South Asia

En route to the knockouts, Sunil Chhetri and Co. lost to China 5-1 in the opener before beating Bangladesh 1-0 and holding Myanmar to a 1-1 draw. India finished second in Pool A behind China to seal a pre-quarterfinal spot.

India's plan, right from the get-go was to turn the game into a physical, gritty, scrappy battle. Igor Stimac had stressed on the importance of fighting it out on the pitch and it was no surprise to see the Blue Tigers put bodies behind the ball and rely on the counter to surprise their opponents.

Despite holding possession for large periods of the first half, Saudi Arabia didn't really have too many clear-cut chances to go ahead, and for the first quarter, were reduced to taking potshots at goal from distance, Chinglensana Singh and Sandesh Jhingan marshalling the defence beautifully to keep them at bay.

India had their first chance of the game in the 14th minute, Chhetri the architect and the artist, cutting past three Saudi players, before a lucky bounce presented him with a chance to shoot at goal from outside the box. Shoot he did, albeit straight into the arms of Ahmed Fahad.

From thereon, Saudi recognised India's threat on the counter and pressed higher and harder to negate it. Every clearance or loose ball was immediately snatched upon, and the Indian team were forced back into their own half for most of the half.

In the 22nd, Saudi Arabia came close to opening the scoring, Haitham Asiri curling a shot from just outside the box onto the crossbar. From an ensuing melee, the ball dropped to Awad Al Nashri, whose shot from a narrow angle, drifted wide.

Deep into the half, Dheeraj Singh made a smart save dropping low to his right to save from an Asiri freekick, and Jhingan blocked from Zakaria Al Hawsawi in injury time, to ensure India went into the break level.

Saudi came quickly out of the blocks in the second half, and six minutes in, Marran Mohammed headed in a cross by Abu Al Shamta to give them the lead. He got a second in the 57th minute, calmly collecting Saad Al Nasser's through ball, cutting past Dheeraj and slotting it into the net.

From there it was all about game management, for both sides. Saudi Arabia were keen to not let their levels drop, and for the Blue Tigers, it was crucial to not open up at the back in the search for a goal and concede more.

Dheeraj made some brilliant saves — the standout being one where he went diving backwards to save a header from Rayan Hamed — to ensure the deficit wouldn't increase. In the end, the Blue Tigers' first appearance in the knockouts in over a decade ended valiantly, though without any dividends.

--IANS

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Abhishek (13', 48'), Mandeep Singh (24'), and Amit Rohidas (34') scored the goals for India to help their side get an important victory. Genki Mitani (57'), and Ryosei Kato (60') scored the goals for Japan.

India began the match with Jarmanpreet Singh making dangerous overlapping runs from the right flank to trouble the opposition. Japan's defence was tested when Jarmanpreet picked up a long pass inside the striking circle and found Sukhjeet Singh in front of the nets. But the tap from Sukhjeet just went wide.

A late penalty corner from Japan was well defended by goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak. A minute later, Abhishek (13') picked a deflected pass, and quickly turned around to strike the ball into the nets, putting India ahead by a goal to end the first quarter.

Trailing by a goal, Japan started searching for the equaliser with attacking moves. But Sumit made an important save inside the circle to deflect away the danger. Mandeep and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay built pressure on Japan's defence with powerful shots on target.

Mandeep (24') scored a fantastic goal with a diving tap after receiving a sublime pass from Nilakanta Sharma, and India doubled their lead. India continued to threaten up front, but Japan's defence managed to hold off India to 2-0 at halftime.

At the start of the second half, Japan started maintaining ball possession and made dangerous raids inside the circle. But the rock-solid Indian defence kept their calm and did not allow Japan any momentum in attack. India made the most of an early penalty corner in the third quarter as Amit (34') found the nets with a powerful flick and India went 3-0 up over Japan.

Kosei Kawabe created a chance to get a shot on target, but the Indian goalkeeper made another stellar save to maintain three-goal lead by the end of the third quarter.

A perfect counter-attack early on in the final quarter led to Abhishek (48') turning the ball into the nets, after combination play with Mandeep inside the circle, and India went ahead by 4-0.

Japan made a dangerous run inside India's circle, but Sumit made another important save to deny the opposition. Japan finally found a goal from a penalty corner late in the fourth quarter as Genki (57') put his name on the scoresheet.

Ryosei (60') scored another goal for Japan at the stroke of the full-time whistle, but it was not enough to change the result as India secured a 4-2 win.

India will next face off against arch-rivals Pakistan on Saturday.

--IANS

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In a conversation with co-contestants of 'Bigg Boss OTT 2', Pooja talked about her journey in Bollywood and how she still feels alright in trying new things and revealed why she came on the show.

She said that her life revolves around the thinking 'If you are the smartest in a room, you are in the wrong room.' She goes on to explain that she doesn't feel anything bad about things she has done in life.

