Kevin Pieterson hits second century of IPL, guides Daredevils to five wkt win over Deccan

Ashish Kumar Mishra

New Delhi, April 19: A blistering knock of 103 off 64 balls by Kevin Pieterson  propelled Delhi  to the top of the point table as they beat Deccan chargers by Five wicket in an IPL held at the Feroz Shah Kotla here on Thursday. He hammered 9 sixes during his unbeaten inning, the most sixes in the IPL this season.

The highlight of Pietersen's innings was the three successive sixes off Jean-Paul Duminy and the one against leg-spinner Amit Mishra, which was probably the biggest ever at this venue.

"It is amazing, a special feeling to score a century in T20 cricket. This is my first in this format, so it has to be my favourite," Pietersen told reporters after smashing  his first hundred in Twenty20 cricket, to help Daredevils register their fourth victory in IPL 5. He was also adjudged man of the match for his brilliant knock.

Earlier, winning the toss Deccan charger elected to bat first and managed to post the fighting target of 157 for 8 which the Daredevils achieved in 19.2 over. 

Deccan is without a win in four games in the tournament so far and remains at the bottom of the table.

India succesfully test-fires Agni 5 missile, joins elite nuclear club

Photo: AP

Ashish Kumar Mishra

Bhubaneswar, April 18: India on Thursday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed AGNI -5 Inter Continental Ballistic Missile from a test range at Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha. The missile with the range of  5000 km has the capability to hit deep inside the China. 

Expressing the happiness over the successful test launch, Defence minister AK Antony described the maiden test flight of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Agni-V as an "immaculate success" and a "major milestone".

"The nation stands tall today. We have joined the elite club of nations (to possess the ICBM  related stories India successfully test fires Agni-V, takes a giant stride capability)," Antony reportedly  told the DRDO chief VK Saraswat on phone after the test flight of the missile was declared successful today.

With the launch of AGNI - 5, India has now joined the elite club of countries having ICBM capability. Until now only USA, Russia, China and France had this facilities.

BJP wins Delhi civic polls, Congress speaks in different voices

Courtesy: The Hindu

Ashish Kumar Mishra

New Delhi, April 17: The BJP has retained its power in the Delhi municipal polls winning North and East corporations and emerged as the single largest party in the south Delhi Municipality.

The BJP, which won the municipality polls in 2007, became only the second party, after the congress in 1962, to have been voted back to power in the trifurcated Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) .

BJP captured North and East Corporations with a clear majority while it got 44, nine short of majority in the 104-member House in South Corporation. The party may hope to get a majority with help from independents who have bagged 14 wards.

Shocked by the defeat, Congress leaders spoke in different voices. While Sheila Dikshit's son and MP from East Delhi Sandeep Dikshit admitted that the people of Delhi had voted on national issues like corruption and price rise, Union Minister Kapil Sibal said civic polls were fought on local issues and down played the theories of an anti-Congress mood.

Rahane hits first century of IPL- 5, takes Rajasthan to easy win over RCB

Ashish Kumar Mishra

An impressive  knock of unbeaten 103-run off just 60 balls by Ajinkya Rahane powered Rajasthan Royals to a comfortable 59-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore on their home ground at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on Sunday.

After opting to bat first, Rajasthan made a steady start, they had just 61 runs in 10 overs without any loss. But S Arvind’s third over changed the complexion of the game. Rahane scored six consecutive boundaries in that over. Rahane together with the England right handed batsman Wais Shah (60) made 121 runs off 8.2 overs for the second wicket to guide Rajasthan to a mammoth 195 for two. 

Chasing  the formidable total, RCB after a quick start, lost wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 136 in 19.5 overs.

Ajinkya Rahane was announced the Man of the Match for his scintillating innings which helped his team top the table with 6 points from 5 matches with a better run rate than Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians who are also on 6 points.

Salman Bashir new Pak envoy to India

Islamabad, April 15: Pakistan government has appointed former foreign secretary Salman Bashir as new envoy to India.

60-year-old Bashir will succeed Shahid Malik, who has completed a record five-and-a-half-year term as Pak envoy.

Bashir's nomination has been cleared by Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. His appointment has formally been accepted by the government of India.

Salman Bashir served as the foreign secretary of Pakistan from April, 2008 to March, 2012.

Before being appointed as foreign secretary, Bashir was the Pakistan Ambassador to China and Mongolia from 2005 to 2008.

Bashir had travelled to New Delhi when Pak President Asif Ali Zardari made a day-long private visit to India on April 8.

Trinamool workers held for thrashing prof who circulated cartoons

Kolkata, April 15: Police have arrested four Trinamool Congress workers on Saturday for assaulting Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra, who allegedly circulated “defamatory” cartoons of chief minister Mamata Banerjee. A court granted them bail after a few hours.

Meanwhile, assaulted and forced to spend almost a night in jail Mahapatra is now apprehensive about his own and his family's security. “I am still to come to terms with the assault and my subsequent arrest. Not only my family and I are apprehensive of our security, even other residents of the housing society are now scared,” Mahapatra said on Saturday. - Agencies

Delhi votes to elect new civic bodies

New Delhi, April 15: Voting began Sunday morning for elections to Delhi’s newly-formed three civic bodies that is witnessing a tough fight between the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.

People queued up outside 11,543 booths across the capital to vote for elections of the trifurcated Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Over one crore voters are expected to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 2,423 candidates for 272 seats.

While the corporations of north and south have 104 wards each, the east Delhi corporation has 64. 

A total of 30,000 armed police personnel have been deployed at the booths to ensure free and fair elections.

The BJP, which rules the corporation, had swept the 2007 elections in the then unified MCD with 168 seats.

While Sunday’s election will see a straight contest between the Congress and the BJP, parties like the Samajwadi Party have also fielded candidates.

The polling will end at 5.30 p.m.

For the first time, 50 percent seats (136) have been reserved for women candidates.

Interestingly, the capital is also for the first time witnessing the participation of eunuchs as contestants in the polls.

With Delhi assembly elections due in end—2013, the results will have significant impact on the morale of the parties. 

The votes will be counted Tuesday. - Agencies