(IANS) Former Sri Lankan captain Hashan Tillakaratne has made sensational claims that his country has been involved in match fixing since 1992, and said he will 'shortly reveal names of the people responsible'.
Tillkaratne, who led the side between 2003 and 2004, alleged that the menace of match-fixing is not a new phenomenon and also raised questions on Sri Lanka making four changes against India in the 2011 World Cup final in Mumbai earlier this month.
'I can tell this in agreement with my conscience. Match fixing is not something that started happening yesterday or today. According to my knowledge, it happened since 1992. I say this with great responsibility,' Tillakaratne was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror.
'I am not saying that this match (The World Cup final) was fixed but why were four players changed for this match? Those are questions that should be asked. Arjuna (Ranatunga) spoke about this, we who have played cricket talk about this. We were playing an entirely different side.'
'Why was Mendis (Ajantha) removed to put another spinner, Kapugedara (Chamara) was never among runs but he was chosen to replace Chamara Silva. It is not fair, is it? But anyway match fixing is something which has been in this country over a period of time. This has spread like a cancer today,' said Tillakaratne, who represented Sri Lanka in 83 Tests and 200 One-Day Internationals.
The former left-hand batsman said the match-fixing issue could have been exposed earlier but 'it was pushed down by giving money to various people'.
'There were threats of this issue being exposed during various times. But it was pushed down by giving money to various people. If the people who were responsible for that are listening to this, I state this today with great responsibility, I will shortly reveal the names of those responsible.'
Tillakaratane said it won't be long that the island nation's name is taken ahead of Pakistan, another country affected by the match-fixing menace.
'This has been happening since 1992 and I know all the people who are connected to it. This situation was always there. When it came out from time to time, it was quietly swept under the carpet,' said the cricketer turned politician.
'If someone doesn't intervene and stop this menace, within another two-three years in this country, with these politics, with these corrupt administrators, I believe this country won't be second to Pakistan in the near future' he added.
Tillakaratne, who said he did not imply categorically that the recent World Cup final was fixed, however, expressed his reservations about the selections.(IANS)
Civil Aviation Minister Vyalar Ravi briefed the Union Cabinet about the ongoing Air India pilots' strike today, reiterating that his ministry fully backed the airline management's tough stand against those on strike, sources said.
He reportedly pointed out that 1,600 Air India pilots drew a total of about Rs. 800 crore in salary in a year. And that another about Rs. 800 crore was the combined salary of the other over 28,000 employees of the airline. Yesterday, Mr Ravi had stressed that Air India pilots are among the highest paid in the country.
The minister told the Cabinet that he had taken a firm view of situation and that there were festering issues from the merger of Indian Airlines and Air India not being spelt out clearly, sources said.
Ravi had said at a press conference yesterday that the demands of the pilots' union - the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) - could not be accepted. He had also appealed to the striking pilots to cooperate and help the airline come out of its crisis.
More than 50 flights have been cancelled on the second day of the strike so far. Flights have also been delayed. Both sides have refused to blink; the management, backed by the Aviation Ministry, is firm it will not buckle and on the other side more pilots have joined the strike.
The Air India management has sacked eight pilots since yesterday.
Though the soul of Puttaparthi Satya Sai Baba has departed from his body, many believers vouch that this is just a temporary phase and Baba will be back. True to their beliefs, it is heard that Baba had once predicted about his next avatar and he would be seen as Prem Sai. This incarnation is likely to happen in Karnataka.
Now, there is always a fine line between faith and fanaticism so here is a tidbit which might get mixed reactions. A noted Tantric who hails from the Anantapur district said “Baba will be born in Muslim family in his next avatar. He will be known as Peer Masai (which sounds almost similar to Prema Sai).”
He added “Masai means ‘God’s Work’ in Arabic and Hebrew, Peer means noble on par with old and veterans doing god’s work. He is going to unite few nations with the concept of love and humanity and create a new world.” Well, if the words of Tantric are true then it remains to be seen how positively this will go with few fanatics.
Former England coach & Zimbabwe skipper has been appointed as Indian National Cricket Team's head coach.
