Mamata felicitates DADA & Sachin

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee felicitated Sachin Tendulkar on completing 20 years in international cricket at a function in Kolkata on Wednesday. The former Indian captain, Saurav Ganguly, was also given a lifetime achievement award. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were on Wednesday presented lifetime golden family passes by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee for their achievement and contribution to Indian cricket.

Presenting the AC-first class passes, Ms. Banerjee congratulated the duo for their achievements in Indian as well as international cricket.

She hoped that Tendulkar would win many more laurels for the country.

The function was organised by Bhowanipore Club to felicitate its football team for reaching the first division.

Footballers were felicitated by Tendulkar on behalf of the club. He presented shawls to former Olympian footballer P K Banerjee, cricketers Shyam Sundar Mitra and P B Dutta.

The football team was given Rs 1.50 lakh on behalf of the club by Tendulkar.

In a brief speech, Tendulkar congratulated the football team which had won the league title for the last five years.

"It's a great achievement and it showed their sincerity, honesty and talent. I understand, next year is Bhowanipore Club's centenary. It would be befitting to the occasion if it

can win more laurels for the club," he said.

Tendulkar and Ganguly later jointly planted a mahogany sapling on the club lawn

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Sourav to be honoured by the British University

The University of Central Lancashire is to award an Honorary Fellowship to Sourav Ganguly.

The University will award an Honorary Fellowship to the former Indian cricket captain for his contribution to the world of cricket.

The ceremony will take place at Preston Guildhall on Wednesday, 15 July at 3.00 pm.

It is the first honorary award to be accepted by Ganguly from any UK university. Commenting on the fellowship, Dr John Minten, Head of the School of Sport, Tourism and The Outdoors said Sourav's distinguished international career and his reputation for having played cricket with such commitment and tenacity would be of great inspiration to UCLan students.

"Our students and staff take great pride in their association with honorary fellows and we're delighted that Sourav has accepted our Honorary Fellowship."

Acknowledged as India's most successful cricket captain, having led the side in 49 test matches which included 21 Test wins, Sourav will accept his award in front of a packed audience of 2000 graduates and parents.

Dr Minten continued: "The award also reflects our excellent reputation for sport-related courses and research, which includes new, cricket-related programmes, and a growing collaboration with partner educational institutions in India."

The Honorary Fellowship also coincides with the ICC Centenary Conference which UCLan is co-sponsoring with the University of Oxford.

In the 2008 National Student Survey students studying on UCLan's sports science degrees gave the University a 100 percent satisfaction rating. Out of 60 universities in the UK who offer sports science as a degree discipline, UCLan is ranked at number one for this factor....

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Sourav given grand farewell at Eden Gardens

Date: January 19, 2009

Kolkata: The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) Sunday gave a colourful farewell to former India captain and local hero Sourav Ganguly on an evening replete with nostalgia, thanksgiving and banter.

With the well decked up Eden Gardens, which has witnessed Ganguly's growth from a prodigious talent to one who led the country with aplomb, as the venue, cricket administrators, politicians and fellow cricketers recalled the left-hander's significant contribution to the game and dwelt on various facets of his personality to make it a memorable evening.

Ganguly was presented a bat made of one kg gold priced at Rs 2.5 million as confetti was showered and the who's who of Kolkata watched in rapt attention every moment of the function christened 'Celebrating a legend".

Speaking on the occasion, CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya traced Ganguly's development from a flamboyant talent to a cricketer who was maturity personified.

Dalmiya recalled that Ganguly was one of the rare cricketers who made his debut for the senior Bengal side in the final of the Ranji Trophy which his team won.

"History will remember him as a leader who rescued India from a period of crisis," Dalmiya said, referring to Ganguly's captaincy of the national team in 2000.

"His career transformed Indian and Bengal cricket and inspired generations to believe they can overcome all challenges which come their way," he said.

Former West Bengal chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray said: "He retired too early. He is a great man, a great soul, and a lovable gentleman."

West Bengal Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty described Ganguly as a pole star, and said he would request Calcutta University to give him an honorary D Litt "which no other sportsman has got so far".

An emotional Ganguly spoke of his first game at the Eden when he was only 13 years old. "It was an under-15 match between Bengal and Orissa. In fact, I don't remember losing any Test match at the Eden."

Ganguly also thanked Dalmiya for being a "huge support" when he started his career.

A 12-minute audio-visual presentation touched on various milestones in Ganguly's career, including his debut in England, India's place in the World Cup final in 2003 under his captaincy, the abiding image of him taking off his shirt at the Lords after winning the Natwest Trophy in 2002.

A novel chat session involving all the Bengal captains Ganguly has played under brought the curtains down on the programme.

The session revealed several secrets only known to the dressing room so far. Moderator Arun Lal reminisced how the "courageous" Ganguly shrank at the sight of a thief in his hotel room, while others, including Pranab Roy, Saba Karim and Sambaran Banerjee, also narrated the lighter side of dressing room talks and incidents they have shared with him.

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Dada Felicitated by CAB - IMAGES

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RS 25 LAKH BAT FOR SOURAV

Date: January 15, 2009

Calcutta: The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) will felicitate former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Sunday with a golden bat which will have his cricketing records etched on it and will cost around Rs 25 lakh.

The southpaw, who retired from international cricket in November, will also be presented with a wicket and a ball made of silver besides the 1kg bat.

The programme will also include an audio-visual presentation, put together by ESPN-STAR with inputs from the CAB, of about 15 minutes covering Sourav’s life — from his childhood till retirement as a cricketer.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) office-bearers, and president and secretaries of all BCCI-affiliated units of the East Zone have been invited along with all former Bengal players.

A panel discussion on Sourav will also be held by the captains under whom Sourav had played for Bengal. Sambaran Banerjee, Pranab Roy, Ashok Malhotra, Utpal Chatterjee, Saba Karim, Deep Dasgupta, Devang Gandhi, Rohan Gavaskar and Laxmi Ratan Shukla will be part of the panel. Arun Lal will be the moderator.

Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee will be the guest of honour. The function begins at 6 pm.

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DADA RECEIVES BANGA RATNA HONOUR

Ganguly receives 'Banga Ratna' honour

Source: Hindu Date: January 11, 2009

Kolkata (PTI): Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was on Sunday honoured with 'Banga Ratna' by Rotary International District on the last day of their annual conference here.

"It's really a proud moment to be conferred 'Banga Ratna'. My family is closely associated with Rotary International and getting a recognition from them is memorable," Ganguly said after receiving the award.

According to G. M. Kapur of Rotary International District, Ganguly has been Bengal's pride and the honour suited his excellence in sport. "The award carries a plaque and a citation and is given every year to a distinguished personality from the state. Sourav having retired from cricket, we thought it would be right to honour him," he added.

They also awarded actress Nandita Das with 'Banga Samman' for her contribution to performing arts.

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