<keyword id="20292631" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-mens-hockey-team" source="keywords">Indian men's hockey team</keyword> secured yet another medal, this time a bronze, for <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword> at the ongoing <keyword id="20006192" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Paris-Olympics" source="keywords">Paris Olympics</keyword>, thrashing Spain by 2-1, and finishing at the podium for the second consecutive time since the <keyword id="20262833" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tokyo-Olympics" source="keywords">Tokyo Olympics</keyword>, where they had previously secured a bronze. For India, both goals in this match were scored by skipper Harmanpreet Singh, also popularly known as Sarpanch Sahab. For the first time in 50 years, India has won bronze medals in Olympics, back to back. India holds the distinction of being the country that holds the most number of Olympic medals in field hockey. With this, India takes its medal tally to four in this Olympics. All of them are bronze medals, won by Manu Bhaker (2), Sarabjot Singh and Swapnil Kusale in shooting. India came very close to winning medals in Paris 2024 Olympics, securing six 4th place finishes. These athletes include Arjun Babuta (shooting), Dhiraj Bommadevara/Ankita Bhakat (archery), Manu Bhaker (shooting), Anantjeet Singh Naruka/Maheshwari Chauhan (mixed team skeet shooting), Mirabai Chanu (weightlifting) and Lakshya Sen (badminton). The medal comes as a soothing salve, as India nurses a series of brunts, following Vinesh Phogat's unfortunate disqualification from wrestling finals, and Antim Panghal's three-year ban imposed by the International Olympics Association (IOA), after she was found in breach of discipline. Her sister was arrested on charges of impersonation and entering the international athlete's village on Panghal's accredition card, following which the wrestler was sent back to India. After their gold medal triumph in 1980, the <keyword id="20415656" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-hockey-team" source="keywords">Indian hockey team</keyword> had to go through a long, 41-year drought, where the team won no medals, till Tokyo Olympics 2020, where we secured a bronze. To date, India has won 8 gold medals in hockey in Olympics, with the country's last gold medal in this sport coming in 1980. India did qualify for semi-finals in this Olympics and also came a step closer to winning silver or gold medal, but were defeated by Germany 3-2. Previously, India has also won a silver medal in 1960, alongside 3 bronze medals in 1968, 1972 and 2020. This is the last Olympic outing for star goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who managed to save many a crucial hits from the opposition. The team dedicated the medal to him, squaring off his fantastic career, which began in 2006. He holds 2 Asian games gold medals, 4 Olympic hats, and over 300 games to his credit.

Paris Olympics: Indian men's hockey team wins bronze medal, repeat their feat from Tokyo Olympics

Paris [France], August 5 (ANI): Indian Men's <keyword id="20016187" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hockey" source="keywords">Hockey</keyword> Team defender <keyword id="21262191" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amit-Rohidas" source="keywords">Amit Rohidas</keyword> is set to miss the semifinal clash against Germany on Tuesday after receiving a <keyword id="22668702" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="one-match-ban" source="keywords">one-match ban</keyword> for his foul in the quarterfinal clash against Great Britain. In the second quarter of the match, Rohidas was given a red card after he raised his stick and caught opponent William Calnan's head. <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="India" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="India">India</keyword> played the rest of the match one-man down. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) released an official statement where they announced that the player is set to miss one match because of his misconduct. "Amit Rohidas was suspended for one match for a breach of the FIH Code of Conduct which occurred during the India vs Great Britain match on August 4," the FIH official statement read as quoted by Olympics.com. "The suspension affects match No. 35 (India's <keyword id="20509843" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="semi-final" source="keywords">semi-final</keyword> match against Germany), where Amit Rohidas will not participate and India will play with a squad of 15 players only," the statement added. Amit Rohidas who mans India's defence along with captain Harmanpreet Singh serves a dual role in the team as he is also India's first rusher during the penalty corners. Coming to the match, Harmanpreet Singh-led Indian men's hockey team defeated Great Britain in a thrilling quarter-final match at the Paris Olympics and advanced into the semi-final. As the scores were level at 1-1 after the end of regulation time, India won the shootout 4-2 and made the semi-finals. In the second quarter of the encounter, India took a 1-0 lead after skipper Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty corner. India had four penalty corner opportunities while Great Britain had five in the second quarter. Before halftime, Great Britain's Lee Morton scored the equaliser and gave his side a moment to breathe. In the second half, Great Britain failed to score, despite multiple opportunities. Meanwhile, in the shootout, India scored all four of their attempts. While Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh saved one, helping India move into the semis of the tournament.

Paris Olympics: India's Amit Rohidas set to miss semi-final clash against Germany

