95 officials to accompany 84 Paris Paralympics participants to look after their "special needs"
New Delhi (PTI): The 84-member Indian contingent taking part in the Paris Paralympics beginning on August 28 will be accompanied by 95 officials as many participants will have their personal coaches and escorts travelling with them to take care of their special needs.
The total strength of the Indian contingent will thus have 179 members.
Out of the 95, as many as 77 are team officials, nine are contingent medical officials and another nine contingent officials.
India is sending the largest number of participants in the Paris Paralympics (August 28 to September 8) with 84 athletes competing in 12 sports. In the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, India was represented by 54 members in nine sports.
"Considering the special needs of some para athletes, personal coaches have been included in the contingent. However, they will provide necessary services to other players as per the directions of the Chef de Mission/team head coach," the ministry said while clearing the contingent.
"The participation of the entire contingent (including sportspersons, contingent officials, coaches) except that of Chef de Mission and one team manager for para badminton will be at cost to government."
The likes of javelin thrower Sumit Antil and shooter Avani Lekhara, who would be looking to defend their Tokyo Paralympics gold, are among those who will be having personal coaches.
"In any para sports event, the participants need more support staff like personal coaches and escorts than able-bodied competitors. So, it is nothing new to have more support staff in para sports," a team official said.
The para-athletics team, which is the largest with 38 competitors, also has most number of personal coaches and escorts.
All the members of the contingent except for the CDM and team manager for the para badminton team will get USD 50 per day out of pocket allowance "as per required and actual period of stay during the Games which will be inclusive of acclimatisation and training period plus 2 days to and fro journey time".
Some of the officials will be staying outside the Games Village.
Paralympic Committee of India president Devendra Jhajharia, who left for Paris on Sunday with a large contingent, including CDM Satya Prakash Sangwan, told PTI on Saturday that he will be staying outside the Games Village "to look after all the athletes" as some will be competing outside Paris.
Jhajharia had said that India would be looking to win more than 25 medals, including double-digit gold, at the Paris Paralympics.
India had won 19 medals (5 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze) at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, which is the highest ever till now.
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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
