Pak court summons Umar Akmal on March 11

Lahore: A Pakistani court today summoned Test cricketer Umar Akmal on March 11 in a case of traffic rules violation and a face-off with a traffic warden.

Akmal`s lawyer told additional and sessions judge, Imtiaz Noor today that his client could not appear before the court as he was on a tour to Bangladesh with the Pakistan`s one-day squad for the ongoing Asia Cup.

The judge adjourned the hearing till March 11 with a direction that Akmal must appearance in the court on the next hearing.

Earlier in the day, Pakistani TV channels ran a news, saying that the court had issued arrest warrants of Akmal.

"The channels broadcast the wrong news," Akmal`s lawyer said.

The court had summoned Akmal over a scuffle with traffic warden, Zeeshan, who filed a case against him.

On Feb 1, Akmal was arrested after he had a row with the warden for traffic signal violation in Gulberg area here.

He was detained for 16 hours before he was released on bail.

Akmal alleged that the warden not only misbehaved with him but also manhandled him and threatened him with dire consequences.

Asia Cup 2014: India take on Sri Lanka in first real test

Fatullah (Bangladesh): Their battered pride regained after snapping an eight-ODI winless streak, five-time champions India will look to build a winning momentum when they take on Sri Lanka in what could by their first real test in the Asia Cup here tomorrow.

India notched up a six-wicket win against hosts Bangladesh in their opening match of the five-nation regional tournament yesterday but their real test begins tomorrow against the Lankans who had beaten defending champions Pakistan by 12 runs.

Back on the familiar subcontinental conditions after humiliating series defeats in South Africa and New Zealand, India chased down 280 at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium here to register their first win in nine ODIs.

Stand-in skipper Virat Kohli smashed a 122-ball 136 in a 213-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane who returned to ODI form with a 73 to hand India a perfect start to their Asia Cup campaign.

Kohli`s tremendous form in Bangladesh which now reads 868 runs from 10 matches with an astounding average of 124, including his career-best 183 in last Asia Cup, will put India a favourite to win the tournament despite recent overseas reverses.

That the talented middle order batsman Rahane shook off a string of failures in New Zealand where he totalled 51 from five ODIs would mean India`s middle order would be settled before the two key clashes -- against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

As India`s progression into the final will hinge on the results of the two key clashes, Kohli`s men do not have the luxury to relax.

Kohli had got a reprieve on 35 as Bangladesh failed to grab their share of chances. The skipper`s cheap dismissal would have certainly exposed the new-look Indian middle order in their chase of 280 and could have tilted the match the other way.

Struggling for quite some time, openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan had some testing times against an ordinary Bangladesh attack.

Against a Sri Lankan team that boasts of the fiery Lasith Malinga, who is fresh from his match-winning five-for against Pakistan, the Indian opening duo would be desperate to get back among runs to give their side a solid start.

Especially, Dhawan`s listless batting and his weakness to short balls has begun to bother the Indian think-tank as time is fast running out for the left-hander to deliver.

Dhawan should take inspiration from the way Rahane shrugged off a prolonged lean patch in one-day format.

Against Bangladesh, India fielded an unchanged XI that played against New Zealand apart from the obvious inclusion of wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik in place of injured Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and left out Cheteshwar Pujara.

Ambati Rayudu was picked ahead of Pujara, considered by many as a Test specialist batsman who has been included in the one-day squad with the 2015 World Cup in mind.

But, in a crucial match like against Sri Lanka, it would be interesting to see whether skipper Kohli will gamble bringing in Pujara or retain the winning XI.

As for bowling, Varun Aaron was the biggest let down as his sheer pace never troubled the Bangladeshi batsmen duo of Mushfiqur Rahim and Anamul Haque who posted a century stand to help their team pile 279/7.

Aaron`s length was easily picked by the Bangla batsmen as he conceded 74 runs from 7.5 overs before being barred after bowling two waist high deliveries.

It will invite risk to stick with Aaron against Sri Lanka who boast of the likes of in-form batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and opener Lahiru Thirimanne.

Having arrived in the country late January for a full series, Sri Lanka have been experiencing an extended taste of Bangladeshi conditions as they won the Test series 1-0, the Twenty20s 2-0 before a 3-0 sweep in the one-dayers.

But in their Asia Cup opener yesterday, Sri Lanka had some jittery moments when Pakistan looked to be in control of the 297-run chase, needing 55 from 46 balls with six wickets in hand.

It was, however, before Malinga single-handedly changed the complexion of the game with his toe-crushing yorkers. He went for six-plus an over after his first seven overs but came back with four wickets in his last three overs to turn the game in his side`s favour in the death overs.

But his inability to trouble the top-order would once again come under scrutiny as he takes on the Indian batsmen.

Sri Lankan batting will have the calming influence of Sangakkara who is in the middle of a dream run here that includes his his maiden triple century in Tests.

Sangakkara scored a half-century against Pakistan yesterday but it was their young opener Thirimanne who impressed with a fluent century. Thirimanne has been backed by the selectors to open instead of seniormost Mahela Jayawardene.

Thirimanne was fluent from the outset and had a strike rate of 92.72. For a batsman who has spent much of the past two months sidelined with injury, Thirimanne was as stoic as he was confident.

In Kusal Perera, who scored a maiden ODI century in Sri Lanka`s 3-0 win against Bangladesh the other day, Thirimanne will have a perfect partner as the duo will look to give their side a perfect start.

Coming from a finger injury earlier this month, seniormost Jayawardene, who batted at number four yesterday, would like to get among runs too.

