Past champions headline strong field for Hero Women’s Indian Open

Gurgaon, November 28: Four of the last five winners, including the defending champion Caroline Hedwall headline a strong field for the sixth edition of the Hero Women’s Indian Open, which is now in its third year of joint sanctioning with the Ladies European Tour. The DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon, which has been the home for the tournament, will once again be the venue for the flagship event for the sixth year in succession.

Four of the top-10 on the LET Order of Merit, including the leader Carlota Ciganda are in the field and there are as many six players who have tasted victory on the LET Tour this season. Three of them, Ciganda, Carly Booth and Stacey Keating have in fact won twice each. The field also has three Thai girls, who have won the LAGT this season, Nontaya Srisawang (Thailand Ladies Open),  Tainun Yoopan (Technology Cup, Taiwan) and Numa Gulyanamitta (China Trust Open). Ciganda (China Suzhou Taihu Open) and Cassandra Kirkland (Sanya Ladies Open) won events which were co-sanctioned by LET and LAGT.

The Indian challenge will be led by seasoned Smriti Mehra and Sharmila Nicollet, who last year qualified for the LET Tour through he Qualifying School. Nicollet was the top Indian finisher last year in tied 22^nd place.

Other Indians in the field will be Rookie Vani Kapoor, who made the cut as an amateur last year, Nalini Singh Siwach and Neha Tripathi among others. Also in the field will be Tanya Wadhwa, who has come from US.

A few others with an Indian connection and in the field for this week include England’s Kiran Matharu, Rhea Nair, an Indian who is based in the Middle East ad Welsh golfer, Sahra Hassan.

All eyes will be on 2011 champion Caroline Hedwall, who has had some injury worries early in the season, but she came back strongly to win the Uniqa Ladies Golf Open Raiffeisen in September for her fifth LET title. Last year as a Rookie she won four titles. The Swede, who had her mother on the bag, fired rounds of 67, 68 and 69 over the course to post a winning three-round total of 12-under par, 204, which was two clear of two-time champion Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum, who won the event in 2008 and 2009.

England’s Laura Davies will be returning to the site of her last LET victory two years ago, in 2010 and will look to continue her love affair with the reachable par-five 18th hole. Davies eagled the hole to make a four-way play-off with South African Tandi Cuningham, Thailand’s Nontaya Srisawang and Swede Louise Friberg in 2010. She then birdied the hole to win the tournament. “I love the 18th at DLF,” she said.

Six of this year’s tournament champions in the field are Cassandra Kirkland, Ciganda, Keating, Hedwall, Booth and Karen Lunn.

Recent Sanya Ladies Open champion Kirkland will be looking to continue her solid play and especially as her previous career best finish was fifth at this golf course in India two years ago.

“Already I had quite a bit of confidence going back because I like the course and I always play well there. Coming from a win I think I’ll have a lot of confidence and hopefully I can do something good in India,” said the 28-year-old from Paris.

Spanish LET rookie Ciganda, who is leading the ISPS Handa Order of Merit after two victories this season in the Netherlands and China, will be playing in India for the first time. She said: “I like to travel and see new countries, new things.”

With Caroline Masson missing India due to her LPGA Q-School playing commitments, Ciganda has a clear opportunity to move further ahead and commented: “For me it’s good that she’s not playing because she’s going to Q-School but there is still Dubai and a lot of money so if I don’t play well and she plays well, she can beat me easily, so I’m going to think about this week and see how it goes.”

Australian double-champion Stacey Keating, who won back-to-back events in Spain and France recently, is looking forward to returning to the DLF club having tied for 12th place last year. She said: “Obviously I’m very excited. I enjoyed the golf course. I didn’t see much last year to be honest, apart from the hotel and the golf course, but that was very nice. I’m looking forward to it.”

The 300,000USD tournament features 108 competitors and is tri-sanctioned by the LET, Ladies Asian Golf Tour (LAGT) and Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAi).

Hazy sunshine is forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday with light WNW winds and temperatures in the mid to upper 20s. Dry weather continues for the remainder of the week and into the weekend with highs of 25-27C.

Mahindra Youth Football Challenge 2012-13

Conducted by the Cricket & Sports Association of Delhi

Invite

Dear Sir/Ma'am, 

Mahindra Group, The Cricket & Sports Association of Delhi, 92.7 Big FM & Procam International request the pleasure of your company at the Final Match of Delhi leg for the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge (MYFC), an under-14 School Football Tournament, 2012-2013.

The Mahindra Youth Football Challenge (MYFC) will be Six City Schools Football Tournament for boy's under-14.

The match will be followed by prize distribution and snacks.

