Asian Athletics: Gulveer wins gold in men's 10,000m; bronze for race walker Sebastian
Gumi (PTI): National record holder Gulveer Singh opened India's gold medal account with a top finish in the men's 10,000m race on the opening day of the Asian Athletics Championships here on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old Asian Games bronze-medallist clocked 28 minute 38.63 seconds to win the gold. His national record, which he had set earlier in the year, stands at 27:00.22.
Japan's Mebuki Suzuki (28:43.84) took the silver while Bahrain's Albert Kibichi Rop (28:46.82) won the bronze.
Earlier in the day, Servin Sebastian claimed India's first medal with a bronze in the men's 20km race walk event, clocking 1 hour 21 minute and 13.60 seconds.
China's Wang Zhaozhao (1:20:36.90) and Japan's Kento Yoshikawa (1:20:44.90) won the gold and silver respectively.
Sebastian's timing was just shy of his personal best of 1:21:23sec, set earlier this year for a gold at the Uttarakhand National Games in February.
Amit, the other Indian in the field, finished fifth with a time of 1:22:14.30.
India has sent a 58-strong contingent for the event where the country won 27 medals in the previous edition.
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Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link now fully operational
Mumbai (PTI): The Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link was opened to vehicular traffic on Saturday noon after a delay caused by the dismantling of inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work, a day after the Pune section became operational.
The 13.3 km-long "missing link", which bypasses a section of the Bhor Ghat stretch of the expressway and cuts travel time between Mumbai and Pune by 25 to 30 minutes, was inaugurated a day earlier by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar.
The Pune-bound carriageway of the corridor was opened to traffic immediately; however, the Mumbai-bound section remained closed to traffic for several hours after the inauguration.
An official of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation told PTI on Saturday that the opening of the Mumbai-bound carriageway was delayed mainly due to the dismantling of the inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work.
The removal of the stage and other decorations was completed in the morning. The work to load and transport the material slightly delayed the opening of the carriageway.
Vehicular movement on the carriageway began after all the remaining material was cleared and road cleaning was completed, the official added.
The expressway control room said that despite significant vehicular movement, the access-controlled highway has not witnessed any major traffic snarls since Friday evening, after the Pune-bound carriageway of the missing link was opened to traffic.
The Missing Link project connects Khopoli (in Raigad) on the Mumbai side to Kusgaon near Lonavala in Pune district and is expected to make the expressway fully access-controlled, easing congestion in the ghat section.
Developed by the MSRDC and dubbed an "engineering marvel", the project includes two tunnels, two viaducts and a cable-stayed bridge over Tiger Valley. It bypasses the steep, accident-prone ghat section, where frequent traffic snarls are reported during weekends and on public holidays.