The Teams (From):

India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Varun Aaron, Cheteshwar Pujara, Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra and Ishwar Pandey.

Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (c), Kusal Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Thisara Perera, Chaturanga de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Ajantha Mendis, Ashan Priyanjan and Dhammika Prasad.

Kohli's 'special' knock made the difference, says Abdur Razzak

Fatullah (Bangladesh): Bangladesh left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak has conceded that Indian captain Virat Kohli`s "special" knock of 136 made all the difference in his side`s six-wicket loss in their Asia Cup campaign opener here.

"I would say our bowlers did not do that badly. Nothing went wrong for us. Sometimes some special things happen in the middle and you lose. Virat did just that for India," Razzak said about Kohli`s 136 which set up India`s successful run chase of 280 here.

Lavishing praise on Kohli, he said: "He did a fantastic job for his team. They did well with the singles despite putting five fielders inside the circle. Obviously the credit goes to them but we tried our best. Indian batsmen played very well."

The Bangladesh spinner said they were undone by the heavy dew especially when they were relying on their spinners.

"The biggest problem we faced was the dew. The field was too wet. Maybe after 22-23 overs it started playing the role. It was difficult to hold the ball after 24 overs. Especially for a team like us who are reliant on spinners it was a big worry. But we have no say in this."

Razzak said they fell short by 20-odd runs as 300 seemed a possibility after his skipper Mushfiqur Rahim`s (117) sparkling century.

"The way Mushfiqur and Anamul batted at some point we thought we would get to 300. I guess something went wrong down the order. It`s difficult to specify. Maybe six seven balls went the other way... Nowadays, it`s difficult to recover when you fell short."

3rd Test: South Africa seek to end Australia hoodoo

Cape Town: Graeme Smith`s South Africa will seek to cross what has become the final frontier for the country`s Test squad when they take on Australia in the series-deciding third and final Test at Newlands from Saturday.

Since returning to international cricket in 1991, South Africa have beaten every other Test nation except Australia in home and away series.

Smith has twice led South Africa to triumphs in Australia but a home series win has eluded Smith and his predecessors. In six previous tours by Australia going back to 1993/94 the visitors have been victors four times with two series shared.

It seemed the sequence would continue when a Mitchell Johnson-inspired Australia won the first Test of the current series by 281 runs at Centurion - but world champions South Africa bounced back in emphatic style with a 231-run win in Port Elizabeth last weekend.

It has set up a showdown which has ignited local interest, with capacity crowds expected on the first two days.

Now the hosts have an opportunity to clinch the series at a ground which has been a fortress for South Africa, who have won 18 of 26 post-isolation Tests at Newlands, with only three defeats - all against Australia.

But South Africa have been unbeaten at Newlands since 2005/06 and have twice beaten Australia in a sequence of eight wins and two draws since then.

South Africa are expected to make two significant changes to their team. Opening batsman Alviro Petersen, who withdrew from the second Test because of illness, is set to return despite his replacement Dean Elgar playing a crucial innings of 83 in Port Elizabeth. Elgar is likely to drop down the order to number six or seven.

It means the South African innings will be launched by two men who are short of runs. Petersen was out for two and one at Centurion while Smith has scored only 37 runs in four innings.

With left-arm fast-medium bowler Wayne Parnell ruled out with a groin injury, South Africa have to decide whether to pick all-rounder Ryan McLaren, who suffered concussion when struck by a bouncer from Johnson in Centurion, or a specialist bowler.


One player who seems certain to miss out is Robin Peterson, the only specialist spinner in the squad, after coach Russell Domingo said he was happy with the role played by part-time spinners JP Duminy and Elgar.

That leaves seamers Rory Kleinveldt and Kyle Abbott vying with fellow right-armer McLaren for the final place in the eleven.

Australian coach Darren Lehmann gave his squad three days off after the second Test loss, although captain Michael Clarke was seen working in the nets in an effort to regain his batting form.

Subject to fitness, all-rounder Shane Watson is set for a recall in place of either Alex Doolan or Shaun Marsh after missing the first two Tests because of a calf injury.

When the two teams last met at Newlands in November 2011, South Africa were bowled out for 96 and Australia for 47 on a freakish second day during which 23 wickets fell.

Groundsman Evan Flint said a recurrence of 2011 was unlikely. He said an unusually high water table shortly after the end of a wet Cape winter had made the pitch more bowler-friendly than usual.

With the match coming towards the end of summer in the Cape dry season, Flint said he expected a pitch which would offer some help to the bowlers in the mornings but would generally be good for batting.

Teams:

South Africa (likely): Graeme Smith (captain), Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers (wkt), JP Duminy, Dean Elgar, Ryan McLaren or Rory Kleinveldt or Kyle Abbott, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel.

Australia (likely): Michael Clarke (captain), Chris Rogers, David Warner, Shane Watson, Alex Doolan or Shaun Marsh, Steve Smith, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Kumar Dharmasena (SRI)

TV umpire: Richard Illingworth (ENG)

Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI).

Karnataka, Tamil Nadu post win in Vijay Hazare Trophy

Bangalore: Karnataka inflicted a crushing six-wicket defeat on Andhra Pradesh in the south zone leg of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here today.

An all-round performance ensured an easy victory for Karnataka as their batsmen and bowlers fired in unison to force Andhra concede the match easily at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Andhra, sent into bat, were bundled out for 97, thanks to inspired bowling from captain Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun and Manish Pandey.

Karnataka, in reply, reached the target after losing their four top batsmen, including openers Robin Uthappa and Lokesh Rahul.

