Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 21: Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) Lakhanpur celebrated Annual Day with zeal and fanfare at Army Auditorium, Basholi.
On the occasion, Brigadier HM Iyer, Commander, 401 (I) Brigade was the chief guest while Lieutenant Colonel J Almiya, was the guest of honour.
Speaking on the occasion, Principal of the School presented the welcome address followed by annual report highlighting the achievements of the students in various curricular and co-curricular activities.
During the celebrations, students presented various cultural items and lifted the mood of the event thus making everyone cheer.
While speaking, Brigadier HM Iyer congratulated the school management for organizing the function and also appreciated the students for their performance in curricular and co-curricular activities.
Lieutenant Colonel J Almiya, while speaking impressed upon the students to work hard with dedication to achieve their goals and also stressed upon the teaching fraternity to impart good and quality education to the students, as they are future of the developing nation.
Brigadier HM Iyer and Lieutenant Colonel J Almiya presented prizes to students who excelled in curricular activities and brought laurels to the school.
At the end, PK Sharma, PGT (Geography), presented vote of thanks.

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 21: Vishwa Bharati Institution today celebrated 62nd Foundation day with fervour and gaiety.
The programme was witnessed by huge gathering besides the members of the managing committee including Prof AN Sadhu, secretary, J&K chapter and Dr OP Razdan, vice president of the institution and Swami Kumar ji from Geeta Satsang Ashram, Muthi.
Principal of the school, BMS Pathania, presented the welcome address and highlighted achievements of the students in curricular and co-curricular activities.
On the occasion, an interschool debate competition on “Can the Mother Language Hindi be also be the official language”, was held in which students drawn from various school participated and expressed their views. Prof Chander Kanta Zadoo and Prof Sarla Karihallo, were the judges.
In the competition, Tooba Khatoon and Divyanshi Maholia from Presentation Convent School, Gandhi Nagar bagged first and second positions respectively while the third rank was conferred to Surabhi Bhat from the host school.
Students of the host school also presented various cultural items, which were highly appreciated by the audience with thundering applause.
Dr OP Razdan, who was the chief guest on the occasion presented detailed information with regards to the historical background of the institution.
Dr AN Sadhu, in his speech, expressed satisfaction with the functioning and overall academic development of the school.
The whole programme was compered by Aneeta Sharma from Department of Sanskrit while Veer ji Mattoo, house master, Vishwa Bharti, presented vote of thanks.

Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 21: Minister for Youth Services and Sports RS Chib and Commissioner Secretary Sports Vinod Koul assured Sports Council Employees Union, that their demands will be redressed at the earliest.
This was disclosed by Vikramjeet Singh, president, Sports Council Employees Union, during a meeting here this afternoon, which was attended by sports council employees including manager, coaches. Gafoor Dar, president, Indian Trade Union Front was also present.
Singh said that, they met RS Chib, Minister for Youth Services and Sports and Commissioner Secretary Technical Education Vinod Koul and put forth their demands.
Singh stated that Minister and Commissioner Secretary assured that the genuine demands pertaining to release of pending 9 months arrears of sixth pay commission and 20 per cent arrears, already paid by the Government to other departments will be redressed at the earliest.
He further said that the union has urged the Minister to regularize the daily workers of the Sports Council, who have completed stipulated 7 years in service. Besides other demands including pension to the Council employees, conduct of DPC and proper implementation of the transfer policy were also taken up with the Minister, Singh said.
Among others present were Vijay Chowdhary, Gopal Dass, Anil Wadhera, Rajinder Singh, etc.

CHENNAI, Apr 21:
Faf du Plessis stroked his way to a 52-ball 73 but Chennai Super Kings had to wait till the very last ball before eking out a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in a thrilling Indian Premier League match here today.
Needing two runs off the last ball of the match, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni clipped Stuart Binny off his pads to help the Super Kings overhaul the target of 147 set by Rajasthan.
Du Plessis was the main scorer as he smashed six fours and two sixes to set the tone for the defending champions at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
This was the Super Kings’ fourth win from seven matches while Rajasthan, who had four wins prior to this match, suffered their third defeat in this edition of the cash-rich Twenty20 league.
Chasing a rather modest total, the Super Kings were off to a sedate start, by IPL’s standards, as openers du Plessis and Subramaniam Badrinath (15) added 55 runs in eight overs.
Slow left-arm spinner Brad Hogg gave the visitors their first breakthrough when he had Badrinath stumped by Shreevats Goswami with a ball that had a bit of flight.
The dismissal, though, hardly had any effect on du Plessis as he continued with his attacking game and, along with Suresh Raina, added 61 runs for the second wicket, much to delight of the home crowd.
Raina scored 26 runs in 24 balls and hit three fours.
While he started hitting fours from the second over, du Plessis struck his first six in the seventh over, when Ashok Menaria’s delivery was lofted over the extra-cover region.
The South African struck his second six, against medium pacer Siddharth Trivedi, before Kevon Cooper brought to an end his stay by having the batsman caught by Goswami.
Cooper then sent back Raina, thanks to Ajinkya Rahane’s excellent catch in the deep, but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja denied the visitors any further success while taking Chennai home. (PTI)

