Tharoor steps down, PM sends resignation to president.Modi backed by PAWAR MODI Power, SAFE like Heaven While Sunanda offers to surrender 'sweat equity' as Grand Patch UP!
IPL Betting, Swiss Account and the Parliamentary Realty Show Climaxed
The Great Indian PROSTITUTION League is in Vogue!
Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time - THREE HUNDRED Forty Five
Palash Biswas
http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/
Shashi Tharoor resigns as Minister of State for External Affairs
Shashi Tharoor tonight resigned as Minister of State for External Affairs after the high-level Congress Core Group decided that he should quit in the wake of controversy over the IPL Kochi franchise, capping a week-long drama that threatened to suck the government and the party into it.
54-year old Tharoor, a newcomer to politics from international diplomacy, was summoned by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to his residence late tonight and asked to tender his resignation.
"Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs has submitted his resignation from the Council of Ministers to the Prime Minister today. The Prime Minister has forwarded his resignation letter to the President with a recommendation that it be accepted," PMO spokesman said tonight.
Tharoor, a writer and a former Under Secretary General in the United Nations, earns the dubious distinction of becoming the first minister in the UPA-II to go under the cloud of corruption charges.
The continuance of Tharoor, a first time MP from Thiruvananthapuram who courted controversies throughout his 11-month stint, became untenable in the government ever since the IPL controversy exploded.
He got into serious problems after IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi revealed that Tharoor's friend Sunanda Pushkar had equity stakes in Rendezvous Sports World (RSW), heading the consortium that owns the Kochi team.
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The Great Indian Prostitution League Continues!The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government will soon introduce a Right to Food Act in parliament, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said in Chennai Sunday as his Corporate war aginst the Aboriginal India Intensifies with DRONES! The Aboriginal and Indigenous Communities have threatened the Internal ecurity , hence they must be Wiped Out. But King Save the State Within State, IPL and Lalit Modi with the Ruling Hegemony Political zionist Brahaminical Clan!
India now has 100 million more people living below the poverty line than in 2004, according to official estimates released on Sunday.Uttar Pradesh's ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has planned a series of anti-Congress demonstrations across the state May 22 when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government completes the first year of its second term in office, a party leader said Sunday.
Meanwhile, Bharat Mukti Morcha and Rashtriya Mulnivasi Sangh Continues its BURN Budget hundred days`s campign Nationwide against Ethnic Economic Cleansing and the Inclusive EXCLUSION!A severe heat wave sweeping India, with temperatures of almost 44 C (111 F), the highest in 52 years, has killed at least 80 people this month, officials said on Sunday. The scorching weather, which officials say would continue over northern, north-western and central India in the next 48 hours, also may have some impact on wheat production.
Tharoor steps down, PM sends resignation to president.Modi backed by PAWAR MODI Power, SAFE like Heaven While Sunanda offers to surrender 'sweat equity' as Grand Patch UP!The Congress core group, which met at the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence at 7, Race Course Road here in the capital on Sunday evening, is believed to have favoured Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor should resign from his post as minister.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has accepted the resignation of Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor. His meeting with the Prime Minister lasted for over thirty minutes.
The minister who became popular more for his tweets than political moves has been embroiled in the controversy around the new IPL Kochi team.
Tharoor drove to the prime minister's 7, Race Course residence in his private vehicle soon after after Manmohan Singh held a meeting of the Congress core committee including Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
The meeting was held to decide the minister's future in the government in the wake of controversy over an ugly IPL franchise row in which his friend Sunanda Pushkar was given a sweat equity worth Rs.70 crore.
Tharoor, who has been in the firing line of a united opposition demanding his removal, met Manmohan Singh earlier in the day for over 50 minutes to explain his side of the story.
On the other hand, it may be a be greater Disappointment for Spectrum Three Generation that they would not see Sharuk Khan and Lait Modi dance NAKED with others as KOLKATA Night Rider is pathetically out of Semifinal as Punjab King Eleven failed to kill yet another giant! Kolkata had been too involved as Dada was in top form. But Ma Manasa, Ma Kali, Ashta Dhatu Rings, Nabagrah Plants sacred to please the stars and Capsules and Holy Garlands failed to Help the Poor Run of the Most Betted team. The Arrangement and Fixing seem to be Aborted as Stiff Survilience is ON and Modi is not that Secure as Income Tax Sacm in his State Within the Sate and Government within the Government has become a greater Political Issue. Tharur may be punished but Modi has to opt for an Escape route. Sorry, Kolkata! sorry, KKR Fans. The last league Match in kolkata would have not to be Betted so well!On the other hand, With some superb bowling in display, Deccan Chargers overcame Delhi Daredevils to book their place in the IPL semi-finals. Mahendra Singh Dhoni's two towering sixes in the last over earned a thrilling six-wicket victory for Chennai Super Kings over Kings XI Punjab and a semi-final spot in the Indian Premier League.Pathan was at the receiving end of Dhoni's brute power. Dhoni struck the first ball for four, mistimed and skied the second but Piyush Chawla fell short to lap the ball that gave him two runs, and then cleared the long on off succesive balls. Super Kings needed 16 off the last over from Irfan Pathan to chase down 193 runs and Dhoni (54 not out off 29 balls) took his team home with two balls to spare.
The Great Indian PROSTITUTION League is in Vogue!As I have been writing the mainstream Political activities in and out Parliament and the so called social engineering of Inclusive Exclusion and economic Ethnic cleansing since long as my friends should Remember. I have been giving details of IPL Betting and Match Fixing! Now the climax unfolds as Tharoor seems to be made SCAPGOAT as Lalit Modi must be Spared!Embattled Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor resigned Sunday night, informed sources said here. A formal announcement was still awaited and was likely to be made Monday morning, they added.
Shashi Tharoor submits resignation, PM acceptsHindustan Times - 32 minutes ago Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor submitted his resignation to the Prime Minister late on Sunday night in the wake of controversy over his role in the allotment of sweat equity of the value of Rs 70 crore to his friend Sunanda ... Kochi IPL row: Shashi Tharoor resigns, PM acceptsTimes of India - 13 minutes ago NEW DELHI: Shashi Tharoor tonight resigned as Minister of State for External Affairs after the high-level Congress Core Group decided that he should quit in the wake of controversy over the IPL Kochi franchise, capping a week-long drama that threatened ... Kochi IPL row: Tharoor resignsTimes of India - 1 hour ago NEW DELHI: Minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor on Sunday evening handed over his resignation to PM Manmohan Singh. Tharoor's move came minutes after the Congress core committe's meeting at the PM's residence. Shashi Tharoor drove-in ... Tharoor quits, PM and party ask him to goIBNLive.com - 8 minutes ago New Delhi: Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs, on Sunday night resigned from the Union cabinet after days of relentless controversy over his alleged involvement in the bidding for an IPL team. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has ... Shashi Tharoor resigns as MoS External AffairsThe Hindu - 59 minutes ago PTI The Hindu Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor leaving the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence prior to the Congress Core committee meeting held on Sunday. Photo: VVKrishnan The Prime Minister has forwarded Tharoor's ... A league of their ownHindustan Times - - 1 hour ago Even so, the quest for extra money sometimes gets the better of them. This has led to 'private practice' becoming a charming euphemism for anybody exploiting his regular responsibilities for a fast buck. At the root of the Indian Premier League (IPL) ... Tharoor may be set to resignLivemint - - 21 minutes ago New Delhi: Minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor was summoned to the Prime Minister's residence on Sunday night amid television news reports that his resignation was imminent after key leaders of the ruling Congress ... Tharoor issue: Congress core committee meeting endsTimes of India - 2 hours ago NEW DELHI: The crucial meeting of the Congress' core committee held against the backdrop of minister of state of external affairs Shashi Tharoor's alleged involvement in an ugly IPL row ended on Sunday evening. The nearly two-hour meeting, ... Shashi Tharoor quits as Minister, Sunanda surrenders Rendezvous equityNetIndian - 28 minutes ago Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor resigned from the Union Council of Ministers tonight after a week-long controversy over the sweat equity given to his close friend Sunanda Pushkar by Rendezvous Sport, which led the consortium that ... Here's looking at you, IPLFinancial Express - 28 minutes ago New Delhi: Since its high-decibel launch two years ago, the IPL, the 20-over cricket league launched by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has been mired in controversies. However, developments in the past week, spurred by high-profile ... | Timeline of articles Number of sources covering this story
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Opposition tonight hailed Shashi Tharoor''s resignation as Union Minister saying his position had become "untenable" in the wake of the Kochi IPL ownership controversy. "Tharoor''s position had become untenable and it was only appropriate that he resigned.
There was so much evidence against him. The lady giving back her equity does not absolve him of the charges," said BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman.
CPI leader D Raja said that the exit of Tharoor became inevitable and Congress should have taken a decision long back when the controversy exploded. Since there were serious allegations of Tharoor''s involvement in the Kochi IPL franchise, his continuance in the government became untenable.
The reported decision of Sunanda Pushkar surrendering her stake is itself "an admission of guilt", he said. The entire IPL functioning and its accountability needed to be probed and the role of of this sports ministry will have to be redefined so that a regulator is created to monitor, Raja demanded.
