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Gill scored a patient 90 while Pant hammered a run-a-ball 60 as they put India on course for a big lead. But New Zealand bowlers kept chipping in with wickets as India slumped from 180/4 before lunch to 263 all out in 59.4 overs, taking a 28-run lead. 

Washington Sundar, with 36-ball 38 not out the next best scorer for India in an innings looked in cruise mode before crumbling again as six wickets fell for 83 runs.

On a patch with variable bounce, Ajaz Patel weathered an early assault from Gill and Pant to claim 5-103 at the venue where he made history by grabbing all 10 wickets in an innings.

Earlier in the morning, Gill and Pant added 96 runs for the fifth wicket partnership that helped India dominate the morning session on the second day as the hosts battled on, hoping to avoid a 0-3 whitewash in the series.

Pant came out with aggressive instincts and launched into Ajaz Patel in the first over of the second day, jumping out to loft over the bowler's head on the first two deliveries of the morning. Another four in the over, proved that the Indian batters were not going to allow the New Zealand bowlers to settle down.

Pant used his feet, employed the reverse sweep and struck his shots at will, hitting Patel for a four and a six off successive balls -- a reverse sweep to the boundary followed by a charge-out for a lofted drive onto the roof of the stadium over the sightscreen.

The wicketkeeper-batter from Delhi raced to the fastest half century by an Indian against New Zealand in Tests, reaching the mark off just 36 balls. Pant improved on the record held by Yashasvi Jaiswal who reached the half-century off 44 balls in the previous Test in Pune.

Both Gill and Pant enjoyed a life each -- Gill dropped by Mark Chapman off Glenn Phillips when at 46 and India 129/4. Gill made the most of that life as he reached his half-century off 66 balls.

The left-hand, right-hand combination of Pant and Gill was cruising, bruising and squeezing New Zealand as India dominated the first hour of play and the lead dwindled rapidly. Pant too had a life when Matt Henry dropped an easy call at long-on off Glenn Phillips. Pant was at 53 and India 168/4.

With boundaries drying up for a bit of time, leg-spinner Ish Sodhi made the much-needed breakthrough for New Zealand, breaking the partnership by sending Pant back to the pavilion, trapping him LBW with a leg-break that spun to evade the bat and hit the pad. Pant used the DRS but could not overturn the verdict as the ball was going on to hit the leg stump.

Ravindra Jadeja and Gill added 23 runs for the sixth wicket partnership before the left-handed all-rounder fell soon after lunch for 17. Phillips drew him out with one that turned and took the edge off a forward defensive prod to the first slip.

The variable bounce started to get to the Indians and one got two to New Zealand as Sarfaraz Khan got out for zero. Surprised by one that turned a little and bounced to take Sarfaraz's glove into the waiting hands of Tom Blundell. India, from 195/5 at lunch, slumped to 204/7, losing two wickets in successive overs.

Gill, who had kept vigil at the other end, struck a few superb boundaries as he inched closer towards his century. But that was not to be as Ajaz Patel, who got into a good rhythm after being mauled by Pant and Gill in the morning, finding the right length and using the variable bounce to his advantage. 

He struck a crucial blow to have Gill depart for 90. Gill who struck three boundaries, two of them off Phillips, after Jadeja got out, failed to reach the pitch of the delivery and the ball took the edge of his defensive shot for Daryl Mitchell to take a fine diving catch.

Gill's 90 came off 146 balls and was studded with seven boundaries and one six. He had done all the hard work but departed at the most inappropriate time for India, who at 227 were on the verge of equalling New Zealand's first innings score of 235.

India went past that score with Washington Sundar and R. Sundar struck a couple of boundaries including a six as the two Tamil Nadu batters added 20 runs for the ninth wicket. 

Ajaz Patel had his fifer when his full delivery turned and bounced to hit the shoulder of Ashwin's bat and Mitchell completed another good catch. Washington Sundar hammered 36-ball 38, hitting four fine boundaries and two big sixes as India extended the lead. 

But the innings was cut short by a casual bit of cricket by Akash Deep as he took a bit of time to turn around after taking off for a second and fell short of the crease. India ended with a 28-run lead, leaving the match evenly poised once again.

Brief scores:

New Zealand 235 trail India 263 in 59.4 overs (Shubman Gill 90, Rishabh Pant 60, Washington Sundar 38 not out; Ajaz Patel 5-103) by 28 runs.

(IANS)

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Power consumption had shot up to 139.44 BU in October 2023 from 113.94 BU in October 2022 due to the increase in demand from the industrial and farm sectors of the fast-growing economy.

The peak power demand (highest supply in a day) declined to 219.22 GW in October after having touched an all-time high of about 250 GW in May this year due to the summer heat.

"India is poised to face a higher increase in energy demand than any other country over the next decade mainly because of its size and the scale of rising demand from all sectors," the International Energy Agency (IEA ) said in its World Energy Outlook released last month.

According to the report, India, which was the fastest-growing major economy in 2023 with output increasing by 7.8 per cent, was on track to become the third-largest economy in the world by 2028.

In the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS) based on current policy plans, by 2035, iron and steel production is on track to grow by 70 per cent. The cement output is set to rise by nearly 55 per cent. The stock of air conditioners was projected to grow by over 4.5 times, resulting in electricity demand from air conditioners in 2035 more than Mexico’s total expected consumption that year, the report said.

Consequently, the total energy demand in India was set to increase by nearly 35 per cent by 2035 in the STEPS, and electricity generation capacity nearly tripling to 1400 GW.

The IEA said coal was set to retain a strong position in the energy mix in India over the next decades. "In the STEPS, nearly 60 GW of coal-fired capacity will be added net of retirements by 2030. The electricity generation from coal rises by over 15 per cent. Generation from coal remains over 30 per cent higher than that from solar PV even in a decade in which solar PV accounts for twice as much capacity, owing to the lower capacity factor of solar installations," the IEA said.

However, at the same time, the country was also giving a big push to green energy. India's National Electricity Plan (Transmission) launched last month aims to transmit 500 GW of Renewable Energy installed capacity by the year 2030 and over 600 GW of Renewable Energy installed capacity by the year 2032.

The Plan has also taken into consideration the requirement of storage systems viz 47 GW of Battery Energy Storage Systems and 31 GW of Pumped Storage Plants to be developed along with Renewable Energy. A transmission system has also been planned for delivery of power to the Green Hydrogen/Green Ammonia Manufacturing hubs at coastal locations like Mundra, Kandla, Gopalpur, Paradeep, Tuticorin, Vizag, Mangalore etc.

As per the National Electricity Plan, over 1,91,000 km of transmission lines and 1270 GVA of transformation capacity were planned to be added during the ten years from 2022-23 to 2031-32 (at 220 kV and above voltage level). In addition, 33 GW of HVDC bi-pole links are also planned. The inter-regional transmission capacity is planned to increase to 143 GW by the year 2027 and further to 168 GW by the year 2032, from the present level of 119 GW.

The Transmission Plan also covers cross-border interconnections with Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka as well as probable interconnections with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

(IANS)

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Three people were rescued and taken to hospital, Dacic said Friday. Two were women who had been trapped in the rubble, managed to maintain vocal contact with rescuers.

Emergency workers arrived at the scene within minutes, with the rescue operation involving over 80 responders from multiple cities, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Serbian government had initially reported eight deaths in the incident Friday afternoon. However, in the meantime rescuers found five more bodies.

Dacic said an investigation will follow the rescue operation, to determine who was responsible for the incident.

(IANS)

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