Chennai, Veteran Indian sports journalist S Thyagarajan, who carved a niche for himself with his extensive coverage of hockey, died here on Monday after battling age-related ailments. He was 85. He is survived by his wife and two daughters. His cremation took place in Chennai on Monday. Thyagarajan, who covered six Olympics and nine Asian Games, served ‘The Hindu’ newspaper from 1962 to 2013 before his retirement. He started his career with ‘The Indian Express’ in 1961. “S. Thyagarajan, veteran sports correspondent and doyen of hockey writing, who worked with The Hindu for many decades, passed away,” ‘the Hindu’s sports editor K C Vijaya Kumar posted on ‘X’. Thyagarajan also served on the media and communications-related committees of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) during his journalistic career. He was a former president of both the Sports Journalist Federation of India and the Tamil Nadu Sports Journalists Association. Former India captain-cum-coach and 1980 Olympic gold medallist Vasudevan Baskaran was heartbroken as Tyagarajan, commonly known as “Thyagu” covered his entire career and supported him throughout. “When I started hockey in 1969 he was covering the sport and used to cover collegiate hockey for the Hindu. That’s basically how he came into prominence. His dedication, love and knowledge of the sport was impeccable,” Baskaran told PTI. “It’s a very sad for Indian sports as he was a great athletics correspondent as well besides hockey. His contribution to Indian hockey was immense,” he added. Senior journalist and hockey historian K Arumugam was at loss of words for Thayagarajan’s demise. “I knew him for more than 30 years. He was rare, an all-rounder journalist. He was master of all aspects not just hockey. He was a story teller,” Arumugam said. “He was globally very well respected, his knowledge was very well recognised,” he said. Senior Indian sports journalist S Sabanayakan, a former president of the Sports Journalist Federation of India (SJFI) who has worked with prominent newspapers like The Hindu and The Telegraph, termed Thyagarajan’s death as an “irreparable loss” for the fraternity. “The passing of S Thyagarajan is an irreparable loss to sports journalism. An expert in field hockey, Thyagu as he is well known, groomed a lot of youngsters in the profession. A fluent writer, his writing style was racy and unique,” he said. “He was the president of Sports Journalists’ Federation of India for one term of two years in 1996. He also headed the Tamil Nadu Sports Journalists’ Association for many years. He was also the Chairman of the Field Hockey Commission of AIPS from 1998 to 2006. “He covered 6 Olympics, nine Asian Games, nine hockey World Cups and 20 hockey nationals in his illustrious career. In October 2024, he was felicitated by SJFI for his contribution to sports journalism,” he added The Sports Journalists Federation of India condoled the demise of Thyagarajan. President Saraju Chakraborty said the passing away of the doyen of sports journalism was an irreparable loss to the fraternity.

A court in Tamil Nadu on Monday found all nine accused policemen guilty in the 2020 custodial torture and deaths of a father and son in Sathankulam.The First Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai delivered its judgment in the case related to the deaths of P Jeyaraj and his son J Beniks, who died after alleged custodial torture in Sathankulam in Thoothukudi district in June 2020.Ten policemen, who were subsequently placed under suspension, were arrested in connection with the case. The accused included inspector Sridhar; sub-inspectors Balakrishnan and Raghu Ganesh; head constables Murugan and A Samadurai; and constables M. Muthuraja, S Chelladurai, X Thomas Francis and S Vailmuthu, along with special sub-inspector Paldurai. They were lodged in Madurai Central Prison following their arrest.Paldurai later died of Covid-19.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the probe, filed its chargesheet against the remaining nine policemen on September 25, 2020. A supplementary chargesheet was submitted on August 12, 2022 after further investigation.The CBI said that Beniks had gone to the Sathankulam police station after his father, Jeyaraj, was detained there, seeking an explanation for the detention. According to the agency, a scuffle broke out between Beniks and the policemen, following which inspector Sridhar allegedly intervened and directed the officers to teach him a lesson on “how to behave with police.”The CBI alleged that both Jeyaraj and Beniks were then subjected to repeated rounds of custodial torture, during which their clothes were removed, further intensifying the brutality.The investigation also found that the following morning, Sridhar allegedly instructed a sweeper to clean the floor of the main hall and other areas of the police station in an attempt to destroy evidence. The agency said the victims’ blood-stained clothes were changed twice before they were taken to the hospital, and again at the hospital before they were produced for remand. The discarded clothes were allegedly thrown into a hospital dustbin to eliminate evidence.The probe further revealed that Jeyaraj and Beniks had not violated Covid-19 lockdown norms and that no altercation had taken place between them and the police on Kamarajar Salai in Sathankulam on the evening of June 19. According to the CBI, a false case had been registered against the two men.A total of 105 witnesses were examined in the case, including Selvarani, the wife of Jeyaraj, and R Revathi, who was then serving as a woman head constable at the Sathankulam police station, as cited by PTI.The court also examined 116 documents as evidence, including the judicial inquiry reports related to the deaths of Jeyaraj and Beniks.

NEW DELHI: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday marked four years of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, emphasising its guiding mantra of Development as well as Heritage while fulfilling the dreams of the statehood agitators and the aspirations of the state’s 1.25 crore residents.

In a post on X, CM Dhami wrote, “Government of the People 4 Unparalleled Years Fulfilling the dreams of the state agitators, in line with the hopes and aspirations of over 1.25 crore residents of the province, our government, under the inspiration and guidance of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is continuously working towards building a strong, prosperous, and self-reliant Uttarakhand. With better coordination between economy and ecology, we are committed to the sustainable development of Devbhoomi Uttarakhand and the welfare of its residents, guided by the mantra of ‘Development as well as Heritage’.”On Sunday, CM Dhami highlighted the state’s development achievements over the past four years.He said his government has taken historic and visionary steps to make Uttarakhand a leader in all fields, promoting growth, good governance, and prosperity.In a post on X, CM Dhami wrote, “Over the past four years, we have taken several historic and visionary decisions to make Uttarakhand a leader and number-1 in every field, through which new dimensions of development, good governance, and prosperity are being established.”On Saturday, defence minister Rajnath Singh lauded Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s leadership abilities, calling him “Dhurandhar Dhami.”Addressing a public gathering here on the completion of four years of the Uttarakhand government, the defence minister expressed pride and confidence in the government led by CM Dhami and attributed the state’s growth to him.“This gathering has been organised to mark the completion of Pushkar Dhami’s four-year tenure. During the elections, I had told him that the BJP would win under his leadership, and the BJP achieved a clear majority. I had said in a meeting once, ‘Our Dhami is not ordinary, he is Dhakad Dhami… now, he should be called Dhurandhar Dhami. Uttarakhand has secured a leading position in the country across several sectors,” he said.Singh also reminisced about his tenure as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, during which the state of Uttarakhand was formed.“The land of Uttarakhand is the land of the Gods (Devbhoomi). I also served as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand for 10-12 days. It was during my tenure as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh that Uttarakhand was created. Uttarakhand is a land of faith, spirituality, culture, and sages; it is revered as a place of penance,” the Defence Minister said. (ANI)

NEW DELHI: The National Democratic Alliance on Monday finalised its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, with 27 seats allocated to the BJP, 18 to the PMK and 11 to the AMMK. The AIADMK will contest the remaining 178 seats.The agreement was formalised in Chennai with BJP leader Piyush Goyal and AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami signing the electoral pact at the party headquarters.