Yuvraj Spells Doom for England

Déjà vu: Man of he match Yuvraj Singh overcame a severe back injury to clobber the England attack for his second successive century and then took four wickets to lead India to a 54-run victory Monday in the second ODI at the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association ground in Indore.

Yuvraj scored 118 from 122 deliveries to help lift India to 292 for nine in 50 overs despite a top-order slump.

He then claimed 4-28 with his left-arm spin to bundle England out for 238 in 47 overs, giving India a 2-0 lead in the seven-match series.

England's batsmen faltered against part-time spinners Yuvraj and Virender Sehwag (3-28) who made the ball bite off a helpful track.

The tourist’s middle order collapsed when it lost four wickets for eight runs, after setting up what looked like an evenly poised game.

Yuvraj scalped four of the five top-order batsmen, sending back Andrew Flintoff (43) and skipper Kevin Pietersen (33) in his 10th over to thwart chances of a comeback.

India on Friday won the first ODI by 158 runs in Rajkot, Yuvraj's unbeaten 138 from 78 deliveries spurred India to an imposing 387-5 - its highest total on home soil and the best score against England.

Continuing from where he left off in Rajkot, Yuvraj struck two sixes and 15 fours at Indore to post his 10th ODI hundred in 219 matches.

He shared an innings-reviving partnership of 124 runs with Gautam Gambhir (70) to rescue India from a poor start.

Batting first after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss, India's top order was rocked by pace bowler Stuart Broad's three-wicket burst.

Broad (4-55) removed opener Sehwag (1), Suresh Raina (4) and Rohit Sharma (3) in quick succession to reduce the hosts to 29-3 before Yuvraj and opener Gambhir rebuilt the innings.
The next match is Thursday at Kanpur.

SC Questions Center on Unfilled Seats

In what may spell trouble for the government, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to explain whether it was complying with an earlier directive by filling up vacant OBC seats in Central Educational Institutions with students belonging to the general category.

A five-member Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan also asked the Centre to clarify on the allegation that the unfilled seats of OBCs were being filled up with retrospective effect by enhancing the income ceiling limit from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh.

The bench which included Justices Arijit Pasayat, R V Raveendran, Altamas Kabir and Dalveer Bhandari directed the Centre to clarify the position on the twin issue by filing an affidavit.

The direction was passed on a writ petition filed by a student Vishwarath Reddy alleging that the Centre was filling up the vacant OBC seats with candidates from this category by relaxing the norms and enhancing the income ceiling from Rs 2.5 to Rs 4.5 lakh, thus, denying the general category candidates the benefit extended by the apex court earlier.

On October 14, the Constitution Bench had firmly told the Centre that the unfilled OBC seats in terms of the 27 per cent reservation extended to the community in central educational institutions, should be filled up with the general category candidates.

The apex court had said that all vacant OBC seats would revert to the general category pool and had also asked the Centre to fill these up by October-end.

(Agency Inputs)

Miss Meerut Arrested for Murdering Parents

Deprived of property, former ‘Miss Meerut’ Priyanka Choudhury was arrested on Monday and charged with murdering her parents last week after a dispute over family property. Her friend Anju, an accomplice in the bizarre double murder, has also been picked up by the cops.

Speaking to the media, Additional Superintendent of Police in Meerut, Rakesh Jolly, said the injuries on 70-year-old retired engineer Premveer and his wife Santosh, 65, indicate that the couple was repeatedly stabbed and then strangled.

Subsequent investigations zeroed in on Priyanka (29) after her brother Gaurav complained that all documents related to the property and other assets had gone missing since the deaths.

Priyanka was employed at an MNC in Meerut and lived separately in another part of the city.

Priyanka has apparently confessed to the crime. She told police that her parents’ decision to leave everything to her brother had enraged her. Jolly said Priyanka murdered her parents on November 11 after they refused to give her money. Gaurav was away in Bangalore at the time of the crime.

A raid at her apartment resulted in the recovery of nearly Rs 50,000 in cash, jewellery, bank passbooks, cheques and fixed-deposit certificates and other bonds worth Rs 7 lakh. All documents had her brother as beneficiary.

Anju, a close friend of Priyanka, was present when the elderly couple was murdered in their house in Meerut’s Prem Prayag area.

Both Priyanka and Anju are alumni of a polytechnic institute in South Delhi.

Priyanka was crowned ‘Miss Meerut’ three years ago, she first courted controversy after a soured relationship with Anju’s cousin Ajendra sometime ago.

She brought charges of rape against Ajendra and his uncle last year. In the FIR lodged by her mother, Priyanka had charged the duo of detaining and raping her in the Amroha area of Jyoti Ba Phule Nagar. The two had been arrested for the alleged rape.

Priyanka was employed at an MNC in Meerut, the police said.

