A 350-member team has been put in place to prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
'Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi would like to state that we have followed due diligence in making all payments, getting the clearances from the Executive Board and from Reserve Bank of India for incurring the expenditure in foreign currency. All remittances happened against this clearance,' OC spokesperson Lalit Bhanot said in a statement.
Transition struggle for Indian archers in forgettable 2022
A Delhi court has ordered framing of charges against former Commonwealth Games (CWG) organising committee (OC) chairman Suresh Kalmadi and others for forgery, cheating and conspiracy, in a Games-related graft case.
Commonwealth Games Federation chief Michael Fennell has rubbished CWG Organising Committee Secretary General Lalit Bhanot's view that the other nations' standard of hygiene is different from that of India, saying his opinion was 'unacceptable'.
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.
On the morning of September 21, Commonwealth Games preparations received a setback. A 95-metre long pedestrian footbridge outside the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium collapsed, injuring 23 workmen. The setback occurred 12 days before the scheduled opening of the Games.
Former CWG Organising Committee top officials Lalit Bhanot and VK Verma, held for allegedly resorting to irregularities in awarding lucrative logistic provisioning contracts to a Swiss firm for the mega sporting event, was slapped with three more charges of fraud, forgery and cheating.
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.
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.
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.
The mystery surrounding the Indian high commission e-mail, which triggered the corruption storm that has engulfed the Commonwealth Games, is getting more intriguing as the official who originally received it has refused to confirm or deny its authenticity.The e-mail, sent by an IHC protocol official Raju Sebastian, recommended various service providers for the London launch of the Queen's Baton Relay. It was made public by CWG Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi.
Already engulfed in a series of corruption charges, the CWG Organising Committee faced more problems with its treasurer Anil Khanna resigning in the wake of allegations that his son's firm secured the contract for laying synthetic courts at the tennis stadium. OC sources said Khanna, also the All India Tennis Association secretary, put in his papers on moral grounds in view of the allegations.
The Centre on Tuesday directed Suresh Kalmadi, convener of the Commonwealth Games, to relieve immediately T S Darbari and Dr Sanjay Mahindroo, senior officials holding high positions in the CWG Organising Committee, on alleged corruption charges.
The National Democratic Alliance on Monday gave separate privilege notices in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha against Sports Minister Ajay Maken's statement on the Commonwealth Games.
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.
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.
The Central Bureau of Investigation raided a dozen premises across Delhi on Thursday in connection with the alleged scam in Commonwealth Games overlays contracts. It included an office under the Union Sports Ministry, as it registered a fourth FIR naming a top Games official, V K Verma, for the second time.
The sources said the CBI raids started early in the morning and are focussed on four companies, which had acted as the Indian arm for the same number of international firms. The contracts were bagged by consortium of foreign and Indian firms.
The Congress on Thursday made it clear that it has no intention of interfering in the ongoing investigations in the Commonwealth Games scam, even if the Central Bureau of Investigation wanted to question CWG Organising Committee Chairman and Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi."Our party's stance is clear; it will not interfere in any criminal investigations that is being conducted by the CBI or any other agency. The law will take its own course," said a Cong leader.
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.
CBI on Monday registered two cases in connection with alleged irregularities during the Queen's Batons Relay in London and carried out searches at CWG Organising Committee's office and at residences of some of the Games' former officials.
Oscar winning music composer A R Rahman on Saturday launched the theme song of the Commonwealth Games with a rendering of "Oh yaaro, yeh India bula liya" at a glittering ceremony in Gurgaon.
The Central Bureau of Investigation was allowed by a Delhi court to quiz two former top officials of CWG Organising Committee, Lalit Bhanot and V K Verma, in custody for five days in connection with alleged irregularities in the Rs 107- crore deal with a Swiss firm for supply of timing, scoring and result (TSR) systems.
Casting a wider net, the CBI on Friday conducted searches at the premises of certain Organising Committee (OC) officials in Delhi in connection with the multi-crore CWG overlays scam.
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.
Facing severe criticism from the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG) organisers, Mike Hooper, the CEO of the mega event, described as "unfortunate and inappropriate" the comments made against him by CWG Organising Committee (OC) Chairman Suresh Kalmadi.
A Delhi court on Saturday sent former CWG Organising Committee official M Jayachandran to 11 days' judicial custody in the case related to alleged financial bungling in conduct of the Queen's Baton Relay (QBR) in London last year.
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'.
Commonwealth Games Federation has asked the CWG Organising Committee to furnish report from each of government agencies responsible for delivery of competition venues that they have secured certification from regulatory bodies on fire, health and safety of athletes by August 18, its CEO Mike Hooper said today.
"I have come to the CBI on directions of the Court. I am answering every questions being posed to me," Sanjay Mahendroo, Kalmadi's aide, told PTI. Asked if he is willing to turn an approver, Mahendroo said, "Then also (if he turns an approver) I will say the same things that I telling the CBI now."
The crisis-riden CWG has received a further jolt with two power PSUs, NTPC and PowerGrid, deciding to hold back their Rs 40 crore sponsorship money out of a combined committed sum of Rs 60 crore for the event.
Apparently trying to inject a sense of urgency into the preparations for next year's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, CWG Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi is eyeing to rope in Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi as "a leader for the Games".
The Games begin in Jakarta and Palembang in less than 10 days but the Indian contingent is yet to be known officially.
Sakina Khatun, who has not been included in the Indian contingent to represent the country at Commonwealth Games 2018 in the Gold Coast
In what would come as some relief for embattled shuttler Jwala Gutta, who is facing a life ban for alleged disciplinary breach, Sports Minister Jitendra Singh said he can look into her dispute with the Badminton Association of India if she approaches him.