New Delhi : As the month-long countdown for Commonwealth Games begins, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi on Friday voiced confidence that “hitches” will be overcome and the event will be a great success. The OC chief said there may be “hitches” here and there but everything is on track to host a “good Games” which take place exactly a month later. Mr. Kalmadi and Ms. Dikshit, participating in a Games publicity function, said all the ...
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New Delhi : The vuvuzela will be a force to reckon with at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in the city. That is, if the authorities at the stadia do not object. The horn that rocked the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa but triggered complaints of noise pollution will be among 29 products on sale as official merchandise for the Games. The merchandise was unveiled at the Organising Committee’s headquarters here on Thursday, with Organising Committee officials stressing that the products ...
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HYDERABAD : World chess champion Viswanathan Anand has refused to accept the honorary doctorate, which was to have been conferred on him by the University of Hyderabad (UoH) at a special convocation at the ongoing International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) 2010 here on Tuesday. “There is no way he is going to take the award now and during this congress,” Mr. Anand's agent, Abraham Kuruvilla, told reporters soon after the ICM's executive organising committee (EOC) and UoH, a central ...
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New Delhi : T.S. Darbari, the CWG Joint Director General who was sacked in the wake of the corruption scandals, on Wednesday sought to clear his name of any wrongdoing by saying that he was not involved in any of the dealings with A M Films and was being made a “scapegoat.” “My role in the London QBR launch was ceremonial. It had nothing to do with any negotiation of shortlisting of vendors or financial transaction or imbursement or recommendation of advance”, he said. “This is a ...
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Colombo : With the mercurial Virender Sehwag running hot, the third Test is on the boil. Once again, the punishing opener was high on octane and low on sympathy for the bowlers. Powered by Sehwag's spirit-lifting unbeaten 97 (87b, 17x4), India was 180 for two at stumps on an eventful second day at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium here on Wednesday. The in-form Sachin Tendulkar was on a solid 40 at stumps. Sri Lanka still has an edge but the Test holds interesting possibilities. The surface seemed ...
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New Delhi : Hit by allegations of corruption in the Commonwealth Games, the government on Sunday promised to take action against those found guilty even as another venue was inaugurated with a leaking roof. Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy was in damage control mode over the Central Vigilance Commission’s report on wide scale corruption in Games’ construction projects. “CVC has come out with preliminary remarks on the alleged irregularities in the construction of ...
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New Delhi : A major scam hit the Commonwealth Games on Friday with allegations being made that a substantial sum of money was transferred to a little known U.K. company from the Games Organising Committee (OC) about which the British government has raised questions. Television channels reported that over £ 4.50 lakh were transferred through a British bank to the A M Films company, said to be a one man show and which was also receiving £ 25,000 a month. ‘Times Now' quoted documents to show ...
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Colombo : Under pressure, chasing a massive total, Suresh Raina pulled off a rare feat, rubbing shoulders with some big cricketing names in the record books Suresh Raina today became the 12th Indian cricketer to score a Test century on debut with a fluent 120-run knock against Sri Lanka in the ongoing second Test here. Raina’s century comes nine years after Virender Sehwag achieved the similar feat against South Africa. The diminutive left-hander, who came in place of an unwell Yuvraj ...
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New Delhi : The Congress' irrepressible Mani Shankar Aiyar not so long ago, Union Sports Minister found himself in the middle of a first class controversy on Tuesday when his remark that he would be “unhappy” if the Commonwealth Games slated for October were a success, and that those who were patronising the Games were “evil,” generated responses, ranging from the guarded to hostile, from within his own party. “I am delighted in a way because rains are causing difficulties for the ...
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Galle : Legendary bowlers Shane Warne and Wasim Akram feel no bowler can come close to Muttiah Muralitharan?s amazing achievement of 800 Test wickets and that his record will remain unbeaten. Muralitharan, the Sri Lanka spin legend, bid adieu to Test cricket in a fantastic fashion as he took eight wickets in the first Test against India to go into the history books as first bowler to take 800-wickets. Writing on social networking site Twitter, Warne tweeted," Congrats to Murali on his 800th ...
