Colombo, October 03: Muttiah Muralitharan, the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, has been included in Sri Lanka’s squad to tour Australia later this month in an indication he may play in the 2011 World Cup on the sub-continent.
The off-spinner retired from Test cricket in July after capturing his 800th wicket, but didn’t reveal his World Cup plans and was not part of a limited-overs tri-series involving India and New Zealand in August.
New Delhi, October 03: Suspended Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi today hit out at the Cricket Board and said he had anticipated the problem brewing up in the Kochi franchise.
BCCI President Shashank Manohar has show-caused the Kerala-based second-most costliest IPL franchise to incorporate their joint venture in 10 days or face action from the Board. Reacting to the latest twist from BCCI, Modi in his twitter account posted: “Kochi franchise — just as I predicted.
New Delhi, October 03: CBSE-conducted engineering and medical entrance examinations could be redesigned and held online if the premier educational board has its way.
The ‘Centre for Assessment, Evaluation and Research’ which CBSE has planned to set up with a partner organization on public-private partnership mode to carry forward reforms in education will have a core group which would go through this entire exercise.
London, October 03: The three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of the spot-fixing scandal at the Lord’s Test in August could escape criminal charges unless the Metropolitan Police prove to the Crown Prosecution Service there was a specific ‘victim’ in legal terms, reports The Daily Mail, London.
Pakistan’s captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were all questioned by police and suspended by the ICC after a middle-man, Mazhar Majeed, provided details of three specific no-balls in return for £150,000.
Lucknow, October 03: Even as Hindu and Muslim groups mull over the implications of Ayodhya verdict and the next course of action, the craftsmen who had worked here till 2007 carving stone slabs for the planned Ram temple are sensing an employment opportunity.
“Soon after the pronouncement of the verdict, there had been phone calls from the craftsmen hailing from Gujarat, Rajasthan and parts of Uttar Pradesh who had been working here between 1990 and 2007 asking us when they have to come back to finish the work,” VHP spokesman Sharad Sharma says.
Mumbai, October 03: She was rumoured to be a Salman Khan favourite and she insists that things are still that way. This lady is non other than Claudia Ciesla
“He (Salman Khan) always says nice things about me in his interviews. He has always been kind to me and he is a thorough gentleman,” says Claudia, who has a lot of ‘similarities’ with Hollywood actor Pamela Anderson who was rumoured to be replacing her as the foreign babe in a forthcoming reality show that will be hosted by Salman Khan too.
Lucknow, October 03: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh’s remarks that the Muslim community felt cheated by the Ayodhya title suit verdict has evoked sharp reaction from the community leaders, who dubbed it as “unwise” to make politically motivated statements at this time.
Rome, October 03: A 15-year-old Italian boy has become the world’s first child to be given a permanent artificial heart.
The unnamed boy had the ten-hour operation last week and was said to be well and talking in intensive care on Saturday night, reports The Daily Mail, London.
As he has the muscle-wasting illness Duchenne’s syndrome, he was ineligible for a heart transplant. The pumps used for the world’s first permanent artificial heart implant .
Hyderabad, October 03: Andhra Pradesh Government yesterday began the process of withdrawing cases of non-serious nature registered against pro and anti-Telangana agitators since November last year.
State Home Minister P Sabita Reddy told media here today that 1,171 cases were registered in all against 5,374 persons, including students, in connection with the agitations for and against the division of the state.
New Delhi, October 03: The Election Commission has convened an all-party meeting tomorrow to discuss various electoral issues, including criminalisation of politics, Bihar elections, use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the role money power plays during polls.
The poll watchdog has invited the leaders of all political parties, including state and regional leaders. ”The meeting is tomorrow. The poll panel will take up various electoral issues, including criminalisation of politics, the use of money power during elections and also use of EVMs,’’ an official
said.
Jerusalem, October 03: Leaders of the main moderate Palestinian factions yesterday voted to oppose further negotiations while building continues in Jewish settlements, amid increasing US frustration at Israel’s refusal to prolong a 10-month moratorium on construction.
New Delhi, October 03: Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi has emerged as the most preferred brand ambassador for the 2010 Commonwealth Games here, with 72 percent of the respondents choosing him in the latest survey by a leading industry lobby.
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar came next with 62 percent in the survey, conducted among 10,000 students by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, ahead of the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games.
Durban, October 03: A plaque renaming as ‘Juma Masjid Square’ the street outside one of the oldest mosques in South Africa built on a plot owned by a Gujarati immigrant was unveiled by India’s Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi.
“It was the happiest moment of my life when I unveiled the plaque by the name Juma Masjid Square in the street where one of the oldest mosques of the country (South Africa) stands,” a delighted Ravi told IANS after unveiling the plaque Friday.
