“I would love to see him bowl at Lord’s (where West Indies is playing England in the on-going first Test match). It has been a terrific pleasure to play and watch him bowl in the IPL. Bowlers of that quality and class should be playing Test cricket ,” were Dravid’s comments on West Indian Sunil Narine, who is the leading wicket-taker (21) for Kolkata Knight Riders in this edition of IPL.

“It is always important for all the young talent to continue their impressive run in the IPL into the domestic circuit too. We have seen in the past some of the players who did so well in IPL failing to come good in domestic cricket, say for instance in Ranji Trophy. Here, I think Ajinkya Rahane (Dravid’s teammate and leading scorer for Rajasthan Royals in this IPL) is an exception,” the batting great explained to another query.

“There was some exceptional Indian talent which really impressed me in this edition. To name a few Rahane was outstanding. Shikhar Dhawan batted beautifully. Awana is showing lot of promise. Mandeep Singh is another young and solid player. Of course, I am not surprised by Rayudu’s batting for he has been around the scene for quite some time,” Dravid said to a query.

Reflecting on the loss to Deccan Chargers on Friday night which effectively dashed Royals’ hopes of qualifying for the play-offs, Dravid confessed that it was a disappointing performance. “We did not play well and we did not bat well. A total of 150-plus would have been very competitive on this wicket. But that was not to be,” he said.

“Yes, we would have loved to go back to Jaipur by winning this game and play the last one with the hope of qualifying for the next phase. Unfortunately, it did not happen. That is life,” said a poignant Dravid.

“I think overall we surprised quite a lot of people with our performance this season. There have been many positives for our team,” he said to a query.

“Definitely, it has been a very emotional two months for me with this team with which I was so busy, interacting with the players. Enjoyed terrific support from franchisee,” Dravid observed. “May be, after the last game once I go back home and then experience what it means to be a retired cricketer. Then, realise that I have no job to do,” he said with a smile. “I have not given a thought about my plans on the next edition of IPL. Still a long way to go,” he added.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/article3435552.ece

Another 12 persons were seriously injured when the bus collided head-on with the truck on Gonda-Bahraich road near Chilwaria village and caught fire on Friday night.

A magisterial inquiry has been ordered, District Magistrate Kinjal Singh said.

Superintendent of Police, Bahraich, B P Kanaujia said that a total of 16 bodies have been recovered including that of seven women.

12 seriously injured persons have been admitted to a district hospital and some have been sent to Lucknow for treatment.

Though Kinjal declined to specify how many people were inside the 54—seater bus, which was carrying the pilgrims from Ambedkar Nagar to Ajmer Sharif, Chief Development Officer of the district Sukhlal Bharti said the bus was carrying about 60 to 70 people.

However, Mehdi Raza, one of the rescued passengers, said that there were about 80 people in the bus when the accident took place.

Kinjal said the bus caught fire possibly due to the explosion of a cooking gas cylinder inside the vehicle.

However an inquiry will establish the cause, she added.

Rescuers had used gas-cutters to cut open the twisted metal of the bus to pull out bodies and survivors from inside the vehicle.

Keywords: Bus fire

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/article3435329.ece

The grenade exploded at the main gate of the police station, 52 km from here, at 9:55 a.m, official sources said.

Two policemen and a civilian were injured, they said.

Security forces have launched a hunt for the assailants, the sources said, adding no militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Keywords: JK militant attack

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3435482.ece

Karnataka has been “unjustly utilising” the water for summer irrigation from February to May by depleting storage in its four major reservoirs, she said in a letter to Dr. Singh.

The combined gross storage in the four major reservoirs of Karnataka as on February 1, 2012, was 58.50 TMC ft and on May 14, it was 28.176 TMC ft, Ms. Jayalalithaa claimed.

“Karnataka had depleted the storage of about 30.33 TMC ft. from 1.2.2012 to 14.5.2012, besides utilising the flows of about 11 TMC ft.” Thus, the total utilisation during the period was about 41 TMC ft, she said.

Due to depletion of storage during summer, Karnataka “impounds” initial monsoon flows in its dams and released water only when they become surplus, she said, adding, this affected inflows into Mettur Dam in Tamil Nadu.

“This consequently affects Kuruvai (short term) crop very badly and also delays cultivation of Samba (long term) crop in the state”, she said.

She said a solution was eluding the finalisation of Distress Sharing Formula evolved by Central Water Commission, ultimately depriving Tamil Nadu of adequate water which should have been released by Karnataka either as per Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal’s interim order or by the formula evolved.

