Winning Moments

Captain's innings - Proud to be an indian

India v Sri Lanka: captain's innings from Mahendra Singh Dhoni seals World Cup with final flourish

Cricket World Cup Final 2011: India (277-4) beat Sri Lanka (274-6) by six wickets

Agony and the ecstasy: Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara looks on as India's Yuvraj Singh hugs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni after he scored the winning runs Photo: REUTERS

 

India owed their second World Cup to their magnificent batsmen. Their two finest – Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag – did not score 20 between them, yet the remaining Indian batsmen knocked off the runs with six wickets and ten balls to spare in the highest successful run-chase that any of the ten cup finals has seen.

The weight of expectation on India was enormous – from the outset of this tournament they have been the favourites – but they followed the example of their captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in withstanding it. If Brazil win a football World Cup at home, they will have a small and silent fan-base compared to the Indian cricket team last evening and their 1.2 billion home supporters.

Sri Lanka were handicapped by dew when they bowled towards the end of India’s innings, and by the absence through injury of their brilliant young batting-allrounder Angelo Mathews, which precipitated four changes to their semi-final team that rather weakened their bowling. Even so, for India to chase down 275 with quite a lot in hand was a superlative effort.

The first time that India won the World Cup, in 1983, their players were given plots of land by the government and practically deified. When India won the inaugural World Twenty20, their team bus was brought to a standstill by millions – literally – thronging Marine Drive, outside the Wankhede stadium where they won last night. But these will be minor celebrations by comparison with winning this World Cup on home soil.

India’s joy made for a sad last international match for Sri Lanka’s mystery spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, not to mention for Mahela Jayawardene. The latter scored a century of almost sublime beauty, only to see it outweighed by Gautam Gambhir and Dhoni in their partnership of 109.

It was the sixth century in a World Cup final, but the first for a losing side.
It was also a great night for Tendulkar, who did not make his 100th international hundred but who was carried around the outfield at the finish on the shoulders of his adoring teammates. ‘The proudest moment of my life,’ Tendulkar called it, after a career that has given no cricketer since Don Bradman more cause for pride.

2G Spectrum scam explained

Government has been jolted by controversy over licences and radio airwaves that a state auditor says were given out too cheaply, depriving the government of up to $39 billion in revenues. The telecom minister, A Raja was forced to resign and the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has been asked to
explain himself to the Supreme Court. Opposition parties want a full parliamentary probe and have blocked proceedings until the government relents. So, what is the controversy all about and what does it mean for the telecom sector and companies?
WHERE WAS THE ALLEGED SCAM?
In 2008, the country issued 122 new telecom licences and the second-generation radio spectrum bundled with it to several domestic companies that had little or no experience in the telecom sector, and at a price set in 2001.
The state auditor said that the allocation process did not reflect the correct value of radio spectrum as there was no auction and the entire process was flawed, benefiting selected companies.
The auditor said that the telecoms ministry did not do the requisite due diligence, granting 85 out of the 122 licences to ineligible applicants.
The auditor also said the ministry did not follow its own guidelines, changed the cut-off date for applications, which gave "unfair advantage" to some companies over others. It said that the entire process "lacked transparency and was undertaken in an arbitrary, unfair and inequitable manner".
The auditor said that several companies deliberately suppressed facts, disclosed incomplete information, submitted fictitious documents and used fraudulent means to get licenses and thereby access to spectrum.
WILL COMPANIES LOSE LICENSES?
The auditor said that units of Unitech Ltd, which received licences in 2008 and now operates services in a joint venture with Norway's Telenor, had not fulfilled eligibility conditions including required share capital.
Other firms which were ineligible according to the auditor include Loop Telecom, Videocon Telecommunications and S Tel Ltd. The auditor said that Swan Telecom, which has since been partly acquired by the UAE's Etisalat , was given licences even though a unit of No. 2 telecoms firm Reliance Communications held over 10% of equity, a violation of rules.
It is still to early to know whether any licenses would be canceled, but the pressure would be strong not to do so because operators have invested in networks and have subscribers.
Any big crackdown could send a wrong signal to investors.
But the government could ask operators to compensate for the potential revenue loss as highlighted by the auditor and may impose fines for not meeting separate rollout obligations.
The auditor also named nine other operators, including market leaders Bharti Airtel , Reliance Comm and Vodafone , who were allotted spectrum beyond the contracted limit without paying any upfront charges, costing the government a potential $8 billion.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR TELECOM MARKET?
If the government imposes heavy fines on new licensees singled out in the auditor's report, it would weaken them further. The newer operators are yet to make profit as they offer heavy discounts to grab subscribers, and any financial penalty would be a blow for them, forcing some to leave the market.
Some operators may also freeze network expansion until clarity emerges on the regulatory front, meaning slower growth for network equipment vendors and other service providers.
In case licenses are canceled, it would lead to natural consolidation in the crowded 15-player market.
WILL THIS AFFECT FDI INTO INDIA?
The country's mobile phone market is the world's fastest-growing and its nearly 700 million users trail only China, making it a must-invest market for any major global operator. But regulatory uncertainties have been a concern for some and could make foreign companies start to look more carefully where to invest.
Any penalty or adverse regulatory action could also weigh on companies such as Telenor and Etisalat, which were not part of their respective domestic ventures when the licences were distributed. Also, the controversy would make future investors more careful before they decide to invest in the market.
Vodafone, the single-biggest foreign investor of the nation, is fighting a $2.5 billion tax bill over its acquisition of a mobile firm in the country and has signalled frustration with the regulations.