Uthappa tore apart the Andhra attack by scripting a quick 54 runs off 69 balls with seven boundaries and one six.

His partner Rahul (21), in contrast, played a sedate innings.

After Uthappa and Rahul put on an 81-run opening stand in just 17 overs, Karnataka seamed set for an easy win but subsequently lost two more wickets on the same score in the form of Uthappa and Pandey (0).

Satish Ganesh was the fourth batsman to get out.

K Harish and B Sudhakar bagged two wickets each for the visitors.

Earlier, Vinay returned figures of three for nine and Pandey, who brought some variety into the bowling, ended with three for 25.

Mithun bagged two prized wickets after conceding 31 runs in seven overs. Ronit More and Abrar Kazi scalped one wicket apiece.

Andhra were tottering at 46 for five inside 12 overs after Vinay and Mithun removed K S Bharat (25), A D Pradeep (0), D B Prashanth Kumar (0) and B A Sumanth (6).

In another match, Tamil Nadu defeated Goa by seven wickets with the help of a half century by Murali Vijay.

Choosing to bat, Goa were all out for 122 all out in 36.2 overs with H H Gadekar (26) being the top scorer for the team. In reply, Tamil Nadu cruised after Vijay (66 not out) and Babu Apparajith (18) put on 60 runs for the second wicket.

In another match, Hyderabad won defeated Kerala by nine wickets after they chased down a small target of 108.

Windies, England face-off in search of revival

North Sound (Antigua and Barbuda): Two teams in dire need of rehabilitation ahead of the next global cricketing contest start what should be an intriguing fortnight of competition tomorrow when the West Indies host England in Antigua.

While the next World Cup in Australia and New Zealand is still just under a year away, the Caribbean side`s defence of the World T20 crown begins in three weeks` time in Bangladesh.

So it will be no surprise if there is even greater interest and purpose attached to the three T20 fixtures between Dwayne Bravo`s men and Stuart Broad`s side in Barbados the week following the final ODI.

However, in the almost immediate aftermath of horrendous foreign campaigns, victories for either side in any format and against any opposition will be welcome.

England`s annihilation in Australia over all three established formats of the game grabbed most international attention, but the West Indies also endured humiliating Test series defeats in India and New Zealand, despite performing more creditably in the one-dayers.

Both squads are without key performers going into the opening exchanges at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, named in honour of the tiny nation`s greatest cricketer.

On England`s last visit to the Caribbean in 2009, the scheduled second Test in the same North Sound venue lasted all of nine deliveries before it was abandoned due to a poorly-prepared outfield covered with more sand than any of the island`s idyllic beaches.

Then, Kevin Pietersen had just been replaced as captain by Andrew Strauss.

Now, he is out of the picture altogether, the general perception being that for all his abundant batting talent, he is too much of a maverick to be accommodated at a time when all hands are needed on deck and working together for the good of the team.

West Indies have no intention of parting ways with their own mercurial batsmen as yet.

Still, Chris Gayle will not be in the line-up for the three ODI`s due to a back injury sustained in the first of two T20`s against Ireland the previous week in his native Jamaica.

It is hoped he will be fit for the T20s against the English, but the same cannot be said for power-hitting all-rounder Kieron Pollard who misses this series and the World T20 as he continues his recuperation from knee surgery.

In sharing the honours with the Irish in two scrappy, low-scoring matches and then taking the lone one-dayer by four wickets at Sabina Park, the home side presented little in the way of significant improvement.

And that suggests that England, for all their travails in Australia where they lost 12 of 13 international matches, may actually start the series as marginal favourites.

In their only warm-up fixture of the brief tour, England held off the challenge of the University of the West Indies Vice-Chancellor`s XI on Tuesday thanks in the main to an anchoring unbeaten hundred by Joe Root and a supporting half-century by Ben Stokes.

Off-spinner James Tredwell`s three wickets then scuppered the hosts` encouraging start, although the comparative ease with which Kyle Corbin counter-punched his way to 105 hinted at the visiting bowlers facing even tougher challenges over the three ODI`s on a surface noted as a batsman`s paradise.

Probable teams

West Indies: Dwayne Bravo (capt), Dwayne Smith, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy, Nikita Miller, Sunil Narine, Jason Holder, Ravi Rampaul.

England: Stuart Broad (capt), Luke Wright, Alex Hales, Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Chris Jordan, James Tredwell.

Virender Sehwag's poor show continues but Delhi win by 38 runs vs J&K

New Delhi: Virender Sehwag`s decision to continue batting at No 3 didn`t make much of a difference to his poor form but defending champions Delhi did enough to beat Jammu and Kashmir by 38 runs in the opening fixture of the north zone leg of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Delhi scored 256 for eight in 50 overs after being put into bat on a typical low and slow Feroze Shah Kotla wicket with skipper Gautam Gambhir scoring 58 and adding 99 runs for the opening stand with Unmukt Chand (42).

While Sehwag coming in at No 3 scored only 15, Puneet Bisht (39) and Sumit Narwal (22) threw their bats around as the last couple of overs produced around 40 runs.

In reply, Jammu and Kashmir had a rollicking start with Adil Rishi (36) and Shubham Khajuria (46) adding 72 runs in 11 overs for the second wicket but inexperience caused their downfall as they were all out for 218 in 45.4 overs.

