வில்லு தான... போயிட்டு போது...என்னமோ விக்கெட் போன மாதிரி பீல் பண்றீங்க

வறுமை காரணமாக , வில்வித்தை வீராங்கனை நிஷா ராணி தத்தா, உலகத்தரம் வாய்ந்த தனது "வில்லை' விற்ற சம்பவம் அதிர்ச்சியை ஏற்படுத்தியுள்ளது. இது துரதிருஷ்டவசமானது என, விளையாட்டு அமைச்சர் அஜய் மேகன் தெரிவித்தார்.
ஜார்க்கண்டின் ஜாம்ஷெட்பூர் மாவட்டத்தின், பத்மடா கிராமத்தை சேர்ந்தவர் நிஷா ராணி தத்தா, 21. டாடா வில்வித்தை அகாடமியில் பயிற்சி பெற்ற இவர், பாங்காங்க் கிராண்ட் பிரிக்சில் நடந்த சர்வதேச வில்வித்தை போட்டியில், இந்தியா சார்பில் தங்கம் வென்றுள்ளார். வறுமை காரணமாக போதிய பண வசதி இல்லாததால், வில்வித்தையில் இருந்து ஒதுங்கி, இயல்பு வாழ்க்கைக்கு திரும்பினார்.
இதனிடையே, நிஷா ராணியின் வீட்டினை பழுது பார்க்க பணம் தேவைப்பட்டது. இதற்காக, வில்வித்தை போட்டிக்கு பயன்படுத்தப்படும், உலகத்தரம் வாய்ந்த ரூ. 4 லட்சம் மதிப்புள்ள, தனது வில் மற்றும் அம்புகளை இவர் விற்ற செய்தி இப்போது தெரிய வந்துள்ளது.
இதுகுறித்து மத்திய விளையாட்டு அமைச்சர் அஜய் மேகன் கூறியது:
வறுமையால் இப்படி நடந்ததுள்ளது என்பது மிகவும் துரதிருஷ்டவசமானது. இந்திய விளையாட்டு ஆணையம் (எஸ்.ஏ.ஐ.,) மூலமாகத்தான் இந்த செய்தி தெரியவந்தது. அவருக்கு தேவையான அனைத்து உதவிகளையும் செய்யத்தயராக உள்ளோம். மாநில அரசுகள் இவ்விஷயத்தில் அக்கறை எடுத்துக் கொண்டு செயல்பட வேண்டும்.
வீரர், வீராங்கனைக்குத் தேவையான நிதி ஆதாரங்களுக்கு போதிய வேலை வாய்ப்புகள் தரவேண்டும். ஏதோ ஒரு காரணத்துக்காக தேசிய அல்லது சர்வதேச அளவிலான போட்டிகளில் பங்கேற்க முடியவில்லை என்றாலும், வாழ்க்கை நடத்த உத்தரவாதம் கொடுக்க வேண்டும். இவர்களை புறக்கணிக்கக் கூடாது.
இவ்வாறு அஜய் மேகன் கூறினார்.


Succumbing to abject poverty, the Bangkok Grand Prix medallist Dutta sold her archery equipment that costs Rs 4 lakh.

"It's an unfortunate incident. The incident has come to my knowledge through the Sports Authority of India. We would extend all kind of help to the athlete," Maken told reporters on the sidelines of the closing ceremony of the 60th All India Police Games (Wrestling Cluster) in New Delhi.

"The state governments should make efforts to give employment to such athletes who need financial help. The players who, for some reasons, have failed to make it to the national or international level, the state governments should ensure that they also get the employment and don't feel neglected," Maken added.

A world-class bow cost more than Rs one lakh and Rs 20,000 for a quiver of 20 arrows.
The 21-year-old from Pathmada village in the Jamshedpur district of Jharkhand had been trained by Tata Archery Academy and won gold medal at international archery championships, but discontinued the sport because of poverty.

Asked about the two Indian wrestlers qualifying for the London Olympics, Maken said, "I am confident that we would win more medals this time than the Beijing Olympics."

"The way our athletes are qualifying for the Olympics, we are hopeful of performing well in the London Games. It was always our aim to qualify for the London Games in maximum numbers than the Beijing Olympics.