India plans Asian tidal power first

The Indian state of Gujarat is planning to host Asia's first commercial-scale tidal power station.

The company Atlantis Resources is to install a 50MW tidal farm in the Gulf of Kutch on India's west coast, with construction starting early in 2012.

The facility could be expanded to deliver more than 200MW.News

The biggest operating tidal station in the world, La Rance in France, generates 240MW, while South Korea is planning several large facilities.

To claim the title of "Asia's first", the Indian project will have to outrun developments at Sihwa Lake, a South Korean tidal barrage under construction on the country's west coast.

Atlantis's recent feasibility study in Gujarat concluded that the state had good potential for tidal exploitation.

"About two and a half years ago we ran a global study of tidal power resources and came up with some hotspots where resource seemed pretty well matched to load," said Atlantis CEO Tim Cornelius.

"One of them was the Gulf of Kutch - and since then we've had wonderful support from the government, culminating in the announcement that the project was going ahead," he told BBC News.

Projections indicate that the cost of the initial 50MW farm - to consist of 50 1MW turbines - will come in at about $150m.

As much of the manufacturing as possible will take place in Gujarat, taking advantage of the skills base in India's booming wind turbine industry.

Tide turning?

The current timescale has the project's final engineering plans completed by the end of this year, with construction commencing early next year and completing by 2013.

"Gujarat has significant resource in the waters of its coast, so tidal energy represents a huge opportunity for us," said DJ Pandian, chairman and managing director of Gujarat Power Corporation.

"This project will be India's and indeed Asia's first at commercial scale, and will deliver important economic and environmental benefits for the region, as well as paving the way for similar developments within Gujarat."

Tidal power is a tiny contributor to global electricity generation, even compared with other renewables.

But there is a feeling in the industry that a phase of fast expansion is beginning.

In October, a consortium including Atlantis was given the right to develop a tidal farm involving about 400 turbines in the Pentland Firth in Scotland, which as things stand would be the world's biggest - although South Korea's proposed Incheon barrage would come in at over 1GW.

China, and other parts of India, are also seen as productive areas in the near future.

IPL 4 Auctions - team wise bidding results

The auction for the IPL 4 2011 has been started in ITC Gardenia in Bangalore on Saturday, Jan 8. The auction will go for two days (Jan 8 and Jan 9). The auction has been broadcasted Set Max live. Here is the team wise bidding details -

Kings XI Punjab

• Adam Gilchrist - Rs 4.14 cr ($900,000)
• Dinesh Karthik - Rs 4.14 cr
• David Hussey - Rs 6.44 cr
• Abhisek Nayar - Rs 3.68 cr
• Stuart Broad - Rs 1.84 cr

Rajasthan Royals

• Ross Taylor - Rs 4.6 cr ($1 million)
• Rahul Dravid - Rs 2.3 cr ($500,000)
• Johan Botha - Rs 4.37 cr ($950,000)