Congress Spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said the government has taken the "correct moral stand". "Congress has nothing to do with the IPL. It was an issue of an individual minister.
The Party has acted with utmost restraint. It went through a very decent process by which it collected facts and a final view was taken by the Prime Minister," she said.
According to the sources, Tharoor submitted his resignation to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a nearly half-hour meeting -- the second meeting between the two -- at the Prime Minister's House, 7, Race Course Road, late Sunday night.
The prime minister also spoke with Congress president Sonia Gandhi after Tharoor submitted his resignation and is believed to have forwarded it to President Pratibha Patil.
The resignation came after a weeklong drama over an ugly IPL row as his friend Sunanda Pushkar, who is believed to have received a sweat equity worth Rs.70 crore in the deal, gave up her controversial stake in the IPL Kochi franchise earlier Sunday.
The Congress party also held a crucial meeting of its core committee, attended by senior union ministers, over the row at the centre of which was Tharoor and his 'mentoring' the Kochi IPL franchise.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had been demanding the removal of Tharoor, welcomed the move. 'This is the victory of truth,' BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said, adding he heard about the development through the media only.
Shashi Tharoor''s stint of less than a year as a Union Minister was dogged by a spate of controversies from his stay in a five star hotel to the high-voltage IPL row involving him and Sunanda Pushkar, whom he reportedly intends to marry. Criticised for his tweets on a host of issues, including government policy matters, Tharoor often escaped from any severe action both from the Congress party as well as the government.
His tryst with controversies began with his stay at a luxury hotel instead of the official accomodation which became an embarrassment issue for the party that swore by ''aam aadmi'' in the elections and had launched an austerity drive. This resulted in senior Minister Pranab Mukherjee asking him and his senior S M Krishna to vacate the luxury hotel rooms for which they claimed they were paying from their pocket.
Tharoor defended himself, saying that it was because of the delay in getting his official residence ready. And he also complained that there was no gym facility in the official residence.
In the wake of restrictions on luxury class flying due to the austerity drive, he courted another controversy by his remarks on Twitter in which he described the economy class as "cattle class". This set off another round of criticism that he was not following political descipline and party ethos.
However, this was subsequently resolved when the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh treated it as a comment made in a lighter vein. Tharoor met his party leadership and had to offer them an explanation.
Before this could simmer down, yet another controversy erupted when Tharoor said people should be working on Gandhi Jayanti rather than staying at home thereby paying real homage to Mahatma Gandhi. Tharoor was in the news again for publicly criticising the new visa guidelines adopted by the Government in the wake of the gaps exposed by the arrest of 26/11 terror suspects, David Headley and Tahawwur Rana.
For this, he was criticized for breaking ranks with the official position of the Government. He was later called by his senior Minister S M Krishna who asked him not to air his views on government policies at a public forum.
In January 2010, Tharoor was also criticised for his views, expressed at a public function, on Nehru for his vision on Indian foreign policy. Responding to the criticism, Tharoor issued a clarification, apparently to mollify his own party as some of its members were up in arms against him.
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With the Shashi Tharoor issue on the boil, Congress President Sonia Gandhi met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday evening to decide on the minister's continuance in the government.
शशि थरूर ने प्रधानमंत्री को सौंपा इस्तीफादैनिक भास्कर - 1 घंटा पहले नई दिल्ली. प्रधानमंत्री आवास पर हुई कांग्रेस कोर कमेटी की बैठक के बाद विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर ने मंत्री पद से इस्तीफा दे दिया है| गौरतलब है कि थरूर बैठक ख़त्म होने के तुरंत बाद अपनी निजी गाड़ी से प्रधानमंत्री निवास पहुंचे थे यहां पर पीएम और थरूर के बीच लगभग 25 मिनट तक बैठक चली। इसके बाद थरूर ने अपना इस्तीफा पीएम को सौंप दिया है लेकिन इस मुलाकात के बाद जब शशि थरूर बाहर निकले तो वे मीडिया से बचकर अपने घर की तरफ चले गए। ... कोर कमेटी में होगा थरूर के भाग्य का फैसलाहिन्दुस्तान दैनिक - 1 घंटा पहले प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह और कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष सोनिया गांधी ने इंडियन प्रीमियर लीग (आईपीएल) की कोच्चि टीम से विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर के संबंधों को लेकर उठे विवाद तथा इससे पार्टी और सरकार की हो रही फजीहत पर रविवार को विस्तार से चर्चा की। सूत्रों के अनुसार प्रधानमंत्री निवास पर हुई कांग्रेस की कोर कमेटी की बैठक में इस विवाद से जुडे विभिन्न पहलुओं विशेषकर विपक्ष द्वारा थरूर के इस्तीफे की मांग तथा इसे लेकर गत शुक्रवार ... विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर ने इस्तीफा दियाजोश 18 - 14 मिनट पहले नई दिल्ली। आज शाम को कांग्रेस कोर कमेटी की मीटिंग के बाद देर रात विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर ने पद से इस्तीफा दे दिया। उन्होंने अपना इस्तीफा प्रधानमंत्री को सौंप दिया जिसे तत्काल मंजूर कर लिया गया। प्रधानमंत्री ने उनका इस्तीफा राष्ट्रपति को भेज दिया है। पिछले करीब एक सप्ताह से शशि थरूर क्रिकेट की "इंडियन प्रीमियर लीग" (आईपीएल) की नई कोच्चि टीम में अपनी महिला मित्र सुनंदा पुष्कर को भागीदारी दिलाने में अपनी भूमिका को ... थरूर क्लीन बोल्डयाहू! जागरण - 54 मिनट पहले नई दिल्ली, जागरण ब्यूरो। कोच्चि टीम को लेकर आईपीएल आयुक्त ललित मोदी के साथ शुरू हुए 'मैच' में विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर 'क्लीन बोल्ड' हो गए हैं। रविवार देर रात प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह ने उन्हें बुला कर उनसे इस्तीफा ले लिया। कोच्चि टीम विवाद को लेकर रविवार दोपहर थरूर को बुलाकर प्रधानमंत्री ने उनका पक्ष जाना। सूत्रों के मुताबिक, प्रधानमंत्री ने तभी उन्हें किसी भी कठिन फैसले के लिए तैयार रहने को कह दिया था। ... शशि थरूर ने इस्तीफा सौंपायाहू! भारत - 1 घंटा पहले नई दिल्ली। लगातार विवादों का सामना कर रहे विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर ने आखिर रविवार को अपने पद से इस्तीफा दे ही दिया। प्रधानमंत्री कार्यालय के प्रवक्ता ने कहा कि प्रधानमंत्री ने शशि थरूर का इस्तीफा इस अनुशंसा के साथ राष्ट्रपति प्रतिभा पाटिल को भेज दिया कि इस्तीफे को मंजूर किया जा सकता है। शशि