FIFA World Cup: Russia beat Egypt to lead group
St. Petersburg, June 20 : Russia defeated Egypt 3-1 in a Group A clash on Tuesday to virtually assure themselves a place in the next round of the FIFA World Cup here. A goal by Egypt defender Ahmed Fathi (47th minute) opened the scoring just after the break.
Denis Cheryshev (59th) and Artem Dzyuba (62nd) produced two superb strikes in quick succession to give a formidable lead.
Star forward Mohamed Salah converted a penalty in the 73rd minute to score Egypt's first World Cup goal since 1990.
Russia, who have won two matches on the trot, lead the group with six points. They had thrashed Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the opening match of the tournament.
Egypt, who had lost to Uruguay in their first match, are yet to open their account.
They will now have to beat Saudi Arabia in their third match and hope that the South Americans slip up in their remaining games.
This has been a disappointing campaign for the North Africans who are making their first appearance in 28 years at football's biggest stage.
Salah, who has made a rather hurried comeback after dislocating his left shoulder during last month's Champions League final, took the field for the first time since that fateful day.
But the Liverpool FC star found the going tough against the well organised Russian defence. Although the Egypt midfield did well, they lacked teeth upfront.
Both teams were more or less equally matched and both had their share of half chances in the first-half.
The game burst into life after the break when the hosts took the lead.
Russia were lucky to score on that occasion as a rather hopeful attempt by Roman Zobnin took a deflection off Fathi's knee and was diverted into the net.
However, there was nothing lucky about the hosts' other goals.
The Russians doubled their lead when Mario Fernandes did brilliantly to make room on the right inside the penalty box before cutting the ball where Cheryshev punished Egypt for some sloppy man marking with an excellent finish.
It was the third goal in two games for Cheryshev.
Dzyuba virtually sealed the victory when he chested down a ball from Ilya Kutepov before finding the target with a powerful shot at the near post.
Although rattled, Egypt did display some urgency and earned a penalty -- aided by VAR replays -- when Salah went down just inside the box.
The forward stepped up to blast in the penalty and reduce the deficit.
However, it were Russians who enjoyed the upper hand and closed off a well deserved win.
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Consumer Affairs Minister slams air purifier firms for false claims ahead of pollution season
New Delhi, Oct 14: Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday criticised air purifier manufacturers for making false claims about their products, and called for increased consumer awareness ahead of winter when air pollution worsens in Delhi due to crop stubble burning in neighbouring states.
Addressing an event commemorating World Standards Day, Joshi expressed concern over misleading marketing tactics adopted by some air purifier companies.
"Discussion on air pollution has begun. Looking at Air Quality Index (AQI) on mobiles, people out of fear, go and buy air purifiers. Air purifiers make such false claims. ...We see air purifiers and so much is written but nothing is there in it. There is just a fan in it, yet claims are still made," the minister stated.
Joshi called for a collaborative approach involving the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the consumer affairs ministry and consumers to address the issue.
While praising the BIS for their "exceptionally wonderful job" in recent years, the minister emphasized that more needs to be done.
"I do not blame BIS for this. BIS in the last few years has done an exceptionally wonderful job. But both BIS and the consumer affairs ministry and consumers together need to create awareness. It is important, and I strongly feel (this way)," the minister said stressing the collective responsibility in combating misleading product claims.
He emphasized the government's commitment to ensuring every Indian has access to safe, reliable, and high-quality products and services.
These comments come as concerns grow about air quality in major Indian cities and expansion of the air purifier market.
Joshi also announced plans to make BIS standards mandatory for public procurement on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal. "BIS standards are partially implemented on GeM. We'll try to make it mandatory."
The minister highlighted the government's focus on quality standards, noting that Cabinet proposals now include global standard notes.
"These days, the tradition has started in the Union Cabinet. Wherever a bill to be introduced in Parliament comes before the Cabinet, the global standard note comes with it. That has been made mandatory for the Cabinet," he said.
This note mentions which countries perform best in the particular field, rules and how India can achieve it. "So, we have to match every Cabinet note with the global standards. This helps our government to make decisions to set high standards whether it is quality infrastructure or urban metro trains."
Implementation of standards at national level has been given a top priority by the government and is actively bringing more products under mandatory quality controls, he said.
He said that over 22,300 standards are currently in force, with 94 per cent harmonized with international standards. The number of Quality Control Orders has risen from 14 (covering 106 products) in 2014 to 174 (covering 732 products) now.
Also, 94 per cent of Indian Standards are harmonised with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
Joshi stressed the interdependence of consumers and producers in fostering a quality ecosystem. He urged the BIS to take on more leadership roles in international standardization and fast-track the development of new standards.
World Standards Day, observed annually on October 14, aims to raise awareness about standards and their role in achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