For someone who was cajoled into taking up sport to shed weight, <keyword id="1115774" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="neeraj-chopra" source="Orion">Neeraj Chopra</keyword>'s rise to stardom from a Haryana village has been nothing short of spectacular, and at 25, he is on course to becoming one of India's greatest sporting icons. Two years ago, his spear soared high into the Tokyo sky as he became the country's first Olympics track and field gold medal winner. He was just 23, as he became only the second Indian to win an individual gold medal in the Olympics after legendary shooter Abhinav Bindra. A star was born overnight in a country that had for long craved for the ultimate success in sport's biggest platform. Before Bindra, who won the 10m air rifle gold in 2008 Beijing Olympics, India's eight other yellow metals at the Games had come from hockey, a team game. With his gold medal on Sunday in the World Championships, the legend of <keyword id="371" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="chopra" source="Orion">Chopra</keyword> continued to grow. He is now only the second Indian -- again after Bindra -- to simultaneously hold the Olympics and World Championships title. Bindra won the World Championships title when he was 23, and the Olympics gold at 25. With age on his side, Chopra is bound to achieve more success if he stays fit. He will have two Olympics and two World Championships before he turns 30. Superstardom after Tokyo gold The world junior championships triumph in 2016 heralded Chopra's rise on the world stage but it was the gold in Tokyo in 2021 that etched his name in Indian sporting history. The adulation showered on him was unprecedented; it was at par with if not more than some of the cricket icons. He was the toast of the nation and having attended so many felicitation programmes on one occasion exhaustion and fever forced him to leave a welcome function near his village. He later revealed that he had put on weight after missing training due to the many felicitation functions he had attended after the historic success in Tokyo. Chopra found himself among the most-searched Indian personalities online and ranked above the likes of <keyword id="6354486" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="virat-kohli" source="Orion">Virat Kohli</keyword> and Rohit Sharma in Google searches in India. After his Tokyo triumph, Chopra's brand value skyrocketed with top brand sponsors lining up for him. His brand value was compered with people like Kohli and his Instagram and Twitter followers swelled instantly. In December last year, Chopra dislodged the iconic world record holder sprinter <keyword id="28723" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="usain-bolt" source="Orion">Usain Bolt</keyword> as the 'most visible' and 'written-about' athlete in the world. Chopra led a star-studded field in terms of media coverage with 812 articles published in his name, followed by Jamaican sprint trio of Elaine Thompson-Herah (751), Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce (698) and Shericka Jackson (679). Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla said recently that Chopra's Tokyo Olympics gold has made parents think that there is a career beyond cricket in India. Sumariwalla may not be off the mark as more than half a dozen Indians are currently capable of hurling the spear above 80m and three Indians, including Chopra, featured in the World Championships men's javelin final on Sunday. August 7, the day Chopra won gold in Tokyo, is now being celebrated as National Javelin Day. Consistency is the key for Chopra Consistency has been Chopra's forte since his Tokyo triumph as he has thrown above 86m in all the events he has taken part in the last two years. Of course, he has not competed in too many competitions -- just two this year before the World Championships -- but there has not been any drop in his performance. The least distance he has cleared since the Tokyo gold was the 86.69m while winning the Kuortane Games title in Finland in June last year. His best is the 89.94m which fetched him a second place at the Stockholm Diamond League, also in June last year. Compared to this, his closest competitors such as Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic has thrown below 85m many times. Of course, Vadlejch has featured in more than 20 competitions in the last two years, more than twice as that of Chopra. It's almost the same in case of Julian Weber of Germany, who was fourth in Tokyo and also in the 2022 World Championships. Anderson Peters of Grenada suffered a dip in form after winning gold in the 2022 World Championships -- his second after 2019 edition triumph -- and he could not even touch 80m in the qualification round here on Friday to make an early exit. Ultimate down-to-earth and people's champion Chopra may not be as articulate as the likes of Bindra but his 'I can't hurt or disappoint anybody' mindset can floor anyone. He would readily oblige fans in India and abroad for selfies and autographs. He will not say no to scribes wanting to talk to him. No doubt, the Tokyo Olympics success brought certain restrictions as far as access to him is concerned with 'guards' surrounding him often, but he remains down to earth as before. He is still accessible in the playing arena. Chopra speaks from the heart and not in a nuanced way. He would even candidly tell scribes that medals are not awarded in certain events. Mischievous chubby kid cajoled to shed flab But many years before he achieved greatness, Chopra was under tremendous pressure from his joint family of 17 to lose weight. He was all of 13 at that point and had become a mischievous boy, often fiddling with the bee hives on village trees and trying to pull buffaloes by their tails. His father <keyword id="18562002" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="satish-kumar-chopra" source="Orion">Satish Kumar Chopra</keyword> wanted something to be done to discipline the boy. So, after a lot of cajoling, the child finally agreed to do some running to shed the flab. His uncle took him to Shivaji Stadium in Panipat -- around 15km from his village. Chopra wasn't interested in running and almost instantly fell in love with javelin throw when he saw a few seniors practising at the stadium. He decided to try his luck and, as they say, the rest is history, which would now probably make its way into school textbooks. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/jio-may-soon-launch-jio-airfiber-a-fixed-wireless-access-device-to-take-on-airtels-xstream-airfiber/articleshow/102948905.cms">Jio may soon launch a fixed wireless access device to take on Airtel's Xstream AirFiber</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/explained-how-ai-is-being-used-to-for-scams-and-what-you-can-do-to-protect-yourself/articleshow/102937587.cms">Explained: How AI is being used for scams and what you can do to protect yourself</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/personal-finance/news/how-to-find-unclaimed-bank-deposits-using-udgam-portal/articleshow/102830161.cms">Have unclaimed bank deposits? Here’s how to find it using UDGAM portal</a>

The Humble Great: Neeraj Chopra's rise from a chubby village kid to Indian sporting pantheon

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/48721433.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /> 
 
<keyword id="384750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Indian-womens-hockey-team">Indian women's hockey team</keyword> qualified on Saturday for next year's Rio Games, guaranteeing a return to the <keyword id="6360967" type="SPORT" weightage="80" keywordseo="Olympics">Olympics</keyword> after a long gap of 36 years, courtesy England making it to the final of the ongoing EuroHockey Championships in London. 
 
England's semifinal victory over Spain, coming after the Netherlands' win over Germany in the other semifinal in the European Championships freed one quota place as both the finalists have already qualified for the Olympic Games. 
 

	
		India took the quota place on the basis of its fifth-place finish in the women's <keyword id="6362179" type="SPORT" weightage="80" keywordseo="Hockey">Hockey</keyword> World League Semifinals in Antwerp, Belgium last month. 
		 
		<keyword id="6018" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="International-Hockey-Federation">International Hockey Federation</keyword> (FIH) confirmed that Indian women's team has qualified for the Rio Games. 
		 
		"India qualified after England defeated Spain in the semi-finals of the Unibet EuroHockey Championships in London, which ensured that the only teams -- The Netherlands and England (as Great Britain) -- who can now win the event have already qualified for Rio through the Hockey World League Semi-Finals," the FIH said in a statement. 
	 
