Indian rowers rally, bag two bronze medals
Hangzhou (PTI): Indian rowers staged twin comebacks to end the day with two bronze and take their overall tally to five medals in the watersport at the Asian Games here on Monday.
The day began with the quartet of Jaswinder Singh, Bheem Singh, Punit Kumar and Ashish Goliyan narrowly missing a silver in men's fours event.
Then the men's quadruple sculls team of Satnam Singh, Parminder Singh, Jakar Khan and Sukhmeet Singh finished third on the podium with a timing of 6:08.61 seconds, behind Uzbekistan (6:04.64) and gold medallists China (6:02.65).
The quadruple skulls quartet improved from fourth place to finish third in the final 500-metre of the 2000-metre race.
In the men's four event too, after lying fourth in the final 500metre of the 2000m race, the quartet showed superb coordination to finish third with 6:10.81s, and was pipped by China (6:10.04) by a fraction of seconds.
Uzbekistan took the top spot in the podium with a timing of 6:04.96.
Indian rower Balraj Panwar however missed out on a maiden Asian Games podium, finishing fourth in the men's single sculls.
The 24-year-old from Karnal, who was among the top-three at the 1500-mark, faltered in the final 500m to slip to fourth place with a timing of 7:08.79s.
He finished less than nine seconds behind Hong Kong's Hin Chun Chiu who took the bronze medal (7:00.55).
China's Liang Zang secured the gold with 6:57.06, while Japan's Ryuta Arakawa (6:59.79) and Hong Kong's Hin Chun Chiu finished with silver and bronze respectively.
The Indian oarswomen disappointed the most, finishing bottom in the five-team field of the women's eight with a timing of 7:05.71s, way behind China who took the gold medal clocking 6:33.61.
The Indian team of Sonali Swain, Ritu Kaudi, Priya Devi Thangjam, Varsha Kattathara, Aswathi Padinjarayil, Mrunmayee Salgaonkar, Tendenthoi Devi Haobijam, Rukmani and Geetanjali Gurugubelli hardly posed any challenge to their opponents.
Even the fourth-placed Thailand finished more than 15 seconds ahead of the Indians.
Indian rowers have now won two silver and three bronze medals.
India had bagged two silver and a bronze medal on Sunday.
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UP Cong holds statewide protest seeking probe into FIR against Swami Avimukteshwaranand
Lucknow (PTI): The Uttar Pradesh Congress on Wednesday staged a statewide protest demanding a fair and transparent inquiry into the FIR lodged against Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati and those who filed the complaint against him.
In a statement issued here, the party said memorandums addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi were submitted through district magistrates in all districts of the state.
Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Manish Hindvi told PTI that the memorandums were handed over through the district administration in all 75 districts.
In the memorandum, the party alleged that Saraswati and his disciples were "unnecessarily harassed and humiliated" by police on the occasion of Amavasya and were prevented from taking a ritual bath (at the Magh Mela). It further alleged that some disciples were manhandled and taken to a police station.
The memorandum also claimed that an FIR was later registered against Saraswati, his disciple Swami Mukundanand Brahmachari and several unidentified persons in a sexual harassment case. It termed the case a "conspiracy" aimed at tarnishing the seer's reputation.
Citing Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution, the memorandum stated that these provisions guarantee religious freedom and the right of religious denominations to manage their own affairs.
It described the position of shankaracharya held by Saraswati as "one of the highest spiritual posts in Sanatan tradition" and alleged that the entire episode appeared to have been "orchestrated in a planned manner".
"We request that the background of the persons who got the FIR registered be investigated in a transparent manner by a retired high court judge and strict action be taken against them," the memorandum said.
It also sought a "fair and transparent probe" into the allegations levelled against Saraswati so that the truth could be established.
Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai had told reporters in Varanasi after meeting Saraswati that the party stood firmly with him.
The Congress said it would continue to press for an impartial inquiry into the entire episode.
On February 21, an FIR was lodged in Prayagraj against Saraswati and his disciple Mukundanand Brahmachari on charges of sexually abusing two persons, including a minor, over the past year at a gurukul and religious congregations, including the recently concluded Magh Mela.
Days after he was booked, Saraswati had said on Monday that he would not oppose his arrest and asserted that the "fabricated story" would be exposed sooner or later.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Saraswati alleged that criminals rule in Uttar Pradesh, level allegations and influence investigations, as he denied having any contact with the two persons for whose alleged sexual abuse he has been booked.
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