President's secretary speaks to Rediff.com's Onkar Singh about what really happened at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games on Sunday.
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma is in a fighting mood, blasting everybody, more so the media, the moment you offer any criticism of the Commonwealth Games that will open in New Delhi on October 3.
Belying expectations, Prasar Bharti has earned only Rs 58.19 crore (Rs 581.9 million) as revenue during the Commonwealth Games last month.
In spite of the recent spate of exposes in the media detailing alleged corruption and scams in the preparations for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, the Centre has decided to release additional funds for the Games.The Opposition will get yet another chance to attack the government and the Suresh Kalmadi led Commonwealth Games Organising Committee when Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presents the supplementary demand for grants in Lok Sabha.
The royal couple, who are on a five-day tour of Pakistan, took a ride in a decorated rickshaw fitted with lights to arrive at the venue of the dinner.
Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna and Chief Minister Mrs Sheila Dikshit, who normally do not see eye to eye on most administrative matters, have decided to impose undeclared curfew and restrict the movement of people in public places on Sunday to ensure there is no untoward incident that could mar the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games.
'As Indians, we should be claiming and celebrating 'Bhartiyata' rather than seeking commitment to beliefs which are divisive and exclusionary.'
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday took exception to Commonwealth Games CEO Mike Hooper's reported comments on the capital's population, saying it was "very unkind and undiplomatic".
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Australia's skipper Meg Lanning bagged the 'Leadership Legend' award. She led her side successfully in all formats of the game.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday hit out at the Congress that the Aam Aadmi Party had not asked for support, rather 'they imposed it on us'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the tributes that poured in for Badminton Association of India president Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta, who passed away in Lucknow after suffering a heart attack on Wednesday.
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Tuesday said he will be "unhappy" if the Commonwealth Games are a success, and only "evil" will patronise them, remarks which were quickly dismissed by both his party and the BJP.
Perhaps Sports Minister M S Gill was right when he compared the tardy build-up to the Commonwealth Games with a typical Indian monsoon wedding. And, as is the case with all Indian wedding receptions, in the end everything fell into place.
Continuing his tirade against the just-concluded Commonwealth Games, former Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said India should have focused on improving the plight of its poor instead of spending thousands of crores on the event which only "denigrated" its image.
It was the third and last leg of Modi's three-nation tour to the UK, Sweden and Germany.
Sports minister of India Manohar Singh Gill on Saturday expressed regret over a series of pullouts from this year's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, a day after British cyclist Chris Hoy announced his withdrawal.
In fresh embarrassment to the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance regime, particularly to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Comptroller Auditor General Vinod Rai has claimed that coalition functionaries had deputed politicians to get him leave out names from the audit reports in the Coalgate and Commonwealth Games scams.
For India to succeed in this data driven revolution, we will have to migrate the control and ownership of Indian data back to India: Mukesh Ambani.
'Absolute non-violence is not only sinful, but immoral.' 'This doctrine of non-violence benumbed the revolutionary fervor, softened the limbs and hearts of the Hindus, and stiffened the bones of enemies.' A revealing excerpt from Vikram Sampath's Savarkar (Part 2): A Contested Legacy, 1924-1966.
Amid criticism that it failed to meet the expectations of the people, the theme song of the Commonwealth Games composed by A R Rahman has been tweaked a bit to make it peppier like the popular Bollywood number 'Chak de'.
The Sports Ministry doubled the cash awards for gold medal winners to Rs 20 lakhs for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games to encourage sportspersons to come up with an improved performance in the upcoming mega-events.
Construction delays, inclement weather, red tape if these were not enough reasons to worry Indian Olympic Association chief Suresh Kalmadi in the run up to the Commonwealth Games, then a possible dengue outbreak in New Delhi is sure to break him down to tears.
Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has promised "surgical" precision in distribution of funds to athletes preparing for the 2020 Olympic Games, asserting that centralisation of the process has made bureaucratic hurdles a thing of past.
All the schools in the national capital will remain closed during the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi from October 3 to 14, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said on Monday.
In a major relief for travellers from Asia and Africa, the UK has scrapped its controversial 3,000-pound "security bond" for some "high-risk" foreign visitors, including those from India.
While everybody is going gaga over the successful hosting of the Commonwealth Games, former athletes Milkha Singh and India's sprint queen PT Usha are upset. They are unhappy about the raw deal they got from Suresh Kalmadi at the Games and are planning to meet the Prime Minister.
The Indian juggernaut seemed unstoppable as four boxers, including Asian champion Amit Panghal (52kg), advanced to the quarter-finals with impressive victories.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said on Wednesday that the cancellation of the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games would be bad for the future of the games movement as well as for India.
The All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam and the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam on Monday joined hands in Rajya Sabha to demand that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should not attend Commonwealth Summit in Sri Lanka in November.
Sports Minister M S Gill on Sunday inaugurated the refurbished R K Khanna Stadium with the hope that the Indian tennis players would shine here and rake in the medals when the capital hosts the Commonwealth Games in October.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Delhi's Chief Minister is nervous about the hosting of Commonwealth Games in the capital but the event's organising committee head Suresh Kalmadi assures that all is well with the preparations despite umpteen delays.
The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
The administrators are busy thrashing out resumption plans but with the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, India's sportsperson are pleading for caution as discussion rages on whether competitions can resume by August. Top stars from various disciplines want the waiting period to continue, while others pointed out at the loss it would cause in terms of fitness and readiness.
Right from the great Muhammad Ali, who was an influential figure during the African-American Civil Rights Movement to Cte d'Ivoire footballer Didier Drogba, who had a major hand in bringing peace to his country, sports personalities across the world have always played huge roles in social and geopolitical movements. The scenario is no different in India, as a lot of sporting stars have taken the political plunge. Take a look at the sports personalities contesting in elections 2019.
The finance minister said while the 10 years of the United Progressive Alliance government were characterised by "policy paralysis", the Modi dispensation introduced structural reforms to make India a developed nation and give it a cleaner economy.
How Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first day in London unfolded.
Countries participating in this year's Commonwealth Games, scheduled to be held in Delhi, should not worry about security, said Sports Minister M S Gill on Monday, assuring that India will deliver an incident-free event.
Count among The Light of Asia's many, many admirers over 132 years: Gandhi, Tagore, Vivekananda, Nehru and Ambedkar, Tolstoy and Kipling, Yeats and Eliot, Alfred Nobel, Dmitri Mendeleev and C V Raman. Jairam Ramesh reveals why he decided to write a book on Edwin Arnold, who wrote The Light of Asia.
