New Delhi: Sports Minister Jitendra Singh Friday said that the government would set up 25 Centres of Excellence with an aim to make India among the top five sporting nations in the world by 2024. Speaking at the conference of Sports Ministers and Secretaries of States/UTs, Jitendra said he dreamed of an India in which sports is a way of life and "a lucrative career option".
"Sports Authority of India will set up 25 Centres of Excellence or COX across the country. Each COX will specialise in 3 to 4 sports disciplines. The government of India will also set up one Centre of Excellence each of sports medicine and sports coaching," he said.
Jitendra said that his aim was to see India among the first 10 sporting nations in the world by 2020 and among top five by 2024. He also said that the PYKKA programme will be revamped under which sports complexes will be built at the block level across the country.
"My Ministry is working towards revamping PYKKA. The big difference in the revised PYKKA will be at block level. The central government will give states the funds to create a full sports complex. There will be football grounds, athletic tracks, courts for volleyball, basketball, badminton, kho-kho, kabaddi etc," said Jitendra....
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04:05 PM, May 24, 2013
Mumbai: His confidence left shaken after getting just five games with the reserves for Sporting Lisbon, Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri has now taken a more pragmatic approach and would hold talks with the Portuguese club about his future before embarking on a second stint. "I am not used to sitting out. All my life, I have been playing for club and country regularly all 90 minutes.It plays on my...
03:35 PM, May 24, 2013
London: Reports of smoke coming out the rear of a plane caused chaos at London's Heathrow Airport and forced the authorities to shut down two runways on Friday. A British Airways flight, on way to Oslo, was forced to make an emergency landing and all passengers were safely evacuated. One of the two runways was opened later on and the aircraft took off from London safely. Authorities ruled out any...
02:27 PM, May 24, 2013
Even as Sports Minister Jitendra Singh said the the functioning of the IPL and the BCCI do not come under the Sports Ministry, he added that the government is thinking of ways to bring more transparency in Indian sports. ...
02:25 PM, May 24, 2013
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will pay a three-day visit to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia starting from Friday, the first visit by an Indian foreign minister in the last five years, during which the kingdom's Nitaqat work policy, regional and international issues would be discussed. As many as 56,700 Indians face deportation from Saudi Arabia in the next one-and-half months and ten officials have been dispatched to the...
06:15 AM, May 24, 2013
New Delhi: As many as 56,700 Indians face deportation from Saudi Arabia in the next one-and-half months and ten officials have been dispatched to the kingdom to help the Indian mission prepare emergency certificates for their exit, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Thursday. "As of now, 56,700 Indians have registered with the Indian mission for getting exit permits as they have no valid passports or other travel documents,"...
05:05 AM, May 24, 2013
As the spot-fixing and betting scandal spreads, the focus is once again on the big names in Indian cricket. Politicians cutting across party lines have for years been cricket administrators. ...
07:53 PM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: Detailing economic growth during the UPA regime, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday the slowdown in 2012 was "temporary" and a longer term view would show that India has notched up an average "8 per cent growth" in the past nine years. The prime minister, presenting the ruling United Progressive Alliance-II's report card, said the economic situation was "turning around" and economic growth rate in 2013-14 could...
02:44 AM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: The UPA government listed ushering the process of digitisation of the cable sector as one of its leading achievements in its report card that was presented to the people on Wednesday. The government said it had implemented digitisation in the Phase I cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata along with 38 cities which come under the second phase. It said that by choosing digital cable, the country would...
01:04 AM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: The record loading of 1010 million tonnes freight and slight improvement of punctuality and safety have been listed as major achievements of the Railway Ministry during the year by the UPA government. Besides ongoing rail expansion, execution of Dedicated Freight Corridor work and introduction of bio-toilets have also found mention in the UPA's Report to the People for the year 2012-13. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released the UPA...
12:45 AM, May 23, 2013
New Delhi: Free press and active civil society put pressure on the government for early and decisive action in addressing weaknesses in governance and sometimes it leads to "hasty judgement", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday night. "We are the world's largest democracy with a very free Press and an increasingly active civil society movement. These are our strengths," Singh said. "But they do put pressure for early and...
11:24 PM, May 22, 2013
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) termed the UPA's report card as a "non-report card" that hid all the scams and revealed only what was convenient to the ruling dispensation. The Opposition party also lashed out at the UPA for "blaming it for its own failures". "The UPA's report card is a non report card. It hides all the scams and reveals only the convenient. More importantly, Congress is...
11:17 PM, May 22, 2013
New Delhi: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was the cynosure of all eyes at the UPA anniversary function in 2012, was conspicuous by his absence on Wednesday. Instead, the pride of place was taken by Bahujan Samaj Party's Satish Chandra Mishra and Brajesh Pathak who did not attend the presentation of the 'Report to the People' but came in time for dinner. No leader or MP from Samajwadi...
10:32 PM, May 22, 2013
The Opposition launched a scathing attack on the government which completed its nine years in power on Wednesday. ...
10:29 PM, May 22, 2013
As UPA-II presents its 'Report to the People', Bhupendra Chaubey asks a team of experts what is the road ahead for the government. ...
09:41 PM, May 22, 2013
New Delhi: Seeking to dispel the perception of gloom amidst scams and controversies, the UPA on Wednesday painted a rosy picture of its government's performance during the last nine years. In the 'Report to the People', released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the fourth anniversary of the UPA-II, the government maintained that allegations of impropriety were being investigated and that the guilty would be...
09:23 PM, May 22, 2013
New Delhi: The BCCI on Wednesday rejected Sahara Group's claim that it had failed to expedite the arbitration process to reduce franchisee fee, saying that it has acted as per the rules and was not responsible for the situation. A day after Sahara Group pulled out of the IPL, citing BCCI's decision to encash its bank guarantee following a prolonged financial dispute, the BCCI came out with its version saying...
07:10 PM, May 22, 2013
New Delhi: Sports Minister Jitender Singh has said the ongoing spot-fixing controversy has not just given a bad name to cricket but also to sports as a whole. Talking exclusively to CNN-IBN, the minister said, with greater money in cricket, it must be ensured that there should be more responsibility by all. Singh also said there was no need to stop the IPL, but there should be checks and balances,...
06:46 PM, May 22, 2013