Ministerial Team to Visit Kandhamal Today

A three member ministerial team, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, reached Orissa on a two day visit to assess the situation in the state that witnessed violence against Christians recently. Sending alarm bells ringing for the Orissa government, the group is scheduled to visit riot-affected Kandhamal on Tuesday.

Social Justice Minister Meira Kumar and Tribal Affairs Minister PR Kyndiah are other members of the central team, which is scheduled to submit a report to the government on its return.

The team, according to the sources, will visit Raikia, one of the worst affected blocks in the Kandhamal district, where communal violence erupted in the aftermath of the assassination of senior VHP leader and anti-conversion proponent Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four of his disciples, at his Jalespeta ashram on August 23.

The team will also visit Jalespeta ashram and interact with inmates. Elaborate arrangements have been put in place for the visit. Officials peg the death toll in the two month violence at 37, unofficial sources, however, put the death toll at 45.

The violence affected 402 villages under all 12 blocks of the district and damaged as many as 3,906 houses and 22 public institutions, according to a preliminary report prepared by the district administration.

The report also pointed out that 147 religious places including churches and prayer houses were damaged in the violence.

The state government has asked the district administration to complete the survey of the affected religious places including churches and prayer houses by November 25,

The state government has already announced a financial assistance package to rebuild the religious places.

The rehabilitation of Churches, however, is opposed by the VHP. The Hindu outfit has threatened to go to the court alleging it constituted a violation of norms.

The ministerial team will also assess living conditions at relief camps.

The visit takes place in the backdrop of discussions in the Cabinet meeting last month over the situation in the state. A number of Congress' UPA allies had demanded dismissal of the Orissa government besides a ban on Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

The Orissa government has repeatedly showed disregard for Home Ministry and PMO advisories, the latest being the grant of permission to a right-wing outfit to organise a Shradhanjali Sabha in memory of slain VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati, despite a Home Ministry warning that said the Sabha could further vitiate the ‘tense’ situation n th state.

Car Bomb Kills Israeli Mafiosi

A remote detonated car bomb killed Yaakov Alperon, one of Israel's most prominent crime bosses in Tel Aviv. He headed one of the country's most powerful crime families, a report in Israel's Haaretz newspaper quotes a key police official terming the assassination as an “extremely serious event”.

Police say Alperon was killed instantly when an explosive device was apparently detonated by remote control on a street in Tel Aviv.

In recent years, Israeli cities have witnessed mafia-wars for control over the country’s burgeoning crime business.

"An extremely serious event took place today, and its consequences are completely clear to us," Tel Aviv police commander Ilan Franco said, in an understandable hint at reprisal attacks, which may se Alperons hunt for and gun down those responsible for the bombing.

"It is likely that this happened because of an internal conflict within the Tel Aviv crime world ... If there are consequences to this attack we will have to deal with them," Franco added.

According to Haaretz, Alperon's assassination dominated the news, pushing Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza and a summit between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders off the airwaves.

In May last year, Alperon's older brother, Nissim, survived the ninth assassination attempt on him.

Over the years, the Alperons have encountered numerous police interrogations and have passed through multiple courtrooms.

MiG-23 Crashes in WB, Pilots Safe

Less than a week after a MiG-21 trainer aircraft crashed in Sibsagar district of Assam, a MiG-23 trainer went down near the Hashimara airbase in West Bengal on Monday. Fortunately, the two pilots managed to eject safely, an enquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause behind the crash.

Wing Commander Sisodia, was on a training sortie with Flight Lieutenant Kartik in the MiG-23 when the mishap occurred at 1236 hours, some10 minutes after they took off from the Hashimara airstrip.

Initial reports said no injuries or damage to civil property was reported, however, the debris, of the fighter jet, were later reported to have hit a kutcha house, setting it on fire.

Witnesses say debris of the aircraft were scattered over a radius of 2 km in Nararthali area of Alipurduar district.

An enquiry was ordered into the mishap to ascertain the reason behind the crash, initial reports suggest "engine trouble" led to the accident.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) recently, berated the IAF pilot training system, which vastly depends on obsolete trainer aircraft and simulators, outdated training methodologies and plans.

The crash takes aircraft accidents, in the force this year, to eight.

It comes at a time when the first batch of rookie IAF pilots are being trained on the newly-inducted Hawk AJTs (advanced jet trainers) to learn the intricacies of combat fighter jet flying.

Transitional training on the AJTs will help young pilots make the switch from flying sub-sonic aircraft like HPT-32 and Kiran trainers to handling supersonic aircraft like the MiG-21.

Chiru Road Show Leaves Trail of Death

Star Power: Two people were killed and another injured seriously during Praja Rajyam leader Chiranjeevi’s Praja Ankita Yatra in Dharmavaram area of Anantpur, Andhra Pradesh, on Monday. The deaths happened as crazed surges to catch a glimpse of the thespian resulted in a stampede.

