India demolish Sri Lanka, reaches the pinnacle of Tests

Sri Lanka suffered yet another innings defeat as Zaheer struck with lightning making India reach pinnacle of Test cricket. They are now number 1 Test team for the first time.

It was a historic moment on Sunday for Indian cricket at the Bradbourne Stadium in Mumbai. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men had moved to the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings by defeating the Lankans.

The 2-0 series triumph after India won the final Test by an innings and 24 runs on Sunday, took the side beyond South Africa as the top-ranked team.

A goodly crowd roared in appreciation and the Sri Lankans, in a gesture that was sporting, walked up to congratulate the Indian team.

Since the Test championship was introduced in 2001, India is only the third country, Australia and South Africa being the others, to reach the acme.

India’s rise in Tests is a reward for consistent and often winning cricket, both home and away.

A strong top-seven in batting and the emergence of an incisive pace attack to complement the spinners has made India a worthy side outside the sub-continent. Team India, a fine blend of experience and youth, has fired collectively.

Starting the series in third place with 119 points, India now has 124. South Africa, remaining on 122, has dropped to the second spot. Sri Lanka, which began the series as No. 2, has slumped to the fourth position with 115 points.

Player of the Series

Aggressive opener Virender Sehwag was adjudged Man of the Match and Player of the Series. He whipped up 491 runs in three Tests at a whopping 122.75. Spearheaded by crafty left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan, India needed only 7.4 overs on Sunday to claim the last four wickets.

Sri Lanka was bowled out for 309 in its second innings.

Operating with exemplary control, Zaheer finished with five for 72; this was the paceman’s eighth five-wicket haul in Tests.

Crucially, he dismissed Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara (137) in the day’s first over with a mean delivery that pitched on off-stump and left the southpaw late.

Zaheer’s ability to deviate the ball away from the left-hander from over-the-wicket is high on skill.
Smart catch

Soon, Rangana Herath found the ball climbing on to him quicker than expected as he attempted a pull off Zaheer and Ojha, diving forward, held a smart catch at mid-wicket.

Zaheer then switched to round-the-wicket and hustled Nuwan Kulasekara with a short-pitched ball around his off-stump; the Sri Lankan was snaffled up in the cordon.

And when Muttiah Muralitharan nicked off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to Dhoni, the Indians celebrated.

Muralitharan batted despite injuring two ligaments of his bowling fingers and is a doubtful starter for the two-match Twenty20 series.

Little went right for Sri Lanka after it had the better of the exchanges in the first Test.

This said, the islanders were at the receiving end of at least four faulty umpiring decisions in the final Test.

Sangakkara has renewed calls for the Umpire Decision Review System to be implemented in all Test series.

However, India’s two successive innings victories strongly indicate it was the superior side in the series. The top seven Indian batsmen averaged 50 plus. And when M. Vijay replaced in-form opener Gautam Gambhir in the last Test, he came up with a polished innings of 87.
Lankan batsmen fail

The Sri Lankan frontline batsmen could not make an impact at crucial moments. Mahela Jayawardene notched up 373 runs at 74.60, but 275 of those runs were from a single innings in the drawn Ahmedabad Test.

Sangakkara scored 241 runs at 48.20 but failed to make an impression until his valiant 137 in the second innings here but by this point the series had been decided.

Thilan Samaraweera had an ordinary series with 151 runs at 37.75. The intrepid Tillakaratne Dilshan — 248 runs at 49.60 — blitzed hundreds in the first and the third Tests but was desperately unlucky with umpiring decisions in both the innings here.

And the Sri Lankan spinners struggled against fleet-footed Indian batsmen. Muralitharan ended up with nine wickets at 65.66 and Ajantha Mendis’ two strikes at Kanpur — his lone Test of the series — came at 81.00.

Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath bowled well in phases for his 11 wickets at 48.81 but struck chiefly in the latter stages of the innings.

Comeback paceman S. Sreesanth’s five for 75 in the Sri Lankan first innings at Kanpur opened up the Test series for India. Then Zaheer impressed in Mumbai as the Indian pace attack made a difference.

At the end of it all, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman rejoiced with the younger bunch. It was a compelling sight.

Tendulkar invited the support staff to the arena; he was acknowledging their contribution.

SCOREBOARD

Sri Lanka – 1st innings: 393.

India – 1st innings: 726 for nine decl.

Sri Lanka – 2nd innings: N. Paranavitana lbw b Sreesanth 54 (144b, 8×4), T. Dilshan lbw b Harbhajan 16 (27b, 2×4), K. Sangakkara c Dhoni b Zaheer 137 (261b, 20×4, 1×6), M. Jayawardene c Dhoni b Zaheer 12 (24b, 1×4), T. Samaraweera c Laxman b Zaheer 0 (13b), A. Mathews c Dhoni b Ojha 5 (8b, 1×4), P. Jayawardene lbw b Ojha 32 (42b, 3×4, 1×6), N. Kulasekara c Laxman b Zaheer 19 (68b, 4×4), R. Herath c Ojha b Zaheer 3 (10b), M. Muralitharan c Dhoni b Harbhajan 14 (9b, 3×4), C. Welegedara (not out) 0 (1b); Extras (b-12, lb-1, w-1, nb-3): 17; Total (in 100.4 overs): 309.

