Allahabad Bank, on Thursday, reported a sharp decline in its profit which dipped to Rs.310.83 crore for the October-December 2012 period from a year ago figure of Rs.560.4 crore.
The bank saw a rise in its gross non-performing assets from Rs.1,886.9 crore to Rs.3,531. 6 crore in the quarter under review.
Total income increased to Rs.4,785.34 crore from Rs.4,260.28 crore.
The ICC Women’s World Cup 2013 brings an array of top stars who have dominated the 50-over format by their sheer consistency. In recent times a handful of them have proved to be game-changers with blistering knocks and clever bowling.
The 10th edition of the competition will be inaugurated here on Thursday with a Group A day/night match between India and the West Indies at the Brabourne Stadium.
This is the third time India has been awarded the eight-team event and a number of new players have come into the spotlight after India last played host in 1997.
England’s Charlotte Edwards is set to play her fifth World Cup and Sarah Taylor, India’s Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, Australia’s Jodie Fields, Alex Blackwell and Lisa Sthalekar and New Zealand’s Sara McGlashan have shown the commitment and made the game popular among women.
Sarah is in the news for a potential opening with the Sussex second XI and the gifted wicketkeeper-batswoman is all set to storm the male bastion.
Seasoned campaigners
Apart from the established and seasoned campaigners the followers of women’s cricket can also look forward to some bright cricket from Australia’s Meg Lanning and the West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor and Anisa Mohammad.
The 20-year-old Singapore-born Lanning created an Australian record recently in the Rose Bowl LOI series played at Sydney against New Zealand. She scored the fastest 50 (23 balls) and 100 (45 balls) before being dismissed for a 50-ball 103 with 18 fours and three sixes. Meg had made 87 off 71 balls and 72 off 53 in the previous two games.
The 21-year-old Jamaican Stafanie was declared ICC women’s ODI cricketer last year. She scored 325 runs with a century and three half-centuries in the World Cup qualifier at Dhaka in November 2011. Trinidadian off-spinner Anisa Mohammad captured 19 wickets at 6.36 in the same tournament.
Stafanie and Anisa also played their part in the West Indies’ 2-1 win over India at St. Kitts in March 2012. More recently Stafanie was the top scorer (178 runs) in the five-match, drawn 2-2 one-day series against South Africa. She also took eight wickets.
India finished runner-up to Australia in the 2005 event held in South Africa and that has been its best in 40 years.
The home team will lean heavily on captain Mithali (141 matches, 4490 runs at 48.27) and medium-pacer Jhulan Goswami (126 matches, 145 wkts at 21.87).
India beat New Zealand in a warm-up game, but was thrashed by Australia. It has to win one match to enter the super six stage.
The 2009 winner England, West Indies and Sri Lanka are in its group. After winning the first two matches against England at Lord’s and Taunton last year, India lost the last three matches at Taunton, Truro and Wormsley. England has not won an ODI series in India, though.
Five-time winner Australia is in Group B with New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa. Australia will take on Pakistan at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack on February 1 and New Zealand will play South Africa at the DRIEMS ground.
Threats by Shiv Sena that it would not allow matches featuring Pakistan in the city compelled the ICC to shift the Group B league matches to Cuttack.
The 2009 semifinalist England, New Zealand, Australia and India were given direct entries, while West Indies, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan came through a qualifier competition held in Bangladesh in November 2011. Australia won the competition held in India in 1978 and 1997.
Group A: England, India, West Indies, Sri Lanka. Group B: Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa.
Optimus Prime, who is in fine nick, may score in the D.P. Sharma Memorial Sprinters Trial Stakes (1,200m), the chief event of the races to be held here on Thursday (Jan. 31).
False rails (width about 2.5m from 1,600m to the winning post) will be in position.
BRAHMAPUTRA PLATE (Div. II), (1,200m), rated 20 to 45, 5-y-o & over, 1-45 p.m: 1. Brigade’s Supreme (11) Kiran Rai 60, 2. Gift Of Love (1) Arshad Alam 59.5, 3. Astonishing (7) Ashok Kumar 59, 4. Better Than Best (3) R. Anand 59, 5. Rise To Glory (4) P.S. Chouhan 58.5, 6. Affirmator (9) Mudassar 55.5, 7. Emphatic Victory (6) D. Patel 55.5, 8. Endurance (5) N. Imam 55.5, 9. Hatchet Harry (12) P. Culhane 55.5, 10. Brigade’s Passion (10) P. Mani 55, 11. Jeyem (2) R. Pradeep 55 and 12. Youre A Star (8) Vivek 52.
1. Rise To Glory, 2. Youre A Star, 3. Hatchet Harry
HAMPI PLATE (Div. II), (1,200m), rated 40 to 65, 5-y-o & over, 2-15: 1. Dancing Emeralds (3) Vaideeshwaran 60, 2. Sweet Timer (10) Mudassar 57.5, 3. Bebo (2) R. Bharath 57, 4. Magnomical (9) Indrajeet Singh 57, 5. Mountain High (4) S. Hussain 57, 6. Prashastha (11) Md. Shoaib 57, 7. A Move To Remember (8) R. Pradeep 56, 8. Bourbon Rock (7) Sreekanth 56, 9. Raaga (5) Arshad Alam 55.5, 10. Style Of Signature (1) C. Henrique 55.5, 11. Day Trader (12) P.S. Chouhan 55 and 12. Sparkling Image (6) Shanth Kumar 55.
1. Mountain High, 2. Sweet Timer, 3. Raaga
R.W.I.T.C TROPHY (1,400m), 3-y-o, (Terms), 2-45: 1. Albertino (1) P. Trevor 57, 2. Czar Of Romance (3) P.S. Chouhan 57, 3. Perfect Soul (4) P. Mulrennan 57, 4. Ambitious Reward (7) Vivek 53, 5. Azure Fire (5) C. Henrique 53, 6. Murioi (6) Sreekanth 53, 7. Cruise Clear (-) (-) 51.5, 8. Forever Honour (2) Raja Rao 51.5 and 9. Parisian Spring (8) S. Asgar 51.5.
1. Murioi, 2. Albertino, 3. Perfect Soul
LALITMAHAL PLATE (1,400m), rated 00 to 25, 3-15: 1. My Law (10) P.S. Chouhan 62.5, 2. Sugar Fairy (15) Arshad Alam 62.5, 3. Sareeta (2) Noornabi 62, 4. Distinctive (6) Md. Feroz 61.5, 5. One From A Billion (14) S. Hussain 61.5, 6. Romans Run (9) S. Asgar 61.5, 7. Shared Heart (1) Vaideeshwaran 61.5, 8. Cool Hand (5) A. Ramu 61, 9. Magic Money (7) Ashok Kumar 61, 10. Check In Time (4) Indrajeet Singh 59, 11. Che Guevara (8) Rajesh Babu 58, 12. Lankan Pearl (12) Afsar Khan 57.5, 13. Super Excited (11) S. Babu 57.5, 14. Turf Fame (3) Chandrashekar 56 and 15. Golden Haven (13) Jagadeesh 53.5.
1. My Law, 2. Sareeta, 3. Golden Haven
BRAHMAPUTRA PLATE (Div. I), (1,200m), rated 20 to 45, 5-y-o & over, 3-45: 1. Sparkling Star (8) Shabuddin 62, 2. Black Beauty (5) Jagadeesh 61.5, 3. Tribal Queen (2) Mudassar 61, 4. Magic Wave (6) Kiran Rai 60.5, 5. Silver Stone (1) Arshad Alam 60, 6. The Senator (9) Chetan Kalay 60, 7. Star Of Desire (3) Noornabi 59.5, 8. Superior Edge (12) Liam Jones 59, 9. Youre Chilubuli (11) Vivek 59, 10. Angel Queen (10) C. Henrique 58.5, 11. Cash Is King (4) Chandrashekar 58 and 12. Jewel Lady (7) R. Pradeep 54.
