Yuvraj's scripts Indian win against Ireland
Yuvraj Singh became the first player in the World Cup to take five wickets and score a half century as India saw off a tenacious fight from Ireland to post a five-wicket victory in a Group B contest in Bangalore on Sunday.Yuvraj (5-31) took his maiden five-wicket haul with India bowling out Ireland for 207. The stylish left-hander then stroked an unbeaten 50 and together with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (34) added 67 runs for the fifth wicket. The two negotiated the tough phase of the match in the middle overs when Ireland were putting pressure on the hosts with some quality bowling and fielding.Once Yuvraj got into the groove, he made sure that India reach home without much trouble. Yusuf Pathan used the long handle to good effect, smashing three sixes and two fours for his unbeaten 34, as India crossed the victory rope with 24 balls to spare.Sachin Tendulkar (38) and Virat Kohli (34) added 63 runs after the early loss of openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.Ireland, who were coming on the back of the sensational victory over England Wednesday, did not harm to their reputation of giant-killers. Despite being bowled out for a paltry total, the Irish showed the stomach to fight and gave the packed 40,000 roaring Chinnaswamy Stadium some tense moments. India were made to work hard for every run on the slow surface and there were no freebies.Pacer Trent Johnson (2-16) got rid of dangerous Sehwag in the second over. He also dismissed Gambhir and India were soon two wickets down with 24 runs on the board.Ireland used as many as eight bowlers and gave nothing away. Even with Tendulkar at one end, runs came at a premium. The maestro, whose 56-ball knock had three fours, was finally trapped leg before by left-arm spinner George Dockrell (2-49).Kohli was run out before Yuvraj and Dhoni joined forces and focussed on rotating the strike. Yuvraj, who has been striving to strike form, bade his time and waited for the right opportunity to chance his arm. His 75-ball innings had just three fours.
Yuvraj was equally effective with his left-arm spin and took the crucial wickets of captain William Potterfield, who scored a fighting 75, and Kevin O'Brien (9), the star of Ireland's famous victory against England with the World Cup's fastest century.After India decided to bowl first, Zaheer Khan (3-30) gave India a good start as he rattled the stumps of Paul Stirling in the first over. He then removed Ed Joyce in his next over and Ireland were two wickets down with just nine runs on the board.With Zaheer getting good movement from the pitch and the spinners operating with the new ball, Ireland batted with extra caution and scored only 27 runs in 10 overs.Porterfield and Niall O'Brien then joined hands to add 113 for the third wicket. O'Brien made a well-constructed 46 off 78 balls with the help of three fours, but fell short of a deserving 50, thanks to some good fielding by Kohli.Andrew White (5) did not stay for long and became Yuvraj's first victim.
Kevin was dismissed when Yuvraj took a catch off his own bowling. Ireland slipped to 147-5 in 33.4 overs and could never recover.Porterfield, who batted with purpose, was the next to go, caught by Harbhajan Singh in the covers off Yuvraj. Alex Cusack (24) and Trent Johnson (17) took the score past 200.
Teams:India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel.Ireland: William Porterfield (c), P Stirling, Ed Joyce, Niall O'Brien, Andrew White, A Cusack, Kevin O'Brien, J Mooney, D Johnston, George Dockrell, W Rankin.
England beat South Africa by 6 runs
South Africa succumbed to a batting collapse under pressure as England snatched a dramatic six-run victory over title aspirants South Africa in a low-scoring World Cup Group B thriller in Chennai on Sunday.England defended a small total of 171 which they scored in 45.4 overs after electing to bat with fast bowler Stuart Broad taking four for 15 to help his side bounce back into the tournament after their humiliating defeat against Ireland.Chasing 172 for a win, South Africa were on course at 124 for three in the 32nd over after openers Graeme Smith (22) and Hashim Amla (42) had given them a sound start before they slumped to 127 for seven in the 37th over on a turning track at the M A Chaidambaram Stadium.
They, in fact, lost three wickets that of AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy at the same score of 124 with fast bowler James Anderson taking two.The South African tailenders, however, hung on for a while with Morne van Wynk and Dale Steyn sharing 33 runs in 10.4 overs for the eighth wicket.
But once van Wynk was out for 13, Broad dismissed Dale Steyn (20) and Morne Morkel (1) in the space of four balls to bundle out South Africa for 165 in 47.4 overs.
