Sports & Fun

The event is being organised by Greater Siliguri Publishers and Book Sellers' Association, in association with Anandabazar Patrika. Eminent writer Nimai Bhattacharya will inaugurate the fest.

"There will be seminar and interactive sessions on different popular topics," said Narayan Das, the convener of the association.

Different cultural programmes, blood donation camp and sit-and-draw competitions will also be part of the event which will end on December 5.

"Different publishing houses will be participating along with Sikkim publication department which will take part for the first time," Das said. The organisers are expecting a footfall of 1 lakh and sale of books worth Rs 1 crore.

"Officials from BBA came to meet me last month and we had a discussion on the formation of a full fledged badminton academy. They have agreed to help us," said Bikash Ghosh, the mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation, who also sanctioned Rs 1 lakh from the civic fund for the project.

"The name of the proposed academy would be Siliguri Municipal Corporation Badminton Academy and it would function from Siliguri Indoor Stadium," Ghosh said. "We had decided to establish an academy much earlier. Like table tennis, this sport is played here regularly and we have good infrastructure with an indoor stadium, which can accommodate a lot of trainees at a time. After considering all these factors, we have decided to start the academy."

“The CAB had appealed to us that if we provide 8 to 9 acres of land to them, they would build a cricket academy here. In this regard, a meeting with them was held recently and they visited the site at Barghasipur under ward number 19 of the Haldia municipality. After visiting the place, Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya has expressed his willingness to set up a cricket academy here,” said Mr Seth.

According to sports officials in Haldia, Mr Dalmiya was accompanied by the joint secretaries of CAB, Mr Arun Mitra and Mr Biswarup Dey, assistant secretaries Mr Naresh Ojha and Mr Debabrata Das, convener of the development committee Mr Goutam Dasgupta and members of the Trustee Board Mr Saradendu Paul and Mr Bablu Kole at the meeting with Mr Seth. After visiting the site, they were “very much hopeful” to set up the academy here because the proposed Haldia International Sports City will come up here within the next five years. “An academy is essential to keep the steady supply of talented young cricketers to Indian cricket going, and Mr Dalmiya is interested to set up it here,” said Mr Dasgupta.The model of The Arena Haldia International Sports City was unveiled in Haldia last year. The unique sports city, to be set up over 65 acres, will have a 35,000-seater cricket stadium, an indoor stadium with a capacity of 5,000, an academy with a 100-room hostel and residential towers among other facilities.

Now, Sourav Ganguly -- god on the offside, feisty skipper who fired up his men, perennial problem child for officialdom -- has decided to call it a day. The series against Australia will be his last. He gets to go on his own terms -- a gesture he probably deserved, but which didn't always seem likely during his turbulent career.

CONTROVERSIAL CAREER 1991-92 | On debut tour of Oz, allegedly refused to carry drinks. Denied reports
2001 | Earned Oz skipper Steve Waugh's ire by keeping him waiting for toss
2002 | Bared chest on Lord's balcony
2005 | Banned for 6 matches (later reduced to 4) for slow over rate against Pak
2005 | Spat with coach Chappell resulted in him losing captaincy and spot in ODI side
2005-06 | Dropped against Sri Lanka. Brought back for Pak tour after BCCI president Sharad Pawar reportedly stepped in. Seen in animated chat with Rahul Dravid, apparently expressing willingness to play as opener
2008 | Dropped for ODIs despite successful comeback

Previously referrerd to as the National Football League, the tournament was reinvented last year and this year's edition promises to be bigger and better with a prize money of Rs 1.25 crore.

The inaugural match will be played between East Bengal and Chirag United in Kolkatta on Friday.

The other matches will be in Goa, Mumbai and and Ludhiana.

Meanwhile, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) is planning a couple of friendlies for the national team during the 45-day break between the two legs of I-league.

The I-League will have a 45-day break after the end of the first leg on November 30 to facilitate completion of the Federation Cup's final round, to be held in Delhi and Gurgaon from December 5 to 22.

The fate of football in Durgapur had turned bleak as a consequence of the successive collapse of the public sector behemoths in Durgapur. The clubs which used to participate in the league matches and organise one day or night football tournaments could not remain active any more due to the gradual decrease in the number of players and enthusiasts in the respective clubs and localities.

