Warm welcome for South Asia’s fastest woman Naseem

Thursday, February 11, 2010
KARACHI: Naseem Hameed received a hero’s welcome on Thursday, as she became South Asia’s fastest woman by winning the 100-metre race in the South Asian Games played in Dhaka.

The 22-year-old clocked 11.81 seconds to clinch gold medal in the race in the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games Sunday, becoming Pakistan’s first female athlete to win the sprint in the competition’s 26-year history.

Naseem was accorded a warm reception by hundreds of jubilant fans and relatives at the Karachi airport and was then taken to a formal reception hosted by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad.

The governor lauded Naseem and announced a cash price of Rs5000, 000 for the feat.

She has also been awarded prizes of 500,000 rupees from sports ministry, 200,000 rupees from Karachi Nazim Mustafa Kamal and 100,000 rupees from the Pakistan Athletics Federation.

In an exclusive chat with Geo News, Naseem said: “Allah blessed me with more than I had ever expected.”

“The prayers and encouragement of my parents brought her to this level,” the emotional Naseem said.

She said she would work with more determination and passion to win more laurels for the country. The athlete said she was glad to earn her country and her town Korangi a name.

Naseem further said she was elated by the reception.

In a message, President Asif Ali Zardari also congratulated Naseem Hameed and termed it a role model for Pakistani women.

Comments

Cuba's world-famous cigar festival closes in Havana

Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo...

Snake bite deaths

Monday, July 06, 2009 COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government recorded some 33,000 snake bites in 2008, with most of the victims coming from remote villages.The Department of Government Information said in a statement that most of the snake bite cases could be fatal if neglected.The statement said snake bites are often neglected in Sri Lanka as victims do not seek treatment at hospitals where advanced medication is available. Instead, the victims rush to traditional type of treatment which could be a risk, reports Xinhua.Snake bites death at domestic level, outside hospitals, go unrecorded, said the statement.Most victims of snake bite are from the rural and remote villages where there is no electricity after dusk.Statistics show that Sri Lanka has over 90 species of snake with around 10 species possessing venom capable of killing a human being.In Sri Lanka the annual death rate due to snake bite envenoming is one of the highest in the world being 6 in 100,000 population.

Last phase of Sri Lanka war killed 6,200 troops: govt.

COLOMBO: More than 6,200 soldiers died and nearly 30,000 have been wounded since the last phase of Sri Lanka's 25-year war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) began in July 2006, the defence secretary has said.Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa gave the figures for the first time during an interview late on Thursday with the state-run Independent Television Network.By comparison, in the six years and one month since the United States went to war in Iraq, nearly 4,600 U.S., British and other nations' troops have been killed.Sri Lanka had only given its own casualty figures erratically if at all during the final 34-month phase of the war, dubbed Eelam War IV, and stopped giving them altogether last year.The military had said several months ago it had killed at least 15,000 Tamil Tigers in the course of fighting but has not given a final tally.Much of the fighting over the last year took place as troops crossed tall earthen dams and moats to break through into LTTE-...

ONE NEWS

Search This Blog