Finally hockey stars see the money

Enthused by the inspirational film ‘Chak De India’ and moved by pleas of the hockey community,

SBI announces cash awards

NEW DELHI: Enthused by the inspirational film ‘Chak De India’ and moved by pleas of the hockey community, the State Bank of India today decided to award Rs 5 lakh each to the members of the Indian team which recently won the Asia Cup in Chennai. “There was no agenda but spontaneity of the issue caught each of us in the board meeting and everybody said we should announce a token of appreciation to the hockey team,” said SBI chairman OP Bhatt. Citing protests from the hockey players and the coach Air India also announced promotions for all the players who were employed by them.

Maharashtra govt follows suit

MUMBAI: Maharshtra Government today announced a cash prize of Rs five lakh each to hockey players from the state and their coach Joaquim Carvalho, who helped India win the Asia Cup. Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said Adrian Dsouza, Sivendra Singh, Gurbaz Singh and coach Joaquim Carvalho will get Rs five lakh each. He also announced a prize of Rs 10 lakh to Lalchand Rajput, cricket manager of the Indian team which won the T20 World Cup. Yesterday the Karnataka government had announced cash prizes of Rs 2lakh each for the players from their state.