National
IPL 2021: RCB post 164/7 against Punjab Kings

Riding on Glenn Maxwell’s quickfire fifty (57 off 33 balls), Royal Challengers Bangalore posted a total of 164 for 7 against Punjab Kings in the 48th match of the IPL 2021, at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, here on Sunday.
Apart from Maxwell, Devdutt Padikkal also played a vital knock of 40 runs for Bangalore.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, openers Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal gave Royal Challengers Bangalore a flying start. The duo played some beautiful shots and took RCB to 55/0 at the end of the powerplay.
However, during the process, Kohli was given a few lifelines by the Punjab team. In the 4th over of the innings bowled by Ravi Bishnoi, Virat stepped out of his crease and KL Rahul missed a relatively easy stumping chance to dismiss RCB captain. Very soon, Sarfaraz Khan dropped Kohli’s catch at midwicket.
The 8th over, bowled by Ravi Bishnoi was the most eventful one when KL Rahul and Punjab Kings were left baffled after a caught-behind appeal was turned down against Devdutt Padikkal.
Padikkal, who was struggling to read the leg-spinner’s googlies, went for a reverse sweep but was not able to execute the shot properly and got an under-edge.
Both, Bishnoi and KL Rahul went up in appeal immediately but the on-field umpire did not give it out, forcing Rahul to go for the review. The replays showed the ball kissed Padikkal’s gloves before crashing into KL Rahul’s gloves. However, the third umpire deemed it not out and went with the on-field call, leaving Rahul and Bishnoi frustrated.
Thereafter, Punjab captain Rahul brought Moises Henriques (3/12) into the attack and he wreaked havoc. First, he dismissed Kohli (25) and then got rid of Daniel Christian in the next ball to bring Punjab back in the game. In his next over, Henriques struck again to remove a set Padikkal for 40.
After losing the wickets of Kohli, Christian, and Padikkal in quick succession, Bangalore were at 73/3 and in big trouble. But, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers batted well and stitched a good partnership to bring RCB back on track.
While Maxwell was the aggressor, de Villiers batted cautiously. Continuing his brilliant form, Maxwell cleverly targeted the short boundary and hit a few big sixes to complete his fifty off just 29 balls in the 18th over. De Villiers (23 off 18) also hit Arshdeep Singh for a six in the first ball of the over, before getting out to him in the next ball.
Mohammed Shami (3/39) put brakes on RCB’s run-rate in the 20th over as he dismissed Maxwell (57 off 33), Shahbaz Ahmed (8), and George Garton in the same over.
In the end, Bangalore posted a total of 164/7 in 20 overs, which is the highest total this season in Sharjah.
Brief Scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 164/7 (Glenn Maxwell 57 off 33 balls, Devdutt Padikkal 40 off 38 balls, Moises Henriques 3/12, Mohammed Shami 3/39) against Punjab Kings.
Crime
Two Held With ₹68 Lakh Cash Near India-Myanmar Border In Mizoram; Heroin Worth ₹78 Lakh Seized

Aizawl: Two persons were arrested with Rs 68 lakh in cash near the India-Myanmar border in east Mizoram’s Champhai district, officials said on Thursday.
Acting on a tip-off, the Assam Rifles intercepted a vehicle at Zote village on August 11, they said.
Upon thorough checking, Rs 60 lakh in cash was recovered from two persons in the vehicle.
The duo, identified as Joseph Lalthansanga and Vanlalruati, could not state any proper reason why they were carrying such a huge amount of cash. They were subsequently handed over to the police for legal action, officials said.
In another operation, the Assam Rifles recovered 94.6 gram of heroin, worth Rs 78 lakh, from the village on Wednesday.
The drugs were handed over to the Excise and Narcotics Department, officials said.
National
India’s AI Tech Spending Projected To Reach Rs. 92 Thousand Crore By 2028: Report

