Hindustan Times: September 2008

Goodbye Ganguly?

His week could see the end of an unforgettable era, with Sourav Ganguly “set to quit” international cricket if not selected for the Australia series. The team for the first two tests will be chosen on Wednesday.

If Ganguly, 112 short of 7,000 Test runs, does retire, he would be the first of India's ‘Fab Five’ — the others being Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman — to call it a day, bringing to a close what has been Indian cricket’s most dramatic chapter.

Sources close to the former India skipper told HT Ganguly’s mind was made up. “He said there is no point in trying to make yet another comeback after this,” said the source. “He has nothing to prove to anyone anymore.” Ganguly, who had not spoken to (or been spoken to) by any selector in the recent fortnight since his axing from the Irani Cup squad, was philosophical.

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Labels: Anil Kumble, Australia series, Fab Five, former India skipper, Indian Cricket Player, Indian cricket team, international cricket, Irani Cup squad, Rahul Dravid, sachin tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly

Debt, starvation killing Andhra weavers

A day after the suicide of three weavers, a case of starvation death of another was reported in Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.

Bitla Mallaiah, 55, who was found dead in his house at Kamalapur, had no work and died of starvation, said A. Nageshwara Rao, Kamalapur Sub-Inspector. Kamalapur is the assembly constituency of Telangana Rashtra Samithi floor leader E. Rajender.

At Sircilla town in the same district, three unemployed and debt-ridden weavers committed suicide yesterday.

Vengala Srinivas (30), an unemployed powerloom worker, living in Sunaraiahnagar locality, had run up a debt of over Rs 1 lakh and was being pressured by the lender to return it. On Saturday, he went to a neighbourhood shop, bought a bottle of pesticide, consumed it and went to his parents’ house in Tarakanagar. He died there. Srinivas is survived by his wife and two children.

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Labels: Andhra Pradesh, Karimnagar district, pesticide, powerloom worker, starvation death, suicide, Sunaraiahnagar, unemployed, weavers

More expensive than London, worse off than Patna

The reason for Gurgaon’s power crisis is simple: it needs 1700 MW of electricity but gets a little less than 1200.

The effects of this three-digit shortfall – altogether 525 MW – are more complicated. It means that the 16 lakh residents of Millennium City have to go without electricity for 6-8 hours everyday .

Most residents are helpless, but those who can afford it, opt for captive power plants. And pay through their noses: “We cough up Rs 11.40 per unit for uninterrupted power. As honest taxpayers, we feel short-changed by the government,” says Rajender Sharma, a businessman living in DLF Phase IV .

The more than 250 national and international Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firms in the city, as also the 2200 industrial units, also have to depend on diesel gensets.

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Labels: BPIAI, BPO, DLF Phase IV, electricity, global market, gurgaon, London, Millennium City, Patna, power crisis, residents

Board of Control for Cricket in India was on 25-year ‘tax holiday’

It was a 25-year-old lapse that few outside the cricket board’s inner circle knew of.

According to documents available with Hindustan Times, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, one of the richest sport bodies in the world, did not file returns on income 1980-81 onwards.

Over the last three years, the BCCI treasurer’s office has had its hands full.

N. Srinivasan’s first job, when he took over as treasurer in 2005, was to try and regularise the registration of documents to the Registrar of Societies Act.

A top BCCI source confirmed the contents of the treasurer’s report that will be presented at the board’s 79th Annual General Meeting in Mumbai on September 27. “Yes, the returns were not filed since 1981, but they have now been regularised,” he told HT, declining to be identified because the report is yet to be presented.

The board, through its auditors, undertook the arduous task of collating the necessary documents pertaining to that 25-year period and filed them with the registrar in 2007.

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Labels: BCCI, Board treasurer N. Srinivasan, cricket board, documents, income, Mumbai, Registrar of Societies Act, tax holiday

Rich Indian cricket board got richer, earned Rs 1,000 crore

Market Conditions may be grim and global giants may be declaring bankruptcy but one organisation is , celebrating a bumper year. In fact, the best year in its 79-year history .

