» India started their campaign in the Commonwealth Shooting Championships with two golds, a silver and bronze on Feb 19.

The first gold came in the 10-metre air rifle pairs men with Gagan Narang and P.T. Raghunath shooting a total of 1193. Narang aggregated 599 while Raghunath shot 594. In the finals, Narang (55) and Raghunath (47) shot a total of 102 to bag the first medal of the tournament.

The silver went to the English pair of James Huckle (593) and Ken Parr jnr (592) while Bangladesh duo Asif Hossain Khan (594) and Shovon Chowdhury (588) bagged the bronze.

The second gold came in the women's 25-metre pistol pairs event where the Indian duo of Annisa Sayyed (582) and Annuraj Singh (565) shot a total of 1147.

Australian pair of Linda Ryan (574) and Elena Galiabovitch (564) bagged the silver with the total of 1138 while the bronze went to the English pair of Georgina Geikie (571) and Julia Lydall (558) with a total of 1129.

In the men's 50-metre free pistol pairs, Indian pair of Bapu Vanjare (536) and Viraj Singh (523) won the silver with a tally of 1059 while the gold was clinched by England duo Michael Gault (545) and Nick Baxter (537) for a total of 1082.

Australia won the bronze with shooters Alfio (523) and Janek Janski (507) shooting a total of 1030.

Indian's women rifle shooters ended the day by winning the bronze in the 50-metre 3 position pairs events. Lajja Goswami (prone 196, standing 187 and kneeling 188) and Tejaswini Sawant (prone 195, standing 180, kneeling 189) aggregated 1135 for the bronze.

The gold went to Scottish team of Jennifer Mcintosh (prone 196, standing 185, kneeling 192) and Kay Copland (prone 198, standing 178, kneeling 187) for a total of 1136. Welsh team of Jennifer Corish (prone 195, standing 186, kneeling 189) and Sian Corish (prone 196, standing 185, kneeling 184) for a total of 1135.

Both the Indian and the Welsh teams were tied after the qualifiers but in the final, the wales duo shot 41 while the hosts were one point behind.

» Noted authors Keki N. Daruwalla and Amit Chaudhuri are among the four Indians nominated for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2010.
Besides Daruwalla's "For Pepper and Christ" and Chaudhuri's "The Immortals", authors Rana Dasgupta and Chandrahas Chowdhury have also been nominated for their books "Solo" and "Arzee the Dwarf", respectively.

While "Solo" and "Arzee The Dwarf" have been published by HarperCollins-India, "For Pepper and Christ" has been published by Penguin-Books India and "The Immortals" has been published by Picador-India.

"For Pepper and Christ" is a historic tale of sailors voyaging during the time of Vasco Da Gama that weaves itself around the legend of Prestor John and spice trade.

"The Immortals" is the story of two families in Mumbai of the 'eighties bound by music.

"Solo" by England-born Dasgupta is an epic tale of the 20th and 21st centuries told from the perspective of a one hundred-year-old Bulgarian man. Having achieved little in his 20th-century life, he settles into a long and prophetic daydream of the 21st century, where all the ideological experiments of the old century are over, and a collection of startling characters - demons and angels - live a life beyond utopia.

"Arzee The Dwarf", the debut novel of Chandrahas, a young author, is the story of Mumbai told through the life and voice of a dwarf Arzee -- the head projectionist of Noor, a Mumbai cinema. Arzee's personal joys, sorrows and an unusual cast of friends encapsulate the spirit of Mumbai and the chaotic world that he lives in.

Other nominees for best book in Europe and South Asia include "The Beijing of Possibilities" by Jonathan Tel (Britian), "Heartland" by Anthony Catwright (Britain) and "Another Gulmohar Tree" by Aamer Hussain (Pakistan), a communique issued by HarperCollins said Friday.

Besides Chandrahas' "Arzee the Dwarf", the nominations for the best debut books include "The Hungry Ghosts" by Anne Berry (Britain), "In Other Rooms, Other Wonders" by Daniyal Mueenuddin (Pakistan), "Among Thieves" by Mez Packer (Britain), "An Equal Stillness" by Francesca Kay (Britain) and "Tail of the Blue Birds" by Nii Parkes (Britain).

In 2009, Christos Tsiolkas from Australia won the Commonwealth Prize for the best book, while Mohammed Hanif of Pakistan won the best debut book award for "The Case of Exploding Mangoes".
The year before Canadian author Lawrence Hill won the award for best book, while Tahmima Anam of Bangladesh was honoured for her first book "Golden Age".

» Vitali Klitschko retained his BOXING WBC World Heavy-weight title, winning a unanimous points decision against American challenger Kevin Johnson. The 38-year-old Ukrainian spent the entire fight on the offensive against previously unbeaten Johnson but could not find his customary knockout as his opponent opted for survival.

