Watts Witit

Srinagar, Dec 26: The visiting Pakistan-administered-Kashmir (PaK) football coach Monday pitched for regular Intra-Kashmir football exchange programme.
Akhtiarullah Bhat, PaK based FIFA affiliated football coach who has been in Valley from last one month on a private visit has pitched for the football exchange programme between two sides of (Line of Control) LoC.
?On both sides of Kashmir there is tremendous talent which needs exposure. If we start exchange programme between us then it will surely help our football to develop,? he told Greater Kashmir.
?I am here with the motive to help initiate a process of football exchange between the two sides. Though my visit was personal but after seeing so much of activity going on here despite harsh winter season the idea struck my mind,? Bhat added.
He said that if cross-LoC business and cultural activities between two sides can be held why not football?
?I am confident once proposal will put forward, governments on both sides of border will readily accept it. It will help the development of the game and will be non-political exchange,? the FIFA coach said.
In this regard and to push his idea forward Akhtiarullah had meeting with JK Football Association officials recently in which he discussed the plan.
?I had a meeting with the JKFA officials and they supported the plan. When I put my idea they got excited and termed it a great thing. They said if anything like player exchange programme between two sides happens that will help football to develop in general,? he said.
?Everyone gave their suggestions and it was unanimously decided if junior level will be exchanged then that will make roots of football stronger,? Bhat added.
When asked about his background in coaching, he said, ?Till recently I was engaged with Pakistan Football Federation (PFA) as coach and was deputed in Muzaffarabad. Though my roots are from Muzaffarabd and relatives all over Kashmir (both sides), I live in Abottabad. I am FIFA, AFC, IOC and PFA qualified coach and have been training Muzaffarabad youngsters from last several years.?
About talent on the two sides, he said, ?I think potential is on both sides. However in this part of Kashmir players have got more exposure as compared to ours.?
?Here after watching few games of winter tourney I have come to the conclusion that older players are not technically sound while the new generation is perfect in basic techniques. That primarily is due to coaching,? he said.
The PaK based coach said that infrastructure in this side of Kashmir is more developed than the other side. ?As we have hilly terrains on our side that has forced football and other sports activities to be revolved only in Muzaffarabad. Here you have got everything available. One can only draw comparison about development when we play each other and visit to each others? place,? he said.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 26 Dec 2011 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:00:00 IST

CHENNAI: The Chennai Corporations plan to generate electricity from garbage has been slammed by environmentalists and waste management experts. In a bid to tackle the growing garbage mounds at dumping yards in Kodangaiyur and Perungudi, the corporation had passed a resolution at its first council meeting saying non-recyclable waste would be burnt to generate power.

While the civic body feels that it will help reduce the garbage in the city, experts said that the corporation had not even begun the process of segregating the waste let alone produce power from it.

According to the resolution, the civic body plans to dispose biodegradable and recyclable waste to the industries concerned. It will only burn the rejected waste. It has decided to rope in international companies dealing with the electricity from waste technology. We have to still formulate the plan and details. We will float tenders inviting companies with this technology from across the world, and soon have a clearer picture. The waste will be incinerated and combusted and it will produce energy, said corporation commissioner PWC Davidar.

By Kim Steele
Killeen Daily Herald

TEMPLE Five-year-old Nate Vega shelved his desire to go home long enough last week to open two early Christmas gifts in the lobby of the Childrens Hospital at Scott White.

On Tuesday, Nates mother, Marlo Vega, got to visit Santas Workshop to select a free Christmas toy and stuffed animal for him and his 6-year-old brother, Ryan. Both boys ripped into the wrapped packages containing Santa bears and a remote-controlled car and truck.

This has meant the world to us, said Vega, who was joined by her husband, John. So many people have been giving and kind here. Weve seen Santa twice, heard carolers, received three Christmas stockings and got a bunch of toys. They brought Christmas to us when we couldnt do it ourselves.

While Nate was lucky enough to go home for the holiday after spending 36 days in the hospital, many other young patients wont have the same opportunity. The childrens hospital and the nearby Ronald McDonald House Charities of Temple have been working hard to make the season bright for the sick children and their families.

Filled with toys, games and blankets, Santas Workshop occupied an entire hospital room. Parents were allowed to choose one toy and stuffed animal for their sick child and all siblings. In another room, volunteers room wrapped the selected gifts.

