Ace shooter and Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra took a sabbatical, while Gagan Narang's twin accolades at the ISSF World Cup and a remarkable performance by the Indians in the Asian Clay Shooting Championship were highlights of an eventful year.
Abhinav Bindra cautioned the Paris-bound contingent against dwelling on past glories or future expectations
'At the airport, some people held me like a mother holds her child's cheeks. I have never experienced these kinds of things.'
The onus will be on Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini Singh Deswal in women's 10m air pistol, and the men's 10m air rifle duo of Divyansh Singh Panwar and Deepak Kumar to bring India success on the second day of shooting event at Tokyo Olympics on Saturday.
India's Venture Capital (VC) ecosystem exhibited robust growth in 2024, with funding surging 43 per cent year-on-year to $13.7 billion, according to a report. This recovery was fuelled by a 45 per cent rise in deal activity, with 1,270 transactions recorded, reinforcing India's position as the second largest market for venture capital and growth funding in the Asia-Pacific region, the report by Bain & Company and IVCA said.
Earlier in the day, Divanshi reached the final by finishing fifth in qualification with a score of 577 over the precision and rapid-fire rounds of 30-shots each.
The fervour for the India-Pakistan match is so intense that for many beating Pakistan in Dubai seems even more important than winning the Champions Trophy itself, observes K R Nayar, the veteran cricket writer.
India's shooters Anjum Moudgil and Tejaswini Sawant failed to make the finals of the women's 50m rifle 3 positions event, settling for the 15th and 33rd position respectively, at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday.
'I will never ever forget Paatal Lok 2 because I left for the shoot the night I got married!'
The Indian women's hockey team continued its winless streak in the Belgium leg of the FIH Pro League, slumping to 0-3 defeat against Argentina in Antwerp on Sunday.
A Mumbai court has dismissed Tanushree Dutta's "MeToo" allegations against veteran actor Nana Patekar, citing the complaint was filed beyond the statute of limitations. The court observed that Dutta filed an FIR in 2018 for an incident that allegedly occurred in 2008, exceeding the three-year limitation period for the offenses under consideration. The court also noted that no application for condonation of the delay was filed to explain the reasons for the late filing.
'If they aim to remain aligned with the public sentiment, as any democratic government should, then they must respond. Why else would the prime minister have cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia? And why would he have instructed the home minister himself to travel to Srinagar to assess the situation firsthand? This suggests that something is indeed being planned. I am quite certain of that, although the exact form it will take remains to be seen.'
Skeet shooters Maheshwari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka, who narrowly missed out on a mixed team bronze at the Paris Olympic Games, return to action at the ISSF World Cup final and are eying a podium finish at the home event, starting in New Delhi on Sunday.
For the second successive time, the Indian shooting team returned from the Olympics empty-handed, belying a billion hopes after promising to deliver like never before.
The women's compound team thus has been unbeatable this season, having won the World Cup Stage 1 and Stage 2 gold medals in Shanghai and Yecheon in April and May respectively.
BCCI unveils 10-point diktat: Domestic cricket must, restriction on personal staff, family stay on tours
Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) CEO Katie Sadleir says hosting the 2030 CWG would be a step in the right direction for India as the country pursues the ambition of playing host to the 2036 Olympics.
The Indian women's hockey team stunned reigning Olympic champions Netherlands in the shootout after the two sides were locked 2-2 in regulation time.
Mumbai City FC secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over Mohammedan Sporting Club in the Indian Super League, thanks to a second-half offensive surge.
Declaring the Telangana government's support to the Telugu film industry, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday said the former would take steps to make Hyderabad a destination for international film shootings.
The dastardly dimensions of the attack are gradually sinking in even as the Government of India announced its immediate diplomatic and other retaliatory measures. It is generally expected to be followed up with punitive military action across the LoC, sooner than later, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
'When the girls said they want to play football, the mothers were encouraging.' 'It was the fathers who were against the idea.'
The opening ceremony of the Champions Trophy will be held either on February 16 or 17 and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is confident that India captain Rohit Sharma will be in attendance at the event.
Indian shooters will get another chance to secure their quota places for the 2024 Paris Olympics as the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) on Saturday named its squad for the upcoming Asian Shooting Championships.
'Rani made it very clear when she signed the film that she would shoot only during her daughter's summer vacation so as not to disturb her role as a real life mother.'
India's first Olympics Individual gold medallist, who won the 10 metres Air Rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Games, was conferred the honour by the International Olympic Committee during its 142nd Session in Paris.
BCCI unveils 10-point diktat: Domestic cricket must, restriction on personal staff, family stay on tours
Becomes ISL's youngest goal scorer as Punjab FC defeat Hyderabad FC 3-1
Elavenil took gold in the women's 10m air rifle event to clinch her second gold at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol competition
By the time the enemy aircraft is 50 km away, the Akash-NG's computers have calculated the launch trajectory and impact point and launched the missile.
As temperatures shoot up this month signalling an early onset of summer, sales of air conditioners (AC) are set to increase, with companies expected to hike the prices of ACs by 4-5 per cent due to component shortages. Leading players like Haier and Bluestar and suppliers like EPack Durables have raised their production capacities to meet the 25-30 per cent rise in demand expected in the coming months.
'My mom had told me a great deal about Meena Kumari and how she could make a tear drop at the right moment. A legend who was in total control. But when I finally met her, I saw a frail, shrivelled and petite woman -- just a bag of bones. Very tiny. She was dying.'
'He is the God of Gods, the originator of yoga and the Vedas, the most powerful masculine figure who respects the feminine.'
'I hadn't worked for three-and-a-half years.' 'I felt industry was based on who you knew.' 'I didn't belong to a network.'
'Your vibrancy, your grace, your diversity, and the stories embedded in your soil -- forever in love and awe of you, my beautiful India.'
India began their Women's Pro League campaign with a thrilling 3-2 victory over England at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium.
Jamshedpur FC struck three times in the second half to complete an emphatic 3-0 victory over Mumbai City FC.
'Although a Commonwealth Shooting Championships is amongst one of several ideas being discussed with the ISSF, nothing has been formally proposed, let alone agreed upon'
Rana hardly minced words as he questioned the federation's tendency to make last-minute changes to its policy, and its stubborn refusal to acknowledge or facilitate the presence of shooters' personal coaches at national camps and trials.
Bhaker said that her break from the shooting after Olympics was pre-decided by her and her coach Jaspal Rana.
