India and Pakistan players high five before (left) and after the match | ap/screengrab bengaluru l Thursday l august 20, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION India beat pakistan in world cup, advance to next phase of competition Goals flowed as a brace from Harmanpreet Singh and Abhishek helped the men’s hockey team to a big 5-3 win over neighbours, confirm qualification to next pool phase High on intensity and drama teams exchange pre-match high fives India, needing a win to go through, started quickly and caused all sorts of problems with their pressing and intensity. They made it 3-0 in under 30 minutes before allowing the rivals a route back thanks to some errors. The Netherlands will be one of their next opponents in the next phase of the competition. They will also face either New Zealand or Argentina ■ ■ Unlike in cricket, the hockey teams have generally traded customary pre-match pleasantries. Before pushback, both teams exchanged high fives, as is the norm in the sport The women’s team will also seal qualification to the next phase as long as they avoid defeat against England on Thursday | P19 20 india have won 18 and drawn two of the last 20 matches vs. pakistan CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Gender-neutral ‘Homemaker’ can be male or female: HC E x p re s s Ne w s Ser v i c e @Bengaluru The Karnataka High Court defined that the word ‘homemaker’ is gender-neutral who can be male or female and also a working person, breadwinner or wage earner. Justice Chillakur Sumalatha passed the order, allowing partly an appeal filed in 2018 by Pampalal from West Bengal. The judge also enhanced the compensation granted by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in 2018 to her by Rs 1.96 lakh. On October 19, 2013, while travelling with her family, she suffered injuries when a rashly driven KSRTC bus caused the accident. Pampalal’s counsel contended that if it is taken that the claimant was not working as a lecturer on the date on which the accident took place, taking her services as homemaker, compensation needs to be awarded. The KSRTC counsel stated that as per the claimant’s version, she has done post-graduation and with such a high educational qualification, she cannot be regarded a homemaker. The High Court noted that every woman who renders service to her family is liable to be regarded as a ‘homemaker’ irrespective of whether such a woman is holding a higher qualification. It stated that to consider a woman a ‘homemaker’, it is not necessary to establish that she is illiterate or stays at home 24x7 or attends only to household work. P2 J&K important part of India: US envoy Ambassador Sergio Gor says security situation improved, US travel advisories to be reviewed F AYA Z W A NI @ Srinagar IN a major diplomatic boost for India, US ambassador Sergio Gor on Wednesday described Jammu and Kashmir “an important part of India” and said the US would revise its travel advisory in view of the improved security situation. Gor arrived in Srinagar on a one-day visit in the afternoon and met J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The meeting lasted an hour, during which the duo discussed the economic, developmental and other issues concerning the region. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Gor said Jammu and The Congress on Wednesday called for a constitutional freeze on the current strength of the Lok Sabha for another 25 years while implementing the 33 per cent reservation for women from the 2029 elections, and decided to launch a nationwide campaign on issues facing students and the alleged corruption at the Ram Temple and the E20 issue. The party’s stand came at a four-hour-long Congress Working Comm i t t e e ( C WC ) m e e t i n g chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. It was decided that the party will adhere to its historic 1937 position of singing only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at party events. Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said regarding Kashmir is an important part of India and that he is visiting the region for the first time. “It is an incredibly beautiful place... I’m thrilled to be here, Indian stocks now least preferred in Asia: BofA A R SH A D K H A N @ New Delhi INDIA has earned the dubious distinction of becoming Asia’s least-preferred stock market among global fund managers, according to Bank of America’s (BofA) August 2026 survey . In BofA’s July poll, fund managers had indicated Indonesia as the least favoured market. The absence of clear AI exposure and weak growth are the chief reasons why fund managers are ‘underweight’ (having lower expectations) on India, the latest survey notes. The pessimism about the Indian equity market comes as foreign institutional investors continue to dump locally listed shares amid a huge underperformance of BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty, compared to major global indices. CWC for 25-year freeze in Lok Sabha’s strength Preet h a Na i r @ New Delhi Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor in Srinagar | pti thrilled to see this place.” Gor’s statement is significant as it amplifies India’s stand that “J&K is an integral part of India”, dealing a blow to Pakistan’s narrative. On the possibility of Washington revisiting its travel advisory for J&K, Gor said: “I can’t make any big announcements here today, but it is something we’re going to look at.” Noting the steps taken by the Centre and J&K administration to address security concerns, he said: “New Delhi, the chief minister here, the government here… have made some incredible steps to keeping this area safer. So we will be delimitation, the Congress is in favour of keeping the current number of Lok Sabha seats— 543—the same for the next 25 years. “At the same time, we demand the implementation of women’s reservation on this very number,” he added. The party will also hold nationwide protests on the alleged corruption surounding the donation to Ram Temple. As for the education reforms, Kharge called for a comprehensive and time-bound “Educationto-Employment Roadmap”. The CWC asked Congress chief ministers to prepare state-specific reports within one month on the reforms required in the education sector. Concer ns were also raised about the rollout of E20 petrol, including questions over fuel contamination