Goalkeeper P R Sreejesh,who played a stellar role in India’s victory at the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy,has attributed the success to team work.
The player,who was given a warm welcome as he arrived here last night from New Delhi,told reporters at the airport that team work helped India to win the crucial match against Pakistan.
Sreejesh’s two saves in the tie-breaker led to India’s 4-2 win over Pakistan in the championship in Ordos in China. He hoped that the victory would make hockey more popular in the cricket frenzy nation.
On the players turning down the Hockey India prize money offer,he said it was a collective decision and the issue had been sorted out. Sreejesh also expressed happiness at the Rs 1.5 lakh cash award announced by the Union Sports ministry for the team members.
Sreejesh would be given an official reception by Hockey Kerala at Thiruvananthapuram today.
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> News> Print / by Agencies / Kochi – Sunday, October 05th, 2014
The synagogues in Israel may be caught in cross-firing, but those in India are going to be spruced up soon, courtesy the Modi-led BJP government. The files started moving with speed within the Culture Ministry when the Palestine issue got worse — signifying the BJP government’s political stance in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Though the move to protect the synagogues was initiated during the UPA rule, the Manmohan Singh government developed cold feet later as Israel and Palestine has always been a volatile subject in our country. “Our team had visited the synagogues in Kolkata and had even finalised the sketches way back in 2010. But the project did not go beyond that, as there was some terse communication to go slow,” said an ASI source.
The Archaeological Survey of India is busy moving the files and renovation is expected to start soon. Sources admit that the renovation of synagogues is a political decision. “Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj are planning to visit Israel towards the year end and there are enough reasons to believe the renovation is closely connected to the visits,’’ said a government source.
There are around 35 synagogues in India—most of them in Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. “The synagogues in our country represent a rich cultural and religious tradition. The ASI is actively thinking of renovating the synagogues across the country. Most of them have been encroached upon by private parties and some, even by governments,’’ said a source in the Ministry of Culture.
The source added that the renovation work will start initially in Kochi’s Thekkumbhagam Synagogue and the Beth El Synagogue and the Maghen David Synagogue in Kolkata. The government is also planning to start a “Jewish tourism circuit” connecting all synagogues in the country, the source added. Though the government gave in following pressure and even vouched its support to the ‘‘Palestinian cause’’, it is an open secret that many BJP leaders, including PM Modi, have a close affiliation with Israel. Modi visited Tel Aviv as the CM of Gujarat, a state which has old diamond trade ties with Israel.
Transport and rural development minister Nitin Gadkari, too, visited Israel three years ago when he was the BJP chief while Sushma Swaraj is a self-declared “fan” of Israel. She, as the chief of India-Israeli Parliamentary Friendship Forum in the past, visited Israel last year.
“Both countries are victims of the growing religious fundamentalism and it is natural that they grow closer. It also helps that both share unique ethnic and religious aspects,’’ said a Culture Ministry official, who is part of the renovation project.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> The Sunday Standard / September 28th, 2014
Left, writer-actor Fareed, Thikkurissi Sukumaran Nair and Kottarakara Sreedharan Nair / The Hindu
Rajesh Khanna was Indian cinema’s first ‘official’ superstar. The actor’s fans and admirers, along with film journos gave him this title. Of course, Rajesh Khanna in the 1970s was the most popular Hindi actor with an unbelievable series of super hits. The superstar tag stuck. Soon, similar claims were made by frontrunners in Tamil and Telugu cinema. Interestingly, no one in the Malayalam film industry staked a claim to this status during this period. Sathyan, Prem Nazir and Madhu certainly had their admirers but none of them were eager to latch on to this new found status in cinema.
Surprisingly, one man in the Malayalam industry thought he deserved this title. And he did not hide his intentions. Thikkurissi Sukumaran Nair firmly believed that he was the most deserving individual for the superstar status. He often made this claim in private conversations.
Thikkurissi observed closely how Rajesh Khanna and his Tamil contemporaries achieved this title. He came to the conclusion that their claims were backed by the media and of course, their admirers. Unfortunately here neither the media nor fans showed any interest in elevating him or anyone in the Malayalam film industry to such a position. So, Thikkurissi decided to do all the promotion by himself.
Waiting for the right opportunity to launch himself as a superstar Thikkurissi got such a chance in 1982. A group of film lovers and certain film organisation got together to organise a function in honour of veteran film stars. The venue was the Town Hall in Ernakulam. The venue was packed much before time. All the big names in cinema and literature were there. The meeting started. Thikkurissi, who was a special invitee, was a notable absentee. The organisers were a bit disappointed.
A few minutes into the meeting Thikkurissi made his appearance. He was dressed in a dark blue T-shirt and black pants. On his T-shirt embroidered in silver were the words Super Star Thikkurissi with a prominent star on the back of the T-shirt. He had also dyed his hair and moustache black.
It was certain what Thikkurissi was up to, he saw to it that he would be noticed. To reinforce this he walked up to the dais and wished each one seated there before sitting next to Kottarakara Sreedharan Nair.
It is said that Kottarakara made fun of Thikkurissi asking him why he had dressed up like this and whether he was not ashamed to do so. Thikkurissi listened to all this not uttering a word in reply. But when his turn to speak came Thikkurissi unleashed a severe tirade against Kottarakara. He said that Kottarakara was jealous over his young, handsome looks and had even tried to imitate him but failed. He claimed that he was the superstar.
The audience thought there was a running rivalry between the two. But after the meeting both of them hugged each other, went to a nearby hotel and even had a drink together. Thikkurissi’s claim to the title of superstar was perhaps not considered seriously though a few journalists did subsequently refer to him as Malayalam’s first superstar. It was only in the 1990s that the Malayalam film industry got its first superstar.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Saju Chelangad / October 05th, 2014