Among the donated toys and games were Connect4, Checkers, Uno, Ants in the Pants, dolls, DVDs, video games, trucks and cars, art supplies, baby gadgets and puzzles. One company provided more than 130 small gingerbread houses so every child could have one for the holiday.

Weve had a lot of people help us with the toys, said Shannon Anders, child life assistant at the hospital. Christmas is overwhelming in general and being able to come to the Santas Workshop and pick toys out instead of going out to the store takes the stress away and lets parents focus on their kids.

Ellen Hansen, chief nursing officer for the hospital, said staffers do everything they can to get children home for Christmas, including scheduling elective surgeries before or after the holidays. Still, she is expecting about 40 children to spend Christmas Day in the hospital.

Christmas spirit

Hansen said many of the young patients and their families will have a touch of the Christmas spirit provided by the hospital. Each childs room has a small Christmas tree and a holiday door decoration, and civic, church and school groups flock there to sing, read aloud, offer holiday activities and bring toys.

It gets quiet in the hospital on Christmas, said Hansen. But we still want to make it a special time for children and their parents. Thats why we provided toys at the Santas Workshop for them to open that day. Weve set up special places for families to be together and celebrate at this time.

Connie Madsen, director of volunteers at the hospital, said the people and groups donating their time are crucial, especially during the holiday season.

One group that visits regularly and provided a Christmas program this year is the Junior League of Bell Countys Project SMILE., which brought Santa Express this month. The children gathered to watch the Polar Express movie and worked on a model train set, built foam gingerbread houses, decorated cookies and got a train engineer hat and a Christmas bell.

It was just amazing, said Madsen. The program gave the kids a break from their hospital stay and allowed them to briefly have a normal life and join in fun Christmas activities. The looks on their faces were priceless.

Toys, Santa visit

Jan Upchurch, director of patient and family support services at the hospital, said children who are able to get out for a while on Christmas Day are given one-day passes so they can celebrate at home. Those who must remain in their rooms are treated to more toys and visits from Santa.

As Christmas gets closer, we try to have one special event each day, said Upchurch. Theres plenty to do here during the holidays. And while theres something sad about not being home for Christmas, if children are here, our staff does their best to make the day merry for them.

Upchurch said hospital patients who remained after Santas Workshop were allowed to receive another toy and stuffed animal later in the week, as were their siblings. Also, they were reassured that, despite their fears, Santa Claus would find them if they were still patients on Christmas Day.

Families staying at the nearby Ronald McDonald House were remembered and treated during the Christmas season, too. The 18-room facility provided a Christmas Room where parents could select and wrap free toys for their hospitalized children.

The facilitys dining area was decked with Christmas trees, wreaths, Santa statues, candy trays, poinsettias and a cabinet displaying mechanized winter activity scenes. Area groups visited to sing carols and play musical instruments, and volunteers cooked dinner five nights a week during the season, including a meal planned today.

One of the reasons we decorate is to try to comfort the families that are here over the holidays and make them more at home, said Troy Frick, manager for the Ronald McDonald House. We dont want them to feel like theyre in a hotel. Thats really important to us because most of them wont be able to go home for Christmas.

Contact Kim Steele at ksteele@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7567.

These stocks are at their trendline support. This is a bullish signal that means the stock should have support to hold its price at these levels and possibly bounce higher.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) is currently trading at $74.18 up 0.91% in todays trading. UTX is trading -1.46% below its 50 day moving average and -5.95% below its 200 day moving average. UTX is -18.19% below its 52-week high and 11.93% above its 52-week low. UTXs PE ratio is 13.92 and their market cap is $67.21B.

United Technologies Corporation provides high technology products and services to the building systems and aerospace industries worldwide. Its segments are Otis, Carrier, UTC Fire Security, Pratt Whitney, Hamilton Sundstrand and Sikorsky.

Logan Shaw says competitive sports helped him deal with his injuries and is looking forward to trying to make the Paralympics team.

If you want to learn about the history of Berks County craftsmanship, walk into the lobby of the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts at Second and Washington streets and admire a 10-foot tall Christmas tree with nearly 500 ornaments on it, all of them made by about 100 area craftsmen.

And if youre lucky, W. Eugene Burkhart Jr., 64, of Maidencreek Township, a retired special-education teacher and acclaimed pressed-flower artist, might be in the vicinity to give you the history lesson.

Burkhart recently was given the 2011 Andrus Award for Community Service for Pennsylvania by AARP, which recognizes outstanding community volunteers. Burkhart was among 28 people in the state nominated for the honor.

