President Maithripala Sirisena's new Cabinet was also sworn in and Rajapaksa was named the new minister of finance and economic affairs.
With barely four months to go for the ICC Cricket World Cup in the Australian continent, former India skipper Sourav Ganguly feels Virat Kohli's batting success will decide India's success at the sporting extravaganza.
Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu will learn from her mistakes and perform better in future, her father P V Ramana said on Saturday. "(Sindhu's opponent) Carolina Marin has played an excellent game and she truly deserves the championship. "However we assure you under the guidance of her coach (P Gopichand) in the coming years, Sindhu will definitely perform well and keep the hopes of the all the Indians high," Ramana told reporters with a hint of disappointment after the watching the match at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad.
Rio Olympics bronze medal-winning wrestler Sakshi Malik wasn't fully prepared for last month's Asian Wrestling Championship, her first international event after the quadrennial games, she revealed.
Colouring books for adults are helping people loosen up and rediscover their childhood.
Siva Sankar looks at S P Balasubrahmanyam's fantastic repertoire.
'The way we are playing now, if we continue to play the same hockey, no one can stop us from standing on the podium in Tokyo.'
Mithali Raj trained in classical dance for eight years until she decided one day it was time to follow her heart and exhibit footwork of another kind.
Tennis ace Sania Mirza wins the Khel Ratna award. Last week, the Sports Ministry confirmed that Wimbledon doubles champion Sania Mirza had been recommended for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.
Was it badminton sensation PV Sindhu, who became the first Indian to win the World Championships gold medal? Or is it the young shooting progidy Saurabh Chaudhary? Or his India colleague Elavenil Valarivan, who recently took over as World No 1? What about India's heroes on the cricketing field -- Virat Kohli? Rohit Sharma?
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
India's Para-athlete Devendra Jhajharia, who is first Indian to win a gold medal at Para World Athletics championship, said that legendary Milkha Singh's words inspired him to reach the highest level of athletics world.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
The prime minister started off his remarks at the meeting in Tamil, welcoming China to the talks, which were held right after one-on-one discussions between Modi and Xi at the Taj Fisherman's Cove Hotel.
The Australian media on Tuesday dubbed India captain Virat Kohli as Donald Trump of world sport and accused him of spreading fake news regarding their players.
Srinu Bugatha, Sudha Singh win Indian Elite category.
'As I became a citizen of the United States of America, I knew I was supposed to be shedding my Indian citizenship, but at the end of the day, Mera dil hai Hindustani,' says Roopa Unnikrishnan, Rhodes Scholar, Commonwealth Gold Medalist and Arjuna Award winner.
Infuriated over Khel Ratna snub Paralympian Deepa Malik gets Haryana CM backing 'And I am not lobbying for it. Lobbying is when you try to influence people before the committee sits and decide. When I found my name is not there, I wrote to the ministry, it's an appeal. I have got the backing of my state CM. Haryana is a sports conscious state. He (CM) also felt that I have been overlooked'
Four consecutive Tests involving the West Indies have ended in three days, notes Rajneesh Gupta.
Springing a surprise, Vijayakanth-led Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam on Wednesday struck an alliance with the four-party People's Welfare Front for the May 16 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu with the actor-turned-politician being declared as the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance.
The CM said he was proud that he was born in a country which had the "best communication system" and "best culture" in the whole world.
The trio, according to sources, will provide input to BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya and secretary Anurag Thakur, who were on Sunday entrusted with the job of finding the new coach at the Board of Control for Cricket in India's Working Committee meeting in Kolkata.
Least affected by the recent controversies around her, India's pistol ace Heena Sidhu's primary target is the World Championship
Rajneesh Gupta salutes Tamim Iqbal's courage in the Asia Cup's opening game on Saturday and lists instances where cricketers braved injuries to battle it out for their teams.
'The National Team gaining its best ranking since December 2005 shows that we are on the upsurge. The ranking enables us to be placed in pot two when the draw for the Asian Cup Qualifiers UAE 2019 is to be conducted later this month'
Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from Day 1 in the first Test between India and Sri Lanka.
India said a new mechanism will be set up for issues relating to trade and investment.
Bitter about the administrative mess which he feels cost him a medal at the Rio Olympics, pugilist Manoj Kumar says Indian boxing is on death bed right now and desperately needs intervention from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I am sure that I would have won a medal if India was not suspended from the International Boxing Association (AIBA).] "Had the first round in that pre-quarterfinal bout gone in my favour, the result would have been different," Manoj told PTI in an interview.
When it came to power, the BJP was a government with a difference: it had a majority in the Lok Sabha. Frequently the party itself forgets this
India have won the Asia Cup six times, Sri Lanka five, and Pakistan have won it just twice. As the 14th edition of Asia's own trophy gets underway on Saturday, Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers on the 13 editions so far.
For Rajkumar Sharma, a coach is no different from a parent and that's why he has been "protective" about Virat Kohli, keeping a close watch on the progress of his "son" during his formative years. Sharma, who will be conferred with the prestigious Dronacharya Award, has been the Indian Test captain's coach since he was 10 years old. "It's a huge honour which increases your responsibility to produce not one but many more Virats. I still remember the day when a 10-year-old Virat came to my coaching camp. Today as an Indian captain when he comes for a net session, I don't find any difference. He is still the same old little Virat for me. Nothing has changed for him," the 51-year-old former first-class cricketer told PTI on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka's new President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday unveiled his cabinet that included members from a cross-section of parties and announced fresh parliamentary polls in 100 days, two years ahead of schedule.
Controversy at the Pejawar Mutt -- an integral part of the VHP and the Ram temple movement -- forces PM to stay away.
Exactly 50 years ago, the first Indian team, led by Manmohan Singh Kohli, reached the summit of Mount Everest. As Kohli and his team are felicitated to mark the anniversary, he reminisces on the event that continues to inspire generations of Indian mountaineers. Payal Mohanka reports
He was a talismanic midfielder who played the game on his own terms with fitness being key to his success
'Salman Khan is one of the biggest movie stars of our country. When he endorses something, the impact is for everyone to see. If he has been made the Goodwill Ambassador, more power to the authorities who have chosen him, more power to him to accept it and no power to people who reject this choice.' Salman Khan gets a lot of support from Kirron Kher, Karan Johar and Malaika Arora Khan.
Rajneesh Gupta highlights all the important numbers from cricket World Cups held between 1975 to 2015.
Hockey India appointed former Olympic gold-medallist V Baskaran as a coach of the men's national team on Wednesday and he will work under the recently-appointed chief coach Terry Walsh.
Basking in the glory of his first Grand Slam title win, Rohan Bopanna says his mixed doubles title triumph at the French Open has strengthened his belief that "one should never give up on dreams".
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