Viswakarma Nagar- the residential colony of closed Mining & Allied Machinery Corporation workers had at least a dozen clubs of which half would play in the super division. Similarly, the clubs in Bharat Opthalmic Glass Colony, Hindustan Fertiliser colony also stopped taking part. Some clubs operating across the steel township were also about to quit.

The Durgapur Sub-Divisional Sports association finally took up the matter with serious concern and the modus operandi of the dying league football was overhauled. The strengthening of football culture was expedited with the launch of SAIL-Mohun Bagan Football Academy here. The Steel authority of India Limited has been funding the football academy. Youngsters from across the state and villages surrounding Durgapur are being trained by the academy to prepare skilled players for the future.

Besides Vijay Mallya’s Force India, the only Indian presence at the Singapore F1 Grand Prix — the first-ever night race in F1 history — will be from Calcutta, in the form of delicacies like chicken-stuffed triangles and hot gulab jamuns.

Between September 26 and 28, as the Lewis Hamiltons and Phillipe Massas set hearts racing, an Indian food kiosk will be opened by three Calcuttans close to the pit stop of Asia’s first F1 street-circuit.

The three young entrepreneurs behind Ivory, the popular Camac Street restaurant, are using the Singapore GP to introduce their new format — ready-to-eat pre-packaged “authentic Indian cuisine” called Go India Express — before an estimated 100,000 guests on raceday, among them 40,000 overseas visitors.

“The F&B director of the Singapore GP invited us to put up an outlet at Marina Square as part of the event’s official spectator catering spread. We will be the only standalone unit from India there,” Pankaj Tandon, the managing director of PDK Shenaz Hotels Pte Ltd, Singapore, told Metro.

The Singapore subsidiary of the Calcutta-based PDK Shenaz Group — proprietors of Ivory and Shisha — hopes to make hay while 3,180,000 watts turn night into day on the streets of the island nation in what is being billed as Asia’s answer to Monaco.

An entirely new concept in India, the highly specialized clinic is aimed at treating and training sportspersons to sharpen their aim, enhance their vision and improve hand-eye coordination.

Part of the Himalaya Vision Care Centre, Sportsvision Clinic on Rashebehari Avenue is a collaboration with the Sportsvision Association of the UK. And, giving a shot in the arms of the vision specialists at the brand new clinic, is Bindra's gold at Beijing.

"There is very little -- or rather zero -- awareness about the importance of vision training in India. We hope to cash in on Bindra's victory in Beijing. Vision training is important not only in games like shooting, but also in events such as golf, snooker, archery and tennis, among others. Though talent, physical preparation, agility and skill levels may be the same, what differentiates a winner from the rest is the speed of his or her vision. The winner sees faster, interprets faster and hence reacts faster and with maximum accuracy," said optometrist Ajay Kr Bhootra.

The Rs 2-crore project will give football fans better amenities inside and outside the stadium. Also, the jagged turf, which has led to nasty bruises on many a player after a fall, will be replaced.

Next on the agenda is replacement of the turf. "The project to improve the entire ground has been given to Mackintosh Burn. Some areas on the turf have become bumpy. These bumps will disappear and players will enjoy playing on an improved ground from next season. We are also considering attaching auto sprinklers to the turf," added a sports department official.

As counting of votes at the 77th Annual General Meeting of the CAB which continued past midnight, a beaming Dalmiya announced "Cricket in Bengal needs me. That's why I'm back".

"I will take a couple of days to sit down with colleagues and decide about our future plans," he said. Dalmiya, lying low ever since he was ousted from the post of CAB President in December 2006, planned his comeback and ensured that his entire panel of office-bearers were elected comfortably.

The former ICC chief defeated the incumbent President and a senior IPS officer Prasun Mukherjee 71-47 for a decisive victory as 118 of the 121 voters cast their ballots at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Indirectly referring to cases instituted against him by the BCCI, Dalmiya said "Initially I wanted to make a comeback so that I could emerge without a blemish, but that changed once Bengal got relegated to the Plate Division of the Ranji Trophy. There's much work to do now".

Vanquished in the battle, which was being observed keenly on the BCCI radar, Mukherjee said "the members wanted Mr Dalmiya back and this mandate is overwhelmingly in his favour. I congratulate Dalmiya and wish him all the best".