	"The winner of the EuroHockey Championships will qualify for the 2016 Olympics as European continental champions, opening up a further qualification spot which India secure as the team who ranked highest at the Hockey World League Semi-Finals not already qualified," it said. 
	 
	
		Indian women's team now join nine other teams, who have already qualified for <keyword id="728610" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="2016-Rio-Games">2016 Rio Games</keyword> -- Korea as Asian Games champions, Argentina as Pan Am Games champions and Great Britain, China, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and the USA through the Hockey World League Semi-Finals. 
		 
		Indian women's hockey team last featured in an Olympics in the 1980 Moscow Games, where they finished at a respectable fourth position. 
		 
		
			Image credit: Indiatimes

After 36 years, Indian women hockey team qualifies for 2016 Rio Olympics

<ul><li>India's senior <keyword id="6362179" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="hockey">hockey</keyword> players, who are unable to train because of the coronavirus-forced lockdown, will undergo a basic coaching course online starting Monday.</li><li>The course will be attended by 32 senior men and 23 senior women core probables on May 11 and 15 respectively. </li><li>Captain of the Indian women's team Rani Rampal has already attended the Hockey India coaching education pathway in the past and achieved a Hockey India Level 1 Coach Certification.</li></ul>India's senior hockey players, who are unable to train because of the coronavirus-forced lockdown, will undergo a basic coaching course online starting Monday, continuing the national federation's efforts to ensure that their time is put to productive use. The course will be attended by 32 senior men and 23 senior women core probables on May 11 and 15 respectively. Captain of the Indian women's team Rani Rampal has already attended the Hockey India coaching education pathway in the past and achieved a Hockey India Level 1 Coach Certification. "The Hockey India Level Basic Coaching Course will help them in broadening their understanding of the sport as it will give them a chance to view the sport from a coach's perspective," the HI said in a statement. "The core probables who will successfully clear the Hockey India Level 'Basic' Coaching Course will be eligible to attend the Hockey India Level '1' Coaching Course in the future, thereby paving the way for their development, not just as athletes, but as potential coaches as well," it added. The HI Level 'Basic' Coaching Course is part of a meticulously-designed coaching programme, known as Hockey India Coaching Education Pathway which was launched in 2019. The core probables will get 36 hours to review their online sessions and then clear an online assessment examination which will be based on the latest FIH Rules and Regulations. Expressing his delight at providing this opportunity to the players, HI President Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad said, "...we decided it would be appropriate to provide them with an opportunity to understand coaching through our Hockey India Coaching Education Pathway. "I am quite confident that the athletes will be able to gain knowledge about the intricacies of Coaching, and will get some essential insights and a fresh perspective of ways to understand the sport better." See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/hcl-tech-follows-tcs-and-infosys-lead-says-50-of-its-employees-will-work-from-home-even-after-the-lockdown-is-lifted/articleshow/75593968.cms">HCL Tech follows TCS and Infosys' lead — says 50% of its employees will work from home even after the lockdown is lifted</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/data-of-coronavirus-patients-state-wise-in-india/articleshow/74669748.cms">Coronavirus cases in India state wise</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/coronavirus-dos-and-donts-for-protection-against-convid-19/articleshow/74475858.cms">Do’s and Don’ts for protection against COVID-19</a>

Senior hockey players to undergo coaching course online amid lockdown

(Eds: Collating relevant stories ) New Delhi, May 18 () The shooting federation got busy firming up its plans, wary paddlers were asked to report for training while the boxing body was consulting team doctors to figure a way forward as Indian sports sought resumption amid relaxation in the continuing COVID-19 lockdown. A day after the Ministry of Home Affairs allowed sports complexes and stadia to open without spectators, National Sports Federations were deliberating ways to facilitate training of at least the Olympic-bound athletes. The lockdown has been extended till May 31. "I'm happy to inform sportspersons and all concerned that sports activities will be conducted in sports complexes and stadia strictly in accordance with MHA guidelines and that of the States in which they are situated," Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted. Questions that dominated the discourse at federations were how would athletes be brought to training complexes amid travel restrictions and how testing for COVID-19 and quarantine be done for those who make it. The body with most money, the BCCI, does not plan to organise training camps for its contracted players despite the clearance but will coordinate with state associations to resume practice at the local level in the fourth phase of the lockdown. Others have, however, got thinking. "I can say that training can start for a minimum of 13 weight categories. In each category, two wrestlers can join the camp," Wrestling Federation of India's Assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar told . The wrestling camps are held in Patiala and Sonepat centres of the Sports Authority of India (SAI). The shooting federation said it was already working on a resumption plan given that the sport is individual and ensuring social distancing won't be an issue. "We shall firm up plans to resume athlete training and competitions accordingly soon," National Rifle Association of India Raninder Singh told . The Table Tennis Federation of India sought written consent from its top 16 players to join a training camp but the wary paddlers said they would prefer to wait a while. Most players, including leading ones such as Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan, said they were not comfortable travelling from their base in Chennai anytime soon amid the pandemic. TT camps are held at NIS Patiala, Sonepat and Kolkata. But with flights still not permitted and the Railways conducting only limited operations, the logistical problems have also come to the fore. "How will the top athletes join camps? They are at home right now. Even some coaches have gone home," said a boxing federation official. "The boxers who join back will also have to be tested and then quarantine as well. I think nothing can resume before the lockdown officially ends," he added. The federation officials spent the day conducting online meetings with doctors attached with the elite boxers to chalk out the medical protocol. Nine Indian boxers have qualified for the olympics and they are the ones likely to resume training first. According to the proposed Standard Operating Procedure formulated by SAI, no sparring would be allowed for contact sports for the time being. "That's a given," said the federation official. Hockey India has sent its training plan to SAI for approval. The Olympic-bound men's and women's teams have been based at SAI's Bengaluru centre since mid-March, when the lockdown first came into force. They have talked about being home sick but have largely coped well. Others like the weightlifting body are continuing to wait for fresh instructions from the sports ministry, which has been vigorously advocating a resumption of training for elite athletes by the end of this month. Elimination of low-ventilation change rooms, disinfection of training equipment after every use, and usage of gyms in shifts are some of the measures that the SAI has proposed to counter the COVID-19 threat once training resumes. It has also suggested making the Arogya Setu app mandatory for all athletes and staff, strict social distancing at training venues, use of PPE kits by medical practitioners on duty, and stringent supervision of athletes' health. AT/AH/KHS/BS/SSC/APA/PM PM AH