Once Rasool (30, 1x4, 2x6) was gone, J&K didn`t have much chance. Pacers Sumit Narwal (2/32) and Vikas Tokas (2/28)

Opting to field on a slowish track, Jammu and Kashmir led by their skipper Parveez Rasool (2/52) and left-arm spinner Waseem Raza (3/58) did well in the middle-overs when stroke-making was extremely difficult.

Skipper Gambhir however looked in good touch as he hit seven crisp boundaries in his 79-ball innings. Playing on a sub-standard track, not conducive for good strokeplay, the left-hander waited for the loose deliveries and completed his 50 with a late cut off Rasool.

The J&K skipper however removed both openers. While Unmukt was bowled trying to whip the offie across the line, Gambhir got a faster delivery and was rapped on the pads trying to play the cut shot with very little room for it.

Sehwag played an exquisite square cut but when tall left-arm slow bowler Raza fired one in the blockhole, he tried to dig it out. The ball timed his spot jump nicely to take a neat return catch.

"I had expected that we could restrict Delhi to 220 but last two overs cost us dearly. Even while batting, we were doing well during field restrictions," Rasool said after the match.

In another match of the North Zone leg, Haryana beat Punjab by seven runs in a 32-overs-a-side affair.

Batting first, Haryana scored 153 for eight and then restricted Punjab to 146 for eight.

The third match of the zone saw hosts Services beat Himachal Pradesh by 11 runs.

Summarised Scores

Match 1: Delhi 256/8 in 50 overs (Gautam Gambhir 58, Virender Sehwag 15, Unmukt Chand 42, Waseem Raza 3/58, Parveez Rasool 2/52) beat Jammu and Kashmir 218 in 45.4 overs (Shubham Khajuria 46, Parveez Rasool 30, Hardeep Singh 45).

Delhi won by 38 runs. Points: Delhi 4; J&K 0

Match 2: Haryana 153/8 in 32 overs (Avi Barot 55, MS Gony 4/39) beat Punjab 146/8 in 32 overs (Gurinder Singh 38, Gurkeerat Singh 31, Joginder Sharma 5/22).

Haryana won by 7 runs. Points: Haryana 4; Punjab 0

Match 3: Services 233/9 (Devender Lochab 73, Rajat Palliwal 41) beat Himachal Pradesh 222 in 48.5 overs (Sumeet Verma 60). Services won by 11 runs. Points: Services 4; HP 0.

BCCI Working Committee set to zero in on two prospective countries for IPL 7

Bhubaneswar: The BCCI Working Committee will meet here tomorrow to shortlist two prospective countries which will be kept as alternative venues for the seventh edition of the IPL which is co-inciding with the general elections.

While South Africa is the front-runner having had the experience of hosting the second season of IPL, United Arab Emirates (UAE) is also among the countries being considered for the event to be held between April 9 to June 3 window.

The final decision on a alternative location will be taken only after the government announces the dates of the general elections as the BCCI is hard-pressed to organise it in India due to pressure from the sponsors.

"As per the agenda, the report of the last IPL governing council meeting will be placed before the working committee. The Working Committee will then recommend a couple of alternative locations which would be forwarded to to IPL Governing Council. The IPL Governoing Council and primarily, the CEO Sundar Raman will have a say in the final outcome," a senior working committee member told PTI today.

Meanwhile, some of the other points that is on the agenda include confirming the minutes of the last working committee and also passing the finance committee reports and recommendations.

According to the official, a concrete decision can`t be taken right away as BCCI is still hopeful of organizing the bulk of the matches in India as per the wishes of all the franchises.

South Africa has the best facilities to host an event of IPL`s magnitude. The controversies kept aside, they have the best grounds and the timing of the matches would suit the Indian TV viewers which is the most important aspect of the cash-rich league.

UAE is a favourable venue as they now have two more world class stadiums apart from the Sharjah ground in Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively.

The logistical problems are also a bit on the lesser side if one organizes the tournament in the Emirates as there isn`t hectic travelling involved as the teams at times play three to four matches in a particular week.

But the flip side of organizing the tournament in UAE is the cloud of bookies and match-fixing as India never travelled there after 2000 since the match-fixing scandal broke out.

UAE is considered a hotbed for bookies and gamblers and the Anti Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) officials might find it tough to monitor the players from eight franchises at the same time.

Bangladesh is one venue which has seen reservations from some of the senior members of the IPL governing councils as the cities have limited five or seven star hotels. Also the corruption and match-fixing fiasco during the Bangladesh Premier League has not been forgotten.

Won't change my action though variation is a necessity, says Parveez Rasool

New Delhi: Talented off-spinner and India contender Parveez Rasool is keen to add a few more variation in his armoury as an off-break bowler but would not like to tinker with his natural action while doing so.

Out-of-form India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin yesterday surprised one and all by bowling with a completely different action which didn`t yield him any greater result.

While Rasool refused discussion on Ashwin`s action, he did express his views about sticking to the basics.

"Variation is very important for a bowler. Although my focus will always be on sticking to the basics, I would like to add a few variations up my sleeve. But I would certainly not alter my action in any case. I would have great difficulty if I have to change my current action," Rasool told reporters after Jammu and Kashmir`s lost their Vijay Hazare Trophy match to Delhi at the Feroze Shah Kotla ground.

A lot has changed for Rasool in just one season. From being a talented boy emerging from Jammu and Kashmir, he is a now serious contender for a place in the national side and is among the top three off-spinners in the country.

But Rasool says that he enjoys the pressures of captaincy and performing for his state.

"My only endeavour right now is to win as many games possible for my state side. I feel that whenever J&K wins, I should have my contribution in it," Rasool said.

