Hockey girls bag World Cup bronze

New Delhi: Forward Rani Rampal was the star performer as India clinched their first ever medal in the Junior Women’s Hockey World Cup. India defeated a gritty England 3-2 (1-1) via sudden death in the third place playoff in Monchengladbach , Germany, on Sunday evening.
Rampal, who had earlier scored in regulation time, struck twice in the penalty shootout as India notched up their best-ever finish in the quadrennial event, bettering the ninth place finish in the 2009 edition.

In the final, Holland defeated Argentina 4-2 (11) on penalties.

Rampal converted the first chance for India in the shootout, while Navjot Kaur, Vandana Katariya, Navneet Kaur and Poonam Rani missed out.

Goalkeeper Bigan Soy stood like a rock as England too faltered on four of their five chances, forcing the game into sudden death.

This time, Rampal and Navneet converted successfully to hand India the bronze. Earlier, the teams were locked 1-1 in regulation time. Said coach Neil Hawgood, “It means a lot to our kids’ psychology that they can actually win a medal.

They have never been in those games before.

“We practised shootouts, so I thought we would score more than three out of seven. Our goalkeeper Bigan Soy, who never played a minute the whole tournament, did a great job,” he added.

Telangana govt to rule Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The administration of Hyderabad will remain with the Telangana government unless the Centre declares the city as a Union Territory for the 10 years it serves as the joint capital.
Existing rules do not permit any other arrangement which would allow a third party administration for the common capital. Highly placed sources in the Central government told this newspaper that irrespective of the UT status, protection of migrants and their assets would be given legislative backing along with their very status in the new state.

Uncertainty over limits of UT status

A senior bureaucrat involved in the process of creating Telangana state at the Centre said, “The AP Reorganisation Bill 2013 will clearly specify the number of years of stay and pursue of studies for a particular period to determine the local status of migrants in the Telangana state.”

There had been a general feeling among migrants, employees and businessmen from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions that the Centre would control the city’s administration when AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh had announced that Hyderabad would be the common capital for 10 years.

Sources, however, said that the Congress Central leadership was aware of these limitations and played it safe by buying time on the contentious issue. “They (Congress leaders) do not want the upbeat mood in Telangana to be spoiled with the declaration of a UT status,” the sources added.

As an option, the Centre is considering according UT status to the city with a specific mention of a time frame of 10 years on condition that it will be part of the Telangana state thereafter. The second option is to leave it to the Telangana government to administer.

“In such a case it is equal to living in a rented house,” said a senior state bureaucrat. Sources also said there was no clarity on whether to restrict the UT status, if accorded, to the GHMC limits or extend it to the HMDA.