Sports News

Chelsea show their intent with £90 million shopping list

Jun7,2011

Chelsea :The Russian billionaire has sanctioned a team of advisers, club executives and agents to pursue a number of deals during this transfer window to rebuild the club’s squad.

None of the deals is advanced but inquiries have been made with Chelsea keen to add more youth and creativity as Abramovich sets about reshaping the squad to provide greater support for £50 million January signing Fernando Torres.

There is a feeling at Chelsea that Torres’s problems last season were caused in part by a lack of attacking support from the rest of the team for the striker. The changes are being planned even though the club are yet to appoint a new manager and have been approved by Abramovich.

Guus Hiddink remains likely to take over by the end of this month and he is aware of the targets being pursued by Abramovich, who is taking a more hands-on approach to player recruitment as well as the hiring of a new manager and either a director of football or a chief scout.

Hiddink is on holiday while negotiations continue for his release from the final months of his contract as coach of Turkey, which takes him up to the end of the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. Hiddink has made it clear he would like to leave but has yet to agree a deal to go to Chelsea.

England's Steven Finn relishes final day in Lord's Test

Monday, 6 June 2011

Lords :Sri Lanka were bowled out for 82 as England snatched an unlikely win after rain interruptions at Cardiff.

And Finn, with 4-108 on his return to England duty, said it could be a similar situation in London.

"We've been high quality for the last 12 months - we're hard work for anyone," he told BBC Radio 5 live.

Finn was the most successful bowler as England established a narrow first-innings lead by bowling out their opponents for 479, and in the process overtook Sir Ian Botham as the youngest Englishman to reach 50 Test wickets for his country.

The 22-year-old added: "We put the ball in the right area. We let the ball do the talking, we put pressure on the Sri Lankans, which is what the guys did in the Cardiff Test.

"We can't expect to bowl teams out for 80 or roll teams like we did in Melbourne [against Australia during the Ashes] but we do work well together and gel nicely when we get it right."

England reached 149-2 at stumps on Monday and will have an extended final day to press home their 156-run lead - possibly declaring at lunch or early in the afternoon session.

Finn said: "We are not looking too far beyond the first hour on Tuesday. There's still a heck of a lot of time left and we will see how it works out."

On surpassing Botham's mark, he added: "I knew I'd taken 50 wickets but didn't have a clue I was the youngest to do it.

"But that's not something we're very focused on. We're focused on winning games of cricket, and performing as a unit and as a team.

"No one is really interested in their own personal gain; obviously [they are interested] in their own personal performance, taking pride in that and contributing to the team.

"Accolades or stats like that are hugely satisfying, but not something I focus on."

Listen to Jonathan Agnew and Geoff Boycott's review of each day's play on the TMS Podcast page

Sports News

India vs West Indies: Rohit Sharma guides India to easy win over Windies

Jun 7,2011 

PORT OF SPAIN:  West Indies won the toss and elected to bat, but were limited to 214-9 despite Ramnaresh Sarwan and Marlon Samuels both scoring half centuries.World champions India were reduced to 104-4 in reply but Sharma and Suresh Raina put on 80 for the fifth wicket.Harbhajan Singh smashed a six to seal victory with 31 balls to spare.India, who were playing in their first ODI since winning the 50-over World Cup on home soil in April, defeated their opponents in a Twenty20 match on Saturday and looked in control of Monday's contest when Samuels departed in the 42nd over with the West Indies on 177-5.

Harbhajan took 3-32, including the crucial wickets of Dwayne Bravo, who was stumped by Parthiv Patel, and Carton Baugh, who was trapped lbw while attempting a sweep.

India lost three early wickets and then saw Shikhar Dhawan depart for 51 but Sharma and skipper Suresh Raina provided some middle-order stability.

Raina eventually departed for 43, caught at deep midwicket off the bowling of Anthony Martin to leave India at 184-5 but, despite a bout of cramp for Sharma, victory was in sight and Singh finished the job with more than five overs left.

The second of the five one-day international series takes place in Trinidad on Wednesday.

Top News World

TUS declines to confirm Illyas Kashmiri's killing

Jun7,2011

WASHINGTON: Despite Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's reported assertion that Washington has confirmed the death of Illyas Kashmiri, the United States has declined to do so.

"I don't have any confirmation of that," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Monday when asked about Gilani's statement about the killing of a key plotter of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in a US drone strike in Pakistan.

Kashmiri, the commander of Pakistan based Harakut-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJi), an Al Qaeda-connected terror group is believed to be responsible for several attacks in India and Pakistan.

