January – Persons, Places in News

Injeti Srinivas Committee to frame National Sports Code

The Union Sports Ministry has constituted committee to frame comprehensive National Sports Development Code across sports disciplines. It will be headed by Injeti Srinivas, Sports Secretary.

The committee will study the existing sports governance frame work, issues relating to sports governance in the country, recent developments related to sports governance.

It will also study court judgments and international best practices and make recommendations on bringing out a comprehensive code across sports disciplines.

Members of the Committee: Abhinav Bindra (Olympian), Anju Bobby George (Olympian), Praksh Padukone, (eminent sports person), Narinder Batra (President, FIH), Nandan Kamath (Lawyer), Bishweshwar Nandi (Coach) and Vijay Lokpally (Sports Journalist). The committee will:

• Identify basic universal principles of ethics and good governance based on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Charter, international best practices.
• Study draft National Sports Development Bill, National Sports Development Code, 2011, Supreme Court and High Court judgments related to issues of good governance in administration of sports in country.

Make specific recommendations for bringing out a comprehensive National Sports Code to address the issues of governance pertaining to the National Sports Federations and National Olympic Committee.

Antonio Tajani elected as President of European Parliament

Italian conservative Antonio Tajani was elected the new President of the European Parliament (EP). In the elector contest of four rounds, he defeated another Italian socialist Gianni Pitella by securing 351 votes against 282. Antonio Tajani will succeed Germany’s Martin Schulz and head the parliament for the next two-and-a-half years. Tajani is a former spokesman for Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi and an ex-European commissioner. The EU Parliament president chairs the plenary sessions of the legislature and is the face of the parliament in the EU and on the international stage. The European Parliament (EP) is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the EU. It exercises the legislative function of the EU along with the Council of the European Union (the Council) and the European Commission. The Parliament is composed of 751 members who are directly elected. EP represents the world’s second largest democratic electorate (after the Parliament of India) and the largest trans-national democratic electorate in the world.

Serena Williams wins 2017 Australian Open title

American professional tennis player Serena Williams won the 2017 Australian Open title in the women’s singles category. In the final match, she defeated her sister Venus Williams by 6-4, 6-4 score.  It was her seventh Australian Open title and overall record 23rd Grand Slam title in the professional era. She is the only tennis player in history to have won singles titles at least 6 times in three of the four Grand Slam tournaments. She is the only tennis player who has won 10 Grand Slam singles titles in two separate decades. Now, Margaret Court of Australia, with 24 is the only woman player ahead of Serena Williams in terms of Grand Slam singles titles

Roger Federer wins 2017 Australian Open title

Swiss professional tennis player Roger Federer (35) won the 2017 Australian Open title in the men’s singles category. In the final match, he defeated Spain’s Rafael Nadal by 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6 and 6-3 score. It was his 5th Australian Open title and overall 18th Grand slam title. It was 6-3 head to head record in Grand Slam summit clash between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. With this victory, Roger Federer became the only male tennis player who had won five or more tittles at in three of the four. He has won 5 Australian Open titles, 7 Wimbledon titles, 5 US Open titles and 1 French Open title. Currently, he is ranked world No. 10 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

PV Sindhu wins 2017 Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold Title

Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu has won her maiden Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament title in women’s singles category. In the final match held at Lucknow, Sindhu defeated Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska by 21-13, 21-14 score.  In this edition of tournament, India won three titles out of the five events.

Saina Nehwal wins 2017 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold title

Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal won the 2017 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold title in the women’s singles category. It was her overall 23rd title.  In the final match held at the Sibu Indoor Stadium in Sarawak, Malaysia she defeated Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong by 22-20, 22-20 score.

Kapil Dev inducted into Legends Club Hall of Fame

Cricket icon Kapil Dev was inducted into Legends Club ‘Hall of Fame’ at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai, Mahrashtra. He was presented with a citation by former India player and Legends Club President Madhav Apte. Kapil Dev had led India to the emphatic World Cup victory in 1983, is considered as the country’s greatest all-rounder. Sunil Gavaskar, who was the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket, was also presented a citation. He already has been inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame on July 11, 2013.

India wins 2016 SAFF women’s Championship

India won 2016 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Football Championship title by defeating Bangladesh by 3-1 goals. It was India’s fourth consecutive win in the SAFF women’s Championship since it was launched in 2010. This was Bangladesh’s maiden final appearance in the championship. For India, the goals were scored by Dangmei Grace, Sasmita Malik and Indumathi. Bangladesh’s lone goal came through Sirat Jahan. SAFF Women’s Championship is held every two years. In this tournament, 8 SAFF members Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka compete.

Arthur Morris inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

Former Australian cricketer Arthur Morris was inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame. He was given the honour posthumously.He was inducted by former Australian captain Steve Waugh during the tea break on the opening day of the third Test between Australia and Pakistan in Sydney. With this, he became the 22nd Australian and 82nd player overall to feature in the list. Morris had played 46 matches scoring 3,533 runs for Australia from 1946 to 1955. The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises the achievements of the legends from the game of cricket. Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Bishan Bedi and Anil Kumble are the Indian cricketers who are part of the elite list.

