India tells citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Libya

(DNA)
 New Delhi. India today said all its 18,000 nationals in Libya are safe but issued an advisory asking citizens to avoid non-essential travel to that country which is being rocked by unprecedented protests against the Muammar Gaddafi regime that reportedly left nearly 100 people dead.
"All Indians, numbering around 18,000, are safe in Libya. We are following the situation closely. Presently, disturbances have mainly been reported in north-eastern region of Benghazi, Derna, Baida and Turbuk," the official spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs said.
He said in view of the prevailing situation, Indian nationals are advised to avoid non-essential travel to Libya, for the present.
He also said the Indian embassy in Tripoli has set up a round-the-clock control room, which can be contacted for information and assistance.
Protesters in Libya have been demanding ouster of Gaddafi, who has been in power for 42 years. According to rights groups, security forces have reportedly killed nearly 100 anti-regime protesters in the last one week.

Indian students have highest transition rate to work in New Zealand

(TOI)
WELLINGTON: Students from India have the highest rate of transition to work in New Zealand after completing their studies, followed by their Chinese counterparts, a minister has said.
While 72 percent of Indian students who come to New Zealand get jobs, the corresponding figure for China is 43 percent, Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman said Friday.
Similarly, students from India also have the highest rate of transition to permanent residence (47 percent), again followed by pupils from China (23 percent).
According to a research conducted by the department of labour, around one-third of international students who come to New Zealand stay on following their studies to contribute to the country's economy and workforce.
"Not only does New Zealand gain from the fee-paying students, many of them stay on providing long-term benefits by contributing their skills to our workforce and economy," Coleman said.
"The research shows that New Zealand is an attractive place to study because of the quality and cost of education in an English-speaking country."
"Another plus for fee-paying foreign students is the recent introduction of interim visas which allows them to continue studying while applying for visas to further their studies. This will smooth the enrolment process for education providers."
The research also found 68 percent of former international students were in fulltime employment 18 months after gaining permanent residence.
"This research report confirms what we are actually seeing in the marketplace," said Richard Howard, a licensed immigration advisor.

2,000 guests 'invited to Prince William's marriage'

 (TOI)
LONDON: Around 2,000 guests, including leading politicians, heads of state, and royalty from across the world, have been invited to attend Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton's wedding.
According to St James's Palace, over 1,900 people will watch the couple exchange their wedding vows on 29 April with more than half the guests drawn from the couple's family and friends, the British media reported.
The number of guests will be reduced for the lunchtime reception, where 600 relatives, friends and dignitaries will toast the couple at Buckingham Palace; evening dinner followed by dancing will be a more intimate affair with 300 of couple's loved ones gathering at the palace.
More than 200 members of the British government, Parliament and diplomatic corps will be among the guests, along with 60 governors-general and prime ministers from the Queen's Commonwealth realms, and more than 40 foreign royals. Prince William and Middleton got engaged last October and will tie the knot on April 29 this year.

Facebook adds 2 new gay-friendly 'statuses'

NEW YORK: Facebook has added two relationship statuses — 'civil union' and ' in a domestic partnership' , to help homosexual couples in defining their romantic arrangements on the social networking site. These new options will be available to users in US, Canada, France, UK and Australia. The Facebook, which has 600 million users worldwide, made the change after consulting with various rights groups, according to the NY Daily News.
These two options augment site's existing relationship statuses , which include single, in a relationship, in open relationship , engaged, married, divorced , widowed and separated.

Britain to let in 20,000 Indians every year: Report

LONDON: Britain is preparing to let in some 20,000 skilled Indian workers every year, a media report said, citing secret documents.
The Indian migrants, most of them skilled information technology professionals, are to be allowed into the UK every year under the multi-billion-pound European Union-India Free Trade Agreement which is being negotiated in the corridors of Belgian capital Brussels, the 'Sunday Express' reported.
In fact, the workers will enter via controversial "intracompany transfer visas" which allow foreign companies to send cheap home grown labour to Britain for a maximum of five years, the report said.
The deal was initiated by former EU Trade Commissioner Lord Mandelson in 2007 and is expected to be signed by the end of June, it said.
The deal will not only allow Indian workers to bypass the British government's new immigration caps, but would also exempt them from the National Insurance in their first year, though they may use the National Health Service for free.
According to the report, the figure of 20,000 Indian workers is nearly 40 per cent of the proposed quota for all 27 countries in the EU; it is more than double the next highest figure for Germany, which will take just 7,115 a year.
It is also in addition to the 20,700 annual cap on skilled non-EU workers, which was announced to great fanfare by British Prime Minister David Cameron last year. And, UK's Business Secretary Vince Cable won a cabinet battle November to ensure the visas for Indian workers were exempt from the Government's new points-based immigration cap.