1. Youre Chilubuli, 2. Angel Queen, 3. Magic Wave
D.P. SHARMA MEMORIAL SPRINTERS TRIAL STAKES (1,200m), 4-y-o & over, (Terms), 4-15: 1. Chul Bul Pandy (8) B. Paswan 59, 2. Optimus Prime (7) S. John 59, 3. Secret Punch (5) A. Imran Khan 59, 4. Speed Six (12) P. Trevor 59, 5. Violent Storm (9) Noornabi 59, 6. Yourewindsofchange (10) Vivek 59, 7. Caribbean Queen (3) R. Marshall 57.5, 8. Klipspringer (11) Daivd Allan 57.5, 9. Lovely Kiss (2) Jagadeesh 57.5, 10. Show Time (6) P. Mulrennan 57.5, 11. Silken Touch (4) Vaibhav 57.5, 12. Volcano (13) Sreekanth 56.5 and 13. Nickel Chrome (1) P.S. Chouhan 55.
1. Optimus Prime, 2. Secret Punch, 3. Speed Six
MURUDESHWARA PLATE (1,400m), rated 40 to 65, 4-45: 1. Carducci (4) P. Trevor 60.5, 2. Ace Dancer (8) David Allan 58, 3. Wind Of Soul (3) S. Hussain 58, 4. Too Cold To Hold (6) Mallikurjun 57.5, 5. Divine Deliverance (2) P. Mulrennan 57, 6. Saltoftheearth (1) R. Marshall 57, 7. Starista (7) Chandrashekar 56.5, 8. Arun (11) Rajesh Babu 56, 9. Real Steel (9) P.S. Chouhan 56, 10. Rich Celebration (5) Vivek 55 and 11. Formula One (10) N. Rajesh 53.
1. Ace Dancer, 2. Carducci, 3. Real Steel
HAMPI PLATE (Div. I), (1,200m), rated 40 to 65, 5-y-o & over, 5-15: 1. Shuddering (3) Sahanawaz 62.5, 2. Superb Style (4) Afsar Khan 61, 3. Final Countdown (11) P.S. Chouhan 60, 4. Super Gold (12) Arshad Alam 59.5, 5. Catamaran (8) Mudassar 59, 6. Nectar Crown (10) S. Hussain 59, 7. Game Dancer (5) Kiran Rai 58.5, 8. Sunday Cruz (2) Prabhakaran 58.5, 9. Hillstone (6) Qureshi 58, 10. Hackett (1) P. Culhane 57.5, 11. Castro (7) Raja Rao 55.5 and 12. Jaldi (9) Jagadeesh 54.5.
1. Shuddering, 2. Final Countdown, 3. Catamaran
FOREVER ELEGANCE PLATE (1,400m), rated 20 to 45, 5-45: 1. Applejack (12) S. John 62.5, 2. Petite Fleur (8) David Allan 62.5, 3. Open Page (3) R. Pradeep 61, 4. Brillante (9) Vaideeshwaran 60, 5. Well Known (2) Gnaneshwar 59.5, 6. Alianz (15) Rajesh Babu 58, 7. Signifies (5) S.K. Paswan 58, 8. Will Still (4) N. Ganesh 57, 9. Triple Victory (10) Jagadeesh 54.5, 10. Haute Ecole (11) R. Marshall 54, 11. Youre Rocking (1) Vivek 54, 12. Blues Legend (6) Kiran Rai 53.5, 13. Better Than Ever (7) A. Ramu 53, 14. Smokehead (14) P.S. Chouhan 53 and 15. Shahraan (13) R. Anand 51.
1. Petite Fleur, 2. Applejack, 3. Youre Rocking
Day’s best: Petite Fleur
Double: Murioi – My Law
Jkt: 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9; Mini Jkt: 2, 4, 6 and 8; Tr (i): 3, 4 and 5; (ii); 7, 8 and 9; Exacta: 4, 6, 8 and 9.
RAGHU 58 Seetharam Lodge Pollachi passed away on 23.1.13. 09842298309
Mr. P.S. Menon, Founder of Air Works passed away on 27.01.2013.
Mr. S. Gurunathan, Retd. Principal, St. Mary’s Group of Schools passed away on 25.01.2013. Phone: 044-2551 3004.
Mrs. M. Rani Aravindam, Retd. Asst. H.M, Govt. Hr. Sec. School, Pallikarani (W/o. Dr. W. Ebenezer William) passed away on 28.01.2013. Mobile: 98403-75584.
Mr. M.S. Samuel, Ex-Osmania University, Hyderabad, Madras Christian College, UC College, Alwaye passed away on 28.01.2013. Mobile: 98401-10199.
Mr. N. Mani, Advocate, High Court, Madras passed away on 25.01.2013. Phone: 044-4218 4535 / Mobile: 94440-84839.
Mr. P. Arumugam, Retd. Gr. ‘B’ Officer, RBI, Chennai passed away on 15.01.2013. Mobile: 91768-96036.
Lion S. Vivekanandan, Ex-Correspondent, Baratha Matha Siddhaha School, Kolathur, Chennai passed away on 28.01.2013. D-32, 4th Cross, 15th Street, Periyar Nagar, Chennai – 600 082. Phone: 93821-35450 / 0-96866-84236.
Mr. P. Samuel Arulraj, Retd. Audit Officer, A.G’s Office passed away on 27.01.2013. Thanksgiving Service on 03.02.2013 at residence. Phone: 044-2234 3421 / Mobile: 91766-98686.
Mr. R. Natarajan, President – Padmabhushan Sri N. Ramaswami Ayyar Educational Complex, Trichy – 2 passed away on 25.01.2013.
Mr. V.N. Chandrasekhar passed away on 18.01.2013.
Ms. S. Geetha, Retd. Syndicate Bank passed away on 27.01.2013. Phone: 044-2484 9651.
The Rajendranagar police on Monday arrested an SI working in the SVP National Police Academy on the charge of outraging the modesty of a 35-year-old woman labourer working there, three days ago. The woman told the police that SI Raghunadh Reddy, working as senior mess in-charge, misbehaved with her when she went to clean a room in Karnataka-7 block.
An RTC driver Yellaiah, 50, was arrested two days ago for misbehaving with a 12-year-old girl living next door in Injapur of Vansthalipuram.
The Second Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Cyberabad on Monday directed the L.B. Nagar police to register a cheating case against Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. The court was acting on a private complaint filed by an advocate N. Naresh Kumar, who is a member of Telangana Junior Advocates Association.
In his petition, Mr. Naresh Kumar sought the registration of a cheating case under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code against the Ministers. The petitioner contended that Mr. Chidambaram had made a statement on December 9, 2009 that process for formation of separate Telangana would be initiated. But 14 days later, he went back on his announcement. He pointed out that Mr. Shinde had recently announced that the Centre would decide on the demand for creating a separate Telangana State and that the decision would be announced on January 28.
Both the Ministers didn’t keep their promises and thus cheated people of Telangana, he stated. When contacted, the L.B. Nagar Inspector P. Srinivas Reddy said the court order was not yet received.
Is the delay in providing counter guarantee by the State government for the HUDCO loan of Rs. 1,500 crore holding up phase III of the Krishna drinking water project? This seems to be the case. Though it is a mere formality, the government is taking its own time in providing the counter guarantee. The concerned file is still pending in the Finance Department, it is said.
Only after the government gives assurance, HUDCO will release the promised money to the Water Board.
However, the Board is all set to commence various components of the project next month. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy is likely to lay the foundation stone at Sahebnagar in the first week of February.
Right now, the Board is busy signing the concluding agreement with the firms selected for executing the Rs. 1,670 crore project. A total of 24 infrastructure firms have been chosen to execute the Krishna Phase III project divided into 10 packages for drawing an additional 90 mgd of water to the city.