Date: Thursday, November 29, 2012

Venue: Dr. Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi

3rd Place Play-Off: 10:00 am

Final Match: 11:15 am

Prize Distribution: 12:15 pm onwards

R.S.V.P

Mr. R.S. Dabas, Cricket & Sports Association of Delhi, (M) - +91-9810334342

Mr. P.N. Sankaran, Procam International Ltd., (M) - +91-9845259056

Mr. Raj Vaghasiya, Procam International Ltd., (M) - +91-9833534725

For Further information, please contact

Abhay Pratap Singh, Zzebra PR, (M) - +91-9818413169

Indian OSCARS for Travel, Tourism & Hospitality –

“8^TH HOSPITALITY INDIA & EXPLORE THE WORLD ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL

AWARDS 2012” held in New Delhi

“The power packed show returns with much more fan fare and global colors”

New Delhi:  Delhi -The Capital of India and a landmark destination itself on global travel map hosted one of the most important evenings of the year for travel and tourism - 8^th Hospitality India & Explore the world annual international Awards 2012 and Tourism Travel & Trade fair. The red-carpet event took place at Hotel Ashok in the presence of who’s who of Indian hospitality, political and travel world. The must-attend ceremony witnessed, country’s most influential tourism & travel trade festival, included a gala dinner, top entertainment, as well as the presentation of the coveted awards.

Chief Guest for the evening was Hon’ble Minister of External Affairs, Govt. of India, Shri Salman Khurshid. Dr Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Govt of India was the chief guest for the prize distribution ceremony. Also present on the occasion were K C Venugopal, Minister for state for Civil Aviation and Dr. T. Subbarami Reddy Member of Parliament and Chairman Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology and Environment and Forests as guest of honor for the evening along with Shri TKA Nair, Advisor to the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India who graced the occasion.

The awards evening was coupled with a mesmerizing fashion show choreographed by Anup Banerjea showcased some finest designs from country’s leading fashion houses including Maharana Of India, Moda Cocktails and Vinitaaz. The world famous Sidi Goma theatre Group was at its best while presenting Afro Asian tribal dance.

The global accolade, Instituted by Hospitality India (DLK Group) every year, have been conceived to promote and honor the brains behind inclusive development of travel, tourism and hospitality sector. Around 39 awards under various categories were conferred to the eligible stake holders for their enormous contribution in the growth of this sector. Turkey, Egypt and Kuwait were the partner country for these awards while Madhya Pradesh was partner state.

Mr. Suneet K Kalra, the brain child behind these global accolades & Managing Director, Hospitality India & Explore the World, said, “We are delighted to enter into 8^th year of our partnership to institute these Oscars of Indian travel & Tourism.  An award not only inspires the individuals or institutions but also sets benchmarks for other players in terms of quality, commitments and best practices. Such recognitions also breed competition which results in the best services to the benefit of the end-users and redefines the degree of excellence in the industry.”

Also present on the occasion Ms Rajni Kalra Executive Director said“ This is more so true for the growth and development of tourism sector where excellence in service is the password for success. The vision of ‘Hospitality India Annual International Awards’ is to stimulate competitive spirit towards qualitative growth of the Indian hospitality......... an award that recognizes your efforts has been worthy to the cause.” concluded

The highlight of 8^th Hospitality India & Explore the world annual international awards 2012 is that they have planned on a larger canvas than earlier years in view of larger industry participation from across sectors. This year, over 1000 plus people representing the global tourism, travel and hospitality sector witnessed the spectacular awards ceremony.

Needless to mention that Hospitality India & Explore the World annual international awards are the biggest awards event held in India with a gathering of thousands of people of the travel trade and tourism industry present under one roof at the Ashok Hotel Convention Hall. The prestigious event is also supported by Ministry of Tourism and industry associations including, WTTC, PATA, HAI, TAAI, TAFI, IATO FHRAI, OTOAI, ATOAI, ADTOI, HRANI etc

BOLS PARTNERS WITH AIRCEL CHENNAI OPEN 2013

Second year of continued support

Chennai, 27 November, 2012 – BOLS Kyndal, the premium brandy brand has partnered with Aircel Chennai Open 2013 as an “Official Partner”. This will be the second year of Bols associating with the Aircel Chennai Open.

The 18^th edition of India’s only and South Asia’s leading ATP World Tour event will be held from 31st December 2012 to 6^th January, 2013 at the SDAT Stadium in Chennai. The tournament will see in action an impressive line-up of Indian and International players including Tomas Berdych, Janko Tipsarevic, Marin Cilic and Stanislas Wawrinka, who are among the top 20 players in the world.

As part of the association, BOLS will host the official Player Party of the tournament, which attracts the crème de la crème of Chennai party circuit after the tournament.

