Gome Thapa bring home laurels as “Outstanding Kungfu Trainer”

By Nanda Kirati Dewan, Guwahati.

Gome Thapa a national Kung-fu (GOUSHU) player and Chief Technical Director and General Secretary of All Assam (Chinese Martial Arts) Kungfu Association representeded India at the Hong Kong International

Kung Fu festival’s “World GOUSHU (Chinese Martial Arts) Competion” and has been awarded as the " Outstanding Indian Trainer” a consolation recognition.

He has been presented this award by the international federation in recognition to his noble deed of imparting kungfu training to youths and kids in India. It is the only recognition for Indian squad. The country and the state in particular the martial arts fraternity is satisfied over his performance at the international arena.

An inhabitant of Durgasarbar Hill side of the Guwahati city, Thapa has been playing this sport for the last 15 years. He was a member of five member Indian squad to the prestigious competition. It was for the third time that he has been selected for such international competition but he could not join the former two, due to financial constraint. Amidst cut throat financial crisis he was flown to Hong Kong with support of All Assam Gorkha Students’ Union, Nepali Mandir Prabandhak Samity, Assam Gorkha Sammelan and Bhojpuri Yuva Parishad .

The advisor of All Assam (Chinese Martial Arts) Kungfu Association Maqbool Ahmed an ardent admirer of martial arts deposited Rs.35000 in cash to support Thapa’s tour to Hong Kong. His students, fellow friends and well wishers felicitated him today at AAGSU office premises in Nepali Mandir, Paltan Bazar Guwahati. Speaking on the occasion Thapa emotionally burst out into tears and thanked the wholesome support of the organizations; friends and common people who made his dream come true. He recalled all people who had deposited amount in his account and all associates and friends who made the journey possible. He apologized for not being able to bring a medal home however Thapa has brought glory to nation with a international recognition.

Pitamber Joshi Advisor AAGSU Kamrup Dist applauded his achievement and asked him to continue to train his arts to the youths and kids and buildup sportsman spirit. Joshi also outlined the financial crisis and Rs.50,000 credit to be paid. One week stay in Hong Kong with the administrative fees and travel fares came around Rs.1,35,000. It is expected that the Directorate of Sports, Government of Assam will pay 50% of the credit as promised earlier. According to the sponsoring organisation any body willing to support Gome Thapa can deposit any amount in his State Bank of India account no. 10242819837.

MARIJUANA FOUND

Darjeeling (West Bengal), Aug. - ANI: Acting on a tip-off, officials detained an oil tanker in West Bengals Darjeeling district on Saturday and seized marijuana worth Rs 42 lakh. The marijuana was found packed in 61 cartons and weighed about 1201 kilograms. The detained tanker was reportedly plying with a Haryana registration plate and was travelling from Manipur, Bihar via Siliguri. Put together, including the vehicle, the total seizure comes to 50 lakh, said R. Mangababu, Additional Commissioner of Customs, North Bengal and Sikkim. No arrests have been made so far and investigations are on to find the drug peddlers. The north-eastern part of the country has emerged as a favourite transit point for drug peddlers.

NUMBER OF RAPE CASES RISING IN INDIA

IANS, New Delhi, July 29, 2009:India has recorded a rise in the number of rape cases during the past five years with states like Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal accounting for a large number of them, parliament was informed on Wednesday.

According to the data compiled by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), a total of 20,737 rape cases were registered in 2007 against 19,384 in 2006, while the figure was 18,359 in 2005 and 18,233 in 2004 against 15,847 in 2003.

The data tabled in parliament pointed out that the maximum number of cases were registered in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.

Madhya Pradesh had 3,010 rape cases in 2007 against 2,900 in 2006. West Bengal accounted for 2,106 rape cases in 2007 against 1,731 in 2006.

While the number of such crimes was on the rise in almost all states, Delhi has witnessed a reverse trend in the past two years. A total of 658 cases were registered in 2005 while in 2006 the numbers stood at 623, coming down further to 598 in 2007.

INDIA LOSING REVENUE DUE TO SMUGGLING OF BETEL NUTS FROM NEPAL

Siliguri, July 31 - ANI: India is losing revenue worth millions of rupees every year due to smuggling ofbetel nuts into West Bengal from Nepal, said an custom official. "Revenue is affected because there is a 100 per cent duty on betel nuts if they import regularly into regular channels," said R Manga Babu, Additional Commissioner of Customs, North Bengal and Sikkim. Babu said that there is a racket involved in the smuggling and is not just confined to 'carriers'. "Not only this normal 'carriers', we want to go deep and break the racket who are actually investing money into this business and trying to smuggle this kind of goods into India," he added. Reportedly, the Indian custom department has seized betel nuts worth rupees 40 million in 2008-2009. Betel nuts have a good demand, as they are popular mouth fresheners in India.Mechi River Bridge in Panitanki, along the Indo-Nepal border is being used to smuggle sacks of betel nuts. These Indonesian-origin betel nuts are imported by Nepal to be used for local consumption. But a good amount of this makes way to India because of better margins. Often locals also known as 'carriers' are involved in smuggling. Parties unknown to carriers pay them meagre amounts for the work. They then supply it to different parts of India. There is 100 per cent duty on import of betels.