Pooja said: "I only have regrets of things not done, not for things done! I feel it is important to at least try, either you lose something or you gain everything."

About the show, she said: "We can't hide what and who we are. Audience understands everything. One among us will only win, it is important to try and give our best."

In the upcoming episode, Pooja will also be getting a privilege for the nomination task as currently she is the captain of the house. Pooja has the right to decide who gets to nominate.

Pooja is the daughter of Indian filmmaker, Mahesh Bhatt and the half-sister of Alia Bhatt and cousin of Emraan Hashmi.

She played her first leading role in Mahesh Bhatt's television film 'Daddy' in 1989. Her breakthrough came with the romance comedy 'Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin'. She was last seen on the big screen in 'Sadak 2'.

'Sadak 2' is an action thriller road film. A sequel to the 1991 film 'Sadak', it stars Sanjay Dutt (reprising his role from the original), Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapur in the lead roles with an ensemble supporting cast, while Pooja Bhatt makes a special appearance.

The film marks Mahesh Bhatt's return as a director after 20 years. The film's story takes place twenty-nine years after the events of its predecessor.

--IANS

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Kejriwal took to Twitter and wrote, “Why does the Prime Minister hate India so much?”

PM Modi while addressing BJP Parliamentary Party meeting, earlier in the day, said that the name ‘INDIA’ also has a strange coincidence.

“East India Company and Indian National Congress were formed by the British,” Modi said.

He also said the Indian Mujahideen was founded by the terrorists and organisations like the Popular Front of India also have INDIA.

The Prime Minister in the meeting also said that he has not seen such ‘directionless’ Opposition till date.

--IANS

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Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga, his deputy Tawnluia, several ministers, and many MLAs of the state cutting across party lines took part in the massive march.

The ‘Solidarity March’, which was held in Aizawl and various other districts simultaneously, has also strongly condemned the Central and Manipur government for the "brutal attacks" on the tribals and atrocious sexual assaults on the tribal women.

Carrying placards and banners, the spirited ‘Solidarity March’ slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "silence" and criticised Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh for his total failure to deal with the situation.

"The suffering of tribals in Manipur is our suffering", "Mizoram stands with Kuki-Zo tribals", "Let us not go back to barbaric era", "Women's bodies are not battlefields", "Death penalty for Manipur rapists", "Stop killing Christians in Manipur", were among the messages on the banners and placards.

Briefing the media, Young Mizo Association (YMA) Assistant General Secretary Malsawmliana said that during the over 84-day-long ethnic violence, the way human rights were violated in Manipur is unparalleled and never witnessed in India.

Many singers sang various solidarity songs while the volunteers collected donations for the affected people.

The participants in the ‘Solidarity March’ displayed national flags as well as organisational flags. After the ‘Solidarity March’, the NCC issued a statement saying that the disrespect shown to fellow humans has "blackened the face of Indian democracy".

"So far, 359 churches and quarters have been destroyed, 197 villages burnt, 7,247 homes damaged by fire and 41,425 people have been forced to leave Manipur. Many students studying in Manipur cannot continue their studies due to this ethnic conflict. This may have far reaching effects on the lives of the students and even the country as a whole," the statement said.

The offices of the ruling Mizo National Front, opposition BJP, Congress and Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) were also closed in support of the solidarity rallies.

At the rally, NGO Co-ordination Committee Chairman R. Lalngheta urged the Centre to end the violence in Manipur.

"If the Indian government considers us as Indian, it should take immediate steps to address the sufferings of the Kuki-Zo community people in Manipur," he said.

The NGOs Coordination Committee comprising five major civil society organisations in Mizoram, including the Young Mizo Association (YMA), the Mizoram Upa (senior citizens) Pawl, the Mizo Hmeichhe (women) Insuihkhawm Pawl, and two prominent students' organisations - the Mizo Zirlai Pawl and the Mizo Students' Union organised the ‘Solidarity March’ in support of the Kuki-Zo tribals in Manipur.

On the eve of the march, YMA General Secretary Lalnuntluanga issued a statement appealing to the Meitei community people residing in Aizawl and other parts of Mizoram not to worry but to maintain a sense of serenity in light of Tuesday's Solidarity March, while urging the Manipur government to take necessary measures to ensure well-being and security of the Kuki-Zo people.

Security was tightened across Mizoram in view of the Solidarity March. After the series of meetings led by Mizoram Director General of Police (DGP) Anil Shukla, heavy deployment of police, patrolling, and close vigilance on the situation were ensured in all 11 districts, especially in the vulnerable areas, to prevent any untoward incident.

--IANS

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The state government has sanctioned the allotment of 2.45 lakh square meters of land for the establishment of the GIDC estate in Mudetha, Deesa taluka.

GIDC, a key player since 1962, has already established 239 industrial townships encompassing an 41,000-hectare land, housing over 70,000 plots, and accommodating more than 50,000 industrial units.

