CWG 2018: With 66 medals, India’s third most successful Games

Agencies
April 15, 2018

New Delhi, Apr 15: The Indian campaign at the 2018 Commonwealth Games ended with another medal rush as shuttlers took centre stage on the final day in Gold Coast, Australia on Sunday. Day 11 started with Indian badminton queens PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal squaring off in the gold medal match while table tennis stars Achanta Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra again shining bright. In all, India won seven medals on the final day, taking its total to 66 medals in 2018 CWG. India won 26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze medals to finish behind Australia and England, making it the third most successful Commonwealth Games for the country. India's most successful campaign was in 2010 at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games where the country won a total of 101 medals (38 gold). In 2002 Manchester Games, India won a total of 69 medals with 30 gold, 22 silver and 17 bronze medals.

The day started with Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran beating compatriots Sharath Kamal and Mouma Das to the mixed doubles table tennis bronze.

After that came the epic clash between Saina and Sindhu.

Saina had won the first game comfortably but she was made to work for the title in the second game.

Saina came all guns blazing and looked the more aggressive of the two from the outset. She was able to convert her aggression into points, going into the mid-break of the first game with a handy 11-6 lead.

Sindhu did gradually improve and reduced Saina's lead but the latter held on and took the first game 21-18.

The second game was a complete contrast to the first as Sindhu showed some fire and pegged back Saina with some lethal smashes. She went into the mid-break with an 11-8 lead and seemed the match would go into a decider.

Saina, however, had other ideas as she launched a fierce fightback to eat into Sindhu's lead. She won a marathon rally with a down the line smash to make it 18-19.

Sindhu looked visibly tired and that showed in her play. Saina won her first gold medal point at 21-20 but Sindhu managed to survive.

However, at 22-21, Saina won her second match point and this time Sindhu could not deny her compatriot as Saina sealed the match and the gold.

The focus then shifted quickly to the men's singles badminton final between newly-crowned World No.1 Kidambi Srikanth of India and Malaysian legend Lee Chong Wei.

Srikanth had gotten the better of his more experienced opponent in the mixed team event final where India won gold by beating Malaysia in the final. And this time around too it was expected that the younger Indian would prove too much for badminton veteran.

For the longest time that seemed to be the case as it took Srikanth just eight minutes to go from being 0-4 down to be 10-7 ahead. The Indian shuttler was the better of the two in executing drop shots and even managed to match Lee's ability to mix power with precision.

Lee's lackadaisical approach improved considerably in the second game and he came roaring back to blow the Indian away. The Malaysian superstar drew level by winning the second game 21-14.

Leading 9-5 in the decider, Lee went for a change of racquet and it only got him better results as he grabbed an 11-5 lead to take the psychological upper hand. The smashes that were landing outside in the opening game became just the bit accurate and difficult for the Indian to retrieve.

Lee did show the tendency to take things for granted, exhibiting poor judgement in leaving a shuttle while leading 16-8.

But even at his erratic worst, the Malaysian, who has multiple Olympic silver medals to his credit, was simply unstoppable for the Indian and claimed the match pretty comfortably.

Then came more good news from the table tennis arena as Sharath Kamal blew away England's Samuel Walker 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10 to clinch the bronze in the men's singles event.

This was Sharath's third medal at the Gold Coast Games. He was a part of the gold medal-winning men's team and also won silver in the men's doubles event.

Squash stars Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa stepped up to the plate next in hunt to add more gold medals to India's tally. However, that wasn't to be as teh Indian pair went down 0-2 (9-11, 8-11) to New Zealand's Joelle King and Amanda Landers-Murphy in a pulsating 22-minute summit clash at the Oxenford Studios.

This was Joshna's first and Dipika's second medal at Gold Coast after winning silver in the mixed doubles with Saurav Ghosal.

And finally it was up to young shuttlers Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty to give India a golden sign off. But yet again that was not to be the case as the Indian pair lost 13-21, 16-21 in the men's doubles gold medal match that lasted for 39 minutes at the Carrara Sports Arena.

With the loss, Satwik and Chirag settled for the silver medal, bringing an end to India's campaign in the Gold Coast Games.

This meant India ended up with two more medals than the last edition in Glasgow. But what was more heart-warming with respect to the medal's tally was that India almost doubled the number of gold medals from 2014.

