2019 became a 'Year to Remember' in Indian sports for trailblazing performances in Olympic disciplines
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Katulu Ravi Kumar and N Soniya Chanu will represent India in the weightlifting competition at the London Olympics.
This time round, even 'petrol coupons' were reportedly distributed for those attending campaign rallies, especially those addressed by top leaders, cutting across party lines. If this owed to the rising cost of petrol and diesel -- which is a poll issue this time -- there were the customary coupons for 'quarter' (liquor bottle size) and non-vegetarian biryani. Some media reports claimed that some of these 'crowds' attended more than one political rally on the same day in the last week, and at times for rival political parties in adjoining constituencies or districts, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
The Supreme Court on Monday granted four more months to the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission's (TNSEC) for concluding the poll process for the urban local bodies' elections in the state.
Spinner Deepti Sharma bowled three maiden overs in her four-over quota, apart from taking three wickets, as the Indian women team edged past South Africa by 11 runs in the first T20 International.
Postponement of shooting tournaments, cancellation of trials and training camps hardly matter at this point to one of India's biggest young achievers in sport, Manu Bhaker, who is hoping to see the world win the battle against the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has cast serious doubts over the Tokyo Olympic Games but the 18-year-old, a medal prospect at the quadrennial extravaganza, is currently not thinking about things that are beyond her control.
Prasad also attacked the previous United Progressive Alliance government for letting the women's reservation bill, introduced by it, lapse.
India's five-time World Champion M C Mary Kom got the seventh seeding and a first-round bye in the draw for the World Women's Boxing Championships in Qinhuangdao, China -- the first and only qualifying event for the sport ahead of its historic Olympic debut in London.
US, China and Japan have no quotas for women and have had the lowest increase in female directors.
Six-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) qualified for Tokyo Olympics by advancing to the semi-final with a comfortable win over Philippines' Irish Magno, at the Asia/Oceania Qualifiers in Amman, on Monday. World number one Amit Panghal (52kg) qualified for his maiden Olympic Games, while Manish Kaushik (63kg) remained in the hunt for a Tokyo ticket despite losing his quarter-final bout.
The 2010 CWG bronze medallist Monika Devi was the best placed Indian so far at the ongoing Senior Asian Weightlifting Championships with a sixth place finish but an Olympic quota remains elusive for the country.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday said he has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the state.
Dev also attacked Narendra Modi government for imposing '12 per cent' GST on sanitary napkins, which she said 'runs contrary' to the government's 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign.
Abhishek Verma and Jyothi Surekha Vennam claimed the top honours in compound mixed pair event to fetch India's only gold medal at the 21st Asian Archery Championships.
Ranked fourth in the qualification round, Deepika found the going tough against the second seed, who produced fine shooting, including a flawless third set to clinch the match 6-0 in her favour.
Laggards at the world stage, the 27-member Indian team was not expected to win any medal but it performed better than expected in this World Championships with three finalists.
On the men's side, the fields have already been divided into two ATP 250 tournaments.
Indian weightlifter Sanjita Chanu said she will challenge the provisional suspension imposed on her for allegedly failing a dope test, insisting that she is innocent.
Vijayveer Sidhu, 16, shot a gold in the 25m standard pistol event for junior men after combining with Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu and Adarsh Singh to claim the team gold on the last day of the ISSF World Championships.
It is all about a C and C model -- of choices and consequences -- for women. Women make choices about their lives and for each of them there will be consequences, Shell India Lubricants MD Mansi Madan Tripathy tells Jyoti Mukul.
India's shooting ace Apurvi Chandela attained the World No 1 position in the women's 10m air rifle event while compatriot Anjum Moudgil rose to second.
After threatening to consume poison if the Women's Reservation Bill is passed by the Parliament in its current form, Janata Dal - United chief Sharad Yadav on Saturday demanded separate quota for those belonging to the backward castes. "I am not asking for a reservation of 33 per cent (for women), it could be even 50 per cent. But ground realities should not be overlooked. Weaker sections among women face more difficulty," he said.
If purists are surprised as to why and how people are not demanding prohibition or not talking about past promises, both in the election manifestos five years back and even those made to the courts, the answer lies in how the state has been evolving and changing these past few years, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Stumbling blocks teach a lot and should be taken as stepping stones.'
Even with the elevation of Nirmala Sitharaman to the post of defence minister, the party still needs to redress the gender imbalance and fill the 33 per cent quota in posts.
The silver and two bronze at the 2019 World Championships took India's overall count to eight medals in the premier biennial competition.
Saloni Dhumne and Atreya Raghavan speak to young India to find out who their LGBTQ heroes are.
Catch up on everything that happened in the country, in images.
The real battle for NEET abolition can take much more time and energy, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Neymar and Mbappe satins are Paris fashion must-haves.
'The WFI has taken a decision in principle to let these wrestlers prepare on their own and not disturb them. On their requests, we have decided to let them skip the trials as they are best bets in their weight categories and hardly face any competition'
Another FIR was registered on Friday against unknown persons following a complaint by a Delhi-based resident on the alleged gangrape by Jat agitators in Haryana's Sonipat district.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist weightlifter Sanjita Chanu has failed a dope test, the international federation said on Thursday.
An Olympic quota place pocketed, Indian boxer Shiva Thapa (56kg) ended his campaign with a silver medal after losing in the final of the Asian/Oceania Qualifying Tournament Qian'an, China on Friday. The 22-year-old Assamese, who is a World Championship bronze-medallist, went down 0-3 to Thailand's Chatchai Butdee in the summit clash. Butdee is the reigning Asian champion. Shiva had booked his ticket to Rio de Janeiro by making the finals yesterday after beating Kazakhstan's Kairat Yeraliyev. Meanwhile, it was a heartbreak once again for L Devendro Singh (49kg), who missed a second opportunity to qualify for the Olympics. The Commonwealth silver-medallist, who lost in the semifinals a day prior, went down in the box-off for the Olympic slot on Friday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel has again postponed his 'reverse Dandi March', scheduled for Sunday, to September 15, claiming that he has been invited by a Cabinet minister for a meeting with the state chief minister on the issue.
Announcing sops for minorities ahead of the panchayat elections next year in the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that her government has ordered a survey for ensuring job reservation for Muslims and would also bring a bill for 50 per cent reservation for women in panchayats.
Dutee, who missed the original entry standard of 11.26 seconds, got an invite from the IAAF as the target number of 56 athletes for women's 100m event was yet to be reached for the August 4-13 World Championships in London.
Four 20km race walkers -- two men and two women -- have already been named from the separate national championships held in New Delhi in February.
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