India clinches silver medal at Asian Surfing Championship
New Delhi (PTI): India edged out Chinese Taipei and China to bag the silver medal at the Maruhaba Cup, a team event in the Asian Surfing Championships 2024 at the picturesque Thulusdhoo island in the Maldives on Sunday.
The silver came just a day after India secured its first-ever Asian Games quotas in surfing.
The Maruhaba Cup, a category within the Asian Surfing Championship, brought together elite surfers from across the continent in a team event.
India outperformed numerous strong contenders en route to secure the silver medal.
The Indian team, consisting of Kamali P, Ajeesh Ali, Srikanth D, and Sanjay Selvamani, secured first place in the Heat 2 semi-final with a total score of 32.16.
Chinese Taipei followed in second place with a team score of 29.70, while South Korea finished third with a score of 27.74 in the same semi-final.
In the final, the Indian team competed against Asia's best and finished in second place with a team score of 24.13.
Chinese Taipei (23.93) and China (22.10) were placed third and fourth respectively. Japan won the gold medal with an impressive score of 58.40.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses defence minister in surprise announcement
Jerusalem, Nov 5: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed his popular defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement that came as the country is embroiled in wars on multiple fronts across the region.
Netanyahu and Gallant have repeatedly been at odds over the war in Gaza. But Netanyahu had avoided firing his rival. Netanyahu cited “significant gaps” and a “crisis of trust” between the men in his Tuesday evening announcement.
“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defence minister,” Netanyahu said. “Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defence minister.”
In the early days of the war, Israel's leadership presented a unified front as it responded to Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack. But as the war dragged on and spread to Lebanon, key policy differences have emerged. While Netanyahu has called for continued military pressure on Hamas, Gallant had taken a more pragmatic approach, saying that military force has created the necessary conditions for a diplomatic deal that could bring home hostages held by the Hamas group.
Gallant, a former general who has gained public respect with a gruff, no-nonsense personality, said in a statement: “The security of the state of Israel always was, and will always remain, my life's mission."
Gallant has worn a simple, black buttoned shirt throughout the war in a sign of sorrow over the October 7 attack and developed a strong relationship with his US counterpart, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
A previous attempt by Netanyahu to fire Gallant in March 2023 sparked widespread street protests against Netanyahu. He also flirted with the idea of dismissing Gallant over the summer but held off until Tuesday's announcement.
Gallant will be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister who was a junior officer in the military. Gideon Saar, a former Netanyahu rival who recently rejoined the government, will take the foreign affairs post.
Netanyahu has a long history of neutralising his rivals. In his statement, he claimed he had made “many attempts” to bridge the gaps with Gallant.
“But they kept getting wider. They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy - our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it,” he said.