Federations gear up for resumption amid lockdown relaxation

If you like watching live matches at sports stadiums, be ready to spend more from tomorrow onwards, since the <keyword id="6359833" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Goods-and-Services-Tax">goods and services tax</keyword> (<keyword id="6354679" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="GST">GST</keyword>) council has decided to put tickets under the 28% tax bracket under the GST regime. However, only tickets for club culture in sports - like the <keyword id="6354831" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-Premier-League">Indian Premier League</keyword>, will be put under the 28% bracket. Other matches organized by recognized sports bodies like the Indian cricket board or the hockey federation are put under 18% bracket. Tickets that would cost you less than Rs 250 will not be charged any GST, but only a limited number of seats in a stadium are priced at this rate. The reason behind putting tickets for matches conducted by recognized bodies like <keyword id="6354756" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="BCCI">BCCI</keyword> under lower tax bracket is that the government wants to promote sports and the teams representing India. (Image source Maudlin Scribblings)

Live sports tickets to attract maximum GST of 28%

One morning in October 2017, Allison Guerriero noticed something unusual on the floor of her boyfriend's Park Slope, Brooklyn, apartment: a bag full of cash. There it was, lying next to his shoes, near the futon, the kind of bag that liquor stores give out. Inside were bundles of bills, big denominations bound up with rubber bands. It didn't seem like something he should be carrying around. After all, her boyfriend, Charles F. McGonigal, held one of the most senior and sensitive positions in the FBI."Where the fuck is this from?" she asked."Oh, you remember that baseball game?" McGonigal replied, according to Guerriero's recollection. "I made a bet and won."McGonigal had two high-school-age children and a wife — or "ex-wife" as he sometimes referred to her — back at home in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He would return there once or twice a month. But McGonigal had led Guerriero to believe that he was either divorced or soon would be. She didn't question his story, nor did she question the story about the bag full of cash.A few days before, Guerriero had sat on the couch with McGonigal in the one-room garden sublet to watch McGonigal's Cleveland Indians beat the Yankees. Much later — after Guerriero's cancer diagnosis, their breakup, and McGonigal's retirement from the FBI — McGonigal <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ex-fbi-official-charged-with-hiding-225000-payments-from-ex-foreign-officer-2023-1">would be indicted</a> on suspicion of, among other things, accepting $225,000 in cash from a former employee of Albania's intelligence agency. That total includes one $80,000 chunk that was allegedly handed over in a parked car, outside a restaurant, on October 5, 2017. October 5 and 6 also happened to be the days when the Indians beat the Yankees in the first two games of the American League Division Series. Today, Guerriero no longer believes the bag of cash contained winnings from a sports bet.One of McGonigal's attorneys, Seth DuCharme, declined to comment.Guerriero was 44 when they met, a former substitute kindergarten teacher who volunteered for law-enforcement causes and was working as a contractor for a security company while living at home with her father. McGonigal, then 49 years old, had just started his new job at the FBI's New York office.Guerriero says their affair lasted for a little more than a year. McGonigal's Brooklyn sublet may have been modest, but he lived large. He courted Guerriero at high-end restaurants. He would give her gifts of cash — $500 or $1,000 — for her birthday and for Christmas. He once joked about framing his divorce papers for her, as a Christmas gift, but those papers never materialized. He took her to watch New Jersey Devils hockey games in a private box. She recalls that McGonigal once gave a hundred-dollar bill to a panhandler on the street. "I'm a little better off than him. I can spare a hundred dollars," Guerriero remembers McGonigal saying, after she expressed astonishment.That day in October wasn't the only time that Guerriero remembers McGonigal carrying large amounts of cash. After he brushed her curiosity aside, she tempered her suspicions. She told herself it was probably "buy money" for a sting operation, or a payoff for one of McGonigal's informants. She had dated federal law-enforcement officials before. She knew not to ask too many questions about work."Charlie McGonigal knew everybody in the national security and law-enforcement world," Guerriero said, in an interview with Insider. "He fooled them all. So why should I feel bad that he was able to deceive me?"<hr />The dual indictments lodged against McGonigal earlier this week in New York and Washington, DC, are the culmination of a grand-jury investigation that Insider <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/exclusive-fbi-charles-mcgonigal-trump-russia-grand-jury-oleg-deripaska-2022-9">exclusively reported on last year</a>, and they lay out breathtaking allegations of subterfuge and corruption. But Guerriero says that McGonigal's deceptions extended beyond his duties as a counterintelligence chief and into their personal life. Two sources who knew both McGonigal and Guerriero in New York told Insider that they believed Guerriero's account of the relationship, including her claim that McGonigal had led Guerriero to believe that he was effectively single. And Guerriero's father told Insider that McGonigal would regularly drive to his house, where Guerriero lived, to pick her up."I was deceived about it," Guerriero's father said. "He seemed to be a straight shooter. If I'd had known he was married, I would have said something."Federal prosecutors charged McGonigal with money laundering and making false statements in his mandatory employee disclosures to the FBI. He was also charged with taking money from a representative of Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch who McGonigal had once himself investigated, in violation of US economic sanctions against Russia; the indictment alleges that Deripaska paid him to investigate a rival oligarch. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.McGonigal was not an ordinary FBI agent. He led the WikiLeaks investigation into Chelsea Manning as well as a search for a Chinese mole inside the CIA. While working at FBI headquarters in Washington, he played a role in opening the investigation into the Trump campaign's Russia contacts that was later dubbed Operation Crossfire Hurricane.But it was McGonigal's final FBI job, special agent in charge of the counterintelligence division at the FBI's New York field office, that was his most important assignment at the bureau. It was his job to find enemy spies and recruit his own."New York City is a global center for espionage and counterespionage," says one senior law-enforcement insider who was closely familiar with the specifics of McGonigal's role. "You have visits from foreign business elites and politicians. You have the United Nations. You have ethnic populations. Who runs the pitches to recruit spies from all those other countries? The FBI. So the access you get in that job is extraordinary. It's almost bottomless. So if you're running FBI counterintelligence in New York, you can get your hands on almost anything you want, and you don't always have to make excuses for why you're asking for it."