Archives for November 2021

Dubai: Opener Martin Guptill’s blistering 56-ball 93, which was built around monstrous sixes and authoritative batting, set up a 16-run win for New Zealand over a spirited Scotland in the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.

In all, Guptill smashed seven sixes and six fours as New Zealand posted 172 for five in the Group 2 Super 12 match. Scotland replied with 156 for five in their allotted 20 overs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Michael Leask blazed away to an unbeaten 42 off 20 balls, but his effort was not enough for the Scots.

Most of his big hits were directed towards the mid-wicket region and by the time he was done with his knock, Guptill was overcome with exhaustion in the extreme heat.

One of New Zealand’s prolific run-scorers over many years, Guptill added 105 runs for the fourth wicket with Glenn Phillips (33) to put his team in a commanding position.

Asked to bat first, New Zealand were off to a brisk start with Guptill leading the way in the company of Daryl Mitchell (13).

As many as 13 runs came in the match’s very first over bowled by Bradley Wheal (2/40), but Safyaan Sharif (2/28) made an excellent start in the next over, giving away just one run.

Playing this game in place of an injured Josh Davey, Alasdair Evans was smashed for two successive boundaries by Guptill through the point region, the batter cutting with utter disdain on both occasions.

Mitchell too got himself a boundary against Wheal but the opener was trapped in front of the wicket by Sharif in the fifth over. The on-field umpire’s decision was challenged, albeit unsuccessfully, by the batter.

In the middle of the fine first spell, seamer Sharif got the big wicket of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (0) four balls later, as a diving Matthew Cross completed a good catch behind the stumps after the batter failed to connect properly while playing it down the leg side.

Unperturbed by the double blows, Guptill smashed Evans for a maximum over backward square leg fence, as the Kiwis collected a productive 52 runs during power play, with 16 of them coming in the sixth over.

With that big hit, Guptill became only the second batter after Indian captain Virat Kohli to cross 3000 runs in T20 Internationals.

Scotland enjoyed another success right after spin was introduced for the first time, when slow left-armer Mark Watt castled Devon Conway (1) with his very first ball in the seventh over.

Only 18 runs came between the 6th and 10th over as Scotland tightened things.

However, the Scots had no answer to the onslaught launched on them by Guptill, who hammered their best bowler Sharif for two sixes.

There was also a six that travelled 102m, the second biggest in the Super 12 stage.

However, the NZ innings lost a bit of momentum after his dismissal as they could not manage only 22 runs in the last three overs.

Skipper Kyle Coetzer (17) started the proceedings for Scotland in earnest, hitting New Zealand’s lead pacer Trent Boult for fours on either side of the wicket.

Coetzer drove Tim Southee through cover-point for a boundary and then played a magnificent square drive off the back foot against Boult, who had his man two balls later when he deceived the batter with a slow off-cutter.

Two deliveries later, George Munsey (22) played one of the day’s best shots when he played Boult through the line on the on side.

After two quiet overs, Matthew Cross (27) hit Adam Milne for five fours on the trot as Scotland made 48 runs in the power play.

Munsey smashed Ish Sodhi for two sixes but in trying to hit one too many, he got out soon thanks to a fine running catch by a sliding Southee, who came back to knock Cross’ stumps to leave Scotland at 76 for three as the 12th over approached.

From there, the Scotland innings could not gather the momentum required to mount a challenge to their fancied opponents, despite Michael Leask’s lusty hits.

Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday termed the Janasevaka scheme of the state government delivering 58 services including ration at the doorstep, a gimmick.

“Supplying ration is the primary duty of the government. What they (government) are doing is a drama, a gimmick,” Siddaramaiah told reporters.

He was referring to the ‘Janasevaka’ scheme launched in Bengaluru by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai offering 58 services at the doorsteps of citizens. Bommai had said that the same would be implemented across Karnataka from January 26 onwards.

He also sought to know what the BJP government was giving to the public after stopping the previous Congress government’s populist programmes.

“They (BJP) reduced the rice quantity from seven kilograms to five kilograms to each individual a month under Anna Bhagya scheme. They closed Indira Canteens, stopped Shoe Bhagya, Shala Bhagya, Krishi Bhagya and Vidyasiri scholarships. So what are they giving to the public?” Siddaramaiah asked.

Siddaramaiah again challenged Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to come to a common platform for debate with him on the achievements of the government.

He said, “I had twice challenged him (Bommai) in Hangal (where bypoll was held on October 30 and which Congress won) for debate but he did not turn up.”

Demanding that the next assembly session be held at Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi, the Congress leader said for the past three years no session took place there.

