Sports Mela held at GGMS Bhure Chak
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 20: One day “Sports Mela” under the aegis of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan was held at Government Girls Middle School Bhure Chak, in which students of from different schools participated and exhibited their talent and sportsmanship.
The Sports Mela was organised in connection with Enrolment Drive of Education Department under the supervision of NR Dhingra, District Chairman SSA and Syed Murawwat Hussain Shah, Incharge Zonal Education Officer Satwari.
Nasir Ahmed Qurashi, Master and Coordinator Enrolment Drive Satwari, presented the welcome address and highlighted the importance of co-scholastic and non-scholastic activities in day-to-day life and impressed upon the students to take active part in games during their schooling. He said that games plays an important role in the all round development of students.
During the “Sports Mela”, team of Government Middle School Thalwal was declared winner in Tug of War competition whereas teams of Government High School Barzala and Government Middle School Alora were adjudged as second and third respectively.
In boys category, the first prize in 100 meters race was clinched by Rajan Kumar of Government Middle School Thalwal and Parveen Kumar of Government Middle School Bhure Chak and Rakesh Kumar of Government High School Barzala secured second and third runner ups respectively.
In spoon race for boys, Rohit Kumar from Government Middle School Mandal bagged first position while Randeep Singh from Government High School Barzala and Rohit Kumar of Government Middle School Sohanjana were adjudged as second and third respectively.
Madhu Bala of Government Middle School Bhure Chak bagged first position in 100 meter race in girls category. In the same event the second and third prize were clinched by Riya Sharma of Government Middle School Dund Pur Mukhra and Arti Devi of Government Middle School Alora respectively.
Sawati Sharma from Government Middle School Bhure Chak was adjudged first in girls spoon race whereas Arti Devi from Government Middle School Alora and Shilpa Devi from Government Middle School Dund Pur Mukhra were adjudged as second and third respectively.
Kuldeep Singh, Physical Education Teacher of Government Middle School Mandal and Vishal Balhotra, Physical Education Teacher of Government High School Sohanjana acted as referees whereas Amit Dutta, Teacher Government Middle School Sure Chak was the technical advisor.
Vivek Padha, teacher of Government Middle School Bhure Chak was all over in-charge of sports events.
Ajay Sharma, Naryan Baru, Ajmer Singh, Sanjeev Kumar, Nasir Latif Mir, Randeep Singh, Bhupesh Choudhary, Harjeet Singh, Girdhari Lal, Tarsem Lal, Ravi Kumar, Bhisham Sharma, Ravinder Singh and Ashok Kumar, teachers and resource persons assisted the technical staff during the Sport Mela.
Madhu bags first position in 100 meter race
RR organises Painting competition
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 20: In order to see the imagination of students towards painting and to make them confident in expressing their thoughts on paper through painting, Rashtriya Rifles Battalion under the aegis of Romeo Force organized a Painting competition for school children at Sandot today.
In the competition, students from class 1st to 3rd were put in first category and students from 4th to 5th class were put in second category.
The theme for senior category was ‘National Integration’ and for junior category ‘Save the Environment’, in which more than 70 students participated in the competition and displayed their artistic talent.
Hazib Khan, Headmaster, Government Primary School, Sandot presented vote of thanks and expressed gratitude towards the army for organising such positive thought provoking event.
The event culminated with distribution of prizes to all participants as a token of appreciation for their efforts.
Jammu Riders face Jammu Royals; Jammu Janbaz takes on Doda Daredevils
QFs lineup drawn in JPL T20 Tawi Cup
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 20: Star-studded Jammu Riders would lock-horns with equally balanced Jammu Royals, while Jammu Janbaz would face Doda Daredevils in the quarterfinal matches as the quarterfinals lineup has been drawn in the ongoing Jammu Premier League T20 Tawi Cup, being organized by Indian Army in collaboration with the Department of Youth Services and Sports at different venues in Jammu division.
While Jammu Janbaz and Kathua Knights made it to the quarterfinal stage from Pool-A, Doda Lions and Doda Daredevils qualified for quarterfinals from Pool-B. From Pool-C, Jammu Royals and Poonch Thunderbolts entered the quarterfinals, while from Pool-D Jammu Riders and Reasi Royals stormed into the last eight stage.
Now, in the quarterfinal matches, Jammu Janbaz would face Doda Daredevils at Jammu/Akhnoor, while Poonch Thunderbolts would meet Reasi Royals at Poonch. Doda Lions would lock horns with Kathua Knights at Jammu/Akhnoor, while Jammu Riders would take on Jammu Royals at Reasi.
