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Islamabad, Feb 26 (IANS) Pakistani President Arif Alvi has called on the nation to work together to fight the challenges of poverty, malnutrition, stunting and maternal and neonatal deaths.

The President made the remarks during an event, noting that 26 million children in Pakistan remain out of school, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said China focused on the health and education sectors, which helped the country lift nearly 800 million people out of poverty, adding that Pakistan should follow the same development model.

Highlighting the role of women in the country's growth, Alvi said that the provision of health and education facilities to them is an important element in achieving the goal of women empowerment in Pakistan.

He underscored the importance of providing a safe working environment to women in order to include them in the workforce and make them contribute to the economic growth of the South Asian country.

--IANS

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Ranchi, Feb 26 (IANS) India need 74 more runs to win the fourth Test over England at Ranchi, but lost captain Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rajat Patidar in the first session of day four’s play at the JSCA International Stadium on Monday.

At lunch, India are 118/3, with Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja batting at 18 and three respectively. Resuming from 40/0, it was a gripping session where India were initially ahead, thanks to Rohit’s fifty and him sharing an 84-run opening stand with Jaiswal.

But Joe Root, Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley took a scalp each as India slipped from 84/0 to 100/3. Gill and Jadeja looked tentative, but managed to hold their ground for 45 minutes till lunch arrived.

In the morning, Rohit took India past fifty by timing a lofted flick off Anderson over wide long-on for six. He and Jaiswal would take a boundary off Bashir, before the latter survived an lbw appeal off Hartley.

Jaiswal collected a few fours via reverse-sweep, sweep and cut before his attempt to clear extra cover off Root resulted in a thick edge caught by forward diving short third man. Rohit reached his fifty off 69 balls with a brace off Hartley, but was stumped on 55 after being drawn out of the crease by the flighted and wide ball from the left-arm spinner.

Bashir joined the wicket-takers column by getting some turn and drift to catch the inside edge of Patidar and the ball lobbed to short leg taking a catch to his right, with the batter dismissed for a six-ball duck.

From there, England kept Gill and Jadeja on a tight leash and would fancy their chances for an unlikely win after taking three wickets in 16 balls of the morning session to derail India’s morning. India, on the other hand, would wish for Gill and Jadeja, followed by Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel to steer the hosts’ to a series-sealing win.

Brief Scores: England 353 and 145 lead India 307 and 118/3 in 37 overs (Rohit Sharma 55, Yashasvi Jaiswal 37; Joe Root 1-21, Shoaib Bashir 1-40) by 74 runs.

--IANS

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Islamabad, Feb 26 (IANS) A week-long countrywide polio vaccination campaign is going to start in Pakistan from Monday, in which more than 45.8 million children under five years of age will be vaccinated, the Pakistani Health Ministry said.

The second campaign of the year will be held across the country from Feb. 26 to March 3, and in 33 districts of the country's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province from March 2 to 6, Xinhua news agency reported.

During the campaign, children will also be given vitamin A supplements to boost their immunity, it added.

This is the second consecutive nationwide campaign of the year after poliovirus was detected in sewage samples of 19 districts in January, and in 126 sewage samples in 2023, said the statement.

The first campaign of 2024 was held from Jan. 8 to 14, during which over 43 million children were vaccinated, according to the ministry.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS) After Joe Root’s dismissal on day three of the fourth Test of the five-match series, ex-England captain Michael Vaughan has opined that TV cameras should be placed on Decision Review System (DRS) operators to provide "transparency" as the technology has been a big talking point in the ongoing series against India.

Root seemed displeased when he was dismissed upon review to India's off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Sunday. The batter got hit on the pad by Ashwin's delivery and the umpire was unconvinced with the appeal and gave not out.

But India decided to go upstairs. In the review, UltraEdge made it clear that Root didn't get his bat on it and Hawk Eye then stated that the ball was pitched inside the line of the stumps and would have hit the leg stump. And the on-field decision overturned and Root was dismissed for 11.

In that same Test, England profited from four 'umpire's call' lbw decisions during India's first innings.

"I'm not saying anyone is cheating. I'm trying to give an answer for when a decision is made and we all disagree with it. If the person on Hawk-Eye is filmed it puts the noise to bed," Vaughan said on BBC's Test match special.

Earlier in the series, skipper Ben Stokes found Zak Crawley’s dismissal in their 432-run defeat in the third Test against India in Rajkot perplexing as the technology suggested the ball was not hitting the stumps, yet the on-field decision stood and the DRS gave it as ‘umpire’s call'.

The English skipper then called for 'umpire's call' regulations within DRS to be scrapped.

"I can understand supporters on both sides being frustrated with the decisions that have been made. It doesn't look like Hawk-Eye is having a great series. The most important operators of decisions now are in the trucks. We need to have a camera in the truck to give an understanding of how it all comes to that decision.

"All I want is full transparency. If it takes the International Cricket Council employing someone to put in the trucks for integrity, they have to do that as well.

"For the game in general, for people watching, we need to see who is operating, because the person operating the technology is more important than the umpires," added Vaughan.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANSlife) As a part of the 71st Miss World Pageant, the sports challenge for the Miss World Sports/Miss World Sportswoman title was held at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on 24th February. During this challenge, the delegates were tested on their fitness, good health, sports skills, and positive mindset.

The top 32 delegates were announced to compete in the sports finals and Luciaja Begic from Croatia claimed the first spot. The Sports Challenge involved competitions in cricket, football shootout, shuttle run, hockey shootout, and 400mtr race. Hockey India, India's national hockey federation, supported the event by providing local women players and coaches to showcase hockey skills and #indiakagame. The All India Football Federation, India's national football body, sent a selected team including coaches to engage with the delegates and represent Indian women in football. Delhi Capitals' academy coaches and women cricket players conducted a clinic and gave guidance on cricket.

