0 IPL spot-fixing: Srinivasan convenes BCCI Working Committee meeting

Mumbai: Buckling under relentless pressure on him to quit, BCCI President N Srinivasan on Friday convened an emergency meeting of the Board`s all-powerful working committee on June 8 to discuss the current crisis arising out of betting and spot-fixing in IPL.

The beleaguered President`s decision came after three important members called him up to convene such a meeting and asked him to announce it by the evening in what is seen as the first step towards possibly ousting him.

Significantly, the Working Committee at best could only pile more pressure on Srinivasan to quit as it had no powers to vote him out, which only a Special General Body meeting consisting of members of all the state associations can do.

Sources said there was also a hint of threat of resignation by the three office-bearers--Secretary Sanjay Jagdale, Joint Secretary Anurag Thakur and Treasurer Ajay Shirke--if no decision on working committee came by the evening. However, sources close to Srinivasan denied any threat to him.

The decision on working committee meeting came on a day when more embarrassing information came out from Mumbai Police that Srinivasan`s son-in-law and CSK`s Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan told them that ICC had warned him at the start of the IPL to keep away from suspicious characters.

Mumbai Police sources claimed that during interrogation Gurunath, arrested on charges of betting, had told investigators that he was warned by officials of the anti-corruption unit to keep away from suspicious characters.

They said Gurunath did not use the word bookies apparently because it was obvious to him and to the police that he was dealing with a bookie like Vindoo Dara Singh and allegedly placing bets.

"Be careful, I have been warned," Meiyappan had told actor Vindoo Randhawa who is also under arrest in the case. This is part of Meiyappan`s statement to the crime branch, the source said, adding Vindoo has corroborated it.

The source declined to reveal the name of the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) official and said they were yet to corroborate it with the ICC.

"We are yet to corroborate Meiyappan`s statement with ICC and we at the moment don`t even know if any person by that name (given by Meiyappan) exists," he said.

The ACSU keeps players, team members and umpires under surveillance in order to check malpractices in the game.

Crime Branch sources said that at no stage BCCI was informed about the "dubious" activities of Meiyappan.

"The ACSU official was in direct communication with Meiyappan. BCCI was not informed about it," they said.

Sources said when Meiyappan was asked why such warning was issued to him, he (CSK owner) replied "probably because of the company (Vindoo and other bookies) I kept."

When contacted, Srinivasan said that the BCCI did not receive any warning from ICC on Gurunath or anybody else. He said he had checked with BCCI officials who also told him that there was no such warning to them.

BCCI joint secretary Anurag Thakur also said there was no such communication from ICC to the Board.

0 Sachin Tendulkar labels news of spot-fixing in Indian Premier League as "shocking and disappointing" Read more: http://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/sachin-tendulkar-labels-news-of-spot-fixing-in-indian-premier-league-as-shocking-and-disappointing/story-e6frf3g3-1226654798852#ixzz2UtAd7RDr

 

India's master batsman Sachin Tendulkar is shocked at the recent spot-fixing allegations that led to the arrest of Test teammate Shantakumaran Sreesanth and two other players.

"It has always hurt me when the game of cricket is in the news for the wrong reasons,'' Tendulkar said in a statement issued on Friday.

"The developments in the last two weeks have been shocking and disappointing. As cricketers we're always taught to go out, fight hard, give our very best and play in the true spirit of the game."

The 40-year-old Tendulkar, who holds most batting records in international cricket including most runs and centuries in both Tests and one-day internationals, urged administrators to take charge of the situation.

"During this difficult phase, I join every cricketer, from the boys in the (fields) across the country to those who represent clubs, states and the country, who trust the authorities to take sincere steps to get to the root of the issue," he said.

"The faith reposed by the millions of fans should be justified and we owe it to them to ensure that Indian cricket is all about pride and joy."

Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested two weeks ago for allegedly manipulating certain parts of IPL games involving their Rajasthan Royals team and receiving money from bookmakers in return.

Chennai Super Kings official Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of Indian cricket board chief Narainswamy Srinivasan, has also been arrested by police for being in touch with illegal book-makers.

Sreesanth has denied his involvement in spot-fixing but charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust have been brought against all three players and they stand suspended by the BCCI pending an inquiry.

Sreesanth and Chandila are in jail while Chavan has been given interim bail as he is getting married on June 2.

0 Imran Khan gets injuries as falls from lifter in Lahore

 After an extensive election campaign throughout the country, Imran Khan stumbled and fell down from a lifter resulting in some injuries.
Just after the fall, Khan was rushed to hospital in a bit unconscious condition. He had just reached area for election procession and was getting on the top when he fell down from the lifter with his two guards.
He was rushed to a nearby Gulber hospital, but was referred to Jinnah Hospital for proper treatment. According to hospital sources, head of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf was bleeding and he was in bit unconscious condition. Party leaders while setting aside any conspiracy say that they would investigate the matter.
"We would also put pressure on Khan to take rest unless the injuries do not recovered." Eyewitnesses say that nephew of PTI chairman was crying while going with his uncle, but hospital sources insisted that there were only some injuries on head. PTI Punjab president Ejaz Chaudhry while talking with media made it clear that Imran Khan's condition was of danger.
"It was just an accident and it shouldn't be called a conspiracy." "Lifter got imbalanced due to large number of people on lifter," Chaudhry said and added that people always gathered around their beloved leader. Medical sources said that Imran Khan would be shifted to Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital for further treatment after doctors advice.
Imran has fallen from a 20 feet height, The News Tribe Urdu reported. According to reports, family members of Imran Khan are reaching the hospital with their face tense over the incident. 

