In a surprising development, Sri Lanka Cricket chairman Arjuna Ranatunga was on Tuesday sacked for not cooperating with the company or players, and the interim committee headed by him stands dissolved with immediate effect. Minister of Sports and Public Recreation Gamini Lokuge dissolved the SLC interim committee and appointed the secretary to the Ministry of Sports and Public Recreation, S Liyanagama, as the "competent authority" until further notice.
Embarrassed by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh's failure to turn up for the Padma Shri awards last Wednesday, the government issued a notification saying National sports awards, like the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna, Dhronacharya and Dhyanchand, will be withdrawn if the recipient is absent from the ceremony without intimation.
The new player contracts include a freeze in annual retainers for senior players but substantial increases for junior members of the national squad and A team. Test match fees were also increased, bringing Sri Lanka's match fees in line with their Asian neighbours.
Set to become the first Indian to win all the national sports awards, former All-England badminton champion Pullela Gopichand on Tuesday said being honoured as both player and coach has put a responsibility on him to take the game forward in the country.
Government sources also said there was no question of any discussion on the issue as it is India's sovereign matter but added that Modi will update the Chinese President on the matter if there is a query.
On his arrival, Xi will be welcomed by traditional peformances including 'tappu' folk drum art display at the airport by about 500 artistes.
Nishantha Ranatunga, brother of Sri Lanka Cricket chairman Arjuna Ranatunga, has been appointed the new manager of the Sri Lanka team.
Sri Lanka's World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga has challenged the Sports Ministry's decision to sack him as Sri Lanka Cricket chief in the Supreme Court.
Asian Games gold medallist Jitu Rai has been recommended for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for his exploits in pistol shooting in the last two years although he couldn't win a medal in the Rio Olympics. "Yes, we have recommended Jitu's name for Khel Ratna award," National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) secretary Rajiv Bhatia said. NRAI has also recommended woman rifle shooter Apurvi Chanela and men rifle shooters Gurpreet Singh and PN Prakash for the Arjuna Awards, according to Bhatia.
Badminton legend Prakash Padukone discusses India's prospects at the Beijing Games.
The 2 countries signed 15 agreements including one on defence cooperation after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held 'productive discussions' with President Joko Widodo.
The BJP has named sitting MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy as its nominee on the politically important seat.
Dinesh Chandimal will captain Sri Lanka in the T20 series against New Zealand in place of regular captain Lasith Malinga who has been forced out due to an injury, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old golfer is the fifth and the youngest Indian to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
Pakistan officials will meet Sri Lankan counterparts this week in a bid to save next month's tour after the sacking of Sri Lanka's interim cricket board. Pakistan hope to convince Sri Lanka in talks at the Asian Cricket Council meeting in Kuala Lumpur to proceed with the tour amid concerns it will be scrapped by the new administrators.
'Karna is the greatest warrior in the Mahabharata -- in fact, Arjuna is a nobody in front of Karna.' 'But Arjuna had a better advisor in Krishna than Karna.' 'Karna failed because he listened to the wrong advice given by Salya.' 'It just shows wrong advisors can land even the mighty in trouble.'
In an apparent reference to Indian ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga on Thursday came down heavily on players dodging Test cricket to play in cash-rich Twenty20 leagues.
Tennis star Leander Paes and badminton player-turned-coach Pullela Gopichand were selected for the prestigious Padma Bhushan awards while cricketer Yuvraj Singh was among the seven sportspersons chosen for this year's Padma Shri award.
India's legendary sprinter Milkha Singh said on Wednesday that doping is like cancer and the government needs to take some strict measures to curb this menace.
P V Sindhu secured her fifth World Championships medal following a stunning comeback while B Sai Praneeth became the first Indian male shuttler in 36 years to grab a podium place in badminton's prestigious event, in Basel, on Friday.
Welcoming the decision by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to allow the cricketers aligned with the 'rebel' Indian Cricket League to play in domestic tournaments, former India wicketkeeper Kiran More on Friday said it is not only a memorable day for the ICL but also "victory of cricket". The decision was taken by the interim committee of the Sri Lanka Cricket, led by former skipper Arjuna Ranatunga.
A complaint has been lodged at the Barasat women's police station in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, where the 24-year-old Arjuna awardee has been booked under the IPC sections for rape, criminal conspiracy, causing miscarriage without the woman's consent and cheating, the police said.
Sri Lanka on Wednesday offered to play a charity match with an Indian cricket team to raise money for the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks.
The selection of the Indian team for the World Boxing Championships has run into a controversy with three pugilists, including Arjuna awardee Dinesh Kumar, threatening to take the panel to court even as Olympian Akhil Kumar vowed to sue one of them for dragging his name into the furore.
Xi and Modi are scheduled to hold informal summit talks on Friday evening and on Saturday.
Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga on Monday said he believes that ace off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan can end up with more than 1000 Test wickets if he plays for another few years. The 47-year-old was effusive in his praise of India ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and said India are on the right track in their preparation for the 2011 World Cup.
India's badminton doubles specialist and newly-appointed coach Jwala Gutta is known for being feisty. Not one to take things lying down, the Arjuna Awardee ripped apart a Twitter troll who called her mother anti-Modi.
Sri Lanka Cricket's interim committee softened its stand on its Indian Cricket League players at a meeting in Colombo a couple of days ago.
Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga on Monday said the island nation is looking at having a Twenty20 tournament in lines of the highly-successful Indian Premier League and have requested the International Cricket Council for a window in their future tours programme.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
The Indian Grandmaster celebrated his Arjuna award in great style and moved to joint third after the fifth round in the Marx Gyorgy memorial International chess tournament in Paks, Hungary.
The country's Sports Ministry worked closely with the International Cricket Council's (ICC) ACU during the process of drafting the bill.
The boycott is being lifted following appeals by eminent sports persons and sports lovers of Assam, Rajkhowa said in a statement that was e-mailed to the media.
Disappointed at being ignored for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, top woman discus thrower Krishna Poonia on Wednesday went to see Sports Minister Jitendra Singh to express her displeasure over the issue but failed to meet him.
The BCCI has also recommended Yuvraj Singh and former women's captain Anjum Chopra for Arjuna awards.
The 23-year-old champion wrestler's Asian gold medal tells us that tough times don't last, tough people do.
Arjuna Ranatunga was happy that India ggave Ricky Ponting and his men a taste of their own medicine.
Statistician Rajneesh Gupta has interesting numbers from the match. Check them out.
Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu are training at separate academies of national coach Pullela Gopichand ever since their epic Commonwealth Games summit clash
The former Sri Lanka captain is believed to have cautioned the PCB against appointing Dave Whatmore as the team's new coach.
