Johannesburg, July 22 : The Indian U-17 womens team lost 1-2 against China in their last match of the BRICS U-17 Football Tournament here on Sunday.

Two goals by China late in the second half nullified the lead India had taken early on, as the opponents ran out eventual winners.

Manisha had put the Indians ahead in the 25th minute when she capitalised on a rebound off a free-kick and her shot went into the net to give India the advantage.

The Indian women had a chance to double their lead before half-time in the 42nd minute but failed to make the most out of it as the shot was placed wide of the goal.

In the second half, the Indian custodian Archana made some good saves to keep India in the match but her citadel was breached in the 74th minute when China equalised from the penalty spot.

Eight minutes later, the Chinese scored once again to take the lead. The Indian women could do little to muster an equaliser and with time running out, failed to make the most of their opportunities.




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Guwahati (PTI): A woman, who spent two years in detention after being declared a foreigner, has been granted Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Assam's Cachar district, her lawyer said.

The woman, identified as 59-year-old Depali Das, a resident of the Hawaithang area under the Dholai assembly constituency, was declared an illegal migrant by a Foreigners' Tribunal (FT) in February 2019.

Depali is the first declared foreigner in Assam who had once been lodged in a detention centre and later released on bail to receive Indian citizenship under the CAA.

The police detained her after the tribunal's order and sent her to the Silchar detention centre on May 10, the same year, where she remained for nearly two years before being released on bail on May 17, 2021, following a Supreme Court order, her lawyer Dharmananda Deb said.

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Depali was originally a resident of Dippur village under Dhirai police station in Bangladesh's Sylhet district and had married Abhimanyu Das of Parai village under Baniachong police station in Habiganj district in 1987, he said.

A year later, in 1988, the couple entered India and moved to Cachar district, where they have been living since then.

Her citizenship came under scrutiny in 2013 when police initiated an inquiry against her, and a chargesheet was submitted by the police on July 2, 2013, stating that Depali was a resident of Baniachong in Bangladesh and had entered India illegally after March 1971, Deb said.

"The chargesheet later proved crucial in her application for Indian citizenship under the CAA because the applicant must provide documentary evidence showing migration from Bangladesh, Pakistan or Afghanistan," he said.

"In most cases, applicants fail to produce such documents, but in Depali's case, the chargesheet submitted by the police officer in 2013 clearly mentioned that she was from Bangladesh. The authorities accepted this document as valid proof," he added.

After her release on bail in 2021, she wanted to apply for citizenship under the CAA and had approached Deb for legal assistance once the rules of the Act were notified in 2024.

Her first hearing took place on February 24 last year at the office of the Superintendent of Post Offices in Silchar, which is designated to process such applications.

Two more hearings were held subsequently, after which all her documents were submitted online to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

"She was called to the office of the Superintendent of Post Offices in Silchar for a final appearance on May 25 last year after the field verification by Home Ministry officials, and on March 6, she received her Indian citizenship certificate," social activist Kamal Chakraborty said.

Her three children, a son and three daughters, can now rely on their mother's citizenship certificate if their own citizenship is ever questioned in the future, since all the children were born in India, he added.

The Citizenship Amendment Act, passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019, triggered widespread protests across the country, particularly in Assam.

The Act allows Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and Parsi migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered India between March 25, 1971 and December 31, 2014 to apply for Indian citizenship.

Before Das, four Bangladeshi nationals living in Assam were granted Indian citizenship under the CAA.