The income of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) this year has crossed Rs 1,000 crore, well in excess of earlier estimates. Board treasurer N. Srinivasan will make a formal announcement at the BCCI annual general meeting on September 27 and 28.

The board’s income in 2007-08 was Rs 1000.41 crore, up a strong 46 per cent from Rs 651.83 crore in 2006-07. It’s a significant improvement from the board’s own forecast for the year, which was Rs 862.30 crore.

What pushed the figure up was the increase in income from the sale of media rights, up to Rs 559.31 crore from the previous year’s Rs 313.62 crore. But it’s not just television rights — every other source of income saw a mammoth rise.

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Labels: BCCI, Board treasurer N. Srinivasan, Commonwealth Games, giants, income, Indian Cricket Board, International cricketers, media rights, rich, television rights

Nuclear deal suspense grows, Prime Minister in United States

Indian officials accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his visit to the United States are nervous about the outcome of US Congressional vote on the agreement.

“We have to see in what form the Congress accepts the agreement,” a prime ministerial aide said.

On Tuesday, the US Congress’s business committee is likely to finalise a schedule for voting on the 123 agreement and other possible resolutions that could be riders to the agreement.

Some of these resolutions could throw up prescriptions politically unpalatable in India, particularly on the country’s right to conduct a nuclear test in future.

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Labels: accepts, agreement, Barack Obama, Congress, John McCain, new york, nuclear deal, nuclear test, president George Bush, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UNGA, United States, US Congressional vote

Pakistan has a raging fire on its hands

The Saturday before this weekend’s was India’s Capital. This Saturday, it was Pakistan’s. Both were victims of deadly terror strikes; Delhi debilitated by a string of bombs planted in dustbins, Islamabad ignited by a truck bomber.

Even as the Delhi Police claimed to have “cracked” the September 13 serial bombings, Islamabad was still coming to grips with the seismic shock of a suicide bomber ploughing an a 1,000-kg-explosive-laden truck into the Marriott Hotel.

The Marriott, at the foot of Islamabad’s green Margalla hills, was frequented by the city’s rich and powerful joined by the Serena recently, it was the only five-star hotel in the Pakistani Capital.

“We have a full-fledged, raging fire on our hands,” Ayaz Amir, Pakistan’s leading columnist, told HT on telephone from his Chakwal residence near Islamabad.

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Labels: dustbins, green Margalla hills, Islamabad, Marriot hotel, Pakistan, suicide bomber, truck bomber

Mission Moon

It's ready and gift-wrapped in a gold hued foil, but Indian space scientists who are toiling for Chandrayaan-I's rendezvous with the Moon seem to have their hearts in their mouth. For, they have to steer India's first orbiter to the Earth's nearest astral neighbour through a 3,86,000 km voyage over five and a half days.

And one little glitch could jeopardise the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) venture to find answers to a surfeit of questions: from the origin and evolution of the Moon - which, in turn, will help unravel the origin of the Earth and other celestial bodies - to the possibility of the presence of water and minerals on the Moon's surface.

As D-day draws nearer (October 19-26), the scientists are pouring over tonnes of mathematical calculations on the orbits of various planets and reviewing the results of simulations performed on high-speed computers to fine tune the orbiter's trajectory and to make sure that it "captures the moving target (the Moon)", says M. Annadurai, project director, Chandrayaan-I.

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Labels: Chandrayaan-I, Deep Space Network, Earth, ISRO, mathematical calculations, mission moon, Moon's surface, orbiter, planets, scientists, spacecraft

In India 6 / 10 test-tube babies born of infertile men

The Indian male is taking a hit, and well below his belt.

Male infertility was behind 56 per cent of test-tube babies compared with 34 per cent among females, according to data collected in 2006 from 116 fertility clinics across India and to be officially released in Mumbai on September 20.

The latest findings turn on its head findings five years ago, as also the myth of female infertility, which is the source of much domestic violence and abuse. In 2001, female infertility caused 62 per cent of test-tube babies, while male impotence accounted for 38 per cent.