New Kama Sutra book delights UK readers

LONDON: A new translation of the Kama Sutra and its adaptation to modern lives by Indian scholar A N D Haksar has been hailed in the British press as a "playful and wonderfully blunt translation."
Published by Penguin, the book titled 'Kama Sutra: The Art of Pleasure' is presented as a lifestyle guide for the modern man and woman.

Citing extracts from the book, Sam Jordison wrote in The Guardian: "For a start it's a hoot - and all the more so thanks to this new playful and wonderfully blunt translation by AND Haksar (No lingams or yonis here. This is a man who calls a cock a cock.) It's also a fascinating - and if this isn't too much of a contradiction - enlightening book."
Bel Mooney wrote in the Daily Mail: "(There) is much more to the Kama Sutra than saucy sex, as this handsome, unillustrated new translation makes clear. The text forms part of a world view that sees human life as a trinity, summed up in the words Dharma, Artha and Kama."
Mooney quoted an extract from Haksar's introduction, that Kama Sutra "is the art of living - about finding a partner, maintaining power in marriage, committing adultery, living as or with a courtesan, using drugs - and also about positions in sexual intercourse."
Its classical status as the world's first comprehensive guide to erotic love comes from its concentration on "essential, unchangeable human attributes - lust, love, shyness, rejection, seduction, manipulation, that are also a part of human sexuality."
Calling Haksar's version of the Kama Sutra as "scrupulous and accessible," Boyd Tonkin wrote in The Independent: "Thanks to the under-the-counter renown of a famous Victorian translation in 1883 by the leading Orientalist Sir Richard Burton, most people in the West think of it as a manual of sex techniques.
Indian experts often dismiss this vulgar notion and evoke a philosophical account of good behaviour in courtship, love and marriage.
As we can now discover from a scrupulous and accessible new version by the eminent Sanskrit scholar AND Haksar, both are right.Here sense and spirit, etiquette and foreplay, always intersect."
Haksar, a leading translator of Sanskrit texts, has chapter headings such as "Making a Pass", "Why Women Get Turned Off", " Girls to Avoid", "Is he Worthwhile?", "Getting rid of him", "Easy Women", "Moves towards sex," and "Some Dos and Don'ts".Alexis Kirschbaum, editorial director at Penguin, said: "This is the most accurate, authentic version to date.
Until now, the Kama Sutra has always been presented as a scandalous, 1960s hippie-influenced pornographic sex book.
But it was originally written as advice to a courtly gentleman on how to live a well-rounded life, not just a passionate life."
She added: "We are therefore stripping away all of those pornographic interpretations people have put on it and presenting the book as a modern and savvy guide for how to live well."

World Cup 2011: India beat Bangladesh by 87 runs

(TOI)
MIRPUR: It was dadagiri of a different kind as Virender Sehwag stood and delivered, the last part of a brilliantly-crafted innings of 175 on virtually one leg, as Team India buried Bangladesh under a deluge of runs in the opening match of the 2011 World Cup at the Shere-e-Bangla National Stadium here on Saturday.

