Sandeep, Rahul, Priyanka qualify for Olympics race walking event

by Argus News

New Delhi, Feb 13: Haryana's international athletes Sandeep Kumar and Rahul Kumar in the men's event and Uttar Pradesh's Priyanka Goswami in the women's category won the 2021 Olympic Games quota places in the 20km event of the eighth National Race Walking Championships held in Ranchi on Saturday. It was double joy for Priyanka, as she broke the national record with her best effort of the current season.

On his way to winning gold, 34-year-old Sandeep clocked one hour 20 minutes and 16 seconds to crack the Olympic qualification time of 1:21 seconds. Rahul, 34, too, bettered the Olympic qualification time, crossing the finish line at 1:20.26 seconds to clinch silver and become the second male athlete to book a berth for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

It also turned out to be a memorable day for Priyanka. The 24-year-old international athlete from Uttar Pradesh crossed the line with a time of one hour 28 minutes 45 seconds, which was better than the Olympic qualification time of 1:31 seconds for women. It was her season's best performance and a national record of 1:29.54 secs, set last year by Bhawana Jat of Rajasthan.

On Saturday, Bhawana, who had qualified for the Tokyo Olympics last year, finished second in the race with a time of 1:32.59 secs. Sonal Sukhwal of Rajasthan finished third in 1:36.05 seconds.

With three individual athletes winning Olympic quota place on Saturday, the tally of qualifiers in race walking events has increased to five.

In 2019, Olympian KT Irfan (20km) was the first Indian athlete to achieve the Olympic qualification time in the Asian Championship, held in Nomi, Japan. His fourth place finish time of 1:20.57 seconds was inside the qualification time of 1:21 secs. On Saturday, however, Irfan quit the race at 19km mark.
(IANS)

Ram Charan is ‘Glad To Meet Nation’s Pride’ MS Dhoni

by Sabyasachi Kundu

Mumbai, Oct 4: Actor Ram Charan on Wednesday posted a picture of himself with cricketing star M.S Dhoni.

Ram took to Instagram, where he shared the picture and captioned it: “Soo Happy to meet India's pride @mahi7781”.

In the photo, Ram Charan is seen attired in a sleek army green shirt and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a casual blue t-shirt, with both smiling at the camera.

At the time of writing, the post had got nearly five lakh likes, and over 4,700 comments.

Thousands of fans bombarded his post with likes and emojis, and comments like “Game Changers”.

Fans posted love and fire emojis to show the fire power of the duo.

One commented: "Two gods in one frame" and another one wrote a rather funny comment:"Two GOATS of India”.

Another wrote: "Two lions in one frame”, while another posted “Can’t take my eyes off”.

Earlier in the day, the Telugu star landed in Mumbai and visited the revered Siddhivinayak temple to seek blessings as he completed his Ayyappa Deeksha. He was clicked by shutterbugs as he offered prayers and was seen with a blue silk scarf around his neck.

Ram Charan is working on two projects, ‘Game Changer’ directed by Shankar, and ‘RC16’.

‘Game Changer’ is expected to hit screens next year.

The other project ‘RC16’ is directed by Buchi Babu Sana of ‘Upennna’ with music by AR Rahman.

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Odisha: Several Trains Cancelled; Check List Here

by Sabyasachi Kundu

Bhubaneswar, Oct 4: The East Coast Railway (ECoR) has decided to cancel several trains due to a bank slip between Balasore and Haldipada Railway Stations caused by incessant rainfall.

"Due to incessant rainfall resulting in Bank Slip between Balasore and Haldipada Railway Stations and in view of related maintenance work for early restoration, train services have been regulated," said ECoR.

Cancellation of Trains:

1. 08032/08031 Bhadrak-Balasore-Bhadrak MEMU Special will remain cancelled on 04.10.2023.

2. 08064 Bhadrak-Kharagpur MEMU Special will remain cancelled on 04.10.2023.

3. 08063 Kharagpur-Bhadrak Special will remain cancelled on 05.10.2023.

4. 18037 Kharagpur-Jajpur Keonjhar Road Express will remain cancelled on 04.10.2023.

5. 18038 Jajpur Keonjhar Road-Kharagpur Express will remain cancelled on 05.10.2023.

6. 18043 Howrah-Bhadrak Express will remain cancelled on 04.10.2023.

7. 18044 Bhadrak-Howrah Express will remain cancelled on 05.10.2023.

8. 12277 Howrah-Puri Shatabdi Express will remain cancelled on 04.10.2023.

9. 12278 Puri-Howrah Shatabdi Express will remain cancelled on 05.10.2023.

10. 18409 Shalimar-Puri Sri Jagannath Express will remain cancelled on 04.10.2023.

11. 18410 Puri-Shalimar Sri Jagannath Express will remain cancelled on 04.10.2023.

12. 12841 Shalimar-MGR Chennai Coromandal Express will remain cancelled on 04.10.2023.

13. 22831 Howrah-Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam Express will remain cancelled on 04.10.2023.

14. 22835 Shalimar-Puri Express will remain cancelled on 04.10.2023.

15. 18022 Khurda Road-Kharagpur Express will remain cancelled on 04.10.2023.

16. 12892 Puri-Bangriposi Express will remain cancelled on 04.10.2023.

17. 20831 Shalimar-Sambalpur Express will remain cancelled on 04.10.2023.

18. 12837 Howrah-Puri Express will remain cancelled on 04.10.2023.

Short Termination and Origination of Trains:

1. 18038 Jajpur Keonjhar Road-Kharagpur Express, journey commencing on 04.10.2023 will be short terminated at Balasore.

2. 08063 Kharagpur-Bhadrak MEMU Special, journey commencing on 04.10.2023 will be short terminated at Rupsa.

3. 08416 Puri-Jaleswar MEMU Special, journey commencing on 04.10.2023 will be short terminated at Bhadrak.

4. 08415 Jaleswar-Puri MEMU Special, journey commencing on 04.10.2023 will be short originated from Bhadrak.

Diversion of Train:

1. 18477 Puri-Yog Nagari Rishikesh Express, journey commencing on 04.10.2023 will run on a diverted route via Sambalpur City-Jharsuguda Road-Ib Stations.

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Asian Games: Odisha CM announces ₹1.5 Cr Cash Award for Javelin Star Kishore Jena

by Sabyasachi Kundu

Bhubaneswar, Oct 4: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday announced a cash award of Rs 1.5 crore for Odisha’s Javelin star athlete Kishore KumarJena who has clinched a silver at the ongoing Asian Games at Hangzhou, China. With a personal best of 87.54m, Kishore has also qualified for Paris Olympics.

With this silver, Kishore has created a historic moment for the state and country and brought laurels for the nation and will remain etched in the sports history of the country.

The CM said, “The award is in recognition of his stellar performance, his perseverance and determination. I congratulate him on his win at the Asian Games and also qualifying for the Paris Olympics. Kishore’s triumph not only reflects personal excellence but also serves as an inspiration for budding athletes across the country”.