PATIALA, Apr 21:
National record holder triple jumper Renjith Maheshwari today achieved London Olympics qualification ‘B’ standard while winning gold on the opening day of 16th Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championships here.
Maheshwari, representing Tamil Nadu, had a leapt of 16.85m in his fifth and penultimate attempt which was the exact distance for ‘B’ qualification standard for London Olympics.
Young Arpinder Singh of ONGC was a distant second in 16.20m while the bronze was won by Raja Sekar of Tamil Nadu with a leapt of 15.79m.
Maheshwari, a former Asian champion and bronze medallist at the Delhi Commonwealth Games, started with a moderate 15.84m and went on to improve it with 16.51 and 16.56 in his next two rounds before making a foul jump on the fourth. His fifth attempt saw him achieve London qualification ‘B’ standard and he had a no mark in his final round.
He also erased the old meet record of 16.72m which he himself created in 2007. It was Maheshwari’s third win in the Federation Cup. He had earlier won the titles in 2005 and 2007.
In other events, Maharashtra sprinter Krishna Kumar Rane (10.51 secs) pipped defending champion Shameer Mon (10.54) of Kerala to become the fastest man of the meet. Manikananad Raj of Andhra Pradesh with third in 10.55s.
Haryana’s Manisa, winner of the previous edition in 2010 in Ranchi, successfully defended her title in 11.93s. Srabani Nanda (12.06s) of Orissa and Shirke Bhagyashree (12.28s) of Maharashtra were second and third respectively.
Javelin thrower Suman Devi proved her mettle once again with her sixth win in this championships.
The Federation Cup is the first major competition for the Indian aspirants wishing to gain an Olympic berth. Athletes to take part in next month’s Asian Grand Prix series in Thailand will also be selected from the Federation Cup. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Apr 21:
Desperate to don his India jersey once again, cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who recently returned to the country after undergoing three cycles of chemotherapy in USA for a rare germ cell cancer, says he is set to start training in a “week or two”.
“I’ll start training in a week or two. I definitely want to get back on the field as soon as possible and wear my India cap again,” Yuvraj said.
As far as getting back to serious cricket is concerned, the left-hander said he would take a call depending on the way his body responds to training.
“I can’t really give a time right now, because I’ll have to see how my body responds to the training and the workouts,” he was quoted as saying in IPL’s official website.
Yuvraj, who was last year diagnosed with a malignant tumour between his lungs, returned to the country on April 9 after undergoing treatment in the US.
“The doctors haven’t given me any medicine. They said the effect of chemo is completely out of my system. It’s been about five weeks now and I feel stronger day by day,” Yuvraj added.
Yuvraj, who led Pune Warriors in the last IPL, said the team will pull through under former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly’s leadership in the ongoing edition.
“He’s (Ganguly) had a lot of experience as a captain for Team India and he’d be the best guy to lead the team at the moment. I just hope that they get into last four, and with his experience the team can really pull through.
“My team (Pune Warriors) is doing really well and it’s great to watch them play. It is an exciting experience to watch the matches as a fan for the first time,” he said. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Apr 21:
India held New Zealand 3-3 in their last preliminary match of the second-leg Women Four Nation Hockey Tournament in Pakuranga, Auckland today.
The scorers for India were strikers Rani, Vandana Katariya and Chanchan Devi Thokchom while Katie Glynn, Cathryn Finlayson and Krystal Forgesson were on target for New Zealand who led 2-1 at half time.
The Kiwis started aggressively and went two up in 10 minutes with strikes by Glynn and Finlayson, but India bounced back by holding sway for most of the match.
India not only wiped off the deficit but went into the lead in the second half only to concede the equaliser in the 66th minute.
Defenders Joydeep Kaur and Kirandeep Kaur failed to block the initial New Zealand onslaughts, which led to the first two goals, even as Indian forward Rani blew away a couple of chances in the Kiwi striking circle.
However Rani made amends in the 15th minute as her scorcher from atop the circle convincingly beat the New Zealand goalkeeper.
India continued mounting pressure on their rivals after the break and drew level with Vandana Katariya deflecting home a penetrative manoeuvre by midfielder Asunta Lakra in the 55th minute.
India broke into the lead in the next minute with Chanchan Devi Thokchom slamming a rebound past the New Zealand goalkeeper. (PTI)