After so much of speculation for next Indian cricket team's coach, BCCI has announced a new coach in the form of "Duncan Fletcher". Many names like Shane Warne, Stephen Fleming, Dave Whatmore were making rounds for the prestigious cricketing position in the Indian cricket. He has been offered a two year contract unlike of the previous Kirsten's 3 year contract.
However, he wouldnt be available with the Indian team in West indies due to some personal commitments. Eric Simmons' bowling coach position has been extended further.
Duncan Fletcher played a key role in England's Ashes win in 2005 and he stepped down after the English team's debacle at 2007 world cup.
World's No.1 online gaming giant Sony's PlayStation is under serious security threat.
As per the reports, a hacker broke into PlayStation's online gaming network and stolen personal credentials of 75+ million users.
Patrick Seybold(Sr.Director-Corporate Communications & Social Media, Sony Corporation) blogged saying
"Between April 17 and April 19 - 2011,an an illegal and unauthorized intruder has obtained the name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate and password and login of users' PlayStation Network as well as of Qriocity digital music service. Other information like profile data, including purchase history and billing address and PlayStation Network password security answers also have been obtained by the hacker.
AS a result of the security attack, Sony has temporarily turned off its PlayStation network and Qriocity services, and expects to restore some services within a week.
Sony said it has advised users to be aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information saying the company itself will not contact users asking for their credit card numbers or other personally identifiable information. It also requested users to change their passwords once the services are restored.
Former Indian National Team's cricket Jacob Martin was arrested yesterday in New Delhi.
He was taken into custody in regards to human trafficking. He took some aspiring players to England on the pretext of playing club cricket there in 2003 after taking money from them.
Jacob & his team members Rajender Bhiku Bhai Patel and Janak Lal Bhogi Raj Pancholi took 7 Lakhs from Nimesh Kumar for providing a fake passport.
Jacob's anticipatory bail was rejected by the Supreme Court of india on the grounds of "disservice" to the most loved game in india.
Jacob Martin played for Indian Railways and also represented Indian Team in 10 One Day Internationals.
Maharashtra Government has decided to build a grand sports museum to honour batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said.
"Sachin has made the state proud by his achievements in cricket. His contribution in the recent World Cup was immense," Chavan said, at a function here last evening to present the state government’s Shiv Chhatrapati State Sports Awards.
The state government has decided to build a grand sports museum in Tendulkar’s name and befitting his stature, the Chief Minister said.
The government plans a new youth and sports policy and there is a proposal to set up 54 sports complex at tehsil level, he said.
Chavan felicitated 44 sportspersons with the Shiv Chhatrapati State Sports Awards.
Earlier this month, Chavan had informed the State Assembly that Maharashtra Government is going to recommend to the Centre that Tendulkar, who turned 38 on Sunday, should be given the ’Bharat Ratna’ in view of his outstanding contribution to the game of cricket.(PTI)
Japanese automobile major Honda Motor's Indian subsidiary Monday said that it will reduce the production of its car models in the country by 50 percent due to constraints in supply of parts from Japan.
"We are experiencing gaps in our supply chain due to the situation in Japan, resulting in production cuts," said Jnaneswar Sen, senior vice president (marketing and sales), Honda Siel Cars India Ltd.