When told that the US defence department was also not confirming, Toner said he was aware of press reports from Pakistan but repeated: "I would just reiterate we have no confirmation."

"I both have no comment and no way of confirming his death," he added in response to persistent questioning.

Asked what Pakistan had told US officially or non-officially about Kashmiri's death, Toner said: "I'm not going to get in the substance of those discussions."

Earlier Pentagon spokesman Col Dave Lapan simply told reporters: "No confirmation."

"The department of defence has no confirmation," he said when asked about Gilani's reported statement that the US has confirmed the death of Kashmiri.

Top News World

Sudan indicates Abyei residents may return

Jun7,2011

UNITED NATIONS: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday the Sudanese government has indicated it will create conditions for thousands of residents who fled the disputed Abyei region on the border between north and south Sudan to return.

Ban said at a news conference that it was "far too early to claim that ethnic cleansing is taking place" in the contested oil-rich region.

But he acknowledged a confidential report by the U.N. Mission in Sudan, obtained last Friday by The Associated Press, which warned that the invasion of Abyei by Sudan's military could lead to "ethnic cleansing" if conditions are not created for the return of more than 30,000 Ngok Dinkas who fled their homes.

"We are doing our best efforts to prevent such things," Ban said.

"This issue has been brought to the attention of officials of the government of Sudan, who have indicated that they will create the conditions for IDPs (internally displaced persons) to return."

Just weeks before South Sudan breaks away from the Khartoum-based northern government and becomes the world's newest nation, clashes between the north and south have threatened to unravel a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war and re-ignite the fighting.

The north's invasion of the Abyei region and takeover of the town of Abyei was precipitated by a May 19 attack on northern and U.N. troops by southern soldiers.

The Ngok Dinka, a black tribe that associates itself with Sudan's south, fled Abyei when northern troops and ethnic Misseriya — Arab cattle herders aligned with the north — moved in and looted homes.

The U.N. report estimated that between 15 percent and 20 percent of the homes in Abyei were burned in what it called "deliberate destruction" and a violation of international humanitarian law.

The secretary-general urged the north and south to resume negotiations before South Sudan's independence on July 9 and resolve not only the "unacceptable" situation in Abyei but other key issues including demarcation of the north-south border, sharing oil wealth, citizenship and security.

Top News World

Floods kill 14 people, leave 35 missing in China

Jun7,2011

BEIJING: Rain-triggered floods in southwestern China have killed 14 people and left 35 others missing while destroying roads and bridges and thousands of homes, officials said on Tuesday.

Some 45,000 residents in Guizhou province's Wangmo County have been evacuated since flood waters inundated the area Monday, said Tang Quanshu of the county's flood prevention office. She said another 3,000 people were still stranded.

Meanwhile, the waters toppled 300 houses and left 2,400 submerged, while 21 square miles (5,500 hectares) of farmland were under water, Tang said.

State-run Xinhua News Agency, citing county flood officials, reported that the flooding disrupted power and water supplies and telecommunications services in several towns in Wangmo County, which has a population of 8 million. It said the floods destroyed roads and bridges and washed away more than 500 vehicles.

The provincial civil affairs bureau said rain-triggered floods have hit 11 cities and counties in Guizhou province since June 3, affecting 270,000 people, according to Xinhua. More rain is forecast Tuesday in most parts of the province.

Top News India

CCS nod for largest Indo-US defence deal

Jun 7,2011

NEW DELHI: Decks have been cleared for the largest Defence Indo-US deal as the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Monday gave approval for the acquisition of 10 heavy lift aircraft C-17 Globemaster III. The deal values around $4.1 billion.

The strategic airlifters will be the largest in the transport fleet of the IAF, which has been on a drive to modernise its transporters to augment capability to maintain supply chain of man and materials over long distance. The deal would also be a step forward in the direction of replacing its ageing Soviet-era fleet. “The CCS chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given approval for the purchase of 10 very heavy transport aircraft. The value of the deal is $4.1 billion,” a Defence Ministry official said.

The aircraft will be procured through Foreign Military Sales route which entails a government to government contract. The CCS approval has come after a six months of the US President Barack Obama’s India visit last year. The deal is much awaited in the US political circles as it is expected to generate over 20,000 jobs in the country.

