Kohli, de Villiers keep RCB alive
New Delhi, May 12: Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers guided Royal Challengers Bangalore to a 5-wicket victory against Delhi Daredevils in a must-win game in the Indian Premier League on Saturday.
The victory at Feroz Shah Kotla has kept RCB in contention for a top-four finish.
Chasing 182 for a win to keep their play-off hopes alive, RCB were jolted early when Trent Boult and debutant Sandeep Lamichhane removed openers early.
However, Kohli attacked the Delhi Daredevils bowlers from the start and was aggressive throughout his knock.
Kohli formed a 118-run stand with AB de Villiers for the third wicket before he edged an Amit Mishra delivery to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant for 70 off 40 balls.
De Villiers, who scored an unbeaten 72 off 37 balls for his 26th fifty, did not let RCB lose steam and ensured the visitors cross the line with 6 balls to spare.
Earlier, Delhi Daredevils rode some power packed batting by Rishabh Pant and talented teenager Abhishek Sharma to post a challenging total.
Pant plundered 61 runs off 34 balls to help Delhi overcome some early hiccups. The 17-year-old Sharma gave the finishing touches to the innings, smashing his way to 46 runs off just 19 balls to give the hosts a very good chance to clinch the fourth win of a rather forgettable campaign.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was the most successful among the RCB bowlers with figures of 2/28.
Delhi suffered their first blow in the opening over itself when opener Prithvi Shaw was bowled while attempting a rather languid shot off Chahal's bowling.
Chahal got rid of Jason Roy -- the other Delhi opener -- in his next over with a sharply incoming delivery that totally bamboozled the England batsman before going on to disturb the stumps.
Pant and Shreyas Iyer came together to add 93 runs between over the next 62 deliveries in an attempt to bring the Delhi innings back on track.
Pant played a major role in boosting the run rate. His power packed knock included five hits to the fence and four towering sixes.
Off-spinner Moeen Ali finally brought the rampage to an end when Pant attempted another big hit, only to be caught by AB de Villiers near the boundary rope wide of long-on.
Iyer amassed a patient 32 off 35 balls before he too departed in an attempt to pump up the run rate. The right-hander had attempted to smash pacer Mohammed Siraj over the onside, but his mistimed shot could only manage to find RCB skipper Virat Kohli.
Delhi's teenaged all-rounder Abhishek Sharma then produced some fireworks lower down the order to help the hosts post a challenging total.
The 17-year-old thumped three boundaries and four hits into the stands as Delhi finished their innings on a high note.
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Centre spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print media ads for RSS centenary, reveals RTI
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.
The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.
Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.
“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.
RTI reply shows Min of Culture Govt of India spent a Whopping Rs 76L,13K,129 on Advertisement in Print Media on occasion of 100 yrs of #RSS
— AJAY Basudev Bose (@AjayBos93388306) April 16, 2026
When Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??@RSSorg… pic.twitter.com/dW4IUtdNCg
Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”
Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.
In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”
"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added.
Why is public money being used to serve a private ideological project?
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) April 16, 2026
Modi Sarkar spent ₹76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS.
Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to… pic.twitter.com/EoZ6Pim3IM
According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.
Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.
