India 5-0 white wash – Southwark Crown Court

Lot of cricketing action – India completed a 5-0 whitewash much to the joy of Indian fans…. In the final Onedayer at Calcutta, at one point of time, Indians were struggling, losing wickets at regular intervals and Dhoni was scratching around with 21 off 42 balls…. – his heroics ensured Indians finishing at 271 and at another point – after 20 overs England were 129 without loss but folded dramatically to 141-5 and all out for 176 !

In the whole Series Dhoni remained unbeaten.  His recent batting right from the finals of WC 2011 is : 91* WC Finals;  33 – 6 – 69 -78* and 50* in England Series in England;  87*; DNB; 35*; 15*; 75* in this present series.

You may not have heard much of Southwark Crown Court earlier – opened in 1983 this is a Court in London located closer to River Thames, contains 15 courtrooms, making it the fourth largest court centre in the country, and is a designated serious fraud centre and Justice Cooke is handling a case, which cricket fans are closely following. 

It is the case of ‘match fixing scandal’ involving 3 Pak cricketers – Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer and agent Mazhar Majeed. Former Pakistan test captain Salman Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif face charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following a Lord’s test in August last year when they allegedly conspired with Majeed, Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.  The Judge is quoted as saying “Don’t let sympathy enter your minds and your verdicts and don’t speculate on what you might have heard outside of this courtroom. You should base your decision on the evidence alone and draw inferences, which I mean by drawing common sense conclusions.”  The fixed no-balls  that are being spoken about were the first ball of the third over by Amir, the sixth ball of the tenth over by Asif and, next day after a rain curtailment, the third ball of Amir's third full over.  The evidences reportedly include  8,849 calls and text messages in the evidence bundle handed to the jury.

Back at home, there was an unusual phenomenon, the Indian crowds which come even for local matches were not just there for the final of the One dayers and there were empty seats in Kolkata and stands were sparsely occupied.  The crowds were estimated to be around 28000 as against a capacity of 63000.  Of late the tickets have become far too expensive.

There was another interesting match at Bulawayo and an unusual result in the final Onedayer between Zimbabwe and New Zealand.  NZ scored a massic 328 for 5 with Taylor and Williamson making centuries but Zimbabwe most unexpectedly could chase it successfully completing a victory at 329/9.  The victory was brought about  Zimbabwe's two big-hitting all-rounders, Elton Chigumbura and Malcolm Waller,  who struck  a 112-run sixth-wicket partnership to end a 12-match losing streak across formats.  Captain Brendan Taylor set them on the right track with an aggressive 75 off 65 balls before Tatenda Taibu's feisty fifty kept the momentum going. Waller and Chigumbura came together at the start of the 31st over, with 146 runs required to win and crafted a match-winning partnership.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

Cristina re-elected – landslide victory in Argentina…..

The President of India  is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces- but most of the authority vested in the President is in practice exercised by the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister.  The 12th President of India is Her Excellency Pratibha Devisingh Patil, the first woman  to serve in the office, who was sworn in on 25 July 2007.  Going by the Article 58 of the Constitution, the principle qualifications of eligibility are : citizen of India, of 35 years of age and qualified to become a member of Lok Sabha.  

Argentina is far away situated in the South America – a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations.  The President of the Argentine Nation  usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina.   Section 90 of the Argentine Constitution establishes the requirements for becoming the President. The President must be a natural-born citizen of the country, or have been born to Argentine citizens if born abroad. Under the 1994 constitutional amendment, the President serves for four years, with a possibility of immediate reelection for one more term.  After serving for two consecutive periods, the president is not allowed to run for a third consecutive one, but may return for the two following elections and so on.

Néstor Carlos Kirchner had a very rare honour – he was the President of Argentina and in Oct 2007, his  Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was elected to succeed him as President of Argentina.  Thus, Kirchner then became the First Gentleman of Argentina.  He passed away in Oct 2010 due to ailment. Cristina, a fashion icon for women, was the first elected female President of Argentina. Besides she has been  a notable advocate for human rights, poverty awareness and health improvement.

The first elected female President has won again -  Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchnern, 56,  has been re-elected with landslide margin..  A native of La Plata, Buenos Aires, Fernández is a graduate of the National University of La Plata.  During Kirchner's presidency (2003–2007) she acted as First Lady.  Quite vociferous, she in her address to United Nations in Sept 11, supported the requests from Palestine to have a seat in the United Nations, blamed Iran for the 1994 AMIA bombing and threatened to cancel the flights from Chile to the Falkland Islands, in order to advance the Argentine sovereignty claims over the islands.

 

Now there are reports that the  fiery president Cristina Fernandez has scored a record election win after her government spread the wealth of a booming economy.  She obtained  53 per cent of the vote after 58 per cent of the polling stations reported nationwide.  Her nearest challenger got just 17 per cent. It was the widest margin of victory in the country's history. 