With two full points from today`s match, England bounced back to contention for a quarterfinal berth on five points from four matches while South Africa are on four points from three matches.
Defending a small total, England opened their bowling with left-arm spinner Michael Yardy and fast bowler Anderson but South Africa raced to 27 for no loss in the first five overs without much trouble.
Searching for an early wicket, Andrew Strauss introduced his best spinner Graeme Swann in the seventh over and that did put brakes on South African scoring rate with the offie getting the turn from the Chepauk pitch
England, however, had to wait till the 15th over to get their first breakthrough as they were successful in their review of the umpire`s decision to rule South African opener and captain Graeme Smith not out.The field umpire gave Smith not out but the television replays suggested the ball might have just kissed the batsman`s glove before wicketkeeper took the catch and the third umpire ruled him out.Smith`s 22 came from 41 balls from which he hit just two fours. He raised 63 runs for the opening wicket with Amla.England pressed hard for another wicket and the introduction of Broad in the 17th over paid dividends as he dismissed two key South African batsmen -Amla and Jacques Kallis in his first three overs.
Media Agencies
Monday, March 7, 2011
DMK pull out of UPA Gov
DMK on Saturday decided to pull out of the Congress-led Government at the Centre after talks between the two parties on seat-sharing for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections failed.DMK President M Karunanidhi, who had accused the Congress of being unreasonable in its demand, on Saturday charged the ally of trying to push it out of the UPA.
The meeting of the party's high-powered committee presided over by him adopted a resolution to pull out of the government and to give issue-based support.Meanwhile, Senior DMK leader T R Baalu indicated his party could review its decision to pull its ministers out of the Union Cabinet if the Congress relents on its stand over sharing of seats in the upcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.
The meeting of the party's high-powered committee presided over by him adopted a resolution to pull out of the government and to give issue-based support.Meanwhile, Senior DMK leader T R Baalu indicated his party could review its decision to pull its ministers out of the Union Cabinet if the Congress relents on its stand over sharing of seats in the upcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
SCRAP JUDGES ACCOUNTABILITY BILL
Sagar Media Inc:THE BAR ASSOCIATION OF INDIA NEW DELHIPRESS RELEASE NDelhi,March 5:
Sharp divisions within the legal fraternity were witnessed at a seminar on the proposed Judicial Accountability Bill here today with senior lawyers Fali Nariman and Prashant Bhushan opposing it on different grounds and a host of Bar leaders including former Chief Justice of India Justice J S Verma supporting it and suggesting effective amendments.
Speaker after speaker took pot shots at the alleged indiscretions of former Chief Justices including Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice Sabharwal even as they heaped lavish praise on the incumbent Chief Justice Mr S H Kapadia and defended judicial activism at the seminar on ‘Standards of Judicial Conduct & Accountability Bill, 2010: A Critical Look’ organised by the Bar Association of India.
Asserting that “if judiciary crumbles, democracy is at perils”, Justice Verma sought to highlight what he called ‘omissions’ of the proposed Bill stating, “fear of contempt of court for speaking truth should no more be there”.
Maintaining that majority of judges continued to be honest, he said since most complaints against judges may not be correct, results of investigations into such frivolous and false complaints should be made public.
Taking a dig at some judges for submitting affidavits before Tribunals etc on their letter heads in lieu of monetary considerations, Justice Verma said, “whatever is forbidden to do directly, you cannot do indirectly”. He suggested that the Bill must have a provision to ensure that the post-retirement conduct of the judges do not undermine the office that they have held”.
The former Chief Justice suggested that the apex court judges may be given their salary as life-long pension. He wondered why the Government was shy of Right to Information with regard to complaints against judges, if it wanted to ensure transparency in judicial functioning.
However, senior lawyer and constitutional expert Fali S Nariman opposed the proposed Bill stating that it would be “counter productive’.
Asserting that good judges still outnumber the bad ones, he said, “leave it as it is. If you have to leave well alone, you have to sometime leave ill also along”.
Calling for the repeal of the Judges Protection Act of 1985, he said if was far better and safer to catch the bad eggs in the judicial basket when they retire. “There should be no immunity after they retire”, he said.
Apprehending that it was very easy to tutor a private television channel to carry out a corruption charge against a judge, he said for the sake of an independent and fearless judiciary, “don’t give every tom, dick and harry the right to complain of misdemeanour against sitting judges”.