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Galle : The occasion bristles with possibilities. Test cricket's most successful bowler will match his craft and mind with the batsmen for one last time. Off-spinning giant Muttiah Muralitharan will bid adieu to the five-day game after the first Test of the three-match series, beginning here on Sunday. Murali's farewell overshadows just about everything else in the contest. And the man with big, bold eyes, dexterous wrists, supple fingers and the heart of a lion is only eight short of ...
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Dehra Dun : Security arrangements in and around Kandoli village continued to remain even as captain of the Indian cricket team Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his newly-wedded wife Sakshi left for Ranchi today, a day after the couple's low-key marriage ceremony at a resort near here. Dhoni tied the nuptial knot with childhood friend Sakshi Singh Rawat yesterday in a private ceremony attended only by family members and close friends, including a few of his team-mates. The media persons continued to ...
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Dehradun : Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will tie the knot with childhood friend Sakshi Singh Rawat in a quiet ceremony at a farmhouse about 40km from here on Sunday night. The 28-year-old wicket-keeper batsman got engaged to Sakshi, a 23-year-old hotel management student, at a private ceremony last night. The wedding is also expected to be a private affair with only very close family members and friends, including Dhoni’s teammates Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra, attending. ...
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Hyderabad : Saina Nehwal, who had a dream run winning three international titles, including the Singapore Open and the Indonesian Open Super Series titles, in the last three weeks, said she can become the World No. 1 but the focus right now has to be on winning tournaments and not on rankings. The 20-year-old star player was accorded a warm reception on arrival at the Rajiv Gandhi Airport here on Tuesday. She drove from there in an open top, flower-decked jeep in the company of her sister, ...
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HYDERABAD : Saina Nehwal kept her date with history by becoming the first-ever Indian shuttler to win three Super Series titles when she downed a fighting Japanese Sayaka Sato 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 in the 45-minute final of the Indonesian Open Super Series in Jakarta on Sunday. The World No. 3 from India looked ominous to start with in the first game quickly wrapping up a 11-6 lead before the Japanese came back with some classy display at the net. But, as she has been doing of late so ...
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Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Srinivasan has hit out at suspended IPL boss Lalit Modi for giving unsatisfactory answers in the on-giong corruption case. Modi has been suspended from his position as Indian Premier League chairman after allegations of financial irregularities. Less than a week after Modi replied to the third show-cause notice, the secretary -in a six-page letter - said the reply was unacceptable, and he has handed the matter over to a disciplinary ...
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London : Sania Mirza's first campaign after the three-month injury lay-off at the Wimbledon was put to an end by Angelique Kerber of Germany here on Monday, Jun 21. Losing to 55th ranked Kerber 4-6, 1-6, India's ace tennis player made an exit from the very first round of the women singles event of the grass court Grand Slam tournament. But all is not over for the 113th ranked Indian as her double's campaign with Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark is still to come. Mirza and Wozniacki will be ...
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European champions Spain scored a comfortable 2-0 victory over Honduras, with David Villa scoring both goals in a one-sided game to eliminate the South Americans from the World Cup. Welcome to our coverage of the Spain v Honduras game. An important game for both teams, the loser almost certainly out of contention for the next round. Here are the teams: Spain: 1-Iker Casillas; 15-Sergio Ramos, 3-Gerard Pique, 5-Carles Puyol, 11-Joan Capdevila; 22-Jesus Navas, 14-Xabi Alonso, 8-Xavi, 16-Sergio ...
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Rustenburg (South Africa) : Just as South Africa opened their World Cup with a goal that will be remembered forever, so England, as is their wont, contrived to open theirs with a goalkeeping blunder that will never be forgotten. No sooner had Fabio Capello placed his confidence in Robert Green than his judgment was mocked by the sort of bungle no professional footballer can comfortably watch, an unforced error that allowed the USA back into a game on which England appeared to have a comfortable ...
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Johannesburg : Aaron Mokoena has had a season with many highs and lows. The South African team captain endured the uncertainty surrounding the financial future of his English Premier League club Portsmouth; he was instrumental in his side beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the semi-finals of the FA Cup; played in the cup final which they lost 1- 0 to Chelsea; and then saw his club relegated. But on Friday, the 29-year-old made history by leading his South African team-mates in the first-ever ...
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