Cristina Fernandez has made no secret of her contempt for Britain's presence in the Falklands Islands.  Few months ago,  she called Britain a 'crude colonial power' after David Cameron declared the Falkland Islands should remain British territory.  She said Argentina intends to keep raising its demands in international forums for negotiations with the British.   Most voters polled beforehand said they wanted government stability to keep their financial situations improving in what has been one of Argentina's longest spells of economic growth in history.   An eminent economist Mark Weisbrot is quoted as stating that  Argentina's world-record debt default in 2001 closed off most international lending, but it has kept the country booming ever since, with its economy expanding at twice the rate of Brazil's.   Like many other countries, Argentina  faces tough challenges in 2012 with its commodities exports becoming vulnerable to a global recession, and economic growth is forecast to slow sharply in the coming year.

With regards - S. Sampathkumar.

Would controversies boost their sales - Fierce Focus and I was there

Sportsmen like others are keen on making money – and one way of doing that after the end of their sporting careers is to write books – alright – but mere writing would take them nowhere – so, write something controversial and try to shoot from the hips on some famous personalities proclaiming their failures – expecting that this would ensure sale of more copies !!

Sachin has seen it all – 99 centuries and 33000 runs – does not need any certification from anybody.  Interestingly, there is an Insurance connection – his mother worked for LIC.  The diminutive Sachin stands tall and is the centre of attraction, even when he is not playing.  India had an eclipse when Greg Chappen was their Coach – he tormented players and the phase was not good for many Indian cricketers.

Before that “I was there” -  Memoirs of a Cricket Administrator is a book written  by J Y Lele published by The Marine Sports. Lele was former BCCI secretary.  In his book he reportedly has dwelt at length on the controversial India vs NZ Ahmedabad Test where coach Kapil Dev reportedly  forced skipper Sachin Tendulkar to reverse his follow-on decision.  In that Test at Ahmedabad against Kiwis,  India had put on a mammoth total of 583 runs in the first innings, against which the visitors could post only 308.  all was set for enforcing follow on.  Sachin reportedly asked Stephen Fleming so and had asked the Umpires to show balls for selection – then he tamely obeyed to Kapil’s suggestion that bowlers Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad were tired and that India would bat again (so claims Lele); the match petered to a draw !  - it was criticized as a bad and extra-cautious decision at that time.  

Greg Chappel was stylish at the crease but uncouth in his rein between 2005-07 as Coach, tried to deride everything Indian when paid heftily by the land.  There are reports that in his new book ‘Fierce Focus’ he has claimed that the icon Sachin was mentally fragile at a certain stage of his illustrious career and was beset with “self-doubt”.  The reports states him as writing  “At one point early in my time with the (Indian) team … he came and talked to me for about two hours,” “He was frustrated with his form and racked with self-doubt. Since he’d come back in Malaysia ;  Sachin’s mental state had been surprisingly fragile and he came to me for help,” Chappell wrote, apparently referring to a period when Tendulkar was struggling for form, besides also having surgery for tennis elbow.

Assuming that Sachin was indeed worried about the lack of form and the niggling injuries, is there anything wrong in a player seeking the advise of an expert batsmen who was the coach ? was it not the duty of the coach to talk and sort out the troubles of any batsman – what was he paid for ?

Remember that Chappell was sacked as Australia’s national selectors only a few months ago after a fall out with senior cricketers…  Chappell is trying to sell his views months before the Indian tour to Australia which could well be a swansong for the maestro considering his age and the recent injuries.  Greg Chappell has also  accused Australia's top cricketers of being too conservative and defensive as they try to cling on to seven-figure contracts.  He is quoted as saying - "Australian cricket's success was always built on risk-takers. But the higher up the chain you go now, the more conservative and defensive cricket becomes.

On the cricketing ground at Kolkata, a confident and dominant India takes on England in the final one dayer and there are heavy expectations on Dhoni to make a clean sweep.  Parthiv Patel has not been making runs but still might get another chance – it is an excellent opportunity for players like  Ajinkya Rahane,  Varun Aaron – whether the effervescent Manoj Tiwary would bat and  Rahul Sharma would have a chance to bowl at international level is also the Q !   Confidence and cool are the traits often attributed to Mahendra Singh Dhoni and he has everything at this disposal to press for another victory today……

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

TN Civic Elections - 102 year old declared Elected but Certificate taken back !!

The Civic elections in Tamilnadu have thrown surprises for many parties as  the ruling AIADMK fortified its position and stood tall.

Pudukulam, an obscure village in Thiruparankundram of Madurai is in news – somehow for wrong reasons !    If ‘Age no Bar’ is the maxim, then there is no retirement from active political life……….  Decades ago, people would join Companies, stay there forever and happily retire at 60 – days have changed, more people are considering quitting job and desirous of leading a quite life after the stress and strains of the career – Exceptions are there always – only that most often it is in politics !!!