थरूर प्रधानमंत्री से मिलेबीबीसी हिन्दी - 1 घंटा पहले कोच्चि की आईपीएल टीम को लेकर विवादों में फंसे विदेश राज्यमंत्री शशि थरूर देर रात प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह के निवास पर जाकर उनसे मिले हैं. अभी यह स्पष्ट नहीं हुआ है कि शशि थरूर के मंत्रिमंडल में बने रहने के बारे में क्या फ़ैसला हुआ है क्योंकि न तो शशि थरूर ने कुछ कहा है और न प्रधानमंत्री कार्यालय से इस बारे में कोई बयान जारी हुआ है. इससे पहले प्रधानमंत्री के निवास पर कांग्रेस पार्टी के कोर ग्रुप की बैठक हुई थी. ... शशि थरूर ने प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह को इस्तीफा सौंपाआज तक - 1 घंटा पहले विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर की किस्मत का फैसला हो चुका है. कांग्रेस कोर ग्रूप की दो घंटे की बैठक के बाद शशि थरूर को प्रधानमंत्री आवास पर तलब किया गया. इसके बाद करीबी सूत्रों से खबर मिली है कि शशि थरूर इस्तीफा लेकर प्रधानमंत्री से मिलने गए हैं. बैठक सात बजे शुरू हो गई थी. बैठक में प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह के साथ कांग्रेस प्रमुख सोनिया गांधी, प्रणब मुखर्जी, पी चिदंबरम और ए के एंटनी शामिल हुए. प्रणब मुखर्जी ने बैछक के शुरू में ... सुनंदा ने कोच्चि फ्रैंचाइजी में अपनी हिस्सेदारी छोड़ीनवभारत टाइम्स - 2 घंटे पहले नई दिल्ली।। इंडियन प्रीमियर लीग (आईपीएल) की कोच्चि फ्रैंचाइजी को लेकर विवादों के घेरे में आए विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर की मित्र और दुबई में रहने वाली महिला उद्यमी सुनंदा पुष्कर ने टीम में अपनी हिस्सेदारी छोड़ दी है। सुनंदा के वकील आशीष मेहता ने रविवार को एक न्यूज चैनल के माध्यम से इस बात की जानकारी दी। मेहता ने कहा कि सुनंदा ने तत्काल प्रभाव से रॉन्देवू स्पोर्ट्स वर्ल्ड फ्रैंचाइजी टीम में दी गई हिस्सेदारी छोड़ने का ... शशि थरूर का जाना तय, पीएम ने तलब कियाः सूत्रआज तक - 2 घंटे पहले प्रधानमंत्री के आवास पर कांग्रेस कोर ग्रुप की बैठक हुई. यह बैठक शशि थरूर के मसले पर हुई. सूत्रों के हवाले से यह खबर मिली है कि इस बैठक में शशि थरूर से इस्तीफा लेने का फैसला लिया गया है. यह बैठक करीब दो घंटे तक चली. इस बैठक में सोनिया गांधी, एंटनी और गृह मंत्री चिदंबरम शामिल हुए. यह बैठक खत्म हो चुकी है. प्रधानमंत्री ने शशि थरूर को तलब किया. थरूर अपने घर से बिना लाल बत्ती की गाड़ी लिए निकले. बैठक के बाद कांग्रेस प्रवक्ता अभिषेक ... टूट गया थरूर का गुरूरvisfot.news - 35 मिनट पहले नई दिल्ली। विदेश राज्यमंत्री शशि थरूर का गुरूर टूट गया है. प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह ने शशि थरूर का इस्तीफा ले लिया है और प्रधानमंत्री कार्यालय ने शशि थरूर का इस्तीफा राष्ट्रपति के पास मंजूरी के लिए भेज दिया है. शशि थरूर ने आज देर शाम प्रधानमंत्री से मुलाकात के बाद इस्तीफा दे दिया था. देर शाम प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह से अपनी दूसरी मुलाकात के दौरान उनकी सफाई से असंतुष्ट प्रधानमंत्री ने उन्हें खुद इस्तीफा देने के लिए कहा ... कांग्रेस कोर ग्रुप की बैठक खत्मThat's Hindi - 1 घंटा पहले इस मसले पर इस्तीफा देने का दबाव झेल रहे थरूर ने इससे पहले दोपहर को प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह से उनके आवास पर मुलाकात की थी। इस दौरान उन्होंने प्रधानमंत्री के समक्ष अपनी सफाई पेश की। कोर ग्रुप की बैठक में प्रधानमंत्री और कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष सोनिया गांधी के अलावा केंद्रीय वित्त मंत्री प्रणब मुखर्जी, रक्षा मंत्री ए. के. एंटनी, केंद्रीय गृह मंत्री पी. चिदंबरम और कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष के राजनीतिक सलाहकार अहमद पटेल ने हिस्सा लिया। शशि थरूर ने इस्तीफा दियाvisfot.news - 1 घंटा पहले नई दिल्ली। केन्द्रीय विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर ने अपने पद से इस्तीफा दे दिया है. शशि थरूर ने अपना इस्तीफा प्रधानमंत्री को सौंप दिया है. हालांकि इस बारे में आधिकारिक रूप से अभी कोई घोषणा नहीं की गयी है लेकिन ऐसी खबरें आ रही हैं कि देर शाम प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह से अपनी दूसरी मुलाकात के दौरान उन्होंने प्रधानमंत्री को अपना इस्तीफा सौंप दिया है. प्रधानमंत्री ने उन्हें खुद इस्तीफा देने के लिए कहा है. थरूर के इस्तीफा देने ... सुनंदा छोड़ेंगी कोच्चि की हिस्सेदारीदैनिक भास्कर - 9 घंटे पहले नई दिल्ली. कोच्चि टीम की हिस्सेदार और विदेश मंत्री शशि थरूर की महिला मित्र सुनंदा पुष्कर ने अपने 70 करोड़ के शेयर लौटाने का ऐलान किया है। फ्रेंचाइजी में बिना निवेश पांच फीसदी का हिस्सेदार बनने के कारण कश्मीरी मॉडल पर बहस चल रही थी। इस विवाद के कारण ही थरूर की कुर्सी छिनने की भी नौबत आ गई थी। दुबई में बसी कश्मीरी मूल की महिला सुनंदा पुष्कर ने अपने मित्न एवं विदेश राज्यमंत्नी शशि थरुर को लेकर हुए विवाद के बाद इंडियन ... कोच्चि विवादः थरूर ने इस्तीफा दियाडी-डब्लू वर्ल्ड - 1 घंटा पहले गहराते विवाद के बीच विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर ने अपना इस्तीफा प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह को सौंप दिया है. थरूर पर कोच्चि फ्रैंचाइजी में अपनी दोस्त सुनंदा पुष्कर को हिस्सेदारी दिलाने के लिए पद के दुरुपयोग का आरोप है. सूत्रों ने बताया है कि प्रधानमंत्री आवास पर कांग्रेस कोर ग्रुप की बैठक में थरूर से इस्तीफा देना को कहा गया. हालांकि थरूर की दोस्त सुनंदा पुष्कर ने रविवार को कोच्चि फ्रैंचाइजी में अपनी 19 प्रतिशत की ... सुनंदा पुष्कर ने की शेयर छोड़ने की पेशकशहिन्दुस्तान दैनिक - 10 घंटे पहले शशि थरूर के मंत्रीपद के जाने की अटकलों के बीच उनकी दोस्त और आईपीएल कोच्चि टीम में हिस्सेदार सुनंदा पुष्कर ने अपने शेयर छोड़ने की पेशकश रखी है। सूत्रों के हवाले से खबर आई है कि सुनंदा अपनी हिस्सेदारी छोड़ विवादों को विराम देना चाहती हैं। उल्लेखनीय है कि सारा विवाद सुनंदा के ही स्वेट इक्विटी से जुड़ा है। थरूर पर यही आरोप है कि उन्होंने अपनी दोस्त सुनंदा पुष्कर की आईपीएल में हिस्सेदारी दिलवाने के लिए अपने पद का दुरुपयोग ...  थरूर मुद्दे पर सोनिया से मिलेंगे मनमोहनयाहू! भारत - 11 घंटे पहले नई दिल्ली। आईपीएल की कोच्चि फ्रेंचाइजी के स्वामित्व को लेकर छाए विवाद की पृष्ठभूमि में शशि थरूर को सरकार में मंत्री बनाए रखने के मुद्दे पर फैसला करने के लिए प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह और सोनिया गांधी के बीच रविवार शाम यहां बैठक होगी। पार्टी सूत्रों ने कहा कि यूपीए अध्यक्ष सोनिया की अध्यक्षता वाले कांग्रेस कोर समूह की बैठक यहां प्रधानमंत्री आवास पर होनी है। इसमें थरूर के भाग्य का फैसला होगा। मनमोहन दो देशों के अपने ...  थरूर पर फैसला आज, सोनिया मिलेंगी पीएम सेदैनिक भास्कर - 17 घंटे पहले नई दिल्ली. कोच्चि आईपीएल फ्रेंचाइजी विवाद में उलझे विदेश राज्यमंत्री शशि थरूर की किस्मत के बारे में प्रधानमंत्री रविवार को फैसला ले सकते हैं। थरूर से इस्तीफा मांगने के लिए प्रधानमंत्री पर कांग्रेस पार्टी और कैबिनेट के सदस्यों का दबाव बढ़ रहा है। इस मसले पर कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष सोनिया गांधी और प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह के बीच शनिवार को होने वाली बैठक में चर्चा होनी थी। लेकिन एक हफ्ते के विदेश प्रवास से लौटे प्रधानमंत्री ...  