Siddaramaiah said he used to hold the session there every year.

To a query on BJP staging demonstration against him in Bengaluru on Wednesday for allegedly insulting Dalits during his public speech in Sindgi on October 26, Siddaramaiah alleged that the accusations were baseless as he never spoke anything against Dalits.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has restrained the heads of nine JNU centres from taking any major decisions and said that their appointment by the varsity’s Vice Chancellor was prima facie without any authority.

A bench headed by Justice Rajiv Shakdher stated that the Vice Chancellor is not vested with the power to appoint Chairpersons of Centres or Special Centres as the JNU statute confers the power of appointment on the Executive Council.

The bench, also comprising Justice Talwant Singh, was dealing with an appeal against a Single-Judge order which had refused to grant a stay on the appointments on a petition by Professor Atul Sood.

Observing that it was cognizant of the fact that the Centres/Special Centres need Chairpersons for effective functioning , the court requested the Single Judge, who is hearing the challenge to the appointments, to advance the hearing on the writ petition.

We are prima facie of the view that respondent no.2 (Vice Chancellor) is not vested with the power to appoint Chairpersons of Centres/Special Centres. The Statute confers the power of appointment on the Executive Council. Thus, clearly the appointment of Chairpersons of Centres/Special Centres by respondent no.2 is, as is evident at this stage, prima facie, without authority, the bench opined in its order dated October 26.

Pending decision in the writ petition, the nine (9) Chairpersons, who have been appointed.. (as stated in) Minutes of the 296th meeting of the Executive Council, will not take any major decisions, including functions relating to convening of selection committees and/or carrying out selection(s), concerning the Centres/special centres, it added.

The court clarified that the views are only prima facie and the single judge will decide the writ petition on merits, after hearing both sides.

Lawyer Abhik Chimni, representing the appellant, said that the exercise of power of appointment in the present case by the Vice Chancellor was null and void in law and the Executive Council could not have approved the same subsequently.

JNU counsel Monika Arora stated that the power to appoint chairpersons to various centres is exercised by the Vice Chancellor from time to time, which is subsequently ratified by the Executive Council.

She informed that the single judge has indicated that he would examine the aspect as to whether the Vice-Chancellor could at all initiate the process of appointment of Chairpersons to various Centres/Special Centres, under the provisions of the JNU statute.

Mangaluru: The Congress party won the by-election in Hanagal constituency despite the money power used by the BJP as the people have realised the administrative failure of the government, former state minister B Ramanath Rai said on Wednesday.

Addressing reporters here, he alleged that the ruling party misused administrative machinery. However, the Congress could win the hearts and minds of the people there, he said.

He said it is meaningless to link price rise to the Covid pandemic.

The BJP will be taught a befitting lesson if it continues to play with the sentiments of the people to hide real issues affecting the common man, the former minister said.

The ruling party is trying to divide society on religious grounds to hide the failures of the government, he claimed.

They bring out emotional issues and indulge in moral policing in several parts of the state to cover up their ineptitude, Rai alleged.

Ballia (UP): Uttar Pradesh Minister Anand Swarup Shukla has alleged that Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav enjoys the patronage of Pakistan spy agency ISI and said he may even go for religious conversion to appease Muslims.

He may also be getting economic support from the neighbouring country’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the minister alleged while talking to reporters at his residence on Tuesday.

“Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has become a challenge for the Islamic world. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is getting all support from them. Akhilesh is getting ‘sanrakshan aur sujhav’ (patronage and advice) from the ISI. It is possible that he might also be getting economic support from it,” Shukla, who a BJP leader, said.

Shukla’s remarks come after Yadav in a speech in Hardoi on Sunday spoke of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the same breath as leaders who fought for India’s independence.

“To appease Muslims, Yadav had performed ‘namaz’ and observed ‘roza’ (fast). He can also go for ‘matantaran’ (religious conversion) and ‘khatna’ to get their votes,” he said, adding that the former chief minister was doing so at the behest of Pakistan.

In his speech, Yadav praised India’s ‘Iron Man’ Vallabhbhai Patel on his 146th birth anniversary but raised eyebrows when he appeared to equate the four leaders, including Jinnah.

“On the directions of the ISI, Yadav is glorifying Jinnah. He is issuing such statements that Pakistan and the Taliban want,” Shukla, who is the minister of state for parliamentary affairs, alleged.

He claimed that Yadav’s comparison of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel with Jinnah was condemnable and that he should regret it.

During the public meeting in Hardoi, the SP leader had said, “Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and (Muhammad Ali) Jinnah studied in the same institute and became barristers. They helped (India) get freedom and never backed away from any struggle.”