Commenting on the partnership Mr. Siddharth Banerji, Managing Director Bols Kyndal said- “We are elated to be associated with the most prestigious sporting event in the country ‘Aircel Chennai Open’ for second year in the row. With participation from world class players, the tournament will ensure excitement & vibrancy from a wider audience. BOLS as a known brand in the region will strengthen its base & build upon it’s connect with our connoisseurs”

Ashu Jindal, COO, IMG Reliance said,” We are delighted to have a global brand like BOLS associating with Aircel Chennai Open 2013 as the Official Partner. This is the second year of our association and we are excited to have the brand back for another year. We are sure this is just the beginning of yet another successful partnership.”

NOV

25

Factory fire kills 124 in Bangladesh

At least 124 people have been killed overnight as a massive blaze engulfed a multi-storey garment factory on the outskirts of the Bangladesh capital in one of the worst fire tragedies in the country. The fire broke out at Tazrin Fashion factory in suburban Ashulia Savar, 30 km from Dhaka, last night and quickly spread to the ground and first floors of the six-storey building, officials and witnesses said on Sunday. "We have so far retrieved 124 bodies (and) rescue campaign is still underway," Major Mahbub Hossain, a senior fire service official, said, adding that most of the bodies were found severely charred. He said the fire service said the toll could rise. Fire service officials earlier said several workers of the factory were trapped inside and took shelter on the rooftop of the structure awaiting rescuers. Efforts were still underway to extinguish the blaze with authorities mobilising several fire fighting units. Television footage showed army troops and fire service rescuers bringing out bodies one after another from the debris as hundreds of people, including relatives of the victims, waited outside. General Officer Commanding of nearby Savar Cantonment Maj Gen Syed Hassan Suhrawardy, who is overseeing the rescue campaign, said the bodies would be kept at a nearby primary school premises from where relatives could take them for burial. Many workers jumped from the factory's upper floors to escape the flames before firefighters arrived to put the blaze out. The cause was not immediately known but such fires are usually blamed on short circuits. Authorities called out extra police force at the scene as angry relatives and fellow workers damaged a fire engine, protesting the delay in dousing the blaze.

Deadlock in Parliament over FDI

Govt convenes all-party meeting to end deadlock in Parliament over FDI

The UPA government has convened an all-party meeting on Monday to discuss the deadlock in Parliament over the Foreign Direct Investment in multi brand retail. The meeting convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath comes at a time when the first two days of the winter session last week saw Parliament being paralysed on the issue. The Left and the Right have remained adamant on discussion under a rule that entails voting under Rule 184. The stalemate continues since the beginning of the Session on 22nd November, with the UPA Government showing no signs of giving in to the opposition demand. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj has insisted on a vote on the issue saying this was necessary because the Government has violated its assurance in Parliament that the FDI in multi-brand retail will not be implemented till a consensus is reached among all stake holders. The Left also wants a discussion under rule 184.

Mithun Perera bag 11th TATA Open title

Mithun Perera fires solid 70 to bag 11^th TATA Open title

Jamshedpur, November 25, 2012: Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera came home the winner at the 11^thTATA Open after firing a final round of one-under-70. Perera, who totaled 11-under-274 for the tournament, finished one stroke ahead of Delhi’s Vinod Kumar.

Mithun Perera (65-72-67-70), the overnight leader, had a good start to the day as he birdied the second (par-5) after landing his chip from the bunker within a couple of inches of the flag. He went on to make pars on all the other holes. Perera, who has now won three professional titles, made some amazing par saves on the seventh and 14^th. He made outstanding chip-putts on the seventh and 14^th.

“I hit it really well today. I was solid through the day and played regulation golf. My short-game was good in the final round, especially the putting. This win is a result of my hard-work and dedication. I’m now looking forward to ending the season with an equally good performance at the season-ending event next week,” said Perera, who has now climbed from seventh place to fifth position on the 2012 Rolex Rankings.

Vinod Kumar (68-67-70-70), the defending champion, finished runner-up after firing a one-under-70 in the final round. Vinod’s round featured four birdies and three bogeys and helped him end the tournament with a total of 10-under-275.

Om Prakash Chouhan (69-68-68-71) of Mhow finished a further stroke back in third place.

Rashid Khan of Delhi and Mhow’s Mukesh Kumar shared fourth place at eight-under-277. Rashid has now climbed from second position to first place on the 2012 Rolex Rankings.

 

Karan Taunk of Jamshedpur, the lone amateur to make the cut, won the trophy for the best performance by an amateur. Taunk was placed tied 31^st at four-over-289.

Mr. H M Nerurkar, MD, TATA Steel, said, “It’s good to see a large turnout for the day. The last four days have been great for golf in Jamshedpur with lot of international participation and will definitely help increase the golfing standards of the city. I would like to congratulate Mithun Perera from Sri Lanka for winning the 11^th TATA Open.”

