Saturday, April 16, 2011

Chargers finally breaks its home jinx

— PHOTO: a.k.shrma
 
DEADLY DALE: Dale Steyn, who bowled with pace and purpose to help Deccan Chargers score its first win of IPL-IV, celebrates one of his three strikes.
HYDERABAD: Buoyed by Bharat Chipli's unconquered 61 and backed by its hostile pace quartet, the Deccan Chargers shook off the shackles of superstition surrounding its home ground to record a 33-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Rajiv Gandhi international stadium on Thursday.
The win, coming after three years, eight IPL and two Champions League matches, was as welcome as rain in the desert. Leading the charge for the home side was skipper Kumar Sangakkara, whose bag of five victims behind the stumps marked the highest tally ever in the IPL.
Eager to shed its tag of perennial loser, the Chargers could do virtually no wrong on this red-letter day. Some resistance came its way in the form of a 62-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Virat Kohli (71, 51b, 5x4, 3x6) and Cheteshwar Pujara. Challengers, however, had to contend with the fiery foursome of Dale Steyn (three for 24) and Manpreet Gony (three for 31), ably supported by Ishant Sharma and Daniel Christian.
Top order collapse
The top order collapse presented a problem of gigantic proportions, a situation from which the Challengers couldn't quite clamber back. At the second timeout, it was poised precariously at 108 for five, the unbroken sixth-wicket stand between Kohli and Pujara having just crossed the half-century mark.
Pujara perished shortly after, pouched by Daniel Christian at mid-off signalling the beginning of the end for the Bangalore squad. Runs came in a trickle thereafter, the boundaries few and far between.
After the Chargers was invited to bat, Shikhar Dhawan departed first, his miscued straight-drive off Zaheer Khan finding mid-on Vettori moving backward to hold on to the offering.
Sunny Sohal lived dangerously, Johan van der Wath's trimmers whizzing past the woodwork all too frequently. After those air shots, the Punjab batsman broke free, smacking Sreekanth Aravind over the covers and gliding him fine in the same over.
Sohal struck a six off Ryan Ninan but the off-spinner lured him to loft again, but straight to long-on Saurabh Tiwary.
Greater durability
The duo of Kumar Sangakkara and Bharat Chipli then showed greater durability at the crease, taking the total to three figures in the 14th over. As if to celebrate, Sangakkara smote compatriot Tillakaratne Dilshan into the sightscreen.
His end came when edging a van der Wath delivery moving away to stumper de Villiers. The home crowd then had much to cheer about, as Chipli hoisted Ninan into the stands twice and on the trot. The Karnataka batsman gave Zaheer the long handle too, sending him to the ropes thrice in the latter's third over.
J-P Duminy followed suit, smashing Vettori to long-off, where Ninan struggled with a chance but spilt it for a four.
At the other end, Chipli prospered, finding the ropes four times and sending the sphere over it thrice for his half-century, followed closely by the side's 150. The Shimoga native epitomised the Chargers' renewed zeal and longevity of its batting, his 46-minute essay embellished with five boundaries and three huge heaves.
SCOREBOARD
Deccan Chargers: S. Sohal c Tiwary b Ninan 38 (37b, 5x4, 1x6), S. Dhawan c Vettori b Zaheer 11 (9b, 2x4), K. Sangakkara c de Villiers b van der Wath 36 (25b, 3x4, 1x6), B. Chipli (not out) 61 (35b, 5x4, 3x6), J-P. Duminy c Kohli b Zaheer 22 (15b, 2x4, 1x6), D. Christian lbw b Zaheer 0 (1b); Extras (lb-2, w-3, nb-2): 7; Total (for five wkts. in 20 overs): 175.
Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-70, 3-113, 4-168, 5-175.
Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling: Zaheer 4-0-32-3, van der Wath 4-0-30-1, Aravind 3-0-26-0, Vettori 4-0-29-0, Ninan 3-0-34-1, Dilshan 2-0-22-0.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: M. Agarwal c Mishra b Gony 16 (13b, 2x4), T. Dilshan c Sangakkara b Ishant 7 (8b, 1x4), Zaheer Khan b Steyn 0 (3b), V. Kohli b Gony 71 (51b, 5x4, 3x6), A.B. de Villiers c Sangakkara b Gony 0 (7b), S. Tiwary c Sangakkara b Mishra 7 (10b), C. Pujara c Christian b Steyn 25 (15b, 4x4), J. van der Wath c Sangakkara b Steyn 0 (1b), D. Vettori (not out) 3 (6b), R. Ninan c Sangakkara b Christian 3 (6b), S. Aravind (not out) 2 (3b); Extras (lb-3, w-2, nb-3): 8; Total (for nine wkts. in 20 overs): 142.
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-16, 3-27, 4-29, 5-56, 6-118, 7-118, 8-130, 9-137.
Deccan Chargers bowling: Steyn 4-0-24-3, Ishant 4-0-21-1, Gony 4-0-31-3, Christian 4-0-22-1, Mishra 4-0-41-1.
Man-of-the-match: Dale Steyn