The July 28 home stay attack case was sent from the Third Judicial Magistrate First Class Court to District Sessions Court, which will conduct further hearing of the case.
The JMFC court passed the order after 37 of the 44 persons against whom the police have filed a chargesheet in connection with the attack on persons attending a party at a home stay on July 28, 2012 were produced in court.
Two journalists, Naveen Soorinje and Sharan, who have been charged with abetting the offences committed by the attacking group, were also arrested by the police.
The JMFC court has issued a non-bailable warrant against seven persons who were reported to be absconding.
What is the origin of ‘blackmail’?
(Kavita Kumar, Cochin)
In our films, the villain somehow gets his hands on the letters written by the heroine to her former boyfriend, and makes money by blackmailing her. Before you jump to any conclusion, let me quickly add that the word ‘mail’ in ‘blackmail’ has nothing to do with letters. The word actually comes from the Scottish 'mail' meaning ‘tax’ or ‘rent’. In the old days, when the law and order situation was quite bad, farmers living along the borders of Scotland had very little protection against gangs who robbed and plundered. Instead of fighting these looters on a regular basis, farmers chose to pay them off in order to be left in peace.
This payment that they made was called ‘blackmail’ because the usual form of payment was black cattle — in the old days, a man's wealth was determined by how much cattle he had. If a farmer chose to pay in silver coins, then it was called ‘white mail’.
What is the meaning of ‘nomophobia’?
(I Murtuza, Melvisharam)
What is the present generation’s greatest fear? Being without a mobile phone, of course! ‘Nomophobia’ is the short form of ‘no mobile phone phobia’. A nomophobe is afraid of the following things: losing his cell phone, being out of cell phone range, the battery going dead, etc. The term ‘nomophobia’ was coined in the U.K.
Why is a worker sometimes referred to as a ‘blackleg’?
(Bindita Shrimali, Nadiad)
Usually, when a trade union calls for a strike, it expects all its workers to put down their tools and stop attending work. Sometimes, however, there are individuals who go against the wishes of the union and report for duty. These people go to the factory while their fellow workers are busy protesting at the picket lines. Such people who go to work when their fellow workers are on strike are called ‘blacklegs’. It is a term mostly used in British English to show disapproval. Another term that is frequently used to refer to such a person is ‘scab’.
*All blacklegs will be dealt with severely.
The term comes from the crow or the rook, a bird that is black in colour. The Europeans disliked the rook because it came up with cunning ways to steal food. Soon the term ‘rook’ began to be used to refer to a cheat who lived by his wits and took advantage of gullible individuals. Since the bird had black legs, cheats soon began to be called ‘blacklegs’ as well. It was not long before workers who went to the factory while others were protesting began to be called ‘blacklegs’ — after all, they were cheating their fellow workers. According to some scholars, it is from ‘rook’ that we get the word ‘rookie’. Nowadays, the word is mostly used to mean an inexperienced individual. The original meaning of ‘rookie' was someone who could be ‘rooked’ — in other words, someone who could be easily cheated because he was inexperienced.
Why do commentators say ‘clean bowled’?
(C.K. Anbazhagan, Namakkal)
The word ‘clean’ in this context is not the opposite of ‘dirty’. It means ‘comprehensively’. When a batsman is ‘clean bowled’, the ball crashes into the stumps without any obstruction; neither the bat nor any part of the batsman’s body comes into contact with it.
******
“I hope you go before me because I don’t want you singing at my funeral.” — Spike Milligan
upendrankye@gmail.com
The title-winning team in the inaugural Hero Hockey India League (HIL) will bag a cash prize of Rs. 2.5 crore, according to a statement issued by Hockey India on Monday.
The runner-up will stand to get Rs. 1.25 crore, while the third-placed side will be richer by Rs. 75 lakh.
Among other cash awards, the Hero Player-of-the-Tournament will receive Rs. 25 lakh and the most promising player of the event will get Rs. 20 lakh.
The team scoring highest number of goals in the league stage will get Rs. 10 lakh, while the side earning least number of cards will get the Fair Play Trophy.
India’s preparations for the ICC women’s World Cup appeared on track, following an eight-wicket victory over New Zealand in a warm-up match at Bandra Kurla Complex ground on Monday.
Fast bowler Jhulan Goswami (three for 26) and opener Poonam Raut (69, 89b, 12x4) eased the home team’s path to victory.
New Zealand managed 201 in 47.5 overs against eight bowlers tried out by India. Jhulan got three breakthroughs in eight overs, support came from left-arm spinners Gauher Sultana (two for 35 in 10 overs) and Ekta Bisht (two for 32 in 8.5 overs).
Frances Mackay top-scored for the Kiwis with 69 off 101 balls, hitting seven boundaries.
In reply, the Indian openers Poonam Raut and Thirush Kamini (43, 74b, 6x4) put on 119 for the first wicket in 27 overs. Harmanpreet Kaur lashed 46 not out off 56 balls (4x4, 2x6) in the company of skipper Mithali Raj (36 not out, 43b, 5x4) as India cruised home in 43.3 overs, scoring 204 for two. — Special Correspondent
India takes on qualifier West Indies in the opening Group A match of the ICC women’s World Cup 2013, the next two opponents in the four-team league being defending champion England and qualifier Sri Lanka.
The three league matches featuring the home team will be played at the Brabourne stadium, Cricket Club of India on January 31 (West Indies), February 3 (England) and February 6 (Sri Lanka).
West Indies qualified for the event winning the ICC women's World Cup qualifier, 2011 in Bangladesh, beating Pakistan by 130 runs in the final.
Sri Lanka confirmed a World Cup berth with a three-wicket win over South Africa in the playoff for third/fourth places.
Group A match schedule: Jan 31: India v West Indies, Brabourne; Feb 1: England v Sri Lanka, Brabourne; Feb 3: England v India, Brabourne; Sri Lanka v West Indies MIG ground; Feb 6: India v Sri Lanka, Brabourne; England v West Indies, BKC ground.
Grandpa was furious. The dahlia bulbs were missing! The whole family turned out to search for the missing bulbs.
Grandpa came stomping in from the garden. He looked angry. “Where are my dahlia bulbs?” He went into the dining room. Samir was there drinking milk. “Did you take them?”
Samir was scared. He didn’t like the stern look on Grandpa’s face. He liked it when Grandpa laughed and played with him. He shook his head. “No, Grandpa. I didn’t take your dahlia bulbs.”
“Are you sure, Samir?” asked Grandma, coming in as he finished his milk.
“You were playing with my garden tools yesterday,” said Grandpa. “The bulbs were right there in a packet.”
“No, Grandpa,” insisted Samir. “All I did was dig a bit in the garden. Then I put the tools back.”
“Come on,” said Grandma. “Let’s search for the bulbs.”
Grandma, Grandpa and Samir went outside. They looked everywhere. They looked inside and outside the shed. They looked in all the buckets and in the wheelbarrow. They looked on the shelves and behind the sacks.
“What are you looking for?” said a voice behind them and they turned around. It was Shreya, Samir’s younger sister. She was sitting on her tricycle.
“We’re looking for the dahlia bulbs,” said Grandpa. “Have you seen them?”
Shreya shook her head. “I don’t know what dahlia bulbs are,” she said.
Grandpa took a thin stick and drew in the mud. “Dahlia bulbs are brown and roundish. They look like onions. But once they grow they have beautiful big flowers in many colours.”
“I’ll show you pictures of Grandpa’s dahlias,” said Grandma.
All four of them went back into the house. They sat in the dining room and looked at Grandpa’s albums.
“I want to wear a dahlia in my hair,” said Shreya.
Grandpa laughed. “My dahlias are as big as your head!” Then he added, “But there won’t be any dahlias this year if we don’t find the bulbs.”