and the environmental impact of diverting sugarcane and maize for ethanol production. Taiwan most fav market The Bofa survey said Taiwan is the most preferred market in Asia Pacific for investors in August, with 55% of the respondents being positive, followed by Japan at 50% and South Korea at 23% Among the survey respondents, 32% were ‘underweight’ on India. They also cited lack of reforms and elevated valuations for their bearish view on Asia’s fourth-largest market. In comparison, sentiment towards Indonesia improved, with 27% being ‘underweight’, down from 32% in July . Taiwan and Japan continued to be the most preferred markets among investors. In 2026 so far, Taiwan and Korean equity benchmarks are up more than 50% each while Japan has surged more than 26%. India’s Nifty meanwhile, is down nearly 8%. The last time BofA termed Indian stocks the least preferred was in May, when a sharp rise in crude oil prices due to the Iran war put pressure on the economic outlook. Pulled for 30 m Woman dragged by chain-snatchers dies E x p re s s Ne w s Ser v i c e @ B e n g a l u r u A 35-year-old woman, who was critically injured after chain snatchers dragged her while trying to snatch her gold chain in Bengaluru on Saturday morning, died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Bellandur on Tuesday evening. The deceased, Radhamma, a resident of Thirumanahalli village near Tayalur in Mulbagal taluk, had come from Mulbagal to her residence in Kundalahalli, Bengaluru, on August 15. She had got down from an autorickshaw near KadugodiBisanahalli Bridge when two persons on a two-wheeler tried to snatch the nearly 60-gm gold mangalsutra from her neck. As she resisted, the chain snatchers allegedly dragged her for around 30 metres, causing severe injuries to her neck and other parts of the body . The duo then fled from the spot. Passers-by first shifted Radhamma to a nearby hospital, and was later moved to a private hospital, but she succumbed by evening. After postmortem, her body was taken to Thirumanahalli village for the last rites. The Kadugodi police have launched a hunt for the chain-snatchers. 1 minister, 1 univ scheme Union ministers get social media scorecard R A J E SH K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi At the Union cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday the , social media performance of Cabinet ministers was a key point of discussion, with each of them presented with a detailed assessment of their traction as well as efforts to amplify the gover nment’s schemes through online platforms. All the ministers were presented with an assessment card outlining their performance from May 1 to August 15. As part of the Gen Z outreach, it was also decided that one Union minister will visit one university each day to engage with the youth. During these day-long visits, the ministers must communicate to students a b o u t t h e g o ve r n m e n t ’s schemes, development policies and achievements across sectors as well as gather their perspectives on issues facing the country . Education Minister Pralhad Joshi and Youth Affairs Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will coordinate these visits. Modi tops ranking Unsurprisingly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi topped the social media performance assessment rankings for the period from May 1 to Aug 15 looking at if the travel warning imposed and recommended by the United States is something that should be downgraded.” Terming the meeting with Gor “very good”, Omar said: “We had an opportunity to discuss the relations between our two countries but with specific focus on what the US can do with J&K. There are certain legacy issues that over time we will be working to resolve, but we look forward to taking this conversation further.” Ahead of his meeting with the US envoy, Omar had said the problems of J&K are to be solved by the Central government and not by Washington. express read Probe on into Hanur shootout: CM Bengaluru: Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday said that a thorough investigation is on into the Hanur shootout case. “I will not make any comments now. We will provide details once the report is submitted,” he said. P6 Lens on `4.9-cr spurious drug racket Bengaluru: The state government has decided to constitute a special team to probe illegal repacking and relabelling of medicines after authorities seized drugs and other materials estimated to cost ` 4.91crore, from an unlicensed facility in Bidadi. P3 Govt school students suffer as teachers remain on SIR duty Anubhab Roy @Bengaluru With teachers from government schools in Karnataka still involved in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) duty even after the August 17 deadline, students at these schools are currently facing the consequences of a severe staff crunch. For about two months now, the teachers who are not on SIR duty have been , forced to teach beyond their allotted subjects with even headmasters pitching in occasionally . “The SIR exercise involving booth level officers, many of whom are school and anganwadi teachers, started in March. Their work would have been completed within one month, but they have to continue till August 17 because of two extensions to the exercise. The role of BLOs will continue till October 22, when the final stage of claims and objections ends. Not all of them are teachers, however,” said an Election Commission of India official. Merina Flora, a school- teacher busy with the SIR duty, said, “There is a lot of pressure on us, but we have to complete our duty. The school has hired some guest teachers as about half of the teachers, including me, are out on SIR duty .” Nagarathna P who teaches , Kannada at a government school in Bengaluru, was formerly a booth level officer (BLO). She said, “The wo rk l o a d h a s i ncreased incredibly I . am surrounded by students at all times. It is a very difficult situation.” A significant number of teachers that TNIE spoke to, especially those who were on SIR duty were tight-lipped , not only about their concerns and situations, but also of their colleagues who have to pitch in for them. Suresh K, the headmaster at a government school on Sarjapur Main Road, said the only reason his school is functioning is because two non-profit organisations working with the school have deployed 25-27 teachers. P7