Judicial activist and senior lawyer Mr Prashant Bhushan, in his address, said the sheer amount of stakes involved in cases running into lakhs of crores of rupees have become the incentive for corruption in judiciary since there was no check and the route of impeachment was an “impractical and unworkable mechanism”.
Criticising the proposed Bill for the tedious procedures including several committees and utmost secrecy, he said the legislation was “of no use” and strongly advocated the need to set up a five member Judicial Complaints Commission , which would be independent of both Government and judiciary besides “broad-basing” the selection procedure for judicial appointments.
Presiding over the session, Mr Anil B Divan, President, Bar Association of India, “make better appointments. Everything else will fall in place.”
BAI General Secretary Mr Prashant Kumar regretted that it was a “sad day” that a Bill had to be brought in to enforce judicial conduct and accountability. “Judicial conduct is like immunity in the human body. It has to come from within. It is only when body is weak or diseased that you need external intervention”.
Countering Mr Nariman’s argument in favour of post-retirement action against errant judges, Mr P P Rao, Associate President of the BAI wondered, “what do you catch after retirement?”.He called for incorporating a provision wherein a judge can be put out of work or suspended, if serious charges sufficient to warrant an inquiry are made against him.
Terming as “disastrous”, the performance of the Supreme Court collegium which decides on appointment of judges to the apex court, he called for creation of a broad based search committee which would suggest a panel of names to the collegium with integrity and dignity of conduct as its criterion.
Mr Rao lamented that “seniority has become an obstacle in merit”.
Supporting Mr Prashant Bhushan, former Attorney General of India, Mr Ashok Desai highlighted the need for setting up a Judicial Commission which would not only look into complaints against judges but also appointments and transfers.
Regretting that High Court judges were seen as “subservient” to Supreme Court collegiums, he said the age limit for appointment to the apex court should be equivalent to that of the High Courts.Mr Desai also recommended study of the American model of retirement wherein they were paid a pension equivalent to their salaries and served appellate courts post-retirement.
He, however, welcomed the Bill hoping it would set come judicial standards.
Former Additional Solicitor General of India Mr K N Bhat deprecated the tendency to transfer suspect judges to states with lesser political clout such as Sikkim and said, “there should be a dog house where suspect judges should be kept”.Calling for a little more teeth in the Bill, he said “no judge is corrupted except with the cooperation of lawyers” and action should be taken against such lawyers notwithstanding the provisions in the Advocates Act.
He, however, maintained that the country should give the proposed Bill “a try”.
(Prashant Kumar)Hony. General Secretary
Sharp divisions within the legal fraternity were witnessed at a seminar on the proposed Judicial Accountability Bill here today with senior lawyers Fali Nariman and Prashant Bhushan opposing it on different grounds and a host of Bar leaders including former Chief Justice of India Justice J S Verma supporting it and suggesting effective amendments.
Speaker after speaker took pot shots at the alleged indiscretions of former Chief Justices including Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice Sabharwal even as they heaped lavish praise on the incumbent Chief Justice Mr S H Kapadia and defended judicial activism at the seminar on ‘Standards of Judicial Conduct & Accountability Bill, 2010: A Critical Look’ organised by the Bar Association of India.
Asserting that “if judiciary crumbles, democracy is at perils”, Justice Verma sought to highlight what he called ‘omissions’ of the proposed Bill stating, “fear of contempt of court for speaking truth should no more be there”.
Maintaining that majority of judges continued to be honest, he said since most complaints against judges may not be correct, results of investigations into such frivolous and false complaints should be made public.
Taking a dig at some judges for submitting affidavits before Tribunals etc on their letter heads in lieu of monetary considerations, Justice Verma said, “whatever is forbidden to do directly, you cannot do indirectly”. He suggested that the Bill must have a provision to ensure that the post-retirement conduct of the judges do not undermine the office that they have held”.
The former Chief Justice suggested that the apex court judges may be given their salary as life-long pension. He wondered why the Government was shy of Right to Information with regard to complaints against judges, if it wanted to ensure transparency in judicial functioning.
However, senior lawyer and constitutional expert Fali S Nariman opposed the proposed Bill stating that it would be “counter productive’.
Asserting that good judges still outnumber the bad ones, he said, “leave it as it is. If you have to leave well alone, you have to sometime leave ill also along”.