As many as 57 Indian companies including Reliance Industries, State Bank of India and Oil and Natural Gas figure in The Forbes Global 2000 list of public companies based on their rankings for sales, profits, assets and market value. 57 Indian firms in Forbes Global 2000 list
Here is the list of Indian companies and their sales with their world ranking in brackets:
1. (121) Reliance Industries $45.3 Billion
2. (136) State Bank of India Group $29.1 Billion
3. (172) Oil & Natural Gas $22.6 Billion
4. (243) Indian Oil $52.1 Billion
5. (288) Icici Bank $13.2 Billion
6. (348) NTPC $10.8 Billion
7. (418) Coal India $10.4 Billion
8. (453) Bharti Airtel $9.3 Billion
9. (499) Larsen & Toubro $9.8 Billion
10. (512) Tata Motors $20.2 Billion
11. (541) Steel Authority of India $9 Billion
12. (589) HDFC Bank $4.5 Billion
13. (639) Bharat Heavy Electricals $7.4 Billion
14. (643) Hindalco Industries $13.5 Billion
15. (653) Punjab National Bank $5.7 Billion
16. (701) Tata Consultancy Svcs $6.7 Billion
17. (735) HDFC-Housing Devel $2.8 Billion
18. (763) Bank of Baroda $4.5 Billion
19. (769) Tata Steel $22.8 Billion
20. (782) Wipro $6.1 Billion
21. (789) Infosys Technologies $5.1 Billion
22. (816) Canara Bank $4.9 Billion
23. (820) Axis Bank $3.4 Billion
24. (899) GAIL (India) $6 Billion
25. (918) ITC $4.3 Billion
26. (963) Bank of India $4.6 Billion
27. (964) Bharat Petroleum $27.6 Billion
28. (1008) Reliance Communications $4.6 Billion
29. (1025) Mahindra & Mahindra $7 Billion
30. (1054) Hindustan Petroleum $23.5 Billion
31. (1076) NMDC $1.4 Billion
32. (1119) Power Grid of India $1.6 Billion
33. (1195) Power Finance $1.8 Billion
34. (1204) Jindal Steel & Power $2.5 Billion
35. (1241) Union Bank of India $3.4 Billion
36. (1275) DLF $1.6 Billion
37. (1353) Rural Electrification $1.5 Billion
38. (1368) Tata Power $4.2 Billion
39. (1388) NHPC $1.1 Billion
40. (1405) Adani Enterprises $5.8 Billion
57. Indian firms in Forbes Global 2000 list
41. (1423) IDBI Bank $4 Billion
42. (1492) Grasim Industries $4.4 Billion
43. (1512) Kotak Mahindra Bank $2.1 Billion
44. (1513) Central Bank of India $3.1 Billion
45. (1515) Indian Bank $2 Billion
46. (1546) Oil India $1.8 Billion
47. (1560) Hero Honda Motors $3.5 Billion
48. (1591) Allahabad Bank $2.2 Billion
49. (1613) Oriental Bank of Commerce $2.6 Billion
50. (1639) Bajaj Auto $2.6 Billion
51. (1645) Corporation Bank $1.9 Billion
52. (1684) Sun Pharma Industries $850 Billion
53. (1709) UCO Bank $2.3 Billion
54. (1780) JSW Steel $4.2 Billion
55. (1782) Syndicate Bank $2.5 Bn
56. (1806) Indian Overseas Bank 29.2 Billion
57. (1831) Andhra Bank 1.6 Billion
Anna Hazare, the man behind the era of 'BEGINING OF THE END' of corruption in India. His fast gave a jolt to the corrupted politicians.
Lokpal bill is considered to be the beginning of the era for the end of corruption in the greatest democracy of the world. Many might be unaware of what Lokpal bill is actually about. Current Week brings you the actual facts behind the bill:
Spiritual leader Sathya Sai Baba died on Sunday after a prolonged illness. He was 85.
He breathed his last at 7: 40 a m on Sunday due to cardio-respiratory failure. His body will be kept at the Sai Kulwant Hall for two days for people to pay their homage to the spiritual guru.
The Baba was admitted to the super-speciality hospital at Prashantigram at Puttaparthi on March 27, following respiration-related problems.
In view of his deteriorating health, the Andhra Pradesh Police had deployed additional forces in Puttaparthi to maintain the law and order.
Born as Sathyanarayana Raju, on November 23, 1926, Sai Baba was a popular Indian guru, spiritual figure and educator.
He had claimed to be the reincarnation of the great spiritual guru, Sai Baba of Shirdi, whose teachings were an eclectic blend of Hindu and Muslim beliefs.
Sathya Sai Baba's Body to be Kept for Two Days
Puttaparthi (Andhra Pradesh), April 24 (IANS) The body of spiritual leader Sathya Sai Baba, who died Sunday morning, will be kept at Prashanti Nilayam - his ashram in this pilgrim town - for two days to enable devotees to have a "last darshan".
According to the statement released by Sathya Sai Central Trust, the body will be kept at Sai Kulwant Hall at 6 p.m. Sunday. The body will lie there Monday and Tuesday.
The trust is silent about the last rites but it is likely to be performed Wednesday at Prashanti Nilayam with full state honours.
The trust has appealed to devotees not to rush to the hospital and have a last glimpse of Baba in an orderly manner.