Naqsh Lyallpuri : Urdu Poet and Lyricist

Renowned Urdu poet and lyricist Naqsh Lyallpuri passed away. He was aged 88. He was born as Jaswant Rai Sharmaon 24 February 1928 in Layallpur Punjab (now in Pakistan). Since his childhood, he was inclined towards Urdu literature. He got his first ever break as a lyricist in the 1952 film ‘Jaggu’ where he had given lyrics to the song ‘Agar Teri Aakhon Se Aakhein Mila Doon’. Since then, he went on to be the lyricist for films like ‘Chetna’,’Tumhare Liye’, ‘Aahista Aahista’ and ‘Gharonda’ amongest many others. In 2005, he had written lyrics for the ‘Taj Mahal- An eternal love story’ and also for ‘Yaatra’ in 2006.

Eugene Cernan: Last man to walk on Moon passes away

American astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, the last man to walk on Moon, passed away at the age of 82. He had landed on Moon in December 1972 during NASA’s Apollo 17 mission, the last mission to the moon. He was the eleventh person to land on Moon. He is also best remembered as commander of Apollo 17. He was the second American to walk in space and one of three men to have flown twice to the moon.

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani: Former Iran President

Former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani passed away after suffering from heart attack. He was 82. He was 4th President of Iran from 1989 to 1997. Rafsanjani was a key figure in the foundation of the Islamic republic in 1979 and leading figure in the Iran’s politics since the 1980s. He had played key role in ending Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) and was considered main mover behind Iran’s acceptance of UNSC resolution for ending war. He also had headed the Iran’s Expediency Council, a body which is intended to resolve disputes between the parliament and the Guardian Council. He was also key player in development of Iran’s nuclear programme. Although, he was a part of the religious establishment, he was regarded as a “pragmatic conservative” open to improving ties to the West.

Sports Ministry reconstitutes committee to identify athletes under TOP Scheme

The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has reconstituted TOP committee with objective of identifying and supporting potential medal prospects for 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games under Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme.

The committee will be headed by Abhinav Bindra, Olympic Gold Medalist. Its members are Anil Khanna, Prakash Padukone, Karnam Malleshwari, P. T. Usha, Murlidhar Raja, Anjali Bhagwat, Rekha Yadav, Dr. S.S. Roy and Inder Dhamija.

Key Facts

• The committee will select elite athletes to provided financial assistance for their customized training at Institutes having world class facilities and other necessary support.
• It will decide on its own procedures and will be competent to invite subject experts as and when required. It will have initial tenure of one year.

About TOP (Target Olympic Podium) Scheme

• The TOP Scheme was formulated by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports within the overall ambit of National Sports Development Fund (NSDF).
• Its objective is to identify and support potential medal prospects for 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. Under the scheme the selected athletes are provided financial assistance for their customized training at Institutes.
• These sports institutes will have world class facilities and other necessary support to improve performance and higher position in medals tally for the country. Under it benchmark for selection of athletes is in relation to international standards.

India’s first Post Office Passport Seva Kendra inaugurated in Mysuru

India’s first Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) was inaugurated at the Mysuru Head Post office in Karnataka. The POPSK will offer all passport related services on the lines of PSKs (Passport Seva Kendras). For this initiative, Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has tied up with the postal department. The purpose of POPSK is to expand the passport services over a wide area, simplify the process to travel abroad and to offer passport related services through a network of post offices.

India’s first multi-sports museum: Kolkata

India’s first multi-sports museum was inaugurated in Kolkata, capital of West Bengal. The museum entire project took shape under aegis of Harshvardhan Neotia, Chairman of the Ambuja Neotia Group. It is spread over 6700 square feet  and has amazing collection of sports memorabilia ranging from the gloves that Sachin Tendulkar wore while scoring his 100th hundred, a boot owned by Lionel Messi to a chess board signed by Vishwanathan Anand. It also has an impressive collection painstakingly gathered by cricket historian Boria Majumdar for over 25 years. It also display’s books written by KS Ranjitsinhji such as ‘The Jubilee Book of cricket’ and an anthology by PN Polishwalla.

Second capital of Himachal Pradesh: Dharamshala

Himachal Pradesh Government has declared Dharamsala as the second capital of the hill state with a population of about 70 lakh. Henceforth winter session of state legislature will be held in Dharamshala. Himachal Pradesh is third state in India to have two capitals after Maharashtra (Mumbai, Nagpur) and Jammu and Kashmir (Srinagar, Jammu).

India’s first cashless island : Karang

Karang, a small lake island in Manipur, became the first cashless island in India. It was announced by the Union ministry of Electronics and Information Technology after island fulfilled necessary criteria under its Digital India programme. Most of the families living on Karang island have opted for cashless transactions. So far, 400 beneficiaries, 16 merchants, including 6 motor boat service providers, have registered themselves. The Karang island is located in the middle of Loktak lake, the largest freshwater lake in Northeast India. Earlier in 2015, Akodara a village in Gujarat, had attained the unique status to be India’s first digital village.