Asia Cup 2016: Onus lies on Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma to provide solid platform for India

 

Shikhar and Rohit have found the confidence as a pair for India upfront and that has been the reason for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to find success in the shortest format of the game. Shikhar's transition in form has been a positive factor for India in Australia and against Sri Lanka at home recently.

The left-hander had a miserable time with the bat against South Africa in 2015 and struggled prior to that series too. But since then his approach should be lauded and he seems to make the chances count when he sets out to bat.

Rohit missed out against Sri Lanka apart from the 43 runs in Ranchi and the slow Bangladeshi pitches will test his approach and patience.

With the coveted Asia Cup in Bangaldesh, Dhawan will hope to get India ticking alongside Rohit Sharma who had a dream ODI and T20 series against Australia. With Rohit likely to take his time and look to finish games, the onus lies on Dhawan in setting the attack mode from the very beginning.

The understanding and running between the wickets between the duo has been notable. India will want the two batsmen to continue their surge at the top of the order. India who face Bangladesh in the first game will need to be wary of their bowlers who have made a mark at home. The challenge against Mustafizur Rahman and the likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Taskin Ahmed will test the opening duo.

Shikhar and Rohit's application has provided a cushion to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and their performances will be the key again in Asia Cup to give India the platform for the rest of the team.

 

 

Haryana's Jat agitating over reservation intensifies, curfew imposed in Rohtak, Bhiwani city areas

 

According to media reports, the curfew has been imposed with immediate effect in view of protesting mobs going on rampage and indulging in violence.

Army units are being rushed to Rohtak from nearby Cantonment at Hissar, about 50 kms away, he said these will be deployed immediately in Rohtak and Bhiwani areas.

He said Army units are also being rushed from Jaipur for deployment in other worst-affected areas of the state.

The Army will assist the civil administration in restoring peace and law and order which worsened today shortly after an all party meeting here where an appeal was made for maintaining peace.

Two senior civil and police officers - Principal Secretary (Home) A K Singh and ADGP of Haryana Police BS Sandhu- have been rushed to Rohtak to coordinate with the army and the civil administration to restore normalcy.

Haryana Director General of Police Y.P. Singhal told media in Chandigarh that the army has been called in, in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonipat, Panipat, Jind, Kaithal, Bhiwani and Hisar districts.

"The government has asked the army to be called in eight districts. The request has been sent. The chief secretary has spoken to the army chief. The chief minister (Manohar Lal Khattar) has spoken to defence minister (Manohar Parrikar). The effort is to deploy the army as soon as possible to control the situation," he said.

A protestor was killed and at least 10 injured when a BSF unit fired in self-defence after being fired upon by the protestors. A BSF trooper was injured in the firing. The injured were taken to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Rohtak, 75 km from Delhi, police said.

"One person from mob fired on BSF personnel with a home-made weapon. The BSF fired in self defence and one person was killed," Singhal said, adding that the mob did not allow the injured trooper to taken to hospital and efforts were being made to rescue him.

He said that a mob attacked a Haryana Police official and other policemen near the Maharishi Dayanand University gate and held the hostage and more forces had to be sent to rescue them.

"A leaderless mob is moving through Rohtak town. They came near the Circuit House and damaged the vehicle of the deputy inspector general of police, two police vehicles and set on fire another police vehicle," Singhal said.

The mob attacked the office of the DIG, and set the house of Finance Minister Abhimanyu on fire. At some places in the town, black smoke could be seen coming out of property set on fire by the agitators, who even manhandled media persons at some places.

"We are trying to stop the mob," the police chief said, adding that three companies of paramilitary forces were already stationed and 30 more companies would be deployed in Haryana soon.

Protestors had clashed with security forces in Rohtak on Thursday evening when police tried to remove the blockades. 

The authorities blocked Internet and SMS services in the affected districts.

Appealing to protesters to end road and rail blockades, Singhal said that curfew had not been imposed in Rohtak or other places so far.

Thousands of trucks, carrying supplies and goods, were stranded in the affected districts due to highways and roads being blocked. Over 40 trains were cancelled by railway authorities across Haryana on Friday as the Jat agitation escalated.

In Gurgaon, Jat protestors blocked roads, leading to traffic jams and chaos in the city, adjoining the national capital.

Life continued to be affected in most parts of Rohtak, Jhajjar Sonipat, Bhiwani, Jind, Hisar and some other districts as the agitation by Jats for reservation in jobs and educational institutions continued for the sixth day on Friday.

The protestors have blocked roads, highways and railway tracks, inconveniencing the common man. Hundreds of railway passengers were stranded as protestors blocked the Delhi-Ambala-Amritsar railway track at Rajlu Garhi village in Sonipat on Friday evening.