Put into bat by Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan, the Indian innings was powered by the flamboyant Sehwag and a wonderfully-paced unbeaten century by young Virat Kohli. Bangladesh, left with a mountain to climb after India finished with 370 for four, made a bold attempt to chase down the target, but went down fighting by 87 runs.
Tamim Iqbal (70), Imrul Kayes (34), Junaid Siddique (37) and Shakib (55) kept Bangladesh in the game till the half-way stage, but the 'Tigers', who had too much to do, kept falling behind the asking rate before fading out.
Skipper MS Dhoni's decision to play a third pacer, in place of a spinner, almost backfired on him. S Sreesanth, who was drafted into the playing XI at the last moment, ahead of leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, sprayed the ball around and gave away as many as 53 runs in his first five overs. With Zaheer Khan, too not at his best, Bangladesh got off to a flying start. But for Munaf Patel, who finished with four wickets for 48 runs, India would have struggled more on a placid track that eased out considerably after soaking in the early evening dew.
Shakib's decision to field first was obviously prompted by the fact that in the 16 previous D/N ODIs here, the team batting second had won on 13 occasions, but the home team was let down by their two new-ball bowlers --- Shafiul Islam and Rubel Hossain. The new-ball duo not only bowled too short and wide, but also strayed down the leg side too often to cause any discomfort to Sehwag or Sachin Tendulkar.
Sehwag was the more fluent of the two, but with Shakib pressing left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak into action after just four overs and the ball refusing to come on to the bat, the Indian opener struggled to get his timing right. Sachin looked at complete ease during his 29-ball stay at the wicket which ended in a comical run out with both batsmen at the non-striker's end. It was hardly the maestro's fault, but Sehwag more than made amends for his misdeed.
He tempered his incandescent strokeplay with a fair de gree of caution, drove straight and mostly along the ground, employing occasional cheeky chip shots when the field was up. His association with Gautam Gambhir yielded 83 runs off 75 balls with the latter contributing a run-a-ball 39 before playing all over an innocuous Mahmudullah delivery.
Sehwag, allowed Kohli ample time to settle down by farming the strike and doing bulk of the scoring, but once the youngster found his bearings, he matched the senior pro stroke for stroke to put Bangla bowlers under the cosh.
Sehwag, who has never batted through an ODI innings, narrowly failed to achieve his goal. By the time he fell in the 48th over, India had enough runs on the board to prevent a repeat of 2007.
A gentle flick to the leg off Mahmudullah brought up Sehwag's second hundred in World Cup in the 34th over, and despite calling for a runner after being struck on his knee, Sehwag and Kohli continued to spank the Bangla bowlers, garnering 47 runs from the batting Power Play which was taken in the 35th over.
With Sehwag showing no signs of slowing down even after bettering his personal best score of 146, scored against Sri Lanka in Rajkot in 2009, and and Kohli stepping up a gear or two, Shakib could do little to stop the plunder.
Sourav Ganguly's 183, the highest score by an Indian in World Cup, survived only because the Delhi dasher dragged a wide ball from Shakib on to his stumps, leaving Kohli to notch up his maiden hundred on World Cup debut in the company of Yusuf Pathan.
--------------------------------------------------------

score card >>

	India innings  (50 overs maximum)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	V Sehwag	b Shakib Al Hasan	175	140	14	5	125.00
	47.3 91.3 kph, end of an epic from Sehwag, he falls for the same legendary score that Kapil made on a 28 years ago, it was a fullish ball angling into Sehwag, he looked to carve it past point, gets a bottom edge onto the stump,s slight relief for Bangladesh, once again Sehwag can't play out 50 overs. doesn't matter, take a bow Sehwag. 355/3
	SR Tendulkar	run out (Shakib Al Hasan/†Mushfiqur Rahim)	28	29	4	0	96.55
	10.5 from Abdur Razzak, a huge wicket for Bangladesh, Sachin Tendulkar is gone after an amateurish mix-up, Tendulkar tucked the ball towards wide mid-on, Shakib at midwicket dived and intercepted it, Tendulkar had sets off for the run immediately, Sehwag was ball watching and didn't respond to the Tendulkar, Tendulkar was also ball watching so both batsmen end up at the same end, Shakib throws the ball to the keeper, who takes off the bails and the crowd go bonkers 69/1
	G Gambhir	b Mahmudullah	39	39	3	0	100.00
	23.2 98.2 kph, soft dismissal, softer than a baby's bottom as they say! Gambhir gets a non-descript ball that lands back of a length on leg and middle, and straightens a touch. He looks to work it to the leg side, but was just a little loose in the execution. The ball sneaked through between bat and pad, to disturb the stumps. Mirpur finds its voice again. Interesting dismissal, it seemed to stay lower than Gambhir thought. In hidsight, he should have been on the front foot. 152/2
	V Kohli	not out	100	83	8	2	120.48
	YK Pathan	c †Mushfiqur Rahim b Shafiul Islam	8	10	0	0	80.00
	49.6 133.0 kph, that's the end of the innings, Yusuf nicks the final ball to the keeper, India end on 370, though they got only 16 off the final three overs 370/4
	Extras	(b 1, lb 2, w 16, nb 1)	20
-----------------------------------------------------------
	Total	(4 wickets; 50 overs)	370	(7.40 runs per over)

