OAI
to organise Intl Winter Sports at Gulmarg
Govt endeavours to encourage
adventure tourism: Baig
Excelsior Correspondent
New
Delhi, Feb 12: The Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar
Hussain Baig on Tuesday said that peace and
progress possessed symbiotic relations adding
"when peace roots development
germinates".
Addressing a
distinguished gathering at a function at Ashok
Hotel here, organized to showcase 5th Winter
Sports at Gulmarg, to be held from February 17 to
22, Mr. Baig said that Jammu and Kashmir
represented rich cultural heritage, religious
ethos and geographical diversity living in amity
since ages. "When we talk of Kashmir we mean
the beautiful mountainous range of Ladakh-
dominated by Buddhist Civilization, pilgrimage
destination of Jammu, inhabited mostly by Hindus,
where plains and mountains combine to present
peaceful diversity and the vale of Kashmir, abode
of Sufis and saints, dominated by Muslims
presenting a unique combination of water and
mountains, narrating the live stories of natural
beauty", Baig explained.
He said "for
its religious and cultural diversity, nurturing
in an atmosphere of love and brotherhood, Jammu
and Kashmir has lived as a jewel in the crown of
India. "If you want to experience the virtue
and wisdom come to Kashmir" Baig advised.
Deputy. Chief
Minister said during the long period of violence
Jammu and Kashmir Tourism received considerable
jolt and tourist visits to this beautiful part of
the world declined heavily. "But Jammu and
Kashmir lives in the hearts of people and no
force can drive them away from Kashmir", he
said.
Dispelling all
apprehension about security, Mr. Baig said that
there was great room for investors to invest in
tourism sector in J&K and be partners in the
peace and progress. "This would not only
earn you profits but provide an economic succour
to the large number of people living on tourism
activities,"he said.
Later, talking to
media persons Deputy. Chief Minister said that
exchange of sports and cultural activities
solidify and concretize the peace and open vistas
of all round development. He said State
Government was endeavouring to organize National
and International sports events in the state and
encourage adventure tourism alongwith
convenstional one.
Earlier, the Chief
Guest Suresh Kalmadi, President Olympic
Association of India, said that the Olympic
Association would render every support to Jammu
and Kashmir in organizing national and
international events. He said "we would try
to organized International Winter Sports at
gulmarg next year and try to make Pakistan
players to participate in the games. Kalmadi said
that "out of the five National Winter Sports
events organized by the Olympic Association of
India, Kashmir has been selected to host three.
This shows how eager and enthusiastic we are to
promote Winter tourism in Kashmir."
Welcoming the
audience the Secretary Tourism, Jammu and Kashmir
Government, Nayeem Akhtar said holding of 5th
National Winter Games, 2008 at Gulmarg from
February 17 to 22 was a significant turn around
in tourism related activities. He said
"Gulmarg is undoubtly the finest ski resort
in the country and the national winter games 2008
would be mega sporting event".
The Secretary
winter sports of India R.K.Gupta also spoke on
the occasion and gave a brief resume of
activities of Winter Sports Association. The
President Jammu and Kashmir Olympic Association,
Rangeel Singh was also present on the occasion.
On the occasion
Deputy Chief Minister and Mr. Kalmadi handed over
the 5th National Winter Games torch to winter
games Olympian from Kashmir, Gul Mustafa. The
torch would be carried to Dehradoon, Shimla,
Jammu, Srinagar and ultimately to Gulmarg where
it will reach on February 17.
YCC
trounces WCC by 8 wickets
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU,
Feb 12: Youth
Cricket Club (YCC), Bhaderwah got the better of
Whites Cricket Club (WCC), Srinagar by eight
wickets today in the ongoing President Cup Knock
Out Cricket Tournament being played at GGM
Science College Hostel Ground.
YCC won the toss
and opted to bat first. They bowled for 125 runs
in 31.4 overs.
Rahul Choudhary
(41) and Joravar (37) were the top scorers. Rahul
pierced two hits to the fence while Joravar
struck four.
For YCC, Majid and
Aman were the most successful bowlers with three
scalps each . The duo accounted for WCC’s
dramatic batting collapse as both bowled with
sting and fire to tighten noose around batsmen.
Muizz also chipped
in with two wickets.
Chasing 126 to
win, YCC cruised to victory well with in the 21st
over losing just two wickets in the process.
Arafat was the
star batsman for YCC who played a crafty knock of
71 (not out) studded with nine hits to the fence.
He was ably
supported by Mudassir who contributed 32 (5x4).
For WCC, Mahavir took one wicket.
The scorer was
Gokul B Verma.
