TUESDAY 04 MARCH 2025 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 SINCE 1818 Pages 16 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR STALIN URGES TN PEOPLE TO HAVE MORE CHILDREN BIHAR BUDGET: NITISH GOVT LINES UP SOPS FOR WOMEN P6 SENSEX 73,085.94 q112.16 WEATHER Mainly clear sky. Maximum and Minimum Temperature most likely to be around 32˚C and 22˚C respectively. RAINFALL: 0.0 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 89% Min. 32% Max: 32.2˚C (-0.1) SUN RISES 05:56 hrs MOON RISES 08:02 hrs Min: 24.4˚C (+3.4) SUN SETS 17:41 hrs MOON SETS 21:15 hrs Full Moon on 14 March THUMBNAILS Devotees dressed as Lord Hanuman take part in an annual religious procession organized by the Sri Hanuman Chalisa Parivar, in Amritsar on Monday. nANI SC allows Ranveer Allahabadia to resume his podcast: The Supreme Court on Monday allowed YouTuber and Podcaster Ranveer Allahabadia to resume his podcast ‘The Ranveer Show’ maintaining the desired standards of decency and morality and emphasised the need for a mechanism to regulate vulgar content in programmes telecast on YouTube and other online social media platforms. P5 NIFTY 22,119.30 q5.40 ` vs $ 87.28 P10 GOLD `87,730 AUSTRALIA NAME COOPER AS REPLACEMENT FOR MATTHEW P16 SILVER `97,000 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 73.20 Battle lines drawn: India set for stern Aussie test India have so far enjoyed a near-perfect campaign in the tournament, registering convincing victories TRIDIB BAPARNASH NEW DELHI, 3 MARCH TEMPERATURE ADRIEN BRODY WINS OSCAR FOR 'THE BRUTALIST' T he last time India faced Australia in an ICC knockout fixture was the ODI World Cup final at home in November 2023 in which the Kangaroos left Indian fans heartbroken after spoiling their unblemished run even as Pat Cummins kept his word of “silencing the crowd”. In 2024, India managed to return the favour in their final Super Eight stage clash against the Aussies with a 24-run win, to book their place in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean. Cut to the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, the two teams are poised to face each other in another crucial knockout clash, with the winner getting a chance to make it to Sunday’s title clash against the winner between South Africa and New Zealand. In the past, India has faced Australia four times in the Champions Trophy, winning two games and losing one. One game between the sides ended in a no result. India have so far enjoyed a near-perfect campaign in the tournament, registering convincing victories against Bangladesh, Pakistan before beat- Champions Troph hy INDIA v AUSTR vs 1st Semi-Final onal Venue: Dubai Internatio Cricket Stadium, Dubai p ( ) Time: 2:30 pm (IST) Head to head In Champions Trophy 2 India 1 Aus stralia 4 Total matches ing the other semifinalists — New Zealand, to top the Group Stage table, and set their date against the Australians for Wednesday’s semifinal. On the other hand, a stunning win in the opener, followed by two rain-hit games, sealed Australia’s spot in the semi-finals. Australia's path to the semi-finals has been a case of resilience and 1 No result subsequent favourable results. Despite losing five of their touted starting XI before the tournament even began, they have demonstrated admirable mental toughness in the face of adversity. With India operating as a well-oiled unit and more importantly, playing all their matches at the same venue in the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, they would be eager to continue the momentum in familiar conditions. The challenge is now very much on Australia, not only to execute in a knockout game but to get their tactics and plans in order. With less game time and multiple injury woes to deal with, the Kangaroos will have to battle those challenges. Ahead of the crucial encounter, young all-rounder Cooper Connolly has been added in place of the injured Matthew Short, who suffered an injury during the Afghanistan encounter. Connolly has thus far featured in six internationals for Australia, of which three have been ODIs. He's a left-handed batter who bowls left-arm spin as well. Despite the fact, India can’t afford any complacency against an Aussie side that specialises in stepping up in huge tournament games. “Australia, as we know, has a rich history (in) ICC tournaments … we do understand that,” India captain Rohit Sharma said. “It’s about us, what we want to do against (that) opposition and try and do that right. We’ll just have to be focused on what we need to do on that particular day. It’s going to be a great contest,” he added. ‘Will not tolerate delays in industrial projects’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 3 MARCH Chief minister Mamata Banerjee met with industry leaders on Monday and stressed on speedy implementation of various industrial projects, which are in pipeline in the state. The meeting was also attended by concerned departmental bureaucrats. This meeting with industrialists followed her Bengal Global Business Summit in February. Banerjee said, "Bengal is No. 1 in terms of skill availability and talent pool. We will not tolerate any laxity and delay in project execution in various sectors such as IT and small and medium industries. The small and medium enterprise sector has a very big potential for employment generation. Many government departments sit on project files. Senior officers should study the projects themselves and not leave it to lower-level officers," she said. CM also stressed on the need for quick solutions to problems which crop up on the way to implementation of projects. (Pg 3)