Meanwhile, in various matches held at Sports Stadium Reasi, Jammu Riders thrashed Reasi Royals by 6 wickets, Reasi Royals scripted a narrow win by 2 wickets over Kings XI Udhampur, Jammu Riders trounced Udhampur Royals by a big margin, Reasi Royals crushed Udhampur Royals by a huge margin of 91 runs, while Kings XI Udhampur outplayed Udhampur Royals by 6 wickets. Vikram Singh (4 wicket haul), Shubam Khajuria (power-packed 68), Dhruv Mahajan (fluid 63), Hardeep Singh, Irshad, Bandeep Singh and Hilal Rather emerged star performers for Jammu Riders, while Imtiyaz Malik (unbeaten 86), Aijaz Wani (all-round performance) were main performers for Reasi Royals.
At Akhnoor, Jammu Janbaz defeated Jammu Super Kings, Kathua Knights and Samba Soormas in its respective ties to emerge topper, while Kathua Knights won matches against Jammu Super Kings and Samba Soormas. Manish Dogra, Ashu Kumar, Rohit Bhat and Nitin Mehra remained star performers for Jammu Janbaz.
In the last league tie played today, Jammu Janbaaz drubbed Jammu Super Kings by 61 runs. Batting first, Jammu Janbaaz scored 267 runs for the loss of seven wickets in stipulated 20 overs.
Super Kings, in reply managed 205 runs in the allotted overs by losing nine wickets in the process.
Manish Dogra was declared man of the match for his knock of 87 runs. Nitin Mehra also played well contributing quick-fire 50 runs. Jimmy Mangotra and Sumit Rajput took three wickets each from Super Kings.
Later, Jammu Super Kings could make 205 runs for nine wickets thereby lost the match by 61 runs. Sunny Kumar played fine knock of 50-ball 78 runs while Jimmy Mangotra contributed 18-ball 39 runs. From Jammu Janbaaz, Deepak Singh Manhas was the pick of the bowlers who took three important wickets while Mayank Gautam captured two.
At Sports Stadium Doda, Doda Lions, Doda Daredevils and Kishtwar Kings secured equal points by winning two matches each and the top two teams were decided on net run-rate, wherein Doda Lions and Doda Daredevils qualified for the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, at Poonch, Poonch Thunderbolts won all the three ties against Rajouri Miracles, Rajouri Rajas and Jammu Royals and topped the pool, while Jammu Royals trounced Rajouri Rajas and Rajouri Miracles and lost against Poonch Thunderbolts to be at number 2 position in this pool. Wasim Raja was star performer for Thunderbolts, while Guru Pratap Singh was main performer for Jammu Royals.
Yoga sports coaching camp concludes
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 20: Ten day special Yoga Sports coaching camp organized by the Yoga Society of Kashmir (YSK) concluded at the Government High School, Batmaloo here. More than 70 players belonging to varying age groups took part in the yoga camp.
During the yoga championship held at the end of the yoga camp, Falak Rasool and Mehak Manzoor were jointly declared as the best players of the championship.
A prize distribution function was also organized and chief guest distributed prizes among the participants.
Ready to bat at No 3: Gambhir
NEW DELHI, Apr 20:
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Gautam Gambhir today said he is ever ready to move to the No 3 position in the batting order if the situation demanded.
Gambhir, who did not open in the first two matches, went in to open the innings with Kiwi keeper-batsman Brendon McCullum in their win against Kings XI Punjab.
“KKR is not just my team it is all about 23 players. What I think is best eleven and is the best batting order on the day I implemented that,” Gambhir said on the sidelines of a promotional event here today.
“In the first two matches I thought I needed to go and bat at number three and after that there was a need to open the innings. I will again go back to number three if needed,” he added.
The former India vice-captain also defended flamboyant all-rounder Yusuf Pathan, who failed to click in any of the matches so far.
“Its just six matches by now, ten are left, I think Yusuf only needs one match to turn things around, I have full faith in him and all the 23 players,” he said.
“Yusuf is a hard-working batsman and he is working hard on the nets to get his flaws corrected,” he added.
Responding to a question on the packed schedule of the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL), the southpaw downplayed it as the part and parcel of any profession.
“I am not alone who has this hectic schedule, in fact most professions people have hectic schedules. I indulge in massages given by team masseurs to relax and keep fit,” he said.
“We are professional cricketers and used to such packed schedules. Ya sometimes there are a bit of niggles and injury issues but that’s part of the sport,” he added. (UNI)
Hamilton fastest in first Bahrain practice
MANAMA, Apr 20:
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton set the pace in the first free practice session held at the Bahrain Formula One circuit for more than two years today.
Last year’s race at Sakhir was cancelled after a bloody crackdown on an anti-government uprising and human rights activists have called on the glamour sport to cancel the event again this year.
