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Shimla, April 19 â?? The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Himachal Pradesh Thursday refuted allegations that the state government wanted to take possession of Shimlas Annandale ground for constructing a multipurpose stadium.

BJP general secretary JP Nadda said here that the state government has no proposal to set up a stadium there.

The state government has never supported any campaign for a cricket stadium or any sports activity on the ground, Nadda told reporters, but he clarified that there would be no compromise on getting back the grounds possession from the army.

The government and the BJP only talked about getting the Annandale back from the army. There has been no proposal from the government side for a cricket stadium, said Nadda, a Rajya Sabha MP.

Things have been read too much between the lines. Once the ground comes back to the state, the government would then decide on it pragmatically, he added.

Nadda said anyone would have reacted strongly when an army release was published carrying accusations against Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and the government.

It turned out to be a sensitive matter. The issue is closed on this account now as the chief minister had taken it up with the prime minister. And the army too has said it would verify the same and take action, the BJP leader said.

He said the BJP government had high respect for the army and had been providing it all the facilities required in the national interest.

BJP national vice president Shanta Kumar Wednesday said national security is more important than a cricket ground.

He asked party leaders to refrain from making statements against the armed forces.

Dhumal Monday took up his governments objection to the armys possession of Annandale ground with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He also threatened to file a defamation suit if the army did not apologise for alleging that the state government wanted to grab the Annandale ground.

The row is linked to the prime chunk of 121-bigha (one bigha is 0.4 hectare) Annandale ground, surrounded by thick forests and situated 4.5 km from Shimlas ridge, which has been under the armys control since the World War II.

The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, which is headed by Dhumals son and Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur, has begun a campaign to get the ground restored to the state government for constructing a multipurpose stadium.

IANS

This article was distributed through the NewsCred Smartwire.

Original article  IANS / Daily News 2012

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Srinagar, Apr 14: The Oasis public high school Gogji Bagh organised its annual cross-country run from its school premises to old Zero Bridge here on Saturday.
The run was flagged off by school principal and in it around 150 students participated. Among others present on the occasion were school chairman and director academics.
Tanvir finished first while Waseem and Aamir finished second respectively. With this run the annual sports activities of the institute kick started.
?It is beginning of our annual sports activities. The cross-country is always the first sports activity that our institute organise. In coming time we are going to organise many more? school Principal said.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:00 IST

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PLANS for an ambitious leisure centre and community hub for Stow-on-the-Wold are forging ahead.

The town council is calling for volunteers to form a working group to help kick start the project, which will cost an estimated pound;250,000.

Options being looked at would see either a combined multi-sports activity centre, leisure centre and community base in one place or split them across two sites.

The two main areas under the spotlight for the scheme are the cricket field and King Georges Field but others are also being considered.

The major scheme is one of the highlights of the first Community Strategic Plan (CSP) put together by the areas civic leaders.

Residents backed it following a public consultation.

Previous projects, including a community hall mooted to mark the millennium, have failed to get off the ground. In 2002 there was a proposal for a project in King Georges Field, but the town council warned local taxpayers they could face an increase in their precept, the town councils share of the council tax, in order to help fund the pound;100,000 facility.

Current project co-ordinator, town councillor Keith Cox, said he hoped the time was now right after years of waiting to finally get the scheme off the ground.

He added: The last thing we want to do as a town council is to have to raise the precept, particularly as that would take 25 years to achieve the total amount.

We may have to go out to the town to help raise funds but we have to look at an overall viable funding programme.

Other towns have done it so why shouldnt we?

Its up to me to gather a group of like-minded people preferably not councillors but people in other roles who have an interest and the appropriate skill sets to enable us to progress the plan.

Over the years theres been a wish list from Stow people and not a lot of activity has taken place. Now you do have a group of people who are willing to try and push this forward.

Mr Cox said the facility would fill a big gap.

Theres a definite need in the town, he said.

We have a lot of meeting places but none of a sufficient size or robust enough for a community hall which wed envisage would be open seven days a week.

Well look at the possibilities on town council-owned land, including King Georges field, land adjacent to it, the cricket field, a plot near the allotments as well as other sites such as the area by Tesco.

Stow CSP gives a long-term vision of the town, including retail, tourism, the economy, housing, health, traffic and parking.

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Remembering the horrible Gabon disaster air crash annually on 28th April is not a failure to move on and to stop mourning, as has been suggested in some circles.  On the contrary, the commemoration of the event should be a stark reminder of what can horribly go wrong when unbridled political greed, on the one hand, and atrocious incompetence by football officials, tasked to manage the game, combine to blight the game.  The fate of the people on the flight was not sealed when the propellers of a De Havilland C5 Buffalo Zambia Air force military plane winging its way to Senegal for a World Cup qualifying fixture gave up the spin and crashed off the coast of Gabon.  The unfortunate incident had been long in the making.

