New Delhi // India’s sports minister could be stripped of his accreditation at the Rio Olympics after complaints of “aggressive and rude” behaviour by his entourage.
The Rio organising committee said it had received several reports of Vijay Goel trying to get unaccredited people accompanying him into Olympic venues.
“When the staff try to explain that this is not allowed, they report that the people with the minister have become aggressive and rude and sometimes push past our staff,” committee manager Sarah Peterson told India’s chef de mission, Rakesh Gupta, in a letter cited by the Press Trust of India news agency.
“Should our protocol team be made aware of further examples of this type of behaviour, the accreditation of your minister for sports will be cancelled and his privileges at the Olympic Games withdrawn,” she wrote.
Mr Goel has denied any wrongdoing, saying it was a “misunderstanding”.
“What is being said is that my staff may have done something wrong, but I am not aware of this or any misbehaviour. Nothing is being said about me, it is about my staff,” he told the NDTV news network in Rio.
But the charge has led to an outpouring of anger on social media in India, where politicians are frequently accused of abusing their position to skip queues or zip through traffic in their official cars.
“Sad to see our ministers carrying the ‘do you know who I am?’ attitude to Rio Olympics,” said one Twitter user, Karun Chandhok.
“Finally, India has won a medal at Rio Olympics. It’s for lunatic behaviour. Thank you sports minister,” tweeted another.
The Indian Express newspaper meanwhile accused Mr Goel of spending his time in Rio taking selfies with "exhausted Indian athletes".
India has sent a 118-strong contingent to Rio, its largest ever for an Olympic Games, and the sports ministry has set a target of 10 medals.
But athletes complain of substandard training facilities and a lack of government investment in sport in a country that has enjoyed two decades of rapid economic development and has a booming population of 1.25 billion.
* Agence France-Presse
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Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