<hr />The impact of the McGonigal indictments is still rippling out through the law-enforcement world. The charges accuse an official at the heart of the Trump-Russia investigation of secretly selling his own access, accepting bundles of cash in surreptitious meetings with someone who had ties to Albanian intelligence. McGonigal, a top-tier member of the city's law-enforcement community, a man who had fully integrated himself into a powerful circle of trust where favors get swapped and sensitive intelligence gets circulated, is accused of himself being on the take. If the indictments are correct, McGonigal was leading a dangerous double life, right under the noses of some of the sharpest cops in America.But what might be most striking about the case against McGonigal is how cheaply he is alleged to have rented out his law-enforcement powers. One indictment suggests that for $225,000, McGonigal's associates got him to lobby the Albanian prime minister about the awarding of oil-field drilling licenses and then open an FBI investigation connected to a US citizen who had lobbied for one of the prime minister's political opponents. Arranging a meeting for an executive from a Bosnian pharmaceutical company with a US official at the United Nations was said to be a pricier item — $500,000, one indictment claims. It is unclear whether that money ever materialized.In September 2018, McGonigal left the FBI to work as a vice president at Brookfield Properties, a multibillion-dollar real-estate company. His salary there was most likely higher than what he made inside the government, but it wasn't anywhere near the C-suite or oligarch-scale money that courses through New York's penthouse condos and boardrooms. One law-enforcement source estimated that McGonigal stood to make roughly $300,000 to $350,000 a year, including annual bonuses. "He said he needed to make more money," said Guerriero, who was still in the relationship with McGonigal when he left the FBI. "He had two kids to put through college."The value that McGonigal is accused of providing — his access and his pull — are clear from the indictments. One of them alleges that he arranged for the daughter of a foreign contact, a college student, to get a VIP tour from the New York City Police Department. The indictment identifies that foreign contact as "Agent-1," an agent of the Russian oligarch Deripaska, former Russian diplomat, and rumored Russian intelligence officer. That description matches Evgeny Fokin, who works for En+, a Deripaska-owned energy company, and was already linked to McGonigal and an associate in a Foreign Agents Registration Act filing from November 2021.Agent-1's identity remains unconfirmed. Neither Fokin nor En+ responded to requests for comment. A person familiar with the NYPD's arrangement said the daughter was a guest, not an intern. She didn't have independent access to police facilities, they said, and was given no work to do.Guerriero recalls McGonigal using the FBI's resources for their relationship. Once, they had sex in an SUV that she understood to be federal government property. After she was found to have breast cancer, Guerriero recalls, McGonigal would occasionally send a junior agent in an FBI sedan to give her rides from New Jersey to her cousin's apartment in New York. Despite the ongoing deception about his marital status, McGonigal was "caring, loving, and concerned" during the period of her illness, she says.In late 2018, McGonigal and Guerriero broke up. She remembers receiving an anonymous and hostile note in the mail. Soon after, McGonigal told her he was still married and had no plans to divorce his wife. "I was shocked," she said. "I was very much in love with him, and I was so hurt." She started drinking heavily to cope. A few months later, Guerriero, after a bout of drinking, dashed off an angry email to William Sweeney, who was in charge of the FBI's New York City bureau, and who, she recalls, had first introduced her to McGonigal. She remembers telling Sweeney in the email that he should look into their extramarital affair, and also McGonigal's dealings in Albania. McGonigal had already befriended Albania's prime minister and traveled to the country extensively, dealings that would appear later in one of his indictments. Guerriero told Insider that she had deleted the email.Sweeney didn't reply to a request for comment made through Sweeney's current employer, Citigroup. Insider couldn't confirm that Guerriero had sent the email or that Sweeney had received it. Regardless, by November 2021, the FBI was looking into McGonigal. Two agents showed up at Guerriero's door, she says, showed her a picture of McGonigal with the Albanian prime minister, and interviewed her about their interactions. She also received a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/exclusive-fbi-charles-mcgonigal-trump-russia-grand-jury-oleg-deripaska-2022-9">grand-jury subpoena</a> requesting all of her communications with McGonigal as well as information about any "payments or gifts" he may have given her.Guerriero acknowledges that the combination of her alcohol abuse and her health problems led to some extreme behavior, including her sending hostile emails to McGonigal's family, the contents of which she says she cannot recall. "I really did go overboard," she said. "I harassed them. I'm not going to deny that. I was horrible to them."By her own account, Guerriero contacted one of McGonigal's children despite being prohibited from doing so by a court order, an incident that led to her spending the night in a New Jersey jail. The court order stemmed from a 2019 police report, obtained by Insider, that McGonigal's wife, Pamela, filed with the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland. The report states that McGonigal and Guerriero "had a relationship" and that Guerriero had repeatedly harassed her with unwelcome emails and phone calls — including 20 calls in one day — despite her asking Guerriero to stop.Guerriero confirmed that her contact with the McGonigal family led to a separate restraining order issued in New Jersey. "I am ashamed and embarrassed and sorry for my actions during the time that I was drinking," she said.<div type="image" title="Allison Guerriero and Rudy Giuliani" height="413" width="551" msid="97376146" hostid="261"></div>Guerriero's troubles worsened in early 2021, when she was badly burned during a fire at her father's house. She asked friends for help through a GoFundMe. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York City, whom she knew from law-enforcement circles, let her stay in a guest bedroom. Since then, Guerriero has been a frequent on-air caller for Giuliani's radio shows. She maintains that the 2020 election was marred by widespread voter fraud, a belief pushed by Giuliani that has been repeatedly debunked. "Whatever Giuliani says about the 2020 election is what I believe," she said. During her relationship with McGonigal, Guerriero says, they never talked about politics. "I thought he was apolitical," he said, "which is something I continue to believe."The FBI declined to address the specifics of Guerriero's story. Instead, it sent a statement from Director Christopher Wray, who said the FBI holds employees to "the highest standard" and treats everyone equally, "even when it is one of our own." Insider spoke with three of McGonigal's former law-enforcement colleagues who expressed shock about the indictments. "It's heartbreaking," said one, who had worked alongside McGonigal at the FBI. "This is an incredible organization filled with truly dedicated men and women. This sets our image and reputation back."Guerriero's father said his view of the FBI had already been tarnished by the way that McGonigal treated his daughter. "I've always had huge admiration for the FBI," he said. "I idealized the agents that I saw in the movies. I thought these people were gods, that they never did anything wrong. It was so disappointing." He did say, however, that McGonigal had called him after the relationship ended to apologize for his behavior, and that he had accepted McGonigal's apology.

