Jonty Rhodes to participate in the Great Delhi Run
New Delhi, Oct 20: Former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes will lace up his running shoes to join thousands of participants in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon here Sunday.
Rhodes, who retired in 2003 after playing 52 Tests and 245 ODIs, will run in the Great Delhi Run category.
The IAAF Gold Label Race, known to be one of the fastest courses in the world, has become a preferred event for world class athletes and India's best.
The USD 2,80,000 prize purse event will witness over 34,000 runners in five different categories -- Half Marathon, Open 10K Run, Great Delhi Run, Senior Citizens' Run, and the Champions with Disability.
On his role at the event, Rhodes said he was amazed to see the change in mindset of people towards running and fitness in general.
"To get India moving is so important, especially the kids sitting on a couch playing playstations and tablets everyone has forgotten to move and that's why I am happy to be here as Puma athlete at Airtel Delhi Half Marathon and support the mass participation," Rhodes, a fielder par excellence in his playing days, said.
The 49-year-old also unveiled the Puma Finishers Tee, that will be given to the first thousand finishers of the race, at an event here on Saturday.
"This is the closest I will get to the T-shirt because I am not going to be one of the first thousand finishers," Rhodes said.
The former cricketer will lend his inspiring stories of athleticism to support the race that will show the same energy and vibrancy that Rhodes once exhibited on cricket field.
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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.