With tight security beyond the metal fences of the paddock, and few spectators in the stands, drivers got down to business on a circuit whose layout has been shortened since 2010 when fans witnessed a boring race with little overtaking.
Hamilton, the 2008 champion who is leading the standings after three successive third places, lapped with a best time of one minute 33.572 seconds.
Red Bull’s world champion Sebastian Vettel was second on the timing screens, 0.305 slower, with Force India’s British driver Paul Di Resta third.
Neither Hamilton, who started the first two races on pole position, nor Vettel have won a race yet this season with three different winners in the opening rounds.
Germany’s Nico Rosberg, who took his first win at the 111th attempt in China last weekend, was fourth fastest for his Mercedes team with McLaren’s Jenson Button fifth.
The Ferraris of Spaniard Fernando Alonso and Brazilian Felipe Massa were 13th and 15th respectively. (Agencies)
CM inaugurates new facilities in Jammu Club, hails management
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 20: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today called for expansion of sports and social activities across the State for good health of the people in the present fast life. He said indoor game facilities coupled with library provided opportunity to people and reading and sports activities.
Speaking after inaugurating conference hall, library, party halls, billiard room and multi cuisine restaurant `The Olive’ at Jammu Club, which had been constructed at a cost of Rs 2.1 crore, Omar appreciated efforts of the Managing Committee and hoped it would continue endeavour for further development of the Club.
“No doubt Jammu Club was facing space crunch but the Managing Committee should make best and judicious use of current space available to them”, he asserted at a well- attended function of the Club.
The Chief Minister said the Government would extend support to the Club in future also if the Managing Committee continued its endeavour for development of the Club. He noted that the Jammu Club now has best infrastructure across the country.
He appreciated the efforts made by the managing committee in completing the construction projects in record time.
Highlighting importance of the Library, Omar said it was the best way to pull out the children from Television and Video games and “we should provide other options to them to enhance their sporting viz education skills”.
Referring to condition of the hall, he said the Managing Committee of the Club and the members associated with it should take steps for its face lifting.
Sudhanshu Pandey, Principal Secretary, PDD and vice president, Jammu Club, in his speech said for the past quite few years, Jammu Club was scaling new heights.
He hoped that the Management Committee and the members associated with the Club would continue with their endeavour and work for its further development to make it number one Club across the globe.
Earlier, Raman Samotra, Secretary, Jammu Club, presented the welcome address and mentioned that the month of April has been auspicious in the history of Jammu Club.
He said that Jammu Club building was inaugurated by former J&K Chief Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah on April 13 in the year 1978.
“The Squash Court, Swimming Pool and the Health Club complexes were inaugurated two years back by Omar Abdullah in the month of April and the project of Library, Conference Hall, Billiards Hall, Party Hall and the cuisine restaurant “The Olive”, have been dedicated to the members of the Club by Omar in the same month of April”, Mr Samotra added.
He further said that the total project has been completed at an approximate cost of Rs 2.10 crores against a projected and approved cost of Rs 2.07 crores in a total period of 18 months.
“For these projects, the Government has released an amount of Rs 50 lakh, with which this project was made possible”, Mr Samotra said, adding, an amount of Rs 1.27 crores has been collected from the members as development fund and the balance amount of Rs 33 lakh has been funded out of the fixed deposits available in the bank.
“With the addition of the new facilities and the demolition of the old library, which was obstructing the view of the rear lawn and always gave a very narrow look to the Club as a whole, the rear and the front lawns have been merged, which has given a beautiful and more spacious look to the club”, he added.
Mr Samotra said that now the members from different affiliated clubs in the country would visit the Club and surely feel proud after viewing the infrastructure and the facilities available in the Jammu Club, which were comparable with the best Clubs in the country.
He assured the Chief Minister that they will create world class facilities for the members in times to come and also expressed gratitude to the members of the club for their support in this project.
Sagar inspects functioning of panchayats
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 20: To assess implementation of empowerment of the Panchayati Raj representatives at the ground level, Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohd Sagar today took stock of functioning of various panchayats of Jammu district.
The Minister was accompanied by Director Rural development Jammu, Shafiq Raina, Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Sanjeev Verma, ADDC Jammu, Rehana Batool, Assistant Commissioner Development Jammu, K. Siddha, Executive Engineer RDD, Parvaiz Malik and other senior officers of various departments like PHE, PDD, Irrigation, PWD.
While interacting with panchayat representatives at Bhour camp and Makwal, the Minister directed the officers to ensure that the orders of empowering the Panchayat representatives are implemented in letter and spirit and action initiated against any officer showing any deviation from the same.
“Empowerment of Sarpanchs and Panchs will surely add to progress and prosperity of the state besides ensuring effective implementation of development programmes”, he added. He said that the present Government has ensured effective decentralization of powers to the ground level.