Exclusive: Inside the extramarital affair and cash-fueled double life of Charles McGonigal, the FBI spy hunter charged with taking Russian money

New Delhi, May 30 () Indian Olympic Association President Narinder Batra has urged all National Sports Federations (NSF) and National Olympic Committees (NOC) to get their employees checked for COVID-19 after Hockey India staff members tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday. Two staffers including, one from the accounts department and a junior field officer, returned positive results for COVID-19, after tests were conducted on 29 Hockey India employees on Friday. "My request and advice to NOC SG, all NSF and all SOA is to please get the employees/staff members tested for COVID-19 without any further delay," Batra said in a media statement. "This will help in giving confidence to us and all our stake holders including our Athletes and Elite Athletes," he added. The Hockey India office will remain shut for 14 days as the 25 employees, who tested negative, have been asked to work from home. The two people found positive are in strict home quarantine under medical monitoring while two staffers, who returned inconclusive results will be tested again Sunday morning, Batra informed. He also informed that he got all his staff members -- both at Faridabad and New Delhi offices -- tested after they rejoined office and one of them has also returned positive. Batra, who himself is in self-quarantine at home after his father tested positive, had said he and others in quarantine will undergo another COVID-19 test in the foirst week of June. APA KHS KHS

Batra urges all NOCs and NSFs to get employees tested for Covid 19 after HI staffers test positive

(Eds: Adding more inputs and quotes) New Delhi, May 17 () The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Sunday requested the Sports Ministry to sanction one-time financial assistance of over Rs 200 crore for various sports governing bodies in the country, saying sponsors won't come forward until next year making "hand-holding by government" a necessity. Citing the halt on sports activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IOA President Narinder Batra, in a letter to Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, said if help is not granted, it would be difficult to restart operations smoothly once the lockdown to contain the virus is lifted. Batra requested the ministry to grant Rs 10 crore for the IOA, Rs 5 crore each for National Sports Federations (NSFs) of Olympic sports, Rs 2.50 crore each for the non-Olympic sports NSFs and Rs 1 crore each for the State Olympic Associations. This adds up to approximately Rs 220 crore. "Due to the the ongoing pandemic and lockdown, we the sports bodies are unlikely to get any Sponsorship and hence we may find it very difficult to restart our activities effectively," he wrote. "We do not see sponsors coming forward till/and after Olympics in 2021 to assist us and hence we will require handholding by the Union Government," he added. Batra said the assistance will "enable them to tide over the cash crunch being faced by them". "The whole world now is facing an Extreme Difficult time due to the Covid -19 Pandemic...It (the pandemic) has affected the business, employment as well as the Sports Activities in their respective countries," he said. "All sports competitions training and other related activities have come to a standstill and now in order to restart all these activities, it will require lot of financial support to IOA/NSFs/SOAs," he added. Batra, who also heads the International Hockey federation (FIH), said the the IOA is ready for an audit of the funds if they are allotted. "After the pandemic when restrictions are lifted, we then will have to restart and rebuild all over once again. There are many conditions which will now be attached with running of daily affairs and they will require money/cash to implement," Batra said. "We will have no objection for providing with the funds utilization certificates, duly certified &amp; verified by C&amp;AG approved auditor/s," he added. Interestingly, the Olympic body and its member NSFs had donated close to Rs 9.5 crore to the PM CARES and various Chief Minister's Relief funds to fight the pandemic. Sports Ministry officials refused to comment immediately on the demand, stating that they haven't got anything in writing from the IOA on the matter till now. SSC PMPM

COVID-19 impact: IOA requests Sports Ministry for financial help of over Rs 200 crore