On Sunday the entire field played nine holes each on both the courses - Beldih as well as Golmuri. While one half of the field teed off from Beldih, the other half began its round from Golmuri. Thirty golfers with the best scores at the end of round three teed off from Golmuri and finished at Beldih. The par for the combined courses was 71.

About Tata Steel and Sports:

Established in 1907 as Asia's first integrated private sector steel company, Tata Steel Group is among the top-ten global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of over 26.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). It is now the world's second-most geographically-diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Tata Steel Group, with a turnover of US$ 26.13 billion in FY 12, has over 80,000 employees across five continents and is a Fortune 500 company. The Group’s vision is to be the world’s steel industry benchmark in “Value Creation” and “Corporate Citizenship” through the excellence of its people, its innovative approach and overall conduct. Underpinning this vision is a performance culture committed to aspiration targets, safety and social responsibility, continuous improvement, openness and transparency. In 2008, Tata Steel India became the first integrated steel plant in the world, outside Japan, to be awarded the Deming Application Prize 2008 for excellence in Total Quality Management. In 2012, Tata Steel became the first integrated steel company in the world to win the Deming Grand Prize 2012 instituted by the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers.

Tata Steel is the only Indian company to invest in world-class sports facilities, create academies and maintain and manage international level arenas. The cadets of its Tata Football Academy, the nursery for the sport in India, as well as those of the Tata Archery Academy, the only one of its kind for archery, have justified the faith that the Company has in the talent and ability of its youth. Today, a significant part of the Indian Football team, India’s best archers, some of its finest cricketers, athletes, shooters, a Grand Master and several national and international legends have realized their dreams as a result of the support they have received from TATA Steel Sports Academies.

About PGTI:

Formed in 2006, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is the recognized official body of professional golf in India. PGTI’s objective is to promote professional golf in the country as well as give players an opportunity to be involved in decision making for all aspects of the game. Headed by Mr. Gautam Thapar (President), PGTI’s governing body comprises of leading Indian golf professionals. PGTI currently has over 300 members.

Aam Aadmi Party'.

 An adamant man who is inaccessible for common man launched  his new party will be called the 'Aam Aadmi Party'.His supporters do not allow  Aam Aadmi to meet this new self style activist and the media projected leader who speaks what media prompts him to do so. Arvind new shield for media to put subject across without their legal involvement. Media making an experiment if  they can build up political space which appears to be hopeless for people at large.Political party is a perpetual dynamic entity which needs to have ideas and dynamic  ideologues with complete vision on governance and do Arvind foot the bill, his surrounding says man has his weakness. 

A social activist turn a political figure the time to prove his mettle.Criticizing is not door to be a politician  but listening with rightful attention and emotion to people's woe do create a basic leadership quality.

 Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that there will be no posts for a party president or secretary in his Aam Admi Party.He also pointed out that dozens of people had turned up voluntarily to seek membership of his party."Other parties have to conduct membership drives. We are lucky that we have so many enthusiastic members without any such drive," said Kejriwal.He also said that the aim of his party was to usher in an era of Swaraj.

Any Indian who was above the age of 18 and agreed with the party's principles could become a member of the Aam Admi Party, activist Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday.He added that women and youth would be given special prominence within his party.The executive bodies and committees in the party would have the right to recall, he said.The party would also appoint Lokayuktas at the district and the state level.  Arvind Kejriwal said the norms or rules laid down by the Constitution was no longer being followed.

"We had dreams about India, but we could not implement those," he said.He added that in the last two years, since he started his fight for the Lokpal Bill, he had been repeatedly disappointed by the various political parties."We finally realised that all the parties were corrupt, they were all lying. All the political parties were united in corruption," he said.

Talk on  The Merits of Money and “Muscle”: Criminality, Elections and Democracy in India  by Milan Vaishnav,  Associate with the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C.  on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at 12.30 p.m. at Conference Hall-II of the CPR. Milan  has received his PhD in political science from Columbia University.

Blurb

This presentation will review the author’s recent research which tries to understand how democratic elections can coexist with a significant number of politicians implicated in criminal wrongdoing. Specifically, it explores three questions. Why do parties nominate candidates with criminal backgrounds? Why do voters vote for them? And what does their proliferation mean for democratic accountability?  To address these questions, the author draws on a wide body of quantitative and qualitative evidence from India.

Looking forward to seeing you at the session.

With regards,

 

Pratap Bhanu Mehta

 

============================== =======================

Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta
President & Chief Executive
Centre for Policy Research
Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri
New Delhi - 110 021 [INDIA]
Tel: +91 11 26114797
Tel: +91 11 2611 5273-76 (4 lines)
Fax: +91 11 26872746

• Homelands - opens Jan 2013.jpg

Homelands, one of the year’s most anticipated exhibitions opens in four cities across India in 2013.