"Last Olympics, around 56 athletes had qualified for the Beijing Games and this time, with our Hockey team already qualifying for the London Games that consists of 16 players, we are confident that at least 80 athletes will qualify for the London Games," he said.

gnani's 16 questions

16 questions to Jayalalitha posed by tamil writer Gnani Sankaran -

1. from 31% the contribution of electricity production in Japan by Nuclear Power Units is down to 2%, because he government of Japan had shut down 52 nuclear power plants and the remaining 2 are may be shut down in May. do you know the reasons for the same?
2. are you aware that there have been 200 accidents in the Kalpakkam atomic power plant and one of them was very nearly catastrophic
3. the former Russian President Gorbachev has stated more than 2000 people died of the Chernobyl disaster, however our former President Kalam claims that only 57 people died in this accident (in his bid to promote the Atomic power plant in Koodankulam), do you know what is true
4. while the Adayar Cancer Institute in Chennai has listed ‘radiation’ as one of the causes for cancer, the director of this institution, Dr. Shantha, appears on television advertisements placed by Atomic Energy Commission to claim that radiation doesn’t cause cancer, do you know what is the truth behind this
5. the former head of atomic energy commission India, M.R.Srinivasan claims that at the time of choosing the Koodankulam site for the atomic power plant, the place looked like a desert and there was no habitation around, if this were true, the thousands of people who have been living there and who have been leading the protest must be a mirage of some kind, do you if they are for true
6. the atomic energy commission of India has been revising its claims of electricity generation every five years but has never been able to deliver the promised amount of electricity in the last forty years. they have produced less than 5% of the promised electricity thus far. are you aware of this?
7. no atomic power plant in India can claim to be producing more than 50% of its capacity and the 30 year old Kalpakkam achieved this landmark only in the last years, are you aware of this?
8. if Koodankulam goes operational immediately also, it cannot generate electricity till August and even then it can only generate 40% of its promised 1000 MW and of this 400MW, about 48 MW will be consumed by the plant itself and of the remaining 352 MW, 70 MW will go in transmission losses and of the remaining 282 MW even if Narayanaswami (the Minister of State at the PMs office from Pondicherry who has been leading the government’s tirade against the anti-Nuclear plant activists) prevails, Tamilnadu may get only about 140 MW (against the current shortfall of over 1000MW for the state), are you aware of this?
9. Kalpakkam atomic power plant was affected not just during the tsunami, but, also during the recent Thane cyclone. are you aware of it? there is a recent publication of an volcano near Kalpakkam and the atomic energy commission is unaware of this, do you know about this?
10. do you know that the atomic energy commission made claims that no tsunami or cyclone can affect Kudankulam and Kalpakkam and after the occurrence of the tsunami (2004) it has revised this claim to ‘no tsunami over 9 mts will occur’, are you aware of such revised prediction?
11. the Russian company that has built the atomic power plant in Koodankulam has enquiries being carried out against it in that country for poor quality work and corruption. are you aware of this?
12. if there is a major accident in Kalpakkam, it could potentially destroy Poes Garden (where the residence of Jayalalitha is based in Chennai), Gopalapuram (where Karunanidhi, the ex-CM lives) and Pondicherry. similarly, if any accident takes place in Kudankulam, much of southern Tamilnadu and parts of Kerala too can be completely wiped out. are you aware of this?
13. are you aware that no where in the world insurance companies provide insurance cover for atomic power plant accidents though they provide cover for all kinds of man-made and natural calamities from air plane crash to natural death, why do you think they don’t?
14. the former head of the atomic regulation authority of India and an atomic scientist Gopalakrishnan has stated that the regulation authority has less power and influence than the atomic energy commission and it is unable to get the information required for doing its duty, do you know this?
15. though your government placed in the floor of the assembly a suggestion that ‘if more than a crore filament bulbs across the state were to be replaced by CFL bulbs, about 500MW electricity can be saved’, so far this has not been executed by your govt. authorities. do you know why it has not been executed till now?
16. the two ‘expert’ committees set-up by the central government and your state government respectively, have refused to meet with the scientists who are protesting against the atomic power plant, do you know why this is so?

Why Kutraleeswaran stopped swimming

In 1997, in celebration of 50 years of India's [ Images ] independence, rediff.com ran a series on 50 Indians who achieved greatness in their fields, and one of those featured was 16-year-old Kutraleeswaran.

Kutral, as he was called, had become a sensation in long distance swimming after breaking Mihir Sen's record of crossing five channels in a calendar year. Kutral swam six channels in 1994 and was included in the Guinness Book of World Records. He was only 13 then.

Talking torediff in 1997, he said his dream was winning the Arjuna award and Olympic gold medals for the country. He did win the Arjuna award for breaking Sen's record. But Olympic gold? That remained just a dream for the young man. It was not because he lost form and failed to win medals, but for lack of sponsors!

In a country that appreciates only cricketers, even if they are mediocre, the talented Kutral was sidelined and forgotten.

It was ironic that when he went to swim in Italy [ Images ] in 1994 he was offered all training facilities provided he represented Italy at the Atlanta Olympics [ Images ]. Kutral declined the offer because he was an Indian and wanted to represent his own country. Alas, that never happened.

Though he started off by swimming in pools, it was the sea that attracted him, offered him challenges. When he had free time, he swam alongside fishermen's children. He then met Jayalalitha, who was Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and told her about his dream of swimming the English Channel. She promised to sponsor him, and also urged him to attempt the Palk Straits. The English Channel thus became his first cross-country swim, sponsored by the Tamil Nadu government.