Team Kochi

• Mahela Jayawardene - Rs 6.75 cr ($1.5 million)
• VVS Laxman - Rs 1.84 cr ($400,000)
• Brendon McCullum - Rs 2.18 cr ($475,000)
• S Sreesanth - Rs 4.14 cr ($900,000)
• RP Singh - Rs 2.3 cr ($500,000)
• Parthiv Patel - Rs 1.33 cr
• Ravindra Jadeja - Rs 4.37 cr
• Steven Smith - Rs 92 lakh

Kolkata Knight Riders

• Gautam Gambhir - Rs 11.04 cr ($2.4 million)
• Yusuf Pathan - Rs 9.66 cr ($2.1 million)
• Jacques Kallis - Rs 5.06 cr ($1.1 million)
• Brad Haddin - Rs 1.49 cr
• Shakib al Hasan - Rs 1.95 cr

Mumbai Indians

• Rohit Sharma
  
  - Rs 9.2 cr ($2 million)
• Andrew Symonds - Rs 3.91 cr ($850,000)
• David Jacob - Rs 87.4 lakh
• James Franklin - Rs 46 lakh

Delhi Daredevils

• Irfan Pathan - Rs 8.74 cr ($1.9 million)
• David Warner - Rs 3.4 cr
• Naman Ojha - Rs 1.24 cr
• James Hopes - Rs 1.61 cr

Chennai Super Kings

• Wridhiman Saha - Rs 46 Lakh
• Dwayne Bravo - Rs 92 lakh

Sahara Pune Warriors

• Yuvraj Singh - Rs 8.2 cr ($1.8million)
• Graeme Smith - Rs 2.3 cr ($500,000)
• Robin Uthappa - Rs 9.66 cr ($2.1 million)
• Tim Paine - Rs 1.24 cr

Royal Challengers Bangalore

• Dilshan Tillakaratne - Rs 2.99 crore ($650,000)
• Zaheer Khan - Rs 4.14 crore ($900,000)
• AB de Villiers - Rs 5.06 cr ($1.1 million)
• Daniel Vettori - Rs 2.53 cr ($550,000)
• Saurabh Tiwary - Rs 7.36 cr

Decan Chargers

• Kevin Pietersen - Rs 2.99 cr ($650,000)
• Cameron White - Rs 5.06 cr ($1.1 million)
• Kumar Sangakkara - Rs 3.22 cr ($700,000)
• Shikhar Dhawan - Rs 1.38 cr ($300000)
• J P Duminy - Rs 1.38 cr ($300000)

Happy New Year

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INDIA 2010 – A FLASHBACK

January

• January 2 - First three Uttar Pradesh rail accidents: Three train accidents occur in Uttar Pradesh amid thick fog. Ten people died in the accidents and 45 others were injured.
• January 9 – 2009 attacks on Indian students in Australia: An Indian man is set on fire in Melbourne, Australia, in the latest in a series of attacks on Indian nationals in the country.
• January 16 - Forth Uttar Pradesh rail accident: two express trains collide in thick fog in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Three people died in the accident and around a dozen were injured.
• January 17 - Fifth Uttar Pradesh rail accidents: A car is hit by a train at an unmanned crossing in Barabanki district. Two persons whom were in the car were killed as a result and four others injured
• January 22 - Sixth Uttar Pradesh rail accidents: A goods train derailed near Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, disrupting rail traffic in the region. No one was injured in the accident.
• January 25 – Environment ministers from the G4 bloc (IBSA Dialogue Forum & China) meet in New Delhi, India, to agree a common position ahead of future climate change talks
• January 30 – 12 people drown and least 20 others are missing after a boat accident in West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh in India.

February

• February 5 – the last native of India's Andaman Islands fluent in the Aka-Bo language dies, rendering the language extinct. (Daily Mail)
• February 8 – At least 17 Indian soldiers are killed in an avalanche in Kashmir.
• February 13 – 2010 Pune bombing: a bomb exploded at the German Bakery in the city of Pune in western India, killing 17 people and injuring at least 60 others. Two little known groups calling themselves the Laskhar-e-Taiba Al Alami and the Mujahideen Islami Muslim Front claimed they were behind the bomb attack. However, according to government agencies, the attack could have been part of a project by Lashkar-e-Taiba to use the Indian Mujahideen, called the 'Karachi project'. David Coleman Headley a Pakistani-American terror suspect has been accused of involvement in the project
• February 15 – Silda camp attack: a Naxalite attack on an army camp in West Bengal kills 24 Indian soldiers, with many more reported missing.
• February 17 – 2010 Jalaun district bus crash: At least 22 people are killed in a bus crash in Northern India.

