New Delhi: S. Sreesanth on Friday came down heavily on the the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after it asserted it will appeal against a court order lifting the fast bowler’s life ban for match-fixing.

“C’mon @bcci this is worst u can do to anyone that too who is proven innocent not just once but again and again..don’t know why u doing this?” Sreesanth, a 2011 World Cup winner, tweeted.
After the court ruling on Monday, Sreesanth said he was hoping to get his career back on track and represent India again.

“I have been working hard at the indoor nets at home and have been fortunate enough to train with some of the Kerala state team players,” Sreesanth had told ‘ANM news’.

“I am waiting for BCCI’s call and then I will try and vie for an India spot. I will be ready to play the Ranji Trophy also for Kerala if they pick me,” the 34-year-old had said.

But a BCCI official said that the board does not agree with the court’s order and will challenge the same.

Earlier, the Kerala High Court revoked the life ban imposed on Sreesanth due to his alleged involvement in a spot-fixing scandal, which marred the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2013.

“No materials or evidence before the disciplinary committee to conclude that Sreesanth was guilty of the violation of the anti corruption code formulated by the BCCI. THEY RELIED ON CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE. The disciplinary committee ought to have been careful in analyzing evidence especially when the deal itself had failed to work,” the High Court order stated.

Previosuly, Sreesanth was cleared of criminal charges by a sessions court but continued to face sanctions issued on him by the governing body, based on an internal disciplinary committee report.

Sreesanth had approached the court last year after the BCCI failed to revoke the life ban though he was exonerated by a Delhi court of the charge of involvement in a spot-fixing scandal, which marred the Indian Premier League in 2013.

(IANS)

Bengaluru: A lady took more than Rs 5 lakh cash from 8 women on the assurance cash doubling plan and cheated the creditors in an incident reported at BTM layout in Bengaluru city on Friday.

The accused lady, Samreen, misused MLA’s name to take cash from the women. When the depositors asked her to repay their cash, the accused threatened their lives. A case has been stands registered on the incident in a local police station here.

Meanwhile, the MLA asked the police department to take necessary action against the lady who collected cash by misusing his name. MLA also urged the people not handover any amount if someone asks cash in his name.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday took oath as the new Vice President at a simple ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhawan’s Durbar Hall here.

President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office to the former Bharatiya Janata Party leader in Hindi.

Naidu, 68, who was hitherto part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, succeeded M. Hamid Ansari who served two consecutive terms since August 2007.

Nominated by the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, Naidu won the August 5 poll defeating former West Bengal Governor and Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

Naidu won 516 out of the 760 valid votes, winning the highest vote share in three decades in the vice presidential poll.

A two-time Union Minister and four-time Rajya Sabha member, Naidu earlier held the Parliamentary Affairs, Information and Broadcasting and Urban Development portfolios.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his predecessor Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh were among those present on the occasion.

Earlier, Naidu paid floral tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. He also paid tributes to Jan Sangh leader Deendayal Upadhyaya, besides Sardar Vallabhai Patel and Babasaheb B.R. Ambedkar.

(IANS)

Ahmedabad: Seven Congress MLAs in Gujarat, who were expelled from the party after they had voted against party candidate Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha polls, have resigned as legislators, Assembly Speaker Ramanlal Vora said today.

Cracking down on dissidents in Gujarat, the Congress had on August 9 expelled from the party for six years former Leader of Opposition Shankarsinh Vaghela and the seven MLAs who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election on August 8.

“Seven Congress MLAs submitted their resignation to me at my residence last night,” Vora said. The seven MLAs include Vaghela’s son Mahendrasinh.

Two rebel MLAs Raghavji Patel and Bholabhai Gohel, whose votes were invalidated by the Election Commission, due to which the victory of the Congress candidate was possible, have also submitted their resignation.

The others who have submitted their resignations are Amit Chaudharuy, C K Raulji, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Karmasinh Patel.

“I asked them if they are doing this (resigning) due to any pressure or threat, to which all of them replied in the negative,” the Speaker said.

“We have completed the formality of giving resignation from the post of MLA,” Mahendrasinh Vaghela told reporters.

He said the seven Congress MLAs who resigned last night and three out of the six who had earlier resigned would soon join the BJP.

However, his father, who is among the eight who were expelled by the Congress, would not join the ruling party, Mahendrasinh Vaghela said.

The Congress had 57 MLAs in the Assembly until six of them resigned last month.

On August 8, eight Congress MLAs gave their votes to BJP candidates in the RS polls, following which they were expelled from the party on August 9.

Of the six Congress MLAs who had resigned last month, ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls, three later joined the BJP. The remaining three had not taken any decision on joining BJP at that time.

The three MLAs, who joined the BJP last month, were Balwantsinh Rajput, Tejashreeben Patel and Prahlad Patel.

The other three who had not joined the BJP were Ramsinh Parmar, Chhanabhai Chaudhary and Mansinh Chauhan.

The BJP pitted Rajput against Congress candidate Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha polls, but the former eventually lost despite cross-voting by some the Congress MLAs.

(PTI)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday decided to hold the final hearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute from December 5 and made it clear that no adjournment shall be given in any circumstance.

The apex court, after an intense deliberation for more than one-and-half-hours, reached a consensus on commencement of the hearing on the cross-appeals filed against the 2010 judgement of the Allahabad High Court.

The high court had ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77 acre area at Ayodhya among the parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and the Ram Lalla.

A specially constituted bench, headed by Justice Dipak Misra, asked the contesting parties to complete the translation of the exhibits of the documents likely to be relied upon into English within 12 weeks since these were in eight different languages.

The bench, also comprising justices Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer, asked the Uttar Pradesh government to complete within 10 weeks the translation of the evidence recorded for adjudication of the title dispute in the high court into English.

The bench made it clear that the parties would have to strictly adhere to the time frame fixed by it and no adjournment shall be given in any circumstances.

Senior counsel CS Vaidyanathan, appearing for Lord Ram Lalla and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the UP government, pressed for early hearing of the matter, but senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Anoop George

Chaudhari and Rajeev Dhavan, representing other parties, were not in favour of commencement of the hearing before January next year.

(PTI)

Bengaluru: Pontiffs of the five core Veerashaiva mutts, religious, political leaders, members of Lingayat, Veerashaiva communities have decided to urge Karnataka state and Union governments to recognize Lingayats and Veerashaiva communities as separate independent religions. In the new move, both Lingayats and Veerashaiva communities have decided in the convention to identify themselves as separate religions.

In a massive convention held in Bengaluru on Thursday, the members of both fractions, Lingayats and Veerashaiva have decided to change their names as Lingayat Mahasabha and Akhila Bharatha Veerashaiva Maha Sabha.

(Agencies)