Did not bat Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni*†, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, S Sreesanth, MM Patel

Fall of wickets1-69 (Tendulkar, 10.5 ov), 2-152 (Gambhir, 23.2 ov), 3-355 (Sehwag, 47.3 ov), 4-370 (Pathan, 49.6 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	Shafiul Islam	7	0	69	1	9.85	(1nb, 2w)
	49.6 to Pathan, 133.0 kph, that's the end of the innings, Yusuf nicks the final ball to the keeper, India end on 370, though they got only 16 off the final three overs 370/4
	Rubel Hossain	10	0	60	0	6.00	(5w)
	Abdur Razzak	9	0	74	0	8.22	(1w)
	Shakib Al Hasan	10	0	61	1	6.10	(3w)
	47.3 to Sehwag, 91.3 kph, end of an epic from Sehwag, he falls for the same legendary score that Kapil made on a 28 years ago, it was a fullish ball angling into Sehwag, he looked to carve it past point, gets a bottom edge onto the stump,s slight relief for Bangladesh, once again Sehwag can't play out 50 overs. doesn't matter, take a bow Sehwag. 355/3
	Naeem Islam	7	0	54	0	7.71
	Mahmudullah	7	0	49	1	7.00	(3w)
	23.2 to Gambhir, 98.2 kph, soft dismissal, softer than a baby's bottom as they say! Gambhir gets a non-descript ball that lands back of a length on leg and middle, and straightens a touch. He looks to work it to the leg side, but was just a little loose in the execution. The ball sneaked through between bat and pad, to disturb the stumps. Mirpur finds its voice again. Interesting dismissal, it seemed to stay lower than Gambhir thought. In hidsight, he should have been on the front foot. 152/2

	Bangladesh (target: 371 runs from 50 overs)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	Tamim Iqbal	c Yuvraj Singh b Patel	70	86	3	1	81.39
	32.1 144.6 kph, and he strikes once more in his first over of the spell, this time off the first ball itself, Tamim looks to thrash a length ball towards the leg side, he makes good contact but the ball flies only as far as Yuvraj Singh, who takes a sharp, low catch at midwicket, end of Tamim's vigil, he wasn't at his best today, getting bogged down early on, but held up one end 188/3
	Imrul Kayes	b Patel	34	29	7	0	117.24
	6.5 124.1 kph, If you dropped a pin in Mirpur, you'd hear it in Dhaka. Kayes has played onto Munaf. Back of a length again from Munaf, that's his business area as he gets this to angle across from slightly wide of the crease. Kayes went for the cut, and was almost surprised by the drop in pace. In hindsight, he did not have the room for the cut. Inside edge and it crashes into the stumps. The crowd loses its voice. 56/1
	Junaid Siddique	st †Dhoni b Harbhajan Singh	37	52	1	1	71.15
	23.1 70.1 kph, is that a stumping, third umpire is called off, Harbhajan gets the ball to ship away sharply from Junaid, who is beaten as he looks to play on the front foot, Dhoni is an exceptional stumper these days, he's whips off the bails in a jiffy and after several replays the third umpire sends Junaid on his way, much to the Mirpur crowd's disappointment, reward for Harbhajan who has bowled extremely well today 129/2
	Shakib Al Hasan*	c Harbhajan Singh b Pathan	55	50	5	0	110.00
	39.4 88.5 kph, Shakib falls. Mirpur is silenced once again. Harbhajan takes the catch and puts it in his pocket. Yusuf makes the only noise emanating from the ground - he roars. Slow delivery, tossed up invitingly on middle and leg, and given the circumstances, Shakib had to go for that. He got under it, but couldn't quite go all the way. Harbhajan set himself up a few yars in from deep midwicket and pouched it. Pocketed it, would be more appropriate 234/4
	Mushfiqur Rahim†	c sub (SK Raina) b Khan	25	30	2	0	83.33
	42.3 117.6 kph, Rahim goes. No repeat of the 2007 50 for him. Zaheer lands this slow and full outside off and Rahim again looks to hoist him over the covers. Raina, inside the circle, timed his jump perfectly to haul it back in. 248/5
	Raqibul Hasan	not out	28	28	0	1	100.00
	Mahmudullah	b Patel	6	6	0	0	100.00
	44.3 135.6 kph, Munaf has yorked him. Perfect delivery, if you can land it there, you don't need pace. Munaf doesn't have any pace. Almost no follow through after he delivered that. On the base of the stumps as Mahmudullah backs away and looks to first drive, and then steer, and finally squeeze through the off side. It is not there for any of those shots and pings leg stump. Gone 261/6
	Naeem Islam	lbw b Patel	2	8	0	0	25.00
	46.3 123.6 kph, Naeem nailed. How many of you have Munaf in your fantasy team? Raking it in, eh? He does what he does best - keeps it back of a length on off stump. This one keeps low too as Naeem plays all around it, in an attempt to flick. Munaf doesn't appeal as much as direct the umpire to raise his finger. And he obliges. Four for Munaf. 275/7
	Abdur Razzak	lbw b Khan	1	5	0	0	20.00
	47.6 135.6 kph, and gone. Easy as it comes, Zaheer has a wicket off his last ball. Length ball on off stump, holds its line and thuds into Razzak's pads as he tries to work it leg side. Would have hit leg 279/8
	Shafiul Islam	run out (Harbhajan Singh)	0	1	0	0	0.00
	48.3 from Patel, Harbhajan throws down the stumps and Shafiul has to go. Shafiul defends from leg stump, straight to Harbhajan swooping in from wide mid on, and Hasan sent him back. Harbhajan hit the stumps at the batsman's end and it was all over. 280/9
	Rubel Hossain	not out	1	6	0	0	16.66
	Extras	(lb 10, w 13, nb 1)	24
------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Total	(9 wickets; 50 overs)	283	(5.66 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-56 (Imrul Kayes, 6.5 ov), 2-129 (Junaid Siddique, 23.1 ov), 3-188 (Tamim Iqbal, 32.1 ov), 4-234 (Shakib Al Hasan, 39.4 ov), 5-248 (Mushfiqur Rahim, 42.3 ov), 6-261 (Mahmudullah, 44.3 ov), 7-275 (Naeem Islam, 46.3 ov), 8-279 (Abdur Razzak, 47.6 ov), 9-280 (Shafiul Islam, 48.3 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	S Sreesanth	5	0	53	0	10.60	(1nb, 1w)
	Z Khan	10	0	40	2	4.00	(4w)
	42.3 to Mushfiqur Rahim, 117.6 kph, Rahim goes. No repeat of the 2007 50 for him. Zaheer lands this slow and full outside off and Rahim again looks to hoist him over the covers. Raina, inside the circle, timed his jump perfectly to haul it back in. 248/5 47.6 to Abdur Razzak, 135.6 kph, and gone. Easy as it comes, Zaheer has a wicket off his last ball. Length ball on off stump, holds its line and thuds into Razzak's pads as he tries to work it leg side. Would have hit leg 279/8
	MM Patel	10	0	48	4	4.80
	6.5 to Imrul Kayes, 124.1 kph, If you dropped a pin in Mirpur, you'd hear it in Dhaka. Kayes has played onto Munaf. Back of a length again from Munaf, that's his business area as he gets this to angle across from slightly wide of the crease. Kayes went for the cut, and was almost surprised by the drop in pace. In hindsight, he did not have the room for the cut. Inside edge and it crashes into the stumps. The crowd loses its voice. 56/1 32.1 to Tamim Iqbal, 144.6 kph, and he strikes once more in his first over of the spell, this time off the first ball itself, Tamim looks to thrash a length ball towards the leg side, he makes good contact but the ball flies only as far as Yuvraj Singh, who takes a sharp, low catch at midwicket, end of Tamim's vigil, he wasn't at his best today, getting bogged down early on, but held up one end 188/3 44.3 to Mahmudullah, 135.6 kph, Munaf has yorked him. Perfect delivery, if you can land it there, you don't need pace. Munaf doesn't have any pace. Almost no follow through after he delivered that. On the base of the stumps as Mahmudullah backs away and looks to first drive, and then steer, and finally squeeze through the off side. It is not there for any of those shots and pings leg stump. Gone 261/6 46.3 to Naeem Islam, 123.6 kph, Naeem nailed. How many of you have Munaf in your fantasy team? Raking it in, eh? He does what he does best - keeps it back of a length on off stump. This one keeps low too as Naeem plays all around it, in an attempt to flick. Munaf doesn't appeal as much as direct the umpire to raise his finger. And he obliges. Four for Munaf. 275/7
	Harbhajan Singh	10	0	41	1	4.10	(1w)
	23.1 to Junaid Siddique, 70.1 kph, is that a stumping, third umpire is called off, Harbhajan gets the ball to ship away sharply from Junaid, who is beaten as he looks to play on the front foot, Dhoni is an exceptional stumper these days, he's whips off the bails in a jiffy and after several replays the third umpire sends Junaid on his way, much to the Mirpur crowd's disappointment, reward for Harbhajan who has bowled extremely well today 129/2
	YK Pathan	8	0	49	1	6.12	(2w)
	39.4 to Shakib Al Hasan, 88.5 kph, Shakib falls. Mirpur is silenced once again. Harbhajan takes the catch and puts it in his pocket. Yusuf makes the only noise emanating from the ground - he roars. Slow delivery, tossed up invitingly on middle and leg, and given the circumstances, Shakib had to go for that. He got under it, but couldn't quite go all the way. Harbhajan set himself up a few yars in from deep midwicket and pouched it. Pocketed it, would be more appropriate 234/4
	Yuvraj Singh	7	0	42	0	6.00	(1w)