Moulana Showkat assassination case solved, claims J&K police

By a.k.shema-SRINAGAR: The Jammu & Kashmir police claims that a radical religious-political outfit 'Sout-ul-Haq' members with the help of Lashkar-e-Taiba were involved in the assassination of Moulana Showkat Ahmad Shah, the president of Jamiet Ahl-e-Hadith Kashmir.

Moulana Showkat was killed in an IED blast near Masjid Ahl-e-Hadith at Maisuma Srinagar on April 8th.

IGP Kashmir SM Sahai in a press brief on Saturday said that within eight days, the J&K police had succeeded in cracking the assassination case and arrested three people in this connection.

During investigations, the police unearthed a criminal conspiracy behind the killing. "Members of a radical religious-political outfit namely Sout-ul-Haq and some other radical elements have been found behind the conspiracy. Moulana Showkat was perceived as one against sectarianism and helping to defuse sectarian clashes. His work in education field, especially trying to get a university from the government was perceived by them as a compromise with the government when they failed to dislodge him through elections, conspiracy was hatched to eliminate him. Also his proximity with certain separatist leaders was not liked by them," the official release of the press brief said.

Sahai said that Abdul Ghani Dar alias Abdullah Gazalli and Ashiq Hussain Fakhtoo alias Dar Qasim, presently lodged in central Jail Srinagar discussed the broad contours of the plan during a visit by Gazalli to Qasim.

However, the actual execution of the plan was left to Javaid Ahmmad Munshi alias Bill Papa, resident of Chanapora Srinagar, who sought help from Lashkar Commander Abdullah Uni. He received some material from Abdullah Uni and arranged some of it locally.

Various parts of execution were done by various other members. However, the actual triggering of the IED was entrusted to Nissar Ahmmad Khan alias Ishaq of Chanapora. Gazalli, Bill Papa and Ishaq have already been arrested.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

10 Apr, 2011, 10.57AM IST,TNN Lokpal Bill: Four catalysts of change during Anna campaign

By A.K.Shema- Arvind Kejriwal

An IIT graduate, Kejriwal joined the Indian Revenue Service in 1992 only to realize that "much of the corruption in government is owing to lack of transparency in the process". In 2006, he quit his job to work full time as a social activist. Now, Kejriwal is one of the main people behind the campaign for a Jan Lokpal Bill. On Saturday, as the government accepted civil society groups' demand to include them in the drafting of the bill, Kejriwal called it a "victory of the people of India".

Santosh Hegde

After retiring as Supreme Court judge in June 2005, Hegde was appointed Lokayukta of Karnataka in 2006. During his tenure, Hegde exposed major irregularities in Bellary's mining industry and recommended banning iron ore exports. In his campaign against corruption, Justice Hegde caught babus and netas in the act. Now, Hegde has accepted the government's decision to appoint him to the 10-member panel that will draft the Lokpal Bill. "Though the government has met our requests, powers against netas and requirement for sanction for prosecution are needed to strengthen the institutions," he says.

Kiran Bedi

India's first woman IPS officer has always had the shining image of an upright and no-nonsense officer. She took voluntary retirement from the service in 2007 and ever since, has been involved in various campaigns for social justice. Last year, her attempt to become Chief Information Commissioner failed, leading Bedi to plunge into the campaign for the Jan Lokpal Bill. "People who get blessings from Anna Hazare do not need anything else to devote to the country. We are getting the inspiration of sacrifice from Anna Hazare," says Bedi, who was at Jantar Mantar throughout Hazare's fast unto death.

Swami Agnivesh

A law and economics graduate from the University of Calcutta, Swami Agnivesh lectured on business management in 1963. In 1977, Agnivesh became an MLA and served as a minister in the Haryana government. In recent months, he has been acting as an interlocutor between the government and Maoist rebels. On Saturday, as the government issued a notification on the Jan Lokpal Bill, the saffron-clad social activist shouted from the dais that the fight had just started and this was not the end.