“Let’s search the house!” cried Shreya, running to look in Mother and Father’s room. Samir followed.
“What are you searching for?” asked Mother, looking up from the computer where she was working.
“We’re looking for Grandpa’s dahlia bulbs,” said Shreya.
“What would dahlia bulbs be doing in my room?” exclaimed Mother. “Go look outside.”
As they turned to leave the room, Samir peeped under the bed. Their dog Buddy was lying there.
“Come out, Buddy!” said Samir.
“Come help us, Buddy!” said Shreya.
The big search
Buddy wouldn’t budge. So Samir crawled under the bed and pushed him out. Buddy followed the children reluctantly. It had been nice and peaceful under the bed. He didn’t feel like running around in the middle of the day.
Grandpa looked up when Buddy and the children came into the dining room. “So, have you found the bulbs? Has Buddy managed to sniff them out?”
“We’re trying, Grandpa,” said Samir. He looked into Buddy’s eyes and said, “Find the dahlia bulbs, Buddy.”
Buddy wagged his tail but didn’t budge. Samir pulled on Buddy’s collar. “Come on, Buddy. Let’s go and search!”
He took Buddy outside. Buddy ran off to one side of the garden and Samir followed. Shreya went too.
Suddenly Samir started shouting. Grandpa and Grandma rushed out.
“Stop it, Buddy! Stop it!” cried Samir. Buddy was digging and mud was flying everywhere. There was mud on Buddy’s back, there was mud in Samir’s hair.
“Move away!” said Grandma to Samir. “Step aside and you won’t get dirty!”
But Samir wouldn’t move until Buddy stopped digging and sat down in the hole that he had made. Then he leaned forward and pulled at Buddy’s collar and dragged Buddy out.
He started laughing. “I knew it! I knew it!” he said. “It was Buddy all along!”
Everyone crowded around him. Samir was looking into the hole. There was the packet of dahlia bulbs — and also an old ball and a roll of coloured string and many other things that had gone missing over the week!
The Sri Lankan Cabinet, one of the biggest in a democratic nation - with 93 Ministers - has been expanded to reward a few more who have exceeded the expectations of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The Cabinet of Ministers is now 67 strong, including the executive president, Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratne, and 10 senior Ministers. Another 28 are Deputy Ministers, and, two have been named under a new category, ‘Project Ministers.’ This takes the total number of Ministers in the 225-member Parliament to 97. There are also a slew of young Members of Parliament, named ‘Monitoring MPs,’ who have an open ended job of monitoring specified Ministries.
In the 2010 elections, the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance had received enough votes to win 144 seats. With members from the opposition United National Party crossing over, and with unquestioning support from the Ceylon Workers Congress and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, the UPFA, soon garnered a two-thirds majority in parliament.
Two Ministers promoted
Two Ministers, who were in the forefront of the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, have been promoted. Pavithra Wanniarachchi, who set the ball rolling by making the first allegations against Mrs.Bandaranayake, was rewarded with the electricity ministry. Environment Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa who headed the Parliamentary Select Committee which oversaw the impeachment process, and chaired the meeting in which the Chief Justice said she was abused when she presented before the committee, gets the petroleum ministry.
Because of the jumbo size of the Ministry, Sri Lankan government has found innovative ways to accommodate the newly named Ministers. One was to create a new Ministry for Sugar Industries (Sri Lanka is hardly a sugar producing nation), and another, creating a new Ministry for Botanical Gardens and Public Recreation.
President holds on to his portfolios
President Rajapaksa has not diluted the portfolios he holds: defence, finance, ports and aviation and highways. According to an analysis of the Budget for 2013, two-thirds of the finances of the entire budget have been allocated to Ministers under the President.
“Debt Amortisation Payments (d.a.p) account for about 45% of the spending from all the funding allocated to these Portfolios of the President. If the budget estimates sans d.a.p. is evaluated then the share controlled by the President’s is still about 52%,” the analysis said.
His younger brother Basil is economic development portfolio. A small part of this Ministry has been carved off and a new Minister for investment promotion has been inducted.
S.V. Sunil scored two goals to help Jaypee Punjab Warriors edge past hosts Uttar Pradesh Wizards 4-3 in a round-robin match to move to the third spot in the inaugural Hockey India League in Lucknow on Sunday.
By virtue of this win Punjab are lying third in the points table with 20 points from seven games, behind table toppers Delhi Waveriders (27) and second-placed Ranchi Rhinos (22). UP Wizards are fourth in the standings with 17 points from seven games.
SV Sunil’s double strike and drag-flicks from Jamie Dwyer and Christopher Ciriello, all coming in the first quarter, were enough to earn Warriors full five points. Wizards’ goals came from the sticks of Sander Baart, Raghunath and Jeroen Hertzberger.
Playing away, the Warriors got off to a thrilling start.
A brilliant combined team attack was converted into a goal by an ever alert Sunil in the second minute to put the visitors 1-0 ahead.
Two minutes later, Sunil doubled the Punjab side’s scoreline with a superb effort.
From the onset, the Warriors kept on attacking the Wizards’ defence, which rattled the UP side.
Another smart move in the eighth minute earned Warriors their first penalty corner of the game, and Australian Dwyer was spot on with his drag-flick, increasing the visitors’ lead.
Trailing by three goals, the Wizards began to find their feet back slowly. In the 11th minute, the hosts made a clever move and Baart managed to put Wizards on the scoreboard with a neat strike.
But the Wizards’ hopes of making a strong comeback were thrashed by the visitors four minutes later. Another good move earned Warriors their second penalty corner, and this time it was the turn of Ciriello to score with a powerful drag-flick, and restore the visitors’ three-goal lead.
It turned out to be the busiest first quarter of the tournament so far as the opening 17-and-a-half minutes witnessed as many as five goals.
Wizards came up with a positive frame of mind in the second quarter, but they were not able to really put pressure on the Warriors’ defence.
To its credit, the Warriors’ defence held on well to deny the hosts any clear opportunities.
Dharamvir Singh and Dwyer created some opportunities for the Warriors to increase their lead even further, but were denied by some quality goalkeeping.
The third quarter also turned out to be barren, with both teams trying to keep possession.
By the end of the third quarter, the Warriors had earned four more penalty corners, but were unable to score from any of them.
With just five minutes left in the match, it looked like a comfortable win for the Warriors, but there were more twists in store.
Wizards earned a penalty corner in the 65th minute and skipper Raghunath hit an unstoppable drag-flick to reduce UP’s deficit.
Much to the delight of the crowd, Wizards’ man in form Hertzberger made it 3-4 for the hosts, with a quality goal a few minutes later. Hertzberger got a bouncing ball in the right flank, which he calmly controlled and then smacked past the Warriors goalkeeper to keep the game alive.
The Wizards applied a lot of pressure in the final three minutes, but the Warriors’ defence held on well to earn full points for the visitors.
In their next home match, UP Wizards will take on Dabur Mumbai Magicians on February 2 at the Dhyan Chand Astroturf Stadium here, while the Punjab Warriors will play Ranchi Rhinos at the Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar on February 4.
Tintinnabulation scored an imposing 5-3/4 length victory in the Deccan Bookmakers Golconda Derby Stakes, the main event of the races held here on Sunday (Jan. 27). Ridden ably by P.S.Chouhan, the four-year-old bay gelding is trained by L.V.R. Deshmukh. M/s. Vijay Racing and Farms Private Limited represented by Mr. Vijay Kumar Gupta and Mr. Susheel Kumar Gupta and M/s. Pratap Racecitement Private Limited represented by the estate of late Mr. D. Pratap Chander Reddy and Mr. Ashish Bajaj own the winner.
