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PBKS vs DC, IPL 2023: Delhi Capitals spoil Punjab Kings’ campaign with 15-run win

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Delhi Capitals finally came out all guns blazing as they played party poopers to all but knock Punjab Kings out of play-off contention with a 15-run victory in the IPL, here on Wednesday.

Already out of the playoff race, Delhi Capitals finally came to the party in their penultimate match of the season to post an imposing 213/2 after PBKS opted to bowl.

Rilee Rossouw exhibited some exceptional strokeplay in a 37-ball 82 not out, while Prithvi Shaw (54; 38b) also slammed a fifty on his comeback after about a month as DC scored their first 200-plus total of this season.

PBKS fall short by 15 runs

In response, PBKS managed just 198/8 in the stipulated 20 overs despite all the fielding harakiri committed by DC.

Englishman Liam Livingstone slammed a 48-ball 94, studded with five fours and as many as nine sixes, but it was not enough as the total proved too much.

While Delhi now are ninth on the table after a consolation win, Punjab Kings due to this heavy defeat stay put on 12 after 13 games and even a win in the last match and a 14-point finish might not be enough as the net run-rate -0.308 only added insult to injury.

The Preity Zinta co-owned side since their 2014 final appearance, have not even made it to last four stage for nine years in a row.

DC drop three catches

But DC’s fielding effort did give them enough chances.

As many as three catches were dropped including Livingstone on three, and Taide on 35, both in the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav who returned with 0/21 from his three overs.

They also missed two run-out chances when both the batters, Livingstone and Taide, were out of the crease but DC could not manage to hit the stumps on a sloppy outing.

Prithvi Shaw roars back to form

Already out of playoff race, DC got off to a flying start with Prithvi Shaw smashing a 54 on his comeback after nearly a month.

Shaw, who made his last appearance in this season’s IPL against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 20, returned to form to post a 35-ball 50, his first in 13 IPL innings.

Shaw copped body blows from Rabada en route his 38-ball knock (7×4, 1×6) as he along with his skipper David Warner (46 from 31b; 5×4, 2×6) gave their best start of the season.

Rilee Rossouw joins the party

The duo put together a 94-run opening stand, their highest this season before Rossouw took charge of the proceedings with his maiden IPL fifty that came off 25 balls.

Rossouw took charge when he sent his South African teammate into the orbit with a six over long-off.

Rabada went on to concede 36 from his three overs, while Sam Curran took 2/36. From a sedate six for no loss in two overs, DC raced to 61 without losing a wicket in the powerplay with Warner and Shaw putting up their highest opening partnership this season after PBKS opted to bowl.

This was the second instance when DC did not lose a wicket inside the powerplay this season.

Nothing went in PBKS’ favour on Wednesday, with Rahul Chahar dropping a sitter to give Warner a reprieve on 39. The Aussie was done in by a spectacular catch by Shikhar Dhawan but by then DC were on course for their first 200-plus total this season.

Crime

Two Held With ₹68 Lakh Cash Near India-Myanmar Border In Mizoram; Heroin Worth ₹78 Lakh Seized

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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.

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National

India’s AI Tech Spending Projected To Reach Rs. 92 Thousand Crore By 2028: Report

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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.

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National

Govt to amend MCOCA to contain smuggling of narcotics: CM Fadnavis

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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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