news FIR filed against Varun for causing riots in Pilibhit

The UP Police have registered an FIR against Varun Gandhi for causing riots in Pilibhit where section 144 was imposed on Saturday.

Varun had amid much drama surrendered at the Pilibhit court on Saturday. Hundreds of supporters had gathered in the district. They clashed with the police and threw stones at them. The police had fired rubber bullets in the air and lathicharged the protesters, some are even admitted in hospital.

Varun is in judicial custody till Monday at the Pilibhit district jail.

BJP’s UP in-charge Kalraj Mishra has also been named in the FIR for violating the model code of conduct. He arrived in Piilibhit with a large convoy of supporters despite the section 144 in place.

Earlier, the Pilibhit district administration had said that Maneka Gandhi’s allegations that a Muslim policeman was behind the firing in Pilibhit during Varun Gandhi’s arrest can’t be correct.

The SSP of Pilibhit has told NDTV that the policeman in question, Parvez Mian, was not even on duty on Saturday.

The district administration has also submitted a report to the government saying things are under control now and police is deployed outside the Pilibhit district jail.

ourtesy NDTV

One good spell and we’ll win the match: NZ coach

The Kiwis will need only a couple of good catches and a special spell by any of the bowlers on Monday to clinch the second Test against India, New Zealand coach Andy Moles said here on Sunday.

Moles conceded India have batted themselves back into the match by losing just one wicket in 90 overs on Sunday but felt New Zealand can still win the match.

“There is only team that can win this game and that is New Zealand. It is not often that we have been in that position. We hope a little bit of luck goes our way tomorrow and we get the opportunity to push to the win that we deserve,” said Moles.

“Obviously, a draw would be the favourite. But it only takes a couple of good catches and a special spell by somebody,” he added.

Moles reckoned the task would not be easy but felt getting a few quick wickets was all his wards needed.

“This is an exceptionally good batting wicket and they have got some great players who played well on it. If we can get our intensity right and hit the right areas we could turn it our way. All we are looking for is two or three mistakes and we will be into the Indian tail.

“As we saw in the first innings, they have got a magnificent 5-6 at the front. If we bowl well and things go our way we can get quick wickets,” he said.

courtesy::NDTV

BAD BYE—:-(

British TV reality star Jade Goody died in her sleep at home early Sunday, her publicist Max Clifford said.

Goody, who suffered a public battle with cervical cancer, died at her home in Upshire, Essex, at 3:14 am (0314 GMT) on Mother’s Day.

Goody’s mother Jackiey Budden said: “My beautiful daughter is at peace.”

Clifford said Goody’s mother Jackiey and husband Jack Tweed were at her side. A family friend, Kevin Adams, was also there.

“I think she’s going to be remembered as a young girl who has, and who will, save an awful lot of lives,” he said, referring to how her public battle with cancer has raised awareness of the disease.

“She was a very, very brave girl,” he said.

“And she faced her death in the way she faced her whole life – full on, with a lot of courage.”

He said it was “ironic” that the 27-year-old – who had two young sons Bobby, five, and Freddie, four – had died on Mother’s Day.

Clifford said he hoped Goody’s family would be left in peace to grieve.

The ex-dental nurse from south London found fame on the Big Brother reality television show in 2002, and has been in the public eye ever since.

She sparked uproar when she taunted Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on British TV’s Celebrity Big Brother in 2007, calling her “Shilpa Poppadom” but the two patched things up, and the Briton later appeared on India’s version of the programme.

It was on the Indian programme, which 33-year-old Shetty hosted, that Goody found out she was suffering from cancer, and her one-time nemesis had hoped to visit Goody last week, while on a trip to Britain.

Her fight with cancer has won the hearts of the British public.

Goody married boyfriend Jack Tweed last month and was christened with her sons this month, events which both drew huge media interest here.

She has allowed magazines to cover her marriage in return for money she says will secure the future of her two sons.

On Tuesday, her publishers revealed she would also be publishing a diary of her dying days.

A percentage of the profits will go towards a cancer charity.

Clifford had said earlier that Goody had “put her house in order and faced up to everything in an incredibly brave way. Now we’re waiting for the inevitable, it could be at any time, we just don’t know.”

courtesy…NDTV

IPL goes abroad; BCCI says sorry to people of India

With the state governments playing tough on sparing forces for security, the Indian Premier League was on Sunday shifted to another country amid speculation that England or South Africa would be the venue for the second edition of the high-profile event.

The decision to shift the Twenty20 tournament out of the country was taken at the BCCI’s emergency Working Committee meeting in Mumbai to take a final call on the cash-rich event which had run into rough weather because of security apprehensions.