1. SIKANDER-E-AAZAM CUP (D. II) (1,200m), Cat. III, 4-y-o & over, rated upto 50: Mr. Glorious (A. M. Tograllu) 1, Gold Medal (Deep Shanker) 2, Exclusive (J.H. Christopher) 3, Sabreen Princess (N.S. Parmar) 4. Not run: Airborne Magic. 3-1/2, 3/4 & 1/2. 1m 13.64s. Rs. 64 (w), 17, 11 & 8 (p), SHP: Rs. 36, FP: Rs. 494, Q: Rs. 214, Tanala: Rs. 1210. Favourite: Sabreen Princess. Owners: M/s. Ch. Ashok, S. Daljeet Singh & S. Mohan Raju. Trainer: S.S.F.Hassan.
2. EUREKA FORBES YOUNGSTERS MILLION (1,200m), Maiden 3-y-o only (Terms): Lovely Angel (A. M. Tograllu) 1, Dancing Inthe Rain (P. Trevor) 2, Ein Ein Ein (D.K. Ashish) 3, Wow O Wow (P.S. Chouhan) 4. 1, 1-3/4 & 1. 1m13.07s. Rs. 40 (w), 9, 5 & 19 (p), SHP: Rs. 16, FP: Rs. 169, Q: Rs. 65, Tanala: Rs. 1680. Favourite: Wow O Wow. Owners: M/s. Munawar Hussain, Srinivasa Rao Thota, Kasuganti Sriranga Rao & Ch.Ashok. Trainer: S.S.F.Hassan.
3. ARISTOCRAT CUP (1,600m), Cat. III, 4-y-o & over, rated upto 50: Okai Okai Okai ( P. Trevor) 1, Regal Groom (Imran Chisty) 2, Golden Dash (Ajit Kumar) 3, Sarvagnya (C. Henrique) 4. 1-3/4, 3- 1/2 & shd. 1m 38.79s. Rs. 35 (w), 10, 7 & 35 (p), SHP: Rs. 28, FP: Rs. 177, Q: Rs. 57, Tanala: Rs. 3797. Favourite: Regal Groom. Owners: M/s. Kuchikula Dayakar Reddy & M. Ramachandra Rao. Trainer: M.V. Narayana Rao.
4. SIKANDER-E-AAZAM CUP (D.I) (1,200m), Cat. III, 4-y-o & over, rated upto 50: Emerald Reef (Imran Chisty) 1, Rocking Racer (A. Sandesh) 2, Our Mascot (A. Imran Khan) 3, Grenada (N.S. Parmar) 4. 4-3/4, 2-3/4 & 2-1/4. 1m 12.49s. Rs. 13 (w), 7, 8 & 10 (p), SHP: Rs. 22, FP: Rs. 40, Q: Rs. 29, Tanala: Rs. 225. Favourite: Emerald Reef. Owners: M/s. Gunna Sandeep Reddy & A. Raghava Reddy. Trainer: M. Satyanarayana.
5. SQUANDERER CUP (1,200m), Cat.II, 5-y-o & over, rated upto 75: Dusty Lady (P. Trevor) 1, Key Note (S. Sreekant) 2, Kings Cruise (Dashrath Singh) 3, Precisely That (P.S. Chouhan) 4. Shd, 1 & 1/2. 1m 12.13s. Rs. 52 (w), 16, 45 & 23 (p), SHP: Rs. 158, FP: Rs. 1746, Q: Rs. 790, Tanala: Rs. 24213. Favourite: Aphrodisiac. Owner: Mrs. Surekha Rachupalli. Trainer: R.H. Sequeira.
6. BHAGYANAGAR JUVENILE MILLION (1,400m), 3-y-o only (Terms): Staying The Best (P. Trevor) 1, Dandelion (N. Rawal) 2, Golden Arrow (P.S. Chouhan) 3, Sherman Oaks (J.H. Christopher) 4. Shd, 1/2 & 1-1/4. 1m 25.67s. Rs. 6 (w), 6, 30 & 8 (p), SHP: Rs. 107, FP: Rs. 144, Q: Rs. 147, Tanala: Rs. 315. Favourite: Staying The Best. Owners: M/s. P. Anil Kumar Kishen & Rudraraju Rajendra Verma. Trainer: K.S.V. Prasad Raju
7. SECRETARIAT CUP (1,400m), Cat. I, 4-y-o & over: Plenipotent (A. Sandesh) 1, Garcia Marquez (N.S. Parmar) 2, Al Sarraah (Kiran Naidu) 3, Blazing Asian (Ch.K. Chary) 4. 6, 1/4 & 1-1/4. 1m 23.79s. Rs. 10 (w), 6, 12 & 22 (p), SHP: Rs. 37, FP: Rs. 65, Q: Rs. 40, Tanala: Rs. 597. Favourite: Plenipotent. Owners: M/s. Pratap Racecitement Private Limited represented by the estate of late Mr. D. Pratap Chander Reddy & Mr. Ashish Bajaj And M/s. Vijay Racing and Farms Private Limited represented by Mr. Vijay Kumar Gupta & Mr. Susheel Kumar Gupta. Trainer: Deshmukh.
8. DECCAN BOOKMAKERS GOLCONDA DERBY STAKES (2,400m) 4-y-o only (Terms):
TINTINNABULATION (INTIKHAB-TOURMALET) P.S. CHOUHAN 1,
VIJAYS CHAMP (TOCCET-POOR OLD ELIZA) A. SANDESH 2,
ANGEL CROWN (STEINBECK-ALTIMARA) S. JOHN 3,
MANYATTA (REBUTTAL-PICTURE SHOW) DANIEL GRANT 4.
5-3/4, 1 & 2-1/4. 2m 29.67s. Rs. 14 (w), 6, 17 & 17 (p), SHP: Rs. 50, FP: Rs. 130, Q: Rs. 82, Tanala: Rs. 947. Favourite: Tintinnabulation. Owners: M/s. Vijay Racing & Farms Private Limited represented by Mr. Vijay Kumar Gupta & Mr. Susheel Kumar Gupta and M/s. Pratap Racecitement Private Limited represented by the estate of late Mr. D. Pratap Chander Reddy & Mr. Ashish Bajaj. Trainer: L.V.R. Deshmukh.
9. DECCAN PRINCE CUP (1,400m), Cat. II, 4-y-o & over, rated upto 75: Brahmani (C. Henrique) 1, Sheer Genius (P.S. Chouhan) 2, Aerosmith (S. John) 3, Glorious View (Imran Chisty) 4. 1-1/2, hd & 2. 1m 24.99s. Rs. 149 (w), 31, 7 & 8 (p), SHP: Rs. 24, FP: Rs. 817, Q: Rs. 289, Tanala: Rs. 2263. Favourite: Sheer Genius. Owners: Dr. A.M.K. Gandhi, M/s. Bhishma Chowdary Donepudi, B. Naveen Kumar & Ms. Swathi Kodali. Trainer: Anupam Sharma.
Treble (i): Rs. 2425 (31 tkts.), (ii): Rs. 532 (364 tkts.), (iii): Rs. 1564 (117 tkts.).
Consolation: Rs. 334 (2097 tkts.)
Jackpot: Rs. 56518 (29 tkts.).
Every year, along with Republic Day, Beating the Retreat, citizens of Delhi look forward to another event -- the opening of the Mughal Gardens in the Rashtrapati Bhavan to the public.
From early February through March thousands of visitors to these gardens experience a visual treat. Last year, the camera caught the majestic residence of the President and the Mughal Gardens through a sprinkling of yellow and green. This year the camera awaits the opportunity.
Photo: R.V. Moorthy
Ms VASANTHA VAIDYANATHAN, D/o. Late Kodangudi Vaidyanathasswami Iyer (Nagpur), passed away 25th January 2013 in GandhiNagar, Gujarat .- Deeply mourned by Padmanabhan, Sulochana, Jyothi. Ph: 09974666600
Narayanan R., 68 Yrs, Grandson of Late S. Soundararaja Iyengar & Son of Late S.Rajagopalan Iyengar of Pondicherry expired at 5.30am on 25.1.13. Cremation 26.1.13. Survived by wife, son, daughter & grand children. Ph 43585778.