Calling for the repeal of the Judges Protection Act of 1985, he said if was far better and safer to catch the bad eggs in the judicial basket when they retire. “There should be no immunity after they retire”, he said.
Apprehending that it was very easy to tutor a private television channel to carry out a corruption charge against a judge, he said for the sake of an independent and fearless judiciary, “don’t give every tom, dick and harry the right to complain of misdemeanour against sitting judges”.
Judicial activist and senior lawyer Mr Prashant Bhushan, in his address, said the sheer amount of stakes involved in cases running into lakhs of crores of rupees have become the incentive for corruption in judiciary since there was no check and the route of impeachment was an “impractical and unworkable mechanism”.
Criticising the proposed Bill for the tedious procedures including several committees and utmost secrecy, he said the legislation was “of no use” and strongly advocated the need to set up a five member Judicial Complaints Commission , which would be independent of both Government and judiciary besides “broad-basing” the selection procedure for judicial appointments.
Presiding over the session, Mr Anil B Divan, President, Bar Association of India, “make better appointments. Everything else will fall in place.”
BAI General Secretary Mr Prashant Kumar regretted that it was a “sad day” that a Bill had to be brought in to enforce judicial conduct and accountability. “Judicial conduct is like immunity in the human body. It has to come from within. It is only when body is weak or diseased that you need external intervention”.
Countering Mr Nariman’s argument in favour of post-retirement action against errant judges, Mr P P Rao, Associate President of the BAI wondered, “what do you catch after retirement?”.He called for incorporating a provision wherein a judge can be put out of work or suspended, if serious charges sufficient to warrant an inquiry are made against him.
Terming as “disastrous”, the performance of the Supreme Court collegium which decides on appointment of judges to the apex court, he called for creation of a broad based search committee which would suggest a panel of names to the collegium with integrity and dignity of conduct as its criterion.
Mr Rao lamented that “seniority has become an obstacle in merit”.
Supporting Mr Prashant Bhushan, former Attorney General of India, Mr Ashok Desai highlighted the need for setting up a Judicial Commission which would not only look into complaints against judges but also appointments and transfers.
Regretting that High Court judges were seen as “subservient” to Supreme Court collegiums, he said the age limit for appointment to the apex court should be equivalent to that of the High Courts.Mr Desai also recommended study of the American model of retirement wherein they were paid a pension equivalent to their salaries and served appellate courts post-retirement.
He, however, welcomed the Bill hoping it would set come judicial standards.
Former Additional Solicitor General of India Mr K N Bhat deprecated the tendency to transfer suspect judges to states with lesser political clout such as Sikkim and said, “there should be a dog house where suspect judges should be kept”.Calling for a little more teeth in the Bill, he said “no judge is corrupted except with the cooperation of lawyers” and action should be taken against such lawyers notwithstanding the provisions in the Advocates Act.
He, however, maintained that the country should give the proposed Bill “a try”.
(Prashant Kumar)Hony. General Secretary
Saturday, March 5, 2011
DMK to pull out of UPA govt
DMK on Saturday decided to pull out of the Congress-led Government at the Centre after talks between the two parties on seat-sharing for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections failed.DMK President M Karunanidhi, who had accused the Congress of being unreasonable in its demand, on Saturday charged the ally of trying to push it out of the UPA.The meeting of the party's high-powered committee presided over by him adopted a resolution to pull out of the government and to give issue-based support.
Meanwhile, Senior DMK leader T R Baalu indicated his party could review its decision to pull its ministers out of the Union Cabinet if the Congress relents on its stand over sharing of seats in the upcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi gave a guarded reaction on the development, keeping alive the hopes of a settlement on seat sharing even at this stage.
"There is no need to comment on it now. This (has happened) in the middle of negotiations and unnecessary press comments will muddy the waters," was the refrain of Singhvi. Indicating that the party has been caught off-guard on the issue, a senior party functionary, who did not wish to be identified, said, "We are not going to react until the DMK officially communicates to us the decision."
Apparently referring to the Congress' demand of 63 seats of its choice after agreeing to 60, he said the Congress stand does not help for an amicable poll accord.
"We are compelled to suspect that these are all efforts by Congress to push us out of the UPA. Under these circumstances we have to think whether to continue in the government. "So we have decided to relieve ourselves from the government," Karunanidhi told the meeting.He made it clear that while pulling out its six ministers from the Union Cabinet, the party would give issue-based support to the Manmohan Singh government during times of trouble.With 18 MPs, the DMK is the second largest ally of Congress in the UPA after Trinamool Congress which has 19 MPs.
