Shukla said all cricketers should not suffer because of the misdeeds of some greedy individuals.

“IPL will go on. To say that IPL should be shut down because of these things is wrong. It is such a big tournament and a lot many players are benefitting. If few players have done such wrong thing that doesn’t mean hundreds of good players should be blamed or suffer for that,” he told reporters.

“IPL is a good concept, it’s helping many players and every body is getting benefited.

“The whole thing is that we need to weed out such (corrupt) elements and for that I am of the view that strong possible action should be taken against those who are found guilty,” Shukla said.

Asked what would be the BCCI’s stand on this issue, he said, “Whatever BCCI can do will do. The matter will also be discussed in tomorrow’s (Sunday) working committee meeting.”

Source: deccanchronicle

Two launches occurred in the morning into the sea off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast, also called the East Sea, and the third was conducted in the afternoon, it said, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

North Korea last carried out missile launches in March when it test-fired two short-range missiles.

North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes are a source of international tension and sanctions. The United States warned North Korea last month that the world would not allow it to become a nuclear power.

The launches were conducted at a particularly tense time on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea conducted its third nuclear test in February, which the international community responded to with further sanctions on one of the world’s most heavily sanctioned countries.

Pyongyang responded with bellicose rhetoric and war threats.

Source: deccanchronicle

Ms. Madhvi, a former CPI(M) MLA, said she respected the court and it seemed that the prosecutor may have erred in placing facts before the Patna High Court that led to the acquittal of Yadav and two others.

Stating that there was sufficient evidence in the murder case, Ms. Madhvi said she will approach the apex court against the acquittal.

Her son Amit also said the family would move the Supreme Court after going through the detailed court order.

A division bench of the High Court, comprising Justices V N Singh and K K Lal, had on Friday set aside the February 2008 conviction of Yadav and two other accused – Rajan Tiwari and Anil Kumar Yadav – for want of evidence.

The court also acquitted them of all charges in connection with the killing of Sarkar nearly 15 years ago.

Sarkar was shot dead by unidentified persons in Purnea district on June 14, 1998.

Source: deccanchronicle

In the district headquarters of Yadgir, Congress workers ransacked the party office and set fire to the windows, following the denial of ministership to senior leader A B Maalaka Reddy, police said.

In Ramanagara and Mandya, party cadres held a dharna demanding that D.K. Shivakumar, former Working President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, be included in the ministry.

A supporter of Tanveer Sait sought to set himself ablaze in Mysore, where Congress workers also staged a demonstration.

Senior leader Motamma, former Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, ex-cwc member and a strong contender for the berth, stayed away from the swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan.

MLC Veeranna Mathikatti said at least five MLCs should have been made Ministers. None of the MLCs have been made Ministers.

Several districts went unrepresented in the Ministry, and a section of Congressmen there made no secret of their disappointment.

Source: deccanchronicle

Silver, however, held steady at Rs. 43,700 per kg in restricted buying.

Traders said stockists selling in tandem with a weak global trend as the dollar jumped to a 34-month high and a Federal Reserve policy maker said US monetary stimulus may be reduced within months, mainly influenced the sentiment.

Gold in New York, which normally sets price trend on the domestic front, fell 1.6 per cent to $1,364.70 an ounce.

Besides, retail customers refrained from making fresh purchases owing to off marriage and festival season.

On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity fell by Rs. 110 each to Rs. 26,700 and Rs. 26,500 per ten grams, respectively.

Sovereign continued to remain on previous level of Rs. 23,700 per piece of eight gram.

On the other hand, silver ready held steady at Rs. 43,700 per kg while weekly-based delivery declined by Rs. 300 to Rs. 43,655 per kg on lack of speculators buying support.

However, silver coins spurted by Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 75,000 for buying and Rs. 76,000 for selling of 100 pieces.

Source: deccanchronicle

The Japanese envoy came from Islamabad to Mr. Sharif’s residence at Raiwind in Lahore on Friday to congratulate him on the PML-N’s victory in the May 11 polls.

Mr. Sharif asked his close aide Ishaq Dar to meet Ambassador Hiroshi Oe, a PML-N insider said.

Selective approach

The insider told PTI that Mr. Sharif would only meet Ambassadors of select countries and would not meet all the foreign dignitaries coming to congratulate him.

After PML-N emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly or lower House of Parliament, Mr. Sharif has spent a lot of time on the issue of forming the Government at the Centre and on fine-tuning a programme to deal with Pakistan’s pressing problems such as a crippling energy crisis and the moribund economy.

Source: deccanchronicle

“If permitted, we will file a criminal case against them,” said Mr. Srinivasan when asked whether the BCCI would file a case against the arrested players.

A special cell of the Delhi police arrested India pacer S. Sreesanth and his Rajasthan Royals teammates — Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan — for indulging in spot-fixing in at least three IPL matches as per arrangements with bookies who have underworld connections abroad.

