CM to inaugurate KPL tournament 9 am on 4 july :CHIB :(03-07-11)
Minister for Youth Services and Sports Mr. R S Chib has said the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah will kick start the prestigious and first ever Kashmir Premier League (KPL) Chinar Cup T-20 cricket tournament at 9 am on July 4 at Delhi Public School, Pantha Chowk, Srinagar.
The tournament is being organized by the KPL organizing committee under the aegis of Department of Youth Services and Sports (YSS) in collaboration with Indian Army under Sadhbhavana.
Briefing the media, the Minister said the opening match of the tournament will be played between Srinagar and Budgam districts. He said in all 14 teams from 10 districts of the valley would participate and 50 matches would be played during the tournament. He said the final of the tournament would also be played at the same venue on August 3, adding that other league matches of the tournament would be played at various district headquarters of the Valley. He said same tournament will also be organized at Jammu also in autumn.
Mr. Chib said the aim of the tournament was to exploit the talent of youth of Kashmir in cricket,adding that it would also provide an opportunity to the interested youth to expose their talent. He said the state has ample sport potential and the needis to channelize it in right perspective, adding that it has also produced international footballer and martial arts players. He said ace cricketers would also be invited during the tournament to provide an opportunity of interaction to the players.
The Minister saida cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh and Rs. 3 lakh would be given to the winning and runner-up teams, adding that the teams positioned at third and fourth wouldalso get Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. Fifty thousand respectively. The man of the tournament would also be honoured by giving Rs. Sixty thousands, he said, adding that three best players would also be sponsored for advanced coaching at National Level Cricket Academies.
Later, the Minister along with other dignitaries released the mascot of the tournament.
Responding to media, Mr. Chib said other agencies are also being roped in for upgradation of sports infrastructure in the state.
Lokpal Bill: PM's opening remarks at the all-party meet (03-07-11)
Here are the opening remarks by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh:
I welcome all of you to this All Party meeting on the Lokpal bill. I am grateful to you for having found the time to participate in this important meeting.
The enactment of a strong Lokpal bill has attracted a lot of attention during the past few months. As you know, we constituted a joint drafting committee consisting of five Union Ministers and five nominees of Shri Anna Hazare including himself. The committee had nine meetings. While considerable progress was achieved in evolving a consensus on many issues, a few important issues remain on which there is a divergence in our views and those of the nominees of Shri Anna Hazare. The papers circulated to you bring out these issues and my senior colleague Shri Pranab Mukherjee will elaborate on them as we go along.
There is no doubt that corruption is a major issue today. It is not that we do not have legal and institutional arrangements in place to tackle corruption. In fact, we have a number of laws, like the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Central Vigilance Commission Act, the Right to Information Act etc. which empower citizens to have access to information and which provide for stringent action against delinquents. However, there is a feeling that the institutional arrangements in place are not strong enough to ensure that the guilty, especially those occupying high positions, are brought to book swiftly and given deterrent punishment.
I must make it clear at the outset that we, in government, are committed to the enactment of a Lokpal Act, which provides for a strong, effective and quick institutional arrangement for tackling corruption in high places. We are also committed to bringing the bill before Parliament in the coming Monsoon Session. However, it is important that such an institutional arrangement enjoys the support of as large a section of people as possible and that there is the widest possible consensus regarding the bill. We have convened this meeting in this background. We are looking forward to a free and frank discussion on contentious issues so that your valuable views could be taken into account while presenting a suitable bill in Parliament.
I must also add that while a good law and a strong institution are necessary to tackle the problem of corruption, these alone would never suffice. Along with these, we need to focus on simplifying procedures, reducing discretion, eliminating arbitrariness and increasing transparency in the way government functions. It has been our experience that whenever such institutional changes have been made, both the opportunity for and the incidence of corruption have been reduced dramatically. We are focused on this process and we propose to pursue this with vigour and speed.
Finally, we have to keep in mind that whatever arrangement we propose has to be for the larger good of our society and our country. The institution of the Lokpal has to work in harmony with other institutions and laws and it has to function within the framework of the basic structure of our Constitution. It has to add to and not detract from the legitimate role and authority of other institutions in our democratic structure. The Constitution provides for an intricate system of checks and balances and the new institution of Lokpal has to find an appropriate place in that matrix.
I look forward to your views and suggestions on the Lokpal bill.
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Bad weather halts Amarnath Yatra (03-07-11)
"Due to landslides at a few places on the trek from Baltal base camp to the cave, the movement of pilgrims from the base camp towards the cave has been halted. The decision to allow the yatris will be taken after the landslides are removed and after improvement in the weather," a senior official said via phone from Baltal.
The official said pilgrims going to the cave shrine through helicopter sorties are being allowed to reach the cave shrine.
"Helicopter sorties between the Baltal base camp and the cave shrine are operating normally."
"The maximum number of yatris who can use the helicopter service per day is around 800," the official said.
Reports from south Kashmir Pahalgam base camp also said the movement of pilgrims from the base camp towards the cave shrine had been halted because of bad weather.
"The decision would be reviewed as the weather starts improving," a senior police officer said in Pahalgam.
The weather office has forecast rain and thundershowers along both the mountain treks to the cave shrine during the next 12 hours.
So far, over 50,000 pilgrims have performed the pilgrimage which started here on June 29.
The heavy rush of unregistered yatris has adversely affected the smooth conduct of this year's pilgrimage.
"We are virtually handling three times the number we are supposed to because of the arrival of unregistered pilgrims to the Valley from outside," an official said.
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