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Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma starred with both bat and ball to propel India to their first Women’s World Cup title with a 52-run win over South Africa on Sunday.Hosts India posted 298-7 and then bowled South Africa out for 246 with spinner Sharma taking five wickets in front of a sell-out home crowd at Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium.Verma top-scored with 87 and Sharma hit 58 off as many balls as India posted a challenging total after they were put in to bat in a final delayed two hours by rain.South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt hit a valiant 101 but her departure off Sharma raised the noise at the 45,000-capacity stadium, which had turned into a sea of blue.Sharma took down Nadine de Klerk, for 18, as the final wicket as Harmanpreet Kaur’s India celebrated with the jubilant crowd inside the ground and millions outside in the cricket-mad nation.The Indian women triumphed at the third attempt after finishing runners-up in 2005 and 2017.Sharma struck key blows with her off-spin including Annerie Dercksen, who hit 35 in a 61-run partnership with in-form opener Wolvaardt.But it was Sharma’s double-wicket over to dismiss Wolvaardt and then Chloe Tryon, for nine, that took India to the brink of victory.Kaur’s ploy of giving the ball to Verma, an opening batter and a part-time off-spinner, in the 20th over proved key as the youngster removed Sune Luus.Verma dislodged Marizanne Kapp in the next over to plunge South Africa into deeper trouble but Wolvaardt kept South Africa in the game until her departure in the 42nd over.Verma, who was brought into the team for the semi-final after fellow opener Pratika Rawal went down injured, came out roaring with the bat.She put on 104 runs with Smriti Mandhana (45) to lay solid foundations at a venue that has produced big runs, including India’s record chase of 339 in the semi-final against Australia.Sharma then added valuable runs with her 18th ODI fifty to crank up the pressure on South Africa despite three wickets for Ayabonga Khaka.

Half-centuries by Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma helped India post a competitive 298-7 against South Africa in the Women’s World Cup final in Mumbai on Sunday.Put into bat in a rain-delayed match, India rode on an opening stand of 104 between Smriti Mandhana (45) and Verma, who top-scored with 87, to stay in the hunt for their first title in front of a sell-out home crowd.Sharma hit 58 off 58 balls at the 45,000-capacity DY Patil Stadium – a venue that has produced big runs, including India’s record chase of 339 in the semi-final against Australia.The ODI World Cup is awaiting a new champion with South Africa also eyeing their first crown.Rain held up the start of the match by two hours before South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt won the toss in her team’s first final in the tournament.Hosts India soon took charge with the left-handed Mandhana and Verma hitting regular boundaries to take the attack to the opposition bowlers.South Africa introduced spin in the 17th over and Chloe Tyron struck in the next over with her left-arm orthodox bowling to send back in-form Mandhana, caught behind.Swashbuckling opener Verma, who came in as replacement for injured Pratika Rawal in the semi-final, reached her fifty.Verma survived a reprieve on 56 when Anneke Bosch dropped a simple catch at deep mid-wicket off spinner Sune Luus, to the delight of the Indian fans.Medium-pace bowler Ayabonga Khaka dismissed Verma when she got the batter holed out at mid-off . In the next over took down semi-final hero Jemimah Rodrigues, for 24, to check India’s surge.Sharma and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur got down to the grind to rebuild the innings, in the face of tidy South African bowling.Harmanpreet and then Amanjot Kaur departed as India seemed to fall behind on a high-scoring pitch but Sharma was joined by Richa Ghosh, who hit 34, and the two took on the bowling.India, runners-up in 2005 and 2017, are playing their in third final.