As the winner of the Sports Challenge was announced, the Chairman and CEO of the Miss World Organization, Julia Morley CBE, shared, “We are thrilled to announce that Luciaja Begic from Croatia has won the coveted Miss World Sports Challenge this year. She embodies the spirit of fitness, health, and positivity that this competition seeks to highlight. Her dedication and excellence left no doubt that she deserves this honour. Winners like her exemplify why the Miss World Organization remains committed to testing delegates on more than just their outward beauty. We want to celebrate women who are actively bettering themselves in body, mind, and spirit. Congratulations again to our new Miss World Sports Challenge winner!”

The Major Dhyan Chand Stadium, named after India's legendary hockey player, provided the perfect setting for competitive sporting events. As the only international pageant with a dedicated sports challenge, Miss World continues to test delegates on more than just their outward beauty by celebrating fitness, health, and an active lifestyle.

IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in

--IANS

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Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 26 (IANS) The Congress on Monday cleared the candidature of K. Sudhakaran for the Lok Sabha election from the Kannur seat in Kerala.

He is the sitting Lok Sabha member from the constituency and also is Congress' Kerala chief.

Sudhakaran, a two-time MP from Kannur, was not keen to enter the fray due to some health issues. But following pressure from several quarters in the party after the CPI(M) decided to field local strongman M.V. Jayarajan, the Congress asked Sudhakaran to enter the fray.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress-led UDF had won 19 out of the 20 seats in the state, losing just the Alappuzha seat.

The Congress contested on 16 seats, the IUML two and the Kerala Congress and RSP one each.

In the 2019 polls, the UDF allies -- IUML won two seats, as did RSP candidate at Kollam and Kottayam which was won by Kerala Congress (Mani) party’s candidate, who later moved to the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Front.

The only seat that the Congress lost in 2019 was the Alappuzha seat and now with all the sitting Congress MPs cleared to contest, all eyes are on who will contest from Alappuzha.

--IANS

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Uttara Kannada (Karnataka), Feb 26 (IANS) An aged woman died of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), known as monkey fever, in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district, taking the death toll due to the disease to four in the state.

The deceased is a 60-year-old woman from Koorlakai village in Siddapur taluk. The victim was being treated for three days at Meggan Hospital in Shivamogga and succumbed on Sunday night.

She was diagnosed with monkey fever 20 days ago and was suffering from symptoms of high fever. In Siddapur taluk alone, the number of monkey fever cases has risen to 43.

The state, which has 103 active monkey fever cases, had recorded three deaths so far, one each in Chikkamagaluru, Uttara Kannada and Shivamogga districts.

State Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao had recently held a high-level meeting with legislators and officers of three districts of the state where the outbreak of the disease has raised concern.

The state government has held talks with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for effective vaccination and authorities are hopeful of getting the vaccine sooner.

The awareness programme is also being undertaken in the regions where the disease has been detected.

Monkey fever is a tick-borne viral haemorrhagic disease which can be fatal to humans and other primates. The symptoms of KFD begin suddenly with chills, fever, and headache. Severe muscle pain with vomiting, gastrointestinal symptoms and bleeding problems may occur three-four days after onset of initial symptom.

--IANS

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Hyderabad, Feb 26 (IANS) A couple was electrocuted in Telangana’s Vikarabad district on Monday morning.

The incident occurred in the Burhanpur village of Bomraspet mandal.

Boina Laxman (48) and his wife Laxmi (42) were hanging clothes on an iron wire in front of their house.

The wire had come in contact with an electric line on the street, which led to the tragedy.

According to local residents, the incident occurred due to some technical problem in the power supply system in the area. The couple have one daughter and two sons. Police registered a case and launched an investigation

--IANS

ms/dpb

Srinagar, Feb 26 (IANS) Rain and snow over widespread areas is likely to occur in J&K beginning Monday evening, the Meteorological (MeT) department said.

An advisory issued by the local MeT department said, “In view of heavy and very heavy snowfall over few middle and higher reaches, travellers/tourists are advised to plan accordingly and follow administration/traffic advisory.

“General public in hilly and avalanche prone areas are advised not to venture out unless absolutely necessary.

“Farmers are advised to withhold agricultural operations during the first week of March.”

Srinagar had minus 2, Gulmarg minus 9 and Pahalgam had minus 7 as the minimum temperature.

In Ladakh region, Leh town had minus 17.1, Kargil minus 18.2 and Drass minus 21.7 as the minimum temperature.

Jammu city had 7.9, Katra 6.5, Batote 2.1, Bhaderwah minus 0.4 and Banihal 1.8 as the minimum temperature.

--IANS

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Chandigarh, Feb 26 (IANS) Hours after the broad daylight high-profile killing of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) Haryana President and two-time MLA Nafe Singh Rathi and his associate by car-borne in Bahadurgarh, the police has booked seven persons.

Also a CCTV footage has emerged which shows the movements of assailants in a Hyundai i10 just before the crime.

The case was registered against former Bahadurgarh MLA Naresh Kaushik, Ramesh Rathi, Sathish Rathi, and Rahul, among others.

INLD Chief’s son Jitendra Rathi said they will not perform the last rites of his father until the names of the accused mentioned in the FIR are arrested and the family is provided security. He blamed local politicians behind the crime.

This case has been registered on the statement of Rathi’s car driver and his nephew Rakesh.

Police said that five teams led by two Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) to arrest the accused.

The police have also examined the CCTV footage near Barahi village in which the assailants were seen parking the car behind Rathi's car and they were seen running away in the same car after the crime.

Nafe Singh Rathi was sitting in the front seat of his SUV when the assailants waylaid the vehicle near the Barahi level-crossing and opened indiscriminate firing from close range.

--IANS

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