थरूर कर सकते हैं प्रधानमंत्री को मजबूरयाहू! भारत - १७-०४-२०१० नई दिल्ली [जागरण ब्यूरो]। आईपीएल कोच्चि फ्रेंचाइजी मालिकान विवाद में उलझे विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर का संकट टल नहीं सका। कांग्रेस मान रही है कि खुद पर लगे आरोप धोने की कोशिश में थरूर पूरी तरह असफल रहे हैं। लिहाजा दो देशों की यात्रा से प्रधानमंत्री डा. मनमोहन सिंह की वापसी के बाद सरकार के भीतर थरूर की विदाई की उल्टी गिनती शुरू हो गई लगती है। कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष सोनिया गांधी व प्रधानमंत्री रविवार को इस मसले पर चर्चा करेंगे ... शशि थरूर पर फैसला आज, कांग्रेस कोर समूह की बैठकहिन्दुस्तान दैनिक - 12 घंटे पहले आईपीएल कोच्चि विवाद में फंसे विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर पर सरकार आज फैसला ले सकती है। थरूर मुद्दे पर रविवार शाम कांग्रेस कोर समूह की अहम बैठक होने वाली है। कांग्रेस के एक धड़े का मानना है कि कि इंडियन प्रीमियर लीग (आईपीएल) में कोच्चि टीम की फ्रेंचाइजी को लेकर विवादों में पड़े विदेश राज्यमंत्री शशि थरूर के मामले पर विपक्ष यदि संसद में प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह से सफाई मांगने पर अड़ता है, तो उनका बचाव करना, पार्टी और सरकार ... थरूर के बयान से कांग्रेस संतुष्ट नहींदैनिक भास्कर - १७-०४-२०१० नई दिल्ली.आईपीएल में कोच्चि टीम को लेकर विवाद में आए विदेश राज्यमंत्री थरूर के बयान से कांग्रेस पूरी तरह संतुष्ट नही हैं। इस पूरे मामले में प्रधानमंत्री के आने के बाद कोई फैसला होने की संभावना हैं। हमारे सहयोगी अखबार डीएनए के अनुसार प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह भारत आने के बाद इस मामले पर कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष सोनिया गांधी और अन्य कांग्रेस नेताओं से इस चर्चा करेंगे। गौरतलब है कि विपक्ष शशि थरूर के इस्तीफे की मांग पर अड़ा हुआ ... सुनंदा पुष्कर ने कोच्चि टीम से किनारा कियाबीबीसी हिन्दी - 7 घंटे पहले शशि थरूर की महिला मित्र कही जा रही सुनंदा पुष्कर ने आईपीएल की कोच्चि टीम से किनारा कर लिया है. उन्होंने टीम के मालिक समूह यानी रॉनडेवू कॉनसोर्टियम में अपनी हिस्सेदारी या शेयर वापस लेने की घोषणा की है लेकिन विपक्षी भारतीय जनता पार्टी (भाजपा) ने थरूर पर हमले तेज़ कर दिए हैं. सुनंदा के वकील आशीष मेहता ने ये जानकारी दी है. उन्होंने कहा, "जो कुछ हो रहा है उससे सुनंदा काफी आहत हैं. वह अपना शेयर वापस ले रही हैं. लेकिन उन्होंने केरल ... थरूर से नेतृत्व नाराज, जा सकता है मंत्री पदHindi- Economic times - 10 घंटे पहले नई दिल्ली : लग रहा है कि आईपीएल की पिच पर सियासत के मैदान का एक खिलाड़ी रन आउट हो जाएगा। राजनीतिक रणभूमि में सरकार को विपक्ष के हमलों की जद में ला देने वाले विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर को बाहर का दरवाजा दिखाए जाने की तैयारी की जा रही है। सूत्रों का कहना है कि कांग्रेस नेतृत्व ने फैसला किया है कि थरूर का मंत्री बने रहना अब मुमकिन नहीं रह गया है, क्योंकि वह इस बात का विश्वास नहीं दिला सके कि कोच्चि फ्रेंचाइजी के साथ उनका संबंध ... सुनंदा रोन्देवू में हिस्सेदारी छोडने का कर सकती हैं ऎलानखास खबर - 7 घंटे पहले नई दिल्ली। आईपीएल की नई फ्रेचाइजी कोचि्च में हिस्सेदारी पर उठे विवाद के बाद सुर्खिया में आई सुनंदा पुष्कर अपनी हिस्सेदारी छोड सकती हैं। सूत्रों के अनुसार विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर की करीबी महिला मित्र सुनंदा ने रोन्दोयू स्पोर्टस में अपनी हिस्सेदारी छोडने का मना बना लिया है। सूत्रों ने बताया कि इस संदर्थ में वे जल्द ही ऎलान कर सकती हंै। कोचि्च फ्रेंचाइजी के मालिक रोन्देवू स्पोर्टस में रोन्देवू को 25 प्रतिशत फ्री ... सुनंदा ने की इक्विटी छोड़ने की पेशकशHindi- Economic times - 8 घंटे पहले नई दिल्ली: कोच्चि आईपीएल में केंद्रीय विदेश राज्य मंत्री शशि थरूर और खुद को लेकर चल रहे विवाद के बीच सुनंदा पुष्कर ने फ्रेंचाइजी में 70 करोड़ रुपए की अपनी इक्विटी छोड़ने की पेशकश की है। एक करीबी सूत्र ने बताया कि सुनंदा ने आईपीएल कोच्चि फ्रेंचाइजी में करीब 19 फीसदी इक्विटी छोड़ने की पेशकश की है। हालांकि सुनंदा से इस पेशकश के बारे में कोई भी प्रतिक्रिया नहीं मिल पाई। यह कदम ऐसे समय पर उठाया गया है जब थरूर विपक्ष से कड़े ... सुनंदा ने कोच्चि फ्रेंचाइजी टीम से नाता तोड़ा (लीड-2)That's Hindi - 3 घंटे पहले इसके साथ ही सुनंदा ने टीम के साथ तमाम संबंध खत्म करने की बात भी कही। उधर थरूर पर अपने पद से इस्तीफा देने का दबाव बनता दिख रहा है। उन्होंने इस मामले पर अपनी सफाई पेश करने के लिए प्रधानमंत्री से मुलाकात की। सुनंदा के वकील आशीष मेहता ने रविवार को समाचार चैनल एनडीटीवी के माध्यम से यह जानकारी दी। इसी चैनल ने खबर दी थी कि रेंदेवू स्पोर्ट्स ने कंपनी कानून का उल्लंघन करते हुए सुनंदा को हिस्सेदारी सौंपी थी। इस बात का खुलासा होते ... कोच्चि फ्रेंचाइजी विवाद में थरूर ने दी सफाईHindi- Economic times - 10 घंटे पहले नई दिल्ली: आईपीएल कोच्चि फ्रेंचाइजी विवाद में फंसे विदेश राज्यमंत्री शशि थरूर ने प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह को मामले पर स्पष्टीकरण देने के लिए उनसे मुलाकात की। थरूर के मंत्रिपरिषद में बने रहने या नहीं रहने के बारे में विचार के लिए रविवार शाम को रही कांग्रेस कोर ग्रुप की बैठक से कुछ घंटे पहले विदेश राज्यमंत्री पीएम से मिलने उनके निवास पहुंचे। समझा जाता है कि आईपीएल कोच्चि फ्रेंचाइजी में अपनी मित्र सुनंदा पुष्कर को ... थरूर की किस्मत का फैसला किया जाना संभावितखास खबर - 8 घंटे पहले नई दिल्ली। आईपीएल में कोच्चि टीम को लेकर उपजे विवाद के बीच विदेश राज्यमंत्री शशि थरूर ने रविवार को प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह से उनके आवास पर मुलाकात की। प्रधानमंत्री से थरूर की मुलाकात को अहम माना जा रहा है क्योंकि रविवार शाम को ही कांग्रेस कोर ग्रुप की बैठक बुलाई गई है, जिसमें थरूर की किस्मत का फैसला किया जाना संभावित है। कोर ग्रुप की बैठक में प्रधानमंत्री और कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष सोनिया गांधी के अलावा केंद्रीय वित्त ... सुनंदा कोच्चि फ्रैंचाइजी के शेयर सरेंडर करने को तैयारनवभारत टाइम्स - 9 घंटे पहले नई दिल्ली।। विदेश राज्यमंत्री शशि थरूर की दोस्त सुनंदा पुष्कर ने आईपीएल की कोच्चि फ्रैंचाइजी के 70 करोड़ रुपये के शेयर लौटाने की पेशकश की है। सुनंदा को मिले शेयर को लेकर विदेश राज्यमंत्री शशि थरूर काफी मिश्किल में फंस गए हैं और संभावना जताई जा रही है कि रविवार शाम को कांग्रेस कोर ग्रुप की मीटिंग के बाद उनसे इस्तीफा मांगा जा सकता है। थरूर पर आरोप है कि उन्होंने रॉन्देवू स्पोर्ट्स को आईपीएल की कोच्चि फ्रैंचाइजी दिलवाने ... कांग्रेस कोर कमेटी की बैठक आज, थरूर के भाग्य का फैसला होगाखास खबर - 11 घंटे पहले नई दिल्ली। आईपीएल की कोचि्च फ्रेचाइजी विवाद में उलझे विदेश राज्यमंत्री शशि थरूर को सरकार में पद पर बनाए रखने के मुद्दे पर फैसला करने के लिए प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह और सोनिया गांधी के बीच शाम को बैठक होगी। पार्टी सूत्रों ने कहा कि कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष सोनिया की अध्यक्षता वाले कांग्रेस कोर समूह की बैठक प्रधानमंत्री आवास पर होनी है। इसमें थरूर के भाग्य का फैसला होगा। सिंह दो देशें के अपने विदेश दौरे से रविवार को ही भारत ... मैं बेगुनाह हूं: थरूरखास खबर - १७-०४-२०१० नई दिल्ली। आईपीएल विवाद पर लोकसभा में लिखित बयान देते हुए शशि थरूरू ने कहा कि उनका आईपीएल कोच्चि के निवेशकों से कोई संबंध नहीं है और उन्होने अपने पद का गलत इस्तेमाल नहीं किया। थरूर ने कहा कि पूरे विवाद में सुनंदा पुष्कर का नाम उछलने से आहत हूं और यह सब मेरी छवि खराब करने की साजिश है। उल्लेखनीय है कि आईपीएल कोच्चि में 70 करोड रूपए सुनंदा पुष्कर ने लगाए हैं। जिसके बारे में थरूर पर आरोप है कि यह पैसा उनका है। थरूर ने सफाई देते ... |
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CRICKET NEWS
Cricket News
IPL semi-finals shifted to Mumbai from Bangalore
The IPL governing council decided to shift two semi-final matches from Bangalore to Navi Mumbai after two low-intensity bomb blasts took place outside the Chinnasawmy Stadium on Saturday.
