Heavy rains wash out Khajuraho
It was a water-logged beginning to the weekend for foreign tourists in Madhya Pradesh’s tourist hotspot Khajuraho on Saturday and Sunday. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Khajuraho recorded 100 mm rain on the intervening night of Friday-Saturday, nearly washing out the start of the weekend for backpackers. The famous temples of Khajuraho were reportedly under knee deep water after heavy rains, drastically affecting the inflow of tourists. The heavy downpour washed out the hopes of tourists to enjoy the light and sound show on Saturday evening.
Below par performance of sprint wonder
Rameshwar Gurjar, the 24-year-old barefooted sprinter from Shivpuri district whose video of completing 100-meter dash barefooted in 11 seconds made him a sensation, failed to live up to expectations during recent trials conducted at TT Nagar Stadium in Bhopal. During the trial at TT Nagar Stadium recently, Rameshwar ran the dash slowest among the seven sprinters, including a female runner. Rameshwar, whose video of completing 100 meters dash barefooted in 11 seconds had compelled the government to invite him for trial in Bhopal, clocked 12.9 seconds when he ran the same race wearing proper spikes during the trials in Bhopal. Sports minister Jitu Patwari was impressed with Gurjar’s passion and announced that the sprinter would be kept at sports academy for one month and then again appear for trials.
Cong trio puts party leadership at unease
Three Congress leaders, including two veterans, are in news for their statements. Six-time MLA KP Singh ‘Kakkaju’ has publicly stated that the old system and corruption still prevails and no positive changes have happened even after Kamal Nath coming to power eight months ago. Senior Cabinet minister Govind Singh alleged that illegal sand and stone mining is rampant even under the new regime. WCD minister Imarti Devi has questioned why the party-appointed Jyotiraditya Scindia as the head of screening committee in Maharashtra when he deserved being given charge of state unit.
MP para-swimmer makes India proud
Satendra Singh, a talented para-swimmer from Gwalior district, was part of six-member Indian para-swimming team which successfully swam the Catalina Channel in the US on August 19, consequently becoming the first team from Asia to successfully swim the 42-km swim in Catalina Channel. This circuit is one of the most popular open-water marathons swims in the world. Three swimmers of the six-member team, including Satendra and two girls, were part of the Indian team that had successfully crossed the English Channel last year, after which the Gwalior-based swimmer was named in the Limca Book of Records.