In October last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had virtually initiated the groundbreaking ceremony for multiple industrial parks, including four Tribal Industrial Parks in Valia (Bharuch), Amirgadh (Banaskantha), Chakaliya (Dahod), and Vanar (Chhota Udaipur).

Alongside these, the ambitious project also includes the Agro Food Park at Mudetha (Banaskantha), Sea Food Park at Kakwadi Danti (Valsad), and MSME Park at Khandivav (Mahisagar).

--IANS

janvi/dan

According to tech major IBM, detection and escalation costs jumped 45 per cent over this same time frame, representing the highest portion of breach costs, and indicating a shift towards more complex breach investigations.

At nearly 22 per cent, the most common attack type in India was phishing, followed by stolen or compromised credentials (16 per cent).

Social engineering was the costliest root cause of breaches at Rs 19.1 crore, followed by malicious insider threats, which amounted to about Rs 18.8 crore.

"The report shows that security AI and automation had the biggest impact on keeping breach costs down and cutting time off the investigation -- and yet a majority of organizations in India still haven't deployed these technologies," said Viswanath Ramaswamy, Vice President, Technology, IBM India & South Asia.

Moreover, the report showed that about 28 per cent of data breaches resulted in the loss of data spanning multiple types of environments in India (i.e., public cloud, private cloud, on-prem) -- indicating that attackers were able to compromise multiple environments while avoiding detection.

The report also found that while 95 per cent of organisations studied globally have experienced more than one breach, these breached organisations were more likely to pass incident costs onto consumers (57 per cent) than to increase security investments (51 per cent).

In India, companies with extensive use of AI and automation experienced a data breach lifecycle that was 153 days shorter compared to studied organizations that have not deployed these technologies (225 days versus 378 days).

Organisations that used security AI and automation extensively saw nearly Rs 9.5 crore less in data breach costs than organisations that did not use these technologies.

--IANS

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“In the Rajya Sabha this afternoon, BJP MPs prevented Leader of the Opposition, Khargeji from speaking and raising INDIA’s demand for PM’s statement in the House on Manipur and a discussion thereafter,” Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet.

“Repeated obstruction at the instigation of none other than the Leader of the House himself and the insistence to pass Bills in the din led to a walkout by all INDIA MPs for the rest of the day,” alleged Ramesh.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brian in a tweet said, “This happened in Rajya Sabha today. The microphone of the Leader of Opposition was switched off. Every INDIA party walked out in protest of Parliament Deep Dark chamber.”

The remarks from the opposition leaders came after the microphone of Kharge was switched off that led to the walkout by the Opposition MPs from the Rajya Sabha.

The Congress and the other opposition party leaders have been demanding a detailed discussion on Manipur violence and also a statement by the Prime Minister on the issue in the northeastern state.

--IANS

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The deceased were identified as Mamta and her son, residents of Arihant Nagar in Punjabi Bagh area.

The police revealed that the building had been vacant and abandoned, but Mamta and her family had been living there for the past few years, serving as caretakers of the property.

According to the police, they received a distress call on Tuesday at the Punjabi Bagh police station, informing them about the building collapse in Arihant Nagar.

In response, a police team immediately rushed to the location.

Upon arrival, they found Mamta and a male child trapped under the debris of the collapsed concrete shed in the building's corridor, both of them injured.

“The police promptly evacuated them to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital for medical treatment. Tragically, the medical staff at the hospital declared both of them brought dead,” said the official.

A senior police official said that an ongoing investigation is underway to ascertain the circumstances that led to this unfortunate incident

--IANS

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The deceased has been identified as Dabloo Yadav, a resident of Swaroop Nagar, and originally hailing from district Banka in Bihar.

He was working in the factory at the time of the incident and had been missing since Monday, said the official.

The incident was reported on Monday when a police control room (PCR) call was received at Samaypur Badli police station, alerting the police about the fire outbreak in a factory located at Ambey Garden, near Pahlawan Dhaba.

“A police team reached the spot and successfully rescued four persons, identified as Dinesh Kumar Yadav (24), Jitender Kumar (42), Rakesh (26), and Subhita (46), who were then admitted to the emergency ward of BJRM Hospital,” said a senior police official.

Among them, three injured persons have already been discharged after treatment, while Subhita has been referred to LNJP Hospital for further medical attention.

Preliminary investigation into the incident suggested that the fire was caused by a short circuit resulting from faulty wiring within the factory.

Consequently, under sections 285 and 337 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), a case was registered against the owner, Arun Jain (42), a resident of Rana Pratap Bagh on Monday.

However, during the subsequent investigation and search operation carried out by the police and fire personnel on Tuesday, they discovered the charred remains of a body within the factory.

“As a result, the police have added IPC section 304-A to the case, signifying the negligence leading to death, and the investigation is ongoing,” the official added.

--IANS

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