The DMK's decision on on Saturday puts the seven-year-old successful alliance between the two parties under severe strain ahead of the April 13 polls when it faces a tough challenge from rival AIADMK which has already tied-up with actor Vijayakant's DMDK and Left parties.The DMK-Congress alliance swept all the 40 Lok Sabha seats including the lone Puducherry seat in the 2004 elections and won 28 seats in the 2009 general elections. The combine also won the 2006 Assembly elections, though DMK could not get a majority on its own.Baalu does not rule out reviewing decision to pull out
Senior DMK leader T R Baalu indicated his party could review its decision to pull its ministers out of the Union Cabinet if the Congress relents on its stand over sharing of seats in the upcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.Baalu also said the DMK's six Union ministers will hand over the resignations only after a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and that there is no move to fax their resignations right away.
"Definitely we will have a discussion if they(Congress) reconsider. If Congress agrees for 60 seats we will reconsider out decision(to pull out of Cabinet)," Baalu told reporters.Baalu made it clear that the withdrawal of support stemmed only from problems over "seat sharing" and had nothing to do with the 2G Spectrum scam in which senior DMK leader and former Telecom minister A Raja is allegedly involved.
He also said that the decision taken at the meeting of the party's High Powered Committee has also been communicated to Congress President Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel and Defence Minister A K Antony.Asked whether it was the end of the road for the seven-year-old DMK-Congress alliance, Baalu replied in the negative."We are all friends. We do not see the end of the road. Though we have withdrawn ministers our friendship will continue forever." he said.
Meanwhile, Senior DMK leader T R Baalu indicated his party could review its decision to pull its ministers out of the Union Cabinet if the Congress relents on its stand over sharing of seats in the upcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi gave a guarded reaction on the development, keeping alive the hopes of a settlement on seat sharing even at this stage.
"There is no need to comment on it now. This (has happened) in the middle of negotiations and unnecessary press comments will muddy the waters," was the refrain of Singhvi. Indicating that the party has been caught off-guard on the issue, a senior party functionary, who did not wish to be identified, said, "We are not going to react until the DMK officially communicates to us the decision."
Apparently referring to the Congress' demand of 63 seats of its choice after agreeing to 60, he said the Congress stand does not help for an amicable poll accord.
"We are compelled to suspect that these are all efforts by Congress to push us out of the UPA. Under these circumstances we have to think whether to continue in the government. "So we have decided to relieve ourselves from the government," Karunanidhi told the meeting.He made it clear that while pulling out its six ministers from the Union Cabinet, the party would give issue-based support to the Manmohan Singh government during times of trouble.With 18 MPs, the DMK is the second largest ally of Congress in the UPA after Trinamool Congress which has 19 MPs.
The DMK's decision on on Saturday puts the seven-year-old successful alliance between the two parties under severe strain ahead of the April 13 polls when it faces a tough challenge from rival AIADMK which has already tied-up with actor Vijayakant's DMDK and Left parties.The DMK-Congress alliance swept all the 40 Lok Sabha seats including the lone Puducherry seat in the 2004 elections and won 28 seats in the 2009 general elections. The combine also won the 2006 Assembly elections, though DMK could not get a majority on its own.Baalu does not rule out reviewing decision to pull out
Senior DMK leader T R Baalu indicated his party could review its decision to pull its ministers out of the Union Cabinet if the Congress relents on its stand over sharing of seats in the upcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.Baalu also said the DMK's six Union ministers will hand over the resignations only after a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and that there is no move to fax their resignations right away.
"Definitely we will have a discussion if they(Congress) reconsider. If Congress agrees for 60 seats we will reconsider out decision(to pull out of Cabinet)," Baalu told reporters.Baalu made it clear that the withdrawal of support stemmed only from problems over "seat sharing" and had nothing to do with the 2G Spectrum scam in which senior DMK leader and former Telecom minister A Raja is allegedly involved.
He also said that the decision taken at the meeting of the party's High Powered Committee has also been communicated to Congress President Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel and Defence Minister A K Antony.Asked whether it was the end of the road for the seven-year-old DMK-Congress alliance, Baalu replied in the negative."We are all friends. We do not see the end of the road. Though we have withdrawn ministers our friendship will continue forever." he said.
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