Unique honour

Justice Mukul Mudgal Deservedly admired in his own country for his work as Administrator of the trouble-ridden Delhi and Districts Cricket Association, Justice (retired) Mukul Mudgal earned international respect when was elected to head the governance committee of FIFA, the body which controls world football at its 67th congress at Manama last month. It is been seen as a huge honour not only for Justice Mudgal for the Indian judiciary, which as he has put it, is held in high respect for its "reputation, impartially, integrity and ability."
Justice Mudgal, who had joined the FIFA governance as deputy chairman in May last year, replaced Miguel Maduro, whose term came to an end last month. His new job will include suggesting governance reforms of FIFA. Justice Mudgal is already known in Indian sports circles for his crusading work for clean governance. For the record Justice Mudgal who led the spotfixing probe in the IPL, won 97% votes to succeed Maduro.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino insists that the world body's corruption crisis is over. However, the outgoing Ethics Committee members have reiterated that several hundred corruption cases are still pending, and fear that these changes might mean that FIFA is no longer keen on addressing corruption. Justice Mudgal has his tasks cut out. More than 200 countries watching.

Welcome reform

The game of basketball will undergo a long-awaited reform in the coming October when its players will be allowed to wear headgear, benefiting not only Muslim women but also Sikh and Jewish men.
It took decades for basketball's world body (FIBA) to scrap the controversial rule, which not only deprived thousands of players from playing the game at competitive levels but caused needless pain in cases of Sikh players such as Amjyot Singh Gill and Amritpal Singh who were prohibited from playing unless they removed their turbans.
The change didn't come easy, as officials had to be convinced that headgear posed no threat to other players. One fine example of creating awareness was exhibited by Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir of Springfield, Massachusetts, and Bosnian-American Indira Kaljo, who started a socialmedia campaign #FibaAllowHijab and collected more than 130,000 signatures and submitted the petition to FIBA president Horacio Muratore.
Sikh athletes involved in other sports, both team and individual, have never faced any such discrimination.
Triple Olympic hockey gold medallist Balbir Singh played with his hair neatly knotted on his head in a handkerchief handkerchiefsized piece of cloth, so also did footballers Jarnail Singh and Inder Singh and iconic track athletes Milkha Singh and Gurbachan Randhawa. On the cricket grounds Bishan Singh made a fashion statement by turning out in a patka. Far from posing any threat of injury to opponents, all of them made sport they played all the more rich.

Lessons to offer

When Aizawl FC created a sensation by winning the country's football champions by the official I-League the whole nation rose as one to laud their feat, though even before stupendous achievement players from that Northeastern state had started putting it on the sporting map by playing stellar roles in major club teams.
Tourists to the Northeast have always found that part of the country cleaner than the rest, particularly the North.
Not only are states such as Mizoram very clean, the citizens are also more honest – the state has shops without shopkeepers, where one picks up vegetables or groceries and put the money in the cash box. Another inspiring example of the Mizo people was on display after the Aizawl FC-Shillong Lajong match in Shillong last week, when the Mizo fans stayed after the match to dispose of the trash left behind by more than 23,000 spectators.
Communities get together on Sundays with shovels and dustbins to keep their neighbourhood clean. High time to learn, India.

Unfair advantage !

Serena Williams Serena Williams is in the news again but for an entirely different reason – announcing her pregnancy – reigniting another debate about pregnant women in competitive sports. Science says that pregnant women might hold an advantage of increased red blood cells and a bigger heart, leading to more oxygen to working muscles, apart from increased levels of oestrogen and progesterone. An anti-abortion advocate has demanded that Serena be stripped of her Australian Open tennis title, as she was "playing doubles in a singles tournament!" However, researchers are divided if pregnancy or motherhood does improve performance.
On the other hand, women athletes such as the British 2008 double Olympic gold medallist swimmer Rebecca Adlington consider the birth process "the most painful thing I've ever done". But it doesn't stop there. While some women athletes are able to bounce back into competitive sports, others find themselves out of the zone and eventually fade away.
Most recently, former world tennis No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, 27, announced her return to tennis seven months after becoming mother of a baby boy. Way back in 1948, the legendary Fanny Blankers-Koen won four gold medals at the London Olympics at the age of 30 when she was a mother of two. Our own Mary Kom won her boxing bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics when she was a mother of twin sons. She later gave birth to another boy, and now, at 34, is training in the hope of qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Games. Still time for Serena to add to her collection of grand slam titles.