The Cauvery Monitoring Committee in its 24th meeting had decided to refer the formula to the Cauvery River Authority for consideration when noticeable distress condition occurs in future. “Such a distress situation may arise at any time.”

She alleged that Karnataka was also not furnishing year-wise details of the area under irrigation though the Tribunal’s interim order specifies that Karnataka shall not increase its area under irrigation beyond 11.20 lakh acres.

Asking Dr. Singh to convene the meeting of the Authority, Ms. Jayalalithaa said the issue of notifying the Tribunal’s final order in the central gazette should also be discussed.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3435591.ece

“We are always ready for talks, either bilateral or through the Centre’s mediation. But Tamil Nadu has not agreed for that. In this situation, we expect a solution to the issue from the Supreme Court,” Mr. Chandy said.

Making the state’s position clear, he said Kerala wanted a new dam in place of the 116-year-old structure and also to maintain the water level at 136 feet.

The state was opposed to the proposal of the Supreme Court appointed Empowered Committee to raise the water level to 142 feet. Similarly, the proposal to construct a tunnel at 50 feet below the present dam to route water to Tamil Nadu was not acceptable to Kerala, Mr. Chandy said.

The construction of the tunnel will harm the state in many ways including disappearance of the reservoir itself, he said.

“While we hold on to this position, we are not asking for the scrapping of the agreement with Tamil Nadu.Nor do we want to curtail single drop of water flowing to Tamil Nadu. Our persistent stand has been water for Tamil Nadu and safety for Kerala, Mr. Chandy, who completed one year in office, told PTI.

On concerns voiced by some quarters over the panel report, he claimed that the empowered committee had in-principle accepted the demand for a new dam.

The Mullaperiyar Dam is located in Kerala’s Idduki district but managed by Tamil Nadu on a 999-year lease period. Tamil Nadu has been maintaining that the dam was safe and the water level can be raised to 142 ft.

On Tamil Nadu’s demand that the entire power to be produced from Kudankulam Nuclear Plant be allotted to it, he said Kerala was entitled to its share from the plant and it was the Centre’s responsibility to ensure that the state received it.

“It is the responsibility of the Centre to make due share available to the state,” said Mr. Chandy, who had earlier this month written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking 500 MW from the Kudankulam plant.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/kerala/article3435728.ece

“Right now in India, except a few internationals, not many cricket fans recognise even the women’s national team members. So is the case with foreign players. That’s why I feel is that we should first host a couple of tournaments inviting foreign players, project them in the media highlighting their achievements in the desired manner and then think of an IPL,” says a pragmatic Mithali.

“Definitely, I do feel that the sport did not get the desired fillip when we were winning many series and ODI tournaments a couple of years ago. We did miss a chance to popularise the game in a much bigger way then,” she said.

Commenting on the Indian team, Mithali feels it is badly low on confidence in the wake of disappointing performances against West Indies and Australia recently.

Speaking to The Hindu after her training session at St. John’s Coaching Foundation, thanks to the initiative of its Director John Manoj, here on Friday morning, the 29-year-old Mithali said though the performance was much better in the West Indies, it was definitely disappointing against the Australians at home.

“The onus is on the seniors to play under pressure given the presence of the handful of inexperienced players in the team. There is something missing somewhere,” she says to a query.

“Honestly, even I am not happy with my own batting of late (she has a highest score of 30 in the last 10 international outings — including five T20s and five ODIs). I am working really hard to get the momentum back.”

How does it feel to lead team in such a crucial phase? “I don’t know what to say honestly on this front. But, I take it up as a huge challenge to lead the girls. What we should essentially aim on the England tour is to get off to a winning start,” says Mithali, India’s leading run-getter (4196 runs from 135 ODIs with three centuries at 46.62 avg).

“Given the choice, I would prefer a national camp before the tour. We should play more matches in the camp as it will also not only help the team gel well but also remind the players’ about their responsibilities too,” Mithali said.

What does women’s cricket desperately need now? “A big title. Nothing less than that. We need to win a major international event and shed off the tag of consistent semi-finalists.”

“May be the pressure of playing in a must-win game is playing on the minds of not just the younger lot but on the seniors too. Sometimes it is apparent that we (seniors) too are not playing our natural game.

“We keep telling ourselves the need to rise to the occasion. I just want the team to get back the confidence levels. Hope things will be different in England against a team which is the best in the world right now,” she said.

