Japan on Friday extended a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas by about three weeks to June 20 as the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of easing less than two months before the Summer Olympics open.
Chairman of the Commonwealth Organising Committee and pPresident of the Indian Olympic Association Suresh Kalmadi on Monday claimed credit for a spectacular three-hour opening ceremony.
A rightful share of the praise heaped on the Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) for a spectacular inaugural function including the laser show should also go to West Bengal, for the much-required electricity for the Games is being supplied by the state.
The International Olympic Committee said on Monday its executive board had recommended that international sports federations ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from competing in events.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Officially, Suresh Kalmadi had only Rs 6.7 billion to play around with as the Commonwealth Games boss. As against this, Sheila Dikshit's government was allocated Rs 16.56 billion to upgrade the capital's infrastructure in time for the Games.'
The controversy-marred Commonwealth Games, held in New Delhi last year, finds itself in yet another embarrassing situation with an Australian company deciding to sue event's organisers over the unpaid bills.
It wasn't a dream come true for the young members of the Chennai based band, Staccato to be playing at the Olympics, for they never ever dreamt that the day would come.
The organisers of the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi have claimed that the venues would be ready by the end of 2009.
The Commonwealth Games delegation that visited the sporting facilities in New Delhi to take stock of the work for the 2010 Games has "gone back happy", Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said on Friday. The delegation members had their "doubts cleared" with the organising committee of the Commonwealth Games and also the Delhi Government, Dikshit said.
The Tokyo Olympics 2020 will cost the host organising committee six times more than their original estimate, and come in at around 1.8 trillion yen ($14.85 billion), public broadcaster NHK said on its website on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Australian media hailed India and people of Delhi as "gracious hosts" for delivering a successful Commonwealth Games, overcoming all the hurdles they encountered in the controversy-ridden build up.
Suresh Kalmadi was on Monday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation soon after he came in for interrogation at the agency's headquarters in New Delhi over alleged irregularities in the conduct of Queen's Baton Relay (QBR) held in London in 2009.
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach will visit Japan from July 12, ahead of the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Yet, no bank has been taken to task for its actions, says Harsh Roongta.
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 government is worried about the pullout of star players from the Commonwealth Games but the Organising Committee (OC) says one or two withdrawals would not make any difference.
The Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics countdown got under way on Thursday with the lighting of the torch at the site of the ancient Olympics, with organisers hoping it will shift attention away from Brazil's political and financial turmoil.
Starting the 100-day countdown to this year's Commonwealth Games, the Queen's Baton Relay arrived in India from Pakistan through the historic Wagah Border in Amristar, on Friday. Chairman of the CWG Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi, received the baton from Pakistan Olympic Association president Lt Gen Syed Arif Hassan at the international border, where the Commonwealth Games Federation chief Mike Fennell was also present.
Pop star Lady Gaga sang John Lennon's Imagine sitting at a flower-covered piano as the inaugural European Games.
The CBI on Monday carried out searches at 11 premises, including residences of four aides of Commonwealth Games (CWG) Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi, in connection with alleged irregularities in a Rs 107 crore contract for the Games result update system and registered cases against them.
Widening its probe into alleged violations of the country's forex laws in the run up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the Enforcement Directorate may now summon Secretary General of Organising Committee Lalit Bhanot.
Beijing Olympic organisers have changed the English name of the mascots for the 2008 Games from the "Five Friendlies" to the pinyin transliteration of the Chinese name "Fuwa".
Opposing framing of charges against him in a Commonwealth Games-related graft case, former Organising Committee secretary general Lalit Bhanot claimed in a Delhi court that the CBI was "biased" against him.
Taking a U-turn, CGF CEO Mike Hooper on Sunday owned up the responsibility for the mess around the Commonwealth Games after blaming India's central and state governments for all the problems.
IOC president Thomas Bach said on Thursday that the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games will be held as scheduled, in an interview with Kyodo News.
The metal arena sits on the waterfront overlooking the Arabian Gulf and the West Bay skyline, but it could easily be mistaken for a shipping container yard if not for the structure that supports the roof.
The tally from the weekend showed 37 new cases on Sunday with most testing positive after arrival at the airport
"The remuneration of a referee per match is very low. In state leagues, a referee gets Rs 2500 to Rs 5000, and in national leagues from Rs 8000 to Rs 10,000. This comes up to Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh a year, which is insufficient for a referee to maintain his family by doing refereeing only.
Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi said India would bid for the 2016 Olympic Games.
The Tokyo Olympics next July will be a "uniquely risky" event, demanding flexibility from organisers amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, particularly if a vaccine has not been rolled out by then, medical experts say. Japan and the International Olympic Committee made the unprecedented decision last month to delay the Games for a year, as the world battles the virus that has infected 2.3 million people and killed more than 150,000 globally. But questions persist whether the Games can go ahead 15 months from now, as a vaccine could still be at least a year away, according to the most optimistic estimates.
The Olympic cauldron has been extinguished and the flame transferred to a lantern as it is relocated to a different part of the Olympic Stadium, Locog has confirmed.
The Congress has remained ambivalent on the issue of giving tickets to tainted leaders like former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, who shared the dais with party vice-president Rahul Gandhi at an event on Wednesday, and former chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi in the Lok Sabha polls.
A spectacular opening ceremony was still not able to disguise India's shortcomings in the build up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
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'.
A R Rahman's Commonwealth Games theme song has failed to impress the CWG Organising Committee's executive board member V K Malhotra, who feels the composition has 'fallen short of expectations'.
In what would come as music to the ears of an embattled Organising Committee, Australia is planning to send its largest-ever delegation of over 600 athletes and officials, including Olympic and world champions, for next year's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
Pained by reports of his alleged involvement in the Commonwealth Games-related scam, former Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi said he will resign as Member of Parliament in case any proof of him having taken even a single rupee surfaces.
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