He has been signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 95 lakh after some intense bidding auction with Delhi Daredevils during IPL but Rasool was on a flight back home and couldn`t watch the proceedings.

"I was actually travelling back after the Irani Cup game, so I missed out on watching the auctions live on television. Obviously, with VVS Laxman (Mentor) around, I would certainly get a lot of tips regarding how to improve my batting. I can`t wait to begin my stint for Sunrisers. "

His popularity has grown in leaps and bounds -- a testimony to which was the number of autograph and photograph hunters jostling for his time, once the match ended.

Asked about his feelings on CM Omar Abdullah tweeting about his achievements, Rasool replied with a shy smile, "He (Abdullah) is fond of me. Being the first cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to be selected in the national team is a huge achievement. I have his good wishes and blessings."

Asia Cup 2014: Umar Akmal's stupendous ton sets up 72-run win for Pakistan

Fatullah: Talented wicketkeeper-batsman Umar Akmal notched up a breezy century under pressure before the bowlers came to the party and guided Pakistan to a bonus-point 72-run victory over Afghanistan in the Asia Cup here on Wednesday.

Chasing a challenging target of 249, Afghanistan could only manage 176 in 47.2 overs in front of the disciplined Pakistan bowling attack.

Put in to bat, Pakistan rode on Akmal`s scintillating batting effort to post 248 for eight in their quota of 50 overs on a sluggish pitch at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium here.

The young batsman smashed unbeaten 102 off 89 balls after Pakistan were reduced to 117 for six inside 30 overs.

The 23-year-old, who scored 74 off 72 against Sri Lanka in the last match, clobbered three sixes and seven boundaries while helping his team recover from a precarious position.

Afghanistan, in reply, had a poor start as they lost opener Mohammad Shahzad (9) early. His partner, Noor Ali Zadran, played a few attractive shots at the other end.

Zadran made 44 off 63 deliveries and hit seven boundaries, before he was trapped in front by off-spinner Saeed Ajmal.

Asghar Stanikzai and Nawroz Mangal started the resurrection job for Afghanistan and tried to build a partnership. Though the duo put on a 74-run for the third wicket, they failed to get the spiralling asking rate down.

While Stanikzai consumed 91 deliveries for his 40, Mangal made 35 off 57 balls. Both hit three boundaries each in their 119-ball partnership.

With the required rate steadily going beyond reach, Afghanistan batsman played shots and perished in pursuit of quick runs.

Afghanistan lost the wickets of Stanikzai and Mangal in a space of three balls.

Skipper Mohammad Nabi (15) and Najibullah Zadran (1) failed to make an impact in the run-chase as Afghanistan fell way short.

The Afghan team faced difficulty in negotiating the Pakistan spin-trio led by Saeed Ajmal, who picked up two wickets while giving away just 25 runs in his nine overs.

Shahid Afridi (1/31) and Mohammad Hafeez (3/29), too, kept the opposition batsmen in check, besides chipping in with wickets.

PM hosts private lunch for Saudi Crown Prince

New Delhi: In a special gesture, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday hosted a private lunch for visiting Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud besides holding discussion on boosting trade, investment and security cooperation.

The Prime Minister also thanked the visiting Saudi dignitary for taking good care of Indian haj pilgrims and the two million Indians staying in that country.

"The Prime Minister and the Saudi Crown Prince discussed trade, investment, terrorism and security situation in West Asia and Afghanistan," the PMO said.

It said the Prime Minister conveyed to the Crown Prince that "India has a special and warm relationship with Saudi Arabia which we accord high importance."

Yesterday, the two sides had inked a defence cooperation pact to take their strategic partnership further in areas of security.

The pact was signed following talks between Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Vice President Hamid Ansari during which a range of bilateral, regional and international issues figured.

The defence cooperation pact will allow exchange of defence-related information, military training and education as well as cooperation in areas varying from hydrography and security to logistics. 

It is highest level political visit to India from Saudi Arabia after the landmark visit of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in January 2006.

Saudi Arabia is India's fourth largest trade partner with bilateral trade recording at USD 43 billion in 2012-13. Saudi Arabia is also India's largest crude oil supplier accounting for about one-fifth of its total imports in 2012-13.

Saud also met External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

Delhi Police seek more time to probe Bhatkal case

New Delhi: Delhi Police Thursday sought from a court here 15 more days to complete probe against Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and his close aide Asadullah Akhtar in the 2010 Jama Masjid terror attack case.

Delhi Police in a plea Thursday informed the court they have received information from Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US about movements of a "wanted terrorist" of IM in Bihar or Kerala.

Additional Sessions Judge Daya Prakash has allowed police plea for more time to collect evidence against Bhatkal, Akhtar and other accused in the case.

"Recently, an input has been received from the CIA that a wanted terrorist in this case is moving in areas of eastern Bihar and south Kerala, therefore teams have been dispatched and are camping in these areas...," police said.

Police said a breakthrough is likely in a short time.

"With the arrest of this wanted terrorist, the missing links in the conspiracy are likely to be established, which requires that period of investigation and judicial custody of these accused persons be extended," the police plea added.

"The evidence collected so far has consumed the stipulated period of 90 days from the date of arrest of both the accused persons mentioned above, i.e. November 26, 2013, for concluding the investigation," police told the court.

Bhatkal, arrested in August last year near the India-Nepal border, is accused of being involved in various terror strikes in the country.

India lost a decade under UPA rule: Narendra Modi

New Delhi: Accusing the Congress-led UPA government of pushing back the country by a decade, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Thursday said that he would endeavour to provide effective governance as it was more important than good policies.

