BJP calls UPA most corrupt govt since 1947

LUCKNOW: The BJP on Friday called the UPA regime “the most corrupt government since independence” and accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of “maintaining a conspiracy of silence” on the numerous scams that have taken place under his watch.

The national executive also said the UPA government had lost all moral authority to rule. “It is evident that Manmohan Singh presides over the most corrupt government since independence. It lacks transparency, there is collusion at high level, no checks and balances and there is virtual collapse of system where scam after scam and scandal after scandal has become the order of the day,” the party said in a resolution.

The resolution, moved by general secretary Ananth Kumar, also indicted Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for not taking timely action. “The prime minister maintained a conspiracy of silence and is guilty of gross indifference when the nation’s wealth was being plundered… right under his nose by a massive abuse of system and yet Manmohan Singh looked the other way. The silence of all powerful Sonia Gandhi was too conspicuous,” BJP said.

Addressing the meet, BJP president Nitin Gadkari said, “The UPA leadership owes answers to the people as to how broad daylight robberies, whether in the 2G scam or in the Commonwealth Games preparations, were allowed to happen… Not even a child would believe that when A Raja and Suresh Kalmadi were indulging in corruption, the prime minister was simply unware of it.”

The BJP’s attack on the UPA comes at a time when Baba Ramdev has cornered the government with his threat of a hunger strike and former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran is battling charges of his family-owned Sun TV benefitting from pay-offs in 2G spectrum. The BJP also criticized the government for not involving political parties, especially those in Opposition, in formulating the Lokpal Bill, while it chose to consult civil society members.

Terming this process of formulating the draft bill as “constitutionally improper,” Gadkari, in a written reply to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, refused to bail out the government by suggesting his party’s views on the bill, pointing out that the government decided to consult the political parties only when it was stuck in formulating a draft because of differences between the government and civil society members.

Gadkari’s reply dated June 2 was sent to Mukherjee in response to a letter the finance minister had written to all political parties and chief ministers on May 31, asking for their views on the six sticky issues that came up in the context of the Lokpal bill.

“At no stage has the government thought it necessary to consult either BJP or any other political party in regard to several issues involved in the context of setting up of an independent Lokpal. The questions on which you have sought our views indicate that these are issues on which there is divergence of opinion between the government ministers and civil society representatives,” Gadkari wrote back.

Baba Ramdev’s kin, native village bask in reflected glory

SAYED ALIPUR (MAHENDRAGARH): Yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s native village in Harayana’s Mahendragarh district wore a desolate look a day ahead of his fast in New Delhi. Streets were empty, and sporadic peacocks’ call shattered the silence.

Late in the afternoon a cab, fitted with an overhead loudspeakers, gave a sense of Saturday’s elaborate arrangement in the National Capital, about 150km from here. An announcement about Baba Ramdev’s much-publicized satyagraha against graft at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan was a token reminder about the event.

The lacklustre publicity drew to a close as the cab pulled up in front of Dev Dutt’s house. Dutt is Baba Ramdev’s elder brother.

He said many of the villagers would either leave for Delhi or reach the district headquarters to lend solidarity with the yoga guru’s satyagraha. “Two buses are going from our village. I shall go to Delhi,” said Dutt, a retired Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.

Baba Ramdev had left his ancestral village for the gurukul in Khanpur in 1987 on completion of his Class VIII studies.

Dutt recounted his younger brother’s brush with spiritual powers in his formative years. He used to talk about seeing a saint in his dreams, who urged him to work for the nation.

Many years on, “he is trying to realize that dream. He is fighting for a cause, and no wonder there is a groundswell of support for him,” a beaming Dutt said basking in the reflected glory of Baba Ramdev.

The glory has rubbed on to the local school authorities, who will ferry his supporters to Delhi for free. “We will also provide food to them. He has made our area proud, and is fighting for a national cause,” said an owner of a private school.

Though Baba Ramdev had last visited here in 2008, he didn’t go home or meet his family members separately. “He met all of us at a public gathering outside the village temple. Even our grandfather and father met him there. His only motto is to serve the nation,” said Dutt.

Baba Ramdev, who was called Ramkishan in his childhood days, has all along been against the use of his surname. Contrary to popular perceptions, his kin and teachers remember him as a brilliant student till Class VIII.

The yoga guru’s family had to face a lot of flak for sending him to a gurukul in Khanpur.

“People used to mock us for sending him to a gurukul despite our poverty. He overcame a lot of odds and passed in first division. He has made us proud,” said Dutt while showing their ancestral house where Baba Ramdev had spent his childhood.