28 of the world’s leading contemporary artists from the British Council Collection:

Angus Boulton | Fabien Cappello | Lisa Cheung | Nathan Coley | Jeremy Deller |  Suki Dhanda | Jimmie Durham | Paul Graham | Graham Gussin | Mona Hatoum | Anthony Haughey | Tim Hetherington | Susan Hiller | David Hockney | Anthony Lam | Langlands & Bell | Richard Long | Rachel Lowe | Haroon Mirza | Raymond Moore | Cornelia Parker | Martin Parr | Grayson Perry | Zineb Sedira | George Shaw | David Shrigley | Bob and Roberta Smith | Gillian Wearing.

Curated by Latika Gupta, ‘Homelands’ is a unique take on contemporary British art by an Indian curator asking what, in the 21st century, ‘home’ really means.
 Delhi | Kolkata | Mumbai | Bengaluru
From January 2013
--
Where do you call home?
Homeland is usually defined as the country of origin, one’s native or ancestral place, the country of our national identity. Today many of us live our lives across different cities and countries, through hyphenated identities: belonging here and there; traveling from one life to another; inhabiting multiple places – both physical and metaphorical. What then constitutes a homeland? Is it ethnicity? Language? Religion? Customs and beliefs?

 

Homelands cuts to the heart of cultural relations in the 21st century, exploring ideas of belonging and alienation, possession and loss, public histories and personal memories, nostalgic geographies and the intangible terrains of the imaginary.

For further information contact: arts.india@britishcouncil.org
https://www.britishcouncil.org.in/homelands

Image:

Untitled from series Shopna 2002, Suki Dhanda, 125 x 125 cm, C-Type print mounted on aluminium, © The Artist.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AirAsia Cafe announce collaboration with the Silent Teddies Bakery to provide fresh, preservatives-free cookies onboard KUALA LUMPUR, 23 November 2012 – AirAsia announced an official collaboration with The Silent Teddies Bakery at The Community Service Centre for the Deaf here today, to provide fresh and preservatives-free cookies on board selected AirAsia flights starting this month. The collaboration is also a part of AirAsia’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, in supporting the Community Service Centre for the Deaf (CSCD) efforts to equip deaf youths with entrepreneurial skills that will enable them to be independent. AirAsia Berhad CEO, Aireen Omar said, “This collaboration does not only provide our guests with fresh and delicious cookies to enjoy on board, but also the chance for CSCD’s talented youths to develop and polish their entrepreneurial skills. “This initiative will also enable our guests to play a direct role in helping the young bakers to flourish and become self-sustainable by simply purchasing the cookies, as all proceeds go into supporting CSCD programmes and its school for deaf children. “We are proud to be in support of this fantastic effort by CSCD and we wish them all the best!” Aireen added. AirAsia is set to order 10,000 cookies monthly from The Silent Teddies Bakery to kick off the partnership. These will comprise the bakery’s top selling chocolate chip oatmeal, cashew nut butter and almond butter varieties. Bite-size and crisp, each piece is a perfect blend of flavourful ingredients infused with the subtle fragrance of butter. Packed by the baking apprentices in special AirAsia Café-Silent Teddies wrapping, each sachet will contain six pieces of assorted cookies. AirAsia Group Head of Inflight Food and Services, Shireen Chia said, “We were looking for a supplier for fresh and preservatives-free cookies when we came across the story of Silent Teddies. It gives us the perfect opportunity to provide fresh foods on board while lending much deserved support to a wonderful organisation.” Launched in September 2010, the Silent Teddies Bakery sits next to the CSCD School in a quiet side street in the shadow of KL’s famous St John’s Institution and St John’s Cathedral. The bakery produces 600 loaves of bread per month and 30kg of cookies daily. Baker Khew Yun Loi, who runs the The Silent Teddies Bakery, said via sign-language, “This is a small order for AirAsia but for us, it is an important step. With the success of this project, we can look at expanding the project and even in collaborating with other people-with-disabilities groups. It is the start of (more) big things (to come).” All products at the bakery are made fresh without use of preservatives which makes it important for the bakery to move its goodies fast - criteria that attracted the attention of AirAsia’s Inflight Services Department. Silent Teddies cookies are available on selected AirAsia flights from November 2012 onwards. For more information on the Community Service Centre for the Deaf (CSCD) and the Silent Teddies Bakery, visit www.sid.org.my. For more updates on AirAsia’s latest innovations, as well as promotions, activities and contests, connect with them via Twitter (twitter.com/AirAsia) or Facebook (facebook.com/AirAsia). Photo captions: Photo 1 - AirAsia Bhd CEO, Aireen Omar and AirAsia Group Head of Brand & Ancillary Income, Ishsal Ishak having a chat with Mr. Tan Yap, Founder of the Silent Teddies Bakery. Photo 2 - The AirAsia team and  Community Service Centre for the Deaf (CSCD) representatives with students of the centre. Photo 3 - AirAsia Bhd CEO Aireen Omar trying her hand at making cookies, assisted by a baker from the Silent Teddies Bakery. AirAsia orders 10,000 cookies monthly from The Silent Teddies Bakery to be sold onboard selected AirAsia flights Photo 4 - AirAsia Berhad CEO Aireen Omar (5th from left), Silent Teddies Bakery’s Founder, Mr. Tan Yap (6th from left) together with AirAsia and CSCD representatives with bakers from the Silent Teddies Bakery. AirAsia supports the Community Service Centre for the Deaf’s (CSCD) effort to equip deaf youths with entrepreneurial skills that will enable them to be independent. ***ENDS*** About the AirAsia Group AirAsia, the leading and largest low-cost carrier in Asia, services the most extensive network with 85 destinations. Within 10 years of operations, AirAsia has carried over 152 million guests and grown its fleet from just two aircraft to approximately 106. The airline today is proud to be a truly ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) airline with established operations based in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and the Philippines servicing a network stretching across all ASEAN countries, China, India, Sri Lanka and Australia. AirAsia was named the World’s Best Low Cost Airline in the annual World Airline Survey by Skytrax for four consecutive years in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012.