Railway authorities cancelled several trains, including express trains like Kalka-Delhi Shatabdi Express, Pashchim Express and others.

The stir escalated even as the Haryana government called an all-party meeting in Chandigarh to discuss the reservation issue and the Jat protests. The meeting urged the protestors to end their agitation and remove blockades.

Jat leaders however rejected the appeal.

After the all-party meeting, Khattar said: "The government is in favour of reservation for Jats in the state and is trying to find out ways and means for the same."

Referring to statements of BJP's Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini, who is opposed to reservation for Jats, Khattar said he had been asked to withdraw his statement against the protestors.

Security had been tightened at Saini's house in Kurukshetra town.

Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar meanwhile said in Gurgaon that the state government was ready to give special backward class quota to the Jats.

Shikhar Dhawan on JNU row: Can't speak ill of country you live in; flag should be unfurled at Universities

 

Speaking at a promotional event, the left-hander voiced his opinion in favor of unfurling the 'tiranga' at all 46 central universities.

"My take is simple. It (flag) should be unfurled at the Universities. It (flag) is the pride of the nation. The more the merrier I would say,” he said.

In wake of the recent issues at JNU, the Delhi lad said nobody should speak ill about the country they live in.

“Though you have touched upon a sensitive topic, one should never say anything ill about the country you live in," said the Asia Cup-bound batsman.

A resolution adopted at a meeting chaired by HRD Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday asked the central universities to fly the tricolor "prominently and proudly" on their campuses to signify a "strong India".

The first such flag will be hoisted at JNU.

JNU row: There should be no 'Taliban culture' in India, say ABVP leaders after resigning

 

"JNU is the most nationalist institution in the country. I do not support the government's stand over the issue. Let Supreme Court find Kanhaiya Kumar guilty and award him life imprisonment. But let the law take its course. There should be no 'Taliban culture' in India," said Pradeep Narwal, former Joint Secretary of JNU unit of ABVP.

Pradeep Narwal, Joint Secretary of JNU unit of ABVP, Rahul Yadav, President of ABVP unit of JNU's School of Social Sciences (SSS) and its Secretary Ankit Hans, had yesterday resigned from the BJP student wing, saying they "cannot be mouthpiece of such a government which has unleashed oppression on student community".

"We are going to fight for JNU. If law find Kanhaiya guilty, let him be punished. If Umar Khalid is guilty he should be jailed. But do not attack the entire university, students and teachers. Let there be space for voices of dissent," he added.

Ankit Hans, said, "We had ideological differences with the party over the issue so we decided to disassociate ourselves. We want to stand for the university as students and not political leaders of an outfit, whose stand is not acceptable to us".

While the ABVP senior leaders are claiming that the three students have been "influenced" to protest against the party and divert the whole issue, Hans said, "This is our individual decision. We have not done this under anybody's influence.

In a hard-hitting resignation letter, the trio had yesterday said, "We think there is a difference between interrogation and crushing ideology and branding entire left as anti-national. We cannot be mouthpiece of such a government which has unleashed oppression on student community."

"Every day we see people assemble at front gate with Indian Flag to beat JNU student, well this is hooliganism not nationalism, you can`t do anything in the name of nation, there is a difference between nationalism and hooliganism".

The three students, however, maintained that they will not join the ongoing strike by the students demanding release of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar.

He was arrested on Friday last in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy registered over holding of the event at the varsity during which anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised.

Members of the ABVP had objected to holding of the event following which Vice Chancellor had withdrawn the permission for it. However, the organisers had gone ahead with the event.

Indrani Mukerjea a threat to our lives, Sheena's boyfriend Rahul told Peter Mukerjea

 

filed on Tuesday, CBI claimed that Peter was actively involved in the murder conspiracy, alongwith other accused Indrani Mukerjea, Sanjeev Khanna and Shyamvar Rai. Both Peter as well as Indrani were not too pleased with the fact that Sheena was into a relationship with Rahul Mukerjea. While Sheena was Indrani's daughter from an earlier relationship, Rahul was Peter's son from his first wife.

CBI also mentioned in its chargesheet that in an email written by Rahul to Peter Mukerjea dated April 13, 2011, both Rahul and Sheena feared for their lives.

The email, published by TOI today, said, "There is threat to our lives (Sheena and him) by Indrani. We documented every fact, communication, messages and other details. We have given it to a third party for safekeeping. If anything happens to me or her, authority in India and UK will be made aware of the details."

he chargesheet was filed by the national investigation agency, just two days before the stipulated 90-day deadline.

