Asian Games Visa row: Discriminatory approach is against Olympic Charter, says Union Minister
Coimbatore (TN) (PTI): China denying visas to three Indian athletes from Arunachal Pradesh is "discriminatory" and against the Olympic Charter which is not acceptable to India, Union Minister Anurag Thakur has said.
The northeastern state is an integral part of India and would continue to remain so, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Youth Affairs said here, adding that he had cancelled his visit to China while standing with the players.
Female players Nyeman Wangsu, Onilu Tega and Mepung Lamgu have been denied accreditation, which also works as a visa for the Asian Games that officially opened on Saturday in Hangzhou.
"As you could see I am not in China, I am in Coimbatore, standing with my players. And this discriminatory approach of a country which is against the Olympic Charter, is not acceptable at all," he told reporters here.
Beijing's move "is not acceptable to India and I have cancelled my trip to China on these grounds as they have denied the opportunity to the players from Arunachal Pradesh to be a part of the Asian Games," Thakur added.
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
