Manu-Sarabjot duo enters bronze medal round; Ramita finishes seventh
Chateauroux (PTI): A confident Manu Bhaker placed herself in contention for a second Olympic medal as she combined with Sarabjot Singh to make the bronze playoff in the 10m air pistol mixed team event but Ramita Jindal ended seventh in the 10m air rifle women's competition here on Monday.
The 22-year-old Bhaker came into the mixed team qualifications after winning a historic bronze medal in the 10m women's air pistol event on Sunday. Bhaker and Sarabjot finished with a total of 580 to make the medal round to be held on Tuesday.
The Indians will face Koreans Oh Ye Jin and Lee Wonho, who shot 579, in the bronze-medal match.
The other Indian pair of Rhythm Sangwan and Arjun Singh Cheema finished 10th with a score of 576 and failed to make it to the medal rounds.
Turkiye, who equalled Qualification Olympic Record with 582, and Serbia (581), who finished second, respectively, will contest the gold-medal match.
Bhaker was sensational with her 98s in the first two series, but a 95 in the third set pulled the team down a bit. However, the pair did enough to make the medal round in the end.
Sarabjot, who missed out on gaining a spot in the finals of the men's 10m air pistol event by a whisker, shot 97 in the second and third, after a 95 in the first.
Ramita faces tough competition
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Young Indian shooter Ramita's score was 145.3 when she bowed of the high-quality eight-women final. She was placed seventh after 10 shots (104.0), when the elimination began.
In danger of being eliminated, a 10.5 pushed Ramita to sixth place even as Norway's Hegg Jeanette Duestad made an exit. But the Indian could not save herself after that.
She was placed fourth at one point but failed to maintain the momentum.
In the qualifications on Sunday, she performed exceedingly well to make the final in the fifth place.
Ramita, the Hangzhou Asian Games bronze-medallist in the event, beat World Championship medallist Mehuli Ghosh and Tilottama Sen at the domestic trials to make it to Paris Games.
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86 nations, two int'l organisations sign AI Impact Summit declaration: IT Min Vaishnaw
New Delhi (PTI): As many as 86 countries and two international organisations have signed the AI Impact Summit declaration, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said, adding that the US, UK, Canada, China, Denmark, and Germany are among the signatories.
The strong global backing for the declaration comes at the conclusion of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.
Vaishnaw told reporters that nations across the world have formalised and upheld principles of 'welfare of all, and happiness of all'.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's human-centric AI vision been accepted by the world. Democratising Artificial Intelligence resources so AI facilities, services and technology can reach everyone in society has been accepted by all," the minister said.
Balancing economic growth with social good has been prioritised, he added.
"Not just economic growth, even social harmony has to be kept in mind. Safety and trust are at the centre, they have been brought among the main points," Vaishnaw said, adding that a secure, trustworthy and robust AI framework has been focused on.
Other major areas of thrust include innovations and development of human capital, he noted.
"For all these areas, all countries have agreed to work together. Almost all countries that participated, including the US, the UK, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, Indonesia, and Germany... everyone has participated," the minister said.
The mega AI Impact Summit secured investment commitments of over USD 250 billion in infrastructure alone, with Vaishnaw on Friday terming it a "grand success".
Vaishnaw had said participation at the summit crossed five lakh visitors, reflecting strong domestic and global engagement with India's AI push.
The India AI Impact Summit brought together global policymakers, industry leaders and technology experts, positioning India as a key player in shaping international AI governance and infrastructure development.
"More than five lakh visitors participated in the exhibition, learnt a lot, and interacted with many experts from around the world. We had practically every major AI player in the world participating in large numbers. We had so many startups getting the opportunity to showcase their work. Overall, the quality of the discussion was phenomenal," he had said.
Be it the ministerial dialogue, the leaders' plenary, the main inauguration function, or the Summit overall, the quality of participation and dialogue was phenomenal, Vaishnaw had pointed out.
The investment pledges have crossed USD 250 billion for infra-related capital and around USD 20 billion on VC/deep tech investments.
Vaishnaw had said that the Summit reflected the world's confidence in India's role in the new AI age.
Delhi played host to a lineup of global tech heavyweights this week - Google's Sundar Pichai, OpenAI's Sam Altman, Microsoft's Brad Smith and Anthropic's Dario Amodei - as discussions spanned most intensely debated global topics in the tech universe, from AI's opportunities and risks, all the way to AGI, governance and the future of jobs.