Defending champ Vinod Kumar takes the honours in round two

Jamshedpur, November 23, 2012: Delhi’s Vinod Kumar produced a four-under-67 at the Golmuri Golf Course on Friday to take the honours in round two of the 11^th TATA Open. Vinod now has a tournament total of eight-under-135. Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow and Sri Lankan Mithun Perera are in joint second place at six-under-137.

On Thursday one half of the field had played its 18 holes at the par 72 Beldih Golf Course while the golfers in the other half had completed their rounds at the par 70 Golmuri Golf Course. On Friday both halves of the field switched venues (those who played at Beldih on day one, played 18 holes at Golmuri on day two and vice-versa).

The cut was declared at two-over-145. Fifty-six professionals and one amateur made the cut.   

Defending champion Vinod Kumar (68-67), who also won on the PGTI last week, didn’t get off to a great start in round two as he missed a one-foot birdie putt on the second hole. Vinod’s tee shot on the par-4 fourth ended up in the greenside bunker from where he made an up and down for birdie. He followed that up with a 15 feet birdie putt on the seventh.

The 32-year-old Vinod, currently placed 11^th on the Rolex Rankings, was a little unfortunate on the ninth as his chip for eagle from the edge of the green lipped out. He salvaged a birdie on that hole. Kumar landed it within four feet for birdies on the 10^th and 13^th as well. His lone bogey of the day came on the 17^th where he missed a chip-putt.

Vinod said, “The win last week has really lifted my spirits and there is a lot more self-belief in me now. I was in very good hitting form today. The only disappointment in round two was missing some short putts. I’m equally comfortable at both the courses here (Beldih & Golmuri) and have adapted well on both. I’m confident of repeating last year’s performance.”

Om Prakash Chouhan (69-68) of Mhow posted a three-under-68 at Golmuri in round two to take his total to six-under-137. Chouhan made seven birdies against four bogeys. He made four consecutive birdies from the 11^th to the 14^th.

Mithun Perera (65-72) of Sri Lanka fired an even-par-72 at Beldih to join Chouhan in tied second place. Mithun’s round was punctuated by four birdies and four bogeys.

The Delhi trio of Shamim Khan, Rashid Khan and Anirudh Goyal were joined by Chandigarh’s Abhijit Singh Chadha, Amardip Sinh Malik of Meerut, R Murthy of Bangalore and Bangladesh’s Md Zamal Hossain Mollah in joint fourth place at four-under-139.

R Murthy’s three-under-69 was the best score at Beldih on Friday.

Mukesh Kumar of Mhow shot the day’s best score, a seven-under-64, at Golmuri. Mukesh’s bogey-free round placed him tied 11^th at three-under-140.

Round one leader Anura Rohana of Sri Lanka returned a six-over-78 at Beldih in round two to slip down to tied 11^th place.

Karan Taunk of Jamshedpur was the lone amateur to make the cut. His two-day total of two-over-145 placed him tied 44^th.

