Gujarat: Devotees Offer Prayers To Ambaji Dham Invoke Blessings For India Ahead Of Semi-Final Match

The Bhubaneswar police have arrested five accused, including a minor girl.

As per reports, the minor girl, who has been arrested, introduced the victim to the four other accused. Later the four accused took the victim to an abandoned place.

The report further says that the accused used narcotic drugs in the victim's drink before sexually assaulted the minor victim.

After the matter coming to light, Nayapalli police formed a special team to investigate the case before arresting all the accused.

Police also said that the accused shot a video of the heinous crime to blackmail the minor girl. The victim's mother had complained that the four accused had demanded Rs 50,000. The accused had threatened to make the video viral if they didn't get the money.

The accused have been identified as Raja Patnaik, Deepak Behera, Prakash Behera and Papu Dwivedi. Police have recovered a couple of mobile phones as well as few other things.

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This decline in air quality has caused discomfort for those with respiratory problems. 

According to sources from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in three areas of Chennai has worsened, with levels reaching 254 in Manali, 210 in Arumbakkam, and 201 in Perungudi. 

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board categorises an AQI between 201-300 as "poor", which can cause respiratory discomfort; levels between 301-400 are classified as "very poor", while 401-500 is considered "severe". 

Doctors have urged the people to limit the use of firecrackers during the festival to mitigate pollution. 

T.S. Surendran, a consultant pediatric ophthalmologist and chairman of Sankara Nethralaya, said, "Limiting firecracker purchases can support labourers while also reducing pollution." 

In addition to air pollution, firecrackers pose a significant risk of burn injuries during Diwali celebrations.

The Tamil Nadu Health Department has launched an awareness campaign on the safe handling of firecrackers, advising people to avoid taking selfies while crackers are being burst. 

State Health Minister Ma Subramanian said, "For the past two to three weeks, the Health Department has been conducting intensive awareness programmes for children and the elderly, focusing on the risk of burn injuries associated with firecrackers. Almost all districts have conducted grassroots-level awareness programmes on safe cracker handling."

To handle potential burn injuries, the state Health Department has set up dedicated burn wards in hospitals across the state. 

On Monday, Minister Subramanian visited the Government Kilpauk Medical College in Chennai, where he inaugurated 25 new beds to accommodate burn patients. 

Kilpauk Medical College treats nearly 2,000 individuals for burn injuries every year during Diwali. 

The Health department has advised people to follow strict safety guidelines while using firecrackers.

Hospitals across the state are prepared, with doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff available around the clock to treat burn injuries. 

Doctors also recommend purchasing age-appropriate crackers for children from reputable companies and washing hands and legs after bursting firecrackers. 

--IANS 

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The approach now is to have a swing at the bowling, especially with England unleashing its Bazball tactics and India following suit under new head coach Gautam Gambhir.

Though Gambhir rejected the suggestion that his batters have lost the skill to play spin on a turning track like they did against Mitchell Santner in the second Test of the three-match series at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune last week, the 43-year-old player-turned-coach said the art of playing Test cricket has changed because of T20 format and the World Test Championship that the International Cricket Council has launched a few years back.

"To be a successful Test cricketer, you see people like Virat (Kohli). You see all the great players who've done really well in Test cricket for a long period, they've always had good defence. The foundation of your batting in Test cricket has to be defence and then you start taking up from there.

It is probably a lot to do with playing on flat wickets in T20 cricket. But again, I think we need to keep working on our defence, we need to keep working on our game, we need to keep tightening our game because Test cricket is test cricket. You will see going forward in future, we'll have the same issues with a lot of other teams as well because the more the T20 cricket is played, the lesser people will start defending.

Gambhir said teams will have to adapt to this approach in Test cricket and this could lead to having separate teams for each format with Test squads having players that can bat out 2-3 sessions, obdurately defending for hours together.

"See, at the moment it's difficult to answer this question. But going forward, obviously, we will have to identify players who are solid red ball cricketers because ultimately, to get the results, you will have to work really hard for three or four days, to be honest. So sometimes, as I just mentioned, it's important to bat sessions as well. And if you can bat sessions, we know that we've got the bowling attack to take 20 wickets.

"So at the moment, it's difficult to answer because it's a hypothetical question. But yes, identifying the right red ball batters is very, very important," he added.

Gambhir said his team's struggle against spin in Pune was not surprising but added that his players are aware that they need to keep improving and getting better at playing defensively.

"Look, I'm not surprised. Surprise is not the right word. I think it's just that, as I said, Mitchell Santner bowled really well in Pune. But we need to keep getting better as well. We need to keep defending better. I think that is important, especially on a turning track. Because if you've got confidence in your defence, a lot of things can be sorted. That is something which we need to keep getting better at and keep working on. Because, again, I'll keep going back to the same answer that a lot has to do with limited-overs cricket and T20 cricket as well. Sometimes you're so used to, muscling the ball that you end up forgetting the soft hands and all that stuff. This probably used to happen 8 or 10 years back," said Gambhir.

(IANS)

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