Fall of wickets: 1-29 (Dilshan), 2- 119 (Paranavitana), 3-135 (M. Jayawardene), 4-137 (Samaraweera), 5- 144 (Mathews), 6-208 (P. Jayawardene), 7-278 (Sangakkara), 8-282 (Herath), 9-307 (Kulasekara).

India bowling: Harbhajan 34.4-5- 80-2, Ojha 23-4-84-2, Zaheer 21-5- 72-5, Sreesanth 13-4-36-1, Sehwag 9-2-24-0.

America’s secret war "Operation Cobra's Anger" expands in Pakistan

MAMOSA Report

“Operation Cobra’s Anger” – America’s secret war inside Pakistan involves secret drone strikes and covert boots on ground in tribal areas and Balochistan by CIA, Blackwater and JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command ).

These outfits are said to be already operating over Pakistan border.

With Obama’s new Afghan policy announced, the said ‘result-oriented’ war has been put in high gear but the adminsitration is not talking about it with much specifity.

The war is escalating fast, says Rachel Maddow on her talk show ‘RACHEL MADDOW SHOW’ on MSNBC on Dec 4.

Watch Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC on Dec 4.

uTube Link to watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KwdKjS8CRo

Taliban reopen northern front in Afghanistan

The Taliban have reopened a new front in the northern province of Konduz far from the heartland of its main operational base in in the south. This once peaceful northern province was one place American and Afghan officials thought they did not have to worry about.

Afghan officials cut the police force in Konduz by a third two years ago and again earlier this year. Security was left to a few thousand German peacekeepers. Only one Afghan logistics battalion was stationed there.

But over the last two years the Taliban have steadily staged a resurgence in Kunduz, where they now threaten a vital NATO supply line and employ more sophisticated tactics, reports the New York Times.

In November, residents listened to air raids by NATO forces for five consecutive nights, the first heavy fighting since the Taliban were overthrown eight years ago.

The turnabout vividly demonstrates how security has broken down even in unexpected parts of Afghanistan, observes the influential paper. It also points to the hard choices facing American, NATO and Afghan officials even if President Obama decides to send more soldiers to Afghanistan, as he is expected to announce next week.

Even under the most generous deployments now under consideration, relatively few additional troops are expected in the north; most will be directed to the heartland of the Taliban resistance in the south and east. (MAMOSA)

Read the whole story at NY Times: Taliban re-emerge in Afghanistan’s once-quiet north

President Patil to enter Guinness Book by flying fighter jet

New Delhi, Nov 17: President Pratibha Devisingh Patil is all set to enter Guinness Book of world records on November 25 by becoming the first lady president to fly a fighter jet.

The President will fly on the fourth-generation twin-seater Sukhoi-30MKI at the Lohegaon airbase in Pune on November 25.

“We all should be proud that it will be a record in the world that a lady president will fly the latest technology aircraft…I think we all Indians should be proud of that why to talk of the Indian Air Force. India has created many firsts and this is the another first and it also shows women empowerment,” said Air Marshal PK Barbora, Vice Chief of the Air Staff.

The Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force said on Tuesday that President Patil has been declared fully fit for the flight and no modifications have been done for her on the aircraft.

“She is fully fit lady and fully capable of doing it…we have briefed her in totality, we have shown her photographs, we have also shown her video as to how to get in, how the cockpit looks like. There is no special arrangement, she has been fitted out with the full ‘Kit’ that’s the pilot wears,” Air Marshal Barbora said.

He further said that being the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, it is a matter of pride for the IAF that President Patil will be flying on Sukhoi-30MKI.

The flight duration will be of 30 minutes and Wing Commander S. Sajan will fly the fighter aircraft.

The IAF will take all care to ensure Patil is comfortable in the cockpit, with pilot sticking to a simple cruising flight of around Mach 0.9 (around 900 kmph), Air Marshal Barbora said.

The President will be going to the Lohegaon airbase in Pune as part of her customary visit. (ANI)

Manmohan Singh and I share the same values: Bush

“We are involved in an ideological struggle against people who murder the innocent to advance a point of view,” said former US president George W Bush, in an exclusive interview to Hindustan Times. “I believe India is an important antidote to that.”

Bush, in the interview, revealed that his enthusiasm for the country remained undimmed. “India is a great example of a country where religious freedom promotes a peaceful society,” he said.

Indians are “incredibly bright” and endowed with great entrepreneurial ability. For these and other reasons, said Bush, he pursued the nuclear deal with India with such vigour, and expanded the Group of Eight to include India.

“The Indo-US civilian nuclear deal liberated us from the bonds of the past once and for all,” he said. “The deal basically said: ‘We recognise India in a different light.’”

In his view, the fact that it would help India get access to nuclear power was important but secondary.

Bush even ascribed to India an economic clout that many Indians would not claim. “I expanded the Group of Eight and made it the Group of 20 to bring India to the table,” he said.

Why? “You cannot have a meaningful discussion about the future of the world and how to deal with the financial meltdown without India,” he replied.