About Tata Steel and Sports:

Established in 1907 as Asia's first integrated private sector steel company, Tata Steel Group is among the top-ten global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of over 26.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). It is now the world's second-most geographically-diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Tata Steel Group, with a turnover of US$ 26.13 billion in FY 12, has over 80,000 employees across five continents and is a Fortune 500 company. The Group’s vision is to be the world’s steel industry benchmark in “Value Creation” and “Corporate Citizenship” through the excellence of its people, its innovative approach and overall conduct. Underpinning this vision is a performance culture committed to aspiration targets, safety and social responsibility, continuous improvement, openness and transparency. In 2008, Tata Steel India became the first integrated steel plant in the world, outside Japan, to be awarded the Deming Application Prize 2008 for excellence in Total Quality Management. In 2012, Tata Steel became the first integrated steel company in the world to win the Deming Grand Prize 2012 instituted by the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers.

Tata Steel is the only Indian company to invest in world-class sports facilities, create academies and maintain and manage international level arenas. The cadets of its Tata Football Academy, the nursery for the sport in India, as well as those of the Tata Archery Academy, the only one of its kind for archery, have justified the faith that the Company has in the talent and ability of its youth. Today, a significant part of the Indian Football team, India’s best archers, some of its finest cricketers, athletes, shooters, a Grand Master and several national and international legends have realized their dreams as a result of the support they have received from TATA Steel Sports Academies.

About PGTI:

Formed in 2006, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is the recognized official body of professional golf in India. PGTI’s objective is to promote professional golf in the country as well as give players an opportunity to be involved in decision making for all aspects of the game. Headed by Mr. Gautam Thapar (President), PGTI’s governing body comprises of leading Indian golf professionals. PGTI currently has over 300 members.

Israel, Hamas agree on ceasefire

Israel, Hamas agree on ceasefire

Israel and Palestinian group Hamas have agreed on a ceasefire to end eight days of fierce fighting in the Gaza Strip, Egyptian Foreign Min Mohamed Kamel Amr, whose country has been playing a key mediating role in the crisis, announced on Wednesday.

The truce was due to come into effect at 1900 GMT.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had accepted a US recommendation to give the Egyptian ceasefire proposal a chance.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who held talks in both Jerusalem and Cairo, welcomed the ceasefire, saying “the US and Egypt will work together to support the next step.”

US President Barack Obama commended Netanyahu for agreeing to the Egyptian ceasefire proposal and expressed his appreciation for his efforts to work with the new Egyptian government to achieve a sustainable ceasefire and a more durable solution to end the conflict.

Netanyahu had some hours before the truce announcement convened a forum of nine senior ministers to discuss the truce.

The meeting took place just hours after an attack on a public bus in Tel Aviv injured at least 17 people. It was the first Palestinian bombing attack in the city in more than six years.

Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defence was launched one week ago, after days of incessant rocket fire on Israel.

By the time the ceasefire was announced, Israel had bombed some 1,500 targets in the Strip, while more than 900 missiles launched by Hamas militants had hit Israel.

Some 154 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli attacks, Gaza Health Ministry officials said, with over half of them civilians. Four Israeli civilians and a soldier have been killed by Palestinian rockets.

The ceasefire announcement came amid intensifying international efforts to broker a truce following concerns that Israel might launch a ground invasion if rocket attacks continued. Israel has amassed troops and tanks on the border with Gaza.

Lok Sabha speaker disallows no-confidence motion moved by TMC

An attempt by former UPA ally Trinamool Congress to bring a no-confidence motion against the government over FDI in retail failed on Thursday in the Lok Sabha for want of requisite numbers.

Mamata Banerjee's party moved the motion as soon as Parliament met for the Winter Session but Speaker Meira Kumar disallowed it as it could not muster the required support of 50 members.
The motion, first in the current Lok Sabha, was moved by Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party leader Sudip Bandopadhyay and was supported by BJD.
However, it lacked the support of the required 50 members as only TMC's 18 members and BJD's three members supported.
Moving the motion, Bandopadhyay said, "This House expresses want of confidence in the Council of Ministers over its decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail as it is going to harm millions of small businesses."
The Speaker asked all those supporting the motion to stand up.
Amidst chants of "shame shame" from Congress benches, TMC members stood up and there was a verbal clash too.
On seeing the lack of adequate support, the Speaker said, "The motion does not have the leave of the House."

AN ALBATROSS AT ALBATROSS JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP!

Greater Noida, November 22:

It was a historic day for junior golf in the country. On day two of the 4th Albatross International Junior Golf Championship, Malaysia’s Lucas Yee Jung Jin, participating in Category ‘C’, became the first player to record an albatross in a junior tournament in India. An albatross is achieved when a golfer finds the hole in three shots under par – a rarity in golf – and the Albatross Junior Tour began in 2007 with hopes as high. How appropriate, then, that such a feat should take place in an event sanctioned by the Albatross Junior Tour!

Lucas followed his three-under 69 on day one with a two-under 70. His two-day score of five-under 139 handed him a commanding lead of 18 strokes. This impressive 12-year-old is on his way to becoming the standout player of the 4th Albatross International Junior, being held at Jaypee Greens Golf Resort.