"We need direction, determination and dedication... We need good governance. Bad governance is like diabetes which invites all kinds of ailments", he said while unveiling his vision for development at a seminar on 'A New Growth Paradigm for India'.

Modi further said: "We have reached a stage where the country is slipping back... We have lost a decade, we have to start afresh. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee left, the growth was 8.4 per cent, now the growth has come down to 4.8 per cent."

India, he said, was not only suffering from fiscal deficit but also from "governance deficit, trust deficit, security deficit and moral deficit.

"There is despondency. We have lost confidence. If we can regain confidence, we can not only move but can also run." Observing that India is a young country with democratic institutions and demand for products, Modi said, "we should consider them as strengths and make policies keeping them in view".

Referring to specific issues, Modi said that he would attempt to focus equally on the three pillars of growth -- manufacturing, agriculture and services sectors, and try to bridge the gap between rich and poor to make development more inclusive.

The Gujarat Chief Minister said economic growth should be inclusive, speedy and yet sustainable.

He said the development agenda should be "respectful to individual, responsive to innovation and responsible towards future generation" and governments should work towards improving standard of living and providing social justice.

Referring to plethora of laws, he said the need of the hour was to do way with the "jungle of laws".

In an apparent indication to BJP's election manifesto, Modi said a political party's manifesto should also talk about the number of laws that would be taken off the books.

On energy security, Modi said nature has been kind to India and it should exploit its solar, wind and hydro power availability.

Talking about centre-state relationships, Modi said each state has different strengths and there could not be a "tailor-made" solution for all of them.

"India is such a large country, some people think that one tailor made solution can be applied everywhere. This is the biggest mistake," he said.

Modi said the country's Prime Minister and Chief Ministers should work in tandem.

Replying to a question related to regulatory issues, he said financial decisions should be based on commercial considerations and not on political concerns.

Taking a jibe at the Centre, Modi said that even a municipal head takes more decisions than the government in Delhi.

Stressing that good governance was the key to growth, the he said that "bad governance is like diabetics" which leads to main ailments.

"Good governance is more potent than policies," he added.

On the issue of attracting Foreign Direct Investment, Modi said that in India even the human resource development sector presents a huge opportunity for foreign investment.

He said it is the responsibility of the government to remove hurdles and create an environment for foreign investments.

Modi further said India's foreign missions should now focus more on trade and commerce to increase exports and reduce dependence on imports.

"...Whole of our system needs to be given a new direction because we cannot remain disconnected with world. We have to make a strong footing in the changing global paradigm," he said, adding that India's advantages are democracy, demography and demand.

Modi further said there was a need for get in mission mode to remove poverty from the country while stressing on giving "dignity" to even the poorest workers as everybody has aspirations.

Building hostels for women, orphans to be CSR activity

New Delhi: Setting up of hostels for women and orphans as well as efforts that benefit armed forces veterans, war widows and their dependents will come under the 'Corporate Social Responsibility' spending ambit.

With the government notifying norms for CSR spending by companies, Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot on Thursday said the rules have been finalised after extensive discussions with all stakeholders.

The new CSR regime, part of the Companies Act 2013, requires certain class of corporates to shell out at least two per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards social welfare spending activities.

Besides setting up homes and hostels for women and orphans, setting up old age homes, day care centres and such other facilities for senior citizens would be considered as CSR activities by the government.

Significantly, "measures for reducing inequalities faced by socially and economically backward groups," would also come under CSR ambit.

Further, measures initiated by companies for the benefit of armed forces veterans, war widows and their dependents would be classified as social welfare spending by companies.

Both domestic and foreign companies having net worth of at least Rs 500 crore or having minimum turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or those with at least net profit of Rs 5 crore, have to make CSR spend.

Another area included in the CSR framework is promoting preventive health care and sanitation and making available safe drinking water.

Commenting on CSR rules, Pilot further said they "provide for the manner in which CSR Committee shall formulate and monitor the CSR Policy, manner of undertaking CSR activities, role of the Board of directors therein and format of disclosure of such activities in the board's report".

As per the notified rules, ensuring ecological balance, protection of flora and fauna, animal welfare, agro-forestry, conservation of natural resources and maintaining quality of soil, air and water can also be CSR initiatives.

In addition, livelihood enhancement and rural development projects would be under CSR framework.

Other areas covered include protection of national heritage, art and culture, setting up public libraries, promotion and development of traditional arts and handicrafts, training to promote rural sports, nationally recognised sports, paralympic sports and Olympic sports.

"Contributions or funds provided to technology incubators located within academic institutions which are approved by the central government," would also be considered as CSR activities, according to the rules.

OROP for ex-servicemen to be implemented from April 1

New Delhi: Defence Ministry on Thursday issued orders for implementing the 'One Rank One Pension' decision of the government from April 1 and assured the Services that it will provide all necessary funds for it.

The Defence Ministry has issued the orders for implementing OROP for exservicemen from April 1, a Defence Ministry spokesperson said.

Defence Minister A K Antony has assured the Services that the Government was fully committed to implement the OROP policy and required funds will be made available to ensure its implementation, he said.

Chairing a meeting of the top brass of the Services and senior officials, Antony said the Finance Minister had clarified that the figure of Rs 500 crores made available to implement the scheme was only "indicative".

The meeting was convened by Antony to discuss the modalities for implementation of OROP. Minister of State for Defence Jitendra Singh, Defence Secretary RK Mathur, Secretary Ex- Servicemen's Welfare Sangita Gairola, Secretary Defence Finance Arunava Dutt, the three Service Vice Chiefs and AG from the Services Headquarters also attended the meeting.