Though it has been 19 years since the incident happened, the inexplicable contradictions both before and after the tragedy still boggle the mind.  The ruling political elite of the day assigned a flying coffin to ferry its elite fotballers to fulfill away fixtures.  A veritable metallic disaster waiting to happen. For the Buffalo was a contraption designed to undertake short-haul flights. It was a small plane unsuitable for transporting high performance athletes on long-haul flights as it was fitted with hard, straight seats.  It was a military plane for Gods sake someone should have known this! Contrast this with the elaborate plans of having the remains of the dead heroes flown back home in an exquisite Zambia Airways DC 8 plane!!

However much we may try to excuse the then Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) executive, it was their incompetence that greatly contributed to the disaster.  In failing to raise money to charter a flight for the KK11, as the team was then known, resort was had to the ill-fated Buffalo.  Resorting to the Buffalo plane was not a one-off unavoidable exercise. The then government and FAZ Executives had made a habit of cost saving at the expense of the comfort and safety of the Zambian players.  Perennial failure to generate money from the market place through poverty of ideas had reduced the Football Association of Zambia  into a basket case surviving on pushing around the proverbial begging bowl in order to fulfil away international fixtures.  The reason why a sports executive is elected into office, in the first place, is to marshal resources for the sustenance of the organisation.  A distinct failure to discharge this most basic of duties has been the hallmark of FAZ executives since records began!

In fact, the brainless activity of passing around the begging bowl when an international event is a day away has long been the perfected practice of the majority of sports administrations in Zambia. Begging has been perfected into a rare art form by Zambian sports administrators.Tired headlines like ABC Association in K2 million shortfall , Govt bails out ABC or some such captions grace the sports backpages on a daily basis.  Even the marquee event of the Zambia Amateur Athletics Association (ZAAA)  the Inter-Company Relay, which by now should have become self-financing, has organisers who major in announcing the shortfalls in donations.  It is such a disposition of the sports administrations in Zambia that also pervaded the then FAZ executive and the entrenched incompetence made innocent people pay with their lives.

A few months before the doomed trip to Senegal, the Buffalo had dutifully ferried the team to Madagascar.  Ian Hawkey in his an unputdownable of a book Feet of the Chameleon: The story of African Football aptly captures the terrifying experience of being on the Buffalo during a trip to Madagascar in December, 1992 a few months before it crashed in Gabon.  During this flight, the players were requested by the captain to wear their life-jackets as the creaky plane coasted across the Indian Ocean.  The stocky winger, Johnstone Bwalya held his nerve to photograph his colleagues in the inflatable life jackets!

This cheapening of the lives of the players bordered on the criminal! This was playing with the lives of someones child, someones beloved dad, someones benevolent uncle, someones nephew.  In this authors case his only idol Alex Computer Chola. This indifference to the welfare of the players was going on while our deplorable politicians were now we know- messing with the nations cash register!  For no sooner had the team crashed in Gabon than a DC 8 was hastily deployed to return the remains of the long-suffering players to Zambia; with the players dead, cost was strangely no longer a consideration!

It was in April, 1993 when the bumbling Buffalo had to attempt crossing the Indian Ocean again.  This time to Mauritius.  Both the Zambian political operatives and the incompetents in FAZ had between December 1992 and April, 1993, still not figured out a way of chartering a commercial flight for the players.  Ian Hawkey narrates how that the plan, for the Mauritius trip, was for the Buffalo to make two refuelling stops in Malawi and Madagascar before landing in the picturesque island of Mauritius.  The journey was supposed to have taken 10 hours in total.  Unfortunately, after refuelling in Malawi and taking off, the plane was ordered back to Malawi because the next refuelling stop Madagascar- had closed its airport for the night. The Buffalo being primed for short-haul flying could not reach Mauritius without stopping over in Madagascar. The players spent that night on the Buffalo at an airport in Malawi. They continued the journey the next day. The anticipated 10 hours journey became 24 hours!! This should have put a perceptive government and a well-clued sports administration on alert notice that disaster was imminent, but nay, not the Zambian administrators!

The most heart-rending description of this whole Buffalo debacle are the words of one of the liveliest characters Zambian football has ever known Efford Chabala.  Ian Hawkey recounts a conversation that Beauty Lupiya, a Zambian journalist that travelled with the team to Mauritius, had with Efford Chabala.  In trying to persuade Beauty not to write about the tribulations of flying in the Buffalo said: We have jobs to keep. Dont write anything please but if we crash and a miracle happens that you survived, tell the nation the Buffalo is not the best plane to use. Wow!