Aussies
party at ‘gay-friendly’ pub after loss
to India
MELBOURNE, Feb 12: Hours after the
five-wicket loss to India in the ongoing
tri-series, some of Australia’s top
cricketers let their hair down in a reunion party
thrown by spin legend Shane Warne at a
"gay-friendly" nightclub here.
The bash was held
on Sunday night after the world champions were
outplayed by India in a one-dayer of the
tri-series, also involving Sri Lanka.
According to a
report in the ‘Daily Telegraph’, those
who attended the party included pace spearhead
Brett Lee, retiring stumper Adam Gilchrist,
Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds.
The group
reportedly left only in the wee hours of Monday.
"I
didn’t realise it was a gay night,"
Warne reportedly told the cricketers when they
arrived at the "gay-friendly" love
machine here.
Playing a
protective host, Warne did not allow any
photographs of the party.
The star
cricketers were also joined by Warne’s
childhood friend Warwick Joseph, who is the
pub’s ambassador.
"It was great
to catch up after all these years. We chatted on
about how much each of us love our
children," Joseph said. (PTI)
Technology
adding to pressure on
umpires, says Simon Taufel
MELBOURNE, Feb 12: Technology has made
umpiring a thankless job, says world’s
number one umpire Simon Taufel, who feels
on-field officials rarely get credit for getting
things right but are chastised for every minor
error replayed endlessly on television.
"Although
it’s okay for players to appeal, when the
umpire gets it right he gets no credit
whatsoever," Taufel told the `Australian
Associated Press’, a news agency here.
Taufel said during
close caught behind appeals, the umpire has to
make a split-second decision without getting any
assistance from technologies like the
snickometer.
The Aussie felt
loud crowds add to the pressure and until umpires
get a device to hear faint nicks, it is
impossible to get the decisions right all the
time.
"... If he
(the umpire) makes an error in judgement in those
sorts of areas, we’re using television and
stump audio to prove him wrong," he added.
"You’ve
got to appreciate that when you’re in a
stadium like that of 50,000 people you can’t
actually hear things.
"Until we get
better technology to be able to put that audio
back into our ear, those things (wrong decisions)
are likely to happen and it could happen to any
one of us," he added.
Taufel said given
the furore caused by poor umpiring last month in
the India-Australia test series, it was
inevitable that more technology would be brought
in to cut down on the errors.
"I think
given the events over the last month or so
it’s probably reasonably inevitable that
we’re going to be using more technology in
some way, shape or form," Taufel said.
"What is
likely to happen too is that if that does
eventuate, we will probably use technology to err
on the side of caution rather than stick our
proverbials on the line and make a judgement
without double checking things," he added.
However, Taufel
cautioned against using technology too often.
"We have to
make sure that we’re not just transferring
human error from on the field to off the
field," the 37-year-old warned.
"That the
technology and the process is strong enough so
that we get the right answer and we’re just
not confusing someone else and perhaps delaying
the game unnecessarily and still getting the
wrong answers," he said. (PTI)
Rain or
no rain, we would have won: Jayawardene
CANBERRA, Feb 12: Indians may feel that rain
cost them a win but Sri Lankan skipper Mahela
Jayawardene insisted that his side would have
triumphed even if the Duckworth/Lewis system had
not reduced their target at the Manuka Oval here
today.
After a delayed
start, India scored 195 for five in 29 overs. The
target was revised to 154 in 21 overs following
another spell of rain after the Indian innings.
The Lankans
overhauled the target with 12 balls to spare,
losing just two wickets in the process, to
register their first win of the tri-series also
involving Australia.
"You
can’t control the weather but we could have
chased down 195 as well. Our chase was
well-calculated and we kept wickets in
hand," Jayawardene said in the post-match
press conference.
Jayawardene said
his side showed lot of character in winning a
critical game for the side, which has thrown the
series wide open.
"It was a
crucial game for us and we showed character.
Winning the toss was an advantage and even though
they batted really well, we planned the chase
brilliantly," Jayawardene said.
"All three
teams will need to be consistent in order to do
well in the series from now on," he added.
Jayawardene
showered praise on young Indian batsman Rohit
Sharma, who scored unbeaten 70 runs.
"Rohit has
had a good start to the tournament and he is an
exciting prospect. We haven’t seen enough of
him to understand how he plays though," he
said.
The Lankan
skipper, however, was not too concerned about his
main spinner Muttiah Muralitharan’s form,
who is yet to make any major impact in the
series.
"... He came
at a time when the new ball bowlers hadn’t
done much. The batsmen had to go after Murali. I
thought he was a bit hesitant in the first couple
of overs and a bit negative," he said.
"But he is an
experienced cricketer and would learn from
it," he added. (PTI)
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