India and Pakistan players high five before (left) and after the match | ap/screengrab THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l thursday l august 20, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 16 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 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 Congress for 25-yr freeze on strength of Lok Sabha P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi 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% 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 Committee (CWC) meeting 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 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 “Education-to-Employment Roadmap”. The CWC asked Congress chief ministers to prepare statespecific reports within one month on the reforms required in the education sector. 16 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express J&K important part of India: US envoy Ambassador Sergio Gor says security situation improved, US travel advisories to be reviewed F AYA Z WA N I @ 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 Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor in Srinagar | pti 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, 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 Indian stocks now least preferred in Asia: BofA 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. ARSHA D K HA 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. 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% 23 foster children found forever homes in PAST 3 yrs V a r s h a S o m a r a j @ Kochi CARE AND Midhun and Varun (names changed) feared they would have to leave the only home they had known for the past two years when their foster-care period ended earlier this year. Their foster parents, Reghu and Renu (names changed) of Kozhikode, were struggling with the thought of letting the brothers go, too. With Midhun turning 18 this month, the brothers asked if they could stay with the couple forever. The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) stepped in and facilitated their adoption. The four are now a family . “They are the two brothers among the four children who were at the CWC after losing their birth parents. When we first met the boys in 2023, they were in Classes 7 and 9. They first stayed with us for 10 days, then two months and eventually two years. By then, we had grown very close,” Renu told TNIE. comfort Foster adoption in Kerala over past three years Period Boys Girls Total States with highest nO. of kids in foster care Kerala 301 Tamil Nadu 103 Karnataka 72 2023-24 3 0 3 Chhattisgarh 66 2024-25 8 7 15 Assam 63 2025-26 5 0 5 Mizoram 63 Rajasthan 57 Kerala has the most number of kids in foster care in country The brothers are among five boys placed in foster adoption in Kerala in 2025-26. In the past three years, 23 children in the state have moved from foster care to adoption. “They often tell us that children at the CWC homes dream of growing up in a family We had already . decided to adopt. Then we found them. We now go together to family functions and other events. They say they are happier than ever,” Reghu said. Theirs is one of several Madhya Pradesh 50 stories of foster care eventually giving children a per manent home. According to latest data from the Union ministry of women and child development, Kerala has the highest number of children in foster care in the country, with 301 children currently living with foster families. Tamil Nadu is a distant second with 103, followed by Karnataka (72) and Chhattisgarh (66).  ● More on P4 1 minister, 1 univ scheme Union ministers get social media scorecard RAJ E SH K UMAR THA K UR @ 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 CMRL case: ED finds hawala money trail Kochi: A day after it searched nine premises in Kozhikode in connection with alleged corporate fraud and bribery involving Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL), the ED on Wednesday said it had found evidence of hawala money transfers and that it would take legal action. P4 9 charred to death in Kolkata hotel fire Kolkata: Nine people, including five Bangladeshi nationals, were killed and six injured in a fire at a hotel on Mirza Galib Street in Kolkata on Wednesday, two days after nine pilgrims died in a hotel fire in Tarapith on Monday. P8 Pleas on Non-muslim members HC gives state 4 weeks to fill Waqf Board vacancies E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi The High Court on Wednesday granted the state government four weeks to fill the vacancies in the Kerala State Waqf Board, recording the advocate general’s submission that steps had already been initiated in line with the amended Waqf Act, which mandates the inclusion of two non-Muslim members on the board. It is for the state government to take action in accordance with law, a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syakumar VM, said. “At this stage, we are only seized with the problem of proper functioning of the Waqf Board, where admittedly there are three vacancies. Since the state has initiated the process and has taken a stand that the state is going to take steps for filling up the vacancies, we adjourned this matter for a period of four weeks in order to enable the state to take appropriate steps for filling up the vacancies,” it said. The state government informed the court that the Supreme Court is considering a similar issue concerning the constitution of the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board. It submitted that it was ready to reconstitute the Waqf Board at the earliest. The court issued the order on a batch of petitions challenging the constitution of the State Waqf Board without nonMuslim members. The government submitted that several other petitions, including those filed by the Indian Union Muslim League and the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, challenging the inclusion of non-Muslims on the board, are pending before the court. Counsel for the petitioners argued that the state government constituted the board without complying with Section 14 of the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Devel● More on P4 opment Act.