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India sets its eyes on Olympics 2016

     New Delhi: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said on Thursday that India would bid for the Olympic games to be held in 2016. IOA President, Suresh Kalmadi said that India would go for the bid, but the country needs to get some medals home to be in the reckoning. Kalmadi added that, facilities are being added to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. India will hold the Commonweath Games for the first time in 2010. Before India, only one country from Asia has got the opportunity to hold the Commonwealth games, it was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1998. With a population of more than 1.2 billion, India is the largest country in the Commonwealth. "Olympics yes, I have no doubt in my mind, if we can successfully hold the Commonwealth Games, Delhi can host the 2016 Olympics and we will work for that. But we have to win medals, it is not enough, we are the country," Kalmadi told delegates in a conference on "Commonwealth Games 2010: Opportunities for Delhi", in the national capital. He said that New Delhi would also bid for the Asian Games 2014. Millions of dollars are being spent upgrading the city's overloaded infrastructure for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The event will draw tens of thousands of tourists, competitors, officials and journalists, giving a major boost to the economy. New Delhi had failed in its bid to host the 1994 edition which went to Victoria, Canada but had argued this time that the Games should be taken out of Britain, Australia and Canada which have hosted most of them since they were launched in 1930.

Pak wants 5,000 tickets for Delhi ODI (Go To Top)

     Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has requested the Indian cricket board to allocate 5,000 tickets for Pakistani fans for the last One-day international between India and Pakistan to be played on April 17 in Delhi. According to a PCB official, the request had been sent, but the PCB is yet to receive any reply from its Indian counterpart. "The board was aware of the great interest being shown by Pakistanis for the ODI's especially the one in New Delhi, the city nearest to Pakistan", The Dawn quoted the official as saying. About 3500 Pakistanis witnessed the first Test at Mohali; however, no visa was issued for the second Test held at Kolkatta.

Pak fans more keen on shopping, sightseeing than cricket (Go To Top)

     Bangalore: Pakistani cricket fans seemed more interested in shopping, sightseeing and meeting friends, than watching Inzi score a splendid hundred in his 100th test appearance on the first day of the third test at Bangalore. Although the American Express offices in Pakistan sold 990 tickets for the final Test in Bangalore, with the same number of visas being issued by the Indian High Commission, the Chinnaswamy stadium witnessed hardly 50 Pakistanis who were there to cheer their team, The News reported. According to an official of the Karnataka Cricket Association, after receiving figures from the American Express KCA dedicated a separate enclosure with all the comforts for some 990 Pakistanis. "But we were surprised to see only around 40 or 50 in the stands, perhaps some of them have not been able to make it to Bangalore as yet or some thought it better to go shopping, sightseeing or to meet relatives and friends," he remarked. "But our arrangements are complete and perhaps tomorrow we might have more visitors from Pakistan especially since now they are in a strong position," he added. Although some 3000 Pakistanis were issued visas for the first Test in Mohali, a similar situation was witnessed there with only a few hundred showing up at the stadium while the rest preferring to do other things in town.

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