Simpler GST structure will be key poll plank, Congress sources tell Archis Mohan.
Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Paramjeet Samota (+91kg), Manpreet Singh (91kg) and teen sensation Shiva Thapa (56kg) notched up contrasting wins to enter the semi-finals on a mixed opening day for Indian boxers in the Winners' International tournament in Belgrade, Serbia.
Other decisions piled up include rationalisation of GST rate slabs, correction of inverted duty on certain items and inclusion of petroleum products.
Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal on Tuesday night suspended Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, who is at loggerheads with Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on the Centre's reported conditional loan-waiver offer, from the party on the charge of anti-party activities.
Mohali-based entrepreneur Manpreet Singh Walia had never imagined he would have an edge over suppliers from China and South Africa in providing sports mechandise for the XIX Commonwealth Games being held in New Delhi.
Ahead of the first meeting of the top decision-making body in nearly eight months, finance ministers of eight states ruled by non-Bharatiya Janata Party and like-minded parties -- Rajasthan, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Kerala and West Bengal -- have devised a joint strategy to press for a zero tax rate on Covid essentials, sources said.
Panic struck the Indian camp at the World Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan just hours ahead of the official weigh-in and draw on Sunday, as two of its team members found their names missing from the list of registered entries but the confusion was sorted out just in time.
As many as six Indian boxers entered the semi-finals of the 41st Giraldo Crdova Cardin Memorial Boxing Tournament in Havana, Cuba.
An important factor in India's stupendous success in 2021 was the way the government opened its coffers to support athletes.
Indian boxers continued to pack a mighty punch at the World Championships, as Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Manpreet Singh (91kg) entered the pre-quarter-finals with contrasting victories in their respective second round bouts, in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Friday.
Six Indian men's team players -- skipper Manpreet Singh, striker Mandeep Singh, defenders SurenderKumar, Jaskaran Singh, drag-flicker Varun Kumar and goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak -- have tested positive after reaching Bengaluru for the national camp, scheduled to start on August 20.
'However, this time it looks like that is not working.'
Experienced drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh returned to India's men's hockey team, which also features debutant Jaskaran Singh, for the tour of Australia, starting May 10.
A first-round defeat in the Commonwealth Games hit him so badly that Indian boxer Manpreet Singh lost the will to continue before psychatric sessions at NIS Patiala revived his confidence and "guided" him to a silver medal at the just-concluded Asian Games.
The impressive show of the Indian pugilists continued at the Asian Games as Vikas Krishan and Manpreet Singh assured themselves of bronze medals in the men's ring and Preeti Beniwal scored a dominating win on the debut day of women's boxing at the mega sports event in Guangzhou on Sunday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
India has just 28 Olympic medals to its credit since making a debut back in 1900.
The mega event begins November 28 and will conclude on December 16 at the city's Kalinga Stadium.
Indian men's hockey team fired in a goal two minutes from the final hooter through Ramandeep Singh to pull off a 3-2 win over France and begin their FIH World League semi-finals campaign on a winning note in Antwerp.
India bounced back in style to beat title holders Australia 3-1 via a shoot-out after both the teams were locked 2-2 at the end of regulation time.
India's cricket selectors did a volte-face on Thursday when they brought in seniors to replace youngsters for the ODI series in Sri Lanka and Champions Trophy. It was not surprising that Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh made a comeback and making way for them were Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan and Manpreet Singh Gony.
Varun Kumar converted a penalty corner in the 24th minute to hand India the lead before Simranjeet Singh (55th) scored a diving field goal from skipper Manpreet Singh's brilliant pass to secure full three points for the five-time champions.
A special episode of 10 Ka Dum on Sony Entertainment Television saw the appearance of Laxmi, a eunuch, who came, played and won every heart in the audience.
'It is just an excuse to say that the Centre has run out of money.' 'Pruning these schemes would mean hard time for the people of India.'
With the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games being postponed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sardar feels the Indian team will get some time to work on its grey areas and unearth new talent.
Goals by Raghunath and Deepak Thakur gave Indian Oil Corporation a 2-0 victory over Indian Airlines in the final.
Manpreet Singh punched Kyrgyzstan's Bekzod Turgunov to submission in a 91kg quarter-final bout to join three other Indians in the semi-finals of the Asian Boxing Championships in Bangkok on Wednesday.
The Indian team support staff also wore the black arm bands.
Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is among the 20 sportspersons picked for the Arjuna Awards, who will be honoured by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
India's ace forward SV Sunil and midfielder Manpreet Singh have been ruled out of the upcoming Asian Champions Trophy due to their respective injuries. While Sunil still carries the wrist injury from Rio Olympics during India's encounter against Canada, Manpreet has recently picked up a groin injury. "Manpreet's is a repeated groin injury. Though it is manageable at this stage, it should not become chronic hence we decided to keep him back here for rehabilitation. Sunil and Raghunath (who is recovering from an elbow injury) will also be in SAI while the team is away in Malaysia," confirmed Chief Coach Roelant Oltmans.
India defeated Malaysia 2-1 in the men's hockey Pool A match to make the semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, on Tuesday. Drag-flick specialist Harmanpreet Singh scored both the goals in a thrilling match.
The court posted the matter for hearing on October 22.
India easily defeated Malaysia in the quarter-finals to make the grade.
India began the opening quarter with a structured attack. It was striker SV Sunil who took the team's first potential shot on goal in the opening minute but was well defended by New Zealand goalkeeper Richard Joyce.
Hockey legend Ashok Kumar reckons India would have won a medal had the Olympics been held this year but the break in momentum will make a big difference now that the Games are pushed to 2021.
India are now atop the leaderboard with five points from two games, but the Manpreet Singh-led side conceded a point to the Netherlands after drawing (during the regulation time) the second match of the contest on Sunday.
Defending champions Jaypee Punjab Warriors eked out a close 1-0 win over Ranchi Rays to register the maiden victory at home in the fifth edition of the Hockey India league, in Chandigarh, on Thursday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is planning to have India and Pakistan play their home and away matches in Europe if the arch-rivals face off in the Olympic qualifying tournament for a berth at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
A dominant India hammered arch-rivals Pakistan 5-1 with SV Sunil striking twice in a round-robin league match of the Sultan Azlan Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh on Tuesday. The highlight of the match was four fantastic field goals from India while the other came from a penalty corner conversion. After their scrappy win over Canada in the last match, the Indians rose to the occasion and looked more organised and purposeful against Pakistan. It took India just four minute to take the lead through Manpreet Singh, who scored with a fierce reverse shot from a tight angle after being fed by Sunil. But Pakistan equalised three minutes later when skipper Muhammad Irfan (7th minute) converted the second of their successive penalty corners. India restored their lead in the 10th minute through Sunil, who scored with a deft touch off Manpreet's shot from outside the circle.