India launched its heaviest ever communication satellite on Sunday, the latest step in the country’s ambitious space programme. The CMS-03 satellite blasted off from Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh at 5:26 pm (1156 GMT).”Our space sector continues to make us proud!” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wants to send an Indian astronaut to the Moon by 2040.Weighing about 4,410 kilograms (9,722 pounds), it is “the heaviest communication satellite” launched in the country, the Indian Space Research Organisation said Thursday. The Indian Navy said the satellite would help “secure communication links between ships, aircraft, submarines”.The CMS-03 satellite was sent into orbit from the towering 43.5 metre (143 foot) tall LVM3-M5 launch vehicle.It is an upgraded version of the rocket that launched India’s unmanned craft that landed on the Moon in August 2023.Only Russia, the United States and China have previously achieved a controlled landing on the lunar surface.The country has flexed its spacefaring ambitions in the last decade, with its space programme growing considerably in size and momentum.Shubhanshu Shukla, a test pilot with the Indian Air Force, this year became the second Indian to travel to space and the first to reach the International Space Station — a key step towards India’s own crewed mission planned for 2027.

South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt elected to field first against India in a rain-delayed Women’s World Cup final with both teams seeking to win their first title on Sunday.Thousands of fans In Indian jerseys waited patiently ahead of the start on a wet afternoon with a full house expected at Mumbai’s 45,000-capacity DY Patil stadium.Rain delayed the toss by two hours but no overs have been lost in the 50-over contest.South Africa’s women are into their first ODI World Cup final after they beat four-time winners England in the first semi-final and come in unchanged.”Bit of rain around and there might be dew later on, hoping for a bit of slippiness early on with all the rain around,” said Wolvaardt, who hit 169 in the first semi-final.India have been runners-up twice, in 2005 and 2017, and reached their third final by beating seven-time champions Australia in a thriller.Captain Harmanpreet Kaur said she would have also bowled first had she won the toss.The hosts come in unchanged from their record chase of 339 against Australia.”We will try to bat well and put up a decent score,” said Kaur. “I don’t think there will be much on the pitch after five, six overs.”TeamsIndia women: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Amanjot Kaur, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Kranti Gaud, N Shree Charani, Renuka Singh.South Africa women: Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Tazmin Brits, Sune Luus, Annerie Dercksen, Anneke Bosch, Marizanne Kapp, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeko Mlaba.Umpires: Eloise Sheridan (AUS), Jacqueline Williams (WIS)TV Umpire: Sue Redfern (ENG)Match Referee: Michell Pereira (SRI)

Hosts India face South Africa in the Women’s World Cup final in Mumbai on Sunday, with the one-day showpiece crowning a new champion.India have been runners-up twice, in 2005 and 2017, and reached their third final after beating seven-time champions Australia in a thriller.South Africa’s women are into their first ODI World Cup final.Speaking ahead of the decider, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said winning the World Cup could be a turning point for the women’s game in the cricket-crazy country.”Last time when we reached the final and came back to India we saw a big change,” Kaur told reporters on Saturday.”Women’s cricket moved ahead and we saw many girls on the ground. “So I am sure that if we win this final, we will see many more changes and we will see more cricket, not only on the international level but also on the domestic level.””So I think we are really looking forward to that moment when we will see women’s cricket in a more serious manner and we will see more girls (playing),” she said.Indian players like Kaur and Smriti Mandhana have become household names in the world’s most populous nation since the Women’s Premier League T20 tournament began in 2023.Jemimah Rodrigues played a champion’s knock with an unbeaten 127 to help India chase down a record 339 against holders Australia in the semi-finals.”I think it’s a proud moment for me and the entire team,” Kaur said.”I am sure the entire country must be also very proud of the way we have played the last two games and, yeah, it’s a big day.”South Africa, led by Laura Wolvaardt, beat four-time winners England to reach their first ODI World Cup final.Wolvaardt said the pressure on the home team could work in South Africa’s favour at DY Patil Stadium, which has a capacity of 45,000.”I think with the whole crowd behind India, probably a sold-out stadium, it’s going to be a very exciting opportunity,” Wolvaardt said.”But at the same time, I think it puts a lot of pressure on them as well. So yeah, I think it sort of plays in our favour, hopefully.”Only Australia, England and New Zealand have ever won the tournament since it began in 1973.Kaur said a new champion will be good for the sport.”Because of that we are seeing more excitement,” she said. “And for us to reach the final is also very special, not only for us but for the Indian fans who have been a big support for us.”

