The Evening Wrap: India thrashes Sri Lanka by 10 wickets to win Asia Cup

The bright and sunny afternoon turned overcast 10 minutes before the scheduled start. Once the Asia Cup final finally got going after a 40-minute delay, a capacity crowd at the R. Premadasa Stadium had one eye on the sky, with a thunderstorm predicted to hit the Sri Lankan capital, on September 17. While the dark clouds stayed away, the Siraj-storm struck Sri Lanka so hard that it literally blew the home team away. Riding on Mohammed Siraj’s sensational opening burst, India bundled out Sri Lanka for 50 in just 89 minutes. It took India just 37 balls to overhaul the lowest team total in the Asia Cup’s four-decade history to seal an emphatic win and lift the trophy in style. Jasprit Bumrah struck off the third ball, thanks to K.L. Rahul stretching to his left to accept an edge off Kusal Peera’s willow. Siraj started off with a maiden to Kusal Mendis but the Hyderabad hurricane was unstoppable in his second over. The fourth over saw Siraj sealing the fate of the game by picking four wickets. The pacer landed the ball in the perfect channel, and bowled perfect outswingers at will. He also jagged the ball occasionally to leave Sri Lanka batters dumbfounded. At 12 for six, the writing was on the wall. That Kuldeep Yadav could bowl a solitary over and only two Sri Lanka batters reached double-digit scores underlined India’s pace pack’s domination. Rohit preferred to let Ishan Kishan have a hit in the middle along with in-form Shubman Gill. And the duo hardly dropped guard, with Kishan tapping the first ball of the seventh over to long-off for a single to complete the formalities just 27 minutes into the innings. Removing BJP from Centre will be a fitting tribute to the Mahatma: Kharge at CWC meeting Giving a clarion call to remove the BJP from power in next year’s Lok Sabha election, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on September 17 said that it would be a fitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi as 2024 marks the centenary of Gandhi’s election as Congress president. The Congress also said that the people of the country were looking for a change, in a resolution passed by the extended Congress Working Committee in Hyderabad. The meeting was attended by Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs and Congress Legislature Party leaders. In his opening remarks, Kharge noted that the foundation of democracy and the Constitution was laid by the party and therefore the responsibility to protect it also lies with them. The deliberations on the second day of the extended CWC meeting mainly focused on the Lok Sabha polls and the upcoming Assembly elections in five States. In a one-page resolution, the CWC expressed confidence that the Congress would receive a “decisive mandate” in these States. On the party’s preparedness for the Lok Sabha election expected in April-May, the resolution said, “The Congress party is fully ready for the battle ahead. It is confident that the people of our country are wanting change. We will fulfill their expectations of law and order, freedom, social and economic justice, equality and equity”. Kharge stressed on the need to maintain inner party discipline and urged leaders to work unitedly by “shunning their egos”. He also hailed the party governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh for launching new models of welfare schemes and social justice. Centre to withdraw Rapid Action Force from Manipur The Union government is considering a phased withdrawal of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), a specialised anti-riot Central police force, from violence-hit Manipur. A senior government official told The Hindu that the continuous exposure of the RAF to the anti-insurgency theatre may be not suitable for a force trained in crowd control and law and order duties, including agitation and communal incidents. Presently, 10 companies of the RAF are deployed in Manipur — eight in the valley districts, and two in the hills. Other than the police, around 36,000 paramilitary forces or the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), including Indian Army personnel, are deployed in the State. The ethnic violence between the Meitei and the tribal Kuki-Zo people that erupted in the State on May 3 has claimed at least 175 lives so far. The Centre has sent an additional 4,500 CAPF personnel on the request of the State government. Several Meitei groups and legislators from the community have demanded the removal of the Indian Army and Assam Rifles, the oldest paramilitary force in the country, from the “buffer zones”, accusing them of bias towards the Kuki-Zo people. An internal report sent by the RAF on July 6 highlights the crisis. The report, accessed by The Hindu, says an RAF unit was attacked with “glass balls, stones, sharp iron rods and petrol bombs” when they tried to stop a mob of around 3,000 persons from looting weapons from a police armoury in Thoubal on July 4. The RAF is a part of the CAPF. It was raised in 1992 to deal with riots. At any point, only one-third of the