Sports Authority of India now renamed to 'Sports India'

An announcement that has been in the books for quite some time now has finally taken shape. As a personal initiative taken up by the SportsMinister of India, Rajyavardhan Rathore, the name of Sports Authority of India will be Sports India as per the latest meeting which took place between SAI officials and the Ministry. The meeting was chaired by the Minister himself and the process to formally change the name begins with a notification sent to the Registrar of Societies. It is expected to take around a week to complete the paperwork. Sports Minister Rathore had earlier shown disdain for the presence of the word "Authority" in the organisation's name. However, the meeting yesterday also discussed the pressing issue of allowing Pakistani shooters to compete in the Shooting World Cup scheduled to take place in the capital later this month. Times of India reported that the uncertainity surrounding their participation had gone. The Home Ministry has reportedly sanctioned the visas for shooters Muhammad Khalil Akhtar and Ghulam Mustafa Bashir in addition to their coach Razi Akhtar. The three are cleared to participate in the ISSF Shooting World Cup which will see 16 quota places for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics up for grabs for the shooters. The development in the visa applications of the two shooters and their coach has been notified to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad and their visas are expected to be stamped soon.