 

Police action in JNU campus was backed by VC Jagadesh Kumar?

 

As per media reports, the letter was allegedly written by the University Registrar to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, South District. The letter said, "VC grants to the police force permission to enter JNU campus if need be and as you may deem fit."

The letter, accessed by some leading media houses, proves the allegations that JNU V-C had actually granted permission to the city police to enter the campus on February 9 when student union leader Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested.

Meanwhile, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association today questioned Vice Chancellor over his permission to Delhi Police to carry out searches on the campus and arrest students and demanded withdrawal of the same.

"Your letter to the Delhi Police granting them unprecedented rights to conduct indiscriminate search and arrest of our wards is highly objectionable," JNUTA said in a letter to the Vice Chancellor.

"We urge you to kindly issue a letter clearly withdrawing this formal permission to the police and re-establish the credibility of our administration in the eyes of our community."

"Subversion of our own institutional mechanism for enquiries, based on the statutes of our university duly established by an Act of parliament, raises a number of questions about the legitimacy of the decision," the statement added.

Police raided the JNU campus on February 12 night and arrested JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar.

The controversy erupted after some JNU students organised a meet to mourn the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat. Anti-India slogans were allegedly raised at the meeting.

The organisers, however, denied that the students raised any anti-national slogans.

The vice chancellor on Monday said police were not called in by the university.

"We did not call police. Police sent us a letter saying that an FIR had been lodged against some unnamed people on sedition charges and that they wanted our cooperation in investigating the incident. We only allowed them to enter as per the law to perform their duties," Jagadesh Kumar said.

 

Goa minister says peacock cannot be called vermin

Arlekar was speaking to reporters a few days after Goa's Agriculture Minister Ramesh Tawadkar said that the peacock, Great Indian bison, wild boar and certain species of monkeys could be soon declared vermin - or nuisance animals and birds.

"There is no question of peacock being called vermin," Arlekar said.

Tawadkar on Friday said that a process was on to declare peacocks, bisons, wild boars and monkeys as vermin or nuisance animals because they were damaging farm crops and horticulture.

While the peacock is the national bird, the bison, also known as the 'Gaur', is the state animal of Goa.

"Some farmers said peacocks were damaging their crops in fields in hilly areas. The committee will also assess whether peacocks should be declared vermin or nuisance species," Tawadkar had said.

The comments triggered a national uproar and political parties in Goa, including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, condemned the comments.

State Congress president Luizinho Faleiro said the proposed move to brand the peacock and bison as vermin was "suicidal".

The Goa BJP has also distanced itself from Tawadkar's statement, with its spokeperson Pramod Sawant saying there were no plans to declare the peacock vermin.

JNU row: Amit Shah, Rahul Gandhi trade charges, students boycot classes

Police, meanwhile, claimed the student leader charged with sedition had raised anti-India slogans.

On their part, the JNU students stepped up their agitation by boycotting classes demanding unconditional release of students union president Kanhaiya Kumar. The teachers association of the premier institute has rallied behind the agitating students but have not struck work.

In a related incident, at least six persons, including students and mediapersons, were thrashed by a group of men in lawyer's robes within and outside Patiala House courts during the hearing of the sedition case against Kanhaiya. A BJP MLA, present there for a different case, allegedly roughed up a CPI activist.

Amid the raging row, Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi, after a meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, said Kanhaiya had raised anti-national slogans during a controversial event on JNU campus but admitted police have so far found "no evidence linking the LeT" to the incident.

Singh had yesterday claimed the event at JNU to protest the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had received "support" from LeT founder Hafiz Saeed.

Speaking on the the raging controversy for the first time, Shah targeted Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi alleging he was supporting "anti-nationals" and wondered whether he wanted another "division" of India.

Posing a slew of questions to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, Shah also demanded that he apologise for his stand on the JNU issue. Rahul had visited JNU on Saturday and extended support to the students' cause.

"An attempt was made to defame a leading university in the national capital by turning it into a centre which encourages terrorism and separatism. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi if it would be in national interest had the central government kept quiet?

"Are you not encouraging traitors by protesting in support of these anti-nationals?", Shah wrote in a blog.

Addressing a party meeting in Assam's Sonitpur district, Rahul returned fire saying BJP wanted to control everyone's views. "The BJP and RSS are following an agenda of creating divide and hatred, as can be seen from the recent developments in JNU, by imposing their views forcibly on people."

Kanhaiya was arrested on Friday in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy registered over holding of the event at the varsity during which anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised.