It was at Prashanti Nilayam that Baba has been giving darshan and blessing his devotees for over four decades.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, is the one name which whole of India remembers forever. He is the one who led India to become the super power in all forms of cricket. Now not only India, but prestigious TIME magazine also honours him in its 'Top 100 Influential Persons - 2010' list.
MS Dhoni(52nd rank) surpassed Azim Premji(88th Rank), VS Ramachandran(neuro scientist - 79th Rank), Mukesh Ambani(61st Rank), Aruna Roy(RTI activist - 89th Rank) to secure his place at 52. He even upfronts US President Mr. Obama and ace Argentine footballer Lionel Messi(87th).
MS Dhoni has been a great ambassador for India and cricket, his inclusion in the famous list is encouraging others to take up the sport.
Current Week congratulates MS Dhoni and we hope he would encourage other sports too.
Researchers have said that babies who constantly cry can turn out to be difficult children with behavioral disorders.
The risks of behavioral problems were 40% more for such babies who could go on to develop problems like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – ADHD.
The study showed that one out of five infants had trouble sleeping, were feeding less and cried excessively. Many of them could go on to suffer behavioral issues and turn out to be difficult children.
IPL is known for its charishma and also for controversies. All the 3 IPLs have been in the news for right and wrong reasons, but this season's IPL has been in the news for wrong reasons starting from auctions.
As per the contract between the SriLankan and Indian Cricket boards, SL players have to be associated with IPL till May 22, but SL board is not letting its players for the same. It is ordering the players to come back latest by May 5th to serve nation's duties of England tour. This would hurt the franchisees and BCCI a lot in monetary terms, as a result BCCI has threatened SL board that, it would block the salaries of the players and the board(SL board would get 10% of the players' salaries).
If the Lankan cricketers leave early, teams of Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kochi will suffer the most. But Team Kochi is all set to bring in 'DADA' - Sourav Ganguly for its present skipper Mahela Jayawardena. Mumbai will be safe as Malinga is not selected for the test squad against England.
It was also in the news that some of the Lankan players playing in IPL are not hesitant to retire from international cricket to continue in IPL. Chris Gayle of West Indies is on the verge of the same path, but not retiring. He chose to play in IPL(Team Bangalore) rather than to play for the country against Pakistan.
Lets wait and see for more fiasco between the Island nation and GREAT INDIAN MONETARY FLICK 'IPL'
The health condition of Sathya Sai Ba Baba is critical but his exact condition still remains a mystery. Now Sathya Sai Baba lying on the hospital bed. On the other hand trust board members are fighting among themselves for a share in the huge properties in the name of the trust.
According to inside sources, the Sathya Sai Baba trust has assets worth 25-30 lakh crore. Of this 1.5 lakh crore is in the form of cash reserves.
Sonia Gandhi Brand Ambassador for Pickle !!
This is one of the funny image appeared in social networking site Facebook. One of the user morphed the image and uploaded it in his account. Common Wealth Games Fraud and 2G Scam founders Kalmadi and Raja are also appearing in this image.
Note: Currentweek has not created this image. This image was taken from the social networking site Facebook.
When your hair starts falling off like dry straws, what can you do?
Well, panicking and running around to expensive salons for hair treatment might seem a brilliant idea, but the truth is that you can manage to get a hold of the situation back at your home alone.
First, it would help to locate the various reasons for hair loss. Studies have revealed that men lose hair for some common reasons, like:
Improper diet,
Lack of proper vitamins,
Genetic factors,
Excessive stress, anxiety and worries,
Prolonged illnesses like typhoid, anemia, dysentery, jaundice etc,
Poor blood circulation, and
Unclean scalps.
Once you have located the source of your problem, it can become much easier to fight back. In desperate times like these, it would help to go completely natural. Do not trust chemical products since they might cause more harm than good. To put your panicking soul to rest, here are 15 different ways to reduce hair loss:
Take a glass of water with flaxseed (alsi) in an empty stomach. This will provide you with the omega 3 acid that you need for hair growth.
Begin every day with one amla. Women generally use hair oil made of amla to get those lustrous curls, didn’t you know?
Soak 5 almonds every night in water and eat them with their skin on.