Elections in India are festivals – conducted in mega magnitudes. The rules provide that to be a member of Lok  Sabha, a person must be a citizen of India, aged 25 or over, mentally sound, should not be bankrupt and has no criminal proceedings in Court.  What is unstated is the ‘upper age limit’ that is exploited so ruthlessly by politicians at all times.

Though people do assimilate practical knowledge through expansive experience and become wiser, there would be mental and physical deterioration associated with ageing.  Dementia, the serious loss of cognitive ability is also associated with ageing.  Most often, old age impedes people’s mobility and prevents their physical activities and there perhaps needs to be ‘a reasonable upper age limit’ for any post – just as there is age for retirement from all official positions – why not for political and administrative posts also ? 

In the elections to the 9^th Lok Sabha in 1989, an 89 year old candidate stood and won – he subsequently passed away in 1991 forcing by-elections to that constituency is another story.   That was - Gogineni Ranga nayukulu popularly  known as N. G. Ranga, an Indian freedom fighter, parliamentarian, and kisan  leader. Whilst he possessed all credentials for a Neta (and kept winning also !), the age at which the party offered him candidature is not right is what I personally feel !!

In the 15^th Lok Sabha elections held in 2009, the Congress Candidate from Jhunjhunu Parliamentary Constituency in Rajasthan State Sis Ram Ola  was 82 years of age (1927 born) – he has representing this constituency since 1996. This veteran politician was the Union Cabinet Minister of Labour and Employment from May 23, 2004 to November 27, 2004.   Though there were some fresh and young faces in the 15^th Lok Sabha, 88 year old Ram Sundar Das of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) was also elected.  Other Octogenarians include LK Advani, Ambica Banerjee, while Kailash Joshi is into the list now (at the time of this post, thought not at the time of elections).

A Centurion has outdone all of them – down in the tiny hamlet of Pudukulam in Madurai, at an age when most would require help even for a small step and when those survivors would be leading life at the mercy of others after retiring at least 4 decades ealier, a 102 year old woman (an independent candidate) by name ‘Thadahathi’ had hours of glory (though it was short lived !!)  At 102, the old woman Thadahathi was declared elected as Ward Member in the recent civic polls held in the state of Tamilnadu.   Thadahathi had come to Pudukulam village as a ten-year-old and gave birth to her first son here at the age of 17. Almost a century later, she was campaigning ahead of the polls along with her four sons, who are all above 65 years of age.

She is no ordinary person, a strong willed one who has dispensed medical care to the village for decades,  won the elections due to her positive attitude, according to P Muthuramalingam, President of the village.  "She would go and help any person in distress voluntarily," he said when asked how they expected a candidate as old as Thadahathi to be an active worker for them.  "Even at the age of 102 she works in the field and is a beneficiary of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme. She is an expert 'Maruthuvatchi' (village doctor who is conversant with traditional medicine) also, and has helped the local women deliver nearly 1,000 babies."

There were reports in sections of the Press hailing her as the oldest elected member in the local bodies in the State.  The  State Election Commission  reportedly  had declared that she  had defeated her nearest rival, also an independent, by 76 votes. She contested in the ‘cot’ symbol,  rival  Manimaran used the ‘key’ symbol.  She was quoted as saying that  her love for the village and its residents means she want to "give much more" to the cause.  She expressed confidence that as she commanded the love and respect of the people, she would be able to keep the village clean and advice the residents about it.

There were reports that her rival  Manikumar, who lost to Thadahathi in the polls,  also felt that  she is a good choice.  But quite unfortunately, the joy of victory turned to be short-lived for the 102 year old.    She was declared winner on Oct 21 evening; went to Panchayat Union Office and got her certificate of election but reportedly the Govt officials took back the election certificate on Oct 22.  It is now reported that it was a mistake on the part of the officials to have declared the winner wrongly and issuing a Certificate by mistake !!!!! “  The  Block Development Officer  is now quoted as saying  that Manimaran received 72 votes and Thadahathi around 50 votes.  It is also stated that ‘recounting is not possible now and if required the contestants will have to fight it out in the Court ”  - how unfair !!

Villagers of Veluchamynagar  think and speak the other way.  They are  quite sure about the win of Mrs Thadahathi having been witnesses to the declaration of election results for the ward no 4 of Pudukulam Panchayat. They claim Thadahathi Ammal was declared the winner by an election official on October 21, though the official statement contradicted them.  There are many villagers who have spoken to Press stating that they  had voted for Thadahathi respecting her age and service she rendered to the people. All of them expressed shock after hearing about the turn of events.

Whether it was the centenarian candidate who was afflicted with  Senility and lose of cognitive power or was it the Officials does not require any lengthier explanation

Regards - S. Sampathkumar.