No decision has come on the acquisition of a follow on order for four more C-17 aircraft. The IAF transport fleet has been undergoing revamping to meet the force’s strategic requirements. Over 100 Soviet-origin An-32s with medium lift capability are undergoing upgrading in Ukraine. “The first two upgraded An-32 have already come. The aircraft upgrading will be completed by this financial year,” said an IAF official.

Govt tells Team Anna we can draft Lokpal Bill without you - Indian Express

Govt tells Team Anna we can draft Lokpal Bill without you - Indian Express

NatGrid gets government nod

Jun7,2011 

NEW DELHI: Home Minister P Chidambaram’s pet project to counter terrorism, money laundering and related crimes - the National Intelligence Grid (NatGrid) - took wings on Monday with the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) giving nod to begin its initial phase.

The next two phases - phase 2 and 3 - of the ambitious project, final cost of which could be beyond Rs 4,000 crore or even more, would have to go again for the CCS clearance once Home Ministry clarifies the remaining queries, sources said. “On the direction of the CCS, a detailed briefing and presentation about the NatGrid project along with safeguards and oversight mechanisms was given by the MHA to the members of the CCS. The CCS has given in principle approval for the project and has instructed the MHA to proceed accordingly,” a government statement said.

The project’s initial phase got clearance after being vetted by a committee of secretaries several times and making rounds of key ministries like Finance and Defence for clarification during the last three months. “There were financial complications besides queries on procedures, plan, non-plan and implementation,” sources said.

Top News India

Govt tells Team Anna we can draft Lokpal Bill without you

Jun 07 2011New Delhi:

After evicting Baba Ramdev from Delhi, the government today asserted itself against Anna Hazare and his colleagues, sternly telling them that it would go ahead with the drafting of the Lokpal Bill “even in their absence” if civil society representatives continued with their boycott of the joint committee meetings.

It also underlined to the Hazare camp that its involvement in the drafting exercise was being seen as undermining of the “supremacy of the Constitution” by other political parties. The government, however, invited them for the next meeting of the joint committee on June 15.

The government’s curt message was delivered shortly after the Congress bracketed both Anna Hazare and yoga guru Ramdev together calling them “mukhautas (masks)” of the BJP and asserting that there was “no bigger sanyasi” in contemporary politics than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

This sudden assertion of authority was a clear attempt by the UPA government, and the ruling party, to regain some of the significant ground it had yielded ever since it notified the joint drafting committee in April under pressure from Hazare who had launched an indefinite fast against corruption at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. The committee has met thrice.

Yesterday, the Hazare camp expressed its solidarity with Ramdev — who was forced out of Delhi on Saturday night — and announced that it would not attend today’s scheduled meeting in protest. The co-chair of the joint committee, Shanti Bhushan, even demanded the resignation of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet over the police action on Ramdev, who had organised a fast on the issue of black money.

Top News India

Fight corruption, but don't fast: Ramdev

Jun 07, 2011

Haridwar: Baba Ramdev has decided to continue his fast but asked his workers to break their fast and work on ground to fight against corruption. Baba Ramdev on Tuesday revealed his action plan to the media at his ashram in Haridwar.

Talking on his ongoing stride against corruption, he said, "Anna Hazare is a social activist and our leader. He was with us earlier and will remain with us. The nature of the campaign has changed. I continue my fast. I have asked my people to fight without fasting."

Baba Ramdev has hit out at the Prime Minister, saying that Manmohan Singh is politically dishonest.

Reacting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks on the police crackdown, Ramdev said, "The PM as a person is honest but questions are arising on his honesty as a politician".

Critisising the Delhi Police, he said, "The police have destroyed the CCTV that were installed and the recording taken away forcibly and edited to give a wrong impression to the people".

The police crackdown on Baba Ramdev and his supporters not only destroyed property at the Ramlila grounds, but also left many Ramdev supporters injured.

One of the seriously injured is 50-year-old Gurgaon resident Rajbala, who was attending Ramdev agitation. She was allegedly hit on the neck, back and leg during Saturday night's swoop.

"All medical expenses of Rajbala and other people injured during police action at Ramila Maidan will be born by the Patanjali," said Ramdev.

However, Baba Ramdev said that he has forgiven those who planned the conspiracy to kill him, but he doesn't forgive those who have betrayed the nation.

Papalal, an unrecognized hero, needs your help

June 06, 2011
Hyderabad:  Eight-year-old Sonia stands outside the Chanchalguda Jail in Hyderabad, tears spilling across her face. "Don't cry, Papa will be home soon," assures her mother, Jayshree, who is eight months pregnant. "Didn't the lawyer promise that papa will be back?" she asks holding the child she adopted in 2007.  