When the present recession ends, Bush speculated, historians will say it was because countries like India led the way out. “No one would have said that 20 years ago,” he said.

He spoke glowingly of the Indian-American community.

“They have made lasting contributions to economic growth because of their creativity,” Bush said.

“India sets a really good example for countries which wonder if a multi-religious society can be at peace,” he added. He noted that India had a large Muslim population living in harmony with people of another religion.

Bush said he bonded very well with PM Manmohan Singh, who appealed to him ideologically. “He would be very vocal about India’s interests,” said Bush. “At the same time, we would be explicit about our shared values.”

In a convivial mood, about to leave to meet his “old pal” Singh, Bush also spoke of the book he is working on about his presidency. “It will be a book about the environment in which I had to make some tough calls,” he said. “And then it will leave it to the reader to make up his own mind as to what he would have done.”

It’s as close as he gets to the controversies that surround his years in the Oval Office. “It takes a while for history to be true,” he said.

But his India policy won’t need post facto certification. The special Indo-US relationship he built will be continued by all future US presidents, he believed, and already saw President Barack Obama doing so. “I believe the world is better off when Indians and Americans work closely together,” he said. (Hindustan Times)

Modi has swine flu; gives his Cabinet the scare

Narendra Modi, chief minister of the Indian state of Gujarat, has contracted swine flu, his office said in a statement on Friday.

With him, his entire Cabinet – with whom he was closeted in a meeting for three hours on Thursday – has been put under the scanner also. All these ministers have been put on Tamiflu for 10 days. Some top officials, including the state chief secretary, who had accompanied Modi to Russia, have also undergone tests.

Modi tested positive for the H1N1 virus days after his return from a business trip to Russia.

“[Quarantine] facilities and medical treatment (have) been arranged at the official residence of the chief minister,” the statement said, adding that Modi was responding to the treatment.

Swine flu has claimed more than 450 lives in India since the first death was reported on August 3.

Modi, a key member of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, has been tipped as the party’s potential prime ministerial candidate, although his record is tainted by his involvement in the deadly anti-Muslim riots that swept Gujarat in 2002.

The disclosure of Modi’s disease has sent a wave of panic among industrialists who accompanied him to the trip to Russia, APP reported.

A minister complained that Modi should not have attended the meeting if a swine flu infection was suspected.

Myanmar nationals protest against Chinese gas pipeline project

New Delhi, Oct. 28 (ANI): Myanmar nationals living in India staged a protest against the proposed Chinese gas pipeline in their country on Wednesday in New Delhi.

Protestors demanded that work on the construction of 1000 kilometres long gas pipeline should not begin in November as scheduled.

The proposed pipeline is aimed to ship oil and gas from Shwe gas fields in western Myanmar to China”s Yunnan province.

“Today we are gathering here to protest against the Chinese government”s involvement in Human Rights violations in Burma. The Chinese company CNPC. If the pipeline is implemented there will be two visible impacts,” said Kim, coordinator, Shwe Gas Movement.

“One is militarisation. The Burmese military regime will receive more than 800 million US dollars every year for 30 years. The money will not go to people. There will be lot of human rights violations like forced labour, lands confiscation, rape torture,” said Kim, coordinator, Shwe Gas Movement,” he added.

The protest was part of a global day of action against the Shwe Gas Project, also held in other countries like the UK, Thailand and South Korea.

The protestors also handed a letter calling for the suspension of the project and addressed to President Hu Jintao through the Chinese Ambassador in New Delhi.

The Shwe Gas Movement (SGM) and its solidarity networks submitted petitions at Chinese embassies in various countries, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and the UK.

Myanmar ranks tenth in the world in terms of natural gas reserves. Yet its per capita electricity consumption is less than five percent of neighbouring Thailand and China.

Official suspended for writing love letter to minister

PKonweb News Monitor

SEP 1: A government official has been suspended from service for writing a love letter in blood to a woman provincial minister in the Sindh province and harassing her.

Iliyas Hulio, an official from the horticulture department in Sindh, wrote the love letter and sent around 100 emails to provincial minister Sassui Palijo, who belongs to President Asif Ali Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party.

After receiving a complaint from Palijo, the horticulture department conducted an inquiry, during which Hulio confessed writing the letter and emails to the minister.

Sassui is a liberal politician and a columnist. She is Member of the Sindh Provincial Assembly from Mirpur Sakro Thatta PS-85 THATTA-II. She is the only directly elected fremale assembly member in Sindh.

At present she is serving as Minister for Culture and Tourism in Sindh cabinet led by CM Syed Qaim Ali Shah.

Born in Jungshahi, Thatta, she is a double Graduate, BA from University of Sindh and has a degree in International law from London.

Sassui has been an active campaigner for human rights and gender justice.

Sassui Palijo’s father, Ghulam Qadir Palijo, was two times MPA and is still active in politics. Her mother, Akhtar Baloch, was the first female Sindhi political worker to be arrested under General Ayub’s martial law during the Sindhi student movement at the age of 17. She was in prison for one year. Her grandmother late Jiji Zarina Baloch was a well known writer, folk singer and political activist.

(Additional info from Wikipedia)