Para shuttler Bhagat suspended for 18 months, to miss Paris Paralympics
New Delhi (PTI): Tokyo gold medallist para shuttler Pramod Bhagat will not be able to defend his title at the Paris Paralympics after he was handed a 18-month suspension for breaching BWF's anti-doping whereabout clause, leaving the Indian heartbroken.
"The Badminton World Federation can confirm India’s Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion Pramod Bhagat has been suspended for a period of 18 months and will miss the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games,” the governing body said in a statement on Tuesday.
"In 1 March 2024, the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) Anti-Doping Division found Bhagat in breach of the BWF anti-doping regulations for committing three whereabouts failures within 12 months."
The 36-year-old, an SL3 athlete, said he is saddended by the decision and it was a result of a technical glitch.
"It is an extremely hard decision for me. I respect WADA, I understand they are drawing a line for all players, but to ban someone for technical reasons is not right," Bhagat told PTI.
"It is not like there is any substance issue, it is a issue of whereabouts failure, which I missed the test twice as I was in a different place but I have all the proof of filing the third time. But they didn't accept my appeal.
"It is a big loss for me. I was preparing for Paris, it is such a big thing for every athlete. I would have been a medallist. It is heartbreaking," Bhagat added.
Bhagat had appealed this decision to the CAS Appeals Division but it was rejected last month.
"On 29 July 2024, the CAS Appeals Division dismissed the Bhagat’s appeal and confirmed the CAS Anti-Doping Division decision of 1 March 2024. His period of ineligibility is now in effect," the statement added.
His suspension is effective till September 1, 2025.
"My team and I have been proactive in appealing this decision, citing the technical issues that led to these failures. Unfortunately, despite our efforts, we have not been able to resolve this matter before the upcoming games.
"We respect the decision of the authorities and will abide by it, but this has been a challenging and emotional time for me as an athlete who has always competed with integrity."
Bhagat had won a gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics in men's singles SL3 category, beating Daniel Bethell of Great Britain in the final.
The 36-year-old Bihar-born shuttler had equalled the legendary Lin Dan of China by winning a fifth World Championships title in February last year at Pattaya, Thailand.
"It is extremely sad and unfortunate. He was a sure shot medal for India at the Paralympics but he is a fighter and I am sure he will come back stronger," Indian para-badminton head coach Gaurav Khanna told PTI.
Bhagat, who had contracted polio, resulting in a disability affecting his left leg at the age of five, is also a two-time Asian Games gold-medallist and is the current world No 3 in his category.
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Doctors who died on duty during COVID-19 entitled to insurance under PMGKY: SC
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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court held on Thursday that the families of the doctors who died while doing their duties during the COVID-19 pandemic are entitled to an insurance coverage of Rs 50 lakh under the "Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana".
A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan set aside a Bombay High Court judgment that had held that private doctors were not entitled to the coverage under the government's insurance scheme.
"There is a requisition of the services of doctors and this is evident from the conjoint reading of the provisions of the Act, the Maharashtra Prevention and Containment of COVID-19 Regulations 2020, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Order dated March 31, 2020, the PMGKY-Package Scheme, the explanatory communication to the PMGKY policy and the FAQs released," the bench said.
It said the invocation of laws and regulations was intended to leave no stone unturned in requisitioning the doctors and the insurance scheme was equally intended to assure doctors and health professionals in the frontline that the country is with them.
The court said individual claims for insurance made under the PMGKY-Package will be considered and decided in accordance with the law and on the basis of evidence.
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"The onus to prove that a deceased lost his life while performing a COVID-19-related duty is on the claimant and the same needs to be established on the basis of credible evidence," it added.
The top court was hearing a plea moved by Pradeep Arora and others against a March 9, 2021, order of the Bombay High Court that held that private hospital staffers were not entitled to receive benefits under the insurance scheme unless their services were requisitioned by the state or the central government.
A plea was filed in the high court by Kiran Bhaskar Surgade, who lost her husband -- who ran a private clinic in Maharashtra's Thane -- to COVID-19 in 2020.
The insurance company rejected her claim under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) on the ground that her husband's clinic was not recognised as a COVID-19 hospital.
The PMGKP was announced in March 2020 and its coverage has since been extended.
It was launched to provide a safety net to health workers to ensure that in case of any adversity due to COVID-19, their families are taken care of.
An insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh is provided to the health workers under the PMGKP, which has become a safety net for the dependents of the Covid warriors who lost their lives to the infection.