Security beefed up at Eden for KKR-Mumbai match
Security has been beefed up in and around Eden Gardens Stadium ahead of Monday's Indian Premier League match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians, a top police officer said.
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Sachin Tendulkar
Pragyan Ojha
EXPERT COLUMNS
Expert Columns
Steve Waugh
Sunday, April 18, 2010Sourav has enjoyed proving his critics wrong
It was great to watch Sourav shepherd his side to a win and it was great to see that he also got his team selection right.
It was a great all-round effort
We have the players, and if we play like we did against Rajasthan then we have a great chance of, if nothing else, going out on a high note.
Concluded
- Apr18Sun
Delhi Daredevils vs. Deccan Chargers Match 55 - 08:00 PM ISTFeroz Shah Kotla, DelhiResult: Deccan Chargers won by 11 runs - Apr18SunKings XI Punjab vs. Chennai Super Kings Match 54 - 04:00 PM ISTHimachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala
- Apr17SatKolkata Knight Riders vs. Rajasthan Royals Match 53 - 08:00 PM ISTEden Gardens, Kolkata (Calcutta)
Upcoming
- Apr19MonKolkata Knight Riders vs. Mumbai Indians Match 56 - 08:00 PM ISTEden Gardens, Kolkata (Calcutta)View: Match Details
- Apr21WedT.B.C vs. T.B.C1st Semi Final - 08:00 PM ISTDr DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai
- Apr22ThuT.B.C vs. T.B.C2nd Semi Final - 08:00 PM ISTDr DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai
Meanwhile, a day after two low-intensity bomb blasts took place near the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore minutes before the match, the Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council on Sunday decided to shift two semi-final matches from the city to Navi Mumbai.
After Saturday's blasts, two more explosives were found on Sunday, causing serious concern among the organisers and the police. IPL Match was to be EVENTED whatever might come in the way as IPL Betting online involves Billions and Billions daily. Thus, the Bangalore Masses were on the stake last night to make it happening! This is all about the hype of Internal Security which is the Best Tool to ACTIVATE EXODUS in the ABORIGINAL India including the Old Gondwana, now known as Dandakranya divied in Five States!
IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi said the governing council was not ready to take any chances and they wanted to ensure the safety of players and spectators.
Describing Sunanda Pushkar's decision to give up her stake in Kochi IPL team as immaterial, BJP on Sunday demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh immediately sack Union Minister Shashi Tharoor as the matter was now of "stinking corruption".
"We demand that the Prime Minister sacks Shashi Tharoor immediately. It is a not a case of sweat equity at all. Now it is a case of stinking corruption," BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad told reporters in New Delhi.He maintained that Pushkar, who is a close associate of Tharoor, returning her stake of Rs 70 crore in the Kochi IPL franchise was not enough.
"The stain of corruption is not washed by return of bribe money," Prasad remarked.
Citing documents related to Rendezvous Sports World, which is one of the owners of the Kochi team; Prasad asserted that Pushkar was not entitled to sweat equity as per the government rules.
The 48-year-old business executive, based in Dubai, made the dramatic offer shortly after Tharoor had explained to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about his controversial role in "mentoring" the Kochi franchise.
She offered to give up her 'sweat equity' of nearly 19 per cent in the Kochi franchise.
Though Tharoor has denied the charge that he intended to get any financial gain for him or his friend, the opposition is gunning for the removal of the 54-year-old first-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram on the ground that he misused his office to get pecuniary gains for his friend.
Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi told reporters in Kolkata, "The Centre should investigate the entire IPL issue but before that, Tharoor should resign. If he does not resign, he should be sacked."
The BJP leader said the IPL scam had demonstrated how political leaders and businessmen were manipulating the bids by cricket teams.
"This is a serious issue which involves ministers and officials. At a time when the country was facing price rise, Maoist problem and terror threat, they are busy converting IPL into an agency for looting public money. Tharoor is a small fry. There are many other players. A correct picture should be presented before the people," Joshi said.
Tharoor meets PM, may have offered to quit: Report
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor, in the eye of a storm over the Kochi IPL ownership issue, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today ahead of the Congress Core Group meeting which is expected to take a final call on his continuance in the government.
54-year-old Tharoor drove past waiting journalists without taking any questions after the 45-minute meeting with the Prime Minister at his 7, Race Course Road residence. Tharoor also did not talk to media at his Lodhi Estate house.
The Minister had met Congress President Sonia Gandhi two days back. The party continues to distance itself from the issue amid a clamour from the opposition ranks for his removal.
Tharoor is understood to have explained his position to the Prime Minister in the wake of allegations that he helped his friend Sunanda Pushkar acquire a sweat equity in the Kochi IPL franchise.
The Congress Core Group, headed by Gandhi, who is also the UPA Chairperson, would be meeting at the Prime Minister's residence to decide on Tharoor's fate this evening, party sources said. Singh returned from his two-nation tour yesterday.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A K Antony, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Political Secretary to Congress President Ahmed Patel are other members of the key group which deals with major issues.
The minister's statement in the Lok Sabha on Friday did not appear to have changed the position of the party.
The controversy centres around the allocation of sweat equity valued at Rs 70 crore by the IPL Kochi franchise to Pushkar. However, Tharoor has denied the charge that he intended to get any financial gain for him or his friend.
The opposition is gunning for the removal of 54-year-old first-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram on the ground that he misused his office to get pecuniary gains for his friend.
CSK beat Kings XI Punjab by six wickets to storm into semis
Skipper MS Dhoni kept his cool and made brilliant 54 runs to take Chennai Super Kings to the semi-finals of the third edition of IPL at Dharmsala in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday. Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab by six wickets.
Earlier, Kings XI Punjab posted a total of 192 runs against the Chennai Super Kings in the second IPL III match at Dharamsala.
Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and asked Kings XI Punjab to bat first in an Indian Premier League match here today.
Chennai effected two changes in the side, bringing in Justin Kemp and Sudeep Tyagi for Michael Hussey and L Balaji.
Punjab made three changes, leaving Reetinder Sodhi, Shalabh Srivastava and Vikramjeet for Sunny Sohal, Ramesh Powar and VRV Singh.
Teams:
Kings XI Punjab: Kumar Snagakkara (c), Shaun Marsh, Mahel Jayawardene, Yuvraj Singh, Karan Goel, Irfan Pathan, Juan Theron, Ramesh Powar, Piyush Chawla, Sunny Sohal and VRV Singh.
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (c), Matthew Hayden, Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina, Albie Morkel, Justin Kemp, S Badrinath, R Ashwin, Shadab Jakati, Doug Bollinger and Sudeep Tyagi.
Umpires: Billy Bowden and Amish Saheba.
Third Umpire: Marais Erasmus.
get foodsecurity
Sun, Apr 18 04:45 AM
For purposes of food security, the Planning Commission today finally accepted that the number of people living below the poverty line in India is 37.2 per cent of the total population.
The Plan panel, mandated by the empowered group of ministers chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to finalise the BPL numbers, will now meet the secretaries of food and expenditure on Tuesday to calculate the cost of providing food security to so many poor.
The 37.2 per cent poverty line (that works out to 40.71 crore for 2004-05) is based on the methodology recommended by the Suresh Tendulkar committee that submitted its report to Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in December 2009. The report is yet to be officially accepted by the Plan panel.
Besides technical issues of methodology, the report led to a sharp increase in the number of poor in India since 2004-05. But for the limited purposes of food security, the Planning Commission agreed to Tendulkar's recommendations in an internal meeting of all members today.
The number of poor in 2004-05, as per the Plan panel's own estimate released in March 2007, was estimated at 30.17 crore or 27.5 per cent of the total population. Were this number to be accepted as the BPL population, only 6.5 crore families would have got access to food security. But with the Plan panel accepting the Tendulkar report, about 10 crore families will benefit.
"Two different poverty lines — one for food security and the second for all other purposes — for one country sounds odd. But this has been the most expedient solution for the time being," said an official who did not wish to be quoted. In fact, the eGoM was being urged by the Congress leadership to stick to the spirit of the party election promises made in the manifesto.
A note that was pushed by the Congress leadership and finally adopted by the eGoM specifically referred to the BPL numbers. "Whatever we do, we should not reduce coverage to below 10.8 crore families," the note said. It said that while the Plan panel's estimates of poverty could be the basis for identifying BPL families, the entitlements under Antyodaya Anna Yojana for the most vulnerable sections including single women, aged, urban homeless, street children, primitive tribal groups and destitutes should not have any numerical ceiling whatsoever.
In the run-up to the finalisation of the BPL numbers, so crucial to the proposed Food Security Act, there has been intense lobbying, with the Plan panel itself sharply divided. Despite attempts to stick to a lower BPL figure, the Plan panel has finally veered to accepting the Tendulkar committee recommendations that results in a much higher BPL population.