In addition to serving on many boards and committees over the years, Burkhart has conducted numerous floral-craft workshops and classes for seniors citizens, adults and children.

A member of the 225-member Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen, the largest chapter of the state guild, Burkhart said the GoggleWorks holiday tree serves to showcase the skill of craftsmen with a wide spectrum of their traditional and contemporary ornaments.

Among the crafts represented are ornaments made of redware, glass, dried flowers, tin, stained glass, brass, wood, pressed flowers, paper, enamel, papier-mache, needlework, hooked rug and porcelain.

There are teddy bears, miniature pieces of furniture, hand-painted silk, scherenschnitte, basketry, theorem paintings, calligraphy, glass beading, mixed media and much more.

Burkhart said the works of Berks craftsmen were featured last year and in 2009 in the decorations in the Governors Mansion in Harrisburg. In 2005, the local guild was selected to create the ornaments for the Pennsylvania Christmas tree as part of the Pageant of Peace in Washington.

If it wouldnt be for other craftsmen promoting the arts and volunteering their time, projects like this (the GoggleWorks Christmas tree) wouldnt be successful, Burkhart said.

The tree will remain standing and can be viewed by the public throughout the holidays.

It is intended as a public gift: an education in craftsmanship and holiday artistry.

Contact Bruce R. Posten: 610-371-5059 or bposten@readingeagle.com.

Jason Ward hadnt played a full-out competitive game of lacrosse in nearly 15 years.
That changed on Saturday as the Brampton Battalion assistant coach suited up for the Brampton Inferno against the Oshawa Machine in the final game of a new Canadian Lacrosse League triple-header at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa.
Of course there is a pretty good reason that the now 32-year-old Oshawa native has gone so long in between.
Ward won a Minto Cup with the Whitby Warriors in 1997, the same year he was selected by the Montreal Canadiens, 11th overall, in the first round of the National Hockey League draft. He then spent the next 13 seasons between the OHL, AHL and NHL, playing 336 games at the sports highest level for the Canadiens, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and Tampa Bay Lightning.
His playing days now in the rear view, Ward said his desire to compete at a high level once again prompted his decision to go for a run with the Inferno.
Lacrosse was always one of those games I had a lot of passion for. Ive always enjoyed it, he said. Ive always been a competitive guy and been in competitive sports. Coaching lacrosse and coaching the hockey, I definitely still get to be around the game, but I lose that part of being in the game. I use my voice as the tool rather than my feet and my hands and Ive always preferred to be a hands-on kind of guy.
Despite the long layoff between his junior days and this shot with CLAX, Ward isnt completely rusty. He picked up the stick last year and played in one masters tournament with a couple of friends and did the same again this summer, even playing in the provincial championships held in Whitby.
While Ward isnt sure of his chances of cracking the Inferno lineup, he insists the opportunity itself is something to cherish. So, too, is a chance to play the game in a place where, really, it all began for him many years ago.
Its always nice to go back where your roots are and stuff like that. Its definitely exciting, said Ward, who played all his minor hockey in Oshawa and still brings his kids through old neighbourhoods that he remembers as a youngster when he comes through town.
Worst-case scenario I go out to a couple of practices and find out the game is too fast or I just cant adapt. But you know what? This is fun, so why not try it for a little bit, he added.
And Ward served notice that he still has the goal-scoring ability. He scored once for the Inferno as they dropped an 18-10 decision to the Oshawa Machine.
The league also hosted a Christmas Box Lacrosse Clinic on Saturday, led by Brampton native Jim Veltman. Sessions were held for peewee, minor bantam, major bantam and midget aged players, along with others born between 1992 and 1995.

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AUSTIN, Texas – After a week off for final examinations, the Temple mens basketball team makes a rare trip to the state of Texas for a two-game swing starting at the University of Texas Saturday (2:30 pm/ESPN2/990 AM WNTP). It is just the third time the Owls (6-2) will play in the state, with the other two times coming against the Longhorns (8-2). Texas won both of those previous encounters, the last coming at the 1995 7-Up Shootout in San Antonio (70-54).

Apart from that, the agency affirmed Not-Prime short-term ratings.

Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed the long-term foreign and local currency issuer ratings of the State Agrarian Credit Corporation at ‘Ba2′, the rating agency reported. The outlook remains «stable». The Moody’s affirmation of the ratings reflects the agency’s view that the Agrarian Credit Corporation has a significant stock of capital and high probability of government support in the event of need, the agency said. The Agrarian Credit Corporation is a subsidiary of the «KazAgro» National Holding Company. The Corporation provides subsidized loans to agricultural and non-agrarian businesses operating in farming areas of Kazakhstan.

Blankets of pristine white powder glittering in the sun are an invitation to play–to walk in snowshoes, sled downhill and toss carved wooden sticks in a friendly game of snow snakes. While they have evolved over the course of centuries from survival mechanisms and medicine games to recreational activities and competitive sports, these winter pastimes are steeped in Native history.

American Indians and Alaska Natives invented the popular winter activities of snowshoeing, sledding and snow snakes–and they keep the traditions alive today.

Snowshoeing:

Indigenous people in current-day central Asia began snowshoeing about 6,000 years ago, according to the United States Snowshoe Association. Migrating across the Bering Strait from Asia to North America, they brought snowshoes made of wood slabs with them. The Inuits and American Indians adapted the snowshoe to feature raw hide lacing encompassed by white-ash wood.

While snowshoeing long served as a survival tool for navigating through snow and ice, it later became a recreational activity, ideal for traversing and admiring the white-washed landscape.

Snowshoes serve as a flotation device on fluffy snow; they also provide traction on hard snow and ice, reported Snowshoe Magazine. Here are some tips to enhance your snowshoeing experience:

• When walking with snowshoes, keep your feet wide, so you’re snowshoes don’t hit.
• Lead with your poles for balance.
• When climbing or descending downhill, keep the knees soft and make good contact between snow and ice.

Sledding:

It is believed the Anishinabe, Cree and Innu of Canada, and the Chippewa in the United States invented the sled or toboggan, which comes from the Algonquian word odabaggan, according to the website Utapanashu–the Innu Toboggan. The sleds once served as vehicles, allowing tribes to carry heavy loads over great distances and  Indian hunters to lug game across the snow.

The Inuit typically fashioned toboggans out of whalebone, while most other Indian tribes constructed toboggans from strips of hickory, ash or maple, curving back the front ends with heat or steam. The toboggan was then left to dry for two days.

When ready, a rope was attached to the toboggan’s front for pulling by people or dog teams. Sled dogs and humans are considered equal partners in mushing. Some experts say that early Arctic survival may not have been possible without this alliance.

Sledding has since evolved into a recreational wintertime activity–helping kids fulfill the irresistible urge to soar down a snow-covered hillside.

That said, traditional sledding has also become a competitive sport. The 1,200-mile Iditarod race, which is the longest dog sled race in the world, starts on the first Saturday in March every year in Anchorage, Alaska, ending a couple weeks later in Nome. In 2011, musher John Baker won the Iditarod with a record shattering performance, completing the race in 8 days, 19 hours, 46 minutes and 36 seconds. Read more about the annual Iditarod race in Indian Country Today Media Network’s article 39 Iditarod Facts.

One of the longest and most highly respected dogsled races in the lower 48 states kicks off January 29, 2012. The 390-mile John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon honors the Ojibwe mail-carrier John Beargrease who braved appalling weather and questionable trails to deliver mail at the turn of the 20th century, traveling by dog team or by boat the 90 miles between Two Harbors and Grand Marais, Michigan along the sometimes treacherous shoreline of Lake Superior. Continue reading about Beargrease in Indian Country Today Media Network’s article John Beargrease, Minnesota Legend.

Snow Snakes:

The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) sport of snow snakes unites American Indian people in friendly competition.

Also referred to as snow darts, traditional snow snakes run approximately nine to 10 feet in length, although they have since been adapted to smaller, more manageable sizes for younger players–between two to three feet, reported Minnesota Public Radio.

The name of the game? Distance. Using an underhand toss, each player aims to slide a smooth stick along the snow farther than the others. Snow snakes are most commonly carved from wood, though some Sioux use bone, adorning it with feathers that trail behind it in colorful decoration. The most prized snow snakes have been tossed in many tournaments and are often passed down from one generation to the next in a family, according to Ganondagan.

All tribes customize their own snow snake tracks, but a general rule of thumb is players–who are typically divided into four teams or corners–throw the snake down a hollowed-out trough five inches deep in a snow-packed or ice-whittled platform about 32 inches in height.

Watch a video of an Iroquois explaining the traditional medicine game of snow snakes: