Archive for October, 2010

OCTOPUS PAUL DEAD

October 27th, 2010 by Ravi Matah | Posted in News   Comments Off on OCTOPUS PAUL DEAD

Pundit Octopus Paul, who had become a sensation after successfully predicting matches at the World Cup, died peacefully in his sleep at the age of two years. Stefan Porwoll, general manager of the Oberhausen Sea Life centre in Germany – where Paul made his predictions – confirmed the news. 

Paul the Octopus

Paul the Octopus

“He died last night, a peaceful and natural death,” Porwoll said. 

“Management and staff at the Oberhausen Sea Life Center were devastated to discover that oracle octopus Paul, who achieved world-wide recognition during the recent World Cup, had passed away overnight,” the aquarium said in a statement. 

“We grew very fond of him,” said Sea Life general manager Stefan Porwoll. “He passed away during the night peacefully,” he said as the marine life centre flew flags at half mast and all employees wore black armbands.  (more…)

AUSTRALIAN TEEN PLEADS GUILTY

October 23rd, 2010 by Ravi Matah | Posted in News   Comments Off on AUSTRALIAN TEEN PLEADS GUILTY

 

MELBOURNE: A 16-year-old boy from Melbourne on Friday pleaded guilty in a children’s court for his involvement in the stabbing of Indian student Nitin Garg, who died in January.

News of Nitin Garg’s death had shook the nation as this was the first racial related death reported in Australia.

The teenager, whose name has not been revealed, has been charged with committing a robbery by stealing Garg’s mobile phone and making a false statement to police in which he denied that his friend had killed the Indian.

The young boy pleaded guilty in a children’s court on Friday. (more…)

INDIA BEAT AUSTRALIA – ODI

October 21st, 2010 by Ravi Matah | Posted in Sports   Comments Off on INDIA BEAT AUSTRALIA – ODI

India proved their dominance in Cricket by defeating Australia by 5 wickets in the second ODI match played at the flood-lit Stadium at Vishakapatnam. Captain M.S.Dhoni won the toss and elected to field at the YSR Reddy Stadium on Wednesday. Australia  lost two quick wickets as both openers were consumed by Ashish Nehra. This victory follows their win over Australia in the recently concluded Test series. 

Virat Kohli

Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey later saved the innings with a fine 144 run stand and after 45 overs Australia were 205 for 3. Australia looted 84 runs in the final five overs and Cameron White slammed 70 runs in his last 24 deliveries. 

Some big hitting by Cameron White (89 from 49 balls) was at display including a straight drive which went through umpire Billy Bowden. It took Bowden a fraction of a second to duck out of the line of the shot otherwise Bowden would have been history had the shot hit him on the head. 

Skipper Clarke and Hussey did the repair work, building their innings brick by brick. In the end Cameron White’s big hitting helped Australia in reaching a fighting total of 289 runs. 

Both White and Clarke were in a rampaging mood. Nehra, who had an impressive first spell, had his figures destroyed towards the end as he returned with 57 runs from his 10 overs. (more…)

CLOSING CEREMONY ENDS-PROBE BEGINS

October 16th, 2010 by Ravi Matah | Posted in News   Comments Off on CLOSING CEREMONY ENDS-PROBE BEGINS

I had brought out in my earlier blog on CWG that the day these games are over the deals done by members and the OC of the Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games will be probed.

Scintillating dances, laser show and a musical extravaganza on Thursday night marked the finale of the Commonwealth Games. The fourteen bands of the Indian Army gave a splendid display of music and their marching was excellently synchronised.

CWG Delhi 2010

CWG Delhi 2010

The fireworks outside and the sounds of music inside the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium had barely died down, when the Officials in the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Central Vigilance Commission began the assessment of the cases of corruption relating to the arrangements of the Commonwealth games.

India had stood second in the medals tally with a total of 101 medals in the Commonwealth ganes which their highest ever achieved. India’s gold medals tally stood at 38 medals which is the highest ever achieved by them and stood second behind Australia who have won a total of 177 medals.

A day after the Commonwealth Games came to an end Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met athletes at his residence on Friday. But Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi and the Organising panel members had simply not been invited.  Sports Minister MS Gill was present, sitting beside the Prime Minister during the photo shoot. (more…)

INDIA CLINCH TEST SERIES

October 13th, 2010 by Ravi Matah | Posted in Sports   Comments Off on INDIA CLINCH TEST SERIES

Bangalore:  After a tight finish in Mohali a week ago, it was a one-sided game in Bangalore as India comfortably beat Australia by seven-wickets on day five of the second Test to win the two-match series 2-0 on Wednesday and register their first win here in 15 years.

Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara

India won the first Test at Mohali, thanks to VVS Laxman who played a splendid knock there to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. In the second test it was Sachin Tendulkar’s herioc 214 in the first innings and 53 not out in the second innings which spelt doom for Australia.

Earlier in the day, the Australians added 21 runs to their overnight score and ended up being dismissed for 223 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Requiring 206 runs to win on the last day, India began the run chase from the word go and lost Sehwag early in the second innings. But Cheteshwar Pujara and Murli Vijay ensured building the foundation of India’s victory at Bangalore in front of a jam-packed Stadium. Pujara slammed chancelesss 72 on Test debut was bowled by Nathan Hauritz. He seems to have sealed his place as the one-down batsman for the Indian Team. (more…)

RACIST EMAILS BY AUSTRALIAN POLICE

October 11th, 2010 by Ravi Matah | Posted in News   Comments Off on RACIST EMAILS BY AUSTRALIAN POLICE

India has reacted sharply over news in the Australian media of a racist email scandal involving top Australian police officers. The Australian High Commissioner to India, Peter Verghese, was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday after top Victoria Police were caught circulating offensive mails on an Indian electrocuted on a train.

 A demarche was issued to him on this matter and it was conveyed to him that such an entrenched bias among sections of law enforcers towards the Indian community is a matter of serious concern.  We sincerely hope that apart from taking action against concerned officers, Australian authorities will also take necessary and effective measures to address concerns about safety of all people of Indian origin in Australia.

The officers in Victoria circulated video footage of the electrocution of a man who was travelling on the roof of a crowded train in India and suggested it could be a way to fix Melbourne’s Indian students’ problem, according to a report in the Herald Sun. (more…)

INDIA BEAT AUSTRALIA

October 5th, 2010 by Ravi Matah | Posted in Sports   Comments Off on INDIA BEAT AUSTRALIA

 No T20  match nor an ODI will give so much thrill to spectators within the stadium and Cricket lovers around the world as this Mohali Test match did. It was a  nail-biting atmosphere as India requiring 216 to win the match in the last innings, pulled off a spectacular victory to beat Australia by one wicket. 

VVS Laxman

VVS Laxman

VVS Laxman, despite, his backache remained unbeaten on 73 runs took India to a one-wicket win against Australia in the Mohali Test which ended like a live-wire. 

India has now taken a 1-0 lead in the series. It was Laxman and Ishant Sharma who put up a match winning partnership of 81 runs. 

Yesterday, India were 55 for the loss of four wickets and it was expected that Australia would finish the formalities by noon today and win the match, but that was not to be. India had struggled to reach 162-8 at lunch on the fifth day after resuming their second innings at 55-4. 

Zaheer Khan was caught by Michael Clarke for 10 runs at first slip off the bowling of Hauritz.  (more…)