S.R. RADHA KRISHNAN (Sathanur Thambi) of Anthangudi passed away at Velachery on 25-01-13. Contact 044 22445298
J.VIJAYALAKSHMI JAYAKUMAR W/o Late J.Jayakumar attained Acharyan Thiruvadi on 24/1/13. 10th day Ceremony on 1st Feb in Chennai Ct:9841521882
Mrs. S.VIJAYAM 83yr, W/o Late R.Swaminathan, passed away on 24-01-2013 @ her Residence given by Sons S. Rajagopalan & S.Gurumurthy. 9940685915.
Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. (GCPL), on Friday, said it had inked a pact with private equity firm Creador to divest its non-core food business in Indonesia for an undisclosed amount.
The transaction is expected to close in about two months, the company said in a statement. “Our decision to divest the foods business is very much in line with our strategic intent to focus on home and personal care,” GCPL Chairman Adi Godrej said. The divestiture of this business would improve the margin profile of our Indonesian business and help the team to take the household and personal care platforms to their full potential, he added.
“This acquisition demonstrates our commitment to making growth investments in Indonesia, and reflects our strong capabilities in Indonesia and India,” Creador Founder and CEO Brahmal Vasudevan said.
Shares of GCPL on Friday closed at Rs.723 on the BSE.
Biocon reported a consolidated net profit of Rs.92.81 crore during the third quarter ended December 31, 2012, up 9.38 per cent when compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Total revenues were higher by 23.63 per cent at Rs.625 crore. While the pharma business contributed Rs.501 crore to revenues, up 23 per cent on an annualised, that from contract research and manufacturing increased by 21 per cent to Rs.146 crore.
Propelled by small tea growers , the Indian tea industry has finally breached the one billion kg-mark in production, according to Union Commerce Ministry figures.
The feat came to light following a major exercise launched by the industry regulator, the Tea Board of India, to bring within the net all segments of tea producers — organised and unorganised — many of whom were not reporting their crop statistics.
Following this exercise taken up through the second half of 2012, it became clear that India had actually produced 75 million kg more than the 988 million it was estimated to have produced between January and December 2011.
Tea Board started notifying the 2011 revised figures from December and the exercise, now completed, shows Indian tea crop to be 1063.5 million kg. The share of bought leaf factory (from the small tea growers) is around 29 per cent, officials said.
In 2012, India has already reached a level of 1023.9 million kg of tea crop by November according to field level data.
Tea Board Chairman M. G. V. K. Bhanu told The Hindu that the output of the small tea growers was never captured fully all these years, even as their share in the total output was rising.
Enquiries revealed that this was as much due to the inadequacies of the data collection system of the regulator, as due to BLF’s failure to report crop figures as mandated by the Tea Marketing Control Order.
Following the successful implementation of a pilot project to file electronic returns on crop figures in the south, it has been decided to roll out the project nationally.
Mr Bhanu said that, internationally, this milestone proves that India has the capacity to meet the domestic demand with an exportable surplus.
Arun Singh, Managing Director, Goodricke Group and the current chairperson of the Indian Tea Association, said that this would improve India’s credibility in the international market.
Suresh Kumar alias Babu (46), a member of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and a contractor, was injured when he was shot at by another CITU member following disputes over unloading construction material at Karuvatta, near Haripad, on Thursday morning.
Ramesh (42), Panamuttathu house, is reported to have opened fire with an air pistol around 12 noon and the bullet got stuck in Suresh’s left shoulder. Suresh was admitted to the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital and the bullet was removed in an emergency surgery. Suresh’s condition is reported to be stable.
According to the police, Suresh did not allow Ramesh to unload the construction material as the latter was in an inebriated condition. A scuffle broke out between the two. Ramesh, who was overpowered by Suresh, rushed to his house and returned with the air pistol and opened fire at Suresh, the police said.
The police arrested Ramesh and seized the pistol from him. The air pistol, for which no licence is required, has been brought by Ramesh’s son from Bangalore and has been used to shoot birds.
Ramesh will be produced before court on Friday.
It was curtains for Rohan Bopanna at this year’s Australian Open after the Indian and his Chinese Taipei partner Su-Wei Hsieh made an exit from the mixed doubles event following a straight-set quarterfinal loss on Wednesday.
Bopanna, already out of the men’s doubles event, and Hsieh went down 2-6 3-6 the Czech-Polish combination of the Kveta Peschke and Marcin Matkowski.
The 56-minute clash was completely dominated by Peschke and Matkowski, who did not concede a single break of serve during the match.
In the first set, which lasted a mere 20 minutes, the Czech-Polish pair broke Bopanna and Hsieh twice and sent down 11 winners to set the tempo for the game.
The second set followed a similar script as Peschke and Matkowski clinched the crucial a break of serve to seal the issue in their favour.
Bopanna was the only Indian in action on Wednesday at the year’s first Grand Slam.
Polaris Financial Technology has kick-started an exercise to revamp its business model.
This board-blessed move, it is learnt, is aimed at improving the shareholder value.
Facing some sort of an identity crisis, Polaris board apparently feels the company is largely undervalued by the investors.
A quarter of the company’s revenue comes from product business. The rest is accounted for by the services business.
According to Arun Jain, Chairman and CEO of Polaris, the board is worried over the underestimation of Polaris by the investing community, and, hence, sought the help of an outside consultant (BCG) to suggest the way forward. The consultant felt Polaris “has huge undiscovered value.’’ The consultant, he explained, saw “huge value sitting in products, services and client businesses.’’ In the light of the findings of the consultant, the board, he said, had asked the management team to explore options, including appropriate restructuring, which would provide “an impetus to the company for the next stage of its growth’’ even while maximising the shareholder value.
Mr. Jain told The Hindu that a seven-member management team had been entrusted with the task of exploring all options to revamp the business model of the company. “We will form a task team, and assign the job,’’ he added. The board, he said, had given the management team a 90-day time to come out with its proposal, which would then be placed before the board in its next meeting. Mr. Jain said Polaris was somehow unable to communicate to investors that the DNA of its two businesses (products and services) were completely different, and, hence, the company could not be viewed from the prism of “`quarter-to-quarter performance.’’ As a consequence, it was commanding only half the value vis-Ã -vis its peers in the industry, he pointed out.
Polaris, in the meanwhile, reported a flat growth in its revenues for the three months ended December 31, 2012 at Rs. 572.88 crore against Rs. 572.53 crore in the same period in the previous year. The profit after tax declined sharply to Rs. 40.67 crore from Rs. 61.07 crore in the year-ago period, mainly due to the loss of Rs. 11.89 crore suffered by the IdenTrust division.
Mr. Jain said, “This has been a challenging quarter. However, we continue to build momentum with 16 new business wins. These wins will lead to revenue accruals in the coming quarters.” Govind Singhal, President and COO, said, “Service business has been steady barring a $800,000 negative impact due to Hurricane Sandy. As regards our product business, though we won nine deals, the slowdown in Europe has impacted three deal closures and revenue recognition this quarter. “Our overall operational improvement agenda is on track and costs were contained at the levels of the previous quarter.”
China’s Li Na snapped the 13-match winning streak of fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska with a 7-5, 6-3 quarterfinal victory at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
China’s sixth seed was dominant as she faced the form player of this season who had not lost a set before she faced Li.
“She’s a tough player, I was feeling today (like playing) a wall,” said Li. “She can hit everywhere, but without a mistake.
“You have to focus on every shot — not every point, every shot.