IPL Betting, Swiss Account and the Parliamentary Realty Show Climaxed with Tharoor Endangered as Yet and Modi backed by PAWAR MODI Power, SAFE like Heaven While Sunanda offers to surrender 'sweat equity' as Grand Patch UP! Fiance Finance Bill and Economic Reforms in pipe Line, the Zionist Dynasty and Brahaminical Hegemony dare not to Risk Floor Adjustment as LALU Mulayam Mamata combine vulnerable with Mayawati playing in the Wings, Left and RSS Play Hypocrite Ideology Card. Proactive Judiciary and Pet Central Agencies along with Toilet Media combined is the Survival Kit and Income Tax Raids would not open the Billion Billion Dollar Transactions open subjected to Taxation. It is BAIL OUT UPA Programme only which would Never shift the Taxation Load where it exists, directly on the Masses inflicted with Man Made Calamities, War and Civil war, Displacement and Deportation,Persecution, Monopolistic Aggression and Green Hunt, SEZDrive and Retail Chain, Job Loss and Inflation and Intense Food Insecurity in the Knowledge economy and Health Tour package with Blue Culture Spectrum and IT based Privatisation of Agriculture. Sell Out Everything! The Great Indian PROSTITUTION League is in Vogue!
Meanwhile, RSS comes out to defend Sharad Pawar, the IPL DON JISE PAKDNA MUSHKIL HEE NAHEE NAMUMKIN HAI who played as the Best PRICE Rise Alchemist and did everything to destroy Aboriginal Indigenous Rural World and its Natural Livelihood Resources as CHIDAMBARMAM Pranab Mukherjee led the Corporate war from the Front and Zionist Dynasty Posed Gandhian, Killing Gandhi time and again!Thus,Pawar alone not to be blamed for price rise, Gadkari says!
In the midst of controversy involving her and Union Minister Shashi Tharoor over Kochi IPL, Sunanda Pushkar has offered to surrender her equity of Rs 70 crore in the franchise.She has offered to give up her 'sweat equity' of nearly 19 per cent in the IPL Kochi franchise, a source close to the developments told PTI.However, no comments could be obtained from Sunanda on her offer.The move comes at a time when Tharoor is facing a tough time with opposition demanding his sacking from the government and the Congress party, which has already ordered a probe to look into his role in the entire controversy, contemplating future course of action.
The source said that Sunanda was not directly in touch with the IPL officials regarding the offer. The offer is being made through Rendezvous Sports World.
The new Rendezvous Chairman Harshad Mehta is in touch with the IPL officials regarding the matter.
Interestingly, senior Union Minister Sharad Pawar, IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi and I S Bindra are in Dubai currently to attend an ICC meeting.
Union Agriculture, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sharad Pawar cannot be singularly blamed for the rising food prices, national president of BJP Nitin Gadkari said on Sunday.
Addressing a press conference here, Gadkari said even though Pawar cannot be absolved of responsibility for the price rise, the cabinet is supreme and as its head Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and finance and commerce ministers are responsible for putting the "aam admi" (common man) to lot of hardships.
Gadkari attributed the price rise to the "bad governance and wrong economic policies" of Dr Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
He said BJP leaders had visited food grains godowns in several parts of the country and found that the storages were in dilapidated conditions.
"Due to the bad conditions, grains tend to get damaged. The damaged food grains are then sent to the distilleries for manufacturing liquor," he said adding that there is huge corruption where godowns are not deliberately maintained," he said adding that the government should conduct an inquiry into the matter.
Referring to government's stand that godowns are overflowing, Gadkari said,"If that is true, why are the poor not getting them. The food grains are being allowed to rot due to poor maintenance of the godowns."
Presenting a 14-point chargesheet against the UPA government on price rise, Gadkari said his party would launch a nationwide agitation against the government on April 21.
"The protest march to Parliament will be record breaking," the BJP president said.
Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, Gadkari said the party claims welfare of the poor, but during its tenure, the number of below poverty line people (BPL) has gone up by 41 crore out of which 75 per cent were SC/ST and minorities.
"I have the documents of the Planning Commission to prove it," he said.
"The agitation against price rise is not a political subject but a fight for survival of the poor. We would welcome the support of left and other parties," he said when asked whether the agitation against price rise is by the BJP only or the NDA partners.
Gadkari said the NDA government to help farmers and consumers created the commodities exchanges. But, now it has become a den of speculators. The UPA shifted essential commodities to future/forward market trading list since July 2004.
BJP has charged Manmohan Singh government with criminal violation of essential commodities act. Gadkari said provisions of the Essential Commodities Act prohibit hoarding and speculation.
However, the government itself is encouraging forward trading of essential/agriculture commodities at commodity exchanges.
Gadkari also criticised the frequent, non-transparent and manipulative import and export policies of the government. He alleged that 48 lakh tonne of sugar was exported at Rs 12.50 per kg and re-imported at Rs 22 to Rs 32 per kg.
Inferior quality of wheat was imported at Rs 18.50 per kg while Indian farmers were paid Rs 8.50 per kg, he alleged.
IPL row: Sonia meets Manmohan to decide Tharoor's fate
With the Shashi Tharoor issue on the boil, Congress President Sonia Gandhi met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday evening to decide on the minister's continuance in the government.
Other members of the Congress Core Group including senior party leaders Pranab Mukherjee, A K Antony, P Chidambaram and Political Secretary to Congress president Ahmad Patel joined them later.
This is the first meeting between Gandhi and Singh after the controversy erupted over the Kochi IPL ownership issue involving Tharoor.
Even as the parleys began, Tharoor's friend Sunanda Pushkar, who has sweat equity valued at Rs 70 crore in the IPL Kochi franchise, resigned from Rendezvous Sports World. The company is one of the stakeholders in IPL Kochi.
On a day of fast paced developments, Tharoor met the Prime Minister for about 45 minutes during which is he is understood to have explained his position to Singh in the wake of allegations that he helped his friend Sunanda to acquire a sweat equity in the Kochi IPL franchise.
There was no official word on what transpired at the meeting either from the Prime Minister's Office or from Tharoor's side.
There were conflicting reports one of which said Tharoor was unwilling to step down on the ground that he has not done anything wrong while another said he was willing to quit if the party and the government found him to be an embarrassment.
The Minister had met Congress President Sonia Gandhi two days back. The party continues to distance itself from the issue amid a clamour from the opposition ranks for his removal.
In Dubai, 48-year-old Sunanda made a last ditch attempt to save Tharoor by voluntarily offering to surrender her free equity she got from the consortium which bought the IPL Kochi franchise for Rs.1, 533 crore.
"Given the deeply unpleasant publicity surrounding my involvement, however, I can no longer imagine being able to find the enthusiasm required to associate myself with any IPL activity in the foreseeable future," she said in a statement to Rendezvous Sports, one of the stakeholders in IPL Kochi.
Her lawyer Ashish Mehta said she had taken the decision yesterday.
Both the BJP and the Left parties made it clear that Sunanda abandoning her stake will not let Tharoor off the hook as far as they are concerned.
Stepping up the pressure for Tharoor's resignation, BJP said,"the stain of corruption is not washed by the return of bribe money.
"It is a case of stinking corruption," BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters, adding Sunanda giving back her equity was immaterial.
"It's an admission of guilt" and proves that Sunanda is Tharoor's "front" and does his bidding, he said.
Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi told reporters in Kolkata, "the Centre should investigate the entire IPL issue but before that Tharoor should resign. If he does not resign, he should be sacked."
CPI leader D Raja also said Sunanda surrendering her equity is an admission of guilt and cannot save Tharoor.
It has become untenable for him to continue as a minister, he said.
"The Prime Minister should not take much time to decide on this and the Congress should not drag this issue any further...Tharoor has to step down," he said.
Two explosive devices found at Bangalore stadium
Two crude bombs were found at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here Sunday a day after two low intensity blasts there left 16 people injured.
The first bomb was found near a bus stop close to Gate No 1, the main gate of the stadium, at around 9 a.m. The second device was found near an advertisement hoarding just outside the stadium, police said.
On Saturday, two blasts had delayed the start of the Royal Challengers Bangalore-Mumbai Indian tie by an hour.
Additional Commissioner of Police M.R. Pujar confirmed the finding of two crude bombs Sunday. Police are searching around the stadium as part of efforts to sanitize the area as both the semi-finals of the IPL are to be played there April 21 and 22.
One of the blasts Saturday took place at Gate No 12, in which 16 people, including four policemen, received minor injuries while a security volunteer suffered head injuries. He is being treated at Mallya Hospital, about two km away, from the stadium.
The second blast was at Anil Kumble circle, less than half a kilometre from the stadium. None was injured.
An explosive was found later in the stadium even as the IPL match was on and defused. Timer devices were attached to the three bombs.
Mulayam-speak: Women will corrupt election process
SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who had drawn flak for his ''sexist'' remarks on women''s reservation bill, today claimed that the legislation will only benefit women of rich class who will corrupt the election process. "If the bill is passed it would only benefit women of rich and influential class and they would corrupt the election process which would also become costlier," he said while addressing a meeting of state executive and legislative party at Samajwadi Party headquarters in Lucknow.Insisting that the women reservation bill was not acceptable in its present form, the SP supremo said that the Left parties would also reconsider the bill. Mulayam''s remark last month that women elected through quota will be whistled at had drawn flak from political parties and rights bodies.
