Indian wresters now can’t compete under Tricolour as WFI membership suspended on world stage

News Network
August 25, 2023

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United World Wrestling (UWW), the world governing body for wrestling, has suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for not conducting its elections on time, a decision that will not allow the country’s grapplers to compete at the upcoming World Championships under the Tricolour.

The Indian wrestlers will have to compete as ‘neutral athletes’ at the Olympic-qualifying event, starting September 16 in Serbia, as the ad-hoc panel, led by Bhupender Singh Bajwa, did not honour the 45-day deadline for conducting the elections.

Hence, performances at the Championships will not be counted as India’s.

The development has come a day before the World Championships trials in Patiala.

The WFI polls have been long overdue, after the term of its former president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment, ended earlier this year.

Originally, the WFI was to hold elections on May 7 but the sports ministry had declared the process null and void. Subsequently, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) installed an ad-hoc panel on April 27 to run the sport in the country. On April 28, UWW warned that it could suspend WFI if the deadline was not honoured.

The polls were postponed twice owing to court orders. The most recent being on August 11, a day before the elections were to be held, when the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued a stay order following a plea by two WFI-affiliated units.

Among the candidates in the fray are Brijbhushan’s confidante Sanjay Singh and former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anita Sheoran.

“The UWW communicated to the ad-hoc panel on Wednesday night that WFI has been suspended for not holding elections to its executive committee,” an IOA source said.

Ad-hoc panel member Gian Singh told PTI they are being kept in the dark by Bajwa on developments and that they are not part of decision-making anymore.

“I have also heard that WFI has been suspended but I can’t tell you what the ad-hoc panel will do now.

“Mr Bajwa does not call us for discussion anymore. I did not even know how the criteria were finalised for the Worlds trials,” Gian said.

The wrestlers, though, can compete under the Indian flag at the Asian Games since it’s the IOA that has sent entries and not the WFI. 

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News Network
April 26,2024

Palakkad: Three voters from Palakkad, Malappuram and Alappuzha, and a polling agent in Kozhikode died in seperate incidents in Kerala on Friday.

A man collapsed and died after casting his vote at Vani Vilasini in Chunangad, Ottapalam here on Friday. The deceased Chandran (68) hailed from Modernkattil  in Chunangad. Though rushed to the Ottapalam taluk hopsital, he was declared dead on arrival. Palakkad had recorded a high temperature of 40 degree Celsius on Thursday.

A Madrassa teacher, who came home after voting, collapsed and died. The deceased Alikkannakkal Tharakkal Siddhique (63) was the first voter at the polling station in Vallikkanjiram School at Niramaruthur Grama Panchayat in Tirur.

Kakkazham Veiliparambu Somarajan (82), who voted and returned home from the Kakkazham SN VT High School in Alappuzha also collapsed and died. He was a voter from booth 138.

In another instance, a polling agent died after collapsing at a booth in Kuttichira, Kozhikode on Friday. Maliyekkal Anees (66), a retired KSEB engineer from Haluwa Bazaar, was LDF's polling agent at the 16th booth in Kuttichira Government Vocational Higher Secondary School. He collapsed while doing his duty in the polling booth by 8.30 am. Though rushed to the Government General Hospital, he died by 9.15am. He is survived by wife Adakkani Veettil Zereena, childrens  Fayis Ahammed, Fadhil Ahammed, Akhil Ahammed and Bilal Ahammed.

A man also died in bike accident en route to polling booth in Malappuram on Friday. The deceased is Saidu Haji (75) of Neduvan. The bike rammed a lorry near BM School in Parappanangadi.

Polling began at 7am in all 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala on Friday. 

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News Network
May 4,2024

Mangaluru, May 4: The Mangaluru International Airport was besieged with a harrowing message of terror recently, when an email, purportedly from malevolent elements, menacingly declared the planting of bombs within the airport premises. 

Addressed to the office of the airport authority, the missive, steeped in ominous overtones, bore the ominous signature of a terrorist faction, ominously named 'Terrorizers 111'.

The communication, disseminated in English, ominously detailed the clandestine emplacement of explosives in areas eluding facile detection, accompanied by a chilling warning of their imminent detonation. The threat, ominously looming over not only the infrastructure but also the airborne vessels, portended a catastrophic deluge of bloodshed and loss.

In response to this dire communiqué, airport authorities swiftly engaged the apparatus of law enforcement, dispatching urgent alerts to the vigilant guardians of public safety. Acting upon the dictates of higher echelons, a formal dossier of this menacing correspondence was meticulously compiled, cloaked in the veil of confidentiality to thwart any premature dissemination.

Mangaluru International Airport found itself in grim camaraderie with more than 30 counterparts under the aegis of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and private domains, all recipients of this chilling electronic diatribe. A comprehensive net of precautionary measures was swiftly cast, fortifying the bastions of security in anticipation of any nefarious designs lurking within the shadows.

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News Network
May 6,2024

Mangaluru, May 6: A five-year-old girl from Arendur village of Siddapura taluk of Uttara Kannada district died of Kyasanur Forest Disease (monkey fever) recently.

As her health deteriorated, she was admitted to the KMC Hospital in Mangaluru, where she failed to respond to the treatment and died on Friday night.

It is learned that the KFD is slowly spreading to the newer areas of coastal and malnad areas of Karnataka

According to officials, KFD spreads due to bites of ticks that generally survive on monkeys. This tick bites humans which causes the infection. Humans also contract the disease by coming in contact with cattle bitten by ticks.

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