“I wasn’t fast enough today, especially at the beginning of the match, I was really running a lot,” Radwanska said. “It cost me a little too much power in the beginning.” Li had lost to Radwanska just over a week ago in the Sydney semifinals.
“She played better than last week in Sydney,” said Radwanska.
“Definitely she was very solid from the beginning of the match. She was really playing good tennis.
“In some of the games she didn’t let me do anything: very deep balls all the time. Good serve. She was really playing good tennis today.” Radwanska was playing in her 27th Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Cairn India, on Monday, reported 48 per cent jump in its net profit. at Rs.3,344.89 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal against Rs.2,322.18 crore in the year-ago period.
The profit was boosted by a foreign exchange gain of Rs.235.71 crore, as against a loss of Rs.785.81 crore in the preceding quarter.
The profit was up despite fall in oil price realisation — the company got $96.2 for every barrel of crude oil produced in the third quarter of the current fiscal, compared to $101.2 a barrel in the same period last fiscal.
Its earnings per share rose by 39 per cent to Rs.16.50 during the quarter from Rs.11.85 in the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal.
During the quarter, gross production rose by 21 per cent to 205,114 barrels of oil equivalent a day. The company said it had got approval from the government for drilling exploratory wells within the producing oilfields in the Rajasthan block, a move that would help it add reserves. However, its income from operations declined by 4 per cent to Rs.4,278 crore, (quarter-on-quarter) after paying royalty for Rajasthan blocks in which it has 70 per cent participating interest. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation declined by 4.9 per cent to Rs.3,258 crore.
Cairn said it had decided to pay an interim dividend of Rs.5 a share.
It is hoping to close 2012-13 with supplies of 347 million tonnes to the power sector
Coal India Ltd. (CIL) has increased its supplies to the power sector by 11. 1 per cent in the first nine months of 2012-13, when coal-based power generation increased by 13 per cent in the country. It supplied 246 million tonnes during this period. CIL increased its overall offtake by 11.2 per cent during the first three quarters.
It is now hoping to close 2012-13 with supplies of 347 million tonnes to the power sector, which, if achieved, would reflect a 35 million tonne annual growth compared to 8 million tonnes in 2011-12, four million in 2010-11 and a mere two million tonnes in 2010-11.
“The 11.1 per cent increase in deliveries to the power sector is a very significant number by itself as this compares with the two per cent growth of the same period in previous fiscal,” said CIL chairman S Narsing Rao. Better availability of railway rakes, improved production and drawdown from stocks helped improve supplies. .
Mr Rao was hopeful that CIL would close in on its year’s despatch target of 470 million tonnes. Of this, 363.2 million tonnes of coal has already been despatched to the various sectors.
This included a 25 million drawdown from pithead stocks.
Stocks, which stood at 70.8 million tonnes on April 1, 2012, are now at around 45 million tonnes.
Production, too, has increased, although at a lesser pace than offtake. Between April 1, 2012 and January 20, 2013, production reached 338.5 million tonnes, which is 19.6 million tonnes higher than the same period a year ago and reflects a growth of 6.1 per cent against the 6.5 per cent being targeted for the fiscal year.
Although this rate is considerably higher the previous year, reaching the target is looking an uphill task as CIL would have to produce 1.76 million tonnes daily to reach its 464 million target.
CIL tried to beat the monsoon blues this fiscal, but was affected by flooding in some of its opencast mines.
While it lost 15 million tonnes of output to rains (26 million tonnes previous fiscal), it took an unexpected hit of 3 million tonnes due to Cyclone Neelam in November. Mr Rao felt that the offtake should be a more relevant target for the PSU as it meant supplies to the customer and revenues to CIL.
Bentinck School has taught girls for 175 years. Asha Sridhar explores the historical institution
Inside the upbeat campus of the 175-year old Bentinck Higher Secondary School in Vepery, girls huddled together in small groups, preparing for their part in the upcoming sports day.
By their presence alone, these students contributed to an unbroken history of educating girls which their school has strived to achieve.
The institution, which is celebrating 175 years since its founding, has grown from having 21 girls to close to 2,000 girl students today, says headmistress and correspondent, D.D.D. Chellanatchiar. “Along with strengthening the students in academics, we give a lot of importance to sports. Be it NCC, boxing or scouts and guides, our girls have won several awards,” she says.
School records state that the institution was started in 1837 by Anna Drew, a missionary sent by the London Missionary Society. Back then, it was called the London Mission School and was started with 21 orphan children in a bungalow where needlework and scripture were the chief subjects. Later, a Mrs. William Porter took over as headmistress, and the school then came to be called Mrs. Porter’s School owing to her efficient running of it. In 1915, it was re-named after Lord William Bentinck, a governor general of India. One of the famous heads of the school was Yorkshire-born Marjorie Sykes, who taught there between 1930 and 1939 and was headmistress before she left for Shantiniketan. The school moved to its present site in 1852.
The school which offers Tamil, Telugu and English as mediums of instruction had a hostel for both teachers and students in those days. Thabitha Gerard, assistant headmistress, who was also a student of the school, says that in the 1960s the hostel had students from places such as Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya.
“My mother, aunt and her cousin have all worked here, and lived in the hostel,” she says.
The school was granted recognition as a high school in 1898, and had its first student admitted to college in 1899. It became a higher secondary school in 1978. Having swiftly adapted to the changing role of education, they have even produced two state rank-holders in the SSLC and higher secondary examination, according to Ms. Chellanatchiar.
Though the school had been making steady progress, the momentum was kept up by those like Prema Massillamonie, former headmistress, in whose time 27 new classrooms, a library, an open air stage, a basketball court and computer education were introduced.
While attributing these also to the co-operation rendered by the strong parent-teacher association and a few enterprising individuals outside the school, Ms. Massillamonie described how in the early days, even getting a girl child to come to school was a challenge. “Ms. Thilakavathy Paul, a former HM who was also a national award winner, used to visit the girls’ houses to get girls to school and also to ensure that nobody dropped out,” she said.
Jasmine Patience, a former student of the school who now teaches economics recalls her days as a student. “The campus had many more trees, and I particularly remember an old Banyan tree around which all of us used to hover,” she says.
Skipper Soumya Ranjan Swain and seasoned campaigner Yashpal Singh lifted Services from 72 for three to 164 without further loss to give Mumbai a sleepless night in their Ranji Trophy semifinal encounter at the Palam ground here.
After two days were lost to rain and wet pitch conditions, action returned to the middle following a delay of 135 minutes on Sunday afternoon, Mumbai resumed its first innings at 380 for six and applied closure at 454 for eight. In just nine overs, Mumbai hit up 74 runs for the loss of centurions, Ajit Agarkar and Aditya Tare.
At close, Services was riding on an unfinished fourth-wicket stand of 92 runs, with Swain looking to build on his 64, including seven boundaries — one more than what Yashpal struck in his 43.
With the first innings lead undecided after five days, the match will go into the sixth day on Monday. With further loss of play due to rain or bad light not ruled out, Mumbai will be desperate to get the remaining wickets as Services needs another 291 runs for the lead.
Mumbai is expected to give it all to gain the first innings lead instead of depending on a favourable spin of coin to make the final against Saurashtra. Services, unlikely to force the pace and risk being bowled out, would not mind testing its luck with the toss, if needed.
Mumbai hopes rose after a surprisingly passive start by the Services openers.
Pleased to bowl seven successive maiden overs, Mumbai finally tasted success when Dhawal Kulkarni trapped Nakul Verma in front. Before long, Prateek Desai fell to left-arm spinner Ankit Chavan. Swain, leading the team for the first time, joined Anshul Gupta and immediately made an impression.
The left-hander played his natural game and did not let the bowlers call the shots. He rotated the strike well without missing opportunities to cut and pull the short deliveries in the early part of the innings. After the third-wicket stand was worth 50 runs, Gupta offered a low regulation-catch in the slip cordon to leave Services worried.