Besides Dalmiya, the other members of his panel swept the polls cornering all posts. Samar Kar, Shib Kumar Kalyani and Shibaji Dutta, belonging to Dalmiya's group, were elected Vice-Presidents along with Arijit Roy, who turned into a consensus candidate.

With only 19 days remaining for the Cricket Association of Bengal elections, the battle between the two factions, led by Prasun Mukherjee and Jagmohan Dalmiya, took a new turn on Thursday with former India captain Sourav Ganguly throwing his hat into the ring.

Although not quite spelling it out, Ganguly hinted that he would like current president Prasun Mukherjee to remain at the helm, going to the extent of threatening to desert Bengal if the Dalmiya faction comes into power.

If the Mukherjee group is hoping to cash in on Sourav's comments, the Dalmiya faction also might feel that the veteran batsman's `poor timing' will be a boost for them in the upcoming elections.

``It's not about Dalmiya but about a few people in the CAB who have been making nasty comments about my father (Chandi Ganguly) and elder brother (former Bengal player and current assistant secretary Snehashis Ganguly). If this continues, I might be forced to contemplate quitting Bengal,'' Ganguly said on the sidelines of a programme at his residence on Thursday.

Even though Ganguly was quite subdued on Thursday, his recent tirade against Dalmiya has evoked sharp reaction in the CAB. Incidentally, before the 2006 CAB elections, Ganguly had sent an e-mail from England, blaming Dalmiya for his ouster from the national side. The Mukherjee faction had used it during their campaign against the then-ruling faction, led by Dalmiya. ``Obviously he has thrown his hat in the ring,'' Mukherjee said, quick to cash in on Sourav's comments.

'The month-long rest has helped me to reinvigorate. I've resumed practice from Tuesday,' Ganguly told reporters here.

On his inclusion in the Test squad, he said: 'I was always there in the squad. So, there is no question of a comeback. I was only out of cricket for a month after the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Pal is among the 70 underprivileged youngsters selected for the `Cricket for All' coaching camp at Northern Park on Wednesday. The boys, aged between 12-16 years, will practice and train under floodlights at the Ultra Plus Balak Sangha School of Cricket (UPBSSC), which was set up in September 2007 with help of the state urban development department and Kolkata Municipal Corporation. It was then the only cricket coaching camp to be held under floodlights.

Corporate houses like Ultra Plus Steel and Bengal Peerless have chipped in with much needed funds to boost the wannabe stars' dreams.

CLASS ACT: Utpal Chatterjee and Devang Gandhi with the budding cricketers

He approached RPG, Bengal Ambuja, Bengal Sriram, Peerless Finance, Accord Capital and Silver Springs and Ultra Plus Steel. And was "overwhelmed" by their response.

In a match to be played at Munich's Allianz Arena on July 12, Bhutia will figure alongside the likes of Kaka, Fabio Cannavaro, Frank Lampard, Paolo Maldini, Robin van Persie, Gianluigi Buffon, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gennaro Gattuso, Steven Gerrard, Samuel Eto', Didier Drogba and Michael Essien among others.

The unique congregation of world football's who's who would be part of "Goal 4 Africa", which will be kicked off by football legends Pele and Michael Platini.

The invitation to Bhutia has come from the "Goal 4 Africa" ambassador and Dutch star Clarence Seedorf. The unique event has been inspired by Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela's dream of "education for all -- all for education".

Khan presented Bhattacharjee with a Knight Riders helmet, while Bhattacharjee presented Khan with a packet of Darjeeling tea.

Addressing the media at a press conference after his meeting with Bhattacharjee, Shah Rukh Khan said, "We may have lost our chances to make it to the semi-finals this year but I will be back with the same team next year and this team will work hard to be the champions in the next IPL season."

However, according to sources, Khan met Bhattacharjee on Sunday to resolve certain issues like imposition of entertainment tax and other increase in expenses which were not on the KKR agenda initially.

Khan had earlier asked Sourav Ganguly, KKR captain, to speak to Bhattacharjee and other influencial personalities in West Bengal to settle the growing rift between the Kolkata Police, Kolkata Municipal Corporation, and a few other organisations on one hand, and Khan's company Red Chillies Entertainment on the other.

It was alleged that the Kolkata Knight Riders' owner Shah Rukh Khan and the team's captain Sourav Ganguly were not seeing eye to eye on some issues.