“Because of the attitude of the government that they are not ready to spare security forces for the cricket tournament… we are forced to take the decision to move the event out of India,” BCCI president Shashank Manohar told a press conference.

“So the Board has decided to take the tournament out of the country. We are in discussion with other Boards who are willing to host the event. I apologise to the people of India for moving the tournament out,” Manohar said.

“But we’re are going ahead with the event so that they can at least watch the event on television,” Mahohar added. The BCCI President said venue would be decided in next couple of days.

“We are in discussion with other boards and will decide the venue in next 2-3 days,” he said.

IPL Commissioner and Chairman Lalit Modi, who was also at the press conference, said the number of matches, format and timing of the event will remain unchanged and the organisers would not tinker with the “integrity of the tournament”.

“Dates and timings of the matches will remain the same. The Indian audiences can watch the matches at 4 pm and 8 pm IST as they did in the inaugural season,” Modi said.

“Revenue cannot be an issue, the 59-match tournament will remain as 59-match tournament. The issue is the integrity of the tournament.

“We want to ensure the quality which we deliver and it cannot be compromised. We have to deliver the world standard event,” he said.

Manohar also expressed his displeasure at the state governments’ attitude, saying Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra Government changed there stance at the last moment.

“The AP government revoked its earlier permission… and Maharashtra Chief Minister wrote a letter that we can’t host matches in that state until May 13. We had scheduled 18 matches for Maharashtra,” he said.

Sri Lanka players escape with minor injuries in attack

Sri Lanka’s tour of Pakistan was cancelled on Tuesday after about 12 unidentified gunmen opened fire on Sri Lanka’s team bus near the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore on Tuesday morning. The Lankan team was on its way to the stadium for the third day’s play of the second Test.

Six Sri Lankan players are believed to have been injured in the attack. According to reports, Thilan Samaraweera was shot in the chest and was operated upon, following which it was announced that he is out of danger. Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Chaminda Vaas and Thilan Thushara were also injured in the attack. However, Sanath Jayasuriya confirrmed CNN-IBN over the phone that all the players were safe.

According to GEO TV, five policemen who were part of the security ring for the Sri Lankan players were killed on the spot, while two died in the hospital.

Apart from firing at the team, even grenades were lobbed at the Lankan team bus and rocket launchers were reportedly used.

The security in-charge of the Gaddafi stadium was also quoted as saying that some Sri Lankan players were still inside the stadium and that star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was safe.

The Lankan team media manager said the team taken to high security zone.

Cricinfo’s Sri Lanka editor Charlie Austin said there was some explosion before the firing started. He also said that skipper Mahela Jayawardene had also been hit in his ankle.

The area was cordoned off and Kalashnikovs have been recovered from the spot.

Security concerns in Pakistan have troubled tours in that country before as well. As many as three tours were cancelled in the last year alone.

Australia pulled out of their scheduled visit, while the International Cricket Council (ICC) postponed the Champions Trophy one-day tournament in September.

That postponement was followed by the cancellation of India’s tour to Pakistan that was scheduled to be held this Januaray and February. The decision was taken after relations between the neighbours deteriorated further following the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

The tour had always been under doubt due to the security situation in Pakistan and it was further put in jeopardy by the terrorist attack in Mumbai.

IPL chief Lalit Modi loses RCA elections

Modi was contesting the election for Rajasthan Cricket Association’s president’s post.

Needing 17 of the 32 votes to gain majority, Modi lost 13-18 to Dixit.

Modi held state government responsible for his defeat. “I paid the price of being close to Vasundhara Raje (former chief minister of Rajasthan). The state government did whatever it could to defeat me.

“But there will be no affect on IPL matches. They will be held in Jaipur only,” Modi said after the results.

In another setback to the Modi camp, Ameen Pathan lost the election for the post of secretary 12-19 to Ashok Kumar Ohri, who is president of Churu District Cricket Association.

Just ahead of elections, Modi faced allegations of cheating after the Nagrik Morcha filed a complaint against him for not depositing the promised sum of Rs 6 crore in the Chief Ministers relief fund.

The complaint followed an allegation of forgery related to a land purchase in Nagaur district through unfair means.

About 15 years ago, Dixit, an IAS officer, became the president of the Barmer district during his tenure in the tiny hamlet in western Rajasthan and after conducting few state level events he burst into the big scene.

It is believed that Dixit was the force who drafted the sports ordinance of state but Modi with his good relations with the then chief Minister Vasundhara Raje sideline him and with the government’s support rose to the top in RCA and then to the dizzy heights in BCCI and Indian Premier League.

