Uttara Kannada boy among 5 Indian athletes who won Medals at Special Olympics World Games in UAE
Karwar: A 19-year old boy from Uttara Kannada District’s coastal town Kumta, brought laurel to the country by winning two gold medals at the Special Olympics World Games 2019, held in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Sandesh Krishna Harikantra, a student of Dayanilaya Special School in Kumta, amazed everyone with his performances in the table tennis event of the Special Olympics 2019 as he bagged two gold medals in as many categories of the event.
Sandesh bagged his first gold in the Men’s single category in the age group of 16-21 years while he also bagged gold in the doubles category along with his fellow Indian teammate Tukaram.
Sandesh’s coach Cyril Salu, who is coaching him for five years said he was proud of the way the young lad performed and won the medal at the highest level with his hard work and dedication. Cyril added that Sandesh had been spending six hours of his day for practice and preparations for last five years.
Sandesh first participated in the Taluka level event from where he was qualified for the district level and subsequently for interstate, state and national level. Sandesh was then shortlisted among 1000 students from across the country for pre-preparatory camps from where players were reduced to 500 and then 300 before selecting five best players from the lot.
In the Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi, Sandesh was up against players from Switzerland and Egypt in Quarter final and Semi final respectively before clashing with a participant representing Siberia.
Other Indians who won gold medals in the event include Anu Chennekota from Andhra Pradesh in Women Table Tennis Division -3 under age group of 16-21 years, Sabita Yadava in Division-4 under age group of 16-21 years, Akash Tukaram from Maharashtra in men’s single under age group of 18-21 years, while Reshma Shaikh bagged Silver Medal in the Women's category.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