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Montek, Brajesh, Laxman in list of 128 Padma awardees

(Hindustan Times)
New Delhi.  Actors Kajol and Tabu, cricketer VVS Laxman, wrestler Sushil Kumar, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Brajesh Mishra, national security advisor in the NDA regime, found their names on the list of 128 winners of this year’s Padma awards, announced on Tuesday.
The suspense, however, continued on whether ace cricketer Sachin Tendulkar would be awarded the country’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna.
Mishra was a surprise choice for the country’s second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan. Ahluwalia, Wipro chairman Azim Premji, noted economist late LC Jain, educationist and former governor AR Kidwai, noted culture personality Kapila Vatsyayan, 13th Finance Commission chairman Vijay Kelkar, first woman photojournalist Homai Vyarawalla and former
attorney general K Parasaran are also among the 13 Padma Vibhushan winners.
  Among the 31 Padma Bhushan awardees are ITC chairman YC Deveshwar, chairperson of the Aditya Birla Centre Rajashree Birla for her contribution in community initiatives and rural development, Max India Ltd chairman Analjit Singh, ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, Bollywood  veterans Shashi Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman and music composer Khayyam.
Diplomat Shyam Saran, who has been the prime minister’s envoy on the nuclear deal and climate change, and noted urban planner MN Buch also figure in the list.
 The list of 83 Padma Shri awardees includes Laxman, Sushil Kumar, weightlifter Kunjarani Devi, ace shooter Gangan Narang and discus thrower Krishna Poonia.
Apart from Kajol and Tabu, other winners from the film industry are actor Irrfan Khan and singer Usha Uthup. All of them have been awarded the Padma Shri.
 Noted educationist and former NCERT chief Dr Krishna Kumar, former Delhi University vice-chancellor Dr Upendra Baxi, Kashmir University vice-chancellor Riaz Punjabi and American scholar on Indian history Granville Austin are also on the Padma Shri list.

South Africa beat India by 33 runs, win series 3-2

5th ODI: Pathan hit blistering century

 (The Times of India)