There is no reason for Jayshree to believe her own words. Her husband is in jail on the basis of cases aimed at harassing him till he gives up Sonia because she is a Muslim.

Sonia was four when Jayshree and her husband, Papalal, found her alone and terrified after a bomb exploded in Hyderabad. They gauged that she had been orphaned and that she came from a Muslim family.  

The couple decided Sonia was destined to be their daughter. But others resisted. Muslim groups wanted the child to be sent to an orphanage so that she would not be raised as a Hindu. Jayshree and Papalal convinced them that Sonia would not be converted. Then they had another daughter, Ekta. Their younger child wears a bindi. Sonia does not. In this and other ways, Jayshree and Papalal have kept their word.

That has angered Hindu groups and families who live in their neighbourhood. In the Begum Bazaar part of the city, Papalal, who made a living painting the walls of temples, found his work quickly disappeared.  There were constant threats  - some veiled, others more direct. Finally, his own brother turned against him. Papalal's mother says that tired of being ostracized by extension, her younger son accused Papalal of attempting to molest his wife. Papalal is in jail. The family is desperate for the amount required for his bail - Rs. 30,000.

Some lawyers have approached a local court to explain Papalal's predicament and have offered free services to his family.  

For now, Jayshree clings to her two children. But she needs support as well.

If you'd like to help Papalal and his family, please send your contribution to:

Jai Sree Ravi 
Account No 52206009072, 
State Bank of Hyderabad, 
Moghulpura Branch, 
Hyderabad
Andhra Pradesh
India
 
Additional details for online transaction:

Branch Code 20596
MIRC Code 5000004037
IFSC/RTGS/NEFT/SBHY00 20596 
Swift Code: SBHYINB B002

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/papalal-an-unrecognized-hero-needs-your-help-110476?cp

Pranab Gogoi elected as new speaker of Assam assembly

June 06, 2011 Guwahati : Pranab Gogoi, newly elected Congress MLA from Sibsagar constituency, was today unanimously elected as the speaker of the 13th Assam assembly.

Protem speaker Dr Bhumidhar Barman declared Gogoi as the new speaker of the House.

Congratulating Gogoi on his election as the Speaker, chief minister Tarun Gogoi said that he would help to facilitate smooth functioning of the state assembly.

"We hope that the new speaker will uphold the traditional dignity of the august House", the chief minister said.

Two-time former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and senior ministers Nilomani Sen Deka and Pradyut Bordoloi also congratulated Gogoi.

Ramdev also divides Congress and government

June 06, 2011

New Delhi:  Some of the most public criticism of the government's controversial handling of Baba Ramdev is coming from within the Congress.

Sources say that at a meeting with senior ministers last evening, Congress President Sonia Gandhi questioned the police action taken against Baba Ramdev and his supporters on Saturday night. Acting on the government's orders, the Delhi Police dismantled the camp that had united 65,000 supporters of the yoga teacher.  

Late at night, the police teargassed and lathicharged the camp, and the Baba was evicted.  

Baba Ramdev's camp - set up at Ramlila Maidan - was to witness his indefinite hunger strike against corruption. 

Senior Congress leader and known Gandhi family loyalist Anil Shastri tweeted, "What happened last night at Ramlila Grounds in Delhi was unfortunate and avoidable." Another tweet stressed, "It is Manmohan Singh govt. Was not a party decision."

Sources say the Congress was also upset about the government's decision to send four ministers to receive Baba Ramdev when he arrived in Delhi early last week. The ministers greeted the yoga icon at the airport and then spent hours with him at the airport lounge running over the list of demands he presented - most of these want the government to recover black money and confiscate it. The ministerial posse was denounced publicly by the Opposition which suggested the government was down on bended knee to appease the Baba.

Mr Shastri apparently agrees. "Indira ji or Rajiv ji would not have sent their Ministers to airport to placate a 'Baba' arriving in a private jet," he said in another tweet.

The somewhat obsequious welcome presented by the government backfired dramatically over the weekend when Baba Ramdev u-turned away from a deal he had struck with senior ministers to end his fast. That's when the government decided it was time to take off the gloves. The police was asked to move into his camp and disperse the crowd.

Yesterday, the government and the Congress both expressed dramatically different versions of who sanctioned the police action against the Baba. Senior minister Kapil Sibal said the party was aware of the plan; Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh said that was not the case.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/baba-ramdevs-eviction-congress-vs-the-govt-110500?cp