March

• March 3 – Three are killed in Indian Navy air show crash in Hyderabad, India.
• March 4 – 2010 Pratapgarh stampede: at least 63 people die after a stampede at a Hindu temple in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India.
• March 12 – Russia signs a nuclear reactor deal with India which will see it build 16 nuclear reactors in India.
• March 23 – a fire tears through a combined residential and office building in Calcutta, India, killing 24 people, including two who leapt to their deaths.
• March 27 – India test fires two short range missiles, the Dhanush and Prithvi II.
• March 30 – Somali pirates hijack 8 Indian vessels abducting 120 sailors, biggest abduction count till date, off the coast of Kismayo.

April

• April 1 – the Indian government initiates the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act to provide free and compulsory education to all children aged between 6 and 14 years, making education a fundamental right for millions of children.
• April 1 – India launches its new 2011 biometric census, the largest census in the world.
• April 3 – At least 10 Indian security personnel are killed and three injured when Maoist guerrillas blow up a police bus in Orissa's Koraput district.
• April 6 – 2010 Dantewada ambush: At least 70 Indian soldiers are killed in an attack by Naxalites in the Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh.
• April 13 – 2010 Eastern Indian storm: At least 140 people were killed in eastern India after a powerful storm demolished thousands of homes in West Bengal. (BBC News) Nearly 500,000 people were left homeless or otherwise affected by the storm.
• April 15 – the maiden flight of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk.II, India's first launch with an indigenous cryogenic upper stage, ends in failure, resulting in the loss of the GSAT-4 satellite.
• April 17 – Twin bombs injure eight people outside M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore ahead of an IPL-3 league game between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Mumbai Indians. A third device is located outside.
• April 27 – India arrests a woman working at its embassy in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on charges of espionage.

May

            Cyclone Laila over India, 19 May 2010

• May 3 – Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving terrorist involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, is found guilty of murder, conspiracy, and waging war against India.
• May 6 – Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving member of a group responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, is sentenced to death.
• May 7 – May 2010 Kashmir skirmishes: 5 insurgents and 2 soldiers die in a gunbattle between Islamic rebels and Indian security forces in Kashmir.
• May 7–9 – India International Light Fair & India International Sign Show in Mumbai.
• May 8 – Naxalite rebels blow up a bullet-proof vehicle of the Central Reserve Police Force in the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, India, killing seven officers.
• May 16 – Maoist guerillasChhattisgarh, India.
• May 17 – 2010 Dantewada bus bombing: Naxalite insurgents blow up a bus in India filled with police and para-militaries. Fatalities reports range from 31 to 44, including several Special Police Officers (SPOs) and civilians.
• May 19 – 2010 North Indian Ocean cyclone season: Cyclone Laila approaches landfall in southeastern India, having already caused at least ten deaths and prompting the evacuations of 10,000 people in Tamil Nadu.
• May 21 – A court restores the Indian Hockey Federation, two years after it was dissolved by the country's Olympic chiefs over bribery allegations and poor on-field results.
• May 21 – Six girls aged between eight and twelve years drown in the Rapti in Balrampur while bathing.
• May 22 – Air India Express Flight 812 overshoots the runway at Mangalore International Airport in India, killing 158 and leaving 8 survivors.
• May 23 – Clashes break out between Indian and Pakistani troops near the border in the disputed Kashmir region.
• May 28 – Gyaneshwari Express train derailment: At least 25 people are killed and 150 injured in India after a Mumbai train with 13 passenger coaches is derailed by an explosion on the tracks and collides with another train as it traveled through the Paschim Medinipur district, a rebel stronghold in eastern India.

June

• June 2 – 2010 Indian heat wave: a heat wave strikes India and South Asia, reaching 53C (127F) and killing many hundreds of people.
• June 7 – the Magistrate court in Bhopal, India convicts eight people, one posthumously, for their role in the Bhopal disaster industrial catastrophe 25 years ago in 1984.
• June 13 – A 7.5-magnitude earthquake west of India's Nicobar Islands cause’s tremors felt along India's eastern seaboard and triggers a tsunami watch, which is later cancelled.
• June 17 – Heavy rains claim 46 lives in Maharashtra, India.
• June 23 – 1 person is killed when a crane crashes at Chennai International Airport, Chennai, India.
• June 25 – 17 people are killed and 25 others injured when an overcrowded bus collided head-on with a speeding truck near Chenaki More, abount 30 km from Patna, India.
• June 26 – Four people are killed and five wounded in violence in Indian-administered Kashmir's Sopore area.
• June 29 – 2010 Maoist attack in Narayanpur: At least 26 policemen are killed in a Maoist attack in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh.

