Rifle shooting

The first West Bengal Air Weapon Shooting Championship was organised by the West Bengal Rifle Shooting Association at Howrah Rifle Club from July 2 to 5. The competition involved shooting with air rifles and air pistols only. As it was a state event, there were 135 participants representing their respective rifle clubs in the districts. A total of 18 events were lined up at the competition and there were winners in each event. Gold, silver and bronze medals went to the winners of each event. “There were participants from clubs in Howrah, Hooghly, Midnapore and Calcutta,” said Arijit Kanrar of Howrah Rifle Club. Although most clubs performed well at the competition, participants from Dankuni Rifle Club and Serampore Rifle Club bagged the maximum number of gold medals at the competitions. “There is a marked rise in interest in shooting sports in the past few years, ever since Indian shooters have started shining at the Olympics. This kind of competition will bring out talented shooters from the districts,” said Kanrar. 

Birth anniversary

The 115th birth anniversary of Shyamaprasad Mukherjee was celebrated on July 6 by the Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Smarak Samity. Members of the samity put garlands on his bust at Mandirtala. A meeting followed where Amitava Dutta, the director of Maria’s Day School, Professor Asish Roy, Rantideb Sengupta and Ashim Ghosh spoke about the life and work of Shyamaprasad. A unanimous demand at the meeting was an investigation into the mysterious death of  Shyamaprasad in Kashmir and that a a university be set up in his name in West Bengal.