When Sri Lanka started their first preparatory session ahead of Saturday’s final at the Dambulla Stadium on Thursday evening, Ross Taylor and Co were halfway through to the international airport near Colombo on their way back home. Taylor must have been wondering as to what made his team, full of
late bloomers, wither against India in the knockout match on Wednesday.

An international sporting event which India hoped would herald its emergence as a regional power and serve as a springboard to an Olympic bid is instead struggling with a host of issues as the clock ticks down to opening ceremonies.

Less than seven weeks before New Delhi is to play host to the Commonwealth Games, venues are still under construction, top officials have been forced out in scandal, costs have soared and many are questioning the wisdom of holding the event in a nation riddled with social ills.

India today began issuing letters to the country’s telecoms operators ordering them to make BlackBerry corporate e-mail and messenger services accessible to interception by security agencies or risk suspension of their licences.

The move marks the first step by the government towards implementing an ultimatum from the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday warning that India would block the services by the end of this month unless they were opened for monitoring.

A stray dog lay in the muddy gateway to Delhi’s Commonwealth Games village. It was after dark but the compound behind was alive with labourers. A mobile crane lifted steel girders to a team working under lights, welding torches lit up the courtyard and the screech of power tools echoed from inside the nine-storey tower blocks.

It’s just 57 days until 8000 athletes and officials begin competing at this year’s Commonwealth Games. But the building complex they will occupy is far from ready.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that both Pakistan and India have realised that to promote dialogue was in the best interest of both the countries, which could lead to resolving differences in the future.
He was talking to the media here on Thursday at Arts Council where he presided over a farewell hosted for Pakistani youth delegation which would leave soon for Turkey to attend the 5th World Youth Congress in Istanbul starting from July 31st.

India Friday again raised its concerns over the billions of dollars worth US military aid to Pakistan and asked America to set up a monitoring system to ensure that the weapons meant for war against terror were not used against it. However, there was no clear assurance from Washington on the issue.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony during his meeting with Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, asked the US to establish a ‘monitoring mechanism’ to ensure that Pakistan uses the military aid in its war against terror and not against India, official sources said.