Doctors say male infertility, especially in cities, is certain to have grown even more by now.

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Labels: clinics, doctors, domestic violence, FOGSI, hit, Indian male, infertility, test tube babies

Delhi Development Authority house: Small chance, big dreams

Neharina Yadav, an architect, makes a living designing fancy houses for the rich. For herself, a small two-room Delhi Development Authority (DDA) flat would do, as it would for any of the lakhs of people who have applied for one.

Her chances of getting a flat will boil down to luck. The odds against her are high.

The DDA has sold a whopping 8.64 lakh forms for the 5,010 one-room, two-room and three-rooms flats up for sale under the recently-launched housing scheme.

Yaday is most likely to be disappointed. She will apply again, whenever DDA announces another scheme. She may eventually get lucky But why must housing in the country's capital be left to chance? Delhi is facing a mounting housing crisis, and DDA is not up to the challenge.

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Labels: architect, challenge, DDA, delhi, designing, dreams, fancy houses, house, housing scheme, Neharina Yadav, rich

2,500 Indians may lose jobs: markets rocked

US Investment giant Lehman Brothers on Monday said it has gone bankrupt amid a worsening credit crisis in the home country, while rival Merrill Lynch, also bitten by the same bug, managed to find a buyer.

The news roiled markets worldwide, including India where the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex plunged 850 points, or 6.1per cent, in intra-day trading. It later recovered halfway to close at 13, 531 points.

But Lehman and Merrm Lynch's India connection goes much beyond stock swings. Both companies have been rapidly expanding operations here, besides hiring aggressively in India to shore up talent for such key bases as New York and London.

Lehman currently employs about 2,500 people in India, most of whom run the risk of losing their jobs.

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Labels: bankrupt, BSE, credit crsis, employees, Indians, jobs, Lehman Brothers, London, Merrill Lynch, new york, rival, Sensex, trading, US investment

Delhi mourns its dead

Twenty year old Mohamad Ashraf left his home and family in Anantnag, Kashmir, a few years ago to escape the constant threat of violence and to eke out a decent living. Following in the footsteps of his uncles, Ashraf arrived in Delhi - a city that promised him a life of safety and dignity.

At 6.07 pm on Saturday, Ashraf saw, and heard, his dreams shattering in front of his eyes. The Gaffar Market blast claimed his maternal uncle Mohammad Qasim (25) and his other uncle Faroog (28) is battling for his life at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

"We always felt Delhi was a haven where anyone could earn at least two square meals by working hard," he said. Along with his uncles, who had shifted to Delhi many years ago, Ashraf used to pull cycle rickshaws in the Karol Bagh area. A shell-shocked Ashraf doesn't know if he can feel safe in the Capital anymore.

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Labels: Anantnag, delhi, Delhi Blast, escape, Gaffar Market blast, Karol Bagh, Kashmir, Mohamad Ashraf, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, violence

Made in America,Trump(ed) in India

It's a sweet seduction for prime property, and a strategy to stay afloat. US-based billionaire real torturned-socialite Donald Trump is wooing potential buyers from India for his 45-storey Trump International building coming up in Manhattan.

The Trump International CEO rebuilt his fortunes after going bust in the late 1980s recession and accumulating a personal debt of around $900 million. This time, he seems to be eager to find buyers from across the world to ward-off a relapse of fate.

Trump International officials are in Mumbai meeting potential buyers for the 480-foot glass-fagade Trump SoHo Hotel condominium at 246 Spring Street, New York facing the Hudson river and the Statue of Liberty The 386,000 sq ft building will house 407 guest rooms, five penthouses and one presidential suite.

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Labels: 45-storey, America, buyers, Donald trump, Prime property, Statue of Liberty, strategy, Trump International

Women face contempt for saying CJI like Osama

The Supreme Court on Wednesday initiated contempt proceedings against two members of Vasai-based Boss Music School for making insinuations against Chief Justice of India and comparing him to Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden.

A bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat appointed Solicitor General G.E. Vahanvati to assist the court in the matter and posted its hearing in November. The apex court, which had last month issued contempt notice to Leila David and Annette Kotian, said their reply to the notice was "more contemptuous".

Justice Pasayat said: "We have considered the reply filed by them, which are equally contemptuous and we feel that action needs to be taken against them for contempt of this court and charges will be framed against them."

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Labels: Boss Music School, cartoons, Chief Justice of India, CJI, contempt, Osama Bin Laden, petition, Saddam Hussein, Supreme Court

King Khan in crosshairs now

He game of one-up man ship between the feuding Thackeray cousins - Raj and Uddhav has put Bollywood actors in their crosshairs.

With Raj taking on Jaya Bachchan for what he termed an insult to Maharashtrians, his uncle Bal Thackeray, Uddhav's father - threatened with losing the 'Marathi manoos' agenda picked on Shah Rukh Khan for calling himself a "Dilliwala" through the party mouthpiece.

Jaya asking Maharashtrians to forgive her for speaking in Hindi at a music release gave Raj, head of the Maharashtra Naynirman Sena (MNS), the perfect excuse to again rake up the 'Maharashtra for Maharashtrians' issue.

And he forced the Shiv Sena to extend its attack to another star "Mumbai made Khan a baadshah (king), but he still calls himself a Dilliwala. If that is the case, why did you come to Mumbai?"

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Labels: Jaya Bachchan, Maharashtra, Maharashtrians issue, MNS, Mumbai, Raj Thackeray, Shah Rukh Khan, Shiv Sena

Dropped from Irani Cup, could be the end for Dada

Unless the new selection committee committee thinks radically differently Souray Ganguly's omission from the Irani Cup squad could start the most remarkable phaseout period in the history of Indian cricket.

Is it time to say goodbye to Indian cricket legends who contributed to 17 Test victories abroad between November 2000 when Ganguly became captain and 2008 compared to 14 from 1932 to 2000? It's just that the process to shelve them has started with Ganguly, India's most successful captain with 21 wins in 49 Tests.

"You have to look at the future and start somewhere," a national selector unwilling to go on record told HT. "We have a pool of youngsters who are ready to be tested and this is the right time." Ganguly made 96 runs in six innings in Sri Lanka last month.

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Labels: Ajit Wadekar, Anil Kumble, Australia, Former India captain, Indian Cricket Player, Irani Cup, ODi, omission, Rohit Sharma, Sourav Ganguly, Sri Lanka, Test Cricket, Yuvraj Singht

For them, Yoga is just childs play

It begins to rain, and the snails curl into their shells.

The two and three-year-olds have just done a variation of an asana which helps digestion. Mumbai's youngest yoga pupils, some of whom have barely learnt to walk a few months ago, cannot follow instructions more complex than that.

These sessions at Little Bo Peep, a playschool at Khar Danda, are attended mainly by children from upscale nearby Khar and Bandra. Even Kid's Concept at Pali Hill, Bandra, has yoga sessions for toddlers.

"Nowadays, competition and stress begin at a very young age. This will provide them with some ammunition and focus for the years ahead," said Poonam Mirchandani, founder of Little Bo Peep.

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Labels: asana, competition, digestion, Khar Danda, Little Bo Peep, Mumbai, playschool, sessions, shells, snails, Yoga

Obama: Pakistan using United States aid against India

US Presidential candidate Barack Obama has said that Pakistan was using American aid to fight the war on terror for "preparing for a war against India".

The Democratic nominee said the US was providing Pakistan military aid "without having enough strings attached". "They're (Pakistan) using the military aid... Pakistan... They're preparing for a war against India," he told Fox News.

Obama vowed to hold Islamabad accountable for the massive military aid it has received from Washington if he is elected to the White House.

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Labels: aid, American aid, Barack Obama, Democratic nominee, elected, fight, India, Islamabad, Pakistan, Pakistan military, terror, United States, US Presidential candidate, war, Washington, White House

India's Shame

The cataclysmic flooding in Bihar, the worst in India's modern history, isn't the national calamity.