Your scalp needs nutrition. So get plenty of fluids like buttermilk, lime juice and coconut water. Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water every day!
One bowl of sprouted pulses for would be great.
Proteins. Eat chicken and egg each day.
Reduce you daily intake of tea and coffee.
When you are washing hair, use a teaspoon of lime juice for the last rinse. That make your hair lustrous while protecting it from dandruff.
You are never too old for milk. Drink two glasses of skimmed milk for maximum benefits.
Apply a paste of methi seeds on your scalp for half an hour once every week, and drink methi water on empty stomachs.
Remember how the age old sadhus survived on fruits? No wonder that they had such long hair! Eat at least 2 or 3 fruits every day like strawberries, bananas, apples, mangoes, chikoos, and grapes.
Go green- eat a lot of vegetables, munch away on that iron laden spinach.
It is better to have more faith in white meat. Fish, chicken and egg can do wonders for your hair! Try to stay away from red meat.
Hair loss is more common in case of men than women. And you always did wonder whether gender difference worked out better for women, right? Follow these principles to the boots, and you would see satisfactory results soon enough!
A Bengaluru based jewelery company on Tuesday i.e. 12 April 2011, presented a gold-plated silver World Cup trophy replica to batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar.
The replica is made of 4.5 kgs of silver with 60 gm of gold plating.
The efforts by the jewellery firm to present the trophy and felicitate Sachin before a posse of media persons failed to fructify as the batting maestro did not wish to have media glare for the event.
Sachin is in Bengaluru to play an IPL match for his Mumbai Indians team against Royal Challengers Bangalore on tuesday.(PTI)
While men consider caste and physical appearance of a prospective bride as the key criteria, women look for a professional and educational background, a survey by a matrimonial site on the 'preference trends' of unmarried men and women when looking for their life partners stated Wednesday.
Matrimonial site Jeevansaathi.com in its survey, found that men focus on the family background and physical appearance of the prospective bride while the women consider professional and educational qualification as the key factor in choosing a partner. Physical appearance is the least considered factor for women finding a match online.
In the changing era of arranged marriages it is very astonishing to find that caste and family background still play such an important role.
The primary reason for men being particular about the family background would be because of get their parents' consent. Women on the other hand, want a secure life thus the professional and educational background is given more importance.
The survey saw participation of around 5,000 Jeevansathi.com members.
For the male respondents, the least considered criteria in a prospective bride were education and profession.
Among women, caste/family background emerged as the second most preferred factor.
What women really want? No doubt, it's very difficult to guess, but a new study claims that they look for a well-paid job first in their partners.
According to the study by Cologne-based Institute for the German Economy, in today's world, women are increasingly using money or a healthy bank balance as overriding criteria for choosing their partners.
With women getting better jobs, they are looking for their men to have a spending power to match, says the study.
For their study, researchers carried out a survey in which women respondents said they wanted to avoid stress and confrontation over big differences in earnings, Britain's the 'Daily Mail' reported.
The findings showed that the number of households in which one person earns much more than the other has decreased in the 10 years between 1998 and 2008. And, at the same time, couples with two average or high earners increased from 27.9 per cent to 30.5 per cent.
Couples that included a high earner and a low earner in the relationship decreased by 2.8 per cent from 28.6 to 25.8 per cent in the same time span, say German researchers.
In another controversial study by London School of Economics Professor Dr Catherine Hakim, more women were said to prefer to marry a man earning more than they do.
According to the poll, 64 per cent said they aspire to find a husband bringing home more money. None wanted to marry a man who earned less.
Dr Hakim claimed more women were choosing to "marry up" by picking wealthy men for their spouse than in the 1940s.
After decades of gender equality campaigning many women now find it hard to admit that they want to be a housewife more than they want a successful career of their own, she said.
Watson celebrates his ton after demolishing the B'deshis
Shane Watson of Australia became the world record holder for hitting maximum number of sixes in a One Day International game.
Aussie smashing opener Shane Watson whacked a record number of 15 sixes to help Australia to an sailable lead(2-0) to win the 3-match One-Day series,with one match to spare, against Bangladesh. Watson scored an unbeaten and record 185(in 96 balls) by an Aussie, which included 15 fours as well. Previous aussie best was 181 by Matthew Hayden Against NZ. But he(Watson) missed the fastest hundred by an aussie by just 3 balls(69 ball hundred) becoming 3rd fastest after Gilly's(67 ball) and Haydos(66 ball).