“We have always been a very good bowling side. So, the focus is on all-round improvement now,” remarked the flamboyant cricketer.

Not surprisingly, Mithali, once world record-holder for scoring 214 (the then highest individual score in women’s Test cricket), is sulking at the fact that she played her last Test six years ago. “It is obvious that the women’s cricket promotion is now done with emphasis on T20s and ODIs. Except for Australia and New Zealand not many teams are playing Tests regularly,” she says with a tinge of concern.

What exactly is you goal now? “Well, I am keen to cross the major milestone of 5000 runs in ODIs. That should be something special,” insists a confident Mithali.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/article3432821.ece

Announcing the measures, Minister of State for Finance, Namo Narain Meena, said the government is committed to carrying on the process of fiscal consolidation vigorously.

In a bid to adhere to the budgetary fiscal targets, and for better expenditure management, he said, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, that the government may issue orders for strict compliance of the austerity measures effected last year.

These include enforcing a 10 per cent reduction on budgetary allocations for holding seminars, workshops and conferences, ban on holding meetings and seminars in 5-star hotels, ban on purchase of vehicles except for defence forces, paramilitary personnel and defence organisations, restrictions on foreign travel, adhering to the quarterly ceilings under foreign travel expenses, and ban on creation of plan and non-plan posts.

Follows Pranab’s announcement

The minister’s statement comes two days after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said in the Rajya Sabha that the government planned to make some unpopular austerity measures to tighten the belt.

Reduced allocations

Meanwhile, an official said, scaling down of allocations made to various schemes is also on the cards, under which spending on current outlay will be insisted on, before asking for additional money.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3433542.ece

The Italian gesture of displeasure over the charge sheet did not go down well with South Block.

According to India, Italy should have remained engaged than opting for this course of action.

Rome is angry with New Delhi not paying attention to its plea to let the marines be tried in Italy because the shooting incident occurred in international waters.

‘Killings accidental’

Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Staffan De Mistura, who is in Kerala, met the marines on Thursday and described the killings as “accidental.”

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3433547.ece

A parliamentary panel has slammed the Defence Ministry for its “negative” approach in treating women officers in the three services as a “time gap” arrangement to meet the shortage of male officers.

The committee also pulled up the Ministry for the “discriminative” policies in granting permanent commission to women and accused it of turning a blind eye to recommendations on inducting more women in armed forces.

“We fail to understand the negativism when it comes to employing more women in the armed forces and reiterate their earlier recommendation to enhance intake of women in various branches of armed forces,” the Committee on Empowerment of Women said in its report on “Women in Armed Forces” tabled in Parliament on Friday. On its recommendation of opening more branches for permanent commission to women, the committee said, “The Defence Ministry has turned a blind eye to this recommendation by sticking to their earlier stand that women officers would be considered only in specific branches.”

The report said the committee’s suggestions to explore the possibility of having more women officers in branches such as the Military Police, Army Postal Service and General Service have been dismissed with a grim reply by the Ministry.

“It is extremely disturbing to note that the Ministry has not even bothered to try even exploring a single other option for women officers and instead relied heavily on the existing discriminative policies,” it said.

The committee objected to the way women officers were being used as a time gap arrangement to compensate for the shortage of male officers without showing an iota of concern for their future.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3433548.ece

Official sources in New Delhi confirmed that Italian envoy Giacomo Sanfelice di Monteforte has been called back by his government for “consultations”.

The decision came on a day when Kerala police filed a charge sheet accusing the two Italians — Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone — of murder before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Kollam (Kerala).

The marines on board the Italian ship ‘Enrica Lexie’ had allegedly shot dead two Indian fishermen — Valentine Jalastine and Ajesh Bi — on February 15, apparently mistaking them for pirates.

In Rome, the Italian Foreign Ministry in a statement said: “In the light of the developments in the situation in Kerala and the charges against the two Italian servicemen, Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, the Italian ambassador to New Delhi, Giacomo Sanfelice has been recalled to Rome for consultations with the Government”.

Italy insists that since the incident occurred in international waters, the marines should be tried in Italian courts rather than Indian courts.

Sources stressed that to be more engaged is always helpful than withdrawing the diplomat from New Delhi.

Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Staffan De Mistura, currently in India, met the marines on Thursday, expressed concern over the lengthy trial in India.

He described the killing of the fishermen as “accidental” and insisted that Indian courts did not have jurisdiction over the incident.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3433626.ece