In Glasgow, India had won a total of 64 medals (15 gold, 30 silver, 19 bronze) but in Gold Coast they ended with 26 gold medals, finishing in third spot ahead of the likes of Canada and New Zealand.

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News Network
June 3,2020

New Delhi, Jun 3: Over 1 lakh scanned copies of Indians' national IDs, including Aadhaar, PAN card and passport, have been put on dark web for sale, cyber intelligence firm Cyble said on Wednesday.

The leaked data seems to have originated from a third party and not from the government system, according to a report by Cyble.

"We came across a non-reputed actor who is currently selling over 1 lakh Indian National IDs on the dark net. With such a low reputation, ideally, we would have skipped this; however, the samples shared by the actor intrigued our interest -- and also the volume. The actor is alleged to have access to over 1 lakh IDs from different places in India," Cyble said.

The personal data leaked by cyber criminals leads to various nefarious activities such as identity thefts, scams, and corporate espionage. Many criminals use the personal details in the IDs to win trust of the people over a phone call for fraudulent activities.

Cyber criminals leak personal data of 2.9 cr job-seeking Indians on dark web for free

The Cyble researchers acquired around 1,000 IDs from the seller and confirmed that the scanned IDs belong to Indians.

"Preliminary analysis suggests that the data originated from a third party, and no indication or artefact is indicating that it came from a government system. At this point, Cyble researchers are still investigating this further -- we are hoping to share an update soon," Cyble said.

The scanned ID documents indicate that the data may have been leaked from a company's data base in the segment where they have to comply with 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) norms.

"Cyble researchers have also learned about a surge in KYC and banking scams -- leaks such as this are often used by scammers to target individuals, especially elderlies," Cyble said.

The cyber intelligence firm has recommended people to refrain from sharing personal information especially financial information over phone, e-mail or SMS.

"Regularly monitor your financial transaction, if you notice any suspicious transaction, contact your bank immediately," the company said.

In May, Cyble showed two instances where personal data of 7.65 crore Indians have been put on sale in the dark web. In one instance, the seller claimed to have sourced data of 4.75 crore Indians from online directory Truecaller and in other, the seller claimed to have sourced from job websites.

Truecaller, however, had denied the claim of breach in its database.

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News Network
May 29,2020

Kolkata, May 29: Former skipper Kumar Sangakkara believes missing Angelo Mathews due to an injury hurt Sri Lanka badly in the summit clash of the 2011 World Cup, which hosts India won after a gap of 28 years.

Having played a key role in their thrilling semifinal win against New Zealand, Mathews was forced out of the final against India at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium by a quadriceps muscle injury.

Reflecting on the six-wicket loss to India, the former Sri Lankan captain said Mathews' injury forced him to opt for a 6-5 combination and was also the reason behind his decision to bat first after winning the toss.

"In that WC final, that's the biggest thing I look back and think...You can talk about drop catches and all of that happens. But the composition of the side and the fact that we were forced to make the change was to me the turning point," Sangakkara said in the latest episode of Instagram series 'Reminisce with Ash' hosted by India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Mahela Jayawardene's unbeaten 103 went in vain as India hunted down 275 with Gautam Gambhir setting up the chase with a 97-run knock before skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni finished off in style, smashing Nuwan Kulasekara for the winning six in his unbeaten 91.

"But for 100 per cent, if Angelo (Mathews) had been fit, I know for sure we would have gone for chase... I'm not sure whether the result would have changed. That balance of team that Mathews would give at seven really was a bonus," the former wicketkeeper batsman said

"If you take our entire campaign, whatever we did Mathews' overs and his ability to bat with the tail and read situations was an incredible bonus to us. He was a young chap who came into the side and from day one he could read situations. It's just instinct, how to up the rate, how to control the bowler, when to accelerate."

During the conversation, Ashwin also asked him about the controversial toss when the coin was flipped twice amid the cacophony of the Wankhede and eventually Sangakkara elected to bat.

"The was crowd was huge. It never happens in Sri Lanka. Once I had this at Eden Gardens when I could not talk to the first slip and then of course at the Wankhede. I remember calling on the toss then Mahi wasn't sure and said did you call tail and I said no I called head.