"It was noted that OROP implies that uniform pension be paid to the Armed Forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement and any future enhancement in the rates of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners," the Ministry said.

"This implies bridging the gap between the rate of pension of the current pensioners and the past pensioners, and also future enhancements in the rate of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners," it added.

Include 'no arrest policy' in manifesto, fishermen tell Modi

Ahmedabad: In a memorandum to BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on Thursday demanded that the party's manifesto include how issues related to fishermen would be addressed.

The memorandum demanded that the BJP should include in its manifesto a policy of not arresting Pakistani fishermen, which would in turn lead to no arrest of Indian fishermen by that country.

Pondicherry-based NGO called National Fisherworkers' Forum (NFF) and a Delhi-based NGO called 'Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy' (PIPFPD) sent their memoranda to BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today through registered post.

"We demand incorporation of the fishing community's demands in your party's manifesto or else the community will boycott the next general elections," the NFF's M Ilango said.

Gujarat has the longest sea coast (1,600 km) in the entire country with lakhs of fishermen voters.

The NGO groups which made a memoranda of demands under a joint forum, requested reddressal of long-pending issues of the fishing community. 

Fishermens' fora in Pakistan and India have also demanded implementation of a 'no arrest policy' under an agreement signed by both governments during the 1999 Lahore summit.

"We demand declaration of a 'no arrest policy' for Pakistani fishermen and boats, so that there is prompt reciprocal action by the Pakistan government on this issue," the joint NGO forum said.

"There are 232 Indian fishermen in Pakistani jails and 139 Pakistani fishermen in Indian prisons. They should be released immediately," Jatin Desai of the PIPFPD said.

Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Kejriwal dominate Google's search trends

New Delhi: As India inches closer towards general elections, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Aam Aadmi Party founder Arvind Kejriwal and Congress vice- president Rahul Gandhi have emerged as the most searched politicians online, Google said on Thursday.

According to Google Trends, on a scale of 0-100, Modi scored 65 points, followed by Kejriwal (52 points) and Gandhi (41 points) for the month of February so far.

In January this year, Kejriwal (72 points) was ahead of Gandhi (64 points) and Modi (56 points) in terms of search on Google, the world's largest search giant.

Google Trends records search queries containing keywords related to Modi, Kejriwal and Gandhi and shows the data using graphs. The query numbers are plotted on a scale of 0-100.

"The world's largest democracy is all set for the 2014 General Elections for the 16th Lok Sabha and three leaders who are dominating the national political scenario and trending the most on online search are Modi, Gandhi and now Kejriwal," Google said in a release.

Interestingly, searches on Modi for PM (Prime Minister) were "more than three times" compared to that of Rahul Gandhi for PM.

These elections are likely to be unique because it is no longer a clash between Modi on the one hand and Gandhi on the other. The dark horse -- Kejriwal -- now features prominently as is evident by search queries, it added.

"Age is also revealing itself as a search trend. Interestingly, Gandhi's age is the most searched, that could be because he is constantly been projected as a youth leader," the US-based company said.

Google said Gandhi remained the most searched among the youth brigade in Indian politics with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav securing the second spot, followed by Priyanka Vadra, Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Naveen Jindal.

Some of the lesser known youth leaders, including Supriya Sule, Priya Dutt, Milind Deora and Dushyant Singh also found their place in the top 10 on Google Search, it added.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, BJP leader L K Advani, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav also received a significant number of search queries in the past three months, it added.

Cabinet meet tomorrow to clear populist measures

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Friday will decide on a series of populist measures and some ordinances on anti-graft and protection of rights bills at a meeting possibly the last before the model code of conduct could come into force for coming Lok Sabha polls.

A proposal to increase the poll expenditure cap up to Rs 70 lakh per contestant from Rs 40 lakh now is also on the table of the cabinet meeting.

The cabinet will also decide on hiking dearness allowance to 100 per cent from existing 90 per cent, benefiting 50 lakh employees and 30 lakh pensioners.

The hike in DA would be effective from January 1 this year. Another proposal which will bring cheers to pensioners is to ensure Rs 1,000 minimum monthly pension under the pension scheme run by retirement fund body EPFO, which would immediately benefit 28 lakh pensioners.

The cabinet is likely to consider a clarification on the decision for supply of 12 subsidised LPG cylinders per household in a year.

The government had last month raised the cap on supply of cheaper LPG from 9 to 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each. It was inferred that this meant one cylinder in a month.

The ministry has proposed to the cabinet that consumers should have the freedom to book a refill after 21 days with an overall cap of 12 subsidised bottles in a year.

When the model code of conduct goes into force with the announcement of the election schedule, no populist measure can be made public and any policy decision can be announced only with the clearance of the Election Commission.

Sources said the cabinet may also consider raising the retirement age of government employees from 60 to 62 years. The raising of superannuation age was originally a part of the Terms of Reference of the Seventh Pay Commission.

Since the Commission report is expected not before 2017, a decision on raising the retirement age cannot happen before that.

So, the reference to retirement age has been removed from the ToR of the 7th Pay Commission and it is speculated that the same may be brought as a supplementary agenda.

Sources have not ruled out a proposal before the cabinet to provide 'special category' status to Andhra Pradesh for development of Seemandhra region on the ground of revenue loss following the bifurcation.

The sources said Planning Commission's Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had met Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh recently to fine tune the proposal.

The cabinet could also approve six ordinances on bills pending in Parliament. Three ordinances which had lapsed last month could also be re-promulgated.