(Eds: Recasting intro with Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju's quotes) New Delhi, May 10 () The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has formed a six-member committee to prepare a module for phased resumption of training as sports minister Kiren Rijiju assured that elite athletes can start practice once the COVId-19 forced lockdown is lifted. The SAI has already formed a committee to prepare a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the phased resumption of training across sporting disciplines at all its centres. The six-member panel will be headed by SAI secretary Rohit Bharadwaj and will have CEO Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Rajesh Rajagopalan, Executive Director (Operations) SS Roy, SS Sarla, Col BK Nayak and Assistant Director TOPS Sachin K as members. "Once the lockdown is lifted and restrictions are eased, the practice session of our elite elites will resume in phased manner. I appeal sportspersons and all stakeholders not to rush because health and safety is our top priority at this point of time," Rijiju tweeted. The minister's office also took to twitter to say that he will interact with elite weightlifters currently stuck in NIS, Patiala to take their feedback about resumption of training. "@KirenRijiju will interact with elite weightlifters housed in SAI's National Center of Excellence in Patiala to discuss and seek suggestions of ways to restart training with health as priority," Rijiju's office tweeted. Besides weightlifters, Rijiju will also interact with athletes and Indian men's and women's hockey teams to take their view regarding the resumption of training.All training had been suspended across SAI centers in view of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. The panel will draft a training resumption module (SOP) which will explain the protocols and preventive measures to be observed by all stakeholders, including trainees, coaches, technical and non-technical support staff, NSFs, administrators, mess and hostel staff and visitors, once training resumes. The SOP will include in detail the guidelines to be followed on entry norms, sanitisation guidelines, precautions to be taken in common areas and by athletes while travelling to and from the centre. The SAI, however, stated that a separate committee has been formed to prepare a SOP for swimming, since pool activities involve different health risks compared to other sports. The recommendations to the various committees are being made in consultation with respective National Sporting Federations and other stakeholders, and will be sent to the Sports Ministry for final approval. All NSFs have been asked to share their recommendations of preventive measures that must be followed in each sport so as to ensure safety of athletes. The committee for swimming will be headed by Executive Director, TEAMS Division of SAI Radhica Sreeman, and will include Monal Choksi, secretary general of the Swimming Federation of India, senior coaches and doctors. "The SAI will draw up the guidelines in consultation with coaches and medical practitioners to ensure all preventive measures are put in place before swimmers resume training," the statement said. SSC SSC KHSKHS

Rijiju assures phased resumption of training post COVID, forms  6-member panel to prepare SOP

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (independent-in-charge) <keyword id="638723" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kiren-Rijiju">Kiren Rijiju</keyword> on Tuesday said the CBSE was preparing a system to ensure sports becomes a substantial part of education to determine the achievement of a student. "Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has already announced setting up a Board for Sports Education. Now, under the new education policy, sports will become a part of education and the CBSE is preparing a system to ensure sports becomes a substantial part of education," Rijiju said. He said this after inaugurating the Dr N P V Ramaswamy Udayar Hockey Centre at Sri Ramachandra Medical College and University here. Rijiju said the move to induct sports in the new education system was because it has been treated as an extra-curricular activity. "Earlier, sports was treated as extra-curricular activities. Sports was not part of education system and it was treated as an extra," he said. Under the new initiative, the Minister said the Central Board of Secondary Education was preparing a system and sports would not be treated as an extra or just an option. "Sports is the central part of education system now. There is a major shift we are taking forward. Prime Minister is very clear in that,"he said. Later talking to reporters, he said his Ministry was in touch with Human Resources Development Ministry in this regard. "I have already attended the cabinet meeting and I have already spoken there. Now, it is under preparation (to include sports in educations system). Policy has been accepted. How to implement, when to start, this will depend on the preparation. Modi government is treating sports as greatest priority ever and that is how India will become a sporting powerhouse in future," he said. On the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, he said it was just 10 months away and one cannot create a champion overnight. "It takes years for a player to become a champion. So, we will go to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with full preparation but with existing talents. We have decided to give the best possible support system, including creating an India House pavilion in Tokyo," he said. The India House, he said, would offer complete support to Indian athletes like food, transport and provision of accommodation. "Everything will be managed by India House and we must ensure full preparatory support to our team," he said. He said the next big target for India was that it should be in the top 10 medal list in the world since in Rio de Janeiro olympics, India managed to secure only two medals. He said the Olympics in Paris would be held in 2024 and in 2028 in Los Angeles. "I met all heads of sports federations and the target in 2024 we have to cross double-digit medal tally and by 2028 Olympics, India must be in the top 10 medal list of the world. There is no second thought. We must be clear in our objective. Otherwise, how will India become a sporting powerhouse," he asked. To a query, he said Tamil Nadu has a great sports culture and the state has huge potential to produce more talents in future. "I want to promote traditional sports. There are many traditional sports in Tamil Nadu. Not only Olympics sports, we want to promote traditional sports which are played in villages," he said. He said to nurture the sporting talents at the young age the Ministry under the 'Khelo India' initiative would scout for talents at a very young age across India on a massive scale. "A total of 14,000 young boys and girls has been identified and put into various training centres under Khelo India schemes and through Sports Authority of India. We want to enlarge that," he said.