It is what is unfolding now. Eighteen days after India's most notorious and unpredictable Kosi River suddenly breached an embankment and changed its course uprooting millions of people, thousands remain trapped in homes, crushed in poorly resourced relief camps or just sleeping hungry on the road. It is a stunning indictment on how India's central government, the Bihar administration, and local and international NGOs reacted to the tragedy that has touched the lives of at least 25 million people.

Across the misery-seeped expanse, there are no facilities set up to help trace missing peoples. No trauma care facilities. There are no international NGOs, who have in the past complained that India did not give them access in such situations.

"The prime minister came here and called it a national tragedy If this is how our nation reacts to this tragedy, this is just a cruel joke on us, isn't it?" said Giraj Rishi Yaday, as he sat in a relief camp after walking the whole morning in waist-deep water.

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Labels: Bihar, crisis, flooding, Kosi River, military rescuers, national calamity, panchayat, people, relief operations, Rescue operations

Blueline driver falls to road rage

Road rage is back on Delhi roads. A Blueline driver was beaten to death after his bus allegedly damaged the side-view mirror of a car in West Delhi on Tuesday evening.

The incident happened on the route between Tigri and Old Delhi.

A senior police officer said the bus Mukesh Kumar, 35, was driving brushed past the accused Navin Kalra's Optra car.

"Kumar might have damaged the side view mirror of Kalra's can. On this, the accused followed the bus and stopped it near Madipur. He first got into a fight and then called up 10-12 of his associates who badly beat up Kumar," the officer said.

Kalra and his driver have been arrested. Kumar was taken to the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital and given first aid. But within 10 minutes of being discharged, he collapsed and died.

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Labels: Blueline driver, Delhi Roads, incident, Old Delhi, Road rage, Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, side view mirror, Tigri

Wrestler puts his medals on auction

Even as the country celebrates wrestler Sushil Kumar's bronze medal at Beijing, grappler Shokinder Tomar on Sunday put up his Arjuna Award and Commonwealth Games medals for auction.

Medals in hand, Shokinder - who bagged a silver at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games and received the Arjuna in 2004 - led a procession in his hometown, Malakpur village in Baghpat district, Uttar Pradesh, demanding that the medals be auctioned to buy wrestling mats and for land to build a stadium.

The procession had over 100 wrestlers, including woman wrestler Anshu Tomar and Shyam Singh, father of Rajiv Tomar, who competed at Beijing.

Shokinder told HT it was not a publicity stunt.

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Labels: Arjuna Award, auction, Baghpat district, Beijing, bronze medal, Commonwealth Games, medals, Shokinder Tomar, stadium, Sushil Kumar, Uttar Pradesh, woman wrestler Anshu Tomar, wrestler

Hindustan Times

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Goodbye Ganguly?

Monday, September 29, 2008

Debt, starvation killing Andhra weavers

Friday, September 26, 2008

More expensive than London, worse off than Patna

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Board of Control for Cricket in India was on 25-year ‘tax holiday’

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Rich Indian cricket board got richer, earned Rs 1,000 crore

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Nuclear deal suspense grows, Prime Minister in United States

Monday, September 22, 2008

Pakistan has a raging fire on its hands

Friday, September 19, 2008

Mission Moon

Thursday, September 18, 2008

In India 6 / 10 test-tube babies born of infertile men

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Delhi Development Authority house: Small chance, big dreams

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

2,500 Indians may lose jobs: markets rocked

Monday, September 15, 2008

Delhi mourns its dead

Friday, September 12, 2008

Made in America,Trump(ed) in India

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Women face contempt for saying CJI like Osama

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

King Khan in crosshairs now

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Dropped from Irani Cup, could be the end for Dada

Monday, September 8, 2008

For them, Yoga is just childs play

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Obama: Pakistan using United States aid against India

Friday, September 5, 2008

India's Shame

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Blueline driver falls to road rage

Monday, September 1, 2008

Wrestler puts his medals on auction

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