“I feel great as I also prayed at this glorious sacred place of worship,” he added.
Cairo, October 03: In a second audio recording in 24 hours, Al Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden said governments of Muslim nations have not done enough to help Pakistanis hit by floods that killed hundreds and displaced millions.
As in the earlier recording, Bin Laden’s criticism was measured in the message released on Saturday on militant websites.
La Paz, October 03: At least four men, including three brothers, were lynched and buried alive for practicing witchcraft as part of “community justice” by a group of people in Bolivia, media reports said.
On Friday, police found the body of a man who was beaten up and buried alive Aug 20 in a village in the central Cochabamba region by peasants who accused him of practicing witchcraft to kill a farm worker.
Ahmedabad, October 03: In the wake of protests over rape and murder of a woman constable in Rajasthan’s Kota district, authorities have suspended two policemen, including a SHO, besides shunting the rest of the staff of Chechat police station to police lines.
The constable Maya Yadav was raped inside her quarter behind the police station allegedly by police driver Deshraj and later stabbed to death on Wednesday night with the help of Tulsi Ram, who was working as a cook in the police station.
New Delhi, October 03: India’s woman tennis star Sania Mirza is skipping the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games here Sunday while the men’s tennis team, too, were non-committal about it.
Sania has decided to keep herself fresh for the mixed doubles first round with Leander Paes Monday while another mixed double pair Rohan Bopanna and Nirupama Sanjeev also have a match the same day. The second seeded pair of Paes and Sania are scheduled to take on Saint Lucia’s Stacey Nykita Roheman and Alberton Richelieu in the first round.
New Delhi, October 03: India’s woman tennis star Sania Mirza is skipping the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games here Sunday while the men’s tennis team, too, were non-committal about it.
Sania has decided to keep herself fresh for the mixed doubles first round with Leander Paes Monday while another mixed double pair Rohan Bopanna and Nirupama Sanjeev also have a match the same day. The second seeded pair of Paes and Sania are scheduled to take on Saint Lucia’s Stacey Nykita Roheman and Alberton Richelieu in the first round.
New Delhi, October 03: The biggest sporting extravaganza to be ever held in the country, the Commonwealth Games-2010 begins in Delhi today amidst unprecedented security. The games would see the largest participation of sports persons in the history of the Commonwealth Games as more than 6700 athletes and officials from 71 nations will vie for honors in 17 sporting events.
Raipur, October 03: Over 200 workers associated with a road construction firm fell ill Saturday after eating at the company canteen and were taken to a government hospital here, officials said.
“Some 1,000 male and female workers had eaten at the canteen of the company at Mandir Hasod area on outskirts of Raipur and most of them starting vomiting afterwards. Over 200 people have been brought to Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Government Hospital here with up to 30 of them are in critical condition,” health officials here told IANS.
Hyderabad, October 03: National carrier Air India will launch a flight to Chicago from Hyderabad via Delhi by this month-end.
“We are all set to operate flight service to Chicago, connecting Hyderabad with New Delhi from October 31,” airline sources said adding that plans to launch a direct service to San Francisco were also being studied.
The airline would be deploying a Boeing 777-300 Extended Range aircraft to operate the flight direct from Delhi, they said, adding that for the first time Air India would fly a Boeing 777 from Hyderabad.
Ghaziabad, October 03: Two teenaged sisters and two others in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad district were taken in custody Saturday for kidnapping their uncle’s three-year-old boy for ransom, police said.
The two sisters, aged 17 and 18, abducted the boy from his home in Rafiqpura area, police said.
Firdaus’ boyfriend Abdul Qadir and Anisa’s husband Akram were also roped in by the duo for the crime. Qadir and Akram were also arrested, police said.
New Delhi, October 03: The Indian men’s tennis team was an excited lot as they practised and indulged in light-hearted banter during a brief session at the R.K. Khanna stadium here Saturday evening.
Somdev Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi arrived here in afternoon for the Commonwealth Games which begins Sunday. Leander Paes will join the team Sunday morning. The team practiced for nearly 40 minutes under the floodlights.
London, October 02: Here’s good news for all Harry Potter fans. Writer J.K. Rowling says she might just end up penning down more books on the young wizard and his escapades.
The writer says she felt “bereaved” after she completed the seventh and final book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, now being made into a movie.
“I could definitely write an eighth, ninth and tenth. I’m not going to say I won’t. I don’t think I will. I feel I am done, but you never know,” dailymail.co.uk quoted Rowling as saying.
Mumbai, October 03: Kareena Kapoor is likely to play Indira Gandhi in the much-awaited international biopic Mother: The Indira Gandhi Story. The international producers had earlier thought of approaching Priyanka Chopra for the role but the film’s Oscar-winning make-up artistes Jenny Shircore and Greg Connam were divided in their opinion.