» Asian champion Suranjoy Singh has become the first Indian boxer to clinch a gold medal at the inter-continental President's Cup. He out-punched Frenchman Nordine Oubaali 8-1 in the flyweight (51kg) final, in Baku, Azerbaijan. The 22-year-old Manipuri's triumph also fetched him US $3,000 at the prestigious season-ending event, where confederations from Asia, America, Africa, Europe and Oceania are pitted against each other.

» India-A men's team overwhelmed Sri Lanka to annex the gold in the Tata Steel Asian Team Chess Championship which concluded at Kolkata. Vietnam took the silver while Iran had to be content with the bronze. In the women's section, Vietnam crushed Nepal 4-0 to total 11 points and win the gold.

» Baskaran Adhiban won the title with a round to spare in match against Abhijeet Gupta of PSPB. Adhiban also bagged his first Grandmaster norm in the process, something which he had narrowly missed thrice in the last two years.

» Australia survived a tense final session to force a draw against the West Indies in an absorbing second Test at the Adelaide Oval between Australia-West Indies Test series.

Australia triumphed over a never-say-die West Indies inside four overs on the final day to win the third and final Test by 35 runs, and win the three-Test series 2-0. The West Indies came into the final day requiring 51 more runs for the unlikeliest of victories with Nos. 10 and 11 at the crease, but were eventually dismissed for 323.

» Last man Graham Onions played out a tense final over from Makhaya Ntini as England escaped with a draw on the fifth and final day of the first Test against South Africa at Centurion.

Graeme Swann took five for 54 as England wrapped up victory by an innings and 98 runs on the fifth day of the second Test against South Africa at Kingsmead.

» In Australia-Pakistan Test Series Chasing a mammoth total of 422 runs, Pakistan had a daunting task of surviving the penultimate day of the first Test match at Melbourne, and Australian off-spinner Nathan Hauritz made the task impossible with his maiden five wicket haul. Riding on Hauritz's splendid spell (5-101) Australia defeated Pakistan by 171 runs. For Aussie captain, Ricky Ponting, the win was more special, as he has now captained the most Test victories (42) than any other player in the world, and played in more wins (93).

» In India-Sri Lanka Test Series India became the number one team in Test rankings after they spanked Sri Lanka by an innings and 24 runs in the third and final cricket Test, played in Mumbai, to clinch the three-match series 2-0.

» In India-Sri Lanka ODI series the first match at Rajkot saw a flurry of 4s and 6s resulting in both teams together scoring 825 runs in 100 overs, at a strike rate of 8.25 per over. In the end India just managed to scrape through with a three-run victory. Batting first, India amassed 414 runs in 5 overs. It was the highest ODI total ever recorded on Indian soil. Lankans finished at 411 for 8 in 50 overs, becoming first team ever to score 400-plus while chasing and still lose.

Tillakaratne Dilshan's power-packed century provided the perfect platform for the visitors as Sri Lanka defeated India by three wickets in the second match at Nagpur to level the series 1-1.

Gautam Gambhir hit 150 not out and Virat Kohli his first ODI ton as India beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, taking an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

The fifth and final match had to be abandoned because of the 'dangerous' pitch at Feroze Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi. The controversy forced the DDCA to apologise and the BCCI to disband the pitch committee headed by Daljit Singh.

» In India-Sri Lanka T20 series Yuvraj Singh belted a whirlwind 60 and bagged three wickets to fashion a six-wicket win for India in the second T20 International against Sri Lanka at Mohali. The win enabled India to level the two-match series. Sri Lanka had defeated India by 29-run loss in the first match in Nagpur.

» On December 6, 2009 millions of Indians were united in celebration as their team ascended to the top of the ICC Test rankings after defeating Sri Lanka in the third and final Test at Mumbai. Fittingly, the win that made it possible was marked by stand-out performances from the men who have played a crucial role in India's ascent. Virender Sehwag has scored more runs than any other Indian batsman over the last 25 Tests—played over a two-year period starting November 2007. His rollicking 293—at a pace that left the bowlers ample time to finish the demolition job— proved pivotal as India fulfilled its tryst with the top slot.

Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan have been India's highest wicket-takers during this period. Both picked up six wickets apiece for the match, with Zaheer coming up with a five-wicket haul to polish off the tail and take India to a comfortable win by an innings and 24 runs.

» Virender Sehwag has become the first Indian to post two double centuries against Sri Lanka. He is also the first Indian batsman to rake-up 200 runs through boundaries (202 runs in 40 fours and seven sixes). Only John Edrich (238 runs in 1965), Mathew Hayden (218 runs in 2003) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (206 runs in 2002) have recorded more runs through boundaries than Sehwag. He has also become the first Indian batsman to share six double century stands for the first wicket in Tests.