Mumbai to host IOC session in 2023
Mumbai(PTI): The International Olympic Committee on Saturday awarded India the right to host the IOC Session in Mumbai next year.
Nita Ambani, the Indian representative on the committee, described it as "a significant development for the country's Olympic aspiration".
India will host the session for the first time since 1983. The session will be hosted at the state-of-the-art, brand new Jio World Convention Centre.
Mumbai received a historic 99% of the votes in favour of its bid from the delegates participating in the process, with 75 members endorsing its candidature in the session held at Beijing.
An IOC session is the annual meeting of the members of the IOC, comprising 101 voting members and 45 honorary members.
It discusses and decides on the key activities of the global Olympics movement including adoption or amendment of the Olympic Charter, election of IOC members and office bearers and election of the host city of Olympics.
"The Olympic Movement is back to India after a 40-year wait. I am truly grateful to the International Olympic Committee for entrusting India with the honour of hosting the IOC Session in Mumbai in 2023," said Ambani, the first woman to be elected as an IOC member from India.
"This will be a significant development for India's Olympic aspiration and will herald the start of a new era for Indian sport."
Apart from Ambani, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, and India's first individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra were part of the Indian delegation.
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Train to Kashmir: 22-bogie train's trial run successful on Katra-Srinagar line
Jammu: A 22-bogie train chugged between Katra and Srinagar railway stations on Sunday, officials said, marking the first successful trial run on the newly completed line to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country via rail.
The train, comprising 18 AC coaches, two luggage carriers and two engines, left the Katra railway station at around 8 am, successfully reaching its destination within four hours under the watchful eyes of the railway authorities, the officials said.
This was the first trial run between Katra and Srinagar, and came within six days after the Commissioner of Railway Safety (Northern Circle) Dinesh Chand Deshwal authorised the opening of the newly constructed Broad Gauge line.
He had given the authorisation for the start of public carriage of goods and passenger traffic in a seven-page letter to the ministry and railway authorities, based on his detailed inspection of the track on January 7 and 8.
The CRS referred to his inspection of the newly constructed BG line between the Katra and Reasi section by a motor trolley and on foot, followed by a speed trial on the entire section from Katra to Banihal.
He had then authorised regular opening of the section for passengers and freight traffic at a maximum permissible speed of 85 Kmph on the main line and 15 Kmph on turnout.
The work on the dream project to link Kashmir by train was started in 1997 and it missed several deadlines given geological, topographical and meteorological challenges.
Out of the total 272 km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, 209 km was commissioned in phases with the first phase of the 118 km Qazigund-Baramulla section commissioned in October 2009, followed by 18 km Banihal-Qazigund in June 2013, 25 km Udhampur-Katra in July 2014 and 48.1 km long Banihal-Sangaldan stretch in February, last year.
The work on the 46-km Sangaldan-Reasi section was also completed in June last year, leaving a total of 17 km stretch between Reasi and Katra. And this section was finally completed in December 2024 as announced by the Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
On January 4, a successful trial run of an electric train was successfully conducted on the Katra-Banihal section. The railways has conducted six trials over the past month on various segments of the track, including the two major milestones of the Anji Khad and Chenab bridges.
Katra-Srinagar Rail Link: First 18-Coach Train Completes Trial Run Successfully pic.twitter.com/p68axcUClX
— Daily Excelsior (@DailyExcelsior1) January 19, 2025
