Commonwealth Games Organising Committee official M Jayachandran, arrested for alleged financial bungling in holding the Queen Baton's Relay (QBR) in London in 2009, was granted bail by the Delhi high court on Wednesday. Justice Hima Kohli granted bail to Jayachandran, a key aide of Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi following the CBI's failure to wind up the probe and file the charge sheet in the case within the stipulated 60-day period.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Tarun Vijay on Friday rejected the government theory that the Central Bureau of Investigation raids on Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee is a natural culmination of unearthing the corruption in staging the gala Games.
A Congress member in Public Accounts Committee on Friday suggested calling former head of Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi before the Parliamentary panel examining CAG report on games irregularities, but its chairman and BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi seemed disinclined.
Can the Central Bureau of Investigation prove that jailed Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi has dementia?
Facing a severe backlash for appointing scam-tainted Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as life presidents, the Indian Olympic Association has been forced to revoke its controversial decision.
It was a day of embarrassment for the Congress-lead United Progressive Alliance as Suresh Kalmadi, the Congress member of Parliament from Pune and the former chairman of the Commonwealth Games was arrested for alleged conspiracy in awarding a contract for the Games to a Swiss company at an inflated cost of Rs. 141 crore.
Even as Suresh Kalmadi continues to be in the eye of the storm and is continuing to battle charges of corruption, sources say that the government and the Congress party are looking at two options and weighing the pros and cons of implementing them in a bid to save the games as well as protect the government from further bad publicity on issues of corruption.
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.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday dismissed the bail plea of former Commomwealth Games Organising Committee Secretary General Lalit Bhanot, accused of favouring a Swiss firm in a contract that led to a loss of over Rs 90 crore to the exchequer.
Sacked Chairman of Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi is likely to be questioned by CBI on Wednesday in connection with Queen's Baton Relay scam after the agency received fresh papers from the UK.
Even as Suresh Kalmadi continues to be in the eye of a storm and battles charges of corruption, sources say the government and his party are looking at two options in a bid to save the Commonwealth Games and protect the government from further bad publicity on issues of corruption.
Unfazed at being ousted from the Asian Athletics Association, scam-tainted Suresh Kalmadi said losing the presidential re-election bid to Qatar's Dahlan Jumaan Al-Hamad has actually given him a chance to work at the "grassroots" level.
For a man, who used to make everything a showbiz, his birthday this year was an occasion that was probably only known to CBI sleuths around him. He is also believed to have spent some time with a few family members.
T S Darbari, a close associate of the CWG organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, was granted bail by the Delhi High Court after the Central Bureau of Investigation failed to file the chargesheet against him for alleged bunglings in the Queen Baton's relay in London in 2009.
Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi on Thursday said he is happy with the progress made in the Games Village as it got ready to welcome the first of the 7000 athletes and team officials who will reside there during the mega-event.
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 claimed that the CBI officers, who conducted searches at his premises in the city recently, did not find anything incriminating against him.
As the bid will open in 2011, Kalmadi said the IOA would begin its preparation for the bid immediately after the 2010 Commonwealth Games were over.
Former Sports Minister Ajay Maken termed IOA's decision 'sad and painful', and urged the ministry to take act against the move.
The host for the 2010 Games will be named on November 13 in Jamaica.
The 67-year-old MP from Pune, who arrived at around 10 am on Monday, was admitted to the cardio neuro-sciences department of the hospital in a private ward.
Not known to share the best of equations with his former deputy, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday came out in support of Sachin Pilot amid allegations by the Bharatiya Janata Party that his father, former Union minister Rajesh Pilot, was involved in the bombings over Mizoram in 1966.
Suresh Kalmadi, Kanimozhi and Andimuthu Raja -- none of whom need an introduction -- have been appointed to three standing committees. A Ganesh Nadar says they are the best fit, and explains why
Indian Olympic Association officials along with a delegation of the National Sports Federations are meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Parliament on Wednesday to discuss the issue of new guidelines that seek to limit the tenure of sports administrators.
"He has taken the decision to step aside. He had no idea that the IOA was going to do this yesterday and has declined any post till his name is clear," Kalmadi's lawyer Hitesh Jain told a TV channel.
Several high-profile people, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his former cabinet ministers Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia, are lodged in Tihar jail.
Laying down a host of criterion for the selection of candidates for the coming Lok Sabha elections, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has made it known that no tainted leader will be given a ticket by the party.
The Congress last week hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his criticism of then PM Indira Gandhi's decision to use the Indian Air Force in Mizoram in 1966, saying he "twisted decisions" taken by his predecessors out of their political and historical context to score "petty debating points".
Senior functionary Narinder Batra on Friday resigned as the associate vice-president of the Indian Olympic Association as a mark of protest against the IOA for not taking back its decision to appoint scam-tainted Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as honorary life presidents.
IOA president P T Usha on Sunday slammed the revolting executive council members, saying they 'seem more focused on self-serving power play and monetary gain'
Sports Minister Goel hits out at IOA chief N Ramachandran for making Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Chautala life presidents
Some of the top PSUs may have pulled out of the Commonwealth Games in the wake of corruption allegations, but Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi is unperturbed, saying he is confident of making up the deficit through the private sector.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday went beyond probing only the officials of the Suresh Kalmadi-led Commonwealth Games Organising Committee to start cracking on those allegedly involved in corruption in construction and renovation of the stadiums.
Sports Minister Ajay Maken has declined to comment on Suresh Kalmadi's accusation of carrying out a vilification campaign against him, saying that he would not like to respond to a person who has been chargesheeted by the CBI.
As yet another Rail budget is set to be unveiled, Railways has seen several former Ministers like Suresh Kalmadi and Dinesh Trivedi getting derailed after remaining at the helm.
Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi on Monday assured the members of the Coordination Commission (CoCom) of the Commonwealth Games Federation that considerable progress has been made in all areas towards successfully hosting the 2010 Delhi Games.
Deeply hurt by allegations against him during the recent hockey crisis, A K Mattoo resigned as Hockey India president and from other administrative posts in various sport bodies.
The crisis in Indian hockey was resolved on Wednesday after Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi brokered a compromise deal between the game's administrators and striking players, who have been promised immediate disbursement of Rs one crore.
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.