Double Paralympics gold winner Devendra Jhajharia elected unopposed as PCI president
New Delhi (PTI): Two-time Paralympics gold medallist Devendra Jhajharia was on Saturday elected unopposed as the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) president, succeeding another celebrated para athlete Deepa Malik.
The 42-year-old javelin thrower, who had won a gold medal each in the 2004 Athens and 2016 Rio Paralympics in the F46 disability category, was the only candidate in the fray for the top post.
In fact, all the new office bearers were elected unopposed.
The PCI elections were held for the posts of president, two vice-presidents, secretary general, treasurer, two joint secretaries and five executive committee members.
Initially, eight candidates filed their nomination papers for the post of five executive committee members but three of them later withdrew from the contest.
It was more about completing the formalities as the returning officer Umesh Sinha handed the election certificates to all the new office bearers led by Jhajharia, who is also fighting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on BJP ticket from his hometown of Churu in Rajasthan.
Jayawant Hammanawar, an international coach and referee from Goa, was elected unopposed as the secretary general.
R Chandrashekhar and Satya Prakash Sangwan will be the two vice-presidents, while Sunil Pradhan was the lone candidate for the treasurer's post. Lalit Thakur and T Diwakara are the two joint secretaries.
Last month the sports ministry suspended the PCI after the Deepa Malik-led dispensation did not hold elections on time. But on March 5, the ministry revoked the suspension after the PCI initiated the election process.
Jhajharia, who hails from Rajasthan, also won a silver medal in the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021. He clinched a world championships gold in 2013 and a silver in 2015 (both F46 category) as well as a silver in the Asian Para Games in 2014.
He has many firsts to his name. He is the lone Padma Bhushan award winner (2022) among the para athletes, besides being the only Indian double Paralympics gold medallist.
He was awarded the Khel Ratna in 2017 and was earlier conferred with the Arjuna Award (2004) and Padma Shri (2012).
#WATCH | Delhi: On his appointment as the President of the Paralympic Committee, Paralympian Devendra Jhajharia says, "We will start a Junior Program by visiting grassroots. there are a total of 700 districts in all our states, and we need to work at the grassroots in them. We… pic.twitter.com/3gIk9QBY94
— ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2024
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Capgemini employee killed, three injured in gas cylinder blast at Bengaluru PG
Bengaluru: A 23-year-old Capgemini employee was killed and three others were injured after a commercial gas cylinder exploded at a paying guest accommodation in Bengaluru’s Kundalahalli on Monday evening, police said.
According to a report published by NDTV, the incident occurred around 6.15 pm at the Seven Hills Sai Co-Living PG, a seven-storey building with 43 rooms. The explosion took place on the ground floor of the building.
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"There was some smoke on the ground floor. The victim and two others, who were on the terrace, came down to check what had happened. It is believed that the blast occurred at that time, killing Aravind. Among the injured, two are employees of private companies, and one works as a helper at the PG," NDTV quoted K Parashurama, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Whitefield) as saying.
Aravind, a native of Ballari district in Karnataka, was working as a senior analyst with Capgemini. Among the injured are 28-year-old Venkatesh from Kurnool, 23-year-old Vishal Verma from Uttarakhand, and 25-year-old CV Goel, a woman from Uttarakhand. Two of the injured are employees of private firms, while one works as a helper at the PG.
As per the report, as soon as fire and smoke were detected, an emergency response was initiated. Fire and police teams rushed to the spot and contained the situation. All the injured were shifted to Brookefield Hospital, where they are undergoing treatment.
Police have registered a case and launched an investigation to ascertain the cause of the explosion. We are examining the building for violations. We have already noticed that there was no setback provided during construction, and we are verifying whether other rules were also defied, Parashurama added.
The PG building is owned by a person named Vishnu from Andhra Pradesh and is locally managed by a woman identified as Roja. Further investigation is underway, police said.