CBSE is preparing a system to add sports to its curriculum

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/570da9b452bcd028008bc4fb-2724-2043/rtr2vdld.jpg" alt="attawapiskat" data-mce-source="Reuters/Frank Gunn" data-mce-caption="Two young boys walk past substandard housing on their way to play hockey in Attawapiskat, Ontario, Dec. 17, 2011." />Reuters/Frank GunnTwo young boys walk past substandard housing on their way to play hockey in Attawapiskat, Ontario, Dec. 17, 2011.</div></div></div>A spate of more than 100 suicide attempts have devastated the Canadian aboriginal community of Attawapiskat over the last nine months.Attawapiskat Chief Bruce Shisheesh <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/attawapiskat-suicide-first-nations-emergency-1.3528747">declared a state of emergency last weekend</a> after 11 suicide attempts occurred on Saturday alone. There have been more than 100 suicide attempts and at least one death since September, Shisheesh told CBC.There are numerous possible explanations for the crisis. Like many other First Nations communities in Canada, Attawapiskat has suffered in recent years from infrastructural problems such as drinking water shortages, housing shortages, sewage backups, and floods.Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day told Business Insider that Attawapiskat's poverty and lack of economic opportunities are to blame for the overwhelming hopelessness many residents feel toward the future. Without the resources available to other Canadians, problems such as addiction, violence, and depression pervade the populations."Other Canadians have clean, potable drinking water. They're not living in overcrowded situations, they've got food security, they've got summer employment," he said. "You can see how education, careers and no infrastructure - no economy - can certainly lead to a deep sense of hopelessness among the young people."The poverty in Attawapiskat is stark. The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/13/canada-first-nations-suicide-emergency-systemic-neglect">community's unemployment</a> rate hovers around 80%, while its graduation rate is around 30%, according to media reports.Canada's House of Commons convened in an <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/attawapiskat-suicide-crisis-emergency-debate-1.3531829">emergency debate</a> Tuesday evening to discuss the suicide crisis, which has brought <keyword id="6356001" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> attention to the remote community of 2,000 in northern Ontario. "There is nothing more devastating than realizing someone has reached the point of no hope," Minister of Health Jane Philpott said at the House of Commons debate. "Tonight has to be a turning point for us as a country in order for us to decide together that we will do better." Charlie Angus, the Member of Parliament for the district that includes Attawapiskat, said at the debate that the community's crisis has <a href="http://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/6481959-world-shocked-by-attawapiskat-crisis/">"shocked the world</a>," leaving Canadians and non-Canadians alike wondering "how a country as rich as Canada can leave so many young children and young people behind.""Will this minister commit to a total overhaul to ensure that every child in this country has the mental health supports that they need to have hope and a positive future?" he said, referring Philpott.In an emotional speech to the legislators, Shisheesh explained that he is homeless and implored them to direct resources to the beleaguered community."How would you feel if you were leading Attawapiskat and you didn't have a home?" he said. "I feel for my people. I know what they are going through. When you don't have a nice home, a nice place to sleep, it's depressing."Health Canada dispatched a crisis team of 18 health workers, mental health workers, and police officers to Attawapiskat, officials told media Tuesday. On Monday night, police broke up a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/04/12/attawapiskat-suicide-pact_n_9671298.html">suicide pact</a> made by 13 youths, the youngest of whom was 9 years old. When they were brought to the local hospital for evaluation and treatment, it was too full from other patients who had attempted suicide, according to the Canadian Press (CP). Half the youths were instead brought to jail as they awaited treatment, Anna Betty Achneepineskum of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation told CP.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/570daa4552bcd01d7b8bc1cb-2764-2073/rtr2vdlb.jpg" alt="attawapiskat teepee" data-mce-source="Reuters/Frank Gunn" data-mce-caption="A tattered Canadian flag flies over a teepee in Attawapiskat, Ontario, Dec. 17, 2011." />Reuters/Frank GunnA tattered Canadian flag flies over a teepee in Attawapiskat, Ontario, Dec. 17, 2011.</div></div></div>Day said the despair plaguing the Attawapiskat youths today can be traced back 140 years - to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Act">Canada's 1876 Indian Act</a>, a set of laws and policies that govern First Nations communities. The act, which marked its anniversary Tuesday, may as well be called "Canada's apartheid" for the damage and oppression it has inflicted upon the country's aboriginal population, Day said.The act establishes government control over much of First Nations life, including land and resources, but is perhaps most commonly known for its imposition of <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/background-the-indian-act-1.1056988">residential schools</a>. Under the school system, tens of thousands of First Nations children were compelled to attend schools designed to make them forget their languages and cultures. In 2008, then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper formally apologized for the schools, where many students suffered abuse.Attawapiskat's abject poverty is striking considering that a lucrative diamond mine sits only 55 miles from the community. The Victor Mine, operated by De Beers and yielding <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/newsroom/en/2009/03/fact-sheet-victor-diamond-mine.html">600,000 carats</a> of diamonds per year according to the Ontario government, provides some <a href="http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/04/12/news/attawapiskat-first-nation-again-crisis-after-rash-suicide-attempts">employment and royalties</a> to Attawapiskat. But Day said 80% of the reserve's revenues are government-controlled and are often re-allocated when any excess money is found. Under the Indian Act, the federal government <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/how-does-native-funding-work-1.1301120">controls First Nations' revenues</a>.Day argues that the treaties signed by First Nations were meant to further economic development, but instead they reap little wealth from those arrangements. "Our people entered into these treaties in good faith, as business partners to share the land and to share the wealth and resources," he said. "Well why is it that our people are starving? Why are they killing themselves? Why are they stuck in overcrowded situations? And why can't they have access to a shared benefit from the wealth of those lands?"As of Wednesday, the federal government has dispatched Health Canada's crisis team and the Ontario government has pledged up to $2 million to support long-term suicide prevention solutions and health care staff. It is likely the federal government will announce more in coming days, after a scheduled meeting takes place Thursday between at least four aboriginal leaders and the Commons indigenous affairs committee.Day says that the long-term solution will require the government to provide more resources to First Nations communities as well give them more authority over their own jurisdictions and, ultimately, the right to self-determination."We can throw money about here all we like, but we're still going to see people that feel hopelessness," Day said. "We've got to deal with the broader issues, the bigger infrastructure issues. Those are going to allow First Nations to participate in society."

You Searched For "Indian Hockey Federation" and got 13 results

Paris Olympics: Indian men's hockey team wins bronze medal, repeat their feat from Tokyo Olympics

Ira Alok Puranik

Paris Olympics: India's Amit Rohidas set to miss semi-final clash against Germany

ANI

The Humble Great: Neeraj Chopra's rise from a chubby village kid to Indian sporting pantheon

PTI

After 36 years, Indian women hockey team qualifies for 2016 Rio Olympics

BI India Bureau

Senior hockey players to undergo coaching course online amid lockdown

PTI

Federations gear up for resumption amid lockdown relaxation

PTI

Live sports tickets to attract maximum GST of 28%

BI India Bureau

Exclusive: Inside the extramarital affair and cash-fueled double life of Charles McGonigal, the FBI spy hunter charged with taking Russian money

Mattathias Schwartz

Batra urges all NOCs and NSFs to get employees tested for Covid 19 after HI staffers test positive

PTI

COVID-19 impact: IOA requests Sports Ministry for financial help of over Rs 200 crore

PTI

Rijiju assures phased resumption of training post COVID, forms 6-member panel to prepare SOP

PTI

CBSE is preparing a system to add sports to its curriculum

PTI

More than 100 people have attempted suicide in this tiny Canadian community since September

Michelle Mark