Yadav had also referred to the ban imposed on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh by Patel, the then home minister, following the assassination of Gandhi in 1948.

BENGALURU: There is good news on the GST front for the state this Diwali season as a GST loan of Rs 1,602.61 crore was released as GST compensation on Wednesday.  The Centre released Rs 60,000 crore to 31 states, including Karnataka, and Union territories.

The GST Council has released a loan of Rs 1.59 lakh crore to states to deal with the shortfall in GST collection during the current financial year and this is in proportion to the overall loss of revenues and a previously agreed upon formula.

The loan amount will be adjusted with the compensation later, said an official source in the government requesting anonymity.  Karnataka’s GST collection of Rs 8,259 crore in October is an 18 per cent jump over the same period last year, indicating an economic recovery.

The source said that if the supply of semiconductors had not been disrupted, the sale of cars and SUVs would have been higher, leading to an increased collection of GST. Former National Finance Commission Member Govinda Rao predicted that GST collections will continue to rise in the coming days, thanks to the stable system. Additional Chief Secretary ISN Prasad and Commercial Tax Commissioner C Shikha said the GST is being enforced harder, ensuring better compliance.

NEW DELHI:  Surging crowds at election rallies, especially in states like Bihar, are hardly a barometer of political temperature.

Opposition RJD and Congress star campaigners had drawn huge crowds. However, this did not convert into votes.  

RJD chief Lalu Prasad campaigned in the bypolls after a gap of about six years.

The result: the RJD candidate from Kusheshwar Asthan was defeated by the ruling JD-U by a margin of more than 12,000 votes. In Tarapur too, the JD-U won.

Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar and others also campaigned for three days. In both constituencies, the Congress candidates forfeited their deposits. 

The most striking similarity among Bihar’s three eligible bachelor politicians — Chirag Paswan, Tejashwi Yadav and Kanhaiya Kumar — is that they draw crowds, but don’t bring in votes. 

“Theirs is a model of hurling loud accusations. Secondly, they are largely inaccessible to the common people,” said an observer.

Sociologist Nirmal Kumar says states like Bihar, West Bengal and UP where you have a vast population suffering in poverty, the people generally go out to listen to big politicians at their rallies. 

“Lalu, his son Tejashwi, Chirag Paswan, Kanhaiya Kumar and CM Nitish Kumar did well in campaigning. Even when Lalu threatened to do an ‘immersion’ (visarjan) of the Nitish government in the bypolls, Nitish simply countered by a well thought-after line: “He (Lalu) can do nothing except getting me killed, when he wants.” 

Nitish’s one-liner refreshed the people’s memories about the 15-year reign of ‘jungle raj’ of Lalu-Rabri,” says Arun Kumar Pandey, a political analyst.

Meanwhile, Nitish on Tuesday asserted that results of the just-concluded by-elections won by his JD(U), were a resounding rejection of the RJD founded and headed by his arch-rival Lalu Prasad who betrayed arrogance and a lack of humility.

Kumar was talking to reporters at the state headquarters of the JD(U) where he joined a function organised to felicitate the victorious debutants Ganesh Bharti and Rajiv Kumar Singh who respectively retained for the party Kusheshwar Asthan (SC) and Tarapur assembly constituencies.

“The by-polls were a sad occasion for us as these were necessitated by the deaths of our sitting MLAs. I have always held that people’s will is supreme. They have reposed their trust in us. We will continue serving them as long as the trust continues,” Kumar said.

For Kumar, the by-poll outcome has come as a big relief, a year after his party was drubbed in the assembly polls though he returned as the chief minister, enjoying full support of allies.

“Our candidates belonged to the JD(U). But the entire NDA backed them solidly, down to the grassroots level,” said Kumar.

Kumar was also asked about the failure of Prasad, who had plunged into campaign himself, despite old age and ill-health, and claimed that the RJD’s victory in the by-polls would trigger a “stampede” in the NDA and pave way for a change of guard.

‘What can I say about them? What type of language did they use during the elections? There lies the difference. We believe in the supremacy of people. They (Prasad and his family) believe in lording over everybody else. People have made their preference clear, though,” Kumar said.

Prasad, who had been the chief minister himself in the 1990s, was succeeded by his homemaker wife Rabri Devi when a charge-sheet in the fodder scam caused him to step down.

His wife occupied the top post for eight years until being voted out of power in 2005.

Convicted in a number of fodder scam cases, Prasad now stand disqualified from contesting elections himself though his younger son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav has been repeatedly called the “chief ministerial” candidate of the RJD.