The CPI(M) had slammed the SP leader for resorting to a "low level" of debate, saying his logic to oppose the women''s reservation bill holds no ground while friend-turned -foe Amar Singh had termed it as "sexist, Talibani and a cheap remark". Yadav, however, remained apologetic and asserted that his statement was not a slip of tongue but was made after evaluating all aspects so as to initiate a debate on the issue.
IPL: Mallya's daughter questioned by I-T
The Income Tax department plans to enlarge its current inquiry into the IPL's financial transactions to cover all the franchises amidst allegations of murky deals even as it questioned the 'mystery' woman and Vijay Mallya's daughter who works for IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi.Laila Mahmood, the step daughter of Mallya who owns the Royal Challengers Bangalore team, was identified as the woman who exited Modi's office in a plush hotel in Mumbai minutes before I-T officials visited it for probe on Thursday.
The IT authorities probing various aspects of the Indian Premier League controversy have been able to ascertain the identity of the 'mystery' woman as Laila, a source in the department told PTI.
Mallya also said in a statement that "my step daughter Laila Mahmood works for Lalit Modi. I know nothing about this. I called Lalit Modi and he confirmed that she has given a statement to Income Tax."
Suspecting that the woman, who was seen carrying what appeared like a laptop and some documents, might have carried away some important documents, the IT authorities got into action and identified her.
Notwithstanding claims by IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi that it was routine questioning on Thursday by officials at the premises of BCCI and his office in Mumbai, I-T department sources said the special team has prepared a voluminous report on the operations and sent it to the Finance Ministry in Delhi.
Top sources said that in the wake of the report, plans were afoot to summon representatives of the various IPL team owners for questioning and for production of teams.
It may also include search operations on their officials premises, the source said adding it could be a long process, the sources said.
Officially there has been no no word on the operations in Mumbai but sources said the department in Mumbai has been asked to carry out further inquiries and, if necessary, even surveys and raids on IPL premises and those of its franchises.
"We are widening our inquiry. However, it will take some time before we obtain all details about IPL''s transactions," the sources said.
Earlier indications were that only the new franchisees Kochi and Pune could be investigated but now the department may be expected to scrutinise the bid process of all the franchises in the wake of allegations about the sourcing of the funds of the teams.
CBI tells court it has proof on Mayawati's illegal wealth
Almost a month after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's money garland row, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has told the Supreme Court that it has evidence to prove that she and her relatives have illegal wealth.
The CBI, in an affidavit filed Friday in a corruption case against her, said it has statements of witnesses to show that she virtually forcibly acquired gifts from people.
Claiming that it was serious about prosecuting the chief minister and her relatives, the CBI said it has got clinching evidence to prove that they acquired wealth and built assets far exceeding their legal income.
The investigating agency's affidavit comes close to a row involving a garland, reportedly made of Rs.1,000-denomination currency notes and valued at about Rs.21 lakh, that was presented to Mayawati in Lucknow on the 25th anniversary of the Bahujan Samaj Party March 15.
The CBI said former Uttar Pradesh governor T V Rajeswar's June 2007 order, denying it sanction to prosecute Mayawati and her former cabinet colleagues in the multi-billion-rupee Taj Heritage corridor scam, did not imply that it should also abandon the disproportionate assets case against them.
The Taj Heritage corridor scam involved government allotment of large tracts of land along the proposed corridor to a private builder for a song.
The CBI's affidavit was filed in response to Mayawati's lawsuit, seeking the apex court's direction to scrap the corruption case against her.
She contended that the corruption case was filed by the Congress-ruled central government to arm-twist her and settle political scores with her.
The CBI said it has already completed its probe into the case and was ready to file its chargesheet in the apex court any time.
The CBI added that it has evidence to prove that Mayawati owned huge wealth, far exceeding her legal income, not only in her own name but also in the names of her relatives.
She and her relatives also procured the wealth through gifts, which she has claimed, were given to her by her followers, the CBI said.
The gifts were given to her largely during the period when she was the chief minister of the state, the CBI said.
The CBI is relying upon statements of witnesses, recorded before magistrates, to show that she and her relatives virtually forced poor people into giving them gifts.
The CBI had registered the corruption case against Mayawati, questioning how her declared assets of Rs.1 crore in 2003 went up to Rs.50 crore in 2007.
Mayawati had later filed a lawsuit in the apex court in May 2008 seeking scrapping of the criminal proceedings against her in the case alleging it was political vendetta.
Kings XI Punjab served notices by Central, state excise dept
The owners of Kings XI Punjab have been slapped with notices by central and state excise departments asking them to pay over Rs five crore as service tax for IPL's 2008 edition and to furnish details of proceeds from ticket sales this year, senior officials said on Sunday.
"We have issued a notice to them a few days back regarding entertainment tax. They have been asked to furnish complete details of the sale proceeds of tickets," Punjab's Excise and Taxation Department Commissioner A Venu Prasad told PTI.
He said the notice was for the IPL matches played at Mohali in IPL-III. The team played in five matches at Punjab stadium at Mohali in Punjab, with the ticket price ranging between Rs 300 to Rs 25,000.
Compounding problems for the team, which failed to qualify for the semi-finals, the Central Excise Department has also issued a show-cause notice to KPH Dream Cricket Pvt Ltd, the company which owns Kings XI Punjab, asking it to pay over Rs five crore as service tax for matches it played in Mohali in IPL's first edition in 2008.
The notice was issued to the company, which among others is owned by Bollywood actress Priety Zinta and industrialist Ness Wadia, in February this year, a senior official of the Department said.
Meanwhile, the team's Chief Executive Officer Anil Srivatsa denied any knowledge of the notices.
"I have no knowledge about this," he told PTI.
Its Vice President Arvinder Singh also said he was unaware of the matter.
rahul
26 minutes ago | 2 people liked this. |
Let's play it straight
Here's a story that perhaps best exemplifies how far Indian cricket has travelled. In the mid-1950s, India was playing New Zealand. At the time the players were paid a princely sum of Rs 250 for representing the country. When India beat the Kiwis in four days, a cheque of just Rs 200 was handed out. When asked by the players, a board official replied, "Who told you to win the match in four days? Fifty rupees per day is what we give you and since the match has not gone into the fifth day, we can't pay you the full amount!"
Five decades later, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has dramatically altered the rules of the game. There are IPL players who may not even represent their state side, leave aside the country, but will still in the span of seven weeks earn more than what distinguished Test players from a previous generation earned in an entire lifetime. Which is why the success of the IPL should be celebrated: the era when even some of the finest cricketers struggled to make ends meet is well and truly over. The IPL is easily the biggest blockbuster of our times, a multi-million dollar entertainment brand which, to use the words of its chief impresario, Lalit Modi, has become 'recession-proof'.
But as the controversy swirling around Modi and Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor now suggests, being 'recession-proof' doesn't make you immune to sleaze and scandal. The staggering sums of money involved in IPL means that the 'gochi in Kochi' was waiting to happen. That it took a series of tweets to expose cricket's grimy underbelly is also not without irony. Tharoor, after all, is India's most famous twitterer, while Modi too tweets daily. Twitter is premised on the principle of making information flow open and transparent. Often, information that may have been considered sensitive in a pre-Twitter era is now available almost instantaneously through a one-line tweet.
Unfortunately, the IPL, for all its phenomenal success in becoming a global brand in barely three years, has lacked a certain transparency in its functioning. Do we, for example, have full disclosures of all the stakeholders of the IPL teams, including 'related parties' and 'associate businesses'? Do we know how bids and valuations were decided in the first auction and who were the other bidders who lost out and by what margin? Isn't there a conflict of interest when a senior cricket board official also owns an IPL franchise?
These are questions that haven't been fully answered because the IPL has been run like a tightly-knit Boys Club, a clique of the rich and famous who appear to have mutually decided the rules of engagement with Modi and Mammon as the presiding deities. IPL Kochi, let's be honest, tried to gatecrash into the party. The owners weren't business barons (or at least none we'd heard of), nor were they filmstars. The only recognisable 'face' they possessed was a high-profile minister with an unquestioned passion for cricket.
Of course, not every passionate cricket fan would choose to 'mentor' an IPL team with uncertain financial connections. Not if you happen to be a public figure in a responsible position. Tharoor may have had the perfectly justifiable ambition of becoming a Kerala folk hero, but it was naïve of him to confuse a primarily commercial enterprise with the so-called 'spirit' of the game. By allowing himself and his friends to be drawn into a high stakes IPL auction, Tharoor left himself exposed to charges of influence-peddling.
But why single out Tharoor? Sports, especially cricket, has always been an intoxicant for our netas. Virtually every sporting body in this country is headed by a politician. At least a dozen state cricket associations are presided over by politicians, many with little interest in or knowledge of the game. A majority of them run the cricket associations like fiefdoms, with decision-making confined to a small group of people who are accountable to no one.