India’s efforts to combat air pollution by using cloud seeding in its sprawling capital New Delhi appear to have fallen flat, with scientists and activists questioning the effectiveness of the move.Cloud seeding involves spraying particles such as silver iodide and salt into clouds from aircraft to trigger rain, that can wash pollutants from the air.Delhi authorities, working with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, began trials last week using a Cessna aircraft over parts of the city.But officials said the first trials produced very little rainfall because of thin cloud cover.”This will never ever do the job, it’s an illusion,” said Bhavreen Kandhari, an environmental campaigner in Delhi. “Only when we clean up sources of air pollution can we control it.”The government has spent around $364,000 on the trials, according to local media reports.Each winter, thick smog chokes Delhi and its 30 million residents. Cold air traps emissions from farm fires, factories and vehicles.Despite various interventions — such as vehicle restrictions, smog sucking towers, and mist-spraying trucks — the air quality ranks among the worst for a capital in the world.A day after the latest trial, levels of cancer-causing PM2.5 particles hit 323, more than 20 times the daily limits set by the World Health Organization. It will likely worsen further through the season.A study published in The Lancet Planetary Health last year estimated that 3.8 million deaths in India between 2009 and 2019 were linked to air pollution.There are also questions about the long-term impact of the chemicals sprayed themselves.While the US Environmental Protection Agency notes “limited” studies suggest silver iodide does not pose an environmental or health risk, it acknowledges the impact of more widespread use is “not known”.- ‘Research process’ -Environmental activists say even if cloud seeding produces rain, the benefits are short-lived.Climate scientist Daniele Visioni at Cornell University said it was unclear how efficient it was in heavy polluted conditions.”It can’t create rain where there is no moisture in the air, but it just ‘forces’ some of the water to condense in one location rather than another,” he told AFP.”There is only one thing that can sensibly reduce pollution: avoiding the burning of fossil fuels.”Virendra Sachdeva, from Delhi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said it was too early to dismiss the cloud seeding experiment as a “scientific failure”.”It is a part of the research process, and success is not always achieved in the first attempt,” he told reporters.However, two atmospheric scientists at IIT Delhi called the cloud seeding plan “another gimmick”.”It is a textbook case of science misapplied and ethics ignored,” Shahzad Gani and Krishna Achutarao wrote in The Hindu newspaper.Mohan George, from the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said artificial rain was not the answer.”The levels of pollution will come back almost immediately as rain stops,” the scientist told AFP.When it does work, it will increase precipitation in one area — while potentially decreasing it for another.- ‘Costly spectacle’ -Cloud seeding, first developed in the 1940s, has been used in various countries to induce rain, clear fog, and reduce drought, but with mixed results.China used it during the 2008 Beijing Olympics in an attempt to control the weather.Gani and Achutarao said Delhi’s pollution causes — unchecked emissions and seasonal crop burning — are well known.So too are the solutions — cleaner fuel, better waste management and stricter enforcement of rules.”Instead of reinforcing these priorities, parts of the scientific ecosystem — researchers, advisors, and institutions — are lending credibility to a costly spectacle that will do little to address the sources of the crisis,” they said.

US Vice President JD Vance has defended saying that he hopes his wife Usha — who was raised as a Hindu — converts to Christianity.A fervent Catholic who himself converted in 2019, Vance said on Friday that pushback against his remarks reeks of “anti-Christian bigotry.”The 41-year-old was asked about raising their three children in an interfaith marriage at a Turning Point USA event honoring assassinated right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at the University of Mississippi on Wednesday.”Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly do wish that,” he said. “But if she doesn’t, then God says everybody has free will, and so that doesn’t cause a problem for me.”Vance, who has been tipped by President Donald Trump as a likely candidate in the 2028 US election, then responded to criticism of his remarks on social media.Replying to one critic who accused him on X of throwing the Second Lady’s religion “under the bus” to placate right-wingers, Vance replied: “What a disgusting comment, and it’s hardly been the only one along these lines.””She is not a Christian and has no plans to convert, but like many people in an interfaith marriage — or any interfaith relationship — I hope she may one day see things as I do,” Vance wrote.Usha Vance was born in San Diego to parents who emigrated from India. She told Fox News in 2024 that her parents’ Hindu religion helped make them “really good people.”Vance was raised as an evangelical in a chaotic and sometimes deprived upbringing that he described in his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.”The couple met at Yale Law School and married in 2014.Since Vance’s conversion to Catholicism five years later, he has frequently spoken about how his faith has informed his conservative political views.