The house, which used to be abuzz with 70-80 people, has since been abandoned. A few of his followers had come and stayed here for a yoga programme a couple of years ago.

Locals remembered Ramkishan as a nice and hard working boy. After school hours, he used to give a helping hand to his father in farming. Had he not been a good man, how could lakhs become his followers?” asked a village elder.

Umarao Prasad, a retired primary teacher who taught Baba Ramdev, reminisced how he was a serious student and translated a prayer he sang in school to reality – “mein who purush banoo Bhagwan, jis se badhe Bharat ki saan” (Make me such a man, who would make the country proud).

Baba Ramdev had held his first yoga camp in Haryana’s Rewari in 2002, which heralded a new beginning to his glorious journey of spreading the yogic healing touch.

His younger brother Rambharat is taking care of his sprawling ashram in Haridwar, where Baba’s father also strays. Dutt’s daughter Deepika is pursuing a degree in ayurvedic medicine from the Patanjali University.

“I have never met him personally. I have only seen from a distance,” Deepika said, reinforcing his status among his immediate family members as a Swamiji, who has risen above blood ties long ago.

BCCI too powerful, players believe

More than two-thirds of players polled in a recent survey believe the BCCI has an unfair influence on decision-making within the ICC. The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) has renewed its calls for a review of the game’s governance after releasing the results of its 2011 player survey, which also revealed strong support for the decision review system and 50-over cricket.

Despite overwhelming approval for how this year’s World Cup was run, the findings were not all positive for the ICC. Of the 45 players polled, only 6% believed that decisions at ICC board level were made “in the best interests of cricket”, while 49% felt decisions were made according to “party lines or best interests of the country that they are representing”. The remaining players were “unsure”.

When asked if ICC decision-making was influenced unfairly by the power of the BCCI, 69% said ‘yes’, while 31% answered “don’t know”. None of the respondents gave a definitive ‘no’. Despite those concerns, 63% said they had confidence in the ICC’s ability to govern international cricket, although the FICA chief executive Tim May said the findings raised important issues, with 46% saying the structure and composition of the ICC executive board should be reviewed.

“Players have highlighted that the governance of the game is a serious issue,” May said. “FICA have continually advocated for a review of the game’s governance. Its present structure is outdated, full of conflicts, cronyism and far from best practice. FICA does believe though that the ICC day-to-day management has improved considerably and are unfairly tarnished as a result of decisions of the ICC Chief Executive and Board Committees.”

The call for a review of the game’s governance is not new. FICA have been pushing for change for several years, and the former ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed this year said he would be in favour of an independent commission running the game, although he also said the idea that countries always voted in geographical blocs was, based on his time at the organisation, not accurate.

The FICA survey did reveal some good news for the ICC, with 94% of players rating the recent World Cup as “good” or above, compared to only 11% giving the 2007 tournament that level of support. However, the event is still too long, according to 74% of those surveyed, while 72% backed the decision to reduce the number of teams in the next World Cup to 10, and 91% felt the Associate nations should have a chance to qualify.

The majority (82%) of players said the DRS made for better decision-making from umpires at the World Cup, and 97% thought the DRS should be compulsory in all Test matches. Notably, FICA is not affiliated with players from India – the BCCI being the major opponent of the DRS – or from Pakistan or Zimbabwe.

The survey also showed:

• 32% of players would retire prematurely from international cricket to play exclusively in the IPL and similar Twenty20 tournaments
• 40% said that given the magnitude of salaries being offered by the IPL, they could envisage a day where they would rank their obligations to IPL and other T20 events ahead of obligations to their home boards
• 94% believed that superior salaries offered by the IPL would motivate younger players to hone their skills principally to T20
• 40% said their board schedules too much international cricket
• Only 24% of players favour a change in the format of ODIs
• 39% believe boards schedule too many ODIs, reducing the public’s interest in the format

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No UDRS during India-WI series

Port Of Spain: The controversial Umpire Decision Review System will not be in place in the forthcoming series between India and the West Indies after the BCCI has convinced its Caribbean counterparts against the use of technology during the entire tour.

The implementation of UDRS in a bilateral series is the prerogative of the home board but the powerful BCCI, who has opposed the system from the onset, has forced the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to do away with it in the series, which starts with a T20 International here on Saturday.

 

A WICB spokesperson confirmed that UDRS will not be used in the one-off Twenty20 match, five ODIs or for that matter in the three upcoming Test matches.

Incidentally, UDRS was used when Pakistan toured the Caribbean recently.

India has been a staunch critic of UDRS ever since Sachin Tendulkar went public with his disapproval of the system in Sri Lanka a couple of years ago.

Just before the World Cup, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni too gave his thumbs down to the system.

“I don’t support the UDRS as you have two gentlemen standing as umpires on the field, who are professionals. They also have the support of the third umpire. Referral system, I personally believe is not a cent per cent thing. I am not going to buy a life jacket that doesn’t come with a warranty,” he had said.

The last straw for India, perhaps, was the World Cup league match against England in Ahmedabad.

In the 25th over of the England innings, Dhoni sought the help of UDRS when on-field umpire turned down a lbw appeal against Ian Bell off Yuvraj Singh.

The technology clearly showed that Bell was out as the ball was going to hit the middle stump, yet, strangely, the third umpire ruled in favour of the batsman because the distance between the wicket and point of impact was more than 2.5 metres.

2nd Test: SL look to square series vs Eng

London: Cricket is still reeling from the shock of Sri Lanka being bowled out by England for 82 in 148 balls at Cardiff on Monday.

Sri Lanka lost its last eight wickets for 49 in 72 balls in less than an hour. No one expected England would win the first Test by an innings in a game that Graeme Swann said had a “club feel.”

Classic Stroke

With James Anderson injured and out of the squad, England may consider playing a fifth bowler on what is usually a benign Lord’s pitch.

England has won five of its last seven Tests by an innings, but was probably lucky to get away with its strategy of playing four bowlers at Cardiff. Yet, it is a method that has served it well. England last went into a Test with five frontline bowlers against Bangladesh at Mirpur 15 months ago. Since then it has won nine out of 12 Tests, with two losses and a draw.

Yet, the workload takes a huge toll on bowlers. In Australia, Anderson looked mentally exhausted, and in the last six years five England pace bowlers have broken down in mid-Test.

In 2005, Simon Jones injured his right ankle and played his last Test at Trent Bridge. In 2007, Matthew Hoggard suffered a thigh strain in a Lord’s Test and played just four more Tests for England. In Antigua in 2009, Andrew Flintoff sustained a hip injury and played only four Tests after that match. Last December in the Adelaide Test, Stuart Broad tore an abdominal muscle so severely that he missed the rest of the tour of Australia. Now Anderson will miss the Lord’s Test with a side strain.

If Steven Finn plays England could field the tallest ever bowling combination in the history of the game. According to The Cricketers’ Who’s Who Finn is 6-foot-7 (2.01 meters), Stuart Broad 6-6 (1.98) and Chris Tremlett 6-7 (2.01), so they have a combined height of 19-8 (6).

Andrew Strauss has the opportunity to become the first captain to win five Tests at Lord’s. Currently, Strauss, Peter May and Nasser Hussain have won four each at the home of cricket.

Strauss made his Test debut at Lord’s in 2004 against New Zealand, scoring 112 and 83. He has 1,360 runs with four centuries and six 50s in 14 Tests there at an average of 61.81.

This is Alastair Cook’s 65th consecutive Test, equalling the record held by Alan Knott and Ian Botham for the most consecutive Tests played for England. It is his 67th Test in all and at age 26 he has already scored 17 Test hundreds. Sachin Tendulkar scored 22 hundreds before the age of 27. Cook has two hundreds at Lords: Against Pakistan in 2006 and West Indies in 2007. His batting average has never dropped below 40.

At Cardiff, Kevin Pietersen was out to slow left-armer Rangana Herath. It was the 19th time in his career he had been dismissed by that style of bowler. All 19 have come in the most recent part of his career, his last 58 completed innings, beginning in March 2008 when New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori had him caught and bowled at Hamilton. Pietersen has been dismissed 43 times in international cricket including 17 times in ODIs and seven times in Twenty20s. Geoff Boycott says that, like an alcoholic, in order to deal with the problem he first has to acknowledge that he has a problem.

The last time England played Sri Lanka at Lord’s was in May 2006. The match ended unexpectedly in a draw after Sri Lanka, 359 behind on the first innings, batted 199 overs to secure the draw. Sri Lanka was 381-6 going into the final day, but England managed to take three wickets, with Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Kulasekara adding 105 for the ninth wicket.

Toughened Tremlett ready to lead attack

At 6’6″, Stuart Broad cannot have been dismissed as a “midget” on too many occasions in his international career, but he could well be made to look like the runt of the litter if, as expected, England field the tallest pace trio in Test history at Lord’s this week. The lanky Steven Finn is standing by to replace the injured James Anderson, but towering above all of his colleagues will be the bona fide beefcake, Chris Tremlett, a man whose sheer physical presence at Cardiff on Monday translated into the most telling spell of his career to date.

There’s only a matter of inches separating the heights of England’s three tallest seamers, but with legs like tree-trunks and shoulders that can appear to be the width of the pitch as he bears down on his opponents, Tremlett’s physique has more in common with brick privies than the beanpoles that his team-mates can occasionally resemble. At the age of 29, and four Tests into his second coming as an international cricketer, he has at last found the self-confidence to match his natural aptitude for fast bowling.

“Naturally I’m a pretty wide-built guy and I’m a pretty intimidating character to face,” Tremlett told reporters at Lord’s, two days after his spell of 4 for 40 in ten overs had secured a stunning England victory by an innings and 14 runs in the first Test. “I guess I’ve always been a believer in letting the ball do the talking, but in the last couple of years, I’ve become more confident and more aggressive on the field. Being six foot whatever you always have a slight advantage bowling at any batsman.”

It took a well-documented shift from the home comforts of Hampshire (where his father Tim is director of cricket) to Surrey for Tremlett to prove he was ready to resume his Test career. However, the impact he has made in his second coming has been staggering. From his five-wicket haul on the first day of the Perth Test to his Ashes-clinching dismissal of Michael Beer at Sydney, he has been in the thick of the action for England, and was at it again in Cardiff this week, when he scalped both Sri Lanka’s openers in the space of eight deliveries to make possible their sensational collapse to 82 all out.

Such imposing performances had been anticipated when Tremlett made his Test debut against India four years ago. However, despite some encouraging performances – particularly at Trent Bridge where he claimed six wickets in the match including 3 for 12 to delay India’s victory charge on the fifth morning – there was a certain something lacking from his armoury. “I did try to be aggressive but I guess it was forced a bit, to be honest,” he recalled. “I tried to be someone I wasn’t … it was difficult to be nasty.”

He’s finding it rather easier now. As many of the great West Indian fast bowlers would testify, verbal aggression is not a requisite to Test success – witness the silent menace of Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and Curtly Ambrose, to name but three. However, in the opinion of his former captain at Hampshire, Shane Warne, Tremlett’s body language betrayed him as a soft touch, a charge the man himself did not dispute.

“I won’t disagree with Warney,” he said. “I was a bit timid at times, but the older I’ve got, with more confidence and age, being more aggressive comes more naturally to me, and I guess my competitiveness has gone up, certainly since moving to Surrey. I perhaps held back a bit at Hampshire. These days, I don’t think about it too much – it just happens.”

Nevertheless, it was Warne who came up with the one piece of advice that Tremlett has carried into the rest of his career. “If it wasn’t going well for me, for example, bowling no-balls, he said ‘just find a way’. That’s really stuck with me in my career. Don’t look for excuses, keep going and somehow find a way to get the job done.”

He did that and more in Cardiff, in a bowling performance that scattered Sri Lanka’s batting in less than 25 overs all told, and left their coach, Stuart Law, ruefully contemplating the challenge of “getting forward to half-volleys that hit you in the chest.” “In the first innings I tried to get it up a little bit but my execution wasn’t quite as good,” said Tremlett. “In the second innings I did get it right, and my rhythm felt a lot better.”

Had it not been for Anderson’s side strain, Tremlett might not have been unleashed with the new ball for that decisive spell, but having used the conditions to perfection, it might be a while before England strip him of the honour. “I maybe offer a bit more with the extra bounce you get with a new ball, so I do enjoy bowling with it,” he said. “But I still feel I can play whatever role, new ball or change. I’m pretty flexible on that.

“The wicket at Cardiff was particularly slow, so it will be interesting to see what it’s like at Lord’s and whether we’ll go for our shorter bowlers. But myself, Finny and Broad always have that natural advantage over those guys that are 6ft. The short ball is a great weapon – and playing against this team, they are not used to it at times. It could be a plan we’ll go with, but we’ll assess that on the day. It’s something to think of.”

The overall impression is of a cricketer who has found his niche. Jonathan Trott, England’s new-crowned player of the year, admitted it took him until his century in the Boxing Day Test to truly feel as though he belonged in the side, and while Tremlett was careful not to tempt fate given his history of injuries, he too admitted he feels at ease in the set-up, and confident of his worth.

“The England management know what they’re going to get – whereas maybe a couple of years ago, when I was bit more inconsistent, they didn’t know which Chris Tremlett was going to turn up on the day,” he said. “I guess anything can happen with injuries as a bowler, so I’m not taking anything for granted, and I have had an injury history which will always stick with me in some regards, but it’s great to have had an injury-free year and hopefully that will continue.”

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