Australia chased down an easy target of 230 with well over 24 overs to spare, thanks to a match winning 170 run partnership between Watson & ex.skipper Ponting. Final match would be played on wednesday.
A day after Rahul commented on Achuthanandan advanced age, the veteran Left leader hit back on Sunday calling the young Congress MP an 'Amul baby'.
Rahul, at an election rally, had pointed that if the Left retained power in the state and Achuthanandan remained the chief minister, he would be 93-year-old at the end of the next five-year term. The CM is 87 years old now.
"Is it my fault that I am 87 and even at this age I am going on like this?." Achuthanandan questioned Rahul, while narrating his childhood troubles when he was forced to leace studies in class 7 after his father's death.
Achuthanandan further added that by the age of 16 he was fighting the British and questioned, "Please tell me where was Rahul Gandhi (politically) before he was 40 years."
"The Amul baby has come here to campaign for some Amul baby candidates of the Congress party," he added.
Achuthanandan also recited a couplet by a Malayalam poet.
The state Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 13.
The calls for honouring Sachin Tendulkar with the 'Bharat Ratna' became strong after India's World Cup win. But giving the country's highest civillian honour to Sachin Tendulkar needs some changes in the rules.
The 'Bharat Ratna' was started in 1954 and has so far been given to 41 eminent personalities, none of whom are sports-persons, the reason being the criteria for the coveted honour.
Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap says given the current rules "Tendulkar does not qualify for the honour and giving the award to him would require a change in the rules."
According to the criteria at present, the award is given for exceptional contribution in the fields of art, literature, science and social service. The criteria do not have any mention of sports.
Kashyap says the government has to decide whether it wants to include sports in the criteria for the award. The sports ministry will have to present such a proposal for cabinet approval.
"Once the cabinet gives its approval, the home ministry can bestow this honour on not just Sachin Tendulkar but any other athlete," he said.
Indian cricket team's prominent players such as Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag have all asked for the honour to be bestowed on Tendulkar after the side's World Cup win.
The Tata group today said the exit of chairman Ratan Tata next year is a cause of concern but exuded hope that his successor -- to be elected by a high-profile panel -- would settle into the job smoothly and be at the helm probably for a 30-40-year period.
The USD 71-billion group wants the new Chairman to spearhead the group for 3-4 decades and would not like to have one for a small period like five years.The group is not looking for a person who comes in for just five years, takes stock options and departs to the Bahamas.
In the 140-years of the group's history, Ratan Tata is only the fifth Chairman, which is a sort of a record. Ratan Tata had announced plans to hang up his boots in 2012 when he turns 75.
The mandate to select Ratan Tata's successor has been vested in a high-profile selection committee. However, Ratan Tata is the biggest asset to the group and that the group is working to make sure that his stepping down leaves a minimal impact.
The Tata brand has evolved over the years -- from an USD 300-million entity in 1998 it had metamorphosed into an USD 5.5-billion brand in 2005. Now it is estimated at around USD 14 billion, the senior Tata group official said.
Over the past 10 years, the Tata's Group's revenue has shot up from Rs 38,607-crore in FY 2000 to Rs 3,19,534-crore in FY 10.
Megastar Chiranjeevi is all set to campaign in Tamil Nadu on April 8th and April 9th in support of DMK-Congress alliance. The election fever has reached its peaks in Tamilnadu with barely a week left for the elections. Actors who are supporting both DMK alliance and AIADMK alliance have been busy touring the state in support of their political affiliation. Chiranjeevi will campaign in Tamilnadu on the 8th and proceed to Puddhucherry on the 9th for election campaign there.
Actress Khushboo is campaigning aggressively for DMK while Sarathkumar is supporting AIADMK.
Chiranjeevi who recently announced the merger of his Praja Rajyam Party in Congress party was apparently asked by AICC President Sonia Gandhi to campaign in Tamilnadu for the DMK-Congress alliance in the areas which has strong Telugu presence.