		EDITOR'S MAIL MATTERS OF PUBLIC POLICY FRANKLY SPEAKING FARMERS' SUICIDES REALPOLITIK WHITHER AAP MODI'S FOREIGN POLICY CHINA'S NEW SILK ROAD DALAI LAMA ARUNACHAL VISIT ISLAMISTS IN CHINA STATE OF EDUCATION STATE OF EDUCATION BHOPAL NOTEBOOK BENGAL POINTERS TELUGU STATES BJP IN KERALA CHANDIGARH DIARY HITS & MISSES OLYMPIC SPIRIT AMERICA WATCH PAKISTAN WATCH SIGNS OF THE TIMES INTERVIEW OBITUARY BOOK BAZAAR BOOK BAZAAR BOOK BAZAAR CRIME AGAINST WOMEN SECULARISM IN INDIA ART OF LIVING Issue:June' 2017 Subscribe Now	HITS & MISSES Unique honour Justice Mukul Mudgal Deservedly admired in his own country for his work as Administrator of the trouble-ridden Delhi and Districts Cricket Association, Justice (retired) Mukul Mudgal earned international respect when was elected to head the governance committee of FIFA, the body which controls world football at its 67th congress at Manama last month. It is been seen as a huge honour not only for Justice Mudgal for the Indian judiciary, which as he has put it, is held in high respect for its "reputation, impartially, integrity and ability." Justice Mudgal, who had joined the FIFA governance as deputy chairman in May last year, replaced Miguel Maduro, whose term came to an end last month. His new job will include suggesting governance reforms of FIFA. Justice Mudgal is already known in Indian sports circles for his crusading work for clean governance. For the record Justice Mudgal who led the spotfixing probe in the IPL, won 97% votes to succeed Maduro. FIFA president Gianni Infantino insists that the world body's corruption crisis is over. However, the outgoing Ethics Committee members have reiterated that several hundred corruption cases are still pending, and fear that these changes might mean that FIFA is no longer keen on addressing corruption. Justice Mudgal has his tasks cut out. More than 200 countries watching. Welcome reform The game of basketball will undergo a long-awaited reform in the coming October when its players will be allowed to wear headgear, benefiting not only Muslim women but also Sikh and Jewish men. It took decades for basketball's world body (FIBA) to scrap the controversial rule, which not only deprived thousands of players from playing the game at competitive levels but caused needless pain in cases of Sikh players such as Amjyot Singh Gill and Amritpal Singh who were prohibited from playing unless they removed their turbans. The change didn't come easy, as officials had to be convinced that headgear posed no threat to other players. One fine example of creating awareness was exhibited by Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir of Springfield, Massachusetts, and Bosnian-American Indira Kaljo, who started a socialmedia campaign #FibaAllowHijab and collected more than 130,000 signatures and submitted the petition to FIBA president Horacio Muratore. Sikh athletes involved in other sports, both team and individual, have never faced any such discrimination. Triple Olympic hockey gold medallist Balbir Singh played with his hair neatly knotted on his head in a handkerchief handkerchiefsized piece of cloth, so also did footballers Jarnail Singh and Inder Singh and iconic track athletes Milkha Singh and Gurbachan Randhawa. On the cricket grounds Bishan Singh made a fashion statement by turning out in a patka. Far from posing any threat of injury to opponents, all of them made sport they played all the more rich. Lessons to offer When Aizawl FC created a sensation by winning the country's football champions by the official I-League the whole nation rose as one to laud their feat, though even before stupendous achievement players from that Northeastern state had started putting it on the sporting map by playing stellar roles in major club teams. Tourists to the Northeast have always found that part of the country cleaner than the rest, particularly the North. Not only are states such as Mizoram very clean, the citizens are also more honest – the state has shops without shopkeepers, where one picks up vegetables or groceries and put the money in the cash box. Another inspiring example of the Mizo people was on display after the Aizawl FC-Shillong Lajong match in Shillong last week, when the Mizo fans stayed after the match to dispose of the trash left behind by more than 23,000 spectators. Communities get together on Sundays with shovels and dustbins to keep their neighbourhood clean. High time to learn, India. Unfair advantage ! Serena Williams Serena Williams is in the news again but for an entirely different reason – announcing her pregnancy – reigniting another debate about pregnant women in competitive sports. Science says that pregnant women might hold an advantage of increased red blood cells and a bigger heart, leading to more oxygen to working muscles, apart from increased levels of oestrogen and progesterone. An anti-abortion advocate has demanded that Serena be stripped of her Australian Open tennis title, as she was "playing doubles in a singles tournament!" However, researchers are divided if pregnancy or motherhood does improve performance. On the other hand, women athletes such as the British 2008 double Olympic gold medallist swimmer Rebecca Adlington consider the birth process "the most painful thing I've ever done". But it doesn't stop there. While some women athletes are able to bounce back into competitive sports, others find themselves out of the zone and eventually fade away. Most recently, former world tennis No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, 27, announced her return to tennis seven months after becoming mother of a baby boy. Way back in 1948, the legendary Fanny Blankers-Koen won four gold medals at the London Olympics at the age of 30 when she was a mother of two. Our own Mary Kom won her boxing bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics when she was a mother of twin sons. She later gave birth to another boy, and now, at 34, is training in the hope of qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Games. Still time for Serena to add to her collection of grand slam titles.