What exactly happened? How Sarita Devi refused her bronze medal - Firstpost

The Asian Games have taken a controversial turn after India's boxer Sarita Devi refused to accept her bronze medal at the prize giving ceremony of the 57-60 kg (Lightweight) category.

Sarita came into the auditorium after the gold medal bout between Park Jina (KOR) and Junhua Yin (CHN) came to an end. The Chinese was a deserving winner.

The four boxers gathered around the podium -- waiting patiently. At this point, Sarita seemed composed. She looked like she had been crying all night but she wasn't crying at that point.

Sarita Devi leaves the podium. AP

However, she couldn't hold back when she climbed on the podium and burst out crying. She waved at her fans -- who were all chanting her name. Then as the official approached her with the bronze medal, she refused to allow him to put the medal around her neck.

Instead, after some pleading from the official -- she simply held the medal in her hand. Her tears were flowing profusely by this point. The crowd egging her on all this while -- some cheers, some slogans.

Then, as the Chinese national anthem started to play... Sarita got off the podium and walked over to Park Jina -- the Korean who emerged victorious in their semi-final bout -- and put the bronze medal around Jina's neck.

The Korean was initially too shocked to react. As were the rest of the people in the ring. The Chinese athlete was just trying to keep a straight face as chaos broke around her.

After putting the medal around the Korean's neck, Sarita went and stood back on the podium. This time, the Korean followed her and pleaded with her to take her medal back. Sarita -- held Park Jina's face in her hands and tenderly refused. She eventually relented and kept the medal in her hands.

Then, as she was leaving the ring -- she left her medal on the podium. She wanted none of this.

An official later picked up the medal for safe keeping.

After the controversy, Sarita said: "I felt that I should not accept the medal because I deserved to be in the final. I don't mind if they take any action against me. But I did not feel like accepting the medal and so I did that."

The AIBA, at present, has no provision in their rules as to what action can be initiated for such an incident.

There are some who might want to go into the rights and wrongs of Sarita's actions but this wasn't a rational decision. This was an emotional decision made by someone who felt wronged; who felt robbed and who at 32 may never fight at the highest level again.

And the hurt will not go away easily. But if words could help -- then in our eyes, Sarita doesn't need a medal. She is a winner all the way.

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What exactly happened? How Sarita Devi refused her bronze medal - Firstpost

The Asian Games have taken a controversial turn after India's boxer Sarita Devi refused to accept her bronze medal at the prize giving ceremony of the 57-60 kg (Lightweight) category.

Sarita came into the auditorium after the gold medal bout between Park Jina (KOR) and Junhua Yin (CHN) came to an end. The Chinese was a deserving winner.

The four boxers gathered around the podium -- waiting patiently. At this point, Sarita seemed composed. She looked like she had been crying all night but she wasn't crying at that point.

Sarita Devi leaves the podium. AP

However, she couldn't hold back when she climbed on the podium and burst out crying. She waved at her fans -- who were all chanting her name. Then as the official approached her with the bronze medal, she refused to allow him to put the medal around her neck.

Instead, after some pleading from the official -- she simply held the medal in her hand. Her tears were flowing profusely by this point. The crowd egging her on all this while -- some cheers, some slogans.

Then, as the Chinese national anthem started to play... Sarita got off the podium and walked over to Park Jina -- the Korean who emerged victorious in their semi-final bout -- and put the bronze medal around Jina's neck.

The Korean was initially too shocked to react. As were the rest of the people in the ring. The Chinese athlete was just trying to keep a straight face as chaos broke around her.

After putting the medal around the Korean's neck, Sarita went and stood back on the podium. This time, the Korean followed her and pleaded with her to take her medal back. Sarita -- held Park Jina's face in her hands and tenderly refused. She eventually relented and kept the medal in her hands.

Then, as she was leaving the ring -- she left her medal on the podium. She wanted none of this.

An official later picked up the medal for safe keeping.

After the controversy, Sarita said: "I felt that I should not accept the medal because I deserved to be in the final. I don't mind if they take any action against me. But I did not feel like accepting the medal and so I did that."

The AIBA, at present, has no provision in their rules as to what action can be initiated for such an incident.

There are some who might want to go into the rights and wrongs of Sarita's actions but this wasn't a rational decision. This was an emotional decision made by someone who felt wronged; who felt robbed and who at 32 may never fight at the highest level again.

And the hurt will not go away easily. But if words could help -- then in our eyes, Sarita doesn't need a medal. She is a winner all the way.

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PM's US Visit: Narendra Modi's CEO diplomacy to soon set the cash register ... - Economic Times

NEW YORK | WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's breakfast diplomacy with 17 top US CEOs, presiding over ten trillion dollars in assets or revenues, would soon set the cash registers ringing at India's FDI front-desk.

Laurence D Fink, CEO at one of the world's largest investment management firms, BlackRock which oversees $4.32 trillion in assets, assured the prime minister that the firm could facilitate investments worth over $6 billion into the country by early next year. One of the CEOs who met the PM minutes before Fink, told Modi that his firm is looking to invest over half a billion dollars 'in a short while' to set up a big manufacturing facility in India for injectable drugs.

Some of the chief executives talked at length about wanting to invest in India's food chain and agriculture-related sectors, according to officials present at the meeting while others were eager to invest in infrastructure and energy and sought clarity from the PM on the way forward after the Supreme Court's judgement on coal block allocations.

"The general sentiment was that India is back on CEOs' global investment radar, they had dusted off their India dossiers and done their homework before meeting the PM and discussing specific concerns," said Ajay Banga, president and CEO of Mastercard, who attended the breakfast meeting along with the likes of PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi and Citibank chief executive Michael Corbat.

While the PM met top bosses from 11 large Fortune 500 firms over the breakfast meet (where he himself didn't eat owing to his Navratra fast) on Monday, he met Fink and other large investors like KKR and Goldman Sachs in one-on-one meetings that lasted 20 to 25 minutes each.

"The responses of most of those present were very enthusiastic. One of the CEOs said that India was a different place at 6 am the day following the election results and there is a great desire now to participate in India's growth," said the official spokesperson for the foreign ministry.

"There were others who said they wanted accelerated engagement in India and some said that they had capacities to create wealth from waste in areas like energy and solid waste," the spokesperson said.

BlackRock offered to work with the Indian government and host a major investment conference in India early next year to be attended by major investors from all across the globe, which is likely to become an annual affair.

"BlackRock (CEO) told the PM that based on their experience of similar conferences in the past, the first effort would yield investment opportunities of something in the vicinity of $6 billion, if they worked towards it over the next few months," the spokesperson said.

While several CEOs raised concerns about specific issues that worry them about investing in the country, the PM's articulate and sharp responses on those allayed most of those, said Banga.

On their biggest concern of India's unpredictable tax regime, the PM assured CEOs that he was committed to a stable tax regime and it was his conviction that this was necessary for investments to flow.

Pharma sector CEOs such as Merck's Kenneth Frazier and Hospira's Michael Ball are learnt to have flagged their apprehensions about India's intellectual property regime. While responding to their specific worries, the PM raised the discussion to a whole new level, according to Banga.

"I understand that you want to be compensated for your investments in R&D. At the same time, India needs medicines that are affordable for its population," the PM is understood to have said, stressing that this is not just about India but the entire world that is grappling with new diseases. "Mankind needs continuous research and development of new drugs for a higher quality of life.

You need to be able to devote the right energy to that, not just by changing the formulation of a drug to sustain a patent, but by inventing things that make a difference to mankind," Modi told them.

The foreign ministry spokesperson said that the PM also set to rest worries about India's energy sector expressed by some prospective investors, especially in the light of the Supreme Court verdict to scrap all allocations made in the past two decades.

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Modi says 'Thank You America' as he leaves for India - Hindustan Times

Winding up his whirlwind five-day US visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi "thanked" America for what he said was a highly "successful and satisfactory trip" to the country. "Thank You America," Modi said as he concluded his last official engagement at an event organised by the US Indian Business Council (USIBC) on Tuesday.

US President Barack Obama of the United States with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the dinner hosted in his honour at the White House in Washington. (PTI Photo)

After that he directly left for the Andrews Air Force Base, from where his Air India One took off for Frankfurt on route to New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama after briefing the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday. (PTI photo)

"My visit has been very successful. From here I am going to airport directly," Modi said.

Read: Modi, Obama announce better trade ties, joint fight against terror

On Tuesday Modi met President Barack Obama in the Oval Office of the White House, at the end of which the two leaders issued a joint statement that promised to take the India-US relationship to a new height.

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington on Tuesday. (PTI photo)

Modi was seen off at the Andrews Air Force Base by the Indian Ambassador to the US S Jaishankar and the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal.

When he arrived at the Air Force Base a day earlier, he was received by the Deputy Secretary of State, William Burns ? both being unusual for a working visit like this.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama during briefing the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (PTI photo)

On Monday evening, Obama hosted Modi for a official private working dinner and yesterday the two met for nearly two hours at the Oval Office, following which the US President and the Prime Minister together went to the Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial.

Obama, it is understood, decided to join Modi on this visit which many analyst said reflected the close bounding the two leaders have established among themselves in such a close time.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (3rd L) speaks to reporters with US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (2nd R) and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) (R) after meeting in Boehner's offices at the US Capitol in Washington. Also pictured are US Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) (back row, from L), Representative Joe Crowley (D-NY), Representative George Holding (R-NC) and Representative Ed Royce (R-CA)(Reuters)

Later in the day, Modi was hosted for lunch by Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, following which he drove down to the Capitol Hill for a tea hosted in his honor by Joe Boehner, Speaker of the US House of Representatives.

In the first leg of his five-day US trip, Modi spent four days in New York, where he addressed the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 27, and stormed the Indian American community by addressing the diaspora with a packed Madison Square Garden in the Big Apple on September 28.

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial in Washington. (PTI photo)

In New York, Modi held meetings with a host of top American businessmen including breakfast with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, while top American leaders like Bill and Hillary Clinton, and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

In all he met more than 50 top US lawmakers and three Governors including South Carolina's Nikki Haley.

During his trip, Modi visited the 9/11 Memorial in New York and the Gandhi Statue in Washington DC.

He held a series of meetings with the Indian diaspora, including the dinner that was hosted in his honor wherein he stood for nearly two hours to get photographed with more than 700 Indian-Americans.

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Modi says 'Thank You America' as he leaves for India - Hindustan Times

Winding up his whirlwind five-day US visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi "thanked" America for what he said was a highly "successful and satisfactory trip" to the country. "Thank You America," Modi said as he concluded his last official engagement at an event organised by the US Indian Business Council (USIBC) on Tuesday.

US President Barack Obama of the United States with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the dinner hosted in his honour at the White House in Washington. (PTI Photo)

After that he directly left for the Andrews Air Force Base, from where his Air India One took off for Frankfurt on route to New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama after briefing the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday. (PTI photo)

"My visit has been very successful. From here I am going to airport directly," Modi said.

Read: Modi, Obama announce better trade ties, joint fight against terror

On Tuesday Modi met President Barack Obama in the Oval Office of the White House, at the end of which the two leaders issued a joint statement that promised to take the India-US relationship to a new height.

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington on Tuesday. (PTI photo)

Modi was seen off at the Andrews Air Force Base by the Indian Ambassador to the US S Jaishankar and the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal.

When he arrived at the Air Force Base a day earlier, he was received by the Deputy Secretary of State, William Burns ? both being unusual for a working visit like this.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama during briefing the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (PTI photo)

On Monday evening, Obama hosted Modi for a official private working dinner and yesterday the two met for nearly two hours at the Oval Office, following which the US President and the Prime Minister together went to the Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial.

Obama, it is understood, decided to join Modi on this visit which many analyst said reflected the close bounding the two leaders have established among themselves in such a close time.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (3rd L) speaks to reporters with US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (2nd R) and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) (R) after meeting in Boehner's offices at the US Capitol in Washington. Also pictured are US Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) (back row, from L), Representative Joe Crowley (D-NY), Representative George Holding (R-NC) and Representative Ed Royce (R-CA)(Reuters)

Later in the day, Modi was hosted for lunch by Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, following which he drove down to the Capitol Hill for a tea hosted in his honor by Joe Boehner, Speaker of the US House of Representatives.

In the first leg of his five-day US trip, Modi spent four days in New York, where he addressed the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 27, and stormed the Indian American community by addressing the diaspora with a packed Madison Square Garden in the Big Apple on September 28.

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial in Washington. (PTI photo)

In New York, Modi held meetings with a host of top American businessmen including breakfast with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, while top American leaders like Bill and Hillary Clinton, and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

In all he met more than 50 top US lawmakers and three Governors including South Carolina's Nikki Haley.

During his trip, Modi visited the 9/11 Memorial in New York and the Gandhi Statue in Washington DC.

He held a series of meetings with the Indian diaspora, including the dinner that was hosted in his honor wherein he stood for nearly two hours to get photographed with more than 700 Indian-Americans.

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'Thank You America', says Modi as he leaves for India - Hindustan Times

Winding up his whirlwind five-day US visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi "thanked" America for what he said was a highly "successful and satisfactory trip" to the country. "Thank You America," Modi said as he concluded his last official engagement at an event organised by the US Indian Business Council (USIBC) on Tuesday.

US President Barack Obama of the United States with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the dinner hosted in his honour at the White House in Washington. (PTI Photo)

After that he directly left for the Andrews Air Force Base, from where his Air India One took off for New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama after briefing the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday. (PTI photo)

"My visit has been very successful. From here I am going to airport directly," Modi said.

Read: Modi, Obama announce better trade ties, joint fight against terror

On Tuesday Modi met President Barack Obama in the Oval Office of the White House, at the end of which the two leaders issued a joint statement that promised to take the India-US relationship to a new height.

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington on Tuesday. (PTI photo)

Modi was seen off at the Andrews Air Force Base by the Indian Ambassador to the US S Jaishankar and the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal.

When he arrived at the Air Force Base a day earlier, he was received by the Deputy Secretary of State, William Burns ? both being unusual for a working visit like this.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama during briefing the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (PTI photo)

On Monday evening, Obama hosted Modi for a official private working dinner and yesterday the two met for nearly two hours at the Oval Office, following which the US President and the Prime Minister together went to the Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial.

Obama, it is understood, decided to join Modi on this visit which many analyst said reflected the close bounding the two leaders have established among themselves in such a close time.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (3rd L) speaks to reporters with US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (2nd R) and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) (R) after meeting in Boehner's offices at the US Capitol in Washington. Also pictured are US Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) (back row, from L), Representative Joe Crowley (D-NY), Representative George Holding (R-NC) and Representative Ed Royce (R-CA)(Reuters)

Later in the day, Modi was hosted for lunch by Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, following which he drove down to the Capitol Hill for a tea hosted in his honor by Joe Boehner, Speaker of the US House of Representatives.

In the first leg of his five-day US trip, Modi spent four days in New York, where he addressed the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 27, and stormed the Indian American community by addressing the diaspora with a packed Madison Square Garden in the Big Apple on September 28.

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial in Washington. (PTI photo)

In New York, Modi held meetings with a host of top American businessmen including breakfast with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, while top American leaders like Bill and Hillary Clinton, and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

In all he met more than 50 top US lawmakers and three Governors including South Carolina's Nikki Haley.

During his trip, Modi visited the 9/11 Memorial in New York and the Gandhi Statue in Washington DC.

He held a series of meetings with the Indian diaspora, including the dinner that was hosted in his honor wherein he stood for nearly two hours to get photographed with more than 700 Indian-Americans.

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UP train collision: Rail Minister announces Rs 2 lakh relief for kin of deceased - Firstpost

New Delhi: Railways Minister Sadananda Gowda on Wednesday announced ex-gratia relief for the families of those killed and injured when two trains collided in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur city on late Tuesday.

Railways Minister Sadananda Gowda announced Rs 2 lakh relief for kin of deceased in the UP train collision. Agencies

"He (minister) has announced enhanced ex-gratia of Rs.2 lakh for dead, Rs.1 lakh for grievously injured, and Rs.20,000 for simple injuries for accident on 30 September..," a tweet from the railway ministry said.

It added that the minister has also "directed to provide best treatment to injured people".

The accident took place at around 11.30 pm on Tuesday after Krishak Express jumped a signal that brought it on the same track on which the Barauni Express was running.

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