Winning the ODI World Cup could be a turning point for the women’s game in cricket-crazy India, captain Harmanpreet Kaur said on Saturday, and encourage more girls to take the field.Hosts India face South Africa in the final in Mumbai on Sunday, with both teams hoping to win the women’s one-day showpiece for the first time in its 52-year history.India have been runners-up twice, in 2005 and 2017, and reached their third final after beating seven-time champions Australia in a thriller.”Last time when we reached the final and came back to India, we saw a big change,” Kaur told reporters.”Women’s cricket moved ahead and we saw many girls on the ground. So I am sure that if we win this final, we will see many more changes and we will see more cricket, not only on the international level but also on the domestic level.””So I think we are really looking forward to that moment when we will see women’s cricket in a more serious manner and we will see more girls (playing),” she said.Indian players like Kaur and Smriti Mandhana have become household names in the world’s most populous nation since the Women’s Premier League T20 tournament began in 2023.Jemimah Rodrigues played a champion’s knock with an unbeaten 127 to help India chase down a record 339 against Australia in Thursday’s semi-final.”I think it’s a proud moment for me and the entire team,” Kaur said.”I am sure the entire country must be also very proud of the way we have played the last two games and, yeah, it’s a big day.”South Africa, led by Laura Wolvaardt, beat four-time winners England to reach their first ODI World Cup final.Wolvaardt said the pressure on the home team could work in South Africa’s favour.”I think with the whole crowd behind India, probably a sold-out stadium, it’s going to be a very exciting opportunity,” Wolvaardt said.”But at the same time, I think it puts a lot of pressure on them as well. So yeah, I think it sort of plays in our favour, hopefully.”Kaur said a new winner will be good for the sport.”Because of that we are seeing more excitement,” she said. “And for us to reach the final is also very special, not only for us but for the Indian fans who have been a big support for us.”

The Maldives began implementing a smoking ban Saturday on anyone born after January 2007, becoming the only nation with a generational prohibition on tobacco, the Health Ministry said.The move, initiated by President Mohamed Muizzu earlier this year — which came into effect on November 1 — will “protect public health and promote a tobacco-free generation”, the ministry said.”Under the new provision, individuals born on or after January 1, 2007 are prohibited from purchasing, using, or being sold tobacco products within the Maldives,” it added.”The ban applies to all forms of tobacco, and retailers are required to verify age prior to sale.”The measure also applies to visitors to the nation of 1,191 tiny coral islets scattered some 800 kilometres (500 miles) across the equator and known for its luxury tourism.The ministry said it also maintains a comprehensive ban on the import, sale, distribution, possession, and use of electronic cigarettes and vaping products, applicable to all individuals regardless of age.Selling tobacco products to an underage person carries a penalty of 50,000 rufiyaa ($3,200), while using vape devices carries a fine of 5,000 rufiyaa ($320).A similar generational ban proposed in Britain is still going through the legislative process, while New Zealand — the first country to enact such a law against smoking — repealed it in November 2023, less than a year after it was introduced.

India batsman Shreyas Iyer has been discharged from hospital after lacerating his spleen when falling heavily in a one-day clash against Australia, cricket officials said Saturday.The 30-year-old vice-captain doubled over in pain after pulling off a sensational catch to remove Alex Carey in the third ODI in Sydney last week.The Indian ODI vice-captain was forced off the field and hospitalised.The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said Saturday that he is “now stable and recovering well”, and that “he has been discharged from the hospital”.”Shreyas will continue to stay in Sydney for follow-up consultations and will return to India once he is deemed fit to fly,” it added.Iyer is not part of India’s T20 squad, which will play five matches in Australia that will serve as a tune-up for the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in February-March.He has scored 2,917 runs from 73 ODIs at an average of 47.81 since his ODI debut in 2017.