"But how long could I go and request the Chief Minister to sponsor Kutral? Almost all the long distance swimming took place in Europe, and it was very expensive; I couldn't manage that much money," says Kutral's father Ramesh, an advocate, looking back on those early years of his son.

Even as a 16-year-old, Kutral was sad about the way his father had to run around each time a competition came up. He had said then, 'I was to participate in a competition in Germany [ Images ]. Everything from tickets to visa were ready. We were to start at 5.30 in the evening. At 3 pm we got a call from the sponsors. They said they could not sponsor me. My brother had gone to Bombay to arrange for the visa. At the last moment we had to cancel everything. I cannot say how disappointed I was.'

Kutral was also aware of the hurdles ahead of him. He had told this writer, 'Since I am in India I have to concentrate more on my studies now. I am in the tenth standard and I have to cut down on my tours.

'In other countries, if you excel in some sports you are eligible for good jobs. But here, unless you have a good academic background, you will not get any job. So, I am forced to give more importance to studies than swimming. Given a chance I would like to channelise all my energy into swimming.'

He couldn't, and decided to concentrate on studies. Reason: "Lack of sponsorship.

"I wanted a strong supporting career of my own, hence decided to concentrate on academics. Ethically, it was a painful decision, but logically practical and comfortable. But it was indeed very hard for me to come to terms (with the fact) that I was leaving competitive swimming," recalled Kutral.

When he realised that every competition abroad was a burden on his parents, he decided to call it quits.

"My parents did support me beyond words, and they are still ready to do so, but I didn't see a point in continuing," he said.

"My efforts to get private sponsors were disastrous," said his father. "He didn't want me to face such embarrassments. I told him I am ready to go and beg anywhere for money if I could send him for competitions but he was dead against it. I felt extremely bad when he took the decision to stop swimming and concentrate on his studies."

Still, Ramesh was hopeful of his son swimming after completing his 12th standard. But Engineering followed, and then it was a Masters in Engineering in the United States.

That was the end of Kutral's life as a swimmer. Now he goes back to the sea "purely for recreational purposes only, and try not to wet my clothes".

Any regrets about the decision?

"Yes and No. Yes, for leaving something I was pretty good at. No, for the position I am in right now."

Eleven years after his world record-breaking swimming expedition, Kutral recalls, "Yes, it was the government which sponsored me completely in 1994 (Guinness record) without which, obviously, wouldn't have been possible."

In return, now a post-graduate student in the US, he met Jayalalitha, now again the Chief Minister, after the tsunami struck the coast of Tamil Nadu and donated some money.

"She was very pleased with the fact that I pitched in from my own pocket for the tsunami relief and was surprised as to how much I had changed (physically) in 11 years."

To a question whether he felt it is difficult to be in any sport other than cricket in India because to lack of sponsorship, he replied: "The bitter fact is YES. Hope things change in time."

Even today, more than a decade after abandoning his dream of winning Olympic medals and starting a bright career as a hardware engineer with Intel in California, Kutral still dreams.

"At one point I would like to open a swimming academy in India."

Shobha Warrier--from rediff.com

நண்பன் படம் பார்த்த பிறகு

 

 அமீர் கான்

மே மாசம் 98ல் மேஜர் ஆனேனே!!

matriculation certificateல் இருக்கும் பிறந்த நாள் 1951 குறிக்கும் பொழுது.. தானே  1950 என்று தவறாக எழுதிய பிறந்த நாளை எப்படி சரியான பிறந்த நாளாக NDA ஒப்புக்கொண்டது? அப்படி என்றால் அவர் 1930 என்று தவறாக நிரப்பி இருந்தால் அதையே பிறந்த வருடமாக NDA எடுத்து கொண்டிருக்குமா?

பதவி உயர்வு என்பது மூத்தவர் அடிப்படையில் இல்லை.. seniority அடிப்படையில். தன்னை விட வயதில் சிறியவர் senior ஆக இருக்க வாய்ப்பு உண்டு.. promotion is granted on basis of seniority which is determined by date of birth and not date of joining..ஆதலால் மேஜருக்கு எந்த பதவி உயர்வும் பிறந்த நாள் அடிப்படையில் குடுத்திருக்க முடியாது. All govt jobs and public sector undertakings follow this principle.

அப்பறம் ஏன் மேஜரோட பேஜார் பண்றாங்க.. புரியலையே

எதற்காக பொங்கல் வாழ்த்து? நாசர் கேள்வி

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1Rp9nUB4zM

நாம் வாழ்த்து கூறும் பொழுது உண்மையாகவே வாழ்த்துகிறோமா?

கடலூர் மாவட்ட உழவர்கள் தவிக்கும் இந்த நேரத்தில்.. உழவர்கள் இல்லாத நாம் பொங்கல் கொண்டாடுவது என்ன நியாயம்?