The players who have been suspended by the BCCI have been brought to Delhi and charged under section 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

Greed for money

Facing criticism for not keeping a check on the menace of fixing despite warnings from various quarters, the BCCI chief insisted that it is the greed of individual players that has created the ongoing crisis.

Mr. Srinivasan said: “IPL has not let down people, but it is the dirty cricketers who have let down people. We feel bad that such a thing has happened. But I don’t have to personally apologise as long as people can see that we are acting against the problem.”

“We are really shocked. I have no words to condemn what has happened. We want it never to happen again. We are an honest organisation,” he added.

Srinivasan defended the league which, according to some experts of the game, has created fertile ground for fixing and manipulation. “That’s a very big generalisation. We have to admit that three players have been arrested. Their lawyers are saying they are innocent. We have to wait for the Delhi Police to substantiate these allegations,” Srinivasan said.

“The BCCI has issued a show cause notice to them but I concede that it is a shock. I never expected that a Test player like Sreesanth and others would be accused of such wrongdoing,” he added.

Loses composure

Srinivasan, in fact, lost his composure when he was repeatedly questioned on the IPL’s credibility and asserted that some players going haywire should not be seen as evidence of the entire league being fixed.

Asked how the BCCI would react if the speculation of more players being involved comes out to be true, Srinivasan said “If that evidence comes out, we will deal with it. The BCCI is very concerned but I cannot go out and tell what our committee will do.”

Srinivasan also brushed aside sacked IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi’s recent statements that his warnings of corruption in the IPL were ignored by the Board.

“I do not give credibility to what Mr. Modi says. He is under enquiry for some very serious acts which he has committed against the BCCI. I do not want to comment,” he said.

When asked whether the BCCI also ignored warnings from the ICC, Mr. Srinivasan said the governing body was supposed to act on the menace and not warn of it.

Mr. Srinivasan, who also owns IPL team Chennai Super Kings, rebutted accusations of conflict of interest.

“This matter is before the Supreme Court. I cannot comment on it. I do not own the team, I happen to be a shareholder in the company which owns the team,” he said.

The BCCI boss promised a fair enquiry into the matter, insisting that nothing would be brushed under the carpet. He backed the idea of having tough legislation to curb fixing and betting in Indian sports.

“We will take whatever steps necessary to eradicate this. I believe that the regulation must be so tight that nobody gets even a quarter,” he said.

Source: deccanchronicle

The recovery was made on Friday night. The investigators are trying to look for clues to the Rajasthan Royals player’s links with bookies and other details relating to the spot-fixing allegations, sources told PTI.

Sreesanth and his close friend Jiju Janardanan, who was allegedly in touch with the bookies on behalf of the cricketer, were reported to have stayed in the hotel.

A special cell of the Delhi police had arrested Sreesanth and his teammates — Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan — in Mumbai on Wednesday night after their team’s IPL match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede stadium, jolting the cash-rich T20 league.

While Sreesanth was picked up from his friend’s residence, Chavan and Chandila were arrested from the team hotel at Nariman Point.

The crime branch is likely to share information it gathers in connection with the scandal with Delhi police, which has sent investigators to four cities including Mumbai to trace the money trail in the case.

Source: deccanchronicle

Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi of the anti-terrorism court also accepted a plea from Musharraf’s lawyers that he should be exempted from appearing in the court today. 69-year-old Musharraf could not be produced in court for security reasons, officials said.

The judge subsequently adjourned the case till June 1.

Musharraf has also been arrested over the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto and the killing of Baloch leader Akbar Bugti in a 2006 military operation. The former President has been humiliated since he returned to Pakistan from self-exile in March to contest elections.

He is now being held in his farmhouse, which was declared a sub-jail after his arrest.

Source: deccanchronicle

“Diaspora and the Tamil parties who foster separation still try to take the Tamil society towards destruction”, he said while speaking at the Victory Day celebrations marking the fourth anniversary of the military victory over the LTTE.

Rajapaksa said that Tamils now want to live peacefully in a single country. His government had faced various machinations by way of human rights accusations.

“The hidden idea was to crush us, how to make us kneel before them,” he said.

Rajapaksa, paying tribute to his troops in a colourful military parade, said he would not allow the separation of the land that troops had scarificed to preserve.

The Tamils must identify the forces who pose as their saviours, he said, adding that the Tamil diaspora did not come forward to help the Tamils when they fled LTTE’s clutches of terrorism four years ago.

“After 30 years the northern fishermen were able to do fishing freely. Tamil youth have joined the civil defence force and the police,” Rajapaksa said, adding no government in the history had offered an amnesty to a terror group like his government.

“They were those who deserved to go to gallows. They were members of the world’s most ruthless terror group. We rehabilitated 11000 of them and released them,” he said.