"The match referee actually said I won the toss, Mahi said he did not. There was a little bit of confusion there and Mahi said let's have another toss of the coin and heads went up again," he said.

"I am not sure whether it was luck that I won. I believe probably India might have batted if I had lost."

The loss prolonged Sri Lanka's wait for another world title as yet again the 1996 champions failed in the final hurdle.

"Whether we win or lose, we have this equilibrium on how to take a win or loss. The smile hides a huge amount of sadness, of disappointment, of thinking of 20 million people back in Sri Lanka who had been waiting for this for so long, since 1996.

"We had an opportunity in 2011, opportunity in 2007, then T20 opportunities in 2009 and 2012," Sangakkara said.

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News Network
February 14,2020

London, Feb 14: Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya once again asked the Indian banks to take back 100 per cent of the principal amount owed to them at the end of his three-day British High Court appeal on Thursday against an extradition order to India.

The 64-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss, wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to an alleged Rs 9,000 crores in unpaid bank loans, said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are fighting over the same assets and not treating him reasonably in the process.

“I request the banks with folded hands, take 100 per cent of your principal back, immediately,” he said outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

“The Enforcement Directorate attached the assets on the complaint by the banks that I was not paying them. I have not committed any offenses under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) that the Enforcement Directorate should suo moto attach my assets," he said.

"I am saying, please banks take your money. The ED is saying no, we have a claim over these assets. So, the ED on the one side and the banks on the other are fighting over the same assets,” he added.

Asked about heading back to India, he noted: “I should be where my family is, where my interests are.

"If the CBI and the ED are going to be reasonable, it’s a different story. What all they are doing to me for the last four years is totally unreasonable.”

Lord Justice Stephen Irwin and Justice Elisabeth Laing, the two-member bench presiding over the appeal, concluded hearing the arguments in the case and said they will be handing down their verdict at a later date after considering the oral as well as written submissions in the “very dense” case over the next few weeks.

On a day of heated arguments between Mallya’s barrister, Clare Montgomery, and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) counsel Mark Summers, arguing on behalf of the Indian government, both sides clashed over the prima facie case of fraud and deception against Mallya.

“We submit that he lied to get the loans, then did something with the money he wasn’t supposed to and then refused to give back the money. All this could be perceived by a jury as patently dishonest conduct,” said Summers.

“What they [Kingfisher Airlines] were saying [to the banks] about profitability going forward was knowingly wrong,” he said, as he took the High Court through evidence to counter Mallya’s lawyers’ claims that Westminster Magistrates Court Judge Emma Arbuthnot had fallen into error when she found a case to answer in the Indian courts against Mallya.

Mallya, who remains on bail on an extradition warrant, is not required to attend the hearings but has been in court to observe the proceedings since the three-day appeal opened on Tuesday. A key defence to disprove a prima facie case of fraud and misrepresentation on his part has revolved around the fact that Kingfisher Airlines was the victim of economic misfortune alongside other Indian airlines.

However, the CPS has argued that “there is enough in the 32,000 pages of overall evidence to fulfil the [extradition] treaty obligations that there is a case to answer”. “There is not just a prima facie case but overwhelming evidence of dishonesty… and given the volume and depth of evidence the District Judge [Arbuthnot] had before her, the judgment is comprehensive and detailed with the odd error but nothing that impacts the prima facie case,” said Summers.

At the start of the appeal, Mallya’s counsel claimed Arbuthnot did not look at all of the evidence because if she had, she would not have fallen into the multiple errors that permeate her judgment. The High Court must establish if the magistrates’ court had in fact fallen short on a point of law in its verdict in favour of extradition.

Representatives from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), as well as the Indian High Commission in London, have been present in court to take notes during the course of the appeal hearing.

Mallya had received permission to appeal against his extradition order signed off by former UK home secretary Sajid Javid last February only on one ground, which challenges the Indian government's prima facie case against him of fraudulent intentions in acquiring bank loans.

At the end of a year-long extradition trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London in December 2018, Judge Arbuthnot had found “clear evidence of dispersal and misapplication of the loan funds” and accepted a prima facie case of fraud and a conspiracy to launder money against Mallya, as presented by the CPS on behalf of the Indian government.

Mallya remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April 2017 involving a bond worth 650,000 pounds and other restrictions on his travel while he contests that ruling.

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