Also, AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K V Thangkabalu spoke to Chiranjeevi separately over phone and requested him to campaign for the party. All these things have made the ‘Megastar’ to come to Tamil Nadu in support of the Congress.
Today, i.e on April 7th, Chiranjeevi was spotted at Bangarapet of Kolar district in Karnataka campaigning in the byelections for Congress party. Thousands of fans thronged to see Chiranjeevi leading to stampede and lathicharge.
As whole of India is still nostalgic about the world cup win, another cricketing battle unfolds today in the form IPL T20 season 4.
Unlike it's previous three editions, a total of 10 teams would be battling for the IPL glory. Two more additions to this years's IPL are Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors India. With the additional teams, IPL governing body has come up with a new format without increasing the number of games played. It is as follows:
Two groups with 5 teams each.
Each team will play its group's teams twice, i.e. home and away.
Then every team in one group will play the 4 teams of the other group once, which will be either home or away.
Also, every team in one group will play twice(home & away) with 'a team' of the other group. Which team plays the other team twice, will be decided by a draw.
Like this year's IPL's groups are:
Group A : Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Kings Xi Punjab, Mumbai Indians, Pune Warriors India
Group B : Kolkata Knight Riders, Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings
So as per the format, Deccan Chargers will play all the other teams(4) of its group twice and from group B, it will play once with 4 teams and twice with the 5th team. This fifth team will be decided with a draw.
Then, the top two teams from both groups, will play the Qualifiers(new format) across groups, the winners advance to the finals.
This way, every team will play the original 14 matches, as has been the case in the previous IPLs. If every team was to play each other both home and away, then a total 94 matches would have been played. Now, the format is limited to only 74 matches, 70 of which will be in the league phase.
Regarding the player retention it has been decided that every team is allowed to retain 4 players, which can be a maximum of 3 Indian players. The players that can be retained must be a registered player of the 2010 squad of the team.
The auctions for the next year’s IPL will be taking place in this year November. The franchise and players must both agree on the retention agreement.
As far as the two new franchises i.e. Pune and Kochi, both of these franchises can retain 4 players, which were not part of any of any of the original 10 teams in the 2010 season. The total number of players in a squad can be no more than 30.
Regarding the foreign players, a franchise can now have up to 10 foreign players in their squads, and can have now up to 4 foreign players field at same time. The limit initially was 3 players, which was a lot debated upon.
The franchises are allowed to spend a total of $9 Million on its 30 players. If, a franchise decides to retain 4 players, it must spend $4.5 million on them. This would lead such a franchise to have $4.5 Million to be spent on the other 26 players.
1. Who is Anna Hazare?
An ex-army man. Fought 1965 Indo-Pak War
2. What's so special about him?
He built a village Ralegaon Siddhi in Ahamad Nagar district, Maharashtra
3. So what?
This village is a self-sustained model village. Energy is produced in the village itself from solar power, biofuel and wind mills.
In 1975, it used to be a poverty clad village. Now it is one of the richest village in India. It has become a model for self-sustained, eco-friendly & harmonic village.
4. Ok,...?
This guy, Anna Hazare was awarded Padma Bhushan and is a known figure for his social activities.
5. Really, what is he fighting for?
He is supporting a cause, the amendment of a law to curb corruption in India.
6. How that can be possible?
He is advocating for a Bil, The Jan Lokpal Bill (The Citizen Ombudsman Bill), that will form an autonomous authority who will make politicians (ministers), beurocrats (IAS/IPS) accountable for their deeds.
8. It's an entirely new thing right..?
In 1972, the bill was proposed by then Law minister Mr. Shanti Bhushan. Since then it has been neglected by the politicians and some are trying to change the bill to suit thier theft (corruption).
7. Oh.. He is going on a hunger strike for that whole thing of passing a Bill ! How can that be possible in such a short span of time?
The first thing he is asking for is: the government should come forward and announce that the bill is going to be passed.
Next, they make a joint committee to DRAFT the JAN LOKPAL BILL. 50% goverment participation and 50% public participation. Because you cant trust the government entirely for making such a bill which does not suit them.
8. Fine, What will happen when this bill is passed?
A LokPal will be appointed at the centre. He will have an autonomous charge, say like the Election Commission of India. In each and every state, Lokayukta will be appointed. The job is to bring all alleged party to trial in case of corruptions within 1 year. Within 2 years, the guilty will be punished. Not like, Bofors scam or Bhopal Gas Tragedy case, that has been going for last 25 years without any result.