Two people, perched atop a tree fell down at the NTR Circle in Dharmavaram while watching Chiranjeevi’s road show. Adinarayana (26) slipped and fell on the ground and Ramana (30) fell on him. While the former died on the way to hospital, Ramana is undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

In the second incident, Tajuddin (36) was trampled to death by the crowd when he was running after Chiranjeevi’s vehicle.

The actor-turned politician remained unaware of the deaths till they reached Bathalapalli when he was informed of the incidents by partymen.

The Praja Rajyam president directed party leaders NV Prasad and Prabhakara Chowdary to rush to Dharmavaram and console the bereaved families. The party later announced an ex gratia of Rs. one lakh each to the families of the deceased.

Mahant in Malegaon Net, Soldier’s Laptop Found

Probing into the Malegaon blast, the Maharashtra ATS on Wednesday recovered the laptop of Lt-Colonel Prasad Purohit, the device had gone missing after the soldier was picked up for questioning on October 29, the sleuths have sent the computer for forensic examination.

The ATS detained Mahant Amritanand alias Dayanand Pandey, the head of the Sharda Sarvagya Peeth in Jammu, from his brother’s house in Kanpur, for alleged involvement in the Malegaon blast.

The Mahant will be produced in court Thursday, when the ATS will seek a transit remand to take him to Mumbai for questioning.

ATS Joint Commissioner of Police Hemant Karkare told reporters in Mumbai that the Mahant had a role in the blast conspiracy and had attended several meetings in different parts of the country along with other arrested accused.

Pandey was picked up from the Rawatpur locality which falls under the Kalyanpur police station.

Pandey's name had allegedly cropped up during the interrogation of Purohit and Abhinav Bharat fund-raiser Ajay Rahirkar.

"We got Pandey's photographs, mobile numbers and other details. We verified these and on Wednesday got Pandey's custody from the UP police,'' said Karkare.

Talking of Pandey's role, Karkare said, "He participated in several meetings conducted by the arrested accused at Bhonsala military school, Deolali camp, Indore, Nashik and Jammu and Kashmir. He was part of the larger conspiracy.''

Additional director general (law and order) Brij Lal and secretary, home, Kumar Kamlesh in Uttar Pradesh told reporters that Pandey claimed to be the head of Sharda Sarvagya Peeth situated in the Trikut nagar area of Jammu. Pandey had been living in the peeth after his initiation in 2003.

Reports appearing n the internet media suggest Pandey was the guru of Sadhvi Pragya and had been hiding in his lawyer brother Pushkar's house near Ram Lala School of Rawatpur since Pragya's arrest a few days ago. Locals, however, claimed that Pandey had come to visit his father, a retired police sub-inspector.

Meanwhile, regional head of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Awadh Bihari Mishra denied that Sudhakar had any links with the organisation. "I have never heard about him," he said.

Obama Calls PM, Indicates Early Visit

Quelling speculations of a diplomatic ‘cold shoulder’ to New Delhi, US President-elect, Barack Obama, finally telephoned Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He accepted Singh’s congratulations and promised to visit Delhi soon. He stressed on the importance of the bilateral strategic partnership.

Singh told Obama that relations between India and the US were good, but the two countries could not be satisfied with the status quo. According to the Prime Minister's Office, he wished Obama well in trying to meet the “enormous challenges that face the world”.

Obama said the US-India strategic relationship was important and the new administration wanted to work with India on all global issues. He recalled Singh’s contribution as Finance Minister and also praised his contribution as the country’s Prime Minister.

Singh and Obama spoke in the morning, after days of media speculation over the time the President-elect seemed to be taking in making the call. Soon after his election, Obama began working the phones, talking to heads of several countries — ranging from Britain to Pakistan — but left out India. Some wondered if he was “ignoring” India.

However, Singh dismissed the thought, suggesting to reporters travelling with him that the only issue between the two was scheduling the call. Singh has just returned from a trip to Oman and Qatar and Obama too is busy.

Both have exchanged letters in recent weeks. Obama wrote to Singh during the campaign and Singh sent him a warm note when he was elected President.

As in his letter, Singh assured that a “warm welcome” awaited Obama when he visited India.

Obama said he wished to make “an early visit”.

Sonia Accepts Alva’s Resignation

While refuting allegations of malpractices in the ticket distribution process, the Congress higher-ups on Wednesday accepted Margaret Alva’s resignation from the post of All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, the decision by default sacks her from Congress Working Committee and the Central Election Committee of the party.

Alva sent her resignation to party president Sonia Gandhi Tuesday after coming in for sharp criticism from colleagues for her allegation that ticket for elections was being sold within the party.

Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed told media persons that there was no need for an enquiry into Alva’s allegation as it had not been substantiated.

Earlier on Wednesday, AICC general secretary in charge of organisational affairs Janardan Dwivedi announced that Alva’s resignation had been accepted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Alva was the party general secretary in charge for Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab & Chandigarh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland.

At the party’s routine briefing, Ahmed said that Alva continued to be a member of the Congress and added that if Alva so wishes, the party would use her for campaigning.