The BCCI, the country's richest sporting body, exemplifies this culture of non-accountable administration. A few years ago, a lawyer Rahul Mehra had petitioned the Delhi high court claiming that the cricket board was functioning like a private empire. While ruling that the BCCI was subject to judicial review, the court observed, "We must not forget that cricket is no longer what it used to be. It is not just a sport which people dressed in white flannels and rolled up shirt-sleeves enjoyed on lazy summer's afternoons in England between sips of tea and munches of scones. It is no longer the reserve of the nawabs, the maharajas, the brown sahebs and the rich who had the time and the inclination. It now permeates all levels of society."
Unfortunately, the democratisation of Indian cricket has not transformed the way it's administered. The IPL, in a sense, was uniquely positioned to effect a change since it is not dependent on political patronage. But while it has achieved great success in integrating the sport with consumer needs and market demands, it has failed to usher in the ethical standards of corporate governance that professional Indian sport so desperately needs. The Kochi controversy is a timely wake-up call for the IPL to clean up its act and observe due diligence before it's too late. The IPL needs to become the Indian Public League, not end up as a secret society.
Post-script: The 250-rupee story was told to me by the sardar of spin Bishen Singh Bedi. Bedi's classical style might have been ill-suited to 20-20 cricket but you can bet your last rupee, he wouldn't have minded being auctioned for a few crores!
Rajdeep Sardesai is Editor-in-Chief , IBN Network
The views expressed by the author are personal
http://www.hindustantimes.com/let-s-play-it-straight/h1-article1-531746.aspxHowzzat, Shashi?
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Lalit comes in to bowl the next one and, oh my god, it's a real juicy bouncer, one that we haven't seen the likes of for a very long time. If I remember right, the last time we had such a bouncer from Lalit was last year, when he knocked Chidambaram out cold before scooting off to South Africa. No wonder people hate Lalit's balls. Shashi is taking it very well, considering it was a really nasty one glancing off his helmet. Shailendra Gaikwad at the non-striker's end has walked down to Shashi and is offering him comfort and advice.
We've been having a lovely day of cricket here at the DY Patil stadium and to be fair the Kochi side has so far played well beyond our expectations. Shashi has been able to strengthen Kochi's batting line-up by roping in some heavy hitters who play for the income-tax department. They could easily take Lalit to the cleaners. But then, Lalit has also been able to get good players from a holding company incorporated in Mauritius.
Lalit to Shashi. Slower ball this time, hit smartly into the covers for a quick couple of runs. Gaikwad at the non-striker's end has been playing very well, hitting Lalit all over the field. Lalit was all of a twitter and there was a lot of talk in the dugout about how he was offering a cool $50 million dollars for Shailendra to walk away.
Hold on, what's this? News has just come in that Shailendra has been sacked from his team. In the middle of the match, when he was in the field? Whodunit, Lalit or Narendra Modi? This must be the first time that's happened in the history of cricket. Anyway Shailendra has been recalled to the pavilion and someone called Rosy Blue is going to take his place. They've even organised a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to take Shailendra back to the stadium. Be that as it may, here's the new batsman coming on to the field and, believe it or not, it's a guy from the Enforcement Directorate, coming out to bat for Shashi. Lalit looks stumped, this is going to be some match.
Next ball from Modi to Shashi. Lalit is rearranging his consortium of fielders, shifting Suresh Chellaram to first slip, while Gaurav Burman is now at gully. A couple of skeletons from the Indian Premier League (IPL) cupboard are fielding near the fence. Lalit to Shashi and this time he gets on top of the bounce and cuts it over the head of Sharad Pawar at point. There's no fielder in the deep and the ball rockets into the boundary for four more runs. Was that a dirty look between Lalit and Sharad? Sometimes you get the impression that people
like Sharad and Shashank Manohar are batting for the other side. But here are the lovely Kochi cheerleaders, led by Sunanda Pushkar, celebrating that hit. They're sweating a lot in this heat, but I've been told they'll be getting plenty of sweat equity in return.
Oh, oh, one of the underworld bhais fielding near Shashi has just said something to him. Shashi is tweeting about it. He says the bhai threatened him. The chap from the enforcement directorate and the bhai glare coldly at each other. No sledging, guys.
It's time for a strategic time-out, folks. But before I leave you, here are the latest odds from the bookies: Lalit Modi 3 to 1, Shashi Tharoor 5 to 2.
Manas Chakravarty is Consulting Editor, Mint
The views expressed by the author are personal
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Howzzat-Shashi/H1-Article3-532646.aspxLecture me not, it's barbaric
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A couple of weeks ago in Bhopal, Minister for Global Warming and Heated Exchanges Jairam Ramesh lost his cool yet again. He denounced as 'barbaric' the convocation gown and mortarboard cap in which he was handing out degrees at the Indian Institute of Forest Management. I would give way to academic hesitation before calling the garb of the scholastic fathers 'barbaric' but nevertheless, if I had a mortarboard, I would have chucked it in the air. What is the use of this play-acting in Bhopal when in certain ancient Oxford colleges, the coveted high table dinner may translate into a meal of fish and chips, eaten with silverware?
A gown designed for unheated medieval England is an absurd wear for the Indian summer. And what use is the mortarboard? I personally believe the surface like a schoolboy's slate was for academics to write down notes to themselves which they could carry on their person for ready reference. Farras on the indivisibility of the Trinity, or perhaps the decimal value of pi. Or perhaps their bar tab. Unpaid medieval bar bills were politically explosive, triggering battles between 'town and gown', when people in regular clothes fought people in funny clothes.
Ramesh could have enlarged on the theme while he was about it and attacked yet another barbaric artefact of academia — the lecture. I have strong personal feelings about this, because the institution of the lecture prevented me from pursuing a career in academics for which I was eminently suited, being endowed with a razor-sharp yet sensitive intellect coupled with a prehensile, Australopithecine grasp on petty, vulgar politics.
My tragic flaw is that I fall asleep the moment someone begins to read out loud something they have written on a sheet of paper. Since it is difficult not to notice someone who is fast asleep in a small seminar room containing perhaps five alert academics, I was constitutionally disbarred from academia.
Why do I fall asleep at lectures? In protest I find the institution of the lecture deeply insulting because it suggests that I am illiterate. The lecture — from the Latin legere, to read — is an artefact dating from early medieval times in Europe, when everything had to be read out because audiences were illiterate. Even scribes who copied the holy texts in the scriptoria of monasteries were sometimes uneducated. One can't call them unlettered, because they were artists who worked with the alphabet, but frequently they did not understand what they were copying. Making sense of it was the province of the exegete, who explained the text, and the hermeneut, who translated it into the local tongue and idiom.
That was in the past. This is the present, Indian Standard Time. I can legere. I myself am the exegete. I am the hermeneut, too. I can even spell 'polyphiloprogenitive' without faltering. So my intellectual capabilities are legion, and I fail to appreciate why I must be harangued by a guy who has written something down on a piece of paper when I can read it myself, at my convenience. Perhaps in the loo, speaking of conveniences.
That's it! That's probably why academics still give lectures. For fear that if the audience got their hands on the text, they would read it in the loo.
Pratik Kanjilal is publisher of The Little Magazine
The views expressed by the author are personal
Ganguly makes a quickfire 75 as Kolkata win
Eden Gardens was rocking under the floodlights. The amphitheatre wasn't packed to capacity, the result didn't ensure passage to the semifinals, but each moment of triumph of the Kolkata Knight Riders was greeted tumultuously. It's not clear yet what Shah Rukh Khan is going to tweet. What's clear is his team virtually shut the doors on the Rajasthan Royals.
It was a question of pulling things back. Shane Warne's unheralded lot had fast-forwarded to 46 for none from six overs after managing just 24 from four. The Knights bowled brilliantly and imaginatively then on, Murali Kartik once again leading the show with everyone else chipping in. When it came to fielding, Sourav Ganguly led the way, catching a stunner to send back Yusuf Pathan.
The chase was not difficult in terms of calculations on paper and it was Ganguly again who gave the team the direction.
Question marks over his contribution to the team's cause will remain in terms of strike rate and dot balls, but Saturday was different. Like taking that catch, the captain of the Knights was leading from the front, literally, taking the battle to the opposition bowlers.
And although it came rather late into the competition, there were other Indians contributing to the team's cause. From Kartik to Ashok Dinda, Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Cheteshwar Pujara, they all played their part in the eight-wicket win. It perhaps came a little too late in the day, but Eden Gardens wasn't complaining. Mr SRK too didn't have any reason to crib either.
Ganguly's was an effort with class written all over. The celebrated Brendon McCullum and Chris Gayle departed soon after coming in and it was the leader of men leading from the front.
If the catch was a statement of intent, the kind of batting on display was another statement, of telling detractors that you write him off at your own peril.
It might have come a little too late in the day, as far as the future of the Knights in IPL III is concerned, but it was a confirmation of the fact that Ganguly reserves his best when fingers are pointed at him. There are players who come back hard each time they are cornered. Look at Ganguly for example. He keeps coming back from the dead.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/specials/cricket/IPL/Ganguly-makes-a-quickfire-75-as-Kolkata-win/cricketnews/SP-Article10-532687.aspx
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