On the par-five third hole, after a perfect drive of 260 yards into the middle of the fairway, Lucas pulled out a TaylorMade rescue club. “I was actually nervous because there was a bunker to the right of the green, and water to the left. I aimed a bit right, the ball went really high, landed in the middle of the green, and just rolled into the hole. Only when my caddy starting clapping did I realize that the ball was in the hole!”

India’s boys took the honours in Category ‘A’, with Feroz Garewal and Tapendra Ghai in a share of the lead going into the final day. Meanwhile, Ankita Kedlaya maintained hopes of victory in Category ‘B’ (girls), finishing the second day three shots behind Thai girl, Kanyalak Preedasutthijit.

Otherwise, it was another day when international players hogged the limelight at Jaypee Greens. South Africa’s Cara Gorlei held on to top spot in Category ‘A’ (girls), and heads into the final day a shot ahead of Benyapa Niphatsophon of Thailand. In Category ‘B’ (boys), Puwit Anupansuebsai, the 13-year-old prodigy from Thailand, returned a three-under 69 for a 36-hole total of level-par 144, two shots better than South Africa’s Luca Filippi, and five clear of India’s Piyush Sangwan.

Thailand’s juniors, in fact, dominated the second day at Jaypee: Kornkamal Sukaree led Category ‘C’ (girls) by a comfortable 11 shots, Nattabutara Unyamanee was ahead in Category ‘D’ (boys) by 13, and Unyamanee Wongaroon led by a whopping 19 strokes in Category ‘D’ (girls).

In Category ‘E’, Puneet Kaur Bajwa held on to the lead, and goes into the final round four

Join us on:
SportzPower Daily	www.sportzpower.com
Nov 20 Vol 01, Issue 1082 TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES Modi says new tweet on Tharoor reason for extradition action Lalit Modi alleges recent efforts by the government to enforce his return are motivated because of his tweeting regarding the "impropriety of re-inducting" Shashi Tharoor into the Cabinet BCCI throws RTI googly at Sports Ministry on Rs500m contribution BCCI questions the use of the Rs 500 million it contributed to the government's National Sports Development Fund four years back through RTI application Hockey India League auction: Oz, Pak dominate overseas player list Australia, with all 16 players who were seen at London 2012, and Pakistan make up the largest group in the list of 91 playesr who will be available for bidding in Hockey India League's upcoming auction Nike closes for $570m sale of Cole Haan to Apax Partners Under a month after offloading football brand Umbro, Nike reaches definitive agreement to sell its Cole Haan affiliate to Apax Partners for $570m Chennai Open adds further heft as Cilic, Wawrinka confirm participation $450,000 Aircel Chennai Open 2013 confirms participation from tournament's two-time singles champion and World No. 15 Marin Cilic, as too No. 17 Stanislas Wawrinka India shares top honours with powerhouse Russia at World Youth Chess Championship R Vaishali and M Mahalakshmi, both of Chennai became World Under-12 and 14 Champions after an exciting final round at Slovenia. Headliner - Crowded Out: Learnings from Hillsborough The Hillsborough Stadium crush of 1989 (“Hillsborough Crush”) is a key moment in the history of sports arena construction and crowd management, as it led to the removal of standing terraces in all first division and second division football club stadiums and adoption of sound crowd management practices, through a reduction in capacity of all stadium terraces by 15% and the prohibition of the practice of free seating for ticket holders.
FROM THE HOME PAGE   VIEW POINT IPL gets a reality check with sharp drop in team value; dampens hopes of teams looking for buyers SPORTZPOWER VIEW - Lalit Modi tweets far cry from ground conditions; economic factors overpower super-club sheen; business groups check RoI and stay away COMMMENTARY Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Raikkonen Becomes 8th Driver To Win In 2012 Number of names being discussed for Force India next season and they include return of team’s driver from last year Adrian Sutil, ex-Toro Rosso drivers Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastian Buemi
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
More funds required for development of sports infra: Minister(The Hindu ) Gurgaon police record Reebok loss at Rs.11.3 cr(Mint ) TRAI to look into monopoly in cable television sector(The Hindu Business Line )
CRICKET
Board's RTI adds to animosity with ministry(Hindustan Times) Lockout of photo agencies: BCCI’s stand is harmful to the game(Gulf News ) IPL's major offer is the attraction of fast money(Herald Sun ) PCB dismisses Woolf’s report(The Statesman )
MOTORSPORTS
Daimler takes full control of Mercedes team(DNA )
VOLLEYBALL
KVL to kick off on Nov 29(Deccan Herald)
DOPING IN SPORT
WADA to go for four-year ban(Deccan Herald)