China wins the first gold medal of the Paris Olympics in mixed team air rifle shooting
Paris (AP/PTI): China wins the first gold medal of the Paris Olympics in mixed team air rifle shooting.
Also, China won its first gold medal in diving on Saturday on the first full day of competition in the Paris Olympics, a perfect start for the team of Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen.
China has ruled diving for decades, and three years ago in Tokyo, it won seven of eight gold medals. But, it's never pulled off the elusive gold sweep. That's the goal this time.
The Chinese were first on Saturday in the women's synchronized 3-meter springboard with 337.68 points on five dives.
They were followed by Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook of the United States with 314.64 points and the British team of Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen with bronze and 302.28 points.
The same Chinese duo also won gold in the last three world championships and were heavy favourites going in.
The crowd, heavy with Chinese fans and flags, chanted “jiayou” — roughly translated “let's go” — each time the Chinese walked out to dive.
This event was added in 2000, and Chinese women have won gold six times in seven Games. The only loss was to Russia in 2000. China won three years ago in Tokyo with Shi Tingmao and Wang Han.
Starting with the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics where China claimed its first diving gold, it had won 47 of 64 gold medals in diving. Add to that 23 silver and 10 bronze.
If you start counting from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China won 27 of 32 gold at the Olympics.
These are the numbers before Paris. Now, add another gold to the total and watch the numbers climb as the Olympics roll on in Paris
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791 drone intrusions along IB reported in 2025: Defence Ministry
New Delhi (PTI): A total of 791 drone intrusions -- nine incidents along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir and 782 along IB in Punjab and Rajasthan -- were reported during 2025, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.
"Effective employment of own spoofers and jammers along the western front significantly countered the drone threat," it said.
During this period, 237 drones were brought down by the Indian forces along IB sector -- "five drones with war-like stores, 72 drones with narcotics and 161 drones without any payload", the ministry said in a year-end review statement.
"A total of 791 drone intrusions (nine incidents along IB in J&K and 782 along IB in Punjab/Rajasthan) were reported during this year," it said.
The ministry said the security situation in J&K remains "firmly under control" due to the relentless efforts of the Indian Army.
People have chosen to follow the path of development and has been actively participating in large numbers in all government and Army-run initiatives, it said.
The 'whole-of-nation' approach has resulted in "reduction in violence levels, scaled down protests and zero incidents of stone pelting".
The statement also underlined Operation Sindoor carried out on May 7 eliminating at least 100 terrorists in response to the horrific Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 innocent civilians.
Indian armed forces had launched a series of precision missile strikes on nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir under this military action, which resulted in a four-day conflict between India and Pakistan.
The hostilities ended with an understanding on halting the military actions on May 10 following talks over the hotline between army officials of the two sides.
"After the DGMO talks on May 10 and May 12, the situation remains stable though unpredictable. However, there has been an increase in Pakistan attempts to surreptitiously infiltrate terrorists through the LoC (Line of Control) and IB sector," the ministry said in its review.
"Pakistan attempted to activate Poonch-Rajouri region as a "hotbed for proxy war during the year 2023-24," it said.
Therefore, the deliverables for 2025 were clearly defined in terms of maintaining robust anti-infiltration grid, relentless conduct of operations in mid and higher reaches to dislocate or neutralise terrorists and reduce local recruitment of cadres by creating a conducive environment for development, the statement said.
"Security situation in hinterland continues to witness consistent improvement since 2019," it added.
Functionality of training camps, presence of terrorists in launch pads and continuing infiltration attempts substantiate Pakistan's "persistent intent to prosecute a proxy war strategy", the ministry said.
"Significant efforts are being made by Pakistan to exploit the IB sector not only to smuggle weapons and narcotics using drones, but also to infiltrate large strength of terrorists," it said.
The ministry further said in consideration of "ongoing operational concerns", sanction for emergency procurement in the niche technology domains of drone and counter-drone, weapon systems, precision ammunition, electronic warfare systems, surveillance systems, etc., was accorded.
"A total of 29 capability development schemes have already been contracted and another 16 schemes are likely to be contracted in December 2025," it said in its review.
On manufacturing of drones and achieving 'Aatmanirbharta' in ammunition production, the ministry said that "515 Army Base Workshop and select Corps Z Workshops/EME Battalions have established credible drone manufacturing capability using in-house expertise and collaboration with subject matter experts".
"The facilities are state-of-the-art, which meet the quality requirements of drones. A total of 819 drones (surveillance -193, kamikaze/armed/weaponised -337, first pilot view -289) have been manufactured till date by EME units".