 

In short, Chabala seemed to have had a premonition that the teams fate was sealed as long as they continued using the Buffalo.  He and his colleagues were helpless in preventing their impending premature deaths.  Other than quitting international football, they had limited options of sustenance, or so they must have thought. They were bread winners whose bread and butter was earned a bit handsomely through hopping on and off the Buffalo.

Perhaps, with the enduring lessons served up by the crash of the Buffalo, no self-respecting African footballer in this era of the game should think they have no other choice apart from enduring shabby treatment at the hands of their clubs, football association or indeed government.  They could borrow a leaf from Emmanuel Adebayor who refused to board a plane to fulfill a  World Cup qualifying match away to Zambia in September, 2008 because he had heard a rumour that the plane would crash.   This made the flight to be delayed by 24 hours as he also asked the team not to board.  The next day he gave a condition that he would only fly if the then president of the Togo Football Federation, Tata Avlessi Adagio de Mass joined the travelling party! He said, My life is very dear to me and if we have to go down well go down together with the President. There are rumours that if we go on the aircraft it will go down. 

 

Uncharacteristically, in an era where politicians and football officials would happily surrender an arm and a leg for per diems on foreign trips, the president of the Togo Football Federation claimed a family breavement stopped him from making the trip.  The plane landed safely in Lusaka without any incident and Chipolopolo duly gunned down Togo. Well, maybe if the Lusaka grapevine had been as active as the Togolese one a few of the players who perished in Gabon would still be around, we will never know.

In commemorating the Gabon disaster, Zambians should resolve that never again will political greed, mediocrity and institutional incompetence endanger the lives of innocent Zambians again.  The Jews never tire to observe the Holocaust memorial day lest some forget the tragedy that befell their people. 9/11 still brings America to a standstill. 21st March is a commemoration of Sharpeville massacre in South Africa where it is now celebrated as Human Rights Day while UNESCO observes it as the international day for the elimination of racial discrimination.

While the Gabon memorial should now be less of a graveside wailing event.  It must needs graduate to memorializing the virtues of selfless national service and abasing mediocrity, incompetence, greed and the ilk.  It should be observed by lectures, sports activity, schools organising activities around the memorial themes and candle light services.  Scholarship Funds can be set up in memory of the fallen stars. The idea announced by FAZ of observing the day every five years is more a case of lack of creative thought about what to do with the 28th day of April, besides laying wreaths on the tomb stones and complaining about waist-high grass!

Efford Chabala, John Soko, Whiteson Changwe, Robert Watiyakeni, Eston Yellow man Mulenga, Derby Makinka, Moses Chikwalakwala, Wisdom Summerbee Chansa, Kelvin Malaza Mutale, Timothy Teacher Mwitwa, Numba Mwila, Richard Mwanza, Samuel Chomba, Moses Masuwa, Kenan Simambe, Godfrey Kangwa, Winter Mumba, Patrick Bomber Banda, Godfrey Ucar Chitalu and Alex computer Chola when the propellers of the De Havilland C5 Buffalo Zambia Air force military plane tired, the angels of God swept you up in their wings and took you to a bright resting place.

Gilbert Phiri

Editor New African Football

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In Swim: Why We Love the Water, longtime ABC News correspondent Lynn Sherr investigates the lure and lore of swimming. Sherr covers the history of the strokes and the secret of buoyancy, the romance of swimming, and how it has evolved into the third-most popular sports activity in the United States. The interview runs about 22 minutes.

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The study revealed that the most popular forms of regular excercise are bicycle riding, swimming and football.

The survey also revealed that 73 percent of parents encourage their children to lead an active and healthy lifestyle. Nevertheless, only 45 percent engage in a sports activity together with their child.

Around 60 percent of the polled parents named hiking as one of their favorite pastimes with children. Watching television together was habitual for 34 percent, while reading or doing homework together came in at 22 percent. The study also revealed that pastime activities which do not support the physical development of children are becoming increasingly more popular compared to physical recreation.

The poll was based on responses by 500 people from all over Estonia aged 25 to 50.

Ingrid Teesalu

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DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, April 29 (PIA) — To advance and develop the sports culture in Negros Oriental, various sports associations in the province have come together to form the Negros Oriental Sports Confederation (NORSPORTS).

NORSPORTS is composed of leaders of different sports groups encompassing varied sports disciplines, such as basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball, running, swimming, karatedo and taekwondo, among others.