Three anti-corruption bills -- Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, Right of Citizens for Time-Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill and the Public Procurement Bill -- are likely to be approved as ordinances.

Along with these, the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, Rights of Persons with Disability Bill, Security Laws (Amendment) Bill, ordinances on Medical Council of India and another which gives Election Commission limited powers to make changes in Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe constituencies, where some castes have been either excluded or included between the 2001 census and May 2012, are also likely to be approved by the cabinet.

An ordinance seeking to enhance the pecuniary jurisdiction of civil suits of the Delhi High Court from existing Rs 20 lakh to Rs 2 crore will also come up.

The Delhi High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2014, introduced in the Rajya Sabha recently, aims at reducing workload of the Delhi High Court by transferring thousands of civil suits, valued up to Rs 2 crore, to the nine district courts in Delhi.

Uma Bharti asks Sonia to clear Cong stand on Khurshid's remark

Indore: BJP vice-president Uma Bharti on Thursday asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to clarify her party's stand on the "impotent" barb against BJP's PM nominee Narendra Modi by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

"In the last many years, nobody has made such intemperate comment against any politician. The Congress president should clarify whether her party approves of the comment made by Khurshid or whether the observation on Modi was Khurshid's personal view," Uma told PTI/Bhasha.

"Has Congress became so uncultured that its leaders (have) started making such kind of statements," she asked.

"On a number of occasions, Congress had distanced itself from its general secretary Digvijay Singh's controversial statements, I feel Congress should distance itself in Khurshid's case as well," Uma said.

The BJP leader said this below the belt comment by Khurshid will ensure that Congress will land in abyss post elections.

In the wake of furore caused by Khurshid after describing Modi as "impotent" in handling of the 2002 Gujarat riots, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today expressed his disapproval for such language.

Responding to a query on contesting Lok Sabha polls, Uma said as she was occupied with the Ganga river conservation programme, she would not be able to spare time for her constituency.

"However, if BJP president Rajnath Singh asks me to contest, I am ready to fight the election from any given constituency," she said.

When asked about the change of guard in Uttarakhand, Uma, also the BJP's in-charge of the hill state, said Congress will achieve nothing by replacing Vijay Bahuguna with Harish Rawat as chief minister.

"...Despite Rawat assuming the reins of Uttarakhand, Congress will lose polls in the hill state and BJP would win all the five (Lok Sabha) seats," she added.

Narendra Modi hits back at Chidambaram on postage stamp barb

New Delhi: Hitting back at Finance Minister P Chidambaram for his postage stamp barb, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Thursday said his economic knowledge can be confined to one word, which is "trustee."

"My knowledge about finance and economy will not occupy even a postage stamp. My whole knowledge can be confined to one word, that is trustee," he said, recalling Mahatma Gandhi's concept of trusteeship.

Modi, who invoked the Father of the Nation several times in his hour-long speech at a seminar on new growth paradigm, said that according to the concept of trusteeship propounded by Gandhiji, those in power should act like trustees of public goods and not behave like owners.

Admitting that he lacks the knowledge confined in books, Modi said he can always hire those who are well-versed with economic issues.

Modi was commenting on remarks made by Chidambaram, who in an interview to BBC said Modi's knowledge of economics can be written on the back of a postage stamp.

"What he (Modi) knows about economics can be written on the back of a postage stamp...He has said nothing about the fiscal deficit, nothing about the CAD (current account deficit), nothing about monetary policy," Chidambaram had said.

Modi retorted by saying that the country is suffering not only from a fiscal deficit but also "from governance deficit, trust deficit, security deficit, moral deficit and deficit of democratic institutions."

Gujarat had a revenue deficit when he took over as chief minister in 2001, Modi said, adding, "Since then, the state has been posting revenue surplus."

Special status for Bihar: Nitish Kumar calls bandh on March 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday gave a call for a statewide bandh on March 2, terming as "betrayal" the UPA government's decision to grant special category status to Seemandhra while "ignoring" a similar demand made by his government.

Addressing a press conference in state capital, Kumar said, “I am extremely grateful to several parties for extending their support to our demand for special status for Bihar. We have called a Bihar bandh on March 2 against the Centre's betrayal in this regard.”

“The fight for special status for Bihar is an old demand,” added Nitish Kumar.

Kumar had at first called the strike on March 1 but later decided to defer it by a day to March two considering the examinations in the state on March one, reports said.

Launching an attack on the Congress-led UPA government for according special category status to Seemandhra after creation of Telangana while "ignoring" Bihar's plea, he told reporters "this is betrayal of Bihar and other backward states.

The Chief Minister also appealed to all political parties and the people to observe the bandh to protest the UPA government's 'betrayal'.

Five killed, 35 injured in China bus fire

Beijing: At least five persons were killed and 35 others injured when a fire engulfed a moving bus in southwest China on Thursday.

The fire broke out at 1 pm (local time) when the bus was passing by a primary school at Guiyang City of Guizhou Province, provincial information department said.

The number of injured has risen to 35 from 30, it said.

The injured were admitted to four different hospitals, state news agency Xinhua reported. The driver of the bus said there were about 50 people on board the bus when the fire broke out. "I opened the door at once out of instinct, so that people could get off as soon as possible," he said.

Pictures posted on China's Twitter-like microblogging site Sina Weibo showed the bus was engulfed in flames with thick black smoke surging toward the sky.

The information department said since January last year all 1,850 buses operating in the province had started using liquefied natural gas instead of gasoline for green purposes.