0 Tahirul Qadri's long march sets positive traditions

PESHAWAR: While the Tehrik-e-Minhajul Quran’s sit-in at Islamabad has raised the political temperature in the country and forced the political friends and foes on joining hands, the historical long march and sit-in have also set some positive traditions of holding protests in a civilised way.

The track record of protests and long marches in the country has not been so pleasant in the past. Not only the protesters often turn violent but the law enforcing agencies lose patience on such occasions and resort to baton-charge and teargassing.

In the mid-1990s, participants of the PPP long march were severely baton-charged by the Nawaz Sharif government and besides other leaders and workers the party co-chairperson Begum Nusrat Bhutto was beaten to the extent that the head injury she suffered paralysed the elderly lady for the whole of her life.

The PPP government adopted the same way for dispersing the Jamaat-e-Islami Dharna and police severely manhandled the party Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmad along with his supporters. The worst example of violence during protests was the recent violence by the religious parties’ activists against the blasphemous movie produced and released in the United States.

However, Dr Tahirul Qadri’s long march and sit-in set a precedent in the history of Pakistan and gave a positive message not only to the people in the country but to the world that ours is a peaceful nation and protest can be held without damaging public and private properties.

It also gave a message that Pakistanis can render any kind of sacrifice for the just cause right from facing harsh weather and bearing the expenditures of boarding and lodging on their own against the wrong perception of being beggars. The third positive message is of holding such a long and big protest in a disciplined way.

Another positive outcome of the sit-in is the union of all the political forces either in the government or opposition for defending democracy against any unconstitutional move. It was probably for the first time that the parties in power and opposition including those who always welcomed dismissal of elected government in the past put their heads together to defend democratic process at all costs.

Raising a united voice for defending democracy could be termed a good omen, but the political forces should at least learn a lesson from Qadri’s sit-in that protest can be held in a civilised way and breaking and setting on fire public and private properties was not the solution to problems. It is also a lesson for the religio-political parties, if their claim about the participants of the long march and sit-in is accepted, that how the students of seminaries could be guided to follow the instructions of their leaders and not resort to violence.

0 Long march ends: Tahirul Qadri, govt agree on terms for electoral reforms

ISLAMABAD: Prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has signed the agreement reached between the government’s delegation, and Dr Tahirul Qadri, bringing to an end the “million-man” march Express News reported on Thursday.

Ashraf signed on the Islamabad declaration with the agreed terms. President Asif Ali Zardari also approved the document.

Qadri and Naek then read out the terms of the Islamabad Long March Declaration in Urdu and in English respectively. It states that assemblies will be dissolved at any time before March 16, 2013 and elections will be held within 90 days thereafter.

The terms agreed to unanimously include a provision of 30 days for pre-clearance and scrutiny of nomination papers by the Election Commission per Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

The treasury benches will submit two names for the caretaker prime minister who will be honest and impartial candidates for the post.  Further deliberations on the composition of the Election Commission will be held on January 27, 2013 in Lahore.

It was also agreed to implement electoral reforms as contained within the Constitution and Supreme Court order of June 8, 2012.

The terms agreed to also ensured the end of the long march and sit in and an amnesty for long march participants.

Earlier in the evening, after an agreement was reached between the government’s delegation and Qadri, three of the members returned to prime minister house to have the document signed.

“Just give them some space, Khurshid Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Mushahid Hussain are going to prime minister house to have it [agreement] signed by all the leaders. They will be  right back with the signed document and then the Islamabad declaration will be read out.”

Qadri had accepted the government’s request for negotiations with talks beginning at 3:45pm.

The committee was headed by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain includes Farooq Sattar, Afrasiyab Khattak and Khurshid Shah.

The government ordered the deputy commissioner Islamabad to ask Qadri for more time to respond to his demands.

An hour before the government announced the decision to form a committee, the Minhajul Quran International (MQI) chairman had given a final deadline for his demands to be fulfilled.

The deadline ended at 3pm Thursday. Rangers were deployed around the Parliament House and President House to heighten the security.

Qadri asked President Asif Ali Zardari to send a delegation to hold talks over his demands or  “lose the last chance of saving peace”. “We have already given too many chances to law, to democracy and to peace”.

Qadri also announced that he will end the sit-in in Islamabad by Thursday night.

He criticised the government for not sympathising with the women and children present at the long march. “I had asked the women to not participate, but they insisted and debated with us. They have come here on their own will.”

Qadri’s protest rally, which began from Lahore on January 13, has threatened to destabilise the nuclear-armed country as it inches towards what would be the first democratic transition of power between two civilian governments at elections due by May this year.

The government has not announced any date for polls other than saying that parliament will disband in mid-March to make way for a caretaker government and elections within 60 days under the constitution.

Qadri wants parliament dissolved now and a caretaker government set up in consultation with the military and judiciary to implement key reforms such as setting up a new election commission and banning corrupt candidates.