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Pak cricket fans visit Golden temple

     Amritsar: Pakistani cricket fans in India for the ongoing cricket series between India and Pakistan seem to be making the most of their ticket to the first test. One such group visited Sikhs' holiest Golden Temple shrine today.Indian government had granted over 4,500 visas to watch the first test at Mohali. As per diplomatic legacy between the arch rivals, many had their visas restricted to the host city but a few were granted permission to visit their relatives and erstwhile hometowns. Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab, secured further relaxation for many Pakistanis to visit Amritsar. "We came here with a message of peace and harmony and now we are going back with a message of love. We are a batch of twenty-five people in all and were a little apprehensive about coming here. But now all the fear is gone. When we went for the cricket match in Chandigarh (Mohali), we regretted not bringing our families along," said Kaiser Malik, a Pakistani visitor. "It was our long-cherished desire to visit the Golden Temple about which we have read in the books and know that people from all over the world come here. Today we are feeling very happy to be here.I want that we should be given a chance so that people from India can come there so that Punjab can unite again," said Mohammed Imran. Indian officials expect more than 10,000 Pakistanis to visit during their team's seven week tour, Pakistan's first on Indian soil in six years. Pakistan is scheduled to play two more five- day tests and six one-day internationals.

Pak cricket fans in India hope to visit ancestral homes (Go To Top)

     Chandigarh: Pakistani cricket fans, who arrived in India to watch the cricket series between the two countries, made a beeline at the Punjab Government's immigration cells here with applications for permission to visit their ancestral homes in various part of Punjab. Within hours of arrival, many of them queued up at the UT Secretariat and Estate Office, seeking permission to visit their birthplaces and shrines in Punjab and other neighbouring states. Shahid, a Pakistani who has come to India with his mother, hoped their dream to visit their ancestral home would come true. "We have wished to visit our ancestral home in India for a long time. But earlier there were no provisions for that.

     Now since we have reached India to watch the cricket series, we hope we will be able to do so," said Shahid. Meanwhile, till date Punjab government's immigration cell has received about 1500 applications and all of them have been processed. "We have set up this cell to provide information to the Pakistani nationals who have arrived here. We are processing the applications. Many of them want permission to visit various places in the country," said Darshan Singh, an official in the immigration department. But, some visitors still feel that they haven't got enough time to spend in India and hope that the government would extend their stay by some more days. "We are hoping that the government of India will be ready to extend our stay by at least twenty more days. Otherwise we will have to return on the 14th. We want to visit places like New Delhi and Agra. If we have to go back, we will apply again at the border. If not this time, we expect to come back again some other time," said a Pakistani visitor. About 4,000 Pakistani visitors had arrived in India to watch the first cricket test in Mohali.

Rathore helps India win team gold in Commonwealth shooting (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Olympic silver medallist Lt Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Sunday once again proved his mettle as a class shooter by helping India win the team gold in the double trap event at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Melbourne. Rathore scored 93 points and along with teammate Ronjan Sondhi, who scored 80 to enable India win the gold with a total of 173 out of 200. The duo pipped hosts Australia (169) and England (166) who ended up with the silver and bronze respectively. Rathore is now aiming for the individual gold in double trap event to be held on March 17. Indian teams also picked up gold medals in women's sport rifle three position and men's rapid fire pistol today. In rifle three position, Anjali Vedpathak Bhagwat (570) and Kuheli Gangulee (564) tallied 1134/1200 to clinch the gold ahead of Malaysia (1125) and Australia (1122). Honours in rapid pistol went to Pemba Tamang (565) and Ram Kishan Yadav (558) who totalled 1123/1200. Australia (1100) and Canda (1080) ended up with silver and bronze respectively. India, however narrowly missed a fourth gold when the women's air pistol team missed the gold by a narrow margin. Shweta Chaudhry (389) and Sarvesh Tomar (374) ended with a total of 763/800 to settle for the silver behind Australia (764). Malaysia with 746 points won the bronze. India has a total of 13 medals including six gold, five silver and two bronze medals.

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