Paris Olympics 2024 Day 1: Full schedule for Team India
Paris: On the opening day—early on Saturday—India's shooting contingent will be at the forefront of the Paris Olympics 2024. The campaign begins with the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event, featuring the pairs of Ramita Jindal-Arjun Babuta and Elavenil Valarivan-Sandeep Singh. These pairs will strive to bring medals to India.
The medal matches are scheduled for the latter part of the day, with the top four teams from the qualifiers advancing to the finals. Teams ranked first and second will compete for gold, while the other two will contest for bronze. Additionally, Arjun Singh Cheema, Sarabjot Singh, Manu Bhaker, and Rhythm Sangwan will participate in the 10m air pistol events, with only the qualifiers scheduled for the day.
India's largest-ever shooting contingent of 15 athletes represented the country at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where Saurabh Chaudhary was the sole finalist from that group. The rifle shooters had underperformed the last time.
India's hockey team will also begin their campaign in Pool B against New Zealand. In badminton, Lakshya Sen will compete in the men's singles group match. Following this, the men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will take to the court. Later in the day, veteran tennis player Rohan Bopanna will start his final Olympic appearance in the men's doubles with N Sriram Balaji.
Full Schedule:
Badminton
- Men's singles group match: Lakshya Sen vs Kevin Cordon (Guatemala) at 7:10 PM IST
- Men's doubles group match: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty vs Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar (France) at 8:00 PM IST
- Women's doubles group match: Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto vs Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong (Korea) at 11:50 PM IST
Boxing
- Women's 54kg opening round bout: Preeti Pawar vs Thi Kim Anh Vo (Vietnam) at 12:05 AM IST, Jan 28
Hockey
- Pool B match: India vs New Zealand at 9:00 PM IST
Rowing
- Men's single sculls: Panwar Balraj at 12:30 PM IST
Table Tennis
- Men's singles preliminary round: Harmeet Desai vs Zaid Abo Yaman (Jordan) at 7:15 PM IST
Tennis
- Men's doubles first round: Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji vs Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Fabien Reboul (France) at 3:30 PM IST
Shooting
- 10m air rifle mixed team qualification: Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan, Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal at 12:30 PM IST
- Mixed team 10m air rifle medal rounds: 2:00 PM onwards (if India qualifies)
- 10m air pistol men's qualification: Arjun Singh Cheema and Sarabjot Singh at 2:00 PM IST
- 10m air pistol women's qualification: Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan at 4:00 PM IST
India's contingent is set for an action-packed Day 1, hoping to start their Olympic campaign on a positive note.
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BJP forms 'fact finding committee' over Bengaluru eviction
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra on Wednesday constituted a "fact finding committee" to look into the demolition of illegally constructed houses as part of a drive to clear encroachment of government land, and to submit a detailed report.
The demolition drive has escalated into a major political row, with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and politicians from that state too wading into the issue.
The BJP has been critical of the government's decision to rehabilitate "genuine" homeless among those, whose illegally constructed houses were demolished, terming the move as "appeasement politics".
The seven member committee consists of BJP legislators and leaders, including MLAs S R Vishwanath and S Muniraju.
The "fact finding committee" has been constituted to find the facts behind the demolition of houses in Fakir Colony and Wasim Layout near Kogilu in Yelahanka in the northern part of the city, Vijayendra said in a statement.
The committee has been directed to visit the spot, inquire and submit a detailed report in a week's time.
The demolition drive on December 20 was carried out by Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited to clear encroachments for a proposed solid waste processing unit, officials have said claiming that the houses were constructed without any official permission. Most of the occupants were migrants from other states.
Leader of Opposition R Ashoka on Wednesday accused the Congress government of creating 'mini Bangladesh' in the state due to its alleged appeasement politics, as he hit out at the administration over its decision to allot houses to those, whose unauthorised houses were demolished.
He said the government by doing so was encouraging large-scale encroachment and illegal settlements.
BJP leaders have accused the state government of indulging in "Muslim appeasement politics", as most of the demolished illegal houses, reportedly belonged to members from the community. They have also questioned the swiftness with which the government moved to rehabilitate those, who had indulged in illegal encroachment.
They pointed out that the rehabilitation announcement from the government came after the demolition of 167 illegal houses or sheds triggered a political row, after Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan termed the razing of houses as "brutal normalisation of the bulldozer raj".
Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal, who is also from Kerala, had immediately intervened after's Vijayan's statement, and had conveyed the AICC's serious concern to CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, stating that such actions (demolition) should have been undertaken with far greater caution, sensitivity, and compassion, keeping the human impact at the centre.
