No abatement in India’s domination

The script was on expected lines. And, at the conclusion of the 12th South Asian Games on Tuesday, Indian sport’s domination over other countries in the region continued as the host returned its best-ever medal count.

India had a haul of 308 medals, inclusive of 188 gold and 90 silver, which put to shade its previous best of 214 medals at the 2006 Games in Colombo. That Sri Lanka, which finished second, only had a total of 186 medals, should put in perspective the supremacy the home team enjoyed in the 22 disciplines across the venues here and in Shillong.

The resounding success at these Games is certain to have a major impact, popularity-wise at least, on Olympic disciplines in the country and raise hopes of an improved showing at the Rio Games when compared to London four years ago.

The display here is sure to put the onus back on the powers-that-be to infuse more resources into the system and unveil a robust youth development programme with greater emphasis on providing better coaching and scientific support than at present.

Youngsters to the fore
This, especially so, when one looks back at the superb performances unleashed by a string of youngsters who are bound to be the future sporting heroes of the country.

The exploits of javelin throwers Neeraj Chopra and Suman Devi, both touching personal bests, long distance runner L. Surya winning a double, young P.U. Chithra collaring her first international senior gold medal with a last ditch effort in the 1500m and Srabani Nanda ending Sri Lanka’s domination in sprints with an impressive showing in the 200m, was heart-warming.

The performances from the experienced Arokya Rajeev, Renjith Maheswary, Mayookha Johny, M.R. Poovamma and Gayathry Govindaraj also led India to its second-best show in track and field.

In the pool, like the past two editions, India encountered a stiff challenge from Sri Lanka swimmers led by Matthew Abeysinghe and Kimiko Raheem. But there were enough moments to cheer as Sandeep Sejwal, P.S. Madhu, V. Malavika and Damini K. Gowda showcased their talent and saved the country from total embarrassment

Indian lifters just pumped iron expectedly, with Sambo Lapong leading the way, while the archers and boxers made a clean sweep of the titles at stake. Teams in tennis, table tennis, triathlon, badminton, handball, volleyball, kabaddi and kho-kho also had a windfall.

The wrestlers were not left far behind, dropping just two of the 16 gold medals, with young Ravinder proving his mettle. Shuttler Ruthvika Shivani created a flutter by pulling off a coup against the favourite P.V. Sindhu in the women’s singles final.

And then, there was a bagful of gold medals from the shooters. Chain Singh enjoyed a memorable ride, coming up with three successive wins over a seasoned Gagan Narang, and young Yashaswini Singh Deswal emerged as the new face of Indian shooting and in line to follow in the footsteps of Apurvi Chandela, Anjum Moudgil and Shweta Singh.

Slightly removed from these pleasing takeaways were the losses suffered in men’s hockey and football, though the setback suffered against Pakistan in hockey can be excused as India was in only with a totally scratch combination as the much-delayed Games clashed with the Hockey India League. Over-confidence did have a major say in India’s defeat to Nepal in football as was the case in men’s squash.

Unfortunate too was the cancellation of the basketball competitions as the bickering between the Indian Olympic Association and the Basketball Federation of India led to FIBA asking teams to not participate.

Not far removed was the apathy of the State government towards the Games in the background of an Organizing Committee thrust on it by the Union Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs and the upcoming Assembly elections. This led to a shoddy organisation and poor crowd support because of an intrusive security canopy. However, in the end, Indian sport came through as the winner as the host crossed the threshold marks of a 1000 gold medals and 2000 in total at the Games.

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Sushma Swaraj leaves for two-day visit to Sri Lanka

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday left for Colombo on a two-day visit during which she is expected to discuss the fishermen’s issue and rights of minority Tamils with the top Sri Lankan leadership.

Ms. Swaraj and her Sri Lankan counterpart Mangala Samaraweera will co-chair the 9th Joint Commission meeting to discuss key bilateral and regional issues in Colombo later today.

The discussions will cover the entire gamut of relationship pertaining to economic cooperation, trade, power and energy, technical and maritime cooperation, social, cultural and educational matters, science and technology, defence cooperation, health, civil aviation, tourism and people-to-people contact.

