Paris Olympics 2024 Day 1: Full schedule for Team India
Paris: On the opening day—early on Saturday—India's shooting contingent will be at the forefront of the Paris Olympics 2024. The campaign begins with the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event, featuring the pairs of Ramita Jindal-Arjun Babuta and Elavenil Valarivan-Sandeep Singh. These pairs will strive to bring medals to India.
The medal matches are scheduled for the latter part of the day, with the top four teams from the qualifiers advancing to the finals. Teams ranked first and second will compete for gold, while the other two will contest for bronze. Additionally, Arjun Singh Cheema, Sarabjot Singh, Manu Bhaker, and Rhythm Sangwan will participate in the 10m air pistol events, with only the qualifiers scheduled for the day.
India's largest-ever shooting contingent of 15 athletes represented the country at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where Saurabh Chaudhary was the sole finalist from that group. The rifle shooters had underperformed the last time.
India's hockey team will also begin their campaign in Pool B against New Zealand. In badminton, Lakshya Sen will compete in the men's singles group match. Following this, the men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will take to the court. Later in the day, veteran tennis player Rohan Bopanna will start his final Olympic appearance in the men's doubles with N Sriram Balaji.
Full Schedule:
Badminton
- Men's singles group match: Lakshya Sen vs Kevin Cordon (Guatemala) at 7:10 PM IST
- Men's doubles group match: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty vs Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar (France) at 8:00 PM IST
- Women's doubles group match: Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto vs Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong (Korea) at 11:50 PM IST
Boxing
- Women's 54kg opening round bout: Preeti Pawar vs Thi Kim Anh Vo (Vietnam) at 12:05 AM IST, Jan 28
Hockey
- Pool B match: India vs New Zealand at 9:00 PM IST
Rowing
- Men's single sculls: Panwar Balraj at 12:30 PM IST
Table Tennis
- Men's singles preliminary round: Harmeet Desai vs Zaid Abo Yaman (Jordan) at 7:15 PM IST
Tennis
- Men's doubles first round: Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji vs Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Fabien Reboul (France) at 3:30 PM IST
Shooting
- 10m air rifle mixed team qualification: Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan, Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal at 12:30 PM IST
- Mixed team 10m air rifle medal rounds: 2:00 PM onwards (if India qualifies)
- 10m air pistol men's qualification: Arjun Singh Cheema and Sarabjot Singh at 2:00 PM IST
- 10m air pistol women's qualification: Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan at 4:00 PM IST
India's contingent is set for an action-packed Day 1, hoping to start their Olympic campaign on a positive note.
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ED cracks down on suspected interstate liquor racket, raids 9 sites in Arunachal
Itanagar (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has carried out coordinated searches at nine locations across Arunachal Pradesh in connection with a suspected large-scale interstate liquor smuggling and money laundering network, officials said on Monday.
The action, taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), is part of an expanding probe that points to a syndicate exploiting tax differentials among states.
Officials said liquor designated for sale within Arunachal Pradesh was allegedly diverted and supplied illegally to markets in Assam and other states.
The searches, conducted earlier this week, spanned multiple towns such as Itanagar, Naharlagun, Seppa, Ziro, Daporijo, Namsai and Roing, targeting wholesale liquor businesses suspected of being linked to the network.
According to officials, the investigation stems from a series of FIRs registered by Assam Police over the illegal transportation of liquor from Arunachal Pradesh into Assam.
Inputs from the Assam Excise Department further strengthened the case. An Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was registered on October 17, 2024, and later widened through an addendum incorporating 173 additional FIRs.
Earlier searches conducted on February 4 last year, at premises linked to three alleged key operators, believed to be major liquor manufacturers, had revealed indications of a well-coordinated operation.
Investigators suspect that the network functioned through a chain of manufacturers, bonded warehouses and wholesalers, while masking real ownership using proxy arrangements such as tribal partnerships and dummy licence holders.
During the latest ED operations, the agency found that several wholesale units were operating under proxy licences issued in the names of local individuals, while actual control remained with the suspected masterminds.
Financial scrutiny revealed that between 51 and 90 per cent of total credits in certain bank accounts comprised unexplained cash deposits.
Investigators also flagged a pattern of invoice splitting, with transactions deliberately kept below Rs 2 lakh to avoid scrutiny. In one instance, more than 200 invoices of identical value of Rs 1,99,554 were generated within a single month at one location.
On-ground staff reportedly confirmed that records, including stock registers and daily cash collections, were being routed to offices associated with the alleged controllers.
The ED said it seized approximately Rs 40 lakh in unaccounted cash during the searches.
In a significant finding, 14 seals, some purportedly belonging to the Excise Department of the Arunachal Pradesh government, were recovered from one of the premises. These are suspected to have been used to create fake transport permits to facilitate the unauthorised movement of liquor.
Further investigation is underway, officials added.