“We do not believe in rhetoric and selling false ideas and misleading the people but in sustained action coupled with effective implementation of development programmes. It is after decades that this revolutionary measure has been initiated whereby the people at grass root level have been involved in policy formulation and implementation”, Minister maintained
Mr Sagar directed the officers to involve Panches and Sarpanchs in implementation of various schemes and work in close coordination with them so that proper and area specific development is ensured.
The Minister also inspected the status of works undertaken under different schmes like MGNREGA,TSC etc and directed the officers to ensure the funds earmarked under these are utilized to the maximum and benefit percolates to the targeted populace.
The Minister, earlier, inspected the pace of work on the Panchayat Bhawan being constructed with an estimated cost of Rs. 1.48 cr with facilities like conference rooms, meeting halls as well as committee rooms.
Governor, CM for quality research initiatives
KU, JU to get Rs. 50 lakh each
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 20: Governor N. N. Vohra and Omar Abdullah today decided to provide a seed capital of Rs. 50 lakh each to the University of Kashmir and the University of Jammu for the promotion of research activities in both these institutions of higher learning.
The Governor and the Chief Minister announced this while addressing the University Council meeting of the Kashmir University at Raj Bhavan here today.
The Governor laid emphasis on high end research projects, particularly those having a bearing on the economic development of the State. He added that this would also enhance the employability of highly trained human resource which can also contribute in a big way towards securing the goal of making J&K a frontline developed State in the near future.
The Governor, who is Chancellor of the University, also laid emphasis on engendering greater linkages between the Universities and the colleges and schools so that the issue of deficiency of well qualified faculty in various subjects at the college and University levels could be progressively addressed by encouraging the brighter students to pursue higher studies and research, particularly in respect of those subjects in which there is a shortage of teachers.
The Governor observed that there is urgent need for enlarging the outreach of various skill upgradation and placement programmes like UDAAN so that maximum number of youth of the State could be benefited.
The Governor impressed upon the University authorities that a comprehensive Master Plan be got formulated for the infrastructure development of the University so that every new building and other facilities harmonize with the settings of the varsity.
The Chief Minister, while referring to the augmentation of hostel and other facilities for the students in the University, stressed for preparing projects for funding by various sources, including the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs to avail maximum benefits of the schemes available with them. He said that adequate provisions be ensured for water harvesting and use of solar energy in the upcoming hostels and other buildings in the University.
The Chief Minister said that employability aspects must be kept in view while introducing any new course. He added that high priority needs to be accorded to those courses which have higher employment potential in the existing and emerging job market scenario.
Prof. Talat Ahmad, Vice Chancellor, University of Kashmir, in his comprehensive power point presentation, dwelt on the status of various ongoing research projects and those in the pipeline, achievements of the University in varied fields since the last meeting of the Council, status of the establishment of new satellite Campuses, etc.
Among other members of the University Council, the meeting was attended by Prof. M. P. S. Ishar, Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu; R. P. Aggarwal, formerly Secretary, Union Ministry of Human Resource Development; Prof. Jayati Ghosh from JNU; M. I. Khandey, Principal Secretary, Finance; Navin Kumar Choudhary, Principal Secretary to the Governor; Tanveer Jehan, Commissioner/Secretary, Higher Education and Prof. Syed Fayyaz Ahmad, Registrar, University of Kashmir.
Petroleum dealers to go on strike on Apr 23
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 20: All J&K Petroleum Dealers Association has decided to go on one-day token strike against the Central Government’s policy for not raising the commissions and not doing anything to stop randomly opening of filling stations across the State.
This was disclosed by Anan Sharma, president of the association during a press conference here this afternoon.
He said that the All India Petroleum Federation had constituted a committee and submitted their demands to the Central government, which have not yet been implemented in toto.
He said the demands submitted to the Centre included raise in the commissions besides resentment for not doing anything to stop opening of filling stations without following the norms mentioned in the rule book.
“We will observe one-day strike on April 23 to press Government to consider their demands but if by or before the date their demands will not be addressed then from April 30 the petroleum dealers would go on indefinite strike and for the un-convenience to the people, the government will be responsible”, he added.
Among others present were Sanjay Mahajan, Rahul Gupta, Vijay Saraf, Roshan Lal, Narinder Gupta, BN Dhar and Mohan Singh, executive members of the association.
Meanwhile, Kashmir Valley Petroleum Dealers Association (KVPDA) has extended its support to the one day strike called by the Federation of All India Petroleum Traders on April 23 against the revision of dealers commission.
In a joint statement, the office bearers of KVPDA said that the issues taken up by the federation such as revision of marketing discipline guidelines and mushrooming of retail outlets are burning and need to be solved at the earliest