Indonesia Open: Indian challenge ends after Sindhu, Prannoy lose in quarters
Jakarta, July 6: India's challenge at the $1,250,000 Indonesia Open came to a disappointing end after both P.V.Sindhu and H.S.Prannoy lost their respective quarter-final matches in straight games here on Friday.
Rio Olympics silver medallist and third-seeded Sindhu went down to eighth seed He Bing Jiao of China 14-21, 15-21 in the women's singles quarter-final after Prannoy lost to another Chinese Shi Yuqi 17-21, 18-21 in the men's singles tie.
World No.3 Sindhu went on the backfoot straightway in the opening game before gaining lost ground as the Indian went in to the breather trailing 10-11.
But from then, it was one-way traffic from the Chinese world no.7 shuttler, who took a massive 19-11 lead before comfortably clinching it 21-14.
Sindhu, however came back well taking a 5-1 lead in the second before Bing Jiao bounced back to overhaul the lead and go 11-9 midway into the game.
The story was similar in the second half as the Chinese stretched her lead to 18-12 before Sindhu managed to gather a couple of points but that wasn't enough for her.
Earlier in the day, world no.14 Prannoy too suffered a straight games defeat at the hands of world no.3 Shi Yuqi to bow out of the tournament.
In the opening game, Prannoy fought hard to trail 8-11 at the break but the Chinese kept his domination throughout to pocket it comfortably 21-17.
The second game went on similar lines with the Indian trailing 8-11 midway, before eventually sinking to 18-21 and crash out of the tournament.
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Deepfake video of Nirmala Sitharaman used to dupe Belagavi man in Rs 7.9 lakh scam
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): A 76-year-old man in Belagavi city was allegedly cheated of Rs 7.9 lakh in an online investment scam that used an AI-generated deepfake video misusing the name of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to lure investors, police said on Wednesday.
An online fraud case was registered at the cybercrime police station on May 1, they said.
According to Belagavi Police Commissioner Bhushan Gulabrao Borase, the victim, Prakash Gubbi, a senior citizen, stated in his complaint that in November last year, he came across a video on YouTube in which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman appeared to endorse an investment scheme.
The video also mentioned a link in its description for making investments.
The victim clicked on the link, entered his details, and was later contacted on social media by a person identifying himself as Adarsh Anand, who persuaded him to invest, the officer told reporters.
Citing the complaint, the officer said the victim initially invested a small amount, after which the application began showing profits of USD 65,000.
When he attempted to withdraw the amount, the accused demanded a “customs duty” payment of Rs 4.2 lakh, claiming it was required to process the withdrawal.
The victim paid the amount, after which he was asked to pay an additional Rs 2 lakh. It was at this stage that he realised he had been cheated. In total, he lost around Rs 7.9 lakh in the fraud, the officer added.
A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, and police are investigating the matter, police said.
The commissioner cautioned the public not to trust such videos, stating that the finance minister does not endorse any such schemes.
He warned that such content is created using artificial intelligence and deepfake technology.
He further advised the public to remain vigilant, avoid offers that appear too good to be true on the internet, and invest only through legitimate, registered agencies or trusted channels.
Deepfake technology enables the creation of realistic videos, audio recordings, and images that can mislead viewers by superimposing one person’s likeness onto another, altering their words and actions. This can present a false narrative or spread misinformation.
