Indian women win team gold in skeet, bronze for men at junior worlds
Lima(PTI): Indian shooters claimed the gold medal in the women's skeet team event and the bronze in the men's team finals of the ISSF Junior World Championship here.
The trio of Areeba Khan, Raiza Dhillon and Ganemat Sekhon finished at the top of the podium in the women's event after shooting an aggregate score of 6.
In the gold medal round on Friday, the Indian women were pitted against the Italian team of Damiana Paolacci, Sara Bongini and Giada Longhi.
In the men's section, the Indian team of Rajveer Gill, Ayush Rudraraju and Abhay Singh Sekhon won the bronze medal after prevailing over Turkey's Ali Can Arabaci, Ahmet Baran and Muhammet Seyhun Kaya 6-0, the same's scoreline as the women's gold medal contest.
A day earlier, rising Indian woman skeet shooter Sekhon had won the silver medal in the tournament's individual women's skeet competition.
The Chandigarh shooter, who picked up her first senior ISSF World Cup stage medals in New Delhi earlier this year, went down in a shoot-off to American Alisha Fayth Layne, after both were tied on 46 hits in the 60-shot final.
In the men's individual skeet none of the three Indians in the fray -- Rajveer Gill, Abhay Singh Sekhon and Ayush Rudraraju -- could make it to the six-man finals but they shone in the team event.
India are currently place second in the pecking order with two gold, three silver and two bronze for a total of seven medals in the tournament.
The USA tops the chart with seven medals including three gold.
This is the first multi-discipline shooting event since the Tokyo Olympics, with as many as 32 nations and nearly 370 athletes participating in the championship.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
India & Israel elevate ties to special strategic partnership, vow to soon conclude free trade deal
Jerusalem (PTI): India and Israel on Thursday elevated their "time-tested" relationship to a special strategic partnership and agreed to soon firm up a "mutually beneficial" free trade deal even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed the Gaza peace initiative, asserting that humanity must never become a victim of conflict.
Following talks between Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the two sides inked a plethora of agreements to expand cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, energy, cyberspace and digital payment.
India and Israel also vowed to expand their already close defence partnership by working towards joint development and joint production of military hardware under the framework of the transfer of technologies.
In his media statement, Modi said India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in the Middle East, adding that New Delhi fully supports the Gaza Peace Initiative.
"India's stance is clear: humanity must never become a victim of conflict. A path to peace has been created through the Gaza Peace Plan. India has fully supported these efforts," he said.
"In the future as well, we will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries," he said.
PM Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday on a two-day visit. It is his second visit to Israel in nine years.
In his remarks, the prime minister said India and Israel have a united view that there is no place for terrorism in the world and both sides stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering terrorism and its supporters.
"Our relationship is founded on the strong bedrock of deep trust, shared democratic values, and human sensitivities. Our bond has stood the test of every trial of time," he said.
"Today, we have taken the historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to the status of a 'Special Strategic Partnership'," he said.
The prime minister also announced the establishment of an India-Israel critical and emerging technologies partnership to impart a new momentum for cooperation in areas of artificial intelligence, quantum, and critical minerals. "I am pleased that an agreement has been reached for the use of UPI in Israel," he said.
The prime minister, referring to the threat of terrorism, said India and Israel will continue to confront the menace unitedly.
"India and Israel are completely clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world. In any form, in any expression, terrorism cannot be accepted," he said.
"We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in opposing terrorism and its supporters, and we will continue to do so," he added.
India and Israel also discussed the implementation of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA).