9. Is he alone? Whoelse is there in the fight with Anna Hazare?
Baba Ramdev, Ex. IPS Kiran Bedi, Social Activist Swami Agnivesh, RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal and many more.
Prominent personalities like Aamir Khan is supporting his cause.
10. Ok, got it. What can I do?
At least we can spread the message. How?
Putting status message, links, video, changing profile pics.
At least we can support Anna Hazare and the cause for uprooting corruption from India.
At least we can hope that his Hunger Strike does not go in vain.
At least we can pray for his good health.
Model Poonam Pandey, who has threatened to do a full Monty for the Indian cricket team if the men in blue win, switched off her cellphone on Saturday when India won the World Cup. Here is the full copy of request letter sent to BCCI from Poonam Pandey.
The Board of Governors / Manager The BCCI
Dear Sir,
I write to you as a great fan of Cricket and above all a patriotic Indian.
I want India to win the Cricket World Cup 2011 and am willing to go the extra mile to do anything so that India wins the World Cup. I am a model and actress and have decided to do what I can for India!!
I have already expressed my desire to further motivate the Indian Cricket team to perform better and lift the World Cup.
I am ready and willing at any place and time of the Indian teams choosing to go in the nude to boost their sporting spirit to perform better.
This I say seriously, as there are many studies conducted by various Universities abroad which confirms and infers that such performances/expectations boost and inspire people to perform better in any field, be it sports or otherwise. Even medical books on psychology and psychiatry confirm this.
You will appreciate that India has been longing for a World Cup ever since.
Cricket today is a religion in India. Should India lose the World Cup it would demoralize hundreds of Crores of Indians and people may react violently in some places too.
It is therefore my humble request to you to allow me to perform in the privacy of the Indian Cricket team’s Dressing room or any other place of your choosing. (YOU MAY ALSO CHOOSE A FOREIGN LAND LIKE PARIS IN FRANCE, SO THAT THE LAWS OF INDIA - IF A HINDRANCE, SHALL NOT APPLY)
This shall be a private therapeutic performance –with a psychologist’s presence and hence cannot be an offence under any law for the time being in force if the team members have no objection and the BCCI gives the go ahead.
Only appearing in the nude in Public is an offence but in private with consenting adults for a purpose therapeutic is no offence. Even a contract for the same can be drawn up and should not be in violation of the Indian Contract Act as it is not opposed to public policy or morality. Besides the BCCI is not a Government body and can enter in to such a contract.
Should such a contract be needed to be drawn you can approach my lawyer, Advocate Prashant Uchil on 022-32639020 to discuss modalities and the same shall be signed by me without any hesitation to protect the institution (BCCI) and indemnify it.
Looking forward to your assistance to make Team India win the World Cup 2011!!
With almost whole of Mumbai gyrated the newly built Wankhede Stadium, Team India lifted the 11 kg silver & gold trophy. India is reliving the glory after 28 long years. Jamboree reverberated in every street of India after the match, while Lankans looked disdain at the Indian victory.
Indian chase of record 275 runs in a world cup final, began in a sad note with Sehwag being caught in front of the stumps off the second ball of the innings and sachin getting dismissed cheaply. But Gambhir enticed the chances with his staunch 97 runs and Dhoni's captain's knock of 91 runs built a road to victory.MS Dhoni was adjudged Man of the Match and Playboy of Punjab Yuvraj Singh was Man of the Tournament.
One can say, Indian team played like champs with the young guns showing immaculate skill & temperament under 1.2 Billion people's pressure.
Indian players coffer got richer by a crore each as ratified by BCCI and board's money pot by 14 crores(prize money).
World cup 2011 has its importance:
1. First world cup to feature two asian teams in the final
2. Hosting nation winning the trophy in front of home crowd(SriLanka won it in front of Lahore,Pakistan crowd in 1996)
3. Record number of individual hundreds scored
Men in Blue deserve every bit of this historic world cup win. After 25th June 1983, 2nd April 2011 would be in high regards in the history of Indian Cricket and Sports.