DUBAI, Apr 21:
Grandmaster and defending champion Abhijeet Gupta showcased his positional acumen to outwit Gm Amin Bassem of Egypt in the sixth round of 14th Dubai International Open chess tournament here.
With the victory, Gupta took his tally to five points and jumped into joint lead along with compatriots Parimarjan Negi, Sandipan Chanda, Ni Hua of China, Vladimir Akopian of Armenia Evgenij Miroshnichenko of Ukraine and Normunds Miezis of Latvia.
In another exceptional effort, Negi beat Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia while Chanda scored over compatriot Surya Shekhar Ganguly to remain in contention for a podium finish.
With just three rounds to go in one of the strongest open tournaments held in Asia, Vishnu Prasanna came within striking distance of his GM norm after beating Russian GM Alexander Evdokimov. Prasanna, S Nitin, M R Lalith Babu and P Shyam Nikil are amongst those on 4.5 points sharing the eighth spot.(PTI)

NEW DELHI, Apr 21:
The IOA today hailed the appointment of its secretary General Randhir Singh as Vice President of the prestigious Association of National Olympic Committee (ANOC).
Singh is the first Indian to be nominated for the job from the Asian Continent and the appointment was made at the 18th General assembly of the ANOC held in Moscow last week, where Shiekh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah was elected president.
“I have always worked for the interests of the sports persons and will continue to do so,” Singh said.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) acting President Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the appointment is recognition of country’s growing sporting prowess.
“In October last year Randhir Singh was re-elected unanimously as the secretary General of Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) for the record sixth term, and now he has been appointed ANOC’s vice president goes to shows that not only the OCA but also the International Olympic Committee (IOC) wants to make full use of his experience as sports administrator,” Malhotra said. (PTI)

Jammu Premier League T20 Tawi Cup
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 21: Defeating the equally balanced team of Reasi Royals by 22 runs in a well fought contest, Poonch Thunderbolts team, which inflicted an upset defeat over strong Jammu Royals yesterday sailed into the semifinals of the ongoing Jammu Premier League T20 Tawi Cup at Sports Stadium Poonch today.
Earlier, batting first, Poonch Thunderbolts scored a decent total of 146 runs in the stipulated 20 overs, losing 4 wickets in the process. Wasim Raja played a splendid innings of 64 runs with the help of five fours and four sixes, while Parvez Malik contributed 29 runs including 2 fours and 3 sixes. For Reasi Royals, Nishu took 2 wickets, while Imtiyaz Malik and Ajaz claimed one wicket each.
In reply, Reasi Royals managed to score 124 runs in the allotted overs by losing 9 wickets, thus lost the match by 22 runs. Nishu top scored with 37 runs including 2 fours and 2 sixes, while Imtiyaz Malik contributed 29 runs to the total. Ajaz Bhatti, Rupinder and Imran captured 2 wickets apiece for Poonch Thunderbolts. Wasim Raja was adjudged man of the match for his fabulous batting display.
Meanwhile, rain played spoilsport in another quarterfinal match between Jammu Riders and Jammu Royals scheduled to be played at Sports Stadium Reasi, today. The overnight rains had deteriorated the condition of the ground, especially the pitch and the surrounding area. Though, the organizers tried their level best to make the ground playable by draining water, pouring saw dust and applying ring to level the surface of the wicket, yet the pitch turned hostile when Jammu Royals speedsters Rahil Singh and Vishwajeet Singh started proceedings against Jammu Riders openers-Shubam Khajuria and Hilal Rather. The duo had bowled only 2.2 overs, with 9 balls that jumped unevenly from good-length spot, when the field umpires along with the two captains and the ‘Jury of Appeal’ of the organizers decided to stop the match because of the dangerous and unplayable conditions. The match has now been shifted to MA Stadium Jammu and would be played from 2pm tomorrow. The Jury comprised of Dr Swaran Singh Chib, District Youth Services and Sports Officer, Reasi, Major Aditya including the technical officials Rajesh Dhar, Saleem-ur-Rehman, Sadiq Hussain and Pankaj Sasan.