personnel are armed and deployment in Manipur is “exposing them as a bigger target for firearms of miscreants”, the report said. The report added that the deployment in districts covered by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act presents a significant risk, and as the current trend in Manipur indicates, the “crowd composition consists mainly of women and civilians, while the latter has been observed to resort to firing weapons”. The report said that the force should not be deployed during night hours in far-flung areas without regular troops, and that, “Deploying RAF against its mandated role could lead to serious untoward situation considering the present scenario in Manipur.” Bopanna ends Davis Cup career on a high, India wins 3-1 against Morocco Rohan Bopanna brought the curtains down on his Davis Cup career with a comfortable straight set win alongside Yuki Bhambri before Sumit Nagal won his reverse singles as India sealed the World Group II tie against Morocco 3-1, in Lucknow on September 17. The 43-year-old Bopanna, coming out to play his 33rd and final tie, and Bhambri raced to a 6-2 6-1 win over Elliot Benchetrit and Younes Lalami Laaroussi in one hour and 11 minutes at the Mini Stadium. India’s number one singles player Sumit Nagal outgunned Yassine Dlimi 6-3 6-3 in the first reverse singles to seal the home tie. The inconsequential fifth rubber was not played. It is only the second time that Nagal has won both his singles matches in a Davis Cup tie. He had achieved a similar result against Pakistan in 2019 in Kazakhstan. Nagal earned early breaks in both the sets, leaving Dlimi playing catch-up. The win takes India to next year’s World Group I play-offs. An emotional Bopanna rested his India-shirt on the court, marking the end of his Davis Cup career in which he played 50 matches in 33 ties, winning 23 rubbers, including 13 in doubles. Younes could not hold his serve even once in the match while the Indians faced just one break point when Bhambri served and saved that too. PM inaugurates Vishwakarma Scheme, says government is committed to the uplift of the marginalised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17 said that his government was committed to the upliftment of artisans and craftspeople, and that the ₹13,000 crore Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Yojana, launched for them on the day, would equip craftspeople with the technology to augment their skills for the modern market. Modi also inaugurated the first phase of the ₹5,400 crore state-of-the-art India International Convention and Expo Centre, named ‘Yashobhoomi’, at Dwarka in New Delhi. He unveiled 18 customised stamp sheets showcasing the 18 traditional trades covered by the scheme, along with a toolkit e-booklet on the occasion. The Vishwakarma scheme aims to enhance the accessibility and quality of products and services offered by traditional artisans and craftsmen. The scheme offers collateral-free enterprise development loans of ₹1 lakh (first tranche to be repaid in 18 months) and ₹2 lakh (second tranche to be repaid in 30 months). A concessional rate of interest of 5% will be charged from the beneficiary, with interest subvention cap of 8% to be paid by the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises. The credit guarantee fees will be borne by the Central government. Modi said that the conference tourism sector, estimated at ₹25 lakh crore, presented a huge opportunity for India. With a total project area of over 8.9 lakh square metres, and built up area of more than 1.8 lakh square metres, Yashobhoomi will find its place among the world’s largest MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) facilities, he said. In Brief: Santiniketan inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List Santiniketan in West Bengal, where poet Rabindranath Tagore built Visva-Bharati over a century ago, has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. UNESCO made the announcement in a post on ‘X’ on September 17. India had been striving for long to get a UNESCO tag for this cultural site located in Birbhum district. All MPs called for group photo on September 19 All members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been called for a group photograph at 9.30 a.m. on September 19, according to a bulletin by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. Parliamentary proceedings will move to the new Parliament building later on September 19. MPs were also being issued new identity cards to enter the new Parliament building. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 17 September 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Clinical India thrashes Sri Lanka by 10 wickets to lift Asia Cup title for eighth time The bright and sunny afternoon turned overcast 10 minutes before the scheduled start. Once the [Asia Cup final finally got going after a 40-minute delay]( a capacity crowd at the R. Premadasa Stadium had one eye on the sky, with a thunderstorm predicted to hit the Sri Lankan capital, on September 17. While the dark clouds stayed away, the Siraj-storm struck Sri Lanka so hard that it literally blew the home team away. Riding on Mohammed Siraj’s sensational opening burst, India bundled out Sri Lanka for 50 in just 89 minutes. It took India just 37 balls to overhaul the lowest team total in the Asia Cup’s four-decade history to seal an emphatic win and lift the trophy in style. Jasprit Bumrah struck off the third ball, thanks to K.L. Rahul stretching to his left to accept an edge off Kusal Peera’s willow. Siraj started off with a maiden to Kusal Mendis but the Hyderabad hurricane was unstoppable in his second over. The fourth over saw Siraj sealing the fate of the game by picking four wickets. The pacer landed the ball in the perfect channel, and bowled perfect outswingers at will. He also jagged the ball occasionally to leave Sri Lanka batters dumbfounded. At 12 for six, the writing was on the wall. That Kuldeep Yadav could bowl a solitary over and only two Sri Lanka batters reached double-digit scores underlined India’s pace pack’s domination. Rohit preferred to let Ishan Kishan have a hit in the middle along with in-form Shubman Gill. And the duo hardly dropped guard, with Kishan tapping the first ball of the seventh over to long-off for a single to complete the formalities just 27 minutes into the innings. Removing BJP from Centre will be a fitting tribute to the Mahatma: Kharge at CWC meeting [Giving a clarion call to remove the BJP from power in next year’s Lok Sabha election]( Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on September 17 said that it would be a fitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi as 2024 marks the centenary of Gandhi’s election as Congress president. The Congress also said that the people of the country were looking for a change, in a resolution passed by the extended Congress Working Committee in Hyderabad. The meeting was attended by Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs and Congress Legislature Party leaders. In his opening remarks, Kharge noted that the foundation of democracy and the Constitution was laid by the party and therefore the responsibility to protect it also lies with them. The deliberations on the second day of the extended CWC meeting mainly focused on the Lok Sabha polls and the upcoming Assembly elections in five States. In a one-page resolution, the CWC expressed confidence that the Congress would receive a “decisive mandate” in these States. On the party’s preparedness for the Lok Sabha election expected in April-May, the resolution said, “The Congress party is fully ready for the battle ahead. It is confident that the people of our country are wanting change. We will fulfill their expectations of law and order, freedom, social and economic justice, equality and equity”. Kharge stressed on the need to maintain inner party discipline and urged leaders to work unitedly by “shunning their egos”. He also hailed the party governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh for launching new models of welfare schemes and social justice. Centre to withdraw Rapid Action Force from Manipur The [Union government is considering a phased withdrawal of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), a specialised anti-riot Central police force, from violence-hit Manipur](. A senior government official told The Hindu that the continuous exposure of the RAF to the anti-insurgency theatre may be not suitable for a force trained in crowd control and law and order duties, including agitation and communal incidents. Presently, 10 companies of the RAF are deployed in Manipur — eight in the valley districts, and two in the hills. Other than the police, around 36,000 paramilitary forces or the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), including Indian Army personnel, are deployed in the State. The ethnic violence between the Meitei and the tribal Kuki-Zo people that erupted in the State on May 3 has claimed at least 175 lives so far. The Centre has sent an additional 4,500 CAPF personnel on the request of the State government. Several Meitei groups and legislators from the community have demanded the removal of the Indian Army and Assam Rifles, the oldest paramilitary force in the country, from the “buffer zones”, accusing them of bias towards the Kuki-Zo people. An internal report sent by the RAF on July 6 highlights the crisis. The report, accessed by The Hindu, says an RAF unit was attacked with “glass balls, stones, sharp iron rods and petrol bombs” when they tried to stop a mob of around 3,000 persons from looting weapons from a police armoury in Thoubal on July 4. The RAF is a part of the CAPF. It was raised in 1992 to deal with riots. At any point, only one-third of the personnel are armed and deployment in Manipur is “exposing them as a bigger target for firearms of miscreants”, the report said. The report added that the deployment in districts covered by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act presents a significant risk, and as the current trend in Manipur indicates, the “crowd composition consists mainly of women and civilians, while the latter has been observed to resort