Cracking the whip on the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), the Sports Ministry on Friday suspended the Olympic body till the time it reverses the decision to appoint the scam tainted duo of Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala its Life Presidents.
The Indian Olympic Association will not abide by Sports Ministry's direction to reply to the show-cause notice by Friday on the controversial elevation of Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as life presidents as it will first consult its parent international body.
The Sports Ministry on Friday lifted the suspension on the Indian Olympic Association with immediate effect after it removed the corruption-tainted duo of Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as life presidents following widespread outrage.
Farmer outfits on Friday started mobilising more batches of peasants from Haryana and Punjab to head towards Delhi's borders to join the ongoing agitation against agri laws, even as political parties such as the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Indian National Lok Dal threw their weight behind them.
Claiming that Indian Olympic Association chief Abhay Singh Chautala was ineligible to attend the August 25 Special General Body Meeting in Delhi, Clean Sports India president Ashwini Nachappa has asked the International Olympic Committee not to heed to the decisions taken by 'few corrupt officials and politicians' in that conclave.
Majority of the Indian Olympic Association's top brass was unreachable after the Sports Ministry decided to suspend the national Olympic body for appointing the scam-tainted Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as its life-presidents.
The Beijing bound Indian boxing contingent was given a warm send off in New Delhi by the Boxing Federation.
Commonwealth Games corruption scandal tainted Suresh Kalmadi was on Tuesday made the Life President of Indian Olympic Association in its Annual General Body Meeting in New Delhi. Another tainted official Abhay Singh Chautala was also made the Life President by the IOA.
A day after Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala were named Life Presidents of the Indian Olympic Association, a top official of the IOA on Wednesday questioned the move, pointing out that it violated the Constitution of the top sports body.
Congress candidate Shafia Zubair won the Ramgarh assembly poll in Rajasthan, while BJP candidate Krishan Middha won over his nearest rival from the Jannayak Janata Party for the high-stakes Jind bypoll in Haryana.
"Change in Indian sport will only happen if mandated. A law is necessary in India. A good step by @IndiaSports & @vijaygoelbjp to suspend IOA," he further tweeted.
In an unprecedented development, MLAs of opposition Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana on Thursday virtually stormed the assembly of neighbouring Punjab to protest against a move that could stall construction of a canal by which Haryana is supposed to receive water.
The polls have come at a time when opposition parties in Haryana are in a disarray.
Polling for three parliamentary seats and 29 assembly constituencies were held on October 30, an exercise being seen as a barometer of the political mood in the country ahead of assembly elections in politically critical Uttar Pradesh as well as other states.
Earlier, Justice Lalit had recused himself from hearing the plea of Indian National Lok Dal Chautala's son Ajay on similar grounds.
The apparent BJP move to accept Kanda's support was slammed by the opposition Congress and BJP leader Uma Bharti, who recalled the row in which the politician was involved when as a minister in Haryana's Congress government in 2012.
Worried about the administrative logjam in Indian boxing, recently-crowned WBO Asia Pacific champion Vijender Singh pleaded with the officials to put together a new federation at the earliest for the sake of country's pugilists.
'The biggest question is why members of parliament and senior party functionaries of the BJP still supporting Suresh Kalamadi when they were opposing him for opposing the Congress Party'
"He has taken the decision to step aside. He had no idea that the IOA was going to do this yesterday and has declined any post till his name is clear," Kalmadi's lawyer Hitesh Jain told a TV channel.
World Squash Federation president Narayana Ramachandran is set to be elected unopposed as the president of Indian Olympic Association in the polls to be held here next month as he was the only candidate to file nomination papers for the top post.
The defiant Indian Olympic Association (IOA) finally slammed its door on corrupt officials on Sunday in a precariously late act of compliance to get the country's Olympic ban overturned.
The defiant Indian Olympic Association (IOA) finally slammed its door on corrupt officials on Sunday in a precariously late act of compliance to get the country's Olympic ban overturned.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the plea of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and others, challenging their conviction and award of 10-year jail term in the teachers' recruitment scam case.
Indian Olympic Association will hold its special General Body Meeting in New Delhi on October 27 to decide on the date of elections as per the directives of the International Olympic Committee.
Senior functionary Narinder Batra on Friday resigned as the associate vice-president of the Indian Olympic Association as a mark of protest against the IOA for not taking back its decision to appoint scam-tainted Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as honorary life presidents.
The decks were cleared for India's return to the Olympic fold after a 14-month suspension with Indian Olympic Association conducting its polls with N Ramachandran being elected as the president.
Former Sports Minister Ajay Maken termed IOA's decision 'sad and painful', and urged the ministry to take act against the move.
Ramachandran's support in the council has been reduced to a few members and if some are to be believed he can be removed from his post before or during the AGM on December 14.
The Sports Ministry on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice to the Indian Olympic Association, threatening to derecognise the body if it does not reverse its decision to appoint scam-tainted Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as Life Presidents.
The Indian Olympic Association General Body Meeting started off on a stormy note on Sunday with close to 50 demonstrators under the banner of Clean Sports India protesting against the association's officials, who have been chargesheeted in corruption cases.
Ace shooter Abhinav Bindra on Saturday applauded IOC's decision to not change its stance on barring charge-sheeted persons from contesting Indian Olympic Association (IOA) elections, saying it is heartening to see the world body keen on cleaning up sports in the country.
It is curtains down for Maharashtra and Haryana assembly polls. Here's a look at political biggies, who made it and who didn't.
The final figure of polling could increase and it will be available on Tuesday, officials said.
International Olympic Committee's member in India, Randhir Singh on Wednesday asked the officials of suspended Indian Olympic Association to accept the IOC's directive to bar charge-framed persons from contesting elections or face further action from the world body.
Livid with Abhinav Bindra's sustained campaign against tainted officials in the Indian Olympic Association, the suspended body's president Abhey Singh Chautala launched a stinging personal attack on the Olympic gold-medallist shooter, saying he should first sort his house in order before commenting on others.
He may have been the latest victim of the gang-war which has been going on in between two villages
Political observers feel that the outcome of the elections weighs in favour of the BJP which had won a massive mandate in the Lok Sabha elections, held earlier this year.
Calling on the IOA to sort out the administrative mess which led to India's suspension from the Olympic movement, IHF patron KPS Gill has said that the overhauling should put in place a system so clean and efficient that it becomes a model for the world to follow.
In news that will please Indian sports lovers, IOA secretary-general Rajeev Mehta confirmed on Tuesday that the International Olympic Committee has lifted the ban on India.
A year after he took over as the Indian Boxing Federation's President, which was followed by its international suspension, Abhishek Matoria's election for the top post has been challenged by the very body he claimed to represent in the controversial polls.
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