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Foreign students leaving UK debts

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Up to 70% of students from other European Union countries are failing to repay student loans they took out while at UK universities, the BBC has learnt.

The Student Loans Company says 2,240 students should have begun repayments but 1,580 are not accounted for.

A Spanish student said she had heard nothing five years after graduating.

The government says the SLC is doing what it can to track people down. Take-up of the entitlement is growing fast, with 46,000 now having borrowed £130m.

Students from EU countries have been eligible for low interest loans from the British taxpayer to pay for their tuition fees since 2006.

EU students are entitled to the same allowances as those in the countries in which they study.

So the loans are available for those at universities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. EU students at Scottish universities do not normally have to pay fees.

Most of those involved are still at university so are not due to begin repaying loans until the year after graduation or withdrawal from university, and once they are earning more than £15,000. Lower salary levels apply in most other European countries.

SLC figures show that 2,240 students were due to begin repayment in 2007 and 2008. But 59% of those due to start paying back their loans in 2007 did not do so, while last year that number rose to 70%.

According to the SLC records those students, some 1,580 of them, are unaccounted for. The loans for both years were worth about £3.8m.

British ‘careless’ with liberties

British people have been “careless” with their civil liberties, but that is beginning to change, former shadow home affairs minister David Davis has said.
Speaking at the Convention on Modern Liberty on Saturday, Mr Davis said people were growing increasingly angry at government intrusion in their lives.

More than 1,000 people joined the event in London and at venues across the UK.

Other speakers included former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg and Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti.

Gatherings were also be held in Belfast, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester to debate issues such as the “database state”, counter-terrorism laws and press freedom.
‘Being alienated’

Mr Davis, who resigned from the Conservative front bench last year to fight a by-election on the issue of civil liberties, said the British public had been “casual” with their freedom and privacy in the past.

“They treat it carelessly, like a very old suit that they have had a very long time, [but] times are changing.

“Something is happening in the hearts and minds of our country.”

The past doesn’t count, we’ll start afresh: Dhoni

Under him, India has hardly put a foot wrong but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni refuses to bask in past glory and insists it will be a fresh start against New Zealand in the first cricket Twenty20 International on Wednesday.

World champion in this slam-bang format, Dhoni’s men have an edge over the hosts on paper but the Indian captain believes his teammates would have to start all over again.

“I believe every game is a new game,” Dhoni said on the eve of the tour opener, adding “You have to start from scratch.”

Dhoni put Wednesday’s match in perspective saying it would not set the tone for the remainder of the series.

“It is not like if you have won the first game it makes a huge difference for the entire tour. It is a 50-day tour and the team that will be victorious will be the one that plays good cricket for a consistent amount of time,” Dhoni said.

Dhoni’s team does not lack match-winners but the Indian captain said he wanted complete team effort where each and every player would chip in.

“Last year we did well as a team. The important thing is that we don’t rely on one or two individuals. We have been performing as a team. In most games, you see that a lot of people have been contributing. Part-timers have done the job well with the ball. We have improved as a fielding unit as well, and that helps, too.

“We have the kind of players who can really win games on their own, but we are always looking for the whole team to perform. In theses conditions the batsmen could get out to a good ball and this is when you want the whole team to be at a level where each and everyone is performing. Whatever limited opportunity one gets, if he performs it helps the confidence of the whole team,” said Dhoni.

Dhoni rated New Zealand as a competitive side and said, “They have a good bunch of players. They believe in contributing. They take pride in their fielding which is important in one-day cricket. They are a competitive side.”

Dhoni also reckoned that inputs from former India coach John Wright, now a Kiwi selector, would help the hosts.

“Being an international cricketer and a coach, he will know the shortcomings. John will know the psychology of each and every Indian player. That psychological part of the input given by John will help them,” Dhoni said.

Expectation would be high as Dhoni’s men go into the series but the Indian skipper seemed unperturbed by that.

“What we have done in the last few months is that we have diverted our attention from the expectations to the process and what we want to achieve. Expectation is set by others and can be too high to achieve. As individuals you know your potential and you know what you can do and accordingly you can fix it. This is what I want to do in this series,” he said.

Dhoni also spared a thought for the weather here and said, “The temperature has been up and down. The wind is pretty cold. A lot depends on the conditions tomorrow. If it is cloudy and there is a bit of rain, it will help the seamers. But if there is too much rain, the ball will become soggy and the batsmen will benefit. At the end of the day it will depend on how the weather pans out. But overall, it has been cold so far.”

courtesy::::NDTV