India’s AI technology spending is projected to grow at an annualised rate of 38 per cent from 2023 to reach $10.4 billion (approximately Rs. 92 thousand crore) in 2028, a report said on Thursday.
Around 40 per cent of organisations in India have already implemented agentic AI, and close to 50 per cent are planning to use the technology within the next 12 months, IDC InfoBrief and UiPath said in a joint report.
In 2025, AI investments are focused on building the foundational infrastructure required to power transformative, high-value use cases.
According to the report, the adoption is surging, fueled by a tech-savvy workforce, expanding digital infrastructure, and government-backed initiatives.
Organisations’ spending on enterprise automation, multilingual AI models, and agentic deployments is driving this momentum further.
The benefits are already visible, as 80 per cent of Indian companies say agentic AI boosts productivity, while 73 per cent say it improves decision-making, the report said.
According to the report, agentic AI is gaining strong traction across the manufacturing, retail and wholesale, healthcare, and life sciences industries, which heavily rely on data and repetitive decision-making cycles.
“Agentic automation is rapidly redefining business operations across India. While enterprises in this region are embracing the full potential of AI agents to streamline workflows and autonomously execute complex business processes, trust and security remain barriers to widespread implementation,” said DebDeep Sengupta, Area Vice President, South Asia, UiPath.
Our agentic automation platform directly addresses these challenges, breaking down barriers to enterprise AI adoption by enhancing security and compliance, improving accuracy and reliability for agentic outcomes, Sengupta added.
About 69 per cent of Indian organisations are using agentic AI to enhance productivity, 59 per cent to drive personalised customer engagement, while 57 per cent apply it to risk and fraud detection, highlighting how agentic AI is being applied across front and back-office functions, the report highlighted.
“Becoming an AI-fueled business is no longer an option in today’s unpredictable climate. For many organisations, it’s fast becoming a strategic necessity,” said Deepika Giri, Associate Vice President, IDC Asia/Pacific.
Across the region, organisations are embracing agentic AI and agentic automation at scale, Giri added.
National
Govt to amend MCOCA to contain smuggling of narcotics: CM Fadnavis

Mumbai, July 2: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday told the state council that the state government will move an amendment during the ongoing monsoon session to the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to take action against the smuggling of narcotics to deal with the cases in which the accused arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 received bail.
In his reply to a question by BJP legislator Parinay Fuke, the Chief Minister said that a separate NDPS unit has been set up in every police station in the state and officers and other personnel have been appointed in it. Coordination committees have also been set up at the district level. He added that the police have taken action in a large number of cases in the last two and a half years.
Fadnavis said that with the help of the Central Government, the state-level and inter-state coordination has now become more effective. He also said that intelligence sharing is going on with all the states, and due to this, joint action against smugglers has been possible.
The Chief Minister also said that addiction recovery centres are important and that appropriate policies will be formulated to increase their number and quality, and quality addiction recovery centres will be established. Clarifying that cannabis cultivation is banned and is not legal in Madhya Pradesh, he said that strict action will be taken against anyone smuggling cannabis, gutkha or similar substances.
Meanwhile, CM Fadnavis in his reply to another question raised by Shiv Sena UBT legislator Sunil Shinde said that all cases related to compassionate recruitment of police officers will be resolved on a mission mode in the 150-day plan of the state government. At the same time, orders have been given to all departments regarding compassionate recruitment.
Fadnavis said that the concept of 8-hour duty was first implemented in Mumbai itself. Sometimes there are exceptions during festivals, but overall, the 8-hour duty of the police has now become stable. Also, weekly holidays have been started across the state for the police, and if, for some reason, they do not get the leave, their ‘encashment’ has also been increased on a large scale. Earlier, the amount of this encashment was less, but now it has been increased, he added.
Large-scale housing projects for the police are being implemented across the state, including Mumbai. Work is also going on at a rapid pace at the taluka level. He mentioned that the work of the Police Housing Construction Corporation is unprecedented. Referring to the DG Loan Scheme, CM Fadnavis said that this scheme was started, but it was closed during the previous government. Now the scheme has been restarted, and efforts are being made to clear the backlog.
Addressing the increasing incidence of lifestyle-related diseases among the police, health check-ups have been made mandatory once a year for police officers above the age of 40 and twice a year for police officers above the age of 50. The Chief Minister said that a special scheme of counselling and interaction with senior officers is being implemented for the mental health of the police.
State’s home minister Yogesh Kadam said that the government is implementing many measures for the welfare of the police, in which free treatment is being provided for 40 types of diseases. For this, tie-ups have been made with 270 hospitals in the state. Cancer screening camps have been organised with various hospitals, and Yoga, meditation and gymnasium have been started for the police.
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