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.
Strategic expert B Raman examines the possible threats to the Commonwealth Games and how the various security agencies can tackle them.
It's just five days since the Games kicked off and -- no prizes for guessing -- more then 10,000 condoms have already been used. By the end of it the number could double.
Former world champion road cyclist Greg Henderson on Friday became the first selected New Zealand athlete to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games, saying there are "too many risks" in going to Delhi for the troubled event.
Short of experience but not lacking in confidence after some good performances in recent international events, Indian Lawn Bowls players are aiming to win a Commonwealth Games medal in their very first appearance in the multi-sporting event in Delhi next month.
The second wave of the pandemic has not only crippled medical infrastructure in terms of hospital beds, but has also led to bottlenecks in invasive ventilators and medical oxygen capacities and supplies.
The total recoveries have climbed to 8,17,208, while there are 4,40,135 active cases of coronavirus in the country at present, the govt said as the COVID-19 tally surged to 12.87 lakh.
Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Mike Hooper on Sunday said he had done all he could to make the Delhi Games a success and any talk of his standing down from his post was 'silly'.
"The fastest man on no legs", triple paralympic gold medallist Oscar Pistorius is aiming to qualify as an able-bodied athlete for the Delhi Commonwealth Games but remains non-committal on whether he would actually participate in the mega-event.
Going through a purple patch, Saina Nehwal has nothing to complaint about her form and all the ace shuttler now wants is to steer clear of injuries so that she can give her best in the Commonwealth and Asian Games later this year.
Clean Sports India (CSI), a movement for corruption-free sports in the country, on Friday, expressed disappointment at Delhi court's decision to allow sacked CWG Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi, accused in a Games-related graft case, to go to the London Olympics.
Sacked CWG Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, accused in a games-related graft case, sought a Delhi court's permission to attend the 2012 Olympics in London.
Terming the incident unfortunate, the national carrier Air India has tendered an apology to the Indian table tennis team, who were denied boarding on the Delhi-Melbourne flight on Sunday.
Making it clear that there will be no compromise on corruption, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said anyone embroiled in corrupt practices will not be spared be it former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, any Bharatiya Janata Party member or even his own party member.
This was the fourth consecutive day that COVID-19 cases in the country have increased by more than 26,000.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was in the eye of a storm in Parliament on Monday with an agitated Opposition paralysing both the Houses demanding her immediate resignation over alleged irregularities in Commonwealth Games projects.
Whether the third wave will ravage us depends on the pace of vaccinations, careful and calibrated opening up of establishments, and a strategy to contain the spread in specific states or pockets.
A Delhi court on Saturday ordered registration of first information report against former Indian Police Service officer Kiran Bedi for allegedly cheating and misappropriating funds in collusion with foreign companies and other foundations.
Sports Minister Ajay Maken on Friday said though sacked CWG Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, accused in a Games-related graft case, has been allowed by a Delhi Court to go to London for the upcoming Olympic Games, he should voluntarily desist from going to the mega event.
A Delhi court on Monday took congnisance of the Central Bureau of Investigation chargesheet filed against sacked Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi and others for their alleged role in the irregular award of a contract to a Swiss firm for installation of Timing-Scoring-Result system for the sporting event.
Intelligence Bureau sleuths have unearthed yet another target of David Headley, the American national and Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative who has been arrested for carrying out terror activities on Indian soil.
Sacked as Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chief, the embattled Suresh Kalmadi got the full backing of the Indian Olympic Association, the national apex sports body which he heads, in its General Body Meeting (GBM) in New Delhi.
The CBI had earlier sought a 14-day custody of Kalmadi, who was arrested by the anti-corruption branch the investigating agency, to question him about several major aspects of CWG scam.
Shooting's international federation (ISSF) has also confirmed complete support to India for hosting the proposed Commonwealth championships.
The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday termed the Aam Aadmi Party government's move to register an FIR in the street light purchase scam during the 2010 Commonwealth Games as an "eyewash", saying that no Congress leader has been named in the complaint filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.
CWG organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi's close aide Sanjay Mahendroo, who had been arrested for alleged bunglings in the Queen's Baton relay in London in 2009, was released here on bail on Saturday evening following a court order.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday sought the Central Bureau of Investigation's response on the bail plea of sacked Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi in a Games-related scam case, who cited the Supreme Court ruling that bail should be the rule and jail an exception.
After being handed out easy draws, Indian paddlers are brimming with confidence ahead of the table tennis team event of the Commonwealth Games starting in New Delhi on Monday.
Addressing editors of prominent television news channels in New Delhi, the Prime Minister said: "I wish to assure the country as a whole our government is dead serious to bring to book all the wrongdoers regardless of their position in 2G spectrum, CWG, ISRO and Adarsh scams."
Justine Bowden from Australia, whose company will provide security to the Australian media during the CWG, says the delay in infrastructure development has affected the ability of counter-terrorism teams to train and plan contingencies for the sites.
Embarrassment piled on India ahead of next month's Commonwealth Games with three swimmers, two of them part of the country's team for the mega-event, flunking dope tests in New Delhi on Sunday.
Indian shooters, led by the mercurial Gagan Narang, experienced more highs than lows in a year that saw them clinch a record 30 medals in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. A measly haul of eight medals in the Asian Games in Guangzhou following the high at home was the only blip in an otherwise satisfactory year.
The Organising Committee of the games (CWG-OC) hopes to foster business ties with other Commonwealth nations and is in talks with South Africa, Scotland, Australia and the United Kingdom to sign agreements in the areas of IT, pharmaceuticals and tourism.
It took 110 days for the COVID-19 cases in the country to reach one lakh and just 59 days more to go past the nine-lakh mark.
Eyeing to clinch its maiden medal in the Commonwealth Games, the Indian men's hockey team will start as favourites against a tricky Malaysia in their opening pool A encounter at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi.
Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said she was happy with the preparations for the Commonwealth Games.
Geeta and Babita Phogat, both Commonwealth Games medallists became household names after their life story was brought alive on the silver screen through the blockbuster 'Dangal'.
Many experts feel the concept of a national peak is nebulous, given that the growth in case numbers is dominated by a handful of states.
In a country where poverty and corruption rule, it is be unthinkable to spend Rs 50,000 crore on a two-week sports spectacle, says T N Ninan.
The shootout incident occurred near the historic Jama Masjid mosque on Sunday morning in which two Taiwan nationals were injured after two unidentified persons riding a motorbike fired upon their tourist bus.
