Kohli set to receive Polly Umrigar award
New Delhi, June 7: Following his phenomenal showing in the past two seasons, India skipper Virat Kohli will be presented with the prestigious Polly Umrigar award for the best international cricketer (2016-17 and 2017-18) at the BCCI Awards to be held in Bengaluru on Tuesday, the board announced on Thursday.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Awards recognises and honours the top domestic and international cricketers across all age groups.
While Kohli gets top honours in the men's category, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana are set to be maiden recipients of the award for best international cricketer (women) for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons respectively.
To honour one of its finest administrators, the BCCI has rechristened four awards in memory of former board President Jagmohan Dalmiya.
The Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy will be presented to the leading run-scorer and wicket-taker respectively in the U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy and to the Best Junior and Senior Cricketer in women's cricket.
The BCCI has also raised the prize money for nine categories by Rs 1 lakh and the revised prize money is Rs 1.5 lakh.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has been adjudged the best State Association owing to their consistent performance in the BCCI domestic tournaments for the 2016-17 season while the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) wins it for the 2017-18 season.
Congratulating the winners, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) Chairman Vinod Rai said: "I congratulate all the winners of the BCCI Annual Awards. The last two years have been fabulous for Indian Cricket with both the men and women's teams doing very well. We are proud of their achievements and this is our small way of acknowledging their on-field efforts."
BCCI Acting President CK Khanna in his message said: "The BCCI Annual Awards is an occasion where former greats of the game, the present generation and the stars of tomorrow come under one roof. For BCCI, it is an opportunity to show its gratitude towards cricketers who enrich this game with their skills and hard work."
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HP Cong Minority Morcha delegation meets with party leader Venugopal over mosque row
Shimla (PTI): A delegation of the Himachal Congress Minority Morcha apprised the party's central leaders on Thursday of the atmosphere of fear created in the state by targeting a particular community and staging demonstrations near mosques.
The delegation led by Iqbal Mohammad, president of the state Congress Minority Morcha, also comprised imams of various mosques. It met with Congress general secretary K C Venugopal and its Minority Morcha national president Imran Pratapgarhi in New Delhi.
In a statement here, the state Congress Minority Morcha said the situation has become tense due to demonstrations by Hindu outfits in front of mosques and efforts were being made to vitiate the atmosphere and instill fear among Muslims.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is trying to take people of all religions along but some elements are trying to spoil the atmosphere and malign the government, it added.
According to the statement, Venugopal spoke to the chief minister over the phone over the issue.
Ten people were injured during a protest demanding the demolition of a portion of a mosque in Shimla's Sanjauli area last week. In Mandi, police used water cannons on protestors demanding the demolition of an unauthorised portion of a mosque in the town.
On Tuesday, residents of Kasumpti in Shimla submitted a memorandum to demolish a mosque in the area and similar demands are also coming in from Sunni and other areas in the state.
A dispute between a barber from the minority community and a local businessman in the Malyana area in the suburbs of Shimla on August 30 turned into a communal issue with Hindu groups demanding the demolition of unauthorised mosques and residents calling for the identification and verification of outsiders coming in the state.