The joint commission was set up in 1992 as a mechanism to address issues of bilateral cooperation. The last meeting of the Joint Commission was held in New Delhi in January 2013.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup had said yesterday that the fishermen issue is expected to figure during Swaraj’s meeting with the Lankan leaders.

The fishermen issue continues to be a major irritant in the India-Sri Lanka ties.

Though the fishermen’s associations of the two sides are in regular touch with each other, they have not been able to reach a mutually-acceptable solution to end this problem, Mr. Swarup had said, adding that India wants a long-term solution.

Sri Lanka accuses Indian fishermen of straying into its territorial waters, while the latter maintain they are only fishing in their traditional areas, especially around Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Colombo in 1974.

The issue of rights of minority Tamil community is also expected to come up for discussions during Ms. Swaraj’s meetings.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had last month said his government was ready to devolve power to minority Tamils under a new Constitution, aimed at resolving the ethnic conflict and achieving reconciliation with Tamils.

Ms. Swaraj will also call on President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and former president Chandrika Kumaratunga besides meeting other top leaders.

She will inaugurate a ‘Rise of Digital India’ exhibition on Saturday as part of ‘Sangam’ festival of India in Sri Lanka 2015-2016.

The exhibition will showcase the phenomenal rise of the computing sector and digital technologies in India, which is positively impacting the everyday lives of people.

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Sri Lanka’s Northern Province Governor on the way out?

The Northern Province, where Tamils constitute a predominant section of the population, may soon get a new Governor.

The incumbent, H.M.G.S. Palihakkara, has conveyed to the government about his willingness to leave the post. Enquiries made in Colombo and Jaffna reveal that the government is expected to make an announcement shortly in this regard.

Asked about his possible exit, the Governor, who has held the post for a year, told The Hindu that at the time of his appointment, the understanding was that he would be there for six months.

“I have completed the agreed time. In fact, I have overstayed,” he said, quipping that “there is no story [about his leaving the job].” He emphasized that he would like to “resume my retirement”.

Mr. Palihakkara retired as Foreign Secretary in December 2006. He assumed charge as Governor of the Northern Province in February 2015.

Mr Palihakkara’s immediate predecessor as Governor was Maj. Gen. (retired) G.A. Chandrasiri, who was in office since mid-July 2009. He had earlier served as the Security Forces Commander, Jaffna.

Controversial post
Gen. Chandrasiri’s presence in the post-conflict North, which was the centre of the 26-year-long civil war, was a subject of controversy. The Tamil National Alliance and other parties had made his ouster one of their major demands. Mr. Palihakkara replaced him immediately after Mr. Sirisena had won the 2015 presidential election.

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INS Vikramaditya’s maiden overseas port call to Colombo

On Thursday morning, INS Vikramaditya, India’s largest naval ship serving as an aircraft carrier, made its maiden overseas halt here in Colombo, marking the first visit by an Indian naval ship to the capital of Sri Lanka in 30 years.

Replying to a question by The Hindu, Captain Krishna Swaminathan of INS Vikramaditya, told visiting journalists that according to information provided by Sri Lanka’s Navy Commander, this was also for the first time that an aircraft carrier had come to Colombo after 42 years.

Then leave for Vizag

Till Friday, the ship would remain here before leaving for Visakhapatnam, India, to participate in an international fleet review to be hosted by the Indian Navy in February.  It is over 285 metres long and 60 metres wide with her 23 decks scaling a height of 60 metres. The accompanying ship, INS Mysore, is a frontline missile destroyer made in India.

Equipped with a variety of integral weapons and sensors, INS Vikramaditya operates a versatile range of high-performance aircraft, such as the MiG 29K fighter aircraft, KM 31 Airborne Early Warning helicopters, multi-role Sea King helicopters and utility Chetak helicopters. It was purchased from Russia and commissioned into the Indian Navy in November 2013.

Goodwill visit

Captain Swaminathan, who described the visit of INS Vikramaditya as a “goodwill visit,” pointed out that the Indian Navy had a “very, very cordial” relationship with the Sri Lankan Navy. 

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