Shooter Aishwary Tomar smashes world record on way to gold in ISSF Junior World C'ship
Lima (PTI): Young Indian shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar smashed the world record in the final to win gold in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions event at the ISSF junior world championships here.
Tomar equalled the junior world record score of 1185 in qualification to top the field on Monday.
The youngster then bettered the junior world record in the final with a score of 463.4, finishing nearly seven points ahead of second-placed Frenchman Lucas Kryzs, who won the silver with a score of 456.5.
Gavin Barnick of USA won bronze with a score of 446.6.
Among other Indians in the field, Sanskar Havelia was 11th with a score of 1160, Pankaj Mukheja 15th with 1157, Sartaj Tiwana 16th with 1157 and Gurman Singh finished 22nd with a score of 1153.
Earlier in the day, India's 14-year-old shooter Naamya Kapoor fired her way to the gold medal ahead of celebrated compatriot Manu Bhaker in the women's 25m pistol event.
Kapoor shot 36 in the final to claim the top prize ahead of France's Camille Jedrzejewski (33) and 19-year-old Olympian Bhakar (31), who has already won three gold so far in the tournament.
Bhaker settled for the bronze after the French markswoman prevailed in a shoot-off on Monday. Another Indian shooter in the women's final, Rhythm Sangwan, finished fourth as the country dominated the event.
Kapoor was sixth in the qualification with a total of 580 as Bhaker (587) and Sangwan (586) grabbed the top two spots.
Delhi's Kapoor had shot the second-best score of 583 in qualification to finish fifth in the national shooting selection trials at the Dr Karni Singh Range in August.
India lead the standings with eight gold, six silver and three bronze medals for a total of 17 medals.
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.
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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).
