said the accident occurred in Hervey Range, 50 km from Townsville on Saturday night. The car Symonds was driving left the road and rolled, according to a police statement, which described it as a single vehicle incident. Queensland Police said an investigation into the crash has been opened.

Symonds' death occurred with Australian cricket still coming to terms with the passing of all-time greats Rod Marsh and Shane Warne, who both died in March.

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5. Even as the Kerala Police is trying to extradite Malayalam film actor and producer Vijay Babu from his suspected Middle East hideout, his mother Maya Babu claimed he was framed by an Ernakulam-based group with links to the cine industry.

She has approached the Kerala Chief Minister and State Police Chief seeking a probe into the alleged plot behind the sexual assault case in which Babu has been booked following a recent complaint by a young actress.

A false rape allegation has been levelled against Babu at the behest of a group active in the film industry in order to defame him, she stated in the complaint to CM Pinarayi Vijayan and DGP Anil Kanth.

The actress filed the complaint after she was not given another chance in his film venture, she claimed.

The complainant was on good terms with Babu. She had acted in one of his film projects, but went against him all of a sudden after she was not given another offer, the complaint stated.

A probe should be held to find out who prompted her to file the false complaint and the likely plot behind it, Maya demanded.

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That brings us to the end of this episode. Be sure to come back tomorrow. As always, thanks for listening to Daily News Dose.