But Yashpal’s assuring presence in the middle produced the phase of the Services innings. If Swain’s stroke-selection stood out on this day, it was Yashpal’s positive intent and the willingness to play his strokes rattled Mumbai.
The scores:
Mumbai-1st innings: W. Jaffer c Sarabjit b Nishan 15, K. Pawar lbw b Yadav 3, H. Shah c Sarabjit b Yadav 0, S. Tendulkar c Verma b Sinha 56, A. Nayar c Yadav b Nazar 70, A. Tare c Sarabjit b Nazar 120, A. Chavan b Nazar 0, A. Agarkar c (sub) Mohd. Khalid b Sinha 145, D. Kulkarni (not out) 20, S. Thakur (not out) 10, Extras (b-6, lb-4, nb-4, w-1) 15, Total (for eight wickets decl. 152 overs) 454.
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-19, 3-23, 4-104, 5-169, 6-169, 7-415, 8-435.
Services bowling: Suraj Yadav 24-9-49-2, Nishan Singh 32-6-76-1, Shadab Nazar 44-11-142-3, Avishek Sinha 32-8-98-2, Yashpal Singh 5-0-23-0, Nakul Verma 9-1-33-0, Prateek Desai 5-2-6-0, Rajat Paliwal 1-0-4-0.
Services-1st innings: N. Verma lbw b Kulkarni 13, P. Desai b Chavan 4, A. Gupta c Pawar b Thakur 31, S. Swain (batting) 64, Yashpal Singh (batting) 43, Extras (b-4, lb-2, nb-2, w-1) 9, Total (for three wickets in 57 overs) 164.
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-22, 3-72.
Mumbai bowling: Ajit Agarkar 8-3-29-0, Dhawal Kulkarni 11-4-18-1, Vishal Dabholkar 11-1-33-0, Ankit Chavan 12-4-33-1, Shardul Thakur 11-0-35-1, Abhishek Nayar 4-0-10-0.
Cricket / Vishal Joshi, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja do the star turn
Saurashtra took a little over one and a half hours on Sunday morning to bring Punjab to its knees at the SCA stadium and enter the Ranji Trophy final.
There are instances of the erstwhile princely state of Nawanagar defeating Bengal to take the big prize in 1936-37 and finishing runner-up to Hyderabad in 1937-38, but this is the first time Saurashtra has made the title match after Nawanagar was merged with it in 1959.
Off- spinner Vishal Joshi who has played off and on in the last four years and left- arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, a freshman, spun out Punjab taking eight wickets and helped Saurashtra win the semifinal by 229 runs.
Joshi’s five for 43 turned out to be his best in six matches and he finished with match figures of nine for 102. Joshi actually tweaked a leg-break to deceive Sandeep Sharma to take his fifth wicket to clinch an emphatic and memorable victory for his side. Nearly two months ago Punjab had thrashed Saurashtra by eight wickets in a league match at Mohali.
The light roller was run on the pitch for ten minutes before the start of the final day’s play and skipper Jaydev Shah, in order to get over any effect of rolling, began the proceedings with seamers Jaydev Unadkat and Siddharth Trivedi. Shah realised the futility of his decision once Mandeep Singh pulled two boundary shots off Undakat.
The first bowling change and the immediate fall of Mandeep to a tossed up delivery that evoked a wicked response from the pitch was the first clear sign of a typical fifth day pitch offering much assistance to a smart and artful spinner. Mandeep stretched his left foot across without offering a shot and the off-break found its way underneath the bent left knee and hit the middle stump.
Soon the Punjab second innings, set a target of 349, disintegrated to a meagre 119. Ravi Inder Singh drove Joshi to substitute Chirag Pathak at cover. Thereafter Amitoze Singh showed hints of bravado and top-edged a sweep for Kamlesh Makwana to bring off a splendid catch at square -eg. The rest simply caved in.
It was quite an emotional moment for Niranjan Shah, vice-president of the BCCI, Secretary of the Saurashtra Cricket Association and father of the captain, Jaydev. Four seasons ago Saurashtra had won the Vijay Hazare Trophy (inter-State limited overs tournament) and reached the Ranji semifinals in 2007-08 and 2008-09. Recently it hosted the first one-day international against England at a modern cricket stadium in Khanderi village. Niranjan Shah was the first to congratulate the team along with the reserve players, support staff and other officials of the SCA.
Saurashtra coach Debu Mitra expressed happiness saying: “I played a Ranji final for Bengal under Ambar Roy against Bombay in 1968-69. I am happy to have done my bit and guide the team to the final. They have played as a team. The players treat me like their guru.”
“Each and every player contributed to this win. We have played as a team and that is why we are in the final. We would be glad to have Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja, but they are serving the national team,” said Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Shah.
Punjab skipper Harbhajan Singh said he has played on worse wickets and that some of the batsmen played rash shots. “There was only one spot on the pitch. When I look back at the match I would say that only Makwana and Mandeep got out to balls that were difficult to play. We have to learn to play on different wickets. The pitch at Mohali was like a garden. We won the toss and that is why we made a good start this season.”
The scores:
Saurashtra — 1st innings: 477.
Punjab — 1st innings: 299.
Saurashtra — 2nd innings: 170.
Punjab — 2nd innings: Jiwanjot Singh c Vasavada b Unadkat 11, Ravi Inder Singh c sub (Chiragh Pathak) b Joshi 25, T. Kohli c Kotak b Unadkat 13, Mandeep Singh b Joshi 33, Uday Kaul lbw b D. Jadeja 7, Amitoze Singh c Makwana b Joshi 5, B. Sharma c sub (S. Sanandiya) b D. Jadeja 0, Harbhajan Singh b Joshi 6, S. Kaul lbw b D. Jadeja 2, Sandeep Sharma b Joshi 12, S. Ladda (not out) 5; Total (in 40 overs) :119.
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-30, 3-71, 4-82, 5-88, 6-91, 7-98, 8-102, 9-102.
Saurashtra bowling: Undakat 8-2-30-2, Makwana 4-0-15-0, Jadeja 14-3-25-3, Joshi 11-1-43-5, Trivedi 3-0-6-0.
Engineering College managements question the online fee fixation system introduced by the Admissions and Fee Regulatory Committee (AFRC) and termed the whole process against the spirit of natural justice
The Engineering College managements have questioned the online fee fixation system introduced by the Admissions and Fee Regulatory Committee (AFRC) and termed the whole process against the spirit of natural justice.
The Consortium of Engineering and Professional Colleges' Managements Association (CEPCMA) has decided to move the High Court terming the system as ‘highly defective’. The AFRC has recently issued guidelines for fee fixation for professional courses for a three-year block period from 2013-14 to 2015-16 and asked professional colleges to submit fee proposals online from February 1 to 20.
The CEPCMA Chairman, N. Ramesh; President Nova Krishna Rao; Working President R.Pradeep Reddy and other general secretaries K.V.K. Rao and K. Sunil Kumar said that an emergency meeting of the CEPCMA held on Sunday has demanded the AFRC to immediately revise norms for fixing the fee or else they would move the court.
Their contention is that the new system was devised to fix fees for next three academic years based on the income and expenditure statements of this academic year. Expenditure will rise due to inflation, enhanced salaries, academic initiatives and infrastructure. The process devised by the AFRC will reduce the fee structure even for best colleges leave alone middle level colleges. Fee will be less than Rs. 20,000 if the present system is followed, they claimed.
They also saw some ‘conspiracy’ in the exercise as the Government wants to reduce fee reimbursement burden on it. Such system will also lead to fall in education standards and colleges will not be able to survive with meagre fee, they said.
The CEPCMA also wanted the Government to release the balance 50 per cent fee reimbursement arrears before February 28 and also release the fee payment schedule for reimbursement scheme for 2013-14 academic year.