to firing weapons”. The report said that the force should not be deployed during night hours in far-flung areas without regular troops, and that, “Deploying RAF against its mandated role could lead to serious untoward situation considering the present scenario in Manipur.” Bopanna ends Davis Cup career on a high, India wins 3-1 against Morocco [Rohan Bopanna brought the curtains down on his Davis Cup career with a comfortable straight set win]( alongside Yuki Bhambri before Sumit Nagal won his reverse singles as India sealed the World Group II tie against Morocco 3-1, in Lucknow on September 17. The 43-year-old Bopanna, coming out to play his 33rd and final tie, and Bhambri raced to a 6-2 6-1 win over Elliot Benchetrit and Younes Lalami Laaroussi in one hour and 11 minutes at the Mini Stadium. India’s number one singles player Sumit Nagal outgunned Yassine Dlimi 6-3 6-3 in the first reverse singles to seal the home tie. The inconsequential fifth rubber was not played. It is only the second time that Nagal has won both his singles matches in a Davis Cup tie. He had achieved a similar result against Pakistan in 2019 in Kazakhstan. Nagal earned early breaks in both the sets, leaving Dlimi playing catch-up. The win takes India to next year’s World Group I play-offs. An emotional Bopanna rested his India-shirt on the court, marking the end of his Davis Cup career in which he played 50 matches in 33 ties, winning 23 rubbers, including 13 in doubles. Younes could not hold his serve even once in the match while the Indians faced just one break point when Bhambri served and saved that too. PM inaugurates Vishwakarma Scheme, says government is committed to the uplift of the marginalised Prime Minister [Narendra Modi on September 17 said that his government was committed to the upliftment of artisans and craftspeople]( and that the ₹13,000 crore Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Yojana, launched for them on the day, would equip craftspeople with the technology to augment their skills for the modern market. Modi also inaugurated the first phase of the ₹5,400 crore state-of-the-art India International Convention and Expo Centre, named ‘Yashobhoomi’, at Dwarka in New Delhi. He unveiled 18 customised stamp sheets showcasing the 18 traditional trades covered by the scheme, along with a toolkit e-booklet on the occasion. The Vishwakarma scheme aims to enhance the accessibility and quality of products and services offered by traditional artisans and craftsmen. The scheme offers collateral-free enterprise development loans of ₹1 lakh (first tranche to be repaid in 18 months) and ₹2 lakh (second tranche to be repaid in 30 months). A concessional rate of interest of 5% will be charged from the beneficiary, with interest subvention cap of 8% to be paid by the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises. The credit guarantee fees will be borne by the Central government. Modi said that the conference tourism sector, estimated at ₹25 lakh crore, presented a huge opportunity for India. With a total project area of over 8.9 lakh square metres, and built up area of more than 1.8 lakh square metres, Yashobhoomi will find its place among the world’s largest MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) facilities, he said. In Brief: Santiniketan inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List [Santiniketan in West Bengal, where poet Rabindranath Tagore built Visva-Bharati over a century ago, has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List](. UNESCO made the announcement in a post on ‘X’ on September 17. India had been striving for long to get a UNESCO tag for this cultural site located in Birbhum district. All MPs called for group photo on September 19 [All members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been called for a group photograph at 9.30 a.m. on September 19]( according to a bulletin by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. Parliamentary proceedings will move to the new Parliament building later on September 19. MPs were also being issued new identity cards to enter the new Parliament building. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today’s Top Picks [[Food delivery partners’ double whammy: Decreasing income levels, rising petrol costs | Data] Food delivery partners’ double whammy: Decreasing income levels, rising petrol costs | Data]( [[Talking Politics with Nistula Hebbar | Political Crisis in Andhra Pradesh | What lies ahead for TDP and BJP?] Talking Politics with Nistula Hebbar | Political Crisis in Andhra Pradesh | What lies ahead for TDP and BJP?]( [[Science This Week | CSIR announces Bhatnagar prize winners, NASA names chief of UFO research and more] Science This Week | CSIR announces Bhatnagar prize winners, NASA names chief of UFO research and more]( [[Winds of change in global governance | Global South] Winds of change in global governance | Global South]( Copyright @ 2023, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [try here]( Manage your newsletter subscription preferences [here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](