The confederation’s newly-elected first set of officials recently took their oath of office before governor Roel Degamo.

NORSPORTS aims to expand the province’s sports program dubbed Negros Oriental Sports Development Program (NOSDEP) by conducting more sports activities that will develop the skills of local athletes.

The confederation was formed upon the recommendation of Engr. Dominador Dumalag, Jr. who was earlier tasked by the governor to craft a more comprehensive action plan for NOSDEP.

NORSPORT’s first sports activity, the Governor’s Cup, is set on May 5 and open to athletes from all towns and cities here.

The first Governor’s Cup is seen to hone and prepare the local athletic talents who will participate in the upcoming Philippine National Games (PNG).

Said activity will also serve as a venue where sports leaders can pick potential athletes who will form the province’s core team to compete during the PNG. (RMN-PIA7 Negros Oriental)

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Countering the earlier words of a Saudi prince who said that women could represent his country at the Olympics, Saudi Arabias sports minister said his country won’t officially support female athletes.

Female sports activity has not existed and there is no move thereto in this regard, Prince Nawaf Faisal said Wednesday at anews conference in the Saudi city of Jidda, according to Human Rights Watch. At present, we are not embracing any female Saudi participation in the Olympics or other international championships.

The prince reportedly said Saudi Arabia would cooperate with Saudi women living abroad who wished to participate in the Olympic Games to ensure their actions comported with Islamic law, but said the Saudi National Olympic Committee would not officially back the inclusion of women.

Saudi Arabia is one of three countries — along with Brunei and Qatar — that has never sent a woman to the Olympics. Human Rights Watch issued a scathing report earlier this year on the gauntlet of obstacles Saudi Arabia puts up to female athletes, including not holding gym classes for girls and shuttering private gyms for women.

Last month, Prince Nayef ibn Abdulaziz said women could stand for Saudi Arabia at the Olympics this summer as long as they didnt contradict Islamic law. Dalma Rushdi Malhas, a Saudi horseback rider raised in Italy who won a bronze medal at the Youth Olympics, was a widely rumored choice.

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With spring comes baseball.

With baseball comes expertly mowed fields, warmer nights and wonderful aromas from concession stands.

With that ballpark ambience, part of what makes baseball Americans pastime, comes unruly fans.

As traditional as the first pitch is the fan who fails to show sportsmanship.

Maybe its the guy or gal next to you.

Maybe he or she is at the chain-link fence, choking it with white knuckles, face red with anger. Maybe its you.

At a big ballpark, such tirades can get lost in the masses and noise, if even permitted by security.

At a youth sports event, its inescapable and flat out of place.

Its not just baseball. That fan can show up at any youth sports activity. But theres a sweetness to baseball that turns sour when theres a fan gone wild.

Bryan Parmelly, whos president of Wylie Little League, has had enough of ball ballpark behavior.

Bryan normally is a mild-mannered dude. Enthusiastic in what he does — hes a teacher by day — but in control. Bryan, however, let rip an email Wednesday titled Proper Behavior.

Actually, it was titled PROPER BEHAVIOR. Bryans entire email was in CAPITAL LETTERS. My wife tells me that is emailspeak for shouting. Bryan said he wasnt yelling; he just writes email that way.

It was clear, however, he had a message for the 1 percent of fans who ruin the game for everyone else. KNOTHEADS, he called them. Brian throttled back on calling them KNUCKLEHEADS or BONEHEADS.

Bryan laid down the law: If you act up at a Wylie Little League game, you will be asked to leave. Do not pass the concession stand, do not collect nachos to go.

If you dont leave the ballpark when asked, the law will be called.

He referenced an incident at venerable Dixie Little Leagues ballpark, where a domestic argument produced foul language and a mans threat to get a weapon. In nearby Sweetwater, there also have been problems, the newspaper has been told.

And the season is just under way.

Weve all hollered at the ump. Pitch was a strike but he called it a ball. Pitch was a ball, he called it a strike.

Cmon, blue! we shout, even if the ump is wearing a shirt of another color.

Weve offered our eyeglasses, maybe even our contact lenses.

In Amarillo years ago, when the minor league ballpark still had an organ, a man played Three Blind Mice after what the home team considered a bad call. The organist was thrown out of the game. Made national news. It was funny.

Getting on the ump is part of the game, especially if the fans know him or her.

Keep your day job, Ed. That was outside by a mile.

But Bryan is right. It gets too personal when name-calling and threats begin.

He asks the question that has been asked for years: How do you expect the young athletes to show sportsmanship when the adults cannot?