July

• July 5 – A nationwide strike takes place in India in protest at a recent rise in fuel prices.
• July 8 – a bomb rips through the engine and coach of a passenger train in Assam, India, and killing one person.
• July 13 – One death and three injuries result from a stampede during pulling of Ratha Yatra chariots in Puri, India.
• July 13 – the Supreme Court of India tentatively approves the Tamil Nadu government's new quota law, providing 69% of employment in educational institutions to scheduled castes and tribes and other backward classes.
• July 14 – Senior Indian Army officer Major A. K. Thinge is killed in battle in Kashmir.
• July 19 – Two trains collide in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, India with at least 50 people feared dead.
• July 20 – Former Indian junior diplomat Madhuri Gupta is charged under the Official Secrets Act with spying for Pakistan.
• July 21 – Unidentified gunmen on motorcycles fatally shoot Indian civil rights campaigner and environmentalist Amit Jethwa in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
• July 23 – The Indian government unveils a solar power touch-screen laptop, cheaper than America's iPad, expected to be on sale next year.

August

• August 1 – Six people die in the Indian province of Jammu and Kashmir after a third day of clashes between security forces and Kashmiri separatists.
• August 4 – About 70 Indian police personnel are reported missing in Chhattisgarh forests amid a major engagement with Maoist guerrillas; they are later found. No casualties have been reported.
• August 6 – 2010 Leh floods: Flash floods in the Ladakh region of India's Jammu and Kashmir state kill at least 113 people and leave lots of others missing.
• August 7 – Mumbai oil spill: An oil spill stretching at least two miles long occurs in the Arabian Sea offshore Mumbai, India, after a vessel from Panama collides with another vessel from St. Kitts. The Panamanian ship was carrying 2,662 tons of oil, 283 tons of diesel and 88,040 liters of lube oil when it became grounded and started to leak.
• August 12 – India issues the producer of the controversial Blackberry devices a 31 August deadline to give the Indian government access to its services or be shut down over concerns the devices could be used to commit a repeat of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
• August 18 – a school building collapses due to heavy rain in the village of Sumgarh in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, killing at least 17 schoolchildren.
• August 27 – Police in India kill Umakanta Mahato, a top Maoist guerilla wanted in connection with the Gyaneshwari Express train derailment in May.

September

• September 10 – Thousands of people are evacuated in Delhi over flooding fears.
• September 20 – At least 21 people are killed and dozens are injured after 2 trains collide in the Shivpuri district of India's Madhya Pradesh state.
• September 23 – Speeding train kills 7 elephants in Eastern India.
• September 29 – India launches a national identity scheme aimed at reducing fraud and improving access to state benefits.

October

• 3 October - XIX Commonwealth Games were held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010.
• 10 October – At least 36 people die after an overloaded boat capsizes on the Ganges River in the Buxar district of India's Bihar state.
• 11 October – 18 people are killed when a bus falls into a river in Bulandshahr district, Uttar Pradesh, India.
• 25 October – More than 700 species of ancient insects are discovered preserved in amber in an ancient rainforest in India.
• 30 October – At least 16 people drown and 70 are missing after an overcrowded ferry sinks in a river in West Bengal, eastern India.

November

• 1 November – At least 74 people drown after a ferry-boat capsizes on the Muri Ganga River in West Bengal, India.
• 2 November – 17 people are killed and three others injured when a truck carrying them overturned at Tarapur talukav near Indranaj in India. The truck was on its way from Surat to Bhavnagar.
• 15 November – 66 people die after a building collapses in eastern New Delhi, India.
• 21 November – Seven people are killed after a bomb planted by suspected Maoist rebels explodes in Aurangabad district, Bihar, northeastern India.

December

• 5 December – 20-year-old Nicole Faria from Bangalore, Miss India, wins the Miss Earth 2010 crown in Vinpearl Land, Nha Trang, Vietnam.
• 26 December – A collision between a bus and a mini-truck kills 34 people and leaves 30 injured, near the town of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh state, in northern India.