CENTURION: Yusuf Pathan hit a blistering 68-ball century but could not stop South Africa from winning the series-deciding fifth and final one-day international against India at SuperSport Park on Sunday. South Africa won by 33 runs according to the Duckworth-Lewis method, clinching a come-from-behind 3-2 series win thanks mainly to a century by Hashim Amla and four wickets by fast bowler Morne Morkel.
Opening batsman Amla made 116 not out as South Africa reached 250 for nine in a rain-interrupted innings. Set to make 268 to win, India were headed for a heavy defeat when they slumped to 119 for eight with fast bowlers Morkel and Dale Steyn inflicting most of the damage.
But Pathan unleashed a ferocious assault on the South African bowlers during a ninth wicket stand of 100 with Zaheer Khan. Pathan slammed eight sixes and eight fours as he made 105 before he top-edged another attempted big hit against Morkel and sent a catch spiraling to cover. Khan got a reprieve when the stand was worth 20 when he top-edged a short ball from Morkel and was caught by wicketkeeper AB de Villiers.
But umpire Simon Taufel asked television umpire Shaun George to check whether Morkel had bowled a no-ball. George ruled that Morkel had overstepped by millimetres and Khan batted on.
As the ball flew to all parts of the ground, South African captain Graeme Smith called on Morkel and the fast bowler finally induced a false stroke.
Morkel finished with four for 52 as India were all out for 234.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted that South Africa deserved to win.
"It has been a disappointing series for the batsmen. We have not really performed as a batting unit. To say we wanted to win the final game just because Yusuf scored a hundred was asking too much," said Dhoni.
Looking ahead to next month's World Cup, Dhoni said the big lesson for India was that if they were able to keep wickets in hand they could chase down almost any target with a powerful hitter like Pathan in the side. Smith said South Africa had finished the series strongly."We were 2-1 down and we played two good games." He said South Africa had paced their innings well, despite a late collapse after a rain break, and had bowled "really aggressively".South Africa's innings was interrupted when the hosts were strongly placed at 226 for three after 42 overs.The rain caused a delay of more than an hour and the match was reduced to 46 overs a side.
South Africa lost six wickets for 24 runs in the remaining four overs of their innings, with a succession of batsmen falling to ill-judged strokes and two run-outs in a chase for quick runs. Dhoni sent South Africa in, hoping to take advantage of expected early morning life in the pitch - and also to have the option of revising his team's strategy in the event of predicted rain interruptions.
Smith fell once again to left-arm opening bowler Khan - for the 11th time in international cricket - edging a catch to second slip in the third over.But Amla played a calm innings, content to play the supporting role in a second wicket stand of 97 with Morne van Wyk, who made 56 off 63 balls, then picking up the pace in a fourth wicket stand of 102 off 98 balls with JP Duminy (35).
There were only four boundaries as Amla reached fifty off 72 balls, but he added another five fours as he needed just 41 more deliveries to reach the first century by a batsman of either side in the series.
India opted to play only two seam bowlers, bringing in leg-spinner Piyush Chawla in place of Ashish Nehra.For the second match in a row, Dhoni used eight bowlers, mainly in short spells.
As in the fourth match in Port Elizabeth, left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh was the most effective of the slow bowlers, taking two for 45 in eight overs - the longest unbroken spell by any of the players.
But when Yuvraj conceded nine runs off his eighth over Dhoni immediately took him out of the attack.

Governor Bhardwaj gives sanction to prosecute Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa

 

(Times of India) 

BANGALORE: Karnataka on Friday night appeared heading for a showdown with Governor H R Bhardwaj granting sanction for prosecution of chief minister B S Yeddyurappa on corruption charges and a defiant CM asking him to apologise for remarks against the BJP government. 

The stand off came to a head with the Governor first rejecting a state cabinet resolution asking him not to permit prosecution of the chief minister and later Raj Bhawan sources said that the sanction has been granted for Yeddyurappa as also home minister R Ashoka.

Stung by Bhardwaj's remarks, the ruling party went into a more aggressive mode announcing state-wide anti-Governor protests tomorrow and "Raj Bhavan chalo" on January 25, besides deciding to meet President Pratibha Patil in Delhi on January 24 to seek the Governor's recall.
Hitting back at Yeddyurappa, the Governor told him bluntly in a letter that he cannot "put a lid" on serious allegations of corruption and dismissed as "unwarranted" the January 19 cabinet resolution.

"The sum and substance of the Cabinet decision is that it simply requires me to put a lid on the serious allegations of corruption against you (chief minister)," said Bhardwaj, whose relationship with the BJP government is becoming increasingly turbulent.The cabinet resolution had asked the Governor to drop the proceedings to prosecute Yeddyurappa and home minister R Ashoka on alleged land scams on the basis of a complaint filed by lawyers' forum, saying such a move was nothing short of a "farce and colourable" exercise on his part.An angry chief minister sought an "unconditional apology" from Bhardwaj for characterising the state government's request to drop proceedings for his prosecution as a "case of a thief admonishing a policeman"."For his remarks, he (Bhardwaj) should tender an unconditional apology. He has insulted the people of the state," Yeddyurappa told reporters before the state BJP Core Committee and Executive meet to discuss how to deal with the Governor.