MOST OF US ARE TRYING TO HAVE FUN WITH OUR CHILDREN, Bryan typed, caps lock selected.

The Little League level is where poor sportsmanship seems to rule.

Thankfully not so much at lower levels, though you still hear from someone who is taking the game far too seriously. Perhaps for 11- and 12-year-olds, this is where winning becomes more important and thoughts of the proverbial next level of competition begin.

At a youth basketball game last winter, the guy who heads up the local Christian-based Upward Sports program noted the shortage of officials on the court contrasted with the large number of officials in the stands.

Those of you who think you can do a better job, he said once before a game — only half-jokingly, come on down and grab a whistle.

Hes right, of course. Those who can officiate better and coach better are invited to officiate and coach.

Bryan said most folks come to a baseball game to enjoy watching a relative or friend compete, talk to others there and maybe grab a snow cone or jalapeño burger. Chill out.But a few get hot under the collar. As Bryan writes:

THE OTHER 1% NEED TO EXAMINE THEMSELVES DEEP DOWN AND WONDER DO I REALLY WANT MY CHILDREN TO REMEMBER ME LIKE THIS?

Agreed, Bryan. Now let your computer keyboard chill.

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WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., April 3, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –
BMW, the Official Mobility Partner of the United States Olympic Committee, today announced the completion and hand-off of its first Olympic technology project, a velocity measurement system created in collaboration with sports scientists at the USOC and USA Track & Field. Bryan Clay, 2008 Olympic gold medalist in decathlon, tested the system during the development process.

Nearly one year in development at the BMW Technology Office in Mountain View, Calif., the system captures an athlete in motion and automatically calculates performance metrics for coaches to use in training long jumpers. Beginning today, the technology will be a permanent fixture at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., and used by athletes hoping to compete in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

By measuring and providing real-time analysis of three key parameters in the execution of a long jump – horizontal approach velocity, vertical take-off velocity and take-off angle – the system is completely unique in its offering to coaches and athletes in training scenarios. BMW developed the technology in response to a real-time data need identified by USA Track & Field, one of four national governing bodies (NGB) sponsored by BMW.

“BMW stands for performance, efficiency and innovation. Drawing on these core values, our engineers have combined automotive engineering expertise with advanced technologies to develop a system that will drive athletic performance and provide real world benefits to elite athletes,” said Dan Creed, Vice President, Marketing, BMW of North America. “We are thrilled to be making a meaningful contribution to Team USA beyond a financial commitment.”

To capture and analyze athlete motion, the velocity measurement system utilizes advanced stereo-vision technology and machine vision software algorithms not unlike those currently being tested in BMW’s research vehicles to improve automotive active safety systems, such as object and pedestrian detection.

“As a decathlete, my reality is one in which centimeters and thousandths of a second are the difference between an Olympic gold medal and no medal,” said BMW Performance Team Member Clay. “The feedback this tool is able to provide immediately, during a practice as opposed to days afterward, will enable me to make minor adjustments to my jumps that could equate to significant performance gains.”

With fewer than three months to go until the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field in Eugene, Ore., USA Track & Field will have the opportunity to utilize the velocity measurement system in the lead up to these races, the London 2012 Olympic Games and beyond.

“The amount of real-time data presented by this tool will help coaches and sports scientists to make better decisions and maximize the efficacy of athlete training sessions,” said USATF Chief of Sport Performance Benita Fitzgerald Mosley. “This is of tremendous benefit to our athletes and coaches at the Training Center. We’re grateful to BMW for the level of commitment they’ve demonstrated to our partnership and our individual athletes, and we look forward to utilizing the tool for years to come.”

To learn more about BMW Group’s partnership with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and its designation as a Sustainability Partner of LOCOG, visit the dedicated press page
www.press.bmwgroup.co.uk . To learn more about BMW’s partnership with the USOC and National Governing Bodies USA Bobsled & Skeleton, US Speedskating, USA Swimming and USA Track & Field, visit
www.bmwgroupusanews.com .

BMW Group In America

BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, a strategic design consultancy in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group’s global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 and X3 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 Sports Activity Coupes. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 339 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 139 BMW motorcycle retailers, 113 MINI passenger car dealers, and 32 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the Internet at:
www.bmwgroupna.com

About the USOC

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the sole entity in the United States whose mission involves training, entering and underwriting the full expenses for the U.S. teams in the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games. In addition to being the steward of the U.S. Olympic Movement, the USOC is the moving force for support of sports in the United States that are on the program of the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games. For more information, please visit
www.teamusa.org .

Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at
www.bmwgroupusanews.com and
www.press.bmwna.com .

SOURCE BMW of North America, LLC

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

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