3rd T20I, India vs Sri Lanka Photos

 

INDIA'S CAPTAIN MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI TOSSES HIS HELMET TO A TEAMMATE DURING THEIR THIRD TWENTY20 CRICKET MATCH AGAINST SRI LANKA, IN VISHAKAPATNAM.

 

MEMBERS OF THE INDIAN CRICKET TEAM CELEBRATE WITH THE WINNING TROPHY AFTER THEIR TWENTY20 CRICKET SERIES WIN AGAINST SRI LANKA, IN VISHAKAPATNAM.

 

MEMBERS OF THE INDIAN CRICKET TEAM CELEBRATE WITH THE WINNING TROPHY AFTER THEIR TWENTY20 CRICKET SERIES WIN AGAINST SRI LANKA, IN VISHAKAPATNAM.

 

INDIAN CRICKETERS SHIKHAR DHAWAN, LEFT, AND AJINKYA RAHANE GREET EACH OTHER TO CELEBRATE THEIR VICTORY AGAINST SRI LANKA IN THE THIRD TWENTY20 CRICKET MATCH, IN VISHAKAPATNAM.

 

INDIA'S RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN CELEBRATES AFTER TAKING THE WICKET OF SRI LANKAN BATSMAN TILLAKARATNE DILSHAN, NOT SEEN, DURING THEIR THIRD TWENTY20 CRICKET MATCH IN VISHAKAPATNAM

 

SRI LANKAN PLAYERS CELEBRATE THE DISMISSAL OF INDIA'S BATSMAN ROHIT SHARMA DURING THEIR THIRD TWENTY20 CRICKET MATCH, IN VISHAKAPATNAM.

Who killed Sunanda Pushkar? - Shashi Tharoor questioned by Delhi Police for 5 hours

The Congress MP during questioning dismissed any foul play in the death case of his wife, a report in CNN-IBN said.

Reportedly, throughout the probe Tharoor said he doesn't suspect foul play in death and claimed that Sunanda died due to medication.

"Shashi Tharoor believes that his wife died due to medication," SIT sources said.

He was also asked about the medicines taken by his wife.

Earlier, Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi had said that Sunanda Pushkar's death was not a natural one.

"One thing is clear that the death was not natural. It was unnatural as per our investigation till now and evidences collected so far. I can say that with certainty," Delhi Police Commissioner Bassi had said.

In January 2015, Delhi Police had registered a case of murder in connection with the death of Sunanda. An AIIMS medical board had found poisoning as reason for her death following which the police had sent her viscera samples to an FBI lab in Washington in 2015.

Sunanda was found dead inside her suite at a five-star hotel in New Delhi in January 2014, a day after she was involved in a spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar on Twitter over the latter's alleged affair with Shashi Tharoor, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram.

Don't believe an iota of what Headley disclosed to India, says Pervez Musharraf

“I don't believe in whatever he is saying, unless our investigation and our intelligence are saying the same,” Musharraf said adding “He can be manipulated and he can be forced to say anything while in your custody.”

Asked that such a grave issue can't be trashed as simply as that, Musharraf said: “No comments at all, I will not go along with the statements of one witness who is in your custody, he will blurt out anything you want him to say.”

Musharraf made the comments during an interview with India Today news channel.

Hadley on Friday, while disposing at a Mumbai court, had revealed the names of ISI officers who tasked him on what he should do when he visits India and where he could get his money from. During the course of his disposition, he named several senior Pakistani military officials who were in touch with him like Brigadier Riyaz, Colonel Shah, Colonel Hamza, Major Samar Ali etc.

Referring to PM Narendra Modi's recent visit to Pakistan, Musharraf said, “It reeks of hypocrisy and artificiality, because there is no substance, we don't know here at all if they have addressed any substantial issue... other than shaking hands and wishing each other happy birthday and all."

Headley is currently serving a 35-year jail term in the US in connection with the 26/11 case.

Govt can't allow Jawaharlal Nehru University to become a hub of anti-national activities: Rijiju

While justifying police action against some JNU students, Rijiju said, “they are not kids who don't know what they do”, adding that in the name of freedom of speech you can't abuse the nation.

Rijiju's statement comes a day after Delhi Police arrested JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar in a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy.

Meanwhile, after receiving an interim report from its disciplinary committee probing the involvement of the students at the event, the JNU debarred eight students from academic activities pending a disciplinary enquiry.

Kumar was arrested two days after JNU witnessed clashes between two student groups over Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged on February 09, 2013 in Tihar Jail.

Marking the death anniversary of Guru, a group of students on Tuesday held an event on the campus and shouted slogans against government for hanging him, despite varsity administration having cancelled the permission following a complaint by ABVP members, who termed the activity as "anti-national".